to the true interest of his country, being above corruption from, or dependence upon, any foreign courts; which renders it not at all surprising, that he should be abused by them all in their turns; as his attention to all the motions of the popish faction made him equally odious to them. He fully understood the English constitution, and the just limits of the prerogative; and prevented the fatal consequences which might have arisen from the frequent disputes between king James the first and his parliaments. In short, he was as good a minister as that prince would suffer him to be, and as was consistent with his own security in a factious and corrupt court; and he was even negligent of his personal safety, whenever the interest of the public was at stake 5. He has been thought too severe and vindictive in the treatment of his rivals and enemies but the part which he acted towards the earl of Essex seems entirely the result of his duty to his mistress and the nation. It must however be confessed, that his behaviour towards the great but unfortunate sir Walter Raleigh, is an imputation upon him, which still remains to be cleared up: and it probably may be done from the ample materials of his administration in the Hatfield library, which, with those of his illustrious father, are a treasure which the public has reason to regret should be longer confined there"."

" He stands charged, however, by Dr. Robertson, with having defeated the proposal for obtaining a capitulation or charter of liberties, on the accession of James the first. Hist. of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 246.

• Historical View of the Negotiations between the Courts

Dr. Birch, in his Historical View, has published Cecil's dispatches relative to his embassy in France; and in his Memoirs of Queen Elizabeth has given a number of this minister's letters, written on different occasions. Thirteen others may be seen in his Life of Prince Henry; and as many in the Secret Correspondence of Sir Robert Cecil with King James, published by sir D. Dalrymple, though written from lord Northampton, proceeded (it would seem) from Cecil. One occurs in Murdin's Collection of State Papers; several are in the British Museum, and still more are likely to be preserved in the library at Hatfield-house, a judicious

of England, France, and Brussels, from 1592 to 1617, P. 349, Davies of Hereford thus panegyrised this "councellor of councellors" as the rudder of the state:

"Achilles to his friend Patrocles had;
Æneas, his Achates; Philip's sonné
Had his Hephestion; and Darius made
Zopirus, sterne of his dominion:

Scipio had Lælius; but the best of them

Steeded much lesse then thou their king and realme.”

Scourge of Folly, p. 185.

Ben Jonson has a similar tribute to Robert earl of Salisbury, which is not uncharacteristic of the poet's self-importance: ""Tofore, great men were glad of poets; now

I, not the worst, am covetous of thee,

Yet dare not to my thought least hope allow
Of adding to thy fame: thine may to me,
When in my book men read but CECIL's name;
And what I write thereof find far, and free
From servile flattery (common poets' shame),
As thou stand'st clear of the necessity."

Epigrams, lib. 1. ep. xliii.

selection from which could not fail of being entertaining and useful to the public, as Dr. Kippis has intimated in the Biographia". It is not improbable, indeed, that the earl might be enabled to figure in some future edition of this work as a poet; since the following extract clearly shows that he had been a composer of love-verses. It occurs in a letter from William Browne to the earl of Shrewsbury, dated September 18, 16028.

"I send your lordship here inclosed some verses compounded by Mr. Secretary, who gott Hales to frame a ditty unto itt. The occasion was, as I hear, that the young lady of Darby wearing about her neck, in her bosom, a picture which was in a dainty tablet; the queen, espying itt, asked what fyne jewell that was? The lady Darby was curious to excuse the shewing of itt; butt the queen wold have itt; and opening itt, and fynding itt to be Mr. Secretarye's, snatcht itt away, and tyed itt uppon her shoe, and walked long with itt there; then she tooke itt thence, and pinned itt on her elbow, and wore itt some tyme there also: which Mr. Secretary being told of, made these verses, and had Hales to sing them in her chamber. It was told her majesty that Mr. Secretary had rare musick and songs. She would needes hear them and so this ditty was soung which you see first

7 Vol. iii. p. 412.

8 Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 146.

Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward earl of Oxford, and wife of William earl of Darby. Chalmers' Apology, p. 38.

written. More verses there be lykewyse, whereof som, or all, were lykewyse soung. I do boldly send these things to your lordship, which I wold not do to any els, for I heare they are very secrett. Some of the verses argew that he repynes not, thoghe her majesty please to grace others; and contents himself with the favour he hath."

In Harl. MS. 1875, is the copy of a long letter from lord Salisbury to sir Charles Cornwallis, which affords an interesting extract, as it differs from most of our historians, in ascribing the discovery of the gunpowder lot to the ministry more than to the king.

"Sir Charles Cornwallis, It hath pleased God out of his singular goodnes, to bring to light the most cruell and detestable practise against the person of his majestie and the whole state of his realme that ever was conceived by the hart of man, at any tyme or in any place whatsoever. The plott beinge to take away at one instant, the king, queene, prince, nobilitie, cleargie, judges, and the principall gentlemen of this realme, as they should have bene altogether assembled at the parliament howse in Westminster, the fifth of November, beinge Tuesday.

"About eight dayes before the parliament should have ben begunne, the lord Mounteagle received a lettre about six a clock at night, which was delivered his footeman in the dark, to geve him, without name or date, and in a hand disguised (whereof I send you a coppie), the rather to make you perceave to what a streight I was driven, assoone as he imparted the same unto me, how to governe myself, considering the

contents and phrase of that letter. For when I observed the generality of the advertisement, and the stile, I could not well distinguish whether it were frenzie or sport: for from any serious ground I could hardlie be induced to beleeve that it proceeded, from many reasons.

"First, because noe wise man could thinke my lord to be soe weake as to take any alarum to absent himself from parliament, upon such a loose advertisement.

"Secondly, I considered that if any such thing were really intended, that it was very improbable that onelie one nobleman should be warned and none other.

"Nevertheless, being loath to trust my owne judment alone, being alwayes inclyned to doe too much in such a case as this is, I imparted the lettre to the earle of Suffolk lord chamberlaine, to the end I might receave his opinion. Whereupon, perusinge the wordes of the lettre, and observinge the writeing, that the blowe should come without knowledge whoe had hurte them;' wee both conceived that it could not bee more proper than the tyme of parliament, nor by any other way like to be attempted, then with powder, whilst the king was sittinge in the assembly. Of which the lord chamblaine [conceived] the more probability, because there was a greate vault under the said chamber, which was never used for any thing but for some wood and cole, belonginge to the keeper of the old palace.

"In which consideration, after wee had imparted the same to the lord admirall, the earle of Worcester, and the earle of Northampton, and some others; wee all thought fitt to forbeare to impart it to the king,