from whom she resumed it on his attainder 1582, on a charge of favouring Popery. The Citizens of Norwich outbustled all the rest, brushed up their streets, new polished their houses, removed their dunghills, new gravelled their roads; and not the smallest minutiæ were left unattended to, or unrecorded 1. Elizabeth's Visit to London, Nov. 24, 1588, was of another kind. The Queen, attended by her Privy Council, Nobility, and other honourable persons, as well spiritual as temporal, in great numbers, the French Ambassador, and Judges, Heralds and trumpets, all on horseback, came in a chariot supported by four pillars, and drawn by two white horses, to St. Paul's Church, where, alighting at the West door, she fell on her knees, and audibly praised God for her own and the Nation's signal deliverance from the Spanish Armada; and after a Sermon suitable to the occasion, preached by Dr. Pearce, Bishop of Sarum, she exhorted the people, in a most Royal and Christian manner, to a due performance of the religious duty of thanksgiving; and after dining at the Bishop of London's Palace, she returned in the same order as she came by torch-light to Somerset-house. The romantic spirit of the Queen may be seen as well in her amours, as military atchievements. "Ambiri, coli ob formam, et amoribus, etiam inclinata jam ætate, videri voluit; de fabulosis insulis per illam relaxationem renovatâ quasi memoriâ in quibus equites ac strenui homines errabant, et amores, fœditate omni prohibitâ, generosè per virtutem exercebant 2." The observation of the great Historian is confirmed by Osborne, who, speaking of a contrivance of the Cecil party to ruin the Earl of Essex, by giving him a rival in the good graces of the Queen, observes" But the whole result concluding in a duel, did rather inflame than abate the former account she made of him: the opinion of a Champion being more splendid (in the weak and romantic sense of women, that admit of nothing fit to be made the object of a quarrel but themselves), and far above that of a Captain or General. So as Sir Edmund Carey, brother to Lord Hunsdon, then Chamberlain and near kinsman to the Queen, told me, that, though she chid them both, nothing pleased her better than a conceit she had, that her beauty was the subject of this quarrel, when, God knows, it grew from the stock of honour, of which then they were very tender 3." Much of the manners of the times may be learned from these Progresses. They give us a view into the interior of the noble families, display their state in house-keeping, and other articles, and set before our eyes their magnificent manBlomefield, I. 226. • Memoirs of Queen Elizabeth, p. 456. Thuani Hist. Vol. I sions long since gone to decay, or supplanted by others of the succeeding age. Houses that lodged the Queen of England and her Court are now scarcely fit for farms, or leveled with the ground, or rebuilt. Such were the seat of the Compton family at Mockings; of the Sadleirs at Standon; of the Great Burleigh at Theobalds; of the Earl of Leicester at Kenilworth; of the Bishop of Ely at Somersham; Sir Thomas Cook's at Gidea Hall; Sir Thomas Mildemay's at Moulsham; Lord Rich's at Leighs; Sir Thomas Waldegrave's at Smallbridge; Mr. Tuke's at Layer Marney. The Royal Palaces are almost all gone'. No wonder, therefore, that we are able to present our Readers with so few Views of Buildings. The Marquis of Winchester was nearly ruined by the last Royal Visit at Basing 2; We have in these Volumes preserved descriptions of many of them; particularly of Dartford, Greenwich, Hampton Court, Havering, St. James's, Nonsuch, Richmond, Woodstock, and Windsor. "Sir William Paulet, Knight, created Baron St. John of Basing by King Henry VIII. and Earl of Wiltshire and Marquis of Winchester by King Edward VI. was thirty years Treasurer to the lastmentioned Monarch, to Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth. He rebuilt the Castle at Basing in a magnificent and even princely style, so much so indeed, that Camden, in allusion to the vast expence of living entailed on his family by its splendour, observes, that " it was so overpowered by its own weight, that his posterity have been forced to pull down a part of it." Here King Edward the Sixth was entertained by the Marquis of Winchester, with his retinue, for four days. King Philip and Queen Mary, whom the Marquis had accompanied to Winchester, after their marriage, were also entertained here for five days. Here also, in the year 1560, he entertained Queen Elizabeth with "all good chear," and so much to her satisfaction, that she playfully lamented his great age; "for, by my troth," said the delighted Sovereign," if my Lord Treasurer were but a young man, I could find in my heart to have him for a husband, before any man in England;" see vol. I. p. 87. She honoured the old Marquis with another Visit in 1569; see p. 258. This Nobleman died in 1572, at the age of ninety-seven, having lived to see 113 of his own immediate descendants; he was buried in Basing church. William, his great-grandson, and fourth Marquis of Winchester, had likewise, in the year 1601, the honour of having Queen Elizabeth for a guest, and that for a period of "thirteen days to the greate chardge of the sayde Lorde Marquesse." During her