'i 
 
 [STORICAL GUIDl 
 O PENSHURST ^ 
 PLACE. 
 
 BY THE HON. 
 MARY SIDNEY. 
 
The Publishers hitend this book to 
 be sold to the Public at the advertised 
 price, and supply it to the Trade on 
 terms which will not allow of discount. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO 
 PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
Historical Guide to 
 Penshurst Place. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE HON. MARY SIDNEY. 
 
 WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 "Thou art not, Penshurst, built to envious show, 
 Of touch, or marble ; nor canst boast a row 
 Of polished pillars, or a roof of gold ; 
 Thou hast no lanthern, whereof tales are told ; 
 Or stair, or courts ; but stand'st an ancient pile, 
 And, these grudged at, art reverenced the while." 
 
 — BEN JONSON. 
 
 TuNBRiDGE "Wells s GOULDEN & CURRY. 
 
 London: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, 
 HAMILTON, KENT & Co., Ltd. 
 1903. 
 
 [Entered at Stationers' Hall.'] 
 
TUNBRIDGE WELLS: 
 
 GOULDEN & CURRY. 
 June, 1903. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Penshukst in Feudal Times 
 PART II. 
 
 Penshurst: "Thi-: Home of the Sidneys" 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Penshurst Church 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 FACING 
 PAGE 
 
 Penshurst Place, 1903 . . Frontispiece 
 
 The Great Hall 2 
 
 The Inner Court 10 
 
 Sir Henry Sidney, K.G. . . . . . 13 
 
 Sir Philip Sidney, aged 22 (by Zucchero) 29 
 
 Barbara Gamage, Countess of Leicester, 
 
 and her Children 51 
 
 Penshurst Place (from the Garden) . . 55 
 
 Philip, Lord Lisle, Robert and Algernon 
 
 Sidney (by Dobson) 56 
 
HISTO-RICAL GaiDE 
 
 TO 
 
 PE/NSHU-RST PLACE. 
 
 
 
 PART L 
 
 PENSHURST IN FEUDAL TIMES- 
 
 ALMOST six centuries have passed away since, 
 in the sunny Kentish valley, hard by the banks 
 of the river Medway, Sir John de Pulteney, 
 knight, the great citizen of London, erected his 
 dwelling - house of Penshurst, and, in 1341, by 
 Letters Patent from King Edward III., had licence 
 to strengthen it with walls of chalk and stone, and 
 to embattle it. 
 
 Since then many a builder has had a hand in the 
 making of Penshurst Place, as it stands to-day ; a 
 stately, picturesque pile, built partly of stone, partly 
 of brick ; of various styles, and bearing the impress 
 of many succeeding generations ; but still, notwith- 
 standing the lapse of time, the grey buttressed walls 
 and bold Gothic arches of Sir John de Pulteney's 
 building remain, and sufficient of the ancient house 
 
 P. B 
 
2 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 is left for us to be able to form an accurate idea of 
 what a wealthy gentleman's house was like, in the 
 feudal times of the fourteenth century.^ 
 
 Of course, the most remarkable feature of the 
 original house is the Great Hall, of which the steep 
 gabled roof attracts our attention outside in the 
 Court, and which, inside, with its lofty, open, oak- 
 tiinbercd roof, the spars of which rest on grotesquely 
 carved human figures, and the decorated Kentish 
 tracery of its windows, has come down to us almost 
 unaltered. 
 
 Entering the Porch, which has a vaulted roof and 
 oak seats on either side, we come into the stone 
 passage, called the Screens, divided from the Great 
 Hall by a screen of split oak panels with two 
 openings. This end of the Hall was given up to the 
 servants, and in it, on the left, are three doorways ; 
 one leading to the Buttery, where the beer, cider and 
 other drinks were given out ; one, into a passage 
 leading to the Kitchen,- and the third, into the 
 Pantry, where the bread and other dry stores were 
 kept. Over the Screens is the Minstrels' Gallery. 
 It and the Porch at the further end of the stone 
 passage, leading into the garden, are of later date, 
 probably of the time of Queen Elizabeth. The 
 window above the Minstrels' Gallery is worthy of 
 
 ^ For the greater part of the following description of Sir 
 John de Piilteney's house, I am indebted to the paper on 
 *' Penshurst," read by J. H. Parker, Esq., before the Kent 
 Archaeological Society, July i6th, 1863. 
 
 - The old Kitchen was pulled down about 1830, but no 
 doubt, the Kitchen in Sir John de Pulteney's time was merely 
 a wooden structure. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 3 
 
 notice, as it is still filled with lattice panes of very 
 ancient glass. 
 
 In the centre of the Hall is the hearth with its 
 andirons, against which the huge logs of wood were 
 placed ; above it was an opening in the roof with a 
 turret to cover it, called a smoke louvre." Facing 
 the Screens is the Dai's, where the lord, his family 
 and guests used to dine. Behind the Dais, and 
 forming the end of the original house are two large 
 chambers ; the lower one has a vaulted roof, resting 
 on stone pillars, and was no doubt used as the cellar; 
 a door opens into it on the left hand side of the Dais, 
 close to the broad stone staircase leading to the 
 ''Solar," or upper chamber,^ which was the lord's 
 room, and was also used as a withdrawing-room for 
 the ladies after dinner. It has a narrow^ slit in the 
 wall forming a look-out into the Great Hall, whence 
 the lord could keep a check on the more riotous 
 proceedings of his retainers after he, his family and 
 guests had retired. The fireplace has a hood over 
 it, the earliest style of chimney-piece known in 
 England. There were other rooms over the Porch, 
 the Buttery and Pantry, and in the Towers, which 
 probably stood at the angles of the Great Hall, one 
 of which still remains. So there was no lack of 
 accommodation. 
 
 Sir John de Pulteney had acquired the Manor of 
 Penshurst ^ in 1338, by purchase from Thomas and 
 
 ^ Now called the Ballroom. 
 
 2 According to Hasted, Penshurst takes its name from the 
 old British word " Pen," the height or top of anything, and 
 " Hurst," a wood. It is called in some ancient records 
 
 B 2 
 
4 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PEN SHU EST PLACE. 
 
 Stephen de Columbers, sons of Alice, younger 
 daughter and co-heir of Sir Stephen de Penchester, 
 whose ancestors already lived there in the time 
 of William the Conqueror. Sir Stephen de Pen- 
 chester possessed it in the beginning of the reign 
 of Edward I. He had been knighted by King 
 Henry HI., and is mentioned several times in the 
 reign of King Edward I. as being Constable of Dover 
 Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was a 
 man of great learning, and possessed much influence 
 in the State. He died in 1299, leaving no son, and is 
 buried in the south chancel of the Church at 
 Penshurst (now the Sidney Chapel) where his effigy 
 still exists. 
 
 Before acquiring the Manor of Penshurst, Sir John 
 de Pulteney had already large possessions and was a 
 man of great wealth. He was noted for his piety, 
 charity and magnificent housekeeping. He was 
 greatly esteemed by King Edward HI., by whom he 
 was knighted, and in whose reign he was four times 
 Lord Mayor of London. He died in 1360, leaving a 
 son and heir, William, only nine years of age. He 
 directed that his body should be buried in the church 
 of St. Lawrence, in London (since from him called 
 Poulteney, or Pounteney), in which he had founded 
 a College or Chantry. 
 
 Margaret his wife, daughter of John de Beresford 
 
 Pencestre or, more vulgarly, Penchester, from some fortified 
 camp or fortress anciently situated there. Penshurst is not 
 mentioned in the general survey of Domesday ; nor indeed 
 are any other parishes in the Hundred of Somerden, to which 
 Penshurst belongs. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 5 
 
 of London, survived him and appears to have been 
 left a life interest in the estate. She married, as her 
 second husband. Sir Nicholas Lovaine, and he, in 
 right of his wife, also possessed an interest in the 
 Manor. Sir William de Pulteney, her son, died with- 
 out issue in the fortieth year of King Edward III. ; 
 and then the Manor of Penshurst and all the other 
 estates of which Sir John de Pulteney had died 
 possessed of, were conveyed to Sir Nicholas Lovaine 
 and Margaret, his wife, and their heirs for ever. 
 They left a son, Nicholas, and a daughter, Margaret. 
 Nicholas married Margaret, eldest daughter of John 
 de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and widow of Henry, Lord 
 Beaumont. On the decease of her husband, Nicholas, 
 without issue, Margaret married thirdly. Sir John 
 Devereux, and he also, in right of his wife, became 
 possessed of the Manor. He fought in the wars both 
 of Edward HI. and Richard H., was made a knight 
 banneret by the latter, held various important posts, 
 and was appointed Steward of the King's Household. 
 In 1393, in the sixteenth year of the reign of King 
 Richard II., he had licence to fortify his dwelling- 
 house of Penshurst. He was summoned to Parlia- 
 ment among the Barons of the realm, and died in 
 1394, his wife, Margaret, having an assignment of 
 the Manor as part of her dower. After her death, 
 it reverted to Margaret, sister and heir of her second 
 husband, Nicholas Lovaine. This lady married 
 twice, her first husband being Richard Chamberlayne 
 of Cotes, in Northamptonshire, and her second, Sir 
 Philip St. Clere, of Aldham St. Clere in Ightham. in 
 Kent. She and Sir Philip St. Clere both died within 
 
6 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE, 
 
 a few days of each other, and the Manor of Penshurst 
 descended to their son, John St. Clere, who, at the 
 time of their death in 1408, w^as a minor. Later on, 
 he conveyed it by sale to John, Duke of Bedford, 
 third son of King Henry IV. by Mary, his wife, 
 dauf^hter and co-heir of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl 
 of Hereford, Essex and Northampton. 
 
 The Duke of Bedford, on the death of his brother, 
 Kin^ Henry V., in 1422, had been appointed Regent 
 of France during the minority of his nephew, 
 Henry \T. He carried on the war there with great 
 vigour and success, and in 1431, his nephew was 
 crowned King of France in Paris ; but, in 1435, 
 the wise and valiant Regent died, and his death was 
 also the death-blow to the English rule in France. 
 He was buried in the Cathedral Church at Rouen. 
 He enlarged the original house of Sir John de 
 Pulteney by adding to it, beyond the upper end 
 of the Great Hall, a building with a steep gabled 
 roof and walls of great thickness.^ The gables at 
 either end are still surmounted by his cognizances, 
 a Falcon and an Ibex, standing on the stumps of 
 trees. Though twice married, he died without issue, 
 and wvas succeeded by his next brother, Humphrey, 
 Duke of Gloucester, fourth son of King Henry IV. 
 During the minority of his nephew^ King Henry VI., 
 the Duke was Protector, and he governed England 
 with so much wisdom and justice, that he was 
 surnamed the ''Good." Having, however, opposed 
 
 ^ This building contains the two State rooms called Queen 
 Elizabeth's Room and the Tapestry Room, and commonly 
 goes by the name of the Buckingham Building. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 7 
 
 the marriage of Margaret of Anjou to his nephew, 
 he incurred the hatred of that Queen, who was also 
 jealous of his power. At her instigation, he was 
 arrested at the Parliament held at Bury St. Edmunds 
 in 1447 ; and a few days later was found dead in 
 bed, it being generally believed that he had come 
 to a violent end. He was buried in the Abbey of 
 St. Albans, He was a man of considerable learning ; 
 he built the Divinity Schools at Oxford, and laid 
 the foundation of the famous Library over them now 
 called the Bodleian Library. In the Library of Oriel 
 College, Oxford, is a manuscript of a work by John 
 Capgrave, the Historian, which bears on the fly-leaf, 
 in French, the following inscription: '^This book 
 belongs to me, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the 
 gift of brother John Capgrave, who presented it 
 to me at my Manor of Penshurst, New Year's 
 Day, 1438." 
 
 Having died without issue, his estates passed to 
 King Henry VL, as his cousin and next heir, who, 
 the same year, granted the Manor of Penshurst to 
 Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, his first 
 cousin. The Duke had fought in the wars with 
 France and had been created Duke of Buckingham 
 on the conclusion of the marriage of Margaret of 
 Anjou with King Henry VL He fell gallantly 
 fighting on the King's side against the Duke of York 
 at the battle of Northampton in 1460.^ He had 
 married Anne, daughter of Ralph, Earl of Westmor- 
 land. His eldest son, Humphrey, having been killed 
 
 ^ His arms, incorrectly quartered, are to be seen on one of 
 the windows of the Tapestry Room. 
 
8 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 at St. Albans in his lifetime, his grandson, Henry, 
 inherited the title and estates. This Uuke conspired 
 with Richard, Uuke of Gloucester, against King 
 Edward V., and was mainly instrumental in setting 
 him on the throne as Kin^ Richard III. Asa reward, 
 the Duke of Buckingham was invested with the great 
 office of Constable, and also obtained the restitution 
 of that part of the de Bohun estates which had 
 been forfeited to the Crown. But, becoming dis- 
 contented, he took up arms in favour of Henry, Earl 
 of Richmond, afterwards King Henry was taken 
 prisoner and beheaded at Salisbury in 1483. 
 
 The Duke left several children by his wife 
 Katherine, daughter of Richard Woodville, Earl 
 Rivers, and Edward, the eldest, became third Duke 
 of Buckingham. At the accession of King Henry 
 Vni., in 1509, he was the greatest and one of the 
 wealthiest nobles in the Kingdom. As such, he stood 
 in the way of Cardinal Wolsey's ambitious projects, 
 who is also stated to have nourished a private grudge 
 against him. The Duke once holding the basin to 
 the King, the Cardinal presumed to dip his hands in 
 it after the King had washed, which so roused the 
 Duke's indignation that he poured the water over the 
 Cardinal's feet. The Duke indiscreetly gave occasion 
 to his enemies by talking of his prospects of suc- 
 ceeding to the Crown, should the King die without 
 children. Hd was committed to the Tower on the 
 lOth of April, 1521, tried before the Court of the 
 Lord High Steward, which consisted of a select 
 niiinlxr of Peers, found guilty, and beheaded on 
 Ma\' 17th on Tower Ilill. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. g 
 
 Consequent on his attainder, the Manor of Pens- 
 hurst, among his other estates, became forfeited to the 
 Crown, where it remained till the reign of King 
 Edward VI., who first granted it to John, Earl of 
 Warwick (afterwards created Duke of Northumber- 
 land) who only held it a few months ; and then to 
 Sir Ralph Fane, knight. 
 
 Sir Ralph Fane had been knighted at the siege of 
 Boulogne in 1544, in the reign of King Henry VIII., 
 and afterwards, had been made a knight banneret 
 for the great valour he had displayed at the battle of 
 Pinkie, where by rallying the cavalry, he had greatly 
 contributed to the success of the Duke of Somerset 
 in defeating the Scotch. In the party factions of the 
 times, he zealously promoted the interests of that 
 Duke, and was accused of being one of his accom- 
 plices. He was tried, found guilty and hanged on 
 Tower Hill on the 26th of February, 1552, and his 
 estates reverted to the Crown. 
 
 On the 6th of April, of the same year, 1552, 
 by Letters Patent, under the Great Seal, King 
 Edward VI. granted to Sir William Sidney and his 
 heirs for ever, ''for good services done in the offices 
 of Chamberlain and Chief Steward of the Household 
 to him, the King, in the lifetime of his Father, King 
 Henry VIII., to his death, etc., all that his Manor of 
 Penshurst with the park,^ etc., and all Goods, Chattels, 
 Household Stuff, etc., which were then in the Capital 
 Mansion or Palace of Penshurst, which were Sir 
 Ralph Fane's knight, of felony attainted and con- 
 victed, deceased." 
 
 ^ The Park then contained over 1,200 acres, and had been 
 greatly enlarged by King Henry VIII. 
 
