XLIII. Original Letters of King James I. to Sir George More, Lieutenant of the Tower, respecting the Trial of the Earl of Somerset. Communicated by William Bray, Esq. Treasurer, in a Letter to Samuel Lysons, Esq. F.R.S. V.P.

Extract

The conduct of King James the First, respecting the trials of the Earl and Countess of Somerset, for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower, and his great fear, that if Somerset was brought to a public trial, some things might be told which he most anxiously wished to prevent, has been represented by Weldon in so strong a light, that the candid Rapin seems almost to doubt the truth of the representation. But I am enabled to lay before the Society copies which I have made from some original letters of the King to Sir George More, then Lieutenant of the Tower, which strongly corroborate what Weldon has said. They were written during the King's anxiety and suspense, whether Somerset could be prevailed on to confess his guilt, which would have prevented the public appearance of the witnesses, and any thing which Somerset might reveal.