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 Fifth Edition

• •
r1 1n
•
1s or
AGuide for
Canadian Students

William Kelleher Storey • Mairi Cowan

OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
 Contents
Preface to the Fifth Canadian Edition viii
Introduction x

1 x Getting Started 1
Explore Your Interests 2
Move from a Historical Interest to a Research Topic 2
Work with Bibliographies 3
Spend Time in an Academic Library 6
Use Reference Sources for Background Information 10
Conduct a General Search on the Internet 12
Critically Assess Sources on the Internet 14
Approach Your Topic from a Particular Angle 16
Browse for More Sources 16
Form a Hypothesis 17
Craft a Proposal 18
Write an Annotated Bibliography 19
Talk to People about Your Topic 19
If You Have to Abandon a Topic, Do It Early 20

2 x Interpreting Source Materials 22

Distinguish Primary Sources from Secondary Sources 22
Conduct Interviews Systematically 25
Consider Visual and Material Sources 27
Refine Your Hypothesis 29
Be Sensitive to Points of View in Your Sources 31
Select the Most Important Source Materials 32
Take Notes by Being Selective 33

3 K Writing History Faithfully 37

Collect and Report Your Sources Carefully 37
Treat the Ideas of Others with Care and Respect 39
Know the Difference between Paraphrases and Summaries 39
Learn How and When to Quote 41
Use Ellipses and Brackets, but Do Justice to Your Sources 43
Place Quotation Marks Properly 46
Don't Plagiarize 47
Cite Accurately 50
vi Contents

4 s Using Sources to Make Inferences 53

Be True to Recognized Facts 54
Transform Facts into Evidence 54
Investigate Your Facts 54
Check the Internal Consistency of Primary Sources
55
Check Primary Sources against Each Othe r 56
Compare Primary Sources with Secondary Sou rces
57
Combine Sources to Make Inferences 59
Move from Inferences to Arguments 61
Make Reasonable Inferences from Your Sources 62
Make Inferences That Are Warranted 62
Avoid Anachronisms 65

5 s Organizing a First Draft 69

Craft a Thesis Statement 69
Create a Draft Outline 70
Start to Write a First Draft 76
Catch Your Reader's Atten tion, but Do It Gent ly 77
State Your Intell ectual Interests Early 79
Review the Historical Literature 82
Build Your Essay with Good Paragraphs 83
Define Your Key Terms Early 85
Set an Appr opriate Tone 87
Treat Othe r Writers with Cons idera tion 89
Account for Counterarguments 90
Lead Your Readers to an Interesting Conc lusio n 92

6 x Structuring Your Paper with

Good Narrative Techniques 97
Build a Narrative That Tells a Story 97
Write a Narrative to Supp ort an Argu ment 98
Com bine Chro nolog y with Causation 98
Get a Sense of Change and Cont inuity 100
Select the Key Participants in Your Story 100
Find Your Voice as a Narra t or 101
Choose Your Begi nning and End 102
Supp ly a Mean ingfu l Titl e 104

7 :-: Writing Sentences

106
Choose Verbs That Are Preci se 106
Make Passive Sentences Active 106
 Contents vii

Write (Mostly) in the Past Tense 108

Put Your Thoughts in an Intelligible Order 110
Begin a Sentence on Common Ground and
Gradually Build a New Point 111
Place the Emphasis at the End 113
Construct Parallel Forms 113
Vary the Form and Length of Sentences 114
Break the Rules If You Must 115

8 =c Choosing Precise Words 117

Be Concise 117
Write in Language That Your Audience Can Easily Understand 117
Avoid Both Pretentious and Colloqu ial Language 119
Avoid Euphemisms 120
Choose Figurative Language Carefully 120
Eschew Cliches 121
Don't Use Unfamiliar Foreign Words 121
Be Aware of Changes to Usage 122
Check for These Common Diction Problems 124

9 =c Revising and Editing 131

Get Some Perspective 131
Revise Your Draft 132
Evaluate Your Arguments and Narratives 133
Evaluate Your Sentences and Word Choices 134
Proofread the Final Draft 134
Check the Formatting 136
Submit Your Paper 136

Appendix A s Different Kinds of History Assignments 138

Appendix B s Citation Guide 150

Appendix C == Suggested Resources for Research and

Writing in History 165

Glossary 172
Index 175
 Preface to the Fifth Canadian Edition ix

Preface to the Fifth throughout the book to reflect contemporary usage, while ac-
knowledging that tensions sometimes arise when new ideas begin
Canadian Edition to challenge old presumptions in the politically charged world of
historical writing.
As the conventions of writing history change, so too must the Much of the material in this edition comes directly from
advice we give to those who are learning the craft. In this new the work of William Kelleher Storey and Towser Jones in earlier
edition of Writing History: A Guide for Canadian Students, we editions: it is their wisdom and care that have made Writing History
have taken the basic structure of the US edition, adapted it with so helpful to so many students since its first publication in 1999.
material drawn from the most recent Canadian edition, and For the adaptations and additions that I have been able to supply,
introduced additional features to ensure that the advice being I owe a debt of gratitude to many people. The historians I've had
presented remains consistent with current best practices. the privilege to learn from and the students I've had the honour to
Several significant modifications in this fifth Canadian teach have provided more insight than I can measure. Some of the
edition help bring Writing History up to date with the expectations best observations about what real students find genuinely helpful
of history instructors and the needs of their students. One have come from teaching assistants, and I hope that they will find
important change is in the selection of examples that illustrate here a serviceable guide for when they are teaching the skills of
authentic historical problems and good historical writing. To research and writing. I would like to thank the people at Oxford
make this book more relevant not only to students of Canadian University Press for giving me the opportunity to work on this
history, but also to students studying histories of other places, book, and particularly Peter Chambers and Elizabeth Ferguson,
we now supply a better balance of Canadian and non-Canadian who have been kindly and calmly supportive throughout the
examples and a wider representation of different periods, places, process. I would also like to extend my thanks to my colleagues
and approaches. Other changes extend the book's usefulness for at the University of Toronto, especially those in the department
today's students with practical advice on how to face challenges of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga, for
both in print and online. We propose realistic guidelines to allowing me to teach history in an environment made rich by
help students find, select, and use sources from academic libraries both tradition and innovation. And finally, as always, I thank my
and the Internet at large, and we offer suggestions for editing that friends and family for being always there.
take into account both the page and the screen. Three appendices Mairi Cowan
provide further guidance in conveniently condensed form. The University of Toronto Mississauga
first appendix helps students better understand the different
kinds of history assignments typically given in university and
college courses. The second is a citation guide that combines basic
instruction on when and how to write notes and bibliographies
with samples of citations formatted in accordance with the latest
edition of The Chicago Manual ofStyle. The third appendix is a list
of suggested resources for research and writing that students can
use as starting points in their projects. We have adjusted language
 Introductio n xi

