MARQUIS PENDEREL Dl BOSCOBEL Ex Libris ISAAC FOOT THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS. S'l0ujUs~& 'ottec&on* a /f/^rul^y^ Lya*tts. THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY BY ONE OF HIS DESCENDANTS AUTHOR OF 1 THE LIFE OF A CONSPIRATOR," " A LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD, "THE LIFE OF A PRIG," ETC., ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY 1896 All rights reserved 1X5 " He doth excel In honour, courtesy, and all the parts Court can call hers, or man could call his arts He's prudent, valiant, just and temperate : In him all virtue is beheld in state ; And he is built like some imperial room For that to dwell in, and be still at home. His breast is a brave palace, a broad street, Where all heroic ample thoughts do meet : Where nature such a large survey hath ta'en, As other souls to his, dwelt in a lane." From An Epigram to my muse, the Lady Digby, on her husband, Sir Kenelm Digby. By Ben Jonson. Gifford's Works of Ben Jonson, ed. by Col. Cunningham, 1875, vol. ix., pp. 33, 34. PREFACE. LET me beg my readers to understand, at starting, that my own pretence in this book is very small. Having consulted and studied many volumes and documents in an endeavour to learn something of the life of a very distinct personage Sir Kenelm Digby I culled from them the matter which appeared to me the most interesting, and employed it in the making of a book, with intent to convey to others some idea of his character and career ; but I neither read nor wrote about Sir Kenelm Digby with the object of bookmaking. I admit that, in dealing with the evidence relating to his proceedings, I have found it necessary to make a few deliberate omissions, and I can only hope that I may not have inadvertently fallen into the opposite extreme of sins of commission. It is a curious fact that, even in these days of Lives and Memoirs, no thoroughly satisfactory Life of Sir Kenelm Digby should be in existence. vi PREFACE. \ Of the shortcomings of my own I am but too conscious ; and let me, in the words of Pope, make this earnest appeal to my critics and reviewers : The piece you think is incorrect : why, take it ; I'm all submission ; what you'd have it, make it. For if a failure on my part should induce some able writer, languishing for want of a subject, to produce a really brilliant biography of Sir Kenelm Digby, my labours will not have been in vain. T. L. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE YOUTH i An infant flirtation Youth of Kenelm Digby Family of Digby Effects of Sir Everard's death on his son Litigation about Gothurst Venetia Anastasia Stanley Ben Jonson's " Dedication of her Cradle" Aubrey's description of her Ben Jonson's Her ancestry Thomas, Earl of Northumberland Wordsworth's " White Doe " Venetia and her father Was Kenelm Digby educated as a Protestant? Act against recusants Kenelm Digby under Laud Kenelm Digby goes to Spain He goes to Oxford When did he become an Anglican? CHAPTER II. A BALL . .12 A Gentleman-Commoner at Gloucester Hall His description of himself Under Thomas Allen The Mirandula of his age Did Allen sell or bequeath his library to Digby ? Guarini Venetia Stanley Marriage of Princess Elizabeth Venetia at a ball Euphuism Venetia's dancing Her " Ancient Gentlewoman ". CHAPTER III. A PLOT 21 Venetia determines to communicate with Kenelm Faustina offers to help A rendezvous appointed A coach and four Attack on the coach Kidnapped A prisoner The "deserving gentleman" Supper A walk in the garden Escape Attack by a wolf- Rescued by Sir Edward Sackville Taken to the home of Lady Artesia Matchmaking for Kenelm Digby Kenelm Digby " back- ward". CHAPTER IV. THE CHASE 32 Kenelm Digby leaves Oxford His portrait by Vandyck His visit to Lady Artesia's Acrostic on Venetia A stratagem A stag hunt Flirtation in a thicket Return of the truants Kenelm to go abroad Fare- well tokens Kenelm Digby goes to Paris He goes to Angers State of affairs in France. Vlli CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. PAGE A LADY-IN-WAITING 42 Leriana A summons to the palace The queen-mother A declaration of love Kenelm Digby says his affections are pre-engaged Dis- missed with anger The rout at Angers Battle of Pont de C6 Kenelm Digby gives out that he is killed Florence Galileo Kepler and Bacon Kenelm Digby learned philosophy in three schools The Sympathetic Powder Unanswered letters. CHAPTER VI. No LETTERS! . " 51 Reason of Venetia's silence She hears of Kenelm Digby's reputed death Sir Edward Sackville comforts her A sisterly affection Calumny and scandal Purity of Venetia She accepts Sackville Ben Jonson's verses on her picture The scandals reach the ears of Digby at Florence He denounces her sex He burns her hair Sackville's inconstancy He again urges Venetia to marry him. CHAPTER VII. A FAMILIAR SPIRIT 61 James I. and the projected Spanish match Objections from Puritans in England and the Pope in Rome Sir John Digby sent to Spain He is made Lord Digby Death of Philip III. Digby made Earl of Bristol and sent as ambassador to Spain Bristol invites Kenelm to Madrid On his way thither Kenelm makes the acquaintance of a " Brach- man " Kenelm's heterodoxy and pessimism He confides his trouble A spirit in a pocket-book Raising a devil It takes the form of Venetia It clears her reputation It gives Kenelm a sign. CHAPTER VIII. A BATTLE 70 Kenelm arrives at Madrid Jealousy between Bristol and Buckingham Prince Charles and Buckingham start for Spain A midnight walk in Madrid A lady in a balcony An attack Kenelm kills two men and fulfils the Brahman's prophecy The onset accounted for The story reaches London Venetia's feelings Arrival of Charles and Buckingham at Madrid Buckingham's interview with Olivarez Open rupture between Bristol and Buckingham Kenelm Digby used as an intermediary with the archbishop Latin prayers and wafers for Prince Charles Conversation between Kenelm Digby and Bristol. CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER IX. PAGE AT MADRID 81 Deficiencies of Charles The infanta disliked him Conversation between Bristol and Charles Charles and Buckingham leave Bristol's house and go to the palace Rejoicings at Madrid Difficulties arise Peculiar position of Kenelm A queer school for a young courtier Clarendon's description of Bristol Lloyd's description of Bristol The English courtiers at Madrid A deaf and dumb nobleman Kenelm on Buckingham Bristol's letter to King James Difficulties of Kenelm Digby. CHAPTER X. THE GAME OF LOVE . .89 Kensington gives advice to Kenelm Digby A contest for a lady's favour Kenelm Digby wins the wager The Prince about to leave Spain Mauricana's conversation with Kenelm Digby Kenelm Digby's baseness Journey from Madrid Arrival in England Illness on landing Gossip about Venetia Kenelm Digby presented to the king at Hinchinbrooke Buckingham and Bristol Knighthood. CHAPTER XL THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE 98 Kenelm Digby goes to London He sees Venetia Their meeting She resents a liberty The question of her virtue Verses Mr. Clerk in love with Venetia He deputes Kenelm Digby to plead his cause with her Visit of Kenelm Digby to Venetia He finds her asleep A stolen kiss Her indignation Her song Another kiss Misunder- standings Doings of Buckingham Kenelm invited by Buckingham to accompany him to Paris Venetia's generosity Kenelm determines to marry her. CHAPTER XII. MARRIAGE no Kenelm Digby proposes and is refused Venetia's picture Kenelm challenges Sir E. Sackville Satisfaction Sackville's duel at Antwerp Venetia still obdurate An engagement at last Marriage Secrecy The affairs of Bristol Letter of Bristol to Kenelm Digby Letter of Kenelm Digby to Bristol Letter of Charles to Bristol. X CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. PAGE SYMPATHETIC POWDER 123 King James and scientific curiosities Sympathetic Powder Kenelm Digby's "Discourse" upon it Bacon and the Powder Mr. Bruce on the Powder Sir Walter Scott on the Powder Anthony Wood on the Powder Recipes of Kenelm Digby's among the Ashmolean MSS. , Sir Kenelm Digby's Closet Opened. CHAPTER XIV. A SECRET MARRIAGE 132 Consequences of concealing a marriage Robert Digby remonstrates with Kenelm Digby The latter's praise of love Kirke (?) and Nugent A boating adventure Babilinda Love at first sight Nugent turns against his friend Kirke's love for Venetia turns to hatred A plot Kenelm Digby challenges Kirke Kirke confesses Domestic troubles Venetia's ride Birth of Kenelm Digby's eldest son Bristol reproves Kenelm Digby The latter's defence A fortunate distraction. CHAPTER XV. A GREAT UNDERTAKING 143 Kenelm Digby likes leisure His poem He suffered from the opposition of Buckingham He plans a privateering expedition Charles I. promises him a commission Why did he leave the Court ? Gower's verses to Kenelm Digby Wood, Lodge, the Biographia Britannica, Lord Clarendon, and Lloyd on his charms Lady Digby's objec- tions to the proposed expedition Kenelm Digby's reply She yields Opposition to the expedition from Nicholas A second commission A third commission Return of Buckingham Further delays Kenelm Digby's officers and ships. CHAPTER XVI. EMBARKATION . 154 Leave-taking of Bristol Kenelm Digby admits his marriage Deal Birth of second son Ben Jonson's poems to Digby's sons Two landsmen admirals Weighs anchor Gibraltar A fight and a retreat Feasted by an Englishman Contrast between the courage of Englishmen and others Boards some ships An engagement Sickness on board Algiers Treaty with the Algerians Plot on board one of the ships Leaves Algiers. CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XVII. PAGE THE VOYAGE 166 Majorca and a battle Captures A storm Straits of Messina Takes a ship laden with corn Rejoined by two of his ships Cephalonia Venetians Mutinous sailors Zante A boat containing dead men Battle of Scanderoon. CHAPTER XVIII. PRIVATEERING 177 Merchants at Aleppo punished in retaliation for Digby's victories Leaves Scanderoon A duel between his officers The Vice-consul of Scande- roon implores him to sail away from the East Overboard A wild boar hunt The bearer of a flag-truce seized by the natives Cap- ture of a ship Kenelm Digby threatens torture to its captain A storm Milo Kenelm Digby writes his Private Memoirs Quarrel between two officers Delos and its antiquities Mutinous symptoms Rumours of approaching attacks Precautions. CHAPTER XIX. RETURN TO ENGLAND 186 Patras Ducking an unfaithful steward Kenelm Digby nearly taken prisoner Trouble with Turks Tobacco Quarrel with English ships Bad beef Starting homewards Death of Buckingham Small captures Important captures The leaky Jonas Gibraltar Bay of Biscay English Channel Return Welcome from Bristol and the king English politics. CHAPTER XX. SHIPS AND CHURCHES 194 In the Court of Exchequer Claims and counter claims Kenelm Digby builds houses near Drury Lane He obtains estates in the country Becomes a commissioner of the Navy State Papers in XVIIth cen- tury Complaints against Kenelm Digby by a shipbuilder At Dept- ford No nepotism His relations to Dorset' Gunpowder When did Kenelm Digby become an