76 *:?1, An March 8 and 9,1593, Lord William Herbert, age 13, I land Philip, a1e nine, the two sons of the Earl and l\-,r/Conntess'of Ptmbroke, matriculated at New College, Oxford. The younger son, Philip, returned to Wilton by July, and Lord Herbert, the elder, is said to have stayed at Oxford for two years. Samuel Daniel, who had been the youngt_oys' tutor, #as succeeded as tutor by one Hugh Sanford. Hugh Sanford was the brother of John Sanford who in 1593 was appointed chaplain at Magdalen College, Oxford, where the previous year he had been corrector to the Press. |ohn_Sanford i"as a grammarian, a linguist with a command of Italian and a poetllohn Sanford and Samuel Daniel were known as the t#o s*ans (or poets) of Somerset. They were both born in the village of Chard, some fifty mileswest of Wilton. Though John Sanf5rd in later years twice sued in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (which had jurisdiction over wills) for a share in the estate of the then deceased Hugh Sanford, appearing in court with his motheland sister as witnesses in the second trial, his claims were both times rejected as fraudulent; we mav suspect then that Hugh and lohn Sanford were not actu- ally related by blood. Sariuel Daniel, however, called Hugh Sanford his countrymary i.e., fellow townsman. 266 e Louis Ule Precisely when Samuel Daniel ceased to be tutor to Lord Herbert and was replaced by Hugh Sanford is not known, but it is clear that Samuel Daniel-was dismissed from this post very much to his regret. Since Lord Herbert and his brother Philip matriculated at Oxford in March, 1593, this date would appear to mark the end of Samuel Daniel's services as tutor. The return of Philip to Wilton in June, L593, would provide the occasion for taking on the new tutor, Hugh Sanford. Christopher Marlowe, after Deptford, took refuge at Wilton where, as it will transpire, he was known as Hugh Sanford. If this refuge was not to be merely temporary, [e must be given some position in the Countess' household. A reason for Marlowe's continued residence then seems to have been manufactured by reviving the post of tutor; yourrg Philip was called back from Oxford to provide the necessary pupil. Since HughSanford was known tb be the principal tutoi to Philip's older brother, William, Lord William Heibert probably pre- ceded Philip in returning to Wilton. At Wilton, Marlowe would also need a new identity. The circumstances that led to his being adopted as a member of the Sanford family in Chard, Some:rset, ire not known, but it was very likely at the behest of the Privy Council. Lord Bur- gbley, #e miy suppose, was not beirig entirely unselfish when he arranged for Marlowe's flight from Catholic ven- geance. He was aware from his sources of intelligence that Spain after the failure of the Armada was planning a landing on the lightly defended coast of Wales. The Earl of?embroke, responsible for the defense of Wales had earlier recommended advance intelligence rather than the expense of increased for- tifications. But whether it was to advise on fortifications or the gathering of intelligence Christopher Marlowe was uniquely qualified to serve his country in either capacity. Saving Mar- lbwe's life then- by giving fu* u new ihenti'ty *ut 6.tly u means by which ihJPriv-y Council hoped to avail itsefi of Marlowe's service. Marlowe would serve under the Earl of Pembroke (who was in charge of both intelligence gathering and fortifications in Wales) and in that case the post of tutor would be a hastily arranged cover for his new sirvice. Advance intelligence on Spanish intentions could only be obtained in Spain and it would not be surprising to find Mar- lowe learning that language as well as Italian from John San- ford, who later published introductions to both languagesl. Christopher Marlowe (1 5 64=1 607 ) v 267 Lr a.y case soon after his arrival in Wilton Marlowe would be perfecting his command of Spanish and Italian from john Sanford either there or at Chard in Somerset. In the village of Chard, the poet Samuel Daniel, who had never met Marlowe before was introduced to him as Hugh Sanford. Samuel Dan- iel was the perfect Bull, a veritable Malvolio, and he is com- monly thought to be the gull in a play, probably by John Sanford, called A Return to Parnassus. For example, Samuel Daniel came to look upon Hugh Sanford, who had published no poetry at all, as an authority in the art, and some years later, lamenting the loss of the tutorship at Wiltoru wrote his former charge Lord Herbert (then the 3rd Earl of