Pelopon nesian Wars, around 400 BCE, he could hardly report

Introduction everythi ng that had taken place over thirty years of battles and
defeats. Instead, he chose to focus on decisive moment s. Among
What is history? No single definitio n is universa lly accepted , but these was the famous eulogy for the Athenian dead delivered by
historians do generally agree on several points. History is not a the statesma n and general Pericles:
compilation of names and dates to be memoriz ed and regurgita ted
Nor is it the simple description of "what happene d" in the past. I have no wish to make a long speech on subjects familiar
History is more than a matter of opinion or a declarati on of right to you all: so I shall say nothing about the warlike deeds by
and wrong answers. It demands critical analysis, question ing which we acquired our power or the battles in which we or our
and exploration, selection, debate, and interpret ation. It reflects fathers gallantly resisted our enemies, Greek or foreign. What
I want to do is, in the first place, to discuss the spirit in which
the time in which it is written, but remains true to the time it
we faced our trials and also our constitution and the way of
interprets.
Historians study the human past, ancient and recent, to life which has made us great. After that I shall speak in praise
of the dead.2
understand not only what happene d, but how and why, what it
means and why it matters. And it does matter. Understa nding
Thucydi des chose to make this speech a part of his history not
the past gives us a basis for understa nding the present. In the
just because it was moving, but because he believed it to be
words of Canadian historian Margare t MacMill an, "history is not
instructi ve on the nature of Athenian democra cy.
a dead subject. . .. [It] lies under the present, silently shaping our
Like Thucydid es, historian s also choose subjects that they
institutions, our ways of thought, our likes and dislikes: ''
believe can shed light on the causes of change over time. To that
The craft of history requires making decisions. First, historians
end, they must learn how to find sources, how to report on them
choose the subjects they think are most importa nt. Then they
faithfully, and how to use them to make inferences about the past.
select the source materials they judge most likely to shed useful
Their approach es vary widely, and can incorpor ate methods and
light on those subjects. After carefully analyzin g all the evidence
insights not only from other historian s but from scholars in the
they can find, they develop argumen ts and draw conclusi ons
humanit ies, the social sciences, and the natural sciences as well.
in the light of that evidence. Finally, they decide how they will
Even historian s who all work in the same narrow geograph ical
present their arguments in a way that balances respect for their
and chronolo gical specialties approach their subjects from
subjects with the needs of their readers.
many different perspect ives. In fact, the variety of angles from
The best historians are so skilled at making choices that they
can transform .
painstalc'mg research mto d which historian s approach their subjects is almost endless, and
. seamless argumen ts an
therefore, not surprisingly, historians frequent ly disagree with
narratives. But don't be fooled: the decision s that fill the process
It d • • f · one another. Such debates are so common that there is a whole
of writing. are diffi.cu , an wntmg history well takes a lot o tune
and patience. subfield of the disciplin e called historiog raphy, the study of
Writing history- in a sense, the history of history. Despite the
, :11e art of selection has been central to Western historical
diversity of their approach es, however, all historians share a com-
wntm~ ever since the time of the ancient Greeks. When the
Atheman general Thucydides compose d his history of t h e mitment to accurate reporting , persuasive argumen t, and clear
xii Writing History

communication. In short, all historians share a commitment to

good research and writing.
Writing History is designed to introduce students to the
discipline of history and its challenges. Chapter by chapter, the
book explains the processes of planning; finding a topic; research-
ing, analyzing, and incorporating sources; building arguments; and
creating a finished work. Appendices offer additional help with an
explanation of conventions in typical kinds of history assignments,
a citation guide, and suggested further resources for research and
writing. Key terms are bolded at first use and clearly defined in
a glossary at the end of the book, while boxes at the end of each
chapter highlight its key points.
There may be times in your studies when you find it useful to
read this book straight through, and other times when you turn
to it instead for answers to specific questions. However you use
Writing History, we hope that it serves you as a helpful guide to
learning and writing about the human past.

Notes
l. Margaret MacMillan, The Uses and Abuses of History (Toronto: Viking Canada,
2008), xi
2- Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, trans. Rex Warner (New York: Penguin
Books, 1954; repr. 1984), 145.
 1
Ge ttin g Started

There are many reasons to write history. Historians may be inter-

ested in expla ining a partic ular source, in which case they must
assess its significance in light of other sources. Perhaps they begin
with an analytical probl em that they have noticed in some body
of historical literature, or with a contemporary problem affecting
the world in which they live, and then they must seek out sources
as a way of exploring the problem. In any case, the only way to
write histor y is to engage with source materials and other writers.
This is challenging because it is not always a simple matter to find
suitable sources and engage with the right writers. A full, careful
review of the largest possible numb er of sources and writers will
help historians express ideas confidently, and this chapter provides
guidance for how to start that review and choose a topic for a
research essay. (There are several types of assignments that history
instru ctors comm only set. Students who are working on prima ry
source analyses, book or article reviews, annotated bibliographies,
histor iogra phica l papers, reading response journals, research
proposals, oral presentations, posters, or final exams can refer to
Appe ndix A, "Different Kinds of Histo ry Assignments:')
Some times a research essay is limited to the scope of the
course. At other times, such as with an honours thesis, the subject
of the paper can be more open-ended. The details of an assignment
may vary, which mean s that students will need to pay careful
attent ion to their instructor,s prompts, but they should remember
that writin g about histor y is about providing analysis, not just
collecting facts.
2 Writing History Getting Started 3

