Thomas Cavendish

“ Sir William Cavendish, the second son of the first Sir Thomas, became the founder of several noble families. He was married three times: first to a daughter of Edward Bostock, of Whatcross in Cheshire; secondly, to a daughter of Sir Thomas Conyngsby, and widow of William Paris; and thirdly, to Elizabeth, daughter of John Hardwick, of Hardwick, and widow of Robert Barley, of Barley. He was “a man of learning and business,” and was much employed in important affairs by his sovereigns; filling the posts of Treasurer of the Chamber and Privy Councillor to Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Mary. ”

“ And though the whole fiction have scarcely so much as shadow of colour of any appearance, yet for that part where he deviseth that Sir Thomas should before the council apeach himself and that lady, or after not being credited, offer to make the king see him to have to do with her, this showing itself sufficiently falsified to any wise and understanding reader, especially considering it particularly with the circumstances, it is so far from all likelihood, as all presumptions are flat against it, as in a word or two shall now be showed. ”

“ Nicholson’s authority is not very high in respect of bibliographical information; and there is great reason to believe that he has here described an edition to be found only in the Bibliotheca abscondita of Sir Thomas Brown. This however is certain, that the commentators on Shakspeare are agreed, that though the labours of Cavendish must have been known in part to our great Dramatist, he has followed them so closely in many of his scenes, it could have been only by a perusal of them in manuscript, or by the ample quotations made from them in the pages of Hol [57] linshead and Stowe. Mr. ”

“ I wyll that if Thomas my son be a prest, wtin a yer next after my decesse, than I wyll that he syng for me and my frends, be the space of a yer, and he for to have for his salary x marc, and if the seyd Thomas my son be not a prest than I wyll that a nother honest prest syng for me and my frends the term aforeseyd and he to have the salary of x marc. Itm. I wyll that Johan my wyf have all my lands and tents. ”

“ No one here is paying any attention to us. Enright is the only one who even suspicions, and his mouth is shut. It makes me laugh to think how easily the fools were gulled. We've got a clear field if you will only let me play the game out in my own way. Do I get the money?"
He must have acceded, for his voice no longer rose to a high pitch. Presently, when the orchestra began playing again. Miss Donovan and Willis judged the pair were giving their attention to the dinner. Finally, after an hour had passed, Cavendish emerged from the booth, went to the check-room, and hurriedly left the café. ”

“ Cavendish is one of the most eccentric figures in the history of science, being widely known in his own time for his immense wealth and brilliant intellect, and also for his peculiarities and his morbid sensibility, which made him dread society, and probably did much in determining his career. Fortunately for him, and incidentally for the cause of science, he was able to pursue laboratory investigations without being obliged to mingle with his dreaded fellow-mortals, his every want being provided for by the immense fortune inherited from his father and an uncle. ”

“ TWO years before the birth of Priestley, and in the reign of George II., there was born at Nice, on 10th October 1731, a son to Lord Charles Cavendish, and a nephew of the third Duke of Devonshire. The family is an old one, and traces its descent to Sir John Cavendish, Lord Chief Justice in the reign of Edward III., and to Robert de Gernon a compatriot of the Norman Conqueror; and the first peer was son to William Cavendish, usher to Cardinal Wolsey. The mother of the Hon. Henry Cavendish died when he was two years old, and of his boyhood days nothing is known. ”

“ Although Cavendish contributed comparatively little to the sum of geographical knowledge by accurate reports of any original discoveries he had made, apart from the moral aspect of the principal incidents in his career, he was indisputably a remarkable man, and rarely since the78 world began has a young man of only twenty-eight years achieved such a record as he had done, at the end of his circumnavigation, illustrative of daring bravery, indomitable perseverance, and manly endurance. ”

“ Enright scarcely gave him opportunity.
"So, the words won't come. I thought not. Now listen. I am not that kind of a man and I have kept still. No living person—not even my partner—has been informed of what has occurred. The witnesses, I am sure, do not know the nature of the paper they signed. I am a lawyer; I realise fully the relations I hold to my client, but in this particular case I contend that my duty as a man is of more importance than any professional ethics. Frederick Cavendish had this will executed in a moment of anger and devised his estate to a number of charities. ”

