ix

world of such dangerous activity, and unavailing struggles. He seeks for peace in the depths of solitude; and soothes his uneasiness with the innocent conversation of trees and streams. If such an one have the talents for composition, and the generous wish to teach others by his wisdom, his writings seldom fail to possess supereminent attraction. When an awful sense of religion gives still richer hues to the mind, it scarcely ever is deficient in pathos, and often rises to sublimity. Of the former class is the poem "Of a contented mind," at fol. 80; of the latter, that "Of the instability of youth," at fol. 11.

I insert the two pieces of Lord Vaux from the Collection already mentioned, for the sake of juxta-position.

The Aged Lover renounceth love.

[FROM TOTTELL'S MISCELLANY.]

"I lothe that I did love, in youth that I thought swete,
A time requires: for my behove methinks they are not mete.
My lustes they do me leave, my fansies all are fled;
And tract of time beginnes to weave gray heares upon my hed.
For age with stealing steppes hath clawde me with his crouche,
And lusty life * away she leapes, as there had bene none such.
My Muse doth not delight me as she dyd before,

My hand & pen are not in plight, as they have been of yore.

For reason me denyes this youthful idle ryme,

And day by day to me she cryes, leave off these toyes in tyme.

The wrinkles in my brow, the furrows in my face,

Say lyngring age will lodge him now, where youth must geue him place.

The Harbinger of Death to me I see him ride,

The cough, the cold, the gasping breath, doth byd me to provyde

A pickax & a spade, & eke a shrowding shete,

A house of clay for to be made for such a guest most mete.
Methinks I heare the clarke that knoles the careful knell;
And bids me leave my wofull warke ere nature me compell.
My keepers knit the knot, that youth doth laugh to scorne,
Of me that cleane shall be forgot, as I had not been borne.
Thus must I youth geve up, whose badge I long did weare;
To them I yelde the wanton cup, that better may it beare.
Lo, here the bare hed skull, by whose balde signe I know,
That stouping age away shall pull, which youthfull yeres did sowe.
For Beauttle with her band these croked cares hath wrought,
And shipped me unto the land, from whence I fyrst was brought.
And ye that byde behinde, have ye none other trust,

As ye of claye were cast by kynd, so shall ye waste to dust."

Youth in Percy.

The

The assaulte of Cupide upon the fort, where the Lover's heart lay wounded, and how she was taken.

[FROM THE SAME.]

"When Cupide scaled fyrst the fort, wherein my heart lay wounded sore,
The batry was of such a sort, that I must yelde or dye therfore.

There saw I love upon the wall, how he his banner dyd display,
Alarme, Alarme, he 'gan to call, & bade his souldiours kepe aray.

The armes the which that Cupide bare, weie pearced hearts with teares besprent,
In silver & sable to declare the stedfast love he alwayes ment.

There might you see his band all drest, in colours like to white & black,
With powder & with pellets prest, to bring the fort to spoyle & sacke.
Good-Will, the maister of the shot, stoode in the rampire brave & proude,
For spence of powder, he spared not, Assaulte! Assaulte! to crye aloude.
There myght you heare the cannon's roar ; each peice discharged a lover's loke,
Which had the power to rent, & tore in any place whereas they loke.
And even with the trumpets sowne the scaling ladders were upset,
And Beautie walked up & downe, with bow in hand & arrowes whet.
Then first Desire began to scale, & shrowded him under his targe,
As one the worthiest of them all, & aptest for to give the charge.
Then pushed souldiers with their pykes, & holbarders with handy strokes ;
The hargabushe in fleshe it lightes, & dims the aire with mystie smokes.
And as it is now souldiers use, when shot & powder gins to want,

I hanged up my flagge of truce, & pleaded for my lyves graunt.
When Fansy thus had made her breache, & Beautie entred with her band,
With bag & baggage, sely wretch, I yelded into Beautie's hand.
Then Beautie bade to blowe retrete, & every souldiour to retire,
And Mercy wyll'd with spede to set me captive bound as prisoner.
Madame, quoth I, sith that this day hath served you at all assayes,
I yeld to you without delay here of the fortresse all the kayes.
And sith that I have ben the marke, at whom you shot at with your eye,
Nedes must you with your handy worke, or salue my sore, or let me dye."

