Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe Part 3

I confess I owe Sir Thomas Fanshawe as good a character as I can express, for he fully deserves it, both for his true honours, and most excellent acquired and natural parts; and that which is of me most esteemed, he was your father's intimate friend as well as near kinsman; and during the time of the war he was very kind to us, by a.s.sisting us in our wants, which were as great as his supports; which, though, I thank G.o.d, I have fully repaid, yet must ever remain obliged for his kindness and the esteem he hath for us.

He married the daughter and heir of Sir Edward Heath, a pretty lady and a good woman; but I must here with thankfulness acknowledge G.o.d's bounty to your family, who hath bestowed most excellent wives on most of them, both in person and fortune; but with respect to the rest, I must give with all reverence justly your grandmother the first and best place, who being left a widow at thirty-nine years of age, handsome, with a full fortune, all her children provided for, kept herself a widow, and out of her jointure and revenue purchased six hundred pounds a year for the younger children of her eldest son; besides, she added five hundred pounds a piece to the portions of her younger children, having nine, whereof but one daughter was married before the death of Sir Henry Fanshawe, and she was the second, her name was Mary, married to William Neuce, Esq., of Hadham, in Hertfords.h.i.+re; the eldest daughter married Sir Capell Bedells, of Hammerton, in Huntingdons.h.i.+re; the third never married; the fourth married Sir William Boteler, of Teston, in Kent; the fifth died young.

Thus you have been made acquainted with most of your nearest relations by your father, except your cousins german, which are the three sons of your uncle, Lord Fanshawe, and William Neuce, Esq., and his two brothers, and Sir Oliver Boteler, and my Lady Campbell, three maiden sisters of hers, and my Lady Levingthorpe, of Blackware, in Hertfords.h.i.+re. There was more, but they are dead; and so are the most part of them I have named, but their memories will remain as long as their names, for honest, worthy, virtuous men and women, who served G.o.d in their generations in their several capacities, and without vanity none exceeded them in their loyalty, which cost them dear, for there were as many fathers, sons, uncles, nephews, and cousins german, and those that matched to them, engaged and sequestered for the Crown in the time of the late rebellion as their revenue made nearly eighty thousand pounds a year, and this I have often seen a list of and know it to be true.

The use of which to you is, that you should not omit your duty to your king and country, nor be less in your industry to exceed at least, not shame, the excellent memory of your ancestors. They were all eminent officers; and that, I believe, keeping them ever employed, made them so good men. I hope in G.o.d the like parallel will be in you, which I heartily and daily pray for.

I was born in St. Olave's, Hart-street, London, in a house that my father took of the Lord Dingwall, father to the now d.u.c.h.ess of Ormond, in the year 1625, on our Lady Day, 25th of March. Mr. Hyde, Lady Alston, and Lady Wolstenholme, were my G.o.dfather and G.o.dmothers. In that house I lived the winter times till I was fifteen years old and three months, with my ever honoured and most dear mother, who departed this life on the 20th day of July, 1640, and now lies buried in Allhallow's Church, in Hertford. Her funeral cost my father above a thousand pounds; and Dr. Howlsworth preached her funeral sermon, in which, upon his own knowledge, he told before many hundreds of people this accident following: that my mother, being sick to death of a fever three months after I was born, which was the occasion she gave me suck no longer, her friends and servants thought to all outward appearance that she was dead, and so lay almost two days and a night, but Dr. Winston coming to comfort my father, went into my mother's room, and looking earnestly on her face, said "she was so handsome, and now looks so lovely, I cannot think she is dead"; and suddenly took a lancet out of his pocket and with it cut the sole of her foot, which bled. Upon this, he immediately caused her to be laid upon the bed again and to be rubbed, and such means as she came to life, and opening her eyes, saw two of her kinswomen stand by her, my Lady Knollys and my Lady Russell, both with great wide sleeves, as the fas.h.i.+on then was, and said, Did not you promise me fifteen years, and are you come again? which they not understanding, persuaded her to keep her spirits quiet in that great weakness wherein she then was; but some hours after she desired my father and Dr. Howlsworth might be left alone with her, to whom she said, "I will acquaint you, that during the time of my trance I was in great quiet, but in a place I could neither distinguish nor describe; but the sense of leaving my girl, who is dearer to me than all my children, remained a trouble upon my spirits. Suddenly I saw two by me, clothed in long white garments, and methought I fell down with my face in the dust; and they asked why I was troubled in so great happiness. I replied, O let me have the same grant given to Hezekiah, that I may live fifteen years, to see my daughter a woman: to which they answered, It is done; and then, at that instant, I awoke out of my trance;" and Dr. Howlsworth did there affirm, that that day she died made just fifteen years from that time. My dear mother was of excellent beauty and good understanding, a loving wife, and most tender mother; very pious, and charitable to that degree, that she relieved, besides the offals of the table, which she constantly gave to the poor, many with her own hand daily out of her purse, and dressed many wounds of miserable people, when she had health, and when that failed, as it did often, she caused her servants to supply that place.

She left behind her three sons, all much older than myself. The eldest, John, married three wives: by his last, who was the daughter of Mr. Ludlow, a very ancient and n.o.ble family, he left two daughters, who are both unmarried. My second brother, William, died at Oxford with a bruise on his side, caused by the fall of his horse, which was shot under him, as he went out with a party of horse against a party of the Earl of Ess.e.x, in 1643. He was a very good and gallant young man; and they are the very words the king said of him, when he was told of his death: he was much lamented by all who knew him. The third, Abraham, hath left no issue; I was the fourth, and my sister Margaret, the fifth, who married Sir Edmund Turner, of South Stock, in Lincolns.h.i.+re, a worthy pious man.

My father, in his old age, married again, the daughter of Mr.

Shatbolt, of Hertfords.h.i.+re, and had by her a son, Richard, and a daughter, Mary. The son married the eldest daughter of the now Lord Grandison, and the daughter married the eldest son of Sir Rowland Lytton, of Knebworth, in Hertfords.h.i.+re. My father lived to see them both married; and enjoyed a firm health, until above eighty years of age. He was a handsome gentleman of great natural parts, a great accomptant, vast memory, an incomparable penman, of great integrity and service to his prince; had been a member of several Parliaments; a good husband and father, especially to me, who never can sufficiently praise G.o.d for him, nor acknowledge his most tender affection and bounty to me and mine; but as in duty bound, I will for ever say, none had ever a kinder and better father than myself. He died on the 28th day of September, 1670; and lies buried by my mother in his own vault in Allhallows Church, in Hertford.