residence here, the Duke of Biron, accompanied by about twenty of the French nobility, and a retinue of nearly 400 persons, were lodged at The Vyne, the seat of Lord Sandys, which house had been purposely furnished with hangings and plate from the Tower, and Hampton Court, "and with sevenscore beds and furniture, which the wiling and obedient people of Southampton, upon two dayes warning, had brought in thither to lend the Queene." When Queen Elizabeth departed from Basing, she affirmed, that " she had done that in Hampshire, that none of her ancestors ever did, neither that any Prince in Christendome could doe: that was, she had in her Progresses at her subjects' houses, entertained a Royal Ambassador, and had royally entertained him." This Marquis died in 1628, at Hawkwood, now Hackwood, the present seat of his descendants."—" Aimez Loyaulté. The History of Basing House in Hampshire; containing an interesting Account of the Siege it sustained during the Civil War; with Notices of distinguished Persons concerned in its Transactions." the Lord Berkeley not a little embarrassed by the expence of attending at Ivy Bridge on the Noblemen from France; and Dr. Julius Cæsar by the frequent Visits of the Queen at Mitcham 2. Notwithstanding her many great and amiable qualities, in how indecent a manner her character was abused, appears from a curious manuscript paper in the British Museum, intituled, " A Relation how one Cleber, 1556, proclaimed the Lady Elizabeth Quene, and her beloved bedfellow, Lorde Edwarde Courtenaye, Kynge." And, if we were to credit a modern Writer, Gregorio Leti, this great Queen must be thought one of the most licentious of women, by the letters he dictates between her and the Earl of Devonshire; and when he makes her confess to the Ladies about her, that she had not loved the Earl of Arundel, but for motives of Religion; nor the Earl of Leicester, but on account of the obligations she owed him; nor the Earl of Somerset, but on principles of policy, and to be better served by a number of Favourites, making use of their reciprocal jealousies to attach them all the more firmly to her service; but that she had never truly loved any except the Earls of Devonshire and Essex 3." Leti, however, was a scandalous Novelist, and not a faithful Historian. In another place he speaks of her in this manner: "I don't know whether she were as chast as they say; for, after all, she was a Queen, handsome, young, and full of spirit; she loved the pomp of dress, diversions, balls, and pleasures; and to have for her favourites the best made men in the kingdom: this is all I can say about the matter 4." But all this will appear to be scandal 5 only, when we reflect on her conduct to those for whom she may be supposed to have had a particular passion, or even dotage. Early in her Reign she recommended Lord Robert Dudley (whom she created Earl of Leicester for the purpose) to be husband to Mary Queen of Scots; and this recommendation, by appointing a solemn commission to transact it, at the head of which was the Earl of Bedford, she carried farther than any laws of dis 'See vol. II. p. 343. * See vol. III. p. 428. The particulars of the expence of the Entertainment at Gorhambury in 1577 are given in vol. II. p. 55; and at Kertlinge in 1578, in the same volume, p. 236. 6 History of Queen Elizabeth, first and third books of the second Part. • D'Elizabeth, French translation, lib. v. tom. II. pp. 513, 514. 5 See, in this volume, p. 25. Queen Elizabeth told Sir James Melvil that " it appeared he made but small account of my Lord Robert Dudley, seeing that he named the Earl of Bedford before him; but said that ere long she would make him a far greater Earl, and that I should see it done before my returning home. For simulation would permit, however consummate a mistress she may be allowed to have been in them. Nor would she ever permit either him or the Earl of Essex to presume too much on her favour to them; but severely reproved them for it. And although the Earl of Leicester might have once vainly flattered himself with the hopes of attaining the honour of marrying her1; yet she, who had refused a Brother of an Emperor of Germany 2, and a Son and a Brother of Kings of France 3, can never be imagined to have been willing to put it in the power of one of her own subjects to have the least superiority over her; she, who would not suffer Sir Philip Sidney to be elected King of Poland*; nor the Earl of Leicester to be appointed, in 1586, Governor and Captain General of the United Provinces 5. Besides, it must be granted, that the marrying another, which was done by both these Earls 6, is a very bad compliment paid by a lover to any lady. As human nature, however, is never perfect, even in its most exalted state, it is not surprising that this Queen partook of its foibles; some of which have been noticed by authors of our country, as well as by foreign writers. Her Majesty's Jewelry and Wardrobe may be judged of from the List of costly New-year's Gifts, presented to her by her subjects of every rank, individuals as well as corporations; of which, as far as were delivered into the Jewel-office, an account for 23 years (1571-1594) will be found printed in their respective periods. she esteemed him as her Brother and best friend, whom she would have herself married, had she ever minded to have taken a husband. But being determined to end her life in virginity, she wished that the Queen her Sister might marry him." Melvil's Memoirs, p. 93. 