BROWNSEA ISLAND 149 



ing orders, and the captain and one of the crew 

 were killed. This incident is all quaintly described 

 in the register of St. James's Church at Poole. 



The many letters Sir Christopher Hatton wrote 

 to the Queen might almost be called love-letters, so 

 passionate is their language. In one of the last he 

 ever wrote after he had fallen under her dis- 

 pleasure, he writes : "If the wounds of thought 

 were not most dangerous of all without speedy 

 dressing, I should not now trouble your Majesty with 

 the tones of my complaint, and if whatsoever came 

 from you were not either very gracious or grievous 

 to me, what you said would not sink so deeply in 

 my bosom. . . . 



" My profession hath been, is, and ever shall be 

 to your Majesty, all duty, within order, all reverent 

 love without measure, and all truth without blame ! " 



Shortly before his death, in 1591, he was much 

 harassed by the Queen's insisting on the repayment 

 of a large sum of money which he owed to the 

 Crown. The sum amounted to ,42,000, so it was 

 small wonder that his last days were filled with 

 anxiety. According to old Fuller, "It brake his 

 heart, that the Queen (which seldom gave boons, 

 and never forgave due debts) rigorously demanded 

 payment for some arrears." Nowadays it has been 

 proved that Elizabeth, though desiring the money, 

 was not so heartless as old historians represent, for 

 she visited him and prescribed a cordial. But 