My father was born at Bemond, in Lancas.h.i.+re; the twelfth son of his father, whose mother was the daughter of Mr. Hippom, cousin german to the old Countess of Rivers. I have little knowledge of my father's relations more than the families of Aston, Irland, Sandis, Bemond, and Curwen, who brought him to London and placed him with my Lord Treasurer Salisbury, then Secretary of State, who sent him into Sir John Wolstenholm's family, and gave him a small place in the Custom- house, to enable him for the employment. He, being of good parts and great capacity, in some time raised himself, by G.o.d's help, to get a very great estate, for I have often heard him say that, besides his education, he never had but twenty marks, which his father gave him when he came to London, and that was all he ever had for a portion. He made it appear with great truth that, during the time of the war, he lost by the rebels above one hundred and thirty thousand pounds, and yet he left his son sixteen hundred pounds a year in land, and gave his daughter above twenty thousand pounds.

Now it is necessary to say something of my mother's education of me, which was with all the advantages that time afforded, both for working all sorts of fine works with my needle, and learning French, singing, lute, the virginals and dancing, and notwithstanding I learned as well as most did, yet was I wild to that degree, that the hours of my beloved recreation took up too much of my time, for I loved riding in the first place, running, and all active pastimes; in short, I was that which we graver people call a hoyting girl; but to be just to myself, I never did mischief to myself or people, nor one immodest word or action in my life, though skipping and activity was my delight, but upon my mother's death, I then began to reflect, and, as an offering to her memory, I flung away those childnesses that had formerly possessed me, and, by my father's command, took upon me charge of his house and family, which I so ordered by my excellent mother's example as found acceptance in his sight. I was very well beloved by all our relations and my mother's friends, whom I paid a great respect to, and I ever was ambitious to keep the best company, which I have done, I thank G.o.d, all the days of my life. My father and mother were both great lovers and honourers of clergymen, but all of Cambridge, and chiefly Doctor Bamberge, Doctor Howlsworth, Broanbricke, Walley, and Mickelthite, and Sanderson, with many others.

We lived in great plenty and hospitality, but no lavishness in the least, nor prodigality, and, I believe, my father never drank six gla.s.ses of wine in his life in one day.

About 1641, my brother, William Harrison, was chosen Burgess of ----, and sat in the Commons' House of Parliament, but not long, for when the King set up his standard he went with him to Nottingham; yet he, during his sitting, undertook that my father should lend one hundred and fifty thousand pounds to pay the Scots who had then entered England, and, as it seems, were to be both paid and prayed to go home, but afterwards their plague infected the whole nation, as to all our sorrows we know, and that debt of my father's remained to him until the restoration of the King. In 1642 my father was taken prisoner at his house, called Montague House, in Bishopgate Street, and threatened to be sent on board a s.h.i.+p with many more of his quality, and then they plundered his house, but he getting loose, under pretence to fetch some writings they demanded in his hands concerning the public revenue, he went to Oxford in 1643, and thereupon the Long Parliament, of which he was a member for the town of Lancaster, plundered him out of what remained, and sequestered his whole estate, which continued out of his possession until the happy restoration of the King.

My father commanded my sister and myself to come to him to Oxford where the Court then was, but we, that had till that hour lived in great plenty and great order, found ourselves like fishes out of the water, and the scene was so changed, that we knew not at all how to act any part but obedience, for, from as good a house as any gentleman of England had, we came to a baker's house in an obscure street, and from rooms well furnished, to lie in a very bad bed in a garret, to one dish of meat, and that not the best ordered, no money, for we were as poor as Job, nor clothes more than a man or two brought in their cloak bags: we had the perpetual discourse of losing and gaining towns and men; at the windows the sad spectacle of war, sometimes plague, sometimes sicknesses of other kind, by reason of so many people being packed together, as, I believe, there never was before of that quality; always in want, yet I must needs say that most bore it with a martyr-like cheerfulness. For my own part, I began to think we should all, like Abraham, live in tents all the days of our lives. The King sent my father a warrant for a baronet, but he returned it with thanks, saying he had too much honour of his knighthood which his Majesty had honoured him with some years before, for the fortune he now possessed: but as in a rock the turbulence of the waves disperses the splinters of the rock, so it was my lot, for having buried my dear brother, William Harrison, in Exeter College Chapel, I then married your dear father in 1644 in Wolvercot Church, two miles from Oxford, upon the 18th day of May. None was at our wedding but my dear father, who, at my mother's desire, gave me her wedding-ring, with which I was married, and my sister Margaret, and my brother and sister Boteler, Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards Lord Chancellor, and Sir Geoffry Palmer, the King's Attorney. Before I was married, my husband was sworn Secretary of War to the Prince, now our King, with a promise from Charles I. to be preferred as soon as occasion offered it, but both his fortune and my promised portion, which was made 10,000 pounds, were both at that time in expectation, and we might truly be called merchant adventurers, for the stock we set up our trading with did not amount to twenty pounds betwixt us; but, however, it was to us as a little piece of armour is against a bullet, which if it be right placed, though no bigger than a s.h.i.+lling, serves as well as a whole suit of armour; so our stock bought pen, ink and paper, which was your father's trade, and by it, I a.s.sure you, we lived better than those that were born to 2OOO pounds a year as long as he had his liberty.

Here stay till I have told you your father's life until I married him.

