The Life and Times of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, Vol. 1, by Katharine Thomson

157. In 1645, he was advanced to the Earldom of Norwich. He died in 1662, leaving his title to George Goring, the celebrated loyalist, of whom so masterly a portrait has been drawn by Clarendon.

158. Nichols, ii. p. 38, note; apud Sir Anthony Weldon.

159. Kennet’s England, vol. ii. p. 708.

160. Nichols, iii., p. 258.

161. Hume’s Hist. of England, iii., 83.

162. Osborne’s Tradit., Memorials of King James, p. 422.

163. Somers’s Tracts, 83

164. The subjects were these:—First, That sheriffs and other inferior magistrates should not be hereditary. With this, James was so well pleased that he turned to the Marquis of Hamilton, Hereditary Sheriff of Clydesdale, and said, “James, you see your cause is lost.” Secondly, On the rate of locomotion. The respondent in this disputation quoting Aristotle, the King remarked, “These men know the mind of Aristotle as well as he did himself when alive.” Thirdly, On the origin of fountains or springs.

165. Nichols’s Progresses, vol. iii., 367.

166. State Paper Office, Domestic, 1616-1617.

167. Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton. Domestic, June 21, 1621. State Paper Office.

168. Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, August 27, 1617, dated, Ware Park. No mention is made of this attempt in any of the biographies of Buckingham. State Paper Office, Domestic.

169. Letter from George Garrard to Sir Dudley Carleton, London, August 18th, 1617, from inedited State Papers. See also Brydges’s Peers of James I., p. 160.

170. Nichols, vol. iii., p. 392, from Whitaker’s Hist. of Craven.

171. Nichols, iii., p. 434. In the harangue addressed to the king on his entrance into Warwick, there is this passage:—“This castle, alsoe moste desirous to receive you, the greatest guest that ever she entertained, would speake in noe lower key, but that her late disgrace abateth her courage. After shee became the jaylor’s lodge, interchanging the goulden chaines of her noble erle’s with the iron fetters of wretched prisoners, given over to be inhabited by battes and owles, she is ashamed to speake before you.” Nichols’s, vol. iii., p. 431.

This speech was transcribed for Nichols’s Progresses, by the late William Hamper, Esq., F.S.A., from the Black Book of Warwick, a book preserved by the corporation.

Sir Fulke Grevill spent 20,000l. in restoring the Castle with its pleasaunce and gardens. To his care the preservation of that interesting structure is due.

172. Birch’s MSS., 4173.

173. Nichols, vol. iii., p. 90.

174. “The Court of Chancery,” says the author of the Life of Sir Edward Coke (published for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge), “had long exercised a jurisdiction, which had formed one of the articles against Wolsey, of revising and correcting judgments which had been obtained in the courts of common law.” It was not until the reign of James, that this privilege had been called into question. Sir Edward Coke, who was tenacious of the authority of the Common Law Courts, and the twelve judges, gave it as their opinion, that Chancery had no such power; and that an appeal from a judgment at law could not be made except to Parliament. To this decision proceedings were instituted against the judges in the Star Chamber. The conduct of the judges and of the chief-justice in this matter, has been generally condemned.

175. See an able Life of Sir Edward Coke, published by the Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge, p. 8. Also, Lord Campbell’s Lives of the Chief Justices, Art. Coke, vol. i., p. 287.

177. Bacon’s Letters, vol. ii., p. 85; taken from the Introduction to Bacon’s Works by Stephens, p. 47.

178. Biographia, Art. Coke.

179. Biographia, Art. Coke, from Bacon’s Works.

180. Note to Bacon’s Works, vol. ii., p. 85.

181. Nichols, vol. ii., p. 178; from Birch’s MSS., vol. iv., p. 173.

182. Bishop Goodman, vol. ii., p. 166.

183. Bishop Goodman, vol. ii., p. 166.

185. Nichols, from Birch’s MS., p. 4172.

188. Amos’s Great Oyer of Poisoning, p. 418.

189. Nichols, p. 227.

191. Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton. State Paper Office. London, August 9th, 1617. Inedited.

192. Nichols, iii., p. 371.

193. Letter from Mr. Chamberlain, before quoted.

194. Letter from Mr. Chamberlain, before quoted.

195. Stephens’s Introduction to Bacon’s letters, p. 42. Also Inedited Letters in the State Paper Offices, Domestic, 1616, 17.

196. Now first published from the State Paper Office. Domestic, July 10, 1617.

197. A kinsman of Buckingham’s.

200. These letters are taken from Mr. Montague’s edition of Bacon’s works, vol. vii., Bacon’s Life, p. 16.

202. Life of Sir E. Coke, by Lord Campbell.

203. Bacon’s Relics, ii., 29.

204. Sir Peter Chapman, that belongs to the Earl of Exeter; Sir Francis Nedham, an old solicitor betwixt her and Sir Christopher Hatton; Sir Nathaniel Neil, a kinsman of Sir Robert; and one Withipole, a kinsman of her own.