Explore Your Interests search on a search engine like Google, followed by a Jirik to
Wikipedia. This may seem like a good beginning to many people, but
People are probably asking you about your interests all the time. to historians this is merely a preliminary glance at what lies on the
At a party, you might find that the best approach is to condense surface. Good writing starts with extensive and methodical reading:
your interests into a crisp one-liner. When you write history, you the more books, articles, and primary sources we read, the more
will grapple with topics and questions that cannot be summarized authoritatively we may write. And good writing requires active
so neatly. Research projects present opportunities to clarify and reading, which involves taking notes, tracking down references, and
deepen your interests. observing contradictions between authors. These contradictions
Historians become interested in research topics for all sorts are especially important Two historians writing about the same
of reasons. The history of medicine may interest you because you topic rarely come to the same interpretation. Why are their views
want to become a doctor; the history of physics may interest you conflicting? An investigation of this question can lead you to a
because you are concerned about nuclear proliferation. Perhaps better understanding of what we know about the past, and to a
some historians have inspired your interests, through either their research topic that will work for your assignment. Did the histor-
teaching or their writing. Or an instructor may simply be requiring ians consider different evidence? Do they have opposing political
you to write about a specific topic. Whatever the motivation, use commitments? Is there a way for you to test their arguments on
your sources to address questions that are significant to you and another set of data and come to a conclusion of your own? Maybe
relevant to the task at hand. all historians writing about a topic agree about some things, but
your personal knowledge of the subject causes you to doubt their
Move from a Historical Interest findings. Can you support your conflicting view with evidence?
If you already have a specific question or single source in
to a Research Topic mind, you can begin from here, but you will still need sources
There is so much history to write about, and so little time for to provide background and support. What evidence must be
~ting. Ifyou are going to get your assignment done in a reasonable considered when answering your question? What context is
tune and space (ideally by the due date and within the page necessary to understand the source? Are there any theoretical
limit), you need to convert your historical interests into a feasible approaches that will shed light on your investigation?
research
. . topic· pocus your research early. Fmd . a small story Whether you choose to work inward from a breadth of possi-
withm your broad range of interests,
. and select only the best bilities, or outward from a precise problem, the early stages of
sources to support your interpretation. your research process will involve the selection of reliable sources.
Imagine that your instructor has asked you to write a research
essay. You can eith t .
c er s art with a broad scope and then narrow Work with Bibliographies
your iocus until you h .
. ave a topic that is the right size for the
assignment or you . Many students begin their research by searching the Internet,
sing! ' can start with one specific question or a
e source and then d yet there is so much out there, and it can be difficult to deter-
material t expan your focus until you have enough
If o complete your investigation mine which sources are reliable. It is often better to start with
you decide to begin "th · bibliographies, lists of readings that scholars assemble for fellow
survey the t t f wi a broad scope, you will need to
s a e o the field Th I researchers.
· e nternet makes possible a quick
4 Writing History 1 Getting Started 5
have been fascinated by bison ever since
Let us say that YOu your topic even further. It may also be more practical- and more
. d . ·t t Wood Buffalo National Park. Let us also say enjoyable -simply to ask your professor for suggestions. Chances
a ch1ldhoo VlSl o
• ·t·zens you are concerned about cross-cult ural are your professor will be happy to discuss a research topic, espe-
that like many c1 1 ,
'· d th environme nt You have read Alfred W. Crosby's cially if you have a working bibliography and are developing specific
re1ations an e · ,
The Columbian Exchange and Theodore Binnemas Common and ideas about your interests. Professors will be familiar with key works
Contested Ground: A Human and Environmental History of the by other scholars and will be able to suggest books that provide
Northwestern Plains,1 and you now share their interest in relations helpful overviews and contain useful bibliographies. In the case of
between settlers and Indigenous peoples. You recognize that it the environme ntal history of the plains in Canada, the first book
took these historians many years of research and hundreds of many professors will recommen d is James Daschuk's Gearing the
pages of writing to cover their topics, and therefore you know that Plains: Disease, Politics ofStarvation, and the Loss ofAboriginal Life.3
you will need to find something smaller in scale for your project. As you begin to read Daschuk's book, you notice that it is
Neither book has much to say about bison or people in Western comprehe nsive and accessible, much like Crosby's and Binnema's
Canada. Their bibliographies contain some sources that will be books, and also that it interweaves environme ntal history with
useful for context or compariso n, but they focus on different political and social history. A careful review of the text and
regions from your topic and, even in the most recent editions, do references even reveals that Daschuk cites both Crosby's and
not include anything written more recently than the early 2000s. Binnema's books as important predecessors. Read Daschuk's
How can you find a bibliography that will lead you to current book with an eye to narrowing your topic. What specific issues
scholarship on the environme ntal history of the plains in Western capture your attention? What passages do you find inspiring?
Canada? In his chapter "Canada, the Northwest , and the Treaty Period,
Ask a librarian. Librarians will probably not have a lot of 1869-76;' Daschuk writes about positions taken by the Cree in
narrowly specialized knowledge on your topic, but they will negotiatin g Treaty 6. Your interest is piqued by his assertion that
know how to find a good bibliography. A keyword search that "to the bulk of the Cree leadership , the successful negotiatio n of
combines "environmental history" with the words "bibliogra phy:' a treaty represente d their best hope for survival in the new economic
"companion;' and "handbook " returns a number of promising order on the plains:• In the paragraph immediate ly preceding this
sources, among them a book called The Oxford Handbook of statement , you find evidence that Cree leaders were well aware of
Environmental History. 2 Go find the book in the library or online. profound economic changes sweeping over the plains and their
It turns out to be rather thick, but a quick glance at the table of need to respond:
contents points to one chapter, called "Seas of Grass: Grassland s
in World Environmental History;' written by Andrew Isenberg, The possibility of bloodshed was real, but most of the Cree
that looks especially promising who attended the treaty talks recognized the futility of armed
. When you read it, you find that
the essay compares the resistance to dominion authority. Mistawassis stressed this
environm ental history of grassland s in
different parts of the world, · . the Eurasian Steppes, th point to Poundmaker and The Badger, two opponents of the
mcluding e
Pampas of South America, and the North American Great Plains. treaty: "We are few in numbers compared to former times, by
Its bibliography will lead you to additiona l sources. wars and the terrible ravages of smallpox.... Even if it were
It would be perfe tl . e for you to start possible to gather all the tribes together, to throw away the
c Y appropriat tracking
down those sources and ki hand that is offered to help us, we would be too weak to make
s rnming them in order to narrow
 Writing History 1 Getting St arted 7
6

our demands heard'.' Chief Ahtahkakoop echoed the sentiments increasing exponentially and ways to access it are changing
of Mistawassis: "We are weak and my brother Mista-wa-sis constantly. Reference librarians are experts in electronic searches,
I think is right that the buffalo will be gone before many snows. and most will be happy to show you how to begin. You will save
What then will be left us with which to bargain?"
4
yourself a lot of time and maximize the likelihood of finding good
sources by consulting a librarian at the outset of your project.
In this section, Daschuk cites several modem works about the
Explore the Library Catalogue
Treaty 6 negotiations as well as an original source from the nine-
teenth century, Peter Erasmus's Buffalo Days and Nights. Erasmus The key to searching a catalogue is understanding how the infor-
worked as a translator for the Plains Cree during the Treaty 6 nego- mation is organized. Not all libraries arrange their materials the
tiations, so his book seems promising, given your interests. The next same way, but most items in the library are listed by author, title,
step is to search for Erasmus's book, as well as other books, by fol- and subject heading.
lowing the clues in Daschuk's bibliography and footnotes and then
looking up these works in the library's online catalogue. 1. Find Books by Subject Heading. To find the right headings,
start with a keyword search. In a keyword search, it is important
to use distinctive words. Type in environmental history and you
Spend Time in an Academic Library will get too many entries. A more specific search, like Canadian
Perhaps the best place to find additional sources is in your own environmental history, will still produce too many. But if you find
academic institution's library, where you will find a wealth of one book from among the many entries that fits with your topic
materials. Since an academic library is designed for student and and click the subject headings associated with that entry, you will
faculty research, the resources that are available to you will almost be taken to other works on the same subject. Note that subject
certainly be more extensive than those in a public library. You searches differ from keyword searches. Keyword searches may
are likely to find many excellent sources including both general turn up your word or words in widely varying order. By contrast,
and specialized reference works online and perhaps in hard copy, subject headings are fixed by the Library of Congress, and you
books on the shelves (usually called "the stacks"), e-books, journal will get a hit on a subject heading only if you click on or type in its
articles, films, and so on. exact wording. (All librarians will be able to explain to you how
to search for Library of Congress subject headings.) For example,
Speak with a Librarian the subject headings for Peter Erasmus reveal a number of useful
Since
. library
. holdi ngs ch ange constantly, it's a good idea to talk possibilities, including "Indians of North America- Canada,
with a librarian-a research spec1a
. 1·1st-b efore you begin to search Western-History:' A click on that link offers more books about
the catalogue Lib · the subject. These books, in tum, can be looked up simply by
· rarians are the unsung heroes of the historical
world and historians
. d epend heaVIly
. on them, because they not clicking them. If your own library does not own the book, ask a
1
on y preserve ~nformation but also know how it is or anized and librarian about how to order the item through Interlibrary Loan.
how to access 1t. They c b g
. fi . an e an enormous help to historians and
tud
s ents m nding what th . 2. Search Journals in Online Databases. Articles and reviews
t h . . ey need This is particularly important
0 from scholarly journals can often provide helpful guideposts to
emp asize m today's world, when electronic information is
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
every year in Coventry, and is of the most admirable beauty, and
such as is not witnessed in any other city in the world. He said I
should not weep if I were to see it, which he very much desired I
should; and he hoped he might be then alive, and ride by my side in
the procession as my esquire; at the which I smiled, for the good
gentleman had a face and figure such as would not grace a pageant,
and methought I might be ashamed some years hence to have him
for my knight; and I said, "Good Mr. Page, be the shutters closed on
those days as when the Lady Godiva rode?" at the which he
laughed, and answered,