Anglican? Varieties of opinion, in those days, as to how far Catholics need profess their religion openly. Xli CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXI. PAGE DEATH IN THE HOUSE 206 Kenelm Digby's superstition John Evans, the sorcerer Rumours of advancement Death of Allen His library Kenelm Digby gives it to the Bodleian One book given elsewhere Domestic life Position of Lady Digby at Court and in society doubtful Was she dull? Poem Kenelm Digby fond of quack nostrums He doctors his wife to improve her complexion Edible snails Death of Lady Digby Her husband's lament Monument and inscriptions "You worms (my rivals) '' House in Holborn A change of costume Retires to Gresham College Foolish rumour of a conspiracy at Gothurst. CHAPTER XXII. EPITAPHS 220 Elegies on Lady Digby Ben Jonson's Randolph's Aurelian Town- shend's Feltham's Habington's Friends of Kenelm Digby Bottle- making He goes to Paris Declares himself a Catholic Opportunism Continued friendship with Laud Bears witness for Laud, later "Conference with a Lady about the choice of a Religion" The advowson of his family living taken out of his hands His children brought to France. CHAPTER XXIII. RETURN TO ENGLAND 233 Correspondence with Lord Conway Lady Purbeck His interest in her cause Walter Montague Conversion of Lady Newport Laud and the queen Death of Ben Jonson Sir Kenelm's letter about him Conference at Brussels Riots about the liturgy in Scotland Return to England Visits his mother The Puritans and relics Father's letters carefully treasured Laud asks for contributions from the clergy towards the war with Scotland the queen calls upon the Catholics to contribute She commissions Kenelm Digby and Mon- tague to raise the fund Their appeal to the English Catholics ;io,ooo promised Meeting under Con. CHAPTER XXIV. THEOLOGY, ASTROLOGY AND DUELLING 244 Kenelm Digby put on a commission to advise concerning the Algerian pirates Correspondence about religion with George Digby The Short Parliament Kenelm Digby dabbles in astrology Rossetti succeeds Con Kenelm Digby summoned before the House of Commons He voluntarily leaves England to save the king trouble Duel with De Ros Duelling in France and efforts to stop it Kenelm Digby goes to the King of France Returns to England. CONTENTS. xiil CHAPTER XXV. PAGE A PRISONER 254 Committal of Kenelm Digby to Winchester House Winchester House Kenelm Digby makes bottles Literary work at Winchester House Treatises on the body and the soul Book of family history Martyr- doms in England Compromising letter of George Digby's Liberated from prison Letters from the Parliament to the queen-mother Kenelm Digby's guarantee to the Parliament Kenelm goes to France He visits Des Cartes Replies to his books Kenelm Digby writes another book His brother killed In spite of his guarantee, Kenelm Digby conspires against the Parliament at Rome He meddles in the Neapolitan insurrection He offends the Pope An unfaithful steward Visits other Italian Courts Kenelm Digby's eldest son killed Symptoms of a change of policy. CHAPTER XXVI. NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE ENEMY 269 Death of Charles I. Kenelm Digby intrigues with his late king's worst foes Nicholas to Ormonde on Kenelm Digby's proceedings Byron's letter Winsted's letter More letters from Nicholas to Ormonde Quotations from "The History of Independency 1 ' Father Thomas White His book Kenelm Digby's curious position with the queen Holies' attack on Cromwell Prynne on Cromwell The Council of State and Kenelm Digby Kenelm Digby again exiled Letter from Kenelm Digby Independents and Puritans Kenelm Digby returns to England Well received by Cromwell Letter from Kenelm Digby about his MSS. at the Bodleian Kenelm Digby's letter to Thurloe. CHAPTER XXVII. OLIVER CROMWELL 282 Hartlib's letters about Kenelm Digby Cromwell's broad views Paxton Hood and Hazlitt on Cromwell Kenelm Digby at Toulouse Henrietta Maria sends another envoy to Rome The queen-mother of France and Cromwell's Government Kenelm Digby and Mazarin Kenelm Digby at Bordeaux "The Pliny of our Age for Lying" The petrified city Death of Cromwell Kenelm Digby at Mont- pelier Serious illness of Kenelm Digby The Restoration Kenelm Digby on minerals He returns to England Obtains repayment of the money he spent in redeeming captives at Algiers The Royal Society Literary life Kenelm Digby's library left in France His son, John, indicted for recusancy Kenelm Digby reported to be forbidden the Court His Chancellorship to Henrietta Maria Last illness and death. CHAPTER XXVIII. EPILOGUE 294 APPENDICES . 301 INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 307 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Sir Kenelm Digby, from the picture by Vandyck in Windsor Castle. Reproduced by permission of Her Majesty the Queen . . Frontispiece Gothurst the home of Sir Kenelm Digby 4 Sir Everard Digby, from the portrait in the possession of W. R. M. Wynne, Esquire of Peniarth, Merioneth ........ 19 Lady Venetia Digby, by Vandyck, from the picture in Windsor Castle. Reproduced by permission of Her Majesty the Queen. . . .no Sir Kenelm Digby, from portrait by Cornelius Janssen. In the possession of the author 217 Autograph of Sir Kenelm Digby 224 Horoscope 246 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. CHAPTER I. YOUTH. THE little love-makings of infant playmates, pretty and amusing as they may appear to their elders, are rarely long-lived, and even more rarely lead to any serious conse- quences. But there are exceptions. Some time near the end of the first decade of the seven- teenth century a boy and girl were frequently at play to- gether. One of them in later years thus described their childish meetings : * " The very first time that ever they had sight of one another," they "grew so fond of each other's company that all that saw them said assuredly that something above their tender capacity breathed this sweet affection into their hearts. They would mingle serious kisses among their innocent sports : and whereas other children of like age did delight in fond plays and light toys these two would spend the day in looking upon each other's face, and in accompanying these looks with gentle sighs, which seemed to portend that much sorrow was laid up for their more understanding years ; and if at any time they happened to use such recreations as were sortable to their age, they demeaned themselves therein so prettily * Private Memoirs of Sir Kenelm Digby, Written by Himself, p. 16. A life of Sir Kenelm Digby must almost necessarily be based upon this work, the original of which is in the Harleian Collection of the British Museum, No. 6758. The book was published, with a long Introduction by Sir Harris Nicolas, in 1827. A 2 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. and so affectionately, that one would have said love was grown a child again and took delight to play with them." The boy had some cause for being a grave child. He could scarcely remember the bright happy home-circle of his earliest years, years which had promised a brilliant future to the little lad, who was heir to large estates * and under the protection of a handsome and honoured father. But when he was not quite three years old his surround- ings changed. Familiar faces, hitherto bright and joyous, suddenly became grave and sad. His father's voice and footsteps were heard no more ; and his mother, who had been so playful and merry, could now only try to amuse him with obvious effort, and so generally with failure. By-and-by a winter's day came when all around him were in tears, and he was told that he would never see his father again. There were black clothes, discomforts, and cold journeys in a great carriage over rough roads. These incidents themselves were soon forgotten by so young a child ; but a permanent gloom settled itself upon his home and undoubtedly darkened his early youth. Even the mirth and merriment of his games with his little brother must have been sorrowfully subdued when they took place in the presence of his broken-hearted mother. By degrees he learned, possibly from servants or by means of eavesdropping, that his father had met his death on a public scaffold, as an alleged traitor. These conditions and accidents affecting the infant life of Kenelm Digby probably did much to increase and em- phasise the natural eccentricities of his character. With the single exception of his father, Sir Everard, none of his ancestors had records other than honourable since his family had come over to England with William * John Aubrey, in his Letters, vol. ii., Appendix, says he was " born to 3000 a year," which would then represent a very much larger sum than in these days. SIR EVERARD DIGBY. 3 the Conqueror.* Three Digbys, all brothers, had fallen on the field of Towton under the banner of the House of Lancaster ; seven sons of the eldest of these three brothers had also fought for the Red Rose at the battle of Bosworth. Part of the estates belonging to Kenelm Digby's father had been given to him from the forfeited properties of the supporters of the House of York. In a former work,*j- I have dealt with the tragedy of the life and death of Sir Everard Digby, and it will be sufficient to say here that very many of those who condemned his crime absolved him from unworthy motives, considered him more sinned against than sinning, and deeply deplored his fate. Instead of dwelling upon the misfortunes and mis- doings of Sir Everard Digby, it is more to our present purpose to consider the probable effect upon a thoughtful, imaginative, and perhaps morbid boy, such as his eldest son, of knowing the circumstances of his father's death. From whatever aspect the boy may have regarded his father's misfortunes, he must have felt himself to be in some sense, whether good or evil, a celebrity and a " per- sonage ". He must have known that he would be pointed out as the eldest son of the notorious Sir Everard Digby, who had given his life for what he had believed to be a noble cause. Young as Kenelm was, too, his affairs were the subject of litigation. Some of the most learned lawyers in the land were disputing the question J whether his * In the Heraldic Visitation of 3ist July, 1634, it is stated that there were seventeen quarterings in the windows of one room of Gothurst, the home of Sir Kenelm Digby, as well as four in the window of the great parlour. See Lipscombe's Hist, and Antiq. of Bucks., vol. iv., p. 158. t The Life of a Conspirator, by One of his Descendants. \ An exact abridgment in English of the Eleven Books of Reports of the Learned Sir Edward Cook, Knt., p. 327. " Digbies Case, 7, Jacob fo. 165. A tenant of the king conveys his lands to the use of himself for life, the re- mainder to his son and heir in tail: and after is attainted of treason, the king shall have no wardship of any part of the land by 32 and 34 H. 8, because there is no heir, but the king shall have wardship in such a case before 20 H. 8, because there was an heir." 4 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. mother's estate, which had been settled upon her and