And
i8 7
And if both at once began,
Who would wonder at thee than r
Nothing strange to be sufficed,
After kingdomes left behinde thee,
And so much by the demized,
With this little to confine thee.
For thy story ne're makes mention,
Appetence had more intention.
Tell thou to others that their ends must haue,
For all their kingdomes but one little graue.
Vixit atque meritura,
Eliza.
Quest. " Is this all she shall haue ? Why, I expected a vol-
lume of your Melpomene bound vp in the very vampe of hir
buskine, with prety passionate speeches, in a new streine and
inuocation that should haue drawne drie the very hoofes of
your flying hore in Friday-strete ; as thus.
Admetus dairie maide come feede thy neame,
Come bring Apollo curds and clowted creame.
But indeede, indeede this is all in all, for truegriefe would not
be commended for action, it is so much in suffering: it would
be ceremonious not affected ?
Am. "At least, Sir, I am sure there is no more sinceritie
in these few lines then I am able to quote vppon a masse of
her flatterers. For who would beleeue it> That hee which
was wont to seta world's distinction betwixt her and mortali-
tie, should now come after, and say she went the way of all
flesh?"*
" The
* Other puny attacks must have been made upon the memory
of Elizabeth early after her decease. They are alluded to by a
writer of that period, who did not consider her name thereby ren-
dered unpopular, having made her the subject of a very long-
poem, above 180 stanzas, entitled: Queene Elizabeth's Teares : or
Her resolute bearing the Christian Crosse, inflicted on her by the perse-
cuting hands of Steucn Gardner, Bishop of II inchester, in the bloodie
time of Queeue Marie. Written by Christopher Leuer. Nocct indul-
gentia nobis. Printed at London by V. S. for Mathenv Loivnes, d-Tvel-
ling in Paules Churchyard, at the signe of the Bishops head. 1607. qto.
It is dedicated to Robert Eail of Salisbury, and the writer says,
" the gratious and well deseruir.g, when they die, leaue behind
them a reputation that can neuer die. I instance this in Queene
Elizabeth of blessed memory: a lady beyond example beautifyed
with the ornaments of grace and nature (the tvvoo handes of God)
whose name (like the aire) is spread ouer all the earth, whereby
this
i88
" The Scottish Englishing," is a compliment to
K. James, upon the harmony derived from uniting the
two
this our little world (the English nation) is made famous to all
posterity." The allusion above referred is in a short address " to
the reader. The name of Queene Elizabeth is sufficient argument
to persvvade a friendly acceptation j and from the better disposed
(whome I couct principally to please) I shall doubtlesse receiue
that reasonable and honest construction. As for those who haue
their tongues dipt in the poyson of enuie, I write not to please
them whowil neuer be pleasdwith that which is most deseruing ;
it being the nature of enuie to depraue that, which dooth deserue
the highest fauour of loue and good opinion. I may example this
in the wrong offered to the name of Queene Elizabeth, who
(though shee were the most admired of her time) hauing extra-
ordinary induments, and a gouernment, much more in the de-
grees of honour and prosperitie, than any her predecessours ; yet
want there not malitious and base deprauers, who (like dogges
that barke against the sunne) couet to bite her honourable name,
whome God hath made more glorious than the sunne, giuing her
a place of glorie, in fellowship with his holy angelles and saints.
&c." Leuer's poem has introductory verses in Latin, sig. I. C.
Lat. and Eng. by R. K. English by Robert Posket 5 and tlvus
commences:
" I that haue reacht my meditation hie,
And versd the holy suffrings of my Lord,
Still doe I mooue in that emperiall skie,
Where saints and holy angels do afford
Subiect that may diuinest wit accord :
I glory then, that to my verse is giuen,
This care to fet their holy cause from heauen.
Among the number of those holy saints,
A happy lady, where all happie? are,
Whose name report in euery place acquaints,
Who like the beauty of the fairest starre,
In beauteous name exceedes all other farre :
And but we doe except the virgin-mother,
We reach her praise as high as any other.
Thus I conceiue her image in my thought,
Clad in the virgin ornament of white,
Within that white her innocence was wrought,
Vnspotted with the touch of vaine delight,
Her habite is all day, and nothing night ;
And in that white (as my remembrance saith)
. Was writ this motte, Defendor of the Faith.'''
This writer puts it in the mouth of Gardner to accuse Elizabeth
to her sister as being the cause and head of Wyat's rebellion in
ice?: which ends in her committal to the Tower.
