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THE

LIFE

OF

THE LEARNED

SIR THOMAS SMITH, KT D.C.L.
PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF STATE TO KING EDWARD
THE SIXTH, AND QUEEN ELIZABETH,
WHEREIN ABE DISCOVERED
MANY SINGULAR MATTERS RELATING TO THE STATE OF
LEARNING, THE REFORMATION OF RELIGION, AND
THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE KINGDOM,
DURING HIS TIME.
IN ALL WHICH HE HAD A GREAT AND HAPPY INFLUENCE.

BY JOHN STRYPE, M.A,

A NEW EDITION,
WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS BY THE AUTHOR.

OXFORD,
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
MDCCCXX.

TO
SIR EDWARD SMITH,
OF H1LLHALL IN ESSEX,
BARONET.
SIR,
J. HE regard I have ever borne in my mind towards
men of eminency, in times past born and bred
among us, (especially when with their qualities and
places they have been adorned with learning, wis
dom, or integrity,) led me at my leisure hours to
make cursory collections out of my books and pa
pers, of their lives and actions. And many such
men there were in the last age, when learning and
religion, after a long eclipse, began again to en
lighten our horizon. Whereof some, however useful
they were in their times, and made a fair figure to
the world, are now in effect quite forgotten ; and
though the names of others of that sort are better
known, yet but slight and imperfect characters
remain of them: whenas they were perhaps the
great pillars of the State or Church, and whose
counsels and assistances the Prince made much use
of in the weighty transactions of his kingdom. Of
these, I confess, I cannot read or hear, but I am
drawn with an inquisitive humour to know more of
them, as whence they sprang, their country, their
a 2

IV

THE EPISTLE

parentage, their education, their tempers and incli
nations, and remarkable actions, and what events
fell out to *them, over and above what is commonly
known or vulgarly told of them. And when by
searching a little out of the ordinary way as it were,
(I mean in the bye-corners of old rejected papers
or letters, and other journals, records, registers, &c.)
I gain further notice of these ancient patriots, there
is wont to arise thence a great complacency to my
mind. And the thoughts that it may be as delight
ful to others as to myself, to revive the memory of
such, and represent as 'much of them as can be re
trieved, have moved me to make public some of
my collections of this nature. And moreover, I
reckon it a matter of equity and gratitude due from
posterity, to preserve the names and remembrances
of all worthy men that have served God, their
Prince, or country, by their learning or other abili
ties. And God himself seems to take care of this,
when he saith, That the memory of the just shall
he Messed, as their due reward.
These, Sir, are some of the reasons why I have
now brought that to pass, which I formerly made
you privy to ; namely, the publishing what I could
retrieve of the life of your most laudable and ac
complished ancestor Sir Thomas Smith. He was
a person that lived in very critical times, occasioned
by court factions, and the frequent alterations of
religion, and the various dispositions and interests
of the Princes whom he served. So that he could
hardly keep himself always upon his legs : but by
his great wisdom and moderation, though he some
times fell, he fell softly, and fell to rise again with

DEDICATORY. v
more glory. This may make his history the more
pleasant and useful : especially being mixed with
many occurrences in his time, wherein he bore a
great part, both in the University, in the Church,
and in the commonwealth. Where such things
may be read, which perhaps are not to be met with
elsewhere. Your said ancestor, Sir, was the best scholar in
his time, a most admirable philosopher, orator, lin
guist, and moralist. And from thence it came to
pass, that he was also a very wise statesman, and a
person withal of most unalterable integrity and jus
tice, (which he made his politics to comport with,)
and lastly, a constant embracer of the reformed re
ligion, and therein made a holy and good end. And
therefore the English soil which he so adorned
would be ingrateful, if she should let the memory
of such a man born in her pass away, and lie for
ever in obscurity. But as he was all this to the
public, so, Sir, let me add, he is, and ever will be,
an ornament to your ancient house and family, to
your Theyden Mount, where the noble seat erected
by him will be his lasting monument, and finally
to the county of Essex, where he was born and
educated, whither he gladly retired, as often as
public business permitted him, and where he
quietly resigned his last breath to God.
This great man is the subject of this book:
which therefore deserves to have been writ by an
abler pen. I am conscious to myself that I have
omitted many remarkable passages of his life,
which, could they have been retrieved, would have
shewn him still more resplendent to the world.
a3

vi THE EPISTLE
But it is impossible to recover all. What I have
collected together in these papers from various and
sundry books, and original writings, are sufficient to
give a fair, though not a full account of him. And
that which I value my present undertaking for is,
that I have done it impartially : for it is not of the
nature of a rhetorical panegyric, wherein more care
is taken to praise than to speak truth. To which
last I have had a very tender regard ; being borne
out in every thing I have writ by the authority of
indubitable monuments ; that is, either of Smith's
own letters, books, and papers, or of others his
friends and contemporaries.
One thing more, Sir, seems requisite to have been
done, to render this work more perfect, namely,
together with this to have published his manuscript
exercitations and discourses, which being the fruits
and products of his learned brain, no question would
have been very acceptable to all such as have a
value for him. Two of these, that is, his Dialogues
concerning Queen Elizabeth's marriage, and his Ta^
bles of the valuation of coins, I have now brought
to light. But, alas ! what pity is it that all the rest
of his brave philosophical, astronomical, moral, po
litical, and divine thoughts, digested by him into
divers tracts, are now, it is to be feared, (except his
Commonwealth, and his books of Pronunciation,)
utterly lost: together with all his other papers, ex
cept some letters of state, that lie in the King's
Paper-house, and those rough writings, Sir, in your
hands, and a few others elsewhere. But where are
now his University exercises, his learned readings,
his eloquent orations, exhortatory of virtue mo-

DEDICATORY. vii
rality, and sound knowledge, his correspondences
with the best wits of his age, and many elucubra-
tions upon ingenious subjects, which his busy head
was always employed in? I am afraid I must "say,
they are perished irrecoverably.
So that this poor book of mine must serve for
the chiefest remains of our Statesman. And, Sir, my
pains therein I hope will be taken in good part by
you and others, excusing candidly my imperfections,
as particularly my style, which peradventure to
some may appear more loose and neglected, and
not so smooth, nor set off with words, as might be
expected in books appearing abroad now-a-days.
But my chief aim is to speak truth, and to make
myself understood of him that reads me : nor do I
care, this being secured, to be too curious in my
expressions. And perhaps my converse with a lan
guage, and the writings of an age or two past, may
render my periods more rough and unpolished.
But this I suppose will humanely be forgiven me.
Nor would I have it disgust you, Sir, that in the ¦
current of the history you are sparingly entertained
with some Latin poetry, or other allegations out of
authors, so long as they are historical, and directly
tend to illustrate the story, and the man I am writ
ing of, and not merely used for flourish and orna
ment. This caution I the rather give, being aware
of a censure of this nature, made by one Mr. Ni-
colson, upon a book lately set forth, concerning the English
«..,,., ^ i i • -i xi_ Historical
life of Archbishop Cranmer; blaming the author Library, Pt.
for crowding so much his other learning into theu'p-
body of the history ; (he means citations out of the
Latin poets and other classics ;) " which," as he
saith, " instead of entertaining his readers, answer-
a 4

viii THE EPISTLE
" able to his good design, was apt to amuse and
" distract them." The rule he drives at for an his
toriographer to observe is good : for a reader cannot
but "be displeased to have the subject matter he is
reading frequently interrupted by moral sentences,
observations, or stories out of authors, or other di
gressions. But surely, by the way, he hath wronged
that writer, no man seeming to be more of Mr. Ni-
colson's mind than he, and less guilty of that which
he lays to his charge : for I have read the book,
and unless I am much mistaken, there is but one
distich out of Martial, (and scarcely another quota
tion to be met with in the whole volume,) and that
was concerning the great Pompey's having no mo
nument, as that good Archbishop had none. But
if peradventure any other citation be found in that
book, it is directly in pursuit of the history, and
not surely (to speak so much in that writer's behalf)
intended as a mere embellishment. And if this be
a fault, I may in this piece be guilty of some such
blemish, which I reckon in truth none at all.
You may possibly, Sir, here and there in the
book meet with some passages concerning Sir Tho
mas, seeming too minute and jejune to be taken
notice of, and of little moment. But herein I intreat
you, Sir, to bear with me, as you would do with an
admirer of some piece of antiquity, who is wont
diligently to pick up and preserve even the con
temptible stones and fragments that he finds in the
ruins of it. But, besides, upon a little circumstance
we know many times depend great matters ; and a
hint may open a door into some material points of
history. And, in a word, what one reader may run
over as not worth regarding, another may perceive

DEDICATORY. ix
delight or profit therein. Which were considera
tions that swayed me not to reject or cast aside
even the slighter matters that may be found in this
history. You are, Sir, the properest person to whom this
book should be dedicated : not only in that you
have so freely communicated to me divers of Sir
Thomas's papers remaining in your custody; and
that you are his next relation in a collateral line,
and to you is descended his beloved manor of
Mounthaw, or Mounthault, and that elegant fabric
of his rearing there : but chiefly because you do so
truly resemble his virtues, in being so useful a ma
gistrate, a gentleman of so sober and regular a con
versation in this loose and debauched age, and so
constant an adherer to the religion professed in the
Church of England, which your predecessor had a
great hand in the reformation of, and in which he
so stedfastly persevered.
Pardon therefore, Sir, this that I have done, to
prefix Sir Edward Smith's name to Sir Thomas
Smith's life, and this long address I have made to
you on the same account : wishing with all my
heart the continuance of your worthy name and
family for many successive generations, in the hope
ful issue God hath given you, to be a blessing to
Essex, and to the whole English nation. And so I
desist from being further importunate, and am, and
have great reason always to be, Sir,
Your very humble and
obliged Servant,
J. S.

A
TABLE OF THE
CHAPTERS AND CONTENTS
OF THIS BOOK.

CHAP. I.
SlR THOMAS SMITH'S birth, parentage, and educa
tion, p. i
Born at Walden in Essex. In what year. His father. The Ann. isi2.
guild at Walden. John Smith, his father, High Sheriff. His 15^e•
coat of arms. A favourer of religion. Sir Thomas's mother.
His brother John. His brother George a merchant. His school.
Removed to the University. The distribution of this history.
CHAP. II.
Sent to Queen's college in Cambridge : chosen a King's
Scholar : reads the Greek Lecture, and rectifies the pro
nunciation : University Orator : his applause. P. 8
Entered at Queen's college. Becomes King Henry's Scholar, Ann. 1526.
together with Cheke of St. John's. What first gave occasion \ltl'
to his studies. Made Fellow. Reads the Greek lecture. Con- i5ss.
suits with Cheke about Greek sounds. Brings in a new way of 15s
pronouncing Greek. Reads privately in his college. Smith's
correct way of sounding the Greek prevails in the University.
Made University Orator. His lectures flocked to.
CHAP- III.
He travels : his conferences with learned men at Orleans

xii CHAPTERS
and Paris : takes his degree at Padua : returns home :
his usefulness at the University : the controversy there
arisen about his way of pronouncing Greek. P. 15
Ann. 1539. He goes abroad. Confers with the Professor at Orleans;
J®*?' and at Paris with Strazelius and a Grecian. Travels to Italy,
Made Regius Professor of the Civil Law. A general scholar.
Chancellor to the Bishop of Ely. Breeds up pupils. Refines
the English writing. Ascbam. A tract by Smith writ for that
purpose. Rectifies the pronunciation of Greek. A controversy
arises in the University hereupon. Cheke Greek Lecturer;
clamoured against. The decree of the Chancellor. Smith's
compliance. His epistle to the Chancellor upon this argument.
A late Professor of Basil stands up for the old sounds. Religion
promoted by Smith in the University. He addresses to the
Queen in behalf of Cambridge. His academical exercises. His
preferments while at Cambridge. His port.
CHAP. IV.
Smith is removed into the Protector's family : his prefer
ments under King Edward : made Secretary : goes an
embassy. P 29
Comes to Court. Addressed to by the University. Their
letter. Made Master of Requests to Somerset. Other dignities
conferred on him. His purchases. Marries. Marries again.
He is slandered. Suffers imprisonment with the Duke. Made
Secretary. Goes Ambassador. His letter to the Protector.
Smith concerned in the alteration of religion ; and redress of
base money.
CHAP. V.
Sir Thomas Smith in commission. Words between Bishop
Bonner and him: his fidelity to the Duke of Somer-
set- P. 37
Ann 1549. Smith in a commission against Anabaptists. One of the Vi-
»»• sitors of Cambridge. In commission upon Bishop Bonner, who
would have declined him. Smith deals roundly with him His
words to Bonner's servants. Bonner enters a recusation against
Smith. Who charged, him with disobedience. Smith in trou

Ann. 1547.
1548.

AND CONTENTS. xiii
ble with the Protector. Deposed against Bishop Gardiner.
Makes a purchase. Goes in embassy to France.
CHAP. VI.
The condition of Sir Thomas Smith under Queen Mary.
His wise advertisements. P. 46'
He loses all his places. He hath an indulgence from the Ann. 1553.
Pope. Bishop Gardiner his friend. Gains Gardiner's favour
upon his first address to him from Cambridge. Ascham fa
voured by Gardiner. Even. Bishop Bonner pretends to be
Smith's friend. Rob. Smith, a retainer of Sir Tho. Smith,
burnt. His grief at these times. Smith's wise advertisements
and counsels. CHAP. VII.
Smith called to Queen Elizabeth's Court. Concerned in
the settlement of religion. His judgment of the Queen's
marriage. P. 56
Employed in the Reformation; and in one of the commit- Ann. 1558.
tees for the State; and in swearing the officers of Walden. His 156°*
service in the Commission of the Peace. Subscription of the
Justices. Smith's Dialogue concerning the Queen's marriage.
CHAP. VIII.
Sir Thomas's Embassies to France. P. 65^
Why not restored to be Secretary. Despatched to France. Ann. 1562.
Stops at Calais; and why. Directions to him from the Council. 1S63'
Smith a peace-mover. Confers with the Pope's Legate. The
Secretary's advice to the Ambassador. The Queen's orders to
him. Three evils in France. Smith's behaviour in his embassy.
Entertains a subtle spy. His complaint. The Ambassador's
instructions concerning the Prince of Conde\ He sends news
to the Council. Ordered to speak only in Latin in his negotia
tion. Contention between Smith and Throgmorton. Smith's
plainness pleaseth the Lord Robert. Instructions for Smith's
dealing with the Protestants. Smith treateth for peace. Doc
tor Haddon's advice to Smith. CHAP. DC.
Osprius's letter to the Queen, and Dr. Haddon's answer.

xiv CHAPTERS
Difference between Smith and Throgmorton, the Queen's
joint Ambassadors. Smith and Cecil friends. P. 75
Anno 1568. The Ambassador sends over books to Cecil. To procure a
book to be printed in France. Osorius's epistle to the Queen ;
answered by Haddon. This answer recommended to Smith to
revise, and publish. A licence for which he labours to obtain
from the Chancellor : which he will not grant. Smith presseth
it. Argues with the Chancellor of France about it. The pro
gress of this controversy. Difference between the two Ambas
sadors. Some character of Throgmorton. Cecil's and Smith's
friendship.
CHAP. X.
Peace with France. Smith continues Ambassador there.
His book of the Commonwealth of England. Returns.
A review of his embassy. P. 83
Ann. 1564. Smith effects a peace. Solicits the Queen's debt. The Queen
continues him Ambassador. A match for the Queen propounded
to him. Finisheth his book of the Commonwealth. His ex
traordinary expense. Smith's son with him. He labours to
come home. He returns. He is inquisitive how his negotia
tion is accepted. He follows the Court of France. His reflec
tion upon his hearing of the Queen's going to Cambridge. He
composeth his hook of the English Commonwealth at Thoulouse.
He inquireth for learned men in Paris. He procures the print
ing of the answer to Osorius. His correspondence with Had
don, Ambassador in Flanders. Smith's opinion of Tully's phi
losophy and law. His reflection on the troubles occasioned by
Hales's book. CHAP. XI.
Smith goes over Ambassador again to demand Calais. His
employment at home. Concerned in turning iron into
copper. p, 94
Ann. 1566. Smith, now at home, sent again to demand Calais. Takes
1570! h's son wit" him- The manner of his demanding Calais. Sues
1571. for the place of Chancellor of the Duchy. Sir Thomas in the .
country administering justice. Witches by him examined. Mat
ter's wife. Anne Vicars. Sir Thomas admitted into the Council.
Labours about transmuting iron into copper. His progress

AND CONTENTS. xv
therein. Some Lords come into the project. The projectors
formed into a Society. The patent for it signed. The business
finds delay. The chymist a beggar.
CHAP. XIT.
Smith waits upon the Queen at Audley-End. Goes on
embassy to France. Concludes a league. Concerned
in proposals of a match for the Queen. P. 106
He examineth the Duke of Norfolk's secretary. Goes Am- Anno 1571.
bassador again to France, to make firm amity against Spain.
An article debated by Smith. His argument with the French
Queen. Smith persuades the Queen. She consents to the
league. He loved not many words. His hardship in France.
Communication between the Queen-Mother and Smith, con
cerning Queen Elizabeth's marriage. Further discourse on the
same argument. His thoughts of the Queen's marrying. His
concern for her sickness ; and the irresolutions of the Court.
The Queen of Navarre sends to Sir Thomas.
CHAP. XIII.
Made Chancellor of the Garter. Comes home. Becomes
Secretary of State. His advice for forwarding the
Queen's match. His astonishment upon the Paris mas
sacre. P. 117
The Queen gives Smith the Chancellorship of the Order. Anno 1572.
Comes home. Made Secretary. Famed in the Court for his
learning. Smith's device for a view between Monsieur and the
Queen. His thoughts of the massacre at Paris. His detesta
tion of it. His reason of the manner of answering the French
Ambassador. His observation of the prejudice the French did
themselves in Scotland.
CHAP. XIV.
Secretary Smith at Windsor dispatching business. His
care of Flanders and Ireland. Mass-mongers and con
jurers sent up to him out of the north. His colony in
Ireland. P. 124
The Secretary at Windsor, dispatching agents and Irish mat- Anno 1572.
ters. His compassion for Flanders. His advice about the

xvi CHAPTERS
Earl of Desmond ; and the quarrel between Clanrichard and
Fitton. Mass-mongers and conjurers sent up to the Secretary.
His letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury hereupon. Persuades the
Queen to send aid into Scotland. Which upon his motion she
condescends to. Two Scotchmen by him examined. Sir Tho
mas sends a colony into Ardes. His patent for it. Sir Tho
mas's son leads the colony. His rules and orders for it. Mr.
Smith's care in the colony. Draws up instructions for his son.
Families of English found in the Ardes. Mr. Smith's good ser
vice this winter. Mr. Smith slain. The Ardes neglected upon
Sir Thomas's death. How lost from the family.
CHAP. XV.
The Secretary oppressed with business. His discourse
with the Queen about Ireland and the Earl of Essex.
His act in the behalf of colleges of learning. His sick
ness and death. P. 139
Ann. 1574. The Secretaiy uneasy at the Queen's delays. The Queen
' deliberates about supplies for the Earl of Essex. Her back
wardness thereunto troubles the Secretary. Conference be
tween the Queen and her Secretary about Ulster and the Earl
of Essex. His advice to the Queen concerning him. The Se
cretary with the Queen in progress. She speaks to the Secre
tary about dangerous beggars. He procures an act for schools
of learning. The act. His fatal distemper seizes him. It af
fected chiefly his tongue and throat. The Orator now scarce
can speak. To divert his sickness he looks over his former
writings. His book of Roman coins. The physicians tamper
with him. They leave him to kitchen physic. Goes into the
country. Dies. Persons attending his funerals. Buried. His,
monument. His lady dies. His person described.
CHAP. XVI.
His last Will. p. 154
Anno 1577.. Makes his Will : for the finishing of his, house and monument.
To his lady. For preserving good housekeeping. To his bro
ther. His library to Queen's college, or Peter House. Books
to his friends. A cup to the Queen. In case of doubt arising
in the Will. His executors. The date of his Will.

AND CONTENTS. xvii
CHAP. XVII.
Observations upon Sir Thomas Smith. P. 159
His learning. A Platonic. A physician. His recipe for the
plague. His chymical water sent to the Countess of Oxford.
His Matthiolus. A chymist. A mathematician. An arithmeti
cian. An astronomer. His judgment of the star in Cassiopeia.
A politician. A linguist. An historian. An orator. An ar
chitect. His library. Books by him written. A great judge
in learning. His acquaintance. The vogue of his learning.
Beneficial to learning. His places. His wealth. His houses :
in Chanon Row; in London; at Ankerwick ; Mounthaut. His
heir, Sir William Smith. CHAP. XVIII.
Sir Thomas Smith's virtuous accomplishments. P. 175
His religion. His principles by which he governed himself.
His virtues. Vices falsely charged on him. His spirit. His
apparel. Not oppressive. Of an universal charity. His apo
phthegms. Leland's copy of verses to Smith. Dr. Byng's epitaph
on him.

APPENDIX.

Number I.
The patent granted by Barker, Garter King at Arms, to
John Smith, Gent, father to Sir Thomas Smith, for his
coat of arms. P. 181
Number II.
Sir Thomas Smith's new English alphabet. P. 183
Number III.
Sir Thomas Smith's orations for and against the Queen's
marriage. P. 184
1. Agamus, or Wedspite, his oration for the Queen's single
life. P. 184
2. Philoxenus, or Lovealien, his oration for the Queen's
marrying. P. 196

xviii CONTENTS
3. Philoxenus, or Lovealien, his second oration for the
Queen's marrying with a stranger. P- 223
4. Axenius, or Homefriend, his oration for the Queen's
Majesty's marrying with an English Nobleman, rather
than any foreign Prince. P. 230
Number IV.
The petition of Thomas Smith, Esq. anno Dom. 1660, to
King Charles II. for the restoration of the country of
the Ardes in Ireland, belonging of right to his ancestor
Sir Thomas Smith. 260
Number V,
Sir Thomas Smith's Tables of Money : and for the reduc
ing of the Roman monies to the English standard. P. 263
Table I.
In the pound weight of silver, how much current monies. Ibid.
Table II.
When the standard money is at 20rf. the ounce P. 264
Table VIII.
When fifteen groats, or five shillings, make the ounce. P. 265
Table IX.
How much the mark containeth. Ibid.
Table X.
How much the pound containeth. P. 266
Table XI.
How much the ounce and smaller weights contain of mo
nies. P. 266
A discourse for demonstrating the reduction of the Roman
coin to our money. p, 267
Table XII.
For weighing monies of gold, current in Sir Thomas
Smith's time. p. 270

TO APPENDIX. xix
Table XIII.
Supputatio nostra? Pecuniae ad veterem Romanorum, ut
colligit Tonstallus e Budseo. P. 271
Table XIV.
Collatio mensurarum Anglicarum cum Romanis. Ex Co
lumella, Li. 5°. ca. 1°. P. 272
Anglorum mensura Ibid.
Number VI.
Sir Thomas Smith's library, Aug. 1, 1566, in his gallery
at Hillhall. P. 274
Number VII.
A Brief of the letters patents and privilege for the mak
ing of copper and quicksilver by way of-transmutation,
&c. P. 282

THE
LIFE OF THE LEARNED
SIR THOMAS SMITH, KNIGHT.
CHAP. I.
Sir Thomas Smith's birth, parentage, and education*
J. HE learned Sir Thomas Smith, sometime Secretary of chap.
State to King Edward VI. and afterward to Queen Eliza- *'

beth, was born at Walden in the county of Essex, distin- a.d. 1512.
guished by the name of Saffron Walden, the lands of thatBorU'at
parish and the parts adjacent being famous for theWalden in
growth of that useful medicinal plant; whether first
brought thither by this Knight's industry (being a great
planter) I know not ; for it was first brought into Eng
land, as we are told, in the reign of King Edward III. camd. Brit.
According to Camden, who writes, that Sir Thomas in what
Smith died anno 1577* in his climacteric, he must havej^.' of 0
been born in the year 1514. According to Fox, (who, in Elizabeth.
his relation of an evidence given by the said Knight inMomim-
February, anno 1551, against Bishop Gardiner, assigned lst edit-
his age then to be three and thirty,) he must have been
born in the year 1518. But himself putteth his age out
of doubt in his book of the English Commonwealth, where
he saith, that March the 28th, 1565, he was in the one
and fiftieth year of his age. By , which computation he
must have come into the world in the year 1512, (a year
famous to England for building of a ship, the biggest that
ever the sea bore.) And by the inscription on his monu-
, b

2 THE LIFE OF
chap, ment it appears, he departed this life in the sixty-fifth
.year of his age. So that Camden made him two years

A.D. 1512. younger than he was, and Fox five; unless we should say
Hen. vill. tjie gg^g 33 jg misprinted for 39, a f^ult too common in
his books.
His father. Our Knight's father was John Smith of Walden, gen
tleman, a person of good rank, quality, and wealth. Of
which we may take some measure from two purchases he
made of King Edward in one year, viz. the third of his
reign; that is to say, a chauntry in the church of aLong
Ashton in Somersetshire, with other lands, tenements, and
hereditaments in the counties of Somerset and Gloucester,
which cost him 293?. 16s. 8d. His other purchase was
all the guild' or fraternity in Great Walden lately dis
solved, with divers other lands and tenements in Essex
and London. For which he, with another joint-purchaser,
oTwaiden. paid 53lL 14* lldm °f which fraternity of Walden this,
by the way, must be remembered for the honour of it,
that in a grant made to it by King Henry VIII. as he
willed there, " that he might evermore be remembered in
" their perpetual prayers, so he charitably desired, that he
" might be admitted a brother thereof, and his dear wife
" Queen Katherine to be a sister." And divers other's are
expressed there to be desirous to be admitted to the same^
as the Right Worshipful Dr. Wolsey, Almoner to the
King; Richard Nix, Bishop of Norwich; Henry, Earl of
Essex, and his lady ; Lord Brook, Chief Justice of Eng
land; Sir John Cutts, Sir Thomas Semer, and divers other
gentlemen and ladies.
HVhtuel ™s Jo]}n Smith> U we look further back, was in the

riff.

» there was one John Smith of Bristow, gent, and of the lordship of Lang
Aisteton [£. e.- Longaiston,] in the county of Somerset, who, 86 Henry VIII.
had this coat granted "him by Tho. Hawley, Clapsntienx, viz. Two gemfrfls
unde, &jlver, between two griffins passant, go])}, the wings levant, languid,, and
armed, azure.. Between' the said 'gemells a "bull's head gold: on each side a
mullet silver, perced' of the field. And this was the Smith, I suppose, that
made the purchase mentioned above.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. a
30th of King Henry VIII. High Sheriff of the counties of chap.
Essex and Hertford : for in those times one Sheriff served L 

both counties. a.d. 1512.
In the year 1545, and the 35th of King Henry aforesaid, „. ^ '
his coat of arms was granted him by the principal king of arms.
arms, or rather confirmed. For the said King's patent
specifies, that he was descended of honest lineage, and
his ancestors had long continued in nobility and bearing
of arms; and that it was Mr. Smith's desire, that the king
of arms would ratify unto him his former coat, and re
gister it in the records of his office. The Coat therefore
granted, annexed, and attributed unto him was sables, a
fesse dauncy between three lionceux, regardant, argent,
languid gules, pawing with their left paws upon as many
altars flaming and burning thereon, (for that these were
anvils, as some have thought, alluding to the name of
Smith, is a fancy ;) upon the fesse nine billets of his field.
The crest an eagle rising sable, holding in his, right claw a
pen argent, flames of fire issuing thereout. Thi3 crest Sir
Thomas changed upon a notable reason, as we shall relate
in due place. Of this coat of arms I have laid a copy of
the original patent in the Appendix ; which is in parch- Num. 1.
ment, very well adorned round about with pictures of
roses and flowers de lys, and the lively effigies of Garter
arrayed in his rich coat, standing with a white wand in
his hand, and a crown- on his head, and the coat of Smith
blazoned on the right side of him, and pointed to by the
said white wand.
I have but one thing more to say of this gentleman, A favourer
and that is, that he was an old favourer of the religion re- °
formed, in which he brought up his son Thomas from his
youth. He lies buried in the church of Walden, where
his monument is yet remaining ; that igy so much of it as
contains his coat of arms ; but the brass that bor,e the in
scription torn off. This for Sir Thomas's father.
His parentage on his mother's side was also genteel, Sir Tho-
. * i sii 1 »mas's mo-
being derived from the ancient name of the LharnOeks 01 ti,er.
Lancashire; his mother Agnes being a daughter and co
il 2

4 THE LIFE OF
chap, heir of that family. By this gentlewoman John Smith
' had issue divers children of both sexes, viz. four daugh-

a.d. 1512. terSj Agnes and Margery, Alice and Jane, (which two last
were married;) and three sons, Thomas, John, and George.
The posterity of which last flourish to this day in wealth
and honour; and possess the seat and inheritance of Tho
mas, the subject of our ensuing history, with great im
provements of the estate. Though no more sons are ex
pressed in the roll of the pedigree, as it is preserved in the
office of arms ; yet there seems to have been another son,
an elder brother to Thomas. For I have seen sometime a
crescent for distinction in his seal, which he used for the
sealing of his letters, engraven with his arms.
His brother His brother John was the chief instrument and procurer
of the new erection of the corporation of the town of
Walden, in the third year of King Edward VI. after the
dissolution of the ancient fraternity of the Holy Trinity of
the said town, by virtue of an act of Parliament in the
first of the said King mentioned before. The corporation
then founded by that King's letters patents bore the name
(as the old fraternity or guild had done) of treasurer and
two chamberlains, who were justices of peace, and four
and twenty aldermen ; which now, by a later charter, is
changed into a mayor and twelve aldermen. In those let
ters patents the said John Smith junior was nominated
the first treasurer of the said corporation. In the chamber
where the town writings of Walden are kept, there is a
book, containing their by-laws, which bears the title of
Ordinances and Statutes for the Corporation of the Town
of Walden upon the new erection of the same. From
thence is extracted what is above said. Another piece of
good service done by the said John to the town was, that
when an ancient almshouse, founded anno 1400, the lands
of which were swallowed up and lost, being given to the
King by act of Parliament, as an appendant perhaps of
the guild, the parishioners made suit to him in behalf
thereof by this John Smith, who, by means of his brother,
our Sir Thomas Smith, then Secretary of State, obtained

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 5
letters patents from the King, dated February 18, in the chap.
third of his reign, that he the said John Smith, being then L

treasurer, and William Strachy the younger, and Thomas a.d. 1512.
Williamson, then chamberlains, and their successors,
might found, erect, &c. an almshouse, with one master
and his brother, &c. and that it should be called King Ed
ward's almshouse. I can give no account of this branch
of the family, unless perhaps it was that stock of the
Smiths that lived long in Little Walden upon a moderate
living there; which now is gone out of the name, and
possessed at present by the Reverend Dr. E. Norton ; to
whom I am beholden for communicating what is here
written of this brother of Sir Thomas, with some other
things relating to the town of Walden.
His younger brother George followed the calling of a His brother
merchant of London, living in a house of his brother Tho- merchant.
mas's in Philpot-lane, while he remained at Cambridge.
And as his money came in there, he used to send it to his
said brother to mend his stock, without taking a penny or
halfpenny advantage in consideration of his loan, the bet
ter to assist him in carrying on his traffic, as Sir Thomas
wrote somewhere, to justify himself from an imputation of.
covetousness, charged upon him once by the Duchess of
Somerset, when he lived in her family.
Where our youth's tender years were formed I cannot His school.
assign ; but I conclude it to be at the old school in his na
tive town of Walden ; which afterward, by his interest at
the court, he got advanced unto a royal foundation, with
good endowment from the King his master, in the third
year of his reign; when he granted to the school there
two mills, viz. a corn-mill near the town, and a malt-mill
in it ; together with all the emoluments, tolls, and benefits
accruing, and an annuity of twelve pounds, issuing out of
the manor of Willingale Spane in Essex, for the mainte
nance and support of the said school. This seems to be
but a grafting upon the ancient school here: for I have
received from the reverend person above mentioned, , the
b3

•6 THE LIFE OF
chap, present Vicar of Walden, and he from the inspection of
L the town writings, that there was anciently a school in
a, d. 1512. this place, and a master and usher over it; and that it
enVIU' was governed by divers excellent orders for its six forms;
and that in the 14th year of Eing Henry VIII. one Dame
Jane Bradbury (for why should these old memorials be
lost?) settled ten pounds per annum upon it; that there
was also a tripartite indenture for the said school, dated
August 24, betwixt Dame Jane Bradbury widow, sister
to John Leche, late Vicar of Walden, and the treasurer
and chamberlains of the guild of the Holy Trinity in the
parish church of Walden, and the Abbot and convent of
the monastery of the same town : and that one William
Cawson had behaved himself so well in singing mass, and
in, teaching the school, that he was elected when it was
made a free school ; and he was obliged to teach grammar
after the form of Winchester and Eton; and to teach
freely the children that were born in Walden, Little Ches-
terford, Newport, and Widdington, and the children and
kinsfolk of the said Dame Jane.
a.d. 1526. We are in obscurity concerning the towardliness of
the Univer- Smith's young years, and those sparks of aptness, inge-
sity- nuity, and virtue that then appeared in him; which yet
we may take for granted from his early remove to the
University of .Cambridge : for, according to the nearest
computation I can make, he was transplanted thither at
the age of fourteen or fifteen years at the most.
pistribu- > And having brought him thus far, to enter now upon
History. our remarks of him, and to unveil who and what this
man was, whom I have raised, as it were, from the
shades,, now after an hundred years and more, to set
him before this present age, as a pattern of true ho
nour, virtue, and generosity, we shall take a fourfold
view of him.
I. At the University, where his learning made him
famed. II. Under King Edward, when he became a courtier.

SIR THOMAS SMITH.

III. Under Queen Mary, when he concealed himself, chap.
and lived in a private capacity.

IV. Under Queen Elizabeth, when after she had much^0-!"?-
' , Hen. VIII.
employed him in her service, both in her own and foreign
courts, he piously concluded his useful life.

b4

THE LIFE OF

CHAP. II.

Sent to Queen's college in Cambridge : chosen a King's
Scholar: reads the Greek Lecture, and rectifies the
pronunciation : University Orator : his applause.
a.d. 1526. JJe was admitted in Queen's college in the aforesaid
Entered at University; a college then reckoned in the rank of those
Queen's houses that favoured Erasmus and Luther, and harboured
College. guc^ ag consorted privately together to confer about reli
gion, purged from the abuses of the schools arid the su
perstitions of Popery. Of this house was Foreman, who
hid Luther's books when search was made in the college
for them; and Heyns, an ancient friend of the Gospel,
and sufferer for it ; afterwards Master of the college, and
Dean of Exeter, and one of those who in King Edward's
reign was chosen to assist at the compiling of the English
Communion Book. And perhaps Erasmus and his writ
ings were more particularly favoured here, that most
learned man having not long before resided in this house.
These might have been some advantages to ground young
Smith in principles of religion and sound knowledge.
King- Hen- While he was thus a student here, such notice was
ry s sc 10 ar. taken 0f jjjs parts anj hopefulness, that the knowledge of
him came to King Henry, who, according to the custom of
the princes of England in those times, chose him, and
John Cheke of St. John's college in the same University,
afterwards tutor to Prince Edward his son, to be his scho
lars, and allotted them salaries out of his revenues for
their encouragement in their studies ; whereby Smith be
came assisted to bear his charges in the University, but
cheke. , especially in his travels abroad. Cheke makes mention of
this honour done to them both, in an epistle to that King
before his edition of Chrysostom's two Homilies, which he
first published from a manuscript, and translated into La
tin, wherein he hath these words : Coaptasti me et Tho-
mam Smithum, socium et cequalem meum, in scholasticos

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 9
tuos; i. e. " Your Majesty chose me, and Thomas Smith my chap.
" companion and equal, for your own scholars." And Smith .

also takes occasion to make a grateful mention of it to Bi- a.d. 1526.
.„..., ° , , , . , Hen. VIII.
shop Gardiner in the controversy about the right pronounc
ing of the Greek, (of which we shall hear by and by,) and
thus describes himself and his said fellow : Quos par cetas,
conditio similis, eadem ratio studiorum, et parilis in utrum-
gue regia benignitas, et perpetua qucedam comparatio in-
geniorum et cemulatio, qua: solet inter cateros invidiam et
dissensionem excitare, conjunctissime semper hactenus co-
pulavit, etfraterno amore constrinxit; i. e. " That equality
" of age and conditions, the same course of studies, and
" the royal bounty equally exhibited to us, and the conti-
" nual vying with one another, and emulation of our parts
" and wits, which in others is wont to kindle envy and dis-
" sension, hitherto hath united us closely, and tied us both
" together in love as brothers." But for this royal distin
guishing favour they were envied by many in the Univer
sity. And this was thought to be a reason that there
was such an opposition made to that new correct way of
sounding Greek words, which they first brought in. Which
occasioned Smith to say, " Let it not offend any, that we De rect.
" are the King's scholars, and are so called ; and that his cia"°Un
" Majesty doth not altogether despise us : that we profess
" under the happy auspice and salary of the most learned
" and potent Prince."
These two proved afterwards an incomparable pair of What first
Christian philosophers; and, as long as they were in^*™^0^
Cambridge, continuing their fame for learning. Manystudies-
years after, one that knew them well, and that University,
(I mean Dr. Haddon,) said of them, that such they had
been, and still remained^ that none of that University
could compare with themj nor, in his judgment, any fo
reigners whatsoever. And it must not be passed over
what gave one of the first occasions to the studies that
improved them to such degrees of learning. J. Redman, Ascham's
D.D. and Master of Trinity College, but formerly of St. ^™f
John's, returning from beyond seas,, where he studied in

10 THE LIFE OF
chap, some foreign Universities, and chiefly at Paris, brought
"' home with him the knowledge of the Latin and Greek
a.d. 1526. tonarues, and was well versed in Tully. Smith and his
°' companion, who were then very young, (for it was about;
the year 1531,) were stirred up with a kind of impulse and
emulation of his learning, and the honour that was on that
account daily done unto him. And being desirous to fol
low him and his learning, they threw aside their barbar
isms, and applied themselves to the reading of Plato, De
mosthenes, Aristotle, and Cicero.
a.d. 1531. Smith's diligence soon procured him to he preferred in
Made Fel- ¦ o i *
low. the college, where he was afterwards to make a great
figure, and prove a most eminent ornament; being made
Fellow in the year 1531, then but nineteen years of age.
a.d. 1533.. Scarce had two years passed, but Smith had acquired
such good skill in Greek, that he was called to read the
public Greek lectures, when his learned fellow Cheke stu-
Reads the ^e^ an(j read them more privatelv. And from, them we
Greek lee- " r J
ture. may date the time that the knowledge of Greek, and. the
true florid elocution of it, commenced in this, nay, and all
other nations. Custom had now prevailed in a very im
proper and false sounding of certain Greek vowels and
diphthongs. For men now pronounced i, )j, u, si, oi, w, all
as iaiTa. This exceedingly disparaged the pronunciation
of that noble language : a When the reader had almost no
thing else to speak but lamentable sounds, and that pite
ous vowel I, as Smith himself complained.
a.d. 153&. Smith and Cheke began at last to confer together seri-
wvthCheke ousty about this matter, it being now the year 1535. They
about the well perceived how the vulgar sounding of the Greek was,
Greek. and concluded it evidently false, that so many different
letters and diphthongs should have but one and the same
sound. And a difficult thing they found it to teach, this
tongue well, by reason of this great and absurd confusion.
They proceeded to search authors, if perhaps thence any
» « Nihil fere aliud .haberet ad loquendum, nisi lugubres sonos, et illud Hebile
lira. Smith, de Pronunciations rect.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 11
certainty might be taken up. But the modern writers did chap.
but little avail them. For Erasmus they had not yet seen, IL
who had in a book found fault with the common reading A.D. 1535.
of the Greek.. But though both saw these palpable errors,
they could not agree among themselves ; but one thought
one thing, and another another ; especially concerning the
letters %ra. and urj/itov. They both dreaded the effects of
an unusual sound, which, by reason of the novelty, would
be hard and hateful. A httle after having gotten Erasmus
and Terentianus, (an author that wrote de Literis et Syl-
labis,) they privately made many corrections, and medi
tated diligently within the walls of their own studies a
more emendate manner of speaking ; but did not adven
ture yet to bring it into hght, nor communicate it to any,
but those whose intimate familiarity and friendship made
them partakers of their studies.
When this new utterance of Greek was sufficiently Brings in a
.... . . . ... new way of
conquered and mured to them by private use, and didpronounc-
daily more and more please them, by reason of that ful- ins Greek:
ness and sweetness that they apprehended in it, they
thought good then to make trial of it publicly. It was
agreed that Smith should begin. He read at that time
Aristotle de Republica, in Greek, as he had done some
years before. And that the roughness of a new pronun
ciation might give the less offence, he used some craft,
which was this, that in his reading he would let fall a
word only now and then uttered in the new correct sound.
Which he did for this end, that if his auditors utterly re
fused his words thus pronounced, then he reckoned he
ought to defer his purpose for some longer time ; and ac
cordingly so he intended to do : but if they received them
with a good will, then he would the more Speedily go on
with his innovation. But behold the issue! At first no
notice was taken of it; but when he did it oftener, they
began to observe, and listen more attentively. And when
Smith had often inculcated ij and 01 as E and 01, they who
three years before had heard him sound them frequently

12 THE LIFE OF
chap, uncorrectly after the old way, could not think it was a
'"' lapse of his tongue, but suspected something else, and
a.d. 1535. laughed at the unusual sounds. He again, as though his
' tongue had slipped, would sometimes correct himself, and
say the word over again after the old manner. But when
he did this daily, and, as appeared, every day, the cor
rected sounds flowed from him more and more, some of his
friends came to him, and told him what they noted in his
lectures. Smith now cared not to dissemble, but owned
that he had been thinking of something privately, but
that it was not yet enough digested and prepared for the
public. They, On the other hand, prayed him not to con
ceal it from them, but to tell them without any grudging.
Whereupon he promised he would. Upon this rumour
many came together, and repaired to him ; whom he re
quired only to hear his reasons, and to have patience with,
him three or four days at most, until the sounds, by use,
were made more trite to their ears, and the prejudice of
novelty more worn off. And so by little and httle he ex
plained to them the whole reason of the sounds. Many
went to Cheke, and related to him Smith's discourses;
and others resorted to others, according as they esteemed
them to be men of judgment in this matter. These
thought some one thing, some another ; Cheke assented.
Reads pri- At this very time Smith read upon one of Homer's
IonegeinhiS°dysses at home in the college. There he began more
plainly and Openly to shew and determine the difference
of these sounds. Then many came, that they might the
more easily learn of him viva voce to frame their tongues,
and utter the true sounds. The same did Cheke in his
college. It is not to be expressed with what greediness
and affection this was received among the youth, and how
gladly they agreed to it. The following winter in St.
John's college was acted the Greek play of Aristophanes
called Plutus, in this pronunciation, and one or two more
of his comedies ; when among those that professed Greek,
and were esteemed learned men, it was observed there was

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 13
not so much as one that signified any dislike, or shewed chap.
any opposition. u'

John Ponet,.a learned and ingenious young man, and A. d. 153a.
Smith's scholar, (afterwards Bishop of Winton,) seems to
. i-ii. .,., /-, 1 Smith's cor-
have succeeded his tutor in this place : for he read Greek rect way of
in the schools in the name of the University near this yUn!jinB
time, and followed his master's way of sounding Greek prevails in
words. Next him came into this place Ascham of St.sit*
John's, a person of like wit and diligence ; who read Iso-
crates. He, in the beginning of his lectures, contended
with Ponet about this way of pronouncing, and refused to
follow it: but because of the authority that Cheke and
Smith had gained in the University, he would not reprove
it openly. Yet was it not long after, that he became a
very eager defender of this very thing, and so remained.
Thus in a few years had this correct way of reading
Greek, introduced by Smith, prevailed all the University
over. And, which was more remarkable, it was consented
to by John Redman, Public Professor and Reader of Divi
nity, of great honour and deference in the University for
his learning, integrity of life, and gravity of manners ;
who, when at any time in his readings he alleged a text
in Greek, used to read it after the correct pronunciation.
Arid thus by Smith's pains and endeavours, never to be
forgotten by posterity, was the noble Greek tongue re
stored to itself, as it was spoken in the times when Greece
flourished, and brought forth Plato, Dionysius, Plutarchus,
Demosthenes, Tbucydides, and others : out of whose
writings he and Cheke produced authorities that they
pronounced the Greek as he taught. Arid by this revived
pronunciation was displayed the flower and plentifulness
of that language, the variety of sounds, the grandeur of
diphthongs, the majesty of long letters, and the grace of
distinct speech.
And as the University laid that honour upon him, of
making himself their Greek reader, so they gave him the Made uni-
Office of their Orator b. In his Greek lectures, among other to"' y
k He was made University Orator anno 1 538. Full. Hist. Camb.

14 THE LIFE OF
chap, good authors (as Aristotle and Homer) he read Socrates
' .and Euripides for philosophy and morality. His oratory

A.D. 1536. and learning intermixed was so admirable, and beyond the
' common strain, that Queen's college carried away the
glory for eloquence from all the colleges in the University
besides, and was rendered so famous by this her scholar,
that it had hke to have changed her name from Queen's to
Smith's college.
Unius eloquio sic jam Reginea tecta
Florebant, quasi quce vellent Smithea vocari.
Sic reliquos inter socios caput extulit unus.
Musar.La- As Gabriel Harvey, Smith's townsman, and one that knew
c rymae. ^^ weji> writes upon his death.
His lee- Such was the fame of his lectures, that not only his
own private College, but all the University, learned and
less learned, young and old, flocked to hear him. So
writes the same author :
 Pendebat ab ore

tures flock'
ed to.

Unius privata domus,, Schola publico, docti,
1 Indocti, Schola tota Virum, Schola tota Puellum.
And the learnedest and gravest men, and his seniors,
and the choicest wits of the University, would be present
when he read, and sit there as his scholars ; as Redman,
Cox, Cheke, Cecil, (he that afterwards was Lord Trea
surer,) Haddon, Ascham, Car, Tonge, Bill, Wilson, Gold-
wel, Watson, &c. men of great name afterwards in Church
and St^te. Felix qui potuit Srnitho auscultare loqicenti;
Sive illi Greece dicendum, sive Latine.
" And happy he that might hear Smith speak, whether it
"were in Greek or Latin." Thus he continued divers
years in the University, till he was succeeded in the place
of Orator by his fellow and friend John Cheke, and he
by Roger Ascham, another curiously learned man, in the
year 1544.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 15

CHAP. III.
He travels : his conferences with learned men at Orleans
and Paris : takes his degree at Padua : returns home :
his usefulness at the University: the controversy there
arisen about his way of pronouncing Greek.
oMITH having now arrived at some maturity of know- a.d. 1539.
ledge and learning, and in the seven arid twentieth year Hen' VIIL
He trees
of his age, (it, being now the year of our Lord 1539,) abroad.
went abroad to travel, for the further improvement of
himself in polite learning, elegant language, skill in the
modern tongues, and experience of the customs and laws
of other countries : a thing commonly practised by scho
lars in these times, to study some time at foreign Universi
ties in France and Italy, which used then to be reple
nished with very learned professors. Being abroad, he
took notice of the different ways of speaking Latin ; which
although he did not like, especially the French, who
sounded Latin very corruptly, yet he conformed himself
to their manner of speech. And when he came into Italy,
he followed them there in pronouncing some letters dif
ferent from our way; as when he came home he returned
to speak as his countrymen did.
But at Orleans he became acquainted with Christopho- Confers
rus Landrinus, a sharp and diligent man, famed for his professor at
skill both in Latin and Greek, and reader of both tongues Orleans,
in that city, encouraged with a noble salary given him by
the Duke of Orleans. While he and Smith conferred to
gether of studies, (as he was courteous to all, but espe
cially obliging to learned strangers,) they fell at length
upon the Greek learning. Here Smith took occasion to
mention the manner of pronunciation lately by him taught
at Cambridge; and having explained to him the whole
manner and account of it, it cannot be expressed with
what willingness, nay, greediness, he received it, giving
his ready assent and approbation to it, not only in words,'

16 THE LIFE OF
chap, but in experiment and deeds; ever after following the
. same course in his teaching.

a.d. 1539. After some months he departed from Orleans to Paris,
AnTat Pa- to wait for the return of ™oney> and to receive his allow-
ris with ance to defray the charges of his journey to Italy. But
Strazehus. being force(j to tarry there somewhat long for letters, and
weary of doing nothing, he thought he might more profit
ably spend his leisure time in reading some lecture pub
licly, and especially in Greek. This he communicated to
Strazelius, the King's Professor of the Greek tongue there.
But as yet they came to no resolution what book to read
upon. Nor indeed did the Professor much encourage
Smith to read at all : because, as he told him, Paris did
abound with readers; and that there were many lectures
in Greek, though none of the best. He added, that that
person was honoured with auditors . in that city, not that
did most learnedly explain his author, but that could ob
tain the greatest favour, and was best known among the
people. But yet the Professor offered him, if he had con
fidence of himself, that he might shew himself before the
people. This cooled our scholar; and now he objected,
that he should not tarry long there ; and that there was
another thing that discouraged him from reading Greek :
for that he being a stranger, and not well skilled either
in the French tongue, or the customs, might expose him
self to envy; which is wont to accompany all them that
profess something different from the rest. The Pro
fessor asked what that was ? Smith answered, his pro
nunciation; which, he said, was almost quite different
from theirs which he heard there, especially in some let
ters and diphthongs; to which, as he added, he had so
accustomed himself, that he could not easily leave it, if
he would; nor indeed would he, if he could; so near did
it come to truth, and the use of the ancients, and the na
ture of sounds ; and now that he was accustomed to it, it
seemed more pleasant and easy. " I understand," answered
Strazelius, « what you say to be that pronunciation that
" Erasmus pursued in a little comment of his." "That very

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 17
" pronunciation," replied Smith: " for it is niost evident chap.
" that this pronunciation of yours is corrupt ; and it is U1,

" very easily proved that the ancients spoke otherwise, and a.d. 1539.
" made a difference where now none at all appears." Then
for proof he produced that concerning otftuvia, in Aristo
phanes, resembling the bellowing of an ox ; and /3ij (3^, out
of Suidas, representing the bleating of a sheep : which
would not imitate either, if the former word were read ami-
nia, and the latter bibi, according to that present vulgar
pronouncing. And several other authorities did Smith give,
from whence he gathered, that the sounds of the common
readers of Greek were not the same which the ancients in
Greece used. " It is certain," said Strazelius, " there be
" many reasons and conjectures in favour of what you
" urge, and that place out of Aristophanes is clear. Yet
" they that hold the contrary opinion are not altogether
" destitute of conjectures too. For my part," added the
Professor, " I am contented with the present sound such
" as it is. - I have had no mind to strive about any new
" matter ; and if you should attempt any such thing, I
" know not how they that shall hear you would take it,
" having been always brought up in another way of pro-
" nunciation. And to speak freely ^as he went on) these
" contests about the sounds of words are pedantic, and
" more fitting for schoolmasters : we promise ourselves
" some greater things from you, whom we have heard to
" be well versed in all kind of philosophy. Nor would I
" have you in so slight a matter provoke them here, that
" of themselves are too apt to envy the praises of others."
Smith acknowledged he counselled him well, and like a
friend; and added, that he would wait till his money came;
and if it chanced that he stayed any considerable time, see
ing he was not bound to read there, he would sometimes,
and according as he had leisure, consider upon these things.
Smith, still remaining in Paris, made a visit to a learned And a Gre-
Greek, that sojourned at that time in Bernard's cloister, aciaa"
courteous and affable man. His chief business with him
was to be satisfied from him what sounds the Grecians

18 THE LIFE OF
chap, themselves in Greece did use. And by and* by, when
'"" .Smith began to speak of the new way, the Greek grew

a.d. 1539. angry, and called Erasmus badin, (a French word, though'
otherwise he spake little French, and for the most part
Italian,) that he being a Dutchman, had brought into
Greece, whence they were sprung, such vast sounds, as he
expressed himself, and absonous diphthongs. The dispute
between them could not hold long, because Smith under
stood but little French, and the Greek gentleman not
much more, but Latin he understood not at all. And
when he spake Greek, although he was a very learned
man, yet he stuffed in so much of his vulgar Greek, that
Smith could not well understand him. And so he de
parted from him.
Travels to From France our scholar proceeded forward towards
ItaIy- Italy, and settled himself at Padua; studying there for
some time in the civil law, to qualify him for state affairs,
(for which the King designed him,) and went out in the
same University Doctor of that faculty.
A.D. 1542. Coming home, he retired to his old colege a very ac-
utprofesforComP^sne^ Person- ^n tne year 1542, being now thirty
of the civil years of age, he took the degree of Doctor of the Civil
Law in Cambridgej and was made the King's. Professor in
that faculty, Wiggin being then the King's Professor of
Divinity, Cheke of the Greek tongue, Wakefield of the
Hebrew, and Blith, who had married Cheke's sister, of
Physic a. ,
a general As Smith had sufficiently shewed himself a Grecian and
scholar. an oratorj so his large mind prompted him to make him
self master of all other kinds of useful learning. And he
was reckoned the best scholar in the University, not only
for rhetoric and the learned languages, but for mathema
tics, arithmetic, law, natural and moral philosophy; as one
of the same University before mentioned, and that was
not long after him in tinie^ sets out the common vogue he
bore there :
a Among other honours and places conferred on him in the University, he
was Vice-Chancellor 1542-3. Full. Hist. Comb.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 19
Quis primus rJtetor ? Smithus. Quis maxim us Hermes CHAP*
Linguarum ? Smithus. Geometres ? Smithus et idem.

