1646-7.] OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER. 163 



nobility transmitted by paternal succession from John of 

 Gaunt Duke of Lancaster, and his son John Plantagenet 

 Duke of Somerset, from the place of his nativity sur- 

 named Beaufort and by other connections of blood with 

 the Eoyal Houses of Lancaster and York, to Charles the 

 first Earl of Worcester ; All which dignity of birth and 

 accumulated honours he hath himself greatly surpassed 

 by his own personal virtues and inviolable fidelity to Us. 



&quot; For with what integrity, with what constancy, with 

 what expense, he did execute the royal command of 

 President of the six counties of South Wales and the 

 places adjoining to the Severn coast ? He was present 

 at sieges and battles. With what courage and suc 

 cessful conduct did he take Goodridge Castle, the Forest 

 of Dean and the city of Hereford ? In short, with what 

 remarkable good fortune, with what unhoped for success 

 he made himself master of the strongly fortified town 

 of Monmouth ? And not content with the confined 

 limits of one kingdom, go to the most distant places 

 beyond the seas, through the midst of hostile forces and 

 the dangers of shipwreck, yet at his own private expense, 

 regardless of all dangers, at the loss of his own private 

 fortune, that he might raise succours for the support 

 of the tottering crown of his King. These things, &c.&quot; 



Endorsed&quot; 1646, 4 March. 21 Charles I. Crea 

 tion of Edward, Earl of Glamorgan, Duke of Somerset 

 and Beaufort, 4 March, 1646, and 21 C. I.&quot; 



This patent, worthless as it proved for confirming the 

 title it was intended to convey, may well serve to seal 

 the duplicity of the monarch who could thus intend to 

 honour one whom he charged with treasonable acts, if 

 not with absolute forgery of warrants in his own name. 



In March 1646, the Earl committed to writing the 

 following memorandum : 13 



13 Birch, p. 188. 



M 2 



