prisoner and the window; while Sir Walter, apparently influenced by a fit of unrestrainable passion, swore he would not be debarred from seeing his light, his life, his goddess! A scuffle ensued, got up for effect's sake, in which the Lieutenant and his captive grappled and struggled with fury-tore each other's hair, and at length drew daggers, and were only separated by force. The Queen being informed of this scene exhibited by her frantic adorer, it wrought, as was to be expected, much in favour of the captive Paladin. There is little doubt that his quarrel with the Lieutenant was entirely contrived for the purpose which it produced. Note F.ROBERT LANEHAM. Little is known of Robert Laneham, save in his curious letter to a friend in London, giving an account of Queen Elizabeth's entertainments at Kenilworth, written in a style of the most Intolerable affectation, both in point of composition and orthography. He describes himself as a bon vivant, who was wont to be jolly and dry in the morning, and by his good-will would be chiefly in the company of the ladies. He was, by the interest of Lord Leicester, Clerk of the Council Chamber door, and also keeper of the same. "When council sits," says he, "I am at hand. If any makes a babbling, Peace, say I. If I see a listener or a pryer in at the chinks or lockhole, I am presently on the bones of him. If a friend comes, I make him sit down by me on a form or chest. The rest may walk, a God's name!" There has been seldom a better portrait of the pragmatic conceit and self-importance of a small man in office. The Earl of Leicester's Italian physician, Julio, was affirmed by his contemporaries to be a skilful compounder of poisons, which he applied with such frequency, that the Jesuit Parsons extols ironically the marvellous good luck of this great favourite, in the opportune deaths of those who stood in the way of his wishes. There is a curious passaage on the subject: "Long after this, he fell in love with the Lady Sheffield, whom I signified before, and then also had he the same fortune to have her husband dye quickly, with an extreame rheume in his head, (as it was given out,) but as others say, of an artificiall catarre that stopped his breath. "The like good chance had he in the death of my Lord of Essex, (as I have said before,) and that at a time most fortunate for his purpose; for when he was coming home from Ireland, with intent to revenge himselfe upon my Lord of Leicester for begetting his wife with childe in his absence, (the childe was a daughter, and brought up by the Lady Shandoes, W. Knooles his wife,) my Lord of Leicester hearing thereof, wanted not a friend or two to accompany the deputy, as among other A couple of the Earles own servants, Crompton, (if I misse not his name,) yeoman of his bottles, and Lloid his secretary, entertained afterward by my Lord of Leicester, and so he dyed in the way, of an extreame flux, caused by an Italian receipe, as all his friends are well assured, the maker whereof was a chyrurgeon (as it is beleeved) that then was newly come to my Lord from Italy,-a cunning man and sure in operation, with whom, if the good Lady had been sooner acquainted, and used his help, she should not have needed to sitten so pensive at home, and fearfull of her husband's former returne out of the same country Neither must you marvaile though all these died in divers manners of outward diseases, for this is the excellency of the Italian art, for which this chyrurgian and Dr Julio were entertained so carefully, who can make a man dye in what manner or show of sickness you will-by whose instructions, no doubt; but his lordship is now cunning, especially adding also to these the counsell of his Doctor Bayly, a man also not a little studied (as he seemeth) in his art; for I heard him once myselfe, in a publique act in Oxford, and that in presence of my Lord of Leicester, (if I be not deceived,) maintain that poyson might be so tempered and given as it should not appear presently, and yet should kill the party afterward, at what time should be appointed; which argument belike pleased well his lordship, and therefore was chosen to be discussed in his audience, if I be not deceived of his being that day present. So, though one dye of a flux, and another of a catarre, yet this importeth little to the matter, but sheweth rather the great cunning and skill of the artificer." -PARSON'S Leicester's Commonwealth, p. 23. It is