MY ANCESTORS BEING THE HISTORY OF THE DIGBY & STRUTT FAMILIES

BY LETTICE DIGBY

PRIVATELY PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & CO. LTD. LONDON

PREFACE

So ME months of enforced idleness have given me great opportunities of thinking over the years that are passed. These memories are so radiantly happy that I felt con­ strained to try to chronicle them. In so doing I had occasion to refer to some of my ancestors, and this inspired me to collect all the information regarding them that I had at hand, in order that my nephews and nieces might have a simple chronicle of their lives. Some Digby papers and letters are in my possession, and I have been greatly helped by notes that my mother had made. The early Digby and early Strutt ancestors form a striking contrast-Digbys : courtiers, noblemen and states­ men ; Strutts : small yeoman farmers and artisans who, by their skill and integrity, became pioneers in industry and eminent citizens of Derby. Both families can claim at least one Fellow of the Royal Society. The Digby genealogical table has been compiled from an old printed pedigree entitled " A Genealogical Table of the Noble Family of Digby," which ends at Henry, 7th Baron and 1st Earl Digby, and from the Tree at Minterne, in the possession of the present Lord Digby, which was copied by the Honourable Theresa Mary Digby as a wedding present to my father. With few exceptions, the names on V both the Digby and Strutt tables are confined to those persons mentioned in the text. Many of the families were very large, and a full table, especially of the Digbys, would be too voluminous. In conclusion I must acknowledge all the great help given me by my family, and especially by my sister Emily. My nephew, Kenelm Hubert Digby, has written the his­ torical parts in the accounts of the ill-fated Sir Everard Digby and of Sir John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol, and the intro­ ductions to the letters from John, Robert and Edward, sons of William, 5th Baron Digby. I must also express my gratitude to my friends, Miss Margaret I. Robertson and Miss A. Dorothy Harrison, for their invaluable criticism; and to the printers for their careful reading of the proofs. L. D .

. Vl CONTENTS

PAGE PART I. THE DIGBY ANCESTORS • • • I

PART II. THE STRUTT ANCESTORS • • • 119

PART III. MY PARENTS • • • • • 139

. . Vll

PART I THE DIGBY ANCESTORS

B

GENEALOGY* OF THE DIGBY FAMILY

I. l.Elmar (temp. William the Conqueror). EXPLANATION OF THE NUMBERS IN THE TABLE. I II. 1. Sir Everard Digby of Tilton, m. Amicia, dau. of --Bretton. The first and Roman figure indicates the generation. I The second figure, or letter, indicates the branch of the family and whether the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 6th son. III. I. William. Roman figure followed by ordinary numeral figures 1, 2, 3, 4 = Sir Kenelm Digby's (1836-1916) direct line. I ,, ,, ,, ,, figures i., ii. = Sir Kenelm Digby's (1603-r665) Branch. IV. 2~ Robert, m. dau. of-- Herle (temp. Henry II). ,, ,, ,, ,, numeral :figure in brackets (r) = The Earl of Bristol's Branch. I ,, ,, ,, ,, numeral with integer r1 = Simon, Bishop of Elphin's Branch. V. 1. Robert de Diggeby, m. Anne Fitzherbert. ,, ,, ,, ,, small letter "a" = Earl Digby's Branch. I ,, ,, ,, ,, capital letter "A" = The present Baron Digby's Branch. VI. 1. Sir John de Tilton or Sir John Digby, d. 12.69, m.Arabella, dau. I of Sir William Harcourt (temp. Henry III). VII. 1. John de Tilton. * In this Table, with a few exceptions, the names only of persons mentioned in these Memoirs are I recorded. VIII. 1. John de Tilton, m. Elizabeth Oseuil or de Oleville (temp. Edw. I). It is compiled from a copy of the Genealogical Tree now at Minterne, and from one published entitled I " A Genealogical Table of the Noble Family of Digby," which ends with Henry, 7th Baron and 1st Earl IX. 2. Henry,t m. Katharine Pakenham. Digby, d. 1793. I t According to the Genealogical Tree at Minterne, this should be Robert, but according to the older X. 1. Simon of Tilton and Stokedry. printed Genealogical Table, Robert died before hewas fourteen. I XI. 1. Sir Everard of Tilton and Stokedry and three brothers were all killed at Battle of Towton, r461; m. Jaqueta, dau. of Sir John Ellys.

I I XII. 1. Sir Everard, d. 1509, of Tilton and Stokedry. XII. 2. Sir Simon, d. 1519,and five brothers who, with Everard and Simon,all fought at Batt)e of Bosworth, 1485. I I XIII. i. Sir Everard, d. 1540, ofTilton and Stokedry. XIII. 1. Reginald, d. 1549. I I XIV. i. Kenelm, d. I 590, of Tilton and Stokedry. XIV. r. John, d. 1558. I I XV. i. Everard, d. 1592, of Tilton and Stokedry, m. Mary, dau. of Francis Nele. xv. 1. Sir George, d. 1586. I I I I I I XVI. i. Sir Everard, 1578-1606 (executed), m. Mary, XVI. ii. George, d. 1675, m. Mary, XVI. 2. Sir Robert, d. 1614, m. Lettice, d. r658, dau. of Baron Offaly. XVI. 4. Sir John, created Baron Digby and Earl of Bristol, 1580-1653, dau. of William Mulsho. dau. of Sir George Chetwynd. I m. Beatrix, dau. of Charles W alcot and widow of Sir John Dyve. I I I I XVII. i. Sir Kenelm, r603-r665, m. Venecia, dau. of XVII. i. Jane, m. Charles, 4th XVII. 1. Robert, rst Baron Digby, XVII. 6. Essex, Bishop of Dromore, d. 1683. XVII. (1). George, 2nd Earl of Bristol, K.G., 1612-1676, m. Anne Sir Edward Stanley. Lord Gerard. d. 1642, m. Sarah Boyle, dau. of I Russell, dau. of Francis, 4th Earl of Bedford. Roger, 1st Earl of Cork,and widow XVIII. 11• Simon, Bishop of Elphin, d. 1720. I I I I of Sir Thomas Moore. I I XVIII. i. Kenelm, killed at the XVIII. ii. John. I I XVIII. (1). John, 3rd Earl of Bristol, d. 1698, XVIII. Anne, m. Battle of St. Neots, r648. XVIll. i. Digby, b. r662. XVIII. r. Kildare, 2nd Baron Digby, d. r661, m. Mary, d. 1692, dau. of Robert Gardiner. m. 1st, Alice, dau.of Robert Bourne ;.2nd, the Earl of I Rachel, dau. of Sir Hubert Windham. Sunderland. I I I XIX. 1. Robert, 3rd Baron Digby, r654-1677. XIX. 2. Simon, 4th Baron Digby, 1657-1685. XIX. 3. William,5th BaronDigby, 1660-1752,m.Jane Noel, dau. of Edward, 1st EarlofGainsborough. I I I I I XX. 1. John, d. 1747. XX. 2. Robert, d. 1726. XX. 4. Edward, d. 1746, m. Charlotte, dau. of Sir Stephen Fox. XX. Mary, d. 1729. I I I I I I XXI. 1. Edward, 6th Baron Digby, XXI. 2. Henry, 7th Baron and 1st Earl XXI. 3. Robert (Admiral), 1732-1815, m. Eleanor, d. XXI. 4. William (Dean of Durham), XXI. 5. Stephen, 1742-1800, m. 1st, Lucy Fox-Strangways, dau. of Stephen, 1730-1 757. Digby, 1731-1793, m. 2nd, Mary, 1830, dau. of Andrew Elliot, GovernorofNewYork, 1733-1788, m. Charlotte, dau. of m. 2nd, Charlotte Margaret, rst Earl of Ilchester. dau. of John Knowler. and widow of James Jauncey. Joseph Cox. dau. of Sir Robert Gunning. I I i I I I I I XXII. (a). Edward, 8th Baron and 2nd XXII. Charlotte Maria, d. 1807, m. XXII. I. Sir Henry, G.C.B. (Admiral), 1770-r842, m. Jane XXII. 2. William (Prebendary of Worcester), 1774-1848, m. rst, XXII. Charlotte Elizabeth, d. r820, Earl Digby, 1773-18 56. William Wingfield-Baker. Elizabeth, d. 1863, widow of Viscount Andover and Almeria Augusta, dau. of Hon. Lucius Ferdinand Cary; m. William Digby (Prebendary of dau. of Thomas William Coke, rst Earl of Leicester. 2nd, Charlotte Elizabeth, d. 1820, dau. of Hon. Stephen Digby. Worcester). I I I I XXIII. 1. Edward St. Vincent, 9th Baron Digby, 1809-1889,m. Theresa Fox-Strangways,dau.of Henry Stephen, 3rd Earl of Ilchester. XXIII. 2. Kenelm Henry (Hon. Canon of Norwich), 18II-1891, XXIII. Jane Elizabeth, 1807-1881, m. 1st, I m. Caroline, 1810-1866, 5th dau. of Edward Sheppard. Edward, 1stEarlofEllenborough, 1790- XXIV. (A). Edward Henry Trafalgar, roth Baron Digby, 1846-1920, m. Emily Beryl, dau. of Hon. Albert Hood. I 18 7 I ; 2nd, Charles, Baron Venningen XXIV. 1. Sir Kenelm Edward, G.C.B., 1836-1916, m. Caroline of Bavaria; 3rd, Cheikh Medjuel el Strutt, 1848-192.6, dau. of Edward, 1st Baron Belper. Mazrab.

[To/act p. 3.

I. 1.Elmar (i IN THE TABLE. I II. r. Sir Evera I ivhether the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 6th son. III. r. William.ir Kenelm Digby's (1836-r9r6) direct line. I ir Kenelm Digby's (1603-r665) Branch. IV. 2. Robert, fhe Earl of Bristol's Branch. I imon, Bishop of Elphin's Branch. V. r. Robert d:arl Digby's Branch. I ~he present Baron Digby's Branch. VI. r. Sir John-- VII. r. John1 deoff , persons mentlone. d 1n. t h ese M emoirs. are

VIII. r. John de: Minteme, and from one publishedentitled I 1 ends with Henry, 7th Baron and 1st Earl IX. 2. Henry,t I iuld be Robert, but according to the older X. r. Simon oi I XI. 1. Sir Even at:E

I XII. r. Sir Everard, d. 1509, of Tilton and Stokedry. I XIII. i. Sir Everard, d. r 540, ofTilton and Stokedry. I XIV. i. Kenelm, d. r590, of Tilton and Stokedry. I XV. i. Everard, d. 1592, of Tilton and Stokedry, m. Mary, dau. of Franc I I I XVI. i .. Sir Everard, r 578-r606 (executed), m. Mary, XVI. ii. aron Digby and Earl of Bristol, 1580-1653, dau. of William Mulsho. daurles Walcot and widow of Sir John Dyve. I I XVII. i. Sir Kenelm, 1603-1665, m. Venetia, dau. of XVII. i.:rl of Bristol, K.G., r6r2-1676, m. Anne Sir Edward Stanley. Lor, 4th Earl of Bedford. I I I I XVIII. i. Kenelm, killed at the XVIII. ii. John. of Bristol, d. r698, XVIII. Anne, m. Battle of St. Neots, 1648. XVIJ.obert Bourne ;.2nd, the Earl of ert Windham. Sunderland. I XIX. 1. Robert, 3rd Baron Digby, 1654-1677. XIX. 2. f

I I XX. I. John, d. 1747. XX. 2. Robert, d. 17

I I I XXI. 1. Edward, 6th Baron Digby, XXI. 2. Henry, 7th Baron~ 1st, Lucy Fox-Strangways, dau. of Stephen, 1730-r757. Digby, 1731-1793, m. 1st Earl of Ilchester. dau. of John Knowler. I I I XXII. (a). Edward, 8th Baron and 2nd XXI I. Charlotte Maria XXII. Charlotte Elizabeth, d. 1820, Earl Digby, 1773-18 56. William Wingfield m. William Digby (Prebendary of Worcester).

I XXIII. r. Edward St. Vincent, 9th Baron Digby, r8og-1sg 9I. Jane Elizabeth, r807-1881, m. 1st, · I tdward, rstEarlofEllenborough, ~790- XXIV. (A). Edward Henry Trafalgar, 10th Baron Digby 1~871; 2nd, Charles, Baron Vennmgen ' ,f Bavaria; 3rd, Cheikh Medjuel el 1azrab.

[To face p. 3.

THE DIGBY ANCESTORS1

I. lELMAR. OuR pedigree is traced back to 1Elmar, who, in the reigns of Edward the Confessor and William the Conqueror, held three ploughlands in Tilton, Leicestershire, with soc and sac, valued at twenty shillings. The descendants of ..lElmar were not infrequently called Diggeby de Tilton, and some­ times Tilton only.

V. I. ROBERT DE DIGGEBY.

In I 2 34 the lands of Robert de Diggeby at Billesdon in Leicestershire had been conveyed to his heir, John ; and about 1 240, Anne, widow of Robert, held half a fee in Tilton.

VI. 1. SIR JOHN DE TILTON or SIR JOHN DIGBY ( d. I 269). Sir John, son of Robert, gave lands at Billesdon, and at Kirkby Bellars, Leicestershire, in the reign of Henry III, to the lepers of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. 1 The Roman figure denotes the generation. See the Genealogical Table. 3 Sir John and his wife, Arabella, died within a short time of one another and are buried in Tilton Church. The recumbent figures rest between the south aisle and the nave. The Vicar of Tilton in a letter to me describes the tomb as follows : " They are life-like figures measuring 6 ft. 6 in. of the former, and 6 ft. of the latter. His legs are crossed just above the knee-indicating, I believe, that he went to two Crusades. He holds a shield, and at his feet are a lion and a skull. The spur on his foot sticks into the skull, which I suppose represents one of his captives. I cannot tell you the date of Sir John's birth. The shield held by him is carved." The inscription on the shield reads: Jehan de Digby gist icy, priez pour luy. It has been frequently stated that the family assumed the name of Digby when it moved to Digby in Lincolnshire in 12 56, but it is evident, as shown by the above extracts, that the name was used much earlier.

VIII. I. JOHN DE TILTON.

John, grandson of the Sir John Digby who died in I 269, married Elizabeth Oseuil or de Oleville. He was distin­ guished in the reigns of Edward I and Edward II, serving both these kings in their wars in Scotland and elsewhere. In the I 1th, 12th, I 4th, I 5th, 3 2nd and 3 3rd years of the reign of Edward I, he acted as a commissioner for the gaol delivery at Warwick.

X. r. SIMON DIGBY of TILTON and STOKEDRY.1 Simon, grandson of the above John de Tilton, possessed lands in the county of Rutland as well as those in Leicester- 1 Sometimes called Drystoke. 4 shire. He had four sons, "rho all fell fighting for the unfortunate King Henry VI at the Battle of Towton ( 146 l ).

XI. 1. SIR EVERARD DIGBY (killed at Battle of Towton, 146 I). Sir Everard, eldest son of Simon Digby, was sheriff and Member of Parliament for Rutland. He and his three brothers were killed at the Battle of T owton. Sir Everard had seven sons, who all fought at the Battle of Bosworth ( r 48 5), in the Lancastrian cause against Richard III. It is proposed to trace the descendants of the two elder sons only, namely, of Sir Everard-the ancestor of the ill-fated Sir Everard, father of Sir Kenelm-and of Sir Simon-the ancestor of my father, the second Sir Kenelm Digby.

XII. 1. SIR EVERARD DIGBY (d. 1509). Sir Everard was great-great-grandfather of the Sir Everard who died on the scaffold for complicity in the Gun powder Plot. He was a man of considerable wealth and property, as shown by his will,1 from which the following extracts have been selected :

In the name of God, Amen. The I 6th day of the month of January, the year of Our Lord God one thousand, five hundred and eight. I, Everard Digby of Stokedrie in the county of Rutland of the diocese of Lincoln, sick in body but ·whole in mind, make my testament and last will in this form following. First, I bequeath my soul to God Almighty, the Blessed Lady Saint Mary and all the saints of Heaven. My body to be buried in the

1 My father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B., had a copy of this will. 5 parish church of St. Peter at Tilton before the image of the Blessed Trinity, at Our Lady's altar. Item. I bequeath to reparation of said church for my burial there 6s. 8d. Item. I bequeath to the said church a web of land, which the church masters of the said church have in their keeping. Item. I bequeath to the High Altar of the parish church of Stokedrie for tythes by me forgotten ....

Then follo,v a number of bequests to his children, relations, friends and servants, from which a selection are here given. To his son John-" all my rents, lands and tenements which I have purchased by deed or by copyhold in the towns and fields of Uppingham, Pysbroke, Preston and Essendon . . . . And after his decease I will that the said rents, lands and tenements shall remain to Everard Digby, my eldest son, and to his heirs and assigns for ever." Also " two geldings, three mares for his plough, with all barns and other things to it belonging, and also a pair of cart-wheels unshod." To his daughter Alice-" all the rents, lands and tene­ ments which I have purchased by deed, or by copy, in the to,vns and fields of Harborough, Bowden and Foxton." ... Also-" a feather bed, a mattress, a bolster of feathers, with pillows, blankets, sheets, coverlets, and covering, with all the hangings of red saye pertaining to the bed which I now . ,, 11e on. To his daughter Ellen-" £80 of good lawful money." . . . Also a feather bed, etc., and '' the next best pair of sheets that I have, and other five pair of flaxen sheets and two pair of harder sheets." (The" best and finest" sheets were to be divided equally between Everard and Alice.) To his daughter Katherine, a nun-" 20d. in money, and a pair of flaxen sheets and a white sparver." 6 Tohis daughter Danegold-" two.kine and twelve ewes." To his eldest son Everard-" the remainder of all my rents, lands and tenements, and all other my goods,moveable and unmoveable, . . . " ; also " my greatest brass pot to be used for a standard of that house . . . " ; also " a plough with all harness pertaining to it, and six of my plough horses for his said plough, and my wains and eight of my best oxen with all things pertaining to the same wains, and six of my best kine, and sixty of my best sheep." To his servant, Margaret Kynton-" a mattress, a good coverlet, a brass pot, a pair of flaxen sheets, a cow and six ewes, and I 3s. 4d. in money for her wages." To his servant Ellen Hall, at Tilton,-" a cow and 40s. . ,, 1n money. . To the parish church of Skeffington 6s. 8d., to the parish church of Uppingham 10s., to the parish church of Siddington 3s. 4d. Item. To the Abbot of Walston, 6s. 8d., and every chalon of his house 8 d. if they be at my burial. I tern. I give to the convent there, to have Placebo and Dirige sung for my soul, 10s. Item. I bequeath to Sir Robert Kirkby, chalon there, to pray for my soul, 20s. Item. I will that my executor do find an able priest to sing for my soul, and the souls of my father and mother and all Christian souls, by the space of three years next following after my decease, in the parish church of Tilton. He ordains his eldest son, Everard, to be his sole executor, and he is to dis pose of the residue of his estate '' at his discretion for the health of my soul and my friends."

XV. i. EVERARD (d. 1592) and MARY DIGBY (MARY NELE).1 Everard, great-grandson of the Sir Everard Digby mentioned above, married· Mary Nele, by whom he had 1 Or Neale. 7 fourteen children. He was a divine and a man of letters, and suggested a classification of sciences in "Theoria Analytica" ( 1579), and in" De Duplici Methodo libri duo" l I 580 ). A scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge, he was made senior Fellow in 1585, hut was deprived of his office two years later for alleged insubordination and Romanist tendencies. In 1 589 he wrote a treatise on swimming which is the earliest English publication on that subject. After Everard's death, Mary married Sampson Erdes­ wicke, the antiquary and owner of the manor of Sandon. He died in 1603. These memoirs are concerned with two only of the children of Everard and Mary, namely, with their eldest son Everard, and with their second son George.

XVI. ii. GEORGE DIGBY 1 (d. 1675) and his DESCENDANTS. George Digby, second son of Everard Digby, purchased Sandon from his step-brother, Richard Erdeswicke. The Commonwealth leaders fined George £1400 as a malignant. He died at the age of eighty-six. His tomb in the chancel of the church at Sandon bears a long inscription and the Digby coat of arms. The fleur-de-lys is also on an old carved seat near the door. Jane, daughter and heiress of George Digby, married Charles, 4th Lord Gerard of Bromley. To her Pope dedicated his illustration of Sandon Hall in " The Natural History of Staffordshire." Lord and Lady Gerard's son, Digby (b. 1662 ), left two daughters, co-heiresses, who 1 From a letter to my mother, the Honourable Lady Digby, from Miss Mary Gurney, after a visit to Sandon. 8 married James Douglas, 4th Duke of Hamilton, and Charles, 5th Lord Mohun, respectively. The brothers-in-law had a lawsuit concerning Sandon, and fought a duel in Hyde Park (1712) which ended in Mohun being killed and Hamilton mortally wounded. The duel forms an incident in Thackeray's " Esmond."

XVI. i. SIR EVERARD DIGBY (1578, executed 1606). Sir Everard Digby was the eldest son of Everard and Mary Digby. He held a post in Queen Elizabeth's house­ hold, and was brought up as a Protestant, but at about the age of nineteen he came under the influence of Father Gerard, a Jesuit, and then joined the Roman Catholic Church. Consequently he welcomed the accession of James I, hoping that the Roman Catholics would benefit, the King's mother being of that faith. Everard married Mary, daughter and heiress of William Mulsho of Gothurst (now Gayhurst), and their combined fortunes made Everard a wealthy man. In r 603 he was knighted, and in the same year his son, Kenelm, was born. Two years later Sir Everard wrote to Lord Salisbury, offering to go as Ambassador to the Pope, for the purpose of obtaining a promise from him, to the effect that he would prevent Romanists from making an attempt to upset the English government. In return, the said government was to agree to grant certain concessions to the Roman Catholics living in England. Sir Everard pointed out the grave dangers likely to ensue if the grievances of the down-trodden Roman Catholics remained unnoticed. He himself was in favour at Court and did not suffer, but he pleaded for those who were less fortunate and had no influence. 9 At length, when it was evident that James did not intend to do anything to help the Roman Catholics, Sir Everard was persuaded to join in the plot, already conceived, to over­ throw both the King and Parliament at one fell blow. Catesby was anxious to gain his support on account of the money he would provide, which was indispensable for the fulfilment of their scheme. Sir Everard was ordered to collect a band of men at Dunchurch in Warwickshire, and as soon as he heard of the success of the plot at Westminster, he was to organise a rising in the Midlands. Princess Elizabeth, who was living in the neighbourhood, was to be seized, with the view of placing her on the throne should James refuse to comply with their demands. Accordingly, Sir Everard and his little group of followers, disguised as a hunting party, assembled at Dunchurch and awaited the hoped-for news which never came. Instead, on November 6th, Cates by arrived with a tale of misfortune. Nevertheless, he was resolved to carry on the rebellion, and in order to persuade Sir Everard to continue with him, told a false story, stating that the King and Lord Salisbury were dead. Catesby's ruse was successful, and the con­ spirators, including Sir Everard, set out in the forlorn hope of fomenting a rising in the country. That evening (No­ vember6th) they rode to Huddington in Worcestershire, and the next day toHolbeach in Staffordshire. There Sir Everard lost heart and abandoned his friends, merely retaining two of his servants. He tried to hide in a pit, but was soon discovered by Government troops and was taken to the Tower. At his trial in Westminster Hall on January 27th, 1606, he was the only conspirator who had the courage to plead guilty, his defence being that he committed the crime on account of his friendship for Cates by and his devotion IO to the Roman Catholic cause. He-was executed in St. Paul's ChurchyardonJanuary 3 rst, r6o6, being only in his twenty­ ninth year. His epitaph is as follows : Tread lightly, stranger, 'neath this sacred mould, A Digby sleeps, by perjur' d traitors sold. He only dar'd oppose a Tyrant's laws, And suffer nobly in Religion's cause. Ill-fated Everard, hapless was thy lot, To perish for a race that lov' d thee not. Brave noble, thou wert something more than man, And, Protestants, deny it if you can. M. M. Sir Everard was handsome and gifted. Father Gerard admired him greatly, praising his skill in sport, riding and music, and wrote of him : " He was as complete a man in all things that deserved estimation or might win affection, as one should see in a kingdom." Some of Sir Everard's papers, including letters from the Tower, were published in "The Gunpowder Treason," by Thomas Barlow, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1679.

XVII. i. SIR KENELM DIGBY 1 (1603-65) and LADY DIGBY (VENETIA STANLEY) (1600-33). Sir Kenelm Digby, the "ornament of England," is one of the most picturesque and versatile of historical figures, "con1bining as he did the roles of Courtier, Naval Com­ mander, Statesman, Philosopher and Scientist." He was born in r 603, so was scarcely three years old when his ill-fated father, Sir Everard Digby, died on the 1 The following account is mainly abstracted from Sir Kene/111 Digby and George Digby, Earl of Bristol, by H. M. Digby. I I scaffold. At an early age he was taken from the care of his mother, a fervent Roman Catholic, and placed under the tuition of Archbishop Laud. Opinions differ as to whether he ever renounced the faith of his parents, for as early as 1623 he describes himself in his memoirs as being a Roman Catholic. He went to Oxford when he was fourteen and entered Gloucester Hall.1 There he came under the in­ fluence of Dr. Thomas Allen, one of the most learned scholars of his day, who inspired him to study science and philosophy, interests which he preserved throughout his life. Dr. Allen died about fifteen years later, and left his books to Sir Kenelm, who presented them to the Bodleian Library. During vacations Kenelm and the beautiful V enetia Stanley were constant companions, and Kenelm fell deeply in love with her; but his mother, Lady Digby, was strongly opposed to an alliance. V enetia was the daughter of Sir Edward Stanley of Tonge Castle in Shropshire, and of Lucy, daughter of the 7th Earl of Northumberland. Lady Stanley died when her daughter was only a few months old, and Venetia was brought up by relations, as her father retired for some time from the gay world. Ken elm com­ pleted his four years at Oxford in 1620, without taking a degree, and was sent abroad. At their farewell meeting Kenelm presented Venetia with a diamond ring " entreating her, whensoever she did cast her eyes upon it, to conceive that it told her in his behalf, that his heart would prove as hard as that stone in the admittance of any new affection." Venetia, on her part, presented him with a lock of her hair. He went first to study at Paris University. After Henry IV was assassinated in 161 o, Marie de' Medici, the Queen Mother, acted as regent for her young son 1 Now Worcester College. 12 Louis XIII. She placed her favourite and compatriot, Concini, Marquis d' Ance, at the head of the government. This so enraged the French that Concini was put to death and the Queen Mother was imprisoned at Blois, whence she escaped to Angers. There, at a masqued ball, she became enamoured of the handsome Kenelm, who had to leave the Court in order that he might remain constant to V enetia. He travelled on into Italy, but caused rumours to be circulated to the effect that he had been murdered. V enetia was heart-broken at the news, and Kenelm's letters, telling her the true facts, never reached her. At length she accepted the hand of a former suitor. When Kenelm heard of her engagement he was furiously angry and exclaimed : " Thus much will I swear, and call heaven to witness, that for the future I will have irreconcilable wars with that per­ fidious sex ; and so blaze through the world their un­ worthiness and falsehood, that I hope their turn will come to sue men for their love, and being denied, despair and . ,, d1e. Meanwhile, V enetia had discovered that her new lover was unfaithful and she broke off her engagement. From Italy, Kenelm went to Madrid to visit his cousin Sir John Digby, afterwards created Earl of Bristol, who was trying to negotiate, on behalf of King James I, a marriage between Prince Charles and the Infanta of Spain. The sub­ sequent arrival of Prince Charles and Buckingham did not facilitate matters. Buckingham made himself most un­ popular, and the Infanta did not reciprocate the Prince's advances. Kenelm, on account of his religious persuasions, was selected to confer with the Archbishop of Toledo, the Primate of Spain. Finally, in September 1623, Prince Charles disconsolately sailed for England and Kenelm 13 returned as one of his suite, having been away two years. The following month the King knighted Kenelm at Hinchin­ brook. This ceremony, had it not been for the timely intervention of Buckingham, might have had disastrous con­ sequences. The King was looking elsewhere and pointed the blade of the sword directly at Sir Kenelm's eyes. The day on which Sir Kenelm arrived in London was gloriously fine, and many people were gathered out of doors; among them he recognised Venetia in her coach. A servant was despatched to find out her abode, and Sir Kenelm presented himself the next day. Their friendship was revived and misunderstandings removed. Buckingham was now planning an alliance between Prince Charles and the sister of the King of France, and was anxious to have Sir Kenelm's assistance and company on a projected visit to Paris. Sir Kenelm could not himself afford the expense, but Venetia offered to supply the neces­ sary money. Her generosity so touched him that he asked her to be his wife. They were married secret! y in I 6 2 5, and their union was not made public until after the birth of their second son. Sir Kenelm now held a Court appointment, and was a great favourite of King James, who was especially attracted to him on account of his knowledge of alchemy and of science. His position was not an easy one, as he owed much to the unscrupulous Buckingham, who was very jealous of Sir Kenelm's cousin, the upright and sincere Sir John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol. During a temporary absence of Bucking­ ham, Sir Ken elm, always keen for adventure, persuaded the King to give him the command of a privateering expedition, the ulterior object of which was the capture of French trading vessels. The two ships selected for this venture, the Eagle 14 and the George and Elizabeth, set sail in December 1627. The crews had thrilling and exciting experiences. Boats were chased and captured, skirmishes were fought, and a victory over French and Venetians was attained at Scande­ roon. Between activities, Sir Kenelm landed on Greek islands and became engrossed in the study of archaeo­ logy. The victors had a great reception on their return after an absence of thirteen months, and Sir Kenelm " received gracious entertainment from the King and a happy welcome from all his friends." Added to all his other qualities he had proved himself to be an able naval commander. V enetia died in 163 3 and was buried in Christ Church, Newgate. Gossip held that her death was due to "viper­ wine," invented and prescribed by her husband in order that her beautiful complexion might be retained. To vindi­ cate her honour he commissioned Vandyck to paint an allegorical portrait of her after death. Ben Jonson, who was a friend, wrote several poems to her memory, and an elegy entitled "Eupheme," from which the following extract has been taken : She was in one a many parts of life ; A tender mother, a discreeter wife, A solemn mistress, and so good a friend, So charitable to religious end In all her petite actions, so devote, As her whole life was now become one note Of piety and private holiness. Sir Kenelm was inconsolable and retired to live at Gresham College, where he studied chemistry and " wore there a long mourning cloak, a high-cornered hat, his beard unshorn, looked like a hermit, as signs of sorrow for his beloved 15 wife.'' 1 The portraits of him by Vandyck before V enetia' s death depict him as a courtier in velvet and lace, those after her death as a recluse in a black gown. In 1 640 the House of Commons pressed the King to remove all Roman Catholics from his Court, Sir Kenelm being especially mentioned. Accordingly he went to live in exile in France. There he fought a duel with a French lord who had insulted the King of England's name. During the Civil War Sir Kenelm sided with the Royalists and was imprisoned. He was released in 1643, owing to the intercession of his old friend and admirer, Marie de' Medici, the Queen Mother of France. Again he retired to France, and there wrote his treatises on the " Nature of Bodies" and on the "Nature of Man's Soul." Queen Henrietta Maria sent him to plead King Charles I's cause with Pope Innocent X, but the discussion ended in a quarrel. Sir Kenelm also visited several of the Italian courts. He returned to England on the declaration of the Protectorate, and entered into negotiations with Cromwell for the re­ instatement of Roman Catholics. " A few years before his death he was nominated one of the council of the newly incorporated Royal Society, and as long as his health perrriitted, regularly attended its n1eetings and contributed several papers." 2 His writings embrace exceedingly varied subjects, in­ cluding his own Men1oirs, which were first published in 1827. He wrote treatises on philosophy and religion, observations on Sir Thomas Browne's "Religio Medici," receipts in " Physick and Chirurgery," receipts for cooking, remarks on the " Cure of Wounds by the Powder of Sympathy," and a " Discourse concerning the Vegetation of Plants." He 1 Aubrey's Letters. 2 H. M. Digby, loc. cit. discovered that oxygen was necessary to the vegetable world. Little is known of the later years of his Iife, which were mainly devoted to travelling and to study. He died on his birthday,June I 1th, 1665, at his house in Covent Garden, and was buried by the side of his wife in the vault in Christ Church, N ewgate. His epitaph 1 is as follows : Under this tomb the matchless Digby lies, Digby the great, the valiant, and the wise: This age's wonder for his noble parts, Skilled in six tongues, and learn' d in all the arts: Born on the day he died, th' eleventh of June, On which he bravely fought at Scanderoon ; 'Tis rare that one and the same day should be His day of birth, of death, and victory. He left no Digby descendants. His elder son, Kenelm, a young man of great promise, was killed fighting in the Royalist cause at the Battle of St. N eots ; his younger son had only two daughters. Sir Kenelm probably made Vandyck,s acquaintance in Florence in I 622. They became intimate friends, and there is no doubt that together they wasted time and health and money in futile researches into chemistry, alchemy and astrology.2 Vandyck painted Sir Kenelm many times, and Sir Lionel Cust thinks that the portrait inherited by my father 3 is probably the earliest. It may have been painted in Antwerp after the artist's return there from Genoa (1628), or in England earlier than 1632; that would be 1 The following version is quoted in The Works ()/ Be,z Jo,zso11, edited by W. Gifford, 1816. 2 .A11tho11y /7a11 DycA.., by Lionel Cust. 3 Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B., pp. 113 and 173. 17 C after Sir Kenelm's naval expedition and before the death of his wife. Mr. Tanner of Birmingham considers that the style of painting shows Italian influence, and is superb throughout, the cloak " being of equal quality with the rest of the picture, which is not the case with the later pictures by Vandyke." 1 When Mr. Tanner cleaned the picture in 191 1 he found that the background had been entirely repainted on account of seven holes, and that there was also a large hole in the hair. Evidently these holes had been made by shots, Royalist portraits being often fired at during the Civil War. My father also inherited a portrait believed to be of V enetia, wearing her beautiful pearls. This is an inferior picture, probably by a second-rate French artist and painted "in France, as the style of dress and background were in use by artists there earlier than in England." 2 Both portraits are in handsome contemporary carved wood frames. A bill for £30 for these two pictures, described as " Sir Kenelm Digby and Lady," was found among the Reverend William Digby's (p. 89) papers. It is dated October 20th, 1846, from T. Wright, 22 and 27 Wardour Street. It is now proposed to trace the descendants of Sir Simon Digby (d. 1519), second of the seven sons of Sir Everard Digby (p. 5), who all fought at the Battle of Bosworth for Henry VII.