“ Sir William Cavendish began the world the younger son of a family of some respectability, but of no great wealth or consequence; and he left it, at about the age of fifty, a knight, a privy counsellor, and the owner of estates which, managed and improved as they were by his [24] prudent relict, furnished two houses with the means of supporting in becoming splendour the very first rank in the British peerage.
But an ambitious man is not to be contented; and men do form erroneous estimates of their own deserts: let us see, then, if the work will not supply us with something more conclusive. ”

“ You do not mind waiting a moment?"
Cavendish shook his head, and rising, the attorney disappeared in the direction of the office. Cavendish heaved a sigh of relief; now he was free, absolutely free, to do as he chose. His disappearance would mean nothing to his small circle of casual friends, and when he was settled elsewhere he could notify the only two men who were concerned with his whereabouts—his valet, Valois, and the agent handling the estate. He thought of beginning a letter to John, but hesitated, and when Enright returned he found him with pen in hand. ”

“ Cavendish was far from faultless. He was passionate and impetuous, and was still young at the end of his82 adventurous life. He was a University man, a bred aristocrat, a courtier, with a contempt for humanitarian doctrines and practices. Society, as it was constituted then, has to share the blame of his excesses, and especially his recklessness of human life. It was a comparatively venial offence in those days to fire into a crowd of South Sea Islanders with as little hesitation as if they had been a flock of wild ducks. His high spirit, courage, and intrepidity are, however, indisputable. ”

“ Enright walked nervously across the room, chewing at his cigar, only to come back and face his questioner.
"Well, I suppose I might as well tell you," he said almost savagely. "You know so damn much now, you better know it all. You're in too deep already to wiggle out. We made rather a mess of it in New York, and only a bit of luck helped us through. We had the plans ready for three months, but nothing occurred to give us a chance. Then all at once Cavendish got his first telegram from Westcott, and decided to pull out, not telling any one where he was going. ”

“ Cavendish was perfectly methodical in all his actions, and whenever he borrowed one of his own books he duly left the receipt in its place. The only relief to his solitary life was afforded by the meetings of the Royal Society, of which he was elected a Fellow in 1760; by the occasional receptions at the residence of Sir Joseph Banks, P.R.S. ”

“ Hobbes's translation of Thucydides is dedicated to Cavendish, and from 1634 to 1637 the young man travelled abroad with the philosopher. He was created a knight of the Bath at Charles I's coronation in 1625. Cavendish was both wealthy and handsome, and the Countess of Leicester was anxious for him to marry Lady Dorothy Sidney, Waller's Sacharissa; but the scheme came to nothing, and Elizabeth, second daughter of William Cecil, second earl of Salisbury, became Cavendish's wife. Cavendish was lord-lieutenant of Derbyshire from 13 Nov. ”

“ Has he been located?"
"Yes, and is safe for the present. Here, read this telegram. It's not very clear, but Beaton wants money and asks me to bring it."
"You? Why does he need you?"
"Lack of nerve, I guess; he's out of his element in that country. If it was the Bowery he'd do this sort of job better. Anyhow, I'm going, and I want a roll. We can't either of us afford to lie down now."
Cavendish half smothered an oath.
"Money," he ejaculated fiercely. "That is all I hear. Enright has held me up something fierce, and you never let me alone. ”

“ The profe thereof hath taught us all Englishmen the experience, too lamentable of all good men to be considered. If eyes be not blind men may see, if eares be not stopped they may heare, and if pitty be not exiled the inward man may lament the sequell of this pernicious and inordinate love. Although it lasted but a while, the plague thereof is not yet ceased, which our Lorde quenche and take his indignation from us! Qui peccavimus cum patribus nostris, et injuste egimus.” p. 420 and 421.
Not so Sir William Cavendish. ”

