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LI  BRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

Of    ILLINOIS 

B6ia 

V.3 


BLIGHTED  AMBITION; 


m&e  anJJ  d?aU 


THE  EARL  OF  SOMERSET. 

IN  THREE  VOLUMES. 


"  Let  me  speak,  <o  the  unknowing  world, 
How  these  things  came  about — so  shall  you  hear 
Of  carnal,  bloody,  and  unnatural  acts  ; 
Of  accidental  judgments,  casual  slaughters; 
Ol  deaths  put  on  by  cunning,  and  forc'd  cause ; 
And,  in  this  upshot,  purposes  mistook 
Fall'n  on  the  inventors'  heads;— all  this  can  I 
Truly  deliver."  Hamlet. 


VOL.    III. 


LONDON 


PRINTED  FOR    G.  AND  W.  B,  WHITTAKER, 

13,  AVE-MARIA-LANE. 


1822. 


LONDON : 
SHACKELL   AND   ARROWSMITH,   JOHNSON'S-COPRT, 


y.  3 


&/r 


BLIGHTED  AMBITION, 

Sfc. 


CHAPTER   I. 

You  were  iis'd 
To  say  extremity  was  the  tirer  of  spirits ; 
Tiiat  common  chances,  common  men  would  bear; 
That  when  the  sea  was  cahu,  all  boats  alike 
Sliew'd  mastership  in  floating.     Fortune's  blows, 
When  most  struck  home,  being  gently  warded,  crave 
A  noble  cunning.     You  were  used  to  load  me 
With  precepts  that  would  make  invincible 
I'he  heart  that  conn'd  them.  Coriolanus. 

In  a  few  days  after  the  Earl  of  Somer- 
set had  visited  the  King  at  Hampton 
Court,  the  Privy  Council  resolved  upon 
sending  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  as  am- 
bassador into  the  Low  Countries  to  the 
Archduke.     The   great  object  of  Cecil 

VOL.    HI.  B 


2  BLIGHTED  ambition;    OR, 

in  this  appointment,  was  to  reward  the 
diligence  and  suflBciency  of  the  knight^ 
and  to  make  his  mission  a  means  of  draw- 
ing him  into  greater  preferments.  But 
that  great  statesman  did  not  live  to  see 
his  plan  carried  into  effect ;  for  being 
now  grown  into  years,  he  was  advised 
to  visit  Bath  for  the  benefit  of  his  health, 
and  in  coming  over  the  downs  from  that 
city,  to  Marlborough,  he  was  taken  ill 
in  his  coach,  and  expired  the  day  after. 
The  death  of  the  great  Earl  of  Salisbury, 
was  not  looked  upon  by  many  as  having 
happened  in  the  ordinary  course  of  Na- 
ture, and  they  accordingly  attributed  it 
to  poison,  that  invisible  but  fatal  agent 
so  much  in  vogue  in  those  days. 
And  scarcely  had  this  "  supporter  of 
the  Protestant  faction,  and  discloser  of 
treasons,"  departed  this  life,  than  epi- 
taphs innumerable  were  made  for  his 
tomb -stone,  one  saying : 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.         J 

Here  lies  thrown       ***** 
Little  Bossive  Robin,  that  was  so  great, 
Not  Robin  Goodfellow,  nor  Robin  Hood, 
But  Robin  th'  incloser  of  Hatfield  Wood; 
Who  eeem'd  as  sent  from  ugly  Fate, 
To  spoil  the  Prince  and  rob  the  state  : 
Owning  a  mind  of  dismal  ends. 
As  traps  for  foes,  and  tricks  for  friends. 

The  great  fame  of  Somerset,  his  popula- 
rity, and  the  mysterious  manner  in  which 
he  conducted  some  parts  of  his  conduct, 
spread  reports  in  no  respects  favourable 
to  his  reputation  at  this  period.  Some 
said  he  had  tampered  with  Cecil's  phy- 
sician, others  that  he  had  merely  em- 
ployed the  chroniclers  of  men's  actions, 
to  write  the  epitaph  of  the  great  states- 
man now  no  more ;  but  a  third  class  in 
the  blindness  of  their  zeal,  translated  the 
Earl's  death,  into  an  effect  of  God's 
vengeance  ;  but  the  Earl  of  Salisbury 
was  a  minister  of  incomparable  prudence, 
and  with  such  a  scatterer  as  King  James 
B  2 


4  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;   OK^ 

might  have  feathered  his  nest^  as  the  say- 
ing goes,  better  than  he  did ;  but  he 
looked  upon  low  things  with  contempt,, 
leaving  much  to  the  gleaning  of  his  ser- 
vants, many  of  whom  came  afterwards 
into  high  places. 

Great  as  the  honour  was  which  had 
now  been  conferred  upon  Sir  Thomas 
Overbury,  that  gentleman  demurred  to 
be  encumbered  with  it,  and  this  reluc- 
tance he  was  not  backward  to  express  to 
Gabriella,  that  friend  of  his  bosom,  from 
whom  no  action  of  his  life  was  now  con- 
cealed, so  much  did  he  value  her  judg- 
ment in  matters  wherein  his  own  rested 
without  any  doubt. 

*^  Nay,  doubt  not  the  disposition  of 
the  Lords  of  Council,"  said  the  fair  Ga- 
briella :  "  follow  their  counsel  and  your 
fortune  is  made." 

"  But,  Gabriella,"  replied  Overbury, 
-"  the  Earl  of  Northampton  bears  ill-will 
towards  me — he  has  'not  concealed  his 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  O 

aiiind  from  mvself,  and  to  others  he  has 
spoken  even  more  freely.  I  must  cast 
about,  to  find  out  the  reason  why  I  am 
employed  to  visit  the  Archduke^  in  pre- 
ference to  some  great  lord," 

"  Sir  Knight/'  interrupted  Gabriella, 
**  to  refuse  the  King's  commission^  will 
i3e  your  utter  disgrace." 

"  To  undertake  it/'  replied  Sir  Tho- 
mas, "  will  be  the  loss  of  my  preferment 
h^  means  of  my  best  friend  at  home,  the 
Earl  of  Somerset." 

"  And  to  decline  it,  will  be  construed 
into  high  treason/'   rejoined  Gabriella. 

"  Think'st  thou,  fair  dame,  I  am  to  be 
<jozened  by  Northampton,  and  he  it  is 
who  desires  me  gone  ?  Nay,  nay,  Ga- 
briella, I  will  not  budge  ;  'tis  all  a  trick 
into  which  they  have  drawn  me ;  and 
Somerset  is  so  fairly  in  my  power,  he  '11 
not  fail  to  stand  my  friend,  in  the  event 
^f  incurring  the  King's  displeasure.'^ 


6  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OR, 

"  I  shall  not  urge  my  poor  opinion  fur- 
ther/' replied  Gabriella ;  "  but  methinks 
you  might  try  the  stars  with  some  wise 
magician,  to  know  the  fortune  reserved 
for  you  in  this  appointment." 

'^  I  had  some  thoughts  of  that  myself/' 
answered  Overbury ;  "  but  I  am  not  in 
the  humour  now. — To-morrow,  perhaps, 
I  may  visit  a  conjuror,  and  have  the 
scheme  of  my  nativity  erected  and  con- 
sulted." 

On  the  morrow  Sir  Thomas  was  met 
by  Somerset  earlier  than  usual  at  White- 
hall ;  and  the  presence  of  the  Earl  sur- 
prised his  friend,  who,  in  the  familiarity 
of  that  intercourse  which  passed  between 
them,  exclaimed  as  his  eyes  met  those  of 
his  patron, — >'*  My  Lord,  good  morrow  : 
methinks  this  early  time  of  day  bespeaks 
partnership  with  some  alchymical  dew 
gatherer." 

"  No,  Sir,  Thomas,  no,  not  quite  so  fan- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  7 

eiful  as  a  Rosicrutian  either  ;  but  as  zea- 
lous as  the  best  friend  of  Overbury/'  re- 
plied Somerset. 

"  Zeal,  my  good  lord,  like  the  warm- 
ing beams  of  that  blessed  sun,  ne'er 
yet  lacked  blossoms  and  social  evergreens, 
■ — How  does  my  sweet  lord  ?" 

^^  Indifferent  well,  Sir  Thomas/'  replied 
Somerset :  "  you  have  been  talked  to 
last  night,  by  the  lords  of  council,  on 
your  appointment  irk  the  Tiow  Countries. 
How  squares  your  humour  with  an  em- 
bassage ?" 

Overbury,  who  judged  this  would  be 
a  favourable  opportunity  of  putting  the 
friendship  of  the  Viscount  to  the  test, 
professed  himself  at  a  loss  how  to  act 
and  begged  Somerset  would  advise  him, 
saying,  '^  What  thinks  your  Lordship  of 
the  appointment  ?  For  myself,  I  am  in- 
different how  it  goes.  Some  considerations 
there  are  which  would  induce  me  to 
travel  again ;  but  there  are  others,  and 


8  BLIGHTED    AMBITIOX  ;   OR^ 

these  not  altogether  personal,  which  in- 
vite me  to  remain  still  in  England." 

"  I  confess  to  you,  Sir  Thomas/'  replied 
Somerset,  ''  I  am  somewhat  of  your 
mind  ;  and  I  am  aware  of  considerations 
you  ought  to  entertain  not  altogether 
personal.  Bethink  you  or  the  predica- 
ment in  which  you  might  be  placed  with 
respect  to  Gabriella,  and  also  to  the  Coun- 
cil if  your  embassage  answered  not  the 
wishes  of  the  King,  who^  whatever  may 
be  his  present  intentions,  will  be  no  trusty 
ally  of  the  protectant  cause  in  Ger- 
many."' 

"'  I  had,  in  reference  to  the  maligners 
of  your  Lordship's  worth/'  said  Over- 
bury,  ''  applied  to  myself  these  words  of 
the  poet : — 

'"'  Ne  quicquam  crede,  liaud  credere  quicqiiam, 
•  nam  fironte  polito." 


''  Astutum  rapido  torrent  suhpectore  viU- 
pern,  the  which,"  continued  Sir  Thomas, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  ^ 

who  entertained  a  very  low  opinion  of 
Somerset's  Latinity,  "  we  English  by 
saying, 

Believe  not  thou,  scarce  any  man  ; 
For  oft  a  Phrj^gian  face 
*     Is  smoothly  covered  with  a  smile, 
But  within  seeks  thy  disgrace.*' 

"  Perfectly  so,"  ejaculated  Somerset ; 
**  thy  disgrace  indeed,  my  Mentor  ; — do 
your  preferments  and  your  expectations 
lie  among  foreign  nations  ?  No,  none  of 
them.  In  how  many  years  will  you 
labour  to  make  among  them  that  cre- 
dit you  have  at  home  ?  Then  why 
should  you  hazard  upon  uncertainties, 
being  in  possession,  as  a  man  may  say, 
of  all  that  you  expect  by  this  means 
already  ?" 

*•  There,  my  Lord  Earl,  you  have  hit 

the  right  nail  on  the  head,"  answered 

the  knight,    whose  determinations   the 

wily   favourite  had  now  directed  as  he 

B  5 


10  BLIGHTED   AMBITION  ;   OR, 

wished  ; — ^^  My  great  trust  in  your 
Lordship's  continued  friendships,  with 
the  doubtfulness  of  my  own  mind,  what 
jBome  who  wish  me  gone  may  aim  at, 
does  in  a  manner  confirm  my  opinion 
rather  to  leave  it  than  to  take  it." 

"  Doubt  that  sweet  sun  shines,  but  do 
doubt  not  me,"  replied  Somerset. 

'^  Nevertheless,  my  Lord,  it  will  be 
no  small  thing  to  oppose  the  determina- 
tion of  the  Council,  and  to  contradict 
the  King's  employment,"  interrupted 
Overbury ; — "  for  in  either  of  these  I 
must  expect  the  displeasure  of  both,  and 
be  in  danger  to  receive  condign  punish- 
ment, if  your  Lordship's  great  influence 
help  me  not  over  this  bridge  of  de- 
spair." 

*^  Who  ever  sank  when  I  said,  swim, 
fellow,  swim  ?"  demanded  Somerset ; 
*^  and  dost  thou  doubt  I  will  not  take 
this  upon  me.  1  grant  I  wished  at  first 
thou  wert  gone  to  Jericho,  till  thy  beard 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       11 

had  grown,  for  those  jangles  we  have 
had ;  but  now.  Sir  Thomas,  I  do  not  know 
what  I  should  do  without  you  ;  our  for- 
tunes are  one." 

"  And  I  had  hopes,  nay,  considera- 
tions not  altogether  personal,  as  I  may 
say  again,  that  my  presence  here  in 
England,  might  save  your  Lordship 
from  that  alliance." 

"  Hold;  hold,  Sir  Thomas,'^  inter- 
rupted  the  favourite,  '^  I  have  had 
long  experience  of  thy  worth — I  have 
found  thee  faithful  and  diligent  in 
thy  employments,  and  could  as  well 
miss  my  right  hand,  as  miss  thee  ;  and 
in  case  any  such  danger  should  happen 
to  thee  as  thou  fearest,  yet  nevertheless, 
if  either  my  w^ord,  my  letter,  or  my 
credit,  or  favour,  can  either  mitigate, 
release,  or  relieve  you,  it  shall  not  be 
wanting  to  do  you  pleasure  and  afford 
ease." 

'^  Then,  my  Lord,  I  will  this  morn- 
ing write  to  the  Lord  President  of  the 


12  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OK^ 

council,  and  inform  him  of  my  determi- 
nation to  decline  the  embassage  to  the 
Archduke,"  said  Overbury,  whom  a 
blind  prejudice  seduced  from  duty  and 
utterly  drew  from  that  which  was  in- 
tended for  his  profit. 

'^  Write,  by  all  means/'  exclaimed 
Somerset  -,  ^^  but  to  no  mortal  do  thou, 
my  friend,  disclose  that  I  had  any  hand 
in  dissuading  thee  from  the  embassage." 

Overbury  having  replied  that  he 
should  never  commit  his  patron,  walked 
out  of  the  palace  gardens  into  his  cabi- 
net, where  he  penned  his  renunciation 
of  the  employment,  and  forwarded  it 
to  the  Lord  President  before  noon. — 
And  Somerset  having  so  completely 
gained  his  purpose,  took  a  bye  path  to 
the  house  of  Northampton,  where  he 
arrived,  ere  the  Earl  had  despatched 
the  business  of  the  morning  between 
matins  and  breakfast. 

"  How  fares  my  good  Lord  this 
morning,"  demanded  Somerset,  as    he 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    13 

abruptly  introduced    himself   into    the 
presence  of  the  Earl  of  Northampton. 

'^  Well,  excellent  well,  both  in  heart 
and  in  head ;  and  as  purpose  of  a  feast 
brings  the  falcon  from  his  mew,  for 
which  species  of  banquet,  am  I  to 
translate  your  Lordship's  early  visit  ?" 
asked  Northampton,  who,  though  he 
shaped  his  question  so,  judged  the  Vis- 
count came  to  make  the  amende  ho- 
norahle  to  the  Lady  Frances  for  the 
ill  humour  into  which  he  had  thrown 
her  mind  on  the  preceding  evening. 

''  In  faith,  my  Lord,"  said  Somerset, 
in  reply,  ''  I've  had  as  much  to  do  this 
morning  as  an  I  were  of  the  cabal  of 
hermetrical  philosophers.  As  the  fratres 
roris  cocti  frequent  the  meadows  in  the 
morning  to  gather  their  most  powerful 
dissolvent  from  the  grassy  couch  of 
8omnus,  so  have  I,  my  Lord,  been 
seeking  for  light." 

'^  Indeed,  my  Lord  of  Somerset,  you 


14  BLIGHTED  AMBITION' ;    OR, 

seem  initiated  in  the  rules  of  the  invisi- 
ble brothers,"  retorted  Northampton  ; 
^^  have  you  then  digested,  modified, 
and  compounded  the  seed  of  the  red 
dragon  into  pure  gold  ?" 

•^  In  good  sooth  I  have/'  answered 
the  favourite ; — ''  this  gross  corporeal 
light  hath  dissolved  a  spell  I  lay  under, 
and  now,  methinks,  that  archean  power 
o'  the  stars  o'er  my  fate  begins  to  act 
sensibly  before  my  eyes." 

^^  By  the  signatures  of  things  past, 
present,  and  to  come  !"  uttered  Nor- 
thampton ;  "  by  the  efficacy  of  magic, 
and  the  various  ranks  and  orders  of 
daemons,  methinks  thou  hast  in  very 
deed  found  out  that  the  philosopher's 
stone  is  dew  concocted,  exalted." 

"  Aye,  faith,  have  I,"  said  Somer- 
set, laughing.  '^  My  conjuror  Overbury 
hath  become  a  most  perfect  gymnoso- 
phist ;  but,  as  I  squeeze  this  Provence 
rose-bud,  so  shall  I  crush  him  now." 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.        15 

"  How,  now,  my  Lord,"  asked  Nor- 
thampton in  evident  joy. 

"  Why  look  ye,  my  sweet  Earl," 
answered  Somerset,  "  the  poor  knight 
hath  resolved  him  not  to  undertake  the 
embassage ;  and  my  plan  is  thereby 
thorough  sped.  Presto  I'll  to  the  King 
and  trounce  mine  enemy." 

"  Thou  art  as  marvellous  as  a  fowler 
with  his  harquebuss  and  stalking  horse," 
said  Northampton:  "explain  to^me  this 
mystery." 

"  Briefly  then  'tis  this,"  answered 
Somerset.  "  Overbury  declines  the 
embassage ;  as  soon  as  he  hath  written 
to  that  effect  to  the  Lord  President  of 
the  council,  I  will  urge  his  Lordship  to 
lay  the  knight's  letter  before  the  King. 
To  Overbury,  before  his  Majesty,  I  have 
always  shewn  myself  partial.  I  shall 
still  preserve  the  appearance  of  honest 
friendship;  but  then  my  duty  to  James  is 
above  all  others  important,  and  will  die- 


16  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OH^ 

tate  the  necessity  of  his  Grace's  displeasure 
being  shown,  by  committing  Sir  Tho- 
mas Overbury  to  the  Tower — let  the  Lord 
Justice  Coke,  and  the  Attorney  Bacon, 
iind  out  the  kind  and  degree  of  treason 
the  knight  hath  committed  in  refusing 
to  obey  the  King'^  royal  pleasure." 

"  By  the  rood,  my  Lord  Somerset, 
thou  hast  rid  thyself  of  the  fellow  ex- 
cellent well,"  exclaimed  Northampton— 
"•'  But  there  are  others  will  oppose  thee, 
and  leave  no  stone  unturned  till  Over- 
bury  be  released." 

"  On  what  figure  of  the  canvas  now 
is  your  Lordship's  eye  bent  ?"  asked 
Somerset ;  for  the  Earl  was  at  the  mo- 
ment glancing  at  a  fine  painting  of  the 
Royal  Family,  which  had  been  pre- 
sented by  Queen  Anne  to  Northamp- 
ton. 

"  Which  of  these  youths,  thinkest 
thou,  Somerset,  would  best  fish  with 
a   jury    of    flies?     Nay,  look    not    so 


«» 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       17 

grave  ;  there  wants  but  the  wee  wee, 
German  lairdie  in  the  group,  spouting 
a  verse  from  Du  Bartas." 

"  By  St.  AndroisI"  exclaimed  So- 
merset. "  And  has  busy  prating  fame 
brought  my  rencontre  with  their  high- 
nesses to  your  Lordship's  ears  already?" 

"  Even  so,  my  Lord  Somerset,"  re- 
plied the  Earl  with  a  sigh,  and  adding 
one  of  the  popular  angling  proverbs  of 
the  day  to  strike  home  into  the  Vis- 
count's bosom,  he  said  flippantly, 

''  If  that  the  wind  be  in  the  south, 

It  blows  the  fly  into  the  trout's  mouth." 

"  Enough,  enough !  my  sweet  Lord," 
cried  Somerset;  "  to  that  thorough- 
paced courtier  Philip  Herbert,  hath 
Prince  Henry  no  doubt  in  a  poculent 
moment  bragged  of  his  sport  with  me  ; 
and  now  I  must  be  the  laughing  stock 


18 


of  fools  and  knaves.  By  Jove  this  is^ 
too  much." 

"  Nay,  my  Lord,  reserve  this  choler 
for  a  fitting  time  and  place  ;  breakfast, 
I  dare  swear,  awrits,  though  the  rascal 
serving  me  ne'er  fancies  my  appetite 
may  become  trenchant — let  us  to  the 
Lady  Frances,  who  must  be  reconciled 
by  this  news.'' — And  without  waiting 
for  Somerset's  answer,  or  listening  to 
any  observation  from  him  on  the  hint 
conveyed  by  the  Lady  Frances  being 
reconciled,  the  old  Earl  led  the  way, 
leaving  the  noble  Viscount  to  follow. 

On  entering  the  spacious  and  elegant 
apartment  which  served  as  the  break- 
fasting room,  the  Lady  Frances  was 
seen  viewing  herself  in  a  fine  French 
looking  glass,  the  frame  whereof  was 
ornamented  with  gold,  pearls,  silver, 
and  velvet,  so  richly  bedecked  as  to 
be  estimated  at  five  hundred  ecus  de 
soleil. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.   19 

"  Good  morrow,  noble  Coz/'  said 
Northampton,  skipping  with  nimble 
step  up  to  his  niece ;  "  I've  brought  you 
the  noble  Somerset,  who  has  made  his 
peace  with  a  whole  hecatomb  this  morn- 
ing ;  and  all  that  is  past  must  be 
blown  to  the  blast. — No — no — I'll  not 
see  those  sweet  lips  opened  in  reproach, 
nor  hear  that  angel  tongue  revile  the 
Lord :  Overbury  goes  to  the  Tower 
to-morrow,  or  I  forfeit  my  right  hand  ! 
Does  that  content  you  ?" 

"  A  little  thing  contents  me,"  replied 
the  Lady  Frances,  whom  the  Earl  had 
prevented  speaking  for  a  space — and  as 
she  said  this  she  turned  round  to  So- 
merset, on  whom  she  cast  a  glance  that 
spoke  her  high  displeasure,  but  the  Vis- 
count knelt  on  one  knee,  seized  her 
hand,  pressed  it  to  his  lips  and  then  to 
his  heart  without  uttering  a  word. — 
^'  Nay,  rise,"  added  she;  '^  we  bear  not 
malice,  though   we    receive   offence. — 


20 


OH 


Thou  hast  sealed  thy  pardon,  my  dear- 
est Somerset." 

The  favourite  thereupon  arose, J  and 
having  placed  for  the  Lady  Frances  a 
chair  by  the  side  of  the  richly  loaded 
table,  sat  down  beside  her,  and  their 
breakfast  was  eaten  with  good  appe- 
tite. 

''  Cousin,"  said  Northampton,  '^  we 
will  now  take  our  leave  of  you,  for 
business  of  high  import  calls  us  away  ; 
the  Earl  of  Somerset  and  myself  have 
only  entered  on  the  threshold  of  our 
labours.  There  must  not  be  one  im- 
pediment to  your  marriage ;  nor  in 
the  land  one  golden  tongue  to  ask  what 
card  is  trumps;  our  game  must  be  play- 
ed in  the  world's  eye  as  fairly  under 
clubs  as  diamonds,  under  spades  as 
hearts;  neither  ought  we  to  heed  whe- 
ther the  fetters  of  our  maligners  con- 
sist of  many  links  or  of  one.  We  must 
forge  the  many  and  make  the  one  strong 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  J5:0MEUSET.       21 

enough.  There  is  that  many  headed 
beast;,  the  multitude,  that  in  a  few  years 
must  be  galled  by  a  new  saddle  and  a 
young  rider,  unless  some  one  act  the 
part  of  Robert  Dudley,  thinking  it 
more  convenient  to  maintain  his  power 
at  the  expense  of  one  prince  than  to 
lose  it  in  the  splendour  of  the  rising 
sun. 

"  There  were  greater  loss  than  all  that," 
said  Somerset;  "  and  to  hear  a  'scape- 
grace prince,  in  the  ostentation  of  his 
birth,  despise  his  father's  best  friend  for 
meanness  of  blood,  renders  that  a  shame 
which  in  itself  is  no  crime." 

"  Sweet  Somerset,"  quoth  the  Lady 
Frances,  ^'  leave  such  animals  to  pride 
themselves  in  the  shadow  and  tail  of 
honour ; — be  it  our  duty  to  find  some 
alchymic  which  may  make  the  substance 
vanish,  and  the  tongue  that  would  in- 
sult us  listless  as  Bryan  o'  Rourke's." 

'^  Mad  savage  that  was,  cousin,"  said 


22  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  J    OR, 

Northampton,  "  to  drag  her  grace  Eli- 
zabeth's  picture  about  at  the  tail  of  a 
horse,  and  die  laughing  at  his  confes- 
sor." 

Weston  who  stood  behind  the  chair 
of  the  Lady  Frances,  at  this  moment 
whispered  intoherear  the  petition;  "now 
is  the  moment  to  find  an  apt  assistant 
in  our  mysteries."  And  the  Lady 
Frances  accordingly  turning  to  Roches- 
ter said,  '^  sweet  Lord,  I  have  a  boon 
to  beg ;  read  me  this  scroll,  and  if  thou 
canst  obtain  for  a  poor  man  his  lands, 
we'll  find  an  active  messenger  in 
Franklin." 

Somerset  took  the  paper,  opened  it, 
and  having  glanced  oyer  its  contents, 
said,  "•  He  believed  the  fellow^  might  be 
reinstated ;"  but  added,  "  what  means 
my  dearest  Lady  Frances  by  this  mes- 
senger ?" 

"  In  good  sooth,  my  Lord,  I  would 
have  him  preferred    into    the  prince's 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.   23 

kitchen,  where  he  may  be  as  useful  as 
Doctor  Julio  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester." 

"  Ah  !  now  speakest  thou  without 
riddle/'  exclaimed  Somerset.  "  Frank- 
lin shall  be  translated,  if  we  can  depend 
upon  him.  How  sayest  thou,  Weston?" 

Weston  looked  first  at  Northampton, 
as  much  as  to  say,  "  mine  host,  may  I 
speak  ?"  Then  at  the  Lady  Frances  as 
if  to  get  the  catch-word  of  his  part,  and 
having  with  some  degree  of  sufficiency 
adjusted  the  ruff  he  had  that  morning 
put  on,  said,  "  so  please  your  noble 
personages,  there  was  the  Lord  Robert 
Dudley  whom  ye  have  spoken  of:  he 
thought  it  convenient  to  be  single, 
while  two  young  queens  in  the  island 
were  marriageable,  and  therefore  put 
Amie  Robsart  his  wife  out  of  the  way, 
by  flinging  her  down  stairs,  and  break- 
ing her  neck." 

"  How,  sirrah,  how  knowest  thou 
that?"  said  Lady  Frances. 


24  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;  OU^ 

"  Even  as  the  world  knows  that  he 
privately  married  the  Lady  Douglas 
Sheffield,  after  having  poisoned  her 
husband/'  replied  Weston. 

''  Scandal,  as  I  live,"  said  North- 
ampton ;  "  but  what  hast  thou,  Sirrah, 
to  tell  us  of  the  Lady  Donglas ;  for  I 
warrant  your  Ladyship  this  young  brag- 
gart page  knows  all  that  passes  in  all 
the  chambers  of  the  land." 

"  Faith,  my  Lord,"  answered  the 
page,  "an  I  must  speak,  Dudley  find- 
ing the  Lady  Douglas  inconvenient  to 
him,  endeavoured  to  poison  her,  and 
forced  the  by  terror,  and  the  loss  of  her 
hair  and  nails,  to  marry  Sir  Edward 
Stafford." 

"  Well,  Sirrah ;  and  what  wouldst  thou 
infer  next  ?"    demanded  Northampton. 

"  He  then  got  another  wife,"  answer- 
ed Weston. 

"  He  knows  all  that's  done  under 
Heaven,  I  do  believe,"  said  the  Lady 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       25 

Frances.     "  He  did  get   another  wife. 
Sirrah,  the  Lady  Essex." 

"  After  getting  rid  of  her  husband  by 
his  favourite  method/'  rejoined  the 
page.  "  And  Sir  Nicholas  Throgmor- 
ton,  and  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  and  the 
Cardinal  Chastillon,  and  Dr.  Julio  ex- 
pired in  a  strange  manner.  Men  must 
die  some  time,  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
had  the  power  and  the  will  to  deliv^^r 
himself  of  all  who  opposed  his  jovial 
humour  in  queen  craft. — But  Harry 
Stuart  may  be  less  offensive  as  King 
Henry  the  Ninth,  than  debonnaire  as 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  the  loftiest  branch 
in  the  young  Caledonian  grove.  God 
bless  the  King,  and  Heaven  guard  his 
sons,  say  I ;  and  may  they  be  bred  as 
well  as  the  son  of  her  late  Grace  in  the 
state  of  Venice,  and  her  daughter,  I 
know  not  where,  more  than  wise  Henry 
the  Fourth  over  the  water,  who  could 
not  tell  what  religion  himself  was  of." 

VOL.  III.  c 


26  BMGHTED    AMBITION;     OR, 

"  Hold  thy  peace,  varlet,"  said  the' 
Lady  Frances,  for  both  Northampton 
and  Somerset  sat  laughing  immoderately 
as  the  pert  page  ran  on  ;  "  hold  thy 
peace.  Sirrah,"  exclaimed  the  Lady  an- 
grily, "  and  bring  presto,  thy  thorough- 
paced friend,  my  Lord's  trenchman,  or 
master  of  horse,  or  whatever  he  is,  by 
name  Coppinger." 

Weston  bowed  and  hastened  to  the 
buttery,  where  Coppinger  was  prepar- 
ing his  body  for  the  duties  of  the  day^ 
by  a  more  substantial  meal  than  usually 
constituted  the  breakfast  of  the  English 
people  at  this  period. 

"  Come  along,  thou  pot-bellied  tren- 
cherman ?"  exclaimed  Weston  :  "  come 
along,  I  say  :  there  are  great  sovereigns 
and  double  rose  nobles  to  boot  in  the 
way  this  morning,  and  thou  sittest  there 
with  that  porker,  tosspot,  truculent  cook 
and  his  trumpet-tongued  trulls." 

"  Then   have    at   thee,  bully    page,^" 


THE    lllSE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET,       27 

cried  one  of  the  kitchen  wenches  who 
sat  next  Coppinger ;  "  thou  cuttle  fish, 
sea  angler,  graceless  skegger — zounds, 
sirrah,  the  brass  gates  of  Norwich  and 
thy  tench  looking  face^  are  the  nearest 
things  alike  in  this  nether  world — how 
squares  thy  turcism  with  a  slice  of  boar's 
head,  thou  trucking  shark?" 

"  Look  ye,  my  masters,"  quoth  Wes- 
ton, regardless  of  the  eniaged  woman, 
*'  look  ye,"  he  added,  tossing  up  a  purse 
of  money,  "  these  are  all  Britain  crowns^ 
new  from  the  Mint,  as  a  sinner  nitiy  say, 
and  when  they're  gone,  I'll  stuff  this  bit 
of  leather  with  half  Henry  nobles,  or  my 
name  is  not  Weston.  Come,  Coppinger, 
come,  I  say,  or  go  to  the  devil  in  your 


own  w^av.'^ 


Coppiiiger,  whom  moisey,  or  the  sight 
of  money  always  moved  on  his  seat, 
sprung  out  of  the  buttery  with  Weston, 
and  was  speedily  conducted  into  the 
presence  of  his  master. 
c  2 


28 


''  Coppinger,"  said  the  favourite, 
"  knowest  thou  Jervase  Yelvis  in  Lin- 
coln.'' 

"  Him  that  was  some  time  in  the  study 
of  the  public  laws  at  Lincoln's  Inn  ?" 
asked  the  Master  of  Horse. 

"  The  same ;  thou  didst  hint  to  me/^ 
said  Somerset,  "  he  was  ambitious  of  pre- 
ferment, and  would  give  a  sum  of  money 
to  have  the  honour  and  place  of  Sir 
William  Wade." 

"  Gramercie !  my  Lord/'  answered 
Coppinger,  "  and  I  did.  Sir  William 
Wade  hath  been  too  severe  towards  the 
Lady  Arabella,  and  he  hath  given  some 
other  prisoners  in  the  Tower  more  liberty 
than  they  deserve ;  besides,  he  hath 
grown  rich,  and  w^ith  that  careless  of 
his  office,  the  which  to  my  thinking,  he 
neglecteth." 

"  Well,  well.  Sir,"  said  Northampton, 
^'  we  called  you  not  here  for  advice,  but 
to  hear  and  to  obey. — Look  ye,  Coppin- 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       29 

ger,  take  this  bag  full  of  great  sovereigns 
and  do  what  my  Lord  of  Somerset  hath 
to  do,  e'en  to  the  death  of  friend  or  foe  ; 
— be  wise,  honest  and  discreet,  and  dis- 
charge thyself  with  more  sufficiency 
than  I  hope  thou  can'st,  and  on  the 
word  of  Northampton,  thy  beaver  shall 
be  heaped  with  double  rose  nobles  when 
thy  work  is  done." 

Coppinger  took  the  bag  of  gold,  put 
it  into  a  side  pocket  of  his  doublet, 
which  he  wore  fastened  with  large  cop- 
per clasps  before,  and  bowing  to  Nor- 
thampton, assured  him  "  he  would 
justify  the  house  of  Howard  against  any 
who  wore  a  leek  on  St.  David's  day, 
or  refused  salt  fish  and  parsnips  on  Good 
Friday." 

'^  'Tis  well,"  said  Northampton,  wav- 
ing his  hand,  and  walking  to  the  win- 
dow, he  left  the  Viscount  to  dispatch 
his  Master  of  Horse. 

"  Coppinger,  my  dear  fellow,"  said 


30 


Somerset,  ''  thou  must  to  horse  presto^ 
presto,  and  as  fast  as  thy  limbs  and  the 
tfd  hold  good,  ride  thee  to  the  fair  city 
of  Lincoln.  Here  is  thy  passport,  sign- 
ed with  my  own  seal.  Find  me  Jer- 
vase  Elwes,  or  Yelvis^  as  they  call  him  ; 
and  make  what  bargain  thou  can'st  with 
him  for  the  lieutenancy  of  the  Tower — 
my  Lord  Northampton  and  myself,  will 
place  him  there,  ere  two  suns  are  set. 
But  look  to  it,  Sir,  he  must  be  observant 
of  such  as  prefer  him ;  and  make  the 
Earls  of  Northampton  and  Somerset 
the  end  of  all  his  actions." 

'-  If  he  fear  not  to  displease  your  no- 
ble Lordships  more  than  the  King,"  an- 
swered Coppinger, "  he  is  no  fit  man  for 
his  office ;  and  an  he  displease  your 
Lordships,  I'll  undertake  his  extortion 
comes  to  nought,  ere  the  settle  of  his 
lieutenancy  warms  under  him. — This 
dagger,"  added  the  bravo,  looking  in 
the  face  of  the  Lord  Northampton, "  this 


THE   RISi:  AND  FALL  OF  SOMCKSET.       31 

shall  justify  my  cluty^  and  punish  Jer- 
vaise's  neglect^  an  he  lack  grace  lo  re- 
member his  patrons." 

^*  Good,  Coppinger,  good ;  but  when 
wilt  thou  be  in  town  again?"  demanded 
Somerset. 

"  An  horse  and  man  hold  good/'  re- 
plied the  bravo,  *'  on  Sunday  at  dusk." 

**  Speed  thee  well  then,  Coppinger/' 
said  the  favourite,  waving  his  hand  for 
the  ruffian  to  be  gone. 

Weston,  who  had  entered  the  chamber 
with  his  bully  friend,  t?tood  in  amaze- 
ment as  this  scene  passed  before  his 
eyes,  and  in  the  hearing  of  his  ears  ;  and 
when  Coppinger  departed  he  would 
have  followed,  but  the  Lady  Frances 
withdrew  by  the  arras  of  a  side  door, 
beckoning  her  page  to  follow  her. 


32 


CHAP.  II. 

Still  cheating  and  lying,  he  plays  his  game, 
Always  dissembling,  yet  still  the  same  ; 
Till  he  fills  the  creation  with  crimes  of  damnation^ 
Then  goes  to  the  devil  from  whence  he  came. 

Old  Song, 

Is  all  the  council  that  we  two  have  shared, 

the  hours  that  we  have  spent, 

When  we  have  chid  the  hasty  footed  time 

For  parting  us Oh !  is  all  forgot  ? 

*  *  * 

And  will  you  rent  our  ancient  love  asunder? 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream. 


a 


Now,  my  sweet  Lord,"  said  Somerset 
to  his  wily  friend  Northampton,  the 
moment  Coppinger  had  left  the  room, 
"  I'll  to  the  Tower,  and  under  pretence 
of  duty,  fish  from  the  prisoners  there, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOxMEUSET.    33 

such  grounds  of  complaint  against  Sir 
William  Wade  as  may  warrant  his  re- 
moval. Thus  the  way  will  be  opened 
for  Elwes.  My  next  business  will  be  to 
do  a  good  turn  to  this  Franklin.  If  I 
can  make  him  a  household  man  at 
Hampton  Court,  or  the  Hospital,  I  shall 
indeed,  recommend  him  and  his  trusti- 
ness to  our  plot,  and  he  shall  find  an 
honest  recompence  for  his  pains  in  the 
end." 

"  For  mercy's  sake,  Somerset,"  said  the 
Earl,  "  be  as  wary  as  you  can,  that  no 
man  get  an  advantage  of  us.  I  doubt 
not  but  you  know  the  peril  to  be,  both 
life,  lands  and  honour,  in  case  the  mat- 
ter be  not  wisely  used." 

"  I  trow  your  Lordship  has  proof  of 
my  constancy  already,"  answered  So- 
merset, "  and  you  might  confide  your 
Earldom  to  Coppinger ;  he  would  not 
spare  to  ride  to  hell's  gate  to  pleasure 
me,  and  he  is  not  beguiled  of  my  part  to 
c  5 


34  BLIGHTED   AMBITION';    OR, 

him.  The  page  I  must  dispose  of,  as 
his  recklessness  shews  want  of  caution. 
I  must  even  now  see  him,  to  achieve 
that  which  my  heart  pants  after  withal. 
If  he  blab  one  word,  had  he  ten  thou- 
sand lives,  and  could  he  suffer  ten  thou- 
sand deaths,  they  would  not  all  be  suffi- 
cient satisfaction  and  recompense  for 
such  a  traitor." 

As  the  favourite  pronounced  the  last 
word,  the  Lady  Frances  entered  the 
room,  saying,  "  My  sweet  Lord,  I  have 
dispatched  Weston  for  that  knave  Frank- 
lin ; — it  is  fit  we  should  see  him,  ere  we 
count  all  our  materials  in  readiness.*' 

'^  My  own  thought,  sweet,"  answered 
Somerset, ''  though  the  spending  of  all 
I  have  got,  yea,  the  hazarding  of  my  life 
shall  not  affray  me  from  my  revenge, 
although  the  scaffold  were  already  set 
up,  I  would  go  through  with  the  wracks 
ing  of  mine  enemies." 

''  Time  flies,"  interrupted  Northamp- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.   35 

ton,  "  and  it  makes  for  my  hour  of 
sailing  on  the  river.  I  will  call  on  my 
excursion  at  one  or  two  water  gates. 
Does  your  Ladyship  'company  me,  or 
may  I  trust  the  Lady  Frances  with  my 
sweet  Rochester." 

^'  Goodsooth,  noble  uncle/'  said  the 
Lady  Frances,  ^^  your  house  is  fast  castle 
to  me  till  my  page  return,  for  without 
him,  in  public  I  will  not  appear.  Besides, 
I  look  for  him  and  this  Franklin  anon — - 
Somerset,  you'll  w^ait  and  see  this  man  ?" 

Somerset,  bowed  assent,  the  old  Earl 
took  his  leave,  and  the  Lady  Frances 
and  her  gallant  passed  the  time  to  their 
own  satisfaction  till  Weston  returned. 
As  soon  as  the  page  introduced  his  asso- 
ciate Franklin,  Somerset  addressed  him 
saying,  "  Thou  hast  been  hardly  dealt 
with,  my  master,  and  thy  lands  may  be 
difficult  to  recover ;  nevertheless  good 
service  may  be  done  thee,  if  thou  couldst 
be  relied  on  in  extremity — Wouldstiive 


36  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR^ 

in  my  house  at  St.  James's  Park,  or 
would  the  Prince's  suit  thy  humour  bet- 
ter?" 

''  An  your  Lordship  wants  a  special 
Secretary  of  your  noble  life,  I  will  un- 
dertake in  any  stratagem,  to  be  circum- 
spect in  all  things,  and  take  no  fear  but 
all  shall  be  well,'*  said  Franklin  with 
great  deliberate  coolness. 

"  Thou  canst  prepare  ane  hatted  kit 
with  sugar  and  comfits  ?"  asked  Somer- 
set ;  "  and  for  younkers  that  snuff  the 
Queen's  herb,  thou  couldst  undertake  to 
mill  it  with  some  henbane ; — or  with 
white  arsenic,  which  is  fit  for  salt  at  the 
table  ;  thou  couldst  undertake  to  become 
apprentice  to  death ;  or  the  help  grave 
ycleped  great  spiders  and  the  fly  can- 
tharides,  fit  for  pigs  sauce  or  porridge 
sauce,  albeit  they  resemble  spiceries — 
thou  couldst  use  these  discreetly;  or 
with  roseaker  and  mercury  water  in  the 
composts  of  tarts  and  hotch  potches, 
ycleped  made  dishes,  or  by  such  essays 


THK    RISE    AND  FALL    OF  SOMERSET.    3t 

as  might  not  be  too  swift,  lest  the  world 
should  startle  at  thy  occupation  by  the 
suddenness  of  dispatch  ; — thou  couldst 
give  the  sexton  a  fee  ?" 

Franklin  whose  countenance  moved 
not  during  Somerset's  enumeration  of 
these  various  methods  of  dispatching  an 
enemy,  said, "  An  I  had  a  quiet  place  and 
\vell  provided,  he  might  linger  some 
one  and  twenty  days  I  essaid  upon,  or 
till  all  be  done  that  could  be  well  done, 
he  might  be  said  to  have  an  ague  for  two 
months,  or  an  'twere  fitting  he  should 
seem  leprosied  with  vice,  and  a  corpus 
judaicuniy  dead  by  dissoluteness/' 

The  speeches  of  Somerset  and  the 
cool  blooded  murderer  who  spoke  last, 
thrilled  the  very  soul  of  the  Lady  Fran- 
ces, for  though  she  loved  pleasure,  she 
had  no  such  hardness  of  heart  and  de- 
pravity as  these  plotters  discovered ; 
but  the  shock  was  momentary,  and  the 
purpose  of  her  revenge  reconciled  her  to 


38  ELIGliTKD    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

language  not  befitting  the  ears  of  a 
female,  and  a  lady  of  noble  birth  and 
high  breeding. 

Weston,  on  the  other  hand,  exhibited 
a  malignant  satisfaction  in  his  look,  as 
the  Viscount's  enumeration  fell  upon  his 
ear,  and  his  eyes  glistened  with  a  hel- 
lish joy  as  Franklin  briefly  declared 
how  far  his  ability  extended  in  this 
traffic  of  death. 

''  By  the  rood,  my  master,  thou  deser- 
vest  an  ecclesiastical  revenue,"  exclaim- 
ed Somerset,  his  eye-brows  meeting  as 
he  pursed  his  forehead  in  examining  the 
face  of  Franklin,  to  discover  if  insince- 
rity lurked  beneath  the  appearance  of 
ready  service  he  expressed  in  words  ; 
''  and  now  methinks,  it  were  well  thou 
couldst  in  some  sort  assure  us  of  thy 
fidelity." 

*'  Propose  your  oath,  my  Lord,"  said 
Franklin  readily,  "'  and  I  will  swear  it ; 
but  methinks    if  I   stake  life  and  limb 


THE   RISE   AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       39 

'gainst  your  Lordship's  blue  ribbon,  the 
danger  is  reciprocate.     May  I  be  planet 
stricken  ;  may  the  Lord  of  the  ascendant 
and  the  Lord  of  the  hour  cease  to   be  of 
one  nature  and   triplicity,  when  I  put  a 
radical  question  to  the  astrologer  Gres- 
ham,  or  Scot  in  St.  Swithin's  Lane,  an 
I  ben't  as  cobby  in  your  Lordship's  ser- 
vice, an  I   am  to  have   my  patrimony 
back,  as  an  I  had  the  Mall  dusted   with 
farthings  of  gold,  and  the  whole  a  free 
gift  of  the  King's  Majesty. — Why  wasn't 
our    breast    bones    made    to    open    and 
shut  that  a  man's  heart  might  be  looked 
into,  an  his  bare    word  equal  not   the 
objuration  of  prating  oafs  that  bounce 
all  they  know  in   roundelays  with  the 
rudity  of  punchinello." 

"  Thou  lackest  not  the  gift  of  the  gab 
more  than  romancers  of  thy  calling," 
said  Somerset,  when  he  could  edge  in 
his  word ;  "  but  to  be  brief,  master 
Franklin,  thou'lt  change  service  to  enter 


10  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  :    OR 


as  chief  cook  at  St.  James's  or  Hamp- 
ton Court  ;'' — Franklin  bowecl^  folded 
his  hands  upon  his  breast  and  muttered 
something  about  his  gratitude^  and  the 
Viscount  proceeded  to  say^  "  thy  worth 
in  this  new  vocation  we  will  try  in 
gQod  time^  if  thou  becomest  not  one  of 
the  puling  craven  dependants  of  ray 
Lord  of  Pembroke.  Look  to  it,  if  thou 
art  called  to  the  royal  kitchen,  that 
thy  service  to  me  procure  thee  prefer- 
ment,— take  this  purse  of  nobles,  and 
remember  thy  trust." 

Franklin  again  made  an  inclination 
of  his  head  very  lov/ly,  put  the  money 
into  the  pocket  of  his  jerkin,  and  turned 
round  to  Weston  to  be  conducted  out 
of  the  apartment.  The  page,  who  had 
said  to  himself  on  the  departure  of  Cop - 
pinger  with  his  money,  "  Much  falls 
between  the  cup  and  the  lip,"  resolved 
to  let  no  preventional  contingency  in- 
tervene between  him  and  Franklin,  and 


THE  UlSn  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET,        41 

taking  his  friend  by  the  hand,  gave  him 
joy  on  the  success  of  his  interview. 

'^  Thy  fortune  is  made,  master  Mar- 
tin Franklin,"  said  Weston  when  he 
had  gained  the  outside  of  the  chamber 
door.  "  Mayhap  thou'lt  not  forget 
Billy  Weston,  and  thy  pocket  stuffed 
as  it  is  this  morning  ?" 

^'  Thou  hast  an  excellent  place,  my 
young  master,"  replied  Franklin,  "  and 
I  tell  thee  for  thy  comfort,  it  is  good 
to  make  hay  while  the  sun  shines." 

"  God's  death!  Bully  Cook,"  ex- 
claimed Weston,  his  colour  leaving  his 
cheek,  while  he  laid  his  hand  on  the 
wilt  of  his  dagger.  ''  This  to  me,  thou 
baud  to  the  mouth. — Who  brought  thee 
to  all  this  good  fortune  ?  Not  Gresham, 
nor  Scot,  nor  Forman, — cozening 
knaves,  I  despise  their  art,  and  spurn  thee 
thus,  thou  white  livered  night  crow;"  and 
as  the  indignant  page,  who  saw  at  once 
that  his  copartner  intended  him  to  make 


42  BIIGFiTED    AiMBITlON  ;    OR, 

the  honest  proverb  a  stalking  hor^se 
to  his  villainies,  said,  "  I  spurn  thee 
thus,''  he  gave  Franklin  a  smart  kick 
on  the  buttocks. 

"  Thou  trimming  pickerel,  an  I 
hadn't  more  occasion  to  palter  with  thy 
betters,  I'd  play  at  pimpompet  with 
thee  for  an  hour  to  come.  'Sdeath, 
bully  Page,  an  thou'rt  going  to  palmer 
me  ere  I  reach  the  threshold,  I'll  truck 
and  budge  anon." 

*'  There's  reason  in  that,  Bully  Cook," 
rejoined  Weston.  "  Thou'st  turned 
thy  coat  in  the  sun  to-day,  but  we  must 
go  snacks,  or  by  St.  Paul  I'll  cut  thee 
out  of  all  thy  employment,  ere  thou 
cross  the  Thames. — Holy  Virgin  !  an 
thou  hast  not  found  out  hov/  to  catch 
larks  before  the  sky  falls !" 

By  this  time  Weston  had  dogged 
the  temporizing  cook  into  a  remote 
corner  of  the  building,  and  there  he 
compelled  him  to  produce  the  presenta- 


TliC   RIHE  AND   FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       43 

tioa  purse,  the  contents  of  which  he 
divided  iuio  two  equal  shares,. and  bid- 
ding Franklin  take  which  he  liked,  added, 
"  Now,  my  master,  thy  fortune  is  in 
my  keeping,  if  I  go  not  halves  in  every 
purse  thou  gettest,  I'll  blast  thee  in  the 
Star  Chamber  with  one  word." 

Franklin,  having  put  his  half  of  the 
prize  into  his  pocket,  commenced  a 
long  speech  justifying  himself,  and  re- 
flecting on  the  disposition  the  page  had 
shown  to  cut  a  connection  that  promised 
such,  and  so  great  mutual  advan- 
tages. But  Weston  had  neither  time 
nor  temper  to  listen  to  the  arguments 
of  his  copartner,  and  he  therefore  broke 
forth  into  a  loud  laugh,  bidding  the 
cook  "  go  preach  to  the  archbishop." 

On  the  page's  return  to  his  lady,  she 
was  in  high  altercation  with  Somerset, 
on  subjects  of  personal  consequence  to 
themselves  ;  and  the  youth  w^as  about 
to  quit  the  apartment  under  an  impres- 


44  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

sion  that  his  presence  might  not  be 
agreeable.  "  Nay,  stay,  Sirrah,"  ex- 
claimed the  Lady  Frances,  "  thou  hast 
heard  the  beginning,  thou  must  hear  the 
end  of  this  jangle."  Weston  bowed  and 
took  his  stand  by  the  door  he  had  just 
entered. 

The  Lady  Frances  earnestly  besought 
Somerset  for  a  sum  of  money  she  want- 
ed, and  he  promised  her  it  should  be 
forthcoming  by  a  certain  time.  The 
period  assigned  by  the  Viscount  was 
too  remote,  the  Lady  Frances  "  could 
not  exist,"  she  declared,  till  that  time 
unless  she  had  a  certain  sum,  and  So- 
merset was  at  length  compelled  to  agree 
to  her  terms,  and  time  of  furnishing 
the  cash.  Glad  to  escape  from  the 
Earl  of  Northampton's,  where  his 
scheming  had  detained  him,  this  morn- 
ing longer  than  he  could  have  wished, 
the  Viscount  repaired  to  his  office  at 
Whitehall,  and  found  that  Sir  Thomas 


THE    RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       45 

Overbury  had  actually  forwarded  his 
letter  of  resignation  to  the  Lord  Presi- 
dent of  the  council :  so  far,  he  was  glad, 
all  had  gone  w^ell,  and  now  he  proceed- 
ed forthwith  to  the  Lord  President's, 
who  on  his  entering  handed  the  Vis- 
count the  letter  of  Overbury,  without 
saying  a  word.  Somerset  pretended 
great  concern  and  deep  sorrow  at  his 
protegee's  abandonment  of  the  employ- 
ment, and  asked  the  noble  Lord, ''  what 
offence  the  conduct  of  Overbury  might 
be  classed  with  ?  For  offence  it  seem- 
ed to  him,  that  any  man  should  dare 
to  gainsay  the  word  of  the  King." 

^^  The  offence,"  answered  the  Lord 
President,  ^'  is  high  treason."  Then 
opening  a  casket,  his  Lordship  took 
from  it  a  small  volume  in  manuscript, 
beautifully  written  and  in  some  parts 
illuminated,  containing  in  alphabetical 
orders  the  various  treasons  which  in  the 
opinion  ofthe  judge  who  had  written  that 


46  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OU, 

book  might   be   committed   r.gainst   the 
state. 

*'  I  ghali  be  undone  by  this  man,  I 
foresee,"  quoth  Somerset,  "  if  he  be 
committed  to  the  Tower;  and  yet  we 
must  report  to  his  Majesty  forthwith  the 
conduct  of  my  secretary." 

"  An  insolent  fellow,  he  is,"  replied 
the  Lord  President  Suffolk  ;  ''  thoii 
hast  made  him  a  kind  of  oracle  of  di- 
rection to  tiiee,  my  sweet  Lord,  and  if 
the  world  will  believe  his  own  vaunt, 
he  took  upon  him  that  thy  fortunes, 
reputation  and  fame  proceeded  from 
his  company  and  counsel." 

"  Doubtless,  my  noble  Lord,"  an- 
swered Somerset,  '^  our  friendship  hath 
rested  not  only  in  conversation  and  bu- 
siness at  court,  but  likewise  in  commu- 
nication of  secrets  of  state ;  he  hath 
^een  and  used  for  me  the  King's  packets 
and  despatches  from  all  parts  of  Spain, 
France,  and   the    Low   Countries  ;    and 


THE  hish:  and  fall  of  somirset.     4T 

ibis  not  by  glimpses,  or  now  and  then 
resounding  in  the  ear  for  a  favour,  but 
in  a  settled  manner/' 

"  His  head  is  now  under  your  girdle," 
interrupted  the  Lord  Prc-^udent;  "^and  it 
would  be  a  fantastical  grace  indeed,  to 
let  him  wear  it  thrasonically  for  your 
destruction.  Thomas  Overbury  bears 
the  house  of  Howard  no  good  will;  you, 
my  Lord  Earl  of  Somerset,  have  given 
him  opportunity  to  betray  the  state  by 
confiding  too  much  in  him,  sending 
him  packets  sometimes  open,  sometimes 
sealed  for  his  perusal  before  you  read 
them  yourself.  He  hath  perused  them, 
copied  them,  registered  them,  made 
table  talk  of  them,  as  he  thout>:ht  gfood.'' 

"  Terrors  of  darkness  confound  the 
villain,"  exclaimed  Somerset,  "  how 
does  your  Lordship  know  all  this?" 

The  Lord  President  opened  the  door 
of  his  chamber,  and  ringing  a  little  bell 
a  servant    entered.    ''  Peyton/^  said  the 


48  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;  OH, 

Earl,  '^  relate  the  jargon  thou  heardst 
Sir  Thomas  Overbury  use/' 

"  So  please  your  Grace,"  said  the  ser- 
ving man,  "  Cambro  Mead  of  the 
Mitre  in  Cheap,  says  he  knows  more  of 
the  secrets  of  State  from  Sir  Thomas 
Overbury  than  the  Council  table  doth." 

*'  Why,  master  Peyton,"  observed 
Somerset,  "  how  came  it  to  pass  that 
while  in  my  service  thou  usedst  not  this 
plainness  ?" 

"  So  please  your  Lordship,"  answered 
the  man,  ''  an  I  had  lippened  aught  of 
all  Cambro  Mead  told  me,  I  had  been 
confederate  with  Raleigh  in  the  Tower.'' 

"  How,  fellow,  how  sayest  thou  ?  ex- 
plain me  thy  meaning,  for  a  riddle  is 
thy  trash  of  speech  to  my  ear,"  said 
Somerset,  angrily,  his  colour  coming 
and  going  as  the  serving  man  spoke, 
and  as  his  own  tongue  performed  its 
office. 

''  This  Mead  is  a   prating  fellow,  of 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.   4^ 

the  city,  and  valueth  himself  on  his 
occupation,  and  protection  therein/' 
remarked  Suffolk.  "  All  the  passages 
between  him  and  Overbury  happened,  I 
reckon,  before  your  friend,  my  Lord, 
was  knighted  ;  nevertheless,  the  drift 
of  the  matter  in  form  and  meaning  is 
this.  The  knight  hath  used  the  house 
of  this  Mead  in  his  meaner  fortunes ; 
and  now  shall  Peyton  speak  plainly. 
The  inwardness  of  thy  soul  lay  open. 
Sirrah  ;"  said  the  Earl  to  Peyton,  who 
confessed  he  had  been  employed  as  a 
spy  to  watch  Sir  Thomas  Overbury — 
*'  And,"  added  the  Earl,  "  I'll  conjui^ 
from  this  Peyton  cyphers  used  in  great 
communication  of  secrets  anent  Julius, 
Agrippina,  Dominic,  Lerma,  and  so 
forth." 

Somerset  stood  confounded  for  a  mo- 
ment; this  disclosure  was  more  than  he 
apprehended,  as  the  names  mentioned 
by  the  Lord   President  of  the  council, 

VOL.    III.  D 


50  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

were  actually  nicknames,  which  Over- 
bury  and  he  had  used  to  designate  the 
King,  Queen,  Northampton,  and  Suf- 
folk himself.  When,  however,  the  fa- 
vourite could  command  his  feelings, "  he 
begged  of  his  Lordship  that  the  serving 
man  might  withdraw;"  a  request  which 
was  at  once  complied  with,  and  the 
two  privy  counsellors  being  left  alone, 
mutual  explanations  and  apologies  took 
place  ;  Somerset  averring  he  had  been 
abused  by  Overbury,  and  Suffolk  assur- 
ing his  future  son  in  law,  that  ''  since 
he  had  opened  his  eyes,  he  hoped  the 
noble  Viscount  would  no  longer  accord 
his  friendship  to  an  ill  man,  since  such 
alliances  were  conspiracy,  not  friend- 
ship."' 

