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 LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL, 
 
 VISCOUNT WIMBLEDON. 
 
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 VOLUME I.
 
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 LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL, 
 
 VISCOUNT WIMBLEDON, 
 
 COLONEL OF AN ENGLISH REGIMENT IN THE DUTCH 
 SERVICE, 1605-1631, 
 
 AND 
 
 ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLE PRIVY COUNCIL, 
 
 1628-1638. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES DALTON, F.R.G.S. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, 
 CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 
 
 1885. 
 
 [All rights reserved.]
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITRO, 
 
 STAMFORD STRERT AND CHARING CROSS.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IN these days of universal authorship it is difficult to find 
 a nook or corner in the wide field of English history which 
 has not been thoroughly explored by some past or present 
 writer. There is, however, one plot of ground which has 
 only partially been cultivated by succeeding generations 
 of historians and biographers. This neglected piece of 
 ground was, in the seventeenth century, the camping 
 ground of a large class of Britons known as " soldiers of 
 fortune," whose lives were spent in the Low Countries 
 fighting in the cause of Dutch independence. It was 
 customary at one time for the Home Government, when- 
 ever officers were wanted for some special service, to 
 borrow the services of experienced British soldiers of 
 fortune from the Dutch Government for a certain length 
 of time. James L, who may truly be styled the Pacific, 
 rarely troubled any of his military subjects to fight any 
 battles for him, but his son, Charles L, was of a much more 
 bellicose nature, and before he had been two years on the 
 throne he had already despatched two large joint naval 
 and military expeditions to the coast of Spain. The first 
 fleet, which the poet Waller alluded to in one of his poems, 
 was commanded by a soldier of fortune who had served 
 for many years in Holland as colonel of a foot regiment. 
 
 a 2 
 
 2O66896
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 The second fleet was also under the command of a soldier 
 of fortune who had likewise spent the best years of his life 
 in Holland. These two gi-devant colonels were transformed 
 into admirals for the occasion, and were also dubbed 
 gemrals at sea, being invested with supreme naval and 
 military authority. There being only three instances in 
 the seventeenth century of soldiers of fortune, who had 
 served under a foreign flag, being appointed to the high, 
 but unenviable, position of commander-in-chief of an 
 English fleet, I have chosen one of these three anomalous 
 commanders for the subject of the following biography. 
 The names of these three generals at sea, given chrono- 
 logically, are Sir Edward Cecil, created Viscount Wimble- 
 don, Robert Bertie, tenth Lord Willoughby de Eresby, 
 created Earl of Lindsey, and George Monk, created Duke 
 of Albemarle. Of these three generals at sea, the first 
 and second were notable failures as admirals. Monk was 
 as successful on the sea as on land ; but then he was 
 a heaven-born commander, and having served in two 
 disastrous naval expeditions before he was of age, which 
 left a vivid and sad remembrance in his mind, he knew 
 what course to avoid when he himself commanded an 
 English fleet. The lives of Robert Bertie Earl of Lindsey, 
 and George Monk Duke of Albemarle, have already 
 been written. Both have an eulogistic memoir in the 
 Biographia Britannica, and Monk's life has been written 
 by that able historian, M. Guizot. There remains there- 
 fore only the life of Sir Edward Cecil Viscount Wimbledon, 
 for me to offer to the reading public. 
 
 Although the story of Edward Cecil's life has never 
 before been written, he has not escaped the notice of 
 contemporary and after historians. His notable failure 
 as a general at sea has earned for him a line or two of 
 contemptuous mention in Clarendon's History of the
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 Rebellion, and after historians, like a flock of helpless 
 sheep, have contented themselves with endorsing this noble 
 historian's remarks, without ever troubling themselves to 
 find out, and to show, how it was that this general at 
 sea failed so lamentably. There is one notable exception 
 to this follow-my-leader class of historians, and this is the 
 able historian of this epoch, Dr. Samuel Rawson Gardiner. 
 The history of the reigns of James I. and Charles I. may, 
 and doubtless will be, rewritten by some aspiring historian 
 in the next century, but I doubt if a more impartial, more 
 reliable, and more unbiassed history of those stirring times 
 will ever supplant, or even equal, Dr. Gardiner's able work. 
 He has shown in his graphic account of the Cadiz ex- 
 pedition in 1625, why that expedition failed, and I can 
 only supplement his account of that expedition by some 
 more details, which occupied too much space to find a 
 place in his valuable work. There is a bright side, as well 
 as a dark side, in every man's character and career, and it 
 is hard if the dark side alone should be displayed to public 
 view. The dark side of Edward Cecil's life has long been 
 known to the readers of English history ; it is my ambition 
 now to show the bright side both of his character and 
 career. It is said that every biographer must either be a 
 flatterer or an apologist. If this is so, then must I appear 
 as an apologist, and not a flatterer, for I have honestly 
 tried not to enhance my subject's qualifications and 
 disguise his failings. I use the word " subject " instead of 
 " hero," as my ideas of the qualifications necessary to 
 constitute a hero are very large, and it appears to me that 
 a man must be a moral as well as a physical hero to 
 deserve that proud appellation. 
 
 It is a new departure in biography to write the life of a 
 man who met with greater reverses than successes in his 
 chequered career, but surely it is a more noble aim to try
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 and rescue a man's reputation, as far as historical veracity 
 will allow of, which has been unduly bespattered with dirt 
 -by many dead and gone writers whose works still live, than 
 to write a laudatory life of some much over-praised so- 
 called hero. I do not believe in giving an apple to an 
 orchard, or in adding a fresh wreath of laurel to a brow 
 aching with the weight of triumphal honours. If the 
 three years that I have spent in collecting materials for, 
 and in writing, this biography make future historians 
 speak in less condemnation of Edward Cecil, Viscount 
 Wimbledon, when referring to the important expedi- 
 tion placed under his command in 1625, my labours will 
 not have been in vain. As it is, I make no apology to 
 anyone for having written this work, but I do apologise 
 to all those who read it for all the faults, discrepancies, 
 and literary defects which the following pages may 
 contain. I must also beg the reader to read the character 
 of Lord Wimbledon by the light of the age he lived in, 
 and to remember that he lived in an age when society was 
 largely composed of sheep and wolves, and his lordship, 
 who was partial to proverbs, thoroughly believed in the 
 Spanish proverb which says : " He who makes himself a 
 sheep the wolf eats." 
 
 Apart from what a certain class of people speak of 
 slightingly as " the mere accident of birth," Edward Cecil 
 was an historical character. He did not, I own, occupy a 
 high position as an able general, an able speaker, or an able 
 statesman ; but as a soldier, a member of Parliament, and 
 Privy Councillor, he associated on equal terms with the 
 most notable men of his day. As a soldier, he was the 
 contemporary and comrade in arms of such historical 
 characters as Thomas Lord Grey of Wilton, Robert Bertie 
 Lord Willoughby de Eresby, Walter Scott Lord Buccleuch 
 the " bold Buccleuch " of Sir Walter Scott's stirring
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 melody Henry de Vere Earl of Oxford, Henry Wrio- 
 thesley Earl of Southampton, Edward Sackville Earl of 
 Dorset, &c. He charged with his troop in the decisive 
 cavalry charge on Nieuport's bloody field that hard won 
 victory which even the victors spoke of with bated breath 
 and which Dutch ladies loved to represent on tapestry, a 
 specimen of which is now one of the rarest curiosities in 
 the Porte de Halle Museum at Brussels. Cecil was the 
 unsuccessful rival, and for many years the second in com- 
 mand to, the valiant and successful general Sir Horace 
 Vere, with whom he fought, mined, and raised batteries, 
 before many of the towns which Maurice of Nassau laid 
 siege to. At Juliers, where Cecil had a high command as 
 General of the British contingent, he won honour and 
 renown, and had such well known men as Sir Edward 
 Herbert, afterwards created Baron Herbert of Cherbury, 
 Lord Chandos, Sir Henry Rich, afterwards created Earl 
 of Holland, Sir Thomas Somerset, afterwards created 
 Viscount Somerset, and Sir Thomas Howard, afterwards 
 created Earl of Berkshire, to serve under him as gentlemen 
 volunteers. When Cecil exchanged camp life for court life 
 his short sojourns there has an historical interest, as he was 
 constantly in the company of the chivalrous young Prince 
 of Wales whose life came to so untimely an end in 1612. 
 And a melancholy interest attaches itself to Cecil's hurried 
 journey to Bath, in this same disastrous year, where his 
 uncle, and kind patron, Robert Cecil Earl of Salisbury, 
 was seized with that illness which speedily carried him to 
 the grave. 
 
 As a parliamentary man, Cecil was the contemporary of 
 Dudley Digges, Robert Philips, Eliot the great patriot, and 
 many another legislator of whom England may be proud. 
 
 As a Privy Councillor, Lord Wimbledon sat at the 
 Council Board with such men as Lucius Gary, Viscount
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 Falkland ; William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury ; 
 Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, and William Juxon, 
 Bishop of London. Wimbledon was one of those Privy 
 Councillors who, on Feb. lyth, 1631, had the privilege of 
 listening to the noble Wentworth (then a Viscount) as he 
 disclosed his propositions to the council concerning the 
 government of Ireland, of which kingdom he was deputy. 
 And it was before Wimbledon, and some other members 
 of the Privy Council, that Oliver Cromwell, on a notable 
 occasion, was brought to answer the charges made 
 against him by the Mayor of Huntingdon. 
 
 I have now given a few of the incidents in Edward 
 Cecil's career which, I think, justify me in treating his 
 life historically, and making my biography a history of 
 the Times as well as a record of Cecil's whole life. I make 
 no pretension whatever to any discoveries in the main facts 
 of English history. On the contrary, I have been quite 
 content to extract the main historical facts from well 
 known sources. At the same time I have reviewed these 
 same historical events according to my own ideas, and by 
 no means always in the same light as the authors I have 
 borrowed from. Whenever recourse has been had to the 
 works of a contemporary writer, I have preferred, where 
 possible, to give the extract in his own words. Such 
 extracts as have been translated from Dutch and Spanish 
 writers are given in the exact words of the translators, and 
 have been in no way altered by me. 
 
 I have strictly adhered to the old spelling in letters and 
 extracts, only amending the punctuation in the former as 
 well as the involved sentences in many of these letters 
 allows of, and in all cases substituting " the " and " that " 
 for the now obsolete words " y e " and " yV With regard 
 to Lord Wimbledon's letters, many of which I have given 
 in full, I cannot do better than quote the words of Miss
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 Cooper in her preface to the life of Thomas Wentworth, 
 Earl of Strafford : " What to us might read like the most 
 fulsome language of servility and flattery, was nothing 
 more than the form of expression common to all in that 
 time." 
 
 Nothing remains for me now but the pleasant task of 
 thanking all those to whom I am indebted for any help, 
 however small, in my researches which, though pursued 
 con amore and without regard to expense and trouble, 
 have of necessity been arduous, as " works of easy refer- 
 ence" have furnished me with but a small modicum of 
 information regarding the life and doings of a man who 
 has now been dead for nearly 250 years. 
 
 I am especially indebted to the Marquis of Salisbury, 
 K.G., for his kind permission to copy all Sir Edward 
 Cecil's letters among the Cecil MSS. at Hatfield. These 
 letters, the foundation of my biography, have been most 
 carefully copied for me by R. T. Gunton, Esq., secretary to 
 the Marquis of Salisbury. I am also especially indebted 
 to the Marquis of Bath for his kindness in lending me an 
 interesting letter of Sir Edward Cecil's, now in his 
 possession at Longleat, for me to copy ; and my thanks are 
 equally due to the Duke of Northumberland, K.G., for his 
 courteous kindness in procuring me a copy of an interest- 
 ing Cecil document in his possession at Alnwick Castle ; 
 I have also to thank the Dowager Duchess of Northumber- 
 land for kind help in the same matter. 
 
 I am indebted to the following for their ready help in 
 forwarding my researches : Miss Amy Yule ; Alexander 
 Turing, Esq., H.B.M. Consul at Rotterdam ; Rev. E. Brine, 
 English chaplain at the Hague ; George Cokayne, Esq. 
 F.S.A., Lancaster Herald ; Dr. S. R. Gardiner, the his- 
 torian ; Dr. Grosart, F.S.A., the able editor of John 
 Glanville's " Journal of the Voyage to Cadiz in 1625 ; " Dr.
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 Scott, late head-master of Westminster School; the Rev. 
 Canon Jackson of Bristol. 
 
 I have also received able assistance in copying old letters 
 and documents, at the Public Record Office, from H. Barr 
 Tomkins, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, whose experience and 
 accuracy in making transcripts considerably lightened my 
 labours in that branch of work. I may also add that I 
 have received invariable civility, and ready help whenever 
 required, at the hands of the officials at the Record Office, 
 Privy Council Office, and British Museum. 
 
 CHARLES DALTON. 
 
 32, WEST CROMWELL ROAD, 
 SOUTH KENSINGTON. 
 September itf/i, 1885.
 
 LETTERS IN VOL. I. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 MR. WILLIAM CECIL TO LORD BURGHLEY . . . . 7 
 
 MR. THOMAS CECIL TO LORD BURGHLEY ..... 9 
 
 MR. EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL 15 
 
 CAPT. EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL . . .28 
 
 CAPT. EDWARD CECIL TO THOMAS LORD BURGHLEY . . .29 
 CAPT. EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL .... 38 
 MR. GEORGE GILPIN TO MR. DUDLEY CARLETON .... 39 
 CAPT. EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL .... 41 
 CAPT. EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL .... 55 
 CAPT. EDWARD CECIT TO SIR ROBERT CECIL .... 59 
 CAPT. EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL . . ''. .65 
 SIR FRANCIS VERB TO THE PRIVY COUNCIL. .... 69 
 SIR ROBERT CECIL TO THOMAS LORD BURGHLEY ... 72 
 CAPT. EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL .... 74 
 CAPT. EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL .... 76 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL . . . .83 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL 89 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL 95 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO ROBERT LORD CECIL ."" . . . . 107 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO ROBERT LORD CECIL 116 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO ROBERT LORD CECIL 118 
 
 SIR F. VERB TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY 129 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO LORD L'ISLE ....... 137 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY ... -143 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY 145 
 
 MR. TURNER TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY . . . .147 
 
 THE EARL OF EXETER TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY . . .151 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR JULIUS C^SAR . . . .-_ .166 
 
 THE EARL OF SALISBURY TO SIR E. CECIL ..... 168 
 SIR E. CECIL TO HENRY PRINCE OF WALES . . . . 184 
 SIR E. CECIL TO HENRY PRINCE OF WALES -. . - . . . 193 
 SIR E. CECIL TO HENRY PRINCE OF WALES .' , . _ . 196 
 SIR E. CECIL TO MR. WM. CAMDEN . . ' . :; . .231 
 MR. WM. CAMDEN TO SIR E. CECIL . , . . . . 232
 
 XIV LETTERS IN VOL. I. 
 
 RAGE 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO MR. THOMAS MURRAY 234 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR DUDLEY CARLETON 236 
 
 SIR D. CARLETON TO MR. T. MURRAY 237 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON 242 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON 245 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON 248 
 
 KING JAMES I. TO SIR D. CARLETON 251 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON 253 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON 255 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON 256 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON 257 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON 263 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON 272 
 
 LADY LAKE TO THE COUNTESS OF EXETER 282 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON 284 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR GEORGE CALVERT 300 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO WM. EARL OF SALISBURY 327 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO WM. EARL OF SALISBURY 337 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR GEORGE CALVERT 338 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR G. CALVERT .*.... 339 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO WM. EARL OF SALISBURY 364 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR G. CALVERT 365 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM . . 373 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR JOHN LAWRENCE 377
 
 LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL, 
 
 VISCOUNT WIMBLEDON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 IS72-IS99. 
 
 Introduction The family of Cecil William Cecil, First Lord Burghley 
 Thomas Cecil, Second Lord Burghley and First Earl of Exeter The travels 
 of his eldest son, Will Cecil Letter to Lord Burghley from his grandson 
 Will Cecil Marriage of Will Cecil to the Baroness de Ros Her death 
 The Hon. Edward Cecil Announcement of his birth to William, Lord 
 Burghley Westminster School License for Richard and Edward Cecil to 
 travel abroad for three years The civility they received when abroad 
 Letter from Florence The Duke of Bracciano His visit to London 
 Reception by the Queen Edward Cecil's determination to follow the wars 
 in the Low Countries His letter to his uncle, Sir Robert Cecil, from the 
 Hague. 
 
 THE memoirs of a man whose career was one of uninter- 
 rupted success are not generally so interesting, or instructive 
 to the reader, as a biography which recounts the struggles 
 and trials, successes and reverses, of an eventful life. In the 
 former case you know what to expect, but in the latter you 
 never know what is going to happen, and so your interest 
 is kept alive to the end. 
 
 Horace Walpole, in his Royal and Noble Authors, re- 
 marks that there are few memoirs of Edward Cecil, 
 Viscount Wimbledon. Walpole, in common with some 
 other writers, mentions that Lord Wimbledon followed the 
 wars in the Netherlands for many years, and was a general 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 of great reputation until his miscarriage in the expedition 
 to Cadiz. 1 Most of our historians devote a few lines to the 
 unfortunate expedition to Cadiz in 1625, and mention Lord 
 Wimbledon's name with either sarcasm or opprobrium, not 
 knowing, or not caring to mention, that this same Lord 
 Wimbledon had served for nearly thirty years in the 
 Netherlands, and had won renown in some of the campaigns 
 of those stirring times. It is because historians and 
 biographers have said so little about a man who, whatever 
 his faults may have been, was deservedly reckoned a 
 brave and experienced soldier, and who had raised himself 
 step by step up the military ladder, to the highest military 
 rank, that I have laboured to rescue his name from the 
 oblivion that has so long surrounded it. 
 
 Many a face escapes beauty by the possession of one 
 bad feature. Many a character would be considered noble 
 but for one unredeeming trait. Many a general would be 
 reckoned a great commander had he not suffered one 
 signal defeat. A bad feature may improve and soften 
 with age. A character can be improved with care. But a 
 defeat in war is never really forgotten or forgiven, and the 
 defeated commander can seldom retrieve his fame. I say 
 seldom, because it does sometimes happen that the un- 
 fortunate commander has the chance of retrieving his 
 reputation and does retrieve it, but if, as is generally the 
 case, he has not the chance, his reputation is never 
 repaired, and what is still worse, his past services and 
 former brave deeds are often forgotten. 
 
 1 Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors, ii. p. 300. A. Collins, in 
 his Peerage, art. Cecil, Earl of Exeter, says, Sir Edward Cecil "was 
 one of the most famous generals of his time." Granger says the same, 
 and gives General Cecil a place in his Biographical Dictionary of Eng- 
 land, i. p. 396. See also honourable mention of Sir E. Cecil in Robert 
 Codrington's Life and Death of the Illustrious Robert, Earl of Essex, &c., 
 printed in 1646, and republished in Harleian Miscellany, i. pp. 216-239.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 3 
 
 Few families can boast of having produced two such 
 illustrious statesmen as William Cecil, the great Lord 
 Burghley, and his illustrious son, Robert Cecil, Earl of 
 Salisbury. If (as I take it to be) the real founder of a 
 family is the one who first brings honour and renown to 
 the name, and raises his family to a high estate, then can 
 we dispense with the genealogists' conflicting statements 
 as to the origin of the Cecils, 1 and merely state that 
 William Cecil, Lord Burghley, was the founder of this 
 noble family. To those, however, who wish for more 
 information, I may state that the Cecils are said to derive 
 their descent from Robert Sitsilt, an assistant to Robert 
 Fitz Hamon in the conquest of Glamorganshire, in the 4th 
 year of King William Rufus. Aubrey, in his History of 
 Surrey, says he was in Monmouth Church in 1656, and 
 there was in the window of the church a very old escutcheon, 
 as old as the church, belonging to the family of Sitsilt of 
 Monmouthshire, of which family, he says, was the great 
 Lord Burghley. 2 
 
 The name of this family has been spelt at various times, 
 Sitsilt, Sicelt, Seycil, Seisel, Cicil, &c. 3 
 
 Whatever uncertainty there may be about the descent of 
 Lord Burghley from the Sitsilts 4 of Monmouthshire, it is 
 proved beyond doubt that his grandfather, David Cissil, or 
 Cecil, was the first of his family to settle in Lincolnshire. 
 This David Cecil, of the parish of St. George, Stamford, 
 had a son, Richard Cissel of Burghley, in the parish of St. 
 
 1 See an article on "The origin of the noble family of Cecil" in Notes 
 and Queries, 6th series, vii. p. 384. 
 
 2 i. p. 15- 
 
 3 Camden's Remains, p. 140. 
 
 4 Lord Burghley, who was a great genealogist, drew up several pedigrees of 
 his family with his own hand, and he deduced his descent from the ancient 
 family of Sitsilt. See facsimile of a pedigree in Lord Burghley's handwriting 
 (from the Hatfield MSS.) in Dr. Nares' Life of Lord Burghley, i. p. 8. 
 
 B 2.
 
 4 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Martin, Stanford Baron, Northamptonshire, who in the 
 22nd year of Henry VIII. was Groom of the Robes to that 
 Monarch, and Constable of Warwick Castle. He left issue 
 by Jane his wife, daughter and heir to William Heckington, 
 of Bourn, in Lincolnshire, a son William, " a person," says 
 Dugdale, " of great learning, singular judgment, admirable 
 moderation, and comely gravity, who came to be the 
 chiefest statesman of the age, wherein he lived, unto 
 whose prudence in council, much is attributed for the 
 blessing then enjoyed by that prosperous and happy 
 government throughout the long reign of Queen Elizabeth 
 of famous memory." 1 
 
 Edward Cecil, the subject of this narrative, had the 
 honour to be a grandson of this illustrious statesman, his 
 father being Sir Thomas Cecil, only son of Lord Burghley 
 by his first marriage with Mary Cheeke, sister to the learned 
 Sir John Cheeke. Sir Thomas Cecil served, in the i6th of 
 Elizabeth, as a volunteer in that expedition into Scotland, 
 in aid of the Regent of that Kingdom, when the Castle of 
 Edinburgh was besieged and taken. He afterwards distin- 
 guished himself in the Netherlands, and was made Governor 
 of the Brill, one of the cautionary towns which the States 
 of Holland pledged to Queen Elizabeth. 2 
 
 In the memorable year of the Spanish Invasion, 1588, he, 
 with his half-brother, Sir Robert Cecil, served as volunteers 
 on board the English fleet 3 In 1601, Sir Thomas Cecil, 
 then Lord Burghley, was installed a Knight of the Garter 
 
 1 Arthur Collins' Life of William, Lord Burghley, &c. 
 
 2 Rymer's Faedera, xvi. p. 4. 
 
 3 Brit. Biog., Hi., art. "Cecil Lord Burghley ;" Biog. Brit., art. " Robert 
 Cecil ; " Chalmers' Biog. Diet., same life.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 5 
 
 at Windsor, and was created 4th May, 1605, Earl of Exeter. 
 This title had been offered to him nearly two years before, 
 but he had declined it. His reasons for so doing are given 
 in a letter from him to Sir John Hubert, dated from 
 Burghley the 1 2th of Jan. 1603-4: 
 
 " I am resolvyd to contente myselfe with this estate I have of 
 a Baron. And my present estate of lyvyng, howsoever those of 
 the world hath enlargyd it, I fynde lyttel inough to meyntane the 
 degree I am in. And I am sure they that succede me wyll be 
 less hable to meynteyne it then I am, considerynge ther wyll goo 
 out of the baronage thre yonger broothers lyvyngts." 
 
 This nobleman was twice married. He married first, in 
 1564, Dorothy, daughter and coheir of John Nevill, Lord 
 Latimer, 1 by whom he had five sons and eight daughters, 
 viz : 
 
 1. William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter and 3rd Baron 
 Burghley, born 1566. 
 
 2. Sir Richard Cecil, of Wakerley, Northants, Knt, 
 born December ;th, iS/o. 2 
 
 3. Sir EDWARD CECIL, Knt. 
 
 1 Lord Latimer was son of Sir John Nevill, third Baron Latimer, by his 
 first wife, Dorothy de Vere, daughter and coheir of John, Earl of Oxford (his 
 second wife being Catherine Parr, daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, of Kendal, 
 afterwards married to Henry VIII.). John, fourth and last Lord Latimer, 
 married Lady Lucy Somerset, daughter of Henry, Earl of Worcester. There 
 is a splendid altar monument to Lord Latimer in Well Church, near Bedale, 
 and within two miles of Snape Castle, built by the Nevills, and now a farm- 
 house. Lord Latimer's monument bears a recumbent effigy of that nobleman 
 in armour his head pillowed on a helmet, his sword by his side, and his 
 hands raised in prayer. A large mural marble tablet by the side of the monu- 
 ment, surmounted by a shield of eighteen quarterings, has the following 
 inscription: " Sic transit gloria mundi. Here lyeth buried S r Jhon Neveil, 
 Knight, laste Lord Lattimor, who died the 23 of Aprill, 1577. Whomaredthe 
 Lady Lucy th eldest daughter of th Erie of Worseter, and shee lyeth buried 
 in Hackne Church by London, and by hir left 4 daughters and heires 
 whose matches are hereunder expressed." 
 
 2 This birth is recorded in Lord Burghley's Diary, HarL 36.
 
 O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 4. Christopher Cecil, born 1576. 
 
 5. Thomas Cecil, born 15/9. 
 
 1. Catherine Cecil. 
 
 2. Lucy Cecil, married Wm. Paulet, Marquis of Win- 
 chester and had issue. 
 
 3. Mildred Cecil, born 1573, married, first, Sir Thomas 
 Reade, Knt, and, secondly, Sir Edmund Trafford. 
 
 4. Mary Cecil, married Edward Denny, Baron Denny 
 and Earl of Norwich. 1 
 
 5. Elizabeth Cecil, married, first, Sir William Newport 
 alias Hatton, and, secondly, Lord Chief Justice Sir Edward 
 Coke. 
 
 6. Dorothy Cecil, born 1577, married Sir Giles Allington 
 of Horseheath, Cambridgeshire. 
 
 7. Frances Cecil, married Nicholas Tufton, first Earl of 
 Thanet, and had issue. 
 
 8. Susan Cecil. 
 
 William Cecil, the eldest son, will be mentioned occasion- 
 ally in this narrative, so a few words about him before 
 passing on to his younger brother, Edward, will not be out 
 of place. 
 
 At the age of seventeen we find young Will Cecil (as he 
 was generally called) at Paris, having been sent abroad for 
 some years, according to the fashion of that time, to travel 
 and improve his education. That he travelled a good deal 
 is very certain, but in what way he improved his mind is 
 doubtful. An extract from one of his letters from Paris to 
 his grandfather, Lord Burghley, is worthy of a place in 
 these pages, as it shows the same affection for that noble 
 
 1 The Earl of Norwich had by this marriage an only daughter and heir 
 Honora, who married Sir James Hay, of Pitcorthie, Co. Fife, created by 
 James I., Viscount Doncaster, and Earl of Carlisle. This nobleman left by 
 Honora, his wife, an only son, who succeeded as second Earl of Carlisle, and 
 at his mother's death succeeded to the barony of Denny. He d. s. p. in 1660.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 7 
 
 animal, the horse, which characterised his brother Edward, 
 throughout the latter's military career. This letter l is in 
 acknowledgment of "a present of five pounds in Angels 
 and a beautiful bay horse " sent the writer by Lord 
 Burghley : 
 
 " Touching the horse, my good Lord," writes W. Cecil, " no 
 news of like quality could happen more agreeable to my desire 
 and contentatio, then when I hard he was arrived at Paris, much 
 more at the first appearance, when I understood he came from your 
 Lordship, and saw the beauty of his colour, marked his excellent 
 proportion, and perceived the greatnes of his courage, were my 
 senses and mind affected with greater delight then before. But 
 yo r L. shall see the incertenty of worldly delights, howe sone my 
 sweet was turned into sower, my mirth into mourninge, and all my 
 joy and delight, into hevines and greef. For my horse had not 
 stood halfe an hower in the stable, but my self and others perceived 
 a great foundringe through out his whole body, which he had 
 gotten by the evil usage of a leud Frenchman, who had the 
 charge of him from Roan 2 hether. For as I am credably informed 
 by honest merchaunts, he came to Roan safly and there was kept 
 six or seven daies ; since which hower of his comminge he hath 
 been sic and lame in his whole body, and still remaineth in the 
 hands of the horse-liche without any hope of recovery. 3 
 
 " I thought it discretion and my duety to let yo r L. understand 
 in what case I received him, lest if peradventur yet, or herafter, he 
 perishe by occasion of this sicknes it be supposed to be through 
 my default. 
 
 " I do most unfanedly assuer yo r L. there could no earthly 
 thinge of like value have crossed my joy, more to my greefe and 
 disquietnes, then this misfortune in my horse ; wherin I am 
 
 1 Lansdowm MSS. 104, fo. 1 68. 
 
 2 Rouen. 
 
 3 Will Cecil appears to have been as unfortunate with his horseflesh as he 
 was in his domestic affairs. Dudley Carleton, in a letter to J. Chamberlain, 
 Dec. 29, 1601, mentions that " Will Cecill was lately robbed at his country 
 house by one of his men of jewels and plate to the value of 2OOo, and one of 
 his best geldings." S^ P. Dotn.
 
 8 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 ashamed to show yo r L. what very greefe urged me unto, lest yo r 
 good L. should condemne me of childishnes and want of dis- 
 cretion At Paris this xxvi of August [1583]. 
 
 " Your L. most obedient sonn, 
 
 " W. CECIL." 
 
 Two years later we find Will Cecil paying a secret visit 
 to Rome, and his conduct there gave rise to a suspicion 
 that he had turned Roman Catholic. 1 Certain it is that his 
 mode of life about this time was highly displeasing to Lord 
 Burghley. In 1589, the prodigal son having returned 
 home, and amended his way of life, received forgiveness, 
 and was happily married to the only child and heir of 
 Edward Manners, Earl of Rutland. This lady had 
 succeeded, on her father's decease in 1587, to the ancient 
 barony of de Ros. A year after his marriage, we find Will 
 Cecil writing to his grandfather, thanking him for consent- 
 ing to be sponsor to his firstborn child, who was to be 
 called William, though the mother had wished him to be 
 called Edward after her father. 2 The young mother lived 
 but a few days, or hours, after her child's birth. She died 
 on May n, 1590, leaving her husband a widower at the 
 early age of twenty-four. And in this forlorn state we 
 must leave Will Cecil and pass on to his brother Edward. 
 
 None of the Cecil pedigrees give the true date of Edward 
 Cecil's birth, or state where he was born. 3 These important 
 
 1 Goodman's Court of James L, i. p. 330, note. 
 
 2 W. Cecil to Lord Burghley, 21 May, 1590, Lansdowne MSS. 104, f. 71. 
 This child was baptized at Newark Castle on June 4, 1590, and received 
 the name of William. He succeeded his mother in the barony as sixteenth 
 baron. His title having been contested by Francis Manners, sixth Earl of 
 Rutland, as heir-general, the barony was confirmed to Wm. Cecil, Lord de 
 Ros, in 1616. 
 
 3 Arthur Collins, in his account of " Cecil, Earl of Exeter," in his Peerage, 
 states that Edward Cecil was born in 1571. Burke and Nichols have copied 
 this vague date. See Burke's Peerage, and Nichols' Progresses of James /., 
 ii. p. 441.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 9 
 
 links in the biographical chain are supplied by a letter 
 among the State Papers from Thomas Cecil to his illus- 
 trious father, Lord Burghley, 1 announcing the birth of his 
 third son, at Burghley House, Stamford, on Feb. 29, 1571-2 : 
 
 " My dewty unto yo r Lordshipp most humbly considered. It 
 hath pleasid Almighty God, this present xxix th daye of ffebruary, 
 to shewe me his favourable goodnes in sending me, with the saftye 
 as I hoope of my wiffe, a thirde sonne. My meaning is to require 
 my lorde of Ruttland 2 to be one of the godfathers and the Bishopp 
 of Peterborough the other. 3 As [for] the godmother I am not 
 presently resolvyd of. And thus requiring yo r dailye blessing, 
 booth to me and all youres, I wish that booth in yeares and 
 comfortt you may live to see them the servants of Almighty [God] 
 and a comfortt to yo r old age. And thus most humbly requiring 
 you to beare w th this my shortness of writing, hastened therunto 
 for that I would that myne owne letter should be the firste 
 messenger, I end w th my dailye prayer for yo r safty, ffrom yo r 1. 
 house of Burghley the xxix th of fFebruary 1571 [old style]. 
 " Yo r lordshipp'smost humble and 
 
 " obedient sonne, 
 
 " THO. CECILL." 
 
 Addressed : 
 
 " To the right honourable his 
 very good lorde and father the 
 lord of Burghley, one of the 
 lordes of the Quene's Ma ti69 
 most honourable privye councell, &c. &c." 
 
 Endorsed : 
 "2Qfeby. 1571, 
 Mr. Tho. Cecill to my lord, 
 his 3 rd . sonn born at Burghley." 4 
 
 1 Sir Wm. Cecil had been created Baron Burghley, Feb. 13, 1570-71. 
 
 2 Edward Manners, third Earl of Rutland, K.G., son of Henry, second 
 Earl, by Margaret, dau. of Ralph Nevill, Earl of Westmoreland. 
 
 3 Edmund Scambler, B.D., was made Bishop of Peterborough, Dec. 21, 
 1560, in the place of David Pole, who had been deprived of the bishopric. 
 In 1584 Bishop Scambler was translated to Norwich. 
 
 4 S. P. Dom. 1572.
 
 IO LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 After reading the above letter it is easy to see that 
 Edward Cecil was called Edward after his godfather, the 
 Earl of Rutland. 
 
 It is unsatisfactory to have to state that nothing is 
 known of Edward Cecil's school or university life. It is 
 more than probable that he was educated at Westminster 
 School, where his younger brother Christopher 1 was 
 educated. It never does, however, to deviate from the 
 beaten track of facts in biography, so this important point 
 must perforce remain unsettled. 2 
 
 In Lord Burghley's diary, written by himself, we find 
 that in September, 1594, was granted "a license for 
 Richard 3 and Edward Cecyll, Sir Thomas Cecyll's sonnes, 
 to travayle abroad for the space of three years." 4 It is 
 recorded of the great Lord Burghley, that if anyone came 
 to the Lords of the Council for a license to travel, he would 
 first examine him of England ; and if he found him 
 ignorant, would bid him stay at home and know his 
 own country first. 8 
 
 The two brothers, Richard and Edward Cecil, travelled 
 under the most favourable auspices. Their grandfather's 
 
 1 In the Lansdowne MSS. is a letter in Latin from Christopher Cecil to 
 his grandfather, Lord Burghley, dated from Westminster School, April vi., 
 1591, "thanking for his education." Christopher Cecil was drowned in 
 Germany when does not appear, but it must have been before Jan. 12, 
 1603-4, as Lord Burghley speaks in his letter to Sir John Hubert (already 
 given) of three younger sons' portions. 
 
 2 I am informed by Dr. Scott, late head-master of Westminster School, 
 that there is no complete list of Westminster scholars during the reign of 
 Elizabeth among the school records. 
 
 3 Richard Cecil married Elizabeth, dau. of Sir Anthony Cope, Bart., by 
 whom he had a son, David Cecil, who eventually succeeded as fourth Baron 
 Burghley and third Earl of Exeter. 
 
 4 Extract from Lord Burghley's MS. Diary, Harl. 36. See same diary in 
 Murdin's Continuation of Haynes 1 State Papers, 1542-1596. 
 
 * The Compleat Gentleman, by Henry Peacham, p. 51,
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. I I 
 
 name was known and reverenced throughout the length 
 and breadth of Europe. 
 
 " There were many demonstrations of the reputation many 
 princes had of him," wrote Peck, " as when his lordship's 
 grandchild, M r W m Cecill, travayling in Italy, was brought before 
 Cardinal Farnese, a man of great authority. Who, finding M r 
 Cecill to be the [grand] sonne of the great treasurer of England, 
 lodged him in his owne house, appointed divers gents to attend 
 him and his horses to be at his comandment. Speakinge most 
 reverentlie of his grandfather; and, never left enquiring of the 
 manner of his life, [his] fashion, statue, speach, recreations and 
 such like [matters relating to him]. Delighting to heare and talk 
 of him and, at his departure, gave him presents and money in his 
 purse. The like did the Duke of Florence 1 to M r . Edward Cecill, 
 a younger brother, and which was an extraordinary favoure the 
 duke gave him leave to ride his own horse, and at his departure 
 gave him gifts of price." 2 
 
 It was during his sojourn at Florence that Edward 
 Cecil wrote to his uncle Sir Robert Cecil. This letter, 
 which is written in Italian, is the earliest letter of Edward 
 Cecil's that has yet been found. It is unfortunately not 
 worth giving, being a mere effusion of gratitude for some 
 favours received from Sir Robert Cecil. Its phraseology, 
 indeed, reminds us of " a letter to an uncle, thanking for a 
 gold watch," given in an old edition of The Ready Letter 
 Writer. Edward Cecil had evidently profited by his 
 kinship to Sir Robert Cecil, who was recognised at this 
 time as a rising sun. " Sa bene ella," says young Cecil, in 
 this letter to his uncle, " quant oblige m'ho al cielo e per 
 esser stato favorito da lei, e annoverato fra gli suoi 
 congiunti." 3 
 
 1 Ferdinand de Medicis L, Cardinal-Duke of Florence. 
 8 Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, i. p. 27. 
 
 * Letter dated from Florence, Nov. 2, 1596, and addressed, " All 111"" 
 Sig* mie Coll* il Sig r Ruberto Cecillio dal consiglio di sua Maiesta sereniss*
 
 12 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Amongst those who extended their hospitality to 
 Edward Cecil and his brother, when they were in Italy, 
 was the Duke of Bracciano, 1 chief of the Orsini family, 
 near Rome, and a cousin of the Duke of Florence. When 
 Henry IV. married Marie de Medicis, the Duke of Bracciano 
 accompanied his cousin to France, and came over to 
 England in the winter of 1600-1. He was feasted by 
 Sir Thomas Cecil (now Lord Burghley), as a return for the 
 hospitality shown to his sons in Italy. Queen Elizabeth 
 also graciously entertained him, " and danced," says 
 Chamberlain in a letter to his friend Dudley Carleton, 
 then at the Hague, " both measures and galliards before 
 him to show that she is not so old as some would have 
 her." 2 However unaccustomed the duke may have been 
 to the sight of a princess of nearly threescore years and 
 ten indulging in terpsichorean delights, his courteous 
 nature doubtless made him express his appreciation and 
 delight at the honour shown him. At his departure the 
 Queen sent him a gold cup of six score pounds and a 
 jewel, for which he gave the bearer, Michael Stanhope, an 
 ;8o chain. 3 
 
 mio zio, Londra." Cecil Papers, ffatfield, 174/13. There is a letter 
 similarly expressed as above, from Richard Cecil to Sir Robert Cecil, among 
 the S. P. Dom., dated from Florence, Oct. 1 8, 1596. 
 
 1 There is a most curious and startling anecdote regarding a subsequent 
 Duke of Bracciano, given in Wheatley's edition (1884) of The Historical and 
 Posthumous Memoirs of Sir Nathaniel William Wraxall, i. p. 186. 
 
 2 Feb. 3, 1601. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * Aubery du Maurier, in his Memoires pour servir a Fhistoire de la RepuUique 
 des Pays-JBas, gives an amusing anecdote (which he says was related to his 
 father by Prince Maurice) of a young Dutch gentleman who accompanied the 
 Envoys from the United Provinces on one of their visits to London. When 
 the Envoys were granted an audience by Elizabeth, this young Dutchman 
 accompanied them and gazed so long and admiringly at the Queen that she 
 could not but remark it. She also perceived that he spoke occasionally to a 
 young English gentleman of the Court, never taking his eyes off her all the 
 time. Directly the audience was over, and the Envoys had departed, the 
 Queen summoned the young English courtier she had seen talking to the
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 13 
 
 Whilst Richard and Edward Cecil were pursuing their 
 travels and studies in Italy, one of them (it will never be 
 known which 1 ) had the honour of receiving a letter from 
 the learned Sir Francis Bacon that king of letter-writers. 
 Though not connected by blood, the families of Sir Thomas 
 Cecil and Francis Bacon were closely connected by 
 marriage Sir Thomas's stepmother being Bacon's maternal 
 aunt. The two families were also closely connected by 
 friendship ; and from a letter in Bacon's own hand we 
 gather that he wished to be the second husband of the 
 young and beautiful widow, Lady Hatton one of Edward 
 Cecil's sisters. 2 This fancy, or passion, of the great 
 philosopher's ended, as first loves often do, in nothing, and 
 the bright young widow soon after gave her hand in 
 marriage to the elderly Sir Edward Coke. This ill-assorted 
 union created a nine-days' wonder, and England's most 
 learned judge got a wife who kept him in hot water for 
 the rest of his life. 
 
 The next news we have of young Edward Cecil is given 
 by himself in a letter to his uncle, Sir Robert Cecil, in 
 which he informs him he had determined to follow the wars 
 
 young Dutchman, and asked what he had been saying. On being told of the 
 admiration the Dutch gentleman had expressed to him for her Majesty's 
 beauty, the Queen dismissed the courtier without any remark, but when the 
 Dutch Envoys received the usual gold chains and presents on their departure 
 from London, Elizabeth sent a chain of gold, twice as large and heavy as those 
 sent to the Envoys, to the humble follower in their train who had appeared 
 so dazzled by her incomparable beauty. He wore the chain round his neck 
 all his life. ii. p. 78. 
 
 1 Bacon's letter, which is published in Spedding's Letters and Life of S aeon 
 (ii. 38), is unaddressed and undated. It has been endorsed " To M r Robert 
 Cecil." But as the able editor of Bacon's Letters remarks, it could not have 
 been to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, as he never was in Italy, and the 
 contents of the letter leave no doubt that it was addressed to a young man in 
 Italy, who had written the philosopher a letter in Italian. The date also is 
 ascertained by a reference to the fleet having just sailed for Cadiz, which 
 was in 1596, the year that Richard and Edward Cecil were in Italy. 
 
 * Sec Bacon's Letters, ii. pp. 53-4.
 
 14 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 in the Low Countries, under the command of that great 
 and worthy general, Sir Francis Vere. This letter is from 
 the Hague, and is dated February, 1598-9. The hiatus 
 from November, 1596, to February, 1599, is a long one, and 
 cannot be bridged over comfortably. We may, however, 
 readily suppose that part of the intervening time had been 
 spent in travel. It is also pretty certain that Edward 
 Cecil had been a few months in the Low Countries when 
 he wrote to his uncle in February, 1 599, as when referring 
 to his length of military service in some of his later letters, 
 he always appears to date back from 1598. It is also 
 a curious fact that in a letter from Thomas, Lord Burghley, 1 
 to his half-brother Sir Robert Cecil, dated October 
 30, 1 598, the former says, " Your letter for the passports 
 for my sons is lost ; send the bearer for another, as they are 
 to depart to-morrow if the wind serves." Might not one of 
 the writer's sons, who required a passport, be Edward Cecil ? 
 His former license to travel abroad for three years had 
 expired in the autumn of 1597. He would require a new 
 license on leaving England again. The passports Lord 
 Burghley asked for were not wanted for his eldest son, Will 
 Cecil, as we find a license granted on June 28, 1 599, to 
 " William Cecil to travel abroad with 2 servants and 
 3 horses." 2 Edward Cecil being a younger son had his 
 
 1 William Cecil, the great Lord Burghley, had died on August 4, 1598, 
 aged 77. 
 
 * S. P. Dom. June, 1599. Will Cecil's taste for travelling must have been 
 very great, as he had only recently married (for a second time) Elizabeth Drury, 
 eldest dau. of Sir Wm. Drury, of Hawsted, Suffolk. She did not accompany 
 her husband on his travels, as we find her writing to Sir Robert Cecil (her 
 uncle by marriage) in Jan. 1599-160x3, begging him to assure the Queen 
 that her husband had no intention of going to Rome as had been reported. 
 "But when I considred what dangerous effects such Reportes may breed in 
 the thought of a Prince thought (sic] of meere malice sugges'ed, I do ounce 
 agayne humbly besech your furtherance to put it out of her Ma"' head that he 
 hath or will have anny intencionne of going to roome." This letter is signed 
 " Elisa Cecill," and endorsed " 1599, Jan : M r " Cecyll to my M r ." Cecil 
 Papers, Haifield, 68/7.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 15 
 
 own way to make in the world and having always had, as 
 his letter to his uncle informs us, " a disposition to follow 
 the wars," he evidently went to the Low Countries to serve 
 under Sir Francis Vere, who returned there in October, 
 1 598, 1 and what he saw of that able general fixed his deter- 
 mination at once, as the following letter informs us : 
 
 MR. EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v r H., 
 
 " To accepete these fewe lines frome mee, as from one, whoe 
 in all duty and affection sendeth them, acknolegin that if there 
 be any one that is bounde to offer his servis to those that beaste 
 deserve it, then I howlde my selfe to have many reasones to 
 present myne to y r H. The one, by howe much y r vertues hath 
 made the most parte of men to followe y r H. as is scene at these 
 dayes. The neaxte, in that the lawe of God and Nature, bindleth 
 mee to honor and respecte y, beeyng that y are cauled in to 
 so highe a plase, and I of y r bloude and carry y r name. My 
 fortune is nowe to followe the warres (having hade allwayes heare- 
 tofore a dispositione thereun to : and the rayther of late, by howe 
 much my pore oppinione is establyshed of the great worth of 
 S r Francis Vere, whome I knowe doth booth highly reverence y r 
 H., and greatly respecte all those that be longe unto y, of w ch 
 number I acknowleg my selfe much bounde unto him, and moste 
 of all to y H. (for whose sake I finde it), therefore the profession I 
 have taking upon mee, will that I vowe my selfe to some one 
 that will protect mee (as all men of the like profession doth), 
 and I not knowing to whom my poor servis belongeth 
 more to then to y H., maketh me hope that y H. will w th 
 some littell favoure healpe my poore fortunes forward ; in w ch 
 doing, y shall not favoure only y r owne name, but favoure 
 him, whoe will ever acknowlege it w th spending his life, and all 
 
 Will Cecil's return to England is thus mentioned by Chamberlain in a letter 
 to Dudley Carleton, June 13, 1600 : "Will Cecill is returned out of Italic 
 and could not find such a mistris as his owne wife in all his travels." S. P. 
 Dom. 1600. 
 
 1 Sir F. Vere sailed from Sandwich on Oct. 27. Vere to Sir. R. Cecil, 
 Nov. 2. S. P. Holland.
 
 l6 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 he hath, to doe y r H. servis. I can saye noe more, and to advertis 
 yo w th an y nweSj we re superfluis to y H. Therefore I only 
 beseeche y r H. to howlde me in y r good favour. And I pray the 
 Allmight to all 'wayes prosper y ; from the Hage, of the 9 of 
 february 99 [n.s.] 
 
 " Y r Ho. : 
 " in all duty, 
 
 "ED. CECIL." 1 
 
 Add. "To the R. H. and his singuler good unkell, S r Ro. 
 Cecill, K 4 , Cheefe Secritarye of Ingland and on of her M tl3 moste 
 H. prive Counsell at the Corte." 
 
 End. "9 Febr. 1598. M r Ed. Cecyll to my M r from the 
 Haghe." 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 59/59.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 1 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1566-1599. 
 
 Struggle for liberty in the Netherlands The Regent Governess Arrival of 
 the Duke of Alva The Council of Blood William the Silent Com- 
 mencement of the Eighty Years' War Alva's prisoners Their fate 
 Assassination of William the Silent Queen Elizabeth's treaty with the 
 United Provinces English reinforcements The Earl of Leicester and his 
 officers The Prince of Parma The Cardinal-Archduke Death of 
 Philip II. The Admiral of Arragon's Invasion Maurice of Nassau's 
 defensive strategy Siege of Bommel Edward Cecil made Captain of 
 Foot His letters home Raising the siege Expense of the war A new 
 Anglo-Dutch treaty. 
 
 THAT mighty struggle of the Netherlanders against their 
 Spanish rulers and persecutors lasted eighty years. Not 
 eighty years of continual warfare as occasional treaties of 
 peace gave both sides an opportunity to recruit their 
 shattered forces and finances but eighty years of firm 
 resistance against the would-be empire of Spain, over a 
 country half of which had revolted from the hated Spanish 
 yoke. The Rise and Progress of the Dutch Republic is 
 one of the most interesting chapters in the history of 
 Europe. " Out of half-submerged morasses," says the 
 talented author of an able work, " in an outlying corner of 
 that vast dominion, a rational and conservative republic is 
 slowly evolved, born amid blood and fire, but dilating 
 daily through storm and darkness into more colossal 
 proportions. From the hand-breadth of territory, called 
 the province of Holland, rises a power which wages eighty 
 years' warfare with the most potent empire upon earth, 
 and which, during the progress of the struggle, becoming 
 VOL. I. C
 
 1 8 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 itself a mighty state, and binding about its own slender 
 form a zone of the richest possessions of earth, from pole 
 to tropic, finally dictates its decrees to the empire of 
 Charles." 1 
 
 In 1566, terrible religious riots took place in the Nether- 
 lands. More than 400 churches were despoiled by the 
 Reformers. Margaret, Duchess of Parma, the " Regent 
 Governess," as she was styled in the Netherlands, applied 
 to her brother, Philip II. of Spain, for help in this critical 
 state of affairs. Philip not being able to leave his own 
 country, for fear of a rebellion in his absence, decided 
 to send the Duke of Alva with a large force into the 
 Netherlands. Alva, who speedily earned the title of 
 Castigador de Flamencos, was a stern bigot, a man after 
 Philip's own heart, and an experienced general, to whom 
 the quality of mercy was unknown. Universal fear fell 
 upon the Netherlanders when they heard of Alva's 
 approach. A general exodus of high and low, rich and 
 poor, ensued. Thousands of refugees sought safety in 
 England, Germany, and Denmark. The regent's procla- 
 mation against this emigration merely made matters worse. 
 Alva hastened his march, and those who had determined 
 to stand by their country prepared to receive him with 
 every demonstration of joy, thinking to take the bull by 
 the horns. The general's reply to the congratulations of 
 the deputation which went to Luxembourg to receive him, 
 was plain even to rudeness. " Welcome or not," he said, 
 " it is all one ; here I am." 2 
 
 The arrival of Alva, with an army of 20,000 veterans, 
 was the signal for the departure of the Duchess of Parma. 
 She had, in fact, been superseded. Her power was gone, 
 
 1 Motley's Rise of the Dutch Republic ; preface, p. I. 
 
 2 Davies' History of Holland, i. p. 547.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 1 9 
 
 and her conciliatory measures were ignored by her brother 
 and his bloodthirsty general. 
 
 With the regent (who had governed nine years) departed 
 the last glimmering ray of hope from the hearts of the 
 unhappy Netherlanders. The reign of terror had indeed 
 begun. Alva's " Council of Blood " ordered wholesale 
 executions, and it is said more than 1,800 persons perished 
 within the space of a few weeks by the hand of the execu- 
 tioner. 1 Whilst the Reformers were being butchered by 
 the merciless Spaniards, preparations were being made for 
 a mighty struggle against Spanish oppression. William of 
 Nassau, Prince of Orange, a man slow to speak, but quick 
 to act, who was to all intents and purposes outlawed from 
 his fatherland, convinced that there was no hope of his 
 returning to his country, invested his brother Lewis with a 
 commission " to enter the Netherlands with an army for the 
 purpose of restoring freedom and liberty of conscience to 
 the inhabitants, and for preserving the provinces for the 
 king in their former prosperous condition." 2 This was in 
 April, 1568. 
 
 With Count Lewis of Nassau's " invasion " of the 
 Netherlands, the eighty years' war may be said to have 
 commenced. This first effort of the patriots against their 
 oppressors ended as might have been expected. They 
 gained, indeed, one victory, and then came defeat. Alva 
 made this insurrection a reason for causing the noble Counts, 
 Egmont and Horn, to be barbarously beheaded, hoping to 
 strike such terror to the hearts of the Netherlanders, that 
 they would be utterly crushed, and not have the temerity 
 to rise against their persecutors again. This judicial 
 murder did indeed excite terror throughout the kingdom, 
 but at the same time it caused a spirit of hatred and 
 Vengeance to arise, which only bided its time to burst out 
 
 1 Davies, i. p. 553. 2 Ibid. p. 556. 
 
 C 2
 
 2O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 in its full strength. The persecution of the Reformers, by 
 the Spaniards, had the same effect as the persecution of the 
 Christians by the Roman Emperors in the days of old. 
 As the Christians of old were confirmed, strengthened, and 
 united, by the common bond of suffering together in a 
 righteous cause, so were the Dutch Reformers strengthened 
 and united in feeling by the barbarities exercised against 
 them on account of their religious opinions. It often 
 needs adversity to bring out what is noblest and best in 
 man's nature. Adversity had this effect on William of 
 Orange, on whom all the hopes of the Reformers were 
 centred. From henceforth, and to the end of his life, 
 William the Silent showed all the forbearance, the patience, 
 the endurance, and the trust in God of a deeply religious 
 man. A hero and a statesman he had been before, and a 
 valiant commander he was now about to prove himself. 
 
 It is not necessary to give a review of the struggle in the 
 Netherlands prior to 1598. Enough has been said to show 
 the nature and aim of the struggle which all Protestant 
 Europe sympathised with ; and it only suffices to say, that 
 in 1572 a band of brave Englishmen, commanded by Sir 
 William Morgan, offered their services to Count Lewis of 
 Nassau, to fight in the cause of civil and religious liberty. 
 This band of volunteers was the nucleus of a powerful 
 English force, which afterwards assisted the Netherlanders 
 in their fight for freedom, and greatly contributed to their 
 future success. 1 
 
 It was not until after the assassination of William the 
 Silent, which sad event occurred at Delft in July, 1 584^ that 
 Queen Elizabeth openly assisted the Dutch. 3 
 
 1 Churchyard's Civil Wars in the Netherlands, p. 1 8. 
 
 8 The Prince of Orange was shot in the Prinsenhof, or palace, by Gerard, 
 on July 10, 1584, and was buried in the New Church, where is a splendid 
 monument, erected to his memory in 1621. 
 
 3 Camden's Hist, of Queen Elizabeth, iii. p. 321.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 21 
 
 In 1585, Elizabeth concluded a treaty with the States, 
 and agreed to send them 5,000 foot and 1,000 horse, under 
 the command of an English general. These troops were to 
 be paid by her on condition that the general, and two 
 others whom she should appoint, might be admitted into 
 the Council of the States ; that neither party should make 
 peace without the consent of the other ; that the Queen's 
 expenses should be refunded after the conclusion of the 
 war, and that the towns of Flushing, Bergen-op-zoom, and 
 the Brille, with the Castle of Rammekins should be 
 consigned into her hands by way of security. 1 Each 
 county in England furnished a proportion of the required 
 number of men. " The Livery Companies of the city of 
 London also provided each a limited number of men for 
 this service," says the compiler of the history of the Third 
 Regiment of Foot, " and the men furnished by the city, 
 having been incorporated into the corps which is now the 
 Third Regiment of Foot, or the Buffs, it was afterwards the 
 practice for this regiment to recruit within the precincts of 
 the city, and to enjoy the exclusive privilege 2 of marching 
 through the city of London, with drums beating and 
 colours flying." 3 Stow mentions that " on July 23, 1585, 
 
 1 Speed's Hist, of 'Great Britain , p. 1173. 
 
 2 This is a mistake, as the marines have the same privilege. They date their 
 origin from the Third, the Admiral's, or Duke of York's Maritime Regt., levied 
 in 1684 by Charles II. and sent to Holland, where it became altogether a land 
 corps, and ultimately got incorporated with General Monk's Coldstreams. 
 Like the old Holland Regt. (now 3rd Buffs) the Maritime Regt. was raised by 
 the city of London ; hence the privilege, shared with the Buffs, of marching 
 through London with bands playing, colours flying, and bayonets fixed. 
 An authenticated anecdote has it, that a detachment of marines parading 
 down Cheapside, with beat of drum, were silenced by a city magnate, and 
 told that none but the Old Buffs were allowed thus to disturb the "good 
 citizens'" repose. "Sir, we are marines," replied the officer; "I did not 
 know it," was the Alderman's rejoinder, "pray continue your route as you 
 best please." See article in the Globe for July 2, 1878. 
 
 3 Cannon's Records of the yd fiegt. of Foot, p. 26.
 
 22 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 certain soldiers were pressed in the severall wards of the 
 citie of London, which souldiers were furnished for the 
 warres, and cloathed in red coates, all at the charges of the 
 companies and citizens ; set foorth toward the seas on the 
 13 of August, and were transported over into Holland, 
 Zealand, &c., as others, the like souldiers out of other 
 partes of the realme, before had been transported to serve 
 for the defence of the Lowe Countries, under General Norris 
 and other approved Captaines." x 
 
 During the winter Elizabeth sent an additional body of 
 troops to the Low Countries, which amounted, in 1586, to 
 8,000 horse -and foot 2 Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 
 was appointed to the command of these troops, and his 
 nephew, Sir Philip Sidney, the pink of chivalry, was 
 appointed Governor of Flushing. A number of gallant 
 Englishmen, of high birth and position, had commands in 
 the States' army. Amongst the number may be mentioned 
 Sir John Norris, Peregrine Bertie Lord Willoughby 
 de Eresby, the Earl of Essex, Sir Robert Sidney, and 
 last, but not least, the two brothers, Francis and Horace 
 Vere. 
 
 The actions of the two last named heroes are inscribed 
 on the brightest page of England's military history, and their 
 names are synonymous with victory and glory. In 1586, 
 we find Francis Vere 3 in command of a company at Bergen- 
 op-zoom, and when the Spaniards besieged Sluys he was 
 removed thither, and highly distinguished himself in the 
 defence of this town. In the following year Captain Vere 
 was knighted for his gallantry at the defence of Bergen-op- 
 zoom, and during the campaign of 1589 he again highly 
 distinguished himself by his successful defence of Bommel- 
 
 1 Stow's Annals, p. 709. 2 Hollinshed's Chronicle, iii. p. 1413. 
 
 3 See Dillingham's Commentaries of Sir Francis Vere, and the memoir of 
 Vere in Biographia Britattnica.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 23 
 
 waert, an island formed by the Meuse and Waal in Dutch 
 Guelderland. Ten years later Bommel was again the 
 scene of a struggle between the Spaniards and Nether- 
 landers. At this second siege of Bommel Sir Francis Vere 
 commanded the English forces and was the right hand of 
 Maurice of Nassau, the son of William the Silent, and the 
 most successful general of his time. 
 
 Many stirring events had occurred from 1589 to 1599. 
 The expedition to Cadiz in IS96, 1 had taken place, and 
 had been eminently successful. Could it have been other- 
 wise when Howard of Effingham was at the helm, with 
 Raleigh by his side, and such men as Essex and Vere at 
 the prow ? Zutphen, Deventer, and Gertruydenberg, in the 
 Low Countries, had been besieged and nobly won by the 
 Dutch and their brave English allies. Alexander Farnese, 
 Prince of Parma, the Spanish Scipio who, of all Philip's 
 generals, could best teach the stubborn foe to yield, had 
 died, worn out with mental and bodily exertion. The 
 Archduke-Cardinal, Albert of Austria, brother of the Em- 
 peror Rudolph, had been appointed Governor-General of 
 the Netherlands in 1 596, and two years later was married 
 to the Infanta, Clara Eugenia Isabella of Spain, daughter 
 of Philip II. The Netherlands had been graciously ceded 
 by Philip to his daughter just before her marriage 
 with the Archduke Albert. This important event was 
 followed by Philip's illness and death. 2 The horrible 
 nature of this Monarch's last illness is unsurpassed in 
 
 1 This may be called the second Cadiz expedition. In April, 1587, the 
 English fleet, under Sir Francis Drake, entered the harbour of Cadiz and 
 destroyed 10,000 tons of shipping, with their contents, in the very face of a 
 dozen great galleys which the nimble English vessels soon drove under their 
 forts for shelter. 
 
 2 He was called, says Voltaire, the Devil of the South, because from the 
 centre of Spain, which is the southern part of Europe, he gave disturbance to 
 the dominions of every other Prince. Nares' Burghley^ Hi. p. 491.
 
 24 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 history. The death of Herod Agrippa I. was an awful one 
 and somewhat similar to that of the Spanish king ; but 
 Herod's agony was soon over, whereas Philip lingered in 
 indescribable torture for many weeks. Anyone who has 
 seen the picture of " The Dead Prelate," by Juan Valdes 
 Leal, in the chapel of La Caridad at Seville, 1 must shudder 
 to think of the state the royal body of Charles the Fifth's 
 royal son was reduced to before death. 
 
 In the summer of 1 598 the Spanish troops in the Nether- 
 lands were reinforced, and Don Francis Mendoza, Admiral 
 of Arragon, commander of the forces in the absence of 
 Archduke Albert, threatened the United Provinces with an 
 invasion. In the autumn of this year the admiral crossed 
 the Meuse, at Roermond, with an army of 25,000 foot and 
 2,000 cavalry, and presented himself before a small town 
 called Orsoy, on the Rhine. " It was his intention," says 
 one of the historians of these events, " to invade the duchies 
 of Cleves, Juliers, and Berg, taking advantage of the 
 supposed madness of the duke, and of the Spanish inclina- 
 tions of his chief counsellors, who constituted a kind of 
 regency. By obtaining possession of these important 
 provinces wedged as they were between the territory of 
 the republic, the obedient Netherlands and Germany an 
 excellent military position would be gained for making 
 war upon the rebellious districts from the east, for crushing 
 Protestantism in the duchies, for holding important passages 
 of the Rhine, and for circumventing the designs of the 
 Protestant sons-in-law and daughters of the old Duke of 
 Cleves. Of course it was the determination of Maurice 
 and the States-General to frustrate these operations." 2 
 
 1 A well-painted but disgusting picture, which Murillo said he could not 
 look at without holding his nose. This criticism from the great master was 
 in itself a compliment to the painter's skill. 
 
 * Motley's Hist, of the Untied Netherlands, iii. pp. 546-7. Sir Francis
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 25 
 
 Prince Maurice formed a line of encampments along the 
 Meuse and the Waal, to oppose the designs of the enemy. 
 His small army compelled him to act solely on the 
 defensive, while the Spaniards were ravaging the whole 
 border-land. Orsoy had surrendered without a blow. 
 Burik and Rheinberg capitulated soon after, and Wesel 
 compounded for 120,000 florins. Rees and Emmerick, two 
 of the chief cities of Cleves, surrendered to Mendoza within 
 three days of each other. It was owing solely to the 
 admirable defensive strategy of Maurice of Nassau that the 
 United Provinces (as we may now justly call the revolted 
 provinces) were spared the horrors of Spanish warfare at 
 this time, which converted the inoffensive provinces of 
 Munster, Cleves, and Berg, into a hell, during the winter of 
 1 598-9. " Never before was it written or heard of," said 
 Queen Elizabeth, in speaking of Prince Maurice's success- 
 ful defensive strategy, " that so great an extent of country 
 could be defended with so few troops, that an invasion of 
 so superior a hostile force could be prevented, especially as 
 it appeared that all the streams and rivers were frozen." 
 
 Early in 1599 Mendoza formed the project of making a 
 descent on Bommelwaert, and of capturing the town of 
 Bommel. 
 
 Bommel is a frontier town upon the confines of Guelder- 
 land, and stands on the river Waal, on the north side of 
 the Dutch island of Bommel. " From the beginning 
 of the Low Country wars," says a Dutch historian, "till 
 
 Vere refers to the preparations for war in a letter to the Earl of Essex, 
 Lord High Marshal of England, Jan. I, 1598-9. This letter of Vere's is 
 dated from the Hague, and he informs the earl that the States "are levying 
 certaine newe Troopes of foot and horse, whereof a part shalbee Dutches and 
 the other Frenchmen, and have besides taken order for the reinforcing of all 
 their old Companies, and to raise 5 or 6 Cornetts of Horse of their own 
 nation. . . . His Ex cie resolveth to departe tomorrowe towards Solderland 
 (sic) and there to drawe into some place most of his forces." Cecil Papers, 
 Hatfield.
 
 26 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 this day, each party hath laboured to become masters of 
 this town in regard of her situation, especially the United 
 Provinces, because it serves as a rampier [rampart] against 
 the incursions and invasion of their enemies." The same 
 writer goes on to remark that "the siege of Bommel, 
 together with the raising thereof, is one of the notablest 
 exploits of war done in the Low Countries." l 
 
 As Edward Cecil served at this siege a few remarks 
 concerning it will not be out of place. 
 
 On May 5, the Admiral of Arragon having made a 
 bridge of boats across the Meuse, entered the island of 
 Bommel and entrenched himself on both sides the water. 2 
 Prince Maurice, who had been forewarned some months 
 previously of the admiral's projected descent upon 
 Bommel, had ordered new walls and fortifications to be 
 built round the town of Bommel, and the forts of Voorn 
 and Crevecceur to be enlarged. These works had been 
 begun, but were not yet finished, so that the sudden arrival 
 of the Spaniards created great alarm amongst the in- 
 habitants, many of whom fled from the town. Had the 
 admiral laid siege to the town on his entry into the island, 
 there would have been great danger of his capturing it, as 
 the walls round the town were in a half-finished state. 
 But he awaited the arrival of his remaining forces, who 
 departed from Emmerick May 7, and on their coming 
 the whole Spanish force marched towards Heusden, a very 
 strong place, an hour's distance from the town of Bommel. 
 In the meantime Maurice of Nassau had not been idle. 
 He collected a strong force of horse and foot, and pro- 
 ceeded to Bommel, where he arrived on May 6. On 
 
 1 The Triumphs of Nassau, art. " Siege of Bommel." 
 
 * See a tract entitled, " A true declaration of that ivhith hapened since the 
 enemies first camming to Bommell, from the besieging of the same until the 
 present moneth of June, 1599."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 2 7 
 
 the nth he marched to Heusden with ten companies of 
 foot, and fortified and entrenched that place. The Spanish 
 commander now changed his tactics, and, leaving Heusden 
 alone, assaulted the fort of Crevecceur. This fort, having 
 but a small garrison, was unable to hold out long against 
 the Spaniards, but they made a noble resistance, and were 
 allowed to depart with colours flying and carrying their 
 arms. 1 Prince Maurice caused Bommel to be surrounded 
 by trenches, and the walls were finished. The garrison 
 was augmented, and a good supply of provisions and 
 ammunition sent into the town. The enemy now made 
 show of returning to Heusden, but, changing his course, 
 marched towards Rossem, hoping to enter into the isle of 
 Tiell, to enclose the island of Bommel on all sides ; but 
 Prince Maurice sent ordnance thither and caused batteries 
 to be made, thereby hindering the enemy's passage. On 
 May 14, Count Frederick Van den Berg brought part of 
 the Spanish army before Bommel, having, as the author 
 of the Triumphs of Nassau quaintly expresses it, " first run 
 up and down the country, and done nothing but warn 
 those of Bommel and Voorn to fortifie themselves, and 
 given them time to doe it." Prince Maurice garrisoned 
 Bommel with Dutch, French, and Swiss companies ; 
 quartered the English at Haeften, the Guards at Tiell, the 
 Scots, under Colonel Edmonds, at Voorn, and guarded the 
 banks of the river as far as Worcum. A Dutch admiral 
 was likewise ordered to guard the river Waal with fifteen 
 ships. On the night of May 1 6 the Spaniards made a 
 furious attack upon Bommel, at that part of the town where 
 the fortifications were scarce finished, but they were beaten 
 back with great loss. A few nights after this the garrison 
 returned the Spaniards' assault in kind, and killed many 
 
 1 The Triumphs of Nassau, art. " Bommel."
 
 28 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 men in the trenches. The troops employed on this 
 occasion were mostly French and English. " Besides 
 those of Bommel," says the narrator of this siege, " the 
 inhabitants of Voorn, Heusden, Gorcum, and other neigh- 
 bouring towns made incursions upon the enemy, and took 
 daily prisoners and many good horse, and in Bommel 
 alone during this siege more than 400 were sold." On 
 June 3, the Spaniards were obliged to raise the siege and 
 retreat. They retired towards Rossem and there en- 
 camped. Their doings there are related in a letter from 
 Edward Cecil to his father. It would appear from a letter 
 written by young Cecil a few weeks earlier to his uncle, 
 Sir Robert Cecil, that he had obtained some great favour 
 from the latter. The endorsement of these letters is fairly 
 conclusive that the favour received from Sir Robert Cecil 
 was the captaincy of an English foot company, which Sir 
 Robert's influence had doubtless obtained for his nephew. 
 
 CAPTAIN EDWARD CECIL TO SIR ROBERT CECIL. 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v r Ho., 
 
 " I am to reander y greate thankes, for y r extraordinary 
 favoures towardes me (if thankes be not to littell), and howlde my 
 selfe so muche the more bounde to y r Ho. by howe much they 
 ar above my desertes. I have not as yet had occation to serve y r 
 Ho., nor have I wanted, in any sorte, a will to performe it, for I 
 howlde it a greate Honore and happines to spende my life for the 
 honer of the Howse, then followe any man living. I accounte y. Ho. 
 the Howse, by cause y ar the prinsepaleste parte of the House 
 and I reccone my selfe the leaste parte of it, by beeyng the 
 unnessessaryist parte. Therefore, by nessesity, I am most bounde 
 to y r Ho. in all servis. As allso in a nother kinde, a mongste 
 those that doe admire y r vertues, w* w h I conclude, rejoysing for 
 the in crease of y r Ho. greatnes, more then any one. I recom- 
 mende my selfe and servis to y r Ho. good favours, not reasting 
 any hower to praye for y r H. long and happie life. I humbly 
 take my leave. 
 
 " Y r Ho., in all duty, E. CECILL.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 2 9 
 
 * " From the Leger at Bumble, this 16 of June 99." l 
 
 Add. " To the Ri. Ho. and his singular good Unkell S r Ro. 
 Cecill, Prinsepale Secritary of Ingland." 
 
 End. "16 June, 1599, Cap en Cecyll to my M r from 
 Bomble. 
 
 " Capt n to be digested." 
 
 CAPTAIN E. CECIL TO LORD BURGHLEY. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE Y r Lo., 
 
 " At this tyme I was in doubte whether I should dereacte my 
 letteres towards the West, or towardes the Northe, to a reive the 
 soner into y r Lo. handes ; by reason the accustomed tyme of y r 
 going in to the Cuntry is passed. But to dowe [do] according 
 unto my duty, I will write booth wayes. 
 
 " As consarning our Action heare, the Enemy hath lived very 
 quietly, only imploying his time to Bulde a Sconce [fort] upon the 
 River some 2 milles from the Towne of Bumble [Bommel], where 
 he mindeth to leave some 3000 menn in it to keepe the River. 
 His Exselence [Prince Maurice] lyeing nighe against him, did 
 comande 4 of our companyes to goe over to posses some parte 
 of the Enemyes grounde, and in Trenche ourselves in the forme of 
 an Haulfe Moune, knocking in Palisados rounde aboute. The 
 Enemy sending neaxte day, to discover, came the day following 
 w 1 soom 2000 to forse the place, [and] gave one [went on, *>., 
 attacked] very gallantly. The leaders were 6 Spanishe Captaynes 
 and 4 Italiones, which were all slane in the Place. They were 
 ellected [chosen] men to performe each a plase. The [y] were 
 men that had noe charge, but were of a fatione w ch the Kinge of 
 Spane allowes in paye, as a Captayne, and are most imployed to 
 suche attempes. The [y] cam to the pushe of the Pike, and if 
 the [y] had given on rounde abote the [y] had caryed it. Where- 
 upon wee howlde them men of more resolution then [than] under- 
 standing souldiers, w ch by the effects the [y] did showe in that 
 service; the [y] loste 500 men 80 leafte dead in the plase of 
 our men not many were loste. Our Sargant Majore was slane, 
 and a Captayne thrust into the heade w th a Pike and [an] Ansint 
 
 1 Cecil Papers t Hatfield, 179/29.
 
 30 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 [ancient 1 ] shote twice throwe the necke. Sence, his Exselence 
 hath put over to a nother plase, into Brabant not fare of [f], 
 allonge the River side, where on the other side he lieth himselfe. 
 He hath made on the Enemy's side a dipe Trenche on Mille longe 
 [i mile long] and devided it into 4 sconses, where righte a gainste 
 liese the Enymies Passage to go to his Bridge in to Bumble's- 
 warde [Bommelwaert] to his campe. Upon this passage he hath 
 rased 2 Sconses, having there to the number of 2000 men, whither 
 his Exselence the other daye made over a bridge, from whence he 
 lieth him selfe and passed [over] some 1000 Horse and some 3000 
 foote, whereof were some 2000 English e. S r Fras. Vere had the 
 comande of one parte and Count William of Nassaue the other 
 S r Fr. Vere gave one [i.e. attacked] upon sconce and the counte 
 upon the other. S r Fr. Vere caryed his, where he putte to death 
 many of the Enemy e, towke a Captayne or 2, and forsed the 
 reaste to retire. For the other part [y] that the Count comanded 
 the [y] were repulsed, a Captayne or two slane, and many more 
 offeseres and souldiers slane w ch were all frenche. This is the 
 last wee have done. Sence, wee heare the Enemye hath beeyne a 
 fore worcum [Worcum] to have surprised it ; a plase as fare on 
 the other side of Bumble. But having fauled thereof, theye 
 have returned w th driving some 500 Catell before them, w ch was 
 part of there desigment. Wee understande sence that the howle 
 Campe is risone, whither wee longe to prowe [prove]. 
 
 " S r fr. Vere, our Generall, hath desired to recomend his love 
 to y r Lo., who maketh mee daly more and more bounde to him. 
 He asked mee the other daye whether I had moved y r Lo. a boute 
 the Companye of Horse, and I towlde him I had ; whereupon he 
 assured mee I should [have] the comand of all the English horse, 
 if I could com[p]ound with S r Ni-parker, and if it would please 
 y r Lo. to laye oute the munny, he himselfe would bringe it to 
 pass. I hope y r Lo. will consider what a fortune it will be to 
 mee, and what an Honer to y. It reasts in y r hands this ; y r Lo. 
 can not doe for one that is more y r obliged servant then I am, or 
 on [one] that is more y r thankfull sonn, or that more taketh 
 comforte of y r happines then I, or on that prayeth more ernesly 
 
 1 Apparently the old name for Ensigns.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 31 
 
 for y r lo. longe life then I doe, w* w h prayer I send in haste 
 having noe more by me. The 13 of July, 99 
 " Y r lo. most bounde 
 
 " and obedient sonn, 
 
 "ED. CECILL. 
 
 " my tyme is so shorte that y r lo. must pardon my scribline and 
 what ealse is amisse, as a soldier faute." 1 
 
 Add. " To the Ri. Ho. and his singular good father the 
 Lo. Burghley/' 
 
 End. " 13 July, 1599. Cap ne Cecill to my lo. Burghley." 
 
 Returning to the Spaniards, we find them at Rossem, a 
 small village within a cannon shot of Voorn. It soon 
 became evident they had a design against the fort of 
 Voorn, so Prince Maurice sent a small force of English and 
 French to Herwaerden, there to entrench themselves in the 
 form of a half moon in view of the enemy. When this 
 was done, the trench was fenced round with palisades. 
 The attack on this entrenchment, and its result, is detailed 
 in the above letter. Colonel Edmonds, a gallant Scot, 
 and Sir Horace Vere, distinguished themselves in the 
 defence. 2 The enemy fought with great fury, and it is 
 related that they were accompanied by some monks, 
 armed with banners and crosses, who encouraged the 
 soldiers by all the means in their power. 
 
 There were continual skirmishes between the two 
 hostile forces all July, and on one occasion Colonel 
 Murray was killed. 3 Both camps were very .quiet all 
 August and September, being strongly entrenched and 
 keeping good guard. A mutiny, which broke out in the 
 Spanish camp on account of want of pay, caused Mendoza 
 to keep very quiet, and on the approach of winter he 
 
 1 S. P. Holland, 1599. 
 
 Biographia Britannica, art. " Horace Vere." 
 
 3 Davies, ii. p. 338.
 
 32 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 retired into winter quarters. Although unsuccessful in his 
 designs against Bommel and Voorn, he had gained the 
 fort of Crevecceur, and had constructed the strong fort of 
 St. Andr6, at a point commanding both the Waal and 
 Meuse. These two forts were strongly garrisoned before 
 the enemy retired to winter quarters. 
 
 The States of the United Provinces had spared no 
 expense in the defence of Bommel. They had furnished 
 the camp with all necessaries, and all that summer kept 
 280 boats in pay, 379 wagons, 356 draught horses, and 
 203 bridge masters. This extra expense in boats, wagons, 
 horses, ammunition, provisions, &c., cost the Provinces 
 120,000 florins. 1 Their finances in consequence having 
 fallen into arrear, they thought it advisable again to reduce 
 their military establishment to a footing better porportional 
 to their means. 
 
 In the preceding year (1598) a new treaty had been 
 concluded between England and the United Provinces. 
 By the terms of this treaty the States bound themselves to 
 repay Elizabeth .800,000, and to give security for the 
 payment of this debt. Another equally important clause 
 in this treaty, and the one that most concerns us, was, 
 " That for the future the Queen should be discharged of 
 her engagement to furnish the States with Auxiliaries, and 
 that the English, who now served, or should hereafter serve 
 in the Low Countries, should be paid by the States, take 
 an oath to them, and obey the orders of their Generals." 2 
 
 Davies, ii. p. 340. a Rymer's Fcedera, xvL p. 340.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 33 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 1600. 
 
 Siege of Fort St. Andrew Result Captain Cecil's cavalry ambition The 
 troop of horse Difficulties in the way Sir F. Vere's help Mr. Gilpin's 
 obstruction Cecil's invective letter Gilpin's version Edward Cecil 
 made Captain of Horse His gratitude to Sir R. Cecil The invasion of 
 Flanders March to Nieuport Bad tidings Disaster at Leffingen 
 Critical position of the States' army Heroism of Maurice of Nassau 
 Preparing for battle Arrival of the Archduke's army The Sunday 
 battle Doubtful results Bravery of the English Sir Francis Vere 
 His danger Maurice's good generalship The reserve of horse Charge 
 by Horace Vere, Cecil, and Balen Rout of the enemy Different accounts 
 of the battle After results. 
 
 THE commencement of the year 1600 found the States' 
 forces preparing to reduce the forts of Crevecceur and 
 St. Andre. The latter fort, which had been built by the 
 Spaniards in the preceding year, was a particular eye-sore 
 to Prince Maurice. The Spaniards called it the key to 
 Holland, and no trouble or expense had been spared in its 
 construction and fortification. 
 
 The winter of 1599-1600 was unusually long and severe, 
 but the Dutch had great hopes of a short campaign with 
 happy results. News had reached them of a serious 
 mutiny among the soldiers garrisoning Crevecoeur and 
 St. Andr6. On February 1 5 the Archduke had paid each 
 soldier in fort St. Andre a month's pay, an allowance of 
 two pounds of bread a day, a piece of cloth, and a dollar 
 by way of a bonus, " which," says an old chronicler, " did 
 in no sort content them." They demanded their whole 
 pay for thirty months, and on this not being forthcoming, 
 
 VOL I. D
 
 34 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 showed their sense of wrong by throwing one of their 
 captains into the water from the bridge, shot one of their 
 sergeants, and enforced the other captains to keep their 
 houses as prisoners. 1 A general mutiny ensued there and 
 at Crevecoeur. It was this news that determined the 
 States of the United Provinces to strike a blow at once for 
 these coveted forts. Prince Maurice commanded eighty 
 foot companies (of which Captain Cecil's was one) to be in 
 readiness before Dort on the ipth and 2Oth March, with 
 whom he went up the Meuse towards Crevecceur fort, and 
 laid siege to that place on 2ist March. The garrison 
 yielded up the fort for a fixed sum on 24th March, and 
 entered the service of the States. It was hoped the strong 
 fort of St Andrew would also compound, and so save 
 labour and bloodshed. The mutinous garrison, however, 
 refused to treat, hoping that the Archduke's forces would 
 come to their relief shortly and compel Prince Maurice to 
 raise the siege. 
 
 The accounts of sieges are so much alike that we forbear 
 to say much about this one, which was carried on with 
 great vigour. Prince Maurice drowned the country, after 
 fortifying himself strongly on the dykes. All hopes of 
 relief were cut off from the St. Andrew soldiers, " who were 
 forced," says an old historian, " to lodge like conies in their 
 rampats in miserie and povertie, suffering extremely, upon 
 hope that they should be relieved, reconciled and paid, 
 doing their best endevors to reconcile themselves with 
 their cannon." 2 The conclusion of this siege is thus 
 related by Anthonis Duyck in his Journal: 3 
 
 1 Triumphs of Nassau, art. " Siege of Fort St Andre." Dudley Carleton 
 to J. Chamberlain, March 2, 1600. S. P. Dom. 
 
 1 Grimston's History of the Netherlands, pp. 1230-1. 
 3 Translated from the Dutch Journal, ii. p. 600.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 35 
 
 " On the 8th of May the weather was pretty good, and everybody 
 was busy securing the approaches. On both sides much firing 
 was going on. The soldiers within the fort perceiving that they 
 were pressed on every side, and that there was no hope of relief, 
 began to fear that in time they would lose the fort as well as the 
 money offered, they therefore, in the afternoon, enquired whether 
 there was anyone sent from his Excellency, and, on receiving an 
 answer in the negative, they asked for some one who was able to 
 speak French. They then said they intended speaking once 
 more to his Excellency, and that they wanted to send him a 
 message, in order that he might despatch a substitute to treat with 
 them j in the meantime they begged for a truce, which was 
 granted. His Excellency went in the afternoon to the trenches, 
 and immediately sent to the fort Captains Cicil, 1 Van der Aa, 
 and Jaxley, for whom three hostages were exchanged. They 
 still persisted in their former request, especially as to the full 
 settlement of their pay, desiring His Excellency to give particular 
 attention to the fact that the fort was a stronghold, and that they 
 were so many brave soldiers who would rather die on the top of 
 each other than not have their pay." 
 
 As time was even still more precious to the States than 
 money, they finally agreed to pay the garrison 125,000 
 guilders for the fort. This was accordingly done, and the 
 mutineers, who made up a strong regiment of 1 1 companies, 
 entered the service of the States. They were universally 
 styled the "New Gueux" (beggars), from their ragged 
 appearance ; but they soon reclothed themselves, chiefly in 
 buff, and being all old soldiers were a welcome addition to 
 the army of the United Provinces. Count Henry Frederick 
 of Nassau, Maurice's younger brother, was appointed 
 commander of this new regiment. 2 
 
 1 Edward Cecil was doubtless chosen on this occasion on account of his 
 knowledge of French and Italian ; many of the mutineers speaking those 
 languages. 
 
 2 Davies, ii. pp. 348-9. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Edward Cecil, in his letter to his father, from Bommel, 
 which has already been given, asks him to advance 
 the necessary money for the purchase of a " Horse 
 Company," which Sir Francis Vere had promised him when 
 the money was forthcoming. Lord Burghley evidently 
 made no difficulty about the money asked for, but Cecil 
 was a young captain and there were many officers who 
 coveted the command of a troop of horse and had prior 
 claims. It required even more interest than the gallant 
 Sir Francis Vere possessed with the States to obtain one 
 of these coveted commands for one of his junior captains. 
 At the time we write of there were very few troops of horse 
 on the strength of the English army in Holland, and these 
 few were commanded by experienced officers of long and 
 distinguished service. It was customary for several of the 
 senior colonels of infantry to have troops of horse also 
 under their command, which they were allowed to dispose 
 of when leaving the service. 1 The system of " purchase " 
 was perfectly well understood, often carried out, and was 
 allowed by the authorities. As long as Queen Elizabeth 
 kept, and paid for, a certain number of horse and foot 
 companies in Holland, her well-known parsimony prevented 
 her from increasing the few troops of horse, even when 
 they were much below their nominal strength. When Sir 
 Robert Sidney, Governor of Flushing, wrote home to 
 request that the troops of horse commanded by him and 
 Sir Nicholas Parker might be reinforced, the Queen 
 flatly refused. A curious account is given by Rowland 
 
 1 Sir Horace Vere (Lord Vere of Tilbury) on retiring from the army was 
 permitted " to make the best advantage he could of his 33 companies of foot 
 and his troop of horse in Holland. Mr. Goring had the one and Mr. Wilmot 
 the other." Biog. Brit. art. " Sir H. Vere." The Mr. Goring above-men- 
 tioned was the famous Colonel Goring of Civil Wars' notoriety.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 37 
 
 White, in a letter 1 to Sir R. Sidney, of his endeavours to 
 obtain the Queen's consent : 
 
 " I made," he writes, " a very fitt Tyme with one that is most 
 inward with 200 (Sir Robert Cecil), and imparted unto hym my 
 sute, and that I would bestow a faire Sute of Hangings to have 
 that effected, 2 and upon hymself, that is the Mover, I would give 
 him two Coach mares for his Wiffe. Within two days I shall know 
 how this Offer is accepted, and thereby gather the successe of my 
 businesse. Your Lordship in a letter unto me, byd me use what 
 meanes I cold, and that you wold make it good as farr as 200 
 
 wold come unto These Gratuities, my Lord, are honorable 
 
 and very necessary." 
 
 Sir Robert Cecil did his best for Sir R. Sidney, but the 
 Queen remained obstinate. On being told that the re- 
 inforcing the horse would be no expense to her, as the 
 States were willing to cashier (/.&, reduce) two foot com- 
 panies of fifty men each, she replied that if the States 
 found her foot unserviceable she was pleased to cashier 
 them, but would not turn them into horse. The Earl of 
 Essex, the favoured courtier and intimate friend of Elizabeth, 
 also pleaded for the granting of Sir R. Sidney's request, 
 but to no purpose. All this shows what a coveted prize 
 a troop of horse was in those days, and how few of these 
 prizes the States had to bestow. "If you ever wish to be 
 a soldier," said Sir Francis Vere to Edward Cecil, " get up 
 on horseback." 3 This advice, from the greatest captain of 
 his day, coupled with Cecil's own cavalry ambition, made 
 
 1 Dated " Strand, the 13 April, 1597." Collins' letters and Memorials of 
 State, ii. pp. 37-8. 
 
 2 It is only right to state that Sir R. Cecil declined to accept the " Sute of 
 Hangings," and he " protested much love and willingness to further what 
 might be a pleasure or profit to Sir R. Sidney." See letter from R. White 
 to Sir R. Sidney, April 16, 1597. Ibid. ii. p. 40. 
 
 3 See " Lord Viscount Wimbledon's Demonstration of divers Parts oj 
 War ; especially of Cavallerye. Royal MSS. 1 8 cxxiii. p. 46.
 
 38 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Cecil move heaven and earth to obtain a troop of horse, and 
 when he heard that his claims were opposed by Mr. Gilpin, 
 the English Resident at the Hague, he wrote in a very 
 excited strain to his uncle : 
 
 CAPTAIN E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v Ho., 
 
 " There is noe man living can howld him selfe more bounde 
 to y then I doe, nor noe man hath more cause to praye for y r long 
 life then I have. I fiende dayly my obligation to increase 
 towardes y. H., and espetiall amungst those that doe honer and 
 love y truly. But for those that ar base, ignorant and wicked, it 
 is as hard for those to love y re or followe y, w 111 any faithfullnes, as 
 to alter there owne nature. Of w ch condition I have mett w th 
 one (whose name is M r Gillpine) in my busines aboute the 
 company of S r Ni. Parkers, one whoe in frinship I never was 
 aquanted w" 1 all. But, I have had good knowlege w th his dis- 
 po[s]ition to doe for all those that have caryed failes [false] hartes 
 to y r H. w ch my selfe am wittnes to. When oure Captaynes from 
 heance wente in to lerland, and by the corespondens he now 
 howldes vf^ others in Ingland. He bragges much of his friendes 
 in Corte, when he never names y r H. ; he is most covetus, and we 
 thinke heare, he mindeth bribes more then her Ma 11 servis, w ch 
 maketh him be so fearefull to withstande any thing that the 
 States heare like not of. As for the Injures he hath done me, 
 they ar the greater by reason I never deserved ill at his hand 
 (unless by denyeng him a bribe, w ch he begged at my hande). 
 He hath laboured by all meanes to crosse mee in my busines, and 
 to do his beast for the Lieftenant of the companie, whoe is knowne 
 to be a coward, a traeeter, by having served the Enemy long, and 
 not comde oute of England to the companie, but from the Ennemy. 
 He hath, to hinder mee the more, dealte w th Comisares to take 
 advantage of my offesers in these musters, whoe have taken my 
 Clarke oute of his Beade, and put him in to Prison, only to 
 hinder mee w th the States from the Companye of Horse. An 
 accedent was never harde of in these countryes be fore ; Where- 
 fore I though [t] good to lett y r H. know so much, that y maye 
 favoure mee heare in as it shall seeme beast to y r H. And so
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 39 
 
 recommending my humble servis to y, I will eand as I be gone 
 w th my dayly prayres for y r long and happie life, w ch I will never 
 scease to doe. 
 
 " From the Hage, this 10 of Mar., 1599 
 
 " Y. H. Ne. [Your Honour's nephew] 
 
 " in all duty, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL." l 
 
 Add. " To the R. Ho. and his singular good unkel S r Ro. Cecyll, 
 knight, Prinsepale Secritary of Eyngland." 
 
 End. "1599, io th Mar. Cap n Edward Cecyll to my Mr. From 
 the Hagh. An invectyve Ire against M r Gilpen. Rec d at Rich- 
 mond the 1 6 th ." 
 
 This letter calls to mind the familiar Latin quotation 
 " Hie moderatur equos qui non moderabitur irae." 
 
 It is only fair to Mr. Gilpin to give his version of this 
 business, and as there was a good deal of ill-feeling and 
 jealousy in regard to this same troop of horse, both Cecil's 
 and Gilpin's letters must be read with all due allowances. 
 
 The following is an extract from a letter addressed 
 
 " to his very worthie good friend and kinsman, 
 Mr. Dudley Carleton, attending on Sir Edward Norreys, 
 
 Knight. 
 
 . . . . " that I crosse M r Cecill in his sute for the horse- 
 company hath as little grounde as the other ; for I enter-meddle 
 on neyther parte, but leave all to the States disposing. And 
 although he never since his arryvall came or sent unto mee, yet in 
 regarde of the respect I beare to the name, I was of late to see 
 and make him acquainted w th that I had done upon Sir Nicholas 
 Parkers wryting and for his good, seeing how likely his lieutenant 
 was to carry away the company, in consideration of his long 
 service and care of the charge committed to him ; and w*hall 
 requyred M r Cecill to thinke no other of mee then I deserved ; 
 besydes (without the saying of so much unto him, I meane to try 
 yf the Lieutenant wilbe pswaded to forbeare his sute upon reason- 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 68/81.
 
 40 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 able conditions, though he might thinke himselfe wronged to receive 
 a repulse after 14 yeares service, and promise made him long ere 
 I dealt with him, by his Ex 06 and the chiefe of the States. As for 
 the trouble about the Muster^ I knew not thereof, till the clearke 
 and others were emprisoned, and have done what I coulde infavo r 
 of the porre men. And now I am wryting of Mr. Cecill I will say 
 thus much more, that though I take him to bee a gentleman of 
 sufficient conceipt and qualities, yet can he not phappes sounde 
 the depth of the drift by bringing him to seeke for the saide comp. 
 of horse, w ch , yf it be thoroughly looked into, will appeare not to 
 proceede so much from the good will borne him (what shewe so 
 ever made) as for respect of themselves, that would be rather freed 
 from the continuall pnce [presence] of such an one, w ch brings 
 w th it many other considerations, especially to a suspicious humour, 
 and such a nature as can in no sorte abyde to have any long 
 about him of so greate helpes and likely hoods, or that for other 
 worth or desertes might be well thought of besides himselfe, least 
 they should aspire to be raysed as well as he hath (And indeede I 
 knowe not why gent n that serve, should not carry mindes w" 1 them 
 to seke after preferment). And that this is no supposition will 
 appeare manifestly to any that shall look into and examine the 
 courses helde, and how hath been dealt before w th gentlemen that 
 have caryed mindes worthy of their pfession. But hereof enough, 
 or rather too much, unlesse the subiect were more pleasing. Yo w 
 see my boldenesse, and I am sure yo w are wearyed w** my tedious- 
 nesse. I will therefore for the p'nt forbeare yo r farther trouble, and 
 ending w 01 my heartiest commendations commend yo w to the 
 Almightie. From the Haegh,this 26 th of Februarie, 1599. 
 " Yo r most assured poore kinsman to my 
 " power, 
 
 " GEO. GiLFiN." 1 
 
 Sir Francis Vere made strenuous efforts on behalf of 
 Edward Cecil in the contest for the troop of horse, and it 
 speaks well for Cecil's fitness for the command that such a 
 man as Vere thought him worthy of the appointment. 
 
 1 S.P. Holland, George Gilpin, Resident at the Hague, died September, 
 1602.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 41 
 
 " Captain Cecyl hath made great means for S r Nicolas 
 Parker's troops of horse," wrote Carleton to his friend 
 Chamberlain, " and hath driven the bargain with him for 
 ^"500 ; but the States gave they r worde before his going 
 over to the Lieutenant, so as a stopp is made, and they 
 know not what to determine. S r F. Vere hath written that 
 M r Gilpin hath beene the meanes to hinder M r Cecill, by 
 w ch he hopes to do him a shrewde turne." 1 
 
 The States were at last obliged to yield the point, and 
 Edward Cecil was appointed captain of the vacant troop of 
 horse, having paid ,500 retiring money to Sir Nicholas 
 Parker. 2 A few weeks after this event Captain Cecil, being 
 at the Hague, took the oath of allegiance 3 as a cavalry 
 officer in the service of the United Provinces, and his 
 appointment was ratified by the Dutch Council of State. 
 The following letter explains whose casting vote obtained 
 this coveted command for Edward Cecil : 
 
 CAPTAIN E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE Y r HO., 
 
 " I have receved y r H. letters w th a great deale of favour and 
 grase that it hath pleased y r H. to take notis of my wrong ; for 
 the w ch I reast most bound. Y r H. letter S r fra[n]cis Vere would 
 not lett pass, the cause I doubte not but y. H. shall understande 
 by his letters. I did presume to writ my discontented minde oute 
 of a discontented humer, w ch caried mee be younde what ealse I 
 woulde have sayde. But I hope y r H. will consider that in menns 
 nessecety it is naturall to caule upon him that can most ayde 
 him, so I (having receved some wronges w ch my patience coulde 
 not suffer) did grounde a stronge faith in y. H. favoure to assist 
 
 1 March 2, 1600, S. P. Dom. 
 
 3 "The captain of cavalry, Parker, having resigned his troop of horse, the 
 same was given, about this time, to Mr. Edward Cicil, grandson of the late 
 great treasurer Cicil." Journal of A. van Duyck, June 9, 1600. 
 
 3 " Capt" Cecyl takes oath as captain of the company of cavalry of Capt n 
 Paraguar (sic) Oath Book, 1588-1703, p. 16." (Signed, "Ed. Cecyl, 
 June 14, 1600.")
 
 42- LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 mee. My suing for the companie of Horse hath trubled this State 
 very much ; considering S r fra Vere hath laboured for mee and 
 M r Gilpine for the Liefftenant. Where upon M r Gilpine was 
 asked, why he would showe him selfe so against M r Secritarys 
 Nephew, whoe brought her Ma* letters (and espetially to howld 
 w" 1 one who had beeyne a Trature). His answer was, he did 
 knowe very well what y* H. sayd, when her Ma 4 lettrs was to be 
 wryten in my be haulfe. I am ignorant how he cometh to his 
 intellygenc ; but I am assured he is moste vayne, so that I feare 
 not his prospering. But I feare that his creadit will make mee 
 leave these countryes, or it be long, w 011 I did come to, by pre- 
 suming upon y r H. favoure, w * 1 will indevoure by all meanes to 
 deserve, where so ever I shall be come. And -w^ all affection 
 continue my dayly prayres for y r H. longe and happie life, as the 
 comforte of 
 
 "Y r Ho. 
 
 " most diutyfull and affectionatt 
 " N. and Se., 
 
 " ED. CECYLL.'.' l 
 
 Add. " To the Ri. Ho. and his singular good Unkell, S r Ro. 
 Cecyll, Prinsepalle Scecritary of Eingland." 
 
 End. " April 1600. Cap en Edward Cecyll to my M r ." 
 
 After the acquisition of Fort St. Andre, Prince Maurice 
 was desirous of pursuing his success along the course of the 
 Meuse, but in consequence of the representations made to 
 the States-General by the Zealanders, who were much 
 harassed by the near vicinity of the enemy, it was determined 
 to invade Flanders. The rendezvous of the troops was 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield 79/15. The command of a troop of horse brought 
 a good deal of extra work to an officer in those days, as Cecil himself shows 
 in his pamphlet on Divers parts of war, especially of cavalry, which I 
 shall have occasion to refer to again before long. In this pamphlet he shows 
 forth the hardships of a cavalry officer's life on active service, when food and 
 forage were scarce. " And this myself have endured," he goes on to say, 
 " when I was captain of a troop of horse. For before the battill of Nieuport, 
 our Army then lying in an enemy's country, we were fain to march day and 
 night. ... I never put off my boots for six weeks together."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 43 
 
 appointed at Rammekins, in Walcheren, where nearly 1,000 
 boats 1 were collected to convey the troops to Ostend. The 
 States' army consisted of 3,000 cavalry and 12,000 infantry, 
 4 field pieces, and 30 smaller pieces of artillery. The 
 troops were embarked for the purpose of landing at Ostend, 
 but being prevented by contrary winds, the fleet passed up 
 the Scheldt, and the troops disembarked at the Sas de 
 Gand ; the fort of Philippine, by which it is defended, 
 having been first captured by Count Ernest of Nassau. 
 The day following, June 23rd, the Prince began his march 
 overland to Nieuport, a small but well fortified town, at the 
 mouth of a branch of the river Yperlee, which forms its 
 harbour. 
 
 The army, which was divided into three corps, consisted 
 of Zealanders, Frisians, Hollanders, Walloons, Germans, 
 English, and Scotch. The advance was under the com- 
 mand of Count Ernest of Nassau, the battalia under the 
 command of Count George Solms, and the rear guard, 
 during the march, was entrusted to that experienced soldier, 
 Sir Francis Vere. 2 On the 23rd the troops marched a 
 league and the next day brought them three leagues 
 further. On the 25th they marched to Male, three and a 
 half leagues distant, passing close to the walls of Bruges. 
 It is recorded as a curious fact, that at Male three cows 
 were given for a pot of beer, the States' army being badly 
 supplied with drink. 3 Several writers give a curious 
 description of this march to Nieuport, of the unfriendliness, 
 and even open hostility of the peasantry on the line of march, 
 to the invading army, which had come to conquer or perish 
 in a grand effort against the Spanish usurpers. All writers 
 
 1 Motley says, "of war ships, transports, and barges, there were at least 
 1300." Davies and other writers state the number to have been about 1000. 
 3 Motley's United Netherlands, iv. p. 7. 
 3 Ibid. p. jo.
 
 44 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 agree in depicting the magnitude of the issues at stake in 
 the impending conflict before Nieuport. And they cannot 
 be too highly portrayed, for the House of Nassau risked its 
 very existence on the issue of the impending struggle. 
 Besides Prince Maurice, there were three other members of 
 the House of Nassau serving in the expedition his half- 
 brother Frederick Henry, then a lad of 16, and the two 
 brothers of the Frisian Statholder, 1 Ernest and Lewis 
 Gunther. A defeat to the States' army would not only 
 have been a death-blow to the House of Nassau, but it 
 would have extinguished for many a day the growing 
 power of the United Provinces. 
 
 It had been confidently hoped by the planners of the 
 invasion of Flanders, that the States' army would steal a 
 march upon the enemy, and be able to relieve Ostend, then 
 being blockaded by the Archduke Albert. Ostend had 
 
 / 
 
 long been a thorn in the side of the Archduke, and not 
 long before the Infanta had been presented at Ghent with 
 an image of " Flandria," very richly clad, and in the foot of 
 this image was a thorn, signifying Ostend, which she had 
 solemnly promised to pull out. 2 The States-General 
 trusted to the mutinous state of the Archduke's army, and 
 to their unexpected invasion of Flanders, for success in this 
 expedition. But it must be remembered that it had been 
 undertaken against the advice of Prince Maurice, Sir 
 Francis Vere, and other military commanders. The sequel 
 showed how sound the advice was, for the Archduke, 
 having reclaimed his mutinous soldiers, collected a large 
 army from his garrison towns, and, leaving the Infanta at 
 Ghent, marched against the States' army with all possible 
 speed, meaning to overtake them before they had captured 
 
 1 Lewis William of Nassau. 
 
 z D. Carleton to J. Chamberlain, March 2, 1600. S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 45 
 
 all the forts round Ostend. The States' army meanwhile, 
 quite unaware of the rapid approach of the enemy, had, 
 after taking possession of Oudenburg and other important 
 forts near Ostend, arrived at Nieuport on the ist of July, 
 which town they proceeded to invest. On the evening of 
 that day a messenger, much exhausted and terrified, made 
 his appearance at Count Ernest's tent. He brought the 
 astounding intelligence that the Archduke had captured 
 Oudenburg and all the other forts. " The news " says a 
 learned historian, " was as unexpected as it was alarming. 
 Here was the enemy, who was supposed incapable of 
 mischief for weeks to come, already in the field and planted 
 directly on their communication with Ostend." 1 A council 
 of war was immediately held. Some of the commanders 
 were disposed to disbelieve the news brought by the 
 messenger, but at midnight another messenger, sent 
 directly from the States-General at Ostend, confirmed the 
 startling intelligence. Immediate action of some kind was 
 necessary. Prince Maurice, in order to impede the move- 
 ments of the enemy and gain time, detached during the 
 night Sir William Edmonds' regiment of Scots foot, a 
 regiment of Zealanders, four squadrons of Dutch cavalry, 
 and two pieces of artillery (which force was already 
 established on the right bank of the Nieuport harbour), 
 under the command of Count Ernest of Nassau. Count 
 Ernest was ordered to march at once in order to seize the 
 bridge at Leffingen, and oppose the advance of the enemy, 
 which would give Prince Maurice time to transport the rest 
 of his army across the haven at low water. The enemy had, 
 however, passed the bridge when Count Ernest arrived 
 there with his small force. To retreat was inglorious ; to 
 proceed seemed utter destruction, as he was outnumbered 
 
 1 Motley's United Netherlands, iv. p. 14.
 
 46 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 eight to one. His orders were to oppose the enemy's 
 advance, and with the valour of his race he determined to 
 obey. He took up a position behind a dyke, upon which 
 he placed his two field pieces, and formed his line of battle 
 exactly across the enemy's path. The result is well-known. 
 At the first onset of the enemy a panic seized the cavalry, 
 and they retreated in a disgraceful manner. The Zealanders 
 followed suit, and the contagion spread even to the Scots, 
 who all turned their backs and fled, helter skelter. 
 