He was but seven years old when his father died, and his mother, my Lady, designed him for the law, having bred him first with that famous schoolmaster Mr. Farnaby, and then under the tuition of Dr. Beale, in Jesus College in Cambridge, from whence, being a most excellent Latinist, he was admitted into the Inner Temple; but it seemed so crabbed a study, and disagreeable to his inclinations, that he rather studied to obey his mother than to make any progress in the law. Upon the death of his mother, whom he dearly loved and honoured, he went into France to Paris, where he had three cousins german, Lord Strangford, Sir John Baker of Kent, and my cousin Thornhill. The whole stock he carried with him was eighty pieces of gold, and French silver to the value of five pounds in his pocket; his gold was quilted in his doublet; he went by post to lodgings in the Fauxbourg St. Germain, with an intent to rest that night, and the next day to find out his kindred; but the devil, that never sleeps, so ordered it, that two friars entered the chamber wherein he was, and welcoming him, being his countrymen, invited him to play, he innocently only intending diversion, till his supper was ready; but that was not their design, for having engaged him, they left him not as long as he was worth a groat, which when they discovered, they gave him five pieces of his money until he could recruit himself by his friends, which he did the next day: and from that time forward never played for a piece. It came to pa.s.s, that seven years after, my husband being in Huntingdons.h.i.+re, at a bowling-green, with Sir Capel Bedells, and many other persons of quality, one in the company was called Captain Taller. My husband, who had a very quick and piercing eye, marked him much, as knowing his face, and found, through his peruke wig, and scarlet cloak and buff suit, that his name was neither Captain nor Taller, but the honest Jesuit called Friar Sherwood, that had cheated him of the greatest part of his money, and after had lent him the five pieces; so your father went to him, and gave him his five pieces, and said, 'Father Sherwood, I know you, and you know this:' at which he was extremely surprised, and begged of your father not to discover him, for his life was in danger. After a year's stay in Paris, he travelled to Madrid in Spain, there to learn that language; at the same time, for that purpose, went the late Earl of Caernarvon, and my Lord of Bedford, and Sir John Berkeley, and several other gentlemen. Afterwards, having spent some years abroad, he returned to London, and gave so good an account of his travels, that he was about the year 1630 made Secretary of the Emba.s.sy, when my Lord Aston went Amba.s.sador. During your father's travels, he had spent a considerable part of his stock, which his father and mother left him: in those days, where there were so many younger children, it was inconsiderable, being 50 pounds a year, and 1,500 pounds in money. Upon the return of the amba.s.sador, your father was left resident until Sir Arthur Hopton went Amba.s.sador, and then he came home about the year 1637 or 1638; and I must tell you here of an accident your father had coming out of Spain in this journey post: he going into a bed for some few hours to refresh himself, in a village five leagues from Madrid, he slept so soundly, that notwithstanding the house was on fire, and all the people of the village there, he never waked; but the honesty of the owners was such, that they carried him, and set him asleep upon a piece of timber on the highway; and there he awaked, and found his portmanteau and clothes by him, without the least loss, which is extraordinary, considering the profession of his landlord, who had at that time his house burnt to the ground. After being here a year or two, and no preferment coming, Secretary Windebank calling him Puritan, being his enemy, because himself was a Papist, he was, by his elder brother, put into the place of the King's Remembrancer, absolutely, with this proviso, that he should be accountable for the use of the income; but if in seven years he would pay 8,000 pounds for it to his brother, then it should be his, with the whole revenue of it; but the war breaking out presently after, put an end to this design; for, being the King's sworn servant, he went to the King at Oxford, as well as his fellows, to avoid the fury of this madness of the people, where, having been almost a year, we married, as I said before; and I will continue my discourse where we left.

Now we appear on the stage, to act what part G.o.d designed us; and as faith is the evidence of things not seen, so we, upon so righteous a cause, cheerfully resolved to suffer what that would drive us to, which afflictions were neither few nor small, as you will find. This year the Prince had an established Council, which were the Earl of Berks.h.i.+re, Earl of Bradford, Lord Capel, Lord Colepeper, Lord Hopton, and Sir Edward Hyde, Chancellor of the Exchequer. My husband was then, as I said, newly entered into his office of secretary of the Council of War, and the King would have had him then to have been sworn his Highness's Secretary, but the Queen, who was then no friend to my husband, because he had formerly made Secretary Windebank appear in his colours, who was one of her Majesty's favourites, wholly obstructed that then, and placed with the Prince Sir Robert Long, for whom she had a great kindness; but the consequence will show the man.

The beginning of March 1645, your father went to Bristol with his new master, and this was his first journey: I then lying-in of my first son, Harrison Fanshawe, who was born on the 22nd of February, he left me behind him. As for that, it was the first time we had parted a day since we married; he was extremely afflicted, even to tears, though pa.s.sion was against his nature; but the sense of leaving me with a dying child, which did die two days after, in a garrison town, extremely weak, and very poor, were such circ.u.mstances as he could not bear with, only the argument of necessity; and, for my own part, it cost me so dear, that I was ten weeks before I could go alone; but he, by all opportunities, wrote to me to fortify myself, and to comfort me in the company of my father and sister, who were both with me, and that as soon as the Lords of the Council had their wives come to them I should come to him, and that I should receive the first money he got, and hoped it would be suddenly. By the help of G.o.d, with these cordials I recovered my former strength by little and little, nor did I in my distressed condition lack the conversation of many of my relations then in Oxford, and kindnesses of very many of the n.o.bility and gentry, both for goodness sake, and because your father being there in good employment, they found him serviceable to themselves or friends, which friends.h.i.+ps none better distinguished between his place and person than your father.

It was in May 1645, the first time I went out of my chamber and to church, where, after service, Sir William Parkhurst, a very honest gentleman, came to me, and said he had a letter for me from your father and fifty pieces of gold, and was coming to bring them to me. I opened first my letter, and read those inexpressible joys that almost overcame me, for he told me I should the Thursday following come to him, and to that purpose he had sent me that money, and would send two of his men with horses, and all accommodation both for myself, my father, and sister, and that Lady Capell and Lady Bradford would meet me on the way; but that gold your father sent me when I was ready to perish, did not so much revive me as his summons. I went immediately to walk, or at least to sit in the air, being very weak, in the garden of St. John's College, and there, with my good father, communicated my joy, who took great pleasure to hear of my husband's good success and likewise of his journey to him. We, all of my household being present, heard drums beat in the highway, under the garden wall. My father asked me if I would go up upon the mount to see the soldiers march, for it was Sir Charles Lee's company of foot, an acquaintance of ours; I said yes, and went up, leaning my back to a tree that grew on the mount. The commander seeing us there, in compliment gave us a volley of shot, and one of their muskets being loaded, shot a brace of bullets not two inches above my head as I leaned to the tree, for which mercy and deliverance I praise G.o.d. And next week we were all on our journey for Bristol very merry, and thought that now all things would mend, and the worst of my misfortunes past, but little thought I to leap into the sea that would toss me until it had racked me; but we were to ride all night by agreement, for fear of the enemy surprising us as they pa.s.sed, they quartering in the way. About nightfall having travelled about twenty miles, we discovered a troop of horse coming towards us, which proved to be Sir Marmaduke Rawdon, a worthy commander and my countryman: he told me, that hearing I was to pa.s.s by his garrison, he was come out to conduct me, he hoped as far as was danger, which was about twelve miles: with many thanks we parted, and having refreshed ourselves and horses, we set forth for Bristol, where we arrived on the 2Oth of May.