"  I  see  it  all,'^  answered  Somerset, 
*'  this  is  his  sincerity,  his  impugning  my 
purpose  of  marriage  ; — long  did  I  know 
he  had  nothing  solid  for  religion,  or 
moral  virtue  about  him,  but  was  wholly 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMEUSET.       51 

possessed  with  ambition  and  vain  glory; 
— now  I  see  he  was  loth  to  have  any 
partners  in  my  favour  but  himself — 
Holy  Paul !  Overbury  is  naught  and 
corrupt ;  the  ballads  must  be  mended 
for  that  point  that  shall  chaunt  his  praise 
— T  have  this  day  planned  his  utter 
ruin, — and  if  I  now  let  him  break  from 
me  and  fly  out,  he  will  wind  unto  me  and 
trouble  my  whole  fortunes — Overbury 
must  die  V 

"  I  go  straight  to  the  King,"  said  the 
Earl  of  Suffolk,  "  to  lay  before  his 
Majesty  this  letter ;  do  you,  in  the 
mean  time,  my  dear  Lord,  give  orders 
for  Overbury's  arrest;  I  shall  return 
with  the  warrant  of  his  committment 
to  the  Tower." 

Overbury,  who  had  left  Whitehall, 
immediately  as  Rochester  quitted  him, 
was,  at  the  period  of  the  discourse  we 
have  just  related,  innocently  amusing 
himself  in  the  company  of  his  Gabriella. 
D  2 


52 

Their  conversation,  on  the  knight's  re- 
turn to  this  interesting  being,  ran  for  a 
time   upon  her  dress  for  a  wedding  in 
the   city,  whither  they  had  both  been 
invited  ;  and  so   much  did  this  matter 
occupy  the  attention  of  Gabriella,  that 
for  a  time  she  forgot  to  mention  the 
affair  of  the    embassage   into  the  Low 
Countries.     At  length,  however,  it  was 
broached,  and  Sir  Thomas  having  told 
her  that  he  had  de^^^ined  the  employ- 
ment, she  burst  into  tears,  and  in  her 
great    agony    prophesied  the    ruin    of 
them  both. — Overbury,  who  was  in  rea- 
lity a  man  of  a  haughty  and  overbear- 
ing disposition,  found  no  better  defence 
bf  his  conduct  than  the  usurpation  of 
the  tyrannical  power  which  their  rela- 
tive situations  yielded  him,  and  he  very 
unmanly   used  it  to  silence  the  accom- 
|)lished  female  who  had  lavished  upon  him 
to  this  hour  the  warmest  affection  of  her 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       53 

soul  and  the  sensibilities  of  her  tender 
heart. 

"  Gabriella,"  said  he,  "  you  talk  like 
a  child,  and  your  tears  are  mere  folly 
and  ingratitude  tome.  I  am  the  best  judge 
of  my  own  actions;  and  besides,  I  have 
my  Lord  Somerset  so  completely  in  my 
power,  he  must  stand  my  friend,  and 
think  you  he  will  not  do  it  ?— If  they 
deal  violently  with  me,  my  service  to 
the  Favourite  will  obliterate  my  fault, 
if  fault  it  be  to  refuse  the  embassage, 
and  as  they  cannot  charge  me  with  dis- 
loyalty, I  shall  come  forth  greater 
than  ever. — We  have  made  all  the  world 
players  for  our  amusement  and  profit. — 
Besides,  my  serving  man,  Peyton,  whom 
I  sent  with  my  letter  to  the  Lord  Pre- 
sident, assures  me  the  Earl  said  he  was 
glad  I  would  not  go  over  sea." 

'^  So  much  the  worse,"  said  Ga- 
briella,  "  I  always  feared  Lord  Suf- 
folk ;  his  gladness  may  arise  from  a 
D  3 


54  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

secret  joy  in  his  triumph.  And  be- 
lieve me.  Sir  Thomas,  you  put  more 
confidence  in  your  serving  men,  Davis 
and  Peyton,  than  I  trow  is  reasonable. 
They  are  both  rascal  valets  that  will 
take  a  bribe,  and  being  recommended 
to  you  by  Lord  Somerset,  I  fear  them 
the  more." 

Overbury  smiled  at  this  speech,  and 
observed  upon  it,  that  "  it  was  true 
these  fellows  had  been  in  the  employ 
of  Somerset,  but  they  were  sworn  to 
secrecy  between  the  favourite  and  him, 
and  could  be  depended  on." 

"  Said  you  not  once  to  me,  you 
feared  one  sight  Davis  saw,  when  you 
opened  a  packet  of  letters  directed  to 
the  King,  and  coming  from  Sir  John 
Digby,  to  take  notes  from  them  for 
Somerset  ?"  asked  Gabriella. 

"  True,  sweet,  true,  but  I  sent  both 
the  packet  and  notes  to  the  Viscount/'' 
answered  Overbury. 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       55 

*^  And  when  we  were  at  Newmarket 
before  the  Queen  became  offended," 
said  Gabriella,  "  did  not  Peyton  see 
you  open  the  packet  from  Sir  Thomas 
Edmundes  to  the  Kin^,  out  of  which 
after  you  had  taken  extracts,  you  seal- 
ed it  and  sent  both  to  Somerset  ?" 

"  And  what  of  that?"  asked  the 
knight  peevishly;  "  all  this  is  secret, 
private,  and  were  it  published  in  Paul's 
Aisle  would  only  be  used  as  an  aggra- 
vation against  the  villains  who  should 
disclose  such  trusts,  and  not  against  us 
who  rule  the  roast — I'll  brave  them  all 
in  words  and  writing,  if  they  put  me  to 
it : — The  red  haired  Dane  had  better 
never  have  interdicted  me  the  court ; 
and  whose  fault  was  that  ?  Not  my 
miscarriage  in  particular  towards  her 
Majesty,  but  Somerset's  own  neglect. 
— No  man  fears  the  whole  court  less 
than  I ; — none  of  them  can  come  to 
the  knowlf^dge  of  the  Viscount's  secret 


66  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OR, 

doings  without  my  privity  ;  and  I  have 
all  the  friends  of  my  late  Lord  of  Salis- 
bury to  help  me,  even  if  the  whole 
batch  of  the  Howards  enforce  themselves 
and  their  causeless  discontents  against 
me." 

The  hour  now  approached  when  Sir 
Thomas  and  Gabriella  were  to  repair 
into  the  city  to  attend  the  wedding  of 
his  friend,  Master  Rawlins,  who  was  that 
day  to  receive  the  hand  of  Margery 
Weymark,  daughter  of  that  wealthy 
citizen  and  merchant,  but  better  known 
as  the  Paul's  walker,  a  name  usually 
given  to  those  novelans  who  frequented 
the  Aisle  for  news. 

Rawlins  and  Overbury  were  remotely 
allied  by  family,  and  the  citizen  judged 
the  hio^hest  honour  the  feast  could 
receive  would  be  the  presence  of  his 
cousin.  Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  from 
Bruton  upon  the  Hill,  and  now  so 
great  a  man  at  court.    In  this,  perhaps. 


THE   HrSB  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.        57 

the  worthy  master  Rawlins  was  not 
mistaken,  but  he  knew  little  of  the 
precipice  on  which  his  court  relative 
stood.  With  breasts  more  variable  in 
tone  than  language  can  describe,  the 
knight  and  his  Gabriella  departed  from 
his  villa  in  Holborn  for  the  house  of 
Master  Weymark. 

The  company  at  this  civic  feast  con- 
sisted of  tradesmen's  wives,  their  chil- 
dren, and  husbands.  Some  of  these 
good  women  wore  fly  caps  adorned 
with  pearls,  to  keep  alive  their  remem- 
brance of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  her 
court  ladies ;  others  wore  a  small  cap 
with  a  veil,  which  was  negligently 
thrown  behind  the  neckband  gave  much 
grace  to  the  upper  part  of  the  fair  dames 
who  wore  them ;  a  third  wore  a  vast 
load  of  false  hair,  and  her  daughter's 
head  was  ornamented  merely  with  what 
nature  had  furnished  it,  uncovered  and 
braided  behind  ;  a  fourth  wore  a  large 
D  5 


58  BLIGHTED  AMBITTON  ;   OR5. 

showy  bonnet ;  a  fifth  had  on  the  gauze 
French  hood,  shewing  the  hair  on  each 
side,  and  drawn  from  the  back  of  the 
head  down  the  forehead ;  but  the  greater 
number  of  the  matrons  here  present 
wore  the  Minerva  cap,  white  and  three 
cornered,  the  peaks  standing  about 
three  inches  above  the  head.  Their 
ruffs  were  large,  of  lawn  and  cambric, 
stiffened  with  yellow  starch,  gracefully 
poked  and  reaching  to  the  upper  part 
of  the  head  behind.  The  waist  of  every 
woman  present  offered  to  the  eye  all 
its  natural  length  between  shoulder  and 
hip,  where  the  stays  finished  before  and 
behind  in  a  fine  taper  point.  One  of 
our  modern  dandies  with  his  stuffed  out 
coat  at  the  shoulders,  and  horse  girth 
round  his  abdomen,  presents  a  tolerable 
picture  of  a  belle  of  the  city  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  seventeeth  century.  The 
petticoats  were  such  as  to  shew  off  their 
wearers  as  good  bouncing  dames,  much 


ITME   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       69 

unlike  the  ghostly  figures  that  taper  from 
the  shoulders  to  the  heels ;  as  if  it  were 
an  ornament  to  appear  devoid  of  strength 
and  magnitude  where  nature  planted  her 
greatest  beauty  on  woman.     In  a  word 
then,  the  citizen's  wives  wore  not  exactly 
the  Spanish  fardingale,  so  much  spoken 
against  as  if  Elizabeth   had  worn  it  as  a 
guard  infanta,  but  they  wore  full  petti- 
coats.    The    stockings    of  these  ladies 
were    of    velvet,  of  silk,  and    of   fine 
linen ;  their  gloves  were  of  leather  and 
some  few  of  sewed  silk.     But  the  end 
of  all  this  ostentation  was  to  benefit  the 
young  couple,  who  received  from  the 
guests,  presents  that  bore  an  exact  pro- 
portion to  the  gay  appearance  of  their 
wedding. 

*^  In  good  sooth,  friends,"  said  Overbu- 
ry  on  entering,  "there  be  signs  of  a  wed- 
ding here,  aye,  and  of  a  bridal  to-boot. 
But  where  be  our  scarves  and  our  gloves? 
I  pray  you  give  them  us ;   let  us  know 


60  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;  OR^ 

your  bride's  colours  and  yours,  friend 
Rawlins.  Good,  my  master,  good,'" 
added  the  knight,  taking  his  scarf  and 
gloves.  "  'tis  well  not  to  oifend  in  so 
high  a  point  of  ceremony  as  this,  for 
when  nuptials  want  fitting  marks  of  so- 
lemnity, what  plate  doth  the  bridegroom 
lose !  what  gifts  !  what  friends !  And 
now  that  we  have  had  gloves,  garters, 
and  scarves,  I  pray  you  let  us  have  the 
epithalamium,  and  masque  sans  error, 
sans  rusticity." 

"  Gramercie  I  now  it's  time  to  wend 
to  church,  for  the  clock  hath  gone 
eleven,"  said  Master  Weymark,  the 
bride's  father,  and  a  comely  lass  Margery 
was.  Her  attire  was  a  gown  of  Mech- 
lin cloth,  and  her  hair  was  as  yellow 
as  gold  hanging  down  behind  attired 
with  a  'billimant  of  gold,  and  curiously 
combed  and  plaited  after  the  manner  of 
those  days.  She  was  led  to  Bow-church 
between   two   sweet  boys,   with  bride 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       61 

laces  and  rosemary  tied  about  their  silken 
sleeves.  There  was  a  fair  bride  cup  of 
silver  gilt  carried  before  her,  wherein 
w^as  a  branch  of  rosemary  gilded  very  fair, 
and  hung  about  with  silken  ribbands  of  all 
colours.  Musicians  came  next  and  play- 
ed excellent  epithalamium  music  from 
a  band  of  lutes,  poliphants,  virginals, 
trumpets,  kettledrums,  fifes,  cornets,  and 
side  drums,  that  made  Cheapside  ring 
again  as  the  procession  walked  on.  Then 
followed  the  musicians,  a  group  of  mai- 
dens fair,  all  the  friends  of  Margery, 
some  bearing  great  bride  cakes,  others 
garlands  of  vine  leaves,  intertwined  with 
privets  and  oak  branches  gilded  ;  then 
followed  the  matrons,  and  last  the  men  in 
goodly  array,  and  thus  they  passed  on  to 
church.  But  the  first  figure  in  the 
group  was  perhaps  the  interesting  Ga- 
briella,  dight  in  a  rich  scarlet  robe,  while 
over  her  head  she  cast  a  hood  white  as 
the  drifted  snow :    her  gown  was  deli- 


62  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OU^ 

cately  fastened  round  her  waist  with  a 
belt  of  silver^  from  whence  a  gay  purse 
and  gingling  keys  depended  ;  two  bright 
gold  rings  on  each  finger  she  wore, 
while  the  large  rosettes,  in  her  chopines 
or  Italian  shoes,  of  green  grass  silk  set  off 
the  rich  silver  embroidery  that  graced  her 
taper  ancle. 

The  ceremony  having  been  ended  in 
the  true  spirit  of  the  religion  of  the  times, 
the  whole  company  retraced  their  steps 
to  Master  Weimark's,  where  there  was 
served  up  a  costly  and  sumptuous  enter- 
tainment. Nothing  could  exceed  the 
hospitality  of  the  host,  and  the  presents 
which  adorned  the  side  tables  were  both 
numerous  and  expensive.  But  that 
which  produced  the  most  amusement 
towards  the  latter  part  of  the  day,  was 
the  masque  performed  by  the  '*  Earl  of 
Dorset,  his  servants."  These  brothers  of 
the  sock  and  buskin,  were  the  stars  of 
Blackfriars   and   Salisbury   Court,   and 


THE  RISE   AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       63 

had  in  a  former  time  been  the  Lord 
Hounsden's  when  Romeo  and  Juliet  was 
iirst  enacted ;  but  now  they  were  part 
of  the  Sackville  retainers,  and  amused 
Prince  Henry  at  their  lord's  occasionally 
with  the  "  Virgin  Martyr,"  the  "  Roar- 
ing Girl,"  "  Tottenham  Court,"  "  GulPs 
Horn  Book,*'  and  Ben  Jonson's,"  Staple 
of  News." 

The  company  thus  amused,  enjoyed 
their  diversion  till  the  curfew  tolled  the 
knell  of  parting  day,  when  the  night 
bridal  was  solemnized  in  goblets  of  cla- 
rey  and  cups  of  braket  well  spiced,  while 
the  young  couple  having  been  safely  de- 
posited between  fine  Holland'ssheets,  had 
their  night  posset  given  them,  and  were 
committed  to  Nox,  to  Hymen,  and 
Somnus. 

Overbury  returned  home  with  his 
Gabriella,  and  next  day  at  Whitehall, 
the  Archbishop  came  to  him,  asking 
**  how  he  could  venture  to  refuse  the  em- 


64 

bassage  which  had  been  procured  him 
in  distinction  to  so  many  others,  all 
competent  and  desirous  of  place  ?"  Sir 
Thomas  excused  himself  on  grounds 
which  the  Right  Reverend  Father  con- 
sidered untenable. 

"  Have  you,  nevertheless,  procured  me 
the  copy  of  Beliarmine's  letter  to  Lord 
A^orthampton  ?"  asked  the  Right  Reve- 
verend  Prelate. 

"  I  have/'  replied  Overbury,  "  here  it 
is,  but  for  mercy's  sake  do  not  commit 
me  in  bringing  this  matter  forward." 
The  Archbishop  pledged  his  word  he 
would  not,  and  entreated  Overbury  to 
reconsider  his  ow^n  case  before  he  should 
find  it  too  late.     But  the  die  was  cast. 

Somerset  and  the  Earl  of  Suffolk  were 
in  the  mean  time  not  idle,  and  North- 
ampton had  managed  matters,  so  as  to  put 
the  whole  in  train  for  the  final  accom- 
plishment of  the  plot.  Somerset  had  on 
the  instant  desired  a  warrant  to  be  drawn 


THE    RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     65 

out  and  despatched  a  trusty  person  to 
arrest  Overbury.  Unprepared  as  the 
knight  was  for  this  blow  from  his  patron 
and  friend,  he  was  more  enraged  at  the 
form  of  the  document,  which  deprived 
him  of  his  liberty. 

"  I  tell  thee,  fellow,"  said  he  to  the 
messenger,  *^  no  privy  counsellor  alone 
can  arrest  me,  or  any  man  in  England, 
but  upon  oath  before  a  judge ;  all  the 
council  together  could  not  justify  the 
making  of  such  a  warrant ; — I  will  not 
budge  till  I  have  seen  my  Lord  Roches- 
ter himself." 

''  That's  impossible,"  replied  the  mes- 
senger at  arms,  "  my  Lord  of  Somerset 
hath  gone  to  the  king  at  Royston,  and 
had  all  the  judges  in  the  land  signed  the 
warrant,  it  were  not  more  legal  than  the 
Earl's,  he  being  a  commissioner  of  star- 
chamber,  and  any  of  its  members  may 
fine,  imprison,  and  punish  corporally,  by 


66  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

whipping,  branding,  slitting  nostrils  and 


ears." 


'^  Then  take  me  to  the  Palace  of  Lam- 
beth, master  pursuivant,"  said  Over- 
bury  ;  ^^  his  Grace  of  Canterbury,  will 
stand  good  for  me,  or  give  me  lodging 
imtil  the  will  of  the  King  himself  be 
known." 

^^  Faith,  Sir  Thomas,"  quoth  the  man 
of  office,  "  there  is  my  authority  ;  and 
the  best  way  for  you  is  the  quietest  for 
me — I  have  a  barge  at  Whitehall  stairs, 
let's  to  it,  and  push  down  the  river  with 
the  tide." 

"  No  fellow,  no,  I  will  not  stir,  not  an 
inch  ;  take  me  before  my  Lord  Knowles, 
take  me  to  the  Hospital  before  the 
Prince  Henry,  any  where  but  to  pri- 
son." 

'"  By  the  rood,  Sir  Knight,  thou  dost 
but  sully  thy  honours  to  compel  me  to 
use    force,"    answered  the    pursuivant ; 

but  my   men  are  at  hand,  and  Fll  whis» 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       67 

tie  them  here  in  a  trice^  if  we  are  to 
parley  longer." 

"  Holy  Virgin !  what  shall  I  do — Let 
me  take  these  papers ;  and  these,  and 
these,  and  this  book  ;"  said  Overbury,  in 
one  moment  losing  his  manly  disposi- 
tion. But  who  shall  account  for  the  vari- 
ous feelings  of  the  mind  in  times  of 
difficulty  ?  To  Overbury's  mind  his  con- 
nection with  Somerset  now  seemed  as 
the  remnants  of  a  dream,  the  past  was 
confounded  with  his  present  situation,  a 
prisoner,  arrested  for  high  treason,  and 
the  future  presented  only  the  direst  cou- 
.sequences  for  that  political  crime. 


6S 


BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR 


CHAP.  III. 

"  They  were  quite  mistaken  in  his  temper  who 
thought  to  get  rid  of  him  by  advising  him  to  make 
his  escape  from  the  Tower,  He  would  have  sat  out 
the  storm  let  the  danger  be  what  it  would.  He  was 
a  steady  man  and  had  a  great  firmness  of  soul,  and 
would  have  died  unconcernedly,  or  perhaps,  like  Sir 
Thomas  More  ,  with  a  jest  in  his  mouth." 

Spence's  Anecdotes. 

■  Somerset's  visit  to  the  Tower  afford- 
ed him  the  njeans  of  proving  the  incapa- 
city of  Sir  William  Wade  continuing 
its  lieutenant  any  longer.  Among  the 
prisoners  confined  there  at  this  time^  was 
tlie  accomplished  and  unfortunate  Ara- 
bella Stuart,  and  a  singular  though  ro- 
mantic indulgence  which  the  humanity 
of  the  lieutenant  accorded  her,  furnished 
the  plotting  Viscount  with  a  charge  for 
Sir  William's  removal. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       69 

It  SO  happened  that  as  Somerset's 
barge  n eared  the  great  White  Tower  of 
the  fortress,  he  discovered  a  small  hoy 
hovering  in  the  middle  of  the  stream, 
from  which  a  female  descended  into  a 
boat  that  was  quickly  rowed  into  Trai- 
tor's-gate.  The  Viscount's  suspicions 
were  instantly  roused ;  he  conjectured 
the  lady  who  sought  admittance  within 
the  walls  of  that  dreary  dwelling  must 
be  some  friend  of  the  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland :  the  wife  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
or  Mary  Countess  of  Shrewsbury,  or 
perchance^  her  neice  the  Lady  Arabella 
Stuart. 

The  Lady  Arabella  was  first  cousin 
to  James,  for  she  was  daughter  of 
Charles  Earl  of  Lennox,  the  younger 
brother  of  the  Lord  Darnley,  whom 
Queen  Mary  raised  to  the  Scottish 
throne.  Her  mother  was  Elizabeth 
daughter  of  Sir  William  Cavendish ; 
and   the    Countess  of  Shrewsbury  was 


70  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OK, 

sister  to  Elizabeth  Countess  of  Lennox, 
Sir  William  Seymour^^^  second  son  of 
the  Earl  of  Hertford,  had  married  the 
Lady  Arabella  without  asking  King 
James's  leave,  and  she  being  so  nearly 
related  in  blood  to  the  King,  it  was 
deemed  an  offence  against  the  royal  pre- 
rogative ;  and  the  ultimate  consequence 
was  her  imprisonment  in  the  Tower. 
The  Lord  Seymour  escaped,  however, 
beyond  seas ;  the  Lady  Arabella  and  the 
Countess  attempted  this  also,  but  were 
captured  and  committed  to  the  safe  cus- 
tody of  the  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower, 
Sir  William  Wade,  who,  though  reputed 
severe  to  some  of  his  prisoners,  was  cer- 
tainly very  lenient  towards  the  Lady 
Arabella.  He  permitted  her  not  only  the 
range  of  the  garrison,  but  he  furnished 
her  with  the  best  apartments  facing  the 

*  At  the  Restoration,  Sir  William  Seymour  re- 
covered the  Dukedom  of  Somerset  for  his  family. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.        71 

river ;  and  he  even  indulged  her  with  a 
master  key,  which  allowed  her  to  leave 
the  prison  at  any  time  she  pleased.  It 
w^as  she  who  now  disappeared  from  Ro- 
chester's eyes  under  the  aquatic  entrance 
into  the  tower.  The  Earl  bade  his  men 
"  row,  row,  row,**  and  they  did  row 
merrily,  but  before  they  reached  the 
arched  entrance,  the  massive  iron  grat- 
ed doors  were  shut,  and  the  pinnace  had 
disappeared.  The  water,  however,  was 
sutHciently  troubled  to  shew  that  it  had 
been  disturbed  by  some  more  powerful 
agent  than  the  usual  current  of  the 
stream.  The  Earl  of  Somerset*s  barge- 
man in  the  bow,  having  already  sum- 
moned the  sentinel  for  admittance,  the 
gate  was  soon  re-opened,  and  the  Favou- 
rite was  forthwith  attended  by  Sir  Wil- 
liam Wade. 

"  Pray,  Sir  knight,"  said  Somerset, 
"  is  this  an  enchanted  castle,  in  the 
which  ye  detain  fair  dames  ?" 


72  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OH, 

"  Truly,  my  Lord  of  Somerset,  there 
are  fair  ladies,  of  high  blood  toO;, 
within  these  walls,''  answered  Sir  Wil- 
liam Wade. — "  But  for  enchantments, 
we  leave  them  to  conjuring  knaves  ad 
octo." 

"  And  which  of  these  ladies  of  high 
blood^enjoys  a  master  key  ?"  said  Somer- 
set ;  "  for  by  that  angel  shot  at  thy  feet. 
Sir  knight,  my  eyes  deceived  me  if  a 
lady  fair  came  not  in  by  the  Traitor's 
gate."  The  lieutenant  was  posed  by 
this  question,  and  attempted  an  excuse 
which  far  from  satisfying  the  Earl, 
only  excited  his  suspicions  the  more. 
"  Nay,  man,"  added  Somerset,  "  thou 
canst  not  jest  with  me — on  thy  allegi- 
ance, Sir  William  Wade,  who  was  the 
female  that  landed  from  that  hoy  in  the 
mid  stream  ?" 

"  The  Lady  Arabella!"  said  the  lieu- 
tenant. 

"  The    Lady    Arabella!"    re-echoed 


THK    RISE    AND  FALL    OF  SOMERSET.    73 

the  favourite ;  and  after  repeating  the 
name  he  said  ;  "  Well,  Sir  Knight,  this 
is  indeed  assuming  the  royal  authority  ; 
you  shall  answer,  anon,  to  his  Majesty 
for  this  conduct — I  would  see  Sir  Wal- 
ter Raleigh — he  is  in  the  Beauchamp 
Tower." 

Sir  William  Wade  bowed,  and  con- 
ducting the  Earl  along  the  Court,  he 
called  to  Carey,  his  under  keeper,  that 
"  Sir  Waiter  Raleigh  was  wanted." 

"  Oh!  I'll  to  his  apartments,"  said 
Somerset, "  I  must  see  him  alone." — 

The  Lieutenant  walked  on  and  So- 
merset followed.  "  You  will  doubtless 
hear  me,''  said  Sir  William,  "  before 
you  report  \o  his  grace  this  little  stretch 
of  my  auth (>rity  ?  May  I  hope  my  lord 
Earl  of  Somerset  will  consider  my  con- 
duct in  the  light  of  a  gallant  of  other 
times ?  I  have  risked  my  head  in  this : 
the  Lady  Arabella  has  used  my  indul- 
gence discreetly,  and  like  a  high   born 

TOL.  III.  E 


74 


OR, 


Princess,  her  promise  she  hath  kept ; — 
nay  I  will  go  farther  ;  both  she  and  the 
Countess  of  Shrewsbury  have  enjoyed 
the  chase  in  Kent  in  such  disguise  as 
suited  them.  They  have  returned  to 
this  fortress^  nor  would  they  peril  me  to 
be  free  themselves  in  France." 

"  Sir  Knight,  thy  open  speech  would 
sound  ill  on  the  ear  of  King  James," 
answered  Somerset,  ''  but  since  it  is  so, 
that  thou  wilt  peril  thyself  thus,  thou 
must  e'en  swing  by  the  hemp  thou  hast 
sown  and  twisted — In  whatever  light  I 
represent  thee  to  the  King,  prepare  thy- 
self to  quit  this  place  in  four  and  twenty 
hours — I  am  resolved — so  no  more  on 
this  matter." 

Somerset  had  now  arrived  at  the  door 
of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  apartments.  The 
Knight  was  busily  engaged  in  distilling 
some  chemical  preparation,  which  ho 
assured  the  Earl,  was  an  infallible  cure 
for  various  diseases,  over  which  the  ordi- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       75 

nary  medicines  were  known  to  have 
little  power. — ^But  the  reader  is  already 
acquainted  with  this  specific,  which  was 
long  known  as  Raleigh's  Cordial." 

"  Good-morrow,"  said  Somerset,  on 
entering  the  apartment  of  Raleigh, 
"  good-morrow,  Sir  Knight  Philosopher. 
How  do  the  alembics  and  alchymical 
vessels  suit  thy  humour  ?" 

''  Exceedingly  well,  my  Lord  Earl," 
answered  Raleigh,  who  looked  not  with- 
out a  slight  degree  of  contempt  upon  the 
possessor  of  his  manor  of  Sherbourne. 
"  But  my  Lord,  these  chemicals  are  no- 
thing in  comparison  of  my  latest  disco- 
very." 

"  Indeed  !"  said  Somerset,  "  and  hast 
thou  arrived  at  a  nostrum,  w^hich  will 
protract  the  period  of  human  life,  or  re- 
store it  to  youth.'' 

"  Let  the  Queen's  Majesty  bear  wit- 
ness for  the  effects  of  my  cordial,"  replied 
Raleigh;  *^ I  have  discovered  not  the  phi- 
E   2       . 


T5  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

losopher's  stone,  but  a  gold  mine  itself. 
Thanks,  gentle  lord,  for  the  enjoyment 
I  have  here,  living  as  one  may  say,  in 
libera  custodia  ;  but  had  I  free  liberty 
now,  and  seven  such  ships  as  went  to 
Virginia  in  1585,  or  such  a  fleet  as  I  con- 
quered Guiana  with  ten  years  after,  I 
would  enrich  England  with  all  the  wealth 
of  the  Spaniard." 

"  How  now.  Sir  Knight,"  asked  So- 
merset, "  wouldst  thou  make  war  upon 
him,  on  this  side  the  line  ?" 

u  ^^Q^Y  I  no — In  Guianathere  is  agolden 
mine,  a  mine  of  ore,  rich,  plentiful ;  I 
could  have  laden  as  many  vessels  with 
it  as  would  lie  abreast  this  fortress." 

"  That  would,  indeed,  be  a  golden  en- 
terprise," exclaimed  the  Earl, ''  and  a 
princely  judgment  thou  hast  to  persuade 
thyself  there  is  such  a  mine  of  gold  en- 
tire, which  t  ie  industrious  Spaniard  in 
his  chase  of  treasure,  hath  so  long  neg- 
lected." 


THE    RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       77 

'^  Nay,  doubt  not,  my  good  Lord 
Earl,*'  continued  Raleigh,  ''  the  news  of 
this  shall  not  more  charm  the  world 
than  the  adventure  shall  realize  the 
hope  of  so  great  riches.  Let  but  my 
Lord  Somerset  convince  his  Majesty, 
that  it  stands  with  the  politic  and  mag- 
nanimous courses  of  his  Grace^  in  these 
his  flourishing  times  of  peace,  to  nourish 
and  encourage  this  noble  and  generous; 
enterprise,  and  it  shall  do  more  to  en- 
rich his  kingdom,  than  all  the  planta- 
tions, discoveries,  and  opening  of  new 
trades  that  have  been  hit  upon  since  the 
days  of  Columbus." 

'^  If  so  be  thou  wouldst  have  me  un- 
^lertake  this  passage  between  thee  and 
his  Majesty's  grace,''  answered  the  Earl, 
**  I  shall  favour  thy  suit  with  my  poor 
influence :  but  I'd  advise  thee,  Sir 
Knight,  to  memorialize  Master  Secre- 
tary Winwood.'' 

^^  As  this  hand  hath  aided  the  Queen 
e3. 


78  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  I    OR 


of  Navarre  in  defending  the  Protes- 
tants," said  Raleigh  seriously,  "  as  I 
shared  the  glory  of  the  decisive  victory 
over  Don  John  of  Austria,  when  the 
Queen's  troops  assisted  the  Butchers ; 
as  I  helped  to  put  an  end  to  the  Munster 
rebellion ;  as  I  have  escorted  the  Duke 
of  Anjou  and  saved  the  Prince  of 
Orange  ;  I  have  nothing  hostile  or  pira- 
tical in  this  my  enterprize.'' 

'^  Time  speeds,"  interrupted  Somerset 
whp  felt  no  appetite  to  listen  to  such  a 
reference  of  the  splended  deeds  of  the 
brave  man  before  him — "Time  speeds— I 
must  see  Andrew  Melville.  Why,  Sir  Wal- 
ter, this  tower  was  want  to  be  a  Royal 
mansion.  In  this  very  room,  I  reckon 
Anna  BuUen,  the  Lady  Jane  Grey,  and 
the  Earl  of  Essex  were  illustrious  priso- 
ners.— Bon  jour — I  must  to  the  white 
tower  to  see  poor  Melville;"  and  as  he 
spoke  thus,  he  quitted  the  room  in  which 
Raleigh  was  experimenting,  and  crossed 
the  Court  yard  to  that  quadrangle  of  the 


THE  RISK  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    79 

Fortress  in  which  the  renowned  Presby- 
terian clergyman  was  imprisoned. 

The  lieutenant  stood  by  the  door  of 
Melville's  cell  and  opened  it  to  Somer- 
set^ undoing  successively^  an  upper  and 
an  under  bolt  of  great  strength,  which 
lodged  when  shut  home,  in  an  iron 
socket  that  was  deeply  fastened  in  the 
stone  work :  and  even  the  lock  was  se- 
cured by  a  traverse  bar  of  iron,  so 
massive,  that  as  it  fell  when  Sir  Wil- 
liam Wade  threw  it  from  its  gage,  it 
caused  the  vaulted  gallery  to  resound — 
The  ''  man  of  God,"  now  presented  an 
interesting  contrast  to  the  "  courtezan" 
who  came  to  visit  him.  In  a  cold  cell, 
sitting  upon  a  small  stool  resembling  one 
of  those  ancient  stances  for  the  box 
containing  a  response  of  an  oracle,  sat 
Andrew  Melville,  his  hair  and  beard 
overgrown,  his  visage  emaciated  by  con- 
finement, but  calm  and  dignified,  his 
garments  tattered  and  worn  into  holes. 
He  was  seated  so  that  from  the  grated 


80  BLIGHTED  AiMBITION  ;    OR, 

window,  the  sun's  rays  fell  full  on  his 
body,  and  the  picture  would  have 
furnished  ample  scope  for  the  pencil  of 
Jones,  the  painter  of  Waterloo. 

"  How  does  Master  Melville  to  day  V 
said  the  favourite,  upon  whom  the  vene- 
rable preacher's  appearance  seemed  evi- 
dently to  make  a  deep  and  instantaneous 
impression. 

"  Well,  God  be  praised !"  replied  the 
worthy  man,  without  any  affectation  of 
misery,  or  any  of  that  indifference  which 
many  a  mind  of  his  mould  in  knowledge 
would  have  shewn  upon  such  an  occasion. 
"  May  I  ask  to  what  favourable  circum- 
stance I  owe  this  visit  of  my  country- 
man into  a  place  whose  walls  are  eleven 
feet  thick  V 

"  Sir  William  Wade,  you  may  retire,'' 
said  Somerset,  addressing  the  lieutenant  : 
and  then  turning  to  the  Minister  of  the 
Gospel ;  "  Reverend  Sir,"  replied  the 
Earl,  "  I  am  right  glad  you  are  welK 
This  is  a  dreary  and  inhospitable  region 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       8l 

— 'Twere    better    thou  shouldst   enjoy 
more  liberty," 

''  Has,  Sir  James  Sempill,  then,  ob- 
tained for  me  a  more  healthy  and  spa- 
cious apartment  ?"     asked  Melville. 

"  He  has  petitioned  the  King/'  an- 
swered Somerset,  "  but  you  have  a  more 
powerful  intercessor  :  the  Duke  of  Bouil- 
lon has  interceded  for  you,  my  friend ; 
and  'twere  fitting  you  be  removed  into 
another  apartment,  and  allowed  the  use 
of  pen,  ink,  and  paper.  But  beware 
Melville,  how  you  make  use  of  them  ; 
no  more  caustic  poetry  like  Anti-Tami- 
Cami-Categoria,  or  all  my  endeavours 
come  to  nought.  But  what  hav^e  we 
here  ?"  continued  the  Earl  casting  his  eyes 
round  the  cell,  ^*  with  what  tablets  hast 
tliou  inscribed  this  profusion  of  verses  ?" 

Melville    whose    imprisonment    had 

been  aggravated    by   the  barbaric   and 

wanton  severity  of  an  entire  privation  of 

books,  ink,  pens,  and  paper,  answered 

e6 


82  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;  OR, 

very  mildly,  "  my  Lord  Earl,  I  have 
not  you  to  reproach  with  this  refine- 
ment of  cruelty,  which  has  been  exer- 
cised unceasingly  for  these  ten  months, 
as  if  its  rigour  could  shackle  the  facul- 
ties of  my  mind — No,  I  owe  it  to  the 
Ministers  of  his  Grace,  not  to  his  favou- 
rites, that  I  have  been  deprived  of  the 
means  of  expressing  my  thoughts  either 
in  writing  or  by  oral  communication." 

"  Worthy  Sir,"  interrupted  Somerset, 
"  he  who  caused  you  all  this  severity  is 
gone  to  his  reckoning  V* 

"  Dead!  is  Bancroft  dead?''  asked 
Melville  eagerly. 

"  Troth  is  he,"  answered  the  Earl ; 
"  and  I  am  freed  of  a  great  enemy. — 
But  let  me  see,"  continued  the  favou- 
rite lookiiio"  round  the  walls  of  the  soli- 
tary  man's  cell ;  "  these  are  indeed  ex- 
quisite touches  of  plaintive  tenderness. 
Master  Melville." 

"  Such  as  they  are,  my  Lord,  with 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET. 

these  tablets  of  plaister,  cold  and  damp 
to  receive  the  thoughts  of  my  mind, 
and  with  the  tongue  of  my  shoe  buckle  as 
a  stylus,  have  I  given  permanency  to 
my  descent  from  royal  ancestors^  and 
the  obligations  which  my  family  have 
conferred  on  learning,  and  my  native 
land/' 

Somerset  with  all  his  ambition  and 
profligacy  could  not  help  admiring  the 
elegant  verses  which  crowded  the  walls 
of  this  dungeon.  They  were  indeed 
characteristic  of  that  lofty  magnani- 
mity and  noble  endurance,  which  nei- 
ther power  nor  malice  were  able  to  over- 
come. Many  of  them  were  written  in 
Latin,  rivalling  the  sweetness  of  even 
Buchannan's  poetry;  and  those  which 
were  in  the  Scottish  dialect,  or  in  the 
English  tongue,  presented  an  enchant- 
ing picture  of  gaiety  and  goodness  of 
heart,  betokening  a  spirit  above  this 
world  ;  for  in  circumstances  so  gloomy 
no  mind  that  was  troubled  by  any  com- 


84  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;   OR, 

punctious  feelings  or  the  consciousness 
of  guilt  and  perfidy  could  dictate  the 
beautiful  effusions  of  Andrew  Melville's 
muse. 

"  By  St.  Paul,"  exclaimed  the  Vis- 
count, "'  the  rigour  of  thy  confinement 
shall  be  relaxed,  Master  Melville. — I 
have  brought  this  sermon  for  thy  peru- 
sal ;  *tis  on  Episcopacy — The  assem- 
bly of  Glasgow  have  consented  to  a 
complete  establishment  of  episcopacy. — 
This  discourse  which  is  meant  to  con- 
vert all  the  Presbyterians  in  the  north, 
was  preached  by  Dr.  Downham,  and 
has  been  distributed  gratis  to  all  the 
clergy  of  poor  old  Scotland. — Now  me- 
thinks,  thou  couldst  answer  it,  anon, 
m  two  or  three  letters  to  thy  nephew, 
Master  James  Melville  in  the  prison  of 
Newcastle." 

Melville  took  the  pamphlet  in  his 
hand,  expressed  his  thankfulness,  and 
Somerset  took  his  leave — gliding  under 
the  arched  gallery  from  the  view  of  the 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMEUSET.       86 

highest  lettered  name  which  flourished 
two  centuries  ago. — Melville  was  the 
great  champion  of  the  Scottish  Presby- 
terians, with  respect  to  whom  James 
exercised  a  policy,  the  most  infatuated; 
but  the  advisers  of  that  policy  were  un- 
worthy of  his  confidence,  if  the  indo- 
lent monarch  had  either  discernment  to 
unmask  their  baseness,  or  address  suffi- 
cient to  bend  the  resolution  of  a  high- 
minded  people  by  the  smoother  me- 
thods of  persuasion  and  forbearance. 

"  Observe  me,  Sir  William  Wade,  the 
first  state  prisoner  that  comes  here,  I  shall 
expect  from  you  the  same  kindness 
you  shew  to  master  Melville — the  same 
sort  of  cell — the  same  provisions, — the 
like  accommodation  ;  but  let  it  be  in  the 
bulwark,"  said  Somerset  who  now  passed 
along  with  the  lieutenant  of  the  Tower  to 
visit  another  part  of  the  garrison ;  and 
their  route  soon  brought  the  Viscount  in 
contact  with  the  "  proud  Percy,"  Earl  of 


86 

Northumberland.  The  old  nobiemaa 
was  walking  on  a  kind  of  parapet 
banque,  that  fronted  the  low  and  gloomy 
windows  of  his  apartments,  and  he  was 
attended  by  his  magi,  as  the  lieutenant 
styled  the  companions  of  the  Percy's  pro- 
menade. '^  Who  are  these  attendants 
of  the  noble  captive  Earl  ?"  asked  So- 
merset ;  "  Northumberland's  Magi," 
answered  Sir  William  Wade,  '^  that 
on  his  right  is  Nathaniel  Torporley,  a 
noted  mathematician  of  the  times,  the 
person  on  his  left  is  Thomas  Hariot,  a 
gentleman  who  had  accompanied  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  in  his  voyage  to  Vir- 
ginia, and  where  he  was  employed  as  a 
maritime  surveyor,  and  Robert  Hues 
another  famous  mathematician,  you  see 
taking  hold  of  Hariot's  arm." 

"  Who  are  they  that  follow  at  the  dis- 
tance of  a  few  paces  ?"  asked  the  inquisi- 
tive Viscount.  "  Master  Walter  Warner, 
takes  the  right ;  he  is  well  read  in  the 


THE  RISE   AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       87 

obscure  parts  of  learning;  Nicholas 
Hill,  a  gentleman  proficient  in  the  same 
recondite  studies,  walks  in  the  middle. 
Thomas  Allen  an  eminent  antiquary, 
and  philosopher^  next  in  the  middle; 
and  John  Dee  well  versed  as  an  artist 
of  the  mathematic  world,  trudges  on 
the  left  of  all." 

It  now  occurred  to  Somerset's  mind, 
as  the  lieutenant  named  these  gentle- 
men, and  their  respective  qualifications, 
that  this  would  be  a  favourable  oppor* 
tunity  for  him  to  do  a  kindness  to  the 
Lord  Hay,  his  ancient  friend  and  bro- 
ther favourite  with  King  James.  The 
Lord  Hay  had  long  solicited  the  hand 
of  the  Lady  Lucy  Percy,  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland's  youngest  daughter, 
a  lady  of  incomparable  beauty,  and  so- 
lemnized in  the  poems  of  the  day,  as 
the  most  exquisite  wit  of  her  time.  The 
Earl  had  refused  his  consent,  as  he 
aimed  at  a  husband  of  noble  extract  for 


84 

the  Lady  Percy  ;  but  the  Lord  Hay 
resolved  on  wedding  her,  even  though  her 
father  should  bereave  her  of  dower. 
*'  Now  for  the  old  stubborn  Earl/*  said 
Somerset  to  himself,  "  if  J  cannot  cozen 
him,  I'll  break  his  spirit." 

"Bon  jour,  my  Lord,"  said  Somer- 
set to  Northumberland,  with  all  the 
ease  and  grace  of  an  acquaintance. 
"  From  the  company  of  these  Atlantes 
of  the  world  of  science,  the  noble  Earl 
of  Northumberland's  time,  I  hope,  passes 
agreeably. 

"  Come  ye  here  to  mock,  the  first  fa- 
vourite of  the  King?"  said  the  Earl 
scornfully  ;  "  for  by  thy  speech  thou 
wouldst  join  the  revellers  at  Theobalds 
in  styling  me  Henry  the  Wizzard  ?" 

"  My  Lord,  I  come  not  here  to  make 
circles  with  Archimedes,"  said  the  fa- 
vourite. 

"  No  faith,"  interrupted  the  Earl; 
*'  for  with  such  a  leaky  sieve  as  over- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF    SOMERSET.       89 

tops  thy  shoulders,  Hercules  ne'er  could 
have  watered  the  wild  gardens  of  Hes- 
perides." 

"  Good,  my  Lord  Pilgrim  ;  but  I 
would  not  look  one  way  and  row  ano- 
ther," answered  Somerset. 

"  Better  still,  my  Lord  Palmer,'*  re- 
joined Northumberland,  "  and  what 
passenger  wouldst  thou  help  forward 
whilst  thou  went  backward  thyself?" 

"  As  the  pilgrim  hath  some  dwelling 
place,  and  the  palmer  none,"  said  So- 
merset; "  as  you,  my  Lord,  in  this  for- 
tress are  mine  host,  and  I  an  humble 
guest,  permit  me  to  entreat." 

"  By  the  rood,  my  Lord  Somerset," 
interrupted  the  Earl,  "  ye  do  but  come 
here  to  mock — the  comparison  of  the 
proverb  thou  wouldst  pun  on  runs  thus : 
as  the  pilgrim  travels  to  some  certain 
place,  and  the  palmer  to  all,  and  not 
to  any  one  in  particular,  so  wouldst 
thou  insinuate,  I  can  only  walk  to  that 


90  BLIGHTED    AiMEITION  ;     OR, 

gun  and  back  again,  whilst  thou  like 
the  eagle  canst  fly  to  Theobald's,  Roys- 
ton,  Newmarket,  and  thy  lands  of 
Sherbourne !" 

"  Nay,  hear  me,  my  good  Lord," 
said  Somerset  eagerly;  "  as  the  pilgrim 
lives  at  his  own  charge,  w^hile  the 
palmer  professes  wilful  poverty,  so  would 
I  sue  your  grace  for  my  noble  friend 
Lord  Hay/' 

"  Perdition  !  thinkest  thou  to  cozen 
me  as  thou  dost  thy  King — No,  by  the 
rood.  Sir  William  Wade,  we  would 
be  alone.  Let  us  be  without  hollow- 
hearted  hypocrites  about  us.  'Sdeath, 
my  Lord  of  Somerset,  the  Lady  Lucy 
Percy  shall  never,  with  our  conse  n 
wed  the  Lord  Hay.  I  know  all  thou 
hast  to  say,  begone,  leave  me.  Altera 
manu  fert  lapidem,  panem  ostentat 
altera^''  added  the  indignant  Earl,  ad- 
dressing himself  to  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Nathaniel  Torporley. 


THE  RISC  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.   91 

"  My  Lord  Earl,  I  must  crave  a  pri- 
vate audience,"  said  Somerset  with  the 
utmost  composure,  neither  offended  by 
the  speech  of  Northumberland,  nor  dis- 
posed to  let  the  opportunity  he  enjoyed 
slip;  till  he  had  achieved  his  purpose, — 
'^  your  grace  knows  the  pilgrim  mi^ht 
give  over  his  profession,  but  the  palmer 
might  not ;  and  your  Lordship  cannot 
suppose  I  will  apply  the  proverb  in 
tuum  ipsius  caput  lunarn  deducts  to  my 
own  particular  case.  My  Lord  we 
must  be  private  for  the  space  of  an 
hour.'* 

"  My  Lord,  the  coronet  of  Northum- 
berland shall  never  fall  from  the  lance 
to  the  distaff,"  said  the  Earl ;  "  but  we 
give  you  audience." 

Somerset  now  pressed  the  Percy  to 
yield  consent  to  the  marriage  of  his 
lovely  daughter  with  the  Lord  Hay, 
urging  as  his  strongest  argument,  that 
*^  Hay  being  the  king's  chief  favourite. 


92  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

there  was  little  doubt  but  he  would  pro- 
procure  the  Earl's  release.*' 

"  If  that  be  the  way  your  friend  in- 
tends to  make  himself  meritorious  with 
me,"  replied  Northumberland,  "  I  fear 
I  shall  never  be  released.  No  master 
Car,  no. 

"  Henry  Percy  !"  exclaimed  Somer- 
set, "  I  have  borne  thy  humour  full 
oft  this  hour;  methinks  the  courte- 
sey  due  to  the  King's  Majesty  would 
restrain  thy  speech  v^ithin  the  bounds 
due  from  one  nobleman  to  another.'* 

"  Go  learn  these  verses,  go  learn 
these  verses,  sirrah !"  interrupted  the 
Earl  in  mirthjul  anger, — "  Go  learn 
these  verses,  and  come  not  here  again 
to  insult  a  captive  nobleman,  nolens 
volens  ;"  and  as  he  said  these  words  he 
walked  Somerset  out  of  the  garrison 
singing  in  his  face  :  — 

Bonny  Scot,  we  all  nitnesscan, 

That  England  hath  made  thee  a  gentleman. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.   93 

Thy  blue  bonnet  when  thou  came  hither, 
Could  scarce  keep  out  the  wind  and  weather  ; 
But  now  it  is  turned  to  a  hat  and  feather, 
Thy  bonnet  is  blown,  the  devil  knows  whither. 

Thy  shoes  on  thy  feet,  when  thou  earnest  from  plough, 
Were  made  of  the  hide  of  an  old  Scot's  cow  ; 
But  now  they  are  turned  to  a  rare  Spanish  leather. 
And  decked  with  roses  allogether. 

Thy  sword  at  thy  a —  was  a  great  black  blade, 
With  a  great  basket  hilt  of  iron  made; 
But  now  a  long  rapier  doth  hang  at  thy  side. 
And  bufiingly  doth  the  bonny  Scot  ride. 

Bonny  Scot  we  all  witness  can. 

That  England  hath  made  thee  a  gentleman, 

Somerset  knew  these  verses  had  been 
applied  to  his  master,  and  he  was  not  a 
little  staggered  to  hear  them  sung  of 
himself.  It  were  like  attempting  de- 
scription of  chaos,  to  paint  his  mind  as 
he  now  quitted  the  fortress.  He  had 
gained  his  object,  it  is  true,  and  he  had 
afforded  hope  to  Raleigh  and  Melville, 


94  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

but  the  treatment  he  received  from  the 
^^  proud  Percy/*  discomposed  him  be- 
yond all  endurance.  Somerset  had 
some  slight  touches  occasionally  of  wit 
and  noble  bearing ;  but  he  could  take 
more  direct  insult  from  those  it  was  his 
interest  not  to  fall  out  with,  than  any 
lacquey  about  the  court  could  have 
endured  from  Billy  Weston.  He  had 
his  purpose,  however,  to  answer,  and 
he  now  repaired  to  the  King  at  Theo- 
bald's, and  very  soon  obtained  the  royal 
authority  for  the  removal  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Wade.  Raleigh's  project  he  just 
touched  upon  to  the  King  vt^ho  replied. 
"  Raleigh's  a  fellow  of  the  camp  and 
ocean,  not  of  the  court  and  carpet,  my 
Lord ;  he  hath  a  strong  natural  wit, 
and  a  better  judgment  than  to  believe 
this  romance  of  a  gold  mine;  but  his 
bold  and  plausible  tongue  hath  won  you 
I  perceive,  my  lord.  Good — I  will  send 
Master  Secretary  Winwood  to  him,  and 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.   95 

if  we  may  grant  him  a  commission,  it 
will  be  to  rid  ourselves  of  him.  For  fail 
not  to  mark  my  words,  he  hath  a  design 
to  make  a  breach  between  the  two 
crowns  of  England  and  Spain  ;  but  if  I 
commission  him  limitedly,  and  he  do 
trespass  therein,  I  will  surely  do  justice 
upon  him,  or  send  him  bound  hand  and 
foot  into  Spain,  and  all  the  gold  and 
goods  he  shall  obtain,  by  robbery  and 
bring  home,   were  they  ever  so  great." 

Somerset  bowed  acquiescence,  and 
then  proposed  Jervase  Yelvis  as  a  fit 
and  proper  person  to  be  Lieutenant  of 
the  Tower. 

'^  Thinkst  thou  Robin,"  asked  the 
King, ''  he  will  be  discreet  towards  Henry 
the  Wizzard,  the  Lady  Arabella,  the 
Countess  of  Shrewsbury  and  others  7  I 
care  not  a  bodle  about  his  rigour  to  that 
stiff  clerk  o*  the  kirk,  Master  Melville, 
with  his  roval  descent  forsooth :  nor  to 


96 


that  pugnacious  knight  Raleigh,  with 
his  cordials,  histories  of  the  World,  and 
such  stuff.'' 

"  I'll  pledge  myself  for  Elwes,  that  he 
in  all  things  will  comport  himself  stifly 
to  your  Grace's  will  and  pleasure/*  an- 
swered Somerset,  '^  but  for  Melville,  if 
your  royal  Majesty  were  to  see  his  cell, 
it  is  not  fit  for  a  felon  without  the  bene- 
fit of  clergy,  and   his  spirit  cannot  be 
humbled  by  affliction  :  the  walls  of  it  are 
covered  with  verses,  graven  in  the  plais- 
ter  with  the  tongue  of  his  shoe  buckle." 
"  Say  ye  so,  Robin  ?"  demanded  the 
King,  concerned  only  to  hear  of  so  in- 
genious   a    method    of    recording    the 
the  thoughts  of  the  mind,  but  perfe\ctly 
unmoved  at  the  situation  of  the  worthy 
forlorn  Christian   Pastor. — "  these   are 
inelegant  pursuits,  somebody  may  come 
after  him    and   read  them   though,  and 
he  deserves  all  he  suffers.     Glad  am  I, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       97 

Robin,  we  intercepted  that  letter,  offer- 
ing to  make  him  professor  of  Divinity 
in  the  Protestant  college  of  Rochelle." 

Somerset,  who  knew  the  timid  na- 
ture of  James's  mind,  and  had  observed 
the  King's  concern  lest  any  third  person 
should  peruse  Melville's  verses,  resolved 
to  try  the  effect  of  fear  upon  it,  seeing 
reason  had  no  influence  ;  and  he  there- 
fore again  urged  the  King  to  grant  Sir 
James  Sempill's  request,  or  at  all  events 
to  listen  to  the  letter  of  the  Duke  of 
Bouillon,  and  give  Melville  a  better 
apartment  and  the  use  of  pen,  ink,  paper 
and  books;"  saying, in  conclusion,  "your 
Majesty  has  little  to  fear  in  your  royal  per- 
son from  Melville's  pen,  whatever  his 
friends  may  say — he  fears  God,  honours 
the  King,  and  loves  his  brethren  ;  but  he 
will  let  his  fancy  play  freely  upon  Epis- 
copacy, and  the  more  so  the  harder  he 
is  dealt  with." 

'^  Somerset,  you  know  my  maxim," 

VOL.   Ill,  F 


98  BLIGHTED  ambition;    OR, 

said  James  fretfully/^^  no  king  no  bishop, 
no  bishop  no  king,  and  this  man  spurns 
at  our  bishops^  ergOy  he  kicks  at  my 
breech." 

'^  True,  your  Grace ;  but  look  ye  what 
has  been  written,  upon  that  umquhile 
Lord  of  Salisbury,'^  and  the  crafty  fa- 
vourite, handed  the  King  these  lines, 
which  had  just  appeared  as  a  second 
epitaph  on  the  great  Robert  Cecil : 

Here  lies  Hobinal,  our  pastor  while  here, 

That  once  in  a  quarter  our  fleeces  did  shear. 

To  please  us,  his  curre  he  kept  under  clog, 

And  was  ever  after  both  shepherd  and  dog. 

For  oblation  to  Pan,  his  custom  was  thus. 

He  first  gave  a  trifle,  then  offered  up  us ; 

And  through  his  false  worship,  such  power  did  he 

gaine, 
As  kept  him  o'  th'  mountaine  and  us  on  tbeplaine  : 
Where  many  a  hornpipe  he  tun'd  to  his  Phyllis, 
And  sweetly  sung  Walsingham  to  's  Amaryllis! 

"  Save  us,  Robin,  this  is  unco  gear, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.       99 

I  hope  the  author  will  be  dead  afore  me,'^ 
said  James,  evidently  moved  by  the  cri- 
ticism conveyed  in  the  intended  epitaph. 
Though  a  slovenly  practical  politician, 
King  James  knew  the  theory  of  govern- 
ment tolerably  well — ''  Shepherd  and 
dog/'  said  the  Sovereign ,  musing,  then 
bursting  into  a  roar  of  laughter,  he  ex- 
claimed, '^  But  only  think,  Robin,  o'  th' 
mountaine, 

Where  many  a  hornpipe  he  tun'd  to  his  Phyllis, 
And  sweetly  sung  Walsingham  to  's  Amaryllis. 

that  is  figurative  enough,  God  knows ; 
but  it  is  plain  enough,  Robin.  This 
Walsingham,  as  I  take  it,  was  some 
courtezan  the  Earl  keppit  in  a  bye  cor- 
ner  ?"  Somerset  bowed,  smiled,  and 
the  King  went  on  thus :  "  Walsing- 
ham ?  Walsingham  ?  Walsingham  ?  I've 
surely  heard  somebody  speak  o'  a  sutoi 
cobbler  that  learned  blackbirds  to  whis- 
f2 


100  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  •    OR, 

tie  a  tune  ca'd  Walsingham  ?"  and  the 
King  was  right,  for  one  of  Crispin's  sons 
had  in  this  way  avenged  himself  on 
Cecil. 

^'  The  truth  is,  your  Majesty,"  replied 
Somerset,  '"  the  fraternity  to  which 
Melville  belongs,  ne'er  clip  their  nails, 
when  once  they  begin  with  a  great  man, 
just  as  if  they  were  going  to  houck  their 
grannies  out  o'  their  graves ;  and  its  my 
thinking  a  little  lenity  to  poor  Andrew 
Melville  would  get  the  Court  more  cre- 
dit at  this  term  than  gif  he  were  sunk 
fifteen  feet  aneath  the  bed  o'  the 
Thames." 

'^  Do  we  him  as  you  like,  Robin,  and 
please  Bouillon  and  Sempill,  and  only 
dinna  let  that  maivis  out  o'  the  cage  any 
mair  than  the  hawk  Raleigh." 

