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March 24th
Born: Mahomet II, 1430, Adrianople; Henry Benedict,
Cardinal York, 1725, Rome.
Died: Haroun-al-Raschid, twenty-fifth Caliph, 809;
Pope Nicholas V, 1455; Elizabeth, Queen of England, 1603, Sheen (Richmond); Dr.
Daniel Whitby, celebrated divine, 1726, Salisbury; Philip, Earl of Chesterfield,
author of the celebrated Letters,
1773, Chesterfield House, May Fair; John Harrison, maker of 'The Longitude
Watch,' 1776, Red Lion-square, London; Mrs. Mary Tighe, classic poetess, 1810,
Woodstock, Ireland; Bertel Thorvaldsen, Danish sculptor, 1844; Rev. Thomas
Gisborne, miscellaneous writer, 1846.
Feast Day: St. Irenssus, Bishop of Sirmium, martyr,
304. St. William, martyr at Norwich (aged eleven years), 1137. St. Simon (an
infant), martyr at Trent, 1472.
MAUDY THURSDAY
The day before Good Friday has been marked from an early age
of the church by acts of humility, in imitation of that of Christ in washing the
feet of his disciples on the eve of his passion. Ecclesiastics small and great,
laymen of eminence, not excepting
sovereign princes, have thought it fitting, in the spirit of their religion, to
lay by personal dignity on this occasion, and condescend to the menial act of
washing the feet of paupers. It is in consequence of an associated not of
charity, the distribution of food in baskets, or
maundy, that the day has come to be distinguished in England as Maundy Thursday.
In Rome, however, and throughout Catholic Europe generally, the day is known as
Holy Thursday. Another popular old name of the day in England is Shere Thursday,
from the custom of shearing the hair
which the priesthood used to observe.
The observance of Maundy Thursday among the religious of old
is duly described by Neogeorgus in his Popish Kingdom, as thus translated
by Googe:
'And here the monks their maundies make with sundry solemn
rites,
And signs of great humility, and wondrous pleasant sights.
Each one the other's feet cloth wash, and wipe thorn clean and dry,
With hateful mind and secret fraud, that in their hearts doth lie;
As if that Christ with his examples did these things require,
And not to help our brethren here with zeal and free desire;
Each one supplying other's want, in all things that they may,
As he himself a servant made, to serve us every way.
Then straight the loaves do walk, and pots in every place they skink,
Wherewith the holy fathers oft to pleasant damsels drink.'
Cardinal
Wolsey, at Peterborough Abbey, in 1530, 'made his maund in our
lady's chapel, having fifty-nine poor men whose feet he washed and kissed; and
after he had wiped them, he gave every of the said
poor men twelve pence in money, three ells of good canvas to make them shirts, a
pair of new shoes, a cast of red herrings, and three white herrings; and one of
these had two shillings '�the number of the poor men being probably in
correspondence with the years of his age. About
the same period, the Earl of Northumberland, on Maundy Thursday, gave to each of
as many poor men as he was years old, and one over, a gown with a hood, a linen
shirt, a platter with meat, an ashen cup filled with wine, and a leathern purse
containing as many pennies as he was
years old, and one over; besides miscellaneous gifts to be distributed in like
manner in name of his lady and his sons.
The king of England was formerly accustomed on Maundy
Thursday to have brought before him as many poor men as he was years old, whose
feet he washed with his own hands, after which his majesty's maunds, consisting
of meat, clothes, and money, were
distributed amongst them. Queen Elizabeth, when in her thirty-ninth year,
performed this ceremony at her palace of Greenwich, on which occasion she was
attended by thirty-nine ladies and gentlewomen. Thirty-nine poor persons being
assembled, their feet were first washed by the
yeomen of the laundry with warm water and sweet herbs, afterwards by the
sub-almoner, and finally by the queen herself, kneeling; these various persons,
the yeomen, the sub-almoner, and the queen, after washing each foot, marked it
with the sign of the cross above the toes, and
then kissed it. Clothes, victuals, and money were then distributed. This strange
ceremonial, in which the highest was for a moment brought beneath the lowest,
was last performed in its full extent by James II.