PART IL 
 
 PENSHURST: ^'THE HOME OF THE 
 SIDNEYS/^ 
 
 HE family of Sidney^ is of French origin, and 
 
 1 the first Sidney of whom we have any record in 
 Enghsh History is Sir WilHam Sidney, knight, 
 Chamberlain to King Henry H., who came over with 
 him from Anjou, and in 1152, before the accession of 
 that King, had a grant from him of the Manor of 
 Sutton, in Surrey. He died in 1188, and was buried 
 in the Abbey of Lewes, in Sussex. His descen- 
 dants married, amongst others, into the families of 
 Delamare, D'Abernon, Ashburnham, Clunford, and 
 Brocas. They accumulated large landed estates in 
 Surrey and Sussex. A wood near Aldefold, in Surrey, 
 is called Sidney Wood after them, and a notice of 
 the dower of Isabella Harrington, wife of John 
 Sidney, is dated from Sidney in Aldefold, in the 
 
 ^ The name of Sidney is probably derived from St. Sydonius, 
 to whom a Monastery was dedicated in Normandy, where the 
 family are supposed to have had their origin. The name is 
 spelt in old deeds Sidne, Sceddene, Sydenie, and Sedeney. 
 Sir Philip always spelt it Sidney, except in his will, when 
 he spelt it Sydney. The " de " is nsed nntil the fourteenth 
 century. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE, ii 
 
 twelfth year of King Edward III. Later on, they 
 were seated at Cranleigh, in Surrey. In the twenty- 
 fifth year of King Henry VI., Wilham Sidney, Esq., 
 had hcence to empark 800 acres of land in 
 Ewhurst and Cranleigh within his Manor of 
 Baynards. By his marriage with Isabel St. John, 
 he acquired the Manor of Kingsham, in Sussex, 
 which, as its name implies, had been a royal resi- 
 dence. His wall is dated at Baynards, the Feast of 
 the Assumption, twenty-ninth of King Henry VI., 
 wherein he is described as Lord of Kingsham, by 
 Chichester. He was buried at Cranleigh. 
 
 His eldest son, Nicholas, by his second wife, 
 Thomasine, daughter and heir of J. Barrington, 
 married Anne Brandon, daughter of Sir William 
 Brandon, and aunt and co-heir of Charles Brandon, 
 Duke of Suffolk, who, in 1515, married Mary, Queen 
 of France, daughter of King Henry VII. Nicholas 
 Sidney was succeeded by his son, William, who was 
 one of the Esquires of the Household to King 
 Henry VIII., and, in the second year of the reign 
 of that King, he accompanied Thomas, Lord 
 D'Arcy, who was sent with a force of 1,500 archers 
 into Arragon to assist Ferdinand, King of Arragon 
 and Castile (father-in-law of King Henry VIII.), 
 against the Moors. In 1512, we find him command- 
 ing part of the English Fleet. He was present at 
 the burning of the town of Conquest, where he was 
 knighted for his valour ; he took part in the sea fight 
 off Brest, in which Sir Edward Howard, Lord High 
 Admiral of England, was drowned. At the Battle 
 of Flodden Field, he led the right wing of the Earl 
 
12 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE, 
 
 of Surrey's army, and was made a knight banneret, 
 receiving besides an annuity from the King of fifty 
 marks a year for his hfe. 
 
 In 1520, he was in France at the meeting of King 
 Henry and Francis, King of France, on the Field of 
 the Cloth of Gold. 
 
 His services, however, both to King Henry VHI. 
 and his son. King Edward VL, will be best recorded 
 by quoting the inscription on a stone tablet, over the 
 Porch of the Gatehouse, at Penshurst, erected by 
 his son. Sir Henry Sidney : 
 
 "The most Religious and Renowned Prince Edward the sixt, Kinge 
 Of England, France, and Ireland, gave this House of Pencester with 
 The Manners, Landes, and Appurtenances thereunto belonginge 
 Unto his trustye, and welbeloved servaunt Syr William Sydney, Knight 
 Banneret, serving him from the tyme of his Birth unto his 
 Coronation in the Offices of Chamberlayn and Steward of his 
 Household ; in commemoration of which most worthie and famous Kinge 
 Sir Henrye Sydney, Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter, 
 Lord President of the Councill, established in the Marches of 
 Wales, Sonne and Hey re to the aforenamed Syr William 
 Caused this Tower to be buylded, and that most excellent 
 Princes Amies to be erected — Anno Domini, 1585." 
 
 Sir William Sidney did not live long to enjoy his 
 new possessions, for he died at Penshurst not a year 
 after they had been granted to him, and is buried 
 beneath a raised tomb, with a canopy over it, in 
 the Sidney Chapel of the Church at Penshurst. 
 He left large estates in Kent, Sussex, Lincolnshire 
 and Hampshire to his son Henry. He married 
 Anne, daughter of Sir Hugh Pagenham or Pakenham, 
 knight, of Ightham, in Kent, and widow of Thomas 
 FitzWilliam, who had been killed on Flodden Field. 
 Besides his son Henry, he had four daughters, of 
 
Sir Henry Sidney, K.G. 
 
 [ To face p. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE, 13 
 
 whom Frances married Thomas RadcHffe, Earl of 
 Sussex, and was the foundress of Sidney Sussex 
 College, Cambridge. 
 
 Henry Sidney was born on the 21st of March, 
 1529, and, from his earHest infancy, had been brought 
 up at Court. Ashe himself says, was, by that 
 most famous King (Henry VHI.) put to his sweet 
 son, Prince Edward, my most dear master, prince 
 and sovereign ; my near kinswoman being his only 
 nurse ; my father being his chamberlain : my mother 
 his governess ; my aunt in such place as, among 
 meaner personages, is called a dry nurse. As the 
 prince grew in years and discretion, so grew I in 
 favour and liking of him." 
 
 The young King conferred many marks of dis- 
 tinction on him, and was so attached to him that he 
 rarely gave him leave to be absent from him. On 
 his accession in 1547, he made him one of the four 
 Gentlemen of the Royal Bedchamber, and Hollinshed 
 tells us, in the quaint language of the time, that 
 *'for his comeliness of person, gallantness, and live- 
 liness of spirit, virtue, quality, beauty and good 
 composition of body, he was the only odd man and 
 paragon of the Court." 
 
 On the nth of October, 1550, he was knighted 
 with William Cecil (afterwards Lord Burghley). 
 Before he was twenty-one years of age, he was sent 
 as Ambassador into France, and performed his 
 mission there with so much tact, wisdom and 
 judgment that, not long after, we find him again sent 
 on missions, both to France and Scotland. 
 
 He was made chief cupbearer to the King, and 
 
14 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 held also the offices of otter hunter and chief 
 cypherer, which latter carried with it a stipend 
 of fifty marks a year, and power to appoint a 
 deputy. 
 
 On the 29th of March, 1551, Sir Henry married 
 Lady Mary Dudley, eldest daughter of John Dudley, 
 Duke of Northum.berland, Earl of Warwick and 
 Baron Lisle. The marriage took place privately 
 at Esher, and then, according to Sir Henry's 
 Psalter, preserved at Oxford, it was most publicly 
 solemnized in Ely Place, Holborn, in the Whit- 
 sun holidays following. She received as her 
 dower the Manor of Halden, near Tenterden, in 
 Kent. 
 
 The King gave Sir Henry licence to retain, over 
 and above his menial servants, fifty persons, gentle- 
 men and yeomen, and give them his livery badge 
 or cognizance. This was the Bear and Ragged 
 Staff,^ the badge of all the Earls of Warwick, 
 which Sir Henry adopted in right of his wife, 
 and which, with the Sidney crest, the Porcupine, 
 is so conspicuous on all parts of the House at 
 Penshurst. 
 
 ^ The device of the Bear and Ragged Staff is said to have 
 originated in this wise. The name of Arthgal, the first Earl 
 of Warwick, and one of the Knights of the Round Table, is 
 derived from " Arth," or " Naarth," signifying a bear. One 
 of his descendants, it is said, slew a knight, who encountered 
 him with a tree torn up by the roots. Hence the Bear and 
 Ragged Staff, which is as old at least as the fifteenth century, 
 for in a MS. of that date, the standard of Richard, Earl of 
 Warwick, bore that device. The House of Orleans and the 
 Dukes of Burgundy also bore it. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 15 
 
 He was a constant attendant on the King during 
 his last illness, and it was in his arms that the 
 young King breathed his last on the 7th of 
 July, 1553- 
 
 After the death of his royal master, Sir Henry Sidney 
 appears to have retired to Penshurst, which he had 
 inherited from his father in the February preceding. 
 He escaped being implicated in the conspiracies 
 of his father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland, 
 to set Lady Jane Grey, who had married his third 
 son. Lord Guilford Dudley, on the throne, and 
 which ended in the Duke being beheaded on Tower 
 Hill on the 22nd of August, 1553. 
 
 His execution was followed on the 12th of February 
 of the following year by those of Lord Guilford 
 Dudley and Lady Jane Grey. She, as she herself 
 said on the scaffold, being condemned not for 
 grasping a sceptre, but for not having refused it 
 when it was offered her." 
 
 Thus, in the space of a few short months. Lady 
 Mary Sidney had to mourn the deaths by violent 
 means of her father, brother and sister-in-law. But 
 the gloom which overshadowed the household at 
 Penshurst was lightened towards the close of this 
 sad year by the birth, on the 30th of November, 
 1554, of Sir Henry and Lady Mary's first-born child 
 and eldest son ; he, who was afterwards described by 
 Camden as ^^The great glory of his family, the great 
 hope of mankind, the most lively pattern of virtue, 
 the glory of the world." He was christened Philip, 
 after Queen Mary's husband, Philip, King of Spain, 
 whom, in the spring of that year, his father had been 
 
i6 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 sent to Spain in order to escort him to England for 
 his marriage. A tree was planted in the Park at 
 Penshurst to commemorate his birth, to which Ben 
 Jonson alludes as 
 
 That taller tree which of a nut was set 
 
 At his great birth, where all the Muses met," 
 
 and which is mentioned by Waller, 
 
 Go, boy, and carve this passion on the bark 
 Of yonder tree, which stands the sacred mark 
 Of noble Sidney's birth ! " i 
 
 Of Philip Sidney's early days we have no record. 
 They were, no doubt, passed with his brothers and 
 sisters at Penshurst and Ludlow, for in the course of 
 time other sons and daughters were born to Sir 
 Henry and his wife. Margaret, born in 1556, buried 
 at Penshurst the 13th of April, 1558 ; Elizabeth,^ 
 born October, 1560, and to whom Queen Elizabeth 
 stood godmother, died at Kilmainham, in Ireland, 
 on the 8th of November, 1567, and was buried in the 
 Cathedral at Dublin ; Mary (afterwards Countess 
 of Pembroke), born at Ticknel, near Bewdley, in 
 Wales, in 1561 ; Ambrosia (named after her uncle, 
 
 1 This tree was probably the chestnut, which formerly stood 
 a short distance above the oak, now erroneously called Sir 
 Philip Sidney's oak, and which was either blown down or cut 
 down at the end of the eighteenth century. The oak now 
 standing must have been already an old tree at the date of Sir 
 Philip Sidney's birth. Its real name is the Bear oak. The 
 retainers wore sprigs of this tree in their hats, when they went 
 to meet the Earls of Leicester at the entrance of the Park at 
 Leigh, on their return from London. 
 
 2 Mrs. Margaret Sidney's name is the first of the Sidneys 
 to appear in the Church register at Penshurst. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 17 
 
 Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick), died at Ludlow 
 Castle on the 22nd of February, 1574, and whose 
 tomb is to be seen in Ludlow Church ; Robert 
 (afterwards the first Sidney, Earl of Leicester, born 
 1563 ; and Thomas, born 1569. Little is known 
 of him ; he married Margaret Dakyns, and died 
 without issue in 1595. 
 
 Sir Henry can have been very little at home in 
 those days. Though neither liking nor liked as he 
 had been," he was in favour with Queen Mary 
 throughout her reign. She confirmed him in his 
 possession of Penshurst, and also in various offices 
 and appointments which he had held during the 
 reign of her brother, King Edward VL In April, 
 1556, he was appointed Vice-Treasurer and General 
 Governor of all the King's and Queen's Revenues 
 in Ireland. He embarked with his brother-in-law. 
 Lord Fitz Walter (afterwards Earl of Sussex), Lord 
 Deputy of Ireland, and arrived at Dublin on Whit- 
 Sunday. He took with him ;;r25,ooo. They 
 marched to Ulster, and defeated the Scotch rebels, 
 Sir Henry killing James MacConnel, a mighty Scots 
 Captain, with his own hand. In December, 1558, 
 the Earl of Sussex returned to England, and Sir 
 Henry was sworn Chief Justice. 
 
 In the second year of Queen Elizabeth's reign, he 
 was made Lord President of the Marches of Wales, 
 a post he retained for the rest of his life. He went 
 back to Ireland for a short time, and then took up 
 his official residence at Ludlow Castle, which he did 
 much to restore. His wife and children joined him 
 there, and he set himself to work to organise the 
 
 p, c 
 
i8 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 government of the principality and initiate many 
 necessary reforms. In May, 1562, a deputy was 
 appointed, and he was sent as Ambassador to 
 France, and then to Scotland. In Sir Henry 
 Sidney's account books for this year, so many of 
 which are preserved among the MSS. at Pens- 
 hurst, and which he kept with such scrupulous 
 care, we find that the journey into France cost 
 £2^0 gs. 5^. ; that into Scotland, £132 6s. 8d,, and 
 he presented the Skotts Quene " with a gift of 
 three dozen arrows. 
 
 On the 14th of May, 1564, he was installed a 
 Knight of the Garter with Charles IX., King 
 of France. Meanwhile affairs in Ireland were 
 growing more and more desperate ; and the Queen 
 could think of no statesman so prudent and wise 
 as Sir Henry Sidney to send thither. So, on the 
 13th of October, 1565, he was appointed Lord 
 Deputy, at a salary of 13s. ^d, per diem ; but it 
 was not till three months later that he landed at 
 Dublin, having been detained by shipwreck, in 
 which he says, I lost the most of my house- 
 hold stuff and utensils, my wife's whole apparel, 
 and all her jewels, many horses and stable 
 stuff." 
 
 He found all the northern and western parts of 
 Ireland in rebellion and in the possession of the 
 rebel, Shane O'Neil. ^'The Queen," he says, ''had 
 nothing in possession in all this large tract of land 
 but the miserable town of Carrickfergus, whose 
 goods he (Shane O'Neil) would take as oft as he 
 listed, and force the poor people to redeem their 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 19 
 
 own cows with their own wine. With this mon- 
 strous, monarchical tyrant I made war, and, in truth, 
 he was mighty, for he had of Scotch and Irish 7,000 
 men that ware weapons. I had but 1,700 with 
 300 Berwick soldiers. I advanced into the rebel's 
 country on 22nd September, 1566. I wasted or 
 destroyed all or most part of Tyrone. I passed 
 without boat or bridge the dangerous rivers of 
 Omagh, Darg and Finn. Here the rebel with all 
 his power showed himself unto me, but fight with 
 me he durst not, and made some bravado to my 
 camp, but enter it, he could not." 
 
 The Lord Deputy left Tyrone and marched 
 through Tyrconnel, a country seventy miles in 
 length and some forty broad, full of dangerous 
 rivers. On the w^ay he left not one castle in 
 possession of the rebel, nor unrestored to its rightful 
 owner. 
 
 He continued his pursuit of O'Neil with such 
 indefatigable perseverance, that he says, his avant- 
 couriers often found the couch warm, where he 
 lay that night and yet their luck, not to light on 
 him." At last O'NeiPs cause grew hopeless. Driven 
 from refuge to refuge, he was betrayed in a drinking- 
 bout, decapitated, and his head, pickled in a 
 pipkin," sent to Sir Henry. 
 
 But his death by no means put an end to the 
 Irish troubles. Though Sir Henry Sidney was one 
 of the wisest and most active Governors Ireland 
 had enjoyed for several reigns, he could not undo 
 the work of many generations of misgovernment. 
 The dominion of the English over Ireland had been 
 
 c 2 
 
20 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 nominally established above four centuries, but their 
 authority had hitherto been little more than a 
 name. 
 
 A long-standing feud existed between the Earl of 
 Desmond and his hereditary foe, the Earl of 
 Ormonde, descended from the only family estab- 
 lished in Ireland, which had steadily maintained its 
 loyalty to the English crown. The Earl of Ormonde 
 had always been a favourite of the Queen, and now 
 he accused Sir Henry of alleged partiality to the 
 Earl of Desmond. The Queen, with her usual 
 ingratitude, wrote sharp and bitter letters to Sir 
 Henry. He was privately informed that if he 
 wished justice done to him, he must come to Court 
 himself and bring the Earl of Desmond with 
 him. Broken in health and purse, worn out with 
 hard work, he at length obtained leave to return to 
 England in the autumn of 1567, and arrived at 
 Hampton Court with two hundred gentlemen in his 
 train. Then he appears to have gone to Penshurst, 
 and occupied himself in greatly adding to the house. 
 