Summus arithmeticus ? Smithus. Legumque peritus A.D. 1542.
Ante alios ? Smithus. Physicus celeberrimus ? Ohe ! Hen. VIII.
Smithus multiscius. Morumque vitteque magister crymas.
Optimus? Et Smithus.
Remaining in the University, he became Chancellor to
Goodric, Bishop of Ely; who, being himself a learned chancellor
man, and a favourer of the Gospel, chose such officers *? thei^T
about him. Such another was Dr. Cox, who was his
Chaplain ; the same that was the first instructor to Prince
Edward, and after Dean of Christ Church in Oxford, and
Chancellor of that University; and at last Bishop of Ely,
under Queen Elizabeth.
Whilst Smith lived in the college, he spent not his Breeds up
time in sloth and ease, nor indulged Mmself to a lazy un-pupiSl
profitable life, but made himself useful and serviceable to
the University in many respects. One was in breeding up
young men in literature and good manners, being his pu
pils* Many of whom were of the best rank and quality.
He was tutor to Edward Earl of Oxford, a nobleman who
afterwards proved of excellent abilities and learning, but
too much addicted to prodigality. Sir William Cecil, Mas
ter of the Wards and Liveries, took this young nobleman,
being a ward, under his peculiar care : and in the family
with him was also another Earl, namely of Rutland, be
ing also a ward. And when in the year 1563 Dr. Smith
(then a Knight) was the Queen's ambassador in France,
the said Cecil wrote him how the former Earl, whom he
styled his scholar, had learned to understand French very
well; and that he was desirous to have an honest quali
fied Frenchman to attend upon him and the other Earl,
for the exercise and speech of the tongue. He directed
Smith, that he should be one honest in religion, civil in
manners, learned in some science, and not unpersonable.
And if he were worthy fifty or sixty downs by year, he
would be ruled by him, the said Smith. And withal he
c 2

20 THE LIFE OF
chap, prayed him to provide some good rider for these noble
'"'' .wards, (which riders in those days commonly were Ita-

A.D. iS42.iians,) and he would give him twenty pounds by year, if
Hen. vm. Smitn Bnom(j s0 judge him worthy. Arid Sir Thomas was
glad to be thus employed, to contribute to the generous
education of all noble youth, for the good of the common
wealth, as well as of the Earl, that once had been his pu
pil. Under him also was bred John Ponet, that learned
man, who wrote many excellent books, mathematical and
other, became Chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer, and was
preferred by King Edward VI. to be Bishop of Rochester,
and after of Wincnester b-
Refines the Smith was also, during his residence in Cambridge, a
writing. great refiner of the English writing ; which to these times
was too rough and unpolished, and httle care taken there
of, as may be seen by such as converse in the writings of
men even of learning in those days. He was noted to be
one of the three there, that were the great masters of the
Ascham. English tongue. And so one of the floridest members of
that University wrote to his correspondent John Stur*
mius at Strasburgh, upon occasion of a book he had wrote
in English of the education of children, called Preceptor,
b Another bred under Smith, to whom he was tutor, was Richard Eden, an
ingenious and learned man, who employed his mind much to navigation, and
the knowledge of the most unknown parts of the world, especially the north
ern parts, that began to be discovered in those days by navigators : whose
voyages he translated into English, if writ in other languages, and published,
called his Decades. Among the rest he translated and set forth, anno 1561, a
book of one of the learnedest mariners in the world in his time, a Spaniard,
named Martin Cortes, entitled, The Art of Navigation, containing a compen
dious description of the sphere, with the making of certain instruments and
rules for navigation. This book he dedicated to no less a person than the Em
peror Charles V. and Eden the translator to Sir William Gerard, Knight, Tho
mas Lodge, alderman of London, and the Governors of the Honourable Fel
lowship, as well of certain of the Nobility as of Merchant Adventurers, for the
discovery of lands, territories, islands, &c. unknown. Designing this transla
tion, as he said, for the increase of skilful pilots, whereof then there were very
few. This Art of Navigation (which seems to have been one of the first of this
sort printed in the English tongue) was likely to beget some better store of
English pilots.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 21
i. e. The Schoolmaster. Which argument, he said, was chap.
not so dry and barren, quin Anglice etiam avQuipoypafehdott, 1U'

possit, si in arttficem aliquem, qualis fuit Checus noster, a.d. 1542.
et sunt adhuc apud nos Smithus Haddonus incidisset:
" but it might have been written floridly in English, had
" it happened upon some artist, such as Cheke was," (who
now was gone,) " or Smith or Haddon," that still were
with them at Cambridge : being a language very capable
of all the ornaments both of words and sentences.
About or near this time it was, that Smith wrote a A tract by
tract concerning correct writing of English, and the truet™t pU'r_°r
sounding of the letters and words. That which he found v™e-
fault with in our language was that ill and improper writ
ing of it. As for instance in these words, please, sonne,
moone, hemme, cleane, to, toe, meane. In which words, he
said, those sounds are not comprehended which we ex
press : and in some of them the syllables are stuffed with
needless letters; which letters by themselves have their
certain natures, as he observed, and that being joined
after that manner, have not that force which they ought
to have. And again, in other words, he took notice we
•had no letter which expressed that which we spake, and
therefore he thought it necessary to have more letters. So
he framed twenty-nine letters: whereof nineteen were
Roman, four Greek, and six English or Saxon. The five
vowels he augmented into ten, distinguishing them into
long and short, making certain accents over, or on the
side of them, that were to be pronounced long. It is
worth seeing Smith's new alphabet, wherein might be ob
served that he allowed no diphthongs, nor double conso
nants, nor any E's at the end of words, being not sounded.
He had a good mind to throw out utterly, and banish
from the alphabet the letter Q as useless, Ku expressing
the full power of Qu, for without the vowel U, the letter
Q is never written. And the same uselessness he found to
be in the letter C, for it is ever expressed either by K or by
S. But he retained it in his alphabet to serve instead of
Ch. This alphabet may be found in the Appendix. Num.11.
c 3

22 THE LIFE OF
chap. And as he promoted the refining of the use of the Eng-
lIL .lish tongue, so also of the Greek, together with Cheke,

a.d. 1542. pTOfessor also of that language after him; who laboured

R^ctifi!"1 t0 amend and rectify the evil and false way of pronounc-
thepro- ing divers consonants, vowels, and diphthongs. What
o^Greek ° this untoward way of reading Greek was, we may in part
guess at by one word, viz. Ku)3!p«e, which was commonly
sounded Chiverno: wherein, as Ascham shewed to Hu
bert, a learned foreigner, in a dissertation with him upon
this argument, there were no less than three erroneous
soundings in three letters, x, v, 0. In short, «*, ««, et, 8f «i,
8$ >j, 8f v, were not distinguished from the sound of i&rtt,
but all had one and the same sound of I, as was shewn
before.
A contro- This proved a great academic controversy. For though
hi'ti^Uni- f°r f°ur years Smith's new way of reading Greek was
versity quietly and gladly received, yet afterwards, by the means
hereupon. \ ' , , ... ... mi
ox some turbulent men, it received great opposition. And
certain there were that began to make a great hubbub
cheke, against it, and against Cheke, who was now by the King
turerkLeC" *"s master appointed his Reader of Greek. For to fetch
the matter a little backward, about the year 1539, near
the time of Smith's departure to travel, the King's Greek
lecture was committed to Cheke. He, in the beginning of
his lecture, the better to prepare the minds of his auditors
to receive true benefit by his readings, declaimed for six
days together concerning the more correct sound of let
ters. But on a sudden one Ratecliff, a scholar in the Uni
versity, stood up and declared that he would oppose him ;
being instigated by such as had no more wit than himself.
Cheke had no need to fear him, whom all knew understood
little Greek, and whom none thought a man fit to be re
futed, or dealt with as a considerable adversary. Yet
some were for hearing him, to make sport. The magis
trate, to whom the scurrility of the man was well known,
thought he ought in time to be restrained. Nevertheless
he went up to read somewhat, and having spoke a little,
he was so laughed at by the boys, so exploded and hissed,

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 23
and so tossed in the crowd which came together in a chap.
great assembly to laugh rather than to hear, that his own IIL

friends were ashamed of him; and he himself repented a.d. 1542.
faim of his folly ; though he had but little modesty and less en' .
brains, according as Smith described him ; for I have re- mi et cere-
lated all this from his book. But Ratecliff's setters-on bri parum-
brought this matter to Bishop Gardiner the Chancellor,
and told the tale so fairly on his side, that the Bishop af
terwards objected this man and his reading unto Cheke 's
party. " But," saith Smith, " his Lordship had never done
" this, had they who named him to the Bishop declared
" what kind of man he was, of what wit, of what nature,
" of what prudence, gravity, modesty, and learning ; that
" is to say, none at all." After this fellow was gone, there
was peace, quiet, and silence concerning these matters,
and in great fervour and industry the youth of Cambridge
learned Greek, until the Bishop's decree, which we shall
hear of by and by.
But all the blame of this new pronunciation lay upon Cheke cia-
Cheke. He was the man now cried out against as arrO- ga;„st for"
gant, proud, and daring, and guilty of high crimes ; and '*•
the Chancellor rebuked him. And all the storm that light
upon Smith all this while was, that he was accused to
have been an abettor, and one that approved of Cheke's
doings. But Smith was not afraid of all this noise, and
generously took the thing upon himself, that he might
take off some of the odium from his friend Cheke. And
so he freely told the Chancellor c, " I was his fellow and
" partaker in this matter ; nay, I was the head. I suffer
" it not to be derived upon others, but I take it in a
" great part to myself. And that, because as I have al-
" ways esteemed it the part of a subdued and great mind,
" to be negligent of glory and praise ; so but a trick of
c Quia moderati et magni animi esse putavi laudem ac glofiam negligere,
perfidi et ignavi, amicum in periculis deserere. Humilem et dejectum homi-
nem existimo, qui ex recte factis invidiam non posse ferre. Veteratorem ac
senilis ingenii virum judico, qui cum ipse praestare possit, contegi Be, ac suum
factum, ab aliis patiatur defendi.
c4

24 THE LIFE OF
chap. " treachery and sloth, to forsake a friend in danger. I
IU" _" hold him of a mean and abject spirit, that cannot bear

a.d. 1542." the envy that attends worthy actions : and I judge that
Hen. viii. «man but a wily knave, who, when he can do it, will
" conceal himself, and suffer others to defend what he
" hath done."
The decree Now did Bishop Gardiner, the Chancellor of the Uni-
Chanceiior. versity, interpose his authority. For being against all in
novation, as well as innovation in religion, and observing
these endeavours in Cambridge, of introducing a more
correct and true pronunciation of the Greek, and this, by
such as he suspected to be no friends to the old Papal su
perstitions, he made a solemn decree against this new
way, and that the old should be inviolably observed by all
the scholars for the time to come. Cheke was very ear
nest with the Chancellor to allow of these rectified sounds,
and supersede and wink at his former decree; but he
would by no means alter it, and peremptorily enjoined
him to read the Greek after the ancient rude way, urging
to him the great evil and danger of innovation.
Smiths About this time it was that Dr. Smith, upon this or
omp 'a nce" some other occasion, repaired to the Bishop then at the
Court at Hampton Court; and seeing his resolution,
thought not fit to stir the coals, but after a mild and in
genious way told the Bishop, that for his part he could
read both ways, the new and the old, that he might offend
none for such a matter, as a particular mode of pronounc
ing was. That he knew, balbutire, modo idem siquando
usus sit expedite loquatur, etiam laudi dandum est; that is,
" That even stammering deserved praise, if so be he that
" did so, when need was, would speak smoothly:" accord
ing to that of the Apostle, / am debtor both to fools and
wise. Thus pleasingly did Smith comply with the Bi
shop, and yet tacitly gave him a reproof for his obstinate
urging so blameworthy a thing, and checking so laudable
an enterprise.
His epistle 0 . , . ,
to the Bi- Smith s mind still was the same. For when he came
thufargu" home> (which was about tne month of July) he recollected
ment.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 25
his discourse with the Bishop, and the Bishop's with him; chap.
and in a large and eloquent epistle, privately sent to him,

argued with much freedom the points in controversy be- A.D. 1542.
tween them; which epistle (full of excellent learning)
consisted of three parts. In the first he shewed what was
to be called true and right in the whole method of sounds
and pronunciation, and retrieved this from the common
and present use, and out of the hands both of the ignorant
and learned that lived at that time, and placed it with the
ancients ; restoring to them their right and authority, pro
pounding them as the best and only pattern in the whole
case of the Greek tongue to be imitated by all posterity.
In the second he compared the old and the new pronun
ciation with that pattern, that the Chancellor might see
whether of the two came nearer thereunto, or strayed far
thest from it ; that so by this, judgment might appear,
what was to be corrected, and what followed. In the third
part he explained by the story of the past time the whole
account of his doing in this aflair, that his Lordship might
understand, that if there were nothing therein worthy to
be commended, nothing at least deserved to be reproved;
concluding with all deference and profound respect to this
haughty man, (for his temper Smith very well knew,) in
these words : " However the matter falls out, we will re-
" main at your command. To your authority I shall ever
" attribute as much as any student of law (as Smith was)
" ought to give to a most learned Prelate, and Chancellor
" of an University. And so much I shall yield unto your
" arguments as the truth of the cause and the weight of
" reasons shall require. But in every thing we shall ac-
" cording to our power maintain our duty to you, gently
" respect and obey our magistrate, and ardently love your
" Lordship. From Cambridge, August the 12th, 1542."
This epistle he afterwards, while he was ambassador at Pa
ris, caused to be printed there in quarto, anno 1568, enti
tled, De recta et emendata Lingua Grceca Pronunciati
on; together with his other tract of the right sounding and

26 THE LIFE OF
chap, writing of English : both printed in Latin by Robert Ste-
ni- .vens, the French King's Printer, in one volume.

A.D. 1542. To conclude this matter, I cannot omit to mention, that
HeaVm- however correct this new way of pronouncing Greek was,
fessorofBa-'and generally afterwards received, a late learned Professor
forSthetidPof that language in Basil, named Wetsteene, made an ora-
sounds. tion in that University, lately printed, to confute it, and
to revive the old exploded sounds.
Religion And as he was thus useful to learning in the University,
byTmfin so he was also to religion. He was bred up in the Pro-
the uni- testant doctrine, (a pretty rare matter in those times,) and
he never flinched from it. All his kindred of his father's
side were neither neutrals nor Papists, (as he wrote some
where of himself,) all inclining to the truth and Gospel,
old and young, and so known and noted. This he wrote
to some, because certain backbiters in King Edward's days
had charged him to have been a neutral. The reason
whereof seemed to be, because he did not run so fast in
the Reformation under that King, as some Hotspurs
would have him, who knew not what the matter meant.
For he was publicly knowri to be a Protestant in the time
of King Henry VIII. living then in Cambridge, and being
there in place of eminence, when the Bishop of Win
chester, the Chancellor of that University, was severe to
wards those that professed the Gospel, and threatened fire
and faggot-bearing; Smith publicly defended them, and
apposed those rigorous methods, and staved off many.
And this he did before all Cambridge, and all the Justices
of Peace in the shire, and saved many, and so continued.
He stood up and pleaded for the professors and profession
of the Gospel publicly, both in the University before all
the learned men ; and not only so, but in the Convocation
before all the Bishops, and in the Parliament-house before
the Lords and Commons, as he writ in vindication of him
self.
A. D. 1 546. And being a man of reputation among them, the Uni
versity made use of him once as their messenger and adr

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 27
vocate to the Court, to address to Queen Katharine Par; chap.
to whom he brought their letters, beseeching her interces

sion to the King on their behalf, being now, as they ap- a.d. use.
prehended, in imminent jeopardy. For the Parliament m He°darassL
the thirty-seventh, that is, the last year of that King's* eth to the
reign, had given him all the colleges in the kingdom ; beuh"f ^
whereat the University was sore afraid. Dr. Smith re- Cambridge.
paired to that good Queen, entreating her to prevail with
his Majesty, that, notwithstanding the late act, they might
enjoy their possessions as before. And she did, as she
was a true lover and patroness of learning and religion,
effectually apply to the King, and had her request in that
behalf granted ; and to that purport she wrote her letters
to the University, of which Smith was also the bringer ;
wherein she called him their discreet and learned advo
cate; and having admonished them, that she would have
their University to be an University of divine philosophy,
as well as of natural or moral, she let them understand
that she had, according to their desire, attempted her
Lord the King's Majesty for the stay of their possessions ;
and, " that notwithstanding his Majesty's property and
" interest through the consent of the High Court of Par-
" liament, his Highness was such a patron of good learn-
" ing, that he would rather add, and erect new occasion
" therefore, than confound those their colleges. So that
" learning might hereafter ascribe her very original, whole
" conservation, and sure stay, to our Sovereign Lord," as
she expressed herself.
In his public academical performances he acquitted His acade-
. i » 1 i it- • 1? n i mical exer-
himself with wonderful applause and admiration of all the ciSes.
hearers. And at a Commencement, which happened, as
near as I can guess, this year, being now the King's Pro
fessor, both his disputations and his determinations were
such, that Haddon, a good judge, in a letter to Dr. Cox,
(giving him some account of that Commencement,) told
him, " that had he been there, he would have heard an-
" other Socrates ; and that he caught the forward disput-
" ants as it were in a net with his questions, and that he

28 THE LIFE OF
chap. " concluded the profound causes of philosophy with great
in. « gravity and deep knowledge A."

a.d. 1546. Dr. Smith's places and preferments in Cambridge and
Hen. vni. elsewhere, as they brought him in tolerably fair incomes,
mentT "" 'so they, together with his eminent virtue and learning, re-
Cambrid e conciled him great respect. For he had the lecture in the
civil law, being the King's Professor in that science ; for
which he received 40/. per annum. He was Chancellor
to the Bishop of Ely, which was worth to him 50/. per
annum. Besides, he had a benefice, viz. of Leverington
in Cambridgeshire, which came to the value of 36/. per
annum. So that his preferments amounted to 120/. a
year, and vpwards. And such a good husband he was,
that he made some purchases before, and some soon after
his leaving the University, as we shall hear by and by.
His port. And this was the port he lived in before his leaving of
Cambridge : He kept three servants, and three guns, and
three winter geldings. And this stood him in 30/. per an
num, together with his own board.
J Haddon also, in his Epistle to Cheke about the year 1547, gave this ac
count of Smith : D. Smithus consent inter nos literas omnis generis, Jus Ci
vile docet, ad Philosophise causas accedit, Medicos etiam tentat novos nostras,
exemplo D. Pauli fit omnibus omnia, fructum ut afl'crat omnibus. Haddon.
Epist. p. 166.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 29

CHAP. IV.
Smith is removed into the Protector's family: his pre
ferments under King Edward: made Secretary: goes,
an embassy.
DOCTOR SMITH was often at King Henry's Court, a.d. 1547.
and taken notice of by that King, and was growing soComcrsto
dear to him, as to be received in place and office under Court.
him, had he lived a little longer. But soon after King
Henry's death he was removed from Cambridge into the
Duke of Somerset's family; where he was employed in
matters of state by that great man, the uncle and go
vernor of the King, and Protector of his realms. Into
whose family were received many other very learned and
pious men. *
Long he had not been here, but the University ear- Addressed
nestiy addressed to him to stand their friend in some cer- uiriversity.
tain weighty matter, wherein not any single cause of theirs
was in hazard, but themselves and their all : which, with
out question, was the danger the University was in upon
the bill in agitation in the Parliament- house, for giving
the King the chantries, hospitals, fraternities, and col
leges ; which last word took in the societies of the Uni
versities. At which they looked about thein, and made
all the friends they could at Court to save themselves.
And as they applied now to Cheke, so to Smith also in
this elegant Latin epistle, which was drawn up by the ex
quisite pen of Ascham their orator ; wherein may be ob
served what a general opinion there went of his complete
learning :
Si tu is es, Clarissime Smithe, in quern Academia hoc Their let-
* , . ter.
Cantabrigiensis universas vires suas, universa ptetatis
jura exercuerit, si tibi uni omnia doctrinal suce genera,
omnia reipub. ornamenta libentissime contulerit, si fru-
ctum gloria? suce in te uno jactaverit, si spem salutis sua

30 THE LIFE OF
chap, in te potissimum reposuerit : age ergo, et mente ac cogita-
1 , tione tua complectere, quid tu vicissim Mi debes, quid ilia,

a.d. \w.quid liters, quid respUhhca, quid Deus ipse pro tantis
Edward VI. * . .J.I ........ Ji, •, • .,•
pietatis offimis, quibus sic dignitas tua efftorescit, justis-
sime requivit : Academia nil debet tibi, imo omnia sua in
te transfudit. Et propterea abs te non simpliciter petit
beneficium, sed merito repetii officium : nee unam aliquam.
causam tibi proponit, sed sua omnia, et seipsam tibi com-
mittit. Nee sua necesse habet aperire tibi consilia, quo
rum recessus et diverticula nosti universa. Age igituv
quod scis, et veKs quod poles, et perfke quod debes. Sic
Uteris, academice, reipubUea, et religioni; sic Chris to et
Principi rem debitam et expectatam efficies. Jesus te di-
utissime servet incolumem.
And this address had the success it desired; for the
colleges of the Universities, and the other colleges of
learning in the nation, were spared by a proviso, though
the aforesaid bill passed into an act ; which we must at
tribute, in good measure, to Smith and his party stirring
in the House to bring it to pass.
Made Mas- The Lord Protector had set up an office in his house of
ter of Re- r
quests to a Master or Requests, for the better care-taking of poor
men's suits, and for the more effectual speeding them
without the delays and charges of law. In this office was
Dr. Smith placed, and seems to have been the second
Master of Requests to the Protector, as Cecil was the
first.
other dig- While he was in the serviee of this great Duke, he ob-
ferredon" *amed divers other considerable places: as to be Steward
h™. 0f the Stannaries, Smith being an excellent metallist and
chemist: Provost of aEton College, wherewith he was very
well pleased ; where, whether he were present or absent,
there was always good hospitality kept : Dean of the ca-
» He was made Provost of this college of Eton upon the resignation of Ro
bert Bishop of Carlisle, by the donation of Henry Bishop of Lincoln, in the
first year of King Edward. And his patent bore date January 3, 1547, which '
is still preserved at Hill- hall, in the possession of Sir Edward Smith, Bart.

Somerset.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 31
thedral church of Carlisle, being at least in Deacon's or- chap.
ders: and at last, Secretary of State to the King, with a lv'

Knighthood. a.d. U47.
By this time he had purchased two houses; one inHi 8
Channon-row, which he bought for two hundred marks of «'">«<«•
Sir Ralph Sadleir, sometime Secretary of State to King
Henry, which he let to Mr. Comptroller for 30/. per an
num. And here he lived himself in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth: and this was the house where the Commis
sioners met in the first year of that Queen, to consult for
the reformation of religion, and preparing the Book of
Common Prayer. His other house was in Philpofc-lane,
London, where his younger brother, a merchant, lived. It
was a large and fair house. He bought it of certain ex
ecutors; but the title being doubtful whether the King
had not a right in it, he procured of his lord the Duke to
speak to the King in his behalf. To this house also an
other pretended. But the contest between Sir Thomas
and that other was referred: and so in the end Sir Thomas
enjoyed it. He also purchased the manor of Yarlington
in Somersetshire, worth 30/. per annum, of the Marquis of
Northampton, it being given to him at the coronation of
Queen- Katharine his sister. This cost Smith 300/. or
thereabouts, being money that he bad gotten at. Cam
bridge, before he came into the Protector's service, and
lent to his brother the merchant. Of the Commissioners
for the chantries he also bought the college of Darby,
which went at 33/. per annum, which cost him a thousand
marks ; which was the portion he had with his wife.
For while he lived in the Duke's family he married b his Marries.
first wife, named Elizabeth, daughter of William Karkek,
or Carkyke, of London^ gentleman; whose sister Anne
after married to Sir Thomas Chamberlayn, long ambassa
dor- resident in Flanders and Spain. Smith's lady was a
h He married his first wife, here mentioned, in the year 1549, April 15,
haying the day before been made Secretary of State. This wife lie buried
August 3, 1553. His second wife he married July 23, 1554. She was daugh
ter of William Wilford, of Lorie, gent.

32 THE LIFE OF
chap, little woman, and one that affected not fine gaudy clothes,
1V- for which she was taxed by some. And by this, one might
A. d. 1547. rather judge her to have been a woman of prudence and
EdwardVI- religion, and that affected retirement rather than the
splendour of a court. For Dr. Smith allowed her what
she pleased ; and she was his cash-keeper.
Marries However, he used to wear goodly apparel, and went
asain- hke a courtier himself. For which he said, that some
might seem to have cause rather to accuse him to go too
sumptuously, than her of going too meanly. This wife he
buried, having no issue by her; and married a second,
named Philippa, the relict of Sir John Hambden, who out
lived him ; whose jointure was Hill-hall. Of this wife it
was that Secretary Cecil spake, when in the year 1565,
Smith having been ambassador in France, and earnestly
desiring to come home, the said Secretary wrote him word
that his wife should either speak or send to the Earl of
Leicester, that he would dispatch Mr. Thomas Hoby,
whom the Queen had determined to send ambassador in
his room, but delayed it.
He is sian- But we are yet to look upon Smith as one of the Pro
tector's family; where he flourished in places and ho
nours, as we heard before : yet he had his share of trou
ble and sorrow; as, the anger of his haughty mistress, the
Duchess of Somerset, and many unjust imputations that
were raised against him, whereto she gave too much cre
dit : which was the cause of a large letter, which he ad
dressed unto her ; wherein he vindicated himself against
many slanders which were told the Duchess ; whereof she
had twitted him in the teeth, as things the world took no
tice of in him: namely, 1. Haughtiness, and a disregard-
ful proud temper. 2. That he was oppressive; and had,
by extortion and griping; got a great deal of money. 3.
Covetousness. 4. That he bought and sold benefices, or
spiritual promotions. Add to these, that he was a chopper
and changer of lands : that his wife went not in so courtly
a garb as was fitting : that he kept no house : and, that he
was a neuter in religion. But these were mere aspersions

dered.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 33
and malicious insinuations; his generous mind ever ab- chap.
horring*any thing that was base and unjust, or unworthy IV"
of a man, and a Christian philosopher. And these calum- A- D- '547.
nies he wiped off, assoiling one particular after another, in
his said letter to the Duchess. Indeed, she was an im
perious and ill-natured woman, and had taken some occa
sion to fall out with hiin ; and in her passion, it seems,
had cast out these reports before him.
But Smith was a true and faithful servant of the Duke ; Suffers im-
and in his troubles suffered with him : for he was taken IK the6"*
up with him, and among those that were sent with the Duke-
Duke to the Tower, Sir Thomas was one ; though after
wards, his innocency appearing, he was delivered, and
escaped those severe handlings that some of the Duke's
friends and retainers underwent.
In the year 1548 Dr. Smith was advanced to be Secre- A-D. 1548,
Made Se-
tary of State; as in September the same year, William cretary.
Cecil, Esq. was preferred to the like office, both having
been servants to the Protector. Smith was made use of
for the reformation of religion, which was now going in
hand with in good earnest, as he was afterwards in all the
steps of it.
In the month of July, the same year 1548, he, with Goes am-
Mr. Chamberlain, went ambassador to Brussels, to the ass or'
Emperor's council there : which, was, I think, the first
embassy he underwent. The business of the state, in
sending him at this time, was, the great apprehensions
from France, who had possessed themselves of Scotland,
and so were a very formidable enemy; and the more
so, because they were so near. But to provide against
them as well as the King could, he endeavoured to stop
them from the use of the ports of the Low Countries,
which were most commodious for Scotland. Then Smith
obtained so much from the Emperor's counsellors of the
said Low Countries : though the promise was not so well
made good ; for in the latter end of this same year both
French and Scots came from Scotland, and were landed
and discharged at Dunkirk. Which caused another em-

34 THE LIFE OF
chap, bassy in January, by Sir Philip Hoby, froni the^ English
IV- Court to the Emperor, complaining of this; and shewing

12.

a.d. 1548. how the Eriiperor's counsellors in the Low Countries had
Edwardvi. declarfjd to Mr Secretary Smith, at the Court there, that
the French's going into Scotland, or returning thence,
should have no manner of favour or reception at any of
the Emperor's ports. This was one of the busmesses of
this embassy; but the chief matter indeed, and end thereof,
was, for the raising of soldiers in those parts ; which they
did to the number of two thousand; and obtained the
Emperor's leave for passing of them. There is a letter of
Gaiba, b. Smith's, remaining in the Cotton library, to the Protector,
while he was now ambassador at Brussels ; wherein may
be perceived the purport of his embassy, with other news
of the affairs of the world ; and was as ensueth : (arid I
the rather set it down, to preserve what monuments we
can of this excellent man.)
Smith's let- " Pleaseth it your Grace to be advertised,
Protector. " That we received your Grace's letters the xiith of
" July,, with the good news of the state of our things in
" Scotland : for the which we most highly thank Al-
" mighty God, and your Grace. And as we do not a little
" rejoice at them ourselves, so we shall not fail to commu-
" nicate them, as occasion shall occur, where it shall be
" convenient. And surely, they here have espials in Scot-
" land, as well as we, and be not ignorant of our affairs
" there. Nevertheless, as they pretend at the least, they
" be very glad to hear them of us. The rumour runneth
" here still, that Mr. Chamberlain and an ambassador
" came hither to take up men: and hereupon hath some
" offer been made unto us; but such as we could not like.
" Yesterday came to us a certain Almain, who brought
" to Yarmouth, I suppose, an ensign of footrnen in the
" King's days that dead is : he liked so well his pay then,
" as he saith, he would gladly serve the King, before any
" other prince. We said, winter was now very near; ne-
" vertheless, if he would write his offer, we would advertise

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 35
" your Grace, and know further your pleasure. He is one chap.
" Groning in Frizeland. What your Grace's pleasure shall

<' be, that we shall answer him and all such, we require A-D. 1548.
" your Grace to know, so soon as conveniently you may.
" This man saith, if his request be too much, he will be
" content your Grace shall mitigate it as shall please you.
" He is of the land of Conte de Bury, and saith he hath
" communicated the matter with Scepperius, [the Empe-
" ror's admiral,] and he giveth him good comfort, that the
" Queen [Regent of Flanders] will give him licence.
" Two merchants of Antwerp, lately coming from Au-
" gust, [Augsburgh,] saith, that there the Emperor com-
" pelleth every man, to this interim; and that some of the
" cities grudging at it, he hath referred the answer to No-
" renburgh : but that it is not doubted there, but that
" Norenburgh will do as the Emperor will have them.
" They shewed further, that the Emperor would have
" them build up their monasteries again, and abbeys, and
" all such things : and all standeth upon that answer of
" Norenburgh. Further, the Emperor hath already sent
" four thousand horsemen to lie about Strasburgh ; and
" that he doth intend shortly to come thither, and to as-
" say the Switzers. Nevertheless, they said, that at this
" Council was none of the Switzers, but only of B. [Berne,
" or Basil.] They shewed also, that there was a saying
" that the Emperor and the French King intended to part
" the Switzers between them, of agreement, as they said :
" but if that be, it is more hke to make wars, than to
" have any long amity after that sort, &c. Thus, having
" none other thing worthy of advertisement to write to
" your Grace, I commit the same to Almighty God.
" Your Grace's most bounden Orator and Servant,
" T. SMITH."
From Brussels, July ] 9th.
Our ambassador Smith came home again in September,
leaving Chamberlain resident at that Court.
About this time, (or perhaps somewhat before,) letters Smith con-
' cerned in
D 2

36 THE LIFE OF
chap, passed between some counsellors, touching the weighty
matter of altering the religion : and in this Smith was

a.d. 1548. concerned; one of whose letters relating to this affair yet
Edward VI. ¦ • ., t. i
the itera- remains m the Jraper-house.
tion of re- When base monies, as testons (coined in great quan-
*10n' tities under King Henry VIII.) and other pieces, were,
of base mo- near this time, under consultation to be redressed, Smith
ney- also was made use of in this ; and wrote a letter to the
Lord Protector, touching the benefit arising by the Mint,
while such monies were coined, to give the better light
unto this work that was now going in hand with a.
» And according to the advice of Smith for good sterling money to be
coined, those coarse teston pieces were forbidden to be coined. And in 1547
a prohibition was sent to William Sharington, of the Mint, to forbear coining
any more of them ; though he, notwithstanding, for his own gain, did coin
these testons in May, June, and July that year, to a great sum. This man
had also committed many other abuses and deceits in the coinage ; as in the
clippings and shearing of the monies he defrauded the King to above 4000 1, value,
and made his monies too light out of the remedy. And when the month's do
ings or books were brought to him, he used every month to strike out as much
as he thought good : and to conceal this, he falsified the indentures of the
coinage, and burnt all such books and indentures as might have charged him.
These deceits of Sharington were found out, and he being committed to the
Tower, the Earls of Shrewsbury and Southampton, with Secretary Smith, were
sent to examine him there, who confessed all, and submitted himself. The con
fession and submission was drawn up by Smith's hand ; to which Sharington
subscribed : and the two Earls and Smith set their hands as witnesses. This
was taken in the Tower, February 2, 1548. [anno forte incipiente.]

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 37

CHAP. V.
Sir Tliomas Smith in commission : words between Si-
shop Bonner and him: his fidelity to the Duke of
Somerset.
IF we trace Sir Thomas Smith in the ensuing year, viz. A.D. 1549.
1549, we shall find him employed in certain commissions
of importance.
An ecclesiastical commission in the beginning of thisSmitllina
year was issued out, for the examination of Anabaptists and against
Arians, that began now to spring up apace and shewAnabap"
themselves more openly. Sir Thomas was one of these
commissioners, (for he was much employed in the matters
of religion,) jointly with the Archbishop of Canterbury;
Thirlby, Bishop of Westminster; Dr. Cox, Dean of West
minster; Dr. May, Dean of St. Paul's; and Dr. Cooke,
Dean of the Arches ; who sat in judgment upon divers
of these heretics in that part of St. Paul's Church com
monly called the Altar of our Lady.
A visitation being instituted this summer by the King One of the
for the University of Cambridge, he was appointed one of Cambridge,
the visitors, in conjunction with Ridley, Bishop of Ro
chester; May, Dean of St. Paul's; Sir John Cheke, and Dr.
Wendy, the King's physician. The business of this vi
sitation was to abolish such statutes and ordinances as
maintained Papistry, superstition, blindness, and igno
rance, and to establish and set forth such as might further
God's word and good learning : our Smith, with the Dean
of St. Paul's, a little before Easter acquainted Bishop Rid
ley with it, by sending him a letter to Rochester, and de
siring him to make a sermon at the opening of the said
visitation. Another commission, dated in September, from theincommis-
King, was issued out to Sir Thomas Smith, together with g"^"^011
four more; the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Bonner.
Rochester, Sir William Petre, and May Dean of St. Paul's;
D 3

38 THE LIFE OF
chap, to take trial and examination of Bonner, Bishop of Lon-
. don, for certain incompliances and disobediences to the

a.d. 1549. King s proceedings in religion. Sir Thomas was able and
EdwardVI. , , f *\ , & . ,.¦,,„ ,
bold, and one that sincerely wished well to a reformation
Bonner of corrupt religion. This commissioner, of all the rest,
dine him. Bonner seemed most to regret, and set himself in opposi
tion against. His first quarrel against him was, that be
cause he sat not at the beginning, when the commission
was first opened and read, therefore he ought not to be a
commissioner at all. For by the law, said Bonner, they
that first began, must continue the commission. But
Smith told him, that as cunning as he made himself
in the law, for his part he had studied the law too, and
that these were but quiddities and quirks invented to de
lay matters. But the commission was to proceed sum
marily, et de piano, and to cut off all frivolous allega
tions. And when at this same session the Bishop de
manded somewhat of the commissioners upon pretence of
law, that was not convenient to be granted, Secretary
Smith, seeing that his device was merely to defer and
elude the main business, told him plainly, he asked he
knew not what, and that the Bishop would have had them
to humour him, and to be led according to his mind in
these quiddities ; whereas all was for no other intent but
to delay justice: and that herein he did all one with
thieves, murderers, and traitors, that the truth might not
be known, to prevent their shame and condemnation.
Which plain-dealing did more and more provoke that
proud Bishop. And those expressions of the Secretary he
could never forgive, but was continually pelting at him,
and declining him as none of his judge.
Smith deals The great intent of this commission was to examine
roundly , . .
with him. him concerning a sermon, which was appointed him by
the Council to preach touching the King's authority in his
tender age to administer the government and make laws.
In which the Bishop prevaricated, not speaking home to
that necessary point to the satisfaction of the people, but
running out upon the subject of the real presence. Con-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 39
cerning which, when the commissioners could not bring chap.
him to confess whether in that sermon he omitted that V'
article or no, shifting it off by his uncertain speeches, a.d. 1549.
other articles were drawn up for him to answer to by
oath : which Smith told him he must not dally with as he
had done hitherto. And that though he had made his
answers by writing after his wary and obscure way, yet
now he should be examined by them, and make answer
by mouth to the same article, or do that which was worse,
namely, go to the Tower. " I do not indeed," added he,
" discommend your protestations and terms of law, if it
" were in a young proctor in the managing of his client's
" cause ; but in you it may not be suffered so to use the
" King's commissioners."
When the Bishop was next to appear before the com- Smith's
imssioners, he sent two of his servants to excuse his not Bonner's
coming before them by reason of sickness. But the Se-servant-
cretary knowing well his former ways of delay and baffling
the commissioners, doubted of the truth hereof: and
therefore told the messengers roundly, that because he
should not deceive them as he had done, they would send
the knight-marshal unto him, who should have order, if he
were sick indeed, to let him alone; for that, he said, was a
reasonable excuse : but if he were not sick, to bring him
forthwith ; for that he should not do as he had done, nor
would they take it at his hands. " Mr. Johnson," added
the Secretary, (he was one of the Bishop's servants that
brought his message,) " you do the part of a trusty ser-
" vant as becomes you ; but it is your part also to shew
" my Lord of his stubborn heart and disobedience, which
" doth him more harm than he is aware of; What ? Doth
" he think to stand with the King in his own realms ? Is
" this the part of a subject ? Nay, I ween, we shall have
" a new Thomas Becket. Let him take heed, for if he
" play these parts, he may fortune to be made shorter by
" the head." And, whereas the Bishop was all for disown
ing these commissioners, and appealing from him, the Se
cretary subjoined, " He may appeal, if he think good. But
d 4

40 THE LIFE OF
chap, "whither? To the Bishop of Rome? So he may help
V- « himself forwards. I say, he can appeal but to the same
a, d, 1549. « King who hath made us his judges, and to the bench of
EdwardVi. a hig Council And how they. wn\ tafce this matter, when
" they hear of it, I doubt not. He would make men be-
" lieve that he were called before us for preaching his
" opinion of the Sacrament. Wherein I assure ybu he did
" but falsely and naughtily, yea, and lewdly, and more than
" became him, and more than he had in commandment to
" do. For he was not willed to speak of that matter, and
" perhaps he may hear more of that hereafter: but at pre-
" sent that was not laid to his charge."
Bonner en- gir Thomas thus using to deal with him, in many ses-
ters a reeu- , ,..-,. .. , «• • 1 ¦
sation a- sions held for his examination, and not suffering mm to
Smith ^a^y out the matter5 aim sometime taking the liberty to
reprove him, the Bishop at last made a solemn, large, and
formal recusation of this commissioner's judgment ; exhi
biting it in writing at his next appearance ; which may be
Page 1,205. read at length in Mr. Fox's Acts and Monuments. In
which recusation, Bonner shewed, how the Secretary had
charged him with dealing with the commissioners as
thieves, murderers, and traitors would have done. But
notwithstanding this recusation, the Secretary told him,
that he would proceed in his commission, and would be
his judge still, until he were otherwise inhibited. " And
" where you say," proceeded Smith, " in your recusation,
" that I said you did like thieves, murderers, and traitors ;
" indeed I said it, and may well say so again, since we
" perceive it by your doings." Whereto the Bishop in a
great rage replied, " Well, sir, because you sit here by vir-
" tue of the King's commission, and for that you be Se-
" cretary to his Majesty, and also one of his Highness's
" Council, I must and do honour and reverence you : but
" as you be Sir Thomas Smith, and say as you have said,
" I do like thieves, murderers, and traitors, I say you he
" upon me ; and in that case I defy you in what you can do
" to me; I fear you not. And therefore, Quodfacis,fac ci-
" tins." The Secretary told him, « He should know there

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 11
"was a King." "Yea," said the Bishop, "and that is not chap
" you." " No, sir," said the Secretary again, " but we will .

" make you know who is." And so in fine, for carrying AD- 1549-
. J a EdwardVI.
himself so irreverently towards the King's commissioners,
and especially towards Sir Thomas Smith the King's Se
cretary, the Knight-marshal was called in, and the Bishop
committed to him. And the Secretary commanded him to
take and keep him, that none might come at him ; for if he
did, he should set by him himself.
At another session Secretary Smith did burden him, Smith
how disobediently and rebelliously he had always carried him with
himself towards the King's Majesty and his authority. disobedL"
To which the Bishop replied, " that he was the King's law-
" ful and true subject, and did acknowledge his Highness
" to be his gracious Sovereign Lord." " Yea," answered
the Secretary, " you say well, my Lord ; but I pray you,
" what else have all these rebels in Norfolk, Devon, and
" Cornwall done? Have they not said thus, We be the
" King's true subjects; we acknowledge him for our King,
" and we will obey his laws, and the Hke? And yet, when
" either commandment, letter, or pardon was brought to
" them from his Majesty, they believed it not; but said it
" was forged under a hedge, and was gentlemen's doings."
" I perceive your meaning," said the Bishop again, " as
" who should say, the Bishop of London is a rebel hke
" them." " Yea, by my troth," said the Secretary. Where
at the standers by fell into a laughter. How this Bishop
was afterwards deprived and committed, and how he pro
tested and appealed, may be seen in other historians.
In October the Duke of Somerset, the Protector, re- in trouble
ceived a terrible shock; almost all the Privy Counsellors pj0tect„r
making a defection from the Court, and meeting in Lon
don, combined together against him; so that he at last
was imprisoned, and lost all his places, honours, and lands.
There were only three then stuck to him in this time of
adversity, viz. Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury, Sir Wil
liam Paget, and our Sir Thomas Smith. Between whom
and the Lords at London letters passed upon this affair,

42 THE LIFE OF
chap, carried by Sir Philip Hoby. The peril they ran was not a
v- httle : for the Lords wrote to them, that it seemed strange

a. d. 1549. to them, that they should either assist, or suffer his Ma-
' jesty's royal person to remain in the guard of the Duke of
Somerset's men, and that strangers should be armed with
the King's own armour, and be nearest about his person,
and those to whom the ordinary charge was committed to
be sequestered away. And the Lords sent them word
moreover, that if any evil came thereof, they must expect
it must be imputed to them. And whereas the Archbi
shop, Paget, and Smith, in their letter to the Lords told
them, they knew more than they [the Lords] knew; at
those words they took this advantage, as they returned
them answer, " That if the matters that cariie to their
" knowledge, and were hidden from them [the Lords]
" were of such weight as they pretended, or if they
" touched or might touch his Majesty, or his state, they
" [the Lords] thought that they did not as they ought to
" do, in not disclosing the same to them, [the whole
" Council.]" In fine, being overpowered, Smith, toge-
' ther with the Archbishop and the Comptroller Paget, sent
another letter from Windsor, (where the King and they
were,) that they would not fail to endeavour themselves
according to the contents of the Lords' letters ; and that
they would convene together when and where the Lords
pleased. This was a notable instance of Smith's fidelity
to the Duke his old master, who stuck thus to him as
long as he durst, and was then glad to comply as fairly as
he could. And, if I mistake not, now did some storm fall
upon Sir Thomas : and I believe he was deprived of his
place of Secretary a. For at this time it appears by the
' It is certain, as was there conjectured, that Sir Thomas Smith lost bis
place of Secretary at that time. For by King Edward's Journal it appears that
Wotton was made Secretary m October 1549, upon the first disgrace of the
Duke of Somerset, when Smith suffered with him: for when the Council com
mitted the Duke to the Tower, eight more of his friends and dependants were
committed with him, whereof Sir Thomas Smith was one. The others were
Sir Mich. Stanhope, Sir John Thin,  Wolf, William Grey, Sir Ralph
Vane, Thomas Fisher, Richard Palladey. (Titus, B. 2. a volume in the Cotton

Monum. st edit.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 43
King's Journal, that Dr. Wotton was made Secretary, chap.
Though he seemed soon to be restored again. v-
In the year 1550, Sir Thomas was summoned a wit- ad. 1550.
ness, together with a great many other noblemen and^™^1'
gentlemen of the Court, in the great trial of Gardiner Bi- posed a-
shop of Winton. He was sworn against him in the month §£"* Gai"
of February, being then thirty-three years of age, as it is Acts and
set down in his deposition [by an error of the printer for ,
thirty-nine.] By which it appeareth, that in the year be
fore, viz. 1549, Smith, then Secretary, was divers times
sent by the Lord Protector to the said Bishop, to travail
with him to agree to the King's proceedings, and that he
would promise to set them forth in a sermon, or other
wise : and that he often did, in the company of Mr. Cecil,
repair to him for that purpose. That Smith and the said
Cecil, by command of the said Council, drew up certain
articles, to which the Bishop should shew his consent,
and to preach and set forth the same. And that after se
veral attendances upon the Bishop to bring him to this,
and upon some hope of conformity thereto, the Lords of
the Council sent for him to the palace at Westminster.
After that was the Ix>rd Wiltshire sent to him, to whom
he shewed some conformity herein. Soon after that Lord

library.) And in September 1550 he (Wotton) gave up the office, and
Mr. Cecil came in. As by the Council Book it is recorded, viz. " That Sep-
" tember 5, Mr. Wil. Cecil was sworn Secretary in the sted of Mr. Wotton,
" and Mr. Wotton by the King's order still to remain in the Council."
The other Secretary was Petre. For September 6 (saith the Council Book)
Mr. Secretary Petre, and Mr. Secretary Cecil, and Mr. Wotton, sat in Coun
cil. Whence it appears, 'that Sir Thomas Smith was not then Secretary. For
there were but two principal Secretaries of State. And so we may conclude
Smith was not restored again after his former dismission, as I had supposed he
was. For the two before specified Secretaries continued all that reign, save
that they had a third added to them, and sworn June 2, 1 553, who was Sir
John Cheke.
Neither was_lie, Smith, Secretary anno 1551, when he went over in the
great embassy to France, as may be clearly collected from the King's Journal ;
which mentioning those that were sent, among the rest nameth Smith that
was Secretary; that is, that was not at present so, but as having been in that
place formerly.

44 THE LIFE OF
chap, went again, accompanied with Smith, to know his final
. resolution ; to whom he shewed great readiness to set

a.d. 1550. forth the articles aforesaid in his sermon, yet prayed not
to be tied to the same words; in which the Council at
length yielded to him. And thus was Secretary Smith
employed in that affair; in which he carried himself, it
seems, with so much discretion and moderation towards
that haughty Bishop, that afterwards, in his prosperity un
der Queen Mary, he was a friend to him, when he was
such a bloody enemy to all Protestants besides.
Makes a In this same year, 1550, he madeb a purchase of the
purchase. j£mg Qf ^ ^ofe manor of Overston, alias Oveston, in
the county of Northampton, parcel of the possessions
called Richmond lands, and divers other lands, tene
ments, and hereditaments in the counties of Norfolk, Suf
folk, Bucks, Surry, and Hertford; for which he gave
414/. 10*. 4d. and other lands in Derby and Middlesex.
The yearly value of this purchase was 87 J. 17*- 9d.
A. d. 1551. In the year 1551, the 30th of April, Sir Thomas Smith,
bMsy'to'"1" st'^ under the name of Secretary, was appointed one of
France those that were to go in that great and splendid embassy
to France, with a commission of treaty concerning a
match for the King with that King's eldest daughter, at
the same time the Marquis of Northampton went with
the Order of the Garter to the said King; with whom
was joined in commission the Bishop of Ely, Sir Philip
Hoby, Sir William Pickering, and Sir John Mason : these
two leiger ambassadors there, and two lawyers, whereof
Smith was one c,
h In the Council Book there is an order, whether about his purchase in this
page mentioned, or some other, I know not. Which order was thus : " June
"28. Granted by the King upon the declaration tberof by the Privy Coun-
" cil, that Sir Tho. Smith, Kt. as wel for his mony already paid for Ml.
" land, as for 351. land to be exchanged, shal have lands of the King's Ma-
" jesty to the value of 6Hl. a year."
c Sir Thomas this year, 1551, and as it seems after his return from France,
repaired to his deanery of Carlisle, where some things were to be set in order,
and some abuses rectified, and particularly about the Chapter's distribution of
charity to the poor ; to which an order of the Council seemed to refer, where

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 45
it is thus set down: "An order was sent from the Councel to Sir Tho. CHAP.
" Smith, Dean of Carlile, williug him, notwithstanding a letter addrest to V.
" him of late for the stay of certain mony, which they there of the Chapter —————
" are bound to distribute to poor folks, and upon high ways, that he shall „ '. . ™ '
" now henceforth procede to the bestowing theiof according to the antient
" statuts made among them on that behalf."
Smith, though not Secretary, yet seems all this reign to be much about
the Court, and employed in state-matters there. In September 1552, when
two lawyers came in commission from France, upon a grievous complaint made
by the English merchants, of damages and wrongs done them on the seas by
the French, they having shewed the Privy Council eloquently what was doing
in France for the satisfaction of our merchants, the Council referred them to
Secretary Petre, Mr. Wotton, and Sir Thomas Smith ; who then declared the
griefs of the merchants, and their losses to amount to 50,000/. and upwards.
A'. Edw. Journal.

46 THE LIFE OF

CHAP. VI.