King William left the washing to his almoner; and such was
the arrangement for many years afterwards. 'Thursday, April 15 [1731.], being
Maundy Thursday, there was distributed at the Banqueting House, Whitehall, to
forty-eight poor men and forty-eight poor
women (the king George II's age being forty-eight), boiled beef and shoulders of
mutton, and small bowls of ale, which is called dinner; after that large wooden
platters of fish and loaves, viz. undressed, one large old ling, and one large
dried cod; twelve red herrings and
twelve white herrings, and four half-quarter loaves. Each person had one platter
of this provision; after which were distributed to them shoes, stockings, linen
and woollen cloth, and leather bags, with one penny, two-penny, threepenny, and
fourpenny pieces of silver and
shillings; to each about four pounds in value. His Grace the Lord Archbishop of
York, Lord High Almoner, performed the annual ceremony of washing the feet of a
certain number of poor in the Royal Chapel, Whitehall, which was formerly done
by the kings themselves, in imitation of
our Saviour's pattern of humility.' For a considerable number of years, the
washing of the feet has been entirely given up; and since the beginning of the
reign of Queen Victoria, an additional sum of money has been given in lieu of
provisions. Some examples of the Maundy money
recently used by English royalty are here represented.
In Austria, the old rite of the Fusswaschung is still kept up
by the Emperor, under circumstances of great ceremony.
The ceremonies of
Holy Thursday at Rome call for being described in detail.
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Blessing the Oils: This ceremony takes place in St. Peter's
during mass, the cardinal arch-priest, or a bishop in his stead, officiating.
There are three varieties of the oil to be blessed. The first is the oil of
catechumens, used in blessing baptism,
in consecrating churches and altars, in ordaining priests, and in blessing and
crowning sovereigns. The second is the oil used in administering extreme
unction to the apparently dying. Third, the sacred chrism, composed of oil and
balm of Gilead or of the West Indies, and which
is used in confirmation, the consecration of bishops, patens, and chalices,
and in the blessing of bells. The Roman Pontifical prescribes, that besides
the bishop and the usual ministers, there should be present twelve priests,
seven deacons, and seven sub-deacons, all habited
in white vestments.
The bishop sits down before a table facing the altar, and exorcises and
blesses the oil for the sick, which is brought in by a sub-deacon. He then
proceeds with the mass, during which the balsam is brought in, and also the
oil for the chrism and that for the catechumens, by two
deacons. The bishop blesses the balsam and mixes it with some oil; he then
breathes three times in the form of a cross over the vessel of the chrism, as
do the twelve priests also. Next follows the blessing, and then the salutation
of the chrism; the latter is made three times,
by the bishop and each of the twelve priests in succession saying, ' Hail,
holy chrism,' after which they kiss the vessel which contains it. The oil of
catechumens is blessed and saluted in like manner; and with the remaining part
of the mass the rite terminates. Roman Catholic
writers adduce various authorities and traditions sanctioning these
ceremonies.
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Silencing the Bells: In the Sistine chapel, at the
performance of mass, after the Gloria in Excelsis is sung, no bells are
allowed to be rung in Rome, except at the Papal benediction, until the same
canticle is sung in the Papal chapel on the following
Saturday morning. In other words, all the bells in Rome are mute from about
half-past eleven on Thursday morning till the same time on Saturday. During
this period of two days, such is the force of the custom, that hand-bells,
usually employed in hotels to be rung for dinner,
are silent. So likewise bells rung for school remain mute. As a substitute for
bells, it is the practice to use a kind of wooden clappers, or troccola. These
are in the form of wooden boxes, with some interior mechanism turned by a
handle, so as to make a disagreeable
clattering noise. This species of troccole is said to have been used anciently
by the Greeks. The silencing of the bells�a signal comfort to the ears in some
parts of Rome�being prescribed in ancient rituals, is thus enforced as one of
the old customs of the church.
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Feet Washing at St. Peter's: The Pope, who officiates at
this and other ceremonies, is this day dressed very plainly, in white, with a
red cope, and a small white skull-cap; and instead of being carried he walks,
for the object of the usages in which he
is concerned is to typify the humility of Christ on the night of the Last
Supper. After mass at the Sistine chapel, his Holiness, about one o'clock,
proceeds to the balcony over the central door of St. Peter's, and there
pronounces his general benediction. As this is repeated
in grander style on Easter Sunday, there is usually no great concourse of
spectators.