 In the meantime, his son, Philip, had been at 
 Shrewsbury School, having been placed there in 
 November, 1564. No doubt it was chosen on 
 account of its proximity to Ludlow, where Sir Henry 
 and his family were then residing, but it was also 
 one of the best schools in England, and its master, 
 Thomas Ashton, was a man famous ih his day for 
 his learning. Already Philip was a person of 
 importance, for as was not uncommon in those days 
 he held Church preferment. It has been mentioned 
 in several biographies that on the 6th of May, 1564 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 21 
 
 he was collated by the Bishop of St. Asaph to the 
 Church of Whyteford, in Flintshire, and received 
 a stipend of ^^50 a year. But it seems not to have 
 been noticed that he held two Prebendal stalls as 
 well. Under the Seal of the Bishop of St. David, 
 dated the 14th of January, 1564, Philip Sidney, 
 
 Scolar," was inducted into the Prebend of Llang- 
 millo in the Collegiate Church of Brecon, vacant 
 by the deprivation of Master Thomas Bulkeley, 
 clerk, the last incumbent. 
 
 On the 3rd of November, 1565, Philip Sidney 
 appoints Henry Tanner, Henry Mynde, and Robert 
 Henson, clerks, his attorneys and proxies to receive 
 on his behalf the Prebend of Great Moreton in the 
 Cathedral Church of Hereford. This deed is endorsed 
 with a note by the said Henry Tanner, clerk, to the 
 effect that he was installed in the said Prebend on 
 behalf of the said Mr. Philip Sidney, on the 9th of 
 November, 1565. 
 
 Before he was twelve years old, Philip could write 
 letters in Latin and French. 
 
 Of his growth,'* wrote his school-fellow, life-long 
 friend and first biographer, Fulke Greville, Lord 
 Brooke, I will report no other wonder but this that 
 though I lived with him, and knew him from a child, 
 yet I never knew him other than a man with such 
 staidness of mind, lovely and familiar gravity, as 
 carried grace and reverence above greater years, his 
 talk ever of knowledge, and his very play tending to 
 enrich his mind, so as even his teacher found some- 
 thing in him to observe and learn above that which 
 have usually read or taught. Which eminence by 
 
22 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 nature and industry made his worthy father style 
 Sir Philip in my hearing, though I unseen, hmen 
 familice sucb.'' 
 
 Sir Henry Sidney wrote to his son at Shrewsbury, 
 and his first letter to him has been preserved. '^Let 
 your first action be the lifting of your mind to 
 Almighty God by hearty prayer, and feelingly digest 
 the words you speak in prayer with continual medi- 
 tation and thinking of Him to whom you pray and 
 of the matter for which you pray. Be courteous of 
 gesture, and affable to all men. There is nothing 
 that winneth so much with so little cause. Above 
 all things tell no untruth, no not in trifles : the 
 custom of it is naughty. Remember, my son, the 
 noble blood you are descended of by your mother's 
 side, and think that only by virtuous life and good 
 action you may be an ornament to that illustrious 
 family." He concludes, ''Your loving father so long 
 as you live in the fear of God." 
 
 Amongst the MSS. at Penshurst is a curious 
 account of Thomas Marshall. ''Your Lordship's 
 humble servant to the use of m.y young master, Mr. 
 Philip Sidney, since your honour's departure with my 
 Lady from Westchester towards Ireland, namely, 
 Monday the 4th of December, 1565, until Michaelmas 
 next, 1566." In these nine months Mr. Philip 
 Sidney's expenses amounted to £^6 os. 3^. 
 
 As every small expense even to the washing of his 
 linen and the cleaning of his boots is put down in 
 this account, we gain a curious insight into his life, 
 when he was just over twelve years old, and at 
 school at Shrewsbury. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 23 
 
 The following are a few of the items mentioned : — 
 For a yard of cloth to make Mr. Philip a pair 
 of boot-hose, having none but a pair of linen which 
 were too thin to ride in after his disease, 3s. ^d. 
 
 For making these boot-hose and for stitching 
 silk, IS. 6d. 
 
 For a pen and inkhorn and sealing-w^ax, 6d. 
 
 For two quires of paper for example books, 8(i. 
 " For an ounce of oil of roses and another of 
 calomel to supple his knee, which he could not ply 
 or bend, ^d, 
 
 " For wax to burn in the school a-morning before 
 day, 4^. 
 
 For perfumes to air his chamber with after the 
 young gentlemen were recovered, iid^ 
 
 Several books were also purchased for him, includ- 
 ing Mr. Ashton's Doing of Tullius' Offices," a 
 " Virgil " and Calvin's Catechism." 
 
 In August, 1566, he set out on his first visit to his 
 Uncle of Leicester" at Kenilworth. He is accom- 
 panied by Mr. Edward Onslow, Mr. George Leigh, 
 Thomas Marshall, Randall Calcutte, Mr. Onslow's 
 two men, and Mr. Ashton, his schoolmaster. Thomas 
 Marshall appears to have been alarmed lest his young 
 master's clothes were not sufficiently grand for Kenil- 
 worth, for he meets the Earl of Leicester at Coventry 
 to take counsel with him on Mr. Philip's apparel. 
 Apparently his uncle was not satisfied with his 
 nephew's wardrobe, for he vouchsafed to bestow on 
 him so many clothes, including a short damask 
 gown, bordered with velvet laid on with lace, and 
 several leather jerkins, that Philip had to buy a saddle 
 
24 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 to put the trunk on containing them, and to borrow 
 a horse. 
 
 From Kenilworth, PhiHp journeyed to Oxford, where 
 he arrived on the night of the 25lh August, and had 
 supper with Mr. Bridgwater, one of my Lord of 
 Leicester's Chaplains and Rector of the same College. 
 On the 8th September, they left Oxford and returned 
 to Shrewsbury, stopping at various places on the 
 way. 
 
 About Midsummer, 1568, Philip was removed by 
 his father from Master Ashton's school, and placed 
 at Christ Church, Oxford. Sir Henry visited his 
 son there and was created Honorary Master of Arts. 
 He lodged in the same college and took Philip back 
 with him to Ludlow for a short time, before he 
 returned to his onerous post as Lord Deputy of 
 Ireland. Of Philip's studies and life at Oxford there 
 is no record. We know that he had Fulke Greville, 
 Lord Brooke, and Edward Dyer as his most intimate 
 friends. There are a couple of letters extant, which 
 he wrote in 1569 to Sir William Cecil, whom at that 
 time he looked upon as his future father-in-law. A 
 close intimacy had long existed between the Cecil 
 and the Sidney families, and a marriage had been 
 mooted between Philip Sidney and Anne, the little 
 daughter of Sir William Cecil and his wife, Mildred, 
 daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke. Sir Henry calls 
 her ^^his sweet jewel," and desires in a letter to Cecil 
 ''to be commended to our daughter, Anne." But for 
 some reason or other, the project was given up, and 
 Anne ultimately married Edward de Vere, Earl of 
 Oxford, with whom she led a most unhappy life. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 25 
 
 Philip stayed at Oxford for three years or more. 
 Early in 1571 a terrible plague broke out in Oxford, 
 and on that account he probably left. He was then 
 a little over sixteen. 
 
 Sir Henry, on his return to his post in Ireland, 
 found that unhappy country in the throes of what is 
 generally called '*The Butlers' War." He writes to 
 Mr. Secretary Cecil : I dare affirm there is no servant 
 in Christendom, that endureth greater toil of mind 
 and body than I do, nor that with so little assistance 
 wieldeth so w^eighty affairs and meeteth with so many 
 and variable accidents." He goes on to say that 
 during six months he had had no answer to any of 
 his letters. *'And to knit the knot of the sack of 
 sorrows I feel daily increase of decay in health." 
 
 In May, 1570, he wrote from Dublin to Her 
 Majesty's Privy Council, begging that he might be 
 recalled unless he could be duly supported in his 
 work. In the same letter, he requests that his wife 
 may be sent over to him. Probably his ill-health 
 made her presence especially needful. Lady Mary 
 was also most anxious to join her husband, and she 
 and her children, with the exception of Philip, seem 
 to have proceeded to Ireland, and to have remained 
 there seven or eight months. In February, 1571, the 
 family returned to England, and the Lord Deputy 
 followed them in the ensuing month on leave of 
 absence. The Queen received him very coldly, and 
 appointed his brother-in-law. Sir William Fitz- 
 William, Deputy in his stead. 
 
 Sir Henry Sidney took up his duties again as 
 Lord President of the Marches of Wales. We read 
 
26 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE 
 
 he found that country in reasonable good state, 
 saving only the County of Monmouth, where murders, 
 robberies, thefts, fighting and quarrelling were rife. 
 
 The next four years, from 1571 to 1575, were spent 
 by Sir Henry at Ludlow, Penshurst, and at Court. 
 
 Though he was out of favour. Queen Elizabeth 
 could not leave Sir Henry's services totally unre- 
 quited. She offered him the empty honour of a title, 
 which she well knew he was too poor to accept. 
 Other Governors of Ireland had made their fortune 
 out of it. Sir Henry lost there what fortune he 
 possessed. He tells us that he returned from each 
 holding of the Lord Deputy's office ;^3,ooo poorer 
 than he left. 
 
 The loss of his fortune and health was not the 
 only sacrifice he and his family had been called on 
 to make in Queen Elizabeth's service. In 1562, 
 Lady Mary had caught the small-pox through her 
 close attendance on the Queen's person when she 
 was ill with that disease. When I went to New- 
 haven," wrote Sir Henry, '^I left her a full fair 
 lady, in mine eye at least, the fairest ; and when I 
 returned I found her as foul a lady as a small-pox 
 could make her." The interval between Philip 
 Sidney's leaving Oxford and his going abroad was 
 spent with his father, whom he had not seen for two 
 years. On the 25th of May, 1572, a licence was 
 granted by the Queen to her trusty and well-beloved 
 PhiHp Sidney, Esquire, to go out of England into 
 parts beyond the seas to remain there during a space 
 of two years for his attaining the knowledge of 
 foreign languages. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 27 
 
 Arrived in Paris, the French King, Charles IX., 
 treated him with great distinction, and in considera- 
 tion of the greatness of the house of Sidney in 
 England, he made him a Gentleman Ordinary of his 
 Chamber, and created him Baron de Sideney. This 
 was on the gth of August, and on the evening of 
 Sunday, the 24th, took place the massacre of 
 St. Bartholomew. Philip Sidney had taken refuge 
 in the house of Sir Francis \\'alsingham, who was 
 English Ambassador. Early in September, probably 
 as soon as it was safe to travel, he left Paris, pro- 
 ceeding through Lorraine to Strasburg, and then to 
 Frankfort. There, at the house of Andrew W'echsel, 
 the printer, he made the acquaintance of Hubert 
 Languet, the man who was destined to exercise so 
 much influence over his life. At this time, Languet 
 was in his fifty-fourth year, and was Jiesident at Frank- 
 fort from the Elector of Saxony. He was universally 
 admired for his vast erudition, eloquence and the 
 suavity of his manners. Philip stayed some time at 
 Frankfort in the enjoyment of Languet's company, 
 and in the summer of 1573 accompanied him to 
 Vienna. Then he went to Hungary, and returned to 
 Vienna in October, going on into Italy a month later. 
 Languet parted from him with great regret, and it 
 was arranged they should correspond with each 
 other regularly. A number of Languet's letters are 
 extant, but several of Philip's have been lost. At 
 Venice and in Italy, Philip spent eight months. At 
 Venice, with which he was not so well pleased as he 
 expected, he studied astronomy, and also music to a 
 certain extent, but he never became proficient in the 
 
28 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 art. He seems, however, to have been fond of it, 
 and his name is mentioned in connection with 
 perhaps the first music meeting in England of which 
 we have any notice, which took place on the 17th of 
 March, 1583, at Salisbury. Perhaps he inherited his 
 love of music from his mother, who is represented in 
 her portrait holding a mandoline in her hand. At 
 Venice, Philip sat for his portrait to Paolo Veronese, 
 which he had painted expressly for Languet, who, 
 when he received it, had it framed and hung up in a 
 conspicuous place. He remarks in a letter to Philip, 
 
 I think, though, that the artist has made you appear 
 too sad and thoughtful, I should have liked it better 
 if your face had had a merrier look." Unfortunately 
 this portrait has been lost. Perhaps Languet gave 
 him in return the portrait of himself which now 
 hangs in the Picture Gallery at Penshurst. 
 
 Towards the end of July, 1574, l^hilip returned to 
 Germany and proceeded with Languet on a visit to 
 Poland. In the winter, they were back again in 
 Vienna, where Philip took lessons in horsemanship 
 under Pugliano, then Esquire of the Emperor's 
 stables. Then Languet and Philip accompanied the 
 Emperor Maximilian to Prague, when he went to 
 preside over the meeting of the Bohemian Diet. 
 There Languet and Philip parted company, and 
 Philip returned to England. He reached London 
 the end of May or beginning of June, 1575, after an 
 absence of over three years. His travels during this 
 time cost his father nearly £700. His own allowance 
 appears to have been only ^^'So a year. 
 
 Philip found his father still in England on his 
 
Sir Philip Sidnky. 
 
 (liV /I CCHKRO.) 
 
 ( T 0 face /. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 29 
 
 return, but he was already making preparation to 
 return to Ireland for the third time as Lord Deputy, 
 Sir William FitzWilliam having been recalled. 
 
 Philip was at Kenilworth when Queen Elizabeth 
 arrived there on a visit on the 9th of July, and was 
 present during the festivities which followed. From 
 Kenilworth, Philip attended the royal progress to 
 Lichfield, and then to Chartley, the seat of Walter 
 Devereux, Earl of Essex. There no doubt for the 
 first time he met the beautiful Penelope Devereux, 
 the eldest daughter of the Earl of Essex. We do 
 not know whether it was at once or a little later that, 
 under the name of Stella ": 
 
 " To her, he vow'd the service of his days 
 On her, he spent the riches of his wit ; 
 For her, he made hymns of immortal praise 
 Of only her, he sang, he thought, he writ." 
 
 On the 5th of August, Sir Henry received his 
 patent, and a few days later, he took leave of Her 
 Majesty, kissing her sacred hands, with most 
 gracious and comfortable words from her," and 
 parted from the Court and his family at Dudley 
 Castle. Philip with his mother and sister, Mary, 
 who had been living at Court for some time, 
 remained with the Queen, and attended her back 
 to London. 
 
 The following year, Philip was much at Court, 
 and he also paid frequent visits to Durham House, 
 the Earl of Essex's residence in London. There he 
 renewed acquaintance with Penelope Devereux. 
 Her father viewed the growing intimacy with favour- 
 able eyes, and a marriage began to be spoken of 
 
30 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 between them, lie calling Philip his son by 
 adoption." The Earl of Essex was appointed Earl 
 Marshal of Ireland, and Philip went over with him. 
 He then joined his father and accompanied him to 
 Galway, which was in a state of rebellion ; but he 
 was soon recalled thence by the illness of the Earl of 
 Essex, who, lying on his deathbed, greatly desired 
 to see his intended son-in-law. But Philip arrived 
 in Dublin too late to find him alive, and before long 
 he returned to England. 
 
 The next year, 1577, saw him hold his first public 
 appointment. He was sent on a special Embassy to 
 offer the Queen's condolences to the Emperor 
 Rodolph of Austria on the death of his mother. 
 During part of this second tour he was accompanied 
 by Languet, and Fulke Greville was his secretary. 
 
 Sir Henry, in a letter dated from Dundalk on 
 February 4th of this year, just before Philip had 
 started for abroad, had written to the Earl of 
 Leicester, I find to my exceeding great comfort, 
 the likelihood of a marriage between my Lord of 
 Pembroke and my daughter." He goes on to say 
 that because of his poverty he will have to borrow 
 the money for his daughter's dowry. He concludes. 
 
 Send Philip to me, for never had father more need 
 of his son than I of him." 
 
 The marriage of Mary Sidney to the Earl of 
 Pembroke took place in the ensuing April, but 
 Sir Henry could not obtain leave of absence to be 
 present at it. 
 
 As soon as Philip returned from his Embassy 
 abroad he paid a visit to his sister at Wilton. Sir 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 31 
 
 Henry's troubles were increasing ; the Queen charged 
 him with what she called his extravagance, and took 
 up the cause of the Earl of Ormonde. Philip went 
 to Oatlands to the Queen, and so successfully refuted 
 the charges against his father, that the Queen was 
 forced to express herself satisfied. 
 
 On New Year's Day, 1578, Philip was at Court 
 and presented the Queen with the curious gift of 
 a cambric chemise, wrought with black work, and a 
 pair of ruffs set with spangles. In return the Queen 
 gave him some gilt plate, weighing twenty-two ounces. 
 In April, the first of Philip's known compositions 
 was performed at Wanstead, in Epping Forest, 
 which the Earl of Leicester had lately bought, and 
 where he entertained the Queen during her summer 
 progress. 
 
