Carnarvon’s character has much in common with Northampton’s.  Though separated in the History, they are here placed together as companion portraits of two young Royalist leaders who fell early in the Civil War.

Page 70, l. 21.  Dorchester and Weymouth surrendered to Carnarvon on August 2 and 5, 1643.  They were granted fair conditions, but on the arrival of the army of Prince Maurice care was not taken ’to observe those articles which had been made upon the surrender of the towns; which the earl of Carnarvon (who was full of honour and justice upon all contracts) took so ill that he quitted the command he had with those forces, and returned to the King before Gloster’ (Clarendon, vol. iii, p. 158).

21.

Clarendon, MS. History, pp. 478-81; History, Bk.  VII, ed. 1703, vol. ii, pp. 270-7; ed.  Macray, vol. iii, pp. 178-90.

Clarendon wrote two characters of Falkland, the one in 1647 in the ‘History’ and the other in 1668 in the ‘Life’.  Both are long, and both are distinguished by sustained favour of affection and admiration as well as by wealth of detail.  He was aware that the earlier character was out of scale in a history, but he would not condense it.  He even thought of working it up into a book by itself, wherein he would follow the example of Tacitus who wrote the Agricola before the Annals and Histories.  He corresponded about it with John Earle (see No. 50).  From two of the letters the following extracts are taken: 

’I would desire you (at your leisure) to send me that discourse of your own which you read to me at Dartmouth in the end of your contemplations upon the Proverbs, in memory of my Lord Falkland; of whom in its place I intend to speak largely, conceiving it to be so far from an indecorum, that the preservation of the fame and merit of persons, and deriving the same to posterity, is no less the business of history, than the truth of things.  And if you are not of another opinion, you cannot in justice deny me this assistance’ (March 16, 1646-7:  State Papers, 1773, vol. ii, p. 350).

’I told you long since, that when I came to speak of that unhappy battle of Newbury, I would enlarge upon the memory of our dear friend that perished there; to which I conceive myself obliged, not more by the rights of friendship, than of history, which ought to transmit the virtue of excellent persons to posterity; and therefore I am careful to do justice to every man who hath fallen in the quarrel, on which side soever, as you will find by what I have said of Mr. Hambden himself.  I am now past that point; and being quickened your most elegant and political commemoration of him, and from hints there, thinking it necessary to say somewhat for his vindication in such particulars as may possibly have made impression in good men, it may be I have insisted longer upon the argument than may be agreeable to the rules to be observed in such a work; though it be not much longer than Livy is