Descending to the church, the Pope proceeds to the northern transept, which is
fitted up for the occasion. On the north is his chair of state; on the west
and ranged along the draped wall, embellished with a tapestry picture of the
Last Supper, is a bench or seat elevated on a
platform so as to be conspicuous. The other parts of the transept are fitted
with seats for distinguished persons, also for ladies who are suitably dressed
and provided with tickets. Just as the Pope is about to take his seat, there
enter from a side door thirteen bishops
dressed in high white caps and white garments. Twelve of these represent the
apostles, whose feet were washed by Christ, and the thirteenth represents an
angel, who, according to the legend, appeared to Gregory the Great (590-601),
while he was performing an act of charity to
poor persons.
These thirteen bishops, who are all habited alike, take their seats gravely on
the bench along the wall, and are the objects of general attention; for it is
their feet which the Pope is about to wash. After some singing and reading of
passages of Scripture, the Pope's cope is
taken off, an embroidered apron is put on, and a towel is fastened to his
waist by the assisting cardinal deacons; and then he washes and kisses the
right foot of each. of the thirteen priests. It is to be understood that the
washing is of the slightest possible kind. Little
time is occupied. The ceremony terminates by each receiving from the Pope a
towel and a nosegay, besides a gold and silver medal which are presented by
the treasurer. The Pope now washes his hands, is re-invested in his red cope,
and proceeds immediately to the next act of
humiliation.
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The Pope Serving at Supper: Conducted in procession from
the northern transept, the Pope walks across the nave of St. Peter's to a
stair which leads to a large apartment above the portico. Here a table is
laid, as for a regular meal, the recipients of
which are the thirteen priests who have just been honoured by having their
feet washed. He gives them water to wash their hands, helps them to soup and
other dishes, and pours out wine and water for them to drink. The plates are
handed to him by prelates. During the ceremony,
one of his chaplains reads prayers. He then blesses them, washes his hands,
and departs. The priests who are the objects of these attentions are selected
from different countries by the favour of diplomatic agents. Some of them,
however, are Italians, selected by officials on
the spot, the captain of the Pope's Swiss guard having the privilege of
appointing one.
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The Grand Penitentiary: Among the remarkable things in St.
Peter's, are the number of confessionals, in which are seated clergymen ready
to hear the confessions of those who apply to them, and who seem so many
religious sentinels at their posts. Still
more to accommodate applicants, the confessionals, as is seen by inscriptions
on them, are for the French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and. Greek,
as well as Italian languages. Besides this usual arrangement, the Grand
Cardinal Penitentiary sits in a confessional in
the afternoon of Holy Thursday to give absolution for mortal sins which are
beyond the sphere of ordinary confession, and which cannot other-wise be
absolved. This day, the altars of St. Peter's are all stripped, the hundred
lamps that usually burn round the tomb of St. Peter
are extinguished, and with the chanting of the Miserere a general gloom
prevails.
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Washing the Feet of Pilgrims: The ceremonies connected with
the so-called pilgrims, take place at the Trinit'a de' Pellegrini, an
establishment adapted for accommodating pilgrims and situated in one of the
populous parts of Rome. Poor persons are
admitted to the benefit of the charity, who have come to visit the holy places
from a greater distance than sixty miles, and who bring certificates from
their bishop. The ceremonies on the evening of Holy Thursday consist in
washing the feet of pilgrims of both sexes, the men
in one place, and the women in another.
To the female department ladies only are admitted as spectators. After the
feet-washing, each class is entertained at supper. The following account of
the affair is by an eye-witness in the present year:� 'I went to the
feet-washing of the male pilgrims about eight o'clock. On
entering a passage, I saw a tremendous crush at the further end, where there
was a door opening on a lower floor, in which the ceremony takes place. With
some little squeezing, I got through the doorway, down a few steps, and found
myself in a hot and close apartment, crowded
nearly to suffocation. Along one end and side was a bench to be used as a
seat, with a foot-board raised off the floor. A paling and guards kept back
the crowd. In half an hour, a troop of poor-looking people, very much
resembling the ragged beggars whom one sees in the streets
of Rome, entered by a side door, and ranging themselves along the bench,
proceeded to take off their shoes and stockings. Several priests now appear,
and one of them having read some prayers, they join the body of operators.
