Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-06-19

Chapter I.

Snnptcr Il.
That the untimely death at the age Of ff-
ty-eisht of that great prince. Charles. Duke
of Shrewsbury, my most noble and generous
patron, has afflicted me with a sorrow
which 1 may truly call acerbus ct ingens,
Is nothing to the world: which from one in
my situation could expect no other, and on
the briefest relation of the benefits 1 had
at his hands. might look for more. Were
this all. therefore or my task confined to
such relation, 1 should supererogate in
deed in making this appearance. But / am
Informed that my lord dukes death has re-
Fived in certain quarters those rumors to
his prejudice which were so industriously
put about at the time of his first retire
ment, and which, refuted as they were at
the time by the express declaration of his
sovereign, and at leisure by his own be-
havior, and the support which at two great
crises he gave to the Protestant success
sion, formed always a proof of the malice
as now of the persistence, of his enemies.
Still, such as they are, and though not
these circumstances only. but a thousand
others, have time after time exposed them,
/ am instructed that they are again afioat
and find favor in circles where to think i'll
of public men Is held the first test of ex-
per!ence. And this being the case, and my
affection for my lord such as is natural, 1
perceive clear duty. do not, indeed sup
= pose that any one can at this time of Gay
effect that which the sense of all good men
failed to effect while he Hved-I mean the
final killing of these ruynors; nor is plain
tale likely to persuade those with whom
idle reports. constantly furnished up, of
letters seen in France weigh more than
consistent life. But my lords case is now,
as take it, removed to the appeal court of
posterity, which nevertheless a lie, con-
stantly iterated may misiead. To provide
somewhat to correct this, and wherefrom
Il ,I,1
him well and was deep in his confidence
and business at the time of Sir John Fen
wicks conspiracy-of which these calum-
MES We're always compact-propose to set
down my evidence here; shrinking from no
fullness, at times even venturing on pro-
hxity, and always remembering saying of
Lord Somers, that the most material part
of testimony is often that in which the
witness values himself least. To adventure
on this fullness, which in the case of many,
and perhaps the bulk of writers, might
issue in the surfeit of their readers, 1 feel
myself embofdened by the possession of
brief and concise manner of writing, which,
acquired in the first place in the circum-
stances presently to appear, was later i'm
proved by constant practice in the compo-
Sition of my lords papers.
And here some Will expect me to proceed
at once to the events of the year 1886, in
which Sir John suffered, or at least 1876.
But softly, and little. if you please, above;
inaSmuch as the particulars which enabled
my lords enemies to place a sinister inter-
probation on his conduct in those years
had somewhat to do with me. Therefore,
before 1 can clear the matter up from every
point of view, 1 am first TO say who / am,
and how / came to fall in the way of that
great man. and gain his appreciation, with
other preliminary matters relating to my
self. whereof some do not please at this
distance, and yet must be set down, II
with wry face.
of which 1 am glad to say, the worst
comes first, or at least early. And with
hot IL 49,
in all that follows 1 am no one, and the
tale is my lords, 1 shall deal very sue
cincty with my own concerns and chanc-
ings, and where l must state them for
clearness of narrative will do SO currente
calamo, as the ancients were wont to
say and so forthwith to those more i'm
portant matters with which my readers de-
sire TO be made acquainted.
Suffice II. then. that / was born near
Bishops Stortford, on the borders Of Hert-
fordshire, in that year SO truly called the
Annus Mirabilis 1866, my father, a small
yeoman, my mother of no better Stock
she being the daughter of a poor parson in
that neighborhood- In such a station she
was net likely to boast much learning, yet
she c. uld read and having served two
years in a great mans still room, had ac-
quired notions of gentility that went as Ill
with her station as they were little calcu-
lated to increase her contentment. Our
house lay not far from the high road be-
tween Ware and Bishops Stortford, which
furnished US with frequent opportunities
of viewing the king and court, who were
In the habit of passing that way two or
three times in the year to Newmarket to
see the horse races On these occasions We
crowded with our neighbors to the side
OF the road, and gaped On the pageant.
which lacked no show OF ladies, both mask
ed and unmarked. and gentlemen in all
kinds OF frlppeTles, and mettlesome horses
that hit the taste of some among US better
than either. Ny mother was ever the fore
most and the most ready on these excur-
s.ons: yet IL was not long before / learned
to beware Of her hand for days after, and
expect none but gloomy looks and fretful
answers, while my father dared no more
spell duty for as much as week than
refuse the kings taxes.
Nevertheless, and whatever she was as
wife-and ii is true she could ding my
fathers ears. and, fer as handsome as she
was, there were times when he would have
been happier with a palmer woman-I am
far from saying that she was a bad moth
er. Indeed, she was kind, IL tickle and
passionate one, wiser at large and in in
tention, than in practice and in small mat
tiers. Yet if for one thing only-and putting
aside natural affection, in which trust
am not defcient-she deserved to be named
by me with undying gratitude For hav-
ing learned to read, but never to write, be-
yond: that is. the trife of her maiden
name. she valued scholarship both by that
she had. and that she had not, and In the
year after 1 was breeched, prevailed on my
father, who for his part, good man, never
advanced beyond the neck verse,:o bind me
70 the ancient grammar school at Bishops
Stortford, then kept by Mrs. c..
believe that there were some who
thought this much beyond our preten-
sions our small farm fell below the
homestead Of a man of substance, and for
certain, the first lesson / learned at that
school was to behave myself lowiy and rev.
erently to all my betters, being trounced on
arrival by three sq:iire's sons, and afterward,
in due order and graduation. by all who had
or affected gentIity- To balance this