My husband had provided very good lodgings for us, and as soon as he could come home from the Council, where he was at my arrival, he with all expressions of joy received me in his arms, and gave me a hundred pieces of gold, saying, "I know thou that keeps my heart so well, will keep my fortune, which from this time I will ever put into thy hands as G.o.d shall bless me with increase." And now I thought myself a perfect queen, and my husband so glorious a crown, that I more valued myself to be called by his name than born a princess, for I knew him very wise and very good, and his soul doted on me; upon which confidence I will tell you what happened. My Lady Rivers, a brave woman, and one that had suffered many thousand pounds loss for the King, and whom I had a great reverence for, and she a kindness for me as a kinswoman, in discourse she tacitly commended the knowledge of state affairs, and that some women were very happy in a good understanding thereof, as my Lady Aubigny, Lady Isabel Thynne, and divers others, and yet none was at first more capable than I; that in the night she knew there came a post from Paris from the Queen, and that she would be extremely glad to hear what the Queen commanded the King in order to his affairs; saying, if I would ask my husband privately, he would tell me what he found in the packet, and I might tell her. I that was young and innocent, and to that day had never in my mouth what news, began to think there was more in inquiring into public affairs than I thought of, and that it being a fas.h.i.+onable thing would make me more beloved of my husband, if that had been possible, than I was. When my husband returned home from Council, after welcoming him, as his custom ever was he went with his handful of papers into his study for an hour or more; I followed him; he turned hastily, and said, "What wouldst thou have, my life?" I told him, I had heard the Prince had received a packet from the Queen, and I guessed it was that in his hand, and I desired to know what was in it; he smilingly replied, "My love, I will immediately come to thee, pray thee go, for I am very busy." When he came out of his closet I revived my suit; he kissed me, and talked of other things. At supper I would eat nothing; he as usual sat by me, and drank often to me, which was his custom, and was full of discourse to company that was at table. Going to bed I asked again, and said I could not believe he loved me if he refused to tell me all he knew; but he answered nothing, but stopped my mouth with kisses. So we went to bed, I cried, and he went to sleep. Next morning early, as his custom was, he called to rise, but began to discourse with me first, to which I made no reply; he rose, came on the other side of the bed and kissed me, and drew the curtains softly and went to Court. When he came home to dinner, he presently came to me as was usual, and when I had him by the hand, I said, 'Thou dost not care to see me troubled'; to which he taking me in his arms, answered, 'My dearest soul, nothing upon earth can afflict me like that, and when you asked me of my business, it was wholly out of my power to satisfy thee, for my life and fortune shall be thine, and every thought of my heart in which the trust I am in may not be revealed, but my honour is my own, which I cannot preserve if I communicate the Prince's affairs; and pray thee with this answer rest satisfied.' So great was his reason and goodness, that upon consideration it made my folly appear to me so vile, that from that day until the day of his death I never thought fit to ask him any business but what he communicated freely to me in order to his estate or family. My husband grew much in the Prince's favour; and Mr. Long not being suffered to execute the business of his place, as the Council suspected that he held private intelligence with the Earl of Ess.e.x, which when he perceived he went into the enemy's quarters, and so to London, and then into France, full of complaints of the Prince's Council to the Queen-Mother, and when he was gone your father supplied his place.

About July this year, [1645,] the plague increased so fast in Bristol, that the Prince and all his retinue went to Barnstaple, which is one of the finest towns in England; and your father and I went two days after the Prince; for during all the time I was in the Court I never journeyed but either before him, or when he was gone, nor ever saw him but at church, for it was not in those days the fas.h.i.+on for honest women, except they had business, to visit a man's Court. I saw there at Mr. Palmer's, where we lay, who was a merchant, a parrot above a hundred years old. They have, near this town, a fruit called a ma.s.sard, like a cherry, but different in taste, and makes the best pies with their sort of cream I ever eat. My Lady Capell here left us, and with a pa.s.s from the Earl of Ess.e.x, went to London with her eldest daughter, now Marquesse of Worcester. Sir Allan Apsley was governor of the town, and we had all sorts of good provision and accommodation; but the Prince's affairs calling him from that place, we went to Launceston, in Cornwall, and thither came very many gentlemen of that county to do their duties to his Highness: they were generally loyal to the crown and hospitable to their neighbours, but they are of a crafty and censorious nature, as most are so far from London. That country hath great plenty, especially of fish and fowl, but nothing near so fat and sweet as within forty miles of London. We were quartered at Truro, twenty miles beyond Launceston, in which place I had like to have been robbed. One night having with me but seven or eight persons, my husband being then at Launceston with his master, somebody had discovered that my husband had a little trunk of the Prince's in keeping, in which were some jewels that tempted them us to a.s.say; but, praised be G.o.d, I defended, with the few servants I had, the house so long that help came from the town to my rescue, which was not above a flight shot from the place where I dwelt; and the next day upon my notice my husband sent me a guard by his Highness's command.

From thence the Court removed to Pendennis Castle, some time commanded by Sir Nicholas Slanning, who lost his life bravely in the King's service [Footnote: He was killed at the siege of Bristol.], and left an excellent name behind him. In this place came Sir John Granville into his Highness's service, and was made a gentleman of his bedchamber. His father was a very honest gentleman, and lost his life in the King's service; and his uncle, Sir Richard, was a good commander but a little too severe. I was at Penzance with my father, and in the same town was my brother Fanshawe and his lady and children. My father and that family embarked for Morlaix, in Brittanny, with my father's new wife, which he had then married out of that family. My cousin Fanshawe, of Jenkins, and his eldest son, being with them, went also over, but being in a small vessel of that port and surprised with a great storm, they had all like to have been cast away, which forced them to land in a little creek, two leagues from Morlaix, upon the 28th of March, 1646; and five days after the Prince and all his council embarked themselves in a s.h.i.+p called the Phoenix, for the Isles of Scilly. They went from the Land's-end, and so did we; being accompanied with many gentlemen of that country, among whom was Sir Francis Ba.s.set, Governor of the Mount, an honest gentleman, and so were all his family; and in particular we received great civility from them. But we left our house and furniture with Captain Bluet, who promised to keep them until such a time as we could dispose of them; but when we sent, he said he had been plundered of them, notwithstanding it was well known he lost nothing of his own. At that time this loss went deep with us, for we lost to the value of 2OO pounds and more. But, as the proverb saith, an evil chance seldom comes alone: we having put all our present estate into two trunks, and carried them aboard with us in a s.h.i.+p commanded by Sir Nicholas Crispe, whose skill and honesty the master and seamen had no opinion of, my husband was forced to appease their mutiny which his miscarriage caused; and taking out money to pay the seamen, that night following they broke open one of our trunks, and took out a bag of 60 pounds and a quant.i.ty of gold lace, with our best clothes and linen, with all my combs, gloves, and ribbons, which amounted to near 300 pounds more. The next day, after having been pillaged, and extremely sick and big with child, I was set on sh.o.r.e almost dead in the island of Scilly. When we had got to our quarters near the Castle, where the Prince lay, I went immediately to bed, which was so vile, that my footman ever lay in a better, and we had but three in the whole house, which consisted of four rooms, or rather part.i.tions, two low rooms and two little lofts, with a ladder to go up: in one of these they kept dried fish, which was his trade, and in this my husband's two clerks lay, one there was for my sister, and one for myself, and one amongst the rest of the servants. But, when I waked in the morning, I was so cold I knew not what to do, but the daylight discovered that my bed was near swimming with the sea, which the owner told us afterwards it never did so but at spring tide. With this, we were dest.i.tute of clothes,--and meat, and fuel, for half the Court to serve them a month was not to be had in the whole island; and truly we begged our daily bread of G.o.d, for we thought every meal our last. The Council sent for provisions to France, which served us, but they were bad, and a little of them. Then, after three weeks and odd days, we set sail for the Isle of Jersey, where we safely arrived, praised be G.o.d, beyond the belief of all the beholders from that island; for the pilot not knowing the way into the harbour, sailed over the rocks, but being spring tide, and by chance high water, G.o.d be praised, his Highness and all of us came safe ash.o.r.e through so great a danger. Sir George Carteret was Lieutenant-Governor of the island, under my Lord St.