The condition of Sir Thomas Smith under Queen Mary.
His wise advertisements.
A.D. 1558 OIR THOMAS passed the reign of King Edward in great
~Q.SM7a'ry. reputation and prosperity. But upon the access of Queen
He loses ail Mary to the crown, as many of the deceased King's min-
his places. jsters 0f state, especially such as favoured religion, were
cast of, so were the two Secretaries, Sir William Cecil
and Sir Thomas Smith. And besides the loss of that ho
nourable station, he was deprived also of what he held in
the Church. For he was a spiritual person also; and so was
invested by the late King with the Provostship of Eton
and the Deanery of Carlisle. And to spoil him of these
and other places with the more formality, he was sum
moned to appear before certain persons, whom the Queen
had commissionated for these purposes, together with
Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Dr. May, Dean
of St. Paul's. He fell easy, for his life was saved, though
he were a Protestant, and had 100?. per annum al
lowed him for his subsistence; but was charged not to
depart out of the realm. Which favourable handling no
doubt was obtained for him by some great friends at this
Court : a sign of the great esteem they had of his- worth.
Such was his good fortune in those hard times, when so
many of his friends, and the fast professors of religion,
suffered most sharply. Dr. Henry Cole (afterwards Dean
of St. Paul's) succeeded him in the Provostship of Eton,
and Dr. John Boxal in the place of Secretary of State, as
Sir John Bourn succeeded Cecil, the other Secretary. And
so he made a shift to pass through this dangerous reign in
safety, following his studies and contemplations in his na
tive country of Essex, at his house of Hill-hall there. And
when many on all hands of him were most cruelly burnt
alive for the profession of that religion which he held, he
escaped, and was saved even in the midst of the fire:

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 47
which probably he might have an eye to in changing the chap.
crest of his coat of arms, which now was a salamander VL

living in the midst of a flame; whereas before it was an A.D. 1553
« • ¦¦ 1557
eagle holding a writing pen flaming in his dexter claw, as q. Mary.
may still be seen upon a monument of his ancestors in
Walden church, and likewise in another monument in the
church of Greensted in Essex, set up to the memory of
his sister, who married Wood of Broadlane in Kent.
But, which is strange, he acted his part so dexterously in Smith hath
these difficult times, that even his enemy the Pope shel- f"0J^ \ n"ce
tered him under his bull for many transgressions of hisPoPe-
own laws. For in the year 1555, one William Smythwick,
of the diocese of Bath, Esq. had obtained a very large in
dulgence from Rome ; for which, no question, the said
gentleman was very liberal, which caused that Court to
shew herself so liberal again. It was, that he and any five
of his friends whom he should nominate, (excepting regu
lars,) such as were married, and their children of both
sexes, should enjoy many extraordinary indulgences upon
his petition to the Pope, who then was Paul IV. Which
petition was graciously accorded to by that Pope, and the
bull ran for indulgence to Smythwick, and his five friends
and their children, (as was petitioned,) A quibusvis excom-
municationis, suspensionis et interdicti, aliisque ecclesias-
ticis sententiis, censuris et pwnis, a jure vel ab homine
quavis occasione vel causis latis, ac votorum quorum-
cunque et Ecclesice mandatorum transgressionibus, perju-
riorum et homicidii casualis vel mentalis reatibus, ma-
nuum violentarum in quasvis personas ecclesiasticas, non
tamen Prcelatos de praterito, injectionibus, jejuniorum,
horarum canonicarum ac divinorum officiorum et pwni-
tentiarum injunctarum in toto vel in parte omissionibus ;
nee non ab omnibus et singulis eorum peccatis de quibus
contriti fuerint et confessi, etiamsi essent talia propter
quceforet sedes Apostolica consulenda, &c. that is, " From
" all sentences of excommunication, suspension, and inter-
" diet, and other censures ecclesiastical, upon whatever oc-
" casion or cause inflicted, transgressions of any vows or

48 THE LIFE OF
chap. « commands of the Church, guilt of perjuries and of homi-
. " cide, whether casual or mental, laying violent hands upon

a.d. 1553 « any ecclesiastical persons, excepting Prelates de pratter-
~Q.Mary. " ito, omissions in whole or in part of fasts, canonical
" hours, divine offices, penances enjoined: also from all and
" singular their sins, whereof they are contrite and con-
" fessedy although they were such for which the Apostolic
" see were to be consulted." Likewise many other indul
gences were by virtue hereof granted; as, to have a porta-
tile altar, to receive the Sacrament privately; that in Lent
and in other fasting times of the year they might eat eggs,
butter, cheese, and other milk-meats and flesh, without
scruple of conscience. Smythwick chose Sir Thomas
Smith for one of his five friends specified in the bull, to be
partaker of these Catholic privileges. And so it is ex
pressed in an instrument drawn out and attested by Tho
mas Willet, public notary; which still remains in the pos
session of Sir Edward Smith, of Hill-hall, Baronet. Diet.
Smythwick discretum et pr&clarum virum Dominum
Thorn. Smith de Hill-hall Lon. diceces. Militem,, et. Do-
minam Philippam uxorem ejus, eorumque liberos, nomina-
vii, constituit, admisit, acceptavit, Sfc. pro primis personis
de quinque personis, ut prafertur per eum nominand. ad
libere Uciteque utend. et gaudend. omnibus et singulis in
ipsis Uteris sive brevi Apostolico concess. indult. Sfc. This,
no question, was a good screen for Sir Thomas in these
evil days.
Bishop , If any still should wonder how Sir Thomas escaped so
his friend, well, who had been so much employed in the former reign
in the proceedings of religion, and had so heartily set
them forward; and withal had assisted in a commission,
wherein Bonner Bishop of London was deposed, a man of
such a wrathful temper ; his safety was in a great measure
owing to that deference that that stern and cruel Bishop
Gardiner, now Lord Chancellor, had to his exemplary vir
tue and learning : he was struck with a kind of admira
tion of the man, pretending a great love to him: and
would swear, that he among all the rest of the heretics d£-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 49
served only to live, and to be preferred for his deep wis- chap.
dom and judgment, and the heroical sentiments of his V1,

mind. This is elegantly described to us by the poet that Anno 1553.
dedicated the Muse's Tears to his funeral : ~q. MarT.
Quique alios rabido laniavit dente fideles,
Subdolus antistes Stephanus, cognomine Vulpes,
Unius ingenio, Uteris, gravitate virili
Sic perculsus erat ; mentisque heroica sensa
Sk venerabatur, non solum ut parceret illi,
Sed magnum pra se veterator ferret amorem :
Et solum harreticos inter, vitaque locoque
Dignum aliquo, propter summumjuraret acumen.
And I am apt to think, that Smith gained the point in Bi- Smith gains
shop Gardiner's affection in the year 1 542, upon his first fij^'^pon
address in that year: when being a man of eminency bis first ad-
in Cambridge, he waited upon him at Hampton Court from cam-
about the difference, as it seemed, concerning the right bridse.
pronouncing of the Greek. When Thomas Smith had
been the great reformer of the old corrupt way of reading
that language, and that Bishop the Chancellor of the Uni
versity utterly against introducing the new correct way;
yet Smith carried himself with so much facility and obse
quiousness to him in that regard, that it took much with
him. And upon his return back to Cambridge, though he
took the freedom to write a large letter to the said Chan
cellor, arguing against the decree he had lately made, to
forbid the new way, and to continue the old ; yet it was
with extraordinary compliment to him of his high worth,
learning, prudence, and acuteness; beginning his letter
after this obliging manner :
" Right Reverend and most worthy Prelate,
" Great was the pleasure I took in your discourse with
" me, when I was the other day at Hampton Court to
" wait upon you, partly out of duty, and partly to consult
" with you. For that which I had before learned by fame
E

50 THE LIFE OF
chap. " only and hearsay of your wisdom, being then present, I
VI- " understood by experience ; and that your Lordship was
Anno 1553. " endued not only with very great skill and insight in the
~Q.5Mary. " weighty affairs of state, but also in these light and li-
" terary controversies, with an incredible sharpness, and
" an excellent facility and plenty, joined with a wonderful
" obligingness, while you are disputing and arguing, &c."
He concludes his letter with a protestation of entire
obedience to his Lordship's order, however he should de
termine for or against his desire ; and that he would sub
mit to his authority, being the authority of a reverend
Prelate and a very learned Chancellor. From hence I date
the respect and love Smith gained with this Bishop.
Ascham fa- This must be remembered to this Bishop's commenda-
Gardinerf tion, among the many evil things that asperse and blacken
his name to this day. Nor must the like favour, or a
greater, be forgotten by him, shewn to such another learned
and grave Protestant, friend and cotemporary with Smith,
I mean Roger Ascham, which I must have leave to men
tion here ; whom the Bishop of Winchester did not only
spare, but called to Court, and preferred to be Secretary of
the Latin tongue to Queen Mary. Whom for his learning
in the languages, and incomparable faculty of a clean style
and beautiful writing, he greatly loved, and obliged with
many benefits. And when Sir Francis Englefiekh Master
of the Wards and Liveries, a fierce Papist, had often cried
out upon Ascham to the Bishop, as an heretic, and fit to be
rejected and punished as such, he never would hearken to
him, either to punish him or remove him from his place.
Thus lived two excellent Protestants, under the wings, as it
were, of the sworn enemy and destroyer of Protestants,
Ascham, and Smith, to whom we now return again.
And Bishop Nay, and bloody Bonner, who had a personal pique
Bonner pre- • , . . , , . . _ r rl
tends to be agamst him since the last reign, as was shewn before, let
frknd S him alone' tnough ne were in his diocese, admiring the
man, and dissembling his anger.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 51
Nee Bonerus eum non admiratus, amid chap.
Vultum hominis tantas inter simulaverat iras. V1-

Anno 1557.
But though he thus escaped this man, yet another of his Robert '
name, who was also a retainer to him at Eton when Pro- Smith, a re-
vost there, fell into his hands, whom he left not till he Thomas
had reduced him into ashes ; namely, Robert Smith, who Smith,
was burnt at Uxbridge in the year 1555. This Robert
belonged to the church of Windsor, and had a clerkship
there of 10/. a year. Of stature he was tall and slender,
active, and very ingenious for many things, chiefly delight
ing in the art of painting, which for his mind's sake, rather
than for a hving or gain, he practised and exercised. He
was smart and quick in conversation, and fervent in reli
gion, wherein he was confirmed by the preachings and
readings of Mr. Turner, Canon of Windsor, and others.
In his examinations before Bishop Bonner, he spake rea
dily and to the purpose, and with no less boldness, and
gave that Prelate his own. He was also a good poet ac
cording to the poetry of those times ; some pieces whereof
remain in Fox's Monuments : and his parts and elegancy
of style, as well as his piety Godward, may be judged of
by his sententious letter to his wife from prison, a little
before his death; which maybe seen in Fox, beginning, page 1544.
" Seek first to love God, dear wife, with your whole heart,
" and then shall it be easy to love your neighbour. Be
" friendly to all creatures, and especially to your own soul.
" Be always an enemy to the Devil and the world, but
" especially to your own flesh. In hearing of good things
" join the ears and heart together. Seek unity and quiet-
" ness with all men, but especially with your conscience;
" for he will not easily be entreated. Hate the sins that
" are past, but especially those to come. Be as ready to
" further your enemy, as he is to hinder you," &c. It was
remarkable at his death, that his body well nigh half
burnt, and all in a lump like a black coal, he suddenly
rose upright, and lifted up the stumps of his arms, and
E-2

52 THE LIFE OF
chap, clapped the same together, and so sunk down again and
' died. And this was the more to be remarked, because he

Anno 1557. had at the stake said to those that stood about him, that
ary' they should not think amiss of him or his cause, though
he came to that end; and that they would not doubt but
his body, though so to be consumed presently to ashes,
yet dying in that quarrel, should rise again to life everlast
ing; and added, that he doubted not God would shew
some token thereof.
His grief at Smith, in these days of Queen Mary, was removed off
>mes'the stage of action, being now but a silent stander-by.
And here he saw the pitiful burning of poor men and wo
men for religion, the marriage with Spain, the loss of Ca
lais, and the reduction of the kingdom to the lowest ebb,
both in wealth and reputation, that it had been in for some
hundreds of years before : which things went close to his
heart, and out of the love he had to his native country
filled him with vexation, nay, and shame, to behold. Hear
his own words, reflecting upon these times in one of his
private discourses framed in the beginning of Queen Eli-
Oration a- zabeth's reign : " We kept Calais two hundred years and
bout Queen ° r J
Elizabeth's " odd in the French ground, in spite of all the French
mamage. « hjngS which have been since that time, in all the civil
" wars, and the most pernicious dissensions that ever
" were, either in King Henry the Fourth, the Sixth, Ri-
" chard the Third, or Henry the Seventh, their times. In
" King Henry the Eighth's time we wan also to it Bouloign
" and Bouloignois. I do assure you, for my part, if I may say
" what I think, I question, if I should have lived through
" five hundred years heretofore past, I should have seen
" England at any time weaker in strength, men, money,
" and riches, than it was in the time when we wrote King
" Philip and Queen Mary, King and Queen of so many
" kingdoms, dukedoms, marchionates. For all those wily
" titles, our hearts, our joy, our comfort was gone. As
" much affectionate as you note me to be to my country
" and countrymen, I assure you I was then ashamed of

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 53
" both.  What decay came that time to the substance chap.
" of the realm, and riches both public and private, it .

" should be no less pity than needless to tell." Anno 15"-
Q. Mary.
I am sorry I can retrieve so little of this worthy man,
during these five years of Queen Mary, which he spent in
leisure and retirement. However, I have retrieved a paper Smith's
wrote by him in the year 1557, that deserves here to betisementsr
set down, entitled, and coun-

sels.

Advertisements and counsels very necessary for all no
blemen and counsellors, gathered out of divers authors
both Italian and Spanish.
1 . Tell not all that you think, nor shew all that you have,
nor take all that you desire, nor say all that you know,
nor do all that you can : for lightly shall he lose the fa
vour of his Prince that followeth the commandment of his
lusts, and restraineth not them with the bit of reason.
2. Beware you put not fortune in trust with those
things that appertain to your person, honour, substance,
or conscience: for the nobleman which is wise will not
hazard himself, in hope to have relief at her hands as often
as he shall need.
3. Although all men promise to help you if you had
need, yet nevertheless trust not too much thereto. Many
of them which now do offer to take armour for your sake,
if occasion be offered, will be the first to strike you, to give
you the overthrow.
4. In other men's cases meddle not too much, nor in
your own enforce not time : for governing you so, you
may remain in the good estate you be, or else may easily
happen to utter what you were.
5. The danger of noblemen is like to them that be in
the top of high and sharp mountains, whence they cannot
descend but fall : wherefore procure unto yourselves such
faithful friends, as will rather stay you from falling, than
such as will reach unto you their hands to help you up,
when you be down.
6. Do good while you have power thereunto, and never
eS

54 THE LIFE OF
chap, do hurt though you may: for the tears of the offended,
VL and the complaints of the grieved, may one day have place
Anno 1557. in the sight of God to move him to chastise you, and also
ary' be occasion to make the Prince to hate you.
7. Bestow your benefits and offices rather upon the
good, than upon your friends : for among your friends it
is lawful to depart your goods, but not your conscience.
8. In that you counsel be not affectionate, in that you
discounsel be not passionate. Whatsoever you do, do ad
visedly. For although in the courts of princes, every man
beholdeth the worthiness and nobility of the person; yet
the more noble a man is, the more is he noted, marked,
and hated of others.
9. If you will not err in your counsels, nor stumble in
your actions, embrace them that tell you truth, and hate
them that flatter you : for much more ought you to love
them that advise you, than those that will seem to pity
you, when you are in danger.
10. Have always in memory the benefits you have re
ceived of others, and enforce yourselves to forget such in
juries as others have done unto you.
11. Esteem much that little of your own, and regard
not the abundance of others.
12. Endeavour yourself to do good to all men, and never
speak evil of them that be absent.
13. Jeopard not the loss of many things for the gain of
one thing ; neither adventure the loss of one thing certain
for many things doubtful.
14. Make much of your dearest friends; and do not
procure any enemies.
15. Exalt not the rich tyrant, neither abhor the poor
which is righteous. This hath a line drawn through it by
the pen of Sir Thomas Smith himself, as it seems, fearing
perhaps some misconstruction of his words, which might
draw him into danger under this jealous government of
Queen Mary.
16. Deny not justice unto the poor because he is poor,
neither pardon the rich because he is rich.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 55
17. Do not good only for love, neither chastise only for chap.
hatred. '

18. In evident cases abide not the counsel of others :A"n°1557,
' Q. Mary.
and in doubtful cases determine not of yourself.
19. Suffer not sin unpunished, nor well-doing without
reward. 20. Deny not justice to him that asketh, nor mercy to
him that deserveth it.
21. Chastise not when thou art angry, neither promise
any thing in thy mirth.
22. Do evil to no man for malice, neither commit any
vice for covetousness.
23. Open not thy gate to flatterers, nor thy ears to
backbiters. 24. Become not proud in thy prosperity, nor desperate
in thine adversity.
25. Study always to be loved of good men, and seek
not to be hated of the evil.
26. Be favourable unto the poor, which may be little, if
thou wilt be aided of God against them that be mighty.

e4

56 THE LIFE OF

CHAP. VII.

Smith called for to Queen Elizabeth's Court. Concerned
in the settlement of religion. His judgment of the
Queen's marriage.
Anno 1558. W HEN Queen Elizabeth's turn came to sway the scep-
Smith em- tre, Sir Thomas Smith was presently called to the Court,
ployed in an(j ma{je use of ; and assisted in settling the public affairs
the Refor- . , -, ,
mation. both in Church and Statea. The first thing he seemed to be
employed in was, in preparing a reformed Office of Reli
gion. For when a deliberation was soon had of changing
the religion set up under Queen Mary, in a device offered
to Sir William Cecil, (who was now admitted Secretary of
State,) for the doing of it, it was advised, that before an
whole alteration could be made, which would require some
longer time and study, a platform or book of Divine Ser
vice should be framed, to be shewn to the Queen, and be
ing by her approved, to be put up in the Parliament-house.
For which purpose seven men were nominated, Dr. Bill,
the Queen's Almoner, and Master of Trinity college in
Cambridge, and after Dean of Westminster ; Dr. Parker,
late Dean of Lincoln, soon after Archbishop of Canter
bury; Dr. May, late Dean of St. Paul's, and soon after
elect of York; Dr. Cox, late Dean of Westminster, and
Christ Church, Oxon, after Bishop of Ely; Dr. Pilkington,
late Master of St. John's college, Cambridge, and after
Bishop of Durham ; Grindal, late Chaplain to Bishop Rid
ley, and soon after Bishop of London ; and Whitehead, a
grave and elderly Divine, highly esteemed by Archbishop
Cranmer : these four last having been exiles in the last
reign. And our Knight, Sir Thomas Smith, his office was
to call them together, and to be among them. And after
» Among the first businesses of Btate the Queen employed Smith about, he
was in a commission December 23, 1558, together with the Judges, Sergeants,
Attorney and Solicitor General, and Mr. Goodrick, for consideration of all
things necessary for the Parliament now near meeting.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 57
consultation with these, other men of learning were to be chap.
drawn in, being grave and apt men, to give their assents. .

And accordingly these men met, it being now winter, at Anno 1558.
Sir Thomas's house, which then was in Cannon-row;
where was laid in a sufficient quantity of wood, coals, and
drink for their use : and here was Sir Thomas assistant
with the rest in the reviewing of King Edward's Book of
Common Prayer, to be again received and established in
the Church, and in several other things to take place in
the intended reformation.
And when in the beginning of the Queen's reign, (viz. And in one
December 23,) the several public important affairs of the mitte.es for
kingdom were committed to the cares of divers noble per- the state-
sons and courtiers, in five distinct committees ; as 1 . The
cares of the north parts ; 2. The survey of the office of
the treasurer of the chamber; 3. For Portsmouth and
the Isle of Wight; 4. For inquiry into what lands had
been granted by the late Queen Mary from the crown ; 5.
For the consideration of such things as were necessary for
the ensuing Parliament; for this last Sir Thomas Smith
was one of the committee, together with the Keeper of the
Great Seal, the Judges, and some others.
In the first year of the Queen, he was also by her em- Anno 1559.
ployed to give the treasurer and chamberlains of his na-^^"
tive town of Walden their oaths of fidehty to her Majesty, the officers
To him and George Nicolls the recorder, a commission
from the Queen, dated May 1, 1559, was issued for that
purpose, and the form of the oath to be administered set
down therein. A copy of which coirimission yet remaineth
in one of the town books.
And being in the commission of the peace, he now did Sir Tho-
very good service in the county of Essex where he lived. ™" inThe
For I find him in June one of the chief in executing a«>mil"ssion
commission of an order taken at Chelmsford, June 16,
1559, by the Earl of Oxford, the Lord Lieutenant, and the
rest of the Justices there met. It was for the taking care
to the orders newly made by Parliament for the reforma
tion of religion, and for the mustering and putting the

58 THE LIFE OF
chap, county in a posture of defence. In which, I make no
11 .doubt, Sir Thomas had a great hand, and was a special

Anno 1559. director. The sum of these orders was, that every Justice
Q'Ehz' of Peace was to take an oath, which was provided for that
purpose; and that every one appointed to be a Justice
should not forbear to serve, or take the oath. That the
Justices should call three or four of the honest inhabitants
of every parish, and charge them to get the Common
Prayer Book and Administration of the Sacraments lately
authorized by Parliament to be said and used. And that
the said inhabitants should see the Curates in each parish
use such service as was appointed in the said book, and no
other. And if any Curate refused so to do, or ministered
some other way than was set down, or preach or teach
any thing in derogation to the same, to apprehend and
take him, and bring him before the Lord Lieutenant, to re
ceive punishment according to the statute. The said in
habitants also to present the names of all persons as did
absent themselves from divine service. That the Justices
and all other gentlemen give their attendance upon such
preachers as should be sent by the Queen or the Bishops,
so long as the preachers should tarry in those parts. Also,
to order watches and beacons to be kept within their se
veral divisions. To cause the act for rebellion and the
statute for archery to be published to the people. To see
to the punishment of vagabonds and seditious tellers of
tales. To send their precepts to all constables, to give ad
monition to all persons to provide themselves with horse
and armour, according as the law lately made in that be
half ordained. The constables to direct a brief of the sta
tute of armour, with the pains contained, that it might be
notified to all men how they were to provide for the mus
ters. And within three weeks after the former precept, to
send forth precepts to the constables, requiring all men
from sixteen to sixty, chargeable by the last statute for
finding of armour, to repair before the Justices at such a
day and place as they should appoint; and thither to
bring all their household servants, and arms, and horses,

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 59
as they were bounden to find. Also, to certify to the Lord chap.
Lieutenant of the default and lack of furniture in any. To VIL

choose out the most likely and able men for the wars, and Anno 1559.
put their names in a book; and particularly note their QEll2;"
names that should be most meet for demi-lances, hght
horsemen, gunners, archers, pikemen, and billmen. Mus
ters being taken, the Justices to deliver to the Lord Lieu
tenant a certificate containing the number of all the able
men within every hamlet and parish, &c.
Besides the oath which the Justices were to take, men- Subscrip-
tioned in the first article above mentioned, they were toJ1u^i^8tbe
subscribe their names to a writing to be transmitted to
the Council, "acknowledging it their bounden duty to
" observe the contents of the act of Parliament, that is,
" the Act for Uniformity of Common Prayer, &c. And for
" the observation of the same law, they did firmly promise
" that they and their families would repair at all times to
" their parish churches, or, upon reasonable impediment,
" to other usual chapels, for the same Common Prayer and
" divine service ; and to receive the holy Sacrament from
" time to time, according to the tenor of the said act : and
" none of them that subscribed should say or do, or as-
" sent or suffer any thing to be done or said by their pro-
" curement, in contempt of any part of the religion esta-
" blished by that act." In which subscription, as I find
the form of it written down by Sir Thomas in one of his
paper books, so I repute him to have been a great coun
sellor, for the furthering of religion, and the excluding of
all Popishly affected from having any countenance from
the state b.
Great discourse was now had every where about the Anno 1560.
Smith's dia
logue con-
b When John Duke of Finland, second son to Gustavus King of Sweden, eennng the
Queen's
came into England to court Queen Elizabeth to match with his elder brother,  .
0 t 7 marriage.
now King, for the more honourable reception and conducting of the said Duke
to Court, Sir Thomas Smith was sent by the Queen, in company with the
Earl of Oxon, and Mr. (afterwards Sir Francis) Knollis. And there be three
letters extant in the Paper-house, wrote by them to the Council, relating to
their service in this regard.

60 THE LIFE OF
chap. Queen's marriage ; for it was the nation's great desire to
see the Queen have a Prince to succeed in the government

Anno 1560. after her. The Queen seemed not inclinable to marry:
Q- Ehz. J
and there were some that flattered her, and declared it
were better for her and the realm, that she should remain
single as she was : but the most part, and especially the
Protestant, was earnest for her marriage; yet these varied;
some were for her marrying abroad, others at home. Of
this argument Sir Thomas drew up an ingenious book,
consisting of divers orations for and against the Queen's
marriage, feigned to be spoken by certain dialogists accord
ing as their judgments were in this point : their names
were, Agamus, whose judgment was for the Queen's not
marrying; Philoxenes, who was for her* marrying, but for
her marrying a stranger ; and Axenius, who was for her
marrying at home with some one of her noble subjects.
For the sight of this choice MS. I am beholden to my
worthy friends, Sir Richard Gibbs, of Weltham in Suffolk,
Knight, and the Reverend Mr. John Laughton, public li
brary keeper of Cambridge.
The first entrance into this dialogue begins thus : " As
" I was walking in my garden all alone, Francis Walsing-
" ham came unto me : and whether I espied him at the
" first coming or no, my head being occupied with mat-
" ters, I know not. But after the first common words of
" Welcome, and How do ye, and Ye have been long a
" stranger, What news ? &c. I pray you, saith he, tell me,
" if I may be so bold to ask you, what is that you are
"musing upon so sadly alone when I came in? Me-
" thoughts you had some great matter in your head; for
" ye scarcely did see me, and loath ye were to be inter-
"rupted. Ye guess well, quoth I; for I was recording
" with myself a communication which was had here, even
" in this place, partly in walking, and partly in sitting
" upon the green bench, of certain friends of yours and
" mine, which came now from the Court to solace them-
" selves in the country, and took my house in their way.
" I pray you, said he, if I may hear it, let me hear some

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 61
"piece of it; for it must be some great matter that chap.
" maketh you muse of it all alone. S. It is a great matter .

indeed, quoth I, marry it is as a man doth take it. For Anno 1560.
" it was a disputation much after the old sort of Plato's
" Dialogues and Tully's, and a thing which I would wish
" some learned man had in hand that could handle it well,
" as it will bear ; for the matter seemeth worthy the
" writing : and they surely each man defended his part
" stoutly and lively with so many reasons as came to his
" mind, I dare say for that time. W. And whose part took
" you? But I am a fool to ask you that question before
" you tell me the matter and argument of the disputation.
" S. The matter was of the marriage of the Queen's Ma-
" jesty, whom I had thought that all the world, as well as
" I, had wished to have been married, that it might have
" pleased God to have blessed and made glad our country
" with a young Prince of her body. W. And is there any
" man so wicked and so foolish that doth not wish so ? S.
" I cannot tell you what he doth indeed, but I assure
" you one, whom I dare say ye neither account wicked,
" nor a fool in reasoning, would shew himself not only of
" the contrary mind, but to have great reasons for his
" opinion. W. That is but as you philosophers and rheto-
" ricians do. For you care not what part you take. For
" if you list, you will never labk arguments ; and would
" make some simple men, as I am that hear you, believe,
" that the cow is wood, and that the moon is made of a
" green cheese. S. When you speak of learned men, put
" me out of the number. But he held that her Majesty
" did best in thus keeping herself sole as she doth ; and
" would seem to be in mind that it were best for her not
" to marry. W. Marry, that is a mind indeed ; if it were
" known abroad he were of such a mind, whosoever he
" were, I dare say every man would spit at him in the
*' streets as he goeth ; and for my part I should never love
" him. S. Why ? If her Majesty were of that mind, as it
" seemeth by divers of her doings and sayings she is,
" would you not love her ? W. Love her ? Her Majesty I

62 THE LIFE OF
chap. « cannot choose but love: her virtues be such, that who-
" soever knoweth her Majesty, (though he were not her

AQn<Eii26° " SUDJect,) must needs love her. As for us that are her
" subjects, duty compelleth us to love, honour, and obey
" her, to take her part, whatsoever it shall please her
" Highness to do in that case. But I cannot choose but
" wish otherwise. S. Well, another held the contrary.
" Marry, he would in any case her Majesty should marry
" within the realm. W. God's blessing on his heart: him
" I like well. S. The third thought it more convenient
" that her Majesty should have some prince, a stranger;
" and brought great reasons therefore. W. That was, I dare
" lay a wager, some Italianated Englishman, or some riion-
" grel, that hath good store of outlandish blood in him. S.
" Ye judge very fast, before ye either know the man, or
" have perused his reasons. Well, the fourth seemeth most
" indifferent, for he was but directly against the first ;
" for in any wise he liked not that sole life of a Queeni
" For the rest, whether it pleased her Highness to take a
" nobleman of England or a stranger, he was indifferent.
" W. Sir, if I may be so bold as to hear the whole dis-
" course, you shall do me the greatest pleasure in the
" world. And seeing you were repeating the same with
" yourself, you were as well tell it out. With one labour
" you shall repeat that thing that else you would do, and
" pleasure me your friend. S. Neither the labour is all
" one to" meditate in a man's mind, and to speak out with
" his tongue : nor his peril is like. For if I fail in the re-
" peating to myself, either in my memory of the reasons,
" or plain uttering of them, I am the offender and pu-
" nisher, no man else can control me. When I shall take'
" upon me to tell them unto you, you shall, I know, some-
" times have cause to find fault with my memory, and
" sometimes with my wit, and most times with my elo-
" quence ;. and they peradventure have cause to be angry
" with me, because with my ill rehearsing I do weaken
" their arguments, and with my rudeness stain their elo-
" quence. W. I pray you let these things pass, and do

SIR THOMAS. SMITH. 63
" but as well as you can; for I can desire no better with chap. VII
" reason : let me hear also what was disputed amongst

" them. S. It began thus : Anno 156°-
, Q. Eliz.
" After dinner they were disposed to walk into my rude
" garden, and there, I cannot tell well who, one began to
" tell, that now of fresh the rumour of the King of Sweden
" Ericus's coming hither, (for as ye know by the death of
" his father Gustave, it began to be stayed,) was 'renewed
" again, and that of many he was undoubtedly looked for
" shortly to come himself hither into England, and in pro-
" per person, not by embassage, to be a wooer to her Ma-
" jesty. Then, quoth I, would that wooing were once
" done, and that her Majesty had one whom she could
" like of, that we might see the hope and fruit of succes-
" sion more near at hand. What, said one of them, is
" there not in England as goodly men, noble, witty, and
" courageous, as be in other strange places ? What need
" it be sought so far, that we have so near? By my troth,
" quoth another of them, methinketh far more better and
" honourable for all purposes, that her Majesty should
" take to husband some prince or nobleman, a stranger,
" than any of her own subjects. Well, saith the third}
" and I am in that mind, (although I know it is not the
" most plausible opinion,) that her Majesty doth best to
" keep her thus sole, unmarried as she is. The fourth at
" that was as much displeased as you were. Neither,
" saith he, am I altogether proselyte of the first opinion,
" nor yet of the second ; but so that her Majesty marry,
" whether our countryman or a stranger, I like indiffer-
" ently : marry, to hold that she should not marry, I hold
" it an unnatural, and in manner a wicked opinion
" against our country. My masters, quoth I, we have all
" leisure, thanks be to God, and ye may make me now
" glad : for methinks I am in Plato's Academy, or Ci-
" cero's Tusculane. I pray you, seeing you all four be of
" divers opinions, let us hear your reasons. We can have
" no better place nor time; and if this green bank be not
" soft enough, we will have cushions brought to sit on.

64 THE LIFE OF
chap. " To that they all agreed, and said they needed no
va' " cushions, the bank was so fair, and the garden so plea-

Anno 1560. " sant. A little they strived who should begin. But he
"that spake against marriage said, he would gladly first
" declare unto them, that his opinion was not so strange
" nor so unreasonable as they" took it : and so he began."
Then he$vho was for the Queen's sole life, represented
under the* name of Agamus, \i. e. " Aya.ft.oc, Ccelebs,] or
Wedspite, makes his discourse at large. After he had
ceased, Philoxenus, \i. e. <Pi\o%svoc,] or Love-alien, makes
his oration, in answer to Agamus, for the Queen's mar
riage. Then the same Philoxenus enters into another
speech, fortified with divers arguments, for the Queen's
marrying with a stranger. Then spake Axenius, ^AJevwc,]
or Homefriend, for the Queen's marrying an Englishman.
In Ml these discourses Sir Thomas Smith layeth down
what reasons could be made use of in favour of the argu
ment insisted on ; adorned also with handsome eloquence,
and furnished with proper examples out of history, ancient
and modern. In the last and chief discourse of all, Smith
seems to intend himself the speaker under the name of
Axenius. I shall exemplify these orations for the reader's
pleasure and satisfaction; and the rather, because they
have many things relating to public affairs not long before
happening in the realm under the reigns of King Henry,
King Edward, and Queen Mary. But if I should place
them here, it would too much interrupt the course of the
Num. in. history; therefore they are reserved for the Appendix,
where the reader shall find them.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 65
CHAP. VIII.
Sir Thomas's Embassies to France.

The

principle Queen Elizabeth went by, at her first Anno 1 562.
coming to the crown, was to displace as few as she might j*" h*'
of the old Ministers of State : whereby it came to pass restored to
that many of those that were her sister's servants re- be Secreta_
mained so to her. Therefore though she parted with
Queen Mary's two Secretaries, Bourn and Boxal, strong
Papists, who came in the rooms of Cecil and Smith, yet
she kept Secretary Petre still, and replaced Cecil. And in
tending to retain only two principal Secretaries for the fu
ture, there was no room for our Smith. But he was not
to be laid aside ; his abilities were too well known : and
therefore the Queen resolved to make use of him for a
time in her business with foreign princes, till she might
prefer him in her own Court. Thus (not to mention that Dispatched
he seemeth to be dispatched abroad into France in the
year 1559, together with Thirlby, Bishop of Ely, the Lord
Howard, and Dr. Wotton, when a peace was concluded
with that crown; and there resided) in the year 1562 he
was thought a fit person to be employed in the embassy
to France ; of whom Camden in his History takes no no
tice, though he doth of the embassage. He received his
last instructions in September, and a declaration written
in French ; and Sir Thomas Gresham, the Queen's mer
chant, gave him credit. The matter of the embassy was
to urge the restitution of Calais, and to keep the corre
spondence with the Protestant Prince of Conde ; that in
case of a breach with France, he might be assistant to the
English against that crown.
Sir Thomas made some stay at Calais, waiting for the stops at
coming of Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, the Queen's Ambas-^1*18' and
sador then in France, that they might repair to the
French Court together ; but he made a delay at Orleans
upon some by-ends, to the prejudice of the Queen's af-
F

66 THE LIFE OF
chap, fairs. So Sir Thomas at last set forward himself towards
VIIL the Court, where more good was to be done with his pre-

Anno 1 562. sence, than otherwise. But as for Throgmorton's abode
at Orleans, done perhaps to discredit or impede the suc
cess of Smith's embassy, (and so he seemed to take it, as
did others also,) Secretary Cecil wrote to Smith, that he
took it to be upon such reasonable causes as he had al
leged, though other folks were not so well persuaded;
and he wished him safe at home to answer his own doings :
where, as that good Secretary wrote, he should not lack
his friendship for divers respects. But this was the be
ginning of no good understanding between Throgmorton
and Smith, though both joint Ambassadors in France for
the Queen.
Directions The Queen's Council wrote their letters to him in Octo-
the coun- her, wherein they shewed him what passed between the
cli- French Ambassador and them ; and how a matter of trea
son of the Poles, practised by the French and Spanish
Ambassadors, had been of late discovered; which, al
though it were a matter of no great moment to be feared,
yet thereby was made apparent how truly the Queen and
her Council judged of the house of Guise ; and that so he
might, as he saw cause, take advantage thereby to main
tain the former reasons published by her Majesty, for jus
tification of her doings in sending forces into France, as
the Secretary wrote to this Ambassador. But to look a ht
tle back.
Smith a Smith's great profession was, when he came into
mover. France, to be a peace-mover. As soon as he had audience
of the King and Queen, he wrote the Council a full ac
count thereof to their great satisfaction. And the Secre
tary wrote to him, that they all allowed of his zeal to pro
cure peace, and of his diligence in so ample a manner, as
by his writing had appeared.
Confers The Cardinal of Ferrafa, the Pope's Legate, being then
Po^eVLe- at Court> Smith had much conference with him : but for
gate. this he had not escaped a reprimand from the Court, had
not some of his good friends interceded. Of this Cecil

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 67
gave him notice in these words in the month of Novem- chap.
ber : " But to write plainly and friendly unto you, as I .

" would you should if our places were changed, the most Anno \532-
" here have misliked that you have treated with the Le- The ^re-
" gate, and seem willing that you should have been repri-tary's advice
« manded therefore. But therein I and others unto yOur ^assadon™"
" good meaning have so tempered the cause, as thereof
" you shall hear no otherwise, except it be by me and
" some others your private good friends." For that, as he
added, there were among them in England divers very
scrupulous of dealing with the Pope's ministers; and
therefore he advised the Ambassador to forbear the Cardi
nal in these affairs, and to use other courtesy to him as he
should see cause for the state of Ferrara, as the Ambassa
dor had well made the distinction to himself. The Secre
tary also now advised him to beware of one Monsieur de
Serre, saying that he was " very fine and nimble in all
" his practiques."
In our Ambassador's last dispatch he wrote to the TheQueen's
Queen, and therein took the liberty to give her certain him.
good counsel; which letter she took in good part, and or
dered the Secretary to thank him for it, and willed him
also to warn the ambassador of the Cardinal of Ferrara,
and likewise to let all the favourers of the Prince of Conde
manifestly understand, that without his consent the Am
bassador would not enter into any treaty with France.
Smith, in this embassy, had but ill entertainment in Three evils
France; for he went over in a year wherein he met with
three evils, plague, intestine war, and famine. Whereof
the next year the plague came over into England ; the in
testine war was pretty well ceased; but the famine, that is
the dearth of provision, remained and increased there more
and more.
February 1, Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, joint Ambassa
dor with Smith, came over into England to the Queen,
leaving Smith alone in France; and nine days after he
sent over his man to the Court with letters.
F2'

68 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. And so well had Sir Thomas managed his office, and
VI11, described the affairs of France so fully, that the letters he

Anno 1562. wrote thereof to Secretary Cecil did much delight him:
c •!.., l and in an answer he told him he had read over his letters
Smith's be
haviour in several times, "heartily thanking him for his large let-
his embassy. « terg. ^ich contented him so well, as indeed he was de-
" lighted to read them twice, or some thrice." And such
was Smith's wise and true English behaviour, and eloquent
utterance, that he got himself great credit and reputation
among the Frenchmen ; concerning which the Secretary,
in one of his letters to him, used these words : " That he
" was glad to see his credit so good to do good : and in-
" deed, (added he,) using wisdom therewith, courteous
" and gracious speech (which was one of Smith's accom-
" plishments) doth much profit."
Entertains And as that nation was crafty and fine in all their nego-
a subtle spy. .. ... • , , i
nations with other states, so our Ambassador used art, to
be a match for them ; for he made use of a certain subtle
spy in Orleans, whose letters he received and dispatched
into England: and by the intelligence gathered by this
means our Ambassador did excellent service, which occa
sioned the Secretary in a letter to him, speaking of Smith's
last letters, and the copy of others sent to the said Smith
from Orleans, to say, " That he saw his great diligence,
" and to speak in proper terms, that he dealt very cun-
" ningly, meet for the place he held; advising him to che-
" rish the party that served his turn, and that he should
" be kept out of danger, whereby his service might last
" the longer." This he wrote to the Ambassador in cy
pher. The Secretary added, that he had notified him and
his service to the Queen's Majesty; and so he bid the Am
bassador let him know.
His com- But, notwithstanding, the Ambassador could not do that
piamt. sen,ice he would; for he complained that the instructions
from England came not to him, and he was perplexed for
lack of intelligence from thence. But the Secretary satis
fied him in part concerning that point, in the answer he

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 69
next made him; which was, that he knew not what more chap.
instructions he could require than what he already had, .

which was to prosecute no other ends but the restitution Anno 1562.
of Calais. And as to his dealing with the Prince of Conde",
and the Admiral of France, whom the Secretary suspected
to be about making peace with the French without the
EngKsh, (as tiiey did indeed not long after,) he advertised
him, how he ought to urge to them their promises and
compacts under their hands and seals : and that if they
should have no regard to these, they might expect the
judgment of God upon them for their false dealing. The
contents of the contract between the Queen and them
were, that she should pay them a great sum of money,
and send them six thousand men for their defence ; and
that they should deliver into her hands, for caution, New-
haven, which she should hold in her hands till Calais
should be restored. The letters that passed from Sir Tho
mas, in this embassy this year, are still extant in the Pa
per Office in two bundles ; one whereof about a general
peace ; and therein letters also from Middleton, sent from
Smith to the Admiral of France.
Our Ambassador abode still in France, until the next Anno 1563.
year 1563. Then Monsieur Briquemault came over to the^Am^f"
Queen from the Prince of Conde ; whose business was, to structions
endeavour to bring the Queen, not to insist upon the resti- the Princif
tution of Calais, but to be satisfied with some other terms. of Conte.
But in May, when he departed, she utterly denied that
there was any other way of satisfaction. And the Queen
then also wrote letters to her Ambassador to deal very
roundly with the Prince and the Admiral. And so the Se
cretary thought they had deserved, as he wrote to the Am
bassador; and yet, as he added, he doubted not but the
Ambassador would have consideration how to strike there
in, whether high or low a.
In letters our Ambassador Smith had lately sent to the TheAmbas-
Court, he gave great content: wherein, as he advertised ^"^"the
» Thomas Dannet, June 15, 1563, was sent to Sir Thomas Smith, to join Council.
with him to demand Calais.
f3

70 THE LIFE OF
chap, the Lords of the Council plentifully of the variety of news
" in France, so he gave good plain rules how the same ad-

Anno 1563. vertisements should be taken and judged. And both the
one and the other pleased them very well.
Ordered to In his negotiation with France this year, when things
^Latfuin were well nigh accorded, some reports came out of
his negotia- France, which so offended the Queen, that she altered her
resolutions; and among other things commanded Sir Tho
mas, that whereas before he negotiated in one language,
(which I suppose was the French,) he should now use no
other language but Latin. Concerning which, thus the
Secretary wrote to him : " This alteration of your speech
" into Latin, I thought very strange ; but surely her Ma-
" jesty had occasion ministered by such reports as now
" were brought, to think the same were best. And there-
" fore, using no more the vulgar tongue of the nation, but.
" the learned, things for the future might be kept more
" private; and therefore," added he, "I know very well
" you can do this in the Latin as well as any man, and I
" nothing doubt but that ye will do it."
Contention sir Nicholas Throgmorton, who returned into France
between Smith and July 20th, and was Ambassador there with Sir Thomas, by
Throgmor- means 0f secret practising at the Court, was arrested by
the French King's order, at Caudebec, August 3. He was
a favourite of the Lord Robert Dudley, and by his means
dispatched thither. This Throgmorton was subtle and
active, and a man of intrigue. He and Sir Thomas, a per
son of more gravity and discretion, could not well com
port together; Throgmorton rather hindering than fur
thering the Queen's business by his over-practising. The
dissension between theni came to the Court. Throgmor
ton had a great friend there, namely, the Lord Robert
Dudley; so Sir Thomas's course was to sue to the Se
cretary for his good word. The Secretary wrote to him,
that as he had promised him his friendship, so he saw it
well bestowed. Smith also desired him to acquaint the
Lord Robert with the difference between him and Sir Ni
cholas; writing also the case. This Cecil accordingly

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 71
caused to be shewn, and procured Mr. Somers, (one who chap.
was employed backward and forward in this treaty be- VIU-
tween England and France,) to report his knowledge, Anno 1 ses.
which it seems made more for Sir Thomas than his own QEllz-
writing did. But the wise Secretary wished, as he said,
such matters to be swallowed up in forgetfulness, know
ing how by these private animosities between the Queen's
Ambassadors public business was hindered.
Smith also now sent a letter to the Lord Robert him- Smith's
self, which was writ with so much freedom and honest pkaseth the
plainness, that it pleased the said Lord, and set all right Lord R°-
between the said Ambassador and him. The Lord Robert
shewed the letter to Cecil, and much commended his
plainness of writing to him, and confessed it to be both
wisely and friendly done. For Smith was for truth and
plainness, as Throgmorton was for doubling. And the
Secretary was of Smith's mind, telling him in his corre
spondence, " That he for his part thought it always the
" best way so to deal ; for that though playing under
" board served sometimes the jugglers, yet we saw by
" proof, in friendship it lasted not, but brought inconve-
" nience." When the Prince of Conde, and the Admiral, as was instructions
hinted before, had made a separate peace with the French Q°rawwith
King, and Newhaven was surrendered to the French by the Protest-
the English, and Sir Nicholas Throgmorton remained a
prisoner to that King, Smith's^ great business now (being
the month pf September) was to get the said Ambassador
set at liberty, and to get the money lent in March last to
the said Prince and Admiral (which was 300,000 crowns)
repaid, and withal to put them in mind of their promises
made to the Queen. The Secretary told him, that he
Should gain great good-will to recover the said Throgmor
ton; and he thought whatever small colour or pretence
tiiey had for his confinement, that much labour must ob
tain him. " And good Master Smith," added he, " em-
" ploy all your credit, and assay the Protestants there to
" do somewhat like to their promises. I marvel what an-
f4

72 THE LIFE OF
chap. " swer the Prince and the Admiral can make for the mo-
iH ."neylent them." Though Smith himself was now con-

Anno 1563. fined at Paris as a prisoner, as he had been August 30 at
Q'Ellz" Melun, the French King being then in Normandy; yet
while he was thus confined, he was sent for September 1 1
to the Court at Corboil ; but soon after, that is, Septem
ber 13, he had liberty granted, but not further than the
city of Paris : the grant of his full liberty followed on the
17th. And so had the Queen confined the French Ambas
sador, but in no worse place than Sir Thomas Smith's
own lodgings at Eton b.
Smith treat- in November our Ambassador was drawing to a peace
peace. with the French, orders having been sent him to conclude
it. The dealing was to be very private, that is to say,
Smith alone, with one single person on the French side.
But yet he had so much experience of the misreports and
false relations which the French abounded with, that he
was afraid to deal alone; thinking, that if some others
were present, they might serve for witnesses, if occasion
should be, of what passed on his part. This scruple he
communicated to his friend the Secretary, who told him
very well, that although he might well be fearful to deal
alone, yet in dealing also with one alone he could incur
no peril of being misreported : for that equity would save
them both, that one should not convince another.
Here let us make a little halt, before we go on in our
relation of Sir Thomas Smith's managery of his public
charge. And we shall take notice of some matters of a
more private nature, which fell out to him, or wherein he
was concerned while he was here in France.
Dr. Had- He had some cause to be jealous how this his negotia-
don's advice " o
to Smith, tion was taken at Court ; and was very desirous to know
what his friends here thought of him : and therefore to his
intimate friend Doctor Haddon, Master of the Requests,
he signified his desire to be informed herein by him; to
b The Queen, October 27, sent a new commission to Sir Nicholas Throg
morton and Sir Thomas Smith, resident for the Queen, to treat of a peace.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 73
which Haddon answered, " That Smith knew that he was chap.
" not acquainted with the secret counsels of the Court, vni"

" but that those, who, in his judgment, were the most in- Anno 1563.
" telligent among their friends, attributed much to his
" wisdom and moderation ; and specially Cecil, their com-
" mon friend, who always made honourable and friendly
" mention of him. Cicero could not correct Cato, as he con-
" fessed himself, he might lightly mend him, and fashion
" him; but Haddon could neither correct Smith, nor mend
" him. But he would be the author of this piece of ad-
" vice to him, that he should be his own counsellor, and
" that he should transact causes with himself, and not be
" led away by the blasts of reports, or the storms arising
" from fears, not to pursue those purposes that he be-
" lieved would tend most to the benefit and right admin-
" istration of the state. Let who's will be Flaminius,"
added he, " I would have you to be Q. Fabius ; and I
" hope you will be so. Terentius Varro's fame flies
K through all commonwealths ; but the most happy me-
" mory of Paulus iEmihus is celebrated, even in his most
" unhappy death ; for we cannot do any thing but may
" chance to fail sometimes ; and where things are wisely
" foreseen, they ought to have a just praise, however
" some accident may turn them to disadvantage ; and he
" advised him to have that of old Ennius in his memory,
Non ponebat enim rumores ante salutem.
" And the mind," said he, " cannot remain steady in pub-
" He causes, nor counsels consist together, unless there be
" a constancy in our doings accompanying. He acknow-
" ledged Smith's condition, in this respect, was somewhat
" hard, and that he received the laws of his embassy from
" others, and managed the affairs of the state by prescrip-
" tions laid down to him. Yet as you may," said he, " in-
" terpose yourself, and be -not silent when you perceive
" any thing that may turn to the help and benefit of us
" your countrymen at home. He went on in his counsels
" to his friend : he bade him abandon all converse with

74 THE LIFE OF
chap. « loose women c, for they blunted the edge of the mind,
." and afforded nothing but sudden mischiefs of body and

a

Anno i563.« soul: that he should not be too much disturbed at the
" offences, the passions, and the mistakes of others, as be-
" coming neither his prudence, nor learning, nor manner
" of hfe. For the various inclinations and thoughts of
" men have ever produced such waves and high tides in
" human hfe, and will do so to the end : in which, if we
" proceed with reason, as much as we can, we shall be
" upheld with the conscience of our good deeds ; nor
" shall. the hasty gusts of fortune move a mind founded in
" wisdom. Then he remembered him of his own former
" excellent discourses concerning patience and fortitude,
" and of the praise of the mind of man. And he asked
him to what end they tended,, being uttered by him
with so much moving eloquence. What?" said he, c*,omly
" to lie hid in the schools,. where he once spake them? or
" to be inclosed within the walls of. Cambridge? or may
" they not shew themselves abroad, and be seen in the
" sun, and be brought forth into act? Will they not ac-
" company you in France, if need be ? For my part, I
" should not much esteem these arts, in which I know
" you are excellently instructed, unless they be now pre-
" sent with you, when you have most need of them; nor
" should I think you wise at all, if in these difficult times
" you be absent from yourself, when you ought especially
" to be present." These were the brave philosophical ar
guments that one scholar entertained the other with.
« The word in Haddon's epistle is convictrices; which in truth in that
place means not women, but curie et solicitudines, complained of by Smith in
his letter to Haddon, and styled by him convictrices, those that dwelt with
him.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 75

CHAP. DC.
Osoiius's letter to the Queen, and Dr. Haddon's answer.
Difference between Smith and Throgmorton, the Queen's
joint Ambassadors. Smith and Cecil friends.
JjESIDES public matters, the Secretary held a more Anno i56s.
private correspondency with our Ambassador, as occasion J~' "'
happened, concerning learning and rehgion ; and accord- sador sends
ing to his order, Smith procured and sent him chvers°T" b°oks
books, which were not to be had at home. Thus once
he conveyed over Onuphrius and Polydore, and certain
French books of genealogy and chronology for the Secre
tary. There had been a dangerous book wrote in Latin, and Smith to
lately printed abroad, against the present state of rehgion book to be
in England. An answer to which, in the same language, Pnntcd m
the Secretary had procured, and wanted nothing but to
have it printed abroad, as the other was. In a letter
wrote to the Ambassador, dated November 28th, he wished
he had a sight of it, and that he would give his allowance
thereof by some commendatory epistle to be added ; and
if he could by some good means procure it to be well
printed in France, without peril of the book, he would
send him the copy: or if he could get it printed at Stras-
burgh, or Basil, by some means from thence, he would
also send it him ; but if he could not, he would send by
some of his men to Christopher Mount, the Queen's agent
in Strasbufgh, for him to take care for the publishing of
it. But to relate a few particulars of this book, which, made Osorius's
tt. *-\ • n epistle to
no small stir in these days. Hieronymus Osonus, a for- tbe Queen,
tugal, then a private man, afterwards Bishop of Arco-
burge or Sylvane, wrote an epistle to Queen Elizabeth, in
an elegant Latin style, being nothing in effect but an ad
monition to her to wheel about to Popery. In this epistle
he imagined many monstrous errors to be nurselled in our

76 THE LIFE OF
chap. Church, and with much reproachful language depraved
.the professors of the Gospel. This libel was soon after

Anno 1568. printed in France, both in Latin and French; as it was
Q. Eliz. .
also printed in English at Antwerp, anno 1565, trans
lated by one Richard Shaddock, M. A. and student of the
Civil Law in Louvain, and entitled, A Pearl for a Prince.
Answered This the state thought necessary to have an answer to,
y a on" because it reflected much upon the justice and wisdom of
the nation. Dr. Walter Haddon, one of the finest learn
ing, and of the most Ciceronian style in England, was em
ployed to answer this foreigner's book, which he finished
in this year 1563, beginning, Legi, Hieronyme, tuam epi-
stolam, &c. It is extant in the said Haddon's Lucubra
tions, published by Hatcher of Cambridge.
In the beginning, Haddon shewed the cause of his an
swering of Osorius, and of his publishing the same;
namely, that Osorius had indeed writ his epistle sepa
rately to the Queen ; yet it seemed to be intended for all,
because it was published in print, and was open to the
eyes of all men. He added, that this author had taken
much upon him, that he, being a private man, and at a
great distance, both by sea and land, unacquainted also
with English affairs, should so confidently take upon him
to speak to the Queen's Majesty; that he diminished the
dignity of the laws of England, and that in general, he
made the nation guilty of a wicked and malicious kind of
novelty. Haddon in his answer studied brevity ; and they
were only some particular points, whereunto he thought
good to answer, although not to the ftdl neither : because
he supposed (as he wrote in his Apology) that Osorius
might be deluded by some malicious reports of our adver
saries.
This answer Haddon's book being thus prepared, the care was to
mended to Set it; published: and because Osorius was printed in
Smith to France, both in Latin and French, Cecil thought it con-
TCV1S6 •
venient, that Haddon's said answer should be printed in
the same place, and in both the same languages. Here
upon the said Cecil, in January, sent the treatise to our

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 77
Ambassador, desiring him to procure the printing of it, chap.
and that with all expedition : and that he would add to it IX'

something by bis own hand, where and as he thought Anno 1563.
good, and that he would procure it to speak French, and
to be published in that language also. And accordingly
this epistle responsory of Dr. Haddon was so well consi
dered over and weighed by Smith, and had his castiga-
tions, that it might be reckoned to be Smith's work as
well as Haddon's. For Haddon also had entreated him
to ponder diligently his answer, that nothing might be in
it, but what was fit to be seen and read for the vindica
tion of the Queen and realm.
Smith also spake to Robert Stephens, the French King's And pub-
Printer, that he would take it in hand. He desiring the
copy, to see whether there were any thing in it which
touched the state of that kingdom, as also to consider the
bulk of the book, and on condition he had leave of the
Queen, undertook to do it. But it received some stop by
this means, (which probably enough might have been a
thing plotted by Osorius's friends, or Queen Elizabeth's
and the nation's enemies.) One de Valla came to the
English Ambassador, and desired he might have the sight
of this epistle of Haddon's ; and whether he had the Am
bassador's leave or no, went to Stephens as from the Am
bassador, and took the book from him to peruse it for a
thne. But while it was in de Valla's possession, the Pro
vost Marshal arrested the said de Valla, upon pretence of
some crime, and withal, took this book out of his hand,
and so it was brought to the Court, and remained in the
possession of the said Provost. This created work for the
Ambassador. So he wrote to the Chancellor of France, acquainting
him with the whole matter ; relating to him, how Osorius
had in the book traduced the manners, lives, and rehgion
of England, not according to the truth of the thing, as in
deed it was, but according to his apprehension; and as
ignorant men had out of envy represented matters to him.
And that if he had kept his book within its own bounds,

