Hic conjugi conjux amantissima adjacet Domina BLANCHA SOMERSET,
filia Edwardi Somerset, Wigorniae Comitis, privata sigilli
custodis, magistri equitum, &c., quae marito par generis
splendore, exercitio virtutum non impar, in aula regia quasi in
cella privata vixit quanto dignitate terrena sublimior, tanto
pietatis fulgere splendidior, quantoque regiae vicinior majestati,
tanto (quod parum est inter mortales) supremo dilectior numini
quo ut proprius frueretur coelo natura mortalitatem exuit
Wintoniae die 28^o Octob: ann: aetat: LXVI. annoque Dom:
M.DC.XLIX.
Henry, their son, spent five years in the Tower, 1673 to 1678, on the
information of the infamous Titus Oates, but afterward became Lord
Privy Seal to James II.
"Which Henry Lord Arundell, at his own charge, raised a regiment
of horse for the service of King Charles the First in the time of
the usurpation, and stoutly defended his Castle of Wardour
against those rebellious forces, which, under the command of
Edward Hungerford, did then attempt it on behalf of the
Parliament. In the year 1678, he was with William Earl Powis,
William Viscount Stafford, William Lord Petre, and John Lord
Bellasis, committed prisoners to the Tower, and afterwards were
impeached by the House of Commons of high crimes and offences,
without being brought on their trial. He continued prisoner with
the other Lords, till the year 1683, when they were admitted to
bail.
"On King James II. accession to the throne he was sworn of his
Privy Council, and on 11 March, 1686, was constituted Lord Keeper
of the Privy Seal, also, when that Monarch, in 1688, began his
journey towards Salisbury, he committed the administration of
affairs in his absence to the Lord Chancellor, the Lords
Arundell, Bellasis, Preston, and Godolphin. He departed this life
28 December, 1694, having married Cecilie, daughter of Sir Henry
Compton, C.B., of Brambletye, in the county of Sussex."
(Collins.)
Henry, the seventh baron, by his marriage in 1739 with Mary
Arundell-Bealing of Lanherne, who died in 1769, re-united the antient
branch of the family from which he was descended; he died in 1756,
aged 38, is interred below, and his epitaph (by translation) tells us,
"_who taking to himself to wife Mary Arundell, the most noble heiress
of the family of Lanherne in Cornwall, and having gotten a son of her,
a most renowned race which for more than two centuries had been rent
asunder, now happily united, flourishes, and may it for ever flourish
by the favour of God_."
With the memory of this delightful incident, so gracious and
refreshing after the blood-stained relation of the earlier portion of
our little narrative, we take our leave of this garner of the departed
Arundells, and, seeking once more the rapid convenience of the iron
road, are passing swiftly homeward. As the train glides rapidly by the
little station of Sutton-Bingham, we remember that not far from this,
another and almost unique trace of Arundell of Cornwall is to be
found. At about a mile's distance is the village of East-Coker, and in
the south transept window of its church are two antient shields of
painted glass side by side, on one are the arms of the See of Exeter,
on the other quarterly, Arundell and Carminow. These are the arms of
John Arundell, Bishop of Exeter, who presided over the diocese two
years, died 19 Feb., 1506, and was buried in the church of St.
Clement Danes, London, and, as far as we have knowledge, is the only
trace of memorial existing to him.
Once more the career of the subject of our little narrative returns to
us. All appears to have gone well with him, even among the perils with
which he was environed during the reign of Henry VIII. It may be, the
instant danger of giving offence to the wishes or inclinations of that
capricious tyrant kept him in the path of caution and safety.
But when that king's baby son assumed the reins of sovereignty this
terror had disappeared, and men were busily vieing with each other as
to whom,--professedly under the little king,--should really rule the
destinies of the nation. Sir Thomas now appears to have taken action,
and identified himself with one side of the contending factions, not
prominently, but sufficiently marked to make him a subject of
suspicion--to say nothing beyond--with those he was presumed to differ
from, and this on an adverse emergency was a position of considerable
peril. So it turned out, for in the end his death appears to have been
resolved on, not because his offence was easily proved, or that he
deserved such punishment, but as a makeweight, to give the colour of
complicity, and so justify the death of Somerset, by the execution of
himself, and that of others, thereby inferring the plot was a real
one, and of dangerous extent. If so,--and circumstances seem strongly
to confirm this view,--his was altogether a hard fate; it is difficult
indeed, to imagine a harder one.
"SICUT PULLUS HIRUNDINIS SIC CLAMABO."
Even Thine altars!--there my soul shall flee--
O Lord of Hosts! and as a swallow come
On quivering wing, and chatter mournfully,
And make her nest, and seek eternal home.
Even Thine altars! where in holy state
Lies the Great Sacrifice of endless love,
Incense adoring streams to heaven's gate,
Service unceasing seeks Thy throne above.
Even Thine altars! there unharmed to stay,
And when my captive pinions death shall free,
Migrate to fairer regions far away,
There fold my wings, and rest in peace, with Thee.
=Deo data.=
[Illustration: BENCH ENDS. LANDULPH CHURCH, CORNWALL.]