of portraits with a view to the study of physiognomy, in which he is stated to have made so great a proficiency that James, according to Evelyn, in his work on Medals, placing an absurd faith in his discrimination, was believed to have employed him to discover the characters of foreign ambassadors on their first appearance at court.1

In a scarce lampoon of the period, the following lines are recommended for Montgomery's epitaph: "Here lies the mirror of our age for treason,

Who, in his life, was void of sense and reason,
The Commons' fool, a knave in everything;
A traitor to his master, lord, and king:

A man whose virtues were to whore and swear,
God damn him was his constant daily prayer.""

'A similar talent is related of the great Prince of Condé. "He was very expert in a sort of physiognomy which showed the peculiar habits, motions, and pastimes of familiar life and mechanical employments. He would sometimes lay wagers with his friends that he would guess, upon the Pont Neuf, what trade persons were of that passed by, from their walk and air."Curiosities of Literature.

2" The Life and Death of Philip Herbert, the late infamous Knight of Berkshire, once Earl of Pembroke; likewise a Discourse with Charon on his Voyage to Hell." 1649, in verse.

CHAPTER III.

MARY, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE.

Relations of This Lady - Her Character - Her Literary Works Her Death.

ALTHOUGH the character and pursuits of this illustrious lady render a notice of her somewhat foreign to the character of this work, it may not be uninteresting to say a few words respecting the mother of Earl William and Earl Philip. Moreover, it is refreshing to turn a moment from the glare of folly and of vice, to unpretending piety and intellectual refinement.

Mary, Countess of Pembroke, was the daughter of Sir Henry Sidney, a Knight of the Garter, and one of the stately courtiers of Queen Elizabeth. She was the wife of Henry, second Earl of Pembroke, and the beloved sister of the memorable Sir Philip Sydney. Their tastes and habits were congenial. There was the same high sense of honour, the same elegance of mind, the same charitable regard for human suffering. Sir Philip dedicated his "Arcadia" to his sister, the being

who best loved the author, and who was the most competent to appreciate the work.

She spent a long life and a splendid fortune in doing good to her fellow creatures. She patronised men of learning, and embellished it herself; indeed, her wit and mental endowments appear only to have been exceeded by her piety. Doctor Donne said of her, that "she could converse well on all subjects, from predestination to sleave silk;" and Spenser eulogises her as:

"The gentlest shepherdess that lived that day;
And most resembling, both in shape and spirit,
Her brother dear."

In her old age the cowardice and misconduct of her son Philip nearly broke her heart, and she is even said to have torn her hair with anguish when she heard the tale of his dishonour.

She

The countess was herself an authoress. translated from the French, Mornay's "Discourse of Life and Death," and the tragedy of " Antoine," the former printed in 1590, and the latter in 1600. Wood informs us, in a notice of William Bradbridge, who was chaplain at Wilton, that with the assistance of that divine, she completed a translation of the Psalms. He contradicts himself, however, in another place, and mentions her brother, Sir Philip, as the translator; adding that the MS., curiously bound in crimson velvet, was bequeathed by the countess to the library at Wilton. Some

agreeable specimens of her epistolary style will be found in Park's "Noble Authors."

She died at an advanced age, in her house in Aldersgate Street, 25th of September, 1621. Her remains were interred in Salisbury Cathedral, in the vault of the Herberts. Ben Jonson's admirable epitaph, though somewhat hackneyed, will, perhaps, bear repetition:

"Underneath this marble hearse
Lies the subject of all verse-
Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother.
Death, ere thou hast slain another
Wise, and fair, and good as she,
Time shall throw a dart at thee.
Marble piles let no man raise
To her name; for after days
Some kind woman born as she,
Reading this, like Niobe,

Shall turn marble, and become

Both her mourner and her tomb."

CHAPTER IV.

JAMES HAY, EARL OF CARLISLE.

Introduction of This Personage to King James- His Rapid Rise in the Monarch's Favour- His Elevation to the Peerage-Family Traditions- The Earl's Magnificence - Splendour of His Mission to Paris - His Costly Progress to Germany - Dinner Provided for Him by the Prince of Orange - His Unsuccessful Missions - His Extravagance in Costume Prodigality of His Feasts-Ante-suppers - Banquet Given by the Earl in Honour of the French AmbassadorFirst and Second Marriage of the Earl - His Ruling Passion in Death His Character.

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At

THIS magnificent personage, who shared so largely both the royal favour and the public purse, was the son of a private gentleman in Scotland. He was educated in France, and is said to have belonged to the famous Scottish guard, which was formerly maintained by the French monarch. the accession of James he hastened over to England, trusting that his showy person and foreign accomplishments would obtain for him those substantial favours, which most of his countrymen expected, and which so many obtained. He is said to have been introduced to James by the French ambassador.