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GO  M.L. 

929.2 
P412b 
V.2 
1134112 


OENEAUOGY  COLLECTION 


&ehi 


LEN  COUNTY   PUBLIC  UBRAHY 


3  1833  03629  1711 


A    HISTORY 


Ibouse  of  IC^erc^ 


.^J 


^tAyy..  .  ''^^'''OaA/e^',yfY^//Mn>y'^/l,/^'//y/. 


A     HISTORY 


Ibouec  ol  ll>ercv 

FROM   THE    EARLIEST   TIMES   DOWN   TO 
THE    PRESENT   CENTURY 


BY 

GERALD     BRENAN 


EDITED    BY 

W.  A.   LINDSAY,  Esq.,  K.C,  M.A. 
(Windsor  Herald) 

IN  TH^O   rOLUMES 

Folntne  M  _ 

LONDON 

FREEMANTLE    &    CO. 

217    PICCADILLY    W 

MCMII 


113^112 

CONTENTS 


List  of  Illustrations 
List  of  Genealogies 


CHAPTER    I 

Sir  Henry  makes  his  own  match  and  another — The  Northern  Rising  and 
one  of  its  results — Sir  Henry  in  the  Tower — The  Earl's  Catholic  sym- 
pathies breed  trouble — The  Earl's  plots  lead  him  into  further  danger 
— Suicide  or  assassination  ?  .....  1-30 


CHAPTER   II 

The  youth  of  the  "Wizard  Earl" — A  young  noble  of  Tudor  times ;  his  Paris- 
ian doings — The  Tower  tragedy  and  its  results — A  family  quarrel ;  and 
a  romance — "Mounted  on  Fortune's  Wheel" — Concerning  Dorothy, 
Countess  of  Northumberland — North  Country  troubles,  and  religious 
difficulties — Domestic  strife  and  miseries — The  Essex  revolt,  and 
Northumberland's  brothers — Quarrels  with  Southampton  and  Vere — 
Sir  Francis  Vere  fights  but  in  war — Thrust  and  counter-thrust — The 
Earl,  the  Catholics,  and  King  James — Cecil  plays  the  Earl  false^ 
James  again  promises  toleration — The  Queen  is  dead — A  new  King 
and  an  old  promise — The  Earl  seeks  retirement — Old  Syon  House 
and  its  story — Northumberland's  life  at  Syon 


CHAPTER    III 

Thomas  Percy  of  "  Gunpowder  Treason  " — The  Gunpowder  Plot  and 
Thomas  Percy — The  Gunpowder  Plot — The  Plot  revealed  :  death  of 
Percy — Salisbury  remembers  old  scores — The  Earl  defends  himself 
stoutly — An  appeal  for  justice,  and  its  outcome — The  Earl's  two 
friends  :  his  wife  and  his  Queen — The  Queen  comforts  Lady  Northum- 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

berland— The  "  Little  Beagle "  feels  the  lash — The  Earl's  friends 
suffer  for  his  sake — Increasing  debts  ;  and  a  family  misunderstanding 
— The  Earl's  enemies  and  their  base  instruments ;  the  case  of  Elkes 
— Outcome  of  the  Elkes'  failure — The  Earl's  estates  sequestered  by  the 
Crown — How  the  Earl  was  lodged  in  the  Tower — The  Wizard  Earl 
works  changes  in  the  Tower — Good  living,  varied  reading,  and  a  hint 
of  flirtation — The  pri-oner  and  his  estates — Northumberland  to  his 
heir:  women  and  domestic  cares — Advice  to  Lord  Percy  "in  his 
Travels" — Northumberland  and  his  daughters — Death  of  the  Coun- 
tess Dorothy — Freedom  at  last — Death  of  the  Wizard  Earl — William, 
Richard,  and  George  Percy  .....       99-209 


CHAPTER    IV 

Algernon,  tenth  Earl  of  Northumberland — Admiral  of  the  Fleet —Abuses, 
and  suggested  reforms  in  the  navy — Death  of  the  Earl's  first  wife ;  his 
own  illness — Northumberland  at  the  head  of  both  navy  and  army — 
"The  Short  Parliament,"  and  the  Scottish  Invasion — The  Scots 
Invasion,  and  the  trial  of  Strafford — -Lucy  Percy,  Lady  Carlisle; 
"Strafford's  dearest  friend" — Sir  Henry  Percy,  the  Earl,  and  "The 
Army  Plot  "—Northumberland's  policy  of  moderation — Northumber- 
land's second  marriage — Northumberland  leads  the  Parliamentary 
Peace  Party — The  "Treaty"  of  Uxbridge — Heavy  losses,  and  partial 
compensation — Northumberland  as  guardian  of  the  Princes — Escape 
of  the  Duke  of  York — Last  efforts  to  save  the  King's  life — Sir  Henry 
Percy  and  his  further  doings — Nortbuniberland  defies  the  "Rump" 
and  disowns  Cromwell — Death  of  the  Earl's  brother  and  sister; 
Occupations  of  retirement — The  Restoration  :  independent  attitude  of 
the  Earl ;  his  death — The  children  of  the  tenth  Earl  .  .     210-303 


CHAPTER    V 

The  eleventh  Earl :  early  life  and  marriage — A  brief,  ill-fated  reign — The 
two  Countesses  of  Northumberland  ;  second  marriage  of  the  younger 
— The  Claimant  of  Northumberland :  James  Percy  the  "  Trunkmaker " 
— First  efforts  of  the  Claimant  end  in  defeat— Further  struggles  of 
James  Percy :  Justice  Hales  pronounces  in  his  favour ;  Lady  Pem- 
broke's long  memory — New  line  of  descent  alleged  :  "  Privilege  "  bars 
the  w.iy— Petition  to  the  King  :  cruel  jest  of  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth :  "Privilege"  again— A  new  Claimant:  the  "Stonecutter" 
follows  the  "  Trunkmaker  "—The  last  of  James  Percy  of  Dublin— 
The  most  probable  heir  male  of  Northumberland    .  ,  .     304-372 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  VI 

FAOK 


The  heiress  of  the  I'ercies,  und  lier  grandmother,  the  Dowager  Counless— 
Elizabeth  I'ercy  loses  one  husband  by  death  ;  and  flies  in  disgust  from 
a  second— Kimingsmarck— Murder  of  Thynn,  and  fate  of  his  assassins 
—Tom  Thynn's  bitter  epitaph;  New  matrimonial  projects  of  the 
Dowager  Countess — Characteristics  and  early  married  life  of  the 
Duke  and  Duchess— Friendship  of  Queen  Anne:  Swift's  savage  attack 
—The  Duchess  dismissed  from  Court :  Somerset  sides  with  the  Elector 
— Death  of  the  Duchess ;  Somerset's  insane  pride— Seymour  and  Percy 
united:  youth  of  "Lady  Betty  "—Courtship  of  "Lady  Betty"  by 
Hugh  Smithson— The  Smithsons  of  Yorkshire  and  London— Marriage 
of  Sir  Hugh  and  Lady  Betty— Lady  Betty  becomes  heir  of  the  Percies : 
spite  of  old  Somerset— Sir  Hugh  Smithson  becomes  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland, and  takes  the  name  of  Percy— The  "  Soldier  Duke  "—The 
third  and  fourth  Dukes  :  the  latter  a  distinguished  scientist— The 
Earls  of  Beverley  and  their  descendants— The  last  three  Dukes,  and 
the  present  state  of  the  House  of  Percy      •  .  .  ,,    373-468 


Lndex  to  Vol.  H. 


469 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Henry,  ninth  Earl  of  Northumberland,  from  portrait  hy  Van 

dyke  ...... 

Percy  Shrine,  Beverley   ..... 

Autograph  of  Henry,  ninth  Earl  of  Northumberland 
Syon  House,  by  Herbert  Railton  ... 

Gunpowder  Plot  Conspirators,  from  National  Portrait  Gallery 
Northumberland's  Walk,  Martin  Tower,  by  Herbert  Railton 
Algernon,  tenth  Earl  of  Northumberland,  from  portrait  by  Van 

dyke  ...... 

Seal  and  Autograph  of  Algernon,  tenth  Earl  of  Northumberland 
Northumberland  House,  from  an  engraving  by  Canaletti 
Henry  Lord  Percy,  of  Alnwick,  fourth  son  of  ninth  Earl,  after 

painting  at  Petworth,  engraved  by  Harding  in  Adolphus' 

"  British  Cabinet "    . 
Jusceline,  eleventh  Earl  of  Northumberland,  from  mezzotint  by 

Brown,  after  Lely    ..... 
Lady  Elizabeth  Seymour,  wife  of  si.\th  Duke  of  Somerset,  from 

portrait  by  Lely       ..... 
Autograph  of  Elizabeth,  wife  of  first  Duke  of  Northumberland 
Hugh,  first  Duke  of  Northumberland 
Elizabeth  Baroness  Percy,  from  an  engraving  by  Houston,  after 

Sir  J.  Reynolds        ..... 
Autograph  of  Hugh,  first  Duke  of  Northumberland 
Hugh,   second   Duke    of   Northumberland,    from    portrait    by 

Phillips,  engraved  by  Ransome 
Autograph  of  Hugh,  second  Duke  of  Northumberland   . 
Hugh,  third  Duke  of  Northumberland,  from  portrait  by  Ward, 

engraved  by  HoU         ..... 
The  Complete  Achievements  of  the  late  Duke  of  Northumber 

land  (Lithographed  in  Colour) 


Frontispiece 
■ingpnge  30 
„  60 
,.  92 
,,  102 
„     162 


„  214 
..  232 
,.    256 


,,  282 

..  305 

,,  402 

„  426 

„  428 

,.  436 

..  444 

..  454 

„  45S 

,,  460 

„  466 


LIST   OF   GENEALOGIES 


Table   3.    From   Henry,  ninth   Earl    of    Northumberland,   to 

Algernon,  first  Earl  of  Northumberland    .             .  Facing  page  \%Q 

Genealogy  of  Irish  Percies          .            .            .            .            .  ,,         ,>     326 

„         of  the  Duke  of  Somerset        ....  Page  399 

.,          ofSmithson   ......  Facing  page  i^-ip 

„          showing  kinship  between  Hugh  Smithson  and  his  wife  Fa^c  435 
Table  4.  From  first  Duke  of  Northumberland  to  seventh  Duke 

of  Northumberland             ....  Facing  page  456 


THE    HOUSE    OF    PERCY 

VOLUME   11 

I 

The  character  of  Henry,  eighth  Earl  of  Northumberland, 
offers  a  strange  contrast  to  that  of  the  ill-fated  brother 
whom  he  succeeded.  Earl  Thomas  had  been  loyal  and 
warm-hearted  to  a  fault — a  brave  and  honourable  gentle- 
man, but  scantily  endowed  with  either  resolution  or  fore- 
sight. Earl  Henry,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  man  of 
strong  will,  keen  intellect  and  far-reaching  ambition — 
untroubled  by  conscientious  scruples  when  striving  to  gain 
an  end — harsh,  selfish,  and  unsympathetic.  Thomas  Percy 
made  friends  wherever  he  went,  even  in  the  enemy's  camp  : 
it  is  doubtful  whether  Henry  ever  experienced  an  honest 
friendship  in  his  life.  Burghley,  indeed,  regarded  the 
eighth  Earl  with  favour  ;  but  this  may  be  set  down  partly 
to  the  alliance  between  their  families,  and  partly  to  the  fact 
that  the  minister  recognised  in  Henry  a  nature  somewhat 
akin  to  his  own. 

Henry  Percy  was  a  mere  stripling  when  he  began  to 
make  his  mark  as  a  skilful  and  courageous  leader  upon 
the  Border-side.  Born  about  the  year  1532  at  Newburn 
Manor,  he  was  made  Governor  of  Tynemouth  Castle  by 
Queen  Mary  while  still  in  his  minority.  We  have  seen 
him  fighting  by  his  brother's  side  in  most  of  the  Scottish 
raids  and  conflicts  of  the  period.  In  1554  he  was  returned 
as  member  of  parliament  for  Morpeth  ;  and  1557  saw 
him  knighted  and  placed  next  in  remainder  to  the  new 
earldom  conferred  by  Mary  upon  Sir  Thomas.  Up  to 
this  time  he  had  professed  the  Catholic  religion  ;   but  no 

II.  A 


2  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

sooner  did  Elizabeth  ascend  the  throne,  than  he  cast  aside 
his  youthful  faith  like  a  cloak  that  had  served  his  turn,  and 
conformed  (outwardly  at  least)  to  the  new  tenets.  The 
Queen,  by  way  of  rewarding  his  change  of  creed,  gave 
him  command  of  a  recently  mustered  body  of  light  horse 
equipped  ''like  Black  Harness  of  Almaine,  otherwise  called 
the  Swart  Rutters"  (Schwartze  Ritter)  " atid  armed  with 
corseletts  and  two  dagges  apiece." '^  These  Percy  led  into 
Scotland  against  the  French  auxiliary  forces  under 
D'Oyzelle,  which  were  strongly  posted  at  Dunbar,  Leith, 
and  other  places.  The  campaign  was  a  most  successful 
one  for  the  Black  Horse  and  their  commander.  Dunbar 
fell  before  their  attack,  and  Leith  soon  followed  its  example. 
"  I  thinke  you  have  hei-e  ore  nau',"  wrote  Maitland  to  Cecil 
from  the  camp  before  the  latter  town,  on  April  28,  1560, 
"  0/  the  exploits  done  at  Dunbarre  by  Sir  Henry  Percy,  the 
Lord  Ruthven,  atid  the  Lord  of  Grange,  whereat  at  leash  fifty 
lucre  taken  and  Kylled ;  and  two  capteynes,  one  of  Horscnieti 
and  one  of  Footmen,  taken.  Yesternight  was  a  noinbrc  of 
Frenchmen  deffact  in  the  very  dytches  of  this  toun  and  all  cut 
to  pieces."'-  For  his  conduct  upon  this  occasion  Percy  won 
the  highest  praise.  The  Queen  thanked  him  warmly  in  a 
letter  to  the  Warden,  Lord  Grey,  on  April  14 ;  and  subse- 
quently invited  him  to  a  personal  interview,  in  the  course 
of  which  he  was  induced  to  give  his  own  account  of  the 
recent  Scottish  wars.^  Moreover  the  French  commander, 
D'Oyzelle,  asked  permission  to  surrender  his  sword  to  Sir 
Henry  Percy  rather  than  to  Grey,  since  the  latter  had 
acquired  a  sinister  reputation  for  his  treatment  of  prisoners. 
But  these  Border  frays  exercised  an  evil  influence  upon 
those  who  took  part  in  them ;  and  it  is  not  long  before  we 
find  Percy  reputed  fully  as  harsh  to  the  captured  French 
and  Scots  as  Grey  had  been.  During  March  1565  Moray 
wrote  to  Cecil  and  Leicester,  asking  them,  to  interfere  in 
the   case   of   "the  Master  of  Mareschall," *    then   held   in 

'  Orig.  State  Papers ;  Queen  Elizabeth  to  Duke  of  Norfolk,  December  25,  1 559. 

*  State  Papers;  Maitland  to  Cecil. 

'  Orig.  State  Papers  (Scotland),  Record  Office. 

*  Lord  Keith,  son  of  the  Earl  Marisclial. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  3 

durance  by  Sir  Henry  Percy,  "  by  quJiomc,  as  xve  ar  triformit, 
he  is  m  sic  rigorous  iiiancir  handily t  as  we  esteyme  not  fytt  nor 
convenient  for  yc  present  tyin  of  peace."  "^  Even  the  English 
Commissioners  at  Edinburgh,  complained  of  Percy's 
cruelty  towards  the  Scots.  But  severity  to  her  enemies 
was  by  no  means  displeasing  to  Elizabeth  ;  and,  so  far 
from  reprimanding  Sir  Henry,  she  appointed  him  her 
agent  to  treat  with  the  heads  of  the  Scottish  Congre- 
gationers,  with  a  view  to  a  Protestant  alliance  between 
England  and  Scotland.-  Already,  shortly  after  the  Queen's 
succession,  he  had  served  as  one  of  the  commission  for 
administering  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  conformity  exacted 
from  all  clergymen^ ;  so  that,  for  a  young  man  bred  to  the 
profession  of  arms,  he  must  have  acquired  an  unusual 
amount  of  theological  learning.  In  the  various  letters* 
which  he  wrote  to  John  Knox  and  William  Kirkcaldy  of 
Grange  he  shows  great  skill  in  fencing  with  delicate 
questions,  and  a  diplomacy  far  beyond  his  years.  It 
would  be  unfair  to  believe  that  the  ardour  which  he 
displayed  in  the  cause  of  Protestantism  between  1558  and 
1571  was  wholly  a  pretence,  and  assumed  merely  for 
interested  motives ;  yet  the  alacrity  with  which  he  returned 
to  his  former  faith  when  he  found  further  prospects  of 
advancement  barred,  leads  one  to  suspect  the  sincerity  of 
his  Puritan  professions.  If  he  wore  a  mask,  however,  he 
wore  it  discreetly  and  greatly  to  his  own  advantage. 

Sir  Henry  Percy  soon  found  the  revenues  of  a  younger 
brother  far  too  slender  for  one  who  (on  account  of  the 
Earl  of  Northumberland's  Romanist  views,  and 
mak"s  wT  consequent  retirement  from  public  life)  had  be- 
own  match,  comc  the  practical  representative  of  the  family, 
and  another.  ^^  ^^j^  ^^^^  ^^^  Qy^etn  sliould  Substantially  re- 
ward one  who  had  abandoned  his  paternal  religion  "for 

1  Orig.  State  Paptn  (Scotland),  vol.  iv.  No.  3. 

*  Camden  ;  Annalcs,  vol.  i.     State  Papers  (Scotland). 
'  Fadera,  xv.  611-12. 

♦  The  original  MSS.  of  the  correspondence  are  preserved  in  the  Record  Office 
{Scot.  Series,  State  Papers,  1509- 1603,  vol.  v.). 


4  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

her  sake,"  and  this,  too,  in  a  part  of  England  where  such 
examples  were  rare.  Nor  had  he  any  hesitation  in  putting 
forward  his  claims.  Cecil  had  met  him  during  his  visit  to 
the  Queen,  and  had  at  once  taken  a  fancy  to  this  shrewd, 
resourceful  young  soldier.  The  fancy  had  grown  into  a 
positive  liking  after  Percy  had  displayed  his  finesse  in 
dealing  with  Knox  and  the  Scottish  Calvinists  ;  and  the 
ambitious  Governor  of  Tynemouth  was  encouraged  to 
correspond  frequently  with  her  Majesty's  chief  minister. 
To  Cecil,  therefore,  Sir  Henry  wrote  on  June  28,  1560, 
complaining  of  the  inadequacy  of  his  means,  and  boldly 
hinting  that  something  might  be  done  to  enable  him  to 
cut  a  better  figure  upon  the  Border.  It  was  hard  that 
Popish  recusants  like  Northumberland  and  Leonard  Dacre 
could  ruffle  it  with  the  best,  and  go  abroad  with  splendid 
trains  ;  while  an  enthusiastic  Protestant,  the  Queen's  own 
cousin  to  boot,  was  obliged  to  put  up  with  slights  and 
sneers  at  his  change  of  religion,  simply  because  he  had 
not  power  enough  to  keep  North  Country  folk  in  awe.- 
The  precise  terms  of  Cecil's  reply  are  unknown  ;  but  he 
appears  to  have  advised  his  protege  to  seek  betterment  in  a 
wealthy  marriage.  This  counsel  was  not  lost  upon  Sir 
Henry.  During  the  following  year  he  secured  the  hand 
and  fortune  of  Katherine  Nevill,  eldest  daughter  and  co-heir 
of  John,  last  Lord  Latimer^  of  the  male  line.  The  bride's 
mother  was  sister  of  Lady  Northumberland,  both  being 
children  of  Henry  Somerset,  second  Earl  of  Worcester. 
The  match  was  in  every  respect  an  admirable  one  from 
the  husband's  point  of  view.  It  brought  him  the  rever- 
sionary rights  to  the  still  large  estates  of  this  branch  of 
the  Nevill  family,  and  eventually  carried  the  Barony  of 
Latimer  into  the  Percy  line. 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  wedding  Sir  Henry  Percy  had 
carefully  cultivated  the  friendship  of  his  future  father-in- 
law,  cajoling  the  latter  into  the  belief  that  he  would  find 
nothing  but  satisfaction  in  the  alliance.     This  hallucination 

'  The  widow  of  this  Latimer's  father  and  predecessor  was  Katherine  Parr 
who  had  married  (and  survived)  Henry  VIII. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  5 

was  speedily  to  be  dispelled.  Hardly  was  Percy  married, 
than  he  boldly  attempted  to  oust  Lord  Latimer  from  the 
control  of  his  own  affairs.  The  project  had  evidently  been 
planned  in  advance,  very  possibly  with  Cecil's  connivance. 
Old  Latimer's  character  strongly  resembled  that  ascribed 
by  Shakespeare  to  the  imaginary  Sir  John  Falstaff.  He 
had  lived  a  life  of  riot  and  debauchery,  his  chosen  com- 
panions being  gamesters,  tavern  bullies,  and  loose  women. 
Upon  the  plea  of  preserving  the  family  property  from  the 
hands  of  such  people,  Percy  sought  to  have  his  wife's 
father  declared  of  unsound  mind — the  natural  sequence 
of  such  a  declaration  being  his  (Percy's)  appointment  as 
guardian  of  the  Latimer  revenues.  But  the  old  lord  was 
considered  by  the  Council  to  still  possess  wit  sufficient  for 
the  management  of  his  estates  ;  and  Sir  Henry  dropped 
further  proceedings  for  the  time  being. 

As  Lord  Latimer  lived  almost  entirely  in  London, 
among  his  disreputable  associates,  Percy  gradually  arro- 
gated to  himself  the  position  of  head  of  the  house.  In 
this  capacity  he  proceeded  to  busy  himself  with  the  matri- 
monial affairs  of  his  sisters-in-law,  using  the  good  looks 
and  prospects  of  these  young  ladies  as  baits  to  attract 
suitors  whose  influence  might  prove  of  value  to  him- 
self. Latimer's  second  daughter  he  resolved  to  marry 
to  the  Lord  Treasurer's  first  son,  Thomas  Cecil.^  With 
this  aim  in  view,  he  addressed  the  elder  Cecil  on 
January  25,  1561 — (only  a  few  months  after  his  own 
wedding  ! ) — making  a  formal  offer  of  Mistress  NeviU's 
hand,  just  as  though  no  such  persons  as  Lord  Latimer  or 
Lady  Latimer  existed.  In  fact  he  had  not  even  spoken  of 
the  matter  to  the  proposed  bride,  or  to  her  mother,  when 
he  took  it  upon  himself  to  make  this  match.  The  Lord 
Treasurer  was  assured  that  the  fair  co-heir  of  Latimer 
would  prove  an  ideal  wife  for  his  son.  She  was,  declared 
her  brother-in-law,  "  so  good  and  vcrtuons,  as  hard  it  is  to 
find  suchc  a  sparke  of  you  the  in  this  Realnie  ;  ffor  hot  lie  is  she 
very  wise,  sober  of  beliavoure,  vjoinanly  and  in  her  doingcs  so 

'  Afterwards  2nd  Lord  Biirghley  and  1st  Earl  of  Exeter. 


6  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

temperate  as  if  she  hare  the  age  double  hir  yeres.  Of  stature 
like  to  be  goodlie,  and  of  Beutie  verry  well ;  hir  hair e  browne, 
yet  hir  complexion  veryffaire  and  cleare  ;  the  ffavoia-e  of  hir  face 
euery  Bodie  may  iiidge  it  to  haue  bothe  grace  and  wysdome."  ^ 

Sir  Henry  was  crafty  enough  to  realise  that,  in  his  case, 
frankness  was  the  best  pohcy  with  Cecil.  Accordingly  he 
admits  that  his  particular  reason  for  desiring  such  a  union 
was  the  connection  which  it  would  establish  between  him- 
self and  the  family  of  the  powerful  minister: — "But  the 
cheif  cause  (by  my  ffaithe)  is  ffor  that  I  had  rather  to  be  lynked 
w'iyoue,  than  zvithe  any  man  in  this  Reahne,  and  so  I  hartely 
desier  youe  to  excepte  it.  S^,  when  youe  haue  posed  this,  and 
pawsed  of  the  same,  I  pray  youe  lett  me  be  aduertisede."  ^  At 
the  close  of  this  remarkable  epistle,  he  requests  Cecil 
to  deal  with  him  solely  in  the  affair,  and  not  to  speak  to 
Lord  Latimer  until  everything  has  been  settled.  It  would 
also  be  as  well,  he  explains,  to  allow  him  to  break  the  news 
to  Lady  Latimer,  and  to  the  damsel  whose  future  was  thus, 
without  her  knowledge,  being  mapped  out  ; — '^ffor  women 
will  be  willfull  if  they  be  not  ffirst  soughte  tinto,"  ^ 

Percy's  matchmaking  was  completely  successful.  The 
Lord  Treasurer  fell  in  with  his  views ;  and  Thomas  Cecil 
was  married  to  Sir  Henry's  sister-in-law  in  the  course  of 
the  following  year.  * 

The  prospects  of  Sir  Henry  Percy  seemed  bright  enough 
at  this  period.  In  high  favour  with  the  Queen  and  her 
The  Prime  Minister  ;  wealthy  enough,  in  right  of  his 

Northern  wife,  to  keep  the  state  he  desired  at  Tynemouth  ; 
one  of  its  heir  presumptive  to  the  Earldom  and  estates 
results.  Qf   Northumberland  ;   and   regarded  throughout 

England  as  a  bulwark  of  Protestantism ; — he  seemed  in  a 
fair  way  to  rise  to  the  proudest  honours  in  the  gift  of 
royalty.  There  were  not  wanting  those  who  looked  upon 
him  as  the  predestined  heir  of  Burghley's  power.  Cer- 
tainly nobody  suspected  such  a  man  of  holding  in  secret 

'   Orig.  Slate  Papers,  vol.  xxi.  26.  '  Ihid.  ^  Ibid. 

*  From  this  union  the  present  Marquis  of  Exeter  is  descended. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  7 

views  favourable  to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion.  They 
could  hardly  do  so  in  view  of  Sir  Henry's  loyal  attitude  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  Northern  Rising.  His  own  brother, 
and  most  of  his  kindred,  were  involved  in  that  demonstra- 
tion against  the  penal  laws  of  Elizabeth  ;  but  Henry  Percy 
apparently  stood  iirmly  by  the  Queen  and  the  dominant 
creed.  We  have  seen  how  he  went  so  far  as  to  offer  his 
services  (if  not  to  join  openly)  in  the  pursuit  of  Northumber- 
land. Sussex  had  nothing  but  praise  for  his  conduct  during 
the  crisis.  According  to  the  President  of  the  North,  if  the 
elder  Percy  were  "  a  papist  and  a  tray  tour"  the  younger  was 
"  holly  at  the  Qiieene's  Majestic  s  devotion  in  the  cawse  of  the 
Scottishe  maryage^  sounde  from  this  rebellion,  redie  zvith  all 
his  force  to  serve  against  them,  and  willing  to  venter  his  person 
'cvith  the  first."  ^  By  way  of  reward  for  his  steadfastness, 
Elizabeth  sent  him  a  letter  of  commendation  expressly 
promising  that  the  sins  of  Northumberland  should  not  be 
visited  upon  his  brother's  head,  and  that  the  Earl's  attainder 
should  in  no  wise  affect  the  blood  of  the  next  heir.^  Nothing 
of  a  more  substantial  nature,  however,  accompanied  these 
fine  phrases ;  nor  was  Sir  Henry  chosen  as  Queen's  factor 
over  the  confiscated  estates,  as  he  had  hoped  to  be.*  Praise 
and  lip  favour  could  not  console  Percy  for  such  a  disappoint- 
ment. But  as  yet  he  had  no  idea  of  throwing  off  the  mask 
of  Protestantism.  He  continued  his  active  support  of  Sussex 
in  the  North,  and  entered  no  protest  against  the  persecu- 
tions which  followed.  There  is  an  old  tradition  that  the 
venerable  priest,  Plumtre,  who  was  hanged  before  Durham 
Cathedral  for  having  celebrated  mass,  "prophesied  for  Sir 
Harry  Percy  a  life  of  trouble  and  a  violent  death."  Percy 
does  not  appear  to  have  taken  an  active  part  in  the  massacre 
of  suspected  Catholics,  but  he  helped  to  capture  and  dis- 
arm these  unfortunates.  Moreover,  when  his  brother  wrote 
to  him  from  Scotland  for  aid,  he  exerted  himself  to  induce 

'  The  project  of  a  union  between  Queen  Mary  and  the  Duke  of  Norfolk. 

'^  Slate  Papers,  Sussex  to  Cecil,  January  7,  1570. 

'  State  Papers,  Queen  to  Sir  H.  Percy,  November  17,  1 569. 

*  This  lucrative  post  fell  to  Sir  John  Forstcr. 


8  THE    HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

the  Earl  to  surrender,  and  positively  refused  to  extend  any 
kindness  to  a  rebel.^ 

Believing  himself  in  a  position  to  look  with  confidence 
for  some  material  recognition  of  his  services,  Sir  Henry  ven- 
tured, early  in  1571,  to  petition  the  Queen  with  regard  to  the 
Northumberland  lands  and  titles.  The  attainted  Earl,  he 
pointed  out,  was  without  male  issue,  and,  under  the  patent 
of  Queen  Mary,  the  Earldom  must  eventually  pass  to  himself. 
He  therefore  asked  Elizabeth  to  show  her  sense  of  his  loyalty 
by  conferring  the  dignity  upon  him  there  and  then,  without 
waiting  for  the  late  Earl's  death.^  The  sending  of  this  peti- 
tion was  most  ill-advised.  Elizabeth  was  fully  determined  to 
retain  her  hold  upon  the  Northumberland  revenues  as  long 
as  decency  permitted.  For  this  reason,  and  not  because  of 
any  feeling  of  clemency,  she  postponed  the  execution  of  the 
seventh  Earl  (which  would,  at  the  time,  have  terminated  the 
Crown  control  of  the  estates).  Consequently  her  grasping 
I\hijesty  looked  upon  Sir  Henry  Percy's  claim  as  most  ill- 
timed  and  awkward.  It  was  particularly  awkward  indeed, 
since  Percy's  consistent  Protestantism  and  apparent  good 
faith  rendered  it  extremely  difficult  to  find  any  adequate 
reason  for  refusing  his  request.  Loyalty  and  zealous  devotion 
to  the  new  faith  counted  but  lightly  in  Elizabeth's  mind 
against  the  heavy  rent-roll  of  the  Northumberland  acres ; 
and  so  she  confessed  to  her  ministers,  with  the  brazen  can- 
dour which,  like  avarice,  was  a  notable  characteristic  of  the 
Tudor  dynasty.  Under  the  circumstances,  even  Burghley's 
voice  was  unable  to  protect  Sir  Henry  Percy.  A  score  of 
cunning  brains  were  at  work  planning  some  means  by  which 
the  latter  might  be  effectually  silenced,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  a  scheme  as  ingenious  as  it  was  amazing  had  been 
devised  for  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  the  unsuspecting 
claimant.  Briefly,  it  was  proposed  to  involve  Sir  Henry  in 
one  of  the  alleged  plots  for  the  liberation  of  Mary  Stuart, 
and  on  these  grounds  to  lodge  him  in  the  Tower,  and,  if 
possible,  contrive  his  attainder. 

'  Portion  of  this  letter  has  been  quoted  already. 
*  A  copy  of  this  petition  is  preserved  at  Sion  House. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  9 

In  the  corrupt  state  of  society,  largely  brou<4ht  about  by 
Biirghley's  methods  of  government,  there  was  little  dii'iiculty 
in  finding  false  witnesses.  It  apparently  made  no  difference 
to  these  plotters  against  his  liberty  that  Percy  had  never  seen 
or  communicated  with  the  Queen  of  Scots  in  his  life,  that 
he  had  never  betrayed  the  slightest  interest  in  her  cause,  and 
that  he  was  cordially  hated  by  Mary  herself,  as  well  as  by  all 
her  friends  and  adherents.  Despite  tliese  evident  facts,  a 
vague  list  of  charges  was  drawn  up  against  him,  on  the  autho- 
rity (it  was  pretended)  of  the  Bishop  of  Ross,  formerly 
Mary's  minister  to  England,  but  at  the  time  a  prisoner  in  the 
Tower.  The  Bishop  was  quoted  as  having  declared  that  Sir 
Henry  Percy,  when  informed  of  the  plan  by  which  the  royal 
prisoner  was  to  be  liberated,  had  agreed  not  to  interfere  with 
Mary  and  her  escort,  should  they  choose  to  pass  by  Tyne- 
mouth  on  their  way  towards  the  Border.  No  other  evidence 
was  produced  in  support  of  the  allegations  of  treason,  but 
a  warrant  for  Percy's  arrest  was  at  once  issued  and  signed 
by  the  Queen.  The  more  one  examines  into  the  affair,  the 
more  one  becomes  convinced  that  the  accused  man  was  ab- 
solutely guiltless,  and  that  the  charges  had  been  deliberately 
trumped  up  for  the  purpose  of  getting  him  out  of  the  way. 
Next  to  Sir  Henry  himself,  the  persons  most  astonished  by  the 
publication  of  his  "  treason"  were  the  very  people  with  whom 
he  was  declared  to  have  intrigued.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk 
scoffed  at  the  bare  idea  of  Percy's  connection  with  any 
Catholic  plot,'  and  Charles  Paget  alluded  to  the  matter  as  a 
palpable  absurdity.  It  is  to  be  feared  from  their  letters  that 
the  exiled  English  Catholics  looked  upon  the  arrest  of 
Northumberland's  Protestant  brother  with  a  certain  grim 
satisfaction.  He  had  chosen  to  desert  their  cause  for 
that  of  the  party  in  power,  and  this  was  his  reward  ! 

By  order  of  October  23,  1571,  Sir  John  Forster  was 
commissioned  to  arrest  Percy  at  Tynemouth  Castle.  But 
private  warning  of  what  was  intended  had  already  reached 
Sir  Henry  (probably  through  the  instrumentality  of  Burgh- 
ley),   and    he    had    hurried    to    London,    enraged    at    the 

'  Murdin,  p.  22  ;   "Deposition  of  William  Barker." 


10  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

accusations  of  disloyalty,  and  confident  of  establishing  his 
innocence.  Vain  hope  !  The  Queen  positively  refused  to 
grant  him  an  audience ;  neither  Burghley  nor  Leicester 
dared  to  say  a  word  in  his  favour ;  and  on  November  15 
he  was  committed  to  the  custody  of  that  stern  Puritan,  Sir 
Ralph  Sadler.  If  anything  further  were  needed  to  prove 
to  Percy  that  he  was  the  victim  of  a  conspiracy,  it  was  the 
identity  of  the  person  selected  as  his  gaoler.  Sadler  had 
always  disliked  him,  distrusted  him,  and  as  far  back  as 
the  summer  of  1559,'  had  gone  out  of  his  way  to  disparage 
him  to  Cecil  as  lacking  in  integrity.  While  in  the  charge 
of  one  so  prejudiced  Sir  Henry  was  not  likely  to  be  allowed 
many  chances  of  vindication.  Lest,  however,  he  might  by 
any  possible  means  succeed  in  establishing  his  blameless- 
ness  in  respect  of  the  supposed  plot,  Elizabeth's  advisers 
decided  to  bring  forward  a  secondary  charge,  to  be  held 
in  reserve  against  him.  A  commission  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  Sir  John  Forster  and  two  justices  of  the 
peace,  to  make  a  rigorous  inquiry  into  the  condition  and 
defences  of  Tynemouth  Castle  under  Percy's  governorship. 
Of  course  it  was  to  Forster's  interest,  as  Crown  factor  over 
the  Northumberland  possessions,  to  keep  Sir  Henry  in 
durance  as  long  as  possible.  The  Commission  made  an 
examination  of  the  Castle,  and  returned  a  report  to  the 
effect  that  it  was  inadequately  defended  in  the  matter  of 
ordnance.  Upon  this  Percy  w'as  indicted  for  "criminal 
negligence  in  the  Queen's  service,"  and  sent  to  the  Tower, 
without  being  allowed  to  say  one  word  in  his  own  defence. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  bitter  feelings  which  the  heir 
of  Northumberland  must  have  experienced  when  he  found 
Sir  Henry  in  himself  thus  mcwcd  up,  probably  without  cause, 
the  Tower,  ^nd  Certainly  without  trial.  He  was  too  quick- 
witted not  to  have  divined  by  this  time  the  real  explanation 
of  Elizabeth's  resentment,  viz.,  her  fixed  resolve  not  to  part 
with  the  confiscated  estates  until  they  had  been  drained  of 
a  sum  sufficient  to  satisfy  her  cupidity.     It  was  for  such  an 

'  State  Fafers:  Sadler  to  Cecil,  August  29,  1559. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  ii 

ungrateful  mistress,  then,  that  he  had  sacrificed  his  con- 
science and  quarrelled  with  his  kindred  and  friends.  After 
all  the  years  of  unswerving  obedience,  discreet  flattery,  and 
well-acted  religious  fervour,  he  was  doomed  to  linger  in  the 
Tower,  among  Papists  and  similar  traitors,  unless  he  agreed 
to  forego  his  claim  to  the  family  estates.  His  brother,  an 
avowed  rebel  and  open  contemner  of  the  reformed  religion, 
had,  so  far,  been  treated  little  worse  than  he.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  the  dismal  days  of  his  imprisonment  wrought  a 
great  change  in  Henry  Percy,  and  instilled  into  him  that 
secret  hatred  of  Queen  Elizabeth  which  he  ever  afterwards 
retained. 

Months  passed  by,  and  yet  there  was  no  hint  of  the 
charges  against  him  being  brought  to  trial.  The  Queen 
was  probably  unwilling  to  risk  a  trial  upon  such  flimsy 
grounds,  nor  could  her  agents,  with  all  their  ingenuity, 
discover  anything  more  damaging  against  the  prisoner. 
It  was  felt,  however,  that  if  he  could  be  tricked  into  a 
"  confession  of  guilt,"  the  difficulty  would  be  at  an  end. 
Several  persons  professing  the  warmest  friendship  towards 
him  advised  Percy  to  make  such  a  confession  ;  but  this 
he  at  first  refused  to  do,  although  he  was  assured  that  an 
immediate  pardon  would  result  therefrom.  The  restraints 
of  prison  life  grew  more  and  more  irksome,  however,  and, 
in  the  end,  he  was  induced  to  make  a  vague  statement  to 
the  effect  that  he  had  been  cognisant  of  some  scheme  for 
Mary  Stuart's  release,  and  had  negligently  omitted  to  give 
warning  to  the  Government.  This  admission  was  all  that 
his  enemies  required.  A  new  indictment  was  immediately 
drawn  up  against  him,  and  preparations  for  his  trial  begun. 
On  February  23,  1571-72,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Leicester 
and  Burghley,  reiterating  his  unwise  acknowledgment  of 
"  carelessness  in  her  Majesty's  service,"  and  concluding 
with  these  words  : — "And  altko'  I  nine  fully  detarmyned 
lykewysse  without  any  grudginge  or  repinynge  tharat,  duty- 
ffully  to  abyde  the  tynte  of  suche  corectyone  as  hir  hyghnes 
shall  thynke  suffesent  to  satisfy  hir  displesure  consauyed  agaust 
me  .  .  .  yet  yff  it  shall  please  her  males te  to  stand  so  myche 


12  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

my  good  and  grasius  lady  {and  the  rather  by  your  Llordshipps' 
good  ineanes  ffor  me)  as  to  releasse,  or  releue  me  of  this  hai-de 
hnprasonement  wyche  I  suffer,  beinge  more  hurtffiil  to  my  wake 
body  tliene  greuous  to  my  mynde  (I  tlianke  God),  I  wyl  promys 
to  hir  hyghnes  by  your  honors  Ttott  only  my  best  and  vtter- 
inost  endeuyre  to  contenue  suche  true  and  fathefull  saruys  as  I 
haue  bein  heretofore  always  redy  and  wyllynge  to  do  for  her 
maieste,  but  to  better  it  hereafter  yeff  I  may  passably  by  any 
mealies."''- 

To  this  very  humble  petition  the  Queen  turned  a  deaf 
ear.  Percy  waited  vainly  all  through  the  spring  and 
summer  of  1572  for  the  release  which  had  been  promised 
to  him  if  he  "confessed"  to  an  uncommitted  fault.  In 
August  came  the  news  that  his  brother,  the  Earl  of  Nor- 
thumberland, had  died  upon  the  scaffold,  and  Sir  Henry's 
own  head  began  to  sit  uneasily  upon  his  shoulders.  But 
Elizabeth  had,  as  yet,  no  intention  of  taking  his  life.  She 
merely  wished  to  impress  upon  him  the  dangers  of  run- 
ning counter  to  her  wishes,  and  the  wisdom  of  accepting 
thankfully  whatever  rewards  fell  to  his  share,  without  ven- 
turing to  ask  for  anything  further. 

On  November  i,  1572,  Leicester  informed  Burghley  of 
the  Queen's  determination  to  bring  the  prisoner  to  a 
speedy  trial.  In  the  meantime  she  wished  him  to  be  very 
strictly  guarded,  and  deprived  of  the  various  privileges  which 
had  been  obtained  for  him  through  Burghley's  influence 
with  Sir  Owen  Hopton,  lieutenant-governor  of  the  Tower. 
" Besyde,"  writes  Leicester,  "she  said  she  was  informyd  that 
Sir  Hary  Percy e  had,  as  yt  wer,  the  liberty  of  the  Tower  and 
walked  openlie  uppon  the  Hill  at  his plesure,  andivho  lyst  talked 
with  hym.  .  .  .  '  Thys  manner  of  specyell  favor  shewyd  to  him 
above  the  rest '  (sayth  she)  '  wyll  cawse  some  folks  to  tlmike  that 
it  is  for  Burleigh's  sake  :  therefore  Ictt  him  have  specyall  care 
to  give  chardge,  both  to  my  Icartied  councell  and  the  fudges,  to 
have  good  regard  to  the  Proceedings  ivith  him  ;  for  I  think,' 
qttoth  she,  ^  his  fault e  is  as  grete  as  any  man's,  though  yt  be  no 

'  State  Papers:  Sir  H.  Percy  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester  and  Lord  Burghley. 
.   .  .  Murdiii. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  13 

hie  treeson.'  Suerly  I  find  she  lookes  to  have  Sir  Hary  Percyc 
secretly^  dealt  withal,  and  the  more  for  that  yt  toucheth  not  his 
lyfe."  At  last,  after  an  imprisonment  of  over  eighteen 
months,  Percy  was  brought  to  trial.  No  evidence  of  any 
sort  was  produced,  save  the  written  admissions  of  negli- 
gence, which  he  had  been  prevailed  upon  to  make  in  hope 
of  pardon.  These  were  regarded  as  tantamount  to  a  plea  of 
"guilty  ;  "  and  the  judges  condemned  him  to  forfeit  to  the 
Queen's  privy  purse  a  fine  of  5000  marks.  His  salary  as 
Governor  of  Tynemouth  had  not  been  paid  for  a  year,  and 
he  was  utterly  unable  to  raise  this  large  sum.  Legally  the 
Northumberland  estates  were  his  from  the  moment  of  his 
brother's  execution,  but  he  did  not  dare  to  claim  them,  and 
was  accordingly  sent  back  to  his  cell  in  the  Tower,  until  he 
could  raise  at  least  ;^2oo  as  security  for  the  discharge  of  his 
fine.  With  the  help  of  Burghley  and  old  Lord  Latimer 
(whom  Percy  had  attempted  to  place  under  restraint)  the 
earnest  money  was  obtained  and  the  prisoner  set  at  liberty. 
He  was  even  permitted  to  enter  into  possession  of  his  landed 
property  in  the  south  of  England  ;  but  it  was  expressly 
stipulated  that  he  should  confine  himself  as  much  as  possible 
to  the  manor  of  Petworth,  and  that  on  no  account  was  he  to 
approach  within  ten  miles  of  London.  A  few  weeks  later, 
however,  we  read  that  "  at  the  humble  suit  of  his  zvife,  being 
ivith  child,  Her  Majcstye  for  more  ease  permits  the  Earl  of 
Northumberlaitd  to  come  to  London  or  thereabouts,  jising  him- 
self circumspectly  ;  and  that  he  should  not  depart  above  one  or 
two  miles  from  thence  until  her  highness's  pleasure  were 
known."  -  The  last  clause  was  inserted  in  order  to  prevent 
Percy  from  making  a  journey  to  the  north  of  England.-' 

Strictly  speaking,  Sir  Henry  had  been  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland since  August  22,  1572.*     But  the  Queen  did  not  at 

'  Such  is  the  reading  in  the  printed  version  of  the  letter.  The  original,  how- 
ever, is  very  hard  to  read,  and  the  word  may  have  been  "severely." 

'  Murdin,  p.  228. 

'  Journal  of  Privy  Council. 

■*  By  the  terms  of  Queen  Mary's  patent,  his  blood  was  not  affected  by  the 
7lh  Earl's  attainder. 


14  THE    HOUSE  OF    PERCY 

first  choose  to  recognise  him  as  such  ;  and,  following  the 
wise  course  which  he  had  already  pursued  in  regard  to  the 
estates  of  his  late  brother,  he  made  no  attempt  to  assert 
his  rights.  Such  submissive  conduct  could  not  fail  to  pro- 
pitiate her  Majesty.  Percy  was  invited  to  Court,  where, 
by  judiciously  blended  penitence  and  flattery,  he  succeeded 
in  making  an  excellent  impression.  On  February  8, 1575-76, 
he  was  allowed  to  take  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords  as 
eighth  Earl.  But  the  road  to  the  North  Country  remained 
closed  to  him.  York,  Durham,  and  the  Border  counties 
were  being  slowly  terrorised  into  submission,  and  men  like 
Sadler,  Bowes,  and  Forster  wanted  no  ambitious  Percy  to 
take  the  work,  and  the  rewards  thereof,  out  of  their 
hands.  Still  the  Earl  continued  patient.  He  had  accom- 
plished much  when  he  won  back  the  family  honours  ;  per- 
haps, in  due  time,  he  might  once  more  occupy  the  Percy's 
hereditary  position  north  of  the  Humber.  In  the  meantime 
he  applied  himself  with  assiduity  to  the  improvement  of  his 
southern  manors,  and  to  the  various  pursuits  of  a  country 
gentleman.  Hunting  and  hawking  occupied  most  of  his  time, 
and  it  was  upon  safe  subjects  such  as  these  that  he  corre- 
sponded with  the  busy  world  without.  On  September  9, 
1576,  we  find  him  writing  to  Burghley  that  he  "is  sorry  he 
was  not  at  the  killing  of  the  great  stag ;  for  he  did  bear  a 
malice  against  him  since  he  was  first  at  hunting  of  him." » 
The  stables  at  Petworth  were  capable  of  holding  a  very  large 
number  of  horses,  and  Northumberland  proposed  to  the 
Secretary  that,  since  he  was  temporarily  debarred  from  serv- 
ing the  Queen  in  more  important  affairs,  he  might  turn  his 
leisure  to  some  use  by  breeding  and  training  "steedes  of 
war."  Elizabeth,  pleased  with  the  suggestion  appointed  him 
a  "  commissioner  of  war-horses  "  for  the  county  of  Sussex. 
From  1577  to  1582  his  name  and  that  of  his  wife  appear  re- 
gularly in  the  lists  of  donors  and  recipients  of  New  Year 
gifts  ;  -  and  the  Queen  even  consented  to  visit  Petworth.  It 
is  probable,  however,  that  the  expedition  was  abandoned  on 

1  State  Papers. 

'  Calendar  of  State  Papers. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  15 

account  of  the  wretched  condition  of  the  roads.  The  old 
saw,  "Sussex  for  mire"  was  as  true  then  as  now;  and 
Northumberland's  brother-in-law,  Cornvvallis,i  protested 
that  the  roughness  and  inequality  of  the  various  tracks 
across  the  downs  rendered  them  wholly  unsuited  for 
a  royal  progress.  In  the  latter's  account  of  tlie  various 
journeys  of  Elizabeth,  he  omits  to  mention  that  to  Petworth  ;- 
but  there  is,  or  was,  a  local  tradition  to  the  effect  that  her 
Majesty  did  actually  spend  a  night  under  the  roof  of  the 
old  mansion. 

Seeing  the  renewed  favour  with  which  he  was  ap- 
parently regarded,  the  Earl's  friends  and  adherents  in 
the  North  began  to  agitate  for  his  return  to  the  Border, 
Sir  George  Bowes  was  now  dead,  and  it  was  pointed  out 
to  the  Queen  that  his  place  might  be  advantageously 
filled  by  a  soldier  and  statesman  of  approved  skill  like 
the  banished  heir  of  Alnwick.  Most  of  the  disinterested 
Northern  Protestants  lent  their  support  to  the  movement ; 
and  Sir  Charles  Rokeby,  addressing  Burghley  in  September 
1580,  accused  the  then  Lord  President,  Shrewsbury,  of 
treachery  and  incapacity,  asking  at  the  same  time  for 
Northumberland's  nomination  to  the  post.^  There  re- 
mained, however,  a  few  of  the  old  ultra-Puritan  -party,  such 
as  Sadler  and  Forster,  who  hated  the  name  and  race  of 
Percy,  and  who  succeeded  in  persuading  Elizabeth  that, 
although  outwardly  loyal,  the  Earl  was  at  heart  a  Romanist, 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  Mary  Stuart.  Cecil,  following  the 
plan  upon  which  he  had  decided  at  the  time  of  Nor- 
thumberland's arrest,  remained  absolutely  neutral  in  the 
matter.  In  the  end,  the  Queen  expressed  herself  as  not 
yet  fully  satisfied  of  the  Earl's  steadfastness  in  the  estab- 
lished faith,  and  forbade  him  to  go  North  until  further 
orders.     This  was  bad  news  to   all  those  who  had  been 

'  Sir  William  Cornwallis  of  Brome,  who  had  married  Lucy,  third  daughter 
and  co-heir  of  Lord  Latimer. 

-  The  forerunner  of  the  present  house  at  Petworth  was  a  large  structure,  set 
in  a  ring  of  rolling  downs  and  surrounded  by  stables,  outhouses,  and  lofty 
walls. 

^  State  Papers. 


i6  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

hopefully  building  upon  the  rehabilitation  of  the  House 
of  Percy.  To  the  Earl  himself  it  came  as  a  bitter  disap- 
pointment ;  nor  could  the  release  of  nearly  all  his  Northern 
estates  by  the  Crown  (a  measure  of  royal  clemency  which 
soon  followed)  altogether  console  him  for  this  continued 
restraint.  It  was  his  belief  that  great  properties  could  not 
be  adequately  administered  without  considerable  personal 
supervision  on  the  part  of  their  owners ;  and  although  the 
chief  Percy  agent  in  the  North  (Sir  Cuthbert  Collingwood) 
was  one  in  whom  he  trusted  absolutely,  it  was  nevertheless 
his  earnest  desire  to  see  for  himself  the  condition  in  which 
ten  years  of  Government  control  and  lawless  raiding  had 
left  his  lands  and  houses.  Collingwood's  first  report  only 
strengthened  this  wish,  for  it  presented  a  most  gloomy 
picture  of  affairs.^  The  outlawed  Catholics  of  Redesdale 
and  Tynedale  had  for  several  seasons  made  the  country 
about  Alnwick  their  chosen  foraging  ground  ;  nor  had  the 
Scots  been  behindhand  in  ravaging  this  devoted  territory. 
Poaching  went  on  openly  in  broad  daylight ;  and  now 
that  the  Crown  rangers  had  been  ordered  to  resign  their 
horns  of  office  to  those  of  the  Earl,  conflicts  between  the 
two  bodies  were  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  the  slaughter 
of  deer  proved  so  great  that  there  was  a  possibility  of  the 
forests  being  completely  denuded  of  game.  The  poorer 
tenants  were  in  dire  straits ;  for,  owing  to  the  depredations 
of  various  armed  bands,  they  had  been  unable  to  keep 
either  cattle  or  grain  with  any  degree  of  safety.  The  ter- 
rible massacre  of  the  Catholics,  moreover,  had  left  most 
of  the  smaller  farms  in  the  hands  of  women  and  young 
children,  so  that  many  thousand  acres  of  arable  land  re- 
mained unfilled  and  unproductive, — another  evil  result  of 
Elizabeth's  intolerant  policy.  But  although  Northumber- 
land's friends  laid  all  these  facts  before  the  Council,  and 
pleaded  that  the  strong  hand  of  the  master  was  needed  to 
restore  order  and  right  abuses  in  the  Percy  domains,  the 
old  prohibition  continued  in  force,  and  the  Earl's  restless 
spirit  chafed  more  and  more  against  the  confinement  of 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  17 

Petworth.  Excluded  from  active  participation  in  state  or 
military  government,  he  found  the  simple  occupations  of 
tlie  country  irksome,  and  began  to  take  a  dangerous  interest 
in  following,  from  a  distance,  the  devious  turns  and  tricks 
of  the  great  game  of  politics. 

At  first  Northumberland's  connection  with  the  intrigues 
of  the  period  was  purely  that  of  a  discreet  spectator ;  but 
The  Earrs  "^^  ^™^  wcut  OH,  he  brooded  over  the  unjust 
Catholic  treatment  meted  out  to  him  by  the  Queen,  and, 
breed  feeling  himself  an  injured  man,  lent  a  too  ready 

trouble.  g^j-  ^q  g^pjy  projects  which  might  tend  to  bring 
about  an  alteration  in  his  condition.  Whoever  had  a  tale 
to  tell  of  Catholic  plots  or  cabals  against  the  Ministry, 
found  a  warm  welcome  at  Petworth.  These  things  were, 
of  course,  duly  reported  to  the  Queen  ;  for  all  the  great 
ofiicers  of  state  had  now  adopted  Burghley's  system  of 
espionage,  and  Hatton,  Walsingham,  and  the  rest  had  their 
jackals  just  like  my  Lord  Secretary.  Elizabeth  felt  that  she 
had  acted  wisely  in  not  making  Henry  Percy  free  of  the 
North  Country,  and  there  were  whispers  at  Court  that  the 
Earl's  recently  restored  estates  might  soon  find  other 
owners. 

The  first  note  of  royal  displeasure  reached  Petworth  in 
the  form  of  a  complaint  concerning  Northumberland's 
hospitality  towards  a  French  gentleman,  tlie  Chevalier  de 
Pr^aux,  Sieur  du  Bec,^  who  was  suspected  of  being  an 
emissary  from  the  English  Catholics  abroad.  News  of 
Preaux's  prolonged  sojourn  at  Petworth  was  conveyed  to 
Elizabeth,  and  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  and  others  sought  to 

'  The  identity  of  this  person  has  been  a  source  of  some  confusion.  He  is 
variously  styled  " Prezaux,"  "Bex,"  &c.,  in  the  State  Papers ;  while  Mr.  De 
Fontilanque  identifies  him  as  "  M.  de  Prevaitx,"  a  gentleman  of  the  chamber  in 
the  Due  d'Anjou's  household,  and  then  secretary  to  the  French  Embassy  in 
London.  He  was  actually  the  Chevalier  Hector  de  Preaux,  a  cadet  of  the  ancient 
house  of  Preaux  in  Touraine,  and  had  acquired  the  estate  of  Bee  through  his  wife 
Anne  de  Vardes,  Dame  du  Bee.  He  afterwards  rose  to  be  Lieutenant-General 
under  Henry  IV.  It  is  easy  to  understand  how  Northumberland  mixed  up 
"  Preaux"  and  the  territorial  "  Bee." 

II.  B 


i8  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

persuade  her  that  the  Frenchman's  visit  boded  no  good. 
Burghley  despatched  a  warning  note  to  Northumberland ; 
to  which  the  latter  at  once  replied,  protesting  that  the 
relations  between  his  guest  and  himself  had  been  perfectly 
harmless.  The  Earl  explains  that  his  eldest  son,  who  was 
resident  in  Paris,  had  fallen  "  in  great  extremitye  of  siknes 
and  danger  of  lyffe," — a  not  unnatural  result  of  the  gay 
life  which  that  young  man  had  been  leading.^  ^^ Being 
advertjsed  thereof,"  continues  the  letter,  "/  sent  one  of  my 
servants  to  Mons.  de  M archemonde ^  as  well  to  understande  if 
he  had  any  worde  in  what  cass  7ny  boye  was  in,  as  also  to 
require  him  to  reseve  from  me  one  hundrythe  poundes,  and 
to  causse  so  viyche  mony  be  delyvered  to  my  boye  with  all  the 
expedission  he  myght.  .  .  .  Hereupon  my  servante  delyvered 
one  hundrythe  poundes  in  angelles  to  Mons.  Marchemonde  as 
in  way  of  exchange,  who  had  resayved  at  that  instante  letters 
from  my  sone  of  his  recoverye  to  helthe ;  and  being  withall 
determyned  to  geve  me  knowlyche  of  his  departure  and  to  bide 
me  farewell  sent  Mons.  du  Bex  unto  me,  both  with  the  letters 
and  message''  ^  It  does  not  appear  why  Northumberland's 
servant  was  not  considered  good  enough  to  carry  March- 
mont's  compliments  to  Petworth.  Perhaps  the  Chevalier 
de  Pr^aux  desired  to  see  something  of  English  country 
life  before  returning  to  Paris.  If  so,  he  was  destined 
to  disappointment,  for  Northumberland  declares  that  he 
(Preaux)  was  overtaken  by  a  severe  illness  the  morning 
after  his  arrival,  and  lay  for  months  confined  to  bed  under 
the  care  of  one  "  master  doctor  fhonsone."  * 

The  Earl's  enemies  at  court  declined  to  accept  this 
specious  story  as  explanatory  of  the  lengthy  stay  of  M. 
d'Anjou's  servant  at  Petworth,  and  Northumberland's 
doings  were  watched  more  carefully  than  ever.  It  was  not 
long   before    new   and    graver    cause  for   suspicion   arose. 

'  The  youth  of  Lord  Percy,  afterwards  ninth  Earl,  was  anything  but  regular, 
if  one  may  believe  the  accounts  of  his  mother,  Lady  Northumberland,  and  others. 

-  De  Marchmont,  the  French  Ambassador  to  England. 

'  Northumberland  to  Burghley,  September  25,  15S2;  Harkian  MSS.,  vol. 
V.  6993. 

*  Ibid. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  19 

During  the  winter  of  1582-83,  while  the  Throckmorton 
scheme  for  Mary  Stuart's  release  was  being  hatched,  several 
of  the  conspirators  visited  the  Earl  and  were  entertained  by 
him.  Of  course,  as  Mr.  De  Fonblanque  points  out,  many  of 
these  "had  been  his  friends  in  former  times,  and  his  reception 
of  such  persons  at  Petworth,  and  even  his  general  sympathy 
with  their  cause,  is  compatible  with  his  innocence  of  com- 
plicity in  their  more  criminal  designs,"^  But  Elizabeth  was 
not  one  to  admit  of  any  fine  distinctions  between  actual  par- 
ticipation in  the  plot  and  mere  passive  sympathy  with  its 
aims.  To  her  mind  the  presence  at  Petworth  of  such  men 
as  Arundel,  Dr.  Parry,  Chidiock  Tichbourne,  and  the  Irish 
conspirators  Patrick  and  Robert  Barnewall,  was  quite  suffi- 
cient to  brand  Northumberland  as  a  "  traitor  and  relapsed 
Papist."  The  Earl  was  summoned  to  London,  and  there 
ordered  to  confine  himself  to  the  precincts  of  his  town- 
house,''  until  full  investigation  could  be  made  into  his 
conduct. 

Despite  their  utmost  efforts,  Hatton  and  the  other  per- 
sons entrusted  with  the  collection  of  this  part  of  the  evidence 
could  produce  little  or  nothing  of  an  incriminatory  nature 
against  Northumberland  or  his  cousin,  Arundel,  beyond  the 
admitted  fact  that  they  had  been  on  terms  of  intimacy  with 
sundry  friends  and  adherents  of  the  Scottish  Queen.  In- 
deed, most  of  the  "depositions"  laid  before  the  Council  in 
regard  to  the  Earl  are  ridiculously  trivial.  "  One  man  de- 
posed that  he  had  been  employed  by  the  Earl  to  carry  a 
pack  from  Petworth  to  Arundel,  which  was  'so  weighty  that 
it  almost  spoilt  his  horse;'  another  that  'on  the  day  that 
Arthur  Shaf toe's  house  ivas  searched,  the  Earl  lent  his  white 
geldi7ig'  to  a  suspected  person;  and  a  third  stated  that 
among  the  conspirators  he  had  'seen  somebody  disguised  in  a 

'  Annals  of  the  House  of  Percy,  vol.  ii. 

-  The  Northumberland  House  of  the  day  was  near  St.  Andrews  Hill,  Black- 
friars,  and  opposite  the  church  of  St.  Andrews  Wardrobe.  Adjoining  was  a  tene- 
ment afterwards  inhabited  by  William  Shakespeare  while  an  actor  at  the  Black- 
friars  Theatre.  When  Shakespeare  retired  to  Stratford,  he  rented  this  latter 
house  to  one  Robinson.    [See  Will  of  William  ShaiespeareJ] 


20  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

white  frieze  jerkin,  wlio  might  have  been  the  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland.'"'^ Nevertheless,  when  Throckmorton  and  Lord 
Henry  Howard  were  sent  to  the  Tower  in  February  1584, 
the  Queen  insisted  that  Northumberland  should  also  be 
committed.  The  unhappy  Throckmorton  was  three  times 
subjected  to  the  rack,  but  refused  to  implicate  any  of  his 
associates  in  the  conspiracy.  A  fourth  application  of  the 
torture  proved  too  much  for  his  fortitude,  however, 
and  he  made  a  so-called  "confession"  to  Elizabeth's 
Inquisitors,  in  which  Northumberland  and  others  were 
admitted  to  be  relapsed  Romanists  and  sympathisers  with 
Queen  Mary's  cause.  But  if  the  Puritan  "  Holy  Office  " 
hoped  by  these  means  to  secure  the  conviction  of  Earl 
Henry  they  were  deprived  of  that  satisfaction  ;  for  Throck- 
morton solemnly  retracted  on  the  scaffold  almost  every- 
thing which  had  been  wrung  from  him  in  the  torture- 
chamber. 

Greatly  against  her  will,  the  Queen  was  forced  to  set 
Northumberland  at  liberty.  But  she  had  no  idea  of  allow- 
ing him  to  wholly  escape  unpunished,  and  so  commanded 
that,  as  a  mark  of  her  displeasure,  he  should  be  removed 
from  the  governorship  of  Tynemouth  Castle. 

The  Earl  protested  strenuously  against  this  piece  of 
feminine  spite,  pointing  out  that  he  was  being  punished  for 
sins  which  could  not  be  proved  against  him,  and  that  he  had 
governed  Tynemouth  loyally  for  her  Majesty  during  a 
quarter  of  a  century .^  Furthermore  he  pleaded  that  such  a 
measure  would  deprive  some  twenty  of  his  old  soldiers — 
men  who  had  fought  stoutly  for  the  Queen  on  many  a  field 
— of  their  sole  means  of  livelihood  ;  for  if  the  governorship 
were  taken  from  him,  he  could  not,  in  consequence  of  his 
own  large  family,  spare  enough  money  to  maintain  these 
veteran  retainers  any  longer.  Disgrace,  too,  would  attach 
to  his  name   in   the   North    Country,  and   all   his   former 

'  De  Fonblanque,  quoting  from  Original  Slate  P^ipers,  Record  Office. 

-  He  had  been  appointed  to  the  post,  while  still  in  his  minority,  by  Queen 
Mar>',  and  had  twice  re-fortified  Tynemouth  Castle  almost  entirely  at  his  own 
expense. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  21 

services  be  forgotten.^  These  pleas  fell  upon  deaf  ears. 
Northumberland  was  dismissed,  and  the  wardenship  of 
Tynemouth  bestowed  upon  Sir  Francis  Russell. 

If  Northumberland  had  been  indiscreet  before  his 
second  imprisonment,  he  now  became  positively  reckless, 
TheEarrs  Openly  professing  the  Roman  Catholic  religion, 
plots  lead  3,^^  mixing  freely  with  those  most  interested 
further  in    the    welfare    of    the    Scottish   Queen.    Two 

danger.  years   bcfore,    an   acquaintance   had   sprung   up 

between  him  and  Charles  Paget,^  in  consequence  of  the 
latter's  kindness  to  young  Lord  Percy  while  a  resident 
of  Paris,  Paget's  name  was  written  very  largely  in  the 
Government's  black  books,  and  when  he  visited  England 
on  a  pretended  matter  of  business,  spies  dogged  his  foot- 
steps everywhere.  One  of  his  first  visits  was  to  the  town 
residence  of  Northumberland,  and  subsequently  he  was 
invited  to  Petworth,  in  company  with  his  brother,  Lord 
Paget.  This  supplied  the  Earl's  relentless  foes  with  the 
opportunity  they  longed  for.  In  spite  of  Burghley's  efforts 
to  exculpate  him,  Northumberland  was  once  more  arrested 
on  a  charge  of  holding  treasonable  conferences  with  the 
Pagets,  Babington,  and  Robert  Barnewall.  "  Yesterday" 
wrote  Walsingham  to  Sir  E.  Stafford,  on  December  i6, 
1584,  "  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  was  committed  prisoner  to 
his  own  house,  under  the  charge  of  Sir  S.  Leighton,for  confer- 
ence with  Charles  Paget.  He  confesses  the  conference ;  but 
denies  that  he  knew  of  any  cause  for  Pagets  return  to  England, 
except  to  confer  with  his  brother.  Lord  Paget,  on  private  affairs  ; 
but  others  say  that  the  Earl  knew  more  than  this.  .  .  . 
Charles  Paget  is  a  most  dangerous  instnonent,  and  I  wish, 
for  Northumberland s  sake,  he  had  never  been  born."  ^ 

Once  again  the  ingenuity  of  the  Vice-Chancellor,  Sir 
Christopher  Hatton,  was  strained  to  bring  home  to  the  Earl 

'   Original  Stiite  Papers,  Addenda ;  Record  Office  (1580-1625). 

^  One  of  the  most  energetic  secret  agents  of  the  Catholic  party.  He  was 
attainted  in  the  following  year,  together  with  his  elder  brother  William,  Lord 
Paget,  Sir  Francis  Englefield,  and  several  others. 

'  Raleigh  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil  (Murdin,  p.  811). 


22  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

the  charges  of  conspiracy.  His  prosecution  was  pushed 
forward  with  a  persistent  malevolence  which  could  only 
have  emanated  from  persons  keenly  desirous  of  compassing 
his  death  or  the  consfication  of  his  estates.  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  i  and  many  of  the  Earl's  Catholic  friends  point  to 
Hatton  as  the  secret  enemy  who  laboured  thus  relentlessly 
to  bring  the  accused  to  the  scaffold.  Others  advance  the 
Queen's  covetousness  as  the  real  motive  of  this  and  former 
attempts  to  convict  the  holder  of  the  Percy  estates.  But 
whoever  his  chief  antagonists  may  have  been,  they  failed 
for  the  third  time  to  prove  him  guilty  of  any  overt  act  of 
treason. 

The  Queen  of  Scots  herself,  while  sending  messages  of 
condolence  to  Throckmorton  and  Lord  Henry  Howard, 
absolutely  disowned  any  connection  with  Northumberland, 
and  this  too  in  a  private  letter  to  one  of  her  agents,  inter- 
cepted by  the  Crown.^  All  the  arrested  conspirators,  save 
one,  denied  that  the  Earl  was  privy  to  their  schemes.  The 
solitary  exception,  William  Shelley,  while  being  tortured  on 
the  rack,  is  said  to  have  acknowledged  that  Northumberland 
was  under  promise  to  join  the  plot;  but,  as  in  Throck- 
morton's case,  Shelley  afterwards  retracted  this  statement. 
Years  afterwards,  while  a  free  agent  in  France,  and  when 
nobody  could  be  harmed  or  benefited  by  the  declaration, 
Charles  Paget  solemnly  denied  that  the  Earl  had  given  any 
such  pledge,  or  that  he  had  taken  any  part  in  the  intrigue. 
Northumberland  himself  demanded  an  inquiry ;  which,  he 
maintained,  would  prove  him  free  from  any  taint  of  treason. 
That  he  had  reverted  to  the  old  faith  he  tacitly  admitted, 
nor  did  he  conceal  his  sympathy  with  the  imprisoned  heir 
to  the  throne  ;  but  to  all  the  other  charges  made  against  him 
he  returned  an  indignant  denial.  The  persistence  with 
which  he  asked  for  a  full  investigation,  and  his  refusal  of  all 
offers  of  compromise,  speak  volumes  in  his  favour.  Hatton 
admits  that  he  tempted  the  Earl  with  the  promise  of  a  free 
pardon   if   he  agreed   to  sign  some  form   of   trumped   up 

'  Raleigh  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil  (Murdin,  p.  Sll). 

'  Mary  Stuart  to  M.  de  Maurissiere,  1584;  Harleian  AfSS.,  No.  1582. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  23 

confession,  but  that  his  prisoner  absolutely  refused  to 
be  entrapped.! 

Shortly  before  Christmas,  Northumberland  was  re- 
moved from  his  own  house,  and,  for  the  third  time,  im- 
prisoned in  the  Tower.  The  journey  thither  was  made  by 
water,  and  it  was  noted  as  ominous  that  on  this  occasion 
the  Earl  passed  through  "Traitor's  Gate."  From  his  cell 
he  wrote  appeal  after  appeal, — to  the  Queen,  to  Burghley, 
and  even  to  the  Vice-Chancellor  (Hatton),  whom  he  had 
learned  to  look  upon  as  the  most  active  of  his  persecutors. 
But  all  his  arguments  and  prayers  were  left  unheeded. 
The  Government  did  not  even  dare  to  accord  him  the 
poor  privilege  of  a  secret  inquiry,  which,  failing  open  trial 
by  his  peers,  he  was  "  full  willing  to  accept."  The  plain 
truth  was,  that  while  they  desired  his  conviction  on  charges 
of  high  treason,  the  evidence  in  their  possession  merely 
warranted  his  arraignment  as  a  religious  backslider  and 
confessed  harbourer  of  Roman  Catholics.  Burghley,  too, 
remained  neutral  in  the  case  of  his  friend,  and  refused  to 
lend  either  his  own  talents  as  prosecutor,  or  the  services  of 
his  bloodhound  spies  to  the  cause  of  the  Earl's  adversaries. 
Thus  matters  stood  when — at  an  ill  time  for  the  good  name 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  or  of  her  "frisking  favourite,"'^  Hatton 
— all  England  was  shocked  by  the  news  that  the  Earl  had 
met  with  a  violent  death  in  the  Tower. 

Did  Northumberland  commit   self-murder,  or  was   he 

done  to  death  as  the  result  of  a  conspiracy  ?     To  this  day 

the   mystery  remains   as   dark   as   the   midnight 

Suicide  or  -'  -'  ... 

assassina-  Under  covcr  of  which  the  crime  itself,  suicide  or 
*'°°'  assassination,  was  committed.    From  that  summer 

morning  when  the  finding  of  Henry  Percy's  mangled 
corpse  was  first  noised  abroad,  controversy  and  party 
rancour  have  raged  around  the  subject.     Let  the  reader 

>  Statement  of  Sir  C.  Hatton.  A  True  and SummarU  Report:  Lord  Somers' 
Tracts,  vol.  i. 

"  "Frisking"  was  an  expression  applied  to  Hatton  by  stout  old  Sir  John 
Perrot,  the  Queen's  half-brother,  who  was  vindictively  prosecuted  by  the  Vice- 
Chamberlain. 


24  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

draw  his  own  conclusions  from  the  evidence  here  set 
forth,  remembering  first  that  there  are  no  less  than  fom* 
distinct  theories,  each  of  which  professes  to  give  the  true 
version  of  the  tragedy.  The  Puritan  Government  main- 
tained that  Northumberland,  knowing  himself  to  be  a 
traitor  and  a  rebel,  and  aware  that  his  treason  was  discovered, 
had  taken  his  own  life  in  order  to  avoid  the  disgrace  of  a 
public  execution.  The  more  moderate  Protestants,  while 
accepting  the  hypothesis  of  suicide,  refused  to  admit  the 
Earl's  treason,  and  held  that  he  had  deliberately  slain  him- 
self in  order  to  avoid  unjust  condemnation  at  the  hands  of 
unscrupulous  foes,  and  in  the  hope,  by  this  desperate  means, 
of  saving  his  threatened  estates  for  his  eldest  son,  whom  he 
dearly  loved.  Again,  many  persons  of  note — among  them 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh — accused  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  of 
assassinating  the  Earl,  either  for  his  own  private  ends  or  in 
obedience  to  the  promptings  of  higher  authority.  And, 
lastly,  the  Catholic  and  Marian  faction,  with  one  accord, 
proclaimed  Elizabeth  guilty  of  having  procured  Nor- 
thumberland's murder  in  order  to  possess  herself  of  his 
property. 

On  the  evening  of  June  20,  1585,  Sir  Christopher 
Hatton  (in  his  capacity  of  Vice-Chamberlain)  sent  sealed 
instructions  to  Sir  Owen  Hopton,  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower, 
commanding  the  latter  to  remove  the  special  warder  who 
had  hitherto  guarded  the  Earl  of  Northumberland's  person 
and  to  substitute  one  Bailiffe,  a  tenant  and  retainer  of 
Hatton's  own.  This  was  done,  and  Bailiffe  entered  upon 
his  new  duties.  Early  next  morning,  Northumberland  was 
found  in  his  bed,  shot  through  the  heart.  A  coroner's 
jury  was  hastily  summoned,  consisting  of  Tower  Officials 
and  tradesmen  of  the  neighbourhood.  Bailiffe,  Sir  Owen 
Hopton,  and  a  few  other  witnesses  were  examined,  and 
the  jury  returned  a  verdict  to  the  effect  that  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  having  secretly  obtained  possession  of  a 
dagg,  or  pistol,  had  "  bolted  the  door  on  the  inner  side,  lest 
any  man  should  foresee  or  withstande  his  devilish  intent  and 
purpose  ;  and  not  having  the  Alniightie  God  or  hisfeare  before 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  25 

his  eics,  but  being  inoucd  and  seduced  by  the  instigation  of  the 
devil,  did  discharge  the  said  dag  into  his  bodie  and  liearte  .  .  . 
of  which  he  instant  lie  died" 

Little  time  was  lost  in  getting  rid  of  the  dead  man's 
body,  which  was  buried  at  daybreak  on  June  23,  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Peter-ad-Vincula,  within  the  precincts  of  the 
Tower,  The  grim  news  spread  far  and  near,  circulated  by 
the  various  foreign  representatives  and  secret  agents  in 
London,  and  the  verdict  of  felo  de  se  was  greeted  on 
every  side  by  a  chorus  of  incredulity.  At  first  even  staunch 
supporters  of  the  dominant  party  refused  to  believe  that 
Northumberland  had  taken  his  own  life.  If  the  Puritans 
fancied  that  they  had  heard  the  last  of  the  Earl,  when  "  his 
wretched  carcase,"  as  they  called  it,^  was  bestowed  in 
the  tomb,  they  were  quickly  disillusioned.  On  June  26, 
Walsingham  received  a  letter  from  Sir  Francis  Russell, 
voicing  the  scepticism  which  prevailed  among  Northern 
Protestants.  "  The  manner  of  Lord  Northumberland's  death," 
wrote  his  successor  in  the  government  of  Tynemouth,  "will 
hardlie  be  believed  in  this  countrie  to  be  as  you  have  writteny^ 
From  Paris  the  English  Ambassador  protested  that  he 
could  persuade  no  person  of  intelligence  to  credit  the  find- 
ing of  the  Tower  jury ;  and  added  on  his  own  account  a 
broad  hint  that  the  official  story  needed  mending.^  The 
French  and  Spanish  Ambassadors  to  England,  in  reporting 
the  event  to  their  several  Governments,  expressly  stated 
that  Northumberland  had  been  assassinated  with  the  aid 
and  connivance  of  Elizabeth  ;  *  and  this  was  the  version 
generally  accepted  throughout  the  Continent,  alike  by 
Catholics  and  Protestants.  At  Cologne  there  was  published 
a  flaming  tract  entitled  Crudelitas  CalviniancB  Excnipla  duo 
recentissima  ex  Anglia,  in  which  the  British  "  Calvinist " 
leaders,  and  notably  the  Queen,  were  charged  with  "foul 
and  deliberate  murder."  This  work  was  at  once  translated 
into  French,  German,  Spanish,  Italian,  and  English,  and  in 
the  last-named  tongue  it  was  smuggled  to  these  shores,  and 
distributed  through  the  three  kingdoms. 

'  Holinshed.  -  State  Pafers,  June-July,  1585.  '  Ibid.         «  /bid. 


26  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

Such  was  the  effect  produced  throughout  Europe  by 
this  attack,  and  by  the  many  suspicious  circumstances 
surrounding  the  Earl's  death,  that  the  Queen  was  advised 
by  Burghley  and  Walsingham  to  hold  a  Star  Chamber 
inquiry  into  the  affair.  This  secret  tribunal  met  on  July  23, 
and,  after  long  deliberation,  issued  a  reply  to  the  Cologne 
tract.  The  second  pamphlet,  which  professes  to  be  A 
True  and  Sumniarie  Reporte  of  the  tragic  occurrence  in  the 
Tower,  bears  evidence  of  having  been  hastily  and  injudi- 
ciously compiled.  Burghley 's  cunning  and  caution  were 
sadly  lacking  in  the  men  who  aimed  at  succeeding  to  his 
power.  Many  barefaced  perversions  of  the  truth  were 
allowed  to  slip  into  the  True  and  Summarie  Reporte,  such 
as  the  absurd  statement  of  Attorney-General  Popham  that 
the  eighth  Earl  of  Northumberland  had  been  implicated  in 
the  Rising  of  1569,  and  had  ^^  as  farr  plunged  into  the  same 
as  the  Earl  his  brother'.'  The  contention  of  Popham  and 
others  was  that  new  evidence  had  been  brought  to  light 
convicting  the  deceased  of  treason,  and  that  seeing  no 
means  of  escape  from  the  scaffold,  he  had  committed  self- 
murder.  The  nature  of  the  supposed  new  evidence,  how- 
ever, is  not  given,  and  it  is  only  alluded  to  in  the  vaguest 
terms.  In  the  report  of  the  inquest,  it  had  been  stated  that 
one  of  the  Earl's  attendants,  James  Pryce,  yeoman,  had  on 
June  16  procured  a  pistol  and  ammunition  for  his  master. 
But  although  Pryce  was  himself  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  at 
the  time,  he  was  not  summoned  as  a  witness  either  at  the 
inquest  or  at  the  subsequent  Star  Chamber  investigation.^ 
Thus  a  most  important  point  was  left  practically  unproved 
— i.e.  the  manner  in  which  Northumberland  had  obtained 
the  weapon  with  which  he  was  supposed  to  have  killed 
himself.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  established  that  the  man 
Bailiffe  had  been  specially  placed  on  duty  in  the  prisoner's 
apartments  only  a  few  hours  before  the  catastrophe  ;  that 
Bailiffe  was  a  creature  of  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  and 
had  been  suddenly  appointed  warder  by  Hatton's  orders  ; 

■  Howell's  State  Trials,  vol.  i. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  27 

and  that  Bailiffe's  ears  alone  had  heard  the  shots  fired 
which  terminated  Northumberland's  life. 

The  evidence  of  this  substitute  warder  was  that,  having 
retired  to  rest  in  the  chamber  adjoining  the  Earl's  cell,  he 
was  aroused  from  sleep  "a  little  after  vndnight  .  .  .  by  a 
noise  so  sudden  and  so  great e,  like  the  falling  of  some  dore,  or 
rather  a  piece  of  the  house  ;"  and  so  "started  out  of  his  bed, 
and  crying  to  the  Earle,  with  a  loud  voice  said,  '  My  Lord, 
knowe  you  what  this  is  ?  '  /  but  receiving  no  answer,  he  con- 
tinued his  crying  and  calling,  until  an  olde  man  that  lay  with- 
out spake  unto  him,  saying,  '  Gentleman,  shall  I  not  call  the 
watch,  seeing  he  luill  jiot  speake  ? '  '  Yea,'  quoth  Bailiffe,  'for 
Gods  sake!'  Then  did  this  olde  man  rise,  and  call  one  of 
the  watch,  whom  Bailiffe  intreaded  with  all  possible  speede  to 
call  Master  Lieutenant  unto  him.  In  the  meane  time  Bailiffe 
heard  the  Earle  give  a  long  and  grievous  grone,  and  after  that 
gave  a  second  grone ;  and  then  the  Lieutenant  (beiiig  come) 
called  to  the  Earle,  who  not  answering,  Bailiffe  cried  to  the 
Lieutenant  to  breake  open  the  Earle  s  chamber  dore,  bolted  unto 
hiin  on  the  inner  side,  which  was  done :  and  then  they  found 
the  Erie  dead  in  his  bed,  and  by  his  bedside  a  dagge,  where- 
with he  had  killed  himself e."  ^ 

A  few  hours  after  the  discovery  of  the  corpse,  it  was 
carefully  examined  by  our  honest  old  friend,  Lord  Hunsdon, 
and  by  a  skilled  surgeon.  Hunsdon's  reported  evidence  is 
that  they  found  the  Earl's  heart  "pearced  and  torn  in  diuerse 
lobes  attd  pieces,  three  of  his  ribbes  broken,  and  the  spinebone  of 
his  back  cut  almost  in  sunder.'"''  The  three  bullets  with 
which  the  pistol  had  been  loaded  were  extracted  from  the 
body  under  Hunsdon's  supervision  ;  and  the  surgeon  de- 
clared that,  from  the  terrible  nature  of  the  injuries,  death 
must  have  been  instantaneous.^ 

It  is  upon  this  expert  testimony  that  the  accusation  of 
murder  chiefly  rests ;  for  the  arguments  advanced  in  the 
Cologne  tract  are  at  best  vague  and  unsatisfactory.     The 

'  A  True  and  Summatie  Reporte.  ^  Ibid, 

»  Ibid. 


28  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

surgeon's  evidence  gives  the  lie  direct  to  part  of  Bailiffe's 
sworn  statement,  and  so  tends  to  invalidate  the  entire  narra- 
tive put  forward  in  defence  of  the  Queen's  ministers.  If 
Northumberland  died  immediately  after  the  discharge  of  the 
pistol,  how  was  it  that  Bailiffe  heard  him  "give  a  long  and 
most  grievous  givne,  and  after  that  ,  .  .  a  second  grone," 
when,  according  to  the  warder's  own  story,  many  minutes 
must  have  elapsed  from  the  time  that  he  heard  the  shot  fired 
"  a  little  after  tnidnight "  ?  Between  the  firing  of  the  shot  and 
the  Earl's  last  groan,  Bailiffe  alleged  that  he  found  time  to 
leave  his  bed  in  the  adjoining  room  ;  to  call  loudly  upon  the 
prisoner  ;  to  ascertain  that  the  latter's  door  had  been  bolted 
upon  the  inside  ;  to  continue  "crying  and  calling"  until  he 
awakened  an  old  man  sleeping  without ;  to  despatch  this  old 
man  for  the  watch ;  and  finally  to  send  one  of  the  watch- 
men in  quest  of  the  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower.^  That,  under 
the  circumstances,  Northumberland  should  have  been  able 
to  utter  two  distinct  groans  appears  in  itself  impossible  ;  that 
he  should  have  given  these  evidences  of  life  so  long  after  the 
infliction  of  the  wounds  is  impossible  indeed.  And  if 
Bailiffe  was  capable  of  perjuring  himself  in  this  part  of  his 
testimony,  may  not  the  statement  relating  to  the  bolting  of 
the  Earl's  door  upon  the  inside  (to  which  he  alone  bore  wit- 
ness) have  been  also  untrue  ?  Thus  at  least  argued  the  many 
who  believed  that  Northumberland  had  been  done  to  death 
at  the  instigation  of  the  Queen  or  the  Vice-Chamberlain. 
These  people  furthermore  pointed  out  that,  even  granting 
the  inner  bolting  of  Northumberland's  door,  no  search  had 
been  made  through  the  cell  for  concealed  assailants,  or  for 
any  secret  mode  of  egress  by  which  such  could  escape. 
The  facts  that  Bailiffe  was  in  Hatton's  employ,  and  that 
James  Pryce  (who  was  said  to  have  supplied  the  Earl  with 
pistol,  powder,  and  bullets)  had  not  been  called  upon  to  give 
evidence,  either  at  the  inquest  or  Star  Chamber  inquiry,  were 

'  The  Lieutenant,  Sir  O.  Hopton,  deposed  that  he  was  called  at  "  lesse  than 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  one  of  the  clocke  " — more  than  forty-five  minutes 
after  the  shot  was  said  to  have  been  fired,  but  only  a  few  minutes  after  the  Earl 
gave  his  last  groan  ! 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  29 

also  made  use  of  by  the  accusers  of  the  Government.  Al- 
together TIic  True  and  Stimmarie  Reporte  rather  damaged  the 
case  of  the  Crown  than  otherwise  in  the  minds  of  those  dis- 
posed to  weigh  the  evidence  impartially  ;  and  it  is  perhaps 
well  for  the  memories  of  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  and  others 
that  the  Catholic  party  on  the  Continent  did  not  esteem 
Earl  Henry  sufficiently  to  publish  a  reply. 

It  has  been  said  that  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and  other  Pro- 
testants looked  upon  Hatton  as  the  Earl's  assassin.  In  proof 
of  this,  a  letter  from  Raleigh  to  Robert  Cecil  in  1601  may  be 
quoted.  Sir  Walter,  arguing  against  blood-feuds  handed 
down  from  father  to  son,  writes  : — "  For  your  own  father, 
that  was  esteemed  to  be  the  contriver  of  Norfolk's  ruin^  yet 
his  {Norfolk's)  son  -  followeth  your  father  s  son,  and  loveth  him  ; 
Somerset  made  no  revenge  on  the  Duke  of  Northumberland' s 
heirs  ;'^  .  .  .  and  Northumberland  that  now  is,*  thinks  not  of 
Hatton' s  issiie."^  This  is  plain  speaking,  and  establishes 
clearly  enough  the  fact  that  Raleigh  regarded  the  connec- 
tion of  Hatton  with  the  bloody  affair  in  the  Tower  as  a  matter 
of  history.  Nor  does  Cecil,  in  replying  to  this  letter,  attempt 
to  combat  the  belief.  The  majority  of  modern  historians, 
however,  prefer  to  disregard  all  discrepancies  in  the  evidence, 
and  to  hold  that,  for  no  apparently  adequate  reason,  the 
eighth  Earl  of  Northumberland  disregarded  the  teachings 
of  Christianity,  and  deliberately  took  his  own  life. 

The  eighth  Earl  left  behind  him  ten  children — eight  sons, 
and  two  daughters.''  The  sons  we  shall  meet  again  in  the 
course  of  this  history  :  of  the  daughters,  the  elder,  Lucy, 
was  twice  married,  firstly  to  Sir  John  Wotton  (whereby  hangs 
a  romance  presently  to  be  narrated),  and  secondly  to  Sir 
Hugh  Owen  of  Anglesea ;  while  the  younger,  Eleanor, 
became  the  wife  of  William  Herbert,  first  Lord  Powis.  The 
Countess   of   Northumberland   survived  her  first    husband 

'  Burghley  had  been  largely  instrumental  in  bringing  the  fourth  Duke  of  Norfolk 
to  the  scaflfold,  in  1572. 

^  Allusion  is  made  to  Thomas,  Lord  Howard  de  Walden. 

'  The  downfall  and  death  of  the  Protector  Somerset  were  brought  about  by 
Dudley,  Duke  of  Northumberland. 

*  The  ninth  Earl.  ">  Murdin,  p.  Sll.  «  See  Cf/^.z/yi^,  Table  III. 


30  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

eleven  years.i  Having  inherited  much  of  the  large  estates 
of  the  Nevills,  Lords  Latimer,  the  widowed  dame  was  much 
sought  after  by  fortune-hunters,  and  eventually  bestowed 
her  hand  and  fortune  upon  a  kinsman  of  the  deceased  Earl, 
one  Francis  Fitton  of  Binfield  in  Berkshire,  who  had  long 
officiated  as  her  steward.  This  alliance  was  vigorously 
opposed  by  the  ninth  Earl  of  Northumberland. 

The  eighth  Earl  had  made  his  will  while  in  the  Tower, 
several  months  before  his  death.  He  desired  to  be  buried 
with  his  ancestors  in  Beverley  Minster,  "  if  it  should  fortune 
him  to  die  in  the  county  of  York."  As  we  have  seen,  his 
death  occurred  far  from  his  native  country,  and  his  body 
was  laid  to  rest  under  the  flagstones  of  St.  Peter's-ad-Vincula 
within  the  shadow  of  the  Tower. 

'  She  died  October  28,  :S96. 


i^S^.- 


■'^v  /rains  ,  /):'.X'.-.5V\'i!_i:te 


II 

Henry  Percy,  who  now  became  ninth  Earl  of  Nor- 
thumberland, first  saw  the  light  at  Tynemouth  Castle  in 

The  outhof  ^^^y  ^5^4'  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^  mere  child  at  the 
the"Wiiard  Outbreak  of  the  Northern  Rising;  but  the  brutal 
^"^  massacres  by  which  Elizabeth  and  Cecil  sought 

to  avenge  that  rash  and  ill-directed  enterprise  made  a 
deep  impression  upon  his  youthful  mind,  and  rendered 
him  (although  personally  of  the  State  religion)  a  life- 
long advocate  of  toleration  towards  the  Catholics.  His 
father,  at  that  time  a  professed  zealot  in  the  Protestant 
cause,  took  care  to  bring  up  the  heir  of  the  house  strictly 
in  accordance  with  the  new  doctrines;  and  even  in  after 
years,  when  the  eighth  Earl  himself  fell  under  suspicion 
of  Romanism,  every  effort  was  made  to  "guard  the  young 
lorde  against  teinptation  and  popish  friendes."  His  earliest 
tutor  and  religious  instructor  was  one  Thompson,  "  a  loyall 
Protestant"  parson  of  Egremond  in  Yorkshire.^  When  he 
had  attained  the  age  of  eighteen.  Lord  Percy  was  sent 
abroad  for  the  purpose  of  broadening  his  mind  by  travel. 
Burghley  sent  him  a  long  letter  of  advice,  in  which  he  was 
cautioned  against  the  wiles  of  Roman  Catholic  agents  in 
Paris  and  elsewhere,  and  particularly  against  his  aunt,  the 
exiled  Countess  of  Northumberland,  for  whose  powers  of 
intrigue  the  minister  entertained  a  lively  respect.  Percy 
acknowledged  the  receipt  of  these  counsels  with  becoming 
modesty.  "  Thanks"  he  wrote,  "for  your  exquisite  and  rare 
counsel,  and  your  directions  for  my  travels,  which  I  would  gladly 
recompense.'"''  The  "travels  "  in  question  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  extensive,  even  for  the  time.     The  north  of  Italy  was 

>  Syon  House  MSS.,  1575-79. 

'  Lord  Percy  to  Burghley,  from  Paris,  April  i6,  1581  ;  State  Papers, 


32  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

visited,  as  were  parts  of  France  and  the  Low  Countries  ; 
but  we  soon  find  the  pilgrim  permanently  established  at 
Paris,  where  his  "  studies "  were  not  of  unmixed  benefit. 
Puritan  spies  surrounded  him,  and  his  every  movement 
Avas  duly  reported  to  Burghley  and  Walsingham,  lest  by  any 
chance  he  might  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father,  grand- 
father, and  uncle,  and  permit  the  Romanist  sympathies 
inherent  in  his  blood  to  gain  the  mastery.  Indeed,  the  zeal 
of  those  appointed  to  watch  over  this  hope  of  Protestantism 
led  them  at  times  to  lay  undue  stress  upon  trivial  details, 
and  to  make  accusations  which  they  could  not  substantiate. 
Percy  looked  upon  the  Catholics  with  a  liberal  eye,  and  had 
more  than  one  acquaintance  among  them  ;  but  there  is  no 
proof  that  he  evinced  any  leanings  towards  the  old  faith  or 
meditated  disloyalty  to  her  whom  he  had  been  taught  to 
regard  as  head  of  the  English  Church.  Nevertheless,  Sir 
Henry  Cobham,  the  British  Ambassador  to  Paris,  com- 
plained to  his  Government  that  the  young  lord  consorted 
with  at  least  one  "  most  dangerous  Papist^'  in  the  person  of 
that  Charles  Paget — stormcock  of  Catholic  agitation — whose 
acquaintance  was  at  a  later  date  to  brew  for  the  father 
trouble  far  more  serious  than  it  now  did  for  the  son.^  Even 
to  know  Charles  Paget  was  suggestive  of  backsliding  in 
Cobham's  mind,  and  doubtless  in  that  of  Secretary  Walsing- 
ham as  well,  for  the  latter  lost  no  time  in  protesting  to  the 
Earl  of  Northumberland  against  Lord  Percy's  undesirable 
Parisian  acquaintance.  Northumberland,  who  loved  his 
eldest  son  dearly,  and  feared  lest  the  lad's  inheritance  might 
be  imperilled  by  any  entanglements  with  men  of  the  Paget 
stamp,  sent  a  trusty  servant  to  remonstrate  with  Percy  and 
put  him  in  possession  of  all  that  Cobham  had  reported.  It 
is  highly  probable  that  the  intercourse  between  Paget  and 
the  future  Earl  was,  in  that  stage  at  least,  purely  social, 
and  that  the  former  spoke  the  truth  when  he  accused 
Cobham  of  being  a  mischief-maker,  and  assured  Secretary 
Walsingham  by  letter  that  he  had  never  sought  to  turn 
Lord   Percy  from  the  reformed  faith.     Rather  than  cause 

'  See  ante. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  33 

his  young  friend  any  inconvenience,  Paget  declared  himself 
willing  to  move  forthwith  to  a  distant  quarter  of  Paris  ;  for,  at 
the  time,  Percy  "  lodged  ttoi  far /rout  him,"  and  their  com- 
panionship had  been  merely  that  of  neighbours  and  com- 
patriots. The  heir  of  Northumberland  stood  sadly  in  need 
of  friendly  advice ;  and  Charles  Paget  declared  that  his 
efforts  had  been  mainly  directed  towards  the  guidance  and 
protection  of  this  raw  boy  from  the  innumerable  snares  and 
pitfalls  of  the  Gallic  capital,  "he  {Percy)  not  being  in  a  com- 
mendable course,  either  for  studies  or  manners."  *  These  state- 
ments are  borne  out  by  Percy  himself  in  two  epistles,  one 
directed  to  Walsingham,  the  other  to  Northumberland. 
That  intended  for  the  Secretary's  eye  runs  in  this  wise  : — 
"  Righte  honnorable ;  I  doe  vnderstande  that  Sir  Henry 
Cobham,  Ambassador  here  for  her  males  te,  hat  he  not  long  agoe 
informed  your  Honnor,  both  against  me  and  Air.  Pagett,  for 
conuersing  some  tyines  one  with  the  other,  and  that  Mr.  Pagett 
sliould  not  onelie  seeke  to  dissuade  me  from  the  Religion  I 
have  been  nourrished  and  bredd  upp  in,  but  also  deale  with  me 
in  vndewtifull  Practises.  When  I  hard  of  this  Manner  of  my 
Lo:  Ambassador's  proceedinge,  it  greued  me  very  muche,  in 
respect  of  his  place,  iv hat  force  his  Advertisment  might  ca/'ie 
against  me,  to  bringe  me  in  Disgrace  with  her  Maieste,  and 
Displeasure  with  my  Lo :  tny  Father,  both  whiche  thinges  I 
will  euer  seeke  [to  avoid]  by  all  possible  vieanes,  as  that  I  am 
bounde  vnto  by  the  Lawes  of  God,  Nature  and  Raison.  But 
when  I  better  aduised  my  selfe,  my  griefe  began  to  diminish, 
bycause  I  remembered  your  Wisdome  and  hidifferetice  to  be 
suche,  as  that  this  bare  Reporte  of  my  Lo  :  Ambassador, 
grounded  without  Reason  or  Trewth,  should  not  be  imparted  to 
any  by  your  Honor  to  my  hurte,  vntil  suche  tyme  as  you  harde 
what  I  coztld  say  in  my  Defence.  And  tfuirfore  havinge  this 
good  Occasion  presented  vnto  me  by  the  comminge  of  my  Lo  : 
my  Father's  jnan,  wlw  is  sent  of  poicrpose  by  his  Lo:  to  me 
with  charge  as  I  tender  my  Dewtie  towardes  him  to  signife  all 
thinges  in  trewth  vnto  his  Lo :  I  could  not  lett  slipp  the  same, 
but  in  like  sorte  by  thes  lines  declare  vnto  your  Honor  that 

'  Charles  Paget  to  Walsingham,  March  4,  1582  ;  State  Papers. 
II.  C 


34  THE   HOUSE   OF   pERCY 

Mr.  Pagett  did sonietymes  resorte  vnto  me,  ofivhom  I  haiie  neuer 
harde  other  speches  then  bccommeth  a  dewtifull  subiect  to  her 
Majeste,  and  great  Welkviller  to  me.  Assuringe your  Honor 
that  if  he  had  delte  with  me  in  other  termes,  either  for  matters 
of  Religion  or  otherwise,  I  would  not  haue  allowed  of  his 
Companic,  but  hated  his  Person.  Neuertheless  when  I  heard 
by  my  Lo :  A  tnbassador  suche  harde  Constructioti  of  Mr.  Pagett 
his  Resorte  to  me,  bycause  I  7vold  haue  it  appear  how  loth  I 
wold  be  to  do  anie  thinge  that  might  anie  way  shake  me  in  the 
Fauor  of  her  Maieste,  I  prayed  Mr.  Pagett  to  forbear  my 
Companie.  Whiche  verie  willinglie  he  yeelded  znito,  and  as 
soone  as  he  coulde  prouide  him  a  lodging  further  from  me,  he 
presentlie  removed."  ' 

By  the  same  servant,  Lord  Percy  sent  to  reassure  his 
anxious  father,  and  to  urge  that  Cobham  might  be  called 
upon  to  prove  his  loose  assertions.  This  was  accordingly 
done ;  and  the  over-keen  Ambassador  failed  ignominiously 
in  establishing  any  of  the  charges.  Indeed,  he  found  him- 
self compelled  to  apologise  very  humbly  to  Charles  Paget ; 
a  fact  which,  we  may  be  sure,  was  made  the  most  of  by  that 
astute  plotter  against  Elizabethan  methods  of  government. 
Paget  certainly  kept  his  word  in  regard  to  a  change  of 
residence,  but  his  acquaintance  with  Percy  did  not  by  any 
means  terminate,  and  the  part  which  he  had  played  in  the 
recent  difficulty  led  to  his  gaining  that  for  which  (if  we  are 
to  believe  his  opponents)  he  had  been  striving  all  along — 
i.e.  the  friendship  of  old  Northumberland.  Very  shortly 
after  the  Cobham  incident  we  find  him  in  confidential 
correspondence  with  the  Earl,^  and  it  has  been  told  how  he 
subsequently  visited  Northumberland  House  as  an  honoured 
guest.* 

The  various  English  spies  in  Paris  continued  to  keep 
the  Home  Government  fully  informed  of  all  Lord  Percy's 

'  Lord  Percy  to  Secretary  WaLinghara,  April  5,  1582  ;   Original  Slate  Paper 
(Holograph),  Record  Office. 
=  State  Papers :  Syon  MSS. 
^  See  ante,  under  eighth  Earl, 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  35 

movements,  of  tlie  persons  with  whom  he  most  consorteci, 
and  of  the  more  or  less  vague  tales  which  were  circulated  re- 
A  young  spccting  his  matrimonial,  religious,  and  political 
noble  of  views.  The  life  led  by  the  young  man  at  this 
times'^;  his  period  appears  to  have  been  a  medley  of  study 
Parisian  jmd  aniuscment,  the  latter  at  first  predominating. 
The  Earl  his  father  (then  living  like  a  rustike  at 
Petworth)  kept  him  lavishly  supplied  with  money,  and  his 
allowance  is  said  to  have  "  equalled  that  of  a  prince  of  the 
blood."  But,  in  spite  of  the  temptations  by  which  he  was  sur- 
rounded, Percy  did  not  drain  the  cup  of  pleasure  to  the  dregs. 
From  lapsing  into  the  graver  excesses  of  that  depraved  period, 
he  was  saved  through  the  shrewd  precepts  and  example  of 
Charles  Paget.  But  he  acquired  a  taste  for  the  gaming 
table,  periodically  losing  large  sums  of  money  thereby,  and 
in  other  paths  of  dissipation  he  is  known  to  have  strayed  at 
times.  The  unwonted  indulgences  of  his  first  year  of 
Parisian  life  brought  on  great  extreviitye  of  siknes  and  danger 
of  lyffe"'^  in  the  shape  of  a  raging  fever.  His  constitution 
was  still  vigorous,  however,  and  he  recovered  from  this 
attack,  but  the  lesson  was  not  thrown  away  upon  him. 
After  his  convalescence,  he  took  up  the  study  of  history  and 
the  occult  sciences  with  great  avidity,  devoting  to  reading 
and  experiments  as  much  of  his  time  as  he  had  formerly 
expended  in  less  learned  pursuits.  Alchemy  and  astrology 
possessed  for  him  especial  attractions.  He  purchased  a 
crystal  divining  globe,  cast  his  friends'  horoscopes  with  the 
ease  of  a  Nostrodamus,  and  laboured  hopefully  to  transmute 
the  baser  metals  into  gold.  Masked  dames  and  richly  clad 
gallants  frequented  his  apartments  no  longer.  In  their 
place  came  a  train  of  solemn  personages,  whose  sad-coloured 
garments  at  first  led  Sir  Henry  Cobham  to  think  them 
Romish  agents,  but  whom  he  soon  discovered  to  be  men  of 
science,  the  new  associates  of  Lord  Percy.  The  young 
man's  reputation  as  a  worker  of  mystery  spread  abroad 
throughout   Paris,  and   even   the    Puritan   spies   began    to 

•  See  Northumberland's  letter  to  Burghley,  September  25,   15S2  ;  Harteian 
MSS.,  vol.  V.  6993. 


1134.11;^ 


36  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

entertain  a  fear  of  those  accomplishments  which  afterwards 
earned  for  their  possessor  the  name  of  the  "  Wizard  Earl."  In 
history  Percy  read  the  works  of  Guicciardini  and  Holinshed, 
and  the  French  painters  of  the  day  found  him  an  intelligent 
patron. 

In  1583  reports  were  sent  home  that  the  heir  of  Nor- 
thumberland had  fallen  in  love  with  "  Lady  Kitson's 
daughter,"  and  that  he  had  even  asked  this  damsel's  hand 
in  marriage.  But  this  affair  came  to  naught ;  and  a  little 
later  the  Catholic  party  suggested  an  alliance  between  the 
young  Arabella  Stuart,  third  in  the  line  of  succession  to  the 
throne,  1  and  Northumberland.  The  Lady  Arabella  was 
barely  nine  years  old  at  the  time,  however ;  so  that  this 
project  was  also  set  aside,  to  be  revived  on  a  later  occasion. 

Young   Percy's  peaceful  researches  were  rudely  inter- 
rupted during  the  summer  of  1585  by  the  news  of  his  father's 
death  in  the  Tower.     Whatever  were  the  faults 
Jagedy""     ^^  *'^^  eighth   Earl  of  Northumberland,  he   had 
and  its  always  shown  himself  passionately  attached  to  his 

eldest  son,  and  this  affection  had  been  recipro- 
cated to  the  full.  The  grief  of  the  new  chief  of  the  Percies 
was  bitter  in  the  extreme,  and  for  weeks  his  door  remained 
closed  to  the  world.  Then  a  rumour  spread  abroad,  and 
was  duly  conveyed  to  England,  that  he  had  embraced  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  forsworn  all  allegiance  to  Elizabeth. 
The  truth  was  that  William  Percy,  the  Earl's  next  brother, 
had  arrived  from  England  with  an  account  of  the  inquest 
and  of  the  many  highly  suspicious  circumstances  connected 
with  the  death  of  his  unhappy  parent.  These  facts,  added 
to  the  stories  of  Hatton's  guilt  which  had  been  from  the 
first  in  circulation,  so  inflamed  the  Earl  against  the  English 
Government  that  he  did  indeed  lend  ear  to  the  intrigues 
of  the  Catholic  and  Stuart  parties.  Convinced  that  the 
ministers  of  Elizabeth,  if  not  the  Queen  herself,  had  deliber- 

'  Arabella  Stuart  was  directly  descended  from  Henry  VII.,  being  the  daughter 
of  Charles  Stuart,  Duke  of  Lennox,  brother  of  Darnley. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  37 

ately  brought  about  his  father's  murder,  Northumberland's 
hot  temper  urged  him  towards  revenge.  In  August  1585, 
the  spy  Thomas  Rogers  reported  to  Walsingham  tiiat  the 
Earl  and  his  brother  William  were  implicated  with  the 
Due  de  Guise  1  in  the  preparation  of  a  great  naval  and 
military  expedition  against  England,  with  the  dual  object 
of  placing  Mary  Stuart  upon  the  throne  and  avenging  the 
supposed  murder  in  the  Tower.-  Nothing  was  done  by  the 
British  Ambassador  in  Paris  or  by  the  Home  Government  to 
dissuade  the  youthful  Percies  from  any  rash  act  of  the  kind, 
and  it  is  to  be  feared  that,  to  at  least  one  section  of  the 
dominant  party,  the  rebellion  of  yet  another  Northumber- 
land might  have  proved  by  no  means  displeasing.  Fortu- 
nately for  the  safety  of  the  Percy  family  estates,  Guise  and 
the  French  Leaguers  had  more  pressing  matters  to  think  of 
than  an  invasion  of  England,  and  if  the  plot  described  by 
Rogers  ever  existed,  it  did  not  develop  beyond  the  early 
stages.  Acting  on  the  cautious  advice  of  personal  friends — 
was  not  the  cunning  Paget  one  of  these  ? — the  Earl  dis- 
sembled his  feelings  towards  the  ministry,  and  asked  per- 
mission to  return  to  England.  This  was  granted  after  some 
delay,  and  early  in  1586  we  find  him  installed  in  the  family 
residence  at  Blackfriars.  But  although  he  hid  whatever  re- 
vengeful sentiments  he  entertained  against  those  in  power, 
the  cruel  death  of  his  father  was  never  by  him  forgotten  or 
forgiven.  For  years  he  was  accustomed  to  give  way  to  fits  of 
melancholy  occasioned  by  that  occurrence,  and  to  style  him- 
self a  wretched  parricide  for  serving  under  those  whose  hands 
were  red  with  the  blood  of  so  loving  a  sire.  As  late  as  1592, 
the  spy  Paul  Crushe  or  Cruise  ^  informed  Burghley  that "  the 
present  Earl  of  Northumberland,  who  is  discontent  about  his 
father's  death,  may  be  seduced  thereby  to  the  See  of  Rome."  ^  It 
is  said  that  the  Catholic  party  took  every  opportunity  to 

'  Henri,  "  Le  Balafre,"  fourth  Due  de  Guise,  the  great  leader  of  the  CatholiQ 
League. 

''  Rogers  to  Walsingham  ;  State  Papers. 

'  An  Irish  Romanist  secretly  in  the  pay  of  the  ministry. 

*  Crushe  to  Burghley,  March  1592  ;  Slate  fa/'c-n. 


38  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

remind  the  Earl  of  this  great  sorrow,  and  to  bring  before  him 
arguments  connecting  Elizabeth  and  Hatton  with  the  crime. 

The  irresponsible  manner  in  which  Northumberland  had 
been  accustomed  to  live  in  Paris  rendered  him  peculiarly  unfit 
to  direct  with  skill  the  great  landed  and  other  interests  thus 
suddenly  committed  to  his  charge.  Sent  from  home  at  an 
early  age,  and  encouraged  to  spend  his  money  without  let 
or  hindrance,  he  knew  practically  nothing  of  the  duties  or 
economies  of  his  station.  Add  to  this  that  his  return  to 
England  found  him  by  turns  moody  or  irascible,  grieving 
constantly  over  his  predecessor's  fate,  seeing  spies  and 
secret  enemies  in  all  around  him,  and  it  will  be  readily 
understood  that  not  only  Northumberland's  mother,  but  the 
old  stewards  and  retainers  of  the  house,  found  him  impos- 
sible to  control  and  difficult  to  brook.  Quarrels  were  fre- 
quent, particularly  between  mother  and  son  (for  the  Earl 
taunted  Lady  Northumberland  with  lack  of  sympathy  to- 
wards his  father)  ;  and  among  those  who  refused  to  submit 
longer  to  the  varying  temper  of  this  new  lord  was  one  whose 
services  the  house  of  Percy  could  ill  afford  to  lose — old  Sir 
Cuthbert  Collingwood,  for  thirty  years  agent  of  the  northern 
estates,  Collingwood  resigned  his  stewardship  in  F^ebruary 
1586  ;  ^  and  the  Earl  was  imprudent  enough  to  think  that  he 
could  himself  supply  the  place  of  such  a  man.  The  results 
were  unfortunate,  and  Northumberland  only  succeeded  in 
earning  throughout  his  North  Country  domains  the  reputa- 
tion of  a  spendthrift  and  a  harsh  landlord,^  That  he  fully 
realised  his  failure  may  be  gathered  from  certain  com- 
ments made  in  the  MS,  volume,  entitled  Instructions  to  my 
Son,  which  he  left  after  him. 

"  /  kne-we  not  where  I  was  or  what  I  did, "  he  writes,  "  //"// 
out  of  my  meanes  of  £yyx>  yearely,  I  had  made  shifte,  in  one 
yeare  and  a  halfe,  to  be  £1^,000  in  debt ;  so  as  the  burden  of  my 
son,  must  still  conclude  ignorance  in  myne  estate  to  be  the 
mayn  cause."  ^    Nor  were  matters  bettered  when  he  opened 

^  Collingwood  to  Anderson,  February  11,  1586;  State  Papers. 
-  Sidney  t/ee  in  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 
•*  Instructions  to  my  Son, 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  39 

up  Alnwick  Castle,  the  ancient  stronghold  of  his  race,  and 
went  to  reside  there  ;  for  he  refused  Border  service,  and 
took  but  scant  interest  in  the  sports  and  customs  of  the 
country.  Even  as  the  squires  of  Northumbria  and  Yorkshire 
distrusted  his  great-grandfather,  the  fifth  Earl,  because  he 
preferred  book  and  scrip  to  horn  and  spear,  so  now  their 
descendants,  or  Protestant  successors,  did  this  latest  and 
most  learned  Earl  of  the  race.  His  loyalty  to  the  estab- 
lished religion  vi'as  also  suspected  among  Northern 
Puritans.  As  time  went  on,  however,  his  character  as  a 
territorial  magnate  somewhat  improved,  particularly  in  his 
relations  with  the  poorer  class  of  tenants.  On  November  24, 
1593,  he  wrote  to  Fenwick,  his  chief  constable  at  Alnwick, 
complaining  that,  owing  to  the  negligence  of  his  factors  and 
clerks,  the  court  roils  and  records  of  his  estates  were  "  not 
kept  in  due  and  honest  sort,  to  the  great  confusion  of  ,  ,  .  poor 
tenants'  estates,"  and  to  his  own  " g7-eat  loss  and  dishonour." 

Fenwick  is  warmly  reproved  for  having  evicted  a  certain 
widow  from  her  farm,  "  especially  at  a  time  when  her  Corn 
was  still  standitig,"  This  action,  continues  the  Earl,  "  was 
extreetn,  and  not  according  to  the  Custotns  of  the  country.  .  .  . 
Wherefore  I  require  that  the  old  woman  should  be  reinstated  to 
/ler  former  estate."  ^ 

Northumberland  soon  gave  up  the  attempt  to  act  as 
his  own  chief  steward,  and  returned  to  his  old  Parisian 
pursuits.  The  library  of  his  great-grandfather  had  long 
been  scattered,  but  he  set  about  forming  another  and  larger 
one  at  his  town-house  in  Blackfriars.  The  works  of  Mac- 
chiavelli,  Guicciardini  and  many  others  were  purchased  ; 
and  the  charges  for  binding  and  cataloguing  the  Earl's 
books  grew  heavier  every  year.  His  studies  were  multi- 
farious, including  architecture,  archasology,  gardening, 
geography,  military  and  political  science,  astronomy, 
alchemy  and  astrology  ;  but  to  the  two  last-named  subjects 
he  was  still  peculiarly  addicted,  and  a  superstitious  age 
called  him  "Wizard"  because  of  his  alembics,  "speculative 
glasses,"  and  reputed  knowledge  of  the  occult.  Unfortu- 
1  .Alnwick  MSS. 


4©  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

nately  another  taste  acquired  in  France,  that  of  gambling, 
still  held  sway  over  his  nature.  During  the  year  1586 
alone  he  lost  about  ^^looo  at  cards  and  dice  to  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  and  other  rufflers  of  the  court.^  But  if  Raleigh 
won  the  Earl's  money,  he  repaid  him  to  some  extent  by 
introducing  into  his  life  that  which  afterwards  became  one 
of  its  chief  solaces — the  use  of  tobacco.  Northumberland 
was  one  of  those  men  clearly  intended  by  nature  to  be  a 
smoker  of  the  Indian  herb.  His  hasty  temper  was  soothed 
or  his  wits  stimulated  by  its  influence ;  and  during  the 
monotonous  days  of  his  captivity,  he  found  it  a  constant 
and  agreeable  companion.  After  1586  we  find  him  buying 
quantities  of  tobacco  from  the  Virginian  merchants,  and 
he  possessed  scores  of  pipes,  some  of  them  made  from  his 
own  designing." 

AUusion  has  been  made  to  the  differences  of  opinion 
which  arose  between  the  young  Earl  and  his  mother. 
Afamu  Lady  Northumberland  had  seen  but  little  of  her 

quarrel;  and  first-born  siuce  his  boyhood,  and  was  vastly  dis- 
a romance,  appointed  to  find  in  the  returned  wanderer  a 
haughty  nobleman,  impatient  of  rebuke,  and  in  intellect 
matured  beyond  his  years.  No  doubt  the  good  dame 
had  looked  forward  to  some  few  seasons  more  of  un- 
disputed sway  over  Petworth  and  the  other  houses  and 
estates  which  her  late  husband  had  confided  to  her  care 
when  he  passed  through  Traitor's  Gate.  With  this  prospect 
in  view  she  had  chosen  as  her  auditor  and  receiver.  Master 
Francis  Fitton,  a  mild-mannered  and  presentable  bachelor, 
whose  father  had  filled  similar  household  posts  under  the 
eighth  Earl,  and  who  was,  in  fact,  a  near  relative  of  the 
family.^     But  Lady  Northumberland  soon  found  that  her 

'  Syon  House  MSS.  Rolls.  In  the  same  year  he  lost  twenty  shillings  to  the 
Earl  of  Rutland  over  a  game  of  chess. 

»  Syon  House  MSS.  Rolls. 

'  One  of  the  daughters  of  Sir  Guiscard  Harbottel  of  Beamish  was  mother  of 
the  seventh  and  eighth  Earls,  while  another  married  one  Fitton,  a  gentleman  of 
Cheshire.  This  latter  was  father  of  the  above  Francis  Fitton,  afterwards  of 
Binfield  in  Berkshire,  who  was  thus  a  cousin  of  the  ninth  Earl.  Fitlon's  father 
had  compiled  an  exhaustive  summary  of  the  Northumberland  revenues. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  41 

rule  was  at  an  end,  and  tliat  only  a  dowager's  rights  were 
left  to  her.  Moreover,  her  son  cast  anything  but  a  favour- 
able eye  upon  his  cousin,  Master  Fitton,  whom  he  accused 
(and  with  justice,  as  afterwards  appeared)  of  entertain- 
ing designs  upon  the  jointure  and  hand  of  the  widowed 
Countess.  It  is  a  common  thing  for  sons  to  dislike  those 
whom  they  suspect  of  plotting  to  fill  their  father's  shoes ; 
and  young  Northumberland  was  not  only  of  a  headstrong 
temperament,  but  also  devoted  to  the  memory  of  his  father. 
Little  wonder,  therefore,  that  relations  grow  more  and  more 
strained  between  the  Earl  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
Countess  and  her  auditor  on  the  other.  Northumberland's 
brothers  were  all  away  from  home  ;  but  of  his  two  sisters, 
the  elder,  Lucy,  sided  with  him  against  their  mother.  This 
internal  revolt  was  too  much  for  Lady  Northumberland,  who 
moved  to  a  suburban  residence  of  her  own  near  St.  Martin's 
Church,  the  Lady  Lucy,  like  a  dutiful  daughter,  accompany- 
ing her.  But  even  in  this  removal  Northumberland  found 
a  new  grievance  ;  for  he  alleged  that  his  mother  had  fur- 
nished her  new  home  with  furniture  taken  illegally  from 
Petworth  and  Blackfriars.  This  is  what  he  alludes  to  in  his 
Instructions,  when  he  says,  "  IVyves  commonly  are  great 
scratchers  after  their  husbands  death,  if  tilings  be  looser  ^  He 
confined  himself  to  complaints,  however,  and  made  no 
effort  to  recover  the  valuables  thus  appropriated.  But  the 
Countess  was  not  so  forbearing,  and  made  several  attempts 
to  see  Lord  Burghley  for  the  purpose  of  pouring  her  woes 
into  his  ear.  But  Burghley  had  not  been  for  thirty  years 
a  statesman  without  learning  the  inadvisability  of  embroil- 
ing himself  in  family  quarrels ;  so  that  the  angry  and 
anxious  lady  failed  to  obtain  the  desired  interview.  Not  to 
be  defeated,  however,  she  addressed  the  minister  in  a  long 
letter,  describing  the  manifold  sins  and  shortcomings  of  her 
son.  The  handwriting  of  this  epistle  seems  that  of  a  man, 
and  it  is  possible  that  it  was  written  from  Lady  Northum- 
berland's dictation  by  the  aforesaid  Master  Francis  Fitton. 
It  will  be  seen  that  her  Ladyship  had  now  an  additional  and 

'  IitstiiutioHS  to  my  Son. 


42  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

grievous  trouble  (which,  like  the  rest,  she  blamed  upon  the 
Earl)  ; — to  wit,  the  attachment  which  her  elder  daughter,  the 
wilful  Lucy,  had  formed  for  John  Wotton,i  a  gallant  of  the 
court,  and  Northumberland's  bosom  friend.  To  this  in- 
cipient love  affair  the  Countess  opposed  herself  tooth  and 
nail  ;  but  maternal  disapproval  of  the  match  is  surely  no 
excuse  for  the  venom  with  which  she  attacks  the  uncon- 
scious Wotton,  who,  so  far  from  being  the  mercenary  de- 
bauchee here  described,  was  a  young  man  of  unblemished 
honour  and  good  birth,  whose  addresses  to  Lucy  Percy 
were  fostered  and  encouraged  by  that  lady's  brother.  Nor 
was  Wotton  "  more  than  double "  the  age  of  her  whose 
affection  he  had  gained  ;  at  the  most  his  years  could  not 
have  exceeded  thirty. 

This,  then,  is  the  letter  of  complaint  which  Burghley 
was  unable  to  avoid  : — 

"  ]\Iy  good  Loj-d,  I  was  twise  to  waite  vppon  your  Lordship 
at  yo'  Howse,  bid  could  not  finde  yo'  Lp.  at  home ;  whereby 
I  am  enforced  to  complaine  vnto  you  in  writinge  my  great 
Disquiett  and  Discomfort.  I  have  lotige  scene  the  disordered 
Lif  of  7ny  Sonne  the  Earl,  and,  asmuch  as  a  Mother  might 
out  of  7vhose  rule  fie  knewe  himself,  pswaded  the  Amendment. 
But  nowe,  pceavinge  to  my  great  Greif  that  he  regardeth 
neither  Parent,  Frende,  nor  Kinsman,  and  lacketh  Grace  to 
governe  himself  like  one  of  his  callinge,  I  make  vnto  yo'  Lp. 
my  most  liumble  Request  that  it  male  please  yo"  Lp.  to  be  well 
enformed  of  his  7nann''  of  Lif,  and  nowe  of  his  Behavio'  towards 
me,  t/iat  tvhen  I  shall  offer  the  same  to  the  wholle  Councell, 
yo''  Lp.  male  be  the  redier  to  iudge  and  see  Redresse  of  the 
Wronge  and  Disgrace  lie  hath  don  me,  and  to  take  some  course 
for  correcting  his  mispendinge  and  misordered  Lif,  soe  as  he 
might  hereafter  be  able  to  serve  the  Quenes  Ma"',  and  his 
Countrey ;  and  that  I  7nay  be  put  in  better  Assurance  of 
Quiett  in  inyne  owne  Howse,  growing  into  Yeres  and  Sicklines. 
My  Sonne  hath  taken  to  his  spcciall  Companion   Mr.  John 

'  Afterwards  Sir  John  Wotton,  Knt. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  43 

Wot  ton,  not  with  standcinge  he  had  knowen  before  his  enter- 
teyninge  of  his  Sister,  my  eldest  Daughter,  in  Love  and 
Follies,  ivhereof  six  or  seavcn  nionethes  since  I  warned  him 
againe  by  my  Ires,  ivhereunto  he  made  a  short  and  slaight 
Aunswcare.  Within  theis  fcwe  Dales  by  dilligcnt  Care  had 
of  this  Euterteynement  of  Love,  not  Love  but  his  desier  and 
hope  to  gett  Money  by  the  get  tinge  of  her,  a  Ire  was  intercepted, 
tvhcrein  appeared  there  had  ben  practise  to  entice  my  Daughter 
to  an  Assurance,  and  since,  by  the  ptie  about  whome  the  letter 
was  taken,  confessed,  that  she  should  have  ben  psivadcd  in 
some  eveninge  downe  to  the  Gate,  and  there  before  two  Gentle- 
men fitt  for  such  a  Councell  contracted  unto  Mr.  Wotton,  a 
man  of  noe  Livinge,  of  evill  Name,  and  more  than  double  my 
Daughters  Veres.  Vet  the  Plott  went  further,  howe  by  mcanes 
of  some  highlie  in  the  quenes  favo'  I  should  be  forced  {the 
Contract  beinge  once  past ^  to  gcve  him  two  or  three  Thousande 
Pounds  with  her.  Whereof  he  beinge  disapointed  by  the  Dis- 
cou'ie  of  this  Ire,  lie  hath  threatened  Revenge  vppon  my 
Servaunts,  and  namelie  vppon  my  Steivard,  wlw  openlie  in 
Pawles  he  reviled,  and  threatned  to  thi-ust  his  Dagger  in  him 
had  he  ben  out  of  the  Church.  The  next  dale  follozvinge  this 
Behavio'  of  Air.  Wot  tons,  cometh  my  Sonne  {after  he  and 
Air.  Wotton  had  supped  at  Arrundells^  together)  to  my  Howse, 
and p'' tendinge  for  Curtesie  to  see  me,  tarryinge  a  smalle  while, 
and  vsinge  almost  noe  Words  to  my  self,  he  departed.  On 
whome,  nowe,  as  he  accustomed,  my  Cosen  Frauncis  Fitton 
{his  fathers  Cosen  fermaine,  and  chief  Dealer  in  matters  of 
his  livinge,  as  still  he  is  for  me),  wayted  on  him  doune  into 
the  Hall,  where,  without  any  cause,  knowne  or  worde  spoken, 
he  drew  his  Rapier  {tuhich  he  seldome  vseth  to  cany,  but  of 
purpose  that  night)  and  strake  at  him,  beinge  in  his  Night 
Gorvne,  amascd  at  the  matter,  cutt  his  Head,  and  brake  the 
Rapier  vppon  his  Arme,  havinge  nothinge  to  defende  his  life 
withall  but  his  handes,  till  at  length  some  of  my  Servantts 
rescued  him.  Since  w'''  nights  Behavio',  beinge  Saturdaie  last, 
he  hath  come  by  my  Gate  w"'  Air.  Wotton,  and  in  sconte  asked 
for  Air.  Fitton,  bravinge  and  storminge  the  rest  of  my  Servants 

'  The  townhouse  of  the  Eail  of  Arundel. 


44  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

that  attended  at  my  Gate.  And  after  Supper  coviinge  by, 
caused  a  Page  to  rapp  at  the  Gate,  asking  in  more  scornes 
whether  he  might  come  in  or  noe. 

"  This  hath  ben  my  Sonnes  and  his  Companions  be- 
havio'  iustly  and  tnily  sett  downe,  and  the  cause  of  it  (/  saie') 
onelie  this  matter  and  Quarrell  of  IVotton  to  my  men,  and 
to  my  kinsman  Air.  Fitton,  wliome  he  suspected  did  my 
Contandenient  in  takinge  of  a  badd  Boy  {who  once  sei~ved  me) 
the  Carrier  of  these  Ires  betzvene  him  and  my  Daughter ; 
for  in  all  his  Lif  my  Cosen  Fitton  hath  never  offetided  my 
Sonne  that  ever  he  or  I  can  tell  of.  Nowe  humblie  I  besech 
yo'  Lp.  to  consider  the  Wronge  that  this  IVotton  hath  gon 
aboute  to  doe  me,  the  Howse,  and  my  vnfortunate  Daughter, 
nowe  to  my  Servants ;  and  next  the  Vnnaturallnes  of  my 
Sonne  takinge  his  newe  Companions  part  against  his  owne 
Mother,  whose  Lief  belike  he  desirs  to  shorten  with  Greif  if 
he  cannot  doe  it  otherwise,  and  howe  unkinde  aftd  vfidiscrett 
he  is  to  be  content  to  cast  awaie  his  Sister  into  Beggerie  and 
Want,  to  please  his  jtewe  Acquaintaunce.  Hopinge  y'  for  the 
Howse  sake  (though  it  hath  ben  vnfortunate)  as  for  comon 
Example  of  outragious  Misorder,  and  Contempt  of  me  his 
Mother,  your  Lp.  and  the  rest  of  my  Lords,  when  I  shall 
exhibitt  my  Peticdn,  will  take  some  Order  w'''  male  in  tyme 
to  come  be  good  for  him,  yf  euer  he  will  be  good.  Thus  even 
hartely  greved  /  take  my  leave  of  yo''  Lp.  From  my  Howse 
in  St.  Martyns,  this  ffifte  of  December  1587. 

"  Yo""  Lp.  assured frende, 

"  K.  Northumberland. 

"  /  had  forgotten  to  declare  vnto  yo'  Lordship  howe  on 
Sundaie  last  came  to  my  Howse  diifs  Citizens  of  good  will, 
warninge  my  Folkes  to  beware  of  Cominge  forth  of  my  Howse, 
for  that  the  Streats  were  laid  by  Mr.  IVotton,  and  namely 
for  Legg  my  Steward.  And  within  lesse  than  half  an  Hower 
came  one  Forrest,  a  man  of  my  Sonnes,  ■  into  my  Howse, 
gevinge  Warninge  that  this  Legg,  my  man  should  not  goe 
forth  to  waite  upon  me,  for  that  Streates  were  laid  for  him 
by  M'-  Wotton,  his  Men  and  Frendes." 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  45 

Lady  Nortliumberland,  it  will  be  noticed,  says  nothing 
whatever  of  the  more  or  less  tender  feelings  which  existed 
between  herself  and  the  Master  Francis  Fitton  thus  ignomi- 
niously  thrashed  with  her  son's  rapier  ;  nor  does  she  admit 
the  probability  that  this  thrashing  and  the  Earl's  subsequent 
scornful  words  were  caused  by  the  latter's  knowledge  that 
his  mother  meditated  a  marriage  with  her  man  of  affairs  at 
the  very  time  that  she  railed  against  Lucy  Percy's  love  for 
John  Wotton.i  But  old  Burghley,  who  knew  most  things 
concerning  the  English  society  of  his  day,  was  probably 
well  aware  of  the  true  condition  of  affairs,  and  acted  ac- 
cordingly. At  any  rate,  the  wrathful  Countess  did  not,  so 
far  as  is  known,  succeed  in  airing  her  troubles  before  "  the 
wholle  Councell"  ;  and  the  happy  settlement  of  this  trouble- 
some business  leads  us  to  believe  that  the  crafty  Cecil  may 
himself  have  taken  a  hand  in  it.  For  both  quarrel  and 
romance  were  brought  to  an  agreeable  conclusion.  John 
Wotton  was  knighted  by  the  Queen,  and  in  a  little  while 
married  Lady  Lucy  Percy,  without  being  driven  to  "  lay  the 
streates  "  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  her  off.  The  young 
Earl  was  induced  to  seek  an  outlet  for  his  fiery  spirit  in  the 
Low  Countries  ;  whither  he  went  with  a  handsome  train  to 
serve  as  a  volunteer  under  Leicester  against  the  Spaniards. 
Lastly,  the  Countess  was,  presumably,  made  happy  by 
being  wedded  to  the  man  of  her  choice  ;  and  mild  Francis 
Fitton  found  her  Ladyship's  large  private  fortune  a  service- 
able salve  for  the  blows  which  he  had  received  from  his  hot- 
tempered  stepson.  The  Earl's  near  neighbour  at  Blackfriars, 
Master  William  Shakespeare,  might  well  have  turned  the 
whole  story  into  a  diverting  comedy. 

When  the  execution  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  led  to 
war  with  Spain,  and  Philip  sent  his  vast  fleet  to  harry  these 
....     .J      shores,  young  Northumberland  was  one  of  those 

"Mounted on  '  -'  ° 

Fortunes       patriotic  pecrs  who  shamed  the  sordid  parsimony 
Wheel  q£  Elizabeth,  and  the  perilous  inactivity  of  her 

ministers,   by    fitting   forth   ships   at    their    own    expense, 
raising    companies    of    volunteers,    and    expending    large 

'  stale  Ptiptrs. 


46  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

sums  for  the  fortification  of  tlie  coast  and  the  defence 
of  the  nation.  "  A  great  many  of  the  young  nobihty  and 
gentry,"  says  Nichols,^  "entered  themselves  as  volun- 
teers in  the  navy,  hired  ships  at  their  own  expense,  and 
from  a  zeal  to  serve  their  country  joined  in  the  grand  fleet 
in  vast  numbers — among  which  were  the  Earls  of  Oxford, 
Northumberland,  and  Cumberland."  These  private  exer- 
tions, combined  with  the  fury  of  the  elements,  were  the  real 
saving  of  England  in  that  time  of  danger.  Northumberland 
and  his  associates  followed  up  their  disinterested  conduct 
by  advancing  many  thousands  of  pounds  to  Raleigh  and 
the  other  fathers  of  the  British  nav}',  and  thus  made 
possible  the  long  sea  war  which  followed  the  failure  of 
the  Armada. 

If  the  Queen  was  loath  to  part  with  any  of  her  hoarded 
gains,  she  proved  as  eager  as  ever  to  add  to  them  ;  and  the 
Earl  very  wisely  adopted  his  father's  policy  of  placating 
her  Majesty  by  frequent  and  costly  gifts.  The  Calendar  of 
State  Papers  from  this  time  until  the  date  of  Elizabeth's 
death  contains  regular  entries  of  New  Year  presents  given 
by  Northumberland  to  his  sovereign.  In  January  1589 
his  offering  consisted  of  "  one  jezvel  of  golde  like  a  lampe, 
gmtiesshed  with  diamonds,  and  one  opal ; "  but  his  later 
tokens  of  loyalty  were  far  more  costly  than  this.  The 
Queen  regarded  him  as  favourably  as  she  had  once  done 
his  father ;  and  in  1591  he  was  restored  to  the  latter's  for- 
feited post  as  Governor  of  Tynemouth  Castle.  On  April 
23,  1593,  the  same  chapel  of  Windsor  Castle  which, 
twenty-three  years  before,  had  witnessed  his  uncle's 
shameful  degradation  from  the  dignity  of  the  Garter, 
now  saw  the  ninth  Earl  of  Northumberland  installed  a 
knight  of  that  order  with  due  pomp  and  ceremony.  The 
dramatist,  George  Peele,  turned  this  event  to  account  by 
publishing  a  series  of  verses  entitled  T/ie  Honour  of  the 
Garter,  which  he  dedicated  to  the  new  knight  in  the  ful- 
some phraseology  of  the  literary  man  of  the  period  seeking 

'  FfOgrcises  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  vol.  ii. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  47 

a   patron.     In   tlie  verses  themselves   the  Earl  was   thus 

apostrophised : — 

"  Young  Northumberland, 
Mounted  on  Fortune's  wheel  by  Virtue's  aim, 
Become  thy  badge,  as  it  becometh  thee ! 
Leaving  our  schoolmen's  vulgar  trodden  paths, 
And  following  the  ancient  reverend  steps 
Of  Trismegistus  and  Pythagoras, 
Thro'  uncouth  ways  and  inacessible, 
Dost  pass  into  the  spacious  pleasant  fields 
Of  divine  Science  and  Philosophy  !  " 

Northumberland  does  not  appear  to  have  looked  upon  tliis 
production  as  a  masterpiece  of  genius,  if  we  are  to  judge  by 
the  manner  in  which  he  rewarded  the  author.  The  Earl's 
House  Rolls,  now  preserved  in  Syon  House,  contain  the 
following  order  : — "Deliver  to  Mr.  IVarnour,  at  my  Lord's 
appointment,  to  give  to  one  George  Peel,  a  poett,  as  my  Lord's 
liberaiitie,  £t,."  It  is  likely,  however,  that  "  ttiy  Lord's  liber- 
alitie"  sufficed  for  at  least  one  merry  night  at  the  "  Mermaid," 
the  "  Devil,"  or  any  of  the  taverns  where  Peele  was  wont  to 
spend  his  scanty  gains  with  Jonson  and  the  rest ;  so  that 
some  lines  of  true  poetry  may  have  come  out  of  The  Honour 
cf  the  Garter  after  all. 

In  1590  the  Earl  had  moved  his  town  residence  from 
Blackfriars  to  Russell  House,  St.  Martins-in-the-Fields,  "at 
a  little  distance  beyond  Charing  Cross."  This  mansion  he 
rented  for  ^60  per  annum.  He  also  possessed  a  small  villa 
in  the  hamlet  of  Barking,  where  he  frequently  entertained 
Raleigh,  Drake,  and  other  sea-captains  whose  vessels  were 
anchored  in  the  river  hard  by.  His  great  country  estates  he 
now  seldom  visited,  for  he  found  it  impossible  to  transport 
hither  and  thither  the  books  and  scientific  instruments 
among  which  he  loved  to  spend  his  time.  This  neglect 
caused  discontent,  and  even  more  serious  troubles,  among 
his  tenantry,  particularly  at  Petworth^which  place  he  loved 
least  of  all  his  houses,  perhaps  because  it  had  been  for 
years  practically  the  prison  of  his  father.  With  the  Sussex 
folk  he  had  waged  a  species  of  feud  which  lasted  from  the 


48  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

beginning  of  1592  until  1595,  or  even  later.  The  tenantry 
periodically  mustered  in  force,  and,  under  cover  of  darkness, 
pulled  down  the  fences  and  other  enclosures  which  the 
servants  of  the  manorial  lord  had  erected.  When  Nor- 
thumberland's bailiffs  retaliated,  the  malcontents  shut  off 
the  water  supply  of  the  estate.^  He  was  somewhat  com- 
forted for  these  annoyances  when,  in  consequence  of  his 
petition  to  that  end,  the  Queen  exempted  his  estate  from 
liability  for  the  unpaid  balance  of  that  fine  of  ;£5ooo  imposed 
upon  the  eighth  Earl  by  the  Star  Chamber  in  1572.^ 
Perhaps  the  court  favour  which  he  clearly  enjoyed  led 
the  Catholic  party  at  this  time  to  bring  forward  the  old 
proposal  of  an  alliance  between  Northumberland  and  the 
Lady  Arabella  Stuart ;  perhaps  that  dangerous  subject  was 
broached  by  those  jealous  of  his  growing  power  and 
influence.  It  is  certain  that  rumours  of  such  a  marriage 
were  bruited  abroad,  and  speedily  reached  the  ears  of 
the  Queen  and  Council.  The  succession  to  the  throne  was 
a  grave  problem  to  all  thinking  persons.  Elizabeth  had 
chosen  no  successor,  nor  would  she  in  any  way  allow 
the  rights  of  the  King  of  Scots,  James  VI.,  to  be  regarded  as 
heir.  Arabella  Stuart  stood  next  to  James  in  order  of 
inheritance,  and  was  now  in  her  nineteenth  year.  It  ap- 
pears that  Northumberland  was  by  no  means  averse  to 
the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  so  illustrious  a  union, 
and  his  Catholic  friends,  both  at  home  and  on  the  Continent, 
encouraged  him  to  offer  his  hand  to  the  Lady  Arabella,  and 
even  to  carry  her  off,  if  such  violent  measures  became 
necessary.^  The  Earl's  own  descent  from  the  House  of 
York  placed  him  at  least  seventh  in  the  order  of  succession 
(only  James  of  Scotland,*  Arabella  Stuart,*  Lord  Beau- 
champ,*  Lord  Henry  Seymour,*  the  Earl  of  Derby,*  and 

'  Northumberland  to  Sir  John  Pickering,  Lord  Keeper,  June  29,  1592  ;  and 
again  Nov.  8,  1594  :    Harleian  MSS.,  Nos.  6995  and  6996. 
'  The  balance  of  the  fine  was  remitted  in  December  1594. 
'  Original  State  Papers  {Domestic  Series,  Eliz.  v.  235). 
*  Both  descended  from  Margaret,  first  sister  of  Henry  VIII. 
'  Descended  from  Mary,  second  sister  of  Henry  VIII. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  49 

the  Earl  of  Huntingdon^  standing  between  him  and  the 
position  of  legitimate  heir  to  the  throne  of  England  ;  but 
some  of  his  more  ardent  supporters  went  so  far  as  to  revive 
for  his  benefit  the  old  tale  to  the  effect  that  Edmund 
"  Crouchback,"  -  Earl  of  Lancaster,  was  the  elder,  rather 
than  the  younger  brother  of  Edward  1. ;  which,  if  it  had  been 
true,  would  have  set  aside  the  rights  of  both  Tudor  and 
Stuart,  and  after  the  Houses  of  Spain  and  Portugal  (the 
members  of  which  could,  of  course,  never  succeed),  and 
the  banished  and  outlawed  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  made 
Northumberland  dejtire  sovereign  of  England.  The  pro- 
ject of  settling  the  crown  upon  the  Lady  Arabella,  and 
marrying  her  to  Northumberland,  was  well  received  in 
England, — so  well,  indeed,  that  Elizabeth's  jealousy  caught 
fire,  and  she  decided  to  put  a  stop  to  the  affair  before  it 
went  any  further. 

Arabella  Stuart  was  at  once  imprisoned,  or  at  least 
"  placed  under  close  restraint,"  while  the  Queen  hastened 
to  procure  for  Northumberland  a  wife  less  liable  to  involve 
him  in  dangerous  designs.  So  eager  was  the  royal  match- 
maker in  this  quest  that  she  apparently  overlooked  the  im- 
portant matter  of  suitability  altogether,  and  chose  for  the 
Earl  a  consort  wholly  unfitted  to  fill  that  position.  There  is 
even  a  serious  doubt  whether  Lady  Dorothy  Devereux, 
otherwise  Perrott  (the  person  thus  rashly  selected),  was  free 
to  enter  into  the  bonds  of  matrimony  ;  for,  in  the  words  of 
a  contemporary,  she  was  "  nor  maid,  nor  wife,  nor  yet  widoivel' 
Her  first  husband,  Sir  Thomas  Perrott,  was  still  living,  and 
no  record  exists  to  show  that  their  union  had  ever  been  set 
aside.  Young  as  she  was,  her  name  had  already  been  made 
notorious  by  the  tongue  of  scandal,  and  she  had  been  sub- 
jected to  a  public  affront  by  the  very  sovereign  who  now 

'  Descended  from  George,  Duke  of  Clarence,  brother  of  Edward  IV. 

'  Edmund  "  Crouchback  "  was  actually  born  in  1245,  six  years  after  Edward  I. 
The  story  of  his  having  been  set  aside  on  account  of  deformity  was  probably  an 
invention  of  the  Lancastrian  Princes,  who  derived  from  him  through  Blanche, 
wife  of  John  of  Gaunt.  His  eldest  grand-daughter,  Mary,  married  Henry,  Lord 
Percy,  and  was  mother  of  the  first  Earl  of  Northumberland. 

11.  D 


so  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

wished  to  make  her  Countess  of  Northumberland.  She 
had  no  dowry,  save  that  of  beauty  and  birth  ;  and  the 
ungovernable  temper  with  which  she  was  cursed  made 
it  extremely  improbable  that  she  could  live  in  peace 
with  Northumberland — himself  by  no  means  of  a  placid 
disposition. 

But  the  strange  history  and  equally  strange  character 
of  the  future  Countess  deserve  a  more  extended  notice. 

Dorothy  Devereux  was  born  at  Chartley  in  Stafford- 
shire, about  the  year  1565,  the  second  daughter  of  Walter 
concermng  Devereux,  first  Earl  of  Essex,  by  his  wife 
Dorothy,  Letticc  Kuollys.  Believers  in  heredity  may  find 
Northumi^r-  the  best  excuse  for  Lady  Dorothy's  faults  and 
land.  follies  in  the  nature  of  the  stock  from  which  she 

sprang.  Her  father  was  of  mixed  Norman  and  Cymbric 
descent,  the  representative  of  more  than  one  race  long 
settled  upon  the  Welsh  Marches,^  A  brave,  though  unskil- 
ful soldier,  he  became,  when  blinded  by  rage,  bloodthirsty 
and  even  treacherous.^  He  squandered  most  of  his  great 
fortune  in  a  futile  attempt  to  reconquer  the  North  of  Ireland, 
and  would  probably  have  utterly  ruined  himself  and  his 
children  in  the  same  cause,  but  for  his  early  death  in  1576.^ 
From  him  Lady  Dorothy  (as  well  as  her  brother,  the  second 
Earl  of  Essex)  inherited  neither  prudence  nor  tranquillity 
of  temper.  Other  phases  of  her  character  are  traceable  to 
her  mother,  Lettice  Knollys.    This  remarkable  woman  is 

'  In  addition  to  being  the  heir  of  the  old  house  of  Devereux  of  Hereford, 
he  also  represented  the  families  of  Bourchier,  Earls  of  Essex,  and  Ferrers  of 
Chartley,  besides  tracing  his  descent  through  several  strains  to  the  ancient  princes 
of  Wales.  He  is  said  to  have  boasted  to  Sir  Brian  O'Neill  that  he  "  possessed  no 
drop  of  Saxon  blood." 

-  He  was  directly  responsible  for  the  brutal  massacre  of  the  Scoto-Irish  of 
Rathlin  in  July  1575  (a  deed  of  blood  condemned  by  so  partial  a  historian  as 
Froude),  for  the  massacre  of  Ards  in  Down,  and  for  the  slaughter  of  his  Irish 
guests  at  the  banquet  to  which  he  had  invited  them  in  Belfast,  October  1574. 
These,  and  other  cruel  and  perfidious  acts,  are  said  to  have  been  committed  in 
the  heat  of  passion. 

^  He  died  at  Dublin  in  1576,  it  is  said  by  poison  administered  by  Leicester's 
agents. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  51 

accused  of  having  been  engaged  in  an  adulterous  intrigue 
with  the  Earl  of  Leicester  during  her  husband's  lifetime.* 
She  was  certainly  at  Kenilworth  with  Leicester  in  1575,^ 
and  she  became  his  wife  with  almost  indecent  haste  after 
the  death  of  Essex,  She  was  subsequently  married,  for  the 
third  time,  to  Sir  Christopher  Blount,  and  died  at  the  great 
age  of  ninety-four  on  Christmas  Day  1634.  It  is  worthy  of 
note  that  her  grandmother  was  Mary  Boleyn,  stated  to  have 
been  one  of  Henry  VIIL's  mistresses,^  and  sister  of  Queen 
Anne  Boleyn.''  Lettice  Knollys  was  thus  nearly  related  to 
Elizabeth. 

As  to  Robert,  Earl  of  Essex,  brother  of  the  future  Lady 
Northumberland,  his  reckless  and  inflammable  tempera- 
ment bore  no  slight  resemblance  to  that  of  his  sister ;  and 
those  familiar  with  his  history  will  remember  the  character 
given  him  by  Elizabeth  when  he  was  wounded  in  a  duel 
with  Charles  Blount — a  character  which  might  have  been 
applied  with  equal  force  to  Lady  Dorothy  Devereux.  '^  By 
God's  death,  "  swore  the  Queen,  "  it  were  fitting  that  some  one 
should  take  Essex  down  and  teach  him  better  ma?iners,  or  there 
were  no  rule  with  him  ! "  It  will  be  remembered  that  the 
Earl's  bitter  words  on  one  occasion  goaded  Elizabeth  into 
boxing  his  ears. 

Another  member  of  this  remarkable  family  was  Lady 
Penelope  Devereux  (elder  sister  of  Lady  Dorothy),  who 
openly  defied  the  received  laws  of  morality  in  order  to 
follow  the  dictates  of  her  heart.  In  early  life  she  had  met 
and  loved  Charles  Blount,  then  a  younger  son  of  Lord 
Mountjoy.  Blount's  empty  purse,  and  the  comparative 
poverty  in  which  the  first  Essex  had  left  his  children,  pre- 
cluded all  hope  of  a  union  at  that  time,  and  Lady  Penelope 
was  induced  to  bestow  her  hand  upon  Robert,  third  Lord 

'  In  Parsons'  Leicester's  Commonwealth,  Leicester  is  accused  of  having 
procured  the  poisoning  of  Essex  in  order  to  enjoy  undisputed  possession  of  the 
latter's  wife.     The  familiar  Ballad  of  Leicester's  Ghost  makes  a  similar  accusation. 

*  Essex  was  then  absent  in  Ireland. 

'  See  that  king's  own  statement  under  the  account  of  Anne  Boleyn's  trial. 

■*  Mary  Boleyn,  by  her  husband  William  Carey  (or,  as  some  have  it,  by  Henry 
VIII.),  was  mother  of  Katherine  Carey,  wife  of  Sir  Francis  Knollys. 


52  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

Rich,  afterwards  Earl  of  Warwick,  Presently,  however, 
when  Blount  succeeded  to  the  barony  and  estates  of 
Mountjoy,  Lady  Rich  fled  from  her  husband's  house,  and 
became  the  mistress  of  her  former  lover.*  She  had  an 
illegitimate  family  of  five  children  by  Mountjoy.  One  of 
these  was  afterwards  created  first  Baron  Mountjoy  and 
Earl  of  Newport,  owing  to  the  fact  that  he  had  married  a 
niece  of  the  favourite,  Buckingham.  Eventually  Lady  Rich 
was  divorced  from  her  husband,  and  married  to  Mountjoy, 
but  she  left  by  the  latter  no  legitimate  offspring.^ 

So  much  for  the  immediate  relatives  of  Lady  Dorothy 
Devereux.^  She  herself  soon  proved  as  reckless  and  diffi- 
cult of  restraint  as  either  her  brother  or  her  sister.  Leicester 
soon  grew  weary  of  playing  step-father  to  one  so  un- 
manageable, and  banished  her  to  the  household  of  the 
Queen's  Cofferer,  Master  Henry  Cock.*  Cock  sent  his 
difficult  charge  to  the  Manor  of  Broxbourne  in  Hertford- 
shire, some  sixteen  miles  to  the  north  of  London,  where 
it  was  hoped  she  would  be  sufficiently  far  removed  from  the 
temptations  of  town.  But  even  in  this  secluded  country 
parish  Lady  Dorothy  contrived  to  follow  her  mother's  and 
her  sister's  example  by  becoming  the  heroine  of  a  romantic 
love-affair.  In  July  1583,  when  barely  eighteen,  she  eloped 
with  Sir  Thomas  Perrott,  a  man  of  thirty-two,  and  was 
married  to  him  under  very  curious  circumstances. 

Thomas  Perrott  was  son  of  that  stout  old  soldier.  Sir 
John  Perrott,  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland,  who  was  in  his 
turn  a  natural  son  of  Henry  VI 11.^    Young  Perrott  had 

'  Sinclair,  More  Percy  Anecdotes,  Old  and  New. 

2  Ibid. 

^  There  was  one  other  reputed  child  of  Walter,  first  E^rl  of  Essex— Sir 
Charles  Devereux,  killed  in  a  skirmish  before  Rouen,  1591.  He  was  by  some 
declared  to  be  a  natural  son  of  Leicester  by  Lady  Essex. 

■*  Henry  Cock  was  Sheriff  of  Herts  in  1575,  and  received  the  honour  of 
knighthood  in  1589.  The  estate  of  Broxbourne  (formerly  monastic  land)  has  long 
passed  out  of  the  Cock  family. 

'  By  "  the  Fair  Thyamis"  (as  Spenser  called  her  in  The  Fah-y  Queen),  Mary 
Berkeley,  wife  of  Thomas  Perrott  of  Haroldston.  Old  Sir  John  Perrott  was  (like 
the  eighth  Earl  of  Northumberland)  persecuted  by  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  whom 
he  called  his  "frisking  adversary."     He  died  in  the  Tower,  September  1592. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  53 

served  under  his  father  with  considerable  distinction,  and 
in  1578  was  knighted  at  Waterford  by  Lord  Justice  Drury. 
How,  or  where,  he  first  met  Lady  Dorothy  is  unknown  ; 
but  some  sort  of  understanding  must  have  been  come 
to  between  them,  for  in  July  1583,  when  Perrott  rode  to 
Broxbourne  with  a  band  of  armed  friends  (veterans  like 
himself  of  the  Irish  wars),  the  fair  ward  of  Master  Cock 
awaited  the  party  at  the  door  of  the  parish  church,  and 
declared  her  readiness  to  wed  Sir  Thomas  in  defiance  of 
friends  and  kindred.  A  special  licence  had  been  obtained 
through  the  office  of  the  Bishop  of  London  ;  and  efforts 
were  afterwards  made  to  prove  it  irregular.  It  is,  never- 
theless, duly  recorded  as  follows  : — 

"  Thomas  Perott  gen.  and  Dorothy 
Devorax  spinster  of  the  City 
of  London,  on  t^  July,  1583."' 

Strype,  Bishop  of  London,  with  his  chancellor  and  other 
officers,  were  afterwards  brought  before  the  Privy  Council 
and  censured  for  issuing  a  licence  without  full  inquiry  into 
the  condition  and  circumstances  of  the  parties.  The  evi- 
dence regarding  the  actual  marriage  ceremony,  elicited  at 
the  time,  is  as  follows  : — 

"  The  stolen  Match  of  the  Lady  Dorothy  Devereux  with 
Sir  Thomas  Parrot.  That  unequal  Mariage,  for  the  solem- 
nising whereof  a  Licence  was  obtained  out  of  the  Bishop's 
Faculty-Office,  was  mentioned  to  have  been  complained  of  at 
Court,  and  occasioned  Blame  to  the  Bishop.  The  Particulars 
of  it  omitted  in  the  History,^  were  as  follow.  The  Parties 
were  Sir  Thomas  Parrot,  and  the  Lady  Dorothy  Devereux, 
Daughter  to  the  Earl  of  Essex,  of  right  Noble  and  antient 
Blood :  which  Lady  at  that  Time  lived  with  Sir  Henry  Cock 
Kt.  in  the  Parish  of  Broxburn  in  Hertfordshire?  Where 
getting   into    the  Parish   Church,   they   were    married  by  a 

'  London  Marriage  Licenses,  1521-1869  ;  edited  by  Joseph  Foster,  from 
excerpts  by  Col.  Chester,  D.C.L. 

'  i.e.,  in  the  Life  of  Bishop  Aylmer  by  Strype,  from  the  supplement  of  which 
work  these  facts  are  taken. 

'  Cock  was  not  knighted,  however,  at  the  time  of  the  stolen  marriage. 


54  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

strange  Jllinister,  whom  they  procured,  two  Men  guarding 
the  Church  Door  with  their  Swords  and  Daggers  under  their 
Cloaks,  as  the  rest  of  the  Company  had,  to  the  fiumber  of  five 
or  six.  One  Green  was  then  Vicar  of  the  Parish,^  to  ivhom 
that  Morning  repaired  two  Persons.  One  of  thetn  told  him, 
that  he  zaas  a  Minister  and  a  Batchelour  of  Divinity,  and  had 
been  a  Preacher  of  long  Time  ;  and  asked  him  for  the  Key  of 
the  Chtirch  Door,  which  must  be  opened  to  him,  for  he  had  a 
Commission,  wJtereupon  he  was  to  examine  certain  Men,  and 
to  szvcar  them.  And  therefore  asked  him  also  for  the  Com- 
munion Book.  The  Vicar  told  him  it  was  locked  jip  in  the 
Vestry,  and  he  could  not  come  by  it.  But  instead  thereof  he 
offered  him  a  Latin  Testament.  But  the  other  said  that 
would  not  serve  his  Turn.  Coming  to  the  Church,  he  found 
it  open,  and  Sir  Thomas  and  the  Lady  ready  to  enter  in  ;  who 
kindred  him  by  any  means  from  shutting  it.  But  perceiving 
that  they  meant  to  proceed  to  a  Mariage,  he  persuaded  the 
strange  Minister  not  to  deal  herein,  wondering  hoiv  he  would 
intrude  himself  into  his  \_the  Vicar's]  charge  ;  and  then  offered 
to  him  an  Injunction  against  it ;  and  began  to  read  it  unto 
them?  .  ,  .  But  they  refused  to  hear  it ;  and  the  strange 
Minister  {whose  natne  zvas  Lewis)  told  the  Vicar  he  had  suffi- 
cient Authority,  shewing  him  a  Licence  under  Seal ;  which 
the  Vicar  offered  to  read:  but  before  he  had  read  half  of  it. 
Sir  Thomas  snatched  it  away  frojn  him,  and  offered  him  a 
Ryal  to  marry  him.  But  he  refusing.  Sir  Thomas  bad  the 
other  go  forward.  But  the  Vicar,  when  the  other  began  to 
read,  resisted  him,  and  shut  the  Book.  Whereupon  Sir 
Thojnas  thrust  him  aiuay,  and  told  him  he  had  nothing  to  do 
therewith,  and  that  he  should  answer  it  for  resisting  my  Lord 
Bishop's  Authority.  And  one  Godolphin,  one  of  Sir  Thomas's 
Party,  took  him  up,  and  told  him  he  shewed  himself  malicious. 
Whereupon  after  once  more  forbidding  him,  he  held  his  Peace. 
Edmund  Lucy   Esq.,    one   that  lived  in    Sir  Henry    Cock's 

'  William  Greene  was  vicar  of  Broxbourne  from  1580  to  15S3.  In  consequence 
of  the  scandal  arising  out  of  this  affair  he  resigned  the  living  in  the  latter  year. 

'  The  terms  of  this  Injunction,  forbidding  clergymen  to  solemnise  marriages 
save  in  their  own  parishes,  and  when  fully  satisfied  as  to  the  legality  of  the 
ceremony,  is  here  quoted  at  length. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  55 

Family'^  together  'with  the  Lady  Dorothy,  coining  in, plucked 
away  the  Book  from  the  Minister.  Who  told  hint  he  should 
answer  it,  and  was  in  danger  of  a  Preiminire  for  resisting 
the  Bishop's  Authority ;  and  so  he  went  forward  with  his 
Office  zoithout  the  Surplice,  in  his  Cloak  luith  his  riding  Boots 
and  Spurs  ;  and  dispatched  it  hastily. 

"  This  soon  came  to  the  Court:  and  She  being  a  Daughter 
of  one  of  the  antient  Noblesse  {tho'  she  her  self  was  in  the 
Plot),  gave  great  Offence  ;  and  Sir  Heniy  Cock  being  a  fustice 
of  Peace  was  commanded  to  take  the  Exatnination  of  the 
Matter,  and  send  it  up.  And  in  fine  the  Bishop  of  London 
undenvent  much  blame  for  his  Faculties."'^ 

The  Parish  Registers  of  Broxbourne  at  present  date 
only  from  1688;*  so  that  there  is  no  means  of  knowing 
whether  or  not  the  marriage  of  Sir  Thomas  Perrott  and 
Lady  Dorothy  was  duly  entered.  As  for  Bishop  Aylmer, 
he  was  called  to  account  for  "  too  hastily  and  negligently 
granting  Licenses  for  marriage,  without  due  Exatnination 
cojiceniing  the  consent  of  the  Parents,  Guardians  and  Friends 
of  the  Parties  to  be  married.  The  Occasion  whereof  was  that 
iti  fuly  1583,  some  Noble  Person's  Son  or  Daughter  was 
matched  unequally  and  unhappily  by  means  of  one  of  these 
Licenses.  Whereupon  the  .  .  .  Officer,  named  Mr.  Blackwel, 
was  sent  for  by  a  Warrant  from  the  Lord  Treasurer,  to 
appear  before  the  Council,  to  examine  him  about  gratiting  this 
License.  But  both  he  and  D''  Stanhop,  the  Bishop's  Chan- 
cellor, protested  they  neither  knew  nor  heard  of  the  Fault  till 
the  Lord  Treasurer' s  Warrant  came.  Whose  Charge  they 
confest  it  was,  if  they  had  been  present  to  have  lookt  unto  it. 
The  Bishop  himself  was  also  sent  for  to  the  Council,  where  he 
was  twitted  for  his  Licenses ;  tho'  if  there  were  ariy  Fault 
committed  in  this  Particular,  the  Blame  lay  in  his  Officers, 
not  in  him."  * 

'  Afterwards  Sir  Edmund  Lucy,  Kt.  He  married  Frances,  elder  daughter 
and  co-heir  of  Sir  Henry  Cock  of  Broxbourne. 

-  Strype's  Life  af  Bishop  Aylmer  (Supplement),  p.  327. 

'  Cussan's  Hertfordshire.  A  former  clerk  of  the  parish  coolly  appropriated 
the  more  ancient  volumes,  and  cut  the  pages  up  "  into  slips  for  measures"  ! 

*  Strype's  Life  of  Bishop  Aylmer,  p.  197. 


56  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

In  spite  of  opposition  from  the  Council  and  examina- 
tions by  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Sir  Thomas  Perrott  carried 
off  his  newly  made  bride  in  triumph — the  eight  gentlemen 
"  with  their  Swords  and  Daggers  under  their  Cloaks "  pro- 
bably proving  sufficient  to  prevent  any  interference  on  the 
part  of  the  people  of  Broxbourne.  There  is  no  record  of  the 
marriage  having  been  pronounced  null  and  void  ;  indeed 
we  may  assume  that  such  was  not  the  case,  from  the  fact 
that  long  subsequently  (in  1603)  Lady  Northumberland 
was  granted  portion  of  the  money  settled  upon  her  by 
"  her  former  husband,  Sir  Thomas  Perrott."  ^  They  lived 
together  in  London  and  elsewhere  for  about  four  years,^ 
during  which  time  two  children  were  born  to  them.  A 
separation  then  took  place,  but  no  evidence  can  be  dis- 
covered of  any  divorce.  Perhaps  they  looked  upon  theif 
union  as  irregular  and  invalid,  and  therefore  believed  no 
divorce  necessary.  "The  usual  statement,"  says  Sinclair,^ 
"is  that  after  Sir  Thomas's  death,  she  (Lady  Perrott)  married 
her  second  husband  (the  Earl  of  Northumberland).^  But 
that  is  glaringly  incorrect,  as  she  must  have  been  married 
to  the  Earl  about  1594,  and  Sir  Thomas  lived  until  161 1." 

The  entire  circumstances  surrounding  Lady  Dorothy's 
separation  from  Perrott,  and  second  marriage,  are  mysteri- 
ous. In  1591  Sir  Thomas  succeeded  Sir  George  Carew  as 
Master  of  the  Ordnance ;  and  in  1592  he  made  a  will 
settling  considerable  sums  upon  his  wife  and  his  "two 
littell children  by  her"  then  living.  His  father's  persecution 
at  the  hands  of  Hatton  had,  however,  led  to  the  loss  of  the 
family  estates,*  and  the  younger  Perrott  went  to  mend  his 
fortunes   by  serving  in   the  Netherlands.     In   process   of 

'  Domestic  State  Papers,  James  I. 

'  She  had  left  him  in  July  1587,  when,  as  will  be  seen,  the  Queen  publicly  in- 
sulted her  at  North  Hall. 

'  More  Percy  Anecdotes,  Old  and  New. 

*  This  statement  is,  in  fact,  accepted  as  true  by  most  historians  of  the  Peerage. 
Burke  describes  Lady  Dorothy  as  "  widow  of  Sir  Thomas  Perrott." 

'  Old  Sir  John  Perrott  died  in  the  Tower,  September  1592.  Evidence  of  the 
manner  in  which  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  influenced  the  Queen  against  him  may 
be  found  in  the  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Elizabeth  (Addenda). 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  57 

time,  some  portion  of  the  forfeited  lands  were  restored  to 
him.  The  exact  date  and  place  of  his  death  are  unknown, 
but  Sinclair's  statement  to  the  efTect  that  he  lived  into  the 
reign  of  James  I.  is  probably  correct.  He  certainly  sur- 
vived his  wife's  second  marriage  to  Northumberland.  Of 
one  of  his  two  children  by  her  there  is  no  account.  The 
second,  Penelope  Perrott,  described  as  his  "  sole  heir," 
married  firstly  Sir  William  Gower,  Kt.,  and  secondly  Sir 
Robert  Naunton,  Kt.^ 

Whether  Lady  Perrott's  violent  temper  led  to  a  separa- 
tion, or  whether  (as  before  suggested)  they  had  come  to 
look  upon  their  marriage  as  not  binding,  Sir  Thomas  and 
his  wife  parted  by  mutual  consent  about  the  beginning  of 
1587.  The  star  of  the  young  Earl  of  Essex  was  now 
rapidly  eclipsing  that  of  Raleigh  at  Court,  and  the  Queen 
found  herself  unable  to  remain  long  apart  from  her  latest 
minion.  Lady  Dorothy,  between  whom  and  her  brother 
there  existed  a  tender  attachment,  went  to  join  the  latter  at 
North  Hall,  the  seat  of  Lord  Warwick.  In  July  1587 
Elizabeth  visited  North  Hall,  and  hearing  of  Lady 
Dorothy's  presence  there,  expressed  her  displeasure  in  no 
measured  terms,  positively  refusing  to  receive  her.  It  is 
amusing  to  find  a  sovereign  of  Elizabeth's  reputation 
playing  the  prude  under  such  circumstances,  and  affecting 
to  be  shocked  at  the  proximity  of  one  whose  worst  faults 
were  a  clandestine  marriage  and  a  separation  from  her 
husband.  Essex  was  supremely  disgusted  at  the  royal 
attitude,  and  remonstrated  with  Elizabeth  for  insulting  his 
sister,  and,  through  her,  the  honour  of  his  house.  This  he 
declared  had  been  done  to  please  "  that  knave  Raleigh." 
Bitter  recriminations  followed.  Eventually,  about  mid- 
night, Essex  left  North  Hall  in  company  with  his  sister,  and 
took  the  road  to  Theobalds,  the  home  of  Burghley.  Next 
day  he  hurried  to  Sandwich  with  the  intention  of  sailing 
for  Holland,  and  would  probably  have  carried  his  design 
into  effect,  had  not  Elizabeth  despatched  Sir  Robert  Carey 

'  Craik,  Romanct  of  the  Peerage.      Sec  also  Herald  and    Genealogist,    vol. 
viii.  pp.  314-24- 


58  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

in  hot  haste  to  bring  him  back.  A  reconciliation  was 
effected,  and,  rather  than  lose  her  favourite,  Elizabeth 
consented  to  extend  some  slight  favour  to  his  sister,  Lady 
Dorothy. 

With  the  attainder  and  death  in  the  Tower  of  Sir  John 
Perrott,  the  fortune  settled  by  his  son  and  heir  upon 
Lady  Dorothy  Devereux  was  held  by  the  lawyers  to  have 
become  confiscate  to  the  Crown.  I3eing  without  means, 
however,  Lady  Dorothy  sued  for  this  money,  and  the  Queen 
(anxious  to  see  her  married  to  the  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land) was  now  willing  to  forego  the  Crown  claims  in  her 
favour.  Burghley  and  Attorney-General  Coke,  however, 
advanced  other  reasons  for  withholding  the  lady's  settle- 
ments. The  alleged  irregularity  of  her  marriage  was 
probably  one  of  the  points  upon  which  Burghley  and 
Attorney-General  Coke  (her  chief  opponents)  took 'their 
stand.  Long  and  costly  litigation  was  the  result,  which  was 
only  stopped  by  Northumberland  (who  had  in  the  mean- 
time married  Lady  Dorothy)  refusing  to  loosen  his  purse- 
strings  any  further  for  the  prosecution  of  an  apparently 
fruitless  case.  Lady  Northumberland  then  had  recourse 
to  petitions,  varied  by  personal  abuse  of  Burghley,  Coke, 
and  even  of  her  husband.  In  the  end  the  Queen,  utterly 
wearied  by  her  importunities,  granted  her  a  pension  of  ;£400 
per  annum,  to  take  the  place  of  the  Perrott  settlements, 
and  enable  her  to  bring  up  her  daughter  by  Sir  Thomas.^ 

Northumberland's  honeymoon  was  disturbed  by  news 
of  trouble  upon  his  Border  estates.  In  December  1595 
North  Lord  Eure,  Warden  of  the  Middle  Marches,  re- 

Country  ported  that  a  few  days  previously  a  large  hosting 
and  religious  oi  "  Burncs,  Youngs  and Mowcs,  witli  xxvij.  korsses" 
difficulties.  came  to  Rugley,«  one  of  the  Earl's  "towns," 
and  raided  the  neighbourhood.  Eure  complained  that  Sir 
John  Forster  and  others  of  the  Puritan  leaders  could  have 

'  Pat.  and  Close  Rolls,  Elizabeth.     This  pension  was  afterwards  revoked  when, 
in  1603,  Lady  Northumberland  renewed  her  suit  with  success. 

^  A  small  village  about  two  miles  south  of  Alnwick,  under  Aydon  Forest. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  59 

prevented  this  and  similar  raids,  but  did  not  clioose  to  do 
so.  Although  the  "  common  bell "  was  rung  in  Ahnvick, 
and  Sir  John  Forster  was  present  in  the  town  with  a  large 
force,  no  attempt  had  been  made  to  help  the  Earl's  tenants, 
or  to  pursue  the  freebooters.  Sir  John  Forster  was  the 
former  lessee  and  receiver  of  the  forfeited  Percy  estates 
under  the  Crown  ;  which  fact  may  help  to  explain  his  con- 
duct on  this  occasion.  He  it  was  also  who  had  acted  as 
the  seventh  Earl's  gaoler  and  custodian  during  that  noble- 
man's last  sad  journey  to  York.  Lord  Eure's  suspicion  that 
Forster  did  not  desire  to  protect  Northumberland's  tenants 
is  borne  out  by  the  information  that,  within  a  week  after  the 
first  raid,  the  Youngs  boldly  returned  to  the  Alnwick 
district  with  twenty-five  horses,  and  spoiled  several  villages, 
sparing  only  the  property  of  one  Salkeld,  a  kinsman  and 
follower  of  Sir  John.  On  this  occasion,  as  before,  there 
was  no  pursuit  of  the  daring  marauders ;  and  Eure  openly 
accuses  Forster  of  conniving  at  both  raids.^ 

It  is  certain  that  the  Puritan  knight,  although  in  com- 
mand of  considerable  forces,  remained  inert  at  Alnwick, 
while  hamlets  and  farmsteads  for  miles  around  were 
plundered  and  burnt.  The  entire  county  of  Northumber- 
land lay  at  the  mercy  of  these  ravaging  outlaws ;  the 
peasantry  were  houseless  and  almost  starving.  Nor  did  the 
condition  of  Cumberland  and  the  Western  Marches  present 
a  less  gloomy  picture.  Elizabeth  and  Burghley  had  up- 
rooted the  old  Catholic  aristocracy  from  the  soil,  and  placed 
the  government  of  these  regions  in  the  hands  of  men  like 
Forster,  little  respected  by  the  people,  and  prevented  by 
mutual  suspicions  and  petty  jealousy  from  keeping  the  peace 
of  the  Border-side.  Lord  Eure,  alone  of  the  Wardens,  seems 
to  have  been  actuated  by  any  public  spirit ;  but  even  he 
admitted  that  while  Forster  and  his  fellows  were  allowed  to 
rule  as  they  listed,  nothing  could  be  done  to  suppress  rapine 
and  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  people.  This  was  at  last 
realised  by  the  Queen's  ministers  ;  and  they  looked  about 
for  a  warden  general — some  man  whose  dignity  of  birth  and 

'  Alnwick  AfSS. 


6o  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

natural  capacities  might  entitle  him  to  govern  not  only  the 
Marches,  but  the  March  Wardens,  Constables,  and  Captains 
as  well.  The  first  choice  fell  upon  Northumberland,  and 
to  him  this  signal  honour  was  offered.  It  is  perhaps  to  be 
regretted,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  the  North  Country,  but 
for  his  own  fame,  that  he  did  not  accept.  But  in  truth  he 
loved  too  well  his  Court  friends  and  courtly  interests,  his 
laboratory  and  his  books,  to  leave  them  thus  for  the  rough, 
perhaps  thankless,  service  of  the  Border.  Courage  he  had 
in  plenty,  as  we  shall  see  ;  it  was  personal  prudence  that 
deterred  him.  But  midnight  raids  and  noonday  hangings  ; 
life  in  the  saddle  or  in  rude  march-peels  ;  conversation  with 
men  whose  only  science  was  the  tracking  of  deer  or  outlaw, 
whose  only  literature  was  drawn  from  the  ballads  of  some 
strolling  harper — these  things  were  not  for  the  splendid 
Earl  of  Northumberland.  Only  yesterday  he  returned  from 
buckling  the  Garter  around  the  knee  of  King  Henry  of 
France  of  Navarre  ;  ^  to-day  he  had  an  audience  with  her 
Majesty,  and  a  merry  Parisian  tale  for  her  private  ear. 
Thence  to  the  Globe,  to  hear  Master  Shakespeare's  latest 
play  ;  after  which  supper  at  one  of  the  great  houses  in  the 
Strand,  with  Raleigh's  wild  stories  of  adventure  overseas, 
and  a  budget  of  half-treasonable  gossip  from  Edinburgh  or 
Antwerp  to  flavour  the  viands  and  add  a  zest  to  the  wine  ! 
And  when  supper  was  done,  perhaps  a  mysterious  flitting  by 
barge  up  the  river  to  Mortlake,  where  Dr.  John  Dee  ^  waited 
with  furnace  and  crucible,  "  to  conjure  up  the  Devil"  (so 
say  the  country  folk)  "  for  the  Wizard  Earl  and  his  gay  com- 
panions !  "  Such  were  the  occupations  to  which  Northum- 
berland was  devoted  "  in  times  of  peace "  (for,  be  it 
remembered,  he  did  not  consider  the  raidings  and  march- 
treasons  of  the  Border  in  the  light  of  war) ;  and  so  he  prayed 

'  Northumberland  was  sent  by  Elizabeth  to  carry  the  insignia  of  the  Garter  to 
Henry  IV.  in  1596 ;  and  had  just  returned  from  this  mission  when  he  was  selected 
as  Queen's  Lieutenant  on  the  Border. 

'  The  English  Nostradamus,  who  at  this  time  resided  chiefly  at  Mortlake. 
Northumberland  and  he  were  associated  in  many  astrological  and  other  experi- 
ments [Syon  House  MSS.].  Dee  had  been  prosecuted  for  wizard-craft  under 
Mary,  and  was  still  regarded  by  many  as  in  league  with  Satan. 


A 


AUTOGRAPH    OF    HENRY,    NINT 


6o  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

natural  capacities  might  entitle  him  to  govern  not  only  the 
Marches,  but  the  March  Wardens,  Constables,  and  Captains 
as  well.  The  first  choice  fell  upon  Northumberland,  and 
to  him  this  signal  honour  was  offered.  It  is  perhaps  to  be 
regretted,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  the  North  Country,  but 
for  his  own  fame,  that  he  did  not  accept.  But  in  truth  he 
loved  too  well  his  Court  friends  and  courtly  interests,  his 
laboratory  and  his  books,  to  leave  them  thus  for  the  rough, 
perhaps  thankless,  service  of  the  Border.  Courage  he  had 
in  plenty,  as  we  shall  see  ;  it  was  personal  prudence  that 
deterred  him.  But  midnight  raids  and  noonday  hangings  ; 
life  in  the  saddle  or  in  rude  march-peels  ;  conversation  with 
men  whose  only  science  was  the  tracking  of  deer  or  outlaw, 
whose  only  literature  was  drawn  from  the  ballads  of  some 
strolling  harper — these  things  were  not  for  the  splendid 
Earl  of  Northumberland.  Only  yesterday  he  returned  from 
buckling  the  Garter  around  the  knee  of  King  Henry  of 
France  of  Navarre  ;  ^  to-day  he  had  an  audience  with  her 
Majesty,  and  a  merry  Parisian  tale  for  her  private  ear. 
Thence  to  the  Globe,  to  hear  Master  Shakespeare's  latest 
play  ;  after  which  supper  at  one  of  the  great  houses  in  the 
Strand,  with  Raleigh's  wild  stories  of  adventure  overseas, 
and  a  budget  of  half-treasonable  gossip  from  Edinburgh  or 
Antwerp  to  flavour  the  viands  and  add  a  zest  to  the  wine  1 
And  when  supper  was  done,  perhaps  a  mysterious  flitting  by 
barge  up  the  river  to  Mortlake,  where  Dr.  John  Dee  ^  waited 
with  furnace  and  crucible,  "  to  conjure  up  the  Devil "  (so 
say  the  country  folk)  "  for  the  Wizard  Earl  and  his  gay  com- 
panions !  "  Such  were  the  occupations  to  which  Northum- 
berland was  devoted  "in  times  of  peace"  (for,  be  it 
remembered,  he  did  not  consider  the  raidings  and  march- 
treasons  of  the  Border  in  the  light  of  war) ;  and  so  he  prayed 

'  Northumberland  was  sent  by  Elizabeth  to  carry  the  insignia  of  the  Garter  to 
Henry  IV.  in  1596  ;  and  had  just  returned  from  this  mission  when  he  was  selected 
as  Queen's  Lieutenant  on  the  Border. 

'  The  English  Nostradamus,  who  at  this  time  resided  chiefly  at  Mortlake. 
Northumberland  and  he  were  associated  in  many  astrological  and  other  experi- 
ments [Syon  House  MSS.].  Dee  had  been  prosecuted  for  wizard-craft  under 
Mary,  and  was  still  regarded  by  many  as  in  league  with  Satan. 