78 THE LIFE OF
chap, and in the shadow of his own closet, no matter would
IX" have been made of it : but when he had made that public

Anno 1563. vaunt of his performance, by setting it forth in print, and
Aacfnce making a boast of himself to the world, in this new and
for which unusual argument, what did he clo, but display to all, not
to obtahT only how ignorant he was of the institution, manners, and
from the customs, which we, said he, use at present in England,
°r'but how little he knew of those controversies and ques
tions, which now exercised the whole Christian world,
and to the understanding whereof the minds of all were so
intent? Thus the Ambassador discoursed in his letter. Two
things therefore in conclusion he requested of the Chan
cellor; one was, that after he-had read this epistle of Dr.
Haddon, he would procure that the copy might be re
stored to Stephens to print it cum privilegio; or if that
were not allowed, yet that he might not be hindered from
printing it in Latin and French. Or if yet that would not
be granted, at least to restore the copy, that it might be
printed elsewhere. This was written by Smith, March
6th, from Melun, a place about twenty miles from Paris.
which he To which the Chafacellor gave this answer: that the
French Queen was much offended with those folks that
presumed to print Osorius?s book in France without the
King's licence, and commanded him, the Chancellor, to
inquire after those that dared to publish it, and to see
them punished. He prayed Sinith, or his messenger, to
procure him one of Osorius's books, that he might peruse
it in order to the taking of punishment on the printers;
that the Queen, as he said, might know, that good kings,
even in war, have a care of the honour of crowned heads.
But disapproving the doing it as they did, they could not,
he said, permit of Haddon's. answer to be printed; and so
the French Queen ordered the copy of the said book to be
sent back.
Smith press- Smith followed this business, and sent the Chancellor a
copy of Osorius in French, which he had gotten at Paris ;
for all the Latin ones were dispersed and sold, as the
bookseller had plainly reported, and that he had printed

will not
grant.

eth it.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 79
about five hundred, for he had no need to deny it. For chap.
in express words it appeared that the book was printed Jx'
cum privilegio. So that, as he wrote to the Chancellor, Anno 1563.
it was not possible to suppress the book, being printed 1K"
with authority, nor punish the printer who had such li
cence; and now to prohibit them to be sold, was, as he
expressed it to him, to shut the cage when the birds were
flown. Smith therefore further pressed the Chancellor in this Argues with
manner ; that this only remained, viz. that both parties ceno^rf"
should be heard, as well he that made the answer, as France
he that put in the caution. And whereas the Chancellor
thought it inconvenient to allow Haddon's book to be
printed, because it would be nothing but a contending in
reproaches and ill words ; Smith said, that there would be
no such rude contention between them, but that whereas
Osorius, in an oratorical way, shook our forms of religion^
and taxed the manners of certain men; Haddon shewed,
that Osorius indeed knew neither the one nor the other,
and that such was the state of the thing, that in his judg
ment it were better that both their orations should be
read, than either be suppressed: for that both of them were
wrote eloquently, and in Latin, and that which they wrote
did not at all touch the state of France. Boldly addingj
that when Osorius had. a liberty cum privilegio of accus
ing our forms, we seemed to demand that which was but
equal of him, the Chancellor of France, 'namely, to be
heard with the hke privilege; and that it must seem hard
that a liberty of haranguing should be granted to one
party only. The effect of this was, that our Ambassador
got the book printed not long after, as shall be related hi
due place.
Bnt though Smith was not concerned any further in The pro-
this affair, after he had brought the book to the press with f™^^.'8
his own corrections and additioris; yet it may not be«y.
amiss to relate the progress of this controversy, which I
shall do briefly. There passed over a year or two, and Dr.
Haddon was appointed the Queen's agent in Flanders, and

80 ¦ THE LIFE OF
chap, was Leiger at Bruges. At what time one Emanuel Dal-
1 .mada, a Portuguese born, Bishop of Angrence, suddenly

Anno 1563. sprung up in Brussels, and undertook the defence of his
Q.Ehz. friend Osorius; stuffing a great volume full of slanders
and brabbles : and in the end of the book he had caused
certain ugly pictures to be pourtrayed, thereby to deface
Haddon's personage as much as he might. This Apology
(for so it was called) when Haddon perused, he professed
he never saw so foohsh and unsavoury a writing, full of
scoffs and absurdities. The author therefore he despised
as one altogether unlettered, and so dull by nature, that
he was oftentimes a jesting stock among the wiser sort of
his own fraternity. But after some more time, Dr. Tho
mas Wilson, the Queen's Ambassador in Portugal, coming
home, at Osorius's request, brought certain volumes of
the said Osorius's composing against Haddon's answer,
digested into three books; whereof he delivered one to
Haddon, who received it gladly, and perused it once or
twice: having hoped that he being then installed a Bi
shop, would have been much more modest than before.
But the matter fell out quite contrary : for, instead of a
civil and sober person, he found him a most frivolous so-
phister; (I use Haddon's own words;) for a grave divine, a
childish counterfeit; and in the book, of vanity and haugh
tiness good store. To this book Haddon soon after began
the writing of an Answer Apologetical against the said
Osorius's slanderous invectives, as he styled them, for the
necessary defence of the evangelical doctrine and verity;
and dedicated it to Sebastian, King of Portugal, as Oso
rius had done his letter before to the Queen; which, as she
had gently entertained and perused, so he persuaded him
self to obtain the like favour of that King's magnificence
and heroical clemency. In this Apology Haddon made
some progress, but died before he finished it. And the
rest of it, which was the greater part, was done very
learnedly by John Fox, and printed about the year 1573;
and after by James Bell put into English and printed
1581.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 81
But turn we now again to our Ambassador resident in chap.
France. He and Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, joint Ambas- IX"
sador with him there, did not well accord; which was well Anno 1563.
enough known at Court. This gave the Secretary a great Difference
concern, for fear of some miscarriage in public business by between the
means thereof; and in December, in one of his letters to Saj°ors™
Smith, taking notice of it, he told him that he hoped ne
vertheless, " that both, for their wisdoms, would have re-
" gard of the Queen's affairs, and one of them bear with
" the other ; for so should both of them deserve com-
" mendation." And in another letter he tells Smith, that
he was sorry to see things between them no better tem
porised. " Wisdom," said he, " must rule you both ; and
" surely otherwise ye shall both take the blame alike,
" though ye be not both percase alike to blame."
This Throgmorton, to give here some character of him, Some cha-
was a busy-headed man, full of intrigue, a favourite of the Throgmor-
Earl of Leicester, and an emulator of Cecil. For his over- ton-
business in the French Court he was made a prisoner,
though then the Queen's Ambassador ; and in that condi
tion he remained some time, namely, so long tiU the peace
was concluded, though he still acted as the Queen's Am
bassador. He was somewhat impatient to remain so long
under restraint, and thought that Cecil was not sufficiently
diligent to get him his liberty. But Cecil understanding
it, wrote to his fellow Ambassador to this import, " That
" as he had promised Smith his friendship, so he had done
" the like to Throgmorton, though some clouds," he said,
" let the influence of his good-will to be felt of him ; pro-
" testing that for his own part, God be his judge and
" avenger for all his evil meaning to him in all those
" times." And as he was angry at Cecil, whom he did
not much love before, so he was easily inclined to blame
him upon any suspicion. As in the next year 1564, re
maining under confinement still, he was very wroth with
the French Ambassador resident in England, to whom he
bore a great malice ; and yet such was his fineness and
dissimulation, that at the latter end of that year, being at

82 THE LIFE OF
chap, liberty, and here at home, he grew very great with the
same French gentleman. Cecil took notice of it, and

Anno 1563. wrote to Smith, that he thought it strange to see what
great amity now was between the French Ambassador and
Mr. Throgmorton, considering the hate he had before
borne him. It was strange to Cecil, a plain-dealing man,
and of no turnings and windings, though a great and wise
politician; but Throgmorton could play the courtier, and
pretend friendship in colour for some private ends of his
own, when the same distempered spirit lurked still within
him that did before.
Cecil's and ^nd happy was Smith in the friendship of the foresaid
Smith's _, ., , rrj , . _ r " .
friendship. Cecil, who, as he was a wise and good man, so most sin
cere and cordial in his nature : and yet once had our Am
bassador taken something ill at his hands, according to an
ill office that some had done between them, representing
him as guilty of some unkindness towards Sir Thomas;
whereat he very plainly and freely in his next letters, dated
in December, told him of it. This freedom the Secretary
took in good part, and valued in truth his friendship the
more for it, telling him, that " he had much cause to
" thank him for his friendly dealing with him, and as
" much more cause to praise him for his open and plain
" dealing ; which I assure you, on my faith," as he said,
" I do allow more in you than any other part of your
" friendship." And hence he took occasion to give this
good piece of advice to him, viz. wishing him to use all
integrity in his transactions, that he might have the testi
mony of a good conscience. Notwithstanding which coun
sel he reckoned that he needed not to give it him ; " For,"
added he piously and gravely, " when all the glory and
"wit, when, all the wealth and delight of this world is
" past, we must come before the Judge that will exact this
" rule of us, to discern us from the goats."

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 83

CHAP. X.
Peace with France. Smith continues Ambassador there.
His book of the Commonwealth of England. Returns.
A review of his embassy.
IN the beginning of the year 1564 a, by the means and Anno 1564.
labour of Sir Thomas Smith, and Sir Nicholas Throgmor- Smi^h f_"
ton, his colleague, peace was concluded with France ; fects a
which was to take place on the 23d of April. It waspea"
proclaimed in London the 22d, and on the 23d a nota
ble good sermon was made at St. Paul's, with Te Deum
sung, and all incident solemnities. The same day it was
published at Windsor, in the Queen's presence, going to
church, and having with her the French Ambassador ; so
as nothing wanted to shew contentation. The Queen also
now sent over the Garter, to be presented to that King by
the Lord Hunsdon, Sir Thomas Smith, and Sir Gilbert
Dethic, king of arms.
After the peace was concluded, Sir Thomas Smith still Solicits the
resided in France. And now one of his great businesses debt.
was, to get some good answer for the money due by the
Prince of Conde to the Queen.
In September, Sir Thomas, desirous of returning, soli- The Queen
cited by the* Secretary his sending for home. But the Se- him Ambas-
cretary could not attain of the Queen a determination sador-
about it ; perceiving in her a- disposition rather to have
him continue till that King should return back from those
south parts where he then was. But this care however
she took for him, that for avoiding of the plague, which
then reigned in France, she would have him forbear to
follow the Court in dangerous places ; considering, as she
" April 1, 1564, a treaty of peace was at Trevir in Campaign, by Sir Ni
cholas Throgmorton, and Sir Thomas Smith, for the Queen; and Morvillier,
Bishop of Orleans, and Secretary Borden, for the French. By the treaty the
French King was "bound to pay to the Queen 1 20,000 crowns at Calais or Bou
logne, which was contained in a treaty apart, dated April 12.
g2

84 THE LIFE OF
chap, said, the French Ambassador did forbear to follow her
. Court all her last progress into the north, taking his ease

Anno 1564. at London, although he was by some means moved to the
Q'Ehz' contrary: wherewith her Majesty was somewhat offended.
Wherefore she admonished Smith in hke manner, accord
ing to his convenience, to forbear so diligent a following
of that Court as hitherto he had used.
A match for In this month of September, the Rhinegrave being in
'ro ounded Francej dealt with our Ambassador concerning a match
to him. between the Archduke, the Emperor's son, and Queen
Elizabeth, with which he acquainted the Secretary: to
which the Secretary replied, that it would be very season
able, if it were honourably propounded. Sir Thomas af
terwards wrote him, that he should hear more of this an
other way.
Anno 1565. jn March, the beginning of the year 1565, did Sir Tho-
finishethhismas finish his known tract of the Commonwealth of Eng-
Book of thejan(^ an^ the manner of the government thereof; consist-
weaith. ing of three books. The first whereof was concerning the
diversities of commonwealths or governments; and therein
he treated of the gentlemen of England, which he divided
into the great and less nobility, and of the other ranks of
men in this country. The second book was taken up in
shewing particularly the laws of the realm. The third
was concerning appeals, of the courts of Star-chamber,
Wards and Liveries, &c. This excellent book he wrote at his
leisure hours, while he was abroad in this his embassy in
France; occasioned, as it seemeth, by certain discourses
he had with some learned men there, concerning the va
riety of commonwealths ; wherein some did endeavour to
undervalue the EngHsh government in comparison with
that in other countries, where the civil law took place.
His drift herein was, as he tells us himself in the conclu
sion of his book, to set before us the principal points,
wherein the English policy at that time differed from that
used in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and all other coun
tries, which followed the civil law of the Romans, com
piled by Justinian in his Pandects,and Code. And this

SIR THOMAS SMITli. 85
tract of his, being as a project or table of a commonwealth ch a P.
laid before the reader, he recommended to be compared X-
with the commonwealths which at that day were in esse, Anno 1555.
or with others which did remain described in true histo- *'
ries; especially in such points wherein the one differed
from the other ; to see which had taken the more right,
truer, and more commodious way to govern the people as
well in war as in peace. This, he said, would be no illi
beral occupation for him that was a philosopher, and had
a delight in disputing ; nor unprofitable for him that had
to do with, or had good will to serve the prince and com
monwealth, in giving counsel for the better administration
thereof. This was written in Latin as well as in English,
and many were the copies taken of it, till at last it was
printed, though I think not before the year 1621 b, when it
came forth in English in the old black letter.
From the 5th of August to the 30th of October, Smith's His extraor-
exteaordinary charges, which he brought in to the Queen, ™ ^.ex~
amounted to 103Z. 6s. 8d. And as a good part of which
was for his servants, some sent into England, and others
to the French Court, (the King being then in his progress,
and Smith not always following the Court,) so the greatest
part Was spent in gratifyirig spies and intelligencers ;
whereof he had both Scots and French. Of these was De
Rege, whom in August he gratified with 61. 13s. 4d. and
in October following with the like sum. Of these French
were also La Selle, La Fere, Le Meilleur, Le Gras ; to
whom he gave monthly, to some 41. to some 31. and to
some 40s.
In this embassy Sir Thomas Smith's only son was with Smith's son
him ; whom he took along with him to learn accomplish- JJ,1^ >s a"
ments in a foreign court. In the month of August he
b There was an edition of Smith's Commonwealth earlier than 1621, which
I had supposed to have been the first edition; Sir Henry St. George shewing
me one printed 1612, by Stanesby, who printed that in 1621. Another there
was earlier than that, in the Bishop of Norwich's library; viz. printed about
1581. It was printed also by Windet and Seton, anno 1589.
g3

86 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, came to Secretary Cecil, his father having sent him over
x" with a message to the said Secretary; who let his father
Anno 1565. know, that he was very welcome to him, and that he Uked
Q. Ehz. ^im wellj wishing that he were with him again; for that he
seemed to have well profited in observation of many things
there. In October the said young gentleman went back
to France, with letters from the Secretary to his father.
He labours Sir Thomas seemed now to be near the accomplishment
homeT °f his earnest desires: for the Queen, in October, deter
mined, the Secretary's brother-in-law, Mr. Thomas Hoby,
should go in Sir Thomas Smith's place; though he, it
seems, had no great stomach to it : for when it was moved
to. him by the Secretary, he took it unkindly at his hands. .
The Queen understanding it, willed the Eari of Leicester
to let him understand peremptorily her Majesty's plea
sure. Of this the Secretary advised Sir Thomas, add
ing that this, though unwillingly, he knew his brother
Would not deny; and that the Earl had promised him to
send for his brother,. but yet it was not done: and that he,
the Secretary, therefore meant to have my Lady, Sir Tho
mas's wife, either to speak or send to his Lordship, to
press the business.
He returns. , After the winter was past and gone, on the 26th day of
March, Mr. Hoby took his leave of her Majesty, in order
to his embassy, promising to be at the sea side within ten
days. So that in the beginning of the year 1566 Sir
Thomas seems to have come home from his long embassy
in France0. ¦ -i •
c Sir Thomas Hoby, Secretary Ceqil's brother, in law, succeeded Sir Thomas
Smith in this French embassy, and brought Smith letters from the Secretary,
dated April 1, 1566; so' that he may be concluded to come home in that
month: by which letters it appears that Smith had been very angry with the
Secretary, as though he were the impediment of his return, and not so cor
dially his friend as he pretended. But the mild Secretary made a dispassionate
reply to a choleric letter; and shewed himself . unjustly charged by him that
brought his letters, that is, the ambassador that came to succeed him. In
whose behalf Cecil prayed Smith to give him his best assistance as to instruc
tions, servants, and the like. But let us read the Secretary,'? letter :

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 87
To take up a few further remarks of this embassy at the chap.
French Court, Smith was apprehensive of the difficulty of.

performing this his negotiation to the approbation ofAnnoisss.
others ; knowing the ticklish station wherein he stood ; He is • ui_
and 'that his absence might give occasion to some to sian- sitive how
der or misrepresent him. On which account, and being tion^ac'-**
willing to know what reports went of him, he desired his cepted,
friend Dr. Haddon, Master of the Requests, to inform him
what opinions his friends of sway and authority had of his
discharge of the affairs committed to him; and what he
heard in his doings that pleased or displeased. And the
reason Smith gave was, because " it was a very difficult
" thing for one that was concerned in the managery of
" pubhc affairs, so to perform his actions in one and the
" same constant tenor, as to be always applauded."
Sir Thomas had the opportunity, in the pursuit of his He follows
embassy for the service of his mistress, to travel through in j-rance.
many parts of France; that King going in progress in the
year 1564, and our Ambassador attending the Court. He
was at Avignion, whither the Court seemed to remove
chiefly for the plague that raged very sore now in that
" Sir,
" Upon y» servant's readines to depart, I received y sharp, choleric letters, Cotton li-
" reprehending me for y» long stay, and among other things y° noted some brary, Titus
" question moved to y° to make y° doubt of my -friendship. But yet y» shew " *•.
" y» selfe not easily therin to be stirred. I bad y* servant say to y° that I do
" patiently abide both yr causeless anger and y" malice of such as wil never
" rest to send out poison to indanger innocents. Ex patre sunt Diabolo. But
" of this enough.
" Now doth yr successor bring these letters, to wm, as y» know, w' friend-
" ship y° wil shew, I and other his friends shal acknowledge our selves bound
" to y> for y> same : so I heartily beseech y° to instruct him to continue in y«
" good highway wherin y° have wel persisted ; for I se how easy it is to chuse
" by-ways. He is marvelously destitute of a meet servant to be his Secretary,
" or as one to be sent to y" Court, to solicite his causes. Divers have been
" offered to him, but none hath been found void of some reasonable excep-
" tions. If y° may lend him one of yours to this end for some time, y» shal
" greatly pleasure him. And so I end, not doubting but at the time of y«
" coming letter to yr hands, y" wilbe delivered of yr choler against me.
'.' And so I wish y° a good return. From Greenwich, ye first of April, 1566.
" Y" assured, as y° know,
" WILL. CECYLL."
G4

88 THE LIFE OF
chap, kingdom, as it had done the last year in Newhaven and
'*"'"* .in London. In April he was at Bourdeaux, as he had

Anno 1565. been at Thoulouse before. At Bourdeaux he was taken
QEllz' with a fever or ague, which creeping on him at first,
came at length to that violence that he despaired of his
life: and on a sudden it abated, and then he let blood;
whereby in httle more than a day he felt himself to grow
towards recovery both in body and mind. The next day he
hunted the hare, that he might enjoy a more free air;
which exercise he continued for some days ; and from the
1st of March to the 12th (he writ it to some of his friends
as his diversion) his dogs caught nineteen hares.
His reflec- While he was in these southern parts of France, his
his hearing friends wrote him word of the Queen's intended progress
?f tbe, into the north, and that she would take a sight of Cam-
Queens go- J °
ing to Cam- bridge in her way, to visit that University, and to hear
P ge* the scholars' disputations. When Smith heard it, he hear
tily wished to be among them; not to feast, or hunt, or
to indulge his genius on this splendid occasion, (he was
above those things;,) but to see, as he saidj his royal mis
tress a spectator there, in a place so dearly by him af
fected, and to partake of the specimina of those wits, and
to take notice what new men of learning and ingenuity
were sprung up in that University since he left it.
He compos- At Thoulouse, in his leisure hours, he wrote three books
of the Com- °f the English Commonwealth, (mentioned before,) which
monweaith he entitled De Mepublica Anglorum: wherein he de-
atThou- .... ™ ,,,.,. . „ .
louse. ' scribed m effect the whole form of it; especially in those
things wherein it differed from others : and it differed al
most in all things ; so that the work grew greater than he
thought of. He wrote it in our language, in a style be
tween historical and philosophical, after that form as he
conceived Aristotle wrote concerning divers of the Grecian
commonwealths; which writings are now perished. Of
this he wrote to his learned friend Haddon, in his corre
spondence with him in the year 1564; adding, that he had
yielded a very copious argument to such as would dispute
in a philosophical way of the single questions, and whe-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 89
ther is better, that which is held for law in England^ or chap.
that which in France is so held, and in other provinces .

which are governed by the Roman laws : for almost all, Anno 1565.
as he said, were different^ and that he had in gross and in
sum examined both. This he drew up in the year 1564;
and as these writings were as yet but in rough draught,
when written fair, he promised Haddon he would send
them to him. And the value himself had of this his labour
may appear in those words of his letter to the before-men
tioned learned man : " You will see yourself certainly, as
" I think, when you have read it over, that I was not care-
" lessly conversant in our country's commonwealth." Some
vacant spaces he had left in his manuscript here and there,
because he had not with him one book of the English
laws, nor had he there lawyers to consult with : therefore
he wrote so much as the memory of things seen and read
by him on the sudden suggested to him ; and what was
imperfect, he intended, when he returned home, at leisure
to supply.
While the learned Smith was in Paris, he could not for- He inquir-
bear to inquire for the. learned men there, to enjoy their **r^"dmen
conversation at his spare hours. Here he met with Peter in Paris.
Ramus the philosopher, and Ludovicus Regius an histo
rian, and other professors of science, who were the King's
readers. To Ramus's acquaintance Haddon had particularly
recommended him; but the wars proclaimed between
princes, and the times were such, that Smith could not so
frequently converse and hold that familiarity with them
that he wished ; though with these in Paris his converse
was so much, that he called them his convictores. But he In a letter
added, that he had his convictrices too, i. e. his she-com
panions and daily guests, which created him as much sor- v. p. 74.
row and anxiety, as the others did pleasure. And these
were_(as he explained himself) solicitudes, cares, damage
to his domestic concerns in England, greater charges than
he could well bear, doubtful disputations, various emula
tions and opinions.

90 THE LIFE OF
chap. Wh'de Smith was here, he procured the printing of the
x" answer to Osorius, for the vindication of the Queen, and
Anno 1565. the proceedings of the realm in the reformation of reh-
„ ' ™' eion, as was mentioned before ; when, the reader was told
rle procures — y
the printing of the difficulty that Smith met with, while he required
sl^toolo-that state's allowance for the publishing thereof. But at
rius- last he got it into the press at his own charge: which
made Dr. Haddon, the author, after the publishing of the
book, write to him, Multum tibi responsnm debet Osoria-
num, i. e. that the answer to Osorius owed much to him.
And as for Smith's judgment of this answer, it was this,
as he wrote to the said Haddon, " That he conflicted with
" an adversary too unequal for him ; for Osorius brought
f nothing beside the bare imitation of Cicero, and the ig-
" norance.of that he undertook to treat of:' which; Had4
" don pointed him to, as it were, with his finger ; yefe with
" much modesty, and without sharpness of words." By
April ]564,;Smith,had so completed the printing. of the
book, that he sent over some copies to the Secretary.
His corre- The aforesaid Dr. Haddon, Master of the Requests, was
snondcocG
with Had- the Queen's Ambassador at Bruges, at the same time that
don, Am- our gmith was in the hke quality in France; between
bassador in • T. J 7
Flanders, whom a friendly and learned correspondence was main
tained. They both were Ambassadors abroad in the years
1562, 1564, 1565, 1566. Divers of the letters written be
tween them are printed in Haddon's posthumous pieces,
published by Hatcher of Cambridge anno 1567. Smith
was a great lover and reader of Plato, as Haddon was of
Tully. In relation to which, thus did Haddon from
Bruges write to Smith in France : d " Your Plato will not
" suffer you, nor my Tully me, to be our own, who would
" have us serve our country; and as we at first received
" all that we have from it, so to return all back to it
"again." This he said to comfort Smith and himself un
der their present distances from their country, their pains
d Plato, te non sinit esse tuus, nee mens me Cicero, qui patriae nos servire
volunt, et illi reddi omnia, unde universa prius accepimus.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 91
and expences in their embassies for the service of their chap.
Queen and country; the troubles whereof they were apt.

sometimes to lay to heart. Anno 1565.
At another time, viz. in the year 1562, Haddon ap-Smi^h>s'z'
pealed to Smith, as a judge in a dispute between him and opinion of
the French Ambassador at Bruges, upon Cicero's skiU,™phsy^
both in law and philosophy. For Haddon happening to law-
sup once with that Ambassador, upon some occasion Ci
cero was cited, when the Ambassador did admit him to be
the best orator, but he would not allow him at all to be
skilled in law, and that he was but a mean philosopher,
Haddon stood up for the honour pf his master, and af
firmed that he was a very good lawyer, and a most excel
lent philosopher; whereupon they fell into a very hot
argument, that they could hardly make an end. Concern
ing this, he took occasion in his next letter to write unto
Smith, telling him, that he wished this controversy might
have had his judgment, cui non minus uni tribuo, quam
Platoni poeta nescio quis, a reliquis destitutus : i. e. to
whom alone he attributed as much as a certain poet did to
Plato, when he had none else of bis side. Smith on the
next occasion in his to Haddon, thus communicated his
judgment : " That if any doubted whether Cicero was a
" lawyer, it was not to be wondered at, because men for
" the most part are ignorant of age and times : that Ci-
" cero was not of those in that time that professed the ci-
" vil law, but yet he was jure consultissimus, admirably
" skilled in it : which not only many of his pleadings and
" orations demonstrate, but bis Topics' to Trebatius. And
" he esteemed himself so to have profited herein, that he
"openly declared one day, If they vexed him, he would
" the third day after profess the civil law. But he never
" saw indeed Accursius, nor Bartholus, nor Baldus, nor
" Jason, nor the Digests, nor Code of Justinian. A good
" reason why, because they were not in being in his
" time. But so thoroughly had he learned the laws of
" that time, that unless he had been an orator, he had
" been esteemed the learnedest civilian. If he that is a

92 THE LIFE OF
chap, "lawyer deny him to be a philosopher, that answer will
x" " easily be given to him that Apelles gave the shoemaker,

Anno 1565. « J,et him not give his judgment beyond his slipper : 1)ut
Q.Ehz. t( jor ^ phii0S(<,phy,. he betook them that denied it to his
" book De Deo, De DiviWatione, or what he treated of in
" his other philosophical dissertations."
His reflec- In April 1564, Secretary Cecil writ our Ambassador the
troubles ot6- news of the disturbance at Court, occasioned by John
casioned by Hales's book, wrote in the last Parhament; which was the
book. cause of his being cast into prison, and several Others of
the Court committed, or banished the Court. Of this
Haddon (who was now at home) had also acquainted him,
and called it tempestas Halisiana, i. e. the storm raised
by Hales. This Hales was a passing good scholar, an
hearty Protestant, thoroughly acquainted with the state
of this kingdom, and a great Antipapist; he had been a
courtier to King Edward, and an exile under Queen Mary,
and now under this Queen,- Clerk of the' Hanaper : and
fearing the succession of the Scotch Queen, a Papist, to
the crown, if Queen Elizabeth should die unmarried and
childless, he, by private consultation with others, resolved
to take vipon him to write a discourse to discuss the title
to this crown after the Queen : and having in a book con
futed and rejected the line of the Scotch Queen, made the
line of the Lady Frances, that had been married to Grey,
Duke of Suffolk, (who was daughter to the younger sister
of King Henry VIII.)' to be only next and lawful heir.
She was mother to the Lady Katharine Grey, who had
been privately married to Edward Seymour, Earl of Hert
ford; and were now both in the Tower for that marriage;
and under the Queen's displeasure. In April, Hales was
committed to the Fleet for this bold and presumptuous
aet, and afterwards to the Tower, where he continued a
great while; especially because he conimunicated these
his conceits to sundry persons. The Lord John Grey,
uncle to the Lady Katharine, was in trouble about it, and
so was the Lord Keeper Bacon. And besides all this,
Hales had procured sentences and counsels of lawyers

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 93
from beyond seas, to be written in maintenance of the chap.
Earl of Hertford's marriage, which seemed to have been x"

by their consents only; for which the marriage had been Anno 1565.
declared invalid and null by the Archbishop of Canter
bury : but hereat the Queen was much offended. In May,
Hales's business came to be examined by the Secretary :
after examination he was found to have procured books
in defence of the Earl of Hertford's marriage, and likewise
in approbation of the title of succession for the Lady Ka
tharine. Upon this occasion thus did Smith the Ambassa
dor write : e " As I am a man, I would not have any man
" vexed; I could wish quietness to all the race of mankind,
" and that whosoever would might philosophize freely :
" but every man should mind his own business." He de
clared that he for his part was for a liberty of philosophiz
ing; but whereas it was urged that they philosophized
too much, he said, he thought what was done, was done
more out of curiosity than malice. And whereas he saw
so much danger and vexation, banishment from Court,
and imprisonment of great men, happening upon the occa
sion of the said book, some for writing it, and some for
reading it, he made this moral and wise reflection : f " I
" plainly perceive how dangerous a thing it is to be too
"forward in prying into the secret affairs of kings and
" kingdoms."« Ita homo sum, vexari nolim quemquam, quietos esse cuperem omnes mor-
tales, et libere philosophari qui velint, cseteros suam quemque rem agere.
f Video periculosum esse in rebus arcanis principum et legnorum nimis
velle sapere.

94 THE LIFE OF

CHAP. XI.

Smith" goes over Ambassador again to demand Calais.
His employment at home. Concerned in turning iron
into copper.
Anno 1566.0MITH being come home from his embassy, the sight of
Q.Eiiz. hig ol(j friend an(j the enjoyment of his native country,
at home, was a great joy to him. Haddon still remained Ambassa
dor at Bruges; who, in the kalends of June, anno 1566,
wrote to him, that he did almost envy him this his pre
sent happiness. a" You," said he, " have now recovered
" your country, your prince, your consort, your friends,
" your ease, and with the rest, the high commendation of
" your embassy : whereas it is my unhappiness alone to
" be deprived of all those comforts of my life." And no
doubt Smith returned with the same praise for the ma
nagement of his negotiation in France, as his friends in
England gave him while he was in the execution of it ; as
the same Haddon signified to him not long after his first
going into France, viz. that the most intelligent men of
the Court attributed much to his wisdom and moderation;
but above the rest,, their common friend CecD, the Queen's
Secretary ; who ever made honourable and friendly men
tion of him.
Anno 1567. Sir Thomas Smith spent this year in England among
to demand n^s friends. He had not been above twelve months at
Calais. home, but he was sent again into France, in quality of the
Queen's Ambassador extraordinary, to make a formal de
mand of Calais from the French, according to a treaty at
the castle of Cambray eight years before, and when the
last peace was made at Triers, Calais being then excepted
in express words, and to be restored to England the se
cond day of April, now next ensuing. Sir Henry Norris
¦ Tu patriam, principem, conjugem, amicos, otium, et praeclarissimam lega-
tionis laudem pariter recuperavisti. Mea singula™ inl'elicitas haec omnia mea
vita; solatia detraxit.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 95
was at present the Ambassador in ordinary there, who chap.
went over in February 1566: Sir Thomas followed the XI"

next month, viz. in March0; repairing privately to Calais, Anno 1507.
to be there the third day of April, to demand the town.
Not as though they thought the governor would deliver it,
but to avoid all cavillations which the French might in
vent, (for by law it was to be demanded at the very
place,) and being not delivered, the sum of 500,000/. was
forfeited to the Queen. Mr. Winter*, a great sea officer, * Mun'tio-
..... , num classi-
passed secretly with him to take possession- thereof, if coram pra;-
they deceived the expectation of the English ; and there fectu*'
were not passing three of the Council knew of Winter's ters' to Sir
p-oincr. Henry Nor-
ris Cabal.
Sir Thomas took his son, Mr. Smith, along with him, p. '137.
bringing him up in all generous and genteel accomplish- Takes.his
ments, that he might be fit to do service afterward to his him.
Queen and country. And often he sent him over with
letters and messages, as he did in the month of May this
year 1567, with letters from himself and Sir Henry, his
fellow Ambassador, containing _the contents of this their
troublesome negotiation.
But to return to Smith's managery of this his charge, The manner
which he did in this formality : f he demanded Calais manding
first at the gates of the town next the sea, in a loud voice Calais-
in French, by the sound of a trumpet, of which an act was manded
presently made by a public notary; to which were wit-AP"19-
nesses certain outlandish merchants, and others there
happily present : and next coming to the French King,
he demanded Calais again, together with Sir Henry Nor-
ris, the other Ambassador. That King remitted the mat
ter to his council, where Hospital his Chancellor, and our
Smith, argued the point largely and learnedly on both Camd-Plia-
sides, which may be read in the history of Queen Eliza
beth. This being done, Smith comes over again, and was at Sues for the
place of
b It was March 22, 1566, that Sir Thomas Smith was sent with Sir Henry of the
Norris into France, to demand the restitution of Calais, that ought to be deli- Duchy.
vered the 3d of April, being the end of eight years to the treaty of Cambray.

96 THE LIFE OF
chap. Court about the 12th of May; and thus did he continue
XL employed by the Queen in her service* both at home and
Anno 1568. abroad : and for his pains he justly waited for some prefer-
1Z' ment, as a gracious token of the Queen's acceptance of his
services. And when in the year 1568, Sir Ambrose Cave,
an old friend of his, deceased, who had been Chancellor of
the Duchy, and one of the Queen's Privy Council, hfe so
licited and laboured with Cecil to be admitted into his
room c. He told the said Cecil, " that if any thing came,
" or whatsoever came, he should and must think that it
" came by him, and promised that he would not be uri-
" thankful ; and that if the Queen were disposed to be-
" stow this place upon him, he should reckon himself
" not utterly abject of her Majesty ;" which words point
to some discontent in Smith's mind, as though he had
taken it somewhat to heart, that no preferment had been
conferred upon him during the ten years the Queen had
reigned. Dr. Haddon, the Master of Requests, wrote also
upon this occasion to the Secretary in Smith's behalf, that
he might succeed in his suit ; but withal, he wrote in that
manner as though he conjectured his suit was in effect
desperate; which he expressed with some trouble, con
cluding that it was destined, d " that as he (Haddon) was
" to grow old among beggars, [for his office was to pre-
" sent begging requests and suits to the Queen,] so Smith
" to spend his life among turfs," meaning the country hfe
'- When he sued for the place of Chancellor of the Duchy, this was his let
ter to Sir W. Cecil.
"Sir,
" I do understand, y' Sr Ambros Cave is departed from this world, for y«
'* w^ I am sory ; for he was my freend. Yf ye Queen's Ma1" be disposed at
" this time to bestow upon me either his office, or eny other y« shalbe va-
" cant, wh shal be no charge to hir Highnes, I shal recon my self not utterly
" abject of hir Ma>ie. And yf eny thyng com, or wl soever shal come, I shal
" and must thynk, y' it cometh by you ; and shal not thereof be unthankful,
" wcli thyng yee shal immediatly perceive. Thus I bid yow most hartely fare
" wel. From Monthaut ye fourth of April 1568.
" Y™ alwais at commaundement " T. SMITH."
d Ut inter glebas ille, ego inter mendicos consenescam.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 97
which he lived in Essex; "but withal he wished the chap.
" Queen no worse counsellors than he." And so it fell XL
out: Smith missed his suit, and Sir Ralph Sadleir became Anno 1568.
Chancellor of the Duchy.
So that in the years 1567, 1568, 1569, 1570, Sir Tho- Anno 1570.
mas Smith was much in the country, living a retired life : ;„rthe™un.S-
during which time he served his country in distributing try a<h»'nis-
• i,-- r i • <¦, tering ius-
justice, and taking care of the peace and quiet of thetice.
Queen's subjects, and execution of her laws, in the qua
lity of Justice of Peace, in that division of Essex, espe
cially about the parts of Ongar and Epping, where he
dwelt. Among other causes that came before him, there hap- Witches by
pened certain matters of supposed witchcraft, which oc-mjned.
casioned much disturbance among his neighbours; aris
ing especially from two women, viz. one, Malter's wife of
Theydon at Mount, the parish where Sir Thomas himself
dwelt; and the other, Anne Vicars of Navestock, not far
off. The examination of the former he took in April 15 70 ^iter's
against whom one evidence deposed, that about two
years past she bore her husband in hand that he was be
witched : and as a remedy thereof, she caused a trivet to
be set, and certain pieces of elder and white hazle wood
to be laid upon the trivet across, with a fire under it ; and
then him, who was at that time not well in his wits, to
kneel down and say certain prayers, as she taught him :
and thereby, she said, he should be delivered of his be
witching, or his witch should consume as the fire did ;
which, when this evidence rebuked her for doing, as using
witchcraft, she conceived an ill-will towards him. And he
having a sheep-shearing about that time, and not inviting
her thereto, being his neighbour, she, as he supposed, be
witched two of his sheep ; for immediately after they were
taken with sickness, their hinder legs so indisposed that
they only could crawl, and died. The same man had a
sow, being well when the sun went down, which the next
morning was found dead, with her nose lying upon the
H

98 THE LIFE OF
chap, groundsel of this woman's house, where she never was
' fed, nor wont to come before.

Anno 1570. Another witness deposed, that she being servant to a
farmer's wife in the said parish of Theydon Mount, this
goodwife Malter came to her mistress; who was going to
London market, and desired her to bring her home some
sprats ; but she saying she came always loaden from Lon
don, denied her. Upon this, the deponent, theri her hired
maid, came from milking ; and as she set her milk in the
pan upon a loft, there was a speckled bird, as she thought,
which fluttered among the milk-pans, and with her feet
and wings slubbered therein: her mistress in the mean
time called her away ; but she endeavoured by a broom to
sweep or drive away this bird; but it would not away,
but went fluttering from pan to pan, and could not fly, but
skip and hop. At the last, it went from the loft where the
milk and wheat was, into the cheese loft ; and then, being
often called by her mistress, she came down, and being
blamed for her long tarrying, she related how she was
troubled with such a bird; and then her mistress came
herself into the milk loft, and found it come down stairs a
very toad; which after it was once come into the buttery,
she could never see it more. And for the space of six
weeks after, by no means nor diligence, nor change of
churn nor cloths, could they have any butter ; until that
her mistress did bid her carry her milk, and churn at a
neighbour's house ; and there the milk made butter as it
was wont to do before, and in the same milk-pans. Other
evidences there were against this woman.
Anne vi- ln May, Sir Thomas took the depositions of several
against Anne Vicars. A woman deposed, that about three
years past she was taken with a strange sickness ; her
body disfigured, her lips great and black, and she almost
out of her wits. She suspecting that she was bewitched
by the said Anne, went to one Cobham of Rumford, who
was thought to be cunning in such matters ; and he de
clared to her that she was bewitched by the same woman,
telling her the words which passed betwixt Anne Vicars and

' cars.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 99
her, whereby she conceived displeasure against her, and chap.
wrought her that mischief: and Cobham promised her,. "A

that as long as he lived she should have no power over Anno 1570.
her. And so it happened : for during his life she was re
covered and continued well; but shortly after his death
she fell again into her disease.
Another woman of Stapleford Abbots said, that about
three years past she was coming from Rumford market
with this Anne Vicars, and suddenly the said Anne cast
up her nose into the air and smelt; which the other
marvelled at, and asked her if she saw any thing, or if
there were any carrion there? And she said, she smelt
either a whore or a thief. At last she espied the wife of
one Ingarsole, going a great way before them: whereat
the said Vicars cried out with an oath, " I told you, I smelt
" either a whore or a thief;" and making great haste to
overtake her, when she came at her, she cast her apron
upon the side of her face next unto her; and then went
backwards a great way, with her face towards the said In
garsole's wife, casting her apron over it, and making many
crosses, saying, as it were, certain prayers ; but what, this
examinant could not tell; but marvelled much at her be
haviour, and said she was to blame to slander her that
was an honest woman, and so known among her neigh
bours for twenty years. But upon this, Ingarsole's wife
fell extremely sick, and lost one of her eyes with a stroke,
as she thought, that came unto her, she could not tell how,
in the plain field, where neither was bush nor tree, or
other creature.
And the said Mawd, Ingarsole's wife, examined, said,
that the said Anne Vicars's daughter, about the time that
this calamity befell her, did fell wood that was assigned in
the common to her the said Mawd; whereupon she for
bade her to do so any more, or else she would take away
her bill. The next day the said wench came again ; but
she would not suffer her to carry away the wood : where
upon the said Anne Vicars fell out with her, and wished
she might not be delivered of that she went with, being
h 2

100 THE LIFE OF
chap, then great with child. This falling out was on the Mon-
XI- day, and on the Thursday she lost, one of her eyes with a
Anno 1570. sudden stroke, as she thought, where no creature nor thing
<1" Eliz" was by to hurt her ; besides that she was extreme sick,
and in great danger of her life.
Also one Agnes, wife of Thomas Combres, being ex
amined, said, that since Michaelmas last, the said supposed
witch fell out with her, and upon that she fell a cursing
and banning at her, and wished her eyes out : whereupon
within two days she fell down as dead, extremely sick,
and hardly recovered it: and since that time she had
marvellous pain in her eyes. These and divers more de
positions Sir Thomas now took against this woman, of her
supposed witchcraft, exercised upon her neighbours. But
we have said enough of this. What prosecutions were
made of these women, whom he seemed to have commit
ted to gaol, this is not a place to inquire into.
Sir Thomas Sir Thomas was in the month of March talked of to
into the assist Cecil (then newly made Baron of Burghley) in the
Council, office of Secretary; and so to succeed in that room, as
soon as the other should be made Lord Privy Seal, which
was expected : but neither was he made Privy Seal, nor
was Smith as yet admitted to that office. However he
was now admitted into the- Council.
Anno 1571. Sir Thomas now divided his time between the country
Labours a- _ _ _^ J
bout trans- and the Court, but chiefly in the former ; delighted with
into'coppe"*116 divertisements and easy cares of his beloved seat in
Essex. But he was not idle; for he had a busy active
mind, and a philosophical head ; and this put him, among
other things, upon a project of alchymy about the year
1571, hoping to transmute iron into copper. Into this
chargeable, but, as was hoped, gainful business, he brought
the Secretary Cecil, who had also a philosophical genius,
the Earl of Leicester, Sir Humfrey Gilbert, and others.
The first occasion of this business was by one Medley,
who had by vitriol changed iron into true copper, at Sir
Thomas Smith's house at London, and after at his house
in Essex. But this was too costly, as Sir Thomas saw, to

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 101
make a benefit by: therefore he propounded to find out chap.
here in England the primum ens vitrioli, and therewith to

do the same work at a cheaper rate. Upon which, Sir Anno 1571.
Thomas, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, (a learned knight also, Q'E1""
and of a projecting head,) and our Medley, entered into a
company, under articles, to find this out ; that is to say,
that Medley should be employed in this business at the
charge of the two other, till, by the profit he should reap
from the thing found out, he might bear his proportion.
The place where this was to be attempted and laboured
was in the Isle of Wight, or at Poole, or elsewhere : but
at Winchelsey he had made the first trial, because of the
plenty and readiness of wood. He received of Sir Thomas
and Sir Humphrey, an hundred and one pounds apiece, for
the buying of vessels and necessaries. They removed to
Poole, thinking this ens of vitriol to be there, and took a
lease of land of the Lady Mountjoy, of 300/. per annum ;
for the payment of which, Sir Thomas, with the other two,
entered into a bond of 1000/.
While these things were in this state, Smith was sent His progress
Ambassador beyond sea; which was in 1572, as we shall1 erem-
see in due pla.ce. And a quarrel then happening between
Medley and Sir Humphrey, (and Medley gone to Ireland,
being reported to be run away,) the business lay asleep for
some time : but Sir Thomas revived it at his return ; go
ing down himself to Poole, where he found arrears of rent
due to the Lady Mountjoy, and above sixty pounds due to
workmen, and no copper, nor any crocus of copper made.
The satisfying of which debts, and other charges, cost him
two hundred pounds ; and after, for clearing of things at
Poole, sending down at several times his nephews William
Smith and John Wood thither.
And moreover, Smith had persuaded the Lord Trea- Some lords
surer and the Earl of Leicester to enter into the society, the pI!^e°t
(this was now about December, anno 1574,) leaving them
to satisfy themselves by sending some able or knowing
person to Medley, to see his method and ability; and so
accordingly to report it to them : and if they were satis-
h 3

102 THE LIFE OF
chap, fied he could do it, then to consider of the terms Med-
1 .ley had propounded; and, if they thought good, to yield

Anno 1571. unto them. In fine, these lords were willing to come.mto
Q'E1,Z" the society, and they deposited each of them 100/. to
wards the carrying it on ; and it was to be ratified by a
patent to be obtained from the Queen. Medley was now
removed to Anglesey, where was fuel, earth, and water,
proper for his business, being sufficient to do it for ever,
or at the least for a very long time.
The pro- The things which he undertook to do were these : 1 . To
formed into make of raw iron good copper, and of the same weight
a society. anfj proportion, abating one part in six ; as six hundred
ton of iron should, by boiling, make five hundred ton of
perfect copper. 2. The liquor wherein the iron was boiled,
to make copperas and ahum ready for the merchant;
which, keeping the price they then bore, should of the li
quor of five hundred ton of copper be worth 10,000/i that
is, for every ton 2000/. Sir Thomas was satisfied that
true copper was made of iron ; but whether all the other
incident expences, which would be considerable, would
countervail, that was the matter to be examined.
The society had seen the trial of crocus at London;
which might be satisfaction in part. Smith, for his own
part, made no doubt that copper might be made that way,
and two or three other ways also, as he told the lords : but
of the whole work, which rested in many other points, as
of the proportion of iron to the crocus, of the crocus to the
copper, of the allum and copperas that came of it; with
what time of boiling, what expences of fire and men's la
bour, carriage, buildings, vessels, and all other things,
which be iriany ; this, he said, could not be done, nor well
esteemed, nor judged upon at London, but at the place.
Whereupon he propounded to the two lords to send down
two persons, and he and Sir Humphrey Gilbert, one or
two others, whom they might trust : these together to
View and see the doings, and one be witness to the other;
and so all parties to be fully satisfied by the answer of
these viewers to every part of their instructions and artir

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 103
cles, what they should find true according to Medley's chap.
promise, and what not, and the occasion thereof: that so XL

the society might be broken, if it were deceit and abuse, Ann» wi.
or gone forward with, if it were not so.
At length, there arising so much probability of success The patent
in the project, he got the patent of the society signed in [™ '* Slgn"
January 1574; and therein it was styled, The Society of See Appen-
the new Art; and the two lords put into the stock an d,JC>NoVI1-
100/. apiece more. Now when the patent was signed,
and the Great Seal obtained, their next work was to for
ward the business with all speed, that they might he no
longer at great expence. Smith excited the Lord Burgh-
ley, that they might proceed to a perfect beginning of the
work in the manner of a society. The Eaxl of Leicester
was very forward, offering iron, and lead, and money also,
and making more vessels. Smith also put on the Lord
Burghley to make orders when and how it should begin ;
and that one man or two should be fixed upon, as chief
overseers, to take care and charge of the works; who
should be answerable to the whole society; making clear
books for one day prefixed, what the daily, ordinary, and
extraordinary expences be, and what the comings in again
weekly of copper, allum, copperas, and other things be,
and were hke to be: then what common seal for the whole
society : and that Burghley also would, out of other sta
tutes for other societies, cull out some good and whole
some statutes and orders for this; which without a so
ciety, he said, could not well stand ; and the fewer sta
tutes, and well kept, the better. And lastly, he desired
that all might be ready, so as by the 10th or 15th of Fe
bruary the work might be fully begun; that so by the
last of March a sure guess might be made what were like
to ensue thereof. One Sir John Hibbord was the man
agreed upon to have the chief charge of the provisions for
all things necessary for the work, and for disbursing mo
ney by accounts : and to him the Earl of Leicester had
given order for iron, cask, and lead. And one Cole was
appointed by Sir Thomas to be over the works, to be the
h4

104 THE LIFE OF
chap, chief doer and worker of the melting, and not to go from
. the work. : There was also a clerk to keep the reckoning,

Anno 1571. to see what the labourers did daily, and weekly what was
melted and made in copperas and allum.
The busi- But notwithstanding all Smith's hastening, the matter
aeiayS. suffered delay, and was retarded by Medley, the chief un
dertaker, who loitered in London till the 7th of March,
making excuses of wanting money to defray his charges
here; that he did not perceive that the rest were all agreed;
that he thought himself hardly dealt withal, if he should
not be allowed for the charges in making experiments now
this two years and more, and for his buildings and vessels,
the sum of 400/. But in reply to him, Smith urged; that
for two years past Medley and Topcliff (who was his
partner) had made crocus, of which they might have made
benefit for the reimbursing of themselves. They said they
sent it away for essays, and part of it was purloined.
Smith said again, that he might, as well as they, claim to
have his allowance, he and Sir Humphrey Gilbert being
out of purse 400/. in making trials, paid into the hands of
Medley and to the Lord Mountjoy. And he resented
these prolongations to my Lord Burghley in this manner;
that Medley's skill began by this time to be known, which
made him jealous that his delays would wholly spoil their
business : that Sir John Perot had a whole discourse of
the complete manner of the work in writing; that the
Lord Mountjoy had gotten one of Medley's chief workmen
to him ; that divers in the countries knew the earths and
the working of them. And yet, said he, discontentedly, we
do nothing; and wished that he might go down himself:
for which he was very earnest, undertaking within four
teen days to bring things to a full certainty, as to the un
derstanding what truth or likelihood there was in the
matter; assuring his Lordship, that he was not satisfied
until they were certified from thence by order and by ac
counts : that they might compare the time, the charge,
and the labour, with the gains that came of it, and in
what kind it was and should arise. And that the ill sue-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 105
cess, which it seems they met with at Poole, and at the chap.
• XT
Lady Mountjoy's works, taught to trust little to words and .

promises, nor to experiments made afar off, nor to the ac- Anno 1571.
counts of men of that facidty [i. e. aichymists,] " Fain
" they would be fingering of money," said he; " but when
" it is once in their hands, we must seek it in the ashes."
I find no more of this ; but I make no doubt Sir Tho- Thechymist
mas smarted in his purse for his chymical covetousness, a cgs
and Gilbert seems to have been impoverished by it : and
Medley was beggared; for I find him in the Counter two
years after, viz. in the year 1576, made a prisoner there
by Courtis, and some others, who were commissioners
from the Lord Burghley, Lord Treasurer, for debt I make
no question. Though the Lady Mary Sydney, wife to Sir
Henry Sydney, was concerned for him, having, it is pro
bable, some opinion of his skill in chymistry, and wrote to
the said Lord in his favour, and against those that prose
cuted him : but he gave her his grave and wise counsel
with respect unto him, knowing better than she what
kind of man he was.
Thus did this matter detain Sir Thomas Smith three or
four years, to his no little care and cost too.

106

THE LIFE OF

CHAP. XII.
Smith waits upon the Queen at Audley-End. Goes on
embassy to France. Concludes a league. Concerned in
proposals of a match for the Queen.
Aq"eV571' HE ^ueen was at Audley-End in August this year.
Smith ex- Here Sir Thomas Smith now was ; perhaps repairing thi-
amineth the ther to congratulate her Majesty's coming so near Wal-
Norfoik's den, his native town, or to wait upon her for some favour
secretary. for tjjat piacCj or otherwise. At that juncture, a good por
tion of gold was intercepted, going into Scotland to the
Lord Herris, for the help of the Scotch Queen's party, to
gether with a letter in cypher, sent by Higford, the Duke
of Norfolk's secretary : by which it was concluded, the
Duke was again meddling in the matter of matching with
her ; for which he had a reprimand some time before this,
and promised the Queen to concern himself no more in
that affair. Higford was upon this taken up, and commit
ted to the Tower in London ; and Sir Thomas was sent
thither on the first of September, to take his examination;
who confessed to him, that the Duke commanded him to
write to one Lawrence Banister, the Duke's man, that he
should see secretly conveyed 600/. to the said Lord Her
ris, to be by him conveyed to Liddington and Graunge :
whereupon the Duke was put into the Tower; and Smith
was one of those that by the Queen's appointment at
tended him thither.
Another * embassy now fell upon Smith. Mr. Francis
Walsingham, the present Ambassador in France, growing
very indisposed in his health, desired to be released of his
employment: whereupon, though Henry Killigrew, Esq.
was sent Ambassador in October thither, in November the
Lord Grey, or Sir Peter Grey, were intended to go and
» In this embassy to France, here mentioned, he had his instructions dated
February 13, 1571 ; and is entitled there of the Queen's Privy Council, but
not Secretary. Camp. Arab. p. 154.