3 "The
i$9
two kingdoms, and a short account of the derivation of
his title. At the end are the following lines addressed
" To the vnparaleld blesst disposition the Lady Eliza-
let h Bridges.
" That thou art faire, because thou would'st not know it,
My verse shaH be no flattering glasse to show it :
Th' art free from conflicts with the blood of sense,
Experience too, bids that doubt spare expence.
Then, where is't I am deteined ?
M The priest replide: if so your Grace will heare
lie giue you instance both of when and where.
When Wyat with the mutinous in Kent ;
Moou'd a commotion in your quiet state,
So dangerous that Wyat did present
His rebell troopes before your princely gate ;
Whome, though the heauens were pleasde to ruinate.
Yet let it be within your princely care,
To know the cause from whence these rebells were.
Wyat (alas!) a priuate gentleman,
Whose reputation neuer reacht so hie,
As to be mark'd in state ; could Wyat than
With his weake credite raise a companie,
So w;rrelike as to match your Maiestie ?
(Madame, be sure,) a greater was the head,
Although the body Wyat gsuerned.
In great attempts, its weighty pollicie
That whome the practise doth most neere respect,
With false appearance they dissembled be.
That if their bad designes haue bad effect,
They may auoyde the danger of suspect :
But if the practise haue desired end,
The plotters then the practise will commend.
Your sister learned in this suttlearte,
(Be pleasd to pardon plainenesse in my speach)
Would not the secret of the plot impart,
Saue vnto Wyat, whom her art could teach,
To silence how Ambition made her reach :
And though the traitor to his death denie it,
The truth of circumstance will verifie it.
What other cause, saue Luther's discipline,
Begat this ciuill discord in your state ?
Nor can your kingdomes holy church resigne ;
Whilst that your princely selfe is magistrate.
Then sure these rebells she did animate,
Your sacred life (by treason) to depriue,
That she and Luther might the better thriue."
Chastr
190
Chaste to all, selfe owning beauteous,
Be benigne, as we are dueteous,
Reede our line, and loue vnfeined.
T. P."
Others to Sir Thomas Kneuet and Sir Edward Dyer.
J. H.
Tj 1 he famous Hislorie of Albions Queene : Imprinted
ut London by ^(illiam) W{oo\\) * for Thomus
Pauier. 1601. Small 4to. b. 1. R. 4.
Frequent research has not hitherto enabled me to fill
up the chasm, which time, or some less certain adversary,
has made in my copy of the above work. From the un-
productive result of my inquiries, I am almost led to
doubt the existence of another copy : but as the book col-
lector ought always to qualify his assertion with respect
to a particular work being unique, by adding to such an
epithet the adverb " hitherto,'" I must cautiously abstain
from exulting in the fancied possession of an article,
which another week's experience may convince me, in-
stead of being unique, is dual, or perhaps plural. Such
things have been " ere now i' the olden time." The
conviction even of the undoubted possession of a single
copy, and the raptures attendant on it, ought to be
governed, or at least moderated, by the consideration of
what its individuality may be owing to: the collector
ought to reflect on the circumstances suggested by an
eminent modern critic, " that a fire or an enterprising
trunk-maker that should take off nearly the whole of a
worthless work, would instantly render the small remain-
der invaluable." -f- Indeed, the effects of fire on books
* I find no other printer about this period whose initials cor-
respond with the above, save Wm. White, who, according to
Herbert, printed with date in 1596. Wood, from the same au-
thority, appears to have printed three years later. Herbert's
Aines, 1808.
t Preface to Massinger's Works, by GifFord.
arc
'are similar to those on gold; at least if the flame does
not render the substance more pure, the residuum is more
valuable. I cannot indulge my vanity in the solitary
contemplation of the work in question, without reflect-
ing that its rarity probably originates in its insignifi-
cance. Nature is not fond of perpetuating a race of
dwarfs, and the flower which possesses neither beauty of
colour, nor fragrance of smell, has no hold on the fos-
tering protection of the botanist, who leaves it to die, as
it lived, unregarded. *
This work partakes little of the character or incidents
of the genuine romance: giants are unknown: chivalry is
scarcely noticed : and neither Mahound nor Termagaunt
are invoked by any unhappy devil of a Pagan : we read
not of knights or ladies :
" No Durindana waves o'er fabled realms/'
and consequently the incidents, though improbable,
would also justify me in saying, that its claim to the title
of romance is more than apocryphal. It is merely a
" historie."