 From some cause or another about this time, 
 Philip seems to have fancied that some private 
 affair, which he had written to his father, had leaked 
 out, and he hastily jumped to the conclusion that 
 Edmund Molineux, his father's secretary, was the 
 culprit. With that impetuosity of temper which 
 was one of his failings, he wrote him an angry and 
 ill-considered letter, threatening to thrust his dagger 
 into him. 
 
 Molineux wrote back a most dignified reply, and 
 Philip must have found out that his accusations 
 were false, and have apologised, for the old friendship 
 was renewed between them, and Philip left him an 
 annuity in his will. 
 
 In the autumn of the same year. Sir Henry finally 
 resigned his office in Ireland, and returned to 
 
32 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE, 
 
 England. He, his wife and Philip seem to have 
 passed part of the winter with the Queen at Hampton 
 Court. In January, 1579, Prince Casimir came over 
 to England and Languet accompanied him. Languet 
 spent three weeks in England, and visited Penshurst. 
 This was the last time he and Philip met. Languet 
 died in 1581, at Antwerp. 
 
 The Due d'Anjou renewed his suit for the hand of 
 Queen Elizabeth. The Court was divided into two 
 parties, and it has been surmised that the jealousy 
 of these two factions may have had something to do 
 with the quarrel, which took place in September, 
 between Philip and the Earl of Oxford, the husband 
 of Anne Cecil. By reason of its political associations 
 this dispute of Philip's, though insignificant in itself, 
 appears to have acquired an European notoriety. 
 After it, Philip took bolder ground, and wrote a letter 
 to the Queen, protesting against an alliance with the 
 Due d'Anjou, and stating his reasons. The Queen 
 was very angry, and Philip was banished from Court. 
 He retired to his sister's, at Wilton. Philip and 
 his sister, Mary, seem always to have been greatly 
 attached to each other. They had many tastes in 
 common, and now they began their joint translation 
 of the Psalms of David, and Philip commenced the 
 writing of his '^Arcadia," a pastoral medley, which, 
 though the fashion of it has passed away, and, marred 
 as it is, by its faults of extravagant language and 
 affectation, is yet, in many parts strangely beautiful, 
 shadowing forth as it does his tenderness and child- 
 like simplicity of heart. 
 
 In the autumn, Philip was again in London at his 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHUKST PLACE. 33 
 
 Uncle's, Leicester House, and from thence is dated 
 a long letter addressed to his brother, giving Sweet 
 Robin " much good advice on the study of history, 
 mathematics and horsemanship, not forgetting also 
 to warn him to have a care of his diet, and to hold 
 up his heart in courage and virtue. Truly," he 
 says, great part of my comfort is in you." 
 
 On New Year's Day, 1581, Philip presented the 
 Queen with three characteristic presents, a whip, to 
 show he had been scourged, a chain, to chain him to 
 Her Majesty, and a heart of gold, to show he was 
 now entirely hers. Perhaps it was on this occasion, 
 as a mark of her forgiveness, that she presented him 
 with the portrait of herself, by Zucchero, which is 
 still at Penshurst. 
 
 The Queen's marriage with the Due d'Anjou 
 appeared now to be definitely decided on ; and on 
 the iGth of April there arrived in London an Embass}^ 
 headed by Francis of Bourbon, to make arrangements 
 for it. Opposition to the match had been tried in 
 vain, and her courtiers, finding they could not stop 
 it, decided that the only course to pursue would be 
 to acquiesce in it. Philip played a conspicuous part 
 in the entertainments which followed, and joined in 
 a grand assault-at-arms. 
 
 It was most probably about this time that the 
 marriage of Lord Rich with Penelope Devereux took 
 place at her guardian's, the Earl of Huntingdon's 
 house in Newcastle. What had caused the breaking 
 off of her engagement to Philip has never been made 
 clear. She herself said many years afterwards that 
 she was married to Lord Rich by force. After her 
 
 p. D 
 
34 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE, 
 
 marriage, as before, Philip continued to celebrate 
 her in verse as Stella," and his love sonnets com- 
 prised in '^Astrophel and Stella," are amongst the 
 finest in the English language. 
 
 The Due d'Anjou came over in November to plead 
 his own cause, and vv^hen he left London on the ist 
 of February, 1582, Philip was amongst the gentlemen 
 who escorted him as far as Antwerp. Early in 
 March, Philip returned to England. 
 
 Lord Grey de Wilton had been appointed Lord 
 Deputy of Ireland on the resignation of Sir Henry. 
 He was recalled in August, 1582, and again Sir 
 Henry was urged to resume his post for the fourth 
 time. But he declared he would not go unless his 
 son, Philip, was allowed to go with him. ^'I am 
 now fifty-four j^ears of age, toothless and trembling, 
 being £s,ooo in debt, yea, and ^30,000 worse than I 
 was at the time of my most dear King and master, 
 King Edward VL I have not from the crown of 
 England of my own getting so much ground as I can 
 cover with my foot. All my fees amount not to 100 
 marks a year ; dura est conditio servonim,'' Philip 
 was then in high favour with the Queen, and she 
 would not let him leave her. So the project fell 
 through, and Sir Henry did not go to Ireland again. 
 Philip was much with his father at this time, and at 
 the end of the year he paid a visit to Wilton, and 
 then was again at Court. On the ist of January, 
 1583, he was made a knight, and is henceforth known 
 as Sir Philip Sidney, knight, of Penshurst. 
 
 Sir Philip had for some years taken great interest 
 in the discovery of America by Frobisher, and in the 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 35 
 
 spring of 1583 many projects of colonization were 
 talked of, and now he received from the Queen 
 almost the first charter for going out as a colonist. 
 
 In September, Sir Philip married Frances, daughter 
 of Sir Francis Walsingham. She was then about 
 sixteen, and Sir Philip twenty-nine. Of the pre- 
 liminaries of this marriage little is known. Sir 
 Philip must have been acquainted with Mistress 
 Frances all her life. A connection existed between 
 them, a sister of Sir Francis having married a first 
 cousin of Sir Henry Sidney. Sir Henry speaks ^'of 
 the joyful love and great liking between our most 
 dear and sweet children, whom God bless." He 
 begs to be commended most heartily to my good 
 lady cousin and sister, your wife, and bless and buss 
 our sweet daughter." 
 
 As usual the Queen did not approve of the 
 marriage, but **she passed over the offence," and 
 two and a-half years later she rode up from Richmond 
 to London on purpose to be godmother to Sir Philip's 
 daughter, who was called Elizabeth after her, and 
 she made a present of one hundred shillings to the 
 nurse and midwife. During this time. Sir Philip 
 seems to have been a great deal at Walsingham 
 House and Barn Elms with his wife's parents. 
 
 In the autumn of 1584, Sir Philip sat in the House 
 of Commons, where he helped to forward a Bill for 
 Raleigh's expedition to Virginia. It was his cherished 
 wish to join some private enterprise to America, and 
 in the summer of 1585, his project took definite 
 shape. He 'Svon thirty gentlemen of great blood 
 and state here in England, every man to sell ;^ioo 
 
 D 2 
 
36 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 worth of land to fit out a fleet." The plan was kept 
 secret. Sir Francis Drake was to start first and 
 Philip was to follow him ; but the plan miscarried. 
 The Queen would not let Philip go, and it was 
 decided that instead he should go to the Netherlands 
 under his uncle, the Earl of Leicester. A treaty had 
 just been concluded between the Queen and the 
 Netherlands, by which she had promised to send 
 over an army to help the Dutch in their struggle 
 against Spain ; they to pay all expenses and the 
 Queen holding the towns of Flushing and Brill, 
 and the Castle of Rammekins as a security for the 
 liquidation of the debt. 
 
 Sir Philip held Her Majesty's Commission as 
 Governor of Flushing, and set out on Tuesday the 
 i6th of November. He was followed three weeks 
 later by the Earl of Leicester, who took with him 
 Thomas Sidney, Sir Philip's youngest brother. 
 
 Sir Philip had no easy task, hampered as he was 
 by the Earl of Leicester's incompetency as General, 
 by want of troops and money, and the Queen was 
 ready to interpret everything to his disadvantage. 
 The campaign dragged slowly on. Lady Sidney 
 joined her husband at Flushing. 
 
 Besides public anxieties, Philip had his own private 
 sorrows. On the 5th of May his father died at the 
 Bishop's Palace at Worcester. He was nearly fifty- 
 seven years of age and during six-and-twenty years 
 had been Lord President of Wales. His body was 
 brought with great pomp from the Cathedral at 
 Worcester, by way of London, to Penshurst and 
 there interred. His heart was transferred to Ludlow 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 37 
 
 and deposited in an urn by the side of his daughter, 
 Ambrosia. 
 
 Fulke Greville says of him: ^^Sir Henry was a 
 man of excellent natural wit, large heart and sweet 
 conversation, and such a Governor as sought not to 
 make an end of the State in himself, but to plant his 
 own end in the prosperity of the country. Witness 
 his sound establishments, both in Wales and Ireland, 
 where his memory is worthily grateful to this day." 
 Yet Sir Henry has received scant recognition of his 
 services, either at the hands of his contemporaries, 
 or of posterity. No monument has been erected to 
 his memory. His name has been overshadowed by 
 that of his more famous son. 
 
 He built the Gatehouse at Penshurst, and the 
 whole fa9ade of the house looking north and west, 
 as far as the Buckingham Building. The house here 
 forms three sides of a quadrangle, and is called the 
 President's Court, from the inscription on the tower 
 at the end : 
 
 " Sir Henrie Sydney Knight of the 
 Most Noble Order of the Garter, 
 Lorde President of Wales, and the 
 Marches of the same. One of the 
 Qvenes Maiesties most honorable 
 Privye Counsell and Late Lorde 
 Deputie Genera 11 of the Realme 
 Of Ireland, Anno Domini 1579 " 
 
 The Gatehouse and a small portion of brickwork 
 next to it, another small portion, adjoining the Buck- 
 ingham Building, and the tower at the end, on which 
 is the inscription, have not been touched, but the 
 
38 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 remainder of Sir Henry Sidney's building has been 
 partly rebuilt and greatly modernised. 
 
 Tradition has it that Queen Elizabeth visited 
 Penshurst and was entertained in the State Rooms, 
 one of them being called Queen Elizabeth's With- 
 drawing Room, and that it was furnished for her 
 with the gilded chairs and couch, and the hangings 
 on the walls of applique work, which it now contains. 
 More likely this furniture came from some house 
 of Sir Henry's in London, and had been there used 
 by the Queen. The crystal chandeliers in the Ball- 
 room are said to have been presented by Queen 
 Elizabeth to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. 
 They came from Venice, and were the first crystal 
 chandeliers seen in England. 
 
 In his will, dated the 8th January, 1552, Sir Henry 
 constitutes his eldest son, Philip, his sole executor. 
 He leaves certain properties in Lincoln and York- 
 shire to his two sons, Robert and Thomas. All his 
 plate, furniture, etc., at Penshurst, and the residue 
 of his estate, are left to his son Philip. 
 
 Affairs in the Netherlands were progressing most 
 unfavourably. On the 7th of July, Sir Philip achieved 
 his one success in the campaign in the taking of 
 the town of Axel, a strong place in Zealand, a few 
 miles from the southern bank of the Scheldt. 
 
 A fresh domestic grief befell Sir Philip. On the 
 gth of August he lost his mother, of whom he had 
 said, " that, for his own part, he had had nothing but 
 light from her." We may well believe that grief for 
 the death of the husband, to whom she was so 
 tenderly devoted, hastened her own end. During 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 39 
 
 their thirty-five years of married life we read of 
 nothing but mutual love and esteem on either side. 
 '^Old Lord Harry and his old Moll" had hard 
 measure meted out to them, but they never lost 
 confidence in each other. Edmund Molineux wrote, 
 
 She ended this life and left the world most con- 
 fidently, and to God, no doubt, most gloriously, 
 to the exceeding comfort of all of them, which are 
 not few, that loved or honoured her, or the great and 
 renowned house whereof she was descended." 
 
 She was interred in the Sidney Chapel by the side 
 of her husband. A monument was erected to her 
 memory, but no trace of it remains. 
 
 When Sir PhiHp received the news of his mother's 
 death, he little knew that he himself had only a few 
 more weeks to live. He was now, on the 4th of 
 September, before Zutphen, and he wrote to Sir 
 Francis Walsingham, saying, Zutphen can now 
 little harm us, for it is surrounded on every side." 
 The Earl of Leicester had received intelligence that 
 a large quantity of provisions was waiting a few 
 miles up the river, ready to be smuggled into the 
 town at the first opportunity. He was determined 
 to prevent this. Hence arose the battle. The morn- 
 ing of Thursday, the 22nd of September, was very 
 misty, so misty that nothing could be seen ten paces 
 off. Sir Philip, with a party of about two hundred 
 horsemen, advanced to the very walls of the town. 
 Then suddenly the fog dispersed, and Sir Philip and 
 his little company were exposed to view, and found 
 themselves in great danger. Very gallantly they 
 fought. Sir Philip's horse was killed under him. 
 
40 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 Having gone into the field stoutly armed, as he 
 should be, he had encountered Sir William Pelham, 
 the Lord Marshal of the Camp, more lightly armed 
 than he himself. Not to be outdone by him in 
 courage, he foolishly threw off his cuisses. Though 
 thus exposed, he mounted a fresh horse and joined 
 in a second charge. Then there was a third, joined 
 in by all the Englishmen on the field. In the last 
 charge Sir Philip was among the wounded. A shot 
 from a concealed musket entered his left leg at some 
 distance above the knee, and, cleaving the bone, 
 glanced upw^ards far into the thigh. His fresh horse, 
 being untrained, galloped aw^ay with him, and Fulke 
 Greville writes, so forced him to forsake the field, 
 but not his back, as the noblest and fittest bier 
 to carry a martial commander to his grave. For 
 which sad progress, passing along by the rest of the 
 army where his uncle, the general, was, and being 
 thirsty with excess of bleeding, he called for drink, 
 which was presently brought him ; but as he was 
 putting the bottle to his mouth he saw a poor soldier 
 carried along, who had eaten his last at the same 
 feast, ghastly casting up his eyes at the bottle, which 
 Sir Philip perceiving, took it from his mouth before 
 he drank and delivered it to the poor man with these 
 words, ' Thy necessity is greater than mine.' And 
 when he had pledged this poor soldier he was 
 presently carried to Arnheim, where the principal 
 surgeons of the camp attended for him." 
 
 How God will dispose of him, I know not," 
 wrote the Earl of Leicester next day to Sir Thomas 
 Heneage ; but I must needs greatly fear the worst, 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 41 
 
 the blow is so dangerous a place, and so great. 
 Yet did I never hear of any man that did abide the 
 dressing and setting of his bone better than he did. 
 I would you had stood by to hear his most loyal 
 speeches to Her Majesty, his constant mind to the 
 cause, his loving care over me and his most resolute 
 determination for death, not a jot appalled for his 
 blow, that is the most grievous that ever I saw with 
 such a bullet, riding so long, a mile and a-half, upon 
 his horse ere he came to the camp, and not ceasing 
 to speak still of Her Majesty ; being glad if his hurt 
 and death might in any way honour her, for hers he 
 was whilst he lived, and God's he was sure to be 
 if he died." 
 
 For nearly a month Philip lay at Arnheim. Fulke 
 Greville says the surgeons had at hrst such confident 
 hope of his recovery that their joy overcame their 
 discretion, and they spread the glad intelligence to 
 the Queen and all his noble friends in England, 
 where it was received, not as private, but as public, 
 news. 
 
 It is doubtful whether Sir Philip himself ever 
 shared the hopes of his friends. On the last day of 
 September he sent for his friend, George Giffard, 
 a learned divine and famous preacher, with whom 
 he held long and serious conversation. 
 
 His wife, as soon as she heard of the disaster, had 
 hurried to Arnheim from Flushing. His brother 
 Robert, too, came from Rammekins, the Government 
 of which had been assigned him by Sir Philip. 
 
 Fulke Greville relates that with long and constant 
 lying, his shoulder-bones were worn through the 
 
42 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 skin. One morning, on lifting the clothes, he smelt 
 a noisome savour, differing from oils and salves. 
 This he rightly guessed to be the commencement 
 of mortification in the limb. He did not fear to die, 
 he said, but he was afraid lest the pangs of death 
 should rob him of his understanding. This, however, 
 was not the case. Not long after, he lift up his eyes 
 and hands, uttering these words, ' I would not change 
 my joy for the empire of the world.' " 
 
 On the evening of Sunday, the i6th of October, 
 after he had been ill for twenty-four days, he suddenly 
 raised himself in bed, and called for a piece of paper, 
 on which he wrote in Latin the following note to 
 his friend, John Wier, the chief physician of the 
 Duke of Cleves, and the famous pupil of Cornelius 
 Agrippa. 
 