Goes Am
bassador a-
gain to
France.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 107
assist Walsingham; but in December, Sir Thomas Smith, chap.
who was now one of the Privy Council, was the man.

pitched upon. His business was to treat of entrance into a Anno 1549.
strait league of amity with that King; and withal, in
case that Court renewed the motion for marriage with the
Duke of Alencon, (which was in transaction the summer
past, but received some interruption,) he was to treat
thereof. For however averse or negligent the Queen seemed toTo ™ake a
be in it before, yet now her courtiers so earnestly calling against" Y
upon her for her own surety, and that of her state, which sPain-
would be much advanced through the hope of her issue,
she shewed so good disposition thereto, that the Earl of
Leicester wrote to Sir Thomas, that she so earnestly and
assuredly affirmed to him the same good disposition, that
he verily thought, that yet once again with good handling,
a good conclusion would follow. Smith received his dis
patch about the 6th of December : he plied the business
he was sent for diligently ; for it was thought very neces
sary to join in a good league with France, to check the
greatness of Spain, and to be the better secured against
his threatenings.
In this treaty it is worth taking notice of one article in An article
debate : which was, that the two princes should mutually smith. y
assist each other ; and if the Queen were invaded for the
cause of religion, that the French King should yield her
his assistance. This article, when almost all the rest were
well accorded, that King declined to have put into the
treaty, though he promised to perform it most faithfully:
and though it were not expressly mentioned in the league,
yet such general words should be used, that the matter of
rehgion should be contained therein. To which Smith re
plied, " that that could not be ; and that no general words
" could contain it, if the party that was bound would say,
" that it was against his conscience, or he meant it not."
To which the King said, " that he would write to the
" Queen his sister, with his own hand, what he meant as
K to that; and that he would as well defend her, even in

108 THE LIFE OF
chap. " that cause, as if it were expressed in words: and that
xn- " which he said he would keep, though he died for it."
Anno 1571. But this King was a great dissembler, which our Ambas-
9" Eliz" sador probably knew well enough, but gave him this dis
creet answer; " That for him, he thought no less, and he
" was sure the Queen his mistress took him to be a
" faithful prince, and constant to his words as any was
" living : but when they spake of treaties, they were not
" made in words, nor in such letters missive, but after an-
" other authentical sort, sworn and sealed; without which,
" he could not," he said, " for his part, take it substan-
" tially and orderly done ; and besides, that the treaty
" was not personal but perpetual, for him and his suc-
" cessors."
His argu- And when the Queen-Mother would have shuffled off
theVrench this and some other articles, saying, " that when Mareshal
Queen. « Montmorency should be sent over into England from
" the French King to the Queen, and the Earl of Leices-
" ter should come to that Court from the said Queen, to
" see the league sworn by each prince, then all things
" should be done as the Queen should desire ;" Smith an
swered, " that he knew the fashion of leagues ; and that it
" must be -agreed upon between the commissioners, that
" no words be altered, then subscribed with the hands of
" both the parties ; the French commissioners delivering
" the part signed with their hands to those of England,
" and the commissioners of England next to them : then
" the prince causeth it to be made under the Great Seal of
" the realm, and so to be delivered to each other's Ambas-
" sador : and that he that came to see it sworn to, might
"make a new league, if the princes would; but to' alter
" that that was made, he could not, for the princes were
" bound to ratify and swear to that on which the com-
" missioners were agreed : and that it were not wisdom,"
as he added, "to send such personages as they spake of
" to an uncertain league : and he might consider that
" Queen Elizabeth his mistress would not do it." This
conference happened March the 1st, 1571.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 109
After much pains, this article and another about the chap.
Scotch Queen was agreed ; and Queen Ehzabeth was only . '

to give her consent to finish this happy and advantageous Anno 1571.
league : and to excite the Queen hereunto, Sir Thomas, <, '
•1 ti; i • 1 i. 1 i. 1 Smith per-
with Walsingham, did freely give her advice to this tenor; suades the
" That it was for the assurance of her person and crown, ^ent/to
" as she was a prince lawful and natural, and had a crown the ie»g«e.
" imperial ; and that she did it so by her laws, as God's
" laws and hers willed it to be done : that foreign princes
" that were her friends, would and must take it well ;
" and that such as were not, would rather laugh at her,
" and be glad of it, if she did it not ; and, when they
" should see time, take occasion to endanger her Majesty
" thereby." The Queen soon after signified her consent :
and so in the month of April ensuing, at Blois the league
was concluded, and signed the 18th or 19th day; which,
according as Smith and his colleague did conceive, should
be with as great assurance and defence of the Queen as
ever was or could be ; the two realms being so near and
ready to defend her, if it were required. And in case
Spain should threaten, or shew Ul offices, as it had of late
done against the Queen's safety, it would be afraid here
after so to do, seeing such a wall adjoined, as Smith
wrote; which he therefore hoped would be the best league
that ever was made with France, or any other nation, for
her Majesty's surety. His good conceit he had of this
league did further appear by what he wrote in another
letter soon after to the Lord Burghley, " That now it
" could not be said, that her Majesty was altogether
" alone, having so good a defence of so noble, courageous,
" and so faithful a prince of his word," (but herein our
Ambassador was mistaken in his man, none being so false
of bis word, and treacherous as he, all covered over with
most artificial dissimulation,) " and so near a neighbour,
" provided for, and bespoken beforehand against any need.
" Partly that, and partly the trouble in Flanders, (which
" he trusted God had provided to deliver his poor ser-
" van|ts there from the Antichristian tyranny,) should make

110

THE LIFE OF

CHAP.
XII.
Anno 1571
Q. Eliz.
He loved
not many
words.

His hard
ship in
France.

'< her Highness enjoy more quietly both England and Ire-
" land, and a better neighbour of Scotland."
. When Monsieur De Foix came to him and his col
league, with the draught of the whole league in French,
which before was in Latin, and the matters that passed
pro and con, (which he said was, that the King might un
derstand it,) and had made a new preface, Smith did not
much stick at it: and acquainting the Secretary Cecil
(now Lord Burghley) with it, he opened to him the reason
of it. " I am old," said he, " I love not much talk, and
" would fain be dispatched honestly homeward. So the
" effect be there indeed, and our Queen not deceived, I
" care for no more, that done." Smith loved to do his
business well and soundly, and yet to knit it up with bre
vity and expedition. Thus again, when the French Deputy
urged much in this treaty the Scotch Queen, that she
might be sent safe home to her country; a thing which
the English Ambassadors had order not to deal in, by no
means ; he began to amplify upon that in a long oration :
but at the conclusion, Smith told him in short, " for all
" your reason you must pardon me. I know you are a
" good rhetorician, and you have rhetorical ornaments at
" will to make; and so have I on the contrary side, if I
" would bestow my time in that sort. We are the Queen's
" Majesty's servants, and we have shewed our reasons so
" good, that no man could deny that we should not agree
" unto it."
While Smith was in this country, he was forced to fol
low the Court from place to place; but it being winter
pinched him sore: at Thoulouse it almost cost him his life,
and had made an end of him, had it not been for strong
waters, which he used for his stomach morning and even
ing. At Blois, where he remained after Candlemas, he
endured the greatest cold that ever he felt, and most con
tinual : and notwithstanding the cordial waters he used,
he was scarce able to resist the extreme cold of the wea
ther, there being for thirty days together continual frost
and snow : neither was there wood plenty, nor good chim-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. ill
neys for fire; and in his bedchamber he could make no chap.
fire at all. xu-

In this embassy, the league being concluded, the Queen- Anno 1571.
Mother, one day in March (anno exeunte) in the King's „ Q" Ehz'
j i m • 1 1 1 1 • » . Communi-
garden at JJlois, brake her desire of a marriage between cation be-
Queen Elizabeth and her second son, the Duke D'Alen- n een «e
con; asking Smith the Ambassador, whether he knew ther and
how the Queen would fancy the marriage with her said cemUgThe"
son? "Madam," said he, "you know of old, except lO»ee.n'»
" have a sure ground, I dare affirm nothing to your Ma-
" jesty." When she said again, " that if the Queen were
" disposed to marry, she saw not where she might many
" so well : that as for those she had heard named, as the
" Emperor's son, or Don John of Austria, they were both
" less than her son, and of less stature by a good deal ;
" and if she would marry, it were pity any more time
" were lost." Smith liking well enough the motion, re
plied to this, " that if it pleased God that the Queen
" were married, and had a child, all these brags and all
" these treasons (he meant of the Queen of Scots and
" her party) would soon be appalled : and on condition
" she had a child by Monsieur D'Alencon, for his part he
" cared not, if they had the Queen of Scots in France;"
[which'was an article propounded by the French King in
the fore-inentioned treaty, but by no means allowed by
the English Ambassadors ;] " for then," he said, " they
" would be as careful and as jealous over her for the
" Queen of England's surety, as the Queen's subjects, or
" she herself was." The Queen-Mother then subjoined,
" that it was true ; and without this marriage, if she
" should marry in another place, she could not see how
" this league and amity could be so strong as it was."
Our Ambassador answered, " it was true, the knot of
" blood and marriage was a stronger seal than that which
" was printed in wax, and lasted longer, if God gave good
" success : but yet all leagues had not marriage joined
" with them, as this might, if it pleased God." To which
she joined her wish, and added, " that if it should so hap-

112 THE LIFE OF
chap. " pen, she would herself make a start over and see the
x*1, " Queen; the which of all things she most desired." To
Anno 1571. which again the Ambassador said, " that if he ha,d at that
Q" Eliz" " present as ample commission, as he had at the first for
" Monsieur [D'Anjou,] the matter should soon, by God's
"grace, be at an end." The Queen wished he had; and
asked him, " if he should have such an one when he went
" into England, whether he would not come again to exe-
". cute it?" " Yes, Madam," said he, " most gladly, on
" so good an intent I would pass again the seas, though I
" were never so sick for it."
Further dis- Another day, in the same month of March, the Queen-
thesMnear- Mother met Smith the Ambassador in the same garden,
gument. and having discourse concerning other matters, as of the
Queen of England's danger from the Queen of Scots, who
now applied herself to Spain, she thus brought in the
talk again of marriage; asking him whether his -mistress
did not see, that she should be always in danger until she
married: and that once done, and that in some good
house, who dared attempt any thing against her? "Then,"
said he, " he thought if she were once married, all in Eng-
" land that had any traitorous hearts would be discou-
" raged : for one tree alone (as he ingeniously explained
" the matter) may soon be cut down, but when there be
" two or three together, it is longer a doing; and one shall
" watch for the other. But if she had a child, then all
" these bold and troublesome titles of the Scotch Queen
" or" others, that make such gaping for her death, would
" be clean choaked up." The Queen cried merrily, " she
" saw she might have five or six very well." " Would to
"God," said the Ambassador, "she had one." "No,"
said she, still merrily, " two boys, lest the one should die,
" and three or four daughters to make alliance with us
«' again, and other princes, to strengthen the realm."
" Why then," said Smith, as jocularly, " you think that
<£ Monsieur le Due shall speed." With that she laughed,
and said, " she desired it infinitely : and then she would
" trust to see three or four at the least of her race, which

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 113
" would make her indeed not to spare sea and land to see chap. XII
" her Majesty and them. And if she could have fancied "
" my son D'Anjou," said she, " as you told me, why not Anno 1571,
" this of the same house, father and mother, and as vi-
" gorous and lusty as he, or rather more ? and now he be-
K ginneth to have a beard come forth : and as to his sta-
" ture," she told the Ambassador, " that the said Duke
" her son was as tall as himself, or very near." " For that
" matter," said he again, " that for his part he made little
" account, if the Queen's Majesty could fancy him." Add
ing this story, " that Pipin the Short married Bertha
" the King of Almain's daughter, who was so little to her,
" that he was standing in Aix, in a church there, she tak-
" ing him by the hand, and his head not reaching to her
" girdle : and yet he had by her Charlemagne, the great
" Emperor and King of France, who was reported to be
" almost a giant in stature." To which the Ambassador
added, " the mention of Oliver Glesquin, the Britain Con-
" stable, which the French made so much of, and lay bu-
" ried among the kings at St. Denys, if he were no bigger
" than he was there pourtrayed upon his tomb, was very
" short, scarce four foot long : but yet he was valiant,
" hardy, and courageous above all in his time, and did the
" Englishmen most hurt." Thus ingeniously did Smith
hold the conference with the Queen-Mother.
But as to his opinion of the Queen's marriage, wherein His
he perceived she was but backward, (and a marriage he J^""^^.,
and the best statesmen in those times reckoned the only marrying.
means for the peace and safety of the Queen and king
dom, against the disturbances and pretences of the Scotch
Queen and her friends,) the Ambassador was full of sad and
uneasy thoughts : for so at this time he opened his mind to
the Lord Burghley, " that all the world did see, that they
"wished her Majesty's surety, and long continuance; and
" that marriage, and the issue of her Highness's body,
" should be the most assurance of her Highness, and of
" the wealth of the realm. The place, and the person, for
" his part, he remitted to her Majesty. But what she

114 THE LIFE OF
chap. « meant to maintain still her danger, and not to provide
." for her surety," he assured his Lordship, " he could see

Auno i57i.« n0 reason. And so prayed God to preserve her long to
"reign by some unbooked for miracle: for he could not
" see, by natural reason, that she went about to provide
" for it." And soon after, when Smith had sent messages
two or three for the resolution of the English Court about
the marriage, which the French were so earnest for, and
in great hopes of, and no answer came, " he lamented to
" the aforesaid Lord, that he and his colleague Walsing-
" ham could say nothing of it when they were asked :
" and that they were sorry in their hearts to see such un-
" certain, so negligent, and irresolute provision for the
" safety of the Queen's person, and of her reign; praying
" God Almighty, of his almighty and miraculous power to
" preserve her long to reign over her people ; and that his
" grace and mercy would turn all to the best."
His concern in the midst of these cares of our Ambassador, the
Queen's Lord Burghley wrote to him of a matter that put him and
sickness; jjjs C0Ueague into a great consternation. It was concern
ing the Queen's falling sick of the smallpox, and withal
of her speedy recovery again. His careful mind for this
matter he thus expressed in his next letter to the said
Lord: "That he and his fellow read the news of the
" Queen's illness together in a marvellous agony, but hav-
" ing his medicine ready, (which was, that her Majesty
" was within an hour recovered,) it did in part heal them
" again. But that, as his Lordship wrote of himself, that
" the care did not cease in him, so he might be assured it
" did as little cease in them; calling to their remembrance,
" and laying before their eyes, the trouble, the uncer-
" tainty, the disorder, the peril and danger, that had been
" like to follow, if at that time God had taken her from
" them ; whom he styled the stay of the commonwealth',
" the hope of their repose, and that lanthorn of their light
" next God : not knowing whom to follow, nor certainly
" where to light another candle."
Another great solicitude of his at this time was, as the

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 115
Queen's sickness, so her slowness to resolve, and the tedi- chap. VTT
ous irresolutions at Court; of which he spake in some.

passion after this sort : "That if the Queen did still con- Anno 1571-
. . . . . . . ,. Q.Eliz.
" tinue m extremities to promise, in recoveries to forget, And the ir.
" what shall we say, but as the Italians do, Passato il pe- resolutions
" ricolo, gabbato il fango ? He told that Lord moreover, court.
" that he should perceive by their proceedings in their
" embassy, what justly might be required was easy to be
" done: but if her Majesty deceived herself, and with ir-
" resolution made all princes understand, that there was
" no certainty of her or her Council, but dalliance* and
" farding off of time, she should then first discredit her
" ministers, which was not much, but next and by them
" discredit herself; that is, to be counted uncertain, irre-
" solute, unconstant, and for no prince to trust unto, but
" as to a courtier, who had words at will, and true deeds
" none." These were expressions proceeding somewhat,
as may be perceived, from his spleen, and partly from his
present indisposition of body; which he seemed to be
sensible of : for he begged his Lordship's pardon for what
he had said, rendering his reason, " that he had been kept
rt there so long, that he was then in an ague both in body
"and in spirit: and that as the humours in his body
" made an ague there, (of which he wished it would
" make an end,) so that irresolution at the Court he
" hoped would help to conclude, that he might feel no
" more miseries, which he feared those that came after
" should feel ; because we will not see," said he, " the
" time of our visitation." Thus did Smith express his
discontents into the bosom, of his trusty friend, for the
mismanagement of public affairs, as he conceived, disco
vering, as his zeal and affection to the Queen and the
state, so the temper of his mind, somewhat inclined to
heat and choler. This he writ from Blois on Good-Fri
day. While Sir Thomas Smith was here Ambassador, the Tiw Queen
treaty of marriage was in effect concluded between the sends t0 sir
Prince of Navarre and the Lady Margaret, the present Thomas.
i 2

116 THE LIFE OF
chap. French King's sister; which looked then very well toward
.the cause of rehgion, and both that Ambassador and his

Anno 1571. colleagues, Walsingham and KiUigrew, liked it well. One
matter in debate, and the chief, was about the manner of
solemnizing the marriage. Whereupon they sent to the
Queen of Navarre a true copy of the treaty of the mar
riage between King Edward the Sixth, and the late Queen
of Spain, the French King's sister : wherein it was agreed,
that she should be married according to the form of the
Church of England ; which stood the said Queen of Na
varre in such good stead, that she produced it to the
Queen- Mother of France : to which they took exceptions,
and said it was no true copy of the treaty. Whereupon
she, the Queen of Navarre, sent to Sir Thomas Smith,
who happened to be at that very treaty. By her messen
ger she signified, that she sent to him to know (because
he was a dealer in the same) whether he would not justify
it to be a true copy. To whom Sir Thomas answered,
" That knowing the great good- will his mistress did bear
" her, and how much she desired the good success of that
" marriage, as a thing that tended to the advancement of
" religion, and repose of this realm, he could not but in
" duty avow the same, and be willing to do any good of-
" fice that might advance the said marriage."

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 117

CHAP. XIII.
Made Chancellor of the Garter. Comes home. Becomes
Secretary of State. His advice for forwarding the
Queen's match. His astonishment upon the Paris mas
sacre.
OlR THOMAS being still abroad in France, the Queen Anno 1572.
conferred upon him the Chancellorship of the Order of the Q' Ehz"
Garter, in the month of April, as some reward of the giTes him
league that he had taken so much pains in making: forthe C1f.n"
which he thanked her Majesty, and said it must needs be the order.
to him many times the more welcome, because that, with
out his suit, and in his absence, her Highness of her gra
cious goodness did remember him.
About June 1 572, he came home with the Earl of Lin- Comes
coin, Lord Admiral, who was sent over to take the oath ome"
of the French King for the confirmation of the treaty;
which being done by the Queen's command, he was no
longer to abide in France, but to return at his best conve
nience. It was not long from this time, that the old Lord Trea- MadeSecre-
surer, Marquis of Winchester, died ; and the Lord Burgh- ary'
ley, Secretary of State, succeeded in his place. Then
Smith was called to the office of Secretary, viz. June 24 a,
having some time before assisted the Lord Burghley in
that station.
And surely it was the opinion of his great learning, as Famed in
well as his long experience and other deserts, that pre-fo*hi°u
ferred him ; for his learning had rendered him very famous learning.
in the Court. A poet in those times, writing an heroic
a Whereas it is said there that Smith was made Secretary June 24, 1572;
in a diary of Cecil's it is set down to be June 24, 1 57 1 - And in a letter of
the said Cecil's to Walsingham, Ambassador in France, he writ, that he trusted
Sir Thomas Smith should be admitted to the Council to-morrow, (that is,
March 4, 1570,) and shortly after to be Secretary. Compl. Ami. p. 54.
i 3

118 THE LIFE OF
chap, poem to the Queen, therein describing all her great offi-
' cers one after another, thus, depainted this her Secretary:
Anno 1572.
Q. Eiiz. Inde tibi est altis Smythvs a gravibusque Secretis,
Doctrinee titulis et honoris fulgidus, ut qui
Pierius vates, prompto facundus et ore,
Et cui solliciti exquisita peritia juris,
Astronomus, physicusque, theologus, insuper omni
Eximie multifaria tarn structus in arte,
Ut sedes in eo Muscejixisse putentur.
Wherein, of all the Queen's wise and noble counsellors,
Smith her Secretary is made to be the deeply learned
man about her, as being an ingenious poet,, an excellent
speaker, of exquisite skill in the civil law, in astronomy,
in natural philosophy and physic, in divinity, and in a
word, so richly furnished in all the arts and sciences, that
the Muses themselves might be supposed to have taken
up their seat in him.
Smith's de- And thus we see Smith reinstated again in that place
view be- which four and twenty years ago he enjoyed under King
tween Mon- Edward. Smith now being Secretary, and Walsingham
the Queen, resident in the French Court, and the matter of the match
for Duke d'Alencon and the Queen transacted ear
nestly this year, the main of this matter went through
Smith's hands : and thus it stood. The French King and
Queen- Mother, and the Duke and that Court, were ex
tremely eager for it, and so was the English nation too;
supposing it the best way for the security of her Majesty
and her crown. But the Queen herself was but cold in
the matter; and when an interview was moved between
her and the Duke, she refused to yield to it upon some
scruples. Whereat Secretary Smith, to set it forward,
that it might not be suspended on such a point, devised
that the Duke should come over hither without the cere
mony of an invitation : for, as he wrote to Walsingham in
August, he was sorry so good a matter should, upon so
nice a point, be deferred; adding, « that one might say,

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 119
" that the lover would do little, if he would not take pains chap.
" once to see his love, but she must first say yea, before .

" he saw her, or she him. Twenty ways," said he, " might At£ ° 'f 72,
" be devised why he might come over and be welcome,
" and possibly do more in an hour than he might in two
" years [otherwise.] Cupido. ille qui vincit omnia in ocu-
" los inside t, et ex oculis ejaculatur, et in oculos utriusque
" videndo, non solum, ut ait poeta, fosmina virum, sed vir
" foeminam. What force, I pray you, can hearsay, and /
" think and I trust do, in comparison of that, cum prcesens
" prcesentem tuetur,et alloquitur,et furore for sitan amoris
" ductus amplectitur ? And saith to himself, and openly,
" that she may hear, Teneone te mea, an etiamnum somno
" volunt fwminai videri cogi ad id quod maxime cupiunt ?
" If we be cold, it is our part : besides the person, the sex
" requires it. Why are you cold ? Is it not a young man's
" part to be bold, courageous, and to adventure ? If he
" should have [a repulse] he should have but honor^ficam
" repulsam. The worst that can be said of him is but a
" Phaeton, quam si non tenuit, magnis tamen excidit au-
" sis." Adding, that so far as he could perceive, " this was
'( the only anchor, this the dye to be cast for us." Or else
nothing was to be looked for, but still and continual dalli
ance and doubtfulness, so far as he could see. Thus, in
bis royal mistress's and the nation's behalf, he could talk
and direct like a master of love. This device and counsel,
I suppose, was hinted to the French Court ; and it was not
long, but Duke d'Alencon accordingly came over, to make
his address to the Queen.
The Parisian massacre happening in August, so trea
cherous and so inhuman, that all the world stood amazed
at it, Secretary Smith abhorred, and wrote his thoughts of
it in this following letter to Walsingham, then Ambassa
dor there :
" Sir,
" This accident in France seemeth to us so strange, and His
(e beyond all expectation, that we cannot tell what to sayth°u,.s

" to it: and the excuse [tarn exilis] so slender or fraudulent, cre at Paris-
i4

120 THE LIFE OF
chap. " (namely, that the Hugonots had intended to have made
1 ' . " some dangerous disturbances in the kingdom, and there-

Annoi572. " fore the King was forced to do this for his own safety,)
a" Ellz" « that we wot not what to think of it. The matter appears
" all manner of ways so lamentable, the King so suddenly,
" and in one day to have despoiled himself and his realm
'* of so many notable captains, so many brave soldiers, so
" wise and so valiant men, as, if they were unguilty of
«' that which is laid unto them, it is most pitiful : if they
" were guilty, cur mandati causa damnati sunt ac cmsi ?
" in such sudden and extreme dealings, cito sed sera pce-
" nitentia solet sequi; if it were sudden, and not of long
" time premeditated before : and if so, the worse and more
" infamous. Thus you see what privately any man may
" think of this fact. I am glad yet that in these tumults
" and bloody proscriptions you did escape, and the young
" gentlemen that be there with you ; and that the King
" had so great care and pity of our nation, so lately with
" strait amity confederate with him. Yet we hear say,
" that he that was sent by my Lord Chamberlain to be
*" schoolmaster to young Wharton, being come the day
" before, was then slain. Alas t he was acquainted with no-
" body, nor could be partaker of any evil dealing. How
" fearful and careful the mothers and parents be here of
" such young gentlemen as be there, you may easily guess
" by my Lady Lane, who prayeth very earnestly that her
" son may be sent home with as much speed as may be :
" and if my Lady, your wife, with your daughter, and the
" rest, with such as may be spared, were sent away home,
" until this rage and tempest were somewhat appeased,
" you shall be the quieter, and disburdened of much of
" your care. You would not think how much we are deA
" sirous to hear what end these troubles will have ; whe-
" ther it rangeth further into all France, or die, and will
" cease here at Paris.
" Our merchants be afraid now to go into France ; and
" who can blame them ? who would, where such liberty is
" given to soldiers, and where nee pietas nee justitia doth

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 121
"refrain and keep back the unruly malice and sword of chap.
"the raging popular? Monsieur la Mote is somewhat  1_

" spoken to in this matter: and now the vintage, as you Anno 1572.
" know, is at hand ; but our traffic into Rouen, and other
" places m France, is almost laid down with this new fear.
" It grieveth no man in England so much as me : and in-
" deed I have, in some respect, the greatest cause." [I
suppose, because he was the great maker of the league
between that King and the Queen, and did so assure .the
Queen of the integrity, truth, and honour of the said
King.] " Fare you well. From Woodstock, the 12th of
" September, 1572. " Yours always assured,
« THOMAS SMITH."
" P. S. I most heartily thank you for the book of the past
" troubles in France. But, alas ! who shall now write
" worthily of the treasons and cruelties more barba-
" rous than ever the Scythians used?"
And in the same month, when upon some treachery His detesta-
feared to be acted upon Walsingham, he was sent for
home for some time; and tidings being brought of the
massacres upon the Protestants at Rouen and other places,
as well as at Paris ; thus did this good man express his
detestation of these practices : " The cruel murders of
" Rouen are now long ago written unto us, when we
" thought all had been done : and by the same letters was
" written unto us, that Dieppe was kept close, and the
" same executions of the true Christians looked for there,
" but as then not executed. Howbeit Sigoigne did war-
" rant all our Englishmen to be out of danger, and not to
" be afraid. But what warrant can the French make now?
" seals and words of princes being traps to catch inno-
" cents, and bring them to the butchery. If the Admiral,
" and all those martyred on that bloody Bartholomew day,
" were guilty, why were they not apprehended, imprisoned,
" interrogated, and judged; but so much made of as might
" be, within two hours of the assassination ? Is that the

122 THE LIFE OF
chap. « manner to handle men either culpable or suspected ? So
xin" " is the journier slain by the robber, so is the hen of the

Anno 1572. « fox, so the hind of the Hon, so Abel of Cain, so the in-
Q- Ellz" " nocent of the wicked, so Abner of Joab. But grant they
" were guilty, they dreamt treason that night in their
" sleep; what did the innocents, men, women, and children,
" at Lyons? What did the sucking children and their mo-
" thers at Rouen deserve, at Caen, at Rochelle ? What is
" done yet we have not heard ; but I think shortly we
" shall hear. Will God, think you, still sleep ? Shall not
" their blood ask vengeance ? Shall not the earth be ac-
" cursed that hath sucked up the innocent blood poured out
" like water upon it? I am most sorry for the King, whom I
" love, whom I esteem the most worthy, the most faithful
" prince of the world ; the most sincere monarch now Uv-
" ing." [Ironically spoken, no question, by Smith, because
to him that King used to profess so much integrity/]
" I am glad you shall come home ; and would wish you
" were at home, out of that country so contaminate with
" innocent hlood, that the sun cannot look upon it, but to
" prognosticate the wrath and vengeance of God. The
" ruin and desolation of Jerusalem could not come, till all
" the Christians were either killed there, or expelled from
" thence. But whither do I run, driven with just passions
" and heats ?"
And in another letter, " All that be not bloody and An-
" tichristian must needs condole and lament the misery
" and inhumanity of this time. God make it short, and
" send his kingdom among us."
His reason La Crocque was now in England, Ambassador from
of the man- ^ ,.,,,, . r
nerofan- France; and notwithstanding this base bloody action of
F^enchgAm- France> aim the jealousies that the Queen now justly am
bassador, ceived of that King, yet she gave him a soft answer to be
returned to his master, being ready to go to his own
country. Of which Ambassador's negotiation, and the
Queen's answer, thus Secretary Smith spake s " His ne-
" gotiation was long in words, to make us believe better
" of that King than as yet we can ; and replied to [on the

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 123
" Enghsh side] liberally enough: although to that prince chap.
" or country, who have so openly and injuriously done In'

" against Christ, who is truth, sincerity, faith, pity, mercy, Anno 1572.
"love, and charity, nothing can be too sharply and se-
" verely answered ; yet princes, you know, are acquainted
" with nothing but douceur, so must be handled with
" douceur, especially among and between princes ; and
" therefore to temperate, as you may perceive : not that
" they [should] think the Queen's Majesty and her Coun-
" cil such fools, as we know not what is to be done ; and
" yet that we should not appear so rude and barbarous, as
" to provoke where no profit is to any man."
Upon the preparations that were made in England H»s obser-
against the feared attempts of the French, or other Roman the preju-
Catholics, at this critical time, of the murders committed !j.ice **. .
7 . „ . French did
upon the Protestants in France, the Secretary thus pi- themselves
ously spake: "Truth it is, that God disposeth all what- in Scotland-
" soever a man does purpose, as Divines speak ; and it is
" his gift, if wise men do provide for mischief to come ;
" and yet whatsoever they do devise, the event doth come
" of him only, who is the God of hope and fear, beyond
" hope and expectation." This he spake in reference to
the Scots, who, hearing of this havoc in France, whereas
the lords there were in civil wars amongst themselves,
fomented by the French, did now begin to come to accord,
dreading these doings, and fearing some danger near
themselves ; for it was the desire of the English to have
Scotland in peace and union under the present Protestant
King: and now, by a way not thought on, they drew
nearer and nearer to an accord, to which the cruelty in
France helped not a little; and now continuing, much
more would ; which he expressed in these words : " The
" Scots, our neighbours, be awakened by their beacons in
" France." And the Scots, to shew their resentment of
these foul doings there, issued out a proclamation to that
purpose 5 which the Secretary sent to Walsingham.

124 THE LIFE OF

CHAP. XIV.
Secretary Smith at Windsor dispatching business. His
care of Flanders and Ireland. Mass-mongers and con
jurers sent up to him out of the north. His colony in
Ireland.
Anno 1572. IN the very beginning of November, Secretary Smith was
Q'5liz' with the Queen at Windsor, the Lord Treasurer Burghley
tary at and most of the Lords of the Council being gone to Lon-
windsor; ^^ tQ ^ solemnization of some great wedding, at which
the Secretary also should have been, but he thought it not
convenient to go ; to be present with the Queen whatso
ever chance might happen.
Dispatch- There were now in England, Warwick, an agent from
andirish*5 the Earls of East Freezeland, who was very importune
matters. for an answer to his master's requests ; and another agent
from the town of Embden, who came about matters of
trade: the consideration of whose business the Queen
committed to Aldersay, and some other merchants of
London; who had objected against the agents' proposals,
and were to give in their reasons. Smith, who was ever
for dispatch of business, desired the Lord Burghley to call
upon these merchants to hasten and to forward the dis
mission of both those agents. Irish businesses also lying
before the Queen at this time, were taken care of by him ;
signifying to the said Lord Treasurer, how the Lord De
puty of Ireland wanted comfort and direction in answer to
his letters : and he desired the Treasurer to send him the
draught of the answer from the Lords to the said Deputy,
which he would cause to be written fair, and made ready
to be signed against his and the rest of the Lords return
to Windsor. He further wrote to the Treasurer, that he
should have the Privy Seal sent him for 5200/. for corn
and money for the use of the Deputy. He mentioned two
letters withal to be sent by the same dispatch into Ireland,
for three bishoprics void there ; to which the Lord Deputy

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 125
had recommended certain persons as able and fit men for chap.
those places. And taking care of his friend Walsingham,. r

Ambassador in France, he obtained leave from the Queen Anno 1572.
for his return home : and when among several named to
her Majesty to succeed him, she had her thoughts upon
Mr. Francis Caroe, as liking him most, he informed the
Treasurer of it, and prayed him to send for the said Caroe,
and commune with him to put himself in a readiness:
whereby, as he said, he should do Mr. Walsingham a great
pleasure. These were some of the state matters Smith's
hands were full of in the month of November.
Sir Thomas Smith was nettled to see the proud Span- His com-
iard domineering in Flanders and Holland, and exercising j^nd"^
their cruelties there, and introducing a slavery among that
free people ; and very apprehensive he was of the growing
power of that nation, that so threatened their neigh
bours, France as well as England : especially seeing withal
how tender both realms were to send succours to those
parts, to enable them to vindicate their own liberty and
safety from those inhuman and insufferable practices there
prevailing: in the mean time the French accused the
sluggishness of the English, and the Enghsh did the
hke of the French. The Queen had sent some forces to
Flushing; but there was a report that she, upon Duke
d'Alva's motion, did revoke them: but that was not so;
but he was gently answered with a dilatory and doubtful
answer: but indeed, more that would have gone from
England thither, were stayed. The Enghsh, on the other
hand, had knowledge that the French did tergiversari,
hang off, and wrought but timorously, and underhand
with open and outward edicts, and made excuses at Rome
and Venice by the Ambassadors, importing their not med
dling in Flanders, or excusing themselves, if they had
done any thing there : on which occasion, Smith, in a let
ter to the Ambassador in France, gave both Princes a
lash; reflecting upon the pretended activity and warlike
qualities of the French King, yet that he should thus wa
ver and be afraid to engage ; and upon the slowness and

126 THE LIFE OF
chap, security of the Queen of England. a" You have," saith
XIV" he, " a King void of leisure, and that loves fatigue, whose

Anho 1572." warlike house hath been used to the shedding as well of
,z" " their own as of foreign blood : what shall we, a slothful
" nation, and accustomed to peace, do ; whose supreme
" governor is a Queen, and she a great lover of peace and
" quietness ?"
His advice But to see a little more of his service and counsel in
EarWDe - tne quality and place he served under the Queen. When
mond. in this year 1572, the Earl of Desmond was in England a
prisoner, but reconciled unto the Queen, and had pro
mised to do her good service in Ireland, and soon to
drive the rebels out of the country, the Queen and Court
thought he would prove an honest and faithful subject,
and so resolved to dismiss him into his country : and she
told Sir Thomas, that she would give him at his departure
(tiie more to oblige him) a piece of silk for his apparel,
and a reward in money. Upon which Sir Thomas's judg
ment was, " that seeing the Queen would tie the Earl to
" her service with a benefit, it would be done ample, libe-
" raliter, ac prolixe, non maligna et parce, i. e. nobly, li-
" berally, and largely; not grudgingly and meanly:" which,
as he added, " did so disgrace the benefit, that for love
" many times it left a grudge behind in the heart of him
" that received it, that marred the whole benefit."
And the A quarrel happened this year between the Earl of Clan-
tweraQan-richard and Sir Edward Fitton, governor of Connaught,
richard and who was somewhat rigorous in his office ; which had
caused the rebellion of the Earl's son. The case came be
fore the Deputy and Council in Ireland, and at last to the
Queen and her Council in England : our Secretary drew
up the Lords of the Council's order about it, to be sent to
the Lord Deputy and the Council there, to hear and de
cide it between them; and withal was sent the Earl's
* Regem experteni otii, laboris amantem, cujus gens bellicosa jampridem
assueta est caedibus tam exterioris quam vestri sanguinis : quid faciemus gens
otiosa et pacis assueta, quibus imperat Regina, et ipsa pacis atque quietis
amant issi ma ?

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 127
book, and Sir Edward Fitton's answers given into the chap.
Council in England. The Earl seemed desirous to have XIV"

matters sifted to the full trial; and then each party might Anno 1572
say and prove the most and worst they could: but Sir
Thomas thought it the best way for the Deputy to per
suade them both to wrap up (as he expressed it) all
things by-past, and to be friends, as they had promised,
it seems, to be at a reconciliation formerly made before
the Lord Deputy, and to join faithfully for the furtherance
of the Queen's Majesty's service, and the quietness and
good order of the country hereafter. And it was in his
judgment, as he added, " the best way to tread all under
" foot, that had gone heretofore, with a perpetual kpmfrriei,
" and to begin a new line without grating upon old sores."
Very wise and deliberate counsel ! to avoid all ripping up
farmer grievances, which is not the way to heal, so much
as to widen the old differences.
There was this year both massing and conjuring inMass-mon-
great measure, in the north especially; and all to create Conjurers
friends to the Scotch Queen, and enemies to Queen Eliza- seQt up to
beth : the one to keep the people in the blindness of Po- tary"
pery, and the other to hoodwink them to believe, as it
were by prophecy, the speedy approaching death of the
Queen. The Earl of Shrewsbury was now Lord President
of the Council in the north : he employed two sharp per
sons to discover these persons and their doings; which
they did so effectually, that in the month of February
many of these conjurers and mass-mongers were seized,
and by the said Lord President's order were brought up
by them that seized them to Secretary Smith, good store
of their books; which Sir Thomas seeing, called pretty
books, and pamphlets of conjuring. They brought also to
him an account in writing of their travail and pains in
this behalf. There was apprehended danger in these prac
tices: for the Papists earnestly longing for the Queen's
death had cast figures, and consulted with unlawful arts
(which they mixed with their masses) to learn when she
should die, and who should succeed; and probably to

128 THE LIFE OF
chap, cause her death, if they could. This piece of service there-
. fore the Queen and Council took very thankfully at the

Anno 1572. Eari of Shrewsbury's hands; which, together with the
course that was intended to be taken with these criminals,
the Secretary signified to him in a letter to this tenor :
His letter u jyf„ verv good Lord, the pain that the two to whom
to the Earl « .. J: . nT,i
of Shrews- " you gave commission, viz. Pam and Peg, have taken to
uponhere" " seeh out the conjurers and mass-mongers, is very well
ExOffic. "accepted of by my Lords of the Council; and they
"willed me to give your Lordship, therefore, their most
" hearty thanks : the Queen also, not without great con-
" tentation of her Highness, hath heard of your careful or-
" dering of those matters. The matters be referred, touch-
" ing the massing and such disorders, to the Archbishop
" of Canterbury, and the rest of the great Commission Ec-
" clesiastical : that which shall appear, by examination, to
" touch the State and the Prince, to be referred again to
" my Lords of the Council, &c." This was dated from
Greenwich, February 17, 1572. But it was thought highly
needful, that this dangerous nest in the north should be
searched more narrowly for, and the birds taken, that
they might no more exercise these evil practices, or worse
hereafter : the care of which was therefore committed by
the Council to the Justices of those parts, out of some se
cret favour, as it seems, in some of the Privy Counsellors
to Papists ; for those Justices were known well enough to
be generally Popishly affected : therefore it was the judg
ment of the Secretary, that these Justices would rather
cloak than operi, excuse than accuse, them who were wor
thy of accusation ; and very doubtful he was, whether
they would hinder the discovery of the nest that would be
broken ; as he broke his mind to the Lord Treasurer, who
was of the same judgment, and so also the Lord Cham
berlain shewed himself to be, in conference with the Se
cretary. But the said Treasurer, who was for doing all
things with douceur, and with as little opposition to
others as could be, judged, that for this time the doings of
these Justices should be tried ; to which opinion the Se-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 129
cretary did shew himself to condescend and agree. There chap.
came soon after to his hands more indicia, of thgse con- ' ' '

jurers which were taken, and withaj a foul knot of Pa- Anno 1572.
pistical Justices of Peace discovered, and of massing
Priests, whiqh made him signify his judgment to the Lord
Treasurer, that it would be well done, some of thgm
should be sent for out of hand, and laid hold, on, if they
could be found: and accordingly letters were dispatched
into the north for that purpose.
About this time it was that Sir Thomas, was earnest Persuades
with the Queen, to send aid to reduce the rebels in, Spot- to^semTaid
land, who had fortified Edinburgh; castle against the Kinginto Scot-
and Regent; and for that purpose he let the Queen un
derstand from Mr. KiUigrew, her Ambassador in Scotland,
how dangerously things stood there, and therefore, that,, it
was his desire that the peace-makers (as he phrased it)
might shortly be transported thither : to whom, when the
Queen asked, " Who be they?" " Marry," said he, " your
" Majesty's cannons; they must do it, and make a final
" conclusion/' " Then," said the Queen, " I warrant you,
" and that shortly." Whereupon Sir Thqmas said he was
glad, for it was better to prevent than, to be prevented.
Such was his facetious way sometimes pf getting his, de
signs and counsel to the Queen to succeed,
For it is to be understood that the Queen, for the, se- Which, up-
curing of her affairs with respect to Scotland, had by. her tioil) she
interest there procured the Earl of Morton, a Protestant, condescends
to be Regent of Scotland : but the Papists and Frenchified
p^rty resisted, and took Edinburgh castle; the. reducing
of whiph so expeditely, before the French could come in
to their assistance, was owing to the managery of, tb,e
Lord Treasurer and the Secretary. His part was to urge
the Queen to send speedy supply thither, and. the Lord
Treasurer would have, men, ammunition, and other neces
saries, and a ship immediately ready at Newcastle to go
for Scotland, upon the Queen's order: so about the 11th
or 12th of February the Secretary moved the Queen for
aiding the said Regent to reduce that place into the young

130 THE LIFE OF
chap. King's hands. But she considered the expense, and told
.J^Il. Smith of a device she had to do it without any such
Anno 1572. charge, that is, by a letter to be written, it seems, to them
Q' E1,Z' that held the castle, thinking to bring them to yielding by
some good words and promises: but this the Secretary
shewed her the inconvenience of, namely, that it would be
a protracting of time, being the very thing which they de
sired, that the French might have time to come to them
with their succours : he shewed her moreover, that now,
the French King being thoroughly occupied, was the best
time to perform that enterprise that was to be done ; and
in fine, she consented to his opinion ; and shewed herself
very well pleased with the Lord Treasurer's making pro
vision in this mean while, to have powder, and a ship of
Newcastle, and other things necessary provided before
hand for the doing it, as the Secretary had signified to
her : and she told him, that upon that Lord's coming to
Court, (Which then was at Greenwich,) she would fully
determine with him ah those matters to be set forward
with speed.
TwoScotch- About this time were two Scotchmen, coming from
examined. France, stopped at Rye, by the Mayor, and sent up to the
Secretary, who examined them. They related what con
fident report went in France, what the French would do
in Scotland, and with what a mighty hand they would
bring their desires to pass there in spite of the English,
and such like. But this the Secretary saw was but such
talk as might appear to be common in France; for that
nation, he said, was full of babble and words, and all for
magnifying of their doings, and threatening what they
would do, rather than what they could do. These men,
who called themselves merchants, were searched at Rye,
and no letters nor other things suspicious found about
them: yet the Secretary advised that Mr. Randal, the
Queen's Ambassador in Scotland, or some other who knew
Scotch manners and matters better, should soniewhat con
sider of them ; and if there were no matters against them,
to dismiss them, in his mind, were best.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 131
This year Sir Thomas procured a colony to be sent into chap.
a land of his in Ireland, called the Ardes : it was a rich XIVl
and pleasant country, on the eastern coast of Ulster, andAnn01?72-
of considerable extent, lying well for trade by sea ; bor- si^honta.
dering upon a country where Sarleboy contained himself sends a co-
with his party. He was an Hebridian Scot, (the Hebrides Ardes?*0
bordering upon this province,) a long time detained pri
soner by Shan O'Neal, the chief prince in Ulster. This
country was called Clandeboy where these Scots lived;
but they were beaten out once by this Shan, who called
himself Earl of Tir Oen, and had killed two of the bre
thren of Mac Conel: of which family was Sarleboy,
whom he then had taken prisoner; but afterwards in an
extremity gave him his liberty. This Shan was afterwards
in a revenge slain by Sarleboy and his party. A prospect
of these parts this map will give.
Sir Thomas in the year 1571 had procured a patent His patent
from her Majesty for these Ardesb: the substance whereof for '*'
b For these Ardes Sir Thomas Smith obtained two instruments from the
Queen : the one was an indenture between the Queen and him ; the other was
the patent.
The indenture between the Queen and Sir Thomas, to whom was Thomas
his son joined, and called one of her pensioners within her kingdom of Ireland,
witnessed, that whereas there were in her Highness's earldom of Ulster divers
parts and parcels that lay waste, or else were inhabited with a wicked, barba
rous, and uncivil people, some Scottish, and some wild Irish, and such as lately,
had been rebellious to her, and commonly were out of all good order, and as it
were in continual rebellion, her Majesty considered how great a benefit it
would be to her realm of Ireland, and what honour and commodity to herself,
her heirs, &c. to have the same peopled with good and obedient subjects, who
should acknowledge th% great benefits of God, her Highness's royal authority,
and be a force at all times to aid her Majesty's deputy, or other officer, to re
press all rebels and seditious people, and be an occasion, by their example, to
bring the rude and barbarous nation of the wild Irish to more civility of man
ners ; and had therefore often desired and wished that some occasion to this
purpose might be offered. Whereupon Sir Thomas Smith and his son, being
¦ willing to employ themselves in her Highness's service, and moved with a fer
vent zeal to bring; so good and goodly an enterprise to pass, made humble suit
to her Majesty, that it -would please her Highness to accept their offer of them
selves, and were contented to covenant, promise, and conclude, and by those
presents did covenant, promise, and conclude,, to and with their said Sovereign
and her successors, &c. And then the terms follow :
K 2

132 THE LIFE OF
chap. was, that Sir Thomas was to be Lieutenant General there
" . for war, and for the distribution of lands, orders, and laws,

Anno 1572. m fae matters thereunto pertaining : in a word, to obtain
Q. Eliz. I. That they, their friends, followers, and adherents, upon their own cost
and charges, with the travail of their bodies and perils of their lives, should en
ter into the said earldom of Ulster with a power of English, to subdue and
repress all rebels, which then or afterwards should be in the great and little
Ardes, Claneboy, which lay south, the castle called Belfast, also in the Ab
bey or Priory called Massarine, the castles called Castle Moubray, and Castle
Tome; and to repress all rebels in the other country continently adjoining- to
them, so much as should amount unto twelve hundred plow-lands, besides
woods, bogs, and wastes.
II. From time to time to do their endeavour to subdue, expel, and bring to
her Majesty's mercy, all rebels within those countries and limits.
III. 'To plant and settle in all those places, true and faithful subjects, so
soon as time would conveniently suffer them.
IV. That all such as should be partakers in this good and godly enterprise,
either on foot or horseback, on their own charges, or aid Sir Thomas with
men or money, should be recompensed : that is,
V. To divide the said lands unto such as should hazard themselves, or aid
him with men and monies, giving to every one, and his heirs, that should at
his own charge serve on foot, or find a footman, one plow-land. To every one
serving on horseback, or finding an horseman, two plow-lands ; to hold to him
and his heirs of the said Sir Thomas and his son, and their heirs, by the fiftieth
part' of a knight's fee, and by such rents and other duties as the taker shall be
contented to accept the same : every plow-land to contain six score acres of
arable land, and every acre to contain four poles in breadth, and forty in
length; every pole to contain twenty- four foot of the English standard in
length. VI. That from the 28th of March, which shall be 1579, Sir Thomas and
his son to have in a readiness within the said countries and lands, to serve in
defence of the same at the inhabitants' cost and charges, for every such plow-
land one sufficient able English footman soldier, well armed: for every two
such plow-lands one sufficient able light horse.
VII. At every general hosting, upon fifteen days warning they shall be ready
to attend upon the Deputy of Ireland, with sufficient leaders and captains, in
any part of the earldom of Ulster, during the space of forty days, at their own
cost and charges.
VIII, Not to sell to any mere Irish, or any Scottish person, any estate of
freehold, or any longer or greater estate than for five years, in any castle, ma
nor, lordship, &c.
IX. Nor to marry to or with any mere Irish, or Scottish-Irish persons, with
out licence or assent from the Sovereign.
Upon these conditions the Queen granted to the said Sir Thomas and his
son, the said Ardes, yielding and paying to her for every plow-land twenty
shillings yearly, to be paid into her Exchequer in Ireland. The first payment

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 133
and govern the country to be won, following instructions chap.
and orders to him to be directed from the Queen and her tv'
Council; and this for the first seven years : afterward the Anno 1572.
government of the country to return to such officers as
the customs and laws of England did appoint, except the
Queen should think him worthy to be appointed the go
vernor thereof, as being a frontier country : the right to
remain only in him, as to the inheritance, the authority
to muster and call together his soldiers throughout the
same country, and to dispose of them upon the frontiers,
as he should see cause for the better defence of the coun
try. In this patent his base and only son Thomas Smith was Sir Tho-
joinedwith him; and under his conduct Sir Thomas this™^8^"
year sent thither the colony beforesaid : having this good colony.
design therein, that those half barbarous people might be
taught some civility. And his hope was, that the place
might easily be defended by garrisons placed in a strait
neck of land, by which it was joined to the rest of the
island : and there was a reward of land to every footman
and horseman. But this extensive project took not its de
sired effect; for the hopeful gentleman, his son, had not
been long there, but he was unhappily and treacherously
slain. It was pity it had no better issue ; for Sir Thomas
a great while had set his thoughts upon it, undertaking to
people that north part of the island with natives of this
nation. But for his more regular and convenient doing of it, and His rules
0 and orders
to be at Michaelmas 1576. And to grant out her letters patents to grant for it.
commission to Thomas Smith to invade the said country with army power and"
men, being entertained by himself without disturbance or let of any of her
Majesty's officers. The same commission to continue and endure in force for
the space of seven years. This was dated 5th of October, the 13th of thejinno 1570.
Queen. The patent being fairly writ in parchment, with the Broad Seal appendent,
was to Sir Thomas and his son; referring to the articles and agreements of the
indenture, thai; she had given and granted all the said lands, lordships, castles,
&c. and of her special grace, freeing them of all manner of exactions, called
coyne livery, cesse, and all other then used or before. This bore date Novem
ber 16, the 13th of the Queen.
k3

134 THE LIFE OF
chap, continuance thereof, he invented divers rules and orders.
XIV . The orders were of two kinds. 1 . For the management of

Anno 1572. the wars against the rebels, and the preserving the co
lony continually from the danger of them. 2. For the civil
government : to preserve their home manners, laws, and
customs ; that they degenerated not into the rudeness and
barbarity of that country. He divided his discourse into
three parts. First, to speak of wars ; and therein of mili
tary officers to be used there. Secondly, concerning laws
for the politic government of the country to be possessed,
for the preservation of it. Thirdly, in what orders to pro
ceed in this journey from the beginning to the end ; which
Sir Thomas called " a noble enterprise," and " a godly
" voyage."
Mr. Smith's His son being now with his colony upon the place, pro-
care in the . , , , , . , , , , . „
colony. ceeded commendably m order to the reduction of it. He
was in a good forwardness of reducing Sarleboy to obe
dience ; for they had much converse together, and came at
length to articles of agreement : the main of which was,
that he should be made a denizen of England by the
Queen, and hold his land of her and him ; and the same
privilege should the rest of his Scots enjoy ; paying to the
Queen a yearly rent in acknowledgment, and he to become
homager to her by oath, and so to be a faithful subjept, or
else lose his right. Mr. Smith also began a new fort in
this country. He laboured also to unite the English and
Scots that were there, who did not, it seems, very well
agree; that their strength being united, they might be
the more able to withstand the wild Irish. And this the
Scots were for promoting, as considering that if the Eng
hsh and they should strive together, when the one had
weakened the other, the wild Irish, like the puthawk, (it
was Sir Thomas's own similitude,) might drive them out, or
carry away both.
Draws up Besides the pains Sir Thomas had already taken for the
for huso™ settlement of the Ardes, he drew up this year instructions
to be sent from the Queen to his son, containing directions
upon what terms Sarleboy and his fellows should hold their

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 135
lands of her Majesty and him. Likewise he drew up a chap.
draught for explaining certain words doubtful in the in- v'

dentures between the Queen and him and his son; as,Annol?72.
about bis son's soldiers, if they should marry in that coun
try, as it was likely they would. The Secretary entreated
the Lord Treasurer to steal a little leisure to look these
writings over, and correct them; so that he might make
them ready for the Queen's signing. And this he hoped,
when once dispatched, might be as good to his son as five
hundred Irish soldiers.
At Mr. Smith's first coming hither he found some few Families of
that claimed themselves descended of English blood, f"^1
namely, the family of the Smiths, and the Savages, and the Ardes.
two surnames more : and these presently joined with the
Enghsh, and combined with them against the wild Irish ;
but all the rest were mere Irish or Irish Scots, and natural
haters of the Enghsh.
The Queen had a force of men in those parts for neces-. Mr. Smith's
sary defence, and for the keeping of Knockfergus, a very {?£? Whiter?
important place for curbing the Irish. But to retrench her
charge in Ireland, she was minded now to discharge them,
as she had done some already, expecting that Smith should
secure those quarters; nor would she grant any foot or
horse to him. Sir Thomas therefore, in February, inter
ceded with her by the means of the Lord Treasurer, that
at least for that year she would suffer those bands to be
there, to countenance and support the new begun aid and
fort, and not to leave it so naked as it had been, it seems,
all that winter, by cassing those bands that were hereto
fore the defence of Knockfergus, and the bar of the north.
And he told the Lord Treasurer upon this occasion, that it
was certain, if his son had not retrieved a band of the
Lord of Harvey's at his own charge, Knockfergus had been
in great danger, or else clean lost.
But while these matters thus fairly and hopefully went Mr. Smith
on, Mr. Smith was intercepted and slain by a wild Irish
man. Yet Sir Thomas did not wholly desist, but carried
on the colony, and procured more force to pass over there ;
k4

136 THE LIFE OF
chap, for in March, anno exeunte, (his son being but newly, if
XIV- yet, dead,) there were Harrington, Clark, and some others,
Anno 1572. adventurers on this design, that gave certain sums of rno-
Q.Ehz. n^y f0]. ian(js there to be assured to therii. In the begin
ning of March 1572, the ships, captains, and soldiers were
ready to he wafted over ; wheri unhappily some persons
cbhcerried had started some new matter in regard of the
bargain, which put a stop to their departure ; and one Ed
ward Higgins, the chief of the gentlemen and captains
that were going over, and forward in this generous expe
dition, Was hindered for want of the money agreeo* ripon.
Hence it came to pass, that the captains lay at great
charges, when their ships, mariners, and soldiers were
reaidy, and they did nothing but dispend their money. This
troubled Sir Thomas not a httle ; as appears by a letter he
Wrote to one Mrs. Penrie, a gentlewoman that had an in
fluence upon some of these persons that made the stop.
To Whom therefore Sir Thomas applied himself, praying
her to call upon them, to consider at what charge the cap
tains did lie, and to do what she could in any wise to help
them away ; whereby she should do the Queen's Majesty
good service, and him and therii great pleasure : " it being
" a matter," said he, " which indeed for the goodness of
" it I take much to heart." This was writ from Green
wich, the 6th of March.
The Ardes This care the Secretary continued: for a year of two
"ponSir aft6r3 1 nn(* him drawing out other passports and licences
Thomas's fot transportation of victuals for certain thait went to the
death. • i , n ¦ ¦ ' •
Ardes, and expressing himself then to a friend, that it stood
him upon both in profit and honesty not to let the present
month pass, which was May, anno 1574. And so during
his life Sir Thomas laboured in the civilizing and gettle-
irient of this his colony : but upon his death it seems to
have lain neglected for some time. Arid though the family
and heirs of Sir Thomas, who are extant to this day, have
often claimed their interest in this land, Which their an
cestor did so dearly purchase and well deserve, yet they
enjoy not a foot of it at this present.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 137
For, as I have been informed by some of that worshipful chap.
family, Sir William Smith, nephew arid heir to our Sir xrv-
Thomas Smith, was merely tricked out of it by the kna- Anno 1572.
very of a Scot, one Hamilton0, (who was once a school- ' "'
master, though afterwards made a person of honour,) with from, the
whom the said Sir William was acquainted. Upon thefamily'
first coming in- of King James I. he, minded to get these
lands confirmed to him by that King, which had cost Sir
Thomas (besides the death of his only son) 10,000 J. being
to go into Spain with the English Ambassador, left this
Hamilton to solicit this his cause at Court, and get it dis
patched. But Sir William being gone, Hamilton discovered
the matter to some other of the Scotch nobility : and he
and some of them begged it of the King for themselves,
pretending to his Majesty that it was too much for any
one subject to enjoy. And this Hamilton did craftily,
thinking, that if he should have begged it all for himself,
he might perhaps have failed of success, being so great a
thing ; but that he might well enjoy a part, especially with
the concurrence and interest of some of the powerful men
about the King, when they begged for themselves. And
never after could Sir William Smith, nor any of his poste
rity, recover it : for the premises had been so long pos
sessed by others, that neither Sir Thomas Smith, who had
suffered much for his unshaken loyalty to King Charles I.
had success in his petition preferred to King Charles II.
upon his return ; nor yet Sir Edward Smith, still surviving,
in his, upon the late revolution. He that is minded to
know more at large how this case stood, may in the Ap- Num. iv.
e This Hamilton was a man of quality in his own country, and,is styled by
the name of a schoolmaster, because he taught philosophy in Ireland in dis
guise, having been sent by James King of Scots, to lie perdue there for him
during the Queen's life ; and was the first fellow of the College of Dublin, as
is mentioned in Bishop Usher's Life. He was knighted afterwards by King
James, and styled Sir James Hamilton.
This estate of the Ardes was divided among five of the descendants of the
Clanbrazil family : the heiress of one of which, Sir Robert Hamilton, now
living, married. Two of the others, namely, Hamilton of Bangor, and of
Tullimore, are gentlemen of repute and worth in Ireland.

