Sir Robert, secretary of state to James I., was born in 1563 in Suffolk, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. His public life was begun by an embassy to Scotland in 1589. The Earl of Essex afterwards employed him to reside in France under the guise of tutor to a young gentleman named Vernon, but in reality as a spy on the French government. On the fall of his patron, he seems to have returned home; and in 1601 was elected public orator in the university of Cambridge. It was there that his learning introduced him to the notice and patronage of James I. After passing through several political offices, he was appointed secretary of state in 1618. Sir Robert Naunton died in 1635. His chief work, Fragments Regalia, or Observations on the late Queen Elizabeth, her Times and Favourites, was published in 4to, 1641. He is also the author of Arcana Aulica, Svo, 1634; and Memoirs of Robert Cary, Earl of Monmouth.