XII. 2. SIR SIMON DIGBY (d. 1519). Sir Simon Digby, "seated " at Coleshill in the county of Warwick, was sheriff of Leicestershire and Warwickshire,

1 From Mr. Tanner's letter, July 21, 191 I. 2 From Mr. Tanner's letter, December 7, 1911. r8 and " having contributed mainly with his six valiant brothers to the Earl of Richmond's success at Bosworth, was rewarded after the accession of Henry VII with large grants of lands and lucrative employments." 1 He was buried at Coleshill.

XIV. 1. JOHN DIGBY (d. 1558). John Digby, grandson of Sir Simon Digby, married Anne, daughter of Sir George Throckmorton. Her mother, a daughter of Nicholas, 1st Lord Vaux, was a descendant of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault.

XV. 1. SIR GEORGE DIGBY (d. 1586). Sir George Digby, son of John and Anne Digby, was knighted at the siege of Zutphen. He had four sons, the youngest being the distinguished John, created Earl of Bristol, and the second, Robert, my father's direct ancestor. The history of Sir John, 1st Earl of Bristol, and of his descendants will be given first, and then that of Robert and his descendants.

XVI. 4. SIR JOHN DIGBY, FIRST EARL OF BRISTOL (1580-1653). Sir John Digby, created 1st Earl of Bristol, was the fourth son of Sir George Digby. He was born at Coleshill, and married Beatrix, daughter of Charles Walcot, and widow of Sir John Dyve. According to Clarendon 2 he "was a man of a grave aspect, of a presence that drew respect, and 1 Debrett's Peerage. 2 From Clarendon's History of the Rebellion in England. 19 of long experience in affairs of great importance. He had been, by the extraordinary favour of King James I to his person (for he was a very handsome man) and his parts, which were naturally great, and had been improved by a good education at home and abroad, sent ambassador into Spain before he was thirty years of age ; and afterwards in several other embassies. . . . " James recognised his ser­ vices by giving him the estate of Sherborne in Dorsetshire. Sherborne 1 had been granted to Sir Walter Raleigh in I 592 when at the height of his popularity. On his attainder it was seized by the King and bestowed on his " detestable " favourite, Carr, Earl of Somerset. On February r2th, 1610 (this date is from the Digby MS.), the King bought it from Carr for £20,000 with the intention of presenting it to his son, Prince Henry, but passed it on to Sir John Digby. Raleigh at first thought of restoring the castle, which had been in the possession of the Bishops of Salisbury, but afterwards decided to build a new house. The modern castle is built in the form of the letter H. The part represented by the horizontal stroke was built by Sir Walter Raleigh ; the two wings, represented by the perpendicular strokes, were added after the Restoration by the 2nd Earl of Bristol, who used the ashlar and other stonework of the old castle for the purpose. Out of the old castle have also been built certain additions to the modern castle, much of the stables and part of the garden walls. Sir John Digby adorned one room with the beautiful tapestry presented to him by the King of Spain. William, Prince of Orange, arrived at Sherborne Castle on November 27th, 1688, on his advance from Torquay to London, and it is said that his proclamation to the English 1 Some of the following information has been taken from a letter written to me by the Vicar of Sherborne, the Reverend S. H. Wingfield Digby, dated August 1, 1928. 20 people was printed in the drawing-room on a printing-press set up on the great hearth-stone, which was broken by it. Sir John had the sole management of the original and preliminary treaty with Spain, one of the proposals of which was that Henry Prince of Wales should marry the Infanta Anne. In 16 I I Sir John went to Madrid in great state as ambassador, and in the following year his son George was born. Three years later ( 161 5) Sir John returned to England and was 1nade Vice-Chamberlain and a member of the Privy Council. Meanwhile Prince Henry had died, but the marriage negotiations were resumed on behalf of his brother, Prince Charles, and the Infanta Maria. Sir John Digby once more returned to Madrid as ambassador. In 16 I 7 the King issued the following manifesto 1 : JAMES by the grace of God of Great Brittaine France and Ireland King defender of the fayth-etc. to all to whom these present letters shall come greeting ; whereas very lately speeches have been had betweene certaine of oure and of our most deare Brother the King of Spaines Ministers, that the better to strengthen and establish that friendship which being begun immediately from the Crowne of England hath been confirmed betweene us, Councell might be held of handling, and (the greatest God favour­ ing) of effecting a marriage betweene our most deare son Charles Prince of Great Brittaine, and the Infanta Lady Mary second daughter of the said King of Spaine, whereunto both of us have given Eare, so that now there is a great hope the same to take effect to the com on desyre, and profi tt, of eyther party if it be handled by fitt men, and persons prepared on both sides with sufficient Authority for that work : Know yee that .wee for that great Faith and Trust which we have alwayes had in the wisdom industry and experience of our trusty and well beloved Sr John 1 This is among the MSS. inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B. It is a copy, and whether in Sir John Digby's handwriting is not known. 21 Digby Knight, our Vice Chamberlaine and one of our Privy Councell, and late ordinary Ledger to us with the sayd King of Spayne, we do make constitute and ordaine him our true and undoubted Comissary, Orator Procurator and Deputy for the same, and by these present do give unto him full Power, Authority, and Commandement Generall and Speciall in our name, as also in the name of our most deare sonne Charles Prince of Great Brittaine, both with the most excellent King of Spaine our deare Brother, and Cousin ·as well in his name, as in the name and steade of the most excellent and famous Princesse the Lady Mary second Daughter of Spaine, and their Procurators, Deputyes, and Mes­ sengers having there unto sufficient Authority to communicate, appoynt, and finally conclude of and upon the Espousall by word of time to come, and of Matrimony by words of time present, betweene our said most deare sonne Charles Prince of Great Brittaine, and the sayd Infanta Lady Mary, as in :fitt times and as of Right it may be don best, firmest, most commodious, and convenient, ... Dated at our Pallace of Westminster the 16th. day of Aprill. An° Dom 1617. These marriage negotiations bristled with difficulties, and Sir John Digbywas created Earl of Bristol on September 15th, 1622, in order that he might be encouraged in his labours. Spain made many demands, stipulating that the children should receive a Catholic education, and that a Catholic church should be erected for the Infanta at the Court. To these James agreed, but still the marriage was no nearer fulfilment. It might have been possible if Charles had adopted the Roman Catholic faith, but that he refused even to contemplate. The Spanish Minister aimed at breaking off the negotiations without a quarrel, and adopted a policy of delay, insisting that the Infanta should remain in Spain for a year after her betrothal to ensure the conditions of the treaty being carried out. James hoped that Spain would 22 intervene in the war in Germany, but the King of Spain refused to take up arms against the Emperor. The Catholic League and its army, under the command of Tilly, had completed the conquest of the Palatinate, and the Elector Frederick, James' son-in-law, had fled to Holland. Spain was anxious to restore the Palatinate to Frederick's son, and wished the boy to be brought up as a Catholic at Vienna. Meanwhile, Prince Charles decided to woo the Infanta in person, and he and Buckingham appeared at Madrid, in disguise, in March 16 2 3 to claim the bride. But they made no progress in the suit, and arrived home on October 5th. Shortly afterwards negotiations were finally broken off and Lord Bristol was recalled. Prince Charles' witty and descriptive letters 1 to Lord Bristol give a vivid description of the proceedings. This first letter is undated, but it must have been written before 1622 when the negotiations had not proceeded far, and the religious difficulties were· under discussion, Charles being a Protestant and the Infanta a Roman Catholic.

DIGBY. I knowe that before this you have heard from Rome, by which you may see that if wee looke not to it in time wee may be long put off with delaies for which cause the King hath taken this course which you shall know by Goniel.2 Wee have manie causes to suspecte the worst, but we are resolute not to change our Course that you left us in untill we see a certaine event of things. There­ fore I pray you put as short an end to my marriage as you can without making us the matters of it. I have sent you my picture, but it is as most men use now a daies to give guifts, which is to have as good or better for it againe. So I expect, that you send me 1 These letters were inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B. They are copies, whether written by Lord Bristol himself is not known. 2 Probably Gondomar, the Spanish Ambassador at the English Court. 23 the Infan ta' s picture for it. So wishing you good lucke in all Your Businesses, I rest, Yr assured freind, CHARLES P. The following letter is also undated ; the Prince had apparently not yet seen his intended bride.

BRISTOL. I have founde by all yr dispatches, and espetiallie by this last which I received by Gresly so certaine signes both of the accomo­ dation of the Businesses of Germanie and of the conclusion of my marriage, that at this time I have nothing to write to you of the former, little of the last. And now because I hope certainelie without peradventure to marrie the King of Spaine's sister, I woulde gladly knowe as particularlie as I coulde of her disposition, stature, and complexion, and in this I trust your skill as being an old scoller in Cupid's scoole. Wherefore I hope in this you will give me a better accounte than I can direct you to give me. So wishing you a good and short successe in all yr Businesses. I rest, Your assured freind, CHARLES P. At this stage the negotiations for the marriage were evidently progressing favourably.

BRISTOL. This is to give you thanks for the successfull paines you have taken in all Your Businesses but espetiallie for that of my marriage. You must now teach me how to woo by bill and answere, but if it were ore tenus, I hope little teaching would serve. I mean you must send me worde when I may write to my mistresse, what presents or tokens I must send her, how often and of what sort you thinke fittest. Wee are here preparing as fast as wee can for her coming. My lord Admirall for his part is preparing shipps to fetch her (who I thinke shall goe to bring her home), and I am 24 playing the Harbinger. Now I must end as I begunn with thanks, for yr paines have deserved that and more, and I assure you, you have made good, and if it were possible increased the opinion I ever had of you. So I rest, Yr assured freind, CHARLES P. Whitehaule Jan. the 6. 1622. In this undated letter Prince Charles shows impatience at Spain's dilatory policy.

BRISTOL. I have given directions to this Bearer to acquaint you with all my intentions, therefore believe him, and knowe that experience hath taught us that lingering delayes is worse to us than a breach, which if you find they desire, embrace it the boldlier, for I assure you wee are no~ so crest fallen but that there is life enough amongst us to make good our businesses. Yet I assure you, that if an alliance with an honorable peace may be had, wee desire it farr more, therefore leave nothing undone that may bring all to a good end, but if that cannot bee, wee are prepared for the worste. So wishing you very good Successe, I rest Your freind, CHARLES P. This undated letter was evidently written after Prince Charles had been to Madrid. He is incensed at the idea of the Infanta staying on in Spain, probably in a "monasterie," after their betrothal (p. 22).

BRISTOL. You may remember that a little before I came from St. Lorenzo, I spake to you concerning a feare I had that the Infanta might be forced to goe into a Monasterye after she ys betroathed which you know she may doe as a dispensation, though at that time I was loath to presse yt because I thought it fitt at the time of my parting to eschew distates or disputes as much as I coulde, yet since considering that if I shoulde be betroathed before that doubt 25 bee remooved, and that upon ill grounded suspicions or any other cause whatsoever, they shoulde take this way to breake the marriage, the King my father, and all the worlde might justlie condemyne me for a rashheaded foole, not to foresee and prevent this in time, wherefore I thought it necessarie by this letter to command you not to deliver my Proxye to the King of Spaine untill I may have sufficient securitie both from him and the Infanta that after I am betroathed a Monasterie may not robbe me of my wife, and after yee have gotten this securitie sende with all possible speede unto me, that if I find it sufficient (as I hope I shall) I may send you order by the delivering of my Proxye to dispatch the marriage. So not doubting but that yee will punctuallye observe this com­ mand, I rest Your loving freind CHARLES P. In the next letter, written three days after his return to England, Prince Charles urges that, prior to a betrothal, Spain should state her intentions with regard to helping the Palatinate, whose Elector, Charles' brother-in-law, had had to fly from his country (p. 23).

BRISTOL. Ye letters to the King and me concerning that doubt I made after I came from St. Lorenzo hath so satisfied us both that we think it fitt no longer to sticke uppon it, but leave it to your discretion to take what securitie you shall think sufficient : The King likewise hath thought good in this interim of expectation for my mistris to give you a command to trie what the King of Spaine will do concerning the Businesse of the Palatinate before I be contracted, and his reason is (which I could not reply to) that having but two children he would be loath that one of them should havG cause to weepe when the other had reason to laugh, and I was the rather induced to yield unto it because the King may very well have a positive answere of this before Christmas, so that it will lose no time in yt businesse I desire so much. A1though this 26 bee a needlesse office, because I am sure you will understand this more amplie by the Kings owne Letters, yet I have written this that yee may knowe from me as well as from the King my father the intent of this direction wh I assure you is no way to breake the marriage, (but in this dull Interim of looking for my Mistresse) to put an end to the miseries of my sister and her children which I should have done, if I had stayed this winter. I have no more to say at this time, but bid you commend my service to my Mistris, and to assure that King I shall never forgett the favours he did me, while I was in his Courte : So farewell- y our loving freind, CHARLES P. Royston the 8th of October 1623.

BRISTOL. The false impression of the Kings and my directions concerning the not delivering of my Proxye hath made me in such hast to send away this Bearer, That by this I can only give you a command without giving anie reasons at this time, Which is not to deliver my proxie untill you heare further from the King and my selfe. Make what shifts or faire excuses you will but I command you as you will answere it uppon yr perrill not deliver my proxie till you heare further from hence. So hoping that you will obey this Command punctuallye, I rest, Your freind, CHARLES P. Whitehall the 14. of November 1623. In the following letter, the last of the series, Charles puts a limit on the time that he will wait for an answer from Spain.

BRISTOL. Yesterday I had no more time than to send you a peremptorie command leaving the reasons for this daie, the which you will find 27 as large in Mr. Secretarie Conwaye' s dispatch, but because I see you have neede of paraphrase uppon the Text, I have thought fitt to write you this letter. My fathers meaning and mine is, That fifteene days after the receipt of theise you shall presse with all faire means to have a speedie answere, and if yee gett none in that tyme, at the 15-dayes end, yee shall tell them that if wthin five days yee get not an answere, yee must accounte that delay as ill as a deniall, and if at those five dayes end yee get no answere, then yee shall take your leave, and come away and leave Walter Aston behind you, in that forme as Conway hath sett downe to you. So that if within twentie dayes ye gett no answere, ye must take your Leave and breake off the Treatie sending my father worde with all possible speede. But whatsoever answere yee gett yee must not deliver the Proxye till yee make my father, and me Judge of it. As for the whole Businesse ye must deale freelie with them, in as civill tearmes as yee will, That except yt King will promise some way underhand to helpe my father with his Armes (in case mediation faile) to restore my brother in law to his honours and inheritances, there can neither be marriadge nor friendshipp. And as to the breeding up my nephew in the Emperors Court avoyd it as handsomely as yee can, but I assure you it shall never bee, and if they will do all my father desires, they may not onlie bee sure of an alliance, but of a hartie sincere friendshipp. Make no replyes, suffer no delayes, and then I rest, Your freinde, CHARLES P. Whitehall the 2 5. of November I 62 3.

The importance of Lord Bristol's task had aroused the jealousy of the Duke of Buckingham, and when the latter went to Spain with Prince Charles he repeatedly quarrelled with the Earl. On one occasion Buckingham was travelling in the second carriage of the King of Spain's procession when he discovered that the Earl of Bristol was in the first, and he was so hurt and angry that the procession had to be stopped and the wrong remedied. 28 After the breakdown of the treaty James recalled his Ambassador, not because, as Buckingham declared, he was dissatisfied with the Earl, but because he wanted someone to help him against the increasing strength and power of Buckingham. Once home, however, Buckingham, using the weakness of the King and his own influence, managed to get the Earl of Bristol committed to the Tower ( 1 6 24) for a short time on a charge of treason. It was during his father's imprisonment that George Digby made his first appearance in public. At the early age of twelve he was sent with a petition to the House of Commons on his father's behalf, which he delivered at the bar of the House, accompanying it with a short speech of his own. The confidence with which he spoke, combi~ed with his tender years and pleasing appearance, made a good impression on the members.1 Lord Bristol was released but forbidden to take part in public life. Soon after his dismissal he became seriously ill. His cousin, Sir Kenelm Digby, had an interview with the King,2 Buckingham being safely away in France, in order to obtain from him his unbiassed view with regard to Lord Bristol's failure in Spain. After seeing the King, Sir Kenelm wrote the following letter 3 to Lord Bristol.

MAY IT PLEASE YoR Lop As soon as I came to ye Towne I went to my Lod Chamberlaine and saide unto him what yor LoP bade me : he expressed much feeling of yor Lops sicknes and made a seriouse protestation and profession of his faith and friendship to yor LoP and that yf God should please to call you, he would continew it to yor sonne. The

1 Sir Kenelm Digby and George Digby, Earl of Bristol, by H. M. Digby. 2 Charles I: James I had died in March 162 5. 3 A copy of this letter was found among the papers inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B. next morning (to day) he brought me to the King whoe gave me a gratiouse and full Audience and I delivered to his Matie the Message that you gave me, as effectually as I could to draw from him some Testimony of his affection towards yor LoP. And truely my lord he did receive the newes of yor ill state wth much tender­ ness and asked me many particulars how you were, and bade me hasten to lett yor LoP know he was very sorry for yor sickness. And protested in the deepest manner that might be that he hadd no personall displeasure or grudge, (These were his words), against yor LoP, but that he held you to be an honest and sufficient man and one that loved him and had endeavoured his service really and should be gladd of any good that arrived to you : And in the other point Concerninge your buisenes he would not have yor LoP conceive that he thinketh you to be a Delinquent and to have offended in any matter of honesty or not performance of what was coffi.aunded you, for if that had beene then this course yt hath beene should not have been used wth you but you should have been committed to the Tower and brought to a publique tryall, but the true cause why yor LoP is thus in suspense and removed from the Court is because yor LoP in the Treaty of ye Spanish match, (he thinketh was soe desirous of it and soe passionate for it as he confesseth himself was alsoe after he hadd seene the Lady), that you trusted more to ye Spanish Ministers and theire promises than was fitting in Discretion. And although yr LoP on the other side carried it soe Judiciously that you can be taxed for nothing in publique Court, but can J ustifie yrself yet between him and you he doubteth not, but yor LoP will acknowledg you were too forward and Confident in it wch if yor LoP doe lyve and doe make acknow­ ledgment of unto him you shall then wthout more adoe kiss his hands and lyve in peace wth honor, and in the mean tyme he would have yor LoP believe he hath a good opinion of you and loveth you and will be glad to heare of yor recoverye. Then of himself he sayde that peradventure yor LoP might suspect that yor freeness with him might prejudice you : for he sayde you had been as free with him as ever any man had been, but he protested upon his death and Salvation that he never coifiunicated to any body any­ thing that yor LoP ever spoke to him in that way of freeness and 30 privacye : and for what concerned himself he was soe far from taking it in evil part that were it for nothing els he were obliged to love you for yor honesty : And he ever dealed plainely and truely wth yor LoP : Therefore whatsoever he at any tyme sayde unto you_ you may be confident was from his heart, and he approoved of all you ever saide to him but onely once wch he never had told to any one but to me then, and you would remember it by these tokens : yor LoP shewed him a little before his goeing out of Spayne a Letter wherein you writt of the Duke of Buckingham wch he misliked and told yor LoP you expressed much spleen against the Duke and therefore would have you alter it. The letter you sent away wthout first shewing it unto him but when he returned into England he saw it and found you had altered it much after the manner that he bade you. His Matie also told me yt though you much desired the match yet he thinketh you did not Labour soe effectually as you might have done to effect what he soe extreamely desired wch was to have the lnfanta then along wth him. And whilest the Duke and Conde de Alinares were good frends and you were fallen out wth the Conde, (wch hee sayde was indeed for being an honest man to him), you were very cold in solliciting that particular but that as soone as the Conde and Duke were fallen out, (wch was not personall betwixt them but caused by yr buisenes and for his Maties Service), yr LdP was instantly frends with the Conde wthout recapitulating any buiseness of the quarrell, or receiving satisfaction for the wrong he had done you, wherein his Matie sayth he discovered much yll will in you to the Duke and an aptness in you to be over confident in the Spaniards when theire promises concurred wth your desires. The sum and conclusion of his Maties discourse was that personally he hath a very good affection to your LoP, And the Error wch he conceiveth to be comitted by you is such that the least acknowledgment shall expiate it, and then you shall have his favour againe as before. I hope this relation will bring much content unto yor LoP espetially I telling you that the King seemed to me to speake it very affectionately and much resenting yor sickness wch I pray God soone to free you of, that you may in due tyme take notice to his Matie of what I write to yor LoP as you 31 shall thinke fitt. And for wch remembraunce of my humble service to yor LoP I rest, Yor Lops most faithfull servant, KENELHME DIGBY. London 27th of May I 62 5. Lord Bristol retired to Dorsetshire and devoted himself to beautifying the castle of Sherborne. It became a resort of learned men, and " everyone who was discontented, who had suffered under James from the insolence of Buckingham, and under Charles from the tyranny of Strafford, made his way to Lord Bristol's house for advice or assistance.... " 1 During the reign of Charles I the Earl of Bristol was high in the royal favour. In I 640 he was one of the King's commissioners to draw up a treaty with the Scotch at Ripon, which the King had been forced to ask for before a blow had been struck on either side. Two years later he was one of the two peers who signed a declaration that Charles had no wish or intention to go to war. This document was really a defence of Charles, a forecast of their own future conduct, and a declaration of their faith in the King and of their loyalty to the Crown. At the opening of the war the name of the Earl of Bristol was included in the list of those men with whom Parliament could make no peace on any terms whatsoever. In January 164 3 Parliament sent a petition to Charles, who was at Oxford, which was read to him by the Duke of Northumberland. Among the propositions and requests was one requ1r1ng : That the Earl of Bristol may be removed from your Majesty's councils ; and that both he, and the Lord Herbert, eldest son to the Earl of Worcester, may likewise be restrained from coming

1 George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, by Dorothea Townshend. 32 within the verge of the Court ; and that they may not bear any office, or have any employment concerning state or commonwealth. After the execution of Charles I the young King joined his mother in Paris. He did not regard his father's friends with favour and dismissed the wise old statesman, Lord Bristol, and his colleagues from the Council. They went into honourable retirement abroad. To quote Lord Bristol's own words, he " found himself laid aside in point of affairs, and secluded from the council." In France he relieved his loneliness by writing poetry. His last sad little verses were set to music by Henry Lawes : Grieve not, dear love, although we often part, But know that nature gently doth us sever, Thereby to train us up with tender art To brook the day when we must part for ever. For nature, doubting we should be surprised By that sad day whose dread doth chiefly fear us, Doth keep us dayly schooled and exercised, Lest that the fight thereof should overbear us. He died in Paris and was buried in an English cemetery, formerly a cabbage garden, which the Ambassador, Sir Richard Browne, had bought for Protestants. Thus, in exile, died a man of " great parts," of wisdom and of integrity.

XVII. (1). GEORGE DIGBY, K.G., SECOND EARL OF BRISTO.L (1612-76). The character of the attractive, impetuous, unreliable, brave George Digby has been aptly described by Horace Walpole. 33 D A singular person whose life ,vas one contradiction. He wrote against poetry and embraced it ; he was a zealous opponent of the Court and a sacrifice for it ; was conscientiously converted in the midst of his prosecution of Lord Strafford and was most unconscientiously a persecutor of Lord Clarendon. With great parts he always hurt himself and his friends ; with romantic bravery he was always an unsuccessful commander. He spoke for the Test Act though a Roman Catholic, and addicted himself to astrology on the birthday of true philosophy.

And further, to quote from a book 1 fron1 which these notes are largely taken : Faults and follies Digby had in plenty, and when dowered with audacity, beauty, wealth, wit, and position, it would have been strange if he had not turned his own head from time to time ; ... One gift fortune gave him that never failed him, an elasticity of spirits that refused to be crushed. When one plan failed he was always ready with another. When one country proved to be inhospitable, he turned to another and discovered that he was very lucky to have been obliged to move; even when royal.favour was lost he made himself very happy in retirement translating Spanish plays.

George Digby was born at Madrid during his father's first term of office as Ambassador, and received a Spanish education during the early years of his boyhood. He returned to England with his parents and, when his father was imprisoned in the Tower, petitioned for him at the age of twelve before the House of Commons (p. 29). At four­ teen he went to Magdalen College, Oxford. The next few years were spent at his beautiful home, Sherborne, where he studied and conversed with his father's friends. He

1 George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, by Dorothea Townshend. 34 married "into a family that shared in Lord Bristol's dignified disapproval of the tyrannies and follies of the Stuart regime. Lady Anne Russell was daughter of the great Earl of Bedford who undertook the scheme of draining the fens known as the Bedford Level. ..." 1 George started his political career as member for Dorset and sat in both the " Short " and the " Long " Parliaments. He took an active part in the remonstrance against ship­ money, monopolies, and other abuses, and was one of the seven members commissioned to draw up terms of accusation against the Earl of Strafford. Here is an instance of his inconsistent attitude : he began by calling Strafford " the Grand Apostate to the Commonwealth,'' and ended by advocating his_ pardon.2 Gradually he found that he was no longer in sympathy with his Parliamentary colleagues, and that the party of the Court held more attractions for him than that of Pym and Hampden. It was therefore a great relief to all when he went to the House of Lords as Baron Digby ( 1641 ). He became a strong partisan of the King, and persuaded Falkland, Hyde and Culpepper to join with him in supporting the royal cause. Falkland agreed to be Secretary of State on the understanding that Hyde would help him ; Culpepper was Chancellor. So happy was Lord Digby made by this arrangement that it is said that "he did very frequently upon conference together depart from his own inclinations and opinions and concurred in theirs, . . . " Lord Digby took to arms and commanded four hundred horse at the Battle of Edgehill. The story of the battle is well known : "how Rupert's magnificent charge swept away

1 Townshend, foe. cit. 2 In the House of Commons (1722) reference was made to George Digby's upright conduct at the trial of Lord Strafford (p. 69). 35 the Roundheads; how Digby, who should have been holding back his men as a reserve, for got his part and dashed on with the rest of the horse, leaving the infantry so un­ supported that the Parliamentary horse rode through and through them. By evening the commanders of either side believed themselves defeated ; Essex drew off his forces, and the King was at least left master of the field of battle.'' 1 Rupert, accompanied by Lord Digby, went north to besiege Lichfield, and cautiously procured colliers from Cannock Chase to drain the moat and to mine the walls, but the ever-impetuous Lord Digby jumped his horse over the moat and thus took his cavalry in steeplechase fashion into the city, from whence they were rescued with difficulty. On the death of Falkland ( I 64 3) Lord Dig by was made Secretary of State. The blame for the defeat at Marston Moor was probably unfairly attributed to him. The letter giving directions to Prince Rupert may have been in his handwriting, but the contents had undoubtedly been dis­ cussed by the King and his Council. The next events are related by Lord Digby himself in detailed letters to Secretary Sir Edward Nicholas, and to Sir Edward Hyde. These letters are of exceeding interest,. not only on account of the light that they throw on the extraordinary happenings in Ireland, but also for the glimpses that they give into the character of the writer. In order to make their matter clear, the following preliminary sketch . . 1s given. At the Battle of N aseby, fought on June 14th, I 645, the royal army was practically annihilated by Fairfax and Cromwell, but the culminating blow was the surrender of 1 Townshend, loc. cit. 36 the city of Bristol to the Parliamentarians. The unhappy King knew not where to turn. Digby urged him to go to Newark, where he would be safe from the Parliamentary forces and f rorn the influence of his nephews, Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice. At Newark they heard that the Princes were speeding on horseback to force an interview with the King. To avoid them Lord Digby persuaded the King to march northwards, and they spent one night at W elbeck Abbey, then belonging to the Duke of Newcastle. There, came the news that Montrose had been defeated at Philip­ haugh and was retreating to the north. The King decided that there was nothing now to be gained in going north himself, but ordered Sir Marmaduke Langdale to try to establish co~munications with Montrose. Langdale refused to comply " unless Lord Digby accompanied him as Com­ mander-in-Chief." Digby, therefore, became a General, and never saw the King again. He and Langdale marched north with fifteen hundred horse, but they were soon routed by Copley. Clarendon writes: " So this 1 500 horse within a very few days were brought to nothing and the generalship of Lord Digby was at an end. The greatest misfortune that befel that noble person usually fell out in a conjunction when he h3.i near attained to what he could wish." Most disastrous of all, Lord Digby's cabinet of papers, said to contain sixty cyphers dealing with the King's negotiations and plans, fell into the hands of the Parliamen­ tarians. Lord Digby and Langdale pushed on to Dumfries, where their men deserted wholesale on October 24th, 1645. The two leaders were obliged to leave Scotland and sailed for the Isle of Man, en route for Ireland. Meanwhile, the King, realising that he must get help from elsewhere, had sent Henry Son1erset, Lord Herbert, 37 lately created Earl of Glamorgan, to negotiate with the Irish Catholic army. Glamorgan reached Dublin in July 1645. " Happily for Ormonde, Glamorgan was quickly followed by Digby, so the harassed Lord-Lieutenant was not left alone to cope with the King's mysterious envoy. Although Glamorgan was known to have special powers, Digby's position as Secretary of State authorised him to speak actually in the King's name, and so to share the responsibilities of Ormonde." 1 Glamorgan, ignoring Ormonde and Digby, drew up a treaty with the Irish in which equal rights with Protestants were granted to Catholics. The Irish were as anxious as the Royalists to regain Chester, for it was the most important port for Irish trade. They, therefore, agreed to give Glamorgan 3000 men, and he only needed transports to convey these troops to England. Glamorgan hastened to Dublin to confer with Ormonde, but unhappily _for him a copy of the treaty had already reached Dublin, which had been found in the pocket of a Roman Catholic divine killed in a skj.rmish. On December 6th the Privy Council was summoned, Glamorgan was arrested, and Lord Digby im­ petuously accused him of high treason. Glamorgan's defence was that he had only done that for which he had sufficient warrant. The King openly disowned his unlucky envoy, but privately wrote to him : " I must clearly tell you, both you and I have been abused in this business, for you have been drawn to consent to conditions much beyond your instructions. . . . If you had advised with my Lord Lieu­ tenant, as you promised me, all this had been helped." In this extraordinary confusion the blame finally fell upon Lord Digby. 1 Townshend, loc. cit. 38 After this slight introduction Lord Digby's two letters 1 are given in full.