205. Nichols, iii. 448.

206. The Isle of Purbeck belonged to Lady Hatton.

207. Calendar of State Papers for 1619, cix., p. 26.

208. Biog. Brit. Art. Coke.

209. Nichols, iii., 548.

210. Nov. 14, 1617, Sir Nathaniel Brent to Sir Dudley Carleton. Domestic.

211. Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir D. Carleton, Nov. 8, 1617. Inedited State Papers.

212. See Letter from Nathaniel Brent to Sir D. Carleton.

213. Inedited Letter in the State Paper Office.

214. State Paper, vol. cv., No. 103.

216. Life of Ben Jonson, by Gifford, p. 33.

217. Gifford, p. 65.

218. Gifford, p. 67.

219. Ben Jonson’s Works.

220. Calendar of State Papers, vol. cv., 4.

221. Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir D. Carleton. Inedited State Papers, Jan. 10, 1617-18.

222. Afterwards the wife of Henry, Lord de la Warr.

223. Inedited State Papers. Domestic. Mr. Chamberlain to Sir D. Carleton, 10 Jan., 1617-18.

224. Inedited State Papers. It is dated, London, March 11, 1619-20.

225. Inedited State Papers, Feb. 26, 1619-20.

226. Sir J. Croft’s Daughters.

227. N. Brent to Sir D. Carleton, March 30, 1618. State Paper Office, inedited.

228. Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, Nov. 28, 1618. State Paper Office, inedited.

229. T. Locke to Sir Dudley Carleton, Nov. 17, 1618, State Paper Office, inedited.

230. Nichols, vol. iii., p. 477.

231. Nichols, 484, from Birch’s MSS. British Museum.

232. Life of B. Goodman, p. 286.

233. Hume. Life of James I.

234. Birch’s Negotiations between England, France, and Brussels, p. 372.

235. Inedited State Papers, March 20, 1619-20.

236. Inedited State Papers for 1619-20.

237. Letter to Winwood.

238. Hume. Reign of James I.

239. Oldmixon. History of the House of Stuart, p. 52.

240. Hacket’s Life of Archbishop Williams, vol. i., p. 171.

241. Oldmixon, p. 52.

242. Nichols, iii., p. 493.

243. It begins thus:—“Receive from thy unfortunate husband these, his last lines; these, the last words that ever thou shalt receive from him. That I can live, and think never to see you and my child more, I cannot. I have desired God, and disputed with my reason, but nature and compassion hath the victory. That I can live to think how you are both left a spoil to my enemies, and that my name shall be a dishonour to my child, I cannot—I cannot endure the memory thereof. Unfortunate woman! unfortunate child! comfort yourselves, trust God, and be contented with your poor estate; I would have bettered it, if I had enjoyed it a few years.”—Bishop Goodman, ii., p. 93. Mr. Brewer has, by the discovery of this letter, in the College of All Souls, Oxford, definitively settled the question whether Ralegh did or did not attempt his life in the Tower. Ralegh’s list of his debts, and his beseeching his wife “to take care of them,” are not among the least affecting parts of his letter.

244. Nichols, p. 493.

245. Letter in the State Paper Office, no date. See Life of Sir Walter Ralegh, by the author. Appendix, p. 395.

246. Oldys’s Life of Ralegh, folio viii., p. 729.

247. State Papers. Domestic. 1618-19.

248. Her mother was a Howard—the sister of the infamous Lady Somerset.

249. Nichols, iii., 521.

250. Bishop Goodman’s Letters, ii., 188

251. The fire happened in the day time, at eleven, and lasted only an hour. Lord Chancellor Bacon was among those high personages who by his presence attempted to ensure order; but there was much spoliation even in the face of day. The hall was re-erected three years afterwards. This ancient building might, it is thought, have been saved; but two men, who saw the flames break out, went away for fear of being blamed.