Albans: a man formerly bred a sea-boy, and born in that island, the brother's son of Sir Philip Carteret, whose younger daughter he afterwards married. He endeavoured, with all his power, to entertain his Highness and Court with all plenty and kindness possible, both which the island afforded, and what was wanting, he sent for out of France.

There are in this island two castles, both good, but St. Mary's is best, and hath the largest reception. There are many gentlemen's houses, at which we were entertained. They have fine walks along to their doors, double elms or oaks, which is extremely pleasant, and their ordinary highways are good walks, by reason of the shadow. The whole place is gra.s.s, except some small parcels where corn is grown.

The chiefest employment is knitting; they neither speak English nor good French; they are a cheerful, good-natured people, and truly subject to the present government. We quartered at a widow's house in the market-place, Madame De Pommes, a stocking merchant: here I was upon the 7th of March, [Footnote: Query, May or June. She did not arrive in Jersey until April.] 1646, delivered of my second child, a daughter, christened Anne. And now there began great disputes about the Prince, for the Queen would have him to Paris, to which end she sent many letters and messengers to his Highness and Council, who were for the most part against his going, both to the Queen his mother, and his going to France, for reasons of state, but the Queen having an excellent solicitor in the Lord Colepeper, it was resolved by his Highness to go: upon which Lord Capell, Lord Hopton, and the Chancellor staid at Jersey, and with them my husband, whose employment ceased when his master went out of his father's kingdom;--not that your father sided with either party of the Council, but having no inclination at that time to go to the Court, and because his brother, Lord Fanshawe, was desperately sick at Caen, he intended to stay some time with him. About the beginning of July, the Prince, accompanied with the Earl of Bradford, a soldier of fortune, and Lord Colepeper, and the Earl of Berks.h.i.+re, and most of his servants, went to Cotanville, and from thence to Paris, where he remained some little time by his mother the Queen's council, and afterwards went into Holland. Your father and I remained fifteen days in Jersey, and resolved that he would remain with his brother in Caen, whilst he sent me into England, whither my father was gone a month before, to see if I could procure a sum of money. The beginning of August we took our leave of the governor's family, and left our child with a nurse under the care of the Lady Carteret; [Footnote: It was apparently this Lady, of whom Pepys observes, 30th June, 1662. "Told my Lady Carteret, how my Lady Fanshawe is fallen out with her only for speaking in behalf of the French: which my Lady wonders at, they having been formerly like sisters."--Diary, vol. i. p. 284.] and in four days we came to Caen, and myself, sister, and maid went from Mr. Fanborne's house, where my brother and all his family lodged, aboard a small merchantman that lay in the river; and upon the 30th of August, I arrived in the Cowes, near Southampton, to which place I went that night, and came to London two days after. This was the first time I had taken a journey without your father, and the first manage of business he ever put into my hands, in which I thank G.o.d I had good success; for, lodging in Fleet Street, at Mr. Eates, the Watchmaker, with my sister Boteler, I procured by the means of Colonel Copley, a great Parliament-man, whose wife had formerly been obliged to our family, a pa.s.s for your father to come and compound for 300 pounds which was a part of my fortune, but it was only a pretence, for your grandfather was obliged to compound for it, and deliver it us free. And when your father was come, he was very private in London; for he was in daily fears to be imprisoned before he could raise money to go back again to his master, who was not then in a condition to maintain him. Thus upon thorns he stayed the October 1647. In the October before, 1646, my brother Richard Harrison was born; and this year my sister Boteler married Sir Philip Warwick, her second husband; for her first, Sir William Boteler, was killed at Cropley-bridge, commanding a part of the King's army: he was a most gallant, worthy, honest gentleman.

The 30th of July I was delivered of a son, called Henry, in lodgings in Portugal-row, Lincoln's-inn-fields. This was a very sad time for us all of the King's party, for by the folly, to give it no worse name, of Sir John Berkeley, since Lord Berkeley, and Mr. John Ashburnham, of the King's bedchamber, who were drawn in by the cursed crew of the then standing army for the Parliament to persuade the King to leave Hampton Court, to which they had then carried him, and to make his escape, which design failing, as the plot was laid, he was tormented and afterwards barbarously and shamefully murdered, as all the world knows.

During his stay at Hampton Court, my husband was with him, to whom he was pleased to talk much of his concerns, and give him there credentials for Spain, with private instructions, and letters for his service; but G.o.d for our sins disposed his Majesty's affairs otherwise. I went three times to pay my duty to him, both as I was the daughter of his servant, and wife of his servant. The last time I ever saw him, when I took my leave, I could not refrain weeping: when he had saluted me, I prayed to G.o.d to preserve his Majesty with long life and happy years; he stroked me on the cheek, and said, 'Child, if G.o.d pleaseth, it shall be so, but both you and I must submit to G.o.d's will, and you know in what hands I am'; then turning to your father, he said, 'Be sure, d.i.c.k, to tell my son all that I have said, and deliver those letters to my wife; pray G.o.d bless her! I hope I shall do well'; and taking him in his arms, said, 'Thou hast ever been an honest man, and I hope G.o.d will bless thee, and make thee a happy servant to my son, whom I have charged in my letter to continue his love, and trust to you'; adding, 'I do promise you that if ever I am restored to my dignity I will bountifully reward you both for your service and sufferings.' Thus did we part from that glorious sun, that within a few months after was murdered, to the grief of all Christians that were not forsaken by G.o.d.

The October, as I told you, my husband and I went into France, by the way of Portsmouth, where, walking by the sea side about a mile from our lodgings, two s.h.i.+ps of the Dutch, then in war with England, shot bullets at us so near that we heard them whiz by us; at which I called to my husband to make haste back, and began to run, but he altered not his pace, saying, 'If we must be killed, it were as good to be killed walking as running.' But, escaping, we embarked the next day; and that journey fetched home our girl we had left in Jersey; and my husband was forced to come out of France to Hamerton, in Huntingdons.h.i.+re, to my sister Bedell's, to the wedding of his nephew, the last Lord Thomas Fanshawe, who then married the daughter of Ferrers: as I have said before, she was a very great fortune, and a most excellent woman, and brought up some time after her mother's death with my sister Bedell.