To Sir Edward Hyde, Chancellor of the Exchequer. MY DEAR CHANCELLOR, I seize wth joy this occasion yt flatters me with ye hopes of conveighing safe unto you, and by you unto ye rest of my friends there, an account of my Adventures, since you heard from me. These inclos' d papers will give you a very particular Relation of all matters of Fact. I make no Question but my unsuccessfulness in yt employmt will give occasion to my enimies to accuse me of a great disservice to ye King in having been ye loss of so many of his Horse, not in ye conduct of them (for I apprehend not malice itself in yt point) but in putting them upon so desperate a designe. This point I desire you to cleere, by letting all wth whome you shall finde ye objection know, that although I was of opinion, yt ye Kg. himself ought to have ventur'd when he was at Welbeck, ye passage into Scotland, in case there had been a certainty of my Ld. of Mountrosses being on this side of Forth, yet when yt was over diverted upon both my intelligence and advice, I had afterwd ye least share of any man in ye Councell of adventuring any pt of ye Kgs. horse upon so hopeless a designe, as yt of Scotland was, while we were doubtfull of my Ld of Mountrosse's condition ; But ye Northerne Horse being disgusted wth Gerrard, refus'd absolutely to march southwd to W el beck, and so rather than they should disband, it was thought fit to try whether they would be engag'd to adventure to Mountross, who in all his letters had seem'd much to resent ye neglect of him in not sending him a supply of Horse, assuring, That wth ye help but of 1000 he could carry through the work. The proposition being made to Sr Marmaduke Langdale, he at first point refus' d it as an undertaking wch had by Gerrard and all ye rest been declar' d desperate, even wth all ye Kg's Horse, but upon second thoughts, finding yt all

1 Copies of these letters were inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B., whether made by Lord Digby himself is not known. 39 his Horse would disband if they were drawne Southward, He and all ye Northern Gentlemen came to ye Kg. and told him, That if he wd lay his comand upon me to take the charge and to go along with them they would adventure it, otherwise not. Whereupon I having declar'd my obedience to whatsoever ye King should impose upon me, His Majesty commanded me positively to yt charge using besides his pleasure this argumt to me, That if I succeeded in it I sh'd reap much honour, If not I could incurr no prejudice by failing in that wch was at first given for desperate, and so at half an hour's warning, having (I protest to God) not dreamt of ye matter before, I march' d off from ye Rondevouz, wth an addition only of ye Northerne Horse, of such as wd vol­ untarily chuse to go wth me, wch prov'd to be a mattr of 300, wth wch I made yt progress wch you will find related in ye inclos'd papers, but here I am sure you will wonder, how I, holding ye place I did near ye Kg, and having ye honour of so great a p• in his Trusts, especially at a time, wn he had scarce Councellor or Penman about him, shd be put upon so extravagant and desperate an Emploimt. To this I must let you know, and such only as you should think :fit, That though I had no thought of ye present action, yet ye Kg and I had long before, (that is ever since his affairs were made so desperate by ye loss of Bristol), concluded it most for his service, yt I shd absent myself from him for some time, in case I could find a fair and honourable pretence for it, I believe ye accidents since befall'n at Newarke wth Prince Rupert and Gerrard, will have given you a light of some reasons of my Remove. The Truth-[here follow many lines of characters]-Over and above these urging reasons as to ye time, upon ye maine of ye Kg's condition and mine, I found the King likely to suffer much by my stay neere him, the weariness of ye war being so universall, and the dispaire of any improvemt in his condition being so great in all about him, I find it almost ev'ry man's opinion-[here come in more lines of characters]. I thought it then high time to watch an opportunity of freeing his Majesty from an attendant so pernicious to his honour and interest, And this my dearest friend is as much as I think necessary to say to you upon this subject, hoping yt by your dextrous con- 40 veyance of it to his highness the Prince of Wales, it will have the impression wth him, wch I cannot doubt of wth you. Since my coming out of England I stay'd a month for a winde at ye Isle of Man, wch time I cannot think mispent, having there receiv'd great civilitys from my Ld of Derby, and had ye means of a particular acquaintance wth his noble Lady, whome I think one of ye wisest and generous best persons that I have known of her sex, from whence I and my company were very securely convey'd hither in a light frigate of his LordsP5, where I found all things in a great forwardness, ye conclusion of wch was expected wthin a few days, and great Forces (as was pretended) already in a readiness for England undr ye command of ye Earle of Glamorgan ye con­ federate great General and Favourite. But his Ldsp being sent for by my Ld Leiutennt and my self to confer abt ye ways of disposing those aids, most to ye advantage of his Majesty's service, The Businesses conteyn'd in ye inclos'd Papers broke forth, in such manner as you will find there set downe, and oblig'd me to yt pt in ye Kgs vindication wch was thought could not be so properly perform'd by any as my selfe, you will find the whole business so fully stated in the Transactions themselves wch I send you, and in my Letter to my Brother Secretary, yt I shall need to say no more upon this subject, only let me aske you, whether according to ye Rules of Policy, I have not carried my body swimmingly, who being before soe irreconcilably hated by ye Puritan party have thus seasonably made my self as odious wth ye Papists. Well my comfort is, yt the very few honest men yt are in ye world will love me ye better, and whilst I do ye part of a man of integrity and honour, I am willing to trust God wth ye rest. I must not conclude wthout telling you, that had I been brought hither by far greater misfortunes, I could not have repyn'd at anything yt had given me ye happiness of so particular a knowledge of, and friendship wth, ye Marquess of Ormond who, (if I can judge at all of men), is not only ye wisest young man, but ye most steady, generous, and vertuous person yt ever I have known. I conjure you as you love vertue, and as you love me, who have so little a share of it, build carefully, by diligent application upon these grounds wch I have laid for a friendship betweene you, for indeede I love him so much, as I cannot be at 41 rest till we make up ye Triangle equall to all Sides, to yt perfection wherewith I am, Yours, DIGBY. Dublin Jan. 4th. 1645/6. Pray faile not to let my father partake of what I write to you, and General Goring also, as far forth as you shall judge necessary.

To Secretary Nicholas.

MY GOOD BROTHER, You will receive by ys dispatch a particular account from my Ld. Leiutt of ye State of ye Treaty here, and of these conditions upon whch he was hopeful suddainely to have concluded such a Peace as would have afforded his Matie powerfull and timely ayde from this Kingdome, had not ye unfortunate madness, (for I can give it no other name), of my Lord of Glamorgan, and ye necessary proceedings thereupon, cast all things back into a posture as uncertaine and more dangerous than ever. You will receive from my Lord Leiutennant, and the Councell here, a punctual relation of ye matter of fact, and it is referr' d to me to convey unto you, and by you to his Majty, ye circumstances and ye reasons of ye whole proceeding against his LordP-About ten days since, matters of ye Treaty growing neere to a conclusion, and in confidence thereof preparations being made by my Ld of Glamorgan and ye Irish (as they assur'd us) for ye speedy sending over of 3000 men for ye releife of Chester, wch were to be made up 10,000 before the beginning of March, It was thought necessary, that we should confer wth the sd E: of Glamorgan, and some Irish Commrs to ye end that before my Lord Leiutts final consent to ye Articles of the Treaty, ye business of the King's supply might be reduc'd from discourse to a certainty, and directed in ye most advantagious way for his service, to wch end, (we little suspecting then wt was since discovered), ye sd Earl of Glamorgan and some of ye Irish Commers then at Kilkenny were earnestly invited hither, both by Ld Leiutt and my self. Upon Munday last ye day before ye sd Earl of Glamorgan was expected in town, my Ld L~iutt receiv' d 42 out of ye North, from an honest and well effected person, The Copy wh is sent you of my Ld of Glamorgan's Articles, and oath, wch ye confederate Catholics assur' d to have been found in ye titular Archbishop of Tuam's pocket, killed in October last at Sligo. At first ye thing appear' d so impossible as yt we were apt to think it a forgery and plot against ye Kg. of ye Parliamentary Rebels, till considering ye circumstances, formalietys and punctualitys thereof, we grew to apprehend somewt more in the matter ; and soone after a secound and third coppy of ye same coming to other persons, all wth letters to the effect of y5 inclos'd, it was then thought high time, to take the business into most serious con­ sideration, which being done by my Ld Leiutt and my self, assisted by some of ye wisest and best effected persons here, we soon concluded, that if these things were once publish' d, and that they could be believ' d to be done by his Majtys authority, they could have no less fatal an effect than to make all men soe believing, conclude all ye former scandalls cast upon his Majty, of inciting ye Irish Rebellion true ; that he was a Papist, and design'd to introduce popery, even by ways the most unkingly and perfidious, and consequently, that there would be a general Revolt from him of all good protestants, wth this opinion could take place. Now when we consider'd the circumstances convincing ye truth of y5 transaction on my 1.,d of Glamorgan's pt, and how impossible almost it was for any man to be so mad, as to enter into such an agreement wthout powers from his Majty, and there being some kind of a formal Authority in ye Articles them­ selves, we did also conclude, that probably the greatest pt of ye World, who had no other knowledge of his Majty, than by outward appearance would believe this true, and do according to that beliefe, unless his Majesty were suddainly and eminently vindicated, by those who might justly pretend to know him best. Upon this ground it was also concluded by us, That less than an Arrest of ye Earle of Glamorgan upon suspition of high Treason could not be a vindication of his Majesty eminent or loude enough, and yt ys pt could not properly nor effectually be performed by any other person than myself, both in reguard of my place and trust neere his Majesty ; that ye business of Ireland has pass' d for ye most part 43 through my hands, That I attended his Majty about ye time of ye date of his Majtys pretended comd : That since yt tyme I had by his Majtys Command written to the Irish Commissioners a letter, whereof I send you a coppy, so diametrically opposite to the sd Earl's Transactions ; And lastly in reguard that my Ld Leiutt, to whom otherwise his Majestys vindication in this kind might properly have belonged, was generaly thought to be unworthily convened and abus' d in the matter, in case there were any such Secret Authority given by his Majty to ye Earle of Glamorgan. This being our unanimous judgemt of what was fit to be done and by whome, ye only Question then remaining, was to the point of tyme, in wch we were also of opinion, That if it were deferred till ye business growing publick, other ways should begin to work its mischiefe, his Majesty's vindication would lose much of its force, and be thought rather apply' d to ye notoriety than to ye impiety of ye thing, and rather to the pernicious effects than to ye detestable course it self: Notwithstanding I must confess unto you, that the consideration of frustrating the supplys of 3000 men wch were so confidently assur' d to be in readiness for ye releife of Chester, in case ye condition of yt place could not beare the delay wch ys might occasion, wrought in us a very great suspention of Judgement, whether the proceedings against my Ld of Glamorgan should not be forborne, till that so necessary supply were sent away, but the case being more strictly examin'd we found first, That by the Ld of Glamorgan's oath, ye Forces were not to be hazarded till his Majesty's performance of ye sd Earl's conditions. And 21Y that ye sd supply was never intended by my Ld of Glamorgan and the Irish, till ye Articles of peace were consented too, wch ye Ld Leiutt durst in no wise doe, wthout a preceeding vindication of ye Kg's Honour, since this Transaction of my Ld of Glamorgan, was known unto him, and known to be known unto him, by those who wanted neither Art nor Malice to make use of it ; so that ye necessary forbearance to conclude the Treaty, frustrating as much the releife of Chester, as ye suddaine and vigorous proceeding agst my Ld of Glamorgan could doe, our Resolution did in the end determine upon yt course ; wn at ye instant to remove all obstruc­ tions, Information was brought us, yt ye thing was already publick 44 through ye Toune, and began to worke such dangerous effects, as in truth I doe not believe, yt my Ld Leiutt, or any of ye Kgs faithfull servants, could have been many hours safe in ye delay of His Majesty's and their vindication which hath been now so seasonably apply' d, as that it hath wrought here, not only a general satisfaction in all moderate Men, but even such a conversion in many less well inclin'd, That whereas before a Peace wth the Irish even upon those unavoydable conditions upon wch my Ld Leitent must needs wthin few days have concluded, it would hardly have been publish'd in ys place wthout much danger. Men's minds are so secur'd and settl'd by this proceeding, as yt I believe ye Peace now would be embrac'd upon those, and perhaps upon harder Terms, wthout much mutiny or repynning. This being so, our chief remaining fear is lest wt hath been done against my Ld of Glamor­ gan, should so far incense ye Irish, as to drive them to S"Qddaine extreames. Things here on his Majesty's part, being in so ill a condition to enter again upon a war, unto this danger, ye best preventives we could think of are apply' d, this inclos' d letter written to my Ld of Mus Kerry by my Ld Leiutent apt persons imployed to Kilkenny, to acquaint them with ye reasons and necessity of this proceeding, And lastly ye Articles of Peace sent unto them wth my Lord Leiutts assent in ye very Terms propos'd and acquiessed in by themselves, is ye last Result of this long Treaty, wch in all probability will have one of yse two effects ; either to make them conclude a peace, (notwthstanding ys inter­ rupting accident), whereby Chester may be speedily releiv'd, and his Majesty further supply' d this spring, or make it breake so forcibly on their Side, as to divide from them the most considerable of their party ; Whatever ye event be, my Ld Leiutent and I shall comfort our selves wth this satisfaction, that we have done wt belonged to Men of Honour, faithfull to ye King, and to their religion, and as wisely as our's, and our friends' best understandings could direct us, leaving the rest to God Almighty, whome we beseech to direct his Majesty to that course herein on his part, wch may be correspondent to our faithfull endeavours, And that he will bless them upon ye minds of all honest men toward his Majesty's vindication in ye Kingdom, as I make no doubt but wt 45 we have done will have in this, wn seconded and pursued by those further directions from his Majesty, wch I am sure his owne wisdome and Princely Indignation to finde his honour, Conscience, and Piety thus infamously traduce'd will dictate to him, wthout further advice from G. DIGBY. Dublin, Jan. 4. 1645/6.

Lord Digby's next plan for arousing enthusiasm in the royal cause was to bring the Prince of Wales, a boy of sixteen, to Ireland. Accordingly he sailed for Sicily to find that the Prince had left for Jersey, whence he followed him. So comfortable were his quarters that the Prince refused to go to Ireland without his mother's conse·nt. Lord Digby had serious plans for kidnapping the boy, but was restrained ; and, instead, decided to go on to France to beg for help from Queen Henrietta Maria. Characteristically he went off "leaving ships, soldiers, and persons of quality from Ireland without a penny to subsist on during his absence ! " 1 His mission proved unsuccessful, the Prince went to France, and Lord Digby once more landed in Ireland in July I 646. But events there grew very serious for the Royalist cause : estates were being gradually handed over to the Parliamen­ tary party, the King's friends were leaving the country, and on the surrender of Dublin, Ormonde himself sailed for England. Lord Digby embarked in a little open boat of eight tons and sailed for Caen, where he found his father, Lord Bristol, and many other English exiles. There, as Hyde relates, he spent his time agreeably in a number of quarrels about what had happened in England, " which he was always ready to answer sword in hand." 1 One of his first duels was with Lord Wilmot. The antagonism between

1 Townshend, loc. cit. 46 these two men was not new. Daniel O'Neill, the last of the chiefs of South Clandeboye, wrote in I 644 to Ormonde from Boconnock, that his best friends, Wilmot and Digby, had fall en out :

I found my Lord Wilmot (whom I conceive most in the wrong) most averse to a reconcilement. While I was contriving other ways to bring him about, he endeavours to render my Lord Digby odious to the army and indeed to all honest people by accusing him of dissuading the King from any thoughts of peace or agreement with his people. My Lord Digby seeing he could not work him to friendship endeavoured to remove him from his power and therefore accused him to His Majesty of those things in the charge I send, whereon His Majesty caused him to be arrested the same day we came hither, in the face of all the army, which so incensed the army that they presently petitioned his Majesty. Two friends I have lost, for my Lord Digby hath so much malice upon him that I see clearly he cannot long stand after the other.

Wilmot went to France to wait upon the Queen, who was desired by the King to receive him well. The following letter,1 written by an attendant of Lord Digby to Lord Digby's sister, probably to Abigail, Countess of Donegal, refers to a proposed duel between Prince Rupert and Lord Digby, and describes that which took place between the latter and Lord Wilmot.

Paris, Octob. J_ 1647. 15 MADAME, I conceive nothing can bee more welcome to yor La. than an account of yr brother my honored Lord since his leaving Ireland ; and although I easily imagine yor la. may have heard of what hath

1 The original letter was inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G .C.B. 47 past here since his landing, yet I esteem it my duty to giev yor La. a true though briefe account of it. Necessitie having compeld his Lordshipp to leave Ireland in a little open boat, hee was tost ten dayes at sea and three thereof violently stormy, insomuch that though it was a great miracle his LoPP escaped the danger of being cast away, it was, in my opinion, as great a one hee had not perished by being so longe wett by the sea, that came pepetuallie over them all in the boate, and from wch all the fence they had was their cloakes, yet God bee thanked hee is at present in very good health. The next morning after his LoP came to St. Germyns hee received a challenge from Prince Rupert, but as he was goeing to the place where they were to meete, some of the Queene's guards seized upon my lord and his company and carried them back to the Courte by the Queen's speciall comand who suspecting something of that nature had gott to watch my lord, att the same tyme the Prince of Wales being a hunting that morninge found Prince Rupert and his company in the forrest and suspecting the matter brought them allsoe to Court. So as the businesse was made publike, the Queene used all meanes to reconcile them, and referred the matter to some Lords, who inquiring Prince Rupert's quarrell found it some forged worde which his highness was enformed my lord should say of him much to his dishonour, wch proving a mistake, perfect reconcilliation was made before the Queene and Prince of Wales, much to both their honoure and satisfaction. I had forgot to tell yor La. that upon the way from Clobon (?) to St. Germyns my lord received a challenge from my Lord Willmott, upon the same quarrell that hee had a year since when by the Queene's com.and and both their consentes they were reconciled, this was brought by Mr Dainsford who did post to meet my lord, and my Lord Willmott following in a coach in such a manner as all my lords Company presently suspected the business, in so much that my lord desired of my Lord Willmott to suspend the meeting for some feive days, till the suspicion allready begott by his company were taken away, that they might not expose theire honoure to scorne by any interruption, accordinglie the tyme was agreed on. 48 In the interim, what I have related of Prince Rupert happened. After wh my Ld Willmott grew very impatient of delay, using such provoking termes to my Lord, as his LoPP told him, if hee would beare the dishonour in case of an interruption hee would wayte on him presently, otherwyse hee would meete him wthin four dayes, where they neede not feare that, it being the soonest hee could possibly gett from Court unsuspected of the designe. The next day but one after Prince Rupert's and his Lordshippes reconciliation being Munday my Lord went to Paris, and on Wednesday morning (according to his promise) met my Lord Willmott neare a house of the Kings called Madrid, a league from Paris, my Lord Willmott havinge my Lord Wentworth and Mr Dainsford for his seconds, and my Lord, Mr Daniell [name illegible], and Mr John Digby, Sr Kenelm's sunn, immediately after the French fashion they all six fell to it and Mr Digby having disarmed Mr Dainsford, went to part my Lord, and my Lord Willmott, who had newly received a cutt in his sword hand, so that hee was faine to use both, at the same tyme Mr [ name illegible] was on topp of my Lord Wentworth, so having all three gott the better of their adversaries they parted, my Ld Willmotts slight hurt being all that was given. That day they all went to St. Germyns, but not together, where I imagine that quarrell was made an end of the second tyme. His Lordshipp is now gone after all his hard fortunes and encounters to the French Court to Fontaigneblau wth much honour, and where it is thought hee will bee nobly received, this Madame is a true account allthough I have kept out many particulars as not very material, & wch would add much to the tediousness of this relation, from Madame . Y or La: most obedient and most faithfull humble servant [Name erased] Whilst at Paris Lord Digby raised a troop of horse com­ posed of English exiles, but they soon became impatient when he failed to fulfil his grandiose promises, and conse­ quently were disbanded by common consent. "He displayed 49 E on his banner his own crest-an ostrich holding a horseshoe in its mouth, under which was written 'ferro vivendum est tibi quid Praestantia Plumae,' which allusion to the supposed predilection of ostriches to iron as an article of diet, he used as a simile to illustrate the fact that he henceforth depended upon his sword instead of his pen for his subsistence." 1 On the death of Charles I Lord Digby, in a beautifully worded letter, expressed his loyalty to the young King, and offered his services ; these were received with coldness and with an intimation that the King did not wish to concern himself with his father's friends. Lord Digby then trans­ ferred his patronage to the King of France, and became a great favourite of the Queen, and even had hopes of be­ coming Prime Minister. Indiscreet remarks that he had made about Mazarin were, howev·er, repeated to the Cardinal,. which caused Lord Digby to be summarily despatched on a military expedition to Italy, and when he returned he was requested to leave France. Charles was gradually getting over his antipathy to Lord Digby, and Hyde writes that "within two or three years Digby recovered so much credit with the person of the King by his own pure address and dexterity, that he not only made himself acceptable to him in conversation, but so gracious that he made him Knight of the Order of the Garter." Digby, now Earl of Bristol, his father having died in 1653, followed King Charles to Flanders, and for the next five years his activities were great and various. He collected troops,. joined in the Spanish campaign, and finally schemed to put Conde in command of all King Charles' regiments that were­ abroad. But James, Duke of York, refused to serve under a foreign general, and, in consequence, Lord Bristol's prestige- 1 Sir Kenelm Digby and George Digby, Earl ef Bristol, by H. M. Digby. 50 suffered, so that in 1658 we read that he " is gone to Ghent and let his hair grow." In his retreat he came to the con­ clusion that the only hope of restoring the King was through the Roman Catholics,_ who were all-powerful. The great countries, without exception, were Catholic, and the Church to which Hyde clung was practically confined to England. Accordingly Lord Bristol pretended to be very ill, and sent for Ormonde and Hyde. Hyde, never of robust health, refused to face the journey, but the ever unselfish and faithful Ormonde went to his friend, who told him of his conversion to Roman Catholicism. Ormonde accepted the surprising news with calm resignation and promised to inform the King, but Hyde could never reconcile himself to this change of faith. It was a shock to Lord Bristol to find that, as a Roman Catholic, he could no longer hold the office of Secretary of State to which he had been appointed the previous year. On the death of the Protector a chance of restoration once more came to Charles. Attended only by Ormonde, he left Brussels and entered France, where they were joined by Lord Bristol. Charles asked for one thousand foot, and for five hundred horse, and was preparing to sail for England when bad news was received. Sir George Booth, with his troop of leading county gentlemen, had been defeated by General Lambert. For a time Charles wandered about France with Lord Bristol in the guise of ordinary tourists. They had crossed the Pyrenees and were in Spain when they were hastily summoned to attend a Conference at Fuenter­ rabia, and so had to retrace their steps. As usual Lord Bristol fascinated those with whom he was associated, and Don Luis de Haro, the King of Spain's favourite, invited him to return with -him to Madrid, which he did. 51 When King Charles came to England, Lord Bristol at first remained in Paris to see how events shaped themselves, and when he did come he found that his former friend Hyde, now Earl of Clarendon, would not assist him in getting a grant of money of which, as usual, he was sorely in need owing to his extravagances and gambling propensities. At one time Charles II had generously given him [,ro,ooo, with which he had bought a house at Wimbledon. Charles welcomed him warmly and entrusted hin1 with a nussion to Italy to inspect the two Princesses of Parma, of the House of Medici, relations of the King of Spain, with a view to selecting one for his queen. Lord Bristol, who was opposed to an alliance with Catherine of Portugal for which Clarendon was negotiating, set off on this errand with great elation. When Clarendon heard of it he was aghast and despatched Sir Kenelm Digby to bring him back ; Lord Bristol returned crestfallen and duped. Lord Bristol then took up the cause of the Roman Catholics and, in preparation for the debate on Toleration, invited the leading Catholics to his house, and told them that the present time was opportune for bringing in their religion. To achieve this, indulgence for all Nonconformists must be secured. He knew that the bishops would oppose the Toleration Bill, and so set himself against having them re­ admitted to the House, from which they had been ousted since the " Long " Parliament, though up to the present he had championed their reinstatement. The King, surprised at this change of tactics but realising the cause, had the second reading of the Bill for restoring the bishops delayed. Clarendon was furious, remonstrated with the King, and the Bill was passed. From that time Lord Bristol and Clarendon were sworn enemies. When the Chancellor hobbled in to 52 read the Indulgence Bill, " he was welcomed by the applause of all the bishops." 1 Later Lord Bristol impeached Clarendon on several accusations. The matter was not taken seriously by those in authority and orders were issued for Lord Bristol's arrest, but he escaped abroad. Later he returned to England and lived in retirement, until Clarendon fell from his glory in 1667 and was impeached and had to leave the country. Again Lord Bristol returned to favour. Pepys wrote : The King who not long ago did say of Bristol that he was a man able in three years to get himself a fortune in any kingdom in the world and lose it again in three months, do now hug him and commend his parts everywhere above all the world. How fickle is the man !

Lord Bristol supported the Test Act. Walpole 2 makes merry that Bristol, a Catholic, should have spoken in favour of the Test Act, but Bristol's position was that which he had held ever since the Restoration, and he spoke the language of moderation and common sense. . . . But he warned his co-religionists, " that they ought not to speak as Roman Catholics but as members of a Protestant Parliament. He himself was a Catholic of the Church of Rome, but not of the Court of R ome ...."3 This was Lord Bristol's last speech in the House of Lords, and it was dignified throughout. Very shortly after this occasion he withdrew from politics and retired to a house that he had recently bought in Chelsea. There, surrounded by paintings of the best artists of the day, he took to literary work, which included adaptations of two Spanish plays for the English stage. His house was a centre for the gay, who

3 1 Townshend, loc. cit. 2 P. 34. Townshend, loc. cit. 53 " danced and laughed and made love, and Bristol strolled through it all with the beautiful languidly contemptuous face Vandyke has made fan1iliar to us, hiding a great deal of real good nature under the fashionable cynicism and the fashion­ able coarseness which will not bear repetition to-day." 1 He died in his house at Chelsea, and his wife had him laid to rest in the chapel of her family at Chenies, where their sailor son, Francis, and a child who died in infancy had been buried. Vandyck was a friend of Lord Bristol and painted him more than once. One picture, a double portrait of himself and the Earl, is in the Prado at Madrid. Little is known of Anne, Lady Bristol ; she had a struggle to bring up her family during the long absences of her husband, and was often in want of means. Their eldest son, John, succeeded to the title ; Francis, a gallant naval captain, was killed in an engagement with the Dutch ; their daughter Diana made an unhappy marriage with a Dutchman, Baron de Mol ; and their daughter Anne married the Earl of Sunderland and so became the ancestress of the present house of Marlborough.

XVIII. (r). JOHN DIGBY, THIRD EARL OF BRISTOL (d. 1698). There is little to tell of John Digby, 3rd Earl of Bristol. He married two heiresses but left no children, so the title became extinct. The Sherborne estate passed to his cousin William, 5th Lord Digby (p. 59 ), and much of his other property to his sister, Lady Sunderland. It is said that, as John grew older, he "foreswore sack and lived cleanly," and his second wife had a panegyric 1 Townshend, foe. cit. 54 engraved on his magnificent tomb in the Digby Chapel of Sherborne Abbey. The tomb bears three figures, repre­ senting Lord Bristol and his two wives. It is now proposed to trace the descendants of Sir Robert, second son of Sir George Digby (p. 19).

XVI. 2. SIR ROBERT DIGBY (d. 1614) and LETTICE, BARONESS OFFALY (d. 1658). Sir Robert Digby married Lettice, daughter and heiress of Gerald Fitzgerald, son and heir of Gerald, 11th Earl of Kildare and Baron Offaly. Lettice succeeded to the Geashill property 1 in King's County, Ireland, and was, in 1620, six y~ars after Sir Robert's death, created _Baroness Offaly, and her eldest son Baron Digby of Geashill. In I 642 she held Geashill Castle against the Irish rebels. The following verses were composed by Lady Offaly, evidently during the latter years of her life. Mine eyes turned inward I do plainly see What Enemies vain outward objects be To my repose, and since mine eyes are blind Sweet Contemplation elevates my mind To higher thoughts, for now by Faith I see My Saviour on His throne of Majesty Bent to receive my Soul when she is fled From all those foes that have her Captive led. Death keeps the key of that dark Prison where She lies enthral' d with sin and bound with Care. Oh send thy summons Lord and let her free That she may live Eternally with Thee, And let my body quietly descend Into my grave, and then with peace attend

1 Part of this property is still in the possession of the present Lord Digby. 55 The Coming of my Lord and Saviour Sweet When Soul and Body both with Him shall meet.­ Happy retirement that doth make me more Acquainted with myself than heretofore.- I thought that youth and beauty still would last But both like fading flowers soon are past ; Honour puft up with Pride is but a bubble Blown by Ambition, and laid flat with trouble ; Honour in these our latter times and ages Contempt and Envy follow her as Pages. Wealth makes her Wings and soon doth fly away Whilst our old age doth make his Chiefest stay, And thus deceived whilst we do covet more, We find ourselves much poorer than before, And whilst we covet what we cannot get Our Glass runs out, and so our Sun is set.

LETTICE, BARONESS OFFALY'S EPITAPH WRITTEN BY HERSELF. Lettice lived eighteen years a virgin pure Twenty years wedded happy and secure Then Death deprived her of her dearest friend Whose Constant Widow she lived to her end.

Of the family of Sir Robert Digby and Lettice, Lady Offaly, two sons only, and their descendants, need be dealt with for the purpose of these memoirs, namely-Robert, 1st Lord Digby, and Essex Digby, Bishop of Dromore.

XVII. 6. ESSEX DIGBY, BISHOP OF DROMORE (d. 1683). The artists of the portraits 1 both of Essex Digby, Bishop of Dromore, and of his son Simon, Bishop of Elphin, are unknown. 1 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B. 56 XVIII. 1.1 SIMON DIGBY, BISHOP OF ELPHIN (d. 1720). The following prayer was written by Simon.

PRAYER BY SIMON DIGBY, BISHOP OF ELPHIN. Visit, we beseech thee, most gracious Father, this family with thy salvation ; Let thy blessing descend and rest upon all that belong unto it, as well absent as present. Continue to preserve us thy servants both in Life and Death ; Grant us whatsoever is necessary for our bodies or our souls ; Guide us with thy counsels here, and hereafter bring us to thy Glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

XVII. 1. ROBERT, FIRST BARON DIGBY (d. 1642). Robert, eldest son of Sir Robert Digby and Lettice, Baroness Offaly, was created 1st Baron Digby of Geashill in 1620. He married first Sarah, daughter of the Earl of Cork. Their eldest son was Kildare.

XVIII. 1. KILDARE, SECOND BARON DIGBY (d. 1661 ), and MARY, BARONESS DIGBY (d. 1692). Kildare, 2nd Baron Digby, married Mary, daughter of Robert Gardiner of London. He died leaving her with a large family of children. The following lines to her memory were written by the celebrated and pious Bishop Hough, and are engraved on her monument, which is in the chancel of the church at Coleshill.

1 Simon was the ancestor of Kenelm Henry Digby ( 1800-80), author of the Broadstone of Honour. 57 MARY, RELICT OF KILDARE, LORD DIGBY. DEPARTED THIS LIFE DECEMBER 23, ANNO DoMINI I692.