 " Had they even kept the line of the downs in the direction of 
 the fort, 1 " says Motley, " many of them might have saved their 
 lives, although none could have escaped disgrace. But the Scots, 
 in an ecstacy of fear, throwing away their arms as they fled, ran 
 through the waters behind the dyke, skimmed over the sands at 
 full speed, and never paused till such as survived the sabre and 
 musket of their swift pursuers had literally drowned themselves in 
 the ocean. Almost every man of them was slain or drowned. 
 All the captains Stuart, Barclay, Murray, Kilpatrick, Michael, 
 Nesbit with the rest of the company officers, doing their best to 
 rally the fugitives, were killed. The Zealanders, more cautious in 
 the midst of their panic, or perhaps knowing better the nature of 
 the country, were more successful in saving their necks." 2 
 
 It may truly be said of the Scotch who participated in 
 this unfortunate affair, that " brave men have their moments 
 of fear just in the same way as cowards have their moments 
 of bravery," for no braver men than Edmonds' Scotch 
 soldiers were to be found in the States' army. 
 
 Prince Maurice in the meantime had transported the 
 whole of his forces across the haven at Nieuport no easy 
 task, even at low water and had placed them in battle 
 array on the beach and downs. They had not been long 
 there, when two troopers, riding ventre d terre, arrived in 
 
 Fort Albert. * Motley, as before, iv. p. 19.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 47 
 
 their midst, and announced that the whole army of the 
 Archduke was advancing. These two harbingers of bad 
 news were instantly sent to the rear to deliver their news 
 to Prince Maurice. We know already what a disastrous 
 tale they had to unfold, and history tells us how unflinch- 
 ingly the son of William the Silent listened to the tidings, 
 and how nobly he acted in this hour of extremest peril. 
 Having forbidden the two messengers, on pain of death, to 
 divulge the news of Count Ernest's defeat to any human 
 being, Prince Maurice sent them, strongly guarded, on 
 board one of the war ships in the harbour. He then 
 calmly gave orders, " that every war ship, transport, barge 
 or wherry, should put to sea at once." The tide being at 
 the flood, the whole fleet stood out to sea. Of his own free 
 will, and without taking anyone into his counsel, Maurice 
 had cut off the sole means of retreat for himself and the 
 whole States' army. The caution of the chess player, the 
 calculations of the mathematician, were forgotten in the 
 natural impulse of the hero. No Alexander could have 
 severed the Gordian knot with more sangfroid. " No more 
 brave decision," says Motley, " was ever taken by fighting 
 
 man." 
 
 ***** 
 
 On Sunday, 1 the 2nd of July, at 2 P.M., the famous 
 battle of Nieuport commenced. 
 
 The States' army was drawn up in battle array among 
 the steep and rugged sand-hills its left to the sea, and 
 its right towards Nieuport. By direction of Sir Francis 
 Vere, the tops of the sand-hills were crowned with Friesland 
 
 1 In the Curiosities of War are shown the numerous battles which have 
 been fought on Sundays. This century is fruitful in examples of victories 
 gained on Sundays. In the Peninsular War, the battles of Vimiera, Fuentes 
 d'Onor, Orthes, and Toulouse ; Ciudad Rodrigo was carried by assault on 
 the night of Sunday, Jan. 10, 1812. Waterloo and Inkermann were also 
 fought on Sundays.
 
 48 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 musqueteers, while in the hollows were 1,000 English pike- 
 men and 600 musqueteers, supported by the lancers and 
 mounted harquebusiers. By the express orders of Prince 
 Maurice two pieces of cannon had been placed on the 
 highest and most advantageous positions. On the edge of 
 the downs, on the narrow slip of sand above high water 
 mark, was placed a battery of six demi-cannon. 1 The 
 cavalry, under Count Lewis of Nassau, was posted on the 
 right of the downs, in the pastures. Behind the advanced 
 squadrons of horse, were three troops of horse, which Prince 
 Maurice had kept as a reserve force. They were the troops 
 of Captains Balen, Horace Vere, and Edward Cecil. 
 
 The battle was commenced by a charge of cavalry, 
 under Count Lewis of Nassau, who led his troops across 
 the pasture land, leaping the ditches in true sportsmanlike 
 fashion. The enemy's cavalry were routed at the first 
 charge, and they turned and fled in all directions, followed 
 by the victorious troopers, whose ardour nearly cost them 
 and their brave leader their lives, as we are told Count 
 Lewis found himself at the head of ten men only, and the 
 enemy between him and his own nation. Fortunately, the 
 quick eye of Prince Maurice had foreseen this contingency 
 and a body of States' carabineers, under Captain Kloet, 
 were speedily sent to the rescue of Count Lewis, who was 
 easily distinguished amongst the enemy by his orange 
 plumes. 2 
 
 In the meantime the States' infantry and the Archduke's 
 
 1 Jan. Orlers gives in his interesting work, La gtnealogie des illustres 
 Contes de Nassau, published at Leyden in 1615, a plan of the battle of 
 Nieuport, showing the position of the two contending armies. The men, 
 guns, horses, &c., are all minutely drawn, and the position of each regiment, 
 battery, and troop of horse numbered. Orlers only gives four guns, not six, 
 in the States' battery on the beach. Edward Cecil's troop of horse is given 
 in the plan and numbered Cecilius, capitaine de chevaux. 
 
 3 Motley's account of the battle.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 49 
 
 had met, and were engaged in a deadly struggle on the 
 downs. " It was," says Motley, in his graphic and soul- 
 stirring account of this battle, " a hot struggle of 20,000 
 men, pent up in a narrow space, where the very nature of 
 the ground had made artistic evolutions nearly impracti- 
 cable. The advance, the battalia, even the rearguard on 
 both sides were mixed together pell-mell, and the downs 
 were soon covered at every step with the dead and dying 
 Briton, Hollander, Spaniard, Italian, Frisian, Frenchrrian, 
 Walloon, fighting and falling together, and hotly contesting 
 every inch of those barren sands. 
 
 " It seemed, said one who fought there, as if the last day 
 of the world had come." l 
 
 It was during this " bloody bit," as Sir Francis Vere terms 
 it in his account of Nieuport battle, that he received two 
 wounds in his leg. 2 Notwithstanding these hurts, Sir 
 Francis Vere still remained on the field, and fought like a 
 lion. Before the battle commenced, Prince Maurice had 
 placed the chief command of the cavalry and infantry in 
 Sir Francis Vere's hands, reserving to himself the command 
 of the artillery. 3 It was doubtless owing to this fact that 
 Sir Francis Vere took all the credit of the victory at 
 Nieuport to himself and the English, ignoring Prince 
 Maurice altogether. 4 It is, however, clearly proved by 
 Motley, who quotes from many authentic sources, that 
 Maurice of Nassau, and his brave cousin, Count Lewis, 
 were by no means idle spectators of the conflict, and that 
 they both, as well as their own troops, did very much to 
 
 1 Ibid. iv. p. 34. 
 
 2 Sir F. Vere speaks of " those four holes in my flesh" in his account ot 
 the battle. See also Chamberlain to Carleton, July i/io, 1600, S. P. Dom. 
 
 3 The artillery had been placed on wooden platforms, which gave the 
 States' army an advantage over the archduke's, whose artillery, sinking in the 
 sand, was of little use. Motley, iv. p. 41. 
 
 4 Account of Nieuport battle in Vere's Commentaries. 
 
 VOL I. E
 
 5O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 ensure a victory. Count Lewis having rallied his cavalry, 
 and obtained the prince's permission to charge the enemy's 
 cavalry, again hurled his devoted squadrons against the 
 Spanish horse. This time, however, they were unable to 
 break the line ; and being exposed to a galling fire from 
 the archduke's infantry, they wavered, and finally retreated. 
 The archduke seized this opportunity to bring up his reserve 
 of infantry, which charged Vere's infantry, who were already 
 wearied with the long-continued life-and-death struggle. 
 Tired human nature could not withstand this fresh influx 
 of strength brought to bear upon them, and so the States' 
 troops fell back, retreating slowly and orderly towards their 
 battery on the beach. To make matters worse, Sir Francis 
 Vere's horse was now shot under him, and he fell under it. 
 Sir Robert Drury, 1 Captain Ogle, 2 and Higham, servant to 
 Sir Robert, providentially saw their gallant leader's perilous 
 position, and the two latter extricated Sir Francis Vere 
 from under his horse, and placed him on the crupper of 
 Sir Robert's horse. Let us now turn to Maurice of Nassau, 
 and see how he comported himself when his army, country, 
 fame, and even life itself, seemed to tremble in the balance. 
 
 " He was in the field," wrote a Dutch historian, " and seemed 
 to be the only one not frightened j and, exhorting, praying, begging, 
 he tried to incite them with the courage of despair, and advised 
 them rather to die fighting than to drown and suffocate all, espe- 
 cially as things were not hopeless. In this manner he rallied 
 some of the cavalry, and hearing that the artillery on the beach 
 
 1 Sir Robert Drury of Hawsted, Suffolk. 
 
 2 Captain Ogle (afterwards Sir John Ogle), a distinguished English officer, says 
 in his account of The last charge at Nieuport battell, that he assisted Higham 
 to pull Sir Francis Vere from under his dead horse and place him upon 
 Sir Robert Drury's, thereby saving his life, as the enemy was close behind 
 them. Ogle says his clothes were stained with Sir F. Vere's blood, and he 
 wonders at Sir F. Vere never mentioning his (Ogle's) name in connection 
 with this service. Vere's Commentaries, p. no.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 51 
 
 was in great danger, he sent to the rescue, and to charge upon 
 the enemy's infantry the three last regiments of reserve under the 
 command of Balen. They divided themselves in such a way that 
 Balen would charge upon the strand, Vere upon the upper downs, 
 and the regiment of Cicil upon the downs. This latter just 
 arrived upon the downs when the foe had approached the guns, 
 and when the last shots were fired from them, which made such a 
 havoc among the enemy that they abandoned the guns. In 
 passing the downs, Balen ordered his men to ride slowly, in order 
 to ease the horses, but, arriving on the beach, he furiously attacked 
 the infantry, which at that time was there unsupported, charged 
 them on the flank, overthrowing the musketeers, who fired little, 
 because they had been attacking the retreating English, put them 
 to flight, and killed or took prisoners a number of them. The 
 cavalry of Cicil on the downs repulsed the enemy and dispersed 
 part of them ; Vere with his men also overthrew a whole battalion 
 in the upper downs, all of which quite changed the state of affairs, 
 for the English and Frisians, who were retreating along the downs, 
 halted and faced the enemy, while 150 pikemen among the 
 Frisians attacking them made them abandon another down ; and 
 after this the sailors l first, and then the gunners, began to cry 
 ' attack, attack ' (fan) ; others, though without cause, began to 
 exclaim, ' victory, victory.' On hearing this, all the troops of his 
 Excellency began to push bravely forward, while the enemy 
 gradually retreated." 
 
 The above account is literally translated from Anthony 
 Duyck's Journal?' This Dutch author has the reputation 
 of being very exact and truthful. Motley has quoted 
 largely from him in his account of Nieuport battle, and 
 Duyck's account tallies with that of other writers. It is 
 well known that no two accounts of a battle are alike t and 
 it is only natural that the Dutch writers should claim a 
 good share of the honour of the victory for their heroic 
 
 1 These were Zeeland sailors, "who," says Motley, "had stuck like wax 
 to their cannon during the whole conflict." 
 
 2 Page 674. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 prince. It is also only natural that the English, on whom 
 the brunt of the battle most undoubtedly fell, should claim 
 most of the honour for Sir Francis Vere and the English 
 soldiers. Vere has been blamed, and no doubt justly, for 
 his partial account of the fight. He takes the whole credit 
 of defeating an army of 10,000 men to himself and his 
 ijOOO English troops. The Dutch and their leaders are 
 nowhere ! No English officers are mentioned in despatches 
 except Sir Horace Vere and Sir R. Drury, to whom Vere 
 owed his life. Such a one-sided account was sure to give 
 offence to many, and we must consider it to be what 
 Motley terms it, " a party pamphlet in an age of pamph- 
 leteering." Captain Ogle, who took an active part in the 
 battle, has given us a very good account of the last charge 
 and the events which just preceded the now famous 
 charge by Balen, Horace Vere, and Edward Cecil. Ogle 
 tells us that when the States' infantry and Vere's troops 
 were being borne back by the enemy, slowly yet surely, 
 that he, Captain Fairfax, 1 and Mr. Gilbert, went aside on 
 to the downs to rest a little and to consult what to do ; 
 they were presently joined by a small number of their men, 
 and Sir Horace Vere joining them with some of his men, 
 determined them to " turn and make a new head against 
 the enemy." 2 "The vigilant and Judicious eie of Prince 
 Maurice," continues Captain Ogle, " was upon our actions 
 and motions all this while, for (as I have been enformed), 
 he seeing us make head, said to those who stood about 
 him, Voyez, voyez, les Anglois qui tournent a la charge, and 
 thereupon gave present order to Dubois (then commissary 
 
 1 This was Sir Charles Fairfax, a distinguished officer, who was killed 
 during the siege of Ostend. He was youngest son of Sir Thomas Fairfax of 
 Denton, and brother of Thomas, first Baron Fairfax of Cameron, the father 
 of the great Lord Fairfax. 
 
 7 This partly tallies with Sir F. Vere's account, who says his brother 
 Horace rallied a body of men and made a resolute stand against the enemy.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 53 
 
 general for the cavallerie), to advance some of the horse * 
 to be readie to attend and fortifie the events that might 
 happen upon this growing charge." The three troops of 
 reserve horse, commanded by Balen, 2 Vere, and Cecil, were 
 ordered, with those troops that had rallied, to charge the 
 enemy, who was rapidly bearing down upon the battery on 
 the beach, behind which the States' troops were fast retiring. 
 " Much about this time," continues Ogle, " came in the 
 Horse, namely, the troops of Vere, Cecill, and Ball (sic), who, 
 rushing with violence amongst them (the enemy), so con- 
 founded and amazed them that they were presently broken 
 and disjoynted, which being done, the slaughter was great 
 to them on their side as the execution easie to us on ours. 
 This rupture also of theirs was not a little furthered by the 
 Archduke's own troop of Harquebusiers, which, having 
 advanced somewhat before the grosse on* the skirt which 
 lay between the inland and the higher downs, was so 
 encountered by Cecill and his troop (who had as then 
 received order by Dubois from his Excellency to charge), 
 that they were forced with confusion to seek succour 
 amongst their foot, Cecill following them in close at their 
 backs." 3 Horace Vere and Balen were equally successful 
 
 1 Sir F. Vere says he had several times sent to Prince Maurice to send the 
 horse to their succour (?). 
 
 2 Balen's charge on the beach is mentioned by Vere, who takes the credit 
 of the arrival of this troop so opportunely to himself. 
 
 3 This charge is referred to by an old writer (in MS. 18 A Ixiii. Royal Lib., 
 Brit. Mus.) as follows : " His Excellency, seeing the whole army in disorder, 
 comannded his last reserve of horse (which were all English) to make a home 
 charge ; they put in execution very fortunately his Excellency's direction, and 
 it was General Cecill's good hap (who was then a Captain of horse) to charge 
 and rout the Archduke's owne gard of Harcabucas (sic), being of black velatt 
 (sic) coatts, and tooke two or three of the Archduke's servants prisoners, and 
 gott of his owne silver dishes, and I heard his Lieutenant, Captain Bowyer, say, 
 if his Excellency would have given them leave to follow the execution, he 
 made no question but they might have taken the Archduke prisoner ; for this 
 piece of service his Excellency made General Cecill a Colonel of horse."
 
 54 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 in their charge, and, as we have already seen from Duyck's 
 and Ogle's accounts, the enemy was completely routed. 
 " This charge," continues Ogle, " (through the hand and 
 favour of God) gave us the day." Ogle accounts for Sir 
 Francis Vere not mentioning Edward Cecil's gallant charge 
 in this manner : he says, Cecil had his order to charge 
 from Prince Maurice and not from Sir F. Vere, who was 
 unaware of the order and likewise not at the charge in 
 person. 1 
 
 " The enemy," wrote Sir Francis Vere in his account of 
 the battle, " lost above one hundred and twenty ensigns 
 (colours), most of his foot slain, not many of his horse lost. 
 On our side, in a manner, the whole loss fell upon English, 
 of which near 800 were hurt and slain, eight captains slain, 
 the rest, all but two, hurt, and most of my inferior officers 
 hurt and slain. In the rest of the army there was no losse 
 at all to speak of, especially among the foot. 
 
 " I dare not take the whole honour of the victory to the 
 English, i, 600 men ; I will only affirm that they left nothing 
 for the rest of the army to do but to follow the chase." 2 
 
 When Maurice of Nassau at last saw the enemy flying 
 before his pursuing troops he is said to have dismounted 
 from his horse, and, kneeling in the sand, exclaimed, " O 
 God, what are we human creatures to whom Thou hast 
 brought such honour, and to whom Thou hast vouchsafed 
 such a victory ! " The Admiral of Arragon, who commanded 
 
 1 Vere says, " In this last charge I followed not, for seeing the successe 
 upon the sands, and knowing that my directions in the prosecution of the 
 victory would be executed, I could easily judge that the work of that day was 
 at an end." Commentaries, p. 100, &c. See also Ogle's account in same 
 vol. pp. 106-11. 
 
 2 Vere's account, p. 104. Sir Francis Bacon, in a description of the battle 
 of Nieuport many years after, wrote : " The services also of Sir Edward 
 Cecil, Sir John Ogle, and divers other brave gentlemen, was emiaent. " See 
 Spedding's Letters and Life of Bacon, vii. p. 493.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 55 
 
 the cavalry, the Count de la Fere, the Count de Salines, 
 and Don Carlo de Zapena, with many others, were taken 
 prisoners. It is said, " there was not any commander of note 
 but was either taken or slain, saving the Archduke (who 
 was wounded in the face), the Duke d'Aumale, and Velasco, 
 Generall of the artillery." l " It is the greatest battaile, and 
 best fought," wrote Chamberlain to his friend Dudley 
 Carleton, describing the battle, "that hath been betwixt 
 two disciplined armies in our time in Christendome. There 
 was almost no oddes in number (saving that the States had 
 advantage of about 500 horse), theire foote were about 
 9000 a peece." 2 
 
 In this battle 3,000 Spaniards were computed to have 
 been slain, and about 600 prisoners were taken. 3 
 
 Edward Cecil sent the following account of this battle 
 to his uncle, Sir Robert Cecil : 
 
 CAPTAIN E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v r Ho., 
 
 " I doubte not at all but y r Ho. hath the beast advertisments 
 of all accedentes that doe happene, yet I may doubte whether y r 
 Ho. will thinke that I am as desierve of y r favours if I showe not 
 my diutye by writing somewhat (considering this occasion), as by 
 writing I take it for a means j wherefore, allthoughe I have for- 
 borne heretofore to write any thing that mighte come to stalle to 
 Ho., yet I have adventered at this tyme, not but that I knowe my 
 ansofisienc to advertis y r H. Yet presuming to doe it like a 
 souldier, and as one that was as nighe a wittnes as any other that 
 was in the Battell, y r Ho. will not take it for the least advantage 
 tor the good I desier of y r favoure. The Battell his Exselenc and 
 the Arche Duke hath foughte was betwxte Nuporte and Ostende ; 
 
 1 Chamberlain to Carleton, July i/io, 1600. S. P. Dom. 
 
 2 Ibid, 
 
 3 Captain Scott, in his- letter to the Lord Treasurer, dated at Ostend, June 
 26 / July 6, says, " There were 4000 of the enemy slain and 1000 taken 
 prisoners." S. P. Holland.
 
 56 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 wee were planted be for Nuporte, and in the morning wee harde 
 nwes that, that the Arche Duke was coming w th some 12/1000 
 menn, and some 20 companies of horse to trie his fortune for the 
 Duckedome of flanders, or to lease his fortune there of; wee un- 
 derstoude he was not 5 oures march from us, whereupon our holle 
 Armye marched w th all indevoure to meete him, his Exselence 
 sending the regement of Germans, w ch Count Ernestus commanded, 
 and the regements of the Scotes, to hinder the passage, w ch were 
 putt all to the sworde, harde by osteand, where there bodis lige 
 there yet to wittnes it, w ch made the Enyme march one v/^ such a 
 furie as was never scene. Then the[y] advansed to meett w th our 
 squadercns of Einghlish, w ch all menn can not saye but did 
 gallantly, the Battell induring some 4 oures before S r fran. vere 
 was shott twise, once in the legge and in the thigh e, whom I thinke 
 hath gotten as much honer as a man can gett one earth. One the 
 other side cam up the Arche Duke, La berlott, and S r William 
 Standly, w ch commanders gave great incurregment to the vangarde 
 of Spaniards ; that it is not possible for menn to doe better then 
 they ; they did make our menn retire very faste till it was the latter 
 eande, that our horse did healpe them, for the were oppressed w tb 
 the Enemys horse all the day before. It stowde very doubtefull 
 till the latter eande, and then it wante so muche one oure side 
 that wee performed the exsecution five milles out righte; wee 
 have taken the Admeroute of Arogon, generall of the howle 
 armie, the foure Camp Masters, one cauled lieus de villiar, w ch is 
 prisonar to S r fra. vere, the other gaspar La pieva, another don 
 geronemo de monroye, and Don Allfonsoe de Aunolie, w th many 
 more w ch are dead, as S r william Standly, la bertlott, 1 one Coronell 
 Bostocke, whoe hath now S r william Standle's regement, but these 
 ar all dead, by many brobabillities ; yet there is some doubte ; of 
 Einglish wee have lost very nighe a thousande, wee have lost 
 our Sargentmagore, Captayne yaxsly, a very gallant gentlellman, 
 Captayne Hunnewodd, his lieftenant, Ensine, and Sergent, one Cap- 
 tayne Duxburrye, one Captayne Purtene and his lieftenant, Captayne 
 Turrell, his lieftenant, and many more liftenantes, and Captaynes 
 Hurte and can not scape. I have lost some 10 men out of my horse 
 
 1 Colonel La Bourlotte was not killed on this occasion, but met his death 
 not long after.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 57 
 
 companie, yet I have taken 5 captaynes, one Spaniard, 2 Italions, 
 one wallowne, and one Einglishe Captayne that hath served this 
 20 years w tb Standlie l w ch his Exselence would have ransomed ; he 
 offers 60 to a souldier of mine, but if it please y r H. to dispose 
 of him, I will see him forth coming, and expecte y r H. pleasure. 
 And thus in most humble manner I take my leave, not having 
 time to write more, or to write this in a better hand, for wee ar 
 now marchinge the saye [ ? waye] to Sluse. 
 
 " y r H. in all diuty, 
 
 " ED. CECILL. 
 
 " I hope y r Ho. will pardon the scribbling of a souldier." 2 
 
 Add. " To the R. H. S r Ro. Cecyll K. Prinsepall Secritary ot 
 Einglande, and his Ho. unkell." 
 
 End. " June, 1600, Cap en Cecyll to my M r from the Campe." 
 
 Every one must think this letter of Edward Cecil's a 
 very modest one, considering the active part he played in 
 the decisive cavalry charge at Nieuport. His admiration 
 for Sir Francis Vere was genuine, and he entertained to his 
 dying day the greatest reverence and esteem for that 
 great soldier. More than a quarter of a century after, when 
 referring to the battle of Nieuport, Cecil thus eulogises Sir 
 F. Vere : " Hee was the verie Dyall of the whole Army by 
 whome wee knew when we should fight or not." And 
 again he says, in writing about Sir Francis, " The whole 
 Army both reverenced and stood in awe of him." 3 
 
 Among the British officers killed at Nieuport was a 
 cavalry officer who rode with Edward Cecil in the last 
 
 1 Sir William Stanley attended the archduke at Nieuport without com- 
 mand, having disposed of his regiment to his nephew Bostock. A dozen 
 years before, he had betrayed Deventer to the Spaniards and gone over to 
 their side. 
 
 8 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 80/69. 
 
 3 Quoted from a MS. in Brit. Mus, (i8c xxiii. 1. Lib.) entitled, Lord 
 Viscount Wimbledon's Demonstration of divers Parts of War ; especially of 
 Cavallerye,
 
 58 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 charge and was slain in Cecil's sight, when they were both 
 pursuing the enemy. This officer was Captain Hamilton, 
 a gallant Scot, who once made, to use Cecil's own words, 
 "the gallantest retreat I ever heard of." Hamilton had 
 been sent out with some Dutch cavalry under Count Lewis 
 of Nassau to skirmish in the enemy's country, the expe- 
 dition only being to plunder and spoil, and to replenish 
 the count's purse. The Spaniards came down on them in 
 force and made them retreat. As the manner was, they 
 retreated skirmishing, the officers taking it in turns to keep 
 the enemy at bay with a few of their men, whilst the rest 
 of their body retreated. " At last," says Cecil, " it came to 
 Captain Hamilton's turn to make the last retreat, always 
 most difficult and dangerous (which the Dutch loveth not ; 
 therefore left it to him). And because the horses were 
 weary and the enemy was gayning ground upon them, 
 Hamilton fell into the Reere of his men, and so long main- 
 tained the skirmish with the pursuing Spaniards that the 
 States' horse had time to make their retreate farr enough. 
 In the end his horse was killed under him, notwithstanding 
 which, hee, leaping over a body, made his retreate on foot 
 and so escaped." l 
 
 A great victory had been gained by the States' army on 
 Nieuport sands, but the conquest of Flanders was as far off 
 as ever. Three days after the battle, Maurice came before 
 Nieuport, only to find that La Bourlotte 2 had increased the 
 garrison to 3,000 men. Ten days after, the forces of the 
 States retired from before Nieuport and proceeded to the 
 vicinity of Ostend, where they captured a large fort called 
 Isabella. Edward Cecil indited the following letter to his 
 uncle from the camp there : 
 
 1 Ibid. p. 50. 
 
 2 Colonel La Bourlotte was killed in a skirmish a few days after this.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 59 
 
 CAPTAIN E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v r Ho., 
 
 " Althoughe I have littell occatione to advertis y r H. of oure 
 busines heare, considering such messenges as nowe arive w" 1 y r 
 H. that there ar fewe can better satisfie y then theye, yet bicause 
 y r H. shall knowe that y have a nephewe that woulde be loth y r 
 H. showlde for git him, and how much he thursteth after y r 
 favoure, and how much he desiers to doe y servis. Here wee 
 pore men that laboure for a fortune ar muche incorregged to see 
 so many of oure nobiletye heare l w ch giveth a grea[t] deall of 
 grase to us and our Campe, w ch other wayes is as miserable as 
 maye be, nether affording mans meate or horse meate, w ch will 
 forse us to goe seecke some where ealse. 
 
 " I have heare to fore trubled y r H. in the difeculty I founde 
 in obtaning my companie of horse, and was very nighe the going 
 w th out it, but as I beleeved so I founde, w ch was that if I gott it 
 not for y r sake, I looked not for it, as I may very well saye by 
 the favoure I did fiende from the Advocate Barnewell, whoe did 
 mee all the favoure I founde at all, saing that I had good cause to 
 thanke y r H., and that for y r sake he would favore mee in any 
 thing he coulde, wherefore I umbly beseeche y r H. to take notis 
 of that muche, that the Advocat may not only knowe I have 
 acquanted y r H. w th it, but allsoe that y doe regarde mee so much 
 for the w ch if my life and prayres may deserve it, I shall thinke 
 my selfe happie, and be bounde the more to praye for y H. long 
 life and hapines ; so in all humblenes I take my leave. 
 
 " y r H. in all diutye, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 " From the leger before the forte of Isebella." 2 
 
 Add. " To the R. H. and his singular good Unkell S r R. Cecill 
 knighte, Prinsepall Seccritary of Einglande." 
 
 End. " July, 1600. Cap en Cecyll to my M r from the Campe in 
 flandres." 
 
 1 On July 26 there arrived in an English ship, Lord Cobham, Sir Walter 
 Raleigh, the Earls of Rutland and Northumberland, and Sir H. Pemel. 
 A. Duyck's Journal. 
 
 3 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, c. b. 4/30.
 
 6O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 The invasion of Flanders having been proved to be a 
 much more serious undertaking than was at first antici- 
 pated, and the States' army being much weakened by 
 recent losses, it was determined to re-embark the troops 
 at once. Accordingly, on August i, a great part of the 
 infantry was embarked at Ostend, and the ships sailed for 
 Rammekins to await orders there. The remaining ships 
 with the cavalry sailed for Bergen-op-zoom. Besides the 
 eleven companies stationed in the town of Ostend, Prince 
 Maurice left some English companies under Hamond, some 
 of the Frisians under Ripperda, some German and Swiss 
 companies under Husemon, some French battalions under 
 Dussau, some Scotch companies and several Dutch 
 companies ; also the horse troops of Balen, Vere, Cecil, 
 and Arthur, under the command of Balen. 1 
 
 The States' finances being at a low ebb after the Nieuport 
 expedition, the deputies of the States-General wanted to 
 reduce the foreign cavalry and infantry which had not yet 
 returned to their quarters ; Prince Maurice, however, 
 prevented this, not wanting to deprive the country of so 
 many troops, and he retained at the expense of Holland 
 the cavalry commanded by Temple, 2 Cecil, Arthur, La 
 Sale, and Clout, each troop having 80 horses (bidets). 
 Also the foot companies of General Vere, Colonel Horace 
 Vere, Captains Fryer, Temple, and La Noue, each com- 
 pany having 1 50 men ; and the companies of Calisthenes 
 Brook, Harcourt, Tyrrell, Honeywood, Daniel Vere, Ogle, 
 Hamond, Garnet, Holcraft, Forster, Jaxley, Fairfax, 
 Knollys, Cecil, Metckerke (sic}, Scot, Sutton, Vavasour, 
 Duxberry, Aldrich, Morgan, Beeden, &c., &c., with 1 1 5 
 men in each company. 3 
 
 1 A. Duyck's Journal, ii. p. 713. 
 
 * Sir Oliver Temple. 
 
 3 A. Duyck's Journal, ii. p. 737-
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 6 1 
 
 It will be seen from the above list of horse and foot that 
 Edward Cecil's foot company still retained his name. It 
 was virtually his company, although commanded by 
 another officer when Cecil was serving with his horse 
 troop. His retaining his foot company bears out what has 
 been previously said, viz., that some of the senior infantry 
 officers had troops of horse under their command. They 
 served with one or the other as occasion allowed. Both 
 Sir Francis Vere and Colonel Horace Vere had their own 
 troops of horse and a certain number of foot companies 
 under their command, which their lieutenant-colonels l 
 commanded when they themselves were absent. Although 
 the foot companies were sometimes termed " regiments, 
 they were not really formed into regiments until 1605. 
 
 1 Lieut-Colonel Button acted as lieut.-colonel to Sir Horace Vere at 
 Nieuport and on other occasions.
 
 62 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 1601-1603. 
 
 Marriage of Edward Cecil to Theodosia Noel Rosebury Topping The 
 bride's present of sweetmeats to Sir R. Cecil Preparations for a summer 
 campaign in the Netherlands Ostend in 1601 Commencement of the 
 siege of Ostend Rhineberg besieged by Maurice of Nassau Sir Francis 
 Vere's request for English troops His arrival at Ostend Edward Cecil 
 sent there from England in command of troops Sir Robert Cecil's letter 
 to Lord Burghley Edward Cecil's letters from Ostend Sortie of the 
 garrison Captain Cecil joins his troop at Rhineberg Siege of Meurs 
 Edward Cecil returns to England Strange mode of recruiting Edward 
 Cecil knighted by Queen Elizabeth Arrival of Sir Francis Vere in 
 England Further reinforcements sent to Holland Sir Edward Cecil 
 made Colonel of Horse Renewal of hostilities The Brabant expedition 
 Siege of Grave Vere's wound Great mortality among the troops 
 Grave surrenders to Prince Maurice Expedition to Emden Sir Edward 
 Cecil sent there Death of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 WE left Edward Cecil at Ostend on August I, 1600. 
 The next news we have of him is in the following June, 
 when he was in England. It does not appear when he 
 came over from Holland, but it was doubtless in the 
 previous autumn, the campaign being over for that year. 
 
 It is easy to tell how Cecil spent some of the early part 
 of the year 1601 as on June 10 he was married at the 
 parish church of Brook, co. Rutland, to Theodosia Noel, ; 
 daughter of Sir Andrew Noel, 2 of Dalby in Leicestershire, 
 
 1 This marriage is given in the Cecil pedigree in Blore's History of Rutland- 
 shire. The entry of this marriage is still to be seen in the Brook parish 
 register for 1601, but I am told by the vicar of Oakham that the date of the 
 month in register is now very obscure. 
 
 1 Sir Andrew Noel, of Dalby, Leicestershire, and Brook, co. Rutland, was 
 "thrice sheriff of the latter county." He died at Brook in 1607, and was 
 succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Edward Noel, who was created, in 1617, 
 Baron Noel, and in 1629 (his father-in-law's title) Viscount Campden.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 63 
 
 by Mabel, sixth daughter of Sir James Harington 1 of 
 Exton, co. Rutland. Theodosia Noel was apparently 
 seventeen years of age at the time of her marriage, as she 
 was baptized at Brook, Jan. 4, I584. 2 
 
 It would be well nigh impossible at this distance of time 
 to ferret out any details of Edward Cecil's marriage, or 
 state where the happy pair spent their honeymoon. 
 A marriage in high life, even in the days of the Virgin 
 Queen, who openly frowned on young people bent 
 on entering the happy state, was a ceremony attended 
 with many rejoicings and old world formalities, of which 
 only a few have descended to this prosaic age. The 
 "romance of love" is and always has been as com- 
 mon to the high born as to the lowly, and is equally 
 sweet to both. Both choose the choicest spots of 
 Nature's creating in which to plight their vows of life- 
 long fidelity to each other, which are often sealed with 
 some signature, or device, carved on Nature's handi- 
 work, as if to make her a witness of their good faith. 
 Such shallow tokens of constancy unfortunately often 
 survive the love and fidelity of the lovers who make 
 them, and so bear witness to a living lie. This is 
 much more sad than that these emblems should outlive 
 those who left their names and devices on the face of 
 Nature, as " flesh is grass." It is owing, however, to the 
 perennial nature of stone that we are indebted for the 
 following interesting record, given by Ord in his History 
 
 1 Sir James Harington, of Exton, married Lucy, daughter of Sir William 
 Sidney, of Penshurst, and sister of Sir Henry Sidney, K.G., by whom he had 
 issue eighteen children. Sir James Harington died in 1592, and was 
 succeeded by his eldest son, Sir John Harington, created, in 1603, Baron 
 Harington. His lordship was tutor to the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of 
 James I. 
 
 2 Given in Cecil pedigree, Blore's Rutlandshire.
 
 64 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 of Cleveland, in his description of Rosebury 1 a conical- 
 shaped mountain in Cleveland. " A curious hermitage or 
 grotto," says this author, " formerly graced the summit of 
 the rock, but has long since been sacrificed by the ruthless 
 quarrymen. Here the names, initials, and footmarks, with 
 various lovers' emblems and devices, were quaintly carved 
 on the stone. Some of them were in full, with a date 
 annexed, as ' 1595 Theodocea Cecyll,' ' R. C. i625.'" 2 
 
 There is no doubt whatever of the above " Theodocea 
 Cecyll " being Edward Cecil's wife ; indeed there was no 
 other Theodosia in the Cecil family. The date, however, is 
 of course completely wrong. The mistake may be accounted 
 for by supposing the date (even if correctly copied from 
 the weather-beaten stone (?)) to have belonged to another 
 name altogether, and not to have been part of Theodosia 
 Cecil's inscription. The copyist, not knowing when the 
 lady lived, was quite content with his anachronism. 
 We also may be entirely wrong in supposing that the 
 above name was carved on Rosebury Topping in the 
 year 1601, but as it was a favourite resort with newly 
 married couples we may naturally conclude that it was 
 carved soon after her marriage. Supposition must have 
 a great voice in a far-away record of this sort. The Cecils 
 had many connections with Yorkshire. Sir Thomas Cecil 
 (Lord Burghley) was, as we have already seen, married at 
 Monkton in Yorkshire, to Dorothy Nevill (daughter and 
 co-heir of Lord Latimer), who inherited the estates of 
 Well and Snape in the north of the county. Again, the 
 
 1 The summit of Rosebury is said to foretell thunder when a white mist 
 hangs over it : 
 
 " When Roseberrye Toppinge wears a cappe 
 Let Cleveland then beware of a clappe." 
 
 4 Page 424. These old autographs and dates, mentioned by the old Cleveland 
 historian, have long since vanished, and have been replaced by nineteenth 
 century autographs which now deface Rosebury's rocky summit.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 65 
 
 old Lord Burghley was an intimate friend of Sir Thomas 
 Chaloner, of Guisbro', the great poet, who was sent 
 Ambassador to Spain in 1561 ; and we find Sir William 
 Cecil, as he then was, acting as chief mourner at Sir 
 Thomas Chaloner's funeral at St. Paul's, a few years later. 1 
 The Chaloner estate lay close to Rosebury Hill. Putting 
 two and two together, therefore, leads to the conclusion that 
 Edward Cecil and his wife were staying at Guisbro' with 
 the Chaloners, 2 when Theodosia left her name so deeply 
 impressed on Rosebury Topping. 
 
 Very soon after his marriage Edward Cecil wrote the 
 following letter to his uncle, Sir R. Cecil, but where from 
 does not appear : 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v r H., 
 
 " When I laste parted w th y I was resolved to have returned 
 in to the lowe countryes. But to excuse my selfe truly (as I am 
 resolved ever to doe so to y r H.), I can confes nothing that hath 
 hindered mee, but beyng a nwe maryed mann. And littell occa- 
 tion I had to be any where this winter, but where I mighte have 
 the pleasantest Garison, considering I howlde my selvfe a com- 
 mander of horse and not of foote. And now that it drawes nighe 
 that my charge is to com in to the fealde, I woulde be loth that 
 y r H. shoulde knowe that I missed an hower of beyng w th them, 
 for my dispositione of the wares was never so earneste as it is w th 
 hope ; and as long as it shall please y r H. to favoure my fortunes 
 there in, w ch if eyther y r blude or a harte woued by all reasons, to 
 be honest and affectionatt to y, can deserve, then assure y r H. y 
 ar not onely to looke for it of mee, but challenge it by more 
 reasons then y can from any mann living. My wife, may it please 
 y r H., as drawing in the same yoake, is as desierus to drawe 
 some of my lode ; and, not knowing in any thing how to showe 
 her diutefullnes, hath presumed to make use of slighte sweat 
 meates that y r H. mighte regarde the more her diutefull miende. 
 
 1 Ord's Cleveland, p. 222. 
 
 z Rear- Admiral Chaloner, . of Longhull, Guisbro', the last male descendant 
 of the family, died in 1884. 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 And w th all she hath desiered mee that because the ar suche 
 tryfelles, and that sweatt meattes may very well be demineshed, 
 passing many handes, to lett y r H. know that there is 3 bockes, 
 and 12 porringers, w ch if the may any waye like, y r H., she will 
 reast a most hap pie womann. And thus beyng jelius that I may 
 truble y r H. in y r greater affares, I will in all humble manner 
 reast, but never reast to praye for y r longe and happie dayes as 
 the hapines of 
 
 " Y r H. 
 
 " Most diutefull and affectionatt 
 " Nephue and servante, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL." l 
 
 Add. "To the R. H. S r Ro. Cecyll, Knighte, Prinsepall 
 Scecritary of Eingland. London. 
 
 End. " 1 60 1. S r Edward Cecyll to my M r ." 
 
 In the month of April, 1601, Sir Francis Vere had been 
 sent over to England by the States to solicit Queen 
 Elizabeth for leave to raise; 3,000 men, at the States' 
 charge, for immediate service in the Low Countries. The 
 Queen having agreed to send these reinforcements as soon 
 as their presence was absolutely necessary, Vere returned 
 to Holland. 3 
 
 The States had already settled their plans for the 
 coming campaign. They had projected the capture of the 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 90/47. 
 
 a The endorsement " S r Edward Cecyll," is of course an anachronism, as 
 Edward Cecil had not yet been knighted. The mistake can be easily 
 accounted for in this way : Sir Robert Cecil's secretary doubtless only 
 endorsed these letters at the end of each year, and as Edward Cecil was 
 knighted before the end of 1601, the mistake was easily made. 
 
 3 An amusing anecdote is told of Sir F. Vere's stay at Yarmouth on his 
 return to Holland. Having to wait there for a fair wind, and hearing that 
 his enemy, the Earl of Northumberland, who was also going over to Holland, 
 was in the town, he called upon the Earl and said in his dryest way, that as 
 he was detained by the wind he thought he might as well call on his lordship. 
 His lordship replied that as he was only indebted to the wind for the courtesy, 
 he did not care to see him, and so they parted. Sir R. Cecil to Lord 
 Burghley. July 15 (?), 1601. S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 67 
 
 eighteen forts which threatened the existence of Ostend 
 their only foothold in Flanders. Of these forts the most 
 considerable were St. Albert, St Isabella (captured by the 
 States' troops in the preceding year), St. Clare and Great 
 Thirst. Ostend, it will be remembered, was the thorn in 
 Flandria's foot, which the cardinal-archduke had promised 
 to eradicate. This town and its importance is thus 
 referred to in the Records of the ^rd Foot : " On the 
 breaking out of the war between the King of Spain and 
 the States of the Low Countries, Ostend was a small 
 village in the earldom of Flanders ; in 1572 it was enclosed 
 with palisades and wooden gates, to protect it from the 
 incursions of the Spaniards ; and five years afterwards, the 
 States, considering the advantageous situation of the place, 
 fortified it in a more formidable manner. The Prince of 
 Parma, having reduced a great part of Flanders to obedi- 
 ence, captured Dunkirk and Nieuport in 1583, and after- 
 wards appeared with his army before Ostend, but was 
 repulsed with loss. From this period Ostend had stood 
 alone in the provinces subjected to Spain, and the facility 
 with which it could be relieved by water had enabled it to 
 resist every attempt of the enemy. The garrison had also 
 made frequent incursions into the adjacent country, and 
 had raised heavy contributions to prevent which the States 
 of Flanders had erected eighteen forts, in which they kept 
 strong garrisons. The expense of these garrisons had, 
 however, proved burdensome to the people, and large sums 
 of money had from time to time been offered to the 
 Spanish governors to defray the expense of the capture of 
 Ostend." Archduke Albert had been petitioned by the 
 States of Flanders to besiege Ostend, and had been offered 
 300,000 florins a month, as long as the siege lasted, 
 besides an extra sum of 300,000, of which one third was to 
 be paid when the place should be invested, one third when 
 
 F 2
 
 68 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 the breach had been made, and one third after the town 
 had been taken. 1 
 
 The Archduke nothing daunted by his defeat at Nieuport 
 in the previous summer, and anxious to retrieve his military 
 fame in the eyes of his lady, the Infanta Isabella Clara 
 Eugenia of Spain, said that if necessary he was willing to 
 spend eighteen years in reducing Ostend. On the 5th of 
 July he came before the town with a large force and 
 formally began the siege a siege which was destined 
 to rival the memorable siege of Troy. 
 
 Maurice of Nassau, in the meantime, had marched to the 
 Rhine, early in June, and laid siege to Rhineberg with an 
 army of 12,000 men. " It was his purpose," says Motley, 
 " to leave the archduke for the time to break his teeth 
 against the walls of Ostend, while he would himself protect 
 the eastern frontier, over which came regular reinforcements 
 and supplies for the Catholic armies." 2 Maurice had hoped 
 to have diverted the attention of the archduke from 
 Ostend, by laying siege to Rhineberg, which town had 
 been recaptured by the Spaniards in 1598. Ostend, 
 however, was much more important to the Spaniards than 
 Rhineberg, so leaving the latter place to defend itself 
 against the States' army, the archduke brought all his 
 available forces before the little seaport on the coast of 
 Flanders. If Ostend was to be relieved, it must be relieved 
 at once, and the 3,000 men from England, promised by her 
 Majesty, were absolutely necessary for saving the town. 
 So said Sir Francis Vere in his letter to the English 
 Council, which is well worthy of a place here, as it succinctly 
 explains the state of affairs at this crisis. 
 
 1 La Nouvette Troie, ou t Histoire du siige d'Ostende, par Henry Haestens, 
 p. 99. 
 
 * Motley, iv. p. 61.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 69 
 
 SIR FRANCIS VERE TO THE COUNCIL. 
 
 " MOST HONORABLE. Synce the wrytyng of my lettres of the 
 9th, I have forborne to trouble y r H, attendyng the good pleasure 
 of her Ma tle touchyng the states demande for the ymployement of 
 the men, the rather for thatt tyll now of late thear was no 
 occasyon of further advertisment. Butt thennemyes commyng 
 before Ostende, w th nombres of men and artyllerye compitent foi 
 a siege, thoughe itt is a thyng nott alltogeather unlookead for by 
 reason thatt from the fyrst thought of goyng before Berch, itt was 
 heald thatt if the ennemy went nott dyreactlye to the releefe of 
 thatt place, he would undretake Ostende. W h was cause also 
 thatt the States researvead in theas partts 1200 men to be ready 
 for the renforcement of thatt garnison, w h ar accordynglye now 
 gone thether, so as in all the strengthe of thatt towne is about some 
 2400 men, and they have sent for all the Inglysse compagnyes 
 from the camp to thrust into Ostende. Theas nombres may 
 seame sufficient to y r H re for the defence of the place, and so no 
 doubt w th good conduct they myght have been, if they had beenn 
 all in the garnyson when the enemy came before the towne to 
 have taken and lodgead themsealves uppon places of advantage, 
 w th out w h thear smale nombre would nott geave them leave to 
 attempt and now is too late, by w h meanes thear is nothyng leaft 
 to dispute butt the walle, and in that case y r H re may remember 
 whatt my opinion was, when before your Lordsps I answearead 
 to questions uppon thatt subjeact, thatt places in thatt estate wear 
 desperate. W h , experyence havyng made playne to theas memv 
 they ar nott a lyttle troublead, the towne beyng to them of suche 
 ymportance as in a manner theyr whole well fare depends uppon 
 the conservatyon thearof. So as I cann asseur y r H if itt wear 
 nott thatt they ar yeatt in hope of her Ma ties souccers they would 
 geave over the siege of Berck rather then abyde this loss, thoughe 
 itt wear no smale disreputatyon to them, to have so ill forca'st 
 theyr busynes as to be dryven thearunto, butt they would excuse 
 thatt as they wyll doe the loss of the towne uppon the trust they 
 reposead of havyng theas menn from Englande. For the w h they 
 wryte agayne verye earneastlye. And albeit I knowe y r H, in 
 theyr wyse-dommes, doe weygh of whatt moment thatt towne is in
 
 7O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 every respeact, yeatt I cannott forbear to uttre whatt is thought 
 hear the loss of thatt place would bryng w h itt. Fyrst, all the hope 
 of cleeryng thatt coast is taken away, thennemyes meanes to 
 annoye us by sea treablead, he is easead of an infmyte chardge the 
 blockyng thatt place requyread, and his reveneaw by the quietyng 
 of thatt quarter muche increasead, and this conclusyon is drawn 
 owt, thatt thennemy in shortt tyme wyll disjoynt this state, w th out 
 strykyng an offonsyv blowe by land, if they be nott more healpead 
 by theyr neyghbours, then yeatt thear is any apparence of. On 
 the other syde itt may please y r H to understande whatt is 
 conceavead if this soucurs of her Ma ties arryve in tyme ; thatt itt 
 wylbe the uttre ruyne of thennemy if he be obstynat, and of 
 Flandres eyther by his owne forces or owres whatt course soever 
 he take. If itt shall please her Ma Ue to grawnt the menn, then 
 itt may also please y r H re to consyder whether itt wear nott bettre 
 to hasten those from the next portts to Ostende, w th all deligence, 
 and the reast to followe as they may, for whose entrye I hope 
 thear shalbe a gapp ; as also whether itt wear nott beast armyng 
 of the menn att the sayed portts, w h undre y r H rs correctyon I 
 should thyncke wear nott amys. The states have been exeedyng 
 earneast w" 1 me to take uppon me the defence of the place, w h I 
 have acceptead, knowyng thatt thearin I could nott butt doe her 
 Ma tU) service, and am thearfore in good hope she wyll geave itt 
 good allowance, the rather if itt may be approvead by y r H ra , and 
 this I humblye desyre y r H to beleeve thatt my experience hathe 
 taught me thatt theas ymployements off all other should be 
 shunnead, by reason thatt commonlye muche travayle and hasarde 
 in them draweathe no good success, butt I seatt those respects a 
 syde whear suche a necessitye as this presseathe. The hast of 
 the messenger is cause thatt I truble y r H re w th this blurread lettre 
 w b I beseache your H re to pardonn, and to contyneaw me in your 
 wontead favor. Riesweek, this 28 June, 1601, 
 " Y r H 
 
 " most bounden and affeactyonatt to doe 
 " you service, 
 
 " F. VERE. 
 
 " Itt may please y r Lordsp. to understande thatt the states have 
 appoyntead two menn of warr to attend before Yarmouthe and
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 71 
 
 Lynn, w b wear as many as they could spare, most of theyr shyppyng 
 beyng to wafte the heryng fyshers to the northwardes." l 
 
 No add. 
 
 End. "& Fra. Vere, 1601." 
 
 The English companies, which, Sir Francis Vere says in 
 the above letter had been sent for from Bereke, i.e. Rhine- 
 berg, to strengthen the garrison of Ostend, numbered 
 twenty-two. Maurice could ill spare these veteran troops 
 at such a time, 2 and only sent eight of the English 
 companies from his camp. To these eight companies were 
 added four additional English companies from the garrisons 
 of Holland, and seven companies of Dutch ; with this force 
 Sir Francis Vere sailed for Ostend, and landed, on nth 
 July, on the sands opposite the town. 
 
 On the receipt of Vere's letter by the Council, immediate 
 steps were taken to send a relieving force to Ostend. Her 
 Majesty ordered 1,000 men to be pressed at once in 
 London, and shipped to Ostend, which consignment of 
 troops was to be followed up by 2,000 more men, as soon 
 as they could be got ready. The command of the 1,000 
 men raised in London, with 50 other recruits pressed for 
 this service, was given to Captain Edward Cecil, who had 
 volunteered for the service. 3 Edward Cecil's zeal on this 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 86/126. 
 
 2 Sir Wm. Brown, deputy-governor of Flushing, in a letter to Sir Robert 
 Sidney, dated July 9, from that town, informs him that a German soldier who 
 escaped out of Berck told Prince Maurice, " they had but \ Ib. of bread a day 
 for each man, that they had eaten all their cattle, and were indeed nothing but 
 skin and bone. The Governor of Berck was wounded and unable to talk. 
 There was a great want of surgeons, and men were lying uncared for in the 
 streets. The garrison was only expected to hold out 8 days longer." The 
 postscript to Sir W. Brown's letter is as follows : " Since the writing hereof 
 the English companies arrived from the campe, and^ as I believe by some of 
 them, with no great pleasing countenance to his Excellency." 
 
 * Edward Cecil appears to have had the temporary rank of colonel on this 
 occasion. " Ostend is besieged, and it is feared will be lost ; to-morrow 1000
 
 72 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 occasion, and his departure for Ostend (probably from 
 Yarmouth), are detailed in a letter from Sir Robert Cecil 
 to Lord Burghley, dated July 15 (old style), 1601 : 
 
 " My nephew, Edw. Cecil, is engaged, though contrary to my 
 desire, in a service of importance, but I saw that his emulation in 
 being left behind made him so jealous of his honour, if any other 
 should have the employment, as he cared not to what hazard he 
 put himself (especially after he heard his friend Sir Fras. Vere was 
 engaged), so I could not but give way as follows : Count 
 Maurice being encamped before Berke, and the Archduke know- 
 ing he would not rise resolved to save his own honour being 
 unwilling to relieve that place by besieging Ostend, hoping to 
 make a diversion or carry the town in fury. Of this matter her 
 Majesty hath had some providence, when me States acquainted 
 her with their purpose to carry their army as high as Berke ; and 
 knowing what prejudice it would be even for her own merchants' 
 trade to Middlebourg and other ports of the Low Countries, that 
 the Archduke should be master of all that coast between Calais 
 and Flushing, and should have another haven such as Ostend is, 
 much better for galleys than Dunkirk she resolved whenever 
 that place was seriously besieged to seek to relieve it ; on this 
 consideration Sir Fras. Vere, being at the Hague, tarried from 
 Berke to be ready. Whereupon as soon as the Archduke moved 
 toward*s that siege, he came presently to relieve it, and sent for 
 the English troops from Count Maurice ; but while waiting for 
 them the Archduke invaded the town with his army of 10,000, 
 began his approaches, and placed his cannon to beat the haven 
 and all ships that should pass in. Nevertheless, on Sunday seven- 
 night, Sir Fras. Vere, with 12 English companies, 1 reached 
 Ostend, in which there were only 2000 men before, but was 
 constrained to take the benefit of the full sea, at which time, 
 induring some shot, he landed with boats in the old town, to the 
 
 men are to be shipped thither from hence, and Mr. Cecill is colonel over 
 them." C. Boulton to Carleton, from London, July n, 1601. S. P, Dom. 
 Sir W. Brown also speaks in a subsequent letter of Colonel (sic) Cecil. 
 
 1 Colonel Horace Vere, Captains Ogle and Fairfax, accompanied Sir F. 
 Vere to Ostend.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 73 
 
 walls whereof the sea flows every tide, and lost not above three 
 gentlemen. He is there excellently victualled, and well provided 
 with munition ; and though before his coming the Archduke had 
 left never a house standing, having before it 100 pieces of artillery, 
 so as those of Ostend had confined themselves from all outworks 
 merely to defend the walls, yet has Sir Fras. Vere gallantly 
 intrenched a piece of ground without the town on the west side 
 and there made an outwork, planted eight cannon, and means for 
 21 days to dispute that place until more succour arrives he 
 not liking to be put at first only to defend the town itself, but to 
 hold the enemy as long in play as he can with his other defences. 
 When he sees cause he will quit that trench, and yet doubts not 
 but the winning of that place shall cost the Archduke dear, and 
 he must win it before he can make his assault, where he endeavours 
 to make his breach, because this new intrenchment flanks all 
 those approaches by which his men must enter, this being the 
 good of the town that he cannot in many places plant a battery. 
 
 "As soon as Vere was entered, Her Majesty levied 1000 men 
 in London, over which my nephew is commander, who departed 
 last Friday, and they have had a prosperous wind, also honourable 
 waftage by the Queen's fleet in the narrow seas, besides extra- 
 ordinary cares taken by me that his men might be well and 
 speedily furnished. 1 There is no man more interested in his good 
 success than I am; for men's endeavours are valued by the 
 effects, and if the wind or other accident hinder his relieving the 
 town, it will serve for a good argument to some of former factions, 
 that this was a practise in the uncle to cast employment upon his 
 nephew. ... A gentleman has just come from Ostend, who met 
 my nephew half seas over, 2 and reports that the States have 
 provided many shallops to land these men, and that his entry is 
 still as safe as when Sir Fras. Vere went in. As soon as his 1000 
 arrive, the town will be 5000 strong. We have news that Bercke 
 cannot hold out seven days, 3 which being taken, Count Maurice's 
 
 1 Stow records in his Annals that the city of London furnished 1,000 men ; 
 and the equipment of these levies cost the citizens 3 los. for each man. 
 
 * He was obliged to swim to shore, hence his state on landing at Ostend. 
 
 3 The Earl of Northumberland, who served at this siege, wrote from the 
 camp on July 19 to Lord Cobham, and said Berke could not hold out 10 days 
 longer. S. P. Dom,
 
 74 LIF E AND TIMES OF 
 
 army will come down into Flanders, and the Archduke will lose 
 his credit with the States of Flanders, who have dearly paid for 
 this siege of Ostend, wherein they have forborn no charge, being 
 so infected by that town, that they are set upon carrying it. 
 
 " As soon as Count Maurice comes down Her Majesty will 
 send 2000 more men, making that army 18,000 foot, whereof 
 6000 English, with which forces, if ever there be good to be done 
 upon Dunkirk, or Sluys, it is now." 1 
 
 Edward Cecil's arrival at Ostend, 3 with the English 
 reinforcements, is told in his own words in a letter to Sir 
 R. Cecil, which is the sequel to Sir Robert's letter to Lord 
 Burghley just given : 
 
 CAPTAIN E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v r Ho., 
 
 " These ar to certefie y r [Ho.] that I landed my 2000 me 
 (sic) the weddansdaye at nighte, or at leaste the greateste parte, 
 and have this morning delivered above my number, as the Diuche 
 Commisarie hath agreed upone ; and besides I broughte over 
 some 50 wolontaries. Wee landed all well, but some too or tree 
 souldiers that were drowned, and my selfe was put to swimming. 
 For the hope wee have to keepe the Towne, is that wee have so 
 many workes that ar halfe a mille out of the towne, w ch , as my 
 littell tyme woulde give mee leave, I lerned was to gitt the 
 possestions of such plases as were to muche advantagius to the 
 enyme. S r fra Vere and his brother hath taken exceding paines, 
 and espetially that nighte w ch wee landed, fering the enemye 
 woulde have gained them at there handes, being not so perfett as 
 the ar nowe this morning, where in wee meane now to dwell in ; 
 he had that daye his quarter master slane, many of his Captaynes 
 hurte, as allsoe the lieftenant to S r Horatio vere, whoe is hurte in 
 
 1 This letter is published in the Calendar of State Papers, domestic series, 
 1600. 
 
 * Sir Francis Vere in his letter to Sir Robert Cecil and the Earl of Notting- 
 ham, dated from Ostend, July 16/26, mentions the arrival of the troops from 
 England. His letter is thus endorsed, "July 16, 1601. Sir F. Vere to the 
 Lo. Admirall and my M r . The 1000 men sent by Capt. Cecyll safely arrived." 
 S. P. Holland,
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 75 
 
 the foote. Wee accounte our selves some 5000 stronge in the 
 towne, for the eymies streangthe one the Easte side it is not fully 
 knowne, and there cannot a prisoner be gott by no meanes, but at 
 the weste side he is knowne but weake, where Count Fredericke 1 
 doth commande. The Towne is allsoe muche battered, the enimy 
 having 60 cannones. 
 
 " I must crave pardone for my Advertisementes if the prove 
 some what uncertayne; for my diuty is the cause that maketh 
 them so extemporye, my tyme being so shorte. But I hope I 
 shall have noe neade to excuse my diligence, for I have beeyne 
 as carefull as it were for my life (remembring what y r Ho. sayde, 
 that y were carefull that y r name mighte not be Taxsed w th 
 necligence, espetially in her Ma ties sends, where in I have noe am- 
 bisione but to die in for her sake, following as well my name in 
 lowaltye, as in Name, w ch neaxte I desier to deserve towardes y r 
 Ho. To w ch eande I meane to followe this professione, so longe it 
 will please y r Ho. to favore his intende [ ? intent], whoe hath 
 rather hope of Honer then riches. For the tymes ar so fitted. 
 And thus wishing in moste humble manner y r happines as great 
 as can be imagined for y and y r longe life as my hope in this 
 worlde, I reast 
 
 " Y r Ho., 
 
 " in all affectione and servis to be 
 " commanded, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL." 2 
 
 Add. " To the E. H. S r Ro. Cecyll, Knighte, Prinsepall Secre- 
 tary of Eynglande. 
 
 End. " Cap en Cecyll to my M r , from Ostende." 
 
 A contemporary writer 3 who kept a journal of the siege 
 of Ostend, says that Cecil's 1,500 English troops arrived on 
 the 23rd July dressed in red coats (casaques rouges} and 
 were indiscriminately distributed amongst the 12 English 
 companies. 4 On the 26th of July the Archduke's soldiers 
 
 1 Frederick Van den Berg, cousin to Maurice of Nassau. 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 82/107. 3 Haestens. 
 
 4 Sir F. Vere, in a latter to Sir R. Cecil and the Lord Admiral, says, in
 
 76 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 fired all day upon one of the outlying fortifications, and in 
 the evening assaulted it in three different places, carried it, 
 and put its defenders to flight, "which," says Haestens, 
 " was very easy to do, as there were only forty of them." 
 
 On July 27th the garrison of Ostend made a sortie, 
 and gained the trenches of the enemy, whom they put 
 to flight and pursued to the sand hills, the artillery 
 from the town playing on the enemy with effect all the 
 time. A Spanish soldier, who was taken prisoner, said 
 they had full 600 men killed and wounded. 1 Amongst the 
 killed was Don Diego Idiaquez, a Spanish captain, son of a 
 former Secretary of State to Philip II. 
 
 Edward Cecil probably took part in the sortie of the 
 garrison on the 27th, and a day or two after wrote to Sir R. 
 Cecil, giving some interesting details of the state of the town. 
 
 CAPTAIN E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v r Ho., 
 
 "I am at this tyme going in to Holonde, being imployed from 
 S r francis vere a bout the wantes that shoulde be broughte in to 
 this Towne, and frome thence I am going to Berke to my Com- 
 panic of horse, where my greateste imploymente and charge is. 
 Yet if I can gitt leave to returne to this Towne, I am fully re- 
 solved to see what will become of this Towne, in respecte it is 
 leafte to the Truste of oure natione. As for our latte sally wee 
 have made I will not wryte of, presuming that so anciente a 
 souldieras this bearer will relatte substantially to y r Ho. But for 
 the certefienge of y r Ho. of the state of the enymies campe I 
 presume I can doe it better then this berar (allthoughe shorte of 
 satisfieng y r Ho.), yet my redynes to deserve y r good favoure is 
 never the less farrder of. I have examined a prisoner that wee 
 
 speaking of the troops which had just arrived, " They are draughted as itt 
 was from the fyrst desyred by the States and by your Honours approved, 
 amongst the compaynes of my brothers and my Regiment." July 26, S.P. 
 Holland. 
 1 Haestens, p. 105.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 77 
 
 have takene in this last sally, whoe hath delivered to us that the 
 cheafe commander of there armie is Don Augustin de Missia, the 
 govener of the Castell of Anwerpe, w ch doth commande upone 
 the side of Nuporte, w ch ar to the number of 8000, and one the 
 other side Counte fredericke doth commande the forses towardes 
 Brugis, w oh ar 4000. And those that doe commande the three 
 regimantes of Spaniardes, ar Don lius reiliard, Mon. Riwas, 1 and 
 Don Simon Antonio. And there is arived some seavent" 100 
 Spaniardes some towe dayes a goe, and to morrowe the looke for 
 3000 Italians, that ar camde from Italy. The enimye are in 
 garde every nighte 3000. The have 30 pease of Artilery planted 
 and looke for a 100 ; the generall of the artillery is in Spaine, but 
 his lieftenant is heare, Sig. Matheo Serrant ; 2 the three sergent 
 majors is cauled Don Louys d'avilla, Baltazar lopus and Don 
 Gionn Tantoche. The forte of S* Clara is yet routined, and doth 
 not shout a pease at us. And the Cardenale, 3 is in the Forte of 
 S* Allbertus. Allsoe the prisoner saith that there is gone w" 1 
 Counte Herman to the releave of Berke 12 iooo; 4 where of there 
 ar a iooo 900 Spaniardes. There is a companie of Einglishe 
 one there [s]ide w ch one Cap. Flode commanded! ; wee have many 
 of our Einglishe souldiers runn to the Enimye, and wee have takene 
 2 of our nwe menn running, w ch shall be hanged shortly. If wee 
 coulde have some of the Enimies campe that mighte advertis us 
 of there intention, it would e give us muche advantage, w ch if y r 
 honore have any that come to y, it will doe us a great deale of 
 good to knowe same suche thinge. The cannone shott that hath 
 beeyne made upone this towne hath beeyne counted to be thertine 
 iooo now at this preasante. I hope y r Ho. will pardone this 
 confusednes of my setting downe these cercamstance. For it is 
 according to this tyme, and may be compared to the raggednes of 
 this Towne that standeth littell to gether. But I have a stronge 
 hope of y r H. good accepting of any thing that comes frome one 
 that hath all the reasons to love and serve y, and that y maye 
 
 1 A Spanish general who fought at Nieuport. 
 
 2 Don Matteo Serrano, afterwards Governor of Sluys. 
 
 3 The Cardinal-Archduke Albert. 
 
 4 Twelve thousand.
 
 78 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 assuere loveth y as muche as any servant, and as muche as any 
 blude can, w ch shall be for ever or as longe as can laste, 
 
 " Y r Ho. pore kinsmann, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL." l 
 
 Add. " To the R. H. S r R. Cecyll, K., Prinsepall Scecritare of 
 Eingland. 
 
 End. " Cap en Cecyll to my M r from Ostende." 
 
 This letter informs us that Edward Cecil had received 
 orders to go into Holland at once, on business connected 
 with Ostend, and was to join his troop of horse at 
 Rhineberg, where his duty lay, after the business was 
 transacted. It was evidently his wish to stay longer at 
 Ostend, and take his share in the great drama of war there 
 enacting ; but he had no option in the matter, as all the 
 recruits he brought from England had been draughted into 
 the old English companies, " by which means," says Sir F. 
 Vere in his letter to Sir R. Cecil, " the gentlemen who 
 conducted these men ar for the present unprovided, but I 
 wylbe carefull to ymploye them as opportunytye shall 
 searve, accordynge to their worths." 2 Edward Cecil left 
 Ostend about the last of July. His arrival at Flushing is 
 chronicled by Sir W. Browne, the deputy-governor of that 
 town. 3 His arrival at Rhineberg is also chronicled by 
 Anthony Duyck, in his Journal, under the date, August 
 6th. 4 When Cecil reached Prince Maurice's camp he 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 83/66. 
 
 s Vere to Cecil and the Lord Admiral, July 26. S. P. Holland. 
 
 3 " I have received a packett of letters from my Lord of Northumberland, 
 and one other from Colonel (sic) Cecil, who came on Sunday last from Ostend, 
 since when we have had no newes." Browne to Cecil, July 21/31. S.P. 
 Holland. 
 
 4 ( ' And to him (Prince Maurice) came Mr. Edwardt Cissel coming from 
 Ostend, reporting that all was still well there, and that the Archduke was 
 drawing nearer to the quarters of General Vere than to the town." Translated 
 from A. Duyck '$ Journal, iii. p. 121.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 79 
 
 found that Rhineberg had capitulated on the 3Oth July, 
 and the garrison had marched out with the honours of war. 
 Having placed a strong garrison of Dutch troops in the 
 town, Maurice marched to Meurs, a little higher up the 
 Rhine, and laid siege to that place early in August, when 
 it at once capitulated. 
 
 After the acquisition of these two fortresses the keys to 
 the provinces of Juliers and Cleves Prince Maurice des- 
 patched twenty foot companies to Ostend, of which twelve 
 were English and Scotch. 1 Maurice kept the cavalry with 
 his own army, and as, after the taking of Meurs, there 
 seemed to be no further prospect that year of active 
 operations, Edward Cecil, remembering his young bride at 
 home, returned to England, either the end of August or 
 early in September. His hopes of returning to Ostend 
 were probably put an end to by Sir Francis Vere being 
 wounded in the head on I4th August, when he was 
 compelled to temporarily relinquish the command at 
 Ostend, and retire to Zeeland to recruit his health. 2 On 
 the 2Oth August 2,000 additional troops had arrived 
 from England, so that the besieged were inspired with new 
 confidence. We shall not have occasion to say much more 
 about this memorable siege, which for over three years 
 occupied the attention of the whole of Europe, and cost 
 about a hundred thousand lives. 3 As Edward Cecil was not 
 again sent to Ostend all the thrilling incidents of this life 
 and death struggle have no place in this narrative. But 
 before leaving the subject of this siege, it is necessary to 
 give the reader some idea of the sort of recruits sent by 
 Queen Elizabeth to the United Provinces, during the 
 progress of this struggle, to aid in the defence of Ostend. 
 
 1 Records ^rd Foot, p. 70.. * Biog. Brit. art. " Vere." 
 
 1 In the History of the Siege of Ostend it is stated that the besieging army 
 lost 72,000 and the garrison 50,000 men.
 
 8o LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Among the copies of military warrants in the " King's MSS. 
 of Military and Historical tracts, 1585-1630," preserved at 
 the British Museum, are, " Letters for the Impresse of Idle 
 and Dissolute persons for the service of the Low Countries," 
 dated March, 1601-2, and addressed, " To the High Sheriffe 
 and other the Commissioners for taking the musters in the 
 countie of Norff, and to the rest of the Justices of the Peace 
 of that County." 1 The Commissioners' Warrant upon the 
 said letters is as follows : 
 
 "Having received Letters from the Hon ble the Lords and 
 others of Her Ma tie9 Privie Counsell for the apprehending and 
 sending to the Port at Yarmouth all Rogues, Vagabonds, idle, dis- 
 solute, and masteries persons, which cannot make a good accompt 
 of theire living, being of strong and able body, to be sent over for 
 Her Ma ues service in the Low Countries. These are by virtue 
 thereof to command you to make diligent privie search in all 
 places within your Hundred on Saterday at night next, and the 
 day following, for all idle, masteries, and dissolute persons before 
 mentioned, and all other that you can procure to serve volun- 
 tarilie, having regard to spare mens servants, and other of honest 
 behaviour, and to bring them before us at Yarmouth upon 
 Wednesday, the 3oth of this present March, by 8 of the Clocke in 
 the morning of the ablest of them, then and there to receive 
 further direction, giving to every man is. for impresse, where the 
 same shall be repaid you. And hereof, &c." 2 
 
 However brave these warriors were, both in righting and 
 plundering friend and foe (and Fleming 3 assures us they 
 did both equally well), it is quite certain they deserted in 
 large numbers whenever they had the chance. This was 
 only to be expected from men pressed against their will 
 
 1 This warrant to the High Sheriff is signed by "Tho. Egerton, C.S. ; 
 Tho. Buckhurst ; Nottingham ; Gilb. Shrewsbury ; E. Worcester ; Wm. 
 Knollys ; Ed. Walton ; J. Stanhope ; Ro. Cecill ; J. Fortescu." Kings MSS. 
 265, f. 304. * Fo. 305. 
 
 3 Philippe Fleming, the Dutch clerk and chronicler of the siege of Ostend.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 8 1 
 
 and who had to fight in a cause they took no interest in. 
 Edward Cecil has told us of some of his " new men " being 
 caught running to the enemy, for which offence they were 
 ordered to be hanged. And another English officer writing 
 from Ostend six months later, to a friend in England, says : 
 "The soldiers of the new supply that entered the town, 
 run away as fast as those that were there before, by seven 
 or eight of a company, of which there have been fewer 
 English of late only four or five because there are not 
 many in the town, and they not of those that were pressed 
 in London and packed up in ships, and sent away against 
 their will." 1 
 
 Now to return to Edward Cecil. His next appearance 
 on the scene is at Basing, in Hampshire, where the Marquis 
 of Winchester had a seat The Marquis had married 
 Lucy Cecil, daughter of Sir Thomas Cecil, Lord Burghley ; 
 and her brother, Edward Cecil, had doubtless gone there 
 on a visit with his bride, on his return from Holland, the 
 end of August, 1601. On the 5th of September the Queen 
 being on one of her royal progresses in Hampshire, came 
 to Basing, and was most sumptuously entertained by Lord 
 Winchester at his seat. Her Majesty was joined there by 
 the Due de Biron, ambassador from Henry IV., who had 
 been sent to England with the Count d'Auvergne, natural 
 son of Charles IX., and nearly four hundred noblemen and 
 gentlemen of quality. Biron was lodged at the Vine, a 
 princely mansion, belonging to the Lord Sandys. 2 Hunting 
 and feasting were the order of the day at both Basing 
 and the Vine, and the Marquis of Winchester's splendid 
 entertainments involved him in pecuniary difficulties. At 
 
 1 Letter to J. B., dated from " The camp, Jan. 29 / Feb. 8, 1601-2." S. P. 
 Dom. 
 
 * William, 3rd Baron Sandys, had taken part in the Earl of Essex's 
 rebellion, and was in prison at this time. 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 her departure from Basing on the I4th of September, 
 Elizabeth made ten knights, the largest number she had 
 ever made at one time. Amongst the new knights was 
 " Sir Edward Cecil, second (sic) son to the Lord Burleigh." 1 
 As it was more difficult to obtain knighthood in the reign 
 of Elizabeth than it was to get an earl's patent in the 
 succeeding reign, Sir Edward Cecil had every reason to be 
 proud of the honour conferred on him at the age of 
 thirty. 2 
 
 After the siege of Ostend had lasted eight months, Sir 
 
 Francis Vere relinquished the command to Colonel 
 
 Frederick Van Dorp, on March /th, and went into Holland. 
 
 In the following month he was sent by the States-General 
 
 to England to solicit fresh succours. 3 Notwithstanding that 
 
 the several large detachments of troops sent in the previous 
 
 autumn to Ostend had dwindled away to a mere handful 
 
 of men, Elizabeth was again prevailed upon to allow a 
 
 certain number of her subjects, "whose absence would be a 
 
 benefit to their native counties," to be pressed for service in 
 
 the Low Countries. Whether it was that the " rogues and 
 
 vagabonds," who were "wanted" for service in the Low 
 
 Countries, managed to keep out of the way, or that the 
 
 press gangs were not particular in their choice of men, 
 
 certain it is that they caused men of honest reputation to 
 
 be pressed against their wills. "There is a press of 1,000 
 
 men from the neighbour shires," wrote Chamberlain to 
 
 Carleton, "and 2,000 from London, to go with Sir Francis 
 
 Vere. It is so disorderly performed that serving men, 
 
 country folks, and termers (sic) of all sorts, are violently 
 
 1 Nichols' Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, iv. p. 567, note. 
 
 * Sir E. Cecil had also the honour of being chosen member for Aldborough 
 in Yorkshire, in the Parliament which met October 27, this year, and which 
 was dissolved on Dec. 19 following Notitia Parliamentarian by Browne 
 Willis, iii. p. 149. 
 
 * Biog. Brit, art " Vere."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 83 
 
 carried to the ships, so that it is a grievance at home and a 
 scandal abroad." 1 Was it to be wondered at that of every 
 hundred men pressed in the country, a fourth part ran 
 away before reaching London? 2 Yet there was no lack 
 of gentlemen volunteers from England for the service of 
 the States. It was the great Lord Burghley ''who made 
 Holland our stage of war and our school of discipline, 
 where England gained the security and experience of war 
 without its calamity and desolations." 3 
 
 Amongst those who followed Sir Francis Vere to the 
 Low Countries in the spring of this year, were, Lord Grey, 
 Lord North, Sir John Grey, and many young Englishmen 
 of good birth who raised " voluntary companies." 4 Prince 
 Maurice being ready to take the field, and great things 
 being expected from him during the coming campaign, the 
 English officers in the service of the States had all returned 
 to their posts. Sir Edward Cecil had doubtless returned 
 to Holland early in May, and joined his troop of horse at 
 Doesburg, 6 in Guelderland, from whence we have tidings 
 from him. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL. 
 ' MAY IT PLEASE V Ho., 
 
 . . . . " beyng I am assured that my affectione and diuty is 
 as great towards y, as any what so ever, I can not chuse (ail- 
 though I for beare many tymes in regard of y r H. affares), but as 
 often as I can remember it to y r H. And w th all hope that y r H. 
 will showe to accepte my unfaned servis by making mee bounde to 
 y in those actions, as I may deserve by my professione, where in y r 
 
 1 John Chamberlain to Dudley Carleton, May 8, 1602. S. P. Dom. 
 
 2 Ibid. May 17. 
 
 3 Lloyd's Memoirs of Lord Burghley. 
 
 4 Chamberlain to Carleton, May 17. 
 
 -* Doesburg was captured by the English, under Leicester, in 1586. The 
 Admiral of Arragon retook it in 1598, but it soon after was recaptured by 
 Maurice of Nassau, who strongly fortified it. 
 
 G 2
 
 84 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 H. hether to hath diply tied mee and incurraged mee to the 
 wanes. For what fortune I have, or shall have, I must acknoledge 
 them to come from y r H. and for y r sake. And I doubt not but I 
 shall deserve them, by doeing nothing but what shall deserve my 
 name, and living or dieng ever wittnes that I am booth thankfull 
 and faithfull to do y r H. honest servis. 
 
 " I assuer my selfe that there is littell nwes I can advertis y r Ho. 
 that will be news, yet for fatione sake I will not howld from sayng 
 what I knowe at my garyson at Diusborro, in Gillderland. The 
 Enimie doth fortefie at Grave, at Gelldere, at Venloe, and all 
 about these quarters, and ar very gelius of the Burgers of these 
 Townes. He that commandes in these quarters is Count 
 Henricke, the Gallantest Captayne of Horse that the Enymie hath, 
 whose companie is 400. The Enymie is very stronge in these 
 parts, 12,000 at the least, and increase dayly. But the ar not 
 owlde souldiers, onely of the Band of ordinanc[e]. I had order from 
 his Excelence, that every one of my horsemenn should cary a pare 
 of horse shouse and nales, w ch maketh us beleave that we shall 
 have farr jurnes. 
 
 " Wee understand that the Enymie hath sent 3 chife commanders 
 to the Grave van Emdyne, 1 hoping that his Towne and he will 
 come to a greement, and so to intertayne all his souldiers, in the 
 Kinges name. But I am assured they will be trubled to passe the 
 Rine, till our Army be ma[r]ched up hier in to the Country. And 
 I imagine that eyther to morroe or neaxte daye wee shall rise. 
 
 " Prince moris [Maurice] hath given mee the Command of all 
 the Einglishe horse. 
 
 " His Excelence did show mee a dogg for the Hearne [Heron], 
 w ch he purposeth so send y r H. ; the ar very rare and ar not to be 
 gotten in all this country. 
 
 " And thus recommending my selfe to y r good favour, hoping 
 y will judge of my desier I hav to serv y r H., then how able I 
 reast, but never will reast from prayng the all Mighty for y r longe 
 and happie dayes as the onely comforte looked for of 
 " Y r H. most affetionat and diutefull 
 " nephue and servant, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 1 The Count of Emclen.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 85 
 
 " from Diuborroe, this 28 of Maye." 1 
 
 Add. " To the R. Ho. S r Rob. Cecyll, principall Secritarye of 
 Eingland." 
 
 End. " 28 May, 1602. S r Edw. Cecyll to my M r ." 
 
 The troops of horse put under the command of Sir 
 Edward Cecil were the three English troops. 2 This 
 command, which virtually made Cecil a colonel of Horse, 
 was given as a reward for his services in the last charge 
 at Nieuport. 3 The bestowal, however just, of a coveted 
 command upon a junior captain of horse, was sure to give 
 offence to many. That fire-eating nobleman, Lord Grey, 4 
 who had been loth even to be commanded by Sir F. Vere, 5 
 had solicited the command of the English horse from 
 Prince Maurice, and had letters from the Queen to the 
 States-General. So powerful was his interest that he 
 himself made sure of getting the command of the English 
 horse, and he told Sir William Browne, the deputy-governor 
 of Flushing, that he expected to have 700 or 800 horse 
 under his command. 6 
 
 The two following extracts will show that Edward Cecil 
 was not indebted to Sir Robert Cecil, or Sir Francis Vere, 
 for his cavalry appointment. The first is from a letter 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 93/86. 
 
 * It does not appear who commanded the other two English troops. 
 
 3 See MS. 18 A Ixiii. Royal Lib., Brit. Mus,, quoted from in chapter iii. 
 
 4 Thomas Lord Grey, of Wilton (i5th Baron), went to Ireland with the 
 Earl of Essex, and had a high command there. He afterwards served in the 
 Low Countries as a volunteer, and was present at the battle of Nieuport, 
 where he was wounded in the mouth. Having joined " Raleigh's Conspiracy " 
 in 1603, he was arrested, tried for high treason and sentenced to death. 
 He was never brought to the block, but died a prisoner in the Tower in 
 1614. It is said that Frederick, Elector Palatine, earnestly intreated James I. 
 in 1613 to pardon Lord Grey, but ineffectually. 
 
 * Chamberlain to Carleton, May 8, 1602. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * Sir W. Browne to Sir R. Sidney, May 30, 1602. Collins, ii. p. 253.
 
 86 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 addressed, " To the Right honorable Sir Roberte Cecyll, 
 Knyght, her Majesty's principall secretary." 
 
 " I have receyved your Ho. Ire concerning the Lo. Grey, and 
 did the very nexte day deale with the States, his Ex 06 , and 
 Barnevelt, according to the order, with all earnestnes. They 
 sayde they woulde consider thereof, and see what coulde be done. 
 His Ex 06 tolde me the Rutters had their owne commanders 
 already, and that the other were under the Count Lodowicq of 
 Nassaw. How beit yf his Lp. coulde be contented to be as 
 Colonel over certaine troupes of horsse (of w ch nature there were 
 divers others already appointed, and amongst them S r Ed. Cecyll) 
 he woulde doe his best to accomodate him therein. As for any 
 entertaineinent, or the leavy of a new Company, that belonged to 
 the States, and was by them to be disposed in, w ch to further I 
 will continue my uttermoste endeabvors. From Emden nothing, 
 but that the Count precedes in his courses, and the Towne 
 remaynes still irresolute. Wherewith till other occasion I moste 
 humbly take leave, beseching th' Almighty for your Ho. long 
 and prosperous estate." 
 
 "Your Hon. most humble 
 
 " and bownde, 
 " GEO. GILPIN. 
 
 " Haegh, this 2i st of May, 1602." 
 
 The next extract is from Sir Francis Vere's letter to 
 Sir Robert Cecil, dated from " Rieswicke, 26 May, 1602," 
 in which Sir Francis makes creditable mention of Edward 
 Cecil's fitness for the command given him ; and any praise 
 from a soldier like Vere is valuable 1 : 
 
 " My Lord Grey is not yeatt come, but his fyrst and recende 
 letf delyvred and thynges ar all preparead agaynest his arryval. 
 
 1 Vere was very chary of his praise, and held himself (says Dudley Carleton 
 in a letter to his friend Chamberlain) haul & la main to all his captains, 
 " which breeds a generall discontentment among them." See a letter among 
 S.P. Holland, dated Feb. 15, 1600-1, from Captain Calisthenes Brooke to 
 Sir R. Cecil, complaining of ill-usage by Sir F. Vere.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 87 
 
 The command of the Inglyshe compagnyes of horse, was in my 
 absence desposead of by the States and the Prince Maurice to 
 Syr Edwarde Cecyll, from whome I founde them unwylling to w th - 
 draw the chardge, and as I loathe to sollicytt agaynst so good a 
 frende and one so worthy of the commande, w h in regarde he is 
 Captayne of horse doeth belonge more propperly to him then any 
 other. My Lord shall have a Regyment of theas contry horse, 
 and an honorable entretaignmet tovtardes the defraying of his 
 chardge, more then I have knowne the estates doe for any 
 adventurer, whearin they sheaw theyr care to content her Ma tie ; 
 and Mons r de Barnevelt in perticular hath been very forwarde in 
 the mattre. And I hope that my Lord Grey wyll allowe of my en- 
 dever though he havenott his desyre accomplyshed in every poynt." 1 
 
 The States having collected an army of 20,000 foot and 
 5,000 horse, of which force 8,000 were English, 2 were 
 anxious that Prince Maurice should again march into 
 Flanders and relieve Ostend. A bold scheme, and one 
 easily planned and carried out on paper, but not so easy 
 in the performing. The Marquis Ambrose Spinola, an 
 Italian nobleman, and brother of Frederick Spinola, 3 a 
 renowned sea commander in the service of the Spaniards, 
 had, with the King of Spain's leave, levied an army of 
 8,000 men, chiefly in the Duchy of Milan, for service in the 
 Netherlands. " The Marquis arrived," says Bentivoglio, 
 "just at the time when the Archduke stood most in need 
 of such a recruit. Count Maurice was already marched 
 into the field, and with such forces as the United Provinces 
 till then had never had greater. ... It was thought that 
 his design was to cross through Brabant, and so advance 
 
 1 Vere to Sir R. Cecil, May 26, S. P. Holland. Lord Grey once entertained 
 hopes of succeeding Sir Francis Vere in his command in the Low Countries- 
 See a letter from Rowland Whyte to Sir R. Sidney, dated from the Court, 
 'May 13, 1600. Collins, ii. p. 194. 
 
 * J. Chamberlain to Dudley Carleton, at Paris, June 27, 1602. S. P. Dam. 
 
 3 Killed in a sea fight with the Dutch ships, in May, 1603.
 
 88 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 forward to the relief of Ostend, and then to besiege 
 Nieuport again." 1 Whatever Maurice's plans for the 
 coming campaign were, he wisely kept them to himself. 
 After reviewing the most splendid army he ever had, he 
 crossed the Waal at Nimeguen and the Meuse at Mook. 
 From thence he marched by easy stages along the side of 
 the Meuse to Massyck. Here an unavoidable delay of five 
 days took place, the cause of which was laid to the English 
 troops. It appears that on arriving at Massyck, it was 
 found, notwithstanding a general order had been issued by 
 Prince Maurice, before taking the field, for the troops to 
 provide themselves with provisions for ten days at least, 
 that the English troops were quite unprovided with food. 
 A halt was therefore obligatory, until the wants of the 
 troops had been supplied. 2 From Massyck the States' 
 army marched to St. Truyden and the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of Thienen, 3 in the very heart of Brabant, and 
 within a day's march of Brussels. 
 
 The Archduke had not been idle all this time. He had 
 sent Mendoza, the Admiral of Arragon, 4 into Brabant, with 
 a force of 6,000 foot and 4,000 horse, to dispute the march 
 of the States' army to Ostend, whither it was believed they 
 were bound. This force would have been quite inadequate 
 
 1 The Compleat History of the IVarrs of Flanders, by Cardinal Guido 
 Bentivoglio ; translated from the Italian by the Earl of Monmouth, 1654, 
 part iii. p. 408 
 
 1 Gilpin to Sir R. Cecil, June 27, 1602. S. P. Holland. 
 
 * " The enemy is reckoned 14,000 foot, and between 3 and 4,000 Horse ; 
 they lye in and near Tienen, or Tielmont, intrenched." Sir W. Brown to 
 Sir R. Sidney, undated. Collins, ii. p. 256. 
 
 4 Francis Mendoza, Admiral of Arragon, who was taken prisoner at 
 Nieuport, had been subsequently released on parole, the sum of his ransom 
 having been fixed at nearly 100,000 Flemish crowns. This ransom was 
 afterwards foregone by the States, with consent of the Nassau family, on 
 condition that the Admiral should effect the exchange of all prisoners of the 
 Republic, then held in durance by Spain in any part of the world. This 
 humane plan was carried out, and the Admiral returned to Spain.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 89 
 
 to cope with Maurice's troops, had not Spinola arrived on 
 the scene with his Italians at this critical juncture. The 
 Archduke having his hands full in besieging Ostend, 
 despatched Spinola with his contingent to the aid of 
 Mendoza, who was marching towards the States' army, " to 
 discover all their designs, and then to disturb them therein 
 as much as he could." 1 When Maurice arrived with his 
 troops near Thienen, he found his old enemy, the Admiral, 
 strongly entrenched and in great force. Not being able to 
 lure the Admiral into risking "a second Nieuport," and not 
 deeming it prudent to attack Mendoza in his present strong 
 position, the cautious Maurice determined to retrace his 
 steps. Why he went, and where he went, after vainly 
 challenging his foe to give him battle, are plainly set forth 
 in Edward Cecil's narrative of this fruitless march. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL. 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v r HON., 
 
 " Hitherto I coulde not conveniently discharge the dutie where 
 unto affection bindeth mee towards y. Now, finding this pre- 
 sent ocation, I will w th a diutefull and humble remembrence of my 
 selfe, acquant y r H. w" 1 the procedinges of our armye. In the 
 marche wee have had towards the ennemy, wherein, though the 
 exploys are not followed according to the common expectation 
 and desier of us all, yet I thinke not unfitt to informe y therew th , 
 from the 10 of Jun, that our hole forces did meatte at 
 Nemegame, to this presant daye. Before our departure wee were 
 Mustered at Eltem, to the Number of 20,000 foote and 5,000 
 horse, and commanded to furnisheoure selves, horse, and menn, for 
 15 dayes provision w th out farther knowledge of the commaunders 
 dessigne, but to marche towards a village caulled Mouke upon 
 the Mase, where a bridge of bootes (caried for that porpose upon 
 wagines) was presently made to pass over the river as if wee had 
 some meaning to the Grave. 2 But our Army beyng passed over 
 
 1 Bentivoglio, part iii. p. 408. 
 
 a A strongly fortified town on the left bank of the Meuse, besieged and 
 taken by Parma in 1856.
 
 9 o 
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 the nexte daye wee leaft it w th in 2 houres march at the righte 
 hand, marching betwixt the mase and the Peel (sic) in 3 divisions, 
 under the commaunde of his Excelencie the Grave William 1 and 
 S r fra Vere, and w* suche a distanc that w th in halfe an hower 
 warning at any urgent ocatione, the mighte have joyned all to 
 gether, having ever in all oure jurny observed hetherto the like 
 order. Thus wee did marche 5 dayes towards Masicke, 2 where 
 our Army was refreshed and relived w" 1 vittalles, by 5 dayes spasse. 
 There his Excelence understoude by a Trumpitt that the ennemy 
 was resolved to meat him in the filde, and that to that eande hee 
 was gathering all the forces hee could. They 22 th wee parted 
 from Masicke and marched a longe the river Mase, and leving 
 Maestricke at the leaft hande wee came the 24 before Tongenne 3 
 situated upon a smale river cauled Leker, 4 where hering of the 
 ennemyes forces gathering about diest, 5 the 26 th after some releefe 
 had out of the sade towne, wee bended our way to St. Trudere, 6 
 where wee did arive the 27. There wee had plane information of 
 the Enemyes forces, W* were far greater then wee did take them 
 to be, and by reporte very nighe as stronge as wee, beyng 18,000 
 foote and 5,000 horse, besides there compaines of ordonnances, so 
 that there cavallerie was stronger then oures. But knowing where 
 w th all the were compounded, to witt for the most parte of Bores 
 pressed (the fation never used before in these partes), and hearing 
 how the were intreanched by us, in the way wee meant to take 
 betwxte Laden 7 and loeuve 8 to enter into there Country. The nexte 
 daye w th a part of our armie wee cam in Battell by there Treanchis, 
 when wee beatt in there horse, and after 3 howers standing 
 in Battell, seeyng how unwilling the [they] were to performe there 
 promise, w* h was to meatt us, and howe harde it was to force such 
 an Enyme in his treanches, wee did retier the same nighte, every- 
 
 1 William of Nassau, brother of Count Lewis, who commanded the cavalry 
 at Nieuport. 
 
 * Maaseyck, on the left bank of the Meuse, the birthplace of the brothers 
 Van Eyck. 
 
 1 Tongeren, the Roman Adriatica Tongri, formerly the seat of a bishop. 
 4 The Lek ? * Diest, a fortress of Brabant. 
 
 * St. Truyden, a small town, now possessing 11,000 inhabitants and II 
 churches. 
 
 7 Landen ? Louvain, the Flemish Leuven.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 9 1 
 
 one hoping for some other attempt the next day. But wherefore 
 soever it was wee proceeded no further. The causes I doe 
 imagine many. But cheafly the weaknes of many of our menn, 
 hapned by the jurny wee hade thetherto, having suffered noe distres 
 or want of any thing (untill then), amoungst our friendes w ch gave 
 to the chefeste to thinke what might happene, when wee shoulde 
 be in the Enemyes lande, w th out any releafe, but that wee should 
 gett by the sworde and a stronge armye continually troubling and 
 molesting us of all sides, w ch wee could neither force to fight nor 
 retire, but at his pleasure w th out great inconvenience iminent unto 
 us, and great uncertaintyes of any good succes. I thinke, in my 
 smalle knowledge, that w th out urgent necessitye it was not fitt wee 
 shoulde proceede any farther, and that a stronger armye then 
 owers might have been brought that way to bee undoune, w th out 
 any great hasarde of the Enymies forces, and that it was better to 
 imploye cure selves in a more likelyer enterprise of less danger 
 and more benifitt neare home, where our wantes mighte bee 
 supplyed at will, then to continue to linger upon the Enemye that 
 hath better meanes to defend and offend then wee had in his owne 
 country. Other causes may bee alledged of the regresse from our 
 jurny grounded upon some pollicyes that every statesmann maye 
 suspecte, but few that can rightly hitt one them. But so it is, that 
 3 dayes after having receaved some new vitalles from the towne 
 of S* Truden wee parted the 3o th Junne from thence, in suche 
 intemperat wether, for the exceeding heatt, that many of our 
 souldiers fell dead upon the marche, 1 and cam to a villadge cauled 
 Alleken, where wee stayed the neaxte day, thinking perhappes that 
 the enemye, takeng currage upon our suddayne departe, shoulde 
 forsake his treanches to follow us, as he did, but so fair of a side, that 
 there was noe great feare of any parte. Thus to make it shorte, 
 w th small jurnes, the Cannone, Trompettes and drommes every 
 morning giving warning of our marching like M. of the fealde that 
 feared not the Enymies forces, after the same order wee went ; 
 wee marched back againe the righteste waye to the Grave, where 
 wee ar arived this morning, the 9 of July, w th a resolution to 
 
 1 Meteren mentions the many deaths from the great heat in his L'histoire 
 des Pays-Bos, art. " Voyage de Prince Maurice en Brabant au moys de Juin 
 et Juillet, 1602."
 
 9 2 
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 beseage the Towne. And thus Fearing that in striving for y r good 
 opineone, I shall be counted indiscreat amongst so many that 
 doth advertis y at this tyme, more nigher y r satisfactione, onely I 
 presume y wille looke over my weaknes and settell y r judgement, 
 upon my unfaned desier I have to serve y. And so in hast out of 
 the littell leasure a pore horse mann hath, I reas[t] in all 
 humilety 
 
 " Y H. most fathfull and affectionat 
 
 " servant as much a[s] nephew, 
 
 " ED CECYLL. 
 
 " from the leager before the Grave, this 9 of July." 1 
 Add. " To the R. Ho. S r Ro. Cecyll, Prinsepall Scecritary of 
 Eingland. 
 End. " July, 1602, S r Ed. Cecill." 
 
 Thus ended the " Brabant expedition," from which so 
 much had been expected, and which ended as great 
 expectations often do end in smoke. Amongst the many 
 who were disappointed at the ill success of this expedition, 
 was the choleric Elizabeth of England the firm ally and 
 supporter of the United Provinces. Her disapproval of 
 the cautious Maurice's tactics has been handed down to 
 us by Sir William Browne, the Deputy-Governor of 
 Flushing, who came over to England in the summer of 
 1602 ; and in one of his letters to Sir R. Sidney, dated 
 from London, I2th Aug., 2 he gives an interesting account 
 of his interview with Elizabeth : 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 94/15. 
 
 * This letter is given by Collins in his Sidney Papers, ii. but is quite 
 erroneously given under the date of "August, 1 60 1," whereas the interview 
 took place in August, 1602. The mistaken date of this historical letter is 
 very apparent on a close examination of its contents. In the first place, 
 Sir W. Browne was not in England in August, 1601. Among the S. P. Holland 
 are letters from him to Sir R. Sidney, dated from " Flushing, August 
 10 and nth, 1601." Then again, Sir W. Brown mentions in his letter from 
 England, of "July 7, 1602," that, " My Lady Anne is still very weak," and 
 in the letter which Collins, and other historians, copying from him, have given
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 93 
 
 " She discoursed of many things," wrote Sir W. Browne, " and 
 particularly of the distaste she had of the States' army returning. 
 It seems that Sir Francis Vere hath lain all the fault upon Count 
 Maurice. I said that ' Count Maurice did protest that this journey 
 was never of his plotting ' ' Tush ! Brown,' saith she, ' I know 
 more than thou dost. When I heard,' continued the queen, 'that 
 they were at first with their army as high as Nemighem/ I knew 
 no good would be done ; but Maurice would serve his own turn, 
 and would, in the end, turn to the Grave. 2 I looked that they 
 should have come down nearer to Ostend or Flanders. That 
 might have startled the enemy, and that they promised me, or else 
 I would not have let them have so many men, to the discontent- 
 ment of my subjects, as I know, and which, but for the love they 
 bear me, they would not so well digest ; and now, forsooth, 
 Maurice is come from his weapon to his spade, for at that he is 
 one of the best in Christendom.' " 
 
 It was not to be expected that Maurice would be 
 allowed to reduce the city of Grave without a determined 
 effort on the Archduke's side to relieve the place. It was 
 not long, therefore, before the Admiral of Arragon with a 
 large force, officered by such men as Ambrose Spinola 
 (whose name will be frequently mentioned in this work), 
 Spina, and Simon Antonio, marched to Ruremonde, on the 
 Meuse, and from thence went to Venlo. Having provided 
 his troops with provisions and all necessaries, which were 
 brought up the river to Venlo, the Admiral marched to 
 Grave. When near the camp of the besieging army, the 
 Admiral ordered an attack to be made on his enemy's 
 
 under the date of "August 12, 1601," Sir W. Brown tells Sir R. Sidney, 
 " My lady Anne mends very well." If other proofs are wanted, they will be 
 found in the Queen's conversation, given in above extract. 
 
 1 Nimeguen, the rendezvous of the States' troops. 
 
 _ * Miss Strickland, who gives this letter in her Queens of England, under 
 the date of 1601, takes the word " Grave" to mean " landgrave !" and thus 
 entirely destroys the Queen's reference to the siege of the Grave by Prince 
 Maurice, iii. p. 558.
 
 94 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 quarters. He directed Spina, with 1,000 Italians, to make 
 an attack on one side of the camp, and sent his camp- 
 master, Simon Antonio, with 1,000 Spanish foot to ensure 
 Spina's retreat. At the same time he ordered the Marquis 
 Spinola to march with 2,000 foot against the opposite 
 quarter, and make a feigned attack, to draw the enemy's 
 attention from the quarter attacked by Spina. The attacks 
 were made simultaneously, and both failed. Maurice had 
 made such good use of his spade that his intrenchments 
 were not to be easily carried, and the Admiral retreated in 
 despair. 
 
 It was about this time that Sir Francis Vere was badly 
 wounded in the face, 1 and obliged to leave the camp. For 
 some time it was feared his wound would prove fatal, and 
 Sir Robert Sidney, 2 who went to watch the siege opera- 
 tions before Grave, the end of August, begged Sir Robert 
 Cecil to use his interest in obtaining for him Vere's 
 command, if it became vacant by that commander's death. 3 
 The garrison of Grave seem to have made a brave resist- 
 ance against their foes ; but what could a small garrison 
 do against so large a besieging force, well victualled, well 
 disciplined, and commanded by a leader, whose patience 
 and tenacity of purpose were not to be equalled in Europe. 
 After a sixty days' siege the inevitable result came, and 
 Grave capitulated. The garrison marched out with the 
 honours of war, and the inhabitants had the same fair and 
 
 1 " Upon Thursday last, towards noon, Sir Francis Vere, being in the 
 approaches to see the worcks advanced, receaved a muskett shott under the 
 right ey. The bullett went towards the eare and there doth stick. The 
 wound is thought dangerous." Sir R. Sidney to Sir R. Cecil, Aug. 15, 1602. 
 5 1 . P. Holland. 
 
 * Younger brother of Sir Philip Sidney. He acquired renown in the 
 Netherlands under his uncle, the Earl of Leicester, and afterwards under 
 Sir F. Vere. Was Governor of Flushing for some years. King James I. 
 created him Baron Sidney in 1603 and Earl of Leicester in 1618. 
 
 * Sir R. Sidney to Sir R. Cecil, Aug. 26. .9. P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 95 
 
 honourable terms that Maurice always granted on capturing 
 a town. The following letter from Edward Cecil, who 
 served at this siege, is interesting, from the fact that it 
 mentions the flooded state of Prince Maurice's camp. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR R. CECIL. 1 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE Y r Ho., 
 
 " I have receaved y r most kinde and favorable letter, where- 
 in it hath pleased y r Ho. booth to lett mee know that my Brother 
 is returned w th that honore, that y promised mee to doe for him ; 
 And that I am most bound to y r Ho. for the w ch I will never be 
 unthankfull. 
 
 " I am most assured y r Ho. wantes noe intellygence, and that 
 myne shall onely serve to showe my diutye ; wherefore I will not 
 double to lett y r Ho. knowe, that wee parled upon the 9 of this 
 month, w th the Enemye, and the neaxte day the marched out, w ch 
 made our seage just 2 monthes ; the had all honorable composi- 
 tione, and a convoye to wayt upon them ; w th all, the deserved 
 well, for if the had but keepd [kept] it 3 dayes longer, wee shoulde 
 have swme in our Treanches, or have risone w th out the Towne, for 
 al our workes ar over flone, so wee ar drivene out of our quarters 
 w th water, w ch will be the occatione that wee goe in to Garisone the 
 sooner. For now, at this instant, wee ar be twxte going to 
 Garison or to goe fighte w th the Enemye, that ar miended to 
 beseage there owne mutiners, that lighye [lie] nighe Breadaw, 
 onder his Excelences favoure, w ch Mutinars have offered them 
 selves (w ch ar some 1500 horse and 2000 foote) to serve the states. 
 But wee ar jeleus to intertayne so great numbers that hath beeyne 
 our enimes, and fantasticall heades, ungoverned, so that the shall 
 be much favored and difended, and shall rather lighe upone the 
 Contry, then in danger any of oure Garisons. 2 And thus hoping 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, No. 64. 
 