Perhaps, however, there is a species of originality in
this history, which may entitle it to some little conside-
ration. I confess, 1 am at a loss whether to view it as a
lurking satire on the preceding ages, or as an effusion in-
tended merely for amusement: to enable the beau of
the Elizabethan age to while away an hour before he
' f walked in Powles;" or to furnish him with a meagre
outline of the names and characters of the preceding half
centurv. In either case the author was cursed with a
most uninventive brain. I have been compelled to give
the title from the running title and colophon, as the copy
now before me is deficient in title page, preface (if there
was any), and the first chapter. I begin therefore with
the second, in which the three Earls of Westmoreland,
Somerset, and Durham, came to visit " Albion's Queene"
{Catherine in a prison, in which she was confined by her
husband under suspicion of a criminal intercourse with
the Duke of Suffolk. Before I proceed in giving a con-
* The only copy I have heard of was in Dr.. Farmer's sale, lot
* 5 877.
rise
192
cise account of the history, I need hardly point out to
my readers the resemblance between the names of the
characters here introduced, and those who actually existed
in a period immediately preceding : it cannot be forgot-
ten that the Princess Mary, sister of Henry the Eighth,
and widow of Louis the Twelfth of France, married Sir
Charles Brandon, afterwards Duke of Suffolk ; and it is
not improbable, that the name of the most to be pitied,
and perhaps the most amiable of Henry's wives, afforded
the hint for the appellation of the heroine.
The imputed attachment of the Queen to the Duke of
Suffolk, which led to the imprisonment of both, the
author wills us to believe originated solely in the malice
of a certain "Baron of Buckingham;" but, from the
conclusion of the history, we might almost be led to be-
lieve that there were better grounds for the suspicion
than the mere suggestion of an ambitious courtier. The
Queen, immediately on her captivity, sits down to com-
pose a madrigal on her unfortunate state, and which,
though it may not arrogate equal praise with the produc-
tions of the Laura Marias and Rosa Matildas of the
present day, yet is not altogether deficient in smooth-
ness ; and in redundancy of epithet, it rivals most com-
pletely the elegiac trash of the English Delia Crusca
academy.
" The spightfull Barrens cursed fiatterie,
Hath wrong'd Queene Katherine's spotlesse chastitie :
And leuel'd out his dartes of lasting shame,
Against the princely honours of her fame.
But Trueth in time, shall conquer Enuie's will,
Where Fayth shall spring, and brightly floorish still :
Packe hence Dispaire, sweet Ioy come ease my smart,
For constant Fayth doth harbour in my hart."
These lines were written on the walls of her prison
with the " blood of her marriage finger."
" No sooner had the Queene finished these bloody lines,
but there came into the prison to comfort her, three graue
counsellers of King Edward's court, whom she did most
louingly entertainej 2nd after some conference passed betwixt
them, she most kindly kissed her husband's liuely picture,
which as then hanged about her necke by a faire chaine or
umdle of gold,, powring out many bitter teares, to the wonder-
full
193
full griefe and admiration of all that bchclde her: the which
being done, she humbly desired pardon of the Lordes, to use
some wordes in the defence of her chastitie, so that she might
not abuse their patience : and as she having an innocent and
guiltlesse hart, so she might freely discharge her conscience,
and cleare herselfe from all those uniust accusations layde
against her." " The harmlesse Queene in a most seuere
and bold countenaunce, with sundry faire amiable syrtes in
her cheekes, her browes beset like the majestie of Diana, her
white iuorie trembling hands like the driuen snow, her body
euen framed and fashioned of the virgin waxe, spake as fol-
loweth.".
We are told by Quintilian that the courtesan Phryne,
about to be condemned for impiety, by uncovering her
bosom, so influenced her judges as to induce them to ac-
quit her ; the venerable counsellors of King Edward are
equally susceptible of the charms of beauty; and, indeed,
our author in this instance discovers his correct know-
ledge of human nature, as he makes these sage men gal-
lant in proportion to their years, a fact evidenced from
the earliest records of sacred and profane history. The
u seveere and bolde countenance" of the Queen makes
converts of her auditors. The Earl of Somerset
addresses her in a reply, which principally consists of a se-
lection of instances, in which false witnesses were even-
tually punished by the righteous vengeance of heaven.
