Repent thee not of thy fair precedent, In Ben Jonson's "Conversations with Drummond of Hawthornden," we have the following entry :-"Overbury was first his [Jonson's] friend, then turn'd his mortall enimie." To which passage the learned editor adds, "When the enmity between Ben Jonson and Sir Thomas Overbury began is nowhere stated; probably anterior to February 1602-3, under which date we meet with the following in Manningham's Diary, (Harl. MSS. 5,353): "Ben Jonson, the poet, now lives upon one Townesend and scornes the world. So Overbury." The notice in Manningham's Diary in no way relates to the quarrel between Overbury and Jonson, which must have been of a date long subsequent to 1602-3, at which period Overbury was probably unknown at court. The difference between them was after the date of Jonson's lines, of which Gifford says in a note, "This Epigram was probably written about 1610, when Sir Thomas returned from his travels, and followed the fortunes of Carr with a zeal and integrity worthy of a better fate."† Again in the same "Conversations," we read, "The Countess of Rutland was nothing inferior to her father, Sir P. Sidney, in poesic. Sir Th: Overburie was in love with her, and caused Ben to *Notes of Ben Jonson's Conversations with William Drummond of Hawthornden, January M.DC.XIX. [Edited by David Laing, Esq.] Shakespeare Society, 1842. + Ben Jonson's Works, vol. viii. p. 224. read his Wyffe to her, which he, with ane excellent grace, did, and praised the author. That the morne thereafter he discorded with Overburie, who would have him to intend a sute that was unlawful. The lines my Lady keep'd in remembrance, He comes too near who comes to be denied." Here, in all probability, we have the cause of quarrel between Overbury and Jonson. The story, certainly, reflects more credit upon 66 rare Ben," than it does upon his courtly cotemporary. Somerset and Overbury were each advancing in court favour and in mutual confidence. "Such," we are told, was the warmth of their friendship, that they were inseparable. Carr could enter into no scheme, nor pursue any measure without the advice and concurrence of Overbury, nor could Overbury enjoy any felicity but in the company of him he loved; their friendship was the subject of court conversation, and their genius seemed so much alike, that it was reasonable to suppose no breach could ever be produced between them.”* Had Somerset been half as prudent in the choice of his mistress, as he had been in the selection of a friend, how different might have been the dénouement! We must now retrace our steps in order to introduce two other characters on the scene. On the 5th of January, 1606, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex,t was married to Frances Howard, * Memoir of Overbury in Cibber's Lives of the l'oets, vol. ii. p. 30. † Afterwards remarkable for his achievements as the general of the parliament army. He was the only son of daughter of Thomas, Earl of Suffolk; a bridegroom of fourteen to a bride of thirteen. In a letter of the period we have a curious account of the nuptial rejoicings on the occasion. "The bridegroom,' says the writer, "carried himself as gravely and gracefully as if he were of his father's age. He had greater gifts given him than my Lord of Montgomery had, his plate being valued at £3000, his jewels, money, and other gifts at £1000 more. But to return to the Mask. Both Inigo [Jones], Ben [Jonson], and the actors, men and women, did their parts with great commentation. The conceit or soul of the mask, was Hymen bringing in a bride, and Juno, Pronuba's priest, a bridegroom, proclaiming that those two should be sacrificed to nuptial union. And here the poet made an apostrophe to the union of the kingdoms; but before the sacrifice could be performed, Ben Jonson turned the globe of the earth, standing behind the altar, and within the concave sat the eight men-maskers, representing the four Humours and the four Affections, who leaped forth and disturbed the sacrifice to union. But amidst their fury, Reason that sat above them all, crowned with burning tapers, came down and silenced them. These eight, together with Reason, their moderator, mounted above their heads, sat somewhat like the ladies in the scallop-shell, the last year. About the globe of earth hovered a middle region of clouds, in the centre of which stood a grand concert of musicians, and upon the canton, or horns, sat the ladies, the unhappy favourite of Queen Elizabeth, and was born at Essex-house in the Strand, in 1592. { four at one corner, and four at another, who descended upon the stage, downright perpendicular fashion, like a bucket into a well, but came gently slipping down. These eight, after the sacrifice was ended, represented the eight nuptial powers of Juno Pronuba, who came down to confirm the union. The men were clad in crimson and the women in white; they had every one a white plume of the richest herns' feathers, and were so rich in jewels upon their heads, as was most glorious. I think they hired and borrowed all the principal jewels and ropes of pearl, both in court and city. The Spanish ambassador seemed but poor to the meanest of them. They danced all variety of dances, both severally and promiscue; and then the women took in men, as, namely, the Prince, who danced with as great perfection, and as settled a majesty, as could be devised. The Spanish ambassador, the Archduke's ambassador, the Duke, &c., and the men, gleaned out of the Queen, the bride and the greatest of the ladies."* After the ceremony it was thought proper to separate the youthful pair till they had arrived at riper years. The young Earl was sent on his travels, while the bride remained at court with her mother, a lady whose indifferent morals rendered her totally unfit for such a charge. The Countess of Essex was suffered to mix at this early age in all the vanities and temptations of a profligate court; the danger of which measure was heightened by her acknowledged beauty, which soon constituted her the idol of *Mr. Pory to Sir Robert Cotton, Jan. 1606, in Bishop Goodman's Court of James the First, vol. ii. p. 125. general admiration, and the object of amorous addresses. In the mean time, after an absence of three or four years, her husband returned to England, full of natural eagerness to behold the young and beautiful creature whom he was to claim as his wife. But so far was the lady from sharing his anxiety, that she had engaged her affections to another, and regarded with the utmost horror the prospect of passing her days with the homely Essex. Among her admirers she reckoned the favourite Somerset, and Henry the heir to the throne.* The Prince had been from the beginning extremely jealous of the favours which his father had heaped upon his pampered minion, and his antipathy was not diminished, when on their becoming candidates for the favours of the same lady his rival proved successful.t Essex, discovering that his person and matrimonial claims were treated with disdain, applied to the *The authors who have asserted the fact of the prince's passion for Lady Essex are Wilson, Sanderson (the writer of Aulicas Coquinaria) and Sir Simonds D'Ewes. On the other hand Sir Charles Cornwallis, who was the prince's treasurer, assures us, that Henry never showed a particular inclination to any of the ladies of the Court. See Birch's Life of Prince Henry, 8vo. 1760, p. 402. A great enmity certainly subsisted between Somerset and the Prince, whatever were the grounds of it. "Some that knew the bickerings between the Prince and the Viscount muttered out dark sentences that durst not look into the light; especially, Sir James Elphington, who, (observing the Prince one day to be discontented with the Viscount) offered to kill him: but the Prince reproved him with a gallaut spirit, saying, 'If there were cause he would do it himself.” ”—--Wilson's Life and Reign of James I. 1653. |