1 » ^iti 


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THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  6i 

the  Queen  to  hold  him  excused  of  serving  her  in  this 
manner.  "  The  Bordci-s  are  ill  govertted,  and  the  Wardens 
threatened  to  be  removed,"  writes  Sir  Robert  Cecil  to  Lord 
Shrewsbury,  ^'because  their  Equality  breeds  Emulation  and 
Contention  :  it  was  offered  to  the  Earl  of  Northmnberland  to^be 
Warden  of  the  Afyddle  March  and  Lieutenant  for  the  time  .  .  . 
of  the  three  shires  ;  '  .  .  .  but  my  Lord  this  conceipt  hath  spetit, 
and  we  that  love  him,  whom  he  hath  sc>--importtined  to  keepe  hijti 
from  it,  have  now  delivered  him  from  the  Impositions  with 
which  he  is  very  well  contented ;  and  joys,  I  perceive,  rather  in 
his  pryvate  lyfe,  than  to  be  placed  from  it  some  where  he  doubts 
his  Purse  will  be  picked."  The  Earl's  refusal  caused  grave 
disappointment  among  the  ancient  Catholic  houses  in  the 
North  that  had  survived  the  religious  troubles  and  perse- 
cutions. These  people  had  hoped  for  an  era  of  peace  and 
toleration  under  his  rule  ;  instead  of  which  they  were  con- 
demned to  a  longer  term  of  suffering,  harried  on  the  one 
side  by  religious  exactions,  and  on  the  other  by  the  unre- 
strained attacks  of  godless  moss-riders. 

Northumberland's  creed  had  long  been  an  object  of 
suspicion  to  the  advanced  Protestants.  He  was  known  to 
have  expressed  disapproval  of  the  bloody  excesses  com- 
mitted by  the  elder  Essex  in  Ireland  under  the  banner  of 
the  Reformed  Faith  ;  and  his  objection  to  command  in  the 
Border  counties  was  explained  by  the  zealots  as  due  to  a 
fear  that  he  should  be  called  upon  to  enforce  the  laws 
against  Romanism.  Protestant  feeling  against  him  grew 
still  more  bitter  when  it  was  discovered  that  he  had  refused 
to  accept  the  mission  to  Henry  IV.  on  behalf  of  the  French 
Huguenots,  although  it  was  pressed  upon  him  by  the 
Queen.  All  the  old  stories  of  his  relations  with  Charles 
Paget  and  the  exiled  Catholics  were  revived  ;  and  he  was 
accused  of  being  a  "secret  Papist,  and  no  friend  to 
the  Queen's  Supremacy."  So  far  as  can  be  ascertained, 
Northumberland  continued  thoroughly  loyal  to  the  Estab- 
lished   Faith.     His    position    was   practically   that   of    the 

'  Norlliumberland,  Cumberland,  ami  Durham. 


62  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Anglican  Catholics  of  to-day  ;  and  while  recognising 
Elizabeth  as  the  head  of  the  Church,  he  had  little  or  no 
sympathy  with  the  tenets  of  the  Puritans. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  how  far  the  Protestant  outcry 
against  him  might  have  proceeded,  had  not  the  rumour  of 
a  second  Armada  given  his  enemies  something  else  to  think 
about.  As  on  the  previous  occasion,  Northumberland 
showed  both  his  country  and  his  niggardly  Queen  an  admir- 
able example  in  this  threatened  emergency.  Entirely  at 
his  own  expense,  and  assisted  only  by  one  of  his  brothers 
and  two  other  friends,  he  raised  a  regiment  of  horse  and 
fitted  out  two  ships  for  defensive  service.  His  reward  was 
the  rank  of  general  of  cavalry,  bestowed  upon  him  in 
August  1599. 

Meanwhile  the  young  Countess  of  Northumberland, 
thwarted  on  every  side  in  her  attempts  to  gain  possession 
of  the  property  settled  upon  her  by  Sir  Thomas 
strife  and  Perrott,  had  given  full  rein  to  her  violent  temper 
nusenes.  — furiously  assailing  all  those  whom  she  believed 
rightly  or  wrongly  to  have  stood  in  her  way.  What 
possible  reason  the  husband  could  have  had  for  taking 
sides  against  his  wife  in  this  cause,  it  is  hard  to  dis- 
cover ;  but  Countess  Dorothy  chose  to  look  upon  him 
as  an  enemy  almost  from  the  beginning  of  their  married 
life,  and  he  it  was  who  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  her 
reproaches  when  Coke  or  Burghley  prevailed  against  the 
pleading  of  her  advocates.  She  wrote  in  abuse  of 
Northumberland  to  the  Queen  ;  she  complained  of  his 
conduct  wildly,  incoherently,  to  the  suave  and  mock- 
sympathetic  Francis  Bacon.i  Now  the  Earl  himself,  far 
from  being  a  patient  man,  was  most  easily  roused  to 
anger ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  he  listened  in 
silence  to  the  unfair  denunciations  of  his  consort,  or 
allowed  her  to  calumniate  him  at  Court  without  stormy 
protest.     In  fact,  the  existence  of  this  unhappy  couple  soon 

'  Birch,  Queen  Elizabeth. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  63 

became  one  of  turbulence  and  animosity — a  long  series  of 
frenzied  quarrels,  each  one  more  bitter  and  more  pro- 
tracted than  the  last.  Some  idea  of  the  wretched  state  of 
afTairs  which  prevailed  between  them  may  be  gleaned  from 
the  fact  that  the  Earl  and  Countess  were  formally  separated 
no  less  than  four  times  during  the  first  five  years  of  their 
wedded  life  ! 

As  if  any  new  cause  of  discord  between  them  were 
wanting,  it  was  supplied  by  the  intrigues  of  the  young  Earl 
of  Essex,  Lady  Northumberland's  brother.  Brother  and 
sister  loved  each  other  with  all  the  ardour  of  their  wild 
headstrong  natures  ; '  and  the  Countess  entered  eagerly  into 
the  network  of  plots  and  counter-plots  by  which  the 
sanguine  Essex  imagined  he  was  playing  the  game  of  nations 
against  trained  hands  like  Robert  Cecil.''^  Not  only  did 
Northumberland  look  upon  his  brother-in-law  as  "  of  slender 
qualities,  a  mere  royal  minion,"  but  he  had  at  the  same  time 
a  great  regard  for  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  between  whom  and 
his  rival  favourite  Essex  there  existed  a  cordial  hatred. 
When,  therefore,  Essex  championed  the  claims  of  the 
Scottish  king  as  heir  to  the  throne,  Northumberland  found 
himself,  naturally  enough,  in  the  opposite  camp  amongst 
those  who  refused  to  pledge  their  fealty  to  a  foreigner  of 
whose  opinions  they  knew  so  little.  Naturally,  too.  Lady 
Northumberland  was  all  for  the  Stuart ;  and  when  her 
husband  taunted  her  with  the  stories  then  current  reflecting 
upon  the  birth  and  character  of  James,  she  replied  in  terms 
which  deserve  reproduction  if  only  to  exemplify  the  bitterness 
of  their  disputes.  The  closing  part  of  the  dialogue  was  thus 
reported  by  Lord  Henry  Howard  (who  had  the  particulars 
from  my  lady  herself,  and  therefore  told  her  side  of  the 
story) : — ■ 

He  (^Northumberland)  told  his  wife  that  he  had  rather  the 
King  of  Scots  were  buried  than  crowned,  and  that  both  he  and 

'  The  courageous  manner  in  which  Essex  had  flouted  the  Queen  herself,  as  a 
protest  against  his  sister's  treatment  at  North  Hall,  may  be  recalled. 

-  Essex  House  was  said  to  rival  the  State  Office  in  the  number  and  extent  of 
its  sources  of  information. 


64  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

all  his  friends  zvould  end  their  lives  before  her  brother  s' great 
'  God'  should  reign  in  this  element. 

"  The  lady  told  him  again  that,  rather  than  any  other  than 
King  James  should  reign  in  this  place,  she  'would  eat  their  hearts 
in  salt,  though  she  were  brought  to  the  gallows  instantly  !  "  ^ 

The  strifes  and  separations  of  the  pair  soon  became 
matter  of  common  gossip,  although  at  first  the  scandal  was 
successfully  concealed  by  the  joint  efforts  of  Northumber- 
land and  Essex.  But  when  Essex  left  England  on  his  ill- 
starred  Irish  expedition  in  1599,  Lady  Northumberland's 
last  restraint  was  removed,  and  thenceforward  her  frequent 
separations  from  the  Earl  were  the  talk  of  London,  "  Yester- 
night," wrote  Roland  White  to  Sir  Robert  Sidney  on  October 
16  in  that  year,  *' somewhat  late,  the  Countess  of  Northum- 
berland came  to  Essex  House.  A  muttering  there  is  that  there  is 
unkindness  grown  between  her  and  the  Eai-l,  her  husband,  upon 
which  they  are  parted."  ^  We  have  seen  how  they  quarrelled 
in  1601,  and  observed  that  the  lady's  promise  to  devour  the 
hearts  of  her  husband  and  his  friends,  should  James  VL  fail 
to  win  the  throne,  was  duly  reported  to  that  doubtlessly 
gratified  monarch.  The  incident  occasioned  a  separation 
of  six  weeks.^  Again,  on  January  5,  1602,  the  Earl's 
secretary,  Dudley  Carleton,  informs  his  correspondent, 
Chamberlain,  that "  my  Lord  Northumberland  is  reconciled  with 
his  lady,  for  which  he  was  a  while  in  disgrace  in  higher  place."*' 
This  reconciliation  was  probably  brought  about  by  the  ap- 
proaching birth  of  an  infant — afterwards  Algernon,  tenth 
Earl.  The  factious  couple  had  already  suffered  the  loss  of 
four  children — two  sons  and  two  daughters  ;  and  there 
was  a  mutual  desire  that  an  heir  to  the  honours  of  Nor- 
thumberland should  come  into  the  world  at  a  time  when 
his  parents  were  at  peace  with  feach  other.     Syon  House,*" 

1  Secrtt  Correspondence  with  King  James  I. :  Lord  Henry  Howard  to  Bruce. 
Dec.  4,  1601. 

2  Sidney  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  1 33. 

*  Howards  Letters. 

*  State  Papers. 

*  Some  account  of  Syon,  still  one  of  the  seats  of  the  Percy  family,  will  be 
found  on  pages  93-6. 


THE    HOUSE   OP^   PERCY  65 

a  Crown  property,  was  leased,  and  to  these  quiet  surround- 
ings, far  from  the  noise  of  factions,  Nortlunnberland  con- 
veyed his  wife,  with  many  protestations  of  future  tenderness. 
There  too  he  remained  even  after  the  baby,  the  hoped- 
for  boy,  had  seen  the  Hght.  The  Court  gossips  missed 
their  usual  pabulum,  and  those  "  in  higher  place  "  began  to 
wonder  if  these  mates,  so  often  estranged,  were  at  last  in 
truth  united.  When  lo  !  one  morning  came  the  bruit  that 
the  old  feud  had  broken  forth  afresh.  To  Chamberlain 
wrote  Dudley  Carleton  in  November  : — "  /  heard  ike  Earl 
of  Northumberland  lives  again  apart  from  his  lady,  noiu  she 
hath  brought  him  an  heir,  ivhich  he  said  was  the  solder  of  their 
reconcilement.  She  lives  at  Sion  with  the  child,  being  otherwise 
of  a  very  melancholy  spirit,"^ 

Much  of  Lady  Northumberland's  "melancholy  spirit" 
may  have  been  due  to  her  own  and  her  husband's  inability 
The  Essex  ^^  keep  the  good  resolutions  which  they  had 
Revolt,  and  made  before  the  birth  of  little  Lord  Percy  ;  but 
ia^?s""  ^''  who  can  doubt  that  the  Countess  also  mourned 
brothers.  deeply  ovcr  the  fate  of  her  beloved  brother,  the 
rash,  the  brilliant  Essex  ?  His  failure  in  Ireland ;  his 
return  in  disgrace  to  London  ;  his  attempt  at  insurrection — 
that  foolhardy  attempt  by  which  the  lives  and  liberties  of  so 
many  brave  and  faithful  gentlemen  were  jeopardised  ;  and 
finally  his  pitiful  death  at  the  age  of  thirty-four  upon  Tower 
Hill- — these  are  matters  of  national  history.  Now  to  the 
lonely,  disappointed  woman  at  Syon  they  came  as  the  first, 
perhaps  as  the  only  great  sorrow  of  her  life.  She  was  not 
of  a  sympathetic  nature,  this  Countess  of  Northumberland. 
Her  father  she  scarcely  remembered  ;  to  her  mother  she 
was  indifferent ;  while  there  were  periods,  and  frequent 
periods,  during  which  she  looked  upon  her  husband  with 
abhorrence.  But  Robert,  Earl  of  Essex,  had  ever  been  her 
hero  and  her  hope,  so  that  with  his  downfall  and  death 
the  being  she  held  dearest  in  the  world  passed  away. 

'  Dudley  Carleton  to  Juhn  Chamberlain,  November  1602,  Harkian  MSS.,  5353. 
^  February  i5oi. 
II.  E 


66  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Her  husband,  too,  albeit  he  recked  little  of  his  brother-in- 
law's  doom,  had  stern  reason  to  remember  that  mad,  boyish 
folly  for  which  Essex  paid  with  his  life.  Although  the  two 
Earls  had  never  been  friends,  the  chance  of  war  had  led 
Northumberland's  brothers.  Sir  Charles  and  Sir  Richard 
Percy,  to  fight  under  Essex  in  Ireland.  These  young 
soldiers  were,  indeed,  veterans  of  the  Irish  wars  when  the 
handsome  favourite  came  thither  with  mighty  dreams  of 
conquest  and  pacification.  At  the  disastrous  battle  of  the 
Blackwater,  when  the  army  of  the  Lord  Marshal,  Bagenal, 
was  crushingly  defeated  by  Red  Hugh  0'Neil,i  j^^d  when 
the  Marshal  himself  perished  with  1500  men.  Colonel 
Charles  Percy  led  the  rear-guard  in  the  retreat,  and  by 
personal  bravery  and  skilful  manoeuwing  succeeded  in 
saving  the  English  host  from  annihilation.  A  year  later  he 
joined  Essex  and  won  his  knighthood  by  leading  the  assault 
upon  Cahir  Castle,  and  during  the  action  at  Dundalk  he 
fought  like  a  worthy  son  of  him  who  had  once  been  the 
bravest  and  most  resourceful  captain  on  the  Scottish 
Border.^  As  for  the  other  brother.  Sir  Richard  Percy,  he 
was  in  command  at  Kinsale  when  Acquila  and  his  Spaniards 
invaded  Munster.  With  a  force  of  150  men  he  defended 
the  fortress  obstinately,  and  in  the  end  retreated  with  little 
or  no  loss.  Later,  under  Mountjoy,  it  fell  to  his  share  to 
recapture  Kinsale. 

Sir  Charles  Percy  accompanied  Essex  to  London,  and 
made  one  of  the  small  army  of  officers  from  the  Irish  army 
that  practically  garrisoned  Essex  House.  The  courage  and 
many  other  fine  qualities  of  the  disgraced  Earl  had  won 
Percy's  heart,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  succeeded  in 
winning  over  yet  another  brother.  Sir  Josceline  Percy,  to 
a  like  enthusiasm.  The  result  was  that  when  Essex  strove 
to  raise  London  against  the  Queen,  these  foolish  young  men 
were  among  the  first  to  draw  their  swords  in  the  desperate 
venture.     Arrested  and  thrown  into  the  Tower,  they  must 

'  See  Care7v  MSS.,  &c. 

'  This  was  the  reputation  once  borne  by  Sir  Thomas  Percy,  afterwards  the 
eighth  Earl. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  67 

have  gone  to  the  scaffold  like  their  leader,  were  it  not  for 
Northumberland's  influence  as  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  fac- 
tion opposed  to  that  of  Essex.  The  Earl  worked  zealously 
in  their  favour,  as  did  Raleigh,  Grey,  and  Cobham  ;  and, 
after  a  brief  interval  of  confinement,  they  were  pardoned 
on  payment  of  ^500.* 

If  the  Earl's  domestic  relations  were  constantly  strained 
and  unhappy,  so  too  (for  that  very  reason  perhaps)  were 
Ouarreiswith  "^^"Y  ^^  '^'^  dealings  with  the  outer  world  during 
Southampton  the  trying  period  just  described.  Naturally  quick- 
andVere.  tempered  and  impetuous,  "after  the  manney  of  his 
race,"-  the  shrewish  tongue  of  Lady  Northumberland 
had  not  tended  to  make  him  less  irascible  ;  and,  while 
his  pride  kept  him  silent  upon  family  matters,  these  bitter 
quarrels  permanently  soured  his  disposition  and  ren- 
dered him  unreasonably  susceptible  to  affront.  Of  his 
many  lesser  disputes,  most  of  them  settled  at  the  sword's 
point,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  speak  here,  further  than 
to  say  that  Northumberland  came  out  of  these  affrays  with 
the  reputation  of  a  brave  and  honourable  man,  but  an  in- 
different hand  at  the  rapier.^  Two  important  affairs  of  the 
kind  must,  however,  be  described,  although  neither  ended 
(so  far  as  is  known)  in  the  duello. 

The  first  of  these  took  place  between  Northumberland 
and  the  Earl  of  Southampton.  Henry  Wriothesley,  third 
Earl  of  Southampton,  the  friend  and  patron  of  Shakespeare, 
was  one  of  those  young  nobles  who  followed  most  assiduously 

'  Fcidera,  torn.  xvi. 

'  Ever  since  the  days  of  William  Als-gernons  a  fiery  temper  had  been  one  of 
the  chief  attributes  of  the  House  of  Percy.  The  first  Earl  of  Northumberland 
(according  to  Walsingham)  answered  John  of  Gaunt  "-uith  furious  words,  nfler 
the  maimer  of  his  race."  The  similar  character  of  Hotspur  has  become  famous  ;and 
we  have  seen  how  the  seventh  Earl  vented  his  rage  upon  Lowther  at  Carlisle,  and 
how  the  ninth  Earl  assailed  his  future  stepfather,  IVlaster  Francis  Fitton.  The 
hereditary  temper  may  also  be  traced  in  the  Earl's  cousin,  Thomas  Percy  of 
"Gunpowder  Plot"  notoriety,  and  in  other  offshoots  of  the  family. 

^  His  studies  seem  to  have  seriously  affected  his  eyesight,  which  fact  would  have 
naturally  counted  against  him  in  fencing.  Nevertheless  he  was  ever  ready  for  a 
fight. 


68  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

the  fortunes  of  Essex.  He  was  indeed  a  near  relative  of 
the  favourite,  who  had  placed  him  in  command  of  the 
cavalry  during  the  disastrous  attempt  to  reconquer  Ireland. 
Presuming  upon  his  kinship,  Southampton  sided  somewhat 
too  openly  with  the  Countess  of  Northumberland  as  against 
her  husband  ;  and  even  allowed  himself — so  said  the  gossips 
— "to  speak  disparagingly  of  the  Earl."  These  things 
coming  to  Northumberland's  ears,  he  sent  one  of  his  friends 
"  in  hot  haste  "  to  demand  an  explanation.  But  Southamp- 
ton would  vouchsafe  neither  explanation  nor  apology,  and 
a  hostile  meeting  was  accordingly  agreed  upon.  The  Queen, 
however,  heard  rumours  of  what  had  taken  place,  and,  on 
the  very  morning  chosen  for  the  duel,  both  principals  were 
arrested  by  her  orders,  and  haled  before  the  Council.  Here 
Southampton  at  length  condescended  to  explain  that  his 
remarks  had  been  grossly  exaggerated,  and  some  sort  of 
reconciliation  was  patched  up  between  the  belligerent  Earls. 
To  prevent  a  renewal  of  the  trouble,  they  were  placed  under 
heavy  bonds  to  keep  the  peace.  Northumberland,  when 
his  rage  had  cooled  down,  came  to  look  upon  the  wrangle 
as  due  to  scandal  and  mischief-making  and  he  told  Sir 
Francis  Bacon  that  the  Queen's  pacific  settlement  was  "  the 
end  of  an  idle  tale."  ^ 

This  matter  happily  concluded,  it  was  not  long  before  the 
Earl's  over-sensitive  nature  betrayed  him  once  more  into 
strife.  The  object  of  his  enmity  on  this  occasion  was  Sir 
Francis  Vere,  commander  of  the  British  auxiliary  forces  in 
the  Netherlands,  and  one  of  the  most  renowned  captains 
of  his  time.  In  June  1600,  Northumberland,  accompanied 
by  the  Earl  of  Rutland  and  Lords  Monteagle  and  Grey, 
crossed  over  to  Flanders  to  join  in  the  fighting  about  Ostend. 
Before  the  latter  town  they  were  joined  by  their  boon  com- 
panions Lord  Cobham  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  with  whom 
they  had  made  tryst,  and  all  six  found  their  way  into 
Ostend  before  the  siege.  They  brought  with  them  con- 
siderable retinues,  and  were  as  splendidly  attired  as  though 
they  had  been  bound  for  the  Queen's  Court  rather  than  for 

'  Letters  of  Lord  Facoii. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  69 

the  stern  business  of  battle.  Such,  in  fact,  were  the  "  pomp 
and  circumstiuice"  attendant  upon  their  arrival  in  Flanders 
that  the  days  of  the  "  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold  "  were  re- 
called ;  and  it  was  whispered  that  they  had  been  sent  by 
Elizabeth,  not  to  fight  under  Vere,  but  rather  as  envoys 
plenipotentiary  to  the  Catholics.^ 

To  the  rough  old  soldier,  Sir  Francis  Vere,  so  much 
needless  display  was  particularly  distasteful ;  and  when  he 
learned  from  Cecil  that  the  brilliant  newcomers  were  not 
royal  envoys,-  but  simple  volunteers,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  let 
them  know  his  opinion  of  their  fine  trappings.  Truth  to 
tell.  Sir  Francis  was  a  disciplinarian  of  the  sternest  kind, 
and  did  not  mince  matters  when  giving  orders  to  his 
subordinates.  The  lieutenants  serving  under  him  at  Ostend 
— his  brother,  Horace  Vere,  the  two  Sidneys,  and  Sir  John 
Norris* — were  forbidden  to  wear  '^  anie  but  plaine  stuffs  and 
sa-oiceabh  harness ; "  and  being  all  men  of  small  fortune, 
they  were  the  more  easily  governed  in  this  direction.  But 
with  my  Lord  of  Northumberland  and  the  other  Court 
gallants  it  was  quite  a  different  matter  ;  and  Vere  began  to 
fear  lest  their  fine  raiment  and  haughty  manners  might 
threaten  his  authority.  Accordingly  he  felt  himself  con- 
strained to  be  more  than  usually  severe  towards  them  and 
they  were  given  to  understand  that  the  gold  so  lavishly 
expended  upon  their  backs  might  have  been  used  to  far 
greater  advantage  in  furnishing  sorely  needed  recruits  for 
the  service.  The  noble  "  adventurers  "  were  vastly  offended 
by  this  blunt  treatment,  and  their  feelings  found  vent  in 
complaining  letters  to  their  friends  at  home.  But  Vere  was 
not  the  man  to  allow  home  influence  to  interfere  with  his 
plans  of  campaign,  and  to  all  remonstrances  from  England 
he  turned  a  deaf  ear.  Such  differences  between  rugged 
generals  and  the  young  patricians  temporarily  under  their 

'  Winwood,  Memorials  of  Affairs  of  State,  vol.  i. 

^  Cecil  went  to  extraordinary  trouble  to  deny  that  Northumberland  and  his 
companions  had  been  entrusted  with  a  mission  to  the  Catholics. 

'  Afterwards  President  of  Munster,  and  grandson  of  the  Henry  Norris  executed 
as  one  of  the  alleged  paramours  of  Anne  Boleyn. 


70  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

command  have  been  common  enough  from  Roman  times 
to  our  own  ;  and  Sir  Francis  was  undoubtedly  right  from  a 
military  standpoint  when  he  insisted  upon  absolute  obedience 
from  his  subordinates.  He  seems,  however,  to  have  shown 
little  tact  in  dealing  with  these  spoilt  children  of  fortune. 

Northumberland,  Rutland,  and  the  others,  finding  them- 
selves ungraciously  received  and  their  plans  for  active 
service  rejected,  grew  more  and  more  discontented  with 
Vere's  conduct  of  the  war,  and  talked  of  leaving  Flanders. 
"  The  likelihood  of  these  cold  wars,"  wrote  Sir  Robert  Cecil 
in  August  1600,  "  make  the  Earls  of  Northumberland,  Rutland, 
and  Grey  to  repent  their  journey,  being  half  in  mind  to  go  into 
France,  where  there  is  some  appearance  of  a  war,  whereby 
Spain  may  be  lapped  into  the  quarrel." '  It  would  have  been 
better  for  both  sides  if  our  volunteers  had  really  gone  to 
France  at  this  juncture  ;  but  various  obstacles — the  encir- 
cling Spanish  army  and  the  disapproval  of  Vere  among  the 
rest — combined  to  detain  them  in  Ostend,  until  the  out- 
break of  the  famous  siege  of  that  place.^  Relations  grew 
daily  more  and  more  unpleasant  meanwhile  between  the 
leader  of  the  British  troops  and  the  young  men  whom  he 
had  set  himself  to  humble.  Lord  Grey  angrily  complained 
both  to  the  States  General  and  to  the  English  Council  that 
he  was  forced  to  obey  the  whims  and  submit  to  the  sneers 
of  a  man  greatly  his  inferior  in  rank.  Northumberland, 
Rutland,  Monteagle  and  Cobham  wrote  in  similar  strains  ; 
and  even  Raleigh,  himself  a  veteran  captain,  found  fault 
with  Vere's  arrogant  methods.  It  is  possible  that  those  in 
authority  remonstrated  with  Sir  Francis ;  but  if  so,  the 
interference  only  rendered  him  more  brusque  than  ever. 
When  Northumberland  (who  was  by  way  of  being  a  student 
of  military  science)  referred  some  question  of  strategy  to 
his  chief,  the  latter  returned  a  surly  and  even  contemptuous 
answer.^    This  was  enough  to  fire  the  Percy  blood,  and  a 

'  Cecil  to  Sir  George  Carew  ;  Care-,v  JIISS. 

"  Ostend  was  besieged  by  the  Spaniards  from  1601  until  1604,  when  it  finally 
suriendered.     The  losses  on  both  sides  were  enormous. 
■•  Chamberlain's  Letters,  p.  126. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  71 

violent  quarrel  immediately  resulted.  It  was  even  reported 
in  England  that  "tit  a  banquet  in  the  Low  Countries,  the 
Erie  of  Northumberland  had  stroken  hint  {Sir  Fraricis  Vere)" 
before  the  assembled  Dutch  and  English  officers ;  ^  but  it 
seems  hard  to  believe  that  so  flagrant  an  attack  upon  the 
person  of  the  Commander  should  have  been  allowed  to  go 
unpunished  or  unavenged. 

Whether  the  Earl,  goaded  to  fury  by  Vere's  churlish 
reply,  actually  struck  the  latter  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  by 
the  end  of  January  1601  affairs  reached  a  climax  between 
the  two  English  factions  at  Ostend.  Sir  Francis  Vere 
would  not  resign  his  command  :  Northumberland  and  his 
friends  therefore  left  the  beleaguered  city,  and  returned  in 
high  dudgeon  to  England.  It  is  to  their  credit  that  they 
made  no  attempts  to  undermine  Vere's  reputation  at  Court ; 
but  they  treasured  up  feelings  of  the  bitterest  resentment 
against  him,  and  vowed  to  seek  satisfaction  at  the  first  avail- 
able opportunity. 

Northumberland  found  that  the  expenses  of  the  campaign 
had  proved  a  heavy  drain  upon  his  purse,  and  that  a  period 
_.  „  of  retrenchment  was  necessary  before  he  could 

Sir  Francis  -' 

Vere  fights  again  hope  to  serve  abroad  with  the  splendour 
utmwar.  -^yhich  he  believed  to  be  necessary  to  his  station. 
The  eight  months  which  he  had  spent  in  the  Low  Countries 
cost  him  ^5140,  i8s.  ofd.,  exclusive  of  gaming  losses  and 
some  other  unrecorded  expenditures.^  It  was  at  this 
time  that  he  engaged  as  his  private  secretary  a  young  man 
of  good  family,  Dudley  Carleton  ^  by  name.  Carleton  was 
introduced  to  the  Earl  by  Sir  Calisthenes  Brooke,  and 
entered  upon  his  secretarial  duties  in  July  1601.  He 
became  a  close  friend  of  Northumberland's  fifth  brother, 
Alan  Percy  ;  and  from  the  letters  written  by  him  to  another 
friend,  John  Chamberlain,  we  glean  many  interesting  particu- 

'  Chamberlain,  p.  112. 
*  Alnwick  A/SS. 

^  From  these  modest  beginnings  Carleton  rose  to  high  political  distinction, 
and  became  the  first  Viscount  Dorchester. 


1±  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

lars  regarding  the  Earl  at  this  period.  At  the  end  of  1601, 
for  instance,  Carleton  wrote  to  Chamberlain  : — ^^  Lord  Nor- 
thumberland uses  me  with  much  favor.  He  is  gone  to  Syon 
House,  and  means  to  live  privately  to  recover  his  last  year  s  ex- 
pences  in  the  Low  Countries,  and  to  provide  for  another  journey 
the  next."  ^ 

Early  in  1602,  Sir  Francis  Vere  temporarily  relinquished 
the  command  in  Flanders  to  his  brother,  Sir  Horace,  and 
paid  a  visit  to  England.  So  far  from  following  the  example 
of  Northumberland  and  his  associates  in  keeping  silence  at 
Court,  Vere  spoke  freely  of  the  trouble  which  had  occurred 
at  Ostend,  and  apparently  sought  to  justify  himself  in  high 
places  by  disparaging  remarks  levelled  at  the  Earl  and  Lord 
Grey.  The  exact  nature  of  these  strictures  cannot  now  be 
determined ;  but  they  were  sufficiently  caustic  to  rekindle 
all  Northumberland's  former  animosity,  and  to  draw  the 
latter  into  a  course  of  action  at  once  ill-timed  and  ill-advised. 
Calm  reflection  must  have  shown  him  that  the  person  of  a 
general  commanding  the  forces  in  war-time  should  be  held 
sacred  by  his  countrymen,  and  that  the  supposed  wTongs 
of  himself  and  his  friends  should  remain  unavenged  until 
such  time  as  Vere  returned  to  civil  life.  But  we  know  that 
the  Earl,  when  under  the  influence  of  strong  emotions,  was 
not  given  to  logical  reasoning ;  and  moreover,  he  found 
himself  surrounded  by  men  whose  counsels  had  anything 
but  a  peaceful  tendency.  These  rash  advisers  argued  that 
Sir  Francis  Vere,  being  absent  even  temporarily  from  his 
post,  was  at  liberty  to  give  satisfaction  to  those  whom  he 
had  offended  ;  and  that,  furthermore,  his  action  in  publicly 
discussing  the  Ostend  affair  at  such  a  time  had  placed  him 
beyond  the  pale  of  forbearance. 

Accordingly,  on  April  24,  1602,  Northumberland  sent 
from  Syon  House  the  following  challenge  : — 

"  To  the  Valour ous  and  Worthy  Capt.  S""  Francis  Vere,  L. 
Governor  of  the  Brill,  and  Commander  of  ye  English  Forces 
under  the  States  : 

"  Sir  ;  /  told  you  at  Ostend  y'  then  was  no  tytne  to  expostulate 
'  Stale  Papers.  ^  Chamberlain's  Letters. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  73 

matters  ;  now  I  hold  it  proper  to  call  you  to  accompt  for  those 
wrongcs  I  have  heard  you  have  done  me.  You  love  to  take  ye 
air,  and  ride  abroad.  Appoint,  therefore,  a  place  bctyme  to  your 
owne  likynge  y  I  may  meet  you  :  Bringe  you  a  friend  zv"'  you 
I  will  be  accompaneyd  w"'  another,  y  shall  be  wittnes  to  ye 
thinges  I  will  lay  to  your  charge. 

^^  If  you  satisfye  me,  we  tvill  be  good  Friendcs ;  if  not,  we 
will  doe  as  God  shall  put  into  our  myndcs.  I  will  eschew  all 
bitter  wordes,  as  unfitt  for  men  of  our  occupation.  Seeke  not  by 
frivolous  shiftes  to  divert  this  course  of  satisfaction  ;  for  all 
other  means  tlian  this  y'  I  have  proscribed,  I  shall  take  as  an 
affirmaZon  ofy'  I  Jiave  heard,  which  will  cause  me  to  proceed  in 
righting  viyselfe,  as  the  wronges  require. 

"  Make  tto  replycs  by  letters,  but  sende  me  your  minde  by 
this  Bearer  directly,  xuhetlier  you  will  or  will  not;  for 
from  me  you  shall  have  no  more.  Give  no  cause  of  noyse  in 
the  World,  to  hinder  this  course,  lest  you  baffle  your  own 
reputacon. 

"  Whatsoever  else  I  shall  doe  in  this  Just  cause  of  offence, 
fezuer  wordes  I  could  not  have  used  to  have  exprest  my 
mynde."  ^ 

This  message  was  delivered  at  Vere's  lodgings  in  Alders- 
gate  Street  by  Captain  Whitelock.  Sir  Francis  positively 
refused  to  send  any  reply  "by  bearer,"  as  the  Earl  had  re- 
quested. On  such  a  serious  subject,  he  declared  that  "  he 
could  no  suddenly  gyve  answere."  Next  morning,  however, 
he  despatched  his  friend.  Captain  Ogle,  to  Syon  with  a  long 
letter,  in  which  he  again  pointed  out  that  a  meeting  such 
as  that  proposed  should  not  be  undertaken  without  due 
weighing  of  consequences.  He  also  asked  for  an  oppor- 
tunity to  explain  his  position,  in  the  presence  of  several 
witnesses ;  and  expressed  the  belief  that  he  could  readily 
clear  himself  of  the  charge  of  having  given  the  first  offence. 
Evidently  he  recognised  the  full  significance  of  Northum- 
berland's epistle,  for  he  alludes  openly  to  the  prospect  of 
a  duel : — 

"  /  despise  private  combatinge,  especially  att  this  Tyme,  that 

>  Harliian  MSS.,  No.  7S7. 


74  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

/  am  ingaged  in  soe  greate  mid  importmit  an  action,  as  your 
Lords hipp  knoweth." 

In  conclusion  he  refuses  to  believe  that  the  Earl,  or  any 
other  adversary,  would  dare  to  inflict  personal  chastisement 
upon  him  while  in  London,  even  should  he  refuse  to  meet 
them  in  the  field  of  honour.  He  was  the  Queen's  lieutenant, 
and  that  he  deemed  sufficient  protection  ;  nor  would  he 
seek  to  augment  his  ordinary  bodyguard  when  he  went  to 
take  the  air,  being  (to  quote  his  own  words),  "confident 
that  your  Lordshipp  will  attenipte  nothinge  unfitting  yourself 
upon  me,  that  alwayes  lived  in  good  reputation,  and  am  de- 
scended from  a  grafidfather  of  your  owne  ranke."  '^ 

Northumberland  refused  to  receive  this  missive  from 
Captain  Ogle,  and  demanded  a  verbal  reply.  Ogle,  how- 
ever, read  the  contents  aloud  in  the  Earl's  hearing,  and  the 
latter  consented  to  allow  Vere  time  for  further  deliberation 
before  insisting  on  what  he  termed  "  the  soldiers  answer — 
yea  or  nay."  Eventually  Sir  Francis  sent  word  that  he  was 
prepared  to  meet  his  challenger ;  but  his  intentions  were 
still  to  avoid  a  duel  if  possible,  and  he  chose  as  his  witness 
Sir  Edward  Stafford,  a  civilian,  in  preference  to  the  many 
military  men  by  whom  he  was  surrounded.  Northumber- 
land suspected  that  a  peaceful  termination  to  the  affair  was 
aimed  at,  and  objected  to  Stafford  as  too  nicely  diplomatic 
for  the  disputes  of  men  whose  profession  was  the  sword. 
The  Earl's  keen  desire  to  figure  as  a  veteran  of  the  wars 
may  be  noted  here,  as  well  as  in  his  former  letter.  It  was 
a  foible  at  which  even  his  friends  must  have  covertly  smiled. 
For  the  soldier,  he  declared,  there  was  no  second  like  a 
soldier.  "  Statesmen  "  and  mere  courtiers  were  too  prone 
to  "  acquaynt  the  Queene  and  Councill,  if  they  sawe  any 
difi^erences  betwixte  them  both"  (i.e.  Vere  and  himself)  "that 
might  breed  further  contentio7i,  and  bringe  them  under  the 
power  of  her  Majesty's  commandiiicntes,  by  their  information, 
or  ...  .  hinder  them  from  goinge  together  into  the  Field,  if 
either  partye  should  have  just  cause  soe  to  doe."     Upon  these 

'  Sir  Francis  Vere  to  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  ;  from  Aldersgate  Street, 
April  25,  1602.     Vere  was  grandson  of  John  de  Vere,  l6th  Earl  of  Oxford. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  75 

grounds  he  urged  Vere  to  choose,  in  place  of  Stafford,  some 
military  man  over  whom  he  had  absohite  authority. 

But  Vere  held  out  for  Stafford  and  a  peaceful  settlement, 
protesting  in  another  weighty  letter  against  being  forced 
into  a  duel.  The  correspondence  had  by  this  time  attained 
considerable  proportions,  and  Northumberland  was  thor- 
oughly disgusted  by  the  parleying  of  his  antagonist — a 
course  of  conduct  which,  in  common  with  most  of  the 
young  bloods  of  the  day,  he  failed  to  understand,  and  which 
he  looked  upon  as  arising  either  from  cowardice  or  a  sense 
of  guilt  on  the  part  of  Sir  Francis,  To  the  Commander  he 
wrote  that  "  hee  was  thoroughly  persuaded  tliat  hee  had  done  him 
these  wronges,  which  hee  meant  to  hiye  to  his  charge  ;  and  that 
lue  would  laye  upp  this  injurious  dcalinge  in  his  hcarte,  and 
righte  himself  thereafter  as  hee  should  think  fit" 

Vere's  friends  now  judged  it  high  time  to  interfere. 
None  knew  to  what  excess  Northumberland's  wrath  might 
lead  him,  nor  could  Sir  Francis  be  trusted  to  maintain 
much  longer  the  restraint  which  he  had  imposed  upon  him- 
self. The  negotiations  had  hitherto  been  successfully  kept 
from  the  Queen  and  Council ;  for  Northumberland,  warned 
by  the  failure  of  his  attempted  duel  with  Lord  Southampton, 
had  taken  elaborate  precautions  to  surround  this  new  afifair 
with  secrecy,  and  had  begged  Vere  to  do  likewise.  Never- 
theless it  leaked  out  that  a  duel  was  intended,  and  the  news 
unquestionably  came  from  the  side  of  Sir  Francis,  It  is 
not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Commander  appealed  to  his 
Court  acquaintances  to  prevent  hostilities,  although  such 
was  the  expressed  opinion  of  Northumberland, Grey,  Raleigh, 
and  other  prejudiced  persons.  Sir  Noel  Caron,  agent  for 
the  States  General  in  England,  and  one  of  Vere's  intimates, 
was  the  person  who  actually  divulged  the  matter  to  the 
Queen,  and  implored  her  Majesty  to  put  a  stop  to  the  con- 
troversy. As  on  the  previous  occasion,  Elizabeth  took 
prompt  steps  to  prevent  bloodshed,  and  commanded  Nor- 
thumberland, under  pain  of  her  lasting  displeasure,  "tofor- 
beare  any  action  against  Sir  Francis  Vere,  alt  that  instant 
employed  in  her  service." 


76  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

If  Northumberland  had  been  angry  before,  this  "foul 
treason,"  as  he  termed  it,  lashed  him  into  a  species  of  frenzy. 
Thrust  and  ^^^  ^^'^^  Cccil,  and  even  the  Queen  herself,  could 
counter-  sav,  failed  to  persuade  him  that  Sir  Francis  Vere 
had  not  deliberately  betrayed  the  entire  corre- 
spondence, in  order  to  save  himself  from  an  encounter 
which  he  feared.  It  was  hard  that  a  man  like  Vere, 
who  had  fought  and  bled  for  his  country,  should 
be  suspected  of  such  unworthy  motives ;  but  the  head- 
strong Earl  would  accept  no  other  explanation  of  his 
opponent's  behaviour.  The  stern  mandate  of  Elizabeth 
he  did  not  venture  to  disobey,  but  he  swore  that 
when  fate  sent  him  an  opportunity  Sir  Francis  should 
feel  the  weight  of  his  arm.  In  the  meantime  he 
caused  a  declaration  to  be  drawn  up,  and  published 
in  English,  French  and  Italian,  to  the  effect  that  "  Vere 
was  a  Knave  and  Cowarde,  and  that,  in  fleeringe  and 
gearitige  like  a  common  Buffoon,  would  wrong  men  of  all 
conditions,  and  had  neythcr  the  honestye  or  the  courage  to 
satisfye  any!"  This  denunciation  was  circulated  widely, 
not  only  in  England,  but  upon  the  Continent ;  and 
particularly  throughout  the  Low  Countries,  where  Sir 
Francis  held  command,  and  where  copies  of  it  were 
derisively  affixed  to  the  walls  of  Ostend  by  venturesome 
Spaniards. 

But  if  Northumberland  was  not  able  to  claim  satisfaction 
at  that  time,  neither  was  he  permitted  to  have  the  last  word 
in  this  bitter  controversy.  Before  a  week  went  by.  Sir 
Francis  Vere  issued  a  counterblast  to  the  Earl's  denunciation, 
which  he,  in  his  turn,  had  set  forth  not  only  in  English, 
French,  and  Italian,  but  in  Spanish  as  well.  *^  Because  I 
refused  to  meete  you," — thus  ran  the  English  version, — 
"  uppon  your  peremptorye  and  foolishe  summons,  you  con- 
clude mee,  in  a  discourse  sent  abroad  under  your  Name,  to  bee 
a  Knave,  a  Coward  and  a  Buffoone  ;  whereuppon  you  have  pro- 
cured me  to  set  aside  all  Respecte  to  your  person,  and  to  saye 
that  '  You  are  a  most  lyinge  and  unworthy  Lord.'  You  are 
botinde  by  Her  Majestye's  commandmente  not  to  assayle  mee,  and 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  77 

/,  by  this  Business  committed  to  vtee,  not  to  sceke  you.  When 
you  shall  bee  freer,  as  God  shall  make  us  meete,  I  maintayn  it 
with  my  sivorde.  Fra  :   Vej^e." 

Having  thus  unburthened  his  mind,  the  Commander 
went  back  to  the  Low  Countries,  where  he  proved  to  the 
Spaniards  that,  in  warfare  at  least,  he  was  neither  a  buffoon 
nor  a  dastard.  As  might  have  been  expected,  opinions  in 
England  differed  regarding  the  quarrel.  The  wild  spirits 
of  the  Raleigh-Cobham  faction  upheld  Northumberland's 
behaviour  with  enthusiasm  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Queen  and  most  of  the  ministers  sided  with  Vere,  and 
condemned  the  Earl  "for  challenging  a  great  Commander  of 
the  State  at  such  a  time  as,  without  breach  of  duty,  he  could 
not,  nor  might  not,  answer  him."  ^ 

There  is  no  known  English  record  of  any  subsequent 
collision  between  Northumberland  and  Sir  Francis,  but  a 
contemporary  foreign  historian  distinctly  states  that  such  an 
event  took  place,  and  that  the  Earl  publicly  avenged  himself 
upon  his  enemy  on  the  very  steps  of  the  throne.  In  Sully's 
Mt'moires  we  read  that,  shortly  after  the  accession  of  James  I., 
"  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  struck  Colonel  Vere,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  whole  court,  and  was  for  a  time  confined  in  Lambeth 
by  the  King's  order'' 

The  reconciliation  between  Northumberland  and  his  wife 
in  1602  contributed  largely  to  an  important  change  in  the 
Earl's  public  policy.  Hitherto,  in  company  with 
CathoUcs',  ^  h'S  friends  Raleigh  and  Cobham,  as  well  as  with 
and  King  hjs  pretended  friends  Cecil  and  Bacon,  he  had 
strenuously  opposed  the  succession  of  James  VI. 
of  Scotland  to  the  English  throne.  In  so  doing,  he  was  no 
doubt  influenced  somewhat  by  a  spirit  of  opposition  to  the 
party  of  Essex,  but  his  main  reason  for  refusing  allegiance  to 
the  King  of  Scots  had  been  founded  upon  a  motive  far  higher 
than  that  of  mere  personal  feeling.  He  desired,  in  fine,  to 
see  full  religious  toleration  established  in   England,  as  it 

'  Lord  Henry  Howard  to  Edward  Bruce;  Secret  Correspotideme  with  James 
VI.,  1602. 


78  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

had  been  in  France  by  the  Edict  of  1598  ;  1  and  he  doubted 
whether  James  could  be  relied  upon  to  give  to  the  Catholics 
even  half  as  much  liberty  as  Henri  IV.  had  granted  to  the 
Huguenots,  Northumberland's  own  creed  has  already  been 
dwelt  upon  in  these  pages.  Hallam  and  other  historians  are 
quite  in  error  in  assuming  that  he  belonged  to  the  Church 
of  Rome,  simply  because  he  consistently  championed  the 
rights  of  his  Catholic  fellow-subjects.  The  truth  was,  as  he 
himself  states,  that  among  family  connections  and  tenantry 
he  numbered  hundreds  of  Romanist  families.  These  people, 
knowing  him  to  be  a  man  of  broad  and  liberal  views,  as 
well  as  one  to  whom  they  were  bound  by  countless  here- 
ditary ties,  came  in  time  to  trust  him  implicitly,  and  to  look 
to  him  for  guidance  and  protection.  Hence  Northum- 
berland felt  himself  to  a  great  extent  responsible  for  their 
welfare ;  and,  as  they  were  prevented  by  the  penal  laws 
from  speaking  for  themselves,  he  frequently  acted  as  their 
advocate,  in  a  manner  which  afterwards  cost  him  dear. 

His  first  intimation  that  James  VI.  looked  favourably 
upon  the  claims  of  the  English  Catholics  came  from  Lady 
Northumberland  during  the  happy  months  which  they  spent 
together  at  Syon,  before  the  birth  of  their  son,  Algernon. 
The  Countess  was  still  a  violent  partisan  of  the  Scottish  King  ; 
and  it  is  possible  that  she  acted  under  orders  from  Edinburgh 
when  she  endeavoured  to  win  over  her  husband  by  vague 
hints  of  religious  freedom.  Northumberland  at  first  hardly 
credited  what  she  said,  but  little  by  little  he  began  to  hope 
that  there  might  be  truth  in  these  reiterated  assertions  of 
James's  friendly  attitude  towards  the  English  Romanists. 
Were  that  point  once  established  to  his  satisfaction,  he 
admitted  that  James  would  be  a  monarch  more  to  his  liking 
than  the  Lady  Arabella,  or  than  any  of  the  other  personages 
who  were  looked  upon  as  pretenders  to  the  throne.  The 
Countess,  knowing  her  ground,  then  suggested  that  he 
should  send  some  discreet  individual  to  sound  the  King  of 
Scots  upon  the  subject. 

'  The  Edict  of  Nantes,  which  for  over  eighty  years  gave  liberty  of  conscience  to 
France,  until  shamefully  revoked  by  Louis  XIV. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  79 

When  the  Earl  returned  to  Court  after  the  birth  of  his 
heir,  he  noticed  an  ominous  change  in  the  condition  of 
Elizabeth.  Her  iron  will  was  no  longer  sufficient  to  hide 
from  those  about  her  the  many  infirmities  from  which  she 
suffered,  and  to  the  discerning  eye  death  was  plainly 
written  upon  her  face.  Among  the  ministers,  too,  North- 
umberland found  changes,  none  more  surprising  to  him 
than  that  which  had  converted  Sir  Robert  Cecil  into  an 
adherent  of  James.  This  unscrupulous  son  of  an  unscrupu- 
lous sire  had  skilfully  trimmed  his  sails  to  the  new  breeze, 
and  was  busy  making  as  good  bargains  for  himself,  his 
brother,  and  others  of  his  kinsmen  and  connections  as 
time  and  circumstances  permitted.  To  placate  James  the 
more  readily,  he  enlisted  in  his  service  Lord  Henry  Howard,* 
who  had  been  for  years  the  principal  secret  agent  of  the 
Scottish  King  in  England.  These  things  made  a  deep  im- 
pression upon  Northumberland,  an  impression  which  was 
strengthened  by  his  certainty  that  Elizabeth  had  but  a 
few  months  to  live.  He  attended  the  Queen  on  her  last 
progress,  and  we  find  him  writing  to  Lord  Cobham  from 
Sir  William  Cecil's  house  at  Burnham,  "  Wednesday  night 
the  Queen  was  not  well,  but  would  not  be  known  of  it,  for  the 
next  day  she  walked  abroad  in  the  Park,  lest  any  should  take 
notice  of  it.'"-  On  his  return  to  London,  the  Earl  determined 
to  take  his  wife's  counsel  and  sound  James  in  regard  to  the 
Catholics.  With  this  end  in  view,  he  made  overtures 
through  the  Scottish  Ambassador,  promising  his  unqualified 
support  if  "  toleration  for  the  Catholics  "  were  part  of  the 
King's  policy.  James  replied  through  his  Ambassador  in  a 
conciliatory  manner,  and  promised  abundant  favour  to  all, 
Catholic  or  Protestant,  who  embraced  his  cause.  Such  an 
answer  was  too  vague,  however,  for  Northumberland's 
liking.  He  resolved,  if  possible,  to  bind  the  Scottish  King 
to    something    tangible,    and    accordingly    despatched   to 

'  Youngest  brother  of  the  fourth  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  had  been  executed  in 
1572.  Lord  Henry  afterwards  hecame  Earl  of  Northampton.  He  was  a  tireless 
inventor  of  the  gross  flattery  to  which  James  was  addicted. 

-  State  Papas,  i6o2. 


8o  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Edinburgh  a  man  in  whose  diplomatic  powers  he  had  the 
fullest  confidence, — his  own  cousin,  Thomas  Percy,i  then 
Constable  of  Alnwick  Castle. 

The  good  looks  and  plausible  manners  of  Percy  greatly 
pleased  King  James,  who  treated  him  more  as  a  nobleman 
of  distinction  than  as  a  private  gentleman.  The  condition 
and  prospects  of  the  Catholics  were  discussed  at  much  length 
between  them,  the  King  displaying  " a greate  syinpaihy"  for 
this  section  of  his  future  subjects,^  James  even  went  so  far 
as  to  invite  Percy  "to  lay  in  his  chamber"  for  several  nights, 
in  order  that  they  might  the  more  freely  talk  the  matter 
over.  Eventually  the  Earl's  agent  was  sent  away  with  pro- 
mises calculated  to  inspire  English  Catholics  with  the  live- 
liest hope.  These  promises  James  afterwards  repudiated, 
thinking,  no  doubt,  that  Percy's  word  would  scarcely  be 
believed  against  that  of  the  King.  In  this  surmise  he  was 
right,  so  far  as  his  own  times  were  concerned,  but,  to  the  un- 
prejudiced historian  of  to-day,  the  balance  of  probability 
seems  vastly  in  favour  of  Percy's  veracity.  For  in  various 
letters  still  extant,  which  the  shifty  monarch  wrote  to 
Northumberland  during  1602  and  1603,  the  very  pledges  of 
toleration  thus  shamelessly  denied  are  reiterated  almost  in 
the  very  words  reported  to  the  Catholics  by  Thomas  Percy.* 

There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  effect  produced  upon 
his  co-religionists^  by  the  agent's  rosy  account  of  this 
mission  to  Scotland.  Northumberland,  now  practically  con- 
vinced of  James's  liberal  intentions,  strongly  advised  his 
Catholic  friends  and  adherents  to  accept  the  son  of  Mary 
Stuart  as  heir  to  the  throne.  Even  shrewd  Jesuits  like 
Garnet,  as  well  acquainted  with  the  secrets  of  Court  intrigue 
as  most  foreign  ministers,  were  persuaded  into  abandoning 
their  opposition  to  the  Scottish  monarch,  and  voluntarily 
tore  up  the  tracts  which  they  had  prepared  in  favour  of  the 

'  Afterwards  one  of  the  ringleaders  in  the  Gunpowder  Plot.  A  full  account 
of  the  career  of  this  remarkable  scion  of  the  Percy  family  will  be  found  on  a  later 
page. 

"^  Thomas  Percy  to  Northumberland  ;  Alnwick  MSS. 

'  See  supra.  *  Percy  was  a  Romanist. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  8i 

Lady  Arabella  or  the  Infanta  of  Spain.  The  great  majority 
of  the  Romanists  declared  for  James  ;  and  only  a  few  vener- 
able survivors  of  the  Northern  Massacre,  men  whose  hearts 
had  been  embittered  by  persecution,  still  held  suspiciously 
aloof.  To  satisfy  these,  and  so  unite  the  entire  Catholic 
body  in  allegiance,  Northumberland  wrote  to  James  the 
first  of  a  series  of  letters  which  deserve  perusal,  as  much  for 
their  evident  honesty  and  patriotism  as  for  the  remarkable 
absence  from  their  pages  of  that  cringing  flattery  which 
Cecil,  Howard,  and  the  other  "  king's  men  "  in  England  used 
so  unsparingly  in  their  correspondence  with  Holyrood.i 

In  pressing  the  urgency  of  the  Catholic  claims  upon  the 
King's  notice,  the  Earl  remarks  :— "  It  were  a  pity  to  lose  a 
good  Kingdom  for  not  tolerating  a  mass  in  a  corner  (if  upon 
that  it  resteth),  so  long  as  they  shall  not  be  too  busy  disturbers 
of  the  Government  of  the  State,  nor  seek  to  make  us  contribu- 
tors to  a  Peter  Priest."  • 

This  passage  was,  a  year  or  so  later,  used  against  him  in 
Star  Chamber  proceedings  ;  but  for  the  time  being  James 
acquiesced,  or  pretended  to  acquiesce,  in  the  opinion  so 
frankly  expressed  that  no  real  harm  could  come  out  of  per- 
mitting Catholics  to  worship  God  in  their  own  way.  The 
removal  of  political  disabilities  was  not  asked  for,  but  merely 
leave  to  celebrate  "mass  in  a  corner"  without  fear  of  prose- 
cution. 

In  reply  James  thanked  Northumberland  and  his  Catholic 
friends  for  their  support,  declared  that  he  had  no  intention 
of  persecuting  the  latter,  and  expressed  himself  as  overjoyed 
to  discover  in  the  Earl  "a  nobleman  carrying  so  honourable  a 
mind,  as  also  that  doeth  rightly  interpret  and  discern  "  his  (the 
IsXn'^s)'' honest  intentions"^  Other  letters  were  exchanged 
in  a  like  strain  ;  and  the  last  doubter  among  the  Catholics 
was  finally  won  over  by  an  epistle  (presently  to  be  quoted) 
in  which  James,  in  unequivocal  terms,  pledged  his  honour  to 

'  The  letters  of  Northumberland  to  James  may  be  found  in  Camden  Society 
Publications,  No.  LXXVIII.  {.Correspondence  of  King  James,  from  the  oiinnal 
Hatfield  MSS.). 

Correspondence  of  King  James.  '  Ibid. 


II. 


F 


82  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

grant  liberty  of  conscience  to  all  of  that  faith,  and  even  to 
advance  such  of  them  as  proved  worthy  to  positions  of 
power  and  trust. 

The  correspondence  between  Northumberland  and  the 
King  of  Scots  proved  most  disquieting  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil, 
Cecil  plays  ^^'^°  ^^'^^  ^^  y^^  uuawarc  of  its  purport.  Fully 
the  Earl  conscious  of  his  own  double-dealing,  he  feared 
lest  the  Earl  might  attempt  to  injure  him  at 
Holyrood  by  disclosing  proofs  of  the  many  intrigues 
which  he  had  fathered  in  the  past  for  the  purpose  of 
excluding  James  from  the  throne.  His  long  and  intimate 
knowledge  of  Northumberland's  character  might  have 
banished  any  thoughts  of  underhand  dealing  from  his  mind; 
for,  amid  many  faults,  the  Earl  possessed  the  virtue  of 
thorough  loyalty  to  those  whom  he  accounted  his  friends. 
But  the  suspicious  and  cynical  nature,  which  Cecil  had  in- 
herited from  his  father,  led  him  to  regard  loyalty  between 
man  and  man  as  an  almost  impossible  quality.  Even  while 
he  assiduously  cultivated  the  interests  of  his  immediate  family 
circle,  he  trusted  no  member  thereof ;  and  his  favourite 
maxim,  like  that  of  Mazarin,  was  that,  in  cases  of  suspected 
treachery,  it  was  good  policy  to  be  the  first  traitor. 

He  had  rather  discouraged  Northumberland  from  joining 
in  the  general  change  of  front  adopted  by  the  party  formerly 
opposed  to  James,!  for  it  was  his  design  that  the  King  should 
welcome  him  as  the  first  and  most  important  of  these  con- 
verts. It  now  became  Sir  Robert's  aim  to  forestall  any  dan- 
ger which  might  threaten  his  own  supremacy  by  poisoning 
James's  mind  in  advance  against  the  Earl,  as  well  as  against 
Cobham  and  Raleigh.  In  Lord  Henry  Howard,  who  acted 
as  go-between  in  the  secret  dealings  with  Scotland,  he  found 
a  willing  instrument ;  for  Howard  treasured  a  spite  of  long 
standing  against  all  three  of  the  persons  thus  attacked,  and 
in  his  letters  to  James  styled  them  "  the  diabolic  triplicity.'"^ 

'  This  party  included  the  two  Cecils,  Northumberland,  Rutland,  Cobham,  Grey, 
Raleigh,  and  Sir  Francis  Bacon. 
2  Correspondence  of  King  James, 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  83 

Hints,  innuendoes,  and  even  deliberate  perversions  of  trutli, 
all  designed  to  till  James  with  detestation  of  Northumberland 
and  his  associates,  were  dictated  by  Cecil  to  his  agent,  for 
immediate  transmission  into  Scotland.  And  all  the  while, 
this  worthy  inheritor  of  Burghley's  mantle  preserved  an 
outward  appearance  of  friendship  towards  the  men  whom 
he  slandered  daily,  and  for  the  Earl  in  particular  professed 
the  most  disinterested  affection. 

Nothing  could  atYord  a  greater  contrast  than  the  allusions 
made  to  Cecil  in  Northumberland's  Scottish  correspond- 
ence. Thoroughly  honest  himself,  and  frank  even  to  a 
fault,  the  Earl  never  for  a  moment  suspected  the  cruel  trick 
which  was  being  played  upon  him.  In  his  eyes,  Cecil's  mock 
friendship  was  a  real  and  valued  possession  ;  and  when  he 
mentioned  the  latter's  name  to  James  it  was  always  in  terms 
of  praise.  At  the  very  time  when  Sir  Robert  was  assuring 
his  future  sovereign  that  Northumberland  was  a  traitor  at 
heart,  without  credit  or  respect,  and  utterly  odious  to  his 
countrymen,  we  find  the  Earl  writing  to  Holyrood  in  this 
fashion  : — 

"  The  secret  of  his  {Cecil's')  conscience  doth  conclude  your 
nght  to  be  the  next  heir,  and  that  his  heart  zuill  then  wish  that 
it  may  have  that  approbation  with  all  men.  The  ancient 
familiaj-ity  and  inward  trust  hath  been  between  us,  which 
doeth  make  him  understand  me  very  well ;  his  knowledge  of 
my  opinion  ofy"  title,  zvhen  necessity  of  death  must  leave  it  to 
any  other  hand ;  his  conceiving  of  my  determination  to  run  that 
course  in  setting  up  all  the  faults  of  my  fortune  that  way  ;  yet 
doth  he  continue  his  love  in  preferring  me,  and  in  befriending 
me  what  he  is  able." 

It  was  but  scant  preferment  and  scurvy  friendship  that 
the  Earl  received  at  the  hands  of  this  "  loving "  familiar. 
Read  what  Cecil  (using  Lord  Henry  Howard  as  a  mouth- 
piece) sent  by  way  of  "  certaine  information  "  to  the  Scottish 
Court,  at  this  very  time  : — 

"  The  man  is  beloved  of  none,  followed  by  none,  trusted  by 
no  one  gentleman  or  nobleman  of  quality  within  the  land,  beside 
his  faction  ;  no,  not  by  the  gentlemen  or  peasants  of  his  ozvn 


84  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

country,  in  respect  of  his  vexation  atid  sport,  which  you  may 
know  by  your  neighbours ;  and  the  Queen  repeated  one  month 
since,  when  she  was  moved  in  his  behalf  for  a  regiment,  saying 
that  Raleigh  had  made  him  as  odious  as  himself,  because  he 
would  not  be  singular ;  and  such  were  not  to  be  employed  by 
princes  of  sound  policy.  I  protest  to  God  nothing  vexeth  Cecil 
so  much  as  trust  imparted  above  merit,  unto  men  that  are 
unsccret  and  itidiscj-eet."  ^ 

We  are  not  informed  why  so  much  trouble  and  time 
should  have  been  wasted  in  attacking,  behind  his  back,  a 
person  so  utterly  without  worth  or  influence,  as  North- 
umberland is  here  declared  to  be.  On  a  later  occasion, 
Cecil  endeavoured  to  frighten  the  King  by  describing 
Northumberland  as  the  very  soul  of  rapacity.  The  Earl,  it 
would  appear,  looked  for  gifts  and  favours  of  extraordinary 
value,  in  return  for  his  services,  and  hoped  to  exercise 
great  influence  over  James  "out  of  a  residue  of  ki7id affection 
in  his  uncle  "  -  towards  Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 

It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  very  bitterness  of  the 
secret  campaign  against  Northumberland  had  the  effect  of 
arousing  suspicion  in  the  King's  mind  that  a  line  of  policy 
was  being  quietly  forced  upon  him  from  England.  No 
monarch  was  more  easily  led  than  James  by  wary  ministers 
who  knew,  how  to  conceal  their  power ;  but  let  him  once 
suspect  being  led,  and  none  could  show  greater  obstinacy. 
On  this  occasion  he  surprised  Cecil  by  a  cold  reply  to  one 
of  the  letters  vilifying  the  Earl ;  and  even  praised  the  latter 
for  his  good  sense  and  honesty.  In  the  secret  code  by 
the  aid  of  which  these  communications  were  written,  each 
important  name  was  represented  by  a  particular  cipher  or 
letter — "o"  standing  for  Northumberland,  "20"  for  Cecil, 
"24"  for  Elizabeth,  and  "30"  for  James.  "  The  letter  sent 
from  o  to  30,"  wrote  the  King's  secretary,  "  is  very  discreetly 
and  temperately  writteti,  and  in  all  parts  very  jiear  the  trutli. 
He  says  not  that  he  is  a  Catholick  himself,  but  that  sundry  of 

'  Lord  H.  Howard  (for  Sir  R.  Cecil)  to  Edw.  Bruce,  1602;  Secret  Corre- 
spondenee. 

-  Thomas,  seventh  Earl  of  Northumberland. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  85 

his  retinue  and  dependants  hath  oares  in  their  boat ;  and  that 
they  are  not  able  to  resolve  in  any  course  into  the  whiche  he 
shall  not  be  made  acquainted."  1 

A  week  before  the  death  of  the  Queen,  Nortluiinberland 
sent  word  to  James,  warning  him  that  the  end  was  nigh, 
,  .     and  that  it  was  well  to  be  in  readiness.     The  Earl 

James  again 

promises  had  no  fear  of  any  difticulties  arising  ;  and  fore- 
toieration.  ^^jj  ^^^  King's  peaceful  succession.  "  She " 
(Elizabeth)  "is  grown  very  weak,"  he  wrote,  "yet  some- 
times gives  US  comfort  of  7-ecoveringe ;  a  few  hours  threatens 
us  with  despair  of  her  well-doinge.  Physic  she  ivill  not  take 
any,  and  the  physicians  conclude  th',  if  this  continue,  she  must 
needs  fall  into  a  distemper;  tiot  a  phrensy  but  rather  into  a 
dullness  and  a  lethargy  T  ^ 

He  then  proceeds  to  dwell  once  more  upon  the  subject 
nearest  his  heart — the  clemency  promised  by  James  to  the 
English  Catholics  : — "Some  Papists  I  have  in  my  family,  who 
serve  me  as  watches  how  others  are  affected ;  and  some  that  I 
am  acquainted  with  ;  but  yet  did  I  never  hear  any  of  them  say 
but  that  they  all  of  them  wished  Your  Majesty  the  fruition  of 
your  right ;  and  that  if  supplication  might  procure  them  tolera- 
tion of  their  consciences,  they  should  hold  themselves  happy  ;  if 
not  they  must,  by  the  laws  of  God  and  Right,  endure  it  with 
patience ;  to  which  hopes  I  ever  give  comfort  that  it  would  be 
obtained.  Your  Majesty  may  do  in  this  case  as  your  wisest 
Judgment  shall  direct  you  l'  ^ 

All  the  quibbles  of  James's  apologists  cannot  disguise 
the  significance  of  the  autograph  letter  which  the  King 
despatched  in  reply  to  the  above  appeal ;  nor  can  any  but 
one  meaning  be  attached  to  the  sentence  in  which  peace, 
and  even  public  advancement,  are  so  freely  guaranteed  to 
those  of  the  Romanist  persuasion.  Little  wonder  was  it 
that,  with  the  knowledge  of  such  a  plain-spoken  promise 
on  the  part  of  James,  English  Catholics  should  hail  his 

'  Edward  Bruce  (for  James  VI.)  to  Lord  H.  Howard  (for  Cecil)  ;  Corre- 
spondence of  King  fames,  p.  47. 

-  Correspondence  of  King  James,  \(>02i.  ^  Ibid. 


86  THE    HOUSE   OP^    PERCY 

accession  with  confidence  and  joy  ;  or  that  a  terrible  re- 
vulsion of  feeling  should  take  place  among  them,  when  they 
found  themselves  deceived.  The  letter,  which  is  dated  on 
the  day  of  Elizabeth's  death,  had  best  be  quoted  in  full  : — 

"  Right  truely  and  well  beloved  Cousin : 

"  The  more  I  hear  from  you,  the  more  I  am  rejoiced  and 
do  think  viy  self  infinitely  happy  that  one  of  your  place,  enJoived 
with  such  sincerity  of  love  towards  me,  and  with  all  other  parts 
of  sufficiency,  should  be  born  one  day  to  be  a  subject  unto  me. 
.  .  .  And  as  to  the  form  of  my  entry  there,  whenever  it 
shall  please  God  to  call  your  Sovereign,  as  in  my  first  letter  I 
wrote  unto  you.  so  now  by  these  presents  do  I  confirm  and  renew 
the  same  ;  that  is  to  say,  as  God  is  my  witness,  it  never  was,  is, 
or  shall  be  my  intention,  to  enter  that  kingdom  in  any  other  sort 
but  as  the  son  and  righteous  heir  of  England ;  with  all  peace 
and  calmness,  and  without  any  kind  of  alteration  in  State  and 
Government  as  far  as  possible  I  can.  All  men  that  hath  truely 
served  their  present  Sovereign,  shall  be  alike  welcome  to  me  as 
they  are  presently,  or  were  in  times  past,  unto  her;  claiming 
tiothing  in  that  turn  as  King  of  Scotland,  but  hoping  thereby  to 
have  the  means  to  knit  this  whole  Islatid  in  a  happy  and  per- 
petual amity, 

"  As  for  the  Catholics,  I  will  neither  persecute  any  that  luill 
be  quiet,  and  give  btit  an  outward  obedience  to  the  law  ;  neither 
zvill  I  spare  to  advance  any  of  them  that  will,  by  good  service, 
worthily  deserve  it,  and  if  this  course  will  not  serve  every  par- 
ticular honest  man,  my  privy  dealing  with  any  of  them  can 
avail  but  little. 

"And  thus  I  end,  praying  you  for  your  own  part  to  rest  fully 
assured  that  you  shall,  in  the  own  time,  have  proof  in  what 
high  account  you  are  ivith  your  most  loving  friend 

" James  R. 

"  To  the  Earl  of  Northumberland : 

From  Holy  rood  House  ;  Mar.yez^th,  1603."^ 

The  courier  that  bore  this  kingly  message  might  have 
encountered  somewhere  between  Tyne  and  Tees  a  horse- 

'  Con  es^ondence  of  King  Jama. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  87 

m.-in,  haggard  and  travel-stained,  spurring  furiously  north- 
ward— a  horseman  that  only  shook  his  head  and  galloped 
The  Queen  the  harder  in  answer  to  each  eager  hail.  And 
IS  dead.  again,  a  few  hours  later,  while  he  baited  his 
nag  at  some  Yorkshire  inn,  our  wondering  courier  might 
have  seen  yet  another  cavalier  pass  by  in  headlong 
flight,  and  vanish  in  the  northern  dusk.  For  the  great 
Queen  Elizabeth  was  dead — had  died,  indeed,  while  the 
ink  was  still  wet  upon  her  successor's  letter  to  North- 
umberland ;  and  now  two  stout-hearted  gallants  of  the 
Court  were  riding  a  race  to  Edinburgh  with  the  momentous 
news.  The  twain  were  Sir  Robert  Carey,i  youngest  son  of 
old  Hunsdon  ;  and  Sir  Charles  Percy,  brother  of  the  Earl 
of  Northumberland. 

Thanks  to  the  wit  of  his  elder  brother,  Lord  Hunsdon^, 
and  to  his  own  promptness,  Carey  had  a  long  start 
in  the  race.  Hunsdon,  who  was  a  Privy  Councillor, 
and  as  such  admitted  to  the  dying  monarch's  bed- 
chamber, instructed  his  brother  to  lurk  in  the  neigh- 
bouring anteroom.  No  sooner  had  the  Queen  ceased  to 
breathe  than  a  concerted  signal  was  given  ;  Robert  Carey 
sprang  from  his  place  of  concealment,  and,  elbowing  his 
way  to  the  courtyard,  mounted  a  swift  horse  which  stood 
there  saddled  and  bridled  for  the  journey.  Before  the 
lords  of  the  Council  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  the 
horror  of  the  Queen's  death  to  think  of  notifying  her 
successor,  Carey  was  already  miles  away.  A  meeting  of 
the  lords  being  summoned,  the  necessary  letter  to  James 
was  duly  drafted ;  and  Sir  Charles  Percy  was  chosen  to 
carry  it  post-haste  into  Scotland.  Percy  had  not  antici- 
pated any  such  mission,  nor  had  he  any  picked  steed  wait- 
ing in  the  courtyard.     But  he  was  an  experienced  soldier, 

■  Sir  Robert  Carey  was  the  seventh  son  of  Henry,  first  Lord  Hunsdon,  and 
hence  first  cousin  once  removed  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  This  ride  first  brought  him 
to  the  notice  of  James  I.  In  1626  he  became  Lord  Carey  of  Leppington,  and  in 
1626  Earl  of  Monmouth.  The  titles  became  extinct  with  the  death  of  his  son 
Henry,  second  Earl  of  Monmouth,  in  l65l. 

'  George,  second  Lord  Hunsdon,  who  died  in  the  same  year. 


88  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

and  it  was  not  long  before  he  too  was  speeding  northward. 
Neither  he,  nor  those  that  sent  him,  knew  aught  of  the  other 
messenger  who  had  gone  before. 

James  reached  Enfield  Chase  on  May  4,  and  thence 
proceeded  to  London.  "He  rid"  says  Nicholls,  "the  most 
A  new  kin  P^*"^  ^  ^^^^  ^*'''^-^  frovi  the  Choce,  between  two 
and  an  old  honourable  personages  of  our  land;  the  Earl  of 
promise.  Northuniberlatid  upon  his  right  hand,  and  the  Earl 
of  Nottingham  upon  his  left  liand!'  ^ 

One  of  the  new  sovereign's  first  acts  was  to  make 
Northumberland  a  Privy  Councillor,  and  to  confer  upon 
him  the  post  of  Captain  of  the  Gentlemen  Pensioners. 
He  also  granted  the  Earl's  petition  for  the  restoration  to 
the  House  of  Percy  of  the  manors  of  Kirk-Levinton, 
Hunmanby,  Nafferton,  Wanford,  and  Gembling,  all  in 
Yorkshire.-  These  estates  had  been  alienated  by  the 
unhappy  sixth  Earl  to  Henry  VIII.,  and  subsequently 
granted  by  that  monarch  to  Matthew  Stuart,  Earl  of 
Lennox,  and  his  wife,  ancestors  of  King  James.  Lady 
Northumberland,  too,  was  rewarded  for  her  fidelity  to 
the  King  by  a  grant  of  portion  of  Sir  John  Perrott's 
forfeited  estates,  to  the  yearly  value  of  ^^soc^  Her  old 
enemy.  Coke,  however,  insisted  on  her  resigning  the  pen- 
sion of  £-ifio  allowed  her  by  Elizabeth,  when  she  re- 
ceived this  new  mark  of  royal  favour ;  ^  so  that  she  found 
herself  little  better  off  after  all,  and — as  might  have  been 
expected  from  one  of  her  temper — assailed  the  Attorney- 
General  with  bitter  reproaches.  Later  in  the  same  year 
Northumberland  and  his  wife  officiated  as  godfather  and 
godmother  at  the  christening  of  the  Princess  Mary.^ 

But  these  honours  and  emoluments  were  empty  or 
of  small  account  in  Northumberland's  opinion.  The  real 
power,  he  soon  realised,  was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  Cecil ; 
while,  so  far  from  keeping  his  word  to  the  Catholics,  the 

'  NichoU's  Progresses  of  James  I.,  vol.  i.  p.  135. 

-  Dontestic  State  Papers,  James  I.  '  Ibid. 

■*  IbiJ.  ^  Stow's  Annals,  p.  S63. 


THE    HOUSE   OP^   PERCY  89 

King  was  liardly  seated  upon  the  throne  before  he  as- 
sumed an  attitude  of  vigorous  hostihty  towards  their 
religion.  Dignities  and  wealth  could  not  atone  to  the 
Earl  for  the  fact  that,  through  the  craft  of  Cecil  and  the 
King's  insincerity,  he  found  himself  unable  to  help  the 
cause  of  toleration  in  any  way.  Moreover,  although  his 
own  position  at  Court  was  as  yet  strong  enough  to  resist 
the  insidious  schemes  of  the  chief  minister,  his  friends 
Raleigh,  Grey,  and  Cobham  were  not  long  in  experiencing 
the  evils  of  Cecil's  jealousy.  The  Secretary  had  inspired 
James  with  his  own  detestation  of  Raleigh,  and  the  King 
came  to  England  already  convinced  that  Sir  Walter  was  a 
breeder  of  discontent  and  a  traitor  in  embryo.  Lingard,^ 
speaking  of  the  condition  of  affairs  among  those  who 
had  placed  James  upon  the  throne,  says: — "They  were 
now  divided  into  two  factions.  .  .  .  The  Secretary  (Cecil), 
with  his  colleagues  of  the  Council,  and  the  Earl  of  Nor- 
thumberland, with  Lord  Grey,  Lord  Cobham,  and  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh.  All  hastened  to  meet  the  new  monarch, 
that  they  might  remind  him  of  their  past,  and  tender  to 
him  their  first  services.  But  James  had  already  made 
his  election.  If  the  Secretary  had  more  deeply  offended, 
he  was  yet  the  more  likely  to  prove  useful.  Him  he 
confirmed  in  office ;  a  share  of  the  royal  favour  was  also 
promised  to  Northumberland ;  but  Cobham  and  Grey 
were  left  to  complain  of  ingratitude  and  neglect.  Raleigh 
lost  not  only  the  honourable  post  of  Captain  of  the 
Guard,  but  the  more  valuable  office  of  Warden  of  the 
Stannaries."  - 

Although  gravely  disappointed,  the  Earl,  however,  hoped 
for  better  things  ;  and  took  no  part  in  the  rash  intrigues 
by  which  Raleigh,  Cobham,  and  Grey  sought  to  reassert 
their  influence  and,  at  the  same  time,  revenge  themselves 
upon  Cecil.     Thus,  when  his  three  friends  were  arrested, 

'  The  partiality  of  this  historian  for  the  Catholics  is  well  known :  but 
his  account  of  the  events  leading  up  to  the  trial  of  Kalcigh  can  scarcely  be 
impugned, 

-  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  vii.  p.  5. 


90  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

tried  —  if  indeed  the  extraordinary  travesty  of  justice 
exhibited  by  Attorney-General  Coke,  in  his  savage  abuse 
of  Raleigh,  can  be  regarded  as  part  of  a  legal  triaP — 
and  sentenced  to  death  for  high  treason,  he  was  able  to 
plead  vigorously  in  their  favour.  De  Fonblanque,  indeed, 
ascribes  to  the  Earl's  efforts  the  reprieve  of  Raleigh  almost 
on  the  steps  of  the  scaffold.  No  sooner  did  he  learn  that 
this  "ancient  caineradoe"  this  chosen  companion  of  many 
years,  had  been  sentenced  by  a  packed  Commission  at 
Coke's  savage  dict^ion  than  he  hurried  to  Windsor  to 
intercede  with  the  King  for  clemency.  By  this  time  he 
must  have  understood  the  real  virulence  of  Cecil's  feelings 
towards  Sir  Walter  ;  and  his  loyalty  to  a  fallen  friend  is  all 
the  more  praiseworthy,  since  thereby  he  deliberately  jeopar- 
dised his  own  fortunes,  and  dared  to  cross  the  Secretary's 
dearest  wish.  When  the  panther  has  smelt  blood,  it  is 
dangerous  to  baulk  him  of  his  quarry.  But  Northumber- 
land cared  not  for  consequences,  when  the  life  of  a  friend 
was  at  stake.  He  insisted  upon  an  audience  with  the  King, 
denounced  the  trial  of  Raleigh  as  a  sham,  and  hotly  pro- 
claimed Sir  Walter's  innocence  of  treason.  But  his  argu- 
ments and  entreaties  alike  fell  upon  deaf  ears ;  James 
would  have  none  of  them.  The  west-country  pirate  had 
been  justly  condemned,  he  said,  and  "  there  was  an  end 
on't."  Almost  desperate,  Northumberland  turned  to 
Queen  Anne  ;  that  gentle  lady  who,  like  the  consort  of  our 
own  sovereign,  was  a  princess  of  Denmark.  Anne  had 
little  esteem  for  most  of  the  lords  at  her  husband's  new 
Court ;  but  the  frank,  impetuous  Earl  was  one  of  those 

'  The  following  may  be  quoted  as  an  example  of  Coke's  brutal  method  of 
bolstering  up  his  extremely  weak  case  against  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  of  the 
latter's  dignified  replies.  Coke  in  open  court  called  Raleigh  "^  damnable 
atheist ;  a  spidir  of  hell ;  the  most  vile  and  execrable  of  traitors." 

(Raleigh): — "  You  speak  indiscreetly,  barbarously,  and  uncivilly ." 
{Cohe) : — "  I  want  words  sufficient  to  express  thy  viperous  treasons." 
{Raleigh): — "  You  want  words,  indeed,  for  you  have  spoken  the  one  thing  half 
a  dozen  times." — State  Trials,  II.  26. 

Cobham  shuffled  lamentably  under  his  various  examinations  ;  but  Grey,  we 
are  told,  "  won  the  esteem  of  the  very  judges  by  whom  he  was  condemned." 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  91 

whom  she  really  liked.  Northumberland,  returning  from 
the  audience  with  James,  went  to  pay  his  respects  to  the 
Queen ;  and  in  his  usual  unreserved  fashion  told  her 
everything  which  had  occurred.  Shocked  at  the  reports 
of  Coke's  brutality,  and  convinced  that  Raleigh  was  guilt- 
less of  the  graver  sins  alleged  against  him,  Anne  volun- 
teered her  services  as  his  advocate.  With  tears  in  her 
eyes,  she  implored  the  King  to  pardon  this  great  captain, 
who  had  served  his  country  so  well.  Her  prayers  won 
the  day.  Raleigh's  sentence  was  exchanged  for  one  of  im- 
prisonment ;  and  Northumberland  posted  back  to  London 
with  the  joyful  tidings.  Cobham  and  Grey  being  par- 
doned as  well,  the  disappointed  Secretary  had  to  rest 
content,  for  the  time,  with  the  hanging  of  two  poor  clerics,^ 
who  at  best  were  but  pawns  in  the  game.  But  Cecil 
neither  forgot  nor  forgave ;  and  in  the  end  Northumber- 
land paid  dearly  for  his  temerity. 

Disillusioned  as  to  the  character  of  James,  and  cut  to 
the  quick  by  the  King's  betrayal  of  the  Catholics,  the 
The  Earl  ^"^''^  uow  asked  permission  to  retire  from  Court, 
seeks  and  devote  himself  to  avocations  more  grateful 

than  that  of  politics.  James  readily  granted  the 
boon  ;  for  he  found  Northumberland's  presence  an  un- 
ceasing reproach  to  his  conscience,  and  a  restraint  upon 
the  coarseness  of  his  nature.  Monarchs  do  not  care  to  be 
constantly  reminded  of  their  treacheries,  or  to  feel  that  they 
are  scorned  by  their  own  courtiers.  Here  was  a  great 
noble,  a  man  of  learning,  honour,  and  unblemished  descent, 
whose  ears  James  Stuart  dared  not  paw,  and  whom  he 
feared  to  nickname  as  he  did  his  ^^  Ferrets"  his  "Beagles^'  ^ 
or  (in  after  years)  his  "  Dog  Steenie."  ^  The  royal  wit  at  best 
was  hardly  of  a  refined  sort  ;  and  in  many  other  respects 
Northumberland  and  the  King  had  little  in  common.    Even 

'  Watson  and  Clarke. 

^  "Ferret"  and  "Beagle"  were  playful  court-names  which  James  bestowed 
upon  Cecil.     He  had  many  such  for  the  compliant  members  of  the  Council. 
^  The  Duke  of  Buckingham. 


92  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

through  the  self-satisfied  pedantry  of  "  Christendom's  wisest 
ass "  there  stole  at  times  an  awkward  suspicion  that  the 
Earl  was  laughing  at  him  in  his  sleeve.  Then,  too,  there 
was  the  old  alliance  between  the  House  of  Percy  and  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots — a  secret  grievance  with  James ;  for  it  is 
a  historical  fact  that,  through  some  strange  perversion  of 
nature,  this  prince  cherished  a  grudge  against  most  of  those 
whose  families  had  striven  or  suffered  in  the  cause  of  his 
mother.^  Gossip  assigns  yet  another  reason  for  the  Earl's 
growing  unpopularity  at  Court — he  was  a  confirmed 
smoker  of  "the  noxious  weed  tticotiana"  ;  and  it  is  by  no 
means  improbable  that  this  fact  may  have  strongly  pre- 
judiced the  author  of  the  "Counterblast"  against  him. 
The  young  Prince  of  Wales  shared  with  his  mother  a 
great  partiality  for  Northumberland,  and  James  is  said  to 
have  feared  lest  his  heir  might  acquire  a  taste  for 
tobacco,  or  religious  toleration.  Among  the  Cecils  and 
Howards  this  intimacy  was  keenly  disliked  for  other 
causes,  easy  to  penetrate  ;  and  if  anything  were  lacking 
to  render  the  Earl  completely  distasteful  to  James,  there 
was  ever  the  malevolent  Cecil  with  new  tales  of  the  evil 
influence  exercised  over  Prince  Henry,  and  of  Northum- 
berland's reprehensible  merriment  at  the  expense  of  the 
Scottish  lords.^ 

These  things  being  so,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  James 
rather  relieved  than  otherwise  at  the  prospect  of  the  Earl's 
practical  retirement  from  Court  and  Council.  He  would, 
perhaps,  have  preferred  that  Northumberland  should  take 
up  his  residence  on  some  remote  estate,  such  as  Alnwick 
or  Petworth  ;  but  this  might  not  be,  for  the  Earl  could  not 
tear  himself  away  from  the  society  of  the  wits  and  scholars 
whom  he  loved.  Syon  House  was  the  retreat  which  he 
most  favoured.     There,  by  "the  shore  of  silver-streaming 

'  Some  writers  have  adduced  this  point  in  support  of  the  changeling  theory  as 
to  James's  parentage. 

^  It  was  one  of  the  charges  against  the  Earl  that  he  spoke  "  openly  and  with 
contempt "  of  some  of  the  personages  whom  James  brought  with  him  from 
Scotland.— .J/«a':VX-  AJSS. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  93 

Thames,"  he  could,  like  his  friend  Spenser,  solace  his  mind 
with  country  joys,  and  forget  the 

"  long  fruitless  stay 
In  princes'  court,  and  expectation  vain 
Of  idle  hopes,  which  still  do  fly  away 
Like  empty  shadows  "  : 

while  London  was  still  so  near  that,  at  his  will,  he  could 
surround  himself  with  all  that  was  pleasant  to  him  in  the 
restless  life  of  town.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  only  leased 
Syon  from  the  Crown.  In  July  1604,  however,  the  King 
granted  him  under  Letters  Patent  ^'  the  niatior  of  Islcworth- 
Sj'on  and  Syon  House,  and  the  demesne  lands,  ivith  Free  Wai-ren 
and  all  Royalties  and  Appurtinunees."  It  was  a  parting  gift, 
and  certainly  a  royal  one — whatever  the  giver's  motives 
may  have  been. 

The  monastery  of  Syon  was  founded  in  February  1416 
by  Henry  V.,  for  the  accominodation  of  sixty  sisters  and 
„, .  _  about  twenty-five  brethren  of  the  Order  of  St. 

Old  Syon  ■' 

House  and  Bridget.  The  Bridgetines  followed  in  a  modified 
Its  story.  form  the  Augustinian  rule,  and  most  of  those 
who  originally  settled  at  Syon  were  of  Scandinavian  birth. 
The  first  house  which  they  built  on  the  banks  of  the 
Thames  was  a  very  small  one  ;  but  in  1431  the  settlement 
had  so  flourished  that  a  larger  edifice  was  erected  on 
the  site  of  the  present  mansion  of  the  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land. The  Rev.  J.  H.  Blunt  describes  Syon  as  the  most 
important  establishment  of  its  kind  "  founded  in  England 
during  the  180  years  preceding  the  Reformation."^  When 
suppressed  by  Henry  VIII.  the  annual  income  of  the 
monastery  amounted  to  about  ^20,000  of  modern  money, 
which  was  exceeded  by  only  seven  other  religious  houses 
in  England.  It  was  called  the  "  Monastery  of  St.  Saviour 
and  St.  Bridget   of   Syon."     The  monks   and  nuns  dwelt 

'  Introduction  to  T/ic  Myroiirc  of  oure  Lady,  a  work  largely  used  by  the  ladies 
of  Syon  Monastery. 


94  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

quite  apart  from  each  other ;  the  sole  means  of  communi- 
cation being  a  species  of  postern-gate  which  was  never 
opened  save  upon  occasions  of  great  ceremony,  such  as 
the  profession  of  novices.  The  keys  of  this  gate  were  kept 
by  the  Abbess  and  "  two  sisters  that  have  drede  of  God  on  the 
one  side,  and  by  the  Confessor  General  and  tzvo  brothers  on  the 
other,  that  so  al  occasion  of  sclaundcr  be  vtterly  take  away 
both  outwarde  and  inwarde." 

Syon  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  nunneries  to  fall 
under  the  ban  of  Henry  VIII.  and  his  jackal,  Cromwell. 
The  quiet  sisters  were  accused  of  sympathising  with 
Elizabeth  Burton,  the  "  Holy  Maid  of  Kent,"  and  their 
estates  were  pronounced  forfeit  to  the  Crown.  One  of  the 
Syon  monks  and  the  vicar  of  Isleworth  were  hanged  at 
Tyburn  ;  while  the  nuns  under  their  superior,  Katherine 
Palmer,!  fjg^  {q  Holland  and  then  to  Flanders.  At 
Dermond  in  the  latter  country  they  sojourned  for  a  time, 
until  summoned  back  to  England  by  Queen  Mary.  Mean- 
while, in  1541,  Syon  had  been  used  as  the  prison  of 
Queen  Katherine  Howard,  during  the  period  immediately 
preceding  her  execution.  Seven  years  later,  the  body 
of  Henry  VIII.  rested  here  for  the  night,  on  its  way  to 
Windsor  ;  and  there  is  a  gruesome  tradition  to  the  effect 
that  the  carcase  of  the  royal  spoliator  burst  as  it  was 
being  conveyed  from  the  portals  of  the  suppressed  monas- 
tery, and  that  Henry's  blood  was  licked  up  by  dogs,  like 
the  blood  of  King  Ahab  in  Samaria. - 

The  Lord  Protector  Somerset,  in  the  first  year  of 
Edward  VI. 's  reign,  granted  to  himself  the  manor  of  Isle- 
worth,  with  Syon  House,  and  the  other  property  held  by 
the  Bridgetine  sisters  in  Middlese.x.  The  old  convent 
proved  quite  inadequate  for  Somerset's  needs,  and  he 
began  the  erection  of  a  new  building  —  the  nucleus  of 
that  which  stands  to-day.      He  also  laid  out  a  botanical 

'  This  lady,  the  last  Abbess  of  Syon,  had,  a  few  years  before,  succeeded  Agnes 
Jordan  in  that  office.  A  brass  to  the  memory  of  Madame  Jordan  exists  in  Denham 
Church,  near  Uxbridge. 

-  Walford's  Greater  London.     .\ugnier's  Hist.  0/  Isleworth. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  95 

garden,  in  which  were  planted  some  of  tlie  earliest  mul- 
berry-trees known  in  England.  Many  of  these  ancient 
trees  are  still  green  and  flourishing.  After  Somerset's 
attainder,  Syon  passed  to  John  Dudley,  Earl  of  Warwick 
(now  known  as  Duke  of  Northumberland),  and  became 
the  residence  of  his  son.  Lord  Guilford  Dudley,  and  of  the 
latter's  wife,  Lady  Jane  Grey.  From  Syon  Lady  Jane 
went  to  London,  in  her  ill-starred  attempt  to  wrest  the 
crown  from  the  hands  of  Queen  Mary.  This  sovereign 
kept  the  estate  in  her  own  hands  for  four  years ;  but  in 
1557  the  banished  sisters  of  St.  Bridget  were  invited  to 
return  to  their  old  home.  They  found  a  palace  where 
they  had  left  a  modest  abbey  ;  but  their  chapel  and  most 
of  their  treasured  symbols  of  devotion  had  been  destroyed 
by  the  Seymours  and  Dudleys.  Nor  were  they  long  per- 
mitted to  retain  possession.  In  1559  Elizabeth  suppressed 
the  Bridgetine  Order  once  more ;  and  the  harassed  ladies 
left  Syon  for  the  last  time,  taking  with  them  the  keys  of 
the  establishment.  After  many  wanderings,^  they  found 
an  asylum  at  Lisbon,  where,  on  the  banks  of  the  Tagus, 
a  new  Syon  House  was  founded.  The  sisterhood  clung 
staunchly  to  their  English  traditions,  however  ;  and  only 
British  novices  were  admitted  to  the  new  convent.  Dame 
Katherine  Palmer,  their  leader,  died  in  1576.  In  the 
seventeenth  century  a  fire  broke  out,  which  completely 
destroyed  the  nunnery  buildings ;  but  the  followers  of 
St.  Bridget  succeeded,  with  the  help  of  their  friends  and 
relatives  at  home,  in  raising  sufficient  funds  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  newer  and  finer  abode.  In  1755  the  terrible 
earthquake  of  Lisbon  levelled  this  structure  in  turn  to 
the  ground  ;  and  the  sisters  were  again  compelled  to  have 
recourse  to  alms  in  order  to  place  a  roof  over  their  heads. 
For  fifty  years  more  they  lived  peacefully  among  their 
orange-groves,  hearing  little  of  the  outside  world  or  of 
"  Home,"  save  when  some  young  novice  or  pupil  was 
sent  out  to  them  from  England.  About  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century  they  were   visited    by  the  then   Duke 

'  Described  at  lenijth  in  Augnier's  Hist,  of  Isleworl/i. 


96  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

of  Northumbeiland.i  The  good  ladies  rallied  the  Duke 
upon  "  his  unhallowed  possession  of  the  estates  granted 
to  their  Order  by  Henry  V."  ;  and,  by  way  of  further  im- 
pressing him,  the  Abbess  produced  from  her  strong  room 
the  rusty  and  ponderous  keys  of  Syon  House,  which  had 
been  carried  off  when  the  Bridgetines  were  dispossessed 
by  Elizabeth.  "You  see,"  they  observed,  "that  when  the 
Lord  brings  us  back  to  our  old  home,  we  shall  have  the 
means  of  entering ! "  ^  The  questions  which  they  put 
showed  that  while  most  of  them  had  never  seen  Syon- 
upon-Thames  in  their  lives,  the  neighbourhood  had  be- 
come familiar  to  them  through  the  traditions  of  refectory 
and  cloister. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  Peninsular  War,  when 
Lisbon  was  the  headquarters  of  the  English  army,  the 
convent  of  these  unfortunate  women  was  seized  by  the 
authorities,  and  turned  into  a  military  hospital.  Thus  for 
the  fifth  time  rendered  homeless,  the  sisters  (nine  in 
number,  and  all  of  English  birth)  made  their  way  as  best 
they  could  to  these  shores.  The  Earl  of  Shrewsbury  and 
others  gave  them  shelter,  and  in  1825  a  few  survivors  of 
those  who  had  left  Lisbon  still  resided  near  the  Stafford- 
shire potteries.  Since  then,  branches  of  the  Order  have 
been  established  at  Newcastle,  in  Staffordshire,  at  Peckham 
in  Surrey,  and  at  Spettisbury  in  Dorset.^  The  ancient 
keys  of  Syon  House  are  still  jealously  preserved  by  the 
Abbess-Provincial. 

From  1559  until  1604  Syon  and  Isleworth  remained 
crown  property,  although  leased  during  that  time  to  various 
subjects.  We  have  seen  how  Northumberland,  after  occu- 
pying the  house  for  some  years  as  a  tenant,  finally  entered 
into  full  possession  of  the  estate  by  grace  of  James  I. 

'  The  second  Duke. 

'  The  Duke,  however,  took  great  pains  to  explain  to  the  nuns  that  "all  the 
locks  at  Syon  House  had  been  altered." — Walford's  Greater  London. 

^  The  English  Bridgetines  have  no  connection  with  the  Irish  community  of 
the  same  name  founded  in  1808  by  Bishop  Delany  of  Kildare,  under  the  autho- 
rity of  Pope  Gregory  XVI. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  97 

Freed  by  his  own  wish  from  the  strain  of  Court  Hfo, 
Northumberland  devoted  himself  to  scientific  studies,  to 
Northum-  gardening  (then  almost  an  unknown  art  in  Eng- 
beriand's life  land),  and  to  the  entertainment  of  those  friends 
yoii-  ^^,]^Q  gladly  sought  him  out  in  his  retirement.  Nor 
were  the  pilgrims  to  Syon  either  few  or  undistinguished  ; 
for  the  fame  of  the  Earl  as  a  scholar,  and  a  patron  of 
scholars,  had  spread  through  many  lands.  Even  Bacon, 
his  secret  enemy,  commended  him  in  the  most  flattering 
terms  for  his  "culture,  capacity,  and  learning."*  The  bent 
of  his  mind  was  naturally  towards  mathematics  and 
physics;  but  he  had  a  catholic  taste  and  "could  talk 
wisely  and  well  in  full  many  branches  of  knowledge." 
To  his  own  order  he  was  proud  and  distant,  caring  little 
for  their  tortuous  intrigues  and  alternate  pomp  and  ser- 
vility. But  among  men  of  genius  he  was  truly  at  home ; 
and  to  these  his  purse  and  his  house  were  never  closed. 
Shakespeare-  and  Ben  Jonson  he  knew,  and  appreciated; 
and  the  last  days  of  Spenser  had  been  comforted  by  his  kind- 
ness. Among  scientists,  Thomas  Harriot  the  mathematician 
(who  had  been  introduced  to  him  by  Raleigh)  ^  received 
at  his  hands  a  yearly  pension  of  £120;  as  did  Robert 
Hues,  Walter  Warner,  and,  at  a  later  day,  Nicholas 
Tarporley."*  Dr.  Alexander  Rhead,  in  one  of  his  medical 
treatises,  describes  the  Earl  as  "  the  favourer  of  all  good 
learning,  and  Majcsenas  of  learned  men."  Bacon,  by 
his  own  admission,  owed  much  to  the  encouragement 
of  Northumberland,  and  was  a  frequent  guest  at  Syon  ; 
although  he  was  at  the  time  engaged  in  more  than  one 
intrigue  against  his  host.  The  Syon  Household  Accounts 
bear  witness  to  countless  benefactions  to  writers,  geo- 
graphers, physicians,  &c.,  as  well  as  to  schools  and  colleges, 

■  Cabala,  p.  23. 

^  Shakespeare  is  said  to  iiave  drawn  the  noMe  character  of  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland  (the  "Loyal  Earl")  in  Henry  VII.  out  of  aflection  for  the 
similar  qualities  of  his  descendant. 

^  Harriot  had  accompanied  Raleigh  on  his  .first  voyage  to  Virginia. 

■■  Wood's  Athena  0jw/:(7/«j  (Bliss),  p.  299.  Hues  and  W.irner  were  among 
the  pioneers  of  mathematical  study  in  England. 

II.  G 


98  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

No  foreign  man  of  letters  visited  London  without  paying 
at  least  one  visit  to  the  Earl,  and  special  agents  scoured 
the  marts  of  Europe  to  add  new  volumes  to  the  great 
library  which  was  growing  so  rapidly  under  his  watchful 
eye.* 

His  services  to  learning  were  so  well  recognised,  that 
on  August  30,  1605,  the  University  of  Oxford  conferred 
the  honorary  degree  of  M.A.  upon  "  Henry  Percy,  the 
most  generous  Earl  of  Northumberland,  a  great  encourager 
of  learning  and  learned  men,  especially  mathematicians, 
who,  as  others,  have  in  a  high  manner  celebrated  his 
worth."  - 

This  was  perhaps  the  part  of  his  life  to  which  the  Earl 
always  looked  back  with  the  greatest  fondness.  Raleigh's 
society  he  missed  greatly,  no  doubt ;  although  there  is  a 
possibility  that  the  frequent  licences  which  he  obtained  for 
^'searching  the  recordes  at  the  Tower" '^  may  have  led  to 
secret  meetings  with  his  friend,  then  beginning  the  "  History 
of  the  World"  in  that  gloomy  stronghold.  But  he  still  had 
his  books,  his  laboratory,  his  gardens,  and  his  " pypes  of 
tobacco "  for  constant  companions ;  while  the  building 
operations  in  which  he  was  engaged,  and  the  comings  and 
goings  of  his  guests,  kept  him  agreeably  employed.  His 
wife's  quarrelsome  disposition  troubled  him  but  little, 
since  she  now,  save  at  rare  intervals,  lived  apart  from 
him ;  and  altogether  he  had  turned  his  back  for  good 
upon  the  sordid  troubles  of  the  world. 

But  dire  trouble  came  to  him  notwithstanding  ;  and 
even  in  his  quiet  library  the  relentless  world  sought 
him  out. 

'  Northumberland's  bills  for  bookbinding,  and  for  the  cataloguing  of  his 
library  at  Syon,  were  at  this  time  very  large.  He  also  expended  considerable 
sums  in  the  purchase  of  scientific  appliances  ;  and  there  are  frequent  mentions  of 
tobacco  consigned  to  him,  and  of  ^^ pyp^s  for  tobacco." — Syon  A/SS. 

-  Wood's  Fasti  Oxoniemes,  Part  I.  p.  312. 

3  Syon  MSS. 


Ill 

The  man  whose  desperate  acts  brought   about   the   ruin 
of  Northumberland's  hfe  was  his  cousin,  Thomas  Percy — 

he  who  had  visited  King  James  at  Holyrood  on 
Percy  of  behalf  of  the  Catholics,  and  who  now  filled  the 
•rfeMon"'^''^  posts  of  Constablc  of  Alnwick  Castle  and  general 

agent  of  the  Earl's  northern  estates.  The  career 
of  this  individual — half  fanatic,  half  ruffian — was  so  strange, 
and  withal  so  characteristic  of  the  time,  that  little  apology 
is  needed  for  recalling  it  here. 

To  begin  with,  Thomas  Percy  was  a  great-grandson  of 
the  "  Magnificent  Earl "  of  Northumberland,*  and  a  grand- 
son of  that  Josceline  Percy  of  Beverley  who  was  reported 
to  have  been  poisoned  by  the  relatives  of  his  son's  wife, 
the  Watertons  of  Walton.^  Percy's  father  and  mother 
were  Edward  Percy  of  Beverley,  and  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Sir  Thomas  Waterton,  knight.  His  elder  brother,  Alan, 
inherited  the  property  of  this  branch  of  the  family,  and 
served  for  some  years  as  M.P.  for  Beverley.*  He  himself 
was  born  at  Beverley  about  1560,  and,  like  his  kinsman 
the  Earl,  bred  in  the  Protestant  faith.  Coming  to  London, 
with  the  intention  of  studying  for  the  law,  he  changed  his 
mind  and  took  to  the  sword  instead.  Of  active  service 
he  apparently  saw  none,  although  he  participated  in  the 
movements  for  the  defence  of  the  country  against  Spanish 
invasion.  For  years  the  life  which  he  led  was  of  the 
wildest ;  and  that  part  of  London  known  as  "  Alsatia  " — 
the  haunt  of  rufflers  and  cut-throats — knew  him  as  one 

'  See  Genealogy,  Tables  II.  and  III, 

'  See  ante,  under  the  sixth  Earl. 

'  His  last  known  male  representative  was  Alan  Percy,  Esquire,  of  Beverley, 
said  to  have  been  de  jure  Earl  of  Northumberland  after  the  extinction  of  the 
senior  male  line  in  1686. 

99 


100  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

of  its  "free  companions."  His  dare-devil  exploits  not 
infrequently  led  him  into  trouble,  and,  on  at  least  one 
occasion,  into  perilous  proximity  to  the  hangman's  noose. 
It  was  then  that  one  of  his  cousins,  Charles  or  Alan  Percy, 
learned  of  his  predicament,  and  appealed  to  Northumber- 
land and  Essex  in  his  behalf.  The  latter  wrote  to  Justice 
Beaumont  in  February  1596  : — "/  understand  by  this  bearer, 
my  servant  Meyricke,  of  your  zuilliiig  dispositioti  to  favour 
Thomas  Percy,  a  near  kinsman  of  my  brother  of  Northumber- 
land, li'ho  is  in  trojible  for  some  offence  imputed  to  him.  I 
pray  you  to  continue  the  same,  that  therefore  his  life  may  not 
be  in  hazard.  He  is  a  gentleman,  well  descended  and  of  good 
parts,  and  very  able  to  do  his  country  good  service  ;  you  shall 
do  a  thing  very  acceptable  to  us  both,  and  not  disagreeable 
with  equity,  which  we  will  upon  all  occasions  deserve  of  you''  ^ 

Percy  was  accordingly  released  from  the  clink  by  favour 
of  Beaumont ;  and  Northumberland,  on  his  promising  to 
reform,  took  him  into  his  London  household.  Here  his 
plausible  manners  made  such  an  impression  that,  a  month 
or  two  later,  he  was  sent  north  to  act  as  Constable  of 
Alnwick.  By  birth  a  Yorkshireman,  he  was  not  popular 
among  the  Earl's  tenants  on  the  Border,  whose  customs 
and  prejudices  he  took  no  pains  to  understand.  His  irre- 
sponsible life  in  London,  moreover,  had  rendered  him  not 
over  nice  in  dealing  with  his  neighbours,  and  on  more  than 
one  occasion  he  was  accused  of  absolute  dishonesty.  The 
people  beneath  him  he  treated  either  with  unjustifiable 
harshness,  or  equally  unjustifiable  laxity ;  and  the  charges 
made  against  him  by  the  enraged  Northumbrians  fill  many 
closely  written  pages  of  the  Alnwick  MSS. 

At  length  complaints  became  so  numerous,  that  the 
Earl  was  compelled  to  hold  an  investigation  into  Percy's 
conduct.  The  result  was  hardly  in  the  culprit's  favour ; 
but  he  wrote  several  letters  to  Northumberland,  justifying 
himself  with  so  great  a  skill  and  such  an  admirable  assump- 
tion of  simplicity,  that  the  latter  was  convinced  of  his 
probity  and  fidelity.     Faithful,  according  to  his  lights,  he 

'  Alnwick  MSS.,  vol.  v. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  lor 

seems  certainly  to  have  been,  so  far  as  his  cousin  was 
concerned  ;  but  his  sense  of  moraHty  was  sadly  dulled, 
and  nature  had  fitted  him  for  a  moss-trooper  or  a  gentle- 
man-adventurer rather  than  for  the  factor  of  a  great  estate. 
After  the  investigation  into  his  affairs,  Northumberland  for- 
gave him,  and  even  permitted  him  to  retain  his  posts  ;  but 
henceforward  he  exercised  his  duties  through  the  medium 
of  a  deputy,  merely  visiting  the  North  at  intervals  for  the 
collection  of  rents. 

In  the  meantime  he  had  married  a  Catholic  lady, 
Martha,  daughter  of  Robert  Wright  of  Plowland-in-Holder- 
ness ;  and,  not  professing  any  particular  religion  of  his 
own  at  the  time,  had  decided  to  embrace  that  of  his  wife. 
He  was  received  into  the  Romanist  faith  about  1596,  and 
at  once  became  one  of  its  strongest  partisans.  Gifted  with 
considerable  eloquence,  a  comely  presence,  and  exceptional 
talents  for  intrigue,  he  always  obtained  a  hearing  in  the 
councils  of  the  Catholics,  to  the  exclusion  of  wiser  and 
more  prudent  men  ;  and  while  the  conservative  majority 
shrank  from  the  violence  of  the  measures  which  he  pro- 
posed, there  was  a  fanatical  remnant  which  applauded  and 
encouraged  him. 

About  this  time  Northumberland,  urged  by  the  happy 
state  of  affairs  which  liberty  of  conscience  had  produced  in 
France,  began  to  dream  of  an  English  Edict  of  Toleration. 
Thomas  Percy,  as  we  have  seen,  was  very  useful  to  him  in 
gathering  Catholic  opinion  on  this  subject.  While  attending 
a  meeting  of  the  suppressed  religion  during  1598,  he  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Watch,  together  with  a  number  of  other 
"  recusants,"  and  was  lodged  for  the  night  in  Wood  Street 
compter.'  Northumberland's  influence  procured  him  his 
liberty  early  next  day ;  but  one  of  his  fellow-prisoners  did 
not  fare  so  well.  This  unfortunate,  William  Richardson 
by  name,  a  Jesuit  of  Seville  Ecclesiastical  College,  was  con- 
victed of  being  a  "  Popish  priest,"  and  of  "  having  come  to 
England  contrary  to  the  statute."  For  these  crimes  he  was 
hanged  within  twelve  hours  after  his  capture.- 

'  Slalc  Papers.  *  Ibid. 


I02  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

The  journey  of  Thomas  Percy  to  Scotland,  the  welcome 

accorded  to  him  at  Holyrood,  and  the  promises  alleged  to 

have  been  made  to  him   by  James,  have  been 

I''''      .       already  dwelt   upon.      Upon  his   shoulders  and 

Gunpowder  •'  ^  ^ 

Plot,  and  those  of  Northumberland  the  whole  responsibility 
Perc""  rested  for  the  attitude  which  the  Catholics  adopted 
towards  the  Scottish  King  up  to  the  time  of  his 
accession.  Indeed  by  his  co-religionists  Percy  was  held  re- 
sponsible not  only  for  the  truth  of  his  own  statements,  but 
for  the  Earl's  good  faith  as  well.  Therefore  when  James 
proved  false,  it  was  but  natural  that  an  outcry  should  arise 
from  the  Romanists  (and  particularly  from  Garnet  and 
the  old  leaders,  whose  opposition  had  been  overcome  by 
Percy's  arguments)  that  they  had  been  sold  by  North- 
umberland and  his  cousin.  The  accusation  was  a  most 
unjust  one  in  the  Earl's  case,  for  if  ever  a  man  had  acted 
disinterestedly  and  with  good  intention  it  was  he.  Thomas 
Percy,  too,  had  been  clearly  duped  by  the  King  ;  and  the 
shameful  and  undeserved  position  in  which  he  found  himself 
wrought  him  to  a  pitch  of  ungovernable  fury.  In  his 
reckless  anger,  he  even  dared  to  present  a  remonstrance 
to  the  King,  calling  upon  him  to  be  true  to  his  plighted 
word  ;  an  exploit  for  which,  singularly  enough,  he  was 
allowed  to  go  unpunished.  No  answer  was  returned  to 
this  appeal ;  and  the  conservative  Catholics,  still  looking 
with  suspicion  upon  Percy,  failed  to  summon  him  to  their 
councils.  This  cruel  buffet  of  fortune — unjust  treatment 
from  his  own  people — extinguished  the  last  glimmer  of 
prudence  in  his  mind.  He  turned  aside  from  his  former 
friends,  and  enlisted  himself  among  that  small  minority  of 
rabid  fanatics  already  spoken  of  as  forming  the  most  ad- 
vanced wing  of  the  English  Catholics.  These  extremists, 
desperadoes  and  madmen  for  the  most  part,  had  pledged 
themselves  to  stop  at  nothing  save  the  complete  supremacy 
of  the  Catholic  faith  in  England.  By  tlie  moderate  party — 
those  who  asked  merely  for  liberty  of  conscience — the 
fanatical  element  was  shunned  and  condemned ;  but 
although  its  numbers  were  few,  it  made  up  for   this  lack 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  103 

by  that  extraordinary  strength  of  will  pecuHar  to  religious 
enthusiasts. 

We  have  two  contemporary  descriptions  of  Thomas 
Percy's  appearance.  His  fellow-conspirator,  the  priest 
Greenway,  states  that  Percy  was  forty-five  years  of  age, 
but  looked  older  through  premature  greyness.  "In  figure," 
says  the  same  authority,  he  was  "tall  and  handsome,  his  eyes 
large  and  lively,  and  the  expression  of  his  countenance  pleasing, 
tho'  grave  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  boldness  of  his  character, 
his  vianners  .  ,  .  gentle  and  qtiiet."  ^  The  Proclamation  of 
a  reward  for  his  capture  is  as  follows  : — "  The  said  Percy 
is  a  tall  man  with  a  great  broad  beard,  a  good  face,  and  hair, 
mingled  zvith  white  hairs,  but  the  Jiead  more  'ui/tite  than  his 
beard.  He  stoopeth  somewhat  in  the  shoulders,  is  well 
coloured  in  the  face,  long-footed,  and  small-legged.'"^  The 
well-known  picture  "  from  life "  of  the  conspirators  in 
council,  represents  Percy  as  by  no  means  the  tallest  among 
them,  with  a  keen  face,  and  up-curled  moustaches. 

Even  the  fanatics,  among  whom  Percy  now  found 
himself,  had  at  first  no  intention  of  resorting  to  such 
_  terrible  measures  as  those  which  they  afterwards 

Gunpowder    adopted.     They   hoped    to   terrorise    James   by 
"'■  threats   of  war   from   abroad,   and   agents  were 

despatched  to  the  Catholic  Courts  of  Europe  with  vague 
schemes  of  this  kind.  There  were  also  projects  for  the 
release  of  Arabella  Stuart,  and  for  the  capture  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales.  The  bloody  Lancashire  Assizes  of  1604 
and  their  results,  however,  filled  Percy  and  his  fellows  with 
a  lust  for  immediate  and  awful  revenge.  At  these  assizes 
six  Catholic  priests  had  been  tried  and  executed  under  the 
penal  statute  known  as  "  27  Elizabeth  " ;  and  one  of  the 
judges  had  laid  it  down  as  law  that  any  layman  hearing 
mass  or  taking  part  in  Romanist  sacraments  was  guilty 
of  treason-felony.  An  ancient  gentleman  of  Lancashire, 
Pound  by  name,  who  protested  against  this  decision,  was 

'  Father  Green-way's  MSS. 

-  "  Gunpowder  Plot  Book,"  Original  State  Fafeis,  Record  Office. 


104  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

dragged  before  the  Star  Chamber,^  fined  ;^iooo,  pilloried, 
and  committed  to  the  Fleet  Prison  "  at  the  King's  pleasure." 
Moderate  Catholics  throughout  the  realm  realised  that 
their  high  hopes  were  at  an  end ;  and  prepared  themselves 
to  bear  with  fortitude  a  continuance  of  the  Elizabethan 
persecution.  Not  so  the  frenzied  band  that  looked  to 
Robert  Catesby  as  its  chief.  These  men — they  were  not 
more  than  seven — resolved  to  strike  a  blow  which,  they 
madly  fancied,  would  paralyse  the  Protestant  power. 

Once  embarked  with  Catesby  and  Thomas  Winter  in 
their  atrocious  conspiracy,  Percy  became  the  most  ardent 
and  impatient  of  the  seven.  He  had  been  recently  admitted, 
through  Northumberland's  influence,  to  a  position  in  the 
corps  of  Gentlemen  Pensioners ;  and  this  enabled  him  to 
supply  his  partners  with  news  of  the  Court.  He  also 
brought  into  the  league  a  valuable  recruit  in  the  person  of 
his  brother-in-law,  John  Wright,^  formerly  a  follower  of 
Essex,  and  renowned  as  "  the  best  swordsman  of  his  time 
in  England."  '^  About  the  middle  of  Easter  Term  (1605)" 
according  to  Speed,  "  Thomas  Percy,  as  hote  as  Hotspur  him- 
self, came  puffing  to  Catesbfs  lodging  in  Lambeth,  and  asked 
'  Shall  we  alivays  be  talking,  and  never  doe  anything  ?'  "  ^  The 
"  lodging  in  Lambeth  "  was  a  desolate  house  in  Lambeth 
marshes,  which  was  for  months  the  principal  meeting-place 
of  the  plotters. 

It  was  at  length  determined  to  attempt  the  destruction 
of  the  King,  Lords  and  Commons  at  one  stroke  by  means 
of  gunpowder,,  large  stores  of  which  were  accordingly 
purchased  abroad  and  conveyed  to  England.  Meanwhile 
the  number  of  those  in  the  dreadful  secret  had  been 
increased.  Guido  Fawkes  (a  soldier  of  fortune,  born  of 
good   family   in    Yorkshire),    Robert   Winter,    Keyes,   and 

'  During  Mr.  Pound's  examination  he  was  attacked  by  Coke,  Cecil,  Chief 
Justice  Popham,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  with  extraordinary  vin- 
dictiveness. 

-  Percy  had  married  Wright's  sister  (see  Genealogy,  Table  III.).  Christopher 
Wright,  brother  of  John,  subsequently  joined  the  plot  at  Percy's  instigation. 
Both  brothers  had  been  subjected  to  fines  and  imprisonment  as  Romanists. 

^  Speed's  Chronicle. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  105 

Christopher  Wright,  and  Bates,  a  confidential  lackey,  one 
after  another  joined  the  black  list.  Funds  were,  however, 
lacking ;  and  to  remedy  this  defect  Sir  Everard  Digby, 
Rookwood,  and  Tresham,  all  gentlemen  of  large  fortune, 
were  admitted  to  the  league  and  took  the  oath,  subse- 
quently receiving  the  Blessed  Sacrament  from  the  hands 
of  the  Jesuit  priest.  Garnet.  That  Father  Garnet  had  no 
suspicion  of  the  Plot  is  abundantly  proved  by  the  Crown 
evidence  collected  for  his  subsequent  trial,'  and  by  the 
statements  of  Fawkes  and  Robert  Winter.  Another  priest, 
however  (Greenway),  was  certainly  cognisant  of  the  con- 
spirators' designs,  and  probably  shared  in  their  councils, 
until  sent  abroad  in  the  extravagant  hope  of  obtaining  papal 
sanction  for  the  meditated  crime. 

An  important  step  was  taken  when  Percy  hired  a  small 
dwelling  in  Westminster,  next  to  the  Houses  of  Parliament. 
It  was  a  two-storied  building,  with  a  little  garden,  surrounded 
by  high  walls  ;  and  belonged  to  one  Whinneard,  keeper  of 
the  King's  Wardrobe.  Whinneard  let  it  to  a  person  named 
Ferris,  who  in  turn  sub-let  it  to  Thomas  Percy ;  the  latter 
explaining  that,  as  a  Gentleman  Pensioner  and  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland's  agent,  he  desired  a  town  residence  in  that 
quarter.  The  gunpowder  recently  purchased  was  next  con- 
veyed up  the  river,  landed  in  sacks  and  carried  to  the  West- 
minster house,  where  Guido  Fawkeswas  installed  as  caretaker 
under  the  name  of  "John  Johnson,  servant  to  Mr.  Percy." 

Catesby,  Percy,  P'awkes,  and  Thomas  Winter  at  once  set 
to  work  upon  a  tunnel,  by  which  they  proposed  to  gain 
access  to  the  cellars  of  Westminster  Hall.  A  fortnight  was 
spent  in  excavating  the  basement  of  Percy's  house,  and 
piercing  through  the  massive  walls  of  the  neighbouring 
structure.  The  work  had  to  be  done  at  night,  and  the 
conspirators  worked  with  extraordinary  energy  and  perse- 
verance. Greenway  expresses  his  astonishment  that  "  iiioi 
of  their  quality  should  do  more  than  as  many  workmen  aecus- 

'  The  parts  of  this  evidence  which  most  clearly  bore  out  Garnet's  innocence 
were  coolly  suppressed  by  Attorney-General  Coke,  but  may  be  seen  in  the  M.S. 
still  preserved.  The  oath  was  taken  in  a  lonely  house  situated  in  the  lields 
between  Clement's  and  Lincoln's  Inns. 


io6  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

tomed  to  earn  their  daily  bread  by  labour."  ^  He  also  marvels 
how  they,  "  who  zvere  unusually  tall  tnen,  should  endure  for 
so  long  a  titne  the  intense  fatigue  of  working,  day  and  night, 
in  the  stooping  posture  rendered  necessary  by  the  straitness  of 
the  placed  ^  While  engaged  in  this  work,  they  were  one 
night  startled  by  loud  noises  on  the  further  side  of  the 
wall.  Thinking  themselves  discovered,  they  retreated  in 
haste  ;  but  investigation  proved  that  the  sounds  proceeded 
from  a  cellar  occupied  by  a  dealer  in  coals.  Overtures 
were  made  to  this  person  ;  and  as  his  business  happened 
to  be  poor,  he  was  persuaded  into  transferring  the  tenancy 
of  the  cellar  to  Percy,  This  took  place  in  March  1605  ; 
and  the  tunnel  having  been  completed,  the  stored  gun- 
powder was  carried  through  it  into  the  cellar. 

Matters  were  now  in  readiness  for  the  actual  consum- 
mation of  their  fiendish  entei-prise,  and  it  was  determined 
to  explode  the  powder  on  the  day  that  the  King  came  to 
open  Parliament — i.e.  on  November  5,  1605.  Fawkes,  either 
by  lot  or  at  the  prompting  of  his  own  fanaticism,  was 
chosen  to  light  the  fatal  train.  It  was  at  first  intended 
that  all  the  Catholic  members  of  both  Houses,  and  all 
fair-minded  Protestants  like  Northumberland,  should  be 
warned  to  absent  themselves  from  the  doomed  gathering. 
It  soon  became  apparent,  however,  that  this  could  not  be 
done  without  betraying  the  murderous  scheme.  Sundry 
of  the  conspirators  then  pleaded  earnestly  that  warnings 
should  be  sent  to  one  or  two  persons  at  least.  Percy 
was  anxious  to  save  his  cousin  and  patron,  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland  ;  and  Tresham  exerted  all  his  influence 
in  favour  of  Lord  Monteagle,^  his  brother-in-law,  Catesby, 
however,  strenuously  opposed  even  this  slight  concession 
to  humanity,  and  vowed  that  were  his  own  son  Robert  *  one 

1  Grunwafs  MSS.  =  Ibid. 

^  William  Parker,  Lord  Monteagle,  was  the  son  of  Lord  Morley  by  the 
heiress  of  Monteagle.  He  had  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas 
Tresham,  and  was  a  secret  Romanist.  Among  his  direct  descendants  was  the 
late  Poet  Laureate,  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson. 

^  This  youth  married  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Percy,  his  father's  fellow-crinjinal, 
a  little  while  before  the  discovery  of  the  Gunpowder  treason. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  107 

of  those  about  to  attend  Parliament  he  would  not  imperil 
the  success  of  the  Plot  by  giving  him  the  slightest  hint. 
Language  like  this  carried  the  day  ;  and  it  was  decided  by 
a  majority  of  the  plotters  that  the  presence  or  absence  of 
Northumberland  and  Monteagle  must  be  left  to  chance. 
Percy  bowed  to  this  decision  ;  Tresham,  on  the  contrary, 
inveighed  so  bitterly  against  it  that  Catesby  began  to 
regret  the  admission  of  his  cousin  to  their  league  of  wrath. 
In  the  end,  as  we  shall  see,  the  anxiety  of  Tresham  in 
Monteagle's  behalf  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  Plot. 

Sir  Everard  Digby  contributed  the  sum  of  ^1500  to 
the  undertaking,  and  promised  that,  on  the  fateful  day, 
he  would  gather  all  his  Catholic  country  neighbours  at 
Dunsmore  Heath  in  Warwickshire,  under  pretext  of  a 
great  hunting  party.  Thus,  when  the  blow  was  struck, 
he  would  be  able  (while  disclaiming  any  connection  with 
the  terrible  crime)  to  proclaim  as  sovereign  some  prince 
or  princess  favourable  to  the  Romanist  party.  This  should 
have  been  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  was  known  to  be 
of  liberal  mind ;  but,  when  it  was  learned  that  Henry 
was  to  accompany  his  father  to  Westminster,  the  choice 
of  the  conspirators  fell  upon  his  younger  brother.  The 
task  of  carrying  off  Prince  Charles  was  allotted  to  Thomas 
Percy ;  and  if  this  failed  the  Princess  Elizabeth,^  then 
under  the  tuition  of  Lord  Harrington  near  Coventry,  was 
to  be  seized  by  Digby,  and  proclaimed  Queen. 

These  preliminaries  having  been  settled,  Thomas  Percy 
went  north,  according  to  his  custom,  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  over  the  rents  collected  by  his  deputies,  the  Earl 
of  Northumberland's  bailiffs.  The  amount  of  which  he 
possessed  himself  exceeded  ;^30oo ;  and  this  he  resolved 
to  devote  to  the  expenses  of  the  Plot.  On  Friday, 
November  i,  he  returned  to  London,  unknown  to  his 
patron  the  Earl,  who  believed  him  still  absent  in  the 
North.  Indeed  Northumberland  would  not  have  learned 
of   Percy's  presence  in  town  until  after  the  discovery  of 

'  Through  this  princess  the  present  Royal  House  of  Great  Britain  derives  its 
descent  from  James  I.  and  the  English  monarchs. 


io8  THE    HOUSE    OF    PERCY 

the  conspiracy,  but  for  the  mistake  made  by  one  of  his 
cousin's  servants,  a  man  named  Davison.  Not  being  in 
the  confidence  of  his  master,  Davison  went  to  visit  the 
former's  nephew,  Josceline  Percy,^  at  Syon,  on  Sunday, 
November  3,  and  casually  let  fall  the  news  that  Thomas 
had  come  back  from  his  northern  excursion.  When  Percy 
discovered  that  his  treacherous  plan  had  been  thus  spoilt 
by  his  servitor,  he  decided  that  it  were  best  to  show  him- 
self at  Syon,  and  make  some  kind  of  false  report.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  following  day  - — which  was  the  eve  of  that 
fixed  for  the  blowing  up  of  Parliament — he  rode  out  to 
Isleworth,  "sauced  with  a  gudgeon"^  the  unsuspecting 
Northumberland,  and  afterwards  dined  with  the  latter  and 
his  guests  at  table,  discussing  politics  in  an  apparently 
frank  and  natural  manner.*  Later  in  the  day  he  called  at 
Essex  House,  which  was  occupied  by  Lady  Northumber- 
land and  her  children,  and  where  the  Earl  occasionally 
resided  when  on  good  terms  with  his  wife.  To  all  that 
he  met  he  announced  his  intention  of  departing  anew  for 
the  North  that  evening.  But,  although  these  visits  to 
Syon  and  Essex  House  were  brought  forward  by  the 
Earl's  enemies  as  tending  to  prove  the  assertion  that 
Northumberland  had  been  warned  to  absent  himself  from 
Parliament  on  the  5th,  there  seems  no  reason  to  believe 
that  any  such  warning  was  given.  Percy's  sole  interview 
with  his  patron  took  place  at  Syon,  when  they  were  sur- 
rounded by  witnesses,  and  when  any  such  secret  com- 
munication was  impossible.  Moreover  if  he  had  been 
warned,  and  was  a  party  to  the  Plot,  Northumberland 
would  scarcely  have  come  to  London  that  evening,  and 
spent  the  night  at  Essex  House  so  as  to  be  able  to 
attend  the  morrow's  ceremony  with  convenience.     And, 

'  This  Josceline  was  son  of  Alan  Percy  of  Beverley,  elder  brother  of  Thomas 
Percy,  and  occupied  a  position  in  the  Earl's  household.  Like  his  uncle,  he  was 
a  Catholic. 

-  Monday,  November  4. 

"  The  Earl's  own  expression,  meaning  that  Percy  put  him  off  with  some  tale 
about  the  rents. 

''  Correspondence  of  Northumberland  with  the  Council,  Orii;.  Stale  Papers. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  109 

if  cognisant  of  the  Plot,  he  would  have,  on  his  side,  en- 
deavoured to  penetrate  the  designs  of  tiie  Council  —  a 
matter  of  little  ditttculty,  seeing  that  he  was  a  Councillor 
himself,  and  had  more  than  one  warm  friend  in  that  body 
— and  thus  given  Percy,  Catesby,  and  the  others  an  oppor- 
tunity of  avoiding  discovery  even  at  the  last  moment.  But 
Thomas  Percy  left  his  patron's  presence  in  high  feather, 
confident  that  the  dastardly  scheme  must  certainly  suc- 
ceed, and  that  the  mysterious  letter  sent  by  Tresham  to 
Lord  IMonteagle  had  failed  to  awaken  the  Government  to 
a  sense  of  their  danger. 

For  Percy  knew  of  the  existence  of  this  notorious  letter, 
as  did  most  of  his  brother-plotters ;  Monteagle's  body- 
servant  having  seen  the  document  on  his  master's  table, 
and  conveyed  the  startling  intelligence  to  his  friend  Bates. 
But  when  the  morning  of  November  4  passed  by  without 
any  signs  of  ministerial  activity,  and  when  Percy  observed 
nothing  suspicious  in  the  manner  of  those  whom  he  met 
at  Syon  and  Essex  House,  they  deemed  themselves  safe 
from  interference. 

Francis  Tresham,  hoping  at  all  hazards  to  preserve 
Lord  Monteagle's  life,  sent  to  him  that  obscurely  worded 
missive  which,  while  intended  merely  as  a  vague 
revealed:  hint  of  danger,  was  sufficient  to  betray  the  whole 
deat^hof  Plot.  Monteagle,  greatly  puzzled  by  this  com- 
munication, carried  it  to  Whitehall,  where  it  was 
laid  before  Salisbury  and  the  inner  circle  of  the  Council. 
The  ease  with  which  the  meaning  of  these  vague  phrases 
w-as  penetrated,  and  the  unaccountable  delay  in  acting 
upon  the  discovery  thus  made,  have  given  rise  in  some 
quarters  to  the  fantastic  charge  that  Salisbury  had  known 
of  the  Plot  from  its  inception,  and  even  secretly  fostered 
it  in  order  to  cover  the  Catholics  with  odium  and  put  an 
end  to  their  claims.  The  world  has  seldom  known  a  falser 
or  more  unscrupulous  minister  than  Robert  Cecil,  first 
Earl  of  Salisbury  ;  but  even  he  was  hardly  capable  of  an 
intrigue  so  diabolical  as  this.    One  explanation  of  the  delay 


no  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

is  doubtless  to  be  found  in  the  King's  absence  at  Royston 
with  a  hunting-party.  Fully  aware  of  the  royal  weakness, 
Salisbury  and  his  friends  were  willing  to  have  it  appear 
that  the  riddle  of  the  letter  had  been  solved  by  the  wisdom 
of  the  "  British  Solomon "  alone.  James  returned  from 
the  chase  on  October  31,  and,  according  to  his  courtiers, 
at  once  divined  that  the  threatened  peril  was  connected 
with  gunpowder,  and  that  the  Houses  of  Parliament  were 
menaced  with  destruction  "  from  below "  i.e.  from  the 
vaults. 

On  Monday,  November  4,  the  Lord  Chamberlain, 
Suffolk,  visited  the  cellars  of  Westminster  Hall  on  a 
pretended  tour  of  inspection.  There  he  found  Guido 
Fawkes  mounting  guard  over  the  gunpowder,  which  lay 
about  him  in  sacks  like  so  much  small-coal.  When 
questioned  by  Suffolk,  Fawkes  answered  boldly  that  his 
name  was  John  Johnson,  and  that  he  had  been  placed 
there  to  look  after  the  coals  of  his  employer,  Mr.  Percy. 
Suffolk  pretended  to  be  satisfied  by  this  reply,  and,  merely 
remarking  that  Mr.  Percy  was  well  supplied  with  fuel,  he 
left  the  vault,  and  reported  what  had  occurred  at  White- 
hall. No  sooner  had  he  gone,  than  Fawkes  hastened 
(presumably  through  the  tunnel,  although  the  evidence 
on  this  point  is  not  clear)  to  inform  Percy  of  the  visit 
which  he  had  received.  One  might  have  thought  an 
occurrence  so  suspicious,  coupled  with  their  knowledge 
of  Tresham's  letter,  quite  enough  to  alarm  the  con- 
spirators to  the  point  of  panic.  But  these  fanatics  were 
as  sanguine  as  they  were  resolute.  Guido  Fawkes  re- 
turned to  his  cellar  with  the  utmost  sangfroid,  and  Percy 
went  quietly  towards  the  meeting-place^  beyond  Clement's 
Inn,  calling  at  Essex  House  on  his  way.  Catesby  and 
John  Wright  had  left  town  on  the  preceding  day,  with 
the  intention  of  joining  Digby's  "hunt"  on  Dunsmore 
Heath  ;  but  Christopher  Wright,  Rookwood,  Keyes,  Tres- 
ham,  Thomas  Winter,  and  the  servant.  Bates,  were  still 
in  London,  and  apparently  still  confident. 

'  The  "  hiicly  house  "  already  mentioned. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  in 

Meanwhile  Sir  Thomas  Knyvet,^  with  a  strong  body 
of  men-at-arms,  had  been  sent  from  Whitehall  to  appre- 
hend Guido  Fawkes,  and  investigate  the  contents  of  his 
"coal-sacks."  Knyvet,  however,  like  Lord  Suffolk,  had 
too  great  a  respect  for  the  safety  of  his  own  person  to 
think  of  taking  the  cellar  by  storm.  He  had  reason  to 
believe  that  a  great  quantity  of  gunpowder  was  stored 
therein ;  and  any  rash  attempt  to  seize  the  pretended 
"  John  Johnson "  might  result  in  a  terrific  explosion  and 
loss  of  life.  Indeed,  had  Fawkes  but  remained  in  his 
retreat,  and  waited  for  Knyvet's  party  to  attack  him,  the 
day  might  have  had  a  disastrous  ending.  But  some 
motive — curiosity,  perhaps,  or  a  desire  for  fresh  air — in- 
duced him  to  raise  the  trap-door  by  which  the  cellar 
communicated  with  the  street  without.  Instantly  his  arms 
and  neck  were  firmly  grasped  by  the  men-at-arms  whom 
Knyvet  had  stationed  around  the  doorway.  In  vain  he 
struggled  to  free  himself,  his  intention  being  to  light  the 
powder-train  with  the  fuse  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  and 
thus  blow  himself  and  his  captors  to  eternity.  But  the 
men-at-arms  knew  the  risk  they  ran,  and  held  fast.  Fawkes 
was  dragged  into  the  street,  and  overpowered  by  numbers  ; 
after  which  the  cautious  Knyvet  descended  into  the  vault, 
found  the  gunpowder,  and  sealed  up  the  premises  in  the 
King's  name.  Fawkes  was  at  once  haled  before  James 
and  the  Council,  in  whose  presence  he  bore  himself  with 
extraordinary  bravado.-  Although  subjected  to  indescrib- 
able tortures  for  five  days,  he  steadfastly  refused  to  betray 
his  associates,  or  even  to  admit  that  his  supposed  em- 
ployer, Percy,  had  anything  to  do  with  the  Plot. 

No  attempt  was  made  to  keep  the  arrest  of  Fawkes 
secret,  and  the  news  spread  rapidly  from  Westminster 
to   the   city.    Thomas    Percy   heard   of    it   as   he    passed 

'  Sir  Thomas  Knyvet,  afterwards  the  first  (and  last)  Lord  Knyvet.  His 
nepliew  and  heir  was  Henry  Carey,  first  Viscount  Falkland. 

''  When  one  of  James's  Scottish  courtiers  demanded  why  he  had  placed  the 
gunpowder  under  Westminster,  he  replied,  "  To  blow  the  Scots  back  to  their  own 
country." 


112  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Clement's  Inn.  Hurrying  to  the  lonely  rendezvous  in 
the  fields,  he  found  there  his  brother-in-law,  Christopher 
Wright,  and  a  pair  of  fleet  horses  kept  in  readiness  for 
such  an  emergency.  Leaving  a  secret  token  for  their 
friends,  the  two  men  mounted  and  fled.  They  rode  at 
headlong  speed,  throwing  their  cloaks  away  to  lighten 
the  load.  The  line  of  flight  lay  through  Dunstable,  Fenny 
Stratford,  and  Stoney  Stratford.  Just  beyond  the  last- 
named  village,  they  overtook  Catesby  and  John  Wright 
riding  leisurely  along  the  high-road.  A  few  words  sufficed 
to  explain  what  had  happened,  and  in  a  trice  Catesby  and 
the  elder  Wright  had  set  spurs  to  their  horses,  and  were 
galloping  as  fast  as  the  others.  Rookwood,  Keyes,  and 
Bates  (who  had  waited  in  London  until  the  5th)  overtook 
the  party  near  Towcester  ;  and  about  6  r.M.  on  Novem- 
ber 6  the  entire  company  of  fugitives  reached  Ashby  St. 
Legers^  in  Northamptonshire.  The  ancient  mansion  was 
filled  with  guests,  among  them  Robert  Winter,  one  of 
the  conspirators ;  and  Thomas  Percy  met  there  his  young 
daughter,  wife  of  Catesby's  eldest  son.  The  lord  of  the 
mansion  would  not  stay  longer  than  to  drink  a  tankard  of 
ale,  obtain  fresh  horses,  and  give  Robert  Winter  and  some 
other  gentlemen  time  to  mount.  Then  all  pushed  on  to 
Dunchurch,  five  miles  away,  where  Sir  Everard  Digby 
was  entertaining  a  great  company  of  Catholic  gentlemen 
after  their  hunt  on  Dunsmore  Heath.  The  priests  Garnet 
and  Oldcorne  were  of  this  party,  and  it  was  vaguely  known 
that  important  news  was  expected  from  London,  although 
Digby  had  taken  care  to  keep  his  honest  guests  in  the 
dark  as  to  the  nature  of  that  news. 

The  assembled  sportsmen  were  sitting  down  to  supper, 
when  Catesby  and  his  companions  rode  furiously  into 
the  courtyard.  "  Save  yourself,  Digby  !  "  they  shouted 
"  The  Plot  is  betrayed.  There  is  a  price  upon  our  heads." 
In  a  few  moments,  the  household  was  in  confusion,  and 
the  grim  story  of  the  Gunpowder  treason  and  its  failure 
were   known   to   all.     Old  Garnet  wrung   his  hands,  and 

'  Catesby's  .inceslral  seat. 


THE    HOUSE   OP^   PERCY  113 

cried  out  that  now  indeed  tlie  Catholic  cause  was  undone. 
Murmurs  of  abhorrence  and  anger  rose  on  every  side. 
At  this  Sir  Everard  Digby  drew  his  sword,  and  called 
upon  all  true  Catholics  to  join  him  in  arms  against  "  the 
perjured  King  of  Scots."  Only  the  nine  conspirators ' 
rallied  to  his  call.  The  rest  of  those  present  recoiled 
in  horror  from  the  confessed  partner  in  such  a  crime. 
Led  by  his  own  relative,  Sir  Robert  Digby  of  Coleshill, 
they  passed  one  after  another  from  the  hall,  mounted, 
and  rode  away.  "  Had  we  succeeded,"  exclaimed  Thomas 
Percy  bitterly,  "they  would  not  have  looked  upon  us 
with  such  despite  ! "  -  This  may  or  may  not  be  true ; 
but  it  is  at  least  certain  that  the  Catholic  gentlemen  as- 
sembled at  Dunchurch,  while  frankly  disaffected  against 
King  James,  had  no  share,  active  or  passive,  in  the  Gun- 
powder Plot. 

The  conspirators,  seeing  themselves  abandoned  by 
those  upon  whom  they  had  counted  for  support,  held 
urgent  deliberation  around  Digby's  supper-table.  At 
length,  upon  the  advice  of  Catesby,  it  was  resolved  to  fly 
into  Wales,  where  there  were  many  Catholics,  and  there 
raise  the  standard  of  rebellion.  Taking  with  them  abund- 
ance of  provisions,  as  well  as  arms  and  ammunition,  they 
rode  through  Warwick  and  into  Worcestershire,  forcibly 
possessing  themselves  of  horses  when  they  could  obtain 
them.  None  of  the  Catholic  gentry  to  whom  they  ap- 
pealed were  willing  to  aid  them  ;  indeed  Digby  complains 
that  they  were  driven  from  many  doors  as  men  who  had 
brought  ruin  and  disgrace  upon  the  Romanist  faith.^  Only 
one  recruit  was  added  to  their  ranks,  a  country  squire  of 
Worcestershire,  named  John  Grant.  As  they  crossed  the 
borders  of  Staffordshire,  they  learned  that  a  hue  and  cry 
had  been  raised,  and  that  Sir  Richard  Walsh,  Sheriff  of 
Worcester,   at  the  head  of  the  posse  comitatus,   was  hard 

'  Thomas  Winter,  brother  of  Robert,  was  a  guest  at  the  Dunchurch  "hunting- 
party." 

*  Evidence  of  Bates  ;  Orig.  State  Papers. 
'  Statement  of  Sir  Everard  Digby  ;  Orig.  Slate  Papers. 
II,  II 


114  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

upon  their  track.  The  road  lay  clear  before  them  into 
Wales  ;  but  their  long  journey  had  so  fatigued  them,  that 
they  determined  to  make  a  stand  at  a  small  house  called 
Holbeach,  the  residence  of  Stephen  Littleton.^  To  this 
place,  which  was  just  over  the  Staffordshire  border,  they 
came  late  on  the  night  of  Thursday,  November  7.  It 
had  been  raining  hard,  and  the  gunpowder  which  they 
carried  with  them  became  so  damp  that  they  were  ob- 
liged to  spread  it  out  on  the  hearth  to  dry.  Then  they 
laid  themselves  down  with  the  intention  of  obtaining 
a  few  hours'  repose,  before  the  pursuers  learned  their 
whereabouts. 

In  the  grey  of  dawn,  a  loud  explosion  broke  the  still- 
ness ;  and  some  of  the  conspirators,  thus  suddenly  roused 
from  sleep,  for  the  moment  fancied  themselves  victims 
of  their  own  fell  design.  Investigation  showed  that  the 
powder  spread  before  the  fire  to  dry  had  been  ignited  by 
a  blazing  splinter  of  wood.  Accepting  the  event  as  an 
ill  omen  sent  from  Heaven,  the  startled  men  threw  them- 
selves upon  their  knees  and  prayed  to  God  for  forgiveness. 
Their  nerves  seemed  completely  shattered,  and  they  were 
no  longer  able  to  sleep.  Digby  paced  restlessly  up  and 
down,  and  at  length  left  the  house,  with  the  intention,  he 
declared,  of  seeking  succour  from  his  friends  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. Robert  Winter,  Littleton,  the  owner  of  the 
place,  and  the  lackey  Bates  next  stole  out,  and  concealed 
themselves  in  a  wood  hard  by.  But  Catesby,  Thomas 
Percy,  the  two  Wrights,  Rookvvood,  Grant,  Keyes,  and 
Thomas  Winter  made  no  attempt  to  leave  Holbeach.  The 
explosion  had  been  heard  for  some  distance  around,  and 
when  Sheriff  Walsh  and  his  followers  reached  the  Stafford- 
shire border,  a  number  of  peasants  were  ready  to  guide 
them  "  to  where  the  traitors  lay." 

About  noon  Walsh  succeeded  in  surrounding  Holbeach 
with  armed  men.     He  himself  then  rode  within  earshot  of 

'  Of  the  Staffordshire  family,  represented  by  Lord  Hatherton.  The  present 
Lord  Hatherton's  mother  was  Lady  Margaret  Percy,  daughter  of  the  fifth  Duke 
of  Northumberland. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  115 

the  house,  and  in  a  loud  voice  called  upon  the  inmates  to 
surrender.  The  only  reply  was  a  shot,  for  the  conspirators 
preferred  to  die  in  fight  rather  than  suffer  the  hideous 
tortures  which  awaited  them,  should  they  be  taken  alive. 
The  sheriff  then  ordered  his  men  to  advance.  The  house 
was  set  on  fire  by  one  party,  while  another  attacked 
the  door  of  the  courtyard,  and  discharged  their  muskets 
through  the  breach  made  by  the  exploding  gunpowder. 

"Stand  by  me,  Tom!"  cried  Catesby  to  Thomas  Percy. 
"  Stand  by  me,  and  we  will  die  togetlier  !  " 

Percy  and  he  stood  back  to  back  accordingly,  and  were 
shot  through  the  bodies  with  two  bullets  from  a  single 
musket,*  but  not  before  they  had  killed  or  disabled  several  of 
their  assailants.-  Catesby,  with  a  last  effort,  drew  himself  to 
a  corner  of  the  room  where  a  picture  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
hung,  and  there  died  making  the  sign  of  the  cross.  Percy 
lingered  until  the  following  day  (November  9),  when  he 
too  passed  away,  expressing  deep  contrition  for  his  sins. 
His  brothers-in-law,  the  Wrights,  fought  bravely  ;  but  even 
John  Wright's  great  skill  as  a  swordsman  could  not  avail 
against  numbers,  and  both  Christopher  and  he  were  slain. 
The  rest  then  surrendered  ;  and,  later  in  the  day,  Robert 
Winter  and  Keyes  were  discovered  hiding  in  the  wood. 
Sir  Everard  Digby  also  fell  into  Walsh's  hands,  being 
betrayed  by  the  servant  of  one  of  his  friends.  All  except 
Bates  followed  the  example  of  Guido  Fawkes  in  defying 
the  torture,  and  heroically  refusing  to  incriminate  Father 
Garnet,'  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  or  any  other  innocent 
person.  Bates,  however,  while  on  the  rack,  admitted  almost 
everything  which  his  inquisitors  suggested.  Tresham  made 
a  voluntary  statement,  involving  Garnet,  but  this  he  sub- 
sequently recanted. 

'  The  man  who  fired  this  shot,  one  Thomas  Hall,  received  a  life  pension  of 
two  shillings  a  day  from  the  King.  He  continued  to  draw  this  annual  gratuity 
until  1640. — Exchequer  Rolls. 

^  Speed's  Chronicle. 

'  This  unfortunate  priest  was  captured  with  his  companion  Oldcorne,  at 
Hindlip  Hall,  near  Worcester,  a  few  days  later,  and  charged  with  complicity 
in  the  Plot. 


ii6  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

The  bodies  of  Robert  Catesby,  Thomas  Percy,  and  Johfi 
and  Christopher  Wright  were  laid  to  rest  with  scant  cere- 
mony in  the  little  garden  of  Holbeach.  Of  the  other 
conspirators,  all  save  Tresham  suffered  capital  punishment. 
Sir  Everard  Digby,  Robert  Winter,  John  Grant,  and 
Thomas  Bates  (whose  "confession"  did  not  save  him,  poor 
wretch !)  suffered  on  January  30 ;  and  on  January  31 
Thomas  Winter,  Rookwood,  Keyes,  and  Guido  Fawkes 
met  their  doom.'  The  condemned  men  (none  of  whom 
could  stand  erect  after  the  tortures  they  had  endured)  were 
drawn  upon  hurdles  to  the  west  end  of  St.  Paul's  church- 
yard, and  there  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered,  in  the 
presence  of  an  enormous  concourse  of  people.^ 

While  the  surviving  conspirators  were  thus  paying  the 
dread  penalty  of  their  crime,  the  Earl  of  Northumberland 
Saiisbu  ^'^y  "^  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  charged  with  being 

remembers  an  acccssory  to  the  Gunpowder  Plot.  Salisbury's 
old  scores.  chancc  of  vcngeauce  had  come  at  last,  and  he 
was  determined  that  it  should  be  used  to  the  full. 

We  have  seen  how  Thomas  Percy  dined  with  his 
cousin,  the  Earl,  at  Syon  on  November  4,  1605.  That 
night  Northumberland  lay  at  Essex  House  in  London,  so 
as  to  be  able  to  attend  the  proposed  opening  of  Parliament 
on  November  5  with  greater  ease.  He  retired  to  rest  early, 
and  was  already  asleep  when  the  news  of  Guido  Fawkes's 
arrest  reached  his  household.  Fearful  of  his  temper, 
none  dared  to  disturb  him,  until  soon  after  dawn,  when 
the  Earl  of  Worcester^  arrived  from  the  torture-chamber 
of  Fawkes  with  messages  from  the  Council.  Northumber- 
land, awakened  from  his  morning  slumbers,  addressed  Lord 
Worcester  with  some  asperity,  and  replied  to  the  questions 
of  the   Council   "  t(ji//i    scorne   and  cojtfidcnce!"^      Thomas 

'  Speed's  Chionicle. 

'^  There  is  a   contemporary  woodcut   depicting   this   repulsive   scene,    which 
may  be  found  reproduced  in  the  Pictorial  History  of  England. 
'  Ancestor  of  the  Duke  of  Beaufort. 
^  Worcester's  Report ;  State  Fafeis. 


THE    HOUSE   OK    PERCY  117 

Percy,  he  declared,  was  certainly  his  cousin,  and  had 
assuredly  dined  with  him  at  Syon  on  the  preceding  day. 
When  informed  of  the  Plot,  he  expressed  anxiety  regarding 
the  large  sum  collected  for  him  by  Thomas  Percy  in  the 
North  ;  and  at  once  volunteered  to  join  in  the  pursuit  of 
his  relative,  with  men  and  horses.^  To  this  offer  Salisbury 
sent  back  a  most  discouraging  reply,  advising  Northumber- 
land that  his  departure  from  London  at  such  a  time,  and 
under  such  circumstances,  was  certain  to  be  misconstrued. 
The  ■  Earl  now  saw  that  his  enemies  intended  to  make 
capital  out  of  the  connection  between  Thomas  Percy  and 
himself,  and  his  well-known  liberal  views  in  regard  to  the 
Catholics.  This  belief  was  confirmed  when,  later  in  the 
morning,  an  intimation  reached  him  that  the  King  desired 
his  absence  from  Council  until  "certain  matters  of  im- 
portance" were  cleared  up. 

At  the  Council  held  on  November  5,  under  the  King's 
presidency,  Lord  Salisbury  brought  forward  a  number  of 
facts  bearing  upon  Northumberland's  past  conduct,  which 
he  held  to  be  of  a  highly  suspicious  character.  Although 
James  had  not  yet  outlived  his  respect  for  the  Earl,  he 
was  easily  persuaded  to  sign  a  warrant,  placing  the  latter 
temporarily  "  under  restraint,"  so  that  he  might  be  brought 
before  the  Council  at  any  time.  Bancroft,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  was  the  person  to  whose  care  the  guasi- 
prisoner  was  committed  ;  and  the  indignant  Earl  was  com- 
manded to  present  himself  without  further  delay  or  parley 
at  the  Primate's  palace  in  Croydon — there  to  remain  until 
the  Council  felt  disposed  to  accord  him  a  hearing. 

Well  knowing  that  Northumberland  had  many  powerful 
friends  at  home  and  abroad,  it  was  Lord  Salisbury's  plan 
to  prevent  any  interference  on  their  part  by  pretending  to 
regard  the  Earl's  confinement  as  a  petty  piece  of  formality, 
intended  rather  for  the  prisoner's  benefit  than  otherwise, 
and  certain  to  terminate  very  shortly.  To  all  the  King's 
ministers  at  foreign  Courts  letters  were  written  in  this  strain. 
As  a  specimen,  that  addressed  to  Sir  Charles  Cornwallis 

'  Worcester's  Report. 


ii8  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

may  be  quoted  here  : — "  //  hath  been  thought  meet  in  pollicie 
of  State  (all  circumstances  considered)  to  commit  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury ,  there  to  be 
honorably  used  untill  things  be  more  quiett ;  whereof  if  you 
should  hear  any  Judgment  made,  as  if  His  Majesty  or  his 
Councill  could  harbour  a  thought  of  such  a  savadge  practise 
to  be  lodged  in  such  a  nobleman  s  breast,  you  shall  do  ivell 
to  suppresse  it  as  a  malicious  Discourse  and  Invention  ;  this 
being  only  done  to  satisfie  the  World  that  nothing  be  undone 
7i'hich  belongeth  to  pollicie  of  State  when  the  whole  Monarchy 
zcas  proscribed  to  dissolution  ;  and  being  no  more  than  himself 
discreetly  approved  as  necessarie,  when  he  received  the  sentence 
of  the  Council  for  his  Restrainte."  ^ 

We  have  only  Salisbury's  word  for  the  statement  that 
the  Earl  "himself  discreetly  approved  as  necessarie"  this 
curtailment  of  his  liberty  ;  and  the  chances  are  that  this 
was  quite  as  great  a  falsehood  as  the  assertion  that  "His 
Majesty  or  his  Councill"  harboured  no  thought  of  connect- 
ing their  noble  prisoner  with  the  Plot.  But  these  artfully 
composed  letters  produced  the  desired  effect,  and  by  lulling 
the  fears  of  Northumberland's  friends,  prevented  James 
from  being  tampered  with  in  the  former's  behalf.  Mean- 
while, through  various  secret  channels,  Salisbury  caused  to 
be  spread  a  number  of  reports  most  discreditable  to  the 
Earl,  These  stories  could,  if  necessary,  be  disowned  by 
the  minister ;  but  in  the  meantime  they  did  their  victim 
much  harm,  and  cost  him  at  least  one  valued  friend.  Sir 
William  Browne,  then  in  the  Netherlands,  was  informed  by 
Salisbury's  agents  that  Northumberland  had  been  deeply 
concerned  in  the  Gunpowder  treason,  and  that  his  cousin 
Thomas  Percy  had  given  him  warning  not  to  attend  the 
opening  of  Parliament  on  November  5.  Greatly  shocked 
by  this  intelligence  (which  he  believed,  as  coming  from  a 
person  high  in  the  British  secret  service),  Browne  wrote 
from  Flushing  to  Lord  Lisle,  on  November  9  : — 

"  Seeing  the  Earle  of  Noi'thumberland  hath  so  villainously 
and  deuilishly  forgot  himself,  I  am  sorry  that  ener  I  honored 

'  Salisbury  to  Cornwallis  ;   IViiiwcods  Memoirs,  ii.  172. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  119 

him,  and  more   sory  that  1  have  a  chyld  that  cariyes  his 
ttatne." ' 

In  many  other  directions  there  is  evidence  of  the  work 
of  defamation  which  was  making  the  way  clear  for  the 
Earl's  impeachment.  The  Irish  Viceroy  wrote  to  Lord 
Suffolk  asking  if  the  "evill  tales"  about  Northumberland 
were  true  ;  and  on  November  19  Sir  Edmond  Hoby  in- 
forms Sir  Thomas  Edmonds,  that  "some  say  that  North- 
umberland received  the  like  letter  that  Monleagle  did,  but 
concealed  it."  - 

The  behaviour  of  an  accused  person  placed  upon  his 
own  defence  frequently  sheds  a  great  light  upon  the 
The  Earl  qucstion  of  that  person's  guilt  or  innocence, 
defends  him-  This  being  SO,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
seifstouoy.  j^^j^j.^  ^^^j-ittcn  by  Northumberland,  and  the 
straightforward  manner  in  which  he  bore  himself  during 
the  period  of  detention  at  Croydon,  are  strongly  in 
his  favour.  His  language,  when  addressing  King  or 
ministers,  is  that  of  a  man  who  feels  himself  unjustly 
accused,  and  who  courts  the  fullest  inquiry  into  his  actions. 
There  is  also  discernible  through  his  correspondence  a 
not  unnatural  feeling  of  resentment  towards  Thomas 
Percy,  and  a  desire  to  give  the  fullest  information  at  his 
disposal  concerning  the  latter's  misdeeds.  While  protest- 
ing against  his  needless  detention  and  enforced  absence 
from  his  beloved  Syon,  he  obeyed  the  King's  command  to 
the  letter ;  and  Archbishop  Bancroft  had  nothing  to 
complain  of  in  the  conduct  of  his  prisoner. 

On  November  8,  Northumberland  wrote  from  the 
Archbishop's  house  at  Croydon,  to  the  "  Most  Honourable 
Councill,"  in  these  terms  : — 

"  /  shalbe  gladde  as  matters  falles  out  to  store  you  with 
circumstances,  to  the  ende  that  the  bare  truth  may  appeare. 
A  tnongst  the  rest  forgett  not  this  one,  I  praye  you.     First  by 

J  Sidney  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  3 1 6. 
^  Sidney  Papers. 


120  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

tlie  letters  of  Ffotherley^  yoic  may  see  how  he  [Percy]  stored 
hiinselfe  with  my  money,  as  passing  with  three  Portmantues 
filled  upon  Friday,  at  night,  at  Ware.  Second  lie,  his  horse 
kept  in  diett  at  Doncaster  for  his  retorne ;  and  JVednesdaye, 
the  day  after  this  horrible  fact  should  be  committed,  ivas  the 
tyiiie  appointed  for  him  to  meet  with  the  rest  of  viy  Money  and 
the  rest  of  my  Companie.  Thirdly,  that  by  Ffotherley  s  letter, 
your  Lordships  may  see  Percy's  excuse  ;  for  the  money  that  was 
wanting  was  to  be  receaved  at  London,  so  as  there  was  a 
greater  proportion  of  horses  settle  doune  by  appointment  than 
there  was  that  came  upp. 

"  Ffourthlie,  as  most  palpable  ;  This  was  one.  Ffriday  was 
the  day  lice  came  to  London  ;  I,  neither  anie  of  myne,  did  see  him 
till  Monday  twelve  of  the  clock,  when  he  came  to  Sion  to  me  ; 
went  away  prescntlie  after  dinner,  after  he  had  '  Sawsed  mee 
'with  a  Gudgeon  I  ^  and  then  appeared  to  the  rest  of  my  people  at 
Essex  House,  from  'whence  hee  was  to  passe  as  hee  told  me,  and 
then  told  them,  to  Ware,  that  night ;  givinge  them  all  the  same 
gudgeon  that  hee  hadde  bestowed  on  me  before,  as  alsoe  to 
my  brother  Charles,  my  brother  Alan,  Sir  Edward  Ffrancis, 
Edmund  Powton,  Giles  Grectie  and  Captain  Whitlock,  as  may 
appeare  if  they  be  examined,  Soe  as,  my  Lords,  it  is  probable 
I  should  not  have  seen  him  at  Sion  uppon  Monday,  if  one  acci- 
dent had  not  happened ;  and  that  zvas  this  ;  A  man  of  his  came 
to  the  Courte  to  my  lodging  uppon  Sonday  to  enquire  for 
Thomas  Percy  ;  this  man  "was  a  stranger  to  all  the  Companie, 
and  never  scene  before  by  anie  of  them  ;  the  fashion  of  the  man 
your  lordships  shall  understande  to  the  end  he  may  bee  caught 
hereafter.  If  this  man  by  this  means  had  not  discovered  that 
his  master,  Thomas  Percy,  had  lyne  in  tonne  by  this  Accidente  ; 
and  that  lie  founde  that  my  followers  of  necessitie  must  knowe 
it,  I  thinke  I  should  not  have  scene  him  uppon  Monday  at  Sioji 
and  the  rest  of  my  companie  that  afternoone  at  Essex  House, 
one  of  the  greatest  arguments  of  suspition  laid  to  my  chardge. 

'  Letters  from  this  official,  the  Earl's  auditor,  were  enclosed.  They  bore  date 
November  7th  and  8th. 

"  According  to  the  evidence  of  Keyes,  one  of  the  conspirators,  Percy  had  told 
the  Earl  a  falsehood  "  in  order  to  get  money  from  him." 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  121 

Though  I  be  sometvhat  tedious  in  these  triffles,  I  saj>  to  jour 
Lordships  they  be  matters  of  uioutent  to  vie,  and  I  hope  you 
will  pardon  vie,  for  J  sate  still,  the  more  you  know,  the  better  it 
will  be  for  vie."'- 

Next  day  (November  9)  he  addressed  the  King  in  the 
following  appeal  for  justice  : — 

"  Sir, 

"  The  tnie  integrity  of  my  soule  toivards  you  hastens  mc 
to  put  all  conceits  of  anger  owt  ofy''  Ma"  hart  towards  y'  faith- 
fullest  seruant,  the  want  of  y'  presence  besides  that  it  is 
disgracefull  to  me  in  the  ivorld  grieues  viy  inwardest  thoughts. 
Y'  Ma  :  in  y"  function  ippon  earth  is  a  God ;  your  self  out  of 
y'  justice  and  mercy  see/ces  to  imitate  that  great  Master.  He 
forgives  those  that  repent.  I  auowc  that  I  am  sorrie  in  my 
ininde  of  y"  displeasure  {now  got  by  my  passions,  and  neuer  ivi- 
braced  in  my  thoughts  zu"'  the  lest  fot  of  Intention)  I  beseche  y'' 
Ma :  therefore  hold  on  that  imitaon  the  world  takes  notice  of 
in  you  in  this  case  of  mine  ;  fory'  via'''  knowes  not  liow  much 
it  stinges  vie y'  displeasure.  At  this  time  the  burden  is  much 
more  licauy,  because  the  world  viay  take  jealosy  as  things  fall 
out  at  this  put,  and  lay  a  greater  imputaon  to  my  charge,  then 
cuer  they  can  rite  me,  in  hereafter.  Saue,  1  humbly  crauey'  M'', 
the  bird  in  my  bosome  -;  I  mean  viy  loyalty,  or  the  lest  imaginaon 
y'  may  fall  w^"  in  the  compas  of  fooles  censures.  If  I  have  not 
endured  enough  allready  of  y'  indignaon  for  my  offence,  rcturne 
me  hereafter  to  begin  again  fro  whence  y'  Ma'^  shall  free  me  for 
the  put.  If  my  scruice  at  any  time  have  deserued  this  favor, 
or  may  hereafter,  lett  these  lines  move  his  hart  to  forget t  it,  to 
'whose  person  and  seruice  he  is  deuoted  for  eucr  that  desires  the 
attribute  of  one  of 

"  Y''  Ma"  loyallcst  subiects  and 
"  humble  vassals, 

"  Croyilon  this  put  "  NORTHUD,^ 

"  Thursday" 

'  Alnwick  MSS.,  vol.  ci.  p.  4. 

*  This  self-same  figure  of  speech  was  used  by  Sir  Ralph  Percy,  "the  Gledd  of 
Dunstanburgh,"  when  he  died  for  the  Lancastrian  cause  at  Iledgeley  Moor. 
'  Orig.  State  Papers — Domestic  ;  Jas.  I, :  Record  Office. 


122  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

It  was  not  until  the  morning  of  November  lo  that  the 
Earl  learned  of  the  capture  of  Thomas  Percy  and  the 
others  at  Holbeach.  He  at  once  wrote  to  the  Council, 
urging  that  Percy's  wounds  should  be  tended  with  the 
best  surgical  skill,  in  order  that  the  conspirator's  life 
might  be  prolonged  sufficiently  to  enable  him  to  make  a 
full  confession.  He  advised  that  foreign  surgeons  of  skill 
should  be  employed,  as  the  English  surgeons  were  clumsy 
in  dealing  with  bullet  wounds  ;  and  even  offered  to  defray 
the  expense  of  bringing  over  some  experienced  foreigner.^ 
While  this  solicitude  for  his  unhappy  cousin  was  con- 
fessedly due  to  selfish  motives,-  no  better  argument  could 
have  been  advanced  to  show  that  the  Earl  had  nothing 
to  fear,  and  perhaps  much  to  gain,  from  a  deathbed  state- 
ment by  Thomas  Percy. 

No  surgeon,  however,  of  any  sort,  good  or  bad,  was 
summoned  to  dress  Percy's  wounds,  and  the  sometime 
Constable  of  Alnwick  died  without  making  any  recorded 
deposition.  If  tradition  be  not  a  liar,  there  was  at  least 
one  personage  in  Great  Britain  who  felt  relieved  that  such 
was  the  case.  We  know  that  the  dead  man  had  been  a 
persistent  witness  to  certain  pledges  alleged  to  have  been 
made  to  him  by  King  James  in  favour  of  the  English 
Catholics.  It  may  be,  therefore,  that  the  uneasy  monarch 
dreaded  a  sworn  statement  to  the  same  effect  from  the 
lips  of  a  dying  man.  At  any  rate,  the  following  story  is 
recorded  by  the  Bishop  of  Dromore  : — "  The  present  Earl 
of  Hardwicke  itiforiiis  me  that  he  had  heard  his  father,  the 
late  Lord  Chancellor,  tell  this  remarkable  anecdote  concerning 
the  gunpowder  conspirators :  That  when  the  account  was 
brought  to  King  fames  of  some  of  them  having  been  pursued 
into  Worcester,  where  part  of  them  were  secured,  and  the  rest 
killed  by  the  Posse  Comitatus,  the  Kifig  eagerly  inquired  tvhat 
they  had  done  with  Percy ;  and  when  they  told  him  tliat  he 
was  killed,  the  King  cotild  not  conceal  his  satisfaction,  but 

'    Original  State  Papers  ;  Gunpowder  Plot  Book, 

^  The  writer  states  that  he  wished  Percy  to  Hve  so  that  he  (Northumberland) 
and  his  brothers,  Charles  and  Alan,  might  be  vindicated. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  123 

seemed  relieved  from  an  anxious  suspense,  that  evidently 
showed  he  was  glad  that  Percy  was  in  a  condition  to  tell  no 
tales."  1 

Even  as  his  father  had  done  wliile  a  prisoner  in  the 

Tower,  Northumberland  continued  day  after  day,  and  week 

after  week,  to  demand  a  fair  trial,  or  else  his 

forjn^tice,      release,  at  the  hands  of  the  King  and  Council. 

andite  ;\,-,£j   jugt    as    in    the    case    of    his   father,   these 

outcome.  ■:  .  .     . 

appeals  were  unheeded  by  sovereign  or  ministers. 
In  vain  he  pointed  to  the  whole  tenor  of  his  life  as  free 
from  any  evidence  of  disloyalty.  In  vain  he  used  argu- 
ments like  the  following  : — "  The  semis  that  I  can  doe  in 
this  case  is  but  to  present  to  your  memories  sutche  things  as 
are  most  lykely  to  give  means  of  discovery.  Therefore  consider, 
I  desier  your  lordships,  the  course  of  my  lyfe  ;  whether  it  hathe 
not  leaned  more  of  late  yeares  to  private  domesticall  pleasures, 
than  to  other  ambitions.  Exainin  but  my  humors  in  Build- 
ings, Gardenings,  atid  Private  Expenses,  theas  two  yeares  past. 
Locke  but  upon  those  few  arms  at  Syon  ;  my  stable  of  hors  at 
this  instant ;  the  Dispersedness  of  them  and  of  my  seruants ; 
the  littell  concours  of  follozvers  ;  and  your  Lordships  will  fyiid 
they  be  very  consonant  one  to  another,  and  all  of  them  to  put 
by  all  iea lousy.  IVeighe  but  a  little  further,  that  not  any  one 
of  theas  men  yett  knowen,  or  that  have  busied  themselves  in 
this  action,  so  mutche  as  their  faces  have  been  noted  of  me 
{Percy  only  excepted).  Besides  looke  but  into  the  store  of 
Treasor  that  I  had  gathered  into  my  purse  against  thys  tyme 
{which  I  will  be  aschamed  to  write,  but  your  lordsliips  may 
understande  uppoti  Enquire'),  and  there  will,  in  somme  of  them 
be  found  circumstances  that  will  leade  on  to  a  better  and 
certainter  knowledge  of  the  thing  in  question.  In  what  sorte, 
or  howe,  or  to  whome,  out  of  theas  perticulars  your  Lordship 
shall  procede,  L  leaue  to  your  graver  iudgmcnts ;  but  suere  / 
am  out  of  theas,  coniectures  may  be  made  and  sovnvhat  bolted 
out,  if  the  sentence  be  not  true,  '  Qui  vadit  plane  vadit  sane.'' 
Theas  things  I  write,  not  but  in  zvay  of  rememoracons,  by  cause 

'  Alitwkk  MSS.,  quoted  by  De  Fonblanque,  vol.  ii.  p.  263. 


124  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

they  are  tilings  pryuat,  and  not  open  to  your  lordships'  knorv- 
ledges ;  yett  sutche  things  as  may  give  satisfaction  if  they  be 
scanned. 

"  I  hope  your  Lordships  will  pardon  me  if  I  be  earnest  in 
this  cause,  for  the  obloquie  lies  as  yctt  heauy  vpon  me ;  and 
that  your  Lordships  will  as  ivell  embrace,  and  bundle  upp 
circumstances  out  of  your  charites  that  makes  for  mc,  as  thos 
that  gives  suspitions."  ' 

By  this  time  even  Salisbury  was  compelled  to  admit, 
however  reluctantly,  that  it  was  impossible  to  connect  the 
Earl  in  any  reasonable  way  with  the  Gunpowder  Plot. 
But  even  when  this  fact  was  fully  established,  Northumber- 
land was  as  far  from  obtaining  his  freedom  as  ever.  With 
a  Cecil  at  the  helm  of  State,  charges,  true  or  false,  were 
never  lacking  against  those  to  whom  a  grudge  was  owing. 
At  the  instigation  of  Salisbury  and  Northampton  it  was 
decided  to  investigate  the  dealings  between  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland  and  the  discontented  Catholics.  In  point 
of  fact  an  attempt  was  to  be  made  to  implicate  the  Earl  in 
the  old,  vague  plots  for  which  Raleigh,  Cobham,  and  Grey 
had  been  punished.  The  Archbishop  was  ordered  to 
bring  his  prisoner  before  the  Council ;  and  Chief-Justice 
Popham  examined  the  latter  searchingly  and  at  great  length. 
Nothing  of  a  treasonable  nature  was  discovered  ;  and  the 
baffled  Salisbury  was  obliged  to  hark  back  to  Elizabethan 
times  for  a  pretext  upon  which  to  accuse  Northumberland. 
But  even  then,  the  principal  fact  elicited  by  Popham's 
questions  could  scarcely  have  made  pleasant  reading  for 
the  King.  For  the  Earl  said  : — "  In  the  late  Queens  time, 
the  King  alloived  me  to  give  hopes  to  the  English  Catholics, 
which  I  did,  but  zuent  no  further."  - 

During  his  long  examination  (it  lasted  for  several 
hours)  he  had  been  obliged  to  stand  ;  and  the  fatigue  thus 
caused  might,  he  feared,  have  caused  him  to  forget  some 
items  of  importance.  Accordingly,  on  the  day  following, 
he  supplemented  his  evidence  by  a  letter  to  the  Council, 

'  NorthMmberland  to  the  Council,  November  15,  1605;  Orig.  Slate  Papers: 
Record  Office.  ''  State  Papers. 


THE    HOUSE   OK    PERCY  125 

bringing  forward  some  points  wiiich  had  slipped  his 
memory  througli  ^^  standing  soe  long  and  talkiiige  soe  loftg." 
Among  other  things,  he  said  : — "  Nowe  my  Lords  it  is 
requisitt  that  I  doe  lay  doune  circumstances  and  truthes 
that  will  cleare  whatsoever  was  said  in  that  tyme  "  [before 
Elizabeth's  death]  "was  don  with  an  honest  intention  to 
obey  the  King  and  doe  him  service,  and  one  is  this  : — 
the  wordel "  [world]  "knowes  that  I  am  no  Papist;  the 
wordel  knows  no  man  is  more  obedient  to  the  laws  of  the 
Church  of  England  than  I  am  ;  and  the  wordel  may  knowe 
I  am  noe  Supporter  of  Recusants,  neither  is  my  house 
pestered  with  them,  some  one  or  two  old  servants  to  my 
House  excepted."  1 

If  Northumberland  desired  his  freedom,  he  made  a  fatal 
mistake  in  repeating  the  old  charge  that  James  had  de- 
liberately encouraged  the  English  Catholics  to  look  for 
toleration  under  his  rule.  A  wiser  or  less  honest  man 
would  have  followed  the  safe  course  of  suppressing  this 
fact  altogether  ;  but  the  Earl,  anxious  only  to  tell  the  truth, 
practically  accused  his  sovereign  of  hypocrisy  and  false- 
hood— thus  playing  directly  into  the  hands  of  Salisbury 
and  the  Cecil  Party.  The  "  little  Beagle  "  '^  was  no  longer 
obliged  to  scent  out  new  charges  in  order  to  course  his 
quarry  down.  Northumberland's  own  rash  statements 
were  quite  sufficient  to  fill  the  King  with  a  bitter  spite 
against  him  ;  and  no  further  arguments  were  necessary  to 
bring  about  his  committal  to  the  Tower — the  recognised 
preliminary  to  a  Star  Chamber  trial.  James  signed  the 
warrant  for  his  imprisonment  on  November  27  ;  and  he 
was  removed  from  Croydon  to  the  Tower  on  the  following 
day. 

More  than  six  months  passed  by  before  Attorney- 
General  Coke  could  frame  an  indictment  sufficiently 
plausible  to  be  laid  even  before  such  a  body  as  the  Star 
Chamber.  In  the  hope  of  discovering  some  peg  upon 
which  to  hang  an  accusation  of  treason,  the  Earl's  northern 

'  Norlhumberland  to  the  Council ;  Nov.  24,  1605  ;  On'g.  Stale  Papers. 
-  James's  nickname  for  Lord  Salisbury. 


126  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

castles  were  seized  and  searched  under  royal  warrant. 
Evidently  Northumberland's  conscience  was  at  ease,  for  he 
wrote  in  jesting  vein  to  Salisbury '  on  this  subject.  Sir 
Henry  Widdrington  (who  owed  him  a  considerable  sum  of 
money)  had  been  ordered  to  conduct  the  investigations  at 
Alnwick,  Tynemouth,  Prudhoe,  and  Cockermouth.  Hear- 
ing of  this,  Northumberland  begged  that  "Percy's  closet 
doore  at  Alnwick  might  be  sealed  up,  as  it  contained,  among 
other  papers,  bofids  of  Witherington's  to  the  value  of  looo 
marks,  which  he  might  be  tempted  to  dispose  of  to  his  owne 
advantage.'"^  The  only  documents  discovered  in  the  North 
which  bore  in  any  way  upon  the  Catholic  intrigues  were 
letters  from  the  Earl  to  his  tenants,  written  after  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  and  warning  them  against 
paying  any  more  money  to  Thomas  Percy.  The  members 
of  Catesby's  conspiracy  suffered  torture  and  death  without 
implicating  Northumberland  in  any  way.  Nevertheless 
Coke  succeeded,  by  sheer  impudence  and  exaggeration,  in 
drawing  up  a  case  for  the  Crown  sufficient  to  give  the  pro- 
ceedings a  far-off  semblance  of  justice.  The  extraordinary 
animus  displayed  against  the  Earl  by  Salisbury,  North- 
ampton, and  Coke,  as  well  as  by  the  King,  may  be  judged 
from  unprejudiced  contemporary  evidence.  The  letters 
of  the  French  Ambassador,  La  Boderie,^  show  conclu- 
sively that  Northumberland's  conviction  had  been  de- 
cided on  from  the  date  of  his  committal  to  the  Tower, 
and  that  the  very  terms  of  his  sentence  were  arranged 
between  James  and  the  Cecil  clique  at  least  twenty-four 
hours  before  the  so-called  trial.*  La  Boderie  in  his  ex- 
traordinarily accurate  letter  of  forecast  (written  on  June  26) 
asserts  that  the  intended  sentence  was  dictated  entirely 
"  by  political  feeling  and  the  wish  to  get  rid  of  a  spirited  rival."  ^ 
Continuing,  he  describes  how  Cecil  had  worked  upon  the 

'  He  still  considered  Salisbury  well  disposed  towards  him  and  never  suspected 
treachery. 

'^  Alnwick  MSS.,  vol.  viii. 

^  Ambassades  de  M.  de  la  BoJerie. 

*  La  Boderie  to  Villeroi,  June  26,  1606  ;  Ambassades  de  M.  de  la  Boderie. 

5  Ibid. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  127 

King's  natural  cowardliness  in  order  to  attain  his  ends. 
The  cases  of  Lords  Stourton  and  Mordaunt,  too,  afford 
striking  comment  upon  the  manner  in  which  Northumber- 
land was  treated.  Both  of  these  noblemen  were  under 
grave  suspicion,  if  not  of  complicity  in  the  Gunpowder 
Plot,  at  least  of  being  aware  that  some  such  blow  was  to 
be  attempted  against  the  Government.  It  is  highly  pro- 
bable that  they  had  both  received  warnings  similar  to  that 
sent  by  Tresham  to  Monteagle.  On  the  fateful  fifth  of 
November  they  absented  themselves  from  London,  and  it 
was  proved  that  relays  of  horses  were  kept  in  readiness 
for  them  along  the  roads  in  case  of  emergency,  yet 
Stourton  and  Mordaunt  were  merely  charged  with  having 
"  disregarded  the  King's  summons  to  Parliament,"  and  the 
cases  against  them  were  dismissed  with  insignificant  fines. 