her heirs at her marriage, was to be forfeited on account of her husband's treason, together with the husband's own pro- perties, which had been seized on his arrest and taken possession of by the Crown on his execution. And when, at last, the decision was given in his mother's and his own favour, he must have felt considerable elation at the victory of his mother's representatives over the king's lawyers, and some of the sensations of a conquering hero at returning with her to take possession of the beautiful house * at which he had spent his earliest infancy. He can scarcely have been unaware that he was a fine boy, a hand- some boy, and a clever boy ; and how far all this knowledge of himself, his antecedents, and his surroundings was con- ducive to a healthy condition of mind in early youth may, at the very least, remain doubtful. If Kenelm Digby was a beautiful boy, what shall be said of his playfellow ? The poets of the first quarter of the seventeenth century rivalled each other in extolling the charms of the Lady Venetia Anastasia Stanley.f Ben Jonson even composed a poem in " Dedication of her Cradle," j so he may fairly claim to be heard first. * Gothurst, a little more than two miles north-west from Newport Pag- nell in Buckinghamshire. It had been built in the reign of Elizabeth by K. Digby's maternal grandfather, William Mulsho, to whom his mother was sole heiress. The house, which is in excellent preservation, now belongs to Mr. Carlile and is called Gayhurst. t Venetia Stanley was often spoken and written of as " the lady Venetia " ; but no title was thereby implied. It is true that she was co-heiress to a title in abeyance ; but she was never actually more than a baronet's daughter and a knight's wife. Sometimes she was written of as " Mistress Venetia Stanley " or " Mrs. Venetia Stanley ". Hence it is an error to speak of her as " Lady Venetia ". " The Lady " was an expression which in the early part of the seventeenth century often meant no more than Mrs. or Miss would mean in our own days. J The Works of Ben Jonson. By William Gifford. Edited by F. Cun- ningham, vol. iii., p. 357. co ^ cc .< o BEN JONSON'S "DEDICATION". DEDICATION OF HER CRADLE. Fair fame, who art ordained to crown With evergreen and great renown, Their heads that envy would hold down With her, in shade Of death and darkness ; and deprive Their names of being kept alive, By thee and Conscience, both who thrive By the just trade Of goodness still : vouchsafe to take This cradle and for goodness' sake, A dedicated ensign make Thereof to Time ; That all posterity, as we, Who read what the Crepundia be, May something by that twilight see 'Bove rattling rhyme. For though that rattles, timbrels, toys, Take little infants with their noise, As properest gifts to girls and boys, Of light expense; Their corals, whistles, and prime coats, Their painted masks, their paper boats, With sails of silk, as the first notes Surprise their sense. Yet here are no such trifles brought, No cobweb cauls, no surcoats wrought With gold, or clasps, which might be bought On every stall : But here's a song of her descent ; And call to the high parliament Of heaven; where Seraphim take tent Of ordering all : This uttered by an ancient bard, Who claims, of reverence, to be heard, As coming with his harp prepared To chant her 'gree Is sung : as als' her getting up By Jacob's ladder to the top Of that eternal port, kept ope For such as she. 6 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. Venetia Stanley was three years older * than Kenelm Digby, and everybody knows how much more forward in many respects a girl is than a boy, even when they are of equal ages. Women, as Sir Henry Taylor had it, grow on the sunny side of the wall. Here is Aubrey's description of Venetia : f " She had the most lovely sweet-turned face, delicate dark browne haire ". " Her face, a short ovall ; darke browne eie-browe, about wch much sweetness, as also in the opening of her eie-lidds. The colour of her cheekes was just that of the Denmark Rose, which is neither too hot nor too pale. She was of a just stature, not very tall." I have said that Kenelm Digby was of good family ; but it was not better than that of many other English country gentlemen. His playmate's an- cestry was much higher. She was the only daughter and sole heiress of Sir Edward Stanley, a younger son of Edward, third Earl of Derby. Her mother, who had died when she was only a few months old, had. been the daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Percy, seventh Earl of Northumberland. Ben Jonson sang thus of her parent- age : * Venetia Stanley was born in 1600; Kenelm Digby in 1603. Two poets, Ben Jonson, in his stanza, " Upon his birthday the eleventh of June," and Dr. Richard Farrar, " Born on the day he died, the eleventh of June," seemed to have no doubt about the date of his birth ; but Wood, in his Athene^ Oxonienses, ed. 1721, vol. ii., p. 357, declares it to have been on the nth of July, and that Jonson only made it June "for Rhrimes sake ". His authority is a Book of Nativities collected by Dr. Richard Napier of Buckinghamshire: " K. Digby's Own County MS. in the hands of Elias Ashmole, Esq. ". Mr. Bruce in his Preface to K. Digby's Voyage into the Mediterranean states that " the Rev. W. D. Macray of the Bodleian Library " affirmed that the particular paper in question was written in Sir Kenelm Digby's own handwriting. f Aubrey's Letters, written by eminent persons in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and Lives of Eminent Men. Longman, 1813, vol. ii., Appendix. THE EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND. 7 * I sing the just and uncontrolled descent Of Dame Venetia Digby, styled the fair : For mind and body the most excellent That ever nature, or the later air, Gave two such houses as Northumberland And Stanley, to the which she was co-heir. ***** And tell thou Alde-legh, none can tell more true Thy niece's line, than thou that gav'st thy name Into thy kindred, whence thy Adam drew Meschines honour, with the Cestrian fame Of the first Lupus, to the family By Ranulph f She was in fact the grandchild and co-heiress of the Earl of Northumberland, who was beheaded on account of his share in the rebellion of 1569, and of whom, together with his friend the Earl of Westmoreland, Wordsworth wrote : J Two Earls fast leagued in discontent, Who gave their wishes open vent And boldly urged a general plea, The rites of ancient piety To be triumphantly restored, By the dread justice of the sword. Her father, who, although "a negligent husband " during his wife's lifetime, had been heart-broken on her death, had || " retired himself to a private and recollected life, where without the troubles that attend upon great fortunes he might give free scope to his melancholic fantasies ; which to enjoy more fully in the way that he desired, he judged it expedient by removing his daughter from him to take away such cumbers as might disturb his course, since it was requisite for the education due to her * " Song of her Descent." Works of Ben Jonson. By W. Gifford. Ed. F. Cunningham, vol. iii., p. 358. t The rest of this poem has been lost. I " The White Doe of Rylstone," canto ii. Private Memoirs, K. D., p. 14. || Ib., p. 15 seq. 8 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. high birth to have many about her, that would ill agree with his affected solitariness ". Accordingly he sent Venetia Anastasia " to a kinsman of his whose wife, being a grave and virtuous lady, had given him assurance that no care or diligence should be wanting on her part to cultivate those rare natural endowments which did already shine through her tender age. Their house * in the country was near to that " in which Lady Digby lived with her two little boys, " which gave occasion to frequent interchanging of visits between " the two families. The " first innocent years " j- of the little boy and girl had scarcely passed, " whiles fortune seemed to conspire to unite their hearts," " when she turned about her incon- stant wheel in such sort that, if their fates had not been written above in eternal characters, even then their affec- tions had been by a long winter of absence nipped and destroyed in their budding spring ". For while Venetia, although by three years the elder of the little pair, was still " of such age that with her tender hand she could scarcely reach to gather the lowest fruit of the loaden boughs : her father, that yielded daily more and more to his discontents, and fainting under the burden of them which age made to seem heavier, sent for her back to his own house ". Her boy-admirer was also removed from the scenes of their youthful flirtations. He was scarcely in his teens before he was taken out of the hands of his Catholic mother to be brought up by preceptors professing the religion of the State. Although both his parents had been Catholics, he was not to be educated in their faith. " An Act " I had been passed " to prevent and avoid * It was Euston Abbey in Oxfordshire. Aubrey's Letters, vol. ii., p. 330. And it was about thirty miles from Gothurst. Introduction to Private Memoirs of K. D., p. 13. t Private Memoirs, K. D., p. 18. J Stat. 3, Jac. 1. c. 5. ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 9 dangers which may grow by Popish Recusants," and Section XXII. of this law laid down that "because recusants convict are not thought meet to be executors or administrators to any person or persons whatsoever, nor to have the education of their own children, much less of the children of any other of the king's subjects ... be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that such recusants . . . shall be disabled to be executor or adminis- trator . . . nor shall have the custody of any child, . . . but shall be adjudged disabled to have any such wardship or custody of any such child," etc. Section XXIII. began : " And that, for the better education of the said children, and of their estates, the next of kin to any such child or children, to whom the said lands, tenements, or heredita- ments of such child or children cannot lawfully descend, who shall usually resort to some church or chapel, and there hear divine service, and receive the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper thrice in the year next before, ac- cording to the laws of this realm, shall have the custody and education of the same child," etc. Therefore, when Kenelm Digby was about thirteen, or nearly fourteen, he was sent to a Protestant tutor ; and the tutor chosen for this purpose was Laud, afterwards Arch- bishop of Canterbury, but at that time very lately made Dean of Gloucester.* Laud, who was then about forty- three, had just become established in the favouritism of James I., and had entered into residence at his deanery for the first time on his return from Scotland with the king. It must be admitted that his attitude towards the Scottish clergy had not been considered judicious by James ; but he was nevertheless on a firm footing at Court, and he had ample opportunities of saying a good word there for his pupil. It might be thought that Laud would make a stern and * Introduction to Private Memoirs, K. D., p. 8. Also Lipscombe's Hist, and Antiq. of Buckinghamshire, vol. iv., p. 149. 