 My dear friend Wier, come, come. I am in 
 peril of my life and long for you. Neither living 
 nor dead, shall I be ungrateful. I cannot write 
 more, but beg you urgently to hurry. Farewell, 
 Your Ph. Sidney." 
 
 But alas ! the physician did not arrive in time. 
 Several days passed away. He had made his will 
 on September the 30th. This he now caused to 
 be read over to him, adding a codicil, in which he 
 remembered many friends and servants. He 
 appointed as his executrix ''My most dear and loving 
 wife. Dame Frances Sidney," to whom he left one- 
 half of all his manors, lands, etc. He bequeathed 
 to his daughter, Elizabeth, ;£'4,ooo for her portion, 
 and he authorised Sir Francis Walsingham and his 
 brother, Robert, to sell as much of his land in the 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 43 
 
 counties of Lincoln, Suffolk or Southampton, as 
 would pay all his debts, as well as those of his father, 
 beseeching them to hasten the same, and to pay the 
 creditors with all possible speed. 
 
 Before daybreak on Monday, George Giffard came 
 to the bedside and asked Sir Philip how he did. 
 
 I feel myself more weak," he answered. About 
 noon it became evident the end was approaching. 
 His brother, Robert, gave way to his grief. Sir 
 Philip, in taking leave of him, gently admonished 
 him in these words: ^'Love my memory, cherish 
 my friends. Their faith to me may assure you they 
 are honest. But above all, govern your will by the 
 Will and Word of your Creator. In me, beholding 
 the end of this World, with all her vanities." Then 
 he begged those around him to lead his brother away. 
 
 A little later in the day, his friends asked him for 
 a fresh token of his confidence in God's mercy. He 
 could not speak, but straightway raised both his 
 hands, and placed them together on his breast, and 
 held them there in the attitude of prayer. After a 
 few minutes more he had ceased to breathe. 
 
 Eight days after Sir Philip Sidney's death the 
 Earl of Leicester wrote to Sir Francis Walsingham : 
 
 Sir, the grief I have taken for the loss of my dear 
 son and yours would not suffer me to write sooner 
 of those ill news unto you, especially being in so 
 good hope, so very little time before, of his good 
 recovery. But he is with the Lord, whose will be 
 done." He continues, '*your sorrowful daughter 
 and mine is with me here at Utrecht, till she 
 may recover some strength, for she is wonderfully 
 
44 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 overthrown through her long care since the beginning 
 of her husband's hurt." 
 
 All England went into mourning. It was 
 accounted a sin," we are told, *'for any gentleman 
 of quality to appear at Court or City in any light or 
 gaudy apparel." 
 
 On Monday, the 24th of October, Sir Philip's body, 
 having been embalmed, was removed from Arnheim 
 to Flushing, and remained there another week. It 
 was then conveyed to the water's edge, followed by 
 1,200 English soldiers, walking three abreast, trailing 
 their swords and muskets in the dust, and by a vast 
 concourse of Dutch burghers. It was placed on board 
 The Black Pinnace, Sir Philip Sidney's own vessel, 
 all draped in black, and was accompanied out of the 
 port by other vessels, also in mourning. On Friday, 
 the 5th of November, the mournful cargo was landed 
 at Tower Hill on the Thames, and thence borne to a 
 house in the Minories, where it waited three months 
 more for interment. The reason for this delay is 
 curious. Immediately after his father's death. Sir 
 Philip had sent Sir Francis Walsingham a power of 
 attorney to sell a portion of his land to satisfy his 
 poor creditors. But nothing was done before his 
 death. Then, when Sir Philip's will reached 
 England, some informalities were found in it touch- 
 ing the sale of the land. Sir Francis Walsingham 
 writes to the Earl of Leicester abroad, saying, that 
 it greatly afflicted him, that a gentleman, that 
 hath lived so unspotted a reputation, and had so 
 great cares to see all men satisfied, should be so 
 exposed to the outcry of his creditors. This hard 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 45 
 
 estate of this noble gentleman, maketh me stay to 
 take order of his burial until 3^our lordship return." 
 If this were intended as a hint, that the Earl of 
 Leicester should defray the expenses of his nephew's 
 funeral, it w^as of no avail. It was commonly reported 
 that, in the end, Sir Francis Walsingham paid the 
 funeral expenses out of his own pocket, and had to 
 wait until he had saved sufficient money to do so. 
 
 At length, on Thursday, the i6th of February, 
 1587, the funeral took place, and no pains were 
 spared to make the pageant worthy of the illustrious 
 dead. The engraved roll of the funeral procession, 
 drawn and invented by Thomas Lant, is preserved 
 at Penshurst ; and as representatives from every 
 class of society in England attended the funeral, the 
 roll is a most interesting study of the costumes of 
 the period. More than seven hundred mourners 
 took part in the procession. The streets through 
 which it passed were so crowded that it was difficult 
 to make way for it. 
 
 The coffin was covered with velvet, and the 
 corners of the pall were held by four gentlemen, ''his 
 dear loving friends," amongst whom were Mr. Fulke 
 Greville and Mr. Edward Dyer. Behind the coffin 
 walked the chief mourner, Mr. Robert Sidney. 
 
 At the end of the roll, we are told " the Great 
 West door of St. Paul's, where the mourners entered, 
 was kept by some of Her Majesty's bodyguard, and 
 when the sermon was ended, the offertory and other 
 ceremonies finished, and his body interred, the 
 soldiers in the churchyard did by a double volley, 
 give unto his famous life and death a martial Vale." 
 
46 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 The Cathedral was draped with black, and on the 
 canopy, under which the coffin rested in front of the 
 Altar, was written, '^Blessed are the Dead, that die 
 in the Lord," which formed the text of his funeral 
 sermon. He was interred in the Lady Chapel 
 behind the Altar, all of which was, of course, destroyed 
 in the Great Fire of London in 1666. 
 
 I cannot do better, in closing this brief sketch of 
 Sir Philip Sidney's life, than to quote the words of 
 Camden, Rest then in Peace, Oh, Sidney, we will 
 not celebrate your memory with tears but admiration ; 
 whatever we loved in you ; whatever we admired in 
 you, still continues, and will continue in the memories 
 of man, the revolutions of ages, and the annals of 
 time. Many, as inglorious, and ignoble, are buried 
 in Oblivion, but Sidney shall live to all Posterity, 
 for as the Grecian poet has it, ' Virtue 's beyond 
 the reach of Fate.' " 
 
 A few letters, some signatures to bonds and bills, 
 and a lock of his hair of a reddish-brown tint are 
 amongst the treasures preserved at Penshurst. In the 
 collection of armour is the helmet surmounted by 
 the porcupine carried before his coffin. 
 
 Besides the Arcadia" and ^^Astrophel and Stella," 
 Sir Philip wrote the '^Defence of Poesy" and various 
 miscellaneous verse, as well as two or three transla- 
 tions from the French. When on his deathbed, he 
 composed a poem called/' La Cuisse ormpue," which 
 has been lost. 
 
 His only child, Elizabeth, married Roger, Earl of 
 Rutland, and died, without issue, w^hen she was 
 thirty, and her uncle. Sir Robert Sidney, became 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 47 
 
 her heir-at-law. Dame Frances Sidney married 
 again in 1590, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. 
 After his execution in 1601, she became the wife of 
 Richard de Burgh, Earl of Clanricarde. There is a 
 portrait of her with her daughter, Elizabeth, as a 
 child, and another of her in a curious widow's dress, 
 holding a miniature of her first husband in her hand. 
 
 Failing the birth of a posthumous son. Sir Philip 
 Sidney had bequeathed his estates to his next brother, 
 Robert, who, at the time of Sir Philip's death, was 
 nearly twenty-three years of age. Like Sir Philip, 
 he too had been sent abroad to finish his education, 
 and had been placed under the careful eye of Hubert 
 Languet. 
 
 In one of Sir Henry's letters to his son at Stras- 
 burg he writes thus: ^^Our Lord bless you, my sweet 
 boy. Perge, perge, my Robin, in the filial fear of 
 God, and the loving direction of your most loving 
 brother. . . . Pray daily, speak nothing but truly ; 
 do no dishonest thing for any respect. Love 
 Mr. Languet with reverence, unto whom in most 
 hearty manner commend me." Robert was very 
 extravagant, a taste he shared with his eldest 
 brother, and his father had frequent cause to repri- 
 mand him on this account. He appears always to 
 have been of a martial disposition and to have 
 thirsted for a soldier's life. He writes to his father, 
 from Prague, that his eldest brother had written, 
 recommending that if there were any good warrs " 
 he should go to them. As yet," he adds sorrow- 
 fully, I have heard of none." He seems to have 
 profited by his stay on the Continent, for he became 
 
48 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 proficient in the German and Dutch languages, and 
 Languet says, he made great progress in Latin. 
 
 On September 23rd, 1584, he married, at St. 
 Donats, in Glamorganshire, the house of her cousin 
 and guardian, Sir Edward Stradling, Barbara Gamage, 
 the heiress of Coity Castle, in the same county. 
 This estate had come to her through her ancestor, Sir 
 Payne de Turbervile, the third of the twelve knights 
 who came into Wales with Robert FitzHamon when 
 he conquered Glamorganshire. It w^as no wonder 
 that a young lady of such birth and fortune (for she 
 was accounted one of the wealthiest heiresses of the 
 day) should have had many suitors for her hand. 
 Most likely Robert had made her acquaintance at 
 Ludlow, when he was there with his father. The 
 courtship seems to have been secretly favoured by 
 the Earl and Countess of Pembroke, though Sir 
 Walter Raleigh had sent a special message from 
 Court, warning the guardian of Barbara, that no 
 marriage was to be contracted without the Queen's 
 consent. Disregarding the warning, the marriage 
 was solemnized in the presence of the Earl of Pem- 
 broke and many others. And only just in time, for 
 a few hours after the ceremony had taken place, a 
 messenger from Queen Elizabeth arrived in hot haste, 
 bearing the Royal command that no marriage should 
 take place and that Robert Sidney was to return 
 forthwith to London. 
 
 This marriage, which had taken place under such 
 romantic circumstances, seems on the w^hole to have 
 turned out better than might have been expected 
 from the proverb, Marry in haste and repent at 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 49 
 
 leisure." Barbara Gamage, though possessed of an 
 exacting disposition and somewhat shrewish temper, 
 was really a devoted wife and mother and a clever 
 and capable woman. During her husband's long 
 and frequent absences abroad, she managed his affairs 
 at home with much ability, and he reposed the 
 utmost confidence in her. Whenever he was absent 
 he wrote her long letters, addressing her as Sweet- 
 hart" and Sweet wench," and signing himself, 
 
 Your assured loving husband." 
 
 Of her replies to these letters, none have been 
 preserved. He occasionally mentions having received 
 a letter from her, but most generally any questions 
 were answered by the steward, Rowland Whyte, who 
 kept Sir Robert ati fait of all domestic events. 
 
 We learn from Ben Jonson, in his Ode on Pens- 
 hurst," that she was a notable housekeeper, and could 
 not be taken unawares : — 
 
 "That found King James, when hunting late this way 
 With his brave son, the Prince, they saw the fires 
 Shine bright on every hearth, as the desires 
 Of thy Penates had been set on flame 
 To entertain them ; or the country came, 
 With all their zeal, to warm their welcome now. 
 What (great, I will not say, but) sudden cheer 
 Didst thou then make 'em. And what praise was heap'd 
 On thy good lady, then ! Who therein reap'd 
 The just reward of her high huswifry, 
 To have her linen, plate and all things nigh, 
 When she was far : and not a room, but drest, 
 As if it had expected such a guest." ^ 
 
 ^ A room in the Gatehouse, over the Porch, goes by the 
 name of King James' Room. 
 
50 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PESSIIURST PLACE. 
 
 The year after his marriage, Robert was at last 
 able to gratify his military instincts, and to embark 
 in a good warr." 
 
 He set out with the Earl of Leicester on the 8th 
 December, 1585, for Flushing, where Sir Philip had 
 preceded him. He was with his brother at the 
 engagement at Zutphen, and for his valour on the 
 field of battle was knighted by his uncle. We have 
 seen how he w^as present at his brother's deathbed and 
 at his funeral. 
 
 In 1588, he w^as constituted Governor of Flushing, 
 a post he held for twenty-eight 3^ears. 
 
 In the autumn of this year, Robert Dudley, Earl 
 of Leicester, died in the fifty-seventh year of his age. 
 He was buried with his ancestors in the Beauchamp 
 Chapel in St. Mary's Church, at Warwick. He left 
 no legitimate issue, and bequeathed to his beloved 
 godson and nephew. Sir Robert Sidney, some farms 
 in Kent, His sword, decorated with the Bear and 
 Ragged Staff on the hilt, is in the collection of 
 armour at Penshurst. It is mentioned in the 
 inventory of Kenilworth, which is at Penshurst. 
 
 His brother, Ambrose Dudley, the ^^good" Earl 
 of Warwick, died in 1589, without issue, and Sir 
 Robert Sidney then became the heir-at-law of his 
 two uncles, and the sole representative of the 
 Dudleys. 
 
 Many are the glimpses we gain into the social life 
 of these times from the letters of Rowland Whyte, 
 the steward to Sir Robert Sidney. Not only did the 
 former keep him informed of all domestic affairs, but 
 he keeps him up in the poHtical life of the day, and 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 51 
 
 adds many little bits of gossip, which he had picked 
 up about Court. 
 
 Of the Earl and Countess of Pembroke we have 
 constant mention. The two families lived on terms 
 of the greatest intimacy, and Sir Robert and his wife 
 had lodgings in Baynard's Castle, on St. Paul's 
 Wharf in London, and made it their home, whenever 
 they went to London. One request of the Countess 
 of Pembroke to her brother, when he was at Flushing, 
 sounds rather strange. She begs him to send her 
 some of the excellent tobacco which she knows 
 he has. 
 
 On the ist of December, 1595, the third son, 
 Robert, is born. A few days before my lady was 
 taken ill of the measles, and the child is also full 
 of the measles. ^'But they keep him very warm 
 and he cries lustily." The christening is delayed, 
 because Lady Rich, who was to be godmother, had a 
 gathering on her forehead. 
 
 My Lady Huntingdon says, that the Queen often 
 speaks of the children, and said she never saw any 
 child come towards her with a better grace than 
 Mrs. Katherine did." Then again, we hear that *^Mrs. 
 Mary and Mrs. Katherine do profit much in their 
 books. Mr. William dances a galliard in his doublet 
 and hose, Mrs. Philip can go alone." They are all 
 brought before us in the picture, which was painted 
 about this time, of Lady Sidney and her six eldest 
 children, who, in their quaint costumes of hoops and 
 ruffs, look like little old men and women. 
 
 The end of the year 1596 another child is born, 
 and is christened on St. David's Day, the 25th of 
 
 E 2 
 
52 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 February, 1597. My young master says his little 
 sister shall wear a leek the day of our christening. 
 She was called Bridget, and Mrs. Bess Sidney, Sir 
 Philip's daughter, is godmother." 
 
 Young Mr. Robert seems to have been a special 
 favourite with R. Whyte. He says, writing from 
 Baynard's Castle: All your children are in health ; 
 the three greater and little Mr. Robert were at 
 Court, and in the Presence at St. George's Feast, 
 where they were much respected. I brought up 
 Mr. Robert, when the knights were at dinner, who 
 played the wag so prettily and boldly, that all took 
 pleasure in him, but above the rest my Lord 
 Admiral, who gave him sweetmeats, and prated with 
 his honour beyond measure." 
 
 Mrs. PhiHp attended on the Queen, and put her 
 father to an extraordinary great charge beyond the 
 £^300 a year which each of his daughters cost him. 
 Even in those days there seem to have been 
 domestic troubles. We learn that the cook gave 
 Lady Sidney much discontentment by his intolerable 
 obstinacy and malapert behaviour. So Rowland 
 Whyte, who was never at a loss, clapped him in the 
 stocks until he had submitted himself unto his 
 mistress. The servants from Kent will not stay in 
 London above three days, and then they steal home 
 again." Lady Sidney delighted in Penshurst, for 
 Rowland Whyte writes : My Lady takes great 
 pleasure in this place, and surely I never saw a 
 sweeter. All things finely prospering about it. The 
 garden is well kept." 
 