Whom it was unpardonable to lay down in silence, And of whom 'tis difficult to speak with justice ; For her just character will look like flattery, And the least abatement of it is injury to her·memory. In every condition of life she was a pattern to her sex, Appeared mistress of those peculiar qualities That were requisite to conduct her through it with honor ; And never failed to exert them in their proper season With the utmost advantage. She was modest without affectation, Easy without levity, and reserved without pride, Knew how to stoop without sinking, And to gain people's affection without lessening their regards ; She was careful without anxiety, Frugal without parsimony, Not at all fond of the superfluous trappings of greatness, Yet abridged herself in nothing that her quality required. She was a faithful member of the Church of England, Her piety was exemplary, her charity universal ; She found herself A widow in the beginning of her life, When the temptations of beauty, honor, youth, And pleasure, were in their full strength ; Yet she made them all give way to the interest of her family, And betook herself entirely to the matron's part. The education of her children engrossed All her care ; No charge was spared in the cultivation of their minds, Nor any pains in the improvement of their fortune. In a word, She was truly wife, truly honorable, and truly good. More can scarce be said, And yet he that says this knew her well, And is well assured that he has said nothing Which either veracity or modesty should oblige him to suppress. 58 XIX. 3. WILLIAM, FIFTH BARON DIGBY (1660- 17 52). William, 5th Baron Digby, succeeded his brother Simon, 4th Baron, and inherited the estate of Sherborne from his cousin John, 3rd Earl of Bristol (p. 54), who died in 1698. A sn1all volume, entitled " Pindari et Octo Lyricorum Communia, I 626," has the inscription "William Digby, his book I 677," written on its fly-leaf, to which is added in another handwriting, " 17 years old, probably then head boy at Winchester School." From Winchester he went to Magdalen College, Oxford ; the degree of D.C.L. was con­ ferred upon -him in 1708. He was not only a scholar but also took part in public ,:vork, and represented Warwickshire in Parliament. In I 689 he was included in the Act of Attainder passed by James II's parliament at Dublin. At the age of seventy-three he was a member of the Common Council of Georgia. William Digby married Jane Noel, daughter of the Earl of Gainsborough, by whom he had five sons and seven daughters. The sons were cultured and enjoyed travelling, and many of their detailed, amusing letters 1 written to their father have been preserved. The poet Pope 2 was an intimate friend of the family, and composed a poem in memory of \Villiam's second son, Robert ( d. 1726 ), and of his eldest daughter, Mary ( d. 1729 ), which is engraved on their tomb in the Digby Chapel of Sherborne Abbey. Both Robert and Mary died

1 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B. 2 Pp. 71 and 79• 59 of consumption. The following letter1 fron1 Pope to Lord Digby suggests some alteration to the original lines.

MY LORD I beg you to use an unlimited power over those Verses, which have nothing in them that is not defective or alterable, except the Affection that prompted them. The second line may be as it was first, or if you better like it, Knowledge Of modest Wisdom and of candid Truth. I do not see any material objection to the Word associate, tho' some time did really pass between the Death of each. Will attendant do ? Or these And thou, too close attendant on his Doom, Blest Maid ! hast follow' d to the silent Tomb, Trod the same Path- or And you, blest Maid ! sad follower of his Doom, Succeeded pensive to- Took-

I hope one of these will remove that ambiguity.- • • • Your Lordship is too good, in saying a word more on the few lines I writ on this mournful occasion. It is you, my Lord, that perpetuate your Family the best way, by transmitting thro' yourself all the Virtues of it into your Posterity. Your whole Family is an example of what is almost now lost in this Nation, the Integrity of an Ancient Nobility. That you may long live to see them imitate, and that after your Death the World may long see them continue you, in all those Virtues is the sincere wish of, My Lord Your true Honourer and most oblig'd humble Servant A. PoPE. Twickenham Sep. 8. 1 lVIy father had a copy of this letter. 60 There are several versions of this epitaph in print, but as engraved on the tomb it reads thus :

IN MEMORY oF RoBERT SECOND SoN AND MARY ELDEST DAUGHTER OF WILLIAM LoRD DIGBY. Go, fair Example of untainted Youth, Of modest reason, and Pacific Truth ; Go, just of Word, in ev'ry Thought Sincere, Who knew no Wish, but what ye World might hear ; Of Gentlest Manners, Unaffected mind, Lover of Peace, and Friend of Humankind ; Compos' d in Sufferings, and in Joys, Sedate, Good without Noise, without Pretension, Great, Go live, For Heaven's Eternal Year is thine ; Go and exalt thy Moral to Divine.

And Thou, too close Attendant on his Doom, Blest Maid ! hast follow'd to the Silent Tomb, Steer' d ye same Course, to ye same quiet Shore, Nor parted long, and now to part no more, Yet take these Tears, Mortality's relief, And till we shere your Joys forgive our Grieff ; These little rites, a Stone and Verse, receive ; 'Tis all a Father, all a Friend, can Give. A. PoPE. Robt dy' d Apr1 21st An. Dom. 1726 AEt. 34. Mary dy'd Marh 31st An. Dom. 1729 AEt. 39.

The artist who painted the portraits 1 of Robert and Mary is unknown. William, 5th Lord Digby, died at the advanced age of ninety-two, outliving all his sons. Of his children, reference

1 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G .C.B. 61 will be made to his eldest son,John, to his second son, Robert, and to his fourth son, Edward. He was succeeded by his grandson Edward, son of his fourth son, Edward.

XX. 1. THE HONOURABLE JOHN DIGBY (d. 1747). John was the eldest son of William, 5th Lord Digby. The following letter 1 of John Digby to his father, and that of his brother Robert, dated July 27, 1712, refer to the very end of the War of the Spanish Succession. John's may possibly have been written a year or two earlier. On reading them one gets the impression that each side was waiting for the other. The Tory Government had just come into power, and had set about the task of ending the war as quickly as possible. They took away half the army and left the Duke of Ormonde with the other half under orders not to attack until further notice. Prince Eugene was bent on besieging Quesnoy, but by this time the English had treacherously arranged a private treaty with Marshal Villars, the French General, and on July 12, 1712, the Duke of Ormonde led his grumbling and discontented troops away from the very centre of operations. They had discredited themselves, played the traitor with the Allies, and retired disgraced fron1 a winning position. After this the tide turned, and Prince Eugene, left alone, lost his captured towns, and was everywhere defeated by Marshal Villars. June. MY LORD. I have been almost a week at Ghent waiting for an opper­ tunity to go to Lille, about a league farther from which our army

1 My nephew, Kenelm Hubert Digby, has written the introductions to the letters quoted. lies encamped within four or five leagues of the Enemy who are very strongly entrenched near Lens ; a gentleman here received a letter yesterday from a friend of his in ye Army, that told him they were in expectation of an Action every hour, but Baron Sparr, who went from hence this morning for the camp believes they wont stand us, notwithstanding the superiority of their forces and the strength of the ground ; the same gentleman writes that we never had comparably so fine an army ; we have twenty other Reports which swarm here no less than at London, but they are so little to be depended upon that I shall not trouble your Lordship with them ; this country is reduced to such misery that the country people are forced to rob for a livelyhood, which makes a pass of no security without an Escorte, so that it is very tedious traversing Ghent, it self, excepting one church, having nothing in it that is worth so much as once seeing ; we had an alarm t' other night from a French party that came a horse-stealing ; upon which the_ Government of ye Castle threatened to lay the town in ashes if they let the French get possession of it again ; I hope my next letter will give an account of a Victory which will certainly give a glorious finishing to ye war and be a very acceptable occasion of Declaring myself, Your Duty full and obedient son, JoHN D1GBY.

The following extracts are taken from letters written during the continuation of his journey : Brussels July 21. ••. This is the only place I have met with yet that a travailer can spend a week at with tolerable satisfaction ; I am so weary of Rambling that I long to be at Rome where I hope to be fixed for some time ; I had some thoughts of going thither directly till I met with some English gentlemen that were going to Hanover who seemed Desirous of my company . . . this town is beyond Lisle 1 in all respects, every thing almost is twice as cheap,

1 Lille. 63 and much better ... they have too what answers to Hyde Park and St. James' s ; the people here as well as in all other places of this country dont scruple to declare publickly their affection for the Duke of Bavaria, who we are told has desired a pass of the Duke of Marlborough to go to the baths in Germany, but I believe this is not certain, no more than the taking of Tournay which however can't hold out much longer.... So yt we hope ye siege is only preparatory to a decisive stroke ; which is mightily wanted in this country where there is nothing to be seen but soldiers and beggars . . .

Hanover Sep. 2 7. . . . after much jolting in the barren country of Oldenborg we arrived at the town of that name which as well as the Country belongs to the K. of Danemark, here I was surprised to find my Self, as I thought, in a Street of Barns, but when our Cart drove in at one of the great doors, my Surprise was doubled to find that it was not only a barn but a pig-stie, Stables, Entertaining room, bed­ chamber etc. Practical OEconomics are certainly to be met with here in greatest perfection for without halter, Pigstie, pen, or any other corporeal restraint, horses, pigs, poultry etc., tho' in the same Room keep their proper stations, and dont produce ye least disorder in the family ; . . . Cats and Chickens, dogs and Pigs are here join'd in one amicable Society, and the Primitive Simplicity has been so little corrupted by Art, that tho' they are indeed lodged above ground they have not yet invented a chimney, but they and the smoke goe out at the same passage . . .

Rome. . . . I believe I forgott to tell your Lordship that I parted with Dr. Savage at V enise, . . . but I have since had the good fortune to fall into such company as to have no reason to regrett that loss, we are five in family, Mr. Forrester an English gentleman of great merit, his tutour a good humoured pleasant man that understands the world perfectly well, and two French gentlemen of very good sense and learning which they have joined with great politeness ; all perfectly sober and in all respects of a temper ; 64 amongst other advantages I think it is not the least that I am obliged to talk constantly either French or Italien, another which I value very much is that we have the prayrs of the Church of England read in French every Sunday. . . .

Sep. 20. Rome. . . . the Italians . . . employ all their witt to flatter you when you are with them, and laugh at you when you are gone, and if it is possible to find a way to your pocket they will do it ; however they are so civil as to give you a character according to ye money you spend . . . The danger your Lordship apprehends of my writing too freely of the abuses of the Church is not very great now whatever it might have been in your Lordship's time ; for every­ body here talks much freer without any reserve, but the reason of giving us this liberty is no great compliment, they look upon us as Atheists _and consequently upon what we say against their Religion, as a Reflection upon our selves rather than them ; I believe your Lordship will be surprised to hear that my Ld Charles Somerset is known by ye name of the Christian Lord, this may be made use of as a key to ye rest. I entertain my self now chiefly with the Italian poets, who are incomparably good, finding that designing obliges me to hold down my head too much. . . .

XX. 2. THE HONOURABLE ROBERT DIGBY (d. 1726). Robert, whose elegy Pope wrote (p. 61 ), was the second son of William, 5th Lord Digby. We have a number of his interesting letters 1 written to his father, many of which give lively accounts of events in the House of Commons, of which he was a member. The following extracts have been made from this correspondence.

1 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G .C.B. 65 F The first letter refers to the end of the War of the Spanish Succession (p. 62) : Brussels July 27, 1712. MY LoRD. I told yr Lordship in my last of ye 20th yt I expected to set out with some English gentlemen from hence to Utrecht in a few Days. Since wh ye Army being encamped at Ghent they have taken a Resolution to see yt before they set out for Utrecht, and I believe by their uncertainty when they left ys place, yt They will hardly come back without seeing Lisle and Tournay, so yt I can't fix any time for their Return. Howsoever I am unwilling to take yt Journey alone, because tho' I am not at all Apprehensive of any great Danger from V olures myself, yet I shd be very much blamed in case I shd be so unlucky as to suffer for being alone. This, and Brussels being a very Agreeable Place, by Reason of ye Good Company to be found here easily prevailed upon me to wait their Return ; the Town of Brussels has been for some time filled with English Gentlemen from Utrecht, who are all extreamly charmed with ye place ; Sr Thomas Hanmer left Brussels on ·sunday for Ghent after about a fortnight's stay here. He was so constant at ye Assemblys, at Dancing, and other little Diversions proposed by ye Ldys, yt He can't be wanted with more Impatience in ye House of Commons than here. Tho' we are here within a Day and a half of ye Army yet we have not got any exact Account of ye late Action ; ye best Account I can give yr Ldship of it, is ys--Mareschall Villars drawing off his men from ye Left of his Army, and Pretending to make towards ye Right of Prince Eugene's, ye Prince to support ye Right Wing where he expected Battle, draws his Troops from his Left Wing yt was extended within a little League of my Ld Albemarle's Quarters. This Villars expecting, he detached about twenty Thousand men to fall upon my Ld Albemarle's Camp at ye same time yt he seem'd to march his whole Army towards ye Right of Prince Eugene's, who by the March of ye Prince's left wing not being able to have any succours time enough from his Army were All cut in pieces, drown' d in ye Scheld yt passes there, 66 or taken Prisoners, to ye Number of Sixteen or Seventeen Battallions (as is commonly reckoned). My Ld Albemarle himself is a Prisoner. After y5 the French took Marchiennes, and St. Amand, two Posis. upon ye Scarpe, But of ye greatest Consequence to ye Allies, all ye Provisions being used to be brought yt way to ye Army, which now they are obliged to have come round by Mons. They reckoned before y5 Accident ye Army of Prince Eugene to be I 600 men stronger yn ye French, so yt now we may Reckon they are pretty near upon an equallity. The Troops under ye Command of (?) Grosvenor yt were sent to Plunder in France are expected here to-night on their way to ye Army. My Ld Strafford is arriv' d here from Ghent y5 Afternoon, but leaves y5 Place to­ morrow morning for Utrecht. . . • I am yr Ldship's most Dutyfull and Obedient son RT DIGBY.

The three fallowing letters 1 relate to the prosecution of the Bishop of Rochester and Johnston C. Kelly. Dr. Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, was an eloquent and outspoken Jacobite, and Walpole is said to have attempted to bribe him to keep silent. Atterbury, however, persisted in treasonable correspondence with the Pretender, and \Valpole, thirsting for revenge, had him and his accomplice, Kelly, arrested. He was proscribed by Parliament on incontro­ vertible evidence of certain letters and documents, and he died in exile at Paris on February I 5th, 173 1, aged 70. Johnston C. ·Kelly was evidently only a tool and minor plotter. He is not recognised as of any importance by historians.

March ye 12th. 1722 • . . . I attended yesterday in ye House eleven hours wh I greatly suffer for to-day. We have considered that part of ye

1 See foomote, p. 62. 67 Report wh relates to Johnston C. Kelly, then that relating to ye BP of Rochester. The Sollicitor Gen1 began upon Kelly ; and after a preface in wh he said there was now an opportunity to quell the Spirit of Jacobitism, and treated Kelly as a Tool only, observing too that he was a Clergyman, and one who had taken the Oaths to ye Queen tho' he wo. not to this King, thus aggravating his faults before he had proved him guilty ; He then laid down his Proposition-yt a Treasonable Correspondence Carried on by Fictitious names is as criminal as if carried on by Real names, but I shd here tell yr Ldship, that to aggravate ye Bp's guilt Mr. Walpole spoke of Kelly's not taking ye Oaths to ye present Govnt to his advantage •.. The Sollicitor said yt Kelly's suppressing Evidence was a reason to presume agst him; his insisting on terms before he wd give Evidence was made a Crime, for an Innocent man he said w<1 not so insist. He burnt his papers too, he said, at ye hazard of his life wh argued against him strongly . . . ye question for bringing in a Bill of Pains and Penalties on Kelly, ye Division was-Yeas 2 8o-N os I I I. Mr. Young began upon ye BP and insisted on ye concurrence of circumstances, wh he allowed had no force singularly. He said if Kelly and Carle wrote letters abroad for ye BP, as Kelly told Neyno, there was no doubt but ye 3 Letters to Dillon, Marr and ye Pretender were wrote by his direction. Mentioning Rig and Weston wh were names used after Kelly was taken-up, he told ye House, and desired 'em to observe yt Weston was ye very name of ye Apothecary yt prepared the poyson for Sr Tho: Overbury, and then he intimated Arrack in ye Report to signify Poyson. Ye Bps letter of direction to his friends now lately taken upon his Servant he said, confirmed ye rest, for yt he does not there profess his innocence, but is only guarding agst what may be alledged agst him ; and indeed ye Master of ye Rolls said if the BP could make an easy and fair construction of an expression or two there, he believed he shd acquit him. Mr. Young's Close was from Scripture. Let his Habitation be desolate, and his BPrick let another take. Sir Wm Wyndham observed yt this was ye first instance where a Parlt ever interposed with only circumstantial Evidence, the proof of ye names he said was uncertain, and ye 68 Circumstances, said to tally, uncertain. Col: Bladen told us a short story of an Abbot of Westminster a greater Politician than Divine, (I think about H: 4th's time), but it did not agree aptly. Mr. Strangways (they said) spoke very well, but I heard little besides his praise of Ld George Digby's 1 behaviour in Ld Straffords Tryal, who would not go beyond ye laws to gratify his resentment, but sacrificed his resentment to ye Laws of his country. Ld Morpeth took occasion to charge ye Ministry with committing ye BP illegaly, so yt he thought he had already suffered too much. To wh W--le said it was hard if Ministers must now be censured, when Gentlemen had so fully seen ye horrid and desperate con­ spiracy yt was carrying on and when Parlnt was satisfied of it ; and added yt ye Ministers for yt Act did not want any justification. He said if ye 3 Letters were proved to be dictated by ye BP, then he would by every Gentleman be allowed to be guilty. This he proposed to prove, but left ye Point without saying anything more to prove it. · Mr. Bromley owned ye Power of Parlnts unlimited, but said ye bad exercise of yt Power had been often branded with infamy. He took a fair occasion to say yt perhaps Protestations was ye Bps crime. He observed too yt ye Letters were not entirely Decyphered ; and yt Skeen denies to have said to Pancier what is related in ye Report as of great weight. Shippen 2 remarked upon W--le's manner of treating ye BP and wished he had spoken with less bitterness ; He said ye Whole of his Argument was, begging ye Question-yt ys Reso­ lution cd not be for ye honour of ye Parlnt nor ye Service of ye Govnt. He said he was at liberty to doubt whether Neyno was not paid for his Evidence. He wondered all ye Gentlemen of ye Long-Robe shd be for setting-up ParlY Power so high above ye Courts of W estr Hall ; He said he wd here assume ye Part of a Lawyer and leave to ym yt of Senators. They used frequently ye Argt of Presumption agst ye BP, so he begged leave to prove by Presumption too, yt he cd not be concerned in this Plot ; for he said it was weak, absurd, and so Ridiculous, yt Lunacy and Enthusiasm cd not have framed anything more so. He hoped too

I P. 35. 2 P. 75. 69 the Legislature wd not revive ye Spirit of ye Star-Chamber-Court. He told his Friend Walpole that rash conspiracies might greatly strengthen a Govnt, if ye Persons concerned were treated with Mercy. But if this method of proceeding is necessary, he said he thought ye Safety of the Govnt and ye liberty of ye people incom­ patible. He knew that it was a Doctrine on the Continent that a Govnt is never safe till Absolute, but yt it was not so here . . . Ye question being put-yt ye BP R: appears to have been a Principal Agent etc. Yeas 27ty odd, Noes I 52. Then a Bill of Pains and Penalties ordered ...

April ye 4th. 1723. . . . We yesterday in a Committee inflicted ye pains and penalties on Kelly as before on Plunket. I believe there is not one Man in ye House but will own that Mr. Kelly's behaviour at ye Bar a little moved him in his favour, his person is handsome, and he spoke with a very agreeable Voice. The sum of his speech was, first, how Short his time to prepare an Answer had been and how long and intricate his accusation ; but as he was wholly innocent he said it was not difficult to him to answer.... He sayed he was glad of an opportunity to acquit yt Revd Prelate ye BP of Rochester of ye charge agst him of employing him in a Criminal Correspondence. He said he did not only not write those three letters charged on him, but yt he never wrote any one letter for him in his life ; and he sayed his correspondence with him was very little with other things to that purpose. The Dog Harlequin he sayed he had from a Surgeon for Mrs. Barnes to whom he had promised a little dog when he went to France, and she said herself before ye House, yt wt she had said before ye Council of ye Dog's being designed for ye BP of Rochester, was 5aid in a fright and false. As to ye offer of bribing his keeper to escape, he said he too had had an extraordinary offer from an Under-Secretary, but yt he did not in saying this say it to ye charge of any in higher office. He brought witnesses to prove 1 letter said to be his hand to be not so, one written to Ld Townsend, ye other to De lay Faye (I think) since his confinement. Ye letters said to be his hand We called-for to be laid on ye Table, these 70 were sticked in a folio-sheet, the Council argued agst it as being their Evidence, but finding ye House wd have ye letter, Wing, ye Council, offered a different letter from yt wh was said to be His 0 Hand, this he offered was in Qt , that sticked in a Folio-Sheet. The House was inflamed at this, made ye Council withdraw, and two gentlemen Mr. Lawson and Sr George Oxenden, who had appeared all along for ye Bill, expressed a very just indignation at such an Attempt. What was alledged, was, yt ye right letter was lost in a little confusion of ye Sollicitor ; We got ye letter but Mr. Wing went unreprimanded. The Charge agst Kelly yr Ldshi p sees in Print. The BP of Rochester sent a letter ys morning to ye Speaker, wh he read. He says yt seeing in our Votes we had solemnly declared him Guilty, he thought it vain in him, or knew not if it were proper, to think of making any defence before us ; besides yt one of his Council (Sr C. Phipps) had been so much employed for another (Mr. Kelly) yt he had not been able fully to apprise himself of his case, therefore he declined appearing before us ; but yt if ye Bill went on, he shd be ready to answer in another House.... I am very busy in getting Subscriptions for the Translation of ye Odyssey by Mr. Pope,1 but I cannot get one Double­ Subscription ... Lond.-April ye 6th. 1723. . . . The BPs. Bill which was read a second time on Thursday, and to be proceeded upon in a Committee yesterday, was put off till today. The reason was that they who had all along been unanimous for ye Bill, disagreed about the Penalties. Mr. Walpole and his friends proposed a more moderate penalty, Deprivation and Banishment, but leaving to him his Temporalities. The Separatists in Opinion were for having him forfeit all ; they had last night a meeting upon this at ye Cockpit, and to day appeared united with Mr. Walpole in his Opinion, as I understand. I could not perfectly hear Sr John Cope who proposed ye Penalties, and I did not stay to learn exactly what they were. Our Friends

i P. 59. 71 getting up in a great body and leaving ye House immediately, I rose too and went away with them ; I thought it wd be wise in me to act in this instance with them ... Yesterday morning or ye night before, the BP was again searched in ye Tower ; 'tis said he swallowed a small paper whilst the searchers were busy about him. He sent complaint of it yesterday to ye House of Lords, but had not any advantage from it. I wish yr Lordship wd be pleased to mention to Ld Middleton, if you see him, Mr. Pope's undertaking to translate ye Odyssey, for it is very likely, I apprehend, My Lord will desire to subscribe to it. . . .

The following letter refers to the choosing of a Speaker. Mr. Compton afterwards became Sir Spencer Compton. George II as Prince of Wales hated Walpole, mainly because his father liked him, and so, when he became King, he dis­ missed the great minister and offered the post to Compton. This man was, however, utterly incapable, and he had to get Walpole to write the King's speech for him. This even disgusted George, who, prompted to a large extent by his wife, recalled Walpole. Sir Spencer readily acquiesced, and in 1728 he became the Earl of Wilmington and later held posts in Walpole's ministry.1

Octr ye I Ith, 1722 • . . . I wrote so hastily to my Brother Dobben last post, that I fear I could not be very accurate in my relation of matters to him. I know not whether I told him that 458 Members were sworn the first day. That the King came to the House of Lords, and said by my Ld Chancellour to the Commons that he should defer laying before them his reasons for calling this Parliament till they had chosen a Speaker ; which he directed them to do, and to present him on Thursday for his approbation. Ld Stanhope first proposed to the House to chose a person of known Abilities in the

1 See footnote, p. 62. 72 Chair ; Integrity, and Zeal to the Constitution and Govnt, because of ye extraordinary circumstance of the times, and the weighty affairs like to come before them. He said he thought he need not name the Person he meant, after such a description of him but for form sake, then he named Mr. Compton ; and Mr. Talbot seconded him, and gave a further reason why he wd have Mr. Compton chosen, because he said, if there was any ennemy to the Constitution without, for he cd not suppose there was any within these walls, he hoped there was not, the choice of such a Speaker wd shew him what he must expect. I believe I told my Brother in his letter, that he was very heavy and tiresome upon ye abilities of ye late Speaker. Sr John Packington made a very merry speech but severe withal, agst choosing Mr. Compton ; because he said he had served an Apprenticeship and therefore knew how to cook a Question, to puzzle or· delay it ; had he served an Apprentice­ ship at Pontack's, he said he could easily cook a dinner to ye palate of his guests, from ye mention of cookery he said something of ye Members of ye late Parnt dining constantly at ye Green Cloth, and hoped ye present Members wd none of them be bought with a dinner ; he said something too of ye Speaker's keeping a good table, but shook his head and said yt he himself had never dined there.... Nobody was proposed by Sir John ; so Mr. Compton in a very low voice made a short disabling speech, but was led by ye two proposers of him to ye Chair, where he again de~ired to be excused, tho' he was come so far, in a most extraordinary low voice ; but being forced to take ye Chair he soon recovered it, and upon a Motion made to adjourn till Thursday he put ye Question in a more Audible tone than any had spoke in before him ... Cousin !'Anson 1 was arrested a day or two since in an action of £1300 ; his sister was with me ys morning, she says ye sum due is about £200, an old debt. He is in a Spun·ging house very miserable, she says. No Protection can be given him by any Ld, or I wd have tryed to have got him one. I have sent to Frank Phillips to learn wt I can do for him, and have given him a guinea in ye mean time to help him . . .

i P.75. 73 On February 11th, 1723, Robert wrote to his father that " we have this day ordered a Bill to be brought in to prevent vexatious Arrests." The following letter gives an account of the proceedings with regard to this Bill.

Thursday ye r 8th 1722, Lond: . . . It was between nine and ten at night when I wrote ye last post to yr Ldship ; too late to write more than just ye Numbers upon ye Division. Mr. Caesar, who spoke first, took notice of one thing wh was very extraordinary, if so black a design, as is said, was carrying on, all Summer; and yt was the Prince's being for sometime at Richmond without any guard ; this he thought could not be in a time of extraordinary danger. Mr. Hungerford offered ye Amendments in ye Committee, he wc1 have had ye particular reason for wh any man shd be committed specified ; but he was forced to drop that, and go on to his other amendments, as to time, wh he proposed shd be 6 months instead of I 2, because· ye Parlnt, he said, if there was occasion, might then prolong ye term. He shewed too yt by ye continuance of ys Act to ye 24th of Octr I 723, the People committed might be in Prison much longer yn was imagined ; in ye further parts of England for almost 3 years, before in ye course of justice they cd be released. He spoke very well and smartly ; he said it was a Tenure he did not like ; _to hold his Liberty at ye will of a Minister ; and that the Suspending the Habeas Corpus Act was not all in this bill, but yt all our Rights of Liberty were taken away by it. Mr. Jeffreys observed yt we shd be left in a much worse case by ye suspension of ys Act, yn we were in, before we had it ; for yt ye Judges had a discretionary power to relieve people, wh now ye, will not have. Mr. Kettleby observed yt no Minister cd be called to account for a_ny hardship he shd lay by imprisonment on his fellow subjects ; so yt they might only for displeasing a Minister, perhaps for their appearing agst him in ys House, (for ye clause relating to merr~bers is not full enough to secure y~ from ye like usage), be thrown into prison, nay into irons, and after lying many months miserably might be discharged as innocent, and yet with­ out a remedy agst ye Author of their Sufferings-but they do 74 not apprehend yt these hardships will fall upon themselves and therefore (I think) have not a right sense of ym. Mr. Walpole gave us many dark hints of Plots ; but as Mr. Shippen 1 observed, there was no proper evidence upon oath yet appeared, to convince ye House of Corns of ye reality of ye danger, and necessity of this remedy. Mr. Bromley too spoke with many others very well, but I cannot recollect many good things in ye Debate, for want of a pen and ink in ye House, wh another time I intend, if I can sit a little private, to use. I have got my Cousin· !,Anson 2 out of ye Sponging house, where he lay wretchedly and at great expence, into ye K's Bench­ prison. It cost me above 3 guineas ; but his ill usage ftom. a most vile fellow his Creditor, and ye extraordinary expence he was at in ye Sponging house, made me think it best to relieve him in that way instantly. I would have got him a Protection, but Ld Ayles bury to~d me it cd not be done. . . .

The following letter 3 relates to taunts between Walpole and Shippen, and that and the succeeding letter to the question of the increase of the Army. Shippen was a rival and admirer of Walpole. Walpole had been in the Tower as a young man on a charge of embezzlement. Shippen said of Walpole: " Robin and I are two honest men. He is for King George and I am for King James ; but those men with long cravats, they only desire places, either under King George or King James."

Lond: ye 27th, 1722. . . . Tho we voted Ten thousand sea-men without a Debate or Division, yet ye adding Four thousand Land-forces did not pass the House so easily yesterday. The pretence for them was ye Plot, wh they say is still carrying on ; but all the evidence they give us of it, is, Will you not believe ye K's speech ? and do you think ye Ministry so stark mad as to tell you so, if it was not

2 P. 73. 3 See footnote, p. 62. 75 true ? They urged it too as a most reasonable request, because there were no Commissioned officers desired ; an Article of extra­ ordinary expence usually, but here saved. In mentioning ye expence Mr Wal pole told us there w<1 be but two shillings in ye Pound. They sayed it was most easy to diminish ye Forces when ye Danger was over ; but all their Arguments proved it as well necessary to keep always a Standing Army, as to increase it now. They took frequent occasions to say there was no danger from a Protestant Army ; These were ye very best reasons and colours of their request for more Troops. Sr T. Hanmer exposed them very well ; ye arguments he used are so plain, I need not mention ym to yr LdShip ; But they did not prevail ; for upon a Division­ Whether 4000 men shd be added, the yeas were 236-ye nos 165. So that I almost think with Sr John Falstaff, if Reasons were as plenty as blackberries, I wd not give a reason in that House. Walpole in his speech took occasion to mention Shippen's being sent to ye Tower for reflecting on ye Crown, and advised him not to exult in it ; upon wh Shippen got up, and said he wd return his good advise, and admonish him never to glory in ye cause for wh he was sent thither. The D: of Norfolk is (I suppose) by this time in ye Tower, ...