About two months after this, in June, I was delivered of a son on the 8th day, 1648. The latter end of July I went to London, leaving my little boy Richard at nurse with his brother at Hartingfordbury. It happened to be the very day after that the Lord Holland was taken prisoner at St. Neot, and Lord Francis Villiers was killed; and as we pa.s.sed through the town, we saw Colonel Montague, afterwards Earl of Sandwich, spoiling the town for the Parliament and himself. Coming to London, I went to welcome the Marchioness of Ormond to town, that then was come out of France, who received me with great kindness, as she ever had done before, and told me she must love me for many reasons, and one was, that we were both born in one chamber: when I left her, she presented me with a ruby ring set with two diamonds, which she prayed me to wear for her sake, and I have it to this day.

In the month of September my husband was commanded by the Prince to wait on him in the Downs, where he was with a very considerable fleet; but the fleet was divided, part being for the King, and part for the Parliament. They were resolved to fight that day, which if they had, would have been the most cruel fight that ever England knew; but G.o.d by his will parted them by a storm, and afterwards it was said, Lord Colepeper, and one Low, a surgeon, that was a reputed knave, so ordered the business, that for money the fleet was betrayed to the enemy. During this time my husband wrote me a letter, from on board the Prince's s.h.i.+p, full of concern for me, believing they should engage on great odds; but, if he should lose his life, advised me to patience, and this with so much love and reason, that my heart melts to this day when I think of it; but, G.o.d be praised, he was reserved for better things.

In December [Footnote: This must be a mistake for NOVEMBER; for in September he was on board the fleet in the Downs, and after pa.s.sing SIX WEEKS IN PARIS, he went to Calais with Lady Fanshawe on the 25th of DECEMBER, 1649. The date of the year is also erroneous, as it is evident from the context that it was 1648.] my husband went to Paris on his master's business, and sent for me from London: I carried him 300 pounds of his money. During our stay at Paris, I was highly obliged to the Queen-Mother of England. We pa.s.sed away six weeks with great delight in good company; my Lady Norton, that was governess to the Lady Henrietta, Charles the First's youngest daughter, was very kind. I had the honour of her company, both in my own lodging and in the Palace Royal, where she attended her charge; likewise my Lady Danby, and her daughter, my Lady Guilford, with many others of our nation, both in the Court and out of it; amongst whom was Mr. Waller, the poet, and his wife: they went with us to Calais, upon the 25th of December, 1649. I, with my husband, kissed the Queen-Mother's hand, who promised her favour, with much grace, to us both, and sent letters to the King, then in Holland, by my husband. From her Majesty we waited on the Princes, and afterwards took our leave of all that Court.

When we came to Calais, we met the Earl of Strafford and Sir Kenelm Digby, with some others of our countrymen. We were all feasted at the Governor's of the castle, and much excellent discourse pa.s.sed; but, as was reason, most share was Sir Kenelm Digby's, who had enlarged somewhat more in extraordinary stories than might be averred, and all of them pa.s.sed with great applause and wonder of the French then at table; but the concluding one was, that barnacles, a bird in Jersey, was first a sh.e.l.l-fish in appearance, and from that, sticking upon old wood, became in time a bird. After some consideration, they unanimously burst out into laughter, believing it altogether false; and, to say the truth, it was the only thing true he had discoursed with them: that was his infirmity, though otherwise a person of most excellent parts, and a very fine-bred gentleman.

My husband thought it convenient to send me into England again, there to try what sums I could raise, both for his subsistence abroad and mine at home; and though nothing was so grievous to us both as parting, yet the necessity both of the public and your father's private affairs, obliged us often to yield to the trouble of absence, as at this time. I took my leave with sad heart, and embarked myself in a hoy for Dover, with Mrs. Waller and my sister Margaret Harrison, and my little girl Nan; but a great storm arising, we had like to be cast away, the vessel being half full of water, and we forced to land at Deal, every one carried upon men's backs, and we up to the middle in water, and very glad to escape so. About this time the Prince of Orange was born. [Footnote: This is an error, as he was born on the 4th of November, 1650.]

My husband went from thence by Flanders into Holland to his master; and, in February following, your father was sent into Ireland by the King, there to receive such monies as Prince Rupert could raise by the fleet he commanded of the King's; but a few months put an end to that design, though it had a very good aspect in the beginning, which made my husband send for me and the little family I had thither. We went by Bristol very cheerfully towards my north star, that only had the power to fix me; and because I had had the good fortune, as I then thought it, to sell 300 pounds a year to him that is now Judge Archer, in Ess.e.x, for which he gave me 4000 pounds, which at that time I thought a vast sum; but be it more or less, I am sure it was spent in seven years' time in the King's service, and to this hour I repent it not, I thank G.o.d. Five hundred pounds I carried to my husband, the rest I left in my father's agent's hands to be returned as we needed it.

I landed at Youghall, in Munster, as my husband directed me, in hopes to meet me there; but I had the discomfort of a very hazardous voyage, and the absence of your father, he then being upon business at Cork.

So soon as he heard I was landed, he came to me, and with mutual joy we discoursed those things that were proper to entertain us both; and thus, for six months, we lived so much to our satisfaction, that we began to think of making our abode there during the war, for the country was fertile, and all provisions cheap, and the houses good, and we were placed in Red Abbey, a house of Dean Boyle's in Cork, and my Lord of Ormond had a very good army, and the country seemingly quiet; and, to complete our content, all persons were very civil to us, especially Dean Boyle, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and Archbishop of Dublin and his family, and the Lord Inchiquin, whose daughter Elkenna I christened in 1650.

But what earthly comfort is exempt from change? for here I heard of the death of my second son, Henry, and, within a few weeks, of the landing of Cromwell, who so hotly marched over Ireland, that the fleet with Prince Rupert was forced to set sail, and within a small time after he lost all his riches, which was thought to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, in one of his best s.h.i.+ps, commanded by his brother Maurice, who with many a brave man sunk and were all lost in a storm at sea.

We remained some time behind in Ireland, until my husband could receive his Majesty's commands how to dispose of himself. During this time I had, by the fall of a stumbling horse, being with child, broke my left wrist, which, because it was ill-set, put me to great and long pain, and I was in my bed when Cork revolted. By chance that day my husband was gone on business to Kinsale: it was in the beginning of November 1650. [Footnote: These events happened in November 1649.] At midnight I heard the great guns go off, and thereupon I called up my family to rise, which I did as well as I could in that condition.

