durance by Sir Henry Percy, "by quhome, as we ar informit, he is in sic rigorous maneir handilyt as we esteyme not fytt nor convenient for ye present tym of peace." Even the English Commissioners at Edinburgh, complained of Percy's cruelty towards the Scots. But severity to her enemies was by no means displeasing to Elizabeth; and, so far from reprimanding Sir Henry, she appointed him her agent to treat with the heads of the Scottish Congregationers, with a view to a Protestant alliance between England and Scotland.2 Already, shortly after the Queen's succession, he had served as one of the commission for administering the oath of allegiance and conformity exacted from all clergymen3; so that, for a young man bred to the profession of arms, he must have acquired an unusual amount of theological learning. In the various letters 4 which he wrote to John Knox and William Kirkcaldy of Grange he shows great skill in fencing with delicate questions, and a diplomacy far beyond his years. It would be unfair to believe that the ardour which he displayed in the cause of Protestantism between 1558 and 1571 was wholly a pretence, and assumed merely for interested motives; yet the alacrity with which he returned to his former faith when he found further prospects of advancement barred, leads one to suspect the sincerity of his Puritan professions. If he wore a mask, however, he wore it discreetly and greatly to his own advantage.

Sir Henry makes his own match,

Sir Henry Percy soon found the revenues of a younger brother far too slender for one who (on account of the Earl of Northumberland's Romanist views, and consequent retirement from public life) had become the practical representative of the family. He felt that the Queen should substantially reward one who had abandoned his paternal religion "for 1 Orig. State Papers (Scotland), vol. iv. No. 3.

and another.

'Camden; Annales, vol. i. State Papers (Scotland).

3 Fadera, xv. 611-12.

• The original MSS. of the correspondence are preserved in the Record Office (Scot. Series, State Papers, 1509-1603, vol. v.).

her sake," and this, too, in a part of England where such examples were rare. Nor had he any hesitation in putting forward his claims. Cecil had met him during his visit to the Queen, and had at once taken a fancy to this shrewd, resourceful young soldier. The fancy had grown into a positive liking after Percy had displayed his finesse in dealing with Knox and the Scottish Calvinists; and the ambitious Governor of Tynemouth was encouraged to correspond frequently with her Majesty's chief minister. To Cecil, therefore, Sir Henry wrote on June 28, 1560, complaining of the inadequacy of his means, and boldly hinting that something might be done to enable him to cut a better figure upon the Border. It was hard that Popish recusants like Northumberland and Leonard Dacre could ruffle it with the best, and go abroad with splendid trains; while an enthusiastic Protestant, the Queen's own cousin to boot, was obliged to put up with slights and sneers at his change of religion, simply because he had not power enough to keep North Country folk in awe. The precise terms of Cecil's reply are unknown; but he appears to have advised his protégé to seek betterment in a wealthy marriage. This counsel was not lost upon Sir Henry. During the following year he secured the hand and fortune of Katherine Nevill, eldest daughter and co-heir of John, last Lord Latimer1 of the male line. The bride's mother was sister of Lady Northumberland, both being children of Henry Somerset, second Earl of Worcester. The match was in every respect an admirable one from the husband's point of view. It brought him the reversionary rights to the still large estates of this branch of the Nevill family, and eventually carried the Barony of Latimer into the Percy line.

Up to the time of his wedding Sir Henry Percy had carefully cultivated the friendship of his future father-inlaw, cajoling the latter into the belief that he would find nothing but satisfaction in the alliance. This hallucination

1 The widow of this Latimer's father and predecessor was Katherine Parr, who had married (and survived) Henry VIII.

was speedily to be dispelled. Hardly was Percy married, than he boldly attempted to oust Lord Latimer from the control of his own affairs. The project had evidently been planned in advance, very possibly with Cecil's connivance. Old Latimer's character strongly resembled that ascribed by Shakespeare to the imaginary Sir John Falstaff. He had lived a life of riot and debauchery, his chosen companions being gamesters, tavern bullies, and loose women. Upon the plea of preserving the family property from the hands of such people, Percy sought to have his wife's father declared of unsound mind-the natural sequence of such a declaration being his (Percy's) appointment as guardian of the Latimer revenues. But the old lord was considered by the Council to still possess wit sufficient for the management of his estates; and Sir Henry dropped further proceedings for the time being.

