Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 7.djvu/53

 ii s. vii. Jas. is, wis.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 45 its author Britanny, Aujou, Maine. Touraine and part of Poitou were already in the power of the King of France or of his allies, the fidelity of Normandy itself was shaken. Now was the moment for Philippe Augusta to strike a decisive blow." The unknown monk of Wales and King Philippe's chaplain, William le Breton, are the authorities—the only authorities—on which the accusation that King John was the actual and personal murderer of his nephew Arthur, Duke of Britanny, is based. The description drawn by William le Breton is, however, so graphic that he may have seen, or he may have heard from an eyewitness, the account which he gives of the death of Arthur; but he dared not insert the right name in a poem in praise of his master and state that it was his master's ally, Guy de Thouars, de facto Duke of Britanny, who was the murderer, and that with the knowledge of King Philippe. M. Luchaire states that Philippe gained Normandy by bribery quite as much as by arms (" mais l'argent pour lui valait les meilleures armes "), and in his account of the fall of Rouen notes that Philippe had succeeded in corrupting the fidelity of the chief officials of Normandy, the Seneschal Ouerin de Glapion, the Constable William de Hommet, and even Pierre de Preaux, the commander who had charge of the defence of Rouen for King John. Guy de Thouars was in command of a body of Bretons as the ally of Philippe Auguste when he besieged and captured Rouen, 24 June, 1204, and on the fall of Rouen Philippe became master of Normandy. If we substitute in the poet's description of the crime the word " stepfather " (the gainer by the deed) in place of " uncle " (one who had nothing to gain by it), a much more reasonable solution of " the mystery of the tower of Rouen " is arrived at. It is no little pleasure to read a fairer account of the deeds and character of King John than we find in the works of our own historians. It was John's endeavours to befriend and uplift the conquered Saxon race which, there is reason for thinking, aroused the animosity of the Norman land- owners, bishops, abbots, and barons, and were the cause of much of his trouble at home. I desire to offer my tribute of appreciation to M. Luchaire—or rather, if 1 may so express it, to his memory—for the justice he has done to an English king in his history of the reigns of Louis VII., Philippe Auguste, and Louis VIII. R. C. Bostock. HL'GH PETERS. (See 11 S. vi. 221, 263, 301, 463; vii. 4.) VII. Peters and Laud. In Archbishop Laud's ' Hist, of his Troubles and Trial' he says, 24 March, 1643, " it was moved in the House of Commons to* send me to New England, but it was rejected. The plot was laid by Peters, Wells and others of that crew so that they might insult over me." Again, on 12 March, 1644, after he had ended his speech in his own defence in the- House of Lords, the Archbishop went into- the Committee chamber :— » " Thither Mr. Peters followed me in great haste and began to give me ill language and told me that he and other ministers were able to name thousands that, they had converted. I knew him. not,as having never seen him (to my remembrance in my life, though I had heard enough of him). As I was going to answer him, one of my counsels, Mr. Hearn, seeing him violently to begin, stepped between us, and told him of his uncivil carriage- towards me in my affliction; and, indeed, he came as if he would have struck me. By this time some occasion brought the E. of Essex into that room and Mr. Hearn complained to him of Mr. Peters his usage of me ; who very honourably checked him for it and sent him forth....And not long after this (the day I now remember not) Mr. Petars came and preached at Lambeth, and there told them in the Pulpit that a great Prelat, their neighbour (or in words to that effect) had bragged in the Parliament that he had con- verted two and twenty (from Borne); but that he had wisdom enough, not to tell how many thou- sands he had perverted, with much more abuse. God in His mercy relieve me from these reproaches- and lay not these men's causeless nialico to their charge."—' Hist, of Troubles and Trial of WilL Laud,' &c, ed. 1B95, pp. 227-8. J. B. Williams. (To be continued.) John Walter (1739-1812).—Materials for a biography of the founder of The Time* are scanty and meagre ('D.N.B.,' lix. 252). His marriage may be noted here. John Walter, bachelor and a minor, of the parish of St. James, Duke's Place, Aldgate, London, and Frances Landen, of the parish of St. Nicholas, Deptford, co. Kent, spinster, also a minor, were married, at the parish church of St. James, Duke's Place aforesaid, by licence, 31 May, 1759, by the Rev. Samuel Ely, in the presence of William Landen, Esther Walter, and Elizabeth Rayner (St. James's Marriage Register, p. 5, No. 14). Daniel Hipwell, 81. St. John's Wood Terrace, N.W.