 * This mutiny amongst the Archduke's troops is described by Motley 
 (quoting from Meteren, Bentivoglio and Grotius) as " the most extensive, for- 
 midable, and methodical of all that had hitherto occurred in the Spanish armies. 
 The mutineers had seized the city of Hoogstraten, which they strongly fortified, 
 and levied black mail from the whole country round. Being strong in numbers, 
 and united among themselves, the mutineers were able to defy the Archduke. 
 They laughed at his menaces and attempts to subdue them, and when he, in
 
 96 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 y' Ho. will accepe the desier I have to be in y r favoure, then any 
 desert in mee, I eand, but never [end] to praye for y Ho. longe 
 and happie life, w ch will make happie 
 
 " Y r Ho. most affectionat and diutefull 
 " Nephue and servant, 
 
 * " ED. CECVLL. 
 
 " from the Grave, this 14 of September, Sti. Antico." 
 Add. "To the Rig. Ho. S r Ro. Cecyll, Knight, Prinsepale 
 
 Scecritary of Eingland." 
 End. " 1602. September 14. S r Edward Cecyll to my M r ." 
 
 Grave was taken, but the taking it had cost the lives of 
 many brave soldiers. 1 Disease that dreaded camp- 
 follower which visits alike the tent of the general and 
 the private soldier, had claimed more victims among the 
 States' troops than the bullets and swords of the garrison 
 had done. It is one of the saddest sequences of war, that 
 disease, which comes like a thief in the night, should strike 
 the soldier down in the very hour of victory, when the toils 
 of the campaign are over, and well-earned rewards and 
 rest are awaiting him at home. The flooded state of Prince 
 Maurice's camp, and the exhalations from a badly drained 
 
 right of his rank as ex- Archbishop of Toledo, excommunicated them with bell, 
 book and candle in a thundering manifesto, they replied in a denunciatory 
 manifesto also, which was more true than polite. After this they made over- 
 tures to Maurice of Nassau, who gave them leave to take refuge under the 
 guns of Bergen-op-zoom, should they be hard pressed. Motley, iv. pp. 93-97. 
 1 At a review of the troops by Prince Maurice, on Sept. 21, the following 
 English and Scotch companies were present, in the strength given after their 
 names, viz. : The troops of horse of Vere, 78 ; Cecil, 77 ; Darel, 70. Foot 
 companies of Garnet, 66 ; D. Vere, 63 ; Proud, 76 ; Drury, 73 ; W. Love- 
 lace, 82 ; Rogers, 44 ; Greville, 54 ; Fairfax, 70 ; Ridgway, 77 ; Ogle, 104 ; 
 Doyley, 54 ; Woodhouse, 85 ; Wroth, 75 ; Fryer, 50 ; W. Crofts, 89 ; Frost, 
 59; Alleyne, 55; H. Vere, in ; Sutton, 77; Stoddart, 79; Carew, 65; 
 Cecil, 79 ; Knollys, 61 ; Harcourt, 78 ; Ed. Vere, 79 ; Wigmore, 64 ; 
 Vavasour, 67 ; Drake, 89 ; Cokayne, 40 ; Richards, 61 ; Butler, 65 ; Morgan, 
 56; Congreve, 66; Fr. Crofts, 64 ; Dutton, 69; Edmonds, 160; Brogh, 
 120; Henderson, 100 ; Sinclair, 94: Balfour, 116. A. Duyck's Journal, 
 iii. p. 482.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 97 
 
 country, lower than the level of the sea, during an unusually 
 hot summer, brought on a sickness among the soldiers 
 which " was little better than the plague." 1 The English 
 troops suffered severely, and lost some of their bravest 
 officers. " Many captains are dead in the Low Countries," 
 wrote Chamberlain to Carleton, " as Lile, Clifford, Keyes, 
 Richards, Vavasor, Deacons, Crofts, Drake, and above 
 4,000 of the 6,000 men that last went over." 2 The same 
 writer also tells us that " Mrs. Bodley has lost her eldest 
 son, Captain Ball, by sickness in the Low Countries," 3 and 
 that " Graf Maurice has been dangerously ill of the plague, 
 the sore breaking out in his neck." 4 George Gilpin, the 
 English Resident at the Hague, died of an ague, in 
 September, at the Hague ; and Sir Robert Drury left the 
 country, while Grave was being besieged, in impaired 
 health. 5 Edward Cecil was fortunate enough to escape 
 the general sickness. We find him ordered on active 
 service again in the month of October, and in command of 
 three troops of horse, which were part of a small force sent 
 on 23d of October to Emden, under the command of Du 
 Bois, a gentleman of Brabant. This force was to help 
 the people of Emden against their tyrannic ruler, Enno, 
 Count of East Friesland. 
 
 It appears that this Count Enno, who was a devoted 
 adherent of the Roman Catholic religion, had, under the 
 pretence of aiding the Emperor of Germany in his Turkish 
 wars, raised troops, and imposed heavy taxes on his 
 subjects, notably one called "chimney money." The 
 
 1 Grimston's Netherlands, p. 1281. 
 
 2 Chamberlain to Carleton, Nov. 4, 1602. S. P. Dom. 
 
 3 Ibid. Oct. 2, 1602. * Ibid. 
 
 * Sir Robert Drury, writing from Paris on Sept. 28 of this year to Sir R. 
 Cecil, says he was detained there " to recover a sickness taken in our fruitless 
 Brabant journey," and obliged to defer his hopes of the baths in Italy till 
 the spring. S. P. Dom. 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Count's subjects bitterly resented these taxes, and the 
 citizens of Noorden, a town not far from Emden, refused 
 to install him as their Prince in 1602. In consequence of 
 this refusal, Enno marched there with his troops, took the 
 town, and made the inhabitants pay him 3,000 Rix dollars. 
 He also imposed a tax of five years' " chimney money " on 
 them, and caused the burghers to walk under the gallows 
 " in sign that they had deserved it." Not content with 
 this indignity to the worthies of Noorden, the Count 
 treated the townspeople very cruelly, and threatened to 
 do the same to the citizens of Emden. The Emdeners 
 sent a deputation to the United Provinces, begging for the 
 assistance of the States in their internal troubles. They 
 made it clear to the States-General that Enno had some 
 enterprise in hand for the King of Spain or the Archduke. 
 This consideration induced the States to send some com- 
 panies of soldiers to Emden in June. 1 During the siege 
 of Grave fresh deputations from Emden arrived in Prince 
 Maurice's camp, soliciting further aid. Grave being taken, 
 and the United Provinces having been informed that Count 
 Enno had fortified Hinta and other villages which com- 
 manded the river Ems, and was in league with the 
 Spaniards, whose presence at Emden, and on the borders 
 of Friesland, was very undesirable and prejudicial to the 
 safety of the United Provinces, the States-General deter- 
 mined to send a small force to Emden, to put a stop to 
 the Count's designs against that place, and restore order. 
 Anthony Duyck gives a short account in his Journal of 
 the despatch of troops to Emden. The following extracts * 
 are all that it is necessary to give : 
 
 1 " The States have put 1200 men into Emden during the jars between the 
 Count and the town." Chamberlain to Carleton, June 17. S. P. >om. 
 * Translated from A. Duyck's Journal, iii. p. 497.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 99 
 
 " On the 23 a of October Captain DuBois was in the Hague. 
 His Excellency spent a considerable time at the State Council, 
 and afterwards also in the States-General, to settle DuBois's share 
 in the conduct of the wars. Twelve companies of foot were to be 
 marched into Friesland, six of these were to be commanded by 
 van Brog, and six by van Calvort. The six stationed at Emden, 
 together with the three companies, which the town had under- 
 taken to provide for, were to remain under the command of the 
 chief-lieutenant of the Frisians, who was on the spot. Besides 
 these the three troops of cavalry of Cissel, Ripperda, and Hasse 
 Brun were sent thither, under the command of Cissel. DuBois 
 was everywhere to command as General-in-chief. It was further 
 agreed that DuBois, on his arrival at Emden, should apply to the 
 town for orders and carry on the war in their name; that he 
 should try to prevent the Count from completing the fortifications, 
 and, if possible, to pull down the works already begun. He was 
 ordered not to plunder or molest the farmers or to force them to 
 flee from their homes, but to levy from them a light contribution. 
 He was also to impose a war tax, to be paid at the town, on so 
 many villages, as to be able to support the army permanently. 
 But in all this he was to use discretion, so that no disgrace or 
 blame might redound to the States through it. If he had to 
 attack any fortified places, and if the town of Emden could not 
 supply him with the amount of cannon required, he was to send 
 for some guns from Friesland. Lastly, he was in all things to 
 take counsel with the deputies of the States that were to accom- 
 pany him to Emden." 
 
 "4th Nov. 
 
 " At Emden General DuBois found provisions and many 
 things not ready. Notwithstanding this he left the town this 
 morning with 19 companies of foot (comprising the 3 companies 
 of the town) and one troop of horse ; leaving behind the chief- 
 lieutenant Hettinga with his company, the company of Frans 
 Gerrits, and half the company of van Koorput with the cavalry 
 of- Cicil and Ripperda. DuBois marched to a small redoubt at 
 Hinte. From this small redoubt the Count's men fired about 40 
 shots from small field pieces (pedereros), and then left it in hot 
 
 H 2
 
 TOO LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 haste. After having occupied the redoubt, DuBois put up for the 
 night at Hinte in fdorp, where he forthwith began to make some 
 approaches to the Castle, and put in position two batteries that 
 same night. 
 
 " On the 5th of Nov r , DuBois opened fire on the Castle early 
 in the morning. After a few shots the captain in command, 
 Haen, began to parley. He agreed to surrender the Castle, and 
 not to serve in the district of Emden for two months on condition 
 of a free pass for him and his men with their muskets. Here- 
 upon he marched forth with about 100 men, leaving behind the 
 rest of their arms and the colours, which were taken to Emden." 1 
 
 Count Enno, who had 4,000 men under his command, 
 advanced as far as Grevenraeth, in the district of Juliers, 
 but did not show any disposition to give battle to DuBois, 
 who, after taking Hinte, laid siege to the fort of Grietziel, 
 the garrison of which compounded with the States' troops. 
 The fort of Knocke likewise was yielded up, and Loghen- 
 horne, which was garrisoned by 700 men and strong in 
 guns, only stood a few days' siege, and then capitulated on 
 1 3th November. Having taken all these forts in three 
 weeks, DuBois returned to Emden, where he was joyfully 
 received. The United Provinces informed the electors 
 and princes of the German Empire that their only object 
 in making war on Count Enno, was to help the people of 
 Emden against their oppressor, and at the same time to 
 secure their own borders, as the Count of East Friesland 
 was in league with the Spaniards. 2 
 
 It is evident from A. Duyck's Journal, that Edward 
 Cecil was left with his troop of horse in garrison at Emden, 
 while DuBois was reducing the enemy's forts in the 
 vicinity. We must leave Cecil at Emden for the present, 
 
 1 Pp. 502-503. 
 
 2 Grimston's Netherlands, p. 1294.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. IOI 
 
 and turn to a tragedy, which took place a few months after 
 this, in England. 
 
 This tragedy was the death of Queen Elizabeth, which 
 took place at Richmond Palace on March 24th, 1602-3. 
 And what a sad death it was ! History records many sad 
 deaths of English monarchs, but few, if any of them, were 
 more melancholy than that of the mighty Elizabeth Tudor, 
 Queen of England and Ireland, defender of the faith, 
 protectress of the United States of the Netherlands, 
 patroness of Shakespeare and Spencer, and the most 
 erudite princess of her day. Remorse, wounded vanity, 
 and sullen despair, were the three attendants at the death- 
 bed of the greatest Queen in Christendom. Remorse was 
 there to keep alive the memory of the unfortunate Earl of 
 Essex ; wounded vanity was the result of the dying 
 Queen's having beheld her natural face in a natural looking- 
 glass, and sullen despair came to haunt the last hours of 
 the last of the Tudors, when she knew many of her 
 courtiers were only waiting for her last sigh to transfer 
 their worship to the son of her murdered kinswoman. For 
 days the mighty Elizabeth lay on the floor of her chamber, 
 
 " longing, yet afraid to die," 
 
 until exhausted nature brought death and rest. And so 
 the once glorious sun of the Virgin Queen set in darkness 
 and gloom, and the rising sun, in the person of James 
 Stuart, King of Scots, was hailed with joy by a people who 
 only too soon might have exclaimed : 
 
 " But now we've got a worse instead, 
 For seldom comes a better."
 
 I02 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 1603-1609. 
 
 Two Monarchs Anglo-French treaty Court pickings Grant to Sir Edward 
 Cecil Siege of Ostend Sir F. Vere's retirement Suitors for colonels 
 Invasion of Flanders Siege of Sluys Difficulties Ambrose Spinola 
 Maurice's good fortune He besieges Fort St. Catherine Lurking bogs- 
 Retreat turned into victory Further successes Isendike invested The 
 Spanish mutineers Spanish attack on Cadsand Result Maurice captures 
 Isendike and Aardenburg Action at Dam English bravery Sluys 
 invested The States' ironclad Details of the siege of Ostend The 
 "owldeste Captayne "Surrender of Sluys Sickness Medals English 
 treaty of peace with Spain Sir Edward Cecil made Colonel of an English 
 regiment Spinola's tactics His march to Friesland Retrograde move- 
 ment Action at Broek Castle Cavalry panic Bravery of Sir Horace 
 Vere Maurice retreats Lord Salisbury's letter to his nephew Sir F. 
 Vere returns to Holland His letters Attempt to surprise Sluys Spinola's 
 plan for invading Holland Counter plans Siege of Groll Surrender 
 Siege of Rhineberg Maurice arrives at Wesell Colonel Cecil's redoubt 
 His letter to Sidney Maurice's supineness Surrender of Rhineberg 
 Mutiny Maurice besieges Groll Unexpected arrival of Spinola 
 Declining to fight A twelve months' truce Peace negotiations Colonel 
 Cecil's ambition His letters home Peace Sir F. Vere's death Lord 
 Exeter's request. 
 
 " HE naturally loved not the sight of a soldier nor of 
 any valiant man." l 
 
 This character of James I., King of England, is given by 
 Sir Anthony Weldon, the most scurrilous writer of that 
 reign, but it is painfully true nevertheless. No one can read 
 any account of the reign of this Monarch without perceiving 
 what an enemy he was to all things military. However 
 odious comparisons may be, it is impossible not to remark 
 
 1 Memoirs of the reigns of Queen Elizabeth, James /., &>e., by Francis Osborne, 
 ii. p. 6.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 1 03 
 
 on the extraordinary difference between the rulers of 
 France and Great Britain in 1603. Henry justly sur- 
 named the Great was a soldier, born and bred, who 
 delighted in wars and rumours of wars a man who was 
 as much at home in a palace as in a camp, and who under- 
 stood the language of the deepest diplomatists as well as he 
 knew the weak point in his enemy's defences, or the vulner- 
 able part in a woman's heart. James, the head of a 
 small but mighty nation, was a scholar and an author, in 
 whose veins flowed the blood of a line of Kings whose 
 bravery was to be as much admired as their impolitic and 
 reckless actions were to be deprecated. Yet was this 
 King's blood chill in his veins, and so sluggish withal, that 
 he never let the bonds of friendship, family ties, or popular 
 feeling, lead him into espousing the weaker cause. His 
 caution and weakness of character were in themselves his 
 safest foreign policy, as no wrongs to his subjects, or insults 
 to himself, could force him into a war. Such was the man 
 whom the Protestant Netherlanders had to look to for 
 support when the great Elizabeth was summoned to her 
 rest. 
 
 After making the above remarks, it is almost needless to 
 say that England's new monarch was unwilling to continue 
 the policy of his predecessor with regard to assisting the 
 United Provinces in their struggle against the Spaniards, 
 and yet he could not absolutely renounce Queen Elizabeth's 
 policy. " There were pledges he could not break interests 
 which he could not neglect" l The British troops serving 
 in the Netherlands being paid by the States, and the officers 
 having their commissions direct from the States-General, 2 
 
 1 Ranke's History of England, i. p. 389. 
 
 2 " All the English Captens have their Commissions direct from the States, 
 and are sworn to them." Sir W. Browne to Sir R. Sidney, 29 Nov., 1602. S. P. 
 Holland.
 
 IO4 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 James was quite satisfied to let them stay there, particularly 
 as the cautionary towns were mortgaged to the English 
 nation, and had English governors. Soon after the 
 accession of James to the English throne, the French King 
 sent the Marquis de Rosny 1 on a special mission to England. 
 The States also sent Barneveld and some of their greatest 
 men to London about the same time. The special object 
 of both these Embassies was to obtain the alliance of 
 England against their common enemy Spain. It was 
 entirely owing to the subtle diplomacy of the French 
 Ambassador that James agreed to enter into an offensive 
 and defensive alliance with France and the United Provinces. 
 It was arranged that the Spaniards were to be driven out 
 of the Netherlands, and the House of Austria crushed. A 
 treaty to this effect was duly signed and ratified by the 
 Monarchs of France and England ; 2 and Barneveld, with the 
 States' deputies, returned home, well pleased with the result 
 of their mission. 3 It will be seen presently how this treaty 
 was kept 
 
 In all countries, and in all ages, a new regime has been 
 looked forward to by those gentlemen of fortune who, 
 having nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by a change 
 of dynasties, run a fair chance of pushing their fortunes on 
 in the world, when an incoming ruler made a clean sweep 
 of all the appointments that lay in his gift. Now, as 
 formerly, selfishness and self-advancement make many 
 welcome a change for the worse, provided that they them- 
 
 1 Maximilian de Bethune, Marquis of Rosny, Prime Minister to Henry IV., 
 was afterwards created Duke of Sully. 
 
 * Sully 's Memoirs, Eng. edit. 1756, ii., p. 233. 
 
 3 The States' deputies got permission to levy a regiment in Scotland for 
 service in the Low Countries. " His Ma ty hath been pleased to assent to the 
 leavying of the new Regiment in Scotland, for w ch purpose there is order already 
 gone to the Lord of Bucklugh, who is to command them." Sir R. Cecil to 
 Winwobd, Aug. 12, 1603. S. P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 1 05 
 
 selves are no losers by the said change. The interests of 
 country, and the welfare of the plurality of their country- 
 men are quite forgotten by these self-seekers in their own 
 snug shelter, from the security of which they can watch, 
 with a callous indifference, the ravages the storm makes on 
 their native shore. 
 
 The accession of the Scottish monarch to the English 
 throne caused the greatest rejoicings in England. The 
 new King's progress to London would have been the most 
 triumphant of triumphant marches, with a never-ending 
 series of costly pageants and entertainments, so dear to the 
 Tudors, who reaped the glory of them, and left all the 
 expense to their loving subjects ; but the sixth Stuart 
 hated crowds and shows, so he issued a proclamation, for- 
 bidding the resort of people on the pretence of the scarcity 
 of provisions. 1 This damper to the loyalty of an en- 
 thusiastic populace, coupled with the King's ungainly and 
 uncourteous manners, which were so different to the 
 " company manners " of good Queen Bess, caused a 
 revulsion of feeling, and James had pretty well lost his 
 popularity, even before his arrival in London. 2 In order to 
 ingratiate himself with his new subjects, James bestowed 
 the cheap honour of knighthood with an unsparing hand. 
 It is stated that within three months after his entrance into 
 the kingdom he had bestowed knighthood on no fewer 
 than 700 persons. Knighthood had been considered a 
 high honour in Elizabeth's reign, she having been very 
 sparing in bestowing that honour, but now men rather 
 avoided than courted the distinction. All titles, indeed, soon 
 lost their former value, as they were not only bestowed in 
 profusion, and in many cases on such unworthy recipients, 
 but they were sold to those who wished to buy them. The 
 
 1 Hume's History of England, iv. p. 379. * Ibid.
 
 IO6 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 prodigality of James was even worse than the parsimony of 
 Elizabeth, for the English saw their titles, estates, and 
 coveted posts bestowed on Scotchmen (foreigners, in their 
 eyes), and they longed for that happy medium course the 
 " golden mean," which the poet Horace recommends to us 
 which so few of us ever meet with, but which all who have 
 experienced the extremes of fortune, long and sigh after. 
 Those who came off worst in the general rush for honours 
 and court pickings were military men, for James " naturally 
 loved not the sight of a soldier nor of any valiant man." 
 There being nothing much on the military tapis in the 
 Netherlands, in the spring of 1603, excepting the siege of 
 Ostend, which was prosecuted with unabated vigour, the 
 English officers in the service of the United Provinces 
 were able to come over to England to pay their homage to 
 their new Monarch. It does not appear when Sir Edward 
 Cecil came over to England, but he was probably in 
 England most of the year 1603. His uncle, and kind 
 patron, Sir Robert Cecil, was high in favour with King 
 James, and was intrusted with the chief management of 
 the affairs of the nation. The immediate family, and some 
 of the near relatives, of Sir Robert Cecil came in for a few 
 of the posts which the King had in his gift. Sir Edward 
 Cecil was given the grant for life of the office of Keeper of 
 Mortlake Park, Co. Surrey 1 , and it appears, from the 
 following letter, that E. Cecil had been appointed a 
 gentleman of His Majesty's Privy Chamber. 2 He also had 
 the honour of being elected Member of Parliament for 
 
 1 Ind. Wt. Bk. S. P. Dom. p. 21. 
 
 * I can find no reference to this appointment in any of the State papers or 
 records of that time. Nicholas Carlisle, in his Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, 
 says that James I. took away the salaries of the Gentlemen of the Privy 
 Chamber, " leaving them nothing but Honour, except Diet when in waiting." 
 (p. 90). In 1616 they numbered 24 in number. M. S. So? of Antiquaries, 
 No. 40.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 
 
 Stamford 1 (his native town), in the first Parliament of 
 James I., which met at Westminster on March iQth, 
 1603-4. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO LORD CECIL. S 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE Y* Lo., 
 
 " I can not chuse, but interrupe y r lo. w th my letters (all thouge 
 I muche reverence y r great affares), beyng urged oute of my 
 diutyfull respecte not to lett my affectione lie in mee still, con- 
 sidering it in creaseth in mee howerly. And the frute it bringeth 
 forthe is my harty prayers for y r happines. I have desiered it 
 longe, and doe desiere to wittnes it w th my beaste bloude, not for 
 any eande of my profitt, for then woulde I not have followed the 
 warres w th that desier I doe, w ch I ever founde rather to gratte, of 
 my owne fortune, then make mee better to leve by them. But 
 nowe that my love to them is in curraged by y r lo. favoure I will 
 imbrase them, as a true meanes to deserve y r good opineone. I 
 can not saye to y r lo. that I am a Coronell ; nor have I receaved 
 any deniall of the states, in claming my diue as beyng one of there 
 owldeste Captaynes of our nattione that have continued there 
 servis ; yet doe I fiende the will make some delaye to showe there 
 love to our Generall S r Francis Vere, w ch , if it woulde please y r lo. 
 to wryte to M r Winwode, to knowe there answere, woulde make 
 mee moste bounde to y r lo. and make my good hope tourne to 
 happines, of that I looke for. I have noe resone to looke for more 
 favoure from y r lo. ; yet I hope y r lo. will have an honerable care 
 of mee, that my desier to make mee more able to serve the Kinge 
 shall not be any cause to make mee lease my place in the Privi- 
 chambere, w ch I howld rather for my grase heare, and my reputa- 
 tione there, then for any other care. 
 
 " For any nwes heare I take it neadless to advertis y r lo. of that 
 y may knowe allredy, that is of the extremitye where in 
 ostende is at this Jnstante reducted, beyng out of hope to be 
 defended any longer, the Enymie beyng redye to pass the Diche, 
 
 1 Stamford returned two Members in this Parliament, viz., " Henry Hall, 
 Esq., and Sir Ed. Cecil." Parliamentary History, i. p. 973. 
 
 * Sir Robert Cecil had been created Baron Cecil of Essendine, C Rutland, 
 May 13, 1603.
 
 IO8 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 yet the States doe sende in some 40 companies more then there 
 is, rather to make a good compositione, for those that are w th in, 
 the laste worke the Enymie tooke in of owers, the did put them 
 all to the sworde, 1 that was in it to make the reast be the soner 
 quitted. Wee have loste two Governers 2 of that towne, as y r lo. 
 knoweth. And the danger of ostende doth make many of the 
 Zelandars flye booth from flushing and middelborrowe, a pase. 
 Wee make many proffers of risinge, as thoughe wee woulde doe 
 some great enterprise, but I rather thincke the ar pollices to 
 cause the Enemie to devide his forces, and to drawe in leangth 
 the losse of ostend ; w th out any furder truble of y r lo. I will eande 
 the presente w th my diutefull remembrance unto y r lo. And 
 beseache the All mightye to be stowe and continue all those 
 favours one y that can be wished by 
 
 " Y r lo. unfaned and most diutefull servant, as well as nephue, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 " from the Hge, the 30* of March, 1604, oulde style. " 3 
 
 Add. "To the Rig. Honorable the Lo. Cecyll, Barone of 
 Essendine, and one of his Ma u most Honorable Counsell." 
 
 End. " 30 March, 1603, Sir Edward Cecyll to my -Lord, from 
 the Haghe." 
 
 Ralph Winwood, the English Resident at the Hague, 
 gives the following military news in a letter to Dudley 
 Carleton, written at this time : 
 
 " S r Francis Vere hath this last weeke surrendred his charges 
 in the States' hands. Their resolution is not to bestow the title of 
 General upon any other of our nation, neth r will they sodainly 
 
 1 On April 2, when the Polder ravelin was taken. 
 
 * These were, the gallant Colonel Peter van Gieselles and Colonel John van 
 Loom, who both met soldiers' deaths. 
 
 * Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 99/70. 
 
 4 Letter dated March 21, 1603-4, and addressed "To my very loving 
 freind Mr. Dudley Carleton, give thease at Essex house." S. P. Holland, 
 Winwood's pay as Resident' is given in the following warrant. "Warrant to 
 pay 4O/- per diem to Ralph Winwood, sent to the United Provinces as 
 Councillor for the King in the Council of State. June 5, 1603. Greenwich."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. IOQ 
 
 resolve how the troopes shalbe bestowed. S r Horace shall have 
 power to commaund over them all, as heretofore he hath donne in 
 th' absence of his brother, untill they otherwise shall advise, w ch 
 perhaps wilbe about michel*", or the next spring, in regard 
 whereof they have dobled his enftaynem* from 30" to 6o u [;6o] 
 the moneth. The company of horse w h S r frances hath likewise 
 resigned the states are desyrous he styll shoulde retayne ; but yf 
 he shall refuse that, they have conf rr ed that upon his brother. Here 
 are sutors for Collonels : S r Ed. Cecyll, who hath brought over w th 
 him his lady, 1 S r John Ogle, and Cap n Sutton, who is Lieutenant- 
 Collonel to S r Horace Vere." 
 
 The States having determined about this time 2 to re- 
 model their army by forming regiments, which were to be 
 composed of a certain number of companies, united together 
 under a colonel, the senior captains naturally looked 
 forward to obtaining these few coveted commands, and 
 used all their interest when " agitating " for promotion. 
 
 It had been definitely settled by the States-General in 
 the spring of this year, that Prince Maurice should lead 
 another invading army into Flanders and strike a blow for 
 the relief of Ostend. This projected step was mainly 
 owing to the advice of the warlike Henry IV., who kept 
 urging the States to seize the Flemish ports, " that they 
 might have something to place as pledges in his hands 
 when he declared war against Spain." It was arranged 
 that a large force should be sent against Sluys a strongly 
 fortified and important seaport between Cadsand and 
 Bruges, on an arm of the sea. Sluys had been taken by 
 the Spaniards in 1587, after a desperate siege, and had 
 continued ever since in their possession. It was a larger 
 
 1 This was doubtless the first time Edward Cecil had brought his wife to 
 Holland. Their eldest child, Dorothy Cecil, was born in England. Their 
 second child, Albinia Cecil, was born in Holland, probably about 1604. 
 
 2 Regiments do not appear to have been formed by the States until 1605, 
 and even then the word regiment is seldom met with in letters and documents.
 
 HO LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 and in many respects a more important place than 
 Ostend. Maurice of Nassau, the commander-in-chief of 
 the States' forces, ordered all his forces to meet him at 
 Willemstad 1 on April 2oth. An army of 15,000 foot and 
 3,000 horse met there, and Counts William, Ernest, Lewis 
 and Adolphus of Nassau accompanied Prince Maurice and 
 his brother Henry Frederick, general of the horse, on this 
 expedition. Maurice had also insisted that a considerable 
 deputation of the States and of the States' Council should 
 accompany the army. 2 On April 25th the whole army 
 sailed for the island of Cadsand, opposite Sluys, where they 
 effected a landing. In two days they had taken possession 
 of the town and all the forts of that island, 3 thus securing 
 an admirable basis of operations before laying siege to 
 Sluys. The siege and capture of Sluys by Maurice of 
 Nassau, form one of the most glorious chapters in the 
 military history of this great commander. No one can 
 read the graphic account by Motley of the difficulties that 
 beset an army besieging Sluys, without fully estimating the 
 military talent of Prince Maurice and the bravery of the 
 besieging army. A short extract about Sluys from the 
 above author will be very applicable at this point. 
 
 " A stream of inland water, rising a few leagues to the south of 
 Sluys, divided itself into many branches just before reaching the city, 
 converted the surrounding territory into a miniature archipelago 
 the islands of which were shifting, treacherous sand-banks at low 
 water, and submerged ones at flood and then widening and 
 deepening into a considerable estuary, opened for the city a capa- 
 cious harbour, and an excellent altho' intricate passage to the sea. 
 The city, which was well built and thriving, was so hidden in its 
 
 1 A fortress with walls and ramparts, erected by William the Silent in 1583, 
 situated on the Hollandsch Ditp, as this broad arm of the Maas is called. 
 * Motley, iv. p. 188. 
 Triumphs of Nassau, art. " Siege of Sluys."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. Ill 
 
 labyrinth of canals and streamlets, that it seemed almost as difficult 
 
 a matter to find Sluys, as to conquer it Besides these 
 
 natural defences, the place was also protected by fortifications, 
 which were as well constructed as the best of that period. There 
 was a strong rampire and many towers. There was also a detached 
 citadel of great strength looking towards the sea ; and there was a 
 ravelin, called St. Anne's, looking in the direction of Bruges, A 
 mere riband of dry land in that quarter was all of solid earth to be 
 
 found in the environs of Sluys. 1 To master such a plexus 
 
 of canals, estuaries and dykes, of passages through swamps, of 
 fords at low water which were obliterated at flood tide ; to take 
 possession of a series of redoubts, built on the only firm points of 
 land, with nothing but quaking morass over which to manoeuvre 
 troops or plant batteries against them, would be a difficult study, 
 even upon paper. To accomplish it in the presence of a vigilant 
 and anxious foe seemed bewildering enough." 2 
 
 The vigilant and anxious foe was Ambrose Spinola, 3 
 who, though engaged heart and soul in reducing Ostend 
 which still held out, though reduced to a pile of ruins, which 
 covered the bones of thousands of its brave defenders 
 still had time to keep an eye on Sluys and send succours to 
 its assistance. To make that town more difficult of access 
 than nature had already made it, Spinola submerged the 
 country in the vicinity, thus destroying the fair landmarks 
 that Maurice had to guide him. Fortune favours those 
 brave hearts who woo her, and once more she placed the 
 clue to success in Maurice's hand, which he at once availed 
 
 1 Motley, ii. p. 248. Dante, in his Inferno (xv. 4-6), compares the barrier 
 which separates the river of tears from the desert with the embankments which 
 the Flemings have thrown up between Sluys (or rather the island of Cadsand) 
 and Bruges, to protect the city against the encroachments of the sea. 
 
 2 Motley, iv. p. 190. 
 
 8 Ambrose Spinola, Marquis of Benaffro, Knight of the Order of the Golden 
 Fleece, Councillor of State and War to the King of Spain, and General of his 
 armies in the Netherlands. He was created Duke of Sanseverino when Ostend 
 surrendered.
 
 I I 2 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 himself of. A friendly boor offered to guide him and his 
 army through the watery waste, and point out passages 
 where he could cross the waters. 1 On April 28th, the army 
 escorted by the Flemish boor advanced towards Oostburg. 
 " Next morning," says Motley, " a small force of the 
 enemy's infantry and cavalry was seen, showing that there 
 must be foothold in that direction. He sent out a few 
 companies to skirmish with those troops, who fled after a 
 very brief action, and, in flying, showed their pursuers the 
 road." Here was the clue which Prince Maurice wanted. 
 Where troops had come from troops could go, and the 
 States' forces were soon on the road to Sluys. Their 
 progress, however, was soon stopped by the fort of St. 
 Catherine one of the strongest and best garrisoned of the 
 forts, which guarded Sluys like sentinels. Owing to its 
 position, on what was even at low tide a quaking bog, there 
 was no possibility of establishing batteries. Nine field 
 pieces had been sent for, and brought from Cadsand, by 
 water at high tide, but it was found impossible to plant 
 them. Even the stout heart of the heroic Maurice failed 
 him at the prospect before him, and he ordered a retreat. 
 Now occurred one of those strange accidents one of those 
 curiosities of war which occasionally happen, and, when 
 they do, turn the tide of war in quite a different direction 
 to what was at first anticipated. It is recorded by 
 Fleming, the chronicler of Ostend, that the States' artil- 
 lerymen made such an outcry in the darkness of night, 
 when trying to drag their guns over the morass, where they 
 ran no small risk of losing them for ever, that the garrison 
 of St. Catherine's fort, composed chiefly of irregular troops, 
 were seized with a sudden panic, and evacuated their 
 stronghold under cover of the darkness. Fear, which is 
 
 1 Fleming, p. 585, quoted by Motley, p. 190.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 113 
 
 more infectious than the most virulent plague, often 
 assumes strange forms and gives rise to the wildest fancies. 
 The garrison of St. Catherine's fort mistook the howls of 
 the States' gunners, who were labouring with their guns 
 over a quaking bog, for shouts of vengeance and triumph 
 at having brought some infernal machine across the quick- 
 sands, which would speedily demolish their fort and render 
 them an easy prey for the bloodthirsty Maurice of Nassau, 
 who had informed them by proclamation that if taken they 
 would be all put to the sword, being irregular troops. 
 They accordingly evacuated the fort that same night, and 
 the States' forces, who had already begun their retreat to 
 Cadsand, retraced their steps, and took possession of the 
 fort. A thing well begun is half done, and this unexpected 
 success inspired Maurice's troops with hopes of victory. 
 The forts of St. Margaret and St. Philip, though strongly 
 garrisoned, offered but little resistance to Maurice's troops, 
 and on May 6 they laid siege to Isendike a strongly 
 fortified place three leagues to the east of Sluys. 
 
 The Archduke had been obliged to divide his forces into 
 three parts. The first division invested Ostend, the second 
 was sent against Prince Maurice, while the third division 
 was employed in quelling the incursions of the mutineers, 
 who numbered 3,000 foot and 1,200 horse. These mutineers 
 have already been referred to in a previous chapter. 1 They 
 had been permitted by Maurice to establish themselves in 
 Grave after the reduction of that place, and they had been 
 as thorns in the side of the Archduke ever since. They 
 carried on a kind of guerilla warfare against the Spaniards, 
 and had been joined by i,6ooof Maurice's horse and " 1,500 
 musketeers mounted on horsebacke, after a new invention 
 
 1 See letter from E. Cecil to Sir R. Cecil from the Grave, dated Sept. 14, 
 1602, given in Chapter iv. 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 H4 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 set upon cuissins, the which were made the winter before in 
 Holland." 1 The troops sent against Prince Maurice 
 thought it a good opportunity, when Maurice was before 
 Isendike, to make a dash for the island of Cadsand, and 
 capture that most important dep6t of provisions and war- 
 like stores, to say nothing of the States' fleet anchored off 
 the island. An expedition consisting of 2,000 men em- 
 barked at Sluys, and dropped down the haven of Sluys 
 to Cadsand. Half their number landed and nearly over- 
 powered the small garrison, but, owing to the bravery of a 
 few companies 2 who held their ground and charged their 
 enemy so furiously, the Archduke's troops, who were chiefly 
 composed of Italians, were driven back to their boats with 
 great loss. Many of the boats were sunk in the channel 
 and the Italians in them drowned. Had this enterprise 
 been successful, Sluys would doubtless have been saved for 
 that year, at least. 
 
 On May 10 Isendike was given up, and two days 
 later the little town of Aardenburg, between Ghent and 
 Sluys, which was well fortified, surrendered to the States 
 without striking a blow. 3 After this victory, Maurice's 
 horse scoured the country, adventuring even to the very 
 gates of Bruges and Ghent, and brought back great store 
 of booty, to their great advantage, but to the deprivation of 
 the country people, who were plundered both by friend and 
 
 1 Grimston's Netherlands, p. 1306. Also referred to by Sir W. Browne in 
 a letter to Sidney, dated from Flushing, New Year's day, 1603-4, as follows : 
 " For provision of pack sadells most of our Townes have been troubled to 
 make them, which are to the number of 3000, and great hammers 400. . . . 
 our Foote, for there Humility, shalbe sett on Horseback, thus much Sir Henry 
 Carew writes ; I hear by others that the Pack sadells are made that two 
 musketiers may sit upon one." Collins' Sidney Papers. 
 
 1 Motley, quoting from Fleming, says these companies were Scotch. 
 
 Aardenburg was garrisoned by German troops, who fled at the coming of 
 the States' troops, in a most disgraceful manner. Grimston, p. 1307.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 115 
 
 foe. On May 16 a sharp action took place between 
 Maurice's cavalry and a strong force of the enemy's cavalry, 
 an English mile from Dam, a village which commanded 
 two navigable streams that ran direct to Sluys. The 
 States' cavalry were worsted, but the infantry coming up 
 retrieved the fortunes of the day. Sir Horace Vere, at the 
 head of some English companies, charged with such re- 
 solution that he drove the enemy back into his trenches, 
 and put him to a complete rout. 1 " The enemy received a 
 foule and disgraceful defeat," wrote Winwood to Northum- 
 berland, "423 bodyes have been buryed, as many prisoners, 
 besides many which were drowned. All fled. . . . Don 
 Louis de Velasco was the first to turn." The day after 
 this occurrence fourteen hundred Spaniards were defeated 
 by the States' troops, who now commanded the two water 
 highways leading from Dam to Sluys. Before the end of 
 May Maurice had fought his way to the Swint, or great sea- 
 channel of Sluys, and then, having all the approaches to the 
 beleaguered town in his own hands, he proceeded to invest 
 the city. " He was himself encamped," says Motley, " on 
 the west side of the Swint ; Charles van der Noot 2 lying 
 on the south. The submerged meadows, stretching all 
 around in the vicinity of the haven, he had planted thickly 
 with gunboats. Scarcely a bird or a fish could go into or 
 out of the place. Thus the stadholder exhibited to the 
 Spaniards, who, fifteen miles off towards the west, had been 
 pounding and burrowing three years long before Ostend 
 without success, what he understood by a siege." Strenuous 
 efforts were made by the Spaniards to send supplies into 
 Sluys, but without success. The siege was only a question 
 of time now. 
 
 1 Winwood to the Earl of Northumberland, May 18, 1604. S.P. Holland. 
 
 2 Governor of Ostend in 1603. 
 
 I 2
 
 ! 1 6 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 The inevitable result, with a few details of this siege, are 
 given in the two letters from Edward Cecil to his uncle 
 written from before Sluys, which we can now give, having 
 paved the way for them by detailing what had previously 
 taken place. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO LORD CECIL. l 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v r Lo., 
 
 " I have perceaved by y r letter how ill my footmane hath 
 deserved his charges, and I so favorable a letter ; but it shall heance 
 forth make mee love a horsman the better. I understand by a 
 friend that there is a great mann, a bout the king, that hath write 
 to S r Horatio Vere, to have the first advertisment of oure 
 busines heare, and, w th all, that he is not much y r friend, w h out of 
 my diuty I can not but lett y r lo. knowe of. 
 
 " As for the present I can say noe more then this bearer can 
 tell y. lo, that is howe wee ar making Haste of our Bridge to pass 
 in to the Towne, w cb may better be cauled an Ingien then a 
 Bridge. It is made upon mastes of snipes, to suffer the Tide to 
 goe bacward and forward, as it doth there, before the Towne w th a 
 great force, then is it borded one eyther side, proufe of muskett, 
 w tb a Gallery upon it ; it is ankered faste. Wee look every day to 
 put it over ; there is 50 Cannone mounting for the Battery. Heare 
 ar comde many freanch Gentelmen of accounte, as Mounser de 
 Termes, to see our seage ; as for oure nation, not one, w ch is much 
 marveled at. 
 
 " I have receaved this day a letter out of Ostend of the 5, 
 whereby I understand that the Enyme have made a strong corte of 
 gard upon the Pouldron Bullworke, wherein it is for certayne that 
 the have minded this 8 nights in to it The enyme that morning 
 were scene marching very strong from there quarter in to the 
 Treanches w th flieng Collors, w ch mad them in the Towne thincke the 
 would have blone up the Bulworke, and give a generall assaulte. 
 They had 2 commanders, who cam up to the top of the weste 
 Bulworke to discover what number of menn garded w th in, the 
 W* our menn have this 2 nights quitted, the miends expected 
 
 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 105/101.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 117 
 
 howerly to be blone up. At hige water the were scene march 
 backe in to there quarter. The nwe Towne is all ways garded 
 w lh Diuche and 17 peases of Ordnanc, planted there in. This 
 weake wee blue up our miendes in the pouldrome and weaste 
 Bolwarke ; and this Sonday, his Excelenc hath sente the Corronell 
 of the wallownes, one Markett, l much surpassing many othe 
 Goveners before him, for Governer of Ostend, and an excelent 
 miner w th him, a Jerman, w c h ar now moste neadfull. We have some 
 3 dayes a goe sent a 1000 menn more in to Ostend, of all 
 nations, S r Charles farfaxe commanding our natione. There is 
 not one in the Towne that speakes not for to fighte to the laste 
 mann. His Excelency towlde mee that he woulde fayne coule the 
 Towne twise more, as he hathe done allredy, before they should 
 parly. 
 
 " I have looked every day that the states should give mee a 
 Regiment, beyng the owldeste Captayne of our Nation that lookes 
 for advancement. But som hinderanc I fiend by a secon letter 
 of the Kings for S r Thomas Knowles, 2 w h is very affectually 
 wryton for him. And there is dealing that there should be made 
 only Lieftennant Corronelles, and sergentmajors, to keepe downe 
 our Natione. I desier to be w th they foote, to rise, and I have noe 
 other patrone but y* Lo., and others have many. And I know y r lo. 
 can not assuer y r selfe of a more truar servent then I am, where- 
 fore if y. Lo. doe thincke mee worthy, and that y desier to have 
 y r name live in the warres, then y must now howlde mee up, 
 or never. I would be loth, and ever have beeyne, to truble y r lo. 
 much, onely that y r lo. would wryte y r letter to M r Winwod, to 
 know the States answer for mee, what I shall gayne by the King 
 letter, that I be not deferred by the pollices of other, to be still 
 keepte backe. I shall howlde my selfe much bound to in devore 
 all I can to deserve y r favore. I will not be more tedius to y r lo. 
 
 1 Daniel de Hartaing, Lord of Marquette, colonel of a Walloon regiment, 
 distinguished himself at the battle of Nieuport. 
 
 2 Sir Thomas Knollys, sixth son of Sir Francis Knollys, K.G., treasurer of 
 the household to Queen Elizabeth. Sir Wm. Knollys second son of this Sir 
 Francis was treasurer of the household to James I., and was afterwards raised 
 to the peerage as Baron Knollys and Earl of Banbury. Sir Thomas Knollys 
 married Odelia de Morada, daughter of John de Morada, Marquis of Bergen, 
 by whom he had an only daughter.
 
 Il8 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 but to praye for y r lo. longe and happie life, and to give mee 
 meanes to prove my selfe how much I am y r lo. 
 " most diutefull servant 
 
 and affectionat nephue, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 "from the leger before the Sluse, this 10 of June." 
 
 Add. " To the Rig 1 Honorable the Lo. Cecyll, Lo. Scecrytary 
 of Eingland." 
 
 End. " 10 June, 1604. S r Edward Cecyll to my Lord from the 
 Campe before Sluce." 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO LORD CECIL. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE Y r LORDSHIPE, 
 
 " These ar to lett y r lo. understand, that after a longe and 
 tedius seage, that wee ar M r of the Towne of Sluse, w ch wee had 
 brought to great extremety, a Towne that is not to be wonn w th 
 out famishing. I can not say that there is a Generall in the worlde 
 that hath takene more care and more paynes, or hath deserved 
 more, then his Excelence hath done in this seage, considering 
 his smale armye. The enemy hath liene longe by us, to have 
 releaved it. He hath tryed all wayes, and the laste waye of 3 
 hath beeyne by the Hand of Casante, where he gave one [attacked] 
 a Redoute there, wee not suspecting him there, for that he did 
 marche all the nighte, towarde Dame. He founde where he gave 
 one, but a 150 menn, the Enemy having all his Armye there, who 
 did give one, very furius and valliantly, yet was repolsed w th the 
 loss of some 200 of his beaste menn in the place, and those 
 of quallety, as the Marquis of Rentis, and the Sergenmajore of 
 the Mutiners, and one Don phelipo de Taxces, and many more 
 w* h I can not name. They were very nighe the releaving of the 
 
 1 A desperate effort was made by Spinola on i6th August to capture 
 Cadsand. Spinola, who commanded in person, had already recaptured the 
 forts of St. Catherine and St. Philip and had broken through the States' lines 
 at Oostburg. Maurice hastened to the relief of his troops in the isle of Cadsand 
 and held the position against a larger force than his own. After a bloody 
 engagement Spinola was obliged to retreat and Sluys surrendered soon after. 
 Motley, pp. 197-198.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. I 1 9 
 
 Towne, by this waye, w ch , till wee were certayne of there repulce, 
 mad our Armye much amased, for oure hopes healde but by a 
 string and now it is by a Chane, for that wee shall hardly be 
 drivene oute of these contries. 
 
 " My haste to sende a way this bearer, of purpose to y r lo., will 
 not lett mee be longer. But to praye God to sende y a longe 
 and happie life, and mee occatione to showe howe much I am 
 " Y r lo. diutefull and affectionat 
 
 " Servant as nephue, 
 
 "En. CECYLL. 
 
 " The Towne was givene over upon frida a bout 4 of the clocke 
 in the morning, w th compositione, to leave munition, cannone, 
 and slaves, 1 and to marche w th flieng collors, w th there bollitt in 
 there mouth, and bagage. 
 
 " from the Sluse, this 10 of Auguste." 2 
 
 Add. " For his M 11 afares. To the Rig h Honorable the Lo. 
 Cecyll, Lo. highe Scecritary of Einglande, hast, haste, poste haste, 
 this 10." 
 
 End. " 1604. August 10. S r Edward Cecyll to my Lord from 
 Sluce." 
 
 Sluys was won, but, as usual, the sword and sickness had 
 done their work, and the States had to mourn the loss of 
 many a gallant soldier. Among the number was the 
 gallant Count Lewis of Nassau, who died of fever soon 
 after entering the captured town. On September 20, 
 Ostend or what was once Ostend surrendered to Spinola, 
 after a siege of three years and seventy-seven days. The 
 garrison had held out until all their bastions and redoubts 
 
 1 Fifteen hundred galley-slaves, chiefly Turks, who were for the most part 
 sent home in a Barbary ship. Many of them had eaten no bread in Sluys for 
 many weeks, but had fed on old shoes, boots, parchment, and on an herb 
 called soutenelle. Dogs, cats, rats, and mice were considered good meat. 
 Meteren, fo. 543, book 25. 
 
 2 Old style of reckoning ; the new style was ten days later. Cecil Papers, 
 
 y 106/73.
 
 I2O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 had been carried by assault, and there only remained to 
 them the recently erected citadel called "Little Troy." 
 The States-General had expected Prince Maurice to 
 relieve Ostend after Sluys was taken, but sickness, and 
 tempestuous weather which rendered the roads impassable, 
 prevented his marching against Spinola in time, so Colonel 
 Marquette was obliged to surrender Ostend on honourable 
 terms, and the heroic garrison marched out with the 
 honours of war. 1 
 
 In remembrance of the long siege of Ostend, and the 
 winning of Sluys, silver and copper medals were struck 
 in the United Provinces. The former bore on the obverse 
 the town of Ostend, and on the reverse the towns of 
 Rhineberg, Grave, Sluys, Aardenburg, and the forts of 
 Isendike and Cadsand, with an inscription to the effect 
 that the siege of Ostend had given only a heap of stones 
 to the enemy, while it had given four towns to the United 
 Provinces. The other medal bore on one side the town of 
 Sluys, with the inscription, Traxis, duxis, dedit an 1604, 
 and on the reverse the arms of Zeeland, with the legend, 
 Beatus populus cujus adjutor deus? 
 
 In the summer of 1604, while British soldiers were 
 adding fresh glory to their nation by their deeds in the 
 Low Countries, the British monarch made a treaty of 
 peace with the King of Spain and the Archduke Albert, 
 notwithstanding all that had been promised, and even 
 ratified, twelve months before. "The peace which was 
 at length brought about," says Ranke, " is remarkable for 
 its indefiniteness. The English promised that they would 
 
 1 Spinola entertained the officers at a splendid banquet, to show his 
 appreciation of iheir gallant defence of Ostend. They also received a great 
 ovation from Prince Maurice and his officers, on their arrival at the States' 
 camp. 
 
 * G rims ton, p. 1318.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. I 2 I 
 
 not support the rebellious subjects and enemies of the 
 King of Spain. The States-General were not interfered 
 with in the enlistment which they had been allowed to 
 begin .... similar leave to enlist was granted to the 
 Spaniards also, who, for that purpose, resorted especially 
 to Ireland." 1 The States found out now what a broken 
 reed they had been depending on. They were too hard 
 pressed, however, by their Spanish foe, to be able to 
 quarrel with the nation which held some of their towns, 
 and from which they drew their best troops. From the 
 first they had entertained but small respect for the British 
 Solomon, and thought him fitter to be a preacher than a 
 king. 2 Worldly wisdom, however, prevented them from 
 openly breaking with James ; 3 so they swallowed their 
 bitter disappointment as best they could, and centred 
 their hopes for the future on France. 
 
 The formation of the English companies in the Nether- 
 lands, into regiments, appears to have been a tardy process ; 
 and though it was a step much desired by Sir John Ogle, 
 Sir Edward Cecil, and other old captains, it was opposed 
 by Sir Horace Vere 4 who, as colonel over all the English 
 companies, had supreme and undivided authority in his 
 command. The Scotch companies are generally spoken 
 of at this time as " the Scots regiment " their colonel 
 being Sir William Edmonds. It is difficult to give the 
 exact date of the formation of the English companies 
 
 1 I. P. 391- 
 
 2 Bentivoglio ; Hist, of the warres of Flanders. 
 
 3 James allowed the States' envoy in England, Noel de Caron, to have the 
 rank and dignity of an ambassador, which empty honour was all the respect 
 he showed for the feelings of the States. 
 
 4 " Sir Horace Vere workes with his best friends underhand, that there may 
 not be any dealinge of thees troopes into formed Regiments, bycause it would 
 somwhat diminish his greatnes and absolute comaund that he now hath over 
 the troopes generall." Sir John Ogle to Lord Cecil, from Middleborow, Oct. 
 20, 1604. S.P. Holland.
 
 122 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 into regiments, but it appears to have been in the spring 
 of 1605, when Captains Cecil and Ogle 1 were promoted 
 to be colonels. Winwood, in a letter to Lord Cranbourne, 2 
 dated April 24, 3 says, " Th'englishe troopes are now 
 devyded into regiments, 4 and unto S r Horace Vere are 
 added Collonells S r Edward Cecyll, S r John Ogle, and 
 Cap ne Sutton, Lieuetenant collonel to S r Horace Vere." 
 
 The campaign of 1605 was a failure. The enterprises 
 projected by the States-General, on their army taking 
 the field, failed utterly. An expedition sent in the spring, 
 under Count Ernest of Nassau, to surprise Antwerp, 
 returned without accomplishing anything. Spinola, at 
 the head of a fine army, played a most successful game 
 of hide and seek with his rival, Maurice. Giving out that 
 he was going to attack Grave and Sluys, Spinola kept 
 Maurice and his troops in the east, while he was pre- 
 paring for a rapid march into Friesland and Groningen. 
 He kept his secret so well, that to the very last Maurice 
 was ignorant of his enemy's design. On July 22, Sir W. 
 Browne, writing to Lord Salisbury, says, " Spinola, accord- 
 ing to certen newes com, is marching to beseege Dews- 
 burch. 6 . . . His Excellency departs to-night or to- 
 
 1 There are several letters from Sir John Ogle to Lord Cranbourne among 
 the S.P. Holland for 1605, begging for his lordship's interest with the States 
 regarding his promotion. 
 
 * Lord Cecil was created Viscount Cranbourne in August 1604, and Earl of 
 Salisbury, 4 May, 1605. 
 
 * This letter, which is endorsed "M r Wynwood to me," has been wrongly 
 placed among the S.P. Holland for 1607. Cecil's promotion to a colonelcy is 
 given in a State Paper in the King's Library at the Hague, in which Sir John 
 Ogle, Sir Edward Cecil and Sir Henry Sutton, are named as those officers 
 selected by his Excellency for promotion, and approved of by the States- 
 General, 2 May, 1605. 
 
 * Regiments were at this time from I to 3,000 strong. Each company 
 carried a colour. Gustavus Adolphus set the example afterwards of reducing 
 regiments to 1,000 men. 
 
 * Doesburg.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 123 
 
 morrow at furthest." Spinola had no intention of stopping 
 to besiege any of the Rhine towns. On August 8 he 
 came before Oldenzaal, which he took in three days, and 
 then proceeded to Lingen, which he invested. Lingen l was 
 the stepping-stone to Coeworden, the key to the road to 
 Emden, which was still convulsed with internal troubles. 
 If the two former places were reduced, Emden would be 
 at the mercy of Spinola, and, what was much worse, the 
 high road to Friesland and Groningen would be open for 
 him. Maurice lost no time. He broke up his camp in 
 Flanders, and made forced marches to save Lingen. 
 Before he could arrive there, however, that important 
 place had surrendered to Spinola. That able commander 
 had got the start, and like Philip II. of Spain, he might 
 have boastfully exclaimed, " Time and I against any other 
 two." But strange to say, although Coeworden, the key to 
 Emden and Friesland, was almost within the grasp of 
 Spinola, he stopped short in his onward path to certain 
 victory. " Instead of darting at once upon Coeworden," 
 says Motley, " he paused for nearly a month, during which 
 period he seemed intoxicated with a success so rapidly 
 achieved, and especially with his adroitness in outwitting 
 the great stadholder. On September 14 he made a 
 retrograde movement towards the Rhine, leaving two 
 thousand five hundred men in Lingen." 2 
 
 Maurice, being an experienced chess player, saw at once 
 what a false move his enemy had made, and was quick to 
 take advantage of it. He occupied Coeworden, strongly 
 fortified that place, and, leaving a large garrison there, 
 retired to Wesel. Although the States' troops had been 
 largely reinforced, they were still much inferior in numbers 
 to'Spinola's army. That able general had taken up a 
 
 1 Lingen is eight leagues from Coeworden. * pp. 218-219.
 
 124 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 strong position at Ruhrort, a place on the Rhine, at the 
 mouth of the Ruhr. He waited patiently to be attacked, 
 having every confidence in his position and superior 
 numbers. We are told that Maurice waited a fortnight 
 before making an attack, and only made it when he had 
 discovered a weak point in Spinola's extended lines. The 
 weak point was at Mulheim, a village on the Ruhr, where 
 were stationed some of the enemy's cavalry and infantry, 
 at some distance from their main army. On the opposite 
 bank of the river was Broek Castle, and some hills of 
 considerable elevation. Maurice departed from Wesel in 
 the night of October 8 with a large force of cavalry and 
 infantry, composed of French, Dutch, English and Scotch 
 troops the English contingent being commanded by Sir 
 Horace Vere. 1 Dividing his force into three parts, he sent 
 a body of cavalry, 2 under Marcellus Bax, to seize Broek 
 Castle and the heights on the other side of the Ruhr. A 
 second body of cavalry, 3 under Count Frederick Henry of 
 Nassau, was sent forward to attack Mulheim and drive 
 the Spaniards across the river, where Bax, with his 
 cavalry, would be waiting to receive them. The infantry 
 under Maurice's command marched straight upon Mulheim. 
 Bax performed his part of the programme very speedily, 
 having met with but little resistance. Count Frederick 
 Henry was not so fortunate. The enemy's outposts were 
 taken by surprise, but they fled into Mulheim and spread 
 the alarm, so that on the States' cavalry coming into the 
 quarter, they were met by three or four troops of cavalry, 
 
 1 Sir John Throgmorton, in his letter to Sidney of Oct. & says, Sir H. 
 Vere had command "of the 4 Colonels whole companies," which I take to 
 be the private foot companies of Colonels Cecil, Ogle, Vere's own, and 
 Buccleuch's Scotch company. 
 
 2 Eight troops of horse. 
 1 Ibid,
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 125 
 
 drawn up to receive them. 1 " These proffering a charge," 
 wrote Sir John Throgmorton to Sidney, " all ours ran 
 cleare away and never stoode to discharge one pistoll 
 shoote ; save onlye Sir John Selby 2 and Sir Archibald 
 Heskins with 2 companyes, did very well, and loste 
 many of their ' Men and Horses.' " While Bax was 
 waiting for the Spaniards whom he was to cut off in their 
 disorderly rout, he was himself attacked by some troops 
 who had crossed the river. At last he saw Prince Henry 
 coming to his rescue with a very small proportion of his 
 troops. All might yet have gone well, had not a fresh 
 troop of cavalry, under Don Louis de Velasco, come on the 
 scene. 3 After a short action, the panic, which had already 
 deprived Henry of Nassau of some of his oldest troops, 
 spread to the remainder, and to those troops commanded 
 by Marcellus Bax, whom they had come to assist. The 
 States' cavalry turned their backs on the foe and fled en 
 masse. When Maurice arrived on the banks of the Ruhr, 
 he found what he had once considered the .flower of his 
 army in full retreat, and his young brother, with a few 
 staunch followers, fighting against great odds on the 
 opposite bank.* Maurice did all he could to stem the 
 flight, but he was on the opposite side of a deep stream 
 and unable to offer his cavalry much assistance. Being 
 now attacked himself by the Spaniards, who were gathering 
 in force on both sides of the river, he ordered a retreat. 
 Spinola, 5 who was now directing the attack in person, had, 
 
 1 Bentivoglio, p. 424. 
 
 * Sir John Selby of Twisell ? 
 
 3 Bentivoglio, p. 424. 
 
 4 Meteren mentions that Prince Henry nearly lost his life in this unequal 
 contest and owed his life to the gallantry of a Dutch trooper. 
 
 b Spinola had hastened to the scene of action from Ruhrort on hearing of 
 the attack, and resorted to the old stratagem of causing drums to be beaten in 
 all directions to make his enemy think a large force was approaching. 
 Bentivoglio, p. 424.
 
 126 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 as a writer expressed it, " grasped up Prince Maurice and 
 his men against the sea-shore, with more than three times 
 their number." The Prince was attempting an orderly 
 retreat, when he was attacked in rear by the Spaniards 
 with great fury. It was at this critical moment that Sir 
 Horace Vere, who commanded the British infantry, desired 
 Prince Maurice to allow him to quit his post in the main 
 body of the army with his troops and attack the enemy. 
 Permission being granted, Vere forded the Ruhr with his 
 troops and charged the Spaniards with great bravery, 
 drove them back a considerable distance, and then retired 
 in good order. 1 This gave the routed Dutch cavalry time 
 to reform and join the main body, where they were told, 
 in very forcible language, by their irate and disappointed 
 commander-in-chief how disgracefully and cowardly they 
 had behaved. As the English were repassing the river 
 the enemy came down upon them in great numbers. The 
 gallant Vere once more threw himself in the breach. 
 Selecting sixty of his veterans he went to the rear, and, on 
 the brink of the river, disputed the passage of the enemy 
 until nearly all his men were killed and his horse shot 
 under him. 2 It lived, however, to carry its gallant rider 
 to the opposite bank of the Ruhr. The States' army was 
 saved, as Spinola himself confessed, by the determined 
 stand made by this English officer. 3 We have positive 
 proof that Edward Cecil was not with the States' troops 
 on the day of the lamentable engagement at Broek Castle. 
 It is necessary, however, to give a short account of this 
 action and the events which preceded it, in order to keep 
 
 1 Throgmorton to Sidney ; Meteren's account of this action agrees in say- 
 ing that Vere's troops saved the Dutch army from a great disaster. Meteren 
 also says that Buccleuch, with his Scotch company, greatly distinguished 
 themselves in this retreat. 2 find. 
 
 * Biog. Brit., art. " Horace Vere."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 127 
 
 up the thread of the story, and also to explain the contents 
 of the letter or part of a letter which Lord Salisbury 
 wrote to his nephew, Edward Cecil, soon after the above 
 action at Broek Castle. This letter, the rough draft of 
 which is preserved among the Holland State Papers, is 
 endorsed, "Mynute to S r Edward Cecyll, Octob. 1605," 
 and commences thus : 
 
 " S r , I was very gladd to perceyve by yo r Ire that you were 
 absent at the last accident neere Brooke Castell, because the 
 reputation fell not on that syde where yo" should have beene, 
 though the losse in bodyes of men was small. That I am farre 
 from giving over my desire to be advertised of the p'ceedings 
 there, stands both w tb the qualitie of my place, considering the k. 
 my m r avoweth himself a confederate, and w th my owne particular 
 disposition, who am alwaies well affected towards them that 
 p'fess to love the k. and his religion, although I meddle not either 
 by way of Counsell, or action, to the preiudice of their enemyes 
 who are now in gen'll termes of amitie w th his Ma ty , so as it may 
 please yo u to understand me in that kind aright concerning the 
 generall." l 
 
 Misfortunes seldom come singly. The defeat at Broek 
 Castle was followed, on October 27, by the loss of the 
 town of Wachtendonk, after ten days' siege, and on 
 November 5 Cracow surrendered. Maurice was quite 
 powerless to save these places, as sickness and losses had 
 diminished his small army, and in November his troops 
 went into winter quarters. Edward Cecil writing to Lord 
 Salisbury, on November 30, from his garrison at Utrecht, 
 thus refers to the action at Broek Castle. 
 
 " Please y r lo. to understand the true relation of the action of 
 Brouke Castell, y r lo. shall beast knowe it by this Gentellman, 2 for 
 
 L The remainder of the draft letter is erased. 
 
 2 Probably Sir Thomas Roe, whom Sir John Throgmorton names as 
 having been severely wounded in his head. Sir T. Roe was a distinguished 
 diplomatist, and was ambassador at several foreign courts in after years.
 
 128 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 that he was a forward wittness in that business, first having 
 charged w th the hors, when Sir Henry Carey 1 was taken prisoner, 
 then after w" 1 the foote, amongst our owne nation, having runn 
 many fortunes that day, his horse beeyng slane, was twise prisoner, 
 hurt in the forhed and shott in the leage, he can tell y r lo. howe 
 our foote was commanded that day." 3 
 
 In the summer of 1605 Sir Francis Vere requested leave 
 from the King, through Salisbury, to return to his charge 
 at the Brill, of which town he was governor. 3 His re- 
 tirement from the States' army early in 1604, seems to have 
 been a voluntary act on his part, and not from any 
 necessity. He had disagreements with the States-General, 
 and Prince Maurice whom he had never liked. 4 From one 
 of Carleton's letters, 5 we gather that Vere had demanded 
 the absolute command of the English troops in the States' 
 service. He virtually and nominally had the command, 
 but his troops were at all times under the supreme 
 command of Prince Maurice. Vere's haughty spirit could 
 ill brook control from anyone. He had the confidence in 
 
 1 Sir Henry Gary was Master of the Jewels to James I., having succeeded 
 his father, Sir Edward Gary, in that office. Being a volunteer in the States' 
 army he was not permitted to ransom himself at the fixed sum ; he was, 
 however, afterwards exchanged for a Spanish officer. In 1618 he was 
 appointed Comptroller to the King, and in 1620 was created Viscount 
 Falkland. He died in 1633 and was succeeded by his elder son, Lucius Gary, 
 and Lord Falkland, the brilliant and distinguished Royalist leader. 
 
 2 Edward Cecil to Salisbury, C.P, ffatfield, 191/89, dated " from my gari- 
 sonn at Utricke, this 30 of Nov." 
 
 * Sir F. Vere proclaimed James I. at the Brill in April, 1603. That 
 monarch issued a fresh warrant, re-appointing Vere to be governor of the 
 town of Brill. Biog, Brit, 
 
 * Sir W. Browne gives the following anecdote in a letter to Sidney, dated 
 Nov. 29, 1602, illustrative of Vere's dislike of the Prince: "I hear that of 
 late Sir F. Vere ryding abroad in his Coach mett his Excellencye's Coach, and 
 passed by without saluting him, and that afterwards he sent his Excuse saying 
 he was sory, and that he saw not his Excellency's Coach because it passed 
 uppon his blynd side ; I hear that his Excellency's answer was that it was a 
 blynd excuse." S.P. Holland. 
 
 5 Carleton to Chamberlain Jan. I5th, 1604. S.P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. I2Q 
 
 himself that veteran commanders must have to ensure 
 success. He had now arrived at the age when all inter- 
 ference and opposition to his plans were gall and wormwood 
 to him. In plain words, he threw up his command of the 
 English troops in a pet, and returned to his home at 
 Tilbury, in Essex, until his " soldier's humour " should be 
 over. He retained, however, his governorship of the Brill, 
 and Sir Edward Conway acted as governor in Vere's 
 absence. His letter to Salisbury, asking for leave to return 
 to his charge at the Brill, is characteristic, and worth 
 giving. 
 
 SIR F. VERE TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY. 
 
 " MOST HONORABLE, 
 
 " The goyng over of my L d Lyle awakeneth me in the 
 deewty I owe also to my chardge, whether if itt may stand w th his 
 Ma ties pleasure I had muche rather goe to doe his Ma Ue thatt 
 lyttle service I can on thatt syde, then to lyve heer lyke a drone, 
 unprofetable every way to his Ma tte and nothyng to my comfortt 
 or creditt. Heertofor I have made knowne to your Lp my 
 readynes to goe over if I wear commandead, thoughe other wyse 
 in regard of any particular desyre of my owne I urgead itt note, 
 w h your Lp perceyvyng in your favor may have forborne heatherto 
 to call uppon me. I saw whatt pollicye and mallyce myght 
 suggeast agaynst my beyng and resedyng thear soddaynly after 
 my leavyng the States, w h I hope tyme and bettre experience of 
 me hathe sufficyently answearead ; and w th all I had somewhatt 
 of the sol dyers humor, thatt for a tyme would nott suffre me to 
 brooke so quieat and retyread a lyfe in that actyve state in w h 
 my Intercast had been so great, and my desyre so strong to 
 advaunce the happyness of itt by the wayes of my profession, w ch 
 humor I thancke God is now bettre tempread, and I bouth 
 content and desyrous to reast in my guverment and geave the 
 warres the lookyng on tyll my service in them may be heald 
 more necessarye. I thearfore very humbly beeseche yr Lp. out 
 of the asseurance yr Lp. in his great wyse-dome may have of my 
 truthe and weall meanyng bouth to this and that State, favorably 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 to remove those difficutyes yr Lp. shall discover heer, or on 
 the other syde, opposyng this my desyre, thatt so with his 
 Ma ue8 and the States good lykyng I may repayer to my chardg 
 w 6 " shall nott be the least of y r Lps. good deedes to me thatt 
 have already bownd me to doe. 
 
 " Y r Lp. 
 " all humble service, 
 
 " F. VERE. 
 
 " Tilbury, this 22 August, 1605." l 
 
 Add. " To the most hono. the Earle of Salisburye, Pryncypall 
 Secretarye to his Ma" 6 ." 
 
 End. "22 August, 1605. S r Francis Vere to my Lord." 
 
 Vere arrived at the Brill on December 2, and two 
 days after was present, with the garrison there, at the 
 thanksgiving services which took place in gratitude to God 
 for his Majesty's deliverance from the great conspiracy 
 known as the Gunpowder Plot. From the Brill Vere went 
 to the Hague, where he delivered letters from James to 
 Prince Maurice and the States-General. The substance 
 of these letters was, that his Majesty " would not suffer the 
 United Provinces to fall into utter ruin, and that to prevent 
 further inconveniences to his owne realme he had resolved 
 that from henceforth his subjects should not be let pass so 
 freely to the Archduke's service." 2 Vere was well received 
 by Prince Maurice and the States-General : 
 
 " They gave me a very good welcome," says Vere in his letter 3 
 to Salisbury, "seemying to be gladd of my retorne into theas 
 partts and of my affectyon to theyr service, which I made appear 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 190/24. 
 
 * Guy Fawkes, having served under the Archduke, had set James more 
 against the Spaniards than all their cruelties to the Protestant Netherlanders 
 had done. 
 
 * Vere to Salisbury, "from the Haghe, Dec. 15, 1605." Cecil Papers, 
 ffatfield, 191/94.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 13! 
 
 to be as muche as my deewty to my Soveraign myght permitt ; but 
 no mentyon was made to me eyther in the assemblye or from 
 his Ex ie , or any of the States in pryvatt, concernyng my retorne 
 to theyr service." 
 
 Leaving Sir Francis Vere for the present at his post at 
 the Brill, we must pass on to the spring of 1606, when the 
 States' army again prepared to take the field. 
 
 " Never had there been so much sluggishness," says Motley, 
 "as in the preparations for the campaign of 1606. The States' 
 exchequer was lower than it had been for years. The republic 
 was without friends. Left to fight their battle for national 
 existence alone, the Hollanders found themselves perpetually 
 subjected to hostile censure from their late allies, and to friendly 
 advice still more intolerable. There were many brave English- 
 men and Frenchmen sharing in the fatigues of the Dutch war of 
 independence, but the governments of Henry and of James were 
 as protective, as severely virtuous, as offensive, and in their secret 
 intrigues with the other belligerent, as mischievous as it was 
 possible for the best-intentioned neutrals to be." J 
 
 The campaign was opened by an attempted surprise of 
 Sluys by the Spaniards. 2 So badly was the look out 
 kept, and so well did the Spaniards manage their night 
 attack, that they had effected their entrance into the town 
 without any resistance. The guard-houses were to be 
 attacked simultaneously at a given signal. This signal was 
 to be the striking of a certain hour by the town clock. 
 The town clock never did strike. The sacristan had 
 forgotten to wind it up the night before, and this omission 
 of duty on his part saved the sleeping garrison. The 
 watch were aroused, and discovered that their city-gate had 
 
 '-p. 237. 
 
 2 Du Terrail, a French engineer, was the leader of this expedition. He had 
 invented a new kind of petard, which he boasted could demolish any city-gate 
 in Holland. Meteren, p. 588. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 been forced. An English captain and sixteen soldiers, 
 quartered near the gate, hearing the report of fire arms 
 rushed to the gateway and assisted in repelling the assail- 
 ants. The whole garrison was aroused, and turned out 
 half dressed to fight the enemy. Driven to bay the 
 Spanish party threw away their arms, turned and fled. 
 Hundreds were slain trying to force their way through the 
 gateway they had entered by, the breach in which was but 
 small. Many also were killed outside the walls by their 
 pursuers. " The Englishmen, who (beside the watch) were 
 the first that sallied forth against the enemy had the best 
 purses and booty ; and whereas most of them went out 
 half naked, they came into the town again with good 
 apparel." So ended the attack on Sluys. 
 
 The attack on Sluys took place in June, and .it was not 
 until this month that the Marquis Spinola returned to 
 Brussels after a long absence in Spain and Italy. Illness 
 had laid a heavy hand on the young general hence his 
 tardy return to the Netherlands. His arrival was the 
 signal for immediate action. Not being threatened by 
 another invasion of Flanders, Spinola was at liberty to act 
 on the offensive and carry out his plan for the coming 
 campaign. Having collected a large army together, he 
 divided it into nearly two equal forces, giving the com- 
 mand of one force to Bucquoy and taking the other 
 himself. Spinola's plan was to again invade Friesland. 
 L'homme propose, mats Dieu dispose. The summer of 1606 
 was an exceptionally wet one. The rivers and roads 
 became well nigh impassable and Friesland was for a time 
 turned into a swamp. For that year Friesland was safe 
 from a Spanish invasion. The Commander-in-chief of the 
 Spanish forces was not a man to attempt an impossible 
 
 1 Grimston, p. 1357.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 133 
 
 feat, merely because he had planned it when he thought it 
 was feasible. Quickly changing his tactics he determined 
 to try and penetrate into the province of Utrecht the 
 main road to Holland and Zeeland by crossing the rivers 
 Waal and Yssel. These two rivers formed a natural moat 
 for part of Guelderland, the Veluwe and Betuwe districts 1 
 (both of which are separated from the mainland by 
 different ramifications of the Rhine), and the fertile 
 province of Utrecht with its ancient capital. It was settled 
 that Bucquoy was to cross the Waal, at a place where that 
 river joins with the Rhine, and seize the town of Nymegen. 
 Spinola was to cross the Yssell at the same time and unite 
 his forces with Bucquoy's, after which all would be easy. 
 Last year's victories had emboldened Spinola as much as 
 they had disheartened Maurice. It was probably partly 
 owing to the late cavalry disaster at Broek Castle that 
 Maurice seemed so unwilling to carry war into the enemy's 
 country, and made him patiently wait for Spinola to open 
 the ball. It must be remembered, moreover, that the 
 States' finances were crippled by years of incessant 
 warfare and the maintaining a large standing army. It 
 was with some difficulty that Maurice collected an army of 
 15,000 men together, in the neighbourhood of Arnhem, on 
 the Rhine, by the middle of July. Sir Edward Cecil had 
 been sent to Doesburg in May, 2 to command the garrison 
 there, until the army was ready to take the field. 
 
 Spinola having crossed the Rhine at Ruhrort on i8th July, 
 Maurice divided his small army into two portions, giving 
 the command of one to Du Bois, an old campaigner, and 
 
 1 Veluwe signifies "barren, or unfruitful island;" Betuwe signifies "good 
 island." Batavia, the ancient name of Holland, is derived from the latter 
 word. 
 
 * Ogle to Salisbury, May 12th, 1606. " Syr Edward Cecyll is gone up to 
 Deusborow, there to comaunde till our drawing into field.'' S.P. Holland.
 
 134 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 taking command over the other himself. Du Bois had 
 orders to oppose Bucquoy's passage across the Waal. He 
 carried out his orders so well that several attempts made 
 by Bucquoy to land his troops on the other side of the 
 Waal, which was unusually swollen by rain this summer, 
 signally failed. The States' troops guarded the inner side 
 of the river along the whole length of the Batavian island, 
 while armed vessels patrolled the stream itself. 1 The 
 Yssel, 3 from Doesburg (at the union of the Old and New 
 Yssel) to Campen on the Zuyder Zee, was guarded along 
 its whole left shore by the States' troops under Maurice, 
 who had erected temporary forts at regular intervals, to 
 protect his troops and serve as defences against the enemy. 
 In vain did Spinola try to force a passage across the Yssel, 
 first in one place and then in another. Thanks to the 
 flooded state of the river, and the good look-out kept from 
 the numerous forts, the Spaniards were unable to effect a 
 crossing. It was now the end of July, and if anything was 
 to be done that season it must be effected without further 
 loss of time. Suddenly leaving the Yssel, Spinola marched 
 to Lochem, 3 which surrendered at once, having only a 
 slender garrison. He then marched to the north, and 
 made a final effort to turn Maurice's position by crossing 
 the Blackwater and seizing Geeldmuyden on the Zuyder 
 Zee. The commander of the States' troops in that quarter 
 gave the Spaniards such a warm reception that they were 
 obliged to beat a retreat after suffering a heavy loss. 
 
 1 Motley, p. 243. 
 
 " The New Yssel," says a modern geographer, " is that ramification of 
 the Rhine which diverges towards the north about three miles above Arnhem. 
 This channel was constructed 1800 years ago by the Roman general Drusus, 
 stepson of the Emperor Augustus, as far as Doesborgh, where it unites with the 
 old Yssel, thus affording direct communication between the Rhine and the 
 Zuyder Zee." 
 
 1 A small town to the east of Zutphen.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 135 
 
 Marching to the south-east, Spinola now laid siege to Groll 
 (Groenlo), a fortified town in the county of Zutphen. This 
 town was well garrisoned, and would doubtless have stood a 
 long siege had not Spinola, maddened by his unsuccessful 
 attempts to break through the chain which guarded the heart 
 of the republic, attacked the place with such fury, piling 
 on his soldiers with the recklessness which had in the end 
 conquered Ostend, that the town surrendered after an 
 eleven days' siege. 1 The possession of Groll seemed hardly 
 worth such a sacrifice of human beings, a but it was a 
 foothold for the enemy, and might perhaps serve as a 
 stepping stone for future victories. 
 
 Abandoning his schemes of conquest in the provinces 
 beyond the Yssel, which were so near and yet so far, 
 Spinola withdrew to the Rhine, and laid siege to Rhineberg 
 on August 23. "This frontier place," says Motley, "had 
 been tossed to and fro so often between the contending 
 parties in the perpetual warfare, that its inhabitants must 
 have learned to consider themselves rather as a convenient 
 circulating medium for military operations than as burghers 
 who had any part in the ordinary business of life. It had 
 old-fashioned defences of stone, which, during the recent 
 occupation by the States, had been much improved, and 
 had been strengthened with earthworks. Before it was 
 besieged Maurice sent his brother, Frederick Henry, with 
 some picked companies into the place, so that the garrison 
 amounted to three thousand effective men. 3 Spinola, rapid 
 in all his movements, had made a bridge from Ruhrort 
 over the Rhine, somewhat above Rhineberg, and invested 
 
 1 The inhabitants of Groll remained in the town when it was taken by 
 Spinola, "as if satisfied with any religion and any government." Grotius, Hist. 
 lib. xv. p. 693. 
 
 * Spinola lost nearly 1,000 men. Davies, ii. p. 399. 
 
 3 p. 244.
 
 136 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 the town on all sides, having united his forces with those of 
 Bucquoy. The Spaniards had the great advantage of 
 obtaining supplies from Cologne, and we are told that 
 " Spinola caused great store of fagots and other furniture 
 to be brought to Bercke to assaile the trenches over the 
 Rhine." l In the meantime Prince Maurice, with an army of 
 15,000 men, which included the English regiments, was 
 marching to Wesel, with the intention' either to fight a 
 battle or relieve Rhineberg. Sir John Ogle, 2 writing to 
 Salisbury from Eltem, Aug. 15/25, says of the defence 
 of Rhineberg : " I fear Syr W m Edmonds will return in no 
 tryumphe from that place, though for his particular men 
 doubt not but he will deserve honourably." The same 
 writer, in a letter to Salisbury, written ten days later from 
 the camp, near Wesel, says : 
 
 " The enemye is fortyfied on the Lippe, but if he were not I can 
 not see that the best indgments do fynde it any way convenient to 
 have attempted any thinge on that syde, the countrye is so full of 
 broken wayes and narrow passages. Some of the Captaynes of the 
 Enemyes camp lay wagers at Wesel that Berk will be lost in ten 
 dayes, we hope better ; but if he sodeynly gayne that forte w ch he 
 now assayles, 3 I fear we shall come to late to releeve it, perhapps 
 it will then be found fytt to make to this forte w ch we are now 
 about (of w ch Syr Ed. Ceecyll hath the fyrst and mayden-garde, in 
 the raysinge it), another on this syde the water, and so keep still the 
 toll of the Rhene. Tyme will shew us. I hear of an enterprize in 
 hand (but the particulars I know not) that if it take good success 
 
 1 Grimston, p. 1361. 
 
 * Frequent mention has been made of this brave officer, who was for many 
 years colonel of an English regiment in the States' service and governor of 
 Utrecht, as will hereafter appear, in critical times. Colonel Ogle was fifth 
 son of Thomas Ogle of Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, by Jane, daughter of Adlard 
 Welby, of Gedney, in the same county. He was baptized at Pinchbeck 
 Feby. 25, 1568-9 ; knighted at Woodstock Dec. I, 1603. Died in March 
 1 639~4 suid was buried in Westminster Abbey on March 17. He left issue 
 by his wife, who was a Dutch lady. Chester's Westminster Abbey Registers. 
 
 1 Probably the Weert fort.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 137 
 
 will goe ner to turne Hannibal from Rome, and make him look 
 to his owne countrye. These men had need pray for a good 
 year of the next, for if they should remayne upon theyr defensive 
 condicio" still, all the Callenders on this syde say theyr estate is 
 desperate" 1 
 
 Maurice lost an opportunity of relieving Rhineberg by 
 waiting for the arrival of a ship-bridge which he had sent 
 for. For before he had got his bridge, and raised a redoubt 
 on each side of the river Rhine to defend the passage, the 
 garrison of Rhineberg had evacuated the Weert a strongly 
 intrenched suburb near the river and retired within the 
 town. 2 This retreat occasioned by the loss of Colonel 
 Edmonds gave Spinola great advantage. When Maurice's 
 ship-bridge arrived, he threw a bridge across the Rhine 
 near Wesel, and erected a redoubt on each side "to keep 
 the toll of the Rhine," as Sir John Ogle aptly expressed it. 
 The English regiment, commanded by Colonel Edward 
 Cecil, was employed, as Meteren tells us, in making earth- 
 works to protect this bridge. 3 Colonel Cecil was also 
 employed, as Sir John Ogle has already told us, in raising 
 a fort on the Rhineberg side of the river, of which he 
 (Cecil) had the "mayden garde." A letter from Edward 
 Cecil to Robert Sidney, Viscount L'Isle, written at this 
 time, gives some idea of the passive state of Maurice's 
 army when Rhineberg was being " taken in " before their 
 eyes. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO LORD L'ISLE. 
 
 " MY WORTHY LORD, 
 
 " Your Lordship's kind Letter, and your Choyse to reccom- 
 mende your Friends to mee, hath made mee full of affection to 
 
 1 Sept. 4, stylo novo. S.P. Holland. 
 
 _ z A plan of Rhineberg, with the positions occupied by Spinola, Bucquoy, 
 and the States' army, and the forts raised by Maurice on each side of the 
 river, &c., is to be found among the S.P. Holland for August, 1606, 
 * Fo. 594, book 28.
 
 ! 2 8 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 doe you Servis ; yet I must complane of want of Messengers and 
 fulfill your Lordship's commandmente to let you know what we 
 doe heare. It is told wee have not performed so much as we did 
 expect ourselves ; for wee marched hether w th a Resolucione to 
 fight a Battel, but wee fiend Spinola so far ingaged in the Seage 
 of Rinebearke that he will not leave his hopes there to fight with 
 us. Wee lighe by Wesbell (sit:), and have made a Bridge over the 
 Rind. Wee have mustered a fare army, 15,000 Foot and 3,000 
 Horse, and this night wee are making our passage over the Lipe ; 
 but what wee shall doe God knoweth, for I fear wee worke to suer 
 and to leserly. And I am of the Miende that within these tenn 
 Dayes you shall heare the Towne loste. The Enyme having 
 gottone all the Outworkes, wheare Coronell Edmons l was slane ; 
 they of the Towne have made a sally of 2,000 menn upon the 
 Quarter of the Count of Boccoye, his Horse having been oute upon 
 a convoye, and had the execution of som 400 Menn. I will be 
 no longer, but to desier some better occasion to showe how much 
 I am, 
 
 " Your Lordship's most affectionate, 
 
 " to doe you service, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 " From our Armye, 
 by Wesbell, the last 
 of August, ould stile, i6o6." 2 
 
 The garrison of the beleaguered town made some desperate 
 sorties and inflicted great loss on the enemy. 3 The French 
 volunteers 4 who served at the defence of Rhineberg greatly 
 distinguished themselves, and one of them, Count de la 
 
 1 Colonel Sir Wm. Edmonds was killed on Sept. 3d (new style) by a 
 musket shot in the head. He was a very gallant and experienced officer, who 
 had risen by merit from the ranks. 
 
 * Given by Collins in his Sidney Papers t ii. p. 317. 
 
 3 ' ' We say here that the enemie hath suffered great loss of men before 
 Berck." Ogle to Salisbury Sept. 8, also Sept. 14. S.P. Holland. 
 
 4 The Prince de Soubise, the Count de la Fleche, and other Frenchmen of 
 rank were in Rhineberg. Grimston, p. 1362.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 139 
 
 Fleche, was taken prisoner in one of the sorties. 1 On I3th 
 Sept. (new style) Maurice brought most of his forces over 
 the Lippe, and assailed Spinola's fort at the mouth of that 
 river, which was yielded up. Soon after this a deputation 
 from the States-General came to Maurice's camp, and 
 urged him very strongly to risk a battle with the enemy in 
 order to relieve Rhineberg, which could not possibly hold 
 out much longer. The Prince refused, giving as his reasons 
 for his supineness that Spinola was too strongly intrenched 
 and in too great force. He also declared that a successful 
 battle could at the best only give them the town, while a 
 defeat would put the whole country in danger. 2 These 
 arguments were quite .unanswerable, and however disap- 
 pointing and humiliating this cautious policy was to the 
 States-General, and to Maurice's eager troops, they had to 
 abide by the Prince's decision. 
 
 On October 2nd Rhineberg capitulated and the garrison 
 marched out with the honours of war. 
 
 Sir Thomas Edmonds, in a letter to the Earl of Shrews- 
 bury, says : 
 
 " The Count Maurice hath laid all the time with an army of 
 13.000 foot and 3,000 horse within two leagues of Berk, but made 
 no attempt for the succouring of the town, only at the same time 
 of the rendering of Berk he went about to surprise the town of 
 Venlo, which place if he could have carried, would have fully re- 
 compensed his other loss, but he failed of that enterprise." 3 
 
 It was at this low state of the tide in the affairs of the 
 United Provinces that an unexpected ally came to the 
 rescue. This ally was mutiny. Heavy failures on the Genoa 
 Stock Exchange brought the credit of the Marquis Spinola, 
 
 _' Ibid. Eighty French gentlemen, many of them of high birth, served at 
 the defence of Rhineberg. 
 1 Meteren, p. 594. 
 * Lodge's Illustration of British History, iii. p. 191.
 
 I4O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 which for long had been shaky, to the ground, with a great 
 crash. He could no longer raise money to pay his army. 
 Mutiny ensued as an inevitable consequence, and the fine 
 army commanded by Spinola dwindled away to nothing. 
 Once more the mutineers seized the town of Hoogstradt, 
 and began a guerilla warfare on their own account. 
 " These miscreants," says Meteren, " were accustomed to go 
 about with straw in their hats, to signify that they would 
 immediately set fire to any place where they were refused 
 contributions, and to send letters to the same effect, burnt 
 at the corner and headed by a picture of a naked sword. 
 Neither were they a whit less ready with the execution 
 than the threat, in case their demands were not instantly 
 complied with." 1 Now was the time for Maurice to 
 retrieve his fame, and win back the places lost to the States 
 in the last two years. On October 24 he came before 
 Lochem, which he speedily retook. He next besieged 
 Groll. " But the rain," says Motley, " which during nearly 
 the whole campaign had been his potent ally, had of late 
 been playing him false. The swollen Yssel, during a brief 
 period of dry weather, had sunk so low in certain shallows 
 as not to be navigable for his transports, and after his trains 
 of artillery and ammunitions had been dragged wearily 
 overland as far as Groll, the deluge had returned in such 
 force, that physical necessity, as well as considerations of 
 humanity, compelled him to defer his intrenching operations 
 until the weather should moderate." 2 Delay, however 
 necessary, is generally fatal when there is anything to be 
 acquired, as Time works great changes, and makes things 
 that appeared impossible yesterday quite possible to-day. 
 Here is an instance. Spinola, who was thought to be 
 incapable of giving further trouble that year, by reason of 
 
 1 Book xxviii. fol. 596 J p. 247.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 141 
 
 his army being broken up by open revolt, appeared suddenly 
 before Groll with an army of 8,000 men, raised by super- 
 human efforts out of the wreck of his great army. Wearied 
 with a long march, and in numbers less than half of the 
 States' army, the Spaniards seemed to be an easy prey 
 for Maurice's troops. Maurice had taken up a strong 
 position on hearing of Spinola's advance, and his troops, 
 despite the sickness in their camp, were eager for battle. 
 To their horror and astonishment their commander-in-chief 
 refused the combat, and, giving immediate orders for raising 
 the siege, broke up his camp and withdrew his army ! The 
 troops were most indignant, and it is recorded that the 
 French troops in Maurice's army loudly exclaimed that 
 they must always seek for hiding places from the enemy, 
 if they were to fly before him now when feeble and ex- 
 hausted with cold, wet, and long marches." l 
 
 The same day that Maurice withdrew from before Groll, 
 Spinola relieved that place. Groll was saved, and the war 
 for that year, and for many years to come, was over. 
 
 Many reasons have been given by historians for Maurice's 
 inexplicable conduct on this occasion. Whatever the 
 reason was that made him refuse to fight, when all the 
 odds were in his favour, we may be very sure it was 
 not from cowardice. Had Maurice been fighting for a 
 Crown, and had he been his own free agent, Spinola would 
 not have relieved Groll so easily. 
 
 Early in January, 1607, the Archdukes, by means of com- 
 missioners sent to the Hague for the purpose, intimated to 
 the States-General that they would be glad to receive 
 proposals for an -armistice. After many negotiations be- 
 tween the States-General and the Archdukes, in which the 
 former upheld their national rights, their liberty, and their 
 
 1 Quoted by Davies, ii. p. 401.
 
 142 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 readiness to continue the war, if Spain did not recognise 
 the United Provinces as a free and independent nation, 
 an armistice was concluded on April 24, by which the 
 belligerents mutually agreed to a suspension of hostilities for 
 eight months. It was also agreed that negotiations should 
 go on between the two contracting parties to settle the 
 terms of a truce for ten, fifteen, or twenty years, with the 
 distinct understanding that the Archdukes recognised the 
 independence of the United Provinces. 
 
 However welcome an eight months' truce, with a pro- 
 bability of peace to follow, might be to the citizens of the 
 United Provinces, it was by no means palatable to Prince 
 Maurice, who had been a soldier from his boyhood and to 
 whom military glory was more dear than anything. " The 
 Count Maurice is much troubled with this treaty and much 
 feareth a peace," wrote Sir John Ogle to Salisbury, soon 
 after the truce was made public. 1 
 
 A long peace, of course, meant a great reduction in the 
 States' army. Soldiers who lived by war would find the 
 Netherlands a poor field for fame and fortune, and many 
 would be thrown out of their employment by being reduced. 
 This unsatisfactory look out naturally made the English 
 officers serving in the States' army anxious about their 
 future, and those who had friends at Court were not likely 
 to neglect the opportunity of asking for their friends' 
 help at this crisis in their lives. Colonel Edward Cecil's 
 military ambition, and desire for advancement, prompted 
 him at this time to ask his uncle for his interest in ob- 
 taining for him the high post of " President of Munster," 
 then vacant. 
 
 1 Ogle to Salisbury, " from the Haghe, July 13, 1607." S. P. Holland. See 
 also a speech made by Prince Maurice in the Assembly of the States-General 
 against granting a peace. Bentivoglio, p. 442.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 143 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIP, 
 
 " I have found my harte so resoulved allwaye to honore y, 
 that I should doe it much ronge in not hoping of y r favore, 
 espetially in a busines that concerneth my howle fortunes, booth 
 in regarde of my reputation and my perticular contentment, 
 considering that as I have taken paynes so many yeares out of 
 my contrye, speante of my owne perticular estate (all to make 
 my selfe able to serve his Ma*.), having neclected meanes to 
 inriche my purse, in regarde to y r . lo. continuale incoragemente to 
 be advanced. Not fiending any thing to hinder my presant 
 fortune, but as y r lo. hath towld mee, that I have not lived in 
 the Contrye wheare I desier to command. It is very true that 
 I never was in lerland. Yet I have traveled in many Contryes, 
 and sceanc [since] have commanded booth horse and foote, and 
 as a Governer of a Towne, 1 and good commands doe much 
 resemble on a nother, and w th y r lo. favore and instructions, I 
 can not confess my selfe uncapable of the presedent of Munster. 
 But if y r lo. be curyous in regarde y would not have mee preferred 
 in a contrye wheare others have takene paynes, y r lo. will give 
 mee leave to speake thus much for my selfe, that at my going in to 
 the lowe Contryes, the Queene had noe Armye in lerland. And 
 that my eand [end] was that in going to the beast scoule, I might 
 have the better prefermente ; besides I howld it noe diferenc 
 betwixt him that scearves the Kinge and those that venter as 
 much to be able to serve him unless his quallety and command 
 hath beeyne better. Yet I howld the Kings servis to be preferred 
 before all other respects, and if y r lo. shall thincke mee worthy of 
 the place I sue for, I can not be to earnest, hoping that as I have 
 the honore to be y r nephue and that I doe not presume of it, so 
 it shall be noe hinderance to mee. I can never hope for a better 
 occation. Theare fore I sett up my reaste that if ever y r lo. 
 thincke mee worthy 'of advansment, y will thincke mee worthy 
 of this ; for that none can come to this plase w th out y r leading, nor 
 
 1 Th'.s is ambiguous, but seems to imply that Edward Cecil was, or had 
 been, governor of a town ?
 
 144 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 none that is more suerly tyed to praye for y r lo. longe and happie 
 life as 
 
 " Y r lo. most diutefull and obedient servant 
 
 "as well as Nphue, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 "this present thursdaye." 1 
 
 Add. " To the Rig h honorable and his singular good lo. the 
 Earle of Salcburye, lo. Scecritary of Eingland, &." 
 
 End. " 1607. Sir Edward Cecyll to my Lord." 
 
 This letter produced no results, and the Presidency of 
 Munster was bestowed on Sir Henry Danvers, who had 
 been created, in 1603, Baron Danvers of Dantsey, in the 
 county Wilts, a distinguished soldier. Curious to say 
 Lord Danvers was first cousin to Edward Cecil on his 
 mother's side. 2 
 
 The twelve months' armistice was passed in active nego- 
 tiations between the commissioners representing Philip III., 
 King of Spain, and the Archduke, and the commissioners 
 representing the United Provinces of the Netherlands. 
 Conspicuous among the former were the Marquis Spinola, 
 Don Juan de Mancicidor, private secretary to the King of 
 Spain, and President Richardot. The chief man among 
 the States' envoys, was John of Olden Barneveld the heart 
 and soul, life and strength, upholder and supporter of his 
 country's rights. The Spanish commissioners had arrived 
 at the Hague on the last of January, 1607-8, and were 
 sumptuously lodged there. The negotiations between the 
 rival envoys were stormy and perplexing, and it was long 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfidd, 12/2. 
 
 * Henry Lord Danvers was second son of Sir John Danvers of Dantsey, Co. 
 Wilts, by Elizabeth his wife, youngest daughter and co-heir of John Nevill, 
 last Lord Latimer. Lord Danvers served in the Low Country wars under 
 Maurice of Nassau, and was knighted for his services in France. He was 
 Lieut-General of the horse, under the Earl of Essex, in Ireland, and was created 
 Eail of Danby in 1626. He died s.p. 1643.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 145 
 
 doubtful whether it would be peace or renewed war. 
 Another desponding letter concerning the future of the 
 States' army from Edward Cecil to his uncle, written at 
 this time, gives a soldier's view of the anticipated peace a 
 view doubtless entertained by all the English officers in the 
 States' service. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE v r LORDSHIP, 
 
 " At my coming to the Hage, I did thincke it strange to fiend 
 the odes [odds] to be on they warres side. But 7 dayes after 
 it was turned like a Cocke pitt mache, and continues so 'much 
 the stronger, as the Artikell of the Trade to the Indies is passed, 1 
 w ch was all the hope wee souldiers had on our sid that it would 
 not have beeyne. For the greater busines heare I leave to those 
 that should know them better, that ar ordayned to that eand, only 
 I can say thus much, that the pople heare that are protistans ar 
 so indiferent that this 40 years warr have horned them so that 
 they thincke the should live better in warr then in pease. As for 
 the Papists they desier pease upon there knees, so that if it prove 
 pease I shall wishe my selfe a Papist to be the better contented. 
 For our tropes the busines is not as yet handled, only the speake 
 of keeping up of there ammye [army], but the will cassere [cashier] 
 many, and yet howlde on there contrybusion for some 10 years. 
 But if the make pease, I looke for noe other but every yeare the 
 will cassere so many that there Armye will not stand. And as 
 every mann begines to seecke for his beast meanes, so I must 
 confess I have non can healpe mee but y r lo. w ch I know is so 
 honorable, that if for these 10 yeares I have followed the warres 
 I have deserved anything, that y r lo. will remember mee. If not, 
 I shall thincke my selfe borne in an ill hower, to have spent my 
 tyme, and all I have in the worlde, and to see so many at home, 
 
 1 This is a mistake. The rights claimed by the Dutch for their East India 
 trade were violently opposed by the Spaniards all through the year 1608, and 
 the -refusal of the Dutch to renounce their India trade nearly brought the 
 negotiations to an untimely end. It was not till February, 1609, that the 
 Dutch commissioners gained their point and secured the India trade to the 
 republic. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 w tt out paines, profitt so much. I doubte not but y r lo. is 
 scencible of a mann of my rancke that hath lived like a Coronell, 
 and must come home and live like a younger brother that was 
 comde from the Inns of Corte. 
 
 " I feare if my misfortune be so bad, it will conferme many 
 mennes judgements, that thought it safe to stay at home. I have 
 gon farder then I did thincke to have don, therefore I will 
 conclud, and as I have from theye begining only soughte to y r lo. 
 for my fortune, so will I till the eand of my life, and never cease, 
 but pray dayly for y r lo. long and happe life as the hope of 
 " Y* lo. most humble and most affetionatt 
 
 " Nephe and servant, 
 
 "Eo. CECYLL. 
 " From uttricke, 
 
 the 12 of Marche." 1 
 
 Add. " To the Rig b honorable and his very good lo. the Earle 
 of Salsbury, Scecritary of Eingland, and one of his Ma* most 
 honorable prive Counsell." 
 
 End. " 12 Martii, 1607.2 S r Edw. Cecill from the Haghe "[?] 
 
 No private soldier could be more adverse to peace than 
 was Maurice of Nassau, and he was only won over to the 
 peace party at the eleventh hour, by Barneveld stipulating 
 with the Spanish commissioners, that an army of thirty 
 thousand men should be maintained by the States during 
 the proposed truce with Spain. 3 
 
 1 This is the last letter from Edward Cecil to his uncle that I have been able 
 to find. Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 201/122. 
 
 ' March 12, 1608, new style. Two months after this letter was written, 
 Edward Cecil had the misfortune to lose his mother, who died in London, May 
 22, 1608, and was interred in St. John Baptist's Chapel, Westminster Abbey. 
 See Stanley's Westminster Abbey, and Chester's Registers of Westminster 
 Abbey, p. 1 20. 
 
 * Sir Richard Spencer and Sir Ralph Winwood, who represented the King 
 of Great Britain at the Conference at the Hague, mention, in a letter to 
 Salisbury, dated February 28th, 1607-8, that the negotiators on the Arch- 
 duke's side were particularly anxious for peace, " especially the Marquis 
 (Spinola), whose colo* as he treateth is observed to come and goe, as the 
 Buisines is in hope to avaunce, or in danger to recule." S.P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 147 
 
 On April 9, 1609, a truce for twelve years was signed 
 by the deputies of the States-General and the Arch- 
 dukes, and speedily ratified by the States-General and the 
 Archdukes. The King of Spain's signature was still 
 wanting, but that also was obtained after a truly Spanish 
 delay. 
 
 The United Provinces had gained a great victory, for 
 they had secured " peace with honour." ' They had not 
 undergone forty years of incessant war for nothing. Their 
 gigantic struggle was rewarded by the declaration of their 
 independence by the sovereign who claimed them for 
 subjects " by the right of inheritance." They had secured 
 a trade with India which was soon to make their small 
 country one of the richest in Europe, and last, but greatest 
 victory of all, they had established on a firm basis the 
 Protestant religion within their Provinces. 
 
 From a list of the States' troops for 1608, we find that Sir 
 Edward Cecil's troop of horse (cuirassiers) was 100 strong, 
 and his private foot company 275 strong ; Colonel Horace 
 Vere's being 276, and Colonel Ogle's 200 strong. 1 In 1609 
 the foot companies of all nations had to be reduced. The 
 reduction seems only to have been in men, and the fair 
 dealing of the States by their foreign troops, which had 
 served them so very faithfully, is shown in the following 
 letter from a Mr. Turner to Lord Salisbury, dated from the 
 Hague, May 20, i6o9. 2 
 
 " SIR, Since my former, having mett w th no timely messenger, 
 the proceedinge of the States in the reduction of their Armie, 
 hath given me further matter of relation. Before they sate downe 
 to enacte anythinge touchinge theire Strangers, they caused a 
 
 J S.P. Holland, 1608, fo. 239, et seq. 
 
 2 The copy of this letter, preserved among the S.P. Holland for 1609, has 
 no signature. It is endorsed " M r Turner, from the Haige, 20 May, 1609, 
 p. M r ten (sic) 26 May, 1609." 
 