3. EDWARD VERE, EARL OF OXFORD.

Edward Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, only son of John, 16th Earl, who died 1563, by his second wife Margaret daughter of John Golding, Esq. could not have been born earlier than 1540, or 1541, because his elder half sister Katherine, widow of Edward Lord Windsor, died in Jan. 1599, at the age of 60 * Lord Orford therefore must mistake in saying that he lived to be a very aged man, as he died June 24, 1604, when he could little have exceeded 60.

In his youth he travelled into Italy, and as Stowe re

See her epitaph at Tarbick, Co. Warw. Coll. Nob. Fam. 263, &c.

lates,

xi

lates, was the first that brought embroidered gloves and perfumes into England, and presenting the Queen with a pair of the former, she was so pleased with them, as to be drawn with them in one of her portraits. He had the degree of Master of Arts conferred on him Dec. 6, 1566.

In 1571 he was one of the challengers in a celebrated Tournament, and in another, in 1580, in which her Majesty conferred the prize on him.

About this latter period he had the rencounter in the Tennis Court with Sir Philip Sydney, related in the Memoir of Sir Philip in the Bibliographer, I. 84, which does not much redound to his Lordship's honour.

In 1585 he was the chief of those who embarked with the Earl of Leicester for the relief of the States of Holland and Zealand.

In 1586 he sat as Lord Great Chamberlain of England on the trial of Mary Q. of Scots. In 1588 he hired and fitted out ships at his own charge against the Spanish Armada. In 189, he sat on the trial of Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel; and in 1601, on the trials of the Earls of Essex, and Southampton.

One of the most remarkable events of his life was his cruel usage of his first wife, Anne, daughter of the famous William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, in revenge for the part acted by that statesman against Thomas Duke of Norfolk, for whom he had a warm friendship. + Camden says that having vainly interceded with his father-in-law for the Duke's life, he grew so incensed that he vowed revenge against the daughter, and "not only forsook her bed, but sold and consumed that great inheritance descended to him from his ancestors.' In answer to this, Collins says that the estate descended to his son. It is probable however it was much impaired, as Arthur Wilson agrees with Camden; and something of the same kind may be inferred from a letter in Winwood's Memorials, III. 422. §

Annals, 686.

They were first cousins, the Duke's mother being Frances Vere, the Earl's aunt. § Ibid. 3.

See Memoirs of K. James's Peers, p. 3, 494, &c.

The

*

The Earl was buried at Hackney, July 6, 1604. His character seems to have been marked with haughtiness, vanity, and affectation. He aped Italian dresses, and was called the Mirrour of Tuscanismo. t His rank however, and his illustrious family commanded the respect of a large portion of the literary world; and among his eulogists, were Watson, Lily, Golding, Munday, Greene, Lock, and Spenser. ‡

Webbe says, that in the rare devises of poetry, he may challenge to himself the title of the most excellent among the rest. Puttenham, and Meres, have ranked him among the best for comedy. Scattered pieces of his are found in Breton's Bower of Delights, 1597; Sydney's Astrophel and Stella, 1591; the Phoenix Nest, 1593; and England's Helicon, 1600, besides the modern collections of Percy and Ellis, and the last edition of Lord Orford's Works. Mr. Park also, in the Royal and Noble Authors, has drawn forth a dedicatory specimen, from Bedingfield's translation of Cardanus Comfort, 1576. §.

In the specimens of Lord Oxford's poetry, which this collection contains, there appear the same traits, as are said to have been exhibited in his character. They are

* Lysons's Environs, II. 485.—His second Countess was buried there Jan. 3, 1612-13. Ibid. Lysons, under Lambeth, Vol. I. p. 297, gives the burial on Feb. 22, 1558-9 of "my Lady of Oxford," whom he supposes to be Anne wife of John Vere Earl of Oxford, and daughter of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. I find such a marriage in the Howard pedigree by Dugdale and Collins-but not in the Vere pedigree. The names of the wives of John Vere, Earl of Oxford, were Dorothy Nevile and Margaret Golding.