Hearing lamentable shrieks of men, women, and children, I asked at a window the cause; they told me they were all Irish, stripped and wounded, and turned out of the town, and that Colonel Jeffries, with some others, had possessed themselves of the town for Cromwell, Upon this, I immediately wrote a letter to my husband, blessing G.o.d's providence that he was not there with me, persuading him to patience and hope that I should get safely out of the town, by G.o.d's a.s.sistance, and desired him to s.h.i.+ft for himself, for fear of a surprise, with promise that I would secure his papers.

So soon as I had finished my letter, I sent it by a faithful servant, who was let down the garden-wall of Red Abbey, and, sheltered by the darkness of the might, he made his escape. I immediately packed up my husband's cabinet, with all his writings, and near 1000 pounds in gold and silver, and all other things both of clothes, linen, and household stuff that were portable, of value; and then, about three o'clock in the morning, by the light of a taper, and in that pain I was in, I went into the market-place, with only a man and maid, and pa.s.sing through an unruly tumult with their swords in their hands, searched for their chief commander Jeffries, who, whilst he was loyal, had received many civilities from your father. I told him it was necessary that upon that change I should remove, and I desired his pa.s.s that would be obeyed, or else I must remain there: I hoped he would not deny me that kindness. He instantly wrote me a pa.s.s, both for myself, family, and goods, and said he would never forget the respect he owed your father. With this I came through thousands of naked swords to Red Abbey, and hired the next neighbour's cart, which carried all that I could remove; and myself, sister, and little girl Nan, with three maids and two men, set forth at five o'clock in November, having but two horses amongst us all, which we rid on by turns. In this sad condition I left Red Abbey, with as many goods as were worth 100 pounds which could not be removed, and so were plundered. We went ten miles to Kinsale, in perpetual fear of being fetched back again; but, by little and little, I thank G.o.d, we got safe to the garrison, where I found your father the most disconsolate man in the world, for fear of his family, which he had no possibility to a.s.sist; but his joys exceeded to see me and his darling daughter, and to hear the wonderful escape we, through the a.s.sistance of G.o.d, had made.

But when the rebels went to give an account to Cromwell of their meritorious act, he immediately asked them where Mr. Fanshawe was?

They replied, he was that day gone to Kinsale. Then he demanded where his papers and his family were? At which they all stared at one another, but made no reply. Their General said, 'It was as much worth to have seized his papers as the town; for I did make account to have known by them what these parts of the country are worth.'

But within a few days we received the King's order, which was, that my husband should, upon sight thereof, go into Spain to Philip IV. and deliver him his Majesty's letters; and by my husband also his Majesty sent letters to my Lord Cottington and Sir Edward Hyde, his Amba.s.sadors Extraordinary in that Court. Upon this order we went to Macrome to the Lord Clancarty, who married a sister of the Lord Ormond; we stayed there two nights, and at my coming away, after a very n.o.ble entertainment, my Lady gave me a great Irish greyhound, and I presented her with a fine besel-stone.

From thence we went to Limerick, where we were entertained by the Mayor and Aldermen very n.o.bly; and the Recorder of the Town was very kind, and in respect they made my husband a freeman of Limerick. There we met the Bishop of Londonderry and the Earl of Roscommon, who was Lord Chancellor of that Kingdom at that time. These two persons with my husband being together writing letters to the King, to give an account of the kingdom, when they were going down stairs from my Lord Roscommon's chamber, striving to hold the candle at the stairs' head, because the privacy of their despatch admitted not a servant to be near, my Lord Roscommon fell down the stairs, and his head fell upon the corner of a stone and broke his skull in three pieces, of which he died five days after, leaving the broad seal of Ireland in your father's hands, until such time as he could acquaint his Majesty with this sad account, and receive orders how to dispose of the seals. This caused our longer stay, but your father and I being invited to my Lord Inchiquin's, there to stay till we heard out of Holland from the King, which was a month before the messenger returned, we had very kind entertainment, and vast plenty of fish and fowl. By this time my Lord Lieutenant the now Duke of Ormond's army was quite dispersed, and himself gone for Holland, and every person concerned in that interest s.h.i.+fting for their lives; and Cromwell went through as bloodily as victoriously, many worthy persons being murdered in cold blood, and their families quite ruined.

From hence we went to the Lady Honor O'Brien's, a lady that went for a maid, but few believed it: she was the youngest daughter of the Earl of Th.o.m.ond. There we stayed three nights. The first of which I was surprised by being laid in a chamber, when, about one o'clock I heard a voice that wakened me. I drew the curtain, and in the cas.e.m.e.nt of the window, I saw, by the light of the moon, a woman leaning into the window, through the cas.e.m.e.nt, in white, with red hair and pale and ghastly complexion: she spoke loud, and in a tone I had never heard, thrice, 'A horse'; and then, with a sigh more like the wind than breath she vanished, and to me her body looked more like a thick cloud than substance. I was so much frightened, that my hair stood on end, and my night clothes fell off. I pulled and pinched your father, who never woke during the disorder I was in; but at last was much surprised to see me in this fright, and more so when I related the story and showed him the window opened. Neither of us slept any more that night, but he entertained me with telling me how much more these apparitions were usual in this country than in England; and we concluded the cause to be the great superst.i.tion of the Irish, and the want of that knowing faith, which should defend them from the power of the Devil, which he exercises among them very much. About five o'clock the lady of the house came to see us, saying she had not been in bed all night, because a cousin O'Brien of her's, whose ancestors had owned that house, had desired her to stay with him in his chamber, and that he died at two o'clock, and she said, 'I wish you to have had no disturbance, for 'tis the custom of the place, that, when any of the family are dying, the shape of a woman appears in the window every night till they be dead. This woman was many ages ago got with child by the owner of this place, who murdered her in his garden and flung her into the river under the window, but truly I thought not of it when I lodged you here, it being the best room in the house.' We made little reply to her speech, but disposed ourselves to be gone suddenly.

By this time my husband had received orders from the King to give the Lord Inchiquin the seals to keep until farther orders from his Majesty. When that business was settled, we went, accompanied by my Lord Inchiquin and his family, four or five miles towards Galway, which he did not by choice, but the plague had been so hot in that city the summer before, that it was almost depopulated, and the haven as much as the town. But your father hearing that, by accident, there was a great s.h.i.+p of Amsterdam bound for Malaga, in Spain, and Cromwell pursuing his conquests at our backs, resolved to fall into the hands of G.o.d rather than into the hands of men; and with his family of about ten persons came to the town at the latter end of February, [Footnote: Probably January, as in a subsequent page Lady Fanshawe says, she embarked for Galway in the beginning of February.] where we found guards placed that none should enter without certificates from whence they came; but understanding that your father came to embark himself for Spain, and that there was a merchant's house taken for us, that was near the sea-side, and one of their best, they told us, if we pleased to alight, they would wait on us to the place; but it was long from thence, and no horses were admitted into the town.