 L 2
 
 148 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 generall muster to be taken of the companies of their owne nation, 
 and reduced them downe to the number of 70; some of them 
 havinge been 200, some 150, and the least 113. This was a kind 
 of prognostication, consequently inducinge the strangers (whome 
 they purposed to deale w th after the same manner) to submitt 
 them selves to the like w th more patience, consideringe they made 
 their owne nation an example of the worst the stranger should 
 suffer. And I thinke the English had stooptd to it, had it not 
 been (that when by speciall order the States came to proceed 
 further) the private companies of the French were ordeined to 
 stand at 100*" and the English at 7o les , this made the English 
 chiefts seeke for redresse. The States at first (wi tb out seeminge to 
 understand the emulation between the English and French) 
 begann to dispute the poinct in generall te a rmes of reason, w th out 
 respect to that circumstance, and asked our collonels why they 
 should stand so stiffly for the satisfaction of such demands, 
 consideringe that first they could not be ignorant, the present 
 condition of their states required an ease of their charge, in w h 
 regarde if they cast many of their captaines, the example of all 
 princes in like cases would excuse them. And therefore, since 
 they continued all officers, only discharginge some souldiers w ch 
 they must necessarily doe, they had an opinion the couse they 
 tooke would rather be reputed honorable, then any way worthy 
 of mislike. And much the rather for that the deduction of 
 number would not lessen the captains pay (all standing at an 
 equality in that point) unlesse they hoped to increase it by 
 unlawfull means, w 011 they would not thincke would be any 
 ground of their pretence. The collonells answered, that the 
 course their Lordships tooke in generall, or for every nation 
 particularly in respect only of itselfe (if it might so barely be 
 understoode), was altogether worthy to be acknowledged hon- 
 orable ; but their order taken w th the English, understood com- 
 paratively in respect of the French, did lay some touch of 
 dishonour, or at least neglect of their nation in particular, and 
 therfor requird them for their honours sake, to request their 
 Lordships to remember that the English have deserved as well 
 in their war as the French, and therefore hoped to have as good 
 a condition in their peace. To this the States replyed that
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 149 
 
 whatsoever the French enioyed above the English, it came 
 whollie out of the gratious allowance of their kinge, and was no 
 worke of theirs. Then they insisted, and the collonels departed 
 w** discontentment. The next day, the States sent for them 
 againe, and gave them 50 men a peece more for their owne 
 companies and made their levetenant collonels ioo ths thinkinge 
 w th this particular pleasure to have satisfyed them. But the 
 Collonels (because it should be scene it was no private respect to 
 themselves, but a regarde in generall to the honor and good of 
 their nation that moved them to speake) prefered a Remonstra- 
 tion to the States givinge them thos fiveties of their owne back 
 againe towards the augmentation of the pravate companies, and 
 comended their cause to their Lordships further consideration, w ch 
 at length made them grant 400 more, beside the hundreth that S r 
 Horace Vere and S r Edward Cecyll returde back to be distributed 
 thorough the nation at that discretion of the chiefes. So that all 
 the Collonels are projected to stand at 200*, the Leevtenant 
 Collonels at ioo th , and the rest at go 168 , 8o ie ", and 7o ies , accordinge 
 to their chiefs favor or their owne desarte. Only S r Thomas 
 Horwell 1 and S r Henry Carew 2 who are each of them ioo th . 
 This is project of the Collonels ; and will stand (if noe new 
 conceipte of the States contradict it) that States continued, will 
 holde 5000 English still in pay. Commissaries are presently to 
 be dispatched away for the guarrisons to performe the deduction. 
 
 "Sir Tho. Horewell had his Ex lie " favour very freely shewed 
 him, in speakinge that his condition (for his honours sake, because 
 he had formerly held place of extraordinarie respect) might be 
 extraordinarylie allowed him. And in that difference of number 
 (I thinke) he shall prevaile. 
 
 " I humbli comand my love and service to you, and continue 
 
 " Your worship to 
 
 be comaunded. 
 " I beseech excuse my rude hast." 
 
 In the autumn of this year, namely on August 28, 1609, 
 
 1 Sir Thomas Horwell was one of the 300 gentlemen knighted by James I. 
 on July 23rd, 1603, at Whitehall. Nichols' Progresses of James I. 
 9 Sir Henry Gary.
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 died Sir Francis Vere, at his home in Essex, aged 54.* He 
 had been appointed on June iSth, 1606, Governor of 
 Portsmouth for life, 2 and while holding that appointment 
 had greatly improved the fortifications of that important 
 place. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a 
 splendid monument, with suitable inscription, was erected 
 to his memory by his widow. 3 The epigram given in 
 Camden's Remains* is a more worthy epitaph to this truly 
 great soldier : 
 
 " When Vere sought Death, arm'd with his sword and sheild, 
 Death was afraid to meet him in the Feild ; 
 But when his weapon he had laid aside, 
 Death like a coward strooke him and he dy'd." 
 
 Francis Vere has been often mentioned in these 
 pages, but not as often as could be wished. It is left for 
 some able writer to write his life, and whatever his faults 
 of temper and character may have been, as a soldier and 
 leader he was second to none amongst the soldiers of his 
 time. The martial Elizabeth recognised his superior 
 military capacity when she called him "her greatest 
 captain." He died too soon, but lived to see the curtain 
 drop on the first act in the great game of war, in which he 
 himself had played such a leading part, which was being 
 enacted in the Low Countries. " Di che moriva Signer 
 Francisco Vere ? asked the great general Spinola of Sir 
 Edward Herbert, some years after Vere's death. " Per 
 aver niente a fare," said Herbert. " E basta per un generale," 
 replied Spinola. 6 
 
 1 Biog. Brit. art. " Vere." 
 
 7 Grant, June, 1606. S.P. Dom. 
 
 * Sir F. Vere married Elizabeth Dent, by whom he had several children 
 who predeceased him. Biog. Brit. 
 
 * p. 401-5. 
 
 * Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, p. 102.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 151 
 
 Two important posts became vacant by Vere's death, 
 viz., the commands at the Brill, in Holland, and at Ports- 
 mouth, in England. The Earl of Exeter wrote to his half- 
 brother, Lord Salisbury, three days after Sir Francis Vere's 
 decease, begging him to bestow one of the vacant posts 
 on his (Lord Exeter's) son, Sir Edward Cecil. This letter 
 is couched in the courteous and respectful language used 
 by our forefathers in their letters to both strangers and 
 relatives. The style, however hyperbolical and flattering it 
 may sometimes appear, is more agreeable than some of the 
 matter-of-fact letters of the present day. 
 
 LORD EXETER TO LORD SALISBURY. 
 
 " MY LORD, occasions dyscover all thynges, and this particular 
 occasio w ch is falle by the death of Sir Franncis Vere, wherby 
 two of his offices are voyde, I hope by th'obtayn'g of one of them 
 for my son Edward through yor favour, wherof I doubt not, wyll 
 dyscover the trew affectio of an uncle to a nephew, and the trew 
 honour of yor noble nature to advace them that you shall hold 
 fytt for ether of those places, wherby you shall not oly bynd hym 
 in cheanes of love and trew respect to doe you servyce, but herby 
 advaunce the honour of yor house w h honorable myndes doe for 
 the most part respect, and so my good Lord remebri'g my trew 
 love unto you w oh shall the much more be encreased by this 
 occasio, I wyll allwayes rest 
 
 "Yo r trew affectionat 
 " Brother to coma'd, 
 
 " EXETER." 1 
 
 The above letter was delivered to Lord Salisbury by 
 Sir Edward Cecil, 2 who was then in England. It speaks 
 well for Lord Salisbury's upright and fair dealing that he 
 
 1 This letter is addressed " To the right honb 1 ' my verie good Lo. and D. 
 Brother, the Earle of Salisbury, Lo. High Treasurer of England" 
 
 2 The endorsement of above letter proves this : " Erie of Exeter to my Lo. 
 by S r Edward Cecill, the last of August, 1609." S.P. Dom.
 
 152 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 did not show favour to his own family, at the expense of 
 others who merited advancement for their services to the 
 State. Lord Arundel of Wardour solicited the captaincy 
 of the Brill, or of Portsmouth, from Salisbury, in considera- 
 tion of his having spent 18,000 in the service of King 
 James and Mary Queen of Scots, 1 but his claim was also 
 rejected, and the post at the Brill was bestowed on Colonel 
 Sir Horace Vere, 2 who richly merited the preferment. 
 Portsmouth was given to William Herbert, Earl of 
 Pembroke, 3 " one of the most agreeable men of his time." 
 
 Blood is thicker than water, and it is only natural for a 
 man to help his family on in the world when he has the 
 opportunity, but an honourable nature will never stoop to 
 injustice, or undue partiality, in order to gratify family 
 pride or the ties of kinship, however close. And it would 
 have been unjust and partial dealing in the uncle to have 
 bestowed the Presidency of Munster, the governorship of the 
 Brill or of Portsmouth on his nephew, when there were 
 prior claimants for these high posts. Robert Cecil lived in 
 an age when bribery and jobbery of all kinds were freely 
 exercised in the highest positions. To his everlasting credit 
 be it spoken, he passed through the ordeal of supreme 
 power with clean hands. Spanish gold never found its way 
 into his purse, and had his life been spared for ten years 
 longer than it was, the reign of James I. would doubtless 
 have left a brighter page in England's history than it un- 
 fortunately did. 
 
 1 Lord Arundel to Salisbury, Sept. 8, 1609. S.P. Dom. 
 
 3 Appointed i8th Oct., 7th Jas. I. Biog. Brit. 
 
 * " Oct. 16, 1609. Grant to the Earl of Pembroke of the offices of Keeper 
 and Captain of the Town and Isle of Portsmouth, Constable of Porchester 
 Castle, and Lieut, of Southbear Forest for life." S.P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL 153 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 1609-1610. 
 
 War clouds Death of the mad Duke of Cleves Claimants to his duchies 
 Leopold of Austria seizes Juliers The political situation Attitude of 
 France and the United Provinces The champion of Protestantism Great 
 Britain's interest in the Cleves succession 4,000 Britons to be sent to 
 Juliers Sir E. Cecil appointed general and commander-in-chief of the 
 British contingent His departure from England Preparations for war in 
 France and the United Provinces Assassination of Henry IV. Anarchy 
 and confusion in France Contentions between the French peace and war 
 parties Result Lord Salisbury on the situation March of the Dutch and 
 British forces to Cleveland Arrival before Juliers The Prince of Anhalt 
 Description of Gulich or Juliers Commencement of the siege Choosing 
 positions Dutch jealousy Details of the siege Valour and activity of 
 the British commander Sir Edward Herbert His account of the siege 
 Other accounts Recent adventures of Archduke Leopold His lack of 
 means The broken reed on which he leant for support The new governor 
 of Juliers Journal of the siege Winwood's letters His praise of General 
 Cecil General Cecil's letter to Henry, Prince of Wales Difficulties of 
 the siege Arrival of the French army Good artillery practice Its effect 
 on the fortifications A civilian's impatience The last struggles of the 
 garrison Surrender Terms Restoration of the disinherited princes 
 Further proceedings of Leopold of Austria Father Baldwin His capture 
 Is sent to London 1 General Cecil's despatch to the Prince of Wales 
 The Cologne conference Unsatisfactory results. 
 
 AT the very time that the two belligerents in the Nether- 
 lands were busily employed in burying the war hatchet 
 each party to the wished for truce doing their best to bury 
 it so deep that it would be a difficult task for the one to 
 dig it up again without giving timely notice to the other 
 a storm was brewing, which would, sooner or later, burst 
 over the Protestant Netherlands, and spread devastation 
 through Protestant Germany, before the fury of the 
 tempest should be spent. The first dark cloud on the
 
 154 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 horizon of peace was caused by an apparently trivial 
 occurrence. But, as often happens, even now, a trivial 
 occurrence produced the most serious after-results. The 
 cloud no bigger than a man's hand is the first warning of 
 the coming tempest ; and no cloud, however small, that 
 overcasts the political horizon can be disregarded by those 
 who study the signs of the times. 
 
 In the spring of 1609 died the mad Duke of Cleves 
 without issue. In default of male heirs, the succession 
 was claimed by the representatives of the duke's three 
 deceased sisters, also by the youngest and last surviving 
 sister of the deceased duke. The eldest sister had married 
 Albert Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of 
 Prussia. The second sister had married the Count of 
 Neuburg. The third had married the Count of Deux- 
 Ponts ; and the fourth, who survived her brother, had 
 married, late in life, the Margrave of Burgau, by whom 
 she had no issue. 
 
 The mad duke's duchies were claimed by John Sigis- 
 mund, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, 
 son of the eldest sister ; Philip Lewis, Count of Neuburg, 
 son of the second sister ; the Count of Deux-Ponts, and the 
 Margrave of Burgau. These were the four principal 
 claimants, and, as will presently appear, the Elector of 
 Brandenburg was the rightful heir to the duchies. 
 
 In 1572, William, Duke of Juliers and Cleves, father of 
 the last duke, settled the succession on the marriage of 
 his eldest daughter to Albert, Elector of Brandenburg, on 
 her and her children, in case of the extinction of the male 
 line in his family. In making this settlement the duke 
 was guided by the example of the first Duke of Cleves, 
 who, in 1418, settled the succession on his eldest son, and 
 on him only, his brothers being excluded from any share 
 in it, and in default of male heirs to him, to his eldest
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 155 
 
 daughter, exclusive of other daughters. 1 A like anti-Salic 
 settlement was made in 1496, when the only daughter of 
 William, Duke of Juliers and Berg, married John, son of the 
 reigning Duke of Cleves, thus uniting the two territories. 
 These successive decrees had completely cut out many 
 German princes from the right of succession at some 
 future time, however nearly allied in blood to the House of 
 Cleves. Having shown that John Sigismund, Elector of 
 Brandenburg, was by settlement and birth heir to the 
 duchies on his uncle's decease, it is now necessary to show 
 his superior claims over the three other principal claimants 
 already named. 
 
 When the second daughter of the old Duke of Cleves 
 married in 1574 the Count of Neuburg, it was agreed in 
 the marriage contract that the elder sister and her 
 children were at all times to be recognised as the heirs to 
 the duchies, if the male line became extinct. In 1575, 
 Ann, Countess of Neuburg, and her husband renounced the 
 succession to the duchies, in consideration of an augmen- 
 tation of their marriage portion. Her sister Magdalen 
 made the same renunciation on her marriage with the 
 Count of Deux-Ponts four years later. 2 The youngest 
 sister, Sibylla, who married Charles of Austria, Margrave 
 of Burgau, was not called upon to make this renunciation, 
 partly it is said from her marriage portion not being 
 forthcoming, and partly from her brother's deranged state 
 of mind. Her claims, however, were nowhere, and caused 
 no uneasiness to the three other competitors. Whilst 
 these rival claimants were disputing about the succession to 
 the duchies of Cleves and Juliers and the earldoms of 
 La Marck, Berg, Ravensberg and Ravenstein, the Emperor 
 Rudolph, as head of the German Empire, pretended that it 
 
 1 Sully 's Memoirs, iii. pp. 178-9. 2 Ibid.
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 was his right to hold the duchies until the affair was 
 decided. Going on the old principle that " might makes 
 right, " and also that when " rogues fall out honest men get 
 their due," the Emperor despatched Leopold of Austria, 
 Bishop of Strasburg, to Juliers to take possession of the 
 prize. The Prince-Bishop, entering the duchy of Juliers, 
 seized the capital city and put a strong garrison into it. 
 This unexpected proceeding convincing the Elector of 
 Brandenburg and the Count of Neuburg that it would be 
 better to share the duchies than let them be usurped by 
 the Emperor, they joined in a league, and taking possession 
 of the rest of the late duke's dominions, appealed to 
 France and the United Provinces for aid. 
 
 Had the disputed duchies been on the borders of Italy, 
 or even to the east of Saxony, the wrongs of the German 
 princes, and the rapacity of the House of Austria, might 
 not have caused much uneasiness to the King of France. 
 But the debatable land lay on the frontiers of France, and 
 the Emperor was a formidable neighbour to have so near. 
 A Roman Catholic power in Cleves meant destruction to 
 the United Provinces, which Provinces Henry IV. had 
 reasons of his own for supporting against Spain and 
 Austria. It was all important, therefore, to uphold the 
 Elector of Bradenburg's claims to the duchies, and by so 
 doing Henry'saw his way to humble the House of Austria, 
 to readjust the balance of power in Europe, bringing 
 France to the highest position amongst European nations 
 that she had yet filled. All this Henry hoped to effect by 
 showing his " disinterested generosity towards persecuted 
 princes." 1 The United Provinces had no choice but to 
 uphold the Elector of Brandenburg, and it was of the 
 utmost importance to them that a Protestant prince with 
 
 1 Sully, p. 182.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 157 
 
 no Spanish proclivities, 1 should hold the duchies. Here 
 then were two nations, both holding different religions, 
 united together against the Austro-Spanish faction. 
 
 James Stuart, King of Great Britain and Ireland, as 
 champion by inheritance of the Protestant faith in Europe, 
 had already been applied to by the disinherited princes, and 
 his alliance, offensive and defensive, asked for by the 
 prince's ambassadors. The champion was quite ready to 
 recognise the fact that either Brandenburg or Neuburg was 
 de jure heir to the disputed duchies. He even went so far 
 as to assert that Brandenburg had the best rights of the 
 two claimants, but instead of throwing down his gauntlet 
 and challenging any one to take it up and fight him, who 
 did not believe the Elector of Brandenburg to be the 
 rightful heir to the duchies, he merely offered to bring 
 about a reconciliation between the Emperor and the 
 princes, and so settle the disputed succession in an 
 amicable manner. 2 It is not always an easy matter to 
 reconcile two individuals who were once friends, but have 
 come to loggerheads about some trifling cause, but it is a 
 very difficult thing if not an impossibility to reconcile 
 the three claimants to a rich estate, and make two of them 
 give way to one, or even one of them give way to two. 
 The weakest must go to the wall, and he knows it full well, 
 but he does not go of his own free will, or love the hand 
 that sends him there. Neither can he be reconciled to 
 staying there if he thinks he sees his way to reversing the 
 tables and taking a front rank place. In the case of the 
 disputed duchies, the two senior heirs-at-law knew if they 
 renounced their claims now that they renounced them for 
 evermore, as there was another powerful claimant pressing 
 
 1 The late Duke of Cleves had privately supported the Spaniards. Ibid. 
 
 2 The manifesto of James I. for settling the affairs of Juliers and Cleves, 
 was dated July 15, 1609. Winwood's Memorials, iii. pp. 53-4.
 
 158 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 to the front, and ready to assert his rights, whom the 
 Emperor openly favoured, in order to make his seizure of 
 Juliers appear an act of justice and on behalf of this 
 claimant, Christian II., the Elector of Saxony. 1 
 
 The efforts of the British peacemaker to reconcile the 
 Emperor to his disobedient vassals totally failed. France 
 and the United Provinces having agreed to send a large 
 army to Juliers to co-operate with the forces of the princes 
 in driving Leopold out of Juliers, and reinstating the two 
 princes, James could not well keep neutral in the coming 
 war, which was really a religious struggle between the 
 Protestants and Roman Catholics. After receiving envoys 
 from France, from the States, and from the princes, and 
 hearing how much the two former nations were going to 
 adventure in the Cleves campaign, the British champion of 
 the Protestant faith ultimately consented to furnish four 
 thousand infantry soldiers to assist the cause of the 
 German princes. Why should Great Britain, it may be 
 asked, who was at peace with all Europe, be drawn into a 
 German quarrel in which she had no concern ? France 
 had her own interests to protect, and her own policy of 
 aggrandisement to pursue, in rushing into war. The 
 United Provinces had their whole future safety at stake in 
 the issue of the Cleves succession, but Great Britain seemed 
 removed from all gain and loss, whatever the issue might 
 be. She might have been quite justified in maintaining a 
 
 1 "The Emperor Frederick III. did grant unto Albert, Duke of Saxe, in 
 respect of his service against Charles, Duke of Burgundy, and afterwards 
 against the King of Hungary, the Dukedoms of Juliers and Berg, if by death 
 of William, Duke of Juliers and Berg, or by any other means, that dukedom 
 should devolve to the Empire. This grant was afterwards confirmed by the 
 Emperor Maximilian, first to the said Albert, Duke of Saxe, and to his 
 brother Ernest, and to their heirs male." Extract from the claims made by 
 the Elector of Saxony to the duchies of Juliers and Berg, &c. S. P. Holland, 
 1610.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 159 
 
 benign neutrality in these days, but at the time treated of 
 there was every prospect of a religious war throughout 
 Northern Europe, which would either establish the Pro- 
 testant faith on a firm and lasting basis in many countries, 
 or else turn the balance of power in favour of the Roman 
 Catholics, and materially check, for many a long day, the 
 rapid growth of those countries which had lately adopted 
 the reformed religion. This is why the Cleves succession, 
 which was a pivot on which mighty events might turn, 
 was a matter of importance to Great Britain. Added to 
 this, both France and the United Provinces were largely in 
 England's debt. James was in fact a French and Dutch 
 bondholder to a large amount, and though he had not 
 negotiated the loans or advanced the money, to him was 
 due both principal and interest, which was a good reason 
 for his upholding France and the United Provinces. The 
 grant of 4,000 men for the Cleves expedition was not such 
 a great concession on the King's part, as these troops were 
 to be taken from the British regiments then in the States' 
 service, and were not to be in addition to them. As a 
 slight balance to this concession, and to make it appear 
 greater, James agreed to pay these 4,000 men from the 
 time of their taking the field until their return to their 
 garrisons. 
 
 It is needless to tell of the great preparations made in 
 France for the coming war, or unfold the mighty designs 
 of Henry the Great for humbling his enemies, and putting 
 a stop to Austrian intrusions, as an impending calamity in 
 France was to put a stop to these great projects, and 
 completely alter the aspect of affairs. 
 
 James, having decided to send 4,000 of the British 
 troops in the States' service with the expedition to 
 Cleves, at his own expense, proceeded to make choice of a 
 general to command these troops. The choice fell on Sir
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Edward Cecil. 1 There was no London Gazette in those 
 days to record military appointments and promotions, but 
 commissions were given then as now, and Colonel Edward 
 Cecil's commission as General of the British contingent, 
 dated April 5, 1610, is given verbatim in Rymer's Fcedera? 
 Cecil having been appointed to the command early in the 
 year 1610, it only remained to select the officers and men 
 to make up the desired number for active service, and 
 settle as to their pay when they took the field. The King 
 having notified the States-General and his ambassador at 
 the Hague of his intention to furnish 4,000 men for 
 the Cleves expedition, the ambassador acted the part 
 of Adjutant-General, furnishing details of the present pay 
 of the British troops in the States' service, suggesting 
 what alterations had better be made, and making all 
 necessary arrangements according to his instructions. 
 
 By his representations to the King, it was decided that 
 the pay of the soldiers now to be employed should be on 
 the same footing as heretofore it had been in the States' 
 service, where the officers' pay was reckoned at thirty-two 
 days the month, and the soldiers' at forty-two days the 
 month. 3 The ordinary pay of a colonel of a regiment in 
 the States' army was 25 (300 guilders) a month, which 
 Sir R. Winwood characterises as " slender provision." 
 
 To prevent future discontent on the soldiers' part, their 
 
 1 I find no mention anywhere of Sir Edward Cecil having personally applied 
 for this appointment. 
 
 * " Sciatis igitur quod Nos, de Fide, Probitate Strenuitate etin ReMilitari 
 experientia Dilecti et Fidelis nostri Edwardi CecyttEquitis Aurati, &c., plenius 
 confidentes, eundem Edwardum, dictorum quater Mille Peditum per Ordines 
 Prffvineiarum prsedictarum Prsebendorum, tam Anglorum, quam Scotorum 
 CAPITANEUM GENERALEM et DUCTOREM fecimus et constituimus." 
 Extract from Sir E. Cecil's commission, given by Rymer, xvi. pp. 684-5. 
 
 1 These were called "the States' months." See letter from Winwood to 
 Salisbury, dated February 2Oth, 1609-10. Winwood's Memorials, iii. p. 121.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. l6l 
 
 pay was to be the same as heretofore, but a special scale of 
 pay was fixed on for the officers, viz : 
 
 Commander-in-chief, per day $ o o 
 
 A Colonel, per day i o o 
 
 A Lieut. -Colonel 060 
 
 A Sergeant- Major 050 
 
 And the whole 4,000 soldiers with a captain 
 
 to each company, per day 1 . . . . 156 6 8 
 
 By the King's express wish, two-thirds of the 4,000 men 
 were to be English, and the remainder Scotch. 
 
 " As for the Commanders," wrote the Lords of the Council to 
 Winwood, "his Ma" 6 holds it fitt, that seeing he bears the 
 chardges, he may also receave the sole reputation of it, w ch he 
 thinketh may rather be, by having them to subsist of a body by 
 themselves, and comanded by his owne officers, then by having 
 them obscured in a mixture w th others, and under the command 
 of an other ; and therefore hath made choice of S r Edward Cecill 
 to be comander gnall of these Forces, and to have under him 
 twoe Lieutenant-Colonells, one for the English and the other for 
 the Scotts, w th all such other officers as are requisite to a particular 
 body for the better governement and contentem* of his people, 
 when they shall not fynd themselves subordinate to others, but 
 only subject to the gnall comand of the great Generall of the 
 whole Army, w ch is Christian, Prince of Anhalt" 2 
 
 General Cecil's presence at the Hague being necessary 
 to help in the selection of officers and men to make up the 
 desired 4,000 for active service, he received orders the end 
 of March " to make his speedy repair to the States, where 
 both the different commands and subordinate places might 
 be ordered." 3 His departure from England appears to 
 have been on, or about, April 7th, as Lord Salisbury, 
 
 1 From a document among the S. P. Holland, 1610. 
 
 * Letter to Winwood dated March 3rd, signed by the Lord Chancellor, 
 the Lord Treasurer, the Lord Privy Seal, the Lord Admiral, the Lord Cham- 
 berlain, the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Worcester. Winwood's 
 Memorials, iii. p. 127. 
 
 3 Salisbury to Winwood, March 28th, 1610. Memorials, iii. p. 144. 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 1 62 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 writing to Winwood under that date, says, " Sir Edward 
 Cecyll besides his Commission hath delivered to him 
 certaine directions to which he is to conforme himselfe, and 
 wherein his Majesty expecteth you shall afford him your 
 best Assistance." 1 James sent a letter to the States-General 
 by General Cecil, assuring them of his affection and good- 
 will towards them, and his readiness to grant them the use 
 of 4,000 of his subjects then in their service, pour si long- 
 temps que la commoditi et Pestat de vos affaires le pourra 
 permettre. The King goes on to say in this letter that he 
 had specially chosen this gentleman (Sir Edward Cecil) to 
 be commander over the 4,000 men, " tant pour le regard de 
 sa qualit^ et de la Maison dont il est issu, comme pour son 
 experience et de la preuve qu'il a donn^e de sa deVotion 
 au bien de vostre cause ; ce qui, comme nous nous asseurons 
 portera quand a soi sa recommandation envers vous." 2 
 General Cecil's special rate of pay of ,5 per day com- 
 menced from April ist, and he received ^"300 in advance 
 towards his general expenses. 3 
 
 Sir Edward Cecil arrived at the Hague on April I3th.* 
 Before he delivered his Majesty's letter to the States- 
 
 1 Ibid. iii. 147. 
 
 * Letter addressed to the " Hautes et Puissantes seigneures nos cheres et 
 bons Amis, &c.," dated " Ce de Mars, 1610." S. P. Holland. 
 
 * Warrants. "Awarrannt to the Excheq' to pay to S r Edward Cecyll, 
 knight, appointed Captain Generall of his Ma tie * forces to be ymploied in the 
 service of Cleve, the some of five pounds by the day from the first day of 
 Aprill last past inclusively, to continue so long as he shall remaine in that 
 charge, and moreover to allow unto him by way of ymprest the some of 300" to 
 be defalk'd upon his Entertaynmt, and such other somes of money for his 
 transportacn as to the Lo. Tres r shall seeme convenient. Dated at Westm r , 
 Aprill I2th, 1610." Signet, Docquetts. 
 
 Warrant, dated 2ist April, 1610, granting 300 li. to Sir E. Cecil, in advance, 
 to be deducted in the future from the allowance of .5 per day " assigned to 
 the Cap. -Gen. of all the forces of the Lord the King about to serve in the 
 duchy of Cleves in the maintenance of the Princes competitors in their posses- 
 sions." Pell's issue Roll, April 2isl, 1610. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * Winwood to Salisbury, April 22d, 1610. S. P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 163 
 
 General, he, in conjunction with Sir Ralph Winwood, 
 informed Prince Maurice of his Majesty's wishes con- 
 cerning the British troops, and consulted with him and the 
 English colonels as to the selection of certain companies 
 out of the British regiments, in order to make up the 
 allotted 4,000 men. Sir Horace Vere willingly granted 
 nine companies out of his regiment, and Sir John Ogle, who 
 was absent at Dordrecht, sent word that such companies 
 might be selected out of his regiment as might be necessary 
 for his Majesty's service. The two Scotch colonels being 
 absent, Sir Robert Henderson, lieut-col. to the Lord 
 Buccleuch, was treated with for as many companies out of 
 the two Scotch regiments as might make up the third part 
 of the 4,000 men, according to the King's directions. It was 
 then agreed by the Prince, General Cecil, and the English 
 colonels, that the 4,000 should consist of General Cecil's 
 whole regiment, nine companies from Sir Horace Vere's regi- 
 ment ; six from Sir John Ogle's regiment ; nine from Lord 
 Buccleuch's, 1 and Colonel Brogue's Scotch regiments, which 
 made up a total of 3,900 men ; and to make up the full num- 
 ber of 4,000, General Cecil proposed to raise 100 men at his 
 own charge, for the reinforcing of his own company, " to give 
 satisfaction to many young gentlemen whoe doe followe him 
 in this warre," wrote Winwood to Salisbury on April 2oth. 2 
 General Cecil presented his Majesty's letter to the 
 States-General on April i6th, and Winwood explained all 
 his master's wishes regarding the 4,000 soldiers. The 
 States-General having given their consent to certain 
 
 1 Sir Walter Scott, of Buccleuch, was created, i6th of March, 1606, Lord 
 Scott of Buccleuch. He greatly distinguished himself in the border warfare 
 between Scotland and England and afterwards in the Netherlands as colonel 
 of a Scotch regiment. He died in 1611, and was succeeded by his only son, 
 Walter, and Baron and 1st Earl of Buccleuch. 
 
 2 Winwood to Salisbury, April 226, 1610. 
 
 M 2
 
 1 64 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 companies being selected from the British regiments in 
 their service, Sir Edward Cecil had the task of forming 
 them into regiments and appointing officers, "both 
 ordinary, as Collonels, Lieut-Cols., Sergeant- Maiors," 
 wrote Winwood to Salisbury ; " and extraordinary, as 
 Sergeant-Maior, Provost, Quartermaster-generall ; w ch will 
 be necessary and by the States are used." The force 
 was divided into three regiments. The first regiment, 
 consisting of fifteen companies, l was commanded by 
 General Cecil, Philip Pakenham 2 being Lieut-Colonel, 
 and John Proude, 3 Sergeant-Major. The second regiment, 
 consisting of fourteen companies, was commanded by 
 Lieut-Colonel Sir Hatton Cheeke, as Colonel Hollis 
 being Lieut-Colonel, and Courtenay, Sergeant-Major. 
 The third regiment, which was Scotch, consisting of 
 nineteen companies, was commanded by Lieut-Colonel 
 Sir Robert Henderson, as Colonel, Caddell being Lieut- 
 Colonel and William Balfour, Sergeant-Major. 4 
 
 "My Lo. Generall doth now dayly expect the coming over 
 of the treasurer for his troopes," wrote Winwood to Salisbury, 
 on May 3rd ; " in the meantyme, his care is to have all his 
 Companies lodged neere at hand, as now they are, w tb out charge 
 to his Mat le , and to treate with the States, both for provision of 
 waggones and for furnishing of vittayle, not only during the 
 marche into Cleveland, but for the continuance in that service ; 
 and yet we fear all care in this point will not be sufficient for 
 preserving the troops (if the French army come downe) from 
 extreme misery of poverty and famine." 6 
 
 This French arrny which was to eat up all the provisions 
 
 1 General Cecil's own company consisted of 300 men. 
 
 * Afterwards Sir Philip Pakenham. 
 
 * Afterwards Sir John Proude. 
 
 4 The strength of these three regiments, with the total of their pay per 
 month, and names of officers, made out by direction of Sir R. Winwood, is 
 among the S. P. Holland for 1610. 
 
 * Winwood to Salisbury, from the Hague, May 3, 1610. .9. P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 165 
 
 in and round about the German duchies, was to consist, 
 in addition to the two French regiments in the States' 
 service under Colonel Chatillon, of 20,000 infantry, 4,000 
 cavalry, 6,000 Swiss, and 50 pieces of ordnance. 1 Early in 
 May the French king had completed most of his prepara- 
 tions, and had sent the following letter to Archduke Albert, 
 preparing him for what was coming : 
 
 " MY BROTHER, 
 
 " Not being able to refuse my best allies and confederates 
 the help which they have asked of me against those who wish 
 to trouble them in the succession to the duchies and counties of 
 Cleve, Julich, Mark, Berg, Ravensberg, and Ravenstein, I am 
 advancing towards them with my army. As my road leads me 
 through your country, I desire to notify you thereof, and to know 
 whether or not I am to enter it as a friend or enemy." 
 
 Before the Archduke's answer 2 came to this letter, " the 
 great design," as it was called, had been crushed out of 
 existence. On that fatal Friday, May I4th, 1610, the 
 heroic Henry IV., justly surnamed the Great, was foully 
 murdered by the fanatic Ravaillac as he drove through 
 Paris, the day after his Queen's coronation, to witness the 
 preparations for her triumphal entry into Paris on the 
 following Sunday. On the Monday after, Henry was to 
 have left for the frontier to take command of his army. 
 
 France was now like a mighty arch from which the key- 
 stone had been removed. She shook, swayed from side to 
 side, and then fell to the ground like a house formed out of 
 a pack of cards. 
 
 1 Sully, iii. p. 350, note. 
 
 3 "The archduke's answer," says Sully, "which did not arrive till after 
 his majesty's death, was to this effect, " My lord, it is in the quality of one of 
 the humblest of your servants that I entreat you will march through my 
 territories, my gates shall be open to you and provisions at your service, rely- 
 ing upon the assurance your majesty will, I hope, be pleased to give, that no 
 act of hostility shall be committed during your march." iii. p. 168.
 
 1 66 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 The grand army waiting at Mezieres for Henry to 
 place himself at its head, and the army of the Pyrenees 
 amounting to 12,000 infantry and 2,000 horse, under the 
 Marshal de la Force, were as powerless to move as 
 locomotives waiting for their drivers. Anarchy, confusion 
 and chaos reigned in France ; and Spain and Austria, who 
 had placidly regarded the mighty preparations for war of 
 their deceased enemy, as if ensured of their ultimate 
 safety, had only their once despised enemy, the United 
 Provinces, to guard against. 
 
 Henry's death delayed for some time the commencement 
 of the march of the States' troops and the British 
 contingent to Juliers, as the States had to make a serious 
 increase in their expeditionary force, now that there were 
 small hopes of any French succours coming to help them. 
 The last of May Sir Edward Cecil wrote to his friend Sir 
 Julius Caesar, expressing his hope that the King of Great 
 Britain would grant an additional force in this hour of 
 need to uphold the Protestant cause and check the power 
 of Austria. 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR JULIUS CESAR. 
 
 " RIGHT HONORABLE, 
 
 " I meete w* y r favors in so many of my occations that I were 
 happie if in this imployment wherein I am, or by any indeavour 
 I could yield y r ho. some reall testimony of my humble respect and 
 service to y, beseeching y r ho r continue that noble inclination to 
 mee, for besides the incouragement I have by it, I shall have 
 cause to hope that y r plentifull and honorable assistanc and 
 good wishes will bring w th them good succes to the action 
 whether I am going. Though by this lamentable accident of the 
 Freanch K. wee ster but w th leaden heeles, if the freanch aydes 
 should fayle ; wee all hope that his Ma* will iudge the supporting of 
 the Priences an action so full of religion and honor, that he will 
 ioyne w th they states in supplying royally the want of those
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 167 
 
 freanch Levies w th out w ch indeed the cause must loose reputation, 
 and the House of Austria be invited to put abrod his homes and 
 brag that our side can not fiend a protecter, noe mann can better 
 iudge of these things than y r honor, so that it were ill manners to 
 speake more of it. All I will add shalbe a true unfayned hart to 
 doe y servic, and be thanckfull to y r worthy lady for that curtesie 
 I fiend by my wives letter, she afforde her. I desire that my 
 service to her la. and booth y r worthy dougters may be remem- 
 bered, and that y r lo. will ever estime mee 
 " Y r Ho. 
 
 " most affectionat friend 
 " and servant, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 " from the Hage, the 
 last of Maye." 
 
 " To the Rig' Honorable 
 and his worthy friend S r 
 Julius Cesar, knight, Chan- 
 seller of the Exchecker, and 
 Counseller to his Ma tie ." l 
 
 The treaty Henry IV. had made with the German 
 princes after the conference at Halle, was now declared 
 by some of the French Council of State to be null and 
 void, and no longer binding since the maker of it was 
 dead. On June 7th, Cornells van der Myle, the States' 
 special envoy to Paris, accompanied by Aerssens, the 
 States' ambassador, had an interview with Villeroy, the 
 veteran French Secretary of State, and used all their 
 eloquence in trying to make that wily diplomatist see that 
 France had gone too far to withdraw her promised 
 assistance from the United Provinces and the German 
 princes. Villeroy, as the mouthpiece of the Queen's party 
 the Spanish party declared his inability to see that 
 France was bound in honour to hold to the contract made 
 
 Add. MSS. 12507, f. 83.
 
 1 68 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 by the late king. Spanish 1 and Austrian envoys had been 
 cutting the grass from under the feet of the States' envoys 
 and the French war party. Mary de Medicis, the Queen 
 Regent, and most of the Roman Catholic nobility, were for 
 abandoning the German princes, and leaving the States to 
 bear the brunt of the fray. The Huguenots, conspicuous 
 among whom were Bouillon and Sully, were on the side of 
 the war party. The French Ministers were like a house 
 divided against itself, and therefore incapable of a firm and 
 decided policy. To the surprise of everyone they con- 
 sented at the eleventh hour to send troops to the aid of 
 the disinherited princes. No one was more surprised by 
 this sudden resolution than Lord Salisbury, who sent the 
 following despatch to Sir Edward Cecil on receipt of the 
 intelligence : 
 
 " S r , I doubt not but that ere this tyme yo w have onderstoode 
 the unexpected resolucon of Fraunce, to continue their engage- 
 ment in the assistance of Cleve w h eight thousand foote, and 
 some 12 or 1,400 horse, and that they have chosen the Marshall 
 de la Chastre 2 to be the comaunder of them, to whose choise and 
 direccon it is leafte to take the passages of Trier or Ments, it 
 being not thought fitt that they should goe through anie ptte of 
 the Arch Dukes dominions, all though the Arch Duke had 
 allredy graunted leave for it in the late Kinge his time. This 
 sudden and unexpected resolucon, contrary to so manny strong 
 apprehensions grounded upon the p re sent consideracon of their 
 Estate, wherein soe many different and potent humors do nowe 
 showe them sellves, will cleere all those doubts that were caste by 
 the rest of the Confederates concerning the supporting of that 
 action of Cleve ; for though this assistance from France be some- 
 what inferio r to that w ch was pmised before at Halle, 3 yet it wilbe 
 
 1 The Count de Bucquoy was sent to the funeral of Henry IV., and he 
 openly asked the Queen to countermand the forces to be sent to Juliers. 
 
 * Claud de la Chatre, Marshal of France, was seventy-three years of age 
 when he accepted the command of this expedition. 
 
 " The German princes, of their own accord and in opposition to the
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 169 
 
 sufficient to divert from the p re sent, not only from his Ma Ue , but 
 alsoe from the rest of the Confederates, anie newe charge of 
 greater Leavyes, and will add greate countennce and reputacon to 
 the cause it self, when so mightie a State as France, though nowe 
 somewhat destracted by the late assassinate and minoritie of this 
 King, remaiijeth confident in the associations. It remayneth 
 onely nowe, that in the execution the Princes Possessionaires, w th 
 those that have the charge of the warre, be carefull not to loose 
 the p re sent opportunitie, before the adversaries gather anie 
 strength, and it will appeare nowe, whether the Archdukes will 
 engage themsellves directlie into the Action for Leopoldus, w"* as 
 yet I cannot believe he will doe. Howsoever, there are many appre- 
 hensions to the contrary ; for yo r self I cannot say anie thinge 
 more, but that yo w must accomodate yo r self for the receaving of his 
 Ma ties troupes into paie, and the disposing of them for this Action, 
 according to the resolucons w h are taken heere, seeing y or former 
 direccons do lead yo w to rise when they doe rise, and to march 
 conioyntly w th them. I beseeche God, S r , to blesse and p'sper 
 yo w and his Ma tie9 subiects under you, as his M y may receave 
 honor, and y r cause defense and vigor, whereof God hath made 
 him the great and glorious defender." l 
 
 Leaving the French contingent under their veteran leader 
 to their tardy preparations for taking the field, and still 
 more tardy march to Juliers, we must return to that little 
 Republic which was going to lead the way in the crusade 
 against the Austrian intruder. 
 
 Maurice of Nassau having collected an army of 13,000 
 foot and 3,000 horse, with 30 pieces of ordnance, arrived at 
 Schenckenschaus, where the troops had their rendezvous, 
 
 emperor, held an assembly at Hall, in Suabia, to deliberate upon the means 
 of restoring the circles to their former liberty. They met there on the day 
 appointed, to the number of eighteen or twenty. The Venetians, the Prince 
 of Orange, the States of Holland and the Duke of Savoy, who had at last 
 taken a resolution to engage in the common cause, sent deputies thither to 
 represent them. ... It was publicly deliberated to stop the progress of the 
 House of Austria." Sully, iii. pp. 188-9. 
 
 1 Minute endorsed "June 15, 1610. To Sir Edward Cecyll from my Lord, 
 by M r Henry Treflrey." S. P. Holland.
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 early in July. This force included the 4,000 British troops 
 under Sir Edward Cecil, also the two French regiments 
 under Colonel Chatillon. It had been definitely arranged 
 some time before, that his Britannic Majesty's troops were 
 to march with the States' troops, "not doubting," says 
 Winwood, " but that their Commander in good discretion 
 would deferre that respecte w ch in right did appertaine 
 to the Commission of so great a king, and well knowing 
 that his Generall would be so indicious, not impertinently 
 to insist upon frivelous and idle puntilles." 1 
 
 On July 1 6th 2 (new style) the troops began their 
 march to Juliers. Count William of Nassau, with some 
 Frisian troops, was left at Schenckenschaus to guard the 
 frontiers in the absence of the States' army. This was 
 deemed necessary, notwithstanding the twelve years' truce 
 with Spain, for had not the late King of Spain repeatedly 
 declared that nulla fides est cum hereticis observanda. Most 
 of the ordnance, ammunition and stores for the States' 
 army were sent by river to Dusseldorf, to await the arrival 
 of the troops there. The army marched in three divisions. 
 One of the divisions consisted of the 4,000 British troops, 
 and was commanded by Sir Edward Cecil. Prince 
 Maurice allowed the British division to have the honour of 
 marching in the van on the first day of the march, the 
 Dutch troops, under the Prince, following in the " battalia," 
 and the two French regiments in the rear. A small body of 
 horse, with pioneers, preceded the army, while other troops of 
 horse flanked the army on either side and .guarded the 
 baggage in the rear. The English, Dutch, and French 
 divisions took it in turns as to which division should 
 march in the vanguard, so that all three nations were 
 
 1 Winwood to Salisbury, April 22, 1610. Memorials, iii. p. 149. 
 * Except when quoting from letters, journals, &c., I have adhered to the new 
 style of reckoning, which is ten days later than the old style.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. I 7 1 
 
 contented. It is curious to read nowadays of the short 
 distances covered by an army on the march in the year 
 1610. "The first daie we marched 4 myles, and quartered 
 in villages by Beber, Cloyster," says Way mouth in his 
 account of this expedition ; l " the second we marched some 
 8 myles. . . . the third we marched some 4 myles, and 
 quartered upon a hill neere Zentem, and over against Wesell." 
 And yet these marches were made by the first general of 
 his day, who must have known every inch of the ground, 
 and had no near enemy to delay his movements. 
 
 On July 25th the troops arrived at Neuss 2 a small 
 town just opposite Dusseldorf and quartered in corn 
 fields. Here a great review of all the troops was held 
 in honour of the Princes of Brandenburg and Neuburg, who 
 came from Dusseldorf that morning to view the army, " and 
 finding so many old experienced soldiers so well observ- 
 ing order and well apointed, could not but conceive and 
 make shew of great joy for this happie assistance God had 
 sent them." 3 Two days after this event, an untoward 
 accident happened. Two powder wagons blew up, and 
 killed over forty soldiers, 4 besides destroying about thirty 
 wagons and horses that were close by. It is said that 
 Prince Maurice nearly lost his life on this occasion, and 
 there were grave doubts as to whether the two powder 
 wagons had not been purposely set fire to. 5 On the 
 following day the army marched six miles, and quartered 
 
 1 " A Journall Relation of the service at the taking in of the towne and 
 castle of Gulicke this present yeare, 1610, with a platt of the town and castle, 
 as it is againe to be fortified, dedicated to the Prince, his Highnes, by George 
 \Vaymouth." Royal MSS. 176, xxxii. 
 
 2 This town is said to be one of the most ancient in Germany, and has a 
 church dating from the 1 2th century. 
 
 3 Journal. 
 
 4 Crosse, in his continuation of Grimston's History of the Warres in the 
 Netherlands, says seventy ; Waymouth only gives forty. 
 
 . * Crosse, p. 1291.
 
 172 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 in huts two miles from Juliers. Here the Prince of Anhalt 
 joined them with 300 horse and 2,000 foot, besides ordnance 
 and a great store of provisions and necessaries. 
 
 The fortified town of Juliers (German, GulicJi) is situated 
 in a fertile plain, at the confluence of the Ellbach and Ruhr, 
 1 5 miles north-east of Aix-la-Chapelle, and nearly half way 
 between Cologne and Maestricht. The castle, or citadel, 
 has always been a very strong one, and, according to Zeyler, 
 is built on piles, which render mining operations difficult. 
 It was this fortress which Archduke Leopold had seized, 
 and which the allied forces had now come to wrest from 
 the tenacious Austrian grip. It may not seem a great feat 
 to the modern reader, for an army of nearly 20,000 men, 
 with 10,000 more troops on the march thither, to lay siege 
 to, and eventually capture, a small town with a military 
 garrison of some 2,500 men, however strongly fortified that 
 small town might be. It must always be borne in mind that 
 the art of war was in its infancy in 1610 as compared with 
 the present day, and consequently artillery was much less 
 destructive to man, and the work raised by man's hands, 
 than now. On the other hand, stone walls, bastions, &c., 
 were built as solidly as they are now, and their formidable 
 height and thickness were serious obstacles to an army which 
 numbered but very few practical engineers in its ranks. 
 Added to all this, the fact must never be lost sight of for a 
 single moment, that the large army which assembled on 
 the plains of Juliers had every reason to expect the House 
 of Austria would consider their invasion of the duchies a 
 casus belli, and that the Archduke Leopold, as representa- 
 tive of the Emperor of Germany, who considered himself 
 lord of the soil, would be sent with a large force to relieve 
 Juliers, and inflict a crushing defeat on the heretics. It 
 was also on the cards that the Duke of Saxony (whose 
 alliance had been secured by the Emperor, when the latter
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 173 
 
 had recently, for obvious reasons, declared Saxony to be the 
 lawful possessor of the duchies, and promised him his support 
 in obtaining them) would strike a blow to recover what he 
 considered his own property. 1 It was also quite possible 
 that Spain, who set small value on promises made to 
 heretics, would take advantage of the States' army being 
 out of the country, to trump up some reason for breaking 
 the truce. 2 That neither Austria, Spain, or Saxony made 
 an effort to relieve Juliers, and oppose the designs of the 
 allied army, was from no supineness or indifference as to 
 the fate of the debatable land, but merely because the force 
 of circumstances was too strong for them, and Great 
 Britain and France having cast in their lot with the 
 Protestant cause, the Roman Catholic powers did not see 
 their way at present to an advantageous war, so they 
 remained passive, but watchful, spectators, and bided their 
 time. 
 
 Waymouth thus describes the fortifications of Juliers : 
 
 " The Castle hath 4 Bulwarkes, and the towne three and one 
 half Bulwarke everie Bulwarke two Casemates, in every Case- 
 mate a sallie ; the wall about the towne and Castle is 1 6 foote 
 thicke of Bricke, and some 55 foote high from the Bace the 
 Rampet within the wall of the Castle 120 thicke upon the super- 
 ficies thereof, of exceeding fast earth, and rammed strong as the 
 wall itself. The towne and castle hath a water ditch, about 200 
 foot over and 5 or 6 foote deepe of water, with a counterscarpe 
 about the castle 200 foote broade, having a parapett, with a 
 Bankett and a strada coperta 30 foote broade ; likewise two half 
 moones without the Castle, one at each end, or point, of the 
 bulwarkes we attempted, and a raveling between both, in the 
 
 1 "The Dukes of Saxony," wrote Salisbury to Winwood, July 23rd, 
 " have undertaken to recover the duchies by war from the princes fossession- 
 aires" 
 
 * " It is thought Spinola might try and relieve Juliers," Winwood to Salis- 
 bury, June 1 5th.
 
 174 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 midst of the curtaine against the porte of the Castle ; two ravel- 
 ings before the two portes of the towne, one half moon before one 
 bulwark of the town, and another before the half bulwarke .... 
 these works were all stronge, inditiouslie and exactlie made, so 
 that for the bignes thereof this towne and castle is reputed to be 
 one of the best fortified by arte that is in Christendom." 
 
 On July 29th, the Prince of Anhalt, Prince Maurice, 
 and General Cecil went and viewed the situation of the 
 town and castle, and consulted as to the best quarter 
 for directing the attack. It was resolved that the attack 
 should be principally bent upon the castle, for being 
 masters of that, the town must of necessity surrender. 
 Prince Maurice, in command of two divisions of the army, 
 took up his quarters, the same day, a mile from the castle, 
 and began his approaches. Wishing the Dutch and 
 French troops to have the chief share in the reduction of 
 Juliers, that the glory of that achievement might fall to 
 those two nations, Prince Maurice desired General Cecil to 
 quarter his army in the Maestricht road, and prevent the 
 town being relieved from that direction. General Cecil 
 strongly objected to this arrangement, saying very justly 
 that there was no enemy expected from that quarter, and 
 while he and his troops were passively waiting for an 
 enemy who had no intention of coming, the Dutch and 
 French troops would be doing all the work of the siege, 
 and the English nation would be for ever disgraced. The 
 Prince answered these objections by assuring General 
 Cecil that the Prince of Anhalt was quite content to 
 quarter his own troops on that side of the town, which 
 argument the English General quashed by saying that if 
 the Prince of Anhalt did not understand better what 
 belonged to his honour and reputation he might lie there 
 alone if he wished. 1 This reply did not at all please 
 
 1 Crosse gives this account of the affair, p. 1296. Way mouth says it was
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 175 
 
 Prince Maurice, 1 but knowing that to a certain extent the 
 British troops were on this occasion under the immediate 
 command of their own general, and knowing also that they 
 would do their work speedily and thoroughly, he allowed 
 General Cecil to choose his own position, from which he 
 might begin his approaches to the castle with the best 
 advantage. The British troops were accordingly quartered 
 two miles from Prince Maurice's force, but at the same 
 distance (one mile) from the town and castle as the Prince 
 was. The Dutch troops had a whole day's start of the 
 British in making their approaches, and had a famous 
 engineer, Dexter by name, in their quarter. "The 
 Cecilians had only one captain who knew how to work in 
 the earth," says an old historian, " but they made the first 
 breach of all, and were the first that passed over the ditch 
 to the wall." 3 
 
 " The one captain who knew how to work in the earth," 
 was, doubtless, General Cecil himself. He had been 
 brought up in the school of the spade for nearly twelve 
 years, and had assisted at several arduous sieges. " I 
 believe his skill in fortification is his master peece," says an 
 unknown writer in speaking of General Cecil, " for at 
 Gulicke he drew his lines himselfe, and though he began 
 last, he was first in the Rampire, to the honor of our 
 Nation." 3 
 
 the Prince of Anhalt who desired General Cecil to quarter on the side of the 
 town where it was most likely to be relieved, but that General Cecil strongly 
 objected and at last the prince yielded the point. 
 
 1 Crosse, p. 1296. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
 3 Extracted from A Discourse of the besieging, defending and relieving of 
 the Towne of Bergen op Zome in the year 1622. Royal MSS. l8A, Ixiii. 
 Waymouth confirms the above opinion of General Cecil's skill in fortification, 
 and says in his Journal, that he was most part of this siege of Gulick " attend- 
 ing General Cecil, whose hand it pleased him to command in the lineall drawe- 
 ing and describing the manner of his aproaches, batteries, and other workes, 
 by direction from him dailie received."
 
 176 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Enough has already been said to show the reader that 
 Edward Cecil was a man who chafed under all control, and 
 whose aim in life was to get to the top of the military 
 ladder. In many respects he was well qualified for a 
 soldier's life, as he was quite willing to take the rough with 
 the smooth and in those days there was a good deal more 
 rough than smooth and was never so happy as when 
 marching to battle. Like all bold men he had plenty of 
 self-confidence and self-respect, and would not have shrunk 
 from the most hazardous enterprise committed to his 
 charge. A lover of discipline, and a strict upholder of it in 
 his own regiment, his haughty and independent spirit made 
 him slow to recognise the fact that a soldier, however high 
 his rank, has many masters, and must give place to his 
 senior officer. Peace and consequent inactivity were gall 
 and wormwood to Cecil's bellicose and energetic nature, 
 while active employment in the field brought out all his 
 good qualities, and he would throw his heart and soul into 
 his work, in order to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion, 
 and win distinction. He only cared for riches in so far as 
 they helped him to achieve his ends, and brought military 
 rank, military commands, and military fame, nearer to him. 
 For years he had been striving (Americans would use the 
 expressive word worrying] to get some command where he 
 would be his own master, and have a chance of distinguish- 
 ing himself. The command in the expedition to Cleves 
 gave Cecil the chance he had been so long wanting. Let 
 us see how he bore himself in this time of probation. 
 
 We are told that General Cecil used such diligence 
 on July 3Oth, the day he took up his position before 
 Juliers, that he made his camp, and began his trenches, 
 which he carried 300 paces towards the castle that night. 1 
 
 1 Waymouth's Journal.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 177 
 
 The day following, the Prince of Anhalt, tired of waiting 
 for an enemy who came not, came and quartered by 
 General Cecil. 
 
 " And that night," says Waymouth, " we made the second and 
 third courts of gaurd and the first Batterie the 22 a , at night, 
 Generall Cecill, in person, directed the workes and made the 
 fourth court of gaurde and the second Batterie .... and the next 
 daie the enemy, with 50 musketeers, sallied out and lodged in dry 
 ditches upon the flanke of our last worke, and these gave fire so 
 hotlie, that our men were hurt as they lay in the trenches. But 
 Generall Cecill commanded a captaine that had the gaurd, to 
 take 60 musketeers and beat them from thence, which accord 
 inglie was done ; divers of the enemy being kilde and hurt in 
 their retreate this daie Generall Cecill riding beyond the trenches 
 to viewe the ground for the next nighte's aproach, within 100 
 paces of the towne, had his horse kilde under him by a peece of 
 ordinance, which forced him to alighte ; yet, after that, he viewed 
 the ground ; the castle and the towne all this while continuallie 
 playing upon him with great and small shott .... this night and 
 ever after till the Castle and towne was taken in, Generall Cecill 
 was in the trenches and Batteries, at the makeinge of them up, 
 directing in what manner everie thing should be done, which was 
 a great incouragement to all others, seeing their generall willing 
 to participate the common hazard." 
 
 It may be doubtless thought that Waymouth was a 
 partial writer, and being employed by Sir Edward Cecil, 
 felt himself bound to eulogise that general's conduct We 
 therefore verify his statements by quoting from other 
 writers, whose veracity will not be questioned. 
 
 One of the gentlemen volunteers who came to the 
 English camp before Juliers to learn a lesson in the art of 
 war, was that gallant soldier Sir Edward Herbert, after- 
 wards created Baron Herbert of Cherbury. 1 This gentle- 
 
 1 Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Cherbury, was eldest son of Richard 
 Herbert, Esq., of Llyssyn, co. Montgomery, by Magdalen, his wife, daughter of 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 man, a Herbert of the fighting Herberts, was a man after 
 Sir Edward Cecil's own heart, being chivalrous, brave to 
 recklessness, and a man who delighted in war. Sir Edward 
 Herbert, in his autobiography, thus refers to the siege of 
 Juliers and to his acquaintance with Sir Edward Cecil : 
 
 "It was now the Year of our Lord 1610, when my Lord 
 Shandois 1 and myself resolved to take Shipping for the Low 
 Countrys, and from thence to pass to the City of Juliers, which 
 the Prince of Orange resolved to besiege ; making all hast thither 
 we found the Siege newly begun ; the Low Country Army assisted 
 by 4000 English under the command of Sir Edward Cecil .... 
 I went and quartered with Sir Edward Cecill, where I was lodged 
 next to him in a Hutt I made there ; going yet both by day and 
 night to the Trenches, we making our approaches to the Town 
 on one side and the French on the other. Our Lines were drawn 
 towards the point of a Bulwark of the Cittadel or Castle, thought 
 to be one of the best Fortifications in Christiandom, and incom- 
 passed about with a deep wet ditch. We lost many men in making 
 these approaches, the town and castle being very well provided 
 both with great and small Shot, and a Garrison in it of about 4000 
 men besides the Burghers ; Sir Edward Cecill (who was a very 
 active General) used often during this Siege, to go in person in 
 the night time, to try whether he cou'd catch any Sentinells 
 perdues ; and for this purpose still desir'd me to accompany him, 
 in performing wherof both of us did much hazard ourselves, for 
 the first Sentinell retiring to the second, and the second to the 
 third, three Shots were commonly made at us, before we cou'd do 
 anything, tho' afterwards chasing them with our Swords almost 
 home into their Guards, we had some sport in the pursuit of 
 them." 2 
 
 Sir Richard Newport, Knt. Lord Herbert of Cherbury was born in 1581, 
 and married at 15 years of age, his kinswoman, Mary Herbert, daughter and 
 heir of Sir W m Herbert, of St. Gillians, co. Monmouth, by whom he had issue 
 two sons and two daughters. Edward Herbert was made a Knight of the 
 Bath at the coronation of James I. and was afterwards sent as ambassador to 
 France. He was raised to the peerage of England as Baron Herbert of Cher- 
 bury in 1629. He died in 1648. Burke's Extinct Peerage. 
 
 1 Grey Brydges, 5th Baron Chandos, known as the "King of Cotswold.' 
 * The Life of Edward^ Lord Herbert of Cherbury, written by Himself, p. 75.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 179 
 
 The historian of the reign of James I., in referring to the 
 siege of Juliers, says : 
 
 " Sir Edward Cecil, brother (sic) to the Earl of Salisbury, 
 commanded 4000 English at that Siege, whose Conduct gave Life 
 to his soldiers' Valour, and that advanced the glory of his 
 Conduct." 1 Another historian, who records the valour of the 
 British troops at this siege, says, that the soldiers " being animated 
 by the presence of their General (who carried a truncheon in one 
 hand and coyne in the other, to punish the slothful and reward 
 the valiant) they thought nothing too difficult nor dangerous, 
 which might tend to the honor or profit of the service." 2 
 
 Having handed in the above three certificates of Sir 
 Edward Cecil's gallantry and soldierly ability at this siege, 
 we shall forbear for the present to give any more, and 
 proceed now to give the names of the principal gentlemen 
 volunteers who served under Sir Edward Cecil before 
 Juliers. We have already named Sir Edward Herbert and 
 Lord Chandos ; besides these were the Lord St. John, 3 the 
 Lord Walden, 4 Sir Thomas Somerset, 5 Sir Thomas 
 Howard, 6 Sir Henry Rich, 7 Sir Edward Sheffield, 8 Sir 
 
 1 Arthur Wilson's Life and Reign of James I. (in Kennett's History of 
 England) under year 1610. 
 
 2 W. Crosse, Hist, of the Netherlands, p. 1294. 
 
 3 Oliver, 3rd Baron St. John of Bletsloe. He died 1618. 
 
 4 Theophilus Howard, eldest son of the first Earl of Suffolk, summoned to 
 Parliament in the lifetime of his father, as Lord Howard of Walden. He was 
 made a Knight of the Garter and appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. 
 He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Suffolk in 1626 and died in 1640. 
 
 5 Sir Thomas Somerset, third son of Edward, 4th Earl of Worcester, was 
 made a Knight of the Bath in 1605, and raised to the peerage of Ireland as 
 Viscount Somerset in 1626. He died in 1651. 
 
 6 Sir Thomas Howard, second son of Thomas, first Earl of Suffolk, was 
 raised to the peerage as Lord Howard of Charlton and Viscount Andover in 
 1622, and created Earl of Berkshire in 1626. He married Elizabeth Cecil, 
 one of the daughters and co-heirs of Wm. Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter, by whom 
 he had nine sons and four daughters. 
 
 7 Sir Henry Rich, second son of Robert, 3rd Lord Rich and 1st Earl of 
 Warwick, by his first wife Lady Penelope Devereux. Sir Henry Rich was 
 created Earl of Holland in 1624. He was beheaded in 1649. 
 
 8 A son of Edmund, 3rd Baron Sheffield and 1st Earl of Mulgrave. 
 
 N 2
 
 l8o LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 George Howard, Sir Warham St. Leger, 1 Sir John 
 Witchard, Mr. Buckhurst, and Captain Brett. Among 
 the nobles who followed the Prince of Anhalt to Juliers 
 were, the Duke of Wurtemburg, the Count of Waldeck, 
 Baron Dona, &c. The Prince of Portugal 2 attached 
 himself to Prince Maurice of Nassau's division, and learnt 
 a lesson in the art of war from one of the first masters in 
 Europe. 
 
 We left Leopold of Austria " that bold and bustling 
 prelate " as Motley styles the Prince-Bishop in the 
 town of Juliers, which he had taken such summary 
 possession of. But he did not remain there until the allied 
 forces came before the town to batter the walls down about 
 his priestly ears. His departure was not caused by 
 cowardice, as he was one of those fighting prelates who 
 loved the sword better than the crozier, but by the force of 
 circumstances. Not having the wherewithal to pay the 
 troops that had followed him to Juliers, he sent all the 
 troops that were not required for the immediate defence of 
 this place into the province of Liege, " there to live upon the 
 Spoyle of the Countrey until the season of the yeare should 
 call them into the field," 3 In consequence of the depreda- 
 tions committed by these marauders, the States-General, 
 acting in concert with the Dukes of Brandenburg and 
 Neuburg, sent Prince Henry of Nassau with a large force 
 of horse to Liege, to co-operate with a force under the 
 
 1 This was doubtless Colonel Sir Warham St. Leger, the younger, who for 
 a short time acted as Vice-President of Munster. His father, known as Sir 
 Warham St. Leger, the elder, distinguished himself in Ireland, and was Lord 
 President of Munster in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 * Don Emanuel of Portugal, an outcast and wanderer from his native land, 
 which was now ruled over by the King of Spain. He had married Amelia of 
 Nassau. 
 
 * Winwood to Salisbury, April 22nd, 1610. Winwood's Memorials, iii. 
 pp. 148-9.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. l8l 
 
 Prince of Anhalt, and drive the Leopoldians out of the 
 country. The States' and German troops were fortunate 
 enough to take the Bishop's troops by surprise, and, finding 
 them scattered, inflicted great loss upon them, killing 300, 
 and taking many prisoners, who were taken to Dusseldorf. 1 
 This disaster to Archduke Leopold happened in April, and 
 as he had no other footholds in the duchies except Juliers 
 and the castle of Bredebent, which had been captured from 
 its rightful owner Brandenburg he felt himself awkwardly 
 situated. The Austrian soldiers in Juliers were entertained 
 at the expense of the townspeople, who strongly favoured 
 a ruler of their own religion. But troops are not fed and 
 paid for nothing, and the fighting prelate, being an old 
 soldier, knew that if the sinews of war were not soon forth- 
 coming his days in the duchies were numbered. Leopold 
 was a man of boundless ambition, and had secret hopes of 
 reaching the Crown of Bohemia on the Emperor's back, 
 and being declared heir to his Imperial Majesty. 2 That 
 feeble prop, the Emperor Rudolph, who at first had 
 strenuously upheld Leopold in all he did, and had been the 
 prime mover in the seizure of Juliers, had been so badgered, 
 worried and blamed about his share in this Cleves business, 
 by all parties concerned, and even by his own subjects, that 
 his weak and unstable character could not bear the strain 
 put upon it. He therefore thought to get out of a dilemma 
 by summoning Leopold back to Prague. On receipt of 
 this most unwelcome summons, Leopold had the effrontery 
 to demand of the Princes, whose capital he had seized, a 
 safe conduct for a free passage for himself, his suite and his 
 baggage, out of the country. The Princes were most 
 anxious to get rid of this " old man of the sea," by hook or 
 
 1 Ibid. 
 
 * Teynagel's confession, quoted by Meteren.
 
 1 82 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 by crook, but they naturally refused his request unless 
 Juliers was delivered up to them. 1 This ultimatum put a 
 stop to further negotiations, as there was no intention of 
 restoring Juliers. The Bishop took his departure for 
 Brussels in May, and was made welcome at the court of 
 Archduke Albert, who furnished him with money. 2 The 
 command of the fortress of Juliers was entrusted to 
 Russenburg, a native of the duchy of Juliers, while the 
 Bishop of Strasburg was employed in raising money and 
 recruits elsewhere. And in this congenial employment we 
 must for the present leave Leopoldus and continue the 
 narration of the siege of Juliers. 
 
 Russenburg not having had much experience in sieges, 
 did not, it was said, make as much of his strong defences 
 as he ought to have done, but he showed no lack of 
 bravery, and on the first day of the siege had made a sally 
 with 300 men upon his enemy in their most unprotected 
 quarter, but they were repulsed with great loss. 3 The 
 Cecilians worked so hard at their trenches and batteries, 
 that by August 5th they had planted all their guns 
 and brought their approaches so near the half moon, for 
 which they were making, that they had to begin sapping 
 44 From the 27 to the 3Oth (old style) we continued sapping 
 towards the halfe moone," wrote Waymouth, " and finisht 
 up our Batteries, and planted 4 peices in the 4th Batterie 
 next the halfe moone ; by this tyme Grave Maurice his 
 aproach, mett with Generall Cecill's before the halfe 
 moone ; dureing this tyme the enemy hung over the walls 
 
 1 Winwood to Salisbury, May I4th, 1610. Winwood's Memorials, iii. 
 p. 164. 
 
 * Tnimbull in a letter to Winwood, from Brussels, June 2nd, 1610, says, 
 " These Provinces have sent 150 waggons laden with Cannon bullets to the 
 frontier towns, whereof the greatest proportion is to serve for the furnishing 
 of those places which front upon Juliers." 
 
 1 Crosse, p. 1292.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 183 
 
 greate lightes, whereby they saw our men at worke, and 
 did us great harme ; x and about the same tyme the Castle 
 made a sallie upon the trenches of the French, who 
 valientlie defended them, yet lost some 60 men." 
 
 Sir Ralph Winwood, the British Ambassador to the 
 United Provinces, had been sent to Dusseldorf in May, "in 
 case the Princes and those that have interest in this 
 Busyness shall desyre it." 2 He came to Juliers during the 
 siege, and sent frequent accounts of its progress to Lord 
 Salisbury and to Mr. Trumbull, British Resident at 
 Brussels. Writing to the former on July 27, o. s., from 
 Dusseldorf, he says, in speaking of General Cecil : 
 
 " I cannot sufficiently represent unto your Lp. his industry and 
 dilligence, and how by his example, to stirre up watchfullnes and 
 care in others, he doth descend to the duety of a simple Captaine. 
 If any thing be to be desired in him, it is this, that he would be 
 more respectfull of his person, wh he dothe often hazard s y expose 
 to danger ; quern scepe transit casus aliquando invenit : his horse 
 this weeke was killed under him, by a shotte of a culveryn." 
 
 And in a letter to Mr. Trumbull, written a day later, 
 Winwood says : 
 
 " Our siege is far advanced ; our men already are lodged in the 
 Fosse ; and we think (if our skill doth not deceive us) to carry 
 both Town and Castle within 1 2 days. I am not able to say the 
 Marshall will come; he may be near to the Passage of the 
 Moselle, but whether he will pass, seeing he is refused the escorte 
 he desired of 6000 Foote and 1200 Horse, may be doubted." 
 
 It may readily be supposed that Sir Edward Cecil had 
 very scant time for letter writing, his time being so fully 
 occupied both day and night. He found time, however, to 
 
 1 A tract published in 1611, entitled, New es out of Cleaveland, says General 
 Cecil was present all this time, and had his own company there to guard the 
 workmen. The British lost 40 men in killed and wounded. 
 
 * Salisbury to Winwood, May 19, 1610.
 
 184 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 keep his uncle, Lord Salisbury, advertised of the progress 
 of the siege. The Lord Treasurer refers to these letters in 
 his despatches to Winwood ; 1 but unfortunately these 
 letters from Juliers are not extant. The three letters 
 written by General Cecil to Henry, Prince of Wales 2 , from 
 Juliers, are still preserved, and are interesting relics, both of 
 Edward Cecil and the gallant young Prince, to whom they 
 were addressed. We shall have a good deal to say regarding 
 Henry, Prince of Wales, in a succeeding chapter, as he 
 naturally loved the sight of a soldier and every valiant 
 man. The first letter 3 from General Cecil to the Prince is 
 dated July 29th, old style. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE Y r HlGHNES, 
 
 " I humble beseach y that I may bepardoned that I have 
 deferred to offer to y r Hig 8 the actions of these partes, nothing 
 having happend as yet worthy of y r reading. But now we have 
 invested the Town of Guliers, and allredy used such dilligence in 
 our Aproches, that wee have lodged our selves in the poynts of 
 some of there oute workes. And because y r Hig. may more 
 perticularly understand how the Seage hath hetherto beeyne 
 caried ; I have presumed to present y r Hig 8 w th a draft of our 
 Quarter, how wee lighe, and of the Towne and Castell, and of our 
 Aproches to it The place is exceading strong by arte. The 
 Governer well furnished w th menn and Amunition, yet wee prease 
 him nighly w" 1 our Aproches, that if his exspected reliefe from the 
 Emperer and the Arch Diuke falle him, as w th out double it will, 
 the Towne in 3 weakes tyme more will, in all menns iudgement, 
 be rendered in to our hands. And I dare promis it shall apeare 
 to y r Hig., that y r humble and loyall servants have not gained to 
 them selves the least part of honour and reputation in the 
 cariage of the whole seage. 
 
 1 Salisbury to Winwood, Sept. 9, o.s., 1610, Memorials, iii. pp. 215-16. 
 * Henry Stuart was created Prince of Wales on June 4, 1610. 
 3 This letter, preserved among the Harkian MSS. in the British Museum 
 (Harl. 7007), has been printed in Dr. Birch's Life of Henry, Prince of Wales
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 185 
 
 " I am only unhappe in one thinge, that the Mutenus and 
 unworthy cariage of S r Th. Button, 1 whom y r Hig. hath pleased 
 to favore be yonde his meritt, hath from tyme to tyme disturbed 
 the corse of the servis, having even at his first arivall heare 
 braved mee at the heade of the Tropes, daring to tell mee to my 
 face that it seemed his Ma u had given mee a Comition to abuse 
 men, when there was nothing in question but the doing of the 
 diuty of a Captayne, w 011 he ought not to dispute a mongst us, 
 seeing it was the first tyme that even he, or his companie, came 
 into the filde amongst us, and ever since in all meetings hath 
 disputed my commition and Authorety so farr, and w th so much 
 scorne. That though hitherto in respecte of y r Hig 8 , I have 
 contayned my selfe, yet, seeing that now againe in a public 
 assembly he hath contemtably spoken of my commition, and upon 
 Base advantage hurte s r Hatton Cheek, Coronell, whoe took upon 
 him the defence of it. 1 I most humbly beseach y r H. to be so 
 farr from giving him countinance heare in, that y r Hig 8 . will be 
 rather pleased to allow of that w ch iuslice heere shall allott him, 
 the defence of it. 2 I most humbly beseach y r H. to be so farr 
 from giving him countinance heare in, that y r Hig 8 will be rather 
 pleased to allow of that w ch iustice heere shall allott him, presum- 
 ing that y r Hig 8 Princely iugement will fynd it expedient that I be 
 discharged of such bad members, w h in the heate of his Ma* 
 servis dare contest w th mee, and be content upon any termes to 
 murder his Commander ; I can wishe no greater happines in the 
 world then that y r Hig. will vouchsafe to be Judge in any thing 
 
 1 Sir Thomas Dutton was a great man at Court. Wilson describes him as 
 "a man of a crabbed temper." He died May 16, 1634. 
 
 2 Sir Hatton Cheeke was second son of Sir Henry Cheeke, the eldest son 
 of Sir John Cheeke, tutor to King Edward VI. He was a gallant and 
 distinguished officer. Having been treated with great insolence by Sir 
 Thomas Dutton, his junior officer, he sent that officer a challenge when the 
 siege was over. The duel took place on Calais sands, and they fought with 
 great fury, the seconds having stripped them to their shirts. Sir Hatton 
 Cheeke having only just recovered from a dangerous illness fought at a 
 disadvantage, and received a mortal wound from his adversary, of which he 
 soon died. See account of the siege of Juliers in Arthur Wilson's Life and reign 
 of James I. By a letter from Sir Thos. Dutton to Salisbury, dated June 17, 
 1611, "begging favour for killing his foe in self-defence," it appears that 
 Sir T. Dutton had been deprived of his company in the States' army and had 
 lost the king's favour. S, P. Dom.
 
 1 86 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 that may concerne my Honor, all my studies and indevours 
 tending wholly to this eand, to make my selfe capable of doinge 
 y r Hig. all humble and loyall service. I fear I have importuned 
 y r Hig. to longe, but the contiguence of these busines in our 
 profestion is such that I can not but presume of y r Princely 
 interpretation of them, and the rather that it touches so highly 
 his Ma* and y r Hig. servis, to w ch there is no man more devoted 
 then [than] 
 
 Y* Hig 8 
 " Most humble and loyall servant, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 " From Guliers, 
 
 this 29 of July [1610]." 
 
 "TohisHighnes." 
 
 There is a great gap between this letter of Sir Edward 
 Cecil's to the Prince and the second he wrote, so we must 
 return to the Journal again, as the quaint language and 
 obsolete words therein used make the narrative of this 
 siege somewhat more interesting : 
 
 " The 3i 8t [o.s] grave Maurice and generall Cecill gave order 
 for the Canon to batter the halfe moone which, when they had con- 
 tinued some houre and halfe and made a breach, then generall 
 Cecil commanded Colonel Cheecke that the breach should be 
 assaulted, and men to lodge to maintaine the worke, when it 
 should be taken, and gave him Caveat by any meanes to beware 
 of the Enemyes mynes, of which he was certainely advertised, 
 whereupon Colonel Cheecke, with great iudgment, chose out 1 2 
 olde soldiers under the comaund of an Ensigne to be as his 
 forelorne hope, and to make an offer of giving on (sic), as if all 
 the grosse had come together, knoweinge that the enemy would 
 be so forewarde to blow up there mynes, and give fire to them at 
 the comeinge on of these fewe ; and then he assaied himselfe to 
 carry the worke afterwards with much ease and little loss ; and 
 this accordingelie took effect, for the Ensigne was no sooner 
 makeing offer with those 1 2 men to assaulte the worke, but the 
 enemy gave fire to his mynes, and the courage of the Ensigne
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 187 
 
 caried him so farre that he was blown a pike's length from the 
 ground and almost smothered with the earth, but was caried off, 
 and is now well ; only one soldier was blowne quite away ; upon 
 this, Colonel Cheecke entred the breach with a holberd in his 
 hand and beate the enemy from the worke, and a Coffer (sic) 
 which they had within ; whoe seeing their myne and Coffer took 
 no more effect, and that our men so resolutelie lodged themselves, 
 and by Colonel Cheecke's comaundment begane alreadie to turn 
 the earth in defence against them, they retired themselves into 
 the Castle ; to which, by reason of the great breach the mynes 
 had made, all the English that gave on (sic) laie open both to 
 there canon and muskett. But here Colonel Cheecke incoraged 
 his soldiers and abode great hazarde, there being above 50 greate 
 shott, besides smale made at the worke, before he could cast up a 
 rampet of any proofe for his defence ; which, with the losse and 
 hurte of divers men, he did and maintained it afterward ; the 
 Prince of Anholt, and Sednesco, sergeant major generall, under 
 grave Maurice, accompanied with generall Cecill the ' same daie, 
 being on horseback together to see this service ; with a shott the 
 Prince of Anholt's and Sednesco's horses were slaine and Sednesco 
 shott in the thigh, whereof within two daies he died. 1 The first 
 of August generall Cecill begane to make his Batterie on the 
 halfe moone he had taken ; the second of August he drewe a line 
 from the third Batterie, and made the 7 th Coarte of gaurde; the 
 third of August grave Maurice and generall Cecill begane to make 
 the mayne Batteries close to the mote of the castle, which held us 
 worke on all sides a long tyme, with much danger, the earth 
 being so hard and strong that it was impossible the worke could 
 advance with any speed e. 2 On the 4th of August the English, under 
 
 1 Crosse states that General Cecil also had a horse shot under him on this 
 occasion, but I think this is a mistake, and that it was on a previous occasion, 
 already mentioned, when Cecil had his horse killed. 
 
 1 Winwood confirms this statement as to the difficulty and danger of the 
 work, in his letter to Salisbury, dated Dusseldorf, this August 4, 1610. 
 He says : " This towne of Juliers through the desperate obstinacy of Russen- 
 burg, the Governour, will cost much more labour and blood then was at first 
 expected. The nearer th' approaches doe drawe to the counterscarp, the more 
 stony and rocky they finde the earth ; whereby the common souldiar is much 
 consumed, for every night 40 or 50 are lefte dead in the trenches, and yet the 
 workes not much advanced." S.P. Holland.
 
 1 88 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 grave Maurice, with the waloones, after they had battered with 
 canon, felle on the other halfe raoone which was before the 
 Castle, which the enemie defended verie well and threwe 12 
 granades amongst them, and fell out upon their flankes and put 
 them to retreate, and slewe some 60 of these men. The canon 
 played on this worke all the afternoon, and in the night those 
 under grave Maurice fell on it againe and founde the enemy had 
 left the same, and after they held it ; the 5 th , about 1 1 of the clock, 
 the french, under grave Maurice, after they had batered with the 
 canon some houres, fell on the raveling before the porte of the 
 castle in the midst of the curtaine, and were possessed of it about 
 an hour ; and then the enemy sallied out upon the worke againe 
 and made the french retire and quitt the same with the loss of 
 divers men ; yett att nighte, about 1 2 o'clocke, the french entred 
 the worke againe, found the enemy had quitt it, and after held 
 the same. This daie, in the evening, generall Cecill drewe downe 
 into the trenches all the shott under his command, whoe dis- 
 charged three vollies, and twixt everie of them there was a peale 
 of ordinance, in joyfull remembrance of his Majesties blessed 
 deliverance from Cowrie's couspiracie. 1 On the 8 th the enemy 
 placed two peeces of ordinance nere the est parte of the towne, 
 which much hurte our men comeing into the trenches, but from 
 our third and fourth Batteries we dismounted them within a day. 
 The 9 th the newe french, some ten thousand foote and horse, 
 under the comaund of M r de Shartois, one of the marchales of 
 ffrance, came to there quarters in villages two myles off Gulicke." 
 
 As La Chatre was marching through the diocese of 
 Cologne with his forces, his son-in-law happening by 
 chance to visit the city of Cologne, the Pope's nuncio 
 called upon him, and demonstrated to him that he should 
 not favour or assist heretics, who by their present course of 
 violence were trying to extirpate the Roman Catholic 
 religion. The marshal's son-in-law, whose name is not 
 recorded, gave this loyal answer, " I must obey my king's 
 
 1 The Earl of Cowrie's attempt to make James his prisoner took place 
 August 5, 1600.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 189 
 
 commands, though it were to lead an army against 
 Rome." 1 
 
 Before the arrival of the French forces the town of 
 Juliers had not been beleagured all round. " In con- 
 sequence of this the townspeople had made occasional 
 nightly sallies, and had stolen divers wagon horses which 
 were doubtless converted into food. These depredations 
 were now put a stop to by the appearance of the French 
 troops on the scene, who made their approaches on the 
 west side of the town and strengthened all those positions 
 that required it. The days of Juliers were numbered 
 before the French came, and their arrival at the eleventh 
 hour only served to detract from the glory of those who 
 had borne all the burden of this siege. Notwithstanding 
 the large host which encircled Juliers and kept closing in 
 nearer and nearer upon the doomed fortress, the garrison 
 still stood their ground and showed no signs of surrender- 
 ing. Winwood had come to the States' camp, fully 
 expecting to see the enemy haul down their flag and 
 capitulate, but the end had not yet come and the 
 ambassador could not refrain from expressing his surprise 
 to Salisbury, in a letter written from the camp, on August 
 1 2th: 
 
 " What makes the Governour of Juliers to hold out, being 
 w l hout hope of any succours, wee cannot guesse, more then 
 obstinacy and meere malice. The place doth appeare to be 
 exceeding strong, both by arte and nature, and as the Count 
 Maurice doth say, worthy to be compared w'h the cittadell of 
 Antwerp ; but the Governour doth shewe not to be his crafts- 
 maister, and the souldiars w'hin to want courage and resolucon, 
 who so slightly did quitte their outworkes, in a manner w'hout 
 resistance or dispute. 2 My next, I hope, will bring w'h them the 
 
 1 Crosse, p. 1296. 
 
 2 This seems unjust both as regards the Governor and the garrison.
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 advertisement of the reddition of the towne and castle, and the 
 returne of his Ma tle " forces into Holland." 1 
 
 "On the 15 th ," says Waymouth, "the army had on all sides 
 perfited their mayne Batteries to the Castle, which were made 
 upon the enemy's counterscarpe some 40 foot from the mote, with 
 parapetts before them 30 foote thick, and parapetts in the rere of 
 the ordinance with two footeinges to plaie with musketts and 
 defend the ordinance, with traverses of canon proofe at the ends 
 of the Batteries and a parapett for musketteers, all alonge before 
 the curtaine; generall Cecill had two Batteries, each of them 
 with 5 peeces to plaie upon the face of the bulwarke, and one 
 Batterie with 4 peeces to plaie upon the Casematt, and two peeces 
 on a work close to the mote's side, where our galerie went over, 
 to dismount any peece might have bine putt out of the wall by 
 the enemy, to hinder our galerie which we feared, the wall being 
 thereabouts broken ; grave Maurice had 4 Batteries, and each 
 with two pieces to plaie upon the face of the bulwarke, and one 
 Batterie with 6 peeces to plaie upon the Casematt; the new 
 French had two Batteries, and each of them with 4 peeces to 
 plaie upon the face of the bulwarke, and one Batterie with six 
 peeces to plaie upon the Casematt ; so that there were 50 peece 
 of Canon mounted in Batterie against the Castle. By this tyme, 
 likewise grave Maurice and generall Cecill had sapped under the 
 earth close to the mote ; this daie, nere night, the enemy threwe 
 fireworkes into generall Cecill's mayne Batteries, which burnt 
 longe and did much harme before the same could be quenched ; 
 the enemy mainetaineinge the same with Canon and muskett the 
 most part of the nighte ; but S r Robert Henderson, Colonell of 
 the Scotts, had the Gaurd that night, who shewed great iudgment 
 both to quench it and to hinder the enemy from attempting it 
 any more ; whoe shott wilde fire and granadoes most part of the 
 night. The 17 th , his Exelence grave Maurice and generall Cecill 
 battered from their mayne batteries, and dismounted divers 
 peeces of the enemy. The new French began a day after ; and 
 generall Cecill made such expedition that before night we had 
 dismounted the ordinance in the Casematt which flanked the side 
 
 S.P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 19! 
 
 where our galery was to goe over. This night we filled the mote 
 with risewood, or faggots, and made it fitt for our galerie to goe 
 over, and the i8 th before morninge had gott the first stone out of 
 the wall of the bullwarke ; and generall Cecill set men presentlie 
 on worke to myne, and others to make up the galerie ; this daie 
 there was a Battle of horse sett for there exercise." 1 
 
 The natural impatience of a civilian, who had no act or 
 part in the military operations he came to witness, was 
 exhibited by Sir Ralph Winwood in no small degree. 
 
 Writing to Lord Salisbury " from Hanbacke, by the camp 
 before Juliers, the 16 of August," he almost apologises 
 for the siege not being yet over. 
 
 " I can assure your Lp.," he writes, "that it is not long ot 
 Generall Cecil that this Siege of Juliers continueth so long, whose 
 industry and painfullnes hath bredde envie in many, and those 
 not of the least note, w ch they cannot conceale, but open'ly 
 professe ; they do much mervayle why he should make so greate 
 haste to the ende of this siege, w ch w'hall doth ende his command. 
 Wee looke every day when the Governour should speake, but he 
 is obstinate and desperate, and, as it seemes, hath vowed not to 
 survive the government of Juliers." a 
 
 The governor evidently thought he might not survive 
 the siege, as on August 28th (new style) he sent his little 
 son to Prince Maurice's camp with a request that the boy 
 might be sent to a place of safety, which request the 
 Prince immediately granted. 3 
 
 Early in the morning of the 2Qth the British had mined 
 through the wall of the castle. The garrison had set fire 
 to a barrel of pitch upon the wall, intending to throw 
 it over and burn down the gallery underneath, but such a 
 hot musketry fire was kept up by some English companies, 
 that the enemy lacked the courage to approach and throw 
 
 1 Journal, as before. * S. P. Holland, 1610. 3 Crosse, p. 1294.
 
 192 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 over the tar barrel, so it burnt itself out. Another 
 similar attempt was made that night, which Crosse thus 
 quaintly refers to: "They thought fitt to fire these ill 
 neighbours out of their nests, and to this purpose they 
 threw down in the dead of night a basket full of wild fire 
 balls upon the connex or roof of the gallery. But those 
 who were appointed to attend such events prevented the 
 mischiefe and threw the basket into the water, forcing the 
 chaine from those who held it, which was some 8 or 9 
 fadoms long." 1 
 
 Upon the 3Oth the men working in the British mine cut 
 into a mine of the enemy's, and, being about to take the 
 powder out, the mine exploded and ten men were killed. 
 The mine was filled again by the British, who closed it and 
 then fired it, inflicting some loss on the enemy. After this 
 the enemy's passage was blocked up, and a new gallery 
 begun by the Cecilians. 2 Prince Maurice had mined into 
 the castle nearly as soon as General Cecil, and went 
 forward with two more galleries, and the French had begun 
 four galleries. The end was now very near, as on the 3ist 
 the enemy's artillery in the casemates and shoulders of the 
 bulwarks had been dismounted, and a breach had been 
 effected in the face of the bulwark, which in a few hours 
 would have been large enough to be assaulted. The 
 governor seeing all further resistance was useless, and that 
 there was no hope of succours coming to his assistance, 
 sounded a parley. Sir Edward Cecil immediately sent off 
 a letter to the Prince of Wales, who was much interested 
 in this siege, conveying the pleasing intelligence. 
 
 1 Crosse, p. 1294. 
 * Journal.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 193 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE Y r HlGHNES, 
 
 " I am so full of that grate and high favor w ch y r H. hath 
 voutchsafed to cast upon me by y r owne princely hand, that it 
 hath given a nwe life and incoragement to all my in devours, and 
 in it hath brought me into a fare large field, of y r H. instice and 
 equity, wherein I dare fore ever safly walke, seyng I have y r H. 
 warrant for it, and I hope God will add such blessinge to y r H. 
 favore to mee that I shall gather strength and abilities in my 
 profession, to be able in y r happiest dayes to become a pore 
 instrument in some remorrkable and princely undertakings of y r 
 owne. 'Tis the happines after w oh I thurste, and in w ch I will 
 easily lay doune my life. 
 
 " Touching the actions of this sieage, whereof y r Hi. is pleased 
 to be advertised. This day our labour is groinge towards end, 
 for the Gouverner hath cauld to parly, demanded conditions, and 
 w th in a daye or tow wee looke to have troopes in the towne. Wee 
 were so happely advanst in our approches since I wryt my last 
 to y r H., that wee had longe since taking from them there 
 outworkes, passed over the ditch of the Castell w th 4 galleries, and 
 were lodged at the foote of there ramper, where wee have made 
 2 great mynes, w ch to morrow would have beyne redy to fier, and 
 the Cannon in our Eiglish approches had allredy playde w th that 
 fury upon the face of the Bulwerke that a great breache was made ; 
 and certaynely, w th in 2 dayes wee should have beyne entered upon 
 that place, yet the Gouverner had made shew of new defencies 
 w th in by cuttinge of the bulwerke nighe the shoulder, having 
 purpose to dispute that as his last retrayt ; but wee prest him so 
 neare, that he durst not attend any assault, nor give us leave to 
 see the operation of our mien, w oh wee much desiered, that wee 
 might have had a true ^experience how pouder would worke in so 
 high and so thick a wall, the like beyng noe where to befound, 
 booth in that and in all other perfection of fortification, as I will 
 make apeare by the particularitie, when I shall have that great 
 happines to kiss y r H. hands, and render account of all that hath 
 passed heare, till w ch tyme and for ever I will offer up my humble 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 prayers for y r H. continuall happines, and ever lastingly approve 
 my selfe 
 
 " Y r Hig. 
 
 " Most humble and devoted 
 " servant, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 " From the Seage of Giuliers, 
 this 21 of August [1610]. 
 
 " To his Highnes." 1 
 
 On the 1st September (new style) Juliers was sur- 
 rendered to the allied forces. Favourable terms were 
 granted to the garrison and townspeople. No change was 
 to be made in the liberty of Roman Catholic worship, and 
 all ecclesiasticals were to be allowed free enjoyment of 
 their goods, rents, and revenues. The garrison were to 
 march out of the fortress with drums beating, matches 
 burning, bullets in their mouths, and colours flying, taking 
 their weapons, horses, and moveable goods with them. 
 The artillery, warlike stores, provisions, and "engines of 
 warre," the garrison were to leave behind them, " without 
 altering or spoiling anything after the agreemente made, 
 or laying any kindled match, or other fiery instrument to 
 sett the powder on fire, upon condition that if any such 
 thing be found the agreemente shall be voide." 3 
 
 On the 2nd September the Dukes of Brandenburg and 
 Neuburg entered the town with some of the troops, and 
 after all things had been performed according to the 
 agreement, there marched out of the south port twenty-one 
 companies, numbering 1,300 men, and 300 sick and 
 wounded in wagons, who took the road for Maestricht. 
 Good store of powder and shot were found in the town, 
 and thirty-three cannon. It was computed the enemy lost 
 
 1 Harl. 7007, published by Birch. 2 Journal.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 195 
 
 about 800 men during the siege, and the allies nearly 
 2,000, whereof General Cecil lost 5OO. 1 On the same day, 
 there departed out of the Castle of Bredebent 800 soldiers 
 to whom were granted the same terms as to their friends 
 in Juliers. Frederick Pithan, Sergeant-Major-General to 
 Prince Maurice, was appointed governor of Juliers, in the 
 interest of the possessory princes. 
 
 Thus was brought to a successful termination an arduous 
 though short campaign. " The honour of the Conduct of 
 this seige," wrote Winwood to Salisbury, "no man will detract 
 from the Count Maurice, who is the Maistre ouvrier in that 
 mestier. But that this seige hath had so happy an end 
 himself will and doth attribute it to the Dilligence and 
 Judgement of Sir Edward Cecyll." 2 
 
 A few days after the surrender of Juliers, the French 
 troops under their veteran leader returned to France. On 
 September i6th the British and Dutch troops began their 
 march to Schehkenschaus, where they arrived on September 
 24th, and the army was then dissolved. 
 
 Before passing on to other matters, it is necessary to say 
 something more about the Archduke Leopold, who had 
 been the acting partner in the Austrian firm of Rudolph, 
 Leopold, and Co. We left the Archduke at Brussels, busy 
 collecting money, and trying to induce Archduke Albert 
 to adventure something in this Cleves speculation. From 
 Brussels the active bishop went to his bishopric of 
 
 1 It is very strange after reading the various accounts of the siege of Juliers 
 to see the following statement in Motley's John of Barneveld, i. p. 292: 
 " Thus without the loss of 'a single life, the Republic, guided by her con- 
 summate statesmen and unrivalled general, had gained an immense victory." 
 Winwood, Arthur Wilson, Sir Edward Herbert, and Waymouth, the 
 chronicler of this siege, on whose authority I have stated the number of 
 killed and wounded as above, all agree as to the great loss suffered by the 
 besiegers. 
 
 2 August 22nd, o.s., 1610. Memorials, iii. p. 210. 
 
 O 2
 
 196 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Strasburg, from which he had long been absent. His 
 return now was not to hold an ordination, or make a 
 pastoral tour through his diocese, but to collect his Alsatian 
 regiments together, and have them ready in case of need. 
 From Strasburg he returned to Prague, where he found his 
 senior sleeping partner, Rudolph, averse to forwarding 
 more funds for what seemed at present a hopeless venture. 
 Leopold's failure in this endeavour accounted for his non- 
 appearance before Juliers, with a force at his back, to relieve 
 that place. When he heard of the capitulation of Juliers, 
 he vented his anger on the head of the governor, Russen- 
 burg, whose soldierly ability he so underrated, that when 
 Russenburg offered his services to the Duke of Saxony 
 they were rejected. 1 The Bishop- Archduke made one 
 more effort to recover the duchies. He offered to take the 
 Duke of Saxony into partnership, and unite their joint 
 forces in a crusade against the Protestant Princes. But 
 Saxony had no money to spare, so this scheme fell through 
 like the rest. 2 And in this forlorn state we must bid adieu 
 to Leopoldus. 
 
 There was one captive taken by the allied forces whose 
 capture was very pleasing to King James. This was 
 Baldwin, the Jesuit, who was captured in the Palatinate, 
 and, being delivered to two British officers, was sent to 
 London in September. Sir Edward Cecil took advantage 
 of his officers' departure for England to send a letter to his 
 patron Henry, Prince of Wales : 
 
 " MAY IT PLEASE Y r HlGHNES, 
 
 "I presumed latly to advertise y r Hig., by M r Harbert, of 
 the taking of Juliers, and by him I sent a plant (sic) of it, and all 
 the approches, as they were when the Towne was rendered, and 
 
 1 Dickenson to Winwood, Dec. 20, 1610. Memorials, p. 243. 
 * Winwood to Trumbull, Jan. n, 1610-11. Ibid. p. 251.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 197 
 
 of the iust proportion of one intier Bulwarke of the Castell, that y. 
 Hig. might be pleased by that to iudge how excellent a plase the 
 whole must be. The desier I had to dispach that messenger w th 
 speed, robed me of all tyme to present every thing then in that 
 full perfection to y r Hig. as my duity and y r owne rare Princly 
 iudgement in the profession of Armes might worthily expect ; and 
 now that our Army is so nearly returned, and I so overprest w* a 
 longing desier to come over and be made happy by kissing y r 
 Hig. handes, I humbly beseeach y r Hig. to allow mee to be the 
 messenger of all the perticularites my self, having made an 
 assembly of the best observations I could to offer to y r Hig. viw 
 at my returne, and such as I was unwillinge any hand should be 
 honored in bering them to y r Hig. but my owne. Tomorrowe the 
 Tropes will be disperced from Skinkskaus in to there Garrisons, 
 and when I have accompayned Count Mauris to the Hage to see the 
 tropes receaved by the states in there former conditions, I purpose 
 my returne to render an account to his Ma u and y r Hig. of all 
 my poore en devours in this imployment. This bearer, Cap. 
 Deuhurst, is ioyned w th S r John Barlace for the safe delivery of 
 that Arch Jesuit, father Baldwin, 1 into his Ma* 68 hands, and to 
 assuer ourselves of the Garison of Rhyneberke and other of the 
 Arch des fronters in these partes, w h might have atemted his 
 recovery, wee stayed him till now that the Army marched, and so 
 have shipt him w th all safety for England, 2 where I hope he will 
 
 1 Winwood, in a letter to Salisbury at this time, mentions that Father 
 Baldwin was captured at Dusseldorf. On his arrival in England he was 
 imprisoned in the Tower, and we find from a royal warrant issued at Hampton 
 Court on October 8, 1610, that .120 was given to Sir John Borlase and 
 Capt. Barnaby Dewhurst " for conveying Baldwin, the Jesuit, from Dusseldorf, 
 in Cleveland, to London." Baldwin was believed to have joined the con- 
 spiracy of Fawkes when the latter was in Flanders, and though nothing 
 conclusive seems to have been proved against him, he remained for long a 
 prisoner in the Tower. Baldwin had many friends among the Roman 
 Catholics, one of whom, Mary Lady Lovell, wrote to Salisbury from Ghent, 
 on Nov. 23, 1610, assuring his Lordship that Baldwin was innocent of all 
 conspiracy. She advises Salisbury in this letter against allowing Baldwin to 
 be executed, as it might set the people against him (Salisbury). Sir Henry 
 Wotton tried to bring about, in 1618, an exchange between Baldwin and 
 Molle, Lord Roos's tutor, who had been imprisoned by the Inquisition at 
 Rome. Molle, however, was not released, and was kept a prisoner for thirty 
 years, until death released him in the 8ist year of his age. 
 
 a Winwood records that Baldwin was guarded by an escort of 45 barque-
 
 198 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 discover many rare and hidden practises he hath beeyne busied 
 in against the state. I have never held much discorse w 111 him, 
 yet I observe him to be naturally of a wonderful pryde, and full of 
 passion in any thing he speaketh of, and rather a generall under - 
 stander of politike matters then a sound mann in controverses of 
 Religion. I dare presume to comber y r Hig. noe longer, begging 
 humbly pardon that I have adventured to wryt this much. I doe 
 only add my continuall prayres to make y r Hig. everlastingly 
 happy, and me occation to show how much I am 
 "Y'Hig 3 
 " most loyall and humble servant, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 " From Skinckscanc, 
 this 14 of Septem.. I6IO." 1 
 
 History does not tell us how the chivalrous young 
 Prince Henry received General Cecil on his return to 
 England ; 2 but King James expressed his appreciation of 
 the good work done by his soldiers and their general 
 before Juliers in a letter to his minister, soon after the 
 events had taken place. An ambassador, after the manner 
 and fashion of this peace-loving King, was to be sent on a 
 mission of reconciliation he was to try and reconcile the 
 irate Emperor of Germany to the victorious Princes of 
 Cleves. " Ye shall thairfore knowe," wrote the King to 
 Salisbury, "that my ambassadoure can doe me no bettir 
 service than in assisting to the treatie of this reconciliation, 
 
 busiers a cheval, and Sir Edward Cecil's own troop of horse. Winwood to 
 Salisbury, Aug. 23, 1610. Memorials, iii. p. 211. This troop of horse formed 
 part of the cavalry force sent to Juliers with Prince Maurice, under the 
 command of Prince Henry, General of the Horse. 
 
 1 This letter has never been published before. The original (a holograph) 
 is in the possession of the Marquis of Bath, at Longleat, to whose kindness 
 I am indebted for a copy of it. 
 
 * We have it on Cecil's own authority that he was recompensed for his 
 good service at Juliers, both by the King of Great Britain and by the States. 
 See letter from Lord Wimbledon to the Duke of Buckingham, dated March 
 15, 1626." S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 1 99 
 
 quharin he maye have as goode occasion to emploie his 
 tongue and his pen (and I wish it maye be with as goode 
 successe) as generall cecill and his soldiers have done 
 thaire swordis and thaire mattokis." 1 
 
 The treaty of reconciliation which the King refers to in 
 the above letter, was the " Treaty of Cologne." Sir Ralph 
 Winwood was sent to that city early in October, to assist 
 at a Conference, in which the Emperor and the Protestant 
 princes of Germany were all represented by their respective 
 commissioners. The Emperor's representatives demanded 
 that the victorious Princes of Juliers and Cleves should 
 possess their duchies as vassals of the Emperor ; that the 
 Duke of Saxony should he recognised by them as a 
 rightful claimant, and that the differences amongst the 
 competitors shotdd be determined solely by the judgment of 
 the Emperor? This Imperial dictum would have led as a 
 matter of course to a fresh quarrel in the duchies. It is 
 not surprising, therefore, that the delegates of the Protestant 
 princes replied to the Emperor's overtures, by saying that 
 though their masters were quite willing to possess the 
 duchies in the name of the Emperor, they utterly refused 
 to admit the Duke of Saxony's claim, or to share the 
 duchies with him. This fiat put a stop, for the present, to 
 further negotiations, and Sir Ralph Winwood, seeing the 
 matter was not likely to be settled until the Greek Kalends, 
 returned to Dusseldorf, from whence he went to the 
 Hague. 3 
 
 It is useless and needless to prosecute these rival claims 
 any further, for they never were properly adjusted and 
 settled. The Emperor Rudolph and the Duke of Saxony 
 soon passed away, and the world knew them no more ; but 
 
 1 King James to Salisbury, Cecil Papers, Hatfield. 
 
 2 Winwood to Trumbull, Oct. 8, 1610, from Cologne. Memorials, iii. p. 226. 
 
 3 Ibid.
 
 2OO LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 the successor of the former invested the successor of the 
 latter with the disputed duchies, and the matter was as 
 remote from settlement as ever. Thus it generally is with 
 claims, and always will be until the end of time. As 
 regards the Princes of Brandenburg and Neuburg, it suffices 
 now to add that they quietly shared the duchies between 
 them. We cannot finish this chapter better than by quoting 
 the far-seeing opinion of Sir Ralph Winwood regarding 
 these two Kings of Sparta, as one might almost term them. 
 " If the Princes Possedants" wrote Winwood to Trumbull, 1 
 " can be so wise to live together in Amity and good Concord, 
 and govern their countreys with Justice and good Pollicie, 
 they shall have small reason to fear either the Power of the 
 Emperor or the Practises of the House of Saxony." 2 
 
 1 Win. Trumbull succeeded Sir Thomas Edmonds as envoy to Brussels in 
 Sept. 1609. He stayed there fifteen years, and was afterwards made Clerk of 
 the Council. He died in London, Sept. 1635. 
 
