184 



THE ANTIQUITIES 



[LETT. 



so long harassed the kingdom, pursued the arch-rebel into his 

 fastnesses ; attacked his camp ; leaped over the intrenchments ; 

 and, singling out Gurdon, ran him clown, wounded him, and 

 took him prisoner. 1 



There is not perhaps in all history a more remarkable 

 instance of command of temper and magnanimity, than this 

 before us : that a young prince, in the moment of victory, when 

 lie had the fell adversary of the crown and royal family at his 

 mercy, should be able to withhold his hand from that vengeance 

 which the vanquished so well deserved. A cowardly disposi- 

 tion would have been blinded by resentment : but this gallant 

 heir-apparent saw at once a method of converting a most des- 

 perate foe into a lasting friend. He raised the fallen veteran 

 from the ground, he pardoned him, he admitted him into his 

 confidence, and introduced him to the queen, then lying at 

 Guildford, that very evening. 1 This unmerited and unexpected 

 lenity melted the heart of the rugged Gurdou at once; he 

 became in an instant a loyal and useful subject, trusted and 

 employed in matters of moment by Edward when king, and 

 confided in till the day of his death. 



LETTER IX. 



IT has been hinted in a former letter that Sir Adam Gurdon 

 had availed himself by marrying women of property. By iny 

 evidences it appears that he had three wives, and probably in 

 the following order : Constantia, Ameria, and Agnes. The first 

 of these ladies, who was the companion of his middle life, seems 

 to have been a person of considerable fortune, which she inherited 

 from Thomas Makerel, a gentleman of Selborne, who was either 

 her father or uncle. The second, Ameria, calls herself the 

 quondam wife of Sir Adam, " quoe fui uxor," &c., and talks of her 

 sons under age. Now Gurdon had no son : and beside Agnes in 

 another document says, " Ego Agnes, quondam uxor Domini Ada' 

 Gurdon, in purn ft ligea viduitate mea : " but Gurdon could not 

 leave two widows ; and therefore it seems probable that he had 

 1 M. Paris, p. 675, and Triveti Annale. 



