The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-02


There IL 10 doubt that young man calllnf
himself Arthur Dudley did appear In SPAR
and tell the story summarized In the bool
before us. SO much may be averred, moi
only on the strength Of Mr.. Hume's tran
scription OF original Spanish documents
but also on other evidence. In the eight
/ volume OF the Venetian Calendar Ia q letter
from the Venetian Ambassador at Madrid
dated April IA. 1887. giving the news OF
Dudley's apprehension at Fuenterrabia or
the French frontier, and saying that King
Philip ii. was very doubtful whether IL
! keep him prisoner or let him go. later
| letter from the came Ambassador conveyed
the information that Dudley had been sent
! to the Castle Of Lameda and WAS believed
to be spy, Then darkness falls upon
! him and we hear OF him no more.
! The story al Mr.. Hume recites It may
be summed up as follows: In 1887 young
Englishman in the garb OF a pilgrim was
arrested at Fuenterrabia. In the north Of
Spain, on suspicion of being a spy, 1t was
at the period when the great Armada was
In active preparation, and the presence OF
an undomiciled Englishman in Spain was
naturally looked upon as a grave matter.
for examination and there confronted
with King Philips English secretary. Sir
Francis Englefeld. To him the young man
told. verbally at first and afterward reduced
to writing in the Dominican Monastery
Of the Atocha, an extraordinary story
which Sir Francis at first was somewhat
inclined to believe. His name, the young
man said. was Arthur Dudley, and he was,
he alleged, son OF Queen Elizabeth and
the Earl Of Leicester. His story was care
fully constructed and he evidently knew
many Of the personages about the court
He had been brought up, he asserted, in
his childhood by one Robert Sothern,
a dependent Of the Queens closest con-
fdant and former governess, Mrs Ashley.
to whom W have referred above.
Sothern had been summoned to Hampton
Court by his mistress, and was ordered by
Lady Harrington a relative Of the Queen,
to procure a nurse "for the newborn child
OF lady who had been careless of her
honor" The next morning the babe was
handed to Sothern in corridor leading to
the Queens apartments. Thenceforward
the child was brought up, at first in the
country and afterward in London. being
cared for and clothed much better than
Sothern's own children. When the child
had reached the age of years. Mr.. Ashley.
who was keeper of the royal domain of
Enfield Chase. made Sothern his deputy
there and at Enfield the young Arthur
Dudley had henceforth passed the sum
mers, be ing there instructed in all the
accomplishments expected in gentlemen of
birth. He represented himself as stealing
at the age of fifteen handful Of silver from
Sothern and running away to see strange
lands. While waiting at Milford Haven
for a ship to take him abroad he was the
guest Of the Hon. George DerereuN. the
uncle Of the Earl Of Essex, and during his
stay there a horse messenger came in hot
haste from London with letter signed by
seven members Of the Privy Council order
ing his immediate return to London. He
WAS thereupon carried before the local
Justices of the Peace. whom he named
and conveyed under their order to Pickering
House in London. satisfied. he says, by
this time that he was really a much more
important parsonage than the son Of Robert
Sothern. He was gravely taken to task
for his escapade by John Ashley, Sir Henry
Wotton and Sir Thomas Henage, who told
him that Mr. Ashley had paid for his edu-
cation and had authority over him, Some
time afterward. he says, Mr., Ashley, find
ing that his determination to go abroad
was irresistible sent him in charge OF
dependent OF the Earl of Leicester to join
Gen. La Noue. the famous Huguenot leader,
then serving in the Netherlands against the
Spaniards.
This was early in the spring Of 1880. La
Noue was taken prisoner shortly after
hon IN Fra n
where he stayed until his money was all
spent, upon which ne returned to England
for fresh supply. After another stay in
France he was again recalled home at the
end Of 1888 by Robert Sothern, who told
him that his immediate return would lie
advantageous to him He found Sothern
paralyzed and apparently mortally i'll
~ Evesham. where he kept ali inn; and,
after much hesitation on the one side and
entreaty and threats on the other, Dudley
learned from Sothern that he was the son
of the Queen bv Leicester Seeking Mr..
Ashley, who was with Sir Drue Drury in
London, Dudley taxed him with knoTl-
edge Of his parentage, and the alarm ex-
pressed by his hearers being very great,
the mysterious young man represents HIM
self as at once flying to France. There he
seems to have consorted with English
Jesuits and other disafected persons-not
a very probable thing for man Of his
anteoedents- and after apparently en-
deavoring, but without success, to extort
funds from Ashley by letter. and from
Sir Edward Stafford, the English Am
bassador in France, personally, he returned
to England 1t would seem that the osten-
tatious mystery OF his demeanor frightened
the shipmaster who brought him over,
for he was told that he would be denounced
to the Justices OF the Peace on his arrival
at Graveeend, He begged that instead
OF this the skipper would take 'etter
from him to the Earl Of Leicester. This
he did, and Leicester is described as re-
ceiving the missive gracously. The next
day, az the vessel passed Greenwich, two
OF the Earl's gentlemen, one OF them his
eauerry. Bount. came on board to attend
Dudley, and on their arrival at Ratcliff
Mr.. Fluid, the ! arl's secretary, was In
waiting to conduct him to the presence
Of his alleged father at Greenwich. We
quote freq Mr.. Humes version Of the
Simancas archives an account Of what
followed:
-The Earl was In the garden with the
Farls of Derby and Shrewsbury, and, on