Had it been in use at an earlier period, the Spaniard, Paulus Orosius, whose History ends with A.D. 417, would doubtless have used it; whereas we find that he makes use of the Anno Mundi, of the Olympiads, and of the A.U.C. of the Romans.
All circumstances, therefore, considered, we may safely conclude that in the Spanish Era we have nothing more than the adoption of the jera of Ulfilas, by whom it is used for ἔτος and χρόνος. The Gothic word being written with the consonant j {j} will account for the form in which, to mark the aspiration, Era is often found with the initial H. Whoever may desire to trace the etymology further will do well to consult Dieffenbach's very valuable Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Gothischen Sprache.
S. W. SINGER.
LADY ARABELLA STUART.
(Vol. i., pp. 10. 274.)
It may be interesting to some of the readers of "N. & Q." to peruse the following observations made by the Venetian ambassador resident in England in 1606, respecting that "child of woe" the Lady Arabella Stuart, whose romantic history forms one of the most pleasing of D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature. The extract I send you is taken from a little French work, which professes to be a translation from the manuscript "Italian Relation of England" by Marc-Antonio Correr, the Venetian ambassador, and was printed at Montbéliard in 1668. The Lady Arabella is here spoken of as Madame Isabelle.
"La personne la plus proche de sang de sa Majesté après ses enfans, est Madame Isabelle, laquelle descend, ainsi que le Roy, de Marguerite fille de Henry VII., estant née d'un frère naturel du père de S. M., par où elle luy est Cousine. Elle est âgée de 28 ans; elle n'est pas bien belle, mais en recompense elle est ornée de mille belles vertus, car outre qu'elle est noble et dans ses actions et dans ses mœurs, elle possède plusieurs Langues en perfection, sçavoir le Latin, l'Italien, le François, et l'Espagnol; elle entend le Grec et l'Hebreu, et estudie sans cesse. Elle n'est pas beaucoup riche, car la Reyne deffunte prenant jalousie de tout le monde, et principalement de ceux qui avoient quelque pretention à la couronne, luy osta sous divers pretextes, la plus grand part de ses revenus; c'est pourquoy la pauvre Dame ne peut pas vivre dans la splendeur, et n'a pas le moyen de faire du bien à ceux qui la servent, comme elle voudroit. Le Roy témoigne avoir de l'affection et de l'estime pour elle, le laissant vivre en cour, ce que la Reyne deffunte ne luy voulut jamais permettre. Le Roy luy avoit promis de luy rendre ses biens et de luy donner un mary; elle est neantmoins encore privée et de l'un et de l'autre."
Relation d'Angleterre, p. 82.
Her Flight.—Phineas Pette, the shipwright at Chatham, received orders to assist in the capture of the unfortunate lady; and it would appear, from his manuscript Diary (Harl. MS. 6279.), that he did his best to execute them. His statement is as follows:—
"The 4th of June (1611), being Tuesday, being prepared to have gone to London the next day, about midnight one of the King's messengers was sent down to me from the Lord Treasurer to man the light horsemen [Query, what kind of boats were these?] with 20 musquetteers, and to run out as low as the Noor Head to search all shipps, barks, and other vessells for the Lady Arabella that had then made a scape, and was bound over for France; which service I performed accordingly, and searched Queenborough, and other vessells I could meet withall; then went over to Lee, in Essex, and searched the Towne; and when we could hear no news of her went to Gravesend, and thence took post-horse to Greenwich, where his Majesty then lay, and delivered the account of my journey to the Lord Treasurer by his Majties command, and soe was dismissed, and went that night to Ratcliffe," &c.
The messenger above alluded to, whose name was John Price, received 6l. for his pains in making "haste, post-haste," to Gravesend, Rochester, and Queenborough. (See Devon's Pell Records.)