Life Of The Lady Arabella Stuart - Vol. I

LIFE OF THE LADY ARABELLA STUART. IN TWO PARTS CONTAINING A BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR, AND A COLLECTION OF HER LETTERS, WITH NOTES AND DOCUMENTS FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES, RELATING TO HER HISTORY - VOL. I. - PREFACE - THE plea of a new and untrodden path of history cannot be urged as the excuse of the present memoir. Other feet have trodden the same way before, but nevertheless there are many bye-lanes and turnings which have hitherto been overloolted or undiscovered. Much still remains obscure, hidden, no doubt, in private collections but the object of this biography is attained if the Lady Arabella, as she lived and suffered, is placed clearly before the reader. Miss Costello, in Eminent Englishwomen, and Disraeli in Curiosities of Literature, led the way in noticing this romantic episode of history. Miss Cooper was, however, the first to attempt a biography and collection of letters. To her I owe much in the present volumes, notably the guidance to various authorities and references, and, through Canon Jackson, to the discovery made by her at the Bodleiail of William Seymours Confession, which I have since seen and copied myself from the original. To Canon Jackson I owe much, he having generously allowed me to see and use the fruits of tnaily years labour at Longleat. Through his researches Hugh Crompton, Arabellas steward, takes his proper place in her life and fate. In his copy of the History of Great Bedwyn, I found the names of Crompton and also of Edward Kirton as Members of Parliament for Great Bedwyn the former ill 1623-4 and the latter in 1627 a nd the notice of their burials in the church there, wllere also is the family vault of William Seymour, whose daughter Arabella lies beside him. Hugh Crompton died in August, 1645, and Kirton in 1654, before the man in whose early troubles they had taken part. To Mr. Inderwicks courtesy I owe the use of one or two details duly acknowledged in the text froin his Side-Lights on the Stuarts, which was published shortly before my book was in the press. The new materials from the Cecil papers, never before seen by any biographer of Arabella, I have been allowed to use by the kindness of the Marquess of Salisbury. Throughout the book, with very few exceptions, the old spelling has been altered to the modern standard, as the variable spelling of the time lends an illiterate appearance to letters written by the most highly educated people. For the illustrations I am indebted to the kindness of friends to Mrs. Hogge, for the loan of her precious miniature to Mr. Cecil G. S. Foljambe, M. P., for his drawings of the Lenox coat-of-arms on the cover of the book, and of the seals used by Arabella. S PREFA CE. I wish also to acknowledge a debt of gratitude - which cannot unfortunately now be personally expressed-to the late Mr. Selby of the Record Office, to whom I owe my first initiation into the deciphering of manuscripts. For the invariable kindness and courtesy received on all sides during researches at the British and Kensington Rluseums, at the Record Office, and also at the London Library, as well as from friends, I beg to offer here my best thanks. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. PART I.-MEMOIR. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. PAGE Parallel between Arabella S tuart and Katharine Grey-Arabellas treatment by Elizabeth and James I.-Her character and appearance . . . . . . . . 1-14 CHAPTER 11. PARENTAGE, BIRTH, AKD INFANCY...