OVERBURY, Sir TUOMAS, an English author and 'courtier, whose mysterious death has given a peculiar interest to his history, was the son of Nicholas Overbury, a Glouces tershire squire, and was b. at Compton Seorfen, Warwickshire, the residence of his maternal grandfather in 1581. At the age of 14 he entered Queen's college, Oxford, where he highly distinguished himself in logic and philosophy, and where he took the de7ree of 11.A. in 15:18. He then joined the middle temple, hut soon after set oat, for the continent, from which he returned with the reputation of being a finishe d g-ntl tman. While on a visit to Scotland in 1601, he met for the first time with Ids future murderer, Ro`tart Carr (plaperly lier), then a pag) in the service of the earl of Dunbar. An inti macy unfortunately sprung tip between the two, and Carr—a handsome ignoramus, seo Anal and unprincipled—followed his scholarly flint] to London. On the accession of iam-s to the English throae (16J3), Carr rose rapidly into royal favor, and was r reateo viscount Rochester. Through his influence, Overbury was knighted in 1608, and his father appoinwd a judga for Wales. In return, Overbary gave his patron the benelt of Iris wit and jodgment. bath of which were singularly excellent ; anti, aecordi to I fume, it was owing to Overbury that Carr enjoyed for a time the highest favor of the prince hont being hated by the people. The circumstances that led to a rupture of their intimacy, :mil turned the earl int) Overhury's secret and rentless enemy, form one of the most flagrant seam has in the hiAinry of the English court. A brief outline of these cir cumstances is all can lie given here.
Al the age of 13, Frances Howard, daughter of the earl of Suffolk, was married (1605) to Lwi earl of Essex, himself only a year older. On account of their youth, it was reckoned advisable by their friends that they should not live together for some lilac. Ih boydnis tail went away on his travels, and the wedded girl to her mother. After the lapse of nearly 5 years, Essex came home, and found Ids wife, now a splendid beauty of 18. the idol of all the court gallants. But there was not a of virtue or goodness in her whole soul. She had the disposition of a Messalina (q.v.) or a Brinvilld rs (q.v.). her husitan 1 she showed the greatest aversion, and only to live in his house at the command Of the khn:. It was well known th it site had had Intrigues with more titan one lover, hut in particular with Rochester. for whom she now cherished a
lie: re pa .sion. Overbary hail been instrumental in bringing about their guilty inter and was now to reap the reward due to a pander. Rochester having told him that lie purposed to get lady Essex divorced from her husband, and then to marry her, Overlmry stroter:y deprecated the idea, and declared that it would be disgraceful to form a union with so depraved a creature—she wight do for a mistress, but not for a wife! The earl told lady Essex what Overbury Ira I said of liar; she became furious for revenge, and o'lered sir David N1 oral (het ween whom and Overbury there was a standing quarrel) ,f..!1001 to as-a sinate him, which that canny Scot declined to do. Rochester himself was now per 'laded by his mistress to join privately in a plot against Overbury. who on a most trivial and ilbeial pretext t.trown into the Tower, April 21, 1613. It was some time bef' re he could bring himself to believe that his friend and patron was the cause of his impri•onment; but when lie had assured himself of Rochester's treachery, lie threat ened to C.ivul-a) cer'ain secrets in his possession. whereupon it was determined by the earl and his mit;:ress that he should be poisoned. This, after several trials, was success fully :accomplished. t•al Ovc-bury expired on Sept. 15th. Rochester (now created car] of SoinerzeO, and his paramour were married on Dec. 26th with great pomp, the brazen faced beauty wearing her heir "as a virgin," and the whole affair was soon to appear ance forgotten; but after George Villiers had supplanted the earl in the royal favor, an inquiry was instituted; Somerset and his wife were tried and found guilty of poisoning, but were, by an amazing and infamous stretch of the royal prerogative, pardoned. The motive for James's extraordinary clemency has never been ascertained; but the prevail ing opinion is, that it was to prevent the disclosure of sonic discreditable, if not criminal, incidents in the private life of that monarch.
Overbury wrote several works. all of which were posthumously published. The principal are, The Wife (1614), a didactic poem; Characters (1014), the wit, ingenuity, precision, and force of which have long been admitted; Gramm Fallen limn King Jamas nble (1713). The latest edition of Overbury's works is that by E. F. Ilimbault with life (1856).