he was moved to confess the whole.  He related how Mrs. Turner and the Countess became acquainted, and discovered all those who were any way concerned in it; upon which they were all apprehended, and some sent to Newgate, and others to the Tower.  Having thus confessed, and being convicted according to due course of law, he was hanged at Tyburn, after him Mrs. Turner, after her Franklin, then Sir Gervis Yelvis, being found guilty on their several arraignments, were executed; some of them died penitent.  The Earl and the Countess were both condemned, but notwithstanding their guilt being greater than any of the other criminals, the King, to the astonishment of all his subjects, forgave them, but they were both forbid to appear at court.

There was something strangely unaccountable in the behaviour of Somerset after condemnation.  When he was asked what he thought of his condition, and if he was preparing to die, he answered, that he thought not of it at all, for he was sure the King durst not command him to be executed.  This ridiculous boasting and bidding defiance to his majesty’s power, was construed by some in a very odd manner; and there were not wanting those who asserted, that Somerset was privy to a secret of the King’s, which if it had been revealed, would have produced the strangest consternation in the kingdom that ever was known, and drawn down infamy upon his majesty for ever; but as nothing can be ascertained concerning it, it might seem unfair to impute to this silly Prince more faults than he perhaps committed:  It is certain he was the slave of his favourites, and not the most shocking crime in them, it seems, could entirely alienate his affections, and it is doubtful whether the saving of Somerset or the execution of Raleigh reflects most disgrace upon his reign.  Some have said, that the body of Sir Thomas Overbury was thrown into an obscure pit; but Wood, says it appears from the Tower registers, that it was interred in the chapel; which seems more probable.  There is an epitaph which Winstanley has preserved, written by our author upon himself, which I shall here insert, as it serves to illustrate his versification.

  The span of my days measured here I rest,
  That is, my body; but my soul, his guest
  Is hence ascended, whither, neither time,
  Nor faith, nor hope, but only love can climb,
  Where being new enlightened, she doth know
  The truth, of all men argue of below: 
  Only this dust, doth here in pawn remain,
  That when the world dissolves, she come again.

The works of Overbury besides his Wife, which is reckoned the wittiest and most finished of all, are, first Characters, or witty descriptions of the prophesies of sundry persons.  This piece has relation to some characters of his own time, which can afford little satisfaction to a modern reader.

Second, The Remedy of Love in two parts, a poem 1620, Octavo, 2s.

Third, Observations in his Travels, on the State. of the seventeen Provinces, as they stood anno 1609.