 * Jan. nth, old style, 1610-11. Memorials, iii. p. 323.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 2OI 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 1611-1614. 
 
 State of England under the rule of James I. Henry, Prince of Wales The 
 Cecilians An embassy from Denmark Edward Cecil's mission to Holland 
 Illness and death of Lord Salisbury His character The sudden rise of 
 Robert Carr The pastimes of the Prince of Wales Alliances proposed 
 for him and his sister Elizabeth Betrothal of Elizabeth to the Elector 
 Palatine Illness and death of the Prince of Wales Marriage of 
 Princess Elizabeth Sir Edward and Lady Cecil accompany Elizabeth 
 to Germany The journey Arrival at Gaulstein in the Palatinate The 
 British Commissioners take their departure Elizabeth's dilemma on 
 Cecil's departure Her triumphal entry into Heidelberg The Essex 
 divorce case Sir Thomas Overbury's advice to Lord Rochester Im- 
 prisonment of Overbury in the Tower Found dead Marriage of the 
 Earl of Somerset to Lady Frances Howard Temporary triumph of 
 guilt The Electress gives birth to a son at Heidelberg Great re- 
 joicings General Cecil and his wife are sent on a mission to Heidelberg 
 by James I. A new Parliament Short and unsatisfactory session The 
 phantom campaign of 1614 in the Low Countries. 
 
 THE reign of James I. of England was not a glorious one. * 
 The most ardent admirers of that monarch must admit 
 that much, and he has his admirers and supporters like all 
 other kings and queens. A peaceful reign is often, and 
 ought to be, a prosperous one, but no one can say Eng- 
 land was in a prosperous state when Charles the Martyr 
 ascended the tottering throne of his father. The exchequer 
 was empty. The people were suffering from the large 
 subsidies they had been called on to furnish during the late 
 King's reign. Trade was crippled and unfairly handi- 
 capped by the granting of monopolies. The decrees of the 
 
 1 " His reign in England was a continual course of mean practises." 
 Bishop Burnet's History of his own time, i. p. 29.
 
 2O2 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Court of the Star Chamber had rendered justice a thing 
 of the past. Discontent was rampant. A strong feeling 
 against the divine right of kings prevailed. Men were 
 beginning to think for themselves, and to assert their rights 
 as they had never thought of asserting them in the days 
 of Elizabeth. Were not these threatening clouds which 
 darkened the horizon on the accession of Charles I., 
 mainly due to the mismanagement of State affairs and the 
 abuse of kingly power by the royal James? The great 
 French Revolution was undoubtedly brought about by the 
 tyranny, oppression, and licentious lives of Louis XIV., 
 Louis XV., and their nobility. Louis XV. had foreseen, 
 with a callous indifference, the retribution that was in- 
 evitably to come, sooner or later, and yet he made no 
 attempt to ameliorate the condition of his down-trodden 
 subjects or curb the licentious lives of his courtiers and his 
 own. Aprh nous le deluge was the far-seeing expression of 
 the monarch, who, when young, had been called Louis 
 the Well-beloved, but whose manner of life in old age had 
 turned the love of his subjects into deadly hate. The sins 
 of the fathers are visited upon the sons unto the third and 
 fourth generation. Louis XVI., the innocent and well- 
 meaning successor to his grandfather's throne, suffered for 
 his ancestors' crimes. And did not Charles I. in like 
 manner suffer for his father's faults ? We use the words 
 faults in the latter case, as we have no wish to compare 
 James to Louis XV., though the sequels to both reigns have 
 a strange analogy. As kings went in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, James was by no means a bad man. He was a kind 
 and faithful husband, an indulgent father, and an upholder 
 of religion. Many of his faults were those of his education 
 and country. Others were the results of his constitutional 
 timidity. Had James lived and died in a humble position 
 of life, he would probably have done nothing to disgrace
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 203 
 
 his position. But the cynicism of fate raised him to a 
 position he was in most respects totally unfitted for. As 
 King of England he was the square man in the round hole, 
 and, not being able to govern, he let himself be governed. 
 It too often happens that a weak king lets himself be 
 governed by unscrupulous men who make capital out of his 
 weakness, and carry him along by sheer strength of will 
 through what his own better nature, if left to itself, might 
 have refused to do. It is the want of moral firmness which 
 turns weak kings into bad ones. Edward II., Richard II., 
 and Henry VI., are good examples of weak kings. The 
 two first abdicated their power into the hands of unworthy 
 favourites, who were the ultimate ruin of them. Henry VI., 
 whose chief fault was weakness of character, would have 
 been shaken off his throne long before he was, had it not 
 been for the master mind and strong right arm of Margaret 
 of Anjou. James lived in much less troublous times, but 
 his manner of ruling in the latter part of his reign paved 
 the way for anarchy and rebellion. For the first nine years 
 of his reign England prospered well enough, as the reins 
 of government were in the experienced hands of Robert 
 Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, who understood the British Con- 
 stitution so thoroughly, and had the good of his country 
 so much at heart. It is in the last year of this great 
 statesman's life that this chapter opens. 
 
 Sir Edward Cecil does not appear to have gone over to 
 the Low Countries in the year 1611. Now that the piping 
 times of peace reigned in the United Provinces, soldiering 
 was but a dull trade, and Court life, of which Edward 
 Cecil had had but a very small share during the last twelve 
 years, possessed many attractions for the hero of Juliers. 
 One of the greatest attractions at Court to him, as to all 
 military men, was the young Prince of Wales, who took the 
 keenest interest in all things military. The Cecilians, as
 
 204 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 may be supposed, had many friends at Court, notwith- 
 standing the envy and jealousy with which the Lord 
 Treasurer was regarded by many avaricious courtiers and 
 needy office seekers. Lord Salisbury's only son, William 
 Cecil, Viscount Cranbourne, 1 was in constant attendance 
 upon the Prince of Wales, with whom he was in great 
 favour. 2 Lord Cranbourne also much frequented the 
 company of his cousin, Edward Cecil, between whom a 
 friendship sprang up which appears to have continued 
 many years. Chamberlain, in one of his chatty letters to 
 Dudley Carleton, written in 1611, says: "My Lord of 
 Cranbourne used me well. ... Sir Edward Cecil is con- 
 tinually about him, very much to my Lord Treasurer's 
 liking." 3 In the following March we find both Sir Edward 
 Cecil and Lord Cranbourne tilting with the Prince on 
 Shrove Tuesday. 
 
 1 W m Cecil, Viscount Cranbourne, only son of the Lord Treasurer, by his 
 marriage with Elizabeth Brooke, sister of the unfortunate Henry Brooke, 
 Lord Cobham, was born about the year 1590. He was educated at 
 Westminster School and St. John's College, Cambridge. In Feb. 1608, 
 we find his tutor, Thomas Cecil, writing to Lord Salisbury about his son's 
 progress in learning. " The Course M r Dean of Westminster commended 
 unto us," writes Thomas Cecil, " wee doe take and 'tis the best (I thinke) 
 wee can take. His Lordship of himselfe is readye to heare, willinge to learne, 
 forward to conferr w tb my selfe and other younge gentlemen w ch learne w th 
 him. So that wee shall (I dought not) gett some learninge. But it comes 
 to a man, as diseases leave him, by little and little, like deawe, not like a 
 tempest. Mountaynes of promises often tymes bringe fo >rth but mole-hills 
 of perfourmaunces, yet thus muche I dare promis, love, duety, dilligence." 
 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 817. 
 
 Lord Cranbourne succeeded as second Earl of Salisbury, in May, 1612. He 
 married in Dec., 1608, Catherine, youngest daughter of Thomas Howard, 
 Earl of Suffolk, and was succeeded in 1668 by his grandson, James Cecil, son 
 of Charles, Viscount Cranbourne, by Jane, daughter and coheir of James 
 Maxwell, Earl of Dirleton. 
 
 * Chamberlain in a letter to Carleton, dated Jan. 29th, 1611-2, speaking of 
 the Prince's sports, says: "In all which exercises the Lord Cranbourne 
 attending him, keeping an honourable table all the while they were at 
 Greenwich, and grows daily into his favour." 5. P. Dom. 
 
 * Nov' 6, 1611. S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 205 
 
 " The Prince, with Viscount Rochester, Sir Thomas Somerset, 
 Sir Thomas Howard, Sir Edward Cecil, and one Ramsey, on his 
 side," wrote Chamberlain to Carleton, " ran a match at the ring, 
 for a supper, against the Duke of Lenox, the Lord Walden, the 
 Lord Cranbourne, the Lord Chandos, the Lord Hay, and Mr. 
 Henry Howard. The Prince won, and the supper and plays 
 were made at the Marquis of Winchester's house on the Tuesday 
 after." 1 
 
 The same writer tells us in this letter how the London 
 " prentices " enjoyed themselves on this Shrove Tuesday : 
 
 " Our prentices," he says, " were very unruly on Shrove Tuesday, 
 and pulled down a house or two, of good fellowship, in which 
 service two or three of them came short home." 
 
 The marriage of James I. with Anne of Denmark had 
 brought about very friendly relations between Great 
 Britain and Denmark. Queen Anne was devoted to her 
 brother, Christian IV., King of Denmark, who paid several 
 visits to the English court. In 1611, there being war 
 between Denmark and Sweden, the former country sent an 
 embassy to London soliciting aid. 
 
 " There is an ambassador from Denmark soliciting for aid for 
 those wars," writes Chamberlain to Carleton, " and some forces, 
 are said, shall be sent under the conduct of Lord Willoughby and 
 Sir Edward Cecil, and a Regiment of Scots under the Lord 
 Dingwall, with another of Irish under the Earl of Clanrickard. 
 Yet I will not believe that such men will adventure themselves 
 upon so poor conditions as are yet propounded, for they may go 
 on warfare upon their own cost." 2 
 
 However anxious Sir Edward Cecil was to be actively 
 employed in the profession he belonged to, the Danish 
 
 1 March n, 1611-2. S. P. Dom. 
 
 ? From London, Feb. 26, 1611-2. S. P. Dom.
 
 2O6 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 command just referred to did not hold out sufficient in- 
 ducements to him to throw up his command in the Low 
 Countries. A subsequent letter by the above writer, in- 
 forms us that Lord Willoughby 1 sold land to set forth 
 himself on his journey to Denmark, whither he was to 
 convey 4,000 men if he could raise t/iem? The same letter 
 also tells of a peaceful mission which Sir Edward Cecil had 
 been sent on by the Prince of Wales : 
 
 "Sir Edward Cecil is gone over into the Low Countries to 
 supply the prince's place of godfather to a child of the Count 
 Ernestus of Nassau of [at] Arnheinij and carried with him a great 
 present of plate, because the lady is daughter to the Queen's 
 sister." 3 
 
 Before Edward Cecil went to Holland, his uncle and 
 kind patron, the Earl of Salisbury, who had for some time 
 been in failing health, worn out before his time by his 
 arduous duties, was taken seriously ill with a tertian ague. 
 Rallying to a certain extent from this illness, Lord Salis- 
 bury went, on April 27th, to Bath, to take the waters there. 
 No waters, however, could shake off the hand of Death who 
 had laid his relentless grasp on that great statesman. 
 
 " On Sunday the news was very doubtful and almost desperate," 
 wrote Chamberlain to Carleton about the third week in May, 4 
 
 1 Robert, nth Baron Willoughby de Eresby, created Earl of Lindsey in 
 1626. At the commencement of the Civil Wars he was nominated Com- 
 mander-in-chief of the King's forces, and fell at Edgehill, Oct. 23, 1642, at 
 the head of a division of the royal army. 
 
 2 Chamberlain to Carleton, March, 25, 1611-2. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * The wife of Count Ernest of Nassau, was Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick, 
 daughter of the Duchess of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, nee Elizabeth of 
 Denmark. There is a letter from Sir Edward Conway, deputy-governor of 
 the Brill, to Henry, Prince of Wales (printed in the Appendix to Birch's 
 Life of Henry, Prince of Wales), referring to the festivities which took place at 
 this christening at Arnhem. 
 
 4 This letter, which is given in The Court and Times of James /., is not 
 dated, i. p. 168.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 2O7 
 
 " so that my Lord Cranbourne was sent for to Audley End and 
 came all night and next day by horses ; and he and Sir Edward 
 Cecil arrived at the Bath and found my Lord somewhat revived, 
 insomuch that yesterday he would needs remove from the Bath to 
 a house six miles off, belonging to Sir Francis Manners in right of 
 his wife, and they say will homewards as fast as his strength will 
 give him leave." 
 
 But Robert Cecil never lived to return home, and died on 
 Sunday, 24th May, in the parsonage house at Marlborough, 
 aged 62, having kept his mind clear to the very last. 1 His 
 son was with him at the end, 2 but it does not appear if 
 Edward Cecil was also present. Lord Salisbury was 
 interred at Hatfield early in June, and there were present 
 as mourners : 
 
 " The Lord Privy Seal, the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Worcester, 
 Lord Pembroke, Lord Exeter, young Lord St. John, Lord Clifford, 3 
 Lord Burghley, Lord Denny, Lord Hay, 4 Sir Edward Cecil, the 
 Master of the Rolls, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, M r 
 Attorney and M r Solicitor General." 5 
 
 Like all truly great men, Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, 
 has been severely handled by many writers, who have 
 depicted his character in a very unfavourable light. It 
 has been acknowledged by Walpole and other writers, that 
 
 1 Chamberlain to Carleton, May 27th, 1612. S. P. Dom. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
 * Henry Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, married in his father's lifetime, July 
 25th, 1610, Lady Frances Cecil, daughter to the Earl of Salisbury, by whom 
 he had divers children. He died Dec. nth, 1643, at York, and his widow 
 died there, Feb. 14, in the following year. 
 
 * Lord Hay was sent -by King James to Bath, with a valuable diamond 
 ring for Lord Salisbury, a short time before the Lord Treasurer's death, as a 
 token of his Majesty's regard for his minister. The King also sent this 
 message with the ring : " That the favor and affection he bore him was, and 
 should be ever, as the form and matter of that ring, endless, pure and most 
 perfect." Biog. Brit. art. " Robert Cecil." 
 
 4 Chamberlain to Carleton, June nth, 1612. S. P. Dom.
 
 2O8 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Dr. Birch has given the most fair and impartial view of this 
 great man's character, drawn " from fuller and more impartial 
 light than the ignorance or envy of his own time would 
 allow ; and which may, therefore, be opposed to the 
 prejudiced representations of Weldon, Wilson, Osborn, and 
 the secret-hunting historiographers of that age, as well as 
 to the partial estimate of his character drawn by Turneur." l 
 Before referring to the last-named writer's character of 
 Lord Salisbury, it will be best to give a short extract from 
 Birch's review of Cecil's character : 
 
 " He was properly a sole Minister, though not under the denom- 
 ination of a favourite, his Master having a much greater awe of 
 than love for him ; and he drew all business, both foreign and 
 domestic, into his own hands, and suffered no Ministers to be 
 employed abroad but who were his dependents, and with whom 
 he kept a most constant and exact correspondence ; but the men 
 whom he preferred to such employments justified his choice, and 
 did credit to the use he made of his power." 2 
 
 With regard to the eulogy by Turneur mentioned 
 above, the title page of his pamphlet chiefly concerns 
 us, as it mentions Edward Cecil's wife, and shows that 
 a bond of friendship existed between her and Lord 
 Salisbury : 
 
 "The character of Robert, Earle of Salisburye, Lord High 
 Treasurer of Englande, &c., by M r W m Turneur, and dedicated to 
 the most understandinge and the most worthye Ladye the Ladi 
 TheodosiaCecylL" 3 ' 
 
 England, after Cecil's death, was like a ship deprived of 
 her captain. There were many applicants and aspirants for 
 the vacant post, but James, for reasons of his own, kept the 
 
 1 Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors, ii. p. 146. 
 
 2 Birch's Historical view of the negotiations between the Courts of England, 
 France, and Brussels, p. 348. 
 
 3 Harl. 36.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 2OQ 
 
 post open for two years. 1 The king was like a schoolboy 
 who has just done with school, and feels dazed with his 
 sudden independence. Being left to his own guidance, 
 James, who was surrounded by flatterers and venal 
 sycophants, chose out the most worthless of them all as the 
 man he especially delighted to honour. This was Robert 
 Carr, a handsome Scot, who had been created, in 1611, 
 Viscount Rochester, and had been a rising favourite for 
 some time before Cecil's death, though that wise statesman 
 had done his best to check the king's foolish prodigality to- 
 wards him, seeing what disastrous results would ensue from it. 
 
 " The Viscount Rochester groweth potent in affairs here ; and 
 therefore you shall do wisely to respect him thereafter," wrote Sir 
 Thomas Lake, Secretary of State, from the Court at Ampthill, to 
 his friend Sir Thos. Edmonds, two months after the great Cecil's 
 death. " He hath now the Signets delivered to him, which since 
 the Lord Treasurer's death have remained with me by way of 
 custody, as they did in his sickness, and have done often before 
 in his absence. But this maketh much discussion here, what his 
 Lordship's ends may be." a 
 
 Leaving Viscount Rochester to bask in the king's favour, 
 and attain his ends by fair means and foul, we must return 
 to a more pleasing person Henry, Prince of Wales. This 
 chivalrous young prince was, after Lord Salisbury's death, 
 Sir Edward Cecil's kindest patron at Court. This is not 
 surprising when we consider how devoted this prince was to 
 all soldiers and sailors. Sir Charles Cornwallis, in his Life 
 of Prince Henry, gives a graphic description of his mode 
 of life : 3 
 
 1 Lord Suffolk was then appointed Lord Treasurer. Court and Timft, i. 
 
 P- 335- 
 
 2 Quoted in Birch's Historical view, &c , p. 349. 
 
 * Life and Death of Henry, Prince of Wales, pp. 20-1. 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 2IO LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 " He did also practise tilting, charging on horsebacke with 
 pistols after the manner of the wars with all other the like 
 inventions. Now also delighting to conferre both with his 
 owne and other strangers, and great Captaines, of all manner of 
 wars, battailles, furniture, armes by sea and land, disciplines, orders, 
 marches, alarmes, watches, stratagems, ambuscades, approaches, 
 scalings, fortifications, incampings, and having now and then 
 battailes of headmen appointed, both on horse and foot, in a long 
 table, whereby he might in a manner view the right ordering of a 
 battaile, how every troope did ride and assist another, as also the 
 placing of the light horsemen, vauntgaurd, maine battaille with the 
 assisting wings, and rerewards, &c., which are out of my element 
 to speake of." 
 
 Prince Henry had an experienced French riding-master, 
 named St. Antoine, who had been sent over in the suite of 
 the Duke of Sully, when that ambassador came to 
 congratulate James on his accession to the Crown of 
 England in 1603. It was St Antoine who communicated 
 to the French ambassador, La Broderie, the young prince's 
 desire for a suit of armour, well-gilt and enamelled, with 
 pistols and sword. Henry IV. sent Prince Henry a 
 beautiful suit of armour, which is now in the Tower. 1 The 
 prince also caused another suit of armour to be made 
 for himself, which Sir Edward Cecil had orders for pro- 
 curing ; but where it was made, or after what fashion, does 
 not appear. It was doubtless ordered just before the prince 
 became ill, and he never lived to see it. We presume this 
 to be the case from the following warrant : 
 
 "March 31, 1613. A warrant to the Exchequer to pay to Sir 
 Edward Cecill, Knt., the sum of 330" being the remayns of 480" 
 
 1 Note from England as seen by foreigners in the days of Elizabeth and 
 James I., by W. B. Rye. James I. said of armour "that he could not but 
 greatly praise armour, as it not only protected the wearer, but also prevented 
 him from injuring any other person." Quoted by Sir S. Meyrick in his 
 Ancient Armour, iii. p. 73.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 2 I I 
 
 due for an armour which the late Prince Henry caused to be 
 made for himself. Subscribed and procured by Windebank by 
 order from M r Chase of the Exchequer." * 
 
 Early in 1612, and for some time previously, James had 
 been looking out for a suitable princess for his son and heir. 
 Both the king and queen are said to have been anxious to 
 marry their son to a Spanish infanta, and for political 
 reasons this projected alliance was promoted by the anti- 
 Protestant party. Prince Henry showed himself very 
 averse to wedding a princess of the Roman Catholic 
 religion, and he had a strong supporter in the Lord 
 Treasurer Cecil, who said that the gallant Prince of Wales 
 could find blooming roses everywhere, and did not need to 
 search for an olive. 2 A husband was also required for that 
 charming princess, Elizabeth Stuart, sole surviving daughter 
 of James I. There was quite a contest between Protestants 
 and Roman Catholics as to who should carry off this 
 pearl. 3 The Duke of Savoy had made proposals to James 
 for a double marriage between their children, and Anne of 
 Denmark was suspected of secretly intriguing with Spain 
 for a marriage between the young King of Spain and her 
 daughter Elizabeth. Whilst these matrimonial schemes 
 were hatching, a treaty was taking place in Germany which 
 was to lead to a very important event. 
 
 In March, 1612, an alliance was concluded at Wesel, 
 between James I. and the Protestant Princes of the Union,* 
 
 1 Sign Man, iii. No. 4. S. P. Dom. 
 
 2 Ranke's History of England, i. p. 424. 
 
 3 Ibid. 
 
 * In 1608 the Protestant Princes of Germany entered into an alliance for 
 their mutual defence in case of oppression by the Roman Catholic Princes 
 This alliance they called the Evangelical Union. In opposition to this Union 
 was the Roman Catholic League, based on the same defensive clauses as the 
 Evangelical Union, and having for its head Maximilian, the powerful Elector 
 of Bavaria. 
 
 P 2
 
 212 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 among whom were the Princes of Brandenburg, Hesse, 
 Palatinate, Baden, Anhalt, and Wurtemburg : 
 
 " Both contracting parties," says a German historian, " promised 
 one another mutual support against all who should attack them on 
 account of the Union, or of the aid they had given in settling and 
 maintaining the tenure of Cleves and Juliers." l 
 
 In order to cement the alliance between James and the 
 Protestant Princes, the latter were most anxious that the 
 Princess Elizabeth should be given in marriage to a prince 
 of the Union. It so happened that Maurice of Nassau was 
 uncle, by blood, to the young Elector Palatine, and that the 
 Duke of Bouillon was uncle to the Elector by marriage. 2 
 The Duke of Bouillon was the head of the Protestant cause 
 in France, and was quite as inimical to the House of 
 Austria as Prince Maurice. After the Wesel conference 
 was over, the Duke of Bouillon and Count Hanau, who had 
 married another daughter of William the Silent, visited 
 London, and made proposals to the King for a marriage 
 between their young nephew and the Princess Elizabeth. 3 
 Prince Henry, who was devoted to his sister, was strongly 
 in favour of this match, notwithstanding the Elector's 
 inferior rank. It was mainly due to the Prince's influence 
 with his mother that the Queen withdrew her opposition 
 to what she considered an unequal and poor marriage. 
 The King followed suit, and, on May i6th, the marriage 
 contract was signed by the members of the Privy Council. 
 
 Frederick, Elector Palatine, arrived in London the middle 
 of OctoSer, 1612, and received a most hearty welcome 
 
 1 Ranke, i. p. 424. 
 
 3 The late Elector Palatine had married a daughter of William the Silent, 
 who was mother of Frederick V., Elector Palatine. The Duke of Bouillon 
 had also married a daughter of William the Silent. 
 
 s Ranke, i. p. 427.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 213 
 
 from the people, to whom the marriage gave great satis- 
 faction. Prince Henry welcomed him as a brother, and 
 declared his intention of escorting his sister to her new 
 German home after the marriage. The marriage was fixed 
 for early in November, but before the King could claim 
 the Elector as a son, death had robbed James of his first 
 born son, and the whole royal family were plunged into 
 the lowest depths of misery by this cruel blow. A low 
 fever, caught in a peculiarly unhealthy season, had carried 
 off this hopeful young prince in the eighteenth year of his 
 age, on November 6th. Owing to the fear of contagion, 
 Elizabeth was not allowed to visit her brother, but tender 
 messages passed between them, and his last audible words 
 were, " where is my dear sister." 1 
 
 " To tell you," says the Earl of Dorset in a letter to Sir T. 
 Edmonds, " that our rising sun is set ere scarcely he had shone, and 
 that with him all our glory lies buried ; you know and do lament 
 as well as we and better than some do and more truly, or else you 
 were not a man and sensible of this kingdom's loss." 2 
 
 England had not sustained such a loss since the death 
 of the youthful Edward VI., and she did not sustain such 
 another till the untimely decease of Princess Charlotte, on 
 November 6th (the anniversary of Prince Henry's death), 
 1817. 
 
 The marriage of the Elector Palatine and Princess 
 Elizabeth took place on February I4th (St. Valentine's 
 day), 1613, having been postponed three months in conse- 
 quence of Prince Henry's death. 
 
 Never was a royal marriage performed with greater 
 splendour, and never did a more united couple plight their 
 
 1 Chamberlain to Carleton, Nov. 12, 1612. S. P. Dom. 
 * Nov. 23, 1612. Quoted in Letters to King Janus VI. from the Queen, 
 Princess Elizabeth, &c., published 1835.
 
 214 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 vows to each other before God's altar than did this youthful 
 pair in the chapel of Whitehall Palace. Many writers 
 have given an account of this wedding, and a very brief 
 mention of it, extracted from one of Chamberlain's letters, 
 will suffice : 
 
 " The bridegroom and bride were both in a suit of cloth of 
 silver, richly embroidered with silver, her train carried up by 
 thirteen young ladies or lords' daughters, at least, besides five or 
 six more that could not come near it. These were all in the same 
 livery with the bride, though not so rich. The bride was married 
 in her hair, that hung down long, with an exceeding rich coronet on 
 her head, which the king valued the next day at a million of 
 crowns. Her two bride's-men were the young prince and the Earl 
 of Northampton. The king and queen both followed, the queen 
 all in white, but not very rich saving in jewels. The king, 
 methought, was somewhat strangely attired in a cap and feather, 
 with a Spanish cape and a long stocking. The chapel was very 
 strictly kept, none suffered to enter under the degree of a baron 
 but the three lords chief justices. In the midst there was a hand- 
 some stage or scaffolding made on the one side, whereof sat the 
 King, Prince, Count Palatine, and Count Henry of Nassau. On 
 the other side the Queen, with the bride, and one or two more. 
 Upon this stage they were married by the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, assisted by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who made the 
 sermon. It was done all in English, and the Prince Palatine had 
 learned as much as concerned his part reasonably perfectly. The 
 French, Venetian, and States' ambassadors dined that day with 
 the bride. The Spanish ambassador was sick, and the archduke's 
 was invited for the next day, but would not come." l 
 
 Masques, feasts, tournaments, and revelries of all kinds 
 made the next two months fly very quickly for the happy 
 young couple, who were soon to leave England for their 
 German home. It had been settled that certain British 
 noblemen should accompany Elizabeth to the Palatinate as 
 
 Chamberlain to Alice Carleton, Feb. i8th. S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 215 
 
 commissioners. The Duke of Lennox, 1 Lord Arundel, 
 Lord Harington, 2 and Lord L'Isle, were chosen for this 
 duty ; and Lady Arundel, Lady Harington and Lady Cecil, 
 with divers other ladies, were selected as ladies in atten- 
 dance on the Electress during her journey. James was 
 determined that his daughter should travel in all comfort 
 and royal magnificence. No expense was spared, and 
 Elizabeth's first start in life was a golden one in all 
 respects. As she and her whole suite were to travel as 
 far as the Palatinate at the king's expense, it was necessary 
 that she should have a treasurer to defray all the expenses 
 incidental to the journey, which were many and varied. 
 The somewhat arduous, though honourable, post of treasurer 
 to the Princess was bestowed on Sir Edward Cecil. 3 It 
 does not appear whether he had applied for this post or 
 whether it had been offered him on account of his affection to 
 the service of the late Prince of Wales. Sir Henry Wotton 
 rather sneers at a general accepting such an appointment. 
 
 " Sir Edward Cecil goeth as Treasurer to keep up that office in 
 the name," wrote Wotton to Sir Edmund Bacon, "though it be 
 otherwise perhaps from a General rather a fall than an ascent* 4 
 
 There was unfortunately no military employment for 
 a general at this time, so Edward Cecil was glad of 
 
 1 Ludovic Stuart, 2nd Duke of Lennox, in Scotland, born 1574, and died, 
 without legitimate issue, 1624. 
 
 3 Sir John Harington, created Baron Harington of Exton in 1603. He 
 was tutor to Princess Elizabeth until her marriage in 1613, and she resided 
 for some years with him and Lady Harington at Combe Abbey, near 
 Coventry. Lord Harington died at Worms, a few weeks after his arrival at 
 Heidelberg in 1613. 
 
 * "A Warrant to Sir Edward Cecil, Knt., to be Treasurer for the disbursement 
 and payment of all such somes of money as shalbe paid in forraine parts, by 
 appointment of his Majesty's commissioners of the jorney of the Lady Eliza- 
 beth, besides 2000 Undelivered them out of the Exchequer, April 5th, 1613 " 
 Signet Office, Docquetts. S. P. Dom. 
 
 4 Wot! on's Reliquia, p, 407.
 
 2l6 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 a temporary civil appointment. Like everyone else he 
 was devoted to the charming Princess Elizabeth, and 
 a soldier's instinct would doubtless tell him that sooner 
 or later the Palatinate would be involved in a war, 
 when generals would be more valued than they were 
 in this time of peace, and that it might be of future 
 advantage to him his having served the Princess. The 
 suite of the Duke of Lennox consisted of forty-one 
 persons ; the Earl of Arundel's company was not less 
 numerous ; that of General Cecil amounted but to half the 
 number. 1 Lady Cecil accompanied her husband, as one of 
 the ladies in attendance on the Electress Palatine, and 
 two officers of the board of green cloth were appointed to 
 attend Sir Edward Cecil as deputy treasurers. 2 
 
 On the evening of April 25th, the Royal party and 
 their numerous train departed from Margate. The Elector 
 and his bride sailed in the Prince Royal? Most of the 
 train were accommodated on board other vessels. 4 The fleet 
 arrived off Ostend on the evening of the 2/th, and the 
 next day anchored off Flushing. The arrival of the fleet 
 was made known by salvoes of artillery, and Prince 
 Maurice, his brother, Prince Henry, and the Prince of 
 Portugal, came on Board the Prince Royal and welcomed 
 the royal pair to Holland. 
 
 " The next day being the 29th of Aprill," says the author of the 
 Journal of Princess Elizabeth's journey to Heidelberg, "they 
 went to land, honourably accompanied with Grave Maurice, the 
 
 1 Miss Benger's Memoirs of the Queen of Bohemia, i. Appendix. 
 This authoress, in giving the names of Lord and Lady Arundel who attended 
 Elizabeth on her journey, says : "The brave General, Sir Edward Cecil, was 
 still more acceptable to Elizabeth." p. 161. 
 
 * Green's Princesses of England, v. p. 231 note. 
 
 3 Built by Phineas Pett, the shipbuilder whom Prince Henry patronised. 
 
 4 The Royal Anne, the Repulse, and the Red Lton. Benger, p. 160.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 217 
 
 Duke of Lennox, the Earle of Arundell, the Lord Viscount Lisle, 
 the Lord Harington, the Lord Effingham, General Cicill, besides 
 divers Knights and Gentlemen ; the Princess having attending on 
 her the Countess of Arundell, the Lady Harington, the Lady 
 Cicill, M re Anne Dudley, M Elizabeth Dudley, &c." 1 
 
 From the time of her arrival at Flushing to her entry 
 into Heidelberg six weeks after, Elizabeth's journey was 
 a continual triumphant progress a series of gorgeous 
 pageants and splendid entertainments. Gifts of great 
 value were presented to her by princes, nobles, and civic 
 authorities, who showed herself, her husband, and their 
 suite, every possible honour and respect. It is quite 
 needless to give a detailed account of this Royal Progress, 
 suffice it to say that the Princess and her retinue stayed at 
 Middleburg, Dort, Rotterdam, the Hague (here the Elector 
 took leave of his bride, taking his way to Heidelberg, to 
 make all due preparations for her coming), Leyden, Harlem, 
 Amsterdam, and Utrecht. At Utrecht were stationed 
 seventeen foot companies and two troops of horse, 2 who at 
 the coming of Princess Elizabeth marched out to meet her, 
 and conducted her to her lodging. 3 From Utrecht the 
 Princess proceeded to Arnhem, Emerich, Wesel, Does- 
 burgh, Cologne and Bonn. At the last-named place she 
 was sumptuously entertained by the Prince of Brandenburg. 
 Maurice of Nassau, his brother Henry, and Emanuel of 
 Portugal, who had accompanied Elizabeth thus far on her 
 journey, now took their leave. The road was now ex- 
 changed for the river the beautiful Rhine. The monotony 
 of the river was forgotten when such beautiful places as 
 
 1 From a contemporary journal of Princess Elizabeth's journey to Heidel- 
 berg, quoted in Nichols' Progresses of James /. ii. p. 613. 
 
 2 Sir Edward Cecil's regiment was stationed at Utrecht, and comprised part 
 of this force. 
 
 * Nichols, as above, p. 615.
 
 2l8 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Andernach and St. Goar were reached, and short stoppages 
 made there. Soon after leaving the latter place Gaulstein 
 was reached, and Elizabeth (who had now been joined by her 
 husband) set foot for the first time on the territory of the 
 Palatinate. The object of the British commissioners was 
 now over, and they informed the Electress of their intention 
 to return home. Elizabeth gave a special invitation to the 
 Duke of Lennox, Lords Arundel, Harington and L'Isle, to 
 accompany her to Heidelberg, which they gladly accepted. 1 
 Sir Edward and Lady Cecil returned to Utrecht, where 
 Cecil's regiment was quartered. On Cecil's departure, an 
 inconvenience, unforeseen and unprovided for, transpired. 
 Presents had been given in all the towns through which 
 Elizabeth passed, and these presents had been furnished by 
 Cecil, her treasurer. 2 On his departure she was to travel 
 at the Elector's expense. Being unwilling to ask her 
 husband for money at this early stage of their marriage, 
 and not liking, in her generosity, to forego these customary 
 presents, she was forced to ask her jeweller to lend her a 
 sum of money on one of her own jewels. 3 A few days 
 after this the Elector and his bride made their entry into 
 Heidelberg, where they received a most enthusiastic recep- 
 tion. And here, for the present, we must leave them to 
 their happiness, which was as complete and as great as it 
 was possible for human happiness to be. 
 
 Leaving Sir Edward Cecil at the dull garrison town of 
 Utrecht, whither he had gone after leaving the Electress, we 
 must return, for a short time, to the English court and see 
 how the downfall of Robert Carr, Viscount Rochester, the 
 
 1 Green's Princesses of England, v. p. 238. 
 
 * " Cecil was punctual in refunding to the civic authorities of the different 
 towns all charges for the diet of her train, and at the Hague alone he spent 
 .491 in provisions and in presents to the servants of Counts Maurice and 
 Henry." Ibid. p. 231. 
 
 3 Green, p. 238, as before.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 
 
 royal favourite, made way for the rise of a new favourite 
 a much greater and more fortunate star than his pre- 
 decessor and the future patron of Sir Edward Cecil. 
 
 The downfall of monarchs, governments, and individuals 
 in public and private life, can generally be traced to one 
 particular false step in their careers. Mary Queen of Scots 
 completely estranged herself from her subjects by her 
 marriage with Bothwell one of the suspected murderers of 
 her former husband. James the Second's irreparable false 
 step was the sending the seven bishops to the Tower. The 
 invasion of Russia by Napoleon the First was one of the 
 greatest of that great man's false moves. In our own days 
 we have seen that Napoleon the Third's interference in 
 the affairs of Mexico was the turning point in his career 
 the first step downwards, which was never recovered. And 
 Robert Carr, Viscount Rochester, owed his downfall to his 
 iniquitous marriage with Lady Frances Howard, Countess 
 of Essex, who had waded knee-deep in crime to obtain a 
 divorce from her unoffending husband, in order that she 
 might gratify her adulterous passion for Rochester. Every 
 history of the reign of James I. mentions this disgraceful 
 affair, which was one of the worst scandals of a reign replete 
 with scandals. The less said about this affair the better, 
 and only as much will now be said as will make incidental 
 mention of this affair, hereafter, intelligible. 
 
 Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, and the Lady Frances 
 Howard, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, were married in 
 1606, when the Earl was only 15 and the lady 13. 
 Lord Essex was sent abroad directly after his marriage, 1 
 
 1 This marriage is said to have been arranged and brought about by the Earl 
 of Salisbury, who had been the bitter enemy of the late Earl of Essex, and 
 wishing to be on good terms with the son, married him into a family which he 
 (Cecil) was nearly allied to, his son, Lord Cranbourne, having married Lady 
 Catherine Howard, sister to Lady Frances.
 
 22O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 and did not return to London till 1610. He found his 
 young wife one of the greatest beauties at court and 
 became deeply enamoured of her. She not only did not 
 return his ardent affection, but openly refused to live with 
 him, and when forced to do so by her father, she shut 
 herself up in her own room and became very melancholy. 
 The reason for all this strange conduct was that she had 
 set her affections on the King's handsome favourite, Robert 
 Carr. Lord Essex finding it impossible to win his lady's 
 affection, and growing tired of an apparently useless contest, 
 left his wife to go her own way, and troubled himself no 
 more about her. The Countess, having returned to court, 
 was not long in letting Rochester know for whose sake she 
 had repudiated her husband. To do him justice he had had 
 no hand so far in her strange behaviour to her husband, but 
 being flattered by the preference of this young beauty for 
 him, he became an easy conquest to her charms. The liaison 
 between Rochester and the Countess soon became noto- 
 rious, but as Lord Essex showed no disposition to divorce 
 her, she determined to divorce him, in order to marry the 
 object of her passion. Knowing the King's great partiality 
 for his favourite, Lady Essex saw small difficulty in the 
 way of a divorce. The guilty pair got the Earl of North- 
 ampton (uncle to Lady Essex) to present a petition to the 
 King begging that the Countess might be divorced from 
 her husband. This petition contained a gross libel against 
 the Earl, which was the ground the Countess chose for the 
 better obtaining of her divorce. It is believed that James 
 was well aware of his favourite's passion for the lovely 
 Countess, as he is said to have loved hearing of his courtier's 
 intrigues. 1 Whether he suspected or not, he commissioned 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of Worcester, 
 
 1 Wilson's History of James I. (in Kennett's History of England, ii. p. 692).
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 221 
 
 Ely, Lich field, Rochester, and some laymen, to hear and 
 determine this affair. While the enquiry was proceeding, 
 Rochester confided to his friend, Sir Thomas Overbury, that 
 he intended to marry the Countess as soon as she had 
 obtained her divorce. This knight, with true and disinter- 
 ested motives, advised Rochester against marrying a woman 
 with a disgraced name, who would probably mar all his 
 future life. The Viscount resented this advice, and was 
 weak enough to tell Lady Essex what Overbury had said. 
 Fearing she might after all lose the prize she had sinned to 
 acquire, this lost beauty determined on Overbury's down- 
 fall. Working on her lover's weak mind she gained him 
 over to her views. Rochester undertook to get Overbury 
 disgraced in the King's eyes, and he managed this so well 
 that his quondam friend was sent to the Tower. Having 
 once got him there the lovers determined he should never 
 quit it alive, and by their instruments he was poisoned and 
 immediately buried, it being given out that he had died of 
 small-pox. 1 In June, 1613, to the eternal disgrace of the 
 bishops who had a hand in it, the Countess of Essex was 
 divorced from her husband. 2 Rochester now openly paid 
 his addresses to her, and the King gave his permission for 
 the marriage. In order that the lady might not lose rank 
 by marrying Rochester, James created him, on November 
 4th, Earl of Somerset. On December 23rd, the sentence 
 annulling the marriage between the Earl of Essex and 
 Lady Frances Howard was confirmed. 3 Three days after 
 this Somerset married the Lady Frances. There were 
 such extraordinary rejoicings on the occasion that a writer 
 of those times says : " Had the King's own son been 
 
 1 Chamberlain to Carleton, Oct. 14, 1613. S. P. Dom. 
 
 2 The Archbishop of Canterbury was opposed to a divorce being granted, 
 and protested against the decree granting it. 
 
 3 Grant Book, p. II. S. P. Dom.
 
 222 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 married there could not have been greater." Chamberlain, 
 in a letter to Alice Carleton, giving details of the marriage, 
 says : " The presents, indeed, were more in value and number 
 than ever I think were given to any subject in this land." 1 
 Thus did guilt triumph for a season, but only for a season, 
 as will be seen hereafter. 
 
 Towards the close of 1613, it was announced to the 
 King that his daughter was shortly to become a mother. 
 James was very anxious that a married lady of good 
 position should be despatched at once to Heidelberg, to be 
 with his daughter at her accouchement. Orders were given 
 to the Privy Council to select a lady for this employment. 
 Lady Burgh 2 was chosen with the King's approval. On 
 November 2Oth, we find Lord Suffolk, the Lord Chamber- 
 lain, 3 writing to Chief Secretary Sir Thomas Lake, and 
 sending for the King's choice the names of four ladies, any 
 one of whom he considered suitable to supply the place of 
 Lady Burgh, who was prevented by illness from going to 
 Heidelberg. These are the ladies, with their qualifications : 
 
 " Sir Edward Cecill's lady alreadie in the Lowe Countries, and 
 may be with my Ladies Grase in foure daies, which in my opynion 
 may serve for thys tyme of my ladies Grase lyinge in afterward 
 it may be further considered of. 
 
 " Lady Warburton, widow to Sir Richard Warburton, &c. 
 
 " Lady Howard, wife to Lord Admiral's brother, &c. 
 
 " M Goring, a widow, sister to my Lord Denny, &c." * 
 
 Lady Cecil was now chosen, and in all respects she was 
 a good person to be sent to the Electress, having had four 
 children of her own, and being already known to Elizabeth. 
 
 1 Dec. 26, 1613. S. P. Dom. 
 
 2 Probably widow of Thomas, 5th Lord Burgh. 
 
 3 The Earl of Suffolk was made Lord Treasurer of England, July, 1614, and 
 at the same time the Earl of Somerset was made Lord Chamberlain. 
 
 4 S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 223 
 
 On November 24th Suffolk wrote to Lake, informing him 
 that Sir Edward Cecil had been ordered to request his 
 lady to attend the Electress at Heidelberg. l At the last 
 moment, however, Lady Cecil was countermanded, Lady 
 Burgh having recovered sufficiently to travel to Heidel- 
 berg. " Lady Burgh is to go to reside with the Electress 
 Palatine, with an allowance of 500 per annum," wrote 
 Chamberlain to Carleton on November 2 5th. 2 Mrs. 
 Mercer, a skilled midwife, was also sent to Heidelberg 
 early in December. 3 Owing to their . tardy arrival at 
 Heidelberg, Elizabeth had not the comfort of their 
 presence in her hour of trial, as she gave birth to a son 
 on January 2nd, 1614, some days before Lady Burgh and 
 Mrs. Mercer arrived. 4 
 
 The birth of a son and heir caused great rejoicings all 
 through the Palatinate, and still greater in Great Britain. 
 James, in the plenitude of his joy and gratitude for his 
 dear child's happy deliverance, settled 2,000 a year on 
 her for life, and the child was declared heir to the throne 
 after his mother. 5 The child was christened Frederick 
 Henry. Colonel Schomberg, the Comptroller of the 
 Elector's household, sent glowing accounts of the young 
 Prince to King James ; but the happy grandfather wishing 
 to have the testimony of English eye-witnesses to the 
 health of Elizabeth and her infant, sent Sir Edward and 
 Lady Cecil to Heidelberg, to report on the health of the 
 Electress and her child. They brought back a very 
 
 1 Suffolk to Lake. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * Court and Times of James /., i. p. 230 The date of Chamberlain's letter 
 is doubtless Nov. 25, old style, i.e., Dec. 5, new style, so that Lady Burgh's 
 journey must have occupied a month at least. 
 
 3 Suffolk to Lake, Dec. 8. S. P. Dom. 
 
 4 Green's Princesses, &c., v. p. 259. 
 
 5 Prince Charles, Elizabeth's brother, was of such a weak constitution that it 
 was not thought probable he would live to be king.
 
 224 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 favourable report. l Sir Edward Cecil received .500 for 
 this journey to Heidelberg. 2 
 
 Early in 1614, it was found necessary to call a Parlia- 
 ment. James was in sore need of money, and his ministry 
 had come to the end of their resources for raising it. The 
 expenses of his daughter's marriage, the extravagance of 
 his court, and his lavish prodigality to his favourite, 
 Somerset, had completely drained the exchequer, which 
 had of late been kept pretty well filled by the sale of titles. 
 A baronetcy cost ;i,ooo, and two hundred patents of this 
 newly-invented title had already been sold. The dignities 
 of baron, viscount, and earl, were respectively sold at ten, 
 fifteen, and twenty thousand pounds, and benevolences had 
 been exacted to a large amount. A Parliament having 
 been summoned to meet on April ist, for the purpose of 
 granting the King a large subsidy, James opened the 
 session in person, and in his speech compared himself to a 
 mirror which discovered his true intentions, and assured 
 the members that his integrity was like the whiteness of 
 his robe, his purity like the gold in his crown, his firmness 
 and clearness like the precious stones he wore, and his 
 affections like the redness of his heart. 3 A speedy supply 
 having been demanded by the King, the Commons refused 
 to grant it, until their grievances had first been discussed 
 
 1 Green's Princesses of England, v. p. 26 in. 
 
 z " Whereas by our expres order and appointment Sir Edward Cecill, 
 knight, did undertake a voyage togither with the Ladie Cecill his wife out of the 
 Low Countries unto Heidlbergh to o r dearest daughter the Princess Palatine, we 
 are wylling to defray, &c. Thes are to will and command y to pay out of y or 
 Treasurie, &c., or cause to be paid unto the said Sir Edward Cecill, or to Peter 
 Chapman on his behalf, the full some of five hundred pounds, to be taken unto 
 him as of our free gift, without account, imprest, or other charge to be set 
 upon them, or any of them. Given under o r private seal at o r palace of 
 Westminster the xxx th daie of June, in the xi th yeare of o r raigne." Privy Seals 
 Books, 11-17 James I. 
 
 * Parliamentary Hist., iv. p. 273.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 225 
 
 and redressed. Their obstinacy caused James to dissolve 
 Parliament on June 6th, before one statute was enacted, 
 and several leading members were thrown into prison for 
 their contumacy. l 
 
 Sir Edward Cecil was elected member for Chichester 2 
 in this Parliament, but as his name is not mentioned as 
 being present at any of the debates, it is to be concluded 
 that he was absent from England during this two months' 
 session. 
 
 Hardly a third part of the twelve years' truce between 
 the United Provinces and Spain had passed, before a fresh 
 war cloud arose, which made both belligerents fly to arms 
 and take the field, notwithstanding the solemn compact 
 they had both entered into scarce four years before. The 
 threatened violation of the Treaty was caused by a rupture 
 between the two rulers over the duchies of Juliers and 
 Cleves, &c. It was only to be expected that the two 
 kings of Sparta would fall out sooner or later ; and when 
 the Prince of Neuburg married a Roman Catholic princess, 3 
 and soon afterwards announced his conversion to the 
 ancient church, the foregone conclusion as to the expected 
 rupture between Brandenburg and Neuburg became a 
 reality. A sudden rising on the part of the Brandenburgers 
 resulted in the Neuburgers being turned out of Juliers, and 
 
 1 These were Chutts, Nevill, Lord Abergavenny's son, Wentworth, 
 
 and John Hoskins. Camden's Annals. "This," says Coke, "was the 
 greatest violation of the Privileges of Parliament that ever was done by any 
 King of England before." p. 79. 
 
 * Chichester returned two members Adrian Stoughton and Sir Edward 
 Cecil. Notitia Parliamentorum, by Browne Willis. 
 
 3 Schiller tells us in his Thirty Years' War that the young Prince of Neuburg 
 was to have married the daughter of the Elector of Brandenburg, which would 
 have settled for ever, probably, the differences between these two princes and 
 made their interests one, but " a box on the ear, which Brandenburg had the 
 misfortune to bestow on his future son-in-law in a fit of drunkenness, caused 
 Neuburg to break off the engagement, declare for the Roman Catholics, and 
 ally himself to a Bavarian princess." 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 the strongest fortress in the duchies remained in sole 
 possession of the Elector of Brandenburg. 
 
 " The States-General," says Motley, " not concealing their pre- 
 dilection for Brandenburg, but under pretext of guarding the 
 peace which they had done so much to establish, placed a garrison 
 of 1,000 infantry and a troop or two of horse in the citadel of 
 Jiilich. Dire was the anger, not unjustly excited, in Spain when 
 the news of this violation of neutrality reached that government. 
 . . . The German gate of the Spanish Netherlands was literally 
 in the hands of its most formidable foe." 1 
 
 The peace establishment of the States' army amounted 
 to 20,000 foot, 3,000 horse, and the English and French 
 regiments. Archduke Albert's army had been reduced to 
 less than half that number. A large subsidy was, however, 
 speedily sent to Brussels by Spain, and levies of Germans 
 and Walloons forthwith raised, so that by the end of July 
 there was an army of 21,000 men ready for active service. 2 
 Early in August the Marquis Spinola took the field, and on 
 August 22nd encamped on some plains midway between 
 Maestricht and Aix-la-Chapelle. The States-General 
 had taken the precaution of increasing the garrison of 
 Juliers with three thousand infantry and a regiment of 
 horse. All the British officers on leave in England, who 
 belonged to the States' army, were recalled. 3 Maurice of 
 Nassau having collected an army of 14,000 foot and 3,000 
 horse, followed the trail of the wily Genoese captain. 
 War had not been declared, and the commanders of both 
 armies had strict orders to abstain from all hostility towards 
 each other. 
 
 1 Motley's John of Barneveld, i. pp. 340-1. 
 * Ibid, p. 343. 
 
 1 Rev. Thos. Lorkin to Sir Thos. Puckering, July 21, 1614. Court and 
 Times, i. pp. 336-7.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 22/ 
 
 " It was a phantom campaign," says Motley, " the prophetic 
 rehearsal of dreadful marches and tragic histories yet to be, and 
 which were to be enacted on that very stage and on still wider 
 ones during a whole generation of mankind." ' 
 
 Yet this campaign of 1614 was productive of great results, 
 as will presently appear. 
 
 Spinola soon unfolded his plan of campaign. Swooping 
 down on the neutral town of Aix-la-Chapelle, he soon 
 reduced that important place, whose inhabitants had com- 
 mitted the unpardonable sin of showing a preponderating 
 Protestant tendency. Turning out the German Pro- 
 testant garrison, Spinola substituted a stronger garrison 
 of German Roman Catholics, to protect the inhabitants who 
 adhered to the old faith, and to whom the municipal govern- 
 ment was now confided. Several other small but im- 
 portant places on the Rhine were seized by Spinola and 
 treated in the same fashion, but by the Archduke's express 
 commands his forces abstained from all pillage and carnage. 
 Continuing his rapid march, the great Genoese captain 
 crossed the Rhine at Rhineberg and laid siege to Wesel 
 on September 7th. This important place was called the 
 Geneva of the Rhine, owing to the attachment of its in- 
 habitants to the reformed faith. Aware of the importance 
 of Wesel to the Protestant cause, the States-General had 
 offered, a short time previously, to send a strong garrison 
 there to protect the town. The authorities declined the 
 offer. 
 
 " Had they complied," says Motley, " the city would have been 
 saved, because it was the rule in this extraordinary campaign, that 
 the belligerents made war not upon each other, nor in each other's 
 territory, but against neutrals, and upon neutral soil." 2 
 
 Motley, p. 343. * Ibid, p. 345. 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Wesel surrendered within three days and was occupied 
 by the States' forces. 
 
 In the meantime Maurice had not been idle. Following 
 in the steps of his old enemy, he seized the towns of 
 Emerich and Rees, and placed garrisons within them. 
 Nothing, however, could compensate the United Provinces 
 for the seizure of Wesel by their enemy, and the whole 
 Protestant world was aflame with indignation at its loss. 
 
 The two rival armies now lay strongly intrenched 
 within two hours' march of each other. The States' army 
 had been increased by the arrival of the Prince of Branden- 
 burg with 800 cavalry and an infantry regiment. The 
 Duke of Neuburghad joined Spinola with an army of 4,000 
 foot and 400 horse. A pitched battle between the rival 
 armies might have satisfactorily settled the Cleves question, 
 but, to the great disappointment of the commanders on 
 both sides, the truce was respected. Sir Edward Herbert, 
 in his autobiography, tells us in his quaint way how 
 Spinola had sent word to Maurice that if he intended 
 taking Rees, he would give him battle before the town ; 
 and how the States' army marched to Rees prepared for 
 battle, but found no enemy to oppose them when they 
 arrived there. Among the officers named by Sir Edward 
 Herbert as being present at the taking of Rees, were 
 Sir Edward Cecil, Sir Horace Vere, and the Earl of 
 Southampton. 1 
 
 War being denied to the belligerents, diplomacy stepped 
 in to settle the question. It was agreed by both sides to 
 hold a conference at Xanten, in the Duchy of Cleves. 
 James I. sent Sir Henry Wotton and Sir Dudley Carleton 
 there as his ambassadors. The Protestant Princes, the 
 Archdukes, France, and the United Provinces, were all 
 
 1 Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, p. 99.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 2 29 
 
 represented by their delegates at this conference. The 
 negotiations ended in smoke, after weeks of wrangling- 
 Neither side seemed ready to give up what they had taken 
 in the " amicable campaign." Wesel and Juliers were the 
 rocks that shipwrecked the negotiations for a settlement 
 between Brandenburg and Neuburg. 
 
 " Prince Maurice distributed his army," continues Motley, " in 
 various places within the debatable land, and Spinola did the same, 
 leaving a garrison of 3,000 foot and 300 horse in the important 
 city of Wesel. The town and citadel of Jiilich were as firmly 
 held by Maurice for the Protestant cause. Thus the duchies were 
 jointly occupied by the forces of Catholicism and Protestantism 
 while nominally possessed and administered by the Princes of 
 Brandenburg and Neuburg. And so they were destined to remain 
 until that Thirty Years' War, now so near its outbreak, should 
 sweep over the earth, and bring its fiery solution at last to all 
 these great debates." l 
 
 1 Motley, p. 353.
 
 230 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 1615-1618, 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 A SOLDIER'S correspondence is generally a more truthful 
 index to character than that of any other professional man. 
 Soldiers generally write to the point and say what they 
 mean. Their letters have not the grace and finish of the 
 statesman, the diplomatist, or the professed man of letters, 
 but they have an especial interest of their own which is not 
 to be found in a civilian's letters ; for between the soldier 
 and the civilian is a great gulf fixed, and the latter cannot 
 compete with the former on his own ground. In the olden 
 days, letter writing was at a much higher pitch of perfection 
 than it is now. Divest the letters of the I7th and i8th 
 centuries of their flowery border of flattery and hyperbole, 
 and you will find clever, courteous, and interesting epistles 
 from people in every rank of life. Bad spelling and bad 
 grammar (as we consider) may characterise these letters, 
 but, with all their defects, how immeasurably superior to 
 the flippant, brusque, and egotistical style of the average 
 1 9th century letter. Soldiers, as a rule, have been at all 
 times averse to letter writing. Sir Francis Vere, the 
 greatest captain of his time, never wrote more than he 
 could possibly help. So difficult was his hand to decipher, 
 that Sir Robert Cecil, when Secretary of State, and in the 
 habit of receiving letters in every style of handwriting under 
 the sun, told Vere how difficult he found it to decipher his 
 letters, and we find Sir Francis employing an amanuensis
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 23 1 
 
 when writing to the Secretary of State, " because he hears 
 Cecil cannot read his hand readily." l Sir Horace Vere 
 wrote a still worse hand, and the few letters of his still 
 extant, plainly show what an uncongenial employment 
 letter writing was to him. Sir Edward Cecil, on the con- 
 trary, wrote a good straight hand, and has left many of his 
 letters behind him, which, though not conspicuous for talent 
 or surpassing interest, afford us curious and interesting 
 information, both as regards Cecil's career and the pro- 
 fession to which he was so ardently devoted. 
 
 Sir Edward Cecil spent the year 1615, and most of the 
 year 1616, at Utrecht, where his regiment had its head- 
 quarters. In the spring of 1615, we find him writing to 
 William Camden, the great antiquary : 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO MR. W. CAMDEN. 
 " SIR, 
 
 " I am bold to trouble you with a request, wherein I presume 
 no man can so certainlly satisfie mee, unlesse it bee Sir Robert 
 Cotton, whose understanding of antiquities and yours, are im- 
 parted one to the other. My request is to have the knowledge 
 from you, or by your meanes from Sir Robert Cotton, 2 who was 
 the first cause of instituting the English march now in use with us, 
 upon what reasons the old one was lost, and this found and re- 
 ceived ; and what other circumstances of persons, time, and place, 
 you shall think pertinent to my satisfaccion herein. 
 
 " You have power to command your owne recompense of mee 
 any way I can be usefull to you in ; which you may doe as much 
 for my respect of your worth as for the benefitt I desire to make 
 of you, so I rest 
 
 " Your assured loving friend, 
 
 "D. CECYLL. 
 " Utrecht, iyth of Apr., 1615." 3 
 
 1 Vere to Cecil, Feb. 6, 1602-3. S. P. Holland. 
 
 * Sir Robert Cotton, the famous antiquary, was born 1570, and died at his 
 house in Westminster, 1631. 
 . * Cottonian MSS., Julius, c. v.
 
 232 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Camden returned the following answer : 
 
 " HONOURABLE SIR, 
 
 " The proposition you make is out of the reach of my profession, 
 and not of antiquity, but of late memory. By reason of Sir Robert 
 Cotton's absence, I can impart nothing from him as yet, and for 
 my own observation, it is very slender. Only, I remember that 
 after Captain Morgan, in the year 1572, had first carried to Flushing 
 300 English, and had procured Sir Humfrey Gilbert to bring over 
 more and to be colonel of the English there, a new military 
 discipline was shortly after brought in ; and the new march, by 
 some that had served the Duke of Alva, and entertained especially 
 by the important instance of Sir Roger Williams ; x although strong 
 opposition was then against it by captain Pykeman, and after by 
 captain Read, ancient leaders, and Sir William Pelham, who were 
 scornfully termed, by the contrary party, Saint George's Souldados ; 
 and Sir John Smith, who had served under the constable Momor- 
 ency, yea, and under d'Alva, encountred with his pen against the 
 new discipline, and did write much which was never published. 
 
 " This in haste, untill I may happen upon Sir R. Cotton, I thought 
 good to impart to your lordship, whom I wish all happy success 
 to the encrease and complement of your honour." 2 
 
 It was entirely owing to Sir Edward Cecil's represen- 
 tations to King Charles I., many years after the two fore- 
 going letters were written, that the old English march, 
 which had fallen into disuse, was revived. Walpole, in his 
 memoir of Sir Edward Cecil, Viscount Wimbledon, thus 
 refers to this military march : 
 
 " As we have few memoirs of this lord, I shall be excused for 
 inserting a curious piece in which he was concerned. It is a 
 warrant of Charles I. directing the revival of the old English march 
 as it is still in use with the foot. The manuscript was found by the 
 present Earl of Huntingdon in an old chest, and as the parchment 
 
 1 Sir Roger Williams, a gallant soldier of fortune, distinguished himself in 
 the Low Countries and in France. Biron, Marshal of France, once saying, 
 " That he did not like the march of the English drum, because it was so slow ; " 
 Sir Roger, hearing him, sharply replied, " As slow as it is, yet it hath gone 
 through all France." Quoted in Grose's Military Antiquities, ii. p. 44. 
 
 2 Camdetts Epistol<z> p. 351.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 233 
 
 has at one corner the arms of his lordship's predecessor, then living, 
 the order was probably sent to all lords-lieutenants of counties. 1 
 " (Signed) CHARLES REX. 
 
 " Whereas the ancient custome of nations hath ever bene to use 
 one certaine and constant forme of march in the warres, whereby 
 to be distinguished one from another. And the march of this our 
 English nation, so famous in all the honourable atchievements and 
 glorious warres of this our kingdome in forraigne parts (being, by 
 the approbation of strangers themselves, confessed and acknow- 
 ledged the best of all marches) was, through the negligence and 
 carlessness of drummers, and by long discontinuance, so altered 
 and changed from the ancient gravitie and majestic thereof, as it 
 was in danger utterly to have bene lost and forgotten. It pleased 
 our late deare brother Prince Henry to revive and rectifie the 
 same, by ordayning an establishment of one certaine measure 
 which was beaten in his presence at Greenwich, anno 1610. In 
 confirmation whereof, wee are graciously pleased, at the instance 
 and humble sute of our right trusty and right well beloved cousin 
 and counsellor, Edward viscount Wimbledon, to set down and 
 ordaine this present establishment hereunder expressed. Willing 
 and commanding all drummers within our kingdome of England 
 and principalitie of Wales, exactly and precisely to observe the 
 same, as well in this our kingdome as abroad in the service of any 
 forraigne 'prince or state, without any addition or alteration 
 whatsoever. To the end that so ancient, famous and commen- 
 dable a custome may be preserved as a patterne and precedent to 
 all posteritie. 
 
 " Given at our palace of Westminster, the seventh day of 
 February, in the seventh yeare of our raigne of England, Scotland, 
 France and Ireland." 2 
 
 Walpole does not give the march itself, which is a very 
 necessary adjunct to the preceding warrant, but Sir John 
 Hawkins, in his History of Music, gives the measure in 
 full, as follows : 
 
 1 A digest of this warrant is given in the " Analytical Index to the series of 
 Records known as the Rtmembrancia, preserved among the Archives of the City 
 of London, A.D. 1579-1664." p. 254 and note. 
 
 * Royal and Noble Authors, ii. pp. 302-4.
 
 234 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
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 " Subscribed, Arundel and Surrey. 
 " This is a true copie of the original, signed by his Majestic. 
 
 " ED. NORGATE, Windsor." l 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO MR. THOMAS MURRAY. 2 
 "SiR, 
 
 " I have by acquaintance observed a disposition in you 
 worthie to make me of an opinion that yo r desire is, the Prince 
 
 1 i. p. 229, note. 
 
 2 Thomas Murray, tutor to Prince Charles, was afterwards made provost of 
 Eton. He died 1623.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 235 
 
 shall inherit the hono r of vertue w ch his brother did possesse as 
 well as he doth his other honors, and the devotion I did beare to 
 the service of the late Prince, hath continually applyed me 
 (according to my dutie) to the study of what may be profitable 
 to this. Therefore both of yo r in clynation and myne owne 
 having mett w th a worthie occasion, I thought it not unfitt to 
 recomend it to you and by you to his highnes. It rises out of 
 mine owne occupation, and therefore the more fitt for me to 
 present ; wherein among other observatons, I have found in the 
 hands of an officer of this Army (whoe is very cunning) certayne 
 modells of all Instruments and Engines necessarie to an Armye, 
 espetiallie concerning all manner of Artillerie that Prince Morys 
 hath by long experience found fittest, and of everie part of everie 
 Instrument (w ch come to be many in number) w th their right 
 formes, just measures and due proportions, w ch in my opynion 
 would be a fitt object for his highnes to bestowe some of his 
 [time] uppon. First, because a peace cannot be well assured 
 w th out a ... understanding, and by reason they are the instru- 
 ments of use in the exactest warres of the worlde, and made out of 
 soe great an industrie and sense of judgement that any workman 
 may make in great such instruments that noe prince in the world 
 hath the like for use, without any contradiction, soe that they 
 may be accounted as Jewells of the crowne to all posteritie. No 
 manner of Theorie upon this subject can be so profitable or 
 satisfie so well. In theis Modells a mann shall have before his 
 eye not onlie the demonstration of reason, but even the verie 
 practise of everie thinge either defensive or offensive, without 
 confusion or crowdinge more neare his apprehension, w ch as it 
 will furnish his Judgment w th the possabilities that are cheiflie 
 proper to a prince, for that will likewise impart the fame of his 
 honor to the world, and help to render his highnes an opynion 
 worthie the greatnes of his qualitie w ch his brother by his affection 
 to such exercise had, for there is noe occupation to a king but to 
 understand truly a warre (?). They are of some worth, for they 
 are valued at a thousand pounds by him that made them, what 
 hath been offered oftentymes seaven hundred pounds. 
 
 " I thought it not unfitt to propose this unto you, for that if you 
 shall think goode likewise to comend it to yo r owne likeinge you
 
 236 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 may by some convenient meanes present the knowledge of it to 
 
 the Prince whome I understand to be apt inough 
 
 " and soe I rest yo r affectionat friend, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 "Utrecht, the 21 October" [1615]. 
 
 End. 
 
 " Sir Ed. Cecil's l re 
 touching the models of armes 
 to be provided for the Prince." 1 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR DUDLEY CARLETON. 
 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 " I have receaved from y r lo. a full assurance of y r affection 
 and y r Lades in the condoling my losse. I must confesse it 
 inflicted a very strong sorrowe upon mee, for she was a deare 
 and good wife to mee. But it hath pleased God to allow me 
 patience w th my afflictions, and accordinge to y r good counsell I 
 doe humbly submitt myselfe to his pleasure. Y r lo. well wishing 
 unto mee hath deserved my respecte and servis, and y shall ever 
 find me faithfullie readie to make myselfe worthy of y r good 
 opinion. The report of y r arrivalle heere was most wellcome to 
 mee ; 2 and had not this unfortunate trouble beene so heavie uppon 
 mee, I would have visited y r lo. and have presented you w th 
 my gladenes at the Hage uppon my first hearing of y r beeing 
 come. 3 That will not bee long before I purpose to performe that 
 office of my respect unto y, and then I shall be carefull to 
 
 1 This letter has been wrongly placed among the Domestic State Papers for 
 1612. It was evidently written in October, 1615. The endorsement is in Sir 
 Dudley Carleton's hand, which is easily accounted for, as Carleton having 
 been chosen to succeed Sir R. Winwood at the Hague, was chosen by the 
 Prince and his guardians as an umpire in the matter of the purchase of these 
 warlike models. See letter from Carleton to Murray dated May ^, 1616. S. P- 
 Dom. 
 
 2 Sir Dudley Carleton succeeded Sir Ralph Winwood as Envoy to the 
 States early in 1616. 
 
 3 Carleton, in a letter to his friend Chamberlain, from the Hague, April 8, 
 1616, says, " Sir Ed. Conway came hither this day from the Brill ; we expect 
 Sir Ed. Cecill the next weeke now he hath pformed the c.eremonie of his 
 wife's funerals at Utrecht." S. P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 237 
 
 acquante y r lo. with such things as the Prince doth desire as 
 raretes belonging to our professione. In the mean tyme I hope 
 y r lo. will give the necessitie yet of my staye heere, leave to excuse 
 mee; I desier to have my humble servis affectionately recom- 
 mended y and y r worthy lady, desiring y to beleeve that I am y r 
 lo. most humble servant, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 " Utrecht, the 
 2oofMarche" [1616].* 
 
 Add. 
 
 " To the Rig. honorable S r 
 Dudley Carleton, lor. Am- 
 bassadore for his Ma Ue of 
 Great Britany, resident at 
 the Hage." 
 
 End. 
 " From S r Edward Cecyl, the 2oth March, st. vet." 
 
 Theodosia, Lady Cecil, who died in March, 1616, at the 
 early age of 32, was buried in Utrecht cathedral. She 
 left four surviving daughters, viz., Dorothy, Albinia, 
 Elizabeth, and Frances, of whom hereafter. It is to be 
 regretted that we know so very little of Lady Cecil's life, 
 but her v loss seems to have been a great blow to her 
 husband. 
 
 The following extracts from letters refer to the " rarities " 
 which Sir E. Cecil was so anxious the Prince should 
 purchase : 
 
 SIR DUDLEY CARLETON TO MR. T. MURRAY. 
 
 " There is nothing but the price w ch makes me suspend my 
 advice, otherwise .1 should judge them fitt for a Prince, and wish 
 them rather w th his High 8 then w th any whosoever, because he may 
 reade in them a soldiers lesson, en petit volume, and make him selfe 
 perfect in his chamber against he come into the field. 
 
 S. P. Holland, 1616.
 
 238 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 If his High* will please to comand any farther service in the 
 busines, I pray you w 01 the soonest lett me understand his 
 pleasure, because S r Ed. Cecill and myself have staied the disposing 
 of these things otherwise untill we receave your answear." 1 
 
 MURRAY TO CARLETON. 
 
 " The Prince leaves the decision as to the purchase of the 
 models of warlike engines to the opinion of Sir Horace Vere and 
 Sir Edward Cecil." 2 
 
 The models were finally purchased by the Prince, and 
 they were sent to London in custody of a Dutchman, who 
 understood how to arrange them. 
 
 i EDWARD SHERBURN s TO CARLETON. 
 
 " Sept. 2 1 st, 1616. Has carried the models to St. James', where 
 the Prince will give instructions to the Dutchman for setting them 
 
 up." 4 
 
 SIR HORACE VERE TO CARLETON. 
 
 "Oct. 4th, 1616, Thistleworth. The Prince has not yet had 
 time to view the models." 4 
 
 SHERBURN TO CARLETON. 
 
 "Oct. 1 2th, 1616. The Prince has paid the carriage of the 
 models and diet of the Dutchman, whom he keeps for a month." * 
 
 VERE TO CARLETON. 
 
 "Oct. 22nd, Thistleworth. The Prince is delighted with the 
 models." * 
 
 MURRAY TO CARLETON. 
 
 "June 27th, 1617. The Prince is grateful to him for sending 
 the models." * 
 
 1 May , 1616. S. P. Holland. 
 
 * Greenwich, May 23, 1616. S. P. Dom. 
 
 3 Agent for Sir Dudley Carleton in London. 
 
 4 S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 239 
 
 This last reference to the models seems to imply 
 that some more models belonging to the original set had 
 been forwarded by Carleton in June. If this was the case 
 it was doubtless owing to the Prince's tardy payment for 
 the models, occasioned by the low state of the Exchequer. 1 
 As will presently appear by a letter of Sir Edward Cecil's, 
 the Prince had not been fairly dealt with by the Dutch 
 vendor of the " warlike engines." 2 
 
 Several notable events occurred in England and the 
 United Provinces in the year 1616. 
 
 In the spring of this year, James, being hard pressed for 
 money, offered to restore the Cautionary towns to the 
 States, if they paid off the debt which had been owing 
 since the days of Elizabeth. The debt amounted to eight 
 millions of florins, besides eighteen years' interest. Barne- 
 veld, the Advocate of Holland, who had for long been 
 patiently waiting for a favourable opportunity to pay off 
 the English mortgage, and who had instructed Noel de 
 Caron, the Dutch ambassador, to whisper a suggestion 
 into the Royal ear as to how a large sum of money might 
 be obtained, managed the affair so well that James con- 
 sented to take ,250,000 as payment in full. This un- 
 worthy transaction on the part of James I. only finds a 
 parallel in the sale of Dunkirk by Charles II. to the French. 
 The surrender of the towns of Brill, Flushing, and 
 Rammekins, broke up the British garrisons there, and 
 deprived the governors of those places of their lucrative 
 posts. To reconcile the latter, James bestowed a pension 
 of 1,200 per annum on Lord L'Isle, the governor of 
 Flushing, and a pension of 800 per annum was given to 
 Sir Horace Vere, governor of Brill, with the promise of 
 
 1 "The payment is to be arranged within a year, lest by stipulating for 
 delay, the wants of the Exchequer should appear." Murray to Carleton, May 
 23, 1616. S. P. Dom. * Sir Edward Cecil to Carleton, Nov. 1617.
 
 240 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 an additional 200 on the death of Lady Burgh, and the 
 reversion of the mastership of the ordnance. 1 
 
 The attention of the British public was partly withdrawn 
 from the surrender of the Cautionary towns by an event in 
 England which had been long impending, and which caused 
 the deepest interest. This was no less an affair than the 
 downfall of Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, the king's once 
 powerful favourite. Half the story of this wretched man's 
 life has already been told the sequel is now to follow. 
 " The desire dieth when it is obtained," said that learned 
 philosopher, Sir Walter Raleigh, and never was a saying 
 more truly verified than in the case of the Earl of Somerset. 
 He had obtained the hand of the lady on whom he had 
 cast his unholy affections. He had desired revenge on his 
 quondam friend, who had advised him against marrying a 
 disgraced woman. He had obtained his revenge. Titles, 
 honours and riches had been showered upon him, and he 
 was the king's lord high favourite. What could he desire 
 more? Yet he was not happy. His spirits forsook him ; 
 he became moody and unsociable. His very beauty of 
 features seemed to deteriorate, and consequent on this 
 change of temper and looks his royal master began to weary 
 of him. A waning friendship, like a waning passion, can 
 seldom, or never, be whipped back into its former state of 
 pristine ardour when once the affection of one of the parties 
 concerned has begun to flag. And the affection of James 
 for his favourite was of that shallow nature that required a 
 constant supply of fuel to keep it alive. Somerset's 
 enemies, who were many, were quick to read the signs of 
 the times, and taking advantage of the favourite's gloomy 
 and absent state of mind, determined to turn the king's 
 affections into a new channel a channel which they could 
 
 1 Chamberlain to Carleton, April 30, 1616. S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 241 
 
 make use of for their own advancement Knowing the 
 King's weakness for handsome youths with good figures, the 
 Earls of Pembroke and Bedford, the heads of the anti- 
 Somerset faction at Court, made choice of young George 
 Villiers, second son of the late Sir George Villiers, of 
 Brokesby, Leicestershire, as a likely person to supplant 
 Somerset, and do them a good turn when he had acquired 
 the King's favour. Their efforts to throw him in the way of 
 James were eminently successful. Struck with the youth's 
 face and figure, James caused him to be appointed one of 
 his cup-bearers. Somerset's enemies had now got the 
 narrow end of the wedge in, and it only required expert 
 hands to drive it home. 
 
 An unexpected accident, which Somerset had long 
 dreaded, placed him at the mercy of his enemies. This 
 accident was the discovery, by Sir W. Trumbull, of the 
 murder of Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower. The in- 
 formation was sent to Sir Ralph Winwood, then Secretary 
 of State, who presently revealed it to the King. James 
 showed no wish to bring his favourite to trial, and, it has 
 been thought, would have let the matter drop entirely, if 
 Somerset had made friends with Villiers and not opposed 
 his advancement. By the King's advice, Villiers, who had 
 now been knighted, and made a Gentleman of the Bed- 
 chamber, threw himself on Somerset's protection, and said : 
 " My lord, I desire to be your servant and your creature, 
 and shall desire you to take my court preferment under 
 your favour, and your lordship shall find me as faithful a 
 servant unto you as ever did serve you." Somerset 
 returned this quick and short answer : " I will none of your 
 service, and you shall none of my favour ; I will, if I can, 
 break your neck, and of that be confident." l This ill- 
 
 1 Court and Character of James /., by Sir Anthony Weldon, in Francis 
 Osborne's Memoirs, \. p. 98. 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 judged reply was repeated to James, who, like many an- 
 other monarch, before and since, found how impossible it 
 was to make two rival favourites agree. After a time 
 James summoned up courage to break the fetters that had 
 so long galled him. He sent a private message from 
 Royston to Sir Edward Coke, the Lord Chief Justice, 
 desiring him to issue warrants for the apprehension of the 
 Earl and Countess of Somerset, the lieutenant of the Tower, 
 and the persons concerned in the death of Sir Thomas 
 Overbury. Somerset was arrested in the King's presence, 
 who pretended the most utter ignorance of the whole affair, 
 and took a most affectionate farewell of his favourite, 
 kissing him repeatedly, though it is said, the door had 
 hardly closed on Somerset before James exclaimed : " Now 
 the deil go with thee ; I will never see thy face more." l 
 And he never did. 
 
 On Somerset's arrival in London from the court at 
 Royston he was sent to the Tower, whither his Countess, and 
 their guilty minions in this horrible affair, had already been 
 taken. The same day, Chief Justice Coke, going to 
 Royston, was informed by James of all he had been told 
 by Trumbull, and Coke was enjoined to search strictly into 
 the whole affair without partiality or respect of persons. 
 
 Most of the parties accused were tried in October and 
 November, 1615, and, being found guilty, were condemned, 
 and executed. The trial of the Earl and Countess of 
 Somerset was postponed until May in the following year. 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR DUDLEY CARLETON. 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 " This bearer commeth to attend y r plesure in his busines 
 w th Cap. Sprye, 2 and I cannot but request y r lo e in his behaulfe, 
 
 1 Weldon, p. loo. 
 
 " Captain, afterwards Colonel Spry, was reported to have been killed at the 
 Siege of Rochelle, in 1627. Court and Times of Charles I., i. p. 284.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 243 
 
 now that onlie in regard of my respecte to y r lo. the satisfac- 
 tion hath been thus long forborne. And I doe the rather desier 
 this favore for the wagin master at this present, bycause hee is 
 now going for England and shall have neede of the money w ch is 
 dewe to him to furnish his iourneie w th all. 1 
 
 "I have receaved letters from Toby Mathue, 2 that say our 
 Embassadeur at Paris motion there for the peace was so reiected 
 by villeroy ; as he sed he would rather declare himselfe directlie a 
 gainst the pease, then see the English Ambassidores subscription 
 to it, w cb was much pressed by him. 3 
 
 " I know not whether y r lo. may have heard of the Earl of 
 Shrowsburie's death, who (they say) hath left his Countess 20,000^ 
 a yeare iointure, and 7000^ of heneritance to dispose of, 4 m r 
 secritary winwood 5 and young Candishe 6 being the executers, 
 and my lo. Cooke oversier. 7 
 
 " Wee heare the Arranemente is a gaine put of for all that 
 there were scaffolds fully made at Westminster, if it be put of 
 a gaine it will be for Domesday as I thincke. 8 
 
 " I heare the cause that they [the] Artikells of france doe not 
 appeare is because theyre wisist of that kindom is a shamed of 
 them. 
 
 1 See letter from Cecil to Carleton, Feb. 12, 1617-8. 
 
 2 Toby Mathew was son of Dr. Toby Mathew, Archbishop of York. He was 
 born 1578, and having become a convert to the church of Rome about 1604, 
 and refusing to take the new oath in 1607, was obliged to leave England. He 
 was afterwards recalled. 
 
 3 Villeroy was the aged minister to Louis XIII. of France. That kingdom 
 was at this time rent in two by civil war Roman Catholics versus 
 Huguenots. 
 
 4 Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, died May 7, 1616. He had 
 married Mary Cavendish, daughter to his stepmother, the Dowager Countess 
 of Shrewsbury (Bess of Hardwicke), by Sir Wm. Cavendish. Leaving no male 
 issue, the earldom passed to Lord Shrewsbury's brother, Edward Talbot, who 
 succeeded as 8th Earl. 
 
 * Sir Ralph Winwood. 
 
 ' Sir Wm. Cavendish, afterwards Duke of Newcastle, son of Sir Charles 
 Cavendish. 
 
 7 Lord Chief Justice Coke. 
 
 8 "The Lord Treasurer [Suffolk] and his Lady had gone to Audley End, 
 for shame at the arraignment of their daughter and son-in-law, the Earl and 
 Countess of Somerset, but this is postponed because the Countess is unwell. 1 ' 
 Sherburn to Carleton, May, 1617. .S" .P. Dom. 
 
 R 2
 
 244 LIFE AND TIMES F 
 
 " I humble beseche y r lo. if y heare of any certantye of my 
 lo. Hayes setting forwards that ywill oblige me to know it. 1 
 
 " I commend my least (sic) respect to y r lo. and to y r Noble 
 ladie; b6th whose affections and favours to mee I will ever 
 gratefullie answere, so farr as I shall be able, by beeying 
 
 "y r lo. 
 " humble and affectionat servant, 
 
 "ED. CECYLL. 
 " Utr 1 , this 24 of Maye. 2 " 
 
 Add. 
 
 " To the Rig.-honorable S Dudley 
 Carleton, Knight; lo. Ambassidore 
 for his Ma tle w th the united 
 provinces at the 
 
 Hage." 
 
 Frances, Countess of Somerset, was tried on May 24, and 
 the Earl the following day, both in Westminster Hall ; Lord 
 Chancellor Ellesmere being appointed High Steward on 
 that occasion. Fancy prices were paid for seats at this 
 trial, so great was the interest it excited. 3 
 
 " The Countess of Somerset,'* wrote Sherburn to Carleton, 
 " confessed herself guilty on her trial. Her noble carriage, 
 and yet deep penitence commended her to all." * The great 
 
 1 Lord Hay was sent as Ambassador to Paris in the summer of 1616, 
 ostensibly to congratulate Louis XIII. on his marriage with Anne of Austria. 
 " This was one of the most magnificent Embassies recorded in History. 
 Among other things, the Lord Hay at his public entry into Paris, had his 
 horse shod with silver shoes slightly tacked on, and when he came over against 
 houses or balconies, where persons or beauties of eminency were, his horse 
 prancing in humble reverence, flung his shoes away, which the surrounding 
 mob scrambled for, then one of his train took others out of a velvet bag, and 
 tacked them on." Wilson, p. 704. 
 
 * This letter has been erroneously placed among the letters for 1617. See 
 S. P. Holland. 
 
 * Chamberlain to Carleton, May 18. S. P. Dom 
 4 May, 25.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 245 
 
 beauty of this wretched woman seemed to have fascinated 
 all beholders. " Her behaviour was noble, graceful and 
 modest," wrote another eye-witness to Carleton. "Her 
 confession shortened the trial ; and the Lord High Steward 
 pronounced the sentence so gently that she knew not 
 she was condemned." 1 The Earl was found guilty the 
 following day, and was likewise sentenced to death. Little 
 more need be said of this unhappy couple. James, from 
 motives of affection and mercy, pardoned Lord Somerset 
 and his wife, but they were kept in close confinement for 
 many years in Viscount Wallingford's house. Their love 
 was turned into the most deadly hate, and though they 
 dwelt in the same house they were as strangers to each 
 other. 2 
 
 Sir George Villiers had now no rival to check his onward 
 career, and he was shortly after made Master of the Horse, 
 Knight of the Garter, and on August 27, 1616, was created 
 Baron of Whaddon and Viscount Villiers. 3 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON. 
 
 " MY LORDE, 
 
 " By my last letters I understande my lo. Cooke hath blone 
 awaye the greate stormes of his foule weather that did so much 
 threaten him, 4 for dining in Corte w" 1 my lord Caro, 5 her Ma" 8 
 sent him a Venison Pasty and bid him drink to his Ma u health 
 
 1 Edward Palavicini to Carleton, May 29, 1616. S. P. Dom. 
 
 9 The Countess died, in 1632, at Lord Wallingford's house. The Earl died 
 1645. The only child of this union, Lady Ann Carr, who was distinguished 
 for her purity and goodness, married the 5th Duke of Bedford, and was mother 
 of the unfortunate Lord William Russell. 
 
 3 Grant Book, p. 191. 
 
 4 ' ' Lord Coke has received great disgrace by his stout carriage in the 
 business of the commendams." Sherburn to D. Carleton, June 12, 1616. 
 S. P. Dom. Lord Chief Justice Coke, for his judgments given in King's 
 Bench, 1 3th James I. was accused of high treason. 
 
 5 George Lord Carew, Vice-Chamberlain to Queen Anne.
 
 246 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 and all would be well, 1 but I can heare nothing of my sisters 
 business, w ch I k'owe y r lo. wishes well to. 
 
 " I am sory this yeare faleth out so ill, that the Spaye (sic) 
 water can not be so profitable to y r lo. as a hott and drie sommer 
 might have made it. 2 Therefore we iudge heare that y r returne 
 will be so much the sooner, and the shortenings of the dayes and 
 the coulde wether maketh mee to prepare so much the sooner 
 for my iurney towards England ; and bycause I would be loth to 
 parte w th out the hon of seeing y r lo. and my la. I shoulde be glade 
 to know when y thincke to be at Brussels or Anwerpe, that I 
 might cast my Journey to wayght upon y there. And so I doe 
 humbly take my leave, remembring my servis to y and y r worthy 
 lady, reasting 
 
 " f lo. 
 " most affectionat to serv y, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 " Utrecht, this 
 27 of July." 3 
 
 Sir Edward Cecil returned to England from Holland 
 September n, i6i6. 4 His sojourn in England lasted 
 until the summer of 1619, when he returned to Utrecht. 
 Some of his letters written during his stay in England we 
 have thought fit to give, as they partly serve to carry on 
 the thread of this narrative. The casual allusions to the 
 Arminians in one or two of the following letters, refer 
 to a religious dispute which had done more to divide the 
 people of the Netherlands than even the Inquisition had 
 done. Hardly had the longed-for truce been signed, and 
 the blessed calm of peace been felt and appreciated by 
 
 1 There is a letter from Sir Edward Coke to Queen Anne, dated 
 " June," (?) " begging her and the blessed Prince again to intercede for him." 
 S. P. Dom. 
 
 * Sir D. Carleton went to Spa early in July, 1616, to take the waters. 
 Alex' Williams to Carleton, July 3, 1616. S. P. Dom. 
 
 1 This letter is erroneously put among the S. P. Holland for July, 1619. 
 
 4 Thos. Carew to Carleton, London, Sept. II, 1616. S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 247 
 
 the Protestant Netherlanders, than a fierce theological 
 dispute arose which set fathers against their sons and 
 daughters against their mothers which, in short, caused 
 endless tumults, schism and hatred. Arminians versus 
 Gomarites. Two sects as diametrically opposite to each 
 other as it is possible to conceive. We would gladly have 
 avoided referring to this theological dispute, which turned 
 Holland upside down, and caused much sorrow as well as 
 bloodshed, and shall satisfy ourselves with merely giving 
 the origin of the quarrel in the first instance, and the vital 
 point of difference between the two sects. 
 
 Jacob Arminius, l professor of theology at Leyden 
 University, gave his name to the doctrine which is 
 opposed to the idea the Calvinistic idea of pre-destina- 
 tion. Arminius preached that, " God has from eternity 
 made this distinction in the fallen human race, that he 
 pardons those who desist from their sins and put their 
 faith in Christ, and will give them eternal life, but will 
 punish those who remain impenitent. Moreover, it is 
 pleasanter to God that all men should repent, and, coming 
 to knowledge of truth, remain therein ; but he compels 
 none." 2 Gomarus also a professor of theology, denounced 
 this doctrine as heresy of the worst kind. He preached 
 that, " by an eternal decree of God, it has been fixed who 
 are to be saved and who damned. By his decree some 
 are drawn to faith and godliness, and, being drawn, can 
 never fall away. God leaves all the rest in the general 
 corruption of human nature and their own misdeeds." 3 
 The dangerous doctrine of predestination had for long 
 been the prevailing one in the Reformed Church of the 
 United Provinces, as in those of Scotland, France, Geneva 
 
 1 Appointed professor at Leyden, 1603. 
 
 2 Arminii Of era, p. 283, &c., quoted by Motley. 
 
 3 Gomari Opera, p. 428, &c., quoted by do.
 
 248 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 and the Palatinate. 1 We can understand, therefore, what 
 division and secession the preaching of Arminius caused, 
 and allowances can be made for James I., who, having 
 been brought up in the Calvinistic faith, took such an 
 active part in the religious struggle in the Netherlands 
 from 1609, when he preached a crusade against Conrad 
 Vorstius, who succeeded Arminius in the professorship 
 at Leyden, down to the National Synod held at Dort 
 in 1619, when Arminians were pronounced heretics, schis- 
 matics and teachers of false doctrines. 2 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR DUDLEY CARLETON. 
 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 " Y r lo. last letters have towlde mee how exceedingly I am 
 beholding (I even beyonde expectation) for the sence y have had 
 of my honor, and the laboures y have taken to defend it, w ch I 
 did read in y r letters to M r Secritary, and receaved as much from 
 his Ma" owne mouth, for w ch as it hath obliged mee, y shall find 
 y have not directed y r favore to one that will make y a looser 
 by it 3 
 
 " Touching the busines itselfe. For S r John Ogell part I am 
 
 1 Motley's John of Barneveld. i. p. 47. 
 
 3 Ibid. ii. p. 354. 
 
 1 The above refers to a matter which justly excited General Cecil's wrath. 
 It seems that in his absence from Utrecht, that State had bestowed a vacant 
 company in Cecil's regiment on a young nephew of Sir John Ogle, then 
 Governor of the city of Utrecht, without consulting Cecil in the matter, who, 
 as Colonel of the regiment, had the privilege of selecting his own officers. 
 Carleton, in a letter to Winwood, Secretary of State, dated Oct. 30, 1617, 
 says: "The English company lately void by the death of Sir Barnaby Dew- 
 hurst, and given on first news to a young gentleman, nephew to Sir J. Ogle, 
 was much disputed in the assembly of the States-General and Council of 
 State ; but in the end the commission was given him upon the understanding 
 of the State of Utrecht that they knew Sir Edward Cecil would be well con- 
 tented with what they had done." And in another letter to Winwood he 
 writes : ' ' This is a matter of much consequence in that it will serve as a 
 precedent to other provinces to cast companies upon particular favourites, and 
 thereby weaken the authority of his Excellency, and the respect of the colonel, 
 whose recommendation will have no more place." See account of this affair in 
 Letters from and to Sir Dudley Carleton, p. 197.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 249 
 
 not much deseaved; for I never harde any man make great 
 accounte eyther of his frienshipe or his honesty, or to thincke 
 stronglie of the newes in respecte of him, but would I could have 
 as good satisfaction from the Arminion States as I will from the 
 Arminion Governer, 1 for theye have rather showne there free will 
 to doe mee ronge then reason, yet if I lease [lose] in this I will 
 thincke it rather my destiny then my deserte, for if ever a 
 perticular man deserved well of that State for his thankefullness 
 and affection it was I. All that greeveth mee is that I have 
 beeyne so conny cached (sic) by them to have lost so much tyme, 
 spent so much mony and leafte my deare wife among them. But 
 I protest if this there Basse liberality goe forward, I will ask 
 leave to unbury my wife and laye her in some other plase to 
 make there unworthynes more famus. For there ronge to mee is 
 not only, but to his Ex., to the discipline of the warr, to the 
 generall unite of the State, whereof there is no presedent. 
 
 " It hath pleased his Ma y to be scenceble of the ronge done 
 mee ; and he is an ernest speaker for Ensine Cromwell that he 
 may be recommended to the companie. I did excuse myselfe 
 upon his Ma 8 letters, but can not excuse his commandments w h I 
 receaved from his mouth. He [Cromwell] should have brought 
 these letters, but he is hindered by the unfortunat chance of M r 
 Scecritary winwods most dangerus sicknes, of a pestolent feaver 
 of whose recovery there is but littell hope, w ch maketh mee as 
 sorofull a mann as any having but latly receaved such signes of 
 his good affection to mee, that I shall be agreat leaser. But S r 
 how some ever my Ensigne shall bring his Mat 8 letters to y his 
 Ex. and the Generall States, 2 wherefore I beseache y lo. to 
 
 1 Sir John Ogle had given great offence to Prince Maurice and King James 
 by favouring the Arminians. Sir George Villiers (who had been created 
 Jan. 5, 1617, Earl of Buckingham), wrote by the King's desire to Carleton as 
 follows: "Concerning Sir John Ogle his Majesty is sorry he should be the 
 first of his subjects there that should favour the Arminians, and hath written 
 me to assure you that whatsoever hopes he may frame to himself there, he hath 
 no hopes at all here, neither in his Majesty nor any other." Letter dated from 
 " Whitehall, Oct. 31." Letters from and to Sir Dudley Carleton. For further 
 notice of Sir John Ogle see subsequent letter from Cecil to Carleton, dated 
 "26 March, 1617-18." 
 
 2 See following letter from the King to Carleton.
 
 250 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 continue y r staye of the company if it be possible. One reason I 
 can give a gainst the Province of Utrecke, that is that they have 
 noe other power but to paye the companie, for that it was rased 
 and armed at the Charge of the Generall States, and receaved a 
 commiti'n from them for they [the] rasing of it, w th an intente 
 not to humore or streangthen faction of any province a parte, but 
 to serve them all united. 
 
 " Touching my sister Hattons business, whoes wellfare I am 
 assured will be welcom to y and my la., I have beeyne w th the 
 king and my lo. of Buckingham. And y will shortlye heare that 
 shee is brought home w th honor and put into a condition better 
 then before to make her able to doe for her friends. 1 
 
 " For Lieftenant Turner, there is no man that can recommende 
 him to mee for eyther a worthy officer, or my friende, for never 
 Coronell hath beeyne more vily used of a lieftenant then I have 
 beeyne of him, yet for y r sake I will not revenge any thing 
 against him, but rather for y r sake procure Ensigne Cromwell to 
 give him a 100^ sterling if he obtayne the company. Thus w th 
 my desier to have my servis remembered to y r Noble lady, I reast 
 
 " y r lo. 
 " most affectionatt loving 
 
 " friend to serve y, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 "London, this 27 of Oc." 2 
 
 End. 
 
 " General Cecyl, the 
 27 of Octob., 1617." 
 
 1 Frances Cecil, widow of Sir Wm. Newport, alias Hatton, married secondly, 
 in 1598, Lord Chief Justice Sir Edward Coke, by whom she had an only 
 daughter Frances. This young lady, being a prospective heiress, was sought 
 in marriage by Sir John Villiers, elder brother to Buckingham ; her mother, 
 who was very averse to the match, carried off her daughter to Sir Edmund 
 Withipole's house near Oatlands. But Sir Edward Coke, having been de- 
 prived of his Justiceship by the means of the now all-powerful Buckingham, saw 
 no way of regaining his lost position except by truckling to the favourite. He 
 accordingly followed his daughter to her safe retreat, forced his way into the 
 house, and carried off his beautiful and ill-used child to her former home. 
 
 2 S. P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 251 
 
 KING JAMES TO SIR D. CARLETON. 
 
 Complaining that the States of Utrecht had, contrary to the 
 course heretofore practised, bestowed a company in General 
 Cecil's regiment without his consent upon a young man of Sir 
 John Ogle's name and kindred, " which," says his Majesty, "we 
 find very strange ; and therefore we are pleased that you inform 
 yourself by this draught of a letter which we send you herewith 
 of the reasons of that course ; and thereupon insist and press them 
 in our name to revoke that which, contrary to order, they have 
 done herein, and to give Sir Edward Cecil satisfaction." l 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON. 
 
 " MY LORDE, 
 
 " These are only to accompanie this bearer, my Lieftenant 
 Coronell, 2 w th the continuance of my thancke for your favore lattly 
 receaved. I heare his Ex. hath givene the younge childe 3 his 
 acte where upon he hath receaved his commition, but I will 
 beleave nothing till I heare from y r lo. 
 
 " I doute not but it was dollefull nwes to y to heare of M r 
 secritares death, 4 he never began e to be greate till his begining to 
 
 Shortly after this, Frances Coke, "having been first tied to the bed-post and 
 whipped into consenting to marry the half-imbecile Sir John Villiers," was 
 married to that gentleman, Sept. 29, 1617. As may be supposed, this cruel 
 outrage ended in misery and crime. Lady Purbeck (Sir John Villiers had 
 been created Viscount Purbeck in 1619) left her husband and lived with 
 Sir Robert Howard, for which she and Sir Robert were prosecuted in the 
 Court of High Commission, convicted, and sentenced to do public penance. 
 
 1 From "Newmarket, Nov. 19, 1617." 
 
 2 Lieut-Colonel Sir Philip Pakenham, knighted by James I. in March, 
 1617. 
 
 3 Meaning young Ogle, about whose appointment all this lamentation. 
 
 4 Sir Ralph Winwood was son of Richard Winwood, and grandson of 
 Lewis Winwood, secretary to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. He was 
 educated at St. John's -College, Oxford, and spent some years in foreign 
 travel. He attended Sir H. Neville in his Embassy to France as secretary. 
 Was afterwards resident at Paris, from whence he was sent as Envoy to the 
 States, which latter post he held for many years. His last appointment was 
 Secretary of State. He died Oct. 27, 1617, and was buried in the church 
 of St. Bartholomew the Less, London.
 
 252 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 be sicke if he had lived he had beeyne powerfull and my assured 
 goode friende his death hath stagered my sister Hattons good 
 hopes to have made a goode eande, for all thoughe I wryte to 
 y of hope yet I can not doe so now, yet the wind may turne ; 
 but they sayles and taclings ar in tangled w th my lo. Cooke his 
 pride of the favoritts countinance. 1 
 
 " If y will heare who are nomenated for secritary, ar these, 
 Edmonds, 2 Foukgrivell 3 (sic), May 4 and Nanton. 6 If y will 
 know my voyse I have givened to the worlde, it is for y r selfe. 
 Edmonds I know is not in the favorits good opineon in disputing 
 to hottly for his name to be agente before Beadier, 6 whoe is now 
 to be. And there is noe man more likly than Nanton, he is my lo. 
 of Buckinghams kinsman, his creature, healde and (sic) honest man 
 and a sufficient of all the Corte. This I had from a good hande 
 and one that knoweth much of my lo. of Buckingham his minde. 
 
 " If y r lo. speake w 01 the States of Utricke, I beseage y r lo. 
 know of them whether it was for pollicy or faction they bestoed 
 the companie so ill for the sends of the lande, or what it shall 
 please y to speake in my behaulfe, for never was gentleman more 
 undeservedly ronged than I have bee (sic) that have heare [here] 
 "w 01 the greatest disputed there actions, w ch there Ambassidore can 
 be wittnes of. Y r lo. will pardon my passion, for there is nothing 
 that goeth so nighe mee as unkines of those that I honor and love. 
 
 1 Chamberlain in a letter to Carletcn, dated October n, thus speaks of 
 Lady Hatton. " She lies still at Sir W. Craven's, crazy in body and sick in 
 mind. There is a commission to the Lord Keeper, the Lord Archbishop, 
 Secretary Winwood, and I know not who else, to examine her of conspiracy, 
 disobedience, and many other misdemeanours, and to proceed against her 
 according as they find cause. But her sickness stands her in some stead for 
 the time, and if she come again to herself, it may be in that space there will 
 grow grace. But she is in a wrong way now, and so animated towards her 
 husband, that it is thought she would not care to ruin herself to overthrow 
 him." S. P. Dom. 
 
 2 Sir Thomas Edmonds. 
 Sir Fulke Greville. 
 
 4 Sir Humphrey May, made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster early in 
 1618. 
 
 4 Sir Robert Naunton, the Under Secretary of State, was appointed 
 Secretary in the place of Winwood, Jan., 1618. 
 
 W Beecher, British Agent in France.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 253 
 
 " I will be noe longer to truble y but with my servis to y r 
 noble lady and assurance that I am 
 
 " y r lo. 
 
 " most affectionat loving friend 
 " to serve y, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 " London this last of October." J 
 
 Add. 
 
 " To the Rig. -honorable S r 
 Dudley Carlton, Knighte, Loord 
 Ambassidore for his Ma le 
 to the United States 
 leger at the 
 
 Hage." 
 
 End. 
 
 " General Cecill, the 
 last of 8ber 1617, rec d 
 y e io th of Q*"* by Liuet* 
 Coronell Pagnom." 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON. 
 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 " Did I not assure myselfe y r lo. understands me well inough 
 and my affection towards y, I should feare my long silence and 
 my plane dealing might have caused y by this time to have 
 conceived a lesse good opineon of mee. But for one I can not 
 leave, and for the other, having beeyne long from heance and 
 bending to mariage (though not susdenly) proves the occatione of 
 more busines ; w h hath hindered mee from observing that often 
 expressing of my respect, as well to y r lo. as to many other of my 
 noble friends . The modell seller hath dealte dis- 
 honestly w th y r lo. as well as w th mee. For I fiend there are a 
 mongste the Artilery that ar faltie both in shape and mesure ; and 
 differ much from those I saw there. Therefore it must bee that 
 
 S. P. Holland.
 
 254 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 hee hath reserved of the best and put theise in the places. 
 And so w th my servis remembered to y and y r worthy lady I reast 
 
 " y r lo. 
 
 " most affectionat to doe y 
 " servis, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 " Londone, this 19 of November." 1 
 
 Sir Edward Cecil truly states that he was not entering 
 on a second marriage hastily, as it was rumoured in 
 November, 1616, that he was going to marry Diana 
 Drury, third daughter and co-heir of Sir W m Drury 
 of Hawsted, Suffolk. 2 This lady, who was born about 
 the year 1580, was of equally high birth on her father's 
 and mother's side. The family of Drury came into 
 England at the Conquest, and the name is to be found 
 on the "Battle Abbey Roll." 3 Sir W m Drury (Diana's 
 father), married Elizabeth Stafford, 4 eldest daughter of 
 Sir W m Stafford, of Chebsey, Co. Stafford, by Dorothy 
 Stafford his wife (lady of the bedchamber to Queen 
 Elizabeth for forty years), daughter of Henry Lord 
 Stafford, and granddaughter of Edward Stafford, last 
 Duke of Buckingham. 
 
 On the death of Sir Robert Drury, only surviving son 
 of Sir W m Drury, in 1615, his estates passed to his three 
 surviving sisters, who were his co-heirs. The eldest sister, 
 Frances, 6 was married to Sir W m Wray of Glentworth, 
 
 1 This letter, which is unaddressed, is endorsed " igth Nov. 1617." 
 S. P. Holland. 
 
 * Sir Edward Cecil shall shortly marry Mrs. Diana Drury, who, since the 
 death of her brother, is become a good marriage, with 10,000 or .12,000. 
 Chamberlain to Carleton, Nov. 23, 1616. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * See Drury pedigree, in Cullum's Hawsted, p. 128. 
 
 4 This lady married 2ndly, Sir John Scott, of Nettlested, Kent 
 
 5 Frances Drury, born 1576, died 1637 ; buried in Ashby Church, near 
 Grimsby, with her second husband, Sir \V m Wray. Her first husband was 
 Sir Nicholas Clifford, who died before 1600.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 255 
 
 Bart., by whom she had issue. The second sister, Eliza- 
 beth, 1 had married about 1598, W m Cecil, Lord Burghley, 
 by whom she had three surviving daughters, and the third 
 sister, Diana, was about to marry Sir E. Cecil, her brother- 
 in-law's younger brother. 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON. 
 