An Irish footman that served us, said, 'I lived here some years and know every street, and likewise know a much nearer way than these men can show you, Sir; therefore come with me, if you please.' We resolved to follow him, and sent our horses to stables in the suburbs: he led us all on the back side of the town, under the walls, over which the people during the plague, which was not yet quite stopped, flung out all their dung, dirt, and rags, and we walked up to the middle of our legs in them, for, being engaged, we could not get back. At last we found the house, by the master standing at the door expecting us, who said, 'You are welcome to this disconsolate city, where you now see the streets grown over with gra.s.s, once the finest little city in the world.' And indeed it is easy to think so, the buildings being uniformly built, and a very fine marketplace, and walks arched and paved by the sea-side for their merchants to walk on, and a most n.o.ble harbour.

Our house was very clean, only one maid in it besides the master; we had a very good supper provided, and being very weary went early to bed. The owner of this house entertained us with the story of the late Marquis of Worcester, who had been there some time the year before: he had of his own and other friends' jewels to the value of 8000 pounds, which some merchants had lent upon them. My Lord appointed a day for receiving the money upon them and delivering the jewels; being met, he shows them to all these persons, then seals them up in a box, and delivered them to one of these merchants, by consent of the rest, to be kept for one year, and upon the payment of the 8000 pounds by my Lord Marquis to be delivered him.

After my Lord had received the money, he was entertained at all these persons' houses, and n.o.bly feasted with them near a month: he went from thence into France. When the year was expired, they, by letters into France, pressed the payment of this borrowed money several times, alleging they had great necessity of their money to drive their trade with; to which my Lord Marquis made no answer; which did at last so exasperate these men, that they broke open the seals, and opening the box found nothing but rags and stones for their 8000 pounds at which they were highly enraged, and in this case I left them.

At the beginning of February we took s.h.i.+p, and our kind host, with much satisfaction in our company, prayed G.o.d to bless us and give us a good voyage, for, said he, 'I thank G.o.d you are all gone safe aboard from my house, notwithstanding I have buried nine persons out of my house within these six months'; which saying much startled us, but, G.o.d's name be praised, we were all well, and so continued.

Here now our scene was s.h.i.+fted from land to sea, and we left that brave kingdom, fallen, in six or eight months, into a most miserable sad condition, as it hath been many times in most kings' reigns, G.o.d knows why! for I presume not to say; but the natives seem to me a very loving people to each other, and constantly false to all strangers, the Spaniards only excepted. The country exceeds in timber and sea- ports, and great plenty of fish, fowl, flesh, and, by s.h.i.+pping, wants no foreign commodities. We pursued our voyage with prosperous winds, but with a most tempestuous master, a Dutchman, which is enough to say, but truly, I think, the greatest beast I ever saw of his kind.

When we had just pa.s.sed the Straits, we saw coming towards us, with full sails, a Turkish galley well manned, and we believed we should be all carried away slaves, for this man had so laden his s.h.i.+p with goods for Spain, that his guns were useless, though the s.h.i.+p carried sixty guns. He called for brandy; and after he had well drunken, and all his men, which were near two hundred, he called for arms and cleared the deck as well as he could, resolving to fight rather than lose his s.h.i.+p, which was worth thirty thousand pounds. This was sad for us pa.s.sengers; but my husband bade us be sure to keep in the cabin, and the women not to appear, which would make the Turks think that we were a man-of-war, but if they saw women they would take us for merchants and board us. He went upon the deck, and took a gun and bandoliers, and sword, and, with the rest of the s.h.i.+p's company, stood upon deck expecting the arrival of the Turkish man-of-war. This beast, the Captain, had locked me up in the cabin; I knocked and called long to no purpose, until, at length, the cabin-boy came and opened the door; I, all in tears, desired him to be so good as to give me his blue thrum cap he wore, and his tarred coat, which he did, and I gave him half a crown, and putting them on and flinging away my night clothes, I crept up softly and stood upon the deck by my husband's side, as free from sickness and fear as, I confess, from discretion; but it was the effect of that pa.s.sion, which I could never master.

By this time the two vessels were engaged in parley, and so well satisfied with speech and sight of each other's forces, that the Turks' man-of-war tacked about, and we continued our course. But when your father saw it convenient to retreat, looking upon me, he blessed himself, and s.n.a.t.c.hed me up in his arms, saying, 'Good G.o.d, that love can make this change!' and though he seemingly chid me, he would laugh at it as often as he remembered that voyage. And in the beginning of March we all landed, praised be G.o.d, in Malaga, very well, and full of content to see ourselves delivered from the sword and plague, and living in hope that we should one day return happily to our native country; notwithstanding, we thought it great odds, considering how the affairs of the King's three kingdoms stood; but we trusted in the providence of Almighty G.o.d, and proceeded.

We were very kindly entertained by the merchants, and by them lodged in a merchant's house, where we had not been with our goods three days, when the vessel that brought us thither, by the negligence of a cabin-boy, was blown up in the harbour, with the loss of above a hundred men and all our lading.

After we had refreshed ourselves some days, we went on our journey towards Madrid, and lodged the first night at Velez Malaga, to which we were accompanied by most of the merchants. The next day we went to Grenada, having pa.s.sed the highest mountains I ever saw in my life, but under this lieth the finest valley that can be possibly described, adorned with high trees and rich gra.s.s, and beautified with a large deep clear river. Over the town and this standeth the goodly vast palace of the King's, called the Alhambra, whose buildings are, after the fas.h.i.+on of the Moors, adorned with vast quant.i.ties of jasper- stone; many courts, many fountains, and by reason it is situated on the side of a hill, and not built uniform, many gardens with ponds in them, and many baths made of jasper, and many princ.i.p.al rooms roofed with the mosaic work, which exceeds the finest enamel I ever saw. Here I was showed in the midst of a very large piece of rich embroidery made by the Moors of Grenada, in the middle as long as half a yard of the true Tyrian dye, which is so glorious a colour that it cannot be expressed: it hath the glory of scarlet, the beauty of purple, and is so bright, that when the eye is removed upon any other object it seems as white as snow.

The entry into this great Palace is of stone, for a Porter's-lodge, but very magnificent, through the gate below, which is adorned with figures of forestwork, in which the Moors did transcend. High above this gate was a bunch of keys cut in stone likewise, with this motto: 'Until that hand holds those keys, the Christians shall never possess this Alhambra.' This was a prophecy they had, in which they animated themselves, by reason of the impossibility that ever they should meet.