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 down, wounded him, and 
took him prisoner.^ 
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 
he 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.^ This unmerited and unexpected 
lenity melted the heart of the rugged Gurdon 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 my 
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 Adse 
Gurdon, in pura et 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 Amiale. 