The object is attained; the Queen is consoled, and the
Earls, meditating on her charms, retire, after resolving to
address a supplication or memorial to King Edward, re-
commending him " to frequent the company of his chast
Queene." This recommendation is useless, nor could
<f at all prevayle to enlarge her (the Queen's) servitude,
for a little before the wicked Barron had presented to King
Edward a goldsmithes daughter of London, named Cassiope j
a damsel of a lewde behaviour, yet beautifull and passing amo-
rous, who, with her flattering smiles so intangled his eyes, and
bewitched his fancie in such sort, that he delighted onely in
her companie, wholly changing his auncient loue from his
loyal Queene, thinking all times too long, till the tender
thread ot her life were cut off, which vertue, before time, had
so honorably spnnne."
Fascinated with the syren smile of the goldsmith's
daughter, the King disregards the wholesome admo-
vol. ii. o nitions
l$4
nitiotis of his council: he goes further; his "almost
blunted purpose" is edged afresh by the ill-timed repre-
sentations of these sages, and accordingly " he gave them
this sharpe edict for the arraignment and sentence against
Queene Katherine and the Duke of Suffolke." Where
the judge is the party principally interested to obtain the
conviction of the accused, the evidence is not carefully
weighed or thoroughly sifted : the Baron of Buckingham
supported by " two other base gentlemen of the King's
court," bare testimony to the criminality of the Queen,
and Duke, and in spite of the Earl of Somerset's intrepid
vindication of their innocence, they were on the point of
being convicted, when the Earl of Westmoreland
" which as then presented the King's person," sug-
gested a mode of defence which would appear to have
been rather obsolete when Dukes of Suffolk, Earls of
Durham, and Barons of Buckingham, were existing in
England. He recommends an appeal to the god of bat-
tles as the test of innocence, and Suffolk " greatly com-
forted with this counsell," immediately. pens a challenge,
which is forwarded to Buckingham's hands. The singu-
larity of the nature of this challenge is scarecly equalled
by the royal proclamation directing the combat.
" I Edward, by long sufferance of divine fortune, King,
Prince, and chiefs Ruler of all the partes of England, &c.
Whereas the determined purpose of the noble &har ly gentle-
man the Lord Baron of Buckingham, is to deiendf himselfe
against the miserable & condemned ca iue the Duke .of Suf-
folke, a fable for the worlde to gaze upon, u. nfamous wretch
of nc table dishonour, harbouring in his hart long treasons
against our person, subiectes, and dominion j in excuse of his
leawde life, for his best aduantTge, challengeth open warre
against my good subiect ihe Lord Barron ; vnto whose request,
in favour of a undent prowesse, I haue yielded. But as touch-
ing the trespasse of my Queene no combat shall prevaile to
acquite her disgrace nor no mortall be-nefkes pardone her of-
fences. Thus fare you well.
Edward of England."
From the time of this edict, little impartiality was lo
be expected from its promulgator The King;, the Baron,
and Cassiope, however, unwilling; to trust to the righte-
ousness of their cause, endeavour, by fraud, to attain suc-
cess :
*95
CCS*: Thistle Thomas, a kitchen drudge, but " a lustie
Tall fellow," is selected by the trio to represent the
Baron, and, in his name, to maintain the truth of the
accusation against Suffolk. On the eve of the combat
Suffolk is seized with a fit of versifying, and composes an
elegiac song, which, together with the Queen's reply,
being given by Mr. Evans, in the fourth volume of his
Jate new edition of "Old Ballads," it would be unneces-
sary to introduce here.
Trustie Thomas, spite of his chosen amour from the
royal maga2ine, and his personal strength, was unable to
meet with success the gallant Suffolk, and he paid with his
life for the honour of contending with him in a quarrel
not his own. * Notwithstanding the Duke's success, the
unjust monarch banished him the kingdom, and he
quitted England with the pleasing consolation that he
carried with him not only the good will of the people,
but also the affections of the Queen; as a testimony of
which she " gaue him a hoope of gold, round fastened
to his necke: the posie about the same was this
" What earthly place so ever harbours thee,
Till death depart (braue Lord) remember me."
the which being clasped about his necke with two siluer
claspes prepared for the same purpose, whereon was very
curiously engraven two bloody hartes bound togither
with a true loues-knot."
The Queen was only saved from the cruel death in-
tended her, by a plea of pregnancy, which induced the
King to respite her execution until she gave birth to
twins, a boy and a girl. The boy is sent to Normandy,
to the court of Duke Robert, and the girl into Denmark,
where each meets with that affectionate attention from
strangers, which their helpless innocence was insufficient
to insure from their natural protector.