 " MY LORDE, 
 
 "The staye of the passage, and my Ensigne's purpose thereupon 
 to goe over, have occasioned this other letter to y r lo. the rather 
 to let you know that this is the gentleman the King spoke to mee 
 for, to have beene recommended to the companie. But as the 
 dispache his Ma le intended about it, was making ; y r advertise- 
 ment came that it was determined beyonde the recovery, so as then 
 his Ma ie did please in such generale termes onlie, as ar now directed 
 to y r lo., to insist w th them for the repairing of my honour, w th out 
 
 the continuing of his former intent to Mr. Cromwell. 2 
 
 ******* 
 
 " I have a great desier (as it is fitt I should have) to have my 
 companie removed out of Utricke and (if it may bee) some 
 whether into Holland, as Bealse (sic) or Harlom. I pray y (S r ) 
 let this be another suite of mine to y r lo. when I shall need y r 
 mediation, w th his Ex., who (I hope for the love and respecte I 
 beare him) will understand how unfitt it is it should tarrye there. 
 And w th out more trouble to y I will reast 
 
 "y r lo. 
 
 " most affectionat to be 
 
 " commanded 
 
 " ED. CECYLL." 
 
 1 Born Jan. 4, 1578, and died Feb. 26, 1654. Gage's Suffolk, p. 
 429. 
 
 2 This was probably the brave John Cromwell, who was made captain in 
 one of the regiments sent to Holland by James I., in 1624, and who eventually 
 succeeded to the command of an English regiment in Holland, and saw 
 much active service.
 
 256 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Add. 
 
 " To the Rig-honorable S r Dud. 
 Carleton, Ambasidor for his 
 Ma ie w th the United States at 
 
 the 
 
 Hage." 
 End. 
 
 "FroS'Ed. Cecillby 
 M r Crumwell rec d 
 the of lo 1 *" 1617." 1 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON. 
 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 " I have received from y r lo. the knowledge of the favour y 
 did mee in delivering my humble sends to his Ex. and the satis- 
 faction y obtained for mee upon it. I shall intreate your lo. to 
 lett mee bee excused for having no returned my thanckes unto y 
 sooner, for that I have had many occations to hinder mee, con- 
 cerning my la. of Exetere 2 her busines, wee having such malitius 
 and active Enimes. 
 
 " For M r Hewes, I am sorrie that neither my creditt w th the 
 States nor the fitnes and iustnes of his suite can geate him the 
 contentment I desiered for him, and that my regiment hath not 
 as much neede of salvatione as a nother. He hath done the coun- 
 try more honor and servis then all the other have, for he hath 
 prayed for them in many churches in this kingdom, w 1 * others have 
 not done, but they have given him cause to leave it. But I shall 
 be patient in this as I have beeyne in other things. And so w th 
 servis remembered to y r lo. and y r noble lady, I reast 
 
 " y r lo. 
 
 " most affectionat servant, 
 " Eu. CECYLL. 
 
 1 S. P. Holland. 
 
 2 Frances, Countess of Exeter, second wife of Thomas, 1st Earl of Exeter. 
 Sir Edward Cecil's father had married, in 1615, Frances, daughter of \V m 
 Brydges, 4th Lord Chandos, and widow of Sir Thomas Smith, who died 1609, 
 Master of Requests to James I. By this marriage the Earl of Exeter had an 
 only child, Georgiana, to whom Queen Anne of Denmark stood sponsor. An 
 account of the libel against the Countess of Exeter, referred to by Sir E. Cecil 
 in above letters, is given in the next chapter.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 257 
 
 " This 4 of December" l [1617]. 
 
 Add. 
 
 " To the Rig-honorable 
 S r Dudley Carleton, lord 
 Ambasidore for his 
 Ma le w th the United 
 provinces at the 
 
 Hage." 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON. 
 
 " MY LORDE, 
 
 " I have receaved y r letters touching my busines (and so by 
 consequence theye generall good of our nation) w th the States of 
 Utricke, and w th all a copie of y r letters to his Ma ie , for w ch I am 
 
 much beholding to y r lo to excuse those defects that y 
 
 find have given y r lo. cause to delay the proceeding ; the letters were 
 sent from Newmarket, and M r Secretary was only to adde the 
 scales, and they were sealed w th such hast w ch was the cause of the 
 errour. The copye of that from his Ma le to those of Utricke I 
 sende heare w a , and the same instructions signed by M r Secretary, 
 who promiseth mee he will send his Ma le3 order for y r lo. going to 
 Utricke and for y r treaty w th theye Generall States ; 2 my humble 
 sute to y r lo. is that in case y receave noe satisfaction for mee (as 
 I can not see how theye can very well give me any) that y will be 
 pleased to demand of them and his Ex. leave that I may transporte 
 my commande there upon some mann of quality for the recom- 
 pense of my 19 years servis, w ch to confess to y r lo. is not w <h an 
 absolute mind to leave there servis if I might w th honour serve 
 them, w h I feare they as littel regard as the may ; my confidence 
 of y r integrity maketh mee thus boulde w th y r lo 
 
 " f lo. 
 
 " most affectionat to doe 
 
 " y servis, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 1 S. P. Holland. 
 
 2 Carleton, in a letter to Secretary Lake, said it was not pro dignitate for an 
 Ambassador to go to Utrecht, and as the Company was given away, it could 
 not be given back. King James saw the matter in the same light, and in a 
 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 " Nautone howlde as yet to be the other secritary and mileme 1 
 (sic) shall be M r . of the Juell howse, S r . Hary Carry, Controler, 
 Edmons, Treasurer, and my Lord Wotton 2 shall have honor and 
 money. 
 
 " London this 23 of December." 3 
 
 There is more in this postscript than meets the eye. 
 General Cecil had for some time been a candidate for the 
 Comptrollership, which was vacant by the resignation of 
 Lord Wotton. Cecil makes no mention in his letters of 
 his efforts to get the White Staff, but other writers refer to 
 the contest. " General Cecil tries hard for the Comptroller- 
 ship, and has got the Duke's 4 favour," writes Brent to 
 Carleton on January 2, i6i8. 5 And the same writer men- 
 tions, in a letter written eight days after, that " Sir E. Cecil, 
 Sir Henry Carew (sic), and Lord Knollys are rivals for the 
 Controllership." 6 The contest between Sir Edward Cecil 
 and Sir Henry Gary was very close, both having influential 
 friends to press their claims on the King, who seems to 
 have got very tired of their importunity. The witty 
 Chamberlain gives an amusing account of this contest in 
 one of his letters : 
 
 letter to Carleton, dated December 22, he says : "We like well that you 
 forbear further to press the removing of him which is possessed ; because it is 
 like to be without effect." Carleton sent a remonstrance to the Assembly of 
 the States-General in the King's name, which closed this affair as far as James 
 was concerned. Letters from and to Sir D. Carleton (London, 1780, 4). 
 
 1 Sir Henry Mildmay, Master of the Jewel House, tempo James I. and 
 Charles I., was younger son of Sir Humphrey Mildmay, Knt, of Danbury 
 Place, Essex. 
 
 * Thomas, 2nd and last Lord Wotton, born 1588; died 1630. Burke's 
 Extinct Peerage. 
 
 8 S. P. Holland. 
 
 4 Ludovic Stuart, 2nd Duke of Lennox, Lord High Steward. 
 
 4 S. P. Dom. 
 
 Brent to Carleton, January IO. S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 259 
 
 " Sir Henry Gary hath not yet got the White Staff, unless it was 
 given him yesterday at Theobalds, whither he followed the king, 
 but I verily believe he hath or shall have it, for all the difficulties 
 that are cast in the way by the duke in favour of Sir Edward Cecil ; 
 and now lastly by the Lord Holies, 1 supported by the Countess of 
 Suffolk 2 and the Lady Hatton ; who, besides all other causes, had 
 won the Lord Wotton, 3 though he had taken earnest to keep 
 aloof till the king was even in his coach to be gone, and being 
 willed to follow to Theobalds pretended indisposition and -sick- 
 ness ; but the king answered, ' It all is one, for his staff is not 
 sick.' " 4 
 
 The contest was decided in March, 1618, in favour of Sir 
 Henry Gary. 5 
 
 There are two letters of Sir Edward Cecil's to Carleton, 
 written in February, 1618, which are not worth giving in 
 extenso. The first, dated February 1 1, contains Sir Edward's 
 expressions of gratitude to Carleton for the latter's 
 " paynes and judgement " in the business with the State of 
 Utrecht, which had not been of much avail. 
 
 " Neither in deede," says Cecil, " was I ever of the opinion that 
 I should receive any materiall satisfaction from so rusticke poleti- 
 tions, that are governed rather by there climat than by any reason, 
 for as that province, rather that Towne, hath beeyne observed to 
 
 1 John Holies, Baron Houghton ; elevated to the Peerage by James I. in 
 1616, through Buckingham's interest, to whom he is said to have paid jio,ooo 
 for the barony. Burke's Extinct Peerage. 
 
 2 Catherine, Countess of Suffolk, wife of the Lord Treasurer, who was 
 deprived of his high office, in 1618, for taking bribes and embezzling the 
 public money. ' ' The Countess had rendered herself very odious by her 
 rapacity in extorting money from all persons who had any matters to be 
 dispatched at the Treasury. They were both confined in the Tower for a 
 short time, and fined ,70,000, which was reduced by King James to .7,000." 
 Carte's Hist, of England, iv. p. 47. 
 
 3 " Lord Wotton keeps his place, because his successor is not agreed on." 
 Brent to Carleton, January 10 S .P. Dom. 
 
 * Chamberlain to Carleton, January IO. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * Sir H. Gary to Carleton, March 25. S. P. Dom. 
 
 S 2
 
 260 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 be mutinus, so now that the people ar kepte under, the Magis- 
 trates ar in the same humores that the people were when the[y] 
 governed." l 
 
 More will be said later on concerning the mutinous state 
 of the Utrecht citizens, as a crisis was rapidly approaching 
 in the capital city of the province of Utrecht. 
 
 The second letter of Edward Cecil's is dated February 12, 
 and recommends " the bearer, John Waymouth z the waggon 
 m r of my Regiment," to Carleton's favour. 3 
 
 A fortnight after this latter Tetter was written Edward 
 Cecil married Diana Drury. 
 
 1 S. P. Holland. 
 
 9 John Waymouth was author of a military tract which is preserved among 
 the MSS. in the British Museum, and is entitled : 
 
 "The true order of a March togither with a direction how a company 
 should be exercised according to that exact manner lately perfected by the 
 great and famous Generall of these tymes, His Excellencie Prince Maurice. 
 Gathered from the Practise of Generall Cecilfs Cempanie, into these plaine 
 geometricall signes, by John Waymouth, Gent." Add. MSS., 26051 fo. 24. 
 
 8 "London this I2th February, 1618." S. P. Holland. The seal on this 
 letter bears this device on a wreath, two lions rampant, supporting a wheat 
 sheaf, charged with a mullet.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 26 1 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 1618. 
 
 Announcement of Edward Cecil's second marriage The Bill of Fare at the 
 Wedding Dinner Troubles in the United Provinces Remonstrants and 
 Contra-Remonstrants The story of Barneveld's downfall The Governor 
 of Utrecht His difficult position The Prince of Orange's political 
 triumphs Revolutionising the States Imprisonment, trial and execution 
 of Barneveld Edward Cecil's petition The feud between the families of 
 Cecil and Lake Story of a great scandal 'The way it ended A vindictive 
 letter Uytenbogaert's request to Edward Cecil Sir Edward and Lady 
 Cecil lose their infant daughter. 
 
 " February 1617-8. The 27th of this monethe, Sir Edward 
 Cecill was maried to Diana Drewrye, sister to the Ladye Burghlie 
 and coheyre unto Sir Robert Drewrye." 
 
 This announcement occurs in a letter from George Lord 
 Carew to Sir Thomas Roe. 1 It would seem that Edward 
 Cecil's second marriage was one of ambition more than 
 affection. Money was the golden key to honours and pre- 
 ferments in the reign of James Stuart. Merit was wont to be 
 passed over unless backed up by gold. It is recorded that 
 when the Earl of Somerset reproached Sir Ralph Winwood 
 for his ingratitude in helping to pull 'him from his high 
 estate after he (Somerset) had procured the post of Chief 
 Secretary for Sir Ralph, that the Chief Secretary coolly 
 replied, that for his Secretary's place he might thank .7,000 
 which he gave him. 3 
 
 1 Letters from George Lord Carew to Sir Thomas Roe t p. 91. Published by 
 theJCamden Society. 
 
 2 Court and Times of James I., i. p. 375.
 
 262 
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 A curious record of Edward Cecil's marriage has sur- 
 vived to the present day. It is the bill of fare at the 
 wedding dinner of Edward Cecil and Diana his wife. This 
 interesting menu, which has never before been printed, is 
 preserved among the manuscripts at Alnwick Castle. 1 
 
 Thursday. M. Drury weding dynner 
 ffebruary 27, 1616 (sic). 
 
 " first course " Second course 
 
 Capons 
 Chickens 
 Chines of mutton 
 
 Pigeons 
 Woodcocks 
 
 Larkes 
 
 Marrow puddings 
 Two forced meates 
 
 "A leg of mutton soused 
 
 A grand Sallet 
 
 A corne Sallet 
 
 Small Sallets 
 
 Sweete Lemons 
 
 " Rost mutton or venison 
 
 Tongues 
 
 Capons 
 
 Henns 
 
 Fesant 
 
 " Veale pies 
 Oyster pies 
 Chickens pie 
 
 boyld meats 
 
 Rost kid Larded 
 
 Rabbetts 
 
 Partridges 
 
 Pigeons 
 
 Plovers 
 
 Larkes 
 
 Woodcocks 
 
 Chickens 
 
 Suites 
 
 Soused pigg 
 Soused Capon 
 West fallia bacon 
 Dryed tongues 
 Chestnut pie 
 Pippen pie w th ovengado 
 
 Potato pie 
 
 Two made dishes 
 
 Pickled oysters 
 
 A Layd tarte 
 
 xx dishes " 
 
 1 This manuscript, for a copy of which I am indebted to the kindness of the 
 Duke of Northumberland, K.G., is referred to in the " Report of the 
 Commission on Historical MSS. (Appendix to 3rd report), belonging to the 
 Duke of Northumberland." Vol. x., 1612-17, and is thus endorsed : " Feb. 
 27th, 1617. Bill of fare at the wedding of Lady Sisil, specifying 24 separate 
 dishes at the first course, and 20 at the second course."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL 263 
 
 Venison pie 
 A made dishe 
 Another dish of creame 
 xxiiij dishes." 
 
 A month after his marriage we find Sir Edward Cecil 
 writing to Sir Dudley Carleton about the injuries put on 
 his company at Utrecht, which injuries were not imaginary, 
 as will shortly appear, 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON. 
 
 " MY LORDE, 
 
 " I did expect upon the advertisements I had from y r lo. that 
 the States of Utrecht would have wryton to the King in answere 
 to his Ma u tes ; but I heare of none, where in I doe wonder they 
 shoulde so barberusly forget themselves. And I am sorrie y r lo. 
 was employed in the trouble since y can not helpe it. 
 
 " I doe heare of more iniuries putt upon my Companie there ; 
 and of some wherein the commander of the Garison is the first 
 man that breakes the law ; booth of that corte of warr, and of the 
 order of the Generall States, wherefore I wounder his Ex. should 
 be so carlas in a nother mans reputatione and let my honor 
 suffer so much, as to have my perticular companie commanded 
 by so unworthy so uniuste a commander w ch every particular 
 Cap. is relived in. I understand all the reason his Ex. givethe 
 is that he is more suer of my companie then any other, so that 
 hee useth mee w th less courtesy than he doth others. This is as an 
 Einglis ill custome w ch is to sett ons [one's] kinsman at the lower 
 eande of his table. 
 
 " Therefore since I cannot serve his Ex. by my companis being 
 in prison there, and that I receave every day one disgrase or 
 other by the staye ; I doe humbly desire that it will please him to 
 consider the ronges I suffer, and for the love and honore I beare 
 him to give me a patente for Breada, against the coming over of 
 Cap. Pine, wherein y r lo. shall biende mee very muche, for I shall 
 never be contente till I be freed out of that cursed are [air] of 
 Utricke. 
 
 "Touching the entertainments of the Preacher, and Wagon 
 M r ., whereas I find by some that there is exseptions takene that
 
 264 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 the 'Preacher is not in the Country, lett me request y r lo. to 
 understand that there is noe preacher that useth to go from 
 Garrison to Garrison, but doth eyther live at the Hage or at 
 the Coroneles Garrison, for that he is reserved most for the fealde. 
 For w ch eand I have healde him w th mee; making such an 
 increase of meanes to him oute of mine owne allowance as might 
 yeald him that contentment in the place w ch the bare entertain- 
 ment from the Regiment can not give him ; and I can assuer y r 
 lo. that there are none of his country or cotte [coat] for his profes- 
 sion that deserveth better then he doth, yet all the Regiments have 
 allowance from the state for a Preacher but mine, for that S r 
 Jhon Ogell had none before I turned over to him that which he 
 hath now. But if any of my Cap. or officers will fiend meanes 
 for the Preacher to live there, I shall be most glade to have him 
 continue there, or that it will please y r lo. to gitt him an intertay- 
 nement as other preachers have of our natione there. I shall 
 besides thincke my selfe much bounde to y, for the only reasone 
 why he is w" 1 mee, is that the Regiment upon the occation of 
 going into the fielde may not want a Preacher as wee have done 
 heere to fore. 
 
 " Y r lo. shall doe mee a great favour to lett me know if there 
 be any liklihoude of our going into the fealde, that I might the 
 better settell my business heare to come over, and so I reast, 
 
 " y r lo. 
 
 " much afiectionat to 
 
 " serve y, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL." 
 " For y r lo. 
 "This 26 of Marche. 1 
 
 End. 
 
 " S r Edward Cecyll. 
 2 6th Marche, 1617." [1618]. 
 
 The religious controversies which for some time past had 
 convulsed the United Provinces were at fever heat in the 
 spring of 1618. 
 
 1 S. P. Holland,
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 265 
 
 The whole country was divided into two factions 
 Remonstrant and Contra- Remonstrant. The former were 
 those who upheld the Arminian doctrines, and the latter 
 were GomarisLs, upholders of the doctrine of predestination. 
 So fierce had the contention become between these two 
 opposite factions, that it was quite impossible for any man, 
 whether of low or high degree, to keep himself aloof from 
 the struggle. Willing or not, everyone was insensibly 
 drawn into the rapids, and carried along by the strong 
 current of popular feeling. Among those who had for 
 long troubled themselves but little about this religious 
 dispute was Maurice of Nassau, who professed to be no 
 theologian, and showed evident disinclination to take the 
 field in matters theological. The time arrived, however, 
 when it was necessary for the military dictator to declare 
 his views, as no one knew better than he did, that those 
 who follow never lead the way. The head-centre of the 
 Arminian party was Barneveld, the veteran Advocate of 
 Holland a man who had devoted a long life to his 
 country's welfare, and who had, by his consummate ability 
 and political capacity, raised his fatherland to the high 
 rank it now held amongst European nations. The name 
 of Barneveld has been often mentioned in these pages, but 
 only casually, being a civilian. Yet was he as much dis- 
 tinguished in a civil, as Maurice of Nassau was in a military 
 capacity. It had been well for the United Provinces if 
 these two great men could have gone hand in hand, as they 
 once had done in bygone days of gloom and danger, until 
 death claimed one or other of them for his own. But this 
 was not to be For full ten years a breach had been 
 widening between Maurice of Nassau and John of Barneveld, 
 which was never to be closed. The soldier prince had 
 never forgiven the statesman for his share in bringing 
 about the twelve years' truce with Spain. Maurice had
 
 266 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 hoped to have gained better terms for his country by the 
 sword than by what diplomacy could effect It was a 
 never ending source of annoyance to him to see himself 
 virtually a secondary person in the councils of his country. 
 Barneveld had seen too much of the uncertainty of war 
 not to welcome with avidity an advantageous peace. A 
 true patriot at heart, and favourable to the house of Nassau, 
 he yet considered a popular commonwealth the best form 
 of government for his country, and suspecting, rightly or 
 wrongly, that the Stadtholder aimed at sovereign power, 1 
 he eyed the prince's conduct with suspicion, and thwarted 
 whatever measures he considered unconstitutional and 
 likely to infringe on the privileges of the people. Thus it 
 was that these two chieftains became antagonistic and 
 distasteful to each other. Both were too rooted in their 
 own opinions, and of too unbending a nature, to give way 
 to the other, so that when their interests clashed, and they 
 each became involuntarily or not, it matters not which, the 
 head of a bitter faction, it became an open struggle between 
 the stateman and the soldier a struggle which could only 
 end in the downfall of one of them. 
 
 Barneveld having openly declared himself the protector 
 and favourer of the Arminian sect, Maurice took the 
 opposite course. Not suddenly or without reason, but with 
 due deliberation. Apart from his growing enmity to the 
 advocate, Maurice had taken a violent dislike to John 
 Uytenbogaert, a famous Arminian divine. This preacher 
 had long enjoyed the prince's favour, and had earned for 
 himself the name of the " Court Trumpeter." It is to 
 Uytenbogaert's credit that he is said to have incurred 
 Maurice's displeasure by having boldly expostulated with 
 
 1 Prince Maurice became Prince of Orange in 1617, by the death of his 
 elder brother, Philip William, Prince of Orange, who had been kidnapped 
 early in life by the Spaniards and Hispaniolised,
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 267 
 
 him on his immoral life. 1 Maurice never forgave him for 
 this, and when this preacher denounced the National Synod 
 from the pulpit of the great church at the Hague, the 
 prince forsook the church, and on the following Sunday 
 openly went at the head of a splendid train to the Contra- 
 Remonstrant church at the Hague. Maurice, having cast 
 in his lot with the Contra- Remonstrants, many others, who 
 had no special religion of any kind, followed suit, wishing 
 to be on the popular and stronger side. Out of the seven 
 states four were Contra-Remonstrant and three Remons- 
 trant the latter being the States of Holland, Overyssel, 
 and Utrecht. It was quite impossible that two forms of the 
 Protestant faith could both hold sway in a small country 
 like the United Provinces, when the contention between the 
 two sects was so violent. The stronger party loudly called 
 for a National Synod to decide what the established faith 
 of the United Provinces was to be, well knowing that James 
 of England and other Protestant rulers were bitterly 
 opposed to the Arminian doctrine. The three States in 
 the minority were violently opposed to a National Synod, 
 and through their mouth-pieces, Barneveld, Hugo Grotius, 
 and Uytenbogaert, demanded a Provincial Synod to settle 
 the vexed question. We have already seen how Uyten- 
 bogaert incurred Maurice's anger when he denounced the 
 National Synod so boldly from the pulpit. Barneveld did 
 more than denounce it. He persuaded the States of 
 Holland, in an assembly of their body which met on 
 August 4, 1617, to pass a resolution to the effect that the 
 National Synod was in opposition to the rights and 
 sovereignty of Holland, and therefore to be rejected. It 
 was further resolved, that seeing the insecurity of life and 
 
 1 The authority for this statement is the annotator to the second edition of 
 G. Brandt's "Hist. v. d. Regtspleging," p. 315, Note R, (Rotterdam, 1610.) 
 See Motley's John of BarnevelJ, ii. p. 61, note.
 
 268 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 property in many of the towns, the magistrates and 
 governors of cities were empowered to levy men-at-arms for 
 their security and the prevention of violence. To make a 
 long story short, the States of Holland were declared sove- 
 reign and supreme, and their resolutions the laws of the land. 
 In accordance with the resolution passed on August 4, 
 " Waardgelders," or mercenary soldiers, were levied in the 
 principal towns of Holland, Utrecht, &c., to preserve order, 
 and to protect the Remonstrants from the attacks of 
 their enemies. " The right of the municipal governments to 
 raise Waardgelders for the defence and protection of the 
 towns when occasion required, was," says Davies, " indubit- 
 able." 1 Yet this levying of troops without the consent of 
 the States-General was the cause of Barneveld's downfall. 
 The State of Utrecht, which was wholly Arminian, and 
 devoted to Barneveld, levied six companies of Waard- 
 gelders in the city of Utrecht, who were sworn to obey in 
 all things the States of Utrecht and to take orders from 
 no one else. 
 
 Sir John Ogle, the Governor of Utrecht, being a strong 
 supporter of the Arminian cause, was placed in a very 
 awkward position. His commander-in-chief, whom he was 
 bound to obey, had declared in the Council of the States- 
 General that the levying of Waardgelders was unnecessary 
 and unlawful, and the States- General had written to Sir 
 John Ogle, ordering him to look to the repose and quiet of 
 the town, and to admit of no novelties without first inform- 
 ing the States-General and his Excellency. 2 On the 
 other hand his inclination and conscience prompted him to 
 favour and obey the civic authorities of Utrecht. We have 
 already seen how the States of Utrecht bestowed a 
 
 1 ii. p. 478. 
 
 1 Letters from and to Sir D. Carleton, p. 185.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 269 
 
 company in General Cecil's regiment, on a young nephew 
 of Ogle's, without ever consulting Prince Maurice or 
 General Cecil. There is no doubt that insults and slights 
 were put on Cecil's regiment by the Utrecht authorities 
 because these soldiers were sworn to obey Prince Maurice, 
 and forbidden to take any part against the Contra- Re- 
 monstrants. Cecil was only speaking the truth when he 
 said "his company was in prison at Utrecht," as to all 
 intents and purposes it was powerless to act in opposition 
 to the civic authorities of Utrecht. Prince Maurice 
 intended to pay General Cecil a great compliment when he 
 said " he was more sure of General Cecil's company than 
 of any other." 1 One cannot but sympathise with Sir John 
 Ogle in the difficult game he was called on to take a part 
 in. He was a thoroughly good and conscientious man, a 
 brave soldier and a true gentleman. " You shall never see 
 any bad action in me," 2 he wrote to Carleton, a few months 
 before these new soldiers were levied. And it is very 
 certain Sir John Ogle tried to do what was right, but 
 human nature is weak, and for one brief space of time he 
 let his religious convictions overcome him so far as to 
 reveal the contents of the Earl of Buckingham's and Sir 
 D. Carleton's letters to the head of the Contra- Remonstrant 
 faction at Utrecht, for which act he afterwards bitterly 
 repented. 3 His treachery however was but short lived, and 
 more in thought than in deed, as when the avenging Prince 
 
 1 See Cecil's letter to Carleton of March 26, 1618. 
 
 ? Ogle to Carleton, March 12, 1617. S. P. Holland. 
 
 3 This statement is proved by a letter from Sir John Ogle to the Duke of 
 Buckingham, (given in Cabala), dated from Exeter, June 3, 1625, in which 
 he says : " If I had \vilfully sinned against you (when I was wickedly beguiled 
 and insnared by that wretch at Utrecht, to whom I gave some extracts out of 
 your letters, as also out of the Lord Embassadour's), or did yet with obstinacie 
 maintain such indiscreet proceeding, your Grace might in justice reject me as 
 unworthy." 
 
 The "wretch at Utrecht," was doubtless Gillis van Ledenberg.
 
 27O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 of Orange, with supreme authority from the Lords the States- 
 General, determined to revolutionise the disaffected states 
 and towns and bring them back by force of arms to their 
 true allegiance, appeared before the gates of Utrecht with 
 a small force of cavalry and infantry, Ledenberg, Secretary 
 of the Utrecht assembly, asked Sir John Ogle if he would 
 stand at the head of the new troops against the Prince of 
 Orange, if need should require. Ogle flatly refused to do 
 so, declaring he was bound in honour to obey his rightful 
 masters the Prince and the States-General. Maurice 
 entered the city, and with characteristic firmness and 
 composure, ordered the Waardgelders, over 1,000 in number, 
 to assemble in the principal square of the city and lay 
 down their arms. They obeyed to a man, silently and 
 respectfully, recognising their true lord and master. Four 
 days after this coup d'ttat the soldier prince entered the 
 town hall at the head of his body guard, and informed the 
 assembled magistrates that he intended changing their 
 board in toto. 1 This was done with the same ease that 
 Cromwell turned the Rump Parliament out of doors in 
 later days nay, more easily, as none of the Utrecht 
 magistrates seem to have had the spirit of a Sir Harry 
 Vane to make any remonstrance at this summary proceed- 
 ing. Thus ended the " insurrection " at Utrecht, just a 
 year after Barneveld's decided action in favour of his party. 
 Leaving Sir Horace Vere in temporary command at 
 Utrecht, 2 the Prince proceeded to other Remonstrant 
 
 1 Secretary Ledenberg and other members had escaped out of Utrecht the 
 night that Maurice arrived there. Motley's Barneveld, ii. p. 268. 
 
 * Sir John Ogle was deprived of the Governorship of Utrecht a few weeks 
 after this, having offended by " i. Permitting the levying of the six companies, 
 2. Suffering said companies to enter into guard and their captains and officers 
 to assist at the Court of War. Lastly, permitting the burghers to guard the 
 Stadt house, &c., which was heretofore the duty of the ganison." Carleton's
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 271 
 
 towns, and changed the government of each of them in the 
 same quiet manner that he had done at Utrecht, proving 
 the all-powerful influence of a popular military commander 
 who has the army at his back. The Arminian States were 
 thus Orangeised, if one may use the expression, and 
 Barneveld was at the mercy of his rival Maurice. 
 
 Little remains to be told of Barneveld's story, as his fate 
 is a matter of history, and his death is an indelible stain 
 on the fame of the first soldier of his time. Arrested on 
 August 29, 1618, by the prince's instrumentality, he was 
 thrust into prison, where he languished for months. The 
 National Synod, which Barneveld had opposed as an 
 unconstitutional measure, was convoked and met at Dord- 
 recht or Dort, where, after innumerable sittings and much 
 fiery eloquence, religious intolerance, and unchristian hatred 
 and ill will, the Synod ended by declaring " the Arminians 
 to be arch heretics, schismatics, and teachers of false doc- 
 trines, and they were declared incapable of filling any 
 clerical or academical post." 1 Before this foregone con- 
 clusion had been arrived at, Barneveld had been put on 
 his trial, if trial it could be called, as he had to defend 
 himself, unaided, against a host of bitter enemies, who 
 accused him of plotting his country's ruin and accepting 
 Spanish bribes ! This trial was also a foregone conclusion, 
 as his enemies had decreed his death. He was sentenced 
 to death, and was publicly beheaded at the Hague on 
 May 1 3, 1619, in the 73rd year of his age. " Never statesman 
 more upright, never patriot purer, fell a victim," says Davies, 
 
 Letters, p. 189. Carleton also mentions in a letter to King James, dated 
 August, that Sir John Ogle had secret meetings at night with Grotius (one of 
 the most able of the Arminian faction, and a great author) when at Utrecht. 
 Colonel Fama, a States' officer, was appointed Governor of Utrecht in 
 November, 1618, in place of Sir John Ogle. 
 1 Carleton, p. 361.
 
 272 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 " to the fury of party rage and the machinations of un- 
 principled ambition." 1 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON. 
 
 "My L 
 
 " I made more hast from the Coste then other wayes I woulde 
 have done, by cause of the hope I had to have beeyne present 
 to have visited (sic) y and my la. a good journey before y r 
 going from heance. But I missed of the happines to find y heere 
 upon my returne, yet I am the less sorrye, by reason of the 
 welcome newes I have receaved of y* arrival there in so good a 
 tyme, to find contentment in succes of a worke wherein y have 
 had an honorable parte. 2 A mann would littell have thoughte 
 such stubborne soveranes as those of Utricke would have ever 
 come to have beene cashered servants. But now that there 
 authority is found fault w th all ; amonge the rest of these ruinst 
 proceeding, meethinkes the giving awaye that companie of my 
 Regiment, should w th very good reason bee annihilated. It is a 
 thing that, now y r lo. is there, having considered how matters doe 
 stand, it is to be accounted as much an Arminione companie as any ; 
 I have a great miende to be a suiter for it once againe. And if I 
 might be bounde to y r lo. for y r incouragement in it and y r 
 medation to his Ex. for his assistance, I could fiend in my 
 herte to gitt his Ma 1 letters to that purpose, itt being gotte frome 
 mee by a lie, and to be the messenger of them myselfe. I re- 
 . commende it to y r lo. favore. ... If I may heere bee of any 
 
 1 P- 5J9- Secretary Ledenberg and Hugo Grotius had both been arrested 
 and imprisoned soon after Barneveld's arrest. Ledenberg committed suicide 
 in prison, and the able Grotius, thanks to his clever and devoted wife, 
 escaped from prison, concealed in a large trunk, and made his way to 
 Antwerp. 
 
 2 Sir D. Carleton was bitterly opposed to the noble Barneveld. Had 
 he not been so, he would have been recalled by his royal master, who was full 
 of theological spite against the aged advocate. Davies, in speaking of 
 Barneveld's arrest, says : " It was supposed by many persons that the Am- 
 bassador Carleton was a party to this transaction, from the circumstance of 
 his having arrived at the Hague the evening before, from England, and having 
 continued till a late hour of the night in consultation with the Prince of 
 Orange," p. 491.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 273 
 
 servis to y r lo. I beseech y r lo. command me confidently, for y shall 
 ever finde mee both faithfull and willing in serving y. I hope it is 
 sence my beying at Corte that S r Tho. Lake his hope consumeth 
 more and more, for wee still fiend out one foule thing after another, 
 and lately, as it is suspected, discovered that he and my la. Rosse by 
 the practis of Irishe menn have poisoned my lo. Rosse at Naples, 
 wee having beeyne advised by many and divers letters from Naple 
 to that purpose. And so wi th my servis to y and f Noble lady I 
 reast, " y r affectiate servant, 
 
 " This 22 of August " ' [1618]. " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 Add. 
 
 " To the Rig honourable 
 S r Dudly Carleton, K , 
 lo. Ambassidore for his Ma" 
 wi th the united states." 
 
 End. 
 
 " My Lord General Cecill 
 the 22th of August, 
 1618." 
 
 The paragraph about Sir Thomas Lake, in Edward Cecil's 
 letter, refers to one of the many scandals which broke forth 
 like sudden plagues in the reign of James I. The scandal 
 has already been hinted at in a former letter of Edward 
 Cecil's, and as he was active in bringing to light a dark and 
 malicious libel made against his young stepmother, the 
 Countess of Exeter, we have no hesitation in giving a short 
 account of the affair, as the honour of an illustrious family 
 shone more brightly than ever when the guilty parties were 
 brought to justice and confessed their crime. 
 
 Thomas Cecil, Earl of Exeter, had taken to himself in 
 his lonely old age a second wife. This lady was Frances 
 Brydges, daughter of Wm. Lord Chandos, and the widow 
 of Sir Thomas Smith. Notwithstanding the discrepancy 
 
 1 S. P. Holland. 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 in their age, the Earl being thirty-eight years older than 
 his bride, the marriage was a very happy one, and was 
 blessed by the birth, in July 1616, of a daughter. 1 A grown- 
 up family generally resents a parent's second marriage, and 
 when it happens that the new step-mother is younger than 
 all her step-children, she is sure to be regarded with a 
 jealous eye, how carefully soever she may play her cards. 
 She is looked upon as an unwelcome intruder, and her 
 children are often regarded by their half-brothers and half- 
 sisters as robbers of their patrimony. In Lady Exeter's 
 case, however, it was not her step-children, or her step- 
 grand-children, who gave her the cold shoulder or evinced 
 jealousy of her position. It was the wife of her step- 
 grandson, Wm. Cecil, Lord Roos, a lady of sweet seventeen , 
 who, stirred up by her mother Jezebel, set an infernal 
 machine in motion (speaking allegorically) which, before it 
 could be stopped, brought ruin on her, her husband, and her 
 whole family. 
 
 Wm. Cecil, Lord Roos, son of Wm. Cecil, 2nd Earl of 
 Exeter, had married, early in 1616, Elizabeth Lake, 
 daughter of Sir Thomas Lake, the Chief Secretary. This 
 marriage, even in its early days, was a very unhappy one ; 
 why, does not appear, but so it was, and the quarrels of 
 Lord and Lady Roos were events of public comment. 2 
 His was a strange character, made up of extravagance, 
 
 1 In the registers of St. Mary's Church, Wimbledon, is the following entry : 
 " The thirteenth day of Julie, being Satterday, in the yeare of our Lord, 1616, 
 about half an hour before 10 of the clocke in the forenoon of the same day at 
 Wimbledon, in the Countie of Surrie, was born the Lady Georgi-Anna, 
 daughter to the right honourable Thomas Earl of Exeter, and the honourable 
 Lady Frances Countess of Exeter ; and the same Lady Georgi-Anna was 
 baptized the thirtieth day of the same moneth of Julie, in the saide yeare, 1616, 
 being Tuesdaie in the afternoone of the same daie ; Queen Anne and Lord 
 Worcester, Lord Privie Seal, being witnesses ; and the Lord Bishop of London 
 administered the baptism." 
 
 * Gerrard to Dudley Carleton, June 4, 1617. S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 275 
 
 recklessness and laxity of morals. Not that these three 
 qualities are at all strange, as they very often go hand in 
 hand, but when coupled with such strong religious feelings 
 as inclined him to turn Roman Catholic, 1 and live abroad, 
 one cannot but be a little surprised. Soon after his 
 marriage, Lord Roos was sent Ambassador into Spain on a 
 special mission. 2 On his return home he is said to have 
 fallen into some neglect of his young wife, which is very 
 likely, as he seems to have been of an unstable and erratic 
 nature, changeable as the wind. When coldness springs up 
 between a young married couple, and they become es- 
 tranged, there is often cause to believe that the heart of one 
 of them, at least, has been transferred elsewhere. So 
 thought Lady Roos in trying to account for her husband's 
 conduct towards her. So also thought Lady Lake, her 
 mother. When jealousy and hatred once take possession 
 of women's hearts they become utterly bereft of reason, and 
 are hardly accountable for their actions. For reasons best 
 known to themselves, Lady Lake and her neglected 
 daughter owed a grudge to young Lady Exeter. There 
 were only a few years' difference in age between Lord Roos 
 and his step-grandmother, who, it is probable, felt an un- 
 usual interest in this extravagant young nobleman, and had 
 perhaps interceded on his behalf with the old Earl, when he 
 was asked to pay his grandson's debts, which were by no 
 means small. Owing a grudge to the young Countess, and 
 being prompted by jealousy to cast a lifelong slur on her 
 name, Lady Lake persuaded herself and her daughter into 
 
 1 Note in Birch's Court and Times of Jame* I. i. p. 474. 
 
 2 "The Lord Roos is gone for Spain very gallant, having 6 footmen whose 
 apparelling stood him in .50 a man ; 8 pages at So a piece ; 12 gentlemen, 
 to each of whom he gave 100 to provide themselves ; some 20 ordinary 
 servants, who were likewise very well appointed, and 12 sumpter cloths that 
 stood him in better than 1500. " Chamberlain to Carleton, October 12, 1616. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 the belief that Lord Roos was on improper terms of in- 
 timacy with his step-grandmother. A story was concocted 
 that Lord Roos had fallen in love with his step-grandmother, 
 and that she had reciprocated his unholy and incestuous 
 passion. A charge like this was of course as fatal to the 
 good name of Lord Roos as it was to his step-grandmother 
 and her aged husband. In order to sow dissension between 
 husband and wife, Lady Lake industriously circulated a 
 report that Lady Exeter had been engaged to marry 
 Sir Francis Crane, and on her breaking her engagement 
 with him, to marry Lord Exeter, had been obliged to give 
 Sir Francis ^"4,000 damages. 1 Nothing short of the whole- 
 sale disgrace of a noble family would satisfy the vengeance 
 of a neglected wife and her enraged mother. Lord Roos, 
 having been accused of this great crime, took the worst 
 possible course he could have done under the circumstances. 
 He left England quite suddenly, without saying where he 
 was going, and disappeared from the scene. 2 What could 
 be a more conclusive proof of guilt, said Lady Lake, than 
 this sudden flight Lady Lake had scored a point in the 
 game she was playing. Following up her advantage, she 
 spread the story of her daughter's wrongs, and of her son- 
 in-law's guilt, far and wide. The aged earl awoke from his 
 dream of married happiness to hear his young wife's fair 
 name, and his honour, vilified in the most shameful manner. 
 In this hour of his need his family stood by him, and 
 the aged earl, in company with Grey Brydges, Lord 
 Chandos, his wife's brother, went to Court and craved justice 
 from the King on their knees. 3 The great Burghley's son 
 and Salisbury's brother had not to sue for justice in vain. 
 
 1 John Levingston to Carleton, February 28, 1618. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * Winwood to Lake, August 4, 1617. S. P. Dom. 
 
 3 Gerard Herbert to Carleton, February 23, 1618. S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 277 
 
 Lady Roos was committed to prison 1 for her slanders 
 against Lady Exeter, and James, like a true Solomon, 
 declared he would sift the matter to the very bottom, and 
 mete out justice to the injured parties. To this end the 
 King examined each of the accusers and accused separately. 
 But the person most concerned Lord Roos was absent 
 from England, which made matters infinitely worse. His 
 presence was particularly desirable, as Lady Lake and her 
 daughter had produced a paper purporting to be a confession 
 signed by Lady Exeter, acknowledging her guilt and 
 craving pardon for her attempt to poison Lady Roos and 
 her mother. This confession was said to have been written 
 in the dining-hall at Wimbledon House, in presence of 
 Lord Roos and his servant Diego, whose signatures were 
 attached to it. On being shown this damning proof of 
 guilt James sent Mr. Dendy, one of his serjeants-at-arms, 
 to Rome, to interrogate Lord Roos and his servant. Dendy 
 speedily returned with letters from Lord Roos and Diego, 
 stating the confession and their signatures to be forgeries. 3 
 One of Lord Roos's letters to the King about this unhappy 
 affair is still extant. It is dated from Rome, and begins by 
 begging the King's pardon for leaving England without a 
 licence, and for going to Rome. Lord Roos says despair 
 was the cause of his sudden departure, and he goes on to 
 ask for leave to remain abroad "to digest his wrongs." 
 He also begs that his estate may be managed during his 
 absence by his grandfather (Lord Exeter), and not by Sir 
 Thomas Lake. The letter concludes by requesting his 
 Majesty not to allow Lady Roos's title to save her from 
 any severity, " she being a base creature, a dishonour to his 
 grandfather's house, and not worthy to wipe the shoes of 
 
 1 Gerard Herbert to Carleton, February 23, 1618. S. P. Dom. 
 
 2 See account of this Hbel case in Francis Osborne's Memoirs of the reigii of 
 Queen Elizabeth, James /., (yc.
 
 278 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 the Countess of Exeter, whom she has wronged." 1 This 
 letter is of importance, as scarcely a month after, 2 Lord 
 Roos died very suddenly near Naples, not without strong 
 suspicion of having been poisoned. Sir Edward Cecil's 
 charge, in his letter to Carleton, against Sir Thomas Lake 
 and his family, merely proceeded from idle rumour, and 
 had no foundation in it to confirm it, but the death of this 
 unfortunate young nobleman was doubtless a welcome 
 event to Lady Lake and her daughter. 
 
 Sir Thomas Lake, the Chief Secretary 3 husband of one 
 defendant in this case and father of another had been 
 dragged into this quarrel entirely against his will and 
 better judgment, but the honour of his family left him no 
 other course than to take up the cudgels in his wife's and 
 daughter's cause. He was in great favour with James, 
 and was on the point of being made a baron when this 
 scandal burst out and delayed matters. James, having 
 received an emphatic denial from Lord Roos and his 
 servant that they had ever witnessed a deed purporting to 
 be the confession of Lady Exeter, made in their presence 
 at Wimbledon House, informed the Lakes that he required 
 further proofs of the validity of this confession. Lady 
 Lake lost no time in producing a witness in the person of 
 Sarah Swarton, a waiting-maid, who swore she had been 
 present in the dining-room at Wimbledon House when 
 
 1 Lord Roos to King James, June I, 1618. S. P. Pom, 
 
 * It is stated in the Cecil pedigree, given in Blore's Rutlandshire^ that \V m 
 Cecil, Lord Roos (De Ros) i6th Baron, died on June 27, 1618. Dying 
 without issue, the title passed to his cousin, Francis Manners, 6th Earl of 
 Rutland, as lyth Baron. This nobleman had previously contested the title 
 with the late Lord, and on the day that it had been confirmed to W m Cecil, 
 the Earl of Rutland had been created Baron Ross of Hamlake, but dying 
 without male issue, in 1632, the new barony became extinct. 
 
 * For some years past there had been two Secretaries of State. On the 
 death of Sir R. Winwood, Sir R. Naunton was made co-Secretary of State, 
 with Sir F. Lake.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 279 
 
 Lady Exeter made her confession, and, having been hid 
 behind the window-curtains, had overheard all that passed 
 on that occasion. This seemed a very plausible and likely 
 tale, eavesdropping coming quite natural to servants. Lady 
 Lake also produced a written confession signed by one 
 Luke Hatton, in which he acknowledged that the Countess 
 of Exeter had hired him for the purpose of poisoning Lady 
 Roos and her mother, for which he was to have received an 
 annuity of 40 per annum. 1 James deserves the highest 
 praise for the pains he took to unravel this foul plot, and 
 for the impartiality he displayed throughout the whole 
 affair. He had a difficult part to play, as he was strongly 
 attached to his Chief Secretary, but he did not allow his 
 feelings to stand in the way of justice. It was mainly 
 owing to the King's perspicuity that the damning evidence 
 of Sarah Swarton was proved to be a tissue of lies. He, 
 went himself to Wimbledon House and inspected the 
 dining-hall, from the window of which room, behind the 
 curtains, the waiting-maid had sworn she had overheard 
 Lady Exeter make her confession in the presence of Lord 
 Roos and others. James convinced himself, from the 
 immense size of the hall, that it would be impossible for 
 any one behind the window-curtains to have heard a 
 conversation which was said to have taken place at the 
 dinner-table. He also made the astonishing discovery that 
 the window curtains did not reach within two feet of the 
 ground, so that any one hiding behind them must have 
 been plainly visible to all the occupants of the room, and it 
 was indisputably proved that these same curtains had been 
 there for many years. 2 So much for the testimony of 
 Sarah Swarton: The King wisely kept this discovery to 
 himself, and caused search to be made for Luke Hatton, 
 
 Francis Osborne's Memoirs, as before. 2 Ibid.
 
 28O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 whose confession had yet to be proved a genuine docu- 
 ment. This individual, who was in a humble rank of life, 
 as may be supposed, was happily found, and, on being 
 shown his written confession, declared the whole deed to be 
 a forgery and a lie from beginning to end. The case was 
 now got ready for the Star Chamber. " The cause between 
 Lady Exeter and Sir Thomas Lake fills 17,000 sheets of 
 paper," wrote Sir Wm. Smithe to Carleton. 1 It must be 
 recorded in Sir Thomas Lake's honour that when the King, 
 who saw very well how the trial would end, advised the 
 Chief Secretary to leave his wife and daughter to the law, 
 and not put his name to the cross-bill, Sir Thomas nobly 
 replied that he could not refuse to be a father and a 
 husband, so he cast in his lot with his worthless family and 
 awaited the results. The Countess of Exeter versus Lady 
 Lake and Lady Roos ; Sir T. Lake and family versus the 
 Countess of Exeter, and Luke Hatton versus Lake and 
 Roos. Luke Hatton had filed a bill against the Lake 
 family for forgery and false swearing. " Coronell Citcill 
 (sic) was yesterday with the King about Luke Hatton's 
 bill," wrote Philip Mainwaring to Lord Arundell, 2 which 
 proves that Edward Cecil took an active part in the 
 prosecution of his family's slanderers. 
 
 This mighty cause came on for trial early in February, 
 1619, in the Star Chamber, the King being present. The 
 Countess of Exeter was accompanied to the Star Chamber 
 by thirty coaches filled with ladies, so great was the 
 sympathy felt for her. The trial was a foregone conclusion, 
 and though it lasted five days, there was no doubt as to the 
 ultimate result Lady Lake and Lady Roos were proved 
 to have forged Lady Exeter's hand to a counterfeit 
 
 1 October 2, 1618. S. P. Dom. 
 
 3 November 22, 1618. See Lodge's Illustrations of British 
 P- 293-
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 281 
 
 document. Sarah Swarton was proved to have perjured 
 herself, and Luke Hatton proved that at the time he was 
 stated to have been employed by Lady Exeter to poison 
 the Lakes, he was in Somersetshire. The whole plot was 
 laid bare to public view, and the King passed sentence on 
 the guilty parties, comparing Lady Lake to the serpent, 
 Lady Roos to Eve, and Sir Thomas Lake to Adam. 1 Sir 
 Thomas Lake and his wife were each fined .5,000 and a 
 sum of .4,000 to the Countess, as damages ; ^500 also to 
 Luke Hatton for compensation. The Chief Secretary was 
 deprived of his office and sent to the Tower with Lady Lake 
 and Lady Roos, until they pleaded guilty and made their 
 submission to Lady Exeter, craving her pardon. Sarah 
 Swarton was ordered to be whipped, branded with the 
 letters F.A., signifying " False Accusation," and to be 
 imprisoned in Bridewell for life. 2 
 
 As is very often the case the least guilty suffered 
 most. Sir Thomas Lake was mulcted altogether of nearly 
 .30,000. He lost his good post and suffered a long im- 
 prisonment in the Tower. Lady Roos, the primary cause of 
 all this trouble, got off very easily. She is said to have con- 
 fessed her share in the plot before the trial was over, whereby 
 she escaped severe punishment, and though imprisoned in 
 the Tower with her parents, it was not for long, as she laid 
 open the whole villainy to the King a few weeks after, and, 
 having made her submission to the Countess and craved 
 her pardon, was set at liberty. " Lady Roos is detested 
 for betraying her parents," wrote Chamberlain to Carleton. 3 
 Yet she was but a girl of nineteen, it must be remembered, 
 
 1 Sir T. Wynne to Carleton, February 14, 1618-19. p - 
 
 2 Sarah Swarton made a full disclosure of her share in the plot, and 
 declared Lady Exeter to be innocent. Chamberlain to Carleton, February 27, 
 1618-9.^. P. Dom. 
 
 3 Chamberlain to Carleton, June 26, 1619. S. P. Dom,
 
 282 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 and was under the influence of a bad mother. Whatever 
 her conduct had been she found no difficulty in finding a 
 gentleman to take her for better for worse two years after. 1 
 Her mother preferred imprisonment to making her sub- 
 mission to her enemy, and her worthy husband was kept in 
 prison in consequence. He is said to have employed his 
 spare time in sawing wood. 2 Falling into bad health, he 
 was at length released from the Tower, and, on making his 
 submission to the Countess in the Star Chamber, was 
 pardoned. This was in January, 1 620. Lady Lake was let 
 out of prison on bail some months after, but refusing to 
 make her submission to the Countess and confess her guilt, 
 was sent back to the Tower. The following letter from 
 Lady Lake to the Countess, shows us what an undying 
 hatred the former bore to the latter, and how she still 
 adhered to her wicked libel : 
 
 LADY LAKE TO THE COUNTESS OF EXETER. 
 
 " MADAM, now after all this busines in which you have had to 
 muchglorye, cast your eyes upon the *i34- Psalme, there you shall 
 finde what God is, no place nor thought hid from him, hee can 
 looke where mens iudgments can not looke, and his records must 
 remaine vpon the fyle for ever, his lawyers will not receave 
 bribes nor bee corrupted, these exhibits cannot be stolen in boxes ; 
 to conclude, for this time I wish my submission coulde make you an 
 innocent woman, and wish you as white as a swan, but it must be 
 your own submission unto God, and many prayers and teares and 
 afflictions, w ch seeinge you have none outwardly examine your harte, 
 and thinke on tymes past, and remember what I have written you 
 heretofore. The same I do now againe, for I yet nothinge doubt, 
 but that although the lo. Roos was sent away and is dead, yet 
 truth lives and Gods glory will appeare in his good time, and if you 
 
 1 Lady Roos married secondly, in 1621, George Rodney, Esq re , and died, in 
 1630, aged 30. She was buried at Stoke, in Somersetshire. Cecil pedigree, 
 Blore's Rutlandshire. 
 
 2 Chamberlain to Carleton, July 15, 1619. S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 283 
 
 flatter your sealfe other, it will fayle you, and this businesse will 
 never have end till you and I raeete in the presence of the King's 
 Majestic w ch hath byn often my humble suite. Although I can 
 not yet obtaine it, yet I hope ere you and I parte this worlde I 
 shall, yf not I will leave that testimony as shall make all the 
 worlde to see that I die Gods servant, to whose Justice I comend 
 my selfe ; 
 
 " MARY LAKE. 
 " 9 November, 1620. 
 
 " To the Countesse of Exeter." l 
 
 End. "The Lady Lake's letter to the Countesse of Exeter 
 concerninge her submission, w ch shee refusinge in michaelmas 
 terme last, beinge brought in to the Star Chamber, was sent agen 
 to the Tower. 
 
 "Returne this by the next bearer, or by new years daye at 
 furthest, if ould bicknor comes up." 
 
 It was not until May, 1621, that Lady Lake brought her 
 haughty spirit to make submission to the Countess of 
 Exeter, whom she had so deeply wronged. " Lady Lake, 
 after many shifts, is at last driven to a complete sub- 
 mission," 2 wrote Chamberlain to Carleton, and the next 
 and last notice we have of this obdurate woman is that she 
 was released and pardoned. 3 Thus ends the story of one 
 of the most scandalous libels of a scandalous age. It only 
 remains to add, that though Sir Thomas Lake was deprived 
 of his Secretaryship, being succeeded by Sir George 
 Calvert, 4 he was restored to the King's favour, which he 
 
 1 Harl. MSS., 4762. f. 115. 
 
 2 Chamberlain to Carleton, May 2, 1621. .S. P. Dom. 
 
 3 Locke to Carleton, May 5. S. P. Dom. 
 
 4 Sir George Calvert was born at Kipling, in Yorkshire, and was educated 
 at Trinity College, Oxford. Having served as Under Secretary to Sir Robert 
 Cecil for some years, was made by him one of the Clerks of the Council. 
 Knighted in 1617. Succeeded Sir Thomas Lake as Chief Secretary, February 
 15, 1619, which post he held until latter end of 1624, when he was obliged 
 to resign, being too much devoted to Spanish interests. He was, however,
 
 284 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 never really had lost, and his family became a very distin- 
 guished one in after generations. 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR D. CARLETON. 
 
 " MY LORDE. 
 
 " As there is not any servant his Ex cle hath that more hartily 
 congratultes his successe against the enemies of that state, then my 
 selfe, so for my faithfull respect and service both to his Ex cie and 
 the state, I must never give way to anything that is thus opposite 
 either to him or it. Therefore I can not but let y r lo. know 
 that I have received a letter from Utenbogaert, 1 dated the 3oth of 
 Septem. but not from any plase named (and never any before), 
 wherein he desiers mee to bee a suiter to his Ma ie for his safe 
 conduct hither into England, and for the protection of his aboade 
 heere w tb out being subiect to pursuite ; it is somewhat strange to 
 mee, considering what disgrase I have received from that faction. 
 And beside this were to doe a good office for one of the con- 
 federacy, booth against the Person of his Ex cle , the union of the 
 provinces, and the Peace of the Church, anie of w ch three, shall 
 all wayes bee sufficient to make mee account no mann my friend 
 that should goe about to seeke such an office at my handes. And 
 I have reiected it as an unworthy motion, w ch I intreat y r lo. to lett 
 
 allowed to dispose of his place to Sir Albert Morton for .3,000. Created 
 Baron Baltimore, February 16, 1624-5. Obtained a grant of Maryland in 
 America, from Charles I., for him and his heirs for ever. Lord Baltimore 
 died April 15, 1632, and was succeeded by his son, Cecil, as 2nd Baron 
 Baltimore. The title became extinct, in 1771, on the death of Frederick, 7th 
 Baron. 
 
 1 Uytenbogaert was for some years the most popular preacher at the Hague, 
 and on very friendly terms with Prince Maurice and his stepmother, Louise de 
 Coligny, widow of William the Silent. When he fell into disfavour, he was 
 accused, as well as his friend Barneveld, of accepting Spanish bribes and 
 plotting his country's downfall. A number of his letters have been published 
 by the Historical Society of Utrecht (ffistorisck Gezehchap gevestigd te 
 Utrecht 1863, &c., 8). From a letter of Archbishop Abbot's to Carleton 
 from Croydon, July 29, 1619, it is evident the Primate of England shared in 
 the anti-Arminian feeling, as he says : "The magistrates must be severe with 
 the Arminians, who are pertinacious and exasperated .... Utenbogardt has 
 secret conferences with the Jesuits. He always sought the applause of men 
 rather than that of God." S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 285 
 
 his Ex. understand and to assuer him in my behaulfe that I am 
 so willingly and so faithfullie his, that no affaires of mine owne, 
 how urgent soever, shall w th hold me from the attendance I owe 
 his Ex. in person when it shall please him to command it of mee. 
 But if there bee no needfull occation to require my comming over 
 before the spring, unlesse his Ex. call for mee, my humble suite 
 is that he will be pleased to grant me his favour for my staye heere 
 till then ; whe in [wherein] I request y r lo. mediation. And if in 
 the time of my remaining heere I may doe his Ex. or y r lo. any 
 service, lett mee receive y r instruction, and I will not neglect to 
 follow them, nor any other commandements wherein y will 
 employe 
 
 " y r lo. 
 
 " most affectionat to be commanded, 
 
 "D. CECYLL. 
 End. 
 
 " Fro S r Ed. Cecill, 
 without date, 
 rec d the 6th of 8 tor 
 I6I8." 1 
 
 This chapter commenced with the announcement of a 
 marriage, and it must now end with the announcement of a 
 death. 
 
 " S r Edward Cecill hath lost his little daughter he had by his 
 Lady Diana Drury," wrote John Chamberlain to Dudley Carleton, 
 in December, 1618, "but the best is, she is said to be quick with 
 child again, and so not out of hope of an heir male." 2 
 
 This little child, Anne Cecil, was buried on December 14, 
 in the church (or churchyard) of St. Martin's-in-the- Fields. 3 
 
 1 S. P. Holland. 
 
 * Chamberlain to CarJeton, December 19, 1618. Birch's MSS., 4174, Brit. 
 Museum. 
 
 1 " 1618, Dec. 14. Sepultfuit Anna Cecill." Parish registers, St.-Martin's- 
 in-the-Fields, London.
 
 286 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 1619-1620. 
 
 A review of the chief historical events which caused the outbreak of the 
 Thirty Years' War The King of Great Britain's foreign policy Perilous 
 situation of the Winter King Expected invasion of the Palatinate A 
 small British force to be sent there Sir Horace Vere is appointed to the 
 command Sir Edward Cecil's disappointment His quarrel with the 
 Bohemian ambassador. 
 
 MATTHIAS, Emperor of Germany and King of Bohemia, 
 died in March, 1619, without issue, and the attention of 
 the whole of Europe was concentrated on the German 
 Empire, from which kingdom was to emanate the up- 
 holder, or persecutor, of the Reformed Church, throughout 
 a farspreading and mighty nation. Who this man 
 was, who was to hold such great destinies in his Imperial 
 hands, will presently appear, but to show what important 
 issues were at stake on the eve of election of a new 
 Emperor, it is necessary to give a hasty glance at 
 some of the most notable events which had taken place 
 during the reigns of the last two Emperors Rudolph and 
 Matthias. 
 
 The little that has already been said, in a previous 
 chapter, concerning Rudolph II., will not have impressed 
 the reader with a high idea of that monarch's strength of 
 character or fitness to rule over a large portion of the 
 European continent, embracing within its limits so many 
 contending elements of hostile races, and holding religious 
 views diametrically opposite the one to the other. Yet
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 287 
 
 was the reign of Rudolph II. an epoch of glory and 
 prosperity when contrasted with that of his brother 
 Matthias. 1 
 
 Rudolph II., eldest of the six sons of the Emperor 
 Maximilian II., had succeeded to the Empire and the 
 Crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, in 1576. This prince 
 has been severely handled by Motley, whose natural 
 antipathy to crowned heads in general made him a 
 relentless judge in passing sentence on royal autocrats. 2 
 Schiller's view of Rudolph's character is more merciful, 
 and he tells us that this monarch was not wanting in virtue, 
 and would have been cherished and revered if fate had 
 caused him to be born in a less elevated position. 3 He 
 was an astronomer, a geologist, an antiquarian, a numisma- 
 tist, a chemist, a philosopher, and a searcher after the 
 philosopher's stone. But such pursuits, when indulged in 
 to the exclusion of public business, were more baneful than 
 advantageous. The ruler of a mighty empire, made up of 
 mixed races and hostile factions, shut himself up with his 
 arts, sciences, and collections, in the palace of the Hrad- 
 schin at Prague, where he gave audiences to Tycho Brahe, 
 the Danish astronomer, and men of that stamp, but often 
 flatly refused to receive his ministers, or transact the most 
 necessary public business. Is it to be wondered at that 
 Hungary freed herself from Rudolphian misrule, and that 
 other states prepared to follow suit. Hungary, Austria, 
 and Moravia, rising in revolt against their lawful master, 
 cast in their lot with the Archduke Matthias, younger 
 brother to Rudolph, who, foreseeing that his indolent 
 brother was in a fair way to lose all his crowns, from his 
 utter incapacity to keep them, thought it high time to look 
 
 1 Histoire de La Guerre De Trente Ans, par Schiller, p. 60. 
 
 2 See Motley's John of Barneveld, i. pp. 65-67, ii. pp. 294, 295, 300. 
 
 3 Schiller, p. 24.
 
 288 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 after his own interests. Having won over Hungary 
 Austria, and Moravia, to espouse his cause, Matthias, 
 emboldened by his success, determined to strip the 
 Bohemian Crown from his incapable brother's head. 
 
 Of all the Imperial Crowns, those of Hungary and 
 Bohemia were the most insecure, the former from political, 
 and the latter from religious causes. The Reformation 
 may be said to have begun in Bohemia a hundred years 
 before Luther's time. The preachings of John Huss, the 
 famous reformer, laid the foundation of the reformed faith 
 in Bohemia, and his martyrdom materially strengthened 
 the Hussite sect. The Hussites closely followed the 
 religious reforms which later on convulsed Germany and 
 Switzerland, and under the tolerant rule of Ferdinand I., 
 and Maximilian II., Protestantism made such rapid strides 
 in Bohemia, that at the beginning of the seventeenth 
 century, the Reformers outnumbered the Romanists. Had 
 Rudolph II. adhered to his father's and grandfather's 
 policy, and been wisely tolerant of a faith that had clearly 
 won the hearts of the Bohemian nation, he might have 
 worn the Bohemian Crown to his dying day. But 
 Rudolph's Spanish education had imbued him with a 
 strong aversion to heresy and heretics, and he doubtless 
 only followed the dictates of conscience when he issued an 
 Imperial edict against the Bohemian reformers. The 
 result of this impolitic act is well known. The States of 
 Bohemia, taking advantage of the critical moment when 
 Matthias was marching against Prague at the head of a 
 large force, informed the Emperor in so many words, that 
 unless their civil and religious liberties were restored to 
 them on a firm and lasting basis, they would not take up 
 arms in his defence. There was no time to hesitate, and 
 for once Rudolph acted with decision. For the first time 
 for many years, Schiller tells us, the Emperor showed
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 289 
 
 himself in public to the citizens of Prague, who doubted his 
 existence, and being present at the assembly of the 
 Bohemian States, solemnly promised to grant his people 
 the civil rights they demanded ; but in granting them the 
 civil rights they demanded, he found means to postpone, 
 till the next session, the most delicate points concerning 
 their religious privileges. 1 Notwithstanding this half con- 
 cession, the Bohemian States took up arms for their 
 Emperor, and there was every prospect of an unnatural 
 war between the two rival brothers. But it was averted at 
 the last moment by Rudolph opening negotiations with 
 his brother. He purchased a hollow peace by ceding to 
 Matthias what he had already gained, and declaring him 
 heir to the throne of Bohemia. Hardly had the peace- 
 loving monarch settled down again to his old life, before he 
 was again rudely roused from his star-gazing by the 
 States of Bohemia, clamouring, in full assembly, for their 
 religious rights. Rudolph, thinking he was safe from the 
 invasion that had threatened him, when he agreed to take 
 into consideration the religious rights of his Protestant 
 subjects at an early session, now obstinately refused to 
 make any concessions to them. Nothing remained now 
 but for the States to take the law into their own hands. 
 They were the stronger party, and they knew it. A new 
 session was convoked, and the free exercise of the 
 Protestant religion was declared lawful, and all subsidies of 
 money and men were refused the Emperor until he had 
 sanctioned this measure. To ensure this, the States 
 levied an army, of which the Count of Thurn, an ardent 
 Protestant, took the command. Once more driven into a 
 corner, Rudolph, who had sworn never to yield, yielded. 
 He signed the famous Imperial Letter, which granted 
 
 1 Schiller, p. 33. 
 VOL. I. U
 
 2QO LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 immense privileges to the Bohemian Reformers Hussites, 
 Lutherans and Calvinists and the free exercise of their 
 religion. The signing of this Bill of Rights took place in 
 1609, and it aroused the spirit of religious independence 
 throughout the German Empire. 
 
 The reign of Rudolph II. was now rapidly drawing to a 
 close, and what a miserable evening of life was his. 
 Ignored by his subjects, despised for his weakness, deprived 
 of part of his possessions and threatened to be deprived of 
 the remainder by his ambitious brother Matthias, who 
 hovered near, ready to turn him off his shaking throne at the 
 first opportunity, the unhappy wearer of the Imperial purple 
 knew not where to turn, or whom to trust In this dark 
 hour he hearkened to the ambitious schemes of his cousin, 
 the Archduke Leopold Archbishop of Passau and Bishop 
 of Strasburg. We have already seen how Archduke Leo- 
 pold was sent to take possession of the disputed duchies 
 of Juliers and Cleves, and what bad success he had in that 
 adventure, but it remains to be told how Rudolph II. 
 conceived the idea of making Archduke Leopold heir 
 to the throne of Bohemia, in opposition to his own brother 
 Matthias, whom he hated, and how, with a view to this 
 scheme, an army-corps was raised in the territory of 
 Passau, ready to take the field when a fitting opportunity 
 presented itself. These troops, being kept inactive and 
 without pay, made raids into Bohemia on their own 
 account. This exasperated the Bohemians against their 
 Emperor, whom they naturally held answerable for the 
 conduct of these lawless troops. Fearing his object was 
 to revoke the Imperial Letter by force of arms, the 
 States of Bohemia levied an army, and invited Matthias to 
 come to their aid. Matthias, who had been biding his 
 time, joyfully responded to their cry for help, and marched 
 to Prague at the head of a large force. The Passau
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 29 1 
 
 troops took flight, and Rudolph was left in the Hradschin 
 at the complete mercy of his victorious brother. 
 
 Matthias was crowned King of Bohemia in the 
 Cathedral 1 at Prague, May 23, 1611, and he solemnly 
 swore, at his coronation, to maintain the laws and 
 privileges of Bohemia, and to respect and uphold the 
 rights granted to the Protestants by his brother. As there 
 could not be two kings of Bohemia, the deposed Rudolph 
 was forced to sign his abdication, and to release the 
 Bohemians from their oath of fidelity. This last insult 
 was the straw that broke the patient camel's back. " After 
 signing the fatal deed, he threw his hat violently on the 
 ground, and broke between his teeth the pen which had 
 just served him for putting the finishing stroke to his own 
 shame." 2 
 
 A year after this event, Rudolph II. died in the 
 Hradschin, and was buried with his fathers in the Imperial 
 vault in the cathedral of Prague. 3 
 
 After an interregnum of some months, the Electors of 
 Germany bestowed the Empire on Matthias, who had won 
 the confidence of the Protestants. But he no sooner found 
 himself securely seated on the Imperial throne than he 
 laid aside the mask, and denounced the reformed religion. 
 The internal troubles that ensued in various parts of the 
 Emperor's dominions, in consequence of his anti-Protestant 
 
 1 The ancient church of St. Veit is within the enclosure of the Hradschin. 
 Matthias was crowned King in the chapel of St. Wenzel (the patron saint of 
 Bohemia), the walls of which are inlaid with Bohemian amethysts, jaspers, 
 and other rare stones. The Crown room, containing the royal regalia, is just 
 above St. Wenzel's Chapel* 
 
 2 Schiller, p. 37. 
 
 3 A splendid white marble monument by Colin of Mechlin, and erected by 
 Rudolph II. in 1589, over the royal vault, is one of the chief objects of 
 attraction as you enter the cathedral. Ferdinand I., Maximilian II., and 
 Rudolph II., besides several earlier Bohemian monarchs, are buried in the 
 vault below this monument. 
 
 U 2
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 form of government, were manifold, but it is only those 
 which occurred in Bohemia that concern us at present. 
 " The tranquillity which Bohemia enjoyed thanks to the 
 Imperial Letter? says Schiller, " was maintained under the 
 reign of Matthias, until the moment that he imposed on 
 this kingdom a new pretender in the person of his nephew 
 (sic) Ferdinand of Gratz." 1 
 
 Matthias having no issue, and the issue male of 
 Maximilian (son of Ferdinand I. brother to Charles V.) 
 ending in him, the Emperor's advisers persuaded him for 
 the sake of religion, as well as for weighty family reasons, 
 to declare his cousin Ferdinand heir to the thrones of 
 Hungary and Bohemia. " For, admitting the succession 
 were hereditary," says Coke, "then by the laws of 
 inheritance these Crowns would devolve upon the King of 
 Spain, Philip the Third, whose mother, Anna, was daughter 
 to Maximilian the Second, and therefore to be preferred 
 before Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, descended from 
 Charles, Maximilian's younger brother. To prevent this, 
 the Popish party, jealous of the consequences, prevailed upon, 
 or rather forced, the Emperor Matthias to surrender his 
 title to the kingdom of Bohemia to his cousin Ferdinand, 
 a zealous asserter of the supremacy of the Church of 
 Rome." 2 
 
 Archduke Ferdinand, by hereditary right Lord of 
 Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, was a man of firm and 
 unyielding temper. His indomitable will, cool courage, 
 and strength of character, enabled him to overcome the 
 greatest reverses of fortune, and to finally achieve the most 
 surprising successes. Ferdinand made no secret of his 
 strong aversion to the reformed faith, and his rule in Styria 
 
 1 Schiller, p. 65. 
 
 1 Roger Coke's Detection of the Courts of James 7. and Charles /., i. p. 103.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 293 
 
 plainly indicated what his line of conduct would be, if he 
 ever succeeded to the throne of the childless Matthias. It 
 must therefore always be a matter of astonishment that 
 when the Emperor proposed Ferdinand to the States of 
 Bohemia in 1617, they should have accepted him for 
 their king. " Knowing what Ferdinand was," says Naylor, 
 "they threw away their chance and elected him, only 
 demanding a general promise to maintain their privileges 
 and preserve the Royal Charter." 1 
 
 After being elected King of Bohemia, Ferdinand retired 
 to Gratz. 2 But it is not to be supposed that he remained 
 a passive spectator of what was taking place around him. 
 A weak man in weak health, Matthias could not fail to be 
 influenced by his adopted son, and when the Imperial 
 policy to the Bohemian reformers became openly hostile 
 when Protestant churches were closed and even demolished 
 by order of the Archbishop of Prague, then did Utraquists 3 
 and Lutherans awake as from a dream, and it suddenly 
 dawned on their minds that the reign of terror which 
 had depopulated Styria of her Protestant population, was 
 about to commence in Bohemia, despite the safeguard of 
 a Royal Charter. Roused to action and vengeance by the 
 martial Count Thurn, who, alone of all the Bohemian 
 deputies, is said to have raised his voice against Ferdinand's 
 election, and whose influence was very great on account of 
 the share he had taken in forcing Rudolph II. to grant 
 the famous Royal Charter, the representatives of the States 
 of Bohemia having met at Prague, sent a remonstrance to 
 
 1 The Civil and Military History of Germany, by F. H. Naylor, i. p. 65. 
 
 z Hungary, following the example of Bohemia, had also chosen Ferdinand 
 for their prospective King. Ibid. p. 68. 
 
 * Utraquists were so called because they received the cup as well as the 
 bread in the holy sacrament. The proclamations and official documents of 
 the Bohemian Protestants were at one time headed, " The Estates of Bohemia, 
 sub uiraque."
 
 294 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 the Emperor, then at Vienna. This remonstrance was 
 termed by the Emperor a revolutionary act, and so far 
 from promising to redress the grievances of the Protestants, 
 he appeared to approve of the acts of violence perpetrated 
 by the Roman Catholics against the reformed churches. 
 It was this refusal on the part of Matthias that caused the 
 enraged Bohemian Deputies to visit their wrath upon the 
 Emperor's two Councillors Slawata and Martinitz then 
 residing in the Hradschin at Prague, and who were 
 credited with being the real authors of the Imperial letters 
 refusing to redress the grievances of the Protestants. 
 
 These two nobles had long been obnoxious to the 
 Bohemians by their fierce and relentless persecutions of 
 the Protestants. Late events had roused the anger of the 
 Bohemian Deputies to fever heat, and on May 23, 1618, 
 they proceeded to the Hradschin, and forcing their way 
 into the Council Chamber, demanded of the Councillors 
 then present, if the tyrannical and intolerant edicts 
 against the Protestants issued in the Emperor's name, had 
 been drawn up by them? Not receiving a satisfactory 
 answer, the Protestant Deputies ejected Slawata and 
 Martinitz in Bohemian fashion, by throwing them out of 
 the window, and tossing their secretary, Fabricius, after 
 them. Curious to say, none of the three were much the 
 worse for their fall of eighty feet, as they fell on a dung 
 hill, which graced the castle terrace. Two small stone 
 obelisks now mark the spot where this historic fall took 
 place, and the Council Chamber above remains in much 
 the same state as when the avenging nobles forced their 
 way in. The entrance door still bears the marks of 
 bullets, and near the large window from which the trio 
 were flung, hang the original portraits of Rudolph II. and 
 his brother Matthias the giver and the revoker of the 
 famous Royal Charter. As one gazes from this historical
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 295 
 
 window, over as fair a scene as can be found in Europe, 
 one cannot help feeling a thrill of emotion when one 
 considers that this " Window Tumble," as historians term 
 it, was the first act of violence in the great struggle of 
 thirty years, which began in 1618 in this Chamber, and 
 ended in 1648 with the unsuccessful siege of Prague. 
 
 Bohemia was now in open revolt. Matthias was obliged 
 to arm in self defence. The rebellion must be crushed 
 before it spread to the Austrian provinces. Spanish 
 troops under the Count of Bucquoy were put at the 
 Emperor's disposal, and in conjunction with some Austrian 
 troops were sent to Bohemia. But a popular cause had 
 made the Bohemian people rise en masse, and soon there 
 only remained three cities in Bohemia which stood firm for 
 the Emperor Budweis, Krumau and Pilsen. While the 
 Count of Thurn sat down before Budweis, a large force 
 under the Count of Mansfeld, sent thither by the 
 Protestant Princes of Germany who saw in the Bohemian 
 rebellion a cause that concerned them very nearly laid 
 siege to the strongly fortified town of Pilsen. 1 At the 
 height of the rebellion, and while revolt was quickly 
 spreading through all the Imperial States, Matthias died. 2 
 " With his latest breath," says Naylor, " he recommended 
 moderation ; but it is rarely the lot of such exhortations 
 to produce a lasting impression, particularly when the 
 admonition has been uniformly contradicted by the former 
 practices of the expiring penitent ; and unfortunately for 
 the world, neither the example of Matthias, nor the 
 disposition of Ferdinand, was calculated to give them a 
 better chance of success." 3 
 
 The death of Matthias was the signal for increased 
 
 Mansfeld came from the Duke of Savoy's service in Piedmont. 
 4 March 20, 1619. * Naylor, i. p. 94.
 
 296 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 anarchy and rebellion throughout Bohemia, Moravia, 
 Silesia and Upper Austria, for the Protestants knew well 
 that the heir of Matthias would chastise them with 
 scorpions. Had not the Protestant refugees from Styria, 
 Carinthia, and Carniola, who had found an asylum in 
 Bohemia, proclaimed the persecutions they had undergone 
 at the hands of the man who called himself King of 
 Bohemia. We say " called himself" because Ferdinand had 
 never entered into actual possession of the kingdom, and 
 was only known to the Bohemians by acts of hostility. 
 Ignoring his very existence, the States of Bohemia 
 declared the throne vacant, and prepared for a new election. 
 The situation that Ferdinand found himself in at this 
 crisis of his life has few, if any, parallels in history. 
 Bohemia in open revolt ; Hungary threatened by Bethlem 
 Gabor the Mithridates of the North ; Moravia invaded by 
 a Bohemian army under Count Thurn and in the hands of 
 the Protestants ; the Styrian provinces rising against him ; 
 Mansfeld, the Attila of Christendom, with a lawless 
 German army, had occupied the town of Pilsen ; l half 
 Germany approving of the Protestant rebellion, and the 
 other half awaiting the result of the struggle to range 
 herself on the side of the strongest, as Schiller so well 
 puts it ; 2 alone in Vienna, with but a handful of troops, 
 mostly Spaniards, to defend him, and surrounded by 
 Austrian Protestants, who were in secret accord with the 
 insurgents marching to besiege the city. In such a position 
 as this did Ferdinand find himself, and no one was better 
 aware of his danger than he was himself. He had sent his 
 family to the heart of the Tyrol for safety, while he waited 
 to face the coming storm. Had he been a Rudolph or a 
 
 1 Ertust de Mansfeldt, par Le Comte de Villermont, i. p. 105. 
 3 Schiller, p. 81.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 2Q7 
 
 Matthias, he would have fled, or made a dishonourable 
 peace with the rebels, but Styrian Ferdinand was made of 
 sterner stuff. Bigoted, crafty, heartless, tyrannical, and 
 cruel, he might be, and undoubtedly was, yet was there 
 much to admire and respect in the calm way this descendant 
 of a line of kings awaited his fate, determined to conquer 
 or die. Fortune proverbially, and most' invariably, favours 
 the brave. At the very moment when all seemed 
 lost when the Bohemian army was thundering at the 
 city gates, and their bullets crashing through the windows 
 of the royal palace, where the upholder and hope of the 
 Roman Catholic religion remained, though almost deserted 
 by his friends sixteen Austrian barons forced their way 
 into the royal apartment, overwhelmed Ferdinand with 
 reproaches, and commanded him, with many threats, to 
 agree to a confederacy of the Austrian Protestants 
 with those of Bohemia. One of the barons went still 
 further. He presented the Archduke with a deed, 
 authorising this confederacy, and seizing him by a button 
 of his coat ordered him in a voice of fury to sign. 
 Historians seem all agreed in saying that Ferdinand did 
 not waver for a single moment, and that he steadily 
 refused to sign. His life hung on a thread, but he was 
 saved as if by a miracle. The noise of trumpets was 
 suddenly heard. A report ran through the palace that a 
 regiment of cavalry, sent to the assistance of Vienna by 
 one of Ferdinand's generals, had just arrived, and that a 
 force of infantry was not far off. Alarmed by this 
 intelligence the sixteen Austrian barons disappeared, the 
 Viennese Protestants fled for protection to the Bohemian 
 camp, and the Roman Catholics took up arms. Ferdinand 
 was saved. 
 
 Good luck, like bad luck, sometimes comes with a rush 
 and one unexpected success is often followed by another
 
 298 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 equally sudden. Thus it was in Ferdinand's case. Hardly 
 had he digested the good news of the arrival of succours 
 before news reached him of the total defeat of Count 
 Mansfeld near Budweis, by Bucquoy, who was preparing 
 to besiege Prague. 1 The Count of Thurn was now com- 
 pelled to raise the siege of Vienna and depart with his 
 troops. The enemy being gone, the roads were free for 
 Ferdinand to proceed to Frankfort, where a Diet was 
 shortly to be held by the Germanic Princes, for the election 
 of an Emperor. There was no time to be lost, so, nomi- 
 nating his brother, Archduke Leopold our fiery Bishop of 
 old acquaintance regent during his absence, Ferdinand 
 departed for Frankfort, July n, with an escort of 200 
 cavalry. 2 
 
 The war cloud that spread over the German horizon on 
 the death of Matthias was watched with keen interest by 
 the United States of the Netherlands. The twelve years' 
 truce with Spain was nearly spent, and there was every 
 prospect of the war being renewed when the truce expired. 
 Knowing this, the Dutch fanned the flame of discord in 
 the Empire, calculating that all embarrassment created for 
 the House of Hapsburg was the best guarantee for them 
 
 1 Mansfeld was defeated by Bucquoy on June 10. The fight lasted from 
 nine in the morning until four in the afternoon. The Mansfeldians were 
 routed with great loss, and all the artillery, baggage, and several colours fell 
 into the hands of the Imperialists. It is said that Mansfeld had sent for 
 succours on the morning of the loth to the two Protestant generals, Fels and 
 Hohenloe, who were quartered with their forces only a few miles distant. 
 The jealousy and hatred which these two generals entertained for Mansfeld 
 made them refuse to march to his assistance. Count Kinsky, colonel of a 
 cavalry regiment in the service of the States of Bohemia, a surprised witness 
 of his general's inaction when a battle was taking place only a few miles off, 
 asked leave to lead his cuirassiers to Mansfeld's assistance. " Sir," replied 
 Fels, " know that you are under my orders and not under those of Monsieur 
 de Mansfeld." Upon which Kinsky, bursting with rage, broke the pistol he 
 held in his hand, and said, "And you, sir, know that when you order me to 
 mount my horse I shall not obey you." 
 
 2 E. de Afansfeldt, pp. 151-2.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 299 
 
 against interference in their struggle against Spain. 1 On 
 the borders of Germany, with one foot already firmly 
 planted on German soil, it seemed as if the United 
 Provinces must be drawn into the great religious struggle 
 which was marching from east to west with such rapid 
 strides. The rumour of distant war reached even to the 
 British Isles, floating in the air like thunder, sometimes 
 appearing quite close, and then rolling away in the distance. 
 At the first signs of an approaching storm, those British 
 officers in the service of the States, who had been fretting 
 and fuming in England on account of their idle and peace- 
 ful career, were filled with hope at the prospect of active 
 service. " If the alarme had continued I had beeyne w th 
 my Regiment long before this," wrote Sir Edward Cecil to 
 the English Ambassador at the Hague, " but since the noise 
 of warre cam to nothing, and my busines many, I have 
 imployed that time heer for my selfe ; yet my resolution is 
 strong to come over, and if it only be to kisse y r lo. hand 
 and his Ex y , for I purpose to make my staye but shorte." a 
 This was written after one of those repeated lulls in the 
 storm, which were so depressing to a soldier anxious for 
 active service in the field. 
 
 Cecil's departure from England was somewhat delayed 
 by his going to Wimbledon, in the latter part of June, to 
 help his father to entertain the Dutch Commissioners (then 
 in England on business connected with the rival British 
 and Dutch East India Companies) who had been invited 
 to Wimbledon House. " The King, on Monday next, is to 
 be feasted at Wimbledon, where the States are entertained 
 this day by the Earl of Exeter and General Cecil," wrote 
 an unknown writer to Mr. Trumbull on June 25. 3 
 
 1 E. de Mansfeldt, i. p. 181. 
 
 2 Cecil to Carleton, " London, June 14." S.P. Holland, 1619. 
 
 3 The date of this letter has been wrongly given in The Court and Times oj
 
 300 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Edward Cecil departed for Holland on or about June 
 26, 1 in company with his cousin, Mr. Wingfield, 2 having 
 previously notified his lieutenant-colonel, Sir Philip 
 Pakenham, of his coming over. 3 From the following letter 
 to Secretary Calvert, it is very evident that when Cecil 
 was at the Hague he heard various warlike reports, which 
 gave him hopes that the German Protestant Princes were 
 going to take up arms and apply to England for succours, 
 in which case he determined to be an early suitor for 
 employment. 
 
 SIR EDWARD CECIL TO SIR GEORGE CALVERT. 
 
 " RlG. -HONOURABLE, 
 
 " The Princes of Germany (as the reporte is here) will seeke 
 to his Ma u for his ayde for the command of forces. I know there 
 will be many Suitors, and I must looke for great oppositione, yet 
 thus much I have to incourage mee w th all, that I have beeyn his 
 Ma* first generall, and for the German service (as not unknown to 
 y r H.) w h I hope I performed to his good liking ; and in that 
 servis spent of my owne purse for the better husbanding of his 
 Ma*, w h by the interposing of enemies I am yet unrecompensed 
 for ; therfor I hope this commande shall not fall to any other. I 
 have written to my lo. Admiralle, 4 and, in his letter, to his Ma' for 
 
 James I, (ii. p. 177) as "June 28." This is manifestly wrong, as King James 
 went to Wimbledon on June 28. See Birch's MSS. 4176, fo. 257 (Brit. 
 Mus.), also Nichols' Progresses, iii. p. 554, where correct date of above 
 letter is given. 
 
 1 Chamberlain to Carleton, June 26. See Court and Times of James /., ii. 
 
 P- 175- 
 
 * This was Sir John Wingfield of Tickencote, eldest son of John Wing- 
 field, M.P. for Grantham, son of Robert Wingfield of Upton, M.P. for 
 Peterborough, by Elizabeth Cecil, daughter of Richard Cecil, and sister of 
 the great Lord Burghley. Sir John Wingfield was twice married, and by his 
 second wife (dau. of 3rd Lord Cromwell) left at his decease, in 1631, a large 
 family. See Landed Gentry, art. " Wingfield of Tickencote." 
 
 * See two curious letters from Sir P. Pakenham to Carleton about 
 " Arminian practises," dated from * ' Skinkscone, July 7" and "July 14." 
 In former letter Pakenham refers to his " Coronell's " coming over, and sends 
 a complimentary message from Cecil to Carleton. S. P. Holland, 1619. 
 
 4 The Marquis of Buckingham, Lord High Admiral of England.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 30 1 
 
 this purpose. If y r H. shall at any tyme apprehend an occation to 
 bee my friend in this suite, y will make one behouldinge to y that 
 shall no way showe himselfe unworthy of y r courtesie. 
 
 " For the busines of the Armenians, this Gentellman, Eninse 
 Williams, can let you know as much as it is. If it will please y r 
 H. to make a dispache by this bearer y shall make us booth 
 behoulding to y. 
 
 " And so I reast 
 " y r H. 
 
 " most faithfull friend 
 " to serve y, 
 
 "ED CECYLL. 
 " My coosin Winkfilde 
 remembers his humble servis to 
 v . 1 
 
 " Hage this 17 day 
 of July." 2 
 
 " For Mr. Secretary." 
 
 This letter may be said to have answered itself, as the 
 Princes of the Union did not apply to James for succours, 
 until long after this, and when they did apply their request 
 was refused. 
 
 Sir Edward Cecil seems to have contented himself with 
 visiting his regiment at Utrecht, paying his respects to Sir 
 Dudley Carleton at the Hague, and showing his cousin, 
 John Wingfield, as much as he could of Holland and the 
 Dutch, in a limited space of time. Carleton, in mentioning 
 Wingfield to Chamberlain, in a letter at this time, says : 
 " He hath since his arrival made a pettie progresse to 
 Utrecht and Amsterdam w th my L d Gen 1 Cecill, w th whom 
 he makes account to returne w* 11 in a few dayes by the way 
 
 1 Chamberlain, in a letter to Carleton, dated June 26, mentions that Wing- 
 field "was very familiar with Secy. Calvert," which proves, I think, that 
 Cecil's letter was for Calvert, and not for the other Secretary Naunton. 
 Court and Times of James /., ii. p. 175. 
 
 S. P. Holland, 1619.
 
 3O2 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 of Antwerp." 1 And in a later letter Carleton thus in- 
 directly refers to Cecil's return to England : " Now for a 
 few dayes I doubt not but Mr. Wingfield will have store 
 enough for you ; whose observacons here have bin as particul r 
 as any mans I know, and he hath had the opportunitie of 
 seeing much by my L d Generall Cecill's companie, but 
 they have changed theyr resolution of going to Anwerp." 2 
 A month after this, we find Edward Cecil present at the 
 interesting ceremony in the chapel of Dulwich College 
 when Edward Alleyn, the founder of this College, publicly 
 read and subscribed the Deed of Foundation before a 
 distinguished company, whom he afterwards entertained at 
 dinner. The opening of the College is referred to in the 
 Founder's own diary : 
 
 13 Sept. [1619] Thisdaye wase the fowndacion off the Colledge 
 finish and ther wear present : the Lord Chancellore ; the Lo. of 
 Arondell ; Lo. Coronell Cicell ; S r Jo Rowland, High Shreve ; S r 
 Ed. Bowyare ; S r Tho. Grymes ; S r Jo. Bodley ; S r Jo. Tunstall ; 
 Inigo Jones, the Kinges Surveyer ; Jo. Finch, Counceller, &c. 
 They first herd a sermond, and after the instrument of creacion 
 wase by me read, and after an anthem, they went to dinner." 3 
 
 1 Carleton to Chamberlain, Hague, July 16, 1619. S. P. Holland. 
 
 4 Ibid. Aug. 10, 1619. S. P. Holland. 
 
 3 MS. no. ix., Diary and Account Book of Edzvard Alleyn, Dulwich College. 
 See also Warner's Catalogue of the MS. and Muniments of Dulwich. College, 
 p. 181-2. Alleyn gives the bill of fare at this foundation dinner, as follows 
 
 " Two messe of meat , ,, 
 
 Capons in white broth 2nd Coursf ' 
 
 Boyld pigions 
 
 Forc't boyld meat 
 
 Could rost 
 
 Gran salade 
 
 A chine of beef 
 
 Rost shoulder of mutton with 
 
 oysters 
 Bak'd venson 
 Rost neates tongues 
 A florintyne 
 Rost capons 
 Rost ducks, Rost eeles 
 Westfalyan bacon 
 Custards." 
 
 " Jellies 
 Rost godwits 
 Arty choke pye 
 Rost partridge 
 Wett leche 
 Rost quayles 
 Codlyng tart 
 House pigions 
 Amber leche 
 Rost rabbit 
 Dry neates tongues 
 Pickle oysters 
 Anchovies."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 303 
 
 Cecil's presence at the public opening of Dulwich College 
 (Alleyn's College of God's gift) was probably due to his 
 being one of the Deputy-Lieutenants for Surrey. His 
 signature is to be seen on the Deed of Foundation, with 
 those of the above named persons. 
 
 In the early days of August, 1619, the needle of the 
 political compass kept steadily pointing to Frankfort on 
 the Main. And it was there that, on August 20, the 
 Archduke Ferdinand, styling himself King of Bohemia, 
 was elected Emperor of Germany by the electoral vote. 
 This extraordinary man had once again swept aside the 
 obstacles cast in his path by the Protestant Princes. How 
 he did this is not for us to relate now, suffice it to say his 
 iron will carried him safely to the goal, on which he had 
 set his heart from the days of his youth upward. We are 
 told that Ferdinand II. had hardly been proclaimed 
 Emperor before news reached Frankfort of his having been 
 declared in the Bohemian Diet, three days before, to be an 
 enemy to their religion and liberties, and to have forfeited 
 all claim to their kingdom. This news arrived too late to 
 influence the election, but it was a trumpet call to the 
 Protestant Princes to awaken from their apparent lethargy 
 and make a final effort against the persecutor of their 
 religion. 
 
 We must again return to Prague, and follow the course 
 of events consequent on the deposition of Ferdinand by 
 the Bohemian Diet. 
 
 The Crown of Bohemia being elective, and Ferdinand 
 being declared to have forfeited all claims to the throne, 
 the Bohemians fixed on August 26 for the election of 
 a new monarch. They had already made choice of four 
 candidates to select from, viz. : the King of Denmark, the 
 Duke of Savoy, the Elector of Saxony, and the Elector 
 Palatine. Of these four princes the last named was the
 
 304 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 favourite Frederick V. Elector Palatine, head of the 
 German Evangelical Union, and a strong Calvinist. 
 Previous to the eventful day of election, Baron Dohua 
 envoy from the Elector Palatine to the States of 
 Bohemia, produced a strong feeling in favour of his master 
 among the electors, by his diplomacy in vaunting 
 Frederick's character and his fitness for the crown, at the 
 same time that he decried the character of the Duke of 
 Saxony and the other candidates. 1 Frederick also had a 
 strong partisan in the person of Rappowa, Deputy for 
 Lusatia, who, being a Calvinist, was very anxious that the 
 new monarch should belong to that form of religion which 
 was in the minority among the Bohemians, most of whom 
 were Lutherans. 2 As nephew by blood to Maurice of 
 Nassau, head of the Protestant party in the United 
 Provinces, and nearly related to the powerful Maximilian* 
 Duke of Bavaria, the Elector Palatine, if elected king, 
 would have the support of these two powerful and rival 
 champions, as well as that of his father-in-law James of 
 England. At least so thought the Bohemian electors, and 
 carefully weighing these and other considerations in favour 
 of Frederick, they chose him for their sovereign. 
 
 The apparent consternation, and evident indecision, with 
 which the young Elector Palatine received the news of his 
 election to the throne of Bohemia, must always lead us to 
 think that he had not sought for, or expected, this honour. 
 As head of the German Protestants, Frederick had taken 
 an active part in opposing Ferdinand's election to the 
 empire, 3 but when all opposition proved fruitless, the 
 
 1 E. de Mansfeidt, p. 198. 
 
 1 Ibid. 
 
 * The German Protestant princes, thinking that Ferdinand was going to 
 make the whole Germanic body hereditary in his own family, had offered the 
 Imperial Crown to the Duke of Bavaria, and afterwards to the Duke of 
 Savoy, who both declined it, and the remaining claimant, Archduke Albert
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 305 
 
 Elector Palatine, in common with other electors, acknow- 
 ledged Ferdinand without hesitation. 1 Writing to his 
 wife only a week before the Imperial election at Frankfort, 
 Frederick says : " I have heard nothing from Bohemia this 
 week, but there is a likelihood that instead of Ferdinand 
 acquiring a Crown at Frankfort he may very likely lose 
 two ... he is a very happy prince, for he has the happi- 
 ness of being hated by everyone." 2 It is very certain that 
 many of Frederick's advisers were anxious to hoist him on 
 to the Bohemian throne, never stopping to consider what 
 difficulty they would have in keeping him there. Maurice of 
 Nassau and the Duke of Bouillon, Frederick's two uncles 
 the heads and wire-pullers (to use a modern political term) 
 of the Protestant cause in Holland and France are said 
 to have been the first movers in the plan for raising 
 Frederick to the Bohemian throne. 3 It is impossible not 
 to feel sympathy for the youthful Elector Palatine in his 
 state of miserable uncertainty as to how he ought to act 
 in this crisis of his life. He asked advice all round, and, in 
 common with everyone who does that, he got the most 
 conflicting counsels. His old preceptor Bouillon was 
 for his accepting the Crown at once. 4 Louise Juliane, 
 Dowager Electress Palatine, daughter of William the 
 Silent, and mother of Frederick V., pointed out to him with 
 prophetic wisdom the terrible dangers and difficulties that 
 would beset his path if he left his substance to grasp at a 
 shadow. The deep love of a mother gave this wise and 
 pious woman an almost miraculous second sight, as she 
 
 of Austria, resigned his claims in favour of Ferdinand. Schiller, pp. 77 
 and 84. 
 
 1 Ranke, p. 489. 
 
 * "d'Amberg, Aout 13, 1619." Given by Sir G. Bromley in his Collection 
 of Royal Letters, 
 
 3 Bunnett's Louise Juliane, Electress Palatine, and her Times, p. 142. 
 
 4 ffistoire (T Angleterre, <Srv., par M. de Larrey, iii. p. 738. 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 foretold, one by one, the dire events that would follow on 
 
 her son's accepting the Bohemian crown. 1 On the other 
 
 hand, Maurice of Nassau, who had long planned the 
 
 scheme of ambition, could not understand Frederick's 
 
 hesitation in the matter, and saw nothing but glory to 
 
 Frederick and the cause of liberty, in the Bohemian crown. 
 
 It is related that Maurice was so angry at his sister 
 
 Juliane's anticipations of evil, that he asked her hastily 
 
 if there was any green baize to be had in Heidelberg. 
 
 " Certainly," she replied, little conscious of his meaning. 
 
 " What do you want it for ? " " To make a fool's cap for him 
 
 who might be a king, and will not," was the sarcastic reply. 2 
 
 The Bohemian electors were naturally impatient for an 
 
 answer from Frederick, and Baron Dohna was despatched 
 
 to Heidelberg. This active diplomatist warned Frederick 
 
 that the Bohemians already murmured at the delay, and 
 
 spoke of offering the crown to Bethlem Gabor. 3 The 
 
 undecided Elector had taken the opinion of his cousin 
 
 Maximilian of Bavaria, the Duke of Saxony, and other 
 
 German princes, as to what line of conduct he should 
 
 pursue, and had he been older and wiser, he would have 
 
 clearly perceived that the coldness of Maximilian, and the 
 
 scarcely veiled jealousy of John George, boded him no 
 
 good if he ever had to seek help from them in the future. 
 
 Baron Christopher Dohna 4 had been sent to England by 
 
 Frederick, to sound King James on the Bohemian question. 
 
 The Elector delayed accepting or refusing the Bohemian 
 
 crown, until he heard what his royal father-in-law advised 
 
 in the matter. But it was not James's policy to give a 
 
 direct opinion one way or the other. Declaring that he 
 
 1 Mtmoires de Louise Juliane, Electrice Palatine, par F. Spanheim, p. 142. 
 
 2 Bunnett, as before, pp. 151-2. 
 
 3 E, de Mansfeldt, i. p. 209. 
 
 4 Brother to Baron Achatius Dohna.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 307 
 
 must have more information regarding the validity of the 
 deposition of Ferdinand by the Bohemian Diet, and their 
 right to elect a new king, James put off giving his consent, 
 or declaring himself for or against his son-in-law's accept- 
 ance of the crown offered him. 1 The English people were 
 unanimous in favour of Frederick being King of Bohemia, 
 and would have gone through fire and water to support 
 him. 2 The Privy Council also were anxious to recognise 
 Frederick as King of Bohemia ; but their King's coldness 
 in the matter prevented any decisive action on their part. 3 
 Christopher Dohna, taking his cue from the almost 
 universal state of feeling in England concerning his 
 master's affairs, sent letters to Frederick informing him 
 that he believed James would not object when once he 
 (Frederick) had the crown of Bohemia on his head.* 
 
 Schiller tells us that Frederick was greatly influenced by 
 his young wife ; and that in his state of indecision, she said, 
 " dry bread at a royal table would be more to her taste than 
 the most sumptuous banquets he could offer her in his elec- 
 toral dwelling." 5 There seems no foundation for this story, 
 which is one of the many speeches put into the mouths 
 of celebrities, that they never uttered, or even imagined. 
 Elizabeth was far too devoted a wife to have let mere 
 ambition incite her to counsel her husband to adopt a 
 
 1 Von Ranke's History of England, ii. pp. 489-490. E. de Mansfeldt, i. 
 p. 210. 
 
 2 " And it is a great heart's grief to many, 'wrote to 
 
 on Sept 16, " that so glorious and brave an occasion should be no better 
 entertained by us, and this noble prince no better seconded in his generous 
 proceeding." Court and Times of James /., ii. p. 189. 
 
 3 " The zeal of the Council will prevail against those who are too much 
 nourished with Spanish milk," wrote the Earl of Pembroke to Carleton on 
 Sept. 24. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * E. de Mansfeldt, i. p. 210. Ranke, i. p. 492. 
 
 * Schiller, p. 87. Soeltl, in his Religions Krieg (i. p. 153), says this speech 
 was invented by Frederick's enemies. 
 
 X 2
 
 308 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 course productive of so much danger to them both, and, as 
 she knew, there was but one life, and that not a strong one, 
 between her and the heirdom to the British crown. It is 
 quite certain that Frederick took his young wife into his 
 counsels, and asked her advice in his dilemma. How 
 could he have done otherwise when he asked the advice 
 of every one else connected with him by blood or friend- 
 ship ? Who was there always excepting his mother 
 who had his interests more at heart ? As a politician 
 Elizabeth of course was a mere child; both she and 
 her husband were of that age which looks at all difficult 
 questions with rose-coloured spectacles, and hopefulness of a 
 happy issue to the most doubtful speculations. There are 
 few men in the prime of life, if indeed any, who can throw 
 away the chances of present power because the future is 
 veiled to them. And a girl of twenty-one was not likely 
 to think of consequences. By all trustworthy accounts, 
 Elizabeth tried only to debate the weighty matter, not 
 from a worldly, but from a religious view. " Eliza- 
 beth persuaded herself that the interest she took in 
 Bohemia was purely for the sake of religion," l says a 
 talented biographer of this princess. She accordingly told 
 her husband that if God had made choice of him as an 
 instrument to uphold the Protestant cause in Bohemia, it 
 was his duty to accept the crown. 2 Several writers have 
 interpreted Elizabeth's religious view of the situation as 
 merely put on to work on Frederick's feelings. 
 
 "We must not regard as hypocrisy the prominence 
 which the prince and the princess alike gave to religious 
 considerations," says Ranke ; " such was the fashion of 
 the times generally, and especially of the party to which 
 they belonged." 3 
 
 1 Benger's Life, i. p. 280. * Ibid. * Ranke, i. p. 492.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 309 
 
 The time had now arrived when Frederick's decisive 
 answer must be sent to the States of Bohemia, and he 
 made up his mind if a weak character can ever be said to 
 do so to accept the Bohemian crown. Historians seem 
 very divided in their opinion as to whether Frederick 
 accepted the crown before he heard from his envoy in 
 England what King James advised in the matter. Ranke 
 assures us, that though Frederick was inclined to accept 
 the crown, " he had not yet uttered the final words when 
 Dohna's report came in." l On the other hand we find Sir 
 Edward Harwood writing to Carleton on Sept. 14 (old 
 style), to the effect that Baron Dohna had told James that 
 his master awaited his (the King's) advice about accepting 
 the crown, and that the decision must be speedy ; but 
 before the council assembled to consider the matter, news 
 came that Frederick had accepted it. 2 Knowing as we do 
 James's after policy in the Bohemian question, it is easy to 
 conceive that he would not commit himself to giving any 
 direct answer, and it was not possible for Frederick to keep 
 a whole kingdom waiting for an answer any longer. 
 