These are gentlemen and persons in business in Rome, who form a confraternity
devoted to this and other acts of charity. They are habited in a red jacket, a
little cravat, and apron, and sit chatting and laughing till the tubs with
warm water are brought in, and set, one before
each poor person. They now begin the operation of washing, the general remark
of the on-lookers being that to all appearance the feet had previously been
cleaned, so that the act of voluntary humiliation does not seem particularly
nauseous, nor does it last long. The priests
get their hands washed by having hot water poured on them, along with a
squeeze of lemon, and another prayer ends the ceremony, which, to say the
least of it, is not pleasing.
The pilgrims afterwards adjourn to a hall, where, at long tables, the same
operators wait upon them at supper. To my mind, the whole thing had a got-up
look, and one wonders how it should be perpetuated. Similar ceremonies take
place in the female department, where the
operators are ladies of distinction. These ceremonies are repeated on Friday
and Saturday evenings. The pilgrims arc lodged and otherwise entertained
during this period, and are dismissed with small money presents.'
At Rome, on the evening of this day, the shops of
sausage-makers, candle-makers, and pork-dealers are decorated and illuminated in
a fantastic way. The most prominent object in each is a picture of the Virgin
and Child, enshrined amidst flowers and
candles, as on a sort of altar. Festoons of flowers and evergreens are otherwise
stuck about, and there is a profusion of patches of divers colours on the pork,
candles, and other articles on the shelves: These grotesque illuminations draw
crowds of strangers and others to
witness them; the shops so lighted up doing apparently a little more business
than usual.
FACSIMILES OF
INEDITED AUTOGRAPHS QUEEN ELIZABETH
Elizabeth was born at Greenwich, September', 1533, and died
March 24th, 1602-3, in her seventieth year. This is one of her
earliest autographs, being the signature of a letter (Cott. MSS. Vesp. F. III.)
written in 1558, the year of her accession
to the throne. Her hand changed much for the worse in her latter years. The
present autograph is, however, slightly injured, in consequence of the edges of
the letter having been burnt away.
DEATH OF QUEEN
ELIZABETH
A variety of relations and reports of the circumstances of
the death of this great queen are current; but that which appears deserving of
most credit has been least noticed. It is found in the manuscript diary of a
contemporary, a barrister named Maningham,
which is preserved among the Harleian manuscripts in the British Museum (No.
5353).
Maningham was acquainted with men at court well situated to
give him correct information, especially with the queen's chaplain, Dr. Parry,
and, anxious to ascertain the real condition of the queen, he went to Richmond,
where the court was then established,
on the 23
rd
of March 1603. He has entered in considerable detail the
facts of this visit:
'March 23. I was at the court at Richmond to heare Dr.
Parry, one of her majesties chaplens, preache, and be assured whether the
queane were living or dead. I heard him, and was assured shee was then
living.' After the service, he dined with the
preacher, and gathered from him the following interesting information:
'I dyned with Dr. Parry in the privy chamber, and
understood by him, the Bishop of Chichester, the Deane of Canterbury, the
Deane of Windsore, &c., that her majestic hath bin by fits troubled with
melancholy some three or four moneths; but for this
fortnight extreame oppressed with it, in soe much that she refused to eate
anything, to receive any phisicke, or admit any rest in bedd, till within
these two or three dayes. Klee hath bin in a manner speachlesse for two dayes;
very pensive and silent since Shrovetides, sitting
some-tymes with her eye fixed upon one object many houses togither; yet she
alwayes had her perfect senses and memory, and yesterday signified by the
lifting up of her hand and eyes to heven, a signe which Dr. Parry entreated of
hir, that shee beleeved that fayth which she had
caused to be professed, and looked faythfully to be saved by Christ's merits
and mercy onely, and no other meanes. She tooke great delight in hearing
prayers, would often at the name of Jesus lift up hir hands and eyes to
heaven. She would not heare the archbishop speake of
hope of hir longer lyfe, but when he prayed, or spake of heaven and those
joyes, she would hug his hand, &c. It seems she might have lived yf she
would have used meanes, but shee would not be persuaded, and princes must not
be forced. Hir physicians sayd she had a body of a
firme and perfect constitution, likely to have lived many yeares. A royal
majesty is not privilege against death.'