"No; and that for one Tom who then peeped, there were a thousand
eyes to gaze on the show as it passed."

"Then if it please you, sir, when the time comes," I said, "I would
like to look on and not to ride;" and he replied, it should be as I
pleased; and with such merry discourse we spent the time till supper
was ready. And afterward that good gentleman slackened not his
efforts in entertaining us; but related so many laughable stories, and
took so great notice of me, that I was moved to answer him
sometimes in a manner too forward for my years. He told us of the
queen's visit to that city, and that the mayor, who had heard her
grace's majesty considered poets, and herself wrote verses, thought
to commend himself to her favor by such rare rhymes as these,
wherewith he did greet her at her entrance into the town:

"We, the men of Coventry,

Be pleased to see your majesty,
Good Lord! how fair you be!"

at the which her highness made but an instant's pause, and then
straightway replied,

"It pleaseth well her majesty

To see the men of Coventry.
Good Lord! what fools you be!"
"But," quoth Mr. Page, "the good man was so well pleased that the
Queen had answered his compliment, that 'tis said he has had her
majesty's speech framed, and hung up in his parlor."

"Pity 'tis not in the town-hall," I cried; and he laughing commended

me for sharpness; but Mistress Ward said:

"A sharp tongue in a woman's head was always a stinging weapon;

but in a queen's she prayed God it might never prove a murtherous
one." Which words somewhat checked our merriment, for that they
savored of rebuke to me for forward speech, and I ween awoke in
Mr. Page thoughts of a graver sort.

When we rode through the town next day, he went with us for the
space of some miles, and then bade us farewell with singular
courtesy, and professions of good will and proffered service if we
should do him the good at any time to remember his poor house;
which we told him he had given us sufficient reason not to forget.
Toward evening, when the sun was setting, we did see the towers of
Warwick Castle; and I would fain have discerned the one which doth
bear the name of the great earl who in a poor pilgrim's garb slew
the giant Colbrand, and the cave 'neath Guy's Cliff where he spent
his last years in prayer. But the light was declining as we rode into
Leamington, where we lay that night, and darkness hid from us that
fair country, which methought was a meet abode for such as would
lead a hermit's life.

The next day we had the longest ride and the hottest sun we had
yet met with; and at noon we halted to rest in a thicket on the
roadside, which we made our pavilion, and from which our eyes did
feast themselves on a delightful prospect. There were heights on
one side garnished with stately oaks, and a meadow betwixt the
road and the hill enamelled with all sorts of pleasing flowers, and
stored with sheep, which were feeding in sober security. Mistress
Ward, who was greatly tired with the journey, fell asleep with her
head on her hand, and I pulled from my pocket a volume with which
Mr. Page had gifted me at parting, and which contained sundry tales
anent Amadis de Gaul, Huon de Bordeaux, Palmerin of England, and
suchlike famous knights, which he said, as I knew how to read, for
which he greatly commended my parents' care, I should entertain
myself with on the road. So, one-half sitting, one-half lying on the
grass, I reclined in an easy posture, with my head resting against
the trunk of a tree, pleasing my fancy with the writers' conceits; but
ever and anon lifting my eyes to the blue sky above my head, seen
through the green branches, or fixed them on the quaint patterns
the quivering light drew on the grass, or else on the valley refreshed
with a silver river, and the fair hills beyond it. And as I read of
knights and ladies, and the many perils which befel them, and
passages of love betwixt them, which was new to me, and what I
had not met with in any of the books I had yet read, I fell into a fit
of musing, wondering if in London the folks I should see would
discourse in the same fashion, and the gentlemen have so much
bravery and the ladies so great beauty as those my book treated of.
And as I noticed it was chiefly on the high-roads they did come into
such dangerous adventures, I gazed as far as I could discern on the
one I had in view before me with a foolish kind of desire for some
robbers to come and assail us, and then a great nobleman or gallant
esquire to ride up and fall on them, and to deliver us from a great
peril, and may be to be wounded in the encounter, and I to bind up
those wounds as from my mother's teaching I knew how to do, and
then give thanks to the noble gentleman in such courteous and well-
picked words as I could think of. But for all my gazing I could naught
perceive save a wain slowly ascending the hill loaden with corn,
midst clouds of dust, and some poorer sort of people, who had been
gleaning, and were carrying sheaves on their heads. After an hour
Mistress Ward awoke from her nap; and methinks I had been dozing
also, for when she called to me, and said it was time to eat
somewhat, and then get to horse, I cried out, "Good sir, I wait your
pleasure;" and rubbed my eyes to see her standing before me in her
riding-habit, and not the gentleman whose wounds I had been
tending.
That night we slept at Northampton, at Mistress Engerfield's house.
She was a cousin of Mr. Congleton's, and a lady whose sweet
affability and gravity would have extorted reverence from those that
least loved her. She was then very aged, and had been a nun in King
Henry's reign; and, since her convent had been despoiled, and the
religious driven out of it, having a large fortune of her own, which
she inherited about that time, she made her house a secret
monastery, wherein God was served in a religious manner by such
persons as the circumstances of the time, and not their own desires,
had forced back into the world, and who as yet had found no
commodity for passing beyond seas into countries where that
manner of life is allowed. They dressed in sober black, and kept
stated hours of prayer, and went not abroad unless necessity
compelled them thereunto. When we went into the dining-room,
which I noticed Mistress Engerfield called the refectory, grace was
said in Latin; and whilst we did eat one lady read out loud out of a
book, which methinks was the life of a saint; but the fatigue of the
journey, and the darkness of the room, which was wainscotted with
oak-wood, so overpowered my senses with drowsiness, that before
the meal was ended I had fallen asleep, which was discovered, to
my great confusion, when the company rose from table. But that
good lady, in whose face was so great a kindliness that I never saw
one to be compared with it in that respect before or since, took me
by the hand and said, "Young eyes wax heavy for lack of rest, and
travellers should have repose. Come to thy chamber, sweet one,
and, after commending thyself by a brief prayer to him who sleepeth
not nor slumbereth, and to her who is the Mother of the motherless,
get thee to bed and take thy fill of the sleep thou hast so great need
of, and good angels will watch near thee."