Northumberland,  against  whom  no  such  suspicions 
existed,  was  at  length  brought  before  the  Star  Chamber, 
on  June  27,  1606.  There,  to  quote  the  words  of  Gardiner,' 
he  "  was  forced  to  listen  to  a  long  and  passionate  harangue 
from  Coke,  who,  after  mentioning,  as  he  had  done  in 
Raleigh's  case,  all  manner  of  plots  with  which  he  was 
unable  to  prove  that  the  prisoner  had  ever  been  con- 
nected,^  charged  him  with  having  committed  certain 
contempts  and  misdemeanours  against  the  King.  His 
employment  of  Percy  to  carry  letters  to  James  in  Scotland 
was  brought  against  him,  as  if  he  had  attempted  to  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  Catholic  party.  It  was  also 
objected  that  after  the  discovery  of  the  Plot  he  had 
written  letters  to  his  tenants,  directing  them  to  keep  his 
rents  out  of  Percy's  hands,  but  saying  nothing  of  the 
apprehension  of  the  traitor."  He  had  also  allowed  Percy 
to  become  one  of  the  band  of  Gentlemen  Pensioners, 
knowing  that  his  cousin,  as  a  Catholic,  was  hardly  likely 

'  History  of  England. 

'^  The  Attorney-General  attempted  to  bolster  up  his  case  by  the  assertion 
(probably  false)  that  "oOier  mailers  of  higher  nalure"  were  reserved  by  the 
Crown,  and  would  be  brought  forward  in  case  the  Council  was  not  fully  con- 
vinced of  Northumberland's  guilt.— iV.!/'  Chamber  Pioceediiigs,  1606;  ColUn 
MSS.,  I'es/asian,  E.  xiv.  452. 


128  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

to  take  the  oath  of  Supremacy.  "  By  this  weakness — for 
undoubtedly  it  was  no  more  than  a  weakness,"  continues 
Gardiner,  "  he  had  disobeyed  the  orders  given  him,  and 
placed  about  the  person  of  the  King  a  man  who  was  en- 
gaged in  plotting  his  death."  It  was  not  even  pretended, 
however,  that  the  Earl  had  the  slightest  cognisance  of 
these  plots. 

Such  was  the  sum-total  of  Coke's  accusations — the 
outcome  of  six  months  of  rigorous  inquiry  !  No  wonder 
that  Northumberland  hardly  considered  it  necessary  to 
plead  at  all  in  rebuttal  of  such  trivial  charges,  and  con- 
tented himself  with  proving  that  his  brother.  Sir  Alan 
Percy,  and  not  himself,  was  responsible  for  the  admission 
of  Thomas  Percy  to  the  band  of  Gentlemen  Pensioners.' 
Apparently  he  anticipated  no  more  serious  outcome  of 
the  trial  than  a  reprimand,  and  a  small  fine,  for  having 
taken  King  James  at  his  word,^  and  allowed  the  employ- 
ment of  a  Catholic  in  the  royal  service.  He  was  soon  to 
learn  that  the  "trial"  was  a  mere  pretext;  and  that  "he 
occupied  the  position  of  the  hapless  victim  in  the  old 
fable  of  '  The  Wolf  and  the  Lamb.' "  The  Court  found  him 
guilty  of  "serious  offences  against  the  King's  Majesty"  ;  and 
proceeded  to  pass  the  following  outrageous  sentence  : — 
"Adjudged  and  ordered  that  the  said  Earl  shall,  for  the  said 
offences,  pay  for  a  Fine,  to  the  use  of  His  Majesty,  the  sum  of 
_^"30,000  ;  and  shall  be  displaced  and  removed  from  the  place 
of  a  Privy  Counsellor,  and  from  being  Lieutenant  of  His 
Jilajestys  Counties,  and  from  all  and  every  other  Office,  Honour 
or  Place,  which  he  holdeth  by  His  Majesty's  Grace  and  Favour, 
and  hereafter  be  disabled  to  take  upon  him,  or  exercise,  any  of 
the  said  Offices  or  Places;  and  that  he  shall  be  returned 
Prisoner  to  the  said  Tower  of  London,  from  whence  lie  came, 
there  to  remain  Prisoner  as  before,  during  His  Majesty's 
Pleasure."  * 

Northumberland  appears  to  have  been  stunned  by  the 

'  Proceedings  of  the  Star  Chatnber. 

'^  See  the  King's  letter  to  Northumberland  already  quoted. 

^  Decree  in  the  Star  Chamber ;  Cotton  MSS.,  Vesf.,  E.  xiv. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  129 

appalling  injustice  of  this  sentence.  He  uttered  no  word 
of  protest ;  and  passed  silently  from  the  Star  Chamber 
to  "  that  Charon's  l/arge"  (as  he  termed  it  afterwards)  which 
bore  him  back  to  the  Tower,  there  to  expiate  for  sixteen 
years  the  dual  folly  of  having  believed  a  King's  promises, 
and  robbed  a  minister  of  his  intended  victim.  Modern 
historians  are  almost  unanimous  in  condemning  the  tri- 
bunal and  its  decision.  In  his  critical  work  on  the  Gun- 
powder Plot,*  Jardyne  shows  the  unconstitutional  methods 
pursued,  and  the  colossal  injustice  of  the  Earl's  punish- 
ment.    In  summing  up  the  proceedings  Hallam  says  : — 

"  Every  one  must  agree  that  the  fine  imposed  upon 
this  nobleman  was  preposterous.  Were  we  even  to  admit 
that  suspicion  might  justify  his  long  imprisonment,  a 
participation  in  one  of  the  most  atrocious  conspiracies 
recorded  in  history  was,  if  proved,  to  be  more  severely 
punished  ;  if  not  proved,  not  at  all."  ^ 

Five  days  after  his  conviction,  Northumberland  wrote 
from  the  Tower  ^  a  letter  of  protest  addressed  to  the  King. 
He  pointed  out  in  calm  and  dignified  terms 
two  friends:  ^hc  uttet  incompatibility  between  the  venial 
his  wife  and  faults  for  whicli  he  had  been  tried,  and  the  ex- 
traordinary magnitude  of  the  penalties  inflicted. 
Under  the  circumstances  he  asked  James  to  exercise  his 
clemency  in  so  far  as  to  grant  a  further  inquiry. 

No  answer  was  vouchsafed  to  this  appeal  for  justice. 
Six  weeks  later,  Northumberland  again  addressed  the 
throne,  this  time  with  reference  to  the  tine  in  which  he 
found  himself  condemned.  Lifelong  imprisonment  and 
forfeiture  of  all  his  honours  he  was  prepared  to  bear  with 
resignation  ;  but  for  the  sake  of  his  wife,  family,  and  great 
army  of  dependants,  he  petitions  James  to  reduce  in  some 
degree  the  enormous  fine.  "  //  is,"  he  declares  with  justice," 
t/ie  greatest  Fine  that  ever  was  gott  upon  any  Subject  in  this 

'   The  Gunpowder  Plot,  p.  245. 

^  Hallam,  Constitutional  History,  vol  ii.  p.  47, 

■'  Original  State  Pafers,']\\\-j  2,  1606. 


I30  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Realme.  My  Estate  is  7iot  such  as  perhapps  the  World  takes  it 
fo}- ;  my  Debts  are  greater  than  is  believed,  and  there  is  a 
Coinpaiiie  of  little  ones  to  provide  for,  which  lies  uppon  my 
Handes.  I  knozv  Your  Ma"  to  be  soe  gratious  that  yo7t 
desire  not  to  punish  others  for  my  Falte  ;  this  is  a  Burden  will 
light  as  zvcll  nppon  their  Fortunes  as  upon  myne.  Besides,  I 
knowe  it  is  not  a  little  Money  will  doe  Your  Ma'"'  Good,  and 
it  is  a  little  that  would  doe  us  a  greate  deal  of  Harme  ;  and 
howsoever  it  hath  pleased  the  Lords  to  censure  me,  I  doe  appeale 
to  Your  Ma'",  a  higher  fudge,  for  Favour,  who  knowes  more 
than  them  in  this  Case.  Therefore  I  most  humblie  desire  Your 
Ma'"  for  Mittigacon.  What  it  shall  please  you  that  I  shall 
nndergoe  I  will,  as  I  ajn  able,  endeavour  to  sattisfie."  ^  If 
James  ever  received  this  second  plea,  he  left  it  unanswered 
and  unacknowledged,  as  he  had  done  the  former  one. 

In  the  day  of  his  sorrow  and  persecution,  when  the 
timorous  world  shrank  from  sympathy  with  the  fallen 
lest  blame  should  fall  upon  those  who  lent  him  counte- 
nance, Northumberland  was  fortunate  in  finding  at  least 
two  outspoken  and  faithful  friends.  One  of  these  was 
Anne  of  Denmark,  Queen  of  Great  Britain  ;  in  the  other 
we  are  at  once  surprised  and  gratified  to  recognise  the 
imprisoned  Earl's  shrewish  wife — she  whose  frery  temper 
had  made  their  married  life  one  long  series  of  quarrels  and 
separations.  The  fair  shrew  was  a  shrew  still  (as  we 
shall  presently  discover),  but  only  to  the  enemies  of  her 
husband.  The  latter's  undeserved  disgrace  did  more  to 
win  for  him  his  wife's  regard,  and  to  arouse  her  loyalty  in 
his  interest,  than  anything  that  had  transpired  since  the 
time  of  their  marriage.  No  sooner,  indeed,  did  prison 
doors  close  upon  the  Earl — no  sooner  did  it  become 
difficult,  and  even  perilous,  to  befriend  him,  than  Lady 
Northumberland  forsook  all  else  for  his  sake,  and  resolved 
to  devote  her  life  to  the  cause  of  his  liberation.  In  James's 
gentle  consort  she  found  an  unfailing  ally  and  protectress. 
Queen  Anne  positively  refused  to  believe  in  the  Earl's 
guilt,  and,   not    being   afraid   of   Lord    Salisbury   and   his 

'  Northumberland  lo  the  King,  Sept.  13,  1606;   Ori^i/ial Slate  Fapers. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  131 

crew,  she  proclaimed  her  sentiments  without  hesitation. 
Nay,  she  even  wrote  to  Northumberland,  assuring  him 
of  her  unshaken  confidence  and  sympathy.  We  are  not 
told  how  King  James  regarded  this  act  of  domestic  re- 
bellion ;  but  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  the  Queen's 
gracious  letter  brought  consolation  and  hope  to  the 
captive  in  the  Tower.  He  wrote  in  heartfelt  acknow- 
ledgment ;  and  received  from  Anne  a  second  missive, 
condemning  the  ministers  who  had  plotted  his  ruin  and 
reasserting  a  belief  in  his  innocence.  She  added  that 
she  had  already  interceded  with  the  King  in  his  behalf, 
and  hoped  to  do  so  again  with  greater  success.  Northum- 
berland's reply  was  as  follows  :— 

"  Most  gratious  Soiieraignc : — /  am  soe  muck  boitndefi  to 
your  Ma"'  for  your  Favours,  and  especallie  for  this  last  Desire 
you  had  of  releasing  me  of  my  Misfortu7ies  by  the  Motion  yoti 
last  made,  as  I  can  sale  no  more  towards  the  Expressing  of  my 
inwarde  Thoughts,  but  that  I  am  the  same  to  your  Ma'"  that 
ever  I  was,  since  the  first  Day  I  saw  you  ;  that  is  Your  Ma"" 
faithful  Scruant,  as  readie  to  sacrifice  his  Life  for  you  and 
yours ;  and  although  these  are  but  small  Ceremonies  of  my 
Dutie,  and  humble  Acceptance  and  ack)iowledging  of  them,  as 
being  common  trafficks  from  Prisoners  atid  Men  stung  with 
Afflictions,  yett  are  they  such  as  wee  can  present  Princes  with 
no  others. 

"  Therefore,  good  Madam,  give  me  leave,  I  beseech  you,  to 
wish  for  better  Occasions  wherein  I  may  moke  good  that  I 
have  vowed  to  you.  If  Fortune  denie  me  of  such  a  Happiness, 
then  doe  I presente  the  humble  Prayers  of  a  Prisoner  (to  God), 
that  hath  leisure  to  doe  that  arid  means  to  do  nothing  els  to 
demonstrate  his  Faith. 

"  Your  Mat'"  fiitl full  Vassall  and  Sen'ant, 

"  H.  Northumberland. 

"  Tower,  xx  of  August, 
"  1606."  ' 

The  friendship  so  openly  shown  him  by  Anne  of 
Denmark,   and   the   zeal    and  courage   with   which    Lady 

'  Northumberland  lo  the  Queen  ;  Original  Stale  Papers. 


132  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Northumberland  championed  his  cause,  led  the  Earl  to 
believe  that  his  term  of  imprisonment  was  destined  to  be 
of  short  duration.  Already  he  pictured  himself  back  again 
at  Syon  among  his  books  and  gardens  ;  and  in  this  spirit 
wrote  confidently  to  Lord  Exeter.^  The  King,  he  declared 
would  soon  discover  how  false  were  the  charges  which 
had  been  made  against  him.  One  official  mistake  had 
been  distorted  by  Coke's  sophistries  into  the  semblance 
of  " Jiaynous  treasone"  ;  but  now,  when  James  had  time  to 
give  the  matter  full  consideration,  he  felt  sure  that  justice 
would  be  done  him.  But  the  year  1606  was  allowed  to  pass 
by — as  were  many  other  years  ! — without  any  sign  of 
clemency  on  the  part  of  the  King.  Northumberland  wrote 
liim  two  more  letters  during  the  autumn  and  winter ; 
but  these  were  ignored  as  their  predecessors  had  been. 
The  Countess  imagined  that  it  was  James's  intention  to 
release  her  husband  from  the  Tower  at  the  expiration  of 
one  twelvemonth  from  his  first  committal,  i.e.  on  November 
27,  1606.  This  expectation  proving  vain,  both  husband  and 
wife  hoped  that  the  order  of  release  would  be  issued  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  Star  Chamber  sentence  ;  and  so  com- 
forted themselves  through  the  winter  and  spring.  But  June 
27,  1607,  came  and  went  without  any  sign  of  royal  leniency. 
The  Countess,  who  had  come  to  Essex  House  for  the  pur- 
pose of  welcoming  her  liberated  lord,  went  back  in  deepest 
grief  to  Syon  ;  while  Northumberland  asked  for  a  few 
books,  and  prepared  to  face  another  year  of  confinement. 

This  was  the  time  chosen  by  Queen  Anne  for  a  visit 
of  consolation  to  the  sorrowing  woman  at  Syon.  She 
The  Queen  knew  well  that  by  publicly  countenancing  Lady 
comforts  Northumberland  at  such  a  period,  she  braved 
Northumber-  the  King's  anger,  and  earned  for  herself  the 
land.  venomous   hatred  of   Lord  Salisbury.      Yet   she 

drove  from  London  to  Isleworth,  for  the  sole  purpose  of 

'  The  Earl  of  Exeter,  Salisbury's  elder  brother,  while  not  a  partisan  of 
Northumberland,  does  not  seem  to  have  joined  the  rest  of  the  Cecil  confederacy 
in  actively  persecuting  their  former  friend  and  associate.  This  letter  is  dated  July 
20,  1606. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PEKCY  133 

comforting  this  wife  whom  the  selfish  world  luitl  abiiiuloncd 
in  her  misfortune.  What  must  Attorney-General  Coke 
have  thought  if,  driving  along  the  Brentford  road  from  his 
mansion  at  Osterley,  he  had  seen  the  royal  liveries  entering 
the  north  gates  of  Syon  1  And  what  must  they  have  said 
(and  thought)  at  the  Council,  when  the  news  was  carried 
thither  ! 

We  are  not  told  what  passed  between  the  two  women, 
consoler  and  consoled,  upon  that  June  afternoon  in  the 
Syon  gardens.  But  a  playful,  yet  pathetic  touch  in  one  of 
Northumberland's  letters,  shows  us  the  gentle  Queen  pre- 
siding over  a  loving  little  court  composed  of  the  Countess 
and  her  babes.  The  words  were  written  immediately  after 
Anne's  journey  to  Syon,  and  the  epistle  breathes  throughout 
a  spirit  of  earnest  gratitude.  Despite  the  assumed  lightness 
of  his  allusion  to  those  '*  little  servants,"  his  children,  it  is 
plain  that  the  Earl  was  deeply  moved  by  this  generous  and 
womanly  action  on  the  part  of  the  Queen  : — 

"  It  please th  Your  Ma'"  euerie  Day  soe  to  adde  new 
Favours  on  our  poore  Familie  that  I  must,  from  myself e  and 
for  them,  presente  you  still  with  one  and  the  same  Gifte ;  an 
unprofitable  Servant's  Devotion :  and  sing  still  and  so  often 
one  Noate ;  '  Thankes,  Thankes,  Thankes,  and  nothing  but 
Thankes ! '  Thus  I  desire  to  ende  my  Letter  before  it  be 
almoste  begonne,  least  I  prouve  tedious,  being  Banckrout  of  all 
other  Occasions  to  rend  open  my  Brest,  that  you  may  see  viy 
Harte  how  much  it  is  Your  Ma'"'. 

"  I  understand  how  evill  you  were  waited  on  at  Sion  by 
your  little  Servants ;  theire  Wills  weare  good,  though  their 
Endeavours  nought ;  and  Your  Ma''"  Acceptance  soe  noble  as, 
because  I  may  not  sale  what  I  would,  I  will  close  up  my  Lipps, 
and  will  my  Penne  to  yeald  noe  more  Inkefor  the  Present."  ^ 

Through  the  Queen's  incessant  persuasions,  James  was 
at  last  (sorely  against  his  will)  induced  to  grant  an  audience 
to  Lady  Northumberland.  His  Majesty  had  heard  tales  to 
the  effect  that  the  Countess  possessed  a  biting  tongue  upon 
occasion,  and    that,  when  stirred   to  anger,    she    was   no 

'  Northumberland  to  the  Queen  ;  Original  Slate  Papers. 


134  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

respecter  of  persons.  He  also  knew  (from  efforts  in  his 
own  behalf  during  Elizabeth's  lifetime)  that  she  could  urge 
a  cause  with  untiring  perse\'erance.  For  all  these  reasons, 
he  dreaded  an  interview  with  her,  knowing  full  well  that 
he  could  advance  no  reason  worthy  of  respect  for  keeping 
the  Earl  longer  in  prison.  Queen  Anne's  entreaties,  how- 
ever, finally  resulted  in  his  consenting  to  hear  what  Lady 
Northumberland  had  to  say.  Very  sagaciously  (from  his 
own  standpoint)  he  refused  to  enter  into  argument  with 
her,  listened  to  her  pleading  with  a  profound  assumption 
of  judicial  wisdom,  and  dismissed  her  with  the  unpromising 
statements  that  he  would  "  take  his  own  time"  in  the  matter, 
and  that  before  Northumberland  could  hope  to  be  released 
he  must  prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  King  and  Council  "  that 
Thomas  Percy  gave  him  no  waftiitig  of  the  intended  crime,"  * 
He  could  show  himself  obstinate  enough  at  times,  especially 
when  (as  in  the  case  of  the  Earl)  he  believed  that  his 
personal  safety  or  peace  of  mind  might  be  endangered 
by  a  lenient  policy ;  and  neither  the  Queen  nor  Lady 
Northumberland  could  move  him  to  any  further  con- 
cession. 

From  the  Tower  the  Earl  then  wrote,  pointing  out, 
among  other  things,  the  practical  impossibility  of  bringing 
forward  any  but  circumstantial  evidence  to  prove  that  the 
Conspirator  Percy  had  not  warned  him  of  the  Gunpowder 
Plot.  "Atmj  last  soliciting  Your  Majestic,  by  my  Wife, to  think 
of  viy  Liber  tie"  he  observes;  '^  it  pleased  you  to  saie  tliat  you 
would  take  your  ownc  Tyvie.  I  have  not  byne  importunate 
since,  because  I  cottceaved  it  disliked  you  ;  though  it  be  a  matter 
almost  the  dearest  Thing  Man  enjoys.  Your  Majestic  hath  byne 
a  King  nianie  Yeares,  and  can  judge  of  Offences.  I  will  not 
therefore  dispute  of  myne,  but  must  still  be  ati  Intercessor  for 
myself e  to  Your  Majestic  for  your  favour  ;  and  I  beseech  you 
let  the  former  Desire  of  my  House  and  selfe  to  doe  you  Service, 
move  you  somewhat,  since  I  doubt  not  but  that  I  shall  see  the 
Dav  that  you  ivill  esteeme  me  to  have  byne  as  honest  and  faith- 
fid  a  Servant  as  ever  you  had  in  England.     It  pleased  Your 

'   Original  Stale  Fapirs. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  135 

Urajestie  amongst  other  Specclies  uppon  her,  urgitig  of  my 
Innocenec,  to  zvish  I  eould  prove  that  Percie  gave  me  no 
Notiee  {the  verie  viayne  Pointe  of  my  Troubles)  ;  but  Your 
Majestie,  that  is  soe  grcate  a  Scholler,  atid  soe  judicious,  cannot 
but  know  hozo  impossible  it  is  to  prove  a  negative'' ' 

Even  while  her  husband  still   believed  in  and  trusted 
Salisbury,     Lady     Northumberland,    with     feminine     in- 
stinct,    had    suspected    the     latter's     treachery. 

The"LitUe  i-      i       .    c      *    j-  j      i    u  ■     •  i 

Beagle"  1  he  Earl  at  hrst  disregarded  her  opmions,  and 
["h"'*  persisted  in  treating  the  Lord  Treasurer  as  a 
friend,  or  at  least  as  one  that  did  not  seek  to 
injure  him.  His  misfortunes  he  chose  rather  to  ascribe 
to  the  jealousy  of  the  Scottish  courtiers  than  to  any  bad 
faith  on  the  part  of  the  Cecils  and  Howards.  Lady 
Northumberland,  on  the  contrary,  grew  more  and  more 
convinced,  as  time  went  on,  that  Salisbury,  and  no  other, 
was  at  the  bottom  of  her  lord's  undeserved  persecution. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  her  sentiments  were  shared,  if  not 
for  the  most  part  inspired,  by  the  Queen,  who  thoroughly 
disliked  this  double-dealing  minister.  As  time  went  on, 
without  any  signs  of  Northumberland's  release,  or  the 
mitigation  of  his  tine,  the  Countess  (in  her  new  character 
of  docile  wife)  strove  to  conceal  the  increasing  anger  and 
bitterness  which  she  felt  towards  the  King's  first  adviser. 
But  neither  dissimulation  nor  self-restraint  were  natural  to 
her,  nor  could  she  wear  these  disguises  long.  The  day 
came  when  neither  the  wishes  of  her  lord  nor  the  Queen's 
advice  could  curb  her  temper  further.  Some  new  evidence 
of  the  Treasurer's  perfidy  being  brought  to  light,  she 
ordered  her  coach  and  drove  to  Whitehall,  resolved  once 
and  for  all  "  to  give  the  Ferrett  a  nipp." 

She  found  Salisbury  walking  up  and  down  in  the 
orchard  ;  "■■  and  with  her  usual  impetuosity,  demanded  that 
he  should  at  once  prove  his  friendship  for  Northumberland 

'  Northumberland  to  the  King,  Jan.  7,  1608  ;  Original  State  Papers. 
'  The    same   orchard   in   which    the    ministers    held    hurried   council   after 
Elizabeth's  death. — Memoirs  of  Sir  R.  Carey. 


136  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

by  procuring  a  reduction  of  the  Star  Chamber  fine,  or  else 
lay  aside  the  mask  which  he  had  hitherto  worn,  and  openly 
avow  himself  as  the  enemy  of  the  man  whom  he  had 
wronged.  Countess  Dorothy  had  as  sharp  a  tongue  as 
any  woman  in  England ;  and  when  Salisbury  proceeded 
(in  that  imitation  of  his  father  which  he  affected)  to  make 
some  would-be  subtle  rejoinder,  my  lady  assailed  him 
with  a  torrent  of  reproach  and  invective.  In  vain  he  tried 
to  speak— he  whose  lightest  word  had  weight  in  Council 
and  Star  Chamber.  The  sister  of  Essex  was  not  to  be 
silenced,  so  she  said,  "  by  any  Cyssle  borne"  Nor  did  she 
mince  matters  in  telling  the  Lord  Treasurer  of  his  "  manifold 
base  treasons."  If  he  had  never  been  told  the  truth  about 
himself  before,  he  was  told  it  then.  It  is  somewhat  to  be 
regretted  that  we  have  no  complete  account  of  what  oc- 
curred between  the  enraged  wife  and  the  betrayer  of  her 
husband  ;  but  we  know  that  after  enduring  the  soundest  of 
verbal  castigations,  Salisbury  at  last  took  to  his  heels  and 
fled.  It  is  a  picture  worthy  of  a  Hogarth — the  little 
Treasurer,  sallow-faced  and  baleful-eyed,  shrinking  before 
the  attack  of  the  wrathful  Countess,  while,  at  discreet 
distances,  among  the  apple-trees  of  Whitehall,  foreign 
envoys  and  underlings  of  the  Court  make  believe  to  hide 
their  merriment  !  A  man  is  never  so  ridiculous  as  when 
publicly  and  deservedly  castigated  by  a  woman  ;  and  if 
that  woman  be  fair  to  look  upon,  as  was  this  daughter  of 
"the  handsome  Devereux,"  the  sentiment  of  the  spectators 
is  all  the  more  in  her  favour.  Lord  Salisbury's  frame  of 
mind,  when  he  beat  an  undignified  retreat  before  this  fair 
virago,  could  hardly  have  been  an  enviable  one. 

His  first  act,  upon  reaching  the  private  apartment 
allotted  to  him,  was  to  issue  orders  that  never  again, 
under  any  pretext,  was  Lady  Northumberland  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  his  presence.!  He  next  sent  one  of  his  secre- 
taries, Sir  William  Wade,  to  the  Tower  with  instructions 
to  seek  out  Northumberland,  and  insist  upon  the  latter's 
reproving  his  wife  for  her  conduct  in  thus  shaming  the 

'  Sir  Alan  Percy  to  Sir  Dudley  Carlelon,  Sept.  1 606. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  137 

chief  of  Council  in  a  public  place.  It  is  likely,  however, 
that  either  Lady  Northumberland  or  the  Queen  found 
means  to  communicate  with  the  Earl  before  Wade  arrived 
with  his  budget  of  grievances ;  for  the  prisoner  was  by 
no  means  disposed  to  gratify  his  "  vcrie  good  frende,"  ^ 
Salisbury,  by  administering  the  desired  rebuke  ;  and  gave 
it  as  his  opinion  that,  if  the  Countess  had  erred  at  all,  it 
was  through  love  for  her  husband,  and  a  very  natural 
impatience  at  the  lukewarm  policy  of  his  former  associ- 
ates.- To  this  the  Lord  Treasurer  made  answer,  by  letter 
— undated,  but  almost  certainly  written  in  the  same  month 
(September  1606) : — 

"  When  I  sent  unto  yoii  by  Sir  William  Wade,  a  relation 
of  my  Lady's  sore  dealing  ivith  me,  in  myne  ozvn  Perticnlar, 
I  intreatcd  him  to  lay  this  first  Foundation  :  that  I  made  no 
Complainte,  nor  could  say  anything  but  that  which  must  increase 
your  Lordship's  Affection  towards  her  whom,  in  all  my  Observa- 
tions, time  hath  discovered  to  be  a  loving,  careful,  and  a  worthy 
Wife  to  your  Lordship.  My  End  was  onely  to  infuse  into  your 
lordship  some  little  part  of  that  ivhich  I  found  convenient  you 
should  know ;  seeing  the  strange  course  that  was  taken  with 
me.  .  .  But  truely,  my  Lord,  I  see  that  there  remayns  yet  some 
Dreggs  of  the  Discourses  which  Sir  Walter  Raivlegh  and  others 
have  dispersed  of  me,  that  the  way  to  make  me  break  my  Pace 
is  not  ahvays  good  Usadge,  but  sometyme  to  be  spoken  to  in  a 
high  Style,  which  Aspersion  (seeming  to  savour  of  sci^vilitie)  I 
was  desirous  that  your  Lordship  should  knoiu,  zvhen  my  Lady 
should  give  you  any  account  of  her  Talent,  that  though  I  forbare 
to  returne  any  one  harsh  IVord  to  the  contumelious  Language  she 
used  in  chardging  a  man  of  my  Place  to  be  one  of  those  that  used 
to  devise  Causes  and  Cullurs  and  Trickes  to  procure  Favour  and 
the  contrary,  ivhenever  I  listed ;  yet  I  had  shown  no  such 
Stupiditie  as  not  to  declare  unto  her  Ladyship  that  I  heild  my- 
self e  no  way  tyed  to  medle  with  your  Lordship  or  her  Perticular 
beyond  the  Incidents  of  my  Place,  further  than  I  might  list,  or 

'  Salisbury  thus  signed  himself  in  wriling  to  Northumberland,  at  the  very 
time  when  he  was  most  busily  plotting  his  ruin. 

*  Northumberland  to  Salisbury  (Copy)  ;  Alnwick  MSB. 


138  THE    HOUSE   OP^   PERCY 

could  or  shotild,  be  deserved  by  good  Usadge  ;  a  matter  which  I 
know  your  Lordship  can  ivell  conceave,  who  knows  best  the  true 
Wisdojne  of  Friends hipps,  anduppott  what  grounds  one  man  is 
to  expect  from  another  the  effects  of  private  Affection.  A  Ithough 
my  Ladye's  bitter  Wordes  hath  done  Harm  to  your  Cause,  yet 
they  should  be  of  no  Consequence  to  move  me  to  doe,  or  not  to  doe, 
anything  therein,  further  than  I  should  see  Just  cause  at  any 
Tynie.  I  have  ever  honoured  her  Vertue,  and  will  doe  soe  still 
{though  I  am  not  suche  a  Stock  not  to  see  her  Passion)  hoiu  much 
soever  it  may  please  her  to  injure  me. 

"  Your  Lordship's  loving  Friend  to  Command, 

"  Salisbury."  ' 

Northumberland  does  not  appear  to  have  rephed  to  this 
characteristic  epistle  ;  nor  did  he  reproach  his  wife  for  the 
zealous  manner  in  which  she  had  carried  out  her  intention 
of  " giving  the  Ferrett  a  nipp."  Salisbury  could  see  no  way 
of  avenf^ing  himself  directly  upon  the  Countess  ;  but  there 
were  indirect  means  by  which  he  might  make  her  feel  his 
spite,  and  thus  teach  her  that  the  "  nipped  "  ferret  can  bite 
shrewdly  in  return. 

The   fall   of    Northumberland    involved    many   persons 

equally   innocent,   among   others    his   brothers    Alan   and 

Josceline  Percy,  and  his  secretary,  Dudley  Carle- 

frieods"  ^      ton.     It  is  stated  in  the  "  Dictionary  of  National 

suffer  for        Biography  "  ^  that  Carleton  resigned  his  secretarial 

his  sake.  ,      ?      :  ,  ,  .       1  ,  ., 

duties  m  1605,  and  went  abroad  as  companion  to 
Lord  Norris.^  The  precise  truth  seems  to  have  been  that, 
when  Northumberland  was  sent  to  the  Tower,  Carleton 
(while  still  considering  himself  in  the  Earl's  service) 
obtained  leave  from  his  patron  to  accompany  young  Norris 
to  the  Low  Countries,  France  and  Spain.  The  travellers 
had  reached  Paris  on  their  return  journey,  when  Carleton 

'  Lord  Salisbury  to  Northumberland  (undated) ;  Original  State  Papers. 

■  Art.  "  Dudley  Carleton,"  by  Rev.  A.  Jessop,  D.D. 

5  Afterwards  first  Earl  of  Berkshire.  He  was  great-grandson  of  that  Henry 
Norreys  or  Norris  who  suffered  death  in  1532  as  an  alleged  paramour  of  Queen 
Anne  Boleyn. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  139 

was  summoned  to  London  by  an  urgent  order  of  Council. 
Unconscious  of  having  in  any  degree  offended,  he  hastened 
home,  only  to  be  placed  in  close  confinement  in  the  bailiff's 
house  at  Westminster.  One  of  the  charges  brought  against 
him  was  to  the  effect  that  he  had  been  concerned  in  rent- 
ing the  house  occupied  by  the  conspirator,  Thomas  Percy, 
next  to  Westminster  Hall.  He  was  several  times  brought 
before  the  Council,  and  subjected  to  severe  examinations  ; 
but  the  result  was  only  to  establish  his  complete  guiltless- 
ness, and  he  was  released  from  arrest.  This  liberation 
Dr.  Jessop  declares  to  have  been  due  to  "  Salisbury's 
favour " ;  ^  but  so  far  as  can  be  discovered,  the  Lord 
Treasurer  showed  no  more  favour  to  Dudley  Carleton  than 
he  did  to  Alan  or  Josceline  Percy,  and  only  set  the  Earl's 
secretary  free  because  he  could  in  nowise  connect  him 
with  the  Gunpowder  Plot.  Indeed  while  the  two  latter 
had  the  Queen  to  help  them,  Carleton  was  possessed  of 
but  scant  influence  ;  and  Salisbury  was  thus  enabled  to  suc- 
cessfully debar  him  from  all  Court  offices,  and  to  prevent 
Lord  Norris  from  giving  him  further  employment  abroad 
— surely  an  unusual  way  of  showing  "  favour  "  to  a  young 
man  so  deserving. 

Finding  himself  thus  under  a  ban,  because  of  his 
connection  with  Northumberland,  Carleton  wrote  to  the 
Tower  asking  for  some  post  upon  the  Earl's  country  estates. 
Already  weary  of  politics,  he  wished  to  turn  "country 
farmer."  Northumberland,  who  fully  recognised  the  talents 
of  his  secretary,  and  rightly  judged  that  the  latter's  sphere 
of  action  lay  rather  among  courts  and  cities  than  in  re- 
tirement, hastened  to  make  Carleton  an  allowance,  and  to 
reply  to  him  in  the  following  kindly  terms  : — 

^^  Carleton ;  As  dcsperatio  hathe  made  yow  a  Monke,  so 
hathe  Necessite  made  me  a  Prisoner,patient ;  and  so,  by  Conse- 
quent, hathe  given  a  Crosse  Byte  to  many  that  had  any  De- 
pendency or  Hopes  vppon  me.  If  it  had  proceeded  out  of  myne 
oiven  Fault,  I  shoold  haue  bene  sorry  for  my  selfe  ;  but  since  it 

'  Dut.  of  Nat.  Biography. 


I40  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

is  not,  I  can  bcare  it  as  a  ATis/ortun  of  the  World  ivhiche  tve  are 
all  subiect  too.  That  gricffe  that  stickes  by  me  is  for  other  Mens 
sakes,  that  hathe  deserued  as  littell  Euyll  as  I  haue  donne. 
The  Strength  of  niyne  owen  Alynde  notie  knowcs  soe  well  as 
my  sclfe  ;  and  it  is  very  stronge  against  all  but  that  n'hiche 
others  suffer  for  me.  If  I  had  been  maculated  with  dishonest 
or  false  Thoughts  to  the  King,  or  my  Cutttry,  notie  could  haue 
spyed  it  sooner  than  yozvr  selfe;  and  so  enoughe  for  that 
Matter. 

"  But  thoughe  yozu  had  runne  into  a  Course  of  trauelling 
abroade  better  to  enable  your  selfe,  yctt  can  I  not  but  thinke  of 
yow  as  one  had  Dependency  of  me  ;  and  althoughe  yow  kneive 
(what)  my  Jlfynde  teas  eucr,  and  soe  gaue  I  yow  Freedom  to  doe 
the  best  good  yo2V  coulde  for  yowr  selfe,  to  whiche  I  euer 
promised  my  helping  Hand ;  soe  noiv,  since  yoiv  haue  suffered 
ivith  7ne,  I  can  but  adde  to  that  Charite  rather  than  to  sub- 
stracte  from  it ;  for  I  tnust  nedcs  see  that  the  Court  Gates  are 
shutt  vppon  yow  for  my  sake,  and  Trauell  abroad  is  barred 
yow  out  of  the  same  Consequent.  Theas  Disputes  with  my 
selfe  makes  me  enter  into  the  Examination  of  yowr  selfe  and 
me  relatiuely ;  of  my  selfe  and  my  Estate;  of  yow  and  the 
Means  I  may  employ  yoiv  in.  Hopes  I  haue  tione  left  for  being 
any  Medler  in  Matters  of  State,  so  long  as  I  Hue  ;  and  euery 
Day  soe  long  as  I  doe  Hue,  I  shall  be  lesse  fitt  by  Reason  of  my 
Dnperfection  of  Hearing,  and  olde  Age,  whiche  will  comme 
vpon  me  daly,  desiring  rest  out  of  his  oiuen  Nature.  Your 
Endeuors  hathe  bend  them  self's  most  that  Way,  and  I  holde 
it  Fitly  that  thos  Farts  should  be  lost  in  yow.  I  wold  those 
that  might  make  Vse  of  yow,  knew  yow  but  as  well  as  I  doe. 

"  Well  to  conclude,  I  am  of  the  same  Mynde  I  was  euer  of: 
I  leaue  yow  to  yowr  owen  Lyberty,  and  yoivr  beste  Means  to 
doe  yozvr  self e  Good,  to  tvhiche  I  will  put  my  helping  Hand  by 
all  Means  I  can.  If  it  shall  pleas  the  King  to  giue  me  Lyberty 
to  Lytic  at  myne  owen  House,  comme,  and  yow  shall  be  ivelcom 
ifyoiv  be  not  otherivyse  prouided.  Besides,  in  the  meane  Tyme, 
thoughe  my  Means  arc  littell  to  doe  good  for  any,  yett  as  a 
Badge  that  yow  are  one  of  mine,  somewhat  yerely  shall  be 
allowed  yow,  ivith  out  any  tying  yow  from  any  other  Course, 


THE    HOUSE   OP^   PERCY  141 

Out  ofinyue  oiven  Businesses  yow  know  how  I  can,  or  xvhat  is  left 
for  me  to  employ  any  man  :  foryow  to  bccomvie  noiv  a  Cloune,^ 
nether  is  proper  for  those  Endeuors  you  haue  begunne  with, 
nether  is  my  Estate  sutclie  as  I  know  well  hoiv  to  place  to  yowr 
Contcntcmeiit.  The  whiche  I  will  adde  is  noc  more  but  to 
helpe  yow  from  sinking  for  the  Present,  zvithout  any  Barre  of 
farther  retching  out  my  helping  Hand  to  yow  hereafter,  if 
Fortun  make  me  myne  owcn  Man  againc. 
"  Soe  /  rest,  this  20  August 

"  Northumberland."  - 

The  Earl's  brother,  Sir  Alan  Percy,  wrote  to  his  friend 
Carleton  about  the  same  time,  but  in  lighter  vein.  Alan 
Percy  had  just  succeeded  in  winning  a  victory  over 
Salisbury,  and  was  in  high  feather  for  that  reason.  He  de- 
sired to  laugh  Carleton  out  of  his  project  of  a  country 
life  ;  but  there  is  a  decided  flavour  of  sarcasm  in  his  letter  : 
"  /  am  sorry  that  yow  are  soe  near  to  be  Jacke  out  of  Office, 
yet  yozu  need  not  despair  of  making  a  Fortune  zvithout  either 
digging  or  begging ;  for  .  .  .  I  doubt  not  but  by  the  helpe 
of  some  of  my  Frendes,  which  my  attendance  at  Court  hath 
purchased  me,  to  procure  yozv  one,  though  it  be  but  to  attcnde 
the  King's  dogges ;  which  yow  must  rather  obtain  by  Favor 
than  by  Merit,  your  experience  hath  bine  soe  small  in  such 
waightie  Affaires!  Thinke  uppoti  this,  if  the  rest  faile ;  for 
the  Dogges  run  very  fleet,  and  lykelie  the  sooner  to  come  to 
Promotion."^  At  such  a  Court,  indeed,  the  dog-leech  was 
as  likely  to  win  royal  favour  as  the  honest  statesman. 

Ill  as  Dudley  Carleton  fared,  his  case  was  not  so  hard 
as  that  of  many  another  follower  of  the  Earl.  When  all 
Northumberland's  offices  of  state  and  crown  lieutenancies 
were  taken  from  him  under  the  infamous  Star  Chamber 
decision,  the  patronage  connected  with  them  was  of  course 
also  lost.  The  new  grantees,  frequently  Scottish  lords  with 
hosts  of   needy   dependants,   had   no    notion   of  allowing 

'  i.(.  a  country  clown,  or  rustic.     The  allusion  is  to  Carleton's  expressed  wish 
to  turn  farmer. 

-  Northumberland  to  Mr.  D.  Carleton,  Aug.  20,  1606  ;  Original  Stale  Papers. 
''  Sir  Alan  Percy  to  Mr.  D.  Carleton,  August  1606  ;  Stale  Papers. 


142  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

the  deputies  and  agents  of  their  predecessor  to  remain  in 
enjoyment  of  their  posts  ;  and  thus  hundreds  of  those  who 
had  served  not  only  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  but  his 
father  before  him,  were  deprived  of  the  means  of  subsist- 
ence. High  and  low,  gentle  and  simple,  these  unfor- 
tunates turned  to  the  prisoner  of  the  Tower,  their  late 
patron,  for  aid  and  consolation.  It  is  only  justice  to 
Northumberland  to  say  that  he  behaved  to  every  man  who 
had  been  cast  adrift  in  this  way  with  a  generosity  as  great 
as  his  own  circumstances  would  permit.  The  compter 
rolls  of  Alnwick  are  crowded,  at  this  time,  with  grants  of 
private  pensions  to  persons  who  had  sufTered  in  his  service. 
These  entries  read  alike  save  for  the  names  and  conditions 
of  the  interested  individuals,  and  the  amounts  allotted  to 
them.  For  instance,  on  December  4,  1606,  we  find  a 
grant  to  "  Sir  George  Whitehead,  of  an  annuity  of  _^20  in 
consideratio  that  he  hath  been  dispossessed  of  his  post  of 
lieutenant  of  Titwiouth  Castle,  the  keeping  of  which  it  hath 
pleased  the  king  to  take  awaie  from  the  saide  Earl."  ^ 

Before  Carleton  was  summoned  home  from  Paris,  the 
Earl's  brothers  Alan  and  Josceline  were  arrested,  and  seem 
to  have  passed  some  time  in  the  Westminster  bailiff's 
house  as  prisoners.  They  too  were  released  after  the 
collapse  of  the  Crown  case  against  them,  but  all  their 
ofhces  ^  under  the  King  were  declared  forfeit,  and  they 
were  warned  to  keep  away  from  Court.  This  was  the 
period  during  which  Alan  Percy  wrote  his  jesting  letter 
to  Carleton.  The  jocular  spirit  died  in  him,  however, 
when  he  found  that  Salisbury  meant,  if  possible,  to  make 
his  exclusion  from  Court  permanent,  and  his  hopes  of 
preferment  impossible.  Both  Alan  and  Josceline  were 
Catholics  ;  and  they  now  recklessly  resolved  to  forswear 
their  native  country  and  enlist  in  the  service  of  some 
Catholic  power.    They  had,  in  fact,  taken  steps  for  the 

1  Alnwick  MSS. 

'  Sir  Alan  Percy  was  Lieutenant  of  the  Band  of  Gentlemen  Pensioners, 
and  both  Josceline  and  he  had  held  sundry  small  posts  at  the  Earl's 
nomination. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  143 

sale  of  tlieir  annuities,*  with  the  intention  of  joining  the 
Spanish  army  in  the  Low  Countries,  when  Northumberland 
heard  from  his  wife  of  what  was  afoot,  and  succeeded 
in  dissuading  them  from  their  purpose.-  The  Queen  also 
interfered  in  their  favour  (thus  once  more  crossing  Lord 
Salisbury  in  his  designs),  and  they  were  permitted  to 
return  to  Court,  where  Alan  at  least  soon  recovered  lost 
ground,  and  therewith  his  old  bantering  spirit. 

As  was  only  to  be  expected,  the  army  of  pensioners 
which  now  existed  on  the  Earl's  bounty  proved  extremely 
Increasing  costly  to  maintain,  Northumberland's  debts, 
debts;  and  a  already  large  (owing  to  the  interrupted  building 
mUunder-  Operations  at  Syon,  and  the  sudden  loss  of  his 
standing:.  wardcuships),  now  threatened  to  attain  propor- 
tions which  would  bring  him  to  bankruptcy.  Neither  his 
friends  nor  himself  at  first  imagined  that  the  Crown  would 
demand  immediate  payment  of  the  -^30,000  fine  in  which 
he  had  been  condemned.  Rapacious  as  was  the  Tudor 
dynasty,  its  successive  sovereigns  had  always  been  willing 
to  collect  large  fines  by  instalments  ;  and  the  Earl  believed 
that,  if  he  could  not  secure  a  reduction  of  his  forfeit, 
reasonable  time  would  at  least  be  allowed  him  to  raise  it. 
James,  however,  acting  upon  the  advice  of  the  Lord  Trea- 
surer, notified  the  Earl  that  he  would  be  content  with  no- 
thing but  an  immediate  settlement  of  the  vast  claim  in  its 
entirety.  In  vain  was  immemorial  custom  appealed  to  ;  in 
vain  did  the  unfortunate  prisoner  plead  for  leniency.  Lord 
Salisbury  replied  that  "his  Majesty  the  King  could  in  no- 
wise depart  from  the  sentence  of  the  Council."  Unless  the 
;^30,ooo  (an  almost  impossible  sum  for  a  subject  to  raise) 
was  speedily  paid  into  the  Treasury,  sequestration  of  the 
Northumberland  estates  was  openly  threatened. 

The  Lord  Treasurer,  for  his  own  reasons,  made  no 
secret  of  this  decision,  and  took  good  care  that  the  Earl's 

'  Left  to  them  by  their  father,  the  eighlh  earl,  and  subsequently  added  to  by 
their  brother. 

■■'  Original  Slate  Papers,  Nov.  1 606. 


144  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

creditors  (hitherto  patient  enough)  were  fully  informed  of 
the  Government's  intentions.  A  natural  result  was  that 
Northumberland  and  his  representatives  were  at  once 
besieged  by  a  clamorous  mob  of  persons  holding  bills 
against  the  estate.  The  amount  of  these  claims  exceeded, 
according  to  the  report,  ;^70oo,*  which  brought  the  Earl's 
total  indebtedness  up  to  ^^'37,000.  He  wrote  manly  letters 
to  all  his  private  creditors,  stating  his  exact  position,  and 
assuring  them  that,  whoever  suffered,  they  should  not. 
In  order  to  bear  out  his  words,  he  at  once  proceeded  to 
negotiate  for  the  raising  of  sums  sufficient,  at  the  worst, 
to  satisfy  his  more  pressing  obligations.  It  is  not  quite 
clear  what  were  the  precise  steps  taken  ;  •  but  the  Earl 
had  not  gone  very  far  in  his  dealings  with  the  money- 
lenders, when  he  discovered,  to  his  amazement,  that  some 
person  was  making  use  of  his  (Northumberland's)  name, 
while  deliberately  working  against  him  in  the  financial 
world.  The  identity  of  this  mysterious  (though,  as  it 
subsequently  appeared,  well-intentioned)  marplot  was  soon 
disclosed.  He  proved  to  be  Lord  Knollys,  maternal  uncle 
of  the  Countess  of  Northumberland.^  Misunderstanding 
the  conduct  of  his  wife's  relative,  and  believing  that  the 
latter  had  been  set  on  by  the  Court  party  to  injure  him, 
the  Earl  despatched  a  letter  of  protest  to  Knollys.  "/ 
am  sorry,"  he  wrote,  "  that  your  Lo"*  and  I  should  nieete 
in  a  Bargaine  to  marre  one  anothers  Marckett,  to  make  it 
for  Strangers.  I  will  not  beleeve  but  there  lietli  wider 
this  proceeding  some  unnaturall  Secrett,  -which  yett  appeares 
not."* 


'  The  Earl's  statement  of  his  debts  to  Lord  Knollys ;  Alnwick  MSS., 
vol  ix. 

-  The  main  intention  was,  however,  to  raise  funds  by  means  of  mortgage, 
perhaps  upon  the  (unentailed)  Syon  estate. 

^  Sir  William  Knollys,  created  Baron  Knollys  in  1603  (and  afterwards  raised 
to  the  dignities  of  Viscount  Wallingford  and  Earl  of  Banbury),  was  son  of  Sir 
Francis  Knollys  by  Katherine  Carey,  and  thus  uncle  of  Lady  Northumberland, 
and  the  second  Earl  of  Essex. 

■*  Northumberland   to   Lord   Knollys,  Feb.   3,   1608 ;  Alnwick  MSS.,  vol. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  145 

Lord  Knollys,  in  reply,  assured  the  Earl  that  he  had  no 
wish  to  interfere  with  his  projects,  but  had  merely  moved 
in  the  matter  with  a  view  to  securing  for  Lady  Northum- 
berland and  her  younger  children  a  suitable  provision  ";« 
case  the  ivorst  should  come  to  passe."  He  added  that  it  was 
his  intention  to  settle  some  of  his  own  property  upon  his 
niece  and  her  offspring.  So  far  all  was  well,  nor  could 
any  one  object  to  such  a  line  of  conduct ;  but  unfortunately 
Knollys  (who  appears  to  have  been  a  benevolent  busybody, 
frightened  by  the  rumours  of  Northumberland's  threatened 
bankruptcy)  took  occasion,  at  the  close  of  his  long  letter,  to 
complain  that  the  Countess  was  not  allowed  enough  money 
to  maintain  herself  with  due  dignity  in  the  face  of  the 
world.  There  is  nothing  to  prove  that  Lady  Northumber- 
land herself  authorised,  or  was  even  aware  of  this  interfer- 
ence on  her  behalf  ;  indeed  she  appears  to  have  been  quite 
satisfied  with  the  allowance  made  to  her  by  her  husband. 
Knollys  evidently  embarked  in  the  affair  on  his  own  re- 
sponsibility, as  in  point  of  fact  he  admits  in  his  letter  to 
the  Earl.  While  Northumberland  was  grateful  enough  for 
the  interest  shown  in  his  family's  welfare,  he  naturally 
resented  the  imputation  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  stingi- 
ness in  his  domestic  arrangements.  In  his  answer  to 
Knollys,!  he  endeavoured  to  show  the  falsity  of  such  a 
charge.  Having  first  heartily  thanked  his  relative,  and 
apologised  for  misconstruing  the  latter's  recent  action,  he 
went  at  great  length  into  his  own  affairs,  and  showed  that 
he  could  not  by  any  possibility  increase  Lady  Northumber- 
land's already  large  allowance.  The  epistle  sheds  an  in- 
teresting light  upon  the  amount  of  expenditure  recognised 
as  suitable  to  a  great  lady  of  the  time  :— 

"/  aiJi  sorry  that  I  must  notve  talke  off  Pence  and 
Haulffpence  to  cancell  this  Imputation  —  a  Discourse  jitter 
for  a  Huswife  to  looke  on,  then  a  Councellor  off  State ;  and 
that  I  am  forced  to  proue  myselff  a  reasonable  Man,  and 
that  I  understand  myselff,  iff  I  haue  not  loste  my    U'ittes ; 

'  Dated  Feb.  14,  160S;  Alnwick  lilSS.,  vol.  ix. 


146  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

but  since  their  is  710  Remedy,  this  I  must  affirme  iippon  mine 
Honor : 

'^  Skee  {my  wyfe)  is  alloived  £1^00,  yearely,  ;£5oo  of  her 
loincture,  and  ;£8oo  besides  ;  tzvo  faier  Houses,  Essex  House 
and  Sion,  with  all  Furmitures  fitt  for  them  and  her  use ; 
although  for  the  one  some  parte  off  the  Rent  shee  doth  defray  ;  ^ 
Litters,  Barges,  Coaches  {one  excepted,  I  doe  thinck  shee  did 
buy).  Coach- Horses  for  herselff,  Hackneis  for  her  Seruantes,  all 
Stable  Chardges,  either  in  Towne  or  out  of  Towne  defraicd  off 
li'hat  kind  soeuer ;  all  chardges  of  Lienges  in,  as  Midwifes, 
Nurses  Wages,  Nursing  Children  abroade,  Apparrell,  and  all 
Necessaries  belonging  them  ;  then  agaijte  a  dozen  Servauntes 
besides  her  owne  Famely,-  as  Gentlemen  of  the  Horse,  Coach- 
men, Porters,  Groomcs,  Workefolkes  for  her  Kitching-Gardens 
that  are  emploied  in  theis  Seruices,  alwaies  ready  to  attend  her 
wliicJt  tieuer  costes  her  Meate  7ior  Motiey  ;  as  also  Schoolmasters. 
It  costes  me  ;£400  this  laste  yeare  paste  in  building  off  Bathing- 
Houses,^  Cabinettes,  and  other  thinges  Shee  had  a  fancy  to, 
which  this  1$  yeare  before  was  neuer  miste  nor  wanting:  nor 
haue  I  spared  to  satisfy  her  Contentment,  or  Delightes,  in  any 
IVorkes  since  my  Troubles,  though  I  had  laied  aside  all  manner 
off  Buildinges. 

"  /  say  again e,  I  am  ashaimcd  to  talke  of  Pence  and  Halff- 
pence  .  .  .  iff  it  were  not  to  aske  your  Lordship  whether 
you  call  this  suffering  Penury ;  and  hathe  shee  not  -^5000  or 
£6qoo  in  her  Purse  able  to  purchase  thinges  over  my  head? 
.  .  .  Doe  you  call  this  Groning  under  the  Burden  of  Penury, 
that  must  manifest  itselff  to  the  World,  though  shee  be  silent?" 

Knollys  having  withdrawn  his  opposition,  and  apolo- 
gised in  turn,  the  Earl  was  enabled  to  raise  various  small 
sums,  sufficient  to  satisfy  his  more  urgent  creditors.  The 
Crown  fine,  however,  continued  unpaid ;  and  although 
the  Queen  held  out  hopes  that  James  would  soon  relent, 
the  gates  of  the  Tower  remained  obstinately  closed  upon 
their  prisoner. 

'  Essex  House  was  only  rented  by  the  Earl  and  Countess. 

^  i.e.  her  immediate  attendants,  such  as  serving-women,  tyre-women,  &c. 

''  Baths. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  147 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  King  did  at  this  time  mani- 
fest a  disposition  towards  clemency  in  Northumberland's 
The  Earls  casc  ;  but  justvvhen  the  Earl's  expectations  were 
enemies  and  raiscd  to  the  highest  pitch,  the  royal  mood 
instroments.  Suddenly  changed,  and  James  declared  that  until 
The  case  of  the  last  penny  of  the  ^^30,000  fine  had  been 
handed  over  to  the  Exchequer,  there  should  be 
no  talk  of  pardon.  Lord  Salisbury  no  longer  attempted  to 
conceal  the  fact  that  the  King  had  acted  upon  his  advice 
in  the  matter ;  and  to  a  bitterly  reproachful  letter  from 
Northumberland  he  returned  the  cool  reply  that  he  could 
not  "conscientiously"  interfere  to  mitigate  what  in  his 
opinion  was  a  just  punishment.  So  the  Earl  lingered  on 
in  prison,  with  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and  other  victims  of 
the   Lord  Treasurer's  jealousy  and  hate. 

The  King's  fickle  nature,  however,  was  well  known 
to  Salisbury ;  and  he  took  measures  from  time  to  time 
to  keep  James's  anger  inflamed  against  Northumber- 
land, lest  otherwise  the  Queen's  persistent  intercession 
might  carry  the  day.  For  this  reason  the  hare-brained 
scheme  of  Alan  and  Josceline  Percy  to  take  service 
under  Catholic  Spain  was  made  much  of ;  and  most 
disingenuously,  Salisbury  represented  to  James  that  the 
Earl  had  encouraged  his  younger  brothers  to  abandon 
England.  Later  on  the  King  was  informed  that  North- 
umberland was  raising  considerable  sums  of  money  for 
his  own  delectation,  without  making  any  effort  to  pay  the 
fine  imposed  upon  him ;  and  this  although  the  Treasurer 
well  knew  that  every  penny  thus  acquired  was  spent  in 
staving  oft"  bankruptcy.  In  February  161 1  an  anonymous 
pamphlet  made  its  appearance,  denouncing  the  Earl  in  the 
most  violent  terms,  and  pretending  ^^  interior  knowledge," 
on  the  writer's  part,  of  many  facts  intimately  connecting 
him  not  only  with  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  but  with  other 
"horrible  Popish  treasons."  The  style  and  wording  of 
this  production  are  curiously  suggestive  of  Attorney- 
General  Coke.  It  had  a  wide  circulation,  and  did  the  Earl 
much  harm.     On  February  19  he  wrote  to  his  friend  (and 


148  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

former  custodian),  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  pro- 
testing against  the  unsubstantiated  charges  with  which  the 
pamphlet  was  filled.*  It  had  been  published  by  one  Francis 
Burton,  a  bookbinder  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard  ;  but 
Northumberland  could  probably  have  hazarded  shrewd 
guesses  at  the  names  of  its  author  and  instigator. 

The  sensation  caused  by  the  appearance  of  "  Burton's 
Tract,"  as  it  was  called,  had  hardly  begun  to  abate  at  Court, 
when  another  and  more  determined  attempt  was  made  by 
the  Earl's  enemies  to  compromise  him,  and  even  to  com- 
pass his  death  as  a  traitor — for  such  must  have  been  the 
result  had  this  foul  intrigue  succeeded.  A  man  named 
Timothy  Elkes  was  the  person  chosen  to  "  denounce  "  the 
Earl.  This  fellow,  a  former  lackey  of  Northumberland, 
had  been  discharged  for  insolence  some  months  before  ; 
and  it  was  while  indulging  (after  the  fashion  of  his  kind) 
in  abuse  of  his  late  master,  and  making  sundry  loose 
accusations  against  the  latter,  that  this  likely  instrument 
of  vengeance  was  discovered  by  my  Lord  Treasurer's 
agents.  V^ery  little  persuasion  was  needed  to  change 
Elkes  from  an  utterer  of  tavern  slanders,  into  a  "  voluntarie 
accuser  of  Noj-thumberlandy  He  declared  that  he  "  went  in 
feare  of  his  life"  -  dreading  that  the  Earl  would  have  him 
put  to  death  in  consequence  of  the  "terrible  secrets"  with 
which  chance  had  made  him  acquainted.  A  special 
Council  was  called  to  hear  the  "  evidence,"  the  King  him- 
self being  present.  Briefly  Elkes  accused  Northumberland 
of  direct  complicity  in  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  and  repeated 
the  old,  exploded  story  of  his  having  been  warned  of  the 
intended  blow  by  Thomas  Percy.  In  addition,  the 
"  witness "  claimed  that  Captain  Whitlocke,  who  was  at 
Syon  with  the  Earl  and  Percy  on  Nov.  4,  1605,  was  aware 
of  the  secret,  but  had  been  bribed  by  Northumberland  to 
keep  silence.^  Whitlocke,  it  may  be  remarked,  was  dead 
when   his   name  was   thus   made   free  with.      The   direct 

'   Original  Slate  Papers,  February  19,  1 6 1 1 . 

-  Evidence  of  Elkes  ;  Domestic  State  Papers,  James  /.,  vul.  Ixv. 

^  Doiiicstii  State  Papers, 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  149 

examination  of  Elkes  by  Coke,  Northampton,  and  Sir 
Krancis  Bacon  passed  of?  without  a  hitch  ;  and  it  was 
decided  to  bring  Northumberland  from  the  Tower  to  listen 
to  these  grave  allegations.  The  Earl  accordingly  journeyed 
to  Whitehall,  probably  by  barge.  It  was  the  first  occasion 
upon  which  he  had  left  his  prison  for  five  years.  The 
King  and  judges,  we  are  told,  found  him  ^^  much  changed ; 
res£i~ved,  cautious  and  timid  in  his  ansu'cres."  '  His  shoulders 
stooped,  and  his  face  was  pallid  from  long  confinement. 
The  State  Papers  do  not  relate  in  what  manner  James 
received  the  man  whom  he  had  treated  so  unjustly  ;  but 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  his  Majesty  was  impressed  by  the 
Earl's  altered  appearance,  for  during  the  subsequent  cross- 
examination  of  Elkes,  he  commanded  the  witness  some- 
what sharply  to  be  careful,  and  "  spcake  only  the  truthe." 
Northumberland  contented  himself  with  repeating  his 
former  evidence  in  rebuttal  of  the  charge  of  complicity. 
Elkes  then  made  another  statement,  to  the  effect  that,  after 
his  master  had  been  placed  under  arrest,  he  (Elkes)  had 
been  sent  to  Sir  Alan  Percy  with  a  message  urging  the 
latter  to  avow  himself  responsible  for  the  admission  of 
Thomas  Percy  to  the  Band  of  Gentlemen  Pensioners.  It 
is  difficult  to  see  what  bearing  this  message  had  upon  the 
actual  Plot ;  but  Coke  and  others  appeared  to  think  it  a 
a  most  important  point.  Northumberland,  when  called 
upon,  fully  admitted  that  he  had  sent  to  Alan  Percy,  but 
only  to  request  that  he  should  be  prepared  to  bear  his 
due  share  of  the  blame  for  the  conspirator's  irregular  entry 
into  the  King's  service.  Had  he  wished  to  convey  a  secret 
or  incriminating  message  (he  pointed  out),  it  was  hardly 
likely  that  he  should  do  so  by  word  of  mouth,  or  that  he 
should  select  as  messenger  a  person  like  Elkes. 

After  this,  the  case  for  the  prosecution  rapidly  went  to 
pieces.  The  King,  after  bidding  Elkes  tell  the  truth  or 
else  hold  his  tongue  altogether,  showed  plainly  that  he  gave 
little  credence  to  the  so-called  "  informer."  Taking  their 
cue  from  him,  the  councillors  present  unanimously  agreed 

'  Xorthampton  to  Salisbury  ;  Slate  Papers. 


ISO  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

to  dismiss  the  charges  as  either  baseless  or  absurd ;  and 
Coke,  who  had  been  prominent  in  conducting  the  attack, 
now  wrote  to  the  Lord  Treasurer  that  "  the  least  men  acquit 
Northumberland  of  all  blarney 

Salisbury  himself  remained  at  Hatfield  during  the 
inquiry,  giving  out  that  he  did  not  wish  to  take  an  active 
Outcome  of  P'^'^^  ''^  proceedings  so  largely  instigated  by  him- 
theEikes  Self.  It  is  possible  that  he  had  no  desire  to 
fauure.  meet  Northumberland  face  to  face.     That  Elkes 

lived  under  his  protection  both  before  and  after  these 
abortive  proceedings  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that,  imme- 
diately after  the  Lord  Treasurer's  death,  this  lying  and 
treacherous  lackey  fell  into  distress,  had  his  goods  seized 
for  debt,  and  was  forced  to  fly  the  country.  During  1611 
and  1612,  however,  while  his  patron  was  still  at  the  head 
of  affairs,  Elkes  lived  in  flourishing  circumstances,  and  (in 
spite  of  his  contemptuous  dismissal  by  the  Council)  had 
the  effrontery  to  write  several  letters  renewing  his  charges 
against  Northumberland.^  On  January  27,  1613,  the  de- 
feated false  witness  makes  his  last  appearance  upon  the 
stage  of  public  affairs.  He  writes  over  that  date  to 
Thomas  Lumsden,  gentleman  of  the  Privy  Council,  and 
one  of  the  dead  Salisbury's  proteges.  He  is,  he  declares, 
"  compelled  to  leave  England  to  avoid  the  practices  of  his 
adversa}-ies."  He  "cannot  sustain  his  suits"  (for  rewards 
claimed  by  him,  and  promised  by  the  Lord  Treasurer) 
"against  so  great  a  man  (as  the  Earl  of  Northuviberlatid) 
without  the  King's  special  grace."  For  this  reason  he  re- 
quests money  of  Lumsden  to  take  him  overseas.-  He 
managed  in  the  end  to  make  his  way  to  Leyden,  and 
thence  to  the  Massachusetts  Colony  —  in  which  latter 
godly  settlement  he  throve  as  an  herb  of  exceeding 
grace. 

The  collapse  of  the  Elkes  case  called  for  elaborate  ex- 
planations on  the  part  of  Lord  Salisbury,  not  only  to  the 
King,  but  to  various  foreign  courts  which  began  to  show 

'  Domestic  State  Papirs.  '  Ibid. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  151 

renewed  interest  in  Northumberland's  affairs.  From  the 
Spanish  Court  (where  the  Earl  had  many  warm  friends, 
and  whither  James  had  already  begun  to  cast  his  eyes  with 
a  view  to  some  future  alliance)  came  more  than  one  ex- 
pression of  surprise  and  displeasure  that  a  man  repeatedly 
proved  to  be  innocent  should  remain  a  prisoner,  and  almost 
an  outlaw.  In  order  to  prevent  any  formal  protest  from 
this  source,  Salisbury  sent  to  Sir  R.  Winwood,  British 
minister  at  Madrid,  one  of  his  familiar  epistles,  carefully 
prepared  with  a  view  to  mislead,  full  of  prevarications, 
and  intentionally  overlooking  both  the  main  points  of 
the  case  and  the  decision  arrived  at  by  the  judges.  The 
letter,  which  professes  to  be  a  full  and  unprejudiced  state- 
ment of  the  recent  proceedings,  may  stand  as  a  good 
example  of  the  method  in  which  facts  were  transmuted  in 
the  Cecil  crucible  : — 

"  The  Earl  of  Salisbury,  to  Sir  R.  Winwood,  his  Majesty's 
Minister  at  the  Court  0/  Madrid : 

"Because  you  may  have  heard  some  Bruite  touching  the 
Earl  of  Nortluimberlana! s  late  Exaiimiation  ;  and  knowing 
how  various  a  Discourse  a  Subject  of  this  Nature  doth  bcgett, 
I  have  thought  good  {though  there  be  no  other  matter  for  the 
present  to  make  this  the  occasion  of  a  Dispatch)  as  well  to 
acquaint  you  with  our  Home  Occurrences  in  the  exchange  of 
yours  from  abroad,  as  to  prevent  any  erroneous  Impression,  by 
this  breife  narrative  of  the  true  Motive  and  Progress  of  the 
Busyness. 

"  There  is  one  Elkes,  a  Servant  to  the  Earle,  and  one  who  it 
seems  was  no  Stranger  to  his  Secrets,  zvho  hath  of  late  com- 
plained to  a  private  Friend  (that  yet  hath  kept  the  same 
with  no  great  privacy)  that  he  stood  in  some  Danger  of  his 
Life,  seeing  that  he  observed  his  Lord's  Affection  to  be  grown 
cold  towards  hint ;  which  he  conceived  could  proceed  from  no 
other  Cause  but  Jealousy,  lest  he  should  reveal  some  Secrets 
which  he  had  revealed  unto  him  concerning  the  Powder  Treason. 
Thus  much  being  discovered,  it  could  not  be  avoided  to  draw 
the  same  into  some  further  Question  ;  yet  ivith  such  Caution  as 
was    requisite   when    the   Accusation    is   but  single,  and  the 


152  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Accuser  Servant  to  the  Person  accused.  The  Issue  hath  been 
that  the  Earl  hath  confessed  two  things  in  Substance :  one,  that, 
after  he  was  committed  to  the  Tower,  and  before  he  came  to 
tlie  Star  Chamber,  he  wrot  to  his  Brother,  Sir  Alan  Percie,  to 
take  it  upon  him,  that  by  his  Means,  Percie  ^  zvas  admitted  a 
Pensioner  and  suffered  to  escape  the  Oath.  The  other,  that  he 
was  acquainted  with  the  Hireing  of  that  House  from  ivhence 
the  Mine  ivas  made.  Both  these,  you  may  remember,  were  by 
him  very  stiffly  denied  heretofore ;  and,  though  they  be  not  of 
such  nature,  in  regard  they  do  not  necessarilie  infojxe  the  Know- 
ledge of  the  Fact,  as  to  call  him  to  a  further  Try  all  for  Life 
or  Landcs,  yet  they  serve  to  justify  the  former  Proceedings, 
those  Points  being  now  cleared,  which  at  that  Time  were  but 
presumed."  - 

As  for  Northumberland's  "confession"  that  "he  was 
acquainted  with  the  Hireing  of  that  House  from  whence  the 
Mine  ivas  made,"  all  that  transpired  in  his  examination  was 
that  he  had  been  aware  of  his  agent's  intention  to  rent  a 
residence  at  Westminster,  so  as  to  be  near  the  scene  of 
his  duties,  and  had  sanctioned  that  apparently  innocent 
project.  This  very  natural  admission,  Salisbury  ingeni- 
ously twists  into  a  most  suggestive  appearance  of  guilty 
foreknowledge  on  the  Earl's  part !  The  second  Cecil  was 
hardly  so  great  a  master  of  statecraft  as  his  father,  but 
there  were  certain  qualities  in  which  he  surpassed  the  latter. 
It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  letter  to  Madrid,  nothing  is 
said  of  Northumberland's  "acquittal  .  .  .  of  all  blame," ^  and 
of  the  manner  in  which  Elkes's  statements  were  discredited 
by  the  Council.  Indeed  a  person  accepting  this  missive  as 
a  true  history  of  the  affair  would  naturally  come  to  the 
conclusion  that,  in  place  of  being  completely  vindicated, 
the  Earl  had  been  forced  by  his  servant's  evidence  to  con- 
fess to  new  and  serious  offences.  The  remark  that  these 
"Points  .  .  .  now  cleared,"  served  "/o  justify  the  former 
Proceedings,"  and  to  establish  the   charges  "  u'hich  at  that 

'  Thomas  Percy. 

'  Winwood's  Memorials,  vol.  iii.     The  letter  was  dated  July  25,  161 1. 

'  Attorney-General  Coke's  statement  to  Salisbury. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  153 

Time  were  but  presumed,"  was  surely  a  blunder  on  the  part 
of  the  cunning  Salisbury  ;  for  it  proves  the  extraordinary 
fact  that  Northumberland  had  been  condemned,  fined,  and 
imprisoned  for  faults  which  had  never  been  proved,  but 
only  "presumed"  against  him. 

By  similar  means,  we  must  suppose,  the  King  was 
induced  to  alter  the  intention  which  he  had  formed  (after 
the  Elkes  Inquiry)  of  " skoti'ing  some  grace"  to  the  Earl.* 
Both  the  Queen  and  Lady  Northumberland  spoke  so 
confidently  of  the  royal  inclination  towards  clemency, 
that  Northumberland  once  more  addressed  an  appeal  to 
his  sovereign.  That  he  entertained  great  hopes  may  be 
judged  from  the  tone  of  his  letter,  which  was  that  of 
one  who  holds  himself  punished  undeservedly,  and  who 
expects  redress.  He  thanks  James  warmly  for  the  fairness 
with  which  the  Inquiry  had  been  conducted,  and  for  the 
manner  in  which  "  that  Viper,  his  Seruaute,  whose  Mallice  is 
see  appareiit,"  had  been  sternly  commanded  to  speak  "  no 
more  than  the  truth"  - 

The  appeal  proved  to  be  so  much  waste  paper  as  far  as 
the  King  was  concerned.  With  a  malignancy  that  lasted 
as  long  as  life  itself,  Salisbury  rose  from  a  sick-bed  to 
strike  his  last  and  hardest  blow  against  the  unhappy 
prisoner  in  the  Tower. 

F"ive  years  had  now  gone  by  since  Northumberland's 
sentence  in  the  Star  Chamber,  and  as  yet  his  forfeit  of 
The Earis  ;£30)000  remained  unsatisfied.  As  we  have  seen, 
estates  hjg  offers  to  Settle  the  great  fine  by  instalments 

by  the  (according  to  the  custom  followed  under  Henry 

Crown.  Yjii_  ^^^  Elizabeth)  had  been  rejected  by  the 

Lord  Treasurer's  advice  and  influence.  He  could  not, 
without  involving  his  family  in  ruin,  contrive  to  pay  the 
whole  sum  at  one  time  ;  and  so  the  matter  had  dragged  on 
for  years.  The  time  had  now  come,  however,  when,  in 
Salisbury's  opinion,  the  Crown  should  enforce  its  claim. 

'  Alnwick  AfSS.,  vol.  Ixv. 
'  6'aU  Papers. 


154  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

In  July  1611  (after  Elkes's  perjuries  had  failed  of  their 
intended  effect)  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  (Sir 
Julius  Cssar)  was  ordered  to  write  a  peremptory  letter  to 
the  Earl  demanding  immediate  payment  of  at  least  ;^20,ooo 
and  adequate  security  that  the  balance  would  be  paid 
within  a  few  years.  Otherwise,  declared  the  Chancellor, 
the  Percy  estates  would  be  sequestrated.  Northumberland 
at  first  regarded  this  as  a  mere  threat  to  frighten  him  into 
straining  his  resources  to  the  utmost.  He  replied  that 
^20,000  was  still  a  vast  amount  of  money  to  a  man 
in  his  position,  at  whom  the  ^^traffickers  in  loans"  looked 
askance.i  Nevertheless  he  believed  that  he  could  comply 
with  the  Treasury's  demands  if  a  little  additional  time 
were  given  him.  This  reply  was  probably  the  one  ex- 
pected and  desired  by  Salisbury.  No  further  warning 
was  sent  to  Northumberland,  and  the  Lord  Treasurer 
prevailed  upon  James  to  order  that  the  estates  of  this 
obstinate  debtor  should  be  declared  sequestrated  to  the 
King's  uses.  The  actual  instrument  of  sequestration  was 
signed  on  March  7,  1612;^  and  this  proved  the  first 
intimation  which  the  Earl  received  that  his  landed  pro- 
perty had  been  seized  upon  by  the  strong  hand  of  the 
State. 

Under  the  scheme  drawn  up  by  Salisbury,  and  thus 
made  law,  the  various  baronies  and  manors  owned  by 
Northumberland  were  leased  out  to  the  King's  Receivers- 
General  in  the  various  counties  where  these  possessions  lay. 
Yearly  sums  were  to  be  collected  by  the  lessees,  and, 
after  the  deduction  of  certain  percentages,  handed  over  to 
the  Treasury.  In  the  county  of  Northumberland,  for 
instance,  Ralph  Ashton  the  younger,  Receiver  of  Crown 
Revenues,  was  appointed  Farmer-General  over  the  Baronies 
of  Alnwick,  Warkworth,  Prudhoe,  and  Rothbury,  and  the 
manors  of  Charleton-in-Tynedale,  Corbrigg,  &c.  Out  of 
these  properties  he  was  to  collect  annually,  until  further 

'  Alnivick  MSS,  vol.  viii. 

-  Domestic  and  Treasury  Slate  Papers. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  155 

notice,  £2^2-  ^^s.^  Similar  leases  were  issued  with  regard 
to  the  Cumberland,  Yorkshire,  and  Sussex  revenues  of  the 
Earl :  and  this  high-handed  plan  was  put  into  execution 
without  dela3^  Salisbury,  although  seriously  (and  as  it 
proved  mortally)  ill,  could  not  deny  himself  the  satisfaction 
of  negotiating  and  granting  every  one  of  the  leases.  It 
must  have  galled  him  that  he  could  not  touch  Syon  House, 
or  the  private  estate  of  his  particular  enemy,  the  Countess 
of  Northumberland.  But,  before  death  carried  him  away, 
he  had  signed  and  sealed  the  last  of  these  documents  of 
sequestration.-  Erom  his  quarters  in  the  Tower,  Northum- 
berland wrote  to  his  dying  foe  a  letter  of  stern  remon- 
strance. He  had  no  wish,  he  said,  to  fling  reproaches  at  a 
man  almost  m  extremis,  but  he  could  not  but  loathe  the 
treachery  which  had  counselled  the  King  to  take  such  a 
step.  Salisbury  he  had  always  looked  upon  (in  spite  of 
evidence  to  the  contrary)  as  a  friend.  He  had  rejoiced, 
and  assisted  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  in  the  Lord  Treasurer's 
advancement.  And  when  Sir  William  Cecil  was  elevated  to 
the  ranks  of  the  nobility,  the  writer  reminds  him  that  "  wee 
joyed  to  have  you  of  our  Societie."  The  letter  was  written  in 
April  1612.*  On  May  24  Salisbury  died,  leaving  the  letter 
unanswered. 

The  decease  of  their  arch-opponent  aroused  the  Earl's 
friends  to  fresh  efforts.  On  June  12,  1612,  Lady  Northum- 
berland addressed  a  moving  petition  to  the  King,  on  behalf 
of  herself  and  her  children.  The  Queen  presented  this 
memorial  in  person ;  and  James  is  said  to  have  received  it 
favourably.^  On  the  same  day  he  received  a  letter  from 
Northumberland,  entreating  him  to  listen  to  the  prayers 
of  the  Countess  and  consent  to  set  aside  the  scheme  of 
sequestration.^  The  writer  asked  nothing  for  himself ; 
indeed  he  expressed  himself  as  willing  to  suffer  life  im- 

'  Alnwick  MSS.  (Sequestration  Leases). 

»  Ibid. 

3  Alnwick  MSS.  (Copy). 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  X. 

'  Ibid. 


156  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

prisonment,  if  only  his  wife  and  children  were  restored 
to  the  family  possessions,  and  the  Star  Chamber  fine 
reduced  to  a  sum  which  he  could  pay  without  becoming 
bankrupt.  The  effects  of  Salisbury's  death  were  at  once 
perceptible  in  the  Council  when  James  proposed  to  extend 
tardy  relief  to  the  imprisoned  nobleman  and  those  dependent 
upon  him.  No  more  denunciatory  pamphlets  were  solemnly 
read,*  and  no  "  fresh  evidence "  professing  to  connect 
Northumberland  with  the  Gunpowder  Plot  came  unex- 
pectedly to  light.  In  fact  the  Councillors,  with  one  or 
two  exceptions,  agreed  that  the  time  had  come  to  moderate 
the  Earl's  penalties.  There  was  enough  of  the  old  Cecil 
leaven  remaining,  however,  to  prevent  James  from  treating 
the  House  of  Percy  with  any  great  generosity.  The  terms 
offered  were  that  one-third  of  the  fine  should  be  remitted, 
on  condition  that  the  Earl  gave  guaranteed  bonds  for  the 
payment  of  the  balance  (^20,000)-  in  yearly  instalments 
of  ;^3ooo — that  is  to  say,  charged  his  estate  with  the 
payment,  for  nearly  six  or  seven  years,  of  an  annual  fine 
equivalent  to  ^^"15,000  in  money  of  our  time.  The  seques- 
tration was  "to  continue  in  force  until  the  entire  claim  was 
satisfied" — an  extraordinary  proviso  in  view  of  the  demand 
for  "guaranteed  bonds,"  and  one  which  practically  nullified 
this  so-called  ^^ gracious  Reduction. '''  For,  unless  Northum- 
berland had  full  control  of  his  estates,  he  could  hardly 
contrive  to  raise  the  large  yearly  amounts  bargained  for  by 
the  Crown.  It  was  in  truth  a  typical  Stuart  "concession" 
— half-hearted,  and  contradictory  in  its  terms.  Against  the 
cruel  absurdity,  both  Northumberland  and  his  wife  at  once 
protested — the  lady  in  terms  which  showed  at  once  her 
outspoken  nature  and  the  low  opinion  which  she  enter- 
tained of  the  King's  character.  We  find  her  scoffing 
openly  at  his  Majesty's  "pretended  wants"  and  general 
avariciousness.    "  God  forbidd,"  she  adds,  "that  one  or  two 

'  The  pamphlet  printed  and  circulated  by  Francis  Burton,  a  few  years  before, 
had  been  produced  and  read  in  Council,  as  though  it  were  weighty  evidence 
instead  of  mere  vituperation. 

'  Equal  to  at  least  ;^loo,ooo  of  to-day. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  157 

poor  Creatures  should  suffer  because  your  Ma''"  Coffers  are 
emptie."  ^  The  Earl,  for  his  part,  contented  himself  with  a 
dignified  remonstrance,  and  with  hinting  that  the  Crown 
Receivers  appointed  under  the  articles  of  sequestration 
were  growing  needlessly  rich,  not  only  at  his  expense,  but 
at  that  of  the  King  as  well.  These  worthies  were  supposed 
to  receive  two  shillings  in  every  pound  of  rent  which  they 
collected ;  but  as  they  enjoyed  the  use  of  the  money  for 
twelve  months  before  turning  it  over  to  the  County  Courts, 
and  were  accustomed  to  lend  large  suras  at  interest  for  their 
own  benefit,  it  is  easy  to  see  what  a  profitable  traffic  was 
theirs. 

Whether  James  was  moved  by  Lady  Northumberland's 
plain  speaking  (and  he  prided  himself  at  times  upon  a 
relish  for  bluntness),  or  whether,  as  is  more  likely,  he  saw 
the  justice  of  the  Earl's  remarks  and  began  to  doubt  the 
integrity  of  his  Receivers,  it  was  not  long  before  he  offered 
a  further  and  more  reasonable  concession.  On  payment 
of  ^^"14,000  he  was  willing,  he  declared,  to  remove  the 
sequestration,  and  grant  a  full  quittance  of  the  debt.  To 
these  terms  Northumberland  lost  no  time  in  replying. 
He  thanked  the  King  cordially ;  but  argued  that  even  this 
greatly  reduced  sum  was  difficult  of  immediate  collection 
by  a  person  situated  as  he  was.  However,  in  order  to 
meet  James  more  than  half  way,  he  was  willing  to  make 
over  to  the  Crown  the  only  part  of  his  property  which 
had  not  been  affected  by  Salisbury's  vindictive  measure, 
and  which  thus  still  remained  wholly  at  his  disposal.  This 
was  none  other  than  the  estate  and  mansion  of  Syon. 
"  Sion,  ant  please  j'our  Md""  he  writes,  "  is  the  onlie  Lande 
I  can  putt  away,  the  rest  being  entayled."  ^  The  building 
of  Syon  House  alone,  he  continues,  had  cost  him  over 
^9000  ;  while  the  lands,  as  then  rented,  were  "  luorth  to 
be  sold  ;^8ooo,  ivithin  a  little  more  or  lesse."     The   joint 

'  Lady  Northumberland  to  the  King ;  Slale  Papers. 

'  Syon  had  been  granted  by  the  King  to  Northumberland  personally,  and 
not  settled  upon  his  heirs.  He  could  thus  sell  or  bequeath  the  property  as  he 
saw  fit. 


158  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

value  of  house  and  lands  would  certainly  cover  the 
reduced  fine.  "In  hiiinble  Maner  therefore"  he  con- 
cludes, "  /  lay  the  same  at  your  Ma""  Feet,  to  give  yotir 
Ma'"  Satisfaction."  ^ 

This  offer  the  King  declined,  probably  through  a  feeling 
of  shame  at  the  thought  of  receiving  back  a  gift  which 
he  had  himself  bestowed  for  services  rendered.  It  was 
difficult,  however,  to  refuse  a  settlement  of  the  affair  so 
convenient  (and,  at  the  same  time,  so  little  affecting 
the  interests  of  Lady  Northumberland  and  her  innocent 
children)  without  taking  one  more  step  in  the  direction 
of  clemency.  Accordingly  James  consented  to  receive 
;^ii,ooo,  in  addition  to  the  moneys  already  collected  by 
the  Crown  Receivers,^  as  payment  in  full  of  the  Earl's 
fine.  Northumberland  succeeded  in  adequately  guarantee- 
ing this  sum ;  and  was  accordingly  granted,  under  Letters 
Patent  of  November  8,  nth  of  James  L,  what  was  termed 
a  "Full  Pardon  and  Release"'^  This  document  merely 
related  to  the  financial  penalties  inflicted  upon  him.  The 
obnoxious  sequestration  was  cancelled,  and  the  Star 
Chamber  fine  satisfied.  But  nothing  was  said  or  done 
with  regard  to  the  Earl's  release  from  the  Tower — indeed 
he  had  yet  nearly  nine  years  of  imprisonment  before  him, 
although  he  had  been  given  to  understand  from  the  first 
that  his  captivity  was  to  terminate  upon  the  payment  of  his 
fine.  He  had  confidently  looked  forward  to  freedom ; 
and  had  even  begun  to  make  arrangements  for  a  departure 
from  the  dreary  quarters  which  he  had  then  occupied  for 
over  seven  years.  Great  indeed  must  have  been  his  dis- 
appointment when  he  found  the  Tower  gates  closed  as 
sternly  upon  him  as  ever.  But  pride  forbade  any  reminder 
to  the  King  upon  this  head  ;  nor  would  the  prisoner  permit 
his  wife  to  make  further  appeals  in  his  behalf.  Now  that 
the  position  of  his  children  was  assured,  and  their  inherit- 
ance freed   from   debt,   his   own  freedom   mattered  little. 

'  Northumberland  to  the  King,  April  14,  1613  ;  State  Papers. 

"  About  ;£'35oo. 

*  The  original  is  preserved  among  the  archives  at  Syon'House. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  159 

There  was  another  point,  however,  upon  which  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  approach  the  King.  In  spite  of  the  ^'Pardon 
and  Release,"  he  still  remained  debarred  from  all  offices 
under  the  Crown,  including  those  which  had  been  made 
hereditary  in  his  family  by  royal  grant.  Northumberland 
claimed  that  these  latter,  or  a  certain  one  of  them  at 
least,  should  now  be  restored  him.  The  fact  that  he  was  a 
prisoner  need  not  by  any  means  militate  against  his  due 
fulfilment  of  their  functions,  since  it  was  customary  to 
appoint  deputies  in  such  cases.  The  governorship  of  Tyne- 
mouth  Castle  he  was  particularly  desirous  of  recovering. 
This  dignity  had  been  settled  by  Elizabeth  upon  his  father, 
with  reversion  to  himself ;  and  James  had  renewed  the 
reversion  in  favour  of  the  young  Lord  Percy — thus  practi- 
cally making  the  custody  of  the  castle  a  family  heritage  for 
at  least  three  generations.  Under  these  circumstances,  the 
Earl  held  that  Tynemouth  wardenry  was  distinct  from 
the  other  and  un inherited  honours  which  he  had  forfeited. 
The  King  refused  to  see  matters  in  this  light,  and  named 
the  Earl  of  Dunbar  governor  of  Tynemouth.  Northumber- 
land then  wrote  to  Dunbar,  laying  the  whole  facts  of  the 
case  before  him.  The  Scottish  Earl  at  once  generously 
withdrew  from  the  governorship,  and  urged  James  to 
bestow  it  upon  '^  the  rightful  inheritor."  But  his  Majesty 
merely  censured  Dunbar  for  his  pains,  and,  still  ignoring 
Percy  claims,  placed  Sir  William  Selby  in  the  coveted  post. 
Northumberland  sent  two  more  letters  of  remonstrance, 
without  avail,^  and  then  allowed  the  matter  to  drop. 
During  the  remainder  of  his  long  stay  in  the  Tower,  he  did 
not  again  address  the  King  directly. 

An  account  of  Northumberland's  strange  life  in  the 
Tower  of  London  has  been  purposely  delayed  until  this 
stage  of  the  narrative,  for  the  reason  that  it  was  not  until 
after  the  payment  of  his  fine  that  he  became  really 
resigned  to  prison  life,  and  set  about  making  for  himself 

'  Northumberland  to  the  King,  Nov.   19,  1614,  and  Feb.  20,   1615  ;  State 
Papers. 


i6o  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

a  home  within  the  lowering  bastions  of  the  old  fortress. 

No  historian  of  the  Tower  has  omitted  to  dwell  upon  the 

Earl's  sixteen  years  of  durance  in  a  place  so  full 

How  the  .    ,  .  ■'.      .  .  r    1  ■ 

Earl  was  of  bitter  associations  tor  one  of  his  name  and 
x'^^^r'"*^  kin.  To  him,  in  truth,  the  grisly  stronghold  must 
have  seemed  a  haunted  spot — haunted  by  the 
ghosts  of  many  sufferers  whose  chains  had  been  broken 
long  since  by  the  hand  of  death.  It  is  one  thing  to  regard 
those  walls,  as  we  do  to-day,  with  a  feeling  of  romantic 
interest  in  the  past ;  and  another  to  look  upon  them,  as 
Henry  Percy  of  Northumberland  must  have  looked,  while 
still  they  were  the  prison  and  the  torture-room  of  an 
almost  irresponsible  sovereign.  There  the  Earl's  own 
father  had  died  a  bloody  and  mysterious  death  scarce 
twenty  years  before.  Thence  his  grandfather,  Sir  Thomas 
Percy,  had  been  dragged,  with  his  companions  of  the 
Pilgrimage  of  Grace,  to  suffer  for  their  faith  upon  the 
scaffold.  Thence  too,  but  a  little  while  before,  Lady 
Northumberland's  brother,  the  rash,  the  brilliant  Essex, 
went  to  his  doom  ;  and  in  the  little  church  of  the  prison 
his  bones  had  been  laid  hurriedly  by  night,  not  far  from 
those  of  the  murdered  eighth  Earl  of  Northumberland. 
Sir  Ingelgram  Percy's  pathetic  "  Saro  Fideli"  appeared 
but  freshly  carved  upon  the  wall  of  the  Beauchamp  Tower. 
Sturdy  Sir  John  Perrott  had  not  long  ceased  his  restless 
pacing  to  and  fro  upon  the  inner  ramparts  ;  and  in  the 
little  garden  at  the  foot  of  what  we  now  call  the  "  Bloody 
Tower,"  Raleigh,  Grey,  and  Cobham — companions  of  the 
Earl's  youth,  and  victims  like  himself  of  Lord  Salisbury's 
malevolence — still  daily  met,  and  whiled  away  the  hours. 

The  notorious  Waad,  Raleigh's  cruel  persecutor,  was 
Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  when  Northumberland  made  his 
first  appearance  there  in  the  character  of  a  prisoner.^ 
Waad  was  little  likely  to  harass  and  humiliate  the  Earl,  as 
he  did  Raleigh  ;  for  the  former  was  still  in  possession  of  a 

'  The  Earl  had  been  used  to  frequent  the  Tower  Muniment-Room  for  the  pur- 
pose of  archjeological  research,  and  perhaps  also  for  the  opportimity  thus  afforded 
of  obtaining  speech  with  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  i6i 

large  rent-roll,  and  the  Governor  of  the  Tower,  like  him  of 
the  Bastille,  fattened  upon  what  he  drew  from  the  purses  of 
his  wealthy  charges.  Still  his  choice  of  apartments  for  the 
new  prisoner  (if,  indeed,  his  choice  at  all,  and  not  that  of 
Salisbury)  was  an  ill-omened  and  most  inconsiderate  one. 
The  Earl  was  lodged  in  the  Garden  Tower,i  where  twenty 
years  before  his  father  had  been  done  to  death,  either  by  his 
own  hand,  or  by  that  of  Hatton's  agent.  Little  wonder  that 
the  son  of  the  unfortunate  Earl  Henry  shuddered  to  find 
himself  among  such  surroundings,  and  that,  as  soon  as  he 
realised  how  protracted  his  confinement  might  be,  he 
sought  eagerly  for  permission  to  change  his  quarters.  It  was 
but  natural  that  he  should  prefer  not  to  allude  to  the  terrible 
tragedy  which  had  taken  place  in  the  adjoining  rooms. 
When  he  applied  to  the  Council  for  new  apartments  it  was 
ostensibly  for  reasons  of  health  and  comfort.  His  appeal 
was  as  follows  : — "  It  pleased  y'  Lordshipps  when  yoic  were 
last  here,  amongst  other  Speeches,  to  say  if  I  zvanted  anything  I 
might  coviplain  and  let  your  Lordshipps  know  of  it.  Now,  my 
Lords,  as  the  Summer  groweth  on,  I  find  this  little  Garden'^ 
that  lieth  all  the  Day  upon  the  Sun,  to  be  very  close ;  these 
Galleries^  very  noysome  with  the  Savours  from  the  Ditches,^ 
and  Invalidities  oftener  to  threaten  me  than  they  were  wont. 

"  These  lower  Parts  are  so  wet  after  every  Shoiver  of  Rain, 
as  there  is  no  stirring  in  the  Garden;  neither  is  the  Air  so 
wholesome  as  the  Hill.  Therefore,  if  it  please  your  Lordshipps 
that  I  may  have  the  Benefitt  thereof,  as  other  Prisoners  hath 
had,  beitig  here  in  the  same  Nature  that  I  am,  I  shall  acknow- 
ledge myself  much  favoured.^ 

'  The  Garden  or  "Bloody  "  Tower  was  situated  between  the  main  entrance  to 
the  fortress  and  the  Governor's  house,  directly  overlooking  the  fosse  and  the  river 
beyond. 

^  The  small  garden  already  alluded  to,  and  called  the  Lieutenant's  Garden, 
which  stretched  northward  from  the  foot  of  the  Garden  Tower. 

^  The  walk  along  the  ramparts  of  the  inner  Ballium  between  the  Garden 
Tower  and  the  Governor's  house.  On  these  galleries  Raleigh  afterwards  paced, 
while  great  crowds  watched  him  from  the  river  below. 

■•  The  Tower  Moat,  which  then  completely  girded  the  fortress. 

°  Northumberland  to  the  Council,  May  9,  1606  ;  State  Papers. 
II.  L 


l62  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

The  Council  could  not  well  refuse  this  request,  more 
especially  as  Northumberland's  trial  by  the  Star  Chamber 
had  not  then  taken  place,  and  he  still  technically  uncon- 
victed. Orders  were  accordingly  given  for  his  removal 
to  the  "Hill"  or  northern  part  of  the  Tower;  and  the 
entire  Martin  Tower  was  assigned  to  him  for  a  residence. 
The  Martin  (as  a  glance  at  a  plan  of  the  fortress  will  show) 
was  a  mural  tower,  situated  at  the  north-east  angle  of 
the  inner  wall,  "  over  against  the  Greeti  Mount."  Beyond  it 
were  a  parade  ground  and  the  outer  Bailey  Wall ;  and 
beyond  these  again  stretched  the  fosse  or  ditch  (very  wide 
at  this  corner)  and  the  open  fields.  The  house  was  large 
and  secluded,  and  the  vaults  beneath  being  exceptionally 
strong,  it  was  afterwards  used  as  a  treasury  for  the  Crown 
jewels.  Here,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  occurred  Blood's 
dare-devil  attempt  to  steal  the  regalia,  and  here  the  amusing 
vagaries  of  the  "  Tower  ghost "  are  supposed  to  have  taken 
place.  Among  the  notable  prisoners  who  had  occupied 
these  quarters  before  Northumberland,  were  Lord  Roch- 
ford,  Norreys,  and  others  connected  with  the  "crimes" 
of  poor,  foolish  Anne  Boleyn,  In  later  years  Archbishop 
Bancroft  was  to  be  lodged  here,  under  less  tragic  circum- 
stances,' The  situation  was  an  elevated  one.  From  his 
favourite  promenade  (presently  to  be  described)  along  the 
inner  Bailey  "gallery,"  the  Earl  could  overlook  upon  one 
side  the  inner  ward  of  the  great  prison.  The  roofs  of  the 
gunners'  houses  were  immediately  below  him,  while  the 
huge  mass  of  the  White  Tower  raised  itself  in  the  fore- 
ground. On  the  left,  along  the  wall,  was  the  Constable 
Tower  ;  while  on  the  right  were  the  Brick  and  Bowyer 
Towers,  with  the  Church  of  St.  Peter-ad-vincu/a  (where 
his  father's  bones  reposed)  standing  in  the  midst  of  its 
plot  of  green.  But  the  captive  was  less  likely  to  dwell 
upon  this  prospect  than  upon  that  which  lay  beyond 
the  outer  wall  and  moat — the  Minories  and  East  Smith- 
field  (hamlets  then),  and  the  wide  green  countryside, 
the  farmsteads,  villages,  and  woodlands  that  spread  to- 
'  Ilepworth  Dixon  ;  lUr  Majesty's  To7ver. 


-■^^:; 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  163 

wards  leafy  Epping,  Bow,  Stratford,  and  the  Essex 
plains. 

To  this  day  the  name  "Northumberland's  Walk"  is 
applied  to  the  "gallery"  or  footway  which  runs  along  the 
battlements  from  the  Martin  Tower  to  the  Brick  Tower. 
The  Earl  was  also  accustomed  to  exercise  himself  upon  the 
wall  between  the  Martin  and  Constable  Towers  ;  but  the 
first-mentioned  promenade  was  his />ar  excellence,  and  in  the 
course  of  his  long  imprisonment  he  came  to  look  upon  the 
narrow  causeway  almost  as  private  property.  Indeed,  when 
years  and  suffering  had  greatly  increased  his  natural  testi- 
ness,  we  read  that  on  one  occasion  he  violently  assaulted  a 
fellow-prisoner  who  ventured  to  trespass  upon  the  spot.^ 
But  there  was  another  reason  for  this  ebullition  of  temper 
than  the  mere  objection  to  find  his  domains  invaded.  The 
person  whom  he  attacked  was  Patrick  Ruthven,  youngest 
brother  of  the  last  Earl  of  Gowrie.'^  Ruthven,  while  an 
exile  at  the  English  Court,  had  grossly  insulted  North- 
umberland by  accusing  him  of  having  lampooned  a  lady 
of  virtue  who  had  rejected  his  addresses.^  The  arrival 
of  James  I.  in  England,  and  the  committal  of  Ruthven  to 
the  Tower,  prevented  a  hostile  meeting  at  the  time.  But 
when  the  attainted  heir  of  Gowrie,  forgetting  the  old 
grudge,  made  his  appearance  in  the  sacred  Walk,  North- 
umberland fell  upon  and  soundly  thrashed  him.* 

The  sequel  of  the  affair  is  unreported  ;  but  Ruthven 
and  his  assailant  were  released  from  the  Tower  in  the 
same  year  (1622).  Special  permission  was  granted  to  the 
Earl  to  pave  and  otherwise  arrange  the  Walk  according 

'  Chamberlain  to  Dudley  Carleton  ;  Origittal  State  Papers. 

^  When  John,  third  Earl  of  Gowrie  (son  of  Rizzio's  murderer),  was  killed  in 
1600,  he  left  two  surviving  brothers,  William  and  Patrick,  who  found  a  brief 
asylum  in  England.  One  of  James  I.'s  earliest  acts  was  to  order  the  arrest  of 
these  fugitives.  William  escaped  overseas,  but  Patrick  was  seized  and  cast  into 
the  Tower,  where  he  remained  from  1603  to  1622.  After  his  release  he  married 
Elizabeth,  Lady  Gerard,  and,  after  a  career  of  strange  vicissitudes,  died  in  1652, 
an  inmate  of  King's  Bench  Prison.  His  only  son  Patrick  afterwards  assumed 
the  title  of  Lord  Ruthven  ;  and  his  daughter  married  Vandyck. 

^  Cabala, 

♦  Chamberlain  to  Dudley  Carleton  ;   Ori<pnal  Slate  Papers. 


i64  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

to  his  liking,  and  at  his  own  expense.^  In  Pepys'  Diary 
it  is  stated  that  a  large  stone  was  erected  at  one  end  (close 
by  the  portal  of  the  Martin  Tower),  upon  which  were  carved 
the  armorial  bearings  of  the  House  of  Percy,  together  with 
"  holes  to  put  in  apeg for  every  turn  they  make  upon  that  zvalk."  - 
The  device  of  these  pegs  suggests  the  mathematical  bent 
of  Northumberland's  mind.  One  wonders  how  many  such 
reminders  he  placed  in  the  sculptured  stone  between  1606 
and  1622,  and  how  many  "turns"  he  made  with  his  friends 
upon  the  pavement  of  the  Walk  witiiin  that  weary  time  ! 
On  the  southern  face  of  his  "house,"  looking  towards  the 
Constable  Tower,  he  caused  to  be  erected  a  sun-dial,  the 
work  of  his  friend  and  protege,  Harriot.  This  relic  still 
survives,  and  its  gnomon  throws  its  changing  shadow  for 
all  who  choose  to  look  ;  just  as  the  Earl's  jealously  guarded 
Walk  is  free  to  the  curious  world. 

The  coming  of  Northumberland  to  the  Tower  had  an 

immediate  and  extraordinary  effect  upon  the  life  of   the 

place.     He  found  his  friends  Raleigh,  Cobham, 

Earl  works     and  Grey  (the  latter  his  neighbour  in  the  Brick 

changes  in      Towcr)  living  a  life  of  stagnation  and  wretched- 

the  Tower.  .  . 

ness.  Raleigh,  harried  by  the  spiteful  Lieutenant 
Waad,  and  well-nigh  hopeless  of  better  things,  seems  to 
have  passed  his  waking  hours  brooding  in  his  apartment, 
or  walking  listlessly  in  the  "little  Garden  that  lieth  all  day 
upon  the  sun."  No  thought  of  the  "  History  of  the  World" 
had  as  yet  crossed  his  brain.  Cobham  and  Grey,  who  had 
a  keen  relish  for  outdoor  sports,  found  nought  to  please 
them  in  these  narrow  courts  and  echoing  corridors.  No 
doubt  the  Earl,  coming  freshly  from  the  outside  world, 
recognised  and  pitied  the  state  of  lethargy  into  which  they 
had  fallen.  At  all  events  he  set  himself  from  the  first  to 
change  the  conditions  of  their  lives,  to  make  their  lives 
worth  the  living  in  fact,  and  to  save  them  from  the  Slough 
of  Despond.  The  sour  Lieutenant  had  first  to  be  won 
over;    but    sundry  judicious   gifts   (such  as  "  two  pendant 

'  Rolls  of  Syon  IJoiisi.  -  Pepys'  Diary,  vol.  ii.  p.  314. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  165 

rubies,'"^  by  way  of  earrings,  to  Mistress  Waad,  the  official's 
daughter)  soon  produced  a  noticeable  effect  in  this  quarter. 
A  considerable  portion  of  the  Governor's  perquisites  was 
derived  (as  in  the  Bastille)  from  the  profit  made  upon  food 
supplied  to  prisoners.  Northumberland,  however,  desired 
to  keep  his  own  table  ;  and  made  arrangements  to  this 
effect  with  Waad,  paying  that  worthy  ;^ioo  per  anntini  for 
the  privilege,  in  addition  to  the  charges  for  "  cookinge  and 
storinge,"  which  were  considerable.  He  also  bought  much 
of  his  wine  from  the  Lieutenant,  who  had  private  means 
of  obtaining  foreign  commodities  brought  to  the  port  of 
London.  In  these  and  other  ways  Sir  Arthur  Waad  made 
a  large  protit  out  of  the  generosity  of  his  rich  prisoner, 
and  was,  for  the  latter's  sake,  inclined  to  be  more  com- 
plaisant to  Raleigh  and  the  others.  Permission  was  granted 
to  the  four  friends  to  exchange  visits  ;  but,  as  the  Martin 
and  Brick  Towers  were  much  farther  from  the  Lieutenant's 
house  than  the  quarters  occupied  by  Raleigh  and  Cobham, 
it  was  more  usual  for  them  to  meet  upon  the  Earl's  Walk 
than  in  the  garden  of  the  Bloody  Tower.  For  the  purpose 
of  drawing  Cobham  and  Grey  out  of  the  apathy  into  which 
they  had  fallen,  Northumberland  had  a  bowling-alley  laid 
down,"  and  introduced  tennis,  battledore,  and  even  fencing^ 
(although  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  weapon  was  supposed 
to  be  forbidden  among  the  prisoners).  Raleigh's  melancholy 
was  of  a  sort  that  these  pastimes  could  not  charm  away ; 
yet  we  shall  see  that  even  in  the  case  of  Raleigh  the  Earl 
succeeded  in  reviving  dead  ambitions,  and  reviving  them 
so  effectually  that  Sir  Walter  awoke  from  his  dreams,  and, 
since  he  could  not  wear  the  sword,  turned  manfully  to 
win  a  new  fame  with  the  pen.  "  Northumberland,  the 
Maecenas  of  the  age,"  writes  Lingard,  "converted  that 
abode  of  misery  into  a  temple  of  the  Muses."  Raleigh  was 
gradually  inspired  by  the  genius  of  the  place  ;  at  first  he 
endeavoured  to  solace  the  tedium  of  confinement  by  the 

'  Syon  House  Rolls. 

^  "  Paid  for  making  a  Bo^i'ling  Alky  in  Lord  CobhanC  s  Garden  in  the  Tower, 
^14,  Si.  <)d"—Syon  House  Rolls.  *  Ili'd. 


i66  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

study  of  chemistry ;  thence  he  proceeded  to  different 
branches  of  Hterature ;  and  two  years  before  his  enlarge- 
ment pubHshed  his  celebrated  "  History  of  the  World."  ^ 

No  sooner  was  Northumberland  established  in  the 
Martin  Tower  than  he  proceeded  to  surround  himself  anew 
with  the  companions  who  had  shared  his  scientific  and 
literary  studies  at  Syon.  Prominent  among  these  were  the 
three  men  whom  Raleigh,  beginning  to  take  a  languid 
interest  in  their  researches,  happily  styled  "  the  Earts 
Three  Magi."  The  name,  which  became  a  byword  in  the 
Tower,  was  applied  by  Sir  Walter  to  Thomas  Harriot, 
Robert  Hues,  and  Walter  Warner.  Harriot,  described  by 
Wood  as  "  the  Universal  Philosopher,"  ^  was  unquestionably 
the  greatest  English  mathematician  and  astronomer  of  his 
day.  Northumberland  assigned  him  a  private  laboratory 
and  sleeping  apartment  in  the  Martin  Tower,  and  the 
philosopher  voluntarily  accepted  prison  life,  so  as  to  be 
near  his  friend  and  patron.^  During  his  residence  there, 
from  1606  to  1609,  he  kept  up  a  continuous  correspondence 
with  Kepler  on  various  subjects  of  deep  scientific  interest.'' 
From  the  Tower  he  went,  in  1607,  at  Northumberland's 
expense,  to  llfracombe,  in  order  to  make  an  observation  of 
the  comet  afterwards  called  "  Halley's."  ^  Between  Decem- 
ber 1610  and  January  1613  he  is  said  to  have  made  199 
observations  of  sun-spots.  Harriot  exercised  considerable 
influence  over  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  with  whom  he  had 
made  a  voyage  to  Virginia,  and  through  whose  influence 
he  had  been  placed  upon  Northumberland's  pension  list.* 

The  second  of  "the  Earl's  Magi"  was  Robert  Hues,^ 
also  a  mathematician,  but  chiefly  remembered  as  a  geo- 
grapher.    He  had  been  confided  to  the  care  of  his  present 

'  History  of  England,  vol.  vii.  p.  198.  '^  Athena  Oxon.,  il  230. 

"  H.  Dixon  ;  Her  Majesty's  Tower, 

*  KepUri  Opera  Omnia,  vol.  ii.  pp.  67-74. 
'  Diet.  Nat.  Biography,  art.  "  Harriot." 

*  Harriot  received  a  pension  of  ^120  from  the  Earl.  He  died  in  1621,  shortly 
before  Northumberland's  release  (Diet.  Nat.  Biog.),  although  De  Fonblanque 
{Annals  of  the  House  of  Ferey)  represents  him  as  accompanying  his  patron  to 
i'elworth  in  1622.  '  'S53~>632. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  167 

patron  by  Lord  Grey  after  the  latter's  committal  to  the 
Tower.  Hues  became  tutor  to  the  young  Lord  Percy, 
whom  he  accompanied  to  Christchurch.^  The  trio  of 
wise  men  who  most  frequented  the  Martin  Tower  was 
completed  by  Walter  Warner,  alchemist  and  philosopher. 
In  addition  to  these,  a  number  of  learned  persons  visited 
the  Earl  from  time  to  time,  assisted  in  his  experiments, 
and  remained  for  long  or  short  periods  as  members  of 
the  singular  academy  which  held  its  deliberations  regard- 
less of  stone  walls  and  iron  bars.  There  was  Nicholas 
Hill,-  the  eminent  philosopher  and  exponent  of  the  Atomic 
Theory,  who  was  afterwards  forced  to  fly  overseas  be- 
cause of  his  obstinate  adherence  to  "the  Romish  persua- 
sion" ^  and  to  whom  Ben  Jonson  alluded  in  one  of  his 
Epigrams  : — 

"  those  atoini  ridiculous, 
Whereof  old  Democrite  and  Hill  (Nicholas) 
One  said,  the  other  swore,  the  world  consists." '' 

There  was  Nathaniel  Torperley,*  rector  of  Salwarpe,  in 
Worcestershire,  and  a  renowned  mathematician.  There 
was  Thomas  Allen,*  antiquarian  and  philosopher,  who 
had  refused  a  bishopric  under  Elizabeth  because  of  his 
Romanist  views.^  And  there  was  Dr.  John  Dee  the  as- 
trologer-physician, now  very  old  and  feeble,  who  came 
from  Richmond  to  visit  his  "brother  wizard."^ 

For  the  due  reception  of  these  worthies,  Northumber- 
land converted  the  chief  rooms  of  the  Martin  Tower  into 
laboratories  and  libraries.  A  quantity  of  important  books 
were  removed  thither  from  Syon  ;  and  "  retorts,  crucibles, 
alembics,  zodiacal  charts  and  globes"  and  human  skeletons" 

'  Diet.  Nat.  Biography. 

'  Died  in  exile  at  Rotterdam  in  1610.  •  Wood  ;  Athens  Oxott. 

*  Epigrams,  No.  34.  '  1542-1632. 

'  1542-1632.     Wrongly  called  by  De  Fonblanque  "  James  Alleyne." 
'  Did.  Nat.  Biography.  *  H.  Dixon  ;  Her  Majesty's  Tovitr. 

•  Dr.  Turner,  the  Earl's  physician,  supplied  him  with  skeletons. — Sytn  HoHit 
Rolls. 


i68  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

occupied  every  available  space.  The  honest  warders  and 
gunners  of  the  Tower  grew  more  and  more  afraid  of  the 
"  Wizard  Earl  "  and  his  mysterious,  long-bearded  familiars. 
Whispers  went  around  of  the  '^ black  viagick"  that  was 
practised  in  the  Martin  Tower,  where  pale,  ghostly  flames 
were  seen  to  burn  through  the  watches  of  the  night ;  and 
whence  at  times  loud  explosions  startled  the  tramping 
sentinel,  or  strange,  witching  odours  were  wafted  forth — 
the  odours  of  "  the  noxious  weed  Nicotian."  For  the  Earl 
had  brought  his  love  of  tobacco  to  solace  his  prison  life  ; 
and  Raleigh,  Cobham,  and  he  consumed  great  quantities 
of  the  herb.  About  ;^5o  per  annum  was  paid  for  Virginian 
tobacco  from  Northumberland's  exchequer  ;i  and  it  would, 
no  doubt,  have  grieved  the  soul  of  Britain's  canny  King 
had  he  paid  a  sudden  visit  to  his  state-fortress,  and  found 
these  condemned  lords  puffing  placidly  at  their  great  pipes, 
and  expelling  cloud  after  cloud  of  the  fragramt  smoke  which 
his  Majesty  abominated.  On  the  whole,  but  for  the 
oppressive  sense  of  restraint,  life  was  not  unpleasant  for 
these  noble  captives.  Before  long  Raleigh  was  deep  in 
the  concoction  of  a  "  Create  Cordiall"  which  was,  he  hoped, 
to  prove  the  Elixir  Vitce;^  while  Harriot  and  Northum- 
berland corresponded  week  after  week  with  Johann  Kepler 
(then  the  ill-paid  astronomer-royal  of  Rudolph  of  Haps- 
burg)  "  on  things  of  higher  moment  than  the  intrigues  of 
a  Court ;  on  the  laws  of  vision  ;  on  the  cause  of  rainbows  ; 
on  the  sun-spots  which  Harriot  noticed  before  they  were 
seen  by  Galileo  ;  on  thje  Satellites  of  Jupiter."  ^  They  were 
also  busily  employed  upon  "  the  theory  of  numbers,  to 
which  Percy  (Northumberland)  had  given  a  good  deal  of 
his  time.  In  the  pursuit  of  such  studies,  what  to  the 
Wizard  Earl  were  the  rivalries  of  Buckingham  and  Hay  ?  "  * 
Before  1614  the  Martin  Tower  had  become  so  crowded 
with  learned  sojourners  from  the  outside  world,  with  books, 
and  with  the  paraphernalia  of  Science,  that  the  Earl  was 

'  Syon  House  Rolls.     Numbers  of  pipes  and  "  boxes  for  tobacco  "  were  also 
purchased.  °  Did.  Nal,  Biography. 

'  H.  Dixon  ;  Her  Majesty'' s  Tower.  *  Ibid. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  169 

obliged  to  hire  the  neighbouring  Brick  Tower  from  Lord 
Carew,  Master  of  the  Ordnance,  whose  official  residence 
it  was.^  Hither  the  young  Algernon,  Lord  Percy,  was 
brought,  in  or  about  1612,  so  that  his  father  (who  dis- 
trusted the  educational  powers  of  women  -)  might  person- 
ally superintend  the  boy's  early  training.  For  the  benefit 
of  his  heir  he  now  resumed  and  completed  the  MS. 
"  Instructions  to  My  Son,"  which  had  been  commenced  at 
Syon  years  before. 

Northumberland  had  never  been  a  believer  in  the  theory 
that  asceticism  promotes  intellectual  strength ;  and,  like 
Good  living,  niost  of  the  great  English  wits  and  scholars  of 
varied  read-  the  day,  he  lookcd  with  no  unfriendly  eye  upon 
hint  of  the  comforts  and  convivialities  of  the  table.     In 

airtation.  ^he  Towcr  his  hospitality  was  well-nigh  as  abun- 
dant as  it  had  been  at  Syon  or  Essex  House,  albeit  the 
guests  bidden  to  his  board  were  not  so  numerous.  The 
cost  of  his  larder  and  cellar,  while  he  remained  in  prison, 
rarely  fell  below  ;^i400  a  year^ — that  is  to  say,  about  ;^7ooo 
in  modern  money.  His  wines  were  of  many  kinds,  in- 
cluding "  French,  Rkettish  and  Greek,  with  Muscatel,  Hypocras, 
Malmsey,  Canary,  and  Sherrie."  *  For  the  benefit  of  his 
friends  and  visitors  he  went  to  the  expense  of  keeping 
three  stables  of  horses — one  on  Tower  Hill,  another  in 
the  Minories  (within  sight  of  his  daily  promenade),  and  a 
third  in  Drury  Lane.^  A  number  of  servants  were  employed 
to  wait  upon  him  and  his  guests ;  but  on  account  of  the 
scanty  accommodation  in  the  Martin  and  Brick  Towers, 
most  of  these  lodged  without  the  walls,  in  the  Minories, 
Tower  Hill,  and  St.  Katherine's. 

Northumberland  had  established  a  large  Hbrary  at 
Syon   before  his  imprisonment.    While  in  the  Tower  he 

'  Her  Majesty's  Tnuer. 

^  See  his  frequent  strictures  on  the  sex  in  Instructions  to  My  Son,  extracts 
from  which  are  given  later. 

'  Rolls  of  Syon  House.     This  included  supplies  to  servants. 
*  Ibid.  6  Ibid. 


170  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

spent,  on  an  average,  ;^20o  a  year  in  the  purchase  of 
books,!  chiefly  works  upon  Philosophy,  History,  Medicine, 
Theology,  and  Horticulture,  in  English,  French,  Italian,  and 
Latin.  Books  were  continually  being  transferred  from 
Syon  to  the  Tower  and  from  the  Tower  to  Syon,  hundreds 
of  volumes  at  a  time.  A  list  of  some  of  these,  preserved  in 
the  Syon  House  MSS.,^  shows  the  miscellaneous  nature  of 
the  Earl's  readings.  It  includes  the  Bible  (in  Italian) ;  the 
Iliad  ;  several  works  on  occult  philosophy  and  witchcraft ; 
Marinello  on  "Z^j  Maladies  des  Fe?nmes,"  and  the  same 
author's  General  Medicine ;  treatises  on  gardening  (one  deal- 
ing with  the  "  Making  of  Labirinths")  ;  histories  of  England, 
by  Du  Chesne  and  Daniel ;  a  genealogical  and  heraldic 
account  of  the  Spanish  Royal  Family ;  numerous  tomes 
dedicated  to  military  science,  strategy,  bombardment,  and 
fortification  ;  "  Florio's  New  Dictionary  "  ;  the  Works  of 
Machiavelli ;  the  poetical  and  prose  works  of  Tasso  ;  and 
numerous  Italian  comedies.  One  looks  in  vain  through  the 
long  list  of  over  200  books  for  one  representative  of  con- 
temporary English  literature.* 

In  the  roll  of  Northumberland's  expenses  there  is  a 
curious  item  which  leads  one  to  wonder  if,  by  chance,  the 
Earl's  mind  had  forestalled  Von  Reiswitz  in  the  invention 
of  a  Kriegspiel  or  "War-game."*  The  entry  alluded  to  is 
as  follows  : — 

£  s.  d. 

"  For  an  inlaid  Table  for  the  Practice  of  the  Art  \ 
Militaire         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  j 

"  For  making  a  Mould  of  Brass  to  cast  Soldiers  in,  \ 
and  making  140  of  them,  with  wire  for  Pikes     .  ) 

"  Making  300  leaden  men,  isfc,  with  a  Box  to  put  1 
them  in .         .J 

"  The  Table,  and  Points  ;  and  gilding  the  same        .       317     6  "  * 

'  Syon  House  Rolls.  ^  Catalogued  "  W.  II.  I." 

'  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  this  is  only  one  of  several  such  lists. 

At  Syon  he  certainly  possessed  editions  of  Spenser  and  Bacon. 

*  Lieutenant  Von  Reiswitz,  of  the  Prussian  army,  perfected  his  War-game  in 

1824,  "  after  years  of  study."  »  Syon  House  Rolls. 


2    16      8 


7 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  171 

The  Earl  had  almost  entirely  lost  his  old  passion  for  dice 
and  cards  ;  but  during  his  leisure  moments  he  played  chess 
and  draughts.  ^ 

Two  "  readers  "  were  employed,  one  for  English  works, 
the  other  for  Italian  and  French,  when,  in  process  of  time, 
Northumberland's  eyesight  began  to  weaken.  The  Italian 
reader  was  Francesco  Petrozani,  who  received  £^  and  a 
lodging  for  his  services  ;  while  John  Elkes  read  in  English. 
De  Fonblanque^  is  under  the  impression  that  this  Elkes 
was  the  same  discharged  servant  who  had  in  161 1  borne 
false  witness  against  the  Earl.  Such  was  not  the  case, 
however,  the  name  of  the  discredited  traitor  having  been 
Timothy  ;*  but  the  two  were  possibly  brothers. 

In  1 61 5,  when  Raleigh  was  released  from  the  Tower 
to  lead  his  second  ill-fated  expedition  in  search  of  "El 
Dorado,"  Northumberland  appears  to  have  given  up  all 
hope  of  ever  leaving  prison  alive.  In  this  frame  of  mind, 
he  proceeded  to  make  himself  as  comfortable  as  possible 
in  what  he  perforce  looked  upon  as  his  home ;  and  the 
incubus  of  the  Star  Chamber  fine  being  now  removed, 
his  yearly  expenditures  showed  a  notable  increase.  But 
the  fact  that  he  had  decided  to  make  the  best  of  his  lot 
hardly  justifies  many  of  the  large  sums  spent  by  him 
during  the  following  year  in  apparently  wanton  extra- 
vagance. His  bill  for  personal  apparel  alone  in  1616 
amounted  to  ^^looo,  money  of  that  time  ;  *  and  during  the 
summer  and  autumn  months  of  the  same  year  he  laid 
out  ^3368  upon  silver  plate.^  In  July  1616  he  ordered 
from  his  goldsmith  a  " newe  George."^  At  first  sight  these 
things  seem  strange  in  one  so  opposed  to  vulgar  display 
as  he  had  hitherto  shown  himself.  Why  should  a  man 
of  his  years  and  habits  array  himself  thus  splendidly 
for  the  delectation  of  the  sober  philosophers  who  were 
his  principal  friends  ?  Why  should  he  buy  gorgeous 
services   of   plate,  if   only  for   these   same  unappreciative 

'  Kolh  of  Syon  House.         '  Annals  of  the  House  of  Percy,  vol.  ii. 
'  See  State  Papers  ;  Letters  and  Evidence  of  Timothy  Elkes. 
•  Rolls  of  Syon  House.  '  Ibid.  «  Ibid. 


172  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

scholars  to  dine  upon  ?  And  above  all,  why  should  an 
imprisoned  nobleman  desire  to  buy  new  "  Georges,"  and  to 
wear  this  and  the  other  insignia  of  the  Garter  as  he  paced 
to  and  fro  in  his  stone  cage  ?  The  key  to  the  mystery 
may  be  found  in  the  current  gossip  that  Northumber- 
land, like  many  another  before  him,  had  fallen  victim 
to  the  insidious  charms  of  the  beautiful  but  utterly 
unscrupulous  Countess  of  Somerset.  Lady  Somerset, 
together  with  her  second  husband,  James's  unworthy 
favourite,  had  just  been  committed  to  the  Tower  for  the 
murder  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury.  Northumberland  had 
not  seen  the  divorced  wife  of  his  nephew  ^  for  ten  years. 
When  he  paid  her  a  state  visit  in  the  Tower  (prepared, 
perhaps,  to  remonstrate  with  her  upon  the  evil  courses 
which  had  made  her  name  notorious)  he  was  at  once 
captivated  by  the  siren's  spells — and  "  men  can  hear  a 
siren's  sigh  farther  than  a  preacher's  philippic."  It  must 
be  pleaded,  in  extenuation  of  the  Earl's  weakness,  that 
since  1606  he  had  enjoyed  no  female  society,  save  during 
the  occasional  visits  of  his  own  wife  and  daughters ;  w-hich 
fact  made  him  a  comparatively  easy  conquest  for  Lady 
Somerset.  There  is  no  proof  that  any  criminal  intimacy 
existed  between  them  ;  but  the  Earl  was  so  infatuated 
that  he  encouraged  his  daughters  to  visit  Lady  Somerset 
daily,  in  order  that  he  too  might  have  an  excuse  for  paying 
his  respects  in  that  quarter.-  Chiefly  for  the  Countess's 
sake,  he  showed  exceptional  civility  towards  her  husband, 
although  in  the  case  of  Robert  Carr  there  were  strong 
family  reasons  which  might  induce  the  head  of  the  House 
of  Percy  to  overlook  his  ordinary  dislike  of  the  King's 
Scottish  followers.  Lord  Somerset  was  a  son  of  that 
chivalrous  Ker  of  Fernieherst  who  had  succoured  and 
sheltered   Anne,    Countess   of   Northumberland,   in    1572,^ 

1  The  first  husband  of  Frances  Howard  was  Robert,  third  Earl  of  Essex, 
nephew  of  Lady  Northumberland. 

^  Chamberlain  to  Dudley  Carleton,  May  24,  1617  ;   Original  State  Papers. 

'  Robert  Carr,  Viscount  Rochester  and  Earl  of  Somerset,  was  son  of  Sir 
Thomas  Ker  of  Fernieherst  by  his  second  wife  (married  in  1569)  Janet,  daughter 
of  William  Scott  the  younger,  of  Buccleuch  and  Branxholm. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  173 

after  her  husband's  betrayal  by  Hector  Armstrons,'.  In 
the  summer  of  1616  we  read  of  Somerset  "  icit/i  his  Garter 
and  George  about  his  neck,  voalking  and  ta/kitig  with  the  Earl 
of  Northumberland"'^  in  the  garden  of  the  Bloody  Tower. 
It  was  probably  this  flaunting  of  the  Garter  insignia  on 
Carr's  part  which  induced  the  Earl  to  order  a  "  newe 
George,"  fancying  that  such  display  was  agreeable  to  "his 
dear  lady"  (as  John  Chamberlain  calls  the  Countess  of 
Somerset,  in  one  of  his  gossiping  letters).^  The  rich 
raiment  and  costly  plate  with  which  he  astonished  his 
learned  associates  may  reasonably  be  traced  to  the  same 
cause — i.e.  a  desire  to  cut  as  fine  a  figure  as  his  age  would 
allow  in  the  eyes  of  the  same  "  dear  lady." 

Although  the  Countess  of  Northumberland  still  fre- 
quented Court,  and  appeared  at  most  of  the  masques  and 
other  entertainments  of  the  day,  she  ceased  almost  entirely 
to  visit  the  Tower  after  Lady  Somerset  was  imprisoned 
there,  and  a  decided  coolness  once  more  arose  between  her 
husband  and  herself.  When  Dorothy  and  Lucy  Percy 
visited  their  father,  they  were  no  longer  accompanied  by 
Lady  Northumberland,  who  sent  in  her  place  Penelope 
Perrott,  Lady  Gower,^  the  daughter  of  her  earlier  marriage. 
In  1617  the  Earl  gave  six  shillings  to  the  keeper  of  the 
Tower  lions,*  for  showing  the  beasts  to  "  Lord  Percy,  with  the 

'  Chamberlain  to  Dudley  Carlelon,  July  20,  1616 ;  Original  Slale 
Papers. 

'  To  Dudley  Carleton,  May  27,  161 7  ;  Original  S.'ate  Papers. 

^  Penelope  Perrott,  sole  surviving  offspring  of  Lady  Northumberland's  myste- 
riously dissolved  union  with  Sir  Thomas  Perrott,  mariied  firstly  Sir  John  Gower 
Knt.,  and  secondly  (in  1617)  Sir  Robert  Naunton  of  Letheringham,  in  Suffolk. 
Her  daughter  and  heiress  by  Naunton  was  another  Penelope,  who  (like  her  mother, 
grandtnolher,  and great-gi-andinother — i.e.  Lady  Naunton,  Lady  Northumberland, 
and  Lady  Leicester)  was  twice  married  ;  a  curious  coincidence  surely.  Her  first 
husband  was  Paul,  Viscount  Bayning  ;  her  second,  Philip  Herbert,  fifth  Earl  of 
Pembroke.  The  senior  co-heir  of  this  latter  marriage  was  the  late  Earl  Poulett ; 
so  that  both  claimants  to  the  Poulett  title — William,  styled  Viscount  Hinton,  and 
the  Hon.  William  John  Lydston  Poulett  of  Hinton  St.  George — are  directly 
descended  from  the  runaway  match  of  Dorothy  Devereux  and  Thomas  Perrott, 
and  one  of  the  two  is  the  senior  representative  of  that  match. 

■*  Lions  were  added  to  the  Tower  Menagerie  in  the  sixteenth  century  ;  and 
6d.  per  diem  was  allotted  for  the  keeping  of  each  beast. 


174  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

Lady  Penelope,  and  his  sisters."  '  There  are  mentions  in  the 
Syon  Rolls  of  largesse  bestowed  at  this  time  upon  "  my  lady 
of  Somerset's  ■womanj''  and  "  a  servant  of  the  Countess  of 
Somerset" ;  but  Northumberland  bestowed  gifts  with  a 
most  liberal  hand  upon  nearly  all  the  residents  of  the 
Tower,  from  the  family  of  the  Governor  down  to  the 
maids  and  lackeys  of  his  friends.  The  warders  and  gunners 
of  the  fortress,  in  particular,  had  good  reason  to  regret  his 
subsequent  liberation. 

After  the  sequestration  had  been  removed  from  his 
landed  possessions,  Northumberland  once  more  took  their 
„  management    into    his    own   hands ;    and,   con- 

The  prisoner      .  ,      .  °  ,  ,  . ,  '  , 

and  his  sidenng    that    he   was    a    prisoner,   it    must   be 

estates.  owned  that  he  succeeded  surprisingly  well  in 
this  difficult  work.  Warned  no  doubt  by  costly  experience 
(as  in  the  case  of  his  kinsman,  Thomas  Percy  of  the 
Powder  Plot),  he  chose  as  his  agents  and  representatives 
only  those  in  whom  he  could  impose  implicit  trust,  and 
whose  characters  were  wholly  above  suspicion.  His  chief 
officers  were  :  Sir  Henry  Slingsby,  of  Scriven,  for  York- 
shire ;  Robert  Delaval,  for  Northumberland ;  and  John 
Astell  or  Astle  for  Sussex  and  the  southern  estates  gene- 
rally.^ Sergeant  Hutton  he  retained  as  his  standing  counsel 
in  all  cases  of  disputes  with  his  tenantry  and  neighbours.* 
With  Hutton,  Slingsby,  Delaval,  and  Astell,  as  well  as 
with  Edmond  Powton,  his  steward  of  the  household,  and 
John  Hippisley,  his  gentleman  of  the  horse  (the  two  last- 
mentioned  residing  at  Syon),  he  kept  up  a  constant  cor- 
respondence ;  and  no  affair  of  importance  in  connection 
with  the  property  was  carried  out  without  his  knowledge 
and  consent.  Times  had  changed  for  the  better  since  it 
had  been  possible  for  Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  elder 
Cecil  to  seize  upon  the  mines  of  an  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land without  offering  compensation  ;  ^  and  coal-fields  now 
formed  some  of  the  most  valuable  of  the  Percy  posses- 

1  Syon  House  Rolls.  "  Syon  Rolls  ;  Alnwick  MSS. 

*  Stale  Papers  ;  August  14,  1609.  ■■  See  an/e,  under  Uie  seventh  Earl. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  175 

sions.  In  1607  the  Earl  had  been  glad  to  let  his  mines 
in  Northumberland  upon  lease  for  twenty  marks  a  pit. 
So  rich  was  the  output  of  coal  that  he  soon  regretted 
his  lack  of  foresight  in  not  having  charged  higher  rents, 
or  else  worked  the  field  himself.  In  1619  he  gave  orders 
that  400  tons  of  coal  from  the  Lemmington  pits^  (the 
leases  of  which  had  not  been  renewed)  should  be  sold  at 
the  rate  of  ;^3,  3s.  4d.  a  ton.'^ 

To  the  best  of  his  ability,  he  seems  to  have  striven  to 
act  fairly  by  his  tenants ;  but  at  least  one  charge  of  arbi- 
trary treatment  has  been  brought  against  him  in  connection 
with  the  town  of  Alnwick.  The  good  people  of  that  place 
had  been  accustomed  to  bake  their  own  bread.  Northum- 
berland, however,  was  induced  by  certain  interested  persons 
to  establish  a  "  common  bakehouse,"  which  he  "  farmed 
out "  in  consideration  of  a  percentage  upon  the  profits. 
The  Alnwick  folk  looked  askance  at  this  novelty ;  and 
continued  to  make  their  loaves  in  the  domestic  oven, 
instead  of  bringing  the  flour  to  the  "town  bakers."  These 
latter  made  bitter  complaint  to  Master  Delaval,  and  sub- 
sequently to  the  Earl,  pleading  that  they  must  close  their 
doors  if  the  people  continued  to  ignore  them.  Northum- 
berland thereupon  wrote  angry  letters  to  his  agent  and 
bailiff,  ordering  that  the  inhabitants  of  Alnwick  should  be 
forced  to  patronise  "  the  common  bakehouse  for  the  benefit  of 
the  farmers  of  the  same"  ;'^  and  so  baking  became  a  mono- 
poly in  the  district,  the  poor  householders  complained 
that  the  cost  of  their  living  was  increased,  and  the  Earl 
was  for  a  long  time  most  unpopular.  To  offset  such  acts 
as  this,  there  are,  on  the  other  hand,  many  instances  of 
disinterested  kindness  and  consideration  towards  those 
who  dwelt  upon  his  estates. 

The  work  known  as  "  Instructions  to  my  Son  "  had  been 
begun  by  Northumberland  after  the  birth  of  his  first  son 
in  1597,  and  temporarily  abandoned   at  the  child's  death 

'  About  four  miles  west  of  Alnwick. 
-  Alnwick  MSS.  '  Ibid. 


176  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

in  September  of  the  same  year.i  When  resumed  and 
eventually  completed  for  Lord  Percy's  benefit  in  the 
Northumber-  Tou'er,  the  "  Instructions"  were  supplemented  by 
land  to  his  ^  sccond  compositiou  of  advice  to  his  son  "  m  his 
and  domestic  Travels''  The  "Advice"  (which  will  be  quoted 
cares.  later  in  its  entirety),  was  written  from  a  much 

higher  standpoint  than  the  "  Instructions,"  although  the 
latter  is  in  many  ways  the  more  curious  and  entertain- 
ing of  the  two.  Both  have  been  transcribed  from  the 
original  MSS.  at  Petworth,  and  published — the  "  Instruc- 
tions" by  Malone  in  Arckceologia,  vol.  xxvii.,  the  "Advice" 
in  the  Antiquarian  Repository,  vol.  iv. 

Alluding  to  the  noticeable  differences  of  tone  and  style 
between  the  earlier  portion  of  the  "  Instructions  "  (written 
during  more  hopeful  days  at  Syon),  and  the  parts  com- 
posed in  the  Tower,  the  Earl  addresses  his  son  : — 

"  Wonder  not  at  the  Alteracioit  of  the  Stjle  tvhich  perhaps 
you  may  fynd ;  for  ether  I  have  got  mutche  since  that  Tyiue 
in  looking  after  other  Matters  more  of  greater  Weights,  or 
loste  mutche  Forme  in  Phrase,  zchich  Youth  commonly  pleasetli 
itself  with!'  One  of  the  effects,  indeed,  of  his  unjust  sen- 
tence and  galling  confinement  had  been  to  make  the 
prisoner  cynical  and  at  times  pessimistic  in  his  writings. 
His  slight  regard  for  the  character  and  disposition  of 
women  is  directly  traceable  to  the  facts  that  he  himself 
had  been  brought  up  almost  entirely  among  men,  and 
that  his  wife's  temper  had  made  the  early  years  of  their 
married  life  a  period  of  continual  strife  and  unhappiness. 
The  chief  objects  of  the  "Instructions"  are  thus  set  forth  : — 

"  Ffirste  that  you  {Lord  Percy)  understand  yowr  Estate 
generally  better  than  yowr  Officers. 

"  Secondly,  that  you  never  stiffer  yowr  Wyfe  to  have  Poore 
in  the  Manage  of  yozvr  Affaires. 

"  Thirdly,  that  yowr  Giftcs  and  Rewardes  be  yoivr  oivcii, 
without  the  Itercession  of  others." 

The  methods  best  suited,  in  the  Earl's  belief,  for  dealing 
with    "  Sen'ants"    {i.e.   with    agents,   military    pensioners, 

1  Aliivick  MSS. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  177 

gentlemen  of  the  household,  and  secretaries,  as  well  as 
with  the  ordinary  domestic  servants)  are  described  at 
length.  Northumberland  holds  that  to  manage  such  de- 
pendents most  advantageously,  it  was  desirable  to  "let 
them  fynd  out  that  ye  nede  them  nott,  and  that  yf  one  be 
gonne  to-day,  you  can  make  an  other  do  your  Business  as  well 
to-morroiv."  He  looks  upon  most  servants  as  wanton 
wasters  of  their  master's  substance.  They  are  very  jealous 
of  their  privileges,  and  demand  them  even  when  they  have 
no  need  to  do  so,  "  if  it  be  but  a  Loafe  of  Bread  or  a  Canne 
of  Bere,  tvhich,  zvhen  they  have  it  they  will  give  it  to  the 
Doggcs  rather  than  loose  it,  with  a  proverb  t/iat  the  'Lord 
payeth  for  all' "  But  it  is  upon  women  that  the  Earl  is 
particularly  severe.  He  admits,  somewhat  grudgingly, 
that  at  the  outset  they  are  in  many  ways  almost,  if  not 
quite,  the  equals  of  men,  but  adds  that  the  hypocritical  and 
shallow  scheme  of  education  by  which  they  are  reared 
causes  them  to  lose  speedily  a  just  sense  of  right  and 
wrong,  and  to  act  in  accordance  with  worldly  fashion, 
rather  than  after  the  promptings  of  their  own  minds 
and  hearts.  With  women,  he  writes,  the  cry  is  always 
"not  what  is  modest  for  them  to  doe,  but  'sutche  and  sutche 
doeth  this ' ;  not  what  is  fitt  for  them  and  their  Children 
to  weare  .  .  .  but  '  sutche  and  sutche  weares  this  and  that ' ; 
not  that  P ay n ting  is  an  immodest  Ornament,  but  that  'Payn- 
ting  is  the  Fashion ' ;  and  so  on  in  general,  their  Affections 
founded  upon  what  others  do,  maketh  the  Fault  appere  to  them 
a  Fault  or  not,  and  not  the  Qualite  of  the  Fault  itselfe." 
At  their  literary  and  linguistic  attainments  he  scoffs  rather 
unfairly,  for  several  ladies  of  the  day  (and  among  them  his 
own  brilliant  and  beautiful  daughters)  were  shining  ex- 
amples of  feminine  learning  :  If  any  doe  excell  their  Fellowes 
in  matter  of  Languages  {as  some  Ladies  do)  ;  if  it  be  in  French 
yow  shall  commonly  fynd  it  noe  further  improved  than  to  the 
study  of  an  Amadis  ;  if  in  Italian,  to  the  reading  of  Ariosto  ; 
if  in  Spanish,  to  looking  upon  a  'Diana  de  Monte  Maior^ ; 
if  in  English,  our  natural  Tongue,  to  an  Arcadia^  or  some 
Love  Discourses  to  make  them  able  to  entertain  a  Stranger 
II.  M 


178  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

vpon  a  Hearth  in  a  Privy  Chamber y  In  point  of  fact  it  is 
his  cynical  opinion  that  women  are  "«j  wyse  at  fifteen 
as  at  fifty";  and  that  they  make  no  deep  study  ";«  any 
Learnifig  saving  in  Love,  a  littel  Craft,  and  a  littel  Thriftiness, 
if  they  are  so  addicted  out  of  Disposition  ;  Handsomeness  and 
Trimness  being  the  Idol  of  there  Hartes  till  Tyme  write  deep 
Wrinkles  on  their  foreheads."  Some  of  his  own  experiences 
in  "  wife-choosing "  are  given  (aUhough  it  will  be  re- 
membered that  Queen  Elizabeth  had  far  more  to  do 
with  making  the  match  between  Northumberland  and 
Lady  Dorothy  Perrott,  than  the  bridegroom  himself)  : 
"  In  my  Choise  of  a  Wyfe  it  was  long  ere  I  made  it ;  I  had 
told  thirty-one  years  ere  I  tooke  one,  my  Resolutions  being 
grounded  upon  these  Considerations  of  Choise  ; 

"  First,  that  my  Wyfe  should  nether  be  oughly  {ugly)  in 
Boddy,  nor  in  Mynd. 

"  Secondly,  that  she  should  bring  with  her  Meat  in  her 
Mouth  to  maintayne  her  Expense?- 

"  Lastly,  that  her  Frendes  should  be  of  that  Consequency, 
that  they  might  appere  to  be  steps  for  yow  to  better  yoisf 
Fortune. 

"  My  first  Ende  I  attayned  to  ;  the  last  I  mist  and  grew 
out  of  Hope  within  one  or  two  Years ;  for  Essex  and  I  lucre 
at  Warres  .  .  .  and  Hindrances  grew,  rather  thati  Love." 

The  Earl  is  strenuously  opposed  to  the  growing  practice 
of  settling  private  fortunes  upon  wives.  All  money  brought 
into  the  family  by  either  of  the  contracting  parties,  husband 
or  wife,  should,  he  thinks,  belong  to  the  common  stock. 
Neither  does  he  approve  of  the  mistress  of  a  household 
being  permitted  "  to  Keep  the  Cofers."  They  are,  it  appears, 
over  liable  to  be  victimised  by  designing  persons,  as,  ac- 
cording to  the  Earl,  his  widowed  mother  had  been  by  her 
second  husband.  Master  Francis  Fitton  ;  or  else  they  are 
naturally  extravagant  and  easily  tempted  by  fine  clothes 
and  costly  nothings.  "Hardly,"  indeed,  "  shall  you  fynd  t/ie 
Wyfe  of  a  wyse  Man  the  Possessor  of  ritche  Bagges."     When 

'  Yet  Lady  Dorothy  had  practically  no  fortune,  and  was  obliged  to  go  to  law 
in  the  hope  of  recovering  the  money  settled  upon  her  by  her  first  husband. 


THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY  179 

women  save  up  money,  it  is  rarely  for  their  families,  but 
far  more  frequently  for  purposes  of  personal  adornment. 
Northumberland  believes  that  Englishmen  allow  their 
wives  too  much  domestic  power.  That  women  should 
meddle  in  business  matters  may  be  permissible  in  Germany, 
"  where  the  husband's  unmeasiirable  beesttlyjtesse  of  dtynking 
catises  a  necessite for  the  Wyfe  to  look  to  the  Biisinesse" ;  but 
in  England  a  man  should  be  master  in  his  own  house  and 
director  of  his  own  affairs.  As  to  the  duties  and  pleasures 
of  women,  they  are  soon  summed  up.  They  are  to  look 
after  their  children  "  in  their  Long-Cote  Age,"  to  manage 
the  household  servants,  to  amuse  themselves  with  needle- 
work and  female  society,  "and  to  have  a  care  when  great 
Personages  shall  visitt  to  sitt  at  one  ende  of  a  Table,  and  to 
carve  handsomely y 

There  is  a  wise  saying  to  the  effect  that  the  best  repartee 
is  that  which  we  think  of  after  the  occasion  has  gone  by. 
Northumberland's  advice  to  his  son,  with  regard  to  the 
management  of  an  ill-tempered  or  hysterical  wife,  may 
be  shrewd  enough  ;  but  the  Earl  himself  had  not  followed 
it  in  his  own  domestic  relations.  He  counsels  Lord  Percy 
to  preserve  a  calm  demeanour  in  the  face  of  feminine 
threats,  and  to  meet  the  verbal  attacks  of  an  angry  consort 
with  phlegmatic  silence.  But  so  far  from  baffling  Lady 
Northumberland  in  this  manner,  he  had  invariably  allowed 
himself  to  be  provoked  by  her  bitter  words  into  retorts 
quite  as  bitter.  Writing  from  the  seclusion  of  the  Tower, 
however,  long  after  that  period  of  family  jars,  he  adopts 
a  cynically  philosophical  tone:  "  Will  you  be  angry,  .  .  . 
at  a  poore  Womaii  that  understands  littell  ?  .  .  .  I  have  often 
knowen  Men  not  replying,  Women  have  chid  themselves  oute 
of  Breathe."  In  much  the  same  strain  he  continues  that 
so  long  as  a  man  can  restrain  his  own  passion  he  is  enabled 
to  keep  women  in  subjection.  The  fair  sex  is  also  a  foolish 
sex,  and  must  by  no  means  be  taken  seriously.  An  excellent 
plan  to  bring  home  to  women  their  lack  of  common-sense  is 
(we  are  told)  to  treat  their  extravagant  words  with  silent 
raillery.    Thus  it  is  advisable,  when  wrathful  dames  threaten 


i8o  THE    HOUSE  OF  PERCY 

"  to  kill  themselves,  to  give  them  a  Knife  ;  if  to  hang  themselves, 
to  lend  them  your  Garter  ;  if  to  caste  themselves  headlong  out  of 
Windows,  to  open  the  Casements ;  and  if  to  swound  and  dye, 
to  let  them  lye  till  they  come  to  themselves  again ;  soe  as  to 
this  Daye  I  catt  never  hear  of  any  that  finished  by  these  mourn- 
ful Deathes." 

In  spite  of  his  loudly  proclaimed  disbelief  in  the  capacity 
of  women,  it  was  Northumberland's  fate  throughout  life 
to  find  his  plans  constantly  defeated  and  set  aside  by 
female  agency.  Queen  Elizabeth  had  wheedled  him  into 
an  unsuitable  marriage ;  his  wife  for  many  years  openly 
defied  and  intrigued  against  him  ;  and  in  course  of  time 
his  two  daughters  were,  one  after  the  other,  to  marry  the 
men  of  their  hearts,  either  without  his  consent,  or  in  direct 
opposition  to  his  wishes. 

When   the    heir  of    the   House    of    Percy   had    com- 
pleted   his    English    education,   and    was    about 
Lord  Percy     to     travel     overscas,     the     Earl     addressed     to 
"in his  him  a  second  document,  which   is  here  quoted 

in   full,   as   a    good    specimen    of    the    author's 
literary  style  : — 

"InjStmctfoitsJ  for  tlje  HorD  Peccp  in  ^is  Craudl0  •, 

Given  by  Hen.  Earl  of  Northumb. 

"  Yow  must  consider,  the  ends  of  yowr  travels  is  not 
to  learn  apishe  iestures,  or  fashons  of  attyres  or  varieties 
of  costely  meates,  but  to  gayne  the  tonges,  that  hereafter 
at  yowr  leisures,  yow  may  discours  with  them  that  are  dead, 
if  they  haue  left  any  worth  behind  them  ;  talke  with  them 
that  are  present,  if  yow  haue  occasion  ;  and  conferre  with 
them  that  are  absent,  if  they  haue  bestowed  vpon  vs  any 
thing  fitt  for  the  view  of  the  world  ;  and  soe,  by  comparing 
the  acts  of  men  abroade  with  the  deeds  of  them  at  home, 
yowr  carriage  may  be  made  cummely,  yowr  mynde  riche, 
yowr  iudgement  wyse  to  chuse  that  is  best,  and  to  eschew 
that  is  naught. 


[•■  The  Four  Percies,"  said  to  have  been  I  brought  from  the  North,  ,  ,>«;  .559.] 


Percy. 
'enham, 
Bedford- 
ire; 
•«  IS5S- 


:  Robert  Percy, 
of  Cogenhoe, 
Co.  Northants, 
and  after^^■ards 

of  Taunton, 
Co.  Somerset. 


161S 


IS  Percy 
genhoe, 

Hants ; 

Ehzabeth 
tmer. 


J.AMES  Percy, 
fought  in  the 
(Civil  Wars. 


aghters. 


5RNON  and 
:rv  Percy 
1  Officers  in 
byal  Navy), 
s.p. 


Fr.ancis  Percy 
of  Cambridge,  stonecutter; 
afterwards  Alderman  and 
Mayor  (1709)  of  Cambridge 
(/«.  Margaret  Wale  of 
Shelford) ;  b.  1649  ;  d.  1716. 
{Claimed  to  have  been  de  jure 
8th  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland.] 

I 

Margaret 

(b.  1686), 

m.  Arthur  Trevor 

of  Frindsbury, 

near  Rochester, 

Co.  Kent. 


Emma 

Meade, 

of  Taunton. 


Laurence 

Percy, 

of  Pavenham, 

late  of  Careton. 

Two  sons. 


Anne, 

m. Eson 

or  Eason, 

a  miller  at 

Pavenham. 

J, 


Francis  Percy 

of  Bickley, 

Co.  Devon  ; 

b.  1616; 

m. Richards ; 

d.  circa  1666. 


I 

Percy, 

of  Cambridge ; 

a  tailor. 

I 

Mary  Percy, 

mentioned  in 

her  uncle's  will, 

1716. 


Richard  Percy 

[a  quo  Roger  Percy, 

shoemaker,  of  Charing 

Cross,  in  1681  ;  and 

.^lex.  Percy  of  Ireland, 

"who  rode  in  the  Life 

Guards."]    (See  the  case 

of  Jas.  Percy,  p.  350.) 


Ann, 
m.  Rev.  Henry 

Crispe, 
Victor  of  Catton. 


Elizabeth, 

m.  Dr.  

Perkins. 


Daughter, 
«. Burge. 


i8o  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

"  to  kill  themselves,  to  give  them  a  Knife  ;  if  to  hang  themselves, 
to  lend  them  your  Garter  ;  if  to  caste  themselves  headlong  out  of 
Windows,  to  open  the  Casements ;  and  if  to  swound  and  dye, 
to  let  them  lye  till  they  come  to  themselves  again  ;  soe  as  to 
this  Daye  I  can  never  hear  of  any  that  finished  by  these  mourn- 
ful Deathes." 

In  spite  of  his  loudly  proclaimed  disbelief  in  the  capacity 
of  women,  it  was  Northumberland's  fate  throughout  life 
to  find  his  plans  constantly  defeated  and  set  aside  by 
female  agency.  Queen  Elizabeth  had  wheedled  him  into 
an  unsuitable  marriage ;  his  wife  for  many  years  openly 
defied  and  intrigued  against  him ;  and  in  course  of  time 
his  two  daughters  were,  one  after  the  other,  to  marry  the 
men  of  their  hearts,  either  without  his  consent,  or  in  direct 
opposition  to  his  wishes. 

When   the   heir  of    the   House    of    Percy   had    com- 
pleted   his    English    education,   and   was    about 
Lord  Percy    to     travel     overscas,     the     Earl     addressed     to 
I'm  his  hiffj  a  second  document,  which  is  here  quoted 

in   full,  as  a    good    specimen   of    the   author's 
literary  style  : — 

"JnsJtructfonsJ  for  tlje  HorU  i^erc?  in  ^ijx  Crauell0 ; 

Given  by  Hen.  Earl  of  Northumb. 

"  Yow  must  consider,  the  ends  of  yowr  travels  is  not 
to  learn  apishe  iestures,  or  fashons  of  attyres  or  varieties 
of  costely  meates,  but  to  gayne  the  tongas,  that  hereafter 
at  yowr  leisures,  yow  may  discours  with  them  that  are  dead, 
if  they  haue  left  any  worth  behind  them  ;  talke  with  them 
that  are  present,  if  yow  haue  occasion  ;  and  conferre  with 
them  that  are  absent,  if  they  haue  bestowed  vpon  vs  any 
thing  fitt  for  the  view  of  the  world ;  and  soe,  by  comparing 
the  acts  of  men  abroade  with  the  deeds  of  them  at  home, 
yowr  carriage  may  be  made  cummely,  yowr  raynde  riche, 
yowr  iudgement  wyse  to  chuse  that  is  best,  and  to  eschew 
that  is  naught. 


GENEALOGY    OE    THE    HOUSE    OE    PERCY 


TABLE    III. 


DOKOTHV. 

dau.  of  Waller 

Devcrcux, 

1st  Earl  of  Essex 

(previously  married 

lo  Sir  Thos.  Person, 

Kt.). 


(Sie   lABl.K  II..  Ctntalogy.^ 
B 
t 

■^  Hknkv  Percv, 

1         styled  9ih  Earl  mf 
NokthOmberlani),  K.G.  ; 

a  prisoner  in  the  Tower, 
j  1603-1622. 

[This  nobleman,  although 
1  recognised  as  (jth  I'larl. 
I  was.  atcordinn  to  Nichols' 
1      Synop.\ii    l<>    the  V'ccrage. 

really  3rd  Karl  of  the  crea- 

lionofiSS?.] 
(     *.  1564 ;  a.  Nov.  5.  i6jj. 


Wll.l.IAM 

Sir  Charles 

Sir  Richard 

Sir  Alan  Percy,  Ki. 

I'EKCV. 

Percv,  Kt. 

Percy.  Kt., 

im.  dau.  and  heir  of 

d.y. 

d.  1648. 

(<«.  Dorothy, 

d.  1647. 

Sir  John  Filz.  Kt.) 

,.p. 

dau.  of 
Richard  Cox 

of  Cleve. 
Co.  Glo'ster. 

d.  i6a8. 

Sir  JoscELiNi-:  Percy 

Kl.,7lhson; 

•P- 

George  Percy. 

8th  son ;  *.  1580 ; 

m.  at  Jamestown  (Vir 

Einia),  Ann  I-'floyd  ; 

d.  1632. 

L.  Lucy, 
m.  (t)  Sir  John 
Wotton.  Kl.  ; 
(2)  Sir  Hugh 


I 

L.  Eleanor, 

m.  William 

Herbert, 

1st  Lord  Powis, 

K.B. 


{Sef   i'ABLE  II.,  <;«« 

C 

t 

I 

Edward  Percy 

of  Beverley, 
I'o.  York,  Esq.  ; 

:~-  1534:  ./.  1595. 


ELL2A»Eril, 

Sir  Thomas 
Ualerlon,  Kl., 
of  Walton,  Yorks, 


L.  Ann  Cecil, 

dau.  of 

snd  Earl  of 

Salisbury. 


Ai.i, 


i  I'EI 


10th  Earl 

NORTHUMIIERLANI) 

(summoned  to  Parh.  as 

Lord  Percy,  1625), 

Lord  High  Admiral  and 

Lord  General  of 

England  ; 
^.  1602  ;  d.  1668. 


1       (2ndw,) 
L.  Elizabeth 
Howard, 

2nd  Karl  of 
Suffolk. 


Henry  PERC^ , 
created  1st  BAR' '' 

I'EKI  V  (iV  ALNWH 
1^.  1605 ;  rf.  l6^'i 
(unm.). 


L.  Dorothy,  L.  Lucv. 

«.  Koljert  Sidney,  m.  John  Hay. 

2iid  Karl  of  isl  Earl  of 

Leicester.  Carlisle. 


NKv  Percy 
1  and  beir) ; 
ctn:  1590-91. 


[Other  children : 
four  of  whom  may 
have  Ijcen  the  four 

Percics  brought 
from  the  North  tu 

Harrowden  in 

N  or  iham  ptonshi  re . 

dnn  1559. 

See  beitnv.  \ 

I 

JoscELiNE  Percy 

of  Beverley,  Esq. 

fWill  proved,  1653.] 

m.  Elixabctli,  dau.  of 

William  Fitz-William 

of  Maplt*ih(ir[M: 

and  Clixby, 

Co,  Lincoln. 


.\LAN  I*KRCV 

OF  Bevkki.ey, 

M.P.  for  Beverley. 

1603; 

A.  1560;  (?.  1633. 


EnwARii 
I'ercv. 
Gent., 
h.  1594; 
rf.  1630: 
(buried  at 
IVlworlh). 


Katph  Muore, 
of  Bt-swicke, 
in  noldcrnc&&. 


and 

FRANCI.S 

Pkrcv. 


I-'rancks, 

m.  Ralph 

EUerker 

.  of  Risby. 

fl.mL-now 
r.vt.n.t.l 


Constable  of 

davi.  of                « 

Ralph  Nluofp 

Alnwick,  and 

Robert  Wrifilu 

"1  Hcswicke, 

Auditor  to  the 

of  lIoldernc>N, 

\  lloldcrncss. 

9lh  Earl ; 

Co.  York. 

i 

one  of  the  con- 

si)iralors  in  the 

Gunpowder  Plot ; 

killed  at 

MoUicacli,  1605. 

EUZAHETII, 

1 
.'\  daughter. 

A  son. 

it.  V.  at  Alnwick 

m.  Robt.  {.:ateshy 

RoilKRT, 

1603. 

of  Ashby  Legers, 

is  also 

Co.  Nortlianls 

mentioned 

(son  of  the  con- 

spiratoi  in  (he 

(innpuwdn  Pint). 

L.  Ann.  L.  Ki.i/AHtrii.           (Other 

m.  Philip,  fti.  Arthur,            daughters 

Lord  Stanhope  Lord  Capel                d.y.) 

(afterwards  ist  Earl  (afterwards  ist  Earl 

of  Chesterfield) ;  of  Essex). 
d.  ,654. 


JCSCKI-INK  PkRCY. 

nth  Eari,  of 

NoRTHUMBKKhANI)  ; 

b.  1644 ; 

d.  al  Turin.  May  ai,  1670. 

(Believed  to  have  been 

the  last  of  the  direct 

male  line  of 

LOI.-VAIN-PKRCV.) 


=  !v.  EnZABi  Til 
Wkiotheslkv 
I  dau.  and  co-hei 
I  of  Thomas, 
I  4th  Earl  of 
I     Southampton. 


Henry, 

Lord  Percy 

(only  son) ; 

'.  1668  ;  d.  1669. 


[ 
L.  Henrietta, 
(/.  in  infancy. 


.Ai.AN  Percy  of  Beverley,  Esq. 

{said  to  have  been  de  jure 

i2th  Karl  OF  Northumberland 

after  the  extinction  of  the  male 

line  in  1670,  his  blood  not 

being  affected  by  tlie 

attainder  of  1537). 

Will.  1687;  d.  1688, 


John  ;  and 
Charles  Percy 
{vivit  1653). 
whose  eventual  fate  Jan 


["Thel'our  Pc 


I  brouglil  frciiii  the  Nnrlh, 


■-  He 


Percy, 

of  I'H<'enham, 
Bury,  Bedford- 
shire ; 

b.  cir>ui  ISSS- 


RoiiEKT  Percy. 

of  Cogenhoe, 

Co.  Northants, 

and  afterwards 

of  Taunton, 

Co.  Somerset. 


1615 

='  Emma 
I  Meade, 
I   of  Taunton. 


ol  I'avcnham. 
late  of  (Jareton. 


Frances  Thynne, 

dau.  of 

Hon.  Henry  Thynne 

Igrand-dau.  of 

Thomas. 

ist  Lord  \\'eyniouth) ; 

d.  1754. 


Algernon  Seymour. 

7ih  Duke  of  Somerset 

{summoned  to  Parlt.  as 

Baron  de  Percy.  Lucy. 

&c..  in  172a) ; 

created  ist  Earl  of 

Northumberland  and 

Baron  Warkworth 

(with  special  remainder  lo 

his  daughter  and  her 

husband.  Sir  Hugh 

Smilhson,  Bart., 

in  1749) ; 
b.  1684;  rf.  1750. 


Lady  Eli; 
dau.  and  heir;  succeeded  to  the 
Baron  V  of  Dk  Percy  ; 
b.  Jan.  26,  1667. 
MaiTied  : — 
(i)  1679,   Henry  Cavendish. 
Earl  of  Ogle  (who  ditd 
s.p.  1680). 

(2)  1681,  Thomas  Thynnr, 
Esq..  of  Longleat  (who 
was  murdered,  1682), 

(3)  Charles,  Duke  of  Somer- 
set. K.G. 

She  died  1722. 


James  Percy. 

b.  1581 ; 

d,  in  Ireland. 

1654. 


Henry  Percy. 
of  the  Household 
of  Lord  Bacon  ; 
m.  Lydia  Cope. 


Thom.is  Percy 

of  Cogenhoe, 

NorrJiants ; 

m.  1611  Elizabeth 

Se;|mer. 

\ 


L.  Elizabeth. 

m.  Henry  O'Brien. 

8th  Earl  ofThomond. 


L.  Elizabeth, 

.  Sir  William  Wynd- 

ham.  Bart. 


L.  Ann. 
3rd  Duke  of  Leeds, 


James  Percy  of  Dublin 

(Claimant  to  the 
Earldom  and  Estates 
OF  Northumherland). 

;  the  Genealogy  0/  the 
Irish  PerciesA 


Daiighl< 


James  I'krcv, 
fought  in  the 
(Civil  Wars. 


I 
Francis  Pi 


Richard  Percy 

[a  quo  Roger  Percy, 

shoemaker,  of  Charing 

Cross,  in  1681 ;  and 

.^LEX.  Percy  of  Ireland. 

"  who  rode  in  the  f^ife 
Guards."]  (Sec  the  case 
of  Jas,  Percy,  p.  350.) 


[Se. 


of  Cambridge,  slonrcuttor ; 

afterwards  Alderman  and 
Mayor  {1709)  of  Cambridge 

[m.  Margaret  Wale  of 
Shelford) ;  b.  1649 ;  d.  1716. 
[Claimed  to  have  been  de  jure 

8th  Earl  of  Nokthum- 


•  Percy, 

of  Cambridge; 

a  tailor. 

I 

Mary  Percy, 

mentioned  in 

her  uncle's  will, 

1716. 


Charles  Percy, 

Member  of  the  Common 

Council  of  Cambridge  ; 

d.  1743- 

I 

Rev.  Josceline  Percy. 

Clerk,  A.M.  (Cantab.);' 

Rector  of  Mar  ham. 

Co.  Northants ; 

baptized  1698  ;  d.  1755. 


I 

aptatn  Francis  Percy. 

R.N.. 

of  Rochester.  Kent ; 

d.  1742. 

I 

Captain 

Robert  Percy, 

R.N.. 

of  Reading,  Berks; 

d.  1765,  i.p. 


Algernon  and 

Hn*(RY  Percy 

(both  Officers  in 

the  Royal  Navy), 

's.p. 


Ua 


r;ARK 


{b.  1686). 

m.  Arthur  Trevor 

of  Frindsbury. 

near  Rochester. 

Co.  Kent. 


m.  Rev.  Henry 

Crispe, 
Victor  of  Catton, 


Elizabeth,           Daughter. 
m.  Dr. tn. Burgc. 

Perkins. 


Rev.  Thomas 
Parratt.  Clerk. 

of  Oundle, 
Co.  Northants ; 


Tryce 
Mary  Percy  Parratt. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  i8i 

"  Religion  is  the  first  thing  yow  are  to  vse  rightly,  to 
the  honor  of  God  ;  in  whiche  I  doubt  not  but  that  yow 
are  soe  settled,  as  I  neede  but  giue  this  cauiat,  that  al- 
thoughe  in  ther  reUgion  yow  shall  see  many  things  worthy 
of  scorne  in  yowr  hart,  yett  doe  it  not  in  yowr  outward 
fashions ;  for  soe  shall  yow  free  yowr  selfe  from  ther 
offence  ;  and  to  dispute  to  conuert,  is  fitter  for  a  greater 
doctor  then  yowr  selfe.  Somme  churches  of  our  pro- 
fession yow  shall  fynd  allowed  in  most  places ;  whiche 
if  yow  goe  to,  besides  the  benefitt  yow  shall  gett  in  beinge 
edyfyed,  yow  shall  meete  with  very  good  language. 

"  For  the  regiment  of  your  Healthe,  three  things  may 
appeare  dangerous  ;  one,  the  distempers  that  may  groe 
out  of  the  violense  of  exercise ;  the  other,  drinking  of 
wynes  in  a  country  hoter  then  yowr  owen  ;  the  last,  the 
excesse  of  women,  ther  bodies  not  being  the  freest  from 
infections  in  the  world  :  but  in  all  theas  yow  must  be 
yowr  owen  best  phisition,  as  being  best  able  to  obserue 
yowr  owen  boddy,  if  yow  list ;  or  else  yow  are  lyke  to 
fynd  the  smart,  and  noe  man  will  be  soe  feeling  of  yowr 
payns  as  yowrselfe.  Your  constitution  is  moist,  and  there- 
fore the  more  exercise  will  be  required. 

"  In  the  attayning  to  the  Tongues,  I  wishe  the  founda- 
tions may  be  layd  gramatically  at  the  first ;  whiche  with 
yow  will  not  be  a  monthes  labor,  hauing  a  peece  of  the 
scoller  :  for  soe  if  yow  forgett,  hereafter  yow  shall  easely 
renew,  and  know  whether  thos  that  write  or  speake,  doe 
it  rightly.  I  know  that  conuersation  is  the  properest  for 
speache,  and  reading  for  vnderstanding  ;  but  boeth  dis- 
creetly mixt  is  best  of  all.  A  sedentory  or  a  studious  lyfe 
I  knowe  is  not  pleasing  to  yowth  ;  but  it  will  be  to  age, 
when  yow  must  sitt  out  of  necessite  of  afTayers,  or  for 
ease  ;  and  yett  that  necessite  of  ease  or  disease,  if  drawen 
on  by  ouer  sitting  to  yonge,  I  cannot  allow  of. 

"  Emongest  the  rest  of  your  obseruations,  the  Laws  of 
the  lands  would  not  be  passed  over  with  a  careless  eye  ; 
not  that  I  meane  you  should  labor  the  whole  cours  of  the 
ciuill  law,  by  whiche  thos  kingdoms  are  cheefely  gouerned  ; 


i82  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

but  to  read  ther  statute  laws,  and  customary  laws  that  are 
most  vsed :  in  this  point  I  fynd  our  gentilmen  to  returne 
home  very  defectiue  and  lame  ;  for  they  nether  know  the 
cours  of  iustisse,  nor  the  custommes  of  the  cuntry,  almost 
in  any  fashon  :  therefore  would  I  wishe  yow  to  resort 
somtymes  to  ther  courts  of  parlements  and  other  courts 
of  iustisse,  by  whiche  you  shall  heare  the  generall  causes 
that  are  handled,  the  generall  enormities  that  are  prouided 
for,  and  soe,  by  consequent,  the  generall  dispositions  of 
the  state  ;  as  also  your  eares  shall  be  witnes  of  the  best 
deliueryes,  and  in  the  best  termes. 

"The  Tenures  of  ther  lands  and  customs  would  be 
knowen,  as  well  in  the  generall,  as  of  the  perticular 
prouinces,  towns,  jurisdictions,  signoryes  ;  as  also  in  what 
sort  they  receaue  ther  reuenues,  whether  by  way  of  money, 
or  in  kind,  or  part  one  way,  part  an  other ;  what  assur- 
ances the  lord  hathe  from  the  tenant,  or  the  tenant  from 
the  lord  ;  whether  lett  for  years  or  for  lyues ;  then  agayne, 
whether  they  take  annuall  rents,  or  fynes,  or  boethe  ;  then 
the  semises  they  owe  to  ther  lords  would  not  be  forgotten  : 
ther  mannors  of  sales,  assurances,  mortgages,  yow  shall 
doe  well  not  to  be  ignorant  of,  and  what  the  generall  rates 
of  ther  lands  are  sold  at ;  the  measurings  of  ther  lands, 
whether  by  acre,  or  any  other  common  measure  perticular 
to  them  selues  would  be  looked  into  ;  the  nature  of  ther 
grounds,  whether  sandy,  grauells,  clayes,  blacke  moldes, 
heathy,  stony,  woddy,  drye  grounds  &c.  would  also  be 
obserued  :  for  soe  may  yow,  by  computation,  quantite  for 
quantite,  consider  the  yealdings  of  those  states  to  ours  : 
the  quantites  of  wynes,  of  grasse,  of  graynes  that  ther 
acres  doe  yeald,  would  also  be  noted  ;  as  also  to  compare 
the  biggenes  of  ther  acres  with  ours,  or  any  other 
measures  :  somme  common  measure  between  them  and 
vs  would  be  well  examyned,  as  if  of  lyquids,  by  tunnes, 
gallants,  pottells,  quartes  &c. ;  if  of  waights,  by  pounds, 
by  onces,  by  drams,  by  scruples  &c. ;  if  for  length,  by 
myles,  or  paces,  or  feete,  or  inches,  or  barley  corns  &c., 
must    be    perfectly   vnderstood  :    the    valuation    of    ther 


THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY  183 

monyes,  how  ther  parrs  agree  with  ours,  is  not  the  least 
thing  to  be  diued  into,  if  you  will  be  a  good  common- 
wealth's man  ;  for  out  of  theas  knowledges  that  merchants 
haue  aboue  vs,  they  make  vs  very  fooles  in  the  silent  and 
creeping  gaynes  of  a  state.  In  our  cuntry,  theas  things 
differ  almost  in  euery  prouince  ;  which  I  wonder  the 
wisdom  of  our  parlements  haue  not  rectefyed  to  one  kind 
certaine  ;  since  the  statutes  seemeth  soe  mutch  to  haue 
labored  it.  Theas  things  are  not  difficult  to  enquier,  and 
they  will  aske  but  the  enquiring  to  learn  them. 

"  The  principal  Commodites  that  the  Cuntryes  afford,  is 
not  to  be  neclected  ;  as  whether  it  be  in  wynes,  in  corne, 
in  cattel,  in  salts  &c.  :  if  of  any  of  theas,  then  how  one 
prouince  assists  the  defects  of  the  others ;  as  by  the  wayes 
of  ther  carriages,  and  by  what  manor,  whether  by  water  or 
by  land  ;  if  by  land,  whether  by  cart,  by  horse,  or  other 
portage  ;  if  by  water,  by  what  kind  of  boattes,  of  floatts  &c., 
and  by  what  riuers,  what  lakes,  what  gulfes,  and  where 
those  ryuers  doe  discharge  them  selues.  Ther  would  also 
be  obserued  the  bayes,  the  roads ;  the  hauens,  whether 
deepe,  or  bard  hauens  ;  as  at  loe  waters,  whether  the  shipps 
lye  upon  ground  or  flott;  how  many  fawdom  at  ful  sea  the 
water  riseth,  and  what  windes  they  are  most  subiect  vnto  ; 
what  number  of  shipping  belongeth  to  euery  hauen,  or 
what  gallyes  or  other  boates  of  portage,  and  of  what 
burdens ;  of  what  shapes ;  how  they  carry  ther  fights,  and 
how  mand  ;  by  which  yow  may  conieture  and  gather  here- 
after the  aduantages  that  one  nation  hathe  of  an  other  in 
matter  of  trafick.  Manifactures  is  not  the  least  things  to  be 
considered  ;  I  mean  not  littel  manyfactures,  but  the  great 
ones ;  as  whether  by  woolls,  by  hempes,  by  flax,  by  silkes, 
by  mettells,  by  dyes  &c. ;  by  theas  yow  shall  faule  into  the 
note,  whether  theas  comodytes  are  vnted,  and  what  re- 
turns they  make  ;  whether  in  bullon  or  other  wares,  and  out 
of  what  prouinces,  states,  Kingdoms.  From  hence  will  yow 
be  ledde  on  to  conceaue  the  chepenes  and  dirths  of  any 
staple  marchandize  or  others,  and  how  all  theas  may  be 
prouided  to  supply  a  kingdom,  or  state.     Theas  knowledges 


i84  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

will  serue  for  yowr  vse  when  yow  groe  a  settled  home  man, 
or  when  yowr  master  shall  command  yowr  seruis  for  the 
defence  of  your  cuntry,  in  the  necessite  of  a  warre,  or  your 
counsell  in  the  treaty  of  a  peace, 

"The  People  is  the  next  thing  yow  are  to  passe 
thorowghe  yowr  thought,  as  how  sorted  into  ther  kinds  ; 
whether  consisting  of  noblesse,  artists,  trades  men,  or 
pesants,  or  how  mixt  of  any  of  theas ;  how  eury  of  theas 
sorts  are  employed  in  the  gouernement  of  the  state,  and  in 
whiche  of  theas  kindes  the  strengthe  of  ther  dominions  doe 
consiste  ;  what  is  ther  force,  whether  in  hors  or  foote ; 
what  is  the  amies  most  vsed  emongst  them,  whether  the 
armes  is  in  the  hands  of  the  prince,  or  nobilite,  or  the 
commons  ;  where  ther  magazins  are,  and  in  whose  hands 
the  welthe  doeth  moest  rest;  whether  a  nation  prodigall  or 
parcemonious  ;  if  prodigall,  in  what  ther  expences  and  con- 
sumptions is  most  vsuall ;  if  parcemonious,  in  what  is  ther 
gettings  and  gayne ;  whether  well-peopled,  or  scant  of  in- 
habitans,  and  if  scant  of  inhabitans,  whether  the  cause  pro- 
cede  of  the  barronnes  of  the  soyle,  or  want  of  good  portes, 
or  the  bordering  neighbours  by  waye  of  a  warre  :  The  man- 
nors  and  fashons  of  other  attyres,  whether  constant  or 
subiect  to  change,  is  worthe  the  notinge ; — ther  exercises, 
and  the  kinds  of  them  that  are  most  in  vse  ;  ther  dietts 
and  foodes ;  whether  plentifull  or  scant,  continuall  or  at 
tymes,  and  whether  the  better  sort,  or  meaner,  haue  ther 
excesses  in  that  kind  ;  and  then  agayne,  for  ther  behauiors, 
whether  light  or  graue ;  there  humors,  whether  vpon  the 
cheate,  or  honest :  For  ther  healthes,  as  what  diseases 
doe  moest  raigne  emongst  them,  whether  feuers,  plagues, 
goutes,  stone,  droppesies,  or  cattarres.  Out  of  all  theas 
considerations  shall  yow  make  to  yowr  selfe  sommewhat 
hereafter,  that  were  to  long  to  expresse  in  perticular,  yett 
mutche  for  yowr  iudgement. 

"  Now  as  touching  the  enquire  of  Princes  and  ther 
Courts  ;  theas  are  the  mane  points  of  serche  and  marke ; 
how  they  are  attended  by  ther  nobilyte,  if  it  be  a  free 
prince,  or  if  it  be  a  repuhlicke  of  the  chiefe;  whoe  they 


THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY  185 

may  be ;  then  alliances ;  ther  sufficiencyes ;  then  powers ; 
ther  employments  by  the  state,  or  ther  lyuing  of  them 
selues ;  the  provinces,  towens,  or  commandes  they  are 
trusted  with  all ;  and  ther  reputations,  whether  wyse,  or 
weake ;  valiant,  or  cowards ;  riche,  or  poore ;  old,  or 
yonge ;  or  whether  actiue,  or  quiet  out  of  nature  :  what 
the  priuy-counsellors  of  ther  courts  are  ;  ther  loues  or  ther 
hatreds  one  to  another  ;  how  the  factions  of  the  courts  are 
in  power  ;  the  officers  of  the  court  how  disposed  ;  the 
ordenary  expence  and  reuenues  of  the  kingdom,  whether 
it  consist  of  gabelles,  of  subsides,  or  of  reuenues  of  ther 
lands,  and  how  managed ;  are  things  worthy  the  know- 
ledge. In  cases  of  offences  towards  the  prince  or  state  ; 
the  wayes  of  ther  examynations,  ther  tortures,  ther  pro- 
cesses, ther  sentences,  ther  punishments,  if  found  faulty, 
yow  shall  doe  well  to  be  satisfied  in.  By  theas  when  yow 
shall  be  thought  litt  for  employment  at  home,  yow  shall 
inable  yowr  discretion  in  many  cases  to  giue  aduise  and 
gesse  at  the  euents  vpon  the  first  motions.  Lastely,  the 
general  studyes  the  nations  doe  affect ;  as  whether  it  be  to 
the  laws,  or  deuinite,  or  phisicke,  or  phylosophy,  or  to  any 
other  arts ;  as  also  whether  the  nobilitye  and  gentrye  are 
adicted  to  it  for  ther  satisfactions,  or  it  is  the  meaner  sort 
that  labors  it  for  ther  profitt  and  gayne. 

"The  vse  of  Mappes,  whether  soe  euer  yow  trauell  will 
mutch  steede  yow  ;  for  by  them  shall  yow  receaue  sutche 
an  impression  of  the  adiacencies  of  prouinces,  riuers,  forts, 
forests,  towns,  and  places  inaccessable,  as  they  will  neuer 
afterward  be  canselled  out  of  yowr  memory. 

"  Concerning  Fortifications,  theas  few  rules  are  to  be 
obserued  :  whether  they  be  of  the  ancient  molds,  or  of  the 
newer  formes,  or  mixt  of  boethe,  as  yow  shall  fynd  many  ; 
then,  agayne,  whether  regular  or  irregular ;  whether  of 
stone  or  bricke,  as  most  of  the  olde  ones  are,  or  of  earthe, 
as  thos  in  the  Loe  Cuntryes,  or  withe  rampards  or  without ; 
then  what  grounds  of  commande  is  about  them ;  the 
natures  of  ther  earths  for  approches,  or  the  vicinite  of  ther 
couerts    for   ambushez :    whether    they   be    towens   com- 


i86  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

manded  by  citadells,  or  gouerned  by  ther  owen  proper 
forses  :  and,  lastely,  the  places  of  ther  situations,  ther 
auenues,  and  to  what  end  soe  placed,  must  be  considered. 
This  doe  I  thinke  sufficient  to  say  of  this  point  in  general! ; 
the  more  perticulars  will  appere  when  yow  enter  into  the 
art  of  it ;  a  subiect  better  and  fullyer  tavvght  vs  in  vulgar 
tonges,  then  in  the  ancient. 

