his power, when they who live in aftertimes shall haply find his wasted limbs and mouldered form, in this secret place, which hath been his cell and sepulchre, they may truly know who and what he was when living; nor confound the reliques of a Lovel and a soldier, with the ashes of the ignoble dead."

I hastened to fulfil his request and speedily clothed him as he desired, and when he was so habited he thanked me, and said he felt him more at ease; not that his sickness had in aught abated, but that he was now clothed in the only shroud which those of his house were ever wont to wear. Upon my demanding of him if there were aught else wherein I might pleasure him, he replied, "nought, my most constant friend, but this that thou wouldest bring hither yonder cross, that I may kiss it, and die in grasping the sign of our salvation.-So-now set it upon the table before me, with the holy books which have so often soothed me in mine hours of loneliness and sorrow, and have dressed my soul for its final departure; the which may indeed tell them that in future days shall light upon my bones, that Lovel died a Christian as well as a noble and a soldier."

When I had forthwith performed all that he desired, he once more essayed to speak, albeit very faintly, and said,-So,-this is well,-and now the courses being all set to sea, wherefore should the barque tarry longer? or, in good sooth, why should not the worn-out shallop which hath been so long tossed upon the wild waters, make at once for the haven where she may safely cast her anchor for ever?".

Such was the Lord Lovel's tranquillity and gentle resignation in his last hours; the which, though sweet to behold and glorious to remember, still had in them so much of sadness, that tears fell from mine eyes, and I mourned bitterly that one so rich in grace and dignity should presently cease to be upon the earth. He marked mine emotion, and full kindly counselled me to lay aside my sorrows, seeing that his had reached their termination; and that I should dry the tears which dimmed mine eyes, that I might well mark how to close up his. His tongue did now begin altogether to fail him, and his eyes looked set in his head as if their sight were gone; whilst his words came thick and obscure, so that I might scarcely hear them. Yet was his look high and stately, and his face lighted up with that unearthly lustre, which spake eloquently of a peace of mind, that his speech could but imperfectly give utterance to. But full soon came the last solemn change, wherein the dark shades of Death invaded his visage, and his sense of existence seemed to depart. Yet even in that moment of dissolution, did I pray him to give me some sign if his hope `in heaven were still good; whereupon he grasped the crucifix with wondrous power, and faltered out a part of the dying words of the holy Stephen, "Domine-Jesu-suscipe- I listened for some moments joyfully, though anxiously, for the end thereof;but on again looking towards the face of the Lord Lovel, I full soon perceived that I was alone!

B2

CHAPTER II.

A FOREIGN ADVENTURER AND SPY ENCOUNTERED RECRUITING IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY-AND FIFTEEN YEARS OF EXILE FROM ENGLAND.

Where hast thou served?

May it please you, Sir, in all the late wars of Bohemia, Hungaria, Dalmatia, Poland; where not, Sir? I have been a poor servitor by sea and land, any time this fourteen years, and followed the fortunes of the best commanders in Christendom.

Is it possible that thou shouldest disguise thyself so as I should not know thee?

BEN JONSON'S EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOUR.

I like thee well; wilt thou forsake thy fortune,
And follow me ?

I am a Soldier, and now bound to France.

SHAKSPEARE.

So died the good Knight, Francis, the ninth Lord, and first Viscount, Lovel;-yet seemingly without any touch of pain, and so peacefully and silently, that even at the very moment of his departure, I knew not indeed that all was over. Howbeit, I might not long remain in doubt, but speedily saw that he was gone from this earth, and that I had now only to close his eyes, unto the which I sadly addressed myself. He had so orderly settled himself to die, that there was little left for me to perform for him; yet did I compose him so,

that he should have the semblance of one who rested after the labours of a weary day, with his head inclined upon his hand. In all things, therefore, did I fulfil his dying desires, so that if ever man should discover and open his last retreat and burial-place,* his wishes shall assuredly come to pass; inasmuch as that none will ever deem him to have been of low degree, albeit mischance denied his bones a sepulchre in holy ground.

This solemn duty done, as it now grew towards morning, I bethought me of entering the chamber whereof he had spoken, and taking thence the casket he had charged me with, whiles the day was yet young; for that I now desired to depart from that sad cell, deeming it bootless to remain there longer, since all that had kept me therein had left it for ever: and I felt me no more bound by duty or liking to stay with that poor and lifeless dust, as the jewel being now gone, the sordid case which had enclosed it was no longer worth the watching.

So forth I went from the cell up the little secret winding stair, at the top whereof I found a strong

*This discovery did not take place until the year 1708, when, in laying a new chimney at Minster-Lovel, a large vault or room was found beneath; in which appeared the entire skeleton of a man sitting at a table with books, &c. before him, whilst in another part of the chamber was a cap, the whole being in a decayed and mouldering state. It is also sometimes added, that the vault contained several barrels and jars which had held his stores; but the former part of this account rests on the witness and authority of John Manners, third Duke of Rutland, who related it in the hearing of William Cowper, Esq. Clerk of the Parliament, on May 8th, 1728; by whom it is preserved in a letter dated Hertingfordbury Park, August 9th, 1737.

door, which opened with a very hard spring upon one side of a wide and ancient hearth, behind a high settle of carved and blackened oak. So cunningly was it hidden, that no man might ever have discovered it unless the device had been shown unto him; for that the portal was formed of the stones whereof the fire-place was built set in an oaken frame. The chamber into which it led, was one of much state and richness, although it was now ruined and despoiled; partly by decay of years, and partly by the rude soldiery who had been placed therein upon the supposed death of the Lord Lovel. The broidered azure hangings were now torn and fallen piecemeal from the walls, the goodly painted window was broken, and the fair carved-work was on all sides battered and defaced; yet did I find the sculptured panel, of which I was in quest, unsuspected and undefaced beneath that curious oriel-window, some panes whereof looked into our cell. But in the chamber unto which it did rightly belong, it formed a fair and broad bay, fitting to be set out with high stands of plate at a banquet, or yield pleasant pastime towards the park, seeing that it opened on to a stone gallery or terrace without, of little height above the green-sward thereof.

I paused not long to note these things, or to mark the desolate and melancholy condition of the dead Viscount's Chamber of Estate; both because the sight thereof made me full sad, and for that I well knew that I must speed me back again through the cell to close up each entrance as securely as I might: and therefore, after looking cautiously around me, I hastened unto the panel,