Note 702:D — Chapter IV · (continued 2)
Reading edition
Of this far-famed comedian and jester, Fuller says, that "when Queen Elizabeth was serious (I dare not say sullen) and out of good humour, he could undumpish her at his pleasure. Her highest favourites would in some cases go to Tarlton before they would go to the Queen, and he was their usher to prepare their advantageous accession to her. In a word, he told the Queen more of her faults than most of her chaplains, and cured her melancholy better than all her physicians." Indeed, in the language of a contemporary,
"Of all the jesters in the lande He bare the praise awaie."
Vide Ritson Bibl. p. 359.