"Ther  Edifices  are  ether  churches,  monuments, 
palaces,  priuat  houses  of  the  nobilite,  houses  in  cittyes,  or 
champetres  :  in  this  the  knowledge  of  ther  kinds,  fashons, 
sumptuosites,  and  ther  expence  in  building  with  ther  plea- 
sures of  gardings,  walkes,  shelters  and  comodytes  against 
all  weathers,  will  be  of  vse  to  yow,  when  yow  shall  thinke 
yowr  owen  home  your  best  lodging. 

"The  Weathers,  whether  constant  or  changeable, 
whether  moist  or  dry,  cold  or  hote,  the  tymes  of  ther  sea- 
sons, and  winds  that  most  posesse  ther  skyes,  is  a  know- 
ledge that  may  giue  yow  somme  aduantage,  if  euer  yow 
be  a  discouerer  to  gesse  at  that  whiche  yowr  eie  seeth  not, 
whether  it  be  a  continent  or  an  iland,  or  an  iland  of  great 
extent. 

"  For  yowr  owen  studyes,  the  TOXGES  and  vnder- 
standing  them  must  be  yowr  chiefe  endeuors  for  the  tyme  ; 
and  yett  lett  yowr  readings  be  of  sutche  bookes  as  yow 
may  gather  somwhat  else  that  may  serue  yowr  turne 
hereafter  ;  double  gaynes  vnder  one  labor  being  best :  soe 
as  I  may  say,  lett  yowr  conuersation  be  with  bookes  euer, 
with  armes  when  the  necessite  of  yowr  cuntry  and  yowr 
master's  commands  requiers  it ;  and  not,  econtra,  armes 
euer,  and  bookes  when  yow  haue  but  neede  :  for  soe  shall 
yow  eschew  the  warning  the  prouerbe  tells  vs  of ;  '  Qui 
amat  periadum,  peribit  in  illo '  :  and  in  the  other  doe  yowr- 
selfe  very  little  good  when  yow  shall  haue  occasion.  Yett 
withall,  armes  must  not  be  soe  layde  asyde,  that  yow  must 
then  but  learne,  when  yow  have  neede ;  for  soe  perhapps 
yow  shal  betray  yowr  cuntry  in  the  trust  it  may  trust  yow 
with  all,  and  begett  shame  to  yowrselfe  to  vndertake  a 
taske  yow  vnderstand  not : — and  I  know  noe  surer  instru- 


THE   HOUSE  OF  PERCY  187 

merits  in  learning  to  wielde  ail  thos  well,  than  aretheme- 
tike,  geometry,  cosmography  ;  and  astronomy  in  somme 
measure  will  serue  yow,  if  yow  be  a  nauigator. 

"The  exercises  I  would  wishe  yow  to  be  most  skilfull 
in,  is  Ryding,  and  yowr  Weapons ;  bycause  a  skilful 
sword,  in  a  hand  that  will  not  tremble,  procures  peace 
often,  the  want  of  whiche  doeth  giue  men  boldenes  to  be 
busy  to  yowr  disgrace  or  danger  :  and  althowghe  I  wishe 
yow  a  skilfull  sworde  for  peace  sake,  yett  lett  it  be  slippere 
sheathed,  if  the  honor  of  yowr  master,  or  yowr  cuntry,  or 
yowr  owen  be  touched  ;  for  theas  are  dutyes  yow  owe, 
wherein  yowr  flesche  must  not  be  to  deere  vnto  yow. 

"  In  your  obseruations  of  men's  Mannors,  Behauiors 
and  Fashons,  if  anything  seeme  to  yow  absurde,  sacrefyce 
it  in  yowr  thoughts ;  for,  euery  nation  esteemes  that  they 
are  borne  to  and  bredde  in  the  commelyest  :  soe  shall 
yow  auoyde  quarrells  and  braules,  whiche  if  yow  enter 
into,  yow  will  fynde  yowrselfe  to  weake,  when  noe  respecte 
shall  cause  forberance,  but  that  yow  are  a  stranger ;  and 
in  this,  the  meaner  sort  yow  will  fynd  most  subiect  to 
error, 

"  Your  ExPENCE,  lett  it  be  moderat,  and  cast  asyde 
the  coat  yow  are  borne  vnto  for  a  tyme  :  for  to  striue  with 
them  in  ther  vanites,  yow  will  not  be  able  to  hold  way ; 
besides  that  yow  will  want  soe  mutche  at  yowr  returne, 
where  those  superfluities  will  be  better  spent,  since  abroade 
nothing  will  remayne  yowrs,  here  in  what  kind  soe  euer 
somwhat,  euer  remembring  that  yow  must  dye  an  Englishe 
man  ;  and  to  loue  yowr  owen  home  best,  for  I  know  not 
where  yow  can  be  markt  with  soe  good  a  blessing  as  God 
and  yowr  cuntry  hathe  markte  yow  withall.  Yowr  habitts 
would  be  according  to  the  fashons  of  the  nations  yow 
liue  in  ;  soe  shall  yow  auoyde  being  gazed  at ;  thinges  to 
men's  eies  not  vsuall  breding  wonder.  Nether  lett  yowr 
attires  be  to  costely  or  to  many ;  for  the  one  will  be  a 
consumption  without  reason,  and  the  luggage  of  a  ward- 
roppe  after  yow  will  be  troublesomme. 

"To  his  Maiestye's  EMBASSADORS,  or  others  employed 


i88  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

for  our  cuntry,  be  very  respectfull ;  soe  shall  yow  be  sure 
to  meete  with  a  good  report  when  yow  cotnme  home,  and 
they  will  grace  yow  what  they  canne  abroade,  laynge  vpon 
yow  all  curtosies.  Be  louing  and  open  handed  to  his  Ma  : 
subiectes  according  to  yowr  means,  if  yow  know  them 
dutyfuU  and  necessitous,  rather  then  giuing  gloriously  to 
strangers  :  for  soe,  besides  the  goodnes  of  the  charite,  yow 
will  obtaine  loue  ;  wher  as  the  others  will  laughe  at  yow 
for  yowr  bonty  :  giuing  idelly  being  a  fait  other  nations  is 
not  soe  subiect  vnto  as  wee  are. 

"  Lastely  ;  What  yow  obserue  of  worthe,  take  notes  of ; 
for  when  yow  list  to  take  a  reweu,  the  leaues  of  yowr  books 
are  easylyer  turnd  ouer,  then  the  leaues  of  yowr  memory. 

"To  conclude:  What  I  haue  deliuered,  is  but  a  cate- 
logue  of  what  yow  ought  to  looke  into,  not  how  yow  are 
perticularly  to  follow  them  ;  for  soe  I  should  be  to  tedious 
in  my  instructions,  and  take  away  from  yow  yowr  owen 
choise,  repeating  my  former  labors  whiche  yow  haue  more 
at  large  other  where  :  thos  that  attend  yow,  knowes  my 
desiers  at  full.  And  soe  I  leaue  yow  to  the  grace  of  God, 
whiche  must  be  the  thinge  that  must  stere  yow  euer  and 
euer  in  all  yowr  actions,  and  guide  me  in  my  aduise." 

Sons  do  not  always  follow,  or  even  heed,  the  carefully 
prepared  counsels  of  their  parents  ;  but  young  Algernon 
Percy  may  be  fairly  said  to  have  obeyed  in  the  main 
these  minute  parental  Instructions,  and  to  have  profited 
abundantly  thereby.  The  advice  given  by  the  Earl  de- 
serves to  be  contrasted  with  that  contained  in  the  Letters 
of  Lord  Chesterfield  to  his  son,  published  over  a  century 
later.  Despite  the  occasional  pettiness  of  Northumber- 
land's strictures  upon  women,  his  general  sentiments  con- 
vey a  far  worthier  ideal  than  do  those  of  Chesterfield  ;  and 
the  comparison  is  upon  the  whole  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  the  former  writer,  as  a  father  and  a  man  of  honour,  if 
not  as  a  man  of  "  elegance  "  and  wit. 

In  Northumberland's  writings  there  exists  abundant 
evidence  that   he   looked  upon  women  as  sent  into  this 


THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY  189 

world  fully  as  much  for  man's  vexation  as  for  his  happi- 
ness. The  long  series  of  disagreements  which  had  taken 
place  between  his  mother  and  himself,  and  the  subse- 
Northumber-  ^"^"^^  ^till  bitterer  quarrels  with  his  wife,  appear 
land  and  his  to  havc  rendered  him  suspicious  of  the  other 
aug  ters.  ^^^^  ^^^  desirous  of  keeping  them  in  subjec- 
tion. Thus  while  his  two  sons  were  elaborately  instructed, 
and  given  the  full  benefit  of  their  father's  wisdom,  his 
daughters,  on  the  contrary,  were  kept  as  much  as  possible 
in  the  background,  and  only  trained  in  the  brief  list  of 
accomplishments  which  the  Earl  deemed  necessary  or 
suitable  for  young  ladies  of  their  age  and  rank.  But  the 
course  which  the  well-meaning  father  maps  out  in  advance 
for  his  offspring  is  rarely  the  course  which  they  choose. 
Dorothy  and  Lucy  Percy  had  inherited,  alike  from  mother 
and  father,  decided  wills  of  their  own.  They  were  both 
beauties — especially  the  younger.  Lady  Lucy,  who  was  by 
many  esteemed  "  the  most  lovely  damsel  in  all  England  " ; 
and,  as  was  natural  in  the  children  of  a  Devereux  and  a 
Percy,  they  were  exceptionally  high-spirited  and  impatient 
of  restraint.  Add  to  this,  that  they  were  gifted  with  great 
natural  intelligence,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Earl  had 
anything  but  an  easy  task  before  him  when,  in  his  lofty 
disregard  of  the  feminine  mind,  he  attempted  to  make 
them  ideally  subservient  to  his  wishes.  Lady  Dorothy  was 
the  first  of  the  two  to  revolt.  Her  father  had  issued  an 
edict  forbidding  her  to  attend  Court  without  his  permission 
— a  permission  that  was  granted  grudgingly  and  seldom, 
for  the  Earl  feared  lest  the  warm  Devereux  blood,  if 
submitted  to  courtly  temptations,  might  betray  his  daughters 
into  serious  indiscretions,  as  it  had  done  more  than  one 
member  of  their  mother's  family.^  Moreover  he  knew 
the  corruption  and  extravagance  of  the  society  with  which 
the  King  and  his  favourites  were  surrounded,  and  dreaded 
to   see   his   maids  embarked  upon   such   a  sea  of   perils. 

'  He  was  probably  thinking  in  particular  of  the  scandals  connected  with  his 
wife's  sister,  Lady  Mountjoy,  and  of  his  wife's  foolish  clandestine  marriage  with 
Perrott. 


190  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

Accordingly  royal  masques  and  similar  merry-makings  were 
denied  to  Lady  Dorothy  by  his  orders  ;  and,  in  case  the 
Countess  of  Northumberland  should  disobey  him  in  this 
regard,  he  begged  his  good  friend,  the  Queen,  to  discourage 
Lady  Dorothy's  presence  at  Court  festivities.  But  here 
once  more  the  Earl,  in  his  ignorance  of  femininity,  ran 
counter  to  the  natural  sentiments  of  the  sex.  The  Queen, 
as  well  as  Lady  Northumberland,  looked  at  matters  from  a 
woman's  point  of  view,  and  not  from  that  of  a  philosopher. 
Her  Majesty's  pet  weaknesses  were  love  of  dress  and  of 
gaiety ;  nor  could  all  the  Earl's  reasoning  make  it  seem 
fair  to  her  mind  that  Dorothy  and  Lucy  Percy  should  not 
be  allowed  to  enjoy  the  delights  which  she  herself  prized  so 
highly.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that,  in  place  of  siding  with 
Northumberland  on  this  occasion,  Queen  Anne  aided  and 
abetted  the  Countess  and  Lady  Dorothy  against  him.  The 
latter  refused  to  listen  to  her  father,  and  appeared  at  Court 
to  such  purpose  that,  before  the  winter  of  1613,  rumours 
were  flying  thick  and  fast  regarding  the  many  distinguished 
persons  said  to  have  laid  their  names  and  fortunes  at  her 
feet.  At  one  time  gossip  had  it  that  Count  Henry  of 
Nassau  was  her  admirer.  "  There  is  whispered,"  wrote  John 
Chamberlain  to  his  friend  Carleton  in  August  1613,  '^  thai 
Count  Henry  of  Nassau  hath  a  month's  mind  for  my  Lord  of 
Northutnberland'  s  daughter,  ivhich,  if  it  should  fall  out,  would 
be  a  great  match  for  her."  ^  The  "  great  match  "  did  not  come 
to  anything,  however ;  nor  did  Lady  Dorothy  grieve  for 
the  loss  of  this  foreign  princeling,  if  indeed  she  had  ever 
given  his  attentions  a  serious  thought.  In  December  1614 
Chamberlain  the  observant  informs  his  correspondent  that 
there  was  talk  of  a  union  between  Lord  Burghley  and  the 
fair  Dorothy — "which  may"  (he  continues)  "bring  about 
her  father's  release."^  But  this  affair  also  fell  through; 
whether  because  of  Northumberland's  justifiable  hatred  of 
the  Cecils,  or  for  other   reasons,  is  unknown.     Early  in 

>  state  Papers. 

^  Ibid.     Burghley  was  son  of  the  Earl  of  Exeter,  nephew  of  Salisbury,  and 
grandson  of  the  first  Cecil. 


THE    HOUSE  OF   PERCY  191 

1616  Lady  Dorothy  was  privately  married,  without  her 
father's  knowledge  (and  probably  against  his  will,  for  he 
disliked  the  Sidneys  and  Dudleys  almost  as  strongly  as  he 
did  old  Burghley's  progeny),  to  Robert  Sidney,  son  and  heir 
of  Viscount  Lisle,^  nephew  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  and  grand- 
nephew  of  the  great  Earl  of  Leicester.  Lady  Northumber- 
land, however,  was  aware  of  her  daughter's  secret  union, 
the  facts  concerning  which  were  not  divulged  until  the 
following  year,  when  the  approaching  birth  of  an  infant  ^ 
forced  Lady  Dorothy  and  her  young  husband  to  make 
known  the  truth.  Notwithstanding  the  disapproval  of 
Northumberland,  the  alliance  turned  out  a  most  happy  one, 
and  is  distinguished  in  history  for  the  number  of  famous 
personages  which  it  produced.  Among  the  children  of 
Dorothy  Percy  and  Robert  Sidney  (who  succeeded  in  1626 
as  second  Earl  of  Leicester)  were  : — Philip,  third  Earl  of 
Leicester,  better  known  as  Lord  Lisle,^  the  gallant  Puritan 
commander  of  the  Civil  War  ;  Algernon  Sidney,*  the  great 
Republican,  who  died  a  martyr  to  his  convictions  in  1682  ; 
Colonel  Robert  Sidney,*  the  reputed  lover  of  Lucy  Waters  ; 
Henry  Sidney,  first  Earl  of  Romney*;  Dorothy,  Countess 
of  Sunderland,  who  lives  as  "  Sacharissa "  in  the  verse  of 
Waller ;  and  Lady  Lucy  Pelham,  ancestress  of  Thomas, 
Duke  of  Newcastle,  and  of  Henry  Pelham. 

Hardly  was  his  elder  daughter  married,  than  Northum- 
berland began  to  experience  similar  trouble  with  the 
younger,  Lucy.  Lady  Dorothy  Percy  had  been  accom- 
plished and  beautiful ;  Lady  Lucy  far  surpassed  her  in  both 
of  these  qualities.  No  sooner  did  she  appear  at  Court,  than 
a  positive  train  of  devoted  admirers  enrolled  themselves 
under  her  banner.  There  was  no  need  for  the  Countess  of 
Northumberland  or  the  Queen  to  practise  the  subtle  arts 
of  matchmaking  in  this  case  ;  suitors  came  all  unsought  to 
Lucy  Percy.    She  might,  it  is  said,  have  married  whom  she 

'  Created  in  1618  first  Earl  of  Leicester. 

-  This  infant  was  none  other  than  Dorothy  Sidney,  afterwards  immortalised 
as  Waller's  "Sacharissa." 

'  1619-1698.  *  1622-1682.  »  1626-166S.  '  1630-1704. 


192  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

pleased  out  of  the  brilliant  circle  that  surrounded  the  throne ; 
but  her  choice  fell  upon  the  widower,  James,  Lord  Hay, 
who,  although  no  longer  in  his  first  youth,  still  showed 
himself  handsome  of  form  and  face,  as  he  was  prodigal 
of  the  great  wealth  bestowed  upon  him  by  the  King. 
James  Hay  had  been  the  first  (and  perhaps  the  most  de- 
serving) of  King  James's  favourites,  after  that  monarch's 
accession  to  the  English  throne.  "The  King  no  sooner 
came  to  London,"  writes  Sir  Anthony  Weldon,  "  but 
notice  was  taken  of  a  rising  favourite,  the  first  meteor 
of  that  nature  appearing  in  our  climate ;  as  the  King 
cast  his  eye  upon  him  for  affection  ;  so  did  all  the  courtiers 
to  adore  him  ;  his  name  was  Mr.  James  Hay,  a  gentle- 
man that  long  lived  in  France  ;  some  say  of  the  Scottish 
guard  to  the  French  King."  Hay  was  born  at  Pitscorthy, 
county  Fife,  the  son  of  Sir  James  Hay  of  Kingask  by 
Margaret  Murray,  and  the  grandson  of  Sir  Peter  Hay 
of  Megginch.i  That  he  was  graceful  and  good-looking 
may  be  taken  for  granted,  although  during  his  mission  to 
Germany  the  Electress  Elizabeth  nicknamed  him  "Camel- 
face,"  from  the  peculiar  shape  of  his  visage.'^  His  early 
days  had  been  spent  in  very  straitened  circumstances ; 
and  when  through  the  King's  favour  he  found  himself  rich 
and  powerful,  it  became  the  chief  object  of  his  life  to 
efface  the  memories  of  past  privation  by  the  most  reckless 
prodigality.  Advancing  rapidly  in  the  royal  good  graces,  he 
was  made  a  Hfe  Baron  in  1606,  married  in  1607  to  Honora, 
daughter  and  heir  of  Edward,  Lord  Denny,  and  in  1615 
created  Lord  Hay  of  Sawley.  Good-humoured  and  tactful, 
he  subsequently  proved  himself  a  capable  diplomatist,  and 
a  letter-writer  of  no  mean  ability.  His  one  great  fault, 
indeed,  seems  to  have  been  absolute  recklessness  of  ex- 
penditure. In  the  feasts  which  he  gave  to  his  friends,  he 
aimed  at  outshining  Lucullus.  According  to  Weldon,  live 
sturgeon  were  imported  for  him  from  the  Black  Sea,  and 

'  Did.  of  Nat.  Biography  ;  Douglas's  Peerage.     Osborne  sneers  at  bis  birlh, 
and  calls  him  the  "son  of  a  Scotch  merchant." — Trad.  Memoirs  ef  James  /. 
'  Ibid. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  193 

served  whole  at  his  banquets.  In  the  course  of  one  of  his 
suppers  a  great  pie  was  served  up,  composed  largely  of 
"ambergris,  magisterial  of  pearl,  and  musk."  This  fragrant, 
but  scarcely  appetising  dish,  cost  a  sum  equal  to  ;^55  of  to- 
day. Hay's  masques  were  upon  a  scale  of  equal  magnifi- 
cence. He  leased  Essex  House,  and  there  played  host  to 
King  and  Court,  with  extraordinary  splendour.  Not  all  of 
this  display,  however,  was  intended  for  the  royal  delectation. 
Shortly  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Hay  fell  passionately 
in  love  with  Lady  Lucy  Percy,  and  many  of  his  most 
gorgeous  and  costly  entertainments  were  given  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  dazzling  the  young  beauty,  as  well 
as  her  pleasure-loving  mother,  Lady  Northumberland. 
Rumours  of  what  was  going  on  reached  the  Earl  ;  and  he 
protested  so  violently  against  the  courtship  of  Lady  Lucy 
by  one  of  "those  Scottish  upstarts  of  the  Court,"  that  his  wife 
shrank  from  exasperating  him  by  lending  open  countenance 
to  the  love  affair  of  her  second  daughter,  as  she  had  done 
to  that  of  Lady  Dorothy.  Nevertheless  Hay  was  secretly 
encouraged  in  his  suit  by  the  Countess,  whose  friend  Lady 
Bedford  played  the  part  of  principal  match-maker.  It  was 
not  long  before  the  favourite  learned  that  his  attentions 
were  anything  but  unwelcome  to  Lady  Lucy  ;  and  it  was 
arranged  that  their  betrothal  should  be  announced  at  a 
superb  festival  given  for  the  purpose.  On  February  22, 
1617,  John  Chamberlain  wrote:  "A  Masque  is  to  be  given 
at  Lord  Hays,  whej-e  the  Countess  of  Bedford  is  to  be  Lady  and 
Mistress  of  the  Feast,  as  she  is  of  the  managing  of  his  love  to 
the  Earl  of  Northumberlatid' s  younger  daughter,  ivith  whom 
he  is  far  engaged  in  affection,  and  finds  such  acceptance  both  at 
her  hands  and  her  Mothers,  that  it  is  thought  it  will  prove  a 
match."  ^ 

The  masque  cost  about  Xi  1,000  in  money  of  to-day, 
and  kept  thirty  cooks  busy  for  twelve  days  ;  but,  in  so  far 
as  Lucy  Percy  was  concerned,  all  this  outlay  of  time  and 
money  was  thrown  away.  The  King  and  Queen  honoured 
Essex  House  with  their  presence,  all  the  fashionable  world 

'  Chamberlain  to  Dudley  Carleton  ;  Stale  Papers. 
II.  N 


194  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

was  there,  but  Hay  looked  in  vain  for  a  sight  of  his  lady 
love.  At  last  Lady  Dorothy  Sidney  arrived,  pale-faced  and 
in  tears,  to  inform  her  would-be  brother-in-law  that  Lucy 
was  a  prisoner — shut  up  with  the  Wizard  Earl  in  the 
Tower  !  It  was  a  curious  story,  and  kept  London  supplied 
with  romantic  gossip  for  many  days.  The  two  sisters, 
Dorothy  and  Lucy,  had  gone  to  the  Tower  that  day  with  the 
intention  of  pleading  in  Hay's  favour.  They  assured  their 
father  that  the  young  Scotsman  was  of  gentle  birth  ;  that 
his  love  was  wholly  disinterested — uninfluenced  either  by 
greed  or  ambition  ;  and  that  a  union  between  Hay  and 
Lady  Lucy  might  lead  to  the  Earl's  release  from  prison. 
The  last  argument  had  been  better  omitted.  Northumber- 
land's pride  was  offended  at  the  prospect  of  owing  his 
freedom  to  "  a  Scots  minion,"  and  he  roundly  swore  that 
rather  than  consent  to  such  a  match  he  would  remain 
within  the  walls  of  the  Tower  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  De- 
spairing of  winning  him  over,  the  sisters  prepared  to  leave 
the  prison  before  the  gates  were  closed  for  the  day.  But 
Northumberland,  who  had  heard  of  the  great  masque  at 
Essex  House,  was  determined  that  his  younger  daughter 
should  not  attend  the  festivities.  "  After  some  few  caresses, 
he  dismissed  his  daughter  Sidney  to  go  home  to  her  husband, 
and  to  send  her  sister's  maids  to  attend  her  ;  for  that  he  meant 
not  to  part  with  her,  but  that  she  shottld  keep  him  company ; 
adding  withal  that  he  was  a  Percy,  and  could  not  endure  that 
his  daughter  should  dance  any  Scottish  jigs ;  and  there  she 
remains  for  aught  I  hear." '  This  was  domestic  tyranny 
with  a  vengeance !  The  disappointed  Hay  did  the 
honours  of  his  masque  as  best  he  could,  although  for  him 
that  gay  scene  had  lost  its  chief  attraction  ;  while  Lady 
Lucy's  "  incomparable  eyes  "  were  wet,  as  she  pined  over 
her  needlework  in  the  lonely  chambers  of  the  Brick  Tower,- 
or  listened  to  the  homilies  of  her  stern  parent.  No  doubt 
Northumberland  fancied  that  he  was  acting  very  shrewdly 

'  Chamberlain  to  Dudley  Carleton,  March  S,  1617  ;  Slate  Papers. 
*  The  apartments  recently  vacated   by  her  brother,   Lord   Percy,    had  been 
assigned  to  her. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  195 

in  thus  separating  his  daughter  from  Hay,  and  making 
her  a  captive  hke  himself ;  but  events  showed  that 
the  methods  which  he  pursued  had  had  anything  but 
the  desired  effect.  However  Lady  Lucy  might  have 
acted  had  she  been  left  free  to  decide  for  herself,  this 
high-handed  conduct  rendered  her  more  favourably  in- 
clined than  ever  towards  her  Scottish  suitor.  Did 
Northumberland  really  understand  woman's  nature  he 
would  never  have  allowed  his  daughter  to  consider  her- 
self in  the  light  of  a  martyr.  Although  the  fair  captive 
wept,  she  did  not  despair,  even  when  the  Earl  ordered  that 
her  maids  (whom  he  suspected  of  carrying  messages  to 
Hay  and  Lady  Bedford)  should  not  be  allowed  to  leave 
the  inner  ward  of  the  Tower.  A  fortnight  after  the 
masque  at  Essex  House,  Sir  G.  Gerard  wrote  to  Carleton  : 
"  The  Earl  of  Northumberland  still  keeps  his  daughter,  Lady 
Lucie  Percy,  in  the  Tozver,  to  secure  her  from  the  addresses 
of  Lord  Hay''"^  But  in  spite  of  all  his  precautions,  the 
Earl  himself  was,  indirectly  at  least,  the  means  of  bring- 
ing about  the  alliance  which  he  abhorred.  Allusion  has 
been  made  to  certain  tender  feelings  inspired  in  the 
elderly  scientist's  breast  by  the  mischievous  charms  of  his 
fellow-prisoner,  the  Countess  of  Somerset.  He  was  now 
so  fatuous  as  to  permit,  and  even  encourage,  his  innocent 
daughter  to  make  daily  visits  to  this  wretched  woman,  in 
order  that  (as  Chamberlain  told  Carleton)  he  might  himself 
have  a  good  excuse  for  dancing  attendance  upon  "his 
dear  Lady  of  Somerset."  2  This  folly  was  appropriately 
punished.  Carr's  wife,  finding  time  hang  heavily  on  her 
hands,  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  indulging  in 
another  of  the  conspiracies  which  she  loved — an  innocent 
conspiracy  on  this  occasion,  however.  While  pretending 
to  sympathise  with  Northumberland,  she  acted  as  go- 
between  for  the  lovers,  received  letters  from  Hay  to  Lady 
Lucy,  and  sent  out  Lady  Lucy's  replies  by  her  own 
messengers.     The  Earl  was  handsomely  befooled,  and  "  the 

'  Gerard  to  Carleton,  March  20,  1617  ;  Slate  Papers. 

•  Chamberlain  to  Carleton,  May  24,  1617;  Orismal  State  Papers. 


196  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

matter  .  .  .  so  plotted,  that  zvhere  he  thought  he  had  his 
daughter  safest,  there  he  lost  her."  ^  An  accident  disclosed 
to  him  the  true  state  of  affairs.  Furious  at  what  he 
deemed  the  treachery  of  Lady  Somerset,  he  returned  to  his 
old  love,  science,  and  visited  the  Countess  no  more.^  As 
for  his  daughter,  "  seeitig  that  he  could  prevail  no  longer  with 
her"  he  sent  her  away  " without  his  blessing " ;  nor  would 
he  give  her  the  ^£20,000  of  dowry  which  he  had  promised 
on  condition  that  "she  would  be  ruled  by  hiin."^  Hay, 
however,  was  by  no  means  mercenary.  His  affection,  says 
Wilson,  "was  above  money — setting  only  a  valuation  upon 
his  much  adored  bride  ;  "  *  and  no  sooner  did  he  learn  that 
Lady  Lucy  had  left  the  Tower  than  he  hastened  back  from 
Scotland  (whither  he  had  gone  on  the  King's  business),  and 
established  himself  "  in  a  little  house  iji  Richmond  Park,  to  be 
near  Syoii  where  his  fair  mistress  stops."  ^  As  Northumber- 
land continued  obstinately  against  the  match,  and  refused 
to  see  either  Lady  Lucy  or  her  mother,  the  King  was 
induced  by  Hay  to  act  in  loco  parentis,  and  give  the  bride 
away.  James  was  in  Scotland,  however,  and  the  ardent 
swain  was  naturally  impatient.  Yet  the  summer  of  1617 
must  have  been,  upon  the  whole,  a  pleasant  one  for  the 
lovers,  and  Lord  Hay's  barge  came  and  went  twice  a  day 
between  Richmond  and  Isleworth.  There  is  an  element  of 
humour  in  the  fact  that  Lady  Northumberland,  appalled 
by  the  accustomed  magnificence  of  her  future  son-in-law's 
banquets  (or  perhaps  kept  purposely  upon  a  meagre  allow- 
ance by  the  wrathful  Earl)  did  not  venture  to  ask  Hay  to 
dine  or  sup  ;  so  that  the  young  man  was  compelled  to 
return  to  his  own  residence  at  Richmond,  in  order  to 
appease  his  hunger  !  "  The  Lord  Hay  thinks  it  long  till 
the  King's  coming,  that  he  may  consummate  his  marriage  ;  for 
the  King  hath  promised  to  give  the  bride.  He  is  wonderfully 
observant  and  obsequious  to  her  and  her  mother ;  and  spends 

■  Chamberlain  to  Carleton,  May  24,  1617;   Original  State  Papers. 
^  Ibid.,  July  5,  1617  ;  State  Papers. 

'  Ibid.  ■*  Life  of  King  fames  I.     Collins,  ii.  434. 

^  Sir  G.  GerarJ  to  Carleton,  July  5,  1617  ;  State  Papers. 


THE   HOUSE  OF    PERCY  197 

most  part  of  his  time  there,  having  taken  Sir  Francis  Darcy's 
house,  by  Syon,  where  he  takes  solemn  feasts  twice  a  iveek  at 
least,  zvitJi  that  cost  and  expence  that  the  Lady  of  Northumber- 
land dares  not  so  Dutch  as  once  ininte  him  by  reason  of  his 
curiosity  ;  though  he  be  commonly  in  Iter  house  from  morning 
till  dinficr,  from  after  dinner  till  siipper,  from  after  supper  till 
late  in  the  night."  ^ 

The  wedding  was  at  length  solemnised  on  October  30, 
1617.  "  On  Thursday  the  Lord  Hay  married  his  mistress, 
the  Lady  Lucy  Percy,  and  that  night  the  King  and  Princess 
honoured  his  zvedding  supper  with  their  presence  at  the  Ward- 
robe'"'' The  bride  knelt,  while  James  drank  her  health; 
and  some  authorities  aver  that  the  King  made  her  as  "  a 
bridal  present  ...  a  promise  for  her  father's  enlargement 
from  the  Tower."  ^  It  was  a  rnerry  party,  and  one  after 
his  Majesty's  own  heart.  The  guests  "«^^  the  wine possctt, 
threw  the  left  shoe,  ran  at  the  ring,  with  other  fooleries  ;  " — 

"  O'  th'  sudden  up  they  rise  and  dance  ; 
Then  sit  again,  and  sigh  and  glance ; 

Then  dance  again,  and  Kiss  : 
Thus  sev'ral  Ways  the  time  did  pass, 
Whil'st  ev'ry  Woman  wish'd  her  Place, 

And  ev'ry  Man  wish'd  his  ! " 

The  supposed  pardon  obtained  by  Lady  Lucy  for  her 
father  (if  granted  at  all)  certainly  came  to  nothing  at  this 
time.  It  was,  indeed,  "  an  easier  task  to  get  a  pardon  from 
the  King  than  to  induce  her  father  to  accept  it.  Percy 
would  not  owe  his  liberty  to  Hay ;  and  when  the  order 
for  his  release  was  read  to  him,  the  venerable  Wizard, 
swearing  that  he  would  not  owe  thanks  to  Hay,  went  back 
to  his  books,  his  globes,  and  his  Magi  in  the  Martin 
Tower."*  This  probably  refers  to  Northumberland's  be- 
haviour  four  years   later,  when  an   order   for   his  release 

'  Chamberlain  to  Carleton,  Aug.  9,  1617. 
«  Ibid.,  Nov.  5,  1617  ;  Stale  Papers. 
'  Hepworth  Dixon  ;  Her  Majesty's  Toiacr. 
<■  Ibid. 


198  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

was  undoubtedly  signed,  of  which  he  refused  to  take  ad- 
vantage. All  that  James  seems  to  have  done  at  the 
wedding  supper  was  to  make  Lady  Lucy  a  promise  of  her 
father's  pardon  ;  which  promise  the  King,  characteristi- 
cally, took  four  years  to  carry  out. 

The  year  161 8  witnessed  the  execution  of  Northumber- 
land's life-long  friend,  Raleigh.  In  1619  the  Earl  was  to 
Death  of  the  suffer  the  loss  of  One  still  nearer  to  him — his 
Countess  wife.  Lady  Northumberland  died  at  Syon  on 
Dorothy.  August  3.  The  register  of  Petworth  records 
that  on  August  14,  1619,  "  the  corps  was  interred  in 
the  Chappell  of  Dorothie,  that  thrice  honorable  and  right 
vertuous  lady  the  Countess  of  Northumberland!'  Lady 
Northumberland  was  aged  about  fifty-four  years,  and  had 
been  married  to  the  Earl  for  some  twenty-four.  Her 
funeral  sermon,  preached  by  Dr.  Richard  Chambers  at 
Petworth,  was  printed  and  published  a  few  months  later. 
It  is  entitled,  "Sarah's  Sepulture ;  or  a  Funerall  Sert)ion 
preached  for  the  Right  Honourable  and  vertuous  Lady, 
Dorothie,  Couutesse  of  Northumberland,  at  Petworth  in 
Sussex,  by  Richard  Chambers,  Doctor  of  Diuinitie."  1 

The  text  chosen  was  Genesis  xxiii.  i  and  2  : — 

"  I.  And  Sarah  was  an  hundred  and  seauen  and  twenty 
y cares  old :  These  were  the  yeares  of  the  life  of  Sarah. 

"  2.  And  Sarah  died  in  Kiriath-arba,  the  same  is  Hebron, 
in  the  land  of  Canaan!' 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  these  particular  verses 
could  have  been  considered  appropriate  to  the  occasion. 
Neither  in  her  age  or  general  characteristics  did  Lady 
Northumberland  resemble  Abraham's  wife.  "  Among 
many  mirrors  of  modesty"  said  the  preacher,  ^^ this  elect 
Lady  was  a  true  i7iirror.  Had  any  cause  to  boast  in  the  flesh  ? 
Shec  more.  Shee  was  descended  of  a  Princely  family,  espoused 
to  ojie  of  the  greatest  Peeres  in  the  Land,  blessed  with  an 
hopefull  Seed,  grased  with  all  outward  lineaments  of  beauty, 
and  endoived  with  all  outward  ornaments  ofi'ertue."  ^ 

'  Published  by  G.  tld,  London,  1620.  -  Sarah's  SipiiUure. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  199 

Northumberland  was  greatly  shaken  by  his  wife's  death, 
and  reproached  himself  bitterly  with  the  estrangement 
which  had  arisen  between  them  since  the  secret  marriage 
of  their  elder  daughter,  and  the  Earl's  indiscreet  admiration 
for  Lady  Somerset.  So  overcome  was  he,  indeed,  that  his 
friends  resorted  to  the  strange  expedient  of  recalling  to  his 
mind  "  his  former  disputes  tvith  his  wife,  in  order  to  lessen  his 
grief  at  her  loss."  ^  His  infirmities  increased  so  rapidly  from 
this  time,  that  (as  Lord  Hay  assured  the  King)  only  freedom 
and  complete  change  of  scene  could  restore  him  to  health. 
Hay,  now  Viscount  Doncaster,^  laboured  most  loyally  in  his 
father-in-law's  cause,  and  good-humouredly  excused  the 
latter's  discourteous  treatment  of  himself,  by  pointing  out 
that  long  imprisonment  and  many  sorrows  had  naturally 
spoilt  the  Earl's  temper.  At  last  the  promised  pardon  was 
obtained  from  the  King.  "  But  the  old  Earl,"  says  Wilson,^ 
"  would  hardly  be  drawn  to  take  a  release  from  his  (Don- 
caster's)  hand ;  so  that  when  he  had  liberty,  he  restrained 
himself ;  and  only  with  importunity  was  wrought  upon  by 
such  as  knew  the  distemper  of  his  body  might  best  qualify 
that  of  his  mind  persuading  him,  for  some  indisposition,  to 
make  a  journey  to  the  Bath."  His  sons  and  daughters 
joined  in  urging  Northumberland  to  accept  the  release 
ofifered  to  him  ;  and,  after  several  refusals,  he  was  finally 
induced  to  do  so. 

The  Earl  left  the  Tower,  his  prison-home  for  more 
than  sixteen  years,  on  July  21,  1621.*  Several  other  dis- 
Freedomat  tiuguished  prisoners  Were  liberated  on  the  same 
'ast-  occasion,    among    them    the    Earls    of    Oxford 

and  Southampton,  Sir  Henry  Yelverton,  Sir  Edward 
Sandys,  Captain  North,  and  Mr.  Selden.  A  grand  salute 
of  the  Tower  guns  was  fired  in  honour  of  Northumber- 

'  His  tried  friend,  the  Queen,  had  also  died  in  1619. 

'  He  was  created  Viscount  Doncaster  in  1618,  and  Earl  of  Carlisie 
in  1622. 

'  Life  of  King  James  I.     Collins,  ii.  434. 

*  Records  of  the  Tower.  De  Fonblan<iue  wrongly  stales  that  the  date  of  the 
release  was  1622. 


200  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

land's  departure  ;  and  Lord  Doncaster  escorted  his  father- 
in-law  in  triumph  to  Essex  House,  where  his  children 
awaited  him.  Chamberlain  writes  :  "  On  Sunday  after- 
noon the  Earl  of  Northumberland  ivas  released  from  his  long 
imprisonment  in  the  Tower,  whence  the  Lord  of  Doncaster  went 
to  fetch  him  to  his  house  with  a  coach  and  six  horses.  .  .  . 
The  warders  of  the  Tower  make  great  moan  that  they  have 
lost  such  a  benefactor.  All  the  lords  and  great  7nen  about  this 
town  go  to  visit  and  congratulate  the  Earl.  Lord  Arundel 
supped  with  him  tJie  first  night,  and  dined  there  the  next  day, 
ivhithcr  came  likewise,  unbidden,  the  Spanish  Ambassador. 
The  Earl  contitiues  at  Syonfor  teti  days,  then  goes  to  Penshurst, 
to  see  his  dajighter  Lisle,  and  so  on,  zuhe7i  he  thinks  good,  ivithin 
his  precincts."  '^  The  word  "precincts"  is  in  allusion  to  the 
fact  that,  on  his  first  release,  Northumberland  was  ordered 
to  keep  away  from  London,  and  to  confine  himself  to 
"  within  thtj-ty  miles  compass  of  Petworth"'^ — a  place  which 
he  had  never  cared  for,  and  rarely  visited.  The  cause  of 
this  edict  was  the  King's  desire  to  avoid  any  awkwardness 
which  might  arise  from  a  meeting  between  himself  and  the 
man  whom  he  had  so  long  persecuted.  The  injunction 
was  removed  after  a  few  months,  and  Northumberland 
was  allowed  to  return  for  stated  periods  to  his  favourite 
residence,  Syon,  where  he  found  the  gardens  which  he  had 
laid  down  in  a  most  flourishing  condition.  On  November 
15,  1623,  Chamberlain  informed  Sir  Dudley  Carleton  that 
the  Earl  had  "  hired  Sir  Richard  Harrison's  house  in  the 
]\Iinories,  and  lived  there"  ^  It  is  curious  to  find  the  released 
captive  voluntarily  returning  to  the  neighbourhood  of  his 
captivity — for  Harrison's  house  was  within  musket-shot  of 
the  Martin  Tower.  There  is  no  mention  of  his  journey  to 
Bath,  but  he  probably  went  thither  as  soon  as  his  "  pre- 
cincts "had  been  enlarged.  A  story  is  quoted  in  Colhns' 
Peerage  to  the  effect  that,  during  his  first  visit  to  London, 
the  Earl  having  heard  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham's  ostenta- 

'  Cliamberlain  lo  Carlclon,  July  22,  1622  ;  State  Papers. 

2  Jl,U.,]\-i\y  18,  1 62 1. 

"  Slate  Papers,  November  15,  1623. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  201 

lion  ill  driving  through  the  capital  behind  six  horses,  imme- 
diately ordered  that  his  own  coach  should  be  drawn  by 
eight,  by  way  of  rebuke  to  the  favourite.  Such  a  demon- 
stration, however,  scarcely  tallies  with  Northumberland's 
character.^  His  principal  place  of  abode  after  1622  was 
Petworth,  and  most  of  his  books  and  scientific  appliances 
were  transferred  thither  from  the  Tower,  with  considerable 
difficulty,  owing  to  the  proverbial  heaviness  of  the  Sussex 
roads.  There  was  nothing  to  prevent  his  claiming  his  seat  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  but  no  evidence  exists  of  his  having 
done  so  during  the  remainder  of  James  I.'s  reign.  On 
February  22, 1624,  we  learn  that  "the  Earl  of  Nortliiiuibcr- 
land  was  cither  not  called  to  Parliament,  or  if  writs  Pro 
Forma  were  issued,  he  had  been  wished  to  forbear  and  absent 
himself.""-  Even  after  the  accession  of  Charles  I.  he  seems 
for  a  time  to  have  shrunk  from  parliamentary  service,  as 
on  January  31,  1626,  a  Dispensation  was  issued  to  "Henry 
Earl  of  Northumberland  to  be  absefit  from  the  Parliament 
in  regard  of  indisposition  of  body!'  ^ 

One  of  the  most  agreeable  reminders  of  the  past  which 
awaited  the  Earl  on  his  return  to  freedom  was  a  letter  of 
warm  congratulation  from  Sir  Dudley  Carleton — once  his 
p}vtt'gif  and  private  secretary,  now  a  person  of  consequence 
and  envoy  at  the  Hague.  Carleton  (soon  to  become  Vis- 
count Dorchester)  assured  his  old  master  that  he  had  never 
forgotten  how  much  he  owed  to  the  latter's  help  in  times 
of  need.  The  Earl,  vastly  pleased  by  this  evidence  of 
gratitude — a  rare  quality  in  those  who  have  risen  to  place 
and  power — replied  from  Petworth  on  August  28,  thanking 
Carleton  for  his  letter,  and  assuring  him  that  he  had  more 
than  wiped  out  any  debt  which  existed  between  them  by 
his  kindness  to  Lord  Percy  while  abroad.  This  friendship 
continued  to  the  end  of  the  Earl's  days,  and  he  never 
failed  to  offer  his  congratulations  upon  every  upward  step 

1  The  Dictionary  of  National  Biography  and  De  Fonljlanqiie's  Annals  both 
suggest  that  Hay  was  responsible  for  the  eight  horses. 
-  Chamberlain  to  Dudley  Carleton  ;  State  Papers. 
^  Domestic  Slate  Papers. 


202  THE    HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

taken  by  Lord  Dorchester.  On  August  29,  1629,  he  wrote 
inviting  the  diplomatist  to  visit  him  at  Syon  or  Petworth, 
and  adding  in  hopeful  words:  " I  hope  time  will  bring  it 
about  again  that  we  may  commutiicate  some  old  passages, 
and  laugh  at  what  is  past,  joy  at  the  present,  and  hope 
for  better  to  come,  which  none  shall  be  gladder  than  your  old 
master!'  ^ 

James  I.  died  in  1625  ;  and  the  new  King,  advised  by 
Buckingham,  began  at  once  to  make  overtures  to  Northum- 
berland. It  was  felt  at  Court  that  the  Percy  influence 
would  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  royalist  party,  and  the 
Earl  was  urged  to  take  his  seat  in  Parliament  as  a  supporter 
of  prerogative.  Twenty  years  before  Northumberland 
would  probably  have  sided  with  the  King  and  his  advisers 
as  against  the  claims  of  the  people ;  but  his  unjust 
imprisonment,  and  the  other  grievous  wounds  which  he 
had  received  from  the  reigning  dynasty,  caused  him  to 
look  coldly  upon  the  interested  advances  of  the  Crown 
party.  It  was  not  long,  indeed,  before  he  made  his  voice 
heard  in  Parliament  as  a  vigorous  champion  of  the 
Commons  and  their  privileges,  and  an  opponent  of 
Buckingham's  policy.  A  small  body  of  peers  looked  upon 
Northumberland  as  their  leader,  the  Earls  of  Arundel, 
Bristol,  and  Middlesex  lending  him  particularly  active  aid 
in  his  resistance  of  autocratic  rule.  As  the  King's  (or 
rather  Buckingham's)  demands  for  money  grew  more 
frequent  and  pressing,  the  breach  between  Charles  and 
Northumberland  widened.  At  first  promises  and  cajoleries 
were  essayed  to  win  over  the  obstinate  peer.  These  failing, 
Buckingham  went  so  far  as  to  employ  threats,  broadly 
hinting  that  a  refusal  on  the  Earl's  part  to  support  and 
contribute  to  the  Royal  Loan  of  1627  would  seriously 
injure  the  prospects  of  the  House  of  Percy.  One  of  the 
favourite's  letters  to  Northumberland  in  regard  to  the 
loan  runs  as  follows  :  "  It  is  common  bruit  of  the  Toun 
that  your  Lordship  is  resolved  to  refise  the  Loan  to  the  King 
now  on  foot.  I  beg  your  Lordship  to  think  ivell  of  it,  before 
'  Northumberland  to  Viscount  Dorchester ;  State  Papirs. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  203 

yott  refuse.  The  matter  is  tiot  great,  and  is  generally  assented 
to  by  the  rest  of  your  Rank.  To  refuse  will  not  advantage 
your  Lordship  in  the  Opinion  of  others,  and  will  frustrate  my 
endeavour  to  settle  your  Lordship  and  your  children  in  the 
King's  Favour!'  ^  Had  the  Earl  allowed  himself  to  be  con- 
verted, like  Strafford,  from  sympathy  with  the  Commons 
to  unqualified  allegiance  to  the  King,  a  dukedom  and 
the  gift  of  large  tracts  of  land  taken  from  the  Catholic 
Irish  were  to  have  been  bestowed  upon  him.  But  he 
scorned  alike  bribes  and  menaces ;  and,  together  with  the 
other  ^'refractory  Lords"  sternly  refused  to  ''come  in" "^  or, 
in  other  words,  to  countenance  the  loan  in  any  way.  We 
learn  this  from  a  letter  to  the  future  Earl  of  Strafford, 
who  was  still  opposed,  like  Northumberland,  to  arbitrary 
measures,  and  who  is  exhorted  in  the  same  context  to 
" come  into  the  Vineyard  at  the  last  hotir"  lest  Buckingham 
compass  his  ruin.^  Wentworth  was  enticed  "  into  the 
Vineyard"  to  his  own  eventual  destruction  ;  Northumber- 
land remained  defiantly  aloof.  It  is  impossible  to  say  how 
far  he  was  influenced  in  taking  this  position  by  an  honest 
desire  for  the  public  welfare  ;  and  how  far  by  distrust  of 
the  Stuart  race  (a  distrust  which  he  did  not  attempt  to 
hide)  and  contempt  for  the  Cecils,  Cavendishes,  Russells, 
Villierses,  and  others  who  had  risen  to  rank  since  the 
Reformation,  or  even  later.  But,  whether  driven  into  the 
arms  of  the  Democracy  by  the  vulgarising  of  his  own 
order,  or  actuated  by  sentiments  such  as  those  afterwards 
upheld  by  his  son,  and  his  grandson  Algernon  Sidney, 
it  is  certain  at  least  that  the  Earl  was  thoroughly  con- 
sistent in  his  opposition  to  the  rash  policy  of  Buckingham 
and  the  King.  Indeed,  but  for  the  assassination  of  the 
Duke  in  1628,  Northumberland  and  Arundel  would  pro- 
bably have  been  sent  back  to  the  Tower. 

The  Earl  had  survived  most  of  his  enemies,  but  there 
was  one  relentless  foe  from  whose  attacks  he  could  not 

'  Buckingham  to  Northumberland,  Feb.  i,  1627  ;  State  Fafers. 
^  I^rd  Haughton  to  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  May  19,  1627  ;  Strafford  Letters, 
vol.  i.  ^  Ibid. 


204  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

escape.  Old  age,  and  its  attendant  infirmities,  daily 
weighed  more  and  more  heavily  upon  him,  and  forced 
Death  of  the  him,  against  his  will,  to  abandon  London  and 
wizardEari.  t^g  Parliament,  and  retire  to  the  comparative 
solitude  of  his  Sussex  home.  Even  at  Petworth,  his 
peace  was  disturbed  by  at  least  one  more  family  trouble, 
of  sufficient  consequence  to  cause  him  grave  distress. 
This  was  the  marriage  of  his  elder  son  to  Lady  Ann 
Cecil,  granddaughter  of  the  man  to  whom,  more  than  all 
others,  Northumberland  owed  his  betrayal  and  sufferings 
— Robert,  first  Earl  of  Salisbury.  On  January  12,  1628,  the 
Rev.  Joseph  Mead  had  written  to  Sir  Martin  Stuteville  : — 
"  My  Lord  Percy  is  bent  upon  marrying  ■with  my  Lord  Salis- 
bury's Daughter.  _£  11,000  is  her  portion ;  but  my  Lord  of 
Nortliuiuberland  is  averse,  because  her  grandfather  was  his 
greatest  enemy '''^  It  is  not  surprising,  upon  the  whole,  that 
the  old  Earl  should  bitterly  oppose  this  alliance  of  his 
honest  race  with  that  of  the  treacherous  and  unscrupulous 
Cecil.  He  remonstrated  hotly  with  his  son,  and  roundly 
declared  that  "  the  blood  of  Percy  tvould  not  mix  with  that  of 
Cecil  if  you  poured  them  into  a  dish!'"''  With  Algernon  Percy, 
however,  as  with  his  sisters  Dorothy  and  Lucy,  love  out- 
weighed filial  devotion.  In  spite  of  the  Earl's  opposition  the 
marriage  took  place  in  1629  ;  but  superstitious  gossip  long 
afterwards  maintained  that  the  failure  of  Ann  Cecil  to  bear 
her  lord  a  son  and  heir  was  due  to  a  curse  laid  by  the 
angry  "Wizard"  upon  what  he  considered  an  unhallowed 
union.^ 

Apart  from  this,  Northumberland's  life  at  Petworth 
during  the  brief  remainder  of  his  days  seems  to  have  been 
contented  and  happy.  In  fine  weather  he  amused  himself 
with  gardening  and  the  planting  of  trees ;  at  other  times 
chemical  researches  and  a  well-filled  library  furnished  him 
with   agreeable   occupation.      For    purposes  of   study  his 

1  Birch's  Charles  I.  '  Ibid. 

'  Northumberland  was  said  to  have  prophesied  that  "  the  Earldom  should 
juvcr pass  to  a  Percy  -doith  Cecil  blood  m  his  veins" ;  as  indeed  proved  to  be  the 
case.  The  failure  of  the  line  of  his  son-in-law,  Hay,  was  similarly  ascribed  to  the 
Earl  having  withheld  his  blessing  from  Lady  Lucy  Percy  at  her  marriage. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  205 

sight  had  ahiiost  entirely  failed,  and  he  now  employed  four 
readers  and  secretaries,  instead  of  two.  Among  these  was 
his  cousin,  Edward  Percy,  nephew  of  the  conspirator  Thomas 
Percy,  and  great-grandson  of  Josceline  Percy,  brother  of 
tlie  fifth  Earl.'  De  Fonblanque  is  mistaken  in  his  assertion 
that  Thomas  Harriot  accompanied  his  patron  to  Petworth, 
and  helped  him  to  fit  up  a  laboratory  there.-  The  cele- 
brated scientist  died  in  1621,  a  month  before  Northumber- 
land obtained  his  liberty.^  Hues,  Torperley,  and  Thomas 
Allen,  however,  may  well  have  visited  Petworth.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  Torperley  and  Allen  both  died  in  the 
same  year  as  their  friend  and  fellow-scientist,  the  Earl. 

Part  of  the  summer  of  1632  Northumberland  spent  at 
beautiful  Penshurst  with  his  elder  daughter  Dorothy,  now 
Countess  of  Leicester.  In  spite  of  the  superior  beauty  and 
brilliancy  of  Lady  Carlisle,  Dorothy  had  always  been  his 
favourite ;  and  it  was  certainly  in  this  leafy  corner  of  Kent 
that  he  saw  her  at  her  best,  the  happy  mother  of  a 
lusty  brood — all  destined  to  make  their  mark  in  the  world 
some  day.  Lucy  of  Carlisle  preferred  the  busy  life  of  the 
Court,  as  her  mother  and  grandmother  had  done  before 
her ;  and  there  she  had  already  begun  to  turn  her  wit  to 
account  in  a  thousand  subtle  plots,  and  to  bend  her  splendid 
eyes  admiringly  upon  "  Black  Tom "  VVentworth.  But 
gentler  Dorothy  was  quite  content  with  a  peaceful  life  at 
Penshurst  among  her  children,  where  her  chosen  friends 
were  kindly,  simple-hearted  neighbours  such  as  that  Dame 
Selby  of  the  Moat-House,  whose  merits  are  so  quaintly 
recorded  in  an  epitaph  at  Ightham  hard  by.* 

I  See  Genealogy,  Tables  II.  and  III.     Edward  Percy  died  at  Petworth,  and 
was  buried  there  in  1630. 

^  AiDials  of  the  House  of  Percy.  '  Diet,  of  Nat.  Biography. 

*  This  epitaph  to  Dame  Dorothy  Selby  of  Ightham  Moat-House  records  that 
she  was  : — 

"  In  heart  a  Lydia,  in  tongue  a  Hanna, 
In  zeale  a  Ruthe,  in  wedlock  a  Susanna. 
Prudently  simple,  prudently  wary. 
To  the  world  a  Martha,  and  to  Heav'n  a  Mary. 

She  put  on     )   .     ,,  .,      \age,(>q\ 

7  .  ,-.    t  in  the  yere  of  her  \   „   ,         .         -      „ 

Inimortalily  \  \  Redemption,  164 1. 


2o6  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Northumberland  found  his  grandchildren  urchins  of 
great  promise  and  exceptional  good  looks.  With  the 
Sidney  blood,  at  least,  that  of  Percy  had  mingled  happily. 
Dorothy,  first  of  the  merry  tribe,  was  a  blue-eyed  maiden 
of  fifteen,  without  a  thought  as  yet  of  the  hearts  that  she 
was  destined  to  break,  or  of  the  fame  that  was  to  be  hers 
as  the  Sacharissa  of  love-sick  Master  Waller.  Lord  Lisle, 
in  his  fourteenth  year,  showed  little  of  that  stern  serious- 
ness which,  in  after  years,  distinguished  the  soldier  of  the 
Commonwealth.  And  upon  the  fair  face  of  Algernon 
Sidney,  godson  as  well  as  grandson  of  the  Wizard  Earl, 
there  rested  no  shadow  prophetic  of  the  future.  To  these 
children  Northumberland,  with  his  long  white  beard  and 
reputation  for  supernatural  wisdom,  must  have  been  a 
creature  of  awe,  and  even  of  dread  ;  but  the  grave  scientist 
could  unbend  at  times,  and  it  makes  a  pleasant  picture  to 
think  of  him,  throned  upon  some  "tanned  haycock"  in 
the  Penshurst  meadows,  with  his  daughter  by  his  side,  and 
the  young  Sidneys  listening  eagerly  to  the  tales  which  he 
told  them.  To  one  dark  phase  of  his  life  we  may  be  sure 
he  did  not  turn  —  the  Tower  and  its  gloomy  memories 
would  have  been  out  of  place  with  such  an  audience.  But 
upon  many  another  subject  he  was  free  to  talk — the 
foreign  lands  and  peoples  which  he  had  visited,  the  great 
wits  and  doughty  captains  of  his  early  manhood,  the 
glories  of  olden  days,  the  wonders  of  sky  and  sea  I  English 
history  was  one  of  the  topies  which  he  most  delighted  to 
discuss ;  nor  could  he  altogether  refrain  from  tingeing 
his  narrative  with  some  of  that  bitterness  which  he  felt 
towards  ungrateful  monarchs  and  their  ministers.  Who 
can  tell  how  deeply  the  minds  of  Algernon  Sidney  and  his 
brother  were  influenced  by  what  they  learnt  during  those 
long  summer  days  at  Penshurst  ? 

With  the  approach  of  autumn,  the  Earl  took  leave  of 
his  grandchildren  and  went  back  to  his  solitary  life  in 
Petworth.  There  he  was  suddenly  overtaken  by  disease 
(probably  small-pox),  and  died  in  his  seventy-first  year,  on 
November  5,  1632 — "Gunpowder  Plot  Day."     His  hasty 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  207 

burial  beside  the  remains  of  Countess  Dorothy  in  Petworth 
Chapel,  is  all  that  is  left  to  be  recorded  concerning  the 
chequered  career  of  Henry  Percy,  the  "  Wizard  Earl "  of 
Northumberland. 

Only  three  of  the  Earl's  six  brothers  outlived  him  ;  and 
one  of  these  (George)  died  later  in  the  same  year.    The 

eldest  survivor,  William  Percy,  was  a  singular 
Rich'^iand  character,  who,  although  endowed  with  consider- 
George  ^]^\q  falents,  had   drifted  (through  an   unhappy 

love-afifair,  it  is  said)  into  obscurity.  He  entered 
Gloucester  Hall,^  Oxford,  in  1588,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  and 
soon  established  for  himself  a  reputation  as  "  a  young  man 
of  learning  and  genius."  This  early  promise,  however, 
was  not  fulfilled.  We  find  Percy  repeatedly  in  prison — 
first  in  the  Tower,  upon  a  charge  of  homicide,  and  subse- 
quently in  the  Fleet  for  debt.  His  open  acknowledgment 
of  Roman  Catholic  opinions  put  an  end  to  all  hopes  of 
his  preferment  at  Court,  and  he  retired  to  Oxford,  where 
many  holding  similar  views  had  found  an  asylum.  Here 
he  still  lived  in  1638,  upon  the  pittance  of  a  younger  son, 
holding  no  communication  of  any  sort  with  his  relatives, 
and  "  drinking  notliing  but  ale!'  ^  He  died  ten  years  later 
"  an  aged  Bachelor,  in  Penny  Fartliing  Street,  Oxford,  after  he 
had  lived  a  melancholy  and  retired  life  many  years  ;  and  was 
buried  iti  the  Cathedral  of  Christchurch,  near  to  the  grave  of 
Sir  Henry  Gage,  the  28""  of  May  1648."  ^  Percy  was  an  asso- 
ciate of  Barnabie  Barnes,  the  author  of  "Parthenopie  and 
Parthenope,"  who  dedicated  his  "Offices"  to  '^  The  Right 
Noble  and  Vertuous  Gentleman  M.  William  Percy,  Esquier,  his 
deerest  friend."  Percy's  own  literary  works,  like  those  of 
Barnes,  are  forgotten  to-day ;  but  he  enjoyed  considerable 
reputation  as  a  dramatist  and  writer  of  sonnets.  His 
"  Sonnets  to  the  Fairest  Coelia,"  composed  in  1594,  were  re- 
produced in  book  form  some  years  ago.*    They  are  supposed 

'   Wood's  Oxford  MS'S.,  Ashniole  Museum,  S466,  fol.  4. 

-  Strafford  Letters,  ii.  166.  ^   If'ootFs  MSS.,  Ashmole  Museum. 

*  In  1877  ;  ediled  by  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Grosarl,  U.D. 


2o8  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

to  have  been  addressed  to  the  unknown  lady  whose  cruelty 
wrecked  the  poet's  happiness.  Two  plays  written  by  him 
during  the  period  of  his  retirement  were  printed  in  1824 
"  from  a  MS.  in  the  Library  of  Joseph  Haslewood  esquire."  ^ 
They  display  not  a  Httle  talent,  and  a  great  deal  of  the 
coarseness  of  language  common  to  the  age.  The  first  is 
entitled  "The  Cuck  Queanes  and  Cuckolds  Errants  ;  or  the 
Bearinge  down  the  Inne  :  A  Comoedye,  by  W.  P.;"  the 
second,  "  The  faery  Pastorall ;  or  the  Forrest  of  Elues 
(introducing  Oberon,  King  of  the  Fasrys,  Chloris  his 
Queene,  Orion  Prince  of  Eluida,  Sir  David  a  Schoolemaster 
of  the  F^ry  Children,  and  others)." 

Sir  Richard  Percy,  another  brother  who  survived  the 
ninth  Earl,  also  ended  his  life  in  obscurity,  after  a  youth 
of  great  promise.  His  military  services  in  Ireland  have 
been  already  referred  to.  When  the  Earl  was  unjustly 
condemned  by  the  Star  Chamber,  Richard  Percy  became 
disgusted  with  life  in  England,  and  went  abroad.  Like 
his  brother  William,  he  was  a  Roman  Catholic ;  and  he 
died  in  1647  in  a  religious  house  on  the  Continent.  There 
is  no  record  of  his  having  married,  or  left  issue. 

George  Percy,  after  the  Earl  the  ablest  of  the  seven 
brothers,  was  born  in  1580,  He  saw  some  service  in  the 
Low  Countries  (probably  in  the  company  of  Northumber- 
land and  Raleigh),  and  in  December  1606  sailed  for 
Virginia  with  the  first  American  expedition  of  James  L's 
reign.  On  May  23,  1609,  his  name  occurs  in  the  list 
of  incorporators  of  the  second  company  of  Virginian  ad- 
venturers. His  first  intention  was  to  have  settled  down 
in  the  Dominion,  for  he  obtained  considerable  grants  of 
lands  (subsequently  alienated)  and  married  Anne  Floyd, 
daughter  of  one  of  the  colonists  at  Jameston.  In  August 
1609  Gabriel  Aucher  describes  him  as  one  of  "the  re- 
spected gentlemen  of  Virginia."  In  the  quarrel  between 
the  adventurers  and  Captain  John  Smith,  Percy  sided  with 
the  former;  and  after  Smith's  recall  in  1609  to  answer 
the  charges  made  against  him,  Percy  was  made  Deputy- 

^  Published  by  William  Nicul,  London. 


THE   HOUSE  OF  PERCY  209 

Governor.  On  June  12,  1610,  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Council  under  the  new  Governor,  Delawarr,  and  in 
161  r  again  Deputy-Governor.  Acting  in  tiiis  capacity 
he  exchanged  gifts  with  "  the  great  sachem  Powhatan," 
father  of  Pocahontas.  His  expenditure  at  this  time  proved 
larger  than  his  income,  for  on  August  17,  161 1,  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  his  eldest  brother,  the  Earl,  apologising  for  having 
overdrawn  his  allowance  to  the  extent  of  ^432.  is.  6d.  It 
was  necessary,  he  explained,  to  "keep  a  good  table"  at 
Jamestown,  where  foods  and  wines  were  very  costly.  Nor- 
thumberland paid  the  debt,  but  apparently  advised  his 
brother  to  return  to  England  ;  and  on  April  22,  1612,  Percy 
resigned  his  office,  disposed  of  whatever  goods  he  owned, 
and  left  Virginia.  In  London  he  acted  for  some  time  as 
agent  for  the  Virginian  adventurers  opposed  to  John  Smith. 
When  Smith  published  his  "General  History,"  Percy  wrote 
in  reply  "  A  True  Relation  of  the  Proceedings  and  Occur- 
rents  of  Moment  which  happened  in  Virginia  from  .  .  . 
1609  until  .  .  .  1612."  In  this  he  accuses  Smith  of  being 
a  braggart  and  a  slanderer,  and  sets  forth  at  length  the 
various  grievances  of  the  settlers.  A  second  work  followed 
of  more  permanent  value,  entitled  "  A  Discourse  of  the 
Plantation  of  the  Southern  Colony  of  Virginia."  This 
tract  was  republished  by  both  Hakluyt  and  Purchas. 
Percy's  restless  nature  forbade  that  he  should  remain  long 
inactive,  and  about  1625  he  entered  the  service  of  the 
United  Provinces  as  a  volunteer.  He  had  a  finger  shot 
off  in  one  engagement  (1627),  and  for  some  time  com- 
manded a  company  with  distinction.  His  death  occurred 
in  1632,  a  few  months  after  that  of  Northumberland ;  and 
he  does  not  appear  to  have  left  any  children  by  his  wife, 
Ann  Floyd.^ 

'  This,  however,  is  not  absolutely  certain.     Ann  Floyd  remained  behind  in 
America  after  her  husband's  return  to  England. 


The  tenth  Earl  of  Northumberland  was  born  on  October 
13,  1602,  after  two  of  his  brothers  had  died  in  infancy. 
He  was  baptized  at  Essex  House  on  the  follow- 
tenthRakoi  '"g  d^Y !  his  godmothcr  being  Queen  Elizabeth 
Northumber-  (the  Marchioness  of  Northampton  acting  as 
proxy),  and  his  godfathers  the  Lord  Treasurer 
and  the  Lord  Admiral  (Nottingham)  of  England.^  It 
was  an  era  of  fanciful  names,  and  Northumberland  went 
back  to  the  very  fountain-head  of  his  race  to  find  one 
for  the  latest  born  Percy.  "  T/te  childl'  wrote  Cham- 
berlain, "w  called  'Algernon,'  after  one  of  his  first  ances- 
tors, that  of  the  House  of  Brabant.  It  is  thought  somewhat 
a  strange  and  disused  name  ;  -  but  it  is  better  to  have  a  strange 
name  than  none,  as  your  Dolphin  ^  hath  not  that  I  can  hcere 
of."  ■*  The  worthy  gossip  is,  of  course,  mistaken  in  thinking 
that  the  name  "Algernon"  had  its  origin  in  the  House  of 
Brabant  and  Louvain.  It  was,  as  will  be  remembered,  the 
appellation  of  that  William  de  Percy  who  first  settled  in 
England,  generations  before  the  line  merged  in  that  of 
Josceline  of  Brabant. 

Almost  as  soon  as  he  had  passed  what  his  father  termed 
"  The  Long-Cote  Age,"  Young  Percy  was  taken  from  his 
mother's  care  and  installed  in  the  Tower,  where  the  Earl 
was  already  a  prisoner.  Northumberland  has  been  blamed 
for  thus  making  his  son  a  prisoner  like  himself ;  but  he 
himself  always  maintained  that  the  results  amply  justified 
him  in  the  course  which  he  took.  That  the  training  which 
the  lad  obtained  under  his  father's  direction  was  far  superior 

'  Chamberlain  to  Carleton,  Oct.  15,  1602;  Stale  Papers. 

^  Certainly  a  strange  name  to  apply  to  an  infant,  if  its  meaning  ("The 
Whiskered  ")  be  considered  !  ^  The  Dauphin. 

*  Chamberlain  to  Carleton,  Oct.  15  ;  Stale  Pa/ers. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  211 

to  what  might  have  fallen  to  his  share  in  the  outer  world 
there  can  be  little  doubt ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  these 
years  spent  within  prison  walls,  apart  from  companions  of 
his  own  age,  left  upon  his  character  an  impression  of 
seriousness,  and  even  of  gloom,  which  nothing  could  efface. 
In  studying  the  history  of  Algernon  Percy,  one  is  con- 
stantly reminded  of  the  fact  that  his  all  too  brief  boyhood 
was  spent  amid  these  stern  surroundings.  His  only  friends 
were  men  far  advanced  in  years — grave,  learned  men  who 
had  been  tried  in  the  lires  of  suffering  ;  many  of  whom 
belonged,  like  Nicholas  Hill  and  Thomas  Allen,  to  the 
forbidden  religion ;  and  few  of  whom  had  any  reason  to 
look  with  love  or  respect  upon  the  Stuart  King  and  his 
shifty  advisers.  He  saw  his  father,  one  of  the  greatest  peers 
in  the  realm,  condemned  to  imprisonment  and  threatened 
with  the  loss  of  his  estates  at  the  will  of  an  irresponsible 
sovereign,  and  upon  charges  deliberately  trumped  up  by 
a  treacherous  rival.  To  know  that  this  father,  the  head  of 
a  race  which  had  rendered  extraordinary  services  to  the 
State,  and  deserving  in  his  own  person  of  the  King's 
warmest  gratitude,  was  being  persecuted  thus  wantonly ; 
to  see  innocent  men  like  Walter  Raleigh  flung  into  a 
dungeon,  robbed,  and  finally  butchered,  while  pimping 
Somerset  and  his  murderous  paramours  went  scot  free ; 
to  look  day  after  day  upon  the  wrongs  and  miseries  encom- 
passed by  the  callous  walls  of  the  Tower  —  these  were 
experiences  which  rendered  Percy  old  before  his  time,  and 
tempered  his  inherited  pride  with  a  reserve  which,  in  after 
life,  made  him  seem  cold  and  haughty  to  those  who  did  not 
know  him  well.  As  might  have  been  expected,  the  things 
which  he  heard  and  witnessed  were  little  calculated  to 
strengthen  his  allegiance  to  the  reigning  dynasty  and  its 
methods  of  government.  We  are  told  that  Northumber- 
land was  fond  of  hearing  his  son  read  Plutarch  ;  and  of 
commenting  sagely  upon  each  Life  as  it  was  passed  in 
review,  comparing  the  great  men  of  their  own  time  with 
those  of  antiquity.  One  wonders  whether  Lord  Percy  en- 
deavoured to  establish  any  parallels  between  the  luminaries 


212  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

of  the  Court  and  the  subjects  of  Plutarch's  pen.     The  ccmi- 
parison  could  hardly  have  been  flattering  to  the  former. 

When  the  Brick  Tower  was  rented  from  Lord  Carew 
as  a  residence  for  the  heir  of  Northumberland,  apartments 
therein  were  assigned  to  Robert  Hues  (one  of  the  famous 
"Three  Magi"  of  the  Earl).  Hues  acted  as  Algernon's 
principal  tutor.  In  addition,  capable  instructors  in 
dancing,  fencing,  ■v\Titing,  and  many  other  accomplish- 
ments were  engaged  and  liberally  paid  for  their  services.* 
The  art  of  riding  Percy  acquired  in  the  fields  and  lanes 
of  Essex,  whither  he  went  twice  or  three  times  a  week 
under  the  care  of  his  father's  "gentleman  of  the  horse," 
John  Hippesley.  Northumberland  distrusted  Court  life 
and  its  influence  upon  the  mind  of  his  son,  but  he  was 
determined  not  to  retard  in  any  way  the  latter's  worldly 
welfare.  When  the  future  King  Charles  was  created 
Prince  of  Wales  in  1616,  a  number  of  boys  of  his  own 
age  were  invested  with  the  order  of  knighthood,  and 
of  these  the  second  in  point  of  rank  was  Algernon  Percy. 
"  /  have  not  the  list  of  the  twenty-four  Knights  of  the  Bath 
that  were  made  at  the  time^'  writes  John  Chamberlain  ; 
'^  but  it  may  suffice  that  they  were  all  of  noble  Houses,  and 
the  Lords  Maltravers^  Percy  and  Wriothesley^  were  the 
ringleaders!'  *  Percy's  fees  on  this  occasion  amounted 
to  ;^340,  14s.  2d.^  Next  year  he  bade  good-bye  to  his 
quarters  in  the  Tower,  and  betook  himself  to  Cambridge 
University.  On  this  head  the  "  Dictionary  of  National 
Biography "  is  betrayed  into  an  error.  Following  De 
Fonblanque  unquestioningly,  it  asserts  that  "  Percy  was 
educated  at  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  as  family 
papers  prove,  and  not  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  as  stated 
by  Collins  and  Doyle."  As  a  matter  of  fact  Percy 
was  educated  at  both  universities,  in  so  far  as  a  very 
brief   stay   at    either   seat    of    learning    may   be   regarded 

'  Syon  House  Rolls.  *  Ancestor  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk. 

'  Afterwards  Earl  of  Southampton,  father-in-law  of  Josceline,  nth  Earl  of 
Northumberland. 

*  Chamberlain  to  Carleton,  Nov.  9,  1616  :  State  Papers. 
»  Syon  House  Rolls. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  213 

as  education.  He  cannot  have  resided  at  Cambridge 
more  than  six  months;  for  on  July  15,  1617,  he  matricu- 
hited  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  as  "Percy,  Au/gcruoiai, 
Cantabrigiensis"  and  signed  the  register  among  the  Nobiles} 
While  residing  in  the  Tower,  in  1615,  he  had  been 
entered  as  a  student  of  the  Middle  Temple.-  The  ex- 
penses incurred  by  his  term  at  Cambridge  were  by 
no  means  light.  For  "  Adviittance  and  Incorporatioti "  he 
was  charged  £6,  5s.  od.  ("  no  more  ") ;  for  "  Six  Months  Com- 
mons, £28,  2S.  4d  "  ;  for  "Extraordinary  Diet,  £50,  i6s.  4d  "  ; 
and  for  "  Furniture  of  Lodgings,  £zo,  os.  od."  ^  His  servants 
(who  were  kept  upon  board  wages  of  seven  shillings 
a  week  each)  numbered  six.  By  way  of  personal  allow- 
ance he  had  ^50  a  year ;  and  for  his  clothing,  ;^20o 
for  the  term.  Altogether  his  Cambridge  sojourn  must 
have  cost  about  ;^5oo  (or,  in  modern  money  £2^06)  per 
atinnm ;  and  the  Oxford  expenditure  was  on  a  similar 
scale.  By  way  of  contrast,  it  is  interesting  to  note  the 
very  different  treatment  accorded  at  this  time  to  his 
younger  brother,  Henry  Percy.  This  poor  lad  was 
brought  up  at  the  school  of  one  John  Willis  in  Isle- 
worth  ;  and  his  annual  expenses,  including  diet,  never 
exceeded  £2^.  He  had  no  pocket  money,  and  no  extras 
whatever — except  the  entry,  "  5d.  for  gages  and  scourges" 
be  looked  upon  as  such.*  When  Henry  Percy  was  allowed 
to  travel  in  France  two  years  later,  it  was  "  in  a  modest 
manner"  and  at  "  small  cost."  ^ 

After  leaving  Oxford,  Algernon  Percy  went  abroad, 
bringing  with  him  a  well-filled  purse,  and  the  "  Instructions" 
regarding  foreign  travel  which  his  father  had  prepared  for 
his  benefit.  Lads  of  sixteen,  plentifully  supplied  with 
money,  and  sent  out  to  view  the  world  with  no  other  re- 
straint than  that  offered  by  an  obsequious  tutor  (whose 
hopes  of  future  preferment  in  the  Church  depended  upon 
the  favour  of  his  pupil),  ^  are  rarely  disposed  to  pay  great 

'  Register,  University  of  Oxford,  pp.  fol.  l8a. 

'  Register  of  the  Middle  Temple. 

^  SyoK  House  Rolls.  *  Ibid.  '  Jbid.. 

•  Lord  Percy's  tutor  was  the  Rev.  William  Dowse. 


214  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

attention  to  the  grave  and  carefully  written  didactics  of 
their  parents.  Percy  was  in  no  sense  of  what  is  now  called 
a  "  priggish  "  temperament ;  but  he  possessed  a  fund  of 
sound  common  sense,  even  at  that  early  age,  which  caused 
him  to  realise  the  value  of  his  father's  elaborate  sugges- 
tions and  to  follow  them  faithfully,  especially  in  regard  to 
the  acquiring  of  languages  and  the  study  of  maritime 
affairs.  Northumberland  appears  to  have  had  a  prescience 
that  his  heir  would,  at  some  future  day,  be  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  naval  affairs  of  his  country.  Even  in  the 
Tower  the  Earl  had  models  of  shipping  (both  of  war  and 
commerce,  fully  rigged  and  armed)  constructed  for  I^ercy's 
use  ;  1  and  in  the  "  Instructions"  he  devoted  much  space  to 
the  study  of  foreign  vessels,  their  tonnage,  draught,  and 
general  usefulness.  If  Percy  acquired  high  reputation  as  a 
linguist,  he  also  developed  into  one  of  the  shrewdest  and 
most  practical  naval  authorities  of  his  time,  and  the  know- 
ledge which  he  obtained  in  this  respect  during  his  travels 
afterwards  stood  him  in  good  stead  when  he  came  to  be 
Lord  Admiral  of  England.  His  stay  abroad  (varied  by 
brief  visits  to  London,  as  on  the  occasion  of  his  sire's  release 
from  the  Tower)  lasted  for  about  six  years.  In  1624,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  first  entered  public  life  as  knight 
of  the  shire  for  Sussex.  The  King  and  Buckingham 
laboured  diligently  to  attach  him  to  the  Court  party,  but 
without  success.  In  spite  of  a  personal  liking  for  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  a  deep  respect  for  the  memory  of 
Queen  Ann  of  Denmark,  Percy  could  not  be  induced  to 
accept  any  favours  from  the  sovereign  who  had  treated 
his  father  so  unjustly.  Already,  indeed,  the  opinion  was 
forming  in  his  mind  that  the  mode  of  government  practised 
by  the  Tudors,  and  disastrously  imitated  by  their  Stuart 
successors,  could  not  and  should  not  be  maintained. 
James,  after  an  attempt  to  make  a  match  between  him  and 
Mademoiselle  de  St  Luc'-  (which  only  resulted  in  the 
young   man's   hurried    and   ungracious   departure   to   the 

'  Syoii  House  Rolls, 

*  Chamberlain  to  Carkton,  Feb.  2,  1623  ;  Stale  Papers. 


/A/f'/  j/f'// .  /r  ff^  If/  >/  ri/^r  yff?f //////// /'t^''//a''ii^/'/''. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  215 

Hague),  abandoned  further  efforts  at  conciliation,  Percy 
had  no  wish  to  marry  as  yet,  certainly  not  at  the  royal 
dictation.  He  did  not  even  take  his  father  into  his  confi- 
dence as  regarded  his  matrimonial  intentions  ;  and  when 
he  chose  a  wife  eventually,  it  was  (as  we  have  seen)  one  by 
no  means  acceptable  to  the  Earl.  In  1625  he  represented 
Chichester  in  Parliament,  and  in  1626  the  county  of 
Northumberland.  After  the  death  of  James,  old  animosi- 
ties were  permitted  to  subside.  The  Earl  took  his  seat  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  and  Percy  accepted  from  Charles  I. 
the  post  of  Master  of  the  Horse.  Buckingham  and  his 
adherents  congratulated  themselves  somewhat  prematurely 
upon  having  broken  down  the  opposition  of  the  great 
north-county  family  and  once  more  attached  it  to  the 
Crown.  On  March  28,  1627,  a  writ  was  issued  by  virtue 
of  which  Lord  Percy  was  summoned  to  Parliament  in 
his  father's  barony  of  Percy  of  Alnwick.  Of  course,  as 
Nichols  points  out  in  his  admirable  "  Synopsis  of  the 
Peerage,"  this  summons  was  due  to  an  error,  and  could  not 
have  been  issued  with  propriety  save  under  authority  of  a 
special  Act.  Queen  Mary  had  not  reversed  the  attainder 
of  Sir  Thomas  Percy,  but  had  simply  created  the  Barony 
of  Percy  and  Earldom  of  Northumberland  anew,  on 
April  30-31,  1557,  in  favour  of  Henry,  commonly  called 
"seventh  Earl."  It  was  due  to  carelessness  or  ignorance 
on  the  part  of  the  Heralds'  College  that  Algernon  Percy 
was  now  summoned  in,  and  conceded  the  precedency  of 
the  original  barony  of  February  6,  1299.  The  effect  of 
this  was,  according  to  Nichols,  to  create  a  new  barony 
by  writ — the  same  which  is  now  represented  by  the  Duke 
of  Athole.i  Even  had  the  attainder  of  Sir  Thomas  Percy 
been  removed,  the  natural  heirs  of  the  ancient  barony 
(between  whom  and  the  succession,  however,  yet  another 
attainder  intervened)  would  have  been  the  descendants  of 
Thomas,  seventh  Earl  (beheaded  in  1572),  through  his 
daughters.      At   the   time    of    Lord    Percy's   summons   to 

'  Nichols  ;  Synopsis  of  the  Peerage.  A  like  mistake  was  made  in  1722, 
when  Algernon  Seymour,  son  of  Elizabeth  Percy,  Duchess  of  Somerset,  was 
summoned  to  Parliament  in  the  barony  of  1299. 


2i6  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Parliament,  the  senior  co-heir  of  the  Barony  of  Percy  of 
Alnwick  was  Joseph  Woodroffe  of  Woolley  in  Yorkshire.^ 

No  sooner  did  Algernon  Percy  take  his  seat  in  the 
Upper  House,  than,  so  far  from  falling  in  with  Bucking- 
ham's views,  he  joined  the  band  of  "  refractory  lords" 
headed  by  his  father,  his  brother-in-law  Leicester,  and 
the  Earls  of  Arundel,  Bristol,  and  Middlesex.  Bucking- 
ham ventured  to  remonstrate  with  this  unexpected 
opponent,  and  possibly  animadverted  upon  his  holding 
a  Court  office,  while  thwarting  the  King  in  his  demands 
upon  the  public  purse.  In  order  to  place  his  conduct 
beyond  cavil,  Percy  forthwith  resigned  the  Mastership  of 
the  Horse,  and  showed  himself  more  "refractory"  than 
ever.  His  chosen  associates  were  Wentworth,  Edward 
Hyde,  and  Sir  Kenelm  Digby,  all  of  whom  were  at  this 
time  enthusiastic  upholders  of  the  privileges  of  the 
Commons,  although,  with  less  consistency  than  Percy, 
they  afterwards  altered  their  attitude,  and  (in  the  case 
of  Hyde  particularly)  upbraided  their  former  ally  with 
ingratitude  to  the  King. 

Percy  and  his  bride  spent  their  honeymoon  in  a  pro- 
tracted tour  through  the  northern  estates  of  their  family. 
They  found  all  their  ancient  castles  and  manor-houses,  with 
the  single  exception  of  Wressill,  in  a  lamentable  condition. 
Bamburgh,  Topcliffe,  and  Leckonfield  were  little  more  than 
so  many  piles  of  ruined  masonry,  and  deserted  Alnwick  was 
fast  falling  into  decay.  The  bitter  reflection  can  scarcely 
have  failed  to  occur  to  the  mind  of  Lady  Percy,  that  these 
evidences  of  neglect  and  devastation  were  mainly  the  work 
of  her  own  family,  the  Cecils ;  nor  could  the  old  Earl 
refrain  from  informing  Leicester  that  he  regarded  it  as  one 
of  time's  revenges  that  Ann  Cecil  should  thus  be  made  a 
sufferer  by  the  ruin  which  her  grandsire  and  her  great-grand- 
sire  had  wrought.  For  over  fifty  years  a  Percy  had  not 
been  permitted  to  inhabit  the  mansions  of  his  fathers  north 
of  Trent,  nor  had  the  northern  tenantry  welcomed  an  Earl 
of  Northumberland  to  his  hereditary  domains  in  all  that  time. 
'  See  ante,  under  the  seventh  Earl. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  217 

A  better  era  was  now  about  to  dawn,  however.  Bamburgh, 
Topcliffe,  and  Leckonfield  were  past  repairing  ;  but  orders 
were  issued  for  the  rehabilitation  of  Ahiwick  and  Wressill. 

After  Buckingham's  assassination,  and  the  death  of  the 
ninth  Earl  of  Northumberland,  Algernon  Percy  was  induced 
to  return  to  Court ;  but  his  opinions  in  favour  of  con- 
stitutional government  remained  unaltered.  His  brother 
Sir  Henry  Percy  had  recently  returned  to  England,  and, 
possessing  a  handsome  person  together  with  insinuating 
manners,  had  made  himself  so  agreeable  to  the  Queen  that 
he  was  given  a  small  place  at  Court.^  Henrietta  Maria  and 
the  "  French  party  "  believed  that,  through  the  persuasions 
of  this  vivacious  but  rather  shallow  younger  brother,  they 
could  win  over  the  new  Earl.  Charles  was  persuaded  to 
overlook  the  latter's  views,  and  to  bestow  upon  him  sundry 
honours  and  dignities.  In  1633  he  was  summoned  to 
accompany  the  King  to  Scotland,  and  in  1634  nominated 
to  the  Privy  Council.  During  the  Scottish  expedition,  a 
rather  unpleasant  incident  occurred.  Peter  Apsley,  a  hare- 
brained ruffler  and  hanger-on  of  the  Court,  son  of  Sir  Allan 
Apsley,  formerly  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  and  notorious 
for  the  many  quarrels  in  which  he  had  been  involved, 
challenged  Northumberland  to  a  duel  on  account  of  some 
fancied  slight.  Only  two  years  before  Apsley  had  been  the 
challenger  in  another  affair,  and  owed  his  escape  from 
punishment  (the  laws  against  the  duello  being  very  severe) 
to  Northumberland's  personal  intercession.-  It  does  not 
appear  whether  or  not  an  encounter  took  place  on  this 
occasion  between  the  Earl  and  "  the  irascible  Peter "  (as 
Wentworth  styles  him) ;  but  news  of  the  matter  reached 
Charles,  who  at  once  ordered  Apsley's  arrest  on  the  charge 
of  having  challenged  an  ofiicial  in  active  attendance  upon  the 
sovereign.  A  Star  Chamber  trial  followed,  in  1634.  Apsley 
was  ordered  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  Tower  at  the  royal 
pleasure,  and  to  pay  the  (to  him)  impossible  fine  of  ^£5000.' 

'  Master  of  the  Horse  to  the  Prince  of  Wales — something  of  a  sinecure,  since 
the  future  Charles  II.  was  an  infant. 

'  State  Papers,  Domestic.  Apsley's  father  had  beer,  a  friend  of  the  ninth  Earl 
while  in  the  Tower.  ^  State  Pafets. 


2i8  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Lord  Chief  Justice  Heath  pleaded  to  have  the  fine  reduced 
to  ;^iooo,  on  the  ground  that  the  prisoner  was  hardly 
responsible  for  his  actions ;  but  Apsley  had  become  so 
notorious  as  a  bravo,  that  a  salutary  lesson  was  deemed 
necessary.  He  was  eventually  pardoned,  after  a  year's 
confinement,  and  his  fine  "  suspended  upon  good  conduct." 
Northumberland's  investiture  as  a  Knight  of  the  Garter 
took  place  on  May  i6,  1635,  and  was  an  event  of  great 
splendour — the  last  occasion,  indeed,  upon  which  knights 
rode  in  procession  to  receive  the  honour.  A  Garter  had  been 
vacant  for  two  years,  and  the  Earl's  friends  had  expected 
that  it  would  be  conferred  upon  him  ;  but  his  pride  delayed 
the  bestowal.  Charles  was  desirous  that  Northumberland 
should  unbend  to  the  extent  of  asking  (indirectly  at  least) 
for  the  coveted  favour  ;  but  nature  had  not  made  Algernon 
Percy  a  courtier,  and  he  remained  obstinately  silent,  even 
when  his  wife  and  brother  urged  him  to  move  in  the 
matter.  At  length  the  Queen,  in  pursuance  of  her  policy 
of  conciliation,  prevailed  upon  Charles  to  take  the  initia- 
tive.^ She  was  careful,  at  the  same  time,  to  personally 
convey  to  Northumberland  that  he  owed  his  blue  ribbon 
to  her  influence  alone.  The  informal  manner  in  which 
the  Earl  was  notified  of  his  new  dignity  is  thus  described 
by  his  chaplain,  George  Garrard  (afterwards  master  of  the 
Charterhouse,  and  a  lifelong  friend  of  the  Percy  family)  : 
"  On  the  twelfth  day  viy  Lord  of  Noi'thuviberland  being 
in  the  Queen's  Withdrawitig  Chamber,  the  King  and  Queen 
coining  in,  she  looked  about  U7itil  she  espied  him,  the>i  beck'ned 
him  unto  her,  and  told  him  that  she  had  moved  the  King  for 
one  of  the  vacant  Garter  Places  now  empty  for  him,  and  the 
King  had  granted  her  request.  So  she  took  him  up  to  the 
King,  who  confirmed  it ;  and  thereupon  kissed  His  3Iajesty's 
Hand.  And  I  veiily  believe  he  is  beholden  to  no  Courtier  of 
them  all  for  this  noble  Favour,  but  the  King  and  Queen  : 
They  can  Judge  best  of  Men's  Worth,  for  neither  in  the 
Kingdom,  nor  out  of  the  Kingdom,  do  I  know  any  that  better 
deserves  this  Honour.      He  is  a  Man  composed  of  so   many 

'  Lord  Conway  to  Wentworth  ;  Strafford  Lclters,  vol.  i. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  219 

Virtues,  that  I  adiuire  him,  which  I  do  not  ordinarily  bcstoiu 
but  upon  those  that  deserve  it''  ^ 

A  broadside  ballad  in  black-letter,  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum,  commemorates  the  gorgeous  progress  of 
the  new  Knight  of  the  Garter  to  Windsor.  Chaplain 
Garrard  (who  mounted  his  own  pad-nag  for  the  occasion) 
writes  as  follows  :  "  My  Lord  of  Northumberland  was  in- 
stalled the  i^th  of  this  month  at  IVindsor.  Never  Subject  of 
this  Kingdom  rode  better  attended  from  his  House  than  he 
did,  nor  performed  the  Business  more  nobly  or  more  sumptu- 
ously. The  King,  Queeti,  and  Prince  stood  at  my  Lord 
Wimbledon  s''-  in  the  Stratid ;  thirteen  Earls  and  a  Marquis 
rode  zi'ith  hint,  besides  almost  all  the  young  Nobility  and 
many  Barons.  I  must  not  forget  my  Lord  Cottington,^  who 
was  veiy  rich  in  Jewels  and  his  Feather  but  the  Spanish 
IVay,  and  a  competent  number  of  the  Gentty,  near  an  hundred 
Horse  in  all,  besides  his  Servants,  luho  'were  fifty,  costly  and 
bravely  cloathed,  beyond  any  that  hath  been  seen  before.  Four 
Pages,  all  Earls'  Sons ;  two  of  my  Lord  Chamberlain,  one 
of  my  Lord  Salisbury,  and  the  fourth  my  Lord  of  Leicester  s  ; 
twelve  footmen,  two  brave  Coaches,  with  four  in  Livery  to 
drive  them.  My  Lord  Clanrickard,  ids  son,*  and  my  Lord 
Dunluce  ^  were  of  our  Company  {for  I  rode  too),  but  not  one  of 
the  Scottish  Nation ;  which  was  the  moi-e  observed  because 
many  of  otir  English  did  the  last  honour  unto  my  Lord 
Morton.  The  Garter  is  grown  a  dear  Honour ;  few  Subjects 
will  be  able  to  follow  this  Pattern."^  A  dear  honour  to 
Northumberland  it  certainly  proved.  According  to  the 
accounts  kept  in  Alnwick   Castle,  his  expenditure  during 

'  Rev.  G.  Garrard  to  Wentworlh  ;  Strafford  Letters,  vol.  i.  427. 

-  Edward  Cecil,  Viscount  Wimbledon  (1572-1638),  brother  of  Salisbury. 

'  Francis  Cottington,  Lord  Cottington,  then  Master  of  the  Court  of  Wards, 
afterwards  one  of  Charles's  chief  ministers. 

•*  This  was  the  Earl  of  Clanricarde  who  rebelled  four  years  later,  and  was  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Confederate  Catholics  in  Ireland. 

'  Randal  MacDonnell,  Lord  Dunluce,  son  of  the  tirst  Earl  of  Antrim,  chief  of 
the  Irish  MacDonnells.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Hugh  O'Neill,  Earl 
of  Tyrone.  We  shall  hear  of  him  again  as  quarrelling  with  Sir  Henry 
Percy. 

^  Garrard  to  Wentworlh  ;  Strafford  Letters,  May  19,  1635. 


220  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

the   pageant  and   subsequent   investiture  at  Windsor  (in- 
cluding heralds'  fees)  amounted  to  "  ;£i493,  us.  3d."i 

The  Earl's  practical  knowledge  of  maritime  affairs 
was  no  secret  at  Court ;  and  on  March  23,  1636,  he  was 
Admiral  of  appointed  to  command  the  new  fleet  raised 
the  Fleet  ^y  dj^it  of  "  ship-moncy."  His  full  title  was 
"Admiral,  Custos  Maris,  Captain-General  and  Governor  of 
the  Fleet  and  Sea  Forces."  -  The  higher  dignity  of  Lord 
Admiral,  Charles  as  yet  held  in  reserve  for  his  infant 
son,  James,  Duke  of  York.  Northumberland  chose  as  his 
Vice-Admiral  Sir  John  Pennington,  and  as  Rear-Admiral 
Sir  Henry  Mervyn — the  latter  of  whom  Garrard  describes 
as  ^protege  and  pensioner  of  the  Earl.^ 

If  the  new  Admiral  had  hoped  to  sweep  the  seas  with 
his  fleet  (and  the  Court  apparently  looked  for  some  such 
exploit),  he  was  doomed  to  grievous  disappointment.  One 
cruise  sufficed  to  convince  him  that,  with  such  ships  and 
such  sailors,  England  could  never  hope  for  supremacy 
upon  the  deep.  The  much-heralded  navy  was  indeed  in 
a  deplorable  state  ;  and,  to  make  matters  worse,  Northum- 
berland found  himself  still  further  hampered  by  corrupt 
officials,  and  a  viciously  incompetent  Board  of  Admiralty. 
To  the  latter  was  due  a  measure  which,  at  the  very  outset, 
deprived  some  of  the  most  trustworthy  captains  of  their 
commands,  i.e.  the  needless  enforcement  of  the  oath  of 
supremacy,  which  even  in  the  bigoted  days  of  Elizabeth 
and  James  had  not  been  demanded  from  ships'  officers. 
Northumberland,  although  personally  as  well  disposed 
towards  the  Catholics  as  his  father  had  been,  had  no 
choice  but  to  comply  with  the  instructions  which  he 
received  from  the  King,  through  Secretary  Windebank. 
To  quote  from  Gardiner's  "  History  of  England"*:  "The 
fleet  which  was  to  maintain  these  exorbitant  pretensions 
had  been  entrusted  to  a  new  Admiral.  This  time  it  was 
sent  out  under  the  command  of  the  young  Earl  of  Nor- 

'  Alnwick  MSS. ;  Memorandum  Book  No.  lo.  '  Fadera,  xix.  761. 

^  Garrard  to  Wentworth,  May  15,  1636  ;  Strafford  Letters.  *  Vol.  viii. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  221 

tluiinberland.  ...  A  courteous  and  high-spirited  young 
nobleman,  who  took  care  to  keep  himself  aloof  from  the 
factions  of  the  Court,  he  was  on  the  best  terms  with 
everybody.  He  was  himself  in  friendly  intercourse  with 
Wentworth.  His  sister,  Lady  Carlisle  .  .  .  was  still  the 
reigning  beauty  at  Whitehall,  and  his  brother,  Henry 
Percy,  had  gained  a  strong  influence  over  the  Queen  by 
his  light  and  amusing  conversation.  .  .  .  Lindsey's  Vice- 
Admiral,  Sir  William  Monson,  had  been  a  Catholic.  Nor- 
thumberland was  now  ordered  not  to  admit  any  officer 
who  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy  as  well  as 
the  oath  of  allegiance."  Among  the  captains  who  asked 
for  "  time  to  consider,"  and  who  subsequently  resigned 
their  commissions  rather  than  take  the  obnoxious  oath 
were  Sir  John  Digby,  Sir  Kenelm  Digby,'  and  Mr.  Pen- 
ruddocke.  On  May  20  Northumberland  hoisted  liis  flag 
on  the  Triumph,  and  sailed  for  the  Downs.  He  found 
that  his  ships  were  heavy  and  lumbering  craft,  ill-equipped 
in  every  respect,  and  by  no  means  worthy  to  cope  with 
the  comparatively  swift  and  well-armed  French  or  Dutch 
men-of-war.  A  large  French  fleet  was  reported  at 
Rochelle ;  but  Northumberland  failed  to  fall  in  with  it. 
Off  Portland  he  sighted  eight  warships  of  the  enemy, 
and  at  once  gave  chase.  The  English  vessels  crowded 
on  all  sail,  but  were  ignominiously  left  behind  in  the 
race.  A  rumour  that  the  French  had  stolen  out  of 
Rochelle  and  proceeded  up  the  Channel  brought  the 
Earl  back  to  the  Downs  with  all  the  speed  his  lagging 
armaments  could  afford.  The  rumour  proved  to  be  false, 
however,  and  when  the  French  did  actually  leave  their 
anchorage  it  was  to  proceed  in  a  southerly  direction.^ 
Northumberland  wished  to  pursue,  but  Charles — at  the 
advice  of  Windebank  and  the  Admiralty  —  forbade  this 
course  ;  and  the  Earl,  greatly  against  his  will,  was  ordered 
to  use  his  fleet  for  the  purpose  of  exacting  tribute  from 

'  Kenelm  Digby  had  married  Venetia  Stanley,  a  near  relative  of  Northumber- 
land (she  was  granddaughter  of  the  seventh  Earl,  and  a  co-heir  of  the  ancient 
Barony  of  Percy) 

■■^  Northumberland  to  the  Admiralty,  May  23  to  June  22,  1636  ;  State  Papers. 


222  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

a  few  Dutch  fishing-smacks.  The  Dutch  fishermen  had 
long  been  accustomed  to  frequent  English  waters  in  the 
herring  season,  and  it  was  now  determined  to  make  each  of 
these  foreign  boats  take  out  a  Hcence  for  the  privilege. 
Chafing  inwardly  at  the  inglorious  mission  to  which  he 
was  condemned,  Northumberland  nevertheless  obeyed, 
and  succeeded  in  forcing  some  200  owners  of  Dutch 
herring-smacks  to  pay  toll  to  Great  Britain.  The  govern- 
ment of  the  United  Provinces  protested  warmly  against 
what  was  held  to  be  a  most  high-handed  and  unjustifiable 
proceeding,  but  the  English  Admiral  carried  out  his  in- 
structions to  the  letter,  and  threatened  with  confiscation 
all  boats  that  were  not  duly  licensed.  Thus  terminated 
the  first  season  of  his  command.  That  he  had  not  ac- 
complished more  was  due,  not  to  his  own  lack  of  energy 
or  skill,  but  rather  to  the  uncertain  policy  of  Charles,  and 
the  wretched  state  of  his  ships.^ 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  Earl  had  done 

nothing  but  crawl  in  the  wake  of  French  ships  and  drag 

shillings  from  the  pockets  of  peaceful  fisher-folk. 

sug"gesteT      Denied  the  honours  of  active  service  against  the 

reforms  in      enemv,  lic  tumed  his  attention  to  the  Augean 

the  Navy 

task  of  reforming  the  navy  itself,  and,  in 
December  1636,  presented  the  King  with  a  full  statement 
of  the  many  crying  abuses  which  existed  in  fleet  and  Admir- 
alty. Justice  has  never  been  done  to  this  first  of  English 
naval  reformers  for  the  good  which  he  accomplished,  or 
for  the  still  greater  good  which  he  fearlessly  attempted. 
Long  afterwards  Pepys,  when  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty, 
found  and  profited  by  many  of  Northumberland's  straight- 
forward and  practical  reports.  The  navy,  according  to  the 
Earl's  memorial  to  Charles,  consisted  at  that  time  of  60 
ships,  of  from  7  to  22  feet  draught  of  water.  Some  of 
these  were  rotten ;  all  were  faultily  built,  and  easily  out- 
sailed by  French  vessels  of  fair  speed.  The  sails  supplied 
were  of  the  very  worst  material  ;  and  the  cordage  (in 
'  Gardiner,  viii.  p.  158. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  223 

tlic  expressive  language  of  Northumberland — language  of 
which  we  sometimes  hear  an  echo  to-day)  was  "  wortliless 
stuff,  which  none  but  His  Majesty's  officers  ivill  buy  "  !  The 
crews  were  "the  very  refuse  of  the  whole  Kingdom"  ;  and  (it 
speaks  volumes  for  the  Earl's  superiority  to  his  contempo- 
rary commanders,  that  he  should  complain  of  such  a  lack) 
there  was  no  decent  provision  for  the  sick  and  wounded.  ^ 
Contracts  for  ships'  stores  brought  commissions  and  per- 
quisites to  the  Admiralty  Board  and  its  underlings ;  hence 
the  victualling  of  the  fleet  was  of  the  vilest  description. 
"  Food,"  wrote  Northumberland,  "  is  bad  and  scant — the  beer 
not  fit  to  diink,  and  the  dry  salted  meat  is  naught." 

With  regard  to  the  character  of  the  officers  serving 
under  him,  the  Earl  had  little  to  say  that  was  compli- 
mentary ;  and  on  this  head  we  find  him  making  a  sugges- 
tion in  the  way  of  reform  startlingly  in  advance  of  his  time. 
Briefly  he  proposed  that  skilled  navigators  who  had  risen 
from  the  forecastle  might  be  eligible  for  commissions  as 
officers.  Many  of  his  captains  and  lieutenants,  he  declared, 
were  mere  creatures  of  the  Court,  who  owed  their  appoint- 
ments to  influential  or  wealthy  relatives.  These  he  held  in 
undisguised  contempt,  as  useless  in  peace  and  dangerous 
only  to  their  country  in  time  of  war.  The  rest  of  his  sub- 
ordinates were  well  enough,  but  might  be  the  better  for  a 
slight  admixture  of  experienced  sailors  of  humble  birth. 
"  With  these  Gentlemen  Captains,"  he  writes,  "  it  will  be 
requisite  to  mingle  some  of  the  better  sort  of  Seamen,  who 
have  been  taught  on  severe  Occasions,  and  have  by  their  Merit 
raised  both  their  Fortu7ies  and  Reputations." 

This  daring  report  raised  a  storm  of  indignation  among 
the  Lords  and  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty.  Every- 
thing was  done  at  Court  to  retard  or  prevent  the  proposed 
reforms,  and  Charles  learnt  from  the  friends  of  the 
threatened  department  that  his  new  Admiral  was  a  rash 
man    who    would    ruin    the   navy    with    his    new-fangled 

'  In  spite  of  Northumberland's  plea  for  proper  "sick-bays"  on  board  war- 
ships, the  bad  old  system  continued  with  little  alteration  down  to  the  days  of 
Smollett. 


224  THE   HOUSE  OF  PERCY 

theories.  In  the  end,  the  King  referred  the  Earl's  report 
to  the  very  persons  most  interested  in  suppressing  it — 
the  Naval  Commissioners,  "  with  ivhom,"  wrote  Northumber- 
land in  February,  "it  hath  lain  dead  ever  since,  and  is  never 
likely  to  revive  again."  ^  Meanwhile  the  corrupt  contractors, 
who  had  been  temporarily  frightened  by  threats  of  exposure 
and  dismissal,  took  heart  from  the  delay  and  returned  to 
their  old  evil  practices,  sneering  at  the  "great  Admiral 
whose  bark  was  ivorse  than  his  bite."  Thoroughly  disgusted 
at  the  manner  in  which  his  representations  and  complaints 
had  been  shelved,  the  Earl  resolved  to  leave  the  navy  to 
its  fate.  "  The  slackness  in  punishing  the  offenders,"  he  told 
Wentworth  (with  whom,  at  this  time,  he  kept  up  a  constant 
correspondence),  "  hath  made  them  so  insolent,  that  notu  they 
justify  those  facts  which  hitherto  they  have  tacitly  admitted. 
This  proceeding  hath  brought  me  to  a  resolution  not  to  humble 
myself  any  more  ivith  endeavouring  a  reformation,  unless  I  am 
commanded  to  it."''-  Wentworth  sympathised  warmly  with 
his  friend,  and  replied :  "  Let  the  Commissioners  think  as 
they  please  ;  you  have  done  right,  and,  ivhether  it  take  or  not, 
in  my  judgment  it  concerneth  His  Majesty  more  than  yourself y  ^ 
To  these  words  of  encouragement  he  added  help  of  a  more 
substantial  nature.  Laud  was  inspired  by  him  to  raise  anew 
the  question  of  reform  in  the  navy  ;  and  just  when  the 
officials  thought  themselves  again  secure  from  interference, 
they  found  their  peace  once  more  disturbed  from  a  wholly 
unexpected  quarter — the  bench  of  bishops.  Northumber- 
land had  been  upon  the  point  of  resigning,  in  the  belief 
that  a  command  in  the  navy  was  scarcely  "fit  for  any  person 
of  honour."  ^  Now,  however,  the  King  and  Laud  joined  in 
pressing  him  to  continue  at  the  head  of  the  fleet  for  another 
year.  Laud,  still  prompted  by  Wentworth,  strongly  advised 
the  King,  as  a  preliminary  step  in  the  direction  of  reform, 
either  to  call  the  Earl  to  the  Commission,  or  else  to  make 

'  Strafford  Letters,  vol.  ii.  p.  46. 

-  Northumberland  to  Wentworth,  Feb.  7,  1637  ;  Strafford  Letters. 

^  Wentworth  to  Northumberland,  Feb.  18,  1637  ;  I/>id. 

*  Northumberland  to  Wentworth,  Feb.  20,  1637  ;  Ibid. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  225 

him  Lord  High  Admiral  and  place  the  affuirs  of  the  navy 
absolutely  under  his  control.  As  we  have  already  stated, 
this  proud  position  \ras  being  reserved  for  the  little  Duke 
of  York  ;  but  Laud  suggested  that  Northumberland  might 
be  allowed  to  occupy  it  until  the  Duke  arrived  at  suitable 
years.*  At  the  personal  request  of  Charles,  the  Earl  again 
took  command  in  April  1637.  He  found  that  much  the 
same  conditions  prevailed  as  in  the  previous  year  ;  and  to 
his  intense  annoyance  the  campaign  against  the  Dutch 
fishermen  was  resumed.  These  men  had  in  the  meantime 
received  assurances  of  support  from  their  government, 
however,  and  were  no  longer  disposed  to  submit  tamely. 
One  or  two  smacks  which  were  overhauled  offered  a  smart 
resistance,  and  the  Admiral  ordered  them  to  be  seized. 
The  United  Provinces  at  once  sent  a  letter  of  protest  to 
Charles ;  whereupon  the  latter  retreated  from  the  position 
which  he  had  taken  up,  and,  fearful  of  war  with  the  Dutch, 
ordered  Northumberland  not  to  pursue  such  fishers  as 
endeavoured  to  escape  the  payment  of  toll,  but  to  collect 
what  moneys  he  could  from  the  less  determined  opponents 
of  the  herring  licence.-  Such  instructions  made  the  Earl's 
position  doubly  humiliating,  but  it  also  afforded  him  an 
excuse  for  permitting  the  Dutch  fishing-smacks  to  go  their 
ways  undisturbed.  He  implored  the  King  to  allow  him  to 
enter  French  waters,  but  the  desired  permission  was  not 
granted,  and  he  remained  for  the  most  part  stationary  in 
the  Downs.  This  inaction  was  galling  in  the  extreme. 
"  To  ride  in  this  Place  {the  Downs)  a  lahole  Suniiiier  together" 
he  wrote  to  Wentworth,  "  without  hope  of  action ;  to  see 
daily  disorders  in  the  fleet,  and  not  to  have  the  means  to 
remedy  them  ;  and  to  be  in  an  employment  where  a  man  can 
neither  do  service  to  the  state,  gain  honour  to  himself,  nor  do 
courtesies  for  his  friends,  is  a  conditioti  that  I  think  nobody  will 
be  ambitious  of."^ 

'  Wentworlh  to  Northumberland,  Feb.  21  ;  Strafford  Letters. 
-  Holograph  Letter  from  the  King ;  dated  July  28,   1637,  from  Windsor  ; 
Alnwick  MSS. 

^  Strafford  Letters,  vol.  ii.  p.  S.). 
II.  P 


226  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Meanwhile  Charles  had  been  persuaded  by  Laud  and 
Wentworth  that  the  appointment  of  Northumberland  as 
Lord  High  Admiral  was  desirable,  not  only  for  the  good 
of  the  navy,  but  also  as  a  possible  means  of  turning  the 
Earl  from  his  views  against  the  principle  of  Divine  Right, 
and  converting  him  into  an  adherent  of  the  Court.  More 
than  one  personage  of  importance  had  angled  for  this 
dignity  since  it  lapsed  with  the  death  of  Buckingham,  and 
there  was  disappointment  in  various  quarters  when  the 
King  gave  itj  somewhat  unexpectedly,  to  one  who  was  re- 
commended as  much  by  merit  as  by  influence.  The  Earl 
of  Holland  in  particular  felt  that  he  had  been  ungratefully 
overlooked  by  the  King  ;  and  an  amusing  description  is 
given  in  the  Strafford  Letters  of  the  consternation  wrought 
by  the  news  in  his  lordship's  "  petticoat  council "  of  great 
Court  Dames.i  These  ladies  had  worked  zealously  to  obtain 
the  Lord  Admiralship  for  Holland,  and  they  now  reviled 
the  more  fortunate  Northumberland  in  no  measured  terms. 
The  new  patent  was  issued  (in  the  interest  of  the  Duke 
of  York)  as  "  during  the  Kiji^s  pleasure,"  and  not,  as  in 
Buckingham's  case,  for  life.-  Consternation  spread  through 
the  ranks  of  the  corrupt  naval  officials  when  they  learned 
that  their  avowed  foe  had  been  placed  in  practical  control 
of  the  service ;  and,  in  accordance  with  the  nature  of  these 
gentry,  scores  of  the  worst  sinners  at  once  offered  to  do 
penance  (and  at  the  same  time  save  their  places)  by 
giving  evidence  against  their  fellows.  On  March  31,  the 
day  after  Northumberland's  appointment,  Thomas  Smith 
wrote  to  Sir  John  Pennington,  the  Vice-Admiral  :  "In- 
formers begin  to  bestir  themselves,  and  a  great  deal  of  knavery 
will  be  discovered."  ^ 

The  new  and  responsible  duties  to  which  he  was  thus 
called  were  at  first  insufficient  to  distract  Northumberland's 
mind   from   the    effects   of    a   great    loss   which    he    had 

'  This  feminine  cabal  consisted  mainly  of  Lady  Devonshire,  Lady  Essex,  and 
Lady  Rich. — Strafford  Letters. 

'■'  Collins,  vol.  ii.  p.  247.     The  date  of  the  patent  was  March  30,  1638. 
'  State  Pafers. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  227 

recently  sustained — the  untimely  death  of  his  wife.  Ann 
Cecil,  Countess  of  Northumberland,  died  on  December  6, 
1637,  of  small-pox,  following  upon  a  miscarriage. 
Earisfirst*  Her  decease  afflicted  the  Earl  deeply;  although 
wife.  His  from  the  outward  calmness  of  bearing  in  which 
he  had  schooled  himself,  many  fancied  that  his 
nature  was  too  stoical  for  grief.  But  men  of  this  sort, 
who  through  pride  or  shyness  conceal  their  sorrows 
from  the  world,  often  suffer  far  more  poignantly  than 
those  who  find  relief  in  unchecked  emotion.  In  Northum- 
berland's case,  the  bereavement  preyed  so  keenly  upon  his 
spirits  that  it  finally  brought  about  a  serious  illness.  In 
the  words  of  George  Garrard,  the  Earl  took  his  wife's  death 
"  most  heavily :  passion  hath  the  least  outiuard  poiver  of  him 
of  atiy  man  I  know,  yet  in  this  it  hath  got  on  him  a  great 
mas  toy."  ^ 

Lady  Northumberland  was  not  yet  thirty  when  she  died, 
without  leaving  a  male  heir.  Five  daughters,  however, 
survived  her.  After  the  birth  of  the  fourth  of  these,  the 
gossiping  Garrard  wrote  on  October  30,  1635,  to  Went- 
worth  :  "  He  {Northumberland)  is  hut  a  bungler  of  getting 
boys;  but  I  hope  they  ivill  come.""  A  fifth  daughter  was 
born  in  1636.  The  body  of  the  young  Countess  was 
embalmed,  and  carried  in  a  barge  from  London  to  Syon, 
and  from  Syon  to  Petworth  in  a  mourning  coach.  Ed- 
mund Waller  wrote  an  elegy  upon  her  death  ;  but  his  lines 
are  spoilt  by  an  indelicate  hint  to  Northumberland  that 
grief  should  not  prevent  him  from  marrying  again,  since  an 
heir  was  wanting  in  the  direct  line  of  Percy.  As  for  the 
Earl,  he  brooded  in  secret  over  the  loss,  rejecting  the  well- 
meant  consolations  of  Cottington,  Garrard,  and  other  friends. 
Such  was  the  strain  upon  his  mind  that,  about  a  fortnight 
after  his  elevation  to  the  Lord  Admiralship,  he  broke  down 
completely ;  and  hundreds  of  naval  offenders  breathed 
more  freely  when  they  learned  that  their  enemy  was 
dangerously  ill  of  fever.     He  was  not  pronounced  out  of 

1  Garrard  to  Wentworth,  Dec.  l6,  1637;  Strafford Lellers. 
^  Strafford  Letters. 


228  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

danger  until  May  lo  ;  and  the  attack  left  behind  it  an 
intermittent  ailment  which  afflicted  the  Earl  to  the  end  of 
his  life.  "  My  Lord  of  Northumberland  hath  had  a  long 
sickness"  (so  Wentworth  was  informed  by  Garrard,  who,  in 
spite  of  his  new-won  dignity  as  master  of  the  Charter- 
house, found  time  to  visit  the  patient  daily) ;  ''it began  with 
a  Headache,  a  violent  one.  .  .  .  Mayerne  and  Baskerville  his 
physicians  let  him  blood  four  times,  and  phy sick  enough  they 
have  given  him,  which  hath  brought  him  very  low.  .  .  . 
These  last  two  nights  he  rested  very  well,  so  that  the  lookers- 
on  as  well  as  physicians  begin  to  conceii'e  good  hopes  of  his 
recovery,  which  I  beseech  God  to  grant.  .  .  .  His  brother, 
Percy,  hath  been  also  desperately  sick  of  a  burning  fever,  stark 
mad  with  it,  but  mends  somewhat,  though  but  slowly.  I 
thought  last  week  we  should  have  lost  both  the  brothers  to- 
gether!''^ Had  Northumberland  and  Sir  Henry  Percy  died 
at  this  time,  the  title  and  estates  must  have  passed  to  their 
uncle,  the  strange  old-bachelor  recluse  who  lived  in  Penny- 
farthing  Street,  Oxford,  "  drinking  nothing  but  beer,"  and 
thinking  sadly  of  his  "  fairest  Ccelia."  -  As  matters  stood, 
Henry  Percy  was  heir  presumptive  to  his  brother,  with 
an  excellent  chance  of  eventually  succeeding  to  the 
earldom.  After  the  death  of  the  Countess,  he  found  his 
consequence  at  Court  greatly  enhanced.  The  Queen  came 
in  person  to  inquire  how  his  illness  went ;  and  soon  after 
his  recovery  he  was  made  Captain-General  of  Jersey.  The 
sudden  change  in  his  circumstances  rendered  him  arrogant 
and  quarrelsome.  He  first  engaged  in  a  dispute  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Carlisle,  who  had  shown  him  many  kind- 
nesses in  the  past,  but  whom  he  now  deemed  it  safe  to 
flout.  "  He  had  rather  be  damned"  he  declared,  "  than 
receive  a  courtesy  from  my  Lord  of  Carlisle!'  ^  Carlisle, 
good-humoured  always,  took  the  words  at  their  true  value ; 
and  contented  himself  with  ceasing  to  invite  Percy  to  his 
house.      A  subsequent   dispute    between    Sir    Henry   and 

'  Garrard  to  Wentworth,  May  lo,  1638  ;  Slrafford  Letters. 

-  William  Percy  survived  until  1648. 

^  Lord  Conway  to  Wentworth  ;  Slrafford  Letters,  i.  363. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  229 

Lord  Diinluce  did  not  end  so  agreeably  for  the  former. 
Dunluce,  who  was  an  Irishman,  and  a  grandson  of  the 
liery  Hugh  O'Neill,  Earl  of  Tyrone,^  had  none  of  Hay's 
sang-froid.  Thinking  himself  insulted  by  Percy,  he 
publicly  assailed  the  latter,  and  is  even  said  to  have  struck 
him.  No  encounter  followed  ;  but  the  grave  penalties  in- 
flicted for  duelling  may  have  prevented  Sir  Henry  from 
challenging  Dunluce,  as  his  more  impetuous  father,  or  his 
grandfather,  Essex,  would  certainly  have  done  under  like 
circumstances.  The  affair  caused  a  great  deal  of  malicious 
gossip  at  Court,  and  comment  on  Percy's  behaviour  was 
by  no  means  favourable,  even  among  the  coterie  of  gallants 
which  surrounded  the  Queen.  Writing  to  Wentworth, 
Lord  Conway  mentions  the  occurrence,  and  at  the  same 
time  sheds  some  light  on  Sir  Henry's  character  : — 

"  Percy  is  a  diligent  Courtier  ;  his  chief  Patron  being  the 
Duke  of  Lennox,  his  Addi-esses  are  most  on  the  Queen's  Side  ; 
hut  I  cannot  say  that  he  gains  much  in  Loz'c  anywhere.  He 
had  a  quarrel  zvith  my  Lord  Dunluce  this  last  Summer,  out 
of  which  he  came  not  so  handsomely  as  did  become  Harry 
Hotspur.  /  believe  he  ivill  not  make  any  great  profit  by  the 
Court,  because  he  begins  the  '  Pater  Noster  '  2vith  '  Give  us 
this  Day  our  daily  Bread!  His  wits  did  long '  COMBINARE  ' 
upon  projects  in  Ireland,  and  I  believe  they  arc  not  all  yet  at 
an  End ;  there  being  little  hope  for  him  here,  now  that  he  hath 
missed  going  Ambassador  into  France!'  - 

As  soon  as  Northumberland  was  restored  to  health,  he 
resumed  the  interrupted  duties  of  Lord  Admiral.  Many 
sweeping  reforms  were  introduced  into  the  navy  at  his 
instance,  in   spite  of  the  dogged  opposition  of  Secretary 

'  Lord  Dunluce  (afterwards  second  Earl  and  first  Marquis  of  Antrim)  was 
son  of  the  first  Earl  of  Antrim  by  a  daughter  of  Hugh  O'Neill,  Earl  ojf 
Tyrone.  His  paternal  grandmother  was  also  an  O'Neill,  daughter  of  that  Con 
who  had  disgraced  himself  in  Irish  eyes  by  accepting  the  title  of  Earl.  The 
Antrim  MacDonnells,  a  branch  of  the  Hebridean  clan,  had  been  settled  in 
Ireland  since  before  1211.  The  Dunluce  who  attacked  Sir  H.  Percy  is  naw 
represented  (in  the  female  line)  by  the  Earl  of  Antrim. 

"  Conway  to  Wentworth  ;  Strafford  Letters,  i.  363. 


230  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Windebank  and  the  Commissioners  ;  nor  is  it  too  much 
to  say  that  his  zeal  and  foresight  made  possible  the  great 
,,  ^.     .       successes    of    the    English    fleet    under    Blake, 

Northumber-  ^ 

land  at  the  during  the  days  of  the  Commonwealth.  He 
na^aid"""  "^'^^  ^  vigorous  champion  of  the  common 
army.  sailor,   and    continually   proposed    schemes    for 

the  betterment  of  his  wretched  lot.  Good  food  and  fair 
treatment,  he  maintained,  would  do  more  to  make  the 
navy  efficient  than  any  other  means  ;  and  the  Govern- 
ment saved  nothing  by  paying  exorbitant  prices  for 
rotten  ships  and  fraudulent  supplies.  To  the  credit 
of  Northumberland's  head  and  heart  must  he  set  down 
the  first  instance  of  provision  made  by  the  English 
Admiralty  for  crippled  sailors,  and  for  the  widows  of 
men  slain  in  battle  or  otherwise  lost.  In  his  Report  of 
September  8,  1638,  he  describes  a  fund  started  at  his 
suggestion  "/or  the  relief  of  maimed  Mariners ;  and  for 
poor  Women  who  have  their  Husbands  killed,  or  else  lost  in 
merchandising  Voyages!'  >  After  a  time  he  succeeded  in 
inducing  the  Admiralty  to  adopt  this  fund,  which  no 
doubt  formed  the  nucleus  of  our  present  pension  system 
in  the  navy. 

Religious  discontent  in  Scotland  having  assumed 
threatening  proportions,  the  King  chose  a  committee 
from  the  Privy  Council  to  examine  into  his  northern 
subjects'  grievances.  Northumberland  was  one  of  the 
eight  councillors  selected,  and  his  voice,  from  the  first, 
was  for  cautious  measures.  He  knew  the  wretched  state 
of  the  navy,  and  rightly  guessed  that  the  army  was  in 
little  better  condition.  He  was  also  aware  of  the  extreme 
poverty  of  the  Exchequer,  and  its  inability  to  furnish 
the  "sinews  of  war."  For  these  reasons  he  advised 
Charles  to  concede  the  principal  Scottish  demands  rather 
than  provoke  a  struggle  fraught  with  peril  to  the  Crown. 
"  God  send  jcs  a  good  end  of  this  troublesome  Business"  he 
wrote  to  Wentworth  (still  his  friend,  although  no  longer 
sharing    his    views),    "for,    to    my   apprehension,    no  foreign 

'   CaUiidar  of  Slate  Pa/-crs  (DoiiicstL). 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  231 

Enemies  could  threaten  so  much  danger  to  this  Kingdom 
as  doth  noiv  this  beggarly  Ahition." '^  His  protests  were 
overruled  at  tlie  time,  but  years  afterwards  the  King 
remembered  them  with  self-reproach. 

Northumberland  grew  more  and  more  dissatisfied 
with  the  policy  of  the  Government,  and  the  shiftless 
manner  in  which  public  affairs  were  conducted.  "At 
the  Council  of  War,"  he  told  Wentworth,  "  we  meet  often, 
hut  dispatch  little  Business ;  and  yet  are  we  come  almost  to 
the  Bottom  of  our  Business,  for  there  is  no  Money  left  in 
the  Exchequer."  ^  The  extreme  religious  views  of  Laud 
were,  in  the  Earl's  opinion,  an  additional  source  of 
danger  to  the  country ;  and  he  favoured  an  alliance 
with  Richelieu  and  France,  in  place  of  the  Spanish 
entente  supported  by  Cottington,  Hamilton,  and  others.^ 
Although  the  King  would  not  listen  to  his  advice,  he 
recognised  his  value  in  other  directions.  On  March  22, 
1639,  when  Charles  was  preparing  to  take  command  of 
the  northern  army,  he  appointed  the  Earl  general-in-chief 
of  all  forces  south  of  Trent,  and  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  Regency,*  at  the  same  time  placing  the 
Queen  under  his  special  protection.^  These  new  duties 
called  for  his  continual  presence  at  Court ;  and  the 
management  of  the  fleet  was,  for  the  time  being,  left  in 
Vice-Admiral  Pennington's  hands.  Secretary  Windebank 
took  advantage  of  this  fact  to  interfere  in  a  province 
with  which  he  had  no  concern.  Pennington  was  com- 
manded by  this  civilian  official  of  the  Admiralty  not  to 
interfere  in  the  sea-struggle  between  Spain  and  Holland, 
even  when  fighting  took  place  iti  English  waters.  In 
obedience  to  these  orders  he  remained  idly  at  anchor 
while  Van  Tromp  chased  Admiral  Oquendo's  fleet  from 
Land's  End  ^' into   Dover  Roads,  and  there  captured,  sunk, 

>  Strafford  Litters,  vol.  ii.  1 86,  266. 

'^  Northumberland  to  Wentworth,  Jan.  2,  1639;  Strafford  Lettirs. 
^  See  his  outspoken  letters  to  the  Karl  of  Leicester  {.Sidney  Papen)  at  this 
time. 

*  Calendar  of  State  Papers  (Domestic). 

°  Geo.  Garrard  to  Lord  Conway ;  Stale  Papers. 


232  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

or  rati  ashore  over  fifty  warships"  Nortliumberland  was 
justly  enraged  when  the  news  of  this  shameful  episode 
reached  him.  Windebank  he  described  as  "  the  basest 
ami  falsest  Creature  that  lives  "  ;  ^  and  he  told  Pennington 
that  in  thus  permitting  a  friendly  foreign  fleet  to  be 
destroyed  in  an  English  harbour,  he  had  connived  at  an 
insult  to  his  King  and  Country.  The  unpopularity  of 
the  Spaniards  in  England  saved  both  Windebank  and 
Pennington  from  the  punishment  which  they  merited 
for  this  shameful  affair.  Had  the  Dutch  Admiral  been 
the  victim,  matters  might  not  have  gone  so  well  with 
the  officious  secretary  and  his  dupe. 

War  with  the  insurgent  Scots  now  seemed  inevitable  ; 
and  the  King's  demands  for  money  grew  daily  more  im- 
portunate. Every  nobleman  attached  to  the  Court  was 
expected  to  contribute  sums  in  accordance  with  his  rank 
and  resources,  and  Charles  looked  for  an  unusually  large 
"  loan  "  from  the  Lord  High  Admiral.  But  Northumberland 
disappointed  these  hopes,  and  loosened  his  purse-strings 
in  what  the  Queen's  party  considered  a  most  grudging 
manner.  There  is  little  doubt  that  his  chief  reasons  for 
giving  so  sparingly  to  the  King  were,  firstly,  a  desire  that 
Parliament  should  be  summoned  and  more  constitutional 
methods  of  money-raising  adopted  ;  and  secondly,  chagrin 
at  the  manner  in  which  his  advice  against  hostilities  had 
been  received.  To  his  brother-in-law,  however,  he  offers 
a  third  explanation  :  "  Your  Lordship  ivas  not  mistaken  in 
the  Captain's  -  Figures  where  he  writes  to  you  that  I  lend  the 
King  but  ;^5000.  The  reason  why  I  do  so  is,  that  I  believe 
the  King  would  not  expect  more  from  me  [whos  House  hath 
in  these  latter  Ages  receaved  little  or  no  Advantage  from  the 
Crowne)  the  like  Assistance  than  he  may  do  from  those 
Persons  that  have  raised  Fortunes  by  his  Favour,  or  hold  bene- 
ficiall  Places  under  him."^  Some  of  the  more  advanced 
partisans  of  the  Court  accused  the  Earl  of  a  natural  nig- 

'  Northumberland  to  Leicester;  Sidney  Papers,  vol.  ii.  655. 

-  "The  Captain"  was  Northumberland's  nephew,  Lord  Lisle. 

'  Northumberland  to  Leicester,  Jan.  9,  1640 ;  Sidney  Papers,  ii.  629. 


SEAL   AND   AUTOGRAPH   OF   ALGERNON',   TENTH    EARL 
OF   NORTHUMIIERLAND 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  233 

gardliness ;    but  if  he  showed  himself  a  miser  upon  this 
occasion,  it  was  for  the  first  and  last  time  in  his  life. 

Wentworth  had  not  yet  abandoned  all  hope  of  attaching 
Northumberland  to  the  King's  side  in  the  coming  strife 
between  Crown  and  People.  At  his  request,^  Charles  now 
created  the  Earl  "  Captain  General  and  Governor  of  the 
Army" — a  post  which  had  been  intended  for  Wentworth 
himself,  and  the  enjoyment  of  which  placed  Northumber- 
land in  the  extraordinarily  responsible  position  of  being 
at  once  chief  of  the  land  and  sea  forces.  As  he  had  already 
done  in  the  navy,  the  new  Captain-General  now  attempted 
to  do  in  the  army.  He  saw  that  war  must  come,  and 
within  a  little  while.  There  was  still  some  hope  that  the 
royal  troops  might  be  rendered  efficient  by  judicious  re- 
organisation, and  a  careful  weeding  out  of  undesirable 
commanders.  To  this  work  the  Earl  at  once  set  himself. 
Among  the  first  to  suffer  by  his  zeal  was  the  Earl  of 
Holland,  an  unlucky  nobleman  whom  Northumberland 
seemed  destined  to  cross  (he  had  already  forestalled  him 
in  the  Lord  Admiralship).  Holland  held  rank  as  a  general 
of  horse,  but  was  now  superseded  in  favour  of  Lord  Conway, 
a  tried  soldier.^  It  was  the  desire  of  the  Captain-General 
that  the  old  system  of  purchasing  commissions  and  pro- 
motion, or  of  obtaining  them  by  favouritism,  should  be 
abolished.  "  No  money"  he  informed  Leicester,  on  February 
13,  1640,  "will  here  be  given  for  places  as  zcas  visual  hereto- 
fore," Numbers  of  gallant  English  soldiers,  tired  of  inaction 
and  corrupt  influences  at  home,  were  serving  as  volunteers 
in  the  Low  Countries.  To  these  Northumberland  proffered 
commissions,  in  place  of  officers  dismissed  or  degraded  for 
incompetency.  His  own  nephews.  Lord  Lisle  and  Alger- 
non Sidney,  young  as  they  were,  had  already  earned  high 
reputations  in  Holland ;  and  he  now  asked  them  to  accept 
posts  of  trust  under  him.  Algernon  Sidney  declined  the 
invitation,  as  his  republican  theories  debarred  him  from 
service  in  the  royal  army  :  Lisle  returned  to  England,  and 
was  made  captain  of  his  uncle's  body-guard. 

■  Clarendon,  Biit.  of  Ihe  Rebellion,  ii.  Sorf.  ^  Ibid. 


234  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

The  Earl  did  not  spare  himself  in  his  uphill  fight  against 
military  conservatism  and  incompetency.  The  great  mass 
of  carefully  prepared  MSS.  which  still  survives  over  his 
name  bears  witness  to  the  pains  which  he  took.  He  com- 
piled exhaustive  instructions  for  officers  in  every  branch 
of  the  army ;  detailed  schemes  of  pay,  and  commissariat ; 
rules  governing  the  distribution  of  ordnance  and  ammuni- 
tion ;  and  a  rather  severe  code  of  martial  law — all  in  his 
own  handwriting.  Lord  Conway,  whom  he  had  sent  to 
command  in  the  North,  seconded  him  ably  ;  but  in  the 
end  the  efforts  which  he  made  to  reform  both  army  and 
navy  proved  too  much  for  him  and  he  sank  under  the 
strain. 

Meanwhile  the  Scots  had  continued  to  press  obsti- 
nately for  a  favourable  answer  to  their  conditions ;  and 
"The Short  ^^  April  13,  1640,  the  "Short  Parliament"  met. 
ParUament,'  Northumberland  wrote  to  Conway  that  the 
Scottish  Commons  seemed  in  "  almost  as  great  a  heat  as 
Invasion.  .  .  .  in  the  late  Duke  of  Buckingham's  time" 
(when  he,  himself,  had  been  a  member  of  the  body) ; 
and  that  the  House  of  Lords  was  "apt  to  take  fire  at  the 
least  sparkle." '  He  had  welcomed  this  appeal  to  consti- 
tutional forms  of  government ;  but  the  extreme  vigour 
with  which  the  Lower  House  demanded  the  redress  of 
its  grievances,  drew  from  him  an  expression  of  regret. 
"  Had  they  been  zvcll  advised,"  he  observed,  "  /  am  persuaded 
they  might  in  time  have  gained  their  desires!'  ^  After  a 
fortnight  spent  in  fruitless  wrangling,  a  dissolution  was 
commanded  by  the  King.  Northumberland  opposed  this 
arbitrary  measure  in  the  Council,  supported  only  by  Lord 
Holland.  After  the  Dissolution,  Charles  called  a  Cabinet 
Council  consisting  of  Archbishop  Laud,  the  Bishop  of 
London,  the  Earls  of  Northumberland  and  Strafford,^ 
and    Secretaries   Vane   and   VVindebank.      It   was    in    this 

'  Northumberland  to  Conway,  April  17,  1640  ;  S/citc:  r,ip€?-s . 
-  Northumberland  to  Leicester ;  Sidney  Papers,  ii.  623. 
•"  Wentworth  was  now  Earl  of  Strafford. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  235 

council  that  Strafford  was  afterwards  accused  of  having 
threatened  to  bring  over  an  Irish  army  to  quell  the  turbu- 
lent Commons ;  and  that  he  advocated  a  vigorous  policy 
in  regard  to  discontent  at  home,  and  an  immediate  attack 
upon  the  rebellious  Scots.  Against  both  of  these  pro- 
posals Northumberland  spoke.  "How,"  he  asked,  "could 
they  '  make  an  offensive  war,'  if  they  had  no  better  means 
at  their  disposal  than  those  which  Strafford  had  just  re- 
cited ?  They  were  in  a  difficulty  '  whether  to  do  nothing, 
and  to  let  them  alone,  or  to  go  on  with  a  vigorous 
war.'  "  1  He  voted  against  the  latter  alternative.  Strafford 
replied  with  an  eloquent  speech,  strongly  in  favour  of 
war ;  and  Laud  and  Cottington  holding  like  opinions, 
the  Council  was  committed  to  an  invasion  of  Scotland. 
As  it  happened,  the  Scots  did  not  wait  to  be  attacked  ; 
but  crossed  the  Border,  with  Leslie  at  their  head,  before 
the  English  had  time  to  concentrate  their  forces  at 
Newcastle.  Well-nigh  despairing  of  the  future,  Northum- 
berland wrote  as  follows  to  Conway  :  "It  grieves  my 
Soul  to  be  involved  in  these  Coiinsails,  and  the  Sense  I  have 
of  the  Miseries  that  are  likely  to  ensue  is  held  by  some  a 
Disaffection  in  me;  but  I  regard  little  what  these  Persons 
say  or  think."  -  Eleven  days  later  he  wrote  again  :  "  The 
Nature  of  most  Men  is  not  willingly  to  acknowledge  an  Error 
until  they  jieeds  must,  which  is  one  of  our  Conditions  here 
at  this  Time.  We  have  engaged  the  King  in  an  expensive 
Occasion,  without  any  certain  zvay  to  maintain  it.  All  those 
that  are  proposed  to  ourselves  have  hitherto  failed,  and  though 
our  Designs  of  raisiiig  this  great  Army  are  likely  to  fail, 
yet  are  we  loathe  to  publish  that  which  cannot  any  longer  be 
concealed.  In  plain  terms  I  have  little  Hopes  to  see  you  in 
the  North  this  Year,  which  I  confess  I  am  extremely  sorry 
for,  conceiving  it  will  be  dishonourable  to  the  Kiftg  and  in- 
famous for  us  that  have  the  honour  to  be  his  Ministers,  when  it 
shall  be  known  that  we  are  obliged  to  give  over  this  Danger!'  ^ 

'  Speech  reconstructed  by  Gardiner  from  Secretary  Vane's  notes. 
-  Northumberland  to  Conway,  May  7,  1640  ;  State  Papers. 
^  Same  to  same,  May  iS  ;  State  Papers. 


236  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Early  in  June,  Lord  Loudoun  (who  had  been  sent  as 
Commissioner  to  Charles  by  the  Scots,  and  straightway 
placed  in  the  Tower  at  Laud's  instigation)  was  suddenly 
set  at  liberty  by  the  vacillating  Charles.  Northumberland 
again  addressed  his  second  in  command  :  "  The  Enlarge- 
vient  of  Lord  Loudon  causes  a  belief  that  we  shall  come  to 
Terms  with  the  Scots.  But  seriously  I  do  not  know  that  any 
such  thing  is  intended ;  yet  to  you  I  must  confess  that  our 
Wants  and  Disorders  are  so  great,  I  cannot  devise  hoiv  we 
should  go  on  with  our  Designs  for  this  Year.  Most  of  the 
JVays  zve  have  relied  upon  for  the  Supplies  of  Money  have 
hitherto  failed  us,  and  for  aught  I  know  we  are  likely  to  become 
the  most  despised  nation  in  Europe.  To  the  Regiments  now 
raising  we  have  been  able,  for  want  of  Money,  to  advance  but 
fourteen  Days'  Pay  ;  the  rest  must  meet  them  upon  their  march 
towards  Selby ;  and  for  both  Horse  and  Foot  already  in  the 
North  we  can  for  the  present  send  them  but  Seven  Day's  Pay. 
We  are  gallant  Men,  for  this  does  not  at  all  discourage  us,  and 
we  yet  make  full  account  of  conquering  Scotland,  before  many 
weeks  passl'^ 

In  August,  when  on  the  point  of  starting  for  the 
Scottish    Border,    the    Earl  was    attacked    by    a    serious 

illness,  which  incapacitated  him,  for  the  time 
Invasion;'  being,  from  active  service.  Some  of  the  more 
and  the  trial    prejudiced  Writers    on    the    royalist    side    have 

broadly  hinted  that  this  seizure  was  little  more 
than  a  subterfuge,  intended  to  cover  secret  sympathy 
with  the  Scots  and  a  disinclination  to  lead  his  troops 
against  them.  Clarendon,  for  instance,  asserts  that  North- 
umberland failed  to  take  command  "by  reason  of  his 
indisposition,  or  some  other  reason!'"  Isaac  D'lsraeli^ 
comments  sarcastically  upon  the  fact  that  the  Lieutenant- 
General  fell  sick  at  the  very  time  when  duty  called  him 
to  a  campaign  for  which  he  had  little  relish.  But  a 
careful  examination  of  the  existing  records  on  the  subject 

'  Northumberland  to  Conway,  June  12  ;  Slate  Papers. 

2  Hist,  of  the  Rebellion.  ^  Life  of  Charles  I. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  237 

tends  to  show  tliat,  however  strongly  the  Earl  had  spoken 
against  a  Scottish  war,  he  did  not,  when  that  war  became 
inevitable,  attempt  to  shirk  the  responsibihties  of  his 
command.  So  far,  indeed,  was  this  from  being  the 
case,  that  the  very  sickness  which  overtook  iiim  at  what 
D'Israeli  regards  as  a  suspicious  juncture,  seems  to  have 
originated  in  the  strenuous  eliforts  whicii  he  made  to 
place  the  army  on  a  serviceable  footing.  "Northum- 
berland," says  Gardiner,  "  had  always  been  hopeless  of 
any  good  result,  and  his  health  had  now  broken  down 
under  the  strain.  (It  has  been  suspected  that  the  ill- 
ness was  a  feint  to  escape  commanding ;  but  the  letters 
among  the  State  Papers  leave  no  doubt  of  its  real- 
ity. See  especially  Garrard  to  Conway,  Oct.  6 ;  S.  P., 
Domestic")  ^  The  letter  quoted  is  an  exhaustive  account 
of  the  Earl's  sufferings,  \\Titten  by  his  friend  the  master 
of  the  Charterhouse.  There  are  other  contemporary 
papers,  which  are  still  more  opposed  to  the  Royalist 
theory  (not  advanced  until  long  afterwards)  of  the 
Earl's  having  descended  to  this  crafty  and  eminently 
imcharacteristic  trick.  Not  more  than  three  days  before 
he  fell  ill,  we  find  him  making  rapid  preparations  for 
his  departure,  and  sending  instructions  to  his  second 
in  command  with  regard  to  the  quarters  which  were 
to  be  prepared  for  him  at  Newcastle.  "  Tell  me  what 
House  you  think  fittest  for  me  to  lodge  in  at  Newcastle," 
he  writes  to  Conway ;  "  and  give  notice  to  the  Master 
of  it  that  I  intend  to  he  his  Guest:  but  it  must  be  a 
furnished  House,  for  I  shall  only  bring  such  Stuff  as  is 
useful  in  the  Field."  -  These  are  hardly  the  words  of 
one  who  was  scheming  to  avoid  service  in  the  campaign. 
On  August  15  Strafford  first  heard  of  the  Earl's  malady. 
"My  Lord  General^'  he  informed  Conway,  ^^  has  had  three 
fits  of  a  tertian  Ague  and  been  let  blood,  but  I  trust  a  few 
days   will  set  him  right."  ^    The    hope    was   not   fulfilled. 

^  History  of  Englatuf,  vol.  viii. 

'^  Northumberland  to  Conway,  Aug.  Ii,  1640;  S/atc  Pafers. 

'  StrafTord  to  Conway,  Aug.  15  ;  Jliiii. 


238  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Two  days  later,  Strafford  wrote  again  :  "  (9«  my  return 
from  Windsor  I  called  at  Sion,  but  my  Lord  General  was 
tlicn  in  a  Sweat  after  a  very  long  and  violent  fit"  ^  The 
intermittent  attacks  of  the  disease  continued  ;  and  it  was 
hastily  decided  that  Strafford  should  assume  chief  command 
against  the  Scots,  "  My  Lord  General  will  not  possibly  be 
able  to  go  this  Journey"  (thus  the  new  leader  to  Conway,  by 
letter  of  August  18),  "having  had  already  divers  great  fits 
of  an  Ague,  which  is  no  small  unhappiness  to  his  Majesty's 
affairs.  In  this  sudden  Accident,  His  Majesty  has  appointed 
me  Lieutenant-General,  and  howbeit  utterly  tmprovided  of 
all  tilings,  yet  I  suppose  to  be  with  you  in  all  possible  haste." '^ 
The  result  of  this  ill-advised  campaign  justified  but  too 
fully  Northumberland's  forebodings.  The  Scottish  army 
having  invaded  England  under  Leslie,  were  well  received 
by  the  country-folk  of  the  North.  On  August  28  they 
met  and  defeated  the  English  under  Conway  at  New- 
burn-on-Tyne.  The  evacuation  of  Newcastle,  and  the 
surrender  of  that  city  to  the  victorious  Scots,  followed. 
Northumberland,  still  confined  to  his  bed  by  illness,  wrote 
in  terms  of  foreboding  to  Leicester,  prophesying  serious 
danger  both  to  Strafford  and  the  King  from  the  popular 
clamour  which  had  arisen  against  them.  Spies  were  every- 
where, and  the  Earl  found  it  necessary  to  conduct  much 
of  his  correspondence  with  his  brother-in-law  in  cipher. 
Fanciful  names  were  applied  to  the  principal  men  of  the 
various  factions,  the  Earl  of  Bedford,  for  example,  being 
known  as  "  Higgledy-Piggledy."  » 

The  Long  Parliament  met  on  November  3,  1640  ;  and 
the  animus  of  the  Commons  towards  Strafford  at  once 
became  apparent.  "  /  cannot  forbear  to  mention  the  hastie 
and  violent  Proceedings  the  other  day,"  wrote  Northumberland, 
"  against  my  Lord  Lif  tenant,  and  I  fear  lie  will  be  prosecuted 
with  as  much  Eagreness  as  euer  Man  was :  for  a  greater  or 


'  Strafford  to  Conway,  Aug.  17  ;  State  Fa/ers. 
"  Same  to  same,  Aug.  18;  Ibid. 
'  See  Sidney  l\tpeis,  vol.  ii. 


THE    HOUSE   OP^    PERCY  239 

more  universal  hatred  was  never  contracted  by  any  person 
than  he  hath  draivn  upon  hiiiiselfe. 

"  The  King  is  in  such  a  straight  that  I  do  not  know 
how  he  will  possiblie  aiioide  {luithout  indangering  the  whole 
Kingdom)  the  giving  Way  to  the  Renioue  of  diners  Persons, 
as  'well  as  other  things  that  will  be  demanded  by  the 
Parliament."  ^ 

Strafford  was  in  retirement  and  comparative  safety  at 
his  Yorkshire  seat,  when  on  April  23,  1641,  the  weak  King 
was  cozened  into  summoning  him  to  Court,  promising 
that  he  "should  not  suffer  in  his  person,  honour,  or  fortune." 
Alas  for  the  royal  word,  and  the  ability  of  Charles  to 
maintain  it  !  Within  a  few  weeks  Strafford  was  a  prisoner, 
impeached  by  Parliament,  and  arraigned  before  the  House 
of  Peers.  Northumberland,  as  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  Eight,  was  one  of  the  witnesses  summoned  to  prove 
that  arbitrary  and  unconstitutional  measures  had  been 
advocated  by  the  accused.  He  denied  that  Strafford  had 
threatened  or  advised  the  bringing  over  of  the  dreaded  Irish 
army  to  crush  the  Parliament ;  but  admitted,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  the  King  had  been  counselled  by  the  majority 
in  the  Council  (of  which  Strafford  was  the  leader)  to 
proclaim  an  absolute  monarchy,  after  the  Commons  had 
refused  to  grant  supplies.^  Earnest  efforts  were  made  by 
Charles  to  induce  the  Earl  either  to  falsify  his  evidence, 
or  else  remain  silent.  The  latter  he  could  not,  the  former 
he  would  not  do,  although  the  viceroyalty  of  Ireland  for 
his  brother-in-law,  Leicester,  was  promised  him  by  way  of 
a  bribe.  The  King  openly  expressed  himself  as  highly 
displeased  with  this  conduct,  and  the  offer  of  the  Irish 
viceroyalty  was  at  once  withdrawn. 

Although  the  division  list  for  that  memorable  occasion 
has  been  lost,  it  is  practically  certain  that  Northumberland 
was   one   of   the   eleven   peers    who  voted   for  Strafford's 

'  Sidmy  Fa/'eis,  vol.  ii. 

''■  The  Earl's  evidence  was  to  the  effect  that  Strafford  had  declared  Charles 
"  absolved  from  all  rules  of  government,  and  .  .  .  acquitted  before  God  and  man 
for  whatever  measures  he  thought  fit  to  adopt  for  the  preservation  of  his  crown  and 
people." — Gardiner  ;  History  of  En^^land. 


240  THE   HOUSE   OF  PERCY 

acquittal.'  Again  and  again  we  find  reproaches  hurled  at 
him  by  Henry  Martyn  and  others  of  the  violent  party  in 
the  Commons  for  having  "  interfered  with  Justice^'  and 
attempted  to  stand  between  the  enemies  of  the  State  and  their 
due"  He  is  known  to  have  laboured,  in  conjunction  with 
his  sister,  Lady  Carlisle,  to  save  Strafford's  life,  by  urging 
the  King  to  exercise  his  prerogative  of  pardon.  But  the 
impassioned  pleadings  of  beautiful  Lucy  Percy,  and  the 
Earl's  earnest  solicitations,  were  alike  of  no  avail.  On 
May  10  Charles  sacrificed  his  minister  and  friend,  by 
signing  the  warrant  for  his  execution ;  and  two  days  later 
Thomas  Wentworth  paid  for  the  perversion  of  those  great 
talents  (of  which,  in  the  words  of  Lord  Digby,  "  God  had 
given  him  the  use  and  the  Devil  the  application")  by  a 
death  upon  the  scaffold. 

There  was  one  person,  at  least,  whom  the  desertion  of 
Strafford  by  his  perjured   King  changed  from  an  ardent 
supporter  of  royal  prerogative   into  one  of  the 
Lady  Crowu's  bittcrest  enemies.     This  was  Northum- 

f:"''^''~..  berland's  sister,  Lucy,  Countess  of  Carlisle.  We 
dearest  have  secu  the  younger  and  fairer  daughter  of  the 

'"*"  ■  "Wizard  Earl"  married  under  somewhat  romantic 

circumstances  to  her  lover.  Lord  Hay,  and  subsequently 
taking  her  place  as  the  beauty  par  excellence  of  the  Court. 
It  is  not  so  much  with  Hay's  name,  however,  as  with  that 
of  Wentworth  that  the  memory  of  Lucy  Percy  is  linked  by 
history.  She  is  best  known  as  "  Strafford's  mistress " — 
not  his  "mistress,"  it  is  believed,  in  the  sense  that  her 
aunt  was  the  mistress  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney  and  Mountjoy, 
or  her  grandmother  of  Leicester  ;  but  rather  his  warm  per- 
sonal friend,  admirer,  and  confidante.  None  of  Strafford's 
opponents,  not  even  the  most  virulent,  went  so  far  as  to 
assert  that  the  bond  between  him  and  Lady  Carlisle  was 
aught  but  platonic.  They  first  met  before  Wentworth 
went  to  Ireland  in  1633,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  their 

'  According  to  Clarendon,  only  forty-six  votes  were  recorded  in  all  upon  the 
Bill  of  Attainder. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  241 

acquaintance  ripened  into  regard  may  be  judged  from  the 
frequent  allusions  made  by  the  Lord-Deputy  to  his  new 
friend,  in  the  letters  which  he  wrote  during  that  corrupt 
and  tyrannical  viceroyalty.  His  cousin  and  creature, 
Wandesford  (to  whom  he  coolly  presented  the  Leinster 
coalfield,  which  he  had  stolen  from  its  owners),  frequently 
rallies  him  upon  his  admiration  for  "  viy  /aire  lady  of 
Carlisle,  your  most  sweet  Egeria."  ^ 

Lucy  Percy  was  now  over  thirty  years  of  age,  yet 
her  beauty  was  but  at  the  meridian  of  its  splendour. 
The  Court  gallants  one  and  all  were  at  her  feet ;  the 
Court  poets  sang  her  praises.  But  to  reign  merely 
as  a  "queen  of  hearts"  fell  far  short  of  her  ambition. 
She  had  inherited  much  of  the  intriguing  spirit  of  her 
grandfather,  the  eighth  Earl  of  Northumberland  (with 
perhaps  not  a  few  of  that  hapless  nobleman's  other 
characteristics^),  and  it  was  her  aim  to  make  for  herself 
a  position  of  great  influence  in  public  affairs.  To  some 
extent  she  was  successful.  Isaac  D'Israeli  calls  her  "the 
first  of  stateswomen "  ;  ^  and  she  was  certainly  the  first 
English  lady  to  found  and  conduct  what  we  now  call  a 
salon.  Lodge,  in  his  "  National  Portraits,"  depicts  her  as  a 
beautiful,  brilliant  worldling,  "  at  once  admired,  disliked, 
and  feared;  little  understood  by  any,  and  perhaps  least  of 
all  by  herself.  .  .  .  She  turned  her  attention  to  politics, 
despised  the  society  of  her  own  sex,  studied  systems 
of  government,  intrigued  in  matters  of  State,  actually 
obtained  considerable  influence,  and  exercised  it  with 
adroitness."*  She  helped  to  fight  the  battles  of  her 
husband  and  her  father  against  Buckingham  ;  and  it  was 
probably  while  supporting  old  Northumberland  in  his 
advocacy  of  Parliament  and  its  privileges  that  she  came 
to  know  Strafford — then  Sir  Thomas   Wentworth,  knight 

'  See  the  Zj/e  0/  Sir  Christopher  Wandesford,  by  Comber. 

^  His  restless  ambition,  for  instance,  and  (if  we  are  to  believe  Clarendon  and 
other  Royalist  writers)  some  of  the  duplicity  which  distinguished  his  conduct 
during  the  Northern  Rising. 

'  Life  of  Charles  I. 

*  National  Portraits,  vol.  vii. 
II.  Q 


242  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

of  the  shire  and  staunch  champion  of  constitutional  govern- 
ment. Lady  Carlisle  was  attacked  by  small-pox  in  1628 ; 
but  the  dread  disease  left  no  mark  upon  her  fair  features, 
and  when  she  paid  her  first  visit  to  Whitehall  after  the 
illness  had  passed,  and  removed  her  face-mask  at  the 
Queen's  request,  the  gossips  were  amazed  to  find  that  her 
very  pallor  lent  a  new  charm  to  her  countenance.^  Her 
husband,  Lord  Carlisle,  died  in  March  1636,  leaving 
;£8o,ooo  of  debts,  a  sum  of  money  to  his  wife,  and  "  not  a 
house  or  acre  of  land."  The  widow  had  her  own  fortune, 
however,  left  her  by  her  father,  and  had  also  inherited 
some  of  the  Perrott  property  from  her  mother,  so  that  she 
was  able  to  remain  at  Court  without  any  diminution  of 
dignity.  She  had  no  children  by  Carlisle,  who  was 
succeeded  in  his  titles  by  the  only  son^  of  his  first  wife, 
Honora  Denny.  The  reappearance  of  the  widow  at  Court, 
after  a  few  months  of  mourning,  served  as  signal  for  the 
wits  and  poets  to  shower  their  songs  of  welcome  at  her 
feet.  Sombre  weeds  were  found  to  enhance  still  further 
the  clear  complexion  and  graceful  figure  of  the  Countess, 
and  a  galaxy  of  verses,  as  ingenious  as  artificial,  survive  to 
show  that  Lucy  Percy  looked  comely  even  in  the  garments 
of  sorrow.  Herrick  wrote  in  lyric  rapture  "  Upon  a  black 
Twist,  rounding  the  Ar7H  of  the  Countess  of  Carlisle ;"  the 
Laureate  Davenant  was  even  more  complimentary,  although 
far  less  skilful,  in  celebrating  the  young  widow's  "  trailing 
robes."  "Incomparable  Master  Edmund  Waller"  ad- 
dressed a  long  poem  to  the  Countess,  whom  he  then 
regarded  as  the  chief  inspirer  of  his  muse — her  niece,  the 
future  Saccharissa,"  being  still  a  child  at  Penshurst. 
Waller  thus  extravagantly  apostrophises  Lady  Carlisle  : — 

"  When  from  black  clouds  no  part  of  sky  is  clear, 
But  just  so  much  as  lets  the  sun  appear, 
Heav'n  then  would  seem  thy  image  to  reflect, 
Those  sable  vestments  and  that  bright  aspect. 

'  Garrard  to  Wentworlh  ;  Strafford  Le/lers. 
'  James  Hay,  second  Earl  of  Carlisle, 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  243 

A  spark  of  virtue  by  the  deepest  shade 

Of  sad  adversity  is  fairer  rnade  ; 

Nor  less  advantage  doth  thy  beauty  get, 

A  Venus  rising  from  a  sea  of  jet ! 

Such  was  th'  appearance  of  new-formdd  light 

While  yet  it  struggled  with  eternal  night. 

Then  mourn  no  more,  lest  thou  admit  increase 

Of  glory,  by  thy  noble  lord's  decease !  " 

After  Carlisle's  death,  the  relations  between  his  relict 
and  Wentworth  became  more  confidential  than  ever. 
The  Lord-Deputy  left  his  Irish  charge  for  several  weeks 
in  the  winter  of  1636 ;  and  Lady  Carlisle  postponed  a 
visit  to  her  sister  at  Penshurst  in  order  to  be  near  him. 
Whereupon  the  gentle  "  country  mouse "  wrote  some- 
what complainingly  to  her  husband,  Leicester  :  "  //  is  a 
month  since  I  expected  my  sister's  company,  but  my  lord 
deputy  is  still  thereabouts,  and  till  he  be  gone  back  I  must 
not  look  for  hcr."'^  Indeed  Lady  Leicester  looked  upon 
her  sister's  friendship  for  Wentworth  with  distrust  (perhaps 
on  the  score  of  propriety),  and  while  she  admitted  that 
Lucy  had  "  more  power  over  him  ( Wentwortli)  than  any 
creature  living"'^  she  doubted  whether  the  alliance  would 
in  the  end  prove  beneficial  to  either.  Nor  did  she  at 
all  approve  of  Lady  Carlisle's  political  intrigues,  believing 
that  women  were  but  ill  employed  in  such  pursuits. 
"  Do  not  confide  over  much  in  Lucy "  was  her  advice  to 
Leicester  ;  for  Lucy's  secrets  were  apt  (so  it  appeared) 
to  be  passed  on  to  the  male  gossip,  Lord  Holland,  and 
"from  thence  ,  .  .  all  over  England,"^  It  must  be  re- 
membered, however,  that  the  Countess  Dorothy  wrote 
from  the  seclusion  of  her  Kentish  home,  and  took  most 
of  her  views  at  second  -  hand  from  her  son  Lisle,  and 
her  neighbour  Sir  Harry  Vane  the  younger.* 

About    this    time    there    occurred    between    Strafford 

1  Sidney  Papers.  ^  /bid.  »  Ibid. 

*  The  Vanes  resided  at  Shipborne,  some  four  miles  from  Penshurst ;  and  the 
grounds  of  their  seat,  (Fairlawn)  are  said  to  be  haunted  by  the  ghost  of  the 
younger  Sir  Harry  carrying  his  severed  head  under  his  arm. 


244  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

and  his  "mistress"  certain  financial  transactions  the 
nature  of  which  cannot  be  precisely  determined.  It 
is  evident,  however,  that  Lady  Carlisle  had  advanced 
money  either  to  the  Royalist  cause,  or  to  Strafford  him- 
self for  Royalist  purposes.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the 
money  was  lent  shortly  before  the  Scottish  invasion, 
when  the  Lieutenant-General  was  suddenly  called  upon 
(through  Northumberland's  illness)  to  take  command  of 
the  Northern  army,  and  found  it  sorely  lacking  in  arms, 
ammunition,  and  commissariat.  Strafford,  at  all  events, 
held  himself  personally  responsible  for  the  repayment  of 
the  loan ;  and  after  the  rout  of  his  troops  by  Leslie, 
we  find  him  writing  from  his  retreat  of  Wodehouse  to 
a  confidential  friend  at  Court  in  terms  which  show  his 
deep  sense  of  Lucy's  loyalty,  as  well  as  his  fear  that 
she  would  be  the  loser  by  her  generosity :  "  For  the 
love  of  Christ  take  order  that  all  the  money  due  to  my 
Lady  Carlisle  be  paid  before  Christmas,  for  a  nobler  and 
more  intelligent  friendship  I  never  met  with  in  all  my 
life."  1 

Like  Strafford  himself.  Lady  Carlisle  relied  implicitly 
upon  the  King's  plighted  word,  and  believed  that  at 
all  hazards  Charles  would  preserve  his  minister's  life. 
Clarendon  relates  that  she  was,  "for  her  eminent  and 
constant  affection  for  the  Earl  of  Strafford,  admitted  to 
all  the  consultations  that  were  for  his  preservation  "  ;  ^  and 
in  Browning's  dramatic  poem  she  is  rightly  represented  as 
taking  part  in  all  the  secret  measures  taken  by  the  friends 
of  the  doomed  Wentworth.  The  King's  abject  surrender 
to  Parliament,  and  the  signing  of  her  hero's  death-warrant, 
filled  her  with  feelings  of  contempt  and  aversion  for  a 
sovereign  who  could  so  soon  forget  his  promises.  From 
the  morning  of  Strafford's  execution,  she  that  had  been 
"the  Muse  of  the  Royalist  party"  became,  as  Bishop 
VVarburton  tells  us,  its  Erinnys.  Towards  the  Queen 
she  still  treasured  some  degree  of  personal  affection,  for 
she  believed  that  Henrietta   Maria   had  laboured  to  save 

'  Strafford  Letters.  -  History  of  the  Revolution. 


THE    HOUSE  OF   PERCY  245 

Strafford  from  the  block  ;  but  against  Charles  her  enmity 
was  intense,  and  she  set  herself,  with  all  the  skill  which 
she  possessed,  to  thwart  his  plans  and  strengthen  the 
hands  of  his  foes.  Her  bitterness  against  the  throne  was 
so  open  and  undisguised  that  one  wonders  why  she  was 
still  permitted  to  frequent  the  Queen's  apartments,  and 
thus  penetrate  many  important  State  secrets,  which  were 
through  her  made  known  to  Pym  and  the  Parliament. 
The  charge  made  by  Clarendon,  Warburton,  and  others 
that  she  deliberately  played  the  spy  upon  the  King  at  this 
period  is  doubtless  well  founded.  Strafford's  betrayal 
had  robbed  her  of  all  scruple  in  this  direction  ;  but  if  she 
conveyed  information  to  the  enemies  of  the  Crown,  she 
asked  no  other  reward  than  that  of  gratified  revenge. 
The  dour,  cold-blooded  Pym  was  now  her  bosom  friend — 
some  said  (as  had  been  said  of  Strafford)  her  "  lover  "  ;  but 
this  is  highly  improbable.^  "  She  had,"  says  Sir  Philip 
Warwick,  "  changed  her  gallant  from  Strafford  to  Mr. 
Pym,  and  was  become  such  a  she-saint,  that  she  fre- 
quented their  sermons  and  took  notes  ! "  The  notes  which 
Lady  Carlisle  took  at  the  gatherings  of  her  new  friends 
were  far  more  likely  of  a  political  than  of  a  religious 
character.  In  her  early  life  she  had  been  a  professing 
Catholic,  and  had  attended  mass  in  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador's chapel  for  many  years,  but  if  she  had  any  religion 
left  at  this  later  time,  it  was  not  manifest  in  anything  that 
she  said  or  did.  Clarendon  avers  that  she  informed  Pym 
and  young  Harry  Vane  of  all  the  "  sharp  sayings  "  which 
Charles  and  his  courtiers  exchanged  concerning  the 
Commons,  and  that  the  leaders  of  the  Parliamentary  move- 
ment noted  down  these  loose  remarks  for  use  in  their 
debates.  There  is  no  question,  however,  that  she  rendered 
to  the  party  of  the  Commonwealth  a  service  far  more 
important  than  the  reporting  of  mere  Court  tittle-tattle 
and  cavalier  japes.  The  escape  of  the  "Five  Members" 
was  due  to  a  timely  warning  sent  by  her  hand  to  West- 
minster before  Charles  and  his  officers  could  reach  thq 

'  Pym  was  now  nearly  sixty  years  of  age,  having  been  born  in  1580. 


246  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

House.  There  are  several  versions  of  the  manner  in  which 
she  succeeded  in  divining  the  King's  intentions.  Madame 
de  Motteville's  account  is  to  the  effect  that  the  royal  party 
had  already  left  to  arrest  the  members,  when  Lady  Carlisle 
discovered  what  was  afoot.  The  Queen,  who  was  in  the 
secret,  but  had  been  cautioned  to  preserve  a  strict  silence, 
could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  taking  somebody  into 
her  confidence.  Having  waited  impatiently  until  such 
time  as  she  deemed  the  culprits  must  have  been  secured, 
she  turned  to  the  ladies  with  her,  and  exclaimed,  ^^  Rejoice 

with  me,  for  by  this  time and "  (mentioning  two 

of  the  members)  '■'are  doubtless  in  custody !"  Whereupon 
Lady  Carlisle,  guessing  the  purport  of  this  speech,  hastily 
left  the  room  upon  some  pretence  or  other,  and  despatched 
an  urgent  note  to  her  friends  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
just  in  time  to  save  them  from  the  Tower.  Gardiner  dis- 
misses this  story  as  unlikely  upon  the  ground  that,  if  the 
King  had  already  started  from  Whitehall,  there  would  have 
been  no  time  to  convey  a  warning  note  to  the  House. 
He  believes  that  Lady  Carlisle's  quick  wit  had  discovered 
the  scheme  before  Charles  set  out,  and  that  she  was  thus 
enabled  to  give  the  intended  victims  ample  time  to  escape 
by  barge.  That  "  Strafford's  mistress "  was  the  real 
marplot  is  generally  admitted,  and  Clarendon  accuses  her 
of  having  grossly  betrayed  the  Queen's  confidence.  After 
Pym's  death  in  1643,  Lady  Carlisle  sided  with  the  moderate 
faction  in  Parliament,  the  recognised  leader  of  which  was 
her  brother,  Northumberland. 

Another  member  of  the  Percy  family  —  the  Earl's 
brother,  Sir  Henry,  whose  somewhat  inglorious  quarrel 
Sir  Henry  with  Lord  Duulucc  has  been  already  alluded 
Percy,  the  \q — vvas  now  to  play  for  a  brief  space  a  pro- 
"TheArmy  miucnt  part  in  public  affairs,  as  one  of  the 
^''"•"  leading  spirits  in  what  came  to  be  known  as  the 

Army  Plot. 

After  the  Scottish  invasion  and  the  Treaty  of  Ripon, 
grave  dissatisfaction  sprung  up  among  the  officers  of  the 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  247 

Northern  army,  to  which  Sir  Henry  Percy  had  belonged 
since  1639.  Money  which  should  have  gone  to  pay  the 
English  forces  of  the  King,  was  devoted  to  the  Scots 
instead.  The  troops  were  in  rags  and  well-nigh  starving, 
and  even  among  the  officers  considerable  distress  pre- 
vailed. Percy,  with  Ashburnham,  Wilmot,  and  Pollard 
(all  members  of  Parliament),  formed  themselves  into  a 
union,  the  avowed  object  of  which  was  the  betterment 
of  their  condition.  Secretly,  however,  they  proposed  to 
attempt  the  reestablishment  of  the  King's  power  by  a 
banding  together  of  all  holding  commissions  in  the  Nor- 
thern army.  A  declaration  pledging  absolute  loyalty  to 
the  Crown  and  detestation  of  Parliamentary  encroach- 
ments was  drawn  up  by  the  four  instigators  of  the  move- 
ment, with  the  connivance  (it  is  said)  of  the  Queen.  Percy, 
who  was  in  high  favour  at  Court,  was  chosen  to  offer  the 
services  of  the  army  to  Charles ;  and  with  this  end  in  view 
he  reached  London  on  or  about  March  19,  1641.  He 
found,  however,  that  another  Royalist  plot,  upon  far  different 
and  more  daring  lines,  had  already  been  hatched  by  Henry 
Jermyn  and  Sir  John  Suckling.  This  latter  scheme  included 
measures  so  sweeping  as  an  offer  of  emancipation  to  the 
Catholics,  and  an  immediate  appeal  to  arms.  It  was  pro- 
posed to  remove  Northumberland  from  the  Lord-General- 
ship, and  to  place  the  Earl  of  Newcastle  in  his  stead,  with 
Colonel  George  Goring,  a  ruffler  of  the  Court  and  a  man 
of  no  good  reputation,  as  Lieutenant-General.  The  more 
moderate  project  of  Percy  and  the  Northern  officers  found 
favour  in  the  King's  eyes  from  the  first ;  but,  hoping  to 
secure  unity  among  his  supporters,  he  persuaded  both 
parties  to  meet  in  consultation,  and  if  possible  agree  upon 
some  joint  plan  of  action.  The  meeting  took  place  on 
March  29,  in  Percy's  lodgings  at  Whitehall.i  On  behalf 
of  the  Northern  army,  Percy  himself,  Ashburnham,  and 
several  others  were  present.  They  had  declined  to  receive 
Sir   John   Suckling,  who   was   unpopular   among   military 

■  These  were  the  lodgings  assigned  to  him  in  his  capacity  of  Master  of  the 
Horse  to  the  Prince  of  Wales. 


248  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

men  ;  but  Henry  Jermyn  came  to  the  conference,  bringing 
with  him  Colonel  Goring.  From  the  very  outset  it  was 
plain  that  no  satisfactory  agreement  could  be  come  to 
between  the  opposing  parties.  Goring  and  Jermyn  warmly 
advocated  the  claims  of  Newcastle  to  the  Lord-General- 
ship ;  Goring  swearing  that  no  Royalist  peer  in  England 
was  so  well  fitted  for  the  position.  Percy,  on  the  contrary, 
championed  his  cousin,  Lord  Holland  ;  ^  while  yet  others 
of  the  moderates  suggested  Essex.  The  mere  mention 
of  Colonel  Goring  as  Lieutenant-General  was  greeted  by 
the  representatives  of  the  army  with  derision ;  and  the 
meeting  terminated  in  the  departure  of  Goring  in  a  tempest 
of  rage,  swearing  that  he  would  make  Percy  and  his  friends 
pay  dearly  for  the  manner  in  which  they  had  treated  him. 
From  Whitehall  he  went  straight  to  the  residence  of  Lord 
Newport,  a  supporter  of  the  Parliament,  to  whom  he 
betrayed  the  plot.  Newport  hastened  to  lay  the  matter 
before  Pym,  Mandeville,  and  Bedford,  and,  on  the  night 
of  May  5,  Percy,  Jermyn,  and  Suckling  were  summoned 
before  the  Lords'  Committee,  charged  with  having  intrigued 
against  the  Government.  The  accused  men  were  warned 
by  their  friends,  and  attempted  to  escape.  Percy  fled  to 
Petworth,  and  thence  to  the  Sussex  coast,  whence  he 
attempted  to  take  ship  for  France.  He  was  recognised, 
however,  and  set  upon  by  some  yokels,  anxious  to  gain 
the  reward  offered  for  his  capture.  Drawing  his  sword, 
he  cut  his  way  through  the  press,  and  rode  back  to  London, 
severely  wounded  and  in  a  most  sorry  condition,  being 
covered  with  blood  and  mire.  At  the  gates  of  Northumber- 
land House  he  was  lifted  in  a  fainting  condition  from  his 
horse,  and  carried  to  a  place  of  concealment.  As  soon 
as  his  wound  healed  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Parliament,  admit- 
ting his  share  in  the  recent  plot.  The  accounts  of  how 
this  confession  came  to  be  written  vary  extensively ;  but 
the  most  plausible  one  seems  to  be  to  the  effect  that 
Northumberland,    believing    his    brother's    life    to    be    in 

'  Holland  was  first  cousin  of  Northunibeiland  and  Sir  11.  Percy,  being  a  son 
of  Ibe  frail  Penelope  Devereux  by  Lord  Rich. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  249 

danger,  and  desirous  of  securing  his  escape,*  induced  him 
to  make  a  full  statement  of  what  had  occurred,  and  to 
throw  himself  upon  the  mercy  of  his  brother  members 
of  the  House  of  Commons.  Clarendon,  whose  bias  is 
apparent,  states  that  the  Earl  obtained  the  letter  from  his 
brother  by  means  of  a  trick,  and  that  bad  blood  was 
thereby  caused  between  them.  The  latter  statement  is 
wholly  unfounded,  as,  however  different  their  politics  may 
have  been,  Northumberland  and  Sir  Henry  Percy  never 
ceased  to  entertain  for  each  other  the  warmest  affection, 
as  is  testified  by  their  correspondence.  The  Earl  probably 
acted  as  he  did  from  purely  disinterested  motives,  and, 
as  he  believed,  for  the  best.  Clarendon's  version  is  as 
follows  : — 

"The  truth  is  that  after  his  Brother  being  accused  of 
High  Treason,  and  then  upon  his  Hurt  in  Sussex,  coming 
directly  to  Northumberland  House  to  shelter  himself,  the 
Earl  being  in  great  Trouble  how  to  send  him  away  beyond 
the  Seas  after  his  Wound  was  cured,  advised  with  a  con- 
fident Friend  whose  Affection  to  him  he  doubted  not, 
and  who,  innocently  enough,  brought  Mr.  Pym  into  the 
Council,  who  overwitted  them  both  by  frankly  consenting 
'that  Mr.  Piercy  should  escape  into  France,'  which  was 
all  the  care  the  Earl  had  ;  but  then  obliged  him  first  to 
draw  such  a  Letter  from  him  as  might  by  the  Party  be 
applied  as  an  evidence  of  the  reality  of  the  Plot  after  he 
was  escaped.  And  in  this  manner  the  Letter  was  pro- 
cured :  which  made  a  lasting  quarrel  between  the  two 
Brothers,  and  made  the  Earl  more  at  the  Disposal  of 
those  Persons,  whom  he  had  trusted  so  far,  than  he  had 
ever  been  before."  ^ 

The  sole  punishment  inflicted  upon  Sir  Henry  Percy 
for  his  share  in  the  "  Army  Plot "  was  expulsion  from 
the  House  of  Commons.  This  measure  was  carried  into 
effect  on  December  9,   1641.*    No  attempt  was   made   to 

'  It  must  be  remembered  that  Sir  Henry  was  now  next  male  heir  to  the 
earldom.  "  Clarendon  ;  History  of  the  Rebeliion,  i.  474. 

^  Evelyn's  Diary,  ed.  Wheatley,  iv.  75. 


250  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

arrest  Percy ;  and,  shortly  before  Christinas  in  the  same 
year,  he  left  Northumberland  House  and  retired  to  France, 
where  he  became  an  active,  if  somewhat  erratic,  agent  of 
the  Queen. 

According  to  Clarendon,  the  Earl  of  Northumberland 
was  now  generally  regarded  as  an  enemy  to  the  royal 
cause,  and,  like  his  sister  Lady  Carlisle,  an  ally  and 
confidant  of  Pym.  In  view  of  the  principles  which  he 
had  upheld  ever  since  his  entrance  into  public  life,  and 
to  which  he  had  continued  to  cleave  even  after  Strafford's 
conversion  to  the  policy  of  absolute  monarchy,  it  is 
difficult  to  understand  why  the  Court  party  should  have 
looked  for  his  countenance  and  support.  Yet  it  would 
appear  that  they  did  so,  and  his  so-called  "  disaffection " 
was  very  keenly  felt  by  them,  not  only  on  account  of  his 
wealth,  intellectual  powers,  and  wide  experience,  but  also 
because  of  the  effect  which  the  attitude  of  one  so  highly 
esteemed  would  be  certain  to  produce  upon  the  popular 
mind.  Clarendon  freely  admits  this  fact,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  accuses  the  Earl  of  gross  ingratitude  towards 
his  sovereign.  The  historian  of  the  Civil  War  writes  as 
follows  :  "  The  sending  of  that  letter  of  Mr.  Piercy's  to 
the  House  of  Commons  .  .  ,  was  the  first  visible  instance 
of  the  defection  of  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  from 
His  Majesty's  service,  which  wrought  several  ill  effects 
in  the  minds  of  many ;  for  as  the  Earl  then  had  the 
most  esteemed  and  unblemished  reputation,  in  Court  and 
Country,  of  any  person  of  his  rank  throughout  the  King- 
dom, so  they  who  knew  him  well  discerned  that  the 
greatness  of  that  reputation  was  but  an  effect  of  the 
singular  grace  and  favour  showed  him  by  His  Majesty  ; 
who  immediately  upon  the  death  of  his  father  had  taken 
this  Earl  (being  less  than  thirty  years  of  age)  into  his 
immediate  and  eminent  care  ;  .  .  .  and  to  the  very  minute 
of  which  we  speak,  prosecuted  him  with  all  manner  and 
demonstration  of  respect  and  kindness,  and  (as  I  heard 
His  Majesty  himself  say)  'courted  him  as  his  mistress, 
and  conversed  with  him  as  his   friend '  without  the   least 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  251 

interruption  or  intermission  of  all  possible  favour  or 
kindness. 