unnecessary to state the numerous reasons why the Earl is stated in the tale to be rather the dupe of villains than the unprincipled author of their atrocities. In the latter capacity, which a part at least of his contemporaries imputed to him, he would have made a character too disgustingly wicked, to be useful for the purposes of fiction. I have only to add, that the union of the poisoner, the quacksalver, the alchymist, and the astrologer, in the same person, was familiar to the pretenders to the mystic sciences. "I was required," says Sir James, "to stay till I had seen him made Earle of Leicester, and Baron of Denbigh, with great solemnity; herself (Elizabeth) helping to put on his ceremonial, he sitting on his knees before her, keeping a great gravity and a discreet behaviour; but she could not refrain prom putting her hand to his neck to kittle (i. e. tickle, him, smilingly, the French Ambassador and I standing beside her."— MELVILLE'? Memoirs, Bannatyne Edition, p. 120. uvede bow on!) Note K, FURNITURE OF KENILWORTH. DI In revising this work for the present edition, I have had the means of making some accurate additions to my attempt to describe the princely pleasures of Kenilworth, by the kindness of my friend William Hamper, Esq., who had the goodness to communicate to me an inventory of the furniture of Kenilworth in the days of the magnificent Earl of Leicester. I have adorned the text with soine of the splendid articles mentioned in the inventory, but antiquaries, especially, will be desirous to see a more full specimen than the story leaves room for. EXTRACTS FROM KENILWORTH INVENTORY, A. D. 1584. A Salte, ship-fashion, of the mother of perle, garnished with silver and divers workes, warlike-ensignes, and ornaments, with xvj peeces of ordinance, whereof ij on wheles, two anckers on the foreparte, and on the stearne the image of Dame Fortune standing on a globe with a flag in her hand. Pois xxxij oz. A gilt salte like a swann, mother of perle. Pois xxx oz. lij. quarters. A George on horseback, of wood, painted and gilt, with a case for knives in the tayle of the horse, and a case for oyster knives in the brest of the Dragon. A green barge-cloth, embroider'd with white lions and beares. A perfuming pann, of silver. Pois xix oz. In the halle. Tabells, long and short, vj. Formes, long and short, xiiij. HANGINGS. (These are minutely specified, and consisted of the following subjects, in tapestry, and gilt, and red leather.) Flowers, beasts, and pillars arched. Forest worke. Historie. Storie of Susanna, the Prodigall Childe, Saule, Tobie, Hercules, Lady Fame, Hawking and Hunting, Jezabell, Judith and Holofernes, David, Abraham, Sampson, Hippolitus, Alexander the Great, Naaman the Assyrian, Jacob, &c. BEDSTEDS, WITH THEIR FURNITURE. (These are magnificent and numerous. I shall copy, verbatim, the description of what appears to have been one of the best.) A bedsted of wallnut-tree, toppe fashion, the pillers redd and varnished, the ceelor, tester, and single vallance of crimson sattin, paned with a broad border of bone lace of golde and silver. The tester richilie embrothered with my Lo. armes in a garland of hoppes, roses, and pomegranetts, and lyned with buckerom Fyve curteins of crimson sattin to the same bedsted, striped downe with a bone lace of gold and silver, garnished with buttons and loops of crimson silk and golde, containing xiiij bredths of sattin, and one yarde iij quarters deepe. The celor, val lance, and curteins lyned with crymson taffata sarsenet. A crymson sattin counterpointe, quilted and embr. with a golde twiste, and lyned with redd sarsenet, being in length iij yards good, and in breadth iij scant. A chaise of crymson sattin, suteable. A fayre quilte of crymson sattin, vj breadths, iij yardes 3 quarters naile deepe, all lozenged over with silver twiste, in the midst a cinquefoile within a garland of tragged staves, fringed rounde aboute with a small fringe of crymson silke, lyned throughe with white fustian. Hyve pluses of coolered feathers, garnished with bone lace and spangells of goulde and ellver, standing in cups knitt all over with goalde, silver, and crymson silk. A carpett for a cupboarde of crymaon sattin, embrothered with a border of goulde twiste, about iij parts of it fringed with silk and goulde, lyned with bridges sattin, in lengtli ij yards, and ij bredths of sattin. (Thero were eleven down beds and ninety feather beds, besides thirty-seven