138 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, pendix find the petition of the foresaid Sir Thomas Smith
exemplified, as it was humanely communicated to me by

Anno 1572. his son, together with the King's order thereupon"1.
d In January 1573, Sir Francis Walsingham was made Secretary, jointly
with Sir Thomas Smith.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 139

CHAP. XV.
The Secretary oppressed with business. His discourse with
the Queen about Ireland and the Earl of Essex. His
act in the behalf of colleges of learning. , His sickness
and death.
J. HE Secretaiy could not want for care and toil in these Anno 1574.
busy and most dangerous days, wherein the nation wasmQ'H'z'
, , .. J The Secre-
exposed to the mahce and envy of the Pope and the mighty tary uneasy.
Kings of Spain and France, the one more covertly, the
other more professedly, but both fatal enemies to the
Queen and the religion established; the Irish backed in
their rebelhon by a foreign power ; and at home a great
many mal-contents. To trace him a httle in his pains and
diligence. To them he devoted himself even to quite
tiring, after he had been a year or two exercised therein :
for when once, in the year 1574, he had a few play-days,
and was ready to go home to his house in Essex, he told
his friends that " he was thoroughly weary, tarn animo
" quam corpore, and could scarce endure any longer."
And that which increased his weariness, was the Queen's
wariness ; for she did not use to be hasty in dispatch of
matters, which was Smith's great desire should not hang
in hand. This he would call among his intimate friends
the Queen's irresolution; and in some heat (as he was
somewhat hasty and quick in his temper) complained at
this time to the Lord Treasurer, " that it was sometimes
" So, and sometimes No ; and in all times uncertain, and
" ready to stays and revocation." And sometimes she
would not be spoken with upon business, and access to
the Queen was clean shut up : which made him, between
jest and earnest, say, " that he thought her Majesty sup-
" posed that he would chide, as he dared. But indeed," he
said, " that he could not but lament, and complain of this
* her irresolution, which did weary and kill her ministers,
"destroy her actions, and overthrew all good designs and

140 THE LIFE OF
chap. " counsels." And again, in this discontent, he cried out,
' " I wait while I have neither eyes to see, nor legs to stand

Anno 1574. « upon; and yet these delays grieve me more, and will
" not let me sleep in the night."
At the The occasion of this present distaste of Smith was, that
Queen's de-^ Queen ^ad commanded the Earl of Leicester and Sir
Christopher Hatton, her chief favourites, to forbear moving
suits to her; and when the Secretary went to her with
private suits, he could get neither yea nor nay. And if
these two aforesaid persons were forbidden to move suits,
" then," said he, " had we need within a while to have a
" horse or an ass to carry bills after us, increasing daily,
" and never dispatched," as he angerly and wittily spake
to one 'of his friends. Of these practices of the Queeri he
would say, " These resolutions and revocations of resolu-
" tions will be the undoing of any good action."
The Queen Matters in Ireland being in an ill condition, the Lord
about alip- Treasurer and the Secretary dealt earnestly with the
plies for Queen to supply the Earl of Essex (an honest gentleman,
the Earl of - . ,, ¦ , , . TT, x . , ,
Essex. and an excellent commander in Ulster) with men and mo
ney ; those northern parts of Ireland being now in great
disturbance; and Essex, forced by -reason of secret ene
mies in the Court, to lie still and do but little to the pur
pose, for want of both. The Queen resolved, and revoked
her resolutions again. This created the Secretary a great
deal of vexation: for she would say, she would consult
with the Lbrd Treasurer when he came to Court ; though
she had done it, and had his opinion in that behalf before.
The Earl of Leicester privately hindered all, having no
love for Essex.
TheQueen's Thus the Earl of Essex's plat stuck with the Queen.
ness there- -^ut a°out ten or twelve days passing in March, the Secre-
untotrou- tary comforted himself by the persuasion that she was
Secretary, come to a full resolution to go forward with it, without
any going back ; and that she would send for him, and
signify the sariie to him. And had it indeed been so, to
use the Secretary's expression, the realm and she had
passed a great and troublesome ague, and especially the

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 141
Lord Treasurer and himself, and such others as they, who chap.
had doings in that matter. But the Queen took respite xv"
again, until she heard again from the Lprd Treasurer: Anno 1574.
whereat the Secretary was so bold as to tell her, that she Q-Ehz'
knew his Lordship's mind full many times told her before.
And this he signified unto that Lord, and in conclusion
told him, " that coming unsent for to have resolution, he
" was sent back again without resolution : he prayed God
" to send it that night or to-morrow :" and added, " that it
" was high time to resolve one way or other ; which done,
" he would be bold to take a little rest, and make some
" start home into Essex, being thoroughly weary, he said,
" tarn animo quam corpore, and could scarcely endure any
" longer." But at last, in the month of March 1575, (anno inci- Anno 1575.
piente,) Sir Thomas and the Lord Burgldey got the Earl of Conference
Essex's business to come to a resolution : which was, to Queen and
send a good supply, with a plat how he was to manage her Se^reT
himself. The Queen had first entered into a discourse one Ulster.
night with her Secretary about Ireland, and declared her
dislike of the enterprise of Ulster, for default of them who
should execute it; asking him what men of counsel or
wisdom there were, into whose hands might be committed
so great a mass of money, and so great a charge as should
be sent. The Secretary answered her Majesty, that the
counsel, what and how to do herein, was already taken ;
and that a plat was laid down by my Lord of Essex, and
allowed of by the Lord Deputy and Council there, and
liked of by the Lords of her Council here; as she herself
had heard of the Lonjs, and all their reasons: so that,
said he, whereas it is said, priusquam incipias, consulto,
that had been maturely and deliberately done; and to
which, as he subjoined, her Highness, by .letters to the
Lord. Deputy and the Earl of Essex, had given hef^ con
sent. And now there rested nothing but, ubi consulueris
mature opus est facto, to which her Majesty had set a
good beginning, giving a warrant for the half year's
charges. " Now," said Sir Thomas, " counsels be commonly

142 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " of old men, grave men, and full of experience, and at
XV- " home ; the execution is to be done by young men, cap-

Anno i575.« tains, and soldiers, abroad. And," said he, "my Lord
Q. Eiiz. „ of Eggex hath shewed great wisdom, courage, and bold-
And the . , , . j r
Earl of " ness hitherto, and brought it to a very good pass tor a
Essex. « beginning ; and now, having more experience, and Malby
" and other captains with him of courage, it was to be hoped
" that he should bring it to a good end." " Yea," said the
Queen, " but who hath he with him but Malby? Shall I
" trust so great a matter to him, and such a mass of mo-
" ney? Who shall have the charge of it, and the laying out
" of it ?" " Madam," answered the Secretary, " the money
" is to be committed to the Treasurer there ; and, upon his
" accounts, to be employed upon the captains and soldiers
" for their wages and victuals, and upon fortifications. If
" he do keep his plat, then he followeth that which the
" wisest heads of the Counsellors in England think fit and
" best to be done : otherwise he deceiveth them, and your
" Highness, and most of all himself; which it is not likely
" that he should, and I trust he will not do." But the
Queen still harped upon that string, that there was lacking
able Ministers; and shewed herself, notwithstanding, at
this discourse desirous to consult with the Treasurer.
His advice j$ut though the commission and order for the Earl of
to the °
Queen con- Essex was by her signed at last, still she was doubtful of
him"5 tne success of her Irish affairs, thus committed to that
nobleman, some about her, enemies to him, lessening his
worth to the Queen. Whereupon the Secretary entreated
the Treasurer, whose opinion she greatly valued in matters
of state, that he would persuade her to think no more of
it till Michaelmas, that is, till half a year were past : and
by that time he trusted she should see such good success,
that she should be glad ; and sorry only that it was not
set upon before. Thus earnestly did Sir Thomas solicit
his royal mistress for the good of Ireland, and laboured to
release and satisfy her mind, anxious about her successes,
and loath to part with her money, without fair probability
of succeeding. And perhaps he was the more earnest herein,

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 143
the safety and good estate of his lands in the Ardes de- chap;
pending upon this expedition of that noble Lord. xv-
The Secretary was this year with the Queen in her pro- Anno 1575;
gress : and in the month of August he was with her at Q' Eliz-
Charteley; whence she went to Stafford Castle ; and thence^ with"
to one Mr. Gifford's, the Secretary attending her: this the Queen
, . , r , in progress.
being some part of her progress.
It was now lately grown a common practice to ride with The Queen
dags or pistols; whereby it came to pass, that thieves thTsecre-
wearing weapons did more boldly rob true men travelling tarv about
upon their occasions. And there were now also common beggars.1"
routs of roguing beggars by the highway side, naming
themselves soldiers of Ireland lately disbanded. Of both
these, the Queen, December 4, willed the Lords to write
unto the Lord Treasurer for the redress of them : and she
shewed the Secretary that some of them had said they
were in company 1500, which were fain now to go a beg
ging. The Secretary, by a private letter, let the Lord
Treasurer understand this; and added, that it was ho
nourable, and almost necessary, that some good order were
taken for these two disorders. And for the remedy hereof,
Sir Thomas drew out a proclamation, shewing how great
and heinous robberies and murders had been committed,
both in the highways and other places, in divers parts of
the realm, by such as did carry about with them dags or
pistols, contrary to the good and wholesome statutes of
the realm. That the Queen therefore, of a great zeal and
care that she had to the safety and preservation of her
subjects, and to the good government of the realm in all
peace and surety; calling to mind how unseemly a thing
it was, in so quiet and peaceable a realm, to have men go
armed with such offensive weapons, as though it were in
time of hostility, and how prohibited by her noble proge
nitors; did charge and command all her subjects, of what
estate or degree soever they were, that in no wise in their
journeying, going, or riding, they carried about them,
privily or openly, any dag or pistol, or any other harque-
buse, gun, or such weapon for fire, under the lengths ex-

144 TWE LIFE 0F
chap, pressed by the statute made by the Queen's, most, noble
xV' father, upon pain of imprisonment, or other punishment.

Anno 1 575. And, the Justices, Mayors, Bailiffs, and Constables, were
-1 ?1'2' to arrest such as should come to any town with suph wea
pons. And all keepers of inns, taverns, &c. should have
care and regard, that no man should bring into their houses
any such prohibited weapons ; and if they did, to seize upon
the same, and, to bring the persons to the, Constable to be
arrested. But because for the multitude of those evil
disposed persons, which carried about them such wea
pons for mischievous and unlawful intents, some of her
good subjects had been compelled, for then- own defence,
and to avoid the danger of such thieves, to, provide them
dags, and pistols, and carry them openly ; she was. con
tented, for a certain time specified, that aft noblemen, and
such known gentlemen which were withput spot or doubt.
of evil behaviour, if they carried dags, or pistolets about
them in their journies openly at their saddle bow§, and in
no other close manner ; and such of their servants as rid
in their company.
Heprocures agir Thomas Smith, in a parliament this eighteenth year
schools of of the Queen, procured an act to pass for the Universities,
learning. arm the two colleges of Eton and Winchester; (for which
his memory will be always dear to scholars ;) which was,
that a third part of the rent upon leases made by colleges
should be reserved in corn, paying after the rate of six
shillings and eight pence the quarter, or under, for good
wheat, and five shillings a quarter, or under, for good malt.
This corn the tenants were yearly to deliver to the col
leges, either in kind or in money, as the colleges pleased,
after the rate of the best wheat and malt in the markets
of Cambridge and Oxford, at the day prefixed for the pay-
» ,Ti.e act for the colleges to receive part of their rent in corn is attributed
Catal. of by Dr. Willet to Cecil Lord Burghley, Chancellor of Cambridge; and to have
Charitable j,een devised and procured by his prudent and provident care. I do suppose
220 S' *"' D0*"1 ^'r Gliomas and he were concerned in it ; that is, in the contriving and
concerting it between themselves, and Sir Thomas in bringing in the bill,
transacting and furthering it in the House of Commons.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 145
ment thereof. Fuller, in his History of Cambridge, maketh chap.
this remark here, "That Sir Thomas Smith was said by_ '

" some to have surprised the house herein: where many Anno 1575.
" could not conceive how this would be at all profitable to „. ' '**
" the colleges ; but still the same on the point, whether Cambr.
" they had it in money or wares. But the Knight took the p- 144,
" advantage of the present cheapness ; knowing hereafter
" grain would grow dearer, mankind daily multiplying, and
" licence being lately given for transportation. So that at
" this day much emolument redoundeth to the colleges in
" each University, by the passing of this act ; and though
" their rents stand still, their revenues do increase."
The act ran, " For the better maintenance of learning, The act.
" and the better relief of scholars, that no Master, Pro-
"vost, President, Warden, Dean, Governor, Rector, or
" chief ruler of any college, hall, or house of learning,
" after the end of that sessions of Parliament, should make
" any lease for life or years, of any of their lands, tene-
" ments, or other hereditaments, to which any tithe, ara
ble lands, meadow, or pasture, did appertain; except
" that one third part, at the least, of the old rent were
" reserved and paid in corn, that is to say, in good wheat
" after six shillings and eight pence the quarter, or under;
" and good malt after five shillings the quarter, or under;
"to be delivered yearly, upon, days perfixed at the said
" colleges, &c. And for default thereof, to pay the said
"colleges in ready money, at the election of the said
"leasees, after the rate as the best wheat and malt in the
" market of Cambridge, and in the market of Oxford, and
" of Winchester and Windsor, for the rents that were to
" be paid to the use of the houses there, were, or should be
" sold the next market-day before the said rent should be
" due, without fraud or deceit. And that all leases, other-
" wise hereafter to be made, and all collateral bonds and
" assurances to the contrary, by any of the said corpora-
" tions, should be void in law to all intents and purposes.
" And the same wheat, malt, or money, coming of the same,
" to be expended to the use of the relief of the commons and
L

146 _ THE. LIFE OF
chap. " diet of the said colleges : and; by no fraud or colour, let
. " or sold away from the profit of the said colleges, and the

Anno 1575. " fellows and scholars of the same, and the use aforesaid,'
" upon pain of deprivation to the governors or chief rulers
" of the said colleges, and all others thereto consenting."
A nd this was no more than Sir Thomas himself had practised
long before, when he was Provost of Eton, whensoever he
made or renewed the leases of that college : the benefit of
which he Jbad well experienced by the rising of the prices
of corn even in his remembrance. For this eternal benefit
to the houses of learning, he deserved an eternal raonrp.
ment; and so a member of one of them, in a poetical
flight, wrote :
O ! statua dignum inventum, Phrygiaque columna.
Anno 1576. About the year 1576 Sir Thomas Smith began to be
mL-sfetai afflicted with that sickness that the next year ended his'
distemper life : overpressed with continual watchings, arid the public1
cares of the Queen and state. As it is a thing that is wont
to create a true friendship, I mean the proportion and1
likeness of tempers; so it is not without remark, that
Sir Thomas, and the Lord Treasurer Burghley, their dis
tempers were the same. And, which was more remarkable
still, they used to seize upon these two persons at the
same time. Their distemper was a rheum. " The rheum,"
as he wrote to the same Lord, " which is my natural
" enemy, is commonly wont to assault me most when
" your Lordship is also grievously troubled with yours."'
For, April 22, 1576, at which time the Lord Burghley was
very ill of his distemper, Sir Thomas wrote him a letter,
that he was then seized with his : and, which was an ill
sign, whereas before it used to take him either in his jaw,
or teeth, or in the lower body with looseness, and all over
with sweat ; now it fastened itself in his throat and tongue,
and would not by any art be removed. So that he was
almost out of hope of any amendment ; but clearly with
out hope of any speedy help ; though he never took so-
much advice, as he wrotey nor used so many physicians,

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 147
nor observed so mnch their rules, which he styled their chap.
preciseness. " But when all is done," added he piously, M

"that man may or ought to do, the sequel and event of Anno 1576.
"health, and the end of life, is in God's will and plea- Q-Ehz'
" sure : that which he shall appoint is best to me. Surely
" all is one, being as willing now to die as to live, and I
" trust (with God's mercy and hope therein) as ready.
" For it grieveth me to live unserviceable to my Prince,
"and unprofitable to my country, heavy and unpleasant
"to myself: for what pleasure can a man have of my
"years, when he cannot speak as he would?" [for his
chief grief was in eating, and drinking, and speaking ; and
in the last especially :] " while his legs," he said, " his
" hands, his memory, and his wit, served as much as need
" be desired."
It was indeed a great grief to him that it so affected his it affected
tongue: and he avowed, "that if it were at his own^6^^
"choice, he had rather his disease had taken hold of any throat.
" other part of his body ; so that that piece only," as he
called it, "which is contained in an handful space, were at
" quiet;" which yet was without pain or grief, but when
he eat, or drank, or spake; the continual defluxion and
falling down of tough phlegm, still vexing it, and inter
rupting the most necessary uses of the throat.
This envious disease stopped that eloquent tongue of The orator
his; and that sweet and streaming rhetoric, which was ™nst*tk.
wont to flow to the delight and admiration of all, received
now a fatal check, and Sir Thomas must play the orator
no more ; no, nor scarce utter a single word : for to that
extremity he was brought at last; which the poet that
wrote the Muse's Tears for him thus expresses :
Nescio quis subito morbus sic occupat artus,
Ut quae olim mellita diujam verba solebat
Funitere, vix aliquam possit transmittere vocem ;
, Gutturis ast imis latitans radicibus intus
Hareret, nullumque sonum lingua ederet illo
Quo solita est splendore, decus laudemque merente.
l 2

148 THE LIFE OF
chap. He foresaw that he was like to continue a long while in
xv' this condition ; and be so disabled from his common func-

Anno 1576. tfon, and to attend the Queen's business. But he could
To divert not De ^me, which he said was contrary to his nature : he
his sick- was therefore minded to follow his study, and take a re-
look's over view of what he had formerly done. And in this loathful.
his former leisure, as he called it, among other occupations and pas-
mgs' times, he would remember the days of his youth, and look
back again to his doings then ; ^nd now being old, quasi re-
puerascere, i. e. hereby, " as it were to grow a child again."
When he was Secretary in King Edward's days,, he wrote.
His book of a book of the value of the Roman coins to our English
coins?11 standard, upon a question Cecil, his fellow Secretary, had
moved to him, viz. what was the ordinary wages of a sol-:
dier at Rome. This book, as many others which he wrote
in his youth, he had now lost. Two of these he had sent,
he remembered, one to Sir Robert Dudley, now Earl of
Leicester, and the other to Sir William Cecil, now Lord
Treasurer. Now he had lately desired Mr. Wolley to
search in the said Earl's study for it, but it could not be
found. He desired therefore the Lord Treasurer to see
for it, who he thought had not laid it up so negligently;
And especially he desired the tables, which were exactly
and plainly set forth : for, searching among his old papers,
he could find the first draught of the said book, and the
Adversaria ; whereby he was able to fill up all the chap
ters in manner as they were at the first : but the tables,
or any draughts of them, he could not find. And he
doubted that neither his leisure, nor wit, nor memory of
old books, and the places of them, which were formerly
more ready and fresh to him than they were at present,
would serve him to make the instructions again : where
fore he prayed that Lord to look out the book, but espe
cially the tables. This he wrote from his house at Chanon-
row, April 22d. This book, as it seems, the Lord Trea
surer found out among his papers, and sent it to the Se
cretary, according to his request ; which he had desired
to see, as he said to the said Lord, tanquam filium

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 149
postliminio redeuntem, perditum quasi, et iterum inven- chap.
turn. xv-

This book is mentioned, and no more but mentioned, in Anno 1576.
the History of Queen Elizabeth, by Mr. Camden ; only
that he calls it an exact commentary, and worth the pub
lishing. After I had made great inquiry after it without
success, at length I fortunately met with Sir Thomas's
own rude draught of it, in several tables of his own hand,
shewn and communicated to me by the obliging favour and
kindness of Sir Edward Smith : a true extract whereof I
have made, and presented to the readers in the Appendix. Num. v.
April 25th, the Lord Burghley sent a gentleman to Sir The physi-
Thomas, to visit him in this his valetudinary state ; which p1™^™"
he took kindly, and gave him an account of his sickness, him.
and of his progress in physic, which was to this tenor : that
he had put himself into the physicians' hands, and they,
according to their method, first fell to purging him, to free
his body from peccant humours, as a preparatory to other "
physic; a practice which he did not like of, because it
would make a great disturbance of the whole body, and
affect the parts that were well, and in a good state. And
so indeed it happened to him; for this physic put his
whole body, and all the parts of it, into a commotion and
indisposition, when it was perfectly well before, as appeared
by his urine, and by his own feeling and apprehension of
himself. But after he had taken this preparatory physic,
there was no part of his body which was not brought out
of frame; his urine so troubled, so high coloured, and so
confused ; which did bespeak a seditious rout of humours
raised in his body, as he spake. This being a little settled,
they gave him a pill, which was as unsuccessful as the
other; for it gave him scarcely a stool, and that with
abundance of rack and torment, and left such an unplea
sant and bitter relish in the stomach, that he was forced
to vomit it up again. The next course that was taken with
Mm, was shaving his head, and wearing a cap, which one
Dr. Langton was the chief prescriber of, accounted of ex
cellent use for those that were troubled with great rheums,
l3

150 THE LIFE OF
chap, and was himself present when it was laid on; the effect
XV" whereof was to be seen after eight or ten days. Sir Tho-
Anno 1576. mas was very unsatisfied with his physicians, who for two
Q'Ehz' or three months had been thus tampering with his body,
and with no manner of success ; whereas he was for a
speedier work, and declared himself of the smith's mind,
his namesake in Plato, who willed the physician to give
him a thing that would speedily rid him of his disease,
that he might again sustain his wife and family with his
labour, or else be rid quickly ; for he had no leisure to at
tend the long prorogation of thin diet and protracting
physic. " That mind," said he, " which the smith had of
" necessity, I have of will and desire, and ever had; not
" to live, being unserviceable to my Prince and the com-
" monwealth."
Hisphysi- In the beginning of May, his physic having greatly
hfm'toMt- weakened his body, and all his good humours dried there,
chen phy- with, and his sickness so obstinate that it httle cared for
medicine, all his physicians with one accord agreed, ad
vising him to forbear all further medicaments, and to apply
himself to kitchen physic; giving him leave to eat and
Goes into drink what he would, and what his appetite desired. And
the coun- . . ,
try. so he resolved to retire home to his house called Mount-
haut in Essex, a manor house of his, where now stands
Hill-hall, the present dwelling of Sir Edward Smith,
Baronet, before mentioned. And here he trusted to leave
his sickness, or his life. " Whether pleaseth God," said
he, " that is best : but if it were in my choice, I would
" leave them both at once ; yet must I keep life so long
" as I can, and not leave the station wherein God hath set
" me, by my default, and without his calling. And so
" mind I to do ; trusting very shortly to have some plain
" signification from His Majesty, to whither haven I shall
" apply my ship, of death or health. Blessed be his holy
" willV
b While he was now at his country house, the use of his tongue was clean
taken away, that he could not be understood ; and had a continual rheum
distilling down from his head. In July he intended to go to the baths in So-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 151
God gave not our Knight his desire, that is, a speedy chap.
death or speedy recovery : for he continued in a decaying, Xv"

consumptive, wasting condition all this year, and onward Anno 1577.
the next till August, putting a conclusion to his generous Dies*
and most useful life, at his beloved retirement of Mounthal,
or Mounthaut, (as he delighted to call it,) on the 12th day
of the said month, in the year 1577, in the sixty-fifth year
of his age, in an easy and quiet departure. And he never
was afraid of death0.
He was attended to his grave with a decency and splen- Persons at-
dour becoming the high place and figure he had made. ^^fs h!S
There assisted in mourning at his funerals, George Smith
his brother, and William, the said George's son, Wood,
Sir Thomas's nephew, Altham, Nicols, Recorder of Wal
den, Wilford, Goldwel, Dr. Pern, Dr. Levine, and many
more. Of whom, as some were his relations, others the
neighbouring gentry, and his worshipful friends, so several
were learned men, that came, as it seems, from the Uni
versity, to pay their last respects to that grave head, ve
nerable for bis profound and universal learning, and that
had so well merited of the learned world.
He was buried in the chancel of the parish church of Buried.
Theydon Mount, where he died ; on the north side where
of, at the upper end, there still remains a fair monument
dedicated to bis memory; though the church hath since
been beat down by lightning, and rebuilt by his nephew
Sir William Smith.
He is represented by a statue of marble, lying upon his His monu-
right side in armour, a loose robe about him, with thement-
arms of the knighthood of the garter upon the left arm
of the said robe^ denoting him Chancellor of the Garter ;
mersetshire. But, instead of them, he went to Buxton's Well, which was more
in vogue in these times, where the right noble Earl of Shrewsbury now was,
with his royal charge; the Queen of Scots. But these waters no more than
his physic could remove his disease.
c In September 1577, that is, the next, month after Smith's death, Dr.
Wylson succeeded Secretary, a very learned civilian, and employed in embassies
abroad. l4

152 THE LIFE OF
chap, placed under an arch or semicircle, on which is engraven

xv.

. this English stanza :

Q. Eiiz. What earth, or sea, or skies contain,
What creatures in them be,
My mind did seek to know ;
My soul the heavens continuallie.
Upward, on the highest part of the monument, was placed
his coat of arms; which was three altars flaming, sup
ported with as many hons : round which were these two
verses written, alluding to the fire or flame there :
Tabificus quamvis serpens oppresserit ignem,
Qua tamen erumpendi sit data copia lucet.
Under his coat this motto, Quapote lucet. The inscription
was as folio weth.
Thomas Smithus Eques Auratus, hujus manerii Do-
minus, cum Regis Edwardi Sexti, turn Elizabethce Regi-
nm Consiliarius, ac primi Nominis Secretarius; eorun-
demque Principum ad maximos Reges Legatus ; nobi-
liss. Ordinis Garterii Cancellarius, Ardce, Australisque
Claneboy in Hibernia Colonellus: Juris Civilis supremo
titulo etiamnum adolescens insignitus ; Orator, Mathe-
maticus, Philosophus excellentissimus ; linguarum Lati-
na, Grcecce, Hebraicce, Gallicce etiam et Italics callen-
tissimus : proborum et ingeniosorum hominum fautor exi-
mius, plurimis commodans, nemini nocens; ab injuriis
ulciscendis alienissimus : denique sapientia, pietate, inte-
gritate insignis: et in omni vita, seu ceger seu valens,
intrepidus mori. Cum cetatis suae 65 annum complevisset,
in cedibus suis Montaulensibus 12 die Aug. anno salutis
1577, pie ^t suaviter in Domino obdormivit.
Next under the effigies is this grave sentence, Gloria
vitai anteactae celebrem facit in terras visceribus sepultum.
Under that, this distich :
Innocuus vixi, si me post funera ladas,
Ccelesti Domino facta (sceleste) lues.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 153
He left behind him his second wife, PhiUppa, who died chap,
the year after him, that is, the 20th day of June 1578, v

and was there buried by him, as is expressed in the baseAl™01?77'
of the aforesaid monument. His lady
Sir Thomas Smith was of a fair sanguine complexion ; dies-
his beard, which was large, and somewhat forked, at the Scribed.0
age of thirty-three years, was toward a yellow colour. He
had a calm ingenious countenance ; as appears by the pic
ture of him, hanging up in the parlour of Hill-hall, done,
as they say, by Hans Holbein; where he is represented
with a round cap on his head, and in a gown, as a civilian :
a great ruby ring upon his fore finger, with a curious seal,
which ring is still preserved in the family, and in the pos
session of Sir Edward Smith; laying one of his hands
upon a globe, that of his own making, as you may suppose.
Underneath the picture is written Love and fear, the two
great principles of actions, wherewith God and princes
are to be served.

154 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. XVI.
His last Will.
Anno 1577. X1.E began to frame his will in the first threatenings of
Q.Eiiz. h-g lagt gickness that is, about April 2, 1576 : " wherein
Makes his
will. " he piously bequeathed his soul to God his Creator and
" Redeemer ; by whose mercy he trusted to be one of his
" elect : (I use the words of his said will :) and his body to
" be buried at Theydon Mount, or else where it should
" please his executors, and with such ceremony as should
" please them, and they should think convenient ; having
" rather regard to the relief of the poor, than to any ex-
** treme manner of mourning, not becoming Christians;
" knowing that (as he trusted) he should die to a better
" life, and go to his God and his hope, which he had so
" longed for."
For the And whereas he was then in building of his house and
hishouse0 sepulchral monument for himself and his lady, by a plat-
and monu- form 0f his own ; for the perfecting them, as also for
mending of the ways, he left his ready money and debts
owing him, after his funerals and legacies discharged, and
all his chains of gold, (which seem to have been given him
in his embassies,) and a thousand ounces of gilt plate, and
more, if need were, together with all the materials of tim
ber and other stuff prepared and laid in for that purpose.
To his lady, To his lady, for her housekeeping, suitable to her, and
his quality, he gave all his kine, oxen, sheep, plough, cart
horses, and all his cattle at Theydon at Mount, called his
stock; which was a little before, by the least account,
valued at 430Z. or thereabouts, and brought at that time
to 300/. and odd, by the expenses of Christmas ; (so that
his last Christmas-keeping cost him, it seems, near 130/.)
besides swine, and the corn sown upon the ground, and
all his wheat, malt, and bargain of malt, wine, hops, and
other such like provision, to help her to keep house. But
upon condition she maintained, until his buildings were

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 155
fully finished, and the ways about his house mended, so chap.
many teams as were then to be occupied about carriages. XVI-
And upon condition also, that what should remain of the Anno 1577.
said stock, at the time of her decease, and the corn sown Ehz"
by her upon the grounds, should remain to his brother
George, or such as by Sir Thomas's device should succeed
in Mounthal. To his wife he also gave all her apparel,
jewels, chains of gold, and all such bedsteads and bedding,
all goblets, bowls, and other plate, which she brought with
her from Hampden, to dispose at her will and pleasure.
And more, to the furniture of her house she might choose
out seven hundred ounces of such of his plate, gilt or
ungilt, as she should think best to serve her turn.
Which seven hundred ounces of plate he gave after her For pre-
death to his brother George, or who should succeed at his serv;ng
a ¦* good house-
manor of Theydon at Mount ; and all the bedsteads, beds, keeping.
and furniture there, as were in his new building ; and other
brass, pewter, and implements, as well bought as made at
his charge. These not to be sold nor alienated away; but
at least two third parts thereof to remain to him that
should succeed his brother George in Theydon at Mount ;
giving security to his nephew, John Wood, and his heirs,
and so each successor to his successor. And all this cau
tion Sir Thomas used for the better securing good house
keeping, at that which had been his seat, for times to
come. And because his wife might take away and dispose
of several things then at his house, which had been brought
from Hampden; to supply such defects, he gave his bro
ther George all his household linen, beds, and hangings,
that belonged to Ankerwic, another house of his in Bark-
shire ; that so his house at Hill-hall might not be disfur-
nished. Nay, and such care did he take for creditable
housekeeping there, that if any person, to whom he had
willed the premises, were suspected not to perform this
condition to bis successor, it should be lawful for him, to
whom it should descend after the death of the suspected,
to require sureties for the performance of the condition ;
which if it were refused, then the two third parts left to

156 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, the suspected, should be immediately dehvered to his pos-
XV1, session who should succeed him, as his own, given from
Anno 1577. Sir Thomas to him.
Q'E1^' He gave his brother George a thousand ounces of plate,
ther. for the furnishing of his stock : but upon condition that he
left three fourth parts of that to him that should succeed
him in Theydon Mount; and his successor to the next; and
his successor again to the next; and so each to other. And
all this was still for preserving and keeping up of the house
at Hill-hall.
His library Many legacies besides he gave to his relations, friends,
college, and dependents. And because he saw none of those that
should succeed him of a long time were hke to take to
learning, he gave all his Latin and Greek books to Queen's
college in Cambridge, (where he had been brought up,)
and his great globe, of his own making ; but so that the
master and fellows, having warning so soon as he was
dead, or at the least so soon as he was buried, or before,
(the which he willed they should have, with a true inven
tory carried to them of his said books,) sent carts to fetch
them away within ten or twelve days. And these he gave
also, upon condition, that they chained them up in their
library, or did distribute them among the fellows, such as
would best occupy them ; but so that they did it by in
denture and condition, that when they departed from the
Or Peter college, they restored them to the college again. But in
case the master and fellows of the said college would not
fetch them away, sending some careful man to see them
well trussed and packed, then he gave them to Peter
House, upon like condition. If neither of them would do
it, then he willed his executors to sell or use them at their
discretion. But yet of many of his books he made gifts to his
learned friends, or scholars at the University. As to Mr.
Shaw, parson of the parish wherein he lived, Chrysostom's
Works in five volumes, Origen in two volumes, Luther's
Works, Bucer, Galatinus, Felvus super Psalterium, Pet.
Martyr in lib. Judicum. And as he gave these divinity

Books to
his friends.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 157
books to a divine, so to one Thomas Crow, a physician, chap,
whom he called his servant, he gave these books of Galen, XVL

de Compositione Medicamentorum, de Ahmentorum Fa- Anno 1577.
cultatibus, Methodus Medendi. Petrus Pena de Herbis, * 1Zi
Antidotarium speciale. Turner's Herbal, FaUopii Opera,
Rondeletius. And besides these, he gave him the Monu
ment of Martyrs in two volumes, and a Latin Bible in
quarto, gilded. Also to Sir Clement Smith (so called, I
suppose, because he was in Priest's orders, then a resident
of Queen's college, and the same I conjecture with him
that was after Doctor of Divinity, a younger son of his
brother George) he gave, or rather lent, Titus Livius, Ari
stotle in Greek, and Plato in Greek and Latin, Tully's
Works, and ten more of his books, which the said Clement
would choose ; on condition, that when he went away from
the college, he should restore them to the college again.
He gave a standing massy cup, which had the seven A cup to
planets in the cover, to the Queen, as most worthy,
" having all the good gifts endued by God, which he
" ascribed to the seven planets ; (they be the words of
" the will;) praying her Majesty to take that simple gift in
" good worth, as coming from her faithful and loving sub
ject." And in case of any ambiguity or doubt arising in any In case of
part of bis will, he gave authority to his executors to addj^ in th'e"
to it, to make it more plain, with good advice, so that they will.
kept the true meaning and sense. And then himself gave
a general explanation of one chief part of his will, namely,
that he would have him that should enjoy the house and
manor of Theydon at Mount to be able to keep house
there, to the relief of the poor, and to set neighbours at
work. But if the executors could not reconcile some am
biguity that might happen in his will, that then they
should stand to the decision and judgment of his cousin
Nicols, a lawyer, Mr. Henry Archer, (a worthy gentle
man of the parish of Theyden Garnons, afterwards hving
and dying at Low Leyton,) and Parson Shaw aforemen
tioned ; whom he made supervisors of his will. Which he

158 THE LIFE OF
chap, did in a great point of wisdom, to avoid controversies of
. law, which oftentimes break friendship, and swallow up an

Anno 1577. estate so contended for.
His exe-Z He ma<^e ms youngest brother, George Smith, who had
cutors. several children, and his nephew by his sister, John Wood}
his executors.
The date of This will is said to be reviewed and corrected by him
h,s Wl11- after the death of his nephew, William Smith, of Walden,
(the son, as it seems, of his second brother, John Smith,)
Februaiy 18, 1576, when he signed with his hand every
page. All his manors, lands, and tenements, he had al
ready given by indenture, made between him on the one
part, and Francis Walsingham, Secretary to the Queen,
James Altham, Henry Archer, Esquires, Humphrey Mit-
chel, and his nephew John Wood, on the other part;
bearing date February 4th, in the 19th year of the Queen.
This will was proved August 15, 15/7, before Thomas
Yale, by John Wood, that is, three days after Sir Thomas's
death; and by George Smith, not before May 14, 1578.
I do not meet with many bequests of charity in this will,
because those acts he seemed to have done, as the wisest
and surest course, in his life-time, when himself might see
them truly and justly performed.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 159
CHAP. XVII.
Observations upon Sir Thomas Smith.
JNOW to make a few observations upon this wise and
learned gentleman.
And first, of his learning. For he was one of the great- His leam-
est scholars of his age, and one of those many brave shoots' s'
that the University of Cambridge then produced ; as Den
ny, Cheke, Haddon, Ascham, Ponet, Cecil, and some others;
that for their merits, and parts were transplanted to the
Court. His profession was the Civil Law, and he was the
first Regius Professor of it in the University, placed therein
by the royal founder, King Henry VHI. whose scholar he
was. But though tMt were his profession, yet he was a
man of general learning. He was a great Platonist ; which A Platonic.
noble and useful philosophy he and Cheke brought into
study in the University, accustomed before to the crabbed,
barbarous, useless schoolmen. Haddon, speaking to him
of Plato, calleth him Plato tuus, your Plato; who, he told
him, called upon him to serve his country, and to be ready
too to give it all that he had received from it.
He understood physic well. In his oration for theAphysi-
Queen's marrying, against him that had declaimed for her cian'
single hfe, and among other reasons for it urged the dis
eases and infirmities that attended child-bearing; he as
serted, on the contrary, how it preserved women from
diseases and other inconveniences, and cleared their bo
dies^ amended their colour, and prolonged their health;
and undertook to bring the authorities and reasons of phy
sic for it. And when, in March 1574, the Lord Treasurer.
had a fit of an ague, Smith shewed his skill that way, by
the judgment that he made of it ; saying, " That he trust-
" ed it was but diaria, coming of a sudden obstruction in
"the pores of his skin, as he told him, by cold; that
" Which, in a rare body and tenderly kept, must needs be,
" till either by evaporation or sweat the same be opened

160 THE LIFE OF
c hap. " again." And so he hoped that now that Lord had but
XVIL the weariness of that accident, and no formed ague. His

skill herein also appeared in his discoursing so learnedly
of his own distemper, as we heard before.
His recipe And here I will set down a recipe I find in one of his
piaguel note-books, under his own hand, for a sickness, in the
years 1558 and 1559, among the people. " Watercresses*
" scabious, pileworth, agrimony. Boil these with barley, of
" each a good handful, (saving agrimony, but a little,) two
" sticks of liquorice, bruised with an hammer, in running
" water, two gallons, till the one half be consumed. Drink
" warm, morning and evening, half a pint or thereabouts at
" a draught ; and at other times of the day cold. If they
"sweat after it, it is the better. This purifieth the blood,
" and taketh away that kind of plague or sickness." But
there is the name of Mr. Gale set under this recipe, from
His chymi- whence perhaps therefore he had it. Once more I find him
Bent to the Paying the physician with the Countess of Oxon, the
^™ntess of Lord Treasurer's beloved daughter; when, in the month
of December 1574, she lay under sickness, and far gone
in it, her stomach gone, and not able to digest any thing,
which made her refuse all physic. Sir Thomas sent her
a water to take in a spoon at once, and so to use it from
time to time. Of his sending this water to her he gave
her noble and disconsolate father to understand, and withal
let him know the properties of it ; and that if she took no
other sustenance in three days, it would nourish her sufli-!
ciently. And within twenty- four hours he doubted not
but his Lordship would see great effects, and peradventure
some appetite to meat to begin to come to her within that
space ; adding, that there was never any one yet but felt
good by it.
His Mat- He was very conversant in the commentaries of Mat-
tbiolus upon Dioscorides ; and had interspersed his own
book of Matthiolus with many notes and observations of
his own. It was a book that was never wont to go from
him : but somebody, it seems, once had stolen it, which
grieved him not a little, complaining to his friends, that

thiolus.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 161
he had rather have lost a far better thing: nor could an- chap.
other be bought any where in London. Therefore in the XVIL
year 1572, Walsingham being Ambassador in France, he
prayed him to procure him the said book there translated
into French, and to let it be bound with two or three
sheets of paper, before and in the end, to serve him for
inserting his notes. This book Walsingham accordingly
bought, and sent him over. And Smith liked it well ; but
yet, as he told him, if he could have recovered his own,
noted through with his own hand; he should have liked
that far better. By his conversing in these books, we may
judge of his learning that way.
And as chymistry is but an handmaid of physic, andAchymist.
usually accompanieth it, so he was as well skilled in that
art also ; and had apartments in his house for his stills
and laboratories, which were going to his great cost ; but
especially in labouring to transmute coarser metals into
those of more fineness and greater value.
He was an excellent mathematician, and, for his recrea- A mathe-
tion therein, made a large globe by his own hand. It was
his love and practice of the mathematics that made him
desire of Walsingham, at the same time he sent to him to
buy him Matthiolus, to procure him also a case of mathe
matical instruments, directing him to the place where they
were sold, that is, at the palace in Paris. He meant that
it should contain two compasses or three, a square, a pen
of metal, and other things. He had two already ; but he
was minded to have another of the biggest size, with the
case a foot long. Walsingham accordingly, in January
1572, sent him a case of tools ; but such, it seems, as were
extraordinary : for Smith himself understood not them all,
nor looked for so many, nor of that sort. But this was
proper employment for him ; and at his leisure he intended
to find out the property and use of them.
What an arithmetician he was appears by his money An arith-
*• * metician.
tables. Nor was he a smatterer in astronomy. The new star, An astro-
which in the year 1572 appeared in Cassiopeia, exercised"0
M

162 THE LIFE OF
chap, much his thoughts, as it did the rest of the learned men of
XVI1' the world. And he could almost have been willing to be

lieve it to be the soul of that brave Admiral of France, that
had been a little before that time so basely, murdered in
the Parisian massacre, Smith was mighty desirous to
know what foreign learned men judged of this new star:
therefore, December 1 1, 1 572, he Wrote to Walsingham thus
His judg- of it . « That jje was sure ae had heard of it, and he
ment of the
star in " thought had seen the new fair star or comet, but without
Cassiopeia. « beard Qr ta^ wnich appeared in England these three
" weeks, on the back side of the chair Cassiopeia, and oh
" the edge of via lactea. The bigness was betwixt the
" bigness of Jupiter and Venus ; and kept there, to his
" appearance, who had no instrument then to observe it ;
" and because of that cold weather also, dared not observe
" the precise order of the fixed stars. Such an one he had
" never, observed, nor read of: he therefore prayed Wal-
" singham to let him know what their wise men of Paris
" did judge upon it. He knew they would not think it
" that Admiral's soul, as the Romans did of the comet
" next appearing after the murder of Julius Cassar, that it
" was his soul. It might be Astraea," said he, " now pe'ak-
" ing out afar in the north, to see what revenge shall be
" done upon so much innocent blood, shed in France, at a
" marriage banquet, and reer suppers after it : yet that it
" would be acceptable to him to understand what their
" astronomers and heaven-gazers there did judge of it."
He added, " that if he were not so much occupied as he
" was, he Would turn over all his old books, but he would
" say something of it himself, and guess by chance even as
" wisely as they ; though he would not publish it but to his
" friends." Walsingham, in answer to this of the Secre
tary, sent him certain notes, and a new book from France,
of this new comet : for which he thanked him; but withal
he observed to him, that in the placing of it, their astro
nomers and these in England differed exceedingly; theirs
placing it in the 29th of Pisces, and ours in the 7th degree
of Taurus. So they varied one whole sign and eight de-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 163
grees. He observed^ moreover, that the printed book went chap.
upon it suspenso'pedh / and prayed the Ambassador, that XVIL
if any had writ upon it more boldly, he might see it. He
added further, that our men did not deny that it arose in
that degree of Pisces, or the first of Taurus; but that it
was one thing to rise with the degree of the zodiac, and
to stand in a place after section of the 'zodiac ; and that
our men did find him far above the moon, and above the
height of the sphere of Venus : and then it could not be a
temporary comet. Concluding, "No things above the
" moon do rise and die, which was never believed afore ;
" but either a new star made, or an old star new seen."
Thus we see him busy in his astronomy : nay, if we may
believe his poet, and that he did not take too much poeti
cal liberty, Smith was arrived to the very top of the astro
nomical skill, and might be a companion for Ptolomy, Al-
phonsiis, and Zacutus, if they were alive.
Necpolus aut tellus magis ulli cognita cuiquam.
Quorsum ego dissimulemf Fuit unus et unicus ille
Filius Urania;, Ptolomaio major utroque,
Et centum Alphonsis, et plusquam mille Zacutis.
And perhaps the love and study of the stars might be one
reason that he delighted so much in his high seat at
Mounthaut, where he might have a more spacious prospect
of the skies a.
* Smith also well understood that other part of learning relating to the stars,
called astrology, which was in much vogue in these times, namely, the art of
knowing things to come by the position of the stars and planets. Of which
nevertheless he made rio account, and called it by no better name than " the
" tnost ingenious art of lying;" as Richard Eden, once his pupil at Cambridge,
had heard him speak. For he, speaking of these superstitious boroscopers, how
they were accustomed to use observations in the election of hours, times, and
days', by constellations, and aspects of the stars and planets', as many fond men
had done, thinking thereby to have escaped such dangers, as in truth they had
the rather thereby fallen into by foolish confidence in astrology, mentions, that
for the vanity and uncertainty thereof, the right worshipful and of singular
learning in all sciences Sir Thomas Smith, in his time the flower of the Uni
versity of Cambridge, and his tutor, was accustomed to call it ingeniosissimam
artem mentiendi.
M 2

ci an.