"And,  therefore,  many  who  observed  this  great  Earl 
purchase  this  opportunity  of  disserving  the  King  .  .  . 
concluded  that  he  had  some  notable  temptation  in  Con- 
science, and  that  the  Court  was  much  worse  than  it  was 
believed  to  be."  ^ 

It  is  surely  absurd  to  argue  that  the  Eiirl's  "  most 
esteemed  and  unblemished  reputation"  was  wholly  due  to 
the  King's  "singular  grace  and  favour."  As  regards  the 
two  lofty  posts  which  he  held,  if  Northumberland  owed  his 
advancement  to  any  one's  favour,  it  was  to  that  of  the  be- 
trayed StrafTord  (who  had  recognised  in  him  the  one  man  of 
high  rank  fit  to  fill  those  offices)  and  not  to  that  of  Charles. 
We  also  know  that,  finding  his  heroic  efforts  to  reform  the 
navy  thwarted  by  the  King's  vacillating  policy,  the  Earl  had 
sought  to  resign  his  trust,  and  that  he  had  only  been  per- 
suaded to  continue  in  command  by  the  earnest  suppli- 
cations of  the  Court.  In  the  Council  his  sound  reasoning 
passed  unheeded,  and  his  proposals  were  voted  down  ;  so 
that  it  is  hard  to  see  how  Charles  can  be  said  to  have 
"  courted  him  as  his  mistress,  &c."  And,  apart  from  all 
personal  considerations,  there  was  the  bitter  memory  of 
how  his  father  had  been  treated  by  James  I.  to  warn 
Northumberland  from  that  course  of  blind  loyalty  to  the 
King  which  Clarendon  and  others  upbraid  him  for  failing 
to  pursue. 

The  breach  between  Charles  and  the  Earl  grew  rapidly 

wider.     In    the   second   session    of   the    Long    Parliament, 

Northumberland  was  recognised  as  the  leader  of 

lands'""  "    the  Opposition  in  the  House  of  Lords.     His  views 

poUcy  of  however,  were  then  (as  they  continued  through- 
moderation,  r  \  J  O 

out  the  entire  struggle  between  King  and  Parlia- 
ment) distinctly  moderate ;  and  he  sought,  as  long  as 
possible,  to  prevent  bloodshed.  The  extremists  among  the 
Parliamentary  party,  indeed,  looked  upon  him  with  dislike 

'  History  of  the  Rebellion,  i.  473. 


252  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

and  suspicion,  because  he  professed  neither  puritanism  in 
religion,  nor  repubhcanism  in  matters  of  State,  but  pinned 
his  faith  upon  constitutional  monarchy  and  absolute  free- 
dom of  creed.  His  enemy  Henry  Martyn  went  so  far  as 
to  accuse  him  of  "  truckling  to  the  Court " — and  this  at 
the  very  time  when  Charles  was  meditating  his  dismissal 
from  the  naval  command.  The  Earl's  moderation  is 
unjustly  set  down  by  D'Israeli  as  due  to  natural  coldness 
and  lack  of  sympathy  ^ ;  but  if  he  seemed  cold  to  the  out- 
side world,  in  private  letters  to  his  friends  he  displayed  a 
warm  and  evidently  sincere  patriotism,  as  well  as  a  shrewd 
understanding  of  the  real  position  of  affairs.  Perhaps  the 
best  idea  of  his  sentiments  at  this  period  may  be  obtained 
from  various  letters  addressed  by  him  to  Sir  John  Bankes. 
These  earnest  epistles,  in  truth,  admirably  sum  up  the  case 
of  the  People  against  the  King. 

'^^ Parliament"  he  wrote,  "/^  arrayed  against  the  King 
because  of  the  Peril  of  losing  that  Liberty  which  freeborn 
Subjects  should  enjoy,  and  which  the  Laws  of  the  Land  do 
alloiv ;  and  because  those  persons  who  are  most  powerful 
with  the  Kitig  do  endeavour  to  bring  Parliament  to  such 
a  Condition  that  they  shall  only  be  made  Instruments  to 
execute  the  Covimands  of  the  King."  ^  And  again  —  "  Let 
us  have  but  our  Laws,  Liberties,  and  Privileges  secured 
unto  us,  and  let  him  perish  that  seeks  to  deprive  the  King 
of  any  part  of  his  just  Prerogative,  or  that  Authority  ivhich 
is  due  to  him.  If  our  Fortunes  be  to  fall  into  Troubles,  I 
am  sure  {few  excepting  the  King  himself)  will  suffer  more 
than  I  do ;  therefore  for  my  own  private  considerations,  as 
well  as  for  the  publick  good,  no  man  shall  more  earnestly 
endeavour  an  agreonent  between  the  King  and  his  people."  ^ 
Northumberland  kept  his  word,  and  in  spite  of  Royalist 
scurrility  and  Parliamentary  fanaticism,  continued  to 
labour  in  the  cause  of  peace,  as  long  as  peace  remained 
within  the  bounds  of  possibility. 

'  Life  of  Charles  I. 

2  State  Papers.     Bankes  ;  Story  of  Corfe  Castle. 

s  Ibid. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  253 

On  February  22,  1642,  he  was  nominated  by  Parlia- 
ment Lord-Lieutenant  of  the  four  counties  of  Northumber- 
land, Sussex,  Pembroke,  and  Anglesey,  apparently  without 
the  King's  sanction  or  approval.  When  Lunsford,  a  man 
of  notoriously  bad  character,  was  given  the  governorship 
of  the  Tower,  the  Earl  led  the  opposition  in  the  Upper 
House  to  this  indiscreet  appointment,  and  signed  the 
remonstrance  subsequently  drawn  up  by  the  joint  com- 
mittee. He  also  supported  the  Militia  Bill,  and  protested 
against  the  refusal  of  the  Lords  to  pass  this  measure 
(which  transferred  the  control  of  the  army  from  the 
hands  of  the  King  to  those  of  Parliament),  averring  that 
"  whosoever  refused  in  this  particular  to  join  with  the 
House  of  Commons  were,  in  his  opinion,  enemies  to  the 
Commonwealth."  ^  When  the  Queen's  French  intrigues 
were  discovered,  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  denounce 
them,  albeit  his  brother.  Sir  Henry  Percy,  had  played 
a  leading  part  in  these  efforts  to  secure  armed  assistance 
from  overseas.  The  unsparing  vigour  with  which  he 
assailed  Henrietta  and  her  advisers  for  thus  "seeking 
to  bring  in  the  Sabine  enemy"  made  him  more  than  ever 
obnoxious  to  the  "  Cavalier "  party.  Sir  Thomas  Smith 
wrote  to  Admiral  Pennington  :  "  Sir  Harry  Vane  Junior 
is  voted  at  Court  to  be  put  out ;  and  my  Lord  Northumber- 
land zvould  go  the  same  way  if  the  feminine  Gender  might 
have  their  will."-  Nor  was  it  long  before  "the  feminioe 
gender "  were  gratified  by  the  Earl's  dismissal  from 
his  high  command.  Parliament  having  advised  him  to 
appoint  his  cousin,  Lord  Warwick,  Vice-Admiral  of  the 
Fleet,  he  did  accordingly,  in  the  full  belief  that  his  own 
commission  as  Lord  Admiral  entitled  him  to  make  such 
appointments.  Buckingham  had  certainly  exercised  this 
high  privilege  when  he  presided  over  naval  affairs ;  but 
Buckingham  was  a  royal  favourite,  and  the  practical 
ruler  of  England.  When  Warwick's  nomination  was 
submitted  to  the  King,  the  latter  made  haste  to  cancel 
it,   and   to   place   one   of   the  Court  party  over  the  fleet. 

'  S/ate  Papers.  «  //,/^ 


254  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Northumberland,  however,  stood  fast ;  and  as  the  sailors 
had  already  accepted  Warwick  as  their  commander, 
Charles  found  himself  in  a  difficult  and  humiliating  posi- 
tion.i  The  Queen  and  her  friends  clamoured  loudly  for 
the  punishment  of  the  Lord  Admiral,  but  Charles  could 
not  for  some  time  make  up  his  mind  to  this  step.  Months 
were  allowed  to  slip  by  while  affairs  remained  in  this 
unsettled  condition ;  and  when  at  last  Northumberland 
was  removed  from  office  it  was  upon  quite  another  pre- 
text, and  one  for  which  little  or  no  justification  can  be 
advanced.  A  ship  called  the  Providence,  sailing  under 
the  Dutch  flag,  had  been  secretly  chartered  by  the 
Queen,  and  was  engaged  in  bringing  cannon  and  gun- 
powder to  England,  for  Royalist  purposes.  This  vessel 
was  intercepted  by  the  British  fleet,  and  chased  into  the 
Humber,  where  she  succeeded  in  eluding  capture.  During 
the  pursuit  she  had  been  repeatedly  fired  upon,  but  had 
refused  to  state  what  cargo  she  carried,  or  whither  she 
was  bound.  Northumberland  knew  nothing  of  the  affair 
until  afterwards ;  but  the  King  professed  to  hold  him 
directly  responsible  for  what  was  termed  an  insult  to 
the  Dutch  flag  (the  Providence  was  nevertheless  an  English 
ship  sailing  under  false  colours),  and  at  once  demanded 
his  resignation  of  the  Lord  Admiral's  commission.  The 
royal  letters,  dated  June  28,  1642,  are  still  preserved  at 
Alnwick  Castle.  They  remind  Northumberland  that  the 
Admiralship  had  been  conferred  "  during  the  King's 
pleasure  "  only,  and  order  him  instantly  to  lay  down  his 
command.2 

Both  Houses  of  Parliament  passed  resolutions  urging 
Northumberland  to  defy  the  royal  mandate,  and  the  Com- 
mons promised  him  their  full  support  if  he  continued  to 
exercise  the  duties  of  Lord  Admiral.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  he  was  strongly  tempted  to  take  them  at  their  word, 
as  he  had  done  in  the  case  of  Warwick,  for  he  felt  that 
he  was  being  unjustly  dismissed  after  years  of  loyal  labour 
in  the  service  of  his  country.     But,  on  the  other  hand, 

1  Gardiner,  x.   176,  1S5,  20S.  -  Alnwick  MSS. 


THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY  255 

he  realised  that  to  resist  the  King  at  such  a  time  would 
be  to  precipitate  that  civil  conflict  which  it  was  his  dearest 
hope  to  be  able  to  avert.  In  the  interests  of  peace,  he 
chose  to  sacrifice  his  pride,  and  leave  the  work  of  naval 
reform  to  other  hands.  In  reply  to  the  addresses  of 
Parliament  he  declared  "that  it  would  ill  become  him, 
who  had  received  that  Charge  from  the  King  ...  to 
continue  the  Possession  thereof  against  his  express 
Pleasure."  1  Whereupon,  according  to  Clarendon,^  "the 
Commons  forebore  pressing  or  being  angry  with  his  Re- 
fusal, which  was  a  Respect  they  would  have  given  to 
no  other  Man,  well  knowing  that  it  was  much  easier  to 
mislead  than  to  convert  him,  and  that  they  should  still 
have  the  Advantage  of  his  Conscience  in  other  things, 
though  not  in  this."  But  not  even  the  Earl's  well-meant 
surrender  to  the  King  could  stay  the  inevitable  strife. 
In  August  the  royal  standard  was  unfurled  at  Notting- 
ham, and  Charles  declared  war  upon  his  discontented 
subjects. 

Before  the  opposing  forces  met  in  actual  fight  at  Edge- 
hill,  and  while  men's  minds  were  still  on  the  rack  of  doubt, 
Northumber-  ^^^  ^^d  of  Northumberland  brought  to  a 
lands  second  happy  conclusion  a  courtship  in  which  he  had 
marriage.  been  for  somc  time  engaged.  The  lady  whom 
he  chose  for  his  second  wife  was  a  reigning  beauty 
and  heiress,  Elizabeth  Howard,  daughter  of  Theophilus, 
second  Earl  of  Suffolk,  and  grandniece  of  that  Francis 
Howard,  Earl  of  Northampton,  who  in  the  days  of  James 
I.  had  shown  himself  such  a  bitter  foe  to  the  House  of 
Percy.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  Northumberland's  first 
and  second  consorts  should  both  have  belonged  to  families 
with  which  his  father,  the  "  Wizard  Earl,"  had  been  at 
deadly  feud — the  families  of  Cecil  and  of  Howard.  No 
doubt  the  old  "  Wizard,"  were  he  living  in  1642,  would 
have   condemned   his   son's   union   to    the   grandniece   of 

1  History  of  the  Rebellion,  iii.  113.  '  Ibid.,  iii.  588. 


256  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Northampton  as  fiercely  as  he  did  the  earlier  alliance  with 
Salisbury's  granddaughter. 

By  an  article  in  the  marriage  settlements  of  Nor- 
thumberland and  Lady  Elizabeth  Howard,  the  mansion 
at  Charing  Cross  then  known  as  "Northampton  House" 
was  transferred  to  the  bridegroom,  upon  his  payment  of 
£15,000  to  his  wife's  family.  The  name  of  this  princely 
residence  was  then  changed  to  "  Northumberland  House," 
and  as  such  it  continued  to  be  known  down  to  the  year 
1870,  when  it  was  destroyed  to  make  room  for  Northum- 
berland Avenue,  and  the  great  pile  of  buildings  between 
that  thoroughfare  and  the  river.  The  house  was  recon- 
structed, under  the  new  owner's  supervision,  by  Inigo 
Jones.  Hitherto  the  principal  apartments  had  looked 
towards  the  Strand.  The  Earl  preferred  a  riverward 
prospect,  and  laid  out  spacious  gardens  stretching  down 
to  what  is  now  the  Thames  Embankment.  The  Percy 
lion  carved  in  stone,  which  he  placed  over  the  front  of 
the  house,  and  which  long  remained  a  familiar  object 
to  Londoners,  was  subsequently  removed  to  Syon,  where 
it  may  still  be  seen.  Perhaps  the  best  known  view 
of  old  Northumberland  House  is  that  by  Canaletto.  The 
tenth  Earl's  gardens  were  highly  commended  by  Evelyn, 
who  complained,  however,  that  when  southerly  winds 
prevailed  these  tastefully  arranged  terraces  and  copses 
were  "  wrapped  in  a  horrid  cloud  of  smoke,  issuing 
from  a  brewery  or  two,  contiguous  to  that  noble 
palace."  ^ 

De  Fonblanque,  in  his  "  Annals  of  the  House  of  Percy," 
states  (without  quoting  any  authority)  that  the  marriage 
of  Elizabeth  Howard  and  Northumberland  was  the  subject 
of  Suckling's  "  Ballad  Upon  a  Wedding,"  so  often  quoted 
for  the  "  careless  natural  grace "  of  its  imagery.  The 
scene  of  the  festivities  described  by  the  poet  was  certainly 
Northumberland  House  (or  Northampton  House,  as  it  was 
then)  :— 

'  Miscellaneous  Works,  p.  233  [Fiimifuginm). 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  257 

"  At  Charing  Cross,  hard  by  the  Way 
Where  we  (thou  know'st)  do  sell  our  Hay, 

There  is  a  House  with  Stairs  ; 
And  there  did  I  see  coming  down 
Such  Folks  as  are  not  in  our  Town, 

Vorty  at  least  in  Pairs  " : 

and  the  portrait  of  the  hnppy  bridegroom  in  some 
respects  resembles  that  of  Northumberland  : — 

"  Among  the  rest,  one  pest'lent  fine, 
— His  Beard  no  bigger  tho'  than  thine — 

Walk'd  on  before  the  rest ; 
Our  Landlord  looks  like  nothing  to  him  ; 
The  King  (God  bless  him  !)  'twould  undo  him,   ' 
Should  he  go  still  so  drest." 

However  the  Earl  was  hardly  a  "youth"'  at  the  time 
of  his  second  nuptials  ;  nor  was  the  Cavalier,  Suckling, 
likely  to  celebrate  in  pleasant  verse  the  wedding  of  one 
regarded  as  a  leader  of  the  Parliamentary  cause.  The 
"  Ballad  "  is  more  commonly  supposed  to  deal  with  Lord 
Broghill's  marriage  to  Lady  Margaret  Howard,''  sister 
of  her  who  became  the  wife  of  Northumberland.  The 
date  of  the  Earl's  second  marriage  was  October  i,  1642. 

Although  the  Earl  had  accepted  a  place  on  the  Parlia- 
mentary Committee  of  Safety  (July  4,  1642),  it  was  only 
Northumber-  that  he  might  the  more  vigorously  pursue  his 
tol'^PwuL  P°^'^y  °^  conciliation.  Even  the  battle  of 
mentary  Edgchill  and  the  King's  march  upon  London 
PeaceParty.  jjj  ^^^  gj^^j^g  j^jg  heUei  that  a  peaceful  settlement 
might  yet  be  effected.     "In  the  city  and  in  Parliament," 

■  "  Tie  Youth  was  going, 

To  make  an  end  of  all  his  wooing" 
'  Lady  Margaret  Howard,  daughter  of  Theophilus,  Earl  of  Suffolk,  and 
sister  of  the  Countess  of  Northumberland,  married  Roger  Boyle,  Lord  Broghill, 
afterwards  first  Earl  of  Orrery,  son  of  the  notorious  adventurer  Boyle,  who 
founded  the  fortunes  of  that  family  in  Ireland.  Orrery  died  in  1679,  and  his 
widow  resided  after  his  decease  with  her  sister,  Lady  Northumberland,  at  Syon. 
She  died  there  in  August  1689,  and  was  buried  in  Isleworth  parish  church. 

II.  R 


258  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

says  Gardiner,  "above  all  in  the  House  of  Lords  a  Peace 
Party  was  quickly  formed.  Amongst  the  Peers,  its  most 
respectable  member  was  the  kindly  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land, always  anxious  for  a  quiet  life,  and  always  distrustful 
of  enthusiasts."  1  Lords  Bedford,  Clare,  Holland,  and 
Pembroke  lent  him  active  support  in  the  Upper  House 
(although  some  of  them  favoured  peace  from  motives  less 
praiseworthy  than  his  own) ;  and  in  the  Commons  such 
men  as  Holies,  Selden,  Whitelocke,  D'Ewes,  and  Maynard 
were  known  to  share  his  opinions.  On  November  lo  he 
was  sent  to  meet  Charles  at  Colnbrook  with  proposals  for 
an  armistice,  but  nothing  came  of  these  overtures ;  and 
during  the  Parliamentary  encampment  on  Turnham  Green 
both  the  Earl  and  his  cousin,  Holland,  appeared  in  arms.^ 
Syon  House  suffered  severely  during  the  Royalist  sack  of 
Brentford ;  but  Northumberland  entertained  no  malice, 
and  after  Charles  had  drawn  off  in  the  direction  of  Oxford, 
he  again  proposed  a  conference,  marching  in  company 
with  Lord  Pembroke  into  Palace  Yard,  crying  "  Peace  ! 
Peace!"*  Early  in  January  1643  he  moved  in  the  House 
of  Lords  that  "  a  Committee  be  appointed  to  consider  how 
there  might  be  an  accomodation  between  the  King  and 
his  People  for  the  Good,  Happiness,  and  Safety  of  both 
King  and  Kingdom."* 

After  much  discussion,  this  was  at  length  agreed  to  by 
both  Houses,  and  a  Committee,  consisting  of  Northumber- 
land, Holland,  Lord  Salisbury,  Edmund  Waller,  and  nine 
others,  was  chosen  "to  attend  His  Majesty  at  Oxford  to 
treat  about  the  Proposals  for  Peace,"  and  authorised  "  upon 
any  emergent  Occasion  to  come  up  to  the  Parliament  to 
receive  further  advice."^  Bulstrode  Whitelocke,  who  was 
one  of  the  delegates,  has  left  an  account  of  the  negotiations, 
which  were  prolonged,  with  various  intermissions,  until 
March.  Safe-conducts  were  granted  by  the  King,  and  the 
Committee  went  to  Oxford  in  great  state,  each  coach  drawn 

1  Gardiner,  i.  53.  ^  Ibid.,  So. 

'  Ibid.  *  Journals  of  tht  House  of  I.oidi. 

5  Ibid. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  259 

by  six  horses.  "The  Earl  of  Nortiiumberland  carried  with 
him  his  own  Plate  and  Household  stiitT,  and  Accomodation 
even  to  Wine  and  Provisions,  which  were  brought  from 
London  to  us  at  Oxford,  where  we  lived  in  as  much 
Height  and  Nobleness  as  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  used 
to  do,  and  that  is  scarce  exceeded  by  any  Subject. 

"The  King  himself  did  us  the  Honour  sometimes  to 
accept  of  Part  of  our  Wine  and  Provisions,  which  the  Earl 
sent  to  him.  The  Earl  .  .  .  was  full  of  Civility  to  the 
other  Commissioners ;  and  the  Port  we  lived  in  at  Oxford, 
by  the  Earl's  Direction,  and  managed  by  his  Officers,  was 
full  of  State  and  Nobleness." 

Some  members  of  the  Committee,  moved  by  the  early 
successes  of  the  Royalists,  made  use  of  their  time  at 
Oxford  to  enter  into  secret  compacts  with  the  King. 
Edmund  Waller  by  his  own  confession  was  one  of  these, 
and  the  eagerness  which  they  showed  to  abandon  the  Par- 
liamentary side  had,  no  doubt,  much  to  do  with  the  manner 
in  which  Northumberland's  proposals  were  in  the  end  re- 
jected by  Charles.  Whitelocke  has  left  an  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  negotiations  were  brought  to  a  con- 
clusion. When  Northumberland  began  to  read  the  terms 
offered  by  Parliament,  "  with  a  sober  and  stout  carriage," 
the  King  interrupted  testily.  "  Will  your  Majesty  give 
me  leave  to  proceed  ? "  demanded  the  Earl,  and  Charles 
with  evident  ill-will,  nodded  his  head  in  consent.  He 
continued  to  interrupt,  however,  and  the  proceedings  were 
adjourned  for  a  time.  Finally  the  King  promised  to  send 
his  reply  (his  "assent  in  writing"  if  we  are  to  believe  White- 
locke) to  the  Commissioners  by  the  hand  of  his  secretary, 
Heron.  Next  day  a  royal  letter  did  indeed  reach  Northum- 
berland, but  "  quite  contrary  to  what  was  concluded  the 
night  before."  The  Commissioners  "  pressed  upon  the 
King  his  royal  word,"  but  Charles  answered  that  "  he  had 
altered  his  mind,"  and  was  no  longer  prepared  to  accept 
the  terms  offered  by  his  subjects.^  Northumberland  at 
once  communicated  this  unhappy  result  to  Parliament  ; 
'  Whitelocke  ;  Memorials.  '  Ibid. 


26o  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

and  the  Committee  was  ordered  to  break  off  negotiations 
forthwitli  and  return  to  London.  Waller's  intrigues  with 
the  Royalists  had  not  as  yet  come  to  light,  but  strong 
suspicions  of  treachery  prevailed  among  the  advanced 
section  of  the  Commons,  and  Northumberland  and  others 
''were  looked  upon  with  great  jealousy  as  persons  engaged 
by  the  King,  and  disinclined  to  the  Parliament."*  To 
such  an  extent  was  this  feeling  carried  that  a  letter,  written 
from  Oxford  by  Northumberland  to  his  wife,  was  seized 
and  deliberately  opened  by  Henry  Martyn  "  to  see  if  it  con- 
tained treason  to  the  Commonwealth."  An  action  of  this 
kind  would  have  been  outrageous  at  any  time  ;  but  it  was 
rendered  the  more  disgraceful  by  the  fact  that  the  letter 
was  addressed  to  the  young  Countess,  then  on  the  eve 
of  her  first  confinement.  Furious  at  the  insult,  Northum- 
berland hastened  to  Westminster,  and  sought  out  Henry 
Martyn.  He  found  the  culprit  conversing  with  his  friends 
in  the  Painted  Chamber,  and  at  once  demanded  an  explana- 
tion. Martyn's  sole  reply  was  that  he  felt  "  no  whit  sorry  " 
for  what  he  had  done  ;  whereupon  Northumberland  struck 
him  several  times  across  the  head  and  shoulders  with  his 
cane.  Swords  were  drawn,  but  Martyn's  friends  rushed 
between  the  combatants  and  forced  them  apart.  Martyn 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  much  the  worse  for  the 
thrashing  which  he  had  received,  for  he  at  once  lodged 
a  complaint  before  the  House  of  Commons  ;  while  North- 
umberland, on  his  side,  made  a  personal  explanation  to 
the  Lords. 

A  joint  conference  of  both  Houses  having  been 
summoned  to  discuss  the  affair,  it  was  finally  decided  to 
issue  an  injunction  forbidding  either  Martyn  or  the  Earl  to 
indulge  in  any  further  hostilities,  under  pain  of  prosecution 
as  enemies  to  the  State.  Northumberland  expressed  him- 
self as  willing  to  give  Martyn  satisfaction  for  the  caning  so 
publicly  administered  ;  but,  whether  from  regard  to  the 
order  of  Parliament  or  from  other  motives,  the  over- 
zealous  member  sent  no  challenge,  and  the  matter  (which 

'  Clarendon,  iv.  17. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  261 

had  been  the  talk  of  London  for  weeks)  was  allowed  to 
drop.^ 

Late  in  May,  Waller's  secret  negotiations  with  the  King 
were  discovered ;  and  Waller,  Tompkins,  and  Challoner 
were  arrested  on  the  31st  of  the  same  month.  The  poet- 
politician,  fairly  caught,  and  fearing  for  his  life,  offered  to 
give  evidence  implicating  several  members  of  the  Peace 
Party.  Conway  and  Portland  he  accused  of  plotting 
directly  against  Parliament,  and  Northumberland  of  being 
favourable  to  their  designs  and  refusing  to  take  part  in  the 
conspiracy  only  because  he  feared  its  result.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  truth  concerning  the  charges  against 
Conway  and  Portland,  it  is  certain  that  Northumberland  at 
least  was  absolutely  guiltless  of  any  intrigue  against  the 
cause  which  he  professed.  Waller's  motives  for  thus 
calumniating  the  Earl  are  variously  stated.  Some  authori- 
ties ascribe  his  action  to  mere  cowardice,  and  the  wish  to 
protect  himself  by  involving  more  powerful  persons  in  his 
own  ruin.  Others  attempt  to  lend  an  air  of  romance  to 
the  affair,  by  hinting  that  the  contemptuous  rejection  of  his 
addresses  by  the  fair  "  Saccharissa"  had  inspired  the  poet 
with  feelings  of  revenge  against  that  lady's  distinguished 
relative.  Others  again  hold  that  Waller  himself  had  been 
misled  by  Sir  Henry  Percy  into  believing  the  Earl  a 
trimmer  like  Holland  or  Bedford  ;  and  this  is  certainly  the 
most  charitable  view  to  take  of  the  false  evidence.  As  for 
Northumberland,  when  informed  of  what  had  occurred,  he 
demanded  an  immediate  investigation.  The  two  men, 
accuser  and  accused,  were  brought  face  to  face  in  the 
presence  of  a  committee  of  both  Houses,  with  the  result 
that  Waller,  after  several  times  contradicting  himself,  broke 
down  completely,  and  the  Earl  was  unanimously  exonerated 
from  all  blame. 

The  rejection  of  the  Peace  resolution  in  the  Commons 
on  July  9,  and  the  disinclination  of  Essex  and  the 
Parliamentary  leaders  to  consider  further  proposals,  caused 
Northumberland   to    become    seriously    discouraged    for 

'  D'Ewes's  Dmr}'.     Harleian  MSB.  164,  fol.  372^. 


262  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

the  first  time  since  the  war  began.  His  wife  had  given 
birth  to  a  son  and  heir  at  Petworth  on  July  4,  and  a 
few  weeks  later  the  Earl  asked  permission  of  Parliament 
to  pay  a  brief  visit  to  his  Sussex  residence.  In  the  society 
of  his  family  he  hoped  to  be  able  to  shake  off  the  gloom 
occasioned  by  recent  disappointments ;  but  unfortunately 
his  motives  for  thus  retiring  for  a  time  from  public  life 
were  misrepresented  by  the  more  fanatical  members  of 
the  war  party,  and  there  were  whispers  that  he  meditated 
a  surrender  to  the  King.  Lords  Holland,  Bedford,  and 
Clare  had  already  gone  to  Oxford,  without  leave,  for 
the  purpose  of  making  their  peace,  and  Northumberland 
was  suspected  of  a  like  design.^  Henry  Martyn  and  others 
of  his  kind  were  particularly  busy  in  spreading  these 
reports ;  but  the  Earl  disappointed  them  by  returning 
faithfully  to  London  at  the  end  of  the  year,  when  both 
Houses  gave  him  a  hearty  welcome,  and  his  enemies 
were  once  more  put  to  silence.^ 

The  Civil  War  had  now  entered  upon  its  second  stage, 
so  disastrous  to  the  hitherto  successful  Royalist  arms. 
Pym  and  Hampden  were  both  dead,  and  the  influence 
of  Oliver  Cromwell  had  begun  to  make  itself  felt,  alike 
in  Army  and  Parliament.  In  January  1644  a  Scottish 
army  once  more  crossed  the  Tweed ;  and  on  February 
16  the  Joint  Committee  of  Both  Kingdoms  assumed 
control  of  the  Parliamentary  cause.  To  this  committee 
Northumberland  was  appointed  ;  and  among  his  colleagues 
were  his  cousins  Essex  and  Warwick,  with  Manchester, 
Fairfax,  Sir  William  Waller,  St.  John,  Oliver  Cromwell, 
Haselrig,  and  the  two  Vanes,  for  England  ;  and  Loudoun, 
Maitland,  Johnston  of  Warriston,  and  Barclay  for  the 
sister  realm.  We  find  Northumberland  giving  umbrage 
to  the  Commons  and  the  Scottish  Covenanters  by  his 
persistent  pleas  for  peace ;  and  in  November  1644  he 
was  censured  by  the  Lower  House  for  having  communi- 
cated to  the  Lords  an  offer  of  mediation,  personally  made 
to   him  by   the   Comte   d'Harcourt^  on   behalf  of  Louis 

'  Clarendon.  '  Jbid.  '  The  French  Ambassador. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  263 

XIV.  and  the  Queen  Regent  of  France.^  Charles  and 
his  advisers  seem  to  have  appreciated  the  Earl's  efforts 
at  conciliation  as  little  as  did  the  Parliamentary  war-party, 
for  in  December  Northumberland,  together  with  Pembroke 
and  Salisbury,  were  indicted  at  Shrewsbury  for  High 
Treason.  The  principal  charge  against  them  was  that 
they  had  "  furnished  assistance  to  the  Parliament  then 
in  Rebellion."  2  Charles,  however,  failed  to  find  a  jury 
of  their  peers  to  bring  in  a  bill  of  attainder  against  the 
accused  lords,  and  the  indictment  was  perforce  allowed 
to  lapse.^ 

Northumberland  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  final 
attempt  made  by  the  Royalist  and  Parliamentary  factions 
.p^g  to    come    to    an    understanding    and    end    the 

"Treaty" of  Civil  War.  On  January  30,  1645,  ^^  was  one  of 
*  "  ^*'  the  sixteen  Commissioners  sent  by  the  Parlia- 
ment to  meet  sixteen  of  the  King's  party  at  Uxbridge, 
in  that  "good  House  at  the  end  of  ye  Town"  which  still 
stands  in  fair  preservation,  and  is  locally  known  as  "the 
Treaty  House."*  The  thirty-two  Commissioners  were 
instructed  "to  take  into  consideration  the  grievances  of 
which  each  party  complained,  and  to  propose  those 
remedies  that  might  be  mutually  agreeable."  The  King 
himself  attended  this  gathering,  and  held  a  species  of 
miniature  Court  in  the  "Treaty  House." ^ 

From  the  very  first  it  became  apparent  that  the 
presence  of  the  Scottish  Covenanters  was  certain  to  prove 
a    cause    of    discord.      They    had    come    thither    dourly 

1  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons, 

*  Whitelocke ;  Memorials,  p.  78. 

^  Whitelocke. 

'  The  "  Treaty  House,"  which  had  been  the  residence  of  Sir  John  Bennet, 
Judge  of  the  Prerogative  Court  of  Canterbury,  afterwards  became  an  inn  under 
the  sign  of  the  "  Crown." 

°  Charles  received  his  visitors  in  the  oak-panelled  apartment  which  is 
erroneously  shown  to  visitors  as  the  "Treaty  Room,"  but  which  was  really 
the  Presence  Chamber.  The  actual  meeting-place  of  the  Commissioners  was. 
a  larger  room  (now  divided  into  two)  facing  on  the  High  Street  of  Uxbridge. 


264  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

determined  to  advance  their  own  interests  at  all  hazards, 
and  to  make  no  compromise  either  with  the  Royalists 
or  with  the  favourers  of  peace  in  the  Parliament.  Even 
before  the  proceedings  began,  a  dispute  was  caused  by 
Loudoun,  the  Chief  Scottish  Commissioner,  who  had  the 
effrontery  to  demand  precedence  over  all  the  English 
representatives.  This  claim  occasioned  intense  anger 
among  the  English  of  both  parties,  and  might  have  ended 
all  further  discussion  had  not  Northumberland  come 
forward  with  a  suggestion.  "  The  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land," writes  Whitelocke,  "smiled  at  this  contest,  and 
seemed  to  contemn  it ;  —  of  whose  great  honour  and 
family  and  antiquity  the  Scots  could  not  be  ignorant ; 
nor  of  the  differences  between  that "  {i.e.  the  Earl's 
honourable  descent)  "  and  the  family  of  the  Earl  of 
Loudoun.  .  .  .  Yet  Northumberland  moved,  for  the  satis- 
faction of  the  Scots,  that  the  Chancellor  and  one  of  the 
Scots  Commissioners  might  sit  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
Table."  *  After  some  argument,  the  Earl's  proposal  was 
accepted,  and  the  English  Lord  Chancellor  presided  jointly 
with  Loudoun  over  the  assembly. 

It  was  agreed  that  the  "  Three  Propositions "  which 
were  to  be  laid  before  the  King — i.e.  the  questions  relating 
to  Religion,  the  Army,  and  Ireland — should  be  discussed 
in  rotation,  three  days  being  allotted  to  each  proposition. 
If,  after  nine  days,  no  conclusion  had  been  reached,  a 
further  debate  of  three  days'  duration  was  to  be  allowed  on 
the  subject  of  Religion,  and  so  on  with  the  other  points. 
If,  at  the  end  of  twenty-one  working  days,  no  satis- 
factory conclusion  had  been  arrived  at,  the  proceedings 
were  to  be  considered  at  an  end.-  A  week  had  hardly 
passed  by,  before  Northumberland  realised  that  the 
gathering  was  mere  waste  of  time.  Some  few  of  the 
Royalists,  such  as  Hertford  and  Southampton,  were  sin- 
cerely desirous  of  promoting  peace,  but  Charles  himself 
was,  as  usual,  obstinate  at  the  wrong  time  ;  and  no  amount 
of  argument  could  "  reconcile  the   King's  unbending  de- 

'  Memorials,  p.  127.  '  Rushworth,  v.  861. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  265 

votion  to  Episcopacy,  with  the  equally  unbending  Presby- 
terianism  of  the  Scots." '  The  character  of  the  "  Three 
Propositions"  themselves  show  how  little  the  spirit  of 
compromise  appealed  to  the  Scottish  delegates  or  their 
English  allies  of  the  advanced  section.  Charles  was 
asked :  (i)  to  take  the  Covenant,  to  assent  to  the 
abolition  of  Episcopacy  and  the  Prayer-book,  and  the 
establishment  of  Presbyterianism  and  the  Directory  ; 
(2)  to  consent  to  the  control  of  both  Army  and  Navy 
by  a  Commission  nominated  by  Parliament  ;  and  (3) 
to  authorise  the  passing  of  an  Act  making  void  the 
Irish  Cessation,  and  permitting  Parliament  to  prose- 
cute the  war  in  Ireland  without  hindrance  from  the 
Royalists. 

In  place  of  the  first  Proposition,  the  Oxford  clergy 
offered  a  broad  scheme  of  religious  toleration  ;  but  the  In- 
dependents and  Scots,  suspicious  of  the  King's  good  faith 
would  accept  no  alternative  measures.  The  debates  on  the 
other  two  Propositions  ended  as  unsatisfactorily.  To  the 
military  Commission  the  King  might  well  have  agreed  at 
the  time.  He  actually  did  so  a  twelvemonth  later,  when  it 
was  too  late.  The  list  of  Commissioners  put  forward  by 
Parliament  was,  on  the  whole,  a  moderate  one.  North- 
umberland's name  held  first  place  among  the  nominees,  a 
fact  which,  as  Lord  Southampton  pointed  out,  was  in  itself 
"an  earnest  of  fair  play."  But  Charles,  persuaded,  it  is 
said,  by  Prince  Rupert,  refused  to  surrender  even  tempo- 
rarily his  claim  of  absolute  control  over  the  land  and  sea 
forces.  Day  after  day  was  squandered  in  "  exhaustive  dis- 
cussions "  ;  and  at  length,  on  February  22,  the  negotiations 
were  broken  off.  Some  of  the  Royalist  delegates  asked  for 
a  further  extension  of  time,  but  the  other  side  answered 
that  "  if  the  King  had  consented  to  any  one  of  the  Propo- 
sitions, it  might  have  been  some  Encouragement  to  move 
the  Parliament  for  longer  Time ;  but,  as  things  were,  it 
could  not  be  expected,"  2 

'  Gardiner,  v.  2 ;  p.  121. 

*  Whitelocke,  Memorials,  p.  133. 


266  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

From  Northumberland's  letters  to  Leicester  and  others, 
it  is  clear  that  the  negative  result  of  the  Uxbridge  deliber- 
ations at  once  saddened  and  disgusted  him.  To  quote 
Clarendon:  "The  repulse  he  had  formerly  received  at 
Oxford  upon  his  addresses  thither,  and  the  fair  escape  he 
had  made  afterwards  from  the  jealousy  of  the  Parliament, 
had  wrought  so  far  upon  him  that  he  resolved  no  more  to 
depend  upon  the  one,  or  provoke  the  other."  ^  He  was 
still,  however,  regarded  as  the  leader  of  the  Independent 
Party  in  Parliament ;  and  as  such  helped  to  secure  the 
passage  of  the  "  Self-Denying  Ordinance,"  and  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  organisation  of  the  new  model 
army.^ 

Few  men  in  England  had  suffered  more  by  the  war 

than  Northumberland,  and  even  his  enemies  in  the  House 

of  Commons  could  not  but  admit  that  he  had 

losses,  and      bome    his    enormous   losses    with   noble    disin- 

partiaicom-    terestcdness.     Soon   after   the    Uxbridge   Treaty 

pensation. 

his  financial  affairs  became  well-nigh  desperate, 
owing  to  the  devastation  of  his  northern  estates,  and  to 
huge  arrearages  of  rent.  His  friends  urged  him  to  claim 
some  compensation  from  Parliament  in  return  for  the 
countless  sacrifices  which  he  had  made  for  what  he  held  to 
be  the  rightful  cause.  For  over  two  years,  although  on  the 
verge  of  bankruptcy,  he  refused  to  embarrass  the  Houses 
with  his  personal  troubles ;  but  at  last,  early  in  1647,  he 
was  forced  by  necessity  to  present  a  memorial  represent- 
ing that  "  by  those  unhappy  Wars  {besides  many  Damages  he 
hath  sustained  in  his  Woods,  Collieries,  the  loss  of  his  office  of 
Lord  High  Admiral,  &c.)  he  hath  lost  in  clear  Rents  above 
£1(^,000."^  Moreover,  land  was  become  of  such  small 
value  that  no  money  could  be  raised  by  the  sale  of  any 
of  his  estates.  A  detailed  statement  of  the  Earl's  losses 
accompanies  his  petition.    This  latter  document,  a  dupli- 

'  Great  Rebdlion,  viii.  244. 

'  Gardiner,  ii.  189. 

^  Lords'  and  Commons'  Journals. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  267 

cate  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  Alnwick  MSS.,*  ran  as 
follows : — 


C 

s. 

d 

Arrears  of  Rent  in  Yorkshire 

14.739 

12 

8 

„               „      Northumberland 

13.500 

8 

1 1 

„                „       Cumberland 

981 

13 

10 

,,               „      elseivhere 

5.468 

S 

I 

Destruction  of  Wressill  Castle 

1,000 

8 

I 

Damage  to  Tadcaster  by  Royalists 

300 

0 

0 

Spoiling  of  Northumbrian  Woodes 

570 

0 

0 

Houses  burnt,  &=(.  &•(. 

1,200 

0 

0 

Arrears  for  Tynemouth 

3.274 

6 

II 

Paid  in  Ready  Money  to  the  Scots 

1.500 

0 

0 

Total 

42,554 

II 

0 

The  House  of  Lords  cordially  recommended  the  memo- 
rial to  the  Commons  "  in  regard  to  the  Faithfulness  of  the 
Earl  of  Northumberland  in  a  Time  wherein  the  services  of 
a  Person  of  his  Eminence  were  of  great  Use  and  Ad- 
vantage to  the  Parliament  and  Cause."  ^  In  the  Lower 
House,  however,  his  bitter  foes  of  the  extreme  party  (or 
"  Levellers,"  as  they  were  now  beginning  to  be  styled)  saw 
fit  to  oppose  the  granting  of  any  compensation,  and  Henry 
Martyn,  who  had  never  forgiven  the  thrashing  which  he 
had  received  at  Northumberland's  hands,  used  all  his 
influence  against  the  latter.  Better  feelings  conquered, 
nevertheless ;  and  the  Commons,  by  a  vote  of  75  against 
55,  granted  to  the  Earl  "  the  sum  of  ^10,000,  to  be  paid  by 
the  Committee  of  Goldsmiths'  Hall  out  of  the  Fines  and 
Compositions  of  Delinquents."^ 

Wressill  Castle,  that  venerable  monument  of  the  fifth 
Earl's  magnificence,  had  been  partially  dismantled  by 
Cromwell,  under  the  pretext  that  the  neighbourhood  was  a 
Royalist  one,  and  that  the  mansion,  if  left  standing,  might 

'  "  Return  presented  to  Parliament  of  My  Lord's  Damages,"  Alnwick  MSS: 
quoted  by  De  Fonblanque. 
^  Lords^  Journals. 
•"  Commons'  Journals,  liXi.  19,  1647. 


268  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

fall  into  the  hands  of  the  King's  Yorkshire  supporters.  As 
Wressill  was  by  no  means  a  strongly  fortified  place,  it  is 
probable  that  the  destruction  wrought  there  by  Cromwell's 
troops  had  its  real  origin  in  the  dislike  of  the  extremists  for 
the  Earl.  That  this  was  indeed  so,  seems  the  more  likely 
from  the  fact  that,  during  the  year  following  the  grant  of 
compensation  to  the  Earl,  a  second  and  more  determined 
attack  was  made  on  the  castle  by  the  "  Ironsides,"  and  this 
without  any  warning  or  other  notification  to  the  owner,  and 
apparently  without  any  order  from  either  Parliament  or 
the  Committee  of  Safety.  Northumberland's  servants  were 
taken  completely  by  surprise  at  this  arbitrary  act.  William 
Plaxton,  the  Earl's  agent  at  Wressill,  wrote  in  haste  to 
London  :  "  /  «w  very  sorrye  to  see  the  spoyle  that  is  already 
made  of  his  Lordshyp's  Castle,  with  this  forenoone' s  work : 
there  is  fifteene  men  throwing  down  the  out  Batlentent ;  I 
thinke  by  to-morrow  noone  they  will  have  gone  rounde  the 
Castell.  The  Stones  are  for  the  moste  parte  all  Smashed  to 
pieces  ;  and  if  there  be  not  some  speedy  course  taken  for  to  pre- 
serve the  Timber,  Lead,  Glass,  and  Wainscot,  by  taking  them 
doune  at  his  Lordshyp's  cost,  they  will  be  all  spoyled  and 
broaken  to  pceces.  I  pray,  see  if  you  can  get  an  Order  from  the 
Committee  to  stay  the  proceedings  till  we  can  take  course  to 
preserve  these  things  for  his  Lordshyp's  use.  The  workmen  do 
not  looke  to  save  any  of  the  materiels,  but  take  the  rcadyest 
course  to  throwe  donne  the  ivalls  ;  which  they  will  doe  inward, 
upon  the  floores  and  sealing,  as  well  as  outzvard  upon  the 
ground.'"^  The  ceilings  at  Wressill  were,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, handsomely  painted  and  ornamented  with 
verses  and  quaint  devices  composed  by  Skelton  and  other 
poets  of  the  early  days  of  Henry  VIII.  Before  a  stay  of 
proceedings  could  be  invoked,  most  of  these  precious  relics 
of  the  past  had  been  wantonly  destroyed.  Two  days  later, 
on  December  30th,  Robert  Thompson,  another  of  North- 
umberland's servants,  informed  his  master  that  "all  the 
Battlements  to  the  roofe,  on  the  fronte  of  the  Castle  {excepting 

1  Alnwick  MSS.  ;  Wm.  Plaxton  to  Pritchctt,  the  Earl's  steward  at  Nurlhum- 
berland  House,  Dec.  z8,  164S. 


THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY  269 

the  High  Tower  over  the  Gate)  are  bett  doune.  .  .  .  I  conceyve 
;^"2ooo  will  not  repair  the  rnynes  here."  ' 

It  was  not  the  intention  of  the  Earl's  enemies  in 
Parliament  that  Wressill  should  be  repaired.  Some  eight 
months  later,  in  August  1649,  the  Council  of  State  wrote 
to  Northumberland  in  the  following  unmistakable  terms  : 
"The  Castle  of  Wressill  was  appointed  ...  to  be 
demolished,  but  it  is  not  yet  made  untenable.  Signify 
to  us  whether  you  yourself  will  order  its  effectual  de- 
molishing, or  whether  we  shall  give  order  to  some  others 
for  the  doing  of  it."  -  To  this  the  Earl  answered  that, 
such  was  the  condition  of  the  castle,  no  danger  remained 
of  its  ever  serving  as  shelter  for  a  hostile  garrison.  Its 
outer  walls  and  other  defences  had  been  levelled  with 
the  earth,  and  only  a  portion  of  the  dwelling-house  re- 
mained. This,  he  trusted,  the  Council  would  not  ask 
him  to  destroy,  as  his  race  had  always  been  deeply 
attached  to  Wressill,  which  was  their  only  place  of  resi- 
dence in  the  neighbourhood,  and  he  hoped,  when  peace 
was  restored,  to  be  able  to  rebuild  the  old  mansion. 
Sentimental  reasons  were  the  last  to  which  the  then 
governing  body  was  likely  to  listen.  The  sole  reply  of 
the  Council  was  a  warrant  commanding  the  "complete 
demolition "  of  the  castle,  with  the  exception  of  the 
steward's  quarters  in  the  southern  wing.*  Only  ten  days 
were  allowed  for  the  carrying  out  of  this  harsh  behest ; 
and  so,  after  hundreds  of  years,  Wressill  ceased  to  be  the 
Yorkshire  home  of  the  Percies. 

When  the  King  rode  out  of  London  in  1642,  he  was 

accompanied  by  his  two  elder  sons,  the  Prince  of  Wales 

and    the    Duke    of    York ;    while    the    younger 

beriandas      children — Henry,   Duke  of  Gloucester,  and   the 

Euardianof     Pfincess    Elizabeth,  were    left   at    Whitehall   in 

the  Princes.  ' 

the    care   of    their   governess,   the    Marchioness 
of    Dorset.     Parliament  treated  them  with  consideration, 

'  Alnwick  MSS.;  Robert  Thompson  to  the  Earl's  steward  in  London. 
^  Stale  Papers.  '  Ibid.,  Warrant  dated  April  7,  1650. 


270  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

merely  taking  care  that  they  should  not  escape.  After 
the  death  of  Lady  Dorset  in  1645,  '^  ^^^  decided  by  both 
Houses  that  no  more  suitable  guardian  could  be  chosen, 
for  the  little  prince  and  princess,  than  the  Earl  of  North- 
umberland. Northumberland  undertook  the  duties  of 
the  charge  with  pleasure.  He  may  have  remembered 
that  when  misfortune  brooded  over  his  own  house, — ■ 
when  his  father  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  and  when 
himself,  his  brother,  and  sisters  were  frowned  upon  by 
the  world,  they  had  found  a  true  friend  and  protector 
in  the  then  Queen  of  England,  mother  of  Charles  I. 
Certain  it  is  that  even  the  most  captious  follower  of  the 
King  could  not  deny  that  the  royal  children  were  treated 
by  their  new  governor  with  every  kindness  and  respect." 
They  were  first  placed  under  his  charge  on  March  19, 
1645,-  with  a  salary  of  ;£30oo  per  annum^  the  Houses  of 
Parliament  taking  "  into  consideration  the  great  losses 
of  this  noble  Earl  from  his  Affection  to  the  Publick."  * 
On  September  11,  1645,  for  reasons  presently  to  be  dis- 
covered, the  annual  allowance  was  increased,  the  House 
of  Commons  voting  "that  ;^50oo  a  year  be  paid  to  the 
Earl  of  Northumberland  for  the  keeping  of  the  King's 
younger  children  in  an  honourable  way,"  and  also  "that 
the  Earl  of  Northumberland  shall  have  the  use  of 
Whitehall,  St.  James's  House,  Somerset  House,  or  any 
other  of  the  King's  Houses  as  he  shall  find  Occasion  .  .  . 
with  such  Hangings,  Bedding,  Plate,  Silver  Vessels,  or 
other  necessary  and  fitting  Accomodation,  as  he  shall 
require."^  An  additional  grant  of  X580  per  anmim  for 
medical  attendance  was  also  made,  and  several  physicians, 
surgeons,  and  apothecaries  were  appointed  to  wait  upon 
the  Duke  of  Gloucester  and  his  sister.  In  fact  the  value 
of  these  children,  and  of  the  little  Duke  in  particular,  had 
become  suddenly  and  greatly  enhanced  in  Parliamentary 

'  Clarendon  (no  friend  of  the  Earl)  says  that  he  "received  and  treated  them 
in  all  Respects  as  was  Suitable  to  their  Birth  and  Station,  and  his  own  Duty." 
'-'  Whitlocke  ;  Memorials,  p.  137.  ^  Gardiner,  Lords'  Journals. 

*  Whitelocke.  '  Commons'  Journals. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  271 

estimation.  The  failure  of  the  Uxbridge  negotiations  and 
the  King's  obstinate  refusal  to  come  to  terms  had  inspired 
the  leaders  of  popular  opinion  with  a  new  project — to 
wit,  the  deposition  of  Charles,  the  proclamation  of  young 
Gloucester  as  King  Henry  IX.,  and  the  elevation  of 
Northumberland  to  the  post  of  Lord  Protector.^  On 
March  21,  1646,'-  we  find  Salvetti  writing  to  Cardinal  de 
Retz  as  if  this  scheme  had  been  finally  decided  upon,  and 
dwelling  at  some  length  upon  the  good  qualities  which 
Northumberland  would  bring  to  the  Regency.^ 

The  capture  of  the  Duke  of  York  by  Fairfax,  after 
the  fall  of  Oxford  (June  20),  put  a  sudden  end  to  the 
movement  in  favour  of  Gloucester's  succession.  It  was 
now  determined  by  Parliament  that,  unless  the  King 
came  speedily  to  terms,  he  should  be  deposed  in  favour 
of  his  second  son.  Northumberland,  however,  continued 
to  be  the  person  most  favoured  for  the  office  of  Regent, 
or  Protector  ;  and  York  was  sent  to  join  his  brother  and 
sister  under  the  Earl's  guardianship — a  sum  of  ;^750o 
being  voted  for  his  maintenance,  and,  later  on,  an  ad- 
ditional £$00  a  year  "to  expend  upon  his  Recreations 
and  Field  Sports."* 

Charles  was  surrendered  by  the  Scots  in  January  1647  ; 
and  in  June  of  the  same  year  we  find  him  a  state  prisoner 
at  Richmond.  Plague  having  broken  out  in  London, 
Northumberland  asked  leave  of  Parliament  to  take  the 
royal  children  to  Syon  House,  "  where  they  might  be 
free  of  the  infection."  ^  It  is  probable  that  the  Earl's 
real  motive  was  a  humane  desire  to  afford  the  fallen 
monarch  such  consolation  as  renewed  intercourse  with 
his  family  might  bring.  Certainly,  while  the  plague  had 
infested  London  since  the  autumn  of  1646,  the  guardian 
of   the  children  did    not  propose  their  removal  to    Syon 

1  Lords'  Journals,  vii.  277,  327. 

^  The  day  of  the  defeat  at  Stow  of  Lord  Astley's  force — the  last  body  of  troops 
in  arms  for  the  King. 

^  Salvetti  to  Goudi ;  Add.  MSS.,  B.M.,  27,  962,  K.,  fol.  417. 

*  Whitelocke,  p.  22S.  *  Commons'  Journals,  July  26,  1647. 


272  THE   HOUSE   OF  PERCY 

until  their  father  had  taken  up  his  residence  at  Richmond 
hard  by.  Whether  Parliament  understood  the  Earl's 
kindly  intentions  or  not,  the  required  leave  was  granted 
after  some  demur ;  ^  the  Commons  merely  adding  a 
proviso  that  no  Royalist  spies,  or  "  persons  likely  to  give 
the  Duke  of  York  evil  counsel,"  should  be  allowed 
access  to  Syon.  Northumberland  did  not  apparently 
understand  these  instructions  as  excluding  the  visits  of 
the  King  himself.  We  read  that,  on  August  23,  1647, 
the  royal  captive  was  allowed  to  spend  a  day  in  the 
company  of  his  little  ones  —  the  two  younger  of  whom 
he  had  not  seen  since  his  departure  from  London,  five 
years  before.  In  the  Daily  Post  (a  news-sheet  preserved 
in  the  British  Museum)  under  date  "August  20-27,"  the 
following  is  recorded  :  — ■ 

"Syon  House;  23  August.  His  Majesty  came  hither  to 
see  his  Children,  with  one  Troop  of  Horse,  and  the  Com- 
missioners ;  and  dined  here."  We  have  some  account  of 
what  took  place  on  this  occasion,  from  the  pen  of  that 
staunch  Cavalier,  Sir  Thomas  Herbert,  the  King's  Groom 
of  the  Chambers.  "  The  Earl "  (of  Northumberland),  writes 
Herbert,  "  welcomed  the  King  with  a  very  noble  Treat ; 
and  his  Followers  had  their  Tables  richly  furnished  :  by 
his  Behaviour  expressing  extraordinary  Contentment  to  see 
the  King  and  his  Children  together,  after  such  various 
Chances,  and  so  long  a  Separation."  * 

On  the  following  day  (August  24)  Charles  took  up  his 
residence  at  Hampton  Court,  whence  he  continued  at 
frequent  intervals  to  visit  Syon.  In  the  Daily  Post,  for 
instance,  under  date  of  August  29,  we  are  told  that  "The 
Duke  of  York  is  at  Syon ;  and  the  King  hunted  at 
Richmond  Park,  and  afterwards  dined  with  his  Children  at 
Syon."'*  For  some  time  Northumberland  assumed  all  the 
responsibility  for  these  visits,  which  were  strongly  con- 
demned by  the  "  Levellers  "  and  fanatics  in  the  Commons. 

'  Lords'  Journals,  330,  357. 

2  Memoirs  of  the  last  two  years  of  .  .  .  King  Charles  the  First. 

'  Daily  Post  news-sheet,  under  Occurrences  (British  Museum). 


THE    HOUSE   OF  PERCY  273 

But  at  length,  more  generous  counsels  prevailed,  and  in 
October  the  Earl  had  the  satisfaction  of  obtaining  Parlia- 
mentary sanction  for  what  he  had  done,i  and  permission 
from  the  Council  to  allow  Charles  and  his  children  free 
access  to  each  other.  This  result  was  most  encouraging  to 
the  King,  who  availed  himself  of  the  privilege  to  the  full. 
According  to  Clarendon  (who,  however,  fails  to  give 
Northumberland  credit  for  the  part  which  he  had  taken  in 
the  matter):  "The  King  enjoyed  himself  much  more  to 
his  content  at  Hampton  Court  than  he  had  of  late  ;  but 
that  which  pleased  his  Majesty  most  was  that  his  Children 
were  permitted  to  come  to  him,  in  whom  he  took  great 
Delight.  They  were  all  at  the  Earl  of  Northumberland's 
House  at  Syon,  from  the  time  the  King  came  to  Hampton 
Court;  and  had  Liberty  to  attend  his  Majesty  when  he 
pleased ;  so  that  sometimes  he  sent  for  them  to  come  to 
Hampton  Court ;  and  sometimes  he  went  to  them  at  Syon  ; 
which  gave  him  great  Satisfaction."-  After  Charles  had 
left  the  less  strict  confinement  of  Hampton  Court,  North- 
umberland brought  York,  Gloucester,  and  the  Princess 
Elizabeth  to  visit  him,  first  to  Caversham  House,^  and 
afterwards  to  Maidenhead. 

Certain  events  which  occurred  in  the  following  winter 
and  spring,  however,  had  the  effect  of  putting  a  stop  to 
Escape  of  ^'^'^  consoling  between  the  King  and  his  children, 
the  Duke  of  The  project  of  placing  James,  Duke  of  York, 
upon  the  throne  had  grown  in  favour  with  all 
shades  of  opinion  among  the  Parliamentarians ;  and,  as 
time  went  on,  it  became  more  and  more  probable 
that  the  Civil  War  would  be  brought  to  a  bloodless  con- 
clusion by  this  means.*  But  the  agents  of  the  King  and 
the  Prince  of  Wales  were  determined  at  all  hazards  to 
resist  the  movement  in  favour  of  York's  succession,  and  if 

'  Journals  of  Lords  and  Commons, 

^  Great  Rebellion,  vol.  iii.  Part  I. 

'  Lord  Craven's  seal,  near  Reading. 

*  Walker;  History  of  Independence,  vol.  i.  107. 


274  THE    HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

possible  to  prevent  tlie  Duke  from  accepting  the  crown  at 
the  hands  of  Parliament.  Charles  ill  repaid  the  latitude 
which  Northumberland  allowed  him  in  conversation  with 
his  children,  by  using  all  his  parental  authority  to  persuade 
York  into  attempting  an  escape  from  Syon.  Relying  upon 
the  royal  word  that  no  harm  was  intended  against  his 
guardianship,  Northumberland  also  permitted  a  certain 
Colonel  John  Bamfield  or  Bamford^  to  have  frequent 
access  to  the  Duke  ;  and  Bamfield,  while  ostensibly  inter- 
ested only  in  the  lad's  field-sports,  laboured  secretly  to 
further  the  plans  for  his  flight.  York  was  easily  prevailed 
upon  to  make  the  attempt ;  but  the  first  plot  was  betrayed 
to  Northumberland  before  it  could  be  carried  into  effect. 
The  Earl,  indignant  at  what  he  deemed  the  royal  abuse 
of  his  confidence,  announced  the  discovery  to  Parliament, 
and  asked  permission  to  resign  the  charge  of  the  King's 
second  son.  Both  Houses  united  in  pressing  him  to  con- 
tinue his  guardianship  for  another  year  at  least ;  -  and  he 
eventually  agreed  to  do  so,  but  only  on  condition  that  the 
prince  solemnly  pledged  himself  to  make  no  further  effort  at 
breaking  bounds  "even  at  the  instigation  of  His  Majesty." 
The  parole  was  readily  given.  "  On  February  22,  1648,  was 
read  a  letter  from  the  Duke  of  York,  of  the  twentieth  of  this 
instant  February,  whereby  he  engaged  his  honour  and  faith 
never  to  engage  himself  any  more  in  such  business."  '  Upon 
this  understanding  York  was  allowed  the  same  liberty  as 
before,  save  that  his  lodgings,  together  with  those  of  his 
brother  and  sister,  were  removed  from  Syon  to  St.  James's 
Palace. 

A  Stuart  promise,  however,  was  one  thing,  and  its  ful- 
filment another,  as  none  should  have  been  better  aware  than 
the  head  of  the  House  of  Percy.  Colonel  John  Bamford 
had  shrewdly  managed  to  keep  his  connection  with  the 
abortive  plot  a  secret ;  and  was  thus  enabled  to  continue 

'  Clarendon  states  that  his  real  name  was  Bamford,  and  that  he  was  of  Irish 
birth.  A  family  of  the  name  was  for  some  brief  time  settled  in  the  county  of 
Kilkenny,  where  the  estate  of  Castle  Bamford  still  bears  the  name. 

^  Commons^  Journals,  ^  Ibid. 


THE    HOUSE  OF   PERCY  275 

his  work  as  intermediary  between  Yorlv  and  the  King. 
Charles,  or  his  agents,  at  once  set  to  work  to  overcome 
the  Duke's  scruples  against  the  breaking  of  vows  ;  and, 
by  fair  means  or  foul,  to  snatch  this  dangerous,  if  un- 
willing, rival  of  the  vanquished  monarch  out  of  Parlia- 
mentary keeping.  There  was  little  time  to  be  lost,  if  the 
proclamation  of  James  as  King  was  to  be  prevented. 
Already  the  Council  of  War  (including  Cromwell  and  Ire- 
ton)  had  formally  approved  of  the  deposition  of  Charles, 
in  favour  of  his  second  son,^  and  the  twenty-fourth  of 
April  1648  had  been  chosen  as  the  date  upon  which  a 
motion  to  that  effect  was  to  be  brought  forward  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  It  was  decided  that  the  Duke  must 
be  either  cajoled  or  bullied  into  breaking  his  parole; 
and  Colonel  Bamford  was  the  instrument  chosen  for  this 
delicate  work.  Bamford  had  his  instructions  from  the 
King  directly.  He  was  to  enlarge  upon  the  heinous  sin 
of  filial  disobedience,  and  to  persuade  Prince  James  that 
"aj  he  teas  under  age,-  his  word  was  not  binding"  without 
the  consent  of  his  father.  "This  sophistry,"  says  Gardiner, 
"  obtained  ready  credence."  The  young  Duke  agreed  to 
do  as  his  father  wished  ;  and  Bamford  at  once  set  out  to 
prepare  for  this  second,  and  more  successful,  enterprise. 

The  flight  from  St.  James's  Palace  was  to  take  place 
on  April  21 — three  days  before  the  dreaded  motion  could 
be  heard  in  Parliament,  and  just  two  months  after  York 
had  "  engaged  his  honour  and  faith "  to  attempt  escape 
no  more.  The  plans  of  Bamford  and  his  associates  were 
carefully  laid.  "  For  some  evenings  before,"  says  Gardiner 
(whose  account  follows  the  Clarendon  State  Papers^  and 
Lady  Anne  Halkett*),  "the  Duke  amused  himself  by 
playing  hide  and  seek  with  his  brother  and  sister  in  the 
apartments  which  they  occupied  in   St.  James's,  in  order 

'  Walker  ;  History  of  hidependeitct,  vol.  i.  p.  107. 

-  /^/^/o^V  of  Colonel  Bamfield  or  Bamford  (1685):   Gardiner's  Great  Civil 
War,  vol.  iv.  p.  100. 

^  Clarendon  State  Papers,  ii.  Appendix  XLVII, 
*  Autobiography  0/ Lady  Anne  Halkdt,  p.  20. 


276  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

to  accustom  his  guardians  to  his  absence  from  the  room 
where  he  had  been  usually  found  at  that  hour. 

"  In  the  meantime  Anne  Murray,^  a  sister  of  the  well- 
known  Will  Murray,  had  ordered  a  tailor  to  make  for  the 
boy  a  lady's  dress.  The  order  almost  led  to  a  discovery 
of  the  plot,  as  the  tailor  was  startled  at  the  measurements 
given  to  him.  He  had  never,  he  said,  made  a  dress  in 
which  the  size  of  the  waist  was  so  large  in  proportion 
to  the  lady's  height.  The  tailor,  however,  kept  counsel, 
and,  on  the  evening  of  the  21st,  the  Duke,  saying  that 
he  was  going  off  to  his  game,  went  into  the  garden,  and 
opening  the  gate  with  a  key  with  which  he  had  been 
supplied,  stepped  out  into  the  Park,  where  Bamfield  awaited 
him  with  a  cloak  and  wig.  Thus  partially  disguised,  the 
Duke  was  taken  in  a  coach  to  a  house  in  which  Anne 
Murray  completed  the  metamorphosis,  clothing  him  in  a 
'  mixed  mohair  of  a  light  hair-colour  and  black,'  and  a 
scarlet  under  petticoat. 

"  In  this  guise,  making,  as  Anne  Murray  thought,  a 
very  pretty  girl,  the  boy,  still  accompanied  by  Bamfield, 
who  now  assumed  the  character  of  a  brother,  took  a 
passage  in  a  barge  to  Gravesend,  where  the  pair  found  a 
vessel  awaiting  them,  and  put  to  sea  before  orders  had 
been  given  to  stop  the  ports.  Two  days  later  they  landed 
at  Rammekens,  safe  from  all  pursuit.  Yet  the  Duke 
continued  to  keep  up  his  disguise,  after  all  necessity  for 
it  was  at  an  end.  On  the  night  after  his  arrival  he  shocked 
the  hostess  of  the  inn  in  which  he  slept  by  rejecting  the 
services  of  her  maids  when  he  undressed,  and  by  insisting 
on  occupying  the  same  room  as  Bamfield."  -  The  ex- 
penses incurred  by  Bamfield,  or  Bamford,  in  the  affair 
amounted  (according  to  his  own  statement)  to  ;^i9,559 ; 
and  he  received,  in  all,  from  the  Royalists  ^£20,000.^ 

'  Afterwards  Lady  Anne  Halkett. 

^  Gardiner ;  Great  Civil  War,  vol.  iv.  loo,  lot  (following  the  accounts 
of  the  enlargement  in  Clarendon  State  Papers  and  Lady  Anne  Halkett's 
Autobiography). 

'  Clarendon  State  Papers ;  Calendar  i.  entry  2982.  Bamford  eventually 
forsook  the  Stuart  cause,  and  served  under  Cromwell  and  William  III. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  277 

Naturally  the  flight  of  James,  almost  on  the  eve  of  his 
proclamation  as  King,  created  a  profound  sensation  in 
Parliamentary  ranks  ;  and  there  were  not  wanting  those 
who  insinuated  that  Northumberland  had  connived  at 
the  escape.  But  after  a  full  inquiry  into  the  affair  the 
Earl  was  exonerated  from  all  blame.  "  On  April  29, 
1648,  the  two  Houses  concurred  in  the  Declaration  that 
they  are  fully  satisfied  that  the  said  Earl  hath  discharged 
his  Duty  and  Trust  as  far  as  could  be  expected  from 
Him."'  Parliament  now  turned  its  attention  to  the  Duke 
of  Gloucester  once  again,  and  a  considerable  party  ad- 
vocated his  elevation  to  the  throne  in  the  room  of  his 
brother.  But  the  time  for  such  compromises  and  make- 
shifts had  gone  by.  The  irreconcilables  in  the  Commons 
would  hear  no  more  of  kings  and  princes,  and  the 
victorious  Northern  army,  with  Cromwell  at  its  head,  was 
already  marching  upon  London. 

Northumberland,  like   others   of   the    moderate    party, 

at    first    looked    upon    the    Parliamentary    army    and    its 

,  ^  __,  nominal  commander,  Fairfax,  as  the  best  safe- 
Last  efforts  '  ' 

to  save  the  guard  of  the  country  against  the  violence  of 
Kingsiife.  ^j^g  Levellers  and  Agitators  in  the  Lower  House. 
In  company  with  sixty-two  other  members  of  both 
Houses,  headed  by  the  Lord  Chancellor  and  Speaker, 
he  joined  the  troops  encamped  on  Hounslow  Heath 
under  Fairfax ;  and  it  was  at  his  invitation  that  the  com- 
manders met  at  Syon,  where  he  joined  in  signing  a 
declaration  pledging  those  of  the  Lords  and  Commons 
present  "  to  live  and  die  with  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  and 
his  Army."  The  Parliamentary  delegates  rode  back  to 
Westminster  protected  by  a  mihtary  force.  It  soon 
became  apparent,  however,  that  a  general  more  powerful 
than  Fairfax  had  ranged  himself  on  the  side  of  the  ex- 
tremists, and  in  opposition  to  all  compromise.  The  name 
of  Oliver  Cromwell  became,  for  the  time,  the  rallying  cry 
of    the    King's   deadly    enemies.     Colonel    Lloyd,  one   of 

'  Journals  of  the  Lords  and  Commons^ 


278  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Cromwell's  trusted  officers,  denounced  the  Earls  of  Nor- 
thumberland and  Pembroke  as  traitors  to  the  Common- 
wealth, and  openly  accused  them  of  "  holding  treasonable 
secret  negotiations  with  the  King."  The  Earls,  while 
admitting  that  they  desired  to  reopen  negotiations,  ab- 
solutely denied  that  they  had  done  anything  without  the 
consent  of  Parliament,  and  insisted  upon  a  public  inquiry. 
Their  innocence  was  fully  established  ;  whereupon  they 
pleaded  parliamentary  privilege,  and  demanded  the  punish- 
ment of  Lloyd.  The  Commons,  against  all  precedent, 
refused  to  summon  the  offender  to  the  bar  of  their  House  ; 
and  Northumberland  and  Pembroke  were  referred  to  the 
Law  Courts  for  their  remedy.  Soon  after  a  resolution 
was  carried  by  the  extremist  members,  prohibiting  all 
further  conferences  with  the  King. 

Nevertheless,  during  Cromwell's  absence  in  the  North, 
the  Moderates  and  Presbyterians  made  another  vigorous 
effort ;  and  Parliament,  acting  upon  a  petition  drawn  up 
by  the  City  of  London  (and  presented  in  the  House  of 
Lords  by  Northumberland,  and  in  the  Commons  by  Holies 
and  Vane)  resolved  to  give  the  King  a  final  opportunity 
of  coming  to  terms  with  his  subjects.  Fifteen  com- 
missioners were  chosen  on  behalf  of  both  Houses  ;  among 
the  number  being  Northumberland,  Say,  Holies,  Vane, 
and  Pierrepont.  The  proceedings  opened  on  September 
18,  1648,  at  Newport,  Isle  of  Wight.  Charles,  who  was 
freed  on  parole  from  Carisbrooke  Castle,  occupied  the 
house  of  one  William  Hopkins  in  the  little  town,  and 
the  commissioners  sat  in  the  Town  Hall.  In  the  New 
Post,  a  news-sheet  dated  September  22,  1648,^  is  the 
following  account  of  the  opening  speech  of  Northumber- 
land, who  presided,  and  the  King's  reply  : — "The  Earl 
of  Northumberland,  as  a  Testimony  of  Loyalty  and 
Fidelity  both  to  the  King  and  Kingdom,  declared  to 
His  Majesty  his  Sense  and  Resolutions  for  Peace,  which 
foUoweth  in  these  words; — 'That  the  memorable  Houses 
of  Parliament,  being  deeply  moved  with  the  great  Sufferings 
'  Preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  279 

and  Oppressions  of  tliis  languishing  Kingdom,  occasioned 
by  the  Commotions  and  Risings  within  several  Parts 
thereof,  have  commanded  his  Lordship,  and  the  rest  of  the 
Honourable  Commissioners  to  attend  his  Royal  Person, 
and  to  treat  with  His  Majesty  and  the  Lords  and  Gentle- 
men on  his  Part,  for  a  safe  and  well-governed  Peace '  ; 
further  declaring  that  none  could  desire  Peace  more  than 
his  Lordship  and  that  to  his  uttermost  he  would  labour  to 
the  Conclusion  of  Peace  by  the  Treaty ;  he  wronged  no 
Man,  but  would  labour  to  be  a  Friend  to  all  in  the 
Common-Weal  of  this  Kingdom.  His  Lordship  having 
thus  declared  himself,  His  Majesty  the  King  replied  that 
nothing  should  be  wanting  in  him  for  promoting  so  great 
and  good  a  Work,  declaring  a  Blessing  from  Heaven  upon 
the  present  Treaty  begun  for  the  Establishment  of  a 
Happy  Peace." 

These  fair  words  seemed  to  augur  well  for  the  success 
of  the  conference,  but  Charles  showed  much  of  his  old 
obstinacy,  and  negotiations  were  prolonged  until  the  end 
of  November.  This  gave  the  opponents  of  royalty  ample 
time  to  rally  their  forces.  In  Parliament  Ireton  urged  that 
the  King,  like  Strafford,  had  aimed  at  establishing  an  ab- 
solute monarchy,  and  that,  like  Strafford,  he  should  be 
brought  to  trial.  The  "  Levellers,"  with  the  army  at  their 
back,  proclaimed  their  absolute  distrust  of  Charles  and  his 
promises,  and  condemned  the  House  of  Lords  for  holding 
that  "  His  Majesty's  Answers  to  the  Propositions  of  Parlia- 
ment are  a  Ground  for  the  Settlement  of  Peace."  In 
November,  the  Council  of  the  Army  met  in  St.  Albans 
Abbey.  Only  officers  were  allowed  representation,  and 
the  "  Levellers  "  being  thus  robbed  of  their  chief  strength, 
Fairfax  and  other  moderately  inclined  generals  made  a 
stout  effort  in  favour  of  peace  and  settlement.  Charles, 
however,  rejected  their  overtures  when  laid  before  him  at 
Newport — and  thereby  practically  signed  his  own  death- 
warrant.  On  November  27  the  Parliamentary  Commis- 
sioners took  leave  of  the  King,  and  returned  to  London, 
bringing  with   them  his  final  answers.     These  were  read 


28o  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

in  both  Houses  on  December  i,  and  occasioned  grave 
disappointment  to  the  Moderate  Party.  In  the  Commons 
Sir  Harry  Vane  bitterly  assailed  the  King  ;  while  Ireton, 
Harrison,  and  the  "  Levellers"  demanded  the  dissolution  of 
Parliament  on  the  ground  that  the  Commons  had  betrayed 
their  trust  by  holding  parley  with  such  a  monarch.  Mean- 
while Charles  had  been  seized  by  order  of  the  Council  of 
Officers,  and  conveyed  to  a  secure  prison  in  Hurst  Castle  ; 
and  on  December  2  Fairfax  took  up  his  quarters  in  White- 
hall, and  the  army  entered  London. 

"  Pride's  Purge,"  by  which  those  members  unfavourable 
to  the  proposed  trial  of  the  King  (201  in  all)  were  forcibly 
expelled  from  the  House  of  Commons,  occurred  on 
December  6.  On  the  same  night  Cromwell,  fresh  from 
his  northern  triumphs,  joined  the  other  commanders ; 
and,  while  affecting  to  have  been  unprepared  for  Colonel 
Pride's  violent  action,  at  once  lent  it  his  powerful  support. 
At  the  great  soldier's  heels,  Harry  Martyn  and  other 
irreconcilables  ventured  back  to  Westminster,  vowing 
that  their  day  had  come  at  last,  and  that  not  only  "Charles 
Stuart,"  but  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  and  the  other 
advocates  of  peace,  should  feel  the  weight  of  their  ven- 
geance. Thereafter  events  fell  out  with  ominous  swiftness. 
The  "  Rump "  Parliament— that  is  to  say,  the  Commons 
section  of  that  body — voted  that  the  King  should  be 
brought  to  trial  "  on  the  charge  of  levying  war  against 
the  people  of  England."  When  the  Bill  was  brought  to 
the  Upper  House,  however,  on  January  3,  the  few  peers 
who  dared  to  be  present  unanimously  refused  it  a  second 
reading,  and  declared  its  terms  illegal  and  unconsti- 
tutional.^ The  names  of  the  lords  who  thus  voted  were  : 
— the  Earls  of  Northumberland,  Mulgrave,  Pembroke, 
Rutland,  Kent,  Manchester,  and  Denbigh,-  and  Lords 
North,  Hunsdon,  Maynard,  Dacre,  and  Berkeley.* 

The  Commons  utterly  ignored  this  protest ;  and  twelve 

^  Lords'  Journals, 

*  Denbigh  was  Speaker  of  the  Upper  House. 

'  Lords'  Journals. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  281 

days  later  the  King  was  brought  from  Windsor  to  St. 
James's.  The  story  of  the  proceedings  which  followed  is 
sadly  familiar  to  every  reader  of  English  history.  On 
January  27  Charles  was  found  guilty  and  condemned  by 
the  self-styled  "High  Court  of  Justice";  and  on  the 
30th  he  went  to  the  block  with  the  same  simple  heroism 
which  had  characterised  the  death  of  his  grandmother, 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
faults  and  shortcomings  of  the  Stuarts  in  life,  they  did 
not  fear  to  die  like  princes. 

On  the  eve  of  the  execution  Northumberland  wrote 
and  despatched  to  both  Houses  of  Parliament  a  letter  of 
final  protest  against  the  terrible  step  which  the  Commons, 
against  the  vote  of  the  Upper  House,  had  unconstitu- 
tionally sanctioned.^  The  Earl  was  practically  a  prisoner 
in  London.  Howling  mobs  of  the  Leveller  faction  sur- 
rounded his  gates  night  and  day,  crying  out  that,  like  his 
brother  and  sister,^  he  was  "  a  traitor  to  the  Common- 
wealth," and  in  conspiracy  to  liberate  the  King.  He  did 
not  hesitate,  however,  to  show  himself  openly  in  the 
streets,  or  to  boldly  announce  that  he,  at  least,  of  those 
that  had  striven  against  absolute  monarchy,  now  sternly 
condemned  the  sentence  passed  upon  the  King.  In  the 
Commons  his  letter  was  destroyed  unread.  In  the  Lords 
Denbigh  announced  from  the  Woolsack  that  such  an 
epistle  had  been  received  from  the  Earl,  and  it  was 
ordered  to  be  sealed  by  the  Speaker's  seal.^  It  would  be 
interesting  to  learn  what  eventually  became  of  this 
document.  Probably  it  was  made  away  with  during  the 
days  of  the  Commonwealth.  Immediately  after  the  tragedy 
at  Whitehall,  Northumberland  left  London  "  without  per- 
mission of  the  Council,"  betaking  himself  to  Syon  House. 
Thence  he  sent  word  to  the  "  Rump "  Parliament,  that 
he  intended  to  take  no  further  part  in  the  government  of 

^  Lords^  Journals. 

"  Lady  Carlisle,  when  she  perceived  (after  the  failure  of  the  Newport  negotia- 
tions) that  the  King's  life  was  in  danger,  had  forsaken  the  Parliamentary  parly, 
and  was  presently  to  suffer  for  her  change  of  views.  '  Lords'  Journals. 


282  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

the  realm,  and  asking  to  be  relieved  of  the  custody  of  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester  and  Princess  Elizabeth.  Lest  these 
fatherless  children  should  fall  into  ill  hands,  however,  he 
suggested  that  their  guardianship  should  be  given  to  Lady 
Leicester,  to  whose  motherly  care  he  knew  that  it  was  safe 
to  confide  them.i  Parliament,  or  rather  the  Council, 
consented  after  some  haggling  to  this  proposition,  and 
the  little  Duke  and  his  sister  were  on  June  ii  transferred 
from  Syon  to  peaceful  Penshurst.^  But  to  Northumber- 
land's announcement  of  his  withdrawal  from  public  life, 
those  of  the  "  Rump "  affected  to  turn  a  deaf  ear.  His 
name  and  influence,  it  was  felt,  were  too  powerful  to  be 
lost ;  and  there  existed  in  many  quarters  a  conviction  that 
he  might,  in  emergency,  prove  the  one  man  capable  of 
balancing  the  scale  between  the  army  and  the  Parliament. 
Accordingly,  on  February  5  while  he  still  resided  at  Syon, 
his  name  was  added  by  the  Commons  to  the  Committee 
chosen  "  to  consider  the  settlement  of  the  Government 
of  England  and  Ireland." s  Northumberland  was  not  to 
be  drawn  from  his  fixed  resolution,  and  refused  to  attend 
the  sittings  of  the  Committee,  or  to  recognise  it  in  any 
way.  As  soon  as  he  had  safely  escorted  the  royal  children 
to  Penshurst,  he  himself  withdrew  to  Petworth,  there  to 
reside  in  retirement  until  the  dawn  of  better  days. 

We  will  now  revert  for  a  space  to  the  Earl's  only 
brother,  Sir  Henry  Percy.  When  he  was  expelled  from 
Parliament  for  connection  with  the  Army  Plot 
Percy  and  and  permitted  to  withdraw  overseas,  he  became 
his  further  ^^g  j^^g  been  related)  an  active  Royalist  agent 
in  Paris.  Possessed  of  much  shrewdness  and 
a  notable  talent  for  intrigue,  he  was  doubtless  of  great 
use  to  his  party  at  that  period.  His  influence,  moreover, 
was  considerable,  for  not  only  was  he  the  Queen's  especial 
favourite,  but  he  also  occupied  the  position  of  heir  pre- 

'  Collins'  Peerage  (ed.  Brydges)  ii.  350. 

'  As  will  be  seen,  they  were  not   long   to  enjoy  the   tranquillity  of  Lady 
Leicester's  home.  ^  Coutmons  Journals. 


rfBNRVLOItO  Percy  of  ALNWICK 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  283 

sumptive  to  the  earldom  and  estates  of  Northumberland — 
the  Earl  being  then  (1641-42)  a  widower  without  male  issue. 
Shortly  before  his  connection  with  the  Army  Plot  he  had 
been  granted  through  the  Queen's  influence  a  pension  of 
;^iooo  a  year  for  life  ;  and  this  money  continued  to  be  paid 
until  1646,  when  Percy  fell  into  disgrace  with  his  royal 
patroness.  Northumberland  also  gave  his  heir  a  liberal 
allowance,^  so  that  Sir  Henry  was  enabled  to  cut  a  good 
figure  abroad.  When  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  he  took 
ship  for  England,  and  succeeded  in  joining  the  King  at 
Oxford  early  in  December,  1642.  As  an  othcer  of  cavalry 
he  showed  both  courage  and  skill  and  in  1643  Charles 
created  him  Baron  Percy  of  Alnwick,  advancing  him  at  the 
same  time  to  the  rank  of  Master-General  of  Ordnance. 
For  this  important  and  difficult  post  he  proved  entirely 
unfitted.  Even  Stephen  Fox^  (who  was  his  friend  and 
deputy,  and  had  been  for  years  employed  in  the 
Northumberland  household)  admits  with  regret  that 
Percy  had  no  skill  as  an  ordnance  officer,  and  had,  in 
truth,  "contracted  the  ill-will  of  the  King  and  the 
whole  Court  by  his  Neglect."  ^  Whether  he  resigned, 
or  was  removed  from  the  Master-Generalship,  we  find 
him  once  more  in  command  of  cavalry  at  the  beginning  of 
1644.  Here  he  soon  redeemed  his  character  as  a  soldier. 
At  the  battle  of  Cropredy  Bridge  (June  29,  1644),  when 
the  Parliamentary  troops  were  defeated,  it  was  Percy 
who  led  the  daring  cavalry  charge  which  practically 
decided  the  day.  Even  Clarendon  (who  was  no  friend 
to  this  or  any  other  member  of  the  House  of  Northumber- 
land) admits  that  at  Cropredy,  and  again  at  Lostwithiel 
and  the  second  battle  of  Newbury,  Lord  Percy  of  Alnwick 
showed  himself  as  splendid  a  general  of  cavalry  as  he  had 
been  a  poor  director  of  ordnance.  Near  Andover, 
however,  he  was  surprised  by  the  same  Waller  whom 
he  had  helped  to  rout  at  Cropredy,  defeated  by  greatly 

'  Syon  Household  Books. 

'  Afterwards  Sir  Stephen  Fox,  ancestor  of  Charles  James  Fnx,  and  of  the 
Jlolland  and  Ilchester  families.  ^  iMeiiioirs  of  Sir  Stephen  Fox. 


284  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

superior  numbers,  wounded  and  taken  prisoner.  His 
exchange  was  not  effected  until  Naseby  had  been  fought 
and  lost,  and  the  war  was  practically  at  an  end.  According 
to  De  Fonblanque,!  he  did  not  leave  England  until  after 
the  death  of  the  King.  This,  however,  seems  to  be  merely 
a  conjecture,  in  support  of  which  no  authority  of  any 
kind  is  quoted.  Indeed,  a  statement  in  the  Clarendon 
Papers  points  rather  to  the  conclusion  that  Lord  Percy 
was  actually  in  Paris  or  thereabouts  during  the  winter 
of  1646-47.  Hyde,  writing  from  Paris  to  Secretary  Nicholas 
under  date  of  "February,  1646-47,"  states  that  "Lord 
Percy  is  hated  by  the  Queen  and  Lord  Jermyn."-  The 
Queen  was  certainly  in  the  French  capital  at  that  time, 
and  Jermyn  was  the  Royalist  agent  there.  Had  Percy 
been  still  lying  pe7-du  in  England  he  could  scarcely  have 
given  them  active  cause  for  this  sudden  change  of  feeling 
towards  him.  The  chances  are,  that  having  joined  the 
Queen's  party  on  the  Continent,  he  fell  foul  of  Jermyn's 
plans,  and  was  overruled  by  that  nobleman  (between 
whom  and  himself  there  existed  an  old  rivalry,  dating 
from  the  time  of  the  Army  Plot).  If  Jermyn  had  obtained 
an  ascendancy  over  the  Queen,  it  is  easy  to  understand 
how  the  once-favoured  Percy  came  to  fall  into  disgrace. 
Of  course  the  latter  may  have  again  visited  England  before 
the  King's  death ;  but  if  he  did,  it  is  strange  that  no 
mention  of  the  fact  is  made  by  Clarendon  or  any  other 
contemporary  authority.  Loss  of  the  Queen's  friendship 
(and  perhaps  also  loss  of  his  pension)  must  have  soured 
him,  for  there  is  no  mention  of  his  having  accompanied 
the  Prince  of  Wales  to  Scotland  and  England  during  the 
ill-fated  expedition  of  1650-51.  Soon  after  the  Prince's 
return  to  France  he  sent  for  Percy,  and,  despite  maternal 
objections,  made  him  his  Lord  Chamberlain — a  position 
the  duties  and  salary  of  which  were  for  the  most  part 
nominal. 

Indeed    Percy   had   now  fallen   upon    evil    days.     The 

'  Annals  of  the  House  of  Percy. 

*  Clarendon  State  Faicrs, 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  285 

birth  of  a  son  and  heir  to  the  re-married  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland had  shattered  his  hopes  in  that  quarter ;  while  the 
Queen's  enmity  and  the  stoppage  of  his  pension  reduced 
him  to  practical  poverty.  Back  to  England  he  would  not 
or  could  not  go  ;  so  there  remained  for  him  no  other 
course  but  to  share  the  wandering  fortunes  of  his  master, 
waiting  patiently  for  that  "good  wind"  that  was  yet  "to 
blow  the  exiles  home."  But  when  the  "  good  wind  "  came 
at  last,  there  was,  as  we  shall  see,  no  Henry  Percy  to 
hoist  before  it  his  swelling  sail. 

The  Earl  of  Northumberland's  obstinate  refusal  to 
have  aught  to  do  with  a  Government  guilty  of  the  King's 
Northumber-  blood.  Or  One  foundcd  upon  unconstitutional 
land  defies  mcthods,  provcd  in  the  last  degree  exasperating 
and  disowns  to  the  "  Rump  "  Parliament,  and  the  voices  of 
Cromweu.  j^jg  ei^grnies  in  that  body  grew  louder  and  more 
persistent  than  ever.  The  abolition  of  the  House  of  Lords 
proclaimed  by  the  new  Committee  was  aimed  chiefly  at 
the  Earl  and  his  immediate  following.  Early  in  March 
1649  the  arrest  of  his  sister,  Lady  Carlisle,  was  ordered 
"on  suspicion  of  treason."  This  still  beautiful  woman, 
whom  the  King's  trial  and  death  had  converted  from  a 
Parliamentarian  into  a  Royalist,  was  lodged  in  the  Tower 
and  threatened  with  a  fate  similar  to  that  which  had  be- 
fallen Hamilton,  Holland,  and  Capel.  It  was  at  first  hoped 
that  Northumberland's  desire  to  save  her  from  the  block 
might  bring  him  to  terms  with  her  gaolers ;  but  the  Earl 
remained  sternly  aloof,  probably  realising  that  even  the 
"  Levellers  "  would  hardly  venture  to  behead  a  woman  who 
had  been  the  friend  and  counsellor  of  John  Pym.  Lady 
Carlisle  was  then  brought  before  the  Council  and  ques- 
tioned with  the  utmost  rigour,  every  endeavour  being  made 
to  force  from  her  a  "confession  "  implicating  Northumber- 
land in  one  or  other  of  the  Royalist  plots.  She  remained 
staunch — not  only  to  her  brother,  but  to  those  who  had 
been  really  associated  with  her  in  intrigue.  It  is  not 
known  to  what  lengths  her  judges  actually  proceeded  in 


286  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

their  ignoble  efforts ;  but  there  is  good  reason  for  believ- 
ing that  she  was  threatened  at  the  last  with  the  torture 
of  the  rack.i  Everything  failed,  however,  to  draw  a  word 
from  her,  and  the  baffled  Council  sent  her  to  close  im- 
prisonment in  the  Tower,  where  she  remained  for  three 
years. 

Various  attempts  followed  to  injure  Northumberland 
in  his  own  person,  or  in  the  persons  of  his  friends.  One 
James  Tempest  of  Leicester,  a  member  of  the  "  Rump," 
conspired  with  others  to  secure  the  sequestration  of  the 
Percy  estates ;  and,  with  that  end  in  view,  made  charges 
of  treason  against  the  Earl  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
Northumberland's  first  intention  was  to  treat  these  accusa- 
tions with  contempt ;  but  his  friends  (including  Leicester 
and  Lord  Lisle)  having  represented  to  him  that  he  might 
be  impeached  and  his  lands  confiscated  should  he  fail 
to  answer  Tempest,  he  was  induced  to  apply  for  an 
inquiry.  After  nearly  a  year's  delay,  a  commission  was 
appointed  to  investigate  the  matter,  with  the  result  that 
all  Tempest's  assertions  were  disproved.  As  in  the  previous 
case  of  Colonel  Lloyd,  however,  the  House  refused  to 
punish  Tempest.-  Another  case  of  spite  was  the  removal 
of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  and  Princess  Elizabeth  from 
the  kindly  guardianship  of  the  Earl's  sister.  Lady  Leicester, 
and  their  imprisonment  in  Carisbrooke  Castle.  At  this 
latter  place  the  treatment  accorded  to  the  hapless  children 
was  so  harsh  that  the  young  Princess  pined  and  died 
within  a  few  months  after  she  had  been  taken  from 
Penshurst.2  The  dismantling  of  Wressill  Castle  as  a 
fortress  (which  had  been  carried  out  with  thoroughness 
by  Cromwell's  soldiers)  was  no  longer  sufficient  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Council,  who,  simply  from  motives  of  revenge, 
now  commanded  that  this  historic  pile  should  be  destroyed 
even  as  a  place  of  residence  for  the  Earl  and  his  heirs. 

'  See  Stale  Papers,  May  5,  1649.  -  Cominons'  Journals. 

^  She  died  "of  grief  and  suffering,"  September,  8,  1650,  in  her  fifteenth  year. 
The  health  of  Gloucester  was  also  shattered  liy  this  confinement,  and  he  died 
before  he  was  twenty. 


THE    HOUSE  OF   PERCY  287 

The  vandal  manner  in  which  the  work  of  ruin  was  done 
has  been  already  described.  From  being  one  of  the 
finest  houses  in  the  North,  Wressill  became  little  more 
than  a  heap  of  ruins.  So  virulent,  indeed,  had  the  Earl's 
enemies  in  Parliament  and  Council  become,  that  they 
permitted  the  Sheriff  of  Northumberland  to  make  arbitrary 
seizure  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Percy  estates 
in  that  shire.  There  was  neither  rhyme  nor  reason  for 
the  seizure,  and  the  Earl  confidently  demanded  that  the 
property  should  be  restored.  The  sheriff,  rendered  bold 
by  the  support  which  he  knew  was  behind  him,  refused 
either  explanation  or  restitution  ;  and  when  Northumber- 
land laid  his  case  before  Parliament  he  could  obtain  no 
redress.^  Indeed  it  was  not  until  the  Restoration  that  the 
Earl's  turn  came,  and  the  rapacious  sheriff  and  his  asso- 
ciates were  forced  to  disgorge.-  Such  were  only  a  few 
of  the  many  ways  by  which  those  in  control  of  affairs 
sought  to  humiliate  this  great  nobleman,  and  to  bend  him 
to  their  will.  But  their  labour  was  all  in  vain ;  and 
in  a  little  while  Northumberland's  worst  enemies,  the 
extremists  and  fanatics  of  the  "Rump"  and  "  Barebones  " 
Parliaments,  were  themselves  overthrown  and  set  at  naught 
by  the  general  in  whom  they  had  trusted  so  blindly,  that 
"  foe  of  princes,"  Oliver  Cromwell. 

To  our  Earl,  the  new-made  Lord  Protector  was  no 
more  acceptable  than  the  old  Parliament.  Both,  in  his 
eyes,  were  equally  guilty  of  "  the  needless  and  unconstitu- 
tional slaying  of  ids  late  Majesty" ;  and  if  he  had  refused 
to  belong  to  the  one,  he  was  now  determined  to  accept  no 
favours  from  the  other.  Cromwell,  who  appears  to  have 
admired  his  lofty  character,  offered  him  the  foremost  seat 
in  his  "House  of  Lords";  but  the  offer  was  at  once 
refused,  as  was  a  similar  one  made  by  Richard  Cromwell 
some  years  later.^ 

The  Earl  continued  constant  to  his  resolution,  and 
occupied  himself  with  family  concerns  and  the  manage- 

*   Commons^  Joiiyjiali ;  Proceedings  in  Cotiticil.  -  See  later. 

-  Di<l.  A'al.  Biography,  under  "  Percy."     Claremioit  State  Popers,  ii.  432. 


288  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

ment  of  his  estates,  during  the  nine  years  that  intervened 
between  the  execution  of  Charles  I.  and  the  death  of 
Cromwell. 

In  August  1659  died  Northumberland's  favourite  sister, 
Dorothy,  Countess  of  Leicester,  a  woman  notable  as  much 

for  the  charm  of  her  own  nature  as  for  the  ex- 
Death  of  the  ,  f,         It, 
Eari's           traordmary   genms   and  beauty  of  the  children 
brother  and    ^h^jn  ghg  brought  into  the  world.i    Northumber- 

sister.  Occu-  o 

pations  of  land  felt  her  death  keenly.  They  were  nearly  of  an 
retirement,  ^g^^  ^^^  ^^^  spent  their  early  childhood  together 
at  Syon,  during  the  dark  days  when  their  father  stood  in  the 
very  shadow  of  the  scaffold.  Earl  Algernon  had  risked 
that  father's  displeasure  in  helping  to  bring  about  his 
sister's  marriage,  for  her  husband  Leicester  was  then,  and 
to  the  end  continued,  his  warmest  friend.  Severe  illness 
(for  he  was  still,  as  in  the  days  of  his  Lord-Generalship, 
subject  to  recurrent  forms  of  malady)  prevented  him  from 
making  the  long  journey  to  attend  his  sister's  obsequies  ; 
but  he  wrote  to  Leicester  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  /  account  the  Losse  cquall  allmost  to  any  that  could  befall 
me,  and  it  would  be  much  increased  if  it  should  remoue  me 
further  from  your  Lordship' s  kindnesse  and  Favour."  ^ 

Leicester  answered  in  language  stilted  perhaps,  as  was 
the  custom  of  the  time,  but  evidently  heartfelt : — 

"  In  the  greatest  Sorrowe  that  I  ever  suffered,  your  Lord- 
ship hath  given  me  the  greatest  Consolation  that  I  could  receive 
from  anybody  in  this  World.  For,  having  lost  that  which 
1  loved  best,  your  Lordship  secureth  me  from  losing  that  which 
I  loveth  next,  that  is  your  Favour ;  to  which,  having  no  Right 
or   Claime   by  any    Worthynes   in    myself,  but   only   by   that 

'  She  was  mother  of  Algernon  Sidney  ;  of  the  famous  general,  Lord  Lisle  ; 
of  Henry,  Earl  of  Romney,  perhaps  the  handsomest,  certainly  one  of  the  most 
clear-sighted  statesmen  of  his  day  ;  of  Colonel  Robert  Sidney  ;  of  the  fair  and 
wilty  Lady  Lucy  Pelham  (from  whom  sprang  the  parliamentary  dynasty  of  the 
Pelhams) ;  and  of  Dorothy,  Countess  of  Sunderland,  whom  the  world  knows 
best  as  Edmund  Waller's  "  peerless  Sacharissa."  From  Lady  Leicester  descend 
many  of  the  greatest  houses  in  England. 

'  Sidney  Papers,  vol.  ii.  681. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  289 

Alliance  of  tv/tich  my  i/toste  deare  Wife  was  tlie  Mediation, 
I  might  justly  feare  the  Losse  of  that  also,  if  your  Lordship's 
Charity  towards  me  did  not  prevent  it,"  * 

While  the  gentle  Countess  Dorothy  was  dying  at 
Penshurst,  another  member  of  the  family — her  younger 
brother,  Henry  Percy — lay  mortally  ill  overseas,  at  the 
Court  of  the  exiled  Prince  of  Wales.  Sister  and  brother, 
indeed,  passed  away  within  a  few  weeks  of  each  other ; 
but  how  strange  a  contrast  was  presented  in  the  manner 
of  their  dying  1  The  last  gaze  of  Lady  Leicester  rested 
upon  the  sorrowful  faces  of  those  she  loved.  Husband, 
tali  sons,  and  comely  daughters  knelt  weeping  around  her 
death-bed  ;  and  even  her  sister — the  once  gay  woman  of 
the  world,  saddened  now  and  perhaps  softened  by  long 
imprisonment — even  Lucy  of  Carlisle  was  there  to  give 
her  the  kiss  of  parting.  In  the  anterooms  were  friends 
a-many,  who  had  come  with  heavy  hearts  to  bid  her 
farewell ;  the  great  hall  of  Penshurst  was  thronged  with 
tenants  and  servants,  mourning  as  if  for  one  of  their  own 
kin  ;  and  without,  under  the  ancient  oaks  were  couriers 
by  the  score,  waiting  silently  for  the  news  which  ere 
morning  would  sadden  many  a  distant  home.  Thus  died,  as 
a  good  woman  should  die,  Dorothy,  Countess  of  Leicester. 

Far  otherwise  the  last  hours  of  Henry,  Lord  Percy.  In 
his  life  he  had  been  loved  by  few ;  few  came  to  bid  him 
"go  in  peace"  to  the  world  beyond.  The  ruffling,  out-at- 
elbows  followers  of  the  banished  Prince  were  too  busy 
with  their  dicing  and  wenching  to  care  very  much 
whether  another  of  their  number  lived  or  died — except  in 
so  far  as  his  departure  meant  some  more  crown-pieces  to 
be  shared  among  them.  With  but  a  younger  brother's 
portion,  he  had  never  married  ;  so  there  was  no  wife  to 
weep  for  Harry  Percy  either  at  home  or  abroad.  There 
may  have  been,  perhaps— (is  it  wrong  to  hope  that  there 
was  ?) — some  woman  of  another  sort,  with  good-nature 
enough  to  smooth  his  death-bed  pillow,  and  to  leave  his 
pockets   unrifled   till   he   died.     No   doubt   the    Prince   of 

'  Sii/iuy  rapa-s,  vol.  ii.  6S2. 
11.  T 


290  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Wales,  politest  of  men,  came  at  least  once  to  visit  this 
faithful  servant ;  but  the  life  of  even  an  exiled  monarch  is 
precious,  and  must  not  be  exposed  to  the  contagion  of  a 
sick-room.  Besides,  great  things  were  brewing,  or  said  to 
be  brewing,  in  England  ;  and  every  moment  which  Charles 
could  spare  from  his  amusements  was  given  to  the  serious 
business  of  political  intrigue.  It  is  hardly  likely,  therefore, 
that  Percy  saw  much  of  his  patron  ;  and  when  the  great 
man  comes  seldom,  the  lesser  ones  follow  his  example. 
While  Percy  counted  the  dreary  hours  in  his  garret 
lodgings  at  Breda,  the  "flying  Court,"  ever  led  on  by  new 
hopes,  was  now  at  Bruges,  now  at  Antwerp,  now  at 
Flushing.  So  that  the  dying  man  was  probably  left  in  his 
loneliness  to  await  the  end.  Even  the  exact  date  of  his 
death  is  uncertain  ;  but  we  know  that  it  occurred  only  a 
few  weeks  after  that  of  Lady  Leicester.  The  sister  had  been 
borne  to  her  rest  in  state,  her  bier  followed  by  hundreds 
who  held  her  memory  dear.  The  brother's  remains,  on 
the  contrary,  were  laid  with  scant  ceremony  in  what  was 
then  the  English  cemetery  at  Breda.  Charles  and  his 
Court  were,  at  the  time,  many  leagues  away,  watching 
eagerly  for  news  from  England,  but  perhaps  one  or  two 
old  Cavalier  comrades  found  time  to  act  as  mourners, 
when  all  that  remained  of  Henry,  Lord  Percy  of  Alnwick, 
was  left  to  mingle  with  foreign  clay. 

The   death   of   Cromwell   on   September   3,   1658,  was 

the   signal    for   Northumberland's    return   to    public    life. 

Richard  Cromwell's  succession  to  the  vacant  Pro- 

TheRestora-  .  .,,        ,^,.,,         ,  ,         ,, 

tion:  inde-  tectoratc  mspired  the  Earl  with  gloomy  torebod- 
Pf"?^"'  r      ings.     He  knew   the  weak,  irresolute   character 

attitude  of  f  ' 

the  EarL  of  the  ncw  Chief  of  State,  and  dreaded  lest  the 
Hisdeat.  earring  ambitions  of  the  military  leaders  (in 
whose  hands  the  real  power  now  lay)  should  plunge  Eng- 
land into  anarchy.  Actuated,  as  he  always  was,  by  a  strong 
sense  of  public  duty,  he  at  once  left  his  retirement,  and  once 
more  took  up  his  residence  in  London,  so  as  to  be  ready 
at  any  moment  to  exert  himself  in  the  cause  of  peace. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  291 

There  is  no  doubt  that  he  had  aheady  begun  to  look  to 
a  restoration  of  the  monarchy  as  the  best  possible  settle- 
ment of  affairs.  He  was  still  the  recognised  leader  of 
the  Moderate  Parliamentarians,  a  body  which,  as  Hume 
points  out,  shared  the  Royalist  detestation  of  the  "  Rump," 
and  was  now  prepared  to  join  issue  with  the  supporters 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  overthrowing  that  unconsti- 
tutional council.  Accordingly  Northumberland  House  be- 
came the  scene  of  daily  conferences,  and  the  objective 
point  of  secret  emissaries  from  overseas.  The  Earl  exerted 
himself  to  the  utmost  to  keep  the  eager  spirits  of  the 
Cavalier  party  in  subjection,  rightly  maintaining  that, 
under  the  circumstances,  caution  and  silent  vigilance  were 
the  surest  means  to  success.  Richard  Cromwell  offered 
him  a  seat  in  the  so-called  "  House  of  Lx)rds,"  as  Oliver 
had  previously  done  ;  but  Northumberland  curtly  declined 
the  proffered  distinction.^  Shortly  afterwards  the  second 
Protector  had  no  longer  power  to  bestow  his  doubtful 
honours,  since  by  the  dissolution  of  the  Rump  Parliament 
(April  22,  1659)  ^s  practically  betrayed  himself  to  the 
council  of  officers,  and  so  brought  about  his  own  re- 
signation. The  stormy  events  of  the  six  months  which 
followed  bound  the  Moderates  and  Royalists  still  more 
closely  together.  In  spite  of  isolated  instances,  such  as  the 
rising  of  Booth  in  Cheshire,  the  latter  party  followed  Nor- 
thumberland's counsels  and  waited  in  patience  through  the 
reassembling  of  the  Long  Parliament,  its  expulsion  by 
Lambert,  and  its  second  restoration  and  final  dissolution 
at  the  instance  of  General  Monk.  From  the  time  that 
Monk  entered  London  at  the  head  of  his  troops  (February 
3,  1660)  Northumberland  was  in  constant  communication 
with  him.  Between  the  close  of  the  Long  and  the  opening 
of  the  New  or  Convention  Parliament,  "  a  council  of 
state  was  established,  consisting  of  men  of  character  and 
moderation."  ^  The  Earl  accepted  the  commission  of 
Lord-Advocate,  and  urged  his  friends  and  adherents  to 
acquiesce  in   the    policy  of    Monk,  however   tortuous  and 

'  Gardiner ;   Coiiimoiiweal/h.  -  Hume. 


292  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

uncertain  it  might  appear  to  them  at  the  time.  The  fact 
that  Lx)rd  Southampton  and  he  were  known  to  be  in 
negotiation  regarding  the  proposed  alliance  between  the 
young  Lord  Percy  and  Lady  Audrey  Wriothesley,  afforded 
iiim  an  adequate  excuse  for  remaining  constantly  at  Nor- 
thumberland House  or  Syon.  On  April  13,  1660,  we  find 
him  writing  to  his  brother-in-law  : — 

"  The  Meeleiitg  of  my  Lord  of  Southampton  in  Pursuance 
of  some  Overtures  that  have  beene  made  for  a  Marriage 
betweenc  his  Daughter  and  my  Sonne^  was  the  frificipall 
Occasion  that  brought  me  to  this  Towne,  where  I  find  most 
People  very  busie,  or,  att  least,  seetneing  so,  and  the  Publick 
Affairs  in  a  Posture  that  needes  the  Adtiyce  of  better  Heads 
than  myne.  All  Persons  here  show  strong  Inclinations  to 
bring  in  the  King  and  re-establish  the  Government  vpon  the 
old  Foundation.  Some  there  are  that  would  have  him  restored 
to  all  without  any  Condition,  only  an  Acte  of  Obliuion  and 
Generall  Pardon  to  be  graunted ;  but  the  soberer  People  will, 
I  believe,  expect  Termes  of  more  Secnritie  for  theviselues  and 
Aduantage  for  the  Nation  ;  and  unlesse  a  full  Satisfaction  is 
giucn  in  suche  Pointes  as  shall  be  judged  necessary  to  those 
Ends,  it  is  thought  that  the  Army  will  7iot  be  pleased.'"^ 
The  Earl's  consistency  will  be  recognised  in  this  epistle. 
Anxious  as  he  was  to  see  the  affairs  of  the  country  settled  by 
the  only  available  method — i.e.  the  re-establishment  of  the 
monarchy— he  was  resolved  that  the  constitutional  privileges 
for  which  the  Long  Parliament  had  struggled  should  not 
be  swallowed  up  and  lost  in  the  new  wave  of  loyalty. 

When  the  Convention  Parliament  met  on  April  25th, 
Leicester,  slower  than  his  brother-in-law  to  accept  Monk's 
guidance,  had  not  yet  put  in  an  appearance  at  the  town- 
house    of    the    Sidneys    in     Swan     Close.^       Accordingly 

'  Joscellne,  Lord  Percy,  the  E.irl's  only  son,  was  now  sixteen  years  of  age, 
having  been  born  in  1644. 

■^  Sidney  Papers,  ii.  6S5  ;  Northumberland  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  April 
13,  1660. 

^  Leicester  House  was  in  Swan  Close,  Leicester  Fields.  Behind  the  mansion 
was  the  famous  riding-school  kept  by  Major  Foubert,  of  which  more  under  the 
account  of  the  murder  of  Thomas  Thynne  (consort  of  Elizabeth  Percy)  in  1682. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  293 

Northumberland  again  appealed  to  him,  urging  his  im- 
mediate presence  in  Parliament  as  '^  both  desired  and  ex- 
pected by  the  Peers!'  "  Indcede,"  continued  the  letter, 
"  our  House  stands  in  great  Ncede  of  some  zvisc  Ulcn  to  guide 
it."  1  The  House  of  Lords,  however,  had  but  little  to 
do  with  the  events  leading  up  to  the  Restoration.  The 
elections  had  everywhere  proved  favourable  to  the  King's 
party,  and  from  the  moment  of  the  assembling  of  the 
new  House  of  Commons,  the  recall  of  Charles  H.  was 
a  foregone  conclusion.  Numerous  meetings  between 
Royalists  and  Presbyterians  took  place  at  Northumberland 
House  ;  and,  on  May  8th,  the  Earl  had  the  satisfaction 
of  attending  with  the  members  of  both  Houses,^  when 
the  exiled  sovereign  was  "proclaimed  with  great  solemnity" 
in  Palace  Yard,  at  Whitehall,  and  at  Temple  Bar.  His 
increasing  infirmities  prevented  him  from  making  one 
of  the  committee  of  Lords  and  Commons  sent  to  invite 
Charles  to  take  possession  of  the  government,  but  he 
was  one  of  the  first  to  greet  the  King  when  he  entered 
London  on  May  29th.  It  is  clear  from  his  letters  at 
the  time  that  he  expected  no  preferment  under  the  new 
rule  ;  and  he  made  ready  to  retire  into  the  country  as 
soon  as  his  Majesty  should  be  securely  settled  upon 
the  throne.  But  Charles,  mindful  of  the  unvarying 
moderation  of  the  Earl,  and  of  the  widespread  influence 
which  he  exercised,  was  determined  to  retain  him  as 
a  counsellor,  and  to  overlook  the  fact  that  he  had  taken 
the  Parliamentary  side  in  the  Civil  War.  Northumberland 
and  Leicester  were  both  called  to  the  Privy  Council. 
Writing  under  date  of  May  31,  1660,  the  latter  nobleman 
says  :  "  A  message  came  to  iiif  house,  and  warned  me  to 
come  to  Whitehall ;  the  like  he  {Charles)  did  to  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland.  We  went  together,  not  knowing  for  what, 
and    having   stayed    awhyle   in    the    King's     Withdrawing 

'  Sidney  Papers,  ii,  686. 

'  The  peers,  says  Hume,  "found  the  doors  of  their  House  open  ;  and  all  were 
admitted  ;  even  such  as  had  formerly  been  excluded  on  account  oi  their  pretended 
delinquency." 


294  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Chamber,  we  were  called  into  the  Councell  Chamber,  and 
there,  contrary  to  his  or  my  expectation,  we  were  sworn  Privy 
Councillors!'  ^  But  Charles  was  disposed  to  be  more 
generous  still  towards  the  Moderate  Lords.  Northumber- 
land was  appointed  Lord-Lieutenant  of  the  counties  of 
Northumberland  and  Sussex  ;  and  that  portion  of  his 
possessions  in  the  former  county  which  had  been  illegally 
appropriated  by  the  Cromwellian  sheriff,'''  was  at  once 
restored  to  him,  the  arrogant  official  being  condemned 
to  make  good  all  arrears  of  rent.  Moreover,  "  as  a  mark 
of  personal  favour  and  frendship,"  the  King  granted  to 
the  Earl  a  commission  to  act  as  Lord  High  Constable 
of  England  at  the  forthcoming  coronation.  The  tenure 
of  this  service  was  to  last  for  three  days  only ;  but  at 
the  last  moment  Northumberland  was  compelled,  on 
account  of  one  of  his  recurrent  attacks,  to  decline  this 
honour.  Curiously  enough,  Pepys,  in  his  Diary,  mentions 
having  seen  the  Royal  Champion  ^  introduced  into  the 
banqueting-hall  at  Westminister  by  the  Earl  of  North- 
umberland in  his  capacity  of  High  Constable,  at  the 
coronation  of  Charles.  This  is  certainly  an  error,  as 
there  still  exists  a  royal  sign-manual  dated  April  5,  i66r, 
exempting  the  Earl  from  attendance  at  the  ceremony  "  on 
account  of  his  infirmities."* 

Naturally  the  extreme  Republicans  were  loud  in  their 
condemnation  of  Northumberland  for  thus,  as  they  put  it, 
"  surrendering  his  principles."  The  truth  of  the  matter 
seems  to  have  been  that  while  the  Earl  accepted  at  the 
King's  hands  such  dignities  as  he  deemed  proper,  and  even 
necessary  to  his  hereditary  rank  and  position  as  a  great 
landowner,  he  never  assumed  any  office,  or  advocated  any 
measure  inconsistent  with  his  livelong  advocacy  of  con- 
stitutional government.  Forster,  in  his  Arrest  of  the  Five 
Members,  lays  stress   upon  this  fact :  "  As  a  contrast  (to 

'  Sidmy  Papers,  i.  135.  ^   Vide  ante,  p.  287. 

'  Sir  Edward  Dymoke,  Knight,  of  Scrivelsby,  Lines.,  ancestor  of  the  present 
Champion  Royal,  officiated  in  this  capacity  at  the  coronation  of  Charles  II. 
*  The  document  is  preserved  at  Alnwick. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  295 

the  new-born  loyalty  of  some  ex-Parliamentarians)  let  me 
mention  in  justice  to  the  Earl  of  Northumberland.  .  .  . 
that  when,  upon  the  Restoration,  he  consented  like  Lenthall 
to  receive  favours  from  the  Government,  it  was  by  no 
such  base  betrayal  of  acts  and  proceedings  in  which  he 
himself  had  been  a  participator."  Leicester  was  similarly 
blamed,  and  with  equal  injustice,  for  his  acquiescence  in 
the  new  order  of  things.  Both  Earls,  indeed,  adopted 
an  independent  tone  which  could  not  but  be  distaste- 
ful to  the  King's  Cavalier  friends.  The  rush  for  gifts  and 
preferment  vastly  disgusted  them  ;  and  Northumberland 
wrote  to  his  brother-in-law  :  "  If  all  that  pretend  to  Favors 
or  Aduantages  frotn  the  Court  should  be  sitccessfiill  in  their 
Designes  the  King  would  soon  be  made  poore,  and  the 
Kingdom  be  much  burthened."  ^  He  was  vigorously  op- 
posed to  the  punishment  of  the  regicides,  and  held  that 
the  general  pardon  and  indemnity  should  be  made  to 
extend  even  to  them.  Speaking  in  the  Convention  Parlia- 
ment, he  boldly  declared  that  "  although  he  had  taken 
no  part  in  the  death  of  the  King,  he  was  against  question- 
ing those  that  had  been  concerned  in  that  affair ;  that 
the  example  might  be  more  useful  to  posterity  and  profit- 
able to  future  Kings,  by  delivering  them  from  the  like 
exorbitances."  2  This  speech  was  held  to  be  a  direct 
menace  to  the  King  ;  but  Charles  and  his  ministers  dis- 
creetly ignored  it,  nor  was  Northumberland's  influence  at 
Court  apparently  affected  by  the  attitude  which  he  had 
adopted.  A  few  months  later  he  once  more  raised  his 
voice  in  protest  against  the  shameful  exhumation  of 
Cromwell's  remains,  and  the  barbarous  revenge  wrought 
upon  the  defenceless  corpse  of  that  great  statesman,  by 
those  that  had  feared  and  fled  from  him  in  his  lifetime. 
To  wreak  indignities  upon  a  dead  enemy,  he  declared,  was 
the  act  of  a  coward,  and  could  not  fail  to  excite  a  feeling 
of  sympathy  in  every  generous  breast  for  the  late  Protector 
and  the  other   Parliamentarians  whose  graves   were  thus 

1  Sidney  Papers  ;  Northumberland  to  Leicester,  Decerrber  S,  1660. 
'  Ludlow's  Memoirs,  iii,  10 


296  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

desecrated.^  So  repugnant  to  his  feelings  was  the  foul 
scene  at  Tyburn,  that  he  withdrew  almost  entirely  from 
Court,  nor  did  he  attend  Parliament  again  save  on  rare 
occasions.^  His  brief  reappearance  upon  the  stage  of 
public  affairs  was  followed  by  a  return  to  the  quiet  pur- 
suits with  which  he  had  occupied  himself  during  the 
Protectorate.  The  improvement  of  the  gardens  at  Syon 
and  Northumberland  House  proved  a  congenial  occupation 
(for  he  had  inherited  much  of  his  father's  love  for  horti- 
culture), and  he  added  largely  to  the  collection  of  pictures 
at  his  town  residence  by  purchasing  works  of  art  scattered 
during  the  Revolution.^  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Great 
Plague,  Charles  held  a  council  at  Syon,  and  Evelyn  had 
an  opportunity  of  inspecting  the  improvements  at  that 
place.  "And  so  to  Syon,"  writes  the  diarist,  "where  his 
Majesty  sat  at  Council  during  the  Contagion.  When 
business  was  over,  I  viewed  that  Seat  belonging  to  the  Earl 
of  Northumberland,  builte  out  of  an  old  Nunnerie  of  stone, 
and  faire  enough  ;  but  more  celebrated  for  the  garden  than 
it  deserves  ;  yet  there  is  excellent  wall  fruit,  and  a  pretty 
fountaine  ;  yet  nothing  extraordinarie."*  In  the  Earl's  last 
recorded  letter  to  Leicester  he  speaks  lovingly  of  these 
gardens,  and  regrets  the  lack  of  melon  seeds,  "being 
disappointed  of  some  that  were  pro7iiised  me  from  Tours, 
and  Latiguedoc,  which  are  much  better  than  those  we  get  from 
Paris''^  He  also  went  in  for  horse-breeding  upon  an 
extensive  scale  at  Petworth  ;  and,  like  Charles  himself,  im- 
ported Arabians,  his  agent  abroad  being  his  nephew 
Algernon  Sidney,  who  had  refused  to  accept  public  em- 
ployment after  the  Restoration.  Numerous  warrants  are 
to  be  found  among  the  State  Papers  of  the  time  authorising 

'  The  bodies  of  Cromwell,  Ireton,  Bradshaw,  and  Pride  were  disinterred, 
hanged  on  the  gallows  at  Tyburn,  then  decapitated,  and  the  heads  fixed  on 
Westminster  Hall. 

^  Sidney  Papers  ;  Northumberland  to  Leicester,  Dec.  8,  1660. 

'  See  Evelyn's  Diary  (ei.  Bray),  i.  313.  ■•  Ibid.,  ii.  379. 

'  Sidney  Papers ;  Northumberland  to  Leicester,  Feb.  25,  1662.  Other  letters 
were  probably  exchanged  between  the  two  Earls,  as  Leicester  did  not  die  until 
1677. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  297 

the  Earl  to  import  barbs  free  of  duty.  He  was  an  excep- 
tionally fine  horseman  until  age  and  increasing  weakness 
obliged  him  to  forego  the  saddle. 

Another  pleasing  task  to  which  he  devoted  himself  was 
the  education  of  his  only  son,  Josceline,  Lord  Percy. 
Evelyn,  while  satirising  the  class  of  ignorant  parasites 
usually  sent  abroad  as  "tutors"  to  young  noblemen,  or 
kept  to  flatter  them  into  a  so-called  "  education  "  at  home, 
accords  high  praise  to  Northumberland  for  taking  Lord 
Percy's  training  almost  entirely  into  his  own  hands,  and 
choosing  for  him  only  masters  of  proved  ability.^  The  Earl's 
hopes  of  a  union  between  his  heir  and  the  eldest  daughter 
of  Southampton  (now  Lord  Treasurer)  were  disappointed 
by  the  premature  death  of  Lady  Audrey  Wriothesley  in 
the  winter  of  1660  ;  and  in  a  letter  to  Leicester  he  expresses 
himself  as  much  distressed  by  this  event,'^  for  although  the 
Cavalier  Southampton  and  he  differed  widely  in  political 
views,  they  had  always  been  warm  friends  in  private.  So 
anxious  indeed  was  the  Earl  to  secure  one  of  the  "  loyal 
Wriothesleys  "  as  a  wife  for  Lord  Percy,  that  in  the  follow- 
ing year  he  made  overtures  for  the  hand  of  Lady  Elizabeth, 
sister  of  the  deceased,  and  succeeded  in  bringing  about 
the  match — the  bridegroom  being  only  seventeen  years 
of  age,  while  the  bride  was  considerably  younger.  The 
wedding  festivities,  which  were  unusually  splendid  (the 
King  and  most  of  the  Court  attending),  took  place  in  old 
Southampton  House,'  Holborn. 

Northumberland's  life  w-as  now  rapidly  approaching  its 
close.  Between  1660  and  1668  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury issued  in  his  favour  repeated  licenses  for  the  eating  of 
flesh  meat  "  on  fast  days "  and  "  in  Lent,"  such  nourish- 
ment being  held  necessary  to  his  health.*  The  fact  that 
he  applied  for  these  licenses  shows  that  the  Earl  had 
remained   an   upholder    of    prelacy   and   of   the   Anglican 

'  Diary  (ed.  Bray),  ii.  125,  '  Sidney  Papers,  ii.  700. 

^  Afterwards  Southampton  Buildings.  Part  of  the  old  mansion  became  the 
King's  Head  Tavern. — Pennant. 

*  These  licenses  are  preserved  in  the  A/nwiei  MSS, 


298  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Church  although  some  writers  would  have  us  regard  him 
as  a  presbyterian,  and  he  is  so  styled  by  most  historians. 
In  1668,  on  the  birth  of  his  grandson,  Henry  Percy,'  he 
made  a  new  will ;  and  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  on  October 
13  (his  birthday),  he  died  at  Syon,  aged  sixty-six  years. 
The  body  was  carried  to  Petworth,  and  there  laid  beside 
that  of  his  first  wife,  Ann  Cecil.  His  second  wife,  Elizabeth 
Howard,  survived  him  many  years,  and  as  the  guardian 
of  her  granddaughter,  the  Duchess  of  Somerset,  eventual 
heiress  of  the  Northumberland  estates,  displayed  more 
pride  than  principle.  As  to  the  character  of  the  tenth 
Earl,  much  has  already  been  said  in  the  course  of  this 
narrative.  Among  friends  and  enemies  alike  his  name 
was  respected.  His  chief  fault,  a  certain  proud  reserve, 
had  its  origin  rather  in  the  early  humiliations  to  which 
he  had  been  subjected,  and  the  cruel  injustice  of  his 
father's  imprisonment,  than  in  any  natural  vainglory  or 
coldness  of  heart.  He  had,  it  is  true,  few  close  friends ; 
but  these  were  deeply  and  sincerely  attached  to  him. 
High  abilities  he  undoubtedly  possessed,  but  they  were  of 
the  speculative  rather  than  of  the  practical  nature  ;  although 
his  various  essays  in  statesmanship  were  marked  by  sound 
sense  and  foresight.  As  the  first  to  attempt  the  reform  of 
the  English  navy,  and  to  indicate  the  means  thereto,  he 
deserves  much  credit  which  is  usually  bestowed  elsewhere  ; 
and  whatever  be  the  opinion  as  to  his  political  views,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  he  acted  up  to  them  with  absolute 
sincerity  and  disinterestedness. 

Only  three  of  the  tenth  Earl's  children — two  daughters 
and  one  son — arrived  at  years  of  maturity.  With  the  son 
The  children  ^^'^  shall  deal  presently.  Of  the  daughters,  the 
of  the  tenth  elder,  Lady  Ann  Percy,  married  Philip,  Lord 
^""^  Stanhope ;    while   the  younger,   Lady  Elizabeth, 

became  the  wife  of  Arthur,  Lord  Capel,  afterwards  created 
Earl  of  Essex.    The  Stanhope  alliance  was  an  interesting 
one  for  many  reasons,  and  deserves  more  than  passing 
'  This  child  died  at  the  age  of  eight  months. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  299 

notice.  Philip  Stanhope  (afterwards  second  Earl  of 
Chesterfield)  was  a  young  man  of  great  intelligence, 
but  unfortunately  of  a  profligate  nature.  His  fame  has 
been  overshadowed  by  that  of  his  son,  Philip  Dormer, 
third  Earl  of  Chesterfield  ;  but  he,  like  the  latter,  has  left 
published  correspondence '  in  which  the  students  of  the 
period  may  find  much  to  occupy  their  attention.  He  was 
married  to  Lady  Ann  Percy  in  1650,  being  then  barely 
seventeen  ;  and  having  quarrelled  with  his  grandfather  (the 
first  Earl  of  Chesterfield),  was  fain  to  take  refuge  with  his 
wife  at  Petworth,  where  he  resided  for  several  years.  As 
the  fate  of  the  Northumberland  succession  hung  at  this 
time  upon  one  precarious  life  (that  of  Josceline,  Lord  Percy, 
a  delicate  child).  Stanhope's  father-in-law  regarded  the 
young  couple  as  next  in  line,  and  executed  in  their  favour 
a  will,  which  was  afterwards  set  aside  on  the  birth  of  the 
infant  Henry  Percy  in  1668.  Lady  Stanhope  was  of  a 
mystical  nature,  and  succeeded  in  imbuing  her  husband 
with  some  of  her  own  belief  in  omens,  apparitions,  and 
the  like ;  and  this  gave  rise  to  two  curious  incidents 
mentioned  in  his  "  Letters."  He  was  in  London,  he  tells 
us,  on  some  legal  business,  when,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  as  he  was  about  to  rise,  he  "plainly  saw,  within 
a  yard  of  my  bedside,  a  thing  all  in  white  like  a  standing 
sheet,  with  a  knot  at  the  top  of  it,  about  four  or  five  feet 
high,  which  I  considered  a  good  while,  and  did  raise 
myself  up  in  my  bed  to  view  it  the  better.  At  last  I  thrust 
out  both  my  hands  to  catch  hold  of  it,  but  in  a  moment, 
like  a  shadow,  it  slid  to  the  foot  of  the  bed,  out  of  the 
which  I  leaping  could  see  it  no  more."  Although  he 
protests  that  he  had  "  little  belief  in  things  of  this  nature," 
it  immediately  occurred  to  him  that  the  vision  portended 
evil  to  his  wife.  Ordering  horses,  he  rode  at  once  to 
Petworth,  leaving  his  law  affairs  unfinished.  On  his  arrival 
he  met  one  of  Northumberland's  running  footmen,  who 
told  him  that  he  was  coming  to  him  with  a  packet  of 
letters.      These    he    took,    and    then    went    to    his    wife's 

'  Letters  of  Philip,  Second  Earl  of  Chesterfield  ( London,  1 729) . 


300  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

apartments,  where  he  found  her  with  her  sister,  Elizabeth, 
and  another  lady,  in  good  health.  They  asked  him  why 
he  had  returned  so  quickly  ;  upon  which  he  mentioned 
what  had  happened  to  him  that  morning.  His  wife  uttered 
a  cry  of  astonishment,  and  bade  him  open  one  of  the 
letters  which  he  had  taken  from  the  footman.  "This,"  he 
continues,  in  his  account  of  the  affair,  "  I  immediately  did, 
and  read  my  wife's  letter  to  me  aloud,  wherein  she  desired 
my  speedy  return,  as  fearing  that  some  ill  would  happen 
to  me,  because  that  morning  she  had  seen  a  thing  all  in 
white  with  a  black  face,  standing  by  her  bedside,  which 
had  frightened  her  so  much  as  to  make  her  scrike  {sic) 
out  so  loud  that  her  weemen  came  running  into  the 
room."  The  strange  coincidence  naturally  amazed  Stan- 
hope ;  "  for  by  examining  all  particulars  we  found  that 
the  same  day,  the  same  hour,  and  (as  near  as  could  be 
computed)  the  same  minute,  all  that  had  happened  to  me 
had  befallen  her,  being  forty  miles  asunder.  The  Lady 
Essex  and  Mrs.  Ramsay  were  witnesses  to  both  our  rela- 
tions, and  acquainted  the  Lord  of  Northumberland  with 
it,  who  thought  it  a  very  extraordinary  thing."  ^ 

The  second  occurrence  of  a  supernatural  character  was 
in  1653,  and  is  thus  described  by  Lord  Stanhope  :  "  Being 
at  Tunbridge,  a  thing  of  almost  as  odd  a  nature  as  the 
former  befell  me  ;  for  being  abroad  one  afternoon  with  a 
setting  dog  in  a  very  bright  day,  with  a  gentleman  named 
Mr.  Pirs,  and  five  or  six  other  horsemen,  as  we  were  beat- 
ing a  great  stubble  field  that  was  above  a  mile  about,  and 
the  which  had  no  bushes  or  trees  in  it,  but  only  a  little 
hedge  in  the  middle  of  it,  which  was  not  above  ten  or 
twelve  yards  long,  on  a  sudden  we  all  heard  a  terrible 
groan,  and  after  that  another  much  louder,  and  so  a  third, 
which  made  us  all  to  conclude  that  somebody  was  a-dying 
near  that  little  hedge,  from  whence  the  noise  seemed  to 
come,  which  was  within  forty  yards  of  us.  And  thereupon 
we  all  went  towards  the  hedge  ;  but,  when  we  came  almost 
to  it,  all  our  horses  began  to  start,  and  fell  a-plunging,  and 

'  Letters  of  Second  Earl  of  Cluitajield. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  301 

did  run  a  good  way  with  us  before  we  could  stop  them  ; 
and  afterwards  when  we  tried  to  make  them  ^o  near  the 
hedge,  we  found  it  impossible  ;  wherefore,  Mr.  Pirs  and  I 
alighting,  went  round  the  hedge  and  viewed  every  place 
about  it,  without  finding  or  seeing  anything  that  could 
make  that  noise.  But  as  soon  as  a  servant  of  mine  heard 
the  groans,  he  cried  out,  '  God  bless  my  lady,'  who  was 
then  big  with  child,  and  died  three  months  after  of  the 
small-pox ;  giving  just  three  such  groans  when  she  died  ; 
insomuch  that  I,  being  in  another  room  and  hearing  her, 
said  I  was  sure  she  was  a-dying,  for  that  those  were  the 
same  dismal  groans  we  heard  at  Tunbridge.  She  lived 
eight  days  after  her  being  brought  to  bed  of  a  son,  who 
only  survived  his  mother  three  weeks."  ' 

This  was  the  only  child  of  the  union.  After  Lady 
Stanhope's  death,  her  husband  betook  himself  once  more 
to  the  roving,  reckless  life  which  he  had  followed  before 
his  marriage.  He  went  abroad,  was  captured  by  Major- 
can  pirates  in  the  Mediterranean,  almost  drowned  in  the 
Tiber,  and  threatened  with  imprisonment  for  debt  at 
Rome.  While  endeavouring  to  make  his  way  back  on 
foot  to  England,  he  fell  ill  of  a  violent  fever  near  Lyons, 
and  having  spent  all  his  money,  was  forced  to  beg  from 
door  to  door.  At  last  a  good  Samaritan,  in  the  person 
of  a  travelling  Jesuit,  found  him  on  the  roadside,  gave 
him  food  and  drink,  and  paid  for  his  journey  to  Paris.  At 
Paris  good  news  awaited  him.  His  grandfather  was  dead, 
and  he  had  inherited  the  estates  and  title  of  Chesterfield. 
His  first  letter,  "  on  returning  to  civilisation,"  was  ad- 
dressed to  his  wife's  sister,  Lady  Capel,  for  whom  he 
had  the  greatest  regard,  and  to  whom  he  sent  a  "neck- 
lace of  pearl  worth  sixteen  hundred  pounds."  Lady  Capel, 
afterwards  Countess  of  Essex,  appears  to  have  been  the 
only  person  who  exercised  any  controlling  influence  over 
this  headstrong  young  man.  She  was,  vwites  Evelyn,  "a 
wise,  yet  somewhat  melancholy  woman,"  ^  and  on  more 
than   one   occasion   we   find   her  remonstrating   with   her 

'  Letters  of  Second  Earl  of  ChesteifteUi.  ''■  Diary. 


302  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

brother-in-law  upon  the  career  of  debauchery  which  he 
pursued  after  his  return  to  England.^  His  name  became 
intimately  connected  with  that  of  Barbara  Villiers  (better 
known  by  her  later  title  of  Duchess  of  Cleveland),'^  as  well 
as  with  those  of  Lady  Anne  Hamilton  and  Lady  Elizabeth 
Howard.  Thanks  to  the  kind  offices  of  his  sister-in-law,  he 
was  at  length  induced  to  marry  Lady  Elizabeth  Butler,  one 
of  the  daughters  of  the  Duke  of  Ormonde  ;  but  this  second 
matrimonial  venture  ended  tragically,  and  Chesterfield  is 
even  accused  of  having  murdered  Countess  Elizabeth  by 
means  of  poisoned  sacrificial  wine,  which  he  compelled  her 
to  take  in  proof  of  her  innocence  of  an  intrigue  with  the 
Duke  of  York.*  In  1669  Lord  Chesterfield  married,  for  the 
third  time,  Lady  Elizabeth  Dormer,*  by  whom  he  had,  with 
other  children,  his  successor,  the  third  Earl  (Philip  Dormer 
Stanhope),  whose  "Letters"  have  won  for  him  a  meretricious 
fame,  and  who  inherited  not  a  few  of  his  father's  baser 
characteristics. 

The  second  daughter  of  Northumberland  was  Lady 
Elizabeth  Percy,  already  alluded  to,  who  on  May  19, 
1653,  married  Arthur,  second  Lord  Capel,  son  of  that 
Lord  Capel  who  had  been  beheaded  in  Old  Palace  Yard 
on  March  9,  1648-9,  for  his  exertions  in  the  Cavalier 
cause.  The  Capels  were  by  no  means  an  old  or  a  very 
noble  family,  descending  as  they  did  from  William  Capel, 
an  honest  draper,  who  had  been  Lord  Mayor  of  London  in 
1503.  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy's  husband  inherited  through 
his  mother  the  fine  estate  of  Cashiobury  Park  in  Hertford- 
shire. In  1661  he  was  elevated  to  the  Viscountcy  of  Mai- 
den and  Earldom  of  Essex  ;  and  from  1672  to  1677  he 
served  as  Viceroy  of  Ireland,  in  which  capacity  he  some- 
what disappointed  the  Protestant  party  by  what  was  termed 

'  Letters  of  Second  Earl  of  Chesterfield. 

"  He  left  a  natural  daughter  by  this  woman. 

'  Jesse's  Courts  of  the  Stuarts,  vol.  iv.  p.  205.  There  seems  no  proof  that 
Elizabeth  Butler  had  yielded  to  the  Duke  of  York's  advances ;  and  Pepys,  for 
one,  absolves  her  from  all  guilt. 

*  Dauijhler  of  the  Earl  of  Carnarvon. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  303 

his  "undue  lenity"  towards  the  Papists.  As  a  result,  he 
was  recalled  in  favour  of  the  more  compliant  Ormonde. 
After  the  fall  of  Danby,  two  years  later,  Essex  was  made 
treasurer  in  his  room,  and,  with  Shaftesbury,  Sunderland, 
Halifax,  and  Sir  William  Temple,  directed  for  a  time  the 
government  of  the  nation.  Following  the  dangerous  lead 
of  Shaftesbury,  he  became  one  of  the  bitterest  opponents 
of  the  Court,  and  of  the  Duke  of  York's  succession, 
taking  part  with  Monmouth,  Lord  William  Russell,  and 
his  kinsman  Algernon  Sidney,  in  the  Rye  House  or 
"Fanatical"  Plot.  In  the  councils  of  the  conspirators, 
Essex  and  Sidney  favoured  the  establishment  of  a  common- 
wealth. After  the  betrayal  of  the  plot  both  were  promptly 
arrested,  together  with  Russell  and  others  of  the  mal- 
contents. On  the  same  day  that  Russell  was  convicted  of 
high  treason  (July  13,  1683),  Lord  Essex,  dreading  a  like 
fate,  put  an  end  to  his  existence  in  one  of  the  cells  of  the 
Tower.*  As  Pennant  points  out,-  he  had  publicly  upheld 
the  morality  of  suicide,  and  he  was  known  to  be  subject  to 
tits  of  deep  melancholy  ;  ^  yet  there  were  not  wanting  those 
of  the  extreme  anti- Papist  party  who  claimed  that  his  death 
was  due  to  the  King  and  the  Duke  of  York,  "  who  happened 
that  morning  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Tower."  *  The  evidence 
laid  before  the  coroner's  jury  contained  no  suspicious  facts 
such  as  were  connected  with  the  murder  or  suicide  of 
Henry  Percy,  eighth  Earl  of  Northumberland,  a  century 
before  ;  and  a  verdict  oifelo  de  se  was  returned.^ 

Elizabeth,  Lady  Essex,  survived  her  husband  nearly 
thirty-four  years,  dying  on  February  5,  1717.  Their  only 
daughter,  Ann  Capel,  married  Charles,  second  Earl  of 
Carlisle  ;  while  their  son,  Algernon,  second  Earl  of  Essex 
(born  December  28,  1670)  afterwards  became  Constable 
of  the  Tower  wherein  his  ill-fated  father  had  breathed 
his  last.* 

*  He  cut  his  throat  with  a  razor.  '  London,  p.  292,  293. 

'  Hume;  History  of  Englanii.  *  Ibid.  *  Pennant's  ZoWow. 

'  The  present  Earl  of  Essex  is  a  descendant  of  Elizabeth  Percy  and  Arthur 
Capel,  first  Earl. 


JOSCELINE  Percy,  who  succeeded  as  eleventh  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  was   now  in   his  twenty-fifth  year  ;   and 

of  constitution  so  frail  that  the  quidnuncs  had 
Earl*  ear"y  already  begun  to  speculate  upon  the  probable 
life  and  extinction   of   the   direct  male   line  of    Louvain. 

The  young  Earl's  prevailing  ill-health  debarred 
him  from  taking  any  save  a  nominal  part  in  public  life, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  kept  him  uninfected  by  the  moral 
leprosy  of  court  life  under  the  second  Charles.  Any  excess 
must  indeed  have  proved  fatal  to  this  "thin-spun  life,"  and 
the  old  Earl  acted  with  his  usual  common-sense  in  choosing 
as  his  son's  tutor  one  who  was  not  only  a  ripe  scholar  but 
also  a  physician  of  skill.  This  person  was  Dr.  John  Mapletoft, 
fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  and  M.D.  of  the  same 
university.  Mapletoft  subsequently  took  holy  orders,  and 
died  vicar  of  St.  Lawrence  Jewry,  November  lo,  1721,  in 
his  ninety-first  year.^  Thanks  to  the  vigilance  of  Mapletoft, 
Lord  Percy  was  delivered  from  the  regimen  of  quackery 
and  old  wives'  nostrums  to  which  his  mother.  Lady  North- 
umberland, had  subjected  him ;  and  under  his  new 
mentor's  care  the  young  man  made  rapid  strides  towards 
health  and  strength.  Mapletoft  had  no  love  for  the 
Countess  ;  nor  did  that  descendant  of  the  house  of  Suffolk 
look    with    favour    upon    the    Cambridge    doctor.      Earl 

1  John  Mapletoft,  b.  1 631,  of  a  good  family  in  Northamptonshire,  left 
Cambridge  to  undertake  the  education  of  Josceline  Percy.  In  later  years  he 
practised  with  great  success  as  a  physician  in  London.  Being  offered  the  living 
of  Braybrooke  in  Northants,  he  took  orders  1682,  and  became  D.D.  of  Cambridge 
in  1689-90.  Subsequently  he  was  transferred  to  the  vicariate  of  St.  Lawrence 
Jewry,  where  he  continued  to  preach  until  over  eighty.  He  died,  full  of  years  and 
honours,  at  Westminster,  on  the  date  given  above.  To  the  last,  he  appears  to 
have  pr.ictised  medicine. 


^Le  ^ujht.'flo^l^o/lunj (zWko/jVi 


'ori/ium/'cr/iin} 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  305 

Algernon,  however,  saw  the  beneficial  effects  of  Mapletoft's 
training,  and  imperious  as  Lady  Northumberland  was  by 
nature,  she  did  not  dare  to  cross  her  husband's  will. 
Josceline  was  sent  abroad  with  his  tutor,  and  spent  many 
happy  months  in  travel.  At  Rome  he  was  much  courted 
by  the  English  Catholics,  who  hoped,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Duke  of  York,  to  bring  him  to  their  way  of  thinking, 
especially  as  his  father  was  known  to  hold  views  widely 
opposed  to  Puritanism.  For  Rome  itself  young  Percy 
acquired  an  extraordinary  affection,  and  it  was  while 
hastening  over-eagerly  to  return  to  the  Eternal  City  that 
he  subsequently  met  his  death  at  Turin,  From  the 
allurements,  religious  and  otherwise,  of  the  Papal  States 
Mapletoft  prudently  withdrew  his  pupil,  and  the  remainder 
of  their  sojourn  on  the  Continent  was  spent  at  Paris  and 
the  Hague. 

Percy,  on  his  return  to  England,  surprised  his  friends 
by  the  great  improvement  which  had  taken  place  in  his 
health  and  intellect.  The  exacting  Evelyn  found  the  young 
heir  of  Northumberland  entirely  to  his  taste,  and  held 
him  up  as  an  example  to  his  order.  "  It  is  not  enough," 
wrote  the  diarist,  "that  persons  of  my  Lord  Percy's 
quality  be  taught  to  dance  and  to  ride  ;  to  speak  languages 
and  weare  his  cloathes  with  a  good  grace  ^  (which  are  the 
verie  shells  of  travail) ;  but  besides  all  these  that  he  know 
men,  customs,  courts,  and  disciplines,  and  whatsoever 
superior  excellencies  the  places  afford,  befitting  a  person 
of  birth  and  noble  impressions.  This  is  the  fruite  of 
travail  ;  thus  our  incomparable  Sidney  was  bred,  and  this, 
tantquain  Minerva  Philidia;,  sets  the  crown  upon  his  per- 
fections. .  .  .  Unless  we  thus  cultivate  our  Youth,  and 
noblemen  make  wiser  provisions  for  their  educations 
abroad  above  the  vanity  of  Talk,  Feather,  and  Ribbon.  .  . 

'  The  mode  of  educating  a  young  nobleman  had  changed   indeed  since  the 
days  when  Percy's  ancestor,  Hotspur,  had  been  trained 

"  To  dance  and  singe,  and  speak  of^entilnessc," 
to  manage  his  war-horse,  and  look  askance  at  letters     But  then,  the  Percy  blood 
had  changed  also. 

II.  V 


3o6  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

I  despayre  of  ever  seeing  a  man  truly  noble  indeede.  He 
may  be  called  *  My  Lord/^ — titles  and  sounds  are  inferior 
trifles  ;  but  when  virtue  and  blood  are  coincidents,  they 
both  add  lustre  and  mutual  excellencies  :  this  is  what  my 
Lord  (Northumberland)  takes  care  to  secure  to  his  son, 
and  which  I  foresee  and  augur  of  my  noble  Lord  Percy."  ^ 
Northumberland  now  believed  that  his  heir  might  safely 
make  his  entry  into  public  life.  Early  in  1660,  Josceline 
was  appointed  colonel  of  the  Westminster  Regiment  of 
Militia.  "The  young  Lord,"  wrote  Henry  Champion,  the 
Earl's  agent  at  Syon,  "has  now  his  Commission  of  the 
Westminster  Regiment,  notwithstanding  he  refused  to  take 
the  Engagement  alias  Declaration,  because  the  war  was 
begun  before  his  time  ;  which  reason  was  allowed  by  the 
Council,  and  so  granted  him  his  Commission."  -  Eighteen 
months  later  Percy  was  associated  with  his  father  in  the 
Lord-Lieutenancy  of  Northumberland.  Meanwhile  Dr. 
Mapletoft,  deeming  his  task  at  an  end,  took  leave  of  the 
Percy  family  and  returned  to  the  Continent,  where  he 
spent  two  years  studying  medicine  at  Paris.  Master  and 
pupil  parted  with  the  warmest  expressions  of  mutual  re- 
gret ;  and  the  correspondence  which  was  kept  up  between 
them  from  1660  to  1663  shows  clearly  enough  the  esteem 
which  Percy  felt  for  the  absent  scholar.  Northumber- 
land had,  as  we  have  seen,  chosen  the  beautiful  Audrey 
Wriothesley  as  a  fitting  mate  for  his  son,  and  the  sudden 
death  of  this  lady  was  a  grave  disappointment  to  the  Earl. 
"  The  death  of  my  Lady  Audrey,"  he  wrote  to  his  brother- 
in-law,  "  did  as  nearly  touch  me  as  most  accidents  that 
could  have  happened ;  not  for  the  Conveniency  of  her 
Fortune,  nor  the  hopes  of  her  bringing  an  Heir  unto  my 
family,  as  soon  as  it  had  been  fit  for  her  and  my  Son  to 
have  come  together  ;  but  because  I  judged  her  to  be  of  a 
Nature,  Temper,  and  Humour  likely  to  have  made  him  an 
excellent  wife,  which  would  have  brought  me  much  Com- 

'  Evelyn  to  Edward  Thurland,  Nov.  1658,  Diary  (ed.  Bray),  vol.  ii.  125. 
'  Champion  to  Hugh  Potter,  April  2S,  1660;  Alnwick  MSS.    Of  Champion  we 
shall  hear  more  in  connection  with  James  Percy,  the  Claimant. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  307 

fort  in  the  latter  Part  of  my  Life  ;  but  since  our  uncertain 
Condition  exposes  us  daily  to  these  Troubles,  I  shall  en- 
deavour with  all  Patience  to  submit  to  them."  1  The  Earl's 
motives  in  selecting  a  consort  for  his  heir  were  certainly 
more  commendable  than  those  which  afterwards  guided 
his  widow  in  her  selfish  matchmaking  schemes  for  Lady 
Elizabeth  Percy.  A  year  later  we  find  him  again  in  treaty 
with  Lord  Southampton — on  this  occasion  for  the  hand 
of  Lady  Audrey's  younger  sister,  Elizabeth  VVriothesley. 
This  match  came  to  fruition,  but  not  before  Lord  Percy 
had  been  attacked  by  a  violent  illness,  which  postponed 
for  a  time  his  marital  happiness,  while  it  gave  him  an 
opportunity  of  becoming  better  acquainted  with  the  good 
qualities  of  his  future  wife.  Early  in  December  1662  he 
wrote  to  Dr.  Mapletoft  from  Petworth  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

"  I  met  with  your  letter  of  7th  October  att  London, 
comming  with  an  intention  only  to  have  stayed  there  three 
or  four  days  to  make  my  Lady  Betty  a  visit,  but  the  night 
on  which  I  came  to  toun  I  went  to  bed  not  well,  and  the 
next  day  fell  into  a  very  high  feaver,  which  afterwards 
proved  to  be  the  Scarlet  feaver.  My  mother  had  not  the 
patience  to  be  absent  from  me  when  I  was  soe  ill,  but  came 
from  Petworth  and  stayed  with  me  till  she  saw  me  out  of 
danger,  and  then  returned  again,  leaving  me  to  gett  up  and 
recover  strength,  which  I  did  in  fourteen  hours ;  so  that, 
I  thank  God,  I  am  now  well  at  Petworth  again. 

"We  are  going  within  two  days  to  London  to  stay  there 
all  this  winter,  and  before  Christmass  to  make  an  end  of 
that  work  in  which  I  assure  myself  that  I  have  very  heartily 
your  good  wishes  and  prayer  for  a  good  successe,  which 
indeed  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  of ;  for  my  mistress 
hath  in  both  my  sicknesses,  and  upon  all  other  occasions, 
showed  herself  (not  complimentally  as  a  courtesy,  but 
friendly  and  sincerely,  and  as  far  as  was  fitting  and  decent 
for  her)  soe  kindly  concerned  for  me,  that  I  cannot  but  be 
extreamiy  sensible  of  it. 

'  NorthumljeilanJ  to  Earl  of  Leicester,  2nd  Nov.  1660  ;  Siiliifv  Pi7/<e>s,  ii.  700. 


3o8  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

"After  that  you  have  wearied  yourself,  and  seen  all  that 
you  desire  to  see  abroad,  you  may  assure  yourself  that  you 
will  be  very  welcome  to  us  att  Petvvorth,  where,  if  you 
return  the  next  summer,  you  will  find  my  wife  and  me,  an' 
old  married  couple,  that  doe  extreamly  desire  to  see  you, 
though  not  sooner  than  it  stands  with  your  conveniences. 
"  I  am  and  will  ever  be, 

"  Your  affectionate  and  loving  friend, 

"J.  Percy."  1 

The  pleasant  "work"  alluded  to  —  i.e.  the  writer's 
marriage — was  duly  "  made  an  end  of "  at  Southampton 
House  on  December  23,  1662 — the  bridegroom  being  then 
in  his  nineteenth  year,  and  the  bride  at  least  two  years 
younger.  Lady  Betty  Wriothesley  was  "  the  comeliest 
maid  wedded  in  the  year,"  according  to  Sir  Orlando  Gee  ; 
although  he,  as  Northumberland's  principal  man  of  busi- 
ness, may  have  been  prejudiced  in  her  favour.  Fair  she 
undoubtedly  was,  with  a  healthful,  girlish  beauty  which 
contrasted  agreeably  enough  with  the  rather  delicate  good 
looks  of  Josceline  Percy.  Soon  after  the  wedding,  the  in- 
valuable Pepys  (who  had  a  shrewd  eye  for  feminine  loveli- 
ness) caught  a  glimpse  of  her  at  Southampton  House,  and 
thus  records  his  impressions;  "To  my  Lord  Treasurer's; 
there  I  saw  my  Lady  Northumberland,  and  her  daughter- 
in-law,  my  Lady  Percy — a  beautiful  lady  indeed  !  "  ^  A 
little  later  we  shall  find  her  appearance  very  unfavourably 
criticised  by  certain  of  her  own  sex  ;  but  the  consensus  of 
masculine  opinion  was  all  on  the  side  of  Pepys,  and  the 
gallants  of  London,  from  the  King  downwards,  hailed  her 
as  a  beauty.  To  her  husband  she  brought  the  double  in- 
heritance of  a  great  fortune  and  an  honoured  name. 
She  was  the  youngest  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Thomas 
Wriothesley,  fourth  Earl  of  Southampton  (the  fellow-exile 
of  Charles  II.,  and  his  first  Lord  Treasurer),  by  his  second 
wife,  the  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Francis,  Earl  of  Chichester. 

'  Alnwick  MSS.  -  Diary,  vol.  ii.  p.  34. 


THE    HOUSE   OK   PERCY  309 

Her  half-sister  was  tlie  famous  Lady  Racliel  Russell,  wife 
of  the  Lord  Russell  who  suffered  for  his  share  in  the 
"Fauatical"  Plot.  In  addition  to  the  property  settled 
upon  her  by  her  father,  Lady  Percy  succeeded  to  nearly 
;£6ooo  per  annum,  left  by  her  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Chi- 
chester. 

Such  were  the  pleasant  auspices  under  which  Josceline 
Percy  married.  The  honeymoon  was  spent  at  Titchfield 
in  Hampshire,'  after  which  the  young  couple  betook 
themselves  to  Northumberland  House ;  from  which  latter 
place  Percy  wrote  on  February  5,  1663,  in  answer  to  a 
congratulatory  note  from  his  old  tutor  Mapletoft  (whose 
medical  studies  abroad  were  now  finished,  and  who  medi- 
tated practising  in  London  under  the  powerful  protection 
of  the  Percies  and  Wriothesleys) : — 

"  I  cannot  but  extreamly  much  accuse  myself  of 
not  giving  you  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  from  me  soe 
often  as  you  desire,  for  since  the  23rd  of  December,  which 
was  the  day  that  I  was  married,  I  have  writ  but  once. 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  little  Greek  note  you  sent  me, 
and  I  desire  you  would,  both  by  letters  now,  and  by 
word  of  mouth  when  I  see  you,  continue  to  use  that 
freedom  which  hath  been  between  us,  for  I  heare  so 
little  of  truth  from  anybody,  that  I  am  the  last  man  that 
learns  of  anything  amiss  concerning  myself ;  and  therefore 
I  desire  you  not  to  stick  to  write  anything  of  admonition 
to  me  which  will  be,  as  your  discourses  have  always  been, 
to  my  advantage."  - 

On  the  death  of  his  father-in-law,  the  "  Cavalier  Earl " 
of  Southampton,  in  1667,  Lord  Percy  was  nominated 
in  his  room  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Southamptonshire,  and 
about  the  same  time  his  father  had  surrendered  to  him 
the  practically  hereditary  post  of  Constable   and   Keeper 

'  The  estate  of  Titchfield  belonged  to  Lord  Southampton,  and  passed  after 
his  death  to  another  of  his  daughters,  Lady  Noel. 
»  Alinuick  MSS. 


310  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

of  Tynemoiith  Castle,  i  When  more  than  three  years 
passed,  however,  without  any  sign  of  offspring  to  the 
young  couple,  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  became  very 
fearful  as  to  the  succession.  The  next  male  heir  of  the 
House  of  Percy  was  probably  unknown,  although  James 
Percy  of  Dublin  subsequently  claimed  that  he  had  been 
recognised  by  Earl  Algernon  as  such.  James  Percy's 
pretensions  were  certainly  known  to  the  latter,  who 
realised  that,  in  case  of  failure  of  issue  to  his  son,  a 
contest  must  ensue  between  the  ambitious  Dublin  trunk- 
maker  and  the  heirs  in  the  female  line.  The  Earl's 
elder  daughter.  Lady  Chesterfield,  had  died  childless ; 
his  other  daughter,  the  wife  of  Essex,  had  at  the  time 
no  surviving  issue ;  2  and  the  heirs  general  appeared  to 
be  the  descendants  of  Northumberland's  sister,  the  Countess 
of  Leicester.  Under  the  circumstances,  the  Earl's  anxiety 
as  to  the  non-appearance  of  children  in  Lord  Percy's 
household  was  not  astonishing.  At  last,  in  i666,  after  a 
very  great  pother,  a  daughter  was  born.  Northumberland 
made  no  disguise  of  his  disappointment,  and  sent  a  letter 
of  "very  grudging  congratulation." ^  Another  daughter 
followed  in  1667  ;  and  it  was  not  until  1668  that  a  son  and 
heir  came  to  gladden  the  old  Earl's  last  hours  with  illusory 
happiness. 

The  death  of  the  tenth  Earl  brought  to  his  successor 
innumerable  letters  of  condolence.*  The  grave  Sir  William 
A  brief,  ui-  Temple,  with  whom  Earl  Algernon  had  much 
fated  reign,  j^  common,  Sent  a  long  and  carefully  worded 
epistle,  replete  with  stilted  platitudes  upon  the  loss  which 
the  nation  had  sustained,  and  concluding  with  much  sage 
advice  as  to  the  new  Earl's  conduct  in  public  life. 
From  Dr.  Mapletoft  there  was  a  kindly  little  note,  which 

'  This  office  passed,  after  the  eleventh  Earl's  decease,  to  Mr.  Edward 
Villiers. — State  P^tpers  {Domestic),  Charles  II.,  Addenda. 

"  Algernon  Capel,  Essex's  eventual  heir,  was  not  born  until  1670,  seventeen 
years  after  the  marriage  of  his  mother  and  father. 

"  De  Fonblanque,  vol.  ii. 

*  These  letters  are  preserved  in  the  Alnwick  MSS. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  311 

encouraged  while  it  sympathised.  But  periiaps  the  most 
interesting  of  these  communications,  in  regard  to  the 
source  from  which  it  emanated,  was  one  from  James, 
Duke  of  York.  The  old  Earl  had  never  forgiven  James 
for  the  manner  in  which  he  had  broken  his  parole  and 
escaped  from  the  friendly  custody  of  St.  James's  Palace 
some  years  before.^  The  Duke,  on  the  contrary,  enter- 
tained for  his  former  guardian  a  regard  as  warm  as  his 
cold  nature  could  experience,  and  had  never  missed  an 
opportunity  of  thanking  Earl  Algernon  for  the  consider- 
ation shown  to  himself,  his  brother,  and  his  sister,  the 
Princess  Elizabeth,  during  that  period  of  storm  and  stress. 
There  are  numerous  examples  of  former  letters  from  York 
to  Northumberland,  and  of  the  latter's  replies,  worded 
with  a  curt  dignity  which  showed  that,  whatever  might  be 
his  respect  for  the  heir  to  the  throne,  the  old  sore  still 
rankled.  On  the  present  occasion,  the  Duke  wrote  from 
the  same  palace  of  St.  James,  whence,  with  Colonel 
Bamford's  assistance,  he  had  broken  bounds  so  shamefully. 
The  letter  is  as  follows  : — 

"St.  James,  October  xbtZ. 

"  My  Lord  of  Northumberland, — It  will  not  be 
necessary  for  me  to  use  many  words  to  persuade  you  how 
sensibly  I  am  touched  with  the  loss  you  have  made  of  your 
father,  since  you  know  so  well  the  kindness  that  I  have  for 
your  whole  family.  And  as  I  have  received  many  civilities 
and  obligations  from  him,  ever  since  I  first  knew  him, 
so  I  do  assure  you,  you  shall  find  the  continuance  of  my 
kindness  to  you  upon  all  occasions ;  and  as  I  lost  in  him 
a  very  good  friend,  so  I  hope  I  shall  find  you  as  much  so 
as  he  was,  since  you  will  always  find  me, 

"  Your  most  affectionate  friend, 

"  James." '^ 

Immediately  after  his  succession,  the  new  Earl  was 
appointed  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Northumberland  and  Sussex  ; 
but  his  health,  which  had  improved  under  the  loving  care 

'  See  a/Ue,  p.  274.  -  Ahiwick  MSS. 


312  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

of  Mapletoft,  grew  steadily  worse  from  the  day  of  his 
marriage ;  and  a  double  sorrow  which  befell  him  in  the 
winter  of  1669-70  served  to  fill  his  own  mind  and  that  of 
his  young  wife  with  dread  forebodings.  The  little  Lord 
Percy,  whose  coming  into  the  world  had  seemed  so  pro- 
pitious, and  upon  whose  future  such  high  hopes  had  been 
built,  inherited  after  all,  not  the  honours  and  estates  of  the 
Percies,  but  only  that  physical  weakness  which  had  marred 
the  lives  of  the  two  last  Earls  of  the  race.'  A  few  months 
after  his  birth,  and  splendid  baptism,  the  child  died  from 
sheer  poverty  of  blood ;  the  weak,  flickering  light  was 
quenched,  and  with  it  expired  the  direct  male  line  of  the 
House  of  Percy.  Only  a  few  weeks  later,  and  the  Earl 
and  Countess  of  Northumberland  lost  their  elder  daughter.^ 
One  child  alone  remained  to  them — Elizabeth  Percy,  after- 
wards heiress  of  her  name. 

The  deaths  of  his  children  inspired  Earl  Josceline  with 
a  desire  for  foreign  travel.  This  is  usually  ascribed  by  his 
biographers  merely  to  reasons  of  health  ;  and  it  is  likely  that 
Dr.  Mapletoft  counselled,  and  the  Earl  himself  believed  in 
the  efficacy  of  change  of  scene,  as  a  cure  which  he  had  tried 
with  success  on  a  former  occasion.  But  various  circum- 
stances surrounding  Northumberland's  sudden  departure 
from  England,  and  in  particular  a  certain  letter  preserved 
in  the  Domestic  State  Papers,  make  it  more  than  probable 
that  he  was  guided  in  this  step  by  motives  which  his 
family  have  sought  to  suppress,  or  at  least  ignore.  There 
is,  in  fact,  good  reason  for  believing  that  the  Earl  left 
England  with  a  half-formed  resolution  of  embracing  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion,  from  which  his  grandfather  had 
disassociated  himself ;  and  that,  after  a  brief  stay  in  Paris, 
he  actually  set  out  for  the  Papal  See,  in  the  firm  intention 
of  renouncing  his  Anglican  tenets  at  the  feet  of  Clement  X. 
That  he  should  do  so  is  by  no  means  surprising.     During 

'  A  heritage,  it  is  suggested,  of  the  riotous  life  lived  by  the  "  Magnificent 
Earl,"  far  back  in  the  wanton  days  of  Henry  VIII.  The  Percy  stock,  trans- 
planted from  the  Border  to  the  life  of  courts  and  cities,  never  throve  physically. 

'  Lady  Henrietta  Percy  died  early  in  1670. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  313 

his  former  visit  to  Rome  lie  Iiad  been  so  greatly  impressed 
that  Dr.  Mapletoft  deemed  it  wise  to  remove  him  without 
delay  from  the  sphere  of  Papist  influence.  Circiniani's 
picture  of  his  relative,  the  seventh  Earl  of  Northumberland, 
on  the  walls  of  the  English  Church  of  the  Trinity,^  had 
reminded  him  of  how  recently  and  how  grievously  his 
predecessors  had  suffered  for  the  Roman  Creed;  and, 
needless  to  say,  the  dignitaries  of  the  Holy  See,  from  the 
Pope  and  Cardinal  Paluzzi  down,  spared  no  pains  to  win 
over  so  influential  a  convert.  Many  trials  had  of  late 
afflicted  him  ;  and  he  may  have  hoped  to  find  consola- 
tion under  the  wing  of  the  ancient  Church.  Among  his 
English  friends,  several  in  the  very  highest  places  had  re- 
cently abandoned  Anglicanism.  The  Duke  of  York  was  a 
Romanist ;  and  at  the  very  time  that  Northumberland  set 
out  on  his  pilgrimage,  the  King  himself  was  in  treaty  with 
France  as  to  the  terms  which  would  induce  him  to  make 
open  profession  of  the  same  religion.^  Mapletoft's  duties 
prevented  him  from  attending  his  patron,  and  no  less  a 
personage  than  the  philosopher,  John  Locke,  was  engaged 
to  act  as  the  Earl's  physician  and  principal  secretary 
on  the  Continent.  Locke,  when  he  undertook  the  ofhce 
in  question,  knew  nothing  of  Northumberland's  religious 
views ;  and  the  fact  that  he  did  not  accompany  his  em- 
ployer to  Italy,  but  "  came  back  to  England  sooner  than 
was  at  first  designed,"^  possibly  indicated  his  disapproval 
of  the  meditated  change  of  faith.  About  the  middle 
of  April  1670,  the  Earl  left  Paris  "  e7i  route  for  Rome,"  his 
wife  (who  was  once  more  pregnant)  remaining  in  the  care 
of  friends  at  the  former  city.     On  April  23  Charles  Perrott 

'  This  picture  of  "  The  Blessed  Thomas  Percy,"  as  the  eighth  Earl  is  called 
by  Catholics,  was  an  object  of  pilgrimage  to  Englishmen  of  that  faith. 

'  The  treaty  of  Dover,  by  which  Charles  pledged  himself  to  become  a  Roman 
Catholic,  was  signed  at  Dover  on  May  22,  1670.  Both  Cliflbrd  (himself  a  Catholic) 
and  Arlington  were  privy  to  this  agreement  and  to  the  negotiations  which  led 
up  to  it. — Hume. 

'  Life  and  Writings  of  John  Locke,  i.  xxiii.  Locke's  recognised  patron  was 
Lord  Ashley  (afterwards  Earl  of  Shaftesbury),  who  gave  his  consent  to  the 
philosopher's  engagement. 


314  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

wrote  in  the  following  terms  to  Williamson  (then  in  Paris), 
who  had  duly  communicated  the  secret  of  Northumber- 
land's mission  to  the  Government  : — 

"  Whitehall. — The  packets  having  come  in  so  late,  I  had 
much  difficulty  in  making  extracts  for  Lords  Berkeley  and 
Arlington.  ...  I  have  taken  a  copy  of  the  account  of 
Lord  Northumberland's  business  in  Rome ;  and  intend 
showing  it  to  my  Lord  (Arlington)  to-morrow.  /  believe 
Lord  Northumberland' s  relatives  would  rather  that  it  went 
no  further''^ 

What  was  the  Earl's  mysterious  "  business  in  Rome," 
the  news  of  which  his  relatives  were  so  anxious  to  conceal 
from  the  public?^  The  circumstances  surely  seem  to 
point  to  a  threatened  avowal  on  his  part  of  the  papal 
supremacy.  The  hint  conveyed  by  Perrott  was  apparently 
taken ;  and,  fate  tragically  conspiring  with  the  relatives 
to  keep  the  matter  secret,  it  so  remained  until  the  publi- 
cation of  the  tell-tale  State  Paper.  De  Fonblanque,  in 
his  authorised  "Annals  of  the  House  of  Percy,"  makes 
no  mention  of  the  Earl's  true  object  in  visiting  Rome. 
Perhaps  he  was  not  aware  of  the  letter  quoted  above  ; 
perhaps  he  chose  to  overlook  it,  out  of  deference  to  the 
Earl's  descendants.  The  accounts,  which  have  been  allowed 
to  escape,  of  the  journey  to  Italy  and  of  the  untimely 
death  of  Northumberland,  are  meagre  in  the  extreme  ;  and 
it  is  even  uncertain  in  what  religion  the  noble  pilgrim 
passed  away. 

For  death  overtook  Josceline  Percy  in  the  flower  of 
his  youth,  while  less  than  a  third  of  the  road  to  Rome 
remained  for  him  to  traverse.  The  generally  accepted 
statement,  published  by  Collins,  is  that  the  Earl,  in  his 
eagerness  to  reach  the  Holy  City,  "overheated  himself 
with  travelling  post  for   many  days,"  and,  on  his  arrival 

'  Domestic  State  Papers,  Charles  II.,  April  23,  1670. 

'^  Presumably  this  is  the  meaning  to  be  attached  to  the  phrase  "  would 
rather  that  it  went  no  further,"  unless  indeed  it  signifies  the  relatives'  wish 
that  the  Earl's  business,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  should  not  be  further 
carried  out. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  315 

at  Turin,  fell  into  a  fever  and  died.^  The  claimant, 
James  Percy,  afterwards  maintained  that  the  dying  Earl 
asked  for  him  in  his  last  moments,  and  wished  that  he  might 
be  present  ;  -  but  the  witness  upon  whose  testimony  Percy 
put  forward  this  statement  was  never  publicly  examined, 
and  it  may  have  been  only  an  idle  tale  told  to  the  credulous 
"  Trunkmaker."  The  house  or  hostelry  in  which  North- 
umberland's death  occurred  is  unknown ;  but  he  certainly 
expired  at  Turin  on  May  21,  1670,  in  the  twenty-sixth  year 
of  his  age.  The  grievous  news,  carried  with  undue  haste 
to  Lady  Northumberland,  wrought  still  more  disaster  ;  and 
in  consequence  of  the  shock  which  she  had  received,  the 
young  widow  gave  birth  to  a  dead  child.  How  cruelly  it 
reads,  this  catalogue  of  mortality — this  grim  list  of  deaths 
by  which  a  single  unhappy  family  was  afflicted  within 
the  short  space  of  a  few  months  !  Little  wonder  that  the 
Countess  Elizabeth,  thus  bereft  of  husband  and  children, 
turned  so  pitiful  a  face  to  the  world  that  the  envious  court 
beauties  of  France  flattered  themselves  with  stories  of  her 
faded  loveliness. 

The  body  of  the  deceased  Earl  of  Northumberland  was 
embalmed  at  Turin,  and  brought  by  slow  stages  to 
England.  In  Muddiman's  News-Letter  of  June  9,  1670,  is 
the  entry:  "The  body  of  Lord  Northumberland  at  Turin 
of  fever  caused  by  travelling  in  great  heat  was  on  the  way 
from  Blois,  accompanied  by  his  disconsolate  lady  :  it  is 
thought  that  the  French  King  will  seize  his  horses  and 
most  of  what  he  has  left  in  France  ^ par  droit  d'aubainc'^ 
The  body  is  waited  for  at  Dover  by  coaches  and 
attendants."*  In  a  letter  of  July  2  it  is  reported  that  "the 
young  Countess  of  Northumberland  landed  at  Dover  on 
the  25th  on  her  way  to  London,  but  having  to  go  to  Pet- 
worth  to  attend  her  deceased  husband's  funeral,  she  made 

'  Collins'  Peerage,  art.  "  Percy."     His  death  occurred  on  May  21,  1670. 
^  See  page  310. 
^  "  By  right  of  escheat." 

*  Domestic  State  Papers,  Charles  II.,  Addenda;  News- Letter  o\  JI.  Muddiman 
to  Thomas  Bond,  haberdasher.  Market  Cross,  Hereford. 


3i6  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

but  a  short  stay."^  On  July  12  Hugh  Salisbury,  writing 
from  Portsmouth,  informs  Williamson  that  "the  Henrietta 
yacht  has  arrived  from  Havre  de  Grace,  with  the  body  of 
the  late  Earl  of  Northumberland,  who  is  to  be  buried  at 
Petworth  with  his  ancestors."-  Immediately  after  the 
eleventh  Earl  had  been  laid  to  rest,  the  so-called  "  Trunk- 
maker,"  James  Percy,  came  forward  with  a  formal  claim  to 
the  dormant  honours  of  Northumberland.  But  of  this 
man  and  of  the  stubborn  but  unsuccessful  fight  which  he 
made  for  what  he  considered  his  rights,  a  full  account 
will  presently  be  given.  His  infant  rival,  the  Lady  Eliza- 
beth Percy,  and  her  mother  first  claim  our  attention  for 
a  space. 

Rightly  or  wrongly,  the  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy  was  now 
held  to  be  sole  heir  of  all  her  father's  possessions  save  only 
such  lands  as  reverted  to  the  Crown  in  conse- 
coun'tlsses  quencc  of  the  supposed  failure  of  heirs  male.^ 
ofNorthum-  -phg  ^yj]i  of  Earl  Josceliue  left  to  his  widow  the 
second  mar-  guardianship  of  their  child,  until  such  time  as 
riageofthe     gj-,g  m^^  widow)  should  See  fit  to  marry  again:  in 

younger.  ^  '  j       *j 

which  case  Lady  Elizabeth  was  to  pass  from  her 
mother's  care  into  that  of  her  grandmother,  the  Dowager 
Countess  of  Northumberland.  Earl  Josceline  no  doubt  in- 
tended this  provision  byway  of  safeguard  for  his  daughter's 
vast  fortune,  and  not  by  any  means  as  a  slur  upon  his  wife's 
capabilities  or  good  sense.  He  realised  that  the  younger 
Lady  Northumberland  would  have  many  suitors  after  his 
death,  and  that,  since  the  grief  of  the  young  and  beautiful 
is  soon  healed,  she  would  probably  remarry  before  many 
years  had  elapsed.  It  was  not  his  wish  that  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Percy  estates  and  the  government  of  the 
heiress  should  devolve  upon  his  future  successor  in  Lady 

'  H.  Muddiman  {Xews-Lelter)  to  \Vm.  Coward,  Wells,  July  2  ;  Doineslic 
Stale  Papers,  Charles  II.,  Addenda. 

'  Domestic  State  Papers,  Charles  II.,  Addenda. 

'  These  lands  were  conferred  by  Charles  II.  upon  his  supposed  natural  son,  the 
Duke  of  Monmouth,  and  others. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  317 

Northumberland's  affections.  Accordingly  lie  named  his 
mother  guardian,  in  case  of  a  second  marriage  ;  and  the 
senior  Countess,  with  the  ill-nature  for  which  she  was 
notorious,  gave  her  daughter-in-law  clearly  to  understand 
that  this  portion  of  the  will  should  be  carried  out  to  the 
letter. 

For  a  short  time  after  her  husband's  death,  the  young 
Countess  continued  to  live  in  England  with  her  child  ; 
but  a  combination  of  unpleasant  circumstances  eventually 
drove  her  back  to  France.  To  begin  with,  the  Dowager 
Lady  Northumberland  (although  as  yet  not  legally  en- 
titled to  do  so)  could  not  abstain  from  interfering  in  the 
management  of  the  estate,  and  the  education  of  Lady 
Elizabeth.  In  point  of  fact,  this  elderly  descendant  of  the 
Howards  was  one  of  the  most  imperious  and  intriguing 
personages  of  her  time.  Kept  in  control  by  the  some- 
what austere  temper  of  her  husband.  Earl  Algernon,  it 
was  not  until  after  his  death  that  she  found  herself  at 
liberty  to  gratify  what  De  Fonblanque  terms  her  "  pas- 
sion for  social  power,  for  money,  and  for  matchmaking." 
Her  extreme  pride  of  birth  seems  all  the  less  justifi- 
able when  it  is  remembered  that  the  branch  of  the 
noble  family  to  which  she  belonged  was  one  of  scant 
repute,  and  that  both  her  mother  and  father  had  been 
convicted  of  gross  frauds  upon  Charles  L,  and  heavily 
fined  for  their  dishonesty,^  while  her  aunt  was  the 
infamous  Frances  Howard,  Countess  of  Somerset.^  The 
Dowager  Countess  of  Northumberland,  in  spite  of  these 
antecedents,  chose  to  flaunt  her  magnificence  as  publicly 
as  possible.  After  her  husband's  death  she  removed  from 
Northumberland  House   to  a  mansion   upon   the   site  of 

'  She  was  the  daughter  of  Theophilus  Howard,  second  Earl  of  Suffolk,  who 
died  in  1640  after  the  punishment  mentioned  above,  by  Elizabeth,  daughter 
and  heir  of  George,  Earl  of  Dunbar.  Suffolk  inherited  most  of  his  property 
(including  Northumberland  House)  from  his  uncle,  the  treacherous  Earl  of 
Northampton. 

'■'  The  poisoner  and  adulterous  wife,  first  of  the  third  Earl  of  Essex,  and  after- 
wards of  the  favourite,  Robert  Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset.  She  it  was  who  pro- 
cured the  murder  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury. 


3i8  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

which  White's  Club  House  afterwards  stood,  and  which 
she  called  Suffolk  House.  Here  she  maintained  semi- 
royal  state,  and  never  went  abroad  without  "a  footman 
walking  bareheaded  on  either  side  of  her  coach,  and  others 
(coaches)  following  with  her  attendant  women."'  It  is 
even  stated  that  she  never  allowed  the  wife  of  her  son 
Josceline  (herself  the  daughter  of  an  Earl)  to  be  seated  in 
her  presence  without  first  asking  permission  ;  and  when 
the  female  members  of  her  household  misbehaved  them- 
selves she  administered  corporal  punishment  to  them 
after  the  fashion  of  Catherine  de  Medicis  with  her  maids 
of  honour.  She  was,  in  truth,  a  notable  termagant  and 
tyrant,  ill-bred  in  her  ostentation,  and  by  no  means  nice 
in  the  way  she  managed  her  grandchild's  estates  and 
turned  their  profits  to  her  own  use  and  benefit.  There  is 
more  than  a  suspicion  that  in  after  years  she  absolutely 
sold  this  same  grandchild's  hand  to  one  undesirable 
husband  after  another.^  Her  daughter-in-law,  Josceline's 
handsome  widow,  she  cordially  disliked  ;  and  she  never 
missed  an  opportunity  of  trying  to  bully  or  browbeat 
this  unhappy  lady,  even  when  the  latter  was  still  in  the 
state  of  ill-health  which  succeeded  her  bereavement.  The 
young  Countess  could  not  endure  the  Dowager's  per- 
sistent persecutions,  and  this  was  perhaps  the  principal 
reason  which  induced  her  to  leave  England.  It  is  also 
stated  that  the  amorous  King  plagued  her  with  his 
advances,  and  made  more  than  one  attempt  to  add  her  to 
his  seraglio.  De  Fonblanque  adopts  this  story  ;  but  as  the 
Countess  was  in  mourning  at  the  time,  went  little  to  Court, 
and  had  suffered  severely  in  her  good  looks  in  conse- 
quence of  illness,  some  doubt  must  be  allowed  to  rest 
upon  the  subject.  But  Lady  Northumberland's  fortune 
and  reputation  for  beauty  made  her  a  constant  subject  of 
town  gossip,  and  scores  of  tales  were  told  of  the  gallants, 
young  and  old,  who  were  at  her  feet.  Not  only  the  King, 
but  the  widower  Duke  of  York,  was  said  to  be  enamoured 

'  State  Papers  (Domestic),  Charles  II. 