10 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. severe tutor ; the man, however, had a kind, a gentle and a friendly side to his character, as all who have studied it impartially must be aware ; and a friendship sprang up be- tween the preceptor and the pupil which lasted throughout their lifetimes. Laud must have found the intelligent though peculiar boy an amusing companion, and the lad's oddities and precocious remarks may have distracted Laud's thoughts from the very disagreeable correspondence with his bishop which took place soon after he went to Gloucester. This correspondence concerned the removal of the communion-table from the " middest of the quire" and the placing of it "altarwise" against the east wall. Kenelm Digby had scarcely been a year at the house of Dean Laud when he was sent abroad. He crossed the sea and travelled among "foreign nations" for "seven or eight months ".* To Mr. Gardiner is due the credit of discovering whither and wherefore he made this expedition. " A kind and fortunate suggestion of Mr. Gardiner," says Mr. Bruce, in his additional notes j- to the Voyage into the Mediterranean, " that Digby might have accompanied his relative Sir John Digby, the future Earl of Bristol, on his extraordinary mission to Spain to open negotiations for the marriage of Prince Charles and the future Infanta, has led to the clear establishment that such was the fact. In a list of gentlemen who were to accompany Sir John Digby, prepared by Sir John himself, the tenth name is that of ' Mr. Kenelme Digby ' " (State Papers, Spain, 1618, fol. 20). " They sailed from Plymouth on or about the 28th August, 1617, and quitted Santander on their return to England on the 27th April in the year following " (State Papers, Spain, 22nd August, 1617, and I2th May, 1618). On his return, Kenelm Digby was sent to Oxford, as a gentleman commoner, at Gloucester Hall, which is now * Ashmole MS. 174, folio 77. Also Pref. to Voyage, p. 17. t P. 95- WHAT RELIGION ? OR ANY RELIGION ? 1 1 Worcester College. This was "about 1618,"* when he was of the age of fifteen. Wood states that this was " after he had been trained up in the Protestant religion ". Several other authorities make very similar statements. On the other hand, Mr. Bruce, in his excellent Preface to Sir Kenelm Digby's Voyage into the Mediterranean, gives what has the colour of strong evidence in favour of the theory that he did not become a Protestant until he was between the ages of twenty and thirty, or was even older still. How are these apparently contradictory statements to be reconciled ? For the present it may be sufficient to say that, while rival historians are quarrelling as to whether, at a certain time, he was a Catholic or an Anglican, there exists a third possibility, namely that, strictly speaking, he was neither. We know that Sir Kenelm Digby was brought up, partly under Catholic, partly under Protestant influences, at the former time in his mother's very Popish home at Gothurst, at the latter in Laud's very Anglican deanery at Gloucester. If, therefore, the boy was some- what disingenuous, he may have been tempted to go to Mass at Gothurst and to assure his mother that he had not joined the Anglican Church, and yet to go to the cathedral when at the deanery of Gloucester and to tell Laud that he no longer went to communion at a Catholic altar, thus inducing each to believe that, if the boy were not pestered, in good time all would be well. * Wood's Ath. Oxon., ed. 1721, vol. ii., p. 351. CHAPTER II. A BALL. THE new gentleman commoner at Gloucester Hall was no ordinary undergraduate. He was of noble bearing, tall and handsome, charming in manner, and well expressed in his attire. He was notorious as the son of a man who had suffered for high treason ; he had been to Spain, and that not in the character of an ordinary traveller, but in the suite of an ambassador entrusted with a mission of the utmost delicacy and importance. He was the heir to a beautiful house and a good estate, he was clever, and he was in love with a lady of great beauty and high degree ; and yet he was only fifteen ! Nor was he ignorant of his own good points. Some years afterwards he wrote the following description of him- self as a youth ; it is put into the mouth of another person, but as the words are his own and he did not pretend to have heard them spoken, they prove that he was not troubled by false modesty : * " Although the great strength and well framing of his body make him apt for any cor- poral exercises, yet he pleaseth himself most in the enter- tainments of the mind, so that having applied himself to the study of philosophy and other deepest sciences," " he is already grown so eminent that I have heard them say who have insight that way, that if a lazy desire of ease or am- bition of public appointments, or some other disturbance, do not interrupt him in this course, he is like to attain to great perfection : at least I can discern thus much, that he hath such a temper of complexion and wit that his friends * Private Memoirs, p. 59 seq. (12) THOMAS ALLEN. 13 have reason to pray God that he may take a right way, for it cannot keep itself in mediocrity, but will infallibly fall into some extreme ". Kenelm Digby's future line of study was a good deal influenced by his being placed under the charge of the cele- brated Thomas Allen. Allen, or Alleyn, a Staffordshire man of very fair family, whom Wood calls* "the Father of all learning and virtuous I ndustry,an unfeigned lover andfurtherer of all good Arts and Sciences," was a philosopher, not only of remarkable ability, but, like his pupil, of a peculiar and somewhat eccentric disposition. He had been a scholar of Trinity,f " but being much inclined to lead a retired life, and averse from taking Holy Orders, he left the College and his fellowship about 1570, and receded to Gloucester Hall". Even the promise of a Bishopric from Leicester J did not avail to tempt him to become a clergyman and enter public life ; nor did offers of honours and dignities from Henry, Earl of Northumberland, " Albertus L'askie, Count or Prince of Sirade in Poland," and other " Princes and Nobles " induce him to emerge from his retirement. Allen was about seventy-six when Kenelm Digby went to Gloucester Hall, and he did not actually conduct Digby's tuition, though he superintended and directed it. As he " was accomplished with various sorts of learning," but * Atlien. Ox., vol. i., p. 574. Mb. \Ib., p. 575- A rather well-known story told of Allen may show the superstitious awe then entertained by the common people towards men of science : " In his day pocket watches were little known in remote districts. Visiting at the Scudamores in Herefordshire, Allen left his timepiece under his pillow. The chamber-maids finding the thing, and hearing it cry tick ! tick ! con- cluded it was Mr. Allen's familiar spirit. They determined to drown the infernal spirit, and canted it with the tongs out of the window into the moat : unfortunately for their good intentions the string by which it was suspended caught in an alder and so," writes Aubrey, " the good old gentleman got his watch again." Mr. Bruce's Preface to K. D.'s Voyage into the Mediter- ranean, p. xix., footnote. 14 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. before all things " an eminent antiquary, philosopher and mathematician," "as one saith," " the very soul and sun of all themathematicians of his time," he naturally turned Kenelm Digby's mind in the direction of the sciences which he himself loved best, and he succeeded in making his pupil, at least after a fashion, an antiquary and a philosopher. It is likely, also, that he may have discussed political and diplomatic affairs to some extent with his young charge and interested him in such things ; for Wood says that, during Leicester's period of power, " few matters of State passed but he (Allen) had knowledge of them ". Allen took a great fancy to his pupil and held a very high opinion of his abilities. He called him * " the Mirandula j- of his Age ". As the author of the Biographia Britannica \ says, he " quickly discerned the natural strength of his faculties, and that spirit of penetration which is so seldom met with in persons of his age," i.e., fifteen to sixteen. " He took pains, therefore, to show him the right method of applying his wonderful capacity." The same authority states that Allen eventually " bestowed by his Will upon Sir Kenelm Digby " his "excellent library of manuscripts, as well as printed books ". Aubrey || tells us that, when he was at Oxford, Kenelm Digby " did not weare a gowne there, as I heard my cosen Whitney say ". There are several complaints, written about that time, of undergraduates not wearing their gowns, and it may be that the tradition which prevails, or at any rate did prevail in my time, at Christ Church, of never wearing them in the streets, is of ancient date. Besides philosophy and his other academical studies, * Athen. Ox., vol. ii., p. 351. t Giovanni Pica Delia Mirandola, Count and Prince of Concordia (1463 1494). Remarkable for his memory as a child. He became a philosopher, theologian and linguist. Edition 1750, vol. iii., p. 1701. 16., p. 1703. || Letters, vol. ii., Appendix. THE POET GUARINI. 15 Kenelm Digby dabbled in poetry, both as a composer and as a translator. He was a great admirer of the Italian poet Guarini, who had died only about six years before Digby went to Oxford. The works of that poet had attained great popularity in this country, and were pro- bably the fashion among the undergraduates at Oxford when Kenelm Digby was at College. He made a translation of Guarini's // Pastor Fido, of which the following fragment may serve as a specimen. I have somewhat modernised the spelling. * They lying in the shade Of some green myrtle grove they favour Do freely speak and court each other ; Nor any flames of love she feels That from his knowledge she conceals ; Nor sooner she discovers them but he Those flames doth feel as well as she. Thus they a perfect happy life enjoy And know not what death means before they die. We must now take leave of our undergraduate for a time, and look back at what had happened to the subject of the juvenile flirtations recorded in the previous chapter. It would appear that Sir Edward and his daughter spent some years in London, or chiefly in London. Venetia was taken into society as soon as she was old enough ; and, so far as can be inferred, her father con- sidered that a girl was very soon old enough to mix in society. An exceptionally beautiful girl, in the charge of a father who seems to have had very lax ideas of the responsibilities of a parent, at the balls and other enter- tainments of the Court of James I. was placed in a very dangerous position. At her first regular ball, " a principal nobleman of the Court," " whose heart was set on fire with the radiant beams that sparkled from her eyes," said to * Poems from Sir Kenelm Digby' s Papers, Roxburgh Club, pp. 4 and 5. 