taken up, the coroner to sit upon her, and further inquiry to be made concerning this business to the full. But it was generally thought that the earl stopped his mouth; who, to shew the great love he bore to her while alive, and what a grief the loss of so virtuous a lady was to his tender heart, caused her body to be buried in St. Mary's church, Oxford, with great pomp and solemnity. It is also remarkable, that Dr. Babington, the earl's chaplain, preaching the funeral sermon, tripped once or twice in his speech, recommending to their memories that virtuous lady so pitifully murdered, instead of saying so pitifully slain."*.

It is evident that the above particulars are given by Aubrey from the celebrated book, written by Parsons the Jesuit, entitled "Leicester's Commonwealth ;" but he has omitted several curious circumstances respecting the attempt to poison the unhappy lady, which throw some light on the practices of the time, and the diabolical character of the earl. The book consists of a dialogue between a scholar, * Ashmole's Antiq. of Berkshire, vol. i. page 149.

a gentleman, and a lawyer. "Lawyer. Here the lawyer began to laugh apace, both at the device and at the minister; and said, Now truly, if my lord's contracts hold no better, but hath so many infirmities with subtleties, and by-places besides, I would be loth that he were married to my daughter, mean as she is. But yet (quoth the gentleman) I had rather of the two be his wife, for the time, than his guest, especially if the Italian chyrurgeon or physician be at hand. True it is, (saith the lawyer,) for he doth not poison his wives, whereof I somewhat marvel at his first wife: I muse why he chose rather to make her away by open violence, than by some Italian confortive. Hereof (said the gentleman) may be divers reasons alleged. First that he was not at that time so skilful in those Italian wares, nor had about him so fit physicians and chyrurgeons for the purpose: nor yet do I think that his mind was so settled then in mischief, as it hath been since ; for you know that men are not desperate the first day, but do enter into mischief by degrees, and with some doubt, or staggering of con

science at the beginning; and so he at that time might be desirous to have his wife made away with, for that she letted him in his designments, but yet not so stoney-hearted as to appoint out the particular manner of her death, but rather to leave that to the discretion of the murderer. Secondly: it is not, also, unlike that he prescribed to Sir Richard Varney, at his going thither, that he should first attempt to kill her by poison, and if that took not place, then by any other way to dispatch her howsoever. This I prove by the report of old Dr. Bayly, who then lived in Oxford, (another manner of man than he who now liveth about my lord of the same name,) and was professor of the physic lecture in the same university. This learned grave man reported for most certain, that there was a practice in Cumnor, among the conspirators, to have poisoned the poor lady a little before she was killed, which was attempted in this order: they, seeing the good lady sad and heavy, (as one that well knew, by her other handling, that her death was not far off,) began to persuade her that her disease was abundance of melanVOL. II.

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choly and other humours, and therefore would needs counsel her to take some potion; which she absolutely refusing to do, as suspecting still the worst; they sent one day (unawares to her) for Doctor Bayly, and desired him to persuade her to take some little potion at his hands, and they would send to fetch the same at Oxford, upon his prescription, meaning to have added, also, somewhat of their own for her comfort, as the Doctor upon just cause suspected. Seeing their great importunity, and the small need which the good lady had of physic, therefore he flatly denied their request; misdoubting (as he after reported) lest, if they had poisoned her under the name of his potion, he might have been hanged for a colour of their sin. Marry, the said doctor remained well assured that this way taking no place, she should not long escape violence, as after ensued.”*

The other event on which the novel of Kenilworth is founded is Elizabeth's last visit to that castle in 1575. Of this we have a full description handed down to us in Lane

* P. 32, edit. 1641.

ham's letter (who was a sort of arbiter elegantiarum on the occasion); and in Gascoyne's Princely Pleasures at the Court of Kenilworth.* These accounts are too tedious and elaborate to be inserted here; but it may not be amiss to give an outline of the sights and exhibitions with which her Majesty was amused, collected from writers less particular in their details than "the Keeper of the Council Chamber-door," and the Poet.

"Her Majesty came to Kenilworth on Saturday the 9th of July. She was met, near the castle, by a fictitious sibyl, who promised peace and prosperity to the country during her reign. Over the first gate of the castle there stood six gigantic figures with trumpets, real trumpeters being stationed behind them, who sounded as the queen approached: upon her entering the gateway, the porter, in the character of Hercules, made an oration, and presented to her the keys. Being come into the base-court, a lady came all over the pool, being so conveyed that it

* Both published in "Kenilworth illustrated." Chiswick, 4to. 1821.