to her virtues, amiability seems to have been of their
number. " Unmatcht for beauty, chaster than the
ayre," wrote one poet. When they opened her head
it was discovered she had little brain; and gossip
attributed the fact to her having drunk viper-wine
— by her husband's advice — for her complexion.
This sounds absurd only to those who have not
perused the Receipts in Physick and Chirurgery. Little
brain or not, her husband praised her wits. Ben
Jonson wrote with devotion of her "who was my
muse, and life of all I did."
Digby imitated his father-in-law who, in similar
circumstances, gave himself up to solitude and re-
collection. His place of retirement was Gresham
College. Do its present students remember it once
housed a hermit who "wore along mourning cloake,
a high crowned hat, his beard unshorne ... as signes
of sorrowe for his beloved wife " } There " he di-
verted himself with chymistry and the professor's
good conversation." He had " a fair and large
laboratory . . . erected under the lodgings of the
Divinity Reader." Hans Hunneades the Hun-
garian was his operator.
But another influence was at work. For the first
time his mind turned seriously to religion. Roman-
ist friends were persuading him to his father's faith.
His old tutor Laud and other Protestants were
doing their best to settle him on their side. Out
of the struggle of choice he came, in 1636, a fer-
vent and convinced Catholic. He was to prove
his devotion over and over again ; but I fear that
Catholics of to-day would view with suspicion his
xxiv INTRODUCTION^
views on ecclesiastical authority. In his dedication
of his Treatise on the Soul to his son Kenelm, there
is a spirited defence of the right, of the intelli-
gent to private judgment in matters of doctrine.
Nevertheless, his Catholicism, though rationalist,
was sincere, and he spent much energy in propa-
ganda among his friends — witness his rather dull
little brochure, the Conference with a Lady about
Choice of Religion (1638), and his correspondence
with his kinsman, Lord Digby, who did, indeed,
later, come over to the older faith. Ere long he
earned the reputation of being " not only an open
but a busy Papist," though " an eager enemy to the
Jesuits."
From this time dates his close friendship with the
Queen, Henrietta Maria, and her Catholic friends.
Sir Tobie Matthew, Endymion Porter, and Walter
Montague. He and Montague were specially
chosen by the Queen to appeal to the English
Catholics for aid towards Charles's campaign in
Scotland. Digby was certainly a hot inciter of the
King to foolish activity; but in the light of his after
history, it would seem always with a view to the
complete freedom of the Catholic religion. A pro-
minent King's man, nay, a Queen's man, which was
held to be something extremer, he played, however,
an individual part in the struggle. He was well
fitted for the Cavalier role by the magnificence of
his person, by his splendid hospitality, his contempt
for sects, his aristocratic instincts, and his manner
of the Great World. But if he liked good cheer
and a great way of living, he is never to be imagined
INTRODUCTION^ xxy
Page 7
Presented as published in 1910. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
to her virtues, amiability seems to have been of their number. " Unmatcht for beauty, chaster than the ayre," wrote one poet. When they opened her head it was discovered she had little brain; and gossip attributed the fact to her having drunk viper-wine—by her husband's advice—for her complexion. This sounds absurd only to those who have not perused the Receipts in Physick and Chirurgery. Little brain or not, her husband praised her wits. Ben Jonson wrote with devotion of her "who was my muse, and life of all I did."
Digby imitated his father-in-law who, in similar circumstances, gave himself up to solitude and recollection. His place of retirement was Gresham College. Do its present students remember it once housed a hermit who "wore along mourning cloake, a high crowned hat, his beard unshorne ... as signes of sorrowe for his beloved wife." There " he diverted himself with chymistry and the professor's good conversation." He had " a fair and large laboratory . . . erected under the lodgings of the Divinity Reader." Hans Hunneades the Hungarian was his operator.
But another influence was at work. For the first time his mind turned seriously to religion. Romanist friends were persuading him to his father's faith. His old tutor Laud and other Protestants were doing their best to settle him on their side. Out of the struggle of choice he came, in 1636, a fervent and convinced Catholic. He was to prove his devotion over and over again ; but I fear that Catholics of to-day would view with suspicion his
xxiv
views on ecclesiastical authority. In his dedication of his Treatise on the Soul to his son Kenelm, there is a spirited defence of the right, of the intelligent to private judgment in matters of doctrine. Nevertheless, his Catholicism, though rationalist, was sincere, and he spent much energy in propaganda among his friends — witness his rather dull little brochure, the Conference with a Lady about Choice of Religion (1638), and his correspondence with his kinsman, Lord Digby, who did, indeed, later, come over to the older faith. Ere long he earned the reputation of being " not only an open but a busy Papist," though " an eager enemy to the Jesuits."
From this time dates his close friendship with the Queen, Henrietta Maria, and her Catholic friends. Sir Tobie Matthew, Endymion Porter, and Walter Montague. He and Montague were specially chosen by the Queen to appeal to the English Catholics for aid towards Charles's campaign in Scotland. Digby was certainly a hot inciter of the King to foolish activity; but in the light of his after history, it would seem always with a view to the complete freedom of the Catholic religion. A prominent King's man, nay, a Queen's man, which was held to be something extremer, he played, however, an individual part in the struggle. He was well fitted for the Cavalier role by the magnificence of his person, by his splendid hospitality, his contempt for sects, his aristocratic instincts, and his manner of the Great World. But if he liked good cheer and a great way of living, he is never to be imagined
xxv