 Early in October, Frederick and his fair young wife 
 departed for Prague, where they were crowned on October 
 25 (November 4), amidst the acclamations of an impul- 
 sive people, with all the magnificent display and unusual 
 ceremonies of a semi-barbaric and wholly simple nation. 
 The youthful Frederick must have forgotten on that one 
 day of universal homage and dazzling pageants, of which 
 he and Elizabeth were the centre of attraction, his 
 mother's wailing cry as he left Heidelberg on that bright 
 
 1 Ranke, quoting from secret report in Moser, vii. p. 51. 
 
 2 Harwood to Carleton, Sept. 14, S. P. Dom. " However I may decide, 
 there is no peace for me or my country," the unfortunate Elector is said to 
 have exclaimed in his miserable indecision. See also Howell's Letter^ 
 PP. 72-3-
 
 3IO LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 October morning for his new kingdom : " Alas ! the 
 Palatinate is lost in Bohemia ! " 1 
 
 Early in the year 1619, James had renewed his treaty 
 with the Princes of the German Union on the same terms 
 as before. The treaty of 1612, being only for six years, 
 had expired. This treaty gave great hopes to the Protes- 
 tant Princes that if there was to be a war between them 
 and the Roman Catholic League, they would be able to 
 count on the alliance of the King of Great Britain. But in 
 this they were as much mistaken as the Bohemian deputies 
 had been, when they thought that in placing Frederick on 
 their throne they had entrapped James into espousing their 
 cause. The Bohemians showed their hand at a very early 
 stage of the game, by writing to Elizabeth, and begging her 
 to use her influence with her father in procuring for them 
 his alliance and succours, either in the shape of money or 
 troops. 2 
 
 A man of Ferdinand's calibre was not likely to acquiesce 
 in his deposition by the Bohemian Diet, or allow a Pro- 
 testant usurper to occupy the Bohemian throne. Having 
 once attained the Imperial Crown, he had time to direct 
 his attention to the growing state of anarchy in his Austrian 
 dominions, which threatened to rob him of some of his 
 fairest possessions. Bethlem Gabor, Prince of Transylvania, 
 having espoused the Bohemian cause, invaded Hungary in 
 
 1 "Ach ! nun geht die Pfalz in Bohmen !" Soeltl Der Religions Krieg, 
 i. p. 157. 
 
 8 " Et parce que vostre Ma w nous peut par son Intercession obtenir de 
 Mons** son pere le Roy de la Grande Bretagne beaucoup de Grace et de 
 faveurs, nous supplions pareillement vostre Ma fe qu'il luy plaise, pour 1'ad- 
 vancement du bien et conservation de la Religion Evangelique, tenir la bonne 
 main envers mon diet Seig* son pere, a ce qu'il plaise a sa Ma te nous tendre la 
 main, et son assistance, soit pour Argent ou par gens de guerre, or en ce 
 faisant conjoinctement avec mon diet Seigneur son Ma a soigner benignement 
 pour ce Royaume." Extract from a letter to Elizabeth from the Bohemian 
 Deputies, dated Sept. 7, 1619. S. P. Germany.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 311 
 
 August, at the head of 60,000 men. By the middle of 
 October, Gabor had reached Presburg, which capitulated 
 after a short resistance, and the modern Mithridates lost 
 no time in laying his hands on the historic crown of 
 St. Stephen, 1 which he valued as much for its intrinsic 
 value as its other sacred properties. 2 The Hungarian 
 nobility, either from choice or necessity, flocked to Presburg 
 to pay homage to the conqueror. Troops from the revolted 
 provinces of Moravia and Lower Austria joined Bethlem's 
 standard, and the Bohemian army, under the Count of 
 Thurn, marched to Presburg to co-operate with Gabor in 
 his coming campaign against Ferdinand. Having secured 
 the neutrality of the Turks, 3 and made a treaty of alliance 
 
 1 Ernest de Mansfeldt, p. 252. 
 
 * Bethlem Gabor, whose real name was Gabriel Bethlem, was born of a 
 noble Transylvanian family. He had revolted in 1612 against his sovereign, 
 Gabriel Bathory, whom he caused to be assassinated, and with the assistance 
 of the Turks made himself master of the kingdom. Villermont describes him 
 as a most ambitious and unscrupulous character, whose only aim in life was to 
 aggrandise himself. " For that end all means seemed good to him. Lying 
 was so familiar, falseness so habitual, that no one dared trust to his words, 
 and his contemporaries surnamed him the new Mithridates. ... A slave to 
 his own interests, he deceived his friends with as few scruples as he did his 
 enemies. He was a perfect master in the art of intrigue, cajoling in turn 
 Christians and Turks, according to the advantages of the moment." E. de 
 Mansfeldt, p. 229. " His first wife Carola, tho' well descended," says Harte, 
 " proved the best economist then in Europe, for she was his head cook, and 
 kept the key of his Tokay ; inasmuch as he had negotiated himself with the 
 House of Austria into the possession of that vintage. On Carola's decease he 
 married in his advanced age a young, beautiful princess, sister to the Queen 
 of Gustavus (Adolphus), to whom he assigned three signories on his decease, 
 as likewise 100,000 ducats, as many rix dollars, and as many florins ; which 
 made in all 77,ooo pounds sterling. He died in the 59th year of his age, 
 having passed the whole time of his existence in one continued storm of his 
 own making." Harte's Gustavus Adolf hits, i, p. 171. 
 
 3 The following extract from the treaty made by " Sultan Solyman, 
 Emperor of Turkey, acknowledging Bethlem Gabor as King of Hungary, and 
 promising never to forsake him in his hour of need, and to protect and 
 further his designs whatsoever they shall be," is somewhat curious and novel : 
 
 " If I forfeit this pledge let the wrath of God alight on my head ; let me 
 be utterly destroyed and blotted out ; let the Eternal transmute this body to
 
 312 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 with Frederick, the wily Transylvanian prince set out for 
 Vienna on November 24, at the head of a powerful army, 
 which included Count Thurn's Bohemian army-corps. The 
 time seemed admirably chosen for an invasion of Austria. 
 The Imperialist general, Dampierre, had sustained a serious 
 defeat a few weeks previously at the hands of Thurn. 
 Bucquoy had been obliged to seek safety under the walls 
 of Vienna, where a more formidable general than Thurn 
 awaited him. This was the plague, which had caused a 
 general stampede of the citizens and inhabitants all 
 round the capital of Austria. Leopold, the Archduke- 
 Bishop, who had been left Regent in Ferdinand's enforced 
 absence, had his hands so full in issuing precautionary 
 proclamations against the spread of the epidemic, and in 
 checking the licentiousness of Bucquoy's brutalised soldiery 
 that he was ill prepared to undergo a siege; but such an 
 old campaigner as he was is seldom taken unawares, and 
 though short of men, he had the advantage of Wallenstein's 
 presence and counsel, who alone was worth a thousand 
 soldiers. 1 It also appears that Ferdinand had just returned 
 to his plague-stricken capital, 2 and his master mind was 
 equal to any contingency. For three days Bethlem Gabor 
 beleaguered Vienna, and on the fourth, having received 
 intelligence of the defeat of his lieutenants in Hungary by 
 a royalist noble, assisted by the Poles, he suddenly raised 
 the siege and departed. 3 The famine and pestilence which 
 reigned in Austria, also obliged the Bohemian army to depart 
 
 stone ; let the earth open wide its jaws to swallow me up from sight, so as 
 that there shall be neither vestige nor record of me or my armies among the 
 sons of men. From our Imperial Court at Constantinople, November, 1619." 
 Benger, i. p. 366 Ap. 
 
 1 Wallenstein needs no biographical notice. His name is a history in 
 itself. Suffice it to say that he distinguished himself during this short siege 
 in repelling the attacks of the assailants. Naylor, i. p. 113. 
 
 2 E. de Mansfeldt, i. p. 255. 
 
 3 Ibid. p. 256.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 313 
 
 with their allies, and their pride being wounded at having a 
 second time to turn their backs on Vienna, they vented 
 their ill-humour and ill-success on their allies. Sanguinary 
 encounters took place between Bohemian and Hungarian 
 soldiers on their line of march, and the two armies were 
 compelled to separate the one from the other. 1 Thus 
 again did Ferdinand's fortunate star appear when all 
 seemed gloomy and dark. Taking advantage of Bethlem's 
 disorganised army, he made a truce with him, which gave 
 Ferdinand time to take fresh steps against his enemies. A 
 treaty was speedily concluded with the three German 
 ecclesiastical electors, 2 by which they engaged to support 
 the Emperor. Maximilian of Bavaria also declared for 
 Ferdinand, the Pope sent him money, and the King of 
 Spain ordered his forces at Naples and in the Milanese to 
 march to the Emperor's assistance. 3 While the Princes of 
 the League were arming to uphold the Imperialist cause, 
 Ferdinand had, by adroit negotiations, decided the King of 
 Denmark to remain neutral, and he had drawn Sweden 
 into a war against Poland. Holland needed all her forces 
 to resist Spain ; Venice and Savoy remained neutral, and 
 James of England became the plaything of Spanish 
 perfidy. 4 The Princes of the Union who supported 
 Frederick, seeing what a head was being made against 
 their party, also flew to arms. Each side now tried to 
 engage the Duke of Saxony for their cause. While John 
 George remains undecided as to what line of action to 
 pursue, we must mark the course which James of England, 
 the so-called champion of Protestantism, the father of the 
 
 1 See extract from letter of Ferdinand to Maximilian, dated Dec. 5, 1619, 
 quoted in Mansfeldt's Life, i. p. 256, note. 
 1 The Archbishops of Meintz, Triers, and Cologne. 
 
 3 Rapin's History of England, ii. p. 199. 
 
 4 Schiller, p. 93.
 
 314 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Queen of Bohemia, and the ally of the Princes of the Union, 
 thought fit to pursue. 
 
 The policy which James pursued on and after the 
 acceptance of the crown of Bohemia by his son-in-law, has 
 been almost universally condemned. But in this, the latter 
 part of the nineteenth century, a change seems to have come 
 over the face of history. Characters that we have been led 
 to despise, policies that we have been taught to condemn 
 by historians we read and believe in, are put before us now 
 in an entirely new light Authors adopting the same views 
 of certain historical characters that historians have adopted 
 for centuries, are held guilty of " old, partial, prejudiced 
 views," and if they repeat even in a modified form, and free 
 from all Whig or Tory bias, their own opinions on these 
 historical characters, which coincide with the views of ninety- 
 nine out of every hundred writers on the subject, they are 
 declared guilty by the remaining unit of " commonplace 
 repetition" of prejudiced statements. 1 In these days of 
 universal authorship, history, like every other subject, is 
 worn to rags. A work throwing no new light on the 
 subject it treats of, is a useless and ephemeral contribution 
 to literature. And by the same token a work that strikes 
 out an entirely new line of argument attracts attention. 
 But it by no means follows that the latter gives the truest 
 picture of the persons and things it treats of. It is one of 
 the transparent fallacies of this century, that we think we 
 can improve on everything that has gone before, that we can 
 read characters, construe motives, and account for actions, 
 much better than the contemporary writers who were 
 acquainted with the persons of whom they wrote, or those 
 writers who lived soon after those persons had passed away. 
 
 1 See article in Quarterly Review (Vol. cxxxix.) for July, 1875, on the reign 
 of James I.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 315 
 
 The writer of the present day, in commenting on past events, 
 has the great and inestimable advantage of not being much 
 influenced by the politics of that time, which doubtless 
 swayed the contemporary writer, and helped to colour the 
 picture he drew for future generations. No writer can be 
 quite free from Whig or Tory principles. Even supposing 
 a modern historian to be the largest-minded, most impartial 
 and unprejudiced writer ever known, who steers clear of all 
 books, and founds his work on the letters and documents 
 in plain black and white, left by the persons of whom he 
 writes, it must still be borne in mind that the very writers 
 of these letters and state papers are by no means always 
 more impartial, more truthful, or more free from all party 
 spirit and political bias than the contemporary historian 
 who has left us his views in print. It is for this reason that 
 we have, as it were, to read between the lines in studying 
 history, and we, who see the after bad effects of some 
 impolitic measure, should not be too hard on the original 
 cause of it, as could he have seen the results of his policy 
 in the same way that we do, he would have taken a different 
 line of action from the first. When it was too late, James I. 
 saw how mistaken his policy in regard to the Palatinate 
 had been. We have it on the authority of an honest 
 though interested writer, that James confessed on his 
 death-bed how mistaken he had been in seeking for the 
 restitution of the Palatinate in Spain, and begged his son to 
 pursue a very different policy. 1 Whether this is true, or not, 
 it is very certain that James was partly answerable for the 
 loss of Frederick's hereditary dominions. Let it be granted 
 that James had from the very first advised Frederick not to 
 accept the Crown of Bohemia ; that he was the one man in 
 England who foresaw the miseries that would ensue from this 
 
 Rusdorfs Vindic'uz Causa: Palatines.
 
 3l6 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 imprudent act ; that he was true to his principles of a peace- 
 maker, and an upholder of a sovereign's sacred rights ; that 
 he did his best to allay the storm by representations and 
 protestations at every Court in Europe ; that he employed 
 the most able diplomatists in these negotiations j 1 that he 
 was right for the sake of his subjects not to rush into a long 
 and expensive war ; that Great Britain was ill prepared for 
 war ; that it was a worldly-wise policy to be on friendly 
 terms with the strongest power. Let these and many other 
 kindred arguments in favour of James's policy be granted, it 
 must still be deemed a cowardly and despicable policy to 
 allow a man who had stepped into the breach at the most 
 critical moment of the quarrel between Protestanism and 
 Roman Catholicism, and was the instrument, willing or 
 unwilling it matters not, of the party which James was 
 bound to uphold, to be robbed of his hereditary dominions, be 
 outlawed and proclaimed a traitor, without his nearest ally, 
 his wife's own father, showing a bold front to the enemy, 
 and making the first invasion of the Palatinate a casus belli. 
 It would be unreasonable to blame James for not supporting 
 Frederick on his tottering Bohemian throne, and for not 
 asking the citizens of London for a large loan to bolster up 
 a hopeless cause ; but when Frederick was compelled to 
 flee from Bohemia, leaving his crown behind him for good 
 and all, he ought to have found his hereditary dominions 
 which he had ostensibly quitted in the interests of the 
 Protestant cause secured to him by the Princes of the 
 Union and their allies. And it was chiefly owing to the 
 obstruction, and benign neutrality of James, whom the 
 Princes of the Union regarded as their most powerful 
 ally, and who, of all persons concerned, was bound to help 
 in preserving the Palatinate intact, if not for the sake of his 
 
 1 " We doubt whether any British sovereign was ever served by abler 
 diplomatists." Quarterly Review, as before, p. 13.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 317 
 
 children and grandchildren, at least for the sake of that 
 religion of which he considered himself a supporter, that 
 Spain dared to lay waste and sequestrate the Palatinate. 
 No one ever had so many warnings of what was coming, or 
 so many opportunities of averting the catastrophe, as James 
 had, yet he threw them all away, one after the other, and 
 contented himself with lowering the prestige of Great Britain 
 by the abject remonstrances made by his ambassadors 
 abroad, who must have often blushed for their master's lack 
 of manly spirit. 1 
 
 In February, 1620, the Princes of the Union sent an 
 ambassador to James asking for troops and succours to help 
 them in resisting the League, and in defending the Palati- 
 nate. Here was a grand opening for James, who, if con- 
 scientiously convinced that Ferdinand had been illegally 
 deposed by the Bohemians, might now have drawn his 
 sword in a really just cause in the defence of the Palatinate. 
 Unfortunately, he was not far-sighted enough to adopt this 
 policy. James informed the ambassador (Buwinckhausen) 
 that he was only bound to assist the princes, by the terms 
 of the late treaty, in a defensive war for religion, and as 
 they had not been attacked, he must decline to assist them. 2 
 With this " cold comfort," as Chamberlain calls it, the 
 princes' ambassador was sent back to Germany with a 
 present of silver plate which he was too high-spirited to 
 accept. 3 Spain was in great fear of an Anglo-Dutch force 
 being sent to defend the Palatinate, and co-operate with the 
 Union army, and there is every reason to believe that had 
 
 1 " Les Ambassadeurs desavouaient bassement a Vienna, a Madrid, a 
 Bruxelles, 1'entreprise de Frederick. Dans ces trois cours on amusait Jacques 
 de belles paroles : disons mieux on le jouait de la maniere du monde la plus 
 grossiere et la plus meprisante." Histoire du rtgne de Louis XIII., par 
 Le Vassor, iii. p. 625. 
 
 * Chamberlain to Carleton, Feb. 26. S. P. Dom. 
 
 3 Dr. S. R. Gardiner's History of England, 1603-1642, iii. p. 341.
 
 318 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 James shown a bold front on this occasion, and despatched 
 troops to Germany, the Palatinate would have been 
 saved. 1 
 
 There is no analogy between the usurpation of Bohemia 
 and the invasion of the Palatinate. The Bohemians had of 
 their own free-will deposed Ferdinand, elected Frederick 
 for their king, and invited him to their country. The 
 inhabitants of the Palatinate had not deposed Frederick, 
 or sent for the Spaniards to conquer their country, and 
 give it to Maximilian of Bavaria. Had not then the 
 Protestants of the Palatinate a right to the assistance of the 
 Princes of the Union, and those who were allied with them ? 
 
 The Union was in danger of dissolution from the schism 
 among its members. John George, Duke of Saxony, the 
 most powerful Protestant prince in Germany, declined to 
 join with the other Princes of the Union in their struggle 
 against the House of Austria. James, their trusted ally, 
 refused to support them. They were in great straits. 
 They made a final effort to induce James to declare for 
 them in the middle of May, but again met with a rude 
 repulse. 2 Were they so much to blame when, two months 
 later, Louis XIII. of France mediated a peace between the 
 Princes of the Union and the League, at the very moment 
 when hostilities were about to commence between the two 
 rival factions, they consented to an honourable peace, as 
 they considered it? This was the Treaty of Ulm, and 
 never was a treaty more foully broken by one of the parties 
 to it. The Princes of the League and Union engaged not 
 to make war one on the other in Germany. 3 Bohemia was 
 
 1 See extract from letter of Philip III. to the Archduke Albert (March J), 
 quoted in Dr. S. R. Gardiner's History of England, iii. p. 335. 
 
 2 R. Woodward to F. Windebank, May 22. S. P. Dom. 
 
 3 " The two armies which lay near Ulme (Catholic League and Union), 
 have turned tail the one to the other, one going to the Emperor's aid against
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 319 
 
 excepted, but the hereditary estates of Frederick were 
 included, in this convention. 1 Hardly was the ink of the 
 signatures to the treaty dry, than Philip III. sent secret 
 orders to Spinola, who for some time had been concentrating 
 his troops and making his preparations, to invade the 
 Palatinate. 2 
 
 By diplomatic scheming on the part of the League, 
 Archduke Albert had not been included in the treaty 
 signed at Ulm, and was therefore free to order Spinola to 
 invade Germany. Albert was a mere puppet in the hands 
 of the King of Spain, and, as was well known, Spinola 
 received his orders direct from Philip III., and not from 
 Archduke Albert. Philip had belonged to the League 
 since i6io, 3 so that in reality he had broken the Treaty 
 of Ulm, but by a miserable subterfuge, the prince who 
 had been excluded from the treaty was now put forward 
 as the real scene-shifter. Louis XIII. ought to have 
 resented as an insult the flagrant violation of the Treaty 
 of Ulm, 4 but his was not a nature to openly resent any 
 insult. 
 
 At the commencement of 1620, Baron Achatius Dohna 
 had been sent to London by Frederick, to obtain from 
 James recognition of his master's title as King of Bohemia, 
 and at the same time to raise a loan from the City of 
 London of 100,000, for carrying on the war in Bohemia. 
 Not only could Dohna get no open recognition from James 
 of his master's title, but he could not get him to ask the 
 City to contribute to the loan. 6 So cautious was James 
 
 the King of Bohemia, and the Union to defend the Palatinate against Spinola." 
 Carleton to Chamberlain,vjuly 20. S. P. Holland. 
 
 1 Spanheim, as before, p. 159. 
 
 2 Ibid. * Spanheim, p. 166. 4 Naylor, i. p. 136. 
 
 s The City of London said they would gladly contribute to the loan if 
 certain the King and Council would not blame them. Nethersole to Carleton, 
 March 21. S. P. Darn.
 
 32O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 and fearful of giving offence to the House of Austria by 
 appearing to support Frederick, that he went so far as 
 to forbid the clergy to pray for Frederick as King of 
 Bohemia. 1 
 
 For some months now there had been a strong war 
 party in England, which included most of the nobility, 
 military, and clergy. Frederick had hardly accepted the 
 crown of Bohemia before James was inundated with 
 applications for command of the troops to be sent to 
 Bohemia. 2 But James had no intention of sending any. 
 It was not until the spring of 1620, that Colonel Andrew 
 Gray, a Scotch officer in Frederick's service, obtained a 
 tardy consent to raise a regiment for his master's service. 3 
 This regiment was to be partly raised in Scotland, and 
 partly in London, James being in no way answerable for 
 their pay. Later on, when Spinola's preparations for war 
 became more and more patent to everyone, excepting 
 James, who was blinded by the dust thrown in his eyes by 
 Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador, Dohna and the war 
 party in England prevailed on James to allow a regiment 
 to be raised and sent to the Palatinate for its defence. 4 
 Dohna hoped to have been able to send a body of 4,000 
 British soldiers to the Palatinate to co-operate with the 
 Union army, under the command of the Margrave of 
 Anspach, but owing to James's do-nothing policy, the 
 hoped-for loan of ^100,000 from the City had fallen 
 through, and private subscriptions came in but slowly, so 
 
 1 His Majesty rebuked Bishop Bayly for praying for the King of Bohemia. 
 Nethersole to Carleton, January 8. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * Sir H. Vere to Carleton, October 2.S. P. Dom. 
 
 * Chamberlain to Carleton, March n. S, P. Dom. 
 
 * " It hath pleased his Majesty to consent to the raisinge of 4000 foote under 
 command of General Vere for the defence of the Palatinate." Sir Thomas Roe 
 to Elizabeth, June ^ 7 . S. P. Germany. Edward Lisle to Zouch, June II. 
 S. P. Dom. Vere to Carleton, June 14. S. P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 32! 
 
 that little over half the number of men intended had been 
 raised by the end of July, 1620. 
 
 If the Palatinate was to be saved from invasion and 
 confiscation now was the time. Spinola, with 20,000 men, 
 was preparing to march to the Rhine, giving out that he 
 was going to Bohemia, but everyone knew his course would 
 be changed directly he crossed the German frontier. 
 Maximilian of Bavaria was on his way to Upper Austria, 
 at the head of a large force. John George had been won 
 over to the Imperial cause by being offered Upper Lusatia, 
 by Ferdinand, on condition that he conquered it, and he 
 could not withstand the temptation of acquiring a country 
 so near his own kingdom. 1 Such was the ominous state of 
 foreign affairs at the close of July, 1620, and still James 
 believed in Spain and in Spanish honour. Why he 
 trusted to such a broken reed will be made fully apparent 
 hereafter. 
 
 It seems that James had held out hopes to Sir Edward 
 Cecil that in the event of troops being sent to the Palatinate, 
 that he (Cecil) should have the command of them. 2 The 
 
 1 John George had long meditated defection, and he had never forgiven 
 Frederick for having been the successful candidate for the Bohemian crown. 
 The following extract from a letter of Sir Francis Nethersole's (who had been 
 sent to Dresden to sound the Elector and report thereon) to Secretary Calvert, 
 showed pretty clearly what side John George was likely to choose : " But 
 being now at last I thanke God gotten safe out that Duke his dominions, and 
 finding in the first town of Bohemia on the Elve (sic) an unsuspected cover 
 for my letter to pass Dresden, I will rather give y r Hon. a blinde accompt in 
 time than a more perfect to late . . . And now concerning the Duke his 
 desseign ... he holds some towns from the crown of Bohemia . . . and 
 must before a year is over do homage for them ... is not likely to pay 
 homage to present King as it would be equivalent to recognising his election 
 ... he receives into his country all refugees from Bohemia . . . admits 
 them to his Court and even to his Councils, &c." " From Teitshen [Tetschen] 
 in the frontiere of Bohemia, this 3Oth of July, st vet." S. P. Germany, 
 
 * Cecil to Buckingham, June 25 (?) S. P. Holland. " And it was once 
 resolved that Generall Cecill should be generall of them, but that is now 
 altered for Sir Horatio Vere is generall." Young to Zouch, June 14, 
 1620. S. P. Dom. 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 322 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Marquis of Buckingham had also promised Cecil his all 
 powerful support in this matter. 1 But the choice of a 
 commander was no longer in the hands of the King. 2 It 
 rested alone with the King of Bohemia, and Baron Dohna, 
 acting for his master, naturally made choice of the most 
 experienced English officer he knew. This was Sir Horace 
 Vere, commander of the English forces in the service of 
 the United Provinces, and Cecil's senior officer. Dohna 
 had been greatly importuned by many persons of high 
 rank for the coveted command. Sir Thomas Roe, writing 
 to the Queen of Bohemia from London at this time says : 
 " I desier y r Ma tle should knowe the generall affection for y r 
 service hath even in this begotten great emulation ; for 
 there was almost none worthy of any hope but hath declared 
 and stoode up for himselfe, the Earl of Southampton 
 first, S r Ed. Cecill, and some others." 3 Sir Horace Vere's 
 retiring disposition, and modest opinion of himself, made 
 him refrain from applying for a command which he was 
 so eminently fitted for, as Baron Dohna was quite well 
 aware of. 4 
 
 If, as we are led to suppose, Edward Cecil had been 
 promised the command of troops which ought to have 
 been sent in the name and in the pay of the King of Great 
 Britain, but were in reality raised and supported by private 
 contributions, it was not unnatural that a man of his 
 ambitious and war-loving disposition should feel hurt at 
 being passed over. That he was deeply mortified is 
 certain. " S r Ed. Cecyl hath receaved a terrible digrace," 
 wrote R. Woodward to Fras. Windebank, " whoe a great 
 while made full account to goe. And whether the K. 
 
 1 Dr. S. R. Gardiner's History of England, iii. p. 358. 
 
 z Ibid. 
 
 3 Roe to Elizabeth, June 7. S. P. Germany. 
 
 4 R. Woodward to F. Windebank, July i (?). -S. P. Dom.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 323 
 
 and my L. of Buck, intertaynd him with promises of going, 
 I know not ; but surely he made great promises to himselfe 
 and his frends." * It is hinted by an able modern historian 
 that Cecil had in some way or other offended the Queen of 
 Bohemia hence Dohna's reasons for passing him over. 2 
 Baron Dohna's own words to Cecil, given in his statement 
 of what passed between Cecil and himself, negative the 
 idea that Cecil had given offence to Elizabeth. 3 But then, 
 ambassadors, according to the description given of them by 
 one of themselves, do not always tell the truth : " An 
 ambassador is a good man sent to tell lies for the sake of 
 his country." * 
 
 As the unfortunate quarrel between Baron Dohna and 
 Sir Edward Cecil has been fully detailed by the historian 
 above referred to, and a jumbled account of it has even 
 found its way into a French biography, 5 it cannot be 
 omitted here, however unpleasant it may be to discuss an 
 affair in which Cecil cut a bad figure. The best method 
 of arriving at a truthful solution of what passed between 
 Dohna and Cecil, is to give an account of the affair in the 
 words of both plaintiff and defendant, and leave the reader 
 to form his own judgment thereon. 
 
 1 Woodward to Windebank, July I. S. P. Dom. 
 
 2 Dr. Gardiner's History of England, Hi. p. 358. It appears that there was 
 some misunderstanding between Elizabeth and Sir Edward Sackville, who 
 was to have been employed in her service : " Here hath been some difference 
 about Sir Ed. Sackville's attendance on y r Ma tle and some distaste, I will 
 not meddle with the relation, only I assuer y r May his own affection, and his 
 brothers are the same to y r service however the conclusion wil be, and the 
 Baron Dona is excuseable for he is driven to many straights by importunitye 
 for privat ends, and it is impossible to content all." Roe to Elizabeth, 
 June 30. S. P. Germany. 
 
 3 See Dohna's account of his conversation with Cecil, given in this chapter. 
 
 4 Sir Henry Wotton, ah ambassador of many years' experience, made this 
 epigram, which so displeased James I. that Wotton was for some time in dire 
 disgrace and lost his chance of being appointed Chief Secretary. Chamberlain 
 to Carleton, November 4, 1612. 5". P. Dom. 
 
 * E. lie. Mansfeldt, p. 238. 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 " BARON DOHNA'S ACCOUNT OF WHAT PASSED BETWEEN HIM 
 AND GENERAL CECIL : l 
 
 " The Bohemian Ambassador, going from Greenwich to West- 
 minster on Saturday 24 June, passed General Cecil's house 2 at 7 
 in the evening. Seeing the door open he sent his servant to see if 
 General Cecil was at home, and finding he was then at supper, the 
 Ambassador passed on, leaving a message to say that having heard 
 General Cecil was going into Holland, he desired to kiss his 
 hand, and if convenient would do it next day on his way to 
 church. Cecil's answer was that it would not be inconvenient, 
 provided it was before 9 o'clock, because he also desired to go 
 to church. The Ambassador came before 9 o'clock, and was 
 received at the head of the staircase, and conducted to the gallery. 
 Cecil said he had not expected to see the Ambassador there. 
 The Ambassador replied that it was his duty to come, as he had heard 
 General Cecil was on the eve of departure. They talked together 
 about the affairs of the States and Spinola, and then General 
 Cecil began to complain loudly and accuse the Ambassador of 
 having been the cause of the ill-treatment he pretented he had 
 received in these occurrences, and said he did not know how 
 he had deserved such treatment from the King and Queen of 
 Bohemia, and the Prince of Anhalt. He said he would complain 
 to their Majesties, and would ask if it had been their wish that 
 things should be managed in this fashion. The Ambassador 
 replied he had always comported himself as a faithful servant of 
 his Majesty's, and humbly and gently begged General Cecil not to 
 take that to heart, assuring him their Majesties of Bohemia were 
 always very affectionately inclined towards him, and that it was 
 in no way to his dishonour his not having obtained the command 
 which he had desired ; 3 that there were always many applicants 
 for the same one appointment, and only one could get it, but it 
 was no prejudice to the honour and reputation of the unsuccessful 
 
 1 This account is translated from Baron Dohna's statement, which is in 
 French. July (?), 1620. S. P. Holland. 
 
 * Cecil House, in the Strand. 
 
 s " Se pouvant assurer que leurs M.M tes de Boheme luy estoient toujours 
 tres affectionnes et que ce n'estoit aucunement a son deshonneur de n'avoir 
 peu obtenir la charge qu'il auroit desire." Dohna's report. S. P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 325 
 
 ones. The Ambassador went on to say, he did not think Cecil 
 would have accepted such a small command. Cecil replied that 
 he might not, 1 but would the Ambassador have acted differently 
 if he had known the contrary ? He then went on to say that he 
 knew the respect due to Ambassadors, but that Baron Dohna 
 would not always be an Ambassador. On which Dohna said, 
 his ambition had never led him to expect that. 
 
 " Cecil ' If I ever meet you in another place or in another rank, 
 I shall speak to you in a different manner.' 
 
 " Dohna ' Alas ! Sir, what do these threats mean? ' 
 
 " Cecil ' What threats ? I have only too much right on my side 
 for what I say, and I tell you again, If I ever meet you in another 
 rank, &c. (repeating the same words as before).' 
 
 " Dohna ' If you ever meet me or speak to me in another 
 manner you shall find a man ready to respond to you. Otherwise 
 I am your friend and servant always.' 
 
 "Cecil descended the staircase with the Ambassador, who 
 begged him not to trouble himself, but Cecil said he did it for 
 the Ambassador's rank. At the foot of the staircase he bowed 
 to the baron, who returned the bow ; then Cecil mounted the stairs 
 again, the Ambassador got into his coach, and drove off to church." 
 
 "SiR EDWARD CECIL'S ACCOUNT OF THE SPEECH THAT PASSED 
 BETWEEN THE BOHEMIAN EMBASSADOUR AND HIM; THE 
 EMBASSADOUR COMING TO VISITTE HIM AT HIS HOUSE THE 
 25TH JUNE, 1620: 2 
 
 " The Embassadour told me that hearing I was to goe out of 
 England, hee came to wish mee a good journey. I answered 
 that I did much wonder to see him take the paines to come to 
 
 1 If Cecil ever said this it must have been from wounded vanity, as he had 
 long been a suitor for the command. 
 
 * S. P. Holland. The MS. is in a clerk's handwriting. See also copy of 
 letter from Cecil to Buckingham in same handwriting, dated June 28 
 (old style ?), in which he says : " I have received from his Ma u Ambassadour 
 [at the Hague] here that the Baron of Dona hath so incensed his Ma against 
 me, as I am required to ask pardon for the fault which he pretends I have 
 committed against him ... I have seen a relation of it written by himselfe 
 wherein he hath either mistaken or putt my wordes into another form for his 
 advantage. For in much of it there is a great deal of aggravation used, taking 
 [out] and leaving and adding as it might best serve for his own construction." 
 S. P. Holland.
 
 326 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 my house; the world taking notice what disgrace hee had cast 
 upon mee, and myselfe finding that when I expected well for the 
 divers times of my service in person to the King and Queen of 
 Bohemia, with mine own danger and the losse of my wife, I had 
 at his hand received wrong. He asked me in what. I said, in 
 this, that notwithstanding my former [services], and that I was 
 nominated by his Majestic for the present employment, and that 
 the world tooke notice of it, and hee in particular ; yet he would 
 never declare himselfe till I was so farre engaged as hee knew it 
 might prove a dishonour to mee, and then did nominate one who 
 had never done the King of Bohemia service, though he confessed 
 (besides) he had no instruction for it. This, I told him, I tooke 
 for a disgrace that he did purposely meane unto mee; and I 
 could not but be sensible of it His answer was, hee thought it 
 no disgrace to mee to choose another, the rather because he 
 supposed the command was so small as I would not have accepted 
 of it. I returned him this: that it was not the choice that 
 troubled mee, but the fashion of his proceeding, when having been 
 so often with him, and having directlie expressed my affection 
 to his Ma Ues service, hee would not deale clearlie with mee, nor 
 shew himselfe against mee till he saw mee engaged to the uttermost 
 of my Lord Admirall's promise. But considering him as an Em- 
 bassadour (I told him), I would saie no more, hoping hee should 
 not alwaise be an Embassadour, and then I would make no doubt 
 but with the Baron of Dona, I might meete, and come to speake 
 of the business upon more equal terms, in some indifferent place. 
 " Hee said hee hoped I would not threaten him. 
 " I replied he mistook mee. I did not threaten him ; for I 
 hoped when he should be no Embassadour, it would be no strange 
 thing to anie man to hear that I did speake with him upon equall 
 terms. But what did belong to Embassadours I was not ignorant 
 of, and as the King of Bohemia's Embassadour I would give him 
 all respect ; whereupon I waited on him down to his coach, and 
 so left him, without anie wrong (in my opinion) either to him or 
 myselfe. 
 
 "D. CECYLL."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 327 
 
 Soon after his arrival at the Hague, Edward Cecil sent 
 the following letter of thanks to his cousin, William Cecil, 
 Earl of Salisbury, who appears to have stood his friend 
 when Cecil's back was turned. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY. 
 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 "I never found any thing of pleasure where with I have 
 beene so much taken, as the injoying of his affection whom a man 
 honours. Nor have I ever been more sensible of it then now, that 
 I, by many of my friends, heare how much I am behowlding to y r 
 lo. for beying sensible of mulitius offices done mee in my absence, 
 for the w ch I give y r lo. many humble thankes, and with all I 
 humble beseach y r lo. to thincke that I will be as carefull to doe 
 noe unworthy acte againes my enimes, as I will be carefull to 
 deserve my friends' good opineon. My lo., y r beleafe of my 
 great affection towards y, is not one of the least obligation I 
 howld from y w 011 I beseeach y continue, for I will be most 
 presise to increase it, and continue it so longe as I live. 
 
 "For Baron Dona, by the inclosed y will find I had more 
 respect of an Ambassadour than hee of his integritie, and might 
 justlie have beene the plainteffe my selfe. We looke to Reste 
 with our army one the 17, if the enime keepe his promis. They 
 had marched before now, but that some diference that did falle 
 out betwixte Spinola and the Spaniards, whoe are troubld that an 
 Italian shall commande so glorius an army as this will be, where 
 there is the King of Spane's Royall standard to flige (sic) which 
 was never heare (sic) before. Spinola's designe is thought to be 
 the taking in of all the great Townes ajoyning to the Palitenat, 
 thoughe they be Free townes, as Franforte, Ullemes, Spiers, and 
 such like. If he gitt them he will wante noe munnye, and 
 besides lett his army feade of the spoyle of the Palitenat. 
 
 " I will howld y r , lo. noe longer but to wishe for some better 
 occation to show how much I am 
 
 " y r lo. faithfull and affectionat 
 " kinsman and servant, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL.
 
 328 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 " Honor me so much that my sends may be remembered to y r 
 noble lady, for whose hapyines and your and all y, I will all 
 waves pray for. 
 
 " Hage this 8 of July, ould stile" [I620]. 1 
 
 Add. " For my lo. of Salbury 
 " For y r lordshipe." 
 
 End. " S r Ed. Cecyll to me." 
 
 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 128/72.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. , 329 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 1620-1621. 
 
 " Some say Sir Edward Cecil can 
 Do as much as any man ; 
 But I say no for Sir Horace Vere 
 Hath carried the Earl of Oxford where 
 He neither shall have wine nor cheer. 
 Now Hercules himself could do no more." 
 
 Military Rhyme, 1 
 
 As the last chapter ended with the relation of a quarrel, so 
 must this one begin with the relation of another, of long 
 standing, which Sir Dudley Carleton had the gratification of 
 adjusting. 
 
 For many years there had been a difference between Sir 
 Horace Vere and Sir Edward Cecil about the extent of 
 their commands, and to such an extent had this coolness 
 grown, that when the States' army had last taken the field 
 in 1614, Vere and Cecil marched and lodged their troops in 
 separate bodies and quarters, entirely apart the one from 
 the other. This caused both scandal and inconvenience, 
 and all efforts to reconcile the two rival commanders had 
 failed, "by reason of some ill instruments who wrought 
 upon both their discontent, to set them further asunder." 3 
 Before the States' army took the field in 1620, the Prince of 
 Orange begged Sir Dudley Carleton to try and bring about a 
 reconciliation between Vere and Cecil, before they returned to 
 
 1 Quoted by Chamberlain in a letter to Carleton, August 4, 1620. S. P. 
 Dom, 
 
 1 Carleton to Buckingham, June 10, 1620.^. P. Holland.
 
 33 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Holland from England. With this intent Carleton wrote to 
 Buckingham, who, as the King's favourite and Cecil's patron, 
 was the one man likely to succeed in a difficult task. " It 
 were a worke worthy of your Lordship to make them under- 
 stand one another better," wrote Carleton, " and what they 
 will not yeeld to of themselves, to over rule by His Majestie's 
 authoritie." 1 Before Buckingham had time to take any 
 steps in the matter, the unfortunate disagreement with the 
 Bohemian ambassador had taken place, and directly after 
 that contretemps, Cecil left England for Holland to assume 
 command of his regiment, which was about to proceed to 
 the German frontier with the States' forces. 
 
 Hardly had Cecil arrived at the Hague before the English 
 ambassador there received a despatch from Sir Robert 
 Naunton, Secretary of State, directing him to send for Sir 
 Edward Cecil, and request him to give an account of the 
 passages that passed between him and Baron Dohna. 
 Naunton enclosed Dohna's account of the affair, and said 
 the ambassador had complained to His Majesty of Cecil's 
 conduct, and the King had at once sent for Sir Edward 
 Cecil, but found he had already gone to Holland. 
 
 "Tell him from his Majesty," wrote Naunton to Carleton, 
 " that he will have him acknowledge his fault, and ask forgiveness 
 both of his Majesty and Baron Dohna, or to expect condign 
 punishment from his Majesty whenever he shall return hither." 2 
 It was in consequence of this letter of Sir R. Naunton's, that 
 Cecil wrote the statement, already given, of what passed between 
 himself and the Bohemian ambassador, and he furnished Sir D. 
 Carleton with a copy thereof. In spite, however, of the contents 
 of this statement, which was more an accusation than an apology, 
 Cecil was obliged to humble himself to the king, as we find by 
 Carleton's reply to Naunton. " General Cecill doth ingeniously 3 
 
 1 Carleton to Buckingham, June 10, 1620. S. P. Holland. 
 
 2 Sir R. Naunton to Carleton, July 20/30, 1620. S. P. Holland. 
 
 3 Doubtless this is meant for " ingenuously."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 331 
 
 confesse it," wrote Carleton of Dohna's complaint, " but for the 
 circumstance saith it is much aggravated in the narration, and 
 greatly to his prejudice .... Sir Edward Cecill doth humbly 
 ask pardon of his Ma tl , and of the Ambassador, for having for- 
 gotten what belonged to his qualitie." l 
 
 James had no real sympathy with Baron Dohna's feelings, 
 and having himself led Sir Edward Cecil to believe that he 
 should command any body of British troops that might be 
 sent to the Palatinate, he must have felt some sympathy 
 for Cecil's resentment against Dohna. James was quite 
 satisfied by Cecil's apology sent through Sir D. Carleton, 
 and we find him sending a message to Cecil by Sir Edward 
 Sackville early in August, that he was "well satisfied." 2 
 Naunton also wrote to Carleton informing him James was 
 satisfied with Cecil's apology. 3 The Queen of Bohemia 
 was not so easily satisfied, but her good judgment made 
 her decide to ha.ve no more words about it. 4 Thus ended 
 an unpleasant business, all brought about by a hot-headed 
 soldier's restless ambition and desire for command. 
 
 At this very same time, Sir Dudley Carleton happily 
 brought about a reconciliation between Sir Horace Vere and 
 Sir Edward Cecil. 
 
 " I have the contentment of having done a good worke the day 
 before his Ex cles departure," wrote Carleton to Chamberlain, " in 
 making friendship, after long and many differences, betwixt S r 
 Horace Vere and S r Ed. Cecyll, S r Ed. Cecyll and S r John Ogle, 
 S r John Ogle and S r Charles Morgan, which was a troublesome 
 peece of worke, and of many dayes continuance, but ended 
 happily, and they all dined with me, and dranke one to an other 
 kindly, whereuppon is followed a reconiunction of our English, 
 
 1 Carleton to Naunton, July 2J.S. P. Holland. 
 
 2 " His Majestic hath lett General Cecyll understand by S' Ed. Sack vile 
 that he is well satisfied." Carleton to August (?). 5". P. Holland. 
 
 3 Naunton to Carleton, August IO. S. P. Holland. 
 
 4 Carleton to August (?). S. P. Holland.
 
 332 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 w ch by theyr falling out were separated before Rhees ; and thereby 
 they will have more reputation, both here and in the field, as it 
 proved by a joinet request signed by the three Coronels the same 
 day, whereby they have gotten payment of great arrerage owing 
 the whole troopes, and when they come before the Enemie, I 
 doubt not but they will find as good effects of theyr agreement" l 
 
 On July 22, Sir Horace Vere, with his splendid regi- 
 ment of 2,250 men arrived at Dordrecht from England, 
 and marched to Delft and other places, where they remained 
 a fortnight. An English writer of the period thus refers to 
 the appearance of this regiment before it left England. 
 
 " There never went such a Regiment forth of any kingdome as 
 this which is now preparing the other is to followe soone after 
 this is gone. The Captaines are all, or the most part, lords, and 
 the Companyes will be filled with gentlemen. 2 The Erles of 
 Oxford and Essex, the 11. Lisle, Cromwell, Garret, Graye, and S r 
 Ed. Sackvill. 3 They speake now also of the Erie of Warwick, 
 and my 1. Chandois. The Erie of Oxford hath a Company of the 
 first Regiment, and is to be Coronel of the next. S r Thomas 
 Hutton is to be his Lieutenant Coronel, and S r John Barlacy, that 
 to S r H. Vere. The griefe is, that old and experienced Captaines, 
 whoe are out of imployment, are now disappoynted by the 
 forwardness of the youthfull nobility. But the preparations are 
 much greater in the Archdukes State, in which there is this 
 particular, that whosoever is owner of 3 horses must depart [part?] 
 
 1 Carleton to Chamberlain, August 8. See also Harwood to Nethersole, 
 August 10, and Carleton to Buckingham, August I. S. P. Holland. 
 
 * ' ' Sir George Smith is come to a fair preferment for a man of his rank to 
 trail a pike in my Lord of Oxford's company." Chamberlain to Carleton, 
 August, irS. P. Dom. 
 
 3 These five last named persons did not go with Sir Horace Vere, whose 
 commission, dated 1st July, 1620, is given in S. P. Germany, with a list of 
 his companies, as follows : " General Vere, 200 ; Earl of Oxford, 250 ; Earl 
 of Essex, 200; Sir John Borlase, 150, Lieut. - Col. ; Sergt. -Major John 
 Burroughs, 150 ; Sir Chas. Rich, 150 ; Sir John Wentworth, Bt, 200 ; Sir 
 Gerard Herbert, 150; Captain Stafford Willmot, 150; Captain Fras Bucke, 
 150; Capt. J. Bonygthon, 150; Capt. Wil. Fairfax, 150; Capt. Thos. Thorn- 
 hurst, 150."
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 333 
 
 with one at a reasonable price for this service, whether it be for 
 Cleve or the Palatinate ; wherein I pray God o r slownesse and 
 credulity doe not the like harme as at Wesell. The States have 
 sent in great hast for all their Captaines here, and wilbe redy 
 with their Army to wayte upon the Marquis Spinola." l 
 
 Early in July, James had despatched Sir Henry Wotton, 
 Sir Edward Conway, and Sir Richard Weston, to Germany, 
 Brussels, &c., to exhort to peace all the princes engaged in 
 the quarrel between Ferdinand and Frederick, and to induce 
 Archduke Albert not to invade the Palatinate. 2 These 
 embassies of course resulted in nothing, and one cannot 
 but agree with Sir Anthony Weldon in his remark, " that if 
 James had spent half as much on swords as he spent in 
 words, for which he was but scorned, it had kept his son-in- 
 law in his own inheritance, and saved much Christian blood 
 since shed." Christian IV. of Denmark, James's drunken 
 brother-in-law, though not a character to be generally 
 esteemed, had the courage to let John George know how 
 much he despised him for deserting the Protestant cause, 
 and espousing the side of the Emperor Ferdinand. " I hope 
 to get the copie of a braving letter from the K. of Denmark 
 to the D. of Saxony," wrote an English politician, " wherein 
 he stiles him the reproach and scandal of religion, with 
 a great deale of vinegar and tartnesse, enough to make him 
 an enemy, if he weare not so resolved." 3 
 
 Up to the very moment of marching for the Rhine, 
 Spinola had kept his instructions secret. He informed Sir 
 Thomas Edmonds, the British envoy at Brussels, that he 
 had sealed orders, and could not open them till he had 
 crossed the Rhine. Spinola was good enough to invite 
 Edmonds to accompany the army if he wanted further 
 
 1 Woodward to Windebank, July i.S. P. Dom. 
 z Woodward to Windebank, as before. 
 3 Ibid.
 
 334 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 intelligence. The Spaniards set out on their march on 
 August 8, and Edmonds accompanied Spinola as far as 
 Coblentz. Here the Spanish commander opened his 
 sealed orders in the presence of the British envoy, and 
 informed him he had orders to make war on all who should 
 declare for the Elector Palatine. This was all Edmonds 
 could gather from the wily Italian. Spinola's next move 
 left no room for any further doubts, even to the sanguine 
 temperament of James, as to where he was bound. 
 " Suddenly wheeling round, he recrossed the Rhine, and 
 when Con way and Weston entered Mentz on August 19, 
 they found the town full of Spanish troops." l 
 
 The Union army lay near Oppenheim, in the Palatinate, 
 in strength about 12,000 foot, and 4,000 horse. 2 " All good 
 men, and of good courage, as they seem before they come 
 to blows," wrote Sir D. Carleton (doubtful of the way 
 these troops would acquit themselves) to Sir Francis 
 Nethersole. 3 And here we must perforce leave both the 
 Spanish and German armies the one to invade the 
 Palatinate, and the other to defend that doomed Electorate 
 while we return to the States' army, and the brave 
 little band of the "new English," as Vere's force was 
 generally termed. 
 
 " The Prince of Orange is yet at Arnhem," wrote Carleton to 
 Nethersole early in August, " from whence his next remove will 
 be to Skink sconce, where his troops meet him, not above 2,000 
 horse and 10,000 foot, but such men as he may trust upon for a good 
 piece of service .... General Vere's troops set forward to-morrow 
 from their general garrisons at Delph, Rotterdam and Dort." * 
 
 In the absence of Sir Horace Vere, the command of the 
 
 1 Dr. Gardiner's History of England, iii. p. 368. 
 
 2 Carleton to Nethersole, August 7. S. P. Germany. 
 J Ibid. 
 
 4 Ibid.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 335 
 
 British troops in the States' army was bestowed on Sir 
 Edward Cecil, as next senior officer. It would appear 
 from one of General Vere's letters to the British am- 
 bassador at the Hague, that the Prince of Orange- was 
 inclined to grant more favour and authority to General 
 Cecil than had previously been granted to Vere himself. 
 
 " Hee hath bin very earnest with me about S r Edward Cecill 
 and his command in my absence," wrote Vere to Carleton, " I 
 am (as I tould y r Lordship), willing that hee should have as 
 much as was exersysed by me, and to have more is more than hee 
 in reason can expect ; but for anything I can perceave his Ex 016 
 is desyrous that sutch a kinde of autoritie should be practised by 
 him, as was never yealded unto me." l 
 
 The States' army conducted the " new English " as far 
 as Wesel, where they arrived the end of August. Since 
 the landing of Vere's regiment in Holland, great pains had 
 been taken by General Vere and his officers to drill the 
 men, and teach them military discipline. Sir Dudley 
 Carleton, who saw two companies of this regiment being 
 drilled at Delft, early in August, by their captains, the 
 Earls of Oxford and Essex, thus criticises them : 
 
 " I saw the two companies there (at Delph) in armes ; and 
 though I liked the men well for new leavies, yet nothing pleased 
 me so much as to see those two great persons take contentment 
 in commanding thyr little troopes, and in obeying their little 
 general." 2 
 
 It being thought unsafe for such a small body of men to 
 march to the Palatinate alone, it was determined by the 
 Prince of Orange that they should have a strong cavalry 
 escort. Accordingly, nearly all the States' cavalry, with a 
 few men from each company of foot, under the supreme 
 command of Prince Henry of Nassau, left Wesel on 
 
 1 Vere to Carleton, August 12. S. P. Holland. 
 
 41 Carleton to Chamberlain, August 8. S. P. Holla ti>1.
 
 336 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 August 3 1, 1 and crossed the Rhine by a bridge of boats, in 
 company with Vere's regiment, en route to join the Union 
 army, under the German princes. 
 
 And so departed Sir Horace Vere, with his gallant little 
 British force, who were gone on a forlorn hope. Well might 
 Count Gondomar jest at the smallness of the force James 
 sent to defend the Palatinate, saying, " the English must 
 be a very brave nation, as they sent 2,000 men to encounter 
 10,000 ! " 2 Before Sir Horace Vere drifts away from our 
 sight into the whirlpool of the Thirty Years' War, in which, 
 for a brief space of time he was to play a distinguished 
 part, let us express our admiration of his character, which 
 stands out in bold relief in the annals of those times as 
 being pre-eminently grand. Every inch a soldier, and a 
 thorough gentleman. Possessing at all times a calm 
 courage, a cool temper, and a warm heart, he was beloved 
 by his soldiers, who followed him to battle confident of 
 victory. Had one seen him returning from a victory," 
 says Dr. Fuller, in his article on Vere, " he would, by his 
 silence, have suspected that he had lost the day ; and had 
 he beheld him in a retreat, he would have collected him a 
 Conqueror by the cheerfulness of his spirit." 3 
 
 Between Rhinberg and Wesel lay a Spanish force of 
 6,000 men, commanded by Don Louis de Velasco. These 
 troops, which were in close proximity to the States' army, 
 though somewhat higher up the river, had strict orders not 
 to renew hostilities with the Dutch, but to respect the truce 
 which had not yet expired. 
 
 In like manner the Prince of Orange gave his troops 
 
 1 Prince Henry was accompanied by Marquette, lieut. -general of horse, 
 Prince Christian of Brunswick, a son of the Landgrave of Hesse and the Lord 
 of Brederode. Grimston's Netherlands, p. 1405. 
 
 * Chamberlain to Carleton, July 8. S. P. Dom. 
 
 * Dr. Fuller's Worthies of England, p. 331.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 337 
 
 strict orders to observe the truce, so that the two armies 
 lay side by side in perfect security, each watching the 
 other, and each keeping guard over the frontier towns and 
 forts they severally possessed. During this strange state 
 of affairs the officers of both armies met together on the 
 most friendly terms. A visit of some British officers to the 
 Spanish camp is thus recorded : 
 
 " Certain English volontaries, as my Lord Garratt, and S r 
 Edward Sackfield [Sackville], who took w th them S r Ed. Cecill for 
 companie, went to visit about a week since Don Loys de Velasco 
 in his camp, where it was theyr hap to arrive uppon a day of 
 muster, by w ch meanes they did see a good part of the armie and 
 make a most contemptible report of it, as not exceeding 6000 
 foote and 1000 horse ; the whole disposition of those troopes 
 being (to use one of theyr wordes who can judge) poore, dis- 
 ordered, fearfull, sad, and in such ill case both General and 
 soldiers, that they would never have believed it had they not 
 scene it." l 
 
 Three letters written by Sir Edward Cecil at this period 
 give us some information regarding the small doings of the 
 armies gathered together along the German frontier. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY. 
 
 " MY VERYE GOOD LORDE, 
 
 " I have noe commandment of y r lordshipe to employ my 
 selfe in at this tyme, nor anie great matter find I heare to make a 
 letter of; yet my affection and servis w ch I owe y shall ever put 
 mee in minde of this respect, when the meanes, as it now doth, 
 offers it selfe unto mee. 
 
 " The new Englishe marched from heance upwards on wedens- 
 day last ; prepared for their journey, and accompained and 
 convayed with all our horse, rather as an assistance to the 
 Princes then other wayes (for they ar not to come these 3 
 monthes) who hath scene Spinola with his Armie in there faces 
 
 1 Carleton to Chamberlain, (?), Sept. II. S. P. Holland. 
 VOL. I.
 
 338 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 ranged in Battalia 24 houers together and (wee thincke) must 
 fight with him ; which in all reason (if hee resolve upon it) he 
 will force them unto, before this secours come to joyne with 
 them. So as y may (in likelyhood), by the nexte, heare of a 
 battall fought. Howe soe ever his first designe, which was for 
 Frankford, is interrupted, and for this yeare (I thincke) lost, our 
 Army in the meane time sittes still heere, as Don Lewis de 
 velasquo with his troopes does by Riuskerke, so that wee goe one 
 to anothers Army, till our 6 monthes of truce bee eanded. I was 
 there the other day with my lo. Garratt 1 and Sir Ed. Saxfilde, but 
 wee found a great diference betwixte our Army and thers, for ours 
 is full of discipline and glory, theres full of disorder, poverty and 
 dednes. Wee looke within these 6 weakes to returne out of the 
 fealde, and I hope then to have the honor to see y r lo. at london. 
 And so I reast y r lo. and y r Noble Lades 
 
 " moste faithfull servant, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 " at our campe before westell 
 
 this 4 of September " 2 [1620]. 
 
 Add. " Lo. of Salbury." 
 
 End. (by 2 nd Earl of S.) " S r Ed. Cecyll to me." 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR GEORGE CALVERT. 
 
 " RIG. HONORABLE, 
 
 " As I never deserved ill of y in my hart, so I have nowe 
 assuredly found the successe belonging to an uncorrupted, w ch y 
 have expressed in wryting to mee ; confermed it in my beliefe 
 by the friendly office y have done mee among the adverse 
 dispositions that I have of late found in the Corte. 3 
 
 " Wee heare out of Germany that Spinola stood 24 hours in 
 
 1 Gilbert Gerard, 2nd Baron Gerard of Gerard's Bromley, co. Stafford, who 
 died 1622. 
 
 2 Cecil Papers, Hat field, 128/71. 
 
 * Sir George Calvert had stood Cecil's friend in the Baron Dohna quarrel 
 and its results. As far back as July 22, 1620, we find one of Cecil's 
 officers writing to Calvert, and informing him that he had forwarded the Chief 
 Secretary's love to Sir E. Cecil, who sent many thanks for his kind remem- 
 brances. Couldwell to Calvert. .9. p. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 339 
 
 Battalia to invite the Princes (who have so much threatned what 
 the would doe to him if he came into the Palatinat), but they show 
 noe affection to it (whether it be that they desire that the States 
 assistance [were] joined w th them or not) yet it is like they will 
 come to blowes by compulsion. For it is Spinola[s] advantage to 
 fight with them before theyr ayde come up to them, w ch consisteth 
 of almost all the States forces of horse (a brave ayde), besides the 
 2000 foote carried in wagines of the new Englishe, so as it is 
 probable Spinola is the hotter upon them, and thus y r next may 
 tell y of a Battaille. 
 
 " Wee have little heare to doe but to expect the coming backe 
 of our wagines, but not of our horse, w ch we expect some 3 weeks 
 hence, and then we looke to returne into Garison, in the mean 
 tyme we are putting our whole Army in to Battalia, to give a 
 triumph to an Extraordinary Ambassadore from Venice, that is 
 passing to the Hage. 
 
 "What I can lay hold of to let y know from hence I will, as 
 readilie as I can, give y an account of it, so I rest, 
 " y r H. 
 " most unfaned friend and servant, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 " From the 
 camp this 4 of Sep." 1 
 
 Endorsed in Calvert's hand : 
 " 4 Septemb. 1620. 
 S r Edw. Cecill to me." 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR GEORGE CALVERT. 
 
 " RIG. HONORABLE, 
 
 " The newest relations I have received from the Armies 
 above ar these, Spinola hath taken 4 townes, places of no strength, 
 but full of provition for victuall, booth of wines and all sorts of 
 come, in a quantity esteemed sufficient for the wintering of his 
 whole Army. The Princes ar by all" the world censured for 
 leaving them to him; espetially Oppenheim, and the rather 
 bycause they left the provition for him w cb might have beeyn 
 
 1 S. P. Germany, 1620. 
 
 Z 2
 
 34-O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 ether transported or destroyed one thing I must remember to 
 tell you that is over all, as the nwes cam that these townes were 
 taken, the Prince of Orange would seeke to mee to know whether 
 any of those Townes were the ioynter of the Queene of Bohemia, 
 that was as much as to say his Ma y must looke of necessity to 
 that. 
 
 " For the loss of thes provitions, the counsell of Hedelberbe 
 [Heidelberg] ar blamed bycause the[y] would not sell these 
 thinges to the Princes at icasonable rates. Howesoever, between 
 them booth there is a great oversight committed, w ch cannot be 
 otherwise, seeing the Army is commanded by so many Princes, 
 for if it be hard to serve 2 maisters, how can an Army serve 
 many. For there are some that would fight and others will not, 
 and some that will nether resolve to fight or not to fight ; so farr 
 as the souldiers ar ashamed of there [their] commanders. The 
 people of the country are full of feare, the ould Electrice flead w th 
 the children, 1 so that if the States forces w th the new English doe 
 not ioyne in some convenient tyme, w ch went from heare some 14 
 dayes agoe, the[y] are in danger to loose the country for nothing. 
 
 " The Prince of Orange is sending from hence some more 
 forces to make a sconce about Bund [Bonn ?] to give some 
 countinance to the 2000 troopes and the new English that ar to 
 pass the mosell, w ch as yet we heare is not yet passed, for that 
 Spinola doth seeke by all meanes to hinder them, fearing them 
 more than all the Princes. 
 
 " The Prince of Epenay, of Spinola's side, is taken prisoner 
 going from his quarter to meete the reast of his Regiment at the 
 Randevous. 
 
 " Heare passed an Extraordinary Ambassidore of venise [Venice] 
 to the Hage, whoe is to returne shortly againe ; he was enter- 
 taynd by his Ex y w" 1 as much honor as our Army could afford 
 any Prince, and I thincke to his good satisfaction as rather to his 
 admiratione. 
 
 " The States are in good hopes to make an alliance w th the 
 Kinge of Denmarke, w ch will avalle them much booth, and 
 espetially the cause of Bohemia. 
 
 1 Two of Frederick's children, who were at Heidelberg, were taken away 
 by their grandmother and placed under the care of the Duke of Wurtemberg.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 341 
 
 " I beseeche y to give this enclosed leave to have y r convoye 
 to come to my lo. Admirall, for that it is to thanck him for his 
 favor (in my diference w th the Ambassidore), w ch I receaved by y r 
 hands, and if there be any occation to serve y heare, I will doe 
 it as hardly as if it were for my lo. of Saliburie himselfe, and so 
 I reast, 
 
 "Y r H 
 
 " most affectionat to serve y, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 " From the army before westell 
 This 14/24 of September." 1 
 
 End. 
 "14 Septemb. 1620. 
 
 S r Edw. Cecill 
 to my master." 
 
 The Prince of Orange broke up his camp near Wesel 
 the end of October, and retired his troops into their wonted 
 garrisons for the winter season. 
 
 Sir Edward Cecil journeyed back to the Hague in 
 company with Sir Edward Sackville, with whom he seems 
 to have struck up a friendship. 2 Sackville was one of 
 those daring, fiery spirits who were constantly in hot water. 
 One of the handsomest men of his day, and possessing 
 undoubted great talent, he ought to have left a brighter 
 name in history, but his natural profligacy of life out- 
 
 1 S. P. Germany. 
 
 3 Carleton to (?) October 30, 1620, S. P. Holland. Edward' 
 
 Sackville was second son of Robeit Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset (son of 
 Lord Treasurer Buckhurst) and was born in 1590. His duel with Lord Bruce 
 under the walls of Antwerp, which ended so fatally for the latter, has left a 
 stain on his reputation which time has never obliterated. For Sackville's own 
 account of this duel see his letters published in The Guardian, numbers 129 
 and 133. He succeeded to the earldom on the death of his elder brother in 
 1624, and on the breaking out of the rebellion espoused the Royal cause, and 
 was appointed Lord Privy Seal and President of the Council. He died in 
 1652. His younger son, Edward, who predeceased him, had married Bridget 
 Wray, Baroness Norreys, niece of Sir Christopher Wray who married Albinia 
 Cecil, second daughter of Sir Edward Cecil.
 
 342 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 balanced all his fine qualities, and was as a very millstone 
 hung round his neck. A mutual friend of Cecil and Sack- 
 ville was Sir Edward Herbert of Cherbury, another daring, 
 fiery spirit, whose well known chivalry was carried to such 
 an extent that it bordered on quixotism. Herbert, who 
 had served under Cecil at Juliers, seems always to have 
 entertained a strong feeling of friendship for his first 
 general, and in his letters from Paris at this time to Sir 
 Dudley Carleton, Herbert makes friendly enquiries after 
 both Cecil and Sackville. 1 
 
 Cecil still clung to the delusive hope that James would 
 send troops in his own name and pay to the Palatinate, 
 and that his Majesty would give him (Cecil) the command 
 over them. 2 How little James thought of sending any 
 succours to the Palatinate will be speedily gathered from 
 the details of what passed in the Parliament which James 
 was, at the close of 1620, obliged to summon. 
 
 The King had issued a proclamation on November 6, 
 wherein he ordered, " that the knights and burgesses should 
 be chosen of the gravest, ablest, and best affected minds 
 that could be found, persons approved for their sincerity 
 in religion and not noted, either for superstitious blindness 
 or turbulent humours." 3 Edward Cecil was elected member 
 for Chichester, and took his seat in the Parliament which 
 assembled at Westminster, January 30, 1621. 
 
 On November 8, 1620, was fought, outside the walls of 
 Prague, the fatal battle of the " White Hill," in which the 
 Bohemian army was defeated by Maximilian of Bavaria 
 
 1 Sir E. Herbert to Carleton, Paris, Sept. 15/25, 1620 ; Oct. 13/23, 1620 ; 
 and July 28, 1623. S. P. Holland, Lord Herbert of Cherbury lies buried 
 in the church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, in which church Albinia Cecil (Lady 
 Wray) and some of her children were buried. 
 
 9 Carleton to (?) October 30. S. P. Holland, 
 
 * Rymer's Fcedera, xvii. p. 270.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 343 
 
 and Count Bucquoy. This defeat decided the fate of the 
 " Winter King," who had to seek safety in immediate flight, 
 with his wife and children, leaving his crown and baggage 
 behind him. 
 
 The day after the battle, Prague surrendered to the 
 Imperialists and Bavarians. When this evil news first 
 reached England, the nation would hardly credit it, and 
 awaited in feverish anxiety for a contradiction of the 
 report. But that contradiction never came, and when full 
 details of Frederick's crushing defeat arrived in London, 
 an almost universal gloom spread over the metropolis. 
 James seemed to be the only man who had expected this 
 sudden termination of Frederick's reign over Bohemia, and 
 never having assisted in the smallest way to put the 
 Bohemian crown on his son-in-law's head, or to try and 
 keep it on when it was once placed there, he could not be 
 expected to show much grief at the news. He had been, 
 however, very sensibly affected by Spinola's successes in 
 the Palatinate, and had striven by means of a Benevo- 
 lence to raise a large sum for the defence of his son-in-law's 
 inheritance. The well known misappropriation and misuse 
 of these loans was doubtless why the English nation sub- 
 scribed such a comparatively small sum, notwithstanding 
 the strong war feeling which animated the greater portion. 
 Mistrusting the King's foreign policy, the nation clamoured 
 for a Parliament, and other means of " raising the wind " 
 having failed, James was obliged, as we have already said, 
 to issue a proclamation on November 6, summoning a 
 Parliament to meet on January id 1 
 
 Early in this winter (1620-1) the Earls of Oxford and 
 Essex returned to London from the Palatinate, and having 
 made a full narration of the precarious state of affairs in 
 
 The meeting of Parliament was postponed until January 30.
 
 344 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 those parts, the King called a Council of War on January 13, 
 to consider and report on the best course to be pursued 
 for the preservation of the Palatinate. The names of the 
 members of this Council were : the Earls of Oxford, 1 Essex, 
 and Leicester, Lords Wilmot, 2 Danvers and Caulfield, 3 
 Sir Edward Cecil and Sir Richard Morrison, Knights, and 
 Captain Bingham. 4 
 
 The King opened Parliament in person, and in a long 
 preamble told both Houses what the duty of a Parliament 
 consisted in. He then touched slightly on religion, and 
 held out vague hopes that the Protestant religion would 
 never suffer through him. After this he turned to subsidies 
 and the importance of granting him a speedy supply, de- 
 claring how much he had spent on embassies in hopes of 
 saving the Palatinate, and in putting an end to the war in 
 Bohemia. " Now I shall labour to preserve the rest of the 
 Palatinate," continued James, " wherein I declare, that if 
 by fair means I cannot get it, my crown, my blood and all 
 shall be spent, with my son's blood also, but I will get it 
 for him ; and this is the cause of all, that the cause of 
 religion is involved in it, for they will alter religion where 
 they conquer, and so perhaps my grandchild may suffer 
 who hath committed no fault at all. But this is nothing 
 without a speedy supply, Bis dat qui cito dat" 5 
 
 The business of the House of Commons commenced on 
 February 5. Under this date is calendared amongst the 
 Domestic State Papers, a speech of Sir Edward Cecil on 
 
 1 Henry de Vere, i8th Earl of Oxford, and Lord High Chamberlain of 
 England. He married Lady Diana Cecil, the beautiful daughter of Will. 
 Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter. Lord Oxford died of fever caught at the siege of 
 Breda, in May 1625, where he greatly distinguished himself. 
 
 2 Sir Charles Wilmot, Lord President of Connaught, created Viscount 
 Wilmot of Athlone, in January 1620, for his services in Ireland. 
 
 1 Sir Toby Caulfield, Lord Caulfield and Baron Charlemont, a distinguished 
 Irish soldier. * January 13, 1621. S. P. Dom. 
 
 4 Nalson's Collections of Affairs of State, i. p. 13.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 345 
 
 the importance of granting an immediate supply to the 
 Palatinate. This " speech " was printed, and many copies 
 of it distributed at the time, as it was both clever and un- 
 common. 1 Unfortunately, there is conclusive proof that it 
 was never uttered in Parliament, either on February 5 or any 
 other day. No mention is made of it in the Parliamentary 
 Journals, and it was certainly not a speech that would have 
 been lightly passed over. The first notice we have of it is 
 in a letter from the Rev. Joseph Meade, to Sir Martin 
 Stutteville, dated April 28, 1621: "And they say that 
 Colonel Cecil made a brave speech in Parliament concern- 
 ing the want of warlike provisions in the kingdom, and the 
 means to redress it ; they say with much approbation." 
 The next notice we have of it is in a letter of Chamberlain's 
 dated November 16, 1622 : 
 
 " There is a speech of Sir Edward Cecil in the last parle- 
 ment come in print, I know not how, and bycause y* is not 
 very common, I thought goode to imparte it to you." 3 
 Carleton expresses his suspicion of the speech in a letter to 
 Chamberlain dated December 3, i622, 3 and on December 
 21, Chamberlain replies: "Upon inquiry, I am fully of 
 your opinion touching Sir Edward Cecil's speech, that he 
 was not guilty of it ; but that one Turner about him was 
 the true father." 4 This is all that is known, apparently, 
 about this speech, and for very obvious reasons we are com- 
 pelled to refrain from quoting it or giving Sir E. Cecil the 
 credit of it. 6 " Whoever was the author," says one well 
 
 1 A Speech made in the Lower House of Parliament, anno 1621, by Sir 
 Edward Cicill, Colonell, printed in 1621 (4 Brit. Mus.) 
 
 * Chamberlain to Carleton, November 16, 1622. ., P. Dom. 
 
 * Carleton to Chamberlain, December 3, 1622. S. P. Holland. 
 4 Chamberlain to Carleton, December 21, 1622. S. P. Dom. 
 
 4 Dr. S. R. Gardiner in referring to this mysterious " speech " in \i\sHistory 
 of England (iv. p. 29, note) says: " Nothing in the course of writing this 
 work, has been more painful than the act of drawing my pen, in obedience to
 
 34-6 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 able to judge, " the speech does him great credit. There 
 is a fine ring in its language from beginning to end." l 
 There was undoubtedly some good reason political 
 reason for printing this speech, which every member of 
 Parliament must have well known had not been uttered in 
 the House of Commons. It was an age of pamphleteering, 
 and Sir Edward Cecil doubtless lent his name, as a pro- 
 minent military man, to promote a good cause, and arouse 
 the nation to a warlike feeling. We are told all is fair in 
 love or war. 
 
 The Council of War, of which Sir E. Cecil was a member, 
 delivered its report on February 13. An army of 25,000 
 foot and 5,000 horse would be necessary to defend the 
 Palatinate. To levy such an army, support it and provide 
 artillery, warlike stores and field equipments, etc., a sum of 
 .250,000 would be needed immediately, and an expendi- 
 ture of 900,000 a year while the army was in the field. 2 
 
 Secretary Calvert, by the King's orders, informed the 
 House of Commons that an army of 30,000 men would 
 be needed, and that at least 500,000 would be required 
 for their support. 3 
 
 The Commons, not having been told that if they voted 
 the very large sum necessary to support an army of 30,000 
 men, the King would at once despatch an army to the 
 Palatinate, and being very doubtful of the use the money 
 would be put to, contented themselves with granting the 
 
 the laws of historical veracity, through the extracts which I had credulously 
 inserted in the text." 
 
 I may go still further and say that I had long regarded this speech as one 
 of my firmest stepping-stones in crossing a troubled stream. 
 
 1 Dr. Gardiner, as before. 
 
 2 Report of the Council of War, February 12. S. P. Dom ; Grose's 
 Military Antiquities, ii. pp. 149-51 ; Dr. Gardiner's History of England, iv. 
 
 P- 31- 
 
 * Dr. Gardiner, as before, p. 32.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 347 
 
 King two subsidies a sum equal to about i 5O,ooo. 1 This 
 was, in the days we write of, a very large grant. " I hear 
 that the parliament have at length concluded to grant his 
 Majesty two subsidies freely and without condition," wrote 
 an Oxonian to a friend, " thereby hoping to find him the 
 more favourable and gracious to grant what they desire." 3 
 One of the favours greatly desired was that the King should 
 not allow English ordnance to be exported to Spain. 3 It 
 seems that, notwithstanding the exportation of English ord- 
 nance was forbidden, James had given leave to the Spanish 
 ambassador to purchase a hundred guns and send them 
 out of the kingdom. This gave great offence to the nation 
 at large, who naturally did not wish to furnish Spain with 
 ordnance to be used against the Protestants. This grievance 
 was brought to the notice of the House, who debated the 
 matter, and sent a petition to the King requesting him to 
 stay the ordnance ready to go to the King of Spain. 
 James refused to withdraw his consent, which he said had 
 been given two years previously. 4 
 
 There were few people more interested in the grievance 
 about the ordnance than the British officers in the service 
 of the United Provinces, as they heartily mistrusted the 
 Spanish ambassador's assertion, and James's reassurance, 
 that these guns were only wanted for Portugal. 5 Sir 
 Edward Harwood, a gallant Low Country officer, engaged 
 to have the House moved about the ordnance, 6 and Sir 
 
 1 It is said that the readiness with which Parliament granted these subsidies 
 was a good deal owing to the fact of the King showing what large sums he 
 had expended in the cause of the Elector Palatine. 
 
 2 Rev. J. Meade to Sir M. Stutteville, February 25, 1621. Court and 
 Times of James /., ii. p. 229. 
 
 3 Ibid, 
 
 4 Chamberlain to Carleton, February 17. S. P, Dom. ; Journals of the 
 House of 'Commons ; i. p. 520. 
 
 4 Ibid. 
 
 Locke to Carleton, February 24. S. P. Dom.
 
 348 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Edward Cecil was doubtless one of those members who 
 petitioned the King against its exportation. Cecil's interest 
 in ordnance was a well known fact, and as far back as 1613 
 we find him named for the post of Lieutenant of the Ord- 
 nance. 1 
 
 After granting the King two entire subsidies, the Com- 
 mons proceeded to the examination of grievances, of which 
 there were many. The abuse of patents first attracted 
 their attention. Amongst these monopolies, which had 
 increased to an alarming extent since the accession of 
 James I., three were especially complained of, viz. : the 
 patents for licensing inns and alehouses, and the patent for 
 the sole manufacture and sale of gold and silver lace. Of 
 the last patent a contemporary historian condemns it in 
 these words : " The lace [manufactured and sold] was 
 made of copper and other sophisticated materials, which 
 were of so poisonous a nature that they rotted the hands 
 and arms, and brought lameness and blindness upon those 
 that wrought this composition." 2 By this iniquitous trade, 
 Sir Giles Mompesson had amassed considerable sums, as 
 any person making any other gold lace was imprisoned 
 and heavily fined. This grievance being brought into the 
 Lower House, a select committee was formed to investigate 
 and report on the case to the House. Sir Edward Cecil 
 was one of this committee, which included such well known 
 names as Sir Dudley Digges, Sir Edwin Sandys, Sir 
 Edward Sackville, Sir Robert Philips, and Messrs. Noy, 
 Pym, Crewe and Glanville. 3 An investigation of Mom- 
 pesson's transactions, both as regarded his patent for 
 
 1 " I hear that Sir Edward Cecil is the Lieutenant of the Ordnance." 
 Chamberlain to Carleton, March 25, 1613. S. P. Dom. Sir Richard 
 Morrison, a distinguished Irish soldier, was appointed to that post. 
 
 * Arthur Wilson's Life and Reign of James /., p. 731. 
 
 3 Commons' Journals, i. p. 530.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 349 
 
 licensing alehouses, and his monopoly for gold lace, opened 
 out a long course of corrupt practices. The Commons 
 were not long in impeaching him, and had already agreed 
 as to his punishment, but in their eagerness to punish they 
 had forgotten that they must have the concurrence of the 
 House of Lords. A conference was demanded, and both 
 Houses were unanimous in their verdict and sentence. But 
 Mompesson had made his plans in case of things coming 
 to the worst, and when the Parliamentary officers came to 
 arrest him, he cleverly managed to make his escape, and 
 was soon safe on the other side of the channel. He was 
 declared an outlaw, and his estate confiscated. His partner 
 in guilt, Sir Francis Michel, was degraded of his knight- 
 hood, fined a thousand pounds, imprisoned for life, and 
 carried on horseback, with his face to the horse's tail, 
 through the streets of London. 1 
 
 The Commons were so much encouraged by this success, 
 that they determined to correct abuses in a still higher 
 quarter, and sent up an impeachment to the Lords against 
 the learned Sir Francis Bacon (Viscount St. Albans), the 
 Lord Chancellor. With the ignominious fall, and terrible 
 punishment, of "the wisest, greatest, and meanest of 
 mankind," we have nothing to do beyond echoing Horace 
 Walpole's words : " Alas ! that he who could command 
 immortal fame should have stooped to the little ambition 
 of power." 2 
 
 About this time a Bill was brought into the Lower 
 House, "for making the arms of this kingdom more 
 serviceable in time to come." 3 This bill, which was a 
 most important and necessary one, has been but little 
 noticed in the various accounts of the Acts brought forward 
 
 1 Rushworth's Historical Collections, i. p. 27. 
 
 2 Royal and Noble Authors, ii. p. 208. 
 
 3 Commons 1 Journals, pp. $42-3.
 
 35O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 in this Parliament. Sir Edward Cecil supported the Bill 
 very energetically in the House, and said " he aimed at 
 nothing in this Bill but the good of the Commonwealth, 
 and did not wish to change the arms then in use, but only 
 to order the armourers to keep to the [regulation] size of 
 swords," etc. 1 Cecil was one of the committee selected to 
 draw up a Bill for " finding of arms and muster masters," 2 
 and four days before the adjournment of Parliament, we 
 find him again supporting the " Arms Bill," 3 of which we 
 shall hear more hereafter. 4 
 
 The Commons found time in their zeal to correct griev- 
 ances, to turn their attention to Ireland, which kingdom 
 was still in its infancy of civilisation. Their good intentions 
 with regard to the sister island were, however, frustrated 
 by James, who desired the Commons to leave Ireland 
 alone, as he considered he was doing all that was necessary 
 for the reformation of that kingdom. The Commons were 
 by no means pleased with this damper to their legislative 
 ardour, and in the debate that ensued on the King's 
 message about Ireland to the House, some of the members 
 freely expressed their discontent. Sir Edward Cecil said : 
 " We desire herein only to assist the King by our informa- 
 tion, and such I take to be the sole and whole intent and 
 desire of the House, and not to share in the honour of the 
 reformation." 5 Another member (Mr. Malet) spoke still 
 stronger. " He said there was a great difference in the 
 information received by the King, and that received by the 
 House. The King thought Ireland had never been in a 
 more flourishing state, and the information Parliament 
 
 1 Commons' Journals p. 543. 
 
 2 Ibid, 
 
 3 Ibid. On May 31, p. 631. 
 
 4 See letter from Sir E. Cecil to Sir E. Conway regarding small arms, given 
 at the end of Chapter I. in Vol. II. 
 
 * Proceedings and Debates of the Commons, 1620-1., i. p. 358.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 351 
 
 received was, that the religion and the state of Ireland were 
 never in a worse state than now, especially for matters of 
 religion ; and he therefore would have them beg his Majesty 
 to give them leave to take further information herein, and 
 then proceed to certify it to his Majesty." * As James had 
 positively declined the offer of the Commons to co-operate 
 with him in his management of Irish affairs, the subject had 
 to be definitely dropped. It is only fair by James to say 
 that Ireland made a rapid stride in civilisation and coloni- 
 sation during his reign, and that the steps he took to 
 reform the Irish were judicious as well as conciliatory. 
 
 The crusade against grievances still went on in Parlia- 
 ment, and there was no lack of work for the committee 
 appointed to investigate the crying abuse of monopolies. 
 On April 30, Sir Edward Cecil, who was on the committee 
 concerning grievances, informed the House "that he 
 knew that a nobleman of this kingdom, having a chest 
 of glasses brought over hither from beyond sea, for his own 
 use, the patentees, by virtue of their patent, seized the 
 same, and kept them away from the same Lord." 2 Sir 
 Thomas Puckering said, " that he, being beyond sea, and 
 sending home a small chest of glass before him, the patentees 
 seized them, and detained them still." 3 The patentees 
 were nine in number, and had been granted, for the space of 
 twenty-one years, the sole monopoly in England for making 
 glass. The price of glass, under these nine monopolists, 
 had risen to an exorbitant sum, and the committee, who 
 had investigated this grievance, produced petitions from 
 the glaziers of Lancashire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, 
 and Hereford, etc., showing how much they were oppressed 
 
 1 Proceedings and Debates t i. p. 360. 
 4 Ibid. 
 3 Ibid.
 
 352 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 by the excessive prices charged for glass. 1 Further 
 investigation into the complaints lodged against the glass 
 patentees revealed many acts of injustice to the manu- 
 facturers and sellers of this article. Accordingly, before 
 the session closed, "it was resolved, by question of the 
 committee, that the patent of glasses is a grievance, both 
 in the creation and execution." 2 
 
 We now come to what is known in the annals of this 
 Parliament as the " Floyd case." This was certainly one of 
 the most extraordinary and most disgraceful affairs ever 
 recorded. A Roman Catholic gentleman, Edward Floyd 
 by name, 3 a barrister by profession, but at this time suffering 
 imprisonment in the Fleet for some offence against the 
 Lords of the Council, was accused of speaking scornfully 
 of the King and Queen of Bohemia, and of rejoicing at 
 Frederick's defeat in the late battle before Prague. His 
 words being reported to the House of Commons, that body 
 took on itself to condemn and pass judgment on a man 
 who denied the words imputed to him, and who, not having 
 been tried, had no means of proving his innocence. The 
 temper of the House, and the feeling against Floyd, may 
 be judged of by the different modes of torture proposed by 
 the members to be inflicted on a man who had not offended 
 against them. Sir Robert Philips said " that he would 
 have him [Floyd] ride with his face to a horse's tail from 
 Westminster to the Tower, with a paper in his hat wherein 
 should be written ' a popish wretch that hath maliciously 
 scandalised his Majesty's children,' and that at the Tower 
 he should be lodged in Little Ease [dungeon] with as 
 much pain as he shall be able to endure without loss or 
 danger of his life." Sir Thomas Roe moved " that since 
 
 1 Proceedings and Debates, pp. 361-2. 
 
 2 Ibid. ii. p. 73. 
 
 1 Some writers call him Lloyd.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 353 
 
 he was committed to the Fleet by the Lords of the Council, 
 he would have them send to the Lords and confer with them 
 touching his punishment" Sir Dudley Digges "would 
 have them first acquaint the Lords and make them sharers 
 in the honour of punishing so vile a subject" Sir George 
 Moore "would have Floyd whipped from hence to the 
 place from whence he came, and then left to the Lords." 
 Sir Francis Seymour ** would have him go to the Tower at 
 a cart's tail with his doublet off, his beads about his neck, 
 and that he should have as many lashes as beads." Sir 
 Edward Giles condemned him " to stand in the pillory at 
 Westminster two or three hours, then to be whipped with 
 as many lashes as he had beads, and to be so likewise 
 whipped at Court Gate, the Temple, and then recommitted 
 to the Fleet, for he would not wish any man to come into 
 a worse prison." Sir Francis Darcy wished M a hole to be 
 burnt through his tongue." Sir Jeremy Horsey thought 
 "slitting his tongue" a fitting punishment Sir Edward 
 Cecil said "they should make a difference between the 
 scandalising of a Prince, and the scandalising of a subject ; 
 he therefore considered boring through the tongue and 
 branding on the forehead a good punishment" Sir George 
 Goring " would have his nose, ears, and tongue cut off, to 
 be whipped at as many stages as he had beads, and to 
 ride to every stage with his face to the horse's tail, and the 
 tail in his hand, and at every stage to swallow a bead ; 
 thus to be whipped to the Tower, and then to be hanged." * 
 * Alone among the popular party, Sandys, the veteran 
 champion of liberty, showed some glimmerings of sense," 
 says Dr. Gardiner in his graphic account of this strange 
 and mad scene. "The real cause of Floyd's offence, he 
 
 > Foe an account of Floyd's case, see C*mme*s> jfammlt, i. p. 601 ; 
 tttJittgs W Afofcr, L pp. 370-1* 
 
 YOU L 2 A
 
 354 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 observed, was the difference in religion. If in his punish- 
 ment his religion were touched he would be looked upon 
 as a martyr. Nor was it proper to whip a gentleman." v 
 Floyd was thereupon sentenced by the House " to be 
 pilloried three times, to ride from station to station on a 
 bare backed horse with his face to the tail, and a paper on 
 his hat explaining the nature of his offence. Lastly, he was 
 to pay a fine of ^i^ooo" 2 It must be said in extenuation 
 of this undue and uncalled for severity, that the members 
 of the House of Commons were " chafing under the self- 
 imposed silence which had for many weeks restrained their 
 tongues from even mentioning the name of the Palatinate," 
 and that they " were in a temper to catch eagerly at the first 
 opportunity which offered itself to give vent to the thoughts 
 which were burning within." 9 Had the Commons been 
 obeyed, the sentence against Floyd would have been carried 
 out to the very letter, but James, who viewed the matter 
 from a dispassionate point of view, interposed before the 
 sentence could be carried out James had justice on his 
 side, and he only spoke the truth when he told the House 
 tney had not the power to punish a man who had not com- 
 mitted any fault against them. James also sent the House 
 a record showing that in the reign of Henry IV. the 
 Commons had acknowledged that they had nothing to 
 do with sentencing offenders. 4 The Commons were very 
 unwilling to accept this ancient record as a precedent, and 
 determined to make a stand for what they considered their 
 privilege. " The Lower House attended the King to plead 
 their privilege to punish Floyd," wrote a contemporary 
 chronicler to a friend. " His Majesty said they could not 
 
 1 See Dr. Gardiner's account in his History of England, iv. pp. 119-124. 
 
 2 Commons' Journals, as before. 
 
 3 Dr. Gardiner's account. 
 * Ibid. p. 122.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 355 
 
 condemn a man judicially whose guilt was unproved, but 
 as Floyd had confessed to him, he would take care he 
 should not go unpunished. The House retired dissatisfied ; 
 bold speech of Sir Edward Cecil thereon." l The bold 
 speech referred to was evidently Cecil's speech regarding a 
 precedent for the punishment of Floyd by the House, in 
 which he made the bold assertion that the King ought 
 to be respectful of his subjects. 2 Sir Edward Sackville 
 spoke at the same time just as strongly regarding the right 
 of the House to punish Floyd, 3 and as he, like Cecil, was 
 devoted to the cause and person of the Queen of Bohemia, 
 they must both be partly absolved of wishing to raise an 
 unconstitutional precedent 
 
 Meanwhile, the House of Lords judged the proceedings 
 of the Commons to be a great infringement of the Lords' 
 rights, and they demanded a conference with the Commons 
 to consider of Floyd's case and punishment. In the debate 
 which this demand produced in the Lower House, we find 
 Sir Edward Cecil upholding the right of the Commons to 
 proceed against delinquents, and he voted " that we do not 
 go to the Lords to move them to patch up our faults." * The 
 King having denied the right of the Commons to punish 
 Floyd, they were obliged to leave the matter in his hands. 
 James turned Floyd over to the Lords, who investigated 
 his case, and condemned him for : 
 
 " i. Rejoicing at losses happened to the King's daughter 
 and children. 
 
 " 2. For discouraging of others, who bear good affection 
 to them. 
 
 " 3. For speaking basely of them. 
 
 1 Chamberlain to Carleton, May 5. S. P. Dom. 
 
 2 Commons' Journals, report for May 2, 1621, p. 604. 
 
 3 Ibid. 
 
 * Commons' Journals^ \. p. 608. 
 
 2 A 2
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 "4. For taking upon him to judge of the rights of 
 kingdoms." 1 
 
 Their judgment was more harsh even than that of the 
 Commons. His fine was raised from 1,000 to 5,000 ; he 
 was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and sentenced 
 to be branded and whipped. 2 A small part of his sentence 
 was remitted by the King, but the greater part of the 
 sentence was, to the everlasting disgrace of King, Lords, 
 and Commons, carried out. 3 Robert Harley, Earl of 
 Oxford, who made a collection of facts relating to the 
 Floyd case, says, " They show how far a zeal against 
 Popery, and for one branch of the Royal family which was 
 supposed to be neglected by King James, and consequently 
 in opposition to him, will carry people against common 
 justice and humanity." * 
 
 The reformation of abuses, however agreeable it was to 
 the nation at large, was viewed in a different manner by 
 those who had so greatly benefited by the practice of 
 these abuses, amongst whom were to be counted some of 
 the highest personages at Court These worthies influenced 
 the King against the Parliament, and he, being very 
 jealous of his prerogative, and all that appertained thereto, 
 was ready enough to believe that Parliament was taking 
 too much on itself, and touching his prerogative too closely, 
 if not altogether overstepping the limits assigned to them 
 in his kingly mind. Being imbued with this idea, James 
 adjourned the Parliament at the very time when the 
 Commons were striking at the roots of several hoary 
 abuses. 6 In the debate which ensued in the Commons, on 
 
 1 Lords' Journals, iii. p. 133. 
 
 * Ibid. p. 134. 
 
 * Chamberlain to Carleton, June 2, 1621. S. P. Dom. 
 
 4 Harl. MSS. 6274 ; Appendix to Proceedings and Debates, ii. 
 
 * On May 7, a grievance was brought into the House against the Com-
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 357 
 
 the House receiving notice to adjourn on June 4, Sir 
 Edward Cecil spoke. " He observed " he said " the House 
 was divided into three sorts of speakers ; free, silent, and 
 reserved speakers ; that it had been a good testimony of 
 the worthiness of the House that at the first they went on so 
 well, and were so well approved of. It is true, he had 
 heard, and did believe, there had been ill offices done to 
 this House by some members of this House ; for, at first 
 sitting, while the King's ear was open to them, there was a 
 good harmony between his Majesty and them ; but, by the 
 carriage of some ill messages, the King hath been mis- 
 informed. 1 He desired they might have a conference with 
 the Lords to join with them in going to the King, and to 
 let his Majesty understand the hearts of this House." 2 It 
 was on this motion resolved that a message should go to 
 the Lords to desire a free conference, which message was 
 accordingly delivered to the Lords by Sir Edward Cecil. 
 The Lords appointed a meeting for a free conference the 
 same day. " In vain the Commons appealed to the Peers 
 to aid them in obtaining a change in the King's intentions." 3 
 The day of adjournment was fixed for June 4. Much 
 dissatisfaction was felt. Many speeches were made, which 
 savoured more of truth than prudence, in that age when 
 free speech, even in Parliament, was held to be one of the 
 seven deadly sins, and punished as such. The boldest, 
 truest, and most needful speech of the whole session, was 
 made on June 4, the day of adjournment. This speech was 
 
 pany of Merchant Adventurers. Sir Edward Cecil spoke against some of the 
 Company's practices in a short but pithy speech. Proceedings and Debates, ii. 
 
 P- 35- 
 
 1 Sir Edwin Sandys in a speech on this occasion spoke of " the many rrisin- 
 
 formations his Majesty had touching the business of this House." Proceedings 
 and Debates, i. p. 365. 
 
 * Parliamentary History, i. p. 1279. 
 
 ' Dr. Gardiner's History, iv. p. 127.
 
 358 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 made by Sir John Perrot, who for long had wished to bring 
 the House to discuss a matter more important even than 
 abuses, and the trade of the country. Taking advantage 
 of a discussion in the House upon the mode of levying 
 customs at the ports, Perrot rose and said : 
 
 " The House had shown itself careful of the ports, but 
 there was something still more necessary, namely, to provide 
 for that port which would be the surest resting-place, and 
 which would procure for them a perpetual rest when the 
 merchandise, trade, and traffic of this life would have an 
 end. True religion must be maintained. Abroad it was 
 in sad case. At home it was in danger. At the beginning 
 of the Parliament the King had declared that if the 
 Palatinate could not be recovered by treaty, he would 
 adventure his blood and life in the cause. Let them, 
 therefore, before they separated, make a public declaration 
 that, if the treaty failed, they would, upon their return, be 
 ready to adventure their lives and estates for the main- 
 tenance of the cause of God, and of his Majesty's royal 
 issue." * Hardly had Perrot sat down, before Sir Edward 
 Cecil rose and said, " This declaration comes from Heaven. 
 It will do more for us than if we had ten thousand soldiers 
 on the march." 3 . Perrot's speech and Cecil's addendum 
 were received with " much joy, and a general consent of 
 the whole House," the members " lifting up their hats in 
 their hands as high as they could hold them, as a visible 
 testimony of their unanimous consent in such sort that the 
 like had scarce ever been seen in Parliament." 3 
 
 Cecil 4 and a few other members were appointed to draw 
 up this resolution of the House. This was at once done. 
 
 1 Dr. Gardiner's History, iv. pp. 128-9. 
 
 2 Parliamentary History, i. p. 1293. 
 
 3 Proceedings and Debates, ii. p. 1 70. 
 
 4 Commons' Journals, i. p. 631.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 359 
 
 " Again, when the declaration had been read, the hats were 
 waved high in the air. Again the shouts of acclamation 
 rang out cheerily." 1 Thus ended the session. Parliament 
 was adjourned until November 14 ; excepting the subsidy 
 bills, and some naturalisation bills, 2 no bills whatever had 
 been passed. But a blow had been struck against mono- 
 polies, bribery and corrupt practices in high places, which 
 did incalculable good, and which must ever make the first 
 session of this Parliament a memorable and happy one to 
 the end of time. 
 
 In January, 1621, six Commissioners were sent over to 
 England by the States-General to sound James as to his 
 intentions regarding an alliance with the United Provinces, 
 in view of hostilities recommencing between the States and 
 Spain this spring. It was characteristic of James to answer 
 a question by asking another in return. When the Dutch 
 Commissioners asked him in plain language what he meant 
 to do for the upholders of the Protestant cause, he answered 
 by demanding the intentions of the States regarding the her- 
 ring trade and other irrelevant matters. The Commissioners 
 made a prolonged stay in England, but met with little civility 
 from the King, beyond being invited, in common with the 
 Dutch, Polish, Venetian, French, and other ambassadors, to 
 a tournament in the tilt-yard on March 24, the day of the 
 King's accession to the crown of England. On that day we 
 read that, "Sir Noel Caron and the six Commissioners 
 from the States were conducted by Sir Edward Cecill to 
 the chamber next the gate at the lower end of the tilt-yard, 
 
 1 Dr. Gardiner, as before. 
 
 * A bill to naturalise " Mrs. Albinia Cecill, daughter of Sir Edward Cecill, 
 Knt, born in Holland" was brought into the Lower House on May 2, 
 and passed on the bill being read a third time. Commons' Journals, i. p. 625. 
 This bill was read a third time and passed by the Lords on May 29. 
 Lords' Journals, iii. p. 139.
 
 360 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 and thus with his company saw the tylting." l It appears that 
 James had given the States some cause to believe he in- 
 tended co-operating with them against Spain as far as the 
 preservation of the Palatinate was concerned, as the British 
 Ambassador at the Hague had been told to make prepa- 
 rations for 10 or 12,000 men. 2 This may have been as a 
 blind to Parliament, and as a consequence of what James 
 had declared in his speech to both Houses. Whatever 
 motive the sudden warlike order had proceeded from, it 
 soon appeared that it meant nothing, and the States had 
 to face the coming storm alone. 
 
 Early in March, Pecquius, the Chancellor of Brabant, 
 arrived at the Hague. He was the bearer of important 
 propositions from the Archdukes, on the acceptance or 
 rejection of which depended peace or war. Pecquius, 
 finding the populace " much stirred against him," and in 
 fear of his life, demanded the protection of a guard. This 
 favour the Prince of Orange granted. No one was allowed, 
 on pain of heavy punishment, to visit the Chancellor at 
 his lodging, for fear of corruption and collusion. 3 The 
 day after his arrival the Chancellor was summoned to the 
 Assembly of the States-General. In the names of the 
 Archdukes the ambassador demanded that the revolted 
 Provinces should return to their former allegiance. The 
 gauntlet had been thrown down, and once more the brave 
 little Republic picked it up and accepted the challenge. 
 The twelve years' truce was virtually at an end. 
 
 In the phraseology of that time Pecquius was sent 
 " packing home." He was so apprehensive of the rage of 
 the people that he departed from the Hague at four in the 
 
 1 Finetti Philoxensis, p. 77. 
 
 8 Carleton to Calvert, March i$.S. P. Holland. 
 
 3 Ibid., March 20. S. /'. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 361 
 
 morning with twelve musketeers to guard him. 1 He took 
 ship as soon as possible, but met with the grossest incivility 
 at Rotterdam. 2 
 
 Hardly had Pecquius left the Hague before news came 
 that the King and Queen of Bohemia were journeying 
 thither from the frontier, and preparations were made to 
 receive and house them. 
 
 Meanwhile letters passed backwards and forwards be- 
 tween Secretary Calvert and the British Ambassador at 
 the Hague. Calvert informed the latter, as a great secret, 
 some weeks before the arrival of Frederick and his family, 
 that the Prince Palatine (as he termed him) had resigned 
 his will and put himself entirely into King James's hands. 3 
 Frederick was in a state to put himself into any one's 
 hands just then. Deprived of his patrimony and his 
 Bohemian Crown, a fugitive and an outcast from Germany, 
 whose Emperor had just proclaimed Frederick and his 
 partisans to be traitors, in an imperial ban, 4 the ex-King of 
 Bohemia had come in a forlorn state to a strange country 
 which was from henceforth to be his home. Warm-hearted 
 and impulsive, Elizabeth had openly declared her intention 
 of paying her father a visit. In her adversity she yearned 
 for her native land, her father, and only brother. Her 
 mother had died two years previously, and her remaining 
 parent she had not seen since her marriage, eight years 
 previously. As we have said before, James was an 
 affectionate and kind-hearted father, but political difficulties 
 had sprung up like weeds in his garden of love, and sooner 
 than take energetic means to eradicate them, he allowed 
 them to grow before his eyes until they finally hid the 
 
 1 Carleton to Calvert, as before. 
 
 * Ibid. t March 22. S. P. Holland. 
 
 3 Calvert to Carleton, March I. S. P. Holland. 
 
 4 In January, 1620-1.
 
 362 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 natural products of the ground from his view. We have 
 it on good authority that James secretly instructed his 
 ambassador in Holland to throw cold water on Elizabeth's 
 plan of coming to England. 1 The ambassador promised 
 to do this, 2 and we may be sure he conscientiously did his 
 duty, as Elizabeth gave up the idea, and father and child 
 never again met on earth. 
 
 Although the truce virtually expired in April, neither 
 belligerent took the field until July. 3 The death of Arch- 
 duke Albert, governor of the Netherlands, in this month, 
 made no difference in the state of affairs. The Spaniards 
 were the first to take the field, and they opened the 
 campaign by attacking Juliers, which was garrisoned by 
 six companies of English, and eight of Dutch and French 
 foot, and one troop of cuirassiers. Count Henry Van den 
 Berg commanded the Spanish army, which consisted of 
 14,000 men and a battering train. The Prince of Orange 
 assembled the States' forces at Schenkenschaus early in 
 August, and having made a bridge across the Rhine, 
 transported his army into the Duchy of Cleves, and 
 marched straight to Dornick, a village close to Emerich. 
 
 " The difficulties of this day's march," says an old historian, in 
 describing the march of the States' troops from Schenkenschaus to 
 Dornick, " were something great by reason of wind and rain, 
 whose storms being violent did beat directly in our soldiers' faces, 
 and besides, the sands grew plashie (sic) with the raine, and did 
 much incomodate the marching of our army. Yet labour sur- 
 mounting these impediments, they arrived at Dornicke about the 
 shutting in of the evening, some few straglers being left behind. 
 Here they lodged that night in the boores' houses, where they 
 were afterwards billeted by order from his Excellency ; who lay 
 
 1 See Carleton's letter to Calvert, April 4.- P. Holland. 
 
 8 Ibid. 
 
 3 Sir Horace Vere to Calvert, July 7. S. P. Holland.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 363 
 
 to the eastwards of our quarters in a younker's or gentleman's 
 house not far from the old Rhine. His brother Henricke lay 
 near to the parish church, and close by the quarters of the Lord 
 Lisle and Colonel Ogle." l 
 
 The same historian tells us that the enemy had three 
 armies in the field one besieging Sluys in Flanders, 
 another hovering about Xanten, watching the movements 
 of the States' army, and a third army, under Van den Berg, 
 besieging Juliers. 2 
 
 Amongst the many notable persons in the States' camp, 
 were the ex-King of Bohemia, Christian Duke of Brunswick, 
 the Earl of Essex, and Sir Henry Rich (afterwards Earl 
 of Holland). " His Ma tle of Bohemey (sic) is every daye 
 in our quarter, but lodges at Emerick" wrote a gallant 
 English captain to Secretary Calvert. 3 The same officer 
 also informs the ambassador in this letter from the camp 
 that, " Generall Cecyll, by order from his Ex y , commands 
 our Nation this year." * Cecil had every reason to be 
 proud of the troops he commanded. Sir Dudley Carleton, 
 in a letter home at this time, thus refers to the army at 
 Dornick : 
 
 " The King [of Bohemia] is now at the camp w th his Ex y to 
 gayne the experience of this country discipline of which he found 
 the want at Prague. His Ex y lodgeth in villages betwixt Emerick 
 and Rees, strong 20 foote and 4000 horse. The Marquis 
 Spinola, on the other side of the Rhyn w th 30,000 foote and 
 6000 horse, having layde a bridge over that river nere wesell. 
 Nether of the armies are intrenched, nor have hetherto made 
 huttes for the soldiers, so as there is no likelyhood of theyr long 
 abode where they are. There were never fairer troopes of our 
 
 1 Grimston's Netherlands (continued by W. Crosse), pp. 1412-3. 
 Ibid. 
 
 , Captain T. Couldwell to Calvert, September 3/13. S. P. Germany. 
 Ibid.
 