'^  Now,  your  Majesty  will  give  me 
leave  to  disclose  my  sentiments  anent 
Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  who  hath  re- 
fused to  undertake  your  Grace's  instruo- 


I'HE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET,    101 

tions,  and  become  lieger  ambassadour  to 
the  Archduke." 

"  A  very  presumptuous  insolent  fel- 
low," said  the  King  ;  ''  my  Lord  Trea- 
surer hath,  as  president  of  the  Council, 
laid  before  us  the  republican's  letter. 
And  this  is  the  way  he  repays  your 
offices  of  kindness,  my  Lord  ;  this  is  the 
man  that  was  to  be  alternate  help  and 
assistant ;  these  are  the  fruits  and  issues 
of  your  friendship  ;  he  is  a  turn  coat,  I 
see  ;  and  ere  Twelfthtide  he  is  confessed 
a  catholic  I'll  be  sworn." 

"  He  is  now  very  safe.  By  this  time 
he  is  in  the  Tower,"  answered  the  fa- 
vourite coolly. 

''  Vastly  proper,  my  Lord,"  quoth 
James ;  "  and  I  am  right  merry  ye  can 

act  sae promptly Robin,  ye'll  take  that 

paper  wi'  you,  and  gar  the  lords  o'  the 

Painted  Chamber  to  proceed  with  all 

these  persons  forthwith.     I  expect  dili- 

f3 


J  02 


gence,  if  ye  wad  a'  keep  up  we  me  in 
the  chase." 

Somerset  took  the  paper  offered  him 
by  the  king,  promised  fidelity  and  dis- 
patch^ and  now  again  hinted  at  his  mar- 
riage with  the  Lady  Frances. 

"■  On  that  score,  Robin/'  said  the 
King,"  lam  sair  fashed ;  but  nothing 
venture  nothing  have,  albeit  in  this 
venu  at  a  venture  we  maunna  royne 
the  public  mind  wi'  inconsiderate  rash- 
ness^ maugre  all  probability  of  success, 
but  ruck  as  it  were  before  these  ill  dis- 
posed persons,  wha,  as  the  verderons,  do 
in  some  sort  attack  the  great." 

"  The  rabble  will  never  rouze  when 
aught  is  doing  that  brings  not  Royal  Po- 
verty^^  with  it,"  said  Rochester  in  reply. 

*  the  moderns  call  this  ''  Bird's  Old  Tom," 
"  Blue  Ruin/'  and  "  Hodges's  Cordial  Gin  /''  In 
King  James's  time,  the  Lords  of  Paris  Garden? 
called  Geneva  by  the  name  of  *•'  Royal  Poverty." 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    103 

*'  But  they  shall  have  Geneva  enough 
on  that  day,  be  as  drunk  as  beggars  and 
as  great  as  Kings.  Myself,  and  my  no- 
ble Lord  of  Suffolk,  will  cause  the 
Strand  to  run  with  liquor." 

"  But  no  saucy  bravado  work,  Bobin, 
on  the  retainers  o'  ither  Lords — Giethem 
plenty  o'  Saltimbangos  and  players." 

"  Would  it  please  your  Grace/'  asked 
Somerset,  ^'  that  the  marriage  of  your 
poor  servant  were  honoured  by  the  royal 
presence  and  solemnization  when  the 
Plasgrave  and  the  Lady  Elizabeth  are 
joyned  in  matrimony." 

"  I  maun  consult  on  that,  Robin,  I 
maun  consult  my  family,"  replied  the 
King :  ^'  Novv^  Robin,  I'm  for  the  chase 
— so  gude  day  and  gude  gang  wi'  ye." 

Somerset  bowed,  kissed  hands,  took 
leave  and  returned  to  London. 


104  BLIGHTED   AMBITION;    OK, 


CHAP.    IV. 

The  image  of  a  wicked  heinous  fault 

Lives  in  his  eye;  that  close  aspect  of  his 

Des  shew  the  mood  of  a  much  troubled  breast. 

KLVG   JOHN. 

Somerset,  on  quitting  the  presence  of 
the  King,  threw  himself  on  his  horse,  and 
had  rode  some  miles  on  his  way  to  town 
ere  he  thought  of  the  paper  which  his 
master  had  put  into  his  hand.  On  ex- 
amining it,  he  read  as  follows  ;  "  On  the 
petition  of  grievances  by  the  Commons, 
I  would  not  have  the  judges  give  an  opin- 
ion to  the  Lords.  What  have  they  to  do 
with  impositions  by  prerogative  ? — Item, 
The  King  prays  that  the  union  may  be 
speedily  effected. — Item,  In  the  paint- 
ed Chamber^  let  that  author  of  the  sedi- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    105 

tious  slander  *  Calamosque  Armare 
Veneno^  that  Mr.  Oliver  St.  John^  be 
proceeded  against  for  arraigning  our 
benevolences,  collected  under  letters  of 
the  Privy  Council;* — Item.  The  Coun- 
tess of  Exeter. — Item,  The  witch  Mary 
Smith  for  covenanting  with  Sathan — 
try  her  anon  in  Stella  Camera, — Item, 
Investigate  the  Lord  Buckhurst's  claim 
to  the  Kentish  Lucy's  land  ;  —  Item, 
Have  up  Bart.  Legat  and  Ed.  Wightman 
for  their  heresy. — Item,  James  Whit- 
locke  for  contempt  of  our  authority. — 
Item,  Bring  all  the  citizens  up  to  the 
Painted  Chamber,  who  have  not  com- 
plied with  the  Privy  Council's  letters, 
and  granted  us  their  benevolences.'' 

"  Well !"  said  Somerset  to  himself, 
fetching  a  deep  breathing  after  he  had 
read  over  these  several  items  ;  "  the  bill 

*  Seethe  State  Trials,  Vol.  ii.  8vo.  edit.p.<^99. 
F    5 


106  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR,, 

of  fare  is  ample  enough.  Am  I  to  pro- 
ceed with  them  in  succession  as  set 
down,  or  shall  I  take  them  according  to 
my  own  pleasure.  Let  me  see — Master 
>St.  John  we  can  fine — In  how  much  ? — 
£5000,  yes;  I'll  thereby  please  the  King, 
Those  conceited  citizens  must  bleed 
plentifully — So  who  have  not  granted 
their  benevolences.  A  plague  on  Mary 
Smith,  and  those  Unitarians,  Legat  and 
Wightman.  Ah  !  the  Lady  Exeter  ;-  - 
there  I'll  manojuvre  the  v^hole  of  the 
Lakes ;  father  Lake,  mother  Lake,  and 
daughter  Lake.  Let  me  see  what  comes 
next? — Ite7n,  the  Lord  Buckhurst's  claim 
— I'll  get  rid  of  this  mirror  of  magis- 
trates, and  partner  of  Burleigh's  secret 
counsels.  Oh  !  the  benevolences  ;  there 
is  one  stubborn  fellow  I  shall  have  up ; 
Master  Edward  Weimark,  a  noted  no- 
vilant,  who  denounces  our  mode  of  bene- 
volences as  one  of  the  devices  of  extra 
parliamentary  taxation — I'll   link  him, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    107 

and  Oliver  St.  John  together— The  one 
hath  written  and  published  a  letter 
against  thiskind  of  benevolence  as  against 
law,  reason  and  religion :  the  other  tur- 
bulent and  presumptuous,  saith  in  Paul's 
Aisle,  that  King  James,  by  benevolences, 
violates  the  liberties,  laws,  and  customs, 
of  his  kingdoms,  the  subjects'  birth  rights 
and  the  parliament's  prerogatives. — He 
shall  answer  for  these  words — and  pay 
heavily  too. — A  fine  thing  this  has  been. 
Overbury  gracing  the  marriage  of  the 
fat  tinker,  cutting  large  thongs  out  of 
other  men's  leather." 

In  this  temper  of  mind  Somerset  ar- 
rived in  town  from  Theobalds ;  it  was 
Saturday  evening  and  late,  yet  he  lost 
not  a  moment  in  sending  a  pursuivant 
to  Sir  William  Wade,  with  instructions 
for  the  more  comfortable  entertainment 
of  Andrew  Melville,  and  the  utmost 
rigour  of  the  fortress  toward  Sir  Tho- 
mas Overbury.     On  Sunday  he  looked 


108         BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OR, 

for  Coppinger's  return,  and  he  looked 
not  in  vain. 

Coppinger,  who  rode  with  all  possi- 
ble speed  into  Lincolnshire,  with  the 
intelligence  that  the  vacant  lieutenancy 
of  the  Tower  was  open  to  Jer^ase 
Elwes,  was  punctual  in  returning  to 
the  time  fixed  by  Rochester.  Elwes 
had  a  staunch  friend  in  a  Sir  Thomas 
Monson,  for  any  service  of  the  court. 
He  therefore  judged  it  fitting  on  near- 
ing  the  metropolis  to  strike  down 
through  Highgate  and  Islington,  that 
he  might  enter  the  City  by  Aldersgate, 
and  take  his  friend  Monson  with  him 
to  the  Lord  Somerset's  house  in  St, 
James's  Park — Monson  was  a  particu- 
lar friend  of  the  Howards ;  that  is  to 
say,  that  family  considered  the  knight 
among  their  list  of  friends.  Thus  the 
links  and  the  chain  were  completed. 

"  Think'st  thou  Master  Coppinger/' 
said  Jervase,    as  the  travellers  slowly 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    109 

descended  Higbgate  Hill,  "  think 'st 
thou,  Sir  Thomas  Monson  can  stand  us 
in  any  stead  ?*' 

"  An  he  could,  he  were  n't  neces- 
sary," replied  Coppinger  unhesitat- 
ingly ;  "  how  often  shall  I  dodge  thy 
sconce  wi'  the  same  tale— Get  thy  old 
Amcle  or  brother,  or  whoever  he  is, 
Alderman  Yelvis,  or  Elwes,  or  Hel- 
ways,  to  bleed  freely  to  my  Lord  of 
Rochester ;  not  forgetting  abundance 
of  great  sovereigns  to  thy  poorest  friend 
Coppinger,  and  the  constableship  or 
lieutenancy,  or  governorship,  or  what- 
ever else  thou  likest  to  call  it,  is  thine 
— an  it  be  not,  the  devil  poison  me  by 
consuming  the  nativum  calidum  or  lumir- 
dum  radicule  of  my  vigorous  body,  in 
one  month,  two,  or  three,  or  more,  as 
his  Sathanic  Majesty  listeth,  in  any  of 
the  four  ways  gustUy  haustu,  ordore^ 
coniactuP 

"•    By  the  cross.  Master  Coppinger, 


110 


thou  talkest  as  freely  o'  the  felony  o' 
self  murder,  an'  I  understand  thee,  as 
gif  it  were  glorious  to  die  by  detestable 
and  lingering  poison,"  said  Jervase 
Elwes. 

"  I  spoke   only  by  comparison,"  re- 
plied   Coppinger ;    "  I  wish  thy   lieu- 
tenancy   were    as    much  for    glory   a^ 
for  self-preservation."      And  as  Elwes 
stared  in  the  face  of  his  fellow  traveller, 
as  if  looking   for  the  meaning  of  these 
mysterious    words    in  the  cast    of    his 
countenance,  the  Master  of  Horse  pro- 
ceeded.    '^  Hast  thou  not  heard  it  said, 
the  greatest  portion  of  helibore  was  to 
be  given  to  the  covetuous — So  would  I 
deal  by  them  who  have  this  gift  in  their 
power,  an  they  bleed  thee  above  one 
thousand    pound     worth — And     every 
ounce  of  blood  in  a  man's  body  is  worth 
that  to  himself; — an  he  can  sell  it  at 
that  price  he  might  lose  ye  ten  War- 
wickshire spoonfulls  ilka  quarterday  o' 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    Ill 

las  life,  and  be  as  fat  as  a  Connaught 
ox  at  the  end  o'  his  journey  after  all — • 
what  think'st  thou  ?" 

'^  I  understood  thee  on  starting,"  re- 
plied Elwes,  '^  that  I  was  to  look  unto 
my  Lords  of  Northampton  and  Roches- 
ter as  thy  friends  and  patrons  who  had 
the  power  to  procure  me  the  appoint- 
ment, and  it  were  but  befitting,  I  re- 
paid their  patronage;  but  it  sounds  oddly, 
Master  Coppinger,  does  thy  speech, 
that  the  lieutenancy  should  not  be  for 
glory,  but  only  self  preservation." 

"  An  thou  be  so  dull  o'  apprehen- 
sion," answered  Coppinger,  "  and  so 
little  aware  o'  the  duties  o'  thine  office, 
that  is  to  be,  I'll  explain  them.  First  of 
all,  thou  getest  office — good — I  must 
snack  the  bit  with  the  Viscount,  and 
thou  must  be  dubber  mum'd  ;  secondly, 
in  all  the  gammon  and  patter  between 
a  younker  ycleped  Weston  and  me^ 
about  bub  and  grub,  for  a  certain  pri- 


112  BLIGHTED  ambition;    OR 

soner,  that  you  shall  have  under  your 
charge,  act  thou  the  tollibon  man^  or, 
by  Jupiter,  I'll  lip  ye  a  chaunt  afore 
my  Lord  Coke  that  '11  carp  ye  at  Ty- 
burn, and  every  noble  of  your  kelter 
shall  go  into  the  King's  Exchequer." 

Obscure  as  this  dialogue  appeared  in 
some  parts  to  Elwes,  he  understood  in 
the  first  place,  that  his  guide  hoped  to 
share  the  premium  of  his   lieutenancy 
with    Rochester;    and,    secondly,    that 
some    prisoner  was  not    to    be    fairly 
dealt  by  in  his  victuals  and  drink — the 
understanding  of  the   Master  of  Horse 
squared  equally  well  with  the  dictates 
of  military  and  jailor  humanity,  when  it 
was  his  interest  to  be  so  morally  good, 
and  with  the  chicanery,  fraud,  artifice 
and  combination  of  traitors  and   mur- 
derers. 

"  Nay  man,"  continued  Coppinger, 
"  but  thou  art  strangely  dull  to  ha'e 
mixed  in  the   fashionable  world  about 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    113 

the  Inns  and  the  great  politic  worlds  o' 
the  Justices  at  Westminster  Hall^  and 
at  the  feet  o'  Gog  and  Magog." 

^'  Gog's  bones!  Master  Coppinger, 
but  I  understand  thee  : — in  how  much 
expectest  thou  me  to  bleed  for  thy  ser- 
vice ?"  asked  Elwes. 

"  An  it  be  not  impolitic  to  higgle 
and  sell  another  man's  goods,"  answered 
the  Master  of  Horse,  "  I  would,  bully 
pat,  thou'dst  clap  me  in  one  scale  as 
many  Britain  crowns  as  poised  these 
barking  irons  which  I  shall  throw  into 
the  other." 

"  Bright  Heavens  above !  as  many 
crowns  as  outweigh  thy  pistolets!" 
exclaimed  Elwes — "Why  they'd  make 
me  cove  at  Theobald's  ?  Nay,  bully 
guide,  an  you  get  your  livelihood  as 
easily  every  two  days,  it  is  my  thinking 
you'll  be  Lord  Teasurer  by  next  May- 
day." 

"  Men  of  genius  and  of  humble  fortune 


114  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

are  all  sorted/'  said  Coppinger  collect- 
ing himself  and  speaking  very  delibe- 
rately. "  Curiosity  impels  them  to 
mix  indiscriminately  in  the  world.  I 
have  seen  it,  my  Master  ;  its  the  only 
book  I  read ;  human  faces  the  only 
vocabulary  I  study.  I  have  sought  od- 
dity at  darkey  in  the  City,  where  Will 
Shakespeare  kept  the  table  in  a  roar, 
as  he's  often  done  in  a  night  house.  I 
have  been  wi'  Spencer  in  a  withdrawing 
room  where  fools  have  mooted  the  slang 
of  the  great  world  without  moving  a 
lip  to  please  high  born  dames  ; — I  have 
gravely  approached  a  cathedral,  where 
his  reverence  in  eminence  pretended  to 
dive  into  mysteries  and  ascend  heaven, 
while  in  his  heart  he  was  little  better 
than  a  Turk^j  being  neither  Protestant 
nor  Recusant ; — and  think'st  thou,  Jer- 
vase  Yelvis,  or  Helwaj^s  ; — thinkest 
thou  I  ask  thee  seriously,  an  I'm  to  be 
put  off? — No — look    at  these  barking 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  115 

irons,  at  this  prad  I  stride,  this  flogger 
i'  my  hand,  these  diggers  on  my  heater 
cases,  and  say  me  truly  whether  'twere 
not  better  to  end  our  journey  in  Horn- 
sey  Wood,  than  enter  the  City  and  be 
bilked  r 

Elwes  though  well  armed  with  a  case 
of  pistols  in  his  belt,  a  good  Toledo 
blade  by  his  side,  and  mounted  on  a 
stout  Yorkshire  courser,  with  as  good 
spur  rowels  at  his  heels  as  Coppinger, 
had,  however,  no  stomach  to  put  the 
lieutenancy  at  issue  by  a  duel  in  the 
Wood  on  his  left.  He,  therefore,  cut 
the  discourse  short  by  *^  damning  his 
soul,"  but  that  Coppinger  should  have 
an  hundred  great  sovereigns  for  his  own 
share,  and  as  many  more  as  he  could 
cheat  the  noble  lords  out  of,  when  the 
purchase  money  was  handed  over  to 
Rochester.  With  this  arrangement  the 
Master  of  Horse  seemed  satisfied,  and 


116  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OU^ 

our  travellers  entered  the  City  by  Al- 
dersgate. 

Coppinger's  first  visit  was  to  the 
house  of  Mistress  Turner  in  Paternos- 
ter-row where  he  found  the  Lady 
Frances  and  Rochester. 

^'  Back  already  !*' exclaimed  Weston, 
on  seeing  his  coadjutor- — '^  By  the  sigil 
I  wear  next  my  left  breast^  thou'st  gone 
brief  over  the  ground,  my  Master  ;  the 
attire  o'  thy  tid's  feet  held  good,  I 
reckon  ; — did  our  new  lieutenant  shogg 
or  tally  at  once  ?" 

"  Why  my  young  bully  file  leader," 
replied  Coppinger  ;  '^  where  's  my  lord 
and  his  leman  ?" 

'^  Answerest  thou  me  by  asking, 
where's  my  lord  an  his  V  aimante  ?" 
said  Weston;  ''  call  up  thy  night  spirit 
mother  Turner,  and  pump  her,  bully 
servitour — where  be  the  great  sove- 
reigns my  Lord  of  Northampton, 
chucked   into  thy    beaver    when    thou 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    117 

didst  start  for  this  seneschal  of  Gun- 
dulph's  Castle  ?" 

''  Stand  out  o'  my  way  thou  selcouth 
imp — am  I  to  be  made  such  a  staple 
commodity  as  thy  stammel  dame  lady  ? 
'Sdeath,  Billy,  bully  Weston,  I'm  not 
star  read,  an  thou  be  not  as  gleg  in 
the  agles  as  any  scout  or  beat  runner  of 
my  Lord  Coke  looking  after  weif. — 
What  dost  thou  take  me  for? — a  jug- 
gler at  cousenage  ?" 

"  Look  ye,  Master  Coppinger,  I  that 
plan  all,  get  nought.  Does  that  stand 
to  reason?"  demanded  the  Page.  ''Here 
you  stand  laden,  I'll  be  sworn  with 
old  Helway's  rose  nobles ;  and  I  finger 
ne'er  a  one— by  the  rod  of  Aaron,  sir, 
there  is  not  an  Israelite  in  Duke's  Place, 
w^ouldn't  divide  even  gold  shekels  with 
a  brother  who  gave  him  half  the  shim- 
miring  into  any  plot,  I've  given  thee 
into  this. — But,  by  Jove !  I'll  blast  the 


118  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OR, 

whole  as  sure  as  ye've  all  transgressed 
the  laws  of  God." 

"  Here  thou  sinister  aspect/'  said  the 
Master  of  Horse,  "  take  these  five  pieces 
and  get  jolly  drunk  at  Cambro  Mead's, 
thou  pig-face." 

"  Look  ye,  Master  Coppinger,  I  can 
count  ye  some  fifty  good  Henries,  and 
by  the  rood,  I'll  not  touch  thy  five  pieces 
— the  half  or  none.  An  thou  hast  spent 
all  to  these  ^ve,  the  matter's  altered,  and 
I'll  e'en  square  my  avarice  with  thy  ne- 
cessity." 

"  Craven  pimp,'*  exclaimed  Coppin- 
ger,  ^^  take  them  or  want ;  let  me  pass, 
or  by  the  rood  I'll  open  a  vein  in  thy 
throat." 

Somerset  who  had  heard  the  uproar 
created  by  his  bravo,  and  the  Page,  now 
hastened  into  the  hall,  and  his  presence 
was  the  immediate  signal  for    silence, 

'^  Coppinger,  why  parley  with  this 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    119 

varlet  ?"    said    the    Viscount.     "   Hast 
thou  brought  Elwes  ?" 

"  Aye,  faith,  have  I ;  but  as  a  mer- 
cury woman,  and  her  news  books  afore 
a  justice — mercenary  knave,  he  will 
bleed  only  to  your  Lordship,"  said  the 
Master  of  Horse. 

"  Will  he  knuckle  under ;  does  he 
seem  micher  ? — Must  you  use  him  as 
a  middle  man?"  asked  the  Viscount  al- 
most in  one  breath. 

"  He  is  miser  enough,  and  file  leader, 
he  won't  be,  I  fear,  unless  ye  wink  at 
his  exactions  without  process  in  the 
Painted  Chamber,  But  where's  the 
Earl  of  Northampton  ?  Does  Elwes 
enter  on  office  to-morrow  ?" 

"  To  morrow  without  fail ;  at  the 
Earl's  at  Charing  Cross,"  replied  So- 
merset. 

"  Then,  my  Lord,  if  I  might  advise, 
haste  you  thither ; — I'll  to  the  Mitre 
in    Cheap    for    Jervase^  and,   his    old 


120 

uncle  the  Alderman  in  Lothbury—  In 
an  hour  I'll  wait  on  you  with  my  doge 
of  the  White  Tower,  and,  then,  may 
your  revels  pass  merrily." 

The  Master  of  Horse  looked  into  the 
face  of  his  Lord  for  an  answer,  but  So- 
merset seemed  wrapped  in  thought ; 
and  before  he  replied,  the  patience  of 
his  man  was  gone.  "  My  Lord,"  he 
interrupted,  ^'  are  we  on  the  vauntley, 
or—" 

*^  No — no"—  said  Somerset  hastily, 
now  roused  from  the  brown  study. — "  I 
was  thinking  whether  we  couldn't  post 
Elwes  at  once  in  the  Tower?" 

^'  Without  bleeding  first?"  exclaimed 
Coppinger  ;  "  Nay  then,  an  that  be  to 
be  the  way  m^y  ride  ends,  I've  mis- 
glosed  my  Lord  of  Northampton's 
speech,  and  shall  run  mute  the  rest  o' 
the  chase." 

''  How  now,  Coppinger,  how  now?" 
asked  Somerset. 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMEUSET.  121 

"  My  Lord,  I  know  my  place — do  as 
you  will — shall  I  meet  your  Lordship 
on  Tower  Hill  with  Elwes  anon  ?"  asked 
Coppinger  in  a  tone  that  shewed  he 
meant  the  question  to  be  answered  in 
the  negative. 

"  No,  sir,  you  shall  not — get  me  my 
cloak — bring  Elwes  to  Northampton 
House  with  what  speed  you  please,  sir." 
The  Master  of  Horse  bowed,  laid  the 
Viscount's  cloak  over  his  shoulders,  and 
departed  to  the  abode  of  Mistress  Turner, 
with  an  agility  that  shewed  how  little 
he  felt  the  ride  into  Lincolnshire  and 
back  again  to  London  without  longer 
rest  than  to  eat  and  drink,  and  have  his 
relays  put  in  readiness. 

Somerset  hastened  to  the  Lady 
Frances,  and  communicated  the  news  to 
her  of  Coppinger's  arrival,  saying  at 
the  same  time,  that  the  information  of 
his  Master  of  Horse  left  it  very  doubt- 

VOL.    HI.  G 


122  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

ful  whether  and  how  far  Elwes  would 
go  into  their  plot. 

"  But  he  hasn't  come  this  length  to 
halt  between  his  conscience  and  his 
interest,"  said  the  Lady  Frances.  "  Make 
it  worth  his  while  to  take  the  keys  of 
Gundulph's  Castle,  and  look  not  after 
his  extortions,  and  trust  me  our  job  is 
done." 

"  Sweet,  I  must  to  thine  uncle's,'' 
interrupted  Somerset. — ^'  There  we'll 
house  Elwes  for  the  night — To-morrow 
I'll  'company  him  the  length  o'  Queen- 
hithe. — That  jackal  Coppinger's  gone 
to  escort  him  to  Charing  Cross ;  shall 
we  budge,  sweet  ?" 

"  I  must  coach  it. — Where  's  that 
lourdan  page,  my  Lord  ?" — asked  the 
Lady  Frances. 

^^  Here,  my  Lady  Countess,"  an- 
swered Weston, 

"  Thou'st  been  at  some  church  ales, 
sirrah!     and     smellest     of    tobacco. — 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOiMEllSET.    123 

S*death,  my  Lord,  can't  this  imp  be 
cured  of  his  frolics  ?" 

*'  Cry  you  mercy,  madam,"  inter- 
rupted Weston.  "  I  ha'  been  but  some 
ten  minutes  at  the  Globe,  seeing  o'  the 
blinded  bears  whipt ;  and  I  quitted  the 
ring  the  instant  the  flag  was  lowered  on 
the  front  of  the  theatre. — For  church 
ales,  madam,  mysteries  and  moralities, 
your  companies  of  parish  clerks  make 
not  them  such  mines  of  pleasure  as  J 
find  on  the  southern  bank  of  the 
Thames." 

'^  You  hear  my  Lord,  the  varlet's 
confession  ;  he  hath  crossed  the  river 
to  that  contaminated  audience  !" 

''  Methinks,  Master  Weston,"  said 
Somerset,  "  thou  shouldst  give  twelve 
pence  for  a  stool  on  the  stage  at  Black- 
friars,  sit  there  as  a  critic,  or  in  the 
Fortune  Theatre,  where  thou'dst  be 
attended  by  a  page,  and  hear  thy  cat- 
call listened  to.— Ah  !  sirrah — you 
o  2 


124  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OK^ 

simile.  By  the  rood,  my  dearest  Lady 
Frances,  I  do  believe  he  hath  been  so 
set  out  there,  for  he  doth  smeil  of  to- 
bacco. How,  sirrah,  art  thou  not  afraid 
with  thy  live  pipe  to  set  fire  to  the 
rushes  strewed  where  the  comedie  is  to 
dance  ?*' 

'^  Shall  I  call  the  ooach,  or  make  an- 
swer to  my  Lord  first?"  said  Weston  ; 
*4'or  I'm  not  such  a  child  going  to  a  play 
and  seeing  Thebes  written  over  an  old 
door  as  to  believe  that  that  is  Thebes." 

Somerset  laughed  outright  at  the 
reply  of  his  love's  page,  and  Lady 
Frances  herself  replied  by  calling  ''  the 
coach.     The  coach,  sirrah." 

The  page  disappeared  like  the  genius 
of  dispatch,  and  the  coach  drew  up  be- 
fore  Mistress  Turner's  door  with  all  pos- 
j^ible  speed. 

Coppinger  in  the  mean  time,  has- 
tened to  the  Mitre  in  Cheap,  where  he 
found  his  protegee,  Jervaise  Yelvis    in 


THK   RISE  AND  FALL  OF   SOMKHSET.    125 

deep  divan  with  mine  host  Cambro Mead, 
the  worthy  Alderman  Elwes,  and  Ma:^- 
ter  Weimark  the  Paul's  walker. 

"  Ron  Soir;'  said  the  Master  of 
Horse,  on  entering  the  well  dight  par- 
lour of  the  well  known  Mitre,  '^  Pr'ythee, 
mine  host,"  added  he  accosting  Cambre) 
Mead  with  perfect  no7ichalance,  "  an  a 
man  come  hither  to  rid  himself  o'  his  pelf, 
resembleth  he  not  that  whowiskin  fill- 
ed wi'  braket  that  I  whilom  used  as  a 
penbank  when  I  couldn't  spume  a  mug 
o'  ale  from  the  contents  o'  this  purse  ? 
It  rings  cheerily  now,  my  master ;  and 
good  reason  it  is  that  my  wisdom  t(» 
night  should  resemble  the  saving  acask  n" 
wine  at  the  tap,  while  it  is  running  into  the 
kennel  by  the  bung-hole, — Fetch  nie  a 
stoup  o-  clarey ;  a  man  may  be  penny 
Vv^ise  and  pound  foolish  once  in  his  life.'" 
Cambro  Mead,  who  knew  the  pjo- 
fession  of  Coppinger,  called  to  his  tap- 
ster for  the  liquors  demanded,  but  kept 
G  3 


126  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR^ 

his  place  on  the  settle  beside  Weimark; 
— and  when  his  guest  had  taken  a  deep 
draught  of  the  claret,  he  accosted  him, 
saying,  "  why,  Master  Coppinger,  you 
seem  to  my  ogles  to  have  lighted  on 
the  powder  of  projection." 

Coppinger  laughed  and  replied,  "  the 
seed  of  gold  ; — no,  no,  Master  Cambro 
Mead,  'tis  for  thee  and  such  like  publi- 
cans and  sinners  to  have  the  faculty  of 
multiplying  and  encreasing  a  bag  full 
of  rose  rubles  like  this,"  tossing  to  the 
ceiling  a  purse  of  gold,  "  and  that  too, 
without  e'er  traversing  God's  footstool 
beyond  the  sound  of  Bow  Bells. — Come 
my  masters,  now  we're  within  the  sphere 
o'  the  Mitre's  activity,  Christ's  death  be 
the  portion  of  ilka  man  that  won't 
pledge  me  in  this  stoup  to  the  health 
of  my  noble  Lord  Somerset." 

'*    It  is   the  fashion   within    Temple 
Bar,  for  us  first  to  choose  our  company^ 


THE    RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    127 

then  our  liquor,  and  a'ter  that  to  think 
o'  our  toasts  ;"  answered  Weimark. 

"  Wouldst  thou  answer  a  king  at 
arms  so  ?"  demanded  Coppinger  with 
great  gravity. 

''  Aye,  or  any  loon  clad  in  thy  kir- 
tle/'  replied  Weimark. 

'^  Then  thou  'rt  a  traitor,  kidst  who 
I  am  ?"  asked  the  Master  of  Horse. 

'^  A  pimp — my  Lord  of  Somerset's 
very  klick  minx,"-—  replied  Weimark. 

^*^  Look  ye,  bully  Weimark,"  said 
Coppinger  perfectly  unmoved,  "  as  I 
cock  this  pistolet  in  thy  face,  so  could 
I  with  the  three  bullets  in  its  guts, 
make  a  trinity  of  loop  holes  in  thy 
paunch  ;  but  'twere  no  merit  to  send  to 
Heaven  such  a  kinchen  cove  as  thou — 
There,"  said  the  bravo  discharging  the 
piece  into  the  wainscoat  over  Wei- 
mark's  headc — "  There  I'll  empty  my 
wrath  in  thy  presence, — And  now,  my 
merry  cockney,  seest  thou  this    other 


128         BTJGHTtD    AMBiTlO-N   ;    OR^ 

trim  bit  of  iron  ;  there  are  two  bullets 
in  it." 

"  Coppinger,  I  arrest  thee,"  said  the 
Alderman,  before  the  Master  of  Horse 
had  time  to  fire  off  the  piece.  "  This  in 
the  City,  sir ;  and  to  a  liveryman  and 
a  magistrate." 

''  Heyday  !  my  masters  ?"  answered 
the  bravo.  "  You  arrest  me  ? — I  de- 
spise thy  writ  and  spurn  thy  mittimus. 
Come  along  Jervaise  Elwes,  or  Yelvis, 
or  Helways ;  come  aioiig,  I  say;  let  us 
to  some  other  shop,  where  our  money 
,>hail  bring  us  better  cheer  and  truer 
company,  A  plague  on  all  citizen?, 
say  I." 

''  And  a  plague  on  all  upstarts,  and 
possessors  of  other  men's  gear,"  said 
Wei  mark. 

''  How  now,  my  master?"  asked 
Coppinger;  ''  have  I  ever  fingered  tby 
vile  dust." 

''    No !  by    St.  Dunstan,"  answered 


THE    itrSE   AND  FALL  OF   SOMERSET.     IW 

Wei  mark ;  but  thy  master  hath  the 
estate  of  Raleigh. — His  head,  take  itoiF 
when  they  will,  (and  its  in  my  thinkin^^ 
they'll  do  sae  soon,)  would  do  well  upon 
the  slioulders  of  Robert  Car,  Viscount 
Rochester  and  Earl  of  Somersel." 

'"^  Teste,  Master  Jcrvaise  Elwcs,  nr 
Yeivis,  or  ilelways  ;"  exclaimed  ( 'op- 
pi  noer — ^' Teste  Alderman  Elwes  als<) — 
]\] aster  Wei  mark  bath  abused  the  lord— 
Cambro  Mead,  teste  thou  also;  in  tbr 
i'nouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses  shalt 
ihou  be  condemned,  Master  Weimark/' 

*'  Edward  Weimark,  heeds  not  thee, 
bully  Coppinger,"  answered  the  PauTs 
walker,  "  nor  any  espaniolized  Engksh, 
^)r  beggarly  Scots  overtickled  with  tbe 
trappings  of  pride  and  honour: 

They  Leg  our  lands,  our  goods,  our  lives; 
They  switch  our  nobles,  and  lie  with  their  wives; 
They  pinch  our  gentry,  and  send  for  our  benchers, 
They  stab  our  Serjeants,  and  pistol  our  fencers/* 
G  5 


130  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OK, 

"  Teste,  again,"  said  Coppinger,"  thou 
shalt  justify  these  words  in  the  Painted 
Chamber  ;  Master  Elwes,  I  go  presto  ;'' 
and  as  he  said  this,  he  threw  down  on 
the  table  a  piece  of  money  for  his  rec- 
koning, wrapped  his  cloak  round  him, 
and  turned  on  his  heel.  The  two  Elwes 
arose  and  followed,  and  Coppinger  led 
the  way  through  Cheapside, Paternoster- 
row,  and  Ludgate  to  the  Fleet,  where  he 
stepped  into  a  pinnace  and  took  his  seat 
with  all  the  consequence  of  his  master. 
The  two  men  who  accompanied  him^ 
sat  themselves  down,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  master  of  horse,  and  the  barge- 
men plied  the  oars  lustily,  till  they  land- 
ed their  passengers  at  Hungerford  stairs. 

"  My  Masters,"  said  Coppinger,  on 
landing, ''  our  thoughts  ha'  been  in  petto 
— one  word  ere  we  enter  the  presence 
of  the  Lord  :  hast  thou  Jervaise  Elwes, 
or  Yelvis,  or  Helways,  while  truanting 
the  Mitre^  opened  thy  soul  to  thine 


THK  KISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     131 

uncle  or  cousin  of  the  quest  we're  on— 
Its  a  quid  pro  quo,  between  thee  and  me ; 
there  stands  Gundolph's Castle,  the  moon 
now  rising'  over  it— and  there  is  my  Lord 
of  Northampton's  house. — Here  standst 
thou—  wilt  thou  put  one  hand  on 
each  ?" 

"  Master  Coppinger/'  quoth  the  Al- 
derman, "  thou  knowst 

If  you  trust  before  you  try, 

You  may  repent  before  you  die." 

*'  The  Alderman  talks  reason,  my 
Master,"  said  Jervaise,  "  nevertheless, 
at  thy  convenience,  open  me  this  bag", 
and  thou'lt  find  thee  some  six  score  good 
sovereigns.  Here,  take  it  and  spend 
them." 

Coppinger  seized  the  bag,  and  with  a 
great  oath  declared  its  weight  justified 
the  words  of  Jervaise  Elwes. 

On  entering  the  palace  of  the  Earl  of 


132  BLIGHTHD  AMBITION  ;  ORy 

Northampton,  ^Somerset's  stirrup  holder 
announced  the  Alderman  and  Jervaise 
ElweSjWho  were  received  with  open  arm? 
by  the  Earl  and  the  Favourite.  "  Good 
Master  Alderman  Yelvis,''  said  the  Earl 
ofNorthampton/' opportunity  offers,  and 
it  were  fitting  we  repaid  thy  zeal  to  the 
House  of  Howard,  Thou  rem.emberest  m}' 
promise  when  we  supped  delligrout  toge- 
ther on  the  king's  coronation  day — Jer- 
vaise  Elwes  was  then  dike-reeve  in  Lin 
colnshire — That  pottage  got  us  acquaint- 
ance, brought  him  to  the  Inns  of  Court, 
and  now  at  a  small  lot  of  pelf,  the  consta- 
bleship  of  the  Tower   is  at  bis  service.'* 

"'  And  for  how  much  may  he  become 
Lieutenant  of  Gimdoiph's  Castle/' asked 
the  wary  civic  magistrate. 

"'  Why,  for  the  matter  of  that/"  replied 
Northampton,  "  we'll  not  turn  a  gifi 
into  market  gold  :  if  it  be  worth  his 
while  to  lake  office  there,  two  thousand 


THE   RISE  A^D  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    133 

great  sovereigns  weren't  out  of  the  way, 
rnethinks." 

'"^  The  pLice  hath  sold  for  more  within 
my  time,"  answered  the  Alderman, 
"  but  the  benevolence  of  late  hath  drained 
the  citizens ;  say  we  lay  down  one  thou- 
sand, and  the  other  when  this  vergere 
bringeth  its  crop  of  apples." 

"  And  that  's  as  much  as  we  can  do,'' 
added  Jervaise.  "  I  would  also  debit 
therefrom,  the  tale  of  five  score  marks^ 
in  requital  to  your  Lordship's  rod  knight 
Master  Coppinger." 

"  Debit  thyself  six  score  an'  it  please 
ye,'*  said  Coppinger,  "  out  o'  the  thou- 
sand in  reversion,  and  let  the  round  sum 
the  lord  prays,  be  paid  without  sale  by 
inch  of  candle." 

"  The  Master  of  Horse  speaks  rea- 
son," said  Somerset.  ''  Let  him  have 
seven  score  marks  if  ye  like  by  Martin- 
mas. The  Dalance  we'll  truck  with  you 
for  in  the  quarter  following." 


134  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OU^ 

"  And  when  shall  I  enter  upon  my 
office  ?"  asked  Jervaise. 

"  Now  Sir,"  replied  Somerset ;  "  take 
tliee  this  signet,  present  it  to  Sir  Wil- 
liam Wade,  and  he  shall  quit  thy  strong 
hold  before  dav  break." 

"  Your  Lordship  would  have  your 
signet  back  on  the  instant  Master  Elwes 
or  Yelvis,  or  Helways  is  housed  ?"  said 
Coppinger. 

''  Doubtless,  doubtless,"  replied  So- 
merset. 

"  Coppinger,"  added  Northampton, 
^'  take  thee  my  barge,  land  the  lieute- 
nant in  Gundolph's  Castle,  return  with 
the  Lord's  signet  anon,  and  take  thy 
stand  here  till  day  light." 

"  In  all  things,"  said  Somerset  to  Jer- 
vaise Elwes,  '-  in  all  things,  the  Lord  of 
Northampton  and  myself  expect  you 
will  serve  us — Your  obedience  and  fide- 
lity shall  guarantee  an  annual  oblivion 
of  all  extortions.      To-morrow  dismiss 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    135 

me  the  under  lieutenant,  and  admit  in  his 
place,  a  person  I  shall  send  you.  With 
his  duty  to  me,  never  thou  interfere,  as 
thou  valuestthy  place — Adieu." 

Elwes  would  have  made  answer  accor- 
ding to  the  tenor  of  the  Viscount's  ad- 
dress, but  the  Master  of  Horse  seized  his 
arm  saying:  "  Time  speeds,  and  I  would 
not  Gundolph's  clock  struck  eleven  ere 
I  lodged  you  in  the  royal  apartments.^^" 

*  Till  tlie  reign  of  Elii:abet]i,  the  kings  of  England 
lyiaintained  a  suite  of  royal  apartments  in  the  Tower. 


13G  BLIGHIED  AMBrnoN  :  OR. 


CilAP.  V. 

To  do  good  never  can  be  ihcir  ta^jk. 
B-jfevxT  to  dc  ill,  (heir  solo  delight. 

^     ..  MlLTOX. 

Hell's  most  abandoned  lieiid 
Di.'.  never,  in  the  drunkenness  of  guilt, 
8peak  to  his  heart  as  now  you  sppak  to  iriC, 
1  thank  \\)y  God  ihat  I  believe  yo'i  no!. 

Shkllkv. 

Sj  u  Tiiom a  s  O  V t: K E u  II V  ai'ri ved  at  1  he 
Tower  very  shortly  after  the  Earl  of 
Souierset  had  quitted  it  for  Theobald's, 
and  the  lieutenant  strictly  obeyed  the 
coniniands  of  the  Viscount, 

"-  You  will  follow  me,''  said  the  lieu- 
tenant to  Overbury^  "  3'our  apartmentKS 
are  assigned." 

'^  I  am  a  state  prisoner,  I  suppose," 
said    Overbiiry,   ''  and   I    will   not   de- 


THK  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  137 

scend  into  thy  dungeons,  below  even 
the  lions" — for  the  lieutenant  bent  his 
steps  to  the  Tower,  which  since  the 
days  of  Henry  VII.  was  called  indif- 
ferently the  ''  Bulwark"  and  the  "  Lion's 
Tower." 

''  We  only  hear  and  obey  in  this 
place,"  said  Sir  William  Wade  dryly — 
"to-morrow,  for  aught  I  know,  I  may 
replace  Sir  Thomas  Overbury." 

"  Nay,  but  I  will  pay  handsomely," 
said  Overbury,  take  this  purse  and  place 
me  beside  Raleigh  or  Northumberland." 

^■''  My  extortions  are  at  an  end,"  re- 
plied the  lieutenant,  "  I  expect  hourly 
to  be  committed  myself,  for  the  exer- 
cise of  a  little  Christian  indulgence  " 

''  Nay  then,  my  catechism's  ended," 
said  Overbury. — "Lead  on,  I'll  follow." 

On  arriving  at  the  bottom  of  the 
stairs,  a  large  door  v^^as  opened,  and 
presented  a  vaulted  passage  that  led  to 
the  subterraneous  cells  belonging  to  the 


138  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OH, 

Bulwark.  A  few  steps  brought  the 
prisoner  and  his  jailors  to  a  second 
door,  which  was  opened  by  Carey,  the 
lieutenant's  assistant. — "  And  this  is  to 
be  my  dreary  abode/'  said  Overbury. — 
a  Pr'ythee,  Sir  William,  let  me  have  a 
lamp,  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  to  dispatch 
a  billet  into  Holborn." 

"  It  were  as  much  as  my  head  w^ere 
worth  to  grant  you  more  indulgence, 
Sir  Thomas,"  replied  the  lieutenant, 
"  than  we  have  accorded  to  Andrew 
Melville  ; — and  you  know  my  instruc- 
tions anent  him." 

c(,  Were  indited  by  Bancroft,  not  by 
Cecil,  I  assure  you,"  said  Overbury. 
"  But  if  I  cannot  have  tablets  to  make 
my  fate  known,  accord  me  a  trusty 
messenger  who  will  go  to  Gray's-Inn 
Lane,  with  a  communication." 

"  Knov/  you  Captain  Kemish  ?"  asked 
the  lieutenant. 
"  Perfectly  well,"  answered  Overbury, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  139 

*^  Call  him,  Carey  ;  he  is  now  with 
Raleigh,  and  bring  him  hither  to  Sir 
Thomas  Overbury,"  said  Sir  William 
Wade. 

Kemish  soon  appeared  in  the  dismal 
ceil — and  the  meeting  of  these  gentle- 
men had  less  political  feeling  than  when 
the  reader  saw  them  last  in  company 
with  Lawrency. — There  was,  however, 
little .  time  for  discussion,  and  in  few 
words  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  requested 
the  captain  to  hasten  to  Gabricila,  at 
her  house  in  Gray's-Inn  Lane — then, 
indeed,  a  fashionable  and  retired  part 
of  London — and  communicate  to  her 
the  fate  to  which  he  was  now  doomed. 
Gabriella  heard  with  dismay  the  intel- 
ligence of  Kemish,  but  the  strong  pre- 
sentiment she  entertained  that  events 
would  fall  out  precisely  as  we  have  de- 
tailed, had  prepared  her  for  the  worst. 

"  I  have  one  resource  left  me,"  said 
the  fair  Gabriella,  ^'  I  will  this  instant 


140 

speed  me  to  Prince  Henry — No — that 
will  not  do — I'll  to  the  King  at  Theo- 
bald's." 

"  Know  you  the  difficulty  of  an  au- 
dience ?"  asked  Kemish,  "  an  you  do 
not,  that  journey  will  teach  you. — My 
poor  stratagem  would  be  to  gain  Philip 
Herbert  to  my  interest. — The  Lord  Bi- 
shop of  Canterbury  ; — and  such  other, 
friends  as  Sir  Thomas  hath  at  court. '^ 

Gabriella  accordingly  repaired  to  St. 
James's,  where  she  hoped  to  meet  with 
Philip  Herbert — but  here  all  was  in 
confusion  ;  every  face  Wore  the  trap- 
pings of  inward  sorrow ;  messengers 
were  hurrying  out  and  in  ;  the  guards 
were  sullenly  resting  on  their  pikes  ; 
and  horses  stood  saddled,  as  if  for  un-^ 
expected  journeys. 

''  What  mean  all  these  appearances 
of  concern  ?"  said  Gabriella,  as  she  en- 
tered the  gate. 

'^  The  most  exquisite,  hopeful  Prince 


THE   Hfi^E  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    141 

in  Christendom,  sheweth  the  first  symp- 
toms of  change/'  said  one  of  the  guards, 
— "•  from  a  full  round  face,  and  pleasant 
disposition,  he  hath  become  pale  and 
sharp,  more  sad  and 'retired,  and  he 
hath  been  brought  to  extraordinary 
qualms." 

"  Aye,  but  his  physicians  have  re- 
covered him  with  strong  waters,"  an- 
sw^ered  another  soldier,  who  leant  on 
his  pike. 

"  He  should  not  leai*n  to  swim  in  the 
evenings,  after  a  full  supper,"  said,  a 
third,  '*  to  engender  a  fatal  fever.  And 
riding  a  hundred  miles  in  two  days! — : 
and  in  all  his  progress  with  the  Pals- 
grave,feasting,  hunting,  and  taking  other 
sports  of  balloon  and  tennis  in  his  shirt." 

''  Can  I  see  the  Lord  Pembroke  ?" 
asked  the  sorrowful  Gabriella. 

"  An  I  could  make  all  the  Hospital 
merry  wi'  the  fruits  and  juices  of  the 
best   berries    I  hae    seen  in    Franconia, 


142 

Swabland,  Elas,  and  the  Paltz,"  an- 
swered the  sentinel,  at  the  foot  of  the 
tower,  leading  to  Prince  Henry's  apart- 
ments, "  I  couldn't  admit  un" — 

"  Bat  will  you  allow  a  messenger  to 
go  to  him  V*  asked  Gabriella,  putting 
into  the  man's  hand  a  gold  penny. 

"  This  might  get  un  a  stoup  o'  Ham- 
burgh beer  in  Holstein,  or  a  drop  o' 
Rustocke  in  Denmark;  it  might  e'en 
buy  un  a  flaggon  o'  the  good  Calvinist's 
beer  at  Serbest,"  said  the  soldier,  turn- 
ing the  gold  penny  in  his  hand.  '*  And 
the  choice  of  all  beers,"  added  he,  "•  is 
Serbester  beer,  being  the  wholesomest 
for  the  body,  and  clearest  from  all  filth 
and  barme,  as  their  religion  is  the  best 
for  the  soul,  and  clearest  from  the  dregs 
of  superstition." 

"  Here,  man,"  quoth  Gabriella,  in- 
terrupting the  mercenary,  "take  thee 
this  great  sovereign  and  drink  good 
Braket  or  Rhenish  for  the  rest  of  the 


THE  KUSE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    143 

day — only  let  me  pass  on  to  the  Lord 
Pembroke." 

The  sentinel  stepped  aside  on  his 
beat,  and  Gabriella  walked  into  the 
withdrawing  room.  Here  she  found 
several  persons  in  waiting,  and  on  in- 
quiring after  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  she 
was  told  he  had  gone  into  the  Prince's 
apartment  the  moment  before,  but  would 
soon  return. 

"  My  Lord  of  Pembroke  !"  exclaimed 
Gabriella,  on  seeing  Herbert  come  forth 
from  the  chamber  of  the  sick  Prince, 
"  they  have  taken  Sir  Thomas  to  the 
Tower,  and  immured  him  in  the  dun- 
geons of  the  Lion's  Tower — Oh  !  for 
pity's  sake  move  the  Prince  of  Wales 
for  his  release  ;  let  me  fall  down  at  the 
feet  of  his  Grace  and  implore  pardon — 
Overbury  will  go  to  the  Low  Countries 
— He  will  travel  to  the  Iceland  pole. 
His  friends  have  become  his  enemies, 
and  conspired  his  death." 


144  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OH, 

"  Rise^  g-eotle  lady,  rise/'  said  Phi- 
lip Herbert — "  What  my  poor  influence 
can  do  shall  be  done  ;  but  Lord  Roches- 
ter and  his  crew  play  a  deep  game,  and 
I  cannot  interfere." — And  as  he  thus 
spoke  the  Earl  was  departing. 

''  Nay,  but  hear  me— Fll  stake  my 
existence/'  said  Gabriella,  "that  Over- 
bury  hath  been  deceived,  cajoled,  and 
entrapped," — 

At  this  moment  the  door  of  the 
Prince's  apartment  opened,  and  one  of 
the  physicians  begged  the  Earl  to  keep 
all  noises  down. — A  Hie  of  soldiers,  with- 
out any  ceremon)  ,  seized  Gabriella  and 
carried  her  into  the  court-yard,  Philip 
Herbert  nodding  approval  of  what  they 
did. 

'■''  Oh !  Captain  Kemish,  save  me,  save 
me,"  exclaimed  Gabriella ;  and  the  gal- 
lant companion  of  Raleigh  drew  his 
sword  in  her  defence  ;  but  a  party  of 
the  soldiers,  who  were  at  hand,  gra  ;  >ed 


THE   JllSE  AND   FALL  OF   SOMEk!SET.    145 

their  spoiitoons  and  charged  Kemish 
beyond  the  precincts  of  the  royal  re- 
sidence.— Gabriella^  vvhose  resolution 
bore  strong  characteristics  of  the  oppo- 
site sex,  followed  the  Captain  out  at 
the  gate,  uttering  "  curses  loud  and 
deep"  on  all  the  dogs  of  war  who  had 
annoyed  her. 

"  We  must  to  the  Archbishop  forth- 
with," said  Kemish  ;  "  an  his  Lordship 
like  to  stir  himself,  we  may  fare  better 
than  at  this  haunted  tower," 

^'  Saw  you  ever  snch  brutality,  Sir, 
to  a  female  ?"  asked  Qabriella,  who 
had  now  dried  up  her  tears,  her  indigna- 
tion overcoming  her  sorrow. 

'*  It  accords  with  Herbert's  charac- 
ter, madam,  but  what  can  we  expect 
where  every  man  has  heard  that  the 
Lord  St.  Clair  hath  not  been  ashamed 
to  challenge  Prince  Henry  to  be  his 
own  son,  to   English   and  Scots  arriv- 

VOL.    III.  H 


146  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR. 

ing  in   Denmark  while  he  was  ambas- 
sadour  there  to  Christiern  ?" 

This  discourse  Gabriella  thought  not 
more  refined  than  the  usage  she  had 
met  with,  though  very  opposite  senti- 
ments had  dictated  both  ;  and  she,  there- 
fore, turned  the  conversation  into  another 
channel  during  their  walk  down  the 
Mall.  Kemish  strode  along  in  a  gaunt 
style  a-la-militaire,  and  on  arriving  at 
Westminster  Ferry,  he  hired  a  skiff  to 
land  him  and  Gabriella  at  Lambeth 
stairs. 

The  day  Vv'as  now  advanced;  but 
there  were  still  some  boats  afloat  in  the 
river, — and  as  our  passengers  had  got 
nearly  into  the  mid  stream,  their  atten- 
tion was  arrested  by  the  clamour  of 
tongues  in  two  boats  that  were  plying 
hard  down  the  river  against  the  tide, 
which  then  flowed  majestically  west- 
ward. But  passing  in  opposite  directions, 
the  Captain  paid  no  more  attention  to 


'rUE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     147 

them  than  he  would  to  a  company  of 
drunken  brawlers  till  he  heard  a  splash 
in  the  water.  Turning  suddenly  round, 
he  espied  an  old  man  struggling  with  an 
oar  in  the  river,  while  another  fellow, 
seemingly  young  and  active,  endeavour- 
ed to  wrest  it  from  the  wretch  in  the 
stream.  Kemish  called  aloud  ;  his  voice 
seemed  to  reach  the  villain  who  was 
drow^ning  the  poor  old  man;  but  the 
murderer  heeded  it  not.  He  had  suc- 
ceeded by  this  time  in  wresting  the  oar 
from  his  companion  ;  and,  pushing  the 
boats  asunder,  he  left  the  drowning 
w^retch  to  his  fate.  The  Captain  bade 
his  bargeman  put  aboat  and  rovv  to  the 
assistance  of  the  unfortunate  man  in  the 
water,  and  the  waterman  did  so  with 
great  agility,  but  long  ere  his  boat 
reached  the  point  where  the  drowning 
man  was  struggling  with  the  stream,  he 
sunk  to  rise  no  more. — His  boat,  which 
now  floated  empty,  the  Captain's  water- 
H   2 


48  BLIGHTED  ambition;    oU^ 

man  followed,  and  it  turned  out  to  be 
the  wherry  of  Doctor  Fornian  ! — The 
conjecture,  therefore,  was  that  the  astro- 
loger had  gone  to  his  long  home,  but  his 
murderer  had  escaped  the  hand  of  jus- 
tice by  a  precipitate  flighty  directing  his 
course  into  that  part  of  the  river's  brink 
M^here  he  was  least  likely  to  be  appre- 
hended by  any  observers  from  the  shore. 

Gabriella  and  Captain  Kemish  w^ere 
landed  at  the  Archbishop's  Palace,  and 
the  waterman  repaired  to  "  Forman's 
Grove,"  to  announce  the  catastrophe  of 
the  astrologer  to  his  widow  Trunco, 
Kemish  knocked  loudly  at  the  gate  of 
the  Primate's  Palace,  and  the  seneschal 
opened  an  eyelet  to  reconnoitre  the  per- 
sons of  his  visitors, 

'•  We  would  see  his  Grace,"  said  the 
Captain. 

''  Alany  would  see  him  that  cannot 
get  a  glimpse  o'  him,"  answered  the  man, 
"  Think  ye,  my  master,  his   Grace  that 


THE  ^IS£  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  149 

burns  daylight  away  in  his  study,  has 
time  to  see  you  ;  I  say  you  nay — A 
plague  on  all  you  may-gamers,  and  mor- 
ris-dancers, and  morality  mongers,  and 
wake-makers  and  church-ale  revellers, 
and  sic  like." 

'^  Do,  good  man,  open  the  portal," 
said  Gabriella,  "  charity  seeks  admit- 
tance, and  would  woo  thee  to  her  service 
with  these  few  gold  pennies." 

"  An  his   Grace  sit  frae  sun-rise,  till 
dusk  i'  his  study,  the  grating  barrica- 
doed  with  oaken  plants  to  keep   God's 
light  out  while  he  dives  wi'  lamp  glim- 
merings into  the  pages    o'  Revelation, 
think  you  he'll  be  moved  though  charity 
came  to  his  gate  wi'  all  the  parish  children 
ia  Surrey  ;  I  say  you  nay  ;  never theles?^, 
seeing  ye  be  civil  gentles,  ye  shall  to  his 
Chaplain,    and  try  what  ye  can   make 
o'  him,"  and,  as  the  Seneschal  said  this, 
he  undid  the  strong  iron  bars  of  the  gate 
And  admitted  Gabriella  and  Kemish. 


150  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

A  serving  man  conducted  them  into  a 
waiting  or  withdrawing  room,  whither 
the  Chaplain  soon  came  to  know  their 
pleasure  with  his  grace  :  "  We  desire  to 
see  the  Right  Reverend  Father,"  said 
Gabriella  ;  '^  and  implore  his  powerful 
aid  in  behalf  of  an  injured  and  innocent 
person." 

"  And  who  may  you  be,  Lady,  that 
seek  an  audience  of  my  lord  Arch- 
bishop?" asked  the  Chaplain. 

^^  The  wife  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury," 
answered  Gabriella, 

'^  A  daughter  of  Babylon !"  exclaim- 
ed the  Churchman — *•'  An  there  were 
not  on  London  Bridge  Tower,  heads  and 
quarters  enow  of  thy  recusant  tenets,  I 
would  thee  a  speedy  journey  thither." 

"  Sir,"  said  Captain  Kemish,  ''  we 
came  not  here  to  be  mocked  by  thy  Puri- 
tanical cant ;  if  thy  master  receive  us 
with  incivility,  it  were  then  high  time 
for  thee  to  vapour  thy  precision  and 
rhodomontade." 


