they never met again. Sir Edward Warner, the Lieutenant of the Tower, was at the same time dismissed for his negligence in the custody of his charge. Many letters and petitions were addressed both to Sir William Cecil and to the Queen, in behalf of Lady Catherine, by her uncle, Lord John Grey of Pirgo, and by herself, but the only mercy extended to her and her husband, was during the time when the plague raged in London, and when a thousand in a week were said to die of that malady. Then, in the month of August, 1563, Lord Hertford was delivered (but in the condition of a prisoner) to the custody of his mother, and Lady Catherine to that of her uncle, Lord John Grey, at Pirgo, where she was ordered to be maintained at the expense of her husband. In January, 1565-6, and again in April, 1566, Anne, Duchess of Somerset, addressed letters to Sir William Cecil, praying for the release of her son, begging his helping hand "to end this tedious suit," and urging "how unmeet it is this young couple should thus wax old in prison, and how far better it were for them to be abroad, and learn to serve Her Majesty." These appeals were fruitless; and the following year death released the ill-fated Lady Catherine from the sorrows and humiliations to which she had been so heartlessly subjected. She had been for some time in the custody of Sir Owen Hopton, and died at his country house, Cockfield Hall, in Yoxford, Suffolk. There is an account preserved of her last hours which contains some pathetic details of the resignation and courage, worthy a sister of Lady Jane Grey, with which she prepared for her end. When it is remembered that, at the time of her persecution of this unhappy young lady, Elizabeth was but twenty-five years of age, and had herself so recently endured the bitterness of imprisonment, we cannot but wonder at the severity and harshness which disfigured her naturally noble nature, and led her to actions of cruelty and tyranny unworthy of so great and illustrious a Queen. MURDER OF THE TWO KEATINGS BY MONG the numerous committals in Elizabeth's reign, were those of Hickey and Barry, the "Harbinger" and "Steward" of Gerald, the eleventh Earl of Kildare, for the murder of the two Keatings in Ireland. The story affords a fearful picture of the barbarity and contempt of law and justice, which then prevailed in that country. Hickey and Barry, having brought over some horses of the Earl's, were seized in London; but it seems strange that the English Government should have caused them to be tried and hanged in London, instead of sending them to Ireland, to be there executed, as an example to their own countrymen, which their execution in England must have rendered almost nugatory. The Earl of Kildare was, it appears, in the habit of keeping up a frequent, though secret, communication with the chiefs of the petty insurrections, which were always smouldering within the English pale, and these Keatings, who were agents and spies of the rebel chiefs, were occasionally received by him as guests at his castle of Kilkea, the residence of the Marquis of Kildare, for whose occupation the present Duke of Leinster repaired and restored this ancient stronghold of the FitzGerald family. 1574.-Being desirous of courting the favour of the Lord Deputy (Sir W. Fitzwilliam), the Earl, by a base and unworthy deception, invited the brothers Keating to his castle, under a safe-conduct, as he had often done before, and, after causing them to be hospitably entertained, by his dependants and servants, allowed Shan, the elder brother, to depart upon the faith and security of his usual "protection or safe-conduct." The Earl afterwards declared that the safe-conduct was only to enable the Keatings to come to his castle in safety, but contained no engagement as to equal safety after their departure. On this base pretext, he despatched Hickey, his harbinger, and his steward, Barry, accompanied by another ruffian, to waylay Shan Keating, whom they overtook in a lonely spot, where the road led through a dreary bog. It would seem that the unfortunate man at once guessed their errand, for, as soon as he saw them, he dismounted from the "stout black horse" which he rode, and drawing his sword, boldly faced his assailants. They had made up their minds, however, to all hazards, and at once fell upon him, and after a desperate combat, in which, but for the odds of three to one, it is probable his courage might have saved his life, they eventually threw him to the ground, covered with wounds, and, cutting off his head, carried it back to the Earl, who immediately forwarded the ghastly offering to Dublin Castle, as a proof to the Lord Deputy of his zeal for the Queen's service. Meyler Keating, the brother of Shan, and his fellow guest at Kilkea, remained meantime feasting unsuspiciously in the castle, when the Earl, on the following night, ordered Hickey and Barry to decoy him out into the demesne, despatch him, and cut off his head, as they had served his brother, which these unscrupulous wretches performed, without hesitation, and Meyler's head was sent as a second tribute of loyalty to Sir W. Fitzwilliam in Dublin. The Deputy endeavoured to disclaim having given the Earl any authority or encouragement to commit these acts of cruelty and treachery, but the Earl, when on his trial, quoted a letter of his, which, if it did not convey any direct order, certainly would bear the interpretation by which he attempted to justify the act. Whether Fitzwilliam really did write the letter produced by the Earl, in his justification, or whether he was ashamed to confess to any share in these savage murders, it is certain that Hickey and Barry were sent to England, imprisoned in the Tower, and tried and executed for their crimes. Such, however, was the devotion of Hickey to his Lord, that, when interrogated with a view to bring to light other deeds of violence laid to the charge of the Earl, he said, the only illegal act he could remember of his master's, was the cutting off a man's nose," which |