16 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. Venetia, as he sat next to her, without any previous introduction : * " Fair lady, I shall begin to endear myself to your knowledge by taxing you with that which I am confident you cannot excuse yourself of: for if by the exterior lineaments of your face, and by the habitude of the body, we may conjecture the frame and temper of the mind, certainly yours must be endowed with such perfections, that it is the greatest injustice and ingratitude that may be, for you to imprison your thoughts in silence, and to deny the happiness of your conversation to those whose very souls depend upon every motion that you make ". If the reader should lose patience at this long and ridiculous rodomontade, he should remember that the strange fashion of " Euphuism," if already moribund, was not yet defunct, f Venetia was astonished at being spoken to at all by a man whom she only knew by name, and still more so at being addressed in such a tone by a stranger. Annoyed as she was, she replied to him in civil language * Private Memoirs of Sir K. Digby, p. 23. The remainder of the account of her experiences about this time is taken mainly from these Memoirs. t See The Monastery, by Sir W. Scott. Edinburgh ed., p. 7. " After the acknowledgment of the Queen's (Eliz.) matchless perfections, the same devotion was extended to beauty as it existed among the lesser stars in her Court, who sparkled, as it was the mode to say, by her reflected lustre," p. 155. " John Lylly . . . wrote that singularly coxcomical work, called Euphues and his England ... all the Court ladies were his scholars, and to parler Euphuisme was as necessary a qualification to a courtly gallant, as those of understanding how to use his rapier, or to dance a measure," p. 8. " In England, the humour does not seem to have long survived the accession of James I." If we are to judge from Sir Kenelm Digby's Private Memoirs, however, "the humour" survived a few years later. Perhaps the best cari- cature of Euphuism is Shakespeare's in " Love's Labour's Lost ". The artificial style bearing that name was not confined to the polite speeches of gallants. It even reached to the books of devotion of the period ; and the modern Jesuit, Father Thurston, calls Mary Magdalene's Funeral Tears, a book written by a Jesuit, who was martyred at the end of the sixteenth century, " a piece of undiluted Euphuism," The Month, No. 368, p. 236. A COURT BALL. 17 but in somewhat the same pedantic style, declaring that if nature had bestowed any exterior attractions upon her, of which she was quite unaware, she was so conscious of counterbalancing defects that she felt obliged to undeceive her admirer by speaking to him, " whereby," said she, "through my rudeness I am sure you will gather more arguments to make you ashamed of what you say you have conceived of me, than to confirm you in it ". Quite ignoring the courteous retort contained in her last sentence, he made her another long and flowery speech, ending by begging "that you will give me leave to love and adore you, and not be displeased that one of so small merit as I am, should be so ambitious as to style himself your humble servant ". Fortunately at that moment one of the maskers * "came to take" Venetia "by the hand, beseeching her to follow him in a ' corrente ' ".f So, giving her tor- mentor " a disdainful look," she went away with her partner to dance. ^ The principal nobleman was not the only man in the ballroom attracted by the beautiful new comer ; many other young courtiers admired her ; " which was the cause that when they had seen how skilfully she kept time with her feet to the music's sound, she was suffered no more to re- turn to her former seat : for it addeth much to the grace of good dancers to have their lady observe due distances, and to move themselves, as it were, by consent, in just propor- tion ; every one in their turn beseeched the like favour of her that she had done to their companion, before he could lead her back unto her place": "yet in this they deceived themselves; for her excellency, that would brook no partner, engrossed to herself all the commendations, while they had scarce any notice taken of them ". Poor Venetia " was wearied with her much exercise, before the beholders could be satisfied with delight " ; and it was an intense relief to * Private Memoirs, K. D., p. 26 seq., for the remainder of this chapter, f According to Shakespearian spelling, this would be " coranto". B 1 8 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. her when, some time after the crowing of " the watchful cock," the king adjourned " the assembly and the con- tinuance of these recreations to the next night ". When she had returned to her lodging and was un- dressing, she "related to the gentlewoman that waited upon her in nature of a governess, what had passed at court, and what language " the nobleman who had so greatly annoyed her had addressed to her. Unfortunately this nobleman had already "won Faustina" "for that was the ancient gentle- woman's name" "to assure him of assistance in his pur- suit " ; for he had admired Venetia for some time, and had formed his own private plans concerning her; although "he had been so unhappy that until this night " he had never had an opportunity of speaking to her. Meanwhile he had bribed " the ancient," but easily corruptible, " gentle- woman ".* When Faustina had listened to Venetia's account of her experiences, she expressed he.r regret that she had given " so cold an entertainment to the respects of so noble and deserving a gentleman". This " deserving gentleman " a name by which I shall call him for the future, instead of using the classical pseudonym of " Ursatius " given him by Digby was, she said, well known to be " the discreetest, the most courteous, and the most generous among all the noblemen in this kingdom," and, she added, he " excelleth them as much in completeness of good parts and the graces of nature, as he doth in the gifts of fortune, and greatness of estate". But what mattered this to Venetia, who already loved so devotedly the boy-playmate of her childhood ? " Dost thou then, Faustina," she exclaimed, " think that any of these considerations can make me false to that affection, that in respect of me had no beginning, for my memory reacheth not to that time, and which I am resolved shall die with me ? " * The likeness of the conduct of Faustina to that of the nurse in " Romeo and Juliet " is interesting. SIR EVERARD DIG BY - f>s*/ta/Z wumavna- 6; rt. &i/K>. rrirnmt fate/: txfLJeneJi/lik,. FAUSTINA. 19 Faustina then praised Venetia's usual discretion ; but after begging pardon for her boldness she suggested that it was not displayed to advantage in the present instance. She advised her young mistress not to let " passion blind " her altogether, but rather to consider " what an advan- tageous change " she would make by forgetting Kenelm Digby and "embracing" the "deserving gentleman," who, said she, in " the splendour of nobility, abundance of riches, and favour with his prince, is eminent above all others" ; whereas Kenelm " hath hardly escaped, by his mother's extreme industry, with the scant relics of a shipwrecked estate, and from his father hath inherited nothing but a foul stain in his blood for attempting to make a fatal re- volution in this state". Without losing her temper, Venetia, wearied out as she was, then spoke very firmly to her " gentlewoman ". " Me- thinks, Faustina," she began, " you speak in his prejudice with more passion than you can accuse me of in loving him." It was true, she continued, that it was the custom of the times to visit the sins of fathers upon their children ; but Faustina had no business to upbraid Kenelm " with another man's offence ". "Besides," "to speak a little in his father's behalf, all men know that it was no malicious intent or ambitious desires that brought him (Sir Everard Digby) into that conspiracy (the Gunpowder Plot) ; but his too inviolable faith to his friend (Robert Catesby), that had trusted him with so dangerous a secret, and his zeal to his country's ancient liberty ; which, being misled by those upon whose advice he relied, was the cause of overthrow- ing the most generous, discreet, worthy and hopeful gentle- man that ever this country brought forth ". " And as for his estate, although it were much less than it is, yet it would be plentiful enough for one that loveth him for his better part, which is his mind ; besides that I am so much beholden to fortune, that I am myself mistress of so much as may satisfy a heart that can content itself with con- 20 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. veniency, more than which is excess and superfluity ; which is too abject and mean a thing to enter into the lowest thoughts of one that is acquainted with the divine light of a noble and heroical love, as mine is. Therefore I am re- solved I will no longer be a patient martyr ; but will speedily use some means that he may hear from me, and I have news of him." " Faustina perceiving her lady to grow more passionate by contradiction, and the guiltiness of her conscience making her doubt that " Venetia " saw too far into her heart, thought it most expedient for the present to give way to her vehemence ". Therefore she promised " her best and faithful service to procure her content, now that she perceived clearly which way it was resolutely bent ". As soon as Venetia had " laid down in bed, and the curtains " were " drawn, wishing her good rest and joyful dreams, with a low curtesy she took her leave and went into her own chamber ". CHAPTER III. A PLOT. THE ancient gentlewoman made no reference to Venetia's love affairs for some days, and then, taking an opportunity when she perceived * "the sun of her beauty shining through the clouds of sadness," she " seeming to bear a part with her in her sorrow, towards whom she proposed to have a natural tenderness, as having been under her charge and care from her infancy, she promised her faith and secrecy in whatever might conduce to her content. Wherewith " Venetia, " being much joyed gave her many thanks, and, after long debate what was fittest to be done, they con- cluded that Faustina should inquire after " Kenelm, " and when she had fully informed herself concerning him, that she should send a discreet messenger to him, with a letter". Faustina went out soon afterwards, and did not return till night, when she came "to her lady with a cheerful countenance, the messenger of good news," and " told her how gracious heaven was to her desires ; for, having heard how " Kenelm " was come the night before to the city, she had sent a messenger to him, who took so fit an opportu- nity of accosting him, that he had large and private discourse with him ; wherein he had concluded that the same servant should come the next day about sunset, to be his guide to the park,f that is three miles out of the city, if" Venetia " could have conveniency to come then to meet him there ". * Priv. Mem., K. D., pp. 41 to 65, contain most of the events and con- versations in this chapter. t Very possibly what is now called Hyde Park. If Lady Venetia were living a little to the east of the then very fashionable Strand, or in Hoi- (21) 22 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. " How," replied Venetia, " should he put that in doubt ? I hope he measureth not my flames by his own, when he maketh such a question ; for no sea between, nor hell itself, should hinder me from running into those wished arms." Faustina recommended that, "for less notice sake," instead of using her own carriage for the expedition, she should commission her faithful old governess to hire one for her, and that it should be in waiting a short time before sunset at " the back door of the garden ". Venetia, who does not appear to have disturbed her mind much about social convention, agreed to this arrangement, and as she wished to see her beloved Kenelm alone, she decided to leave the ancient gentlewoman at home. Her anxiety was so great and her anticipation so eager that she passed the " night and part of the next day with much unquietness ". At last " the declining sun, that was ready to plunge him- self into his lover's bosom, summoned her to begin her journey to hers," and, with the help of Faustina, she dressed herself as becomingly as she was able for her expedition. Punctual to its appointment, a hired coach with four horses was waiting for her at "the back door of the garden"; Venetia entered it and started towards the trysting place. If the first setting out in the sombre hired vehicle was somewhat dreary, the drive was not the less destined to be an eventful one. " She was scarce gone half-way to the appointed place, when five or six horsemen well mounted, overtook the coach." They summoned the driver to stop, an order which he obeyed with suspicious alacrity. Then two of the horsemen " alighting, came into the coach," " and drawing their poignards, threatened her with death if she cried out or made any noise ; assuring her withal, that from them she should receive no violence if she would sit quietly ; and therewithal drew the curtains born, it would be about three miles to a distant and retired part of Hyde Park, suitable for such a clandestine meeting. KIDNAPPED. 23 that none might see who was in the coach as they passed by". The carriage then moved on, and a terrible journey it must have been for the poor lonely girl, with two armed men sitting with her in the darkened coach, and threaten- ing to murder her if she uttered a sound. To add to her terrors the sun had now set, and the natural darkness rendered the curtains needless. Even when night had fairly settled down, the great coach did not stop ; on and on it went throughout all the dreary hours of gloom. Venetia, in " an abyss of sorrow, and fearing the worst that might happen to an undefended maid that was fallen into rude hands," had begun to think that that awful night would never end, when she fancied she perceived a faint glimmer of dawn. Just then they came to a house and drew up at the door. Venetia was helped out of the carriage with great show of civility, and, on entering the house, was received in the hall by an old housekeeper, who, " entertaining her with comfortable speeches, and the assurance of all service intended to her, which she should quickly perceive to be true, brought her into a very hand- some room, remarking that after so tedious and trouble- some a night as of necessity she must have passed," it would be better to leave her for a little time to herself. Wondering where she was and what was about to befall her, she at first listened anxiously for the slightest sound ; but, by degrees, nature began to assert itself after her sleepless night, a heavy drowsiness came over her, she fell asleep in her chair, and slept for many hours. The after- noon was far spent when she awakened with a start, at hearing some one make a false step on entering the room. It was almost dark, as the curtains, which had been drawn when she entered, had not yet been disturbed. Thoroughly alarmed, she sprang up, and to her horror, " by the glimmer- ing of the light that stole in between the chinks of the drawn curtains," she distinguished the most unwelcome 24 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. features of the "deserving gentleman" who had made himself so odious to her at the ball. He drew nearer. She was afraid to move. When he had reached her side he knelt down. During an awful and apparently lengthy pause he was silent. Suddenly he began : " Before I came into your presence, fairest " Venetia, " I had proposed to myself many things that I would say to you, to excuse my deceiving you in getting you hither ; but that divinity that is about you doth so astonish me, that I forget all studied eloquence, and am forced to betake myself to the naked and simple expression of a faltering tongue, that speaketh but the overboilings of a passionate heart. What error I have committed is caused by love ; he was my guide, and hath brought me to that pass that, without it be requited by yours, I cannot live." " Alas ! " replied Venetia, " how ill your deeds and words consort together. You mention love, but perform the effects of extreme hatred. You sue to me for life, and in a treacherous manner have brought mine into your power ; but, howsoever, at least I have this content remaining " and then she assured him that any ill-treatment on his part would cause her to commit suicide, adding : " my injured ghost shall be a perpetual terror to your guilty soul, which I will so pursue, that I will make you fly to hell to save you from my more tormenting vengeance ". And the eyes of Venetia Stanley, more beautiful than ever in her anger and her despair, glared at him in a manner betokening the sincerity of her words. Her treacherous wooer " was so amazed, that he was long in replying to her resolute answer ; but, at length, like one new coming out of a trance, he called his spirits together, and strived what he could to lessen the error he had committed, laying much of the fault upon Faustina's negotiations, and telling her how she had been the plotter of all, and that, for his part, his intent was never to have used violence ; but that he gave way to his action, seeing AN AMOROUS JAILER. 25 how negligent her father was of her, that left her so young and in the tuition of so false a servant, to live by herself in a dissolute age ". Therefore, having observed from her coldness towards him at the ball, that she was unlikely to come to his house voluntarily, he had determined to get her there by stratagem, and thus afford her a haven of refuge from the wicked gallants of the Court. He hoped that, when she had had sufficient proof of his devotion to her, she would consent to marry him ; meanwhile, " he besought her to consider herself mistress of all that he had, for, in effect, she should find it so, and assured her that all the means he would use to attain his desires should be love and service ". Venetia had little doubt that these gentle words were " but a cunning invention of his to try first if he could win her consent by fair means ". Nevertheless, she felt helpless in his hands ; so she " thought it her best course not to overthrow his hopes altogether, but so to suspend them that she might gain time, wherein only consisted the possibility of her safety ". Accordingly, she replied that his actions had been so ill-suited to his fair words that " she could not believe that he intended really what he said ; but when, by experience, she should find him to love her as worthily as he professed, that might be an inducement to her to think better of him than she did ". Doubtless, the deserving gentleman reflected that a woman who once hesitates gives consent, and felt quite satisfied with the course things were taking. The old housekeeper, " none else being suffered to attend them," now came into the room, bringing supper, of which Venetia must have been in sore need. When it was over, her host, taking her " by the hand, led her down the stairs into a garden that her chamber window looked into, all the several parts of which she narrowly observed. " At length, the sun setting and a gummy dew beginning to fall," he " asked her if she was not tired with walking, 26 THE LIFE OF SIR KEN ELM DIGBY. which intimation of retiring she taking hold of, they re- turned again " to the house. Venetia now professed her- self exceedingly weary and expressed a wish to return to her room for the night and go to sleep as soon as possible ; so the host " took his leave and wished her a quiet and happy night, commanding the old woman to attend dili- gently upon her ". " This confidential servant then helped her to bed," and " retired herself into an inner chamber ". The first thing Venetia did, when she found herself alone, was "to have a good cry," as is said in these days, or, as Sir Kenelm Digby expressed it, " she gave liberty to her sighs and tears ". Very soon, however, she began to consider what she could do to escape ; for she felt no con- fidence whatever in the plausible professions of her captor. When out walking with him, she " had observed how, in one corner of the garden, there was an arbour seated upon a mount which overlooked the wall, and by that place she deemed that she might most fitly take her flight. Where- fore, when by her loud snoring she perceived that her guardian was fast asleep, she rose with as little noise as she could, and, tying her sheets together, made one of them fast to a bar in the window, and by that let herself down so gently that she came to touch ground without any hurt, and then going straight to the arbour, she got down the wall by making use of her garters, as before she had done of her sheets ; and then finding herself at liberty in the park, she directed her course one certain way until she came to the pales, which with some difficulty she climbed over ; and then she wandered about large fields and horrid woods, without meeting any highway or sign of habitation." On and on she walked, she knew not whither, all through the long night, until, as the morning was beginning to break, thinking herself far enough from the house of her late captor, she sat down to take some rest. It was a desolate spot, but she was wearied out, and felt as if she could no longer either walk or keep her eyes open. Just " WOLF, WOLF ! " 27 as she was on the point of dropping off to sleep, " a hungry wolf* came rushing out of a wood that was close by, and perceiving her by the increasing twilight, ran at her with open mouth ". Venetia ran away ; the wolf ran after her. Naturally the wolf ran the faster and soon seized hold of her dress and pulled her down. Fortunately her screams were heard by a young sports- man who had been out all night endeavouring to harbour a stag in the wood. Running in the direction of the sounds of distress he caught sight of her almost immediately after she had fallen ; whereupon he blew his horn and the wolf, being frightened, ran off, though too late to save his life, as the young hunter's servants came up with " strong and swift dogs," which caught the wolf and " quickly made an end of the unhappy beast ". The youth and his servants lifted the girl from the ground and found her " almost dead with fear " ; " from the wolfs merciless teeth " she " had received some wounds in several places about her, the pain of which, and loss of blood, and her wearisome journey made her almost faint, so that, resting " herself " upon a green bank, she told her deliverer who she was/' and part of the adventures which had befallen her ; " and he having requited her with in- forming her of his name and quality, stood as one amazed, sucking into his veins the fire of love, which was kindled at that beauty, that yet shined with admirable majesty through her bleeding wounds ". He was still gazing at her, silent in admiration, when she distracted him by inquiring " what palace that was which they saw close by them, and could discern the rising sun gilding the tops of the highest turrets and pinnacles about it ? " He answered her " that an old lady, famous for her virtue and zeal in religion, dwelt there, whose name was Artesia ". j- * See Appendix A. f I give the pseudonym. 