164 THE LIFE OF
chap. In state policy he was a great master; which, by long
XV1L experience in state matters at home in the reigns of four
a poiiti- princes, and embassies abroad, he had acquired. Walsing
ham, that most complete and happy Secretary of State,
improved hhnself much by making his observations of
Smith : how quick and sharp his apprehension of things,
how grave and sound his counsels, and with what dexte
rity and admirable parts he managed public affairs, and
yet with clean and just hands. So he sung that made his
funeral verses :
 Socius tantorum insignis honorum

tect

Qui vigilanti oculo Smithi observasset acumen,
Sensissetque acres sensus, animumque virilem,
Consiliumque grave, et pectus moresque colendos,
Virtutes etiam raras, dotesque stupendas.
A linguist. He was also an excellent hnguist, and a master in the
knowledge of the Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and Eng-
An histo- lish tongues. A great historian, especially in the Roman
An orator, history. An orator equal to the best, and a perfect Cice
ronian : a notable specimen of whose oratory and history,
as well as of his polities, appears in his discursive orations
An archi- about Queen Elizabeth's marriage. He had also a very good
genius in architecture, which that noble pile of building at
Hill-hall doth sufficiently demonstrate. And in the art of
gardening he was very curious and exact; employing his
own hands sometimes for his diversion in grafting and
planting. At which work I find him when he was making
an orchard for his new house, about the latter end of 1572,
having made an escape from the Court, though the winds
then were very unkind to him : of which complaining to the
Lord'Treasurer, he said he should soon be weary of Mount
haut, because he could not graff nor transplant any trees,
the winds that then brought over the Earl of Worcester
from France, (who had been lately sent to christen that
King's child,) being, as he said, the worst enemy to all
cutting, paring, or breaking of trees here in England, that
could be, or for setting of herbs.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 165
And as he was an universal and thorough-paced scho- chap.
lar, so he had a most complete library, and kept a learned xvn'

correspondence, and was of a very accurate judgment in His library.
matters of learning. His library consisted of a thousand
books of various learning and arts, as we are told by the
learned man his friend, that made his parentalia :'- Which
noble treasure he bestowed upon his own college, where
at least the remainders of them are to this day; besides
some Italian and French books, which he gave to the
Queen's library.
 Libros monumentaque mille

Grmca, Latina omnis generis, nova, prisca, prof ana,
Religiqsa dedit :
Italicos praeter quosdam Francosque libellos
Elizabetece pius heros bibliothecce.
A catalogue of the books which he had at Hill-hall in
the year 1 566 may be seen in the Appendix. Num. vi.
And as he was owner of many books, so he composed Books by
not a few himself; three whereof are printed. 1. Histen>
Commonwealth of England, both in Latin and English.
2. Of the right and correct Writing of the English Tongue.
This I suppose is the same book with that which Fuller,
in his History of Cambridge, mentions, of his more com-P.si.
pendious way of printing ; which would defalcate a fifth
part of the cost in paper and ink, besides as much of the
pains in composing and printing, only by discharging
many superfluous letters, and accommodating the sounds
of long and short vowels, with distinct characters. 3. Of
the right and correct Pronouncing of the Greek Language.
Both these last mentioned were published by himself in
Latin, when he was Ambassador in Paris. There is a
fourth book lately printed, viz. 1685, which some make
him the author of, namely, Of the Authority, Form, and
Manner of holding Parliaments. Other tracts there be of
his, that have lain hitherto unpublished ; as his Orations
about the Queen's marriage; his Discourse Of Money, and
his Tables for the reducing the Roman Coins to the just
m 3

166 THE LIFE OF
cHap. English standard. I have also seen another large writing,
XVI1, which, by the hand, seems to be his, shewing certain
ways and means for the taking care qf, and for the main
taining the poor of the nation ; and many more, whereof
as yet neither the sight nor the particular subjects have
come unto me. To which I add several excellent letters
of his, when Ambassador in France, to the Lord Burgh
ley ; and being Secretary of State, to Sir Francis Waksingr
ham, Ambassador in the same Court, which are printed in
the Complete Ambassador ; and a bundle of other letters
writ to the Court, when he was Ambassador with the
French King anno 1562, the Earl of Warwick going then
in the famous expedition to New-haven, which are yet re
served in the King's Paper House.
A great He was a great judge of learning, and applications were
learning, often made to him for his judgment in matters of that na
ture : so Dr. Haddon appealed once to him, in a sharp
controversy between the French Ambassador and himself,
whether Tully were a good lawyer ; which that Ambassa
dor had denied : and how learnedly this was decided by
Sir Thomas Smith, may be seen in this history : and both
Cecil and the said Haddon would not allow the answer to
Osorius to come abroad, till it had passed his accurate
perusal and correction.
His ac- His acquaintance was with the learned men of his age;
quam ance. ag Ramugj an(j other Professors in Paris, while he was
there : and with Cheke, Cecil, Haddon, Wilson, Ascham,
men of the finest wits and purest learning. Of this last,
in a letter to Haddon from France, he inquired diligently
after, and complained that for two years and six months
he had heard nothing from him ; and then added merrily,
that his cocks (for he was a great cock master) ita ilium
excantdsse, i. e. " had so enchanted him," that he had
quite forgotten his friends. And I find the correspondence
between him and Ascham continued after; for in 1568
Ascham requested of Smith to borrow a book of his own
writing: to which Smith answered by a letter, that he
had sent it to Walden to be transcribed, lest the first

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 167
copy and the whole invention should perish together; and chap.
Haddon being lately dead, Smith in the same letter told  '_

Ascham, that his epistles were found, but not all, and that
his own epistles to Haddon were more uncertain : for
they reckoned it pity any thing of that most humane and
learned friend of theirs should be lost ; and so there was a
purpose to collect together his epistles, and to publish
them ; and so they were afterwards by Hatcher of Cam
bridge. This Ascham, about the year 1568, sent an astro
nomical figure to Smith, drawn by some ingenious astro
nomer of the said Ascham's acquaintance; upon which
he sent a Latin letter from Mounthaut, thanking Ascham
for it, and declaring how much he was pleased with it,
and that he would willingly be acquainted with the per
son that described it : he acknowledged he professed him
self this study ; and this person seemed to him to write
ingeniously and learnedly, and not according to the vul
gar manner of unlearned men, who abused themselves,
and the opinion of their learning, for gain : whose friend
ship he declared he desired not, and whose familiarity he
was averse to. And the diagram and figure that Ascham
sent, he dispatched back to him, with his own judgment
of the same, as it was put or placed. Sir Thomas erected
a figure concerning the same hour and day, according to
the Ephemeris of Joh. Stadius ; of which he said the dia
gram seemed a httle to differ, but the judgment not so
much. Thus we see his correspondence, and withal his
disposition to that kind of study, of judicial astrology.
And in fine, of the great opinion that went of Sir Tho- The vogue
%. , ,, . . . , • , of his learn-
mas Smith's learning, I shall mention this passage: whening
Dr. Wilson, one of his learned friends, Master of St. Ka
tharine's, and afterwards Secretary of State, had for news
wrote to Haddon, then Ambassador at Bruges, of the
Queen's going to visit the University of Oxford anno
1565, and of the report of the great learning in that place,
and what learned exercises were then expected to be per
formed there before her Majesty; Haddon answered, not
to disparage that noble University, or the complete scho-
m 4

168 THE LIFE OF
chap, lars that were there, but to take the opportunity of com-
XVIL mending one or two other egregious men, viz. that how

ever magnificently it was talked of the learned men there,
nee Smithi ibi simile quicquam, aut Checi becurret, i. e.
" there would be nothing like to Smith or Cheke."
Beneficial And as he was learned himself, so he was beneficial to
to learning. iearmng . which appeared in that most useful act of Par
liament, which he procured for the colleges of students;
which was, that a third part of the rent upon leases made
by colleges should be reserved in corn, the tenant to pay
it either in kind or money, after the rate of the best prices
in Oxford or Cambridge markets, the next market-days
before Michaelmas or our Lady-day. The great benefit
whereof scholars do find to this day, and will so long as
the Universities last. To his own college of Queen's he
gave for ever 12/. 7*. 4d. being a rent charge out of the
manor of Overston in Northamptonshire: which he ap
pointed to be thus disposed of, according as the reverend
Doctor James, the present worthy Master of the same
college, was pleased to impart to me ; that is to say, four
pounds for a lecture in arithmetic ; three pounds for a lec
ture in geometry; four pounds seven shillings and four-
pence for two scholarships ; appointing his own relations,
or the scholars from Walden school, cceferis paribus, to be
made his scholars before any others : and the twenty shil
lings remaining for a yearly commemoration. And of Eton
college, where he was once Provost, Camden tells us he
merited well: but in what particular respects I cannot
tell, except in making his college leases always with a re
serve of rent corn, divers years before it became an act for
the benefit of other colleges. And I find the Provost and
college of St. Mary of Eton purchased of King Edward
VI. in the first of his reign, for the sum of 25/. 6s. 3d. and
in performance of King Henry's last will, and in consi
deration of the exchange of the manor of Milbourn Beck,
Lutton, and Ponyngton in the county of Dorset, and divers
other lands and tenements ; the rectory of Great Compton
in Warwickshire, lately -parcel of the possession of Tho-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 169
mas Cromwel, Knight, Earl of Essex, attainted of high chap.
treason ; the rectory of Bloxham in the county of Oxon, XVI1,
lately parcel of the late monastery of Godstow in the said
county, and divers other lands and tenements in the coun
ties of Oxford, Bedford, Lincoln, Warwick, to the value of
82/. lis. The patent bare date the 30th of August
1547 j in which whether Sir Thomas Smith was any ways
serviceable to the college I know not, but suppose he
might be.
And this learning of his raised him to honour and His places.
wealth : under King Edward VI. he was made Provost of
Eton, where whether he were present or absent, there
was always a good house kept : Dean of Carlisle, and Mas
ter of Requests in the Duke of Somerset's family, after
Cecil had left that place ; wherein he was most unjustly
scandalized by his enemies, to have been a bribe-taker ;
for which he was fain to vindicate himself. He became
also Steward of the Stannaries. Soon after his abilities
were so well known, that he was advanced to be one of
the principal Secretaries of State, and employed in great
commissions and matters of trust. Under Queen Eliza
beth he was divers times Ambassador in France, and at
last a Privy Councillor, Chancellor of the Garter, and Se
cretary of State.
His wealth consisted in his land and houses. He had His wealth.
the manor of Yarlington in Somersetshire, worth 30/. per
annum, that he bought with the money he had gotten at
Cambridge, before he came into the Lord Protector's ser
vice; and he purchased it at 300/. or thereabouts, of the
Marquis of Northampton, to whom it was given at the
coronation of Queen Katharine his sister. He purchased
also the college of Darby, whether a religious house or a
fraternity, I do not well know. I find he had also these His houses.
houses, to some of which were annexed manors and large
demesnes : one was in Chanon Row in Westminster, in chanon
which he once let out to the Comptroller of King Ed
ward's household, for thirty shillings per annum, but af
terwards lived in it himself when Secretary, being a very

170 THE LIFE OF
chap, fair house; and there the Divines in the beginning of
XVIL Queen Elizabeth's reign, together with himself, conferred
about reforming of rehgion. He had another house in
in London. Philpot-lane in London, which was a large and fair dwell
ing : the title whereof being dubious, he had like to have
lost his money and purchase too; but he procured his
master and friend the Duke of Somerset, to obtain from
the King the confirmation of his title. The free dwelling
in this house he gave to his younger brother George, a
merchant; to whom he was very kind, lending him also
300/. for the carrying on of his trade, without interest or
consideration. Sir Thomas had another house in Fleet-
lane, with several other tenements, which he held of the
Clothworker's Company of London: and here he would
sometimes be, as a recess from Court. In the country he
Ankerwick. had Ankerwick, (his country retirement in King Edward's
reign, once a religious house for Nuns,) in Buckingham
shire, very large and spacious, with a chapel. In Queen
Elizabeth's reign he frequented not this house so much;
then delighting more in Mounthal, standing high, as An
kerwick was low and waterish ; which I suppose he there
fore avoided, thinking it not so wholesome for him, being
very subject to cold rheums. In the year 1569 he took an
account of the furniture in each chamber. Here he named
his own chamber, the chamberlain's chamber, the great
guest chamber, the matted chamber, the inner chamber to
the same on the south side, fehe north inner chamber, his
father's chamber, my Lord's chamber, (by which Lord I
suppose he meant the Duke of Somerset,) the high gallery
called Cole's chamber, the hahV the little parlour, the
great parlour, the chapel, the wardrobe, the lodge. By
which rooms one may guess at the largeness of the house ;
and by the furniture one may also conclude upon his
housekeeping ; where, besides abundance of linen, beds,
and household stuff, in his wife's closet there was a plate-
chest, containing these pieces: a little basin and ewer,
two standing French bowls, with a cover, all gilt ; one gilt
gallon pot square ; two great flagons, all gilt ; three Fie-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 171
mish bowls with their cover, parcel gilt ; two goblets, all c h ap.
gilt, with their covers ; three French salts, all gilt, with XVIL
a cover; a basin and vast, all gilt; three French bowls,
all gilt, with a cover ; twelve French spoons, with hyena's
feet; two drinking pots of silver, one all gilt, the other
white. For the furniture in the chapel was a cupboard or
altar of walnut tree ; vestment and albe for the Priest ; a
Bible, and a pair of virginals, instead of an organ, I sup
pose. The plate and furniture of his other houses where he
dwelt was proportionable; for he kept four houses fur
nished, two in the city, (besides his lodgings at White
hall,) and two in the country.
But the house which he most delighted in, and was his
last retirement, was that at Mounthaut, or Hill-hall, in the Mounthaut.
county of Essex ; which was the jointure of his wife,.made
her upon her marriage with Sir John Hamden, Knight,
her first husband, the reversion whereof after her death
Sir Thomas Smith purchased. Here, near the ancient
manor-house, he began a stately structure, though he
hved not to finish it ; but he made careful provision by his
last will for the bringing it to a conclusion: and that it
might have the better care taken of it, he willed Richard
Kirby, his chief architect, twenty pounds, to be paid him
as soon as the new house was tiled, and all carpentry
work done ; and also to his marriage, a silver salt, twelve
silver spoons, and one silver cup. And to John Dighton,
steward of his house, and overseer of the works, to encou
rage him to take pains to see the workmen do their work
as they ought, and see them paid weekly, ten pounds.
The house standeth upon a great ascent, or hill, whence it
hath obtained its name. Hence is taken a very fair and
delightful prospect all ways, especially south and west.
Before the house, the entrance to which is northward, is
a very pleasant avenue, of a great length, and suitable
breadth; along which, on each side, are rows of stately
elms, advancing their heads to a great height : and Pn the
right hand are two ranges of trees of the same kind,
standing very near together, making a very close solitary

172 THE LIFE OF
chap, walk, fit for study and contemplation, which they call the
XVIL New Walk; and the tradition goes they were planted by
Sir Thomas himself, as it is most likely they were. This
for the situation. The house itself is built quadrangular,
adorned with great columns, imitating stone, which look
very gracefully ; the square court is paved with free-stone;
the walls exceeding thick b. Though there have been
great alterations and improvements made of this house
by the present owner, Sir Edward Smith, yet there be still
some remainders of Sir Thomas's fancy. In the dining
room above stairs (so large that it is now parted into
several rooms) a window westward gives the emblems
of four of the seven deadly sins, painted in the glass, with
the name of each vice set down under the emblem in
Greek and Latin ; as <I>0ovoc under one emblem, and 'AxijAi'a
under another, 'KVepijpavia under a third, and Hopveia. under
the fourth : and under each the name in Latin, as Invidia,
Socordia, Superbia, and Fornicatio. The emblem of pride
is the story of Lucifer and his angels cast down from hea
ven ; round which picture are lesser emblems in smaller
pieces of glass, which are obscure now, the paint fading.
The smaller emblems set about that of fornication are
these : the one is a set of fiddlers, under a lady's window,
serenading her; and a woman naked appearing at the
window, throwing water out of a chamber-pot upon their
heads. In another are represented two persons duelling
with swords and bucklers, fighting, you may imagine, for
b The great hall was formerly set round about with a great number of suits
of complete armour, cap-a-pe', together with muskets, halberds, and partizans,
which sets of armour were placed close by one another in a gallery whence one
looks down into the hall, so that they appeared like so many men in armour
standing there : and underneath against the wall were the other implements of
war, hanging in due rank and order. But all these habiliments and ornaments
of the hall were taken away in the times of the usurpation, when the loyal
friends of King Charles I. were plundered and harassed : among whom was Sir
Thomas Smith, the father of the present Sir Edward, who was sequestered and
decimated. When Charles II. returned, Sir Thomas, being one of the Deputy
Lieutenants of the county, searching the houses of the disaffected to the go
vernment for arms, recovered some few of his own arms, not far from home,
which he replaced again in his hall, where they still remain.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 173
their mistress; and a man hanging upon a gibbet, that CHAP.
must be presumed to be executed for killing his rival, the XVI1'
fatal end of that vice. There be also writ in these painted
representations proper mottos for each : as under pride,
God resisteth the proud; under that of sloth, Go to the
ant, thou sluggard. These painted windows were done in
1569. The rooms had much paintings upon the walls of
them, being histories out of Scripture : some whereof in
one room still remain, and very plainly to be discovered,
being the history of Sennacherib's army destroyed by the
angel ; a very fine piece : and the other paintings there
seem to be very good ; and there is a tradition in the fa
mily, that some of these paintings were done by Sir Tho
mas's own hand. And for the convenience and ornament
of the house, in the year 1 568, (in which year the shell of
the house was finished,) he planted an orchard adjoining,
to supply it with the choicest fruits, especially pears and
apples, both winter and summer, which he procured from
other places ; whereof many of his pears he had from the
Lord Rich, and of his apples from Walden : and many of
both sorts came from Ankerwick. And for the further
pleasure and service of the house, there were many fish
ponds, to the number of ten or a dozen, about it ; which
he took especial care to store with carp and tench.
This seat now flourisheth in plenty, reputation, and ho
nour, possessed by the line of his younger brother ; where
by Sir Thomas Smith's name and memory still lives, ac
cording to his design and intent hi that structure. And
though it wants nothing in the inside as well as the out,
to adorn and beautify it ; yet the choicest furniture is an
excellent original of the builder, hanging up in the par
lour, with these two verses written round the frame of the
picture ;
Cernitur effigies factis vera, at penicillus
Corporis atque umbra tantum simulacra reponit.
And underneath, Love and Fear. JEtat. suae xxxiii.

174 THE LIFE OF
chap. Having no child, his lady enjoyed this manor Of Mouht-
' haut, or Mourithal, for heir life ; and then it descended to

His heir, his brother s son, Sir William Smith, son of George, a
Sir William, . , . , ... . T , i , • , «
Smith. brave gentleman and soldier m Ireland, being a colonel
there ; till having attained to thirty years of age, he re
turned into England, arid possessed his deceased uncle's
estate. He married into the family of Fleetwood, of the
Vache in Bucks, and had divers issue ; and was of great
figure and service in the county of Essex ; all which may
be better known by the inscription upon a noble monu
ment for himself, and his lady, set up on the south ' side of
the chancel, opposite to that of Sir Thomas Smith, his
uncle, which was as follows :
To the pious memory of her loved and loving husband^
Sir William Smith, of HiUial in the county of Essex,
Knight : who, till he was thirty years old, followed the
wars in Ireland, with such approbation, that he was cho
sen one of the Colonels of the army. But his uncle, Sir
Thomas, Chancellor of the Garter, and principal Secre
tary of State to two princes, King Edward VI. and the
late Queen Elizabeth, of famous memory, dying, he re
turned to a full and fair inheritance : and so bent himself
to the affairs of the country, that he grew alike famous in
the arts of peace as war. All offices there, sorted with a
man of his quality, he right worshipfully performed, and
died one of the Deputy Lieutenants of the shire ; a place
of no small trust and credit.
Bridget; his unfortunate widow, who, during the time
of thirty-seven years, bare him three sons and four daugh
ters, daughter of Thomas Fleetwood, of the Vache in the
county of Bucks, Esquire, and sometime Master of the
Mint, to allay her languor and longing after so dear a
companion of her life, rather to express her affection than
his office, this monument erected, destinating it to herself,
their children, and posterity. He lived years seventy-six,
died the 12 of Decemb. 1626.

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 175

CHAP. XVIII.
Sir Thomas Smith's virtuous accomplishments.
W E have seen Sir Thomas in his secular circumstances,
as his learning, wealth, and honour made him looked
upon and admired in the eye of the world. But what doth
all this confer to the true reputation of a man without in
ward virtuous qualifications ? These were other and better
things that added a lustre and glory to our Knight : for
bis learning was accompanied with rehgion, and his ho
nour became more illustrious by the excellent accomplish
ments of his mind.
He was brought up in the profession of the Gospel from His reii-
his tender years, and ever after stuck to it, and professed gl0D
it, and that openly ; and, as he had occasion, dehvered and
rescued good men from the persecutions and dangers that
religion exposed them to, though he thereby sometimes
ran himself into no small hazard. He lost all his prefer
ments upon the change of rehgion mider Queen Mary,
when, if he had been minded to have complied, he might
have had what he pleased : but he was-of a stout and con
stant mind.
Wheh he was in place and office abroad, or in the His princi-
Court, the principles he governed himself by, were truth w^yhe
and integrity, an inviolable love to justice and righteous governed
dealing, a most unchangeable faithfulness and zeal to the
concerns of his Queen and country. His life and manners
were unreproveable ; of a grave and yet obliging beha
viour : and sometimes he would take the liberty to be in
geniously merry and cheerful among his friends. A per
fect stranger he was to the practices of some courtiers,
namely, to those of fraud and falsehood, flattery and trea
chery, vice and corrupt manners. Such a description do
the Muses in their Tears give him.

176 THE LIFE OF
chap.  Non fraude, dolove,
 '__ Non ullo victusfuco; patriceque suisque
Regineeque suaefidus, non perfidus ulli,
Atjidus cunctis, Cato vita, moribus, ore,
Sincerus sine fraude, bonus sine suspicione ;
Nee levitate vacans, et sic gravitate severus,
Ut tamen atque jocos admitteret atque lepores
Innocuos, nihilumque prius sibi duceret atquo
Atque bono, cui se suaque omnia vota sacravit.
Hi» virtues. And again, the same Muses (shewing the reasons of his
safety under the rigorous times of Queen Mary, notwith
standing he would not change nor dissemble his faith, nor
comply with the religion that was uppermost,) give us a
relation of his virtues, which shone so bright, that with
them he did as it were charm the government to spare
him. Nee tamen interea parti assenlarier ulli,
Nee simulare Jidem, nee dissimulare solebati
Mirifica virtute omnes, gravitate colenda,
Moribus antiquis, charitum, Aonidumque favore,
Numine ccelesti, non impietate nee arte
Illicita, nee perfidia, neque fraudibus ullis,
Vir bonus et sapiens, qualem vix repperit altrum
Phoebus Apollo unquam, sibi conciliabat amicos.
vices falsely But as^ there is nothing so good but will find accusers
charge on an(j sianrjefrerSj so ft happened to him : for his excellences
created him envy and enviers : and some there were in
King Edward's time, that laid several gross vices to his
charge, but most unjustly; as though he were proud, a
lover of money, and that for the sake of it he extorted
and oppressed ; that he was a buyer and seller of spiritual
preferments, and chopped and changed lands. Finally^
that in the changes of religion he was a compiler. But
these were all most false calumniations; but such as
he was fain to write some sheets of paper to vindicate

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 177
himself of; whereby he was forced to set forth his own chap.
virtues unwillingly. XVI1L

His spirit was brave and great, being a man of a reso- His spirit
lute and active mind; faithful and diligent when Ambas- great*
sador and Secretary; somewhat hasty and impatient when
public matters went not as they ought, being hindered by
designing men for private profit or secret grudge. And so
I find him somewhere describing himself, when haughti
ness was once laid to his charge : " I cannot deny, but I am
" of nature hault of courage and stomach, to contemn all
" perils, and worldly things, or dangers, to do my master
" service, and likely more would be, but that I am by such
"things [he means accusations and slanders] sometime
"plucked back; and so again contented to rule my self:
" being able, I thank God, to serve in the body and thilles
" (as carters call it) as well as in the room of a forehorse."
His apparel was usually good, and like a courtier ; for His apparel.
which he thought some might accuse him of too much
prodigality. But it was more to suit the office wherein he
served, than any pleasure he took in gaudy garments. He Not oppres-
never sued any man, nor ever was sued. He never raised slve"
any rents, but contented himself with the old ones, nei
ther of any of his lands or promotions, viz. Eton and
Carlisle; nor heightened any fines, nor ever put out any
tenant, nor ever sued any of them. He was in a place,
namely, that of Master of Requests, wherein he might
have received many bribes, if he would, for dispatching
suits, and selling the Lord Protector's letters; but he
challenged all the world to charge him with one penny
that he had taken dishonestly. Two indeed of his ser
vants did use sometimes to do so ; but when it came to
his knowledge, he put them away, acquainting the Pro
tector with it, and suing to him to have one of their ears
nailed to the pillory. And none hving remained under
more displeasure with him than they did, only for that
crime, and no other.
In fine, he was of an universal charity and good-will, Of an uni-
and wished well to all mankind, and a peaceable state tojftlysa
N

178 THE LIFE OF
chap, the world, as much as he wished it to himself. And that
XVIIL for this end among others, that every man might philoso

phize freely, and with the greatest liberty study to pro
mote truth and useful knowledge; and that all others
might live quietly, and mind their own business.
His apoph- He often spake sharp and witty sayings ; whereby his
thegms. wisdom anci great reach appeared. He called the Queen's
ordnance peaces-makers : and once desired her, that her
peace-makers might be transported to Scotland; which
when she had demanded of him who they were, he an-=
swered, her Majesty's cannon ; adding, they must do it;
and make a final conclusion.
When a matter was to be hastened, he would say, " It
" is better to prevent than to be prevented;" and, " The
" time draws away, and winds are changeable and minds."
Concerning alchymists, of whom he had bought experi
ence, he would say, " Trust httle to the words and pro-
" raises and accounts of men of that faculty. Fain they
•"would be fingering of money; but when it is once in
" their hands, we must seek it in the ashes."
The massacres in France he called their beacons^ So
he wrote to the Queen's Ambassador, then at that Court,
" Even the Scots [otherwise great friends of France] be
" awakened by your beacons in France."
When Walsingham was tired in France with expecta>
tion of coming home, which the Queen put off from time
to time, Smith told him, " You are a wise man, and can
" comfort yourself with wisdom and patience."
Speaking of the irresolutions and inconstancy of the
Court, he said, that " till the Queen had signed, he durst
" never adventure to affirm any thing, for fear of contrary
" winds;" the which, he said, was no news in that Court.
And again, " Ye know how long we are here a resolving,
" and how easy to be altered."
" Folly the more it is kept in, the better:" meaning it
of astrological judgments.
Haec est vicissitudo rerum humanarum; heee est com
munis casus hominum ; speaking of the Vidame of Char-

SIR THOMAS SMITH. 179!
tres, a great Protestant nobleman, escaping the butchery chap.
of the Paris massacre, but reduced thereby to mere po- XVI11,
verty. Video periculosum esse in rebus arcanis principum et
regnorum nimis velle sapere. Upon occasion of the trou
ble of Mr John Hales, for meddling in the succession.
" The best is, we stand, I think, upon our guard; nor, I
" trust, shall be taken and killed asleep, as the Admiral
" was :" speaking of those times in England, upon appre
hension of the danger the nation was in from the neigh
bouring Popish states and kingdoms*
" Happy is that prince that hath so wise a counsellor,
" that can see that is best : but more happy is he that
" hath one so bold that dares to tell it to him, and so be-
" loved of him that he will hear it."
" Irresolution and long training will make opportunity
" and occasion to fly away untaken, and a great deal of
" money to be lost."
" The Gentiles were wise in their sacrifice, when the
" priest cried ever and anon, Hoc age : for they that love
" always to be aliud agentes, either deceive themselves or
" other men."
The Queen kept her Christmas at Hampton Court
1572. From hence Smith writes to his friend about this
time, " If ye wotdd know what we do here, we play at
"tables, dance, and keep Christmas." A secret lash to
the Court for their carelessness at such a dangerous time
as that was.
Speaking upon the talk of Sir Francis Walsingham's
return home from France; "When a pin," said he, "is set
" fast in a hole, till we have another to thrust that out,
" and tarry there itself, it is hard to get it out." And this
he said was his case.
I have done, after I shall have recommended the readers Leiand's
. ... copy of
to the further character and account given to this wise verses to
aad learned man by two poets of those times. The one is Smlth-
Leiand, describing him while he flourished in the Univer
sity, after this manner : N 2

180 THE LIFE OF SIR T. SMITH.
chap. Doctorum celebras, Smithi, monumenta virorum
- Ardenti studio, et dexteritate pari.
Unde tibi accrevit virtutis nomine fama,
Judice me, nullo deperit ura die.
Granta venusta tuas collaudat, cantitat, ornat
Eximias dotes, ingeniumque tuum.
Quicquid in Aoniis speciosum montibus olim,
Quicquid in Italicis prcenitet atque jugis,
Est tibi tarn notum quhm quod notissimum : abundas
Artibus, et rara cognitione vales
Fontibus eloquii sitientia labra rigasti :
Atticus ille tuo regnat in ore lepos.
Instaurare bonas per gas feliciter artes :
Laudabit factum posteritasque tuum.
Dr. Byng's And the other was Dr. Byng, Regius Professor of the
him. Civil Law in Cambridge; who, when the first news of
Smith's departure was brought thither, gave him this epi
taph: Hie sistas celerem gradum, viator,
Magno funera dum Smitho parantur,
An mirare Smithum quod ipse Magnum
Dicam, quern tumulus teget pusillus ?
Et magnum ingenio scias fuisse,
Et magnum omnibus artibus qua habentur
Doctis in pretio, simulque magna
Tractavisse negotia, atque euros
Magnas sustinuisse maximorum
Regum quiis operam suam dicdrat.
Sic magnusque domi, forisque magnus,
Nunc magno fruitur poli theatro.

THE
APPENDIX

TO THE FOREGOING

HISTORY

OF THE LIFE OF

SIR THOMAS SMITH, KNIGHT.

Number I.

The patent granted by Garter King at Armes to John
Smith, Gentleman, for his coat of armes.
J. O al and singular persons, thesse presente letters hear- Ex original.
ing or seeing, Christopher Barker, Esq. ahas Garter, Prin- Da ^nes
cipal King of Armes of English men, sendeth due and Smith, Bar.
humble recommendations and greting.
Equity willeth and reason ordeineth, that men vertuose
and of noble courage be by their merits and good renoume
rewarded, and had in perpetual memory for their good
name, and to be in all places of honour and wurship among
other noble persons accepted and reputed, by shewing of
certain ensignes of vertue, honour, and gentylnes : to the
entent that by their ensample others shuld the more per-
severantly enforce themselves to use their tyme in ho
nourable wirkes, and vertuose dedes, to purchase and get
the renoume of auncient noblesse, not onely for them
selves, but also for ther lynge and posteritie of theym
descended, according to ther demerits and valiaunt actions,
to be taken furth and reputed among al nobylls and gen-
n 3

182

THE APPENDIX.

tylls. And albeyt John Smythe of Walden in the countie
of Essex is descended of honest lignage, and all his aun-
cestors and predecessours hath long continued in nobylite,
and beryng armes lawful and fonvenyent; yet neverthe
less he beyng uncertayne thereof, and not willyng to do
any [thing] prejudicial to no manner of person, hath re-
quyred and instantlie desyred me the foresaid Garter, to
ratifie and confirme unto him, and also to register in my
recorde the true armes and blazon of his seyd auncestours.
And therefore I the foreseyd Garter, byvertue, power,
and authorite of myne office, as, Principal King of Armes
granted, annexed and attributed by the King our Sove-
raign Lord, .have, appointed .and confirmed ;Unto the, seyd
John Smythe theSse armes and crest with thappurte-

>v"V

nances hereafter following/ wfe. sables, a feee dauncye be
twixt III lyonceux regardant, argent, langes goules, paws-
ing with their lyft paWes upon an awltergold, flaming and
bourning thereon. Upon the fece, IX bellets of his felde.

,T P U3.

cSrl~homxts Smiths new £nali/h Alphabet.

Nomen .

PoteAas

Exeiriplixm .

A.a..

A short.

^ftan . Jfat ¦

A* a, ar.

A long

^/liarv, i.e.^ttauie. J'fat, i.e. jCate .

B b.

Be

Cc .

ChTch, final.

Cert, l.c. Cheru . lAtac , i. e,. ^ftatah.

B d.

Be.

Al AB

¦ A.e.i.eT'h.

Aou., i.e. Thou. Ba% , i.e Bath .

£e .

£. short .

L ed . BrecL. Jfel .

£*eec-

£ lona .

Led, i.e. Lead, Bred.ie- Bread,Jfe-l. i.e.Josal

Is.

£ £rufh/h.

Bred, i.e.Breed-JfeL, v.e. Dfeel.

Tf.

£f."

Til. Jtrif.

V^T-

£v

'Vi-C, L.eyilc. cftriv, i.e,. Strive-.

'/x.

&&

Ga,i . Get .

5*-

^a-i, i.e-.Iay. ^et, i.clet.

Of he.

X^.

Ih-

I short.

Jfid.Bi.uc.By.

I'iZi-

I lotw .

DCid, i.e-.3fid-e. Bi, t-e.Buy-

Kk .

Kco.

ICa-t, JCac , v-c ¦ Catch.

Li.

ei.

dim, ,
£m.
Jfrv.
£n, .
0 o
0 short.
Jfop, Jfors, i.e ¦ Jforfe .
O*o 6 o .
0 lona.
jfop, i.e.yCope-dCcrs, i.e. Jfoarse.
Pf-
Te.
^£-
2^^-
R r.
£r.
J s
£s.
It.
£z,ed .
Liz, i.e. Lyes. Bi-z, i.e. Dyes
£s
£s. i.e.Ssh.
Les ,i.e.Lecish.Tvs, i.e.Tish.
rt :
Te.
VUu.
IL short.
Buk. v.e. Buck, TulL.
7p ii-w .
IL long
Bilk, i.e. Book. 'Till, i.efFool.
yvy-
v Greek .
TriL, i.e .Trive.R-ici.e.Riie.Jfy, i.e. jfen>.
OC x x.
ex.
THE APPENDIX. 183
Upon his crest an eagle rysing sables, holding in his right
cley a pen argent, issuing therout flames of fyer, set upon
a wreath argent and azure, mantelles goules, lined argent,
hotoned gold: to have and to hold to the same John
Smythe and to his posteryte, with other due difference
therin to be revested to his honour for ever. In wytnes
hereof I the foreseyd Garter, Principal King of Armes as
aboveseyd, hath signed these, presents with [mine] own
hand ; and thereunto hath set the seal of my office ; and
also the seal of mine armes. Yeven at London the xii day
of March, in the yere of our Lord God MVCXLV, and in
the XXXV yere of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King
Henry VIII, by the grace of God King of England, France,
and Ireland, Defendour of the Faith, and in erthe of the
Church of England and Ireland Supreme Head.
CB. alias GARTIER.

N 4

184

THE APPENDIX.

Number III.

EMSS.D.Richar. Gibbs, Eq.
Aurat. et
Rev. D.
Johan. Laugh ton.

Sir Thomas Smith's orations for and against the Queen's
marriage.
I. Agamus or Wedspite's oration for the Queen's sitigle
life.
ALTHOUGH I know (saith he) that I speak now first
at a great disadvantage, as to such as have their tongues
at will, their wits fresh, and be so good confuters, as I
have known them by experience in the Parliament House,
that whatsoever I shall say, they can with words make
that it shall appear quite overthrown and dashed in pieces;
yet because I myself would gladly learn whether I be in a
right opinion or no, and hear either my opinion weakened,
or thother strengthened with good reasons, that I may
by comparing thone with thother know my error, which I
could never yet do, I am content to speak first. I pray
you, that do note my opinion so strange, a while suspend
your judgments of me, until you have heard all my rea
sons which moveth me to take this part.
First I say, that in this matter either we must have re
spect to God, to the Prince her self, or to the common
wealth ; or rather to all these. For as for vain talk of the
people, and the common opinion of every man in this our
disputation, I think little regard to be had to them. For
neither I speak in .pulpit before all rascals that cometh,
nor I do reason with such, as I must needs say as they
say, or else hold my peace ; but with them who will look
to have no further credit to be given to their authority and
mind, than just reason doth require. And therefore to
Godwards ye must needs confess, that virginity is above
matrimony, which Christ himself, being our Head, King,
and Master, did follow. And St. Paul allowing both thone
and thother, marriage I mean, and the sole life, yet pre-
ferreth the sole life far above matrimony. And I cannot

THE APPENDIX. 185
see that he maketh any distinction or difference, whether
they be men or women, young or old, princes or subjects,
rulers or private persons : but as in bondage or freedom,
whether it be of men or women, young or old, he pre-
ferreth liberty, not excluding bondage from the Gospel :
so doth he rather allow and exhort unto, and wish that
men would choose and take hold of virginity and sole life,
rather than marriage, with such elogium as would seem
slanderous, if it were not of his speaking. The virgin,
saith he, and single man have care how they should please
God. The married woman hath chosen infinite ways the
worse person to be pleased, and the sole woman the bet
ter. Wherefore as I did say at the beginning, to define
what is good and best for the Queen, if we shall try it by
the best, truest, and more sure balance, that is to God-
wards, St. Paul seemeth to be with me : and the example
of Christ himself, and his most happy mother, St. John
Baptist, and other the heads of our Christian religion, who
ensued that kind of life as best and most acceptable to
Godwards. You see I do not bring you histories of certain Empe
rors and Empresses, Kings and Queens married, who, not
withstanding their marriage, yet lived continently, lest
perhaps you should doubt of the truth of the history: or,
if the history were true, yet of the perfection and sinceri
ties of the persons : or whether therein they pleased God,
although it liked them best. Nor yet I bring in that infi
nite number of names of virgins and widows, which at the
very beginning of Christ's rehgion professed and kept chas
tity, as a thing whereby they thought most to please God,
and made their choice of that as of the most godly life ;
lest peradventure with the evil example again of the Nuns,
Monks, and Friars of our days, who likewise haye as holily
vowed, and yet so lewdly have and do keep the same, you
should have occasion to derogate faith from all the rest,
but sincerely and plainly, and of principles most certain, I
have proved, that to God the best, most commendable,

186 THE APPENDIX.
and most aUowable life of these two, is to be sole and
chaste. It is hard, ye will say, in that liberty, ease, and plenty
of all things, which monarchy and princely state doth
bring, to keep moderation ; and much more to keep chas-*
tity. Marry, the harder the better, and as the Greek pro
verb is, That which is laudable is hard to attain, ye be
all learned, and know Hesiod's verse ; what is that that
men may take up by heaps, and ease me by? and how
strait and hard a path is left to creep to virtue ? Wherefore
when we speak of the goodness of a thing, or compare
which of the two is better, the hardness is no objection,
but rather a proof of the goodness thereof. And because I
am yet in that part which is to Godward, why shall I go
any further than Christ's saying, who willed us to enter in
at the strait gate, where few go in, and to leave the easy
way, where there be many gone, and going before, which
bringeth eternal destruction? But I think this part enough
proved, till I hear the contrary of you.
The next that I promised you to take in hand was, that
to the Pririce her self this is the best. First, either all the
women in the world do wonderfully dissemble, or else
bringing forth of children, (besides the often irksomeness,
loathsomeness of meats, appetite of strange meats, mor-
few, and other such troubles that they have all the time
from the conception to the childbirth,) they be in such
danger of death as at no time men be more. For we see
by common order, they are wont to take the Communion,
to take their leave of the Church, and prepare themselves
even to it as persons that were neither alive nor dead, but
betwixt both. And all, I am sure, do not dissemble : for, I
pray you, what number of women every hour, even in their
travail, or shortly after, be dispatched, and sent from their
childbed to their burial? not only poor folks' wives, in
whom negligence or poverty might have some excuse, but
Countesses, Duchesses, Empresses, and Queens. Farther
examples we need not seek than the mother of our late

THE APPENDIX. 187
King Edward, Queen Jane, and of the Queen Dowager
Katharine Parr. I can compare the danger of childbed to
nothing more aptly than to a foughten battle, save that
there is this difference, that in foughten battles, the Prince
by thold 'examples, as one saith of Pyrrhus, provide for
themselves out of the foreward and most danger : but in
this, whatsoever estate they be, Queen or Empress, she
must fight with death hand to hand : there is no champion
to stand betwixt, or to bestride them when they are down,
or to take the stroke into their bodies to defend them, as
hath been done before this by faithful Esquires, to the
safety of their Prince. And if the faithful friends of David,
after he was at one time by chance in great hazard in. a
certain foughten battle, would not suffer him in person to
come no more into battle, lest peradventure (as they said)
the hght of Israel should be quenched; how should I
think, that I should have so much regard to the Queen's
person as they had to David's, if I should not also wish
and desire, yea, and counsel too, that her Grace should
never enter into that danger and battle, wherein she her
self, hand to hand, and without aid, must fight with death
himself a more perilous fight than is any set battle. And
if her Majesty be fruitful, (as there is no cause to think the
contrary,) then if she escape one, she must within one year,
or a httle more, prepare for the next, and so still be within
the danger of that extremity, which I do tremble to think
upon. Well may I think, as a great learned man (although
merrily) writeth, that unless God had given a certain no
table quantity of foolishness and forgetfulness to all wo
men, after once they had assayed the pains and travails
and danger of childbirth, they would never company with
men. again.- For. although soldiers, who put their life to
sale for money, do not fear to continue war and skir
mishes, and will adventure, at the captain's command
ment, hardily upon the spear-point to win or lose ; and al
though some waxlike princes, as Alexander and Julius
Caesar, thought themselves never so well, as when they
had sowen one war upon another, and were courageously

188 THE APPENDIX.
in the field themselves ; yet can it not be denied, but it
had been more safety to their persons to have lived quietly
and justly at home with their own, and made peace with
their neighbours. Nor though they died at home amongst
their friends, thone by surfeit, thother by conspiracy;
yet can it not be understanded by the common intend
ment, but that they were in more danger in the battle :
and so the success we must leave to destiny and God's
judgments. What is by the common course of causes,
thereof we may conclude, as far as natural reason and
man's wisdom will go.
Wherefore in my mind, the Queen's Highness's person,
by course of nature, being subject (as all mortal men's and
women's be) to fevers, plurisies, to pestilence, to the sweat,
and infinite other sorts of sicknesses and diseases, which
the physicians can describe; from the which, whensoever it
pleaseth God to send them, (as I pray God long to keep
her from them,) no man's power can rescue her ; methinks
willingly and wittingly to bring in one other, which shall
be as dangerous as any one, or all those, it is not the part
of him that professeth a care of her Highness's person.
Hitherto I have spoken of her person but as touching
the body, (nevertheless by her person I mean all such
things as touch her privately; and although it is now
hard to make a separation of this, but that which toucheth
her person should also touch all the whole realm ; yet be
cause I speak amongst you, whom I know to be both
learned and wise, ye will, I dare say, take what I mean by
the order of my talk.) Let us grant that her Majesty doth
marry, if he be a subject, then she should seem to dis
parage her self : for what shall she do other than that
which is found fault with in certain Duchesses, and Coun
tesses, which have married with those which were their
servants. If she marry a stranger, then must he needs by
God's laws be her head, and where she was highest be
fore, now she hath made one higher than her self. If she
study to please him, then is she in subjection of him : if
she mind not to please him, why should she then marry

THE APPENDIX. 189
him ? and this is the best. But if there should arise any
dissension betwixt her Majesty and her husband, and
part-takings who should rule, as there hath been ere this
in other countries ; what a misery shall her Majesty bring
her self unto from so great a felicity ? to what a disquiet-
ness from so great a quietness ? Now all dependeth upon
her only will and pleasure ; she only commandeth, and it
is done ; she saith the word, and every one obeyeth. Then
is no grace to be looked for, but at her husband's hands
only. Then there shall be two to sue unto, though not
equal, yet such as each of other would not hke well to
have a nay : so that their requests one of another shall be
as it were commandments of thone to thother : so that if
the good and loving wife loath to displease her husband,
and the loving husband his wife, when one of them shall
ask and require of the other that which thother would
not gladly do, if it be not done, who is displeased ye per
ceive ; and if it be done, who is aggrieved ye see : and so
much the more as thone desireth in his or her mind to
have it done, thother in his or her mind that it should
not be done; so much the more grief the granting doth
bring to thone, and so much more hatred and displea
sure the denying doth bring unto thother.
As for example sake, if King Philip desired most ear
nestly we should make war with the Frenchmen, and
Queen Mary desired no less to live in quiet, and to have
peace with them, (the husband and the wife in most con
trary appetites,) the granting extremely grieved thone,
the denial should as extremely have offended thother.
Of the event what followed we know. But ye will say,
this was when a foreign Prince did marry the Queen, who
having war of his own with the Frenchmen, must needs
desire his wife's country for love's sake to join with him :
and this realm having wounds enough at home, had good
cause to mislike war abroad. But if her Grace marry one
of her own here at home, there shall be no such occasion,
you will say, but their minds shall be all one; whom
thone loveth thother loveth also, and whom the one mis-

190 THE APPENDIX.
liketh, so will thother also. This is wholly assured, if it
were always so ; but seeing never man was always in one
mind himself continually, nor yet woman, but that which
at one time we love, another time we hate ; what we like
being children, we mishke being men and women, and
much more when we be old; how can we think that any
man or woman may be always of one opinion, mind, judg
ment, or desire with another, where he is not so with
himself? Conveniet nulli, qui secum dissidet ipse,
saith the old verse. And what mischiefs those breaks may
bring, we have too many examples both amongst the Gre
cians, Romans, and Barbarians.
And first, I will begin with the Goths ; when they were
lords over Rome and Italy, Amula Suinta, or, as some
do write her, Amala Suenta, the daughter of King TheodoT
ricus, King of Rome and all Italy, and so rightfully heir of
that kingdom, to govern the realm the better, took to her
husband Theodotus, a nobleman of the Goths ; who belike
afterwards dissenting with her in opinion of matters- of the
State, first found the means to exile her into a little island
in a lake besides Vossinana in Italy', and afterwards there
caused her to be most cruelly slain. Phihp Viscount of
Milan being at a very low ebb, by marriage of Beatrice,
wife to Fantino Cane, had the lordships and seignories of
Vercelli, Alexandria, Navarra, Cortana, four goodly cities;
and a great number of riches : thereby he recovered again
the state of Milan and Lombardy, which was before lost.
This man, to recompense her kindness and all these be
nefits, within a short while after caused her to he con
victed 6f adultery, and cruelly to be put to death. Jane
the second Queen of Naples did otherwise*.. She took to
husband Jaques Countie de la Nardy, of the. French King's
blood : with whom she indented, that he should be con
tented to be called Prince Tarento, and to leave to her not
only the name, but also the government; of the kingdom
of Naples. This liked not he, or else his counsellors, and

THE APPENDIX. 191
so removed her from administration, and kept her almost
as a prisoner. She, like a wise woman, feigned to rejoice
thereat, and to bear it well, until such time as she had
compassed all her device, and shut him clean out of Na
ples. For which cause, although he made war, yet was he
fain, at the last, (willed he, nilled he,) to live as a man ba
nished out of that realm.
I have read of many, being sole inheritors and prin
cesses of many countries, which after took unto them
husbands, who had no better success, though not all so
evil. Even in our days, Queen Mary took King Philip to
her husband, a noble Prince, wise, discreet, and fortunate.
Yet many men think that thereby she lost the hearts of
the most number of her subjects. And it is too manifest,
that immediately upon it, in a very short space, an incre
dible number of her subjects were, by order of such law
and justice as was used in those days, most cruelly put to
death. And God for his part, whether offended that she
so hving sole, and as may be thought a virgin, did so sud
denly choose to marry, or rather that she finding the hght
of the Gospel abroad in her realm, did what she could to
extinguish it and put it out, did so punish the realm with
quartan agues, and other such long and new sicknesses,
that in the two last years of her reign, so many of her
subjects were made away, what with the execution of the
sword and fire, and what by sicknesses, that the third
part of the men in England was consumed. Ye see I do
pass over these things lightly, and do not amplify them as
orators would : but I would have every piece rather to be
weighed of you deeper, thaii that yon should think that I
should with words overlade the matter.
I come to the third, that is, what is best for the realm
and her subjects. And surely in this matter, methinks, for
many reasons, it is best as it is now. And here I will not
over-shp this advantage : I pray you what fault is there to
be found with the governance now? wherein do we lack,
or want an husband for the Queen ? Compare both Queen
Mary's time, married, and the Queen's Highness's time

192 THE APPENDIX.
that now is; unmarried. Then was burning and hanging
at home, wars and losing of strong holds abroad: most
men discontent, except a few of her sect : with subsidies
and loans, sicknesses and promoters, as well th'one as
th'other, throughly vexed. War we saw and felt,. and
other mischief was feared : which, whether it was to come
or no, few know. Now, for war we have peace ; for fear,
security. So, though even the Papists, although otherwise
they lost for their stiffness, yet they be more sure of then-
lives now, by the clemency of the time, than they were
then by the importune favour of the Prince. For scarcity,
we have reasonable plenty; for brass-money, good silver;
for servitude, liberty. What can a commonwealth desire
more than peace, liberty, quietness, httle taking of base
money, few Parliaments, their coin amended, friendship
with their neighbours, war with no man ; either to follow
the Gospel, or security of life, if they will be Papists ? ex
cept, peradventure, we should seem to do as jEsop's frog's
did, which, not content with the king which Jupiter gave
them, knowing them to need none, were weary of their
liberty, and would not rest till they had also the stork and
hearn for their kings. From whom now, with all their
cries these many thousand years, they cannot be dehvered.
Well, yet for the wars, and such martial feats, it is most
convenient to have a man who should govern abroad, take
upon him the spear and shield, be there in presence him
self; which is marvellous encouragement to the soldier, to
fight in the sight of the Prince, where he thinks his reward
shall be according to his deserts. " And," as a great war
rior said, " I had rather have an army of harts, their gene-
" ral being a lion, than an army of lions, their general
"being an hart." First, I do not see that every prince
maketh his war himself there in presence ; nor that every
one of them is that lion which they speak of. And if it be
in a country where peace may be had, and the realm so
well walled in as ours is by the sea, I cannot perceive but a
good prince may do more good in well-ordering this com
monwealth at home, than seeking more conquests abroad.

THE APPENDIX. 193
The Romans doubted whether Numa did less good to
Rome, with keeping it in peace forty years, than Romulus
the first founder did, with maintaining so many wars and
conquests. And Augustus was rather a father of the coun
try, when the civil wars ended, when he kept peace with
all nations, arid governed well the empire, than he himself
was in his proscriptions, being Triumvir, or in his civil
wars against Antonius ; and did then more good to Rome,
in shutting of Janus's temple, than did Julius Caesar in his
wars against the old Pompey, yea, or else in his long wars
against France.
And have not Queens been warriors ? What was Semi-
ramis, and Zenobia, Maud the Empress, and the late
Queen Margaret ? Amula Suenta, that we spake of before,
was reported to be the warrior in the victory which her
unkind husband, Theodotus, got over Theobertus, King of
Mettes, and the Burgundians and Almains ; for her wis
dom, not their manliness did it, as appears by his vile cow
ardliness after her death. But if Queens make peace, and
keep the realm flourishing in good order and quiet, and
overcome their own and their under-governors' affections,
of robbing and oppressing the poor subjects, they make a
greater and more commendable conquest than ever Sylla
or Marius, Pompeius or Caesar did, yea, or Carolus the
last Emperor of Rome, in taking the French King, or win
ning Tunis and Goleta. And if wars should happen to
come, why may not the Queen make and maintain her
wars as well by a general of her appointing, sought out by
her wisdom, as all other princes commonly do ? And Plu-
tarchus doth well note, that Augustus himself had small
advantage in all wars, wherein he had the conduct himself,
as himself also was in great danger ; but those which he
did manage by legates and generals, all did prosper well
and fortunately with him.
But of wars we have spoken enough : wherein it is no
more need that the Prince should be in presence, than it is
that all the senate of Venice now, or the senate of Rome
in times past, should always have been in presence and
o

194 THE APPENDIX.
person in their wars. For it is their wit and policy, their
foreseeing and wisdom, as well in maintaining of the war,
as in choosing of their captain, that obtaineth the victory.
And I pray you, did not th'one conquer as much, and
doth not th'other keep as well their conquest, as ever
Alexander and his successors did ? Then it may appear
it is not the presence, but the wisdom of the Prince ; the
manly look, but the sober discretion ; the beard, but the
cheerful heart, that bringeth the victory, and keepeth the
land cohquested. And this, I say, may as well be in a
Queen as in a King ; in a wise and discreet lady unmar
ried, as in any husband she shall take unto her.
One thing must I needs say : if it be chargeable for a
realm to maintain one Prince or King, it must needs be
more chargeable for a realm to maintain two : if they cry
out of the takers for the taking of one house or train, for
two they shall have more cause. And do you think that
whensoever the Queen's Majesty shall take an husband,
the Court can be unaugmented ? I am sure reason, order,
and experience sheweth the contrary. Well, if the greater
train bring the more expenses, the more officers do require
the more charge, the greater fariiily doth consume the
larger provision of victuals. And if the reahri, as reason
it is, must bear all these, and yet all things done as well
now as it shall be then, I cannot but conclude, even of
husbanding, but as good husbands do, that the affairs of
the realm being as well done th'one way as th'other,
the best cheap must appear the best way; which is, as
ye see, that the Queen's Majesty should remain as she
doth now, still sole and unmarried, neither entangle her
self with a husband, either strange, or born in the realm.
I have now passed over my three parts, not so fully as
one of you would do, who have their tongues and wits so
ready, so fine, and so eloquent. But, after my rude and
homely manner, I have declared unto you that simple sole
hfe and virginity doth please God better, and is better
esteemed, and an higher virtue than marriage: and as it
is more heroical, more comely for a Queen, which is a

THE APPENDIX. 195
Monarch, and a sovereign Prince born. I have also proved,
that for her person, it is most sure, and less dangerous ;
for her mind, more quiet, and less doubtful : and lastly,
you see I lack no reasons to shew, that it is better and
more commodious for the realm. Why then should this
opinion be counted either wicked, or strange, or unrea
sonable ?
And with this he held his peace, and none of the other*
were hasty to answer. Whether it were, because they did
meditate and record with themselves what he had said, or
what and how they should confute him or no, I know not ;
but, I perceive, that they looked not for such an oration.
At the last, the fourth brake silence ; who, save that he
would gladly have the Queen's Majesty marry, for the rest
he was indifferent. And he (as you know, if I should tell
you his name) hath not his tongue ready, for he stuttereth,
stammereth, and, if he be moved, uneath he can bring
forth a right word. And commonly those men be of the
greatest heart and courage, and testy with it, as the Greeks
call them. It appeared that he was moved with this ora
tion; for with much ado he brought out his words. The
effect whereof was this. Marry, quoth he, this is a tale
indeed, and arguments well picked out. You may well
be called Mr. Agamus, or Misogamos, surnamed in right
Enghsh, Wedspite, or Spitewed ; for I never heard man
speak so despitefully against wedding and marriage of
the Queen's Majesty in my life. I think you be one of
St. Francis or St. Benet's scholars. I would to God my
tongue would serve me but half so well as yours, I would
ask no help to answer you : but now, seeing my tongue
will not follow, I shall desire these two to take my part ;
who, although within themselves they be not of one opin-r
ion, yet with me, against you, they agree. And seeing
they can do it well enough, my stuttering and stammering
should be but superfluous.
Then (quod the one of the other) if you be so ready to
christen and name the child, belike, as soon as I have
o 2

19G THE APPENDIX.
told the tale, you will be my godfather, and give me a
name. Nay, saith he, I can name you already ; for you
love aliens and strangers so well, and praise so well all
countries and countrymen, save England and Englishmen,
that it is pity you were not born somewhere else : and I
think you be, or should be, some Welshman, and named
Lewelyn, as one would say, Lovealien, or in Greek, 4>(-
Ao'£.=!/oj. Well, said he, and laughed, you do not well thus
-to nickname and provoke me to be angry with you, when
you pray me for to speak for you. It is happy your tongue
serveth you no better, and that God hath sent a shrewd
cow short horns. , None of us should escape you, if your
tongue were as good as your heart : but ye^ I would it
would have served you now ; it should have eased me well
in confuting his tale, whom you have now christened Mr.
Agamus, or Wedspite. Which tale was after such a sort
(I must confess unto you) as I looked not for. But yet I
trust it may be answered; and thereto^ if you give me
a while patient ears, I will endeavour myself with a good
will.