THE  KISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    151 

"  Thou  art  a  Catholic  too/'  inter- 
rupted the  Chaplain,  "  who  bee'st  thou, 
my  master  ;  answer  me  that  ?" 

"  A  man,  and  an  Englishman,  and  he 
that's  more  is  not  of  this  world,"  re- 
plied Kemish. 

'^  Thou  art  a  Recusant,  and  comest 
here  with  this  runaway,  halfling  married 
woman,  that  sins  and  confesses  and  sins 
again,"  said  the  churchman,  swelling 
his  goodly  port  and  adjusting  his  wig: 
"-  The  King's  Majesty  will  bury  the 
whole  brood  of  Catholics  between  Holy- 
roodhouse  and  Whitehall,  and  the  Lord 
Northampton,  that  turncoat  that  is,  gives 
them  favour,  and  sends  them  abroad 
to  the  wild  Irish.  Priests  come  into 
the  country  by  tens,  fifteens,  and  twen- 
ties at  a  time,  and  have  good  and  free 
harbour  amongst  his  other  buildings  in 
Bloomsbury." 

^'  Sir,"  interrupted  the  Captain, 
"   your    charge     against    the    Earl    of 


152  BLIGHTED  AMBirroiv  ;   OR, 

Northampton,  may  be  well  founded  ;  but 
he  was  never  a  friend  of  Sir  Thomas 
Overbury,  whom  the  Lord  Salisbury^ 
that  prop  of  Protestantism  that  was, 
favoured  till  his  death,  a)]d  now  he's 
gone,  the  Lord  Rochester  must  fall  out 
with  his  Mentor,  and  sends  him  to  the 
Tower." 

"  Nay,  prythee,  speak  truth,"  said  the 
Chaplain  in  his  turn,  checking' the  speech 
of  Kemish  ;  "  Master  Overbury,  to  my 
lord  Archbishop's  sorrow,  refused  the 
embassage,  and  spurned  the  King's 
favour,  and  hath  done  traitor's  work  for 
his  own  neck  ;  and  he  is  worse  than  a 
Catholic  even,  for  he  is  one  of  Sir  Wal- 
ter Raleigh's  Atheists." 

"  Since  you  know  the  religion  and 
crimes  of  alt  men,  Sir  Priest,  of 
what  religion  should  an  Archbishop's 
Chaplain  be  ?"  asked  Kemish,  whose 
patience  was  now  exhausted  by  the 
insufferable    insolency    of    this   preteM- 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     153 

tier  to  Christianity,  though  he  felt  no 
inclination  to  be  wroth  with  the  garru- 
lous Puritan, 

"  Angels  of  grace  defend  us  !"' 
uttered  the  hapless  Gabriella — "  There 
comes  the  lord  Northampton  !" — and  as 
sure  as  she  spoke  that  nobleman  eniered, 
and  as  he  entered,  the  Chaplain  glided 
out  of  the  room  :  '^  O  !  my  Lord  Earl," 
she  exclaimed,  ^'  what  misery  is  this  you 
have  doomed  my  Knight  to?  Beseech 
your  Lordship  to  move  heaven  and  earth, 
that  he  be  freed  from  a  dungeon,  cold 
and  damp.  Let  Overbury  but  have  his 
release,  and  leave  us  to  wander  from  this 
Island,  fugitives  and  friendshorn ;  you 
will  find  me  true  as  the  bravest  Kniofht's 
ladv  that  e'er  loved  her  lord." 

^'  Gabriella,  thou  talkest  dreams," 
said  the  Earl.  ^'  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  is 
a  state  prisoner ;  but  believe  me,  on  the 
honour  of  this  blue  ribbon,  thy  Knight 
will  be  restored  to  thy  arms.  I  can  say 
H   3 


154  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

no  more  did  I  talk  till  midnight.  Leave 
this  place,  where  thou  and  thy  religion 
have  no  friends.  My  lord  of  Rochester 
has  promised  me  he  will  find  the  means 
of  Overbury's  release.  His  present  con- 
finement is  an  understood  thing ;  a 
mere  trick.  These  puling  Protestants 
must  be  cozened  sometimes." 

''  Then  I  will  rely  on  the  special 
favour  of  your  noble  lordship,  and  seek 
not  an  interview  further  with  the  high 
priest  of  Martin  Luther,"  said  Gabriella. 
"^  Will  your  lordship,  as  Warden  of  the 
Cinque  Ports,  gain  me  admittance  to 
Overbury?"  The  Earl  replied  that,  if 
his  interest  could  procure  free  ingress  to 
the  fortress,  it  should  not  be  wanting ; 
he  could  promise  the  exercise  of  his 
endeavours,  and  he  hoped  the  result 
would  be  favourable.'* 

Kemish  would  have  said  a  few  words, 
but  Gabriella's  speech  disengaged  Nor- 
thampton  from  her   conversation,   and 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     155 

that  crafty  politician  passed  through  the 
apartment  at  the  same  side  door  that 
the  churchman  iiad  vanished  by  on  the 
Earl's  entrance. 

Northampton's  business  with  the 
Archbishop,  was  to  justify  himself  in  his 
grace's  opinion,  from  the  reports  which 
were  now  in  circulation,  respecting  his 
Jiaving  relapsed  into  Catholicism,  many 
persons  affirming  that  his  conversion 
was  a  mere  manoeuvre  to  serve  his 
family  with  the  first  of  the  Stuarts  on 
the  English  Throne. 

Kemish,  who  judged  he  might  further 
the  interests  of  Gabriella  most,  by  em- 
ploying Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  influence 
with  Queen  Anne,  proposed  they  should 
make  their  repair  to  the  Tower  for  that 
purpose.  The  gallant  Raleigh  felt  for 
the  situation  of  Overbury,  but  staled 
how  impossible  it  was  for  any  person  to 
procure  his  liberty  under  the  present 
circumstances.     Disappointed  here  also. 


156  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    01?, 

Gabriella  applied  to  Sir  Wiliiaiii  Wade 
for    an    interview    with    her    husband- 
The  lieutenant  with  more  humanity  than, 
prudence,   complied  with    her    request, 
but,  unwilling  to  shock  her  by  a  sight  of 
the    loathsome    dungeon    in   which   his 
prisoner  was  confined,  conducted  her  to 
his  own  apartments,  and  went  to  fetch 
Sir  Thomas  from  his  cell.     On  arriving 
at  the  door  of  Overbury's  dungeon,  Sir 
William    briefly  informed    him  of   the 
object  of  his  visit,  saying  at  the  same 
time,''  As  I  was  unwilling  to  shock  the 
feelings  of  a  female  by  conducting  her 
to  this  miserable  hole,  the  only  request  I 
have  to  beg  of  you.  Sir  Knight,  is,  that 
you  will  not  discover  to  your  Lady,  the 
character    of  this    place,    nor   attribute 
to  the    inhumanity  of  my   nature,  the 
severity    which     is    exercised    towards 
you/' 

Overbury,  who  had  now  been  a  sufli- 
ciant   time    immured   in    his  loathsome 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOiMERSET.     15^? 

dungeon  to  anticipate,  or,  more  pro- 
perly, to  know  the  horrible  anxiety 
confinement  such  as  his  would  produce 
on  the  mind,  and  who,  in  the  midst  of 
darkness  and  irksome  solitude,  had  been 
so  unexpectedly  visited  by  his  jailor, 
could  not  but  applaud  the  spirit  that 
dictated  a  line  oF  conduct  so  deli- 
cate as  that  shown  by  the  lieutenant 
on  the  present  occasion,  and  very 
readily  promised  compliance  with  Sir 
William  Wade's  proposal,  adding  that, 
*'  The  obligation  was  wholly  on  the 
part  of  the  prisoner,  who  could  scarcely 
expect  this  mark  of  compassion,  con- 
sidering the  orders  under  which  the 
Lieutenant  acted/' 

"  Dearest  love!'*  exclaimed  Gabriella, 
the  moment  Overbury  entered  her  pre- 
sence, throwing  herself  into  his  arms. 
"  Dearest  love !  and  has  it  come  to 
this?     Oh!  why  did  you  not  act  by  my 


158 


counsel  ?  Though  a  woman,  I  was 
right  in  the  judgment  I  formed — 'Twas 
unt^hid,  mifeeling  to  me,  not  to  listen  : 
But  I  will  not  reproach  you  ;  I  came 
hither  to  comfort,  not  to  irritate." 

^^  Be  composed,  my  sweet,  all  will  be 
well,"  said  Overbury.  "  The  council 
will  not  attempt  my  life,  and  though 
King  James  may  hang  a  poor  man  for 
shooting  a  rascal  deer  sooner  than  a 
cut  throat,  he  will  not  exercise  such 
prerogative  on  me." 

After  mutual  reproaches,  apologies, 
and  consolations,  Gabriella  and  Sir 
Thomas  parted,  Captain  Kemish  escort- 
ing her  from  the  Tower  to  Gray's  Inn 
Lane, — and  the  lieutenant  conducted 
Overbury  back  to  his  prison  cell,  where 
for  the  present  we  shall  leave  him. 

On  reaching  her  house,  Gabriella  was 
surprised  to  find  there,  an  old  and 
valued  friend. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET,     lt'9 

^'  Father  Francis!"  she  exclaimed,  on 
seeing  her  confessor  ;  ''  Father  Francis 
in  England !"  but  speech  refused  its 
utterance,  and  she  sunk  on  her  knees, 
the  reverend  Father  repeating,  ''  Bene- 
dicite^  filial — Benedicite  !" — and  taking 
hold  of  her  hand  he  besought  her  to  rise, 
asking  at  the  same  time,  the  cause  of 
such  visible  sorrow  as  was  painted  in 
her  looks :  "  I  had  heard  of  thy  welfare, 
daughter,  and  comforted  myself  to  have 
found  thee  at  least  happy :  whence 
then  the  cause  of  this  distress  ?" 

Gabriella,  sobbed  out  in  broken 
accents  her  brief  tale  of  woe,  to  which 
Father  Francis  listened  with  sorrowful 
attention.  "  I  have,"  he  then  said, 
**  matters  of  high  import  with  the 
House  of  Howard,  and  it  will  go  hard, 
indeed,  if  I  enlist  not  in  thy  favour  the 
powerful  aid  of  the  Earl  of  Northamp- 
ton ;  there  are  other  lords,  too,  of  the 


l60  BI-IGHTKD  AMKITION  ;    OR, 

council,  whom  it  concerns  my  mission 
to  speak  with ;  fear  not,  therefore, 
(laughter,  but  all  shall  yet  be  well." 

Gabriella  expressed  her  doubts,  and 
assigned  their  grounds.  "  The  Lord 
Somerset,  and  he  of  Northampton,  are 
sworn  friends;  Somerset  is  the  pretend- 
ed friend  of  Overbury,  but  secretly  his 
enemy;  Norihampton  has  long  ago  de- 
clared the  same  lungdom  could  not  hold 
Overbury  and  the  House  of  Howard. 
Sorry  am  I,  my  dearest  Overbury,  trou- 
bled himself  about  them;  but,  he  fancied  he 
was  serving  Somerset,  when  he  opposed 
his  passion,  and  endeavoured  to  turn  his 
mind  from  the  pursuit  of  his  darling  object. 
Overbury  sought  fame — he  strove  to  ac- 
quire it  by  raising  his  patron,  the  chief 
Favourite  at  court ;  but  alas !  alas !  he 
now  rues  it  bitterly,  though  to  me  con- 
fession escaped  not  his  lips." 

*'  Daughter,"  interrupted  Father  Fran- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.      161 

CIS,  ^^  I  go  to  meet  a  brother  in  the  city  ; 
I  will  return  and  see  thee  with  him  ;  he  is 
cm  Englishman  by  birth ;  and  my  own 
native  country  is  Ireland  ;  it  will  go  bard 
indeed  if  our  labours  for  thy  Knight's 
release,  prove  ineffectual — Benedicite, 
filia,  Benedicite — vale," 


162 


BLJGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 


CHAP.    VI. 

What  gives  our  tale  its  moral  ?  Here  we  find 
That  wives  like  this  are  not  for  rule  designed. 
Nor  }et  for  blind  submission. 

CR-ABBE. 

Yet  mere  he  would  have  said  ;  but  then  there  came 
A  cough  tiiat  shook  the  sufferers  weaken'd  frame ; 
And  chcaking  phlegm,  that  would  not  quit  its  hold, 
And  on  his  brow  the  clammy  drops  stood  cold. 

ANONYMOUS. 

Somerset  had  no  sooner  dispatched 
his  Master  of  Horse  with  Jervaise 
Elwes  to  the  To\ver,  than,  exhausted 
by  the  fatigues  of  his  late  employment, 
he  sought  a  few  hours  repose.  On  the 
following  morning  the  first  object  that 
engaged  his  attention  were  the  memo- 
randa of  the  King,  touching  the  busi- 
ness which  was  that  day  to  be  trans- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     163 

acted  in  the  court  of  the  Star-chamber. 
Calling  his  Master  of  Horse  to  him, 
while  it  was  yet  hardly  daylight,  the 
Favourite  gave  him  some  brief  instruc- 
tions respecting  his  household,  and  then 
said,  "  All  day  T  shall  be  at  the  Camera 
Stellata,  that  musty  old  council-cham- 
ber of  the  Palace  at  Westminster." 

''  An  your  Lordship  hae  matters  o' 
Benevolences  on  the  tapis  in  that  an- 
cient depository  of  the  Israelites  she- 
tars,"*  replied  Coppinger ;  "  I  would 
be  fain  to  give  evidence  for  the  com- 
missioners on  that  dure  Puritan,  Mas- 
ter Wei  mark." 

"  Good,"  said  Somerset,  "  a  pursui- 

*  Before  the  banishment  of  the  Jews  under  Ed- 
ward 1.  (heir  contracts  or  obligations,  denominated 
in  our  ancient  records  Starra  or  Starrs,  from  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  Hebrew  word  S/ietar,  (a  covenant), 
were  deposited  in  strong  chests  in  a  chamber  of  the 
King's  Exchequer,  at  Westminster  Palace.  The  po- 
pular notion  that  the  Star-chamber  received  its  name 


16  4  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

vant    shall    bring    him  before  the    tri- 
bunal." 

"  My  Lord,  there  is  news  abroad  this 
morning ; — the  Prince  Henry  is  mar- 
vellously ill; — there's  a  monstrous  hurly 
burly  at  St.  James's,  and  it's  my  poor 
opinion  tliat  Lord  Northampton  and 
yourself  ought  to  have  all  your  rant- 
ing followers,  captains  and  swordsmen 
of  the  town,  paraded  somewhere  quietly 
in  case  of  need." 

''  Why,  Coppinger,  thou  wouldst  have 
us  imitate  the  mad  Earl  of  Essex,"  said 
Somerset. 

"  I  would  have  your  Lordships  look 
to  your  own  safety,  an  any  thing  hap- 
pen  the    Prince,  and   Martin   Franklin 

from  the  circumstance  of  the  roof  being  adorned  with 
gilded  stars,  receives  little  confirmation  from  tradi- 
tion ;  for  so  late  as  the  sixteenth  century,  at  all  event* 
as  iar  back  as  the  first  of  Mary,  the  ceiling  of  the 
-'  Council  Room"  was  without  stars. — The  allusion, 
therefore,  of  the  Master  of  Horse,  seems  correct.  Ed, 


THE   lilSK  AND  FALL  OF   SOMEKSF.T.    165 

stand  not  the  torture,  an  they  pitch  on 
him,''  replied  the  Master  of  Hoise. 
"An  the  leeches  Mayern,  Hammond, 
and  Butler,  gie  him  Raleigh's  cordi- 
al, without  tasting',  then  we  may  say 
Prince  Henry  has  been  poisoned  by 
that  damned  quack. — An  they  gie  him 
not  the  cordials,  but  nostrums,  and  bleed 
him,  his  head  ache  and  drought,  and 
other  accidents  may  increase,  and  then 
we  shall  have  sickness,  faintings,  shak- 
ings, cold  fits,  and  then  great  dry  fits 
and  so  forth.'* 

"  Thouseemest  marvellously  instruct- 
ed in  all  the  passages  between  his  Grace 
and  the  leeches,"  said  Somerset.  '^  What 
wit  hast  thou  further  to  declare  anent 
the  Prince  of  Wales  ? 

"  T  know  nothing,  my  Lord  Earl,*' 
replied  the  Master  of  Horse. — "  Were 
T  on  the  rack  now.,  I  know  nothing  ; 
let  them  claw  my  flesh  off  with  hot 
pinchers,  and  pole  me  with  boiling  oil. 


166 

I  know  nothing  that  concerns  mortal 
save  myself." 

^'  Copping'er/'  replied  Somerset,  '-'  I 
believe  you  are  one  of  the  cleverest 
fellows  about  town,  and  I  w^ill  reward 
you  in  proportion  to  your  merit ;  but 
if  you  deceive  and  betray  me" — 

"  Take  this  dagger,  and  end  my 
days,"  interrupted  the  Master  of  Horse. 
— "  Time  speeds — shall  we  debate  our 
fidelity  now%  and  leave  our  work  half 
done  ?" 

"■  No,  Sir,  we  debate  nothing,"  re- 
plied the  Earl,  "  Attend  me  ot  the 
Council-chamber." 

On  arriving  at  the  Camera  Stellata, 
Somerset  and  the  other  Commissioners 
engaged  first  on  the  matter  of  Mr.  Oli- 
ver St.  John,  whom  they  fined  and  sen- 
tenced to  imprisonment ;  after  hearing- 
Sir  Francis  Bacon  deliver  a  long  speech, 
which  the  reader  may  find  in  his  works, 
volume  the  second  of  the  last  4to  edi- 


ThlE   RISK  AND  FAI.L  OF   SOMERSt T.    167 

tiou.  This  was  no  sooner  dispatched^ 
than  the  Viscount  proposed  that  the 
citizens  who  spoke  treasonably  of  the 
Privy  Council's  letters,  touching  the 
Benevolences,  should  be  brought  up 
by  a  messenger  at  arms;  and  the  pro- 
position being  carried  ?iem.  con.  pursui- 
vants were  dispatched  with  warrants 
for  their  appearance  before  the  Com- 
missioners. 

When  Weimark  made  iiis  appear- 
ance, he  was  asked  why  he  impugned 
the  Lords*  letters,  calling  on  the  citi- 
zens for  Benevolences.  "  An  it  please 
your  Lordships,"  replied  Weimark. — 
"-  The  King's  Majesty  can  no  more  claim 
Benevolences  than  he  can  impose  duties 
on  merchandize,  by  virtue  of  his  pre- 
rogative. An  the  English  people  ac- 
quiesce in  these  claims,  loans,  mono- 
polies, benevolences  and  sic  like  subsi- 
diary and  extra  parliamentary  modes 
of  taxation,  the  House  of  Commons  will 


168  BLlGIirCD  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

become  unnecessary,  and  a  legvA  go- 
vernment will  be  corrupted  into  a  ty- 
ranny. I  have  nothing  furthe^'  to  argue, 
an  I  had  the  eloquence  o'  the  Attor- 
ney-General, Master  Bacon,  I  could 
only  say  taxi]}g  by  prerogative  is  the 
strongest  proof  of  a  new  constitution. 
'  Sic  voieo,  sic  jubeo,  stet  pro  ratione 
voluntas.'  *' 

''  What  further  need  have  we  of  anv 
evidence  of  thy  base  treason,  Master 
Weimark  ?"  said  Sir  Francis  Bacon. — 
*'  My  Lords,  in  the  face  of  the  King's 
ministers,  he  slanders  and  traduces  his 
Majesty." 

"  Master  Weimark  slanders  not  the 
King  alone,"  interrupted  Northamp- 
ton, who  had  got  his  cue  from  Somer- 
set, **  he  abuses  us,  my  Lords,  and 
speaks  darkly  of  assassinations." 

'^  I  marvel  what  your  Lordships  will 
make  out  next,"  said  Weimark.  "^  Pro- 
duce vour  witnesses  before  these  Lords 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  169 

spiritual,  temporal^  and  privy  counsel- 
lors, composing  the  Commissioners,  my 
judges,  without  the  intervention  of  a 
jury." 

**  Master  Weimark,  thou  art  ignorant 
of  this  august  court,"  interrupted  the 
Attorney- General ; — "  it  hath  jurisdic- 
tion legally,—  legally,  I  say.  Sir,  legally, 
over  riots,— riots  observe,  perjury,  an 
awful  crime ;  that  is,  Sir,  to  forswear 
thyself,  Master  Weimark  ; — misbehavi* 
our  of  sheriffs.  Sir  ;  so  let  thy  civic  offi- 
cers beware,  and  other  notorious  mis- 
demeanours contrary  to  the  laws  of  the 
land.'' 

*^  Ye  may  assert  here  all  proclama- 
tions," replied  Weimark,  "  and  stretch 
all  orders  of  prerogative,  to  the  vindi- 
cating of  illegal  commissions  and  grants 
of  monopolies;  ye  may  hold  for  ho- 
nourable that  which  pleases  you,  and 
for  just  that  which  profits ;— ye  may 
call  yourselves  a  court  of  law  to  deter- 

VOL,    HI.  I 


172  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

wayz- goose-day,  put  a  whittle   in    the 
Lords'  throaty  sans  weapon  salve/' 

This  explanation  thrilled  the  court 
with  horror,  and  though  Weimark 
pleaded  for  himself,  that  "  he  intended 
no  disrespect  to  Lord  Somerset,  whose 
known  diligence  to  the  cloth-workers 
was  above  all  detraction,  only  he  spake 
in  reference  to  an  old  proverb,  ^  two 
heads  are  better  than  one.' " 

"  Better  off  the  shoulders  than  on,'' 
added  Coppinger,  'Hhou  didst  mean 
that  Master  Weimark ;"  and  the  Lord 
President  of  the  Commissioners  approv- 
ing of  the  interpretation,  closed  the  de- 
bate, by  saying — "  Master  Weimark, 
thy  B  enevolence  was  to  have  been  one 
hundred  pounds  sterling,  but  thou'lt 
agree  with  me,  two  hundred  were  bet- 
ter than  one,"— which  between  fear  and 
charity  the  bold  Novilant  was  fain  to 
subscribe  and    depart,    regretting   that 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.      173 

his  jest  should  have  been  reckoned  so 
exceedingly  valuable. 

As  Weimark  departed  the  Star-cham- 
ber, the  King  himself  entered,  accom- 
panied by  Philip  Herbert.  The  Lords 
rose  up,  to  receive  his  Majesty,  and 
the  Earl  of  Suffolk  vacated  his  seat, 
but-  James  signified,  by  waving  his 
hand,  that  he  came  merely  as  a  spec- 
tator or  witness,  and  not  as  a  judge. 

'^  Let  Sir  Thomas,  the  Lady  Lake, 
and  Lady  Rosse  be  called  in,"  said  the 
Lord  President,  and  the  pursuivant 
very  soon  ushered  the  joint  Secretary, 
his  wife  and  eldest  daughter  into  the 
Camera  Stellata. 

^^  My  Lords,"  said  the  King's  coun- 
sel, "  the  Lady  Lake  and  the  Baroness 
Rosse  have  accused  the  Countess  of  Ex- 
eter of  incontinency  with  Lord  Rosse. 
How  maintain  ye  this  scandal  Sir  Tho- 
mas Lake  ?" 

Sir  Thomas  attempted  a  reply,  and 
I  3 


174  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

a  long  and  desultory  conversation  en- 
sued, alleging  on  the  side  of  the  ac- 
cusers, that  the  Earl  of  Exeter  had  been 
injured  in  his  reputation. 

^'  Upon  my  credit,"  said  Sir  Tho- 
mas Lake,  "  Lord  Rosse  was  sent  am- 
bassador extraordinary  into  Spain,  in  a 
very  gallant  equipage,  with  some  hopes 
of  his  own  to  continue  leiger,  to  save 
charges  of  transmitting  any  othui  ."^ 

^'  Yes,"  interrupted  the  King,  "  and 
in  his  absence  hath  fallen  out  an  ex- 
treme deadly  feud  ('tis  no  matter  for 
what)  between  Lady  Lake  and  the 
Countess  of  Exeter  ; — a  youthful  widow 
she  had  been,  and  virtuous — *' 

"  And  so  became  bed-fellow  to  this 
aged,  gouty,  diseased  but  noble  Earl,'* 
said  Coppinger  into  the  ear  of  Roches- 
ter. 

"  And  that  preferment,"  continued 
the  King,  "  hath  made  her  subject  toi 
envy  and  malice  ?" 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.      115 

"  But  my  Lord  Rosse  coming  home 
from  his  embassy,  stays  not  long  in 
England,"  said  Sir  Thomas  Lake,  "  but 
away  he  gets  into  Italy,  turns  a  professed 
Roman  Catholic,  being  cozened  into 
that  religion  by  his  public  confidant 
Gondamare." 

"  With  that  we  have  nothing  to  do," 
said  Northampton ;  "  was  it  befitting 
he  should  be  charged  with  incontinency 
and  neglect  of  his  wife  and  kindred, 
because  he  refused  an  increase  of  al- 
lowance to  her  settlement  of  jointure, 
which  I  believe  was  promised  to  be 
completed  at  his  return  ?" 

"  Truth  is,"  said  the  counsel  for  Lady 
Lake,  ^'  we  accuse  Lord  Rosse  of  in- 
continency towards  his  lady  whilst  here  ; 
whereupon  his  wife  made  the  discovery, 
he  hath  fled  from  hence,  and  from  her 
jnarriage-bed — and  with  other  devised 
.calumnies,  by  several  designs  and  con^ 


176  BLIGHTED  ambition;   OR, 

trivements,  he  aimed  to  have  poisoned 
the  mother  and  daughter !" 

The  Countess  at  this  stage  of  the 
proceedings,  with  tears  and  impreca- 
tions, professed  her  innocence;  to  op- 
pose which  the  mother  Lake  and  her 
daughter  produced  a  written  document, 
wherein  the  Countess,  with  much  con- 
trition,   acknowledged    herself   guilty^ 

craved  pardon  for  attempting  to  poison 
them,  and  desired  friendship  with  them 
all. 

^^  A  forgery,  a  counterfeit!"  exclaimed 
the  Countess  of  Exeter. 

"  In  what  place,  at  what  time,  and 
on  what  occasion  should  this  be  writ  V^ 
demanded  the  King. 

"  At  the  house  of  Lord  of  Exeter,^ 
at  Wimbledon,"  replied  Sir  Thomas 
Lake,  '^  where  all  the  parties  met  in  dis- 
pute of  their  differences,  and  the  Countess 
confessed  her  guilt  of  attempting  the 
poison  of  my  lady  and  daughter^," 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    l77 

"  What  says  the  Lady  Lake  ?"  de- 
manded the  King. 

"  Only  that  the  Countess  being  de- 
sirous of  absolution  and  friendship, 
your  grace,  consented  to  set  down  all 
the  circumstances  under  her  own  hand, 
which  presently  she  writ  down  at  the 
window,  in  the  upper  end  of  the  great 
chamber,  in  the  presence  of  my  daugh- 
ter, Lord  Rosse,  Diego  the  Spaniard, 
and  myself." 

"  Diego  is  Lord  Rosse's  confiding 
servant  V*  said  James — "  and  ye  are  all 
parties;  what  further  witness  have  you 
that  will  prevail  with  my  belief?" 

"  Our  chamberesse,"  added  the  Ba- 
roness Rosse,  "  stood  behind  the  hang- 
ing, at  the  entrance  of  the  room,  and 
heard  the  Countess  read  over  what  she 
writ." 

''  What  additional  witness  have  you,'* 
asked  the    King,    "  to  give    sufficient 
credit  to  the  poisoning  ?*' 
I  5 


178  BLIGHTED  ambition;    OR, 

"  A  confession  of  one  Luke  Hutton,'^ 
said  Sir  Thomas  Lake^  "  acknowledg- 
ing for  forty  pounds  annuity^  the 
Countess  hired  him  to  poison  my  fa- 
mily.'' 

*'  And  this  is  the  case  against  the 
Countess  of  Exeter  V  asked  the  King, 
— The  ladies  curtesied.  Sir  Thomas  Lake 
bowed,  and  his  Majesty  taking  from 
his  doublet  a  paper,  addressed  the  com- 
missioners, saying, — ''-  My  Lords,  and 
noble  cousins,  I  have  adventured  upon 
this,  even  as  upon  the  Powder  treason^ 
because  modesty  forbids  the  deface- 
ment of  the  living,  and  I  crave  your 
indulgence,  that  without  previous  no- 
tice of  my  presence,  I  came  here  and 
have  been  bold  to  speak  in  the  cause 
of  the  Countess  of  Exeter,  which  might 
better  become  greater  abilities  to  plead. 
—But  the  case  stands  thus:  Master 
Dendy  tell  thy  tale.'' 

Master   Dendy ;,  now   a  Serjeant  at 


IDHE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    179 

Arms,  and  sometime  a  domestic  of  the 
Earl  of  Exeter,  stepped  up  to  the  ta- 
ble and  said  :  *'  As  soon  as  this  quarrel 
was  blazoned  at  Court,  it  came  to  his 
Grace's  ear,  and  he  sent  me  into  Italy, 
post  to  the  Lord   Rosse.     Here  is  the 
Lord    Rosse 's    hand,  also    Diego's,  and 
other  testimonials,  confirming   that   all 
the   said   accusations    and    confessions, 
suspicions   and   papers,  concerning   the 
Countess  are  notorious,  false,  and  scan- 
dalous, which  the  Lord  confirmed,  by 
receiving  the  host,  in  assurance  of  her 
honour  and  his  innocency." 

This  declaration  excited  the  utmost 
consternation  among  the  accusers ;  the 
Commissioners  looked  at  each  other ; 
the  King  stepped  up  to  Master  Dendy, 
took  the  papers  from  him,  endorsed 
them  with  the  initials  I.  R.  and  having 
handed  them  to  the  Earl  of  Suffolk, 
addressed  the  Court,  saying, — "  oaths 
cannot  confound  my  sight~I  knew  pri- 


180  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

vately  of  all  this^  and  to  make  trials  in 
a  hunting  journey,  at  New  Park,  I 
gallopped  thither  to  Wimbledon,  viewed 
the  room,  and  observing  the  great  dis- 
tance of  the  window  from  the  lower  end 
of  the  room,  I  placed  myself  behind 
the  hanging,  and  so  my  Lord  Pem- 
broke in  turn,  and  we  could  not  hear 
ourselves  seriatim  speak  aloud  from  the 
window.     What  say  you,  Herbert  ?" 

'*  His  Grace  hath  reported  the  gos- 
pel of  this  fable,"  replied  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke ;  "  and  I  declare  on  the  ho- 
nour of  a  peer,  the  old  housekeeper 
protested  those  hangings  at  the  door, 
constantly  furnisht  that  room  for  thirty 
years. — And  I  say  with  his  Grace,  oaths 
cannot  confound  my  sight ;  if  the  arras 
be  two  foot  short  of  the  ground,  the 
Countess  of  Exeter  and  Lord  Rosse 
might  discover  the  chamberesse  an  she 
were  hidden  behind  it." 

"  We  only  want  Luke  Hutton,"  said 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  ISl 

the  King,  "  if  some  wonderful  provi- 
dence could  find  him  out  privately;  I 
dare  say  he  would  deny  it  also." 

Coppinger  at  this  moment  stepped 
two  paces  from  where  he  stood,  behind 
Lord  Somerset,  and  falling  on  one  knee, 
besought  he  might  have  their  Lordship's 
warrant,  and  he  should  produce  Luke 
Hutton  in  half  an  hour  I 

"  Thou'rt  my  Lord  Somerset  s  Mas- 
ter of  Horse  ?"    said  the    King,    "  art 

not  ?" 

Somerset    bowed — "  Begone,   then," 

said  the    King,  "  and   come  not   back 

with  thy  head  on,  my  master,  if  thou 

bring'st  not  this  Hutton." 

The  Favourite  handed  his  bravo  the 
ring  from  his  finger,  and  Coppinger  left 
the  Presence  with  as  much  address  as  if 
he  were  the  most  finished  courtier  in  the 
Camera  Stellata. 

During  the  absence  of  the  Master 
of  Horse,  the  Baroness  Rosse   fell   on 


182  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;  OR, 

her  knees,  confessing  she  had  been  in- 
veigled into  this  plot  against  her  will 
and  consent ;  Sir  Thomas  Lake  stood 
confounded,  the  Lords  of  the  commis- 
sion being  as  much  ashamed  of  the  joint 
Secretary  as  he  was  of  his  guilt ;  but 
Lady  Lake  remained  unmoved,  look- 
ing with  the  most  scornful  contempt 
on  her  husband  and  daughter. 

As  Coppinger  reached  the  Palace- 
yard,  he  was  accosted  by  Weston, 
*' How  now.  Master  Coppinger  ?— Has 
the  King  blown  up  the  plot  and  con- 
trivers ?" 

"  Devil  that  thou  art,"  exclaimed 
Coppinger  ;  "  where  is  Hutton  ?" 

'^  Hard  bye,"  answered  the  page, — 
"  guarded  by  Martin  Franklin — but  he 
won't  budge,  he's  afraid  of  being  whipt 
at  the  cart's  tail  from  hence  to  New- 
gate." 

*'  Looke  ye,  here's  my  Lord's  signet, 
and  I'll  fetch  him  forth  ;  lead  on." 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  183 

Weston  conducted  the  Master  of 
Horse  into  one  of  the  crowded  lanes 
that  ran  from  the  Palace-yard  into  To- 
thil-fields,  Westminster,  and  in  an  ob- 
scure ale-house  they  found  Franklin 
and  Hutton. — "  Come  along*,  bully  Hut- 
ton,  come  along,  thy  peace  is  made, 
but  demur  one  moment  and  the  sun 
shall  bless  thy  shoulders  'atween  this 
and  Temple  Bar." 

Hutton  rose  from  his  seat  grumbling", 
and  was  hurried  along  to  the  entrance 
into  the  Painted  Chamber,  but  his  fears 
now  got  the  better  of  his  resolution, 
and  he  refused  to  proceed  one  step  far- 
ther.— The  idea  of  entering  the  Star- 
chamber,  carried  with  it  as  much  terror 
to  the  minds  of  the  people,  as  entering 
the  inquisition  in  Spain  did  into  that  of 
an  accused  heretic.  Coppinger,  how- 
ever, produced  his  Lord's  signet,  and 
called  on  the  javelin-men  in  attendance 
to  bear  the  prisoner  up  stairs— a  com* 


184  BLIGHTED  ambition;    OR, 

mand  which  soon  found  hands  enow  to 
carry  it  into  effect. 

The  King  and  all  the  Lords  were 
astonished  at  the  dispatch  of  the  Mas- 
ter of  Horse,  and  Somerset  was  equally 
lo  to  find  that  Weston  seemed  the  chief 
person  employed  in  dragging  the  unwil- 
ling witness  up  to  the  table  of  the  Com- 
missioners. The  evidence  of  Hutton 
closed  the  defence  of  the  Countess  of  Ex- 
eter ;  and  the  King  addressed  the  court, 
saying,  "  Sir  Thomas  Lake  I  whilom  va- 
lued, told  him  the  danger  of  embarking 
himself  in  this  quarrel,  and  advised  him 
to  leave  his  wife  and  daughter  for  the 
Star-chamber.  He  humbly  thanked  me, 
but  could  not  refuse  to  be  a  father  and  a 
husband,  and  so  puts  his  name  with  theirs 
to  the  bill— My  Lord  Suffolk,  give  place," 
continued  James,  "we  will  now  sit  in 
judgment  ourselves.  I  hope  we  shall 
not  have  another  plot  like  this  soon 
again ;  it  resembles  the  first  sin  in  Pa- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    185 

radise ;  the  Lady  Lake,  the  serpent ; 
her  daughter,  Eve;  Sir  Thomas,  poor 
Adam,  whom,  I  think  in  my  conscience, 
that  his  love  to  his  wife  has  beguiled 
— Sir  Thomas  Lake,  we  fine  you  and 
your  Lady  ten  thousand  pounds  to 
the  Exchequer ;  five  thousand  to  the 
poor  Countess,  and  fifty  pounds  to  this 
Tf.,4.4.^^  —The  chamberesse  shall  be  whipt 

at  a  cart  s  tail  abouu  4.xw  siicov^^  ^^^ 
do  penance  in  St.  Martin's  Church.'* 
Then  addressing  the  Commissioners,  the 
King  said,  my  Lords,  I  leave  to  you 
to  see  this  sentence  executed. — We  par- 
don the  Lady  Rosse  from  penal  sen- 
tence." 

The  King  now  rose  to  leave  the 
chamber,  alleging  the  serious  indispo- 
sition of  Prince  Henry,  as  the  only 
cause  which  could  withdraw  him  from 
that  day's  blessed  work  ;  but  strongly 
recommending  that  the  Commissioners 
should  "  ride  the   capering    mules  that 


186  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OR, 

should  come  under  them,  with  a  dure 
gripe  o'  the  bridle."_His  Majesty's  de- 
parture was  the  signal  for  the  calm 
Archbishop  to  say  a  few  words,  and 
he,  therefore,  asked  the  Earl  of  Nor- 
thampton if  he  meant  to  exhibit  his 
bill  against  those  who  defamed  him. 

The  Earl  replied  that  he  did,  and 
drew  from  his  doublet  a,  nsiUQV  cojit«i?i^ 
in^  a  lis<;  of  meiny  names,  the  bearers  of 
which  were  charged  with  calling  him 
a  Papist,  and  alleging  that,  through 
his  countenance,  any  man  might  go 
publicly  to  mass. 

'^  Let  them  be  committed  to  New- 
gate, the  Fleet,  or  the  Tower,  that  ac- 
cuse his  Lordship," — said  Bishop  Bil- 
son,  "do  the  Commissioner  Lords  agree 
thereto  ?" 

"  Although  many  have  been  the  ru- 
mours and  reports  that  have  passed  in 
these  times,"  said  the  Archbishop  Abbot, 
**some  of  them  shut  up  rather  for  un» 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    187 

certain  truths,  and  flying  fables,  than 
entertained  for  approved  truths ;  yet, 
nevertheless,  such  things  are  grounded 
upon  reason,  and  for  which  men  of  up- 
right consciences  have  some  occasion 
to  speak;  to  have  such  either  lightly 
valued  or  punished,  is  rather  unjust, 
than  any  way  beseeming  the  equity  of 
this  court :  but,  in  truth  those  whereof 
we  now  speak,  are  grounded  upon  some 
•cause,  and  my  Lord's  own  letters  STiake 
evident,  that  he  hath  done  some  things 
both  against  his  own  conscience  and 
meaning,  merely  to  attain  unto  honour 
and  sovereignty,  and  to  please  the 
King." 

"  My  Lord  Archbishop,"  interrupted 
Northampton,  "  this  is  not  well  done, 
after  what  passed  between  us ;  I  claim 
the  protection  of  this  high  and  noble 
court  against  the  slanderous  tongue  of 
every  Churchman.  What,  my  Lord 
Bishops,  ye  rise  !  depart  if  it  suit  you  ; 


188  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

there  are  belted  Earls  enow  to  do  me 
right ;  and  the  King's  Majesty  shall 
visit  with  his  ire  the  sconce  that  a  mitre 
saves  from  a  sword/' 

"  My  Lord  of  Suffolk,  keep  your 
seat,"  said  the  Archbishop,  "  I  and  my 
brothers  rise  not  to  leave  this  chamber." 
"  No,  no,"  exclaimed  Bishop  Bilson^ 
*^  we  are  here  by  the  King's  commis- 
sion, and  he  sits  on  hig  thione  by  God's 
^Q*nmmon.'' 

"  Complete  your  syllogism,"  said 
Northampton,  scowling  Bilson  out  of 
countenance  ;  "  I  defy  the  Archbishop 
to  prove  the  allegation  he  has  made— 
I  stand  upon  the  privilege  of  my  no- 
bility." 

"  Good,  my  Lord  Earl,"  replied  the 
Archbishop;  "know  ye  the  Cardinal 
Bellarmine  ?— Heard  ye  never  of  a 
Howard  that  writ  him  a  letter— Here's 
the  letter,  my  Lords,"  continued  the 
very  reverend  Prelate.—'  The  Earl  de- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     189 

clareth  that  howsomever  the  condition 
of  the  times  compelled  him,  and  his 
Majesty  urged  him  to  tm^n  Protes- 
tant, yet  nevertheless,  his  heart  stood 
with  the  Papists — he  will  further  their 
attempts.'  And,  my  Lords,  the  actions 
that  follow  justify  the  hand  to  be  true — 
Priests  swarm,  many  have  come  over 
into  this  kingdom,  travelling  with  hol- 
low sticks,  containing  the  Pope's  in- 
structions and  letters  to  great  ones 
here  ; — and  who  can  assure  himself  the 
lord  on  his  right  hand,  or  on  his  left, 
is  true  hearted  unto  the  state.  Lord 
Northampton,  I  say,  thou  harbourest 
recusants ;  and  I  charge  thee  with  un- 
dertaking to  write  in  defence  of  the 
Gunpowder  treason." 

*'  My  Lords,  I  appeal  from  this  tri- 
bunal to  my  Peers — I  am  a  Commis- 
sioner here,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be 
judged,"  said  Northampton.  "  At  any 
rate   no   craven    puling    Puritan    shall 


190  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  :    OR 


arraign  Harry  Howard — God's  wounds! 
my  Lords,  if  you  bear  this  tyranny  of 
that  canting  priest,  of  you  it  shall  be 
said — via  nulla  salutis,  non  fuga,  non 
virtus,  vix  opes  quoque  mortis  honestce,^' 
— And  as  Northampton  uttered  these 
words,  he  again  demanded  the  protection 
of  the  court ;  which  was  accorded  him 
by  a  majority  of  two  voices,  till  the  King 
himself  should  sit  in  judgment. 

**  My  Lord  Buckhurst,"  said  Suffolk, 
"  we  will  now  hear  your  claim  to  that 
part  of  the  Kentish  Lucy's  land,  which 
lays  contiguous  to  your  own." 

The  Lord  Buckhurst,  who  was  both 
a  beautiful  poet  and  an  able  stateman, 
in  the  latter  part  of  Elizabeth's  reign, 
and  the  beginning  of  James's,  kept 
house  with  such  hospitality,  that  he  had 
never  less  than  two  hundred  persons 
in  his  family.  But  he  is  better  known 
to  the  world  as  one  of  the  Commis- 
sioners appointed  to  try  the  unfortunate 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  191 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  and  as  the  mes- 
senger employed  to  report  the  confir- 
mation of  her  sentence,  and  see  it  exe- 
cuted. History  recognizes  him  as  Lord 
High  Steward  on  the  trials  of  Essex 
and  Southampton,  in  the  latter  part  of 
Elizabeth's  reign.  Whatever  grounds 
there  might  be  for  the  charge  against 
the  Earl,  there  is  no  proof  assigned 
even  by  Osborne,  that  his  Lordship 
did  not  merit  the  character  of  a  good 
poet,  an  able  statesman,  and  an  honest 
man. 

"  My  Lords,"  said  he,  "  I  mean  not 
to  misconstrue  the  integrity  of  any 
other  tribunal,  in  bringing  my  claim 
before  this  council.  I  believe  there  is 
not  a  more  legal  mode  of  trial  than  by 
this  Chamber  ;  yet  I  will  not  by  the 
highness  of  my  hand  stifle  the  report 
of  the  world,  which  questions  my  claim, 
as  if  it  were  founded  merely  on  the 
contiguity  of  the  disputed  lands  to  my 


192  BLIGHTED  AMBITION;   OR, 

own.     Here  are  documents  which  will 
give  your  Lordships  full  and  final  satis- 
faction''— but  as  the  Earl  said  this,  and 
was  pulling  out  of  his  bosom  the  papers 
he  referred  to,  he  dropped  down   sud- 
denly at  the  table  and  expired.     The 
Chamber   was   filled  with  instant  con- 
sternation ;    the    charge    against    Nor- 
thampton was  forgotten  in  the  moment 
of  sorrow,  and  the  death   of  the   Earl 
of  Dorset,  (for  such  was  the  last  crea- 
tion of  Thomas  Sackville,  Lord   Buck- 
hurst,)  was  untowardly  interpreted  by 
his  enemies  ;  but  it  was  in  reality  owing 
to  the  breaking  of  a  vessel  in  his  head. 
The   business  of  the  court  was   imme- 
diately suspended,  and    when   Coppin- 
ger,  who  had  kept  his  place  when  the 
Lakes  withdrew,  was  called  on  by  the 
Serjeant   at   Arms   to   lend   a  hand  in 
bearing  the  lord  away,  the  Master  of 
Horse  took  upon  himself  to  satirise  the 
place  that  could  not  afford  a  leech 
To  save  a  Lord,  that  wenching  thought  no  sin, 
And  bought  his  flesh  by  selling  of  one  skin. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.      19S 

The  commissioners  separated,  Suffolk 
observing,  *'  None  will  ever  question 
Lucy's  land  again,  in  the  quiet  posses- 
sion of  which  the  Sackville's  have  been 
thus  miraculously  estated." 

Northampton,  on  entering  his  own 
palace,  at  Charing  Cross,  was  accosted 
by  a  venerable  monk,  who  craved  a 
private  audience  of  him  forthwith.  ^'  My 
Lord  of  Rochester,  who  accompanies 
me,"  said  the  Earl,  *'  is  my  most  inti- 
mate friend ;  I  can  have  no  secrets 
which  may  not  be  made  known  to  him 
also." 

"  Benedicite,  son,"  quoth  the  monk, 
addressing  Somerset;  "  but,  my  Lord,'^ 
he  continued,  accosting  Northampton, 
**  my  business  is  with  yourself  alone." 

"  My  Lord  of  Somerset,"  said  the 
Earl,  "  this  reverend  father  must  be  hu- 
moured ;  I  advise,  in  the  mean  time,  that 
with  all  diligence,  you  make  your  re- 
pair to  the  King  and  trounce  the  Lord  of 

VOL.    III.  K 


194  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Canterbury.  Take  with  you  the  Earl  of 
Suifolk,  and  when  I  have  dispatched  this 
stranger,  I  will  also  wait  on  his  Grace 
to  justify  myself."  Then  addressing 
the  monk,  the  Earl  bade  him  follow  to 
his  study,  ''  You  have  business  with 
me,  reverend  father?"  said  the  Earl^ 
on  reaching  his  study. 

"  Son,"  replied  the  Monk,  "  I  have 
journeyed  many  a  weary  mile  to  bless 
thee  as  the  favourer  of  the  mother 
church,  and  to  bless  also,  ere  I  die,  the 
Lady  Gabriella,  whom  in  holy  matri- 
mony I  joined  to  Thomas  Overbury." 

The  last  words  of  Father  Francis's 
reply  fell  like  a  death  knell  on  the 
Earl's  ear. — ''  Gabriella  1"  he  repeated, 
^^she  is  not  the  wife  of  Overbury,  by  the 
rites  of  the  English  Church,  father;  and 
the  man  himself  is  now  a  prisoner  in 
the  Tower." 

'^  I  have  heard  as  much,"  answered 
the  Monk,  '^  I  have  seen  the  unfortu- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     195 

nate  Gabriella. — I  command  thee,  son, 
to  banish  this  rancorous  enmity  thou 
bearest  her  knight,  and  to  hasten  the 
liberty  of  a  man  who  has  diligently 
served  Lord  Somerset.*^ 

'^  Father,  ye  know  not  what  ye  ask," 
said  Northampton.  "^  Sir  Thomas  Over- 
bury  is  the  King's  prisoner. — Hast  thou 
no  other  business  with  me  but  this? 
The  present  hour  is  important  to  me." 

"  Son,"  answered  Father  Francis, 
"  I  have  other  business  with  thee. — 
Thou  art  reckoned  at  Rome  a  chief 
help  of  our  persecuted  brethren  in  this 
heretical  land ;  and  I  bear  important 
letters  to  thee."  As  the  Monk  spoke 
these  words,  he  unscrewed  the  upper 
part  of  a  large  walking-stick  he  bore 
in  his  hand,  and  took  from  its  hollow  bo- 
som some  letters  which  had  been  very 
ingeniously  concealed  there. — ^'  This  is^ 
from  the  Cardinal  Bellarmine — thijs 
from  the  Holy  Father — and  this  from 
K    2 


196  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

the  Lord  Rosse — But  my  mission  ends 
not  with  the  bare  delivery  of  these : 
I  journey  northward  into  Lancashire ; 
letters  of  passport  I  will  require^  and 
from  your  Lordship  a  full  relation  of 
all  the  affairs  of  the  Holy  Catholic 
brethren  in  England." 

Northampton  had  by  this  time  opened 
the  Cardinal's  letter,  scanned  its  con- 
tents, and  desiring  the  Monk  to  be 
seated,  he  crossed  himself  before  a  fine 
silver  crucifix  that  surmounted  his  writ- 
ing-cabinet, and  with  evident  appre- 
hension undid  the  silken  string  which 
bound  the  epistle  of  his  Holiness.  When 
the  Earl  had  attentively  read  the  writ- 
ing, he  addressed  the  Monk  saying, 
"  Father  Francis,  the  King  my  mas- 
ter wisheth  to  match  his  sons  with  prin- 
cesses of  high  descent,  though  of  a  dif- 
ferent religion.  This  bear  thou,  in  my 
name,  to  all  the  brethren  of  our  holy 
religion ;   it  will  reconcile  them  to   his 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     197 

Majesty,  who  is  willing  to  meet  them 
half-way,  and  this  shall  be  communi- 
cated by  a  legier  ambassador  to  Spain, 
the  Emperor,  and  the  Holy  Father."*^ 

Delighted  to  hear  so  favourable  a 
report  of  the  King  of  England's  sen- 
timents towards  his  brethren,  Father 
Francis  gave  the  Earl  his  "  benedicite," 
and  proceeded  to  the  disconsolate  Gabri- 
ella  in  Gray's-Inn  Lane.  Northamp- 
ton's mind,  however,  was  not  at  ease ; 
he  felt  deeply  the  charge  preferred 
against  him  by  the  Archbishop,  but  he 
received  from  the  death  of  the  Earl  of 
Dorset  some  consolation ;  as  that  ac- 
complished   statesman    had    invariably 


*  The  intrigues  of  the  Court  of  Great  Britain, 
or  more  properly  speaking  of  the  King  himself,  with 
the  Popes  Gregory  XV.  and  Urban  VIII.  are 
pretty  impartially  given  by  the  unfortunate  Rush- 
worth  ;  Peyton,  however,  delivers  them  more  origin- 
ally with  the  feelings  of  the  Catholics'  enemies. 
K    3 


198  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

supported  the  "  Protestant  faction"  with 
the    great    Earl   of   Salisbury.      Now, 
however,  that  these  noblemen  were  no 
more^  Northampton  piqued  himself  on 
his   abilities   and   power,    and   since   it 
could  no  longer  be  hid  that  he  favoured 
the  ''  religion   in   which   he   had  been 
born  and  bred/'  he  resolved  on  carry- 
ing  himself  through  with    his  project 
in  a  style   and  manner   becoming  the 
house  of  Howard,    and  the  brother   of 
the   unfortunate    Norfolk.      His    great 
dependence  lay  in  the  influence  of  his 
family    with   the   vacillating    monarch, 
who,  he   knew,  would  make  any  con- 
cessions  in    words,    provided   he  could 
keep  Europe  in  peace,  but  more  especi- 
ally, if  he  could  preserve  peace  to  Eng- 
land :  and  the  Earl  had,  besides,  a  strong 
party  to  back  his  efforts  among  the  an- 
cient nobility  of  both  kingdoms.     The 
Irish  were,  besides,  almost  all  catholics, 
if  we   except  the   colonists  and   their 


THE  RISE  AND  PALL  OF  SOMERSET.     199 

families^  that  from  time  to  time  settled 
and  multiplied  in  Hibernia,  together 
with  the  officers  of  government  chosen 
from  among  the  natives^  the  greater  part 
of  whom,  though  outwardly  favour- 
ble  to  Protestantism,  were  confirmed 
Romanists  in  principle  and  disposition. 


200  BLIGHTED  AMBITION;    OR, 


CHAP.  VII. 

CoLONNA. — Come  you,  my  Lord, 
To  swill  with  drunken  thirst,  the  poor  revenge 

That  makes  a  little  mind's  ignoble  joy? 

******** 

What  is  a  man  doomed  to  the  stroke  of  deatit 
To  understand  by  this  ? 

LuDOVico. — That  I  am  his  friend 
Who  called  me  traitor. 

EVADNE,   OR,    THE   StATUE. 

Somerset,  on  quitting  the  Earl  of 
Northampton's,  hastened  to  St.  James's, 
where  he  knew  he  should  meet  the  Earl 
of  Suffolk,  and  from  thence,  when  he 
had  gained  his  object,  he  sped  his  course 
to  the  Charter-House,  where  Lady 
Frances  was  anxiously  awaiting  his  ar- 
rival. '^  How,  my  Lord,"  exclaimed 
the  Lady   of  Suffolk,  on   his   entering 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     201 

the  mansion,  "  how  came  the  Lords 
of  the  Star  Chamber  council  to  allow 
that  Puritanical  Priest,  from  Lambeth, 
to  carry  himself  so  high  towards  Lord 
Northampton  V 

''  My  Lady  Countess,"  replied  So- 
merset, ^'  we  will  easily  put  the  Arch- 
bishop down,  though  it  may  be  diffi- 
cult to  silence  him. — Words  are  but  air." 

'-'  But  they  are  the  atmosphere  the 
camelion  multitude  feed  on/'  replied 
the  Countess. 

**  But  have  ye  heard  the  news?  Buck- 
hurst's  dead,"  said  Somerset,  anxious 
to  divert  the  conversation. 

**  Dead;  then  will  the  Earl  of  Suffolk 
be  Lord  Treasurer,  1  hope,"  said  the 
Countess. 

^'  That  is  already  settled,"  replied 
Somerset.  "  The  council  had  no  sooner 
broken  up,  than  your  Lord  and  myself 
sped  to  St.  James's,  where  the  King 
is  consoling  his  sick  heir,  and  his  Ma- 


200  BLIGHTED  AMBITION;    OR, 


CHAP.  VII. 

CoLONNA. — Come  you,  my  Lord, 
To  swill  with  drunken  thirst,  the  poor  revenge 

That  makes  a  little  mind's  ignoble  joy? 

******** 

What  is  a  man  doomed  to  the  stroke  of  deatli 
To  understand  by  this  ? 

LuDOVico. — That  I  am  his  friend 
Who  called  me  traitor. 

EVADNE,    OR,    THE    StATUE. 

Somerset,  on  quitting  the  Earl  of 
Northampton's,  hastened  to  St.  James's, 
where  he  knew  he  should  meet  the  Earl 
of  Suffolk,  and  from  thence,  when  he 
had  gained  his  object,  he  sped  his  course 
to  the  Charter-House,  where  Lady 
Frances  was  anxiously  awaiting  his  ar- 
rival. "  How,  my  Lord,"  exclaimed 
the  Lady   of  Suffolk,  on   his   entering^ 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     201 

the  mansion,  "  how  came  the  Lords 
of  the  Star  Chamber  council  to  allow 
that  Puritanical  Priest,  from  Lambeth, 
to  carry  himself  so  high  towards  Lord 
Northampton  ?" 

''  My  Lady  Countess,"  replied  So- 
merset, *'  we  will  easily  put  the  Arch- 
bishop down,  though  it  may  be  diflS- 
cult  to  silence  him. — Words  are  but  air." 

'-'  But  they  are  the  atmosphere  the 
camelion  multitude  feed  on/'  replied 
the  Countess. 

*'  But  have  ye  heard  the  news?  Buck- 
hurst's  dead,"  said  Somerset,  anxious 
to  divert  the  conversation. 

''  Dead;  then  will  the  Earl  of  Suffolk 
be  Lord  Treasurer,  1  hope,"  said  the 
Countess. 

"  That  is  already  settled,"  replied 
Somerset.  "  The  council  had  no  sooner 
broken  up,  than  your  Lord  and  myself 
sped  to  St.  James's,  where  the  King 
is  consoling  his  sick  heir,  and  his  Ma- 


202  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

jesty  immediately  conferred  the  place 
on  his  trusty  cousin,  the  Earl  of  Suffolk.'^ 

This  piece  of  intelligence  instantly 
changed  the  Countess's  style  and  man- 
ner towards  Somerset ;  and  she  con- 
jured him  by  all  the  love  be  bore  her 
daughter,  to  yoke  in  the  same  team 
with  her  Earl,  and  prayed  Heaven  that 
their  horses  might  pull  one  way.  ^^  But 
who,"  said  she,  "  would  have  thought 
that  the  Lakes  should  have;  tricked 
themselves  so?  How  came  the  King, 
know  ye,  to  soss  into  their  plot  so  mas- 
terly ?" 

"  Truth  is,"  replied  the  Favourite, 
"  ever  since  this  affair  began  to  be  son- 
netted  at  court,  the  King  suspected  it, 
for  he  is  suspicious  to  a  proverb.  My 
Master  of  Horse,  who  I  verily  believe 
knows  all  that's  done  under  the  sun, 
furnished  me  with  the  cue." 