28 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. " What ! " exclaimed Venetia, after asking one or two questions as to the old lady's identity. " Then, I see that amidst my miseries, Heaven hath not abandoned all care of me ; for this is the place that, of all others, I should have wished to be in," Lady " Artesia being my kins- woman, and one that I am sure will compassionate my late disasters. Therefore, sir, I shall not be ashamed, since fortune hath made me owe my life unto you, to beg the favour of you to conduct me thither." Sir Edward Sackville, for he it was * a brother of the Earl of Dorset answered : " Fairest lady, I must lament my evil fortune that will not permit me to attend you thither ; for there is some private cause that makes it very unfit for me to come to that house, but my servants shall wait upon you, and see you safe there ; and I hope, in some other place, I shall have the happiness to express the much respect I bear unto you ; and, in the meantime, from this hour forwards, I vow myself unto you in the strictest ties of an humble and affectionate servant ". " I do not wonder," said Venetia, " that you use this language to me, when I consider it is the custom of generous souls to oblige themselves more by conferring benefits than by receiving them ; but, howsoever, it belongeth to me to acknowledge upon all occasions that I am more your debtor than it is in my power to requite." Sir Edward then took his leave and ordered two of his servants to conduct her to Lady Artesia's house. Venetia was received by her relative with as much kindness as astonishment, and Lady Artesia insisted that, for the present, Venetia shotild regard the house as her home. The wounds inflicted by the wolf were gradually healed, although " some light scars " remained, and Venetia * My reasons for identifying " Mardontius " as Sir Edward Sackville will be found in the Appendix B. LADY ARTESIA. 29 by-and-by recovered from the anxiety, fatigue, and ex- posure to which she had been subjected. None of her misfortunes or adventures had distracted her mind from the one great object in which it was con- centrated, that object being Kenelm Digby. To obtain news of him was her chief wish, and it was plain that Faustina had not in reality communicated with him in London. As good luck would have it, Venetia's present position was propitious to an inquiry, as she was aware that Lady Artesia was a great friend of Lady Digby. " One evening as they were walking in the garden," Venetia summoned up courage to speak to her hostess about Lady Digby, and Lady Artesia " gladly falling upon the subject, it being the nature of most persons to let the tongue go willingly where the heart draweth it, spoke much in commendation of that lady ; extolling with what an admirable wit and understanding she was endued, and how, being left a widow in the flower of her youth, accom- panied with a flourishing beauty and a plentiful estate, yet she was so much wedded to her dear husband's love, that she neglected all the advantageous offers of earnest and great suitors, that she might with the more liberty perform the part of a careful mother to the dear pledges of their virgin affections ". Lady Artesia described Lady Digby's two boys in glowing terms, dwelling upon the charms and the virtues of each, but especially of Kenelm. All this was very- pleasant hearing to Venetia ; but presently Lady Artesia said that which " shot her heart through " as it were with an arrow from the black quiver of death itself. "Their mother is ever dear to me," she observed, " and if I can effect what I have affectionately endeavoured and solicited, we shall be able to leave our posterity the inheritance of our affections as well as of our estates ; for I have laboured long, and " Lady Digby "hath not been wanting on her 30 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. part, to join in marriage her eldest son and my grandchild that you see here ; who, if partiality deceive me not, besides that she shall inherit a great estate of her father's, is so much beholden to nature that she may show her face among the fairest when you are away, I mean ". Venetia almost fainted on hearing this speech ; but a desire " to know the worst " revived her a little, and she inquired " what it was that hindered the effecting of it, since you two, that are the guiders of it, are equally affected with the desire of it ? " " It is," answered Lady Artesia, "the backwardness of" Kenelm, "of which his mother, one day complaining to me, told me what an answer he had made to her a little before, as she had solicited him to condescend to her just desire, it being so much to his ad- vantage. ' Madam,' quoth he, ' marriage cannot well be performed by attorney. Besides, to have it complete in all respects, the first motives of it should not be sordid wealth or other convenience, but a divine affection. And I must confess that, although I know this gentlewoman do ever)' way deserve better fortune than I can bring her, I feel not yet this flame in me towards her, which is indeed only a gift of heaven.' ' Therefore as long as the weakness of our estate obligeth you not to sell me to repair that, I beseech you give me leave to look a little while about me, and to please myself awhile with flying abroad before I be put into the mewe.' " Lady Artesia went on to bemoan this condition of mind ; for, said she, " by this speech of his, and knowing his mother's indulgence to give way to his desire, I doubt much whether what I have so much longed for will ever come to pass ". Still, she was determined " to leave nothing unattempted," and she intended to try whether her grand -daughter's " silent beauty " could " persuade him to what yet he had ever been averse ". And then to Venetia's intense joy she announced that she had invited Lady Digby to bring Kenelm on a visit to her house, and FLOWERY MEADS. 31 that she expected them " within three days ". Her last words to Venetia were " like a gentle gale of wind, that in a burning day creepeth over sweet and flowery meads, and breathes upon the languishing face of the faint traveller that is almost dead with heat ". CHAPTER IV. THE CHASE. KENELM DIGBY only stayed about two years at Oxford. It may be doubted whether the line of study into which he was directed by Allen was according to the usual course.* " Upon his leaving the University" " in order to travel, he was considered a very extraordinary person, and such high expectations of him raised as he lived afterwards to fulfil ". He was a very smart and gay-looking young man when he arrived with his mother at Lady Artesia's stately home. Vandyck's picture of him in his youth represents him with plentiful curly black locks, a soft and silky moustache, daintily turned up at the corners, bright eyes, a large and splendid lace collar and a magnificent embroidered doublet. His immense size must have added greatly to the effect of his presence, and the reputation of his ability to the respect with which he was received. Venetia took care " to disguise her affections " for Kenelm in the presence of his mother, who anxiously " observed all passages between " them. For the first " two days that they were together they could have no conveniency of free discourse ; whilst their fire increasing by presence and each other's sight, the keeping of it in too narrow a room without any vent almost smothered their hearts ". The young philosopher, if somewhat in awe of his mother, was none the less determined to make love to his * Biog. Brit., ed. 1750, vol. iii., p. 1702. (32) AN ACROSTIC. 33 old playfellow, who was now one of the most beautiful and attractive women in England. An acrostic in verse, in his own possession, but by some other hand, may have ex- pressed his own feelings about her : * TO THE MOST FAIRE AND VERTUOUS GENTLEWOMAN, MRS. V. S. V nmach't for beauty, chaster than the ayre E ven by the Gods themselves belou'd for faire N ature haveing made A worke soe excellent E nvide she had soe much perfection lent. T elling the world at yo r auspicious Birth I oue would desend from Heaven to rob the Earth A s thinking nature had delt much vneven, S uch beuty to giue men was fitt for Heaven T riumphant Phebus sittinge on his carr, A dmires yo r luster thinks you brighter arr, N or can he guide his coach when he Aspics L ooke he soe much doth on yo r radiant Eyes. E ach other God now loues (and haue in graven Y o r name ith starrie firmament of Heaven). In the presence of his mother he took no special notice of the one object of his affections ; but In order to enjoy her society and declare his love to her, he had resort to stratagem. f " One day as she had by accident let her glove fall, he took it up, and having a letter written in his hand, which he had written a day before and awaited an oppor- tunity of delivering it, did thrust it into the glove, and kissing it, gave her, who putting her hand into it to pull it on, felt a paper there, which conceiving how it came in, she kept safe till night." When she had " retired to her chamber," was in bed, and had dismissed her servants, she " read it by the help of the watch-light which stood burning by her : and being thereby instructed how she should govern * Poems from Sir Kenelm Digby's Papers, Rox. Club, p. 12. t Priv. Mem., K. D., pp. 67 to 80. C 34 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. herself when the occasion was presented to procure a fit and secure meeting, sleep stole upon her as she was entertaining her pleased thoughts with the hope of that blessed hour ". The very next day "that blessed hour" arrived, for Lady " Artesia and her son, and all the company that was at her house, were invited to hunt a stag in the forest that was near adjoining ; when being in the midst of the chase, and every one attentive to the sport," Venetia, " staying to be among the hindmost, turned her horse down a " ride " that led another way than where the hounds had gone, which she did in such a manner as those that were near her might conceive " her to be " weary with a long chase," and taken by her horse, which was " hot and impatient of the bit," in a different direction from her intention (as ladies sometimes are taken by their horses even in modern times) when she tried to pull him up. Kenelm Digby, who had also been " staying to be among the hindmost," worked his way, unnoticed, in the same direction ; and thus they rode on " till being so far got from the rest of the company, who in such a wild place could not find them out, they alighted and led their horses into a thicket, where " the pair of lovers sat down to- gether, while their horses " grazed by them ". It was not the mouth of the valiant young philosopher, but " the coral lips " of Venetia that opened the conver- sation when they had seated themselves, side by side, in the thicket. She began : " The confidence that I have of your respect, my dearest Kenelm, in thus exposing my honour into your hands, is, without any other, a sufficient testimony of the love I bear you ". Kenelm replied with a burst of euphuistic eloquence. " Angels and souls," he exclaimed, " love where they discern greatest perfections, and I were too blind if I did not discern yours." He could not, however, resist the temptation of putting in a good word for himself, by MUTUAL APPRECIATIONS. 