 On the 4th May, 1606, Sir Robert Sidney was 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 53 
 
 advanced to the dignity of Viscount Lisle. In 16 16, 
 he was reHeved of the Governorship of Flushing. 
 He had always looked upon his post there as banish- 
 ment, and he seems to have greatly preferred living 
 at Court, where he was Chamberlain to Queen Anne. 
 On his return, he was installed a Knight of the 
 Garter at Windsor, and two years later was created 
 Earl of Leicester. 
 
 Towards the end of the year 1616 took place the 
 marriage of Lord Leicester's now only surviving son, 
 Robert, to Lady Dorothy Percy, eldest daughter of 
 Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. Lady 
 Leicester presented the bride with a cupboard 
 of plate." 
 
 Lady Dorothy possessed much of the beauty of 
 her more famous sister, Lucy, Countess of Carlisle, 
 and is described as being a woman of wit, good 
 breeding and excellent economy, but of an imperious 
 and haughty temper. 
 
 Lady Leicester lived to see the birth of her son's 
 two eldest children, Dorothy and Philip. Her death 
 was somewhat sudden, as we gather from a letter 
 written to her on the 2nd of May, 1621, by her 
 husband from Whitehall, at which time she was 
 apparently in her usual good health. On the margin 
 of this letter is written by Lord Leicester this laconic 
 note : Lady Leicester was buried the 26th of this 
 May, 1621." Her body was embalmed at the cost of 
 £100, and she was buried in the Sidney Chapel. 
 
 Four months later Mary Sidney, Countess of Pem- 
 broke, died. She was noted for her beauty and the 
 literary talents and tastes which she possessed in 
 
54 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 common with her brother, Sir Phihp Sidney. To 
 her he dedicated the ''Arcadia," which he wrote at 
 her desire. She was in point of time the first 
 EngHsh authoress of repute. Spenser celebrated 
 her in verse as '' Urania." 
 
 On her was written the celebrated Epitaph, 
 generally ascribed to Ben Jonson, but more probably 
 written by William Browne, the author of '' Brit- 
 tannia's Pastorals " : — 
 
 " Underneath this sable hearse 
 Lies the subject of all verse, 
 Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother, 
 Death ! ere thou hast slain another 
 Learned, fair and good as she, 
 Time shall throw his dart at thee ! " 
 
 There is a portrait of her by Marc Geeraert. 
 
 After the death of Lady Leicester, Lord and Lady 
 Lisle lived principally at Penshurst, and there most 
 of their children were born, but we search the 
 registers in vain for the name of Algernon. From 
 some writings at Penshurst, it seems clear he was 
 born at Baynard's Castle, the end of November or 
 beginning of December, 1622. In a book of accounts 
 of the following year occurs this entry: For the 
 churching of my Lady and the christening of Mr. 
 Algernon, 15/-." 
 
 There is little more to record of Robert Sidney, 
 Earl of Leicester. He outlived the King, who had 
 raised him to such high honours and bestowed on 
 him so many marks of his favour, by some fifteen 
 months. He attended the coronation of King 
 Charles L, and the summons is still preserved. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE, 55 
 
 On the 25th of April before his death, he married, 
 secondly, Sarah, daughter and heir of William 
 Blount, and widow of Sir Thomas Smythe. He died 
 at Penshurst on the 13th of July following, and was 
 buried there. 
 
 ■ Lord Leicester built the Picture Gallery on which 
 are to be seen the Sidney and the Gamage crests, 
 the Porcupine and Griffin, and the brick walls round 
 the garden, also the stables, the cost of all which 
 came to ;^6oo. There is a picture of him by Van 
 Somer in his coronation robes. An ebony cabinet 
 decorated with bas-reliefs in silver and panels by 
 Polemberg, Berghem, Both and Peters, is shown as 
 having been presented to him hy King James L 
 
 At the time of his father's death Robert, Lord 
 Lisle, was thirty years of age. He had served in the 
 Low Countries and had already made his mark in 
 Parliament as a man of sound judgment, eminent 
 abilities and great learning, w^ell versed in the politics 
 of the day. 
 
 For some years after he had succeeded to the title 
 he lived quietly at Penshurst until he was appointed 
 Ambassador Extraordinary to the King of Denmark 
 in 1632. After his return from this Embassy he 
 spent the next four years at Penshurst. He occupied 
 himself with his garden and looking after his estates. 
 No doubt it was he who planted the Lime Walk as 
 an avenue leading from the house to the stables, 
 which stood in the meadow below the garden close 
 to the old fishpond. With the exception of two or 
 three trees, which have been blown down, the Lime 
 Walk is still perfect. He kept a very strict household. 
 
56 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 and drew up a set of rules for the servants to be 
 observed in his house. To ensure punctuahty he put 
 up a bell on v^hich is the inscription, Robert, Earle 
 of Leycester, 1647," which is still to be seen. 
 
 Hitherto the Sidney family had had no London 
 house, but now the King granted Lord Leicester a 
 plot of ground near Covent Garden, on part of which 
 he erected a large house called Leicester House. 
 There are two pictures of it at Penshurst. This 
 house remained in the possession of the family till 
 towards the end of the eighteenth century ; not long 
 afterwards it was pulled down. 
 
 In 1636, Lord Leicester was appointed Ambassador 
 to the King of France, and he took with him his two 
 elder sons, Philip and Algernon. 
 
 Lady Leicester kept up a lively correspondence 
 with her husband in Paris, and her letters are 
 remarkable, not only for their shrewd wit, but also 
 as reflecting the manners and customs of the day. 
 There are frequent enquiries after Algernon. She 
 also writes much of her daughter ''Doll," as Dorothy 
 was affectionately called, and of the suitors for her 
 band. 
 
 Lady Dorothy had been early celebrated in verse, 
 under the name of '' Sacharissa," by the poet 
 Edmund Waller. That he ever assumed the position 
 of a lover, or looked on her in any other light than 
 as the subject of his song, there is no reason to 
 believe. 
 
 At last a marriage was arranged between her and 
 Henry, Lord Spencer, afterwards created Earl of 
 Sunderland^ and took place at Penshurst on the 20th 
 
Philip, Lord Lisle, Robert and Algernon Sidney. 
 
 (by dobson.) 
 
 [ l o face /. 56. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 57 
 
 of July, 1639. Their happy married Hfe was of brief 
 duration, for Lord Sunderland fell at the battle of 
 Newbury. After the marriage, Lady Leicester joined 
 her husband in Paris, and there was born in 1641, 
 Henry, afterwards Earl of Romney, the thirteenth 
 and youngest child of Lord and Lady Leicester. 
 
 Lord Leicester returned from his Embassy in 1641. 
 He says in his Journal : *^A11 that winter I stayed in 
 London till the 25th of July, 1642. . . . The troubles 
 increasing in the kingdom, which was now divided 
 into the King's quarters and the Parliament's 
 quarters ; from Wales, I could not receive my rents 
 after one Lady Day, which was 1642, which was in 
 the King's quarter." 
 
 The King appointed him Lord Lieutenant of 
 Ireland. He writes to his sister-in-law, the Countess 
 of Carlisle, '*The Parliament bids me go presently; 
 the King commands me to stay till he despatch me; " 
 so Lord Leicester ended in not going at all, but he 
 despatched thither his own regiment under the com- 
 mand of his eldest son. In this regiment Algernon 
 Sidney, then in his eighteenth year commanded a 
 troop of horse. 
 
 On the return of the two brothers to England, 
 they both declared themiselves for the Parliament, 
 and set themselves to promote the popular cause. 
 Lord Lisle received from the Parliament ^1,000 for 
 his services in Ireland. The King relieved the Lord 
 Leicester of the office of Lieutenant-Governor, He 
 never again held any public office, and kept himself 
 aloof from politics as much as he could. He spent 
 most of his time engaged in literary pursuits, and his 
 
58 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 journals and papers form a most valuable addition to 
 our knowledge of the history of those times. His 
 son Algernon said at his trial: There is a brother of 
 mine here, that hath forty quires of paper written by 
 my father, and never one sheet of them was published ; 
 but he writ his own mind to see what he could think 
 of it another time, and blot it out again, maybe." 
 
 Lord Lisle married in July, 1645, Lady Catherine 
 Cecil, daughter of the Earl of Salisbury. He had 
 been voted by the Parliament to be Governor-General 
 of Ireland. When he returned from thence, in 1647, 
 he and his brother Algernon, who had been with 
 him, received the thanks of the Commons and 
 Algernon was invested with the Governorship of 
 Dover Castle. 
 
 The King had been for some months a prisoner in 
 the hands of the Parliamentary army, and now he 
 was put on his trial. Lord Leicester says in his 
 Journal: My two sons, Philip and Algernon, came 
 unexpectedly to Penshurst, Monday, 22, and stayed 
 there till Monday, 29, so as neither of them was at 
 the condemnation of the King, nor was Philip at any 
 time at the High Court, though a Commissioner, but 
 Algernon, a Commissioner also, was there sometimes 
 in the Painted Chamber, but never in Westminster 
 Hall." 
 
 King Charles was beheaded on January 20th, 1649, 
 and the prayer he said on the scaffold is said to have 
 been, with a few alterations, the prayer Sir Philip 
 Sidney put into the mouth of Pamela in his 
 
 Arcadia." 
 
 Whether Algernon Sidney approved of the execu- 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 59 
 
 tion of the King or not, at any rate he took no part 
 in condemning him to death. 
 
 In the June following the King's execution, the 
 Parliament placed the Duke of Gloucester and the 
 Princess Elizabeth, the two youngest children of 
 Charles I., with Lord and Lady Leicester at Penshurst. 
 
 They remained there till the end of August, 1650. 
 On her departure, Princess Elizabeth left in the Lord 
 Leicester's hands a diamond necklace. She died 
 at Carisbrooke Castle just a month after she had 
 left Penshurst. As she was dying, she expressed 
 the wish that Lady Leicester should keep the 
 diamond necklace as a last token of her gratitude. 
 This bequest became a source of lively contention 
 between the Parliament and Lord Leicester, who 
 declined to give it up. The claim was not settled 
 until after the Restoration, when Lord Leicester, on 
 giving up the jewel, received a sum of money in its 
 stead. There are two portraits of the Duke of 
 Gloucester at Penshurst, one representing him with 
 a black attendant in the Royal livery, and mentioned 
 by Collins in his "Memoirs of the Sidneys.'' 
 
 A fortnight after the King's children had left 
 Penshurst, Lord Leicester records in his Journal : 
 ''My daughter, Isabella Sidney, was married to my 
 nephew, Strangford, by Mr. Antrobus in the Chapel 
 at Penshurst, to which marriage I was pressed by my 
 said nephew's desire, and persuasion of my wife, and 
 some other friends, and not by any inclination of my 
 own, for I like not marriages of so near persons." 
 Lord Leicester's fears were realised, for the marriage 
 turned out a most unhappy one in its results. Lord 
 
6o HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 Strangford plunged into a course of reckless dissipa- 
 tion and extravagance. His wife appears to have 
 been foolish and headstrong. Her brother Algernon 
 assisted them with large sums of money. They 
 repaid his kindness with base ingratitude. Lady 
 Strangford died in June, 1663, in great poverty. 
 
 Since her husband's death Lady Sunderland had 
 been living at Penshurst, but now she went to live by 
 herself at Althorpe. In his Memorials of the 
 Royalists," says Dr. Lloyd: She is not to be men- 
 tioned without the highest honour in this catalogue 
 of sufferers, to many of whom her house was a 
 sanctuary, her interest, a protection, her estate, a 
 maintenance, and the livings in her gift, a prefer- 
 ment. Lady Sunderland married secondly, Sir 
 Robert Smythe, and the marriage took place at 
 Penshurst, but Lord Leicester was not present at it ; 
 probably he did not approve of the marriage, which 
 took everyone by surprise. Robert Smythe was the 
 grandson of Sarah Blount, widow^ of Sir Thomas 
 Smythe (the Great Customer's son), who had married, 
 as his second wife, Robert Sidne)^, first Earl of 
 Leicester. 
 
 In the last few years. Lord Leicester had lost three 
 of his daughters by consumption, and now occurred 
 the death of Lady Lisle. She died at Northumber- 
 land House, a few days after the birth of a daughter. 
 She was only twenty-four years of age, and had been 
 married seven years. She left four children, two 
 sons and two daughters. 
 
 Lord Leicester gives an account in his Journal of 
 the memorable scene in the House of Commons which 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 6i 
 
 took place on April 20th, 1653 : *^It happened that 
 day that Algernon Sidney sat next to the Speaker on 
 the right hand ; the General said to Harrison, ' Put 
 him out.' Harrison spake to Sidney to go out, but 
 he said he would not go out, and sat still. The 
 General said again, 'Put him out.' Then Harrison 
 and Wortley put their hands upon Sidney's shoulders, 
 as if they would force him to go out ; then he rose 
 and went towards the door. Then the General went 
 to the table where the mace lay, which used to be 
 carried before the Speaker, and said, ^Take away 
 these baubles.' So the soldiers took away the mace, 
 and all the House went out." 
 
 Disgusted by this despotic act of Cromwell's, and 
 at the overthrow of that form of republicanism which 
 he had endeavoured to establish, Algernon Sidney 
 retired to Penshurst, and he appears no more in 
 political history till the death of the Protector restored 
 the Commonwealth to its original principles. 
 
 Since the death of his wife Lord Lisle appeared 
 rarely, if ever, at Penshurst. His ungovernable 
 temper and bitter political dissensions with his father 
 and brother, Algernon, had estranged him from all 
 his family ; and now an event happened which, 
 magnified by Lord Lisle's jealousy of the influence 
 exercised by Algernon over his father, increased the 
 enmity between the two brothers. 
 
 Algernon Sidney gave a representation at Penshurst 
 of the play of Julius Caesar," in which he played 
 the part of Brutus, and many of his remarks, whether 
 by intention or not, reflected severely on Cromwell. 
 When Lord Lisle heard of this, he at once wrote to 
 
62 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 his father : In my poor opinion, the business of your 
 Lordship's house has passed somewhat unluckily, 
 and that it had been better used to do a seasonable 
 courtesy to my Lord Protector than to have had such 
 a play acted in it, a public effront to him; . . . and 
 then, my Lord, I have my constant sorrow to see your 
 Lordship never omits an opportunity of reproach to 
 me, and in earnest I think laying all other matters 
 aside, this which hath appeared most eminently upon 
 this occasion is very extraordinary, that the younger 
 son should so domineer in the house ; . . . for it 
 seems it is not only his chamber, but the great rooms 
 of the house, and perhaps the whole that he com- 
 mands, and upon this occasion I think I ma}^ most 
 properly say that his extremist vanity and want of 
 judgment are so well known that there will be some 
 wonder at it. For my own part I submitted all to 
 your Lordship, and am your very obedient son, 
 P. Lisle, from London, June 17th, 1666." 
 
 It was during this retirement from political life 
 that Algernon wrote his Essay on Virtuous Love," 
 the MS. of which is at Penshurst. 
 
 After the death of Cromwell, Algernon Sidney 
 returned to his old seat at Westminster. In June, 
 1659, he was sent as Commissioner to Copenhagen, 
 to open negotiations of peace between the Kings of 
 Denmark and Sweden, and it was during his residence 
 there that he wrote in the Visitors' Album of the 
 University the celebrated motto, Manus ha^c inimica 
 tyrannis ense petit placidum sub libertate quietem." 
 On the Restoration, Lord Leicester was present when 
 King Charles II. made his entry into London on the 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 63 
 
 29th of May, 1660. Two days later, he was sworn 
 of the Privy Council, and then when Parliament 
 adjourned he returned to Penshurst, after taking 
 leave of the King, who treated him most graciously. 
 
 His health was now giving way, and he complains 
 of failing sight and faltering hand ; as he wrote to 
 Algernon, he had no wish but to pass the small 
 remainder of his days innocently and quietly in his 
 poor habitation, and, if it please God, to be gathered 
 in peace to his fathers. 
 
 Algernon's Embassy at Copenhagen was most 
 successful, and he writes constantly to his father from 
 thence. During Algernon's absence at Copenhagen 
 his mother died. She had been in ill-health for some 
 time, and Lord Leicester gives a most touching 
 account of her death in his Journal. 
 
 Algernon felt his mother's death very keenly. He 
 writes to his father: confess persons in such 
 tempers are most fit to die, but they are also most 
 wanted here, and we, that for a while are left in the 
 world, are most apt and, perhaps with reason, to 
 regret the loss of those we most want." 
 