JanY. r 23rd 1723 . . . . I came luckily to Town on Tuesday night for the next day was of importance in Our House. The House was in a Committee of Supply and ye Question was, whether the Four thousand additional Troops of last year 1 shd be continued this. The Members on ye right hand of ye Chair thought their continuance necessary ; for this reason chiefly, because ye D. of Bourbon now First Minister in France, (though it was granted he appeared yet to follow ye good measures of ye D. of Orleans), might soon be changed to other interests. And that this was probable Mr. Er-~dunder­ took to prove, because said he whether ye Duke is a weak or a wise man no body knows, nor can know till he has been tryed in his new Governt. Mr. Cond--t speaking of ye danger from France

1 See letter, "Lond: y8 27th, 1722," p. 7 5. 76 said ( not like a good Courtier to that, or I think, this Crown) that every body cd not but apprehend a change in those counsels, wh depended on the Caprice of a Child. He advanced too this extra­ ordinary Maxim, that an Army was the best Security of Liberty. It was said too I think by Mr. W--le that an Army was ye best support of Public Credit, and that fewer Troops were not sufficient to prevent sudden insurrections. In fine there were 240 who saw such danger from France and ye Abdication of ye King of Spain (wh was spoken of by all as certain tho ye cause is wholly unknown) and who wd give credit and weight to ye K's negotiations abroad, by doing everything his Majesty desired with a Spirit in Parlnt, that all the Forces are continued this year wh were on foot ye last. There were 100 on ye Left hand ye Chair, who did not think so great a force necessary either to preserve Credit, Liberty, or Tranquility at home, or to give weight and credit to his Majestie's negotiations abroad. Mr. Shippen 1 said they did indeed give credit to ym ·last year, for ye raising y~ then, shewed, ye People w1 support his Majesty readily in times of Danger ; but he said the dismissing ym now W1 give greater Credit, as it w1 better declare his Majesty's Security.... Sr T. Hanmer 2 said yt measures necessary in Times of commotion were oppressive in Times of peace. He observed further yt ye Topicks now for an Army were most extraordinary and new ; yt future contingencies were made a cause sufficient. He laid down as a Maxim too, that when ye Crown was at any time able to destroy the liberties of a People, that People was no more free. He said we had better secure our Selves agst Foreign fears by strengthening our Fleet, wh was a strength ye Subject w1 not fear. Sr W. Wyndham compared ye Army to a Tame Lion, wh was often known at last to tear in pieces his Keeper. Sir Wd Lawson hoped, (if the 4000 men must be continued), there was money enough got by ye Irish Halfpence to pay 'em. I must remember it was said by ye other side, ye Dutch were raising Ten Thousand men, and therefore there was certainly some secret dangers wh they had discovered and we too must fear ....

t P. 7 5. 2 P. 66. 77 XX. 4. HONOURABLE EDWARD DIGBY (d. 1746). Edward, fourth son of William, 5th Lord Digby, died six years before his father. He married Charlotte, daughter of Sir Stephen Fox. Of their children those mentioned in these memoirs are: Edward, 6th Lord Digby, Henry, 7th Lord Digby, Admiral Robert Digby, William Digby, Dean of Durham, and Stephen Digby. The following letter from Edward to his father is of interest. In 1721 Walpole became First Lord of the Treasury or Prime Minister, which office he was to hold for twenty-one years. The Tory Government had come to grief as the result of the " South Sea Bubble " scandal, in which many ministers were involved. The " sitting members " referred to must, therefore, have been old Tory members whose case was now so weak as scarcely to merit an answer. Walpole was at the height of his popularity as a result of the warnings he had given the public about the fraud, though he had made a fortune out of it himself. That he realised his position is seen by his rather impudent and self-confident speech quoted in this letter. The election referred to must have been a bye-election.1

London. Nov. 22 1722. MY LORD. Bob desires me to give yr LordP some account of ye Coventry Election ; having attended it as strictly as ye most diligent Member, for three tedious days, I must own, I think the Sitting Members made a better defence than I could have imagined : but the Case was too gross to confirm them in their seats ; So they have without a Division declar' d it a Vaid Election . . . But what is most extraordinary in this whole affair, is the

1 See footnote, p. 62. 78 taking so many into custody, and Sr Thomas Gery among them ; against whom there was not ye least Evidence as to ye crime for which he was committed : and all This was done at Mr. Walpole's instigation after he had made a Speech of half an hour long, the most candid I ever heard, both in ye ivlatter and Manner of it. To give Yr LP a Specimen, He said, he hoped the days of Retalia­ tion were over, that This Parliament would stand as a Pattern of Justice and Moderation to all future Parliaments : that, therefore, He would not attempt to inflame ye House, even upon this Occasion, where he thought there was so much room for it . . . Mr. Bromley sets out tomorrow and takes my horses with him. I must beg ye favour of yr LP to send for them and give them a Running in ye Park this winter. Mr. Pope 1 is just now come in and I conclude in haste. lam Yr Lordship's most dutiful Son E. DIGBY.

XXI. 1. EDWARD,SIXTH BARON DIGBY (1730-57). Edward, 6th Lord Digby, son of Edward Digby and of Charlotte, daughter of Sir Stephen Fox, succeeded his grandfather William, 5th Lord Digby (p. 59 ), his father having died six years before. A lover of art and nature, Edward, 6th Lord Digby, employed Brown (better known as " capability " Brovt7n) to lay out and improve the grounds of Sherborne Castle, and the stream of the Ivel was trans­ formed into a fine sheet of water. A bridge of three arches over the narrowest part was erected by Edward's brother Henry, 7th.Baron and 1st Earl Digby. The portrait 2 of Edward, 6th Lord Digby, is said to be by Hudson. He is depicted as a dapper young man wearing a red waistcoat.

1 p. 59. 2 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B. 79 Lord Digby was a philanthropist, and the following account of his benefactions is taken from the New I,ondon Magazine published in September 1790, thirty-three years after his death. It is evidently written by an intimate friend. Edward Lord Digby who died unmarried November 31, 17 57 and who was the sixth Lord Digby . . . being indisposed, he resided for some days at Mr. Calcraft's lest his mother, whose affection for him was unbounded, might be too much alarmed, but he removed as soon as possible to enjoy what he preferred to all human enjoyment, the felicity of making a mother happy, having the most tender affection for her and his brothers. He lived with them in a moderate regular manner, without indulging himself in those excesses the juvenile part of the nobility generally ran into. As this young nobleman might be truly denominated a miracle of nature, a Rara Avis, from the many great and good qualities he possessed, I must here dwell a little on his character and give you an anecdote or two of him that greatly redound to his Honour. With a most beautiful figure he was blessed with the best of Hearts, he was generous without being ostentatious, and though he had travelled, modest to a degree ; he spoke little but what he said declared that he possessed great good sense ; he was never known to have said an unkind thing or to be guilty of an unkind action to anyone. His Lordship's mother and my valuable friend (Mr. Fox) were twins and the affection that subsisted between them as memorable as their Birth. · Lord Digby came often to Parliament Street, and, as I had by this means an opportunity of observing his conduct, I could not help with many others remarking a singular alteration in his demeanour and dress which took place during the great festivals of Christmas and Easter ; he was more than usually grave and then had always on an old shah by blue coat. I was led as well as others to conclude it was an affair of the heart caused this periodical singularity and this was no improbable supposition. Mr. Fox, who had great curiosity, wished to find out his nephew's motive for appearing at times in this manner, as in general he was esteemed more than a well dressed man, and, expressing a wish to that So purpose, Major Vaughan and another gentleman undertook to watch His Lordship's motions ; they accordingly set out and, observing him to go to St. George's fields, they followed till they lost sight of him near the Marshalsea Prison. Wondering what could carry a person of His Lordship's rank and fortune to such a place, they inquired of the Turnkey if a gentleman (describing him) had not entered the prison. " Yes, Masters," exclaims the fellow with an oath, " but he is not a man, he is an angel, for he comes here twice a year, sometimes oftener, and sets a number of prisoners free, and he not only does this but he gives them sufficient to support themselves and family till they can find employment, this is one of his extraordinary visits, he has but few to take out today." " Do you know who the Gentleman is ? " inquired the Major. "We none of us know him by any other marks," replied the man, " but from his humanity and blue coat." The gentlemen, having gained this intelligence, immediately retired and gave an account of it to Mr. Fox. As no man possessed more humanity than the Secretary for War, the result afforded him infinite pleasure, but, fearing his nephew might be displeased at the illicit manner in which the information had been obtained, requested we would keep the knowledge of it a profound secret. I could not resist my curiosity of making further inquiries relating to an affair from which I reaped so much satisfaction. I accordingly the next time His Lordship had his Almsgiving coat on asked him what occasioned his wearing that singular dress. With a smile of ineffable sweetness he told me my curiosity should be gratified, for as we were congenial souls he would take me with him when he next visited the place to which his coat was adapted. The night before the intended visit His Lordship requested I should be in readiness to go with him the next morning. We then went together to that receptacle of misery he had so often visited to the consolation of its inhabitants. His Lordship would not suffer me to enter the gate lest the poisoning should prove disagreeable to me but ordered the Coachman to drive to the George Inn in the Borough where a dinner was ordered for the happy wretches he was about to liberate. Here I had the pleasure of 81 G seeing near 30 persons rescued from the jaws of a loathsome prison at an inclement season of the year, (it being Christmas), and not only released from their confinement· but restored to their families and friends, with some provision from his bounty for their immediate support. I ~ill not attempt to describe the grateful tribute he received from the band he had just set free or the satisfaction he reaped from the generous deed. I participated in the heavenly pleasure. How shall I tell the sequel of my tale? but it must be told. Yet while I do it I am almost ready to accuse heaven of unkindness in cutting off so fair, so sweet a flower. His Lordship went to visit an estate in Ireland, when being obliged by mistaken hospitality of the country, to drink more than he was accustomed to do, and that at a time when he was indisposed with a cold, a fever attended with a putrid sore throat was the fatal consequence-and, drop not these selfish tears, my amiable friend was removed to those realms where alone his expanded heart could find its benevolent prosperity rewarded. By the death of this valuable young nobleman, the poor were deprived of a generous benefactor, his acquaintance of a desirable companion, and the community of one of its brightest ornaments, but to no one was his loss more grievous than to Major Vaughan. The Major received regularly a benefaction of £50 every quarter which he concluded to come from Earl Fitzwilliam, that nobleman with whom he was brought up having always held him in grea·t esteem, but on the death of Lord Digby the bounty was found to have flowed from his liberal purse.

XXI. 2. HENRY, SEVENTH BARON and FIRST EARL DIGBY (1731-93). Henry, 7th Baron Digby of Geashill, and brother of Edward, 6th Lord Digby, was created a peer1 of Great Britain in 176 5 with the title of Baron Digby of Sherborne, Dorset, 1 Failing issue male, the English Barony was given with remainder to issue male of his father. This was not the case with the Earldom. 82 and in November 1790 was advanced to the dignity of Earl Digby in the county of Lincoln and Viscount Coleshill in the county of Warwick. The fallowing letter written by someone at Coleshill, June 3rd, 1766, testifies to his popularity. Great are the Rejoicings in this Part of the World on the Arrival of Lord Digby, whom we have not seen this sixteen Years ; and whether we consider him as the Head of a Noble and worthy Family, which, during two Centuries, lived the Love and Admira­ tion of this County, or whether we consider his personal good Qualities and Beauties, great, you must allow, are the Reasons for our rejoicing. We owe the Sight of him to a Visit he is making to his worthy Brother, Canon Digby 1 of Christ Church, and his new married Lady,2 who is very handsome, and promises to be, in every Respect, worthy the noble Family she is married into.

XXII. (a). EDWARD, EIGHTH BARON and SECOND EARL DIGBY (1773-1856). Edward, 8th Baron and 2nd Earl Digby, succeeded his father the 7th Baron and 1st Earl. He died unmarried, " when the earldom and other titles became extinct,3 except the English Barony of Digby of Sherborne and the Irish Barony of Digby." These passed to his first cousin once removed, Edward St. Vincent, elder son of Admiral Sir Henry Digby, who became the 9th Lord Digby (p. 103). The country estate of this branch is Minterne, Dorsetshire. The Sherborne estates were left to Charlotte, sister of Edward, 2nd Earl Digby, who married W. Wingfield. They took the name of Wingfield Digby. .,

1 William, Dean of Durham. 2 Charlotte Cox. 3 See footnote, p. 82. 83 XXI. 3. ADMIRAL THE HONOURABLE ROBERT DIGBY (1732-1815). Robert, third son of Edward and Charlotte Digby, married Eleanor, widow of James Jauncey of New York and daughter of Andrew Elliot, Governor of New York. They had no children. Robert had a distinguished naval career. He com­ manded the Dunkirk at the Battle of Quiberon Bay ( 17 59 ), and took an important part in Palliser's Division off Ushant in 1778. The following year he was gazetted Rear-Admiral and was second in command in Rodney's expedition for the relief of Gibraltar. In 1781 he was appointed Commander­ in-Chief in North America. He was raised to the rank of Admiral in 1 794. The following sarcastic article indicates that a junior officer was jealous of him.

MILITARY CHARACTER OF VICE ADMIRAL DIGBY. The character this Admiral bears, is by no means calculated to inspire us with elevated ideas of his professional abilities, or his private virtues-it forms one of those unaccountable mixtures which renders him not only an unpleasant officer, but an unsocial friend. It has been matter of surprise to the world, that our most Gracious Sovereign should make choice of such a man for the naval preceptor of his illustrious son ; and it is of public notoriety, that the amiable Prince owes the great nautical skill he possesses, chiefly to his own active exertions. The discerning and spirited young Prince took a prejudice to the Admiral, on more accounts than one. Nothing could exceed the rigid economy which pervaded the floating hous~hold of this extraordinary character-it even became proverbial in the navy. The Admiral is brother to Lord Digby, and rear of the red squadron of his Majesty's fleet. At the commencement of the late war he was Captain of his Majesty's 84 ship the Ramifies, which he commanded on the memorable 27th of July, and was one of those officers whose evidence went to arraign the conduct of Admiral Keppel. Soon after his promotion to the rank of a flag, he was appointed Commander in Chief of his Majesty's ships in North America, where he continued some years, and amassed a considerable fortune, by sharing in the prizes which his cruizing frigates were fortunate enough to capture. The Admiral all this time living much ashore at New York, which by no means suited the enterprising mind of Prince William Henry, his Royal Highness insisted on being employed upon real active service, and made choice of the Hon. Keith Elphinstone, of the Warwick, for his captain. From that moment he bid eternal adieu to the provident Admiral, who remained some time on the American station, and then returned to England in the Amphion, which he carried into Weymouth, the more conveniently to visit his mansion near that port. And there let us leave him in his retreat from that honorable profession in which he was never calculated to shine ! NAUTICUS }UNIOR.1

XXI. 5. THE HONOURABLE STEPHEN (1742-1800) and LADY LUCY DIGBY (d. 1787). Stephen, fifth son of Edward and Charlotte Digby, was popular at Court. He married twice : first, in 1771, Lady Lucy Fox-Strangways, daughter of Stephen, rst Earl of Ilchester-she died in 1787; and secondly, in 1790, Charlotte Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Gunning-she died in 1794. Charlotte (p. 94), daughter of Stephen and Lucy, married in 1803 her first cousin William, Prebendary of Worcester and Rector of Coleshill. Miss Reade did a pastel portrait of Lady Lucy in a 1 Written 1787. 85 masquerading fancy dress. This picture is at Melbury, and John Constable made two copies of it. On the back of the first copy 1 is written " John Constable pinxit, 1st copy." The following letter 1 from Constable to the Reverend William Digby refers to the pictures.

To the Rev. William Digby. Hampstead, 2, Lower Terrace. Sept. I 2. I 822. MY DEAR SIR. I hope you will receive the (second) copy of Lady Lucy Digby's portrait on Friday. It is sent by "Jolly's" Horse [illegible word] Waggon-which leaves Aldersgate St. No. 13, on Wednesdays. I have worked on the picture since I last wrote to you and I should be quite at a loss to choose for the best. But it is right Chantrey should have the one which he has seen and compared with the original. A frame such as you describe that will clean and wash is on hand for the Dean's picture 2 which I think you may expect next week. 'I shall attend to your hint as when I send the picture to Ld. Ilchester, it may spare much trouble to have the receipt of it acknowledged by the Housekeeper. It was a lady (Miss Reade) who I apprehend painted the Original picture of Lady Lucy Digby-she was an eminent painter in crayons better than half a century ago. Lady Dysart's portrait in crayons, of herself when a very young woman (then Lady Louisa Manners) is so entirely in that style that it made [me] ask the question. I am, my dear Sir, Your most obligi Humble Servt JoHN CoNSTABLE.

1 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B. 2 William Digby, Dean of Durham. 86 XXI. 4. THE HONOURABLE AND VERY REV­ EREND WILLIAM DIGBY, D.D., DEAN OF DURHAM (1733-88). William, fourth son of Edward and Charlotte Digby, became Dean of Durham. He married Charlotte Cox. Of their large family, Admiral Sir Henry Digby and \iVilliam Digby, Prebendary of Worcester, are the only two with which these memoirs are concerned. The simple character of the Dean is portrayed in the following obituary notices.

Yesterday the remains of the Hon. and Rev. Dr. Digby, lay in state at his house, Coleshill in Warwickshire, and this evening they will be ~nterred in the chancel of that church, the sacred repository of his noble ancestry,-he died in his fifty-fifth year, a martyr to the gout ; and has left an amiable wife and eleven children to lament the loss of a man, whose life, as all his neighbours agree, was devoted to everything that was praiseworthy : and what is singular, no person can remember ever to have seen him out of temper in the course of his life. Church preferment, to the amount of £4000 per annum, lapses by his death. The Deanery of Durham is already disposed of : the valuable consolidated livings of Sheldon and. Coleshill, in Warwickshire, near £ I ooo per annum, are now at the option of his surviving brother : the Hon. and Rev. Charles Digby is therefore naturally looked for as the successor.1 The remains of the Honorable and Revd. Dr. Digby, Dean of Durham, were interred at Coleshill on Wennesday sen'night. A Friend, who sincerely laments his loss, writes as follows: " Sprung from a noble and honorable house, which has produced some of the first and best characters in the Kingdom, he did not, by any action, tarnish the lustre and dignity of his ancestry. Of manners mild, to his connections faithful, in divinity orthodox :

1 The MS. was inherited by my father. 87 his temper sweet, countenance benign : as a husband and a father perhaps unequalled, his charities not ostentatious but great and judiciously arranged : a liberal subscriber to everything that tended to publick advantage and a very particular patron of the Sunday Schools. He was a father of a numerous offspring, and, when encircled by His good Lady and many beautifull children, a picture so noble was represented, that the author of his eulogy has often surveyed it with pleasure and admiration.''

Sherbome, Oct. I 3th. 1788.

Sir Joshua Reynolds painted the Dean's portrait.1 There are facsimiles, probably copies, of this picture both at Minterne and at Sherborne. In I 91 o the picture was sent to Mr. Tanner of Bir­ mingham to be cleaned. He wrote the following report (November 22nd) : I found the portrait of Sir J. Reynolds painted nearly all over the face which made it look so flat. I have spent a good deal of time in removing these repaintings, and the portrait is coming out a fine one, with the head standing well out ...

And on December 31st, 1910, he wrote: In reference to the Sir Joshua portrait, it is as you say, the colour is got back by treatment and not by painting with the brush, as you will see on examination with a magnifying glass. The wig is certainly the weakest part of the picture, and I felt it had lost a little of Sir Joshua's finishing which is not to be wondered at, as the ground-work of the wig is white, made from lead, and many colours will crumble off it quite easily, and Sir Joshua often used fugitive vegetable colours which have undergone permanent change if mixed with certain others. The picture had been lined on to a new canvas in I 90 3 by the method of great pressure on a hot plate which is most unsuitable for pictures painted in this way, as

1 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G .C.B. 88 nearly all Sir Joshua's pictures are painted with varnish and wax and but little oil. Owing to the great heat and pressure the paint is dried up and crushed flat, and the picture loses all crispness and becomes opaque, owing to the failure of the paint to absorb light. What I did was to remove this canvas put on in 1903 and then soften the picture from the back to swell up the paint again, and then line it on to another canvas with a stronger stretcher as you will see by examination of the back, no heat being used in my method. I then removed the repaintings from the front and revarnished etc....

XXII. 2. WILLIAM DIGBY, PREBENDARY OF WORCESTER (1774-1848), and XXII. THE HONOURABLE CHARLOTTE DIGBY(d. 1820). William, _Prebendary of Worcester and Rector of Coles­ hill, was a younger son of William Digby, Dean of Durham. He was twice married : first to Almeria Augusta, daughter of the Honourable Lucius Cary, and probably through her he came into the possession of the portrait of Lucius, Viscount Falkland (see below) ; and secondly to his cousin Charlotte, daughter of the Honourable Stephen and Lady Lucy Digby. William Digby probably commissioned Constable to copy the pastel portrait of Lady Lucy by Miss Reade. He him­ self was painted by Sir Thomas Phillips. The portrait of Lucius, Viscount Falkland (1610-43), has been handed down as the work of Cornelius Janssen ( 1590-166 5). On the other hand, ]\,fr. Tanner of Bir­ mingham, who cleaned the picture in 19 r o, believes the painter to be William Dobson ( r 6 r 0-46 ). Dobson was introduced to Charles I by Vandyck. Mr. Tanner wrote on May 9th, 1910: The picture of Lord Falkland is a very fine one, I think by W. Dobson, whom Charles I called the English Titian. I have had 89 a great many pictures by C. Janssen of various dates between 1620 and I 6 3 9, but at no date did he paint like this. The picture has had a strip of canvas sewed on all round to enlarge the background, no doubt done soon after it was painted, and this background had been painted over with size colour and then varnished ; it was this size colour which mildewed. I have removed this and repaired the join so that the fine quality of the face stands out again. . . . And on May 3 o, 1912, Mr. Tanner continued : If Mr. Lionel Cust sees the portrait of Lord Falkland, I shall be interested to know whether he thinks it by Dobson. I think it a very fine one, rapidly painted in a grey light. . . . The face, how­ ever, has never been painted on, and but little on the hair.... William Digby was an art enthusiast, and the way in which he acquired the portrait of a lady said to be Anne Boleyn is described in a letter written by his housekeeper, Mrs. Wellington : My Master and Mr. Brown (his curate) were poking about Coleshill for old paintings that had been sold when Coleshill Hall was pulled down. They found this one in a cottage with several others quite past being restored. They thought this one being on board was worth trying. I think they gave five shillings for it and on further enquiry about it, it was said that many years ago when Merivale Hall,1 the old seat of the Dugdales near Coleshill, was restored, it was thrown out as rubbish and carried away by the workmen. I remember my master sending it to London when it was finished and it was valued at 600 pounds as being the only full length portrait of Queen Anne Boleyn. It was offered to the present family of the Dugdales who declined it. My master never had it hung up in the vicarage because it should not vex them at seeing it. My father had a conversation with Mrs. Dugdale of Blyth Hall on July 3 I st, I 8 8 I, and wrote down the following record : 1 Probably a mistake for Blyth Hall. 90 Mrs. Dugdale of Blyth Hall told me yesterday evening that this picture was formerly in the possession of Mr. Dugdale of Blyth Hall. That in the year 182 8 some repairs having been done at the Hall, Mr. Dugdale gave the picture, which was then painted over with a worthless daub of a female figure, to a carpenter who had been employed at the Hall, thinking it absolutely worth­ less, and wanting to get rid of it. The carpenter sold it for 6/- to the daughter of the stationer at Coleshill, in whose possession it was found by Mr. W. Digby and his curate, Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown, on examining the board, was convinced that there was a picture underneath the daub, and at his advice Mr. W. Digby bought the picture for 12/- from the stationer's daughter. Mr. Brown cleaned off the daub and found the present picture. The belief on the subject was that the picture was a contemporary portrait of Anne Boleyn by an Italian artist who came over in the reign of Henry_VIII, Anne Boleyn being identified by some peculiar formation of the hand ; that it had come into the possession of Dugdale, the antiquary, and had been painted over for safety's sake during the Civil Wars. After discovering the picture Mr. W. Digby offered it for £100 to Mr. Dugdale, but he declined it. In March 190 5 Mr. Lionel Cust 1 and Mr. Sidney Colvin 1 saw this picture. Both these experts thought that the face had been repainted, probably in the eighteenth century. They agreed that the picture had been a very good one, but that not much of the original was left except the orna­ ments. At their request the picture was entrusted to Mr. Haines, an expert in determining the date of paintings. He was to test the paint, and Mr. Lionel Cust and Mr. Sidney Colvin agreed that his opinion would be conclusive. After making the test Mr. Haines wrote : S1R, In reference to the portrait "Lady in Black" about which some doubt was expressed as to whether the collar was the same 1 He was afterwards knighted. 91 period as the rest of the picture, we beg to say that we have removed the varnish, and find that it is certainly of the same date as the rest of the picture, it is not of a later period. HAINES AND LEWIS. April 19, 1905. In 1910 the picture ,vas cleaned by Mr. Tanner. He wrote on November 22nd: The portrait of Anne Boleyn is coming out as well as I expected but will take me longer owing to the many repairs of different dates, it has had very bad usage at some time. I have removed a good deal of the modern background which spoils the picture, and think it is a portrait of Anne Boleyn, but painted early in the reign of Charles I, probably from a miniature of the lady painted during her lifetime. . . . On December 7th, 1911, Mr. Tanner wrote: I have not found anything to alter my opinion that the portrait of Anne Boleyn is a I 7th century one. It is certainly like the engravings of her. The Crown in the hair indicates a queen, as well as the large jewel on the front of her dress. I think every­ thing is in favour of its being Anne Boleyn, no one below that rank would wear the clothes and jewels. At that time, and down into the 17th century the law was fixed as to what each rank could wear, even to the wearing of silks and velvet ; and during the reign of Elizabeth there are records of artists being fined for painting people in silk or velvet that were not entitled to it, as well as the sitter for wearing it. The picture is now much as it was when first painted. I have removed all unnecessary repainting and kept the repairs to the damaged places which are black under­ neath, and from this I think it must have been in a fire at some time .... Finally, Mr. Lionel Cust thought that the picture might be of some foreign royalty, and he considered that it should prove possible to identify her from her jewels. · But this has not yet been achieved. Portraits, other than those of the family, possessed by the 92 Reverend William Digby are of the Duke and Duchess of Monmouth, originally considered to be by Sir Peter Lely, but probably by W. Wissing; of John l\1ilton, by Vandyck; and of Erasmus, by an unknown artist.

PORTRAITS OF THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF MONMOUTH, BY SIR PETER LELY OR BY w. WISSING. The portraits were thought to be by Sir Peter Lely until Mr. Tanner of Birmingham, vvho cleaned them in 1910, expressed the opinion that they were painted by W. Wissing. Wissing ( r 6 56-87) worked for Lely. Mr. Tanner wrote, May 9th, 1910: The portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Monmouth are quite like the ·old engravings of them and no doubt are rightly named, but I feel sure that they were painted by W. Wissing, as I know his work quite well. Wissing was employed a great deal by Lord Exeter and died at Burghley House where much of his best work can be seen. These two portraits have had most cruel restorations, that of the Duchess having been damaged and painted nearly all over. The Duke, however, is not so difficult to do. . . .

PoRTRAIT OF SIR HARRY VANE THE YouNGER, BY DoBsoN. This picture was always known as "John Milton, by Vandyck," but is now thought to be Sir Harry Vane the Younger, by Dobson. The Reverend William Digby bought it as a portrait of Milton at a sale at Oxford when he was senior student at Christ Church. A very large price was subsequently offered for it by the Bishop of Worcester. Mr. Lionel Cust saw the picture in March r 90 5 and thought it was a portrait of Sir Harry Vane the Younger, of whom there is a picture in the National Gallery. 93 PoRTRAIT OF ERASMUS. The portrait of Erasmus, painted on panel, was always said to be by Holbein. It is probably a contemporary copy. The frame is also contemporary. A list of all the pictures inherited by my grandfather from the Reverend William Digby will be found at the end of this book (p. 173). These pictures in due course came to my father.

XXII. THE HONOURABLE CHARLOTTE DIGBY (d. 1820). Charlotte, daughter of the Honourable Stephen and Lady Lucy Digby, married in 1803, as his second wife, her cousin William Digby, Prebendary of Worcester and Rector of Coleshill. Both her parents and her stepmother died whilst she was still a girl, and her cousin, Admiral the Honourable Robert Digby, befriended her. In 1802 Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, wrote the following letter to Mrs. Digby, wife of Admiral Robert Digby, in which she offered Charlotte the post of Maid of Honour.

MY DEAR MRS. DIGBY, Having received an application from Miss Digby some time ago to become one of my Maids of Honour, insinuating that she took this step by the express desire of Her Father, I seize with infinite pleasure this first opportunity that offers as a proof of my regard for the memory of the late Mr. Digby who must ever be regretted by those who knew His worth, to name her as successor to the late Miss Jeffries and desire you will inform her of it, as I am sure through this means the news will prove most acceptable to Her. I trust that by entering into my family she will not lose 94 the protection of the Admiral and your countenance, who have been the only support to Her when in the deepest affiiction. (Signed) CHARLOTTE. Windsor, Jan. 24, r 802.

Charlotte was Maid of Honour from January to October 1802, when she became engaged to her cousin William Digby, and tendered her resignation to the Queen.

LETTER FROM THE HoNoURABLE CHARLOTTE DIGBY To QUEEN CHARLOTTE.

MADAM, The gracious condescension which your Majesty has ever shewn my family and the friendly protection which I have myself most particularly experienced from Your Majesty encourage me to take this method of acquainting Your Majesty with the change which I propose with Your Majesty's permission to make in my situation. The same consideration makes me feel it my duty to inform Your Majesty as soon as possible of my intentions, though the change I purpose will not take place till after Christmas, and I have deferred addressing Your Majesty upon the subject only till I could receive the Admiral 1 and Mrs. Digby's approbation. My Cousin, the Revd. William Digby is the Person who has induced me to take this step. I feel confident that were Your Majesty acquainted with his Character my choice could not but meet with Your Majesty's approbation. Having informed Your Majesty of my wishes, if I might be allowed to have the honor of serving Your Majesty till after Christmas, I should consider it as an additional mark of Your Majesty's most gracious favour. At the same time being in readiness to quit my situation at any moment Your Majesty shall most approve, I wait Your Majesty's Com­ mands, begging leave to assure Your Majesty that I should not have solicited this last January the honor of being in Your Majesty's

1 Admiral Robert Digby. 95 family had I then had such an object in contemplation. The very high sense I entertain of Your Majesty's goodness towards me, makes [ rr.e] desirous to seize this opportunity of acknowledging with gratitude the extreme happiness and comfort I have enjoyed while in Your Majesty's service and the deep impression which Your Majesty's kindness has made upon me which I feel to have been that of a Parent. I am, Your Majesty's Very dutiful servant, CHARLOTTE ELIZ. DIGBY. St. James Palace. October 7, 1802.

Charlotte wrote the following letter of thanks to Princess Elizabeth, third daughter of George III, for a wedding present of a round writing-table. Queen Charlotte's present was also a small table.

MADAM, I feel sincerely and deeply grateful for the token of your friendly kindness which I have received this morning. I accept it with double pleasure when I consider it, as your R.H. generously encourages me, as an acknowledgement of your esteem and friend­ ship for my Father ; it flatters and gratifies me extremely to think that your R.H. will be interested in my future comfort and happiness and I trust you will but think me grateful not pre­ sumptuous, when I inform you that the elegant little writing Table will not only excite frequent remembrances of the great goodness of your Royal Highness, but sincere and cordial wishes that you may ever be favoured with the most valuable Blessings. I have the honour to be with gratitude and respect, Your R1 Hs most obedient servant, C. E. DIGBY. Dec: 23, 1802. Before passing on to Admiral Sir Henry Digby and his descendants, mention must be made of Sir Henry's father-in-law, the Earl of Leicester.

THOMAS WILLIAM COKE, FIRST EARL OF LEICESTER ( 17 54-1842).

Thomas William Coke, " Coke of Norfolk " and I st Earl of Leicester, is celebrated as a politician, agriculturist and social reformer. He was twice married : first in 177 5 to Jane, fourth and youngest daughter of James Lenox Dutton of Sherborne, Gloucestershire, and Loughcrew, Co. Meath. She died in r 800 leaving three daughters, the eldest of whom, Jane Elizabeth, married first Lord Andover, and secondly Sir Henry Digby. Lord Leicester died at Longford Hall, his place in Derby­ shire, and was buried next to his wife Jane, at Tittleshall. My father, then six years old, remembered watching his great-grandfather's funeral procession from the rectory garden. The following picturesque account is quoted from Mrs. Stirling's 1 biography of Lord Leicester :

On Monday, July I 1th, the last stage was accomplished, and then occurred a scene, perhaps the most extraordinary which Norfolk had ever witnessed. Although every effort had been made to keep the funeral private in character, such numbers of people were determined to join it that this became im­ practicable. Soon after daybreak, from all parts of the country, riding, driving and walking, people began to arrive, all anxious to pay this last tribute to the man to whom they owed so much . . . while as it approached Tittleshall many belonging to the other side of the county, and who had been unable to travel further,

1 Coke of No,:folk and his Friends, by A. iv!. W. Stirling. 97 H came to swell the train, until it was impossible to compute its length, save that, when the hearse finally drew up at the door of the Church, the line of carriages alone reached to Litcham, two and a half miles off. But it was the numbers unable to join in the actual procession, but yet determined to see it pass, who presented the most remark­ able spectacle. In the neighbourhood of Swaffham, it is said, :fifteen thousand people were assembled. Many of them had arrived overnight and had taken their position during the late hours of Sunday. . . . And so, midst the evidences of his life­ work, past fields of ripening corn and luxuriant pasture, through the country which he had enriched and transformed, and through the people who loved and mourned him, Coke of Norfolk was borne to his last home.