'  See  Brantome's  M^moires  des  Dames  Galantes. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  319 

of  her  ;  and  the  diarists  and  news-letters  even  declared  that 
one  nobleman  of  the  highest  rank  had  died  of  a  broken 
heart  in  consequence  of  her  rejection  of  his  suit.  This 
was  William  Seymour,  third  Duke  of  Somerset,  a  near  rela- 
tive of  her  late  husband,'  and  a  nephew  of  her  brother- 
in-law,  Lord  Essex.  The  Duke  was  so  eager  in  his 
wooing  that  his  cousin,  Josceline  Percy,  had  not  been  a 
twelvemonth  dead  before  he  renewed  what  is  described 
as  an  "  old  courtship,"  but  which  cannot  have  been  so 
old  after  all,  since  the  suitor  was  still  a  minor.  Lady 
Northumberland  was  at  this  time  twenty-four,  and  may 
have  thought  her  ducal  spark  too  young,  or  his  addresses 
ill-timed.  At  any  rate  she  rejected  them ;  and  it  is  given 
as  a  historical  fact  in  Segar's  Baronage  that  the  love-lorn 
Duke  William  died  on  December  12,  1671,  in  his  twenty- 
first  year,  "  at  grief  for  the  unkuidness  of  Elizabeth,  widow 
of  Jocelyn  Percy,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  ivhoin  he  had  long 
courted  in  vain."  ' 

Whether  the  King  pursued  her  too  assiduously,  or 
whether  young  Somerset's  death  preyed  upon  her  nerves, 
and,  in  conjunction  with  the  tyranny  of  her  mother-in- 
law,  filled  her  with  distaste  for  England,  we  know  that  the 
Countess  sailed  from  England  in  a  royal  yacht  placed  at 
her  disposal  early  in  1673,  and  very  soon  afterwards  made 
her  second  appearance  in  the  fashionable  world  of  Paris. 
At  Paris,  as  in  London,  she  at  once  became  a  reigning 
toast,  and  the  fame  of  her  charms  (as  well  as  of  her  fortune) 
was  trumpeted  abroad.  She  refused  more  than  one  offer 
of  marriage,  and  it  began  to  be  whispered  that  she  was 
holding  herself  in  reserve  for  the  Duke  of  York.^  One 
lover,  however,  proved  more  persistent  than  the  rest.  Ralph 
Montagu,  the  British  Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  France, 
was  determined  to  win,  if  possible,  this  great  matrimonial 
prize;   and   as    Montagu  (or  "Montaigu"  as   they  called 

'  Somerset,  as  great-grandson  of  Elizabeth's  favourite,  Robert,  Earl  of  Essex, 
was  a  second  cousin  of  the  late  Earl  of  Northumberland. 
-  Segar,  Baronage  of  England,  p.  989. 
^  Hatton  Coryesponder.ee,  i.  6S  ;  Saz'i/e  Correspondence,  pp.  32-38. 


320  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

him)  was  looked  upon  by  the  French  grandes  dames  as  a 
most  desirable  conquest,  these  ladies  were  violently  jealous 
of  the  new-comer  who  had  thus  succeeded  in  bringing  him 
to  her  feet  apparently  without  effort.  Montagu  was  only 
a  younger  son  at  this  time;^  but  his  talents,  ambition, 
and  skill  as  a  diplomatist  had  already  marked  him  out  as 
a  man  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the  future.  At  this  time 
his  features  were  remarkably  handsome  ;  although  in  later 
years  he  is  described  as  "  of  a  middle  stature,  inclining  to 
fat ;  of  a  coarse,  dark  complexion."  He  was  about  thirty- 
five  years  of  age,  -  and,  save  for  his  salary  as  ambassador, 
had  little  or  no  resources.  Lady  Northumberland  he  may 
have  loved  for  herself  alone,  but  it  cannot  have  failed  to 
occur  to  him  that,  with  the  aid  of  her  money,  he  could 
rise  the  more  speedily  to  those  heights  upon  which  he 
had  already  set  his  eyes. 

The  Countess  was,  no  doubt,  still  suffering  from  the 
effects  of  her  illness  and  recent  sorrows,  but  this  does 
not  explain  why  the  French  ladies  found,  or  professed  to 
find,  no  trace  of  that  beauty  for  which  she  was  famous. 
Madame  de  la  Fayette  (who  had  long  been  an  admirer  of 
" le  beau  Montaigic")  was  the  most  severe  of  these  feminine 
critics,  for  she  refused  to  allow  to  the  English  Countess 
any  remains  of  comeliness  whatever,  and  described  her 
as  ill-dressed,  plain  of  face,  ungraceful,  and  old-look- 
ing beyond  her  years !  The  words  of  Madame  de  la 
Fayette  (written  to  Madame  de  Sevign^,  and  published 
in  the  immortal  Lettres  of  the  latter)  may  be  thus 
translated  : — 

"  Madame  de  Northumberland  came  to  call  upon  me 
to-day.  I  had  been  to  pay  her  a  visit  with  Madame  de 
Coulanges.  She  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  woman  who  had 
once  been  handsome  enough,  but  who  has  not  one  solitary 
trace  of  beauty  left';  nor  are  there  any  signs  of  youth 
remaining  in  her  appearance  or  manner.  I  was  quite 
astonished.     Add   to   this  that   she   dresses   vilely,  and   is 

'  He  was  the  second  son  of  Edward,  second  Lord  Montagu  of  Boughton. 
'^  Having  been  born  about  163S  ;  Nat.  Diet,  of  Biography. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  321 

quite  destitute  of  grace ;  and  you  will  understand  that  I  was 
by  no  means  dazzled."  ^ 

The  fair  gossip  must  have  viewed  her  visitor  with  pre- 
judiced eyes.  Male  Paris  raved  about  the  "  English 
beauty,"  her  eyes,  her  complexion,  and  her  "  taillc  superhe  "  ; 
and  it  is  strange  that  if  in  1673  she  had  lost  her  charms 
and  grown  elderly  before  her  time  (she  was  barely  twenty- 
five),  a  close  observer,  the  candid  Evelyn,  should  be  found 
full  ten  years  later  to  write  her  down  "j'e  most  beautifull 
Countesse  of  Northumberland^  -  The  equally  flattering  com- 
ment of  the  other  chronicler  of  the  period,  Pepys,  has 
already  been  quoted.^     Madame  de  la  Fayette  continues  : — 

"  She  seemed  to  understand  the  purport  of  everything 
that  was  said  to  her — or  rather,  that  /  said  to  her ;  for 
M.  de  la  Rochefoucauld  and  Madame  de  Thianges,  who 
had  a  great  desire  to  meet  her,  did  not  come  in  till  she 
was  going.  Montaigu  sent  me  word  he  would  be  with 
us  :  I  have  talked  a  great  deal  to  him  about  her,  and  he 
has  declared  himself  her  devoted  slave  without  the  least 
reserve,"  ■* 

But  Montagu  had  to  exert  all  his  fascinations,  and 
to  humble  himself  in  many  ways,  before  he  succeeded  in 
gaining  the  hand  of  Lady  Northumberland.  His  devo- 
tion, and  the  readiness  with  which  he  subordinated  his 
own  convenience  and  pleasure  to  those  of  the  Countess, 
made  him  the  object  of  much  raillery  at  the  hands  of 
Madame  de  la  Fayette  and  her  friends.  Underneath  some 
of  the  jests  written  at  his  expense  by  these  ladies,  there 
is  to  be  discerned  not  a  little  of  envious  rancour.  He  is 
made  mock  of  for  his  servility ;  and  it  seems  that  much 
as  he  would  like  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  charming  Madame 
de  Brissac,  he  does  not  dare  to  do  so,  lest  by  any 
chance   Miladi   of   Northumberland  should  take  offence.^ 

'  Letlres  de  Madame  de  Sevigii4 ;  Madame  de  la  Fayette  to  Madame  de  Sevigne, 
Taris,  April  15,  1673. 

-  Evelyn^s  Diary  (ed.  Bray),  Oct.  10,  16S3,  vol.  i.  p.  564. 
^  The  Countess  was  one  of  Lely's  "  Windsor  Beauties," 
*  Lettres  de  Madame  de  Scvigitc.  "  Ibid. 

11.  X 


322  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Perhaps  the  Countess  was  deterred  from  a  second  marriage 
by  a  genuine  love  and  respect  for  the  memory  of  her 
husband ;  perhaps  she  dreaded  lest  her  mother-in-law 
should  take  advantage  of  Earl  Josceline's  will,  and  claim  the 
guardianship  of  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy  in  case  Montagu's 
suit  were  accepted.  At  all  events  the  diplomatic  cunning 
and  courtier-craft  which  Ralph  Montagu  was  forced  to 
exercise  in  his  ambassadorial  capacity  paled  beside  the 
similar  qualities  which  his  pursuit  of  Lady  Northumber- 
land called  into  play.  On  more  than  one  occasion  his 
hopes  seemed  so  slender  that  the  Sevigne  coterie  fancied 
he  must  abandon  them  altogether,  and  hinted  that  the 
Countess  must  be  mentally  affected  to  refuse  such  a  man. 
"  Montaigu  has  gone  away,"  wrote  Madame  de  la  Fayette  ; 
"  they  say  that  his  hopes  have  been  dashed  to  the  ground. 
I  verily  believe  that  there  is  something  wrong  with  the 
nymph's  mind."^  It  may  have  been  only  a  coincidence, 
but  the  date  on  which  Montagu  was  thus  reported  to  have 
received  his  congt',  lacked  but  two  days  of  being  the 
anniversary  of  Josceline  Percy's  death  at  Turin. 

The  English  Ambassador  at  Paris  was  too  experienced 
in  women,  however,  to  lose  heart  because  his  mistress, 
through  sentiment  or  caprice,  had  administered  a  temporary 
rebuff.  He  had  none  of  that  faint-heartedness  which  was 
said  to  have  brought  about  the  death  of  young  Somerset, 
and  Lady  Northumberland's  temporary  "  unkindness  "  did 
not  daunt  him.  During  the  summer  he  returned  to  the 
attack  with  vigour  anew,  and  pleaded  his  cause  so  well 
that  the  "cruel  fair"  at  last  capitulated.  It  is  now  known 
that  Charles  II.  took  an  active  interest  in  the  affair,^  and 
forwarded  Montagu's  interests  with  the  Countess  to  the 
best  of  his  ability,  whether  from  disinterested  benevolence 
or  a  desire  to  draw  the  runaway  beauty  back  to  England 
and  the  Court,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  The  lady's  family 
connections,  on  the  contrary,  were  opposed  to  the  match  ; 
and  the  Dowager  Countess  in  particular  inveighed  against 

'  Leilres  de  Madame  de  Sevi^iu' :  Paris,  May  19,  1673. 

-  Letters  to  Sir  Joseph  Williamson  ;  Camt/eri  Society  ritblicatkms,  vol.  i. 


THE    HOUSE  OF   PERCY  323 

it  in  the  bitterest  terms,  although  she  realised  that  by  its 
means  her  cherished  plan  of  gaining  possession  of  little 
Lady  Elizabeth  and  the  Percy  estates  might  be  brought 
to  pass.  When  the  young  Countess  left  Paris  for  Eng- 
land on  August  5,  1673,  she  brought  Lady  Elizabeth  with 
her,  and  left  the  child  in  the  care  of  their  tried  friend, 
Dr.  Mapletoft,  who  was  still  practising  his  profession  in 
London.  The  Countess  then  proceeded  to  Titchfield  in 
Hampshire,  where  she  had  been  born,'  and  where  her 
sister,  Lady  Noel,  now  resided.  There  at  the  parish  church, 
on  August  24,  1673,  she  was  married  to  Ralph  Montagu, 
who  had  followed  her  from  Paris. 

It  is  unpleasant  to  have  to  record  that,  less  than  two 
months  after  their  marriage,  Montagu  and  his  wife  were 
reported  as  being  at  variance.  Some  busybody  (not  improb- 
ably the  old  Countess  of  Northumberland)  taunted  the  bride 
with  having  been  "tricked"  into  a  wedding,  and  Mon- 
tagu was  accused  of  having  "  bought  her  of  her  maid  for 
^£500  per  anmim''  ^  Angry  quarrels  ensued  between  the 
pair,  and  a  separation  was  freely  talked  of ; '  indeed  for 
some  time  they  appeared  to  have  actually  lived  apart. 
The  birth  of  a  son  *  in  the  following  year  healed  their 
differences  ;  and  whether  Lady  Northumberland  was  really 
the  victim  of  Montagu's  bribery  or  not,  she  continued 
to  live  tranquilly  with  her  husband  until  her  death.  By 
the  death  of  his  elder  brother,  Edward,  the  Ambassador 
succeeded  to  the  Barony  of  Montagu  of  Boughton.  His 
town  house  in  Bloomsbury  having  been  destroyed  by 
fire  in  1686,  he  set  to  work,  with  the  aid  of  Countess 
Elizabeth,  to  rebuild  it  upon  the  most  magnificent  French 
models.  The  staircase  and  ceilings  were  painted  by  Rosseau 
and  La  Fosse.  This  structure  was  purchased  by  the 
Government  in  1753,  and  became  the  British  Museum, 
The  present  buildings  of  the  Museum  succeeded  it  about 
1840.  Montagu's  promising  diplomatic  career  was  brought 
to   a   conclusion    in  consequence   of   a   quarrel  with   the 

'  Titchfield  was  the  old  seat  of  the  Wriothesleys,  Earls  of  Southampton. 
^  Letters  to  Sir  James  Williamson  ;  Camden  Sodely,  vol.  ii.  35,  63,  71. 
»  Ibid.  *  This  was  Ralph,  Lord  Monthermer,  who  d.vp.  1702. 


324  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Duchess  of  Cleveland,  the  King's  mistress,  who,  while  she 
was  yet  Barbara  Villiers,  had  been  very  intimate  with  him. 
The  Duchess's  daughter.  Lady  Sussex,  having  been  placed 
for  safe-keeping  in  a  Parisian  convent,  Montagu  visited 
her  there,  and  coolly  brought  her  to  live  under  his  own 
roof,  with  what  intentions  we  are  not  informed.  Duchess 
Barbara  was  furious,  and  vowed  that  he  should  pay  dearly 
for  meddling  with  her  daughter.  During  the  connection 
which  had  existed  between  them,  Montagu  had  foolishly 
permitted  himself  to  express  many  unfavourable  opinions 
of  the  King  and  the  Duke  of  York,  and  had  even  placed 
some  of  these  strictures  in  writing.  The  angry  Duchess 
now  laid  these  incautious  letters  before  her  protector, 
careless  as  to  what  he  might  think  of  her  own  relations 
with  the  Ambassador,  and  seeking  only  the  latter's  dis- 
grace.^ Montagu's  treachery  was  too  gross  for  even  the 
good-natured  Charles  to  forgive.  He  was  at  once  recalled, 
and  his  name  struck  out  of  the  Privy  Council.  Nor  indeed 
did  he  recover  from  the  effects  of  his  disgrace  until  the 
advent  of  William  III.,  whose  standard  he  was  one  of  the 
first  to  join.  This  sovereign  created  him,  in  1689,  Viscount 
Monthermer  and  Earl  of  Montagu.  His  wife.  Countess 
Elizabeth,  died  in  September  1690,  at  the  family  seat 
of  Boughton,  Northants,  at  the  age  of  forty-two,  leaving 
three  children  —  (i)  Ralph,  who  predeceased  his  father 
in  1702  ;  (2)  John,  second  Duke  of  Montagu  (1687-1749), 
whose  chief  titles  to  fame  were  his  marriage  with  Lady 
Mary  Churchill,  youngest  daughter  of  the  great  Marl- 
borough, and  his  reputation  for  eccentricity  and  practical 
joking  ;  and  (3)  Anne,  who  married  Alexander  Popham 
of  Littlecote,  co.  Wilts.  The  Duke  of  Buccleuch  is  now 
the  representative  of  Montagu's  marriage  with  Lady  North- 
umberland. Two  years  after  the  death  of  his  first  Countess, 
Montagu  was  shamefully  united  to  the  mad  Duchess  of 
Albemarle.^     This  poor  demented  creature  was  a  great 

1  Harris's  Lives  (ed.  1814),  v.   372,  &c. 

^  Her  first  husband  was  Christopher  Monl<,  second  Duke  of  Albemarle,  son 
of  him  who  placed  Charles  II.  on  the  throne. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  325 

heiress,  and  the  only  surviving  child  of  Henry  Cavendish, 
second  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Her  weak-minded  brother.  Lord 
Ogle,  became  the  first  husband  of  Montagu's  stepdaughter, 
Elizabeth  Percy,  heiress  of  Northumberland — an  alliance 
almost  as  criminal  as  that  which  now  took  place.  Montagu 
wooed  his  victim  under  the  farcical  guise  of  "the  Emperor 
of  China"  ^  (she  had  declared  that  none  but  a  great  poten- 
tate should  obtain  her  hand),  a  circumstance  "  which  gave 
rise  to  a  scene  in  Gibber's  play  of  the  '  Sick  Lady  Cured.'  "  ^ 
The  unhappy  Duchess  was  far  from  being  cured,  however. 
She  was  kept  a  close  prisoner  in  the  ground  f^oor  of 
Montagu  House  during  her  husband's  life,  served  on 
bended  knee,  and  addressed  as  "Your  Imperial  Majesty" 
by  attendants  dressed  in  Chinese  costume.  Montagu  en- 
joyed the  income  from  her  large  estates  until  his  death. 
In  1705  he  was  created  Marquis  of  Monthermer  and  Duke 
of  Montagu  by  Queen  Anne,  through  the  influence  of 
Marlborough.  He  died  in  1709 ;  and  Swift  sums  up  his 
character  with  a  severity  not  wholly  deserved  as  that  of 
"as  arrant  a  knave  as  any  in  his  time."*  The  terrible 
Doctor  was  merciless  to  his  political  opponents. 


Immediately  after  the  death  of  the  eleventh  Earl,  and 

the  reported  extinction  of  the  male  line  of  the  House  of 

Percy,  a  claimant  to  the  vacant  honours  presented 

TheClaimant    ,.,,.,,  r  t  t:)  i         j 

of  Northum-  himsclf  HI  the  pcrsou  of  one  James  Percy,  already 
beriand:        alluded  to,  a  reputable  and  well-to-do  citizen  of 

James  Percy,  '  ^ 

■the Trunk-  Dublin.  In  early  life  Percy  had  been  a  trunk- 
maker,  maker,  but  he  had  long  since  abandoned  this  trade, 
and  was  now  the  head  of  a  thriving  firm  of  merchants  in 
Dublin,  the  management  of  which  he  left  to  his  eldest  son 
(afterwards  Sir  Anthony  Percy),  while  he  himself  came  to 
England  to  prosecute  what  he  fondly  believed  must  prove 

■  WaXpole's  Let/ers  [ed.  1880),  viii.  514;  Granger's  5.'tfj-.  //isj.,  iv.  158. 
-  Pennant's  London,  p.  177. 

•'  The  mad  Duchess  lived  until  the  age  of  ninety-six,  dying  at  Newcastle  House, 
Clerkenwell,  in  1734.     Fortunately  she  left  no  children  by  cither  husband. 
■•  Swift's  ll^oris  (ed.  1S24),  xii.  237. 


326  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

a  successful  suit.  He  landed  in  England  from  the 
Continent — whither  he  had  gone  either  upon  a  merchan- 
dising expedition,  or  else  for  the  purpose  of  paying  his 
respects  to  the  dead  body  of  Earl  Josceline — on  October  ii, 
1670.1  At  this  time  he  was  fifty-one  years  of  age,  and  had 
been  for  some  time  a  widower.  To  the  old  retainers  of  the 
Percy  family,  at  least,  he  was  apparently  well  known  ;  for 
he  had  already  visited  Petworth  in  1654  (immediately  after 
the  death  of  his  uncle  James  left  him  male  representative 
of  the  Irish  Percies),^  and  had  seen  and  conversed  with 
most  of  those  about  Earl  Algernon,  and  in  particular  with 
Mr.  Orlando  Gee  (now  grown  to  be  a  very  great  man 
in  his  way,  and  general  agent  of  all  the  Northumberland 
estates').  Indeed  he  asserted,  without  being  contradicted, 
that  Gee  had  been  present  when  he  was  "recognised" 
by  the  old  Earl  as  a  near  relative,  if  not  as  the  next 
male  heir  after  the  reigning  branch  of  the  family.  But 
whatever  Earl  Algernon  may  have  known  as  to  the 
exact  connection  of  James  Percy  with  the  parent  stem, 
the   ideas   of   the  latter  on  the  subject  were  of   the  very 

'  Craik  ;  Romance  of  the  Peerage^  iv.  288.  Craik  gives  the  best  summary  yet 
published  of  James  Percy's  legal  struggles,  and  does  not,  like  Collins,  suppress 
any  point  distasteful  to  the  winning  side. 

^  James  Percy,  uncle  of  the  Claimant,  baptized  at  Pavenham  in  1581  (see 
Genealogy,  Plate  III.,  and  Genealogy  of  the  Irish  Fercies),  died  in  Dublin  in  the 
spring  of  1654. 

^  Sir  Orlando  Gee,  knight  (161 9- 1705)  was  a  younger  son  of  the  Rev.  John 
Gee,  incumbent  of  Dunsford  in  Devon,  and  brother  of  the  Rev.  John  Gee,  M.A., 
who  was  first  an  Anglican  divine,  then  a  Catholic,  and  lastly  a  Protestant  of  the 
Puritan  Sect  (see  Did.  of  A'at.  Biog.).  Orlando  Gee  became  one  of  the  agents  to 
Algernon,  tenth  Earl  of  Northumberland,  and  rose  steadily  until  he  became  his 
principal  factor.  In  this  capacity  he  continued  to  serve  under  Earl  Josceline,  the 
Dowager  Countess,  and  the  Duchess  of  Somerset.  Through  the  influence  of  Earl 
Algernon,  he  was  in  1660  appointed  Registrar  to  the  Court  of  Admiralty.  His 
efforts  in  opposing  James  Percy  won  him  the  favour  of  the  Duke  of  Somerset, 
and  in  1682  he  received  a  knighthood.  He  appears  to  have  been  married  three 
times  ;  firstly  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Maxey  ;  secondly  (by  license, 
1662)  to  Eliza  Barker ;  and  thirdly  to  Ann,  daughter  of  Robert  Chilcot  of 
Isleworth,  who  figures  in  the  so-called  "  Peace  of  Syon  "  made  between  Earl 
Algernon  and  his  tenants.  Gee  died  in  his  house  at  Isleworth,  and  lies 
buried  in  the  church  there,  where  a  handsome  mural  monument   records  his 


>; 

ERLAND 


Percy ; 

levies  in 
tnd. 


of  Norwich, 
man. 


Arms  ok  Percy  of  Irkland. 

(Confirmed  by  Sir  William  Betham, 
Ulster  King-of-Arms. ) 


AMES  Percy 

;toun,  Co.  Kilkenny  ; 

aptized  1688. 


Elizabeth  Percy  ; 

baptized  1692  ; 

died  at  Nicholstoun, 

1716. 


K  Shee,  Esq., 
ftlemarket, 

h's  County 
ded  from  the 
of  Shee  of 
'o.  Kilkenny]. 


James  Percy 
[male  representa- 
tive of  this  line 
in  1766]. 

i 


Elizabeth 

Percy ; 
m.  William 
Maker,  Esq., 
of  Nicholstoun, 
Co.  Kilkenny. 


I 
John  Pierce 

Maher 

of  Nicholstoun. 

Co.  Kilkenny; 

I*.  1726-7; 

d.  1784. 


I 

Elizabeth  ; 

m.  James  Byrne 

of  Ballyspellan, 

Co.  Kilkenny. 

I 


326  THE   HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

a  successful  suit.  He  landed  in  England  from  the 
Continent — whither  he  had  gone  either  upon  a  merchan- 
dising expedition,  or  else  for  the  purpose  of  paying  his 
respects  to  the  dead  body  of  Earl  Josceline — on  October  ii, 
1670.1  At  this  time  he  was  fifty-one  years  of  age,  and  had 
been  for  some  time  a  widower.  To  the  old  retainers  of  the 
Percy  family,  at  least,  he  was  apparently  well  known  ;  for 
he  had  already  visited  Petworth  in  1654  (immediately  after 
the  death  of  his  uncle  James  left  him  male  representative 
of  the  Irish  Percies),^  and  had  seen  and  conversed  with 
most  of  those  about  Earl  Algernon,  and  in  particular  with 
Mr.  Orlando  Gee  (now  grown  to  be  a  very  great  man 
in  his  way,  and  general  agent  of  all  the  Northumberland 
estates^).  Indeed  he  asserted,  without  being  contradicted, 
that  Gee  had  been  present  when  he  was  "recognised" 
by  the  old  Earl  as  a  near  relative,  if  not  as  the  next 
male  heir  after  the  reigning  branch  of  the  family.  But 
whatever  Earl  Algernon  may  have  known  as  to  the 
exact  connection  of  James  Percy  with  the  parent  stem, 
the   ideas   of  the  latter  on  the  subject  were  of   the  very 

'  Craik  ;  Romance  of  the  Peerage,  iv.  288.  Craik  gives  the  best  summary  yet 
published  of  James  Percy's  legal  struggles,  and  does  not,  like  Collins,  suppress 
any  point  distasteful  to  the  winning  side. 

''■  James  Percy,  uncle  of  the  Claimant,  baptized  at  Pavenham  in  1581  (see 
Genealogy,  Plate  III.,  and  Genealogy  of  the  Irish  Fercies),  died  in  Dublin  in  the 
spring  of  1654. 

^  Sir  Orlando  Gee,  knight  (1619-1705)  was  a  younger  son  of  the  Rev.  John 
Gee,  incumbent  of  Dunsford  in  Devon,  and  brother  of  the  Rev.  John  Gee,  M.A., 
who  was  first  an  Anglican  divine,  then  a  Catholic,  and  lastly  a  Protestant  of  the 
Puritan  Sect  (see  Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog.).  Orlando  Gee  became  one  of  the  agents  to 
Algernon,  tenth  Earl  of  Northumberland,  and  rose  steadily  until  he  became  his 
principal  factor.  In  this  capacity  he  continued  to  serve  under  Earl  Josceline,  the 
Dowager  Countess,  and  the  Duchess  of  Somerset.  Through  the  influence  of  Earl 
Algernon,  he  was  in  1660  appointed  Registrar  to  the  Court  of  Admiralty.  His 
efforts  in  opposing  James  Percy  won  him  the  favour  of  the  Duke  of  Somerset, 
and  in  1682  he  received  a  knighthood.  He  appears  to  have  been  married  three 
times  ;  firstly  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Maxey  ;  secondly  (by  license, 
1662)  to  Eliza  Barker  ;  and  thirdly  to  Ann,  daughter  of  Robert  Chilcot  of 
Isleworth,  who  figures  in  the  so-called  "Peace  of  Syon"  made  between  Earl 
Algernon  and  his  tenants.  Gee  died  in  his  house  at  Isleworth,  and  lies 
buried  in  the  church  there,  where  a  handsome  mural  monument  records  his 
virtues. 


INSERT 

FOLD-OU' 

OR   MAP 

HERE! 


! 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  327 

vaguest  description.     He  was  indeed,  as  he  quaintly  puts 
it,    "  wildernised  "  when  he  came  to  trace  his  descent  with 
the    exactitude    which    the    law    of    succession    demands. 
When    he   came   to    London   to   prosecute   his   claim,   he 
seems   to   have  thought  that  there  would  be  little   or  no 
difficulty  in    doing  so.     He  believed  in   the   existence  of 
family  documents  which  would  establish  his  descent  beyond 
cavil,  and  trusted  in  the  good  faith  of  the  widowed  Coun- 
tesses of  Northumberland,  of  Orlando  Gee,  and  of  Henry 
Champion   (the   last-named    being   custodian    of    the   late 
Earl's  papers)  to   place  these   supposed  evidences  at  his 
disposal.     His    own   line   he   could   not   trace   back  with 
certainty  beyond  his  grandfather,  Henry  Percy  of  Paven- 
ham  ;    and  when  he  was  called  upon  by  the  counsel  for 
Lady  Northumberland  to  name  the  father  of  this  Henry 
Percy,  he  was   unable  to  do  so,  and  could  only  venture 
two   guesses — one   absurd,  the   other   highly   improbable. 
To  the  modern  genealogist  this  may,  at  first  sight,  put  the 
Claimant's   case    out   of   court   at    once.     Indeed   Collins, 
Lodge,    Burke,  and   other   authorities    upon   the    English 
peerage   have  seized  upon   Percy's  inability  to  prove  his 
grandfather's  descent  as  the  best  evidence  that  he  was  an 
impostor.     But  before  accepting  the  dicta  of  these  writers, 
it  is  only  fair  to  remember  the  extreme  difficulties  under 
which  the  Claimant  laboured.     His  branch  of  the  family 
had  become  impoverished ;  whatever  documents  they  pos- 
sessed had  been  lost,  or  else  left  in  the  safe-keeping  of 
the  chiefs  of   the  house.     While  the   ninth  Earl  of  Nor- 
thumberland and  his  seven  brothers   lived  there   seemed 
little   probability   of   the   senior   line   dying   out ;    so   that 
James  Percy,  the   Claimant's   uncle,  living    as   he   did   in 
the   remote  districts  of    Ireland  and  finding  himself  fully 
occupied  in  maintaining  life  and  property  amid   the  suc- 
cessive political  upheavals  of  that  country,  may  be  excused 
for    not    having   paid    much    attention    to    the    preserva- 
tion  of   family   records.      The   Claimant's    father,    Henry 
Percy,  having  been  in  the  household  of  Lord  Bacon,  was 
seriously  compromised  by  the  disgrace  of  the  great  philo- 


328  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

sopher.  Thomas  Bushell,i  another  of  Bacon's  retainers, 
was,  we  are  told,  obhged  to  fly  to  the  Isle  of  Wight  after 
his  master's  fall,  and  to  live  there  disguised  as  a  fisherman  in 
order  to  escape  rack  and  thumbscrew.-  Even  after  Bacon's 
death,  Bushell  did  not  dare  to  show  himself  abroad,  but 
resided  in  a  wretched  hut  470  feet  above  the  sea  level,  "  in 
the  desolated  island  called  the  Calf  of  Man,"  by  way  of 
penance  for  his  former  associations.^  Henry  Percy  was 
under  a  similar  ban,  nor  did  he  possess  any  of  those  talents 
which  subsequently  secured  Bushell  pardon  and  place. 
Indeed  any  chances  which  he  had  of  being  readmitted  to 
society,  through  the  influence  of  Earl  Henry  of  Northum- 
berland, were  utterly  ruined  by  the  heartless  manner  in 
which  he  deserted  his  wife  and  children.  In  1626  (the 
year  following  Bacon's  decease)  he  took  his  family — the 
Claimant  James  Percy  among  the  number — to  "  Dunnington 
in  Lincoln,"  and  left  them  there  in  great  destitution  ;  after 
which  he  came  to  London  in  company  with  his  mis- 
tress, a  serving-wench  named  Mary  Varnum,  "at  which  old 
Henrie,  the  Nineth  Earle,  was  Angry."*  The  wrath  of  the 
old  Earl  proved  fatal  to  Henry  Percy's  prospects,  and 
he  died  in  abject  poverty.  It  was  probably  his  mistress, 
Mary  Varnum,  and  not  his  wife,  who  was  reported  by  the 
agents  of  the  Dowager  Countess  to  have  lived  as  a  pauper 
in  an  outhouse  belonging  to  Mr.  Montagu  at  Horton  in 
Northamptonshire. 

When  deserted  by  his  father,  James  Percy  was  only 
eight  years  of  age.  How  he  passed  his  youth  we  do  not 
know,  but  he  tells  us  in  one  of  his  Petitions  to  the  King 

'  Thomas  Bushell  (1594-1674),  after  Bacon's  fall,  was  obliged  to  hide  him- 
self (as  described  in  the  text)  for  many  years.  He  devoted  his  enforced 
seclusion  to  chemical  studies,  and  his  knowledge  in  this  direction  eventually 
brought  him  to  the  notice  of  Charles  I.,  who  took  him  into  favour.  He  became 
chief  Farmer  of  the  Royal  Mines,  held  Lundy  Island  for  the  King  during  the 
Civil  War,  and  continued  in  high  favour  under  Charles  II.  We  shall  meet  him 
later  as  one  of  the  witnesses  called  by  the  Claimant,  James  Percy.  He  is  buried 
in  Westminster  Abbey. 

2  See  Diet,  of  Nat.  Biography,  article  "Bushell." 

3  Ibid.  *   The  Case  ofjamei  Feny. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  329 

that  he  was  compelled  to  fly  the  kingdom  on  account  of 
his  Royalist  sympathies.  Of  education  he  can  have  re- 
ceived little — they  were  times  when  the  sword  usurped 
the  place  of  the  book ;  but  he  probably  went  to  Ireland, 
where  his  uncle,  James  Percy,  was  eking  out  a  scanty 
livelihood  with  the  help  of  occasional  remittances  from 
the  Earls  of  Northumberland.^  From  that  time  onward 
his  life  was  one  of  hard,  honest  toil,  until  we  find  him 
coming  to  London,  with  a  comfortable  fortune  at  his  back, 
to  lay  claim  to  what  he  believed  to  be  his  inheritance. 
But  alas  for  the  simple-minded  Dublin  merchant  !  He 
was  soon  to  learn  that  earldoms  and  estates  are  not  so 
easily  acquired.  His  first  step  was  to  call  upon  the 
"  Senior  Countesse,"  as  he  called  her,  with  a  request 
which,  in  his  innocence,  he  deemed  she  could  not  refuse. 
In  other  words  he  asked  leave  to  examine  the  family 
records,  then  in  Henry  Champion's  care  at  Syon,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  out  a  detailed  statement  of  the  descent 
of  his  grandfather,  Henry  Percy  of  Pavenham.  The 
Dowager  Lady  Northumberland  referred  him  to  her 
daughter-in-law,  Earl  Josceline's  widow ;  but  as  Percy 
learned  that  the  latter  was  enceinte  and  might  yet  give  birth 
to  a  male  heir,  he  decided  to  wait.  A  few  months  later, 
when  this  prospect  was  at  an  end,  he  visited  Syon,  where 
the  "Junior  Countesse"  was  residing,  and  repeated  his 
request,  adding  a  statement  (true  or  false ;  but  whether 
true  or  false,  undoubtedly  believed  in  by  the  man  that 
made  it)  to  the  effect  that  Earl  Josceline  had  upon  his 
deathbed  recognised  the  head  of  the  Irish  Percies  as  his 
heir  male.  Now  whatever  the  Dowager  Countess  knew 
about  his  claims,  young  Lady  Northumberland  had  never 
heard  of  James  Percy,  and  believing  her  infant  daughter 
to  be  the  sole  heir  of  the  house,  she  declined  to  see  the 
visitor  or  to  enter  into  any  discussion  with  him  in  regard 
to  the  papers  guarded  by  Champion.     Disgusted  by  what 

'  This,  of  course,  is  Percy's  own  statement,  but  it  was  admitted  by  Sir  Orlando 
Gee,  who  sought  to  explain  these  gifts  to  the  Irish  Percies,  by  hinting  at  an 
idegitimaic  connection. 


330  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

he  considered  wanton  spite,  Percy  went  back  to  his 
lodgings,  where  he  wrote  the  following  specimen  of 
doggerel  verse  in  condemnation  of  the  young  widow's 
discourtesy  : — 

"  Wealth  is  a  giant  grown  so  high 
That  can  a  Percy  now  defy ; 
Though,  like  David  with  slings  and  stones 
Shows  great  champion's  blood  and  bones. 
Saul  seeking  asses,  kingdom  met ; 
James  seeks  his  right — finds  foes  too  great. 
Pray  God  give  me  a  zealous  heart, 
That  I  may  seek  the  better  part : 
Then  shall  I  sing  his  praises  clear  ; 
Scorn  to  peep  through  a  window  here. 
This  is  done,  that  it  shall  be  said 
A  Percy  lives,  tho'  Josceline's  dead. 
Resolved  am  I  to  spend  my  all, 
Before  a  Percy's  name  shall  fall." 

These  rhymes  were  despatched  by  special  messenger  to 
Lady  Northumberland ;  wlio,  used  no  doubt  to  the  grace- 
ful and  complimentary  couplets  of  the  Montagus  and 
Somersets,  who  called  themselves  her  devoted  slaves,  was 
naturally  very  angry,  and  denounced  the  poor  merchant 
as  "an  impostor."  Feeling  perhaps  that  he  had  gone  too 
far,  our  poetaster  again  took  counsel  of  his  muse,  and 
ventured  upon  a  second  address,  which  was  an  appeal, 
rather  than  a  defiance  : — 

"  An  impostor  is  a  base  name  ; 
By  doing  Justice  clears  the  shame. 
And  blows  away  the  clouds  so  high, 
Makes  truth  shine  clear  as  sun  in  sky. 
I  trust  in  God,  that  can  restore 
If  not  on  earth,  to  Heaven's  shore." 

But  if  by  "doing  justice"  Percy  meant  the  placing  of 
the  Northumberland  records  at  his  disposal,  the  Countess 
had  no  intention  of  acceding  to  his  wishes ;  and  she  left 
England  a  week  later  without  answering  his  letters.     Her 


THE    HOUSE   OP^   PERCY  331 

marriage  to  Montagu  followed,  and  the  Claimant  now 
found  himself  opposed  by  an  adversary  even  more  deter- 
mined— the  unscrupulous  Dowager  Countess.  Not  only 
did  the  latter  refuse  to  see  him,  but  she  forbade  Henry 
Champion  to  give  him  any  information.  Though  sadly  dis- 
appointed, as  he  informs  us  in  his  "  Case  of  James  Percy,"  ^ 
by  the  discovery  that  human  nature  was  not  so  obliging 
or  so  honourable  as  he  had  anticipated,  he  did  not  feel 
cast  down  by  these  rebuffs,  looking  upon  them  as  obstacles 
thrown  in  his  way  by  interested  persons, -who  sought  "to 
keep  him  out  of  his  rights."  Prevented  from  examining 
the  private  documents  at  Syon  and  Petworth,  he  decided 
upon  applying  to  the  Heralds'  College,  among  the  archives 
of  which  he  had  no  doubt  but  that  he  should  be  able  to 
find  the  proofs  which  he  sought. 

The  heralds,  however,  did  almost  as  little  to  help  Percy 

as   the   Countesses  of  Northumberland  had  done  ;  but  it 

must   be   admitted   that   the   inaction   of   Garter 

of'the    °        King  of  Arms  and  his  subordinates  arose  from 

ciaimantend  inability  rather  than  from  ill-will.     The  Claimant 

in  defea.t. 

states  that  when  he  first  approached  Sir  Edward 
Walker,  the  then  Garter  King,  he  found  the  latter  "very 
rough  "  ;  but  that  after  a  time  Walker  became  more  com- 
pliant, and  consented  to  aid  him  as  far  as  possible.^  A 
book  dealing  with  the  Earls  of  Northumberland  was  pro- 
duced, but  upon  examination  it  was  found  that  "  a  leaf 
had  been  torn  out,"  which  leaf  "must  have  contained  the 
very  information  "  required — i.e.  a  full  account  of  the  cadet 
branches  of  the  House  of  Percy  from  the  time  of  the 
fourth  Earl.  This,  of  course,  is  the  Claimant's  own  story, 
unsupported  by  a.ny  positive  admission  on  the  part  of  the 
Heralds'  College ;  and  to  those  acquainted  with  the  careful 

'  Various  editions  of  the  Case  of/anus  Percy  were  printed,  and  are  to  be 
found  in  the  British  Museum  Library.  Their  gist  is  given  in  the  text ;  to  quote 
them  at  length  (they  are  extremely  prolix)  would  be  impossible. 

"  Sir  Edw.ird  Walker  died  in  February  1677,  just  after  he  had  helped  Percy 
to  draw  up  a  new  pedigree  tracing  his  descent  from  Sir  Ingclgram,  instead  of 
from  Sir  Kichard  Percy. 


332  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

manner  in  which  modern  heraldic  records  are  kept,  it  may 
seem  strange  that  so  important  a  document  should  have 
been  thus  mutilated.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  old  building  of  the  Heralds'  College 
had  been  destroyed  in  the  Great  Fire  of  1666,^  and  that 
some  of  the  manuscript  treasures  may  have  suffered  in 
the  flames ;  also  that  the  portion  of  the  genealogy  sought 
dealt  with  the  descent  of  Thomas  Percy  of  the  Gunpowder 
Treason,  the  obliteration  of  whose  name  probably  seemed 
a  commendable  action  to  the  ultra-loyal  heralds  of  the 
Jacobean  era.  The  Claimant's  assertion  that  the  record 
had  been  mutilated,  and  mutilated  in  a  particular  way, 
is  borne  out  by  a  curious  bit  of  circumstantial  evidence 
unconsciously  afforded  by  Walker's  successor  as  Garter 
King  of  Arms,  Sir  William  Dugdale.  According  to  the 
version  of  James  Percy  there  was  a  hiatus  in  the  MS., 
where  the  page  had  been  torn  out  or  otherwise  de- 
stroyed ;  after  which  the  account  was  resumed  something 
as  follows : — 

".  .  .  .  ard  Pci-cy,  wlio  married  and  had  issue!' 
Who  was  the  mysterious  personage  here  referred  to, 
and  what  was  the  missing  syllable  of  the  name  " .  .  .  .  ard 
Percy "  ?  Naturally  he  turned,  by  Sir  Edward  Walker's 
advice,  to  other  and  unofficial  chronicles,  seeking  for  a 
Percy  as  nearly  allied  to  the  main  stock  as  possible,  whose 
Christian  name  ended  in  the  syllable  "  ard."  Unluckily  for 
himself  he  selected  Sir  Richard  Percy,  fifth  son  of  the  eighth 
Earl,  and  for  some  time  directed  his  endeavours  towards 
tracing  his  descent  from  that  impossible  ancestor.  We 
shall  learn  how  ill  he  fared,  and  how,  when  forced  to  admit 
that  he  could  not  be  Sir  Richard's  great-grandson,  he  laid 
the  blame  upon  the  Heralds'  College,  and  accused  Walker 
of  wilfully  misleading  him.  But  a  little  later,  when  Sir 
William  Dugdale  was  desirous  of  furthering  the  claims  of 
Francis  Percy  of  Cambridge  to  the  earldom,  it  is  evident 

'  The  heralds  occupied  a  house  on  Bennet  Hill,  near  St.  Paul's,  which  stood 
upon  the  site  of  a  former  mansion  of  the  Stanleys,  Earls  of  Derby.  It  was 
rebuilt  shortly  after  the  Great  Fire. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  333 

tluit  he  too  perused  the  mutilated  volume,  and,  in  his  turn, 
founded  a  theory  upon  the  identity  of  " .  .  .  .  ard  Percy!' 
Dugdale  was  a  practical  genealogist,  and  not  likely  to  fall 
into  James  Percy's  blunder  of  choosing  a  name  too  near 
his  own  time  to  allow  of  a  certain  number  of  known 
descents.  Accordingly  he  decided  that  Guiscard  Percy, 
youngest  brother  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  Earls,  was  the 
individual  thus  set  down  as  having  left  legitimate  issue  ; 
and  even  drew  up  a  pedigree  for  his  prote'g^,  Francis  of 
Cambridge,  deriving  the  latter's  descent  from  the  same 
Guiscard  (whom  we  now  know  to  have  died  in  early 
youth,  and  unmarried).  The  fact  that  James  Percy  and  Sir 
William  Dugdale  were  both  at  pains  to  fill  in  a  similar 
gap  in  the  MS.,  practically  proves  that  such  a  gap  existed, 
and  enhances  the  probability  that  the  Claimant's  story  of 
a  mutilated  leaf  in  the  heraldic  records  was  correct.  In 
the  light  of  subsequent  researches,  it  appears  most  likely 
that  ".  .  .  .  ard  Percy"  stood  for  Edward  Percy,  born 
about  the  same  time  as  Guiscard,  and  son  of  Josceline 
Percy  of  Newlands,  fourth  son  of  the  fourth  Earl.^  From 
this  Edward  the  so-called  "Trunkmaker"  may  well  have 
sprung,  as  we  shall  take  occasion  to  point  out  presently. 
But  he  had  no  idea  of  Edward's  existence,  and  so,  by 
the  advice  of  his  lawyer,  boldly  claimed  Sir  Richard 
Percy ,^  brother  of  the  "Wizard"  Earl,  as  his  ancestor. 
The  claim  was,  upon  the  face  of  it,  absurd.  Sir  Richard, 
a  gallant  soldier,  had  died  at  Angers  within  the  memory 
of  living  men,^  and,  so  far  as  was  known,  a  bachelor. 
To  have  been  the  great-grandfather  of  James  Percy, 
according  to  the  pedigree  now  put  forward,  he  must 
have  become  a  grandfather  at  the  age  of  sixteen!*  The 
Claimant  afterwards  explained  that  he  had  "  fixed  on  an 
ancestor  for  himself  in  the  first  instance,  merely  upon  a 
tentative  principle,  or  on  the  calculation  that  the  discussion, 

'  See  Genealogy  of  the  House  of  Percy,  Table  III. 
-  Jbid.  ^  In  1647,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two. 

*  The  elder  James  Percy  (here  reputed  to  be  bis  grandson)  having  been  born 
at  Pavenham  on  Feb.  12,  15S1. 


334  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

or  even  confutation  of  the  pedigree  .  .  .  might  throw  light 
enough  upon  the  subject  to  enable  him  to  make  out 
his  true  descent."  ^  In  other  words,  he  was  feeling  in  the 
dark ;  and  hoped,  by  forcing  the  hands  of  the  Dowager 
Countess,  to  compel  her  to  give  him  a  clue  as  to  the 
identity  of  his  great-grandparents.  His  legal  adviser 
was  one  Thomas  Swayne,  an  attorney  "of  Pimbourne 
(Pimpern?),  Dorset."  On  February  3,  1672,  Swayne 
lodged  at  the  Signet  Office,  Whitehall,  a  formal  claim 
on  his  client's  behalf  to  the  heritable  honours  and  estates 
of  the  House  of  Northumberland.  The  case  came  before 
the  Lords  during  the  next  session,  which  began  on 
February  4,  1673.  In  the  meantime  Percy  had  presented 
a  petition  (the  first  of  a  long  series)  to  the  Kmg,  who 
"was  Graciously  pleased  to  return  the  Answer,  'God  forbid 
he  should  hinder  an  Heir,  but  that  he  should  have  the 
Benefit  of  the  Law.'  "  -  The  Dowager  Countess  of  North- 
umberland had  also  moved  in  the  matter,  her  opposition 
taking  the  form  of  an  address  to  the  Upper  House  on 
behalf  of  her  grandchild,  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy,  and  herself, 
in  which  she  complained  "  that  one  calling  himself  James 
Percy  (by  profession  a  trunk  maker  in  Dublin,  Ireland)  had 
assumed  to  himself  the  titles  of  Earl  of  Northumberland, 
and  Lord  Percy,  to  the  dishonour  of  the  family."  ^  This 
address  was  referred  by  the  Lords  to  Committee  upon 
Privilege.  Two  days  later  a  counter-petition  from  the 
Claimant  was,  as  soon  as  read,  ordered  to  be  "  dismissed 
the  House,"  perhaps  (as  Craik  suggests)  on  account  of  some 
technical  error  in  the  drafting.  On  February  27  the  Com- 
mittee on  Privilege  took  up  the  Countess's  plea,  with  the 
result  that  James  Percy  was  ordered  to  make  an  immediate 
answer  in  writing.  No  time  was  lost  in  obeying  this 
mandate,  the  optimistic  "  Trunkmaker  "  no  doubt  believing 
that  his  affairs  had  begun  to  move  in  the  swiftest  and  most 
satisfactory  manner,  and  that  the  ancient  dame  in  North- 

'  Craik  ;  Romance  of  the  Peerage. 

■  Case  of  James  Percy  ;  Percy's  Tetition  to  the  King,  1 679,  &c. 

^  Journals  of  the  House  of  Lords. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  335 

umberland  House  was  iighting  his  battle  for  him,  just  as 
his  attorney  had  anticipated.  He  was  not  content  with  a 
mere  written  answer,  but  sent  in  also  a  second  petition 
composed  in  much  the  same  vein  as  his  doggerel  missive 
to  Earl  Algernon's  widow.  The  Committee,  after  some 
consideration,  found  that  the  case  could  not  with  decency 
be  dismissed  in  the  summary  fashion  demanded  by  the 
Dowager  Countess.  Both  parties  were  given  a  month  to 
prepare  their  arguments.  Lady  Northumberland  (who 
knew  more  about  the  Claimant  than  she  chose  to  admit) 
at  once  sent  agents  to  all  the  places  in  which  the  immediate 
ancestors  of  her  opponent  had  resided  during  their  years 
of  wandering.  We  find  her  Yorkshire  agent,  Nathaniel 
Whaliey,^  reporting  that  the  Percies  were  looked  upon  as 
"  of  small  account "  while  they  made  the  parish  of  Horton 
their  home  ;  and  that  a  woman  whom  he  pretends  was  the 
Claimant's  mother  (but  who  was  probably  Mary  Varnum, 
the  mistress  of  his  father)  had  died  not  many  years 
before  in  a  hut,  or  outhouse,  near  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Montagu,'^  in  that  place.  The  agent  also  reported  that  he 
could  find  no  entry  respecting  the  Claimant's  birth  either 
at  Horton  or  at  Pavenham  Bury  in  Bedfordshire,  which 
was  not  surprising,  seeing  that  James  Percy  had  been 
born  at  Harrowden,  Northants,  as  afterwards  appeared 
from  the  certificate  which  he  produced.  On  his  side 
Percy  also  visited  these  places,  examined  the  registers 
there,  and  induced  as  many  of  his  father's  and  grand- 
father's friends  as  he  could  to  come  to  London  as  witnesses. 
On  March  28  the  Committee  heard  both  sides  briefly, 
and  appeared  impressed  by  Percy's  evidence,  since  they 

1  W^halley  to  H.  Champion  ;  Alnwick  MSS. 

-  George  Montagu  of  Horton  was  son  of  the  Earl  of  Manchester,  and  father 
of  Charles  Montagu,  Earl  of  Halifax.  The  Copes  (to  whom  Percy's  mother 
belonged)  were  for  centuries  persons  of  consequence  in  the  neighbourhood, 
having  held  the  manor  of  Denshanger,  which,  like  Horton,  is  in  the  Hundred  of 
Cleyley.  John  Cope,  Esq.,  of  Denshanger  Manor,  died  2  Hen.  V.;  his  son 
Stephen  Cope,  of  Denshanger,  was  aged  twenty  years  in  13  Hen.  VI.;  and  his 
grandson,  Edward  Cope,  of  Denshanger,  died  2  Hen.  VHI.,  leaving  a  daughter 
and  heir,  Anne  Cope,  then  aged  nine  years.  "  Dame  Cope,"  the  Claimant's 
mother-in-law,  was  probably  the  widow  of  a  descendant  of  this  family. 


336  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

came  to  the  following  resolution  :  "  It  is  ordered  that  the 
House  be  informed  of  the  difficulties  of  the  case  ;  and 
that  the  Committee  are  of  opinon  that  the  House  should 
direct  that  His  Majesty  may  be  moved  to  hear  his  (James 
Percy's)  title."  ^  On  the  same  day  the  Earl  of  Carlisle 
informed  his  brother  peers  that  he  had  duly  approached 
the  King,  in  company  with  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,-  and  that 
his  Majesty  had  given  the  House  leave  to  hear  James 
Percy  in  due  form. 

The  Claimant's  answer  and  petition  were  then  read ; 
after  which  he  appeared  in  company  with  his  counsel  at  the 
bar  of  the  House,  the  counsel  of  the  Dowager  Countess 
being  likewise  present.  Percy  was  represented  by  Sergeant 
Francis  Pemberton.  This  man,  who  rose  to  be  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Common  Pleas,  yet  finished  his  days  as  a  private 
lawyer,  afterwards  earned  unenviable  notoriety  in  con- 
nection with  another  case  intimately  connected  with  the 
fortunes  of  the  House  of  Percy.^  Lady  Northumberland's 
counsel  was  allowed  first  speech,  and  he  apparently  con- 
fined his  efforts  to  showing  that  Sir  Richard  Percy  could 
not  possibly  have  been  great-grandfather  of  the  plaintiff. 
None  of  the  information  for  which  the  Claimant  hoped 
was  forthcoming.  Sergeant  Pemberton  then  asked  for  a 
further  allowance  of  time,  setting  forth  that  his  client  had 
not  been  permitted  access  to  the  family  records,  and  that 
therefore  he  would  be  compelled  to  build  up  his  claim  from 
parish  records,  and  evidence  gathered  from  persons  in 
many  parts  of  the  kingdom.  To  this  the  Lords  replied  that 
they  were  willing  enough  to  allow  Percy  further  time,  if  he 
could  "make  appear  any  probability  towards  his  claim" — 
i.e.  towards  his  claim  of  descent  from  Sir  Richard,  which 
of  course  was  out  of  the  question.  Pemberton  answered 
that  his  client  now  waived  this  claim  altogether  ;    but  that 

'  Quoted  from  the  original  minute-book  in  the  "Report  of  the  Select  Committee 
of  the  Lords,  appointed  to  Search  for  Precedents  ;  1S42." 

-  Brother  of  the  Dowager  Countess. 

'  i.e.  the  trial  of  Koningsmarck  for  the  murder  of  Thomas  Thynn,  when  he 
summed  up  in  favour  of  Koningsmarck  and  in  apparent  opposition  to  the  evidence. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  337 

lie  still  maintained  his  right  to  the  Earldom  of  North- 
umberland, and  that  he  had  above  forty  witnesses  already 
sworn  at  the  bar  of  the  House,  and  waiting  to  give  evidence 
in  his  favour.  Among  these  witnesses  were  Thomas 
Bushell,  Farmer-General  of  the  Royal  Mines,  and  Thomas 
Fleetwood,  both  of  whom  had  been  with  Henry  Percy, 
father  of  James,  in  the  service  of  Lord  Bacon.  These 
worthies,  together  with  many  others,  were,  according  to  the 
Claimant,  prepared  to  swear  that  his  father  had  again  and 
again  been  recognised  as  a  near  relative  by  "Josceline 
Percy,  the  seventh  son  of  the  eighth  Earl,  and  by  the  rest 
of  those  eight  brethren."  All  that  he  asked  for,  there- 
fore, was  a  little  time  in  which  to  prove  the  exact  degree 
of  relationship  which  existed  between  his  father  and  the 
brothers  of  the  "Wizard"  Earl.  The  Lords,  however,  re- 
fused to  allow  him  a  postponement  of  the  case  ;  and,  on 
the  motion  of  Lord  Suffolk,  brother  of  his  chief  opponent, 
voted  to  dismiss  his  claim  without  delay.  One  voice  alone 
was  raised  in  Percy's  favour  — that  of  the  Earl  of  Anglesey,^ 
an  Irish  nobleman,  who  held  that  the  petitioner  was  being 
treated  unfairly,  and  that  the  time  he  asked  should  be 
granted.  It  is  possible  that  Anglesey  was  personally  ac- 
quainted with  the  man  whom  he  championed. 

Thus  disastrously  ended  the  first  effort  of  James  Percy 
to  establish  his  claim.  Nothing  daunted,  he  issued  a 
printed  address  to  the  public,  in  which  he  attacked  Orlando 
Gee  and  Henry  Champion  by  name,  alleging  that  they, 
"  who  could  have  set  him  right,  wilfully  took  advantage  of 
his  ignorance."^  He  had  met  these  agents  of  Lady  Nor- 
thumberland, he  declared,  at  the  residence  of  Dr.  Lamplugh 

'  James  Annesley,  first  Earl  of  Anglesey  and  Viscount  Valentia  (son  of  the 
Lord  Mountmorris  of  Strafford's  time)  was  born  in  Dublin  in  1614.  This  was 
not  the  only  occasion  upon  which  he  took  up  an  independent  attitude  in  the 
House  of  Lords.  During  the  "  Popish  Terror  "  he  was  the  only  peer  who  dissented 
from  the  vote  declaring  the  existence  of  a  Catholic  Plot.  He  also  interceded 
manfully  in  favour  of  Archbishop  Plunket.  He  was  a  man  of  enlightened  mind, 
and  one  of  the  first  peers  in  England  "  who  devoted  time  and  money  to  the  for- 
mation of  a  great  library." — Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog. 

'•'  Cast  of  James  Percy, 
11.  Y 


338  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

by  special  appointment,  and  Mr.  Henry  Champion  had 
gone  so  far  as  to  own  "that  Henry  Percy  that  Hved  with 
my  Lord  Bacon  was  the  right  Heir,  had  he  Hved."  ^  Yet 
he  could  not  induce  them  to  speak  publicly  in  his  favour. 
In  conclusion  he  asked  his  readers  to  be  patient  with  him, 
as  he  proposed  before  long  to  bring  forward  a  second  case, 
which  could  not  be  set  aside  as  the  first  had  been. 

Percy's  researches  in  the  registers  of  Pavenham  Bury, 
Harrowden,  and  Horton  had  proved  his  clear  and  legiti- 
mate   descent    for    three    generations.     He    was 
ft^ggiesof    hiiTiself  born  at  Harrowden  in  1619,  the  second 
James  but  cldcst  Surviving  son  of  Henry  Percy  (some- 

jusUceHaies  time  Servant  to  Lord  Bacon)  and  Lydia  Cope, 
pronounces     his  wifc,  "daughter  of  Dame  Cope  of  Horton, 

in  his  favour :  ,  . 

Lady  Pern-  Northants.'"^  His  father,  Henry,  was  the  third  son 
broke'siong    q{  another  Henry  Percy,  by  his  wife,  the  daughter 

memory.  -^  j  r      j  i  o 

of  James  Tibbot  of  Pavenham  Bury,  co.  Bedford.^ 
The  eldest  son  of  this  last-mentioned  Henry  was  the  James 
Percy,  uncle  of  the  Claimant,  who  died  in  Ireland  with- 
out male  issue  in  1654.*  The  second  son,  William,  had 
already  died  in  childhood ;   so  that  the  representation  of 

'  Case  of  James  Percy. 

"  According  to  the  "Register  Booke"  of  Horton,  Henry  Percy  and  Lydia 
Cope  were  married  by  licence  in  1614.  Two  children,  Henry  and  Eliza,  were 
born  to  them  before  James,  but  both  died  in  early  youth.  The  birth  of  William, 
illegitimate  son  of  Henry  Percy  by  Mary  Varnum,  may  also  be  seen  in  this 
register. 

3  In  his  History  of  the  Hundred  of  Willey  (Bedfordshire),  Mr.  William  Marsh 
Harvey  gives  the  following  extracts  from  the  Pavenham  Registers : — 

"James  Pearcye  fit.  Henrici  Percye,  baptizat.  ftiit  jcij"  die  fehruarij,  A",  dnj, 
1581. 

^^  Baptized  IViUm.  Peart:ey,filliii^  Henrici  Pearcy,  15  Dcccmbris,  1583. 

"  Baptiz.  Maria  Pearcye  filia  Henrici  Percye,  27  Septemhiis,  1 590. 

''  Bapliz.  Alicia  Pearcye  filia  Henrici  Pearci  Januarij  18,  Ao.  q.  dni.  1593. 

"  Sepulii  fiiere  duo  ( IVillm.)  filii  Henrici  Pearci  partus  20  die  fanuarij  Anno 
dni.  1592." 

The  baptism  of  a  Francis,  son  of  "  Laurance  Percy,"  and  the  marriage  of  a 
"Thomas  Pearcye"  and  Elizabeth  Seamer  are  also  quoted.  In  the  register  of 
the  neighbouring  parish  of  Carlton,  Bedfordshire,  under  date  of  January  30,  1 596, 
is  recorded  the  baptism  of  a  "John,  son  of  Laurence  Percy." 

*  He  left  two  daughters,  both  married. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  339 

the  family  devolved  upon  tlie  "Trunkmaker."  Beyond 
his  paternal  grandfather  Percy  could  not  trace  by  the 
evidence  of  any  documents  at  his  disposal.  He  had,  how- 
ever, inherited  a  family  tradition  that  this  first  Henry, 
together  with  three  other  children,  brothers  and  sisters, 
were  of  near  kin  to  the  Earls  of  Northumberland,  and 
that  they  had  been  brought  from  the  North  by  stealth 
immediately  after  the  re-establishment  of  Protestantism  in 
1559.  Of  one  of  these  brothers,  his  grand-uncle  Robert 
Percy,  the  Claimant  had  personal  knowledge ;  and  he 
claimed  to  be  able  to  produce  numerous  witnesses  from 
the  districts  about  Pavenham,  Harrowden,  and  Horton, 
who  w'ould  swear  to  the  coming  of  the  four  from  the 
North,  and  their  settlement  in  that  part  of  the  country. 
The  story  may  seem  too  romantic  to  be  true,  but  the 
period  was  one  which  produced  many  stranger  romances ; 
and  there  is  not  wanting  a  very  similar  case  which  occurred 
almost  at  the  same  time,  and  which  rests  upon  a  historical 
basis.  Several  children  of  the  ancient  Catholic  family  of 
Tempest  of  Holmside  in  Durham  were  smuggled  out  of 
their  own  home  by  friends  during  the  Elizabethan  perse- 
cutions, and  sent  to  fosterage  with  respectable  families  in 
Oxford  and  Kent,  where  they  grew  up  as  peasants,  or  at 
least  in  stations  far  beneath  the  rank  of  their  ancestors.^ 
Whether  the  Claimant's  ancestors  were  actually  brought 
to  Northamptonshire  in  this  manner  or  not,  seems  past 
positive  proof  or  refutation  ;  but  it  is  worth  observing  that 
James  Percy  found  at  least  one  believer  in  his  published 
account  of  the  tradition  who,  from  her  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  Northumberland  family  ties,  deserves  at  least  to  be 
heard  with  attention.  This  was  Anne,  Countess  of  Pem- 
broke and  Montgomery,^  a  descendant  of  Henry  Clifford, 

'   Surtees  ;  Hiiloiy  of  Durham  (CheileryXaiA). 

-  She  was  the  sole  daughter  and  heir  of  George  Clifford,  Earl  of  Cumberland  ; 
and  had  married,  firstly,  Richard  Sacville,  third  Earl  of  Dorset  (by  whom  she  had 
issue  two  daughters  and  co-heirs,  Margaret,  wife  of  John  Tufton,  Earl  of 
Thanet,  and  Isabel,  wife  of  James  Compton,  Earl  of  Northampton) ;  and  secondly, 
as  his  second  wife,  Philip  Herbert,  fourth  Earl  of  Pembroke  and  first  Earl  of 
Montgomery  (by  whom  she  had  no  issue). 


34°  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Earl  of  Cumberland,  by  his  marriage  with  Lady  Margaret 
Percy,  sister  of  the  "  unlucky  Earl."  •  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  the  Earl  of  Cumberland  was  a  practical 
sympathiser  with  his  luckless  brother-in-law  during  the 
latter's  marital  troubles,  and  indeed  acted  for  a  time  as 
guardian  of  the  Percy  estates.  Lady  Pembroke  openly 
stated  at  Court  and  elsewhere  that  "z/"  the  Tnmkmaker 
really  came  from  Pavcnhayn,-  he  must  be  one  of  those  four 
Percy  children  that  in  the  time  of  the  troubles  in  1559  were 
sent  out  of  the  North  in  Hampiers"^  to  old  Dame  Vaux  at 
Harraden  ^  in  Northamptonshire} 

The  appearance  of  this  unexpected  ally  upon  Percy's 
side  startled  Lady  Northumberland  and  her  agents  as 
much  as  it  encouraged  the  Claimant.  The  former  now 
decided  upon  an  entirely  new  move,  with  a  view  of  dis- 
concerting their  adversary.  Mention  has  been  made  of  a 
William  Percy,  illegitimate  son  of  the  Trunkmaker's  father. 
This  person  had  been  brought  to  London  by  Orlando  Gee, 
and  was  established  as  a  glover  under  the  patronage  of 
the  Dowager  Countess.  He  was  persuaded  without  much 
difficulty  to  put  forward  in  his  turn  a  claim  to  the  Earldom, 
alleging  that  "  James  Percy  was  either  not  the  son  of 
Henry  Percy  of  Horton,  or  else  but  a  bastard."  In  the 
Gazette  was  printed  "«  Pedigree  of  William  Percy,  set  forth 
to  undeceive  the  people"  ;  and  the  same  publication  an- 
nounced that  the  former  Claimant  must  be  an  impostor, 
since  the  said  William,  and  not  he,  was  the  son  of  Henry 
Percy  of  Horton,  late  servant  to  Lord  Bacon. 

The  Claimant  was  then  lodging  at  the  house  of  a  Dr. 

'  See  Genealogy,  Table  II. 

-  Pavenham  was  held  temp.  Henry  VII.  by  Sir  Thomas  Cheyne,  knt.,  from 
whom  it  passed  to  his  daughter  and  heir  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Thomas,  second  Lord 
Vaux  of  Harrowden. 

^  Hampers  or  panniers.     The  spelling  of  the  word  apparently  puzzled  Craik. 

•*  This  was  the  Elizabeth  Cheyne,  heir  of  Pavenham,  mentioned  in  the  above 
note.  Lady  Vaux  and  all  her  generation  were  Romanists.  Her  son  William, 
third  Lord  Vaux,  married  firstly  a  Beaumont  of  Grace  Dieu,  and  secondly  Mary 
Tresham,  aunt  of  Francis  Tresham  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot. 

'  Case  of  James  Pircy. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  341 

ClKunberlaine^ ;  and  this  gentleman,  together  with  Colonel 
William  Ayres  and  others,  accompanied  James  to  the  shop 
in  which  his  half-brother  had  been  recently  established. 
At  first  William  Percy  stuck  stoutly  to  the  tale  which 
he  had  been  taught ;  but  being  a  man  of  little  intelligence 
he  soon  became  confused,  and  made  several  extraordinary 
and  impossible  assertions,  among  others  that  his  father 
"  was  the  Earl's  brother."  Eventually  he  owned  that  he 
spoke  "  as  the  Agents  told  him  ;  for  he  knew  nothing  but 
what  they  told  him."  -  To  this  James  Percy  replied  that  he 
himself  was  the  only  surviving  legitimate  son  of  Henry 
Percy  of  Horton,  who  was  not  an  Earl's  brother,  but 
merely  the  son  of  Henry  Percy  of  Pavenham.  William 
Percy,  as  he  fully  proved  by  a  certificated  extract  from  the 
Parish  Register  of  Horton,  was  the  base-born  child  of  his 
said  father,  by  Mary  Varnum,  a  servant  of  Madam  Cope. 
The  said  Henry  Percy,  after  the  downfall  of  Lord  Bacon, 
"  took  his  wife  and  children  and  left  them  at  Dunington  in 
Lincoln,  and  then  cohabited  with  Mary  Varnum,  servant 
of  his  wife's  mother,  at  which  old  Henry  the  Nineth  Earl 
was  angry."  His  published  account  of  the  interview,  from 
which  the  above  extracts  are  taken,  closes  thus :  "  I 
should  never  have  uncovered  my  Father's  Nakedness,  had 
not  my  Brother  (and  wicked  Agents  and  Men  hard  of 
Belief)  forced  me  to  it.  Now  suppose  they  had  proved 
Mary  Varnum  married,  yet  I  was  seven  years  elder.  But 
to  put  up  a  poor,  ignorant  man,  a  journeyman  Glover,  and 
christen  his  Children  to  deceive  the  World,^  and  to  slight 
the  true  Heir,  because  I  was  a  Trunkmaker  !  The  Trade  is 
good,  and  by  God's  Blessing  it  hath  given  me  bread  in  the 
extremity  of  my  Travaills,  till  I  obtained  the  merchandiz- 
ing Trade,  and  can  make  my  three  Sons  Freemen  and 
Merchants    of    London,   and    Dublin    in    Ireland,  and   of 

'  Perhaps,  as  Craik  suggests,  the  author  of  The  Present  Slate  of  England. 

^  Case  of  James  Percy. 

^  The  offspring  of  William  Percy  were  christened  by  family  names  such  as 
"  Algernon,"  "  Josceline,"  and  "  Henry  "  ;  but  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  this 
was  done  by  counsel  of  Gee,  Champion,  and  the  others. 


342  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Norwich  in  Norfolk,  and  have  Hkewise  trained  them  up 
in  Handicrafts,  so  that  if  they  fail  in  the  Mystery  of 
Merchandizing,  they  may,  with  God's  Blessing,  live  upon 
their  Ingenuity."^ 

This  composition,  evidently  from  his  own  pen,  is  a 
specimen  of  the  incoherent,  ungrammatical  manner  in 
which  the  Claimant's  petitions  and  statements  were 
written  ;  but  the  allusion  to  his  father,  and  the  manliness 
with  which  he  avows  his  former  position  as  a  tradesman, 
show  us  that  he  was  a  person  of  strong  natural  feeling, 
and  rugged  honesty  of  character.  The  claim  of  William 
Percy  that  his  father  "  was  brother  to  the  Earl "  is  ex- 
plained by  the  pretended  line  of  descent  which  Gee  and 
Champion  drew  up  for  him.  Their  first  intention  was  to 
make  him  out  a  son  of  that  William  Percy  of  Oxford  (third 
son  of  the  eighth  Earl)  whose  strange  secluded  life  ended 
in  1648  ;  but  they  subsequently  changed  their  minds,  and 
in  the  descent  claimed  for  him  in  the  Gazette,  he  is  alleged 
to  have  been  a  son  of  Henry,  Lord  Percy  of  Alnwick, 
(brother  of  the  tenth  Earl),  begotten,  it  was  suggested, 
while  the  latter  was  masquerading  as  plain  Henry  Percy 
at  Horton  in  Northamptonshire.'-  But  in  truth  one  story 
was  well-nigh  as  good  as  another  in  the  eyes  of  Gee  and 
his  confederates  ;  their  sole  intention  being  to  embarrass 
the  Claimant,  James  Percy,  by  vexatious  cross-suits,  and 
to  drive  him  from  the  field,  after  which  it  would  be  easy 
enough  to  get  rid  of  the  journeyman  glover  by  proving 
that  his  father  and  mother  had  never  been  married.  The 
unlooked-for  breakdown  of  William  Percy's  evidence  in 
the  presence  of  several  reputable  witnesses,  and  the  irre- 
futable proofs  that  he  was  an  illegitimate  brother  of  James, 
upset  these  plans  altogether.  Indeed  the  failure  of  the 
clumsy  scheme,  together  with  the  declaration  of  Lady 
Pembroke,  had  the  effect  of  placing  the  Claimant  in  a 
far  better  position  than  before,  and  of  vastly  increasing  the 
number  of  his  sympathisers. 

In  Trinity  Term  1674,  James  Percy  brought  an  action 

'   Ca^e  of  James  Percy.  ^  Craik. 


THE    HOUSE   OP^   PERCY  343 

for  slander  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  against  John 
Clarke,  one  of  Lady  Northumberland's  agents.  Clarke 
had  called  him  an  impostor.  The  case  was  tried  by  Sir 
Edward  Hales  ;  and  although  several  of  the  plaintiff's  wit- 
nesses failed  to  appear,  Hales  declared  in  open  court  that 
the  plaintiff  had  proved  himself  "a  true  Percy,  legitimate 
for  three  generations,  of  the  blood  of  the  Percies  of  North- 
umberland." The  judge  further  expressed  it  as  his  belief, 
from  the  evidence,  that  Percy  "  was  cousin  and  next  heir 
of  Josceline,  eleventh  Earl  of  Northumberland,  only  he  was 
afraid  that  he  had  taken  his  descent  a  little  too  low.^  He 
then  advised  the  plaintiff  to  come  better  prepared  next 
time.  For  the  present  he  must  submit  to  a  non-suit.  We 
have  no  means  of  discovering  the  nature  of  the  evidence 
produced  which  led  Hales  to  make  this  remarkable  state- 
ment, except  it  be  that  Percy  brought  forward  witnesses 
to  prove  the  statements  alluded  to  in  his  comments  upon 
a  subsequent  trial  : — 

"  Had  Justice  Scroggs-  suffered  the  Witnesses  to  speak 
at  the  Tryal,  it  would  have  been  sufficiently  prov'd  that 
James  Percy  and  Henry  Percy  were  brothers,  and  the 
sons  of  Henry  Percy  that  was  sent  out  of  the  North  .... 
and  were  so  owned  by  Henry  the  ninth  Earl  and  his 
seven  brethren,  and  did  oft  visit  each  other. 

"Algernoon  the  tenth  Earl  did  own  James  the  Unkle 
in  Ireland  to  be  the  next  Heir,  if  the  Brother,  Henry 
Lord  Percy,  died  without  Issue  Male  of  his  Body  ;  and 
sent  James  Percy,  the  Unkle  of  James  the  Clayment  ;^ioo 
into  Ireland ;  and  likewise  did  often  own  James  Percy 
the  Trunkmaker,  and  give  him  Money,  and  acknowledged 
that  he  was  the  next  Heir  Male  if  his  Son  should  dye 
and  leave  no  Heire-males  of  his  Body. 

"Henry  Lord  Percy  (brother  of  Algernoon)  did  de- 
clare on  his  Deathbed  that  James  Percy  a  Trunkmaker 
was  the  next  Heir,  if  his  Brother's  Son  should  die. 

"  Joscelin  the  eleventh  Earl,  beyond  Sea,  did  declare 
upon  his  death-bed,  'That  James  Percy  the  Trunk-Maker 

'  i.e.  from  Sir  Richard  Percy  (d.  1647).  -  Who  tried  the  later  case. 


344  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

in  Ireland  was  the  next  Heir-Male,  if  he  were  living;'  and 
Cryed  out  '  Oh  that  he  were  here  now.' "  ^ 

If  indeed  the  Claimant  was  able  to  produce  witnesses 
to  prove  that  he  had  been  recognised  as  next  heir  of 
the  blood  by  three  successive  Earls  of  Northumberland, 
and  by  Henry,  Lord  Percy,  Sir  Edward  Hales  would 
have  been  justified,  in  spite  of  the  absurd  claim  of  de- 
scent from  Sir  Richard  Percy,  in  expressing  a  favourable 
opinion  of  the  plaintiff's  case.  If  no  such  evidence  was 
laid  before  him,  this  public  pronouncement  appears  in  the 
last  degree  unwarrantable.  But  it  is  hard  to  believe  that 
Hales  could  so  commit  himself  without  good  and  suffi- 
cient reason. 

But  the  Claimant  was  as  far  as  ever  from  obtaining 

that  which  he  sought  most  earnestly,  viz.  a  search  warrant 

to  examine   the  family  papers  in  Henry  Cham- 
New  une  of  .  .  ,  ,  f  1  i1         Vl 

descent  pion's  carc.     In  the  absence  of   such  authority, 

""privuege"  h^  s^^  himself  to  follow  Justice  Hales'  advice, 
bars  the  and  to  Seek  out  a  likelier  great-grandfather 
"^^^  with  such  help  as  the  hints  of  Lady  Pembroke 

and  hearsay  evidence  of  friends  could  give  him.  This 
time  he  chose  as  his  ancestor  Sir  Ingelgram  Percy,  third 
son  of  the  fifth  Earl  —  that  same  Sir  Ingelgram  who, 
after  being  associated  with  his  brother  Sir  Henry  in  the 
"  Pilgrimage  of  Grace,"  suffered  imprisonment  in  the  Tower, 
and  there  scrawled  the  pathetic  legend,  "  Inggram  Percy. 
Saro  fideli!"^  An  action  was  instituted  against  Sir  John 
Coplestone,  "trustee  for  Lady  Clifford,"  for  the  recovery 
of  certain  lands  in  the  county  Somerset,^  which  the 
Trunkmaker  claimed  as  belonging  of  right  to  the  heir 
male  of  the  House  of  Percy,  but  which,  after  the  death 
of  Josceline,  had  been  granted  to  Lady  Clifford*  by  the 
Crown.       Other    extensive    landed    estates    held    by    the 

'  Case  of  James  Percy. 

"  See  anie,  under  the  sixth  Earl.     See  also  Genealogy,  Table  II. 

'  The  estate  of  Cannington,  Somerset. 

*  Wife  of  Thomas,  Lord  CUfl'ord,  of  the  "Cabal"  Ministry. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  345 

eleventh  Earl  and  his  predecessors  had  also  lapsed  to 
the  Crown  at  the  former's  death,  and  had,  in  a  similar 
way,  been  bestowed  upon  Court  favourites,  such  as  the 
Duke  of  Monmouth,  so  that  in  this  suit  Percy  found 
himself  opposed,  openly  or  in  secret,  by  a  number  of 
wealthy  and  influential  persons.  Sir  John  Coplestone 
(declares  the  Claimant)  sheltered  himself  for  as  long  a 
time  as  he  could  under  a  plea  of  Privilege,  based  upon 
his  being  the  representative  of  a  peeress  ;  but  the  case 
was  at  length  brought  up  for  trial,  when  Justice  Scroggs 
refused  to  admit  the  evidence  of  many  of  Percy's  wit- 
nesses, and  a  verdict  was  therefore  returned  in  favour  of 
Coplestone,  with  ;^'8o  costs,  which  the  plaintiff  was  ordered 
to  pay  into  Court  without  delay. 

The  Claimant,  according  to  his  custom,  published  a 
manifesto  after  this  defeat,  in  which  he  abandoned  the 
pretended  descent  from  Sir  Richard  Percy  altogether,  and 
asserted  that  the  four  children  sent  "in  hampiers  from  the 
North  "  to  Lady  Vaux  of  Harrowden,  were  the  offspring  of 
Sir  Ingelgram  Percy.  To  accept  this  pedigree,  as  Craik 
points  out,  is  to  admit  that  the  Claimant's  grandfather 
Henry  (as  a  son  of  Sir  Ingelgram)  was  at  least  seventy-five 
or  seventy-six  years  of  age  before  his  son's  marriage,  and 
ninety  before  the  birth  of  his  illegitimate  grandson,  William 
the  glover.  "  Intervals,"  remarks  this  author,  "  by  no 
means  impossible,  but  yet  considerably  beyond  what  are 
usual."  ^  There  existed,  however,  another  piece  of  circum- 
stantial evidence  (probably  unknown  at  the  time,  certainly 
not  alluded  to  either  by  James  Percy  or  his  opponents) 
which  tends  to  prove  that  Sir  Ingelgram  was  not  the  father 
of  the  "  Four  Percies  of  Pavenham."  This  was  Sir  Ingel- 
gram's  will,  made  shortly  before  his  death,  in  which  no 
mention  is  made  of  any  offspring  save  a  daughter,^  who, 
from  the  wording  of  the  document  in  question,  may  be 

'  Romance  of  the  Peerage. 

^  She  married  Tempest  of  Broughton.  The  will,  dated  June  7,  153S,  was 
probated  March  21,  1539.  Sir  Ingelgram  left  ;£'20  to  his  daughter  Isabel!  till 
of  lawful  age,  and  a  sum  of  twenty  marks  for  her  mother  (name  not  given). 


346  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

assumed  to  have  been  illegitimate.  It  is  possible,  of  course, 
that  Sir  Ingelgram  may,  for  reasons  of  his  own,  have 
omitted  the  names  of  his  legitimate  children  from  his  will. 
His  uncle,  Josceline  Percy,  for  instance,  in  a  will  presently 
to  be  quoted,  did  not  make  any  mention  of  his  undoubted 
son,  Edward  Percy.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  can  be 
readily  shown  that  Edward  was  son  of  Josceline  ;  whereas 
no  known  evidence  of  any  sort  exists  to  indicate  that  Sir 
Ingelgram  was  even  married.  Moreover  the  latter  died  in 
1540 — nineteen  years  before  the  date  upon  which  the 
"  Four  Percies  "  were  said  to  have  been  brought  from  the 
North,  so  that  these  young  persons,  if  they  were  indeed 
children  of  Sir  Ingelgram,  must  have  long  passed  the  age 
at  which  they  could  be  concealed  in  hampers  or  panniers. 
Altogether  the  assumed  descent  of  James  Percy  from 
Sir  Ingelgram  (in  the  third  degree  at  least)  appears  highly 
improbable  ;  and  the  Claimant  would  have  been  well  advised 
had  he  abandoned  it  in  its  turn  and  directed  his  attention 
to  the  progeny  of  Josceline  of  Newlands,  brother  of  the 
hfth  Earl,  among  whom  he  might  well  have  found  the 
great-grandfather  that  he  looked  for.  But  his  advisers 
evidently  believed  (and  their  opinion  was  shared  by  so 
skilled  a  genealogist  as  Sir  William  Dugdale)  that  the 
Newlands  branch  was  too  remote  for  their  purpose. 
While  he  laboured  to  discover  evidence  of  Sir  Ingelgram 
Percy's  marriage,  valuable  time  was  slipping  by,  and  im- 
portant witnesses  (like  Thomas  Bushell,  his  father's  friend)  ^ 
were  dying.  At  last,  in  1676,  he  returned  to  London 
without  having  found  anything  new  in  support  of  his 
claim. 

On  June  13  in  that  year  he  began  an  action  "against 
John  Blackeston,  Esquire,-  for  slander  and  defamation. 
The  case  was  removed  from  the  Guildhall  to  the  King's 
Bench,  Westminster,  and  was  thus  delayed  for  eleven 
months.  It  eventually  came  up  for  trial  on  May  7,  1677. 
The  plaintiff,  with  the  aid  of  two  of  his  sons,  had  engaged 

'  Bushell  died  in  1674. 
-  Another  agent  of  the  Dowager  Countess  of  Northumberland. 


THE    HOUSE   OK   PERCY  347 

"  no  fewer  than  fourteen  counsel,"  and  had  subpcenacd 
sixty-five  witnesses.  The  sum  of  the  distances  travelled  by 
these  witnesses,  he  informs  us,  amounted  to  "  full  four 
thousand  miles."  Under  the  circumstances  it  is  not  sur- 
prising to  learn  that  Percy's  preliminary  expenses  were 
very  large.  It  must  have  been  a  cruel  blow  to  the  un- 
fortunate man,  when,  after  all  his  preparations,  disburse- 
ments, and  delays,  he  was  after  all  dismissed  without  a 
hearing!  Once  more  the  hateful  question  of  Privilege 
barred  the  way.  Blackeston,  through  his  counsel,  protested 
against  the  case  being  even  entered  upon,  inasmuch  as  he 
was  the  servant  or  agent  of  the  Countess  Dowager  and  of 
the  young  Elizabeth,  Baroness  Percy,  being  steward  of  their 
courts  and  receiver  of  their  rents.  As  he  was  actually  in 
their  employment  when  the  alleged  slanders  were  uttered, 
he  claimed  to  be  protected  by  "  Privilege  of  Peerage." 
"Whereupon,"  says  Percy  in  his  subsequent  Memorial  to 
the  House  of  Commons,'  "  all  your  Petitioner's  Counsell 
refused  to  plead,  altho'  the  Court  would  have  heard  them, 
and  proceeded  to  trial  upon  the  Cause  :  but  the  Counsell 
replied  '  they  had  no  mind  to  go  to  the  Tower,  some  of 
them  having  been  there  before.'  And  thus  the  Trial  was 
put  off.  Whereupon  Mr.  Justice  Wilde,  hearing  these 
things,  stood  up  and  said  in  open  Court  :  *  Fye,  fye, 
Gentlemen  ;  is  this  a  time  to  insist  upon  Privilege,  when 
you  forced  the  plaintiff  to  the  Trial,  and  have  put  him  to 
so  great  Expense,  Travel,  and  Labour  ?  you  do  but  cast 
cold  Water  upon  your  Cause.  It  is  not  the  first  time  this 
Cause  hath  been  before  this  Court.'  "  Blackeston,  on  being 
questioned,  avowed  that  "  in  any  event  the  Countess  was  to 
bear  him  harmless."  In  spite  of  Justice  Wilde's  remon- 
strance the  lawyers  were  afraid  to  plead,  and  the  trial  was 
practically  still-born.  Percy's  sixty-five  witnesses  jour- 
neyed back  the  "full  four  thousand  miles"  which  they  had 
traversed  to  give  evidence  in  his  favour,  and,  worse  than 
all,  the  poor  Claimant  was  condemned  in  costs,  because  his 
own  lawyers  had  refused  to  face  the  bugbear  of  Privilege. 
'  Percy's  Memorial  to  the  House  of  Commons.     Also  the  Case  of  James  Percy. 


348  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

As  long  as  his  money  held  out,  however,  the  Trunk- 
maker  was  determined  to  continue  the  contest  even  while 
such  unfair  weapons  were  used  against  him.  On  May  14 
of  the  same  year  he  actually  succeeded  in  winning  a  case 
(although  a  very  small  one).  The  names  of  the  defendants 
have  not  been  preserved,  but  they  were  sued  in  the  Court 
of  King's  Bench,  Westminster  (probably  before  the  same 
Justice  Wilde),  and  a  verdict  obtained  against  them  for 
-^300  damages  on  the  charge  of  "  scandalizing  the  Claim- 
ant's right  and  title."  It  is  doubtful  whether  these  damages 
were  ever  collected.  At  any  rate  we  find  Percy  in  the 
following  year  (1678)  petitioning  the  House  of  Commons 
in  these  terms  : — 

"  Your  Petitioner  hath  been  all  along  perplexed  and 
troubled  by  many  suits  at  law,  unjustly  commenced  against 
him  by  the  agents  of  the  defendants,  or  some  of  them,  on 
purpose  to  tire  him  out  and  ruin  him  by  chargeable  de- 
fences ;  and  it  is  now  almost  eight  years  since  he  began 
his  claim  ...  all  of  which  time  he  hath  vigourously  and 
industriously  pursued  his  right  though  against  so  great  and 
unequal  force  and  opposition  that  he  hath  not  been  able 
to  prevail ;  and  therefore  humbly  craves  leave  to  bring 
the  state  of  his  case  and  the  narrative  of  his  proceedings 
before  this  honourable  House,  imploring  their  assistance 
to  appear,  mediate,  and  interpose  in  his  behalf." 

Parliament  had  other  and  more  serious  things  to  think 
of,  however,  than  petitions  from  peerage  claimants.  Oates 
and  Bedloe  had  just  "  revealed "  what  they  called  the 
Popish  Plot,  the  Test  Act  had  passed  both  Houses,  and 
the  country  was  in  a  ferment.  Percy's  memorial  was 
accordingly  still  unread,  when  Parliament  was  prorogued 
and  dissolved  by  the  King  in  January  1679.  A  few  weeks 
later,  on  February  6,  the  case  against  Blackeston  came 
up  for  the  second  and  last  time.  The  defendant  once 
more  pleaded  "  Peerage  Privilege "  as  a  protection,  and 
Percy  was  non-suited.  His  counsel  now  told  him  that 
his  only  hope  of  relief  lay  in  a  special  Act  of  Parliament. 

Deeply  dejected,  he  resolved  to  pay  a  visit  to  Ireland 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  349 

(whither  he  had  not  been  for  eight  years),  in  order  to 
"Inform,  Incourage,  and  Direct  his  eldest  son  Anthony 
Percy,"  together  with  the  latter's  brothers,  Henry  and 
John.'  It  is  Hkely  that  he  also  wished  to  raise  money,  for 
his  once  well-tilled  purse  had  been  sadly  depleted  by  the 
heavy  losses  which  he  had  undergone. 

When  the  Claimant  returned  to  England  in  the  autumn 
of  1679,  he  found  that  yet  another  Parliament  had  met, 
and  been  in  turn  dissolved,'-  without  giving  any 
the  King:  attention  to  his  case.  One  of  his  first  actions  was, 
cruel  jest  of  q„  Octobcr  21,  to  address  a  petition  to  James, 
Monmouth:  Duke  of  York.  Why  he  should  have  looked  for 
"Pnvaese"    -jjj   qj.   Ycliei   to    this    quarter    is    hard   to    say. 

again.  ^  -^ 

James  had  been  deprived  by  the  Test  Act  of 
all  his  offices  and  dignities  ;  and  Monmouth,  Shaftesbury, 
and  the  Protestant  party  were  clamouring  for  the  passage 
of  an  Exclusion  Act,  whereby  the  "royal  papist"  might 
even  be  prevented  from  inheriting  the  Crown.  Percy  him- 
self may  have  been  a  Catholic ;  or  he  may  have  merely 
addressed  James  from  a  feeling  of  pique  against  the 
House  of  Commons,  which  had  left  his  memorial  un- 
answered. The  Duke  advised  him  to  address  the  King ; 
and  this  he  did  in  two  petitions,  one  dated  November  25, 
and  another  December  18,  1679.  The  old  ground  is  gone 
over  once  more,  and  bitter  complaint  is  made  that  "the 
True  Heir,  looking  after  his  birth-right,  should  be  put  in 
the  Gazet  for  an  impostor.  ...  It  is  very  sad  when  a 
Lost  Dog  shall  find  Entrance  and  a  Just  man  be  kept 
Out."  The  "  lost  dog  "  referred  to  is  apparently  the  weak- 
minded  Lord  Ogle,  who  had  been  married  early  in  the 
same  year  to  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy,  and  who  had  there- 
upon assumed  the  name  and  arms  of  Percy.  On  that 
occasion  the  Claimant  had  sent  from  Dublin  to  the  office 

'  Petition  to  the  King  (1679).  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Claimant's 
sons  were  all  three  now  in  Ireland,  and  that  the  two  younger  had  left  or  lost 
their  "  merchandizing  "  businesses  in  Norwich  and  London. 

-  This  was  the  Habeas  Corpiis  Paiiiamcnl,  dissolved  May  27,  1679,  after  a 
session  of  less  than  three  months. 


350  THE    HOUSE   OP^   PERCY 

of  the  Gazette,  for  publication,  the  following  characteristic 
advertisement  : — 

"  Whereas  the  Lord  Ogle  is  published  in  Print  to  have 
changed  his  name  from  Cavendish  to  Percy  upon  his 
marriage  with  the  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy.  James  Percy, 
Esquire,  the  true  Heir-Male  of  the  Blood  of  the  House  of 
Northumberland,  that  hath  stood  to  Justify  his  claim  about 
Ten  Years,  and  hath  proved  himself  a  Legitimate  Percy  in 
the  King's  Bench,  doth  likewise  Publish  to  the  World  that 
he  will  Justify  his  Right  durante  vitcr,  and  hopes  the  Publick 
will  not  be  deceived  by  any  Artifice ;  for  he  desires  no 
more  but  a  free,  legal,  and  final  determination  of  his  said 
Claim.     Fiat  Jnsticia  &  ruat  Cceluni  !  J.  P." 

This  announcement  he  now  quotes  in  full  to  the  King. 
He  is  also  bold  enough  to  object  because  George  Fitz-Roy, 
natural  son  of  Charles,  had  been  created  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland. In  this  petition  also  he  refers  to  a  relationship 
which  will  call  for  notice  presently — that  which  he  claims 
as  existing  between  himself  and  Francis  Percy  of  Cam- 
bridge, who  afterwards  came  forward  with  the  endorse- 
ment of  Sir  William  Dugdale  to  assert  his  own  alleged 
rights  to  the  Earldom.  James  Percy,  speaking  of  those 
who,  after  himself  and  his  posterity,  stand  next  in  the 
order  of  succession,  says  :  "  Now  for  Alexander  Percy, 
gentleman,  of  Ireland,  that  rides  in  the  Life  Guards ;  and 
Mr.  Roger  Percy,  shoemaker  at  Charing  Cross ;  and  Mr 
Francis  Percy,  stone-cutter  of  Cambridge,  and  his  brother  a 
tailor ;  I  acknowledge  them  to  be  cousins  and  descended 
from  the  sons  of  Robert  Percy,  vty  great-uncle.  And  by 
reason  I  know  not  which  is  the  eldest  and  nearest  of  kin 
of  that  collateral  line,  therefore  I  humbly  pray  that  the 
Heralds  may  take  notice,  and  help  them  to  find  out  the 
truth  seriously.  For  my  cordial  endeavours  are  to  preserve 
the  moon^  from  being  misted  or  eclipsed  any  more."^ 

'  i.e.  the  crescent  moon,  badge  of  the  House  of  Percy. 

^  In  a  species  of  postscript  to  his  petition,  the  Claimant  mentions  as  among 
his  cousins  "Captain  Percy  of  Beverley,  a  descendant  of  the  fourth  Earl,"  and 
"Sir  Thomas  Percy,  a  descendant  of  the  second  Earl."    In  the  first  of  these 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  351 

This  long  petition  (which,  if  it  ever  really  reached  the 
King's  eyes,  probably  amused  his  Majesty  vastly)  was 
drawn  up  and  signed  at  the  Claimant's  new  lodgings  "  at 
Mr.  Curtis  his  house  in  Windsor  Court,  Mugwell  Street, 
near  Cripplegate  "  ;  after  which  Percy  presented  it  in  person 
"at  the  office  of  Sir  William  Glasco,  Master  in  Waiting," 
where  he  was  told  to  call  for  an  answer  on  December  22. 
This  he  did,  but  Glasco  could  not  or  would  not  see  him. 
He  returned  on  the  following  day,  when  "  Sir  William 
returned  this  answer  by  his  Maid-Servant  that  he  was 
busie  with  some  friends,  and  that  the  King  would  hear 
nothing  until  after  the  Christmas  Hollidays."  So  that  no 
more  satisfaction  was  obtainable  from  the  King  than  from 
the  Parliament  or  the  Law  Courts. 

Windsor  Court,  Mugwell  Street,  wherein  James  Percy 
on  /lis  part  spent  the  Christmas  of  1679  anything  but 
delectably,  was  a  small  byway  once  the  approach  to 
Nevill's  Inn,  wherein  the  Nevills,  Earls  of  Westmoreland, 
had  formerly  resided.^  In  Mugwell,  otherwise  Monkwell 
Street,  stood  Barber  Surgeons'  Hall ;  and  hardly  was  Grub 
Street  more  "  celebrated  for  the  (supposed)  residence  of 
authors  of  the  less  fortunate  tribe,  and  the  trite  and  illiterate 
jests  of  the  more  favoured."  Of  the  Mr.  Curtis  in  whose 
house  Percy  lodged,  nothing  is  known.  The  "Christmas 
Hollidays"  of  1679-80  found  the  Claimant  in  the  thick  of  a 
lawsuit  with  his  former  attorney,  Thomas  Swayne,  who 
had  now  turned  against  him,  and  whom  he  terms  "  a  greate 
scoundrel."^  On  one  occasion  while  walking  with  Henry 
Champion,  Lady  Northumberland's  agent,*  in  Temple 
Gardens,  the  latter   asked   him  who   had  helped  him    to 

one  recognises  Alan  Percy  of  Beverley,  who  died  1687  [see  Genealogy,  Table  III.] ; 
wliile  the  second  was  probably  Captain  Thomas  Percy  of  Dormer's  regiment, 
who  was  of  Bishop  Percy's  kin,  and  who  died  in  Spain  1709-10. 

'  In  the  fourth  of  Henry  IV.,  Ralph,  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  died  possessed  of 
this  mansion.  It  afterwards  passed  to  the  Lords  Windsor,  from  whom  the  court 
took  ils  name. 

^  Case  of  James  Percy.     Petition  to  the  House  of  Lords. 

'  Curiously  enough  he  appears  to  have  continued  on  terms  of  intimacy  with 
Champion,  Gee,  and  others  of  the  Dowager's  chief  advisers. 


352  THE    HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

his  attorney.  "  I  believe  yourself  or  the  devil  sent  him  to 
me,"  answered  Percy.  At  last  he  could  support  Swayne's 
exactions  and  mismanagement  no  longer,  and  accordingly 
dismissed  him.  The  lawyer  had  fattened  upon  his  client 
for  so  long  that  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  let  Percy  go 
so  easily.  Accordingly  he  got  up  three  successive  suits 
against  him,  the  litigation  lasting  in  all  three  years.  But 
Percy  clearly  had  the  rights  of  it,  for  Swayne  was  "cast  in 
all  three  cases."  He  eluded  every  attempt  to  lay  hands 
upon  him,  however,  and  the  Claimant  never  recovered  the 
costs  allowed  him  in  the  three  suits.  It  is  possible  that 
Swayne  had  something  to  do  with  stirring  up  James  Percy's 
cousin,  Francis  of  Cambridge,  to  claim  the  earldom  ;  at 
least  it  is  an  odd  coincidence  that  Swayne's  dismissal 
was  almost  immediately  followed  by  Francis  Percy's 
claim. 

The  suit  by  dint  of  which  the  attorney  harassed  his 
former  client  during  the  winter  of  1679-80  dealt  with  a 
sum  of  money  which  he  asserted  had  been  promised  to 
him  for  opening  up  negotiations  for  a  marriage  between 
Anthony  Percy  of  Dublin,  eldest  son  of  the  Claimant,  and 
one  of  the  daughters  of  Viscount  Newport  (afterwards 
Earl  of  Bradford).  Careful  examination  into  this  strange 
affair  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  nothing  moia 
than  a  hoax  or  practical  joke,  conceived  in  very  bad  taste, 
and  aimed  equally  at  Lord  Newport  and  James  Percy. 
Furthermore,  it  would  appear  that  the  young  Duke  of 
Monmouth  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  affair.  Newport  was 
a  man  of  rank  and  property,^  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Shrop- 
shire, and  for  some  time  Treasurer  of  the  Household.  He 
had  married  Lady  Diana  Russell,  daughter  of  Francis, 
fourth  Earl  of  Bedford.  It  is  scarcely  possible  that  a  man 
of  such  position  and  connections  should  be  willing  to 
bestow  the  hand  of  his  daughter  upon  a  Dublin  merchant 

'  Francis  Newport,  Viscount  Newport,  created  Earl  of  Bradford  in  1694,  was 
born  in  i6zoand  died  in  1708.  His  grandchild  and  the  eventual  representative 
of  the  family  married  Sir  Orlando  Bridgman,  from  whom  descends  the  present 
Earl  of  Bradford. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  353 

of  moderate  fortune,  the  son  of  the  poor  "Trunkmaker" 
who  did  not  even  possess  enouj^h  credit  to  procure  the 
reading  of  his  petition  at  Court.  Yet  the  attorney,  Swayne, 
persuaded  Percy  that  Newport  was  willing  to  enter  into 
such  an  alliance,  adding  "that  a  marriage  between  Anthony 
and  one  of  the  Ladies  Newport  would  go  far  to  set  matters 
to  rights,"  since  the  Viscount  was  hand-in-glove  with 
Monmouth,  "the  Protestant  Prince,"  and  owned  a  joint 
share  in  a  sum  of  ^12,000  for  which  the  Duke  had  sold 
some  of  the  lapsed  Percy  estates  which  he  had  been 
granted.  However  Swayne  (or  his  probable  prompter, 
Monmouth)  managed  things,  "a  preliminary  interview" 
actually  took  place  between  the  "  Trunkmaker  "  and  Lord 
Newport,  Subsequently  Swayne  took  his  dupe  to  visit 
Monmouth,  who  assured  Percy  that  he  would  aid  the 
proposed  Newport  alliance  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  Duke 
Absalom  also  "told  the  Complainant  (Percy)  that  he  should 
have  a  fair  trial  at  law,  and  if  the  Claimant  proved  himself 
heir  male,  God  forbid  he  should  hinder  him.  Upon  which 
the  Complainant  returned  with  great  joy ;  posted  away 
into  Northumberland,  and  delivered  declarations  in  eject- 
ment upon  those  lands  the  Duke  had  recovered  of  the 
Countess  upon  pretence  that  there  was  no  heir  male  of  the 
Percies  living." 

Monmouth  took  care  to  drop  Lady  Northumberland 
a  hint  of  what  was  afoot  (he  was  deeply  interested  in 
the  wooing  of  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy  by  his  friend,  Mr. 
Thomas  Thynn),  with  the  result  that  the  Dowager  Coun- 
tess endeavoured  with  all  her  might  to  make  the  Claimant's 
northern  journey  an  unpleasant  one.  At  York  the  latter 
was  arrested  on  two  trumped  up  charges  of  fraud,  and  he 
even  asserts  that  when  he  reached  Newcastle  an  attempt 
was  made  upon  his  life.  The  declarations  in  ejectment 
having  been  duly  served,  however,  the  trial  came  on, 
Percy  fully  expecting  the  fair  play  promised  him.  To  his 
utter  surprise,  a  plea  of  Privilege  was  set  up  by  Mon- 
mouth's counsel,  which,  of  course,  stopped  the  proceedings  ; 
"whereupon  the  Claimant  went  to  Mr.  Rosse,  the  Duke's 

II.  z 


354  THE   HOUSE  OF   PERCY 

secretary,  to  know  why  it  was  so,  when  the  Duke  did 
promise  he  would  not  btand  upon  Privilege,  but  a  fair 
trial  should  be  had.  Mr.  Rosse  replied  that  the  Duke 
could  not  set  aside  his  privilege."  Percy  found  that  the 
prospect  of  an  alliance  between  his  son  Anthony  and 
Lord  Newport's  daughter  was  equally  illusory,  for  New- 
port, when  called  upon,  denied  all  knowledge  of  the  affair, 
which  we  therefore  take  to  be  a  cruel  jest  perpetrated  at 
the  Claimant's  expense  by  Monmouth,  with  Swayne  for 
accessory.  The  double  disappointment  dazed  Percy  for 
a  time,  and  he  disappeared  from  his  old  haunts  in  White- 
hall and  Westminster,  being  quite  "  wildernised "  (as  he 
expresses  it)  by  the  wanton  trick  played  upon  him  by 
"  that  great  and  good  prince,  King  Monmouth."  At  this  his 
enemies  went  about  boasting  that  "  the  ten  years'  Claimant 
was  run  away  "  ;  which  speedily  drew  him  forth  from  his 
retirement,  and  caused  him  to  issue  a  new  manifesto. 
"  By  God's  Providence,"  he  wrote,  "  I  remain  at  Mr.  Ralph 
Carter's  house,  a  trunkmaker's  in  Fleet  Street,  over  against 
Sergeant's  Inn,  where  the  messenger  may  find  James 
Percy  to  serve  the  King's  royal  Writ  of  Summons." 

A  few  weeks  after  the  opening  of  the  new,  or  fourth, 
Parliament  of  Charles  II.,  a  petition  was  presented  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  on  behalf  of  the  Claimant,  desiring  that 
a  day  might  be  appointed  for  him  to  be  heard  to  make  out 
his  title.  The  "  Popish  Plot,"  and  the  coming  impeach- 
ment of  the  unfortunate  Viscount  Stafford,  occupied  the 
minds  of  the  Peers,  but  they  found  time  to  briefly  de- 
bate Percy's  plea.  Eventually  it  was  rejected  by  a  large 
majority.  The  Earl  of  Anglesey  spoke  stoutly  in  favour 
of  the  Claimant,  as  he  had  done  on  a  former  occasion  ; 
and  protested  against  the  decision  arrived  at  on  the 
grounds — (i)  that  the  claim  was  one  which  could  be 
examined  nowhere  but  in  that  House ;  (2)  that  it  was 
unjust  to  reject  any  claim  without  a  hearing;  (3)  that 
the  course  taken  was  contrary  to  precedent  and  con- 
stant usage ;  and  (4)  that  the  dismissal  of  the  claim 
by  a  former  Parliament  was  no  sufficient   reason  in  the 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  355 

circumstances  why  it  should  not  be  reconsidered  by  the 
present. 

It  was  certainly  a  new  case,  and  involved  new  evi- 
dence, "A  claim  of  succession,"  says  Craik,  "whether  to 
honours  or  property,  has  its  essence  or  entire  substance 
and  meaning  in  the  line  of  descent  along  which  it  is  traced, 
and  its  having  been  disproved  when  traced  by  one  line, 
can  have  no  effect  or  bearing  whatever  upon  its  validity 
when  traced  by  another." 

One  of  the  witnesses  whom  James  Percy  had  sum- 
moned to  give  evidence  in  his  behalf  was  a  worthy  trades- 
man of  Cambridge,  Francis  Percy  by  name, 
ci^^mant:  As  We  havc  secu,  the  "Trunkmaker"  called  this 
the  "Stone-  man  his  cousin,  the  grandson  of  his  uncle 
lows  the  Robert;  but  it  is  uncertain  whether  Francis 
"Trunk-        g^g^  admitted   the   relationship,  or  whether   he 

maker.  '^ ' 

was  one  of  the  sixty-iive  witnesses  who  came  to 
London  in  1677  to  attend  the  suit  against  Blackeston. 
Four  years  afterwards,  however,  when  Parliament  rejected 
the  plea  of  James  Percy  for  the  second  time,  Francis  of 
Cambridge  resolved  to  try  his  own  luck  as  a  claimant  to 
the  Earldom  of  Northumberland.  At  this  time  he  was 
only  thirty-two  years  of  age,^  and  a  stonecutter  by  trade  ; 
but,  like  his  kinsman  the  "Trunkmaker,"  he  afterwards 
rose  by  force  of  industry  to  "  the  mystery  of  merchan- 
dizing," and  became  Alderman  and  eventually  (in  1709) 
Mayor  of  Cambridge.  The  characters  of  the  two  claimants, 
indeed,  showed  a  strong  family  likeness  ;  and  their  fates 
might  have  been  similar,  but  the  younger  man  was  de- 
terred by  the  disastrous  example  of  the  elder  from  wasting 
his  life  and  fortune  in  a  profitless  war  against  the  power 
and  privileges  of  those  "in  possession." 

In  1681,  therefore,  Francis  Percy  came  to  London 
to  consult  the  officials  of  the  Heralds'  College  as  to  the 
possibilities  of  his  being  the  true  heir  of  Northumberland. 
He  too  could  only  trace  as  far  as  his  grandfather,  one 
Robert  Percy  (whom  the  "Trunkmaker"  claimed  to  have 

'  Having  been  born  at  Bickley,  county  Devon,  in  1649. 


356  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

been  his  great-uncle).  The  tradition  that  this  grandfather 
had  been  carried  out  of  Northumberland  during  the  troubles 
of  a  former  reign  was  known  to  him  ;  but  he  also  inherited 
a  second  tradition  (which  the  "Trunkmaker  "  either  did  not 
know,  or  else  chose  to  suppress),  viz.  that  Robert  Percy 
was  a  very  near  relative  of  Thomas  Percy,  one  of  the  chief 
conspirators  in  the  Gunpowder  Treason.  Sir  William  Dug- 
dale  received  the  new  Claimant  civilly,  and  finding  that 
Thomas  Percy  had  actually  left  children,  one  of  whom 
was  said  to  have  been  a  Robert,  advised  Francis  of 
Cambridge  to  claim  the  conspirator  as  his  great-grand- 
father. But  in  examining  the  MS.  books  at  his  disposal 
for  a  clue  to  Thomas  Percy's  parentage,  Dugdale  was 
misled  (doubtless  by  the  same  mutilated  page  which  had 
puzzled  his  predecessor  Walker)  into  making  the  fanatical 
constable  of  Alnwick  the  son  of  one  who  could  not,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  have  left  issue.  In  other  words  he  set 
down  Guiscard  Percy,  brother  of  the  seventh  and  eighth 
Earls,  as  father  of  Thomas ;  although  Guiscard  had  actu- 
ally died  in  early  childhood.'  We  know  to-day  that  the 
conspirator  was  son  of  Edward  Percy  of  Beverley,  and 
grandson  of  Josceline  Percy  of  Newlands.  Had  either 
Francis  or  James  Percy  been  able  to  discover  as  much, 
they  might  have  saved  themselves  a  world  of  trouble,  and 
perhaps  even  succeeded  in  establishing  a  male  heir  of 
the  old  house  in  the  place  of  his  ancestors.  At  Dugdale's 
direction,  Francis  of  Cambridge  did  as  the  "Trunkmaker" 
had  done  before  him,  journeying  to  most  of  the  places 
where  his  forebears,  real  or  imaginary,  had  resided,  and 
collecting  certificates  from  the  parish  registers,  as  well 
as  statements  from  persons  who  had  known  them.  This 
mass  of  evidence  he  deposited  with  Dugdale,  who  expressed 
himself  as  well  pleased,  and  even  confident  of  success.  The 
"  Stonecutter  Claimant  "  returned  to  his  shop  in  Cambridge, 
and  waited,  somewhat  impatiently,  while  Garter  King  of 
Arms  sifted  the  various  proofs  of  descent.  Several  letters 
passed  between  him  and  Dugdale,  but  he  heard  nothing 

'  He  was  certainly  not  alive  in   1537,  when   his  father,  Sir  Thomas,  was 
executed. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  357 

of  any  positive  claim  to  the  Earldom  of  Northumberland 
being  put  forward  in  his  behalf.  At  length  he  wrote  to  the 
Garter  King  urging  him  to  take  immediate  steps  in  this 
direction,  and  (sly  stonecutter  !)  sending  at  the  same  time 
a  present  of  some  plump  fowl  from  the  famous  Stourbridge 
Fair  (where  he  had  just  set  up  a  trading  booth) ' — his  first 
step  in  "  merchandizing." 

The  reply  of  Sir  William  Dugdale  is  thus  quoted  by 
Banks  :  - — 

"Sir, — This  is  to  let  you  know  that  this  day  I  receaved 
your  kinde  present  of  fowle,  for  w'"  I  return  you  my  hearty 
thanks,  but  am  not  pleased  that  you  have  put  yourself 
to  the  charge  and  trouble  thereof,  assuring  you  of  my 
willingness  to  do  you  any  service  I  can  w"'out  expectance 
of  any  such  thing  from  you  ;  it  being  both  just  and  reason- 
able that  all  generous  minds  should  readily  serve  you  in 
this  business  to  their  utmost. 

"  But  as  affairs  stand  at  present  in  that  noble  family, 
I  must  tell  you  it  will  not  be  seasonable  to  move  for  you, 
the  distractions  and  perplexities  wherein  all  of  them  are,^ 
being  so  exceeding  great.  When  I  finde  a  proper  oppor- 
tunity, be  confident  I  will  not  forget  you.  Should  I  move 
in  it  now,  it  would  be  the  near  way  to  spoyle  it  utterly. 
You  must  therefore  expect  w*  patience,  and  be  confident 
that  you  have  not  any  acquaintance  that  will  more 
cordially  endeavour  to  serve  you  than 

"  Your  very  affectionate  friend, 

"W"*'  Dugdale. 

"  London,  Nov.  28'",  168 1. 

'■^  For  M''-  Francis  Percy,  stone-cutter, 
at  his  house  in  Cambridge." 

In  this  letter  Dugdale,  however,  enclosed  a  written 
opinion  upon   the  various  certificates  submitted,  as  well 

1  See  his  Will,  p.  364. 

'  Dormant  and  Extinct  Baronage;  Appendix  to  vol.  ii.  (printed  in  the 
Supplement),  p.  29. 

■>  Elizabeth,  Baroness  Percy,  had  just  been  married,  against  her  will,  and 
through  the  evil  influence  of  her  grandmother,  to  Thomas  Thynn.     Rumours 


358  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

as  a  pedigree  which  he  had  drafted  of  the  stonecutter's 
supposed  Hne.  The  opinion  (also  given  by  Banks)  is  as 
follows  : — 

"  Upon  the  sight  of  the  certificates,  whence  I  have  made 
these  brief  abstracts,  I  am  of  opinion  that  Mr.  Francis 
Percy,  now  living  and  residing  in  Cambridge,  is  lineally 
descended  from  Thomas  Percy  who  was  one  of  the  Con- 
spirators in  the  Gunpowder  treason  in  the  third  year  of 
King  James.  (Signed)        "  William  Dugdale, 

"  Garter  Principal  I  King  of  Arms. 

"Nov.  9,  i6Si." 

Banks  adds  a  note  excusing  himself  from  printing  copies 
of  the  certificates  alluded  to,  on  the  ground  that  the  registers 
from  which  they  are  mainly  taken  are  of  "a  pervertible 
nature,"  and  that  such  evidence  might  be  "suppressed  or 
removed  by  interested  parties."  Later  antiquaries,  how- 
ever, have  shown  themselves  more  trustful  of  the  honour 
of  those  who  succeeded  to  the  ancient  Percy  heritage  ; 
and  in  Collectanea  Genealogica  et  Heraldica,  vol.  ii.,  ^  may  be 
found  the  full  abstract  made  by  Sir  William  Dugdale  from 
the  evidence  gathered  by  Francis  Percy.  The  abstract 
shows  the  hand  of  a  practised  genealogist,  and  the  facts 
are  marshalled  with  an  order  and  a  plausibility  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  ill-arranged  and  rambling  statements  of  the 
less  fortunate  "Trunkmaker."  The  three  distinguished 
authorities  who  are  responsible  for  the  authenticity  of  the 
published  version  -  explain  that  the  original  abstract  passed 
from  the  descendants  of  Francis  Percy  to  the  Rev.  William 

were  afloat  that  Thynn  had  committed  bigamy,  and  his  wife  had  fled  from  him 
almost  at  the  altar  steps,  and  taken  refuge  in  Holland.  She  was  supported  by 
her  mother,  and  by  her  aunt  and  uncle  the  Earl  and  Countess  of  Essex  ;  while 
the  old  Dowager  Countess  still  continued  to  receive  and  encourage  Thynn,  who 
was  presently  to  meet  a  bloody  death  at  the  instigation  of  one  of  his  wife's 
admirers.  The  persistency  of  the  "Trunkmaker"  also  added  to  the  "noble 
family's"  perplexities. 

'  Pages  57-63. 

'  These  are  "  Robert  Surtees,  F.S.A.,  the  historian  of  Durham ;  Charles 
George  Young,  F.S.A.,  York  Herald ;  and  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hunter,  F.S.A.,  the 
historian  of  South  Yorkshire." — Collect.  Geii.  ct  Her. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  359 

Cole,  the  Cambridge  archxologist,'  in  whose  MSS.  Collec- 
tions^ it  was  found.     It  runs  as  follows  : — 

"Abstract  drawn  up  by  Sir  W"  Diigdale,  proving  Mr, 
Francis  Percy,  no'M  of  Cambridge,  to  be  of  the  line 
and  family  of  the  Percys,  Earls  of  Northumberland. 

"Sept.  6,  1680. — Roger  England  of  Taunton  in  Somer- 
setshire, aged  80  years,  certifieth  that  he  married  Anne 
daughter  of  Robert,  son  of  Thomas  the  Powder  Traytor, 
and  has  heard  the  said  Robert,  his  wife's  father,  say  that 
he  was  son  to  Thomas  Percy,  who  was  employed  in  the 
Powder  Plot. 

"Oct.  II,  1680.  —  John  Swinton,  clerk  of  ye  parish 
Church  of  Anwick  in  Northumberland,  aged  above  80 
years,  affirmeth  that  he  heard  his  father  say  that  M^ 
Thomas  Percy  and  his  wife  lived  in  the  Castle  at  Anwick 
and  had  children,  and  y'  after  the  Powder  Plot  for  wh<:'i  ye 
said  Thomas  lost  his  life,  his  wife  went  to  London  and 
lived  privately  there.^ 

"Oct.  14,  1680.— Matthew  Scott  of  Gateshead  in  the 
Bishoprick  of  Durham,  aged  99  years,  certifieth  that  he 
knew  Thomas  Percy,  who  was  afterwards  in  the  Powder 
Plot,  Constable  of  Anwick  Castle,  and  that  he  had  a  son 
called  Robert  and  two  daughters,  and  that  the  said  Robert 
was  a  schoolboy  at  Anwick. 

"Feb.  12,  1680. — Richard  (j/V)  widow  of  Francis  Percy, 
son  of  Robert  aforesaid,  aged  76  years,  sayeth  that  she 
knew  the  said  Robert  Percy,  her  late  husband's  father,  and 
has  often  heard  him  say  that  he  was  the  son  of  Thomas 
Percy  who  was  in  the  Powder  Plot :  and  that,  above  16 
years  since,  ye  said  Francis,  her  late  husband,  purposing 

'  Cole  observes  that  he  had  the  MS.  from  "  Mr.  Percy,  a  clergyman  near 
Peterborough."  This  was  the  Rev.  Josceline  Percy,  grandson  of  Francis  Percy  the 
"stone-cutter."  With  the  MS.  Mr.  Percy  gave  Cole  an  old  account  of  the  Earls 
of  Northumberland  from  York's  Minor  of  Honour,  bearing  the  autograph  of  the 
"stone-cutter." 

2  Vol.  iv.  p.  79. 

'  It  is  a  known  fact  that  she  kept  a  dame's  school  in  High  Holborn  for 
many  years. 


36o  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

to  make  himself  known  to  Algernon,  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland, went  from  Bickley  in  Devonshire,  where  he  then 
lived,  towards  London  for  that  end,  but,  on  his  way 
falling  sick  at  Oxford,  returned  home,  where  he  shortly 
after  died. 

"  From  the  Register  Book  of  Anwick,  it  appeareth 
that  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Percy  of  Anwick 
Castle,  was  buried  February  2nd,  1602,  which  was  the 
year  preceding  the  Powder  Plot. 

"  By  a  certificate  of  the  17  September  1680,  taken  out 
of  the  Church  Register  of  Wiveliscomb,  Somerset,  it  ap- 
peareth that  Robert  Percy  did  marry  Emma  Meade 
22  Oct.  1615. 

"By  a  certificate  of  ye  10  May  1680,  taken  out  of  ye 
Church  Register  of  Taunton  in  Somerset,  it  appeareth 
that  Francis  ye  son  of  Robert  Percy  was  there  baptized 
15  April  1616. 

"Out  of  ye  register  of  the  parish  church  of  Bickley 
in  Devonshire  it  appeareth  that  Francis  son  of  Francis 
Percy  was  baptized  15  May  1649. 

"  It  is  apparently  known  in  Taunton  that  Thomas  and 
James,  two  brothers  of  Francis  Percy,  and  sons  of  Robert 
Percy,  being  in  arms  for  King  Charles  I.  in  ye  time  of  ye 
late  Rebellion,  were  slain  in  those  wars. 

"  Divers  aged  persons  living  in  Anwick  declare  that 
Thomas  Percy,  who  was  in  the  Powder  Plot,  was  son  of 
Guiscard  Percy,  and  that  Guiscard  Percy  was  brother  to 
Henry,  eighth  Earl  of  Northumberland. 

"  Guiscard  Percy,  a  younger  brother  of  Henry,  8  Earl 

of  Northumberland ; 
"  Thomas  Percy,  one  of  ye  conspirators  in  the  Powder 

Plot,  his  son  ; 
"  Robert  Percy,  of  Taunton  in  Somerset,  his  son  ; 
"  Francis  Percy,  of  Bickley  in  Devon,  his  son  ; 
"  Francis  Percy,  of  Cambridge,  his  son,  1681. 

"  Upon  sight  of  these  certificates  whence  I  have  made 
these   brief  abstracts,  I   am  of   opinion  that   Mr.  Francis 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  361 

Percy,   now   living   in   Cambridge,  is    lineally    descended 
from  Thomas  Percy  who  was  one  of  ye  Conspirators  in 
ye  Gunpowder  Treason  in  ye  third  year  of  King  James. 
(Signed)      "William  Dugdale, 

"  Garter  Principal  King  of  Arms. 
"Nov.  9,  1 68 1." 

The  veracity  of  the  Alnwick  witnesses  seems  to  be 
decidedly  impugned  by  the  fact  that  they  claimed  Thomas 
Percy,  the  conspirator,  to  have  been  a  son  of  Guiscard 
Percy.     This  he  certainly  was  not,  for  ; 

1.  Guiscard  Percy  died  in  childhood. 

2.  Thomas  Percy  is  admitted  to  have  been  uncle  of 
Josceline  Percy,  son  of  Alan  Percy  of  Beverley,  which 
Alan  was  found  by  Inquisition  to  have  been  son  and  heir 
of  Edward  Percy,  esquire,  of  Beverley,  who  died  in  1590. 
The  proof  that  Thomas  was  uncle  of  Josceline  is  found 
in  the  latter's  own  evidence,  given  before  the  Council  in 
1603,  when  it  was  to  his  own  interest  to  disavow  the 
relationship.! 

The  reader's  attention  is  also  directed  to  the  fact  that  if 
Robert  Percy  of  Taunton  were  indeed  the  son  of  the  con- 
spirator, and  a  schoolboy  at  Alnwick  just  before  the  Gun- 
powder Plot,  he  must  have  married  and  had  children  at  an 
unusually  early  age — his  eldest  son,  Robert,  having  been 
baptized  in  April  1616.  It  is  also  strange  that  he  retained 
his  own  name,  his  alleged  mother  (Thomas  Percy's  widow) 
having  changed  hers  after  her  husband's  death,^  when  she 
brought  her  young  family  to  London. 

In  the  face  of  Francis  Percy's  claim  of  descent  from  the 
conspirator,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  other  claimant, 
the  "  Trunkmaker,"  had  first  brought  Francis  into  notice 
some  years  before,  by  describing  him  as  his  cousin.  Soon 
after  it  became  known  that  the  "  Stonecutter  "  intended  to 

'  Josceline  Percy  admitted  that  he  was  playing  at  primero  with  other  pages  of 
the  Earl  at  Essex  House  on  the  night  preceding  the  momentous  5th  of  November 
1603,  when  his  uncle  Thomas  the  conspirator  called  upon  him  (Singer ;  Treatise 
on  Cayds ;  quoting  an  Ori:^.  Slate  Paper  iu  the  Record  Office). 

-  Diet,  of  Nat.  Eio^aphy. 


362  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

make  a  claim  on  his  own  account,  James  Percy  wrote  to 
his  kinsman  in  terms  which  have  in  them  so  much  of  quiet 
certainty,  and  which  mention  the  names  of  so  many  rela- 
tives in  the  male  litie  (some  of  them  living,  and  able  to  bear 
witness  at  the  time),  that  one  is  led  to  doubt  the  hearsay 
evidence  of  Roger  England  and  the  others  to  the  effect 
that  Robert  Percy  of  Taunton  was  son  of  Thomas  the 
conspirator.  The  letter,  quoted  by  Banks,  is  here 
reproduced  : — 

"  London,  Aprill  3,  1688. 

"  Cozen  Francis  Percy, — As  myne  adversaries  would 
have  owned  thee,  and  have  endeavoured  with  ye  heralds  to 
deny  mee,  even  so  my  endeavoures  are  y'  Gods  truth  should 
bee  manifest  and  made  knoune  to  the  world,  y'  property 
and  right  might  bee  preserved  amongst  men.  My  Ffather 
was  Henry  Percy  of  Horton  in  Northamptonshire,  who  was 
second  son  of  Henry  Percy  of  Pavenham  in  Bedfordshire, 
who  was  first  son  of  Sir  Ingelgram  Percy,  third  son  of 
Henry  Percy,  fifth  Earl  of  Northumberland  :  and  your 
Ffather  was  Ffrancis  Percy  the  sonne  of  Thomas  Percy, 
who  was  sonne  of  Robert  Percy,  second  son  of  Sir  Ingel- 
gram Percy. 

"  Notwithstanding  Sir  William  Dugdale,  principall  king 
at  Armes,  in  his  letter  to  you  to  clayme  under  Guiscard 
Percy,  ye  sonne  of  Sir  Thomas,  who  was  found  S.P.  in 
those  books  of  Heraldry  in  Caijus  College,  Cambridge  ;  but 
there  is  one  Roger  Percy,  who  was  ye  sonne  of  Henry 
Percy,  who  was  the  sonne  of  Richard  Percy,  who  was  the 
sonne  of  Robert  Percy,  second  sonne  of  Sir  Ingelgram 
Percy,  who  sent  those  two  sonnes  and  two  daughters  in 
Hampires  :  Anne^  married  Eson  a  miller  in  Cooknoo^  in 

'  Evidently  one  of  the  four  children  brought  fiom  the  North,  and  sister  of 
Henry  and  Robert. 

-  Cucknoe,  recte  Cogenhoe,  is  a  parish  in  Wymniersley  Hundred,  in  the  south 
of  Northants.  It  includes  a  district  known  as  Cogenhoe  Brace,  seven  miles  away, 
and  adjoining  the  parish  of  Horton,  in  which  the  Trunkniaker's  father  married 
and  resided  for  a  time.  The  register  of  Cogenhoe  begins  in  155S.  The  Rev. 
Peter  Whalley  (perhaps  a  relative  of  Nathaniel  Whalley,  Lady  Northumber- 
land's Yorkshire  agent)  was  incumbent  and  patron  from  1656  to  1700. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  363 

Northamptonsliire  ;  and  Elenor  married  and  had  a  daughter 
Mary,  giand-daughter  of  Sir  Ingeigram,  who  is  yet  living 
aged  85  :  but  whether  Thomas  your  grandfather,  or  Ricliard 
his  grandfather  was  the  eldest,  I  cannot  tell.  I  believe  the 
Register  of  Cooknoo  in  Northamptonshire  will  inform  you  ; 
Sir  Robert  Percy  ^  with  your  grandfather  lived  in  ye  toune, 
as  I  have  been  informed.  I  have  given  you  this  reall 
account  that,  as  I  have  been  owned  by  Henry  9'h  Earl, 
Algernoone  io">  Earl,  Henry  Lord  Percy  his  brother,  and 
Joceline  11"'  Earl,  even  so  I  owne  you  two-  to  bee  ye  next 
heire-males  to  ye  Percy,  if  it  should  please  God  my  issue 
males  should  dye ;  therefore  my  desire  is  that  you  would 
both  bee  at  my  tryall  and  enter  yourselves  in  the  Heralds 
office  before  I  dye,  to  prevent  those  troubles  I  have 
undergone. 

"  I  remaine, 

"  Your  Ffaithful  Kinsman, 

"James  Percy. 

"  These  to  Mr.  Francis  Percy 

in  Cambridge,  f.  sent.'" 

In  commenting  upon  this  letter  (which,  be  it  remem- 
bered, was  the  composition  of  a  man  of  almost  seventy, 
worn  out  by  a  long  succession  of  trials  and  disappoint- 
ments), Banks  justly  observes  :  "  Under  these  representa- 
tions there  is  some  ground  to  believe  that  James  Percy  was 
not  so  exactly  an  impostor  as  has  been  asserted  by  Mr. 
Collins  ;  but  that  through  the  hand  of  power  he  failed,  like 
many  others  who  are  friendless  and  penniless,  from  having 
justice  done  to  his  pretensions."^ 

It  is  worth  noting  that,  whether  the  letter  of  James 
Percy  had  any  influence  upon  his  actions,  or  whether 
Dugdale  advised  him  that  his  case  was  hopeless,  Francis 
Percy  ceased  during  the  following  year  (1689)  to  further 

■  Meaning  his  own  grand-uncle,  Robert  Percy. 

^  i.e.  Francis  of  Cambridge,  and  the  Roger  Percy  his  cousin  mentioned  above, 
who  was  a  shoemaker  at  Charing  Cross,  and  probably  well  known  to  the  "Trunk- 
maker." 

3  Extinct  Baronage  ;  Appendix  to  vol.  ii.  p.  32. 


364  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

agitate  his  claim  to  the  Earldom  of  Northumberland.  In 
the  city  of  Cambridge  he  increased  in  wealth  and  dignity, 
becoming  Alderman  and  Mayor  of  that  place.  He  died  on 
May  6,  1717;  and  his  will  (dated  March  26,  1716,  proved 
June  20,  1717)  was  summarised  as  follows:  "The  Will 
of  Francis  Percy  of  Cambridge,  esquire.  He  bequeathes  to 
his  son  Charles,  and  to  his  daughter  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of 
Dr.  Perkins,  all  his  freehold  estate  in  the  town  of  Cam- 
bridge, in  equal  shares.  To  his  said  daughter,  Elizabeth, 
with  remainder  to  his  son  Charles,  the  first  of  his  three 
booths  in  Sturbridge  Fair.  To  his  daughter  Margaret 
Trevor  with  remainder  to  his  son  Charles,  the  second  of  his 
said  booths.  To  his  son  Charles,  the  third  booth  unre- 
servedly. To  his  daughter  Margaret  Trevor  ;^200.  To  his 
daughter  Anne,  wife  of  Mr.  Henry  Crispe,  clerk,  ^6  yearly. 
Small  bequests  to  his  niece,  Mary  Percy  ;  ^  to  his  son, 
Francis  Percy ;  and  to  his  daughter  Burge.  The  residue 
to  Charles  Percy."  ^  The  testator's  eldest  son,  Charles,  was 
a  Common  Councillor  of  Cambridge,  and  died  in  1743, 
leaving  a  son,  the  Rev.  Josceline  Percy,  M.A.,  Rector  of 
Marham  in  Northamptonshire,  who  died  without  male 
issue.  For  the  rest  of  Francis  Percy's  known  descendants 
(now  believed  to  be  extinct  in  the  male  line)  the  reader  is 
referred  to  the  Genealogy  of  the  House  of  Percy,  Table  III., 
in  this  work. 

Meanwhile  James  Percy,  the  "  Trunkmaker,"  had  lin- 
gered on  in  London,  enduring  the  direst  poverty,  and 
^^  ,   ,  ,     unable  for  that  reason  to  take  any  further  legal 

The  last  of  jo 

James  Percy  steps  to  regain  what  he  obstinately  and  honestly 
ofDubUn.  j^^jj  ^^  j^g  j^jg  rights.  His  sons  in  Ireland  sent 
him  only  enough  to  live  upon  in  the  most  sparing 
manner,  confident  that  any  further  efforts  of  his  to 
claim  the  Earldom  would  be  useless.  But  if  they  hoped  in 
this  manner  to  induce  him  to  abandon  his  vain  hopes  and 
return   home,    they    were    disappointed.     In    spite  of  his 

1  Probably  daughter  of  that  tailor  brother  of  whom  James  Percy  spoke. 
"  Prob.  C.  Camb.,  1 24  Fox. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  365 

weight  of  years  and  sorrows,  the  "  Trunkmaker "  was 
resolved  to  fight  the  battle  to  the  last.  The  next  important 
stroke,  however,  was  destined  to  come  from  his  opponents. 
Elizabeth,  Baroness  Percy,  had  married,  as  her  third 
husband,  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  a  man  of  whom  it  was 
truly  said  that  his  pride  of  rank  was  so  great  that  it  partook 
of  the  nature  of  a  mania.  To  one  of  Somerset's  character, 
the  very  thought  that  the  "  Trunkmaker  "  still  asserted  his 
claims  in  public  places,  and  even  dared  to  call  himself  the 
"true  heir  of  Northumberland,"  proved  galling  beyond  en- 
durance. He  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  what  seemed  to  him 
almost  lese  viajesW.  Accordingly,  when  the  first  Parliament 
of  James  II  assembled,^  a  memorial  was  presented  to  the 
House  of  Lords  from  Charles  Duke  of  Somerset  and 
Elizabeth  his  wife,  complaining  that  James  Percy  "con- 
tinued falsely  to  assume  the  title  of  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land," and  praying  for  interference.  This  document  was 
duly  read  on  Monday,  June  i,  and  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Privileges.  Percy  heard  of  the  matter,  and 
lost  little  time  in  replying,  "for  as  a  Percy,  he  held  himself 
as  good  as  any  Seymour  whose  ancestors,  these  less  than 
two  hundred  years  past,  had  jumped  into  place  and  honour 
by  the  help  of  a  King's  chance  love."  On  June  12,  a 
packet  of  papers  was  found  upon  the  table  of  the  House  of 
Lords  thus  superscribed — 

"  Percy's  Petition  of  Complaint ;  and  the  two  Petitions 
that  were  wanting  are  annexed,  humbly  praying  that  they 
may  be  read  ;  and  he  shall  ever  pray.  Equal  Justice  do, 
or  tell  the  Reason  Why." 

The  packet  was  not  opened ;  but,  its  nature  being 
understood,  was  despatched  forthwith  to  the  Committee  on 
Privileges  with  instructions  to  examine  and  report  upon  the 
contents  at  the  same  time  as  upon  the  Duke  of  Somerset's 
memorial.  Within  a  week  Parliament  adjourned,  and  only 
sat  for  a  few  days  during  the  following  November.  There 
is  no  record  that  the  Committee  on  Privileges  made  any 
report,  and  the  matter  was  apparently  neglected.    To  the 

'  On  May  25,  16S5. 


366  THE    HOUSE    OF    PERCY 

Parliament  which  met  (or  rather  wiiich  reorganised  itself)  ^ 
immediately  after  the  Revolution,  Percy  again  applied  ; 
addressing  a  second  "  Petition  of  Complaint"  to  the  House 
of  Lords,  As  in  the  former  case,  his  appeal  was  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Privileges.  On  May  28  this  Com- 
mittee sent  back  its  report  through  the  Earl  of  Bridge- 
water.  It  proved  to  be  of  a  most  hostile  character,  and 
recommended  that  no  countenance  whatsoever  should  be 
given  to  the  petitioner  ;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  a  day 
should  be  appointed  to  consult  as  to  the  propriety  of  taking 
proceedings  against  him.  The  Committee  also  held  that 
Percy's  "  presumption  in  styling  himself  right  and  lawful 
Earl  of  Northumberland"  was  "insolent  and  injurious"  to 
the  House,  "Besides,"  continued  Bridgewater,  "there  are 
several  scandalous  reflections  therein  on  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Somerset,  which  their  lordships  leave  to  the 
censure  of  the  House,"  On  this  the  Lords  appointed 
Tuesday,  June  11,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  for  the 
hearing  of  counsel  on  the  part  of  the  Duke  of  Somerset, 
and  of  James  Percy.  The  hearing  probably  took  place, 
but  as  it  was  over  before  noon  on  the  same  day,  Percy 
could  not  have  had  much  opportunity  to  plead  his  cause, 
and  it  is  certain  that  no  witnesses  were  examined  on  either 
side.  There  was  no  Anglesey  to  demand  a  fair  hearing  for 
the  aged  and  friendless  "Trunkmaker"  ;  and  the  House  of 
Lords  resolved  without  debate  that  his  pretentions  were 
"groundless,  false,  and  scandalous."  His  Petition  of  Com- 
plaint was  therefore  dismissed  ;  and  it  was  ordered  that  he 
himself  "  should  be  brought  before  the  Four  Courts  in 
Westminster  Hall,  wearing  upon  his  breast  a  paper  having 
writ  on  it  "The  False  and  Impudent  Pretender  to  the 
Earldom  of  Northumberland,"  for  which  punishment  the 
Gentleman  Usher  of  the  Black  Rod  was  "authorised  to 
attach  his  person  forthwith."  - 

'  This  Parliament  had  originally  been  only  a  Convention,  but  was  converted 
into  a  Parliament  (as  many  thought  illegally)  by  a  Bill  passed  through  both 
Houses,  and  assented  to  by  William  and  Mary  on  February  23,  1689. 

"  Journals  of  I  he  House  of  Lords, 


THE    HOUSE   OK   PERCY  367 

It  is  probable  that  Percy  succeeded  in  escaping  before 
he  could  be  seized,  or  else  that  on  account  of  his  age 
— he  was  now  threescore  and  ten  —  the  sentence  was 
subsequently  remitted.  There  is  no  record,  at  least,  that 
his  punishment  ever  took  place.  He  disappeared  from 
London,  his  stubborn  spirit  utterly  crushed  by  the  collapse 
of  all  his  hopes.  Perhaps  Dublin  was  his  place  of  refuge ; 
but  the  very  time  and  place  of  his  death  remain  un- 
certain. It  will  always  remain  a  blot  upon  the  fame 
of  the  Dowager  Countess  of  Northumberland  and  her 
agents,  that  he  was  not  allowed  a  fair  hearing  during 
the  first  ten  years  of  his  struggle.  Indeed  the  very  facts 
that  he  was  so  evidently  hampered  and  harassed  by  the 
Countess,  and  that  it  was  thought  necessary  to  appeal 
to  Privilege  in  order  to  prevent  his  cases  from  coming 
to  trial,  must  necessarily  continue  to  afford  a  suspicion 
that  there  was  something  in  the  claims  of  James  Percy 
after  all.  To  quote  the  verdict  of  Craik  upon  the 
subject :  "  His  case  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  satisfac- 
torily disposed  of,  so  long  as  his  true  descent  remains 
unascertained."  ^ 

His  eldest  son,  Sir  Anthony  Percy,  became  Lord 
Mayor  of  Dublin  in  1699,  and  was  knighted  at  the  close 
of  his  term  of  office.  A  grandson,  Henry  Percy  of  Seskin, 
CO.  Wicklow,  at  one  time  published  a  pamphlet,  now  very 
rare,  in  which  he  reviewed  and  renewed  James  Percy's 
claim  to  the  Earldom.  This  branch  is  now  supposed  to 
be  extinct  in  the  male  line.  But  the  Claimant's  two 
younger  sons  also  left  descendants.  One  of  them,  John 
Percy  of  Ballintemple,  King's  County,  was  granted  by 
Sir  William  Betham,  Ulster  King  of  Arms,  the  following 
armorial  bearings  in  evident  recognition  of  Percy's 
claimed  descent  from  the  House  of  Northumberland  : — 
"  Quarterly,  i"  and  4'",  or  a  lion  rampant  azure  between 
3  trefoils  slipped  vert ;  2"''  and  3"",  azure  5  fusils  in  fesse 
or  between  2  trefoils  slipped  argent;  all  within  a  border 

'  Romance  of  the  reerai;e. 


368  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

gobony  gules  and  argent."  ^  Among  the  descendants  of  the 
"  Trunkmaker "  in  the  female  Hne  may  be  counted  the 
Right  Hon.  Lord  Oranmore  and  Browne,  and  Sir  Thomas 
Pierce  Butler,  tenth  Bart.,  of  Garryhundon,  co.  Carlow. 

While  James  Percy,  the  "Trunkmaker,"  and  Francis 
of  Cambridge  were  waging  an  unequal  warfare  against 
The  most  the  Dowager  Countess,  confident  of  the  jus- 
probabie  tice  of  their  claims,  yet  unable  to  prove  their 
Northumber-  anccstry  bcyond  the  second  generation,  there 
land  dwelt  in    England  a  certain  country  gentleman 

who  could  show  a  clear  and  undeniable  descent  from  the 
House  of  Percy,  and  who,  in  the  minds  of  such  careful 
antiquaries  as  Surtees,  Hunter,  and  Young,  was  entitled, 
after  the  decease  of  Earl  Josceline,  to  call  himself  twelfth 
Earl  of  Northumberland.  This  was  Alan  Percy  of 
Beverley,  whom  the  "Trunkmaker"  quite  correctly  de- 
scribed as  "  a  descendant  of  the  fourth  Earl," 

There  was  no  question  of  a  missing  great-grandfather 
in  Alan  Percy's  case,  nor  did  any  portion  of  his  family 
history  rest  upon  the  uncertain  basis  of  mere  tradition. 
Every  step  in  his  line  of  descent  can  be  proved  with 
minute  accuracy.  Why  he  did  not  assert  his  claims, 
or  why  the  heralds  (of  whom  Dugdale,  at  least,  was  as 
disinterested  as  he  was  zealous)  did  not  call  attention 
to  them,  can  only  be  explained  upon  the  alternative 
suppositions  (i)  that  Percy  and  the  heralds  were  alike 
ignorant  of  the  true  value  of  the  former's  admitted  relation- 
ship to  the  senior  stock  of  Northumberland,  or  (2)  that 
the  vague  assertions  of  James  Percy  were  secretly  known 
to  be  correct.  In  any  case,  the  claims  of  the  "Trunk- 
maker"  and  his  branch  having  been  set  aside,  no  apparent 
obstacle  stood  between  Mr.  Percy  of   Beverley  and   the 

'  From  this  John  Percy  claim  descent  George  Percy  of  Ballylonan,  near 
Frankford,  King's  County,  and  John  Percy  of  Clononeen,  Borris-in-Ossory, 
Queen's  County,  either  of  whom  may  be  the  male  representative  of  old  James 
Percy,  the  "Trunkmaker,"  and  his  claims.  A  Henry  Percy  also  resides  at 
Larkfield,  near  Athlone,  and  claims  to  be  a  descendant  of  James  Percy. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  369 

Earldom.  For  not  even  the  brazen  Dowager  Countess, 
or  her  agents  Gee  and  Champion,  could  deny  that  the 
Yorkshire  squire  was  a  legitimate  male  relative  of  Earl 
Josceline.  Add  to  this  that  his  blood  was  unaffected  by 
the  attainder  of  1537,  and  it  will  be  seen  that,  had 
he  actually  succeeded,  it  would  have  been  to  the  ancient 
Earldom  of  im,  and  not  to  that  created  anew  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Mary. 

Alan  Percy  of  Beverley,  apparently  twelfth  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  sprang  from  Josceline  Percy,  fourth 
and  youngest  son  of  the  fourth  Earl.  This  Josceline  in- 
herited an  estate  called  Newland  or  Newlands,  as  well  as 
property  in  the  town  of  Beverley.  Earlier  in  this  work* 
will  be  found  an  account  of  his  having  been  poisoned 
by  three  of  his  servants,  and  of  the  fruitless  endeavours 
of  his  brother  Sir  William  Percy,  K.B.,  to  bring  these 
miscreants  to  justice.  Josceline  had  married  Margaret 
Frost,  daughter  and  heir  of  Walter  Frost  of  Beverley.' 
At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  again  contracted  in 
marriage  to  Cecily  Boynton.  His  will,  which  was  never 
proved  (owing  to  the  fact  that  his  guilty  domestics 
had  stolen  all  his  money  and  movable  goods),  is  as 
follows  : — 

"  Josselyn  Percy  of  Newland,  Esquier,  7  Sept.  1532  :  to  be 
buried  when  God  shall  dispose?  To  Jennet  my  chief  hous- 
wife  at  Newland,  and  other  my  women  servants  there,  to 
pray e  for  me,  Xs.  ;  to  Amor  Banastre,  servant  to  my  dearly 
beloved  brother  Sir  William  Percy,  taking  paynes  with  me, 
one  horse ;  to  Katherin  Retcliff,  gcntlcivoman  to  my  sister-in- 
law,  one  cowe ;  to  Ann  Cotton,  my  wives  gentlewoman, 
6s.  8d. ;  to  my  dearly  beloved  sister  Dame  Margaret  Percy, 
wife  of  my  brother.  Sir  Wm.  Percy,  to  pray  for  me, 
ts.  8d. ;  My  brother  Sir  W"  Percy,  and  my  dearly  beloved 
contracted  wife  Cecily  Boynton,  the  late  wife  of  Thomas 
Boynton,  Esquier,  my  Executors.     Witnesses: — Stephen  Con- 

i  i.e.  at  pp.  217,  218,  vol.  i.  '  Whose  will  bears  date  1528. 

'  He  was  actually  interred  in  the  Church  of  Great  Sandal,  where  a  tomb 
stands  to  his  memory. 

11.  2  A 


370  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

stable,  Esquier ;  Robei't  Pemvicrton,  sen'ant  to  Sir  W" 
Ayscough. — {Abulia  probatus  inseritur.)"  The  expression 
"  taking  pains  with  me "  may  allude  to  efforts  made  to 
resuscitate  the  testator  after  he  had  been  poisoned  and 
left  for  dead.  No  mention  is  made  here  of  Josceline's 
children  by  his  deceased  wife  ;  yet  we  know  that  he  had 
at  least  one — Surtees  says  two"^ — sons  by  her.  In  the  will 
of  her  father,  Walter  Frost,  mention  is  made  of  his  grand- 
son and  future  heir  Edward  Percy.  At  the  period  of  his 
father's  death,  September  8,  1532,  Edward  Percy  was  nine 
years  of  age.  He  had  no  doubt  been  carried  off,  with 
his  father's  money  and  movable  gear,  by  the  poisoners 
Snawdell  and  West,  when  they  fled  from  Newlands  to 
Walton  Hall,  and  took  refuge  with  Sir  Thomas  Waterton.- 
We  have  seen  that,  young  as  he  was,  Edward  Percy  was 
already  "married"  to  Elizabeth  Waterton.^  This  lady 
was  probably  as  youthful  as  he.  Her  father,  Sir  Thomas 
of  Walton,  had  but  recently  succeeded  to  the  ancient 
patrimony  of  the  family — now  unhappily  alienated;*  and 
Elizabeth  was  his  youngest  child.  It  is  unknown  whether 
Sir  William  Percy  succeeded  in  securing  the  wardship  of 
his  nephew,  or  whether  the  latter  grew  up  at  Walton  Hall. 
An  Edward  Percy,  probably  the  same,  was  admitted  at 
Gray's  Inn  in  1544.  He  eventually  succeeded  to  his 
mother's  and  to  a  remnant  of  his  father's  property,  and 
died  September  22,  1590.  According  to  an  Inquisition 
taken  after  his  decease,  his  "  son  and  successor,  Alan 
Percy,  Esquire,  of  Beverley,"  was  "aged  thirty  years  and 
unmarried  "  in  1590.  The  facts  that  Alan  is  described  as 
"son  and  successor,"  not  as  "son  and  heir,"  and  that 
his  birth  did  not  occur  until  1560 — i.e.  fifteen  years  after 
his  father  and  mother  viight  reasonably  be  supposed  to  have 

'  Surtees  gives  Josceline  Percy  another  son,  Williain  by  name,  of  whom  he 
furnishes  no  further  particulars  (Pedigree  in  Collectanea  Top.  et  Her.,  vol.  ii. ). 

"^  See  ante,  vol.  i.  p.  217. 

2  "A  sorry  bargain,  his  blood  considered,"  wrote  his  uncle  Sir  William,  to 
Cromwell  (see  ante,  as  above). 

*  Walton  Hall  was  sold  by  the  late  Edmund  Waterloo,  Esq.,  to  the  Simpson 
family.     His  son  resides  at  Deeping  Waterton,  county  Lincoln. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  371 

consiiuiuiated  their  early  marriage — lend  possibility  to  the 
theory  that  Edward  and  Elizabeth  Percy  had  children 
born  before  Alan,  and  that  these  children  were  the 
traditional  "Four  Percies"  sent  south  in  1559  to  Lady 
Vaux  of  Harrovvden. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  Edward  Percy  died  without  a  will, 
and  Alan,  one  of  his  sons,  succeeded.  He  left  another 
son,  viz.  Thomas  Percy,  the  Gunpowder  Plot  conspirator  ; 
as  well  as  two  daughters.*  Alan  of  Beverley  married 
Mary,  daughter  of  Robert  Moore  of  Beswicke  in  Holder- 
nesse,  and  was  Member  of  Parliament  for  Beverley  from 
1599  until  1603,  when  he  retired  in  consequence  of  the 
evil  notoriety  brought  upon  him  by  his  brother's  mis- 
deeds. The  remainder  of  his  life  was  spent  in  seclusion, 
and  he  died  June  24,  1632,^  leaving  two  surviving  sons,* 
and  one  daughter,  Frances,  married  to  James  EUerker, 
son  of  John  EUerker,  Esquire,  of  Risby  in  Yorkshire.  The 
second  surviving  son,  Edward  Percy,  was  in  the  em- 
ployment of  his  cousin,  the  Earl  of  Northumberland, 
and  died  at  Petworth,  August  20,  1630,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
two,  presumably  unmarried  (although  this  is  by  no  means 
certain).  Josceline  Percy,  the  elder  surviving  son,  was  a 
page  in  the  same  Earl's  service  at  the  period  of  the 
Gunpowder  Treason ;  and  we  read  that  he  was  playing 
primero  with  other  pages  at  Essex  House  on  Nov.  4, 
1603,  when  his  uncle,  Thomas  Percy,  called  upon  him.'' 
He  succeeded  to  the  estate  at  Beverley,  and  married 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  Fitz-William  of  Maple- 
thorpe  ;  but  towards  the  close  of  his  life  he  resided  in 
London,  and  it  was  as  an  inhabitant  of  the  parish  of 
St.  Paul's,  Covent  Garden,  that  he  executed  his  last 
will,  September  30,  1652.^      He    left   issue   two  surviving 

'  See  Getualogy,  Table  III. 

"  Both  Alan  Percy,  M.  P.,  and  his  father  Edward  are  buried  in  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Beverley. 

^  According  to  the  registers  of  St.  Mary's,  Alan  Percy  had  four  other  sons 
and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom  died  young  (see  Genealogy,  Table  III.). 

■'  Oripnal  Stale  Papers,  quoted  by  Singer  in  his  Treatise  on  Cards. 

^  Probate  June  4,  1653. 


372  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

sons  1  and  one  daughter,  Eleanor,  married  to  William  Ferrand 
of  Westhall,  county  York.  The  elder  son  was  Alan  Percy 
of  Beverley,  probable  male  heir  of  his  cousin  Josceline, 
eleventh  Earl  of  Northumberland.  The  second  was  Charles 
Percy,  a  beneficiary  under  his  father's  will  in  1652.  Of 
this  individual  nothing  further  has  as  yet  been  dis- 
covered. He  is  not  mentioned  in  his  brother's  will,  and 
it  is  therefore  assumed  by  Messrs.  Surtees,  Hunter,  and 
Young  that  he  died  before  1652,  without  issue.  But  too 
much  importance  must  not  be  attached  to  the  fact  of  the 
omission  of  his  name  from  the  document  in  question. 
His  own  great-grandfather,  Edward  Percy,  was  not  even 
alluded  to  in  the  will  of  the  latter's  father;  and  some 
unknown  reasons  may  have  similarly  induced  Alan  Percy 
to  overlook  his  brother  Charles.  As  to  Alan  of  Beverley 
(or,  as  some  term  him,  Alan,  twelfth  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland), he  never  married,  and  died  at  Lincoln  about 
midsummer  1687.  In  his  last  will,  dated  1686  but  not 
proved  until  November  23,  1692,  he  bequeathed  his 
estate  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Ferrand  (who  died  s.p.),  and  after 
her  to  his  friend  John  Thorpe.  With  his  death  the  heir- 
ship of  Northumberland  fell  once  more  into  doubt ;  nor 
was  there  any  known  person  then  living  who  could,  like 
Alan  Percy  of  Beverley,  show  an  indisputable  descent  in 
the  male  line  from  the  ancient  Earls  of  the  House  of  Percy. 
But  now  that  parish  registers,  wills,  deeds,  and  the  like  are 
being  searched  with  a  thoroughness  and  a  disinterested- 
ness unknown  to  the  antiquaries  of  past  generations,  it  is 
by  no  means  impossible  that  a  male  heir  of  Northumber- 
land may,  even  at  this  late  day,  succeed  in  proving  his 
claim  to  the  dormant  Earldom  of  1377. 

'  A  third  son,  John  Percy,  was  buried  1634  at  Beverley.  In  the  register  of 
St.  James's,  Clerkenwell,  under  date  of  July  i,  1664,  is  recorded  the  marriage  of  a 
Josceline  Percy  to  Mary  Phillips.  This  Josceline,  however,  may  be  one  of  the 
sons  (so  christened,  as  we  are  told)  of  William  Percy,  half-brother  of  the 
"  Trunkmaker." 


VI 

No  sooner  had  the  marriage  of  the  younger  Lady  Northum- 
berland to  Mr,  Montagu  been  made  public  than  the  Dowager 
The  Countess  (who  hated  and  despised  her  beautiful 

heiress  of       dau"hter-in-law)  set  about  putting  the  provisions 

the  Percies,  *  f  a  f 

and  of  Earl  Josceline's  will   into  force. i     She  went 

hergrand-      j^,  ^[^{q  vvith  her  bodvguard  of  footmen,  to  Nor- 

mother,  '  . 

the  Dowager  thumberlaud  House,"  of  which  she  took  formal 
Countess.  possessioo  in  the  name  of  her  grandchild ;  and 
the  agents  at  Syon,  Petworth,  and  the  northern  estates  were 
at  once  notified  that  henceforward  they  must  look  to  their 
late  master's  mother,  and  not  to  his  widow,  for  their  orders. 
But  the  Dowager,  covetous  and  fond  of  power  as  she 
was,  really  cared  less  for  the  management  of  the  great 
Northumberland  estates  than  she  did  for  the  opportunity, 
given  to  her  under  the  Earl's  will,  of  supplanting  the  young 
Countess  as  sole  guardian  of  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy.  In 
this  cruel  separation  of  mother  and  child  she  saw,  not  only 
an  exquisite  chance  to  vent  her  spite  against  the  former, 
but  also  a  prospect  of  profitable  match-making  by-and-by, 
when  the  latter  should  reach  what  was  then  deemed  a 
suitable  age  for  matrimonial  contracts.  Had  Earl  Josceline 
been  able  to  foresee  how  his  mother  would  carry  out  the 
trust  which  he  imposed  on  her,  he  might  well  have  chosen 
to  leave  his  infant  heiress  to  the  care  of  Montagu's  wife 
(her  natural  protectress)  rather  than  to  that  of  the  "  hard, 

'  The  will  provided  that  in  case  the  testator's  widow  should  marry  again,  the 
guardianship  of  their  daughter  and  the  control  of  the  Percy  estates  were  to  pass  to 
the  Dowager  Countess,  Lady  Northumberland  only  retaining  her  own  fortune 
and  dower. 

-  Northumberland  House,  in  a  sense,  came  into  the  Percy  family  through  the 
Dowager  Countess,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Earl  Algernon  paid  a  large 
sum  to  his  wife's  relatives  for  the  transfer. 


374  THE    HOUSE    OF   PERCY 

grasping,  and,  if  we  may  believe  contemporary  accounts, 
unscrupulous  "  ^  Dowager.  Young  Lady  Northumberland 
pleaded  that  her  daughter  might  at  least  be  left  to  her  for 
another  twelvemonth — the  child  was  now  only  in  her 
seventh  year  ^ ;  but  the  Dowager  refused  even  to  concede 
this  small  mercy,  and  demanded  by  letter  that  Lady 
Elizabeth  Percy  should  be  sent  immediately  to  Suffolk 
House. ^  Again  the  younger  Countess  wrote,  asking  for  an 
interview,  or  a  family  council,  at  which  Lord  Essex  and 
his  wife  might  be  present.  This  was  also  declined  in 
peremptory  terms  ;  for  the  Dowager  guessed — probably 
correctly — that  her  stepdaughter  and  the  latter's  husband 
would  side  against  her  in  the  matter.*  She  threatened, 
in  case  her  demands  were  not  complied  with,  to  appeal 
to  the  law,  which  was  of  course  in  her  favour.  But  the 
younger  Countess  resolved  not  to  give  up  Lady  Elizabeth 
without  a  struggle,  and  accordingly  left  this  innocent 
cause  of  so  much  heart-burning  to  her  old  friend  Dr. 
Mapletoft,  with  instructions  that  she  should  be  carefully 
guarded.  Mapletoft  fulfilled  his  trust  well,  and  sent  weekly 
bulletins  concerning  the  child's  health  to  her  mother. 
In  reply  to  one  of  his  letters,  we  find  Lady  Northumber- 
land writing  :  "  /  am  very  glad  the  deare  child  is  soe  well. 
.  .  .  I  leave  her  wholly  to  your  care  to  remove  her  when  you 
thinke  fitt,  and  I  desire  that  you  would  stay  to  come  zvith  her ; 
for  I  shall  tiot  be  at  ease  if  you  are  not  with  her.  And  pray 
take  caj'e  to  defend  her  from  her  grandmother,  7vho  has  not  so 
much  civilitie  left  as  to  come  and  speakc  to  me  her  self e  ;  but  by  a 
letter  has  lett  me  know  that  she  does  expect  to  have  her  delivered 
up;  if  not  slie  must  use  force.   Poorechilde!   Pray  God  send  her 

^  Thus  De  Fonblanque,  who  may  almost  be  regarded  as  the  official  chronicler 
of  the  Dowager's  descendants. 

-  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy,  now  Baroness  Percy  (by  writ  of  1625)  had  been  born 
on  Jan.  26,  1667. 

^  Although  the  Dowager  had  seized  upon  Northumberland  House,  she  con- 
tinued for  some  time  longer  to  live  at  Suffolk  House. 

'  Lord  and  Lady  Essex  were,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no  friends  of  the 
old  Countess :  and  bitterly  resented  the  manner  in  which  she  reared  their 
niece. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  375 

health,  and  protect  Iier  from  all  the  designes  that  are  upon  her 
at  this  time  I" 

It  is  not  known  if  the  Dowager  Countess  was  actually 
compelled  to  "  use  force  "  to  gain  her  ends.  Perhaps  the 
prudent  Mapletoft,  seeing  her  so  determined,  advised  his 
patroness  to  surrender  in  the  interests  of  little  Lady 
Elizabeth ;  perhaps  Montagu  took  this  course  out  of  a 
desire  to  avoid  scandal  and  legal  strife.  At  all  events  the 
Dowager  carried  the  day,  and  the  heiress  of  the  Percies 
was  eventually  placed  under  her  control  in  accordance 
with  the  will  of  Earl  Josceline.  When  mother  and 
daughter  met  again,  it  was  almost  as  strangers.  Lady 
Northumberland  had  lived  much  abroad,  and  other  off- 
spring, Montagu's  children,  had  come  to  wean  her  affec- 
tions from  the  once  dearly  loved  Elizabeth.  The  latter, 
on  her  side,  was  fresh  from  the  cynical,  selfish  school  of 
her  grandmother,  the  Dowager,  wherein,  during  many 
years,  she  had  only  heard  her  surviving  parent  spoken  of 
with  aversion  and  contempt.  So  that  when  my  Lord 
Montagu's  wife  met  my  Lady  Northumberland's  daughter, 
they  probably  exchanged  curtseys  (great  dames  rarely 
embraced,  lest  the  armour  of  Venus  should  suffer  by  the 
contact)  and  wished  each  other  well  in  the  politest  but 
least  natural  fashion  imaginable. 

The  social  education  of  Lady  Elizabeth  was  undertaken 
wholly  by  the  Dowager  Countess,  who  laboured,  happily 
with  but  slight  success,  to  make  her  ward  a  youthful  copy 
of  herself.  As  to  her  literary  training,  our  information 
is  confined  to  the  knowledge  that  she  spoke  French  collo- 
quially, and  spelt  English  as  well  as  most  women  of  her 
rank  and  time.  She  had  little  leisure  for  scholarship, 
in  fact,  for  before  she  had  reached  her  twelfth  year  the 
Dowager  Countess  was  already  in  treaty  to  find  her  a 
husband.  This  sort  of  intrigue  was  dear  to  the  heart  of 
Earl  Algernon's  widow.  She  "  had  a  passion  for  social 
power,  for  money,  and  for  match-making."  ^  Moreover 
her  keen  eyes  detected  in  Lady  Elizabeth's  nature  a  certain 

'  De  Fonblanque. 


376  THE    HOUSE   OP^   PERCY 

growing  wilfulness,  inherited  from  her  paternal  ancestors, 
which  might  develop  into  obstinacy  and  rebellion,  unless 
promptly  subjugated.  The  Dowager  felt  that  if  she  was  to 
choose  a  husband  for  her  grandchild,  she  must  choose 
without  delay.  In  the  winter  of  1678,  therefore,  she  com- 
missioned her  brother,  Lord  Suffolk^  to  open  negotiations 
with  the  Marquis  of  Winchester-  "in  regard  to  an  alliance 
between  the  Houses  of  Percy  and  Powlett."  Lord  Win- 
chester may  have  had  other  plans  for  the  settlement  of  his 
son  and  heir-;  or  he  may  not  have  cared  to  entertain  the 
conditions  offered,  which  included  the  sinking  of  the  name 
of  Paulet  in  that  of  Percy,  and  the  continuation  of  the 
Dowager  Countess  as  comptroller  of  the  Northumberland 
estates  until  Lady  Elizabeth  reached  the  age  of  eighteen. 
He  certainly  declined  the  proffered  honour  on  his  son's 
behalf,  and  the  negotiations  fell  through.  Less  than  a 
month  passed  by,  however,  before  another  match  presented 
itself,  and  a  suitor  appeared  whose  origin  has  been  quaintly 
described  as  "basely  illustrious."  In  this  case  there  need 
be  no  difficulty  as  to  the  question  of  surname,  for,  truth  to 
tell,  the  proposed  bridegroom  had  no  proper  patronymic 
of  his  own.  In  short,  his  Majesty  King  Charles  II.  for- 
mally proposed  for  the  hand  of  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy,  on 
behalf  of  his  natural  son  George  Fitz-Roy,  recently  created 
Earl  of  Northumberland.^  This  sprig  of  Royalty  was  the 
third  son  of  Barbara  Villiers,  Duchess  of  Cleveland,  and 
there  seems  to  have  been  less  doubt  regarding  his  paternity 
than  existed  in  the  cases  of  his  elder  brothers.*  It  was 
an  ingenious  and  economical  plan  on  the  King's  part  to 
obtain  for  his  illegitimate  offspring  the  hands  of  great 
heiresses,  thereby  obviating  the  necessity  of  large  grants 

'  This  was  James,  third  Earl  of  Suffolk,  K.B.,  who  died  in  1688. 

^  Charles  Paulet  or  Powlett,  sixth  Marquis  of  Winchester,  afterwards  first 
Duke  of  Bolton.  His  son,  to  whom  Lady  Northumberland  desired  to  marry  her 
ward,  was  Charles,  second  Duke,  K.G.,  and  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland. 

^  He  was  so  created  on  October  i,  1674,  his  other  titles  being  Viscount 
Falmouth  and  Baron  of  Pontefract. 

^  The  Dukes  of  Southampton  and  Grafton,  the  latter  ancestor  of  the  present 
Duke. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  377 

from  the  Crown  to  these  numerous pn'na's  a  la  main  gauche. 
The  Duke  of  Monmouth,  for  instance,  had  been  married 
to  the  female  representative  of  the  great  House  of 
Buccleiigh,  and  it  had  long  been  a  project  of  Charles  to 
see  George  Fitz-Roy  the  husband  of  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy. 
It  was,  indeed,  with  an  eye  to  this  result  that  he  had  raised 
Fitz-Roy  to  the  Earldom  of  Northumberland,  scarcely  a 
courteous  proceeding  under  the  circumstances.  It  must 
be  owned  that,  in  regard  to  personal  characteristics,  the 
young  Earl  was  perhaps  the  most  deserving  of  all  those 
whose  names  were  at  one  time  or  another  mentioned  as 
possible  consorts  of  Lady  Elizabeth.  "Of  all  His  Majesty's 
children,"  wrote  Evelyn,  "  this  seemed  the  most  accom- 
plished and  worth  the  owning.  He  is  extraordinarily 
handsome  and  well-shaped."^ 

Charles  himself  wrote  to  the  Dowager  Countess  in  the 
following  terms  : — 

"Whit  Hall,  10  Feb.  1679. 
"  Madame, 

"  As  long  as  your  grandchilde,  my  Lady  Percy,  was 
under  age,  or  yours  elf e  engaged  in  a  treaty  for  her,  I  refrained 
from  any  application  to  you,  for  my  son  George,  both  to  assure 
you  that  I  neither  desired  to  precipitate  a  concern  of  so  greate 
consequence  to  you,  and  to  confirme  you  in  my  beleafe  that  I 
intend  not  to  insiste  upon  unequal  propositions ;  I  understand 
tliat  the  treaty  that  was  on  foote  for  the  Marquis  of  Win- 
chesters son  (when  you  writ  to  my  L''.  Suffolke)  is  at  an  end, 
I  hope  tliat  my  modesty  in  staying  to  see  the  issue  of  that  will 
now  engage  you  not  to  treate  with  any  other,  till  first  you 
know  what  I  shall  offer ;  my  carnestnesse  for  this,  is,  tliat 
(besides  my  inclination  to  oblige  your  family)  your  civilite  to  me 
in  this  affair,  will  give  me  more  frequent  opportunity  par- 
ticularly to  serve  you,  which  I  assure  you  is  the  real  desire  of, 
"  Madame, 

"  Your  affectionate  friend, 

"Charles  R."^ 

'  Diary ;  July  24,  1684. 

'  Holograph  letter  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Leconfield. 


378  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

In  spite  of  this  royal  appeal,  the  Dowager  Countess 
could  not  be  brought  to  accept  George  Fitz-Roy  as  the 
husband  of  her  ward.  No  question  of  birth  entered  the 
negotiations ;  but  the  settlements  which  the  King  proposed 
to  make  upon  his  son  were  considered  quite  inadequate 
by  Lady  Northumberland.  Charles  was  greatly  in  need 
of  money  at  the  time,  and  as  the  New  Parliament  had  not 
yet  assembled  he  could  look  for  no  help  from  that  quarter. 
The  Dowager,  finding  matters  in  this  condition,  promptly 
refused  to  pursue  the  affair  further,  and  resumed  her 
search  for  a  suitor  at  once  wealthy,  well-connected,  and 
not  likely  to  interfere  with  her  management  of  the  Percy 
estates.  Such  a  one  she  found  in  Henry,  Earl  of  Ogle, 
son  and  heir  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  to  whom  Lady 
Elizabeth  Percy  was  duly  married  less  than  a  month  after 
Fitz-Roy's  rejection — the  bridegroom  being  fifteen  years 
of  age,  and  the  bride  barely  twelve. 

The  King  was  naturally  offended  by  the  insulting 
manner  in  which  his  son's  pretensions  had  been  treated 
by  the  Dowager  ;  but  he  could  only  avenge  himself  by 
bestowing  the  lapsed  Percy  estates  upon  Monmouth  and 
others,  and  by  making  Fitz-Roy  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land,i  a  superior  dignity  which  had  been  withheld  from  the 
Percy  family. 

In  all  England,  the  Dowager  Countess  could  have 
found  few  persons  of  title  less  suitable  to  match  with  her 
grandchild,  or  more  likely  to  prove  amenable 
pireVoses  to  her  own  selfish  designs,  than  the  poor  creature 
one  husband  who  uow  wcnt  through  the  mockery  of  a  marriage 
andmesi'n  with  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy.  That  she  procured 
disgust  from    guch  an  alliance  at  all  shows  plainly  enough  the 

a  secoDd. 

character  of  the  woman,  and  the  little  regard 
which  she  entertained  for  the  honour  or  dignity  of  the 
house    into    which   she   had   married.     Henry   Cavendish, 

'  On  April  6,  16S3,  the  Duke  mamed  Katherine,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Wheatley  of  Brecknock,  co.  Bedford,  and  widow  of  Thomas  Lucy  of  Charlecote. 
He  died  s./:  in  17:6. 


THE    HOUSE   OK   PERCY  379 

Lord  Ogle,  was  a  sickly  boy  of  appalling  ugliness,  certainly 
weak-minded,  if  not,  indeed,  an  absolute  idiot.  His  sister 
was  the  hapless  lunatic.  Lady  Elizabeth  Cavendish,  who 
was  permitted  by  the  lax  laws  of  the  time  to  marry  the 
Duke  of  Montagu,  though  she  fortunately  bore  him  no 
children.  The  other  relatives  of  Elizabeth  Percy  were 
astonished  by  the  choice  which  her  reckless  guardian 
had  made  for  the  child,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  express 
their  opinions  on  the  subject.  The  still  beautiful  "  Sac- 
charissa"  (now  herself  a  Dowager  Countess  1),  wrote  to 
her  brother,  Algernon  Sidney,  in  the  following  emphatic 
terms  : — 

"  My  Lord  Ogle  does  prove  the  saddest  Creature  of  all 
kindcs  that  could  have  been  found  fit  to  be  named  for  my  Lady 
Percy  ;  as  ugly  as  any  thing  young  could  be."  ^ 

In  accordance  with  the  marriage  agreement  drawn  up 
by  the  tyrannical  Lady  Northumberland,  Ogle  abandoned 
absolutely  his  patronymic  of  Cavendish,  and  took  instead 
that  of  Percy ;  his  father,  the  second  Duke  of  Newcastle, 
settling  at  the  same  time  a  considerable  jointure  upon  Lady 
Ogle.  It  was  well  for  the  latter  that  her  tender  years 
prevented  this  disgraceful  marriage  from  being  more  than 
nominal.  As  a  matter  of  fact  she  never  saw  her  husband 
save  at  the  altar.  It  was  arranged  that  they  should  part  for 
two  years,  and  the  bridegroom  was  sent  upon  his  travels. 
He  died  abroad  about  six  months  later,  ^  leaving  Elizabeth 
Percy  a  widow  in  her  thirteenth  year. 

To  the  Dowager  of  Northumberland,  the  death  of  this 
poor  lad  meant  a  large  addition  to  the  fortune  under  her 
control,  and  the  chance  of  still  further  increasing  the  same 
by  a  second  wealthy  match.  Through  the  influence  of  the 
Duke  of  Monmouth  she  was  led  to  accept  as  husband  for 
her  grandchild  a  commoner  of  very  large  fortune,  Mr. 
Thomas  Thynn,  of  Longleat  in  Wiltshire.     Thynn,  better 

'  Of  Sunderland. 
■    '  Slate  Papers ;  yVsiXoh  12,  l6y<).  ' 

^  On  November  17,  1679.     His  death  is  ascribed  to  "premature  decay." 


38o  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

known  by  his  nickname  of  "  Tom  of  Ten  Thousand,"  was 
closely  associated  with  Monmouth  ;  and  has  been  im- 
mortalised by  Dryden  as  "  wise  Issachar,"  the  "  wealthy 
Western  Friend "  of  the  Protestant  prince.^  As  to  his 
wisdom  little  is  known  ;  but  he  was  certainly  one  of  the 
handsomest,  as  well  as  one  of  the  richest  men  of  his  day. 
His  family  name,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  anciently 
Boteville,  was  (we  are  told)  changed  to  "Th'  Inn,"  and 
eventually  corrupted  to  "Thinn  "  or  "Thynn,"  because  one 
of  his  ancestors,  a  certain  "John  o'  th'  Inn,"  either  kept  a 
hostelry  or  belonged  to  one  of  the  Inns  of  Court.^  What- 
ever credence  may  be  attached  to  this  derivation,  it  is 
certain  that  the  Thynns  had,  for  some  generations,  enjoyed 
knightly  rank  and  large  possessions  in  the  West  Country.^ 
Rightly  or  wrongly,  "  Tom  of  Ten  Thousand  "  was  accused 
of  a  profligacy  remarkable  even  in  that  age  of  libertines  : 
but  the  character  which  he  bore  by  no  means  prevented 
the  Dowager  Countess  from  giving  him  her  grandchild  in 
marriage.  The  wedding  was  secret,  and  attended  by  many 
strange  circumstances.  As  we  shall  see,  its  legality  was 
disputed  ;  and  there  were  not  wanting  those  who  asserted 
that  it  had  never  taken  place  at  all.  But  there  is  proof  that 
a  ceremony  of  a  binding  nature  was  actually  performed, 
in  the  fact  that  Thynn's  heir.  Lord  Weymouth,  continued  to 
pay  Elizabeth  Percy  an  annual  sum,  by  way  of  dower,  even 
after  she  became  Duchess  of  Somerset,  and  acknowledged 
over  his  own  signature  that  she  owned  a  life  interest  in  the 
Thynn  estates.*  Moreover,  there  is  a  case  upon  record 
which  establishes  the  marriage,  while  at  the  same  time  it 
sheds  a  curious  light  upon  the  system  of  bribery  by  which 

'  See  Absalom  and  Achitopkel. 

'  Botfield  ;  Stemviata  Bottevilliana,  185S. 

^  Thomas  Thynn  himself  was  grandson  of  Sir  Thomas  Thynn,  lent.,  of 
Longleat,  and  son  of  another  Sir  Thomas  Thynn  by  Stuart,  daughter  and  co-heir 
of  Dr.  Walter  Balquanquill,  Dean  of  Durham.  After  his  death,  Longleat  passed 
to  his  cousin,  Sir  Thomas  Thynn,  who  became  first  Viscount  Weymouth,  and 
was  ancestor  of  the  present  Marquis  of  Bath. 

*  Letters  of  Sir  T.  Thynn  from  Longleat,  Sept.  23,  1682  (quoted  by  De 
Fonblanque  from  Alnwick  A/SS.) 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  381 

it  \Yas  brought  about.  In  1687  a  certain  Potter  took  an 
action  against  the  executors  of  Thomas  Thynn.  Thynn,  it 
seemed,  had  given  Potter's  wife  and  the  plaintiff  himself  a 
written  undertaking,  "under  penalty  of  -^looo,  to  pay 
them  ;^5oo  within  ten  days  after  his  marriage"  with  Lady 
Ogle  ;  "  the  said  ;^500  being  a  reward  for  the  part  which 
Mistress  Potter  had  taken  in  forwarding  the  match."  After 
Thynn's  death,  however,  his  representatives  attempted  to 
evade  the  contract.  The  plaintiff,  ^^  having  proved  the 
marriage"  obtained  a  verdict  for  the  sum  claimed.  There 
was  an  appeal  to  the  court  of  the  Master  of  the  Rolls,  and  the 
bond  was  set  aside  on  the  ground  that  it  had  been  given 
for  "an  immoral  consideration."  This  decree  was  in  turn 
reversed  on  an  appeal  to  the  Lord  Keeper,  but  finally 
confirmed  by  the  House  of  Lords.  The  precise  part 
which  Mistress  Potter  played  in  the  negotiations  for  the 
marriage  is  not  described.  Elizabeth  Percy's  mother 
accused  her  waiting-woman  of  having  "  sold "  her  to 
Montagu  ;  perhaps  Potter  held  a  similar  position  and  was 
equally  venal.  Or  perhaps  the  Dowager  Countess  herself 
had  an  interest  in  the  promised  ;^5oo ;  her  own  kindred 
openly  accused  her  of  having  accepted  bribes  from  Thynn. 
Lord  Essex  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Protestant 
party,  and  so  presumably  favourable  to  Monmouth  and 
Monmouth's  friends.  But  Essex  was  also  uncle  by  marriage 
of  Elizabeth  Percy,  and  a  trustee  under  the  will  of  his 
brother-in-law.  Earl  Josceline.  However  he  might  regard 
Thomas  Thynn  politically,  he  felt  bound  in  his  private 
capacity  to  resent  and  oppose  an  alliance  between  his  niece 
and  that  gentleman.  He  could  not  prevent  the  Dowager 
Countess  from  carrying  out  her  design,  but  he  has  left  us 
his  opinion  of  the  affair  very  freely  expressed  through  the 
trustworthy  medium  of  Evelyn.  The  diarist,  under  date 
of  November  15,  1681,  writes  : — 

"  1  dined  with  the  Earl  of  Essex,  who,  after  dinner  in 
his  study,  where  we  were  alone,  related  to  me  how  much 
he  had  been  scandalised  and  injured  in  the  report  of  his 
being  privy  to  the  marriage  of  his  Lady's  niece,  the  rich 


382  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

young  widow  of  the  late  Lord  Ogle,  sole  daughter  of  the 
Earl  of  Northumberland ;  showing  me  a  letter  of  Mr. 
Thynn's  excusing  himself  for  not  communicating  his 
marriage  to  his  Lordship.  He  acquainted  me  also  with 
the  whole  story  of  that  unfortunate  lady  being  betrayed 
by  her  grandmother,  the  Countess  of  Northumberland  and 
Colonel  Bret  ^  for  money  ;  and  that  though,  upon  the 
importunity  of  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  he  had  delivered 
to  the  grandmother  a  particular  of  the  jointure  which 
Mr.  Thynn  pretended  he  could  settle  on  the  lady,  yet 
he  totally  discouraged  the  proceeding,  as  by  no  means  a 
competent  match  for  one  that,  both  by  birth  and  fortune, 
might  have  pretended  to  the  greatest  Prince  in  Chris- 
tendom. That  he  also  proposed  the  Earl  of  Kingston  - 
or  the  Lord  Cranbourn,^  but  was  by  no  means  for  Mr. 
Thynn." 