 His mission to Copenhagen ended, Algernon was 
 doubtful whether to return to England or not. He 
 did not know what reception he would meet with. 
 He writes : have not yet resolved upon the place 
 of my residence. I think I shall choose Italy." In 
 November, he arrived in Rome. The end of 1663 
 finds him at Brussels, and there he had the portrait 
 painted of him by Justus Verus van Egmont, which 
 is at Penshurst. From Brussels he went to France, 
 and lived several years at Montpellier and Limoges. 
 
64 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 Probably he occupied himself during this time with 
 literary pursuits, and acquired those vast stores of 
 learning which he embodied in his Treatise on 
 Government and which made Burnet say of him: 
 He hath studied the history of the Government more 
 than any man I ever knew." 
 
 From 1666 to 1667, Algernon's letters cease. He 
 himself says : *'In the most remote part of France 
 I passed eleven years, and was drawn out of it 
 only by a desire of seeing my aged father before 
 he died." 
 
 He found his father still alive on his return, but he 
 only survived a very short time, dying on November 
 2nd, 1667. He was nearly eighty-two years of age 
 and was buried at Penshurst. 
 
 Algernon was obliged to remain on in England as 
 his eldest brother disputed the legacy of ^^5,000 
 which his father had left him in a codicil to his will, 
 and he engaged in a long and vexatious lawsuit to 
 recover it. 
 
 He was asked to stand for Guildford in the popular 
 interest. His friend, William Penn, who possessed 
 some influence in the town, came to his assistance. 
 By an unworthy device the date of the election was 
 changed and Algernon was not returned. 
 
 He also stood for Bramber, but was opposed by 
 his brother Henry, who was Gentleman and Master 
 of the Robes to the King, and had just returned from 
 Holland, where he had been sent on a mission as 
 Envoy Extraordinary to the States-General, of which 
 he has left us an account in his ''Diary." When 
 Parliament re-assembled Algernon's election was 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE, 65 
 
 declared void. A very grave charge has been brought 
 against Algernon. It is said that he accepted a bribe 
 from France. But this accusation rests on the sole 
 word of Barillon, who was then Ambassador of 
 France at the Court of St. James. We have no 
 corroborative evidence, and that he should have 
 accepted a bribe would have been against the whole 
 character of the man. 
 
 For a short time he was employed in a work which 
 must have been after his own heart. William Penn 
 was drawing up a plan of government for his new 
 colony of Pennsylvania, and he asked Algernon to 
 help him. Hepworth Dixon, in his " Life of 
 William Penn," says, '^America owes much to 
 Sidney." 
 
 And now we come to the Rye House plot, which 
 formed the pretext for the arrest and execution of 
 Algernon. It appears to have been the object of 
 those concerned in it to shoot King Charles, or to 
 get possession of his person on his return from the 
 races at Newmarket. No personage of importance 
 seems to have been engaged in it. But the Govern- 
 ment was watching for an opportunity to arrest their 
 hated opponents, the leaders of the Whig Party. So 
 orders were issued to arrest the Members of the 
 Council of Six. Algernon was arrested on the 
 26th of June, 1683, but it was not till November 
 7th that he was arraigned before a Court pre- 
 sided over by the infamous Judge Jeffreys. He 
 was not allowed the aid of counsel, or to bring 
 forward any witnesses. He was convicted on the 
 sole evidence of *'that monster of a man, Lord 
 
 p. F 
 
66 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 Howard of Escrick/' as Evelyn calls him in his 
 Diary." 
 
 On November 26th he was brought up for judg- 
 ment and condemned to death, and on the morning 
 of December 7th he met his fate with heroic fortitude. 
 As he approached the block, he said, have made 
 my peace with God, and have nothing to say to man ; 
 but here is a paper of what I have to say," and he 
 handed the sheriff a document he had drawn up 
 during the solitude of his imprisonment. I am 
 ready to die," he said to the executioner ; I will give 
 you no further trouble." He then knelt down for a 
 few moments, and on rising, laid his head upon the 
 block and waited for the stroke. 
 
 Are you ready, sir ? Will you rise again ? " ^^Not 
 till the general Resurrection — strike on ! " 
 
 The executioner obeyed, and with one blow the 
 head was severed from the body. 
 
 " Unconquer'd patriot ! formed by ancient lore, 
 The love of ancient Freedom to restore ; 
 Who nobly acted what he boldly thought, 
 And seal'd by death the lesson that he taught." 
 
 Algernon Sidney's remains were placed in a coffin 
 and restored to his family, who took them down by 
 night to Penshurst, where they were interred in the 
 Sidney Vault. 
 
 A stack of coffins, containing, amongst others, 
 Algernon Sidney's, fell some sixty-five years ago, and 
 the coffin burst open. His bones are now contained 
 in a small stone chest, some two feet eight inches 
 long, ten inches wide and fourteen high. The silver 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 67 
 
 plate shows marks of having been nailed on to wood. 
 It bears this inscription : — 
 
 Here lyeth the body of the 
 Hono. Algernon Sidney 
 Esq. second son to Right 
 Hono. Ye Earle of Leicester, 
 Who departed this life 
 On the 7th Day of December, 
 In the 6ist year of his age, 
 Annoque Dom. 1683." 
 
 The year after his death his brothers, Philip and 
 Henry, obtained a reversal of his attainder. A lock 
 of his hair is preserved at Penshurst, and there are 
 many papers in his handwriting. 
 
 Lady Sunderland survived her brother only three 
 months. There are tw^o portraits of her at Penshurst, 
 one by Vandyck, and a room over the Porch, leading 
 into the Great Hall, is called Sacharissa's Room. 
 
 Not one of the avenue of beeches, alas ! remain 
 which formerly went by the name of Sacharissa's 
 Walk, and which are mentioned by Waller : — 
 
 " Ye lofty beeches ! tell this matchless dame 
 That if together ye fed all one flame, 
 It could not equalise the hundredth part 
 Of what her eyes have kindled in my heart." 
 
 Of the numerous family of Robert, Earl of Leicester 
 and his wife. Lady Dorothy Percy, only the eldest 
 and the youngest now survived. 
 
 Philip, Earl of Leicester, had received a general 
 pardon at the Restoration, but he took no further 
 part in politics and died in 1697, aged over eighty 
 years. 
 
68 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 
 
 Henry Sidney, in his capacity of Master of the 
 Robes, attended on King James II. at his Coronation, 
 and CoUins, in his Memoirs of the Sidneys," relates 
 ^'That the Crown being too big for his head, was 
 often in a tottering condition, whereupon Mr. Henry 
 Sidney, supporting it with his hand, pleasantly said 
 to the King, 'This is not the first time our family 
 have supported the Crown.' " 
 
 However this may be, it was not long before we 
 find Henry Sidney doing his utmost to deprive King 
 James of his kingdom, for he was one of the principal 
 promoters of the Revolution of 1688, and it was 
 whilst he was lying concealed at Lady Place, near 
 Great Marlow, that the plans were matured for 
 bringing over William of Orange, with whom he had 
 long been deep in confidence. It was he w^ho carried 
 over to Holland the copy of the invitation to William 
 to invade England, and he received him on his 
 landing. 
 
 King William made him one of his Privy Coun- 
 cillors, and he was for a short time Secretary of State. 
 In 1692, he was made Lieutenant-Governor of Ireland, 
 and fought at the battle of the Boyne; the King gave 
 him a large grant of the Irish forfeited estates. He 
 was created Earl of Romney in 1694. He was also 
 Master of the Ordnance, and it is to his tenure of 
 that office that we owe the ''broad arrow^ " as the 
 Government mark. Finding that the Government 
 had no distinguishing mark to enable them to identify 
 their property, he caused them to be marked with 
 his arms, the "Pheon," or "broad arrow," which has 
 ever since been used by the Government. 
 
HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENSHURST PLACE. 69 
 
 On the death of King WiUiam, being Groom of the 
 Stole, he received as his perquisite all the furniture 
 and plate in his bedchamber. Queen Anne granted 
 him a pension of ;^i,2oo a year. He died unmarried, 
 in 1704, and is buried in St. James' Church, 
 Piccadilly. A portrait of him at Penshurst represents 
 him as a very handsome youth, and one can well 
 believe that, in after life, he was le beau Sidney " of 
 De Grammont's Memoirs." 
 
 Less eventful days were now dawning on Penshurst 
 Place, and my tale is nearly told. 
 
 Philip, Lord Leicester, was succeeded by his son, 
 Robert, who had married Lady Elizabeth Egerton, 
 only daughter of John Egerton, Earl of Bridgwater. 
 He left four sons, of whom Philip, John and Joceline 
 became successively Earls of Leicester. 
 
 In Joceline's time the Library was sold and the 
 large and valuable collection of armour dispersed. 
 On his death, without issue, in 1743, the title became 
 extinct and the estates devolved on his two nieces, 
 daughters of his brother, Colonel Thomas Sidney, 
 who became co-heirs. Mary married Sir Brown- 
 low Sherard, Bart., and died without issue ; and 
 Elizabeth became the wife of William Perry, Esq., 
 of Turvile Park. She received as her share the 
 Manor of Penshurst. Her great grandson. Sir 
 Philip Sidney, was raised to the peerage in 1835, by 
 King William IV., under the title of Baron De 
 L'Isle and Dudley; his father. Sir John Shelley, 
 Bart., having by sign manual, in 1793, assumed the 
 name and arms of Sidne}'. 
 
 His only son married, in 1850, Mary, only child 
 
70 HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PENS HURST PLACE. 
 
 and heir of Sir William Foulis, Bart., of Ingleby 
 Manor, Yorkshire. He left at his death, in 1898, 
 three surviving sons and one daughter, of whom the 
 eldest, Philip, is now third Baron De L'Isle and 
 Dudley. He married the 12th of June, 1902, the 
 Hon. Mrs. Astell, fourth daughter of Standish 
 Vereker, fourth Viscount Gort. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 PENSHURST CHURCH, 
 
 This brief sketch of Penshurst Place would not 
 perhaps be complete without some mention of the 
 Church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, which stands 
 almost within its grounds and part of which is even 
 older than the Great Hall, the North Nave Arcade of 
 three arches and a yard or so of wall above dating from 
 about 1 200, in the reign of King Henry HI. 
 
 Most probably the Church was built by the grandfather 
 of the Sir Stephen de Penchester whose effigy is now in 
 the Sidney Chapel, and had narrow aisles, with a very 
 low clerestory, or none at all. 
 
 Next in order of date is the Arch between the Sidney 
 Chapel and the South Aisle ; also the Central Arch in the 
 North Chancel, which are of the Early Decorated " 
 period. The South Nave and Choir Arcade must have 
 been rebuilt about Edward IH.'s time, and are " Late 
 Decorated." The present Tower and Clerestory are 
 
 Late Perpendicular," and to be ascribed to King 
 Henry VH.'s reign. 
 
 From the Lambeth Palace Register it appears that in 
 the year 1631, the then Rector, Francis Sidney (son of 
 William Sidney, of Otford), widened and rebuilt the 
 South Aisle, as we now see it. By this widening of the 
 South Aisle the west window of the Sidney Chapel 
 
72 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 became included in the building between these portions 
 of the edifice. The South Porch also dates from 1631. 
 
 A large portion of the Sidney Chapel was rebuilt in 
 the Early Georgian " period, and at this time the east 
 wall of the Chancel was re-faced. 
 
 The North Aisles of the Nave and Chancel were 
 similarly widened and rebuilt by Sir Gilbert Scott, who 
 then inserted a new bay Chancel window and the 
 windows in the South Aisle. 
 
 There are many interesting monuments and brasses in 
 the Church. The earliest is the effigy in chain armour to 
 Sir Stephen de Penchester, who died in 1299, a portion of 
 which only remains. 
 
 The Altar tomb to Sir William Sidney, '^the firste of 
 that Name being Lord of the Manner of Penshurst," is 
 in the Late Perpendicular " style. On the sides of the 
 tomb are the escutcheons of the arms of his four daughters 
 and their husbands. 
 
 There is a brass to Powle Iden and his wdfe dated 1 514. 
 Another to William Dartnoll, Parson of this place," and 
 many other interesting inscriptions and coats of arms, 
 and a floriated cross on the wall of the tower, circa 1 200. 
 
 The Font is of the fourteenth or fifteenth century. 
 
 The list of Rectors dates from 11 70. Amongst them is 
 the name of the learned and pious Dr. Henry Hammond, 
 who .was preferred to the living in 1633. 
 
 The patronage was vested in the See of Canterbury 
 until the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when it was trans- 
 ferred to the Queen and by her granted to Sir Henry 
 Sidney, in whose descendants it has since continued. 
 
 The curfew is rung at 8 p.m. from Michaelmas to 
 Lady Day, there being a small charge on two farms to 
 pay for it. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Account of Thomas Marshall, 22 
 "Arcadia," by Philip Sidney, 32 
 Algernon Sidney, commands a 
 troop of horse in Ireland, 57 
 made Governor of Dover Castle, 
 
 58 
 
 expelled from House of Com- 
 mons by Cromwell, 61 
 
 Commissioner to Copenhagen, 
 62 
 
 asked to stand for Guildford, 64 
 election for Bramber declared 
 
 void, 64 
 arrest of, 65 
 executed, 66 
 
 interred in the Sidney vault, 
 
 Penshurst, 66 
 relics of, at Penshurst, 67 
 Altar tomb to Sir William Sidney, 
 
 72 
 
 America, Sir Philip Sidney pro- 
 jects an expedition to, 35 
 
 Anne, Queen, 69 
 
 "Astrophel and Stella," 34 
 
 Avenue of beeches, 67 
 
 Axel, captured by Sir Philip 
 Sidney, 38 
 
 Barbara Gamage, 49 
 
 Barillon, 65 
 
 Baron De L'Isle and Dudley, 69 
 Battle of the Boyne, Henry Sidney 
 
 at the, 68 
 Bear and Ragged Staff, badge of 
 
 Earls of Warwick, 14 
 adopted by Sir Henry Sidney, 
 
 14 
 
 origination of, 14 
 Bear Oak, The, 16 
 
 Bell, put up by Robert, Earl of 
 Leicester, 56 
 
 Ben Jonson's " Ode on Pens- 
 hurst," 49 
 
 Brasses in Penshurst Church, 72 
 
 " Broad Arrow," 68 
 
 " Butlers' War, The," 25 
 
 Buttery, 2 
 
 Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VHI., 
 8 
 
 Charles I. , trial of, 58 
 
 beheaded, 58 
 Charles H., entry into London, 62 
 Church, Penshurst, 72 
 Coronation of James H., 68 
 Council of Six, 65 
 Cromwell expels Algernon Sidney 
 
 from House of Commons, 61 
 Crystal chandeliers in Ballroom, 
 
 38 
 
 Curfew, 72 
 Dais, 3 
 
 Death of Mary Sidney, Countess 
 
 of Pembroke, 53 
 Death of Sir Philip Sidney, 43 
 Devereux, Sir John, 5 
 Diamond necklace of Princess 
 
 Elizabeth, 59 
 De LTsle, Baron, and Dudley, 69 
 Dover Castle, Algernon Sidney 
 
 made Governor of, 58 
 Drake, Sir Francis, 36 
 Due d' Anjou and Queen Elizabeth, 
 
 32 
 
 Due d 'Anjou visits London, 34 
 Duke of Bedford, 6 
 Duke of Buckingham, 7 
 Duke of Gloucester, 6 
 
 p. 
 