Pembroke) that"akindfriend and countryman, Master Hugh Sanford", warned him against the deformity of mingling feminine rhymes with masculine. In the same dedicatioru regarding his early career as a poet, Daniel wrote: Having been first encouraged and framed thereunto by your most worthy and honorable mother, and received the first no- tion for the formal ordering of those compositions at Wiltoru which I must ever acknowledge to have been my best school, and thereof always am to hold a feeling and grateful memory. Taking the advice regarding feminine rhymes seriously, Daniel assiduously revised his poems to eliminate this "de- fecf" much to the amusement of other members of the Count- ess of Pembroke's circle. John Davies, in his poem on dancing called Orchestra, has an allusion to Daniel's constant revising: O that I could old Gefferies' [Chaucer's] Muse awake, Or borrow Colin's [Spenser's ] fair heroic style, Or smooth my rhymes with Delia's Servant's [Daniel's] file. A knowledge of Italian was becoming fashionable in the Countess of Pembroke's circle. Nashe made some pretense at it in The llnfortunate Traaeler; Marlowe, as Hugh Sanford, preparing for a trip to Italy, was learning the language from john Sanford; and Samuel Daniel, tn1594, not to be outdone by these upstarts, reminded them all in his Delia, that he alone had once made a trip to Italy. Leaming Italian would also serve Marlowe in another way-no one before had known 268 g Louis Ule Marlowe to speak Italian-it is the one language that is absent from his earlier works. Marlowe would be able to dress and pose as an Italiary an additional disguise, should the need arise to conceal his true identity. ln The Return to Parnassus, Samuel Daniel is mentioned as the rival poet to a certain "bigltalian." Sweet honey-cropping Daniel doth wage War with the proudest big Italian, That melts his heart in sugared sonneting. Only let him more sparingly make use Of other's wit and use his own the more. This rival poet, "the proudest big Italian," was engaged in "sugared sonneting." Francis Meres in 1599 mentioned Shakespeare's "sugared sonnets." The sonnets of Shakespeare also have a rival poet, and this poet is easily gulled. All be- comes clear. The reason that Samuel Daniel had a high regard for Hugh Sanford, who published no poetry, is that Hugh Sanford, formerly Christopher Marlowe, was besting him in the competition for the Countess of Pembroke's approval by melting "his heart in sugared sonneting", creating the sonnets that were later published under Shakespeare's name. This is borne out in Sonnet 86: the "proud full sail" of Daniel's verse; the sonneteer pouring out his heart to compete; the gulling of Samuel Daniel with intelligence (bad advice); Marlowe struck dead, and Marlowe's devotion to his new mistress: Was it the proud full sail of his great verse, Bound for the prize of all-too-precious you, That did my ripe thoughts in my brain inhearse, Making their tomb the womb wherein they grew? Was it his spirit, by spirits taught to write Above a mortal pitch, that struck me dead? No, neither he, nor his compeers by night Giving him aid, my verse astonished. FIe, nor that affable familiar ghost [Marlowe?] Which nightly gulls him with intelligence, As victors of my silence cannot boast; I was not sick of any fear from thence: Ch r is topher Marlow e 0. 5 6 4-L 607 ) t 269 But when your countenance filled up his line, Then lacked I matter; that enfeebled mine. The arrrival of the boys from Oxford at Wilton marked a turning point in Marlowe's career. The Earl of Pembroke provided Hugh SanJord, alias Christopher Marlowe, with a pension of thirty pounds a year for his services whatever they were. This pension was confirmed in writing in the Earl's will two years later and, though it was not as much as the forty pounds a year that Marlowe had hoped to get from Lady Arbella, it was more than the twenty pounds a year enjoyed by the Earl's secretary, Arthur Massinger (father of the drama- tist, John Massinger). Furthermore, Samuel Daniel, the first tutor, is not mentioned in the Earl's will at all. Though the education of the children was the responsibility of the Count- ess and the choice of a tutor was largely hers, it was the Earl who arranged for a pension as compensation. Marlowe's employment as tutor would seem to have begun only a few weeks after Deptford, perhaps in the middle of June, 1593. He was at the time still in a state of emotional shock and felt much as did Ovid, that other loving poet, when he was exiled to the barbarians.