Oh, how I did weep then, partly from fatigue, and partly from the
dear comfort her words did yield me, and, kneeling, asked her
blessing, as I had been wont to do of my dear parents. And she,
whose countenance was full of majesty, and withal of most attractive
gentleness, which made me deem her to be more than an ordinary
woman, and a great servant of God, as indeed she was, raised me
from the ground, and herself assisted to get me to bed, having first
said my prayers by her side, whose inflamed devotion, visible in her
face, awakened in me a greater fervor than I had hitherto
experienced when performing this duty. After I had slept heavily for
the space of two or three hours I awoke, as is the wont of those
who be over-fatigued, and could not get to sleep again, so that I
heard the clock of a church strike twelve; and as the last stroke fell
on my ear, it was followed by a sound of chanting, as if close unto
my chamber, which resembled what on rare occasions I had heard
performed by two or three persons in our chapel; but here, with so
full a concord of voices, and so great melody and sweetness, that
methought, being at that time of night and every one abed, it must
be the angels that were singing. But the next day, questioning Mrs.
Ward thereupon as of a strange thing which had happened to me,
she said, the ladies in that house rose always at midnight, as they
had been used to do in their several convents, to sing God's praises
and give him thanks, which was what they did vow to do when they
became religious. Before we departed, Mistress Engerfield took me
into her own room, which was small and plainly furnished, with no
other furniture in it but a bed, table, and kneeling-stool, and against
the wall a large crucifix, and she bestowed upon me a small book in
French, titled "The Spiritual Combat," which she said was a treasury
of pious riches, which she counselled me by frequent study to make
my own; and with many prayers and blessings she then bade us
God-speed, and took leave of us. Our last day's lodging on the road
was at Bedford; and there being no Catholics of note in that town
wont to entertain travellers, we halted at a quiet hostelry, which was
kept by very decent people, who showed us much civility; and the
landlady, after we had supped, the evening being rainy (for else she
said we might have walked through her means into the fair grounds
of the Abbey of Woburn, which she thanked God was not now a hive
for drones, as it had once been, but the seat of a worthy nobleman;
which did more credit to the town, and drew customers to the inn),
brought us for our entertainment a huge book, which she said had
as much godliness in each of its pages as might serve to convert as
many Papists—God save the mark!—as there were leaves in the
volume. My cheeks glowed like fire when she thus spoke, and I
looked at Mistress Ward, wondering what she would say. But she
only bowed her head, and made pretence to open the book, which,
when the good woman was gone,

"Mistress Constance," quoth she, "this is a book writ by Mr. Fox, the
Duke of Norfolk's old schoolmaster, touching those he doth call
martyrs, who suffered for treason and for heresy in the days of
Queen Mary,—God rest her soul!—and if it ever did convert a Papist,
I do not say on his deathbed, but at any time of his life, except it
was greatly for his own interest, I be ready …"

"To be a martyr yourself, Mistress Ward," I cried, with my ever too

great proneness to let my tongue loose from restraint. The color
rose in her cheek, which was usually pale, and she said:

"Child, I was about to say, that in the case I have named, I be ready
to forego the hope of that which I thank God I be wise enough to
desire, though unworthy to obtain; but for which I do pray each day
that I live."

"Then would you not be afraid to die on a scaffold," I asked, "or to

be hanged, Mistress Ward?"

"Not in a good cause," she said.

But before the words were out of her mouth our landlady knocked at
the door, and said a gentleman was in the house with his two sons,
who asked to pay their compliments to Mistress Ward and the young
lady under her care. The name of this gentleman was Rookwood, of
Rookwood Hall in Suffolk, and Mistress Ward desired the landlady
presently to bring them in, for she had often met them at my aunt's
house, as she afterward told me, and had great contentment we
should have such good company under the same roof with us;
whom when they came in she very pleasantly received, and
informed Mr. Rookwood of my name and relationship to Mistress
Congleton; which when he heard, he asked if I was Mr. Henry
Sherwood's daughter; which being certified of, he saluted me, and
said my father was at one time, when both were at college, the
closest friend that ever he had, and his esteem for him was so great
that he would be better pleased with the news that he should see
him but once again, than if any one was to give him a thousand
pounds. I told him my father often spake of him with singular
affection, and that the letter I should write to him from London
would be more welcome than anything else could make it, by the
mention of the honor I had had of his notice. Mistress Ward then
asked him what was the news in London, from whence he had come
that morning. He answered that the news was not so good as he
would wish it to be; for that the queen's marriage with monsieur was
broke off, and the King of France greatly incensed at the favor M. de
Montgomeri had experienced at her hands; and that when he had
demanded he should be given up, she had answered that she did
not see why she should be the King of France's hangman; which was
what his father had replied to her sister, when she had made the like
request anent some of her traitors who had fled to France.

"Her majesty," he said, "was greatly incensed against the Bishop of

Ross, and had determined to put him to death; but that she was
dissuaded from it by her council; and that he prayed God Catholics
should not fare worse now that Ridolfi's plot had been discovered to
declare her highness illegitimate, and place the Queen of Scots on
the throne, which had moved her to greater anger than even the
rising in the north.

"And touching the Duke of Norfolk," Mistress Ward did ask, "what is
like to befal him?"

Mr. Rookwood said, "His grace had been removed from the Tower to
his own house on account of the plague; but it is reported the queen
is more urgent against him than ever, and will have his head in the
end."
"If her majesty will not marry monsieur," Mistress Ward said, "it will
fare worse with recusants."

Upon which one of the young gentlemen cried out, "'Tis not her
majesty will not have him; but monsieur will not have her. My Lord
of Oxford, who is to marry my Lord Burleigh's daughter, said
yesterday at the tennis court, that that matter of monsieur is
grieviously taken on her grace's part; but that my lord is of opinion
that where amity is so needful, her majesty should stomach it; and
so she doth pretend to break it off herself by reason of her religious
scruples."

At the which both brothers did laugh, but Mr. Rookwood bade them
have a care how they did suffer their tongues to wag anent her
grace and such matters as her grace's marriage; which although in
the present company might be without danger, was an ill habit,
which in these times was like to bring divers persons into troubles.