XXII. r. ADMIRAL SIR HENRY DIGBY, G.C.B. (1770-1842), and VISCOUNTESS ANDOVER ( I 777-1863). Admiral Sir Henry Digby was the eldest son of William Digby, Dean of Durham. He married in 1806 Jane Eliza­ beth, widow of Viscount Andover, and eldest daughter of Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester. They had three children-Edward St. Vincent, afterwards 9th Baron Digby, Kenelm Henry, Honorary Canon of Norwich (my grandfather), and Jane Elizabeth, who married the Earl of Ellen borough. Lady Andover was a very handsome woman, as shown in her portrait 1 by Barber. She died at the age of eighty-six. On hearing of her death her only daughter Jane wrote from the desert to her brother Kenelm, July 1st, 1863: " It was pleasant to me to think she is at Minterne and not left amongst strangers at Brighton, poor dear Madre . . • it 1 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B. 98 always seemed strange to me, that with her nervousness, she never appeared to be afraid of death • ..•" Sir Henry Digby was also painted by Barber, and this portrait of him in the uniform of an admiral was copied by Y ellowlees.1 The foundations of the family fortune were made by Sir Henry Digby in a romantic way, and ever aftePNards he was known in the Navy as the " Silver Captain." The following account is taken from a newspaper:

A FORTUNE THROUGH A DREAM • . . . On 14th October, 1799, Admiral Sir Henry Digby, then Captain commanding the frigate Alcmene, on a cruise off the Spanish Coast, shaped his course for Cape St. Vincent, and was running to southward, in the latitude of [figure erased] Finisterre. Twice in the night Sir Henry rang his bell, to summon the officer of the watch, and asked him if anybody had been in the cabin. "No, s·1r ; no bo d y. " "Very odd," rejoined Digby. "Every time I dropped asleep I heard somebody shouting in my ear ' Digby ! Digby ! go to the northward ; Digby ! Digby ! go to the northward.' I shall certainly do so. Take another reef in your topsails, haul your wind, tack every hour till daybreak, and then call me." There being no help for it, these strange orders were strictly obeyed, and the frigate was tacked at four, at five, at six, and at seven o'clock. She had just come round for the last time when the man at the masthead called out " Large ship on the weather bow, sir." On nearing her a musket was discharged to bring her to. She was promptly boarded, and proved to be a Spanish vessel laden with dollars and a very rich cargo of cochineal and spices as well. By this prize the fortunate dreamer secured a large portion of the great fortune which he had amassed in the naval service. As to the practical results of this dream, the share of the prize money thus won by those on board the Alcmene is stated to have been :-the 1 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G .C.B. 99 captain, £40,730 18s.; the lieutenants each£5,091 7s. 3d.; the warrant officers each £2,468 ros. 9 id. ; midshipmen each £791 I 7s. old. ; seamen and marines each £182 14s. 91d. The treasure captured is said to have been so weighty that sixty-three artillery tumbrils had to be requisitioned to convey it from the [illegible word] to Plymouth citadel. Sir Henry Digby commanded the Africa at the Battle of Trafalgar. During the night preceding the battle, the Africa was endeavouring to rejoin her consorts, with whom she had lost touch, when the enemy's fleet came into sight. It is reported that Captain Digby " hove overboard, to clear for action, 103 bags bread, two casks beef, three casks pork, one cask each oatmeal, suet, sugar ; ten butts, seven puncheons, 12 hogsheads, ten lemon-juice cases." 1 The Africa suffered very heavily in the battle, as is shown by the following letter from Captain Digby. Africa. At Sea. Nov. rst, 1805. MY DEAR UNCLE,2 off the Streights I write merely to say I am well after having been closely engaged for six hours on the 2 I st Octr-1 have not time to detail being busy to the greatest degree. I have lost all my masts in con­ sequence of the Action, and my ship is otherwise cut to pieces but sound in bottom-my killed and wounded 6 3, and many of the latter I shall lose if I don't get into Port. Out of so many great Prizes, it has pleased God that the Elements should destroy most, perhaps to lessen the Vanity of Man, after so great a Victory. I will first give you a rough sketch of the lines going into Action, more minute it shall be hereafter. I beg my love to Mrs. Digby, and remain, Your affectionate nephew, H. DIGBY. I really have no time to say more surrounded as I am by the 1 The Times, October 2r, r9rr. 2 Probably Admiral the Honourable Robert Digby. 100 wounded men in my cabin and in all sorts of employ, completing Jury masts etc. etc., and will thank you to say so to Lady Sheffield 1 and my brothers and sisters. A little boy 2 that staid with me is safe, twice on the Poop was I left alone all being killed or wounded. I am very deaf and a sad pressure over my breast. (T) Africa was with many others dispersed by variable winds, and perceiving the French signals during the night, I took a

Africa ------.-.---T _,. ,,,,,,,, .,..------

French Line on : Larboard Tack '' ' ...... , French Line: 83 , ...... _ English Line: 27 station at discretion, and was the means of my being early in the action the next day engaging their Van as I ran along to join the English Lines, after passing through the Line, in which position I brought down the Foremast of the Santis.sima Trinidada mounting 140 guns-after which I engaged within Pistol Shot Le lntrepide 74 which. afterwards struck and was burnt, Orion and Conqueror coming up.

1 His sister, Charlotte Sophia, who married in 1784 Sir John Sheffield, 2nd Baronet. She died in I 8 3 5. 2 Probably Frederick Lee White (p. 102). IOI During the battle the Captain's cabin was hit, and a cannon baii passed between a Bible and a volume 1 of Milton's " Paradise Lost" that lay on the table, battering in both books. It would appear that the " little boy " mentioned in Captain Digby's letter of November 1st, I 80 5, must be Frederick Lee White, were it not for the fact that, two days later (November 3rd), White, suffering from a fractured thigh, was landed at Gibraltar and taken to the hospital. With him were nine seamen and three marines. If the " little boy " and White are identical, then, at the time of writing, either the Captain must have been ignorant of the boy's wound or it must have happened subsequently. In April of the following year Captain Digby wrote 2 to the Earl of St. Vincent concerning White.

Africa, Spithead, April r 806. White, the lad you sent me, I rated midshipman for his conduct in action. His thigh was severely fractured and it was thought more advisable to leave him at the hospital at Gibraltar than risk a dislocation. He is a fine youth, and is much beloved by his messmates. His friends have been written to ; he will join the Beagle with my brother the moment he is able to embark. 1t. Frederick Lee White was probably the youngest officer in the British Navy. The third son of ,villiam White of Norwich, he was born on September 9th, 1792, and joined the Navy as a first-class volunteer on September 3rd, 1805, being then not quite thirteen years old. His father, William White, was a schoolfellow of Horatio Nelson at North

1 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G.C.B. 2 The Times, October 21st, r9rr. 102 Walsham, and Nelson doubtless used his influence on behalf of the boy's appointment to the Africa. White was wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar (see above) and was for a month or two in hospital at Gibraltar. When he left he was still on crutches, and never fully recovered the use of his limb. Nevertheless, during the next seven years he managed to take part in active service, but he only received commander's rank on his retirement in I 84 3. He died in 18 59.

XXIII. 1. EDWARD ST. VINCENT, NINTH BARON DIGBY (1809-89). Edward St. Vincent, the elder son of Admiral Sir Henry Digby and of Lady Andover, succeeded his first cousin once removed, Edward, 8th Baron and 2nd Earl Digby (p. 83), as 9th Baron in 18 56, the earldom lapsing. He married Lady Theresa Fox-Strangways, daughter of Henry Stephen 3rd Earl of Ilchester. They had a large family of sons and daughters.

XXIV. (A). EDWARD HENRY TRAFALGAR, TENTH BARON DIGBY (1846-1920). Edward Henry Trafalgar, 1oth Lord Digby, was the eldest son of Edward St. Vincent, 9th Lord Digby. He was Colonel of the Coldstream Guards, and sat in Parliament, as Member for Dorset, from I 876 to 18 8 5. In I 893 he married Emily Beryl, daughter of the Honourable Albert Hood. Their eldest son, Edward Kenelm (b. 1894), is the present and 11th Lord Digby. 103 XXIII. JANE DIGBY, LADY ELLENBOROUGH ( I 807-8 I). Jane, the only daughter of Sir Henry Digby and of Lady .A.ndover, was very beautiful and of " dazzling grace and charm." At the age of sixteen she was married to Edward, 1st Earl of Ellenborough, a rich man seventeen years older than herself, and known to be " a roue, vain, weak and imperious." 1 Plunged into a fast society, very different from her home surroundings, she inevitably fell in love with a young man, Prince Swartzenberg. In I 8 3 o she was divorced from Lord Ellenborough by Act of Parliament, and in the same year her little boy, aged two, died. She was allowed to keep her magnificent jewels and her" pin-money " on condition that she left England .. Once only, in I 8 57, did she return to see her mother, who was then living at Tun bridge Wells. Her letters of that time express her gratitude to her brothers for the help that they gave her in her shopping and business, and her joy at again meeting many friends. On her return to the East she wrote to her sister-in-law, Caroline (the Honourable Mrs. Kenelm H. Digby): . . . I rely that you and Kenelm will never forget me, however far I may be away, and that you will both remember me in your prayers : I W11 fain be as you are, but cannot, nor can I feel that such a Life as mine can be pardoned. . . . Marseilles, April I 3th, I 8 57. It was Jane Digby's fate to attract admiration wherever she went, ,vhich was doomed to end disastrously, for she was " a woman of extraordinary and stately beauty, with the

1 Coke of Norfolk and his Friends, by A. M. W. Stirling. 104 manners of a queen and a voice of peculiar sweetness, with a rare intellect and power of fascination, the mistress of nine languages, besides being a marvellous artist . . ." 1 When Prince Swartzenberg left her, lonely and sad, she attracted the admiration of Louis XVIII of Bavaria, who promoted a marriage between her and Baron V enningen, but it proved unhappy and she divorced him. It is unneces­ sary to enter into the series of episodes that followed. Finally, she felt the fascination of the East and sailed for Beyrout, whence she journeyed to Damascus and proposed crossing the desert to Baghdad. An escort was necessary for this adventure, and a young Cheikh, Medjuel el Mazrab, was chosen as leader. They fell in love though neither under­ stood the other's language and the disparity between their ages was great, she being fifty and he twenty-five. Great opposition was aroused against this extraordinary marriage and she was persuaded to postpone it for two years. During that time she studied Arabic, and at the end of the period they were married. From henceforth she was known as "Mrs. Digby." The Cheikh was a widower with three children ; he agreed to have no other wives, a promise which he kept faithfully. The following extracts are taken from letters written by " Mrs. Digby " to her brother the Honourable and Reverend Kenelm H. Digby, to his wife Caroline, and some­ times to them botl1 together. The description of her life is picturesque.

Damascus, June 22nd, I 8 56 . . . . I must assure you, my dearest brother, however much as a Protestant Clergyman you may be averse to the idea of my husband being a Mahometan, his principles of honour, and morality

1 Stirling, foe. cit. 105 of conduct are such, as would do honour to many a Xtian . . . and is so good and just and kind that I only regret I did not know him long and long before. . . . You will perhaps smile and say : " A Bedouin's morality ! " but believe me the Arabs are governed amongst themselves by as strict a code of laws as any other, and many a curious fact I know, which w1 throw new light on this most ancient and peculiar race. As to ye rest for which I know you care but little, he is a great, renowned and powerful Chief of a tribe-Anizee Bedouins, which have always refused to enter into any pacte with ye Govt. but make their own terms, and dictate their own conditions. An intermarriage with an European, it is true, is ye one new. thing under ye sun to them, but I am very popular amongst them, and when amongst them adopt their customs, dress, manners, etc., hold my open Divan for ye women and do them what little good I can in ye way of medicine, clothing, settling differences, advising, etc. . . . My riding and real fond­ ness for all their animals made me a gt favourite with them, and I can now ride ye swiftest Meccan Dromedary across ye Desert with ye best ! We hawk with beautiful falcons, and Persian grey­ hounds, the btiddin (wild goat), antelope, grey crane, etc. etc. and I have shot Djerboa ! a sort of kangaroo, to their gt amazement ! Their women only riding the camels, and timid enough when out of ye precincts of their tribe. The moment when my heart fails me is, when I am obliged, as is the custom, to give ye Scheick his lance, or other arms, when he mounts his magnificent mare to go with his tribe against some rival one that approaches to seize our camels and tents, and smile and encourage him with hopes of a speedy and victorious return, etc., when I feel " who knows if I may ever see him again . . . " but, enough of this : I am now in my cool, shady garden kiosk at Damascus with water and turtle doves bubbling and cooing in every direction, and here I hope to remain till next campaign ....

Damascus, July r 5, r 8 57 . . . . His 1 Cochins are splendid and have a brood of 29. What with Persians and Cochins . . . they make part of a sort of

1 Her eldest brother, Edward St. Vincent, 9th Baron Digby. 106 "Happy Family" I have of Desert partridges, gazelles, turkies, ducks, etc. I wd fain add an ostrich and young Lion from " our estates " nr Baghdad ; but I like to see beasts walking about at large, and not cooped up. . . . In about 3 months, I believe I am going to ye Desert, and I hear this winter will not be very pleasant, as a gt expedition is meditated against ye Shemma'an arabs who are always " taking, what is not his' n," and so, Anizee Cheiks have settled to drive them out of Mesopotamia . . . The Cheik admired ye Bible and begs his best " silam, and peace to yt house." Govt. (turkish) is trying to get him to take ye town of Ramah (nr. Aleppo) under his protection, moyennant a good sum of tribute money and forage for so many horses ; he goes upon this business to-morrow.... Damascus, Feb. 5, I 8 58. . . . I am wondering what your Norfolk winter may be this year, for we, in Syria are so taken by surprise at the cold, wet and snow ; we are all sitting like so many desponding cocks and hens, under the dripping ceilings, and streaming walls, for our oriental and romantic and picturesque houses are fit emblems of luxe et misere, mud without, and with marble fountains, and gilded cornices, inlaid with mirrors, within ! . . . the pretty rooms filled with dishes of all sorts, to catch ye muddy water ; the front of ye grand stable (on an English plan) fallen, and our beautiful Arabs are campe, one in ye old mosque, our present dining-room, the other in ye Dromedary's box, who eats up all her food ; a whole brood of Cochins just hatched, are with their stately mother in a large basket in my bedroom, amongst damask hangings, and other items and relics of former splendour ! ! I say nothing of ye garden ! It looks like chaos, and my new French gardener who is un homme a projets, was interrupted in his transplantations, making roads, etc., so that now the Cheik says " it looks, as tho' all ye wild boars had been working there ! " I am not sorry in one sense, as I was getting too fond of it, and it began to take up too much of my time. . . . Mrs. Digby and her husband lived for half of the year in civilisation in a house outside the gate of Damascus. 107 There she worked at her art and spent much time in reading, having a continual supply of books from England. Twice on Sundays she rode into Damascus to attend the English church. Damascus, November 7, I 8 58. . . . You will I know both of you be glad to hear that I regularly attend Church ; my favourite Preacher, Mr. Porter, " of Porter, Damascus " is gone for a year to Ireland, but still there is Mr. and Mrs. Robson, another of the'' right sort ...'' and I visit them and I see the Englishiciness of manner is thawing under my Oriental warmth ; trying to put myself in the way of good is all I can do, and I am fattening a turkey for their Xmas dinner. I see, too, ye. different Consuls and their wives, besides the native harems, from which you come out melancholy at thinking of ye lives they lead, and at their utter ignorance of every sort of instruction. I got a few Primers in arabic from the Mission, and intend trying to coax some of my particular pet Bedouin children to learn their alphabet.... The other half of the year she spent in the desert leading " the ordinary life of an Arab's wife ; she wore the Arab woman's blue robe, with her beautiful hair in plaits reaching to her feet ; she ground the corn, milked the camels, washed her husband's hands and feet ; cooked his food and waited on him while he ate it . . . her extraordinary fascination caused her to be regarded with reverence, as something half divine, both by him and by the lawless tribes with which he was surrounded. . . . " 1 The following letters describe her life in the desert.

Damascus, July 17, I 8 57 . . . . I was much obliged to your Caroline 2 for· her nice letter, and shd be delighted at more frequent repetitions. She 1 Stirling, foe. cit. 2 Her sister-in-law, wife of the Honourable and Reverend Kenelm Henry Digby. 108 says she cannot realise me either in the Desert, or here ; in the former she wci see me a true Bedouine, only in cleaner dk blue " smicks " than my tribe, an ampler veil, handsomer gold coins dangling about my head, the gold mark on my camel's hair cloak as distinctive of" my high rank" (int Desert), but there I am bare­ legged as ye rest, only as my feet have not yet attained the desirable state of horn necessary to trot over the fl.in ts and thorns, I am allowed a pair of yellow boots :-but there, I attend to the Cheik ; mares, camels, etc., the arrangement of ye tent, etc., better than anyone ; I doctor as far as I am able, man and beast....

Damascus, November 7, 1858. • • • I am on the very eve of my Winter flitting, and am at this moment sitting surrounded by iron pots and pans, saddle bags, water skins and other gipsey-like preparations ; my old black woman pounding a supply of various spices as her kitchen ingredients. I hope we may be returned by New Year's day.... We bend our steps 1st to Palmyra, then towards the Euphrates and Baghdad and Bassorah country, where all is at sixes and sevens with that renegade Omar Pasha, who, however, has been beaten by the Bedouins over and over again, and is now recalled ; they caught him in ye marshes at Babylon on one occasion, and pretended to fly before him, so drawing him on, then they cut the dykes of ye Euphrates, deluged the country, drowning their pursuers. . . .

Damascus, September 2 7, I 866. • . . You ask for some details of my Arab Life ; as far as health and pleasure goes, I prefer the wide boundless Deser~ to the cooped up town life ; there is always some excitement or other going on, and constant horse or Dromedary exercise, as well as the good bowls of pure camel's milk suits me ; the Cheikh, my Cheikh never heads, joins, or abets a plundering party, because he thinks it wrong to seize other people's property, but if we are attacked, or even our allies, when he is there, or if there is a regular war, he is first and foremost to defend or pursue this. . . . 109 But life was not always peaceful, as is shown by the fallowing account of a rising against the Christians.

Damascus, July 30, I 860. . . . I, and all my house have been wonderfully and merci­ fully preserved, during the days and nights that the storm raged round us, and murder, fire, and plunder were the order of ye day ! Our house is outside the city walls, in ye Moslem quarter, so we had even the satisfaction and comfort of seeing ye city gate shut against us, had we wanted to enter, but knowing a gt. variety of people, " every sort of bird" as ye Arabs say, Druzes, Kurds, villagers, in passing to their work of destruction, stopped and offered their services to help in guarding the house ; but ye Cheik thought it wise to accept of none, and arming himself, and a few determined spirits of our quarter, took his long chibougue, shut our gate behind him, and sat with them outside, awaiting events. I was all ye time in a little kiosque on ye roof from whence I cd see all around, and command ye road, filled with goers and comers, all armed for action, reap-hooks, axes, clubs studded with nails, daggers, etc., etc. The outbreak was so sudden and unexpected at that moment, altho' for a time, gloomy presentiments have pervaded ye city, that many Xtians were attacked and killed, in their shops, before they knew what the uproar was about, and in less than. an hour, fires were blazing in all ye Xtian quarter, where all was a scene of murder and plunder, which we saw carrying to and fro­ ye Kurdish women, exciting and helping the men ! it was awful to behold ! The French convents and ye Greek were first attacked and destroyed, and many monks and Gk. priests killed, no French. Our own poor little church, or rather room, and school, went too, and one of our schoolmasters saved his life by becoming a Moslem ! ... Her niece Emily,1 with her husband Edward North Buxton, visited her when on their honeymoon. She was delighted to see them. 1 Youngest daughter of the Honourable and Reverend Kenelm H. and Mrs. Digby. IIO Damascus, May 4, I 862. . . . The sight of them has indeed been a treat to me. We were acquainted in a moment, and seeing her sweet, youthful, happy .countenance, I felt myself wafted back to her age, and it seemed as though all sad experiences, and trouble were blown away in her society.... She charmed every one who saw her, native or European, Xtian and Moslem-and they seem setting out in Life with as fair a hope of happiness as any I ever saw. . . . The above extracts reveal Mrs. Digby's deep affection and admiration for her husband, and the details of her experiences in the East are vividly described. But the letters also contain many beautiful thoughts and high aspirations, and allusions to friends and relations in England in whose lives she always maintained a deep interest. On hearing of the· death of her mother Lady Andover, and of her sister-in-law Caroline, she expresses her feelings beauti­ fully and simply. At the age of seventy-three she died of dysentery. She was nursed by the wife of a missionary, who arranged her Christian burial. She left her money and her jewels to her husband, who, it is said, was inconsolable. So ended the career of a woman who, whatever her failings, was certainly, in brain, beauty and fascination, one of the most remarkable personalities of her century. On the fly-leaf of her Bible is written by her own hand, " Judge not, that ye be not judged." 1 lv1rs. Digby's sketches 2 include many of the East, Babylon, Palmyra, the Euphrates, etc. They are outlined with a reed pen and executed in a broad, effective, charac­ teristic style. 1 Stirling, Joe. cit. 2 Inherited by my father, Sir Kenelm Digby, G .C.B. I I I XXIII. 2. THE HONOURABLE AND REVEREND KENELM HENRY DIGBY (1811-91) and CAROLINE DIGBY (1810-66). My grandfather, Kenelm Henry Digby,1 younger son of Admiral Sir Henry Digby and of Lady Andover, was ordained about the year r 834. He went to Minterne, Dorsetshire, as curate in 1835. On May 13th of that year he married Caroline, fifth daughter of Edward Sheppard of Firgrove, Salop. The Honourable and Reverend J. T. Pelham, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, performed the cere­ mony. The bride composed a prayer which was used at the service ; her husband added this note to her manuscript: "Written by herself and placed in the book of prayer used on the morning of our Wedding day. Most precious. I wish each of my married children to have a copy." He himself was fond of writing poetry, and the following verses are taken from a poem addressed to his bride.

She has not left her childhood's home But lingers there on bended knee, For again to that home, she ne'er will come As she was wont to be.

For her Parents she prays, and these filial tears She strove not to repel, As the thought of their love from childhood's years O'er her heart in sadness fell.

For her brothers and sisters-that happy band !­ To whom she must bid "farewell," She asks they may meet in her Father's land, Where some lov'd ones in glory dwell.

1 The title of Honourable was granted to him by act of courtesy in I 8 59. II2 But a gentle summons the maiden hears And she comes with her bridal train, The glance of affection has dried her tears And kindled her smile again. His grandfather, Thomas William Coke, Earl of Leicester, presented him with the living of Tittleshall, Norfolk, to which was attached the parish of Wellingham. The young couple went straight to Tittleshall Rectory after their honey­ moon, where they lived for the rest of their lives, and where in due course eight 1 of their nine children were born. The house was comfortable and roomy. They were a sociable, active, happy family and enjoyed the society of friends and neighbours. As they had numerous horses and ponies it was possible f

1 Ph"l1 • 11... 5. 2 H eb • 11... IO. 114 Then though sails be rent to ribbons, Though timbers strain and crack, An arm to guide and shield thee, My boy, thou shalt not lack. Thy life is in the hand of Him At whose blest word and will The winds shall sing thy lullaby, Waves be a mirror still. Then, though seas around are yawning, Though thou hang'st on ruin's brink, Beneath the hollow of His hand, My child, thou canst not sink, The hollow of the hands of Him Whom winds and waves obey, Who ofttimes from the gloomiest night Calls forth the brightest day. Amidst the battle's carnage, Amidst the tempest's roar, Where sunken rocks might wreck thee, Hard by the treacherous shore : Thy God shall still protect thee If thou but trust His might, Shall give thee peace amidst the storm And nerve thee for the fight. And when my fitful life is o'er, And I have sunk to rest 'Neath the grey stone which speaks my name And the green sward o'er my breast, Then may be, that these simple lines, As thou shalt con them o'er, May help thee, child, to steer life's course Whether on sea or shore. And now farewell, my sailor boy: If thou should' st honour win, One only fear I pray for thee, And fear thou that-to sin. 115 My grandmother's death, at the comparatively early age of fifty-six, was a great grief. Her deeply religious life was an inspiration to all. In spite of her strict views she was broad-minded and widely sympathetic. She devoted her­ self to the upbringing and training of her children, and they, in their turn, were devoted to her. She lived to see the eldest of her daughters' children. Once only did she meet her sister-in-law Jane Digby (Lady Ellenborough), but from that day she extended to her a sympathetic under­ standing, and a warm friendship sprang up between them. On hearing of her death, Jane Digby wrote the following lines to her brother Kenelm. Damascus, Jan. 8, I 867. • . . but oh! my dear Brother i only think how that agony would be increased could the slightest doubt of her :fitness, readi­ ness, and even willingness for the awful change enter your mind t But upon these points, thank God, you can be at rest and are even enabled to say" Thy Will be done." . . . I shd like you to send me a short list of some of her favourite books, for I had great reliance on her judgment in selecting what suited me, and I feel a great friend and invaluable Counsellor is gone. . . .

John Linnell painted a charniing little oil portrait of my grandmother at the age of fourteen. It was begun as a lesson to her elder sisters, the Miss Sheppards,1 on Thursday, May I oth, I 8 24, and was exhibited at the Royal Academy the following year. After her mother's death, the second daughter, Lucy, kept house for her father and brothers. She died in 1877. The sons gradually married, and finally William, the fourth

1 The Miss Sheppards left the picture to my father, Sir Kenelm Digby> G.C.B. 116 son, and his family returned from Australia to live at Tittleshall. My grandfather was most hospitable and genial. He was a keen sportsman and rented a large extent of shooting. In later life he accompanied the shooters on a cob, until advancing years forced him to take to a pony carriage. The autumn always saw a reunion of sons and their families. He died in 1891, after a short illness.

I I 7

PART II THE STRUTT ANCESTORS GENEALOGY 1 OF THE STRUTT FAMILY

I. William Strutt of South Normanton. I I I II. 1. Joseph, b. 1724. II. 2. Jedediah, 1726-1797, II. 3. William, 1731-1800. m. Elizabeth Woollatt. I I I III. 1. William, 1756-1830, m. Barbara, dau. of I I I. 2. George Benson. III. 3. Joseph, 1765-1844. Thomas Evans. I I IV. 1. Edward, 1st Baron Belper, 1801-1880, m. Emily, d. 1890, dau. of William Otter, Bishop of Chichester. I I I I I I I I V. 1. William, V. 2. Henry, 2nd V. 3. Arthur, V. 4. Frederick, V. Sophia, m. V. Caroline, V. Mary V. Ellen, 18 38-18 56. Baron Belper, 1842-1877,' m. 1843-1909. Sir Henry 1848-1926, Emily, m. m. George 1840-1914, m. Alice Mary Denis Le m. Sir 1st, Henry Murray Margaret Coke, Elizabeth, d. Marchant, Kenelm MarkGale, Smith, d. 1922, 5th dau. 1926, dau. of Bart., d. Edward d. 1890 ; d. 1919. of Thomas Ambrose de 1915. Digby, 2nd,Henry William, 2nd Earl Lisle. G.C.B., Handford, of Leicester. 1836-1916. d. 1928.

1 In this Table, with the exception of generation V, the names only of persons mentioned in these Memoirs are recorded. N .B.-For the explanation of the numbers see the notes to the O Genealogy of the Digby Family" (facing p. 3). THE STRUTT ANCESTORS 1

OuR earlier Digby and Strutt ancestors form a striking con­ trast-the Digbys, noblemen, courtiers, politicians, soldiers and sailors ·; the Strutts, simple country folk, yeomen and artisans. Much of the following account is taken from articles inspired and supervised by my uncle, Frederick Strutt, which were published in various Derbyshire papers. The originals of the letters are, for the most part, at Kingston, the home of my cousin Algernon, third Lord Belper.

I. WILLIAM STRUTT. William Strutt, a farmer of South N ormanton in the County of Derby, had three sons-Joseph, Jedediah, and William.

II. 1. JOSEPH STRUTT (b. 1724). Joseph was the eldest son of William Strutt, and he went up to London to seek his fortune. There he married and 1 The Roman figure denotes the generation. See the Genealogical Table. I2I kept a place of business, probably a linendraper's shop. He was great-grandfather of the statesman Joseph Chamberlain.

II. 2. JEDEDIAH STRUTT (1726-97). Jedediah, second son of William Strutt, was educated at the village school. At the age of fourteen he was appren­ ticed to Mr. Ralph Massey, a wheelwright of Findern near Derby. The original deed of apprenticeship is at Kingston. Jedediah was at Findern for seven years and lodged with a family of the name of Woollatt. Mr. Woollatt had a small hosiery manufactory. Jedediah became attached to the daughter Elizabeth, whom he afterwards married. She went to London and entered theserviceof Dr. Benson,awell-known Presbyterian divine. After his apprenticeship, Jedediah was employed near Leicester. The letters that passed between the engaged couple show "in a very striking manner how well they had educated themselves, considering the position they occupied and the limited means at their disposal." In 1754 an uncle died, leaving Jedediah a farm at Black­ well near Derby. This made it possible for the young people to marry. But Jedediah was not long to be a farmer. Soon after he went to Blackwell, his brother-in-law °"rilliam Woollatt, knowing his love of mechanics, drew his attention to the possibility of improving the hosiery machine so that it could rib stockings. Jedediah set his mind to the problem and invented a ribbing apparatus which could be adjusted to Lee's stocking frame. This machine was called " The Derby Rib." Realising that his invention was one of real importance, his one aim and wish henceforth was to start a hosiery manufactory. Means were the difficulty. 122 Some tin1e after the birth of her eldest child William ( 17 56 ), Mrs. Strutt decided to go up to London to see her old master, Dr. Benson, and beg him to lend them some money. The journey took from \Vednesday to Saturday. For the first twenty miles, from Blackwell to Derby, she probably rode on a pillion behind her husband ; from Derby she went in a waggon, as the coach was beyond her means. She wrote to her husband that Dr. Benson received her " more like a father than a master." Her appeal was evidently successful, for their second son was christened " George Benson." Jedediah moved to Derby in 1758, and took out patents for making ribbed goods. At that time men wore breeches, and wide-striped coloured stockings were fashionable. He had to present his patents in London, and wrote to his wife : " Since my last the frames have all been strictly examined by six chosen stocking makers, several framesmiths and judicious persons, and last night the committee sat to receive their report, which was in general that the Sutton frame was not, nor would be made of very considerable use, and that mine was the prettiest and best among them, notwithstanding after waiting till eleven o'clock, through the influence of two or three prejudiced persons we were told that none but the Sutton frame would be admitted as a candidate for the premium." But, in the end, the premium was awarded to Jedediah. Later, together with his brother-in-law, he started hosiery works both at Derby and at Nottingham. The firm was called Messrs. Need, Strutt and W oollatt. Mr. Need contributed most of the money, and Jedediah was the lead­ ing spirit. Nottingham and Derby were becoming large markets for cotton yarn. It was this circumstance that doubtless led Arkwright to take his spinning inventions to Nottingham for protection and pecuniary support. He 123 applied in vain to Messrs. Wright (bankers) for financial help, and they recommended him to approach the successful hosiery manufacturers, Messrs. Need, Strutt and Woollatt. They thought Arkwright's invention of extraordinary interest and importance, and entered into partnership with him, furnishing the necessary capital. Their first cotton mill was erected in Nottingham and was driven by horses and asses. This did not long content the firm, who had determined to avail themselves of water-power, and pro­ ceeded to erect mills at Cromford in Derbyshire. The water-power was found to be so advantageous that, in 1778, Jedediah started damming up the river at Belper, and after­ wards at Milford, where he built himself a house.1 In 1780 Messrs. Arkwright and Strutt (Mr. Need had retired some years previously) dissolved partnership, Strutt keeping the Belper and Milford mills, and Arkwright the Cromford mills. The following letter shows how acutely Jedediah felt the lack of education and of other advantages. He had just read, and been greatly impressed by, the" Letters of the Earl of Chesterfield," and wrote to one of his sons from London on ...i\.ugust 17th, I 774 : I need not tell you that you are not to be a nobleman, nor Prime Minister, but you may possibly be a tradesman of some eminence, and as such you will necessarily have connections with mankind and with the world, and that will make it absolutely necessary to know them both ; and you may be assured that if you add to the little learning and improvement you have hitherto had, the manners, the air, the genteel address, and polite behaviour of a gentleman, you will abundantly :find your account in it in all and every transaction of your future life, when you come to do business in the world. . . . You may believe me in this, for I now feel the want of them by dear experience. If I would I could describe to

1 My uncle, the Honourable Frederick Strutt, lived there in later years. 124 you the awkward figure one makes, the confusion and embarrass­ ment one is thrown into on certain occasions from the want of not knowing how to behave, and the want of assurance to put what one does know into practice. . . . Little is known of the last twenty years of Jedediah's life beyond the fact that his business was most prosperous. He and his eldest son, William~ received the freedom of the town of Derby-Jedediah in 1777 and William, who was then only 23 years of age, in 1779. This freedom conveyed certain privileges, but it is a curious fact that the presentation of this privilege to these two members of the Strutt family appears at present to be the only known instance of the freedom of Derby having been presented to anyone.1 The two papers or parchments conferring the freedom have been seen by us, and are in very good preservation, the earlier one in 1777 being signed by R. Leaper, Town Clerk, and the later one in 1779 by Ivan Ashley, Mayor. As far as can be ascertained there is no other specimen of this paper or parchment either of that or any other age in existence. 2 Jedediah's wife died in 1774, and he married again in 1780. He lived in Derby : at first in a house in St. Mary's Gate, then in one in Iron Gate, and then in one at the end of St. Peter's Street, where later his grandson Edward (p. 13 o ), my mother's father, was born (1801). Finally, in 1795 h~ moved to Exeter House in Derby, where he died two years later. He was buried in a vault under the Unitarian Chapel at Belper. The tablet simply states his name and age, and that he was the founder of the chapel ; but after his death an epitaph, written by himself, was discovered an1ong his papers which reads thus : Here rests in peace J. S., who without fortune, family, or friends raised to himself a fortune, family, and name in the world ; 1 The freedom has since been conferred on others. 2 The Derby and Chesterfield Reporter, December 12th, 1902. 125 without having wit, had a good share of plain common-sense ; without much genius, enjoyed the more substantial blessing of a sound understanding ; with a little personal pride, despised a mean or base action ; with no ostentation for religious tenets or ceremonies, he led a life of honesty and virtue ; not knowing what would befall him after death, he died resigned in full confidence that if there be a future state of retribution, it will be to reward the virtuous and the good. This, I think, my true character, J. STRUTT.