35 adding, " in me, where knowledge and understanding is the ground of a noble and spiritual love, other obligations are scarcely considerable". When he had gone on for some time in this strain, Venetia spoke again : " I must yield, in the manner of expression, to you that have the knowledge of wit and learning to clothe your conceptions in the gracefullest attire ; but in reality of love I will never yield to you ; for I take Heaven to witness, I have tasted no joy in this long night of absence, but what the thoughts of you have brought me ". " Oh, think not," began Kenelm in return, " that when the heart speaks upon so serious and high a theme, wit or study can have any share in the contexture of what one saith ; lovers can speak as effectually in silence as by the help of weak words." He dared not contend with her as to " who loveth most," for he knew that, as she surpassed him, " in all excellent faculties of a worthy soul, so she excelled him in the perfection of love". And he concluded a long and passionate harangue in this manner : " I, by soaring up to perfections above me, do daily refine myself, whilst you are fain to let yourself down, unless it be when your contemplations, rolling like the heavens about their centre, do make yourself their object ". " Fie, fie," said Venetia, " stop that mouth, which, were it any other but whose it is, I would call it a sacrilegious mouth, that thus blasphemeth against the saint that I adore." And then, dropping compliments, she gave him a history of her late misfortunes and adventures. Kenelm also forsook his flowery adulation to give her a matter-of-fact account of his mother's " earnest and daily solicitations" that he should marry Lady Artesia's grand- daughter. He told Venetia that in order to escape from this projected alliance, he had persuaded his mother to allow him "to travel into foreign parts for two or three years ". By that time he would be old enough to be his 36 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. own master, and then, said he, " shall I come home free from those fears that now hold my soul in continual anguish, and enjoying your favour, shall in one short hour recompense all the torments that I have already suffered, and till then shall suffer, for your sake ". Nevertheless, said he, something within him whispered that he should take heed how he built the hopes of his " future joy and bliss upon the continuance of a woman's affection during a long absence ". That whisper, replied Venetia, was from " some wicked fiend sent" by "the invidious enemy of mankind". " Confidently pluck him out from thence, 11 " for that sun that is now declining to the west, shall alter his course, and rise where soon he will set, and his beams, which are now the author of life and vegetation, shall dart cold poison and destruction upon the world, before I suffer my clear flame to burn dim, or the heat that is in my breast to grow faint ; but who, alas! can ascertain me that the delights which you are going into, and the variety of great actions which will daily take up your thoughts, and the rare beauty of accomplished and ingenious ladies which you shall see, may not in time make you forget your love, your faith, to a poor maid that had nothing to plead for her, but her infinite love to you ? " Then "her declining lids did let fall some drops of crystal upon her modest crimson cheeks, which showed like the morning dew upon a bed of roses that seem to weep because the sun maketh no more haste to display their beauty ". Kenelm, " drying " them " with his lips, was some time before he could frame " an answer, which, when it came, was of very great length, and ended : " Neither time, nor distance, nor other beauties, nor all the con- spiracies of hell can make me other than what I am : which is, and in that title I most glorify myself, your devoted slave". "With these and other pleasing discourses of like BELATED LOVERS. 37 nature," they passed a very happy afternoon, until un- mistakable signs of sunset reminded them of the existence of other people, especially such as Lady Digby and Lady Artesia. Therefore they sprang up and mounted their horses. It was even later than they had supposed, and, to make matters worse, they had forgotten their way " in the wild forest"; the consequence was that they "wandered up and down as in a labyrinth, till by chance they met a keeper that put them in a right path ". Over the scene which followed when the belated pair entered the dread presence of Lady Artesia and Lady Digby, Sir Kenelm prudently draws a veil. And this much only are we informed, that Lady Digby, who before had discouraged Kenelm's wishes to go abroad, now " used all diligence she could to haste her son's intended journey"; while Lady Artesia " demeaned herself with such coldness from thenceforward towards " Venetia, that Venetia " con- jecturing the cause of it, did shortly take a fair occasion of leaving her, having first made her a noble present of a jewel that would manifoldly countervail her expenses in entertaining her ; and from thence went to ' London,' where she might hope best to receive news of her " Kenelm, " and to have means to convey hers unto him ". It was arranged that Kenelm Digby was to go to Paris and to remain for some time at its University. Before starting, he had the good fortune to obtain one more inter- view with Venetia, " when they both renewed the protesta- tions of their affections and vows of constancy ". Then Kenelm took from his finger a diamond ring which he had always worn and gave it to her, " entreating her, whenso- ever she did cast her eyes upon it, to conceive that it told her in his behalf, that his heart would prove as hard as that stone in the admittance of any new affection ". Venetia had no jewel or other present at hand to give him as a love token in return ; so she let down her splendid hair, and cutting off a long lock, which " seemed 38 THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY. as though a stream of the sun's beams had been gathered together and converted into a solid substance," she desired him to wear it for her sake. Uncovering his arm, Kenelm gallantly bound " this precious relic " round it, and bade his lady-love farewell. Before leaving England he wrote this quoted letter, which, although of no great intrinsic interest, may be worth giving as a specimen of his letter-writing at the age of seventeen. It is of import as regards the contention that Kenelm Digby became a Pro- testant in his youth ; for, as will be seen, he asks the " Parson of Great Linford " a place only two and a half miles distant from his home at Gothurst to pray for him. Considering that, if he had still been a Catholic, the Parson would probably have prayed for his becoming a Protestant, this piece of evidence is not to be dis- regarded : * " Good Mr. Sandie, " Once againe before my going I have re- solved to salute you with a few lines and to lett you know- that I have now dispatched all my businesse and am to begin my iorney tomorrow. I have sent you a manuscript of elections of divers good authors which I wish may be of good use to you, if not I pray you let it lie safe in your trunke till my returne, where I would it were of the pro- pertie of leven to draw more to it, but I hope Sir the affec- tion I beare you will find acceptance in your opinion, and my desire of deserving of you be a sufficient motive for you to repose confidence in me. The newes here is little, onely that the match with Spaine goeth well on, and the volun- taries for Bohemia are now putt off for a moneth, so that I thinke that businesse will come to nothing. The Prince tilted on Friday in great pompe, the King went in state conducted by the lord Maior on Sunday to Paules Church where the Bishopp of London made a sermon to exhort * Ashmole MS. 240, fol. 131 (Article 54). THE PARSON OF GREAT LINFORD. 39 him and the People to repaire that church that is much out of order. This Sir is all I heare and I am now forced to leave in hast, recommending my selfe to your prayres and I pray you Sir during my absence retaine some memorie of your " faithfull and loving servant " Ken. Digby. " London in great hast this 30 of March 1620." Endorsement : * " To my verie Loving friend Mr. Sandie, Parson of great Linford att his house there, in Buckinghamshire these, with a packett, with speede ". Arrived in Paris in April, i62O,f Kenelm Digby found, in the attractions of that city and in his studies at its University, some distraction and pleasure ; although no place, from which Venetia was absent, could at that time afford him any real " content ". When he had been there for some length of time the heat became very trying, J " and the plague raging in that populous city, so that all those that had any possibility of subsistence in another place left it, he retired to a little city called " Angers, " inferior to none in all the country for wholesomeness of air, beauty of buildings, pleasure of situation, abundance of provisions, and courtesy of persons that inhabit there. He had not been long here" when "the warlike sounds of horrid arms, of neighing horses, and of loud trumpets, proclaiming civil dissensions, were heard there to fright away the sweet tranquillity which reigned in this till then happy place ; the occasion whereof will not be displeasing to relate from the first beginning ". He then proceeds to describe the assassination of Henry IV. of France, and to tell of the young prince (Louis XIII.) who was " immediately proclaimed and crowned king, but being under age, the power and management of affairs re- * Fol. 134. t Ashmole MS. 174, fol. 77. \ Priv. Mem., K. D., p. 81. 4