'When Asteley, one of the Queen's Bedchamber, covertly commended Leicester unto her for a husband, she answered in a passion: "Dost thou think me so unlike myself, and so unmindful of my Royal Majesty, that I would prefer my servant, who I myself have raised, before the greatest Princes of Christendom, in my choosing of an husband," Camden's Elizabeth, p. 461. * The Archduke of Austria Charles, brother of the Emperor Maximilian II. The Dukes of Anjou and Alançon, sons of Henry II. The Duke of Anjou was afterwards Henry III. King of France, and the Duke of Alençon was also the brother of Francis II. and Charles IX. Fragmenta Regalia, by Sir Robert Naunton, p. 18, who yet says, that "she refused to further his advancement, not out of emulation, but out of fear to lose the jewell of her times." 5 Camden, p. 511. • The Earl of Leicester, sometime after the death of his first wife, married Lady Douglasse, daughter to William Lord Howard of Effingham, and widow to Lord Sheffield; and during her life he also married, in 1576, Lettice, daughter to Sir Francis Knolls, and widow to Walter Earl of Essex. Dugdale's Warwickshire, p. 166.—The Earl of Essex married, about 1587, the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham, and widow of Sir Philip Sidney. "The Office of the Keeper of the Queen's Majesty's Purse," extending through many years, in vol. I. p. 264; and a particular Inventory of her Wardrobe in 1600 1. The New-year's Gifts regularly presented were immense; and in each year an exact Inventory was made, on a Roll signed by the Queen, and attested by the proper Officers. Five of these Rolls are preserved at full length in these Volumes: the earliest in 1561-2; the latest in 1599-1600. ' In Harl. MSS. 1419, fol. 58, is an Inventory of Henry the Eighth's furniture. • From a similar Roll, in the reign of Philip and Mary, 1556-7, some of the principal articles are here extracted.-The Lord Cardinal Pole gave a saulte, with a cover of silver and gilt, having a stone therein much enameled, of the story of Job; and received a pair of gilt pots, weighing 1433 ounces. The Queen's Sister, the Lady Elizabeth her Grace, gave the fore part of a kyrtell, and a pair of sleeves of cloth of silver, richly embraudered all over with Venice silver, and rayzed with silver and black silk; and received three gilt bowls, weighing 132 ounces. The Lady Greye of the Moate gave a sacrament cloth, fringed and tasseled richly with gold and pearl; the Duke of Norfolk, a cup of christall with two ears, garnished with silver and gilt, weighing 35 ounces; the Earl of Sussex, a gilt cup, with a cover; the Lady Yorke, divers frutes, six sugar-loaves, six tapnetts of figs, four barrels of sucketts and oringe-water, &c.; the Lady Dyer, a corporas case, of crymson sattyn embrauderid; Sir Leonard Chamberlen, four pair of hoosen of Garnsey making; Mr. Browne, hoseyere, three pair of hosen; Sir Henry Neuell, a lute in a case, covered with black silk and gold, with two little round black tables, the one of the phisnamy of the Emperor and the King's Majesty, the other of the King of Bohemia and his wife; Browne, instrument maker, a fair lute, edged with passamayne of gold and silk; Sir John Mason, a Map of England, stayned upon cloth of silver in a frame of wood, having a drawing cover, painted with the King and Queen's arms, and a book of Spanish, covered with black vellat. Of the Queen's Chaplains, Dr. Westone, Dean of Windsor, gave £10.; Peter Vann, Dean of Salisbury, 40 pistoletts; Rycardes, Clerk of the Closet, a superaltary of black stone, garnished with silver and gilt; Parson Lewyn, a table, with the Passion, embrauderid; Knight, a Book of Prayers, covered with crimson and vellat; Dr. Mallet, junior, a faire Salter, covered with purple vellat, and £5 (in angells) in a red purse; Baker, Confessor, four pair of gloves; Mrs. Leryna Terling gave a small picture of the Trynite; Mrs. Stanton eight Turquey hens; Mrs. Brydemay, a holy-water sprinkell, of silver and gilt; Mrs. Preston, a fat goose and a capon; Mrs. Reymounde, two swans and capons; Henry Mynk's wife, pomegranettes, oringes, lemans, and a table with the King's picture in it; Gent, two gynny cocks scalded; Avys Byllyard, small marchpanes, oringes, and a basket of French pypins; Henry Mylles, grosser, a bottell of roose water, a lof of suger, sinamon, gynger, and nutmegges, in papers; John Soda, six boxes of marmalade and cordiall; Boddye, Clerk of the Green Cloth, a pot of green gynger and syanmon; Maister Cordall, solister, two portagues, £7.; Dr. Owen, Dr. Wendy, and Dr. Hughes, each, two pots of conservas; Mychael Wentworth, two fat oxen; Shefelde, Keeper of Grenewich-house, six pomegranetts; Bouet, Gardener of Richmonde, a dish of peeches and a basket of apples; Nicholas Luzer, a table painted with the Maundy; Mr. Babington, a book in French, covered with green vellat, written how a King should chuse his Counsale; John Cawodde, Printer, a book in Latin, "Vita Christi," and a little book of "An Exhortation to young Men; Reynold Wolf, |