Samuel Slater, known as "the father of the Cotton Manufacture in America," received his early training under Jedediah Strutt. When Jedediah began to bank up the river Derwent he found that he must have someone to advise him in the purchase of the land and in his dealings with adjoining landlords. He was fortunate in getting William Slater of Holly House, near Belper, to help him. In return, Jedediah took Slater's son Samuel as an apprentice into the business ; he was then building the cotton factory at Milford. Jedediah had unsuccessfully tried to manipulate some machinery by means of which the bobbin should hold more yarn. The boy Slater set to work and solved the problem. At the end of his apprenticeship Slater became the right hand of his master, but in I 789 he sailed for America, where he became famous. He never returned to England. Jedediah had three sons and two daughters.

III. 3. JOSEPH STRUTT (1765-1844). Joseph, third son of Jedediah and Elizabeth Strutt, was a friend of Thomas Moore the poet, who apparently often I 26 stayed with the Strutts. Several letters exist written by Moore to Joseph, and in one 1 he says :

Bessy and I have been on a visit to Derby for a week. We were on a visit to Mr. Joseph Strutt's. There are three brothers 2 of them and they are supposed to have a million of money pretty equally divided between them. They have fine families of daughters, and are fond of literature, music, and all those elegancies which their riches enable them so amply to indulge themseives with.

Joseph gave the well-known Arboretum to Derby.

III. ·1. WILLIAM STRUTT (1756-1830). Willian1, eldest son of Jedediah Strutt, married Barbara, daughter of Thomas Evans. They had one son and three daughters. His life was· spent at Derby, and he received the freedom of the town when he was only twenty-three (p. 125). He lived at St. Helen's House. The most im­ portant work of the earlier part of his life was the obtaining and carrying into effect of an !\ct of Parliament in the year I 792 for paving and lighting the town and laying out the district or bit of common land called Nuns Green. The object, of course, of this enclosure was to get money to cover the expense of the paving and lighting, as there were then no means of public bodies obtaining loans, but this act drew down upon Wm. Strutt the anger of the inhabitants of part of the town, who resented it in coarse songs and ballads, many of which can be seen to-day amongst Llewellyn J ewitt' s collection of Derbyshire ballads.

1 Published in Lord John Russell's Journal and Memoir of Thomas Moore. 2 William, George Benson, and Joseph. 127 In connection with this undertaking the Strutt family have letters to Wm. Strutt from the then Lord Hastings (sometime Governor­ General of India), referring to the passage of the Bill in the House of Lords ; and other letters from Josiah Wedgwood, of immortal memory, on the subject of blue bricks and paving materials. . . . Of the connection of the Strutt family with the growth and development of Derby as a commercial centre much has been and still more could be written. For a long period of years they held a high place among the inhabitants of the town. Their friends and acquaintance included men and women distinguished in the world of literature, science, and art. A very interesting acquaintance of both William and Joseph 1 Strutt was the great pioneer of elementary education, Joseph Lancaster, whose services have made his name remembered, and have secured for his portrait a well-merited place among those of illustrious Englishmen in the National Gallery. One immediate result of this intimacy with the Strutts was, that after addressing a public meeting in Derby the British School was founded and started in this town. This school, it may be mentioned, was the first elementary school ever established in Derby. Both William and Joseph Strutt were prominent members of the com­ mittee of management from its commencement to the end of their lives. One of them never failed t

William was clever and ingenious ; the Belper stove was one of his inventions, and he also planned the vaulted fireproof rooms in the mills both at Belper and at Milford, and the St. Mary's Bridge over the Derwent. He was associated with the founding and the building of Derby Infirmary,

1 William's youngest brother. 2 P. 130. 3 Extract from The Deroy a11d C/Jesterfte/d Reporter, December 12th, 1902. 128 which in that day was considered a model institution of its kind. The distinction of being made a Fellow of the Royal Society was conferred upon him. Among his friends were Henry Bertram Watts, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, Richard L. Edgeworth, and many scientists. Dr. Erasmus Darwin founded a Philosophical Society in Derby, and on his death William Strutt became President. The following is an extract from a letter written to her sister Honora by Maria Edgeworth while on a visit to St. Helen's, the house of Mr. \Villiam Strutt, in April 1813: We have now been five days at Mr. Strutt's. We have been treated with so much respect and kindness by him, and he shows such a high .esteem and I may say affection for my father, that even if he had not the superior understanding he possesses it would be impossible for me not to like him. From the moment we entered his house he gave up his whole time to us. His servants, his carriages, everything and everybody in his family were devoted to us. And all was done with such simplicity and generosity that we felt at ease even while we were loaded with favours. This house is indeed, as Sneyd and William describe it, a palace, and it is plain that the convenience of the inhabitants has everywhere been con­ sulted. The ostentation of wealth nowhere appears. Seven hours of one day Mr. Strutt and his nephew Jedediah devoted to showing us the cotton mills, and another morning he gave up to showing us the Derby Infirmary. He built it, a noble building ; hot air from below conveyed by a cockle all over the house ; the whole institution a most noble and touching sight ; and a great thing planned and carried into execution in so few years by one man. We dined at Mr. Joseph Strutt's, and in the evening were at Mr. Edward Strutt's. . . . Edward Strutt 1 is indeed all that Sneyd and William describe-a boy of great ability, affectionate, and with a frank countenance that wins at once. . . •

1 Later created 1st Baron Belper. 129 K IV. 1. EDWARD STRUTT, FIRST BARON BELPER ( I 80 I-80). Edward was the only son of William and Barbara Strutt. He took his degree at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was a student both at Lincoln's Inn and at the Middle Temple. In 1837 he married Emily, daughter of William Otter, Bishop of Chichester. They had four sons and four daughters. He was a liberal-minded man and an " authority on free trade, law reform and education." Sitting in Parliament as a" philosophical Radical," he represented Derby from 1830 to 1847,_ Arundel from 1851 to 1852, and Nottingham from 18 52 to I 8 56. In Lord Aberdeen's Government he was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster ( 18 52-54). Raised to the peerage in 18 56, he took the title of Baron Belper from the little town of Belper, near Derby, where Jedediah Strutt had built cotton mills. The following poem, which refers especially to my grandmother, was written on that occasion. 'Tis said the rose would smell as sweet by any other name, Expressed by any word or sign its beauty still the same, So woman's name is but a sound which we have learn'd to love, And other sounds to her attun'd will all harmonious prove. Thus then to Royalty's behest our tongue and pen defer, Though changed the name full well we know there is no change in her. • • • • • • I wandered on a grassy bank by Derwent' s silvery side, While busy hands in the town above the loom and shuttle plied; And ever and anon the ring of laughter's merry peal Resounded, and the workman's song above the whizzing wheel. Then here, said I, blithe industry can work and sing the while, Not thus is wont a grief-worn man his labour to beguile. 130 Yet speaks the world of treatment harsh, and youthful lives unstrung By toil extreme for pittance small, from weary sinews wrung. But here, methinks, the ruling mind hath wiser, holier plan, To elevate the workman's lot, and make him more a man. One who doth sympathy confess with labour's rightful claim, Then Belper's sons shall give to him a fit return, their name. But who come bounding forth from school beside the murky town, Maiden and boy and little child that scarce can toddle down ? And som~ to work and some to play, some back to school . repair, With hours discreetly portioned out for tender age to bear ; Here smiling infancy attests its teaching soft and mild ; Then 'tis a woman's heart, I said, that guards the workman's child ; One who herself a mother's joy-perchance her grief-doth know. 0 wise discerning Queen, to place a chaplet on that brow.

My grandfather took a great interest in foreign politics and was intimate with Count Cavour, Sir Anthony Panizzi, Sir James Lacaita, and Mr. C. F. Adams, United States Minister to England I 861-68. Cavour, "the restorer of Italian unity and nationality," was one of the greatest statesmen of modern times. He probably made my grandfather's acquaintance \.vhen he resided in England to study the political organisations and industrial institutions. On his return to Italy he made good use of his experience and knowledge. It was not until the desire for freedom again showed itself among his fellow­ countrymen that he turned to politics. On his suggestion, King Victor Emmanuel was petitioned for a constitution, which was granted in I 848. Four years later Cavour succeeded d'Azeglio as Premier, and during his regime many liberal measures were carried. But his main labours were 131 directed towar_ds achieving the unity and national inde­ pendence of Italy. So disappointed was he when, after the Peace of Villafranca, V enetia was left in the hands of the Austrians, that he resigned his office ( r 8 59 ), but the following year was persuaded to resume it. By this time feeling in Central Italy had declared itself in favour of the North, and Parma, Modena and Tuscany had come under the rule of Victor En1manuel. Cavour secretly encouraged Garibaldi who, in I 860, achieved the emancipation of Sicily and Southern Italy. On November 17th, 1860, my grandfather went to see Cavour at Turin when the large family party of Strutts were passing through on their way to Nervi. My mother mentions the visit in her diary. This was probably the last time that the two friends met. Early in I 8 6 I the Italian parliament was summoned, and Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed King of a united Italy save for Rome and V enetia. Thus Cavour achieved his life's ambition, but his health had been sorely taxed, and he died on June 6th, 1861. The career of Sir Anthony Panizzi is interesting. He was born at Brescello in 1797 and studied at Padua, becoming an advocate. Having identified himself with the revolution of I 821,he was obliged to flee from Italy, and was condemned to death "in absence." He settled in Liverpool, ,vhere he taught Italian. Through Lord Brougham he was appointed Professor of Italian at University College ( I 828). Three years later he became Assistant Librarian, and from I 8 56 to 18 66, Principal Librarian of the British Museum. As keeper of the printed books, he undertook the new catalogue, and it was he who designed and planned the new reading-room. Panizzi was made a K.C.B. in 1869, and died ten years later. To the end of his life he took a keen interest in the cause of 132 the freedom of Italy. He was a frequent visitor at Kingston, my grandfather's home in Nottinghamshire. So anxious was my grandfather that his family should have the educational experience of going abroad; that he organised a seven months' tour (November 1860 to June 1861) for a party that numbered, in all, nineteen persons. This was no mean undertaking in those days. They were in Italy during the momentous months when she achieved her independence. My mother often spoke of the eager, furtive-inquiries made to them by the gondoliers as to when they thought Garibaldi would come to free Venice from the Austrians. The following details have been taken from the diary kept by my· mother, who was then twelve years old. They started on November 2nd, 1860, and broke their journey at Boulogne, Paris, Macon, Geneva and Chambery; the railway ended at St. Jean de Maurienne, so from there they drove in " a small diligence with a coupe inside, with four horses, and another carriage with three horses.'' They slept at Lanslebourg, and the next morning, November 16th, started in the same carriages to make the ascent of Mont Cenis. To one carriage were harnessed six mules and to the other five. From Suza they took the train to Turin. They stayed at Genoa, and from there settled into the Villa Gro Palla at Nervi, where they spent the winter. On April 9th, 1861, they started on their homeward journey in three large carriages with cabriolets, each drawn by four horses. From Sestri the horses in two of the car­ riages were increased to six. Their next stage was Spezia, then Pisa, and from there they went by train to Florence. From Florence they drove to Bologna and thence to Ferrara. The following extracts are from my mother's journal. 133 Tuesday, May I 4, I 8 6 I . We left Ferrara and commenced our journey to Padua at 8 o'clock. After an hour's dusty drive, I was in cabriolet No. 3, we came to the ferry over the Po. We got over quite safely and at the other side entered the Austrian dominions. There was a grand unpacking of the luggage at the custom house. It was going off very quickly when Tecky's 1 box being opened, my" ~nno Garibalde " (sic) which had been put there by mistake was dis­ covered just at the top. The officer looked very grave and took it out ; he told us we could not take it with us, but that possibly he might send it on to meet us at Venice. This, however, we thought was too much trouble, so the poor thing was left there to be burnt.... Padua. Wednesday, May 15. I must begin with our breakfast t~day, for we had the great foreign delicacy, frogs for breakfast. They certainly are very good, tasting something between fowl and fish. . . . From Padua they went by train to Venice, and then back via Cadenabbia and Lugano to Bellinzona, from whence they drove to Airola. My mother gives a graphic account of their first attempt to drive over the St. Gotthard.

Airolo. Sunday, 'June 2nd, I 8 6 I. To-day we had settled to make the ascent of St. Gotthardt. T,1 Is, 2 A, 3 F,4 S, 5 and I started at 8 o'clock on foot some time before the carriage in order to get a good walk. The morning was rather cold but there was no sun and it looked showery. We walked very vigorously making short cuts (which it is very easy to do with the winding road) through beautiful meadows covered with 1 "Teckie," Miss Becher, their German governess. 2 Isabel, afterwards Mrs. William Trotter. 3 Arthur, my mother's brother. 4 Frederick, my mother's brother. 5 Sophia, my mother's elder sister. 134 wild flowers. The air was so fresh that it seemed impossible to be tired. Isabel and I got rather into a scrape once by leaving the others and clambering up a perpendicular slippery grassy bank overhanging a cascade ; but nothing happened to us except losing our flowers. Presently we came to the first snow and at about r rl we came to a small house which is just half way. We should have gone on but we found there was a good deal of snow, that it was bitterly cold and beginning to rain, so a kind woman let us come into the little chalet and gave us some milk. In a quarter of an hour the rest of the party and our carriages joined us, the latter were drawn by r 5 horses, our own preceding us with the coachmen. We got in and went on ; there were immense walls of snow on each side of the road. Presently there was a stop and when we anxiously enquired what was the matter, they pointed to the road in front and told us that an avalanche had fallen ten minutes before, five minutes after the horses had passed the place, and that it would take the rest of the day to clear it away. So here we were standing in pelting rain and bitterly cold wind. Immense blocks of frozen snow as big as a man had fallen. So we got out and after a long delay and some trouble our great carriages were turned round on the narrow road and we began our descent. Fortunately we found our old rooms at Airolo and much to the landladies amusement, the 83 (as Arthur1 calls our small party) we entered the Hotel again. It's really a great adventure. We shall cross to-morrow if the road is open ....

The next day proved to be beautiful, and they got over safely and down to Amsteg. From there they drove to Lucerne, thence they went by rail via Basle, Strasburg and Paris, arriving in Eaton Square on June 13th, 1861. My grandfather's friends included Bentham, the Mills, Grote, Lord Macaulay, Lecky, Robert Browning, Lord Houghton, the Duke of Argyll, Thackeray and Dean Stanley. He was fond of giving breakfast parties, and his guests sat at

1 My mother's brother. 135 a handsome mahogany table 1 which, by an ingenious con­ trivance, remains round even when expanded. In 1860 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, and eleven years later he became President of University College. Lord Bel per was a rich man and built both Kingston Hall in Nottinghamshire and a large house in London, 88 Eaton Square, on the site of the Speaker's Rooms.

LADY BELPER (EMILY OTTER) (d. 1890). My grandmother, Emily, was a daughter of William Otter, Bishop of Chichester. Her unique personality and her great charm of manner endeared her to all. Her affection was deep, her sense of duty strong, her unselfishness great, and her kindness boundless. The humour of life appealed to her. She had an active, original mind and was widely read. A friend, on hearing of my parents' engage­ ment, wrote to one of my uncles :

I was indeed rejoiced for, and with, you to hear of your brother's marriage with a daughter of Lady Belper's. I am sure you will for ever be enriched by the connexion. I knew you would entirely appreciate Lady Belper. There never was a more attractive woman ....

Her home, both in London and in the country, was a meeting-place for the most distinguished people of the day, and there were few more popular hostesses. Miss Edge­ worth, Miss Martineau and Miss Nightingale were amongst her personal friends. With wide interests, she was always ready to respond to any call, and there were many who owed

1 Now at King's Ford. 136 their chance in life to her personal help and sympathy. In the rector's tribute to her memory he said : Her life was a mass of doing good : there is not a cottage I can enter, but can show a token of her love, not a villager but can tell me of her sympathy and practical help in days of need and sorrow . . . she has left us all an example of good work, of kindly feeling and of love ....1

1 Sermon by the Rev. H.B. Hamilton, M.A., December 1890.

r37

PART III MY PARENTS

MY PARENTS1

XXIV. 1. SIR KENELM ED'\VARD DIGBY, G.C.B., K.C. (1836-1916). MY father, Kenelm Edward, was the eldest son of the Honourable· and Reverend Kenelm Henry Digby, and of Caroline; fifth daughter of Edward Sheppard of Firgrove, Salop. The following little hymn was composed for him, when he was four and a half years old, by Mrs. Sheppard, his grandmother. The original is beautifully written in printed letters. The Sun is hidden from our sight, The birds are sleeping sound : 'Tis time to say to all" Good night,, And give a kiss all round.

Good night, my Father, Mother dear, Now kiss your little son ; Good night, my friends both far and near, Good night to everyone.

1 The Roman figure denotes the generation. See the Genealogical Table facing p. 3· Good night, ye merry, merry birds : Sleep well till morning light. Perhaps if you could sing in words You would have said, " Good night.',

To all my pretty flowers " Good night.,, Like me you go to sleep, And all the stars that shine so bright O'er you their watches keep.

The moon is lighting up the skies, The stars are sparkling there ; 'Tis time to shut our weary eyes And say our Evening Prayer.

For darling Kenny, from his Grandmamma Sheppard. Firgrove, Febry. 25, 1841.

Tittleshall was my father's only home, as my grandfather held the living from his marriage until his death. One of my father's earliest recollections was that of watching the great funeral procession of his great-grandfather, Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (p. 97), from the rectory garden. The following letter from my father to his grandfather s4eppard is undated and must have been dictated to his mother at a very early age. His political views changed in later life !

MY DEAR GDPAPA, I thank you for the note which you sent me. My donkey is clipped and partly broken in, and when she is being broken in I call them "the days of obedience," because I teach my donkey to be obedient, and I think she will be very glad when those days are over. Give my love to all at F. G.1 Ann is now shod, and next

1 Firgrove, the home of his grandparents, the Sheppards. 142 week I believe she will be all ready to ride before we go to F. G. I think the Whigs had better be out of London because the Tories govern our country so much better than the Whigs. I wish G

MY DEAR AuNT FANNY,2 Mama is ill but she is going on very well ..•. Mr. Foster went out shooting for pretence with me this morning and we killed 10 brace and a half of apples .... Lucy 3 laughs when I toss her. I am your affecte LITTLE KENNY. MY DEAR AuNT EMILY,4 .•. We went to Fakenham Thursday to see Van Amburg's Show, we saw him go into the tiger's den and open their mouths and they laid down by the side of him as meek as Lambs : there was an elephant too and I rode upon his back, I walked up a ladder and s_tepped on his head and then got into the howdah ; the man laid down on the grass, and the elephant walked over him which frightened Carry very much for she thought the man must be killed with his great paws. There were two such little ponies and who do you think rode upon them? 2 little monkeys dressed like little boys .•.• The following essay bears no date, but evidently he was very young, as it is apparently dictated to his mother and is in her handwriting.

1 His sister, Caroline Jane, born r838; married Arthur George Watson. 2 Miss Fanny Sheppard. 3 His sister, Lucy Georgiana, born I 840. 4 Miss Emily Sheppard. KENNY's rst. THEME ON CARELESSNESS. I purpose this evening writing a theme on carelessness, the first I have ever written on that or any other subject. Carelessness is a/ault which many people possess and I myself being one of this number know how difficult it is to get rid of it. By carelessness people get themselves into many difficulties which it is easier to get into than to extricate themselves from. By carelessness almost everything in the house is broken and it is very foolish to say, "Oh l that is only one shilling-and I've got plenty of them" because one thing will go after another till when you come next to look into your purse you will find it surprisingly smaller. But I have appeared to wander too far from carelessness and too near to waste. But by what I have just said I only meant to show how we bring on our own ruin by carelessness. Then if carelessness brings on so many miseries ought it not to be watched against and tried to overcome. It is difficult I know-but by perseverance all things are possible and when you overcome it how great will be your reward. You have triumphed over an enemy who has made you so uneasy and have given carelessness a blow which has felled it to the ground nevermore to rise again in you. The home life at Tittleshall was a very happy one ; my father was the eldest of six brothers and three sisters who looked up to him with the greatest affection and admiration. They had many friends, they were not hampered by lack of means, and they were encouraged to lead active, sporting lives. Their mother belonged to the strict Evangelical school and had rigid views, particularly with regard to the keeping of Sunday. Digbys, as a rule, are endowed with a fine physique ; my father had splendid health, which was intensified by his active life. One sister, Lucy, died of consumption ; he always wished that she had lived in the days of fresh air treatment, for which she longed. 144 · The Digby characteristics are a love of children and of dumb animals, a stern sense of duty, warm and faithful affection, a tenderness towards suffering, and a true apprecia­ tion of sport and of "playing the game." I never heard my father say a cross word ; his only way of showing annoyance was by rubbing his hands together. He went to a small private school at Blakeney near Cromer, and rode home on his pony for week-ends and for holidays. His career at Harrow was distinguished ; he rose to be second in the school and won the Peel Gold Medal ; he played in the cricket eleven four years, captaining it for three ( I 8 53, I 8 54 and I 8 55). Each year he led the team to victory against Eton, a feat that is still unique. After the final match he was presented with a cricket ball on the field at Lord's, on which the years of the victories were inscribed. Long afterwards, when a Governor of Harrow (he succeeded Viscount Peel in 1904), he and Lord Gallo­ way (one of the three slow bowlers to whom my father attributed the success of his years of captaincy) happened to walk down the Speech Room steps together and were loudly cheered by the assembled school.

K. E. D.'s First Letter from Harrou,. Harrow. Wednesday evening. MY DEAR MAMA, I got your letter this morning and thank you for it very much. I like Harrow almost more than I can tell you. I have not been bullied at all and I like most of the fellows pretty well and there is only one fellow who I'm determined I'll cut, he seems to me a regular little blackguard (I can't think of any other word). I have three other fellows in my room besides myself, two are lords, their names are Rothes and Garlies and another fellow named 145 L Hughes. They let me alone and don't bully me though none of them said their prayers either last night or this morning, and are not very particular as to their language, yet they have as yet let me read my Bible and say my prayers without interrupting me. Simpkinson (by contraction, Simmy) examined me to-day and placed me in the under Shell which is by no means a bad place .... I remain your affectionate son, K. E. DIGBY. I have found out Papa's name in this house.

Early in his Harrow career he fought one of the last fights on the old Milling Ground, his antagonist being the Lord Rothes mentioned in his first letter. My grandmother was greatly distressed, and the following letter to her from Mr. Simpkinson, my father's house-master, shows the broad­ minded view that he took of this incident.

23 Nov. I 849. Harrow. ·My DEAR MADAM, • . • Allow me to say that I am sure you are distressing yourself more than you ought about this matter. It is indeed quite obvious that fighting is in itself a thing much to be lamented and con­ demned and that it proves the existence of unchristian passions, but I do not think that it proves in every several case the existence of unchristian feelings, or that in the present case you need fear that your boy's character and principles have undergone any serious injury. Indeed I fully trust that it will prove a useful lesson to him, looking upon it as he has done and does. On the late occasion he was much in the wrong at first, for joining in teasing the boy who challenged him, but having gone so far, it was very difficult for him to avoid the sequel. It would have required a command of temper and a Christian wisdom to get out of the difficulty without servile submission which one could hardly expect in a boy of his age, admirable as it would be if realised. But under such circumstances I should so very much fear a loss of self­ respect and of readiness to face painful emergencies, that my first 146 feeling would not be sorrow to hear that a- boy had accepted the challenge he provoked. The best line to take with Kenelm seems to me to show him how wrong he was in the first instance . . . and was led qn to a result which proved plainly what evil passions had been set loose in himself and his antagonist. This I think both of them feel now, besides a peculiar delicacy towards one another, so as far as the effects produced on their characters by the fight itself (setting aside the preliminaries) I have been quite happy, and I trust you too will be in some measure at rest.... J. N. SrMPKINSON.

The following extracts are taken from Mr. Simpkinson's letters to my grandfather.

Harrow. Dec. 16, 1850. . . . It is very delightful among my terminal reports to come to such a case as that of your boy, about whom I have little more to say than to congratulate you on his continued success ...• He has come home no doubt radiant with happiness, and you will all enjoy your holidays spent with him exceedingly...• There is no influence of a Christian home like his, more valuable than this.... J. N. S1MPKINSON.

Harrow. Dec. 22nd, I 8 5I. . . . You have the pleasure again of seeing your boy return to you from Harrow full of honours, and with the warm con­ gratulations of all who have the charge of him ; . . . his habits and compani_ons are those which you as well as I would approve of. . . • He is now, you see, left Head of the Upper Fifth Form which is a very good place for him, as the only glory he can get for some time to come is by proving himself able to keep his position with credit, which is the purest and least selfish object of the kind which can be proposed to him. . . • J. N. SIMPKINSON. 147 Harrow. Dec. 7, 1852 . . . . His character seems to me to be rising and strengthen­ ing under a sense of responsibility and authority. . . . He grows in manliness and decision, without any hardness or assumption showing itself on the other side ; and has fulfilled, I believe, his duty in the house faithfully without losing anything of the con­ fidence and favour of his younger school-fellows. . . . The remissness and absorption in other interests, which was complained of in the summer, has quite disappeared ; and though the cricket quarter will again be a trying one no doubt, we quite hope and believe that he will not lose his balance then. . . . J. N. SIMPKINSON. Windermere, August 11, r 8 54. . . . I must add my congratulations to K. on the eminent success of Harrow this year at Lord's. He must have had his fill of glory now. The score in the second innings with Eton is something marvellous, and must have been doubly gratifying after his misfortune in his first innings .... J. N. SIMPKINSON. Harrow. Dec. 16, 1854. • • . Kenelm's success this quarter at Harrow has given many, as you may be sure, the liveliest satisfaction ; and it is with feelings not unlike your own that I congratulate you on his last crowning distinction here. He has now attained the summit of what Harrow offers in the way of honours and rewards, and has shown in the most gratifying way how he has deserved it, by coming out first in the ordinary work, and in the Composition of the quarter, a result which as a testimony to merit and the moral qualities of a student I should prize more highly than his triumph at the examination. • . . Dr. Vaughan 1 has probably written to you, to express the gratification which I know he feels himself at the result of the last contest, and I will leave it to him to speak, as he can do so much better, of Kenelm's state of proficiency.... J. N. SIMPKINSON. 1 Headmaster of Harrow. 148 Harrow. April 3, I 8 5 5. . . . The quarter which we have just ended has been one of the same character as the preceding one in his case, one of con­ tinuous progress and improvement morally as well as intellectually. For my own part I have no greater source of joy in my duties here than that of seeing the steady development and promise of K. and of his worthy compeer, Howe ; and I am sure it must be an unfailing spring of happiness and thankfulness to you to have such a blessing in your son. . • • J. N. SIMPKINSON.

Brington Rectory, Northampton. August 27, 1855. . . . It is really a satisfaction to me that my Harrow career closes with that of Ken elm, just as my principal sorrow in leaving is that I part with so many there in whom I am warmly interested. He has ended his career most creditably and delightfully. Except one disappointment about the prizes, we could desire nothing more for him in this way. His school course is a delightful retrospect for all of us, and may well make you confidently hopeful that the rest of his life with God's blessing will correspond with it. He leaves Harrow with the affection and respect of all who have been connected with him, and this has been won not only by diligence and faithfulness, but under the severe test of posts of responsibility and authority.... J. N. SIMPKINSON. From Harrow he obtained a scholarship, open to Gloucestershire men only, at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, of which College he later became a Fellow and Tutor ; he was eligible for this scholarship as he happened to be born at The Ridge in Gloucestershire, all the other members of the family being born at Tittleshall. These closed scholar­ ships were shortly afterwards abolished. At Oxford he carried on his Harrow reputation, excel­ ling both at work and at games. 149 In every part of his long and varied career (wrote Lord Bryce 1) he displayed the same energy, the same practical capacity, the same high sense of public duty. At Oxford, where he was president of the Union Society, he was one of the leading figures of his time whom everybody knew and everybody liked ; and when he became a fellow of his college he took a prominent part in the University Reform movements of that day. He won a First Class in Moderations and a First Class in Greats ; he was in the cricket eleven three years, and was a keen and energetic oarsman. His mother had set her heart on his taking Orders, but when it came to the decision he felt that he could not con­ scientiously do so, though he was always a strong churchman. This was the only occasion on which he disappointed her, and he never quite got over the sorrow he had caused her. Instead, he decided to go to the Bar, and stayed on at Oxford as tutor until the time came when he had to give himself up entirely to his legal work. Mr. George Bourne, four years his junior, who first knew him in I 8 59, when he was a freshman and my father a coliege tutor, wrote of him : Through the generations of the C.C.C. men with whom I lived there was kept up a vivid memory of how this Harrow demi­ god had come up to the College from Harrow, bringing with him an unrivalled record for all-round brilliancy, and had never lived upon his laurels won, but kept on steadily attending to the matter in hand whatever it might be, adding every Term to the reputation which he wore so unselfishly, and to the friendships which filled so large a place in his life .... It was a wrench, but hardly a surprise, when we were told that, in the interests of his career at the Bar, our well-loved Tutor could no longer stay on in Oxford . . . and at the end of Term a College supper in Hall was, after the manner of the time, held for doing him honour, and towards the end of the 1 Viscount Bryce, O.M., The Law Quarterly Rt'tliew, July 1916. 150 proceedings a few words were said to express what we all felt, followed by a song written by one 1 who, though no poet, was a lover of good men.2 [Composed by Mr. Bourne and sung by Mr. Manning, Saturday, Dec. 13, 1862.] 3 We'll sing a song of Digby, We'll sing it ere we part, Fifty men of Corpus, All sorrowful at heart. When we find all hope end That he will longer stay. Oh, is it not a painful thing That he must pass away ! (Chorus: " Oh, is it not," etc.) There's none like him to contradict The proverb of " ne sutor " ; You've seen him bat, you've seen him pull, You've had him for your tutor. In lecture-room, on Isis wave, Or on the cricket ground There's no one here but will confess That Digby's good all round. (Chorus: "There's no one here," etc.) And now our boat may sink until She start near Iffiey lasher, And Corpus find that cricketers From every College thrash her. But tho' all this should come to pass (Which Heaven and earth forbid) Yet the best part would still remain Of all that Digby did. (Chorus : " Yet the best," etc.) 1 Mr. George Bourne himself. 2 The Pelican Record, C.C.C., Oxon., June 1916. 3 From the original manuscript. For with his weight of influence He ever has promoted Good feeling and good fellowship For which our House is noted ; And Corpus men in years far hence His name shall not forget, For all shall share the spirit On which his seal is set. ( Chorus : " For all shall share," etc.)