"Hang it!" cried the eldest of his sons, who was of a well-pleasing
favor and exceeding goodly figure; "recusants be always in trouble,
whatsoever they do; both taxed for silence and checked for speech,
as the play hath it. For good Mr. Weston was racked for silence last
week till he fainted, for that he would not reveal what he had heard
in confession from one concerned in Ridolfi's plot; and as to my Lord
Morley, he hath been examined before the council, touching his
having said he would go abroad poorly and would return in glory,
which he did speak concerning his health; but they would have it
meant treason."

"Methinks, Master Basil," said his father, "thou art not like to be
taxed for silence; unless indeed on the rack, which the freedom of
thy speech may yet bring thee to, an thou hast not more care of thy
words. See now, thy brother keeps his lips closed in modest silence."

"Ay, as if butter would not melt in his mouth," cried Basil, laughing.
And I then noticed the countenance of the younger brother, who
was fairer and shorter by a head than Basil, and had the most
beautiful eyes imaginable, and a high forehead betokening
thoughtfulness. Mr. Rookwood drew his chair further from the table,
and conversed in a low voice with Mrs. Ward, touching matters
which I ween were of too great import to be lightly treated of. I
heard the name of Mr. Felton mentioned in their discourse, and
somewhat about the Pope's Bull, in the affixing of which at the
Bishop of London's gate he had lent a hand; but my ears were not
free to listen to them, for the young gentlemen began to entertain
me with divers accounts of the shows in London; which, as they
were some years older than myself, who was then no better than a
child, though tall of mine age, I took as a great favor, and answered
them in the best way I could. Basil spoke mostly of the sights he had
seen, and a fight between a lion and three dogs, in which the dogs
were victorious; and Hubert of books, which he said, for his part, he
had always a care to keep handsome and well bound.

"Ay," quoth his brother, "gilding them and stringing them like the
prayer-books of girls and gallants, which are carried to church but
for their outsides. I do hate a book with clasps, 'tis a trouble to open
them."

"A trouble thou dost seldom take," quoth Hubert. "Thou art ready
enough to unclasp the book of thy inward soul to whosoever will
read in it, and thy purse to whosoever begs or borrows of thee; but
with such clasps as shut in the various stores of thought which have
issued forth from men's minds thou dost not often meddle."

"Beshrew me if I do! The best prayer-book I take to be a pair of

beads; and the most entertaining reading, the 'Rules for the Hunting
of Deer;' which, by what I have heard from Sir Roger Ashlon, my
Lord Stafford hath grievously transgressed by assaulting Lord
Lyttleton's keepers in Teddesley Haye."
"What have you here?" Hubert asked, glancing at Mr. Fox's Book of
Martyrs, and another which the landlady had left on the table; A
profitable New Year's Gift to all England.

"They are not mine," I answered, "nor such as I do care to read; but
this," I said, holding out Mr. Page's gift, which I had in my pocket, "is
a rare fund of entertainment and very full of pleasant tales."

"But," quoth he, "you should read the Morte d'Arthur and the
Seven Champions of Christendom."

Which I said I should be glad to do when I had the good chance to

meet with them. He said, "My cousin Polly had a store of such
pleasant volumes, and would, no doubt, lend them to me. She has
such a sharp wit," he added, "that she is ever exercising it on herself
or on others; on herself by the bettering of her mind through
reading; and on others by such applications, of what she thus
acquires as leaves them no chance in discoursing with her but to
yield to her superior knowledge."

"Methinks," I said, "if that be her aim in reading, may be she will not
lend to others the means of sharpening their wits to encounter
hers."

At the which both of them laughed, and Basil said he hoped I might
prove a match for Mistress Polly, who carried herself too high, and
despised such as were slower of speech and less witty than herself.
"For my part," he cried, "I am of opinion that too much reading doth
lead to too much thinking, and too much thinking doth consume the
spirits; and often it falls out that while one thinks too much of his
doing, he leaves to do the effect of his thinking."

At the which Hubert smiled, and I bethought myself that if Basil was
no book-worm neither was he a fool. With such like discourse the
evening sped away, and Mr. Rookwood and his sons took their leave
with many civilities and pleasant speeches, such as gentlemen are
wont to address to ladies, and hopes expressed to meet again in
London, and good wishes for the safe ending of our journey thither.

Ah, me! 'tis passing strange to sit here and write in this little
chamber, after so many years, of that first meeting with those
brothers, Basil and Hubert; to call to mind how they did look and
speak, and of the pretty kind of natural affection there was betwixt
them in their manner to each other. Ah, me! the old trick of sighing
is coming over me again, which I had well-nigh corrected myself of,
who have more reason to give thanks than to complain. Good Lord,
what fools you be! sighing heart and watering eyes! As great fools, I
ween, as the Mayor of Coventry, whose foolish rhymes do keep
running in my head.

The day following we came to London, which being, as it were, the

beginning of a new life to me, I will defer to speak of until I find
myself, after a night's rest and special prayers unto that end, less
heavy of heart than at present.
 CHAPTER VII.
Upon a sultry evening which did follow an exceeding hot day, with
no clouds in the sky, and a great store of dust on the road, we
entered London, that great fair of the whole world, as some have
titled it. When for many years we do think of a place we have not
seen, a picture forms itself in the mind as distinct as if the eye had
taken cognizance thereof, and a singular curiosity attends the actual
vision of what the imagination hath so oft portrayed. On this
occasion my eyes were slow servants to my desires, which longed to
embrace in the compass of one glance the various objects they
craved to behold. Albeit the sky was cloudless above our heads, I
feared it would rain in London, by reason of a dark vapor which did
hang over it; but Mistress Ward informed me that this appearance
was owing to the smoke of sea-coal, of which so great a store is
used in the houses that the air is filled with it. "And do those in
London always live in that smoke?" I inquired, not greatly contented
to think it should be so; but she said Mr. Congleton's house was not
in the city, but in a very pleasant suburb outside of it, close unto
Holborn Hill and Ely Place, the bishop's palace, in whose garden the
roses were so plentiful that in June the air is perfumed with their
odor. I troubled her not with further questions at that time, being
soon wholly taken up with the new sights which then did meet us at
every step. So great a number of gay horsemen, and litters carried
by footmen with fine liveries, and coaches drawn by horses richly
caparisoned and men running alongside of them, and withal so
many carts, that I was constrained to give over the guiding of mine
own horse by reason of the confusion which the noise of wheels and
men's cries and the rapid motion of so many vehicles did cause in
me, who had never rode before in so great a crowd.