Next day, Maningham was again at Richmond, probably he had
remained all night, and he added the following entry in his diary:
'March 24. This morning about three at clocke, her majestic
departed this lyfe, mildly like a lambe, easely like a ripe apple from the
tree; cum levi quadam febre, absque gemitu. Dr. Parry told me that he was
present, and sent his prayers before hir
Soule; and I doubt not but shoe is amongst the royall saints in heaven in
eternall joyes.'
It will be seen that our diarist makes no allusions to the
manner in which Elizabeth was rumoured to have signified her wish that James of
Scotland should be her successor on the English throne; but a few days later we
find the following curious entry:
'April 4. Dr Parry told me the Countess Kildare assured him
that the queane caused the ring wherewith shee was wedded to the crowne to be
cutt from hir finger some six weekes before hir death; but wore a ring which
the Earl of Essex gave hir unto the day
of hir death.'
THE OLD
MANOR-HOUSE AT STOKE POGIS, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
This venerable mansion was built, or begun to be built by George Hastings, first Earl of Huntingdon, who died
on the 24th of March 1544, and was buried in Stoke church. Like many
other manor-houses of the same, or of
an earlier period, that of Stoke was invested with considerable interest from
its association with persons who were remarkable in their generation, if not of
historic fame. This interest in Stoke manor-house has been preserved and
enhanced by Gray, who, in his amusing poem of 'A
Long Story,' has thus described it:
In Britain's isle, no matter where,
An ancient pile of building stands,
The Huutingdons and Hattons there
Employed the power of fairy hands
To raise the building's fretted height,
Each panel in achievement clothing,
Rich windows that exclude the light,
And passages that lead to nothing.
Full oft within the spacious walls,
When he had fifty winters o'er him,
My grave Lord Keeper led the brawls;
The seal and maces danced before him.
His bushy beard, and shoe-strings green,
His high-crowned hat, and satin doublet,
Moved the stout heart of England's Queen,
Though Pope and Spaniard could not trouble it.
This 'grave Lord Keeper' was Sir Christopher Hatton, who, it must be remarked,
was never the owner or occupier of this old mansion, although generally supposed
to have been so by topographers, and by commentators on Gray's
Poems. The old manor-house, indeed, was not completely finished till it came
into the possession of Henry, the third Earl of Iuntingdon, who, although it
might have been burdened by a mortgage, certainly retained possession of it till
his death.
One of his letters now in existence is dated at Stoke, on
13th December 1592, and among the payments after his funeral, occurs
this item:
'Charges about the vendition of my Lord's goods in the
county of Bucks, ₤8.'
This most
probably refers to the sale of his property at Stoke. Now Sir Christopher Hatton
died in November 1591, a year before the date of the Earl's letter from
Stoke, and four years before his death, which occurred in 1595. But we have more
conclusive evidence to the same effect. Sir Christopher has left numerous
letters from which his proceedings during the latter years of his life�the only
time in which he could have been at Stoke�may
be traced from month to month, almost from day to day, and not one of these
letters affords the slightest indication of his connection with Stoke. Nor is
such connexion noticed in any parish record at Stoke. The idea rests solely on
tradition, and can easily be accounted for.
On the death of the third Earl of Huntingdon, Sir Edward Coke, the great lawyer, purchased the manor and
resided at Stoke; and soon after, in 1598, married for his second wife, Lady
Hatton, widow of Sir
William Hatton, nephew and heir of the 'Lord Keeper.' This lady was
sufficiently conspicuous to stamp the name of Hatton on the traditions of Stoke.
She was a daughter of Lord Burleigh, and while priding herself on her 'gentle
blood,' was imperious, officious, and vindictive.
From her first husband she received a rich jointure, and retained his three
places of residence in her own hands. She also retained his name after her
marriage with Sir Edward Coke, who was old enough to have been her father, and
towards whom she always affected great contempt.
She stipulated that her marriage should be secretly performed in a private
house, late in the evening, and without banns or license. For this irregular
marriage the 'great oracle of the law,' his bride, her father Lord Burleigh, and
the officiating minister, were cited into the
ecclesiastical court.
Thus commenced 'the honeymoon of the happy pair.' Lady Hatton
next forbade her spouse to enter her house in Holborn except by a back door. For
many years the stern lawyer submitted to be henpecked in silence. At length he
was driven to have recourse to
law; for while he was professionally engaged in London, his faithful wife was at
Stoke dismantling his house. She collected all his plate, and other valuable
moveables, and carried them off to one of her own houses.
