Fate

Abstract

When the new Parliament met on 19 February 1624 Southampton was in his place once more, ready to take a leading part in the deliberations of the Lords. Things had come his way: he was not now swimming against the tide but with it. Not for him the feebleness of a Pembroke, whose instincts were sound enough, with plenty of commonsense, but without strength of character. Pembroke was not in sympathy with the turn things had taken: he was a sensible middle-of-the-road man. But, to quote Gardiner, ‘Pembroke was not a man to persist long in opposition. His character was wanting in that robustness which is needed for such a task. Again and again in the course of his career we find him clashing with Buckingham; but a few words from the King or the Prince were always enough to soothe his easy temper, and he would be again on the old footing, giving the support of his respected name to a policy which he distrusted.’¹ What a contrast with Southampton! — who, from the time of the Sonnets, had a mind of his own and, beneath his mother’s charm, had something of his father’s temper, self-willed and obstinate.