mattresses.) CHAYRES, STOOLES, AND CUSHENS. (These were equally splendid with the beds, &c. I shall here copy that which stands at the head of the list.) A chaier of crimson velvet, the seate and backe partlie embrothered, with R. L. in cloth of goulde, the beare and ragged staffe in clothe of silver, garnished with lace and fringe of goulde, silver, and crimson silck. The frame covered with velvet, bounde about the edge with goulde lace, and studded with gilte A square stoole and a foote stoole, of crimson velvet, fringed and garnished suteable. nailes. A long cushen of crimson velvet, embr. with the ragged staffo in a wreathe of goulde, with my Lo. posie Droyte et Loyall" written in the samo, and the letters R. L. in clothe of goulde, being garnished with lace, fringe, buttons, and tassels, of gold, silver, and crimson silck, lyned with crimson taff. being in length Iyard quarter.uted his Loude " A square cushen, of the like velvet, embr. suteable to the (There were 10 velvet carpets for tables and windows, 49 Tur- A carpett of crimson velvet, richly embr. with my Lo. posie, beares and ragged staves, &c. of clothe of gouldo and silver, garnished upon the seames and aboute with golde lace, fringed accordinglie, lyned with crimson taffata sarsenett, being 3 breadths of velvet, one yard 3 quarters long. A great Turquoy carpett, the grounde blew, with a list of gelloo at each end, being in length x yards, in bredthe ilij yards and quarter.well A long carpett of blew clothe, lyned with bridges sattin, fringed with blew silck and goulde, in length vj yards lack a quarter, the whole bredth of the clothe. A tabell of an historie of men, women, and children, molden in wax. A little foulding table of ebanie, garnished with white bone, Fyve of the plannetts, painted in frames. INSTRUMENTS. (I shall give two specimens.) under An instrument of organs, regalls, and virginalls, covered with crimson velvet, and garnished with goulde lace. A fair pair of double virginalls. CABONETTS. hunting the stagg, in goulde, silver, and silck, with lif glasses A cabonett of crimson sattin, richille embr. with a device of and silck, in a case of leather, lyned with greene sattin of In the topp thereof, xvj cupps of flowers made of goulde silver, bridges. (Another of purple velvet. A desk of red leather.) A CHESS BOARDE of ebanie, with checkars of christall and staves, and cinquefoiles of silver. The xxxij men likewyse of other stones, layed with silver, garnished with beares and ragged christall and other stones sett, the one sort in silver white, the other gilte, in a case gilded and lyned with green cotton. (Another of bone and cbanie. A pair of tabells of bone.) A GREAT BRASON CANDLESTICK to hang in the roofe of the howse, verie fayer and curiouslye wrought, with xxiiij branches xij greate and xij of lesser size, 6 rowlers and ij wings for the spreade engle, xxiiij socketts for candells, xij greater and xij of a lesser sorte, xxiiij sawcers, or candle-cupps, of likeproporcion to put under the socketts, iij images of men and iij of woemen of brass, verie finely and artificiallie done. These specimens of Leicester's magnificence mayserve to assure the reader that it scarce lay in the power of a nodera author to exaggerate the lavish style of expenso displayed in the princely pleasures of Kenilworth. #12 14 Noto T. DEATH OF THE EARL OF LEICESTER. In a curious manuscript copy of the information given by Ben Jonson to Drummond of Hawthornden, as abridged by Sir Robert Sibbald, Leicester's death is ascribed to poison administered as a cordial by his countess, to whom he had given it, representing it to be a restorative in any faintness, in the hope that she herself might be cut off by using it. We have already quoted Jonson's account of this merited stroke of retribution in a note, p. 2 of Introduction to the present work. It may be here added, that the following satirical epitaph o Leicester occurs in Drummond's Collection, but is evidently not of his composition: tw bodeining,shq 10 PICTURES. Borderlande Probably on the centre and four corners of the bedstead. Four bears to dragged staves occupied a similar position o. another of these sumptous pieces of furniturs. dug bindend it toode (.e. Bruges. pintail! how desno I bets a breetssod.Towel einosidol,sinne, sblm Lauts viors..ia to w012 oll bar but didnot parandi busanidwell,smed vha.I doset nye A od nature Esmes law one elogi Here lies a valinnt warrlour, |