*^  Good,  my  Lord,  I  am  right  glad," 
replied  the  Countess,  '^  and  now  let  rxy^ 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     203 

pray  your  Lordship  to  set  the  sonnetteers 
of  Grub  Street  to  work ;  and  trust  me 
the  citizens  encourage  the  catabanqui 
to  chant  their  ditties  on  the  discomfi- 
ture of  the  Lakes,  and  the  death  of 
Sackville-  I  am  now  going  to  the 
Queen  at  her  palace  of  Denmark  House 
in  the  Strand,  Lord  Dorset's  death 
opens  the  way  to  great  matters. — I  shall 
then  visit  Northampton. — I  must,  there- 
fore, leave  the  Lady  Frances  in  your 
charge ;  if  you  cannot  ride  with  her 
to-day,  let  me  pray  you  to  give  her  an 
airing  on  the  river." 

^^  Your  wishes  are  commands,''  re- 
plied Somerset,  '^  in  all  things  you  shall 
be  obeyed,  my  Lady  Countess.*' 

The  moment  Lady  Frances  found 
herself  alone  with  Somerset,  she  gave 
vent  to  her  feelings  in  a  strain  the  Vis- 
count was  ill  prepared  to  hear. — He  had 
laboured  to  remove  every  obstacle  to 
their  union  in  matrimony ;  the  divorce. 


204  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

the  imprisonment  of  Overbury,  and 
other  matters  of  deep  and  dangerous 
import,  he  had  atchieved  to  satisfy  his 
love,  or  gratify  his  own  ambition.  "  In 
God's  name,  my  dearest  Lady  Frances, 
what  would  you  have  me  do  more  V^ 
asked  Somerset.  Prince  Henry  is  now 
at  the  point  of  death,  Charles,  his  bro- 
ther, is  not  likely  to  come  in  our 
way, — the  Queen  is  occupied  enough 
with  her  own  gallants,  Beely  and  Bu- 
chanan ; — is  Overbury  to  be  left  at 
the  disposal  of  that  devil's  buckie,  Wes- 
ton ?' 

"  My  Lord  Earl,"  replied  Lady 
Frances,  "  our  nuptials  shall  never  be 
solemnized  while  Overbury  lives.  He 
is  privy  to  too  many  of  our  doings  to  let 
us  live  in  a  whole  skin.  Think  you  he 
will  not  splutter  and  fume  ? — Long  ere 
this  time,  when  you  and  he  were  yet 
sworn  friends,  heard  he  not  that  speech 
you  uttered  as  Abelard  ?" 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     205 

'^  As  I  live,  I  have  no  recollection  of 
that  speech,"  replied  Somerset.  "  What 
means  my  love  ?*' 

"  Canst  thou  recollect  that  masque 
at  which  thou  didst  personate  Abelard, 
and  I  Eloisa  ? — And  hast  thou  forgotten 
Friar  Bacon  ?"  asked  Lady  Frances. 

"No,"  replied  Somerset,  "all  that 
I  recollect  perfectly,  and  good  reason 
I  should." 

"  The  Monk  was  Overbury,"  said  the 
Lady  Frances. 

"  Overbury  !"  exclaimed  Somerset, 
his  voice  faultering  as  he  pronounced  the 
name — "  How  know  you  that  ?" 

Lady  Frances  applied  her  cat-call 
to  her  lips,  and  Weston  entered  :  "  Who 
enacted  Friar  Bacon  at  Prince  Hen- 
ry's masque,  when  I  sustained  the  cha- 
racter of  Eloisa?"  said  Lady  Frances 
Howard. 

**  Sir  Thomas  Overbury,"  replied  the 
page  unhesitatingly. 


206  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

"  How  knowest  thou  that,  sirrah  ?" 
asked  the  Earl. 

"  I  dogged  him  to  GrayVInn,  when 
the  masque  ended,"  replied  Weston, 
**  and  saw  him  housed  with  his  dousa- 
bel." 

"  And  I  have  been  told,"  added 
Lady  Frances,  "  that  your  puissant 
knight  did  tell  the  Prince,  Hhat  the 
fortunes  of  Rochester  afforded  more 
hope  to  the  young  Countess  of  Essex, 
than  the  uncertain  and  hopeless  love  of 
his  Royal  Highness.' " 

"  Soho !  soho  !  Master  Overbury  !" 
exclaimed  Somerset,  "  cozening  has  be- 
come a  topping  trade,  thou  scornedst 
to  play  at  such  a  small  game  as  we 
started,  I  find ;  but  thou  shalt  not  bid 
both  the  gallows  and  the  horse-pond 
defiance  !"  Then  turning  to  Lady 
Frances,  he  said,  "  Will  you  accom- 
pany me  to  the  Tower  in  my  barge  ?  I 
must  see  Jervaise  Elwes  ere  I  sleep — If 


THE  RISE  AND  FAJ>L  OF  SOMERSET.     207 

Overbury  hath,  indeed,  gone  that  length, 
how  know  I  but  he  may  have  gone 
farther  anent  the  passages  between  us, 
touching  the  Royal  family  ?*' 

"  What  sayest  thou,  sweet  Turner  ?" 
asked  Lady  Frances,  ''we  lack  coun- 
sel when  thy  pretty  lips  are  closed. 
Was  ever  any  Lady  so  defamed  as  I 
have  been  by  this  vile  wretch,  not  only 
to  Prince  Henry,  but  to  Rochester  ? 
Yes,  my  Lord,  with  an  impudent  face 
he  called  me  base  in  your  hearing,  and 
you  had  not  the  courage  to  pistol  him 
in  some  of  his  doublings  through  town. 
— Oh  !  that  such  a  negro  as  that  Over- 
bury,  that  scum  of  men,  that  devil  in- 
carnate, should  do  such  things,  and  say 
such  things,  and  pass  either  unregarded, 
or  unpunished,  till  a  disconsolate  lady 
rose  to  avenge  her  wrongs  !" 

"  Pity  it  is  he  should  live  to  defame  so 
honourable  a  lady,  so  well  descended,  to 
the  utter  disparagement  of  her  house," 


208 

said  Mistress  Turner.  "  Rather  than 
he  should  leave  the  Tower  with  life^  I 
will  go  and  dispatch  him  myself.  I 
have  it,  my  Lady  Frances ;  I  have  it ; 
let  the  Lord  go  and  persuade  him  to 
have  as  a  servant,  a  trusty  person  who 
shall  bear  all  messages  between  them.  I 
will  find  you  a  man^  aye  two;  there  is 
Bill  Weston's  father,  that  was  servant 
to  my  husband,  and  there  is  a  crook 
shouldered,  swarthy  knave,  ycleped 
Franklin,  some  time  a  cook  :  but  ex- 
perienced enough  in  all  herbs  and  me- 
dicinals,  and  thought  to  be  no  less  a 
wizard  than  Forman. — I  trow  you,  he 
mixes  a  dose  with  such  excellent  art, 
to  mitigate  or  increase  its  strength, 
that  it  shall  take  a  month  before  it 
works,  or  do  its  job  in  an  hour  and  se- 
ven minutes." 

*^  Soft,  soft !"   said   Somerset,   "  we 
know  this  Franklin ;  find  me  Weston 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     209 

by  to-morrow's  dawn — Let  us  to  Water 
Lane,  Blackfriars — my  barge  waits." 

On  reaching  Traitor's-Gate,  by  which, 
in  his  aquatic  excursions,  Somerset  chose 
for  privacy  to  enter  the  Tower,  he  was 
met  by  his  "  humble  servant"  Jervaise 
Elwes,  who  bowed  to  the  Viscount, 
and  thanked  him  profusely  for  the  lieu- 
tenancy which  pleased  him  equally  to 
his  expectations.  The  Lady  Frances 
continued  in  the  barge,  which  was  rowed 
gently  down  the  middle  stream,  till  the 
Viscount's  signal  should  be  hoisted  for 
its  return. 

"  I  would  see  Overbury,"  said  the 
Earl.  "  lead  on  to  his  apartments." 

The  Lieutenant  obeyed,  and  on  arriv- 
ing at  the  loathsome  dungeon  in  which 
Sir  Thomas  was  confined,  Somerset  ex- 
pressed the  utmost  indignation  that  "  his 
friend"  should  be  immured  like  a  felon. 

"  My  keeper,"  answered  Overbury, 
*^  whom  this  new  Constable  hath  sup« 


210  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

planted,  told  me  in  set  terms,  he  but 
did  the  bidding  of  his  employers,  in 
cramming  me  here  beyond  God's  light, 
and  the  countenance  of  man." 

"  And  I,"  added  Elwes,  "  could  not 
take  upon  me  to  remove  from  their 
apartments,  into  others,  of  my  own 
choosing,  the  gentlemen  I  found  in  cus- 
tody.'' 

"  Then  know  now.  Sir,"  said  Somer- 
set, in  pompous  phrase,  *^  that  safe  cus- 
tody does  not  imply  interment ;  remove 
Sir  Thomas  to  an  apartment  which  you 
would  choose  for  my  friend." 

The  Lieutenant  bowed,  Somerset  took 
Overbury  by  the  arm,  and  walking  up 
the  stairs,  which  were  but  very  faintly 
illuminated  by  the  torch  that  their  con- 
ductor held  in  his  hand,  talked  fami- 
liarly with  the  Knight  till  they  arrived 
in  an  apartment  fit  for  a  human  being 
to  inhabit. 

^^  Sir  Thomas,"  said  Somerset,  "  we 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     211 

are  labouring  for  your  release,  but  it 
will  be  difficult  to  effect  it ;  the  King 
is  mightily  displeased,  and  you  know 
his  frown  is  like  the  roaring  of  a  lion, 
terrible  to  the  spectators  and  hearers." 

'^  But,  my  Lord  Earl,"  said  Over- 
bury,  "  am  I  to  esteem  your  favour 
more  than  the  King's  displeasure? — I 
fear  I  have  played  my  cards  without 
shuffling  the  pack,— but  if  I  have,  I 
will  cut  at  random^ — What ! — Host  of 
Heaven  !  To  be  sequestered  from  my 
friends,  all  intercourse  denied  me,  no 
tablets  to  express  my  thoughts" — 

"  Soft,  my  friend,  soft,"  replied 
Somerset,  "  bethink  you  of  the  slan- 
derers abroad,  of  the  numbers  who  wear 
masks,  and  you  will  not  wonder  I  act 
so  much  like  Friar  Bacon,  tho'  I  have 
rather  been  to  you,  perhaps,  the  ma- 
gician's brazen  head." 

"  My  Lord  Earl,  I  understand  not 
this,"  interrupted  Overbury. 


212  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

"  Look  ye,  Sir  Thomas,"  said  the  Earl, 
in  explanation,  "  you  must  have  a  fit 
and  trusty  knave  about  you,  who  will 
so  deal  between  us,  that  all  our  pas- 
sages may  be  unknown  to  those  we  have 
heretofore  employed  as  serving-men." 

"  I  will  do  any  thing,  my  Lord,  so 
as  I  may  be  extricated  from  the  horrors 
of  confinement,"  answered  Overbury, 
"  but  I  know  my  enemies,  and  I  fear 
your  Lordship  will  be  cozened  by  them 
also." 

"  All  will  be  well,  depend  on't,  only 
suffer  yourself  to  be  as  private  here  as 
the  Lieutenant  shall  prescribe,"  said 
Somerset ;  adding,  *'  I  would  now  be- 
gone, as  the  turn  of  the  tide  may  pre- 
vent us  getting  up  the  river,"  and  as 
he  said  this  he  left  the  apartment,  Over- 
bury  wondering  the  Earl's  visit  should 
have  been  so  brief. 

On  reaching  the  gate  Somerset  took 
Elwes  aside,  and  now  explained  himself 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     213 

fully,  as  to  his  conduct  towards  Over- 
bury. 

*•  My  Lord  Earl,  how  can  I  take  up- 
on me  the  office  of  a  poisoner  ?"  asked 
the  Lieutenant,  "  verily  evil  actions 
shall  never  want  evil  actors;  and  in 
all  ages,  quacks,  and  cashiered  serving 
men,  fallen  into  want,  have  still  been 
the  agents  in  such  enterprizes ;  but  for 
the  Constable  of  his  Majesty's  Tower 
to  undertake  such  work,  were  dis- 
graceful to  my  office,  and  my  em- 
ployers." 

Somerset  stared  at  Elwes,  from  whom 
he  had  looked  for  a  very  different  an- 
swer.— "  Good,"  said  the  Earl,  "  good, 
my  master  ;  I  see  thou  art  read  in  these 
matters. — Well,  it  shall  be  as  thou  wiliest, 
Jervaise  Elwes — Tiberius's  physician. 
Spado,  an  apothecary,  and  Lidgo,  Dru- 
sius'  servant,  are  made  agents  to  be  his 
poisoners — Nero's  bond-man  must  kill 
him— Piso's    captain,  under    Germani- 


214  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

cus,  must  poison  him — a  centurion  of 
Maximus  must  poison  him— Alexan- 
der's physician,  Antipater^  and  Aristo- 
tle, must  be  the  authors  of  his  death — 
A  knave,  without  birth  or  parentage, 
must  poison  Queen  Elizabeth's  saddle — 
Wert  thou  a  shaver  and  tonsor,  thou 
might'st  powder  a  man's  head,  so  that 
his  hair  should  cost  him  as  dear  as 
Sampson's.  But  if  I  row  in  the  same 
boat  with  thee,  Elwes,  devil  take  thy 
craven  heart  an  thou  push  not  among 
the  eddies  of  this  troubled  world." 

Somerset  paused ;  and  his  speech  acted 
like  magic  on  the  mind  of  the  Lieute- 
nant, who  thought  "  if  the  Earl  was 
following  the  steps  of  the  great  Robert 
Dudley,  he  might  take  the  risk  in  com- 
pany with  him." 

"  Good,"  answered  Somerset,  "  my 
greatest  injunction  to  you  is,  that  you 
throw  in  the  way  of  my  plans — no  obsta- 
cle— no  vain  scruples  of  conscience — no 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     215 

shuffling — or,  by  the  gods,  I'll  stick  thy 
head  on  yonder  tower  over  London 
Bridge." 

The  signal  was  now  made  for  the  Fa- 
vourite's barge,  which  soon  pulled  up 
to  the  "  Traitor's  Gate/'  and  Somerset 
stepping  on  board,  the  rowers  plied  for 
London  Bridge ;  but  the  tide  had  fallen 
too  low  for  the  boat  to  pass  up  under  the 
centre  arch,  where  the  fall  of  the  water 
is  more  than  five  feet  at  ebb-tide.  This 
was  a  dilemma  for  which  the  Earl  was 
not  prepared,  and  he  was  compelled 
to  think  of  landing,  on  one  side  or  other 
to  the  east  of  the  bridge.  He  accord- 
ingly chose  the  Surry-side,  and  he  and 
the  Lady  Frances  proposed  riding  up 
the  bank  of  the  Thames,  to  Westmin- 
ster Ferry.  They  had  scarcely  pro- 
ceeded to  St.  Saviour's  church,  when 
they  were  met  by  the  Earl  of  Nor- 
thampton. Somerset,  in  few  words, 
related  to  him  all  that  he  had  done ; 
Northampton's  spirits  were  flat,  and  if 


216  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

he  approved    of  his  friend's   plans,  he 
shewed  no  joy  on  the  occasion. 

"  I  am  on  my  way  to  Greenwich/' 
said  Howard,  "  and  purpose  spend- 
ing a  few  days  at  Rochester.  I  shall 
now  endow  the  fair  convent  I  have 
built  at  Greenwich,  with  revenue  for 
ever,  for  maintenance  of  decayed  gen- 
tlemen, a  sufficient  number,  and  for 
women  also  considerable." 

"  But  my  dear  uncle,"  said  Lady 
Frances,  "  why  be  cast  down  by  any 
thing  that  cozening  bishop  said  in  the 
Camera  Stellata  ?  Every  thing  bids  fair 
for  the  removal  of  all  our  enemies." 

"  Sweet  and  fair,"  replied  the  Earl, 
"  I  have  done  all  the  good  I  can  for 
my  family,  I  have  even— but  I  will 
not  make  those  sorrowful  who  have 
entered  the  chase  in  pursuit  of  joy — 
to-morrow  let  me  see  you,  that  we  may 
^-a  on  your^wedding-day."  So  saying, 
the  old  Earl  gave  his  horse  the  spur. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    217 

and  waving  his  hand,  bade  Somerset  and 
the  Lady  Frances  adieu. 

It  was  evening  ere  Somerset  reached 
his  house  in  St.  James's  Park,  attended 
by  Lady  Frances,  and  we  will  leave 
them  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  worst 
thoughts,  till  we  have  scanned  certain 
events  which  transpired  during  the  day. 

Coppinger,  who  had  assisted  in  carry- 
ing the  corpse  of  the  Earl  of  Dorset 
out  of  the  Star-chamber,  accompanied 
not  his  master  in  the  latter  progress  of 
this  day,  but  repaired  hastily  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales's  Palace,  as  he  himself 
said,  "  to  gain  intelligence."  The  first 
person  he  met  with  was  Master  Prim- 
rose, the  Prince's  foster-brother;  "  Good 
Master  Primrose,  how  does  the  Prince 
Henry  ?"  asked  Coppinger,  adding  by 
way  of  varnish  to  his  enquiry, "  My  Lord 
Earl  of  Somerset  could  not  refrain  from 
sending,   by   so  poor  a  messenger,    his 

VOL.    III.  L 


218  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

duty  and  fealty  to  know  how  his  High- 
ness doth  V* 

"  Ah !"  said  poor  Primrose,  *'  we 
have  Raleigh's  cordial — that  penned  his 
history  of  the  world  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  Prince — it  did  him  no  good, 
though  a  good  cordial  it  is  I  believe — I 
drank  of  it ;  so  did  Doctor  Mayerne, 
that  French  physician,  and  so  did  the  Earl 
of  Pembroke,  to  prove  it  was  wholesome. 
But  I  fear.  Master  Coppinger,  there  be 
foul  doings  here ;  the  Prince's  pain  lieth 
all  in  his  head,  and  he  is  perfect  heart- 
whole." 

"  But,  Master  Primrose,"  said  Cop- 
pinger, without  any  intention  of  fol- 
lowing up,  by  an  exclamation  of  un- 
guarded surprise,  the  intelligence  the 
Foster-brother  seemed  to  communicate, 
"  Master  Foster,  hast  thou  always  found 
it  safe  to  advise  the  Prince  ?  'Tis  not 
always  so  during  the  life  of  his  father. 


THE  RISE   AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    219 

nothing  remaining  in  prudence  possible 
to  be  said  in  relation  to  his  safety,  but 
must  reflect  upon  the  honour  of  the 
King,  or  the  guidance  of  himself.  The 
smallest  intimation  of  that  kind  falls 
within  the  compass  of  treason^  and 
youth  and  folly  cannot  always  conceal 
what  is  revealed  to  it. 

*'  Sir  Master  of  Horse,"  said  Prim- 
rose, '*  you  judge  very  meanly  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales." 

**  Had  I  not  heard  from  many/'  an- 
swered Coppinger,  "his  father  did  dread 
him,  I  would  not  have  uttered  such 
a  speech.  But  I  would  as  soon  have 
my  lips  sealed  with  a  cobler's  end,  like 
the  eye -lids  of  an  eyess,  than  smutter 
what  passages  may  be  entertained  be- 
tween us,  I  say  nothing  of  the  secret 
doings  this  heart  is  privy  to,  both  at 
Tibbalds,  Whitehall,  Denmark-House 
and  Royston,  where  I  attend  my  Lord 
Earl  of  Somerset." 

L  2 


220  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

^'  Then  I  dare  to  swear,  Master  Cop- 
pinger,"  said  Primrose,  very  bluntly, 
'^  thou  knowest  from  thy  own  observa- 
tion, that  the  King,  though  he  would 
not  deny  any  thing  that  Prince  Henry 
plainly  desired,  yet  it  appeared  rather 
the  result  of  fear,  and  outward  com- 
pliance, than  love  or  natural  affect- 
tion  ;  being  harder  drawn  to  confer  an 
honour  or  pardon,  in  cases  of  desert, 
upon  a  retainer  of  the  Prince,  than  a 
stranger."' 

"  From  whence  might  be  calculated,'* 
said  Coppinger,  as  if  by  inference  from 
what  Primrose  had  unwittingly  spoken, 
^^  a  malignity  conceived  in  his  heart 
against  his  son's  retinue." 

"  A  consequence  my  speech  did  not 
warrant,"  interrupted  the  Foster-bro- 
ther. 

"  Nay  then,"  replied  Coppinger,  ^^  I 
did  but  use  thy  premises  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  King's  commands  to  the 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    221 

Lord  Chamberlain,  not  to  suffer  any  to 
be  inrolled  the  Duke  of  York's  servants, 
without  his  knowledge.  And,  forsooth,  I 
thereby  looked  upon  the  reasonableness 
of  their  judgments  who  did  look  upon 
Prince  Henry  rather  as  a  terror  than  a 
comfort  to  the  King." 

"  Thou  art  more  fool  than  logician,'* 
answered  Primrose,  "  to  draw  any  such 
conclusion  ;  "  but  people  do  flock  round 
the  Prince,  it  being  the  religion  of  some 
nations,  and  the  custom  of  all,  to  adore 
the  rising  sun,  and  contemn  him  at  his 
going  down." 

*^  And  among  the  fire  worshippers,'* 
said  Coppinger,  ^'  thou  didst  reckon  Sir 
Thomas  Lake,  a  fellow  of  mean  birth 
and  mean  breeding.  He  is  an  arrant 
knave  that."  ^^ 

"  But  he  is  not  dead  ;  he  hath  been 
the  great  link  with  the  Scottish  nation," 
said  Primrose. 

'^  Progging    for    suits,    and    helping 
L  3 


222  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

them  to  fill  their  purses,  Master  Prim- 
rose/' answered  the  Master  of  Horse. 
"  Why,  man,  I  hae  just  come  from  the 
Star-chamber,  and  the  scandal  of  the 
Countess  of  Exeter  is  all  a  hoax,  man ; 
the  King,  who  hath  as  much  glory  in 
displacing  officers,  as  in  overthrowing 
and  conquering  the  Spaniard ;  the  King, 
Master  Primrose,  who  is  more  tender 
over  the  life  of  a  rascal  stag,  than  that 
of  a  man,  hath  crossed  the  Lake's  de- 
signs, and  trumped  in  their  way ;  so 
that  clerk  of  the  signet  could  only 
swim,  being  held  up  by  the  chin.  But 
in  what  condition  shall  I  report  the 
Prince  Henry  to  my  Lord  Earl  of  So- 
merset ?'' 

"  I  will  just  step  into  the  withdraw- 
ing-room,  good  Master  Coppinger,  and 
fetch  thee  word  anon,"  said  Primrose, 
who  began  now  to  entertain  a  mighty 
high  opinion  of  the  judgment  and  parts 
of  the  Master  of  Horse.     And  while  th^ 


I 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    223 

Foster-brother  was  on  this  errand,  Cop- 
pinger  stole  to  the  door  of  the  apart- 
ment, lest  he  should  be  misinformed  by 
Primrose. 

^^  So/'  said  Coppinger,  '^  I  hear  the 
doctors  disagree — Mayerne  bids  them 
bleed  on — No,  says  Butler,  but  apply 
pigeons  and  cupping-glasses  to  draw 
away  the  pain — Doctor  Giiford  says 
quintessential  spirits  can  alone  cure — • 
Soft,  soft,  here  comes  the  Foster-bro- 
ther"— and  the  the  Master  of  Horse 
withdrew  to  his  former  stance. 

"  Bear  to  the  Earl  of  Somerset  the 
King's  favour,"  said  Primrose,  *^  and 
say  Doctor  Butler  gives  hopes  of  re- 
covery, but  his  Grace  hath  sent  for  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Doctor  Mel- 
borne,  dean  of  Rochester,  and  other 
ghostly  comforters,  to  pray  by  Prince 
Henry's  bed-side. ^ — But  a  happy  death 
is  the  never-failing  portion  of  a  well- 
spent  life." 


224  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Coppinger  bowed,  pressed  the  band 
of  the  Foster-brother,  whose  grief  was 
unaffected,  and  offered  the  consolation 
contained  in  the  proverb,  ^  All  is  well  that 
ends  well ;'  adding,  "  may  I  be  allowed 
to  commend  to  the  Earl  of  Somerset^ 
the  friend  of  PrinceHenry,  Master  Prim- 
rose ? — Believe  me,  Sir,  whatever  jealou- 
sies might  have  been  between  them  on 
account  of — " 

"  Is  this  a  time  to  talk  of  boyish  im- 
prudencies,  and  the  lusts  of  the  flesh," 
said  Primrose,  "  thou  wouldst  embitter 
even  the  sorrow  of  the  grave,  by  re- 
membering every  shovel  full  of  earth 
its  inhabitant  digged  out  o't  by  his 
sins." 

"  A  most  religious  and  Christian  ob- 
servation," replied  Coppinger;  "I  pro- 
test I  did  desire  but  to  signify  that 
affliction  and  death  compose  all  differ- 
ences.— But  wonder  not  at  my  lack  o' 
gospel  light,  my  master. — Great  lords 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    225 

employ  their  servants  to  do  their 
work,  and  I  protest  to  you  it's  some- 
times like  baking  loaves  of  embodied 
smoke.  As  for  religious  and  Christian 
'baviour,  that's  a  kindness  to  God  they 
kick  at,  and  disparage  the  varlet  that 
enters  it  on  his  bead-roll.'* 

'^  Vale,  Master  Coppinger,  vale,"  said 
Primrose,  and  the  Master  of  Horse 
quitted  St.  James's  to  start  other  game. 

Coppinger  made  the  Earl  of  Nor- 
thampton's in  his  way  to  the  city,  and 
on  pretence  of  asking  whether  the  Earl 
of  Somerset  was  with  the  lord  of  the 
mansion,  he  insinuated  himself  into  How- 
ard's presence,  just  at  the  moment  Fa- 
ther Francis  was  departing  from  the 
Earl's  cabinet  or  library.  "  Coppin- 
ger," quoth  the  Earl,  "  what  news  from 
the  palace  ? — How  does  the  Prince  ?" 

"  So  please  your  Grace,"  replied  the 
Master  of  Horse,  "  the  Foster-brother 
tells  me  he  is  ill  beyond  medicinals — 
L  5 


226  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OK^ 

and  to   my    thinking   the   leeches   are 
posed.'' 

"  Where  is  Franklin,"  asked  the  Earl. 
"  Since  he  entered  the  Prince's  kitchen 
I  have  not  seen  him/'  replied  Coppinger ; 
"  my  business  was  to  have  found  him  on 
my  visit  now  ;  but  T  eared  not  to  adven-- 
ture  further  than  the  sight  of  the  guards.'' 
*^Let  him  be  forthwith  put  into  another 
place,  Coppinger,  and  do  you  proceed 
to  Jervaise  Elwes,  and  give  him  this 
letter.  1  would  have  him  prefer  old 
Weston  to  wait  on  Overbury.  Look 
ye,  Mistress  Turner  hath  been  with 
me ;  she  recommends  him  as  trusty ; 
and  thou  must  make  Elwes  sensible 
how  willing  he  must  be  to  deserve  his 
patron's  chiefest  favour,  and  therefore 
with  the  more  readiness  entertain  this 
man." 

'*  And  is  this  all  I  have  to  do  ?"  asked 
Coppinger. 

"  Only  further  to  have  this  Weston^ 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     227 

the  elder,  at  hand  by  to-morrow  dawn 
for  his  place  ?"  replied  the  Earl. 

Coppinger  bowed  and  departed,  and 
with  all  possible  speed  hastened  to  the 
Tower.  On  arriving  at  the  portcullis, 
he  demanded  admittance  as  the  Earl 
of  Somerset's  Master  of  Horse  ;  a  com- 
mand which  the  serjeant  of  the  guard, 
and  the  buffetier  on  duty,  readily  com- 
plied with.  **  Conduct  me  to  the  Lieu- 
tenant," said  Coppinger,  in  a  tone  of 
authority;  and  he  was  conducted  into 
the  presence  of  his  quandum  fellow-tra- 
veller. 

"  How  now,  bully  Constable  ?'*  said 
the  Master  of  Horse.  ''  How  doth  friar 
Overbury  ?  a  dead  person  in  law,  in 
whose  breast  many  secrets  are  contained. 
^ — Look  ye,  my  master,  you  must  feed 
him  with  hope  of  liberty  and  prefer- 
ment, lest  he  should  disclose  what  he 
knows — But  here— here  is  a  letter  from 
my  Lord  of  Northampton  to  you." 


228  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Elwes  took  the  letter  and  read ;  and 
then  bade  Coppinger  tell  the  Earl  he 
need  not  doubt  his  troth.  "  The  Earl 
of  Somerset  hath  just  been  with  me  !" 

"  The  Earl  of  Somerset  I"  exclaimed 
Coppinger.  "  By  Saint  James,  Master 
Elwes,  but  thou  dealest  doubly  with 
me.  Why  not  tell  me  this  the  moment 
my  face  smiled  on  thee  ?" 

"  Because  thy  Lord  and  I  settled  how" 
this  matter  is  to  be  managed,"  replied 
Elwes. 

"  Good,  an  since  thou  canst  settle 
with  the  Lord  Somerset  so  easily,"  re- 
plied Coppinger,  *'  mayhap  thou  canst 
settle  the  little  matter  of  the  seven  score 
marks  ?" 

"  Why,  thou  canst  not  want  money 
so  soon,"  said  the  Lieutenant,  "  'twas 
but  t'other  day  thou  wallowed  in  gold 
nobles." 

"  Look  ye,  as  thine  eyes  see  this  half 
Hal,"  said  Coppinger,  "  I  have  no  more. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    229 

and  I  will  snitch  upon  you,  an  I  am 
not  paid  my  full  wack  before  I  quit  thy 
dungeons." 

To  reason  with  Coppinger,  when  he 
was  bent  on  gaining  his  end^  but  added 
to  his  insolency,  whenever  he  could 
avail  himself  of  his  situation  in  the  Earl 
of  Somerset's  household.  This  the  Lieu- 
tenant knew,  and  the  specimen  he  had 
lately  had  of  the  easy  familiarity  with 
which  the  Master  of  Horse  bore  him- 
self towards  both  Northampton  and 
Somerset,  convinced  him  that  the  sooner 
he  discharged  the  debt  between  him 
and  Coppinger,  the  more  likely  he  was 
to  be  left  to  the  exercise  of  his  own 
discretion,  with  regard  to  Sir  Thomas 
Overbury.  He  therefore  took  the  Mas- 
ter of  Horse  into  a  withdrawing-room 
and  paid  him  the  seven  score  marks  in 
good  money,  that  had  not  as  yet  left 
the  precincts  of  the  mint.  As  soon  as 
the  Master  of  Horse  received  his  share 


S30  BLIGHTED  ambition;    OR, 

of  the  spoils,  he  bade  Elwes  "  good  bye/' 
and  hastened  to  Mrs,  Turner's,  to  gain 
inteHigence  respecting  the  visit  of  the 
Earl  ^  to  the  Tower,  for  he  rightly 
suspected  that  woman  was  privy  to 
this  journey,  if,  indeed,  she  had  not 
planned  it  for  Lady  Frances  Howard. — 
'*  Now,"  said  the  Lieutenant,  when 
Coppinger  departed,  "  now  I  must 
await  the  Earl  of  Northampton's  com- 
ing here  i'  the  night. — Black  work  this 
is  that  needs  such  a  season,  and  so  many 
busy  messengers." 

Accordingly  about  midnight,  ^  whis- 
tle was  heard  at  Traitor's  Gate,  and 
the  Lieutenant,  on  repairing  thither, 
found  Northampton  in  his  barge  ready 
to  land.  The  Earl  was  wrapped  up  in 
his  cloak,  and  stepped  ashore  with  great 
caution,  Elwes  leading  the  way  to  an 
adjacent  part  of  the  fortress,  in  which 
a  fire  of  charcoal  had  been  kindled. 

^'  Are  you   firm,  or   wavering   now,. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     231 

Master  Elwes?"  asked  the  Earl,  *^Have 
you  conferred  with  this  Overbury  and 
sounded  him  ?  Are  we  to  depend  on 
you,  or  do  you  quit  us  and  the  consta- 
bleship  together  ?  As  Warden  of  the 
Cinque-ports  and  Chancellor  of  Cam- 
bridge, and  a  Privy  Counsellor,  I  may 
assist  thy  kindred ;  but  service  for  ser- 
service — ** 

Elwes,  who  had  forgotten  the  first 
and  second  questions  put  to  him  by  Nor- 
thampton, who  allowed  him  no  time 
for  answering,  replied,  he  was  ready 
to  do  any  service  and  all  services,  ^'  For 
I  find,"  he  added,  **  on  the  evidence  of 
my  own  senses,  in  the  long  and  hard 
discourse  I  hae  had  wi'  the  prisoner 
this  night,  he  mingles  with  his  hatred 
of  your  Lordship  many  of  his  insolen- 
cies ;  he  is  obstinate  against  the  Earl  of 
Somerset  marrying  the  Lady  Frances ; 
her  he  treats  as  he  would  any  girl  in 
Salisbury  Court  or  in  Paris  Gardens." 


232         BLIGHTED  ambition;  or, 

"  Then  he  is  not  fit  to  live,"  said  the 
Earl.     "  But  be   on  thy  guard,  for  the 
fellow's   of   an    excellent   wit,    a   sleek 
tongue,  a  traveller,  experienced  in  the 
world,  and  besides^  he's  favoured  by  the 
country  faction,  and  as  great  a  politi- 
cian as  any  this  day  in  England.     El- 
wes, — if  Overbury  in  fewer  hours  than 
there  are  great  sovereigns  in  that  bag," 
said  the  Earl,  taking  from  his  doublet 
a  leathern  bag  of  gold — "  be  prepared 
for   a   coroner's   inquest,  or  the   grave 
without  one — thou  mayest  command  me 
to  a  thousand  pounds  in  lieu  of  thy  ser- 
vice particular  to  myself." 
Elwes  made  another  protestation  of  fide- 
lity,   which    Northampton   interpreted, 
as  originating  in  the  Lieutenant's  hav- 
ing, by  the  present  and  promise  entered 
into  his  office  without  paying  through 
the  nose  for  it,  as  others  before  him  had 
been  wont  to  do. — The  Earl  now  men- 
tioned Weston  as  a  fit  and  proper  per- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     233 

son  to  attend  upon  Overbury^  and  the 
only  man  who  should  wait  on  him 
at  his  meals,  which  were  to  be  served 
from  the  Lieutenant's  own  table. — 
'^  And,"  said  Northampton,  *'  my  last 
charge  is,  that  Raleigh  see  him  not, 
nor  Northumberland,  nor  any  of  his 
magi,  nor  any  of  his  relatives,  father, 
mother,  or  that  busy  meddling  fellow, 
Rawlins,  who  hath  wedded  Weimark's 
daughter." 

Elwes  promised  obedience  to  these 
orders,  and  on  the  following  day,  agree- 
ably to  the  plan  of  Mistress  Turner, 
Weston,  the  father,  presented  himself 
before  the  Lieutenant,  with  a  letter  from 
Somerset;  first  recommending,  and  then 
commanding  him  to  place  its  bearer  in 
attendance  on  Overbury. — But  we  have 
Coppinger  to  dispose  of  for  the  night. 

That  ready  servant  of  Somerset,  had 
no  sooner  got  his  seven  score  marks 
than,  as  we  have  said,  he  hastened  to 


'234  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Mistress  Turner's,  and  learning  the  plan 
that  was  laid,  he  gave  this  woman  a 
score  pieces  to  fee  Weston,  while  he 
himself  should  place  Franklin  in  a  situa- 
tion the  most  favourable  to  the  plot. 
With  this  design  he  returned  to  St. 
James's;  but  here  all  were  in  consterna- 
tion. It  was  evening  now,  the  moon  shone 
in  a  lovely  silvery  fulness  in  the  East, 
and  from  the  extremity  of  the  Park, 
the  star-gazers  saw,  as  they  thought, 
over  the  hospital  of  Prince  Henry,  a 
lunar  rainbow- — an  emblem  in  no  ways 
propitious  to  the  recovery  of  the  Prince. 
Some  blabbing  fool  had,  in  the  height 
of  his  superstitious  zeal,  communicated 
intelligence  of  this  ominous  appearance 
to  the  guards  at  the  palace  ;  from  them 
it  reached  the  ears  of  the  medical  men 
in  attendance ;  and  finally  the  King 
himself  at  Whitehall.  Shortly  after 
this  aerial  phenomenon  became  visible, 
which  it  remained  for  Sir  Isaac  New- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    235 

ton    many    many    years  afterwards    tc 
explain,  Prince   Henry  became   worse. 
It   was  very   remarkable   that  the  iris 
in   question   became    first  visible  about 
nine  o'clock,  and  continued  long,  thougb 
with    different    degrees   of   brilliancy. 
At  Charing  Cross  a  crowd  viewed  this 
sight,  which  since  the  days  of  Aristotle 
has    been    exceedingly    rare ;    at   first, 
though  a  strongly  marked  bow,  it  was 
withoiit  colours ;    but    afterwards   they 
were   very   conspicuous,  and  visible  in 
the  same  form  as  in  the  solar  rainbow, 
the  red,  green,  and  purple  being  most 
distinguishable ;  about  twelve  the  pheno- 
menon was  most  splendid,  the  vast  arch 
being    then    perfect    in    all    its    parts, 
while   the   moon  "  walking   in   bright- 
ness," seemed  to  lighten  immortal  spirits 
from  this  nether  world. 

Coppinger,  on  reaching  the  palace  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  found  the  guards, 
domestics,  and  dependants  of  his  Royal 


236  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Highness  in  dismay  and  sorrow.  As 
the  lunar  rainbow  first  became  visible, 
the  Prince  appeared  to  be  parting  with 
life,  and  before  the  lovely  iris  had 
reached  its  full  splendour  in  the  hea- 
vens^ Philip  Herbert  and  Doctor  But- 
ler carried  intelligence  of  Henry  Stu- 
art's death  to  his  royal  father. — The 
King  in  the  midst  of  his  grief  removed 
to  Kensington  House — the  Palsgrave 
was  conducted  to  Hampton  Court,  and 
Queen  Anne^  with  her  daughter,  gave 
vent  to  their  sorrow  in  Denmark  Palace. 

Coppinger  found  the  confusion  in 
the  Court-yard  of  St.  James's  favoura- 
ble for  his  purpose,  and  having  bustled 
through  the  throng,  he  at  length  met 
with  Franklin. 

"  Well,"  said  the  Master  of  Horse, 
**  now  your  occupation's  at  an  end  here, 
Monsieur  le  maitre  queux ;  take  thee 
these  three  score  marks  from  my  Lord 
Somerset ;   this   cuisine    royal   will   to- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     237 

morrow  be  shut  up,  I  reckon ;  take 
with  thee  thy  batterie,  thy  marmiton, 
and  open  shop  inside  Temple  Bar,  as 
an  apothecary ; — carry  thyself  as  un 
effronte,  for  we  have  another  action  de 
tour  for  thee  anon. —  Then  thou  shalt 
riot  in  wealth,  ample  as  thy  wishes ; 
and,  an'  thou  dost  the  next  job  as  coi- 
legiale  as  this,  we  shall  divide  Nor-' 
thampton  and  Somerset's  fortunes,  or 
stick  their  heads  on  London  Bridge 
Tower." 

Franklin  swore  by  all  the  truth  he 
could  appeal  to,  he  undersood  not  what 
Coppinger  alluded  to  ;  but  declared  the 
three  score  marks  came  in  good  season, 
and  the  moment  the  etat  royal  was 
broken  up,  he  should  betake  himself  to 
the  city,  where  men's  actions  were  va- 
lued by  their  efforts,  and  their  worth 
by  their  ability  to  pay  what  they  owed. 
Coppinger,  who  only  laughed  at  the 
cook-apothecary's  pretended  ignorance, 


238  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OU, 

now  hastened  to  Somerset's  house  in 
St.  James's  Park,  and  "was  the  first  to 
announce  to  the  Earl  and  Lady  Frances 
the  death  of  Prince  Henry.  But  we 
had  already  proposed  to  leave  Somerset 
and  Lady  Frances  in  the  enjoyment 
of  each  others  company,  for  the  pre- 
sent ;  by  adding  to  the  company  at  the 
Earl's  mansion,  his  Master  of  Horse  ; 
the  dramatis  personse  of  the  evening's 
entertainment  is  now  complete. — Billy 
Weston  and  Coppinger  revelled  it  brave- 
ly long  after  their  lord  and  lady  had, 
for  the  night,  dismissed  their  attendants. 
When  all  was  hushed  and  still  in  the 
Earl's  mansion,  these  fellows  entered 
more  feelingly  into  their  late  transac- 
tions ;  for  it  was  some  time  since  they 
had  been  alone  under  circumstances  so 
favourable  for  that  exchange  of  mind 
which  makes  men  one. — Coppinger  very 
openly  related  all  the  adventures  he 
had  met  with  from  the  time  he  set  off 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    239 

for  Lincoln,  through  all  his  various  pas- 
sages in  the  service  of  Somerset,  till 
the  hour  when  these  two  agents  of  the 
Earl's  projects  had  set  down  to  carouse, 
without  the  disagreeable  intervention 
of  a  third  person.  The  Master  of  Horse 
observed,  however,  that  Weston  was 
unusually  dull,  and  after  swilling  a  few 
cups  of  winC;,  he  rallied  the  page,  who 
in  his  own  defence  inquired,  "  How 
feels  your  pulse  now,  bully  Coppinger  ? 
what  deaf  pillows  hast  thou  now  got 
for  our  consciences ;  we're  alone  in  the 
middle  of  an  eventful  night,  and  may 
thereby  each  ask  the  other  that  question." 
— "  How^  feels  my  pulse  ?  said'st  thou  ?" 
answered  the  Master  of  Horse,  "  no 
more  o'  that ;  you  mar  my  manhood  ; 
and  make  me  smell  death,  when  the 
patient  dies  holily  in  his  bed.— What's 
done  can't  be  undone — 

The  mind  I  sway  by,  and  the  heart  I  bear, 
Shall  never  sagg  with  doubt,  nor  shake  with  fear. 


240  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OR, 

The  devil  damn  thee  black,  thou  cream-faced  loon  I 
Where  got'st  thou  that  goose-look  ? 

WestoD,  who  sat  mute  as  his  compa- 
nion, supplied  himself  with  an  answer 
from  Shakespeare's  most  popular  play 
at  that  period,  answered.  "  I  do  begin 
to  pull  in  resolution — they've  lugged 
in  my  father. — The  devil  himself  knows 
not  more  of  rosacre,  white  arsenick, 
mercury,  sublimate,  cantharides,  and  so 
forth,  than  he." 

'*  Good,  the  better  for  us  all,"  re- 
plied Coppinger.  '*  Why  I  should  ha' 
thought  thou'dst  almost  forgot  the  taste 
o'  fears.  But  come,  come,  Billy,  thou 
must  not  sup  with  horrors." 

"  Heard  ye  not  the  hue  and  cry  anent 
that  weird  fiend  Forman  ?"  asked  the 
Page. 

"  Ah !  thou  art  in  blood  steeped  so 
far !"  exclaimed  Coppinger.  "  Thou 
must  wade  on — returning  were  as  tedi- 
ous as  going  o'er.  We  are  yet  but  young 


THE    RISE  AND  FALL  OF   SOMERSET.    241 

indeed. — And  1  shall  nourish  thee  as 
a  brave  knave  to  have  sent  that  cozen- 
ing Israelite  into  the  pit  of  Acheron. 
— Come,  my  lad,  fill  thy  horn  again. 
— Ne'er  mind  the  black  scruples 
that  pluck  conscience,  but  beat  them 
back  with  good  liquor,  man — laugh 
at  death,  smile  at  the  grave,  brandish 
th}?  faulchion  in  the  face  of  every  mo- 
ther's son  that  is  hotter  than  thyself; 
and  for  your  ghosts,  and  conscience, 
and  so  forth,  they're  juggling  fiends 
created  by  opinion,  and  no  more  to  be 
believed  than  Forman's  prophecies. — 
But,  come,  tell  us  how  thouMst  do  the 
job  again,  were't  to  do  ?" 

"  An  I  could  tell  who  they  were 
that  passed  us  in  a  boat  to  Lambeth 
Ferry,  Fd  give  this  purse  and  all  it 
contains,"  said  the  page;  "they  were 
man  and  woman,  and  a  bargeman. — 
By  the  gods,  I  took  them  for  the  Earl 

VOL.  Til.  M 


242  BLIGFITED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

and    Countess,  but  that    I   knew   they 
were  elsewhere." 

"  Ne'er  heed,  man,  who  they  were ; 
they're  worth  no  more  thought  than  For- 
man's   death's  worth    sorrow. — Thou'st 
done   a  public  good  to  rid   the    world 
o'   the    weird    loon/'    said    Coppinger. 
"  He  knew  too  much  ;  and  an   I  could 
but  lay   hand   on   his  album,  I'd  make 
discovery  of  such  perilous  stuff  as  should 
trouble  half  the  great  ones  in  the  land — 
drink.      My    Lord    of  Somerset    owes 
me  seven  score   marks,  I  paid   on    his 
account  this  night/'  continued  the  Mas- 
ter of  Horse,  "  an'  I  get  them  to-mor- 
row, I'll   to  the  grove  of  the   Hebrew 
widow,  and  an'  she  will  not  take  mo- 
ney for  the    astrologic   utensils  of  the 
knave,  'sdeath,  I'll  make  love  to   her, 
and  carry  off  the  album." 

The   last    words  of   Coppinger    re- 
stored  Weston   to   his    usual    mirthful 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    243 

ton«  ;  he  laughed  outright  at  the  idea 
of  his  companion's  making  love  to 
Trunco,  and  in  the  midst  of  their  rail- 
lery we  will  leave  them  also  for  the 
night. 


M    2 


244  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR 


CHAP.    VIII. 

They  love  not  poison  that  do  poison  need. 

Nor  do  1  thee ;  though  I  wish  him  dead, 

I  hate  the  murderer,  love  him  murdered. 

The  guilt  of  conscience  take  thou  for  thy  labour,. 

But  neither  my  good  word,  nor  princely  favour  ; 

With  Cain  go  wander  through  the  shade  of  night, 

And  never  i  how  thy  head  by  day  or  night, 

KING    RICHARD    11. 

The  Father  Francis  hastened  from 
the  Earl  of  Northampton's  to  Gabriella, 
and  in  the  most  delicate  manner  re- 
ported to  her  the  result  of  his  appli- 
cation to  the  Howard  in  Overbury':* 
favour. 

"Daughter,"  said  the  old  man,  '^thou 
hast  not  had  justice  done  thee  ;  thy 
knight  should  have  married  thee  agree- 
ably to  the  rights  of  the  English  church ; 


I 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    245 

for  by  their  laws  a  marriage  between 
a  Protestant  and  Catholic  is  little  better 
than  a  nullity,  if  it  be  only  performed 
by  the  Catholic  and  holy  religion,  the 
husband  being  not  a  Catholic  ; — they 
require  the  publication  of  bans,  in  their 
parish  churches,  though  some  of  their 
Puritans  think  the  magistrate  might 
join  man  and  woman  in  holy  wedlock, 
and  far  from  being  a  religious  cere- 
mony and  an  holy  sacrament,  it  is  a 
compound  of  their  civil  and  ecclesias- 
tical law." 

*'  Father,"  replied  Gabriella,  "  I  am 
unusued  to  this — Overbury  loved  me, 
how  much  I  loved  him  my  misfortunes 
now  bear  witness. — Go  with  me  to  his 
prison-house,  and  you  will  find  him 
a  greater  statesman,  philosopher,  and 
Christian,  than  his  enemies  can  produce 
in  all  their  host.  But  the  day  is  far 
gone,  and  I  perceive  you  are  fatigued 
too  much  already  ; — to-morrow,  reve- 
M   3 


246  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;     OR, 

rend  Father,  we  will  go;  you  can 
accompany  me ;  the  information  my 
brave  knight  can  give  us  will  assist 
us  in  labouring  for  his  release,  though 
I  am  in  doubt  we  shall  not  effect  that 
till  Prince  Henry  recover." 

"  Daughter,"  replied  the  Monk,  "thou 
art  more  considerate  for  my  well-being, 
than  thy  Lord's  release  from  a  dungeon; 
but  thou  shalt  be  obeyed,  and  on  the 
morrow  I  will  come  hither,  and  to- 
gether we  will  visit  the  Tower.-'  Sa 
saying,  Father  Francis  pronounced  his 
benedicite,  '  vale,  filia^  and  departed. 

On  the  morrow,  however,  ere  he 
had  yet  finished  his  matins,  the  Monk 
was  waited  on  by  a  messenger  from 
the  Earl  of  Northampton,  desiring  his 
attendance  without  loss  of  time.  Great 
and  important  were  the  matters  on 
which  the  Howard  had  to  converse 
with  Father  Francis  ;  and  the  instruct 
tions  he  had  to  give  him,  were  so  vari-^ 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    247 

ous  and  multiplied^  that  the  old  man's 
head  seemed  in  a  whirl  ere  the  Earl 
was  half  done  with  his  commission.  In 
addition  to  all  that  Northampton  had 
to  say,  the  sudden  death  of  Prince 
Henry  opened  up  so  many  fresh  sub- 
jects of  speculation  to  the  Earl  and  the 
Monk,  on  the  prospects  that  seemed 
to  dawn  on  their  persecuted  friends  in 
England,  that  it  was  noon  ere  their 
conference  ended.  And  the  moment 
it  was  finished,  the  zealous  Friar,  com- 
pelled by  duty,  deemed  it  advisable  to 
write  several  letters  to  the  continent, 
to  his  superior  in  Italy,  to  the  Cardi- 
nal Bishop  of  Frascati,  who  was  in  par- 
ticular Father  Francis's  friend;,  at  that 
time  the  chief  or  leader  of  the  Suburbi- 
earians,  and  to  the  Cardinal  Secretary 
of  State,  as  the  person  of  the  ponti- 
fical court  with  whom  he  was  in  terms 
of  friendship ;  though  we  mean  not 
thereby  to  insinuate  that  the  Monk  was 


^48  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OK^ 

in  hostility  with  any  member  of  the 
different  congregations.  To  the  Arch- 
bishops of  Toledo  and  Vienna,  Father 
Francis  also  wrote  letters.  Wholly  en- 
grossed by  the  subject  in  hand,  and 
desirous  to  acquit  himself  creditably  on 
so  important  an  occasion,  it  was  even- 
ing ere  the  Monk  had  finished  all  he 
had  to  say.  When  he  repaired  to  Ga- 
briella's,  she  was  in  the  greatest  distress, 
partly  on  his  account,  but  more  parti- 
cularly on  her  own.  She  had,  during 
the  day,  when  disappointed  of  the 
good  father's  company,  repaired  into 
the  city  to  Master  Rawlins,  in  the 
hopes  of  employing  him  to  accompany 
her  to  the  Tower ;  nor  was  she  in  this 
mistaken,  though  on  her  arrival  at  the 
Fortress  she  found  her  admission  to 
Overbury  resisted  in  the  most  rude  and 
brutal  manner  by  Jervaise  Elwes,  and 
his  assistant  Watson,  who  had  by  this 
time   entered   upon  his  office,  the    du- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    249 

ties  of  which  he  seemed  to  take  a 
iiendish  pleasure  in  discharging  with 
a  ferocious  cruelty. — No  one  expects 
to  find  a  gailor  a  gentleman,  even  were 
he  a  lieutenant  of  the  Tower ;  much  less 
to  perceive  in  his  keepers,  or  under- 
strappers,  any  thing  better  than  tamed 
hyenas.  In  general,  if  these  fellows 
have  escaped  the  gallows,  it  is  not  be- 
cause they  have  not  deserved  that  ex- 
hibition ;  but  because  in  the  mixture 
of  evil  and  good  upon  earth,  such 
wretches  are  permitted  to  live  and  do 
what  few,  that  could  escape  the  ho- 
nour they  riot  in,  would  be  greeted 
with  if  they  could  escape  it  by  the  mai- 
den or  guillotine — that  invention  of 
the  Regent  Moreton,  and  upon  which 
he  giuTered,  though  M.  Guillotine,  a 
physician  of  Lyons,  thought  it  an  ho- 
nour to  his  name,  that  it  was  conferred 
upon  this  instrument  of  death,  a  model 
of  which  he  exhibited  in  the  National 
M   5 


250  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Assembly,  during  the  mad  French  Re- 
volution, and  for  which  he  received  a 
donation  of  two  thousand  livres. 

Distressed  and  afflicted,  Gabriella  was 
fain  to  get  beyond  the  precincts  of  a 
place  in  which,  by  her  simple  tale,  she 
only  excited  a  greater  degree  of  bar- 
barity. Elwes  taunted  poor  Gabriella 
with  opprobrious  names,  and  at  length 
turning  from  her,  left  Weston  to  in- 
dulge in  the  same  unseemly  manner. 
"  Fellow,"  said  she,  ^Hhy  master's  gibes 
authorise  not  thy  tongue  to  lavish  on 
me  thine  unmanly  speech.  Take  thi^ 
purse  and  admit  me  to  my  husband.'' 

"  I  were  rogue  and  a  half  to  take 
thy  purse,  and  admit  thee,"  replied  the 
man,  "  but  I'll  be  the  fellow  thou  takest 
me  for,  an  thou'lt  come  here  at  night 
alone  for  admission." 

''Be  honest  and  fair,  man,"  said  Raw- 
lins, "  I  am  cousin  to  Overbury,  my  name 
is  Rawlins  ;  thou   art  an  Englishman. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    251 

though  thou  seemest  an  alien. — Wilt 
thou  give  this  lady  free  passage  to  her 
lord,  to  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  ?" 

"  I've  given  her  my  answer,  to  thee 
I'll  say  nought,  thou  sheep-face,"  an- 
swered Weston. 

"  'Twere  vain  to  reason  with  these 
fellows,"  said  Kawlins  to  Gabriella ; 
"  I'll  to  the  Lord  Mayor,  and  repre- 
sent the  matter,  and  an  his  Lordship 
can,  we^l  ha'  admittance  spite  their 
teeth." 

The  reader  who  knows  the  situation  of 
the  Tower,  and  who  bears  in  mind  also 
that  Gabriella  was  spoken  to  through 
the  portcullis  of  the  garrison,  from  be- 
neath the  low  ground  arch  at  the  wes- 
tern angle  of  the  ditch,  will  not  won- 
der that  Gabriella  evinced  none  of  that 
superlative  action,  which  we  find  he- 
roines usually  clad  in,  when  their  ge- 
nius, the  author,  draws  them  in  the 
caricature   of  tragedy    queens,    "  strut- 


252  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    GR^ 

ting  their  hour  upon  the  stage  !"  From 
the  Lord  Mayor,  for  the  tinae  beings 
Master  Rawlins  received  assurances  of 
such  representations  as  his  Lordship 
could  make ;  but  the  civic  magistrate 
could  exercise  no  authority  in  Over- 
bury's  case  ;  besides,  the  Tower  was 
beyond  his  jurisdiction.  Gabriella  then 
suggested  the  intercession  of  the  Mayor 
with  the  Archbishop,  and  his  Lordship 
very  readily  offered  to  move  his  Grace 
on  behalf  of  the  prisoner.  "  We  are 
brother  Nicodemites,"  said  the  Mayor^^ 
"  and  I  doubt  not  I  may  prevail,  an  we 
can  but  get  ahint  his  chaplain,  who  is 
a  precise  enemy  of  even  good  church- 
men, not  to  speak  of  his  fire  and  fag- 
got to  the  children  of  Babylon,  and  all 
wizzards,  witches  and  v/eird  sisters  i' 
the  land.''  This  was  a  fact  which  Ga- 
briella had  already  proved,  and,  there- 
fore, she  felt  the  less  hope  of  succes^s 
from  the  Mayor's  reference  to  the  chap- 


THIi   UISE   AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    253 

Jain,  as  standing  in  (he  way  between 
his  Lordship  and  the  Archbishop. 
Her  distress,  therefore,  when  Father 
Francis  arrived,  had  subsided  into  that 
calm  but  not  less  poignant  sorrow, 
which  the  heart  is  charg;ed  with  when 
bereft  of  all  consolation,  except  what 
it  derives  from  patient  endurance,  and 
the  relief  which  virtue  and  goodness 
bring  their  possessor.  And  Gabriella 
was  a  pattern  of  moral  excellence ;  — 
she  loved,  it  is  true,  but  there  was  no 
crime  in  that  love  ;  for  she  but  obeyed 
the  impulse  of  her  simple  nature,  as 
the  expression  of  her  passion  was  con- 
fined within  the  limits  of  virtuous  indul- 
gence. Reasoning  in  her  defence,  is 
therefore  out  of  the  question  ;  her  life 
is  before  the  reader,  and  the  reflections 
it  warrants,  will  occur  to  his  mind  with- 
out my  assistance.  The  good  old  Monk 
endeavoured  to  yield  such  ghostly  con- 
solation, as  his  habits  of  life  had  taught 


254  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR^ 

him  to  administer ;  but  they  err  egregi- 
ously  who  write  rules  for  a  diseased 
mind,  for  half  the  soul's  comfort  is 
derived  from  the  exercise  of  sociable 
rather  than  moral  feeling;  and  Father 
Francis  was  the  least  companionable 
being  that  could  have  ventured  in  Ga- 
briella's  presence. 