She is also supposed to have influenced Lord Bacon and others to
prejudice the King against him, by casting discredit on his official
proceedings. Certain it is that about this time he lost the King's favour;
was deprived of his office as Lord Chief Justice, and advised to 'live privately
at home, and take into consideration and review his book of Reports, wherein, as
his Majesty is informed, be many extravagant and exorbitant opinions set down
and published for positive and good
law.'
Poor Sir Edward!�' to live privately at home,' in a
dismantled house, with a sullied reputation, and his wife entertaining his
enemies with his property, and at the expense of his character. This was too
much to bear.
The lion was roused; and he who was such a stickler for the
law set the law at defiance, and, forcibly entering Lady Hatton's houses in
search of his property, not only carried off his own, but some of hers also.
This led to legal proceedings against each
other. Sir Edward accused his lady of having 'embezzled all his gilt and silver
plate and vessell, and instead thereof foisted in alkumy of the same
sorte, fashion, and use, with the illusion to have cheated him of the other.'
Lady Hatton, on her part, alleged that 'Sir Edward broke into
Hatton House, seased upon my coach and coach horses, nay, my apparel, which he
detains; thrast all my servants out of doors without wages, sent down his men to
Corfe Castle [another of her
ladyship's residences] to inventory, seize, ship, and carry away all the goods,
which being refused him by the castle-keeper, he threats to bring your
lordship's warrant for the performance thereof. Stop, then, his high tyrannical
courses; for I have suffered beyond the measure
of any wife, mother, nay, of any ordinary woman in this kingdom, without respect
to my father, my birth, my fortunes, with which I have so highly raised him.'
Judgment was given in favour of Lady Hatton; and a reconciliation took place,
for Sir Edward 'flattered himself she would
still prove a very good wife.'
In the following year these domestic broils took another
course. Sir Edward Coke and Lady Hatton had one child, a daughter, and when she
was about fourteen years old, her father negotiated for her marriage with Sir John Villiers,
brother of Buckingham, the King's favourite, hoping through this alliance to
regain the King's favour. The proposal was graciously received, and Sir Edward
was delighted with the prospect of success. It is true that his wife and
daughter, who were then residing with him at Stoke,
did not relish his scheme; but this did not much trouble him, as he considered
that his daughter, in such a case, was bound to obey her father's mandate.
Highly gratified with this prospect, he retired to rest, and enjoyed a quiet,
undisturbed slumber. But the first intelligence
of the morning was that Lady Hatton and her daughter had left Stoke at midnight,
and no one knew where they were gone. Here was a blow to his promising scheme.
Day after day passed, and yet he could learn no tidings of the fugitives. At
last he ascertained that they were
concealed at Oatlands, a house then rented by a cousin of Lady Hatton.
Without waiting for a warrant, Sir Edward, accompanied by a
dozen sturdy men, all well armed, hastened to Oatlands, and, after two hours'
resistance, took the house by assault and battery. This curious piece of family
warfare is admirably described by Lady
Hatton herself as 'Sir Edward Cook's most notorious riot, committed at my Lord
of Arguyl's house, when, without constable or warrant, associated with a dozen
fellows well weaponed, without cause being beforehand offered, to have what he
would, he took down the doors of the
gate-house and of the house itself, and tore the daughter in that barbarous
manner from the mother, and would not suffer the mother to come near her.'
Having thus gained possession of his daughter, he carried her
off to Stoke, locked her up in an upper chamber, and kept the key of the door in
his pocket. Lady Hatton made an attempt to recover her daughter by forcible
means; but to her astonishment, for
this attempt, and her other proceedings, her husband, now fortified by the
King's favour, succeeded in throwing her into prison. Thus with his wife
incarcerated in a public prison, and his daughter safely locked up in his own
house, the great lawyer, to use his own expression,
'had got upon his wings again,' and forced both his wife and daughter to promise
a legal consent to the marriage. Lady Hatton was even induced by the severities
of prison to write to the king and promise to settle her lands on her daughter
and Sir John Villiers.