 364 LIFE AMD TIMES OF 
 
 nation in this service, nor never more adventurers of qualitie. 
 My L d of Essex remaines in this armie without returning into the 
 Palatinite. S r Hen Rich came this way the last week and is gon 
 to the armie w th six good horse and other solderly equipage, for 
 w 011 I can not but comend him, the comon fault of our countrimen 
 of the best ranke, having bin heretofore to come over to these 
 warres rather like spectators then actors." x 
 
 Two letters written by Sir Edward Cecil from the camp 
 near Emerich are extant. 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO THE EARL OF SALISBURY. 
 
 " MY VERY GOOD LORD, 
 
 " The servis y r lo. favours have bound mee unto, will con- 
 tinuallie bee y r Agent to call upon mee wheresoever I am, when 
 I may have the meanes of presenting y w" 1 it, not to forgett y. 
 
 " Though wee are in the field, wee have littell to wryt of, not- 
 withstanding the great preparations of the Enemie, three Armies 
 they have on fote ; one of them our neighbours, a second in the 
 land of Juliers, and the thirde in flanders, where it hath had a 
 repulce. What the Enime might have done had hee beene 
 sooner in action, wee dispute not, but the wonderfull deale of 
 raine that fell, is supposed his excuse for marching so late, and 
 the same weather is not yet ceased. So that water is the thing 
 the states have continuallie beene beholding to. If any nwe 
 occatione come to my hand to employ the next messenger w th 
 all, I shall bee glade of the occation to tell y againe that I am 
 " y r lo. 
 
 " y r faithful servant and kinsman 
 " to be commanded, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 " I can not forgitt my humble servis to y r Noble lady, and my 
 servis to S r Arter Capell, 2 whoe I can nether forgitt, when I looke 
 upon his handsome and vallante brother heare, whoe hath hade 
 
 1 Carleton to Chamberlain, September 5, 1621. S. P. Holland, 
 
 * Doubtless one of the eleven sons of Sir Arthur Capel, of Hertfordshire, 
 
 whose grandson and successor, Sir Arthur Capel, was created Lord Capel of 
 
 Hadlam, and perished on the scaffold, March 9, 1648-9.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 365 
 
 as bitter a marche as ever I have scene thes 20 years w tb out 
 
 shrinkine. 
 
 " by Embricke, this 13 of September. " l [1621] 
 
 Add. " To the Rig. Honorable and his very good lorde the 
 Earle of Salbury." 
 
 End. " S r Ed. Cecyll to me." 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR GEORGE CALVERT. 
 
 "RIGHT HONORABLE, 
 
 " Y are one of those true friends in whome I have found a 
 good interest. My employments in the world have not beene 
 such as were able to bring me much nearer unto y in y r courtesies, 
 then only the acknowledging and the hopes I have to become 
 worthy of them. I know not y r H. desier, how fair it reaches, 
 to know of any prociding here, yet I cannot chuse but wryte 
 something to lett y know that in time of warr there never was 
 so little done, yet the preparations of o r enemie made us look 
 for some great matter this sommer w* his 3 Armies and a great 
 expense. We are loged between Emrik and Rees for the defence 
 of Rees, which one of these Armies points at in all probabilitie to 
 no purpose, the 2. army lootes and pilfers, the 3. at Sluse, where 
 they have received a Repulce. The element of water hath beene 
 alwayes the States' friend; this yeare in ill weather it hath 
 exceeded in frendship to them, having made the defendant side 
 stronger than the assailant, and is gathered for the reason why 
 our enemy hath done nothing. If the weather may excuse them, 
 I am sure it will us, and myselfe likewise, that I have no more to 
 
 wryt. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 " If y have any occatione to imploy any one here, change not 
 my servis for any others, if I may be accounted as able to performe 
 it, so I remaine, 
 
 l< most affectionitly to doe y servis, 
 
 " ED. CECYLL. 
 
 1 Cecil Papers, Hatfield, 129/73.
 
 366 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 " By Emrick, this 13 
 of September [1621]." 
 " For Mr. Seecritary." l 
 End. "13 Sept 1621, 
 
 S r Edward Cecyll to me, 
 brought by M r . Pringle, 
 rec d in St. Martin's lane, 
 13 Octob., 1621." 
 
 The rain, dirt, want of forage and proper accommodation, 
 bred great sickness in the States' army. 2 The British 
 troops suffered more than any, as they were principally 
 employed by the Prince of Orange in the construction of 
 new works at Rees and in manning the forts when con- 
 structed. 3 Most of the 4,000 men employed in guarding 
 these works perished 4 ; not by the hand of the enemy, as, 
 excepting a cavalry skirmish in which Prince Henry and 
 the Duke of Brunswick were surprised and nearly captured 
 by the enemy, the two armies never appear to have been 
 engaged, but by sickness and disease, which proved a much 
 worse enemy than Spinola and his legions. The Prince of 
 Orange took great precautions in guarding the Dutch 
 frontier against the enemy. In this he was eminently suc- 
 cessful, but it obliged him to keep to a defensive, and not 
 an offensive, strategy, and he was unable to march to the 
 relief of Juliers. Thus the autumn drifted away, and the 
 rigours of winter obliged both armies to retire into winter 
 quarters early in December. 6 The British, Dutch and 
 French troops returned to their wonted garrisons much 
 
 1 S. P. Germany, 1621. 
 
 2 Grimston's Netherlands, p. 1414. 
 
 * Ibid. ; see also Captain Couldwell's letter to Calvert from the camp, 
 September 3/13. S. P. Germany. 
 
 * Grimston, as before. 
 5 Ibid. p. 1415.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 367 
 
 reduced in numbers and dispirited by the hardships they 
 had undergone in a fruitless campaign. 
 
 Parliament had reassembled on November 20, and there 
 was every prospect of a stormy session, as indeed proved 
 to be the case. 
 
 During the recess Sir Edwin Sandys had been arrested 
 and imprisoned by the King's order, for his activity and 
 energy in promoting certain affairs in Parliament which 
 were displeasing to his Majesty. This was the real cause of 
 his arrest, though other causes were hinted at. The Earls 
 of Southampton and Oxford were also put under restraint. 
 The former had committed the grievous fault in the King's 
 eyes of furthering the cause of Frederick. It was said " he 
 had encouraged the Palsgrave in his wars." l Oxford had 
 been heard to denounce the intended match between the 
 Prince of Wales and the Infanta of Spain, which was 
 regarded as high treason by the prime mover in this ill- 
 judged scheme. These arrests had greatly irritated both 
 Houses, added to which the complete breakdown of the 
 King's foreign policy, the growing power of the Roman 
 Catholics, the low estate of Protestantism, and the perilous 
 state of the Palatinate, had roused both Lords and Com- 
 mons, as representing the pulse of the whole nation, to a 
 higher state of resistance against their sovereign's actions 
 than they had ever yet dared to display. Before detailing 
 the measures proposed by Parliament to remedy the state 
 of affairs at home and abroad, it is necessary to give a 
 short summary of the transactions abroad during the last 
 six months, as they were to some extent consequent on 
 the peaceable demonstrations of James and the warlike 
 measures of Frederick and his party. 
 
 In May of this year the Princes of the Union disbanded 
 
 1 The Diary of Walter Yonge (Camden Soc. pub.), p. 41.
 
 368 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 their army. The cause of Protestantism, when coupled 
 with, and one may say saddled with, the cause of the 
 ex-King of Bohemia, seemed utterly hopeless. An old 
 historian speaks of these Princes of the Union as " spun- 
 geous, hollow hearted Princes," l but had they met with the 
 support they had every reason to expect from England, 
 Denmark and Saxony, they might have acted very 
 differently. Deprived of his supporters in Germany, 
 Frederick, in an evil hour, entered into negotiations with 
 Count Mansfeld, and put his cause into that most reckless 
 and most unprincipled commander's hands. This hasty 
 act was one of the greatest difficulties James and his 
 ambassadors had to contend with in their strenuous efforts 
 to bring about a peace between Ferdinand and Frederick. 
 A stone had been set rolling which no one could stop, 
 and which carried misfortune and devastation in its wake. 
 The enraged Ferdinand hurled a second ban at Mansfeld 
 more terrible than the first. 2 It was not fear of the con- 
 sequences that made Mansfeld swerve from his allegiance 
 to Frederick and enter into negotiations with the Duke of 
 Bavaria and the Archduchess Isabella. Fear had no place 
 in that bold warrior's breast, and he never gave consequences 
 a thought, but as a soldier of fortune, without any religious 
 principles to keep him straight, he was at all times ready 
 to sell his services to the highest bidder. His army was 
 composed of men who only looked forward to plunder and 
 rapine, and not to the triumph of the cause they fought for. 
 Such a leader, and such an army, in a religious war were 
 sure to do more harm than good, in the long run, to the side 
 
 1 Crosse (in Grimston's Netherlands), p. 1449. 
 
 2 "The Emperor hath again renued the Ban against the lo. of Mansfelt, 
 who had almost been murthered by a french man. He is taken and confesseth 
 it to have been at the instigation of the Jesuits." Extract of a letter from 
 Frankfort, the 4/14 August, 1621. S. P. Germany.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 369 
 
 they fought for. Yet so great was Mansfeld's power in 
 raising large armies to follow him whithersoever he listed, 
 that both Roman Catholics and Protestants tried to come 
 to terms with him. From Bohemia, Mansfeld marched 
 to the Upper Palatinate, where he soon had a force of 
 20,000 men at his back, the remnant of the Union army. 
 Maximilian of Bavaria, as Ferdinand's lieutenant, had 
 invaded the Upper Palatinate, and with the promise of 
 acquiring that territory from the Emperor, when conquered, 
 he had thrown every possible obstacle in the way of a 
 peace between Frederick and Ferdinand. The sudden 
 arrival of Mansfeld with his army was a serious check to 
 the Bavarian army. Maximilian, knowing the kind of man 
 he had to deal with, made an offer to Mansfeld which 
 was ultimately accepted. 1 The offer was, that for certain 
 pecuniary benefits to be received, Mansfeld should disband 
 his army and not serve against the Emperor. A treaty 
 was drawn up accordingly and sent to Mansfeld to sign. 
 To do Mansfeld justice, we must remember what a pre- 
 carious position he was in. Serving a master who could 
 give him little or no pay for himself and his soldiers, placed 
 between two hostile armies (the Bavarian and Austrian), 
 and with no succours to fall back upon, his was no agree- 
 able position, and though it cannot excuse his treachery* 
 which by all accounts had been long premeditated, still 
 it must be allowed that the difficulties of his situation 
 had something to do with his acceptance of a dishonour- 
 able proposal. We are told he signed the treaty and with- 
 drew his troops to the vicinity of Nuremberg. 2 At this 
 critical moment Lord Digby appeared at Nuremberg and 
 changed the whole aspect of affairs. 
 
 1 E. de Mamfeldt, \. pp. 514-6. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 B
 
 37O LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Digby, the most able and the most far-seeing of all 
 James's ambassadors, had been sent in the summer of this 
 year to Vienna, to mediate a peace between Ferdinand 
 and Frederick. The latter had consented to put himself 
 entirely into James's hands, and if he had kept his word, 
 and made due submission to Ferdinand, renouncing at the 
 same time all pretensions to the Crown of Bohemia, he 
 might have been restored to his electorate, or a part of it. 
 Such pressure was put on Ferdinand, and his affairs were 
 in so unsatisfactory a state in the summer of 1621, that if 
 Frederick had remained perfectly passive, there is good 
 reason to believe Lord Digby's mission to Vienna would 
 not have been in vain. The Archduchess Isabella had been 
 persuaded by Sir George Chaworth, envoy from James, to 
 intercede with Ferdinand on Frederick's behalf, 1 and even 
 Spain, for real or pretended reasons, raised her voice in the 
 Elector Palatine's behalf. 2 The auspicious moment, how- 
 ever, for effecting a peace and reconciliation, was lost, never 
 to return. The same events which depressed the Emperor, 
 raised new hopes in Frederick's youthful breast. His 
 conduct reminds one of the old adage : 
 
 " The devil when ill a monk would be ; 
 The devil when well, the devil a monk was he." 
 
 The very fact of Frederick joining the States' army, and 
 proceeding with it to Emerich irritated the Emperor, and 
 Mansfeld's invasion of the Palatinate in the name of the 
 ex-King of Bohemia destroyed the chance of peace. It is 
 true that Mansfeld agreed to disband his army, but before 
 
 1 Sir George Chaworth's Journal in the Lnseley MSS. edited by A. J. 
 Kempe, p. 464, et seq. 
 
 2 It was said that Count Mansfeld intercepted a letter from the Emperor to 
 the King of Spain, in which he much blamed him for soliciting him to give up 
 the Palatinate and to trust the King of England with it, being a heretic. 
 Walter Yonge's Diary, p. 47.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 371 
 
 the treaty was duly carried out, Lord Digby had appeared 
 on the scene, and so remonstrated with the versatile 
 Count, that once more Mansfeld turned round, and to the 
 utter surprise of friends and enemies alike, marched with 
 his whole army to the Lower Palatinate, after tearing up 
 the Duke of Bavaria's treaty, and sending him a message 
 of defiance. 1 
 
 Mansfeld's arrival in the Lower Palatinate was hailed 
 with joy by Horace Vere's little band of troops, who were 
 garrisoning the important towns of Heidelberg, Frankenthal 
 and Mannheim. The Spanish general, Cordova, was at that 
 time laying siege to Frankenthal, of which place Captain 
 John Burroughs was governor. Mansfeld's arrival com- 
 pelled Cordova to raise the siege and retire. With the 
 exception of the three towns named above, all the Lower 
 Palatinate v/as in the hands of the Spaniards, and the 
 Upper Palatinate was overrun by the victorious Bavarian 
 troops. Lord Digby hastened his return to London, and on 
 his arrival made James acquainted with all these important 
 facts. Parliament, which had been prorogued, was sum- 
 moned to meet on Nov. 20. James wrote once more to 
 Ferdinand on behalf of Frederick, who had been induced 
 some time before to leave the Dutch camp and return to 
 the Hague. The pith of the King's letter was, that if 
 Ferdinand would reinstate Frederick, in the Palatinate, 
 James would guarantee that Frederick should renounce for 
 himself and his son all pretence of right and claim to the 
 Crown of Bohemia, and crave the Emperor's pardon upon 
 his knee. If Ferdinand declined to do this, James gave 
 him to understand there must be war between them. 2 
 
 1 E. de Mansfeldt, i. p. 516. 
 
 2 James I. to the Emperor Ferdinand, November 12, 1621. Cabala, 
 Ft. ii., p. 113. 
 
 2 B 2
 
 372 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Parliament was opened (in consequence of the King's 
 being detained at Newmarket by illness) by the Lord 
 Chancellor Williams. 1 The Lord Keeper, after declaring 
 all that his Majesty had done for the nation, by issuing 
 proclamations against no less than thirty-seven grievances 
 complained of by the people, and by doing all in his power 
 to bring about a peace on the continent, and the restitution 
 of the Palatinate, informed the Commons that the King 
 had sent ^40,000* to support the army in the Lower 
 Palatinate. He finished by demanding a supply. Lord 
 Digby, who had been commissioned by James to inform 
 Parliament of the results of his mission to Vienna, next 
 spoke. After detailing what had happened abroad, Digby 
 informed both Houses that he had discovered it was the 
 Emperor's intention to bestow the Upper Palatinate on the 
 Duke of Bavaria. It was therefore absolutely necessary, 
 he added, both to keep Count Mansfeld's army together, 
 and to send a strong supply of British troops to the 
 Palatinate. 3 
 
 The Lord Treasurer (Lord Cranfield) said his Majesty's 
 coffers were empty, having been exhausted by the sums 
 employed in the defence of the Palatinate, and a liberal 
 supply was therefore needed. 
 
 The Commons met to debate the King's message on 
 
 1 John Williams, Dean of Westminster, Bishop of Lincoln, had been advanced 
 to the dignity of Lord Chancellor of England, on July 20, 1621. 
 
 8 Rushworth, i. p. 39. ^30,000 appears to have been the sum sent by 
 James early in November. See a letter from Sir D. Carleton to J. Chamberlain, 
 dated March 9, 1621-2, in which he complains of "a troublesome office 
 of receiving and disbursing 30 . sent about three months since to the King 
 and Queen of Bohemia out of England, which was putt upon me by his Maj. 
 commandment, and I leave it to you to imagine that this sum being wholly 
 expected on one side by Count Mansfeld for his troops in the field, on the 
 other by my Lord General Vere for his garrisons, there be many gaping after 
 it for payment of debts, how hard it was to feed so many pigeons with one 
 beane." S. P, Holland, 1622. 
 
 * Rushworth, p. 40.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 373 
 
 Nov. 26. After some very animated debates concerning 
 the alarming decline of the Protestant religion, the growing 
 power of the Roman Catholics (both which occurrences 
 were justly laid to the intended marriage of the Prince to a 
 Spanish Princess), and likewise the necessity for a more 
 decided policy as regarded the Palatinate, the Commons 
 drew up a remonstrance against the growth of popery, and 
 the Spanish match, advising the King to take his sword 
 into his hand for the speedy and effectual reconquest of 
 the Palatinate. 1 James no sooner heard of the intended 
 remonstrance of the Commons, than he wrote to the 
 Speaker, and sharply rebuked the House for debating on 
 matters which he asserted were far above their reach and 
 capacity ; forbidding them to meddle with anything that 
 regarded his government or deep matters of state, and not 
 to concern themselves about his son's marriage with the 
 daughter of Spain. 2 This remonstrance, and the answer it 
 met with, form a good illustration of the distrust and ill- 
 feeling which had unhappily crept up between the King 
 and Parliament, and which were to bear such bitter fruit in 
 the subsequent reign. From a letter of Prince Charles to 
 the Marquis of Buckingham, written at this time, it would 
 appear that the Prince shared his father's low estimate of 
 what the duty of a Parliament consisted in. 
 
 PRINCE CHARLES TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 "STEENIE, 
 
 " This day the Lower House has given the King a subsidy, and 
 are likewise resolved to send a message humbly to entreat him to 
 end this session before Christmas. I confess that this they have 
 done is not so great a matter, that the King need to be indulgent 
 over them for it ; yet, on the other side (for his reputation abroad 
 
 1 Rush wortn |. 41. 2 Ibid. p. 43.
 
 374 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 at this time), I would not wholly discontent them ; therefore my 
 opinion is, that the King should grant them a session at this 
 time ; but withal I should have him command them not to speak 
 any more of Spain, whether it be of that war, or my marriage. 1 
 
 " This, in my opinion, does neither suffer them to encroach 
 upon the King's authority, nor give them just cause of discontent- 
 ment. I think you will find that all those of the council that the 
 King trusts most, are likewise of this mind. Sir Edward Cecil 
 wrote me a letter from the army, of much stuff, but it was of 
 fashion ; the most of the letter was of reasons why the King 
 should enter into a war for the defence of the palatinate, and trust 
 no more treaties. But the end of it was that he might be employed 
 in it. Now, in earnest, I wish the gentleman well, but yet I 
 would not have Sir Horace Vere (who has both endured so much 
 misery, and so good service there) either to be discouraged or 
 disgraced ; therefore I think the King shall do well to employ 
 Cecil, but I would not have him come over other's head. So, 
 praying you commend my humble service to the King, I rest, 
 " yours more than can be expressed, and 
 
 " as much as can be thought, 
 
 "CHARLES P." 2 
 
 This letter explains Sir Edward Cecil's absence from the 
 Parliament. He did not return to England until the 
 middle of December, and after the Commons had addressed 
 a second remonstrance to the King, which sufficiently 
 
 1 "It was strangely reported also at this time that the Spaniards had pro- 
 mised a restitution of the Palatinate to the Prince Elector, which gave the 
 King great content. It is possible that he [Philip] hearing of the successful 
 proceedings of the later parliament, and how much the English desired war, 
 fearing a greater danger, meant really to have performed that promise ; but, 
 hearing that it was dissolved, to the great grief and discontent of the whole 
 kingdom, they grew secure of any great action to be attempted from hence, 
 and so altered their former resolution, for to this day they could never be 
 drawn to any such restitution." Harkian MSS. 
 
 2 Halliwell's Letters of the Kings of England, ii. pp. 161-2. See also Harl. 
 MSS. 6987, art. 96. This letter is undated, but it was evidently written on 
 November 28, as Chamberlain in a letter to Carleton dated December I, 
 says, the Commons agreed to grant the King a subsidy on the previous 
 Wednesday, which was the 28th of November. S. P. Do/n., 1621.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 375 
 
 showed that they knew their own strength and dignity. 1 
 The second remonstrance was couched in still stronger 
 language than the first, and contained this plain-spoken bit 
 of advice, viz : "that the voice of Bellona must be now 
 heard, and not the voice of a turtle ; that there was no hope 
 of peace, and his Majesty must either abandon his children 
 or else declare war." 2 James sent a copious reply to the 
 second remonstrance, again advising the Commons to keep 
 to their proper sphere, and plainly telling them they had no 
 title to interpose with their advice except when he was 
 pleased to ask for it. Their privileges, he said, were derived 
 from the grace and permission of his ancestors, and if they 
 wished him to maintain and preserve their privileges they 
 must contain themselves within the limits of their duty. 3 
 Hardly had the Commons recovered from their consternation 
 at this reply, before another letter of the King's, on the 
 same subject, addressed to Secretary Calvert, was made 
 known to them. This letter was of a very conciliatory 
 nature, and modified, though it did not retract some of the 
 pretensions he had arbitrarily laid claim to. In the debate 
 that ensued on the reading of the King's letter in the 
 House, on Monday December 17, Sir E. Cecil took a part, 
 and in a short speech, said, " he would have them go on 
 with the bills and business of the House, if it be but to 
 show their thankfulness to his Majesty for his gracious 
 message ; but he would principally have them appoint a 
 committee to consider of their privileges. He was glad to 
 see by a precedent even now showed by Sir Edward Coke, 
 that it had been an ancient use that on discontent the 
 House hath use to be silent, and it was now no new thing." 4 
 
 Rushworth, i. p. 45. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 Ibid., pp. 50-2. 
 
 Parliamentary ffiilory, i. p. 1353.
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 Sir Thomas Wentworth, Sir E. Coke, and other 
 members had moved that the privileges of the House 
 should be set down in writing by way of protestation. 
 Their advice was followed, and a committee was formed to 
 draw up the protestation of the House, and enter it in the 
 journals of the House. This memorable protest asserted 
 " that the liberties, franchises, privileges and jurisdictions 
 of parliament are the ancient and undoubted birthright and 
 inheritance of the subjects of England." 
 
 When James was informed of this proceeding, he de- 
 termined to dissolve Parliament He came to Whitehall 
 on December 30, and having sent for the journals of the 
 House, he tore out the page recording the protestation, in 
 the presence of the Privy Council and Judges. He then 
 prorogued the Parliament, and soon after dissolved it by 
 proclamation. Sir Edward Coke 1 and several leading 
 members of the House were committed to prison, and others 
 were sent to Ireland, 2 ostensibly to act as commissioners, 
 but in reality to get them out of the way for a time. 
 
 It would appear from a letter of Sir Edward Cecil's, 
 written in the spring of this year, that he had a house at 
 Chelsea, where he resided when in England. This letter 
 has been reserved for the end of this chapter, as its contents 
 are entirely irrelevant to any subject before treated of, but 
 being a characteristic letter, and referring as it does to 
 one of the most interesting churches in London, it would 
 be a pity to omit it altogether. Space does not allow of 
 the answer to this letter, or of Cecil's second letter on the 
 subject, being given here, but it may be stated that the 
 disputed matter was satisfactorily arranged. 
 
 1 Sir E. Coke had been created Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 1613, 
 but having lost the favour of James by his opposition to the illegal exercise of 
 the royal prerogative, he was displaced in 1616, and was returned to Parliament 
 in 1621. 
 
 2 Chamberlain to Carlcton, March 9, 1621-2. -S. P. Do HI.
 
 GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 377 
 
 SIR E. CECIL TO SIR JOHN LAWRENCE^ 
 " SIR, 
 
 "I received a letter from you wherein you tel me of 
 exceptions you take at a pue I made in the Church at Chelsea, 
 which I had then answered if your dwelling had beene so well 
 knowne to mee as mine is to you. You pretend a claime of 
 royaltie by inheritance unto it. I send you now an account of my 
 self and my purpose touching your claime. When I came into the 
 Church I found all men accommodated with pues, speciallie you 
 and your house, sufficientlie becoming your person and qualitie. 
 I intruded upon no man, but found out an unhandsome neglected 
 corner, imployed in nothing but for the roome of an old rotten 
 chest Seeing everie man served, I thought it no iniurie to goe 
 into that poore corner to serve God in. I have been at the charge 
 of the pue in that place, which was never put to this use before. 
 You take a rent for your owne, and make use of my charge. I 
 know not what greatnes belonges unto you that you cannot 
 content yourself with a reasonable proportion in so little a 
 Church, nor what strange kind of malice it is you beare mee that 
 you seeke to keepe mee out of a place in the Church that till my 
 coming into it you never made account of to serve God in, and I 
 believe not now, but to serve yo r owne humour in. In such a 
 case there is a simile of a Dogge in a Manger that may not unfitly 
 be applied unto it. Now for your authoritie and inheritance. I 
 cannot understand the iustnes of it. In my minde these are 
 thinges given in generall to the parish, especiallie when they 
 concerne groundes that have not beene used and are to be disposed 
 of by the Churchwardens. For my Grandfather and some other 
 of my frends have made pues in St. Clementes, 2 and St. Marline's, 3 
 and wee their children can challenge no right but what the parish 
 
 1 Sir John Lawrence, Knt., of Chelsea and of Delaford in the parish of Iver, 
 co. Bucks, was created a baronet in 1628. He married Grisel, daughter 
 and one of the co-heirs, of Gervase Gibbons, by whom he had a son, John, 
 afterwards Lord Mayor of London, who succeeded as second Bart. The elder 
 Sir John died November 13, 1638, and was buried in the Lawrence chnpel 
 in Chelsea Church, where several members of this ancient family are buried. 
 The title became extinct in 1734. 
 
 * St. Clement's Danes in the Strand. 
 
 3 St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL. 
 
 will allow us. Therefore, I would wish you (Sir) to forbeare my 
 pue, and not to valleu yourself at so great a rate, and mee at so 
 little, as to possess it when you know I am in Chelsea, unless you 
 wilbee content, as I shall find it, to take as great an affront as you 
 have done me. I pray you consider with yourself what you have 
 done, and what you will doe. 
 
 " Y r frend 
 
 "ED. CECILL. 1 
 
 " Aprilly 6 2Qth, i62i." 2 
 
 Add. " To my Worthie Friend, 
 Sir John Laurence 
 Knt:, &c., &c." 
 
 1 Very few of Sir E. Cecil's letters are signed "Cecill," as he almost invari- 
 ably spelt his name " Cecyll." 
 
 2 This letter, which is in private hands, is published in Notes and Queries, xi. 
 second series (January, 1861), pp. 13-4. Sir John Lawrence's answer, and a 
 counter reply from Sir E. Cecil, will be found in same vol. pp., 14-5.
 
 INDEX TO VOL. I. 
 
 AAR. 
 
 AARDENBURG, 120 
 
 Abbot, Archbishop, his opinion of John 
 Uytenbogaert, the Dutch preacher, 
 284 n 
 
 Aerssens, the States' Ambassador, 187 
 
 Albert of Austria, the Cardinal-Arch- 
 duke, is appointed Governor of the 
 Netherlands, 23 ; marries the Infanta 
 of Spain, ibid. ; mutiny among his 
 troops in Fort St. Andre, 33 ; 
 blockades Ostend, 44 ; wounded at 
 Nieuport, 55 ; his gallantry at this 
 battle, 56 ; his boast about reducing 
 Ostend, 68 ; takes part in the siege, 
 77; makes peace with James I., 
 120; signs a treaty of peace for 
 twelve years with the Dutch Re- 
 public, 147 ; resigns his claim to the 
 Imperial Crown in favour of Ferdi- 
 nand, 304 ; his death, 362 
 
 Aldrich, Capt., 60 
 
 Alleyn, Capt., 96 n 
 
 Alleyn, Edward, Founder of Dulwich 
 College, 302 
 
 Allington, Sir Giles, 6 
 
 Allington, Lady (see Cecil, Dorothy) 
 
 Alva, Duke of, Spanish Governor of 
 the Netherlands, 18 ; his cruelty, 19 
 
 Andover, Viscount (see Howard, Thos.) 
 
 Anhalt, Christian, Prince of, 162 ; 
 commands a body of German troops 
 at the siege of Juliers, 171 ; his 
 jealousy of the British troops, 174; 
 disagreement with Sir E. Cecil, 
 175 and n ; his horse shot under 
 him, 182 ; joins the Evangelical 
 Union, 212 
 
 Anne, of Denmark, Queen, 205 
 
 Anspach, Margrave of, commander of 
 the Union Army in Germany, 320 
 
 Antonio, Simon, campmaster to 
 Spinola, 94 
 
 BAR 
 
 Antwerp, attempted surprise of, by 
 Count Ernest of Nassau, 122 
 
 Arminius, Jacob, professor of theology 
 at Leyden University, 247 
 
 Arminians, the, those who believed in 
 the form of doctrine taught by 
 Arminius, 247 
 
 Arragon, Admiral of (see Mendoza, 
 Francis) 
 
 Arthur, Capt., 60 
 
 Arundel, Earl of (see Howard, Thos.) 
 
 Arundel, Countess of (see Talbot, 
 Alethea) 
 
 Arundell, Lord, of Wardour, solicits 
 the governorship of Brill, or Ports- 
 mouth, 152 
 
 Aumale, Duke d', present at Nieuport, 
 55 
 
 Auvergne, Count d', natural son of 
 Charles IX. of France, his visit to 
 England, 8 1 
 
 Avila, Don Louis d', a Spanish com- 
 mander at the siege of Ostend, 77 
 
 BACON, SIR FRANCIS, Viscount St. 
 Albans and Baron Verulum, wishes 
 to marry the widow of Sir William 
 Newport (alias Hatton), 13 ; is found 
 guilty of corruption, 349 
 
 Baden, Prince of, joins the Evangelical 
 Union, 212 
 
 Balen, Capt., his cavalry charge at 
 Nieuport, 48, 53 ; his troop of horse, 
 60 
 
 Balfour, Capt., 96 n, 164 
 
 Ball, Capt., his death in the Low Coun- 
 tries, 97 
 
 Baldwin, Father, the Jesuit, his capture 
 at Dusseldorf, 196 ; imprisoned in 
 the Tower, 197 
 
 Baltimore, Lord (see Calvert, George) 
 
 Barneveld, John, of Olden, 59 ; is sent
 
 ;8o 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 by the United Provinces to London, 
 104 ; active in the peace negotiations 
 with Spain, 146 ; offers to buy back 
 the Dutch cautionary towns from 
 James I., 239 ; story of his downfall, 
 265-272 
 
 Bathory, Gabriel, Prince of Transyl- 
 vania, 311 
 
 Bavaria, Maximilian, Duke of, head of 
 the Roman Catholic League, 21 1 n ; 
 declines the Imperial Crown, 304 n ; 
 takes the field against the Union 
 army, 321 ; invades the Upper Pala- 
 tinate, 369 ; overruns the Palatinate, 
 
 371 
 
 Bax, Marcellus, Capt., his gallantry at 
 Broek Castle, 124 
 
 Bayly, Bishop, 320 
 
 Beecher, William, British Agent at 
 Paris, 252 
 
 Benaffro, Marquis of (see Spinola, Am- 
 brose) 
 
 Berkshire, Earl of (see Howard, Thos.) 
 
 Bertie, Peregrine, loth Bar on Wil lough - 
 by de Eresby, 22 
 
 Bertie, Robert, mh Baron Willoughby 
 de Eresby, and first Earl of Lindsey, 
 Preface, i.-iii. ; sells land to raise 
 troops for Denmark, 206 and n 
 
 Bethune, Maximilian de, Duke of 
 Sully, is sent to England on a special 
 mission, 104 and n 
 
 Bethlem, Gabriel (see Gabor, Beth- 
 lem) 
 
 Bingham, Capt., member of the Council 
 of War, 344 
 
 Biron, Duke de, 8 1 
 
 Bodley, Mrs., 97 
 
 Bodley, Sir John, 302 
 
 Bohemia, King of (see Ferdinand II.) 
 
 Bohemia, King of (see Frederick V., 
 Elector Palatinate) 
 
 Bohemia, King of (see Matthias, Em- 
 peror of Germany) 
 
 Bommel, siege of, 25-32 
 
 Borlase, Sir John, is rewarded for 
 conducting Father Baldwin to Eng- 
 land, 197 ; accompanies Sir 
 Horace Vere to the Palatinate, 332 n 
 
 Bostock, Colonel, 56, 57 n 
 
 Bouillon, Duke of, proposes an alli- 
 ance between his nephew. Frederick 
 Elector Palatine, and the Princess 
 Elizabeth of England, 212 and ; 
 advises the Elector Palatine to accept 
 the Bohemian Crown, 305 
 
 BUG 
 
 Bourlotte, Colonel La, wounded at 
 Nieuport, 56 and n 
 
 Bowyer, Sir Edwa p d, 302 
 
 Bowyer, Captain, 53 n 
 
 Brabant, the, expedition into, 90-97 
 
 Bracciano, Duke of, visits England, 12 
 and 
 
 Brandenburg, John Sigismund, Elector 
 of, and Duke of Prussia, his claims 
 to the Duchies of Cleves and Juliers, 
 1 54 et seq ; Juliers restored to, 200 ; 
 joins the Evangelical Union, 212 ; 
 entertains the Electress Palatine 
 and her suite at Bonn, 217; insults 
 his intended son-in-law the Duke of 
 Neuburg, 225 n ; joins the States' 
 army at Rees with some cavalry, 228 
 
 Brederode, Lord of, in Holland, 336 n 
 
 Brett, Capt, serves at siege of Juliers, 
 1 80 
 
 Brill, the, 4, 21, 128 and n, 129 ; 
 surrendered to the Dutch by James 
 I-, 239 
 
 Bristol, Earl of (see Digby, John) 
 
 Broek Castle, account oi the action at, 
 124-127 
 
 Broghe, Capt., 96 
 
 Brooke, Elizaleth (Countess of Salis- 
 bury), 204 n 
 
 Brooke, Henry, Lord Cobham, 59 w, 
 204 n 
 
 Brook, Calisthenes, Captain, 60 ; com- 
 plains of Sir F. Vere, 86 n 
 
 Brook, Lord (see Greville, Fulke) 
 
 Brook, parish of, co. Rutland, 62 and 
 , 63 
 
 Bruce, Lord, his duel with Sir E. 
 Sackville, 341 
 
 Brunswick, Christian, Duke of, 336 
 
 Brydges, Frances (Countess of Exeter), 
 273 ; story of the gross libel against, 
 273-283 
 
 Brydges, Grey, Lord Chandos, 178 and 
 n, 276 
 
 Brydges, Wm., Lord Chandos, 273 
 
 Buccleuch, Lord (see Scott, Sir W.) 
 
 Bucke, Francis, Capt., 332 n 
 
 Buckhurst, Lord Treasurer (see Sack- 
 ville, Thos., Earl of Dorset) 
 
 Buckingham, Duke of (see Stafford, 
 Edward) 
 
 Buckingham, Duke of (see Villiers, 
 George) 
 
 Bucquoy, General, Spinola's Lieutenant, 
 133, ! 34, I3 6 > !37 ; present at 
 the funeral of Henry IV., 168 ;
 
 INDEX. 
 
 38' 
 
 BUG 
 
 defeats Count Mansfeld in Bohemia, 
 298 ; is sent to Vienna to assist 
 Archduke Ferdinand, 312 ; defeats 
 Frederick, King of Bohemia, at 
 Prague, 343. 
 Buffs, the (3rd Foot), anecdote about, 
 
 21 // 
 
 Burgh, Lady, 222 and ; goes to 
 
 Heidelberg as lady-in-waiting to the 
 
 Electress Palatine, 223 
 Burgh, Thomas, Lord, 222 n 
 Burgundy, Charles, Duke of, 158 
 Bureau, Margrave of, 154 
 Burgau, Sibylla, Margravine of, 155 
 Burghley, Lord (see under head of Cecil) 
 Burroughs, John, Capt., accompanies 
 
 Sir H. Vere to the Palatinate, 332 n ; 
 
 governor of Frankenthal, 371 
 
 CADIZ, Expedition to, in 1596, 23 and n 
 
 Cadsand, island of, 1 10 ; defences at, 
 
 112-4 J Spinola's attempt to capture, 
 
 118 and n 
 
 Calvert, Sir George, Secretary of State, 
 
 283 and n 
 
 Capel, Sir Arthur, 364 and n 
 Capel, Lord, of Hadlam, 364 n 
 Carleton, Sir Dudley, sent as British 
 Envoy to the Conference at Xanten, 
 228 ; succeeds Sir Ralph Winwood as 
 British Ambassador at the Hague, 236 
 n ; bitterly opposed to the Advocate 
 Barneveld, 272 n ; reconciles Sir 
 Horace Vere and Sir Edward Cecil, 
 
 331 
 
 Carew, Capt., 96 
 
 Carlisle, Earl of (see Hay, James) 
 
 Caron, Noel de, Dutch Ambassador to 
 England, negotiates the purchase of 
 the cautionary towns from James L, 
 239 ; attends tournament, 350 
 
 Carr, Frances, Countess of Somerset 
 (see Howard, Lady F.) 
 
 Carr, Robert, Viscount Rochester and 
 Earl of Somerset, the story of his rise 
 to power, 209, 219-22 ; the story of 
 his downfall, 240-5 
 
 Caulfield, Lord, Baron Charlemont, one 
 of the Council of War, 344 and 
 
 Gary, Sir Henry (afterwards Viscount 
 Falkland), 214 ; taken prisoner at 
 Broek Castle, 128 and n ; obtains the 
 Comptrollership, 258-9 
 
 Cavendish, Sir Wm., 243 
 
 Cavendish, Sir Wm. (afterwards Duke 
 of Newcastle), 243 
 
 CEC 
 
 Cavendish, Mary (Countess of Shrews- 
 bury), 243 and n 
 
 Cecil, the family of, 3-4 
 
 Cecil, Albinia, 109 n ; Bill in Parlia- 
 ment for her naturalization, 350 n 
 
 Cecil, Anne, death of, 285 and n 
 
 Cecil, Catherine, 6 
 
 Cecil, Catherine, Countess of Salisbury 
 (see Howard ) 
 
 Cecil, Christopher, 6 ; educated at 
 Westminster School, 10 ; drowned in 
 Germany, 10 n 
 
 Cecil, Charles, Viscount Cranbourne, 
 204 ;/ 
 
 Cecil, David, 3 
 
 Cecil, David, fourth Baron Burghley 
 and third Earl of Exeter, 10 n 
 
 Cecil, Diana, Lady (see Drury) 
 
 Cecil, Dorothy, Lady Allington, 6 
 
 Cecil, Dorothy, Countess of Exeter 
 (see Nevill) 
 
 Cecil, Dorothy, 107 , 237 
 
 Cecil, Edward, Sir, Baron Putney and 
 Viscount Wimbledon, his parentage, 
 4-5 ; birth of, at Burghley House, 
 9 ; place of his education uncertain, 
 IO ; license to travel abroad, ibid. ; 
 cou'teously entertained at Florence 
 by the Grand Duke, II ; joins Sir 
 Francis Vere in the Low Countries, 
 14 ; solicits the favour of his uncle, 
 Sir Robert Cecil, 15 ; serves at the 
 siege of Bommel, 26 ; is made captain 
 of an English foot company in the 
 Dutch service, 28-9 ; his account of 
 the operations before Bommel, 28-30 ; 
 serves at the siege of Fort St. Andre, 
 35 and n ; his cavalry ambition, 36 ; 
 meets with opposition in his suit for 
 the vacant troop of horse, 38 ; stricture 
 passed upon, by Mr. Gilpin the 
 English Resident at the Hague, 40 ; 
 obtains the troop of horse, and gives 
 .500 retiring money to Captain Sir 
 N. Parker, 41 ; commands a troop 
 at Nieuport battle, 48 ; effective 
 charge by, 51-3 and n ; Sir Francis 
 Bacon's eulogium on his services on 
 this occasion, 54 ; the account of 
 the battle by, 55-7 ; present at the 
 reduction of Fort Isabella, 59 ; mar- 
 riage of, 62-5 ; volunteers for active 
 service, 71 ; is sent to Ostend in 
 command of I, coo men, 72-3 ; his 
 arrival there, 74-5 ; sends an account 
 of the siege of Ostend to Sir R. Cecil,
 
 382 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CEC 
 
 76-8 ; proceeds to Rhineberg and 
 joins the States' army, 78-9 ; knighted 
 by Queen Elizabeth at Basing, 82 ; 
 elected M.P. for Aldborough, York- 
 shire, ibid. ; returns to Holland, 83 ; 
 made colonel of the English horse, 
 84-5 ; Sir F. Vere's praise of, 87 ; 
 takes part in the Brabant expedition, 
 and sends an account of the same to 
 Sir R. Cecil, 89-92 ; serves at siege 
 of Grave, 95 ; is sent to Emden in 
 command of three troops of horse, 
 97 ; obtains the grant for life of the 
 office of keeper of Mortlake Park, 
 co. Surrey, and is made a gentleman 
 of his Majesty's Privy Chamber, 106 
 and ; chosen M.P. for Stamford, 
 107 ; solicits for the rank of colonel 
 of foot, ibid. ; serves at the siege 
 of Sluys, 1 16 ; gives an account of the 
 siege operations, 1169 ; obtains the 
 colonelcy of an English foot regiment 
 in the Dutch army, 122 and ; 
 gives some details of the action at 
 Broek Castle, 127-8 ; serves with his 
 regiment before Rhineberg, 137 ; 
 sends Lord L'Isle an account of the 
 operations of the Dutch army, 138 ; 
 asks to be made President of Munster 
 in Ireland, 143 ; his despondency 
 about the negotiations for peace 
 between the United Provinces and 
 Spain, 145-6 ; death of his mother, 
 146 ; the strength of his regiment, 
 147-9 5 solicits for one of Sir F. 
 Vere's vacant posts, 151 ; is ap- 
 pointed to the command of 4,000 
 British troops, sent by James I. to 
 the assistance of the Princes of 
 Cleves and Juliers, 1 60 ; has the 
 rank of General, ibid. ; his pay as 
 commander-in-chief, 161 ; arrives at 
 the Hague, 162 ; warrants to, 162 
 n ; joins the States' army with his 
 contingent and marches to Juliers, 
 170-2 ; holds his own with the 
 Prince of Anhalt, 174-5 ; his 
 character, 176 ; his activity and 
 diligence during the siege of Juliers, 
 !?6~7 > nas a horse killed under 
 him, 177; Lord Herbert of Cher- 
 bury's opinion of. 178 ; a con- 
 temporary historian testifies to his 
 gallantry, 179 ; Sir Ralph Win wood's 
 praise of, 183 ; sends an account of 
 the siege to Henry, Prince of Wales, 
 184-6 ; his unceasing industry and 
 
 CEC 
 
 care, 191 ; his despatch to the Prince 
 of Wales, 193-4 ; mortality among 
 his troops, during the siege, 195 and 
 ; is instrumental in the capture of 
 Father Baldwin, the Jesuit, 197 ; is 
 rewarded for his eminent services in 
 the late siege, 198 ; his friendship 
 for Lord Cranbourne, 204 ; takes 
 part in a tilting match with the 
 Prince of Wales, 205 ; rumour of 
 his going to Denmark in command 
 of troops, 205 ; sent on a mission to 
 Holland, 207 ; goes to Bath on the 
 news reaching him of Lord Salis- 
 bury's dangerous illness, 207 ; present 
 at Lord Salisbury's funeral at Hat- 
 field, 207 ; appointed treasurer to 
 Elizabeth, Electress Palatine, on her 
 journey to the Palatinate, 215 and 
 n ; leaves the Electress at Gaulstein 
 and returns to Utrecht, 218 ; is sent 
 on a mission to Heidelberg by James 
 I., 223-4 and n ; elected M.P. for 
 Chichester, 225 ; present at the 
 taking of Rees, 228 ; writes to 
 Camden the antiquary, 231 ; the 
 old English military march revived 
 by, 232 ; royal warrant issued at the 
 instance of, 233 ; death of his wife, 
 236-7 ; purchases warlike models in 
 Holland for Charles, Prince of Wales, 
 238 ; returns to England, 246 ; the 
 wrongful bestowal of a company in 
 his regiment by the State of Utrecht, 
 248-254 ; enters upon a second mar- 
 riage, 254 ; tries hard for the Comp- 
 trollership, 258-9 ; bill of fare at 
 his wedding dinner, 262-3 5 active 
 in prosecuting Lady Lake and her 
 family for their gross libel on the 
 Countess of Exeter, 273, 280 ; re- 
 ceives a letter from the Arminian 
 preacher Uytenbogaert, asking him 
 to procure him his Majesty's protec- 
 tion in England, 284 ; death of his 
 child, 285 ; returns to Holland, 299 ; 
 his suit to Sir George Calvert, Secre- 
 tary of State, 300 ; visits Utrecht 
 and Amsterdam, 301 ; attends the 
 public opening of Dulwich College, 
 302 ; hopes held out to, that he 
 should have command of any British 
 troops sent to the Palatinate, 321 
 and n ; applies for the command, 
 322 ; is refused, ibid. ; the cause of 
 his quarrel with Baron Dhona, 323-6 ; 
 his long-standing difference with Sir
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CEC 
 
 Horace Vere, 329-332 ; in disfavour 
 with King James on account of his 
 conduct to Dhona, 330 ; apologises 
 to his Majesty, 331 ; is forgiven, 
 331 ; is elected M.P. for Chichester, 
 342 ; member of the Council of War, 
 344 ; speech in Parliament attributed 
 to > 345~6 and n ; on committee to 
 report on Mompesson's case, 348 ; 
 supports the Small Arms Bill, 350 ; 
 takes part in the debate on Ireland, 
 ibid. ; on committee for enquiring 
 into grievances, 351 ; proposes a 
 severe punishment in the Floyd case, 
 353 ; upholds the right of the Com- 
 mons to punish delinquents, 355 ; 
 approves of Perrot's manly declara- 
 tion about the state of religion and 
 the Palatinate, 358 ; on committee to 
 draw up the resolution of the House 
 of Commons, 359 ; conducts the 
 Dutch Commissioners to the tourna- 
 ment, 360 ; commands the British 
 troops in Holland, 363 ; sends home 
 an account of the doings of their 
 army, 364-6 ; the Prince of Wales 
 favourably disposed to, 374 ; returns 
 to England and resumes his Parlia- 
 mentary duties, 375 ; his dispute 
 with Sir John Lawrence about a pew 
 in Chelsea Church, 377-8. 
 
 Cecil, Elizabeth, Mrs. v\ingfield, 300 
 
 Cecil, Elizabeth, 237 
 
 Cecil, Elizabeth, Lady Hatton, 6 ; her 
 marriage to Sir Edward Coke, 13 ; 
 her quarrels with him, 250 and , 
 252 ; her illness, 252 n 
 
 Cecil, Elizabeth, Lady Burghley (see 
 Drury) 
 
 Cecil, Elizabeth, Baroness de Ros (see 
 Manners) 
 
 Cecil, Elizabeth, Lady Roos (de Ros) 
 (see Lake) 
 
 Cecil, Elizabeth, Countess of Salisbury 
 (see Brooke) 
 
 Cecil, Frances, 237 
 
 Cecil, Frances, Countess of Cumber- 
 land, 207 n 
 
 Cecil, Frances, Countess of Exeter 
 (see Brydges) 
 
 Cecil, Frances, Countess of Thanet, 6 
 
 Cecil, Georgiana, 256 
 
 Cecil, James, third Earl of Salisbury, 
 204 n 
 
 Cecil, Lucy, Marchioness of Winchester, 
 6, 81 
 
 . CEC 
 
 Cecil, Mary, Countess of Norwich, 6 
 and n 
 
 Cecil, Mary, Lady (see Cheeke) 
 
 Cecil, Mildred, Lady Trafford, 6 
 
 Cecil, Richard, groom of the Robes to 
 Henry VIII., 3, 300 
 
 Cecil, Richard, Sir, of Wakerley, his 
 birth, 5 ; goes to Italy with his 
 brother Edward, 12-3 
 
 Cecil, Mr. R. (?), receives a letter when 
 in Italy from Sir Francis Bacon, 13 
 
 Cecil, Robert, Sir, 3 ; serves on board 
 the English fleet as a volunteer, 4; 
 is recognised as the rising sun, n ; 
 advances the career of his nephew, 
 Edward Cecil, 28 ; his request to 
 Queen Elizabeth on behalf of Sir R. 
 Sidney, 37 ; sends his brother, Lord 
 Burghley, an account of the troops 
 sent to Ostend under command of 
 Edward Cecil, 72-4 ; Sir R. Sidney's 
 suit to, 94 ; created Baron Cecil of 
 Essendine, 107 n ; advanced to the 
 viscoumcy of Cranbourne, and earl- 
 dom of Salisbury, 122 n ; the upright- 
 ness of his character, 151-2; regarded 
 with envy and jealousy, 204 ; his 
 arduous post as Lord Treasurer of 
 England, 206 ; dangerous illness of, 
 ibid. ; visits Bath and receives a 
 valuable token of his sovereign's 
 regard, 207 and n ; his death and 
 the character he left behind him, 
 207-8 ; state of England after his 
 decease, 208-9 J na ^ opposed the 
 marriage of Henry Prince of Wales 
 to a Roman CatLolic Princess, 21 1 
 
 Cecil, Sophia Anna (see Georgiana) 
 
 Cecil, Susan, 6 
 
 Cecil, Theodosia, I^ady (see Noel) 
 
 Cecil, Thomas, Sir, second Lord 
 Burghley, first Earl of Exeter, serves 
 as a volunteer in an expedition into 
 Scotland, 4 ; governor of the Brill, 
 ibid. ', created Earl of Exeter and 
 made a Knight of the Garter, 5 ; his 
 first marriage, 5 and ; names of his 
 children, 5, 6 and ; announces the 
 birth of his son Edward to his father, 
 9 ; entertains the Duke of Bracciano, 
 12 ; his second marriage, 273 ; craves 
 for justice from the king on his knees 
 against his wife's slanderers, 276 ; 
 entertains the Dutch Commissioners 
 at Wimbledon House, 299 
 
 Cecil, Thomas, 6
 
 384 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CEC 
 
 Cecil, Thomas, tutor at St. John's 
 College, Cambridge, 204 n 
 
 Cecil, William, Sir, the great Lord 
 Burghley, 3 ; character of by Sir W. 
 Dugdale, 4 ; extract from his diary, 
 10 ; Cardinal Farnese's high opinion 
 of, II ; his death, 14 
 
 Cecil, Will, third Baron Burghley and 
 second Earl of Exeter, his birth, 5 ; 
 sent to Paris to finish his education, 
 6 ; receives a present from his grand- 
 father of a bay horse, 7 ; pays a 
 secret visit to Rome, 8 ; marries the 
 Baroness de Ros, and is left a 
 widower in the year following, ibid. ; 
 his second marriage, 14 
 
 Cecil, William, Lord Roos, his birth, 
 8 and n ; marries the daughter of 
 Chief Secretary Lake, 274 ; his 
 character, 274-5 '> sent ambassador 
 to Spain, 275 and n ; deserts his 
 wife and leaves England, 276 ; 
 writes to James I. and denies the 
 crime attributed to him by his wife, 
 278 ; his sudden death, 279 
 
 Cecil, William, Viscount Cranbourne, 
 educated at St. John's College, Cam- 
 bridge, 204 n ; his marriage, ibid. ; 
 in attendance upon Henry, Prince of 
 Wales, 204-5 5 attends his father's 
 death-bed, 207 ; his friendship for 
 Sir Edward Cecil, 327 
 
 Chaloner, Sir Thomas, 65 
 
 Chandos, Lord (see Brydges) 
 
 Chatre, Claud de la, Marshal of France, 
 commands the French contingent at 
 the siege of Juliers, 168 and ; 
 anecdote about his son-in-law, 188-9 
 
 Chatillon, Mons., Colonel of a French 
 regiment in the Dutch service, 165, 
 170 
 
 Charles V., Emperor of Germany, re- 
 ference to, 1 8 
 
 Charles IX. of France, reference to, 
 81 
 
 Charles, Prince of Wales, his low 
 estimate of what the duty of a Parlia- 
 ment consisted in, 373 ; his intended 
 marriage to the Infanta of Spain 
 mentioned by him in a letter to 
 Buckingham, ibid. 
 
 Charlotte, Princess of Wales, reference 
 to her death, 213 
 
 Chaworth, Sir George, sent envoy to 
 Brussels, 370 
 
 Cheeke, Col. Sir Hatton, commands a 
 
 DAR 
 
 regiment at siege of Juliers, 164 ; 
 
 fatal duel with Sir T. Dutton, 185 n 
 Cheeke, Sir John, 4 
 Cheeke, Mary, Lady Burghley, 4 
 Cherbury, Lord of (see Herbert, 
 
 Edward) 
 Christian IV., King of Denmark, his 
 
 spirited letter to the Duke of Saxony, 
 
 333 
 Cleves, the mad Duke of, his death, 
 
 154; the claimants to his duchies, 
 
 154-9 
 
 Clifford, Captain, 97 
 Clifford, Lady Frances, Countess of 
 
 Cumberland (see Cecil) 
 Clifford, Henry, Earl of Cumberland, 
 
 207 and n 
 
 Clifford, Sir Nicholas, 254 n 
 Clout, Captain, 60 
 Cobham, Lord (see Brooke, Henry) 
 Cokayne, Captain, 96 
 Coke, Sir Edward, Lord Chief Justice, 
 
 243 and n ; imprisoned for his bold 
 
 action in Parliament, 376 and n 
 Coke, Frances, Lady Purbeck, story of 
 
 her marriage to Sir John Villiers, 
 
 Viscount Purbeck, 250-1 n 
 Coligny, Louise de, 284 n 
 Conway, Sir Edward, Lieut. -Governor 
 
 of the Brill, 129 ; sent on a mission 
 
 to Germany by James I., 333 
 Cope, Sir Anthony, 10 n 
 Cornwallis, Sir Charles, his eulogy on 
 
 Henry, Prince of Wales, 210 
 Cordova, General, obliged to raise 
 
 siege of Frankenthal, 371 
 Council of war, names of members, 
 
 344 and n 
 
 Courtenay, Sergt.-Major, 164 
 Cranbourne, Viscount (see Cecil) 
 Cranfield, Lionel, Earl of Middlesex, 
 
 372 
 
 Crewe, Mr., 348 
 Crevecceur, fort of, mutiny at, 33 ; 
 
 capitulates to the Dutch, 34 
 Cromwell, Lord, 3rd Baron, 300 
 Cromwell, Captain John, 255 
 
 DANVERS, SIR HENRY, Baron Dan- 
 vers, Earl of Danby, made President 
 of Munster, 144 and ; one of the 
 Council of W 7 ar, 344 
 
 Danvers, Sir John, 144 
 
 Danvers, Lady (see Nevill, Elizabeth) 
 
 Darcy, Sir Francis, 353 
 
 Darel, Captain, 96 n
 
 INDEX. 
 
 DEA 
 
 Deacons, Captain, 97 
 
 Dendy, Mr., Serjeant-at-arms, sent to 
 Rome by James I. to interrogate 
 Lord Roos, 277 
 
 Denny, Edward, Lord (afterwards 
 Earl of Norwich), 6 ; present at the 
 Earl of Salisbury's funeral, 207 
 
 Denny, Honora, Lady Hay, 6 
 
 Denny, Mary, Lady, Countess of Nor- 
 wich (see Cecil) 
 
 Dent, Elizabeth, Lady Vere, 130 
 n 
 
 Deux- Fonts, Count of, claims the 
 duchies of Cleves and Juliers, 154-5 
 
 Deventer, capture of, by Dutch troops, 
 
 23 
 Devereux, Lady Frances, Countess of 
 
 Essex (see Howard) 
 Devereux, Lady Penelope, 179 
 Devereux, Robert, third Earl of Essex, 
 his marriage to Lady Frances How- 
 ard, 291 and n ; accompanies Sir 
 Horace Vere to the Palatinate, 332 ; 
 returns to England, 344 ; member of 
 the Council of War, ibid. ; joins the 
 States' army at Emerich, 363-4 
 Dewhurst, Sir Barnaby, 197 and n 
 Dhona, Achatius, Baron, sent to 
 London on a special mission by the 
 King of Bohemia, 319 ; the story of 
 his quarrel with Sir Edward Cecil, 
 
 323-7, 310-1 
 
 Dhona, Christopher, Baron (brother to 
 the preceding), sent ambassador to 
 London by Frederick, Elector Pala- 
 tine, 306 ; ill-success of his mission, 
 37, 320 
 
 Digby, John, Lord, afterwards Earl of 
 Bristol, arrives at Nuremberg on his 
 return from a mission to Vienna, 
 369 ; remonstrates with Count 
 Mansfeld on his treachery, 371 ; 
 acquaints the English Parliament on 
 his return to London with results of 
 his mission to Vienna, 372 
 
 Digges, Sir Dudley, 348 ; speaks in 
 the debate in Parliament on Floyd's 
 case, 353 
 
 Dingwall, Lord, 205 
 
 Doncaster, Viscount (see .Hay, James) 
 
 Dorp, Frederick van. succeeds Sir F. 
 Vtre as governor of Ostend, 82 
 
 Dorset, Eail of (see Sackville) 
 
 Dort, Synod at, 271 
 
 Drake, bir Francis, 23 
 
 Drury, Diana, Lady Cecil, 254 ; 
 
 VOI . I. 
 
 ELI 
 
 marries Sir E. Cecil, 261 ; bill of 
 
 fare at her wedding dinner, 262-3 > 
 
 death of her child, 285 
 Drury, Elizabeth, Lady Burghley,i4 
 
 15 n, 254 and 
 
 Drury, Elizabeth, Lady (see Stafford) 
 Drury, Frances, Lady Wray, 254 
 
 and n 
 Drury, Sir Robert, renders good 
 
 service at Nieuport battle, 50 and ; 
 
 serves at siege of Grave, 96 , 97 
 
 and n ; his death, 254 
 Drury, Sir William, of Hawsted, 
 
 Suffolk, 14 n, 254 
 Dubois, General, 53, 97-9 
 Dudley, Robert, Earl of Leicester, 
 
 appointed commander of the British 
 
 troops in the Netherlands, 22 
 Dessau, Commander of French troops 
 
 in Dutch service, 60 
 Dutton, Captain Sir Thomas, his 
 
 mutinous conduct at Juliers, 185 ; 
 
 duel with Sir Hatton Cheeke on 
 
 Calais sands, ibid, n ; is deprived of 
 
 his company, ibid. 
 Duxberry (?), Captain, wounded at 
 
 Nieuport battle, 56 
 Duyck, Anthony, the Dutch writer, 
 
 quotations from his diary, 35, 51, 78, 
 
 96, 98-9 
 
 EDMONDS, SIR THOMAS, a candidate 
 for the Secretaryship of State, 252 ; 
 English ambassador at Brussels, 
 333 ; accompanies Spinola's army to 
 Coblentz, 334 
 
 Edmonds, Colonel Sir William, com- 
 mands a Scotch regiment in the 
 Dutch service, 45 ; his regiment cut 
 to pieces at the bridge of Leffingen, 
 46 ; his death at siege of Rhineberg, 
 136, 138 n 
 
 Egerton, Thomas, Lord Ellesmere 
 (Lord Chancellor), appointed High 
 Steward at the trial of the Earl and 
 Countess of Somerset, 244 
 
 Egmont, Count, beheaded by order of 
 the Duke of Alva, 19 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen of England, dances 
 before the Duke of Bracciano, 12 ; 
 her vanity, 13 ; openly assists the 
 Dutch, 20 ; sends troops and makes 
 a treaty with the Dutch, 21-2 ; 
 makes a fresh treaty with them, 32 ; 
 an anecdote of her obstinacy, 36-7 ; 
 consents to more English troops 
 
 2
 
 ^86 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ELI 
 
 being sent to Holland, 66 ; confers 
 knighthood on Sir E. Cecil and nine 
 other gentlemen, 82 ; her anger at 
 the ill-success of the Brabant expe- 
 dition, 92 ; her death and character, 
 101 
 
 Elizabeth, Princess of Great Britain 
 (Electress Palatine), 63 n ; her 
 marriage to Frederick V., Elector 
 Palatine, 213-5 5 departs from 
 England for Germany, 216 ; Sir E. 
 Cecil appointed her treasurer, ibid. ; 
 account of her journey, 216-8 ; gives 
 birth to a son at Heidelberg, 223 ; 
 saying wrongly attributed to, in refer- 
 ence to the Bohemian Crown, 307 ; 
 advises her husband to accept the 
 proffered Crown, 308; arrives at 
 Prague and is crowned as Queen 
 Consort of Bohemia, 309 ; misunder- 
 standing with Sir Edward Sackville, 
 323 ; has to fly from Prague, 342 ; 
 disrespectful speech against, by 
 Edward Floyd, 352 ; arrives at the 
 Hague, 361 ; proposes to come to 
 England, ibid. ; receives no encou- 
 ragement from James, 362 
 
 Emanuel, Don, of Portugal, serves as 
 a volunteer at siege of Juliers, 180, 
 217 
 
 Enno, Count of East Friesland, 97-8, 
 100 
 
 Ernest, Count of Nassau (see under head 
 of Nassau) 
 
 Exeter, Earl of (see Cecil) 
 
 FAIRFAX, SIR CHARLES, his gallantry 
 at Nieuport, 52 ; killed at siege of 
 Ostend, 52 , 60, 72 
 
 Fairfax, Lord, 252 n 
 
 Fairfax, Thomas, 1st Baron, of 
 Cameron, 252 n 
 
 Fairfax, Sir Thomas, of Denton, 252 n 
 
 Falkland, Viscount (see Gary, Sir 
 Henry) 
 
 Farnese, Cardinal, u 
 
 Fawkes, Guy, reference to, 131 n 
 
 Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria 
 (King of Bohemia and Emperor of 
 Germany), 292 ; is proposed to the 
 States of Bohemia by the Emperor 
 Matthias as their future king, 293 ; 
 elected King of Bohemia, ibid. ; 
 elected King of Hungary, 293 ; 
 the Bohemians revolt against him, 
 296 ; his critical position, ibid. ; 
 
 his character, 297 ; departs from 
 Vienna for Frankfort, 298 ; elected 
 Emperor of Germany, 303 ; declared 
 to have forfeited the Bohemian 
 Crown, ibid. ; strong party against 
 him in Germany, 304 and ; makes a 
 truce with Bethlem Gabor, 313 ; his 
 allies, ibid. ; wins over the Duke of 
 Saxony to his side, 321 ; proclaims 
 Frederick, Elector Palatine, and his 
 partisans to be traitors, 361 ; hurls 
 an imperial ban against Count Mans- 
 feld, 368 and n ; induces the Duke 
 of Bavaria to invade the Upper 
 Palatinate, 369 ; Lord Digby sent 
 by James I. as ambassador to, at 
 Vienna to mediate a peace, 370 ; 
 receives a letter from James I. on 
 behalf of Frederick, 371 ; intends 
 to bestow Upper Palatinate on Duke 
 of Bavaria, 372 
 Fere, Count de la, taken prisoner at 
 
 Nieuport battle, 55 
 Fleche, Count de la, 139 
 Flood, Capt., 77 
 Floyd, Edward, his case, 352-6 
 Florence, Duke of (see Medicis, Ferdi- 
 nand de) 
 
 Forster, Capt., 60 
 
 Frederick, Elector Palatine, 85 ; pro- 
 posals for his marriage to Princess 
 Elizabeth of England, 212 ; his 
 marriage to Princess Elizabeth, 
 213-4; leaves England with his 
 bride, 216; his reception at Heidel- 
 berg, 218 ; one of the four candidates 
 for the Crown of Bohemia, 303 ; 
 chosen by the Bohemian electors lor 
 their sovereign, 305 ; his uncertainty 
 about accepting the Crown, 305-6 ; 
 his mother's advice, 306 ; Maurice 
 of Nassau's ambitious schemes for, 
 306 ; sends Baron Dhona to Eng- 
 land, ibid. ; Dhona's report to, 307 ; 
 his wife's advice, 307 ; accepts the 
 Crown and departs for Prague, 309 ; 
 sends Baron Achatius Dhona to 
 London to obtain James the First's 
 recognition of his master's title, 319 ; 
 his electorate threatened by Spinola, 
 321 ; defeated at battle of White 
 Hill, near Prague, and forced to flee, 
 342-3 ; deprived of his electorate 
 and declared a traitor by the 
 Emperor of Germany, 361 ; arrives 
 at the Hague, ibid. ; serves as a
 
 INDEX. 
 
 387 
 
 FRE 
 
 volunteer in the States' army, 363 ; 
 enters into negotiations with Mans- 
 feld, 368; Lord Digby tries to 
 mediate a peace for, 370 
 Fryer, Capt., 60 
 
 GABOR, BETHLEM, memoir of, 311 ; 
 lays siege to Vienna, 312 ; makes a 
 truce with Ferdinand II., 313 
 
 Garnet, Captain, 60, 96 
 
 Gerard, Gilbert, Lord, 338 and n 
 
 Gerard, the assassinator of William the 
 Silent, 20 n 
 
 Gibbons, Gervase, 377 n 
 
 Gibbons, Grizel, Lady Lawrence, 377 n 
 
 Gilbert, Mr., his services at Nieuport, 
 52 
 
 Giles, Sir Edward, his suggested 
 punishment tor Edward Floyd, 353 
 
 Gllpin, George, English Resident at 
 the Hague, his death, 97 
 
 Glanville, John, 34 
 
 Gomarists, the sect of, 265 
 
 Gowrie, Earl of, reference to his con- 
 spiracy, i88 
 
 Grave, siege of the, 94-6 
 
 Greville, Fulke, Sir, Lord Brooke, 
 253 and 
 
 Grey, Colonel, 320 
 
 Grey, Sir John, 83 
 
 Grey, Thos., Lord Grey of Wilton, 
 1 5th Baron, memoir of, 85 and n 
 
 Grimes, Sir Thos., 302 
 
 HAMILTON, CAPT., killed at Nieuport 
 battle, 58 
 
 Hamond, Capt, 60 
 
 Harington, Sir James of Exton, 63 
 and n 
 
 Harington, John, Lord, tutor to 
 Princess Elizabeth, 63 n ; accom- 
 panies the Princess to Heidelberg, 
 215 ; his death at Worms, 215 n 
 
 Harington, Lady, governess to Prin- 
 cess Elizabeth, 215 
 
 Harington, Lucy (see Sidney) 
 
 Harington, Mabel, Lady Noel, 63 
 
 Harwood, Colonel Sir Edward, 309- 
 347 
 
 Hatton, Lady (see Cecil, Elizabeth) 
 
 Hatton, Luke, 280-1 
 
 Hay, Sir James, Viscount Doncaster, 
 and Earl of Carlisle, 6 n ; 207 and 
 n ; sent ambassador to France, 
 244 
 
 Hay, Honora (see Denny) 
 
 Heckington, Wm., 4 
 
 Henderson, Colonel Sir Robert, com- 
 mands a Scotch regiment at Juliers, 
 163 
 
 Henry, Count of Nassau (see Nassau) 
 
 Henry, Prince of Wales, his character, 
 210; alliances proposed for, 211 ; 
 illness and death of, 213 
 
 Henry IV. of France, his character, 
 103 ; assassination of, 165 
 
 Herbert, Sir Edward, Lord Herbert of 
 Cherbury, serves under Sir E. Cecil 
 at Juliers, 177 ; anecdote about his 
 general, 178; his friendship for Sir 
 
 E. Cecil, 342 ; his death, 342 
 Herbert, Sir Gerard, 332 n 
 Herbert, Mary, 178 n 
 Herbert, Sir William, 178 
 Herbert, William, Earl of Pembroke, 
 
 made governor of Portsmouth, 152 ; 
 head of the anti-Somerset faction, 
 241 
 Higham, Mr., renders a service to Sir 
 
 F. Vere at Nieuport battle, 50 
 Holies, John, Baron Houghton, 259 
 
 and ;/ 
 
 Holland, Earl of (see Rich, Sir 
 Henry) 
 
 Honeywood, Capt., 60 
 
 Horn, Count, execution of, in the 
 Netherlands, 19 
 
 Horsey, Sir Jeremy, 353 
 
 Horwell, Sir Thomas, 149 and 
 
 Ho&kins, John, imprisoned for his 
 contumacy in Parliament, 225 
 
 Howard, Lady Catherine, Countess of 
 Salisbury, 204 n 
 
 Howard, Lady Frances, Countess of 
 Essex (afterwards Countess of 
 Somerset), the story of her two 
 marriages and the causes which led 
 to her crimes and disgrace at 
 Court, 219-245 
 
 Howard, Sir George, 180 
 
 Howard, Theophilus, Lord Howard 
 de Walden, 1 79 and 
 
 Howard, Sir Robert, 251 
 
 Howard, Thomas, Earl of Arundel and 
 Surrey, accompanies the Princess 
 Elizabeth to Heidelberg, 215 
 
 Howard, Thomas, first Earl of Suf- 
 folk, 179 ; made Lord Treasurer, 
 
 222 n 
 
 Howard, Thomas, Lord Howard of 
 Charlton, Viscount Andover, and 
 Earl of Berkshire, 1 79 and ;/
 
 388 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Howland, Sir John, 302 
 Hubert, Sir John, 5 
 
 IDIAQUES, DON DIEGO, killed at siege 
 of Ostend, 76 
 
 Ireland, debate about state of, in Par- 
 liament, 351 
 
 Isabella, Clara Eugenia, daughter of 
 Philip II. of Spain, Archduchess 
 and Regent of the Spanish Nether- 
 lands, her marriage to Archduke 
 Albert of Austria, 23 ; Netherlands 
 ceded to by Philip II., ibid. ; her 
 boast about Ostend, 44 ; intercedes 
 with the Emperor Ferdinand on 
 behalf of the Elector Palatine, 370 
 
 Isabella, fort of, captured by the States' 
 troops, 58, 67 
 
 Isendike, besieged by the States' 
 troops, 113-120 
 
 JAMES I., King of Great Britain and 
 Ireland, his accession, 101 ; character, 
 102-3 > unwilling to assist the United 
 Provinces, 103 ; the Marquis de 
 Rosny sent ambassador to, by Henry 
 IV., 104; his unpopularity, 105; 
 prodigal in bestowing honours, 105- 
 6 ; his first Parliament, 107 ; con- 
 siders himself champion of the Pro- 
 testant faith, 157 ; hopes to reconcile 
 the Emperor of Germany to his 
 disobedient vassals, 158 ; decides to 
 send British troops to the aid of the 
 disinterested Princes of Juliers and 
 Cleves, 159-160; gives command of 
 the British contingent to Sir Edward 
 Cecil, ibid. ; expresses his approval 
 of General Cecil's services at siege 
 of Juliers, 199; review of his reign 
 over England, 201-3 5 ^ s Scotch 
 favourite, 209 ; marriage schemes for 
 his children, 21 1 ; concludes a treaty 
 at Wesel with the German Protest- 
 ant Princess, 212 ; present at his 
 daughter's marriage, 214 ; birth of 
 his grandson, 223 ; sends Sir E. and 
 Lady Cecil to Heidelberg to report 
 on the child's health, 224 and n ; 
 calls a new Parliament, ibid. ; sends 
 several leading members to prison for 
 contumacy, 225 and n ; sells the 
 Cautionary towns to the Dutch, 239 ; 
 a strong Calvinist, 248 ; his cautious 
 policy in the Bohemian crisis, 307 ; 
 refuses to assist his allies the 
 
 Princes of the Union, 317-8 ; Baron 
 Dhona sent to by his son-in-law the 
 King of Bohemia, 319 ; ill-success of 
 his mission, ibid. ; forbids the clergy 
 to pray for his son-in-law as King 
 of Bohemia, 320 ; holds out hope to 
 Sir E. Cecil of a command in the 
 Palatinate, 321 ; his disapproval of 
 Cecil's behaviour to Baron Dhona, 
 330-1 ; sends two regiments to the 
 Palatinate under Sir Horace Vere, 
 332 ; issues a proclamation for a new 
 Parliament, 342 ; opening speech by, 
 344 ; his administration in Ireland, 
 351 ; denies the right of the Com- 
 mons to punish Floyd, 354 ; his 
 declaration about the Palatinate, 
 358 ; sends Lord Digby to Vienna to 
 mediate a peace between the Em- 
 peror Ferdinand and Frederick, 370 ; 
 writes to the Emperor, 371 ; his 
 arbitrary conduct to the Commons, 
 375 ; dissolves Parliament, 376 
 Jaxley, Captain, 35, 60 
 Jones, Inigo, the King's surveyor, 302 
 Juliane, Louise, Electress Palatine (see 
 
 Nassau) 
 
 Juliers, claimants to duchy of, 154-6 
 Juliers, siege of, 172-192 ; taken pos- 
 session of by the allied troops, 194 
 Juliers, William, Duke of, 154-5, J 5 8 
 
 KEYES, CAPTAIN, death of, 97 
 Knollys, Sir Francis, 117 n 
 Knollys, Sir Thomas, 117 and n 
 Knollys, Sir William, afterwards Earl 
 of Banbury, 80 n, 117 
 
 LAKE, ELIZABETH, LADY ROOP, her 
 libel against the Countess of Exeter 
 and its result, 274-282 
 
 Lake, Mary, Lady, incites her daugh- 
 ter to slander the Countess of Exeter, 
 274 ; her trial and punishment, 280- 
 
 3 
 Lake, Sir Thomas, Chief Secretary, 
 
 his disgrace, 280 ; imprisoned with 
 
 his family, 281 ; restored to royal 
 
 favour, 284 
 
 Latimer, Lord (see Nevill, John) 
 Lawrence, Sir John, of Chelsea, 377 
 
 and ;/ 
 
 Leffingen, disaster at, 45 
 Leicester, Earl of (see Dudley, Robert) 
 Lennox, Duke of (see Stuart, Ludovic) 
 Leopold, Archduke, Bishop of Stras-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 389 
 
 LEO 
 
 burg, takes possession of Juliers, 
 156 ; forced to retire, 180 ; at Brus- 
 sels, 195 ; returns to Strasburg, 196; 
 makes a last effort to recover duchies 
 of Cleves and Juliers, ibid. ; left 
 regent at Vienna in the Emperor's 
 absence, 312 
 
 Lindsey, Earl of (see Bertie, Robert) 
 Lingen, captured by Spinola, 123 
 Lile (?), Captain, his death, 97 
 L'Jsle, Lord (see Sidney, Robert) 
 
 MANNERS, EDWARD, third Earl of 
 Rutland, 8, 9 and 
 
 Manners, Elizabeth, Baroness de Ros, 
 her marriage to Will Cecil, 8 ; death, 
 ibid. 
 
 Manners, Francis, sixth Earl of Rut- 
 land, 8 n ; succeeds as seventeenth 
 Baron de Ros, 278 n 
 
 Mansfeld, Ernest, Count of, lays siege 
 to Pilsen in Bohemia, 295 ; captures 
 that place, 296 ; defeated near 
 Budweis by Bucquoy, 298 and n ; 
 allies himself to the cause of the 
 ex-King of Bohemia, 368 ; his cha- 
 racter, ibid. ; marches to the Upper 
 Palatinate, 369 ; his behaviour there, 
 ibid. ; meets Lord Digby, 371 ; 
 marches to the Lower Palatinate and 
 compels the Spaniards to raise the 
 siege of Frankenthal, ibid. 
 
 Marquette, Colonel, Governor of Os- 
 tend, surrenders the town, 120 
 
 Martinitz, the Bohemian Councillor, 
 his summary ejectment from the 
 Council Chamber in the Hradschin 
 at Prague, 294 
 
 Matthew, Toby, 243 n 
 
 Matthias, King of Bohemia and Em- 
 peror of Germany, 286-292 
 
 Maurice, Prince of Orange (see Nassau) 
 
 Maxwell, James, Earl of Dirleton, 
 204 n 
 
 May, Sir Humphrey, 252 and 
 
 Medicis, Ferdinand de, Duke of 
 Florence, 1 1 and n 
 
 Medicis, Marie de, Queen of France, 
 12; her coronation, 165; her wish 
 to avoid war, 168 
 
 Mendoza, Don Francis, Admiral of 
 Arragon, invades the Netherlands, 
 24-26; mutiny in his camp, 31; 
 taken prisoner at Nieuport, 54 ; ran- 
 somed, 88 ; commands a large 
 force in Brabant, 89 
 
 NAS 
 
 Metckerke, Captain, 60 
 
 Meurs, capture of, by Maurice of 
 Nassau, 79 
 
 Michel, Sir Francis, proceedings of the 
 Commons against, 349 ; severe pun- 
 ishment of, ibid. 
 
 Mildmay, Sir Henry, 258 and n 
 
 Molle, Mr., tutor to Lord Roos, im- 
 prisonment of, 197 n 
 
 Mompesson, Sir Giles, a commissioner 
 for gold and silver thread, 348 ; pro- 
 ceedings of the Commons against, 
 349 ; escapes abroad, ibid. 
 
 Moore, Sir George, 353 
 
 Morada, Odelia de, Lady Knollys, 
 117 n 
 
 Morgan, Captain, 96 
 
 Morgan, Sir William, 2O, 232 
 
 Morrison, Sir Richard, 348 n 
 
 Morton, Sir Albert, Secretary of State, 
 284 n 
 
 Mulgrave, Earl of (see Sheffield, Ed- 
 mund) 
 
 Murray, Mr. Thomas, tutor to Prince 
 
 Charles, 234 n 
 
 Murray, Colonel, killed at siege of 
 Bommel, 31 
 
 NASSAU, ADOLPHUS, COUNT OF, serves 
 at siege of Sluys, 1 10 
 
 Nassau, Ernest, Count of, commands 
 the van of the States' army on the 
 march to Nieuport, 43 ; commands 
 the advanced guard at Leffingen, 
 45 ; his conspicuous gallantry on this 
 occasion, 46 ; his force routed, ibid. ; 
 serves in the Sluys expedition, no; 
 attempts the surprise of Antwerp, 
 122 ; Sir E. Cecil sent on a mission 
 to, 206 
 
 Nassau, Frederick Henry, Count of 
 (afterwards Prince of Orange), present 
 at battle of Nieuport, 44 ; General 
 of the cavalry in Sluys expedition, 
 no; commands cavalry at Broek 
 Castle, 124 ; strengthens the garrison 
 of Rhineberg, 135 ; present at the 
 marriage of the Princess Elizabeth of 
 England, 214 ; escorts Sir II. Vere's 
 troops to the German frontier 335~6 
 
 Nassau, Lewis, Count of, hiscommission 
 from his brother, William the Silent, 
 
 19 ; joined by some English troops, 
 
 20 ; commands the cavalry at Nieu- 
 port, 48 ; routed by the Spanish 
 horse, 50 ; serves at siege of Sluys,
 
 390 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 NAS 
 
 I lo ; dies of fever after this siege, 
 119 
 
 Nassau, Louise Juliane of, Electress 
 Palatine, 212, 305-6 
 
 Nassau, Maurice, Prince of (afterwards 
 Prince of Orange), commands the 
 States' troops at siege of Bommel, 
 23 ; his successful defensive strategy 
 on the Dutch frontier, 25 ; his de- 
 fence of town of Bommel, 26-7 ; 
 drowns the country round Fort St. 
 Andre, 34 ; this fort surrendered to, 
 35 ; invades Flanders, 43 ; his noble 
 behaviour in the hour of danger, 47 ; 
 gives the command of cavalry and 
 infantry at Nieuport to Sir F. Vere, 
 49 ; Duyck's account of, 51; orders 
 the reserve of cavalry to charge, 53 ; 
 his behaviour in hour of victory, 54 ; 
 captures fort of Isabella, 59 ; lays 
 siege to Rhineberg, 68 ; Rhineberg 
 and Meurs surrendered to, 79 ; in- 
 vades Brabant, 88-92 ; Queen Eliza- 
 beth's opinion of, 93 ; lays siege to 
 the town of Grave, 94 ; dangerous 
 illness of, 97 ; the Emdeners solicit 
 aid from, 98 ; commander-in-chief at 
 siege of Sluys, 1 10-8 ; captures town 
 of Sluys, 118-9; marches to Fries- 
 land and Groningen to oppose Spi- 
 nola, 123 ; defeated at Broek Castle, 
 124-6 ; his encounters with Spinola, 
 134 ; expected to relieve Rhineberg, 
 136 ; is censured for his supineness 
 in not attempting the relief of this 
 place, 139; retakes Lochem, 140; is 
 censured for his abandonment of 
 Groll, 141 ; averse to a treaty with 
 Spain, 142 ; won over to the peace 
 party, 146; marches to Juliers, 170-1 ; 
 commands the States' troops in the 
 phantom campaign, 226-8 ; espouses 
 the cause of the Contra- Remonstrants, 
 265 ; his breach with Barneveld and 
 the result, 266 ; succeeds his elder 
 brother as Prince of Orange, 266 n ; 
 quarrels with Uytenbogaert the Dutch 
 preacher, 267 ; pays a high compli- 
 ment to Sir E. Cecil's company of 
 foot, 269 ; quells the mutiny at 
 Utrecht, 270 ; head of Protestant 
 party in United Provinces, 304 ; 
 uncle of Frederick, Elector Palatine, 
 305 ; advises Frederick to accept 
 the Bohemian Crown, 306 ; sarcastic 
 speech to Frederick's mother, ibid. ; 
 
 OGL 
 
 gives an asylum in Holland to King 
 and Queen of Bohemia, 361 
 
 Nassau, Philip Wm., Prince of Orange, 
 266 n 
 
 Nassau, Wm. Lewis (or Lewis Wm.) of, 
 Frisian Stadtholder, 44 n 
 
 Nassau, Wm., Prince of Orange (Wm. 
 the Silent), an outlaw from his father- 
 land, 19 ; his character, 20 ; his 
 assassination, ibid, and 
 
 Naunton, Sir Robert, Secretary of 
 ^ State, 252 n, 330 
 
 Neuburg, Duke of, claims the duchies 
 of Cleves and Juliers, 154, 171, 180, 
 194, 200 ; his son insulted by the 
 Elector of Brandenburg, 225 and n 
 
 Nevill, Dorothy, Countess of Exeter, 
 
 5 6 4 
 
 Nevill, Elizabeth, LadyDanvers, 144 n 
 
 Nevill, John, third Baron Latimer, 5 n 
 
 Nevill, John, fourth and last Baron, his 
 monument in Well Church, York- 
 shire, 5 n 
 
 Nevill, Lucy, Lady Latimer (see 
 Somerset) 
 
 Nevill, Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland, 
 9 
 
 Neville, Sir Henry, ambassador to 
 France, 25 1 n 
 
 Nieuport, battle of, 47-57 
 
 Noel, Sir Andrew, of Dalby, 62 and n 
 
 Noel, Mabel, Lady (see Harington) 
 
 Noel, Theodosia, Lady Cecil, marriage 
 to Sir E. Cecil, 62-3 ; accompanies 
 the Electress Palatine to Germany, 
 215 ; selected as one of the ladies- 
 in-waiting to the Electress, 222-3 > 
 goes to Heidelberg, 224 and n ; her 
 death and place of burial, 236-7 
 
 Norreys, Baroness (see Wray, Bridget) 
 
 North, Lord, 83 
 
 Northumberland, Earl of (see Percy, 
 Henry, gth earl) 
 
 OGLE, SIR JOHN, Colonel, his account 
 of Nieuport battle, 52-4 ; his com- 
 pany of foot referred to, 96 ; a 
 suitor for a regiment, 121 ; is given 
 the command of an English regiment, 
 122 and n ; his regiment referred to, 
 163 ; wrongfully obtains a company 
 in Sir E. Cecil's regiment for his 
 nephew, Mr. J. Ogle, 248 and n ; in 
 disfavour with James I. for favouring 
 the Arminians, 249 and ; governor 
 of Utrecht, 268 ; placed in a difficult
 
 INDEX. 
 
 39 1 
 
 OGL 
 
 position, 269 ; deprived of his com- 
 mand at Utrecht, 270 ; makes up his 
 quarrel with Sir E. Cecil, 331 
 
 Ogle, Thomas, of Pinchbeck, Lincoln- 
 shire, 136 n 
 
 Orange, Prince of (see under head of 
 Nassau) 
 
 Ostend, extracts relating to siege of, 
 67-81, 115-120 
 
 Ouclenberg, captured by the States' 
 troops, 45 ; retaken by the Spaniards, 
 ibid. 
 
 Overbury, Sir Thomas, his murder in 
 the Tower, 221 ; discovery of the 
 authors of the murder, 241 
 
 PAKENHAM, SIR PHILIP, Lt.-Colonel 
 of Sir E. Cecil's regiment, 251 and , 
 300 and 
 
 Palatine, the Elector (see Frederick V.) 
 
 Parker, Capt. Sir Nicholas, his troop 
 of horse, 36 ; sells his company of 
 horse to Capt. Edward Cecil, 41 
 
 Parma, Alexander, Duke of, Spanish 
 Governor of the Netherlands, 23 
 
 Parma, Margaret, Duchess of, Regent 
 of the Netherlands, 18 ; returns to 
 Spain, ibid. 
 
 Pecquius, Chancellor of Brabant, his 
 arrival at the Hague on a diplomatic 
 mission, 360 ; returns dissatisfied, 361 
 
 Pembroke, Wm., Earl of (see Herbert) 
 
 Percy, Henry, gth Earl of Northumber- 
 land, receives a call from Sir F. Vere, 
 66 n ; pays a visit to the States' 
 army, 59 n 
 
 Philip II., King of Spain, sends Alva 
 to the Netherlands, 1 8 ; cedes the 
 Netherlands to his daughter, the 
 Infanta Isabella, 23 ; his illness and 
 death, 24 
 
 Pine, Captain, 263 
 
 Pithan, Frederick, Sergeant-Major, 
 made Governor of Juliers by 
 Maurice of Nassau, 195 
 
 Pole, David, Bishop of Peterboro', 9 
 
 Puckering, Sir Thomas, 351 
 
 RICH, SIR CHARLES, 332 
 
 Rich, Sir Henry, afterwards Earl of 
 
 Holland, serves as a volunteer at 
 
 Juliers, 179 and 
 Rich, Robert, 3rd Baron and 1st Earl 
 
 of Warwick, 179 
 
 Rich, Penelope, Baroness (see Devereux) 
 Richardot, President, 144 
 
 SAX 
 
 Richards, Captain, his death in the 
 Low Countries, 97 
 
 Ridgway, Captain, 96 n 
 
 Rochester, Viscount (see Carr, Robert) 
 
 Rodney, George, marries the Baroness 
 Roos, 283 
 
 Roe, Sir Thomas, 127 , 352 
 
 Rogers, Captain, 96 n 
 
 Roos (de Ros), Lord (see Cecil, Wm., 
 and Manners, Fras.) 
 
 Roos, Lady (see Lake, Elizabeth) 
 
 Rudolph II., Emperor of Germany, 
 sends Leopold of Austria to take 
 possession of Juliers on the death 
 of the mad Duke of Cleves, 156 ; 
 refuses to advance funds in Leopold's 
 cause, 196 ; James I. fails to re- 
 concile him to the victorious Princes 
 of Cleves and Juliers, 198-9 ; a 
 review of the chief events of his 
 reign, 286-291 ; his death at Prague, 
 291 and n 
 
 Russenburg (?), Governor of Juliers, 
 182 ; his obstinate defence of this 
 place, 189 ; surrenders the town and 
 castle to the allied forces, 192 ; his 
 ability underrated by Archduke 
 Leopold, 196 ; offers his services to 
 the Duke of Saxony but they are 
 declined, ibid. 
 
 Rutland, Earl of (see Manners) 
 
 SACKVILLE, SIR EDWARD (afterwards 
 
 Earl of Dorset), 331-2, 337 ; his duel 
 
 with Lord Bruce, 341 
 Sackville, Robert, Earl of Dorset, 341 n 
 Sackville, Thomas, Lord Buckhurst, 
 
 341 
 Salines, Count de, taken prisoner at 
 
 Nieuport battle, 55 
 Salisbury, Earl of (see Cecil, Robert) 
 Sandys, Sir Edwin, 357 , 367 
 Sandys, William, 3rd Baron, 81 and n 
 St. Antoine, French riding-master to 
 
 Henry, Prince of Wai 'S, 210 
 St. John, Oliver, 3rd Baron of Bletsloe, 
 
 179 and 
 
 St. Leger, Sir Warham, the elder, i8o 
 St. Leger, Sir Warham, the younger, 
 
 1 80 and n 
 
 Savoy, Duke of, proposes a marriage 
 between his daughter and Henry, 
 Prince of Wales, 211 ; is one of the 
 four claimants to the Crown of Bo- 
 hemia, 303 
 
 Saxony, Albert, Duke of, 158
 
 39 2 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 SAX 
 
 Saxony, John George, Duke of, one of 
 the four claimants to the Crown of 
 Bohemia, 303 ; an account of h : m by 
 Sir F. Nethersole, 321 n 
 
 Scambler, Edmund, Bishop of Peter- 
 boro, 9 and n 
 
 Schomberg, Colonel, 223 
 
 Scott, Captain, 60 
 
 Scott, Sir William, Lord Buccleuch, 
 126 and , 163 n 
 
 Selby, Sir John, 125 and n 
 
 Seymour, Sir Francis, 353 
 
 Sheffield, Sir Edward, 79 and n 
 
 Sheffield, Edmund, 3rd Baron Sheffield, 
 and 1st Earl of Mulgrave, 79 
 
 Shrewsbury, Earl of to Talbot, Gilbert) 
 
 Sidney, Sir Henry, 63 n 
 
 Sidney, Lucy, Lady Harington, 63 n 
 
 Sidney, Sir Philip, 22 
 
 Sidney, Sir Robert, Viscount L'Isle, 
 (afterwards 1st Earl of Leicester) 
 governor of Flushing, 36-7, 215 ; 
 hopes to succeed to Sir F. Vere's 
 command in the Low Countries, 94 ; 
 accompanies the Electress Palatine 
 to Germany, 215-8, 344 
 
 Sidney, Sir William, 63 
 
 Sinclair, Captain, 96 n 
 
 Sitsilt (see Cecil) 
 
 Sluys, account of the siege of, 1 10-20 
 
 Smith, Sir John, 232 
 
 Smith, Lady (see Brydges, Frances, 
 Countess of Exeter) 
 
 Smith, Sir Thomas, 286 
 
 Somerset, Earl of (see Carr, Robert) 
 
 Somerset, Countess of (see Howard, 
 Frances) 
 
 Somerset, Edward, 4th Earl of Wor- 
 cester, Lord Privy Seal, 179 , 274/2 
 
 Somerset, Lady Lucy, Baroness Lati- 
 mer, 5 n 
 
 Somerset, Thomas, Sir, 179 and n 
 
 Spina, a Spanish commander, 94 
 
 Spinola, Ambrose, Marquis of Benaffro 
 and Duke of Sanseverino, arrives at 
 Ostend and takes over the command 
 of the Spanish troops, 87 ; is sent to 
 the aid of the Admiral of Arragon, 
 89 ; his operations with the Admiral, 
 93-4 ; prosecutes the siege of Ostend 
 with great vigour, in and n ; Ostend 
 surrendered to, 120 and n ; makes a 
 raid into Friesland and Groningen, 
 122 ; his encounters with Maurice 
 of Nassau, 123-4 ; illness of, 132 ; 
 returns to Brussels and sets out on a 
 
 fresh campaign, ibid. ; resultless opera- 
 tions, 133-4 ; captures Groll and 
 lays siege to Rhineberg, 135 ; Rhine- 
 berg surrendered to, 139 ; mutiny in 
 his camp, 140 ; hastens to the rescue 
 of Groll, 141 ; supineness of his 
 adversary, ibid. ; helps to negotiate 
 a peace with the United Provinces, 
 144 ; his remark upon the cause of 
 Sir F. Vere's death, 150 ; commands 
 the Spanish troops in the phantom 
 campaign, 227-9 > receives orders 
 from Archduke Albert to invade the 
 Palatinate; 319; keeps his instruc- 
 tions secret, 333 ; shows his hand, 
 334 ; lays waste the Palatinate, 338-9 
 
 Spinola, Frederick, sea commander, 87 
 and n 
 
 Stafford, Edward, Duke of Buckingham, 
 254 
 
 Stafford, Elizabeth, Lady Drury, 254 
 and n 
 
 Stafford, Henry, Lord, 254 
 
 Stafford, Sir William of Chebsey, 254 
 
 Stanley, Sir Wm., 57 and n 
 
 Stuart, Ludovic, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 
 accompanies Elizabeth, Electress 
 Palatine, to Heidelberg, 215-8 ; Lord 
 High Steward, 258 and n 
 
 Suffolk, Earl of (see Howard, Thomas) 
 
 Sutton, Colonel, Sir Henry, 122 and n 
 
 Swarton, Sarah, confesses her libel 
 against the Countess of Exeter and is 
 punished, 281 
 
 TALBOT, ALETHEA, Countess of Arun- 
 del, accompanies Elizabeth, Electress 
 Palatine, to Heidelberg, 215-8 
 
 Talbot, Edward, 8th Earl of Shrews- 
 bury, 243 n 
 
 Talbot, Gilbert, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury ; 
 80 ; death of, 243 n 
 
 Talbot, Mary, Countess of Shrewsbury 
 (see Cavendish, Mary) 
 
 Terrail, du, French commander in the 
 Spanish service, attempts to take Sluys 
 by surprise, I }l n 
 
 Thanet, Earl of (see Tufton, Nicholas) 
 
 Thanet, Countess of (see Cecil, Frances) 
 
 Thornhurst, Captain, 332 
 
 Throgmorton, Sir John, 125 
 
 Thurn, Count, Bohemian general, 295 
 
 Trafford, Sir Edmund, 6 
 
 Trafford, Lady (see Cecil, Mildred) 
 
 Tufton, Nicholas, 1st Earl of Thanet, 6 
 
 Tufton, Frances, Countess of Thanet, 6
 
 INDEX. 
 
 393 
 
 UR 
 
 Turner, Lieutenant, 250 
 
 Turneur, William, dedicates his life of 
 Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, to 
 Sir Edward Cecil's wife, 208 
 
 UTRECHT, the governor of (see Ogle, 
 
 Sir John) 
 Utrecht, mutiny of garrison at, 
 
 quelled by Maurice of Nassau, 270 
 Uytenbogaert, John, Arminian divine, 
 
 offends Prince Maurice, 266-7 J 
 
 leaves Holland, 284 and n 
 
 VANE, SIR HENRY, the younger, 
 
 reference to, 270 
 Vavasour, Captain, 60, 96 n ; death of, 
 
 97 
 
 Velasco, Don Louis de, Spanish general, 
 has a high command in the Arch- 
 duke's army at Nieuport, 55 ; is 
 routed by Prince Maurice near Sluys, 
 115; gains a victory at Broek Castle, 
 125 ; commands a large force on 
 the Dutch frontier, 336 ; his camp 
 visited by Sir E. Cecil and other 
 British officers, 337 ; their report of 
 his army, ibid. 
 Veluwe, the, 133 
 Vere, Captain Daniel, 96 n 
 Vere, Captain Edward, 96 n 
 Vere, Elizabeth Lady (see Dent) 
 Vere, General Sir Francis, returns to 
 the Low Countries, 15 ; Edward 
 Cecil joins him as a volunteer, ibid. ; 
 his services in the Netherlands and 
 at Cadiz, 22-3 ; commands the Eng- 
 lish troops at siege of Bommel, 
 30 ; his advice to Edward Cecil, 37 ; 
 his efforts to procure Cecil the 
 command of a troop of horse, 40-1 ; 
 commands a division of the States' 
 army on march to Nieuport, 43 ; is 
 averse to the invasion of Flanders, 
 44 ; shows good generalship on the 
 eve of Nieuport battle, 47-8 ; the 
 prominent part he took in this battle, 
 
 49 ; badly wounded, ibid. ; his horse 
 shot under him and in great danger, 
 
 50 ; his partial account of the battle 
 in his despatches, 53; E. Cecil's 
 eulogium on, 57 ; is sent on a mission 
 to England, 66 ; account of his 
 meeting with the Earl of Northum- 
 berland, 66 ; sails for Ostend 
 with troops, 71 ; strengthens the 
 defences of Ostend, 74 ; reinforced 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 VIL 
 
 at Ostend by troops under E. Cecil, 
 75 ; is wounded and compelled to 
 leave Ostend, 79 ; succeeded by 
 Colonel Van Dorp as governor, 82 ; 
 commands the English troops in 
 Brabant expedition, 90 ; severely 
 wounded at siege of Grave, 94 and 
 ; returns to Brill, of which town 
 he was governor, 128 ; his quarrel 
 with Maurice of Nassau, ibid. ; his 
 character, 128-9; present at a 
 thanksgiving service at Brill, 130; 
 his death and epitaph, 151 ; Queen 
 Elizabeth's opinion of, ibid; appli- 
 cants for his two vacant posts, 151-2 
 
 Vere, Henry de, i8th Earl of Oxford, 
 commands a company under Sir 
 Horace Vere in the Palatinate, 320 
 and n ; member of the Council of 
 War, 344 and ; imprisoned in the 
 Tower, 367 
 
 Vere, General Sir Horace, his high 
 command in the States' army, 22 ; 
 distinguishes himself at Bommel, 31 ; 
 commands a troop at Nieuport, 48 ; 
 his gallant charge, 51 ; result, 53 ; 
 serves at siege of Ostend, 74 ; his 
 troop, 96 n ; opposed to the forma- 
 tion of regiments, 121 and ; 
 commands the British troops at 
 Broek Castle, 124 ; the hero of a 
 disastrous fight, 126 and n ; succeeds 
 his brother, Sir Francis, in governor- 
 ship of Brill, 152 ; receives a pension 
 from James I., 239; chosen to com- 
 mand British troops in the Palatinate, 
 322 ; account of his quarrel with Sir 
 E. Cecil, 329 ; is reconciled to Cecil 
 by Sir D. Casleton, 333 ; his com- 
 mand in Holland given to Cecil 
 during his absence in Palatinate, 
 335 ; leaves Holland in command of 
 two regiments, 336 ; his noble char- 
 acter, tlid. ; his troops garrison the 
 chief towns in Lower Palatinate, 371 
 
 Villeroy, Mons., French Secretary of 
 State, 167-8, 243 and 
 
 Villiers, Sir George, of Brokesby, 241 
 
 Villiers, George, Baron Villiers, Earl, 
 Marquis, and Duke of Buckingham, 
 supplants Somerset in King's favour, 
 241 ; his speech to Somerset, ibid. ; 
 his rapid promotion, 245 ; favours 
 Sir E. Cecil in his suit for a command 
 in Palatinate, 322 ; asked to heal the 
 differences between Sir H. Vere and 
 
 2 D
 
 394 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sir E. Cecil, 330; receives a letter 
 
 from the Prince of Wales relative to 
 
 the King's employment of Sir E. 
 
 Cecil, 374 
 Villiers, Sir John, Viscount Purbeck, 
 
 his marriage to Frances Coke and the 
 
 consequences, 250-1 and n 
 Vorstius, Conrad, professor at Ley den 
 
 University, 248 
 
 WALDEN, LORD HOWARD de (see 
 
 Howard Theophilus) 
 Warburton, Lady, 222 
 Weldon, Sir Anthony, his character of 
 
 James I., 102 
 Wentworth, Mr. (?), imprisoned for his 
 
 contumacy in Parliament, 225 n 
 Williams, Sir Roger, Capt, anecdote 
 
 of, 232 and n 
 Williams, Ensign, 301 
 Willoughby, Lord (see Bertie, Robt.) 
 Wilmot, Lord, Member of Council of 
 
 War, 344 and 
 Wimbledon, Viscount (see Cecil, Sir 
 
 Edward) 
 
 Wimbledon House, 274 , 299 
 Winchester, Marquis of, 6, 81 
 Winchester, Marchioness of (see Cecil, 
 
 Lucy) 
 Wingfield, Elizabeth (see Cecil) 
 
 Wingfield, Sir John, of Tickencote, 
 
 300 and n 
 Wingfield, John, M.P. for Grantham, 
 
 300 
 Wingfield, Robert, M.P. for Peterboro, 
 
 300 n 
 
 Winwood, Lewis, 251 
 Winwood, Sir Ralph, Ambassador at 
 
 the Hague, 108 ; at Juliers, 183 ; his 
 
 praise of Sir E. Cecil, 183, 195 ; 
 
 memoir of his family, 251; his death, 
 
 ibid. 
 
 Winwood, Richard, 251 
 Witchard, Sir John, 181 
 Withipole, Sir Edmund, 250 n 
 Worcester, Earl of (see Somerset, Edw.) 
 Wotton, Sir Henry, epigram by, 323 
 
 and n 
 Wotton, Lord, resigns comptrollership, 
 
 258 and n, 259 and n 
 Wray, Bridget, Baroness Norreys, 
 
 341 n 
 
 Wray, Sir Christopher, 341 n 
 Wurtemburg, Prince of, serves as a 
 
 volunteer at siege of Juliers, I So 
 
 ZAPENA, DON CARLOS de, Spanish 
 commander, taken prisoner at Nieu- 
 port battle, 55 
 
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