While  Lord  Essex  might  only  protest  unavailingly, 
there  was  one  person  who  took  a  decided  and  successful 
stand  against  the  consummation  of  these  ill-starred  nuptials. 
This  was  the  bride  herself.  Up  to  the  day  of  her  marriage 
Lady  Ogle  had  never  seen  Thynn  ;  and  her  awe  of  the 
Dowager  Countess  was  sufficient  to  induce  her  to  go 
through  the  form  of  marriage  with  the  person  chosen  for 
her.  But  whatever  happened  to  spur  her  into  sudden 
rebellion,  whatever  mysterious  occurrence  turned  her 
placid  indifference  towards  her  husband  into  a  lively 
hatred,  this  much  is  certain,  that,  almost  immediately  after 
the  ceremony  had  concluded,  Lady  Ogle  fled  from  London, 
and  even  from  England — nor  did  she  venture  upon  these 
shores  again  until  Thomas  Thynn  was  dead. 

^  This  Colonel  Bret  is  described  by  the  Rev.  E.  Jackson,  in  his  History  oj 
LongUat,  as  a  "coadjutor"  of  Lady  Northumberland. 

*  This  was  Robert  Pierrepont,  the  newly  succeeded  third  Earl  of  Kingston- 
upon-HulI  (a  cousin  of  Evelyn,  by  the  way),  who  died  a  year  later  at  Dieppe, 
sine  prole, 

^  James  Cecil,  Viscount  Cranbourne,  afterwards  fourth  Earl  of  Salisbury.  He 
was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  was  presented  by  the  Grand  Jury  of  Middlesex  as  a 
"  Popish  Recusant."  The  present  Marquis  of  Salisbury  is  his  descendant ;  the 
family  having  reverted  to  the  Church  of  England. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  383 

The  particulars  of  that  wild  flight  overseas  are  as 
uncertain  as  the  causes  which  led  up  to  it.  Naturally 
London  soon  rang  with  the  news,  and  a  hundred  pretended 
explanations  of  the  affair  were  afloat.  Many  thought  that 
Lady  Ogle,  discovering  at  the  last  moment  that  she  had 
been  literally  sold  to  her  husband  by  Lady  Northumber- 
land, Bret,  and  Mistress  Potter,  had  refused  to  abide  by 
the  marriage  contract,  and  had  escaped  in  order  to  sue 
for  divorce.  Others  ascribed  her  strange  conduct  to  the 
influence  of  Essex  and  other  relatives,  opposed  to  the 
Dowager  Countess ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that 
she  received  assistance  from  some  of  these,  or  else  she 
could  hardly  have  made  her  elopement.  Yet  others  de- 
clared that  "  a  disgraceful  event "  in  Thynn's  past  life 
had  been  revealed  to  her  on  her  wedding  day,  and  that 
the  disgust  which  she  felt  for  the  man  had  impelled  her 
to  the  desperate  course  which  she  took.  There  are  good 
grounds  for  supposing  this  last  to  have  been  the  correct 
solution  of  the  mystery ;  the  "  disgraceful  event "  alluded 
to  having  been  the  betrayal  through  a  mock  marriage  of 
a  young  lady  of  good  family,  and  her  subsequent  aban- 
donment to  disease  and  poverty.  This  lady  is  said  to 
have  risen  from  a  bed  of  suffering  in  order  to  interpose 
between  her  seducer  and  Lady  Ogle  ;  and  after  the  latter's 
flight  she,  or  some  other  interested  person,  certainly  took 
steps  to  have  the  last  ceremony  annulled.  In  the 
"  Memoirs  of  Sir  John  Reresby  "  ^  may  be  found  the  fol- 
lowing entry  : — 

'^  2nd  Jan.  1682. — I  dined  that  day  with  my  Lord 
Halifax  and  my  Lord  Conway  .  .  .  and  acquainted  the 
King  with  an  ai^davit  made  before  me  as  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  the  same  day,  concerning  a  pre-contract  be- 
tween Mr.  Thynne  and  Mrs.  Trevor,  before  his  marriage 
with  my  Lady  Northumberland  {sic),  for  there  were  en- 
deavours to  null  the  said  marriage,  it  not  having  been 
consummated,  and  my  Lady  Northumberland  having  fled 
from   Mr.  Thynne  into  Holland." 

'  Edition  of  1S75,  p.  230. 


384  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

In  a  note  to  Evelyn's  Diary,^  it  is  stated  that  Lady  Ogle 
left  her  husband  because  she  discovered  that  he  had  pre- 
viously seduced,  under  a  promise  of  marriage,  a  young 
lady  who  is  said  to  have  been  in  some  way  instrumental  to 
his  murder.     Hence  the  burlesque  epitaph  : — 

"  Here  lies  Tom  Thynn  of  Longleat  Hall, 
Who  never  would  have  miscarried, 
Had  he  married  the  woman  he  lay  withal, 
Or  laid  with  the  woman  he  married." 

For  Lady  Ogle  was  also  suspected  by  Thynn's  friends  of 
being  privy  to  his  assassination. 

De  Fonblanque  states  that  the  heiress  of  the  House 
of  Percy  took  refuge  in  Holland  with  Sir  William  Temple, 
"  the  friend  of  her  father  and  grandfather,"  who  "was  now 
English  Ambassador"  at  the  Hague.^  That  she  sought 
Temple's  protection  in  the  first  instance  is  probably 
correct,  but  it  was  not  in  Holland,  from  which  country 
Sir  William  had  long  been  recalled.  It  is  likely  that  the 
account  given  by  another  historian  (who  had  access  to  the 
Longleat  MSS.)^  is  the  true  one,  and  that  Lady  Ogle  went 
abroad  in  the  care  of  Lady  Temple.  Thynn  made  no 
effort  to  follow  her,  contenting  himself  with  successfully 
resisting  the  attempts  to  annul  the  marriage,  and  probably 
relying  upon  time  and  the  influence  of  his  powerful  friends 
to  make  his  peace  with  her.  The  Dowager  Countess  let 
it  be  known  that  she  sympathised  with  him  in  the  dispute, 
but  she  too  thought  it  best  to  let  affairs  take  their  course 
for  the  time  being.  Truth  to  tell,  it  mattered  little  to  her 
whether  Lady  Ogle  were  at  home  or  abroad  for  the  three 
years  yet  to  run  of  her  guardianship.  She  had  duly  ful- 
filled her  contract  with  Thynn,  and  had  nothing  more  to 
gain  by  compelling  her  grandchild's  return.  The  position 
of    all   parties   to    the    recent   marriage   is   amusingly,   if 

'  Bray's  Edition,  vol.  ii.  p.  586. 
-  Annals  of  I  he  House  of  Percy,  vol.  ii. 

^  Rev.  E.  Jackson  ;  History  of  Longleat,  in  the    IVilts  Historical  Magazine, 
1S55. 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  385 

coarsely,  summed  up  in  a  letter  written  during  the  New 
Year  festivities  of  1682  by  "a  lady  of  the  Brunswick 
family"  to  Lord  and  Lady  Hatton,  and  preserved  in  the 
Hatton  MSS.  :— 

"  Mr.  Thinn  has  proved  his  marriage  with  Lady  Ogle, 
but  she  will  not  live  with  him  for  fear  of  being  '  rotten 
before  she  is  ripe.'  Lord  Suffolk,  since  he  lost  his  wife 
and  daughter,  lives  with  his  sister  Northumberland.  They 
have  strange  ambassadors — one  from  the  King  of  Fez,  the 
other  from  Muscovet.  All  the  town  has  seen  the  last ;  he 
goes  to  the  play,  and  stinks  so  that  the  ladies  are  not  able 
to  take  their  muffs  from  their  noses  all  the  playtime."  ^ 

Her  brother,  Lord  Suffolk,  was  not  the  only  member 
of  her  own  family  who  lived  free  with  the  Dowager 
Countess  at  the  expense  of  Lady  Ogle,  during  this  period. 
Her  brother-in-law  and  sister,  the  Earl  and  Countess  of 
Orrery,  resided  in  Syon  House,  and  the  latter  died  there, 
as  we  learn  from  the  register  of  the  parish  church  of 
Isleworth. 

While  Lady  Northumberland  and  Mr.  Thynn  rested 
secure  in  the  belief  that  the  recent  marriage  could  not 
Konings-  legally  be  set  aside,  there  arrived  in  London  a 
marck.  man   whose   desperate  mind  was   filled  with  the 

determination  of  setting  Elizabeth  Percy  free  even  at  the 
cost  of  a  terrible  crime.  This  man  was  Charles  John,  Count 
von  Koningsmarck,  and,  before  we  enter  upon  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  bloody  deed  for  which  his  name  is  notorious,  it 
may  be  well  to  give  a  brief  account  of  his  strange  career. 

Charles  John  von  Koningsmarck  sprang  from  a  family 
originally  German,  but  led  by  an  inherited  love  of  adven- 
ture and  intrigue  to  spread  itself  through  many  lands. 
The  name  in  fact  was  famous  all  Europe  over,  as  much 
for  the  warlike  as  for  the  amorous  exploits  of  those  who 
had  held  it.  The  father  of  Charles  John  von  Koningsmarck, 
a  general  in  the  Swedish  service,  fell  in  battle  in  1673  ; 

'  Published   in   the   First   Report  on  Historical   MSS.,    Koyal  Commission 
(Hatton  MSS.). 

11.  2  B 


386  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

his  uncle,  Count  Otho  William,  was,  at  the  period  of  which 
we  write,  commander  of  the  Venetian  forces.  He  had  a 
brother  and  a  sister  both  renowned  for  their  beauty,  and 
both  implicated  in  amours  of  world-wide  celebrity.  The 
brother,  Count  Philip  von  Koningsmarck,  was  the  luckless 
lover  of  Sophia  Dorothea  of  Zell,  consort  of  George  I., 
and  was  assassinated  with  the  connivance  of  that  monarch,^ 
then  Electoral  Prince  of  Hanover.  The  sister,  Aurora  von 
Koningsmarck,  became  the  mistress  of  Augustus,  Elector  of 
Saxony  (afterwards  King),  and  was  by  him  the  mother  of 
the  illustrious  general.  Marshal  Saxe. 

As  for  Charles  John  von  Koningsmarck,  he  was  born 
in  Sweden  in  1659,  and  from  his  youth  onward  followed  a 
life  of  roving  and  adventure.  The  courage  which  he  dis- 
played on  many  occasions  of  danger  renders  all  the  more 
amazing  his  dastardly  conduct  in  regard  to  Thomas  Thynn. 
When  only  seventeen  he  was  severely  wounded  while 
boarding  a  Turkish  vessel  in  the  Mediterranean,  being  then 
in  the  service  of  the  Knights  of  Malta.  One  of  the  most 
remarkable  examples  of  his  prowess  occurred  in  May  1679, 
while  he  was  attending  the  fetes  given  at  Madrid  in  honour 
of  the  marriage  of  the  King  of  Spain.  Madame  d'Aulnoy, 
who  was  in  the  Queen's  suite,  saw  him  engage  a  bull  in 
honour  "of  a  young  lady  of  her  acquaintance."  He  was 
(she  writes)  one  of  six  cavaliers,  all  handsomely  mounted 
and  dressed  in  black  with  white  plumes  in  their  hats, 
"  their  hatbands  glittering  with  diamonds,  and  wearing 
crimson,  blue,  or  yellow  scarves,  which  some  of  them 
carried  round  their  waists  or  over  their  shoulders,  others 
wrapped  about  the  arm."  Twenty  bulls  were  baited  by 
them  on  the  first  day.  One  very  furious  animal  attacked 
Koningsmarck  and  wounded  him  dangerously  in  the  thigh. 
The  young  Count  leaped  from  his  horse,  "and  though  he 
is  no  Spaniard,  yet  he  would  not  be  excused  from  any  of 
the  laws  .  .  .  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  had  lost  a 
great  deal  of  blood  and  was  forced  to  lean  upon  one  of 

'  His  assassination  took  place  at  Hanover  in  August  1694.     Sophia  Dorothea 
remained  a  prisoner  until  her  death. 


THE    HOUSE   OP^   PERCY  387 

his  footmen  wlio  held  him  up  ;  yet  with  great  coiirnge  he 
advanced  sword  in  hand,  and  succeeded  in  giving  the  bull 
a  very  great  wound  in  the  head  ;  and  then  presently  turn- 
ing himself  towards  that  side  where  this  young  lady  for 
whom  he  fought  was,  he  kissed  his  sword,  and  suffered 
himself  to  be  carried  away  by  his  people  half  dead." ' 

Koningsmarck  visited  England  for  the  second  time  in 
1681,  and,  being  the  bearer  of  special  letters  of  recom- 
mendation from  the  King  of  Sweden,  was  very  well 
received.  Among  the  houses  which  he  visited  was  that  of 
Lady  Northumberland,  where  he  met  the  youthful  widow. 
Lady  Ogle,  and  at  once  conceived  for  her  a  violent  passion. 
Contemporary  gossip  dififers  as  to  whether  his  love  was  or 
was  not  returned.  During  the  summer  of  the  same  year 
he  is  said  to  have  followed  the  object  of  his  attachment 
from  London  to  the  Continent  (whither  she  went  in  charge 
of  a  person  chosen  by  her  grandmother,  while  the  latter 
was  negotiating  for  the  marriage  with  Thynn),  and  to 
have  obtained  interviews  with  her  at  various  places  in 
France  and  Holland.  He  had  been  chosen,  however,  to 
command  a  small  expedition  sent  against  the  rebellious 
Moors  of  Tangiers,  and  was  therefore  obliged  to  give 
up  for  the  time  his  designs  upon  the  heart  of  Lady 
Elizabeth,  in  order  to  embark  for  Africa.  He  seems  to 
have  carried  out  the  task  allotted  to  him  bravely  and 
successfully ;  but  on  his  return  from  the  Mediterranean, 
he  found  that  the  heiress  of  the  Percies  had  been  forced 
into  a  loveless  union,  and  had  taken  refuge  from  her 
husband  in  Holland.  The  detractors  of  Lady  Ogle 
asserted  freely  that  Koningsmarck  again  met  her  at  the 
Hague  after  her  hurried  departure  from  England,  and 
that  she  showed  him  a  degree  of  favour  which  completely 
turned  the  head  of  the  young  soldier  of  fortune.  It  was 
even  suggested  at  the  time,  and  long  afterwards  repeated 
in    unmistakable   terms   by    Dean    Swift,^    that    Elizabeth 

'  Translated  from  Madame  la  Comtesse  d'Aulnoy's  Voyages,  vol.  ii. 
'■'  In  the  rancorous  Windsor  Prophecy,  which  may  be  found  quoted  at  p.  412 
of  this  volume. 


388  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Percy  directly  prompted  Count  Charles  to  rid  her  of  Mr. 
Thynn,  either  in  fair  fight  or  by  other  means.  To  speak 
plainly,  she  was  accused  of  having  inspired  the  love-sick 
Swede  with  the  idea  of  assassinating  her  husband.  That 
such  should  be  the  case,  appears  in  the  last  degree  im- 
probable. Her  age  alone — she  was  not  yet  fifteen — must 
surely  be  accepted  as  an  argument  in  her  favour ;  and, 
while  she  was  admittedly  headstrong  and  quick-tempered, 
there  is  nothing  in  her  character,  as  known  to  us,  to 
suggest  that  she  inherited  any  of  the  homicidal  traits  of 
her  collateral  ancestress,  the  Countess  of  Somerset.^  That 
she  may  have  betrayed  a  girlish  affection  for  the  hand- 
some Koningsmarck  is  quite  possible ;  but  the  charge  of 
having  instigated  her  husband's  murder  cannot  be  sus- 
tained against  her.  For  that  black  deed,  the  Swede  and 
his  agents  must  bear  the  blame. 

Fired  with  the  determination  of  avenging  his  mistress, 
Koningsmarck  betook  himself  to  Havre,  and  thence  sent 
a  challenge  to  Thynn,-  The  person  who  carried  this 
cartel  into  England  was  a  remarkable  character — a  Swedish 
captain  of  horse,  Christopher  Vratz  by  name.  Vratz  had 
won  upon  many  battlefields  a  reputation  for  absolute  fear- 
lessness. At  the  siege  of  Mons  he  had  been  one  of  three 
survivors  out  of  a  "forlorn  hope"  consisting  of  fifty  men, 
and,  although  severely  wounded,  had  succeeded  in  cutting 
his  way  back  to  the  forces  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  with 
a  standard  which  he  had  captured.  For  this  exploit  he 
was  ennobled,  and  given  a  place  on  the  Prince's  body- 
guard. In  consequence  of  benefits  received  from  the  House 
of  Koningsmarck,  Vratz  was  devoted  to  the  young  Count 
Charles,  whose  instructor  in  arms  he  had  been.  His  devo- 
tion, in  fact,  was  of  the  sort  that  sticks  at  nothing,  as  may 
be  judged  by  the  sequel  of  this  strange  story.  Courage 
was  by  no  means  a  prominent  attribute  of  "  Tom  of  Ten 
Thousand,"  and  the  challenge  sent  by  Vratz  was  returned 

'  Frances  Howard,  Countess  of  Somerset,  the  poisoner  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury, 
was  great-grandaunt  of  EUzabeth  Percy. 

■•i  Echard;  Hist,  of  Ensiand,  pp.  865,  9S7,  1019. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  389 

unanswered.  The  Swedish  captain  hurried  back  into 
France  to  consult  with  his  principal,  the  result  being  that 
Koningsmarck  sent  a  second  and  more  imperative  defiance, 
accusing  Thynn  of  having  basely  tricked  Lady  Ogle  into 
a  marriage,  and  threatening  to  brand  him  everywhere  as 
a  coward,  unless  he  fixed  time  and  place  for  a  hostile 
meeting.^  At  the  subsequent  trial,  Koningsmarck  and 
Vratz  swore  that  Thynn's  reply  to  this  was  to  send  six 
hired  bravos  to  France,  for  the  express  purpose  of  assassi- 
nating both  the  Count  and  his  messenger,  lest  they  might 
succeed  in  forcing  him  into  a  duel.'  This  statement, 
although  not  denied  by  Thynn's  party,  is  unsupported  by 
any  other  published  evidence,  and  may  be  an  invention. 
But  assassinations  and  attempted  assassinations  of  this  kind 
by  the  band  of  rakes  and  "  Hectors,"  to  which  Thynn  and 
Monmouth  belonged,  are  actually  known  to  have  taken 
place ;  and  there  is  on  record  a  case  of  brutal  murder 
committed  by  Monmouth  and  a  roystering  party  of  his 
friends  (the  Dukes  of  Somerset  ^  and  Albemarle,*  and 
"  Tom  of  Ten  Thousand "  himself,  being  among  the 
number)  upon  the  person  of  an  unfortunate  citizen,  one 
Peter  Bruell,  who  had  been  so  unlucky  as  to  offend  them.* 
There  were  men  to  be  met  with  in  London  at  the  time, 
dare-devils  of  the  Blood  kind,  who  would  readily  undertake 
to  assassinate  any  one,  no  matter  how  great,  for  money  or 
even  favour.     It  is  quite  within  the  bounds  of  possibility 

'  Echard. 

2  Ibid.     See  also  English  Causes  Cilcbres,  pp.  81-85. 

'  Francis,  fifth  Duke  of  Somerset,  who  was  himself  to  fall  a  victim  to  an 
assassin.     See  note,  p.  400. 

*  Christopher  Monk,  second  Duke  of  Albemarle,  son  of  the  great  Monk  of 
Restoration  fame.     He  was  the  first  husband  of  the  mad  Elizabeth  Cavendish. 

'  The  circumstances  of  this  crime  are  as  follows ; — Monmouth,  with  Somerset, 
Albemarle,  Tom  Thynn,  and  others  had  been  engaged  in  an  orgie  at  Whetstone 
Park,  a  notorious  haunt,  the  name  of  which  still  survives  in  a  narrow  alley  north 
of  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields.  Peter  Bruell,  an  honest  resident  of  the  parish,  had  in 
some  way  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  "  Hectors."  His  evil  star  led  him  to 
cross  their  path  at  Whetstone,  when  they  fell  upon  him  with  one  accord,  and  held 
him  while  Monmouth  passed  his  ruffian  sword  through  the  defenceless  victim's 
body. — Dom.  State  Papers,  Charles  II. 


390  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

that  Thynn  sent  some  of  his  "  hangers  on "  to  remove 
such  inconvenient  enemies  as  Koningsmarck  and  Vratz. 
If  so,  he  did  not  succeed  in  his  object.  The  two  Swedes, 
finding  it  impossible  at  that  distance  to  taunt  him  into 
lighting,  and  (according  to  their  own  tale)  furious  at  his 
attempt  upon  their  lives,  crossed  over  to  England,  bringing 
with  them  Koningsmarck's  younger  brother,  the  ill-fated 
Count  Philip  Christopher.  The  party  reached  London 
about  the  middle  of  January  1682,  There  existed  at  this 
period,  behind  Leicester  House,^  a  celebrated  riding-school 
kept  by  a  French  exile,  Major  Foubert.  Foubert  added 
to  his  income  by  taking  in  resident  pupils,  and  foreign 
lodgers  of  distinction.  The  elder  Koningsmarck  had  re- 
sided in  the  school  during  his  former  visit  to  England,  and 
he  now,  in  company  with  his  brother  and  Captain  Vratz, 
again  took  up  his  quarters  there.  There  too  Vratz  en- 
countered two  former  comrades  in  arms.  Lieutenant  John 
Stern,  a  Swede,  and  George  Borosky  or  Boratzi,  of  Polish 
birth.  These  latter  were  admitted  to  the  confidence  of 
Koningsmarck ;  and  the  four  men  (Count  Philip  Christo- 
pher being  esteemed  too  young  to  take  part  in  their 
councils)  walked  together  in  Leicester  Fields  while  matur- 
ing a  plan  of  revenge  against  Thynn.  The  first  step  taken 
was  to  challenge  the  Wilts  knight  of  the  shire-  for  the 
third  time.  This  Vratz  did  in  person,  impugning  Thynn's 
courage  to  his  face  in  the  presence  of  several  persons,  and 
volunteering  to  take  Koningsmarck's  quarrel  upon  himself. 
Still  Lady  Ogle's  husband  would  not  fight.* 

Koningsmarck  and  his  zealous  adherent  declared  at  their 
trial  that,  after  this  last  public  affront  to  Thynn,  their  lives 

^  Leicester  House  was  in  Swan  Close,  Leicester  Fields  (hard  by  what  is  now 
Leicester  Square).  Foubert's  riding-school  had  been  formerly  the  military  yard 
founded  by  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  elder  brother  of  Charles  I.  The  place  re- 
mained "  an  academy  for  riding  and  other  gentleman-like  "  exercises  down  to 
Pennant's  time  (1790)  at  least. 

^  Thynn  represented  the  county  of  Wilts  in  Parliament  from  1670  to  the  day 
of  his  death. 

*  It  was  proved  at  the  trial  that  even  after  this  Koningsmarck  consulted  a 
member  of  the  Swedish  Legation  as  to  the  possibility  of  compelling  Thynn  to 
meet  him  ;  but  that  nothing  could  be  done  in  this  direction. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  391 

were  no  longer  safe  from  the  assassins  of  tlic  Monmouth 
faction,  and  that  they  were  driven  to  take  the  initiative 
"in  self  defence."  1  However  true  this  explanation  may 
have  been,  and  however  strongly  it  may  have  appealed 
to  the  distorted  minds  of  these  soldiers  of  fortune,  it 
cannot,  of  course,  be  held  to  excuse  in  any  way  the 
atrocious  crime  which  they  now  deliberately  set  out  to 
commit. 

On  Sunday,  February  12,  1682,  the  Duke  of  Monmouth 
and  his  bosom  friend,  Mr.  Thynn,  visited  the  Dowager 
Murder  of  Countcss  of  Northumberland  "at  her  house  by 
ToniThyna     Charing  Cross,"  and   remained  there  until    late 

and  fate  '^  ' 

of  his  in  the  afternoon.     They  drove  thence  in  a  coach 

assassins.  ^^  Moumouth's  residence,  where  the  Duke  was 
set  down,  Mr.  Thynn  continuing  his  journey  alone.  Dusk 
was  drawing  in  as  the  vehicle  turned  into  Pall  Mall. 
Suddenly,  opposite  St.  Albans  Street,^  the  clatter  of 
horses'  hoofs  was  heard,  and  a  voice  called  upon  the 
driver  in  broken  English  to  stop  "or  he  was  a  dead 
man."  The  voice  was  that  of  Major  Vratz,  who,  with 
Lieutenant  Stern  and  the  Pole  Borosky,  all  on  horseback, 
had  apparently  been  waiting  for  Thynn  at  that  point. 
Stern  pointed  a  brace  of  pistols  at  the  heads  of  the 
servants ;  while  Vratz  and  Borosky  rode  up  close  to  the 
coach,  the  one  being  at  the  north,  the  other  at  the  south 
window.  Vratz  said  something  to  Thynn,  probably  renew- 
ing the  former  challenge,  or  else  taunting  him  with 
cowardice ;  while  Borosky  kept  the  doomed  man  covered 
with  a  blunderbuss.  Suddenly,  and  without  any  possi- 
bility of  an  exchange  of  signals  between  Vratz  and  the 
Pole  (who  were  separated  by  the  great,  high-roofed  coach), 
the  latter's  blunderbuss  went  off,  all  four  bullets  with 
which  it  had  been  loaded  entering  the  body  of  Mr.  Thynn. 
At  the  trial,  it  was  alleged  by  the  defence  that  Borosky 
had  discharged  his  piece  accidentally  and  on  account  of 

'  Evidence  at  trial  ;  English  Causes  CiHiiires. 

-  Near  tiie  site  of  the  present  United  Service  Club. 


392  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

nervousness,  the  real  object  of  the  three  men  being  to 
force  Thynn  to  leave  his  coach  and  cross  swords  with 
Vratz.  However  this  may  be,  the  assailants,  realising 
what  had  happened,  turned  their  horses'  heads  and  fled. 
Koningsmarck  had  not  appeared  in  the  affair  at  all ;  but 
he  must  have  received  speedy  news  of  what  had  happened, 
for  he  too  left  London  before  nightfall,  and  fled  in  the 
direction  of  Gravesend. 

The  right  arm  of  the  civil  power  at  this  time  in  London 
was  Sir  John  Reresby ;  yet  so  paralysed  were  Thynn's 
friends  by  the  catastrophe,  that  although  it  had  occurred 
no  later  than  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  application 
was  not  made  to  Reresby  for  a  "hue  and  cry"  after  the 
assassins  until  an  hour  before  midnight.  In  Sir  John's 
Memoirs  is  the  following  note  : — 

"  i2tk  Feb.  1682. — At  eleven  o'clock  as  I  was  going  to 
bed  Mr.  Thynn's  gentleman  came  to  me  to  grant  a  Hue 
and  Cry  ;  and  soon  after,  the  Duke  of  Monmouth's  page 
to  desire  me  to  come  to  his  master  at  Mr.  Thynn's  lodgings, 
sending  his  coach  to  fetch  me.  I  found  him  surrounded 
with  several  gentlemen  and  lords,  and  Mr.  Thynn  mortally 
wounded  by  five  bullets  which  had  entered  his  belly  and 
side,  shot  from  a  blunderbuss."  1 

Although  Reresby  misses  no  opportunity  for  self-com- 
mendation in  his  Memoirs,  it  must  be  owned  that  he  was 
an  active  and  skilful  officer ;  and  the  speed  with  which  he 
tracked  down  and  captured  the  assassins  was  remarkable, 
considering  the  tardiness  of  his  notice,  and  the  meagre 
resources  at  his  command.  Before  noon  next  day,  Vratz, 
Stern,  and  Borosky  had  all  been  laid  by  the  heels,  and  a 
reward  of  ;^200  offered  for  the  capture  of  Koningsmarck, 
against  whom  Monmouth  swore  out  a  special  information. 

Thynn  died  at  six  o'clock  on  Monday  morning,  some 
thirteen  hours  after  he  had  been  shot.  The  news  set 
London  in  a  ferment.  It  was  at  first  reported  that  the 
murder  was  "  a  Popish  outrage,"  the  dead  man  having  been 
a  leader  of  the  extreme  Protestant  faction.    Then  a  rumour 

'  Memoirs  0/  Sir  John  Reresby,  p.  235, 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  393 

spread  that  Thynn  had  been  slain  by  the  Catholics  in  mistake 
for  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  ;  and  ballads  and  broadsides  by 
the  dozen  came  fluttering  out  of  Grub  Street  in  support  of 
these  wild  theories.  The  capture  of  the  three  criminals 
and  the  mention  of  Koningsmarck's  name  in  connection 
with  the  affair  had  the  effect  of  turning  the  tide  of  ribald 
literature  in  quite  another  direction.  "  Popish  plots  "  had 
become  common  enough  of  late,  but  here  was  something 
new  for  the  public  to  gape  at — a  tragedy  of  love,  jealousy, 
and  revenge.  Grub  Street  poured  forth  its  ballads  and 
broadsides  in  a  faster  and  fouler  stream  than  ever.  It  was 
darkly  hinted  that  Tom  Thynn  had  killed  himself  for  love 
of  his  runaway  wife ;  that  the  Mrs.  Trevor  whom  he  had 
betrayed  was  his  murderess ;  that  Lady  Ogle  had  hired 
foreign  bravos  to  assassinate  the  consort  she  detested. 
This  last  proved  to  be  the  most  popular  version  ;  and  as 
the  identity  of  Koningsmarck  was  gradually  unveiled,  and 
the  fact  made  certain  that  he  had  been  one  of  Elizabeth 
Percy's  warmest  admirers,  the  printed  attacks  upon  the 
latter  grew  bolder,  and  the  great  mass  of  the  public 
beheved  that  this  mere  slip  of  a  girl  had  really  procured 
the  crime. 

Meanwhile  the  King  and  Council  (knowing  that  any 
laxity  on  their  part  would  be  seized  upon  as  evidence 
of  their  hatred  of  Thynn  and  sympathy  with  his  slayers) 
showed  themselves  exceptionally  eager  in  bringing  the 
accused  to  justice.  Early  on  Monday  afternoon,  Vratz 
and  his  associates  were  examined  before  Charles  at  White- 
hall. Reresby  complains  that  they  were  treated  with  too 
great  consideration,  but  there  is  no  precise  account  of 
what  took  place.  A  few  days  later  Koningsmarck  was 
arrested  at  Gravesend,  while  waiting  to  embark  on  a 
Swedish  vessel.  Carried  to  London,  he  too  was  examined 
by  the  King  (again,  thinks  Reresby,  with  excessive  polite- 
ness), and  then  passed  over  to  Chief-Justice  Pemberton, 
who  committed  him  to  Newgate  to  await  trial. 

The  trial  began  at  the  Old  Bailey  on  February  27 ; 
Vratz,  Stern,  and  Borosky  being  charged  with  the  murder  of 


394  THE    HOUSE   OP^    PERCY 

Thynn,  and  Koningsmarck  with  being  an  accessory  before 
the  fact.  Circumstantial  evidence  alone  was  produced 
against  the  last-named.  It  was  shown  that  he  had  been 
a  suitor  for  Lady  Ogle's  hand,  and  he  had  been  heard 
to  declare  that  he  would  "  have  her  husband's  life."  He 
had  arrived  in  England  only  ten  days  before  the  murder, 
and  during  that  time  had  been  in  constant  communication 
with  the  assassins.  Vratz  tried  to  exculpate  his  friend 
and  former  pupil  by  bringing  forward  evidence  to  the 
efifect  that  he  (Vratz)  had  challenged  Thynn  to  an  affair 
of  honour ;  and  alleging  that,  so  far  from  there  having 
been  any  plot  to  assassinate  Thynn,  their  sole  intention  in 
waylaying  him  in  Pall  Mall  was  to  make  him  "  measure 
swords  like  a  gentleman."  The  blunderbuss,  it  was  pre- 
tended, had  been  discharged  by  the  nervous  shaking  of 
Borosky's  hand;  and  the  whole  affair  was  therefore  "an 
accident."  Vratz,  Stern,  and  Borosky  all  three  made  oath 
that  Koningsmarck  had  not  been  cognisant  of  their 
designs ;  and  Count  Philip  Christopher  Koningsmarck 
swore  to  an  alibi  in  favour  of  his  brother.  In  spite  of  the 
strong  circumstantial  evidence,  Chief-Justice  Pemberton 
summed  up  in  Koningsmarck's  favour,  and  the  jury  ac- 
quitted him.  Vratz,  Stern,  and  Borosky,  on  the  contrary, 
were  all  convicted  of  murder,  and  condemned  to  death. 
Reresby  declares  that  "the  King  was  not  displeased  at 
the  result  of  the  trial."  The  faction  of  Monmouth,  on 
the  contrary,  were  furious  at  Koningsmarck's  acquittal. 
It  was  alleged  that  there  had  been  collusion,  and  that  the 
jury  was  a  "packed"  one,  consisting  largely  of  foreigners.^ 
Koningsmarck  lost  no  time  in  shaking  the  dust  of  England 
from  his  feet.  A  few  weeks  after  his  departure,  William, 
Lord  Cavendish  (afterwards  first  Duke  of  Devonshire)," 
issued  a  formal  challenge  to  the   Count  to  undergo  with 

'  This  assertion  is  repeated  by  Luttrell  {Brief  Historical  Rdalion,  vol.  i.  163, 
&c.),  but  as  no  particulars  are  given  its  truth  cannot  be  determined. 

-  Son  and  heir  of  William,  third  Earl  of  Devonshire,  by  Lady  Elizabeth 
Cecil.  Born  in  1640-1,  he  married  a  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Ormonde,  was 
created  Duke  by  William  III.,  and  died  1707. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  395 

him  the  ancient  ordeal  of  battle  l)y  single  combat.  It  is 
a  question  whether  Koningsmarck  ever  received  this 
challenge ;  at  any  rate  the  proposed  combat  never  took 
place. 

The  three  convicted  assassins  were  hanged  in  Pall  Mall 
on  the  spot  where  the  crime  had  been  committed.  To 
the  last  Captain  Vratz  maintained  a  reckless  courage 
which  excited  the  admiration  even  of  those  who  most 
execrated  the  murder.  He  went  to  the  gallows  much  as  he 
had  gone  with  the  "  forlorn  hope  "  at  the  siege  of  Mons ; 
and  if  he  experienced  any  feelings  of  shame  he  concealed 
them  from  the  world.     Evelyn  writes  : — 

"  \Qtli  March  1682. — This  day  was  executed  Colonel 
Vrats  and  some  of  his  accomplices  for  the  execrable 
murder  of  Mr.  Thynn,  set  on  by  the  principal,  Konings- 
marck ;  he  (Vrats)  went  to  execution  like  an  undaunted 
hero,  as  one  who  has  done  a  friendly  office  for  that 
base  coward,  Count  Koningsmarck,  who  had  hopes  to 
marry  his  (Thynn's)  widow,  the  rich  Lady  Ogle,  and  was 
acquitted  by  a  corrupt  jury,  and  so  got  away.  Vrats 
told  a  friend  of  mine  who  accompanied  him  to  the 
gallows  and  gave  him  some  good  advice,  that  he  did 
not  value  dying  of  a  rush,  and  hoped  and  believed  God 
would  deal  with  him  like  a  gentleman. 

"  Never  man  went  so  unconcerned  to  his  sad  fate."  ^ 

As  for  Koningsmarck,  he  died  the  death  that  would 
have  better  fitted  Vratz — sword  in  hand,  with  his  face  to 
the  foe.  To  call  Koningsmarck  a  coward  is,  in  spite  of 
his  connection  with  Thynn's  murder,  to  find  oneself  con- 
tradicted by  a  hundred  brave  episodes  of  his  youth  and 
manhood.  When  acquitted  in  England,  he  was  barely 
twenty-three  years  of  age.  He  hurried  to  Venice,  where 
his  uncle  Count  Otho  William  von  Koningsmarck  com- 
manded the  forces  of  the  republic  ;^  and  immediately  took 
service  under  that  distinguished  captain.  At  Navarino, 
and  again  at  Modon,  he  displayed  courage  and  capacity 

'  Diary. 

^  Otho  William  v.  Koningsmarck  died  generalisjimo  of  Venice  in  l5SS. 


396  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

of  a  high  order ;  and  when  he  was  slain  in  battle  against 
the  Turks  at  Argos,  in  August  1686,  it  was  felt  that  Europe 
had  lost  one  of  her  most  promising  soldiers,  and  Venice  a 
future  generalissimo.^ 

If  Mr.  Thomas  Thynn  had  been  looked  upon  in  life  as 
"a  battered  rake"  whose  sole  claims  to  note  were  his 
TomThynn's  great  Wealth  and  friendship  with  Monmouth,  the 
bitter  world  camc  to  regard  him  in  death  as  a  hero  and 

Newmatri-  almost  as  a  martyr.-  He  was  buried  in  West- 
moniai  pro-     mioster  Abbcv,  where  the  fine  monument  erected 

jects  of  the  ^ 

Dowager  to  his  memory  may  yet  be  seen.  The  original 
Countess.  epitaph  placed  over  him  by  his  friends  has,  how- 
ever, disappeared.^  It  was  wisely  removed  by  Dean  Spratt, 
who  deemed  it  not  only  undeserved  but  also  libellous  to 
the  Government,  and  to  Thynn's  widow,  Lady  Ogle.*  The 
portion  supposed  to  refer  to  this  lady  and  her  family  is 
certainly  bitterly  suggestive.     It  ran  thus  : — 

"  Uxorem  diixit  Elizabethavi,  Coniitissain  de  Ogle, 
"  AntiquissuiKZ  lit  et  Illustrissinia  familice  de  Percy, 
"  NorthumbricB  ComiUini  filiani  et  kmedam 
"  Unicuvi. 
"HiNC  III^  Lachrym^!" 

A  few  weeks  after  her  husband's  burial,  Lady  Ogle 
returned  to  England  and  took  up  her  residence  at  North- 

'  Pennant  falls  into  a  curious  error  for  one  of  his  accuracy  when  he  speaks 
of  Koningsmarck.  Having  dwelt  upon  the  murder  of  Thynn,  and  the  Count's 
acquittal,  he  says  of  the  latter:  "  He  afterwards  met  with  a  fate  suited  to  his 
actions  :  he  attempted  an  intrigue  in  l6S6,  in  Germany,  with  a  lady  of  distin- 
guished rank  :  he  was  one  night  waylayed,  by  order  of  the  jealous  husband  ;  and 
was  literally  cut  to  pieces."  This,  of  course,  relates  to  Charles  von  Koningsmarck's 
younger  brother,  Philip  Christopher,  who  was  put  to  death  by  order  of  the  Elector 
of  Hanover  (afterwards  George  I.  of  England)  for  an  alleged  intrigue  with  Queen 
Sophia  Dorothea  of  ZelL     See  Lovt  of  An  Uncrcrwned  Qtuen,  by  W.  H.  Wilkins. 

'  Diet,  of  National  Biography. 

'  It  may  be  seen  in  the  engraving  of  the  tomb  in  Dart's  Westmimter  Abbey, 
vol.  ii. 

*  Antiquities  of  Westminster  (Neole  and  Erayley). 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  397 

umberland  House.  In  the  Daily  Intelligencer  nevJsAeiiev^ 
of  March  23,  1682,  is  a  somewhat  naive  declaration,  pur- 
porting to  come  from  the  young  heiress  herself,  on  the 
subject  of  Thynn's  murder  :— 

"  Since  the  Lady  Ogle's  arrival  many  persons  of  quality 
have  been  to  visit  her ;  she  seeming  very  much  dejected  in 
the  unfortunate  death  of  Esquire  Thynn,  declaring  that  she 
was  altogether  surprised  upon  the  news  she  read  of  that  un- 
happy accident,  as  not  imagining  that  such  barbarity  could 
be  enacted  by  man,  much  more  in  England,  and  we  hear 
she  will  not  appear  publick  until  the  Court  comes  from 
Newmarket." 

Three  weeks  later,  the  Dowager  Countess,  who  was  at 
Petworth,  sent  her  grandchild  an  imperative  summons  to 
join  her  there ;  and  having  now  no  Tom  Thynn  to  dread, 
Lady  Ogle  went  to  pay  her  respects  to  the  guardian  whom 
she  had  not  seen  since  her  flight  to  Holland.  Old  Lady 
Northumberland's  object  in  thus  resuming  her  sway  over 
the  girl-widow  was  soon  brought  to  light.  Hardly  three 
years  of  her  prized  and  profitable  guardianship  remained, 
and  she  could  not  resist  the  opportunity  of  attempting  to 
shape  for  the  third  time  Elizabeth  Percy's  matrimonial 
affairs.  It  would  appear  as  though  she  had  begun  to  cast 
about  for  a  suitable  successor  to  Tom  Thynn  before  the 
latter  was  well  in  his  grave.  On  this  last  occasion,  the 
choice  which  she  made  was  certainly  more  commendable 
than  had  been  the  case  either  in  1679  or  in  1681.  There  is 
likelihood,  however,  that  it  was  the  new  suitor  himself,  and 
not  Lady  Northumberland,  who  took  the  first  steps  in  the 
matter.  The  third  Duke  of  Somerset  is  said  to  have  died 
for  love  of  Elizabeth  Percy's  mother.  His  cousin,  the 
sixth  Duke,  now  appeared  as  a  candidate  for  the  hand  of 
Elizabeth  Percy  herself. 

Charles  Seymour,  sixth  Duke  of  Somerset,  was  in  his 
twentieth  year,  one  of  the  great  noblemen  of  England,  and 
the  chief  of  a  name  which,  in  the  male  line,  could  claim 
no  very  ancient  or  illustrious  descent,  but  which  had  been 

'   Preserved  in  the  British  Museum  Library. 


398  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

raised  to  great  dignity  through  the  marriage  of  Jane 
Seymour  to  Henry  VIII.,  and  subsequently  endowed  with 
royal  blood  through  the  union  of  Edward,  Earl  of  Hert- 
ford, and  Lady  Catherine  Grey.  The  descendants  of  this 
alliance  indeed  were  accounted,  after  the  royal  family, 
next  in  the  Hne  of  succession  to  the  English  throne.  But 
a  glance  at  the  genealogy  opposite  will  convey,  in  the 
briefest  and  most  accurate  manner,  the  lofty  position  which 
this  head  of  a  family,  so  obscure  as  scarcely  to  be  heard  of 
two  centuries  before,  now  occupied  in  the  nobility  of  the 
kingdom. 

Charles,  Duke  of  Somerset,  as  Lord  Dartmouth  observes 
in  a  note  to  Burnet,^  was  born  to  neither  title  nor  estate. 
The  early  years  of  his  life  were  spent  as  the  younger  son 
of  a  cadet  branch  of  the  House  of  Seymour.  Even  after 
the  third  and  fourth  Dukes  of  Somerset  died  without  issue, 
and  the  superior  title  passed  to  his  elder  brother  Francis, 
Lord  Trowbridge,  the  prospects  of  "  Mr.  Charles  Seymour  " 
seemed  but  little  brighter ;  for  it  was  believed  that  Duke 
Francis  w^ould  certainly  marry  and  have  a  family.  The 
education  of  the  heir  presumptive  was,  in  consequence, 
greatly  neglected,  and  though  he  was  entered  at  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  he  never  took  a  degree.  There  are 
evidences  that  his  brother  and  he  were  on  the  worst  of 
terms  ;  their  natures,  indeed,  differed  as  widely  as  their 
habits  and  resources.  Charles  Seymour  was  practically 
a  pensioner  upon  the  bounty  of  his  uncle.  Lord  Alington,^ 
and  the  latter's  sister-in-law,  the  Countess  of  Northampton.^ 
Lady  Northampton  took  a  fancy  to  the  handsome  lad,  and 
(although  she  was  no  blood  relation)  he  was  accustomed 
to  call  her  his  "  aunt."  This  period  of  comparative  priva- 
tion, far  from  softening  Seymour's  nature,  seems  rather 
to  have  rendered  him  irritable  and  unsympathetic ;  while 

'  History  of  His  Own  Times,  vol.  iv.  p.  13. 

'^  This  was  William,  third  Lord  Alington,  brother  of  Elizabeth,  Lady 
Seymour,  of  Trowbridge.     He  died  16S4. 

3  Mary  Noel,  daughter  of  Baptist,  third  Viscount  Campden,  and  wife  of 
Tames  Compton,  third  Earl  of  Northampton,  was  sister  of  Lady  Alington, 
Seymour's  aunt  fay  marriage. 


ISABEIX, 
d.iu.  and  heir 

of  William 
Mac  Williams 
of  CO.  Glo'sler. 


John  Seymour,  Esq., 

ShoritT  of  Wilts 

10  Hen.  \'I. 


Mary 
Wentworth 


John  Seymour.  Esq., 
Sheriff  of  Wilts 
36  Hen.  VI. 

I 
John  Seymour,  Esq. 

=  Sir  John  Seymour, 
1        K.B  ;  rf.  1536. 


(tst  ai.) 

Catherine,  = 

dau.  and 

heir  of  Sir 

William 

Fillol,  Kt. 

[divorced 

'S3S]. 


Sir  Edward 

Seymour,  Kt.;      = 

crea.  1st  Vistt. 

Bcauckamp  (1536) 

(the  year  of  his  sister's 

marriage) ;  crea.  \st 

Eart  0/  Hertford 

(1537),  (on  the  birth  of 

Edw.  VI.),  and  Lord 

Great  Chamberlain 

(for  life).     Lord 

Protector  of  England ; 

and  crea,  Duke  of 

Somerset  {with 

remainder  first  to 

youngest,  aftenvards  to 

elder  sons  (l^i,(s-i,^) 

Beheaded  on  Tower 

Hill,  1552. 


John, 

d.s.p. 


I 

Sir  Edward 

Seymour, 

Kt.,  of  Berry 

Pomeroy,  co  Devon. 


a  quo 

the  present 

Duke  of  Somerset. 


I 
(2nd».)       Jane 
Ann,      Seymour, 
dau.  of  Sir     d.  1537. 
Edward 
Stanhope, 

Kt.  Edwar 


I                   I  I 

Henry  Margaret  Mary, 

VIII.              m.  m. 

pfrj,  James  IV. 


of 

Scotland. 

I 

a  quo 

the  House 

of 
Stuart. 


(as  2nd 
husband) 

Charles 
Brandon, 

Duke  of 

Suffolk. 


Frances, 

m.  Henry  Gray,  Marq. 

of  Dorset  and  Duke  of 

Suffolk. 


Edward  Seymour,      =       Lady 


crea.  1st  Earl  of  Hertford 

and  Baron  Beauchamp 

(i  Eliz.) ;  d.  1621. 


Catherine 
Grey. 


Lady 
Jane 
Grey  ; 
beheaded 
'554- 


HoNORA,  =      Edward  Seymour, 

dau.  of  Sir  Richard  I  Lord  Beauchamp;  i5. 1561; 
Rogers,  Kt.  |  d,  vita  patris. 


I 

Sir  William  Seymour, 

rest,  as  2ud  Duke  of  Somerset;  b.  1588  ; 

m.  Lady  Frances  Devereux,  dau.  of  Robert, 

Earl  of  Essex.     [His  first  wife  had  been 

Arabella  Stuart.] 


Sir  Francis  Seymour, 
crea.  ist  Baron  Seymour  of  Trowbridge 
(1641);  m.  Frances,  dau.  and  co-heir  of  Sir 
Gilbert  Prinne,  Kt.,  of  Alington,  co.  Wilts. 


I 

Henry  Seymour, 

Lord  Beauchamp  ;  b.  1626  ;  n 

Mary,  dau.  of  Lord  Capel ; 

d.  vita  patris  1654. 

William  Seymour, 

3rd  Duke  of  Somerset ;  b.  1651 ; 

died  unm.  "  for  love  of  Lady 

Northumberland,"  Dec.  12, 

1671,  s.p. 


I 

John  Seymour, 

.    4th  Duke  of 

Somerset  ; 

d.  1675  s.p. 


Charles  Seymour, 

2nd  Baron  Seymour  of  Trowbridge  ; 

b.  1621  ;  m.  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 

William,  Lord  Alington  ;  d.  1665. 


Francis  Seymour, 

3rd  Baron  Seymour,  succeeded 

(167s)  as  5th  Duke  ok 

Somerset  ;  assassinated  at 

Lerice,  in  Italy,  Ap.  20,  1678 

{unmar.). 


Charles  Seymour, 

6th  Duke  of  Somerset, 

K.G.  ;  [who  married  Lady 

Elizabeth  Percy,  heiress 

of  Northumberland]. 


400  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

the  unreasonable  pride  which  long  afterwards  made  his 
name  a  byword,  may  be  traced  as  much  to  the  humiliations 
of  his  boyhood  as  to  the  unexpected  manner  in  which 
capricious  fortune  showered  her  favours  upon  him.  That 
careless  "  Hector,"  ^  the  fifth  Duke  of  Somerset,  was 
suddenly  and  disgracefully  cut  off  before  he  had  time  to 
marry.  While  travelling  with  some  French  friends  through 
the  town  of  Lerice  in  Italy,  he  had  insulted  two  ladies,  the 
sisters  of  Signor  Horatio  Botti.  This  latter  gentleman 
pursued  Somerset  to  the  door  of  his  inn,  and  shot  him 
dead.2  The  murder  brought  about  international  complica- 
tions, England  demanding  that  Botti  should  suffer  for  his 
crime.  But  Italian  sympathy  was  all  with  the  culprit,  who, 
although  sentenced  to  death,  was  permitted  to  escape,  while 
his  Judges  hanged  him  in  effigy.  Meanwhile  Charles 
Seymour  succeeded  to  the  Dukedom  of  Somerset,  being 
then  in  his  seventeenth  year,'  and  the  penniless  younger 
brother  of  yesterday  became  one  of  the  richest  and  most 
powerful  nobles  in  Great  Britain.  Four  years  later  he 
came  forward  as  a  suitor  for  the  hand  and  great  inherit- 
ance of  Lady  Ogle.  He  probably  anticipated  an  easy 
triumph  ;  but  in  this  he  was  disappointed.  The  young 
widow  showed  herself  indifferent  alike  to  his  rank  and 
good  looks.  Evil  tongues  whispered  that  she  was  still 
dreaming  of  Koningsmarck  ;  it  were  more  charitable  to 
suppose  that  the  tragic  end  of  Thynn  had  for  the  time 
unnerved  her  and  given  her  a  natural  disinclination  for 
society.  His  Grace  of  Somerset  came  all  in  the  bravery 
of  twenty  years,  with  friends,  lackeys,  postillions,  and  out- 
riders, to  pay  his  respects  at  Petworth.  But  he  only  saw 
the  Dowager  Countess  of  Northumberland,  Lady  Ogle 
positively  refusing  to  appear  ;  so  that  the  miry  roads  of 
Sussex  and  Hants  had  been  crossed  for  nought,  and  the 
gay  party  drove  despondently  away.     A  few  weeks  later, 

'  He  belonged  to  the  riotous  brotherhood  who  went  by  that  name,  and  had 
been  concerned  in  the  shameful  murder  of  Bruell  by  Monmouth  and  others  of 
the  "  Hector  "  persuasion. 

2  On  April  20,  167S.  '  He  was  born  in  1662. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  401 

Somerset  made  the  pilgrimage  to  Petvvorth  again  ;  this 
time  unostentatiously  and  attended  by  a  single  servant. 
We  may  read  the  result  in  a  letter  written  by  him  to  "  the 
Dowager  Duchess  of  Somerset"  (whom  De  Fonblanque 
curiously  enough  describes  as  the  Duke's  "grandmother," 
though  she  was  actually  widow  of  John,  fourth  Duke,  and 
consequently  not  a  blood  relation):' — 

"  /  differed  (deferred)  troubling  you  with  a  letter  till  I 
could  give  you  a  full  accompt  of  my  journey.  The  first  time 
I  was  there  I  could  have  no  opportunity  to  speak  with  my 
Lady  :  but  the  second  time  I  tvent  alone  and  got  an  opportunity, 
but  no  answer  but  that  she  was  resolved  not  to  alter  her 
condition  ;  and  desired  I  should  think  no  ?nore  of  it,  which 
was  a  thing  I  told  my  Lady  was  impossible  for  me  to  do, 
let  the  obstacles  be  never  so  great.  My  Lady  made  my  Aunt 
Northa»ipton  the  same  answer  she  made  me,  who  I  find  is 
much  startled  at  it,  more  a  great  deal  than  I  think  needes 
to  be  ;  for  I  hope  if  y'  Grace  be  pleased  to  lay  y'  commands  on 
both  my  Aunts''-  to  pursue,  while  they  are  there,  I  may  have 
some  favorable  answer  to  that  which  is  so  passionately  the 
concern  of  him  who  subscribes  himself,  may  it  please  Your 
Grace, 

"  Your  most  Dutiful  and 

"  Obedient  Servant, 

"Somerset."  3 

But  old  Lady  Northumberland  proved  a  more  in- 
fluential ally  than  any  of  the  Duke's  own  relatives  ;  and 
to  her  he  was  at  last  forced  to  appeal.  The  Dowager 
Countess,  as  might  be  expected,  made  her  own  terms,  and 
they  were  by  no  means  light  ones.     Her  personal  dower 

'  One  of  Somerset's  grandmothers  was  Lady  Alington,  the  other  was  Frances, 
Lady  Seymour  of  Trowbridge.  The  Dowager  Duchess  to  whom  he  wrote,  as 
above,  was  Sarah,  daughter  of  Sir  Edward  Alston,  M.D.,  President  of  the  College 
of  Physicians,  who  married  John,  fourth  Duke  of  Somerset,  and  after  his  death 
Henry  Hare,  second  Lord  Coleraine.     She  died  1692. 

-  Lady  Northampton  and  Lady  Berkeley. 

^  Ahru'iik  MSS. ;  quoted  by  De  Fonblanque. 
II.  ,  2  C 


402  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

was  to  be  largely  increased,  and  Somerset  was  to  sign  an 
undertaking  to  abandon  his  family  name  in  favour  of  that 
of  Percy.  To  the  former  proviso  the  Duke  consented 
readily  enough  ;  he  had  understood  that  he  must  follow 
the  example  of  Mr.  Thynn  and  the  relatives  of  Lord  Ogle, 
in  purchasing  Lady  Northumberland's  acquiescence.  But 
the  change  of  name  was  another  matter  altogether  ;  and 
it  was  only  with  the  gravest  reluctance  (and  a  determi- 
nation to  evade  the  fulfilment  of  his  promise  if  possible)  * 
that  he  finally  surrendered  upon  this  head.  The  Dowager 
then  set  herself  to  persuade  Lady  Ogle  into  a  third 
marriage ;  and  here,  by  dint  of  alternate  threats  and 
reasoning,  this  indomitable  woman  once  more  attained 
her  object.  The  Duke  was  again  invited  to  Petworth, 
where  the  wedding  took  place  on  August  30,  1682. 

Before  proceeding  with  the  story  of  their  careers,  a 
few  words  on  the  personal  appearance  and  characters  of 
Character.  ^^^  young  couplc  may  not  be  amiss.  Elizabeth, 
istics,  and  Baroncss  Percy  and  Duchess  of  Somerset,  had 
m^lnhe"^^  inherited  a  considerable  share  of  the  good  looks 
Duke  and  which  distinguished  both  her  parents,  but  she 
was  never  regarded  as  a  "  beauty,"  as  her  mother 
had  been.  Her  hair,  as  Swift  with  persistent  venom  took 
care  to  inform  the  world,  was  red — a  trait  inherited 
from  the  "  Wizard  Earl,"  her  great-grandfather ;  and 
she  was  foolishly  sensitive  upon  that  score.  In  person 
she  was  of  good  height,  inclining  towards  the  end  of 
her  life  to  stoutness.  The  best  picture  of  her,  when 
young,  is  supposed  to  be  the  unfinished  one  by  Sir  Peter 
Lely,-    painted    just   after    her    marriage    to    Lord    Ogle. 

'  He  did  in  the  end  compel  his  wife  to  free  him  from  the  agreement  by  a 
special  deed. 

*  One  of  Lely's  earliest  English  portraits  had  been  that  of  Josceline,  eleventh 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  as  a  littl  ■  boy.  His  /iist  effort  was  the  picture,  above 
alluded  to,  of  Josceline's  daughter.  It  is  said  that  while  engaged  upon  this  work 
"  the  pencil  dropped  from  his  hand,  and  a  fit  of  apoplexy  closed  the  career  of  the 
great  painter  for  ever.  He  died  the  same  day."  Lady  Ogle's  enemies  numbered 
Lely  among  the  many  victims  of  that  "  ill  lucU  "  which  was  supposed  to  fall  upon 
all  connected  with  her. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  403 

Her  mental  powers  were  admitted,  by  friends  and  foes 
alike,  to  be  lai  above  the  average.  Lord  Dartmouth 
called  her  "the  best  bred,  as  well  as  the  best  born  woman 
in  England  ; "  '  and  Lady  Strafford  was  of  opinion  that 
"  if  her  Duke  had  thought  her  what  all  the  world  would 
think,  capable  of  advising  him,  matters  would  not  be  as 
they  are."' 

As  for  Somerset,  his  amazing  pride  was  as  yet  kept 
within  limits,  and  had  not  attained  (as  it  afterwards  did) 
the  proportions  of  a  disease.  Lord  Stanhope,  in  his 
History  of  England,  sums  up  the  Duke's  character  at 
this  period  as  that  of  "  a  well-meaning  man,  but  of  shy 
and  proud  habits,  and  slender  understanding."  ^  Dart- 
mouth goes  much  further,  when  he  declares  that  Somerset 
"always  acted  more  by  humour  than  by  reason.  He 
was  a  man  of  vast  pride,  and,  having  a  very  low  educa- 
tion, showed  it  in  a  very  indecent  manner.  His  high 
title  came  to  him  by  one  man's  misfortune,''  and  his 
great  estate  by  another's ;  ^  for  he  was  born  to  neither, 
but  elated  both  to  a  ridiculousness."*  Mackey's  descrip- 
tion, written  in  1702,  is  more  flattering:  "The  Duke  of 
Somerset  was  of  a  middle  stature,  well  shaped,  a  very 
black  complexion ;  a  lover  of  music  and  poetry ;  of 
good  judgment"  (to  this  Swift  appended  the  sweeping 
comment  ^^ not  a  grain!"),  "but  by  reason  of  a  great 
hesitation  in  his  speech,  wants  expression."  All  these, 
with  the  exception  of  Swift's  interpolation,  are  the 
opinions  of  the  Duke's  friends  and  associates.  What  his 
opponents,  the  followers  of  Bolingbroke  and  Ormonde, 
said  of  him  need  not  be  quoted  here. 

When,  for  the  third  time,  Elizabeth  Percy  stripped 
the  lacs  d'amour  from  about  her  escutcheon,  she  had 
the  good  sense  to  remain  for  some  time  in  the  seclusion 

'  Burnet ;  History  of  His  Own  Times. 

"  Strafford  Papers,  2nd  series,  June  1714. 

'  Stanhope,  vol.  i.  p.  84. 

*  The  assassination  of  his  brother  by  Botti. 

^  The  murder  of  Tom  Thynn. 

'  Lord  Dartmouth,  in  Burnet's  History,  vol.iv.  p.  13. 


404  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

of  Petworth,  before  taking  her  place  at  Court.  Her  first 
child,  Algernon,  was  born  in  1683,  when  she  was  little 
over  sixteen,  and  only  lived  a  few  months.  Next  year 
she  gave  birth  to  twins,  one  of  whom  (a  daughter)  died 
in  infancy,  while  the  other  was  Algernon,  Earl  of  Hert- 
ford, afterwards  heir  to  the  united  honours  of  Percy 
and  Seymour.  It  is  curious  to  note,  from  the  baptis- 
mal entries  of  these  children  in  the  Petworth  registers, 
how  Somerset  endeavoured  to  evade  the  condition  which 
bound  him  to  use,  on  behalf  of  himself  and  his  offspring, 
the  name  of  Percy.  His  wife  was  not  yet  legally  of  age, 
and  could  not  therefore  absolve  him  from  his  pledge  ; 
while,  if  he  allowed  his  sons  and  daughters  to  be 
christened  under  their  paternal  surname,  the  Dowager 
Countess  had  it  in  her  power  to  set  aside  the  marriage 
settlements.  As  he  had  a  wholesome  fear  of  Earl  Alger- 
non's widow,  he  adopted  the  expedient  of  entering  no 
surname  at  all ;  so  that  the  children  born  prior  to  1688 
were  described  in  the  register  as  "  the  Lord  Algernon," 
"the  Lady  Catherine,"  and  so  forth.  The  Duchess 
attained  her  majority  on  January  26,  1688,  and  exactly 
four  days  aftenuards  she  executed  the  deed  which  "re- 
leased him  from  the  obligation  to  assume  her  family 
name."  Thereafter  all  his  children  were  baptized  as 
Seymours;  and  whereas  the  baptismal  register  of  1687 
makes  mention  of  "the  Lord  Edward"  simply,  we  read 
that  on  May  27,  1689,  "  Lord  Edward  Seymour "  was 
"  buried  in  linen."  ^ 

The  Duke  himself  did  not  come  of  age  until  the  year 
after  his  marriage  ;  when  he  at  once  accepted  the  post 
of  Gentleman  of  the  Bedchamber  to  Charles  H.  As  a 
reward  for  having  taken  no  part  in  the  Rye  House  Con- 
spiracy (which  caused  the  deaths  of  no  less  than  three 
of  his  wife's  kindred")  he  was,  on  April  8,  1684,  installed 

'  Registers  of  Petworlli. 

^  Algernon  Sidney,  first  cousin  of  the  Duchess,  was  beheaded  ;  as  was  Lord 
William  Russell,  her  uncle  by  marriage.  Another  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Essex,  com- 
mitted suicide  in  the  Tower ;  and  even  the  traitorous  Lord  Howard  of  Escrick, 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  405 

a  knight  of  the  Garter.  At  the  funeral  of  Charles  II. 
he  acted  as  second  mourner,  walking  immediately  after 
the  new  king.  It  is  observed  that  such  solemn  pageants 
were  greatly  to  his  taste.  His  vanity  was  flattered  by 
the  all  but  royal  position  assigned  to  him  (for,  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk  being  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  therefore  de- 
barred from  sitting  in  Parliament,  Somerset  took  his 
place  as  premier  peer  of  the  realm) ;  while  the  pomp 
and  circumstance  of  the  state  ceremonial  appealed 
strongly  to  a  taste  naturally  florid.  He  took  part  in 
the  funerals  of  Mary  II.,  William  III.,  Anne,  and 
George  I.,  and  carried  the  orb  at  no  less  than  four 
coronations.  Swift  said  of  him  "that  had  he  not  been 
a  Duke,  he  would  have  made  an  admirable  master  of 
ceremonies,  or  keeper  of  the  puppets."  When  the 
Archduke  Charles  was  named  King  of  Spain  by  the 
Allies,  Somerset  was  sent  to  welcome  him  at  Ports- 
mouth ;  ^  and  the  patience  of  the  future  Emperor  is 
said  to  have  been  sorely  tried  by  the  elaborate  manner 
in  which  every  petty  detail  of  the  prescribed  form  of 
reception  was  carried  out. 

Somerset  was  at  first  in  high  favour  with  James  II., 
who  on  August  2,  1685,  appointed  him  to  the  command 
of  the  3rd  or  Queen's  Regiment  of  Dragoons,^  a  body  of 
troops  which  had  been  originally  raised  for  the  suppression 
of  Monmouth's  Rebellion.  But  the  Duke's  sympathies 
were  secretly  with  Monmouth  and  the  Protestant  cause. 
When  ordered  to  arrest  certain  fugitives  from  Sedgemoor, 
he  temporised,  and  sent  to  demand  "  a  reason  "  ;  to  which 
the  Duke  of  Beaufort  replied  in  a  vigorous  letter  of  re- 
monstrance, pointing  out  that  Somerset  was  the  King's 
servant  and  lieutenant,  and  therefore  bound  to  pursue 
those  in  arms  against   the  throne,  or  else   renounce   his 

who  turned  informer  against  his  fellow-conspirators,  was  a  relative — being  of 
the  same  blood  (and  of  much  the  same  disposition)  as  the  Dowager  Countess  of 
Northumberland. 

'  In  1703. 

'  Now  the  3rd  Hussars. 


4o6  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

oath  of  allegiance  altogether. ^  While  this  correspondence 
lasted,  the  rebels  in  question  made  good  their  escape. 
Somerset,  however,  continued  to  hold  office  for  two  years 
longer,  when  his  action  in  regard  to  the  Papal  Nuncio, 
Monsignor  d'Adda,  brought  about  his  dismissal.  There  is 
more  than  one  version  of  this  affair,  but  that  given  by 
Burnet  is  the  most  circumstantial.  When  the  Roman 
envoy  arrived  at  Windsor,  James  determined  to  give  him 
a  public  reception.  Somerset  consulted  his  lawyers,  and 
learned  that  such  recognition  of  the  Catholic  faith  was 
illegal  in  the  then  state  of  English  law.  Queen  Mary, 
bigoted  Catholic  though  she  was,  had  compelled  Cardinal 
Pole  (the  Nuncio  of  her  day)  to  wait  in  Holland  until  the 
existing  statutes  were  repealed.  But  James  II.  did  not 
possess  equal  discretion.  Regarding  himself  as  above  the 
law,  he  invited  D'Adda  and  his  suite  to  Windsor.  Burnet 
quotes  as  follows  from  an  unpublished  memoir  of  Lord 
Lonsdale:  "That  the  Nuntio  might  have  all  the  honour 
done  him  that  was  possible,  it  was  resolved  that  a  Duke 
should  introduce  him.  The  matter  was  therefore  proposed 
to  the  Duke  of  Somerset.  The  Duke  humbly  desired  of 
the  King  to  be  excused ;  the  King  asked  him  his  reason  ; 
the  Duke  told  him  he  conceived  it  to  be  against  law ;  to 
which  the  King  said  he  would  pardon  him.  The  Duke 
replied,  he  was  no  very  good  lawyer,  but  he  thought  he 
had  heard  it  said,  that  a  pardon  granted  a  person  offending 
under  assurance  of  obtaining  it,  was  void.  This  offended 
the  King  extremlie  ;  he  said  publicklie,  he  wondered  at  his 
insolence ;  and  told  the  Duke  he  would  make  him  fear 
him  as  well  as  the  laws.  To  which  the  Duke  answered 
that,  as  he  was  his  soveraign,  he  should  ever  have  all  the 
dutie  and  reverence  for  his  person  that  was  due  from  a 
subject  to  his  prince,  but  whilst  he  was  no  traitor  or 
criminal,  he  was  so  secure  in  his  justice,  that  he  could  not 
fear  him  as  offenders  do.  Notwithstanding  the  extreme 
offence  this  matter  gave  his  majestie,  yet  out  of  his  good- 

'  Aliivjick  A/SS.,  vol.  XX. ;  Beaufort  to  Somerset,  July  5,  16S6. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  407 

ness  he  was  pleased  to  tell  the  Duke  that  he  would 
excuse  him.  And  yet,  within  two  days  after,  he  was 
told  positively  that  the  King  would  be  obeyed.  He 
urged  the  King's  promise  to  excuse  him,  but  in  vain,"  ^ 
The  result  was  that  the  Papal  Nuncio  was  introduced 
by  the  Duke  of  Grafton  ;  while  Somerset  was  soon  after- 
wards removed  from  his  position  in  the  royal  house- 
hold, as  well  as  from  the  command  of  the  Queen's 
Dragoons. 

After  this  dismissal,  Somerset  naturally  became  more 
disaffected  than  ever ;  and  he  was  one  of  those  who 
received  Dykveldt,  the  secret  agent  sent  over  by  the  Prince 
of  Orange  in  1688.  But  whether  from  a  sense  of  past 
favours,  or  (as  many  supposed)  from  jealousy  of  the 
leading  part  played  by  his  cousin,  Sir  Edward  Seymour, 
the  legitimate  head  of  the  family, 2  the  Duke  remained 
inactive  during  the  events  leading  up  to  the  flight  of  James, 
and  the  declaration  that  the  throne  was  vacant.  In  the 
Convention  Parliament  he  at  first  voted,  with  Ormonde, 
Clarendon,  Nottingham,  and  Archbishop  Sancroft,  against 
the  bestowal  of  the  crown  upon  William  and  Mary,  and  in 
favour  of  the  alternative  proposition  of  a  regency.^  He 
held  that,  in  view  of  the  declaration  made  by  the  nation 
eight  years  before,*  Parliament  had  no  power  to  depose  the 

'  Burnet;  History  of  His  Chvn  Times,  vol.  iii.  p.  178. 

'  Sir  Edward  Seymour,  fourth  Bart.,  of  Berry  Pomeroy,  co.  Devon,  was  the 
fifth  in  direct  descent  from  the  Protector  Somerset  by  his  Jirst  marriage  (see 
Seymour  Genealogy,  p.  399).  He  had  been  Speaker  of  the  Parliament  dissolved 
in  January  1679,  and  was  re-elected  in  opposition  to  the  Court  candidate  in  the 
new  Parliament  which  assembled  on  March  of  the  same  year,  only  to  be  set  aside 
by  a  compromise.  There  is  an  old  story  to  the  effect  that  when  the  Prince  of 
Orange  landed  at  Torquay,  he  asked  Seymour  (by  way  of  a  compliment)  if  he  did 
not  "belong  to  the  family  of  the  Duke  of  Somerset."  "No,  sir,"  replied  Sir 
Edward,  with  perfect  justice,  "  the  Duke  of  Somerset  belongs  to  jiiy  family." 
The  senior  line  of  the  Seymours  inherited  the  honours  which  had  been  diverted 
from  their  ancestor,  in  the  person  of  Sir  Edward  Seymour,  sixth  Bart.,  grandson 
of  William  III.'s  adherent. 

"  Thirty-five  peers,  two  archbishops,  and  twelve  bishops  supported  the  motion 
for  a  regency  in  the  House  of  Lords.  They  were  defeated  by  a  majority  of  only 
two  votes. 

*  On  the  defeat  of  the  Exclusion  Bill. 


4o8  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

King,  or  to  alter  the  lineal  course  of  succession.  But 
after  the  conference  which  took  place  between  the  two 
Houses,  he  was  induced,  by  the  arguments  of  Halifax 
and  Danby,  to  abandon  these  views,  and  side  with  the 
majority.  The  new  King,  who  had  a  good  memory,  never 
forgave  this  reluctance  to  join  his  cause,  and  to  the  end 
of  his  reign  treated  Somerset  with  great  coldness.  For 
some  months  the  Duke  frequented  Court  regularly  ;  but 
encountering  little  favour  from  William  or  his  ministers, 
he  retired  to  the  country  in  disgust,  giving  as  his  reason 
"the  undue  amount  of  honours  and  rewards  bestowed 
upon  the  monarch's  Dutch  followers,  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  native  English."  In  spite  of  his  lack  of  educa- 
tion, he  was  in  1689  elected  Chancellor  of  Cambridge 
University ;  and  when  the  new  Parliament  met  in  March 
1690,  he  succeeded  Halifax  as  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Lords.  Rumours  were  now  current  that  he  had 
again  changed  his  politics,  and  he  was  suspected  by 
the  Court  party  of  being  in  correspondence  with  St. 
Germains. 

The  friendship  entertained  by  Queen  Anne  for  the 
Duke  and  Duchess  of  Somerset  originated  in  April  1692, 
Friendship  of  when  Anue,  having  fallen  into  disgrace  with 
QueenAnne:  ^ej-  gister  and  brother-iu-law,  was  ejected  from 
saTage  her  lodgiugs  in  the  Cockpit,  and  all  friends  of 

attack.  tj^g   Court   were   forbidden   to   give   her   shelter 

or  assistance.  Somerset,  braving  the  royal  displeasure, 
invited  the  Princess  to  Syon,  where  she  continued  to  reside 
for  some  time.  It  is  likely  that  the  moving  spirit  in  this 
clever  piece  of  intrigue  was  really  Duchess  Elizabeth. 
Somerset  himself  had  neither  the  foresight  nor  the  strength 
of  character  to  take  the  initiative  in  so  dangerous  an  affair. 
Anne  was  very  grateful  for  the  kindness  shown  to  her  in 
the  time  of  adversity,  and  even  when  her  court  was  domi- 
nated by  Tory  influence  she  continued  to  regard  the  Whig 
Duchess  of  Somerset  with  friendship,  and  to  keep  her  in 
her  service.     No  sooner,    indeed,  was  William    III.  dead 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  409 

and  the  new  Queen  upon  tlie  throne,  than  Somerset  and 
liis  wife  began  to  enjoy  the  rewards  of  their  generous 
conduct.  The  Duke  was  at  once  appointed  Master  of  tlie 
Horse,  and  became  an  active  member  of  the  Privy  Council. 
In  1703  he  was  sent  as  Anne's  representative  to  escort 
the  Archduke  Charles  to  London,  and  in  1706  sat  upon  the 
Commission  appointed  to  effect  the  Union  with  Scotland. 
During  the  crisis  of  February  1708,  when  Marlborough  and 
Godolphin  succeeded  in  driving  Harley  and  St.  John  out 
of  the  ministry,  Somerset  ranged  himself  upon  the  side  of 
the  great  Duke,  apparently  under  the  impression  that  he 
would  be  offered  one  of  the  vacant  offices.  The  Whig 
leaders,  however,  had  a  poor  opinion  of  his  capacity,  and 
the  all-powerful  "Junto  "^  vetoed  his  appointment.  Marl- 
borough's wife  also  expostulated  with  her  lord  upon  his 
alleged  intention  to  promote  Somerset ;  to  which  the 
Captain-General  indignantly  replied  that  he  had  never 
dreamed  of  employing  a  person  of  such  slender  abilities 
"in  anything  that  is  of  any  consequence." ^  This  cruel 
and  rather  ungrateful  remark  was  maliciously  repeated  by 
Duchess  Sarah,  and  had  the  effect  of  driving  Somerset  into 
opposition.  Harley  received  him  effusively,  and  flattered 
him  to  the  top  of  his  bent,  even  going  so  far  as  to  hold  out 
hopes  that  in  case  of  the  failure  of  the  House  of  Brunswick, 
the  succession  to  the  throne  might  be  settled  upon  that  of 
Seymour.^  On  the  other  hand,  St.  John  took  no  pains  to 
conceal  his  dislike  for  the  Duke,  and  the  Jacobite  party 
refused  to  believe  in  the  latter's  good  faith.  He  was,  in 
truth,  but  a  half-hearted  Tory  at  best,  and  would  not  have 
retained  office  so  long  as  he  did  but  for  Harley's  flatteries 
and  the  private  encouragement  of  Queen  Anne.  His 
absurd  pride,  which  found  an  insult  in  every  contrary 
argument,  his  peevish  temper,  and  his  variable  disposition 
made  him   a   most   undesirable  colleague,   and   it   is   not 

'  The  Whig  "Junto,"  as  it  was  called,  consisted  of  Lords  IlaHfax,  Wharton, 
Sunderland,  Somers,  and  Orford. 

'  Marlborough's  IVoris,  vol.  x.  p.  300. 

^  See  Swift's  Last  Years  of  the  Reign  cf  Queen  Aiiiie,  vol.  v.  p.  182. 


4IO  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

surprising  that  the  majority  of  the  Council  sympathised 
with  St.  John  in  that  minister's  attempts  to  get  rid  of  one 
who,  in  the  words  of  Lord  Hardwicke,  "was  so  humour- 
some,  proud,  and  capricious  that  he  was  a  ministry  spoiler 
rather  than  a  ministry  maker."  Up  to  1710,  Somerset  was 
still  powerful  enough  to  secure  the  nomination  of  Parker 
to  the  Chief  Justiceship.^  He  imagined,  according  to  Lord 
Dartmouth,  that  he  could  make  Parker  his  tool  ;  but  the 
new  Chief  Justice  speedily  disabused  him  of  this  idea,  and 
went  over  to  St.  John.  The  Sacheverell  agitation,  and  the 
Jacobite  intrigues  of  his  fellow-councillors,  were  renewed 
sources  of  discontent  to  Somerset.  Bitter  recriminations 
were  of  daily  occurrence  between  St.  John  and  himself, 
and  at  length  he  even  fell  foul  of  the  complaisant  Harley. 
The  dissolution  of  Parliament  in  1710  was  the  signal  for 
his  final  desertion  of  the  Tories.  He  broke  off  the  con- 
nection in  a  towering  rage,  which  so  blinded  him  to  all 
sense  of  propriety  that  he  treated  the  Queen,  to  whom  he 
owed  nothing  but  gratitude,  with  grave  discourtesy.  The 
occurrence  is  thus  described  by  Lady  Strafford  in  a  letter 
to  her  sister  :  "  The  Duke  of  Somerset  has  left  the  Court 
in  a  pet,  and  it  is  concluded  that  he'll  ne'er  return  as 
Master  of  the  Horse  more.  The  day  the  Parliament  is 
dissolved,  he  came  out  of  Council  in  such  a  passion  that 
he  cursed  and  swore  at  all  his  servants,  and  ordered 
them  to  put  up  all  things  at  Kingseton  (Kensington),^  and 
though  his  supper  was  ready  he  would  not  stay  to 
eat  it.  .  .  . 

"The  Saturday  morning  he  went  out  of  Town,  the 
Queen  herself  gave  orders  that  the  leading  coach  only 
should  go  out  with  her  ....  so  the  Duke  of  S.  might  be 
at  liberty  to  take  the  best  of  the  horse  chariots  and  horses 
to  travel  with  ;  but  he  continued  to  the  last  in  a  huff,  and 
went  out  of  Town  in  his  own  coach,  and  not  through 
St.  James  Park,  which  as  Master  of  the  Horse  he  might  do. 
They  say  he  has  been  deceived  by  Mr.  Harley.  .  .  .  He 

■  In  succession  to  Chief  Justice  Holt. 

'  Where  he  had  apartments  in  his  official  capacity. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  411 

has  met  the  Junto,  and  they  received  him  very  cordially, 
and  declared  he  will  give  all  the  interest  he  has  in  any 
place  he  has  influence  in  to  the  Whigs."  ^ 

The  "Junto"  was  doubtless  glad  to  welcome  back  its 
old  adherent,  even  though  he  came  not  as  a  penitent  but 
as  a  disappointed  man.  The  Whigs  in  171 1  needed  all  the 
help  they  could  obtain,  to  combat  Harley  and  St.  John — 
the  latter  now  in  direct  communication  with  St.  Germains, 
the  former  amazingly  popular  by  reason  of  the  murder- 
ous attack  made  upon  him  by  Guiscard.  In  Parliament 
the  Tories  had  a  decided  majority  ;  Mrs.  Masham  had 
succeeded  in  ousting  the  Duchess  of  Marlborough  from 
the  post  of  Queen's  favourite ;  and  the  prospects  of  the 
Hanoverian  succession  looked  darker  than  at  any  time 
since  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  Settlement.  Thus  Somerset's 
return  to  the  Whig  fold  was  a  subject  for  jubilation.  But, 
truth  to  tell,  it  was  not  so  much  for  the  Duke's  own  merits 
or  influence  as  for  those  of  his  wife,  that  Sunderland, 
Somers,  and  Halifax  gave  him  such  cordial  greeting.  Of 
Somerset  they  could  not  be  certain  for  any  length  of  time  ; 
he  might  leave  them  in  the  lurch  to-morrow,  as  he  had 
done  before.  But  the  Duchess  was  a  powerful  and,  above 
all,  a  loyal  and  disinterested  ally.  For  her  sake  they  were 
willing  to  forgive  and  forget,  nay  even  to  admit  the  Duke 
to  all  but  their  most  intimate  councils.  At  the  accession 
of  Queen  Anne,  the  heiress  of  the  Percies  had  been  ap- 
pointed first  Lady  of  the  Bedchamber.  In  this  capacity 
she  had  greatly  strengthened  that  friendship  with  the 
Queen  which  began  at  Syon  in  1682,  It  was  part  of 
Anne's  policy  to  keep  about  her  two  sets  of  favourites,  the 
one  to  be  used  as  a  foil  against  the  other.  While  the 
Duchess  of  Marlborough  ostentatiously  exercised  her  sway 
over  Court  affairs,  she  of  Somerset  was  the  repository  of 
the  Queen's  continual  complaints  on  the  score  of  "  Mrs. 
Freeman's  arbitrary  conduct"  ;  and  the  quiet  sympathy  of 
one  who  had,  apparently,  little  or  nothing  to  gain  in  the 

'  Strafford  Papers,  1 7 10. 


412  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

royal  service,  proved  grateful  to  Anne's  weak  nature. 
When  Marlborough's  wife  was  forced  into  retirement  by 
the  intrigues  of  Harley's  tool,  Mrs.  Masham,  the  latter 
discovered  for  the  first  time  the  great,  though  passive, 
influence  exercised  by  the  Duchess  of  Somerset.  Here 
was  a  woman  who  asked  no  benefits  for  her  husband  or 
herself,  but  who  patiently,  and  almost  insensibly,  undid  the 
work  of  Harley  and  St.  John  and  inspired  the  Queen  with 
Hanoverian  sympathies.  "She  was,"  writes  Noble,^  "the 
determined  enemy  of  the  Tory  party,  and  her  attachment 
to  the  Whigs  (afterwards)  brought  her  into  great  estimation 
in  the  reign  of  George  I."  It  was  not  long  before  Mrs. 
Masham  and  her  friends  realised  that  the  success  of  their 
schemes  depended  in  no  small  degree  upon  the  removal 
of  this  dangerous  obstacle.  But  at  first  the  Queen  would 
not  hear  of  dismissing  her  friend  in  this  manner.  The 
Duchess  of  Somerset  was  promoted  to  the  joint  offices  of 
Groom  of  the  Stole  and  Mistress  of  the  Robes,  in  succes- 
sion to  the  Duchess  of  Marlborough,^  and  she  held  them  in 
spite  of  backstairs'  cabals,  evil  reports,  and  cruel  lampoons, 
for  over  three  years.  The  Queen's  personal  goodwill  she 
retained  to  the  very  last.  Anne,  when  dying,  told  Lord 
Dartmouth  that  she  proposed  to  leave  a  few  of  her  jewels 
to  the  Queen  of  Sicily,  "  who  was  the  only  relation  I  ever 
heard  her  speak  of  with  much  tenderness ;  and  the  rest 
to  the  Duchess  of  Somerset,  as  the  fittest  person  to  wear 
them  after  her."  ^ 

Amongst  those  who  reviled  the  Duchess  most  bitterly 
was  Swift,  who  was  then  St.  John's  chief  henchman  and 
adviser.  He  wrote  of  her  to  Stella  as  "that  damned 
Duchess  of  Somerset,"  and  on  one  occasion  he  permitted 
-himself  to  attack  her  good  fame  in  a  rhymed  libel  of  an 
exceptionally  provoking  character.  This  was  the  famous 
"  Windsor  Prophecy,"  a  parody  on  those  vague  predic- 
tions which  were  hawked  about  the  streets  in  broadsides 
and  almanacs.     No  one  at  all  familiar  with  Court  matters 

'  Biog.  Hiilory,  vol.  iii.  p.  437.  -  In  January  171 1. 

'  Burnet,  vol.  iv.  p.  31. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  413 

could  fail  to  grasp  the  allusions  in  this  precious  piece  of 
blackguardism,  which  ran  as  follows  : — 

"J^c  «ini3fiior  propljrcif. 

"  And,  dear  England,  if  ought  I  understand. 
Beware  of  Carrots  fram  Northumberland  1 
Carrots  soon  Thynn,  a  deeper  root  may  get 
If  so  be  they  are  in  Soiner  set. 
Their  Conyngs  mark  thou  ;  for  I  have  been  told 
They  assasine  when  young,  and  poison  when  old. 
Hoot  out  these  Carrots,  O  thou  7vhose  name 
Is,  backwards  and  fonvards,  always  the  same  ; ' 
And  keep  close  to  thee  always  that  name 
Which  backzvards  and  fonvards  is  almost  the  same  ;  ^ 
And  England,  would st  thou  be  happy  still, 
Bury  those  Carrots  under  a  Hill."  ^ 

Thirty  years  had  passed  since  the  murder  of  Thomas 
Thynn  by  the  agents  of  Count  Koningsmarck ;  and  the 
world  had  almost  forgotten  those  scandalous  and  impro- 
bable tales  which  held  Elizabeth  Percy  responsible  for 
the  crime.  From  1681  to  171 1,  her  life  had  been  such 
as  to  merit  the  respect  of  all  men,  even  of  her  political 
enemies ;  nor  had  one  tittle  of  evidence  been  brought 
forward  in  support  of  the  foul  charge  which  Thynn's 
friends  had  levelled  against  her  in  the  first  heat  of  their 
anger.  Yet,  after  the  lapse  of  all  these  years,  when  the 
cruel  story  seemed  buried  in  oblivion,  the  Duchess  found 
herself  suddenly  confronted  with  it  anew.  Swift,  searching 
among  the  graves  of  the  past  for  some  weapon  with  which 
to  wound  her,  had  unearthed  this  poisoned  shaft,  steeped 
it  in  venom  anew,  and  savagely  driven  it  home.  His  keen 
insight  into  human  nature  inspired  him  with  the  sneer 
at  his  victim's  personal  appearance.  He  knew  that  the 
phrase  "  Carrots  from  Northianberland"  would  sting  deeply 
and  lastingly,  whereas  the  terrible  accusation  of  murder 
might  perhaps   miss  of   its  full  effect   in   the   opinion    of 

'  Anne.  -  Mashani.  ^  Mrs.  Masham's  maiden  name  was  Abigail  Hill. 


414  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

the  new  generation.  The  mock  prophecy  written,  he  was 
so  pleased  with  its  malignity  that  he  had  it  printed  for 
distribution  among  his  associates  of  the  "  Brothers'  Club  " 
— hard-drinking  Tories  all,  who  toasted  Abigail  Masham, 
and  damned  "Northumberland  Carrots"  as  vigorously 
as  the  Dean  himself.  He  brought  a  copy  of  the  verses 
with  great  pride  to  Mrs.  Masham  herself,  imagining  that 
that  lady  would  be  delighted  with  them.  But  the  Queen's 
favourite  was  a  shrewder  politician  than  the  great  satirist. 
She  foresaw  that  the  very  strength  of  the  poison  would 
prove  its  own  antidote  ;  and  that  Anne's  womanly  sym- 
pathies were  almost  certain  to  be  enlisted  on  the  side  of 
the  very  person  they  sought  to  injure.  Rather  sulkily 
Swift  admitted  the  justice  of  this  reasoning,  and  hastened 
to  stop  the  issue  of  his  "  Prophecy."  He  was  too  late. 
The  printer,  mistaking  his  orders,  had  already  struck  off  a 
number  of  copies,  and  sent  them  to  the  members  of  the 
"  Brothers'  Club."  *  Before  nightfall  the  spiteful  doggerel 
was  the  talk  of  all  the  coffee-houses.  Some  one  sent  the 
Duchess  of  Somerset  a  copy,  and  she  hastened  with  it 
to  the  Queen's  apartments,  where  (so  the  story  goes)  she 
threw  herself  upon  her  knees  before  Anne,  her  eyes 
streaming  with  tears,  and  prayed  for  vengeance  upon  her 
traducer.  Up  to  that  time.  Swift  had  been  looked  upon 
as  almost  certain  to  succeed  to  the  Bishopric  of  Hereford. 
The  impassioned  pleading  of  the  Duchess  is  said  to  have 
deprived  him  of  this  dignity.  A  few  days  after  the  pre- 
mature publication  of  the  first  lampoon  -  he  wrote  a  sequel, 
in  which  he  tells  how 

"  angry  Somerset  her  vengeance  vows. 

On  Swiff  s  reproaches  for  her ■  spouse  ;'''■ 

From  her  red  locks,  her  mouth  with  venom  ^il/s, 
And  thence  into  the  royal  ear  instils." 

Swift  complaining  of  "  venom "  is  as  "  Satan  reproving 
sin." 

'  Svi'iK^i  Journal  to  Stella,  in  which  the  whole  affair  is  described. 
-  It  was  published  in  December  171 1. 

'  The  hiatus  was  supposed  to  be  filled  with  the  word  "  sltrn^/i/er'it." 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  415 

Learning  a  lesson  from  the  failure  of  the  "Windsor 
Prophecy,"  the  Tories  abandoned  lampoons,  and  used  more 
_.    „    .        insidious    means    to    discredit    the    Duchess    of 

1  he  Uucness 

dismissed  Somerset  with  the  Queen.  Since  his  retirement 
Some"Jser'  f^om  ofticc,  Somerset  had  maintained  a  secret 
sides  with  correspondence  with  Hanover,  and  it  was  largely 
due  to  his  indiscreet  advice  that  the  Elector  sent 
over  his  envoy,  Schutz,  to  demand  for  Prince  George  a  seat 
in  the  British  House  of  Lords,  under  the  recently  conferred 
title  of  Duke  of  Cambridge.  Anne  was  furiously  indig- 
nant at  this  proposal,  banished  Schutz  from  her  Court, 
and  informed  the  Elector  and  his  son  that  any  further 
attempt  to  gain  a  foothold  in  England,  during  her  lifetime, 
would  seriously  endanger  the  Hanoverian  succession.^ 
Harley  and  Mrs.  Masham  assured  the  Queen  that  the 
Duchess  of  Somerset  had  been  as  much  involved  in  this 
intrigue  as  her  husband,  and  a  serious  estrangement  took 
place  between  Anne  and  her  Mistress  of  the  Robes. 
Naturally  the  Tories  were  delighted  ;  and  Swift  wrote  to 
Stella  that  "the  damned  Duchess  of  Somerset "  was  about 
to  follow  her  Grace  of  Marlborough  into  obscurity.  At 
Court,  among  those  who  gave  less  thought  to  politics 
than  to  the  private  virtues,  a  good  deal  of  regret  was 
experienced ;  and  Lady  Strafford  wrote  to  her  brother, 
"  If  the  Duchess  must  out,  she  will  leave  Court  with 
a  very  good  grace,  for  everybody  is  pleased  with  her 
good  breeding  and  civility."  ^  She  resigned  her  offices 
only  a  few  weeks  before  the  crisis  which  resulted  in 
Har ley's  downfall,  and  the  brief  supremacy  of  St.  John 
and  the  Jacobites.  The  pain  of  this  separation  from  one 
whom  she  looked  upon  as  a  genuine  friend,  unquestion- 
ably preyed  upon  the  Queen's  health,  and  went  far  to 
hasten  the  end  of  her  life.  She  never  saw  the  Duchess 
of  Somerset  again  ;  but  we  know  that  she  remembered 
her  with  tenderness  upon  her  deathbed. 

The  chances  of  the  Hanoverian  succession  now  trembled 

'  Hume. 

'  Strafford  Fapers,  2nd  series  ;  Lady  Strafford  to  her  brother,  June  1714. 


4i6  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

in  the  balance.  It  was  believed  that  the  Chevalier  de  St. 
George  had  reached  London  in  disguise,  and  stood  ready 
at  a  moment's  notice  to  take  the  crown  from  the  hands 
of  his  dying  sister.  Marlborough  had  effected  an  alliance 
with  Bolingbroke,  and  hurried  home  to  share  in  the 
triumph  of  a  new  Restoration.  In  this  emergency,  the 
Duchess  of  Somerset  showed  herself  to  the  full  the 
"  bold,  imperious  woman  "  described  by  Stanhope.^  Her 
extraordinary  energy  in  the  Hanoverian  cause  nerved  even 
her  irresolute,  capricious  lord  to  action.  The  Elector 
was  warned  of  what  was  meditated  against  him ;  and  a 
plan  was  concerted  between  the  Dukes  of  Shrewsbury, 
Argyll,  and  Somerset  to  set  Bolingbroke's  deep-laid 
schemes  at  naught.  On  July  30  Somerset  and  Argyll 
forced  their  way,  unsummoned  and  unannounced,  into 
the  Council  Chamber  at  Kensington,  and  insisted  on 
"offering  their  advice"  to  the  assembled  ministers.  Their 
confederate,  Shrewsbury,  welcomed  them  ;  the  Jacobites 
were  apparently  paralysed  by  the  unlooked  for  attack, 
and — the  Queen's  lethargy  having  left  her  for  a  brief 
interval — Shrewsbury  received  the  Treasurer's  staff,  and 
with  it  the  practical  control  of  the  nation.  Anne  expired 
a  few  hours  later  ;  and  no  sooner  had  the  breath  left  her 
body  than  the  Hanoverian  envoy  "produced  an  instru- 
ment, in  the  handwriting  of  the  Elector,  nominating 
eighteen  peers,  who,  according  to  the  Regency  Bill,  were 
to  act  as  Lords  Justices  till  his  arrival."  ^  The  Duke  of 
Somerset  was  naturally  one  of  these,  the  remainder  being 
nearly  all  Whigs  of  known  fidelity  to  the  new  sovereign. 
Thus  peaceably  was  contrived  the  defeat  of  the  legitimist 
party.  Bolingbroke  had  been  fairly  beaten  at  his  own 
game ;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  assert  that  the  Duchess 
of  Somerset  had  laboured  as  stoutly  and  as  successfully 
to  further  the  Elector's  succession,  as  her  ancestor,  the 
"Wizard  Earl,"  had  done  to  place  James  of  Scotland  upon 

'  Hume. 

=  They  included  the  Dukes  of  Shrewsbury  and  Argyll,  with  Lords  Halifax, 
Cowper,  and  Townshend.     Neither  Marlborough  nor  Somers  was  among  them. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  417 

the  throne.  In  the  sequel,  the  House  of  Brunswick  cer- 
tainly showed  itself  more  grateful  than  the  House  of 
Stuart. 


After  his  arrival   in  England,  George  I.  reinstated  the 

Duke  of  Somerset  in  his  old  office  of  Master  of  the  Horse. 

The  Duchess  was  also  offered  a  place  at  Court, 

Duchess:       but  shc  declined  it,  ostensibly  on  the  ground  of 

Somersets      j,^(^   health,   but   really   because   she   could    not 

insane  pnde.  '  -^ 

bring  herself  to  associate  with  the  Duchess  of 
Kendal  and  others  of  the  King's  German  favourites.  In 
this  respect  she  showed  herself  more  squeamish  than 
her  grand-daughter,  the  Duchess  of  Northumberland,  who 
afterwards  paid  court  to  Lady  Yarmouth,  the  mistress  of 
George  II.  She  lived,  during  the  remainder  of  her  life, 
either  at  Northumberland  House  or  Petworth ;  not  caring 
for  Syon,  which  she  termed  "  a  hobble-de-hoy  place, 
neither  town  nor  country."  Unlike  her  daughter-in-law, 
the  wife  of  Lord  Hertford,^  she  was  far  from  being  a 
"  blue-stocking,"  although  early  in  her  life  many  books 
had  been  dedicated  to  her.^  Her  union  with  Somerset 
had  been  one  of  convenience  rather  than  of  affection  ;  but 
she  made  him  a  patient  and  devoted  consort,  while  he,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  said  to  have  treated  her  "with  little 
gratitude  or  affection."  After  seeing  all  her  surviving 
children  happily  settled,  this  great  lady  died  at  Petworth 
on  November  23,  1722,  in  the  fifty-si.xth  year  of  her  age. 
She  had  borne  her  husband  thirteen  children  in  all,  but  of 
these  only  four  reached  maturity.  Her  son  and  successor, 
Algernon,  Earl  of  Hertford,  demands  an  extended  notice, 
as  the  recognised  heir  of  the  House  of  Percy.    Of  her  three 

'  Afterwards  seventh  Duke  of  Somerset. 

'  One  of  these  dedications  demands  mention,  from  the  extraordinarily  fulsome 
nature  of  the  compliments  bestowed  upon  her.  It  was  that  placed  by  Banks 
before  the  first  edition  of  his  tragedy,  "Anna  BuUen."  Addressing  the  Duchess 
as  "Illustrious  Princess,"  the  playwright  continues:  "You  have  submitted  to 
take  a  noble  partner,  as  angels  have  delighted  to  converse  with  men.  .  .  .  There 
is  so  much  of  divinity  and  wisdom  in  your  choice,  that  none  but  the  Almighty 
ever  did  the  like,  with  the  world  and  Eden  for  a  dower." 

H.  2  D 


4i8  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

daughters,  one  married  Sir  William  Wyndham/  afterwards 
Secretary  for  War,  and  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer ; 
another,  Henry  O'Brien,  who  subsequently  succeeded  to 
the  Earldom  of  Thomond,-  in  Ireland  ;  and  a  third, 
Peregrine  Osborne,  third  Duke  of  Leeds.  After  the  death 
of  his  first  Duchess,  Somerset  married  (1725-6)  Lady 
Charlotte  Finch,  daughter  of  the  Tory  leader,  Daniel 
Finch,  second  Earl  of  Nottingham,  by  whom  he  had  two 
daughters.  When  the  subtle,  restraining  influence  of 
Duchess  Elizabeth  was  removed,  his  extravagant  vanity 
began  at  once  to  overrun  the  bounds  of  decency  and 
reason.  A  hundred  stories  are  told  of  his  arrogance,  and 
of  the  ridiculous  situations  into  which  it  frequently  be- 
trayed him.  When  his  second  wife  ventured  to  attract 
his  attention  by  tapping  him  with  her  fan,  he  rebuked  her 
with  the  absurd  remark  :  "  Madam,  my  first  Duchess  was 
a  Percy,  and  she  never  took  such  a  liberty."  He  never 
permitted  any  of  his  children  to  remain  seated  in  his 
presence,  and  while  dozing,  in  somewhat  undignified 
fashion,  after  dinner,  the  two  daughters  of  Lady  Charlotte 
Finch  were  compelled  to  stand  patiently  beside  the 
paternal  chair.  On  one  occasion  the  elder  of  these  young 
ladies,  overcome  by  weariness,  was  daring  enough  to  sit 
down  ;  whereupon  the  Duke,  waking  up  suddenly,  told  the 
culprit  that  "  her  undutiful  conduct  and  lack  of  respect 
would  cost  her  a  fortune."  That  very  day  he  added  a 
codicil  to  his  will,  by  which  he  mulcted  her  of  the  sum  of 
;^20,ooo.^  His  servants  were  forbidden  to  open  their  lips 
in  his  presence,  save  by  special  permission,  and  his  orders 
were,  for  the  most   part,  conveyed   by  signs.    When  he 

'  This  was  Pope's 

"  Wyndham,  just  to  freedom  and  the  throne, 

The  master  of  our  passions,  and  his  own." 

He  was  the  third  Baronet  of  Orchard  Wyndham,  co.  Somerset,  and  father,  by 

Lady  Katherine  Seymour,  of  the  first  Earl  of  Egremont,  as  well  as  of  Percy 

Wyndham  O'Brien,  created  first  Earl  of  Thomond. 

2  He  was  grandson  and  heir  of  the  seventh  Earl  of  Thomond. 

'  Horace  Walpole  ;  Conespoinienre,  vols.  i.  and  ii.  The  victim  of  this  piece 
of  tyranny  was  Lady  Charlotte  Seymour,  who  afterwards  married  the  third  Earl 
of  Aylesford. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  419 

travelled,  the  roads  for  leagues  ahead  were  "  scoured  by 
outriders  to  protect  him  from  the  vulgar  gaze."  His  pride, 
far  from  producing  the  impression  he  imagined,  was  gener- 
ally looked  upon  as  a  form  of  lunacy.  Horace  Walpole 
never  tired  of  ridiculing  the  pompous  caprices  in  which  he 
indulged  ;  and  Anthony  Henley  stung  him  almost  to  fury 
by  waggishly  addressing  a  letter  "  To  the  Duke  of  Somerset, 
over  against  the  Trunk- Shop  in  Charing  Cross" — a  jest 
which  "set  the  Town  laughing  for  many  a  day."  With 
the  King,  Somerset  was  soon  at  loggerheads.  The  coarse 
pleasures  in  which  George  I.  delighted,  and  the  vulgar 
persons  with  whom  he  chose  to  surround  himself,  dis- 
gusted the  Duke;  and  there  were  frequent  quarrels  between 
the  monarch  and  his  Master  of  the  Horse.  Sir  William 
Wyndham,  Somerset's  favourite  son-in-law,  having  been 
committed  to  the  Tower  on  a  charge  of  corresponding 
with  the  exiled  Stuarts,  the  Duke  asked  permission  to  bail 
him  out.  This  George  refused ;  upon  which  Somerset  ex- 
pressed his  indignation  in  no  measured  terms.  Furious  at 
such  conduct  upon  the  part  of  a  subject,  the  King  ordered 
him  from  his  presence ;  and  next  day,  before  the  Duke 
could  save  his  dignity  by  resigning,  he  found  himself 
ignominiously  dismissed  from  his  post  at  Court.  During 
the  remainder  of  the  reign  he  strove  to  repay  himself  for 
this  humiliation  by  encouraging  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  all 
his  disputes  with  the  King. 

As  the  end  of  his  life  drew  near,  Somerset's  egotism 
and  ill-temper  became  almost  unbearable.  His  estates 
were  grossly  mismanaged  (especially  those  situated  in  the 
North),  because  he  could  induce  no  self-respecting  agents 
to  enter  his  service  ;  and  he  had  even  succeeded  in  making 
an  enemy  of  his  own  son  and  heir  by  a  long  series  of 
tyrannical  acts,  culminating  in  a  peculiarly  wanton  piece 
of  cruelty.  He  died,  little  regretted,  at  Petworth  on 
December  2,  1748  ;  and  was  buried  in  Salisbury  Cathedral, 
where  a  statue  by  Rysbrack  has  been  erected  to  his 
memory.  Perhaps  the  most  charitable  view  to  take  of  the 
latter  part  of  his  life,  is  that  his  mind  had  become  slightly 


420  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

deranged,  and  that  at  times  he  was  not  responsible  for  his 
actions.  It  is  asserted  by  one  of  his  biographers^  that  he 
was  a  lover  of  the  arts  ;  but  beyond  the  facts  that  he  once 
attempted  to  patronise  Joseph  Addison,  that  his  portrait 
was  painted  by  Kneller,  and  that  he  was  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Kit-Kat  Club,  there  seems  nothing  to  sub- 
stantiate this  statement. 

Algernon  Seymour,  third  Baron  Percy"  and  seventh 
Duke  of  Somerset,  was  born  at  Petworth  on  November  ii, 
Seymourand  1684.  He  inherited  much  of  his  mother's  sound 
Percyunited:  common-scnse  ;  and  with  it  a  certain  easy  good- 
"L^ady  nature   and   a    lack    of    ambition,    which    made 

Betty."  jjjj^  Qpg  q£   jj^g  most   popular  noblemen  of  his 

day,  while,  at  the  same  time,  preventing  him  from 
taking  any  important  part  in  public  affairs.  His  dis- 
position, in  fact,  was  as  likeable  as  that  of  his  father  had 
been  the  reverse  ;  and  beyond  an  occasional  fondness  for 
the  bottle,  which  was  the  besetting  sin  of  his  generation, 
he  seems  to  have  been  practically  free  from  vicious  traits. 
At  one  time  it  seemed  probable  that  he  would  have  for 
tutor  a  famous  man  addicted  to  similar  indulgences.  The 
Duke  of  Somerset,  learning  that  Mr.  Joseph  Addison  was  a 
discreet  and  deserving  scholar,  sent  in  his  loftiest  manner 
to  inform  that  young  gentleman  that  he  "  had  been 
selected  "  to  act  as  instructor  and  travelling  companion  to 
his  Grace's  son  and  heir.  Addison,  instead  of  being  at  all 
impressed  by  this  honour,  requested  the  Duke  to  state 
what  salary  he  was  prepared  to  pay  for  his  services ;  and 
on  learning  the  amount  proposed,  declared  it  quite  in- 
sufficient, and  broke  off  negotiations  forthwith.  Somerset 
was  so  amazed  by  this  quiet  snub,  that  he  endured  it  in 
angry  silence ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  hated  literary  men 
ever  afterwards. 

In  May  1708  the  Earl  of  Hertford  (such  was  the  title 
by  which  he  was  known)  joined  the  army  at  Brussels, 
serving  in  the  capacity  of  aide-de-camp  to   the  Duke  of 

'  Mackey.  '  Of  the  writ  of  1625. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  421 

Marlborough.  He  fought  at  Ouclenarde  (where  the 
Electoral  Prince,  afterwards  George  II.,  also  won  his  first 
laurels),  and  was  selected  by  Marlborough  to  carry  home 
the  news  of  that  decisive  victory.  Later  in  the  year, 
he  was  again  the  bearer  of  welcome  tidings  from  the 
Commander-in-Chief.  "  This  afternoon,"  says  the  Royal 
Gazette  of  November  26,^  the  Right  Hon'^''^  the  Earl  of 
Hartford  arrived  here  express  from  his  Grace  the  Duke 
of  Marlborough  to  Her  Majesty,  with  an  account  that  his 
Grace  had  passed  the  Scheldt  and  relieved  the  town  of 
Brussels,  which  was  besieged  by  the  late  Elector  of  Bavaria. 
His  Lordship  was  received  by  the  Queen  with  great 
distinction." 

Early  in  1709,  Hertford  was  promoted  to  the  command 
of  the  15th  Regiment  of  Foot,  and  in  June  he  took  part  in 
the  great  but  costly  triumph  of  Malplaquet.  His  active 
military  career  ended  in  1713  with  the  Peace  of  Utrecht; 
but  he  continued  to  hold  rank  in  the  regular  army  until 
1742.  With  the  accession  of  George  I.  he  shared  in  the 
favour  bestowed  by  that  monarch  upon  the  great  Whig 
families,  and  was  appointed  captain  and  lieutenant-colonel 
of  the  2nd  troop  of  Horse  Guards.^  In  the  same  year  he 
married  Frances  Thynn,  daughter  and  co-heir  of  the  Hon. 
Henry  Thynn,  and  grandchild  and  co-heir  of  Thomas, 
first  Viscount  Weymouth.^  This  match  was  fostered  by 
the  Duchess  of  Somerset  (who  desired  to  see  her  only  son 
married)  but  opposed  by  the  Duke.  What  reasons  the  latter 
had  for  disliking  his  daughter-in-law  do  not  appear.  He 
may  have  been  capricious  enough  to  object  to  the  name  of 

'  4492  (British  Museum  Library ). 

'  In  1715.     He  was  promoted  to  the  full  colonelcy  of  the  regiment  in  1740. 

'  This  lady  was  a  cousin  of  the  unfortunate  "  Tom  of  Ten  Thousand,"  whose 
property  her  grandfather  had  inherited.  With  her  sister  Mary,  wife  of  William 
Greville,  Lord  Brooke,  she  was  co-heir  of  the  first  Viscount  Weymouth  (died 
1714),  and  of  his  only  son  Henry  (died  1708).  Her  mother  was  Grace,  daughter 
and  heir  of  Sir  George  Strode,  Knt.,  Sergeant-at-Law,  by  Anne  Wyndham 
(one  of  the  interminable  Wyndham  family  which  at  this  time  succeeded  in  mixing 
itself  up  so  profitably  in  the  family  affairs  of  the  Percies,  Seymours,  Thynns,  and 
O'Briens). 


422  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Thynn,  in  consequence  of  the  old  scandal  recently  revived 
by  Dean  Swift ;  or  Lady  Hertford  may  have  offended  him 
by  her  independent  disposition,  and  the  pleasure  which  she 
took  in  the  society  of  artists  and  men  of  letters.  Hertford 
manfully  took  his  wife's  side  in  the  family  quarrels  which 
followed  his  marriage,  and  for  years  the  Duke  was  barely 
upon  speaking  terms  with  his  heir.  As  for  the  young 
couple,  they  lived  together  very  happily  in  spite  of  the 
striking  contrast  presented  by  their  characters  and  pursuits. 
The  Countess  was  a  typical  "  blue-stocking,"  as  one  may 
judge  from  her  published  correspondence.^  These  letters, 
written  in  the  affected  style  of  the  day,  yet  evincing  not  a 
little  talent  and  power  of  expression,  were  addressed  chiefly 
to  Lady  Pomfret^  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Rowe,  the  dramatist. 
She  also  published  a  small  volume  of  verse,  in  which  the 
rhymes  were  correct  and  the  sentiments  beyond  reproach. 
Thomson  dedicated  to  her  the  first  of  his  four  "  Seasons," 
the  opening  lines  of  which  are  : — 

"  Oh  Hertford,  fitted  for  to  shine  in  Courts, 
With  unaffected  grace,  or  walk  the  plain 
With  innocence  and  meditation  joined 
In  soft  assemblage,  listen  to  my  song." 

Arising  out  of  this  address.  Dr.  Johnson  tells  an  amusing 
anecdote  in  his"Lives  of  the  Poets."  "'Spring'  waspublished 
next  year,"  he  says,  "  with  a  dedication  to  the  Countess  of 
Hertford,  whose  practice  it  was  to  invite  every  summer 
some  poet  into  the  country  to  hear  her  verses  and  assist 
her  studies.  This  honour  was  one  summer  conferred  upon 
Thomson,  who  took  more  delight  in  carousing  with  Lord 
Hertford  and  his  friends  than  in  assisting  her  ladyship's 
poetical  operations,  and  therefore  never  received  another 
summons."  ^  These  country  visits  were  paid  to  Alnwick 
Castle,  a  small  portion  of  which  the  Duke  of  Somerset  had 

'  The  Letters  of  Frances,  Duchess  of  Somerset,  were  edited  in  1S05  by  William 
Bingley. 

'  Henrietta  Louisa  Fermor,  Countess  of  Pcmfret,  a  famous  "blue." 
'  Life  of  Thomson. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  423 

grudgingly  made  habitable  for  his  son.  Among  the  other 
poets  who  were  invited  to  enact  the  delicate  part  of  mentor 
to  Lady  Hertford,  were  Shenstone  and  Richard  Savage. 
Despite  his  strange,  wayward  nature.  Savage  seems  to  have 
been  successful  in  winning  the  regard  of  his  patroness ; 
and  when  he  was  under  sentence  of  death  for  homicide 
committed  during  a  drunken  brawl  in  March  1728,  it  was 
through  the  intercession  of  Lady  Hertford  with  the  Queen 
that  he  obtained  a  pardon.  The  Countess  was  appointed  a 
Lady  of  the  Bedchamber  to  Queen  Caroline  soon  after  her 
husband  became  a  peer.  This  event  occurred  in  1722,  on 
the  death  of  the  Duchess  of  Somerset,  when  he  inherited 
the  Percy  Barony  of  1624,  but  was  permitted,  through 
ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  to  take  his  seat 
according  to  the  precedency  of  the  ancient  Barony  by  writ 
of  27  Edward  I.  (1299).  It  was  also  falsely  claimed  that  he 
had  inherited  the  dormant  Baronies  of  Poynings,  Fitz-Payn, 
and  Bryan  ;  and  this  claim  was  repeated  in  the  case  of 
his  daughter,  the  first  Duchess  of  Northumberland.  Hert- 
ford had  been  appointed  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Sussex  and 
Wiltshire  in  1715  ;  to  these  he  subsequently  added  the 
lieutenancy  of  Northumberland,  in  which  county  he  was 
deservedly  popular,  as  the  first  of  the  old  Percy  blood  to 
reside  at  Alnwick  Castle  for  over  one  hundred  years.  In  a 
North-Country  poem  of  the  time,  he  is  thus  flatteringly 
described : — 

"  Now  Percy's  name  no  more  doth  fill  the  North ; 
Hartford  succeeds  in  honour,  fame,  and  worth, 
Seymour  and  Percy  both  in  him  unite. 
He  a  good  patriot,  and  a  hardy  Knight."  ^ 

Notwithstanding  the  frequent  attempts  of  the  Duke 
of  Somerset  to  embitter  their  relations,  the  Hertfords  and 
their  children  formed  a  particularly  happy  and  united 
family.      The    only   son   of    the   marriage,    George,    Lord 

'  Cheviot ;  a  poetical  fragment,  lemp.   1722-29;  edited  by  John  Adamson, 
Esq.,  of  Newcastle,  I  Si  7. 


424  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Beauchamp,  was  born  in  1725;  while  the  only  daughter, 
Lady  Elizabeth  Seymour,  had  first  seen  the  light  in  1716. 
There  was  thus  a  difference  of  nine  years  between  brother 
and  sister ;  a  difference  which  was  in  itself  an  added 
bond  of  tenderness,  for  Lady  Betty  ^  made  a  playmate 
and  companion  of  her  brother  from  his  infancy  upwards, 
whereas,  had  they  been  more  nearly  of  an  age,  their 
ways  must  soon  have  parted.  A  manuscript  account  of 
the  pleasant,  almost  idyllic  life  led  by  parents  and 
children,  and  of  the  confidence  and  affection  which  pre- 
vailed amongst  them,  was  compiled  by  William  Comslade, 
a  member  of  the  household  at  this  period.  Lady  Betty 
Seymour  spent  a  great  part  of  her  youth  in  the  North 
Country  or  in  Wiltshire,  far  from  the  distractions  of 
London ;  which  may  account  for  the  fact  that  her  first 
(and  last)  serious  love-affair  did  not  occur  until  she 
was  twenty -two.  At  this  age  her  grandmother  had 
already  been  married  for  over  five  years,  and  was  the 
mother  of  four  children ;  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  Lady  Betty  Seymour  was  not  (at  this  period)  a 
great  heiress  like  Elizabeth  Percy.  Indeed  she  could  not 
properly  be  described  as  an  heiress  at  all.  Her  brother 
was  alive  and  in  robust  health.  Her  own  fortune  was 
not  more  than  _^io,ooo ;  and  this  did  not  come  to  her, 
except  by  special  arrangement,  until  after  her  grandfather's 
death.  Moreover  the  terms  of  the  Seymour-Percy  marriage 
settlements  were  unknown,  save  to  the  old  Duke  and  his 
lawyers ;  and  it  was  believed  that  a  great  portion  of  the 
family  property  would  pass  away  from  the  direct  line 
into  the  hands  of  the  Wyndhams,  for  whom  Somerset 
evinced  a  decided  predilection.  These  considerations  pre- 
vented Lady  Betty  from  being  eagerly  sought  after  by 
the  fortune-hunters  of  her  day;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  they  inspired  a  young  Yorkshire  baronet.  Sir  Hugh 
Smithson  by  name,  with  the  hope  of  winning  her  for  a 
wife. 

'  By  this  diminutive  she  was  known  to  her  friends,  even  after  her  succession  to 
the  Earldom  in  1750. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  425 

It  was  at  the  old  manor-house  of  Swilhngton,'  near 
Leeds,  that  Hugh  Smithson's  courtship  began.  Lady  Betty 
Hugh  ^'^s  staying   at  tliis  place  with  the  wife   of   Sir 

Smithson's  William  Lowther,-  who  being  herself  without 
"Lady  children,  found  great  pleasure  in   the  society  of 

Betty."  young  people.     Swillington,  indeed,  was   known 

throughout  the  West  and  North  Ridings  as  a  famous  house 
for  match-making,  and  one  in  which  the  prevalent  country 
pursuits  of  fox-hunting,  coursing,  and  cock-fighting  were 
but  secondary  considerations.  The  honest  Yorkshire 
squires  were  not  a  little  afraid  of  Lady  Lowther,  who  had 
the  reputation  of  being  a  "  blue,"  and  belonged  to  the 
clever  Countess  of  Pomfret's  coterie  when  she  went  up  to 
London  with  Sir  William  for  the  parliamentary  season. 
Whether  Sir  Hugh  Smithson  had  been  purposely  invited 
to  Swillington  by  this  gentle  contriver  of  other  people's 
happiness,  or  whether  he  came  thither  in  the  ordinary  way, 
it  is  certain  that  he  speedily  fell  in  love  with  the  charming 
Betty  Seymour,  and  that  he  found  no  difficulty  in  enlisting 
Lady  Lowther's  good  offices  in  his  behalf.  Nor  was  the 
object  of  this  sudden  attachment  irresponsive.  In  spite 
of  her  maidenly  reserve  and  faint  protestations  of  indiffer- 
ence, it  is  not  difficult  to  read  between  the  lines  of  Lady 
Betty's  correspondence  with  her  mother,  that  she  fully 
reciprocated  the  feelings  of  her  lover.  She  saw  in  him  one 
of  the  handsomest  men  of  his  generation,  tall,  well-made, 
and  far  superior  in  natural  intelligence  as  well  as  in  educa- 
tion to  any  of  the  opposite  sex  whom  she  had  hitherto 
met.  The  fact  that  he  was  universally  popular,  alike  with 
rough  country  gentlemen  and  with  men  of  letters,  must 
also  have   impressed  her  in  his  favour.     He   was  as  far 

'  Swillington  was  at  this  time  a  picturesque,  rambling  mansion.  It  has  since 
been  rebuilt,  and  greatly  enlarged. 

'  She  was  Sir  William's  second  wife,  and  the  daughter  of  Sir  William  Ramsden, 
second  Bart.,  of  Byrom  and  Longley,  co.  York.  Her  husband  belonged  to  a  branch 
of  the  Lowthers  of  Cumberland,  and  was  M.P.  for  Pontefract.  At  his  death 
s.p.  in  1763,  Swillington  was  bequeathed  to  the  Lowthers,  afterwards  Lords 
Lonsdale,  from  whom  it  descended  in  the  cadet  Une  to  the  present  Sir  Charles 
Bingham  Lowther,  Bart. 


426  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

from  being  a  coxcomb  or  a  prude,  as  he  was  from  the 
opposite  extremes  of  debauchery  or  boorishness.  In  fine, 
he  appealed  to  both  sides  of  Lady  Betty's  nature  ;  to  her 
keen  intelligence,  as  well  as  to  her  womanly  admiration  for 
physical  strength  and  beauty.  After  a  brief  courtship, 
Smithson  boldly  asked  her  hand  in  marriage.  Contrary  to 
the  custom  of  the  time,  he  approached  the  young  lady 
herself,  rather  than  her  relatives.  It  was  his  plan  of  action 
through  life  to  attack  the  difficulties  in  his  way  as  directly 
and  with  as  little  loss  of  time  as  possible  ;  and  it  will  be 
seen  that  these  tactics  were  in  the  main  successful.  Lady 
Betty  was  taken  completely  by  surprise,  and  faltered  out  a 
half-hearted  refusal,  which  probably  encouraged  Smithson 
more  than  it  daunted  him,  for  he  told  her  that  he  would 
not  accept  it  as  her  final  answer.  In  a  flutter  of  varying 
emotions,  the  young  lady  hastened  to  confide  in  her 
hostess  (who  probably  knew  more  about  the  affair  than  she 
did  herself) ;  after  which  we  find  her  writing  to  her  mother 
the  following  dutiful,  but  perhaps  not  altogether  frank 
epistle  : — 

"  SwiLLlNGTON,  isi  October  1739. 

"  My  dear  Mamma, 

"  Since  I  have  been  capable  of  corresponding  with 
you  at  all,  I  never  felt  so  awkwardly  about  writing  to  you 
as  I  do  at  present ;  nor  indeed  had  I  ever  before  so  odd  a 
subject  to  write  about.  However,  as  I  think  it  necessary  to 
do  it,  I  shall  proceed  to  tell  you  that  Sir  Hugh  Smithson  the 
other  day  asked  me  to  let  him  speak  to  me,  which  was  to 
inform  me  that  he  designed  proposing  himself  to  my  Pappa, 
and  would  beg  Lady  Lowther  to  do  it  for  him. 

"  You  will  easily  guess  how  much  I  was  surprised  and 
confounded  at  so  extraordinary  a  compliment.  However,  I 
mustered  up  my  courage,  and  told  him  that  I  could  not  give 
my  consent  to  his  doing  it.  He  answered  that  his  resolution 
was  taken  and  he  would  pursue  it.  I  then  said  that  since 
that  was  the  case,  I  was  astonished  why  he  mentioned  it  to  me. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  427 

After  this  lie  spoke  to  Lady  Lowther,  who  ivith  her  usual 
goodness  and  friendship  for  me,  said  she  eould  not  think  of 
doing  it  without  my  consent,  which  I  absolutely  refused,  and 
again  desired  him  to  drop  the  whole  affair ;  but  all  I  could 
prevail  upon  him  was  to  promise  vie  to  defer  mentioning  it  till 
I  came  to  London. 

"  /  thought  it  my  duty  {though  Lady  Loivther  is  so 
obliging  as  also  to  ivrite  to  you)  to  inform  you  of  this  myself, 
on  several  accounts,  and  amongst  others  because  people  already 
talk  of  it,  atid  I  feared,  if  you  should  hear  it,  it  might  make 
you  and  my  Pappa  uneasy,  and  perhaps  imagine  that  I  might 
give  him  some  encouragement,  zvhieh  I  do  assure  you  /  have 
not ;  for,  besides  what  I  have  already  reported  to  you,  /  told 
hint  that,  even  if  it  should  meet  with  your  approbation  and 
my  Pappa' s,  L  should  still  reserve  to  myself  the  power  of 
refusing  him.  I  own  I  have  been  not  a  little  uneasy,  for  fear 
I  should  do  anything  that  might  be  displeasing  to  either  of 
vou  ;  but  /  hope  your  answer  ivill  tell  me  the  contrary,  for  I 
have  honestly  told  you  the  zvhole  affair,  and  upon  recollection, 
I  cannot  find  what  I  could  have  said  different  from  what  I 
have  done, 

"  I  am,  dear  Mamma, 
"  Your  most  obedient  and  dutiful  Daughter, 

"E.  Seymour."  ' 

A  day  or  two  later,  Lady  Betty  despatched  a  sort  of 
postscript  to  her  mother,  in  which  she  announced  that  her 
"head  was  in  such  a  puzzleation,"  when  she  had  penned 
the  above  letter,  that  she  feared  she  had  " talked  nonsense" 
No  doubt  these  signs  of  confusion  gave  Lady  Hertford  an 
inkling  of  the  real  state  of  affairs,  which  the  letter  of  Lady 
Lowther  presently  confirmed.  She  wrote  to  her  daughter, 
plainly  suggesting  that  she  had  not  told  her  the  whole 
truth,  and  begging  her  to  state  freely  the  nature  of  her 
feelings  towards  Sir  Hugh  Smithson.  The  letter  concluded 
with   doubts   as  to   whether   that   gentleman's    birth    and 

'  Alnwick  MSS. 


428  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

estate  entitled  him  to  seek  such  an  alHance.  Seeing  that 
her  secret  was  discovered,  Lady  Betty  made  no  further 
attempt  at  concealment,  but  admitted  that  Sir  Hugh  was 
the  man  of  her  choice.  She  was  also  at  pains  to  display 
his  prospects  and  character  in  as  favourable  a  light  as 
possible.  "/  must"  she  wrote  (speaking  of  the  proposal 
of  marriage),  "  honestly  confess  to  you  that,  had  it  met  with 
my  Pappa's  approbation  and  yours,  I  should  very  willingly 
have  consented  to  it.  Nay,  I  shall  not  scruple  to  own  that  I 
have  a  partiality  for  him.  His  estate,  I  have  been  told,  will 
be  greater  than  ivhat  I  believe  you  apprehend ;  and  he  has  an 
extreme  good  character.  But  all  this  is  nothing,  and  I  only 
mention  it  to  convince  you  that  I  would  not  conceal  one  thought 
of  my  heart  from  you  and  my  Pappa.  To  all  the  rest  of  the 
world  I  hope  it  will  always  be  so,  for  I  have  never  opened  my 
lips  about  it  to  a  mortal.  As  for  Sir  Hugh,  I  am  sure  he  is  far 
from  suspecting  it.  I  am  therefore  still  in  the  same  way  of 
thinking  that  I  was  before.  .  .  .  I  would  readily  sacrifice  my 
own  inclinations  to  your  commands."  ^ 

It  is  likely  that  Sir  Hugh  was  not  quite  so  dull  of  com- 
prehension in  affairs  of  th*^  heart  as  his  mistress  professed 
to  believe  him.  At  any  rate  he  increased,  instead  of  re- 
laxing, his  efforts  to  win  her.  There  were  entertainments 
at  Stanwick,  his  homo  in  the  North  Riding,  to  which  Lady 
Betty  came  under  the  wing  of  her  hostess,  and  of  which 
she  wrote  in  terms  of  subdued  rapture.  Meanwhile  Lord 
and  Lady  Hertford  had  been  making  inquiries  regarding 
Sir  Hugh  Smithson,  and,  on  the  whole,  learning  little  but 
good  of  him.  Even  their  captious  friend,  Horace  Walpole, 
owned  that  he  possessed  "an  advantageous  manner,"  and 
was  "  extremely  popular."  As  to  his  estate,  he  possessed 
over  ;£40oo  a  year,  practically  unencumbered,  and  was 
heir  to  another  property  worth  annually  about  another 
;£300o.  His  paternal  descent  was  admittedly  plebeian,  but 
through  the  female  line  he  sprang  from  the  old  Catholic 
aristocracy  of  the  North.  Had  Lady  Betty  been  at  this 
time  the  heiress  of  her  family,  it  is  probable  that  the  affair 

'  Alnwick  MSS. 


-/.  .^Mu/^f:^<^/r!c^.S44^/»t/^/a^n</: 


THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY  429 

would  have  been  promptly  nipped  in  the  bud  ;  hut  since 
such  was  not  the  case,  her  indulgent  parents  did  not  wish 
to  show  themselves  over  exacting  where  they  believed  her 
happiness  to  be  concerned.  Accordingly  a  compromise  was 
suggested.  The  lovers  were  to  endure  a  complete  sepa- 
ration for  the  space  of  six  months.  If,  after  that  time,  their 
mutual  affection  continued,  Lady  Hertford  promised  to 
consider  the  match  favourably.  To  this  Lady  Betty  agreed, 
although,  as  she  told  her  mother,  she  was  now  so  deeply 
in  love  that  she  had  grave  doubts  as  to  her  ability  to  carry 
out  the  conditions.  "  You  say  you  fear  my  resolutioft  gives 
me  some  pai?t,"  she  wrote,  "  and  I  cannot,  without  forfeiting 
the  sincerity  I  have  hitherto  presei~ved  tliroiighout  the  whole 
affair^  deny  that  I  am  not  quite  easy  about  it.  But  let  me 
conjure  you  not  to  think  of  this.""-  The  fears  thus  expressed 
were  soon  justified.  Her  swain's  continued  absence 
weighed  so  heavily  on  Lady  Betty's  spirits,  that  her  health 
was  "  seriously  affected."  Greatly  alarmed  by  the  news 
which  reached  her,  Lady  Hertford  threw  prudence  to  the 
winds,  and  promised  to  receive  Sir  Hugh  Smithson  as  a 
son-in-law,  if  by  that  means  she  could  effect  her  daughter's 
cure.  Happiness  is  a  potent  medicine  ;  and  Lady  Betty 
became  convalescent  in  a  marvellously  brief  space  of  time, 
while  the  reappearance  of  her  lover  at  Swillington  com- 
pletely restored  her  to  health  and  spirits.  The  com- 
plaisance of  her  parents  she  repaid  by  a  grateful  and 
affectionate  letter  of  thanks  ;  while  Sir  Hugh  on  his  part 
addressed  to  Lady  Hertford  a  formal  proposal  for  her 
daughter's  hand,  couched  in  language  of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  an  example  : — 

"  As  I  was  extremely  sensible  that  I  had  neither  fortune 
nor  any  other  qualification  sufficient  in  itself  to  procure 
me  so  great  an  honour,  my  hopes  only  depended  upon 
Lady  Betty  being  moved  in  my  favour  by  the  sincerity  of 
my  love  ;  the  constant  regard  which  I  hope  she  is  con- 
vinced I  will  pay  in  every  action  of  my  life  to  promote  her 

'  The  writer  evidently  forgot  her  rather  disingenuous  letter  of  October  I. 
-  Dated  November  I,  1 739;  Alnwick  MSS. 


430  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

pleasure  and  happiness ;  and  the  miseries  I  must  suffer 
from  a  disappointment."  ^ 

Letters  were  also  exchanged  between  Smithson  and 
Lord  Hertford  ;  and  the  matter  was  looked  upon  as  settled 
save  for  the  very  important  item  that  the  sanction  of  the 
Duke  of  Somerset  had  not  yet  been  obtained.  It  was  felt 
that  considerable  diplomacy  would  have  to  be  exercised  in 
approaching  this  elderly  autocrat,  and  Lord  Hertford  for 
one  expressed  grave  doubts  as  to  the  possibility  of  per- 
suading the  Duke  to  accept  a  person  of  Sir  Hugh's  modest 
extraction  as  a  fitting  consort  for  his  grandchild.  There 
was  one  point  in  the  lover's  favour,  however  ;  the  Duke 
took  little  interest  in  Lady  Betty,  all  his  hopes  being 
centred  in  her  brother,  Lord  Beauchamp. 


It  was  anticipated  that   the  Duke  of   Somerset's  first 

question,  when  referred  to  in  the  matter,  would  deal  with 

the  identity  of  Sir  Hugh  Smithson,  and  a  state- 

smithsons      mcnt   was   accordingly   prepared   in   which   the 

of  Yorkshire    young  baronet's  origin  and  circumstances  were 

and  London.     .'  o  o 

treated  to  the  best  advantage.  As,  however, 
much  was  glossed  over  or  evaded  in  this  account,  so  as  not 
to  arouse  the  Duke's  prejudices,  it  seems  desirable  to  lay 
before  the  reader  a  more  straightforward  version  of  Sir 
Hugh's  family  history. 

The  Smithsons,  then,  were  of  a  substantial  yeoman 
stock,  whose  pedigree  can  be  traced  back  with  certainty  to 
the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  and  may  perhaps  be  followed  to 
a  period  long  anterior.  As  will  be  seen  by  the  accompany- 
ing genealogical  table,  the  line  is  deduced  in  Harrison's 
"History  of  Yorkshire"  from  one  Hugh  le  Smythe,  who  held 
lands  at  Thornton  Watlous,  co.  York,  in  the  time  of  Henry 
II.,  Richard,  and  John.-    Without  doubt  General  Planta- 

'  Alnun'ch  MSS. 

'  The  History  of  Yorkshire,  vol.  i.  p.  490,  &c.     This  work  was  compiled  by 
George   H.   de  S.   Nevill  Piantagenet  Harrison,   a  general  in    the  Argentine 


GENEALOGY     OE     SMITHSON 


Hugh  le  Smythe  ; 

held  lands  at  Thornton  Watlous, 

Co.  York,  temp.  Henry  II., 

Richard  I.,  and  lohn. 

I 

William  le  Smythk  ; 

held  lands  at  Thornton  Watlous, 

30  Henry  III. 

I 
William  le  Smythesonne 

of  Thornton  Watlous ; 
husbandman  ;  49  Henry  III. 


Robert  le  Smytheson 

of  Thornton  Watlous ; 

V.  14  Edward  I. 


[Note.— This  Pedigree  is  ex- 
tracted from  the  History 
of  Vorkshire,  by  Planta- 
genet  Harrison,  and  is  de- 
rived from  wills,  deeds, 
inquisitions,     and 


From  44  Edw.  II 
its  authenticity 
be  disputed. 


hardly 


Petek  le  Smytheson 

of  Thornton  Watlous 

(indicted  for  the  murder  of 

William  Sturdy,  and 

acquitted  thereof, 

19  Edward  III.). 


WlLLlA.M  SMITHESON 

of  Newsham  ;  husbandman 
(tenant  of  the  Cattericks  of 
Stanwick,  44  Edward  III.). 


Robert  Smytheson 

of  Thornton  Watlous 

(co-defendant  with  his  father, 

19  Edward  III.): 

V.  22  Edward  III. 

I  _ 

I 


Hugh  Smitheson 
of  Barton. 

\ 


Robert  Smitheson 
of  Dalton. 


William  Smithson  ; 

tenant  in  Newsham, 

6  Henry  IV. 


John  Smithson 
of  Altofts. 


Matilda  ; 
heiress  of 
lands  in 
Yafford. 


William  Smithson; 

"  franklyn,"  "  gentleman," 

and  "  forester"  ; 

held  lands  in  Newsham  ; 

died  temp.  Henry  V. 


Hugh  Smithson  ; 
tenant  in  Newsham  to 
John  Catterick,  Esq., 

of  Stanwick  Hall ; 
V.  29  Henry  VI. 


Anthony  Smithson 

of  Newsham  ; 

t'.  12  Henry  VII. ; 

died  ante  19  Henry  VIII. 


Mary, 

dau.  of  Alexander 

Makers  of 

Berningham 


=     Ralph  Smithson, 
farmer,  of  Newsham. 
and  tenant  to 
Anthony  Catterick 
of  Stanwick  Hall  ; 
i  died  1553. 

i 


JOHN  Smithson 
of  Walburne. 


Thomas  Smithson 
of  Cowton  Grange ; 
V.  12  Henry  VIII. 


John  Smithson, 

husbandman  in 

Newsham, 

10  Henry  VI. 

i 


Robert  Smithson, 

man-at-arms  of  Agin- 

court,  3  Henry  V.  ; 

i<.  29  Henry  VI. 


a  quo 
S.MITHSON 

of  Moulton. 


Anthony 

s.mithson, 

clerk  ; 

V. 

26  Henry  VII  I. 


I 

Henry  Smithson 

of  .Mdburgh  ; 

tenant  to 
the  Cattericks. 


i 
B 


GENKALOGY  •  OF     SMITHSON   ww/Z/wwi-^jf 


A. 

El.KANOR    = 

=  William  Smithson 

Ralph 

1 
Thomas 

of  Newsham  ; 

Smithson 

Smithson 

ti-nant  farmer  under 

of  Newsham ; 

■'•  1553- 

William  Catterick  of 

will.  158a. 

Si.inwick,  5  Edw.  VI. : 

and  under  Anthony 
Catterick  of  Stanwick, 

28  Eliz. 

William  Smithson,        Anthony  Smithson, 

yeoman .  of  Newsham 
(purchased  the  lands  of 

yeoman, 
of  Newsham ; 

Nt 

wsham  (rom  the 

V.  13  James  1. 

Stanwick  family), 
i 


Smithsons, 
yeomen,  of  Newsham. 


UORoTHV, 

dau.  of 

eremiah  Rawsterne. 

citizen  of  London. 


SMITH60N 

OK  Stanwick. 


=    (Sir)  Hi'GH  Smithson. 
citizen  and  haberdasher 
of  London 
(apprenticed  to  Ralph  and 
V\'illiam  Robinson, 
haberdashers,  who  pur- 
chased the  estates  of 
Rokeby  and  Brignal.  and 
were  ancestors  of  the 
Marquis  of  Ripon) ; 
amassed  a  fortune  as 
successor  to  the  Robinsons, 
and  purchased  the 
M.\NOR  OF  Stanwick 
from  Anthony  Catterick 
f'"' ^4°o°.  A.  D.  1638; 
created  a  Baronet  ( 1660) ; 
died  1677. 


'^    I 

Kranci.s 
Smithson, 

dr.\per. 

of  Richmond 

(.1  Qu.-iker) ; 

will  dated 

.\ug.  9.  1670 ; 

■'■/>■ 


t 
I 
James  Smithson 
of  Aldburgh ; 
farmer. 
I 
William  Smithson, 
citizen  and  haber- 
dasher of  London  ; 
aged  22,  in  33  Eliz. 
I 
John  Smitii,s<in, 
citizen  and  haber- 
dasher of  London , 
II  Charles  IL 


I 
Roger 
Smithson, 
citizen  and 
haberdasher 
of  London ; 
died  ante  1659. 

i 


I 

Walter 

Smithson, 

citizen  and 

paper-stainer, 

of  the  ' '  White 

Horse,"  Bow 

Row,  Ludgate ; 

V.  1659. 

I 


Mary,          =  Sir  Jeremy  Smith.sON,         Hcgh  Smithson. 

dau.  of            I  2nd  Baronet.                    citizen  and  haber- 

Edward  Wingate.  j  of  Stanwick  Hall,                dasher  of  London  ; 

i  Co.  York ;                             died  1673. 

I  citizen  and  haberdasher                          I 

I  of  London  ; 

!  died  1684. 


Hon.  Elizabeth 

Langdale, 

dau.  of  Marmaduke . 

Lord  Langdale. 


Sir  Hugh  Smithson. 

3rd  Baronet, 

of  Stanwick  Hall ; 

died  1729. 


Anthony  Smithson, 

of  Gray's  Inn ; 

7'.  13  Chas.  II. 

I 

HCGH  Smithson, 

Gent. .  of  Tottenham 

High  Cross,  who 

bequeathed  to  his 

cousin  an  estate  of 

/,'300o  per  annum  ; 

died  1740  s./>. 


Hugh. 
died  v.p. 


I 
Langdale 
Smithson, 

died  T.p. 


Philadelphia. 

dau.  of 

Walter  Reveley 

of  Ncwby  Wyslie. 

Co.  York. 


adv  Elizabeth  Seymour 

(Percy), 

heiress  of  the  estates  and 

name  of  Percy. 


Sir  Hugh  Smithson  (Percy), 
4th  Baronet  of  Stanwick 
(afterwards  ist  Duke  of 

Northumberland,  K.G.). 


Dorothy  Smithson. 


THE   HOUSE   OF    PERCY  431 

genet  Harrison,  the  author  of  this  work,  was  an  eccentric 
and  not  always  trustworthy  historian  ;  but  in  tracing  the 
Smithson  descent,  he  deiived  his  information  from  such 
rehable  sources  as  deeds,  leases,  wills,  parish  books,  records 
of  suits-at-law,  and  inquisitions  />osi-wor/ei/i ;  to  all  of  which 
he  gives  the  fullest  references.  Moreover  he  was  him- 
self a  native  of  Newsham,  where  the  Smithsons  had  cer- 
tainly been  settled  since  44  Edward  III.;  and  his  mother's 
family,  the  Hutchinsons  of  Newsham,  were  minor  gentry 
in  the  selfsame  portion  of  the  parish  of  Kirkby-Ravens- 
worth. 

De  Fonblanque  quotes  an  alleged  descent  of  Sir  Hugh 
Smithson  from  one  "  William  Smithson,  gent.,  of  News- 
ham, /6V«/.  Richard  11.,"  and  speaks  of  the  "ruins  of  the 
mansion  seat "  of  the  family  at  Newsham.^  According  to 
Harrison,  the  only  family  of  gentle  descent  settled  in 
Newsham  before  Elizabeth's  time  was  named  Johnson,  and 
the  "mansion  seat"  in  question  belonged  to  them.  If  the 
Smithsons  were  anything  more  than  yeomen,  it  seems 
strange  that  they  did  not  possess  armorial  bearings  until 
the  grant  made  by  the  Heralds'  College  to  the  first  baronet 
in  1660.  From  their  first  appearance  in  Newsham,  they 
seem  to  have  been  tenants  of  the  fine  old  family  of 
Catterick  or  Catherick  of  Stanwick  Hall,-  whom  they 
afterwards  supplanted  as  lords  of  the  soil.  From  an  In- 
quisition post-mortem  we  learn  that  "  Anthony  Smithson  of 
Newsham,  in  the  parish  of  Kirkby-Ravensworth,  husband- 
man, younger  son  of  William  Smithson  of  Newsham, 
yeoman,  held  lands  there  from  Anthony  Catherick, 
Esquire,  of  Stanwick,  and  paid  the  subsidies  thereon 
39  Eliz. ";  and  that  he  "purchased  \  the  tithes  of  Bolton, 
5  Aug.  13  Jac.  I.,"  together  with  "  18  acres  of  arable  land, 
18   acres   of    meadow,   and    20   acres   of    pasture,    with   a 

'  Annals  of  tht  House  of  Percy,  vol.  ii.  (Appendices). 

-  Stanwick  came  to  the  Cattericks  by  the  marriage  of  William  Catterick  with 
Maria,  daughter  and  heir  of  Robert  Fitz-Hugh  Stanwick  of  Stanwick,  /««/. 
Edward  I.  Like  many  another  ancient  house,  they  followed  the  Catholic  faith, 
and  were  forced  to  sell  their  estates. 


432  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

messuage,  barn,  &c.,  all  in  Newsham,  from  Anthony 
Catherick,  Esquire,  of  Stanwick  and  Carleton."i  This 
Anthony  Smithson  was  the  father  of  Hugh  Smithson,  who, 
from  being  an  apprentice  to  Ralph  and  William  Robinson, 
haberdashers,  of  London,  eventually  succeeded  to  their 
business,  and  thereby  amassed  a  large  fortune.  Following 
the  example  of  his  old  masters,  the  Robinsons,-  Smithson 
decided  to  invest  his  money  in  an  estate  ;  and  a  natural 
affection  for  the  locality  led  him  to  purchase  Stanwick 
Hall  from  his  father's  former  landlord,  Anthony  Catterick, 
for  the  sum  of  ;^40oo.  He  did  not  reside  at  Stanwick 
until  late  in  life,  but  continued  to  carry  on  business  as  a 
haberdasher.  A  Roman  Catholic  by  religion,  he  could 
hope  for  no  civic  or  political  preferment ;  but  he  is  said 
to  have  assisted  the  exiled  Charles  II.  from  time  to  time 
with  considerable  loans.  His  reward  was  a  baronetcy, 
conferred  in  the  year  of  the  Restoration,  after  which  he 
retired  from  trade,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  old  Stanwick 
Hall,  now  a  farmhouse.  Harrison,  speaking  of  the  parish 
church  of  St.  John  at  Stanwick,  says:  "A  great  many  of 
the  Pigot  family  were  buried  here,  whose  tombs  were 
destroyed  to  make  way  for  a  cumbrous  piece  of  imposture 
erected  to  the  memory  of  the  first  Sir  Hugh  Smithson  of 
Stanwick,  who  is  here  represented  as  a  Cavalier  warrior  in 
armour,  with  Miss  Rawsterne,  his  wife,  lying  beside  him. 
Here  we  have  the  sublime  and  the  ridiculous  combined  in 
the  superlative  degree.  This  Sir  Hugh  Smithson  was  only 
a  haberdasher  of  humble  birth,  who  made  a  fortune  in  his 
trade,  and  purchased  the  Stanwick  estate  for  ^4000,  and  a 
baronetcy  for  ;^io95."^ 

'  Itujiiis.  P.  M.,  quoted  by  Harrison;  History  of  Yorkshire.  Carleton 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Cattericks  until  19  Chas.  II.,  when  it  was 
alienated  to  the  Witham  family. 

'^  These  wealthy  tradesmen  bought  the  manors  of  Rokeby  and  Brignall,  and 
founded  the  family  now  represented  by  the  Marquis  of  Ripon,  K.G.  Like  Smith- 
son,  they  were  Yorkshire  bom. 

'  This  last  assertion  lacks  proof.  The  more  likely  version  is  that  the 
baronetcy  was  conferred  by  way  of  repayment  of  loans  to  the  King. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY  433 

Sir  Hugh's  shop,  which  was  situated  in  Cheapsidc, 
descended  to  his  two  elder  sons,  Jeremy  and  Hugh  ;  his 
wife,  whose  peculiar  maiden  name  is  given  above,  retain- 
ing a  life  interest.  The  eldest  son,  Jeremy,  also  succeeded 
to  Stanwick  Hall  and  the  baronetcy ;  while  a  third  child, 
Anthony,  inherited  property  at  Tottenham  High  Cross,  near 
London,  as  well  as  at  Armine,  co.  York.  This  Anthony 
was  father  of  Hugh  Smithson  of  Tottenham,^  M.P.  for 
Middlesex,  who,  in  the  absence  of  children  of  his  own, 
made  the  third  Sir  Hugh  Smithson  of  Stanwick  his  heir. 
Sir  Jeremy  Smithson,  second  Bart.,  sold  the  haberdasher's 
shop  in  Cheapside.  The  third  Bart.,  Sir  Hugh,  married  a 
Roman  Catholic  lady  of  noble  family,  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Marmaduke,  second  Lord  Langdale ;  -  but,  after  her 
death,  abjured  his  ancestral  faith  and  died  an  Anglican  in 
1729,  All  his  children  remained  Catholics,  however,  and 
his  four  daughters  died  professed  nuns.  It  was  this  recent 
and  intimate  connection  of  his  family  with  Rome  which 
made  the  first  Duke  of  Northumberland  an  object  of  such 
suspicion  to  the  "No  Popery"  rioters  of  1770.  It  seems 
fairly  certain  that  he  himself  was  baptized  in  the  old 
religion,  and  continued  a  member  of  it  until  the  death  of 
his  father,  Langdale  Smithson  ;^  after  which,  as  his  grand- 
father's heir,  he  was  instructed  in  the  Anglican  doctrine. 
Sir  Hugh  Smithson,  fourth  Bart.,  of  Stanwick  (as  he  was 
now  styled),  matriculated  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  on 
October  15,  1730,  and  took  his  degree  practically  as  a 
matter  of  course.  In  1738  he  was  High  Sheriff  of  York- 
shire ;  and  in  1739  a  suitor  for  the  hand  of  Lady  Elizabeth 
Seymour. 

'  By  Susannah,  daughter  of  Sir  Edward  Barkham,  Bart.,  of  Southacre, 
Norfolk.  Hugh  Smithson  of  Tottenham  represented  Middlesex  in  five  Parlia- 
ments, and  married  (i)  Hester,  daughter  of  Michael  Godfrey,  Deputy-Governor 
of  the  Bank  of  England,  by  whom  he  had  a  son,  Anthony,  died  vitA patris  1722  ; 
and  (2)  the  Hon.  Constantia  Hare,  only  daughter  of  Henry,  second  Lord 
Coleraine,  who  died  s.p.  1726. 

-  Son  of  the  dashing  Cavalier,  Sir  Marmaduke  Langdale. 

^  See  Genealogy  of  the  Smithsons. 
H.  2  E 


434  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

In  order  to  flatter  the  egregious  self-esteem  of  the  Duke 
of  Somerset,  it  was  thought  better,  in  asking  him  for  his 
sanction  to  the  match  between  Lady  Betty  and 
Sir  Hugh"  Sir  Hugh,  to  suppress  the  negotiations  which  had 
and  Lady  already  taken  place,  and  to  allow  his  Grace  to 
imagine  that  he,  as  head  of  the  house,  had  been 
approached  in  the  first  instance.  This  was  an  example  of 
the  proverbial  Yorkshire  diplomacy,  and  originated  with 
Smithson  himself.  He  also  decided  that  the  good  offices 
of  some  influential  friend  would  be  necessary  to  secure 
him  a  proper  hearing  at  Northumberland  House.  Such  a 
sponsor  was  readily  found  in  the  person  of  his  neighbour 
of  the  North  Riding,  the  Duke  of  Leeds,^  who  wrote  a 
letter  introducing  Sir  Hugh  as  a  gentleman  of  hereditary 
title  and  fortune,  his  "  intimate  acquaintance  and  particular 

friend,"  who  experienced  "a  very  particular  regard  and 
esteem  for  Lady  Betsy  Seymour."  "  Sir  Hugh"  continued  the 
Duke  of  Leeds,  ^' has  at  present  better  than  ^^4000  a  year 
entirely  zvithin  his  own  power,  and  subject  to  no  encumbrance 
tvhatsoever,  except  only  ;^'200  a  year  to  his  mother.'''  He  will 
doubtless  inherit  on  the  death  of  a  relative,^  who  is  upzvards 
of  four  score  years  of  age,  very  nearly  if  not  quite  ;^3000  a 

year  more."  * 

To  his  respectful  application,  the  Duke  of  Somerset 
majestically  replied  '^  that  he  did  not  knozv  Sir  Hugh 
Smithson,  or  his  fortune,  but  that  if  upon  inquiry  he  shoidd 

find  out  that  his  family  icas  Gentlemanly  and  respectable,  and 
that  his  fortune  would  allow  of  his  settling  -^2000  a  year 
Rent  charge  on  his  {the  Duke's)    Gra7iddaiighter,  by  way  of 

joynture,  and  ;^Soo  for  pin  money,  that  he  should  not  object 
to  ii."^    Apparently  the  inquiries  respecting  the  Smithson 

'  Thomas  Osborne,  fourth  Duke  of  Leeds,  K.G.,  who  succeeded  to  the  title 
in  this  year.     He  died  1789. 

'  She  was  Philadelphia,  daughter  of  Walter  Revely  of  Newby  Wiske,  county 
York. 

'  This  was  Hugh  Smithson,  M.P.,  of  Tottenham  High  Cross. 

■*  Duke  of  Leeds  to  Duke  of  Somerset :  Comslade's  Journal  in  Alnwick  A/SS. 

'  CowslzJi s  Journal,  Alnwick  tl/SS. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  435 

family  did  not  quite  satisfy  the  Duke,*  for,  althouj^h  he 
did  not  actually  forbid  the  match,  he  sought  in  many  ways 
to  have  it  broken  off ;  nor  would  he  consent  to  receive 
Sir  Hugh,  or  to  countenance  him  by  direct  correspondence. 
To  the  last  he  urged  his  son  and  granddaughter  to  hold  out 
for  more  advantageous  settlements,  hoping  by  this  means 
to  frighten  Smithson  away.  On  February  8,  1740,  he 
wrote  from  Petworth  to  Lady  Betty  insisting  that  the 
Tottenham  and  Armine^  estates,  to  which  Sir  Hugh  was 
heir  presumptive,  should  be  included  in  the  settlements. 
But  here  the  Duke  encountered  an  unexpected  rebuff, 
which  had  the  happy  effect  of  silencing  him  for  the  time 
being.    Mr.  Smithson  of  Tottenham  High  Cross,  the  owner 

'  One  of  the  facts  discovered,  however,  was  that  Sir  Hugh  Smithson  (through 
the  Langdales)  could  claim  distant  kinship  with  his  future  bride,  as  thus : — 


I  I 

Henky,  Matilda,  =  Ralph. 

3rd  Baron  Percy.  dau.  of  Henky,       I     2nd  Lord  Nevill 

I  and  Baron  Percy.  of  Raby. 

V  I 

a  quo  Ralph, 

Lady  Elizabeth  isi  Earl  of  Westmoreland. 

Seymour.  I 


Lady  Cecily  Nevill.  =  Ed.mund,  Duke  of  York. 
I 

Lady  Ann  Pl.vntagenet.  =  Sir  Thomas  St.  Leger. 


George  Manners,  Lord  Roos.  =  Ann  St.  Leger. 
I 
Thomas,  ist  Earl  of  Rutland. 

Sir  John  Savage,  Kt.  =  Lady  Elizabeth  Manners. 

Thomas,  Viscount  Savage. 

Thomas  Savage  (2nd  son). 

I 

Marmaduke,         =    Elizabeth  Savage. 
2nd  Lord  Langdale.   I 

Hon.  Elizabeth  Langdale.  =  Sir  Hugh  Smithson,  3rd  Ban. 

1 

Langdale  Smithson. 

I 

Sir  Hugh  Smithson,  4th  Bart. 

^  Armine  or  Ayrmine   Hall,  Yorkshire,  has  since  descended,  through   the 
Smithsons  and  Percies,  to  the  family  of  Heber-Percy  of  liodnet. 


436  THE    HOUSE   OF    PERCY 

of  the  estates  in  question,  resented  the  proposal  as  a 
slur  cast  upon  his  good  faith.  "  It  was  true,"  he  sturdily 
declared,  "  that  he  was  no  Duke,  nor  boasted  of  any  such 
great  alliances ;  but  in  point  of  honourable  dealing  he  would 
yield  to  no  man.  That  he  had  given  his  zvord  that  he  would 
leave  certain  of  his  estates  to  Sir  Hugh  Sniithson,  and  that 
was  sufficient:  and  he  would  not  be  tied  down  by  any 
lazuyers."  ^  The  Duke  of  Somerset  made  no  further  attempt 
to  interfere ;  but  he  never  forgave  the  Sniithson  family 
for  thus  defying  him,  and  we  shall  see  presently  how 
nearly  he  succeeded  in  wreaking  a  malevolent  revenge 
upon  his  grandchild  and  her  husband. 

Lady  Betty  Seymour  and  Sir  Hugh  Smithson  were 
married  on  July  i8,  1740.  A  few  weeks  later  we  are 
afforded  a  glimpse  of  the  happy  couple,  going  in  magnifi- 
cent apparel,  to  call  upon  their  cousin,  Mr.  Smithson. 
Lady  Hertford  writes  to  her  son.  Lord  Beauchamp  : 
"  Sir  Hugh  and  Lady  Betty  ivent  to  dine  and  pay  their  respects 
to  Mr.  Sniithson  of  Tottenham  High  Cross.  Though  in  the 
very  midst  of  summer,  they  were  both  of  them  dressed  as  for 
a  holiday;  she  in  a  silver  stuff  of  four  pounds  a  yard,  a?td 
Sir  Hugh  in  a  lead  colour  and  silver  stuff  coat  end>roidered 
zvith  silver,  and  Waistcoat  and  Parcments  of  zvhite  silk 
embroidered  with  silver  and  colours."  - 

Little  Beauchamp  (who  was  now  making  the  "  Grand 
Tour  "  in  care  of  his  tutor)  was  naturally  eager  for  news 
of  "  Betty  and  her  husband,"  and  his  mother  gratified  him 
to  the  best  of  her  ability.  Sir  Hugh,  it  seemed,  had  de- 
veloped a  remaikable  taste  for  art,  and  was  busy  buying 
pictures  wherewith  to  decorate  the  walls  of  his  mansion 
at  Stanwick.^  In  his  search  for  talent  he  had  discovered 
a  new  painter  of  English  birth,  whose  work,  he  declared, 
rivalled  that  of  Guido.  This  great  genius.  Lady  Hertford 
calls  "Huby"   (or  is  this  an  error  of  her  printer?);  and 

'  Covislade's  Journal,  Alnwick  A/SS. 
'^  LeUers  of  the  Counless  of  Hertford,  1 740. 

^  A  new  hall  had  taken  the  place  of  the  old  one  at  Stanwick ;  but  this  was 
in  turn  to  give  way  to  a  still  larger  structure. 


yy.y^  ,_Xi  ./i\aA-rA(^a^M/A/C«fG--  \f;r/^rm^er/am).  Js^ 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  437 

she  tells  her  son  that  "  Sir  Hugh  lias  bespoke  as  many  pictures 
of  Huby  as  ivill furnish  his  Salon  at  Stauzvick.  He  {Huby)  is 
allozi'ed  four  years  to  complete  them  ;  which  I  hope  he  will  do, 
for  the  o'wner  of  the  house  zvill  never  prevail  upon  himself  to 
hang  the  -work  of  any  other  painter  by  them!'  The  mysterious 
"  Huby"  was  none  other  than  Giles  Hussey,  whose  extra- 
ordinary promise  and  equally  extraordinary  self-effacement 
are  noticed  in  Walpole's  "Anecdotes  of  Painting."^  Sir  Hugh 
showed  keen  artistic  instinct  in  selecting  Hussey,  then 
almost  unknown,  to  paint  for  him  ;  and  he  would  probably 
have  made  \\\s  protege  famous,  if  the  latter's  peculiar  tem- 
perament had  not  marred  his  career. 

During  the  winter  of  1740  Mr.  Hugh  Smithson  of  Totten- 
ham died,  bequeathing,  as  he  had  promised, his  landed  estates 
to  Sir  Hugh.  The  latter  was  immediately  elected  M.P.  for 
Middlesex  in  his  cousin's  place  ;  and,  in  the  absence  of  a 
town  house  of  their  own,  Lady  Betty  and  he  resided  for 
some  time  in  the  late  Mr.  Smithson's  villa  at  High  Cross.^ 

But  a  death  of  far  more  importance  to  Sir  Hugh  and 

his  wife  took  place  on  September  11,  1744,  when  George, 

Lord  Beauchamp,  heir  of  the  united  names  of 

becomes  heir    Sevmour  and  Percy,  was  carried  off  by  smallpox, 

"'"■f  on  the  eve  of  his  twenty-first  year.     After  a  brief 

Percies :  _  -^  -' 

spite  of  old  sojourn  in  England,  during  which  he  made  the 
Somerset.  acquaintance  of  his  brother-in-law,  young  Beau- 
champ  had  returned  to  the  Continent  in  1742,  still  in  charge 
of  a  tutor,  Storrocks  by  name.  The  autumn  of  1744  found 
the  travellers  at  Bologna,  and  on  September  5th  of  that  year 
Lord   Beauchamp  wrote  a  letter  to  his  mother,  in  which 

'  Giles  Ilussey  (1710-1788),  was  born  at  MarnhuUin  Dorsetshire,  of  a  Roman 
Catholic  family,  and  educated  at  Douay  and  St.  Omer.  Walpole  describes  his 
work  as  "  equal  to  veiy  great  masters  "  (Anecdotes  of  Painting,  ii.  31S).  Sir  Hugh 
Smithson  offered  him  a  home  for  life,  and  a  settled  income  ;  but  this  he  refused. 
He  had  peculiar  theories  on  the  subject  of  art,  and  deeming  himself  misunder- 
stood, abandoned  the  brush  altogether,  and  died  a  recluse  on  the  estate  of  his 
brother. — Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog. 

2  It  was  known  as  "  the  Black  House,"  and  stood  by  the  main  road,  near  the 
Cross  of  Tottenham  (Robinson  ;  History  of  Tottenham). 


438  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

he  promised  himself  the  pleasure  of  visiting  Alnwick  for 
Christmas.  Six  days  later,  the  poor  lad  fell  a  victim  to 
the  dread  scourge  which  was  then  ravaging  Italy.  By  his 
decease,  Lady  Elizabeth  Smithson  was  suddenly  trans- 
formed from  the  wife  of  a  country  baronet  of  moderate 
wealth,  into  the  prospective  heiress  of  two  great  historic 
families,  and  of  an  estate  among  the  largest  in  Great  Britain. 
The  old  Duke  of  Somerset  heard  the  news  ;  not  with  sorrow 
indeed,  but  in  an  unnatural  frenzy  of  rage  and  bitterness. 
With  Lord  Beauchamp  he  saw  pass  away  his  proud  anti- 
cipation of  a  male  line  of  Seymours,  premier  peers  of 
England.  He  saw,  too,  how  greatly  the  despised  Yorkshire 
baronet  must  benefit  by  the  change  ;  and  it  cut  him  to  the 
quick  when  he  thought  that  Hugh  Smithson,  descendant  of 
a  London  tradesman,  had,  by  his  (Somerset's)  own  lack  of 
foresight,  been  permitted  to  marry  the  first  heiress  in  the 
three  kingdoms.  Not  one  touch  of  grief  untinged  by  sel- 
fishness, not  the  slightest  feeling  of  sympathy  with  his  son 
and  daughter  in  their  bereavement,  can  be  detected  in  any 
of  the  Duke's  utterances  at  this  time.  Nay,  to  such  lengths 
did  his  perverse  nature  carry  him,  that  he  broke  in  upon 
Lord  Hertford's  sufferings  with  a  cruel  letter,  full  of  shame- 
ful reproaches  and  abuse.  "  It  is  a  most  terrible  loss  for 
his  parents,  Lord  Beauchamp's  death,"  writes  Horace  Wal- 
pole  ;  "if  they  were  out  of  the  question  one  could  not  be 
sorry  for  such  a  mortification  of  the  pride  of  old  Somerset. 
He  has  written  the  most  shocking  letter  imaginable  to  poor 
Lord  Hertford,  telling  him  it  is  a  judgment  upon  him  for 
all  his  undutifulness,  and  that  he  must  always  look  upon 
himself  as  the  cause  of  his  son's  death.  Lord  Hertford  is 
as  good  a  man  as  lives,  and  has  always  been  most  un- 
reasonably ill-used  by  that  old  tyrant." '  Lady  Hertford 
also  refers  in  her  "  Letters  "  to  the  effect  of  this  brutal  attack, 
coming  as  it  did  in  the  midst  of  their  affliction. 

Somerset,  however,  was  not  satisfied  with  thus  gratify- 
ing his  spite  at  Hertford's  expense.  He  resolved,  if  pos- 
sible, to  prevent  the  Smithsons  from  reviving  the   Percy 

'  Letters  to  Sir  Horace  Mann ;  vol.  ii.  p.  48. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  439 

name  and  honours.  Knowing  that  his  son's  immediate 
family  were  far  too  much  concerned  with  their  own 
grievous  trouble  to  pay  attention  to  Court  affairs,  he 
drew  up  and  forwarded  a  petition  to  the  King,  in  which 
he  asked  that  the  Earldom  of  Northumberland  should  be 
conferred  upon  Iiim,  ^^  with  a  special  remainder,  in  default  of 
male  issue,  to  his  grandsori,  Sir  Charles  IVyndhain,  Bart.^  and 
the  heirs  male  of  his  body  ;  and  after  that  to  the  heirs  male  of 
the  body  of  his  other  grandson,  Percy  Wyndhavi  O' Bryan."  ^ 
Such  a  patent  would,  of  course,  have  the  effect  of  diverting 
the  representation  of  the  House  of  Percy  from  the  direct 
heiress,  Lady  Betty  Smithson,  to  the  VVyndham  family  and 
its  descendants.  The  petition  was  presented,  on  behalf 
of  the  Duke,  by  Lord  Granville  ;  ^  and  the  King  was  led  to 
believe  that,  according  to  the  terms  of  Somerset's  contract 
of  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Percy  in  1682,  the  great  estates 
attached  to  the  Northumberland  title  would  pass  to  the 
"  senior  male  grandson  of  that  union  "  {i.e.  to  Sir  Charles 
Wyndham),  to  the  exclusion  of  female  heirs.  George  IL 
was  by  no  means  well  versed  in  English  law,  and  easily 
allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded.  In  fact  the  affair  had 
progressed  so  far  that  the  new  patent  was  made  out,  ready 
for  the  royal  signature,  before  any  hint  of  what  was  afoot 
reached  the  ears  of  Lord  Hertford  and  his  circle.  Fortu- 
nately it  was  not  altogether  too  late  to  prevent  the  malicious 
designs  of  the  Duke  of  Somerset  from  succeeding.  Eager 
to  arrest  the  meditated  injury  to  his  only  remaining  child, 
Hertford  invoked  the  assistance  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  ; 
and  subsequently  wrote  directly  to  the  King,  sending  his 
protest  by  the  hands  of  Sir  Hugh  Smithson.  Whatever 
were  the  faults  of  George  U.,  he  loved  honesty  and  justice 

'  Sir  Charles  Wyndham  was  son  and  heir  of  Sir  William  Wyndham  by 
Lady  Katharine  Seymour.  He  afterwards  succeeded  to  the  Earldom  of 
Egremont,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  Percy  estates,  now  inherited  by  Lord 
Leconfield. 

-  Second  son  of  Sir  W.  Wyndham.  He  was  created  first  Earl  of  Thomond, 
but  died  s.p. 

*  The  second  Lord  Carteret  inherited  the  title  of  Earl  Granville  through  his 
mother,  a  peeress  in  her  own  right,  daughter  of  the  Cavalier  Eail  of  Bath. 


440  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

in  so  far  as  his  narrow  mind  permitted  him  to  realise  those 
qualities.  Hearing  that  Lord  Hertford,  his  old  companion 
in  arms  at  Oudenarde,  had  objected  to  the  issue  of  the 
patent,  he  was  at  first  greatly  surprised  (for  Granville  had 
kept  him  in  the  dark  as  to  the  true  state  of  affairs),  and 
then  eager  to  investigate  the  matter  in  all  its  bearings. 
Sir  Hugh  Smithson  was  summoned  to  a  private  interview 
in  the  royal  closet,  and  invited  to  state  freely  his  own  and 
his  father-in-law's  views.  It  was  a  mission  for  which  the 
sharp-witted  Yorkshireman  was  peculiarly  fitted.  Within 
half-an-hour  he  had  explained  to  the  King  (and  to  Queen 
Caroline,  who  was  also  present)  the  nature  of  the  plot 
hatched  by  Somerset,  and  the  absolute  untruth  of  his 
assertions  regarding  the  settlement  of  the  Percy  estates. 
Petworth,  Leconfield,  and  a  considerable  portion  ^  of  the 
property  had,  it  was  true,  been  unwisely  left  in  the  Duke's 
power  to  will  away  as  he  desired  ;  but  the  great  bulk  of  the 
old  Northumberland  possessions  must  descend,  with  the 
Barony  of  Percy,  to  Lord  Hertford,  and  after  him  to  Lady 
Betty  and  her  heirs.  The  King  was  justly  angry  at  the 
deception  which  had  been  practised  upon  him  ;  but,  in 
his  usual  puzzle-headed  fashion,  he  told  Smithson  that 
"  the  affair  had  gone  so  far,  he  scarcely  knew  what  to  do." 
Sir  Hugh  begged  at  least  that  the  signing  of  the  patent 
should  be  deferred  ;  and  to  this  George  readily  consented. 
Nothing  was  done  in  the  matter  until  the  spring  of  the 
following  year  (the  ever  memorable  "  '45 "),  when  the 
Duke  of  Somerset  obstinately  renewed  his  application  to 
the  King,  coupled  with  a  broad  hint  to  the  effect  that  his 
services  to  the  House  of  Brunswick  merited  the  favour 
demanded,  especially  in  view  of  the  threatened  invasion  of 
Prince  Charles  Edward,  and  the  temptations  held  out  by  the 
Jacobites,  to  all  who  would  lend  aid  to  the  legitimist  cause. 
The  King  might  have  been  cozened  by  Granville  and  his 
Hanoverian  advisers  into  yielding  to  the  importunities  of 

'  These  estates  were,  in  fact,  afterwards  seltled  by  old  Somerset  upon  tlie 
Wyndhams,  and  are  now  owned  by  their  heirs,  as  the  title  of  Lord  Leconfield 
indicates. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  441 

so  powerful  a  nobleman  (for  the  defeat  of  Fontenoy,  and  the 
other  disasters  of  the  campaign  of  17^4-5,  had  inspired  the 
royal  family  with  fears  for  the  safety  of  their  throne),  were 
it  not  tiiat  Somerset  abandoned  his  malignant  designs  as 
suddenly  as  he  commenced  them.  The  explanation  of 
this  change  of  front  is  perhaps  to  be  found  in  a  fearless 
letter  of  remonstrance  written  to  him  by  his  grandchild, 
Lady  Betty.  The  arguments  which  she  put  forward  were 
in  truth  imanswerable ;  and  throughout  the  entire  epistle 
the  diplomatic  hand  of  Sir  Hugh  Smithson  may  readily 
be  discerned.     Somerset  is  thus  addressed  : — 

"London,  29///  April  1745. 
"  J/y  Lord, 

"  Some  tivie  before  Christinas  I  zaas  informed  that 

application  had  been  made  to  ye  King  for  a  patent  to  create 

your  Grace  Earl  of  NortlnindKrlaitd  for  life,  ivith  remainder 

to  my  father  and  his  heirs   male,  and  in  default  of  them,  to 

Sir  Charles    JVyndham,  and  then  to  Jlfr.  O Bryan  &c.,  and 

then  to  Jl/iss  IVyndham.^ 

"As  I  zvas  conscious  to  myself  that  I  had  never  done 
anything  to  deserve  your  Grace  s  displeasure,  much  less  to  be 
disowned  as  your  granddaughter,  I  ratJier  chose  to  attribute 
it  to  Lord  Granville's  artifices,  or  Sir  Charles  Wyndham's 
solicitations ;  but  the  former  solemnly  declares  that  he  never 
had  any  further  concern  ift  this  affair  than  being  obliged  as  a 
ALinister  to  deliver  your  Grace's  message  to  the  L\ing;  and  as 
to  the  latter,  L  have  now  by  me  a  letter  {ready  to  produce  to 
your  Grace)  from  Miss  JVyndham,  in  which  she  declares  it  a 
mark  of  distinction  unasked  by  any  of  their  family. 

"  Thus,  my  Lord,  they  throw  the  whole  of  the  affair  upon 
your  Grace.  LLowever  the  King,  being  better  informed  of  some 
circumstances  relating  to  it,  determined  to  postpone  the  patent  till 
further  insight  should  be  given  him.  As  I  found  the  thoughts  of 
the  zvhole  zvorld  {for  it  was  the  topic  of  general  conversation') 

'  This  was  Elizabeth,  who  afterwards  married  the  Right  Hon.  George 
GrenviUe,  the  proposer  of  the  obnoxious  Stamp  Act  which  led  to  the  American 
Revolution. 


442  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

concurred  in  looking  upon  this  procedure  as  most  unjust  with 
regard  to  tne,  so  I  doubted  not  but  that,  upon  mature  reflec- 
tion, Your  Grace  would  never  be  prevailed  upon  to  give  your 
cofisent  to  anything  so  prejudicial  to  one  who  has  never  offended 
you.  However,  being  informed  that  your  Grace  has  noiv 
made  afresh  application,  it  lays  me  under  an  absolute  necessity 
of  remonstratitig  in  my  oivn  cause.  To  be  sure  if  Your  Grace 
is  ambitious  of  adding  to  your  other  titles  that  more  antient 
one  of  Earl  of  Northuinberland,  it  is  very  proper  that  you 
should  have  it ;  after  Your  Grace  it  naturally  comes  to  the 
right  descendant  of  that  family,  my  jather ;  but  after  that, 
in  default  of  heirs  male,  it  goes  to  Charles  IVyndhani  from 
me,  zvlio  {since  the  irreparable  loss  of  my  most  dear  atid  ever 
to  be  lamented  brother)  am  at  present  the  undoubted  heir  of 
that  great  and  noble  family  of  Percy,  as  evidently  appears  by 
those  more  antient  titles  of  the  Baronies  of  Percy,  which  I 
must  necessarily  inherit. 

"  These  considerations,  I  therefore  flatter  myself,  will  in- 
duce Your  Grace  to  view  this  affair  in  its  true  light ;  and  then, 
I  am  persuaded,  you  will  either  consent  that  my  name  shall 
be  inserted  in  the  patent  after  my  father  s,  or  no  longer 
persevere  in  an  application  so  apparently  to  the  prejudice  of, 
my  Lord, 

"  Your  Grace's  obedient  servant, 

"  Elizabeth  Smithson." 

Somerset  would  not  insert  the  name  of  Lady  Betty 
in  the  patent,  and  he  willed  every  acre  he  could 
possibly  alienate  from  the  direct  line  to  his  favourite 
grandsons,  the  Wyndhams  ;  but  from  this  time  forward 
he  allowed  the  project  for  reviving  the  Earldom  of 
Northumberland  to  drop.  His  decease  at  a  great  age  in 
1748  made  Lord  Hertford  seventh  Duke,  and  inheritor 
of  the  as  yet  undivided  property  for  life.  Duke  Alger- 
non was  in  his  sixty-fifth  year  when  he  succeeded.  The 
death  of  his  only  son  had  left  him  broken  in  health  and 
spirits ;  and  he  determined,  before  death  should  claim 
him,  to  secure  for  his  daughter  and  her  descendants  a  title 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  443 

appropriate  to  tlie  great  landed  possessions  which  were 
to  be  theirs.  To  the  Wyndhams,  with  whom  he  had  no 
quarrel,  he  also  wished  to  leave  a  suitable  title  ;  and  it  was 
lastly  his  sincere  desire  that  the  contract  entered  into 
and  afterwards  evaded  by  his  father,  concerning  the  pre- 
servation of  the  Percy  name,  should  now  be  honourably 
observed  by  Lady  Betty  Smithson  and  her  husband. 
The  King,  who  had  a  high  regard  for  the  new  Duke  of 
Somerset,  easily  granted  all  his  requests.  On  October  2, 
1749,  he  was  created  BARON  Warkwokth  of  Warkwortii 
Castle,  and  Earl  of  Northumberland,  "  with  remainder, 
in  case  of  failure  of  his  own  male  issue,  to  Sir  Hugh 
Smithson  and  his  heirs  male  by  Lady  Elizabeth  Seymour ; 
in  default  of  which  the  dignities  were  to  pass  to  the  heirs 
male  of  Lady  Elizabeth  by  any  other  marriage  which  she 
might  contract."  A  day  later,  the  Duke  was  further  created 
Baron  Cockermouth  of  Cockermouth  and  Earl  of 
Egremont,  "  with  remainder  to  Sir  Charles  Wyndham, 
Bart.,  and  the  heirs  male  of  his  body;  in  default  of  which 
to  Percy  Wyndham  O' Bryan  and  the  heirs  male  of  his 
body."  The  seventh  Duke  of  Somerset  died  on  February 
7,  1750;  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son-in-law.  Sir  Hugh 
Smithson,  as  second  Earl  of  Northumberland  and  Baron 
Warkworth ;  while  his  daughter,  Lady  Betty,  inherited 
the  Barony  of  1624.^ 

One  of  the  first  steps  taken  by  Hugh,  Earl  of  North- 
umberland, was  to  assume  the  name  and  arms  of  Percy, 
Sir  Hugh  ''"'  accordancc  with  the  wishes  of  his  predecessor. 
Smithson  be-  A  Special  Act  of  Parliament,  passed  in  February 
of  Northum-  I750(  enabled  him  to  do  this ;  and  although 
beriand,  and  Horace  Walpolc  and  other  gossips  of  the  day 
name  of  affectcd  to  odicule  the  change  as  pretentious  and 
Percy.  absurd,  "  Earl  Smithson "  (as  they  called  him) 

was  fully  justified  in  following  the  example  of  Josceline  of 

'  The  Dukedom  of  Somerset  passed  to  Sir  Edward  Seymour,  sixth  Bart.,  of 
Eeriy  Pomeroy,  ancestor  of  the  present  Duke,  and  the  Earldom  of  Egremont 
and  Barony  of  Cockermoulh  to  Sir  Charles  Wyndham. 