At about six o'clock of the afternoon we did reach Ely Place, and
passing by the bishop's palace stopped at the gate of Mr.
Congleton's house, which doth stand somewhat retired from the
high-road, and the first sight of which did greatly content me. It is
built of fair and strong stone, not affecting fineness, but honorably
representing a firm stateliness, for it was handsome without
curiosity, and homely without negligence. At the front of it was a
well-arranged ground cunningly set with trees, through which we
rode to the foot of the stairs, where we were met by a gentleman
dressed in a coat of black satin and a quilted waistcoat, with a white
beaver in his hand, whom I guessed to be my good uncle. He shook
Mistress Ward by the hand, saluted me on both cheeks, and vowed I
was the precise counterpart of my mother, who at my age, he said,
was the prettiest Lancashire witch that ever he had looked upon. He
seemed to me not so old as I did suppose him to be, lean of body
and something low of stature, with a long visage and a little sharp
beard upon the chin of a brown color; a countenance not very grave,
and, for his age, wanting the authority of gray hairs. He conducted
me to mine aunt's chamber, who was seated in an easy-chair near
unto the window, with a cat upon her knees and a tambour-frame
before her. She oped her arms and kissed me with great affection,
and I, sliding down, knelt at her feet and prayed her to be a good
mother to me, which was what my father had charged me to do
when I should come into her presence. She raised me with her hand
and made me sit on a stool beside her, and stroking my face gently,
gazed upon it, and said it put her in mind of both of my parents, for
that I had my father's brow and eyes, and my mother's mouth and
dimpling smiles.

"Mr. Congleton," she cried, "you do hear what this wench saith. I
pray you to bear it in mind, and how near in blood she is to me, so
that you may show her favor when I am gone, which may be sooner
than you think for."

I looked up into her face greatly concerned that she was like so soon
to die. Methought she had the semblance of one in good health and
a reasonable good color in her cheeks, and I perceived Mr.
Congleton did smile as he answered:
"I will show favor to thy pretty niece, good Moll, I promise thee, be
thou alive or be thou dead; but if the leeches are to be credited,
who do affirm thou hast the best strength and stomach of the twain,
thou art more like to bury me than I thee."

Upon which the good lady did sigh deeply and cast up her eyes and
lifted up her hands as one grievously injured, and he cried:

"Prithee, sweetheart, take it not amiss, for beshrew me if I be not

willing to grant thee to be as diseased as will pleasure thee, so that
thou wilt continue to eat and sleep as well as thou dost at the
present and so keep thyself from dying."

Upon which she said that she did admire how a man could have so
much cruelty as to jest and jeer at her ill-health, but that she would
spend no more of her breath upon him; and turning toward me she
asked a store of questions anent my father, whom for many years
she had not seen, and touching the manner of my mother's death,
at the mention of which my tears flowed afresh, which caused her
also to weep; and calling for her women she bade one of them bring
her some hartshorn, for that sorrow, she said, would occasion the
vapors to rise in her head, and the other she sent for to fetch her
case of trinkets, for that she would wear the ring her brother had
presented her with some years back, in which was a stone which
doth cure melancholy. When the case was brought she displayed
before my eyes its rich contents, and gifted me with a brooch set
with turquoises, the wearing of which, she said, doth often keep
persons from falling into divers sorts of peril. Then presently kissing
me she said she felt fatigued, and would send for her daughters to
take charge of me; who, when they came, embraced me with
exceeding great affection, and carried me to what had been their
schoolroom and was now Mrs. Ward's chamber, who no longer was
their governess, they said, but as a friend abode in the house for to
go abroad with them, their mother being of so delicate a constitution
that she seldom left her room. Next to this chamber was a closet,
wherein Kate said I should lie, and as it is one I inhabited for a long
space of time, and the remembrance of which doth connect itself
with very many events which, as they did take place, I therein
mused on, and prayed or wept, or sometimes laughed over in
solitude, I will here set down what it was like when first I saw it.

The bed was in an alcove, closed in the day by fair curtains of

taffety; and the walls, which were in wood, had carvings above the
door and over the chimney of very dainty workmanship. The floor
was strewn with dried neatly-cut rushes, and in the projecting space
where the window was, a table was set, and two chairs with backs
and seats cunningly furnished with tapestry. In another recess
betwixt the alcove and the chimney stood a praying stool and a desk
with a cushion for a book to lie on. Ah, me! how often has my head
rested on that cushion and my knees on that stool when my heart
has been too full to utter other prayers than a "God ha' mercy on
me!" which at such times broke as a cry from an overcharged
breast. But, oh! what a vain pleasure I did take on that first day in
the bravery of this little chamber, which Kate said was to be mine
own! With what great contentment I viewed each part of it, and
looked out of the window on the beds of flowers which did form a
mosaical floor in the garden around the house, in the midst of which
was a fair pond whose shaking crystal mirrored the shrubs which
grew about it, and a thicket beyond, which did appear to me a place
for pleasantness and not unfit to flatter solitariness, albeit so close
unto the city. Beyond were the bishop's grounds, and I could smell
the scent of roses coming thence as the wind blew. I could have
stood there many hours gazing on this new scene, but that my
cousins brought me down to sup with them in the garden, which
was not fairer in natural ornaments than in artificial inventions. The
table was set in a small banqueting-house among certain pleasant
trees near to a pretty water-work; and now I had leisure to scan my
cousins' faces and compare what I did notice in them with what
Mistress Ward had said the first night of our journey.

Kate, the eldest of the three, was in sooth a very fair creature,
proportioned without any fault, and by nature endowed with the
most delightful colors; but there was a made countenance about her
mouth, between simpering and smiling, and somewhat in her
bowed-down head which seemed to languish with over-much
idleness, and an inviting look in her eyes as if they would over-
persuade those she spoke to, which betokened a lack of those
nobler powers of the mind which are the highest gifts of
womanhood. Polly's face fault-finding wits might scoff at as too little
for the rest of the body, her features as not so well proportioned as
Kate's, and her skin somewhat browner than doth consist with
beauty; but in her eyes there was a cheerfulness as if nature smiled
in them, in her mouth so pretty a demureness, and in her
countenance such a spark of wit that, if it struck not with
admiration, filled with delight. No indifferent soul there was which, if
it resisted making her its princess, would not long to have such a
playfellow. Muriel, the youngest of these sisters, was deformed in
shape, sallow in hue, in speech, as Mistress Ward had said, slow;
but withal in her eyes, which were deep-set, there was lacking
neither the fire which betokens intelligence, nor the sweetness which
commands affection, and somewhat in her plain face which, though
it may not be called beauty, had some of its qualities. Methought it
savored more of heaven than earth. The ill-shaped body seemed but
a case for a soul the fairness of which did shine through the foul
lineaments which enclosed it. Albeit her lips opened but seldom that
evening, only twice or thrice, and they were common words she
uttered and fraught with hesitation, my heart did more incline
toward her than to the pretty Kate or the lively Polly.

An hour before we retired to rest, Mr. Congleton came into the

garden, and brought with him Mr. Swithin Wells and Mr. Bryan Lacy,
two gentlemen who lived also in Holborn; the latter of which, Polly
whispered in mine ear, was her sister Kate's suitor. Talk was
ministered among them touching the queen's marriage with
Monsieur; which, as Mr. Rookwood had said, was broken off; but
that day they had heard that M. de la Motte had proposed to her
majesty the Due d'Alençon, who would be more complying, he
promised, touching religion than his brother. She inquired of the
prince's age, and of his height; to the which he did answer, "About
your majesty's own height." But her highness would not be so put
off, and willed the ambassador to write for the precise measurement
of the prince's stature.