 G 
 
74 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Duke of Gloucester and Princess 
 
 Elizabeth at Penshurst, 59 
 Earl of Leicester's sword, 50 
 Earl of Ormonde, 20 
 Earl of Warwick, g 
 Epitaph of Lady Mary Sidney, 54 
 Fane, Sir Ralph, 9 
 Feudal times, Penshurst, in, i 
 Fireplace hood, 3 
 Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke, 21 
 Funeral of Sir Philip Sidney, 45 
 Gallery, Minstrels', 2 
 Gatehouse, 37 
 Great Hall, 2 
 Hall, 2 
 Hearth, 3 
 
 Henry VIH. and Cardinal Wolsey, 
 8 
 
 Henry, Duke of Buckingham, 8 
 
 Henry Sidney, 13 
 
 " Home of the Sidneys," 10 
 
 Hubert Languet, 27 
 
 Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 6 
 
 Humphrey Stafford, Duke of 
 
 Buckingham, 7 
 James II., coronation of, 68 
 Joceline, Earl of Leicester, 69 
 John, Duke of Bedford, 6 
 John, Earl of Warwick, 9 
 John Wier, note to, from Sir 
 
 Philip Sidney, 42 
 "Julius Caesar" at Penshurst, 61 
 King Charles tried, 58 
 
 beheaded, 58 
 Kitchen, 2 
 Lady Jane Grey, 15 
 Lady Mary Sidney's epitaph, 54 
 Lady Sunderland, 60 
 
 portraits of, 67 
 Languet, Hubert, 27 
 **Le beau Sidney," 69 
 Leicester House, erection of, 56 
 Letter from Lord Lisle, 61 
 Letters of Rowland Whyte, 50 
 Library sold, 69 
 
 Lisle, Viscount, Sir Robert Sidney 
 
 becomes, 53 
 Lord Brooke, Fulke Greville, 21 
 Lord Rich marries Penelope 
 
 Devereux, 33 
 Lord Strangford, 60 
 
 Loraine, Sir Nicholas, 5 
 
 '* Manus hasc inimica tyrannis ense 
 
 petit placidum sub libertate 
 
 quietem," 62 
 Margaret, wife of Sir John de 
 
 Pulteney, 4 
 Marshall, Thomas, account of, 22 
 Minstrels' Gallery, 2 
 Molineux, Edward, Philip Sidney 
 
 quarrels with, 31 
 " Ode on Penshurst," Ben 
 
 Jonson's, 49 
 "Old Lord Harry and his old 
 
 Moll," 39 
 Oliver Cromwell and Algernon 
 
 Sidney, 61 
 O'Neil, Shane. 18 
 Orange, William of, received by 
 
 Henry Sidney, 68 
 Ormonde, Earl of, 20 
 Oxford, Earl of, quarrel of, with 
 
 Philip Sidney, 32 
 Pantry, 2 
 
 Pembroke, Earl of, marriage of 
 
 Mary Sidney to, 30 
 Penchester, Sir Stephen de, 4 
 Penelope Devereux, 29, 33 
 Penn, William, 64 
 Pennsylvania, 65 
 Penshurst in feudal times, i 
 Penshurst, derivation of name, 3 
 Penshurst: "The home of the 
 
 Sidneys," 10 
 Penshurst Church, 71 
 brasses in, 72 
 font, 72 
 " Phern," 68 
 Picture Gallery, 55 
 Porch, 2 
 
 Porcupine, Sidney crest, 14 
 
 President's Court, 37 
 
 Princess Elizabeth at Penshurst, 
 
 59 
 
 Pulteney, Sir John de, i 
 Queen Elizabeth and Due d'Anjou, 
 32. 33 
 
 Queen Elizabeth presents her 
 portrait to Philip Sidney, 33 
 visits Penshurst, 38 
 
 Queen Elizabeth's Withdrawing 
 Room, 38 
 
INDEX. 
 
 75 
 
 Relics of Sir Philip Sidney at 
 
 Penshurst, 46 
 Revolution of 1688, 68 
 Robert Sidney, 47 
 Romney, Earl of, Henry Sidney 
 
 created, 68 
 Rowland Whyte, letters of, 50 
 Rye House Plot, 65 
 " Sacharissa," 56 
 
 Scene in the House of Commons, 61 
 Screens, 2 
 Shane O'Neil, 18 
 
 Sidney Chapel, Lady Mary Sid- 
 ney's Tomb in, 39 
 Sidney, derivation of the name, 10 
 Sidney, Algernon, 54 
 
 commands a troop of horse in 
 
 Ireland, 57 
 Governor of Dover Castle, 58 
 expelled from House of Com- 
 mons, 61 
 Commissioner to Copenhagen, 
 62 
 
 invited to stand as candidate for 
 
 Guildford, 64 
 Bramber election declared void, 
 
 64 
 
 arrest of, 65 
 executed, 66 
 
 interred at Penshurst, 66 
 relics of, at Penshurst, 67 
 Sidney Henry, 13 
 a Court favourite, 13 
 ambassador to France, 13 
 licensed to retain fifty persons, 
 
 as well as servants, 14 
 appointed Vice-Treasurer and 
 General Governor of all the 
 King's and Queen's Revenues 
 in Ireland, 17 
 made Lord President of the 
 
 Marches of Wales, 17 
 cost of his journeys, 18 
 installed Knight of the Garter, 18 
 appointed Lord Deputy of Ire- 
 land, 18 
 
 accused by the Earl of Ormonde 
 
 of partiality, 20 
 death of, 36 
 burial at Penshurst, 36 
 his character, 37 
 
 Sidney, Henry, Earl of Romney, 
 
 created in, 1864... 68 
 at Battle of the Boyne, 68 
 granted a pension by Queen 
 
 Anne, 96 
 died in 1704... 69 
 buried in St. James' Church, 
 
 Piccadilly, 69 
 Sidney, Philip, birth of, 15 
 
 tree planted in Penshurst Park 
 
 to commemorate, 16 
 at Shrewsbury School, 20 
 inducted into the Prebend of 
 
 Llangmillo, 21 
 Sir Henry Sidney's advice to, 22 
 at Christ Church, Oxford, 24 
 granted leave byQueen Elizabeth 
 
 to live on the Continent for 
 
 two years, 26 
 created Baron de Sidney by 
 
 Charles IX., 27 
 sent on a special Embassy to 
 
 Emperor of Austria, 30 
 first composition, 31 
 quarrels with Edward Molineux, 
 
 31 
 
 quarrel with Earl of Oxford, 32 
 banished from Court 32 
 jointly with his sister Mary, 
 
 translates the Psalms of 
 
 David, 32 
 "Arcadia" commenced, 32 
 made a knight, 34 
 marries Frances, daughter of 
 
 Sir Francis Walsingham, 35 
 Queen "passes over the offence' ' 
 
 of his marriage, 35 
 America, projects an expedition 
 
 to, 35 
 
 sent to the Netherlands as 
 
 Governor of Flushing, 36 
 captures Axel, 38 
 his mother dies, 38 
 wounded at Zutphen, 40 
 his note to John Wier, 42 
 his death, 43 
 
 general mourning for, in Eng- 
 land, 44 
 his funeral, 45 
 Sidney, Robert, 47 
 
 marries Barbara Gamage, 48 
 
76 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sidney, Robert, becomes Vis- 
 count Lisle, 53 
 created Earl of Leicester, 53 
 died and buried at Penshurst, 55 
 builds Leicester House, 56 
 Ambassador to the King of 
 
 France, 56 
 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 57 
 Sidney, William, g 
 
 Esquire of the Household to 
 
 Henry VIH., 9 
 fights against the Moors, 11 
 commands part of English fleet, 
 II 
 
 made knight banneret at Flodden 
 
 Field, II 
 present at the meeting on the 
 Field of the Cloth of Gold, 12 
 inscription on tablet over the 
 Porch of the Gatehouse, con- 
 cerning, 12 
 tomb of, in Sidney Chapel, 12 
 " Sidneys, the home of the," 10 
 Sir John Devereux, 5 
 Sir Francis Drake, 36 
 Sir Ralph Fane, 9 
 Sir Nicholas Lovaine, 5 
 Sir Stephen de Penchester, 4 
 effigy of, in Sidney Chapel, 72 
 
 Sir John de Pulteney, i, 4 
 
 Sir Philip Sidney and the wounded 
 
 soldier, 40 
 Sir Philip Sidney's oak, 16 
 Sir William Sidney, 9 
 ''Solar," 3 
 
 Stone chest containing Algernon 
 Sidney's remains, 67 
 
 St. Paul's, Sir Philip Sidney 
 interred in, 46 
 
 Tablet over porch of gatehouse 
 concerning Sir William Sid- 
 ney, 12 
 
 " Take away these baubles," 61 
 
 "The Butlers' War," 25 
 
 Tomb of Sir William Sidney, in 
 
 Sidney Chapel, 12 
 Towers, 3 
 
 Viscount Lisle, Robert Sidney 
 
 becomes, 53 
 "Virtuous Love," 62 
 Wier, John, Sir Philip Sidney's 
 
 note to, 42 
 Will of Sir Philip Sidney, 42 
 William of Orange received by 
 
 Henry Sidney, 68 
 William Penn, 64 
 Zutphen, Sir Philip Sidney 
 
 wounded at, 40 
 
 THE END. 
 
 BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO. LD., PRINTERS, LONDON AND TONBRIDGE. 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 i 
 
 station: Telegrams: Sceptre, Southborough. 
 
 Tonbrldge or Tun. Wells. Telephone : Calverley 2. 
 
 Southborough Common, 
 
 ^KENT. 
 
 THE . . 
 
 Hand 6 Sceptre 
 
 Family and T^rk^^t 
 Residential. J.X*«fl^l> 
 
 This Hotel has been entirely re-built and re-furnished. Newly 
 decorated. Perfect Sanitation. 
 
 Charming Situation and Scenery, about 500 feet 
 above sea level, amidst grand old oaks. Highly 
 recommended by the Medical Profe s sion. - - - 
 
 Table d'Hote Luncheon = = 1 p.m. 
 „ „ Dinner = = = 7 p.m. 
 
 Separate Tables. Open to Non-Residents. 
 
 /If a 
 
 GOOD GARDENS. TENNIS COURTS. 
 
 Under Personal Supervision of Proprietors, 
 
ii 
 
 ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 MHRTIN & e©., 
 
 B6ild€rS St Cootractors, 
 
 GARDEN JOINERY WORKS, 
 
 Moulding, Planing, and Sawing Mills. 
 
 Monumental and General Masons, in Marb-e, Stone, or Granite. 
 Builders of Chimney Shafts, Boiler Settings, etc. 
 Painters, Plumbers, and Decorators. 
 
 GAS AND HOT WATER ENGINEERS. 
 
 ROAD AND SEWER CONTRACTORS. 
 
 Offices : Technical Road, High Street, Tonbridge. 
 
 H. A. POWELL, 
 
 T0NBRIP6E. 
 
 Telephone 
 No. 71. 
 
 47, 
 HIGH ST., 
 
 Agent for all the leading makes, 
 including Sunbeam, Singer, 
 Sivift, Rndge- Whitworth , 
 Centaur, (s^c., (s^c., (s^-c. 
 
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 ACCUiVIULATORS 
 RE-CHARGED. 
 
 ►^^Vjr^OFFICIAL REPAIRER TO 
 
 4<v 
 
 C. T. C. 
 
 Agent for C. T. Brock & Co.'s 
 
 Crystal Palace Fireworks. 
 
 STEAM LAUNCH FOR HIRE, 
 
 BY THK HOUR 
 OR DAY. 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 iii 
 
 Visitors to TOobridg^ WcliS 
 
 will find a good general 
 assortment of " - 
 
 LOCAL VIEWS, 
 
 if time can be spared to 
 visit the Spacious Premises 
 known a.s -> - 
 
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 where this Book is 
 Published. < ^ ^ 
 
iv AD VERTISEMENTS. 
 
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 JAM€S COML€y, 
 
 Jobn^aster, Coacli Proprietor, 
 ai|d Livery Stable Reeper, 
 
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 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 
 
 Carriages by the Hour, Day, or Journey. 
 
 Horses Let on Job for any Period. 
 
A D VERTISEMENTS, 
 
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 W. Sidocy 5n)itl), 
 
 Hair j)resser, Wig MaKer, 
 
 AND . . . 
 
 OrqaiTieiital Hair Manufacturer. 
 
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 LADIES' AND GENTLEMEN'S FIRST-CLASS 
 
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 SPECIAL SWEDISH RAZORS, 
 
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 * * * 
 
 A LARGE STOCK OF . . . 
 
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 ♦ ♦ ♦ for the Toilet kept at ♦ ♦ ♦ 
 
 24, HIGH STREET, o..r.r„. 
 TUNSRIDGE WELLS. 
 
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vi 
 
 ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 FREEMAN, HARDY & WILLIS, Ld., 
 
 The Great Boot and Shoe Dealers^ have 
 the Largest and Best Assorted Stock of 
 
 BOOTS AND SHOES 
 
 Of Every Description and Price, for Town 
 and Country Wear. BESPOKE WORK 
 and REPAIRS have Special Attention. 
 
 Ao^els. 45, HIGH ST., TONBRIDGE. 
 
 Branches Everywhere, 
 
 HIGH ST., TONBRIDGE, 
 
 . . . KENT. 
 
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 Good Accommodation for Travellers and Cyclists. 
 Luncheons always ready. Qood Stabling, Baths, &c. 
 
 Beers, Wines, and Spirits Guaranteed Best Quality. 
 
 G. H. GIBSON, Proprietor. 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 vii 
 
 Paitncrs : 
 E. Waymark, 
 A. Dennis. 
 
 IS. MODERN ESXTiBUISHIVIENX. 
 
 €. WAYMARK, 
 
 2 and 4, Calverley l^oad, 
 64, 66, 68 & 70, Mount Pleasant Road, 
 
 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 
 
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 . . . ^'FASHIONS OF TO = DAY/' 
 
 and a visit through the various departments will demonstrate 
 that we are to the Front with . . . 
 
 ^ " Everything for Ladies' 
 and Children's Wear," 
 
 and the requirements of the household generall}-. 
 
 All Goods marked in Plain Figures at competitive prices. 
 
viii 
 
 A D VERTISEMENTS. 
 
 5 
 
 HOULD you contemplate purchasing a • ♦ » 
 
 M0T0R CAR, 
 
 I shall be pleased to give any information, and submit for approval any 
 Cars I may have in Stock. 
 
 Being in touch v/ith all the best known makers, and having had very 
 Exceptional Practical Experience, extending over the past Seven Years, 
 I am in a position to give valuable advice and information concerning 
 same, and shall be pleased to furnish particulars, with Price List, &c., 
 on receipt of post card. 
 
 I remain, Yours obediently, 
 
 A. CORNELL, ^l^JU^^^^""' 
 
 ===== ^ TONBRIDGE. 
 
 MEDALS AND DIPLOMAS. 
 
 First Public Motor Car Run in England: Early Ar7-ival at 
 
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 Telephones No. 94 and 242. Telegrams : " Urqtihart, Tunbndge Wells." 
 
 CASTLE HOTEL,"— ^""-TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 
 
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A D VERTISEMENTS. 
 
 ix 
 
 ESTABLISHED 1360. * Telephone : 10 Dudley, SouthboroHgh. 
 
 Martin's Motto: Keep Moving!'' 
 
 I^ondon Office : SPUR INN, BORO\ 
 
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 SOUTHBOROUGH, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, & LONDON. 
 
 ESTIMATEIS ON APPLICATION 
 
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 ii 
 
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X 
 
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 PE H S H U l^ST. 
 
 One hour's drive from Tunbridge Wells. 
 THE 
 
 "Leicester flrn^s" Hotel 
 
 W. X. FRENCH, Proprietor. 
 
 THIS Hotel, with its charming surroundings, is situated in tl e centre of the^ 
 village, in one of the most lovely parts of Kent, and within easy distance- 
 of London. 
 
 The surrounding country is full of charming scenery, parks, woods, &c., and 
 is well worth a few days' sojourn. 
 
 Visitors can obtain Tickets at the hotel to view the interesting and historical 
 " Penshurst Place." Teas and Refreshments supplied. 
 
 Penshurst is the centre of the Meets of the West Kent Fox Hounds, and the 
 Mid-Kent Stag Hounds, and within easy access of several other Packs. 
 
 Trains from Charing Cross to Penshurst per S.E.R. 
 
 The Hotel is within 20 minutes' walk of the Station, and situated betweea 
 Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, and Sevenoaks. 
 
 Private Sitting Rooms. 
 Coffee, Commercial, and Smoking: Rooms. 
 
 Apartments may be secured by post or Telegram, 
 
 Good Stabling: and Loose Boxes, with Ample 
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 Open and Closed Carriages. Traps meet any Train when ordered.. 
 
 Motorists and Cyclists will find every Convenience and Comfort. 
 F»KXROIy STOCKED. 
 
A D VERTISEMENTS, 
 
 xi 
 
 EAGLETON & SON, 
 
 CIGARS OF THE FINEST BRANDS. 
 I*hotos, Views and Photo E*ost=Cards. 
 
 POST OFFICE, PCNSHURST. 
 
 pqARTIN & C©- 
 
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 and Tiled Hearths. Plumbers* BrasS'Work. Paper- 
 hangings. Brushes. Sash Tools, and Mechanics* 
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 SANIXARY SPECIALITIES. 
 
 Technical Road, High Street, TONBRIDGE. 
 
 Fancy Dealers, Stationers, 
 and Tobacconists, . . . 
 
 WHOLESALE AND RETAIL 
 
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xii 
 
 A D VERTISEMENTS. 
 
 THE TUNBRIDGE WELLS 
 
 Illustrated Register 
 
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 Objects of Interest, Rides and Brieves, Maps, 
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