444  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Louvain,  and  adopting  the  patronymic  of  the  noble  family 
whose  heiress  he  had  married,  and  whose  recognised  chief 
he  had  now  become.  In  1751  he  took  his  seat  in  the 
House  of  Lords  and  moved  the  address  to  the  Throne.' 
A  year  later  he  became  a  Lord  of  the  Bedchamber,  and 
received  his  commissions  as  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Northum- 
berland and  Vice-Admiral  of  the  Northumbrian  shore  on 
March  20,  1753.  The  Garter  was  conferred  upon  him  in 
1756,  and  this  raised  an  outcry  among  the  friends  and 
adherents  of  many  disappointed  peers,  who  held  that  "  the 
old  nobility  "2  was  degraded  by  the  bestowal  of  the  blue 
ribbon  upon  "a  person  of  obscure  descent."  The  truth 
seems  to  be  that  Northumberland,  whose  sterling  worth 
was  everywhere  admitted  when  he  was  merely  Sir  Hugh 
Smithson,  had  made  by  his  good  fortune  a  host  of  ene- 
mies and  envious  calumniators.  Walpole,  who  had  once 
borne  testimony  to  his  good  breeding,  now  painted  him 
as  a  vulgar  upstart,  and  delighted  in  chronicling  spiteful 
stories  of  his  ostentation.  We  are  asked  to  believe  that  he 
spoke  of  Harry  Hotspur  as  his  "ancestor"  ;  and  that  when 
Lord  March  ^  visited  Alnwick,  he  received  him  in  state  with 
the  remark,  "  I  believe,  my  lord,  this  is  the  first  time  that 
ever  a  Douglas  and  a  Percy  met  here  in  friendship."  Nor 
was  "  Lady  Betty  "  (as  she  continued  to  be  styled)  spared 
by  her  husband's  critics.  Walpole  did  not  like  her,  and  she 
is  variously  set  down  in  his  "  Letters  "  as  "coarse,"  "  ostenta- 
tious," and  "  junketaceous."  It  was  her  habit,  he  declares, 
to  follow  the  Queen*  to  the  theatre  with  a  longer  retinue 
than  her  own ;  and  in  spite  of  her  apparent  frankness,  he 
considered  her  secretly  mischievous.  Coarse  she  certainly 
was  (as  indeed  were  most  of  the  great  ladies  of  the  day), 

^  In  his  speech  he  had  to  comment  upon  the  little-regretted  demise  of 
Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales. 

-  It  is  difficult  to  divine  what  was  meant  by  "  the  old  nobility."  Of  the 
riantagenet  nobility  only  scanty  remnants  were  left ;  and  the  great  majority  of 
the  higher  titles  were  held  by  the  descendants  of  "new  men,"  ennobled  in  Tudor 
or  Stuart  times. 

'  Son  of  the  Duke  of  Queensberry. 

■•  Queen  Charlotte,  wife  of  George  III.,  is  here  alluded  to. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  445 

and  she  never  shrank  from  a  joke  because  of  its  indecency.^ 
Tliere  is  on  record  an  account  of  a  magnificent  supper, 
given  by  Nortliumberland  and  his  wife  in  1758  (a  few 
months  after  the  Ear!  had  received  his  Garter)  to  George 
11,'s  mistress,  the  Countess  of  Yarmouth.'  The  principal 
ornament  on  the  supper-table  represented  a  Court  hunt  at 
Herrenhausen,  with  a  carriage  drawn  by  six  prancing 
steeds,  in  which  sat  two  figures,  one  representing  the  King, 
and  the  other  Lady  Yarmouth.  The  portraits  of  these 
"august  personages"  were  unmistakable;  and  a  contem- 
porary writer  describes  this  trophy  as  "  the  apotheosis  of 
concubinage." 

Fortunately  for  their  own  peace  of  mind,  both  Earl  and 
Countess  were  plentifully  endowed  with  good  humour,  and 
never  allowed  themselves  to  show  resentment  at  the  attacks 
of  the  envious.  As  nothing  mean  or  dishonourable  was 
ever  alleged  against  either  of  them,  they  may  be  said  to 
have  come  particularly  well  through  the  fires  of  criticism. 

From  the  first,  Earl  Hugh  showed  himself  an  excellent 
landlord.  Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  wretched  state 
into  which  the  northern  estates  of  the  Percies  had  been 
allowed  to  fall,  through  the  carelessness  or  incapacity  of 
the  Duke  of  Somerset.  Those  wide  tracts  had  in  fact  been 
little  better  than  waste  for  half  a  century.  The  houses  of 
the  tenants  were  in  ruins,  the  woods  had  been  ruthlessly  cut 
down  for  fuel,  agriculture  itself  had  fallen  into  disuse.  The 
new  Earl  remembered  what  William  Als-gei-nons  had  done 
for  Yorkshire,  and  resolved  to  do  likewise  for  Northumber- 
land. "  He  found  the  country  almost  a  desert,"  says  Collins, 
"  and  he  clothed  it  with  woods  and  improved  it  with  agri- 
culture." Every  year  for  twenty  years  he  is  said  to  have 
planted  over  1200  trees,  until  the  once  desolate  region 
began  to  assume  a  warm  and  sheltered  aspect.  The  ruined 
cottages  were  rebuilt  or  repaired,  and  an  intricate  system 

'  The  curious  will  find  many  examples  of  ihis  trait  of  "  Lady  Eetty  "  in  the 
works  of  Walpole  and  his  contemporaries. 

-  Sophia  de  Walmoden,  Lady  Yarmouth,  was  the  last  mistress  of  an  English 
king  to  receive  a  peerage. 


446  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

of  drainage  helped  to  reclaim  the  marshy  districts.  The 
Earl  imported  fruit-trees  and  flowers,  many  of  them  belong- 
ing to  species  until  then  quite  unknown  in  England.  To 
such  an  extent  did  he  improve  the  estates  which  his  wife  had 
brought  him,  that  in  less  than  thirty  years — from  1749  to 
1778 — the  rent-roll  had  leaped,  without  any  extra  burdens 
being  laid  upon  the  tenants,  from  ^8607  to  ^^50,000  per 
mtniini.  A  large  portion  of  this  increase  was  due  to  the 
mines,  which  Northumberland  developed  enormously. 

At  the  outset  of  his  political  career,  Northumberland 
attached  himself  zealously  to  the  party  of  Lord  Bute  (to 
whose  daughter  his  elder  son.  Lord  Percy,  was  subse- 
quently married) ;  and  in  order  to  please  Bute  he  accepted, 
in  1762,  the  inferior  post  of  Lord  Chamberlain  to  Queen 
Charlotte.  In  this  capacity  he  became  a  member  of  the 
private  junto  known  as  "the  King's  Friends," ^  and  was 
sworn  of  the  Privy  Council.  His  fine  presence  and 
engaging  manners  rendered  him  so  acceptable  to  both 
King  and  Queen,  that  on  March  17,  1763,  Henry  Fox 
suggested  to  Bute  the  advisability  of  making  him  Privy 
Seal.-  Only  a  month  later,  however,  Bute's  Ministry  fell ; 
and  Grenville,  who  succeeded,  looked  upon  Northumber- 
land as  an  ambitious  upstart,  and  disliked  him  accordingly. 
Still  the  royal  favour  was  sufficient  to  secure  for  the  young 
Earl  the  viceroyalty  of  Ireland,  which  was  entrusted  to 
him  early  in  1763.  He  was  popular  in  Ireland,  where 
his  policy  was  as  conciliatory  as  existing  conditions  per- 
mitted, and  where  the  people  long  remembered  him  as 
"the  flaitlieamlach^  Lord-Lieutenant."  So  great  was  his 
expenditure  at  Dublin  Castle,  and  so  magnificent  the  hospi- 
tality which  he  maintained,  that  Horace  Walpole  accused 
him  of  vulgar  ostentation.*  In  one  brief  parliamentary 
season  over  1400  dozens  of  rare  wine  were  drunk  at  the 

'  "The  King's  Friends"  met  secretly  at  Andrew  Stone's  house  in  the 
Privy  Gardens. 

-  Fitzmaurice's  Shelhtrne,  i.  198. 

'  This  expressive  Gaelic  word  (pronounced  much  like  "  flo'hoolach  ")  signi- 
fies literally  "  princely,"  but  is  used  to  imply  prodigality,  or  wastefulness. 

''  Grenville  Papers,m.  112. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  447 

viceregal  table/  and  the  castle  became  a  species  of  club, 
where  open  house  was  kept,  where  all  shades  of  politi- 
cal opinion  mingled  freely,  and  where  eating,  drinking, 
gambling,  and  love-making  went  on  from  morning  till 
night. 

Rfeanwhile  the  King  had  wearied  of  Grenville's  govern- 
ment, and  its  opposition  to  his  pet  project  of  enlarging 
the  powers  of  the  Crown.  When  Northumberland  visited 
England,  early  in  1765,  he  was  at  once  sent  for  by  King 
George,  who  employed  him  in  a  political  intrigue  aimed  at 
the  overthrow  of  Grenville,  and  the  formation  of  "  a  strong 
and  lasting  administration"  made  up  of  the  principal 
Whigs.  The  Earl  was  ordered  to  put  himself  into  imme- 
diate communication  with  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  whose 
advice  and  aid  he  was  to  solicit.  His  first  interview  with 
the  victor  of  Culloden  took  place  at  Newmarket,  where  he 
led  the  conversation  dexterously  from  the  safe  subjects 
of  horses  and  hounds,  to  the  dangerous  ones  of  plots 
and  politics.  Cumberland  seems  to  have  been  as  much 
impressed  by  his  plausible  manners  as  the  King  had  been, 
and  readily  promised  his  help  in  the  projected  change  of 
ministers.  Pitt  and  Temple  were  next  approached,  and 
enlisted  in  their  turn  —  the  former  willingly,  the  latter 
with  some  reluctance.  Every  effort  was  made  to  keep 
Northumberland's  connection  with  the  intrigue  a  secret, 
but  the  truth  leaked  out  before  long.  In  Grenville's 
Diary,  under  date  of  March  15,  1765,  we  read:  "Lord 
Northumberland  is  known  to  have  been  on  Saturday  night 
with  the  King,  who  waited  for  him  in  the  garden,  and 
let  him  in  himself.  He  stayed  but  a  very  short  time, 
returned  to  London,  and  soon  after  the  Duke  of  Cumber- 
land came  to  Richmond.  There  have  been  several  meet- 
ings at  Northumberland  House."  2  So  pleased  was  the 
King  with  Northumberland's  skill  in  the  character  of 
Mercury,  that,  as  the  prospects  of  a  new  Ministry  grew 
more  rosy,  he  proposed  to  place  the  Irish  Viceroy  at  its 
head.     The  Earl,  his  Majesty  suggested,  should  be   First 

»  Alnwuk  MSS.  =  Grenville-  P.i/crs  (Diary)- 


448  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Lord  of  the  Treasury  in  succession  to  Grenville,  with 
Pitt  and  Charles  Townshend  as  Secretaries  of  State,  and 
Temple  as  Lord  Privy  Seal.  Temple,  who  looked  upon 
Northumberland  as  a  mere  henchman  of  Lord  Bute, 
violently  resented  this  proposal,  and  refused  to  accept 
office.  Pitt,  while  he  admitted  that  the  Earl  deserved 
reward  for  his  services,  was  equally  firm  in  opposing  his 
elevation  to  the  responsible  office  of  Prime  Minister  ;  ^  and 
so  the  negotiations  ceased,  and  Northumberland  went 
back  to  Dublin  Castle.  But  not  for  long.  Grenville  lost 
no  time  in  revenging  himself,  and  before  the  summer 
was  over  the  Earl  was  dismissed  from  the  viceroyalty  in 
favour  of  Lord  Hertford.- 

Next  year,  when  Pitt  at  length  succeeded  in  forming  a 
government  "  under  the  nominal  leadership  of  the  Duke  of 
Grafton,"  the  King  (more  moderate  in  his  wishes)  desired 
that  Northumberland  should  be  made  Lord  Chamberlain. 
Hertford  was,  however,  appointed  to  that  post,  thus  sup- 
planting the  Earl  for  the  second  time  within  twelve  months. 
Northumberland  protested  warmly  to  Pitt  (now  Lord  Chat- 
ham), setting  forth  his  services  in  Ireland,  and  his  useful 
work  against  Grenville.  All  this  the  new  minister  freely 
admitted,  but  as  he  had  "  no  post  of  sufficient  importance 
to  offer  to  one  of  my  lord  of  Northumberland's  rank  and 
great  estate,"  he  advised  the  Earl  to  sue  for  a  step  in  the 
peerage,  promising  to  exert  all  his  influence  with  the  King  to 
further  such  a  request.  It  was  Chatham's  belief,  and  that  of 
the  King  as  well,  that  Northumberland  would  rest  content 
with  a  marquisate,  which  was  considered  a  great  dignity 
for  one  who  had  risen,  chiefly  by  chance,  and  in  a  very 
short  space  of  time,  from  the  rank  of  a  modest  country 
gentleman.  But  in  this  anticipation  the  sovereign  and  his 
adviser  reckoned  without  the  ambition  and  astuteness  of 
Earl  Hugh.  The  latter  realised  that  any  step  which  he 
should  now  succeed  in  obtaining  might  be  the  last  that  the 

'  See  Chatham  Correspondence,  iii.  240. 

-  Francis  Ingram  Seymour,  second  Marquis  of  Hertford. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  449 

King  could  he  prevailed  upon  to  grant  in  his  favour.  There- 
fore he  resolved  to  demand  as  much  as  possible  while  yet 
the  opportunity  remained.  When  a  special  audience  was 
allotted  to  him,  he  leisurely  summed  up  his  various  services, 
and  with  great  composure  asked  the  complaisant  monarch 
for  a  dukedom.  At  this,  we  are  told,  "  the  King  coloured 
and  looked  embarrassed  ;  said  he  must  take  some  little  time 
to  consider  what  engagements  he  was  under ;  and  named 
Lord  Cardigan.  He  then  withdrew  to  his  closet,  from  which 
he  returned  in  a  short  time  and  told  Lord  Northumberland 
that  he  would  make  him  a  Duke." ' 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  King  took  longer  in  making 
up  his  mind  than  we  are  here  given  to  suppose,  and 
certainly  consulted  Chatham  before  granting  Northum- 
berland's daring  request.  The  Prime  Minister,  although 
at  first  greatly  astonished,  kept  his  word  by  reporting 
favourably  upon  the  matter.  George's  own  version  of 
the  audience  is  as  follows :  "  I  told  him  (the  Earl) 
that  his  request  for  a  Dukedom  was  new  to  me,  that 
I  could  give  him  no  other  answer  than  that  I  would 
consider  of  it ;  that  I  had  thought  he  only  looked  up  to 
a  Marquisate.  He  said  that  was  a  more  modern  rank 
in  the  English  peerage ;  that  what  he  asked  was  the 
old  title  of  Lady  Northumberland's  family ;  that  if  he 
succeeded  he  would  never  be  an  applier  for  public  em- 
ployments. I  then  concluded  with  assuring  him  that  he 
should  know  my  decision  to-morrow.  Undoubtedly  few 
peers  have  so  great  an  estate  in  point  of  income,  and  scarce 
any  in  point  of  extent,  therefore  if  you  will  co-operate 
with  me  in  declaring  I  don't  mean  by  this  to  open  a  door 
for  the  creating  of  many  Dukes,  I  will  consent  to  it."  ^ 
According  to  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  Northumberland,  in- 
spired by  his  wife's  descent  from  the  princely  house  of 
Louvain,  and  desirous  of  commemorating  that  semi-royal 
ancestry,  was  inclined  rather  to  despise  the  ancient  territorial 
dignity  of  the  Percies,  and  to  insist  that  his  promised  duchy 

'   Crenville  Papers,  iii.  384. 

'■^  Chatham  Correspondence,  iii.  74' 


450  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

should  be  that  of  Brabant.  Of  course  such  a  title  was  out 
of  the  question  and  could  not  be  conferred  by  an  English 
monarch.  Wiser  counsels  prevailed,  and  in  the  end  the 
Earl  was  satisfied  to  become  Duke  of  Northumberland. 
On  October  4,  1766,  Grafton  wrote  to  Chatham  :  "  Lord 
Northumberland  was  yesterday  created  Duke  of  North- 
umberland, Earl  Percy,  and  Viscount  Louvaine,  the  last  of 
which  Mr.  Conway  had  the  address  to  persuade  him  from 
adding  as  a  second 'Dukedom,  as  he  before  had  of  getting 
him  to  change  the  title  he  first  asked,  that  of  Duke 
Brabant."  ^ 

Among  the  nobility,  the  new  creation  was  most  un- 
popular. Over  fifty  years  had  elapsed  since  a  dukedom 
(other  than  royal)  had  been  added  to  the  English  peerage, 
and  the  old  taunts  respecting  his  Smithson  descent  were 
flung  in  Northumberland's  face  by  a  hundred  hostile 
critics.  He  received  these  attacks  with  his  usual  imper- 
turbability of  temper,  and  self-satisfaction  is  a  buckler 
which  blunts  the  keenest  arrows.  Having  nothing  more 
to  expect  at  the  hands  of  the  King,  or  Lord  Bute  (whose 
secret  influence  still  prevailed),  he  gradually  withdrew 
from  the  Court  party,  and  renounced  the  doctrine  of 
absolutism.  From  the  first  he  was  in  sympathy  with  the 
discontented  American  colonists  ;  and  we  find  him  voting 
against  the  obnoxious  Stamp  Act,  and  subsequently  in 
favour  of  its  repeal.  Like  Chatham,  he  strenuously  op- 
posed the  American  War,  and  replied  with  contempt  to 
those  who  accused  him  of  lack  of  patriotism  in  regard  to 
that  disastrous  and  unnecessary  strife.  Indeed  he  tried  to 
compel  his  son's  resignation  from  the  army,  rather  than 
allow  the  latter  to  serve  against  the  insurgents.  Lord 
Percy,  however,  while  sharing  his  father's  dislike  of  the  war 
party  and  their  short-sighted  policy,  felt  bound  in  honour 
to  lead  his  regiment  to  the  front. 

An  evidence  of  Northumberland's  political  generosity 

'  Chatham  Correspondence,  iii.  88.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  title  of 
Lovaine  of  Alnwick  (Baron,  not  Viscount)  was  not  conferred  until  January  28, 
1784. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  451 

may  be  found  in  his  connection  with  the  Wilkes  affair  and 
its  sequel.  His  son  had  been  M.P.  for  Westminster  from 
1764  until  the  election  of  1767,  when  the  seat  was 
contested  by  Wilkes's  candidates.  The  Duke  used  all 
his  influence  as  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Middlesex  against 
Wilkes,  while  the  Duchess  entered  into  the  bitter  contest 
with  infinite  zest.  We  learn  from  Horace  Walpole  that 
the  famous  demagogue  had  been  sweeping  all  before 
him,  until  he  encountered  a  formidable  Amazon  "who, 
although  not  an  Arc  or  a  Pucelle,  is  a  true  Joan  in 
spirit,  style,  and  manner.  This  is  Her  Grace  of  Nor- 
thumberland, who  has  carried  the  mob  of  Wilkes  from 
him,  sitting  daily  in  the  midst  of  Covent  Garden,  and 
there  setting  her  son,  Lord  Percy,  and  Lord  Thomas 
Clinton,  against  Wilkes's  two  candidates.  Lord  Mahon  and 
Lord  Mount  Norris."  During  the  Wilkes  riots  of  1768, 
the  mob  attacked  Northumberland  House,  and  would 
not  withdraw  until  the  Duke  and  Duchess  appeared  at  a 
window,  and  drank  two  tankards  of  ale  to  the  toast  of 
"Wilkes  and  Liberty  !"  Nevertheless  when,  in  1770,  Lord 
North  advised  the  King  to  refuse  the  remonstrance  of  the 
London  Corporation  on  the  Westminster  election,  Nor- 
thumberland was  one  of  those  that  supported  Chatham's 
resolution  condemning  such  a  course  as  unconstitutional 
and  fraught  with  peril  to  the  state. 

Duchess  Elizabeth  died  in  London  on  the  sixtieth  anni- 
versary of  her  birthday,  December  5,  1 776.  In  spite  of  a  cer- 
tain frank  vulgarity  peculiar  to  her  generation,  she  appears 
to  have  been  a  woman  of  high  spirit  and  considerable  liter- 
ary attainments.  Her  letters  to  Queen  Charlotte,  as  well  as 
to  her  husband  and  children,  have  none  of  the  correctness 
and  grace  displayed  in  the  epistles  of  her  mother,  the 
Duchess  of  Somerset,  but  they  possess,  on  the  other  hand, 
both  originality  and  humour,  qualities  wholly  lacking  in  the 
stilted  compositions  of  the  elder  lady.  She  had  a  pretty 
skill  in  bouts  rimes  and  similar  versification,  of  which  a  type 
survives  in  her  well-known  "  Lines  on  a  Buttered  Muffin," 
written  for  the  volume  of  society  rhymes  collected  by  her 


452  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

friend  Lady  Miller  at  Batheaston.'  Goldsmith  was  her 
favourite  poet,  and  wrote,  at  her  suggestion,  his  ballad  of 
"  Edwin  and  Angelina,"  afterwards  published  in  "The  Vicar 
of  Wakefield"  as  "The  Hermit."  To  Dr.  Johnson  she  paid 
homage  at  a  distance,  and  Boswell  was  for  years  one  of 
her  correspondents.  Her  death  forms  the  subject  of  two 
poems,  "The  Teares  of  Alnwick,  a  Pastoral  Elegy,"  by 
Henry  Lucas,  and  "A  Monody  Sacred  to  the  Memory 
of  Elizabeth,  Duchess  of  Northumberland,  by  Thomas 
Maurice." 

In  1778  the  Duke  was  appointed  Master  of  the  Horse,  a 
selection  which  Walpole  chuckles  over  as  absurd,  because 
Northumberland  suffered  from  the  stone  and  was  very  lame 
with  gout.  During  the  Gordon  Riots  he  was  freely  accused 
by  the  mob  of  being  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  the  fact  that 
his  father,  grandfather,  and  many  other  near  relations  had 
belonged  to  that  faith,  was  made  much  of  by  the  agitators. 
The  windows  of  Northumberland  House  were  broken  by 
ardent  Protestants  ;  and  a  few  days  later  the  Duke's  coach 
was  stopped  while  conveying  him  to  the  House  of  Lords. 
The  fact  that  "a  man  in  black"  sat  by  his  side  was  quite 
sufficient  for  the  zealots.  A  cry  went  up  that  the  individual 
in  sombre  garb  was  a  "Jesuit  priest  and  the  Duke's  con- 
fessor." -  On  this  the  mob  dragged  Northumberland  from 
the  coach,  and  religiously  robbed  him  of  his  watch  and 
purse.^  What  became  of  the  unfortunate  "  man  in  black  " 
is  not  stated. 

After  Pitt  came  into  power,  the  Duke  was  created  Baron 
Lovaine  of  Alnwick,  with  remainder  to  his  second  son  Lord 
Algernon  Percy.  He  continued  to  the  last  to  exert  himself 
towards  the  improvement  of  his  estates,  and  the  embellish- 
ment of  his  various  houses.  Through  Goldsmith's  intro- 
duction, he  became  the  patron  and  fast  friend  of  Thomas 

1  Lady  Miller,  wife  of  Sir  John  Rf  iller,  lived  at  a  villa  in  Batheaston,  near  Bath, 
and  was  accustomed  to  hold  "literary  tournaments,"  where  great  dames  vied  with 
each  other  in  the  production  of  bonis  riniis  and  the  like.  Walpole  speaks  of  the 
Duchess  of  Northumberland  having  got  "  very  joUily  through  her  task  "—i.e.  the 
"  Buttered  Muffin  "  verses. 

-  Mahon  ;  Hist,  of  England,  vii.  28.  ^  Ibid. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  453 

Percy,^  afterwards  Bishop  of  Dromore,  the  compiler  of  the 
"  Reliques  of  English  Poetry,"  Periodical  attacks  of  jjout 
greatly  embittered  his  declining  years,  and  he  died  of  this 
diseaseon  June  6,  1786,  at  Syon  House.  His  remains  were 
interred  in  St.  Nicholas's  Chapel,  Westminster  Abbey, 
beside  those  of  Duchess  Elizabeth. 

'  Thomas  Percy  was  born  on  April  13,  1729,  at  Cartway  Street,  Briilgenorlh. 
He  was  the  son  and  grandson  of  grocers  {Bridgciiorth  Coiiimon  Council  Books), 
liut  the  tradition  of  his  family  was  that  it  sprang  from  the  House  of  Northumljer- 
land.  This  may  have  been  so  (and  many  years  before  Thomas  Percy's  birth,  the 
"Trunkmaker"  claimant  had  admitted  that  the  Worcestershire  Percies  were 
descendants  "of  the  second  Earl"),  but  the  pediL;ree  lacks  positive  proof.  In 
Nash's  li'oircstershire.  Dr.  Percy's  line  of  descent  is  set  forth  from  that  John 
Percy  of  Newton  (grandson  of  Sir  Ralph  Percy,  "the  Gledd  of  Dunstanburgh  ") 
whom  we  described  as  having  sold  his  estates  and  left  the  North,  tew/t.  Hcnr)'  VHI. 
John  of  Newton  is  supposed  to  have  left  a  son,  Thomas  Percy  of  Worcester,  whose 
son,  James  Percy,  made  his  will  October  20,  1574.  Thomas,  grandson  of  this 
James,  was  .Mayor  of  W'orcester  in  1662  ;  and  the  grandson  of  Thomas,  Arthur 
Percy,  settled  at  Bridgenorth  as  a  grocer,  and  died  1771.  His  son,  another 
Arthur  Percy  (1704-1764),  was  father  of  Bishop  Thomas  Percy,  as  well  as  of 
Arthur  Percy  of  London,  whose  son  Thomas  (the  Bishop's  nephew)  became  editor 
of  the  Ml/if  lies. 

Bishop  Percy  became  M.A.  of  Oxford  in  1753.  took  Holy  Orders,  and  was 
given  the  college  living  of  Easton  Maudit,  Northamptonshire.  Here  he  resided 
for  twenty-nine  years.  His  literary  labours  began  with  miscellaneous  works, 
chiefly  upon  China  and  the  Chinese,  his  knowledge  being,  of  course,  obtained  at 
second  hand.  The  discovery  of  a  seventeenth-century  folio  MS.  containing  old 
English  poems,  at  the  house  of  Humphrey  Pitt  of  Shifnal,  co.  Salop,  turned 
his  thoughts  in  a  new  direction,  and  in  1765  he  publi.shed  the  Reliques.  Although 
Johnson,  Warburton,  and  others  .sneered  at  the  simplicity  of  the  ancient  ballads, 
the  public  hailed  their  revival  with  delight.  Goldsmith  introduced  Percy  to  the 
Duke  of  Northumberland,  who  made  him  his  chaplain.  In  176S  Percy  edited  the 
Household  Booke  of  the  "Magnificent"  Earl  of  Northumberland,  and  in  1771 
published  the  Hermit  of  Wark-iiwrth.  Chaplain  to  the  King  in  1769,  he  was  m.ide 
Dean  of  Cailisle  in  1778,  and  Bishop  of  Dromore  in  1782.  His  Irish  diocese  was 
remote,  and,  as  time  went  on,  he  became  more  and  more  out  of  touch  with  the 
literary  world.  In  1S04  his  sight  began  to  fail,  and  he  w.as  almost  blind  when  he 
died  on  September  30,  I  Si  I.  Dr.  Percy  was  buried  in  the  new  transept  which  he 
had  added  to  Dromore  Cathedral.  By  his  wife,  Ann  Gutteridge  (whose  family 
name  he  characteristically  altered  to  "Goodryche"),  he  had  two  sons,  who  died 
young,  .and  two  daughters,  of  whom  the  elder,  Barbara,  married  Ambrose  Isted 
of  Ecton,  Northants,  and  the  younger,  Elizabeth,  Archdeacon  the  Hon.  Pierce 
Meade.  Mrs.  Percy  was  the  heroine  of  the  well-known  lines  to  "Nancy," 
published  by  her  husband  in  Dodsley's  Colle.linn,  vol.  vi.  (176S).  She  was  tor 
some  time  nurse  to  Prince  Edward,  father  of  the  late  Queen  Victoria.  Bishop 
Percy's  nephew,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Percy  (1768-180S),  was  Vicar  of  Gray's 
Thurock,  Esse.\,  and  edited  the  fourth  edition  of  the  Reliques. 


454  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

The  attacks  made  upon  the  first  Duke  of  Northumberland 
by  contemporary  writers  and  poHticians  (more  or  less 
jealous  of  his  extraordinary  success)  almost  invariably 
took  the  form  of  vague  innuendo  and  ill-natured  deprecia- 
tion. After  weighing  them  carefully,  we  arrive  at  the  con- 
clusion that  he  was  a  man  of  great  determination,  sound 
common  sense,  and  considerable,  though  somewhat  flam- 
boyant, taste.  Perhaps  the  summary  of  his  character  given 
by  Dutens  is  the  fairest.  "  He  had  great  talents,"  writes 
this  author,  "and  more  knowledge  than  is  usually  found 
among  the  nobility.  .  .  Although  his  expenditure  was 
unexampled  in  his  time,  he  was  not  generous,  but  passed 
for  being  so,  owing  to  his  judicious  manner  of  bestowing 
favours."  ^  By  his  Duchess,  Northumberland  left  three 
children — (i)  Hugh,  who  succeeded  as  second  Duke;  (2) 
Algernon,  Lord  Lovaine,  and  Earl  of  Beverley,  ancestor 
of  the  present  Duke  ;  and  (3)  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy,  who 
died  unmarried.- 

Hugh  Percy,  second  Duke  of  Northumberland,  was 
born  August  28,  1742,  and  entered  upon  the  profession 
The  "Soldier  of  arms  at  an  early  age.  He  was  still  a  mere 
Duke.'  boy,  indeed,  when  he  served  as  a  volunteer  under 

the  Duke  of  Brunswick  in  the  Seven  Years'  War.  He 
took  part  in  the  disastrous  battle  of  Bergen,  and  rode  in 
Lord  Granby's  charge  through  the  French  lines  at  Minden. 

'  Memoirs  of  a  Traveler,  ii.  96-9S. 

'  He  also  left  two  natural  daughters,  who  were  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
with  his  legitimate  offspring,  and  a  son,  known  first  as  James  Lewis  Mackie, 
and  afterwards  as  James  Smithson  (1765-1S29),  the  enlightened  founder  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  at  Washington,  U.S.A.  This  gentleman's  mother  was  a 
relative  of  the  Duchess  of  Northumberland,  Elizabeth  Hungerford  Keate,  great- 
grand-niece  of  Charles,  "the  Proud  "  Duke  of  Somerset.  She  was  heir  of  the 
Hungerford  family  of  Studley  {Did.  Aal.  Biog.,  article  "Smithson,  James"). 
Smithson  became  M.A.  of  C^ford  in  17S6,  and  devoted  his  life  to  scientific 
pursuits.  By  his  will  (1826)  he  bequeathed  most  of  his  estate  fur  the  establishment 
at  Washington  of  an  institution  "for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge 
among  men."  In  1867  the  value  of  this  splendid  gift  was  calculated  as  650,000 
dollars.  The  Smithsonian  Institution  was  established  by  Act  of  Congress  on 
August  10,  1S46.    James  Smithson  died  at  Genoa,  June  27,  1S29. 


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THE    HOUSE   OE   PERCY  455 

Young  :is  he  was,  he  compiled  an  interesting  commentary 
on  these  campaigns,  the  "  Poclict  Book  of  Military  Notes," 
preserved  at  Alnwick,  and  quoted  by  various  writers.  De 
Fonblanque  states  that  "in  1762  he  received  his  first  com- 
mission." 1  This  is  an  error,  as  on  May  i,  1759  (while  not 
yet  seventeen),  he  had  been  already  gazetted  ensign  in  the 
24th  Foot,  and  had  exchanged  into  the  85th  with  the  rank  of 
captain  on  August  6th  of  the  same  year.  On  April  16,  1762, 
he  became  lieutenant-colonel  commanding  the  i  nth  Regi- 
ment, and  a  few  months  later  captain  and  lieutenant- 
colonel  in  the  Grenadier  Guards,  of  which  corps  he  was  in 
1764  (October  26)  made  colonel.  His  election  as  M.P.  for 
Westminster,  and  subsequent  contest  for  that  seat  with 
Wilkes's  nominees,  have  been  already  referred  to.  His 
appointment  to  the  command  of  the  5th  Regiment  of  P'oot 
in  1769  led  to  a  very  bitter  letter  by  Junius;-  but  the 
choice  proved  in  the  long  run  well  advised.  Having 
married  Lady  Anne  Stuart,  daughter  of  Lord  Bute,  he  was 
at  first  one  of  the  so-called  "  King's  Friends " ;  ^  but  the 
outbreak  of  the  American  trouble  and  his  inherited  con- 
tempt for  the  war  party  soon  drove  him  into  opposition. 
Although  bitterly  opposed  to  the  war,  he  held  it  to  be  his 
duty  as  a  soldier  to  obey  orders,  and  lead  his  regiment  even 
in  what  he  considered  an  unjust  struggle.  His  father 
obtained  leave  of  absence  for  him,*  but  Percy  ignored  the 
indulgence,  and  set  sail  for  Boston  with  his  men  early  in 
1774.  General  Gage  placed  him  in  command  of  Boston 
Camp,  from  whence  he  wrote  to  his  father  :  "  As  I  cannot 
say  this  is  a  business  I  very  much  admire,  I  hope  it  will 
not  be  my  fate  to  be  ordered  up  the  country.  Be  that  as 
it   may,   I  will  do  my  duty  as  long  as  I  continue  in  the 

'  fiiinals  of  the  House  of  Percy,  vol.  ii. 

-  Letter  to  Sir  W.  Draper,  February  7,  1 769. 

^  Albemarle's  Rockingham,  i.  1S5. 

■•  At  the  same  time  the  great  Earl  of  Chatham  commanded  his  elder  son,  then 
in  Canada,  to  quit  the  army  rather  than  serve  against  the  Americans,  and  the 
Earl  of  Effingham,  when  ordered  to  the  front,  resigned  command  of  his  regiment 
"  as  a  protest  against  the  injustice  of  making  war  upon  a  People  striving  for  their 
Rights." 


456  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

service."  ^  Nevertheless  his  known  opinions  caused  him 
to  be  distrusted  by  the  authorities,  and  he  was  repeatedly 
passed  over.  On  April  19,  1775,  after  the  Battle  of 
Lexington,  he  left  Boston  in  command  of  a  brigade  con- 
sisting of  the  Welsh  Fusiliers  and  four  other  regiments,  in 
order  to  cover  the  retreat  to  Charleston  of  the  army  which 
had  been  hemmed  in  at  Concord,  and  left  without  ammuni- 
tion. While  on  this  difficult  service,  he  marched  thirty 
miles  in  ten  hours  during  the  daytime,  and  was  under  an 
incessant  fire  for  fifteen  miles.^ 

He  opposed  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  some  of  the 
British  generals,  and  drew  upon  himself  the  wrath  of  the 
belligerent  party  at  home,  while  between  Lord  Howe  and 
himself  there  sprang  up  a  bitter  feud.  This  was  why  he 
took  no  part  in  the  fight  at  Bunker's  Hill,^  when  his  regi- 
ment was  "almost  entirely  cut  to  pieces."  Howe  com- 
plained of  his  behaviour  to  the  authorities ;  but  Gage  still 
stood  his  friend.  On  July  11,  1775,  he  was  given  the  local 
rank  of  major-general,  and  made  major-general  in  the 
army  on  September  29.  The  following  year  saw  him  a 
lieutenant-general  in  the  army,  with  local  rank  of  general. 
On  November  16,  1776,  he  commanded  a  division  in  the 
attack  upon  Fort  Washington,  and  was  the  first  to  enter 
the  enemy's  lines.  But  the  quarrels  between  Lord  Howe 
and  himself  became  more  violent,  and  his  hatred  of  the 
war  more  intense.  At  length,  in  1777,  he  asked  for  and 
obtained  his  recall.  "  Lord  Percy,"  wrote  Horace  W^alpole, 
"has  come  home  disgusted  with  Howe."*  His  regiment 
parted  with  him  regretfully,  as  did  all  the  troops  then  at 
Boston.  With  the  common  soldiers  his  popularity  was 
unbounded,  for  not  only  had  he  abolished  corporal  punish- 
ment among  his  men,  but  the  widows  of  all  those  killed 
in  battle  were  sent  home  at  his  expense,  and  given  sums 
of  money  to  keep  them  from  want.  His  regiment  solicited, 
and  eventually  received  permission  to  call  themselves  "the 
Northumberland  Fusiliers  "  in  his  honour,  and  this  although 

'  y4hiw:cl-  MSS.,  quoted  by  De  Fonblanque.     '^  Bancroft ;  iv.  538-g. 

'  Diit.  0/  Nat.  Bio^t-aphy.  *  Conespondcncc,  vi.  445-6. 


8th  Duke  of  Argyll, 
K.G.,  K.T.,  P.C. 


Edgcumbe. 


Lord 

James  Percy  ; 

*.  1885. 


Lc 
Eustace  Si 
Campbei. 
b. 


456  THE   HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

service."  ^  Nevertheless  his  known  opinions  caused  him 
to  be  distrusted  by  the  authorities,  and  he  was  repeatedly 
passed  over.  On  April  19,  1775,  after  the  Battle  of 
Lexington,  he  left  Boston  in  command  of  a  brigade  con- 
sisting of  the  Welsh  Fusiliers  and  four  other  regiments,  in 
order  to  cover  the  retreat  to  Charleston  of  the  army  which 
had  been  hemmed  in  at  Concord,  and  left  without  ammuni- 
tion. While  on  this  difticult  service,  he  marched  thirty 
miles  in  ten  hours  during  the  daytime,  and  was  under  an 
incessant  fire  for  fifteen  miles.^ 

He  opposed  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  some  of  the 
British  generals,  and  drew  upon  himself  the  wrath  of  the 
belligerent  party  at  home,  while  between  Lord  Howe  and 
himself  there  sprang  up  a  bitter  feud.  This  was  why  he 
took  no  part  in  the  fight  at  Bunker's  Hill,^  when  his  regi- 
ment was  "almost  entirely  cut  to  pieces."  Howe  com- 
plained of  his  behaviour  to  the  authorities ;  but  Gage  still 
stood  his  friend.  On  July  11,  1775,  he  was  given  the  local 
rank  of  major-general,  and  made  major-general  in  the 
army  on  September  29.  The  following  year  saw  him  a 
lieutenant-general  in  the  army,  with  local  rank  of  general. 
On  November  16,  1776,  he  commanded  a  division  in  the 
attack  upon  Fort  Washington,  and  was  the  first  to  enter 
the  enemy's  lines.  But  the  quarrels  between  Lord  Howe 
and  himself  became  more  violent,  and  his  hatred  of  the 
war  more  intense.  At  length,  in  1777,  he  asked  for  and 
obtained  his  recall.  "  Lord  Percy,"  wrote  Horace  Walpole, 
"has  come  home  disgusted  with  Howe."'*  His  regiment 
parted  with  him  regretfully,  as  did  all  the  troops  then  at 
Boston.  With  the  common  soldiers  his  popularity  was 
unbounded,  for  not  only  had  he  abolished  corporal  punish- 
ment among  his  men,  but  the  widows  of  all  those  killed 
in  battle  were  sent  home  at  his  expense,  and  given  sums 
of  money  to  keep  them  from  want.  His  regiment  solicited, 
and  eventually  received  permission  to  call  themselves  "the 
Northumberland  Fusiliers  "  in  his  honour,  and  this  although 

'  Aluw:clc  jVSS.,  quoted  by  De  Fonblanque.     '^  Bancroft ;  iv.  538-9. 

^  Did.  of  Nat.  Bio^raJiLy.  *  Correspondence,  vi.  445-6. 


GENEALOGY     OF     THE      HOUSE     OF      PERCY 


TABLE     IV. 


,1, 

1. 

1 

1 

1 

Francis  John 

BKHTtK-GHSATIIKKD, 

Percy ; 

[assumed  the  addi- 

grand-dau,  and  heir 

ot  Gerlic  Betlle- 

3rd  Eaklof  Ahii- 

Capt.  a3rd  Regt. ; 

Bbrtik]  ; 

ii«luer. 

"  AtaUnIa  in  Caly- 

she  died  ibW. 
1 

of  GunclilTc.  Co.  Warwick ; 

*.  Ocl.  a.  1851;  wasM.P. 

for  Westminster  (1B83-85); 
M.P.  S(.  George's  (188547) ; 

Mtmctinie  Lieut.  Greiudier 
Guards  1  Hon.  Col.  3rd  Batt. 

Northumberland  Fusileen. 


AlCERNON  WiLLtAU  OtbCT  ll 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  457 

the  men  had  no  connection  with  tlie  Borders,  and  had 
been  chiefly  recruited  in  Ireland.  In  America,  Lord  Percy's 
memory  is  treasured  as  that  of  a  chivalrous  and  humane 
commander,  and  his  portrait  hanj^s  to  tiiis  day  in  the 
Town  Hall  of  Boston.  He  did  not  leave  the  army  after 
his  return  to  England,  although  his  active  service  then 
ceased.  In  1784  he  was  given  the  command  of  the  2nd 
troop  of  the  Royal  Horse  Guards  (afterwards  incorporated 
in  the  2nd  Life  Guards),  and  he  became  colonel  of  this 
corps  in  1806.  Meanwhile,  in  1793,  occurred  his  promo- 
tion to  the  rank  of  general.  In  1776,  on  the  death  of  his 
mother,  he  entered  the  House  of  Lords  as  Baron  Percy ; 
and  he  succeeded  to  the  Dukedom  in  1786,  becoming 
shortly  afterwards  Lord-Lieutenant  and  Vice-Admiral  of 
Northumberland.  The  Garter  was  conferred  upon  him 
in  1788.  A  painful  episode  in  his  career  was  the  divorce 
of  his  first  wife.  The  trial  of  this  case  began  on  May  27, 
1778,  and  the  divorce  was  granted,  by  Act  of  Parliament, 
in  March  1779.'  Two  months  later,  the  then  Earl  Percy 
was  married  to  Francis  Jane,  daughter  of  Peter  Burrell, 
Esq.,  of  Beckenham,  Kent,'-  whose  sister  was  already 
the  wife  of  his  brother.  Lord  Beverley.^ 

Northumberland's  liberal  views  led  him  to  follow  the 
party  of  Fox  and  the  Prince  of  Wales.  His  great  political 
influence  rendered  him  a  most  valuable  recruit,  as  may  be 
judged  from  the  extraordinary  deference  paid  to  him  by  the 
Whigs.  When  Fox  and  Portland  took  office  in  1789,  he 
was  offered,  but  declined,  the  Irish  viceroyalty.  The  Prince 
of  Wales  was  so  anxious  to  conciliate  him,  that  he  even 

'  Countess  Percy  was  accused  of  misconduct  with  "  Will™  Bird,  Esq.,  a  young 
gentleman  of  the  University  of  Cambridge."  She  had  bi)rne  Lord  Percy  no 
children,  and  apparently  did  not  remarry. 

^  Mr.  Peter  IJurrell  owned  a  moderate  estate  in  Kent,  entered  Parliament, 
and  became  Commissioner  of  Excise.  His  children  (with  the  exception  of  one 
daughter)  all  made  brilliant  matches.  His  only  son  married  the  sister  and 
co-heir  of  the  last  Duke  of  Ancastcr  (she  afterwards  became  a  peeress  in  her  own 
right),  and  was  created  Baron  Gwydyr.  Of  his  daughters,  one  married  the  Duke 
of  Hamilton  and,  after  his  death,  the  Marquis  of  Exeter,  while  two  others  became 
Duchess  of  Northumberland  and  Countess  of  Beveilcy  respectively. 

'  See  Cenealogy,  Table  IV. 


458  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

submitted  to  a  serious  rebuff  at  his  hands.  On  June  lo, 
1803,  the  Prince  wrote  from  Brighton  asking  that  his  "young 
friend  Tom  Sheridan  "  should  be  nominated  by  the  Duke 
for  one  of  his  vacant  boroughs.^  Northumberland  replied 
that  he  could  not  grant  the  request,  as  Lord  Percy  would 
soon  be  of  age,  and  the  vacant  boroughs  should  be  kept 
open  for  his  selection.^  But  the  "  first  gentleman  in 
Europe "  was  not  to  be  put  out  of  countenance  by  this 
snub.  Soon  afterwards  he  offered  Northumberland  the 
Wardenship  of  the  Stannaries,  an  honour  which  the  Duke 
declined.  As  the  Duke  grew  older,  frequent  attacks  of  gout 
spoilt  his  temper,  and  it  required  all  the  diplomacy  of  Fox 
and  his  party  to  keep  him  satisfied  with  the  Whig  policy. 
He  was  very  jealous  of  his  influence  in  the  party,  and 
insisted  upon  being  consulted  in  all  important  matters. 
When  Pitt  died  in  1806,  and  the  "  IMinistry  of  all  the  Talents  " 
came  into  power,  there  had  been  no  time  to  confer  with 
Northumberland,  then  ill  at  Alnwick.  The  Duke  was  furious 
with  Fox  and  Grenville,  the  chiefs  of  the  new  Government, 
for  this  seeming  neglect,  and  went  so  far  as  to  send  a  circular 
to  all  the  members  for  boroughs  under  his  control,  ordering 
them  in  the  loftiest  terms  not  to  vote  or  even  take  part  in 
debates,  "  utitil  I  am  able  to  Judge  of  the  principles  upon 
tvhich  this  new  coalition  intend  to  govern  the  country!'^  He 
accused  Fox  of  "ingratitude  and  duplicity,"  and  would  not 
be  placated  although  the  minister  wrote  a  letter  of  justifica- 
tion, pointing  out  the  haste  with  which  the  new  Cabinet  was 
formed,  and  the  distance  of  Alnwick  from  London,  Some- 
thing resembling  a  reconciliation  was  brought  about  by  the 
Prince  Regent ;  but  the  Duke  and  Fox  were  hardly  friends 
when  the  latter  died,  a  few  months  later.  Northumberland's 
political  power  increased  under  Grenville.  In  1807  Sir 
William  Gordon  informed  him  that  Lord  Camden  had 
written  in  the  following  terms:  "You  may  certainly  feel 
yourself  authorised  to  assure  the  Duke  of  Northumberland 

'  Alnwitk  MSS.  (quoted  by  De  Fonblanque,  and  Diet,  of  Nat.  Biography). 
^  Ibid.     Lord  Percy  did  not  enter  Parliament  until  three  years  later. 
•*  Several  copies  of  this  autocratic  document  still  exist,  one  of  them  in  the 
Alnwick  MSS. 


THE    HOUSE   OK   PERCY  459 

that,  in  the  event  of  his  Grace  having  any  disposition  to 
confer  with  the  Ministry  upon  pubUc  business,  the  Duke  of 
Portland  or  the  Lord  Chancellor  will  certainly  wait  upon 
him  to  discuss  every  measure  of  importance  previous  to  its 
adoption."  ^  P"or  his  elder  son  he  was  offered  a  peerajje, 
and  when  Lord  Percy  chose  to  enter  the  House  of  Commons, 
Grenville  placed  at  his  disposal  the  borough  of  Buckingham, 
for  which  he  might  be  returned  "zviihout  the  trouble  of 
personal  attendance."  The  Duke  himself  was,  at  the  same 
time,  offered  the  command  of  the  Blues. 

Northumberland  followed  the  traditions  of  his  father  in 
regard  to  the  estates,  and  was,  upon  the  whole,  an  excellent 
landlord.  When  prices  fell  after  the  Peace,  he  reduced  his 
rents  by  twenty-five  per  cent.,  in  recognition  of  wliich  gene- 
rosity his  northern  tenants  erected  a  memorial  column  at 
Alnwick  in  1816.  Great  feasts  were  given  by  him  at  Aln- 
wick twice  a  week,  to  which,  we  are  told,  "local  farmers 
and  tradespeople  were  frequently  invited."  The  second 
Duke  died  on  July  10,  1817,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  Walpole  describes  him  as  "  totally  devoid  of  osten- 
tation, most  simple  and  retiring  in  his  habits."  In  early  life 
he  had  shown  himself  a  gallant  and  skilful  soldier  ;  and  he 
preserved  to  the  last  the  character  of  an  honourable  gentle- 
man, patriotic  according  to  his  lights,  choleric  in  old  age 
because  of  the  malady  from  which  he  suffered,  and  re- 
spected as  much  by  his  opponents  as  by  his  friends.  He 
was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son. 

Hugh,  third  Duke  of  Northumberland,  was  born  April  20, 

1785.      He  studied  at  Cambridge,  becoming  M.A.  of   St. 

John's  College  in  1805,  and  an   LL.D.  in   1809. 

and  fourth      The  enormous  political   influence  of  his  family 

Dukes:  the    pj-ior    to    the    Reform    Bill   made   his   return  to 

latter  a  ^  r      i  i      ■  r 

distinguished  Parliament  a  mere  matter  of  the  choice  of  seats, 
scientist.  Qi^  August  I,  1806,  he  was  returned  as  a  Tory 
for  the  borough  of  Buckingham,  and  on  October  7  of  the 
same  year  for  Westminster.     In  May  1807  he  was  elected 

1  Alnuiick  MSS.  (quoltd  by  De  Fonblanque). 


46o  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

M.P,  for  the  county  of  Northumberland,  and  also  for 
Lancashire.  His  active  parliamentary  career  began  early, 
for  on  March  17,  1807,  as  the  spokesman  of  the  anti-slave- 
trade,  he  brought  in  a  bill  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
British  Colonies.  On  March  12,  1812,  he  was  summoned  to 
the  House  of  Lords  as  Baron  Percy  ;  and  on  July  10,  1817, 
he  succeeded  to  the  Dukedom.  The  Garter  was  conferred 
upon  him  two  years  later  ;  ^  and  at  the  splendid  coronation 
of  George  IV.  he  carried  the  second  sword.  His  great 
wealth  enabled  him,  when  sent  to  Paris  in  1825  as  am- 
bassador extraordinary  and  representative  of  the  King  at 
the  coronation  of  Charles  X.,  to  pay  the  entire  cost  of 
the  expedition  out  of  his  own  pocket.  On  his  return  he 
was  presented  with  a  diamond-hilted  sword,  and  sworn  a 
member  of  the  Privy  Council. - 

In  politics  the  third  Duke  was  a  Tory  of  very  moderate 
views.  He  accepted  the  Viceroyalty  of  Ireland  in  1829, 
at  the  hands  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  on  the  distinct 
understanding,  however,  that  his  term  of  government 
should  not  exceed  eighteen  months.  Great  surprise  was 
expressed  at  his  taking  office  at  all,  for  it  was  supposed 
that  he  objected  to  Catholic  Emancipation,  and  he  had 
offended  the  King  in  1825  by  withholding  his  proxy  from 
the  first  Catholic  Relief  Bill.  He  now  declared  that  he 
would  welcome  Emancipation,  if  the  measure  were  intro- 
duced by  "responsible  persons"  such  as  Wellington  and 
Sir  Robert  Peel.  The  news  that  he  had  proposed  to 
reduce  his  salary  as  Lord-Lieutenant  by  one-half  led 
to  some  rather  ill-natured  comments,  Grevilie  setting  it 
down  as  "  a  piece  of  vulgar  ostentation  intended  to  show 
off  his  wealth."  On  the  whole  his  administration  seems 
to  have  been  a  useful  one.  He  laboured  assiduously  to 
promote  the  peace  of  Ireland  ;  and  impressed  upon  the 
judges  the  injustice  of  administering  the  law  in  the  interests 
of  any  particular  creed  or  class.*     In  April  1830  he  issued 

'  November  25,  1819.  -  On  March  23,  1825. 

^  Norlhumlierland  was  especially  bitter  against  "manufactured  outrages."  In 
1830,  George  IV.  (tlirough  the  influence  of  his  Secretary,  MacMahon)  asked  the 
Duke  to  reprieve  a  Clare  gentleman  named  Comyn,  who  had  been  convicted  of 


,^^.J^MJ.^./  4^Jl^.rXUr.J. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  461 

a  proclamation  suppressing;  Uic  Catholic  Association  ;  but 
that  body,  having  accomplished  its  allotted  task,  had  already 
dissolved  itself.  The  Tory  Government  collapsed  in  No- 
vember 1830,  in  consequence  of  the  widespread  demand 
for  Parliamentary  reform  ;  and  Northumberland  returned 
to  England.  After  this  he  lived  a  rather  retired  life,  mostly 
at  Alnwick  ;  and  although  he  naturally  opposed  so  crushing 
a  blow  to  his  interests  as  the  Reform  Bill,  we  do  not  hnd 
him  taking  any  active  part  in  the  debates  upon  that  great 
measure.  He  became  High  Steward  of  Cambridge  Uni- 
versity in  1834,  and  Chancellor  in  1840.  On  P^ebruary  12, 
1847,  he  was  found  dead  in  his  bed  at  Alnwick  Castle. 

The  Duke  is  characterised  by  Greville  as  "a  very 
good  sort  of  man,  with  a  very  narrow  understanding  ;  an 
eternal  talker,  and  a  prodigious  bore,"  There  is  no  doubt 
but  that  this  description  was  greatly  exaggerated.  In  his 
Irish  administration,  at  least,  Northumberland  was  far 
from  displaying  a  "  narrow  understanding."  Although  he 
lived  in  the  North,  and  expended  large  sums  there,  he  was 
not  popular  among  his  northern  tenantry,  chiefly  because 
of  his  encroachments  on  common  rights,  and  the  exclusion 
of  Alnwick  from  the  Corporation  Act  through  his  influence. 
On  April  29,  1817,  he  married  Lady  Charlotte  P'lorenlina 
Clive,  daughter  of  Edward,  first  Earl  of  Powis,  and  grand- 
daughter of  the  famous  Lord  Clive.  She  had  been  for 
some  time  governess  to  the  Princess,  afterwards  Queen 
Victoria,  and  was,  according  to  Greville,  "sensible,  amiable, 
and  good-humoured,  ruling  lier  husband  in  all  things."* 
The  couple  left  no  children  ;  and  the  Duke  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  next  surviving  brother,  Algernon,  Lord 
Prudhoe. 

The  fourth  Duke,  born  Lord  Algernon  Percy  on 
December  15,  1792,  entered  the  navy  as  a  midshipman  in 
May  1805,  and  became  lieutenant  in  181 1.  He  took  part, 
under  Lord  E.\mouth,  in  the  engagement  ofif  Toulon  and 

setting  fire  to  his  own  house.     Northumberland  was  with  great  difficuhy  induced 
to  consent ;  but  he  took  occasion  to  complain  to  Sir  Robert  Peel  of  the  favourit- 
ism too  often  shown  in  the  administration  of  Irish  affairs. 
'  She  survived  until  July  27,  i865. 


462  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

the  capture  of  Genoa ;  being  promoted  Commander  in 
1814,  and  Post-Captain  in  the  following  year.  After  the 
General  Peace  he  was  placed  upon  the  reserved  list,  but 
his  promotion  did  not  cease,  for  he  rose  successively  to 
be  Rear-Admiral  (1850),  Vice-Admiral  (1857,)  and  Admiral 
(1862).  In  1816  the  title  of  Baron  Prudhoe  of  Pnidhoe 
Castle  was  conferred  upon  him.  The  rest  of  his  useful 
life  was  mainly  devoted  to  scientific  and  archaeologi- 
cal research.  He  travelled  extensively  in  the  East,  in 
company  with  Major  Felix;  and  in  1826  was  one  of  a  dis- 
tinguished party  of  savants  who  explored  the  monuments 
of  Egypt,  and  brought  back  to  England  a  vast  quantity 
of  treasures  from  those  storehouses  of  the  past.  During 
1834  Lord  Prudhoe  was  a  member  of  Sir  John  Herschel's 
scientific  expedition  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,^  and  his 
enthusiasm  on  behalf  of  Oriental  lore  led  him  to  defray 
the  entire  expense  of  Edward  William  Lane's  monumental 
"Arabic  Lexicon."  Oxford  University  in  1841  deservedly 
conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  D.C.L. 

Having  succeeded  his  brother  as  fourth  Duke,  he 
enlarged  Alnwick  Castle,  and  enriched  it  with  the  rare 
collections  which  he  had  amassed  in  Egypt,  Arabia,  and 
South  Africa.  The  Egyptian  antiquities  are  now  preserved 
in  the  Ravine  Tower,  and  among  them  is  the  celebrated 
obelisk  "set  up  by  Harmachis,  son  of  the  Sun-God," 
which  was  presented  to  the  Duke  by  his  friend  Mohammed 
AH  Pasha. 

Northumberland's  only  active  incursion  into  politics 
took  place  in  March  1852,  when  he  accepted  office  as  First 
Lord  of  the  Admiralty  in  Lord  Derby's  first  administration. 
In  this  capacity  he  had  much  to  do  with  the  introduction 
of  steam-power  into  the  navy.  At  the  fall  of  the  ministry 
in  1853,  the  Garter  fell  to  his  share.  He  was  already  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  the  Astronomical  and  Geo- 
logical Societies,  and  the  Society  of  Antiquaries ;  as  well 
as  President  of  the  Royal  Institution  and  the  United 
Service  Institution,  and  a  trustee  of  the  British  Museum. 
'  Undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  observing  the  southern  constellations. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  463 

He  married,  in  August  1842,  Lady  Eleanor  Grosvenor  ; 
but  died  at  Alnwick  Castle,  February  12,  1865,  without 
issue.  The  Barony  of  Percy  (1624)  then  descended  in  the 
female  line  to  his  grand-nephew,  John  James  Hugh  Henry 
Stewart-Moray,  seventh  Duke  of  AthoU ;  ^  while  the  Duke- 
dom of  Northumberland,  and  the  titles  attached  to  it, 
passed  to  his  cousin  George  Percy,  second  Earl  of  Beverley. 

The  branch  of  Beverley  sprang  from  Lord  Algernon 
Percy,  second  son  of  Hugh,  first  Duke  of  Northumberland, 

who  was  born  in  1750,  and  in  1786  succeeded 
Beveri^^"  his  father  by  special  remainder  as  second  Baron 
and  their        Lovainc  of  Alnwick.     Lord  Lovaine  was  a  young 

man  of  independent  character,  and  differed  in 
politics  from  the  head  of  his  house,  the  second  Duke, 
who  told  Colonel  MacMahon  that,  immediately  after  their 
father's  funeral,  his  brother  Algernon  informed  him  that 
he  did  not  approve  of  his  (the  Duke's)  Whig  connection, 
and  intended  to  take  sides  with  the  Tories.  He  allied  him- 
self accordingly  to  Pitt,  and  was  created  Earl  of  Beverley 
in  1800.  By  his  wife,  Isabella  Susanna  Burrell  (daughter 
of  Peter  Burrell  of  Beckenham,  and  elder  sister  of  Frances 
Jane  Burrell,  second  wife  of  the  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land-), he  left  at  his  death,  on  October  21,  1830,  eight  sons 
and  three  daughters.  The  eldest  son,  George,  succeeded 
his  father  as  second  Earl  of  Beverley,  and  in  1865  became 
fifth  Duke  of  Northumberland.  The  other  sons  may  be 
briefly  noticed  as  follows  : — 

(2)  Algernon  Percy ;  born  1799,  was  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary to  the  Swiss  Cantons  ;  and  died  s.p.  on  August  10, 

1833- 

(3)  I^ugh  Percy;  born  January  29,  1784.  Educated 
at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  he  was  M.A.  in  1807  and 
D.D.  in  1825.  Having  taken  Holy  Orders,  he  married 
in  1806  Mary,  eldest  daughter  of  Charles  Manners  Sutton, 

1  See  Geiiea/og);  Tal>le  IV.  The  eldest  son  of  t1)e  Duke  of  Atholl,  John 
Gforge,  Marquis  of  TuUibardine,  D.S.O.,  worthily  upholds  the  military  reputation 
of  his  ancestors,  both  paternal  and  maternal. 

2  See  p.  457.     The  Countess  of  Beverley  died  January  24,  1S12. 


464  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  was  by  the  latter  collated 
to  the  benefices  of  Bishopsbourne  and  Ivychurch  in  Kent. 
He  became  successively  Chancellor  and  Prebend  of  Exeter 
(1810),  Chancellor  of  Salisbury  Cathedral  (181 2),  Arch- 
deacon of  Canterbury  (through  the  influence  of  his  father- 
in-law,  1822),  and  Dean  of  Canterbury  (1825).  In  1825 
he  was  elevated  to  the  episcopal  see  of  Rochester,  and 
translated  a  few  months  later  to  that  of  Carlisle.  He  was 
"  a  prelate  of  the  old  school,  and  a  courtly  country  gentle- 
man."' While  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  he  greatly  enlarged  the 
episcopal  residence  at  Rose  Castle  ;  and  it  was  his  custom, 
when  travelling  to  London,  to  drive  his  four  horses  himself. 
Without  doubt  he  owed  much  to  the  favour  of  his  father- 
in-law,  Archbishop  Manners  Sutton,  but  he  was  a  con- 
scientious and  energetic  prelate.  He  died  at  Rose  Castle, 
February  5,  1856,  leaving  a  numerous  family,  of  which 
Algernon  Heber-Percy,  Esq.,  of  Hodnet  Hall,  Salop,  and 
Armine  Hall,  Yorkshire,  is  the  principal  representative.^ 

(4)  Josceline  Percy  ;  born  January  29,  1784,  entered  the 
navy  in  1797,  and  in  1806  served  under  Sir  Hume  Popham 
at  the  capture  of  Cape  Town,  being  promoted  commander 
in  the  same  year.  He  was  M.P.  for  the  family  pocket- 
borough  of  Beeralston  1806-1829.  In  1831  he  was  made  a 
Companion  of  the  Bath  ;  and  in  1841  Rear-Admiral  and 
Commander-in-Chief  at  the  Cape  station — which  last-men- 
tioned post  he  held  until  1846.  Promoted  to  be  Vice- 
Admiral  in  1851,  he  served  as  Commander-in-Chief  at 
Sheerness  from  1851  to  1856.  He  married  Sophia  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Moreton  Walhouse,  Esq..  of  Hatherton,  co. 
Stafford  ;  ^  and  died  at  his  residence  near  Rickmansworth, 
October  19,  1856. 

(5)  Henry  Percy ;  born  1786,  and  entered  the  army  at 
an  early  age,  attaining  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.     At 

1  Diet,  of  Nat.  Biography. 

'  Mr.  Heber-Percy  of  Hodnet  is  son  of  the  late  Algernon  Charles  Heber-Percy, 
Esq.,  of  Hodnet  (son  of  Bishop  Hugh  Percy),  by  Emily,  daughter  and  co-heir 
of  the  Right  Reverend  Reginald  Heber,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  and  niece  and 
co-heir  of  Richard  Heber,  M.P.,  of  Hodnet  Hall. 

^  By  whom  he  left  issue  one  son  and  two  daughters. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  465 

the  battle  of  Waterloo  he  served  as  aide-de-camp  to  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  and  was  mentioned  in  despatches. 
He  died  s.p.  1825. 

(6)  William  Henry  Percy;  born  March  24,  1788, 
followed  his  brother  Josceline  into  the  navy  in  1801, 
becoming  commander  in  1810,  and  captain  a  few  years 
later.  He  was  for  some  time  M.P.  for  Stamford,  and  was 
promoted  Rear-Admiral  on  the  retired  list  in  1846.  He 
died  October  5,  1855. 

(7)  Francis  John  Percy  ;  born  1790,  and  died  a  captain 
in  the  23rd  Regiment  in  181 2. 

(8)  Charles  Percy  ;  born  1794,  married  Anne  Caroline 
Bertie-Greatheed,  grandchild  and  sole  heir  of  Bertie  Bertie- 
Greatheed,  Esq.,  of  Guyscliffe,  co.  Warwick.  He  died 
October  11,  1870,  and  his  widow  in  1882.  As  their  only 
child,  Anne  Barbara  Bertie-Percy,  died  s.p.,  the  estate  of 
Guyscliffe  passed  by  special  settlement  to  her  cousin.  Lord 
Algernon  Malcolm  Percy. 

Two  of  the  three  daughters  of  the  Earl  of  Beverley  were 
married  ;  the  elder  (Lady  Charlotte  Percy)  to  George,  third 
Earl  of  Ashburnham  ;  ^  the  younger.  Lady  Emily,  to  Andrew 
Mortimer  Drummond,  banker,  of  Charing  Cross,  and 
Denham,  Middlesex.  A  third  daughter,  Lady  Susan  Percy, 
died  unmarried  in  1847. 

George,  second  Earl  of  Beverley,  was  eighty-six  years 

of   age  when   he  succeeded  his   cousin  as   fifth   Duke   of 

Northumberland,  and  he  enjoyed  the  latter  dignity 

The  last  '  ■'    ■'  °   . 

three  Dukes  for  little  morc  than  two  years.  He  was  a  Privy 
and  the  CounciUor,  and  had  held  office  as  a  Lord  of  the 

present  state  ' 

of  the  House  Treasury  in  Pitt's  last  ministry;  besides  servmg 
of  Percy.  -^^  ^j^^  Houschold  of  the  Regent  (afterwards 
George  IV.)  and  in  that  of  Queen  Victoria.  He  married, 
on  June  22,  1801,  Louisa  Harcourt  Stuart-Wortley,  daughter 
of  the  Hon.  James  Archibald  Stuart-Wortley,  sister  of  the 

1  By  whom  she  had  a  daughter,  Lady  Jane  Henrietta,  who  married,  1836, 
Admiral  Charles  Henry  Swinburne,  and  had  issue  Algernon  Charles  Swinburne, 
perhaps  the  greatest  of  living  English  poets. 

II.  2  G 


466  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

fifth  Lord  Wharnecliffe,  and  granddaughter  of  the  Prime 
Minister,  Lord  Bute.*  At  his  death,  which  occurred  on 
August  21,  1867,  he  left  issue  three  sons  and  two  daughters. 
Of  the  sons  the  eldest  was  Algernon  George,  the  late 
Duke ;  the  second,  Lord  Josceline  William  Percy,  born 
1811,  died  1885;-  and  the  third.  Lord  Henry  Hugh 
Manners  Percy,  V.C.  The  last-named  gallant  soldier  de- 
serves a  notice  more  extended  than  can  here  be  accorded 
to  him.  Born  on  August  22,  1817,  he  became  captain 
and  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Grenadier  Guards.  In  this 
capacity  he  fought  with  distinguished  gallantry  throughout 
the  Crimean  War,  taking  part  in  the  battles  of  the  Alma 
(where  he  was  wounded),  Balaclava,  Inkerman  (again 
wounded),  and  Sebastopol.  At  Inkerman,  on  November  5, 
1854,  he  won  the  proudest  distinction  of  the  British  soldier, 
the  Victoria  Cross.  Finding  that,  like  a  true  descendant 
of  Hotspur,  he  had  charged  too  far,  and  that  many  other 
officers  and  men  of  different  regiments  were  in  the  same 
predicament,  he  set  himself  to  save  the  situation,  and,  if 
possible,  the  lives  of  those  thus  cut  off  from  their  friends. 
By  dint  of  extraordinary  exertions  he  succeeded  in  collect- 
ing the  bewildered  remnants  of  the  charge,  and  placing 
himself  at  their  head.  Their  last  round  of  ammunition 
had  been  fired,  and  they  were  almost  surrounded  by  the 
enemy.  Percy  had  been  badly  wounded,  but  he  held 
his  force  well  in  hand,  and  led  them  under  a  heavy  fire 
back  to  the  British  lines.  In  this  desperate  march,  his 
knowledge  of  the  ground  stood  him  in  good  stead,  and 
fifty  lives  were  saved  by  his  instrumentality.  The  exploit 
brought  him  the  Victoria  Cross,  which  the  late  Queen 
pinned  on  his  breast.  May  5,  1857.  From  1855  to  1865 
he  was  aide-de-camp  to  her  Majesty,  and  in  1861,  during 
the  complication  with  the  United  States  (happily  averted 
by  the  good  sense  of  Lincoln)  he  was  sent  to  New  Bruns- 

'  This  lady  was  consequently  niece  of  the  divorced  wife  of  the  second  Duke 
of  Northumberland.     She  died  in  1848. 

^  His  son,  George  Algernon  Percy,  born  1849,  is  now  captain  and  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  Grenadier  Guards. 


THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY  467 

wick  in  command  of  his  Grenadiers.  He  retired  from 
active  service  in  1862,  and  died  on  December  3,  1877, 
having  attained  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general.  For  his 
Crimean  services  he  had  been  honoured  by  France  and 
Turkey,  with  the  Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  and  the 
Order  of  the  Mejidie  respectively.  Lord  Henry  Percy 
never  married.  His  sister,  Lady  Margaret,  married  Edward 
Richard  Littleton,  second  Lord  Hatherton.  Another  sister, 
Lady  Louisa,  died  unmarried  in  1883,  aged  eighty-one 
years. 

Algernon  George  Percy,  sixth  Duke  of  Northumberland, 
was  born  May  2,  1810.  He  was  educated  at  Eton  and 
Cambridge,  and  served  for  some  time  in  the  Grenadier 
Guards.  He  represented  Beeralston  in  Parliament  from 
1831-2,  and  North  Northumberland  from  1852-65,  becom- 
ing a  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  in  1858,  and  Vice-President  of 
the  Board  of  Trade  in  1859.  From  1878-80  he  was  Lord 
Privy  Seal  in  the  last  administration  of  Lord  Beaconsfield. 
Among  other  offices  held  by  the  Duke  were  those  of 
Lord-Lieutenant  of  Northumberland,  Chairman  of  Quarter 
Sessions  for  Surrey,  and  Hon.  Colonel  of  the  Northum- 
berland Militia.  In  1842  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge, 
conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  LL.D.  He  married, 
in  1845,  Louisa,  daughter  and  heir  of  Henry  Drum- 
mond,  Esq.,  M.P.,  of  Albury  Park,  Surrey,  and  left 
issue  two  sons,  Henry  George,  seventh  and  present 
Duke,  and  Lord  Algernon  Malcolm  Arthur  Percy  of 
Guyscliffe,  co.  Warwick,  M.P.  for  Westminster  (1882-5) 
and  for  St.  George's,  London  (1885-7),  sometime  Lieu- 
tenant in  the  Grenadier  Guards,  and  Hon.  Colonel  3rd 
Battalion  Northumberland  Fusiliers.  The  sixth  Duke 
died  on  January  2,  1899. 

Henry  George  Percy,  seventh  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land, K.G.,  P.C,  was  born  on  May  29,  1846;  represented 
North  Northumberland  in  Parliament  (1868-85),  served 
as  Treasurer  in  the  Household  of  the  late  Queen  ;  and  is 
Lord-Lieutenant  of  Northumberland  and  Hon.  Colonel  of 
the  Northumberland  Militia.      He  married,  on  December 


468  THE    HOUSE   OF   PERCY 

23,  1868,  Lady  Edith  Campbell,  daughter  of  the  late 
George  Douglas,  Duke  of  Argyll,  and  has  issue  five 
sons  and  as  many  daughters.  His  eldest  son,  Henry 
Algernon  George,  Earl  Percy,  has  been  Member  of 
Parliament  for  South  Kensington  since  1895,  and  is 
best  known  by  his  two  books  descriptive  of  travels  in 
Asia  Minor. 


Here  we  will  leave  the  History  of  the  Great  House  of 
Percy.  The  fresh  and  fruitful  branch  engrafted  upon  the 
parent  tree  has  thriven  broadly  and  well ;  the  proud  old 
sap  mingles  freely  with  the  new  :  stock  and  scion  have 
united  their  finest  qualities,  and  are  as  one.  The  Percy 
stem,  unlike  that  of  Douglas,  put  forth  few  offshoots,  and 
afforded  no  nourishment  to  parasitic  growths.  The  pine 
indeed  might  serve  as  its  emblem  rather  than  the  oak. 
Yet  it  seems  difficult  of  belief  that  a  race  so  ancient  should 
have  left  no  male  heirs ;  and  such  heirs  may  yet  be  found 
labouring  humbly  upon  some  stony  Irish  hillside,  or  sharing 
in  the  strenuous  life  of  the  great  American  Republic.  In 
their  absence  the  honours  of  Percy  are  worthily  borne  by 
the  inheritors  of  the  Percy  estates,  through  whose  veins 
the  blood  of  Hotspur  courses  yet,  and  to  whom  England 
looks  with  honest  pride,  as  the  representatives  of  a  splendid 
and  stainless  name. 


INDEX    TO    VOLUME    II 

[Names  of  Persons  are  printed  in  ordinary  type ;  all  other  names 
in  italics.  Numerals  refer  to  pages  of  Vol.  II.  The  letter 
"  // "  signifies  "  tioie.""\ 


Adamson,  John,  423 

Adda,  Monsignord',  Papal  Nuncio, 
406,  407 

Addison,  Joseph,  420 

Albemarle,  Dukes  of,  see  Monk 

Albemarle,  Mad  Duchess  of,  see 
Cavendish,  Lady  Elizabeth 

Albury  Park,  Guildford,  467 

Alington,  William,  third  Lord,  398 
and  ;/. 

Allen,  Thomas,  167  and  «.,  205,  211 

Alnwick,  Barony  of,  1^4 

Alnwick  Castle,  16,  29,  92,  99,  100, 
126,  175,  216,  217,  267,  359,  360, 
422,  423,  458,  459,  461,  462,  463 

"Alsatia,"  7'homas  Percy  in,  gg,  100 

Alston,  Sir  Edward,  ^LD.,  401  n. 

Alston,Sarah,Duchess  of  Somerset, 
401  and  n. 

Ancaster,  Duke  of,  457  n. 

Andoz'er,  Defeat  of  Lord  Percy  at, 
283 

Anglesey,  253 

Anglesey,  Earl  of,  see  Annesley 

Anjou,  Due  d',  18 

Anne  of  Austria,  263 

Anne  of  Denmark,  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, 90,  130,  143,  147,  153,  190, 
191,  214,  270 

Anne,  Queen,  325,  405,  408-417 

Annesley,  James,  first  Earl  of 
>  Anglesey,  337  and  n.  354,  355 

Antwerp,  290 


469 


Apsley,  Sir  Allan,  Governor  of  the 

Tower,  217 
Apsley,  Peter,  217,  218 
Arabian  Horses,  imported  by  tenth 

Earl  of  Northumberland,    296, 

297 
Archcvologia,  176 
■■Jrgos,  Battle  of,  396 
Argyll,  Dukes  of,  sec  Campbell 
Arlington,  Lord,  313,  314 
Annada,  The,  45,  46 
Arminc   Hall,  co.    York,  433,  435 

and  ;/.,  464 
Army  Plot,  The,  246-250,  282,  283 
Armstrong,  Hector,  173 
.Arundel  Castle,  19 
Arundel,  Earl  of,  202,  203,  216 
Ashburnham,  George,   third   Earl 

of,  465 
Ashburnham,  Lady  Jane  Henrietta 

(Swinburne),  465  w. 
Ashburnham,  John,  Lord,  247 
Ashton,  Ralph,  the  Younger,  155 
Astell  or  Astle,  John,  174 
Astley,  Lord,  271 
.-itiihme,  Larkfcld  near,  368  n. 
Atholl,  Duke  of,  see  Moray 
Aucher,  Gabriel,  208 
Aulnoy,  Madame  d',  386,  387 
Aungier's    History    of  Isleworth, 

95"- 
Aylmer,  Bishop  of  London,  53,  55 
Ayscough,  Sir  William,  370 


47° 


INDEX 


Baeington,  Anthony,  21 

Bacon,      Francis,     Viscount      St. 

Albans,  62,  68,  77,  82  «.,  97,  149, 

170  «.,  327,  328,  337 
Bagenal,  Marshal,  66 
Bailiffe,  servant  of  Sir  C.  Hatton, 

24,  26,  27,  28 
Balaclava,  Battle  of,  466 
Ballylonan,  King's  county,  36S  «. 
Balquanquill,  Stuart,  Lady  Thynn, 

380  ;/. 
Balquanquill,  Dr.  Walter,  380  n. 
Bamburgh  Castle,  216,  217 
Bamford  Castle,  274  n. 
Bamford,   Colonel    John,    274-276 

and  «.,  311 
Banastre,  Amor,  369 
Bancroft,  Richard,  Archbishop  of 

Canterbury,  103,  117,  119.  '24 
Bankes,  Sir  John,  252 
Banks's  Dorm,  and  Ext.  Baronage, 

357,  358,  362,  363 
Banks's  An7za  Bullen,  417 
Barclay,  Scots  Commissioner,  262 
Barker,  Elizabeth,  326  n. 
Barkham,  Sir  Edward,  Bart.,  433  n. 
Barkham,  Susannah,  433  n. 
Barking,  Ninth  Earls  Villa  at,  47 
Barnes,  Barnabie,  207 
Barnewall,  Patrick,  19 
Barnewall,  Robert,  19,  21 
Bates,  Thomas,   Gunpowder    Plot 

conspirator,  105-116 
Bayning,  Paul,  Viscount,  173  n. 
Beaconsfield,    Benjamin    Disraeli, 

Earl  of,  467 
Beaufort,  Duke  of,  405,  406 
Beaumont,  Justice,  100 
Bee,  Sieur  du,  see  Pr^au.x 
Bedford,  Countess  of,  193,  195 
Bedford,  Earl  of,  238,  248,  258,  261, 

262 
Beeralslon,  Percy  '■'■pocket-borough^' 

464,  467 
Belfast,  Essex  slaughters  his  Irish 

guests  at,  50  n. 
Bennet  Sir  John,  263  n. 


Bergen,  454 

Berkeley,  Lord,  280,  314 

Berkeley,  Mary  ("Fair  Thyamis"), 

52  and  n.  , 

Bertie-Greatheed,  Anne   Caroline, 

(Mrs.  Percy),  465 
Bertie-Greatheed,  Bertie,  of  Guys- 

cliffe,  465 
Bertie-Percy,  Anne  Barbara,  465 
Bes7vicke-in-Holdernesse,  37 1 
Betham,   Sir  W.,  Ulster   King   of 

Arms,  367 
Beverley,  Percy  family  of,  99,  369- 

372 
Bicklcy,  co.  Devon,  360 
Bird,  William,  457  n. 
Bishopsbourne,  Kent,  464 
Blackeston,  John,  346,  347 
Blois,  315 

Blood,  Colonel,  162,  389 
^'Bloody  Tower"  The,  161  and  n., 

165 
Blount,  Charles,   Lord    Mountjoy, 

5'>52 
Blount,  Sir  Christopher,  51 
Blount,  Edward,   Lord   Mountjoy, 

240 
Blunt,  Rev.  J.  H.,  93 
Boleyn,  Queen  Anne,  51,  162 
Boleyn,  Mary,  51 
Bologna,  437,  438 
Bolton,  Duke  of,  see  Paulet 
Bolton,  Yorks.,  431 
Bond,  Thomas,  316  «. 
Booth's  Rising,  291 
Boroski,  assassin  of  Tom  Thynn, 

390-392,  393-395 
Borris-i?t-Osso>y,  368  n. 
Boston,  455,  456 

Boston  Ca]np,  Lord  Percy  in  com- 
mand of  ,  455 
Boston  Town  Hall,  Percys  portrait 

in,  457 
Boswell,  James,  452 
Botevili,  see  Thynn 
Botti,     Horatio,     slayer     of     the 

"Hector"  Duke  of  Somerset,  400 


INDEX 


471 


Boughton,  CO.  A'orthanis,  324 
Boughton,   Lord    Montagu   of,  set- 

Montague 
Bourchiers,  Earls  of  Essex,  50 
Bow,  163 

Bowes,  Sir  George,  14,  15 
" Bowyer  Tower"  T/ie,  162 
Boyle,  Roger,  adventurer,  first  Earl 

of  Cork,  257  «. 
Boyle,  Roger,  Lord  Broghill,  Earl 

of  Orrery,  257  and  n.,  385 
Boynton,  Cecily,  369,  370 
Boynton,  Thomas,  369 
Bradford,  Earl  of,  see  Newport 
Bradshaw,  the  regicide,  296  >i. 
Branxholni,  172  n. 
Breda,  290 

Brentford,  sack  of,  by  Royalists,  258 
Bret,  Colonel,  382  and  it. 
"Brick  Tower,"  The,  162,  163,  165, 

169,  194,  212 
Bridgeman,  Sir  Orlando,  352  n. 
Bridgetine    Nuns    of  Syoit,    their 

wanderings,  93-96 
Bridgewater,  Earl  of,  366 
Brignall,  Yoi-ks.,  432 
Brissac,  Madame  de,  321 
Bristol,  Earl  of,  202,  216 
Broghill,  Lord,  see  Boyle,  Roger 
Brooke,  Sir  Calisthenes,  71 
Browne,  Sir  William,  118,  119 
Browning's  Sti-ajford,  244 
Broxboume,  Herts.,  52-56 
Bruce,  Edward,  84,  85 
Bruell,  Peter,  murdered  by  Mon- 
mouth, Thynn,  and  others,  389 

and  71.,  400  ;/. 
Bruges,  299 

Brunswick,  Duke  of,  454 
Buccleugh,  172  ;/. 
Buccleugh,  Anne  Scott,  Countess 

of,  377 
Buccleugh,  Duke  of,  324 
Bunker's  Hill,  Battle  of,  456 
Bumes,  The,  58 
Burnet's   Hist,  of  His  Own  Times, 

398,  403,  456,  457 


Burke's  Peerage,  327 

Burrel  family,  its  rise,  457  and  7t. 

Burrell,  Frances  Jane,  Duchess  of 

Northumberland,    457    and     n., 

463 
Burrell,   Isabella   Susan,  Countess 

of    Beverley,   457    and    >/.,   463 

and  ;/. 
Burrell,  Peter,  of  Beckenhani,  Kent, 

457  and  n.,  463 
Burton,  Elizabeth,  "the  Holy  Maid 

of  Kent,"  94 
Burton,   Francis,   bookseller,    148, 

1 56  n. 
Bushell,  Thomas,  328  and  ;/.,  337, 

346 
Bute,  Marquis  of,  see  Stuart,  John 
Butler,  Lady  Elizabeth,  Countess  of 

Chesterfield,  302  and  n. 
Butler,     James,     first     Duke     of 

Ormonde,  302,  303 
Butler,    James,    second    Duke    of 

Ormonde,  403,  407 
Butler,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart.,  368 
Byrom,  Vorks.,  425  n. 

C/ESAR,  Sir  Julius,  154 

Cuius  College,  Cambridge,  Heraldic 
books  at,  362 

Caher  Castle,  66 

Cambridge,  Town  of,  355,  364 

Cambridge  University,  2 1 1  -2 1 3, 362, 
398,  40S,  459,461,  463,467 

Camden,  Lord,  458 

Campbell,  Lady  Edith,  now 
Duchess  of  Northumberland,  468 

Campbell,  George  Douglas,  late 
Duke  of  Argyll,  468 

Campbell,  John,  Duke  of  Argyle, 
416 

Campden,  Viscount,  see  Noel 

Canaletto's  7iiew  of  old  Northum- 
berland House,  256 

Cannington,  co.  Somerset,  344,  345 

Canterbury,  Archbishops  of,  see 
under  names  of  principal  Arch- 
bishops 


472 


INDEX 


Canterbury,  Dean  of,  Hugh  Percy 

as,  464 
Capel,  Algernon,  second   Earl  of 

Essex,  303,  310  n. 
Capel,    Lady   Anne,    Countess    of 

Carlisle,  303 
Capel,  Arthur,  first  Earl  of  Essex, 

298,  302,  303,  319,  374  and  w., 

381,  382,  404  n. 
Capel,  Arthur,  Lord  Capel,  285,  302 
Capel,   William,    Lord    Mayor   of 

London,  302 
Cape  Town,  capture  of,  464 
Cardigan,  Lord,  449 
Carew,  Sir  George,  56 
Carew,  Lord,  169 

Carey,  Henry,  first  Viscount  Falk- 
land, \\\  n. 
Carey,  Henry,  first  Lord  Hunsdon, 

27 
Carey,   Katherine,   Lady  Knollys, 

51,  144  n. 
Carey,  Sir  Robert,  afterwards  Earl 

of  Monmouth,  57,  64 
Carey,  William,  51  n. 
Carisbrooke  Castle,  278,  286 
Carleton,  Dudley,  afterwards  Vis- 
count Dorchester,  64,  65,  71,  72, 

173,  190,  193  n.,  194  n.,  195,  200- 

202,  212 
Carleton,  Yorks.,  432  «. 
Carlisle,  Bishop  of,  Hugh  Percy  as, 

464 
Carlisle,  Dean  of,   Thomas  Percy 

as,  453  n. 
Carlisle,    Earl    of,    see     Howard, 

Charles 
Caroline,  Queen,  423 
Caron,  Sir  Noel,  75 
Carr,  Robert,  Earl  of  Somerset,  172, 

173  and  n.,  196,  317  n. 
Carter,  Ralph,  354 
Cashiobury,  Herts.,  302 
Catterick,  Anthony,  431,  432 
Catterick,  William,  431  n. 
Catterick  or  Catherick  family,  of 
Stanwick,  431,  432 


Cavendish,  Lady  Elizabeth,  the 
Mad  Duchess  of  Albemarle,  324, 
325  and  n.,  379,  389  n. 

Cavendish,  Henry,  first  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  247,  248 

Cavendish,  Henry,  second  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  325,  378 

Cavendish,  Henry,  Earl  of  Ogle, 
325,  349,  350.  378,  379 

Caversham  House,  273 

Catesby,  Robert,  Gunpowder  Plot 
conspirator,  104-116 

Catesby,  Robert,  the  Younger,  106 
and  n. 

Catholic  Relief  Bill,  460 

Cecil,  Lady  Anne,  Countess  of 
Northumijerland,  204,  216,  227, 
298 

Cecil,  Edward,  Viscount  Wimble- 
don, 219  and  n. 

Cecil,  James,  fourth  Earl  of  Salis- 
bury, 382 

Cecil,  Robert,  first  Earl  of  Salis- 
bury, 22  «.,  29,  61,  63,  70,  79,  82- 
85,  88-91,  92,  109,  116-119,  124- 
126,  128-157,  161,  205 

Cecil,  Thomas,  first  Earl  of  Exeter, 
5,  6,  82 

Cecil,  William,  Lord  Burghley,  I, 
2,  4,  5,  6,  8-15,  17,  18,  21,  23,  26, 
31,32,41-44,  55,  58,  174 

Cecil,  Sir  William,  79 

Challoner,  Mr.,  261 

Chamberlain,  John,  64,  65,  72,  173, 
190,  193-195,  200,  212 

Chambers,  Dr.  Richard,  198 

Champion,  Henry,  306,  327,  329, 
331,  335  "•.  337,  338,  344,  35i. 
352,  369 

Charles,  Archduke,  405,  408 

Charles  Edward,  Prince,  440 

Charles  L,  107,  202,  203,  212,  215- 
282,317 

Charles  II.  (as  Prince  of  Wales), 
162,  269,  284,  289-291  ;  (as  King) 
293-297, 3 1 3  and  «.,  3 1 8,  322, 324, 
334,  349-351,  376-378,404,432 


INDEX 


473 


Charles  X.,  of  France,  460 

Charleston,  456 

Charleston-in-  Tym-dalc,  1 54 

Chartley,  co.  Stafford,  50 

Clieapside,  Smitltson's  sliop  in,  433 

Chesterfield,  Earls  of,  see  Stanhope 

Chesterfield's  Utters,  1 88 

Cheyne,  Elizabeth,  Lady  V'aux,  340 
andw.,  345,  371 

Cheyne,  Sir  Thomas,  340  n. 

Chichester,  Ear!  of,  see  Leigh 

Chilcot,  Ann,  326  ;/. 

Chilcot,  Roger,  326  n. 

Churchill,  Lady  Anne,  Duchess  of 
Montagu,  324 

Churchill,  John,  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough, 324,  325,  409,  420,  421 

Christchurch  College,  Oxford,  212, 
213 

Gibber,  Colley,  385 

Circiniani,  Nicholas,  313 

Clanricarde,  Earl  of,  2ig 

Clare,  Earl  of,  258,  262 

Clarendon,  Earl  of,  see  Hyde, 
Edward 

Clarendon  State  Papers,  275 

Clarke,  a  priest,  91  n. 

Clarke,  John,  343 

Clements  Inn,  Gunpowder  Plot  ren- 
dezvous behind,  107,  no,  112 

Clifford,  Lady  Anne,  Countess  of 
Pembroke,  339  and  «.,  340 

Clifford,  George,  Earl  of  Cumber- 
land, 339  n. 

Clifford,  Henry,  Earl  of  Cumber- 
land, 340 

Clifford,  Thomas,  Lord,  313  «.,  344 

Clinton,  Lord  Thomas,  451 

Clive,  Lady  Charlotte,  Duchess  of 
Northumberland,  461 

Clive,  Lord,  461 

Clive,  Edward,  first  Earl  of  Powis, 
461 

Clononeen,  Queen's  co.,  368 

Cobham,  Sir  Henr>-,  32-35 

Cobham,  Lord,  68-70, 77,  82  ;  88-91 
160,  164,  165,  168 


Cockermouth  Castle,  126 
Cock,  Sir  Henry,  52-55 
Cogenhoe,  co.  Northants,   362  and 

"•,  3<i3 
Coke,  Attorney-(  leneral,  58,  88,  90, 

125-128, 147-150 
Cole,  Rev.  William,  359 
Collectanea  Gen.  and  Her.,  358 
CoUingwood,  Sir  Culhbert,  638 
CoUins's  Peerage,  314,  315,  327 
Colnhrooke,  258 
Compton,   James,   second  Earl  of 

Northampton,  339  n. 
Compton,    James,    third    Earl    of 

Northampton,  398  n. 
Comslade,  William,  424 
Concord,  Massachusetts,  456 
Constable,  Stephen,  369,  370 
"  Constable  Tower"  The,  163,  165 
Convention  Parliament,  407 
Conway,  Lord,  229,  233,  234,  237, 

238,  261 
Conway,  Lord,  383 
Cope,  Dame,  of  Horton,  338 
Cope,  Lydia,  338 
Copes,  of  Denshanger,  335  n. 
Coplestone,  Sir  John,  344,  345 
Corbrig^  Manor,  1 54 
Comwallis,  Sir  Charles,  117,  118 
Comwallis,  Sir  William  of  Brom, 

1 5  and  ;/. 
Cottington,  Francis,  Lord,  219  and 

n.,  228,  231,  235 
Cotton,  Anne,  269 
Coward,  William,  316  n. 
Craik's   Romance  of  the  Peerage, 

(case  of  James  Percy),  326-367 
Cranboume,  Viscount,  see  Cecil 
Craven,  Lord,  273  n. 
Crispe,  Rev.  Henry,  364 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  262, 268, 275, 277, 

278,  280,  287,  288,  290  ;  his  re- 
mains exhumed   and   mutilated, 

295,  296 
Cromwell,  Richard,  287,  290,  291 
Cromwell,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Essex, 


474 


INDEX 


Cropredy  Bridge,  Battle  of,  283 
Croydon,   Arclibishofs  Palace  at, 

117-125 
Cruise,  or  Crushe,  Paul,  Irish  spy, 

37  and  n. 
Curtis,    Mr.,    of    Windsor    Court, 

London,  351 
Cumberland,  Earls  of,  see  Clifford 
Cumberland,  William,  Duke  of,  447 

Dacre,  Leonard,  4 

Dacre,  Lord,  280 

Danby,  Earl  of,  see  Osborne, 
Francis 

Daniel's  Hist,  of  England,  170 

Darcy,  Sir  Francis,  197 

Dartmouth,  Earl  of, notes  to  Burnet, 
398,403,412 

Davenant,  Sir  William,  242 

Dee,  Dr.  John,  60,  167 

De  Fonblanque,  E.  B.,  Annals  of 
the  House  of  Percy,  123,  171,  205, 
256,  257,  267  n.,  284,  310, 314, 3'7, 
374  "■  375,  380  n.  401,  455>  459 

Delaval,  Robert,  174,  175 

Delawarr,  Lord,  209 

Denbigh,  Earl  of,  280,  281 

Denny,  Edward,  Lord,  192 

Denny,  Honora,  Lady  Hay,  192, 
242 

Densha7ige>;  Northanls,  335  n. 

Derby,  Earl  of,  462 

Dermond,  Flanders,  94 

Devereux,  Sir  Charles,  52  ;/. 

Devereux,  Dorothy,  Countess  of 
Northumberland,  49-58,  62-67, 
173,  178,  179,  igo,  191,  196,  198, 

•99 

Devereux,  Penelope,  Lady  Rich,  51, 
52,  189 

Devereux,  Robert,  second  Earl  of 
Essex,  51,  57,  58,  63,  64  ;  his  re- 
volt and  death,  65-68,  104,  319  ;/. 

Devereux,  Robert,  third  Earl  of 
Essex,  248,  261,  262 

Devereux,  Walter,  first  Earl  of 
Essex,  50  and  n.,  61 


Devonshire,  Countess  of,  226 
Devonshire,  Duke  of,  see  Cavendish 
D'Ewes,  Sir  S.,  258 
Digby,    Sir    Everard,   Gunpowder 

Plot  conspirator,  105-116 
Digby,  Sir  John,  221 
Digby,  Sir  Kenelm,  216,  221 
Digby,  Lord,  240 
Digby,    Sir    Robert,   of  Coleshill, 

113 
D'Israeli,  Isaac,  Life  of  Charles  I., 

236,  241,  252 
Disraeli,  see  Beaconsfield,  Earl  of 
Doncaster,     Viscount,     see     Hay, 

James 
Donington,  Lincoln,  328 
Dormer,  Lady  Elizabeth,  Countess 

of  Chesterfield,  302 
Dormer,  Robert,  Earl  of  Carnarvon, 

302  ;/. 
Dorset,  Earl  of,  see  Sacville 
Dorset,  Marchioness  of,  369,  370 
Douay,  437  n. 
Douglas's  Peey-agc,  192 
Dodder,  Treaty  of,  ■^i^ 
D'Oyzelle,  2 
Drake,  Sir  Francis,  47 
Dromore,  Bishop  of,  Thomas  Percy 

<zj,  453  n. 
Drummond,  Andrew  Mortimer,  465 
Drummond,  Henry,  M.P.,  of  Albury 

Park,  467 
Drummond,    Louisa,   Duchess    of 

Northumberland,  467 
Drury  Latie,  169 
Drury,  Lord  Justice,  53 
Duchesne,  170 

Dudley,  John,  Duke  of  Northum- 
berland, 95 
Dudley,  Lord  Guilford,  95 
Dudley,  Robert,  Earl  of  Leicester, 

2,  10,  12,  13,  51,52,  191 
Dugdale,     Sir     William,     Garter 

King    of   Arms,   332,   333,   346, 

350.  356-363,  368 
Dunbar,  2 
Dunbar,  George,  Earl  of,  159,  317 


INDEX 


47S 


Dunluce,    Lord,   sec    M.ncDonnell 

Randal,  Earl  of  Antrim 
Dunsford,  co.  Dci>o/i,  326  n. 
Dunstable-,  1 1 2 
Dutens,  454 
Dykveldt,  secret  agent  of  William 

III.,  407 
Dymoke,     Sir     Edward,     King's 

Champion  to  Charles  II.,  294  11. 

Easton  Maudit,  Northa7its,  453  «. 

Edgehill,  Battle  of,  254,  257 

Edmonds,  Sir  Thomas,  119 

Edward  VL,  194 

Egyptian  Antiquities  at  Alniifick 
Castle,  462 

"  El  Dorado,"  Raleigh's,  1 7 1 

Elizabeth,  Electress  Palatine,  107, 
192 

Elizabeth,  Princess,  269-273,  275, 
282,  286  and  }!.,  3 1 1 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  2-4,  6-17,  19-26, 
28,  31,  34>  36,  38.  45.  46,  48-50, 
SI,  59,  66,  68,  74-77,79,  85,87, 
88,211 

Elkes,  John,  reader  to  ninth  Earl, 
171 

Elkes,  Timothy,  treacherous  ser- 
vant of  ninth  Earl,  148-153,  171 

Ellerker,  James,  371 

EUerker,  John,  of  Risby,  Yorks,  371 

Enfield  Chase,  88 

England,  Roger,  359,  360 

Englefield,  Sir  Francis,  21 

Epping  Forest,  163 

Eson,  362 

Essex,  Countess  of,  226  n. 

Essex,  Earls  of,  see  Capel 

Essex,  Earls  of,  see  Devereux 

Essex  House,  63,  108,  no,  116,  120, 
146  and  n.,  169,  193, 200, 21 1,  371 

Eton  College,  ^bj 

Eure,Lord,  Warden  of  the  Marches, 

58.59 
Evelyn,      John,      description      of 
Northumberland  House,  256  ;  of 
Syon,   296  ;  on  the   training   of 


Lord  Percy,  297,  305,  306,  321  ; 
on  George  Fitz-Roy,  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  377,  384  ;  on 
the  assassins  of  Tom  Thynn, 
395 

Exclusion  Bill,  407 

Exeter,  Marquis  of,  457  ;/. 

Exmouth,  Lord,  461 

"Fairest    Coelia,"    Sonnets    to,  by 

IVm.  Percy,  207,  208,  228 
"  Ferry  Pastorall,"  by  IVm.  Percy, 

208 
Fairfax,   Sir    Thomas,    aftenvards 

Lord  Fairfax,  262,  271,  277,  280 
Fawkes,   Guido,   Gunpowder   Plot 

conspirator,  104-116 
Felix,  Major,  402 
Fenny  Stratford,  1 1 2 
Fenwick,  Constable  of  Alnwick,  39 
Ferrers  of  Chartley,  50 
Fez,    King   of.   Ambassador    from 

the,  385 
PTotherley,  auditor   to  ninth  Earl, 

120  and  n. 
Ffrancis,  Sir  Edward,  120 
Finch,  Lady  Charlotte,  Duchess  of 

Somerset,  418 
Finch,    Daniel,    second    Earl     of 

Nottingham,  418 
Fitton,  family  of,  Cheshire,  40  n. 
Fitton,  Francis,  of  Binfield,  Berks, 

30,  40-45 
Fitz-Roy,  George,  Earl  and  Duke 

of  Northumberland,  350,  376-378 

and  n. 
Fitz-William,  Elizabeth,  371 
Fitz-William,   William,  of  Maple- 

thorpe,  371 
P'leet  Prison,  207 
Fleetwood,  Thomas,  337 
Floyd,  Ann,  Wife  of  George  Percy, 

208,  209  and  « 
Florio's  A'e-cu  Dictionary,  170 
Flu  s  hi  Jig,  290 
Forster,  Sir  John,  7«.,  9,  10,  14, 15, 

58,59 


476 


INDEX 


Forster^s  Arrest  oj  the  Five 
Members,  294,  295 

Fort  Washitigtofi,  456 

Foubert,  Major,  and  his  Riding- 
School,  292  «.,  390  and  n. 

Fox,  Charles,  James,  283  «.,  457, 
458 

Fox,  Henry,  Lord  Holland,  446 

Fox,  Sir  Stephen,  283  and  n. 

Frankford,  Kinifs  county,  368  n. 

Frost,  Margaret,  369,  370 

Frost,  Walter,  of  Beverley,  369, 
370 

Gage,  General,  455,  456 

Gage,  Sir  Henry,  207 

"  Garden  Tower"  The,  161  and  n. 

Gardiner's  Hist,  of  England,  127, 

128,  220,  237,  246,  275 
Garnet,  Father,  and  the  Gunpowder 

Plot,  105  n.,  112,  113,  115  n. 
Garrard,  George,  218-220,  227,237 
Garter,  Order  of,  splendid  pageant 

at  investiture  of  tenth  Earl,  218- 

220 
Gateshead,  co.  Durham,  359 
Gee,  Rev.  John,  of  Dunsford,  326  «. 
Gee,  Rev.  John,  M.A.,  326  n. 
Gee,   Sir  Orlando,  chief  agent  to 

tenth  and  eleventh  Earls,  to  the 

Dowager  -  Countess,     and     the 

Duchess  of  Somerset,  308,   326 

and  w.,  327,  337,  338,  340,  369 
Getnbling,  co.  York,  88 
Genoa,  capture  of,  i^i>2 
George  I.,  386,  405,  415,  416,  417, 

419,421 
George  H.,  417,  439,  440,  443,  445 
George  III.,  446,447,  448-450 
George  IV.,  457,  458,  460,  465 
Gerard,  Elizabeth,  Lady,  163 
Glasco,  Sir  William,  351 
"  Globe"  Theatre,  60 
Gloucester  Hall,  Oxford,  207 
Gloucester,   Henry,  Duke  of,  269, 

273,275,277,  282,  286  and  «.,  311 
Godfrey,  Hester,  433  n. 


Godfrey,  Michael,  433  w. 
Godolphin,  409 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  452, 453 
Goldsmith's  Hall,  267 
"  Gordon  Riots,"  433,  452 
Gordon,  Sir  William,  458,  459 
Goring,  Colonel  George,  247,  248 
Gower,  Sir  John,  173 
Cowrie,  Earls  of,  see  Ruthven 
Grafton,  Dukes  of,  376  «.,  407,  449, 

450 
Grange,  Laird  of,  see  Kirkcaldy 
Grant,  John,  and  the  Gunpowder 

Plot,  113-116 
Granville,  Earl  (Carteret),  439  and 

«.,  440,  441 
Gnn'esend,  392 
Gray,  Lady  Catherine,  Countess  of 

Hertford,  398,  399 
Gray,  Lady  Jane,  95 
Great  Sandal,  co.   York,  369 
Greene,  Giles,  120 
Greene,  William,  clerk,  34  and  n. 
Greenway,  Jesuit   priest,  and   the 

Gunpowder  Plot,  103,  105,  106 
Grenadier  Guards,  445,  466  and  ?/., 

467 
Grenville,  George,  441  n. 
Grenville,  Lord,  458 
Grcn'iille  Papers,  446,  447,  449 
Grenville,  Henry,  461 
Grey,  Lord,  Warden  of  the  Marches, 

2 
Grey  of  Ruthyn,   Lord,  68-70,  75, 

82,  89-gi,  160,  164-166 
Grosvenor,  Lady  Eleanor,  Duchess 

of  Northumberland,  463 
Guicciardini,  36,  39 
Guiscard,  assailant  of  Harley,  411 
Guise,  Due  de,  37 
Gunpowder  Plot,  Account  of  the, 

103-116,  127 

Hales,  Sir  Edward,  343,  344 
Halifax,  Marquis  of,  303,  383,  408 
Halkett,    Lady   Ann,  see   Murray, 
Ann 


INDEX 


477 


Hall,    Thomas,    slayer   of   Thos. 

Percy  and  Catesby,  115  «. 
Hallani,  quoted,  129 
Hal  ley's  Comet,  166 
Hamilton,  Lady  Ann,  302 
Hamilton,     Dukes    of,    231,    285, 

457  «• 
Hampden,  John,  262 
Hampton  Court,  272,  273 
Harbottel,  Sir  Guiscard,  of  Beam- 
ish, 40  n. 
Harcourt,  Comte  d',  262,  263 
Hardwicke,  Lord  Chancellor,  122, 

123,410 
Hardwicke,  second  Earl  of,  122 
Hare,  Hon.  Constantia,  433  «. 
Hare,  Henry,  second    Lord  Cole- 

raine,  401  «.,  433  «. 
Harington,  Lord,  107 
Harley,    Edward,     first     Earl     of 

Oxford,  409,  411,  412,  415 
Harriott,  Thomas,  97,  164,  166  and 

«.,  169,  205 
Harrison,  General,  280 
Harrison,   General    George    Plan- 

tagenet,  430-432 
Harrowden,       Northants,       335  ; 

registers  of,  338 
Haselrig,  262 
Haslewood,  Joseph,  208 
Hatfield,  150 

Hatherton,  Lord,  see  Littleton 
Hatton,  Sir  Christopher,  17,  21-23  ; 
accused    of    complicity    in    the 
eighth  Earl's  murder,  24-29,  36, 
38,  52  «.,  56  n. 
Hatton,  Lord  and  Lady,  385 
Haughton,  Lord,  203 
Havre-de- Grace,  316,  388 
Hay,  James,  first  Earl  of  Carlisle, 

168,  192-199,  200,  228,  240,  242 
Hay,  James,  second  Earl  of  Car- 
lisle, 242 
Hay,  Sir  James,  of  Kingask,  192 
Hay,  Sir  Peter,  of  Megginch,  192 
Heath,  Lord  Chief-Justice,  218 
"  Hectors"  The,  389,  400  and  n. 


Henley,  Anthony,  417 

Henrietta  Maria,  Queen,  217,  218, 

242,  244-246,  253,  254,  282-285 
Henry  VIIL,  of  England,  51,  88, 

94 
Henry  IV.,  of  France,  6,  61 
Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  92,  107 
Heralds'    College,   slate   of  books, 

temp.  Charles  //.,  331,  332 
Herbert,  Philip,  fifth  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke, 173  n. 
Herbert,  Sir  Thomas,  272 
Herbert,  William,  first  Lord  Powis, 

29 
Heron,  Secretary    to    Charles    L, 

259 
Herrenhaiisen,  445 
Henick,  Robert,  242 
Herschel,  Sir  John,  462 
Hertford,   Earl    of,  see   Seymour, 

Wm.,  second  Duke  of  Somerset 
Hill,  Nicholas,  167,  211 
Hindlip  Hall,    Worcester,  Father 

Garnet  arrested  at,  1 1 5  n. 
Hinton  St.  George,  1 73  n. 
Hinton,  Viscount,  173  n. 
Hippisley  or  Hippesley,  John,  174, 

Hodnet  Hall,  Salop,  464 

Holinshed's  Works,  36 

Holland,  Earl  of  (Rich),  226,  233, 

243,  258,  261,  262,  285 
Holland,  Lord,  see  Fox,  Henry 
Holies,  Denzil,  258,  278 
Holt,  Lord  Chief- Justice,  410 
Hopkins,  William,  278 
Hopton,    Sir   Owen,   Governor  of 

the  Tower,  12,  24,  28,  and  n. 
Norton,  Northants,  335  ;  registers 

of,  338  «.,  340,  341,  362 
Howard,  Charles,  second   Earl  of 

Carlisle,  303,  336 
Howard,  Lady  Elizabeth,  302 
Howard,  Lady  Elizabeth,  Countess 

of     Northumberland,     255-257, 

260,  262,  298,  307  ;   her  strange 

character,  317  ;  peculiar  methods 


478  INDEX 


of  managing  her  grandchild's 
estate,  318  ;  opposition  to  James 
Percy,329-355  ;  forces  her  grand- 
child into  two  wretched  mar- 
riages, 5-8-384 ;  her  life  in 
London,  385,  391  ;  chooses  a 
third  husband  (Somerset)  for 
her  grandchild,  397-402 

Howard,  Lady  Frances,  Countess 
of  Somerset,  172-174,  195,  196, 
317  7Z.,  38S«. 

Howard,  James,  third  Earl  of  Suf- 
folk, 336,  376,  and  «.,  377,  385 

Howard,  Henry,  first  Earl  of 
Northampton,  20,  22,  63,  79,  82, 
83,  124,  126 

Howard,  Lady  Margaret,  Countess 
of  Orrer)',  257  and  «.,  385 

Howard  of  Escrick,  Lord,  404, 
405  n. 

Howard,  Theophilus,  second  Earl 
of  Suffolk,  255,  257  «.,  317  }!. 

Howard,  Thomas,  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk, 9 

Howe,  Lord,  quarrel  with  Earl 
Percy  in  America,  456 

Hues,  Robert,  97,  166,  and  >i.,  167, 
205,  212 

Humber,  River,  254 

Hiininanby,  co.  York,  88 

Hunsdon,  Lord,  see  Carey,  Henry 

Hunsdon,  Lord,  280 

Hunter,  Rev.  Joseph,  F.S.A.,  358  «., 
368 

Hurst  Castle,  280 

Hussey,  Giles,  painter,  436,  437 
and  n. 

Hutton,  Sergeant,  174 

Hyde,  Edward,  Earl  of  Clarendon, 
216,  236,  244,  245,  249-251,  266, 
270  «.,  273,  274  «.,  283,  284 

Ightham  Moat  House,  Kent,  205 

and  n. 
Inkermann,  Battle   of.    Lord  H. 

Percy  wins  the  Victoria  Cross  at, 

466' 


'■'■Instructions  to  My  Son,"  by  the 
"  Wizard"  Earl,  175-180 

"Instructions  for  the  Lord  Percy 
in  his  Trauells"  180-188 

Ireland,  Lords- Lieutenant  of,  first 
Duke  of  Northutnberland  as, 
446-448 ;  third  Duke  of  Nor- 
thumberland as,  460,  461 

Ireton,  General,  275.  279,  280  ;  ex- 
humation and  mutilation  of  his 
corpse,  296  n. 

"  Ironsides,"  CromwelPs,  at  Wres- 
sill,  268 

Isleiuortli,  or  Isleworth-Syoii,  93, 
94,  77,  196,  326  «.,  385 

Ivychurch,  Kent,  464 

Jackson,  Rev.  E.,  History  of 
Longleat,  382  ti.,  384  n. 

James  L  and  VL,  77-93,  102-104, 
106-110,  113,  115  «.,  1 17-143, 
147-159,  163  and  n.,  192,  197- 
202 

James  IL  and  VIL,  220,  269,  271, 
272  ;  flight  from  Northumber- 
land's guardianship,  273-277, 
302  and  n.,  303,  305,  311,  313, 
318,  319,  324,  349,  405-408 

James,  Prince  of  Wales,  "Chevalier 
de  St.  George,"  416 

Jardyne,  on  the  Gunpowder  Plot, 
129 

Jermyn,  Henry,  Lord,  247,  248,  284 

fersey,  228 

Jesse's  Courts  of  the  Stuarts,  302  «. 

Jhonsone,  "Master  Doctor,"  18 

Johnson,  Samuel,  422,  452 

Johnston  of  Warriston,  262 

Jonson,  Ben,  47,  97,  167 

Jordan,  Agnes,  Abbess  of  Syon, 
94  «. 

"Junius"  on  Lord  Percy,  455 

"funto"  7  he  Whig,  409 

Keith,   Lord,  "  Master  of  Mare- 

schal,"  2 
Kent,  Earl  of,  280 


INDEX 


479 


Kepler,  Johann,  i66,  i68 

Ker,  Sir  Thomas,  of  Fernieherst, 
172  n. 

Keyes  or  Keys,  Gunpowder  Plot 
conspirator,  104-116,  \2o  n. 

Kingask,  192 

Kirkcaldy,  William,  Laird  of 
Grange,  2,  3 

Kirk-Lez'inton,  co.  York,  88 

Kit-Cat  Club,  420 

Kitson,  Lady,  36 

Kneller,  Sir  Godfrey,  420 

Knollys,  Lattice,  Countess  of  Essex 
(and  of  Leicester),  50,  51 

Knollys,  William,  Earl  of  Banbury, 
144,  146 

Knox,  John,  Letters  to,  from  Sir 
Henry  Percy,  3,  4 

Knyvet,  Sir  Thomas,  iii  and  n. 

Koningsmarck,  Aurora  von,  mother 
of  Marshal  Saxe,  386 

Koningsmarck,  Charles  John, 
Count  von,  early  life  of,  385- 
387  ;  falls  in  love  with  Elizabeth 
Percy,  387  ;  leads  expedition 
against  Tangiers,  387  ;  challenges 
Tom  Thynn  twice,  and  again  by 
proxy,  388,  389  ;  tried  for  com- 
plicity in  Thynn's  murder  and 
acquitted,  393,  394 ;  dies  in 
battle  at  Argos,  396  and  «.,  413 

Koningsmarck,  Philip  Christopher, 
Count  von,  reputed  lover  of 
Queen  Sophia  Dorothea  of  Zell, 
386,  390,  394  ;  assassinated  by 
command  of  George  L,  396  11. 

Koningsmarck,  Count  Otto  William 
von,  generalissimo  of  Venice, 
386,  395 

"  Kriegspiel"  or  "  War  -  Game" 
played  by  the  "  Wizard"  Earl, 
170 

La  Borderie,  M.  de,  French  Am- 
bassador, 126  and  n. 
La  Fayette,   Mdme.  de,  320,  321, 

322 


La  Fosse,  323 

Lambert,  General,  291 

Lambeth,  Catesbys  house  at,  104 

Lamplugh,  Ur.,  337 

Lane,  Edward  W'illiam,  462 

Langdale,  Elizabeth,  433 

Langdale,     Marmaduke,     second 

Lord,  433 
Langdale,  Sir  Marmaduke,  433  n. 
La     Rochefoucauld,     Mdme.     dc, 

321 
Latimer,  Lord,  sec  Nevill 
Laud,    Archbishop,   224-226,   231, 

234-236 
Leconfield,  Lord  (Wyndhani),  439 

n.,  440  n. 
Leckonfield  or  Lcamfield,  co.  York, 

216,  440 
Leicester,  Earl  of,  see  Dudley 
Leicester,  Earl  of,  see  Sidney 
Leigh,  Francis,  Earl  of  Chichester, 

309 
Leith,  2 

Legion  of  Honour,  Cross  of  the,  con- 
ferred upon  Lord  Henry  Percy, 

V.C,  ^(>7 
Lemtnington  coal  pits,  175 
Lennox,  Duke  of,  229 
Lenthall,  Speaker,  295 
I^rice,    the    "  Hector "    Duke    of 

Somerset,  slain  at,  400 
Leslie,  General,  235,  238 
Leihcritighaiii,  Suffolk,  173 
"  Levellers,"  The,  267, 277,  279-281, 

285 
Lexington,  Battle  of,  456 
L^ydcn,  150 
Library  of  the  "  Wizard"  Earl,  39, 

99,  167-170,  201 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  466 
Lindsey,  Earl  of,  221 
Lingard   on    the   "Wizard"   Earl, 

165,  166 
Lisbon,  Bridgetine  nuns  of  Syon  at, 

95.96 
Lisle,  Viscount,  see  Sidneys,  Earls 

of  Leicester 


480 


INDEX 


Littleton,  Edward  Richard,  second 

Lord  Hatherton,  114  «.,  467 
Littleton,   Stephen,   of    Holbeach, 

114 
Lloyd,  Colonel,  277,  278 
Locke,  John,  as  physician  to  the 

eleventh  Earl,  313  and  n. 
Lodge's  National  Portraits,  24 1 
Longleat  Hall,  Wilts,  380  and  «., 

382  n. 
Lostwithiel,  skirmish  at,  283 
Loudoun,  Earl  of,  236,  262,  264 
Louis  XIV.,  263 
Lowther,    Sir    Charles    Bingham, 

425  «. 
Lowther,  Lady,  425  and  //. 
Lowther,  Sir  William,  425 
Lowthers,  Lords  Lonsdale,  425  ;;. 
Lucas,  Henry,  452 
Lucy,  Sir  Edmund,  35  and  n. 
Lumsden,  Thomas,  1 50 
Lunsford,  Governor  of  the  Tower, 

253 

MacDonnkll,  Randal,  Lord  Dun- 
luce,  first  Marquis  of  Antrim, 
2ig,  229  and  «.,  246 

Machiavelli's  Works,  39,  170 

MacMahon,  Colonel,  460  «.,  463 

Mahon,  Lord,  451 

Maidenhead,  273 

Maitland,  2 

Maitland,  Scots  Commissioner  at 
Uxbridge,  262 

Malone,  Edmund,  176 

Malplaquet,  42 1 

Maltravers,  Lord,  212 

Manchester,  Earl  of,  248,  280 

Mandeville,  Lord,  see  Manchester 

Manners-Sutton,  Charles,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  463,  464 

Manners  -  Sutton,  Mary,  wife  of 
Bishop  Hugh  Percy,  463,  464 

Mapletoft,  Dr.  John,  tutor  to 
eleventh  Earl,  304  and  n,  305-313, 

323.  374,  375 
March,  Earl  of,  444  and  //. 


Marchmont,  M.  de,  French  Am- 
bassador, 18 

Marliam,  Northants,  364 

Marlborough,  Duke  a{,see  Churchill 

Marlborough,  Sarah,  Duchess  of, 
411 

Marinello's  Medical  Treatises,  39, 
170 

Marnhull,  Dorset,  437  n. 

"  Martin  Tower"  "  Wizard"  Earl 
confined  in  the,  162-174 

Martyn,  Henry,  239,  252  ;  thrashed 
by  Northumberland,  260-262, 
267,  280 

Mary  I.,  i,  2,  94,  95,  406 

Mary  Stuart,  Queen  of  Scots,  8,  9, 

15, 19, 20, 22,  n,  45, 84,92 

Mary,  William  and,  405 
Masham,  Mrs.  (Abigail  Hill),  411- 

415 
Massachusetts,  colony  o/,  1^0 
Maurice,  Thomas,  452 
Maxey,  Elizabeth,  326  «. 
Maxey,  Sir  William,  326  n. 
Mayerne,  Dr.,  228 
Maynard,  Lord,  258,  280 
Middlesex,  Earl  of,  202,  216 
Middlesex  Election  of  1767,    The, 

45' 
Militia  Bill,  The,  253 
Miller,   Lady,  of  Batheaston,  452 

and  n. 
Miller,  Sir  John,  452  n. 
Minden,  Battle  of,  458 
Minor ics.  The,  163,  169 
Modon,  Battle  of,  395 
Mohammed  Ali  Pasha,  462 
Monk,  Christopher,  second  Duke  of 

Albemarle,  324  «.,  389 
Monk,  General  George,  first  Duke 

of  Albemarle,  291,  292,  324  n. 
Monmouth,  James,  Duke  of,  303, 

316  «.,  349  ;  his  merry  jest  at  the 

expense   of  James   Percy,   352- 

354,  377,  379-382,  389  and  n., 

391-393,  396,400,405 
Mens,  Siege  of,  388 


INDEX 


481 


Monson,  Sir  William,  221 
Montagu,  Lady  Anne,  324 
Montagu,  Charles,  Earl  of  Halifax, 

335  »• 
Montagu,   Edward,    second    Lord 

Montagu  of  Boughton,  320  n. 
Montagu,     Edward,     third     Lord 

Montagu  of  Boughton,  323 
Montagu,  George,  of  Horton,  328, 

335  and  n. 
Montagu  House,  B/oomshury,  site 

of  the  British  Museum,  323 
Montagu,   John,  second    Duke   of 

Montagu,  324 
Montagu,  Ralph,  afterwards  Lord 

Montagu  of  Boughton,  and  first 

Duke  of  Montagu,  319-325,  373 
Montagu,   Ralph,  Viscount   Mont- 

hermer,  324 
Monteagle,  Lord,  68-70 
Monteagle,  Lord,  see  Parker 
Moore,  Mary,  371 
Moore,  Robert,  of  Beswicke,  371 
Moray,  John  James  Hugh  Henry 

Stewart,   Duke    of    AthoU,   and 

Baron  Percy,  463  and  n. 
Moray,     John     George     Stewart, 

Marquis  of  TuUibardine,  D.S.O., 

463  n. 
Mordaunt,  Lord,  127 
Morpeth,  2 
Mortlake,  Dr.  De^s  house  at,  60 

and  n. 
Motteville,  Mdme.  de,  246 
Mountjoy,  Lords,  see  Blount 
Mountnorris,  Lord,  451 
Mowes,  The,  58 
Muddiman's  News  Letter,  Henry, 

315  and  n.,  316  and  n. 
Mugwellor  Monkwell  Street,] atnes 

Percy  in,  351 
Mulgrave,  Earl  of,  280 
Murray,  Ann,  afterwards  Lady  Ann 

Halkett,  275,  276 
Murray,  Will,  276 
"  Muscovet"    Ambassador    fro?ii, 

385 
II. 


Nafferton,  co.   York,  88 
Xasebv,  Battle  of,  284 
Nassau,  Count  Henry  of,  190 
Naunton,    Penelope,   Countess    of 

Pembroke,  173  n. 
Naunton,  Sir  Robert,  173  ». 
Na'i'arino,  395 
Navy,   attempted  reforms  in   the, 

by  the  tenth  Earl,  222-227,  229- 

233,  298 
Nevill,  John,  fourth  Lord  Latimer, 

4  and  //,  5,  6,  13 
Nevill,     Katherine,     Countess     of 

Northumberland,  4,  29,  30,  40- 

44  ;   remarries    Francis    Fitton, 

45 
Nevill,     Lucy,    Lady    Connvallis, 

15  n. 
Nevill,  Ralph,  Earl  of  Westmore- 
land, 351  n. 
NeT.iilPs  Inn,  351  and  n. 
Newburn-on-Tyne,  i,  238 
Newbury,  second  battle  of,  283 
Newcastle,  co.  Stafford,  96 
Newcastle,  Duke  of,  see  Pelhani 
Newcastle,  Earls  and  Dukes  of,  see 

Cavendish 
Newcastle     House,      Clerkenwell, 

325  n. 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  235,  238 
Newland  or  Newlands,  co.  York, 

369 
Newmarket,  397 
Newport,  Isle  of  Wight,  Conference 

of,  278-280 
Newport,  Francis,  Viscount  New- 
port, and  first  Earl  of  Bradford, 

352-354  and  n. 
Newport,  Lord,  248 
Newsham,  co.  York,  431,  432 
Nicholas,  Secretary,  284 
Nichol's  Synapsis  of  the  Peerage, 

215  and  n. 
Noel,     Baptist,     third     Viscount 

Campden,  398  n. 
Noel,  Lady,  born  Wriothesley,  309, 

323 

2  H 


482 


INDEX 


Noel,  Mary,  Countess  of  North- 
ampton, 398  and  «.,  401 

Norfolk,  Duke  of,  see  Howard 

Norreys  or  Norris,  Henry,  162 

Norris,  Sir  John,  69 

"No  Popery"  Riots,  Duke  of  North- 
umberland maltreated  during  the, 
433.  452 

North,  Captain,  199 

North,  Lord,  280 

Northampton,  Earl  of,  see  Compton 

Northampton,  Earl  of,  see  Howard, 
Lord  Henry 

Northampton  House,  see  North- 
umberland House 

Northampton,  Marchioness  of,  210 

North  Hall,  57 

Northumberland,  Duke  of,  see 
Dudley 

Northumberland,  Duke  of,  see 
Fitz-Roy 

Northumberland,  Dukes  of,  see 
Percy 

Northumberland,  Earldom  of,  ne-w 
and  old  creations,  215,  216 

Northumberland,  Earls  of,  see 
Percy 

"  Northumberland  Fusiliers, "  so 
re-named  in  honour  of  Earl 
Percy,  456,  457 

Northutnberland  House,  Black- 
friars,  19  w.,  37 

Northumberland  {previously 
Northampton)  House,  Charing 
Cross,  248,  256,  257,  291,  293, 
296,  372  and  n.,  397,  417,  447,  451 

Nottingham,  Charles  I.  raises  his 
sta7idard  at,  255 

Nottingham,  Earls  of,  88,  210 

Nottingham,  Daniel  Finch,  Earl 
of,  407 

Nuncio,  Papal  (Mgr.  d'Adda), 
Affair  of  the,  406,  407 

O'Brian  or  0'Br>'an,  Henry,  eighth 

Earl  of  Thomond,  418 
O'Bryan,  Percy   Wyndham,  after- 


wards created  Earl  of  Thomond, 

4i8«.,  439,  441,443 
Ogle,  Captain,  73,  74 
Ogle,  Earl  of,  see  Cavendish 
Oldcorne,   Father,    companion    of 

Father  Garnet,  112,  115  n. 
O'Neill,  Sir  Bryan,  50  ;/. 
O'Neill,  Con,  first  Earl  of  Tyrone, 

239  n. 
O'Neill,  Hugh,  Earl  of  Tyrone,  66, 

219  «.,  229  n. 
Oquendo,  Admiral,  232 
Orange,  Prince  of,  388 
Oranmore  and  Browne,  Lord,  368 
Ormonde,  Dukes  of,  see  Butler 
Orrery,  Earl  of,  see  Boyle,  Roger 
Osborne,  Francis,  Earl  of  Danby, 

and  Duke  of  Leeds,  303,  40S 
Osborne,  Peregrine,  third  Duke  of 

Leeds,  418 
Osborne,  Thomas,  fourth  Duke  of 

Leeds,  434  and  n. 
Osborne's   Memoirs  of  James   /., 

192  n. 
Oudenarde,  Battle  of,  440 
Overbury,  Sir  Thomas,  172 
Owen,  Sir  Hugh,  of  Anglesey,  29 
Oxford,  Charles  J.  at,  258-262  ;  fall 

of,  271 
Oxford,  Earl  of  (De  Vere),  199 
Oxford,  Earl  of,  see  Harley 
Oxford  University,   98,  207,   212, 

213,433,462 

Paget,  Charles,  agent  of  the  Catho- 
lics, 9,  21,  22,32-35,  37,61 

Paget,  William,  Lord  Paget,  21 

Pall  Mall,  assassination  of  Totn 
Thynnin,  391,  392  ;  theassassins 
executed  in,  395 

Palmer,  Katherine,  Abbess  of  Syon, 
94  and  n.,  95 

Paluzzi,  Cardinal,  313 

Parker,  Lord  Chief-Justice,  410 

Parker,  William,  Lord  Monteagle, 
discoverer  of  the  Gunpowder 
Plot,  68,  106-109,  127 


INDEX 


483 


Parr,  Queen  Katherine,  re-marries 

Lord  Latimer,  4  n. 
Parry,  Dr.,  19 
Paulet,  Charles,  second   Duke  of 

Bolton,  376  «.,  377 
Paulet,  Charles,  sixth  Marquis  of 

Winchester,  and   first   Duke   of 

Bolton,  376  n.,  377 
Pavenham  Bury,  Bedford,  327, 338, 

340  and  n.,  362 
Peckham,  Surrey,  96 
Peel,  Sir  Robert,  460  and  n. 
Peele,  George,  dramatist,  his  verses 

to  the  "  Wizard"  Earl,  46,  47 
Pelham,  Henry,  191 
Pelham,  Thomas,  Duke  of  New- 
castle, 191,  439 
Pemberton,  Francis,   Lord   Chief- 
Justice,  336  and  «.,  393,  394 
Pembroke  county,  tenth  Earl  Lord 

Lieutenant  of,  2^2, 
Pembroke,  Earl  of,  258,  263,  278, 

280 
Pembroke  and  Montgomery,  Philip, 

fourth  Earl  of,  339  n. 
Pennant's  London,  300 
Pennington,    Sir   John,   220,   226, 

231,253 
Penruddocke,  Mr.,  221 
Penshurst,  Kent,  205, 206, 242,  243, 

282,  286,  289 
Penny   Farthing  Street,    Oxford, 

Pepys's  Diary,  164, 294,  302  «.,  321 

"  Percies,"  "The  Four,"  curious 
tradition  of,  339,  340,  343i  37 1 

Percy,  Sir  Alan,  son  of  the  eighth 
Earl,  100,  120,  128,  147,  149, 
152 

Percy,  Alan,  M.P.,  of  Beverley,  99, 
361,371 

Percy,  Alan,  of  Beverley,  said  to 
have  been  twelfth  Earl  of  Nor- 
thumberland, 99  n.,  350,  351  n.; 
his  imdoubted  descent  from  the 
fourth  Earl,  368-372 

Percy,  Alexander,  350 


Percy,  Algernon,  tenth  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  K.C.  :  Lord 
High  Admiral  of  England,  167, 
169,  175-188,  201,  204  ;  his  birth 
and  early  life  in  the  Tower,  &c., 
210-215;  summoned  to  the  House 
of  Lords,  215;  begins  to  asso- 
ciate with  the  Puritans,  216  ;  first 
marriage,  2 1 6;  succeeds  hisfather, 
217;  invested  with  the  Garter, 
218-220;  Admiral  of  the  Fleet, 
and  attempts  reform  of  the  navy, 
220-226;  becomes  Lord  High 
Admiral,  226  ;  death  of  first  wife, 
and  a  serious  illness,  227  ;  made 
General-in-Chief  of  the  Army, 
233  ;  behaviour  during  the  Scot- 
tish invasion,  234-238  ;  leader  of 
the  Moderate  Parliamentarians, 
246  ;  open  breach  with  the  King, 
anddismissal  fromoffice,254,255; 
second  marriage,  255-257  ;  heads 
Parliamentary  peace  party,  257  ; 
Commissioner  to  the  King  at 
Oxford,  258-260;  assaults  Henry 
Martyn,  260  ;  again  a  Parlia- 
mentary commissioner  at  U.\- 
bridge,  263-266  ;  his  heavy  losses 
by  the  war,  and  partial  com- 
pensation, 266-269 ;  becomes 
guardian  of  the  King's  younger 
children,  269-273  ;  the  Duke  of 
York  gives  him  the  slip,  273  ; 
efforts  to  save  the  King's  life, 
277-281  ;  his  formal  protest,  281  ; 
abandons  public  life,  and  resigns 
care  of  the  King's  children,  282  ; 
defies  Cromwell  and  the  "Rump," 
285-287  ;  occupations  in  retire- 
ment, 28S  -  290  ;  his  vigorous 
help  towards  the  Restoration, 
290-293  ;  independent  attitude 
towards  the  new  King,  293-296  ; 
peaceful  closing  years,  297-298  ; 
his  children,  298-311,  343,  363 
Percy,  Algernon,  first  Earl  of 
Beverley  :     succeeds  his   father 


INDEX 


as  Lord  Loraine,  and  is  created 
an  Earl  by  the  Tories,  463  ;  his 
marriage,  and  children,  463-465 

Percy,  Algernon,  fourth  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  K.G  :  enters 
the  navy,  created  Baron  Prudhoe, 
and  attains  the  rank  of  Admiral, 
461,  462  ;  travels  extensively  in 
the  East,  and  acquires  a  reputa- 
tion as  a  savant,  i^bi  ;  his  Egyp- 
tian collection  at  Alnwick,  ib. 

Percy,  Hon.  Algernon,  Minister  to 
the  Swiss  Cantons,  463 

Percy,  Algernon  Charles  Heber,  of 
Hodnet,  co.  Salop,  464 

Percy,  Algernon  Heber,  of  Hodnet, 
464 

Percy,  Algernon  George,  sixth  Duke 
of  Northumberland,  K.G.,  P.C, 
467 

Percy,  Lord  Algernon  Malcolm 
Arthur,  ex-M.P.,  467 

Percy,  Lady  Anne,  wife  of  Philip, 
Lord  Stanhope,  298-301,  310 

Percy,  Anne,  359 

Percy,  Anne,  otherwise  Crispe,  364 

Percy,  Anne,  otherwise  Eson,  362 

Percy,  Sir  Anthony,  Lord  Mayor 
of  Dublin,  son  of  James  Percy, 
"the  Trunkmaker;"  325,  349, 
352-354  ;  Lord  Mayor,  367  ;  his 
descendants,  367,  368 

Percy,  Sir  Charles,  son  of  the  eighth 
Earl  :  accompanies  Essex  to 
Ireland,  shows  great  gallantry 
at  the  Battle  of  the  Blackwater, 
and  wins  his  knighthood  at  Cahir 
Castle,  66  ;  returns  to  London, 
shares  in  the  revolt  of  Essex,  and 
goes  to  the  Tower,  66,  67  ;  rides 
to  Scotland  with  news  of  Eliza- 
beth's death,  87,  88 ;  helps 
Thomas  Percy,  100 ;  and  is 
deceived  by  him,  120 

Percy,  Charles,  son  of  Josceline  of 
Beverley,  372 

Percy,  Charles,  of  CambridgCj  364 


Percy,  Hon.  Charles,  of  Guyscliffe, 
CO.  Warwick,  465 

Percy,  Lady  Charlotte,  Countess  of 
Ashburnham,  465  and  n. 

Percy,  Lady  Dorothy,  Countess  of 
Leicester,  173,  189-191,  194,  204- 
206,  243,  282,  286,  288,  289,  310. 

Percy,  Edward,  of  Beverley,  son  of 
Josceline,  99,  333,  356,  361,  370, 
371 

Percy,  Edward,  son  of  Alan,  secre- 
tary to  the  ninth  Earl,  205  and 

«•.  371 

Percy,  Lady  Eleanor,  wife  of 
William,  first  Lord  Powis,  29 

Percy,  Eleanor,  otherwise  Ferrand, 
372 

Percy,  Elizabeth,  Baroness  Percy, 
and  Duchess  of  Somerset,  298  ; 
sole  heir  of  her  father,  the 
eleventh  Earl,  312,  316,  322  ;  left 
in  care  of  Dr.  Mapletoft,  323, 
334.  357, 358  «.,365,366  ;  becomes 
ward  of  her  grandmother,  375  ; 
her  brief  education,  ib.;  the  King 
asks  her  hand  for  his  natural  son, 
376-378  ;  wedded  by  her  grand- 
mother to  the  weak-minded  Lord 
Ogle,  378,  379 ;  a  widow  at 
thirteen,  379  ;  forced  into  mar- 
riage with  Thomas  Thynn,  379- 
382  ;  flies  from  Thynn  to  the 
Continent,  382,  383 ;  Konings- 
marck  in  love  with  her,  chal- 
lenges, and  eventually  causes  the 
assassination  of  Thynn,  385-391  ; 
scandalous  tales  of  her  complicity, 
391-397;  marries  Charles,  "the 
Proud  "  Duke  of  Somerset,  397- 
402  ;  her  personal  appearance 
and  character,  402, 403  ;  in  favour 
with  Queen  Anne,  408,  409,  411, 
412  ;  reviled  by  the  Tories,  and 
lampooned  by  Swift,  412-414  ; 
dismissed  from  Court,  415  ; 
energy  in  the  Hanoverian  cause, 
416-418  ;  her  death,  423 


INDEX 


485 


Percy,  Lady   Elizabeth,   Countess 

of  Essex,  29S,  300-303,  310 
Percy,    Lady    Elizabeth,   daughter 

of  the  first  Duke,  454 
Percy,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  the 
conspirator,      Thomas       Percy, 
buried  in  Alnwick,  360 
Percy, Elizabeth,  otherwise  Perkins, 

364 
Percy,  Lady   Emily  (Drummond), 

465 
Percy,  Frances,  otherwise  EUerker, 

371 
Percy,  Francis,  son  of  Robert,  of 

Bickley,  359,  360,  362 
Percy,     Francis,     of    Cambridge, 
claimant  of  the  honours  of  Nor- 
thumberland, 332,  350,  352  ;  Sir 
W.  Dugdale's  researches  in  his 
behalf,  355-358  ;  Dugdale's  certi- 
fied pedigree,  359-361  ;  flaws  in 
the  statement,  361  ;  letter  to  him 
from    James    Percy,    362,    363  ; 
abandons  his  claims  ;   last  will, 
and  descendants,  363.  364 
Percy,  Hon.  Francis  John,  465 
Percy,  George,  fifth  Duke  of  Nor- 
thumberland,  and   second    Earl 
of  Beverley,  P.C,  465,  466 
Percy,  George,  son  of  the  eighth 
Earl  :      Virginian      adventurer, 
marries  and  settles  in  the  colony, 
208  ;  twice  Deputy- Governor  of 
Virginia,    and    member    of   the 
Council,  208,  209  ;  opposes  John 
Smith,    and    writes    two    books 
upon  colonial  affairs,  209 
Percy,     George,     of     Ballylonan, 

King's  county,  36S  >i. 
Percy,  Lieut.-Colonel  George  Alger- 
non, 466  n. 
Percy,    Guiscard,    brother   of   the 
seventh  and  eighth  Earls,  333, 
356,  360-362 
Percy,  Henry,  eighth  Earl  of  Nor- 
thumberland ;    character  of,    i  ; 
Governor  of  Tynemouth  Castle, 


/A  ;    becomes    a    Protestant,    i, 
2  ;    services   against    the   Scots, 
military   and    civil,   2,   3 ;    as   a 
matchmaker,  3-6  ;  loyalty  during 
the  Northern  Rising,  7,  8  ;  the 
Queen's  greed  causes  his  arrest, 
8-10  ;    prisoner    in    the   Tower, 
10-12  ;    fined     5000    marks    on 
vague   charges,    13;   recognised 
as    Earl,    14 ;    forbidden   to   go 
North,    becomes    discontented, 
and   is   suspected   of   Romanist 
leanings,  17-19;  deprived  of  the 
governorship  of  Tynemouth,  19- 
21  ;   embraces  Catholicism,  21  ; 
sent  to  the  Tower  for  pretended 
treason,     21-23  ;    h's     mangled 
corpse  found  in  his  cell  ;  suicide 
is  alleged,  but  there  is  evidence 
in  favour  of  assassination  ;   ac- 
count of  the  controversy,  23-29  ; 
his     body     buried     within     the 
Tower,  30 
Percy,  Henry,  ninth  Earl  of  Nor- 
thumberland, K.G.,  18,  21  ;  early 
travels,  and  life  in  Paris,  31-36  ; 
in  England,  a  careless  landlord, 
an  eager  student,  and  a  generous 
patron  of  letters,  38-40 ;  quarrels 
with    his    mother,    40-45  ;    his 
patriotism    at   the   time  of   the 
Armada,  45,  46  ;  project  of  alli- 
ance     with      Arabella      Stuart 
thwarted  by  the  Queen,  48,  49  ; 
marries   Dorothy  Devereux,  49, 
50  ;  domestic  jars,  62-65  ;  revolt 
and  death  of  his  brother-in-law, 
Essex,  65-67  ;  quarrel  with  Lord 
Southampton    averted,   67,    68  ; 
more     serious    feud     with     Sir 
Francis  Vere,  who  declines  his 
challenges,   69-75  ;    mutual    re- 
criminations, 76,  77  ;  pleads  for 
the    English    Roman    Catholics 
with  King  James,  and  sends  his 
cousin,  Thomas,  to  Edinburgh, 
67-80 ;  James's  express  promises 


486 


INDEX 


of  toleration  for  the  Romanists, 
80-82,  85-87 ;  Cecil  plots  against 
the  Earl,  82-87  ;  the  latter  at 
first  in  favour,  but  eventually 
leaves  Court  in  disgust,  89-93  ; 
granted  Syon  Manor,  and  lives 
there  among  books  and  scholars, 
93-98  ;  Salisbuiy  takes  advan- 
tage of  Thomas  Percy's  relation- 
ship to  involve  the  Earl  in  the 
Gunpowder  Plot,  1 16-125;  Star 
Chamber  trial,  the  Earl's  inno- 
cence established,  he  is  never- 
theless fined  ^30,000,  deprived 
of  all  offices,  and  sent  to  the 
Tower,  12S  ;  opinions  of  Hallam 
and  Jardyne  on  this  outrageous 
injustice,  129 ;  his  long  im- 
prisonment, lightened  by  scien- 
tific studies,  159-174  ;  composes 
his  Instructions  to  his  son,  175- 
188  ;  opposes  the  marriages  of 
his  son  and  daughters,  189-198  ; 
released  from  captivity,  199,  200 ; 
closing  years,  200-209 
Percy,  Henr>',  Lord  Percy  of  Aln- 
wick, 213  ;  in  favour  with  Queen 
and  Court,  217,  219,  221  ;  quarrels 
with  Lords  Carlisle  and  Dunluce, 
228,  229,  ;  leader  in  the  Army 
Plot,  is  expelled  from  Parliament, 
and  exiled,  246-250 ;  joins  the 
Royalist  army,  created  a  Peer, 
and  shows  gallantry  and  skill 
as  general  of  cavalry,  283  ;  de- 
feated and  captured,  283,  284  ; 
Lord  Chamberlain  to  the  exiled 
Prince  of  Wales,  284,  285  ;  dies 
neglected  at  Breda,  289,  290,  342, 

343.  363 
Percy,    Lieut  -  Colonel,    the    Hon. 

Henry   Percy,    aide-de-camp   to 

the    Duke     of    Wellington,    at 

Waterioo,  464,  465 
Percy,  Henry,  of  Pavenham,  327, 

329,  338,  339,  343.  362 
Percy,   Henry,  of  Horton   (father 


of  James  Percy),  in  the  house- 
hold  of  Lord  Bacon,  327  ;   his 
history,  328,  337,  338,  343,  362 
Percy,  Henry,  son  of  James  Percy, 

349 

Percy,  Henry,  of  Seskin,  co.  Wick- 
low,  grandson  of  James  Percy, 
367 

Percy,  Henry  Algernon  George, 
Earl  Percy,  M.P.,  traveller  and 
author,  heir  of  Northumber- 
land, 468 

Percy,  Henry  George,  seventh 
Duke  of  Northumberland,  K.G., 
P.C,  &c.  :  present  chief  of  the 
third  line  of  Percy,  and  represen- 
tative of  William  Als-gemons, 
467,  468 

Percy,  Lord  Henry  Hugh  Manners, 
V.C.  :  displays  great  bravery 
in  the  Crimean  War.  wins  the 
Victoria  Cross  at  Inkermann,  re- 
ceives honours  from  France  and 
Turkey,  and  attains  the  rank  of 
Lieutenant-General,  467 

Percy,  Hugh,  first  Duke  and  second 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  K.G.  : 
originally  Sir  H.  Smithson  fourth 
Bart,  of  Stanwick,  his  birth  and 
ancestry  424-433  ;  descent  from 
the  House  of  Percy,  435  n.  ; 
marries  Lady  Betty  Seymour, 
who  eventually  becomes  heir  of 
the  Percy  line,  436-438  ;  her 
grandfather,  Somerset,  attempts 
unavailingly  to  shut  them  out  of 
the  succession,  438-442  ;  Lady 
Betty's  father  created  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  with  remainder 
to  Sir  Hugh,  442,  443  ;  Smithson, 
succeeding  to  title  and  estates, 
assumes  name  and  arms  of 
Percy,  443,  444 ;  receives  the 
Garter,  444 ;  enonnously  de- 
velops his  estates,  445,  446 ; 
Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  446; 
created   Duke   of    Northumber- 


INDEX 


487 


land,  448-450;  opposes  the 
Stamp  Act,  and  the  American 
War,  450  ;  assaulted  and  robbed 
by  the  "  No  Popery"  mob,  452  ; 
patronage  of  Ur.  Thomas  I'ercy, 
452,  453  ;  his  death  and  char- 
acter, 454. 
Percy,  Hugh,  second  Uukc  of 
Northumberland,  K.(J.,  451  ;  his 
useful  military  career,  454,  455  ; 
M.P.  for  Westminster,  and  mar- 
riage to  Lady  Anne  Stuart,  455  ; 
opposed  to  the  American  War,  but 
serves  from  a  sense  of  duty,  455 ; 
covers  retreat  from  Concord  under 
galling  fire,  456  ;  disputes  with 
Howe  and  other  generals,  obtains 
his  recall,  456,  457  ;  divorces  his 
first  wife,  and  marries  Frances 
Jane  Burrell,  457 ;  joins  the  party 
of  Fox  and  the  Regent,  457, 
458  ;  his  arbitrai-y  political  power, 
458,  459  ;  death,  and   character, 

459 

Percy,  Hugh,  third  Duke  of  North- 
umberland, K.G.:  great  political 
influence,  459,  460  ;  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland,  460,  461  ;  op- 
poses Reform  Bill  ;  Greville's 
malicious  sneer  at  his  mental 
capacity,  461 

Percy,  Right  Rev.  and  Hon.  Hugh, 
Lord  Bishop  of  Carlisle  :  marries 
the  daughter  of  Archbishop  Man- 
ners -  Sutton,  becomes  Arch- 
deacon, and  then  Dean  of  Can- 
terbury, Bishop  of  Rochester,  and 
Bishop  of  Carlisle,  463,  464 

Percy,  Sir  Ingelgram,  160,  344-346, 
362 

Percy,  James,  of  Dublin  (the 
"  Trunkmaker  "),  Claimant  of  the 
Northumberland  honours,  310, 
315;  asserts  his  claim,  316; 
antecedents,  325  ;  alleged  recog- 
nition by  tenth  Earl,  326  ;  early 
efforts  baffled,  329-333;  petitions 


King  and  I'arliainent,334  ;  before 
the  Lords,  336,  337  ;  Justice  Hales 
in  his  favour,  343,  344  ;  pleas  of 
"privilege"  tar  his  way,  344-348 ; 
further  petitions  and  misadven- 
tures, 348-364  ;  his  last  claim 
opposed  by  Somerset,  365,  366  ; 
condemned  as  a  pretender  by 
House  of  Lords,  366,367  ;  Craik's 
verdict  on  his  case,  367  ;  descen- 
dants and  probable  heirs,  367, 368 
and  ;/. 
Percy,  James,  uncle  of  the  preced- 
ing, 326  and  n.,  327,  329,  333  n., 
343 
Percy,  James,  360 
Percy,  John,   son   of  Josceline   of 

Beverley,  372  n. 
Percy,  John,  son  of  the  "Trunk- 
maker,"  349,  367,  368 
Percy,  John,  of  Clononeen,  368  ;/. 
Percy,  Josceline,  eleventh  Earl  of 
Northumberland,     292    and    n., 
297  ;    delicate    health    of,   299  ; 
early  life  and  training,  303-305  ; 
enters  public  life,  306  ;  marriage, 
308 ;    succeeds   his   father,   310, 

311  ;     death    of    his    only    son, 

312  ;  supposed  inclination  towards 
Roman  Catholicism,  312,  313  ; 
sets  out  for  Rome,  313,  314  ;  dies 
of  fever  at  Turin,  315  ;  his  burial, 
316  ;  last  will,  316  ;  343,  344 

Percy,  Josceline,  of  Newland,  co. 

York  (son    of  fourth    Earl),  99, 

205,  346,  352,  367-372 
Percy,  Josceline,  son  of  eighth  Earl, 

66,  67,  148 
Percy,  Josceline,  of  Beverley.  MP., 

108  «,  361  and  «.,  371,  372 
Percy,  Rev.  Josceline,  M.A.,  359 «., 

364 
Percy,  Josceline,   of  Clerkenwell, 

372  n. 
Percy,     Vice-Admiral      Josceline, 

M.P.,  464 
Percy,  Lord  Josceline  William,  466 


488 


INDEX 


Percy,  Lady  Louisa,  467 

Percy,   Lady   Lucy   (Wotton),   29, 

41-45 
Percy,    Lady    Lucy   (Countess   of 

Carlisle),  173,  189,  190,  191-198, 

204,  205,  221,  240-246,  250,  281, 

and  71.,  285,  286,  289 
Percy,  Mary,  364 
Percy,  Mary,  363 
Percy,  Lady  Margaret,  Countess  of 

Cumberland,  340 
Percy,     Lady      Margaret     (Lady 

Hatherton),  467 
Percy,  Margaret  (Trevor),  364 
Percy,  Sir  Richard,  son  of  eighth 

Earl,  serves  in  Ireland,  66,  332, 

333.  344,  345 

Percy,  Richard,  362,  363 

Percy,  Robert,  333,  350,  355-360, 
362,  363 

Percy,  Roger,  of  Charing  Cross, 
350,  362,  363  n. 

Percy,  Lady  Susan,  465 

Percy,  Thomas,  Bishop  of  Dro- 
more,  D.D.,  122  ;  introduced  to 
the  Duke  of  Northumberland  by 
Goldsmith,  453,  account  of  his 
life  and  Works,  453  n. 

Percy,  Sir  Thomas,  160,  215,  356 

Percy,  Thomas,  Constable  of  Aln- 
wick Castle,  Gunpowder  con- 
spirator, 80,  99-103;  account  of 
his  connection  with  the  Plot,  his 
flight  and  death,  103-116,  119, 
120,  122,  123,  128,  148,  149,  205, 
233,  333,  356,  358-361,  371 

Percy,  Captain  Thomas,  of  Wor- 
cester, 351,  453  «• 

Percy,  Rev.  Thomas,  453  n. 

Percy,  Thomas,  360 

Percy,  Sir  William,  369,  370 

Percy,  William,  son  of  eighth  Earl, 
36  ;  his  retired  life  at  Oxford, 
207,  208,  228,  342 

Percy,  William,  alleged  son  of 
Josceline  of  Newland,  370  n. 

Percy,  William,  338 


Percy,  William,  glover,  his  abortive 
claims,  340-342,  372 

Percy,  Rear-Admiral  Hon.  William 
Henry,  M.P.,  465 

Perkins,  Doctor,  364 

Perrott,  or  Perrot,  Charles,  313,  314 

Perrott,  or  Perrot,  23  «.,  52  and  «., 
58,  160 

Perrott,  or  Perrot,  Penelope,  Lady 
Gower,  1 73  and  //. 

Perrott,  or  Perrot,  Sir  Thomas,  49, 
52-58,  173  «.,  1897/. 

Perrott,  or  Perrot,  Thomas,  of 
Haroldston,  52 

Petrozani,  Francesco,  171 

Petworth,  co.  Sussex,  13-19,  21,  35, 
40,  41,  47,  48,  92,  176,  198,  200- 
202,  204-208,  262,  296,  298-300, 
308,  326,  331,  371,  372,  397,  400- 
404,  417,  419,  420,  435,44° 

Pierrepont,  278 

Pierrepont,  Robert,  Earl  of  King- 
ston, 282  and  n. 

Pigot  family  of  Stanwick,  432 

Pimbourne  (Pimpem  ?),  335 

Pirs  (Piers  ?),  Mr.,  300,  301 

Pitt,  William,  first  Earl  of  Chatham, 
447,  448-450 

Pitt,  Right  Hon.  William,  458,  465 

Pittscorthy,  co.  Fife,  192 

Plaxton,  William,  268 

Pocahontas,  209 

Pole,  Cardinal,  as  Papal  Nuncio, 
406 

Pollard,  Mr.,  247 

Pomfret,  Countess  of,  422  and  n. 

Pontefract,  425 

Po7-tlatid,  221 

Portland,  Duke  of,  457 

Portland,  Earl  of,  261 

Popham,  Alexander,  of  Littlecote, 
324 

Popham,  Attorney-General,  after- 
wards Chief-Justice,  26,  103  »., 
124 

Popham,  Sir  Hume,  464 

Potter,  Hugh,  306  «. 


INDEX 


489 


Potter  V.  Tkynrt,  case  of,  38 1 
Pound,  Mr.,  ill-treatment   of,   103, 

104 
Poulett,  Earl,  173  //. 
Poulett,  William,  styled  Viscount 

Hinton,  173  n. 
Poulett,   Hon.  William  John  Lyd- 

ston,  173  n. 
Powhatan,  Grand  Sachem,  visited 

by  George  Percy  in  Virginia,  209 
Powton,  Edmund,  120,  174 
Preaux,  Chevalier  Hector  de,  Sieur 

du  Bee,  17,  18  «. 
Pride,    Colonel,    280 ;   exhumation 

of  his  body,  296  >i. 
Pritchett,  steward  to  the  tenth  Earl, 

268  «.,  269  n. 
Prudhoe  Barony,  1 54 
Prudhoe  Castle,  126 
Prudhoe,  Baron,  j-^'f  Algernon  Percy 

fourth  Duke  of  Northumberland 
Pym,  John,  245,  246,  248-250,  262, 

28s 

Queen's  Regiment  of  Dragoons,  405, 
407 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  22,  24,  29, 
40,  46,  47,  57,  60,  63,  68,  70,  75. 
77,  82  n.,  84,  89-91,  97  and  «., 
98,  160,  164-168,  171,  198,  208, 
211 

Ramsay,  Mrs.,  300 

Ramsden,  Sir  William,  425  11. 

Rat/din  Island,  massacre  of  inhabi- 
tants by  Essex,  50  n. 

Reform  Bill,  Northumberland's 
political  influence  prior  to,  458, 
459  ;  passage  of  the  bill,  461 

Reiswitz,  Lieut,  von,  170  and  //. 

Reresby,  Sir  John,  383  ;  captures 
Thynn's  assassins,  393,  393 

Retcliffe,  Katherine,  369 

Retz,  Cardinal  de,  27 1 

Rhead,  Dr.  Ale.xander,  97 

Rich,  Charles,  Earl  of  Warwick, 
252,  253,  262 


Rich,  Earl  of  Holland,  226,  248,  258 

Rich,  Robert,  third  Lord  Rich,  first 
Earl  of  Warwick,  51,  52,  57 

Richardson,  Jesuit  priest,  loi 

Richmond,  196,  271,  272,  447 

Ripon,  Marquis  of,  432 

Ripon,  Treaty  of,  246 

Robinson,  Ralph,  haberdasher  of 
Cheapside,  432  and  //. 

Robinson,  Robert,  brother  of  pre- 
ceding, 432  and  n. 

Rochford,  George  Boleyn,  Lord, 
162 

Rokeby,  co.  York,  432  ;;. 

Rokeby,  Sir  Charles,  15 

Rome,  eleventh  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland at,  305 ;  he  again  journeys 
thither,  312-314 

Rookwood,  Gunpowder  Plot  con- 
spirator, 105-1 16 

Rose  Castle,  Carlisle,  464 

Rosse,  Mr.,  353,  354 

Rosseau,  323 

Rowe,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  422 

Royal  Horse  Guards,  457 

Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  168 

Rugley,  CO.  Northumberland,  58 

Russell,  Lady  Diana,  Countess  of 
Bradford,  352 

Russell,  Francis,  fourth  Earl  of 
Bedford,  352 

Russell,  Sir  Francis,  21,  25 

Russell,  Lady  Rachel,  see  Wrio- 
thesley 

Russell,  Lord  William,  303 

Ruthven,  John,  third  Earl  of  Gowrie, 
163  n. 

Ruthven,  Lord,  2 

Ruthven,  Patrick,  163  and  «. 

Ruthven,  Patrick,  the  Younger, 
163  n. 

Ruthvens,  The,  162  n. 

Rutland,  Earl  of,  40,  68,  70 

Rye  House  Plot,  303,  309,  404 
and  «. 

Rysbrack's  statue  of  Charles,  Duke 
of  Somerset,  419 


490 


INDEX 


"  Saccharissa,"  see  Sidney, 
Dorothy 

Sacheverel,  Dr.,  410 

Sackville,  Isabel,  Countrss  of  North- 
ampton, 339  71. 

Sackville,  Margaret,  Countess  of 
Thanet,  339  n. 

Sackville,  Richard,  third  Earl  of 
Dorset,  339  n. 

Sadler,  Sir  Ralph,  10,  14,  15 

St.  John,  Henry,  Viscount  Boling- 
broke,  403,  409,  410,  412-416 

St.  John,  Oliver,  262 

St.  Luc,  Mdlle.  de,  214 

St.  Gerinains,  408 

St.  James's  Palace,  270,  275,  276, 
281,  311 

St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  212, 

459.  467 
St.  Katharine s-by-the-Tower,  169 
St.  Omer,  ^yj  n. 
St.  PauFs,  Churchyard,  116 
St.  Petei' s-ad-Vincula,   Tower,  25, 

30,  162 
Salisbury,  Earl  of,  219 
Salisbury,  Earl  of,  258,  263 
Salisbur)',  Earl  of,  see  Cecil 
Salisbury,  Hugh,  316 
Salkeld,  59 
Salvetti,  271 

Salwarpe,  Worcestershire,  167 
Sancroft,  Archbishop,  162,  407 
Sandal,  Great,  co.  York,  369 
Sandys,  Sir  Edward,  199 
Savage,  Richard,  423 
Saxe,  Marshal,  386 
Saxony,  Augustus,  Elector  of,  386 
Say,  Lord,  278 

Scott,  Janet,  Lady  Ker,  172  «. 
Scott,  Matthew,  359 
Scott,  Sir  William,  of  Buccleuch, 

172  n. 
Sebastopol,  466 
Sedgemoor,  Battle  of,  405 
Selby,  Dame  Dorothy,  205  n. 
Selby,  Sir  William,  159 
Selden,  Mr.,  199,  258 


Sevign^,  Madame  de,  320,  32 1  n. 

Seymour,  Algernon  seventh  Duke 
of  Somerset,  first  Earl  of  North- 
umberland, 404,  417,  420-424, 
430,  438-440  ;  succeeds  as  Duke 
of  Somerset  ;  created  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  &c.,  with  re- 
mainder to  Sir  Hugh  Smithson, 

443 

Seymour,  Charles,  sixth  Duke  of 
Somerset,  365,  366  ;  descent  and 
early  life,  397-400  ;  succeeds  to 
Dukedom,  400 ;  marries  Eliza- 
beth Percy  ;  his  amazing  vanity 
and  lack  of  education,  403  ;  sym- 
pathy with  Monmouth,  405,  406  ; 
reluctantly  joins  William  IIL, 
407,  408 ;  favoured  by  Queen 
Anne,  408  ;  quarrels  with  Marl- 
borough and  the  Whigs,  and  in 
turn  with  St.  John  and  the  Tories, 
409-41 1  ;  with  Argyll  and  Shrews- 
bury secures  the  Hanoverian 
succession,  415,  416,  417-420; 
enraged  at  death  of  grandson, 
attempts  to  keep  the  Smithsons 
from  succession,  438-441 

Seymour,  Edward,  first  Duke  of 
Somerset,  the  Protector,  94,  95, 
309,  407  n. 

Seymour,  Edward,  Earl  of  Hertford, 
398,  399 

Seymour,  Sir  Edward,  fourth  Bart., 
407  and  n. 

Seymour,  Sir  Edward,  sixth  Bart, 
and  eighth  Duke  of  Somerset, 
407  n.,  443  n. 

Seymour,  Lady  Elizabeth,  Duchess 
of  Northumberland  :  early  life, 
and  courtship  by  Hugh  Smith- 
son,  424-430 ;  happily  married 
to  Smithson,  436,  437 ;  becomes 
heir  of  Percy,  437,  438 ;  her 
character  and  tastes,  444,  445  ; 
takes  part  in  Westminster  elec- 
tion, 451;  her  letters,  rhymes,  and 
literarj'  friendships,  452,  453 


INDEX 


491 


Seymour  family,  pei\igree  of,  399 
Seymour,    Francis,   fifth    Duke  of 

Somerset,  3S9  and  11.,  398-400 
Seymour,  Francis  Ingram,  Marquis 

of  Hertford,  44S 
Seymour,     George,     Lord     l?eau- 

champ,  423,  424,  436-438  ;  dies 

of   smallpox    at    Bologna,    vild 

patris,  438 
Seymour,  Jane,  Queen   of  Henry 

VIII.,  398,  399 
Seymour,    John,    fourth    Duke   of 

Somerset,  41 
Seymour,  Lady  Katherine  (Wynd- 

ham),  439  n. 
Seymour,  William,  second  Duke  of 

Somerset  (Lord  Hertford),  264 
Seymour,  William,  third  Duke  of 

Somerset,  319  and  «.,  322  ;  dies 

of  love   for  Lady  Northumber- 
land, 397 
Shaftesbury,  Earl  of,  303,  313 
Shakespeare,  William,    5,   60,   67, 

97  and  n. 
Shelley,  William,  22 
Shenstone,  423 
Shipbornc,  Kent,  243  n. 
Shrewsbury-,  Duke  of,  416 
Shrewsbury,  Earl  of,  15 
Sicily,  Queen  of,  412 
Sidney,   Algernon,   191,   203,   206, 

233,  288  «.,  303,  379,  404  n. 
Sidney,  Lady  Dorothy,  Countess  of 

Sunderland  (Waller's   "  Saccha- 

rissa")  191,  206,  242,  261,  288  «., 

379 

Sidney,  Henry,  Earl  of  Romney, 
191,  288  n. 

Sidney,  Philip,  first  Earl  of  Leices- 
ter, 118,  191,  232,  233 

Sidney,  Philip,  third  Earl  of  Leices- 
ter (Lord  Lisle),  191,  206,  243, 
286,  288  n. 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  69, 191,  240,  305 

Sidney,  Robert,  second  Earl  of 
Leicester,  191,  216,  239,  266,  286, 
288,  292-296  and  n. 


Sidney,  Sir  Robert,  65 

Sidney,  Colonel  Robert,  191,  288  n. 

Slingsby,   Sir   Henry,   of  Scriven, 

'74 
Smith,  C:iptain  John,  208,  209 
Smith,  Thomas,  226,  253 
Sim't/i/ielil,  East,  162 
Smithson,  Anthony,  431,  432 
Smithson,  Anthony,  of  Tottenham, 

433 
Smithson,  Anthony,  433  n. 
Smithson,   James,   natural   son   of 

first   Duke  of  Northumberland, 

founder  of  Smithsonian  Institute 

at  Washington,  454  //. 
Smithson,  Sir  Jeremy,  second  Hart. 

of  Stanwick,  433 
Smithson,  Sir  Hugh,  first  Bart,  of 

Cheapside   and   Stanwick    Hall, 

county  York,  432,  433 
Smithson,  Sir  Hugh,  third  Bart,  of 

Stanwick,  433 
Smithson,  Sir  Hugh,  fourth  Bart. 

of  Stanwick,  see  Percy,   Hugh, 

first  Duke  of  Northumberland 
Smithson,    Hugh,    of    Tottenham 

High  Cross,  M.P.,  433,  435-437 
Smithson,  Hugh,  of  Cheapside,  433 
.Smithson,  Langdale,  433 
.Smithson,  William,  of  Newsham, 

43' 
Smithson  family,  account  of,  430- 

432 
Somers,  Lord,  411 
Somerset,  Lady  Anne,  Countess  of 

Northumberland,  172,  173 
Somerset,  Duke  of,  see  Seymour 
Somerset,  Earl  of,  see  Carr 
Somerset,   Henry,  second   Earl  of 

Worcester,  4 
Somerset  House,  270 
Sophia,  Dorothea,  Queen,  286  and 

«.,  296  n. 
Southampton,   Duke  of,  see  Fitz- 

Roy 
Southampton,  Earls  of,  see  Wrio- 

thesley 


492 


INDEX 


Southampton  House,  Holborn,  297 

and  n.,  308 
Spenser,  Edmund,  97,  170  n. 
Spettisbury,  Dorset,  96 
Spratt,  Dean,  296 
Stafford,  Sir  Edward,  21,  74,  75 
Stafford,  Viscount,  354 
Stamford,  465 
Stanhope,  Dr.,  55 
Stanhope,  Earl,  Hist.  0/  England, 

403 
Stanhope,    Philip,    first     Earl    of 

Chesterfield,  299 
Stanhope,  Philip,  Lord  Stanhope, 

afterwards      second      Earl      of 

Chesterfield,  295-302 
Stanhope,    Philip    Dormer,    third 

Earl  of  Chesterfield,  299,  302 
Stanley,    Venetia,     Lady     Digby, 

221  n. 
Stanwick  Hall,  co.  York,  431,  432, 

433,  436,  437 
Stern,    Lieut.    John,     assassin    of 

Tom  Thynn,  390-392  ;  trial  and 

execution,  393-395 
Stone,  Andrew,  446 
Stony  Stratford,  1 1 2 
Storrocks,  Mr.,  437,  438 
Stourton,  Lord,  127 
Stourbridge  Fair,  357,  364 
Stow,  271  n. 
Strafford,   Countess    of,   403,   410, 

415 
Straflford,  Earl  of,  see  Wentworth 
Strode,  Sir  George,  421  n. 
Strode,  Grace,  42 1  ;/. 
Strype's   Life  of  Bishop  Aylmer, 

53-55 
Stuart,    Lady    Anne,    Duchess   of 

Northumberland,  455  ;  divorced, 

457  and  n. 
Stuart,  Arabella,  36,  48,  49,  78,  81, 

103 
Stuart,  John,  Marquis  of  Bute,  446, 

448,450.455-456 
Stuart,  Matthew,  Earl  of  Lennox, 

88 


Stuart  Wortley,  see  Wortley 
Suckling,  Sir  John,  247,  248,  236, 

237 
Suffolk,  Earls  of,  see  Howard 
Suffolk  House,  318,  374  and  n. 
Sunderland,  Earl  of,  303,  411 
Surtees,    Robert,    F.S.A.,   358   «., 

368,  370 
Swayne,  Thomas,  334,  351-353 
Swift,  Jonathan,  325,  386,  402-405, 

412-415,422 
Swillington,  co,  York,  425  and  «., 

426 
Swinburne,       Admiral,       Charles 

Henry,  465  n. 
Swinburne,       Algernon      Charles, 

465  n. 
Syon  House,  Isleworth,  64,  65,  73, 

92-98,    108,    109,   116,    120,   148, 

157  and«.,  158, 167-170,  174,  196, 

197,  200,  202,  227,  258,  271-274, 

277,  281,  282,  288,  296-298,  229- 

231,  273,  385,453 

Tadcaster,  267 

T anglers,  387 

Tasso's  Works,  170 

Taunton,  359,  360 

Tempest  of  Broughton,  345  n. 

Tempest  of  Holmside,  co.  Dur- 
ham, 339 

Tempest,  James,  286 

Temple,  Lady  (Dorothy  Osborne), 
384 

Temple,  Middle,  213 

Temple,  Sir  William,  303,  310, 
384 

Temple  Bar,  293 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  Lord,  106  n. 

Thanet,  Earl  of,  see  Tufton 

Theobalds,  Herts,  57 

Thianges,  Mdme.  de,  321 

Thompson,  parson  of  Egremonde, 

31 
Thompson,  Robert,  268,  269 
Th^Tin,  Thynne,  Thinn,  or  Th'Inn, 

family  of,  380  n. 


INDEX 


493 


Thynn,  Frances,  Duchess  of  Somer- 
set, 421   and   «.,  422-424,  426- 

430 
Thynn,  Hon.  Henry,  421  /;. 
Thynn,  Mary,  Lady  Brooke,  421  n. 
Thynn,  Sir  Thomas,  of  Longleat, 

380  ». 
Thynn,  Sir  Thomas,  380  n. 
Thynn,  Sir  Thomas,  created  first 

Viscount  Weymouth,  380  and  «., 

421    71. 

Thynn,  Tom,  of  Longleat,  353,  357, 
358  w.,  379,  380  and  «.,  382-384, 
388-390  ;  murdered  in  Pall  Mall, 
391-393.  396,  397,  412.  413-42'. 
422 

Tibbot,  James,  338 

Tichbourne,  Chidiock,  19 

Titchfield,  co.  Hants,  309  and  //., 

323 
Tobacco,   Love  of  the  "  Wizard" 

Earl  for,  40,  92,  98  and  «.,  168 
Tomkins,  Colonel,  261 
Topcliffe,  ancient  seat  of  the  Percies, 

216,  217 
Torperley,  Nathaniel,  97, 167  and  n., 

205 
Tottenham  High  Cross,  433,  435- 

437 

Toulon,  action  off,  461 

Towcester,  1 1 2 

Tower  of  London,  eighth  Earl  in 
the,  10-13,  23  ;  he  is  slain  or 
kills  himself  there,  23-29  ;  ninth 
Earl  a  prisoner  there,  125-200; 
Sir  Charles  and  Sir  Josceline 
Percy  prisoners,  66,  67  ;  Lucy 
Percy,  Lady  Carlisle,  a  prisoner 
for  three  years,  285,  286 

Townshend,  Charles,  448 

Tresham,  Elizabeth,  Lady  Mont- 
eagle,  106  n. 

Tresham,  Francis,  betrayer  of  the 
Gunpowder  Plot,  105-116,  127 

Tresham,  Sir  Thomas,  106  //. 

Trevor,  Margaret  (born  Percy), 
364 


Trevor,   Mrs.,   victim   of   Thomas 

Thynn,  383,  384 
Trinity   College,    Cambridge,   398, 

463 
Triumph,  The,  flagship,  221 
Tufton,     John,    Earl    of    Thanet, 

339"- 
Tullibardine,  Marquis  of,  see  Moray 
Tun  bridge,  300,  301 
Turin,  305  ;  death  of  eleventh  Earl 

at,  315 
Turnham    Green,   Royalist    camp 

on,  258 
Tyburn,  296 
lynemouih  Castle,   i,  4,  7,  10,   13, 

20,  21,  25,  31,  46,  126,  159,  267, 

210  and  n. 

Utrecht,  421 

Uxbridge,  The  "  Treaty"  or  Con- 
ference of,  263-266,  271. 
Uxbridge,     "  Treaty     Mouse"    at, 
263  and  n. 

Vandyck,  Sir  Anthony,  163  n. 
Vandyck,    Lady   (bom    Ruthven), 

163  «. 
Vane,  Sir  Harry,  243,  262 
Vane,  Sir  Harry,  the  Younger,  234, 

245,  253,  262,  278 
Van  Tromp,  Admiral,  232 
Varnum,  Mary,  328,  335,  341 
Vaux   of    Harrowden,    Dame,  see 

Cheyne 
Vaux  of  Harrowden,  William,  third 

Lord,  340 
Venice,  Koningsmarcks  in,  386,  395, 

396 
\'ere,  Sir  Francis,  his  quarrel  with 

Northumberland,  68,  77 
Vere,  Sir  Horace,  69,  72 
Vere,  John  de,   sixteenth  Earl  of 

Oxford,  74  «. 
Victoria,  Queen,  465-467 
Victoria  Cross,  won  by  Lord  Henry 

Percy,  at  Inkermann,  466 


494 


INDEX 


Villiers,  Barbara,  Duchessof  Cleve- 
land, 302,  324,  376 

Villiers,  Edward,  310  n. 

Villiers,  George,  first  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  168,  200,  202,  203, 
214-217,  241,  253 

Virginia,  colony  of,  George  Percy 
Deputy-Governor,  &c.,  208,  209 

Waad,  Sir  Arthur,  Governor  of 
the  Tower,  160,  161,  164,  165 

Walhouse,  Moreton,  464 

Walhouse,  Sophia  (Percy),  464 

Walker,  Sir  Edward,  Garter  King 
of  Arms,  331  and  11.,  332 

Waller,  Edmund,  191  n.,  206,  242, 
243,  256-261,  288  tt. 

Waller,  Sir  William,  262 

Walpole,  Horace,  418  n.,  437  n., 
438.444,  445  n.,  451,  452,  456, 
459 

Walsh,  Sir  Richard,  11 3-1 15 

Walsingham,  Secretary,  17,  21,  25, 
26,  32-34,  37 

Wandesford,  Sir  Christopher,  241 

Wanford,  co.  York,  88 

Warburton,  Bishop,  244,  245 

Ware,  120 

Warner,  Walter,  97,  166,  167 

Warriston,  Johnston  of,  262 

Warwick,  Earl  of,  253,  254,  262 

Warwick,  Sir  Philip,  245 

Waterloo,  Battle  of,  465 

Waterton,  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Edward 
Percy,  99,  370 

Waterton,  Sir  Thomas,  of  Walton, 
370  n. 

Watertons,  late  of  Walton,  now  of 
Deeping  Waterton,  370  n. 

Watson,  a  priest,  91 

Weldon,  Sir  Anthony,  192 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  460,  465 

Wentworth,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Straf- 
ford, 203,  205,  216,  217,  221,  224- 
226,  229-231,  233-235,  237-244 

Weymouth,  Viscount,  see  Thynn 

Whalley,  Nathaniel,  335 


Whetstone    Park,    Lincoln's    Inn 

Fields,  389  n. 
Whinneard,  105 
White,  Roland,  64 
Whitehall,  Palace  of,  242,  247,  248, 

269,  270,  280,  281,  293 
Whitelocke,   Bulstrode,    258,   260, 

264,  265 
White's  Club  House,  318 
"  White  Tower"  The,  162 
Whitlock,  Captain,  73,  120,  148 
Widdrington,  Sir  Henry,  126 
Wilde,  Mr.  Justice,  347 
Wilkes,  John,  451,  455 
William  III.,  324,  405,  407,  408 
Williamson,  Sir  Joseph,  314,  322, 

323  «• 
Willis,  John,  schoolmaster,  213 
Wilmot,  Lord,  247 
Wimbledon,    Viscount,    see    Cecil, 

Edward 
Winchester,  Marquis  of,  see  Paulet 
Windebank,    Secretary,    220,   221, 

230,  231,  232,  234 
Windsor  Castle,  281,  406 
Windsor  Court,  Mugwell  Street, 

residence  of  James  Percy,  351  ». 
Windsor,  Lord,  351  n. 
"  Windsor    Prophecy"    386,    413, 

414 
Winter,  Robert,   Gunpowder   Plot 

conspirator,  104-116 
Winter,  Thomas,  Gunpowder  Plot 

conspirator,  104-116 
Winwood,  Sir  Robert,  151 
Wodehouse,  Wentworth,  co.  York, 

244 
Women,  The  "  Wizard"  Earl  dis- 
cusses, 177-180 
Woodroffe,  Joseph,  of  Woolley,  co. 

York,  senior  co-heir  of  the  ancient 

Baronies    of    Percy,    Poynings, 

&c.,  216 
Woolley,  CO.  York,  216 
Worcester,  Earl  of,  see  Somerset 
Wortley,    Hon.    James    Archibald 

Stuart-,  465 


INDEX 


495 


Wortley,  Louisa  Harcourt  Stuart-, 
Duchess  of  Northumberland, 
465,  466 

Wotton,  Sir  John,  29,  42  and  n.- 

45 

Wressill  dutle,  co.  York,  216,  217, 
267  ;  dismantled  by  Parliament, 
268,  269,  286,  287 

Wright,  Christopher,  Gunpowder 
Plot  conspirator,  104-116 

Wright,  John,  Gunpowder  Plot 
conspirator,  "  i/ie  best  swords- 
man in  England"  104-116 

Wright,  Martha,  wife  of  Thomas 
Percy,  the  conspirator,  loi,  359 
and  n. 

Wriothesley,  Lady  Audrey,destined 
bride  of  Lord  Percy,  dies  pre- 
maturely, 292-297,  306,  307 

Wriothesley, Lady  Elizabeth,  Coun- 
tess of  Northumberland,  297, 
307,  312,  315-322;  after  Earl 
Josceline's  death,  marries  Ralph 
Montagu,  subsequently  first  Duke 
of  Montagu,  323,  324 


Wriothesley,  Henry,  third  Earl  of 
Southampton,  patron  of  Shake- 
speare :  his  quarrel  witli  the 
ninth  Earl  of  Northumberland, 
67,  68,  75.  199 

Wriothesley,  Lady  Rachel,  wife  of 
Lord  William  Russell,  309 

Wriothesley,  Thomas,  fourth  Earl 
of  Southampton,  "the  Cavalier 
Earl"  ;  212  and  «.,  264,  292,  297, 
307.  3°8 

Wyndham,  Sir  Charles,  second  Earl 
of  Egreniont,  418  n.  ;  by  the 
settlement  of  his  grandfather 
succeeds  to  many  of  the  Percy 
estates,  439  and  «.,  441-443 

Wyndham,  Percy,  jcc  O'Bryan 

Wyndham,  Sir  William,  418  and  »., 
419 

Yarmouth,  Sophia  de  Walmoden, 

Countess  of,  417,  445  and  n. 
Yelverton,  Sir  Henry,  199 
Young,  Charles,  F.S.A.,  358,  368 
Youngs,  The,  58 


ERRATA— VOLUME  II. 

Page    S3,  line  iT,ft>r  "  Strype,"  read  "  Ay\meT.'' 
„      97,    „    24,/or  "Tarporley,"  «a</ "Torperley." 

i>  1S5>    >i    19, /<"""  Sir  William  Cecil,' V^'fl//"  Sir  Robert  Cecil." 

,,  215,    ,,    24, /<;/■•■  Henry,"  rcoif  "Thomas." 

,,  271,  note  it/or  "Goudi,"  read " Go\\d\." 

„  457,  line  19, for  "the  then  Earl  Percy,"  rcarf" Northumberland." 

,,  457,  note  I,  far  "  Countess  Percy,"  read  "  the  Duchess." 

,,  460,  lines  3-4,  after  "anti-slave  trade,"  understand  "  parly." 


Printed  by  Ballantyne,  Hasson  &•  Co. 
Edinburgh  &■  London 


B465