"  All  you  say,  Father  Francis,"  she 
replied  to  the  Monk's  reasonings  on  the 
inscrutable  ways  of  Providence,  and 
that  whatever  is,  happens  for  the  best. 
— '^  All  you  say,  is,  X  dare  say,  very 
true ;  but  think  you,  the  hollow-hearted 
courtiers,  who  have  plotted  my  dear 
Overbury's  confinement,  and  it  may  be 
his  death,  ever  tax  their  consciences 
w^ith  any  duties  to  Heaven  ? — Did 
you  know  but  the  thousandth  part  of 
the  vice  triumphant  which  reigns  in 
this  dissipated  city,  you  would  indeed 
tremble.  Pretends  the  King  to  reli- 
gion ?  It  is  an  odd    religion,  forsooth. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  255 

if  half  the  errors  of  his  life  be  true^ 
which  the  world  assigns  him.  God  for- 
bid I  should  belie  him  ;  but  they  do  say 
such  things  of  him  as  are  not  fit  for 
a  female  tongue  to  utter.  And  for  the 
Queen ! — She  that  ought  to  be  the 
matron  of  her  sex  ;  why,  good  Father, 
thou  shouldst  ne'er  have  been  a  religious, 
and  then  thou  mightst  have  attended 
one  of  Queen  Anne's  masques. — All 
that  the  poets  have  fabled  comes  short 
of  Denmark  House,  which  they  do  say 
is  at  once  the  temple  of  Venus  and  Bac- 
chus. She  and  his  Majesty  have  not 
lived  together  for  a  long  time  ;  but 
Anne  has  her  bravoes  and  roaring-boys, 
to  justify  her  'gainst  all  the  world, — 
Oh  !  Lord  !  what  a  world  we  live  in. — 
And  then  for  the  courtiers — it  is  every 
one  for  himself. — I  am  sick  of  half 
of  them,  at  the  very  mention  of  their 
names. — ^They'i^e  an  academy  of  jug- 
glers." 


256 

Father  Francis  in  vain  tried  to  inter- 
rupt this  burst  of  passionate  and  par- 
tial feeling;  and  when  his  friend  paused, 
he  chid  her  for  using  language  that 
might  be  construed  into  scandal,  if  not 
branded  into  treason. 

*'  If  the  truth  be  treason/'  replied  Ga- 
briella,  ^'  they  commit  treason  against 
Heaven  who  stifle  its  expression;  if  to 
report  with  the  lips,  what  the  ey«s 
let  into  the  mind  be  scandal,  the  guilt 
rests  on  the  actors,  not  on  the  obser- 
vers' shoulders.  But  I  see,  I  see  the 
correctness  of  thy  language,  holy  Fa- 
ther, truth  finds  no  protection  where 
injustice  is  the  order  of  the  day,  and  in- 
nocence is  unfriended  where  vice  bears 
sway.  I  will  learn  in  time  to  think 
more  accurately  of  the  world.  Had 
Overbury  not  spoken  truth,  he  had 
ne'er  been  now  immured,  a  lonely  pri- 
soner in  the  Tower.  But  I  have  done — 
I  will  endeavour  to  summon  resolution. 


THE    RISE  AND  FALL  OF   SOMERSET.    257 

and  though  my  duty  bids  me  hope  for 
the  best,  my  fears  desire  me  to  prepare 
for  th«  worst." 

"  Now  thou  talkest  reason,  daugh- 
ter," said  Father  Francis.  "  But  what 
plan  can  we  devise  for  rescuing  Sir  Tho- 
mas Overbury  ^  Hast  thou  bethought 
thee  of  that  ?" 

"  Only/'  replied  Gabriella,  "  that  it 
has  occurred  to  my  mind  the  death  of 
the  Prince  may  soften  the  King's  heart ; 
and  as  man  is  more  disposed  in  afflic- 
tion to  commiserate  his  fellow -sufferers^ 
James  may  bethink  him  of  those  im- 
prisoned in  that  horrible  dungeon,  and 
set  them  free  of  his  own  mere  grace 
and  favour.  I  will  patiently  await  the 
interment  of  Prince  Henry,  as  his  Ma- 
jesty may  then  aJffect  a  sorrow  he  feels 
not,  and  set  my  lord  free.  Why,  when 
Queen  Mary's  ashes  were  removed  to 
Westminster  Abbey  some  years  ago^ 
from  the    Cathedral   of    Peterborough^ 


258 


OR 


the  royal  mercy  was  extended  to  the 
Lords  Cobham  and  Grey,  and  they 
were  condemned  and  pardoned,  when 
their   heads    were    on    the  block  as  it 


were." 


''  I  approve  of  thy  counsel,  daugh- 
ter," said  the  Monk,  "  and  now  that 
I  pass  into  the  North,  let  me  beseech 
thee,  in  this  trying  business,  to  bear 
thyself  as  thou  hast  done,  and  thou 
wilt  confer  an  honour  on  thy  sex,  and 
thy  religion." 

With  many  other  exhortations  all 
equally  wise  and  appropriate,  did  Fa- 
ther Francis  conjure  Gabriella  to  ex- 
ecute her  purpose  with  the  resolution 
w^ith  which  she  had  begun,  and  having 
given  her  his  blessing,  he  took  his  leave 
of  her  for  a  season,  to  visit  his  perse- 
cuted brethren  in  the  North. 

Lady  Frances  has  hitherto  borne  a 
conspicuous  part  in  the  plot  against 
Overburv  :  she  had  been  contemned  by 


THE  RISE   AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    259 

him^  and  spoken  of  as  no  better  than 
a  public  woman.  And  even  among 
that  unfortunate  class  of  persons  there 
are  expressions  more  indicative  of  their 
real  character  than  others,  that  to  some 
of  them  sound  as  words  of  high  offence. 
So  too  it  proved  in  reference  to  the 
Lady  Frances  Howard  ; — the  epithets 
that  Overbury  had  used,  she  would  not 
brook,  and  hence  her  resentment. 

*'  Nee  dum  etiam  causae  irarura  saevique  dolores, 
Exciderant  ammo,  manet  alt^  inente  rcpostum 
Judicium  Paridis,  spretaBque  injuria  formee.'' 

The  death  and  burial  of  Prince  Hen- 
ry had  not  the  power  to  check  her  pro- 
jects ;  this  season  of  national  grief  was 
looked  upon  as  more  faA^ourable  than 
another,  for  giving  them  their  final 
touch.  On  the  evening,  therefore,  that 
Weston,  the  father,  entered  upon  his 
i)tRce;    Lady  Frances  called  her    Page 


260  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ,    OR, 

to  her.  "  Come  hither,  sirrah/'  said 
she,  and  the  page  was  at  her  side  in 
an  instant.  "  Now  thou  must  to  the 
Tower,  Master  Weston.  Take  with  thee 
this  phial  of  rosalgar ;  give  it  into  the 
hand  of  thy  father ;  to  him  alone  ;  ob- 
serve me  ; — and  bid  him  see  to  it,  that  as 
he  values  the  House  of  Howard,  he  use 
dispatch. — None  will  know  but  Over- 
bury  poisoned  himself." 

The  Page  uttered  not  a  word,  but 
taking  the  phial  bowed,  kissed  his  Lady's 
hand,  and  departed.  On  his  way 
from  Northampton's  House,  he  visit- 
ed Mistress  Turner's,  and  she  hav- 
ing ascertained  the  object  of  his  jour- 
ney, desired  to  see  the  phial.  The  young 
assassin  had  some  apprehension  she 
meant  to  play  him  a  trick,  and  accord- 
ingly expressed  himself  to  that  pur- 
pose. "  Thinkst  thou,  varlet,"  said  the 
woman,  "  I  am  not  as  deep  in  the  mire 
as  thy  Lady  ;  besides,  sirrah,  I  have  a 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     261 

bit  of  advice  to  give  thee.  Which  is 
the  cleverer,  he  that  lies,  like  a  knight 
of  the  post,  for  half  a  crown  and  a 
dinner,  or  he  that  does  it  for  the  more 
substantial  consideration  of  a  hundred 
pounds  a  year  ?" 

"  Am  I  to  g'o  back,  and  say  I  have 
been  to  Gundulph's  Castle  V  asked 
Weston,  who  lacked  not  capacity  to 
understand  the  application  of  the  wo- 
man's question. 

"  No,  sirrah,"  .replied  Turner,  ^*  let 
me  see  the  phial  ?" — The  Page  pulled 
it  from  the  pouch  of  his  doublet,  and 
Mistress  Turner  seizing  it,  dashed  the 
glass  to  pieces  in  the  fire-place.  Wes- 
ton laid  his  hand  on  his  dagger,  and 
might  have  used  it,  but  his  arm  was 
caught  hold  of  by  the  powerful  hand  of 
some  one  in  his  rear.  He  looked  round 
and,  lo !  Coppinger  was  there,  with  his 
right  hand  on  the  hilt  of  his  dagger. 

"  Soft !  soft !    Master   Weston/^   said 


S62  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OU^ 

Coppinger. — "  We  go  snacks. — How 
much  didst  thou  have  with  that  bottle, 
for  thy  pains  ?" 

"  Nothing,  bully  paiilard/'  exclaimed 
Weston. — "  Nothing  ; — traitor  have  at 
you^"  and  as  the  enraged  page  said 
these  w^ordsj  he  disengaged  himself 
from  Coppinger's  grasp,  and  made  a 
lounge  at  him.  "  O  !  ho  !  my  young 
master  of  defence,"  said  Coppinger,  as 
he  parried  the  thrust.  "  An  thou  be 
after  that  game,  thou'st  work  for  a 
month  before  thee, — Put  up  thy  nasty 
throtle-snaker,  boy,  and  listen  to  the 
w^oman."  And  while  the  Master  of 
Horse  spoke  these  words,  the  woman 
closed  upon  the  Page  behind,  and  Cop- 
pinger disarmed  him  with  all  imagin- 
able coolness. 

Seeing  himself  thus  vanquished,  Wes- 
ton threw  himself  into  a  chair,  and 
demanded,  "  what  he  was  to  do?" — 
adding,  "  I  do  believe,  bully  Coppinger, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  ^63 

tliou  art  the  devil  in  human  shape. 
Double  as  I  will,  thou  art  at  my  heels. 
What  am  I  to  do  V 

''  To  do^  varlet/'  said  the  Master  of 
Horse,  "  do  what  Mistress  Turner  bids 
thee,"  And  the  Page  looked  round 
on  the  woman  for  instruction. 

'^  Take  this  phial/'  said  Mistress  Tur- 
ner, give  it  thy  hoary  father,  and  bid 
him  on  no  account  minister  it  without 
Elwes'  knowledge.  We'll  make  Mas- 
ster  Lieutenant  dance  between  Heaven 
and  earth,  an  it  be  need,  and  'scape 
ourselves ;  but  mean  time  thy  father 
must  be  rewarded,  and  a  little  delay 
Will  put  thy  mistress  on  her  mettle  to 
dispatch. ^ — Get  thee  gone;  do  as  I  bid." 

'^  Wilt  thou  be  here,  bully  Coppin- 
ger,  as  I  come  back  ?"  asked  the  Page. 

"  No,  varlet,  not  here,  but  thou'lt 
find  me  at  Master  Franklin's  new  shop 
in  Fleet  Street." 

"  The  Page  hastened  to  his  father  in 


264  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OK, 

the  Tower,  gave  him  the  phial  without 
any  emotion,  and  the  old  man  received 
it  saying,  '^  How  can  God  bless  my  fa- 
mily in  this  business  ?'' 

"  Let  them  talk  of  God  that  have 
to  do  with  him  ;  my  Lord  of  Somerset, 
and  the  Countess  will  bear  us  out  in 
any  thing  we  do,"  said  the  son  ;  '^  has 
not  Mistress  Turner  preferred  thee  io 
this  place,  and  thou  only  an  ancient 
bailiff  of  her  husband  in  the  country  ? 
'Sdeath,  Sir,  think  of  the  blue  ribbons 
at  stake,  as  well  as  our  fortunes — and 
lives  too,  father  ; — eat  nothing,  man  liv- 
ing offers  thee,  and  thou'lt  live  ;  drink 
after  thine  enemy,  and  let  thy  best 
friends  swill  afore  thee. — Buy  thy  prog 
in  the  Minories ;  in  any  grubby  hovel 
in  Tower  Street  alleys ;  or  get  thee 
down  among  the  Israelites  in  Rosemary 
Lane  for  thy  dinner.  Put  thy  mouth  to 
the  Thames  and  drink  ;  but  drink  not 
and  eat  not  from  the  table  of  the  Lieute- 


THE  RIJSE  AND  FALL  OF   SOMERSET.     ^65 

nant,  after  Overbury's  soul  has  left  his 
poisoned  body." — And  as  the  young 
villain  sajd  this,  he  thrust  the  phial  into 
Kis  father's  hand.  "  Look  to  it,  my 
Master,"  he  added,  '^  look  well  to  it, 
thou  minister  it  not  without  the  privity 
of  Jervaise  Elwes  ;  for  an  we  must  crap, 
the  more  the  merrier." 

The  old  man  took  the  phial,  and  har- 
dened as  he  was  in  sin,  his  amazement 
at  his  son's  villainy,  left  him  no  power 
of  speech.  The  Page  without  waiting 
a  reply,  turned  on  his  heel  and  left  the 
Fortress,  whistling  as  he  went  along. 

"  Mariin  Swart  and  his  men, — Sodledum,  Sodledum, 
*'  Martin  Swart  and  his  men,- — Sodledum  Bell/' 

On  the  departure  of  his  son,  Weston 
repaired  to  the  Lieutenant's  house  from 
which  Overbury  was  served  with  his 
meals,  and  supper  having  now  become 
a  fashionable  meal  among  the  English, 
Jervaise  Elwes  sent  from  his  table  the 

VOL.    III.  N 


266         BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;   OR, 

evening  repast  of  his  prisoner.  Wes- 
ton, as  he  lifted  the  tray,  containing 
the  Knight's  fare,  and  stoup  of  wine, 
looked  fixedly  in  the  Lieutenant's  face, 
and  said,  ''  shall  I  give  it  him  now  ?" 

Elwes  stepped  up  to  Weston,  asking 
him,  ''  What  ? — Whom  aliudest  thou 
to,  Master  Richard  Weston  ?" 

^'  Why,  Overbury,"  replied  Weston, 
"  shall  I  now  give  him  this  phial  in  his 
night  posset  ? — Know  you  not  'tis  dis- 
solved powder  of  diamonds,  and  lapis 
costitus." 

^'  Poison,  thou  knave,"  replied  the 
Lieutenant.  "  By  God's  judgment, 
thou'lt  hang,  my  Master,  an  thou  be 
abetting  and  comforting  with  malice." 

^'HangT'  exclaimed  Weston,  '^Hang! 
so  will  the  contrivers,  an  the  actors 
orap; — a  murrain  seize  me  an  this  dose 
ben't  the  happiest  affliction  the  priso- 
ner's soul  can  receive.  May  Sheriff 
Goare   hang   him   as   high   as  Haman, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    267 

who  has  un  nature  so  unkind  to  be  his 
own  accuser !" 

'^  Thou'rt  a  trusty  knave,  I  perceive/' 
said  the  Lieutenant,  '^  but  bethink  thee 
o'  the  scripture,  and  the  judgments  o' 
the  Most  High  'gainst  they  who  shed 
blood,  or  by  poisonings  take  off  their 
feilow-men.  Reprobate,  an  thou  ben't 
beat  down  by  the  vengeance  of  Omni- 
potence, thou'lt  fare  better  than  Cain. — 
Down  on  thy  knees,  Master,  and  thank 
Heaven  and  me  for  letting  thee  in 
this ;  be  terrified  into  thy  sins,  that  thou 
mayest  eschew  evil,  and  rise  to  thank 
Providence  for  abhorrence  and  detes- 
tation of  all  imprisonments  and  mis- 
deeds." 

'^  Am  I  to  put  down  the  tray  and 
do  ail  thou  wishest  me,  afore  the  man 
hae  his  supper?"  said  Weston  very 
coolly. 

"  Put  it  in  purgatory  wi'  Guy 
Fawkes,  an  thou  wilt,"  replied  the 
N   2 


268  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;   OR, 

Lieutenant ;  "  sit  thee  down,  man,  and 
let  me  see  thee  cast  down  for  thy  of- 
fence ;" — and  whether  Weston,  in  fun 
or  in  earnest,  enacted  the  part  proposed 
by  Elwes,  the  Lieutenant  became  so 
pleased  with  his  keeper,  that  he  filled 
him  a  cup  of  wine,  drank  to  his  re- 
formation, and  bade  him  pledge  him 
in  the  same  liquor. 

Weston  left  the  apartment  of  the 
Lieutenant  for  Overbury's  cell,  say- 
ing to  himself  as  he  went  along,  "  He 
would  quote  scripture,  yet  Cain  was  not 
hanged,  only  had  a  mark  put  on  him, 
in  respect  of  the  population  of  the 
world,  and  I  think  the  negroes  o'  Afric 
be  his  children,  since  they  nearest  re- 
semble a  black  and  blue  corpse.  Or 
could  he  mean  the  murder  of  Abner 
by  Joab  ?  it  was  respited  by  David, 
in  respect  of  great  services  past,  or  rea- 
son of  state  ;  so  shall  this,  and  Over- 
bury  shall  drink  of  the  phial." 


THF,  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  269 

Young  Weston,  whom  we  have  seen, 
depart  abruptly  from  his  hoary  father, 
hastened  back  to  Coppinger^  whom  he 
found  agreeably  to  his  appointment  in 
Fleet  Street.  "  How  now,  my  mas- 
ters, Coppinger  and  Franklin,"  said  the 
Page,  "  there's  been  a  windfall,  or  hae 
ye  stolen  a  goose  and  "given  the  gib- 
blets  in  alms,  that  ye  have  buried  your- 
selves in  this  pokey-ho4e  of  a  poison 
mew?" 

"  Soft,  young  drown  the  Jew,"  re- 
plied Coppinger,  "  hast  thou  seen  the 
phial  given  ?" 

^'  Have  ye  raised  the  wind,  my  Mas- 
ters, since  I  parted  company  ?"  asked 
the  Page.  "  As  for  your  phial,  'Sdeath, 
bully  Coppinger,  would  you  have  the 
deed  done  in  the  eye  of  England,  and 
hear  it  talked  about  in  the  ear  of  Chris- 
tendom ?" 

*'  Neither,  man  ;  and  I  reckon  thou'st 
played   thy   part    masterly,    after    the 
N   3 


210  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

fashion  of  mad  Will  Shakespeare's  Mac- 
beth, and  the  Dane  King*  i'  his  Hamlet," 
replied  Coppinger,  adding  :  "  Now  an 
thou  could  urge  thy  dad  to  let  the  Lord 
SuiFolk  up  to  the  plot — no,  that  won't 
do. — The  Lord  Treasurer  must  not  be 
cockered  yet. — Let  the  fox  be  i'  the 
earth,  then  we  must  lay  our  heads  to- 
gether to  get  Jervaise  Elwes  to  foul 
Suffolk'^  nest,  by  going  to  him,  and 
disclosing  what  himself  has  done  in  his 
capacity  of  Lieutenant,  to  repair  the 
honour  of  the  Lady  Frances's,  despite 
all  Overbury's  gab.  That's  the  bait, 
and  the  Lord  Treasurer  will  gobble  it, 
or  I'll  jump  over  London  Bridge." 

'^  Faith^  CoppiDger,"  said  Franklin, 
"  you'll  hae  a  rare  card  to  play  an  this 
get  wind :  but  scab  is  like  the  fox,  the 
more  he  is  cursed  the  better  he  fareth." 

"  Hang  proverbs  in  a  corn-field  to 
frighten  crows,"  answered  the  Master 
of  Horse,   *'  let    me    hae    some    white 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    271 

arsenick  for  the  Lady  Frances,  Master 
Franklin ;  and  as  much  cantharides  as 
may  pepper  a  cruse  o'  onion-sauce  for 
a  brace  o'  partridges^  that  Weston  here 
shall  crave  of  her  for  the  prisoner  in 
Gundolph's  Castle." 

Leaving  these  wretches  in  the  prose- 
cution of  their  diabolical  purpose,  which 
to  detail  more  largely,  in  this  place, 
would  be  merely  repeating  the  same 
abominable  machinations  to  the  end  of 
the  chapter,  let  us  look  after  larger 
game  that  now  comes  into  view. 

Weston,  the  father  did  proceed  in 
his  resolve,  and  the  next  morning 
Overbury  was  found  in  bed  very  ill  in- 
deed. Not  suspecting  he  had  taken  poir 
son,  but  imagining  his  death  at  hand, 
he  desired  to  see  the  Lieutenant  on 
the  instant.  Jervaise  Elwes  repaired 
to  Overbury's  cell  forthwith,  and  ex- 
pressed the  utmost  concern  for  the 
health  of  the  prisoner.     "  Master  Lieu- 


272 

tenant,"  said  Sir  Thomas,  "  I  would 
write  my  Lord  Somerset ;  pray  let 
me  have  pen  and  ink."  With  this  re- 
quest Elwes  readily  complied,  as  he 
resolved  on  the  moment  to  see  the  con- 
tents of  the  epistle,  ere  he  delivered  it. 
"  The  Lord  Somerset,"  said  Overbury, 
"  hath  promised  me  his  aid,  and  in  this 
extremity  it  were  suicide  not  to  seek  it," 
and  he  accordingly  wrote. 

^^  Right  noble  and  worthy  Sir, 

**  The  former  accustomed  favours, 
and  absolute  promise,  concerning  my 
present  delivery,  have  caused  me  at 
this  time,  by  these  lines,  to  solicit  your 
Lordship,  and  put  you  in  remembrance 
of  the  same,  not  doubting  that  your  ho- 
nour is  at  all  forgetful  of  me,  but  only 
by  reason  of  my  imprisonment,  being 
possessed  of  a  dangerous  disease,  would, 
for  my  body's  safety,  partake  of  the  feli- 
city of  the  open  air:  in  which  case,  if  your 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    273 

Lordship  please  to  commiserate  my 
present  necessities,  and  procure  me  my 
speedy  delivery,  I  shall  not  only  stand 
so  much  the  more  obliged,  but  also  ac- 
knowledge you  the  defender  and  pre- 
server of  my  life.     Sic  subscribitur, 

Thos.  Overbury,  Knt. 

Elwes,  to  whom  Overbury  submitted 
the  perusal  of  this  epistle,  promised  to 
deliver  it  that  day  himself,  and  for  that 
purpose  left  the  garrison.  The  Lieu- 
tenant entered  the  royal  barge  belong- 
ing to  the  Tower,  accompanied  by  his 
rowers  only,  and  having  landed  at 
White-Hall,  hastened  to  the  Earl  of 
Northampton's  at  Charing  Cross.  On 
being  admitted  to  an  audience,  he  found 
the  Earl,  the  Lady  Frances,  and  Roches- 
ter in  high  divan. 

"  Good  Master  Lieutenant,  how  fare 
you  this  day  ?"  asked  Somerset. 

^'  Well ;  but  my  prisoner's  ill ; — des- 
N   5 


274  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OK, 

perate  ill,  and  he  sends  your  noble  Lord- 
ship this  letter." 

Somerset  took  the  epistle,  and  while 
he  perused  it,  the  Earl  of  Northampton 
asked  Elwes  what  passages  there  had 
been  between  him  and  Overbury,  anent 
the  secrets  he  wished  to  wring  from 
him.  ^*  Having  undertook  my  priso- 
ner," said  Elwes,  "  according  to  your 
instructions,  after  long  silence,  as  stand- 
ing between  hope  and  fear,  he  takes 
his  Bible,  and  after  he  had  read  upon 
it,  and  by  it  protested  his  innocency, 
upon  further  conference,  concerning  the 
Countess,  he  said  he  had  justified  her 
already,  and  he  could  do  no  more  than 
what  he  had  done." 

"  Justified  me!"  exclaimed  the  Lady 
Frances;  'either  thou forgest  lies,  false 
as  hell,  monster,  or  he  lies  to  thee  like 
a  Mahomedan  Corsair. — Accused  me, 
defamed  me,  thou  meanest,  Master 
Elwes.— But  what  said  he  of  himself?" 


I 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET,  275 

"  For  himself/'  replied  the  Lieute- 
nant, 'alas!'  said  he,  'what  will  they 
do  with  me  ?' — I  answered,  '  so  refine 
you  as  you  shall  make  no  question  here- 
after of  your  pureness.  And  I  left  him 
in  some  sense  to  work  upon  that.' " 

"  Good,  thou  didst  well  to  give  him 
an  insight  into  our  power,  and  the  means 
of  his  purification,"  replied  Northamp- 
ton. But  said  he  nothing  respecting 
my  niece's  union  with  the  Lord  So- 
merset ?" 

"  That  in  the  generality  she  was  wor- 
thy that  she  might  be  a  wife  in  particu- 
lar for  my  Lord  Rochester,  be  would 
not  say  it,  lest  my  Lord  should  condemn 
bim  for  weighing  his  worth." 

"  That's  thy  other  cloven  foot, 
Master  Lieutenant,"  replied  the  Lady 
Frances.  ''  Hadst  thou  no  other  con- 
fabulation with  the  monster  ?" 

"  At  my  next  coming  to  him,"  an- 
swered  Elwes,  '*  I   found   him   not   in 


276 


BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;  OR, 


sense,  but  in  fury,  he  let  fly  at  my  Lord 
Northampton,  but  was  respective  to  my 
Lord  Rochester,  whose  part  he  took 
altogether." 

"  Look  well,  Master  Elwes,  look 
well  to  the  event/'  said  Northampton. 

"  I  see  the  event/'  answered  Jervaise  : 
*'  I  desire  it  may  be  safely  carried ; 
what  my  service  may  do  in  this  or  any 
thing  else,  I  will  be  faithful  to  your 
Lordship." 

^*  To-night,"  added  the  Lady  Frances, 
^^  I  will  send  thee  some  tarts  for  him  ; 
see  thou  he  eat  them. — That  knave, 
Weston,  must  be  rewarded  with  a  good 
boon.     Give  him  this  purse." 

'*  What  message  shall  I  deliver  to  the 
prisoner  ?"  asked  Elwes  of  Somerset. 

"  Thou 'It  bear  him  my  service  in  all 
straits,  and  tell  him,  I  send  him  thi« 
powder.  'Twill  make  him  a  little  sick  ; 
say  to  him  I  said  so  ; — and  on  his  sick- 
ness I'll  urge  his  release  with  the  King's 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     277 

Majesty.  Tell  him  also  I'll  come  tx) 
him  anon,  to  be  eye  witness  of  his  sick- 
ness, and  thereby  testify  to  the  King 
his  real  case." 

Elwes  accordingly  left  their  Lord- 
ships, the  one  of  whom  laughed  at  the 
simplicity  of  the  Lieutenant,  while  the 
other  smiled  at  the  ignorance  of  the 
prisoner.  Yet  they  applauded  the  Lieu- 
tenant ;  and  Somerset,  on  his  taking 
leave,  said,  "'  Master  Elwes,  as  I  hold 
you  both  a  discreet  and  wise  man,  fear 
not,  I  shall  assuredly  procure  thee  the 
reversion  of  Overbury's  knighthood  for 
thy  service  and  honest  dealing  in  this 
employment,  which  w^ill  deserve  ever- 
lasting praises  with  after  ages." 

The  project  of  this  band  of  plotters 
was  so  contrived,  in  administering  their 
poisons  to  the  unfortunate  Sir  Thomas 
Overbury,  as  to  increase  or  diminish 
his  torments,  as  they  saw  him  affected 
toward  them ;    but  more  especially  to 


278 

end  his  existence  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  prevent  suspicion  of  unfair  means 
having  been  used  to  get  rid  of  him. 
Elwes,  toO;,  was  not  over  anxious  for  his 
decease,  as  he  knew  that  whenever  his 
prisoner  died,  a  coroner's  jury  would 
inspect  the  body,  and  it  would  be  more 
difficult  to  cozen  them  than  strangers 
to  the  fraud  which  was  practised.  Ga- 
brielia  became  impatient  for  her  hus- 
band's release ;  she  despaired  in  the 
hopes  of  King  James's  mercy,  and 
hastened  to  the  Tower,  where,  for  the 
first  time,  she  learned  the  miserable 
condition  he  was  in.  Elwes,  who  had 
not  hitherto  permitted  any  letters  to 
reach  his  prisoner,  nor  any  friend  to 
speak  with  him,  was  now  in  some 
measure  awakened  to  a  sense  of  the 
wrongs  that  Overbury  suffered,  and 
permitted  Gabriella,  under  a  promise 
of  secrecy,  to  visit  the  unfortunate 
gentleman.     This  meeting  and  its  con- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    279 

sequences  are,  however,  of  too  much 
importance  in  the  Romance^  to  fall  in  as 
the  tail  of  the  narrative,  which  the 
reader  has  been  perusing  in  _  this  chap- 
ter ; — we  will,  therefore,  throw  them 
together  in  the  following  one. 


280  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;   OR, 


CHAP.  IX. 

. Peace  ;  sit  you  down. 

And  let  me  wring  your  heart;  for  so  I  shall, 
If  it  be  made  of  penetrable  stuff; 
If  damned  custom  have  not  braz'd  it  so, 
That  it  be  proof  and  bulwark  against  sense. 

HAMLET. 

The  circumstance  of  Overbury-s  con- 
finement as  a  state  prisoner  in  the  Tower, 
soon  became  known  to  all  the  inmates 
of  that  Fortress.  Among  these  were 
persons  of  high  rank  in  the  state ; — 
the  Lady  Arabella  Stuart,  allied  in 
blood  to  the  King  himself;  the  Coun- 
tess of  Shrewsbury,  her  companion  in 
misfortune ;  the  great  Henry  Percy, 
ninth  Earl  of  Northumberland,  and  Sir 
Walter   Ealeigh ; — all  felt  an   uncom- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF   SOMERSET.    281 

mon  degree  of  interest  in  the  fate  of 
Sir  Thomas  Overbury.  He  was  known 
to  them  as  no  mean  instrument  in  So- 
merset's rise  ;  and  he  was  respected  for 
the  manner  in  which  he  conducted  him- 
self as  the  servant  of  that  ambitious 
Favourite.  Raleigh,  in  particular,  was 
touched  with  the  misfortunes  of  Ga- 
briella,  though  hitherto  he  had  only 
learned  her  merits  from  the  brief  re- 
port of  Captain  Kemish.  The  Lady 
Arabella  Stuart,  and  the  Countess  of 
Shrewsbury  could  well  entertain  feel- 
ings and  sentiments  congenial  with  the 
sufferers.  And  the  Percy,  though  little 
accustomed  to  have  his  nature  ruffled 
by  ordinary  circumstances,  had  learned 
that  the  Lady  Gabriella  was  a  stranger, 
unprotected  and  persecuted  on  account 
of  her  religion.  All  these  personages 
had  resolved,  if  she  entered  the  For- 
tress, to  make  common  cause  with  Elwes 
for  an  interview   between  her  and    Sir 


282  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Thomas.  They  had  even  addressed  the 
Lieutenant  on  this  subject,  and  probably 
to  this  circumstance,  rather  than  to 
any  misdoubtings  their  jailor  had,  is  to 
be  attributed  the  yielding-  disposition 
in  which  we  now  find  him.  But  what- 
ever might  be  his  intentions  to  humour 
their  sympathies,  and  indulge  Gabri- 
ella,  he  resisted  every  attempt  of  the 
Percy  and  of  Raleigh  to  grant  them  an 
interview  with  Overbury.  The  motives 
from  which  the  wicked  usually  per- 
form charitable  actions,  are  either  selfish 
or  iniquitous,  and  it  were  a  waste  of 
language  to  dive  into  those  which  now 
actuated  the  Lieutenant  of  the  Tov»^er* 
We  do,  therefore,  dismiss  him  from 
this  investigation,  Vvnth  that  contempt 
of  his  character,  which  his  unfortuj^ate 
prisoners,  no  doubt,  felt  for  his  person 
and  office. 

It  was  about  the  hour  of  noon  when 
Gabriel  la  made  her  visit  to  the  Tower, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    283 

and  it  was  on  the  day  subsequent  to 
Elwes's  journey  to  the  Earl  of  Nor- 
thampton. She  was  admitted  by  the 
postern-gate,  on  the  eastern  quadran- 
gle of  the  Fortress,  and  conducted  with 
great  privacy  to  the  door  of  her  hus- 
band's apartment,  which  the  Lieute- 
nant himself  unlocked  for  her  admis- 
sion. The  moment  the  door  opened, 
she  rushed  into  the  arms  of  her  hus- 
band.— "  Great  God !"  she  exclaimed, 
"  and  do  I  once  more  clasp  thee  in  my 
arms,  my  dearest  Overbury  ? — But  how 
pale,  how  ill  you  look. — Oh  heavens ! 
surely  there  has  been  some  foul  play 
going  on  with  your  victuals,  and  the 
liquor  you  have  been  drinking. — My 
Lord,  my  love,  you  are  consumed  by 
fever. ^ — Your  forehead  burns  like  a  fur- 
nace ;  you  respire  with  difficulty. — -Holy 
Virgin !  what  do  I  suspect — "  and  ex- 
hausted by  the  intensity  of  her  feelings, 


284  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OR, 

Gabriella  sunk  upon  the  bed  beside  her 
helpless  husband. 

^'  Be  composed,  dearest  love,  be  com- 
posed, my  Gabriella,"  said  Overbury, 
struggling  to  raise  himself  and  afford 
her  assistance. 

Elwes  now  came  forward  and  at- 
tempted to  raise  her,  but  his  touch 
had  all  the  magic  of  physical  power. 
''  Wretch,  monster,"  she  exclaimed, 
"  let  me  alone  ;  touch  me  not  with  thy 
foul  hands,  already  stained  with  the 
blood  of  my  dying  husband. — Mon- 
strous iniquity  ! — Oh,  God  !  is  there 
no  justice  on  earth!  no  retribution  for 
the  doers  of  evil.  Avaunt,  thou  ac- 
cursed murderer,  and  leave  us  to  perish 
together."  But  the  Lieutenant  still  per- 
sisted, and  opening  the  door  of  the 
cell,  that  he  might  with  one  effort  lift 
the  distressed  lady  from  the  couch  of  her 
husband,    and  spring  with  her  beyond 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.      285 

the  threshold  of  a  place  that  was  alike 
terrific  and  dangerous  to  him,  he  came 
furiously  up  to  seize  Gabriella  and  hur- 
ry her  into  the  gallery. 

Overbury,  who  saw  all  that  passed  ; 
though,  when  the  door  of  his  cell  was 
opened  at  first,  he  felt  unable  to  rise 
from  his  pillow,  on  the  instant  that 
Elwes  approached  to  grasp  Gabriella, 
sprung  from  his  bed  by  an  effort  of 
recalled  strength,  and  being,  when  in 
health,  a  powerful  man,  was  still  able 
to  save  his  wife  from  the  brutal  usage 
that  the  Lieutenant  designed  to  offer 
her.  "  Hold,  fellow,"  he  exclaimed, 
"  taking:  Elwes  bv  the  arms,  and  as 
the  other  struggled  to  advance,  "  nay 
then,"  said  the  prisoner,  '^  if  thou  be 
bent  on  such  a  purpose,  I  must  repel 
force  by  force."  So  saying  he  pushed 
the  Lieutenant  out  of  the  dungeon ; 
and  was  in  the  act  of  closing  the  door 
upon   him,    when    Somerset    advanced 


286  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;  OR, 

and  entered  the  apartment.  The  EarPs 
presence  for  a  moment  dissipated  the 
resolution  of  Overbury.  "  My  Lord," 
he  exclaimed,  "  you  are  now  as  good 
as  your  word,  and  hav^e  kept  your  vow 
with  me." 

"  Sir  Thomas,  on  the  instant  you  see, 
I  have  visited  you,"  replied  Somerset, 
taking  Overbury  by  the  hand  ;  but  the 
Earl's  eye  now  caught  a  sight  of  Gabri- 
ella.  "  Soho  I  soho  !  Jervaise  Eiwes," 
he  cried  aloud.  "  What  doings  have 
you  here  ?  Powers  of  light !  what  do 
mine  eyes  behold  ?  The  Lady  Gabri- 
ella  ?" 

^^Even  so,"  answeredOverbury;  "  the 
Lieutenant  hath  accorded  this  much 
grace ;  no  doubt  on  the  favour  your 
honourable  Lordship  expressed  in  an- 
swer to  my  letter." 

*^  Elwes  thou  hast  done  that  thou'lt 
answer  for  before  the  Council,"  said 
Somerset.     Then  turning  to  Overbury, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.      287 

'"  Sir  Thomas,"  he  said,  ^^  knew  y.ou 
not  the  privacy  observed  towards  you^ 
was  designed  for  your  release  ?  Have 
you  taken  the  powder  I  sent  you  ?" 

"  Powder  !"  uttered  Gabriella  with 
a  shriek.  ''  Powder!"  .she  again  re- 
peated. ^'  Then  are  my  fears  real. — 
Monster  of  iniquity — fiend  of  ingrati- 
tude.— Rochester,  or  Somerset,  or  Lord 
Chamberlain,  as  you  are,  you  have  poi- 
soned my  Lord,  my  love,  my  life.  Oh ! 
God  I  Oh!  God!" 

"  Poison  !  Poisoned  !"  said  Overbury, 
sinking  on  the  bed.  "  Oh  !  my  Lord 
of  Somerset,  was  this  well  done  ? — But 
I  remember  you  once  told  me,  you 
would  be  even  with  me.  I  had  congra- 
tulated my  bewildered  senses  when  my 
eyes  beheld  your  smooth,  calm,  villain- 
ous face  not  a  minute  ago,  that  you  had 
come  in  bonds  of  peace,  and  terms  of 
friendship  ;  but, alas  !  alas!  you  are  in- 
deed as  good  as  your  word,  and  have  kept 


288  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

your  vow  with  me  ; — poison  !  poisoned  I 
I  feel  it  here  !"  placing  his  hand  firmly 
on  his  forehead  — ''  Well  then,  my  Lord, 
since  it  is  so,  remember,  whether  I  live 
or  die,  your  shame  will  live  for  ever, — • 
poison  !  poisoned  ! — Nay  then,  in  the 
jaws  of  death  I  will  do  an  act  of  jus- 
tice;  you  or  I  shall  die,  whether  I  re- 
cover." 

'^  This  is  irreverence,"  said  Somerset, 
"  and  thy  speech  is  raving  madness." 

'^  Madness  !  the  madness  of  great  spi- 
ders, cantharides,  sublimate  of  mercu- 
ry, white  arsenic,"  exclaimed  Overbu- 
ry.  ^'  This  was  the  Lieutenant's  care 
for  me — his  tarts,  his  partridges,  his 
onion-sauce,  his  jellies,  all  from  my 
Lady  Countess!— O  God  I  O  God!"— 
"  Holy  Virgin  !"  exclaimed  Gabriella, 
"  do  my  eyes  look  on  Somerset ;  him 
who  boasted  he  had  in  greatness  and  in 
power,  never  adv^anced  one  of  his  rela- 
tions to  an  office  of  state  ;  but  he  would 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    289 

only  make  the  fortune  of  Sir  Thomas 
Overbury  and  his  family  ? — There  are 
others  in  this  plot — I  see  it  all — I  would 
believe  Somerset  almost  incapable  of 
such  wickedness.  But,  when  I  review 
his  life,  the  passages  between  him  and 
my  loved  Knight,  the  embassage,  the 
warrant  of  his  commitment,  the  keeper 
set  over  him  ; — and,  last  of  all  his  table 
made  a  snare — I  must  believe  thee  the 
murderer,  my  Lord  !" 

*'  'Sdeath,  Madam,"  exclaimed  So- 
merset, "you  talk  of  your  Italian  com- 
fits for  the  Court  of  Rome,  where  the 
person  that  intoxicateth  the  kings  of 
the  earth,  is  many  times  really  intox- 
icated and  poisoned  himself." 

'^  Villain !  to  talk  so  to  me,"  replied 
the  noble  Gabriella.  "  Monstrous  in- 
gratitude— to  take  away  thy  best  friend 
in  full  peace,  in  God's  and  the  King's 
peace ;  and  to  charge  me  with  think- 
ing harm  of  my  Lord. — Oh !  accursed 

VOL.   III.  o 


290 

dissembler !  base  betrayer  [  but  thou'lt 
not  go  unpunished. — See!  the  ruins  thou 
hast  made  in  that  brave  man. — Behold 
a  second  Abel :  but  bear  in  that  black 
heart  of  thine  this  appalling  truth,  though 
poison  be  easily  administered,  and  thy 
murderous  deeds  easily  concealed  for 
a  time,  it  will  be  hardly  prevented  and 
hardly  discovered." 

'*  Elwes?  Soho!  Elwes?  Soho!"  cried 
Somerset,  "  call  thy  keepers  and  hurr}' 
this  fury  into  a  fit  place  for  a  popish 
recusant." 

"No!  my  Lord,"  answered  Over- 
bury.  "  If  I  am  the  butt  of  that  Jeze- 
bel, the  Lady  Frances  Howard — the 
butt  of  her  malice — the  end  of  her  bot- 
tomless mischief — let  me  suffer  all  the 
miseries  I  now  believe  you  capable  of 
inflicting  on  the  man  that  raised  you 
to  what  you  are.—  Nay,  spurn  me  not 
so,  my  Lord  of  Somerset ;  turn  thy  ear 
and  listen.     With  what  face  could  you 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    291 

do  this ;  you  who  know  you  owe  to 
me  all  the  fortune,  wit  and  understand- 
ing that  you  have  ?  Is  this  the  fruit 
of  all  my  care  and  love  for  you  ?  Look 
on  my  hands  palsied  and  poisoned;  my 
frame  tottering  under  your  henbane 
and  helebore.  For  murder  by  violenee, 
princes  have  guards,  and  private  men 
houses,  attendants  and  arms ;  but  for 
poison,  the  cup  itself  of  princes  will 
scarce  serve  in  regard  of  many  poisons 
that  neither  discolour  nor  distaste ;  it 
comes  upon  a  man  when  he  is  careless, 
and  without  suspicion. — From  the  table 
of  thy  Lieutenant,  my  Lord,  I  have 
been  poisoned  ;  the  cup  in  which  thou 
didst  pledge  me,  as  it  were,  contained 
that  which  hath  brought  me  to  the  gates 
of  death." 

"  Overbury,  silence,  and  in  thy  turn 
listen  to  me,"  said  Somerset :  *^  I  con- 
sented to  thy  imprisonment,  to  the  end 
thou  shouldst  be  no  impediment  to  mv 
o  2 


£9€  BLIGHTED  AMBITIOxN  ;    OR, 

marriage.  You  have  had  proof  it  was 
against  my  intention  you  should  be 
a  close  prisoner.  And  dost  thou  ag- 
gravate the  breach  of  friendship  be- 
twixt us,  as  grounds  for  unfounded  sus- 
picion ?" 

"  And  are  these  the  proofs  of  your 
innocency,  my  Lord  ?"  asked  Over- 
bury. 

"  No,  Sir  Thomas,"  answered  So- 
merset ;  ''  and  if  you  be  incapable  of 
hearing  reason,  and  listening,  I  must 
even  leave  you  ;  for  I  think  you  had 
never  a  friend  in  your  life,  that  you 
would  not  some  time  or  other  fall 
out  with  and  give  offence  unto.  Thine 
enemies  termed  this  insolence  ;  but  I'll 
give  it  a  better  name.  Hast  thou  con- 
formed to  my  wish,  and  taken  the  pow- 
der ?  If  not,  give  it  me,  and  I'll  swal- 
low it  in  your  presence,  and  prove  its 
harmlessness." 

**  My  Lord,  your   behaviour  betrays 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    293 

you. — I  have  taken  the  powder,"  said 
Overbury.  "  And  was  it  the  fruit  of 
common  secrets,  common  dangers? — 
Oh  !  Rochester,  Rochester  !- — Yet  this 
shall  not  serve  you. — You  and  I  shall 
soon  come  to  a  public  trial  upon  another 
nature  : — if  I  do  recover,  I  have  an  an- 
tidote beside  me,  thank  God,  and  I 
will  now  administer  it,  I  upon  the  rack, 
and  you  at  your  ease  ;  yet  I  must  say 
nothing* — I  am  done.  If  you  persist  to 
use  me  thus,  assure  yourself  it  shall  be 
published  and  punished.  Whether  I 
live  or  die,  your  shame  shall  never  die, 
but  ever  remain  to  the  world,  to  make 
you  the  most  odious  man  living." 

"  Elwes  !  Elwes  !"  said  Somerset, 
^'  do  as  I  bid — you  have  done  more 
than  you  can  justify,  and  stand  stupid 
and  mute: — move  slave — you've  jug- 
gled with  me — I'll  lay  your  back  on 
the  rack  anon. — Fetch  thy  keepers,  I 
o  3 


294  BLIGHTED  ambition;    OR, 

command  thee,  and  drag  that  beldame 
to  the  lowest  dungeon  of  the  Fortress." 

"  My  Lord  Somerset/'  said  Gabri- 
ella,  who  clung  to  her  husband,  "  you 
shall   have   no   need   to   use  force— let 

your   accomplice    lead   on 1  follow  ; 

and  since  you  seek  to  play  prizes,  and 
blazon  your  name  in  blood,  I  joyfully 
add  the  purple  stream  that  flows  in 
my  veins  to  that  of  my  Lord  and  life." 
— And  as  Gabriella  said  these  words, 
she  flung  her  arms  round  Overbury's 
neck,  embraced  him  tenderly,  and  dis- 
engaging herself,  said  again — "  Lead 
on — I  follow." 

"  Nay,  by  my  holiday,"  replied  So- 
merset, "  but  you  shall  not  follow  the 
Constable. — If  I  have  erred  in  permitt- 
ing the  confinement  of  Sir  Thomas, 
I  will  not  double  my  crime  by  defend- 
ing my  fault. — I  would  serve  him  and 
you  too,  only  let  not  your   wilfulness 


i 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    S96 

cause   the   gates   of  mercy   to  be  shut 
upon  him." 

"What  means  your  Lordship?"  asked 
Gabriella,  whose  eyes  streamed  tears 
of  sorrow. 

"  That  I  would   be  her  friend  who 
arraigns  my  conduct ;  and.  in  the  ful- 
ness of  her  affections  for  her  husband, 
can  have  no  confidence  in  me/'  replied 
Somerset.     "  Come    I   into   this   vault, 
think 'st  thou,  Lady,  to  contrive  or  ex- 
ecute works  of  darkness?  I  who  can  fill 
up  vallies,  and  level  mountains  ?  I  who 
can  protect  the  small  against  the  great  ? 
Come  I  hither  as  upon  a  stage,  mounte- 
bank like,  to  shew  my  power  to  relieve 
thy  Lord  ?      But  why  should   I  make 
confession  to  thee,  seeing  thou  believest 
not  it  is  the  strongest  foundation  where- 
upon justice  and  mercy  may  meet.   Un- 
less God  so  dazzle  my  eyes  that  truth  is 
falsehood,  and  wrong  right,  and  guilt  in- 
nocency,  I  am  thy  husband's  friend,  and 

hine  Lady — thou  shalt  remain  here  and 


S96  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR,     " 

comfort  him,  or  depart  in  my  coaoh, 
and  be  set  down  at  thine  own  door." 

"  My  Lord,"  replied  Gabriella,  rais- 
ing her  eyes  on  Somerset,  "  your  speech 
falls  on  me  like  sun-beams  from  hea- 
ven— I  lack  fortitude  to  resolve  on  any 
thing — Oh  !  if  you  speak  truth,  I  could 
write  Somerset  in  sparkling  stars  around 
the  queen  of  night,  that  all  men  might, 
in  all  times,  worship  it  as  truth  ;~but 
O  God !  if  all  this  be  but  the  smooth 
surface  of  a  sea  of  trouble  ;  and  you, 
my  Lord,  deceive  me  by  the  delusion  of 
your  greatness — if  you  have  bewitched 
me  by  your  sorceries,  and  charms, 
and  enchantments,  and  black  arts  of 
evil  spirits — I  will  dress  me  in  black 
trammel,  a  cypress  chaperon,  a  cobweb 
lawn  ruiF  and  cuffs,  and  sit  me  down 
in  Westminster-Hall  till  I  hear  thy 
doom  of  death,  said  by  the  Peers  of 
England  standing  up  and  bare  headed." 

<^  Noble  Gabriella,"  exclaimed  Over- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  Of  SOMERSET.     297 

bury.  "  Excellent  of  women  !  I  will  not 
mar  my  Lord's  intention  for  after  pro- 
ceedings to  obtain  the  King's  grace  and 
favour  toward  me,  by  the  assault  of 
speech.'^  Then  turning  to  Rochester, 
he  said — "  As  no  consultation  is  ripe 
in  an  hour,  I  will  quietly  await  my 
release ;  only,  my  Lord,  deal  fairly  by 
me,  and  I  will  be  no  hindrance  of  your 
marriage  and  the  Lady  Frances  deute- 
rogamy^ moreover,  you  shall  find  me 
the  trustiest  man  about  you." 

Somerset  now  gave  command  to  the 
Lieutenant  to  see  to  it,  that  Sir  Tho- 
mas Overbury  wanted  for  nothing — and 
suggested  the  fitness  of  a  bath,  and 
sundry  comforts  that  the  place  allowed. 
The  ease  of  the  Favourite,  at  this  mo- 
ment, his  unruffled  temper,  the  self- 
oommand  he  evinced  when  most  hotly 
pressed  by  accusations,  the  blandish- 
ments of  his  speech,  brought  this  ex- 
traordinary  interview  to  its  most  ex- 
o  6 


S98  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;   OK^ 

traordinary  conclusion ;  and  Gabriella 
continued,  during  her  pleasure,  in  the 
apartment  of  her  husband. 

But  this  result  was  partly  due  to  the 
singular  manner  of  Gabriella,  in  whose 
composition  dissimulation  had  no  part^ 
and  who  possessed  a  mind  attuned  to 
an  extraordinary  degree  of  masculine 
firmness,  when  extremity  called  forth 
its  exertions.  Somerset,  at  length  parted 
from  Overbury,  leaving  the  prisoner's? 
mind  impressed  with  a  strong  belief 
that  he  was  still  befriended  by  the 
Earl,  and  Gabriella  having  awaited  in 
the  Lieutenant's,  while  an  apothecary, 
whom  Elwes  sent  for,  had  given  the 
patient  a  warm-bath,  then  came  and 
took  her  leave  of  him  also,  under  an  im- 
pression, that  if,  indeed,  poison  had  been 
administered  to  her  husband,  the  Lord 
Somerset  was  not  privy  to  it.  Elwes  took 
the  precaution  on  her  quitting  the  For^ 
tress  that  he  had  observed  when  she  en- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.      299 

tered  it,  and  conducted  her  out  of  it 
by  the  postern,  or  eastern  gate;  and 
Gabriella  returned  to  her  own  house, 
without  being  seen  by  any  of  those 
great  persons  she  left  in  the  Fortress, 
and  to  whose  kind  representations  she 
was  mainly  indebted  for  the  sorrow  and 
anguish  she  had  that  day  experienced. 


300  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OH, 


CHAP.    X. 


But  to  persevere 

In  obstinate  condolement,  is  a  course 
Of  impious  stubbornness;  'tis  unmanly  grief ; 
It  shows  a  will  most  incorrect  to  heaven ; 
A  heart  unfortified,  or  mind  impatient ; 
An  understanding  simple  and  unschooled : 

Thrift,  thrift  Horatio ; — the  funeral  bak'd  naesfs 
Did  coldly  fornish  forth  the  marriage  tables. 

Hamlet. 


Contrary  to  the  expectations  of  So- 
merset, and  Lady  Frances,  and  before 
the  nation  had  ceased  to  weep  the  death 
of  Prince  Henry,  the  King  announced 
the  celebration  of  the  Lady  Elizabeth's 
marriage  with  the  Plasgrave.  The  fu- 
neral of  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  ob- 
served with  great  state  and  pomp,  in 


THE  RISE   AND  FALL  OF   SOMERSET.    301 

the  latter  end  of  November,  and  Christ- 
mas being  likely  to  become  an  unusu- 
ally dull  season  at  Court,  Somerset  de- 
termined  to  furnish  amusement  at  this  fes- 
tive season.     The  King  had  not  greatly 
intermitted  the  chase  of  the  doe,  of  which 
he  was  very  fond,  and   Candlemas  was 
fast  approaching,  when  the  season  for 
this  sport  would  cease.     For  the  grati- 
fication of  the  Royal  Family,  the  Lord 
Chamberlain,  Somerset,  proposed  a  very 
splendid    masque     on    Twelfth    Night, 
when,  for  the  first  time,  the    children 
of  the  revels  performed    Shakespeare's 
Comedy  of  What  you  Will,  or  Twelfth 
Night*.     The  King  was  so  transported 


*  Mr.  Malone,  the  Commentator  on  Shakespeare, 
supposes  this  play  to  liave  been  Nvritten  in  1614. 
Prince  Henry  died  the  6th  of  I^ovember,  1612. 
But  Miles,  in  Ben  Jonson's  '*  Every  man  out  of  his 
Humour,''  censures  Shakespeare';*  Twelfth  Night, 
at  the  end  of  Act  III.  Scene  VI.     And  I   beh'eve 


302 

by  mirth  and  wine,  that  toward  the 
close  of  the  entertainment,  he  declared 
''  he  should  on  Candlemas-day,  when 
the  Popish  priests  were  consecrating 
their  candles  for  the  year,  celebrate 
the  marriage  of  his  daughter  with  the 
Plasgrave,  albeit  the  bridal  be  kept 
in  sable.'*  These  words  fell  like  the 
ominous  response  of  an  astrologer  on 
the  ears  of  Somerset.  He  had  buoyed 
himself  up  with  the  vain  hope  that  his 
marriage  with  the  Lady  Frances  should 
be  "  solemnized  on  the  same  day,  and  at 
the  same  altar  with  the  Lady  Eliza- 
beth's, and  the  wee  wee  German  lair- 
die."  But  it  is  one  thing  to  plan  and 
another  to  execute ;  one  thing  to  serve 
and  another  to  command ;  and  the  Fa- 


Jonson's  play  appeared  before  the  death  of  Prince 
Henry.  It  is  unnecessary,  however,  to  be  chrono- 
logically correct  in  Romance,  which  is  privileged  to 
annihilate  time  and  space  in  the  conduct  of  its  action. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    303 

vourite  now  found  the  King  as  mighty 
in  support  of  prerogative,  as  he  had 
all  along  been  lavish  of  his  bounty  to 
Robert  Car.— *^  No,  Robin,  no,"  said 
James,  *'  Kings,  and  Princes  that  are 
to  be  Kings,  are  of  God,  his  represen- 
tatives on  earth,  to  govern  his  people 
in  his  stead,  to  reward  the  good  and 
to  punish  the  bad  ;  but  anent  this  re- 
quest ye  ask,  I  canna,  winna,  mauna 
forsake  the  path  o'  my  predecessors, 
and  the  example  o'  a'  Kings  that  ever 
reigned  on  earth.  But  we'll  make  holi- 
day o't  for  a'  that,  and  be  blithe  on  your 
account,  as  weel  as  our  ain.  The  Lady 
Elizabeth's  wedding  sail  be  keppit  wi' 
great  pomp  and  state,  all  or  the  greatest 
part  o'  the  nobility  sail  be  present;  we 
sail  hae  a  masque  in  the  banquetting- 
house,  the  children  o'  the  revels  sail,  wi' 
a  forest  o'  feathers,  twa  Provence  roses 
on  their  slashed  sheen,  ruffs,  doublets, 
gloves  and  good  black  velvet  hose,  give 


304  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

US  a  cry  o*  players ;  and  the  town's  folks 
sail  hae  the  spectacle  o'  three  days  tilt- 
ing and  running  at  the  ring,  and  all 
other  pastimes  hoth  stately  and  becom- 
ing the  dignity  of  a  King.  But  devil 
a  fardingale  sail  come  to  our  court, 
for  they  be  rather  increased  than  di- 
minished o'  late.  An  the  ladies  canna 
come  without  Spanish  popish  petticoats, 
they  sa'  na  come  awa.  By  my  ma- 
jesty, Somerset,  ane  kens  na'  mither 
frae  daughter,  maid  frae  wife,  when 
their  artificer  raise  them  sae,  that  the 
surcingle  o'  Pope  Joan's  cassock  wad 
na  tie  round  them — 

They  waste  mair  claith  within  few  years 
Than  wad  claith  fifty  score  of  friars. 

Now  Robin  ye  ken  my  mind — put  forth 
a  proclamation  anent  the  guarda  infanta 
fardingales ;  afid  mak  a'  preparation  for 
the  wedding." 

The   Earl   reasoned    again   with   the 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  305 

King  on  the  subject  of  his  marri- 
age, but  James  was  immovable. — In 
order,  however,  to  indulge  the  Fa- 
vourite, he  willed  Somerset's  wedding 
should  be  on  the  day  following  the 
Lady  Elizabeth's  and  the  Plasgrave ; 
and  as  his  Majesty  took  a  peculiar  plea- 
sure in  courting  popularity  by  artifice, 
without  striving  to  secure  it  by  mag- 
nanimity, he  bade  Somerset  to  move  the 
Gentlemen  of  Middle  Temple,  and  the 
others  of  GrayVInn  to  give  the  Court 
a  couple  of  masques,  while  the  common 
people  should  be  amused  with  their  fa- 
vourite sports  of  bear-baiting,  bull-bait- 
ing, interludes  on  week-days,  danc- 
ing, arching,  leaping,  vaulting,  morrice- 
dancers  and  sports  to  be  used  after  Divine 
service  on  Sunday.  "But,  look  ye,  Robin, 
there  be  no  tobacco  used  in  the  smell  o' 
my  nose,  fore  were  I  to  invite  the  devil 
to  a  dinner,  he  should  hae  these  three 
dishes ;  a  pig,  a  pool  o'  ling  and  mus- 


306  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

tard,  and  a  pipe  of  tobacco  for  di^es- 
ture." 