* It was no uncommon incident in the old romances for one
individual to assume the character and fight in the cause of
another, a practise indeed fo which the disguise of their armour
afforded ample facility Amylion conquered the Seneschall who
had accused the fair Belisante, in the name and under the ap-
pearance of his friend Amys, who could not personally have
sworn, as the laws of chivalry required, that the accusation was
false. Ellis's early Romances, Vol. III.
o i Katherine,
196'
Katherine, on the eve of execution, escapes from he*
apparently inevitable fate into Normandy, where we will
leave her, as does our author, to communicate the pro-
gress of the misguided King to destruction, Cassiope
makes him the father of a son, who, as he grows up, at-
tains an influence over his father, which rivals and even-
tually exceeds the dotage of the King towards his unprin-
cipled mistress. It was to be expected that the near con-
nection in crime between the Baron of Buckingham and
the favourite would terminate in a nearer intercourse,
which becomes so notorious to every one around, that it is
at length communicated to theKing, bya shepherd, who,
regardless of his own safety, exposed the practices of ihe
Baron and his female associate, too late, however, to
punish them ; having usurped the whole power and acting
in the name of Valentinus (the King's bastard son by.
Cassiope) they dethrone the wretched monarch without
a struggle.
The royal wanderer seeks refuge in Brunswick, where,
after being reduced to the utmost distress, he abandons the
sceptre for the rod, and becomes, like another Dionysius,
a schoolmaster. It was said by Cicero, that the latter
still retaining his tyrannical thirst for power, when no
longer able to rule over men, was content to tyrannize
over boys ; and, from the subieqnent conduct of King
Edward, it seems not unlikely that this selection of an
employment was made from similar motives. At length
having discovered his rank to the gentleman in whose
family he was " schoolemaister," he is conveyed to the
court of Denmark, where he finds his neglected daughter,
the fair Silvia on the point of marriage with the Dane's
" sonne, and heire young Essricke, both being of an
equall age, and nursed vp togither."
Valentinus, the son of Cassiope, being vested with the
kingly dignity in England, punishes with parricidal racr
his mother and the infamous Baron : urged by a certain
Sir Pierce of Winchester, this act is committed with cir-
cumstances of such atrocity as only to produce disgust;
The plot now thickens, and the incidents, like those in
some of our earlier comedies, increase most rapidly > but
unfortunately without producing an increase of interest.
The
197
The blade of corn produces a tenfold crop, but the tares
increase also in equal proportion. Edmond, the legiti-
mate son of the dethroned monarch, now returns to
claim his rights; he succeeds, without difficulty, in driv-
ing an usurper from the government, who received as
little support from the instruments of his tyranny, as
from the efforts of his alienated subjects. The thirst for
power again returns to torment the now aged Edward;
he obtains an army from the King of Denmark, and
purposes to assert, by arms, his claim to a throne, which
his vices had already rendered him unworthy of. Whilst
preparing to sail for England, Sir Pierce of Winchester,
a double traitor, in whom the amiable Edmond had
placed too much confidence, migrates to Denmark, and
adds much to the King's hatred of his son.
Edmond in this danger was not regardless of his duty;
he writes for advice to his mother, who had been long and
honourably entertained at the Roman court, and seeks
assistance from the Duke of Suffolk, (who had been
elected King of Portugal) as well as from other quarters.
The Danes having landed, the hostile armies meet. in the
county of Kent. Their numbers were nearly equal, but
the foreign force was headed by a general more than a
match, in policy, at least, for the English commander:
the Danish King contrives to atchieve, by stratagem, a
victory, which, by force of arms, he had little hope of
gaining. " In the night time he caused a thousand wilde
horses, with hollow rattles of iron fastened to their neckes,
to be sent foorth vpon the English teutes without re-
turne: this in-rode being so confusedly entered, he or-
/Jayned also an hoost of foure thousand soldiers to pur-
sue them with wildfire and burning brimstone in their
thandes."
Tins nocturnal attack was completely successful: the
-English force is entirely annihilated: they felt no dread
of men, but could not resist these demon foes with brim-
stone in their handes: the unfortunate, but amiable Ed^-
.mond is made prisoner, and instantly sacrificed to the
jealous hatred of his father.
Edward a<rain assumes the reins of government, which
-lie does not long retain, but retiring into private life re-
signs the. sceptre to his ton in-law, and daughter Silvia*
o 3 The
198
The voluptuous life to which, without constraint, King