252. State Papers. Calendar, vol. cvii., No. 7.

254. State Papers, vol. cviii., No. 85. Calendar.

255. Nichols, iii., 546.

256. Letter from Sir Edward Harwood to Sir Dudley Carleton. State Paper Office. Domestic, 1618-19.

257. Birch’s MSS., British Museum, 4173. Letter of Oct. 3, 1618.

258. Miss Strickland’s Life of Anne of Denmark.

259. Nichols, iii. 539.

260. Made Chancellor on the 4th of January, 1617.

261. Bacon’s Works, vol. ii., p 201, note.

262. Bacon’s Works, p. 225.

263. The Lord Mayor.

265. State Papers, vol. cix; No. 76. Calendars.

266. Nichols, vol., iii. p. 556.

267. Brydges’s Peers of James I.

268. Nichols, vol. iii., p. 589.

269. Ibid, vol. iv., p. 606.

270. State Papers, vol. cxiii., No. 38.

271. Which afterwards came to the Granvilles, hence the name of Bevile Granville.

272. This lady is said to have died in consequence of some medicine given her by Sir W. Ralegh;—a slanderous accusation.

273. Granger, from Howell. Art. Rutland.

274. State Papers, vol. cxii., No. 104.

275. Even King James, it is said, was not exempt from the designs of the wicked. In the State Paper Office is the following entry:—“A man named Peacock, a schoolmaster, to be committed to the Tower and tortured, ‘for practising sorcery on the King, to infatuate him in Sir Thomas Lake’s business.business.’”

276. The interior was destroyed by fire, in 1816; it has been rebuilt in a style of great magnificence.

277. The present Duke of Rutland traces his descent in direct line from the founder of the castle, Robert de Belvedeir.

278. In January, 1814, when George IV., then Prince Regent, was received at Belvoir Castle, the key of Staunton Tower, of gold, and beautifully wrought, was presented to him in the drawing-room, on a gold cushion, by the Rev. Dr. Staunton, with a suitable address. Nichols’s Progress, vol. ii., p. 458.

279. The whole of the castle stands in Leicestershire.

280. Note in Nichols’s Progresses, vol. i., p. 490.

281. Wilson’s Life of James I., p. 149.

282. Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton. Inedited State Papers, March 11th, 1619-20.

283. From Court and Times of King James. Bishop Goodman, vol. ii., p. 189.

284. From Harleian, 1581, p. 134.

286. Inedited State Papers. Letter from Sir Edward Zouch to Lord Zouch, February 5th, 1619-20. Domestic. Sir Edward Zouch was a much esteemed wit and courtier. His family is now nearly, if not wholly extinct.—Brydges’s Peers of King James, p. 71.

287. Inedited State Papers. Letter dated March. 20th, 1619-20.

288. State Papers. Letter from the Earl of Rutland. Domestic. 1625.

289. Nichols, iv., 606.

290. This house was afterwards inhabited by the Lumley family. The navy office was once here, until removed to Somerset House. The immense warehouses belonging to the East India Company, now cover the spot where Buckingham’s nuptials took place.—See Pennant’s London, p. 237.

291. Nichols, vol. iv., p. 607.

292. He was called by the Earl of Pembroke, “Iniquity Jones.” It is said, in that nobleman’s MS., that he had 16,000l. a year for keeping the King’s houses in repair.—Walpole’s Anecdotes of Painting, vol. ii., p. 271.

293. Wright’s History of Rutland, 1684, p. 30.

294. Nichols, vol. iv., p. 778.

295. York House was not at present in his possession.

296. Nichols, p. 881, from Harleian MSS., 6987.

297. For a fuller history of Newhall, see Nichols’s Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i., p. 94-6.

298. Harleian MSS., 6987., quoted in Nichols’s Progresses of King James.

299. Newhall is now a nunnery.

300. Inedited Letters in the State Paper Office, Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, July 31, 1619.

301. Wright’s Hist. of Essex, vol. ii., p. 502-3.

302. Nichols, vol. iii., p. 364.

303. Sir William Mildmay’s descendants conveyed it to Sir Joseph Child, whose son Richard, afterwards created Earl of Tilney, built Wanstead House, well known in modern days, on the site of the mansion which had been the home of Leicester and of Buckingham. The new house was erected in 1715. It descended, in due time, to Miss Tilney Long, who married the Hon. Wellesley Pole, now Earl of Mornington. In 1825 she died, and Wanstead House was sold in lots under the hammer. The park is now let out for grazing cattle. The ancient church of Wanstead has also been pulled down, and a new one erected; so that those who look for any traces of Leicester and Buckingham will not find them at Wanstead.—Note in Wright’s “Essex,” p. 1150.

304. Nichols, v. 699.

305. Bishop Goodman, ii., 228.

306. Bishop Goodman, 243.

307. State Papers, Calendar, vol. cxviii., No. 29.

308. Letter in Bishop Goodman’s Life, vol. ii., p. 215, from Mr. Mead to Sir M. Stuteville.

309. Nichols, iv., 630; and iii., 120.

310. Wilson, Hume, Oldmixon.

312. The line of life in Palmistry is the line encompassing the ball of the thumb.—See, for this masque, Gifford’s edition of Ben Jonson.

313. James’s known dislike of pork was one trait of his Scottish descent.

316. Nichols, vol. iv., p. 710.

318. Or, as it was called, Middleton’s Water, from the great contriver of that inestimable improvement, the introduction of water into the metropolis, Sir Hugh Middleton.