^^  Shall  I  confer  with  Sir  Roger  Ash- 
ton,  the  Lords 'Suffolk,  Pembroke  and 
Hays,"  said  Somerset,  ''  on  the  nup- 
tials ?" 

"  By  my  prerogative  Somerset,"  re- 
plied the  King,  '  we  would  see  Sir 
Roger — let  him  be  called. — -No,  stay, 
we'll  wait  till  he  gets  free  o'  that  Hogen 
Mogens  Tarn  Crompton." 

Somerset  now  wished  he  had  not 
mentionci^  tha  name  of  Sir  Roger,  but 
the  King  onoe  set  upon  any  project, 
took  great  pleasure  in  going  through 
with  it,  especially  when  it  regarded  the 
ceremonies  of  his  court,  the  dress  of 
those  who  surrounded  him,  and  the 
style  of  his  table,  his  mews,  his  studs, 
and  hound-kennels. — Sir  Roger,  who 
caught  the  King's  eye  bent  on  him, 
made  up  to  his  Majesty.  ''  Ah,  Sir 
Roger !"  said  the  King,  ''  thou's  a  man 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  307 

bred  in  courts,  exercised  in  business, 
stored  in  observation,  and  confident  in 
thy  knowledge  ;  now  sans  preface,  sans 
introduction,  depend  on  thy  memory, 
and  draw  from  thy  ken  useful  counsel 
anent  the  bridal  o'  Bess." 

Sir  Roger  with  much  precision  la- 
mented the  paucity  of  his  knowledge 
in  retrospection,  and  confessed  his  ig- 
norance in  foresight ;  and  then  detailed, 
with  all  the  properties  of  superficial 
eloquence,  the  various  particulars  of 
this  weighty  affair. 

"  Good,"  said  the  King,  "  good.  Sir 
Roger,  but  I  lack  my  table-books,  and 
maun  hae  all  thy  wit  noted  in  short 
memoranda,  and  all  thy  sparkling  sen- 
tences set  down,  as  the  gems  o'  Doctor 
Laud's  preachments  on  a  Sunday." 

Somerset  felt  now  more  piqued  than 
before ;  for  Sir  Roger  was  a  character 
of  manners,  resembling  those  of  Polo- 


308 

nius,  superficial,  accidental  and  acquired; 
and  he  was  positive  and  confident,  in 
the  Favourite's  presence,  for  the  King 
had  encouraged  him.  "  Would  your 
Grace  deign," said  Sir  Roger  ; — "I  have 
a  daughter — The  Lady  Elizabeth — Will 
it  please  your  Majesty — " 

"  You  have  a  daughter,"  interrupted 
the  King; — "So  have  I; — what  wouldst 
thou,  Roger  V 

"  The  Queen,  your  Majesty," — re- 
plied Ashton,  "  the  Queen's  Grace,  I 
propine  hath  solicited  your  Majesty?" 

James,  who  affected  ignorance  of 
the  topic,  the  Knight  was  aiming  at, 
replied,  "  the  Queen's  Grace  hath  a  fa- 
vour to  beg?  Good,  it  shall  be  granted." 

"  That  my  daughter  shall  be  one  of 
the  Maids  of  Honour  to  the  Lady  Eliza- 
beth," said  the  Knight,  somewhat  em- 
barrassed. 

^*  And  what  will  we  do  wi'  her  gaK 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  309 

lant  ?"  said  the  King.  "  He's  a  bon- 
ny son  o'  a  beautiful  and  provident  mi- 
ther," 

"The  Queen's  Grace  for  Master 
Villiers  prays  your  Majesty,"  said  Anne, 
who  at  this  moment  joined  the  group, 
'^  that  the  gallant,  blooming  one-and- 
twenty  be  the  King's  cup-bearer." 

Somerset,  who  had  already  had  proof 
of  his  Majesty's  partiality  in  favour  of 
this  young  gentleman,  concealed  with 
much  difficulty  the  emotions  which 
arose  in  his  mind,  as  he  heard  Queen 
Anne  ask  this  place  for  Villiers,  but  it 
required  all  the  apathy  he  could  mus- 
ter to  keep  him  calm,  when  the  King 
replied  : — 

"  Fair  Princess,  since  you  will  it  so, 
let  Master  Villiers  be  our  cup-bearer. 
And  pray  good  Sir  Roger  Ashton,  is 
the  young  gallant  in  waiting  on  our 
Lady  Queen  ?"  The  gentleman  of  the 
bed-chamber  bowed,  and  the  Sovereign 


310  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

added,  "  Let  him  be   called   before   us 
forthwith." 

Sir  Roger  who  had  now  achieved 
his  heart's  desire,  very  soon  handed 
young  Villiers  up  to  the  royal  stance. 
The  young  gentleman's  engaging  figure 
struck  the  King  instantaneously  with 
a  strong  liking  towards  him,  and  draw- 
ing his  sword  from  its  sheath,  James 
laid  it  over  the  shoulder  of  the  aspi- 
rant, saying,  "  rise" — '  George  Villiers' 
whispered  Ashton  in  the  Monarch's  ear^, 
for  the  King  paused  at  a  loss  for  the 
name. — '^  Rise,  Sir  George  Villiers,  and 
do  knight  service  among  our  equites 
aurati." 

"  Go,  Sir  Knight,'*  said  the  Queen, 
"  surpass  in  silks  and  dress,  and  use  en- 
signs armorial,  that  our  milites  of  yes- 
terday may  know  thy  family  is  of  four 
hundred  years  standing."  And  as  the 
Queen  said  these  words,  she  looked  hard 
in  the  face  of  Somerset.     The  Earl  was 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  311 

about  to  make  some  observation,  but 
the  Queen  checked  his  utterance  by 
asking  him, — "  Lord  Somerset,  can  you 
tell  me  why  my  interference  for  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  should  be  fruitless?  I 
have  drank  his  cordial,  and  esteem  it  : 
Prince  Henry,  in  his  last  illness,  took 
it,  but  though  it  brought  on  a  respi- 
ration, nature  was  too  much  spent  for 
profiting  by  the  crisis." 

"  So  please  your  Majesty,"  answered 
Somerset,  '*  I  have  seen  Raleigh,  and 
go  to-morrow  to  the  Lord  Cobham." 

"What  signifies  it  ?"  asked  the  King, 
"  we  are  soon  going  to  send  Raleigh 
to  fetch  hame  a  mountain  o'  goud  frae 
the  Indies." 

"  But  it  will  be  a  satisfaction,"  an- 
swered the  Queen,  "  and  I  promised 
the  Prince,  that's  dead  and  gone,  I 
should  labour  the  release  of  this  cava- 
lier, and  the  justification  of  his  name." 


312 

*'  By  the  rood,  your  Grace  has  be- 
come a  politician,'*  said  James.  ^*  The 
release  of  that  cavalier  comes  like  a 
jubar  from  our  crown."  And  as  the 
King  said  this,  he  called  for  a  song 
from  one  of  the  children  of  the  revels, 
who,  by  command  of  the  Master  of  the 
Ceremonies,  sung  from  a  very  merry  and 
pithy  comedy  entitled,  "  The  Longer 
thou  Livest  the  more  Fool  thou  Art." 

*'  There  was  a  mayde  come  out  of  Kent, 

Deintie  love,  Deintie  love  ; 
There  was  a  mayde  come  out  of  Kent, 
Daungerous  Bee. 

There  was  a  mayde  come  out  of  Kent, 
Fair  and  proper,  small  and  gent, 
Ae  ever  upon  the  ground  ywent, 

For  so  should  it  bee'' — 

The  Sovereign  approved  of  the  ditty, 
and  declared  that  ''  Moros,  though  coun- 
terfeiting a  vain  gesture,  and  a  foolish 
countenance,  was,  withal,  an  excellent 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    313 

chorister,  and  should  hae  abundance  o' 
Christmas  ale  in  honour  of  St.  Ste'en.'' 

Somerset,  on  retiring  for  the  night,  felt 
more  perplexed  than  he  had  ever  been 
in  his  life ;  and  his  embarrassment,  his 
chafed  spirits,  his  knit  brow,  escaped 
not  the  piercing  eye  of  the  Master  of 
Horse.  "  My  Lord^  you  are  unwell/' 
said  Coppinger. 

"  Indifferently  so,  Coppinger/'  re- 
plied the  Earl. 

"  But  why  should  your  Grace  be 
moved  that  the  King  has  given  Viliiers 
a  blow  with  his  throttle-snaker  ?''  asked 
the  Master  of  Horse. 

"  Ah !  Coppinger,  it's  a  long  lane 
that  has  no  turning,"  replied  the  Earl. 

"  True,"  answered  Coppinger;  "^^  but 
can  he  that  puts  on  his  harness,  boast 
himself  like  him  that  casts  it  off?" 

"^  By  St.  Androis,  my  Master  of 
Horse,  thou  lookest  upon  this  Viliiers 
as  a  favourite/'  said  the  Earl. 

VOL.   III.  p 


314  BLIGHTED  ambition;    OR, 

"  He  shall  not  be  so  long,  an  this 
hand  hold  its  nerve,"  replied  the  Mas- 
ter of  Horse, 

"  Fulfil  thou  that  speech,"  said  So- 
merset, hastily,  "and,  by  the  Powers 
that  guard  us,  I'll  enrich  thee  with  as 
much  land  as  thou  mayst  on  it  set  up 
thine  own  chase  with  store  of  game. 
But  I  would  this  night  see  Lord  Cob- 
ham?  Knowest  thou  his  residence?" 

"  Your  Lordship  will  require  your 
litter,  or  carosse,"  answered  Coppinger, 
*^the  poor  old  Lord's  in  the  East,  living 
I  know  not  how.  Shall  we  to  horse  ?" 

Somerset  replied  in  the  affirmative, 
and  in  the  dead  of  the  night  was  con- 
ducted by  his  guide  through  the  city 
into  the  Minories.  '^  Where  am  I  led 
into  ?"  asked  the  Earl.  *^  Are  we  go- 
ing down  to  St.  Katherine's  ?" 

"  No,  my  Lord,"  replied  Coppinger, 
"  the  lodging  of  Cobham  is  ha^d  by 
now," — and  in   a   few    minutes    more, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    315 

the  Master  of  Horse  knocked  loudly  at 
the  door  of  a  mean  dwelling. 

^'  Wha  routs  sae  steevely,  we  that 
dirdum,  at  this  mirk  hour  o'  a  hurloch 
nicht  ?"  said  a  shrill  voice  from  an  upper 
casement. 

^'  Dark  it  is  cummer/'  answered  Cop- 
pinger,  *^  and  cloudy  to  boot.  Take 
your  claiths  about  ye^  granny,  you're 
not  going  to  be  herryed,  and  hie  ye 
down  tenty :  here's  a  gowpen  fu'  o' 
siller  for  ye." 

"  Wha  are  ye  that  hight  goud/'  said 
the  voice  from  within  ;—  "  come  ye  as 
friend  and  hamely  ?" 

"  Its  Coppinger,  cummer,  and  a  friend 
o'  the  Lord's/'  answered  the  Master  of 
Horse. 

Scarcely  had  the  man  said  these  words, 
when  a  tall  spare  old  woman  opened 
the  door.  Of  clothes  she  had  on  no- 
thing save  her  scanty  chemise,  and  a 
petticoat  drawn  up  to  her  chest  with 
p  2 


316  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

one  hand,  while  the  other  held  an  iron 
cruse  of  oil,  in  which  there  burned  dim- 
ly a  rush-wick.  "  O  !  Mister  Coppin- 
ger,  but  ye  maun  yearn  muckle  to  see 
the  puir  Lord,  to  come  at  this  time  o' 
nicht.  But  it's  yule  time.  Wha's  this 
yeman  or  gent  wi'  you  ?  I  hae  been 
wakerife  a'  nicht  for  the  puir  carl  wras- 
lin  wi'  an  unsousy  whaisling  i' his  craig.'' 

Coppinger  put  some  pieces  of  silver 
into  the  old  woman's  hand,  and  bid- 
ding her  give  him  the  light,  ascended  a 
ladder  that  conducted  to  the  upper 
floor  of  the  dwelling.  ^'  Take  care,  my 
Lord,"  said  the  Master  of  Horse,  as 
he  looked  down,  "  there  are  two  rounds 
broken." 

"  My  Lord,  my  Lordf"  exclaimed 
the  old  woman.  "  They've  come  to 
redd  me  o'  my  preve  charge  at  last— 
O  hon !  that  it  were  the  scrich  o'  day. 
But  that  wad  na'  suit  the  pawkie  aunters 
o'  that  dackerin  chield,  Coppinger." 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    317 

"  My  Lord,  Lord  Cobham;'  said 
Coppinger,  taking  the  hand  of  the  old 
nobleman,  '^  open  your  eyes." 

Lord  Cobham  raised  himself  on  his 
elbow,  and  looked  up. — ''  Master  Cop- 
pinger, is  it  you  ?"— said  the  dying  man. 

'^  Troth  and  it  is  every  inch  of  me 
above  ground  yet,  my  Lord,"  said  the 
Master  of  Horse.  Then  turning  to  So- 
merset, '^  See  here,  my  Lord,  this  an- 
cient nobleman's  as  good  as  dead  in 
this  lousie  hole  of  a  chamber,  and  dy- 
ing, 'fore  God,  for  want  of  apparel  to 
keep  him  warm,  or  medicine  to  minis- 
ter a  potion." 

"  Lord,  what  Lord  comes  here  ?'" 
asked  Cobham. 

''  Somerset,"  answered  the  Earl,  *'  1 
have  come  to  ask  one  question  of  Lord 
Cobham. 

"  Propound  your   query,    my    Lord 
Earl,"  answered  Lord  Cobham. 
p  3 


318  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  :    OR 


"  Did  you  ever  at  any  time  accuse 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  of  treason  under 
your  hand  ?"  asked  Somerset. 

'^  Never,  nor  could  I/'  answered 
Cobham.  "  That  villain,  Wade,  did 
often  solicit  me,  and  not  prevailing, 
got  me,  by  a  trick,  to  write  my  name 
upon  a  piece  of  white  paper,  which  I, 
thinking  nothing,  did ;  so  that  the  charge 
which  the  Attorney- General,  Coke,  said 
came  under  my  hand,  was  forged  by 
that  villain  Wade,  by  writing  some- 
thing above  my  hand,  without  my  con- 
sent." 

"  Did  you  say  this  to  Lennox  and 
Salisbury  when  they  questioned  you  in 
the  Tower  ?"  asked  Somerset. 

"  True,  I  did,"  answered  Cobham ; 
"  I  never  wrote  any  thing  to  accuse 
Raleigh, — I  said  many  foolish  things 
that  Cecil  took  as  good  as  accusations 
and  proofs :  but — " 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    319 

"  Equivocating  scoundrels!"  exclaimed 
Somerset,  "  treason  and  traitors  in  all 
the  turnings  and  windings." 

''  You  see  how  miserable  is  my  abode," 
said  Cobham  :  "  this  poor  woman  that 
was  formerly  my  laundresse  gives  me  a 
lodgement  in  her  poor  hostelrie;  and 
I  that  had  seven  thousand  pounds  per 
annum,  and  a  personal  estate  of  thirty 
thousand,  have  been  now  for  many  a 
weary  day  relieved  by  scraps  brought 
me  by  a  trenchman.  Thirty  thousand, 
my  Lord,  and  seven  thousand  a  year, 
of  all  which  the  King  was  cheated,  of 
what  should  be  escheated  to  him." 

"  Buy  thee  food  with  this,"  said  So- 
merset, giving  Cobham  a  purse  of  no- 
bles;— and  descending  the  ladder,  he 
left  the  dwelling  of  this  unfortunate 
nobleman — doubting  the  truth  of  the 
report  which  he  had  heard. 

'*  Coppinger,"  said  the  Earl,  when 
he    had  breathed    the    free   air  a   few 


320  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  *    OR, 

seconds ;  '^  Coppinger,  how  the  devil 
do  you  know  every  place  and  every 
person's  abode  so  ?" 

"  Great  men  have  their  Masters  of 
Horse,  and  bravos  and  spies :  I  have 
an  informer  worth  a  thousand — I  have 
acted  the  gypsy  before  King  James,  I 
have  been  astrologer  to  great  ones  now 
no  more,  and  it's  odd  if  a  man  that  has 
gone  through  his  own  fortune,  and  all 
he  could  get  as  knight  of  the  post  till 
your  Lordship  took  pity  on  him,  should 
not  know  as  much  of  the  world  as 
either  Bluff  Ben,  or  Mad  Will  ?" 

"  True,  bully  Knight,"  answered  So- 
merset. ^^  What  thinkst  thou  of  Roger 
Ashton,  our  Master  of  the  Robes  ?" 

''  As  much  as  I  think  of  that  liar 
Anthony  Welldon,  at  the  Board  of 
Green  Cloth,  or  that  cheat-the-gallows, 
Compton,"  replied  the  bravo. 

"  What  has  Compton  done  to  offend 
thee  ?"  asked  Somerset. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     321 

"  He  is  husband  of  Villiers'  mother/' 
replied  Coppinger  ;  "  and  an  that  ben't 
offence  enough,  may  I  never  ruffle  in 
your  Lordship's  quarrels." 

"  Rank  offence,"  answered  Somerset. 

"  As  rank  as  Cobham's,"  observed 
Coppinger,  'Ho  insinuate  the  five  states- 
men of  his  Majesty  cheated  the  crown 
out  of  his  thirty  thousand  pounds ;  and 
his  freamething  wife  brimming  away 
with  her  gallants,  and  wont  so  much 
as  give  him  the  crumbs  that  fall  from 
her  table,  albeit  she  is  rich,  and  he  in  re- 
straint and  infidel  poverty.'' 

To  this  observation  Somerset  turned  a 
deaf  ear,  and  demanded,  "  What  there 
had  been  done  lately  in  respect  of 
Overbury  ?" 

"  So  jolease  you,  nothing,"  replied 
Coppinger,  "but  an  it  be  your  will, 
the  coroner  shall  have  work  anon. — 
The  braggart  Billy  Weston — " 

"  What  of  him,  Sir  ?"  asked.the  Earl, 
p  5 


322  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

"  Nought,"  replied  Coppinger,  pee- 
vishly^ '*  only  he's  going  to  put  on  a 
greasy  shirt,  sling  a  musket  over  his 
shoulder^  stick  a  Dutch  knife  in  his  belt, 
and  take  service  with  David  Samms." 

*^  What !  going  to  become  a  bucca- 
neer ?"  ''  Even  so,"  answered  the  Mas- 
ter of  Horse,  "  he's  got  an  affair  of 
bastardy  on  his  hands,  and  they  do  say 
he  must  scamp  for  another  matter." 

"  God  send  him  a  good  deliverance; 
but  Master  Coppinger,  art  thou  not 
yet  going  to  splice  with  Mistress  Tur- 
ner ?  There's  a  warm  fire-side  for  you." 

''  No  faith,"  replied  the  Master  of 
Horse;  and  as  Somerset  turned  his  nag's 
head  into  St.  Martin's  le  Grand,  Cop- 
pinger said,  "  Thank  God  I'll  get  rest 
in  the  Charter-House  to-night. — Good, 
my  Lord,  the  old  Gar9on  and  I  will  sing 

Tom  o'  Lyn  and  his  wife,  and  his  wife's  mother, 
They  went  o'er  the  bridge  all  three  together, 
The  bridge  was  broken,  they  all  fell  in, 
The  devil  go  with  jUI,  quoth  Tom  o'  Lyn.'' 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     323 

Somerset  did  arrive  at  the  Charter- 
House^  the  residence  of  the  Earl  of 
Suffolk,  and  ere  he  left  it  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  arrangements  were  made 
for  his  marriage  with  Lady  Frances 
Howard. 

Coppinger,  however,  on  that  morn- 
ing could  not  be  found ;  he  had  spent 
the  evening  very  jollily  with  the  old 
Gargon,  as  he  termed  the  Earl  of  Suf- 
folk's butler ;  and  all  that  was  known 
of  him  was,  that  he  had  gone  to  rest 
in  a  remote  part  of  the  building,  that 
bad  once  been  the  cells  of  the  lay 
Carthusian  brethren.  Lady  Frances 
dispatched  Weston  in  quest  of  Coppin- 
ger, to  Mistress  Turner's,  in  Paternos- 
ter-Row ;  but  the  Master  of  Horse  had 
not  been  there.  Weston  bethought 
himself  of  Franklin's  shop  in  Fleet- 
Street,  and  thither  he  repaired,  where, 
indeed,  he  found  Coppinger. 

"  Come  along,  bully  stirrup-holder," 


324  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

said  the  Page^  "  your  Lord's  in  a  fint? 
pother ;  for  the  love  of  God  put  od 
sobriety,  and  come  along." 

"  Beshrew  me.  Master  wild  bull- 
shooter,  an  thou  ben't  as  polite  as  an 
offender  in  the  bilboes — I  drunk,  var- 
let  ? — Wouldst  keep  me  fasting,  duck 
me  at  the  yard-arm,  keel  hawl  me, 
flogg  me  at  the  capstane,  hang  weights 
round  my  neck  till  my  heart  be  ready 
to  break,  gagg  me,  scrape  my  tongue 
for  blasphemy  ?  —I  go,  young  buck.'' 

"  See,"  said  Weston,  as  the  comrades 
came  down  Fleet-Street,  "there's  a  pic- 
ture will  match  Zucchero's  Pope's  asses. 
—  Marry  an  it  ben't  painted  with  Mas- 
ter Ketel's  toes." 

"  'Sdeath,  '  Drown  the  Jew'  it's  the 
Lord  Somerset's  picture,"  said  Coppin- 
ger. — "  I  see  so,"  replied  the  other, 
"•  that  wild  performer  Cornelius  Ketel, 
I  tell  thee,  must  have  painted  this  after 
he   laid  aside    his  brushes^  and  daubed 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.      3'20 

lord's  faces  with  his  fingers  alone,  and 
their  fair  bosoms  with  his  stinking  toes." 

"  Marry  my  Master,  but  it's  the  Lord 
Somerset's  picture,  painted  by  Nicho- 
las Billiard,"  replied  Coppinger. 

''  And  that  beside  it  is  the  portrait  of 
young  Mockson,  painted  by  the  Scot- 
tish limner,  George  Jamieson,"  said  the 
Page.^ — "  Look  ye,  Master  Coppinger, 
look  ye,  an  your  Lord's  picture  ben't 
laughed  at  by  the  white-livered  loons 
over  the  way." 

Coppinger  saw  this  affront  offered  to 
his  Lord,  as  well  as  Weston,  and  spring- 
ing nimbly  across  the  street  "  Halloo, 
my  Masters !"  he  cried,  "  who  be  you 
that  have  privilege  to  laugh  in  day- 
light ?" 

"As  good  a  man  as  that  Lord  on 
canvas  any  day.  I  am  an  Englishman, 
and  that's  more  than  he  can  brag," — 
replied  one  of  the  men  who  had  been 


326  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

deriding  the  dress  and  countenance  of 
Somerset. 

*'  Thou'rt  a  caitiff  trader  in  insolence/^ 
said  Coppinger,  adding*,  "  take  that  bully 
Englishman/'  and  he  hit  the  man  a 
sound  box  on  the  face.  '^  Now  in  what 
Lord's  name  dost  thou  ruffle  ?" 

The  man,  who  was  much  stunned  by 
the  blow,  stooped  hastily  to  the  ground, 
seized  a  handful  of  dirt,  flung  it  on  the 
painting  of  Somerset,  and  drew  his 
sword,  exclaiming,  "  Infamous  ruffian ! 
— have  at  thee — Coppinger  is  imprinted 
on  thy  bully  tongue," — and  as  the  man 
said  this  he  made  a  pass  at  the  Master  of 
Horse ;  but  Weston  having  on  the 
moment  drawn  his  rapier,  twirled  the 
stranger's  sword  out  of  his  han^l,  and 
thereby  saved  the  life  of  his  comrade, 
who  must  otherwise  have  been  run 
through,  as  he  had  not  his  arms  in  mo- 
tion  to  defend  himself.     Several  of  the 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     327 

other  persons  now  surrounded  the  com- 
batants, and  they  all  took  part  with  the 
man  that  had  been  hit,  and  each  of  them 
in  his  turn  hurling  a  handful  of  dirt  on 
the  portrait  of  Somerset,  while  that  of 
Villiers,  which  hung  beside  it,  remained 
unmolested. 

"  My  Masters,"  said  Weston,  "  an 
ye  ruffle  in  young  Mockson's  name, 
we'll  take  ye  by  pairs  in  the  White 
Friars,  a  more  convenient  spot  to  de- 
cide the  merits  of  our  Masters." 

'*  'Sdeath,"  exclaimed  Coppinger, 
drawing  his  sword  ;  ''the  ground's  good 
enough,  and  the  cause  of  Somerset 
better." 

"  But  the  peace  of  the  city  is  better 
than  all,"  said  a  Marshalman  coming 
up,  and  all  parties  recognized  the  im- 
portance of  blue  jacket  and  red  cuffs, 
*'  Put  up  your  blades,  and  go  west  o' 
Temple  Bar,  an  ye  be  the  scavengers 
o'  court  Lords." 


338 

"  Aye,"  said  another  Marshalman^ 
*'  ayond  the  Bar  ye  pravoes ;  he  that 
lets  us  in  our  duty,  Fll  flounder  him 
with  mv  truncheon." 

It  was  in  vain  that  Coppinger  and 
Weston  strove  to  explain,  in  boisterous 
terms,  "  the  affront  that  had  been  put 
upon  the  Lord  Chamberlain  of  Eng- 
land;" the  only  redress  they  got  was 
from  the  picture-dealer,  who  bringing 
out  a  pail  of  water,  dashed  it  on  Somer- 
set's portrait.  The  Page's  rage  now 
knew  no  bounds,  he  took  up  a  handful 
of  mud  to  bespatter  the  portrait  of 
Villiers,  but  the  artist  dared  him,  and 
placed  himself  before  the  painting,  say- 
ing to  the  Marshalmen,  "  My  Masters, 
the  city  is  much  bound  to  God  and 
his  deputy  on  earth,  the  Lord  Mayor, 
your  master  ;  wherefore,  grant/ deliver- 
ance to  me  and  my  wares,  and  your  jus- 
tice shall  shine  as  a  lanthorn  to  shew  these 
serving  men  home  to  their  butteries." 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     329 

The  roar  of  laughter  that  followed 
this  address  of  the  artist,  so  offended 
Coppinger  that  he  merely  said  in  re- 
ply— "  Malcontent,  Recusant,  or  Puri- 
tan, you'll  answer  for  this  in  the  Star- 
Chamber. — Come  along,  my  Master/' 
he  added,  addressing  Weston,  "  that 
speech  of  the  canting  knave  is  as  good 
a  prayer  as  he  could  utter,  en  la  cham- 
bre  des  esteilles,  to  go  to  Heaven  by." 

When  these  wranglers  had  reached 
Ludgate,  Weston  addressed  his  friend, 
saying,  "  Well,  Coppinger,  ye  see  it's 
high  time  for  me  to  tramp.  Til  lose 
this  tongue  in  Barbary,  an  the  prophecy 
of  that  mad  devil  Bruce  come  not  true 
after  all. — I  laughed  at  Villiers  as  a 
mockson — But  thinkst  thou  all  these 
bravoes,  and  lusty  knaves  they  were 
too,  none  o'  them  under  fourteen  stone, 
aren't  paid  by  the  Herbert's,  Hartford's, 
Bedford's,  the  Earl  of  Essex,  and  some 
others,  to  bring  in  Villiers  to  the  notico 


350  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

of  the  tailors,  and  cobblers,  and  black- 
smiths and  grubby  rabbling  mob  of  this 
purse-proud  city  ?  'Sdeath,  Coppin- 
ger,  take  my  advice,  and  put  another 
string  to  thy  bow." 

"  An  he  be  thus  backt,"  replied  the 
Master  of  Horse,  '*  the  new  Favourite 
need  not  borrow,  nor  seek  out  many 
bravoes  to  second  his  quarrels.  He's 
made  cup-bearer  to  the  King,  and  he'll 
have  the  upper  end  of  the  table,  at 
the  reversion  of  the  King's  diet,  dur- 
ing his  monthly  waiting ;  now  an  we 
could  set  him  out  of  his  mouth,  when 
it's  not  his  due,  my  Lord  of  Somerset 
shall  remove  him  with  that  overmuch 
kindness  these  damned  Marshalmen  have 
hoisted  us  adrift." 

"  To-day,"  said  Weston,  "  Suffolk 
and  Somerset,  and  all  the  council  dine 
with  the  King  and  Queen  at  Denmark- 
House,  and  I'll  bet  you  this  purse  Vil- 
liers  is  there,"  said  the  Page.  ^'  An  he 
be,  I'll  play  him  a  trick." 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     331 

As  Weston  prophesied,  Villiers  was 
indeed  at  table,  and  the  Page  by 
chance,  rather  than  by  design,  spilt 
some  gravy  upon  the  young  Favourite's 
clothes,  as  he  carried  a  haunch  of  doe- 
venison  to  the  table.  Villiers,  without 
knowing  the  etiquette  of  the  table,  at 
which  the  King  of  England  sits,  took 
occasion  when  dinner  was  over,  to  give 
Weston  a  box  on  the  ear,  in  presence 
of  the  Sovereign. 

"  Marry,  but  this  is  an  high  offence," 
said  Somerset. 

."  Sir  George  Villiers  is  a  young  man, 
and  a  younger  courtier,  my  Lord  of 
Somerset,"  interrupted  the  King.  Then 
turning  to  the  rising  Favourite,  his  Ma- 
jesty said,  "  Know  ye  not,  Sir  George 
Villiers,  the  punishment  of  your  offence 
is,  to  have  your  hand,  that  dealt  the 
blow  in  our  presence,  cut  off?" 

"  Yes,"  added  the  Queen,  "  and  it 
belongs  to  the  puissant  Earl  of  Somer- 


332  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

set,  our  Liege's  Lord  Chamberlain,  to 
prosecute  the  execution,  as  he  hath 
begun." 

^^By  my  holiday,"  continued  the 
King,  "  but  we  shall  exercise  our  pre- 
rogative, and  pardon  this  juvenis  miles." 

"  Without  any  satisfaction  ?"  said 
the  Queen. 

"Our  word  hath  gone  forth,  royal 
Lady,"  answered  James. 

"  And  now  indeed,"  said  Somerset 
to  himself,  "  all  the  browse  boughs  are 
cut  down  to  the  plain  stem,  and  the 
budding  Favourite  appears  like  a  pro- 
per palm." 

The  reflection  of  Somerset  was  founded 
in  truth  ;  as  the  time  arrived  for  the 
celebration  of  the  Lady  Elizabeth's 
marriage  with  the  Palsgrave,  Villiers 
rose  daily  into  more  favour.  But  So- 
merset was  the  man  without  whom 
James  enjoyed  few  social  hours,  and 
by    whose    advice    the    greater    num* 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  333 

ber  of  his  actions  were  now  of  late 
regulated,  if  indeed  they  did  not  ori- 
ginate with  the  Earl.  The  royal  mar- 
riage was  a  most  splendid  entertain- 
ment, kept  with  pomp  and  magnifi- 
cence, the  nobility  of  the  land  vying 
with  each  other  in  the  splendour  of 
their  dresses  and  equipages,  the  num- 
ber of  their  gorgeously  decked  retain- 
ers, whom  they  crowded  their  palaces 
with  in  London.  The  marriage  too^ 
of  Somerset  and  Lady  Frances  Howard 
was  attended  by  the  numerous  friends, 
both  noble  and  great,  of  the  Favourite, 
and  the  House  of  Howard ;  and  King- 
James  kept  his  word,  honouring  the 
ceremony  with  his  presence,  and  en- 
gaging in  the  banquet,  and  masque  that 
followed,  with  all  the  life  and  spirit 
which  his  late  loss  would  permit. 


334  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 


CHAP.  XI. 

1  see  thy  glory,  like  the  shooting  star, 
Fall  to  the  base  earth  from  the  firmament ! 
Thy  sun  sets  weeping  in  the  lowly  west, 
Witnessing  storms  to  come,  woe,  and  unrest: 
Thy  friends  are  fled,  to  wait  upon  thy  foes; 
And  crossly  to  thy  good  all  fortune  goes. 

King  Richard  ii. 

On  the  day  of  the  Lady  Elizabeth's 
marriage,  the  honour  of  knighthood 
was  conferred  upon  a  vast  number  of 
persons,  whom  the  Favourites  of  James 
recommended  for  that  honour.  Among 
these  Elwes,  the  Lieutenant  of  the 
Tower,  was  dubbed  Sir  Jervaise.  On 
the  morning  following  the  bridal  of 
Somerset,  Sir  Jervaise   waited  on   the 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.      335 

Earl  of  Northampton,  and  announced 
the  death  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury. 

'*  Dead !"  exclaimed  Northampton, 
^^  and  what  measures  hast  ^thou  taken 
with  the  body  ?" 

"  My  experience  cannot  direct  me," 
answered  the  Lieutenant,  "  therefore 
came  I  to  your  Lordship  ;  it  is  usual  to 
have  a  prisoner's  body  viewed  by  a  jury 
and  the  coroner  ; — but  this  is  so  very 
ugly  to  look  upon — I  fear —  I  fear — " 

"Banish  fear!"  answered  Northamp- 
ton, "  and  call  Sir  John  Lidcote,  my 
special  friend,  and  some  of  his  rare 
friends  to  view  it ;  and  so  soon  as  it 
is  viewed,  without  staying  the  coming 
of  a  messenger  from  the  court,  in  any 
case  see  it  interred  in  the  body  of  the 
chapel,  within  the  Tower,  instantly, 
considering  the  humours  of  that  damned 
crew  in  your  custody,  that  only  desire 
means  to  move  pity  and  raise  scandals." 

"  But   my   Lord   of  Somerset,"  said 


336  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Elwes,  *'  or  some  special  friends  of 
Overbury ;  were  they  to  come  and  grace 
his  funeral^  all  suspicion  would  be  lulled." 

'*  Stuff  and  buckram!"  exclaimed 
Northampton.  '^  My  Lord  of  Somer- 
set rise  from  his  bridal-bed  to  go  in  a 
style  of  hypocritical  ambiguity,  hold- 
ing a  mourning  kerchief  to  his  eyes  at 
the  grave  of  that  damned  corpse !" 

"  Overbury's  relations, — Lady  Ga- 
briella,  his  father,  now  a  justice  in 
Wales,  his  cousins,  and  the  benchers 
of  the  Temple,  who  have  come  almost 
daily  to  the  gale  to  inquire  after  his 
health.  ; — they  will  all  want  to  see  the 
body,  and  be  at  the  funeral." 

'^  I  will  free  you  from  their  interven- 
tion," replied  the  Earl,  and  he  accord- 
ingly sat  down  and  wrote  an  epistle, 
which  is  still  extant,  expressive  of  "  Lord 
Rochester's  desire  to  attend  the  funeral 
of  his  deceased  friend,  but  fearing  the 
unsweetness  of  the  body,  in  keeping  it 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.      537 

above,  must  needs  ^ive  more  offence 
than  its  speedy  interment,  his  Lordship 
desires  Sir  Jervaise  will  do  that  which 
is  best." — "  My  fear  is  also/'  said  the 
conspirator  in  conclusion  of  his  letter, 
"  that  the  body  is  already  viewed  upon 
that  cause  whereof  I  write,  which  be- 
ing so,  is  too  late  to  set  out  solemnity." 
Having  thus  penned  an  epistle  excul- 
patory, the  Earl  added  a  postscript 
lacrininal,  which  is  also  extant,  and  says, 
*^  you  see  my  Lord's  earnest  desire, 
with  my  concurring  care  that  all  re- 
spect may  be  had  to  him,  that  may  be 
for  the  credit  of  his  memory,"  &c. 

''  And  now,  Sir  Jervaise,"  said  Nor- 
thampton, '*let  no  man's  instance  move 
you  to  stay  in  any  case,  and  bring  me 
this  letter  when  I  next  see  you." 

The  Lieutenant,  promising  dispatch 
and  obedience,  took  his  leave,  and  just 
as  he  departed,  a  serving-man  entered, 
and  announced  to  the  Earl  that  Lord 

TOL.    III.  n 


338  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Somerset's  Master  of  Horse  desired  an 
audience.  ''  Let  him  be  admitted/'  said 
the  Earl,  and  in  brief  space,  Coppin- 
ger  walked  into  the  cabinet  of  Nor- 
thampton. 

"  'Sblood,  my  Lord,  some  passion 
shakes  your  frame?"  said  the  Master 
of  Horse  ;  "  my  fear  interprets  your 
liordship  knows  he's  dead." 

"  Most  finished  Prince  of  Saxonie«<, 
thou'st  stomach  for*t  all,  I  see,"  replied 
the  Earl.—"  What  wouldst  thou  ?'' 

"  All  that's  done  is  marred,  my  Lord," 
said  the  Master  of  Horse,  *^  if  that 
demi-devil,  Elwes,  have  privilege  to 
call  the  coroner,  Lidcote,  to  view  the 
body." 


*  Alluding  to  the  *'  History  of  the  famous  Enor- 
camus,  Prince  of  Denmark,  with  the  strange  adsefl- 
tures  of  lago,  Prince  of  Saxony/'  a  Romance  that 
was  popular  in  the  reign  of  James,  and  from  which 
Shakespeare  borrowed  the  name  of  the  most  nialig- 
aanit  villain  our  imagination  can  think  of. — Ed. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     339 

"  I've  given  him  orders  for't,  and 
my  hand  to  boot,  suggesting  Somer- 
set's desires  for  a  public  funeral,  but 
adding  a  sulficient  apology  for  evading 
my  request,"  said  the  Howard, 

*'  I  must  outwit  the  pernicious  caitiff, 
my  Lord,  or  were  the  hairs  on  our 
heads  lives,  they'd  all  be  too  few  to 
satiate  the  public  revenge.  We  are 
ensnared  soul  and  body  if  a  jury  sit 
on  the  carcase  of  that  damned  viper. — 
Shall  I,  my  Lord  Earl,  send  Lid  cote 
to  my  Lord  Somerset  speedily,  and 
then  hasten  to  the  Tower,  and  make 
that  grim  ice-heart,  the  Lieutenant,  en- 
tomb it  forthwith,  and  pretend  when 
all's  over,  the  corpse  wouldn't  tarry 
the  coroner  ?" 

"  Thy  counsel  savours  of  a  mind 
gardened  by  industry  and  care  of  thy 
friends,"  said  the  Earl;  "go  and  do 
as  thou  wilt,  Coppinger." 

^*  The  knaves  whom  it  concerns  me 
Q  2 


340  BLIGHTED  AMBITION;    OR, 

to  assist  may  be  idle,  my  Lord,  and 
oiie  can't  make  them  answerable  to  his 
commands  without  gold,  and  this  purse 
is  light,  very  light,  my  Lord." 

"  Here,  take  this  bag  of  nobles,"  said 
the  Earl,  ''  and  from  it  put  money  in 
thy  purse." 

"  My  Lord,  I  must  fee  a  starveling 
curate  to  say  the  service  of  the  dead, 
belike  he'll  look  for  a  small  purse  him- 
self, and  to  knit  him  to  our  deserving 
with  cables  of  perdurable  toughness,  I'll 
fill  this  other  marsupium,"  said  Cop- 
pinger,  taking  from  his  pouch  another 
purse,  somewhat  smaller  than  the  one 
he  had  filled  from  the  bag,  which  the 
Earl  laid  on  the  table.  "  Now,  my 
Lord  Earl,  your  further  commands  ?" 

"  Briefly  these  ;  fail  not  a  jot  herein, 
as  you  love  your  friends/'  said  the 
Earl,  squeezing  the  hand  of  his  super- 
subtle  agent. 

Goppinger's  first  business  was  to  dis- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     341 

patch  to  Theobald's,  Sir  John  Lid- 
cote^  on  a  fool's  errand  to  Somerset ;  his 
next  to  proceed  to  the  Tower,  where 
he  arrived  just  as  Weston  and  Elwes 
were  conferring  about  the  coroner  and 
his  jury. 

^'  Come,  my  Masters^  come/'  said  Cop- 
pinger,  on  entering  the  prison-cell  of  the 
dead, — "  an  ye  be  hatching  hypocrisy 
Against  the  devil,  why  get  ye  not  a 
parson,  like  a  raven  o'er  the  infected 
house?  'Sblood,  Master  Elwes,  send 
for  Sir  John  Lidcote,  the  coroner. ^ — 
Let  a  jury  of  knaves  be  sworn  from 
the  arrant  barbarians  of  St.  Katherine's 
— and  hasten  to  impinguate  God's  earth 
with  this  cashiered  lawyer's  corpse, 
•  whose  soul's  billited  with  imparadised 
Prince  Henry's. — Soft,  some  one  knocks 
— See  who  it  is." 

Weston  opened  the  door  of  the  cell — 
It    was    Gabriella — ''  Ah  !  Lady,"  said 
Coppinger,  *^^  you  come  too  late !" 
Q  3 


342  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

''  Heaven  forgive  me  ! — Dead  ! — my 
Lord,  my  life,  dead !"  exclaimed  Ga- 
briel la,  clasping  her  hands,  and  shrink- 
ing back  from  the  horrid  spectacle  be- 
fore her—for  the  corpse  of  her  husband 
was  too  disagreeable  to  look  upon,  and 
the  place  was  noisome  beyond  her  en- 
durance. 

"  Even  so,"  said  Elwes — and  the 
Master  of  Horse  added  : — "  Lady,  I  am 
here  by  Lord  Somerset's  command  to 
see  the  rites  of  sepulture  done — this 
is  too  masculine  to  be  commended  in 
a  woman ;  but  come,  you  are  unwell, 
and  catching  her  in  his  arms,  he  hur- 
ried the  fainting  Gabriella  out  of  the 
cell,  and  carried  her  to  an  adjacent 
room.--  "  Soho,  soho,  Weston,"  called 
Coppinger,  and  the  turnkey  came  to 
the  bravo's  assistance.  "  Now  man," 
continued  the  villain,  "  if  thou  wouldsfc 
no  longer  be  a  toad,  and  live  upon  the 
vapour  of  these  dungeons,  take  this 
purse,    and   find  me   gome    clerk   who' 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     343 

sinned  with  Peter,  but  not  wept  wi' 
him,  and  who'll  say  the  burial  service, 
and  enter  the  name  of  the  departed  m 
the  chapel  register." 

"  But  in  what  state  is  the  Lady  Ga- 
briella  V  asked  Weston.  "  Were  it  not 
well  she  were  looked  to  ?'* 

"  Get  thee  gone  ;  do  as  I  bid ;  and 
leave  the  fair  devil  to  me ;  I  shall  de- 
vise some  charm  for  this  callet/*  and  as 
the  Master  of  Horse  said  these  words, 
he  entered  the  apartment  into  which 
he  had  but  a  minute  before  carried  Ga- 
briella. 

Gabriella  was  now  recovering  from 
the  sudden  giddiness  or  swoon,  she  had 
been  seized  with,  and  opening  her  eyes 
said  in  a  feeble  tone — "  When,  when 
did  my  Lord  die  ?" 

"  This  morning  at  five/'  replied  Cop- 
pinger,  "^  and  the  Lord  Somerset  on 
the  instant  he  learned  of  his  death, 
which  was  even  ere  he  rose  from  his 


344  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

bridal-bed^  dispatched  me  to  see  those 
honours  paid  the  deceased,  which  his 
virtues  merit,  and  the  friendship  of  the 
Earl  prescribe.  Rise,  Lady,  rise,  there 
is  nought  here  to  tempt  delay ;  give 
me  your  hand,  and  let  me  conduct  you 
hence.  A  reverend  Monk  has  made  dili- 
gent inquiry  for  you. — Let  us  begone." 

''  Begone !"  repeated  Gabriella,^'  said 
you  not  you  were  commissioned  to  see 
Lord  Somerset's  pleasure  fulfilled  ?  Be- 
gone if  need  be,  but  here  I  will  stay 
and  do  the  last  offices  to  my  deceased 
husband." 

"  The  corpse  is  even  now  in  the  cha- 
pel," said  Coppinger,  "  and  you  would 
not,  by  unnecessary  grief,  disturb  the 
funeral  service?" 

"  How  now  ?  how  now  V  said  Billy 
Weston,  entering  the  apartment  breath- 
less. ''  'Sdeath,  but  I  have  run  as  an 
I  were  outstripping  the  grave. — Ah!— 
The   Lady  of  Sir   Thomas   Overbury ! 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     345 

Madam,  why  inch  ye  out  the  day  here, 
when  all  is  done  for  the  dead  the  living 
can  do,  save  to  render  to  mother  earth 
her    due  ? — Let    us    bear  the  Lady  to 
the    Earl    of  Northampton's  barge/' — 
And  while  the  presence  and  language  of 
Weston   deprived  Gabriella    of  speech 
and  action,  the  two  villains  carried  her 
down  the   stairs  to  the  Traitor's-Gate, 
and  seated  her  in  a  covered  barge  that 
rowed    swiftly    down    the    river.      At 
Greenwich  the  unfortune  Gabriella  was 
landed,  and  conducted,  almost  senseless, 
to  an  adjoining  mansion  that  Northamp- 
ton had  built.     There,  indeed,  she  found 
Father  Francis  and  the  Earl,  who  with 
much    sauvity   of   manners,   apologised 
for  the  treatment  he  had  shewn  to  Ga- 
briella, on  a   former    occasion,  but    as- 
cribing it   all   to  his  duty  as  a    Privy 
Counsellor,  and  being  aided  by  the  per- 
suasive and  authorative  intercession   of 
the  Monk,  the    Howard   succeeded   in 
Q   5 


346  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

gaining  the  belief  of  Gabriella  to  his 
protestations  of  regret  for  the  past,  and 
professions  of  friendship  for  the  future. 

"  Daughter,"  said  the  Monk,  "  the 
noble  Earl  is  our  staunehest  friend  in 
England  ;  nor  in  Europe  has  the  Ca- 
tholic and  true  religion  a  more  devoted 
member.  By  his  means  I  have  visited 
this  country,  and  now  return  to  Italy. 
Believe  me,  daughter,  our  Church  will 
not  lack  the  arm  of  pov/er  in  Britain  when 
Prince  Charles  comes  to  the  throne." 

*^  But  what  am  I  to  understand  by 
all  this?"  asked  Gabriella,  Then  burst- 
ing into  tears,  she  sobbed  out — "  My 
husband  !  O  !  my  husband  ! — Where 
am  I  ?  It  was  but  now  I  entered  the 
Tower  and  saw  him — dead! — Holy  Vir- 
gin! give  me  strength.  Father  Fiancis, 
is  it  you  ?" 

"  It  is,  daughter,"  replied  the  Monk, 
"  in  charity  have  I  sought  you,  and 
hither  I  have  been  privately  conducted 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    347 

that    I    might    see    you   ere    I   quitted 
England.     But  a  strange — "  the  Monk 
paused,    for     Gabriella    was    too   much 
overcome   to    support    herself^  even  in 
a     chair. — "  Help  !    Help  !"    said   the 
Monk.—"  My     Lord     Earl,    let    some 
female  be  called  ;  the  luckless  Gabriella 
is  ill  indeed."     A  female  did  come^  and 
Gabriella  was  then  carried  to  another 
apartment,  and  every  comfort  afforded 
her.       By    degrees   she   recovered,  and 
through  the  persuasions  of  Father  Fran- 
cis, agreed  to  accompany  him  home  to 
Italy ;  and  pass  the  residue  of  her  days 
in  that  convent,  in  which  she  had  for- 
merly   determined    to    take    the    veil. 
Unfortunate    Gabriella!  she  had  loved 
to  distraction,  and  at  first  sight  too;  and 
Overbury  for  some  time  cherished  for  her 
a  warm  and  constant  attachment ;  but 
his  mind  was  not  formed  for  love,  and 
his  life,  since  he  returned  to  England, 
was  passed   in  tha  turmoil  of  intrigue 


348 

v/ith  Somerset,  and  the  coarse  revefe 
of  the  court  of  James,  or  his  Favou- 
rite. Gabriella,  though  known  as  the 
wife  of  Sir  Thomas,  was  never  honoured 
as  such  by  those  who  honoured  him  ; 
— for  the  general  belief  was  that  she 
had  eloped  with  him  ;  nor  was  she 
treated  by  him  with  the  recompence 
of  fond  affection,  and  that  public  ac- 
knowledgment of  her  rights,  which 
would  have  secured  to  her  an  honour, 
able  reception  from  her  sex.  She  saw 
no  company  at  her  ow^n  home,  and 
her  punctilious  devotion  to  the  rites 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  rendered  her 
contemptuous  in  the  eyes  of  the  Pro- 
testant dames,  who  revelled  it  at  White- 
hall, the  ancient  palace  of  Cardinal 
Wolsey,  at  Denmark  House,  and  in 
the  sumptuous  mansions  of  the  Eng- 
lish, by  whom  her  husband  was  courted, 
merely  because  he  was  the  factotum, 
the  Alpha  and    Omega,  of  the   Favou- 


THE  RISE  aKD  fall  OF  SOMERSET.     349 

rite,  Somerset.  With  these  circum- 
stances before  us,  need  we  wonder  that 
when  events  occurred,  calculated  to  call 
forth  the  whole  of  that  soul^  which  oc- 
casionally shone  in  Gabriella,  she  should 
act  with  a  conduct  that  bordered  on 
masculine  coolness  and  female  apathy, 
rcither  than  >vith  the  glow  of  passion 
so  conspicuous  in  a  wife,  when  all  she 
holds  dear,  is  placed  in  peril,  and 
brought  to  death  ?  The  language  too 
which  Northampton  poured  into  Father 
Francis's  ear,  set  the  good  man's  heart 
against  the  very  name  of  Overbury ; 
and  the  Monk  Vv^as  thereby  the  more 
urgent  in  his  endeavours  to  bear  off  to 
a  cloister  a  being  so  vv^ell  calculated  to 
do  honour  to  its  austerities  as  was  Ga- 
briella. 

When  the  Earl  of  Northampton  had 
disposed  of  the  Monk  and  Gabriella, 
he  returned  to  London  by  water^  stop- 
ping  in   his   voyage  at  the  Tower_,  to 


350  BLIGHTED  ambition;    OR, 

confer  with  Sir  Jervaise  Elwes^  as  to 
the  best  means  of  promulgating  a  re- 
port, which  fomid  believers  enow  to 
give  it  the  desired  effect.  "■  Sir  Jer- 
vaise/' said  the  Earl,  "  you  will  give 
out  that  Overbury  died  of  a  foul 
disease,  contracted  by  his  excess  of  las- 
civiousness ;— add  to  it  also,  that  God 
is  gracious  in  cutting  off  ill  instruments 
before  their  time  ;—  it  will  set  the  Pu- 
ritans on  to  tax  his  memory  with  great 
infamy/' 

The  report  of  Northampton  and  the 
Lieutenant  cf  the  Tower,  met  vvith 
believers,  though  there  were  a  few"  that 
doubted  it,  and  principally  because  no 
coroner's  inquest  had  viewed  the  body, 
and  returned  a  verdict,  according  to 
the  judgment  of  Englishmen  in  all 
such  cases.  Somerset,  however,  did 
not  feel  easy  after  the  death  of  Over- 
bury,  and  though  his  power  combined 
with  that  of  Northampton's,  was  effec- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     351 

tual  in  silencing  those  who  attempted 
to  question  the  truth  of  the  report,  that 
Overbiiry  died  through  excess  of  debau- 
chery;  the  Earl  became  pensive  and  dull, 
his  wonted  mirth  forsook  him,  his  coun- 
tenance was  cast  down  and  sullen,  and 
he  took  not  that  felicity  in  company, 
which  he  was  wont  to  enjoy.  The 
Countess  chid  him,  rallied  him,  and  at 
length  spoke  to  her  uncle,  the  Earl  of 
Northampton,  on  her  Lord's  unhappy 
condition. 

"•  Cousin,"  said  Northampton  to  Lord 
Somerset,  "  I  marvel  one  of  your  ca- 
pacity should  wear  the  looks  of  cre- 
dulous fools,  who  bear  not  their  for- 
tunes like  men. — By  my  halidom  were 
T  in  your  Lordship's  mood,  methinks 
I'd  strip  to  the  shirt,  put  a  rope  round 
my  neck,  take  a  wax  taper  in  my  hand, 
and  speed  me  to  court,  to  beg  pardon 
of   God    and  the    King. — 'Sdeath,  my 


352  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Lord,  but  our  fate  lies  not  in  any  one- 
of  the  twelve  houses,  if  a  man  may 
droop  thus  for  an  ordinary  hosticide." 

'^  My  Lord  Earl,"  answered  Somer- 
set, "  you  know  the  severity  of  our 
enemies,  the  Poetasters,  and  Puritans  ; 
and,  besides,  how  can  I  be  safe  when 
so  many  are  privy  to  our  hosticide,  as 
your  Lordship  terms  the  death  of  Over- 
bury.  There  are  the  Westons,  father 
and  son,  that  callet  Turner,  Elwes,  and 
though  last,  not  least,  Franklin  and 
Coppinger." 

"  My  sweet  Lord  !"  replied  Nor- 
thampton, "let  us  make  our  own  fortunes 
so  gieat,  that  we  may  oppose  all  accu- 
sation. We  can  surely  bribe  old  Wes- 
ton to  stand  mute,  the  Pr.ge  is  already 
disposed  of.  Turner  shall  change  her 
name,  and  cross  over  to  France,  Elwes 
we  must  stand  or  fall  with  ; — the  other 
two,  I  confess^  puzzle    me — the    mind 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     353 

of  that  Franklin  is  as  crooked  as  his 
body,  and  Coppinger  is  more  a  master 
of  men  than  of  horse." 

"  I  have  been  thinking,"  interrupted 
Somerset,  "  of  turning  Catholic,  and 
uniting  with  that  powerful,  but  op- 
pressed body  of  the  people,  to  brave 
the  maligners  of  my  name." 

"  Excellent  Somerset !  thou'st  now 
hit  on  the  true  way. — But  there's  one 
even  more  sure. — Get  the  King  in  a 
good  mood,  and  urge  him  for  a  pardon. 
— See  here,"  added  the  Earl,  turning 
to  a  cabinet,  and  taking  therefrom  a 
parchment,  "  this  is  the  exact  copy  of 
one  that  was  made  by  the  Pope  to  Car- 
dinal Wolsey." 

"  To-day  we  banquet  with  the  King," 
said.  Somerset,  "  and  if  his  Majesty  be 
not  in  the  humour  of  dining  out  of  the 
salt-seller  with  Villiers  and  Pem- 
broke,   I'll   even    follow   your  advice, 


354        BLIGHTED  ambition;  or, 

my  Lord    Earl,  and   let   me   not  lack 
your  special  assistance  therein." 

That  day  Somerset,  and  his  friend 
Northampton,  did  dine  with  the  Kin^, 
but  it  was  not  till,  as  principal  Secre- 
tary of  State,  some  collateral  conver- 
sation engaged  the  King  and  his  old 
Favourite,  that  the  Earl  of  Somerset 
found  an  opportunity  to  advert  to  the 
responsibility  of  his  office,  in  the  ex- 
ecution of  which  he  might  inadver- 
tently run  himself  into  a  proemunire, 
and  thereby  forfeit  to  the  King  both 
his  goods,  lands,  and  liberties." 

"  My  Lord  of  Somerset  is  a  wise 
man,"  said  the  King,  when  he  heard 
this  topic  broached.'*  ''  It  were  well 
your  Lordship  could  move  the  Parlia- 
ment to  grant  a  Bill  of  Indemnity  for 
the  past ;  for,  I  trow,  the  life  o'  a  mi- 
nister and  privy  counsellor  resembleth 
a   story    worked   in  tapestry,  fair    and 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF   SOMERSET.    355 

legible  to  the  company  that  are  inside 
the  room,  but  full  of  thrumbs  and  con- 
trary figures  and  expressions  on  the 
other  side." 

Somerset,  who  saw  by  the  answer  of 
the  King,  that  his  Majesty's  humour 
squared  not  with  the  request  he  had 
made,  waved  the  subject  for  the  pre- 
sent, and  took  another  opportunity  to 
urge  his  Grace,  saying :  ''  Whereas  it 
liath  pleased  your  Majesty  to  commit 
many  things  to  my  charge,  and  some 
of  them  proving  something  too  weighty 
for  me  to  undergo,  if  the  Parliament, 
'specially  the  Commons,  haul  me  over 
the  coals,  they  will  find  me  within  the 
statute  of  proemunire. — -Your  Grace 
Jknows  the  consequence  of  that ;  where- 
fore, I  would  prefer  to  surrender  even 
now  my  lands,  goods,  and  liberties  into 
your  Majesty's  hands,  unless  it  please 
your  Grace,  in  your  royal  and  wonted  fa- 
vour towards  me,  to  grant  me  pardon 


356 

for  having  committed  Overbury  to  the 
Tower,  and  all  other  offences  I  may 
ignorantly  have  fallen  into.'' 

*'  The  thing  hath  been  often  done," 
interrupted  Northampton  ;  "  and  his 
Grace  requires  not  your  Lordship's  in- 
structions, in  religion  or  polity,  cousin." 

