and  to  wed  the  Earl  of  Somerset,  that  Carr  who  made
his  fortunate  dSbut  in  James's  favour  on  the  morning  of
'  Prince  Henry's  Barriers.'  Tried  and  condemned  for
the  murder  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  the  lives  of  this
guilty  couple  were  spared  by  the  King's  terror  of  de-
tection. They  ended  their  days  in  separation,  the  ob-
jects of  universal  horror.  The  boy-husband  of  Jonson's
hymeneal  pageant  was  destined  to  lead  the  armies  of
the  Parliament  against  his  sovereign,  and  to  sink  at
last  before  the  power  and  popularity  of  Cromwell.
With  the  advance  of  years,  the  tragic  irony  of  these
Masques  at  Court  deepens.  The  last  great  entertain-
ment of  this  kind,  of  which  we  have  any  detailed  in-
formation, was  a  Masque  presented  by  Charles  and
Henrietta  Maria  at  Shrovetide  1640.  The  usual  sum
of  1,400/.  had  been  granted  for  the  mounting  of  the
piece  ;  and  an  additional  sum  of  1 20/.  was  expended  on
the  King's  costume.  What  the  subject  was,  or  who
wrote  the  libretto,  is  not  known.  But  we  may  believe
that  Whitehall  presented  to  the  outer  eye  on  this,  as  on
so  many  previous  occasions,  a  pageant  of  undimmed
magnificence,  a  scene  of  undisturbed  security.  The
Monarchy  of  England,  indeed,  was  tottering  already
to  its  fall ;  the  foundations  of  society  were  crumbling.
