John Chamberlain (letter Writer) - Dudley Carleton

Dudley Carleton

Chamberlain's major correspondent was Dudley Carleton, whose mother's sister was the wife of Chamberlain's nephew Thomas Stukely. When the correspondence began in the mid 1570s, Carleton was a young man, about twenty years younger than Chamberlain, urgently seeking a career. Chamberlain, through his friendship with Winwood, helped Carleton secure his first job, in the English embassy in Paris. By the time of Chamberlain's death, the upwardly mobile Carleton was a highly placed diplomat, on the brink of becoming secretary of state. However, he himself had only four years to live. Scholars have Carleton, who was "a magpie about his papers", to thank for the legacy of his vast correspondence, which provides a key resource for the period. On occasion, he confided diplomatic secrets to Chamberlain, safe in the knowledge of his friend's discretion.

Chamberlain not only wrote letters to Carleton but sometimes performed errands on his behalf that brought him into contact with important political figures. Immediately after the Gunpowder plot of 1605, Carleton, who had been a secretary to Henry Percy, one of the plotters, was briefly confined and found himself unemployable. Chamberlain worked hard to bring Carleton back into favour, for example calling upon Sir Walter Cope, a friend of Cecil's whom Chamberlain dubbed "the idle oracle of the Strand". Carleton finally found work abroad. Other errands performed by Chamberlain on his behalf included paying his bills, taking gifts to ladies, and passing messages to his political contacts. Carleton often sought Chamberlain's advice about both political and personal matters: Carleton's usual prescription was patience. "To tell you truly," he once admitted, "methinks we are like physicians that consult of a patient without feeling any part of his pain, and finding the disease somewhat difficult, apply no other remedy but good words and good wishes, and make him believe that time and good diet will cure it alone". Carleton always appreciated Chamberlain's friendship and support. Though Carleton's letters are not generally considered the equal of Chamberlain's in quality, his editor, Maurice Lee Jr., calls them "every bit as clear and polished".