"  My  Lord  of  Somerset,"  answered 
the  King,  "  I  would  ill  deserve  the  ser- 
vices of  such  a  Secretary,  if  I  did  not 
protect  him  by  my  prerogative  from 
the  House  of  Commons,  those  meddlers 
with  every  thing  that  regards  my  go- 
vernment, and  deep  ajffairs  of  state, 
which  are  above  their  reach  and  capa- 
city."* 

"  Then,"  said  Northampton,  ''  then 
your  Grace  meaneth  that  the  Earl  of 
Somerset  should  draw  out  his  pardon, 
as  large  as  he  can  find  in  former  pre- 
cedents ?" 

*  Rushworth,  vol.  I. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  357 

"  Doubtless,  Lord  Northampton/' 
answered  the  King.  "  Have  I  laboured 
so  much  to  make  an  able  minister  o' 
our  cousin,  Robin,  who  devised  for  us 
a  price  to  every  rank  o'  nobility  ;  and 
will  I  refuse  to  sign  sic  an  act  o'  our 
wonted  favour  ? — 1  say  thee  nay,  Nor- 
thampton." 

Both  the  Earls  bov.ed,  the  one  smil- 
ing internally  at  the  Monarch's  simpli- 
city ;  the  other  cut  by  the  recollection 
of  the  many  days  and  hours  he  had  sat 
with  James,  receiving  lessons  on  poli- 
tical economy,  prerogative,  and  the 
particular  rules  of  etiquette,  which  his 
master  willed  should  be  observed  in 
his  court,  while  both  felt  the  allusion 
to  the  sale  of  titles,  as  applicable  to 
themselves  as  to  the  King.* 


*  The  title  of  Baronet  was  currently  sold  for  <£1000 
to  supply  the  profusion  of  Somerset.  Franklin,  p.  ll. 


358        BLIGHTED  ambition;  or, 

But  Villiers  overheard  this  discourse, 
and  resolved  to  be  even  with  his  rival, 
Somerset.  When  the  two  Earls,  there- 
fore, had  departed,  he  took  occasion  to 
ask  the  King  what  crimes  fell  w^ithin 
the  statute  of  proemunire,  and  James 
who  took  infinite  pleasure  in  acting  the 
part  of  political  preceptor  to  his  young 
Favourite,  entered  into  a  long  discussion, 
partly  didactic,  and  partly  categorical, 
which  ended  in  Villiers  insinuating  that 
the  Earl  of  Somerset  had  more  to  an- 
swer for  to  God,  than  his  Majesty 
could  pardon.  "  I  ken  that,  Gordie," 
answered  James,  "  but  thou  hast  some- 
thing to  say,  thou  wouldst  not  tell  me 
if  thou  could  make  me  sensible  o't  by 
reflection." 

"  Were  Lord  Somerset  King  James, 
and  King  James  the  Earl  of  Somerset, 
King  Somerset  would  leave  your  Grace 
to  the  laws,  rather  than  exert  the  favour 
he  craves,"  said  Villiers. 


4 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    359 

"  By  my  halidom  and  I  think  so 
too/'  replied  the  King,  "  the  Lord  So- 
merset was  unco  ready  to  hae  thy  bon- 
ny hand  necked  off,  on  a  late  occasion. 
— But  I'll  keep  my  word ;  I'll  sign  the 
pardon ;  but  gang  thou  in  the  mean 
time  to  the  Lord  Chancellor,  and  tell 
him  on  no  account  to  put  the  great 
seal  to  it. — I'll  bear  him  harmless,  and 
the  fool's  pardon  will  be  like  a  papisti- 
cal pardon  from  Rome  at  the  gate  o' 
heaven,  if  Somerset  be  called  to  the  bar 
o'  the  House  o'  Lords  for  high  crimejj 
and  midemeanours." 

Somerset  lost  no  time  in  presenting 
to  the  King,  for  signature,  a  pardon 
couched  in  these  terms :  '^  That  the 
King  of  his  mere  m.otion  and  special 
favour,  did  pardon  all  and  all  manner 
of  treasons,  misprisions  of  treasons,  mur- 
ders, felonies,  and  outrages  whatso- 
ever,  by   the  said   Robert    Carr,  Earl 


360  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

of  Somerset   committed,  or  hereafter  to 
be  committed,  &c."=?^ 

This  extraordinary  parchment  of 
"  Indemnity,"  of  which  we  have  given 
but  the  softest  language.  King  James 
signed ! ! !  and  Somerset  put  it  in  his 
pocket.  "  Go,  Robin,"  added  the  So- 
vereign, "  gang  to  the  Lord  Chancel- 
lor and  gar  him  to  put  the  muckle  seal 
to't." 

Somerset  bowed,  kissed  the  King's 
hand,  and  repaired  to  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor, with  ''  the  King^s  commands  to 
seal  his  Grace's  pardon." 

"  Allow  me  the  perusal  of  your  Lord- 
ship's Indemnification,"  said  the  Lord 
Chancellor  Egerton,  and  the  Lawyer 
having  perused  the  "  Pardon,''  asked 
Somerset,  "  who  had  drawn  it  up  ?" 


*  Harleian  Miscellany. — Art.  Five  Years  of  King; 
James. 


THE  KISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    361 

"  Sir  Robert  Cotton,"  replied  the 
Earl. 

^'  From  Cardinal  Wolsey's,  I  see," 
replied  Egerton.  ''  My  Lord  of  So- 
merset, T  cannot  put  the  great  seal  to 
this  document." 

"  How  so,  my  Lord  Chancellor  ? 
What  reason  make  ye  against  the  King's 
positive  command  ?*'  asked  Somerset 
in  a  high  tone. 

'*  I  could  not  justify  the  doing  of 
it,  my  Lord  Earl,"  replied  Egerton, 
adding,  ''  without  incurring  a  proemu- 
nire  as  well  as  yourself." 

"  Then  your  Lordship  refuses  to  obey 
the  express  commands  of  the  Sovereign?" 
said  Somerset. 

''  My  Lord  of  Somerset,"  replied 
Egerton,  "  I  said  not,  I  would  not  obey 
the  King's  commands. — I  said,  and  I 
repeat  it,  T  could  not  justify  the  putting 
of  the  great  seal  to  that  instrument. — 
You  have  my  answer." 

VOL.    [II.  R 


362  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Somerset  would  have  replied  to  this, 
but  the  Lord  Chancellor's  manner  struck 
him  to  the  heart. — He  could  barely  say, 
"  My  Lord  Egerton  I  did  not  expect 
this  of  your  Lordship/'  and  turning  on 
his  heel,  the  falling  Favourite  quitted 
the  apartment. 

Egerton  lost  not  a  moment  before  he 
came  to  the  King,  to  whom  he  repre- 
sented, in  strong  language,  the  risk  he 
should  have  run  had  he  signed  the  par- 
don of  Somerset. — There  was  policy  in 
this  representation,  for  Northampton, 
and  many  other  Lords  were  then  in  the 
King's  presence.  *'  What!  my  Lord 
Chancellor,  not  put  the  great  seal  to 
what  I  put  my  hand  to  ?"  said  the  King, 
in  affected  anger. 

"  So  please  your  Majesty,  'tis  more 
than  my  head  could  answer  for,  and 
I  am  not  above  the  law,"  replied  Eger- 
ton. 

'^  By  the  rood,  my  Lord  Egerton," 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    363 

said  the  Howard,  "  but  your  hesita- 
ting to  do  what  his  Grace  commands, 
is  not  the  way  to  establish  the  royal 
prerogative  in  the  eyes  of  the  Com- 
mons !" 

"  My  Lord  Earl,"  replied  Egerton, 
"  were  a  weak  mortal  to  take  upon 
him    to    do    wrong,    because    of    high 

behest,  as  Judas  hanged  himself,  and 
another  part  of  scripture  says,  *  go 
thou  and  do  likewise,'  am  I  thence  to 
throttle  myself  ? — No,  by  my  hali- 
dom." 

^'  Go  to  Rome!"  exclaimed  Arch- 
bishop Abbot,  who  stood  among  the 
group,  ''  and  they'll  give  your  Lord- 
ship a  dispensation  for  greater  crimes 
than  stamping  an  ounce  or  two  of  bees- 
wax with  the  arms  of  England." 

*'  My  Lord  Bishop,  «you  exercise  with 

sword  and  dagger,"  said  Northampton, 

**  you  speak  to  the  Lord  Egerton,  and 

at   Henry   Howard,   in   this   irreverent 

R  2 


364  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

satire. — My  gage  were  even  now  at  the 
feet  of  George  Abbot,  did  not  his  func- 
tions—" 

''  Hold !  my  Lord  Northampton," 
said  the  King,  interfering.  ''  What 
speech  is  this  in  our  presence  ?  seeing 
the  poor  Lord  Sanquire." 

"  Cry  you  mercy,  my  Liege,"  inter- 
rupted Northampton,  with  great  cou- 
rage, *^  but  the  premises  are  unlike. — 
Take  the  Earl  of  Dorset,  who  yet 
lives." 

^'  Right  trusty  and  noble  cousins. 
Abbot,  Egerton,  Herbert,  Roxborough, 
Erskine,"  exclaimed  the  King,  ''  but 
my  Lord  Northampton  would  beard 
the  lion  in  his  den. — Henry  Howard  ! 
we  charge  thee  with  being  a  papist, 
and  a  favourer  of  papists,  and  in  league 
with  the  Pope. — How  say  you,  my 
Lords? — Speaks  the  King  truth,  Hen- 
ry Howard  ?" 

The   intrepidity  of  James,  and  the 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     365 

language  he  used,  overpowered  Nor- 
thampton, who  stood  alone,  the  other 
Lords  having  taken  their  stations  close 
by  the  King's  side,  as  he  pronounced 
their  names;— but  the  Howard  soon 
recovered  himself,  and  asked,  ''  And 
is  Henry  Howard  to  defend  the  charge 
of  popery  in  the  King's  cabinet-council, 
and  at  the  table  of  the  Star-chamber 
council  likewise  ?" 

"  No,  my  Lord  Earl,"  replied  the 
King,  "  but  we  would  have  you  know 
the  charge,  though  dormant,  is  not 
dead,"  and  turning  to  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor, his  Majesty  added,  "  Peradven- 
ture,  my  Lord  Egerton,  you  fear  some 
greater  matter  than  we  know  of,  that 
you  demur  ffix  our  seal  to  the  Lord 

Somerset's  pardon  ?" 

•'No,  by  St.  Androis,"  replied  Eger- 
ton.    "  I  have  an  high  opinion  of  my 
Lord    Somerset ;  but    I  value   the    due 
R  3 


366  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

fulfilment  of  my  office  above  all  friend- 
ships." 

"  The  Lord  Egerton  speaks  like  a 
sound  lawyer,  and  a  right  trusty  coun- 
sellor/' said  the  King,  "  and  we  remit 
him  the  weight  of  our  displeasure,  which 
his  dureness  exacted  for  a  moment." 
As  the  King  said  this,  he  bowed  to  the 
noblemen  present,  and  leaning  upon 
the  arm  of  Villiers  he  walked  out  of 
the  apartment  in  which  this  scene  oc- 
curred. 

Northampton,  in  a  maze,  gazed  after 
James,  and  without  taking  any  notice 
of  the  other  lords,  left  the  chamber^ 
saying  to  himself. — "  Royal  knavery — 
But  why  should  such  goblin  fears  pos- 
sess me  ? — And  they  would  hunt  me  to 
the  block,  without  shriving  time  al- 
lowed.— No  !  by  my  halidom,  I'll  not 
stay  the  grinding  of  their  axe. — God 
help  thee,  Somerset  !  I'm  no  prophet  if 
thou'rt  not  thick  benetted  round  with 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     367 

villainies. — But  I'll  to  that  base  nature 
in  the  Tower,  and  school  him  in  his 
lesson,  should  he  ere  have  the  misfor- 
tune to  know  the  interim  between  his 
life  and  that  dark  bourne  whence  no 
traveller  returns/' 

Northampton  accordingly  proceeded 
to  Sir  Jervaise  Elwes,  witk  whom  he 
passed  two  hours  in  prompting  him,  as 
to  the  course  he  should  pursue,  if  ever 
the  murder  of  Overbury  was  questioned 
in  a  court  of  justice.  At  parting  the 
Earl  expressed  himself  saying,  "  Sir  Jer- 
vaise, I  cannot  deliver  with  what  cau- 
tion and  discretion  you  have  underta- 
ken all  this  business.  But  for  your  con- 
clusion, I  do  and  ever  will  love  you 
the  better.  As  you  love  your  own  life, 
let  no  threats  nor  bribes  move  you  to 
involve  my  cousin  Somerset,  and  bis 
wife.  Observe  this,  and  my  name  is 
not  Henry  Howard  if  you  fare  not  well 
for't   when   the   puny    Scot's    settle   is 


368  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

filled  by  Prince  Charles. — Adieu— adieu 
— adieu." 

Northampton  with  all  speed  hastened 
to  his  house  at  Charing  Cross,  and  hav- 
ing sent  for  Somerset,  informed  him  of 
all  that  had  passed  before  the  King,  and 
then  came  to  the  instructions  he  had 
given  Elw^es.  ''  Should  all  our  fore- 
sight be  unavailing,''  said  the  Howard, 
*^  and  the  satirical  wits  begin  to  vent 
themselves  in  stinging  libels,  in  which 
you  know  they  spare  neither  the  per- 
sons, families,  nor  most  secret  avow- 
tries  of  those  their  spleen  battens  on, 
yonr  Lordship  must  bear  yourself  nobly, 
and  defy  all  men. — Nay,  let  drop  some 
hints  which  may  point  to  the  Head 
itself — you  understand  me. — 'Sblood, 
cousin,  but  you  must  ruffle  with  the 
Ring  himself,  if  need  be.  I  have  dis- 
ciplined Elwes,  and  find  him  very  per- 
fect in  his  part.  For  yourself,  if  it  comes 
to  the  push,  there  must  be  a  main  drifts 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     369 

and  a  real  charge/'  "  This,"  contmued 
the  Earl,  with  a  sigh,  is  my  last  will 
and  testament,  wherein  I  have  pub- 
lished myself  to  die  in  the  faith  I 
was  baptised  in ;  some  of  my  servants 
are  my  executors ;  upon  others  T  have 
bestowed  gifts ;  this  fair  palace  I  leave 
to  your  Lordship  ;  my  lands  to  your 
brother-in-law.  Lord  Theophilus  How- 
ard— and  now,  my  sweet  Lord,  my 
occupation's  done." 

"  Heaven's  !"  exclaimed  Somerset, 
**  what  means  your  Lordship  ?" 

"  That  the  world  may  not  have 
the  satisfaction   of  calling  me  traitor," 

answered    Northampton, "  after    my 

death." 

'"  My  dearest  Lord,"  said  Somerset, 
really  affected  by  Northampton's  look, 
voice  and  speech,  "  my  dearest  Uncle, 
what  am  I  to  understand  by  all  this  V 

"  That  this  night  I  leave  London 
to  die  at  Rochester,  and  be  buried  in 


370  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Dover — or  it  may  be  at  Rochester, 
that  being  the  chief  port  town  of  my 
office  : — to  be  buried  without  any  state 
to  outward  appearance." 

**  Heaven  forefend  !"  exclaimed  So- 
merset. "  Remain  here,  my  Lord  Earl, 
to  bear  me  out,  and  let  us  live  or  die  to- 
gether. The  world  will  otherwise  say 
you  are  not  dead,  but  carried  beyond 
sea." 

"  Hold  dearest  Somerset,  hold — my 
purpose  is  fixed"  replied  Northamp- 
ton. **  Bear  my  love  to  your  Countess, 
for  whom  I  have  sacrificed  even  my 
good  name — adieu  ! — adieu  !" — and  as 
the  Howard  said  these  words,  he  rushed 
out  of  the  apartment,  and  in  the  even- 
ing departed  by  water  for  Green- 
wich, where  he  staid  one  day ;  on  the 
next  he  journeyed  to  Rochester,  where 
in  a  short  time  a  funeral  was  performed, 
said  to  be  that  of  Northampton. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     371 


CHAP.  XII, 


I  have  lived  long  enough  :  my  way  of  life  ; 

Is  fall'n  into  the  sear,  the  yellow  leaf: 
And  that  which  should  accompany  old  age, 
As  honour,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends 
I  must  not  look  to  have  ;  but,  in  their  stead, 
Curses,  not  loud,  but  deep,  mouth  honour,  breath. 
Which  the  poor  heart  would  fain  deny,  but  dare  not. 

Macbeth. 

The  death  of  Northampton  was  sig- 
nified at  Court  by  the  Earl  of  Suffolk 
delivering  to  the  King  his  relative's 
insignia,  and  patents  of  office.  Somer- 
set, by  his  great  power  and  numerous 
friends,  succeeded  to  the  Chancellor- 
ship of  Cambridge,  and  the  Lord  Zouch 
was  appointed  Warden  of  the  Cinque- 


372  BLIGHTED  ambition;    OKj, 

Ports.  Just  as  Somerset  returned  from 
Cambridge,  his  Master  of  Horse  came 
to  him,  saying",  "  It  holds  current  in 
the  City,  my  Lord  Earl,  among  the 
purple-lined  malt-worms,  that  Overbu- 
ry's  death  came  not  in  the  way  that  Hea- 
ven willed,  and  I  must  be  beholden  to  the 
night,  rather  than  to  fern-seed,  an  I 
would  walk  invisible." 

**  Why,  how  now  thou  land-raker, 
dost  talk  to  me  of  the  hangman  ?'*  said 
Somerset. 

''  No,  my  good  Lord  Earl,''  an- 
swered Coppinger,  *'  as  I  am  loath  to 
make  either  a  knightly  or  a  noble  pair 
of  gallows,  I  am  advised  by  my  sig- 
natures to  gg  look  for  fern-seed  among 
the  Jamaicans,  an  I  \vould  go  about 
in  the  company  of  those  knaves  that 
are  continually  praying  to  their  saint, 
the  commanwealth." 

*'  Coppinger,  I  expected  not  this  at 
your   hands,"  replied    Somerset,    "  and 


TrtE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF   SOMERSET.     S73 

I  fear  not  that  either  Sir  Jervaise  or  my- 
self shall  come  to  the  gallows,  so  would 
I  not  fear  thee — my  power  was  never 
greater — my  friends,  save  a  few  starve- 
ling Puritanical  Lords,  are  numerous 
and  powerful— and  the  King's  affections 
will  not  long  be  ruled  by  Villiers. — Stay 
by  me,  Coppinger,  and  in  one  month 
more  I'll  enrich  thee  with  a  thousand 
pounds,  and  the  land  I've  promised." 

^' Since  it  must  out,  my  Lord  Earl, 
the  truth  of  the  matter  is  this :  Payton, 
that  caitiff,  who  was  aforetime  servant 
to  Overbury,  has  gone  through  the 
City  saying.  Sir  Thomas  used  these 
\vords,  '  If  I  die  my  blood  lies  upon  the 
Lord  Somerset ;"  and  the  rogue  utters 
some  threats  your  Lordship  used  in 
the  gallery  of  Whitehall ;  and  they  do 
say,  '  Foul  play  has  been  used,  else  the 
coroner  had  seen  the  body,'  and  last 
of  all  comes  a  relation  of  Overbury, 
George   Rawlins,    that    married   Wei- 


374  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

mark's  daughter,  and  he  has  petitioned 
the  Chief  Justice  Coke  to  inquire  into 
the  death  of  the  luckless  knight." 

"  Indeed  !"  exclaimed  Somerset,  in 
evident  surprise;  and  pacing  the  room 
with  heavy  footfall,  he  said  to  himself, 
*^  then  Villiers  will  not  lack  buzzers  to 
infect  his  ear  with  pestilent  speeches, 
and  he'll  to  the  King  with  impetuous 
haste  convey,  with  unsmirched  brow, 
the  thick  and  unwholesome  thoughts 
of  my  enemies." — Then  stopping,  the 
Earl  addressed  Coppinger. — ^*  Heardst 
thou  ought  of  my  Lord  Bishop  of  Can- 
terbury, that  he  moved  in  this  ?  Or  of 
Sir  Ralph  Winwood  ?" 

''  The  Archbishop,"  replied  the  Mas- 
ter  of  Horse.  **  Is  your  Lordship  dis- 
posed to  hear  me?"  asked  Coppinger, 
for  Somerset  was  absorbed  in  thought, 
and  leant  pensively  over  the  chimney- 
piece  ;  but  the  question  roused  him, 
and   he    nodded  assent.     ''  The    Arch- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    375 

bishop,"  pursued  the  bravo,  "  has  been 
this  morning  at  Master  Secretary  Win- 
wood's,  and  there  was  there  too,  my 
Lord  Coke.  Suspecting  what  was 
brewing,  that  these  state  alchymists 
were  not  conjuring  how  they  might 
turn  some  meagre  cloddy  earth  into 
a  glittering  nobleman,  but  a  gorgeous 
lord  into  most  unpitied  simpleness,  I 
dogged  the  two  and  heard  his  Grace 
of  Lambeth  say,  '  They've  done  it  but 
greenly,  in  hugger  mugger  to  inter 
him !'  whereupon  I  hastened  to  old 
Weston's,  and  there  I  found  a  tipstaff, 
with  my  Lord  Coke's  warrant,  to  bring 
the  under-keeper  of  Gundolph's  Cas- 
tle to  the  Privy  Council." 

**  I'll  to  Royston,  to  the  King,  and 
stir  up  such  matters  as  shall  quiet  these 
busy  triflers,"  replied  Somerset,  whom 
the  last  words  of  Coppinger  roused  to 
his  wonted  energies.  "  Hie  you,  to  my 
Lady  Countess,  and  bid  her  hasten  the 


376 


OR 


departure  of  Turner  and  Franklin  into 
France.  Be  you  at  hand  to  assist  us  in 
our  flight  thither  the  moment  I  return/' 

Coppinger  bowed,  and  stopped  the 
Earl  as  he  reached  the  door  of  the 
chamber,  asking  him,  ^*  Am  I,  my 
Lord,  to  take  no  care  of  vour  Lord- 
ship's  plate,  jewels,  and  chests  of  rose 
nobles,  gold  Henries,  sovereigns,  and 
Jacobuses  ?'' 

••  Daemon  of  fortune  !"  exclaimed  So- 
merset, to  call  me  back  so,  '^  take  these 
keys  and  my  signet,  which  will  toge- 
ther give  thee  command  of  my  stores, 
and  do  what  the  urgency  of  our  destiny 
dictates." 

Coppinger  took  the  keys  and  signet, 
and  repaired  to  his  Lordship's  mansion 
in  St.  James's  Park,  where  he  was  met 
by  his  companion  Weston.  '*  How 
novv^,  Master  Weston,"  asked  Coppin- 
ger, '''  I  thought  thou'dst  gone  on  board 
two  days  ago  ?" 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    377 

-'  No,  my  friend,  no,-'  replied  the 
Page,  "  I've  been  on  board,  but  am 
ashore  again. — Heard  ye  the  news? — 
my  tongue  cleaves  to  the  roof  within 
my  mouth — and  the  marrow  in  my 
bones  disputes  with  my  valorous  heart 
— 'Sdeath,  bully  Coppinger,  you're  un- 
horsed, and  the  unthrifty  Page  must 
kneel  at  Tyburn,  an  he  be  another 
night  on  shore. — Ha !  what  keys  be 
these  ? — my  Lord  of  Somerset's  gold 
key,  of  his  gold  Henries  ?" 

*"'  Even  so,  varlet,"  replied  Coppin- 
ger, '*  canst  thou  lay  hands  on  the 
Countess's  jewels,  and  join  me  in  easing 
the  titled  robber  of  his  Jacobuses  ? — - 
See  there,  that  finger  bears  his  signet, 
and  now  for  ourselves." 

Coppinger  repaired  to  the  Countess 
of  Somerset,  and  detailed  to  her  in  his 
own  way,  the  discovery  of  the  murder, 
mingling  with  his  own  narrative,  such 
fidvice  as  he  judged  fitting.     "  But  we 


378  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

have  friends,  power,  and  wealth,"  said 
Lady  Frances,  '*  and  shall  defy  all  accu- 
sation." 

"  My  Lord  Earl  has  gone  to  Roys- 
ton/'  said  Coppinger,"  and  he'll  not 
return  without  the  pardon  sealed  as  well 
£is  signed." 

'*  Then  we  are  safe  I"  exclaimed  the 
Countess.' 

"  My  Lord  Earl  thought  otherwise/' 
replied  the  Master  of  Horse.  "  And  to 
make  all  sure,  see  my  Lady  Countess, 
I  am  possessed  of  his  signet  to  validate 
a  message  to  his  goldsmith,  in  Lom- 
bard-street ;  and  the  key  of  his  trea- 
sury, to  remove  the  rusty  nobles.  Hen- 
ries, and  Jacobuses." 

"  My  Lord  Somerset  will  not  flee, 
Master  Coppinger.  'Sdeath,  we'll  sing 
a  requiem  o'er  the  weathercock  of  our 
nobility,  rather  than  budge  one  inch," 
said  the  Countess. 

''  Then  your  Grace  will  walk  invisi- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  319 

ble,  or  enjoy  a  reset  beyond  my  Lord 
Coke's  clutches/'  replied  the  Master  of 
Horse.  "•'  For  myself,  I'm  in  quest  of 
fern -seed  the  moment  I've  done  my 
Lord's  service." , 

"  Where  is  my  Page  ?"  asked  the 
Countess,  *'  that  varlet  that  in  swearing 
shakes  the  throned  gods." 

'*  Busy  in  another  part  of  the  man- 
sion," said  Coppinger.  "  Feels  your 
mind  any  easier  ?" 

Whilst  the  Master  of  Horse  was  de- 
tained by  the  Countess,  the  Page  was 
busily  employed  in  rummaging  her  ca- 
binet, and  secreting  in  different  parts 
of  his  dress  such  minute  valuables  as 
he  most  prized ;  and  long  before  Cop- 
pinger returned  to  him,  he  was  ready 
to  depart.  Nevertheless  he  awaited 
with  much  impatience  the  arrival  of 
his  companion.  Finding,  however,  that 
he  came  not,  the  Page  proceeded  in 
quest  of  him,  and  after  passing  through 


380  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OH, 

several  apartments,  he  found  the  Mas- 
ter of  Horse  in  the  Earl's  cabinet, 
rifling  the  most  secret  depositories  of 
the  fallen  Favourite's  hoards.  "  There 
y©u  are,  most  righteous  roamer/'  said 
the  Page,  on  seeing  his  companion. 
*'  'Sblood,  Coppinger,  the  Countess  is 
laid  out  most  riggish.'' 

'^  Hast  thou  been  peering  into  her 
tiring-room,  thou  skip-kennel  ?"  asked 
Coppinger. 

"O  ho!  bull  J  stirrup-holder !  What  I 
thou'st  been  buying  Robin  Hood's  pen- 
nyworths ?"  said  the  Page,  archly. 

**  Damn  your  proverbs.  Many  talk 
of  Robin  Hood  who  never  shot  in  his 
bow.  Thinkst  thou  I'd  become  the 
bellows  and  the  fan,  to  cool  the  gipsey's 
lust  ?"  asked  Coppinger,  pretending,  at 
the  same  time,  to  be  mightily  oiFended» 

"Soho!  Master  Coppinger.  I  re- 
member me  a  passage  spoken  last  night, 
at  the  Globe,"  said  the  Page.    "There's 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    381 

beggary  in  the  love  that  can  be  reck- 
oned. How  are  you  off  for  pelf  ?  Not 
penny  wise  and  pound  foolish  ?" 

"  No,  by  my  signatures/'  answered 
Coppinger,  **  Fve  secured  a  sweepstake 
— and  now  for  the  city," — and  the 
villains  accordingly  quitted  Somerset's 
house  for  ever.* 

Somerset  hastened  with  all  speed  to 
Royston,  and   the    King  received    him 


*  The  stay  of  these  fellows  in  the  city  was  as  short 
as  they  could  make  it ;  and  hiring  a  boat  at  London 
Bridge,  they  went  down  to  Tilbury  Fort,  where 
they  embarked  on  board  a  vessel  that  was  fitted  out 
for  the  service  of  the  Buccaneers  of  St.  Domingo, 
Their  fate,  after  a  series  of  adventures,  was  worthy 
their  lives.  Coppinger,  after  bamboozling  his  com- 
panions in  a  variety  of  ways,  was  at  length  given 
up  to  the  Spaniards,  who  cut  his  tongue  out,  and 
then  sold  him  as  a  slave,  to  work  in  the  mines  of  Po- 
tosi.  Weston  remained  true  to  his  trade,  and  be- 
came famous,  under  an  assumed  name,  as  a  shooter 
of  bulls,  and  pirate  on  the  high  seas  ;  but  he  at  length 


382  BLIGHTED    AxMBITION  ;    OR, 

with  kindness,  but  the  Earl  could  dis- 
cover it  was  assumed,  and  he,  there- 
fore, conceived  it  was  his  duty  to  ob- 
serve the  etiquette,  which  was  expected 
from  those  who  were  not  like  himself, 
the  companion  of  James's  secret  plea- 
sures, the  friend  of  his  sovereign's 
bosom.  As  soon  as  an  opportunity 
offered  itself,  Somerset  introduced  the 
subject  of  the  pardon,  and  stated  with 
great  warmth,  the  conduct  of  the  Lord 
Chancellor.  The  King  regretted,  as 
much  as  the  Earl,  that  Egerton  should 


fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  jealousy  of  his  companions,  and 
had  his  choice  of  being  shot,  put  on  shore  on  a  deso- 
late island,  or  delivered  up  to  the  Spaniards.  *'  The 
first,"  said  he,  ^vith  great  courage ;  and  climbing  a 
tree,  he  suspended  himself  from  a  branch  of  it,  by 
his  heels,  and  gave  his  comrades  the  word  of  com- 
mand to  "  fire."  In  an  instant  he  was  pierced  by 
twenty  bullets,  and  fell  to  the  earth,  as  he  had  lived 
— "without  God,  and  without  hope  in  the  world." 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  383 

have  hesitated ;  but,  said  his  Majesty, 
— "  Robert  Carr,  thou  art  privy  to 
what  nane  else  in  this  warld  maun  ken 
aught  about ;  thou  hast  rid  me  o'  my 
mucklest  fears;  and  while  I  wear  a 
crown,  thou'lt  not  cast  off  thine  honour 
and  fame." 

While  the  King  and  Somerset  were 
busily  engaged  in  private,  discussing 
various  topics,  which  James  introduced 
to  kill  time,  Sir  Jervaise  Elwes  ar- 
rived at  Royston,  and  was  immediate- 
ly admitted  to  the  King's  presence,  a 
privilege  the  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower 
enjoys  in  common  with  Privy  Coun- 
sellors, without  the  formality  of  intro- 
duction, observable  towards  other  per- 
sons. 

"  How  now  Sir  Jervaise  ?"  asked  the 
King. 

"  The  Lady  Arabella,  your  Grace," 
answered  the  Lieutenant,  with  a  croak- 
ing voice,  and  downcast  look. 


384  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

"  Is  fiedj  gone  !"  exclaimed  the  King, 
"  then  shalt  thou  go  with  her  by  Trai- 
tor's Gate." 

'*  So  please  your  Grace,  she  hath 
become  defunct/'  answered  the  Lieute- 
nant. 

"  Dead  !"  echoed  James,  in  a  tone 
of  surprise. 

"  Died  this  day  at  the  hour  of — ''  re- 
peated the  jailor. 

"  Then  we  release  Northumberland 
and  Raleigh,"  said  the  King.  "  And 
as  the  dure  Percy  winna  be  indebted 
to  us  for  his  discharge,  gar  his  physi- 
cian prescribe  the  Bath -waters  for  his 
health,  and  so  send  him  down  there. 
He  may  be  reconciled  then  to  his  son-in- 
law,  our  cousin.  Lord  Hay,  though  he 
wad  na  be  indebted  to  him  for  his  en- 
largement at  the  marriage,  thrawn  auld 
bull." 

Somerset  was  ordered  to  make  out 
the  instrument  which  should  authorise 


THE   RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    385 

Elwes  to  set  Northumberland  and  Ra- 
leigh free,  and  the  Secretary  and  Lieu- 
tenant withdrew  for  that  purpose.  While 
they  were  thus  occupied,  Purbeck  Vil- 
liers,  who  had  lately  married  Justice 
Coke's  daughter,  arrived  in  company 
with  Sir  Ralph  Winwood,  the  joint 
Secretary  of  State,  with  an  important 
message  to  the  King. 

The  Viscount  Villiers  received  Pur- 
beck, exclaiming,  '^  Has  the  Chief  Jus- 
tice discovered  more  ?" 

"  All,  all  is  discovered,"  answered 
Purbeck  Villiers,  "  as  Master  Secretary 
will  shew  unto  his  Majesty.  Mistress 
Turner  is  apprehended,  Weston  is  ap- 
prehended, and  one  Franklin,  a  nota- 
ble villain,  is  secured. — Prince  Henry 
v/as  poisoned — Overbury  was  poisoned 
— There's  no  safety  while  these  wretches 
live." 

^^  Ah !  ah !  Master  Carr,"  exclaimed 
Viscount  Villiers :    "  thou   hast  played 

VOL.   III.  s 


386  BLfGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

booty,  but  not  above  board. — Stay  ye 
here,  gentlemen,  and  I  will  announce 
you  to  the  King."  The  prosperous 
Favourite  did  so,  and  James  received 
the  news  of  Overbury's  death  with 
emotions  that  were  new  to  him.  His 
Majesty  then  retired  to  his  cabinet, 
and  sent  for  Somerset.  On  the  entrance 
of  the  Earl,  the  King  said  :  "  My  Lord 
Somerset,  we  ride  for  a  space,  tarry 
thou  here  till  our  return  :'* — and  with- 
out waiting  for  the  fallen  Favourite's 
reply,  James  quitted  the  apartment, 
and  repaired  to  that  in  which  he  had 
left  Villiers. 

"  To  horse,  to  horse,  my  Lord  Vil- 
liers/' said  the  King.  "  We'll  ride  to 
Whitehall  forthwith." 

On  arriving  at  Whitehall,  the  King 
found  the  judges  all  assembled  in  con- 
sultation on  the  discovery  that  had  been 
made.  They  had  before  them  the  con- 
fessions of   Mistress   Turner,  Franklin, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     387 

and  Weston,  the  father.  From  these  it 
appeared  that  Sir  Thomas,  though  poi- 
soned, had  in  the  end  been  strangled 
by  Weston  and  Franklin  ;  and  the  part 
the  Countess  of  Somerset,  her  uncle 
the  Earl  of  Northampton,  her  husband, 
the  Earl  of  Somerset,  and  Sir  Jervaise 
Elvves  had  taken  in  this  murder  was 
now  fully  disclosed. 

So  astonished  was  the  King  by  this 
disclosure,  that  kneeling  down  in  the 
midst  of  the  Judges  and  Lords  assem- 
bled, he  exclaimed,  *^  Lord,  in  what 
a  miserable  condition  shall  this  kingdom 
be,  (the  only  famous  nation  for  hospi- 
tality in  the  world)  if  our  tables  shall 
become  such  a  snare,  as  none  can  eat 
without  danger  of  life,  and  that  Italian 
custom  should  be  introduced  amongst 
us :  therefore,  my  Lords,  I  charge  you, 
as  you  shall  answer  it  at  the  great  and 
dreadful  day  of  judgment,  that  you  ex- 
amine into  this  diabolical  plot,  without 
s2 


S88  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

favour,  affection  or  partiality  ;  and  if 
you  shall  spare  any  guilty  of  the  crime, 
God's  curse  light  upon  you  and  your 
posterity ;  and  if  I  spare  any  that  are 
guilty,  God's  curse  light  on  me  and  my 
posterity  for  ever." 

"  We  have  here,  your  Grace,''  said 
Coke,  ''  a  book,  aforetime  the  album 
of  a  juggler  in  Lambeth,  Form  an  by 
name ;  we  have  his  puppets  and  pic- 
tures, with  some  exorcism  and  magic 
spells." 

"  Let  me  see  the  book,"  said  the 
^King,  and  the  book  was  shewn  him, 
opened  at  that  leaf  w^herein  the  Coun- 
tess of  Essex's  name  was  signed,  and 
4he  object  of  her  visit  to  the  astrolo- 
^ger  set  down.  '^  A  trick  of  the  fellow," 
added  the  King,  "  wherein  he  hath  set 
down  human  follies,  to  keep  lords  and 
fe^ies  in  awe,  and  save  his  neck.  In 
troth,  I  see  many  pretty  wenches'  names 
set  down.     Look  here,  my  Lord   Jus- 


THE  RJSE  AND  FALL  OF   SOMERSET.    389 

tice  Coke,"  continued  the  King,  point- 
ing to  another  leaf  of  the  book  where 
it  appeared  Lady  Coke  had  tried  the 
artist's  skill,"  and  adding,  "  the  knave 
has  witchcraft  to  adorn  better  heads 
than  his  own.  Herry  him  out  and  hang 
him  anon." 

*^  He  is  dead  already,"  answered  the 
Judge. 

"  A  benefit's  lost  to  the  hangman 
then,"  replied  the  King ;  ^'  but,  come 
my  Lords,  let  us  consider,  I  go  to 
Royston  direct.—  The  Lord  Somerset 
is  there — my  word  is  pledged  to  him, 
no  harm  shall  light  on  him:  make  his 
guilt  apparent  as  the  sun,  or,  by  my 
halidom,  it  will  go  hard  that  I  abandon 
poor  Somerset." 

James  hastened  to  Royston,  and  en- 
tertained Somerset  for  a  time,  till  the 
Judges  and  Privy  Counsellors  had 
threaded  the  labyrinth  of  the  Earl's 
guilt.  On  the  second  evening  of  So- 
s  3 


390  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

merset's  stay,  the  King's  patience  for- 
sook him,  and  he  dispatched  a  messen- 
ger to  Sir  Edward  Coke,  with  a  letter 
under  his  own  hand,  to  apprehend 
Robert  Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset !  Sir 
Edward  then  lived  in  the  Temple,  and 
measured  out  his  time  at  regular  turns, 
two  whereof  were  to  go  to  bed  at  nine 
o'clock,  and  in  the  morning  to  rise  at 
three. 

The  messenger  arrived  at  the  Tem- 
ple-gate about  one  in  the  morning,  and 
demanded  admittance  to  the  Chief  Jus- 
tice saying,  '*he  came  from  the  King, 
and  must  immediately  speak  with  Sir 
Edward  Coke." 

"  Thou  canst  not.  Master  Gibbs,'' 
replied  Sir  Edward's  servant,—  "  canst 
not  speak  with  my  master,  if  thou 
earnest  from  ten  kings ;  we  are  now 
watching  that  the  Judge's  repose  be 
not  disturbed  by  intruders,  which  if  it 
be,  he  will  not  be  fit  for  any  business  ; 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    391 

but  if  you  will  do  as  we  do,  you  shall 
be  welcome;  the  claret  is  good,  this 
pool  of  ling  better,  and  the  'bacco  best  of 
all.  About  two  hours  hence  my  mas- 
ter will  rise,  and  then  you  may  do  as 
you  please." 

At  three  Sir  Edward  rang  a  little 
bell,  to  give  notice  to  his  servant  to 
come  to  him ;  the  waiting-man  went 
in  to  the  Judge  saying — "  Master  Gibbs, 
the  King's  trusty  courier  is  now  in  the 
withdrawing- room,  bearing  a  letter  from 
the  King's  Majesty  to  your  honourable 
Lordship." 

•'  Admit  him,  admit  him,"  said  the 
Judge,  and  Gibbs  entered  and  gave 
the  Justice  the  King's  letter. — Lord 
Coke  opened  the  letter  in  haste,  and 
glancing  at  its  contents,  bade  Gibbs  with- 
draw for  a  space,  and  prepare  to  return 
to  Royston  forthwith.  In  a  few  words 
the  lawyer  informed  his  master  that 
the  warrant  for    Somerset's  apprehen- 


392  BLIGHTED    AMBITION!    OR 


sion  should  arrive  ere  the  murderer  put 
off  his  morning  gown. 

Somerset,  however,  was  up  when  the 
messengers  at  arms  arrived  with  the 
warrant  for  his  apprehension.  **  My 
Lord  Earl,"  said  Villiers,  entering  the 
apartment  in  which  the  King  was  at 
that  moment  most  good  humouredly 
joking  with  Somerset  on  some  trifling 
subject. — *^  My  Lord  Earl,  these  pur- 
suivants— '* 

"  Perdition !"  exclaimed  Somerset, 
rising  from  his  seat.  "  These  pursui- 
vants ! — What  means  this  ? — Messen- 
gers at  arms !  —Am  I  a  prisoner  ?" 

The  chief  pursuivant  walked  up  to 
the  Earl,  produced  his  warrant,  touched 
Somerset  with  his  baton  gently  on  the 
shoulder,  saying,  "  Robert  Carr,  Earl 
of  Somerset,  I  arrest  thee  in  the  King's 
name." 

The  King  shrunk  from  beside  the 
Earl,  and  Villiers,  with  his  two  brothers 


THE  RItSE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.     393, 

and  Philip  Herbert,  took  their  stations 
by  the  side  of  his  Grace,  while  So- 
merset, surrounded  by  the  messengers 
at  arms,  remained  motionless.  But  re- 
covering from  the  trance  into  which 
this  sudden  and  overpowering  notice 
had  cast  him,  he  looked  towards  the 
King,  and  said  with  great  energy. — 
"  There  never  was  such  an  affront  offered 
to  a  Peer  of  England  in  the  presence 
of  his  sovereign." 

"  Nay  man,"  answered  the  King, 
''  if  Coke  sends  for  me  I  must  go. — 
Dinna  be  afeard,  Robin  ;*'  and  James, 
as  he  said  this,  held  out  his  hand  to  the 
fallen  Favourite,  who  stepped  up  to  the 
royal  stance,  and  kissed  it  fervently. 
Jg^mes  raised  Somerset  and  addressed 
him  with  more  seeming  affection  than 
ever  he  had  done,  so  that  an  indif- 
ferent person  would  have  supposed  that 
the  Earl  was  rising  in  favour,  rather 
than  fallen  from  his  high  estate.  Then 
s5 


394  BLIGHTED    AMBITION  ;    OR, 

lolling  on  the  Earl's  neck  with  all  his 
former  fondness,  and  disgusting  fami- 
liarity, he  kissed  Somerset's  cheeks,  and 
in  a  puling  accent  inquired,  "  For 
God's  sake  when  shall  I  see  thee  again? 
On  my  soul  I  shall  never  eat  nor  sleep 
till  you  come  again. '^ 

"  On  Monday,  my  Liege,  if  I  am 
not,  contrary  to  your  Grace's  profes- 
sions, a  prisoner  in  the  Tower." 

"  For  God's  sake  let  me  see  thee  on 
Monday,"  answered  the  King,  still  lol- 
ling about  the  dupe's  neck,  and  slab- 
bering his  cheeks.*  "  For  God's  sake 
give  thy  lady  this  kiss  for  me."  In 
the  same  manner  at  the  stair's  head,  at 
the  middle  of  the  stairs,  and  at  the  stair's 
foot,  did  the  dissembling  weak  King 
part  with  his  once  dear  Robert  Carr. 
*'  Qui  nescit  dissimmufare,  nescit  regnare/' 

*  Weldon's  Court  and  Character  of  King  James, 
p.  99.    See  also  State  Trials,  vol.  I.   14,  Jac.  161^\ 


THE  RISE   AND   FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    395 

Somerset  was  struck  dumb  by  the 
King's  manner,  and  was  placed  in  his 
coach  ere  he  awoke  from  the  stupefac- 
tion created  by  the  pursuivant's  appear- 
ance, and  his  old  master's  dissimulation. 
— "  Now  de'il  go  with  thee,'*  said  the 
King,  as  he  turned  from  the  EarFs 
carriage- door ;  for  so  well  contrived 
were  all  the  parts  of  the  drama,  that 
Somerset's  own  coach  was  actually  in 
readiness  for  him  on  the  instant  the 
messengers  at  arms  arrived ;  and  his 
Majesty  accompanied  him  till  he  en- 
tered it.  'VDe'il  go  with  thee!  for  I 
will  never  see  thy  face  more." 

Sir  Jervaise  Elwes  had,  in  the  mean 
time,  been  arrested,  as  was  Lady  Frances 
Carr,  Countess  of  Somerset.  Turner, 
Weston,  and  Franklin  were  put  upon 
their  trials,  and  being  found  guilty  of 
the  murder  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury, 
were  hanged  at  Tyburn.  Elwes  next 
appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  Judges  in 


396  BLIGHTED   AMBITION  ;    OR, 

Guildhall,  London,  and  was  put  on  his 
trial.  The  unfortunate  Lieutenant  con- 
fessed what  part  he  had  taken. 

Sir  Jervaise  Elwes  no  sooner  saw  the 
Earl  arrive,  hk  prisoner,  than  his  con- 
science misgave  him,  and  he  hastened 
to  Justice  Coke,  communicating  as 
much  of  the  murderer's  traffic  as  he 
fancied  would  implicate  Somerset  and 
his  Countess,  without  bringing  the 
charge  home  to  himself.  In  this  the 
Lieutenant  was  mistaken.  The  charge 
was  not  only  preferred,  but  proved,  and 
Sir  Jervaise  Elwes  was  replaced  by 
George  Moore,  as  Constable  of  the 
Tov/er,  and  lodged  safely  himself  in 
that  very  cell  in  which  his  emissa- 
ries had  murdered  Overbury.  Weston 
stood  out  for  about  a  week,  but  the 
Bishop  of  London  persuaded  the  villain 
to  tell  the  whole  truth  ;  ''  how  Mrs. 
Turner  and  the  Countess  came  ac- 
quainted ;    what    relation    she   had    to 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF    SOMERSET.    397 

witches,  sorcerers  and  conjurors ;  that 
Northampton,  Somerset,  Franklin,  Cop- 
pinker,  Monson,*  and  Yelvis  had  their 
hands  in  this  business."  Weston  was 
hanged  at  Tyburn,  as  were  Franklin 
and  Mistress  Turner;  but  Elwes  suf- 
fered on  Tower- Hill,  making  a  most 
theatrical  exit,  with  more  devotion  than 
Cashman  in  modern  times,  but  much  af- 
ter the  same  fashion.  Lady  Frances,  who 
had  been  arrested  on  the  same  day  with 
her  Lord,  was  committed  to  the  cus- 
tody of  the  Dean  of  Westminster,  and 
in  May  following  arraigned  before  her 
Peers,  for  the  murder  of  Sir  Thomas 
Overbury.  Sir  Edward  Coke,  whom  we 
have  had  occasion  to  notice  in  a  particu- 

*  Vice  Admiral  Sir  Thomas  Monson,  whom  I 
have  omitted  among  the  characters  in  this  plot,  be- 
cause there  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  privy  to  the 
project  of  Somerset  and  his  Countess.  He  was  tried 
and  the  indictment  quashed.  See  State  Trials, 
vol.  I,  Art.  137. 


398  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OR, 

lar  manner,  as  Attorney-General  on 
the  trial  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  now 
sat  as  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England, 
and  the  noble  personages.  Peers  of  the 
realm  who  presided,  were  many,  learned 
and  wise.  Sir  Francis  Bacon  warf  the 
King's  Attorney-General,  and  con- 
ducted the  prosecution,  with  what  abili- 
ty the  reader  will  judge  from  that  great 
lawyer's  works. 

When  the  Lord  Chancellor,  who  for 
this  time  was  High  Steward  of  England, 
came  into  Court,  there  came  before  him 
six  Serjeants  at  arms,  with  their  maces, 
a  Knight  bearing  the  patent  of  com- 
mission for  the  trial,  another  Knight, 
the  white  staff,  and  a  third,  the  great 
seal.  The  Chancellor  then  proceeded 
to  the  upper  end  of  the  hall,  and  sat  him 
down  under  a  cloth  of  state,  on  both 
sides  of  him  the  Peers,  and  under  them 
the  Judges ;  at  the  further  end  were 
the  King's  Counsel  below  the  Judges ; 


THE  RISC  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    399 

on  one  side  the  Keeper  of  the  records  of 
attainders  ;  the  Clerk  of  the  Crown  and 
his  deputy,  in  the  midst  of  the  court, 
the  Serjeant  Crier  standing  by  him ; 
the  white  staff  and  seal-bear  placing 
themselves  at  the  Lord  High  Steward's 
feet  ;  and  last  of  all  was  brought  in 
Lady  Frances,  Countess  of  Somerset, 
and  placed  at  the  bar,  the  Lieutenant 
of  the  Tower,  Sir  George  Moore,  stand- 
ing adjacent  to  his  prisoner. 

When  the  whole  Court  was  thus  com- 
pleted, the  Knight,  upon  his  knee,  de- 
livered the  patent  to  the  Lord  High 
Steward,  who  received,  kissed,  and  then 
re-delivered  it  to  the  Serjeant  Crier 
who  went  through  the  various  steps 
that  were  preliminary,  and  came  at 
length  to  the  prisoner,  who  made  three 
reverences  to  his  Grace  and  the  Peers. 
— The  once  gay  and  sprightly  Lady 
Frances,  once  the  lovely  but  imprudent 
wife   of  the  Earl   of  Essex,    now   the 


400  BLIGHTED  AiMfirnON  ;    OR, 

degraded,  and  guilty  partner  of  Somer- 
set's pleasures  and  crimes,  looked  pale, 
trembled,  and  shed  some  few  tears,  as 
her  indictment  was  reading ;  but  at 
the  first  mention  of  Weston's  name,  she 
put  her  fan  to  her  face,  till  the  Clerk 
of  the  Crown  cried  aloud — "  Frances, 
Countess  of  Somerset,  what  say  est  thou? 
Art  thou  guilty  of  this  felony  and  mur- 
der, or  not  guilty  ?" 

Lady  Somerset  making  an  obeisance 
to  the  Lord  High  Steward,  answered 
with  a  low  voice,  and  very  fearfully — 

Sir  Francis  Bacon,  the  Attorney-Ge- 
neral, then  addressed  the  Court,  de- 
siring that  her  confession  might  be 
recorded,  and  judgment  given  against 
the  prisoner ;  and  the  Clerk  of  the 
Crown  bade  her  hold  up  her  hand, 
demanding,  "  what  canst  thou  now 
say  for  thyself,  why  judgment  of  death 
should  not  be  pronounced  against  thee  ?" 


THE  RISE   AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.    401 

"  Mercy,  Mercy !"  cried  the  Lady 
Frances,  remorse  and  a  sense  of  guilt 
overpowering  her  faculties. — "  Mercy  ! 
Mercy !  and  that  the  Lords  will  inter- 
cede for  roe  to  the  King." 

The  White  Staff,  on  his  knee,  deli- 
vered his  wand  to  the  Lord  High 
Steward,  who  with  great  solemnity  pro- 
nounced the  awful  sentence  of  the  law 
upon  the  unfortunate  daughter  of  the 
Earl  of  Suffolk. 

When  the  Lieutenant  returned  to 
the  Tower,  he  informed  Somerset,  who 
had  been  kept  with  uncommon  safe 
custody,  that  next  day  he  was  to  take 
his  trial  before  his  Peers. 

'^  They  shall  carry  me  in  my  bed," 
answered  the  Earl ;  "  the  King  has  as- 
sured me  that  I  should  not  come  to 
any  ignominious  trial ;  nor  dares  James 
bring  me  to  it." 

*^  I  have  delivered  my  message," 
answered  the  Lieutenant,  "  and  your 
Lordship  had  better  provide  yourself." 


402  BLIGHTED    AMBITION;    OK, 

Somerset  made  no  reply,  but  waved 
his  hand  for  Moore  to  leave  him.  The 
Lieutenant  did  so,  saying  to  himself, 
''  This  is  a  high  strain,  and  in  language 
I  do  not  well  understand — dares  not  ? — 
I'll  to  Greenwich  to  the  King." — And 
he  accordingly  ordered  his  barge,  and 
was  rowed  down  the  river  to  the  Palace, 
which  he  entered  by  the  back  stairs. 
It  was  midnight ;  the  King  had  retired 
to  rest ;  but  a  groom  in  waiting  was 
still  on  foot.  "  I  must  speak  with  the 
King,"  said  Moore. 

''  He  is  quiet,  good  Master  Lieute- 
nant," replied  the  groom. 

^'  You  must  awake  his  Grace — ^^I  am 
at  my  wits  ends,"  replied  Moore — anil 
the  groom  departed  to  his  Grace's 
chamber.  In  a  few  minutes  he  returned 
and  admitted  the  Lieutenant. 

"  How  now,  Moore?"  asked  the  King. 
''  Is  he  dead  by  his  own  hand  ?  Somer- 
set, Somerset,  is  he  gone  ?" 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOME  USE  I.  403 

^'  So  please  your  Grace,  he  is  not 
dead,  and  refuses  to  provide  for  his 
trial  on  the  morrow,"  replied  Moore. 
"  Oh  !  how  it  puts  me  beyond  my  rea- 
son to  hear  such  bold  and  undutiful  ex- 
pressions, from  a  faulty  subject  against 
a  just  sovereign  !" 

"  What  ?  what  ?  what  ?"  asked  the 
King,  rising  on  his  elbow  in  bed.  ^^  What 
says  the  fool?" 

Moore  then  related  the  precise  words 
of  Somerset,  whereupon  the  King  fell 
into  a  passion  of  tears,  exclaiming,  "  On 
my  soul,  Moore,  I  wot  not  what  to  do  ; 
thou  art  a  wise  man  ;  help  me  in  this 
great  straight,  and  then  thou  shalt  find 
thou  dost  it  for  a  thankful  master." 

*^  I  will  prove  the  utmost  of  my  wit 
to  save  your  Majesty,"  replied  Moore, 
"  and  doubt  not  I  will  bring  him  before 
his  Peers  and  back  to  the  Tower  if  I 
may  use  my  own  wit," 


404 

"  Any  thing,  every  thing,  do  what 
you  like/'  said  the  King ;  "  but  lippen 
not  to  any  but  himself  ye  hae  been  wi' 
ine.  Take  with  you  a  cloak  into  Court;, 
and  if  he  speaks  o'  me,  hood  him  and 
carry  him  home  with  you;  this  ring 
shall  be  your  warrant,  let  the  Lords 
say  what  they  like." 

Sir  George  Moore  returned  to  the 
Tower  and  entered  the  cell  of  Somer- 
set about  three  in  the  morning,  and 
informed  him  he  had  been  with  the 
King,  whom  he  found  an  affectionate 
master  to  his  Lordship.  "  To  satisfy 
justice,"  added  the  Lieutenant,  "  his 
Grace  wills  you  to  go  on  your  trial, 
he  is  full  of  favourable  intention  to- 
wards your  Lordship,  and  you  shall  re- 
turn instantly  again,  without  any  fur- 
ther proceedings,  only  you  shall  know 
your  enemies  and  their  malice,  though 
they  shall  have  no  power  over  you," 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  SOMERSET.  405 

'^  Did  the  King  say  this  ?"  asked  So- 
merset. 

"  Aye,  and  a  great  deal  more/'  an- 
swered the  Lieutenant. 

"  Then  I  will  go — let  me  be  well 
provided  according  to  my  estate  and 
bearing,"  said  the  Earl. 

"  That  you  shall,"  answered  Sir 
George,  ^'  and  now  I  commit  you,  my 
Lord  Earl,  to  God  and  his  angels,  till 
seven  in  the  morning." 

On  the  following  day  the  fallen  Fa- 
vourite was  placed  at  the  bar  with  all 
the  solemnity  that  had  been  observed 
toward  his  Countess.  The  defence  of 
the  Earl  was  ingenious  and  even  elo- 
quent, but  the  facts  had  been  so  clearly 
proved,  that  it  availed  him  nothing. 
By  his  side  stood  Moore  and  an  at- 
tendant-keeper, each  with  a  cloak  over 
his  arm,  which  much  puzzled  the  Lords 
to    understand,    why    such  a  garment 


40(3  BLIGHTED  AMBITION  ;    OR, 

should  be  brought  there  ;  but  none  of- 
fered to  ask  the  Lieutenant.  The  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Coke,  who  had  been  ex- 
cessively mortified  by  the  production 
of  his  own  wife's  name  in  the  con- 
juror's Album,  thought  he  could  not 
say  too  much  against  the  unfortunate 
prisoner,  and  in  a  vain-glorious  speech 
to  shew  his  vigilancy,  entered  into  a  rap- 
ture as  he  sat  upon  the  bench,  saying, 
"  God  knows  what  became  of  that 
sw^eet  babe,  Prince  Henry."  Somer- 
set very  wisely  took  no  notice  of  thi^ 
point,  which,  however,  was  not  let 
slip  by  the  King,  who  from  that  day 
withdrew  all  his  favour  and  friend shij) 
from  Sir  Edward  Coke ;  and  then  the 
Judges  were  not  independent  of  the 
Crown. 

Somerset  heard  his  sentence,  and  saw 
the  white  wand  broken  with  a  firm- 
ness, that  would  have  done  honour  to 


Tin:    KISE  A-ND   FALL  OF  SOMERSLT.    407 

a  better  man,  in  a  happier  situation. 
He  was  removed  to  the  Tower,  and 
after  a  time,  both  he  and  his  Counte.^s 
received  a  pardon,  but  h'ngered  out 
their  existence  in  disgrace,  degradation, 
and  obscurity,  under  that  most  insup- 
portable of  all  evils,  the  reproofs  of  an 
accusing  and  guilty  conscience. 


THa    END. 


LOVDON: 

!>ilACKELL    AND    ARUOWSMITII.  JOHNSON  S-COUK.T. 


'—  -V    «? 


K^^sM  ^'^