Then sing a song of Digby, And sing his praise amain ; For oh ! it will be long ere we Shall see his like again ; We've sung of his departure, For 'tis the proper thing, But oh ! it is a painful song For Corpus men to sing. ( Chorus : " But oh ! it is," etc.) The words are boyish enough, but as sung by all of us they expressed in homely fashion a very deep feeling. And after that, the big strong man, always sensitive to any utterance of real affection, rose and found himself unable to say more than the words" I wish you all good-bye." 1

Mr. T. Kennet-Were, another of my father's friends and contemporaries, wrote of his Oxford career : He came up from Harrow with the reputation of being one of Vaughan's favourite pupils ... and very soon by his good nature and sterling qualities became a general favourite ; so at least I found him when I came up to Corpus a little later. He was then a sort of King by acclamation among us undergraduates, with whom his prowess at cricket and participation in all games ...

1 George H. Bourne, loc. cit. 152 made him so regarded. But this was but a small portion of his nature, for it was his high moral character and deep-seated principles of duty which won our respect and esteem and set us an example which we might have well followed. I never knew a man who used to do as he did, and in the summer term, after a long day's cricket, when we were probably spending the evening in jollification, he would go to his rooms and read for a couple of hours. . . . I have always regarded him as one of the best and one of the most gen tie men I ever knew. . . • He entered at Lincoln's Inn, was called to the Bar in 1865, was Vinerian Law Reader at Oxford from 1868 to 1874, became a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1891, and took silk in I 904. My mother used sometimes to go with him to Oxford, and had alarming experiences as a young bride, being often the only woman in a company of men. . In 1874 he resigned his Chair at Oxford because his practice at the Bar was increasing, and he was frequently employed in Canadian Appeal cases before the Privy Council. During his early years at the Bar he shared chambers with his life-long friend, Mr. James ( created Viscount) Bryce. They were both staunch Liberals. Lord Bryce 1 wrote of his legal work that he threw himself with ardour into the study of the law on both its theoretical and its historical side ; and finding that there were few books bearing on the latter to which Oxford students could be referred, he prepared a history of the Law of Real Property-a carefully done and thorough piece of work, which was immediately prescribed as a book fit to be read by students preparing them­ selves for the law examinations at the University. A second edition was considerably enlarged, a fifth appeared in 1899, and it continues to hold its ground as an excellent compendium.

1 Bryce, lac. cit. 1 53 My father often spent his vacations abroad ; he cared passionately for scenery and was a keen mountaineer. He became a Member of the Alpine Club in 1867. The following are his chief clirnbs.1

1860. Brei thorn, climbed 25th August. 1862. Cold'Herens and first passage ofthe Col des Bouquetins, 22nd August. I 866. With F. Harrison, Piz Sella ; from Pontresina ascended the Bellavista Pass, thence making the first certain ascent of the W. and Central (highest) summits of Piz Palu, descended to the Fellaria glacier and returned over the Sella Pass the same day to Pontresina. 1868. Col du Geant ; Triftjoch ; Lysjoch with J. Bryce, C. P. Ilbert, and R. B. Heathcote, and Lyskamm with Heathcote, 26th August. Betta Furka, 27th August ; Schwarzthor and Pollux, 28th August ; made a new route up Monte Rosa, 31st August, with Heathcote, reaching the Grenz Sattel from the Grenz glacier. Adler Pass and Strahlhorn.

On mountaineering expeditions, and on walks, he always carried a pocket edition of Homer in the original Greek, which he never tired of reading. He married, in 1870, Caroline Strutt, second daughter of Edward Strutt, 1st Lord Belper. They went abroad for their honeymoon in spite of the Franco-Prussian War. At Cologne they witnessed the sad sight of trains of wounded arriving at the station. Switzerland was almost devoid of tourists, three honeymooning couples, including themselves and the Frederic Harrisons) being almost the only visitors. This was the first of several delightful trips abroad, which my 1 Alpine Club Register, by Mumm. 154 parents greatly enjoyed together, until we were old enough to share holidays with them. On their return they settled in Queensberry Place, South Kensington, and later moved to Onslow Square. Four children, two sons and two daughters, were born to them. My father was appointed County Court Judge of Derby­ shire in 1892. We sold our house in Onslow Square, and moved to Aston Hall (belonging to the Holden family) five miles south of Derby. Thus my mother returned to the neighbourhood of her old home. One of our great pleasures was to go with my father when he held a Court in the Peak district, so that afterwards we could go for a tramp together on the moors. He thought that the County Court Judgeship would be the end of his career, but in I 89 5 Mr. Asquith, then Home Secretary, asked him to accept the post of Permanent Under Secretary of State for the Home Department. Consequently we returned to London, this time to Eaton Place. The work was arduous but exceedingly interesting and varied, and he greatly enjoyed it. Mr. Cecil Lubbock acted as his private secretary for some time until his promotion. My father found him an ideal assistant, and a very warm mutual affection sprang up between them. Every week-day my father lunched at the Athenreum, which gave him unique opportunities for informal discussions with ministers, judges, and other influential personages, and he used to say that there he achieved much valuable work in a friendly and informal way. Queen Victoria died during his term of office. Some of us saw the great funeral procession from Lord Ridley' s house in Carlton House Terrace, and some from the roof of the Park Lodge near the Marble Arch, while my father went to Windsor. 155 My parents and my sister were present in the Abbey at King Edward's Coronation. Mrs. Temple, wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury, sat next to them. She was anxious for her aged husband,1 who was infirm and shaky and had to be helped up after paying homage to the King. My family witnessed a curious sightwhichwasvisible from few other seats. At the moment of the crowning of the King, a figure, shrouded in white, appeared from behind a tomb, with arm outstretched as if pointing at the King. It was a weird and ghostly spectacle. Afterwards they heard that an eastern princess had been hidden in a recess so that, unseen, she might watch the ceremony. At the supreme moment, in her excitement, she had leant forward and raised her veil. My father was made a K.C.B. in 1898. He was thus the second Sir Kenelm Digby. Once, when he was announced at a Foreign Office party, I heard Mr. Choate, the American Ambassador, say : " How I do enjoy hearing the roll of that splendid name." My father retired from the Home Office in 1903, his term of service having been specially extended for two years. He worked under four Home Secretaries: Mr. Asquith (afterwards the Earl of Oxford and Asquith) ; Sir Matthew White Ridley, a personal friend ( afterwards Viscount Ridley) ; Mr. Ritchie (afterwards Baron Ritchie) ; and Mr. Akers-Douglas (afterwards Viscount Chilston). Sir Edward Troup, K.C.B., who served under him for eight years, wrote : He won at once the hearts of all who worked under him at the Home Office, and he soon impressed all his colleagues in the public

1 He died four months later. 156 service as one of the ablest and strongest among them. . . . Personally, he was a delightful chief, kindly and genial, considerate of the feelings of those from whom he differed, but firm and even severe when occasion required. . . . I think it would be right to say of him that he was an ideal head for a public department. . . . It is not surprising that my father had many friends ; everyone who knew him loved and admired him. He was ever ready to help all who came to him for advice, entering into their difficulties and aspirations with his kind, sym­ pathetic understanding, and assisting them with wise counsel based on his broad, sound judgment. This fellowship of mutual help was the keynote of his life. Those with whom he was most intimate during our memory were Lord Bryce, Sir George Trevelyan, Sir William Church, Mr. Edward North Buxton, who married my father's sister, Sir George Young, and Mr. Frederic Harrison. Beyond a wide circle of real friends, he had a large acquaintance, and at a great party he would be greeted by almost everyone present. Thus we had the privilege of knowing many eminent people and of hearing much interesting talk, so that on looking back distinguished names are not merely words but living personalities. For ten years we rented, besides our London house, a little place, Gorse Acres, Churt, in Surrey, to which we went for short holidays and for week-ends. It was nearly six miles from Farnham, and surrounded by heath and open country, perfect for the riding which my father so greatly enjoyed. We had a remarkably pleasant little coterie of intimate neighbours, which included Professor Gilbert and Lady Mary Murray; Mr. Henry Crompton, a Positivist, who married my mother's cousin, a daughter of the first Lord Romilly; Lady Chesney, widow of General Sir George 157 Chesney (Military Member of the Council in India and author of " The Battle of Dorking " and other works), whose eldest son was born during the Indian Mutiny; and Sir Robert Wright, Judge of the King's Bench Division. After my father's retirement we looked about for a permanent country home, and finally decided on King's Ford in Essex, to which we moved in I 906. Every year we took a house in London for part of the winter. My father loved country life and was keenly interested in all local activities. He was always a strenuous worker, but retained a schoolboy's capacity for enjoying his vacations. During our summer holidays, spent either in Scotland, Ireland or abroad, we walked a great deal, and we have had many a delightful tour in Italy, Switzerland, and the Tyrol, with a mule for our baggage. On his seventy-seventh birthday he, my sister and I made one of the smaller ascents at Chamonix. When in London she or I always rode with him for an hour before breakfast. In the country he enjoyed hard manual work in the garden and in the fields. - He was a keen sportsman, a good shot and an experienced fisherman. l\1y father was made a G.C.B. in 1906. When King Edward, at the Investiture, was putting the collar round his neck, so intent were they both in recalling the following episode that the order became hopelessly tangled up and help had to be summoned. In I 904 my father took a small shooting lodge, Druidaig, on Loch Duich. It is, perhaps, the loveliest spot on the west coast of Scotland. We had not been there many days, and were revelling in the quiet, free life after a gay London season, when, to our surprise, a car drove up to the gate. The rough road ended at the ferry just beyond the Lodge, and a motor had never before been seen there ; out stepped 158 Lord Burton and Lord James. They had driven over from Glenquoich, and explained that King Edward was coming on a visit and was anxious to see this part of the coast. Their suggestion was to bring him by car, and to send the yacht round from Loch Hourn for the return journey. This entailed embarking from our very slippery little pier, which was merely a stone jetty always covered by the sea at high tide. The King wished the trip to be informal and only local people to be present. The only dwellings in the neighbourhood were a few poor cottages, or rather cabins, constituting the hamlet of Letterfearn. At first the inhabitants refused to believe that the King was corning, and argued that no King had ever paid a visit to th~se parts since Prince Charlie. However, when we were able to show them the telegram stating that we were to expect the party the next day, they began to get busy. They erected two triumphal arches of rowan and heather over the road, and hung white cloths from their windows on which they painted red and blue stripes. We had sent for our Jubilee flags from London· to make the approach to the jetty look gay, and we sanded the little pier. The great day was gloriously hot and still ; there was not a ripple on the sea. The party arrived safely in three cars. Lord Burton was anxious as to the safety of the weak bridges, and had arranged for a pioneer car to go first and for the King to travel in the second ; nevertheless, the King insisted on coming in the first. He was delighted with the scenery and surroundings, and stayed chatting for some time with my father and mother. Our keeper's little girl presented him with a button-hole of white heather which he accepted in his very genial way. The King and Lady Burton then proceeded, in single file, down the little jetty and embarked 159 in a rowing boat for the yacht, which had to make several journeys until the whole party were safely on board. My father led the cheers, and the King waved and saluted from the boat. Whenever they met afterwards the King always referred to his delightful expedition. Two curious episodes happened that same evening. We were fishing for cuddies with white flies when a shoal of seven ,vhales, one a white one, came up the loch close to our boats, and we had to row speedily ashore. Whales had never before been seen in Loch Duich. The country people thought that they had come to celebrate the royal visit. Later, Mr. Frederic Harrison arrived in a sailing boat. His seamen were staunch Jacobites and treated the King's visit with contempt. The only time that my parents travelled out of Europe was in 1907, when they went to the United States to visit Lord and Lady Bryce at the Embassy. It was summer, and the Embassy had moved from Washington to the hills. They greatly enjoyed this interesting trip, and explored the surrounding country. My father had several dinners given in his honour. They also stayed with cousins, the Paul Cromptons, near New York. Paul Crompton was Manager of the Booth business. The whole of this active, high-spirited, happy family-father, mother, five children and the governess -was drowned at the sinking of the Lusitania in 191 5. Paul Crompton was returning to take up work in England. In 19 I 3, after the lapse of a century, the Installation Service of the Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath was reinaugurated in their chapel, that of King Henry VII, in Westminster Abbey. My father walked with his friend Lord Brassey, and many present said that there was no finer­ looking figure, the rich crimson of the mantle making a 160 striking_ contrast to his white beard. The banner of each knight hangs over the stall appointed for his use, to the back of which is attached a small plate of copper emblazoned with the arn1s. My father's banner is a silver fleur-de-lys on a blue ground. Soon after the outbreak of war all the banners ,vere taken down and stored underground for safety. After my father's death, when the war was over, it was sent to my mother and hung over the staircase at King's Ford. \Ve used it for covering the n1emorial tablet to our parents in All Saints' Church, Stanway, vvhich was unveiled by Canon Brunwin-Hales on August 21st, 1927. It has been previously mentioned that my father retired from the Home Office in 1903, but he was not long to be idle. Immediately on his return from a few weeks' holiday spent in Ron1e, he ,-vas asked to serve on Commissions and Committees. His labours were varied. He was already a member of the Royal Commission appointed in 1902 " to inquire into, and report upon, ( 1) The character and extent of the evils which are attributed to the unrestricted immi­ gration of aliens, especially in the metropolis ; ( 2) the measures vvhich have been adopted for the restriction and control of alien immigration in foreign countries and in British colonies, and to advise what remedial or precautionary measures it is desirable to adopt in this country, having regard to the above matters and to the absence of any statutory po,ver to exclude or expel any individual alien or class of aliens from its borders." Further, he was Chairman of a Departmental Committee, appointed by the Home Secretary, to inquire into the working of the law relating to compensation for injuries to workmen ( 1903); Arbitrator in a serious dispute in the tinplate industry ( r 904)-and his settlement is still gratefully remembered by South Wales; 161 M Arbitrator in the boot and shoe industry; Chairman of a Commission, appointed by the Board of Trade, to inquire into " certain matters relating to the river Humber ..." ( I 90 5) ; Chairman of a Departmental Committee on Pilotage ; Chairman of a Departmental Committee, ap­ pointed by the Home Secretary, "to inquire as to the provision made for dealing with cases of accident and sudden illness_ occurring in streets and public places within the metropolis . . ." ( r 906) ; Chairman of a Departmental Committee of Inquiry into the working of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) (1906)­ this necessitated spending much time in Ireland and brought him into contact with Sir Horace Plunkett, for whom he had a great regard· ; a member of a Committee, appointed by the Treasury, "to consider the statements of claims to additional State assistance and estimates of the amounts needed for the respective services, which have been supplied by the Scottish Universities at the request of his Majesty's Government ; and to report as to what assistance, if any, should be granted from public funds in the interests of the proper development of the work of the Universities, due regard being had to the co-ordination of their work with that of the other Institutions in Scotland giving instruction of a University standard" (1909); Chairman of a Colonial Office Committee which reported on the native land customs of Nigeria ; Chairman of a Committee on land registration of the Gold Coast-he was working on this when his labours ended. Lord Bryce 1 wrote :

When in I 9 I 4 he was pressed to join another Royal Com­ mission, 2 he yielded rather reluctantly, for he was beginning to feel 1 Lord Bryce, loc. cit. 2 To inquire into the subject of Venereal Diseases in the United Kingdom (r9r 3). 162 the weight of years, but his sense of public duty prevailed, and he was a ~onstant attendant at its meetings (presided over by Lord Sydenham) until it reported a few months ago. In December I 9 I 4 I persuaded him to join the Committee on Alleged German Outrages in Belgium and France, on which he did work- of the utmost value, bringing a singularly sane and cool judgment to bear upon many difficult questions.

The horrors detailed before this Committee preyed upon his mind, for his gentle spirit knew no hatred. · The war cast a terrible cloud of sadness over the re­ mainder of his life. His two sons were spared, but he felt the loss acutely of nine nephews and of many friends. As always he lost no opportunity of helping in every way that lay in his power. He arranged for about thirty Territorials to be housed in the coach-house and over the stables, so that they should be in slightly more comfortable quarters than they were under canvas. To him fell some of the responsi­ bility for the safe shifting of the people in the country district of Stanway All Saints should the Gern1ans land on the Essex coast. At the sound of the first siren everyone was to be warned ; at the sound of the second they were to prepare, and at the sound of the third they were to start. The bye­ lanes by which they were to go were carefully mapped out, as the main roads were to be left free for the movement of troops. At first the orders were that, before leaving, all cattle were to be killed and stacks burnt so that the Gerrnans might find desolation. Later it was ordained that the cattle should be spared and driven away. Mercifully, events never necessitated the execution of these plans, which resembled very closely those made during the Napoleonic Wars when a landing by the French was feared. My father wished to live to see the end of the war, but it 163 was not to be. ·Death came to him, very peacefully, after two days' illness, at Studland in Dorsetshire, on Good Friday morning, April 21st, 1916, my mother's birthday. My parents had had forty-six years of married life, a life of perfect mutual love and understanding. I give two extracts from the many letters received by my mother after my father's death. Lord Bryce wrote, April 22nd, 1916 : . . . he was one of the wisest, truest and most steadfast souls I have ever known. How much it is now to be able to feei that in him there was never anything to regret. In the years when we lived together in London I learnt to think of him as a model of what a man should strive to be, and for more than fifty years his friend­ ship has been more to me than I can put into words. His counsel was always wise and his affection unfailing.... Dr. Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote, May 15th, 1916: Sir Kenelm's unfailing kindness to me ever since I was a small boy in the Harrow House presided over so beautifully by his sister 1 has made his '' going hence'' create a real blank for me among older friends. And in recent years I have, on so many Committees and governorships and elsewhere, had opportunity of measuring the value of his ripe experience, his lucid thought, and his unswerving probity and common sense, that I feel acutely how great is our loss. It has been a :fine life of public service from Harrow days onwards. Pardon this brief and inadequate line of appreciation. I am starting in a few hours for the Army at the front, with whom I hope to spend about ten days. . . . I end with a paragraph from the obituary notice in the Harrovian. 2

1 Mrs. Arthur G. Watson. No son of Harrow had a more enduring affection for her than Digby : few have won distinction for her in more varied fields. He will be remembered as a typical example of the best product of our great English Public Schools, scholar, athlete, lover of English country life and field sports, and an eminent servant of the State.

THE HONOURABLE LADY DIGBY (THE HONOURABLE CAROLINE STRUTT) (1848-1926). My mother was the second daughter of Edward Strutt, 1st Lord Belper, and of Emily, daughter of William Otter, Bishop of Chichester. They had four sons and four daughters. The daughters were educated by Fraulein Becher (" Teckie "), their German governess and life-long friend. In a diary kept by n1y mother at the age of eight, she refers to the rejoicings at the end of the Crimean War.

29th May I 8 56. . . . Arthur 1 arrived early this morning and walked all the way from Waterloo Station. We saw the illuminations this morning. Henry 2 came rather late to-day. There were some fireworks tonight because there was peace made between England and Russia and they were very pretty. We were very tired when we came home. . . . During the winter and spring of 1860-61 they were abroad, my grandfather having taken a villa at N ervi (p. r 3 3). The large party had a delightful and strenuous time, com­ bining lessons in Italian with sight-seeing and making expeditions, which were often done on foot.

1 Her brother Arthur. 2 Her brother Henry, afterwards 2nd Lord Belper. 165 The Strutts were an affectionate, united, happy family ; music and drawing held a foremost place in their luxurious home, and my mother never lost her keen interest in these arts, and in literature. She played the organ both at home and at the services in Kingston village church. Madame Schumann gave her piano lessons. Singing duets with her brother Arthur was a special joy to her ; she, herself, had a fine contralto voice and belonged to Miss Caroline Holland's Choral Society until the Bach Choir was inaugurated, of which she was a member for many years. Two great sorrows shadowed the Kingston family life. William, the eldest son, died in his eighteenth year, in Germany, of typhoid fever, and Arthur was accidentally killed, in I 877, by the great wheel in the cotton factory at Milford. He was a most lovable and attractive character, and the following poem perpetuates his memory.

ON THE LAMENTED DEATH oF THE HoN. ARTHUR STRUTT (FEBRUARY 6TH, 18 77 ).

Not as a frail bark by some tempest met Of wind and waves, that sinks beneath the shock, But as a gallant ship with sails all set And hands on board : striking a hidden rock

Goes down in tranquil seas-so went he down In life's mid ocean-when his vessel's keel Was kissed by sunny waves-hence do we drown In tears the pain our hearts instinctive feel.

With undissembled grief we mourn his end, And how much more his loved ones must deplore The loss to them, of Father, Husband, Friend: E'en grief to their crushed hearts can add no more. 166 But yesterday with health and life indued, He walked amongst us in his quiet way, And little deemed we that by hand so rude He would be torn and rent from us to-day. How frail a thing is human life ! how strange A simple weed should lure him to his fate : The why and wherefore is beyond the range Of human ken, or mind, to estimate. May not some subtle law constrain and guide Our actions-which we fail to recognise In such events-and wisdom have denied Its true discernment to our mortal eyes? When called by duty to the judgment seat, His -aim was not to punish, but reclaim, Justice and mercy dwelt in him complete ; Prompt to forgive a wrong and slow to blame. In private virtues none might him excel ; In public duties his the foremost part, And his untimely death has been the knell Of cherished hopes in many a sorrowing heart. At the next " muster " there will then be missed One soldier citizen, beloved by all, One honoured name the less upon the list, One voice no more shall answer to the " call." Yet shall that name be known and cherished long On Derwent's banks, and in its flowery dale The summer birds shall sing his requiem song To the sweet music of the stream and gale. And Kingston Hall shall mourn him, where he spent The happy days of youth and childhood sweet, And all the fair and fertile vale of Trent His name and mem'ry lovingly repeat. 167 Calm be his rest beneath his favourite tree, Whose leaves and shadows on his grave shall fall ; His deathless spirit is for ever free, The bourne is passed, which must be passed by all. T. C.

The characteristics of the Strutts are their strong sense of duty and their self-sacrificing devotion for the welfare of others. They have all led active, useful lives. The youngest son, Frederick, though incapacitated by a terrible driving accident which left him partly blind and very deaf, nevertheless resumed his public ,vork with undiminished courage, which included a strenuous year as Mayor of Derby. The following account of my mother's wedding ,vas written by n1y grandn1other, to a friend, Miss Richardson.

Sept. 2, I 870. . . . Dear Carry looked so nice-such a calm trustful look on her face, and she went through all the ordeal of that day admirably. I thought before, her veil and white dress would be trying to her, but I think she looked wonderfully well and not quite so pale as usual. We had about 60 at breakfast, all relations or really intimate friends of ours or the Digbys-9 bridesmaids, the last 3 being Ellen 1 and two little Buxton 2 nieces of Kenelm Digby who walked one on each side. They made such a pretty trio, dresses all white muslin with blue sashes, white chip bonnets with blue ribbons and white jasmine flowers. They were married at St. Peter's Church 3 and the service was very nice. Mr. Bere, Caroline's organ master, played, and had the choir to chant the Psalm and sing a hymn. He plays splendidly and gave such a grand burst of the Wedding March the moment the service was

1 My mother's youngest sister. 2 Daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Edward North Buxton. 3 Eaton Square, London. 168 over. The bride and bridegroom went to Effingham 1 for two days, and had the luxury of driving the whole way and having no horrid railway which is certainly a great boon under such circum­ stances. . . . To-day they are to start from Dover to Ostend and then to Switzerland by the Rhine, Mayence, Darmstadt, [ an illegible place], etc. I understand this route is quite free and Switzerland delightful and not full. . . . I dread to think of going home. I scarcely realise her loss yet and only think of her happiness, but she has been to me for 2 2 years a joy and sunbeam. I had such rest and peace in her fond love, and now this life together is over, but I feel as if, please God, I shall have a new life in her more complete and perfect happiness, and I thank Him for the great boon He has given her in the deep fond love of a man who is all that I could have hoped and prayed for, for her. . . . Oh ! this dreadful war, it makes one's heart ache, and I think nothing is more painful, except the horrid carnage, than the delusions of the French ! It seems as if they would keep up the great self­ deception till the end, and then what will be the fearful awakening ! It is awful. May God help them and all the poor sufferers, but when one thinks of the hundreds of thousands homeless . . . one can only shudder and feel what a mystery it is. . . . EMILY BELPER.

My mother never spared herself. She set a high ideal and she lived up to it. Everything that she undertook was done with complete and unique thoroughness. She taught her children entirely herself until they were eight or nine years old, devoting regularly two hours every morning to their education. We ,vere with her a great deal, and the recollection of the misery and emptiness of the days when she was away and we could not go down to the drawing-room after tea is still vivid. To go out driving with her in the afternoon was a great treat. Both she and my father read

1 The home of the Reverend Henry and Mrs. Malthus. l\1rs. l'v1althus was a sister of my grandmother. aloud to us constantly. Through these readings, which were one of our greatest pleasures, we have together enjoyed many standard works. Notwithstanding her family, and her many social ties, she found time to be on the Committees of several board schools, to help with penny dinners for necessitous children, to work actively for the Children's Country Holiday Fund, and to visit her district in Fulham. During our childhood we were obliged to live in London as my father was a barrister, but when he ,vas made County Court Judge of Derbyshire we moved to the country. Two years later he went to the Home Office as Permanent Under Secretary of State, and we returned to London. 1\,1 y mother then became honorary secretary of the St. Saviour's, Southwark, Branch of the M.A.B.Y.S., and went down to the office, near the Elephant and Castle, at least once a week. Her first-hand experience of the utter friendlessness of many of these young servant girls convinced her that the Insurance Scheme for Domestic Servants would be an incalculable benefit. At the meeting convened by Mr. Lloyd George to discuss the matter, she put their case clearly and forcibly, giving cogent instances of hardships inflicted on servant girls by protracted illness. In his summing up, Mr. Lloyd George referred to the clear statements and irrefutable arguments laid before him by her on behalf of the scheme. But her most far-reaching and important work was for the advancement of women's education. She became a member of the Council of the Girls' Public Day School Trust in r 897, and retired in r 92 5. The Council and Committee n1eetings were held on Wednesday afternoons, and she was rarely absent, travelling up from Colchester when we moved to Essex. She took every opportunity of visiting the schools, 170 and so gained personal and intimate knowledge of each one. Her tact and her wise judgment were invaluable in coping with and solving the many difficult questions that arose. For eight years she presided as Chairman of the Educa­ tion Committee, succeeding Miss l\1ary Gurney. On her resignation the following resolution was passed :

That the Council have received with the deepest regret the resignation of Lady Digby, and in accepting it desire to put on record their sense of the very great value of her long and devoted services to the Trust. In their deliberations, her experience of the Trust's affairs has given her opinion an unique weight, and she will be much missed by her colleagues. At the Schools, her great and sympathetic interest in the work being done was most highly valued by the Head Mistresses, especially during her long tenure of the office of Chairman of the Education Committee ; and the Council know that their feelings of gratitude are shared by all those who care for the Schools.

She was also on the governing body of Girton for son1e years, and only retired because the tedious rail,vay journeys between Colchester and Cambridge made it almost impos­ sible for her to attend the meetings. At the outbreak of war, she, as President of the Lexden and Winstree District, organised the Soldiers and Sailors Families' Association in the district. The work of this Association became finally absorbed by the War Pensions Committee, and under this authority she continued to act as organiser and honorary secretary for the district until the end of the war. She worked untiringly to make the pensions and allowances really efficient! y administered in every village, and to find openings, and to arrange trainings, for those men who returned disabled. All this entailed much driving about with our one remaining old brougham horse. It is 171 amusing now to look back upon the negotiations that passed in order to get permission to give the said horse half a ration of oats, even though they were home grown. Two applica­ tions from my mother were refused, and then Lord Bryce kindly took the matter up. l\.fter a second appeal, Lord Rhondda wrote that he considered that Lady Digby's horse had, on account of his war work, a la,vful claim to half . a ration. My mother thought al,vays of others, never of herself. Even on the morning of my father's death she wrote letters in order that a poor woman might get her separation allow­ ance without delay. That action is typical of her character. From henceforth her life at King's Ford was one of quiet labour, of continued participation in local activities, of reading, of intercourse with intimate friends and of joy in the con1panionship of her grandchildren. Always devoted to the garden, to animals, and to birds, perhaps in those last years they meant more to her than ever before. Her little siskin,. Peter, and her terrier, Puck, were her constant companions. On April 24th, 1926, Dame Catherine Hunt opened the playing-field at Shrub End which my mother gave, in memory of my father, for the use of the children. This was to be one of her last visits to the village. For the past few months her strength had been gradually failing, and she felt the burden of increasing deafness. Death came most peace:­ fully, a gentle passing from sleep into rest (July 23rd, 1926). There is no more fitting inscription to the memory of our beloved parents than the words : " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord . . . that they may rest from their labours ; and their works do follow them."

172 LIST OF PICTURES INHERITED BY SIR KENELM DIGBY, G.C.B.

PORTRAITS Description Artist Page SIR KENELM DIGBY Vandvck . 17 ✓ LADY VENETIA DIGBY Unknown . 18 EssEx DIGBY, BISHOP 01'' DRo- Unknown . . 56 MORE SIMON DIGBY, BISHOP OF ELPHIN Unknown . 57 HONOURABLE ROBERT DIGBY Unknown . . . 61 HONOURABLE MARY DIGBY Unknown . 61 EnwARD, 6TH LoRD DIGBY ? T. Hudson . . 79 LADY Lucv DrGBY Copy by J. Constable of Miss Reade's portrait in crayons . 85 WILLIAM DIGBY, DEAN OF DURHAM Sir Joshua Reynolds • 88 THE REVEREND WILLIAM DIGBY Sir Thomas Phillips . . 89 Lucius, V 1s couNT FALKLAND ? Cornelius Janssen. Probably W. Dobson • • . 89 PORTRAIT OF A LADY, said to be Unknown . . . 90 .....\.NNE BOLEYN DUKE OF MONMOUTH ? Sir Peter Lely. Probably W. Wissing . · 93 DUCHESS OF MONMOUTH ? Sir Peter Lely. Probably W. Wissing . · 93 "JoHN MILTON," now thought W. Dobson . · 93 to be SIR HARRY VANE THE YOUNGER ERASMUS Unknown • . . 94 JANE ELIZABETH, LADY .....\.NDOVER Sir John Barber . . . 98 SIR HENRY DIGBY, R.No, G.C.B. Copy by Yellowlees of portrait by Sir John Barber • • 99 173 LANDSCAPES AND FIGURES Subject Artist Notes Interior with figures 1 and cow Bassano Figures 1 with sheep Bassano Small copy of Murillo Unknown Two small landscapes 2 Italian. Unknown Landscape with cows Unknown Large landscape Probably Claude Lorraine Landscape Francis Paul Ferg Dark landscape with horse, ? Pynaker n1en, and cattle Large landscape Roland Savory In March 1905 both Mr. Lionel Cust and Mr. Sidney Colvin thought this a very good picture

1 An engraving from Bassano in the possession of Mrs. C. L. Buxton has figures in almost exactly the same position. 2 Given by William Strangways (afterwards 4th Earl of Ilchester) to the Reverend William Digby, Prebendary of Worcester.

Printed in Ellgland at THE BALLA:STY;:-.;E PRESS SPoTTiswoooE, BALLA~TY:SE & Co. LTo. Colchester, London & Eton