Page:The house of Cecil.djvu/194

166 title to England, I am so far from it that my mind is astonished to think of it, and I pray to God to consume me where I stand if I hate not the Spaniard as much as any man living."

We have anticipated and must return. In 1589 Cecil had married Elizabeth Brooke, sister of the notorious Lord Cobham, and of George Brooke. They had three children, a boy, William, afterwards second Earl of Salisbury, and two daughters, Frances, who married Henry Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, and Catherine, who died in infancy. Lady Cecil died in January, 1597, and the occasion drew forth several letters of affection and sympathy. That from Sir Walter Raleigh is interesting, not only intrinsically, but also, as has been pointed out before, because indirectly it bears witness to the character of the recipient. "No one who knew Robert Cecil so intimately as Raleigh did, would have written thus, save under the conviction that the man to whom he was giving such consolation as he then had to give had loved truly and would grieve deeply." Part of this letter must be quoted:—

"Sir, because I know not how you dispose of yourself, I forbear to visit you, preferring your pleasing before mine own desire. I had rather be with you now than at any other time; if I could thereby either take off from you the burden of your sorrows or lay the greatest part thereof on mine own heart. In the meantime, I would put you in mind of this, that you should not overshadow your wisdom with passion, but look aright unto things as they are. There is no man sorry for death itself, but only for