"She will never marry," quoth Mr. Wells, "but only amuse the French
court and her council with further negotiations touching this new
suitor, as heretofore anent the archduke and Monsieur. But I would
to God her majesty were well married, and to a Catholic prince;
which would do us more good than anything else which can be
thought of."

"What news did you hear, sir, of Mr. Felton?" Mistress Ward asked.
Upon which their countenances fell; and one of them answered that
that gentleman had been racked the day before, but steadily
refused, though in the extremity of torture, to name his accomplices;
and would give her majesty no title but that of the Pretender; which
they said was greatly to be regretted, and what no other Catholic
had done. But when his sentence was read to him, for that he was
to die on Friday, he drew from his finger a ring, which had diamonds
in it, and was worth four hundred pounds, and requested the Earl of
Sussex to give it to the queen, in token that he bore her no ill-will or
malice, but rather the contrary.

Mr. Wells said he was a gentleman of very great heart and noble
disposition, but for his part he would as lief this ring had been sold,
and the money bestowed on the poorer sort of prisoners in
Newgate, than see it grace her majesty's finger; who would thus
play the hangman's part, who inherits the spoils of such as he doth
put to death. But the others affirmed it was done in a Christian
manner, and so greatly to be commended; and that Mr. Felton, albeit
he was somewhat rash in his actions, and by some titled Don
Magnifico, by reason of a certain bravery in his style of dress and
fashion of speaking, which smacked of Monsieur Traveller, was a
right worthy gentleman, and his death a blow to his friends,
amongst whom there were some, nevertheless, to be found who did
blame him for the act which had brought him into trouble. Mistress
Ward cried, that such as fell into trouble, be the cause ever so good,
did always find those who would blame them. Mr. Lacy said, one
should not cast himself into danger wilfully, but when occasion
offered take it with patience. Polly replied, that some were so
prudent, occasions never came to them. And then those two fell to
disputing, in a merry but withal sharp fashion. As he did pick his
words, and used new-fangled terms, and she spoke roundly and to
the point, methinks she was the nimblest in this encounter of wit.

Meanwhile Mr. Wells asked Mr. Congleton if he had had news from
the north, where much blood was spilt since the rising; and he
apprehended that his kinsmen in Richmondshire should suffer under
the last orders sent to Sir George Bowes by my Lord Sussex. But Mr.
Congleton did minister to him this comfort, that if they were noted
wealthy, and had freeholds, it was the queen's special
commandment they should not be executed, but two hundred of the
commoner sort to lose their lives in each town; which was about one
to each five.

"But none of note?" quoth Mr. Wells.

"None which can pay the worth of their heads," Mr. Congleton
replied.

"And who, then, doth price them?" asked Kate, in a languishing

voice.

"Nay, sister," quoth Polly, "I warrant thee they do price themselves;
for he that will not pay well for his head must needs opine he hath a
worthless one."

Upon which Mr. Lacy said to Kate, "One hundred angels would not
pay for thine, sweet Kate."

"Then she must needs be an archangel, sir," quoth Polly, "if she be
of greater worth than one hundred angels."
"Ah, me!" cried Kate, very earnestly, "I would I had but half one
hundred gold-pieces to buy me a gown with!"

"Hast thou not gowns enough, wench?" asked her father.

"Methought thou wert indifferently well provided in that respect."

"Ah, but I would have, sir, such a velvet suit as I did see some
weeks back at the Italian house in Cheapside, where the ladies of
the court do buy their vestures. It had a border the daintiest I ever
beheld, all powdered with gold and pearls. Ruffiano said it was the
rarest suit he had ever made; and he is the Queen of France's tailor,
which Sir Nicholas Throgmorton did secretly entice away, by the
queen's desire, from that court to her own."

"And what fair nymph owns this rare suit, sweetest Kate?" Mr. Lacy
asked. "I'll warrant none so fair that it should become her, or rather
that she should become it, more than her who doth covet it."

"I know not if she be fair or foul," quoth Kate, "but she is the Lady
Mary Howard, one of the maids of honor of her majesty, and so may
wear what pleaseth her."

"By that token of the gold and pearls," cried Mr. Wells, "I doubt not
but 'tis the very suit anent which the court have been wagging their
tongues for the last week; and if it be so, indeed, Mistress Kate, you
have no need to envy the poor lady that doth own it."

Kate protested she had not envied her, and taxed Mr. Wells with
unkindness that he did charge her with it; and for all he could say
would not be pacified, but kept casting up her eyes, and the tears
streaming down her lovely cheeks. Upon which Mr. Lacy cried:

"Sweet one, thou hast indeed no cause to envy her or any one else,
howsoever rare or dainty their suits may be; for thy teeth are more
beauteous than pearls, and thine hair more bright than the purest
gold, and thine eyes more black and soft than the finest velvet,
which nature so made that we might bear their wonderful shining,
which else had dazzled us:" and so went on till her weeping was
stayed, and then Mr. Wells said:

"The lady who owned that rich suit, which I did falsely and
feloniously advance Mistress Kate did envy, had not great or long
comfort in its possession; for it is very well known at court, and
hence bruited in the city, what passed at Richmond last week
concerning this rare vesture. It pleased not the queen, who thought
it did exceed her own. And one day her majesty did send privately
for it, and put it on herself, and came forth into the chamber among
the ladies. The kirtle and border was far too short for her majesty's
height, and she asked every one how they liked her new fancied
suit. At length she asked the owner herself if it was not made too
short and ill-becoming; which the poor lady did presently consent to.
Upon which her highness cried: 'Why, then, if it become me not as
being too short, I am minded it shall never become thee as being
too fine, so it fitteth neither well.' This sharp rebuke so abashed the
poor lady that she never adorned her herewith any more."

"Ah," cried Mr. Congleton, laughing, "her majesty's bishops do come

by reproofs as well as her maids. Have you heard how one Sunday,
last April, my Lord of London preached to the queen's majesty, and
seemed to touch on the vanity of decking the body too finely. Her
grace told the ladies after the sermon, that if the bishop held more
discourse on such matters she would fit him for heaven, but he
should walk thither without a staff and leave his mantle behind him."

"Nay," quoth Mr. Wells, "but if she makes such as be Catholics taste
of the sharpness of the rack, and the edge of the axe, she doth then
treat those of her own way of thinking with the edge of her wit and
the sharpness of her tongue. 'Tis reported, Mr. Congleton, I know
not with what truth, that a near neighbor of yours has been served
with a letter, by which a new sheep is let into his pastures."

"What," cried Polly, "is Pecora Campi to roam amidst the roses, and
go in and out at his pleasure through the bishop's gate? The 'sweet
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