the power of Satan had, I much feared, damaged my bodily frame; but I had not further will to court his friendship, for my soul's hurt. We next discoursed somewhat on religion, when at length he said; "Now, sir, you have seen my wisdom in some sort, and I have pried into yours. I pray you, do me justice in your report, and, in good season, I will not fail to add to your understanding in such points as I may find you lack amendment.” I made curtsy hereat and withdrew down the passage and out at the gate, amidst the many varlets and lordly servants who stood around......I did forget to tell, that his majesty asked much concerning my opinion of the new weed, tobacco, and said, it would by its use infuse ill qualities on the brain, and that no learned man ought to taste it, and wished it forbiddena." How clearly do we here recognise the monarch who had edified the world with the "Demonologia" and the "Counterblast to Tobacco ;" and who had once declared that a king was to be "the great schoolmaster" of his country, the deity being the schoolmaster of kings, and the sharpest of all to those of them who did evil! a Nugæ, i. 366. CHAPTER CHAPTER X. 1607 TO 1610. Parliament prorogued for three years.-Death and character of Blount earl of Devon.-Flight of Tyrone.-Mask of Beauty.-Account of lady Anne Clifford.-Ramsay a favorite, created viscount Haddington,—his marriage.-Jon. son's mask on the occasion.—Account of the earl of Pembroke,―of the earl of Arundel.-Severities of the highcommission court.-Case of N. Fuller.-Puritans emigrate.-Death and character of Sackvil earl of Dorset.Salisbury succeeds as treasurer.—Illegal taxation.-Peace between Spain and the Dutch.-Conduct of James as mediator.-Patriotic conduct of Salisbury.-Conduct of the court of Spain.-Extracts from Cornwallis's letters.Marriage proposed between prince Henry and the infanta. -Controversy respecting the oath of allegiance.—King's apology for the oath,—how received at the courts of France, -of Spain,-at Venice.-Robert Carr becomes a favorite, -account of him.-Letter of lord T. Howard.-Cardinal Bentivoglio's description of England. THE rejection ofthe union highly exasperated James against his parliament, which on its part was little better satisfied with him. The multiplicity of proclamations to which the king, by the aid of the large and somewhat indefinite powers of the council, and of the unconstitutional judicature of the star-chamber, labored to give the force of laws, strongly excited the jealousy of the house of commons; the boundless boundless expenses of the court, especially the sums lavished on favorites and Scotchmen, incensed all classes; and, fearful of a gathering storm, James in July 1607 announced a prorogation of parliament till the November of the same year; which was afterwards extended till February 1610. During this extraordinary recess, the state of the country affords scarcely any materials for history, but the interval is somewhat more productive for memoir. Charles Blount, lord Montjoy and earl of Devonshire, died in 1606 at the age of forty-three. "Soon and early for his years," as a friend writes to Winwood, "but late enough for himself; and happy had he been had he gone two or three years since, before the world was weary of him, or that he had left that scandal behind him." The concluding remark evinces the strong sense at this time entertained of the infamy of an adulterous marriage. This blemish was the more to be regretted in the private character of Montjoy, because his public merits and services were considerable, and his accomplishments distinguished. He was handsome and graceful, skilful in his exercises, a fine courtier in the judgement of queen Elizabeth, and learned beyond almost any in his own station. The prudence and moderation with which he conducted himself when involved in the councils of Essex, perhaps saved England from the horrors of a civil war, and his vigor and conduct put an end to the most formidable rebellion which had ever afflicted Ireland. The renewed turbulence of Tyrone after the death death of the earl of Devonshire, seems to indicate that this event had freed him from the only opponent whom he dreaded. This celebrated rebel, after his favorable reception at the court of James, had been permitted to return to Ireland, where he now attempted to organize an insurrection, applying at the same time to Spain for aid. But being defeated in his design, he fled with several of his associates to the French coast, and, passing thence into Flanders, was very cordially received by James's good allies the archduke Albert and the infanta Isabella, in whose territory he remained several weeks, his friends and followers, and even the archduke himself, gratifying him with the titles of "the excellent prince,' ""the great O'Neala." No sooner was Tyrone safe in this asylum, than he published a statement importing that the violences exercised against the catholic religion had compelled him thus to abandon his fortune and his country. James eagerly repelled the charge by a printed apology, in which he assumed the delicate task of showing that he was by no means to be regarded as the persecutor of that faith which his laws had rendered it so highly penal to profess ;-laws, indeed, with which he was eager to dispense whenever he found it safely practicable. In 1607 the king was pleased to exchange his manor of Hatfield for the earl of Salisbury's magnificent mansion of Theobalds, near Cheshunt, which a Illustrations, iii. 333. henceforth henceforth became his favorite summer palace. A splendid entertainment was given by the secretary to the king and court in honor of this transfer, and Jonson composed for the occasion an elegant interlude, in which the Genius of the place was introduced to present a golden key to the queen, on whom this residence appears to have been settled. The same able and indefatigable pen produced for the Twelfth night festival of the following year, a counterpart to the mask of Blackness, called the mask of Beauty, in which parts were taken by the queen and by fifteen ladies of quality. Among these occurs the name of lady Anne Clifford, daughter of the celebrated George earl of Cumberland, one of the remarkable women of her age. She was at this time in the bloom of youth, and just entering upon the theatre of the world in the characters of an heiress, a beauty, and a patroness of letters. The death of her father when she was ten years of age, had consigned lady Anne to the guardianship of her excellent mother, a lady of the house of Russell; but she received her education chiefly under her aunt the countess of Warwick, principal lady of the bedchamber to queen Elizabeth, and the chief female favorite of her discerning mistress. No pains were spared in the cultivation of her mind; that worthy man and correct writer Samuel Daniel was her tutor, and from him she acquired a fondness for his own pursuits of poetry and history, and a general love of reading which never forsook her. The steps taken |