As Lord Latimer lived almost entirely in London, among his disreputable associates, Percy gradually arrogated to himself the position of head of the house. In this capacity he proceeded to busy himself with the matrimonial affairs of his sisters-in-law, using the good looks and prospects of these young ladies as baits to attract suitors whose influence might prove of value to himself. Latimer's second daughter he resolved to marry to the Lord Treasurer's first son, Thomas Cecil.1 With this aim in view, he addressed the elder Cecil on January 25, 1561-(only a few months after his own wedding!)—making a formal offer of Mistress Nevill's hand, just as though no such persons as Lord Latimer or Lady Latimer existed. In fact he had not even spoken of the matter to the proposed bride, or to her mother, when he took it upon himself to make this match. The Lord Treasurer was assured that the fair co-heir of Latimer would prove an ideal wife for his son. She was, declared her brother-in-law, "so good and vertuous, as hard it is to find suche a sparke of youthe in this Realme; ffor bothe is she very wise, sober of behavoure, womanly and in her doinges so

1 Afterwards 2nd Lord Burghley and 1st Earl of Exeter.

temperate as if she bare the age double hir yeres. Of stature like to be goodlie, and of Beutie verry well; hir haire browne, yet hir complexion very ffaire and cleare; the ffavoure of hir face euery Bodie may iudge it to haue bothe grace and wysdome.”1

Sir Henry was crafty enough to realise that, in his case, frankness was the best policy with Cecil. Accordingly he admits that his particular reason for desiring such a union was the connection which it would establish between himself and the family of the powerful minister:-" But the cheif cause (by my ffaithe) is ffor that I had rather to be lynked wth youe, than withe any man in this Realme, and so I hartely desier youe to excepte it. S, when youe haue posed this, and pawsed of the same, I pray youe lett me be aduertisede."2 At the close of this remarkable epistle, he requests Cecil to deal with him solely in the affair, and not to speak to Lord Latimer until everything has been settled. It would also be as well, he explains, to allow him to break the news to Lady Latimer, and to the damsel whose future was thus, without her knowledge, being mapped out ;-"ffor women will be willfull if they be not ffirst soughte unto." 3

Percy's matchmaking was completely successful. The Lord Treasurer fell in with his views; and Thomas Cecil was married to Sir Henry's sister-in-law in the course of the following year.1

The
Northern

Rising, and
one of its
results.

The prospects of Sir Henry Percy seemed bright enough at this period. In high favour with the Queen and her Prime Minister; wealthy enough, in right of his wife, to keep the state he desired at Tynemouth; heir presumptive to the Earldom and estates of Northumberland; and regarded throughout England as a bulwark of Protestantism;-he seemed in a fair way to rise to the proudest honours in the gift of royalty. There were not wanting those who looked upon him as the predestined heir of Burghley's power. Certainly nobody suspected such a man of holding in secret

1 Orig. State Papers, vol. xxi. 26.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 From this union the present Marquis of Exeter is descended.

views favourable to the Roman Catholic religion. They could hardly do so in view of Sir Henry's loyal attitude at the outbreak of the Northern Rising. His own brother, and most of his kindred, were involved in that demonstration against the penal laws of Elizabeth; but Henry Percy apparently stood firmly by the Queen and the dominant creed. We have seen how he went so far as to offer his services (if not to join openly) in the pursuit of Northumberland. Sussex had nothing but praise for his conduct during the crisis. According to the President of the North, if the elder Percy were "a papist and a traytour," the younger was "holly at the Queene's Majestie's devotion in the cause of the Scottishe maryage,1 sounde from this rebellion, redie with all his force to serve against them, and willing to venter his person with the first."2 By way of reward for his steadfastness, Elizabeth sent him a letter of commendation expressly promising that the sins of Northumberland should not be visited upon his brother's head, and that the Earl's attainder should in no wise affect the blood of the next heir. Nothing of a more substantial nature, however, accompanied these fine phrases; nor was Sir Henry chosen as Queen's factor over the confiscated estates, as he had hoped to be. Praise and lip favour could not console Percy for such a disappointment. But as yet he had no idea of throwing off the mask of Protestantism. He continued his active support of Sussex in the North, and entered no protest against the persecutions which followed. There is an old tradition that the venerable priest, Plumtre, who was hanged before Durham Cathedral for having celebrated mass, "prophesied for Sir Harry Percy a life of trouble and a violent death." Percy does not appear to have taken an active part in the massacre of suspected Catholics, but he helped to capture and disarm these unfortunates. Moreover, when his brother wrote to him from Scotland for aid, he exerted himself to induce

1 The project of a union between Queen Mary and the Duke of Norfolk.

2 State Papers, Sussex to Cecil, January 7, 1570.

3 State Papers, Queen to Sir H. Percy, November 17, 1569.

• This lucrative post fell to Sir John Forster.