ernsey. He had
married Dorothy, sister of Sir John Danvers. Sir John was the younger
brother and heir to the Earl of Danby, and was a Gentleman of the Privy
Chamber to the King. Clarendon tells us that he got into debt, and to
get out of debt found himself in Cromwell's counsel; that he was a
proud, formal, weak man, between being seduced and a seducer, and that
he took it to be a high honour to sit on the same bench with Cromwell,
who employed him and contemned him at once. The Earl of Danby was the
Governor of Guernsey, and Sir Peter was his lieutenant until 1643, when
the Earl died, and Sir Peter was made full Governor. It would be in 1643
that the siege of Castle Cornet began, the same year in which the rents
of the Chicksands estate were assigned away from their rightful owner to
one Mr. John Blackstone, M.P. Sir Peter was in his stronghold on a rock
in the sea; he was for the King. The inhabitants of the island, more
comfortably situated, were a united party for the Parliament. Thus they
remained for three years; the King writing to Sir Peter to reduce the
inhabitants to a state of reason; the Parliament sending instructions to
the jurats of Guernsey to seize the person of Sir Peter; and the Earl of
Warwick, prompted, we should suppose, by Sir John Danvers, offering
terms to Sir Peter which he indignantly rejected. Meanwhile Lady
Osborne--Dorothy with her, in all probability--was doing her best to
victual the castle from the mainland, she living at St. Malo during the
siege. At length, her money all spent, her health broken down, she
returned to England, and was lost to sight. Sir Peter himself heard
nothing of her, and her sons in England, who were doing all they could
for their father among the King's friends, did not know of her
whereabouts.

In 1646 he resigned his command. He was weary and heavy laden with
unjust burdens heaped on him by those for whom and with whom he was
fighting; he was worn out by the siege; by the characteristic treachery
of the King, who, being unable to assist him, could not refrain from
sending lying promises instead; and by the malice of his neighbour,
George Carteret, Governor of Jersey, who himself made free with the
Guernsey supplies, while writing home to the King that Sir Peter has
betrayed his trust. Betrayed his trust, indeed, when he and his garrison
are reduced to "one biscuit a day and a little porrage for supper,"
together with limpets and herbs in the best mess they can m