Earl Edward, had a sister of the whole blood married to Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby of Eresby. His own issue were three daughters by his first. wife, Anne Cecil, who died 1588; and an only son and heir by his second wife, Elizabeth Trentham. These were, 1. Lady Elizabeth, born 1575, married 1594 to William Stanley Earl of Derby. 2. Lady Bridget, born 1584, married to Francis Lord Norreys, afterwards created Earl of Berkshire. 3. Lady Susan, born 1587, married to Philip Herbert, Earl of Montgomery and Pembroke. Henry, only son and heir, born 1592, became 18th Earl of Oxford; and died 1625, without issue, aged 33. His cousin and heir male Robert Vere, grand. son of Aubrey Vere, younger brother of John, 16th Earl, (the poet's father) succeeded after some dispute as 19th Earl of Oxford, and died 1632, leaving an only son, Aubrey, 20th and last Earl, who died in March 1702-3, aged about 78. But when Earl Robert was admitted to the Earldom, a severe litigation took place for the hereditary office of Lord Great Chamberlain between the Countess of Derby, Earl Henry's eldest sister of the half blood, and Robert Lord Willoughby, the son of his aunt Mary, who was of the whole blood; and in consequence of the absurd rule of law on that point, it was determined in favour of the latter.

† See Bibliogr. I. 83-and Todd's Life of Spenser, p. xliii.
Park's Royal and Noble Authors, II, 120. § Ibid. 122.

generally

generally affected, full of conceit and antithesis, and obscure. They have none of the attractions and graces, which recommend those of Lord Vaux. Dr. Percy observes, that "perhaps it is no injury to his memory that few of his compositions are preserved for the inspection of impartial posterity." This elegant critic however has given a poem, which deserves a higher character. It is copied from BRETON's Bower of Delights,* 1597—and is entitled FANCY AND DESIRE. In justice to this noble Peer, I cannot omit to give it a place.

Fancy and Desire.

"Come hither, shepherd's swayne.

Sir, what do you require?'
I pray thee, shew to me thy name. 'My name is FOND DESIRE.
When wert thou born, Desire? In pompe & prime of May.'
By whom, sweet boy, wert thou begot? By fond Conceit, men say.'
Tell me, who was thy nurse? Fresh youth in sugred joy.'
What was thy meat & daily food? Sad sighs with great annoy.'
What hadst thou then to drink? Unsavoury lover's tears.'

·

What cradle wert thou rocked in? In hope devoid of fears.'
What lull'd thee then asleep? Sweet speech, which likes me best.'
Tell me, where is thy dwelling place? In gentle hartes I rest.'
What thing doth please thee most? To gaze on beauty still.'
Whom dost thou think to be thy foe? Disdain of my good will.'

Doth company displease? Yes, surely, many one.'
Where doth Desire delight to live? He loves to live alone.'
Doth either tyme or age bring him unto decaye?

'No, no, Desire both lives & dies a thousand times a daye.'

Then, fond Desire, farewelle, thou art no mate for mee,

I should be lathe, methinks, to dwell with such a one as thee."

Two are

In England's Parnassus, 1600, are three extracts from some unknown poem or poems of this Earl. given in the Theatr. Poet. Angl. 1800. The third follows.

66

"What plague is greater than the griefe of minde?

The griefe of minde that eates in every vaine;

In every vaine that leaves such clods behinde,
Such clods behinde as breede such bitter paine,
So bitter paine that none shall ever finde,

What plague is greater than the griefe of minde?"

Among Rawlinson's MSS. in the Bodleian library are verses made by the Earle of Oxforde and Mrs. Ann Vavesor."

There must have heen an earlier edition of the Bower of Delights than that of 1597; for Breton, in his Pilgrimage to Paradise, 1592, mentions it, with a protest that it was done without his knowledge, and that there were in it, many things of other men's, mingled with few of his own. See Cens. Lit. II. 235.

C 2

4. WILLIAM