those that had more dash and color. There remains to be mentioned only one other faculty which the father may have bequeathed to his son-the gift of expression. We have the testimony of no less a man than Isaac Walton to the elder Cotton's possession of this gift. Walton, speaking of the ancestral estate, Beresford, says, "The pleasantness of the river, mountains, and meadows about it, cannot be described, unless Sir Philip Sidney or Mr. Cotton's father were again alive to do it." This power of description was one of the most eminent possessed by the son.

The poet's mother was Olive Stanhope, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Stanhope and his wife, Olivia Beresford. Her father was half-brother to the first Earl of Chesterfield; her mother was a descendant of the "brave Beresfords," a family that had been prominent for centuries in the county of Derby. The ancient seat of the Beresfords, Fenny Bentley, was only a short walk to the northeast of Beresford Hall, the poet's birthplace. The Beresfords, ancient and modern, are known as men of fighting blood. One of them, Thomas-or "Tom"-was a hero of Agincourt, and left a story attached to his name which is of credit to the family. On the eve of his marriage, according to this story, the blast of a trumpet announced the approach of a messenger of King Henry the Fifth with a proclamation to his loyal subjects that he had been insulted by the French king, and that all unmarried men were to hasten to his standard. The Beresfords were loyal, Thomas was as yet unmarried; he must choose be

tween his bride and his king. At the urgence of his betrothed as well as by his own desire, he followed the King into France. At Agincourt, he had the valor and good-fortune to save King Henry's life. He was rewarded later at his marriage by the special congratulations and favor of royalty. Such stories, if simple, make a tradition to which the least of kin does not listen with indifference, and serve as a more or less potent standard of conduct for a loyal line of soldiers and gentlemen. The Beresford name has come down through a list of rather remarkable men. Humphrey Beresford, one of the sixteen sons of Thomas of Agincourt, was the ancestor in direct line of the illustrious Irish Beresfords, Earls of Tyrone, Marquises of Waterford.

Olivia Beresford, great-grandmother of the poet, had been the sole heiress of her father Edward Beresford, and had come into possession of the family estates. These had descended to her daughter Olive (Beresford) Stanhope, and in due course they passed to her daughter, Olive (Stanhope) Cotton, mother of the poet, Charles.

The story of the love affair and run-away marriage of the poet's father and mother is one of much interest, as shown in the detailed account of it found by Mr. John Sleight in 1868, among some old family deeds and papers at Bentley Hall. The mutual passion of the young lovers, their hopes and fears, the plot and the carrying-out of it, have suffered surprisingly little in the hands of some old attorney:

"The 'Severall answeare of Charles Cotton, Es

quire, to the bill of Complaynt of Sir John Stanhope, Knight, Complaynannt.'

"This defendannt sayeth that it is true that understanding of the virtuous disposition of the Complaynannt's daughter, and receavinge satisfaction of the good report hee had heard, by the sight of her person, he did by all possible means addrease himself to intimate unto her his desires, and having the opportunity to meet with her att the house of one of her Aunts, hee, this defendannt did, in shorte time, discover her affection towards this defendannt, and there upon he was emboldened to proceede to move her in the way of marriadge. And there were some messages interchanged betwixt them, whereby she signified her readiness to answeare this defendannt's desires therein, and the difficulty to obteyne her but by carrying her away. And did herselfe appointe to come to this defendannt, If he could come for her; where upon hee prepared a coache, and in the eveninge of the day, in the Bill mentioned, hee came in a Coache neere unto Salisbury Courte, where the Complaynannt dwelleth. And this defendannt's now wyfe came of her owne accorde to this defendannt, and went away with the defendannt and the same night this defendannt confesseth that they were marryed together; in doinge whereof if this defendannt's passion and fervency of affection have transported him beyond the bounds of wisdome, dutye, and good discretion, this defendannt doth most humbly crave the pardon and favorable construction of this most Honble Courte and of the Complaynannt concerninge the same."

Sir John Stanhope, in his bill of complaint, had imputed mercenary motives to the young lover, in carrying off the young woman, who was under the legal age of sixteen years. To make this charge probable, he alleged that the young husband was without means for her support. To this the defendant answered that "he had an estate in Landes of Inheritance and Rents left unto him of the yearly value of £600 per annum, or thereabouts, which he yet hath-besides a personall estate to the value of one thousand marks, or thereabouts. And," goes on this excellent attorney, "if the same be not aequivalent, or proportionable to the Complaynannt's daughter's estate; This Defendannt doubteth not but to supply any wants thereof by his affectionate love to his wyfe, and respectfull observation of such a ffather. And this defendannt further saith that he did not know that said Olive was under the age of sixteene yeares, but was credibly informed that she was of age of above sixteene years, nor knoweth what Inheritance was descendedable upon the Complaynannt's Daughter (now this defendannt's wife) att the tyme that he sought to obteyne her for his wyfe; his affections beinge more fixed upon her person, and the Allyance of soe noble a ffamilye, than upon her estate."

The decision of the court is not included among these family documents; but that it favored the young lovers is shown by the record of a subsequent court decision, dated Whitehall, 13 January, 1629. This deals with a petition to the King by one John Darbyshire and Anne, his wife; "to escape from a

mercenary father-in-law, the petitioners intermarried, and unknowingly incurred the penalty against women marrying under the age of 16 without their parents' consent." In this case, the Attorney General reported "that the parties, if prosecuted might be punished and fined, but that there have been precedents of pardons in like cases, ex. gr. that of Mr. Cotton, for marrying the daughter of Sir John Stanhope, who was heir to her mother of a fair estate."

The only issue of this marriage was Charles Cotton, the poet. He was born, the 28th of April, 1630, at Beresford Hall, which, to judge by the old prints, was a typically comfortable and homelike English country seat. We have fortunately a few details from Part II. of the "Angler" and from some of Cotton's poems which not only confirm the impression of the prints, but give to them also something of the tinge of life. Piscator (Cotton) says to Viator: "Walk but into the parlour, you will find one book or other in the window to entertain you the while." A sunlit cheerful parlor no doubt it was with a row of books on the broad sill of its latticed window, and beside it a comfortable chair for the reader. Elsewhere in the "Angler" we are told that Cotton's servants "knew his certain hours" and that there was no tiresome waiting for dinner and supper. "How sweet are all things here!" the poet exclaims in "The Retirement," "How cleanly do we feed and lie! What good hours do we keep! How quietly we sleep! What peace! 1 Complete Angler, Part II., chap. X.