She begs also to express her sense of the valuable aid afforded her by her friend, Mr. Amos, Professor of Law, Downing College, Cambridge, to whose kindness and great historical knowledge she is indebted for much that has facilitated her efforts. March 1, 1860. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. CHAPTER I. State of England on the Accession of James I. compared with that when Elizabeth began to Reign—The Great Rebellion Attributable to the Misrule of James—Allusion of Lord Clarendon to this Subject—The Luxury of a Favourite Essential to James since the Age of Fourteen—Birth and Origin of George Villiers—His Family little known to Fame until his Elevation—The Sneers thrown upon it by Sir Symonds D’Ewes; and its Claims to Honourable Descent Considered—Sir Henry Wotton’s Testimony—The Family of Villiers long known in the County of Leicester—The Different Spellings of the Name—The Fortunes of the Family in France—Remark of Lord Clarendon upon the Condition of the Villiers Family in England—Also of the Historian Sanderson—Brookesby, the Native Place of George Villiers—His Mother, Mary Beaumont—Her Menial Condition in the Family of Sir George Villiers—His Marriage—The Family by a Former Union—Sir William Villiers—John, Viscount Purbeck—The Children of the Second Marriage: Mary, Countess of Denbigh—Christopher, George—Lady Villiers retires to Goadby—Her Efforts for her Son’s Benefit—His Education, Disposition, and Acquirements—The Slender Means of his Mother—Her Second Marriage to Sir Thomas Compton—George Villiers sent to Paris to complete his Education—State of that Capital in the 17th Century—Villiers returns from Paris, improved, and repairs to his Mother’s House at Goadby 1 CHAPTER II.