Thus Sir Edward Coke effected his object. His daughter and
Sir John Villiers were married in 1617, at Hampton Court, in the presence of the
King and Queen and all the chief nobility of England. The bridal banquet was
most splendid, and a masque was
performed in the evening; but Lady Hatton was still in confinement. Shortly
afterwards she was liberated, and gave a magnificent entertainment at Hatton
House, which was honoured by the presence of the King and Queen, but Sir Edward
Coke and all his servants were peremptorily
excluded.
Two years afterwards Sir John Villiers was raised to the
peerage, as Viscount Purbeck and Baron Villiers of Stoke Pogis. But the sequel
of these family broils was melancholy. Lady Purbeck deserted her husband, and
lived with Sir
Robert Howard, which rapidly brought on her degradation, imprisonment, and
an early death. Lady Hatton pursued her husband with rancorous hatred, and
openly avowed her impatience for his death. A report of his death having one day
reached her, she immediately left London for
Stoke to take possession of his mansion, but on reaching Colnbrook, she met one
of his physicians, who informed her of his amendment. On hearing this she
returned to London in evident disappointment.
Sir Edward, in his solitary old age, must have viewed the
fruits of his own scheme with bitter compunction. When eighty years of age, we
are told, he 'felt himself alone on the earth, was suspected by his king,
deserted by his friends, and detested by his
wife.' His only domestic solace, during the last two years of his life, was the
company of his daughter, Lady Purbeck, who, much to her credit, left her
paramour to watch over the last hours of her aged father.
Three days before his death, being suspected of possessing
seditious writings, his peace was disturbed by Sir Francis Windebank, who came with an order of
Council to search his papers, and who carried off more than fifty
manuscripts, including his will, which were not returned to the family till
1641. Sir Edward Coke died on the 3rd of September 1634, in his
eighty-fourth year. Lady Purbeck then left Stoke, and soon after was imprisoned
in the Gatehouse at Lambeth.
Lady Hatton now took possession of the old manor-house, and
occasionally resided in it till her death in 1644. From her, who must have long
been the subject of local gossip, the name of Hatton might well be mixed up with
the traditions of Stoke; and Gray,
by poetic license, or from want of better information, applied it to the Lord
Keeper, who certainly never possessed the old manor-house, or 'led the brawls'
in it. It was, however, honoured by the presence of his royal mistress. Queen
Elizabeth, in 1601, paid a visit at Stoke to
Sir Edward Coke, who entertained her very sumptuously, and presented her on the
occasion with jewels worth from ten to twelve hundred pounds.
In 1647, the old manor-house was for some days the residence
of Charles I, when a prisoner in the custody of the parliamentary army. It would
have been visited by another of our monarchs had not its then owner refused to
admit him. This was
Sir Robert Gayer, who, by the bequest of his
brother, came into possession of the manor in 1657. At the coronation of Charles
II this eccentric gentleman was made a knight of the Bath, which so strengthened
his previous attachment to the House of
Stuart that he never would be reconciled to any other dynasty. Soon after
William III had ascended the throne, he visited Stoke, and signified his desire
to see the old manor-house. But the irascible old knight burst into a violent
rage, vehemently declaring that the king should
never come under his roof. 'He has already,' said he, 'got possession of another
man's house�he is an usurper�tell him to go back again!' Lady Gayer
expostulated; she entreated; she even fell on her knees, and besought her
husband to admit the king, who was then actually waiting
at the gate. All her efforts were useless. The obstinate knight only became more
furious, vociferating An English-man's house is his castle. I shall open and
close my door to whom I please. The king, I say, shall not come within these
walls!' So his majesty returned as he came,�a
stranger to the inside of the mansion, and the old knight gloried in his
triumph.
Thus the old manor-house at Stoke was possessed by some very
remarkable characters; it entertained one sovereign in all the state and
magnificence of royalty; it received another as a prisoner in the custody of his
own subjects; it closed its doors against
a third, and dismissed him as though he had been an insignificant intruder, and
after having thus witnessed the strange and changing scenes of two centuries and
a half, it was itself pulled down, with the exception of one wing, in 1789, by
its then owner,
Granville Penn, Esq., a descendant of the celebrated William Penn, the
founder of Pennsylvania. The existing wing of the old house, though only a
portion of an inferior part of the mansion, affords a specimen of Tudor
architecture, and conveys some idea of the internal
arrangement of the aristocratic residences of that period. W. H. K.
March 25th
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