“ They transmit to a remote posterity the worthless and the silly with as much certainty as the name of one who was instinct with the fire of genius, and whom a noble ambition to be good and great distinguished from the common herd of men. It is in these rolls only that the name of George Cavendish of Glemsford is come down to us: he forms a link in the pedigree: he is a medium in the transmission of manorial property.
Obscurity of George Cavendish a presumption in his favour. ”

“ He had ceased to ask money from Nathalie—she had no more to give him, and Alick McGregor and Tom Oaks found enough to do to foot their own bills.
Strange to say, the primary mover of this mischief, the arch-tempter himself, George Percy Cavendish, remained unsuspected, save by a few, and went altogether unblamed. Captain Cavendish seldom lost his money, never his temper; never got excited, was ever gentlemanly and cool, though half the men about him were mad with liquor and losses, and ready to hold pistols to their heads and blow their miserable brains out. ”

“ I am Pasqual Mendez."
"But you propose holding us prisoners? You intend delivering us up to the man Lacy as soon as he arrives?"
"Yes," he admitted, "but I hold no animosity—none. The señorita need not fear. I will intercede for you both with the Senor Lacy, and he will listen to what I say. You may trust me, if you unbar the door."
"And if we refuse?"
"We shall break in, and there will be no promise. I ask you now for the last time."
Cavendish turned his head slightly to regard his companion.
"What shall I say?" he whispered.
"The man lies; he will keep no promise once we are in his power. ”

“ The most laborious may sometimes overlook evidence which is afterwards accidentally discovered to another of far inferior pretensions: the most accurate may mistake: the most faithful may be bribed into inattention by supposititious facts, which give a roundness and compactness to what, without them, forms but an imperfect narration. The case before us may possibly come under the latter head. Take away the attendance upon Wolsey, and we have several years unaccounted for in the life of Sir William Cavendish ”

“ Stella Donovan began speaking now:
"I fixed it with Chambers, the manager of the Fairmount, to get Josette La Baum—she's Valois's fiancée, you remember—into the hotel as a maid. Josette 'soaped the keyhole' of the drawers in John Cavendish's rooms there. I had a key made from the soap impression, and from the contents of the correspondence we found I learned that Celeste La Rue, the blonde of the Revue, had got some kind of hold on him. It isn't love, either; it's something stronger. He jumps when she holds the hoop." ”

“ Cavendish was contented to regard himself as one who had failed in life. He saw his younger brother, William [q. v.] , succeeding and growing prosperous, while he himself grew poorer. In 1558 he granted his manor of Cavendish Overhill to his son William, a London mercer, for 40l. a year; his grandson, William, sold it in 1569. From this time the record of the family is lost. It followed the example of its ancestor and fell into decay. Cavendish himself died in 1561 or 1562.
Cavendish's work, the ‘Life of Cardinal Wolsey,’ long remained in manuscript. ”

“ I may not know exactly, but I've got a glimmer of a notion about where the cuss hangs out, an' I'm going to have a hunt for it. There's five thousand dollars posted down in Arizona for that fellow, dead or alive; an' I need the money. Besides, I reckon this yere Miss Donovan, an' yer ol' partner—what's his name?—sure, Cavendish—will be mighty glad to see us. You're game for a try, ain't yer?"
"I shall never stop until I do find them, Dan," said the other earnestly, the very tone of his voice carrying conviction. "Every cent of reward is yours ”

“ Of the Poems, to which I have given the title of Metrical Visions, no other copy is known to exist. They have little or no merit as verses, being deficient in all the essential points of invention, expression and rhythm, and it is to be regretted that Cavendish, who knew so well how to interest us by his artless narration of facts in prose, should have invoked the muse in vain. He seems to have been sensible of his deficiency, and says very truly
“I must write plain, colours I have none to paint.” ”

“ He saw Macloud, as he passed—out on the piazza beyond the porte-cochere, and he waved his hand to him. Then he signalled the car, that had been sent from Cavencliffe for him, and drove off to the Cavendishes.
23 II GOOD-BYE
The Cavendishes were of those who (to quote Macloud’s words) “did belong and, thank God, showed it.” Henry Cavendish had married Josephine Marquand in the days before there were any idle-rich in Northumberland, and when the only leisure class were in jail. ”