II. Philoxenus, or Lovealien, his Oration for the Qiieen's
marrying.
IT shall not be amiss to begin, saith he, nowj Mr. Aga
mus, (for it is like to be your name at this time,) where you
began ; which, as methought, was pretty and philosophi
cal. Yet must I repeat the matter somewhat higher. Two
things being appointed to be had in election, if the one
be honest, th'other dishonest, the election is easy to him
that preferreth virtue and honesty to all other things, al
though the dishonest be more profitable or more pleasant
ten thousand fold : for always that which is honest and
godly is to be taken. And yet possibly this election would
not be so taken of every man, as hath appeared in them
that have made war to their country," proscription of their
citizens, and have exercised a thousand tyrannies, for am
bition, profit, or pleasures sake ; preferring the dishonest

THE APPENDIX. 197
things, because they were profitable or pleasant, before
honesty. But where the things propounded be both equal,
for that part there the election standeth in their degrees ;
as if things of themselves may be honest and godly, and
the contraries thereof may also so be, and the one and the
other may be used ; there the circumstances do alter the
matter: as peace and war, punishment and forgiveness,
eating and abstinence, marriage and sole life, both not only
permitted, but allowed of God. And according to the cir
cumstance of time and place, person and occasion, some
time th'one better, sometime th'other. And herein I
think we do not vary ; although you seem in your tale to
make them both virtues, I mean virginity and marriage.
Which, I think, you did, after the common manner of speak
ing, rather than the true manner of understanding; for a
right virtue cannot be abused: either of these may be
abused, and increase damnation. But as things indifferent,
eating and drinking, reasoning and disputing, ruling and
obeying, sleeping and waking, earnest and play, so these
take of their circumstances^ as I said before, of place, time,
and person, cause, occasion or necessity, to make them
good or bad.
Wherefore this is not so simply to be granted unto you,
that sole life is the better, no, though it be the harder;
but according as the circumstances be. Who, that should
begin, being a private person, to bring in a new sect or
religion to reform all the state and order of that which
hath been taught before ; not with power, but persuasion ;
not with sword, but with miracle ; not with violence, but with
patience ; not with war, but with fleeing, when he is per
secuted, from one place to another ; to him it is necessary,
and to all them that shall follow that kind of policy, to be
disburthened of care for Ms wife, of charge for his children,
of the negligence of servants, of hearkening to accounts,
of saving of his stock, and of all such things as marriage
necessarily doth bring to the private or public person,
whosoever he be, that is not altogether without that affec
tion which is most natural, the which they that lack are
o 3

198 THE APPENDIX.
called 'AwafleTc. Then to Christ, then to St. Paid, then to
all them who at the first time, as it were the sowing-time
of Christian religion, were the tillmen of the Gospel, ye
see it was most necessary, yea, in a manner, it could not
well otherwise be done, but that they should be sole and
unmarried. That which was in their persons and at that
time best, whether it be now and in the Queen's person
best, may justly be a great doubt. I cannot see but that
Abraham, having the seed promised him, wherein all na
tions should be blessed, was as holy in knowing Sarah, as
Elias, who was ravished into heaven in his virginity, if no
other difference were but that ; nor why Manue, [Manoah,]
to whom Sampson was promised, who should be the de
liverer of Israel, did not as well therein, as Elizaeus in
keeping himself sole, who the prophet said should slay all
them that Jehu left.
Now, let th'one be simply better than th'other, vir
ginity than marriage; which it seemeth can hardly be
gathered of St. Paul ; for he praiseth virginity as better,
not for itself, nor in itself, but for having less let and trou
ble than hath marriage ; so that if a marriage have less
let and trouble, the virginity more, then he preferreth mar
riage. Wherein it may appear, that it is not (as I said) so
better, as virtue is better than vice, nor as gold than silver,
nor scarcely as the fine than the base ; but hft it be as
both in one kind of nature, but the one as fine gold, the
more to be esteemed, th'other as base, the less ; yet where
the baser weigheth ten pound, and the finer but one ounce,
there must needs the base in kind be better indeed, the
coarser in nature of such things be more excellent in use and
necessity. Peradventure, to a student, a priest^ a man of
war, and a merchant-adventurer, the first were best, because
care of household and family should happily much disturb
them of their studies ; the other, because they are always in
danger and absent from home, it were best for them to live
a sole life. But for a Prince, upon whose quiet succession a
great part of the commonwealth doth hang, whose family is
the root and foundation of inward peace within the realm,

THE APPENDIX. 199
to five sole is to be an author of such mischief, as no man
can wish to a realm a greater. And who would say then,
that to a Prince it is simply better to live sole than to
marry. To kill the Prince, who is the King's eldest son,
is worthily made high treason : what is it then, not to kill
one, but all ; yea, and not that, but the hope of all ?
And you, Mr. Agamus, open your lips to praise vir
ginity, or sole hfe, in our Queen ; whose daughter, much
more son, or a Prince, if God should send one, as I trust
God (if it shall please her Highness to marry) shortly
would send a Prince, if you should once wish dead, all
men might justly abhor you to the death. What could you
wish more, if Domitian or Nero, if Maximine or C. Cali
gula did reign over us, than that which the soldiers did
say when they slew their children, Ex malo genere ne ca-
tulum quidem relinquendum f And because you come with
what is good to God-ward, and you take your sure ride,
that which pleaseth God is best, I pray you, what is the
promise that he maketh to David ? If thy sons walk before
me, saith he, in truth, with all their hearts, thou shalt not
want one, who shall come out of thy loins, to sit upon the
throne of Israel. And to Jehu, for the zealous revenge of
Ahab's iniquity, that his sons should sit upon the throne
of Israel, to the fourth generation. Again,' what threaten-
eth he to Saul for his rebellion, other than that the king
dom should be translated from him, and his sons should
not reign after him? To Jeroboam, to Baasa, and Achab,
for their idolatry and wickedness, but that he would not
leave of their posterity one to piss against the wall ? So
that it may appear a blessing of God, a token of faith in
God, and good favour of God towards Princes, when he
sendeth them of their own seed to reign after them : as
the contrary, of disfavour and discontentment of God to
ward them, when he cutteth off their generation, and
leaveth them without posterity and issue of their bodies
to reign after them. Then, if it be a blessing to Princes to
have children to inherit after them, which sheweth the fa
vour of God, it is a curse to have no posterity, or the pos-
o 4

200 THE APPENDIX.
terity cut off, which sheweth the disfavour of God, as ap-
peareth most manifestly by these examples of Scripture^:
and solejife bringeth the curse, and want of posterity;
and no other thing can bring the blessing of lawful chil
dren but matrimony. Why then may not I conclude, by
this judgment of Scripture, that matrimony in a Prince is
that good to be allowed, and that sole hfe is that evil to
be eschewed?
And what hath the Queen's Majesty deserved at your
hands, I pray you, that you had rather she had the curse
which fell upon Saul, Hieroboam, Baaza, and Achab, than
the blessing which David had and Abraham ?
Now the second part, Mr. Agamus, was so well handled,
and so finely you entered irito your matter, and so well you
shadowed it with your histories and examples of such
things as have been done before, that I assure you, if I had
not taken a good triacle before, and tied myself to my
mast, as Ulysses did to pass by Syrenes, I had been caught,
as a fish, with a hook, and ye had led me by the ears
whither you had would. Now, marking it well, and not
swallowing up the bait, I am able to unwind myself that
same way I was brought in. You put us first into a great
fear of the Queen's Majesty's person ; of which what good
Enghsh heart is there which will not have care? Then
ye amplified great dangers and disquietness, exaggerated
great cares, thoughts and griefs of her Highness's mind.
From all which, as well of body and soul, you found but
one orily refuge', and as it were a sanctuary^ Of virginity
arid sole life, as my friend here, my godfather, saith. This
fancy came out of the school of monkery, who, when they
did see the dangers and infinite occasions of pleasure, dis
pleasure, honour, ambition, contempt, riches, poverty, and
all other such things as did vex them, when they remained
abroad and in the commonwealth, which was able to bring
them from the true trade of virtue, and to bring them unto
vice, and peradventure had once or twice done so alreadyj
whereby' they knew themselves the better of what metal
they were made; and then saw nothing of monks and

THE APPENDIX. 201
friars but their holy coat, their becks and their ducks,
and their religious words, they thought that there was
none other way to heaven, but to run into their cloisters ;
where they thought they were so sure, and the gates so
well kept, that there could no vice get in. And when
they were there, as fast locked in as th'other, they found
themselves so well eased, as the fish that leaped out of the
fryingpan into the burning coals ; or as they that be sea
sick, when they come out of the great ship into the little
cockboat, 1 wis their choler goeth with them, and till
they come a-land, they find small ease in the change.
Ye make a marvellous matter of danger in women's
bearing of children, which ye exaggerated so much, that
when I heard, I began to tremble with myself; as to take
their leave of the Church, to prepare for present death,' to
fight hand to hand with death without a cnstrel, Or any
esquire, to be in more danger than in a foughten field>
where trumpets blow, the clarions sound, the guns thun^-
der, the noise of the strokes, the clashing of armour, the
clattering of harness, the braying of the horses, the groan
ing of men dying, and the gasping of the dead, reacheth
almost to heaven. I thought I had been at the battle of
Muskleborough or Agincourt. But when I looked again,
and saw so many fair ladies, so goodly gentlewomen, so
fine and so trim maids, pass these pikes so well, not once
only, but twice, thrice, yea sometimes twenty times ; so
easily, so merrily, so quietly, in their fine beds of down,
their chambers hanged with arras, their curtains and co^
verings of silk, their pillows and cushions embroidered with
gold and silver work, their warming-pans, their perfumirig-
pans, and all such things so trick and trim about them;
and they after it look so fair and ruddy, and so beautiful,
that it would make any man in the world enamoured of
them : and when I marked further what haste they made
to go to the battle again, I began to laugh at myself; and
thought that the fear in which you put me was with a
vizor only, which you had taken upon you, and so made
me afraid, as children be afraid of bearbugs andbullbeg-

202- THE APPENDIX.
gars. Why ? is not the bearing of children painful ? is not
that dangerous? say you. Ask not that of me, but of
them who be never well till their panniers be full, which
they are sure they cannot empty till they come to this
terrible battle that ye speak of.
Let us see if any of them will leave and take truce any
longer than their month, or time of churching, cometh out :
which month some of them think it so long of four weeks,
that they end it most commonly at three weeks, because
they might the sooner come to such another of these con
flicts : so much they be afraid of it. It was my chance to
be at dinner with the Countess of Ormond, with whom
Sir Francis Brian married : at which time she being mer
rily disposed, among other communications that ladies and
gentlewomen had of this matter, she said she had now
borne (as I remember) ten children ; and she was brought
to bed, not so nicely as the ladies and gentlewomen; be
here, but either in a tent or a wide barn, after the manner
of her country, Ireland. " And I tell you," said she, " I
" felt in a manner no pain at all these births : nor I see no
" cause why I should make so nice of the matter as you
" do here in England : we do not so in our country."
Whereat an old lady was wonderfully offended, and said
they were beasts, and she was but a beast to say so. Then
she, as a witty lady, turned the matter, and said, " it was
" a gift which St. Patrick begged for her country-folk, the
" Irish women, of our Lady." But the truth is, all women
that stir about to travail and to labour, as they do there,
and do not use themselves to rest and ease, as they can
better away with travail because of use, so they bear that
travail of childbirth with much more ease, and in manner
with no pain. Which we do see also in these idle runa
gates Egyptians, whose women be always trudging from
place to place as they be, and be brought to bed in the
straw, in some barn or out-house, without any great curio
sity ; and within three or four days after, yea, sometimes
the second day, they ride away with the rest of that beg
garly train.

THE APPENDIX. 203
I remember I read, when I was a boy, in Aristotle, and
I trow it be in his Pohtics, he would that those that should
make laws for a commonwealth should have regard also
fo women that were great with child, that they should
not use themselves to over-fine diet, nor to over-much
rest. Which, saith he, may be done, if they do appoint
them certain pilgrimages to be done to such gods as
have the honour of such matters : meaning such gods
as the Gentiles did sacrifice unto for such things, as Ge
mini, Lucina, Parcae, Juno, &c. His purpose is, that when
the" time of birth draweth nigh, they should by gentle
means be brought to a kind of exercise and travail, either
on horseback, or on foot, or both ; to the intent that they
might the easilier bear the travail of childbirth: and
thought that they could by no means so well be persuaded
unto them, which then be somewhat heavy, because of their
burden, as by colour of holiness and religion. So that our
pilgrimages also, which we had of late years, was not
much out of the way for such an effect, as may appear.
But I tarry long about these matters. To bear children
is painful I do not deny : it is the threat of God to Eve
and to all her posterity, as well as to Adam and all men
to get his hving with the sweat of his brows : and yet some
men sweat but easily. And why should not I think also
that her Highness should bring forth her children more
easily than a great sort of other women. I see nothing
leadeth me to the contrary. Many things do encourage
me to think so: her learning, discretion, judgment, her
store of physicians, and of all things necessary for them to
use. That where other by their folly do make that travail
to them more painful and dangerous than naturally it
should be, her Highness, by her noble virtues and wisdom,
should make it more easy, yea, than of natural course it
should be. For as there be ways to augment, so there be
ways to diminish pain or grief; wherein standeth the dif
ference of wisdom or folly. But why do I stand upon this ?
Would not her Majesty be glad, think you, to take some
pain to make a Prince? to make one who should be a

204 THE APPENDIX.
part of her? who should make her alive after her death,
reign in her stead, when by course of nature she can tarry
no longer ? who shah continue and transplant her name
and posterity for many an hundred years here Kings in
England, and leave such a row of that race, as is the root
of Jesse ? Was it not you of whom I heard even now, that
all fair and laudable things be painful to come by ? Will
you not grant unto me, that this which I speak of now, to
have a Prince born of her own body, who should reign
after her Highness here in England, in whom she might
see her own image, not painted in a table, but lively ex
pressed, every joint, yea, both body and soul ; who should
caU her Highness Queen-Mother, and whom all England
should call King and father ? Whom, if you do not think
inore to be esteemed than all the treasure that the wise and
rich Prince, her grandfather, King Henry VII. left at his
death, or that the noble and magnificent Prince, her father,
King Henry VIII. spent in his hfe, ye are in a contrary
opinion to all Englishmen. Whom when she shall behold;
kiss, arid embrace, she shall take more comfort and more
pleasure in, than Of all the riches and jewels which her
Highness had, or ever was lady of.
Do you not think, I say, such a jewel worthy to have
the pains 'taken, for the getting of it, and bringing it to
life ? Are you he that was even now so stout, that if the
thing were good, laudable, and necessary to be had, the
harder it were to obtain, the more you thought it were to
be laboured for? And sO you counselled and proved by
many reasons and authorities. Are you, I say, now again
so Weak and so womanly hearted, that for a little pains in
the birth, peradventure of one hour or two, or, at the most,
of one day, (for the extremity of the pain cannot lightly be
longer;) will counsel us to cast down our courage, and run
away like Cowards, and leave all this so rich and so pre
cious a'treasure ungotten and unlaboured for, for the tra
vail of one hour ? I wis Boulogne cost more the getting,
and Calais the losirig : and yet this treasure were more
Worth than both those holds to her Majesty, I dare say,

THE APPENDIX. 205
and unto the realm of England, if it should be esteemed
by true value.
Marry, yet ye go nearer me, and bring in certain Queens
who have died in childbirth. And herein you had good
advantage to. have two examples so near, and in so fresh
memory, that they must needs make much indeed to the
terror of mischance. And yet this is but another startbug
that you have gotten to make us afraid. It is since the
conquest five hundred years, little, under or over : in which
time our chronicles have indifferently well been kept, and
many Kings and Queens have died, and all not after
one sort. I pray you, how many more have you read
of that have died in childbed ? And yet one of those was
not the Queen, but dowager, as you know well enough.
And some men would say it was thought that that did
distress her then, and bring her to her end, as much
as travail of the birth. But of that I will not dispute.
But if in five hundred years, hi which space so many
Queens have had so many children, and only one or two
have died in childbed, would you make this so great a fear ?
What act or doing is there, but men and women have died
in it? Many of fevers, more of surfeits, some of cold,
some of over-much heat, a great number of sorrow, not a
few of gladness, some in talking, some in sneezing, some
in gasping, some ailing nothing, but making them ready
in the morning. What would you make of this, but that
death is ready at all times and hours to us that are mortal.
King Henry the First, who for his surname was called
The fair Clerk, or learned man, died of eating of a lam
prey; his Prince arid eldest son, and his fair daughter,
were both drowned in the sea. What, shall never King
eat lampreys again ? nor the daughters nor sons of Kings
come in ships or boats for that cause ? How often do you
see that they shun it for all that, except the weather be
tempestuous ? King William Rufus was slain with an ar
row in hunting : shall Kings therefore give over all pas
time, or let no man bear bows while they be in hunting?
How many do you see yearly drowned in the Thames ?

206 THE APPENDIX.
and who forsaketh, notwithstanding, to row in a barge or
wherry ? How many thousand of children be born every
day, in one place or other? how many hundreds, think
you, in the city of London, and in the shire of Essex, in a
month ? and if two die in a year in childbed, it is axgreat
marvel; and yet even they commonly die of some fear, or
some fright, or some ague, or some other cause, than the
very birth going before. So that it is not ten, but a hun
dred or a thousand to one, that the woman shall escape,
who travaileth with child. And yet they do not amiss to
commit themselves to God, and to require his aid at all
such good and natural works : and they have the more
comfort, as I think, when they be in pain. But to make
this so perilous a case, and so fearful a matter, and so
dangerous a battle, I do assure you I see no cause.
And because you reckoned up so many diseases where-
unto natural men and women be subject, and therefore
you would be loath this also should be added, you shall
see how much contrary I am to you. I think that bringing
forth of children doth not only preserve women from many
diseases, and other inconveniences, but it doth also clear
their bodies, amend the colour, prolong their youth. If I
should bring unto you th'authority and reasons of physic
therefore, although it be easy to do, yet would you ask me,
who the devil made me a physician? and you would say
you had no leisure to look over and try those books, which
you may easily look, and see the conclusion. Mark in the
Court, and in all other places where ye go :. look what
ladies and gentlewomen be most fruitful, and have most
children, if they look not for their age most youngly, best
coloured, and be clearest from diseases. Mark again them
which be unfruitful, after they pass once forty or forty-five
years, and toward fifty, if they look not withered, yea,
either red or tawny coloured, and older than they be by
a great way. I could bring you ready examples not far
hence, where be three sisters married : theldest hath
ten or twelve children, the middlemost but one or two,
and the youngest had never a one, who being best kept,

THE APPENDIX. 207
and most at ease; yet theldest sister, being ten years
elder, looketh twenty years younger than the youngest ;
and the middlemost, according to the rate of her children.
And I could name enough to you in the Court, and in
London, and whensoever you will I will shew you them.
But I would have you, Mr. Agamus, to mark this that I
say; and if you find my sayings true, then never be in
that heresy that you be in ; but rather think, that for the
Queen's Majesty's own person, and the preservation of her
body, health, colour, beauty, grace, and youth, it is an
hundred times better for her Highness to marry, and to
have children, than to hve sole.
Now let us come to the grief of mind; for this was
another piece whereby ye crept so into us, that no hus
band pleased you, neither stranger nor Enghsh, neither
whom her Highness would please, nor whom she would
not please. And ye thought there would be no long agree
ment ; seeing no man nor woman doth always agree with
himself, much less he can agree with another. And here
upon ye builded your marvellous forces and castles ; what
inconveniences come with disagreements, what grief of
the granting, what hatred of the denying, what danger of
the dissension. And you helped yourself stoutly with the
histories of Queens and noblewomen, who have been
greatly troubled, vexed, and brought to extremities by
those means. I will venture with you where you begun,
and there join with you where you think yourself strong
est. Can never man agree long with himself? Marry, so
much the better, say I. We do not think all one of things
when we be children, and when we be men ; nor when we
be young men, and when we be old. Marry, we be the
wiser; for as wisdom cometh, error goeth away : folly and
wisdom cannot agree. That which to childishness and
folly of youth appeareth good, to gray age appeareth light
ness, and nothing worth. Were it not better that this
dissension and debate in ourselves were at the first ; but
that God would so train us up, that we might see how we
did profit? Have we not, after a little wisdom cometh

208 THE APPENDIX.
to us, this debate in ourselves every day? The appetite
draweth one way, and reason another; th'one' would run
at random!, th'other holdeth back. What do good fathers
to their -children, but provide for them a dissenter, a
schoolmaster, who should, by godly persuasion, yea, and
sometiiries rebukes, keep them from that which they most
desire? Doth not two eyes see better than one? Do not
the contrary opinions declared open the better the truth ?
Why doth else the judge hear both parties before he give
sentence ?; And wherefore be counsellors, but. because they
be not always of the same affection that the Prince is?
and by this dissenting is the best way found out. For
even as when in a heap of sand or mould there is espied a
bright thing like metal, bysifting of it and washing it, will
come to a nearer guess, and, by farther travail;,- be tried
whether it be gold or no : so when a thing glistereth and
appeareth gay, the same being sifted in consultation among
divers judgments, at the last doth so come to the strong
water or ramentation, or to the. test, till it appeareth in
his clearness how it is to be reputed : or else copper may
sometimes be taken for gold ; and a vain thing, that will
consume like brimstone, may be >praised for good metal.
And I pray you, who shall- more carefully look to; or more
faithfully counsel, or be more circumspectly fearfuh for
the managing of her Highness's affairs, than an husband
should do ? Or who can more amiably, more frankly, more
certainly, or more secretly confer with her Majesty for
th'execution of them, than he can do, whose heart and
body, by the law of God, and by the law of natural love,
is knit to her Highness in a most sure knot ?
And if they should dissent in opinion, doth every such
dissenting make war ? then where should consultation be
come? Methinks in this matter we four do but little
agree amongst ourselves ; and yet I trust we be friends,
and shall be still. Where wise persons dissent one from
another, by their having opportunity one to confer with
the other, the truth appeareth, and the best way is chosen:
which is far from the mischief you speak of. But you

THE APPENDIX. 209
went so far, that you would scarcely grant that her
Majesty should love her husband. What if the Queen's
Highness do willingly please and gladly gratify him, is he
by and by her superior ? That that is an hard work I dare
say her Highness will sometime do for some of her privy
chamber, yea and other also which require things of her
Grace, when else her Majesty had rather bestow them
some other way. Will you call this subjection ? I assure
you that is too precise a calling, and far from all common
manner of speaking or thinking. So far you do overreach
with coveting to make your matter good.
What is the marring of all evil princes, what is the
undoing of all empires, but because they have so many
flatterers, that will say as they say; and so few counsel
lors that will dissent, and tell them the truth ? Happy is
that prince that hath so wise a counsellor, that can see
that is best; but more happy is he that hath one so bold
that dares to tell it to him, and so beloved of him, that he
will hear it at his hands, and bear it well : for every man
else saith as they say; every man praiseth that they like.
What they affirm, that is true, be it never so false ; what
they hke not, that is evil, be it ever so good. Every man
praiseth their virtues ; no man telleth them their faults :
yea, they make their faults virtues, and will covet to fol
low them. So that a prince of himself had need to be
very good, just, temperate, and well inclined to favour vir
tue, and punish vice ; or else he shall be wonderfully led
out of the way by the flattering of his counsellors, and all
other his subjects; who will rather follow him in. the
wrong way, than once to move him to turn again, and to
take the right. And, which is the worst, the prince seeth
but with their eyes, and heareth but with their ears : for
he cannot hear nor see the particularity of things himself,
but as they bring it unto him with whom he is conversant.
What did I say ? see with their eyes, and hear with their
ears ? Nay, if he did so, it were better : that is, if they
would bring to the prince just as they see and hear. But
p

210 THE APPENDIX.
now he seeth not as they see, but as they will tell him
that they saw; nor as they heard, but as they will tell him
that they heard. So that if they be not wonderfully af
fected to the truth and to the commonwealth, (as for the
most part few such as be about princes be, but rather af
fected to their own kindred, commodity, lucre, and ad
vancement,) then must it needs be, that the prince doth
see many times the black white, and the white black.
Wherein the prince is not in the fault, but the reporter
to the prince.
In this ill fortune which all Princes have necessarily,
and most of all Queens, (as naturally the woman is the
less strayer abroad than the man, and therefore can the
less hear or see by herself,) what better remedy can there
be than an husband, who can go abroad oftener, because
he is a man, and see and hear things truly, because he goeth
abroad ; bring home the misreports, because he loveth the
Queen, the bolder to tell it, because she loveth him ; be
more earnest for her Highness's wealth and well-doing,
because his honour, joy, and felicity lieth upon it; be
most careful of any misdoing or misgoverning, because his
destruction and danger lieth thereon? For as he said to
his son, Though thou hast many lovers and friends, yet
thou hast but one father, (and indeed a man shall not find
one more that hath the true fatherly affection, but only
his own father ;) so may I say, though a Queen may find
many counsellors and well-willers and faithful subjects,
yet can she have but one husband; nor none other that
can have so perfect, so sincere, and so true affection to
her Highness's person and affairs. For none indeed hath
such cause as her husband hath. The knot of dearness
and love is such, that it uniteth as it were flesh and blood.
Insomuch that it surmounteth the piety and reverent love
that the father and the son, the mother and the son hath
one to another. For this saith God himself, A man shall
leave both father and mother, and shall cleave unto his
wife: so near, and so just, and with, so vehement affec-

THE APPENDIX. 211
tion, that they shall be but one body and mind. Which
affection none knoweth but such as have been entangled
with the same knot.
And yet daily th'experience thereof is seen. What
doth the warrior, when he willingly ventureth his blood to
be shed ; the merchant, when he forsaketh not the raging
seas ; the lawyer with his watching in the night, and cry
ing in the day till he be hoarse ; the carpenter, the tailor,
yea, the ploughman, with all their occupations, with their
labour, toil, watch, hard fare, and sparing; but only to
get and bring home for their wives and children ? Look
on these lusty young men, who having a sword and buck
ler, and a good gelding, and some money in their purse,
do think themselves in heaven; and study upon nothing
but when they may meet to sing, dance, and make good
cheer. After one of them hath been married a while,
all that is gone with him, and he looketh where he may
get, and spieth wliere he may save : he despiseth all the
lusty company, and studieth how to furnish his house at
home, and to bring to pass that his wife and children
should not lack. This care should not come, if love went
not before: this affection he knew not, till he felt the knot.
And now it is so sweet that he forsakes his singing, danc
ing, his making of good cheer, and all his other jollities,
pleasures, and pastimes, to make much of his wife and
children, and to provide that they should not want any
thing that should be to them necessary : yea, and not that
only. For when that is done, he will not leave, if he can,
to labour, toil, study, travail all his lifetime, till age driv-
eth him from it, only that he might leave them in better
estate, than he himself was at the first. He laboureth,
that they might have ease ; he watcheth, that they might
rest; he spareth, that they might have plenty; he de-
fraudeth, himself, and punisheth his own belly, that they
might have enough to spend ; and when they have spent,
somewhat to leave. Now if any injury should be offered
to his wife and children, who is so out of patience as the
husband? He chafes, he fumes, he prepareth himself. im-
p2

212 THE. APPENDIX.
mediately to revenge. And if the enemies come, or the
war be menaced, first he provideth that his wife and chil
dren be conveyed into safety: then he himself maketh him
ready to meet his enemy : he offereth his body to the
stroke, his blood to be poured out, his life to be taken
from him, rather than they shall have one finger hurt.
.. And this so natural, so common, so done of all men,
that it is no news, it is no wonder : no man marvelleth at
it, for it is seen every day. Even the wild beasts will do
as much to defend their mates ; fight to the death with
the hunter, to keep him from the den where his female
and his whelps do lie.
And here you bring in Theodotus, husband to Amala
Suenta, from Rome ; Philip Viscount, from Milan in Lom-
bardy ; Jaques de la Nardie, Queen Jane's husband, from
Naples. They were monsters of mankind, examples of un-
kindness, spectacles of devilish cruelty : of which yet not
one of them escaped unrevenged. And what? will ye
make a general rule of this ? So shall ye extinct and de
face all natural affection, all order of love, all course of
kindness. So may you bring in Nero, that killed his mo
ther, because she seemed to mislike some of his vices s
Selimus, that killed his father, because he thought he kept
the kingdom of the Turks too long from him : Medea, that
killed her own children in despite of her husband : Cata-
line, that killed his own son, because a rich widow would
not else marry him: Bassianus, that killed his brother
Geta, because he would rule alone : and all the rabblement
of father-killers and mother-killers, son-killers and daugh
ter-killers, the murderers of their brethren and sisters,
their masters and their chief friends : and prove that
there is no love nor trust in father or mother, son nor
daughter, brother nor sister, kit nor kin, even Tymon's
sect. And very much better did Christ reason with Simon
the Pharisee. He whom more is forgiven, saith he, more
doth love. As who would say, He that hath more kindness
shewed him, as the benefit is greater, so is his love more
affectionate to him or her of whom he received it. - -

THE APPENDIX. 213
Which if it be true, who then can have a more affec
tion, a greater love, and earnester care, and a ferventer
dearness of mind towards the Queen, than he whom she
chooseth above all men, whom she preferreth to all the
rest, to whom she giveth all that ever she hath, and her
self also; yea, whom she maketh herself: in that by this
knot they be both but one body. Can this man ever hate
her? can he speak evil of her? or can he suffer that the
least tittle in the world should grieve her mind ? Sooner
will he abide any pain, any grief any torment himself: for
what can be a greater grief or painful disease to him, than
that she, of whom he received so unspeakable a benefit,
should perceive in him the least spot of unkindness ? ex
cept he be a wild beast in a man's likeness, a devil and
a monster of mankind, as Nero was, and these whom ye
named; of whom ye have found out three since the world
began. And I think you shall not, though you search never
so near, find out so many more.
The comfort, the ease of mind, the pleasure, the con-
tentation that her Majesty shah have of a loving husband,
is unable with words to be declared ; and no man or wo
man can believe it till they have proved it. Whereof what
greater argument can there be than this, that of so many
thousand as be married, you shall not see among five hun
dred one which once hath been married, men or women, I
say, that when by misfortune one of the couple dieth, will
abide sole without wedding again. They think in the
mean space their houses naked, their table without com
fort, their bed without joy, themselves half maimed, and
to lack in all purposes one of their things most necessary,
and, as Aristophanes saith in Plato, indeed they feel that
the one half of themselves all the while is away.
This far to the first two points of your oration. Now I
come to the third and last point, wherein ye disputed
what were best for the commonwealth, and for the whole
realm. And here methought you began to handle us very
ungently. Ye asked us what fault we find with the go
vernment now ? and wherein we do lack a man or hus-
p3

214 THE APPENDIX.
band to the Queen ? To the first if we should answer, ye
would bring us in a displeasure with the Council, as
though we disliked their doings. To the second if we
should, we might seem to note the Queen's Majesty as
insufficient to rule her realm. Pretty straits ye have de
vised to make us hold our peace. But this will not make
us agree to your opinion. What lack we? say you: marry,
even that which you know yourself; for you were present,
and a goer with them yourself; the whole Parhament lacked
you know what well enough. What was their suit to her
Majesty, I pray you ? what required they by the mouth of
our Speaker ? Were they then of your opinion, or of mine^
touching that matter ? Why did not you declare so much
in the Parliament, before they went to make their petition
to her Highness, as ye have done here ? Ye might have
stayed them peradventure, that they should not with such
humble and earnest requests have moved her Majesty, to
have compassion upon her poor realm, and to think upon
marriage, wherein we might see some speedy hope of suc
cession from her Highness. But you durst not ; you saw
so many, even all men bent to the contrary; and you
know well enough you should not escape unanswered at
the full. And possibly you were not of that opinion at
that time. But now you be : well, if you be so now, to all
other reasons I have answered ; to the rest this I have to
say. K in all such kind of reasons, whether a thing is better
to be done or no, the authority and judgment of wise,
sober, and discreet men ought to have greatest weight, I
can bring in the authority of the greatest, wisest, sagest,
gravest, best learned, and expert men in th'affairs of the
realm, and maintaining of the commonwealth, as you
yourself can witness, which were against your opinion at
that time, and on my side. And if you, hke a philosopher,
will not suffer me to use authority, I will not fly your rea
sons, but as I began, I will answer still as I have done.
And ye compare Queen Mary's time to this, and make
this time so much better than the other as you list your-

THE APPENDIX. 215
self, wherein I will not strive with you, you shall find me
so good a fellow yet, as Croesus said to Cambyses, who
would needs be better esteemed than his father, the wise
and great conqueror Cyrus, he could not be so good as his
father was, for so much as Cyrus had left such a son to
rule after him as Cambyses' servants told him he was, and
Cambyses thought himself to be. But Cambyses himself
had not yet gotten any child. This fable of Croesus, as
Herodotus saith, so tickled Cambyses, that he escaped
thereby, and told the truth. Why, say you, no more had
Queen Mary any child. Marry, sir, I do not compare the
Queen's Highness to Queen Mary : but yet I will say, that
Queen Mary did what lay in her more for that purpose
than Queen Elizabeth doth. And I would she would as
well in that as in all other things pass Queen Mary. If
all be well now, as you say it is : we have peace, we have
plenty, we have quiet at home, friendship abroad : what
should we desire more ?
As we have great cause to give Almighty God thanks
for it, and to rejoice and congratulate with the Queen's
Highness for that ; so have we the more cause to fear, the
greater occasion to foresee, the juster warning to provide,
that this estate might continue : except we shall be no
wiser than the grasshoppers ; to whom, because they did
not provide in summer wherewithal to live, but applied ah
their time to singing and dancing, the ants did say, when
winter came and their need appeared, that they must
weep and repent then without remedy. We ah rejoice in
the Queen's Highness, and have great cause. God pro-
spereth all things in her Highness's hands above all ex
pectation, and almost more than we can desire. Because
the weather is so fair, shall we not look for a storm ?
Because this is a summer, shall we think that winter will
never come? If we do see only that is present; if we
have no regard what shall come after ; if we had no con
sideration as well for our posterities as for ourselves, we
are not worthy to be called men, but beasts : who whe
ther of reason or no, I know not ; but certainly, of a certain
p4

216 THE APPENDIX.
instinct of nature, seem to have a care, and hoard up store
for the time to come. Wherefore if we have cause to like
in her Majesty those princely and heroical gifts which na
ture hath bestowed on her Highness ; that goodly person
age and stature resembling her father, so noble a Prince,
and so well beloved to the realm ; if her beauty doth not
only please us, but bring all other in admiration that see
her ; if the excellency of wit, the great understanding,
that knowledge of so many tongues, the dexterity of en
tertaining, and the gravity in communication, and all other
the princely and heroical virtues, which be so clear and
resplendent in her Majesty, do ravish us in admiration of
her Highness, except we should do as the grasshoppers
do, content ourselves with the time present, and look no
farther, what can we do but wish, pray, desire, and long
for the propagation and continuation of the same among
us ? Like as we do with flowers which we like, with ap
ples and other fruit which do please us above all others,
we desire to have more of the same kind set in our gar
den, and more of the same fruit grafted in our orchard,
that our posterity may take pleasure in them as well as
we. *
This is so natural, so goodly, and so reasonable, that
methinks it was but a strange question of you to ask,
what we lacked. And if I could call this realm of Eng
land to speak what it lacked, and what fault it found, I
dare say it would not only wish, but expostulate and ac
cuse her Highness, and say, Did not I bring thee up, O
Queen? Did not I nourish thee? Hath not God in thy
youth saved thee from so many dangers, from prison,
from punishment, from death, because thou mightest
reign and rule my people in the fear of God and the
knowledge of his Son; and that thou mightest once
again bring in the light of the Gospel, and cast off the
Romish yoke, and keep the race of the mixed rose, which
brought again the amiable peace long exiled from among
my children by the striving of the two roses ? And wilt
thou now, as much as lieth in thee, let it be extinct?

THE APPENDIX. 217
What if thy noble father had lived sole as thou doest ?
what if that good lady thy mother had done so ? should I
not have lacked thee, in whom I have now such joy and
comfort as I never had the like in any Prince ? Remem
ber what is the nature, property, an,d duty of that sex and
kind of which thou art. Is it not to bring forth young
babes, to nourish them in their tender age, to have that
carefulness, motherly-love, and tenderness over them
which no man can have ? And why do I not see one in
thy arms, whom thou mightest kiss, and embrace, and
play withal of thine own; which after thee should rule
and govern this realm, and be the staff of thine old age
and mine ? This thou owest to the noble King thy father ;
this to the wise Prince thy grandfather; this to all thy
ancestors; this thou doest to me. And if this be the pro
perty and th'end whereunto women were first ordained,
to bring forth children, and to propagate the name of
their stock and family ; why wilt thou, O Queen, having
so many high and excellent virtues, stain them all with
this wickedness, degenerate from this nature? What
meaneth St. Paul, when he saith of women, that they
shall be saved by the bearing of children, if they tarry
in the faith? And what wilt thou, O Queen, deny it
always ? Why should the wise and courageous Prince thy
father put away the superstitious Nuns, if now his daugh
ter should take their property, and as it were their order
upon her? Defer still, and still ? and how long will it be ?
Time goeth away ; age draweth on ; youth flieth ; oppor
tunity is spent. And wilt thou not see the bringing up of
thy jewel, of that treasure of the reahn ? wilt thou not see
him trained up in such virtue and nurture as thyself was ?
Shah I tarry so long for it, till age shall drive thee away,
and so leave that thy jewel and mine to be brought up by
the wide world? What I hke in thee, that do I desire to
see in the Prince that should succeed thee. And who can
be better schoolmaster, nurse, bringer-up of him, than my
Elizabeth can be, the mother of my infant ? And such
a mother as in a King of most power no realm can desire

218 THE APPENDIX.
more princely and heroical virtues : and for the pain, thou
shalt have again this most pleasant recompense ; that as
thou shalt wax old, so shalt thou see thyself wax as it
were young again in him. Now I am sure, would England
say, thou wouldest wish with all thy heart, for the love
that I know thou dost bear me, thy country, not to leave
after thee a child to govern me, but either a man of per
fect age, or at the least a young man very near such time
as Princes should take the government themselves. And
how is that possible, if thou do still prolong, doubt, and
defer, as now thou dost ?
Thus methinks England might speak well enough to her
Majesty; whose word I trust her Highness will both hear
and weigh, when it shall please God to put it in her High
ness's mind.
But I will return to your other arguments, Mr. Agamus.
You were something long in proving, that the Queen's
Majesty may in peace by her Council, in war by her Ge
neral, govern and conduct ah things as well as though she
were there in person herself. Hardly will I grant that the
one should be as well as th'other. I see in all other
things, that oculus domini non solum pascit equum op^
time, as he said, but. also colit et stercoral agrum. The
Italians have a proverb, La faccia d'huomo faccia de
leone, " The face of a man is the face of a lion :" meaning
that the presence of a man himself to whom the thing
doth appertain, to terror, to diligence, to setting forward
of that which is intended, doth surmount and pass all
other things. As when our late Sovereign King Henry
VIII. lay against Boulogne, and another camp with right
good captains before Montreul, the courage of the soldiers,
the provision of the victuals, the effect of the enterprise
ye know was not like: for th'one fought under the Prince's
eye, th'other, as it were, behind him ; th'one saw present
reward or pain, th'other had but trust of their captain's
report. As touching the Romans, where do you see or read in
their histories, that the legates, which we call generals or

THE APPENDIX. 219
heutenants, did so well as the consuls or proconsuls in any
war? who although they were but as other of the senate,
yet for that time they had a kingly and sovereign author
ity, especially abroad. And yet the Romans thought not
that enough, but when any danger came, they made dicta-
torem ; who from the time of his dictatorship was a very
king or monarch, as ye know well enough. So much did
they think that legates and generals could not do th'enter-
prise so well as he that hath the princely fasces, as they call
them, and the sceptre. And who that readeth the Vene
tian histories shall see, that although their captain or ge
neral hath one of their senate, called proveditore, with
him, by whose counsel if he do, he doth avoid the danger
of judgment ; yet for because he is not indeed consul or
dictator, ye see their wars go but coldly forward. And
this you knowing (which thing I marked in your tale) you
praise them for the keeping that which they get, where
fore I peradventure could shew some causes. Indeed for
good warriors I never heard man yet give them the prize.
And if I should grant this, that the generals in war do as
well as the Prince in person, (which thing, you see, I am
very loath to do,) and if it had not been strange, and a
thing to be wondered at in Octavius Augustris; Plutarch
Would not have noted it. But if I should grant it, yet as
the Greeks say, " One city is before another;" and there
is difference in generals and lieutenants; not only in know
ledge of the feats of war, and in the hardiness of courage
and wisdom to achieve them, but also in estimation of the
soldier. And who can be more esteemed, or go more near to do
as much in the wars and with soldiers, as the Queen her
self, if she were a warrior, or there in person, should do,
as either he which is the King, or the Queen's husband ?
In King Heniy Ill.'s time, I read of Prince Edward, who
was after called Long Shanks, and in the time of Edward
III. of the Black Prince, and Henry V. that they did as
much as their fathers ; and that their soldiers would under
their banners fight as vahant, and go as far, as they would

220 THE APPENDIX.
govern, their fathers being then Kings of England. And
no marvel ; they did not only look shortly to have them
their sovereign masters, but they knew in the mean time
how dear those persons were to their fathers. Which two
things did work so much in their hearts and minds, that
there was small want of the royal presence. So much
think I it doth excel to the encouragement of the soldier,
to the hope of the captain, to the terror of the enemy, to
understand that the husband of the Queen, he whom her
Highness loveth above all men, and whom she trusteth
most, and who can commend their doings at all times to
her Highness, to be in the field ; over it is, of any other
lieutenant or general, whosoever he be.
At one thing I assure you, you had almost made me to
laugh, when that you spoke so husbandly of husbanding.
I perceive the Queen's Majesty doth not well, that you
are not one of the green-cloth, you would husband the
matter so well, and teach them all to save money. Arid
for one thing ye might do well there, because I perceive
ye love no takers. But if you were once of them, I fear me
you would love takers better, and bear with them as well
as all the rest do. Oh ! merciful God, do you look to save
money, and do not care to save your head ? You do con
sider how a few expenses may be saved, and do not see
how your posterity shall be spent and consumed. Call to
remembrance, I pray you, what was spoken (you wot
where and when) a little before the Speaker of the Parlia
ment went to move that petition to her Highness, whereof
I spake even now : I would to God her Majesty might five
ever ; I would she should not die : but now I know that
being born of mortal parents, there is no remedy, she
must once run this race that all her progenitors have done
before, and all mortal men and women shall follow. When
that is done, what a damp shall England be in ? What an
eclipse will that be, if God do not either send a Prince be
fore of her body, or else incredible agrement of the No
bility and Commons ? We hear what the Dauphin did at
tempt by the title of his wife; the Scottish Queen after

THE APPENDIX. 221
the death of Queen Mary. Happy is the Queen's Majesty
by the great consent of her subjects; and happy be her
subjects by the life and prosperity of her Highness. But if
there come any dissension for the trials of titles ; if there
come part-takings, who should wear the crown, what a
aiore miserable realm should there be in the whole world
than this of England ?
I am afraid to speak, and I tremble to think, what mur
ders and slaughters, what robbing and rifling, what spoil
ing and burning, what hanging and heading, what wasting
and destroying, civil war should bring-in, if ever it should
come. From the time that King Richard II. was de
posed, iri whom all the issue of the Black Prince was ex
tinct, unto the death of King Richard III. the unkind and
cruel brother of Edward IV. whose daughter was married,
as ye know, to King Henry VII. by reason of titles this
poor realm had never long rest. Noble men were be
headed, poor men were spoiled, both one and th'other
slain in battle, or murdered at home. Now this King pre
vailed, now tho'ther. No man sure of his Prince, no man
of his goods, no man of his hfe : a King to-day, to-morrow
a prisoner; now hold the sceptre, and shortly after fly
privily the realm. And when this fell upon the head, how
sped the body, think you ? Those two blades of Lyonel
and John of Gaunt never rested pursuing th'one th'other,
till the red rose was almost razed oiit, and the white
made all bloody ; and as it were Eteocles and Polynices,
they ceased not till they had filled their country full
of bloody streams. They set the father against the son,
the brother against the brother, the uncle slew the ne
phew, arid was slain himself. So blood pursued and en
sued blood, till all the realm was brought to great confu
sion. It is no marvel though they lost France, when they
could not keep England. And England in the latter end
of King Henry VI. was almost a very chaos : parishes de
cayed, churches fell down, towns were desolate, ploughed
fields waxed groves, pastures were made woods; almost
half England by civil war slain, and they which remained

222 THE APPENDIX.
not sure, but in moats and castles, or lying in routs and
heaps together.
When those two roses, by the relics and last store of
the whole, were joined in the amiable knot of marriage,
then the strife ended, and England began, as it were, to be
inhabited again ; men left moats and castles, and builded
abroad pleasant houses. And thus it hath continued from
King Henry VII. hitherto ; save that in this time a few
broils of the stirred sea, which could not so soon be
calmed, by Martin Swarte, Perkin Warbeck, and Simond
out of Ireland, were somewhat renewed : but they were
trifles to the rest. Sith which time, not containing yet
fourscore years, you see how England is repeopled, the
pastures clothed, the deserts inhabited, the rents of lands
increased, the houses replenished, the woods so wasted,
that now we begin to complain for want of them, and our
increase is tedious to ourselves, which find fault with the
fruits of peace, because we know not the cause of the suc
cess, nor the commodities thereof. But as, if all the
world should return to the old chaos, it were the greatest
mischief that heart could invent, tongue speak, pen ex
press, or wit indite ; so if this should come to our country
of England, we for our parts shall feel this I speak of, and
as it were the particular judgment of the day of doom.
And it standeth but on a tickle and frail ground, if God
will so plague our country, whether the red and white
rose shall strive again together, or whether the branches
of the mixed rose shall cleave asunder and strive within
themselves, which is nearer the root. Oh ! Lord God, let
me not live to see that day. And you, my friend, do you
in this company speak of saving of money, to let the sav
ing of this trouble from the realm of England ?
With this he held his peace, and seemed indeed very
much troubled: and no man said a word even a good
pretty space; till at the last the stammerer that I told
you of, whom they called after all that night Mr. God
father, stutting after this manner, said this in effect : By

THE APPENDIX. 223
the Lord, I beheve you have told as good a tale as ever I
heard. I am now glad I have an excuse by my tongue, for
I should not have done it so well. For both in peace and
war, and all times you have proved, that it is best for her
Grace, and most to her comfort and quiet, to have an hus
band. Marry, I thought long for this last part, of the ne
cessity of a Prince of her Highness's body. And because
you pass it over so with silence, I had thought to have
put you in mind of that thing; but now I will not say
more of it, for I see it troubleth you as it doth us all.
Now, Sir, you have said so much for me, as I would
wish, and I thank you. For the rest, as I said, I am indif
ferent. If you have any thing to speak for an alien, who
be so tender unto you, and whom you do always prefer
before us English men, speak on a God's name, and let
this gentleman provide well to answer you. For I perceive
ye will do well enough both.

III. Philoxenus, or Lovealien, his second oration for the
Queen's marrying with a stranger.
IN good faith, quoth Lovealien, now I have spoken for
you so long, I am in a manner weary, when I should
speak for myself. And yet this was not out of the way
for me so to do, but in manner necessary. For it standeth
not with order of disputation, as to my remembrance Ari
stotle writeth, that I should go about to prove quale sit,
before I had proved quod sit. Therefore it had been su
perfluous for me to describe what manner of husband I
thought most meet for the Queen's Highness, if it we're
not first proved by reason, that it were convenient that
her Majesty should have one. For if her Grace be fully
determined and persuaded by Mr. Agamus, Spitewed's
reasons, then to reason whether a stranger or an English
man were more to be wished, is clean superfluous ; for

224 THE APPENDIX.
it is cut off by this one stroke, her Majesty will have
none. Well, here among this company for disputation sake, I
will stand so well in my own conceit, that I take Mr.
Agamus's opinion thoroughly confuted. And let us put
the case that is agreed upon, that best it were for her Ma
jesty to marry; then standeth it in consultation farther
of the manner and condition of her husband. Wherein
may be made many questions; as whether a young man or
a more elderly, whether a bachelor or a widower, ah Eng
lishman or a stranger, a great Prince or a King, or a mean
personage : as in all such where divers be offered of sundry
qualities, whereof the choice and election is to be taken:
and because both I am weary, and there hath yet but one
of these questions been moved amongst us, I shall speak
but of that branch only, whether an Englishman or a
stranger is to be preferred. Wherein because I have al
ready declared my opinion which part I mind to take, it
resteth that I should also declare the reasons which moved
me to think as I have said ; and here I intend to begin.
The very true, godly, and essential causes of matri
mony, (if I may use that term,) be three : the getting of
children without the offence of God ; the natural remedy
to resist the temptation of the Devil, moving us to fornica
tion or adultery; and the comfort, pleasure, and help
which th'one hath of th'other in all private affairs, and in
governing the house and family. This last the philoso
phers, which knew not the right law of God, make the
first, the chief, and the whole cause : for as for the second,
I mean fornication, they esteemed it not: and the first
they thought they might amend, when they would, by
adoption, either of their own bastards, orother folks' law
ful children, with the consent of their parents. For all
these three, this our question doth not vary: for either
the stranger or the Englishman seemeth indifferent there
unto ; and I make no difference in them. Then there be
other causes which be incident, and, as I might call them,

THE APPENDIX. 225
accidental, as honour, power, and riches : having first God,
and those three causes which I called essential of matri
mony, principally in our eyes, these things ought in this
consultation to have the highest place.
And because I take all you here to be no children, and
in this which I have said to be in the same opinion that I
am, I will make no further proeme, but go to, and confer
these together in the two persons which you have brought
in to be weighed here as in a pair of balances ; that is, the
stranger and the Englishman. And I say, if the Queen's j
Majesty have respect to advancement and honour, can ;
that be in marriage of any within the realm, who being j
but her subjects be they never so high, shall be under her jj
Highness a great distance ? So for that purpose it shall |
not be advancement but disparagement. Wherein I must f
commend the late Queen Mary; who having more regard ,<
to her honour than to her age, to the advancement thereof |
than to any other pleasure which she could long have, ?
took to her husband King Philip, Charles the Emperor's \
son, the greatest Prince of birth and possessions in all \
Christendom; whereby she gat the sovereignty over so ,
many kingdoms, dukedoms, marchionates, earldoms, ba- \
ronies, countries, and so forth ; that it would be more than \
an hour's work to rehearse them, and to be the greatest ;
estate of a woman in all Christendom. i
And if it be honourable to a Prince to conquer one
kingdom with dint of the sword, with making of war, with ;
spoiling, burning, wasting, death, destruction, fire and J
sword, manslaughter and effusion of Christian blood; how \
much more honourable^ ought it to be accounted to obtain
and get not one, but a great sort of kingdoms and domin- j
ions, not with violence and oppression, but with amity and
love, and that most godly, sweet, and pleasant knot of
marriage ? So Mary the daughter and heir of Charles the
Hardy, Duke of Burgundy, by marrying herself to Maxi
milian son to Fredericus of Austriche, then Emperor, hath
made her progeny, the House of Burgundy, to enjoy so
many realms and seigniories in Boheme, in Hungary, in
Q

226 THE APPENDIX.
Spain, in Sicily, in Naples, and Italy, in the High and
Low Country of Germany, and near it went to have en
joyed also England and Ireland. So Mary the Scottish
Queen that liveth now, if the enterprise had had successj
and she had had by her husband any son, she should have
left a double King ; I mean in France a King, as well as
of Scotland ; and of them both the greater King by her
purchase than else he should have been by his mother's
inheritance. So Claudia the daughter of the Duke Of Bri
tain by marriage with the French King hath made her sons
and offspring not only Dukes of Britain, but Kings and
possessors of ah France; when her ancestors heretofore
had much ado always to keep their own, being but only
Dukes of Britain, much less could conquer or adjoin to
their duchy ariy thing of the rest of the realm of France. . .
Now if honour is to be desired, and if it be a glory to be
made from a Baroness a Countess, and from a Countess a
Marchioness or Duchess, and from a Duchess a Queen.;
why is it not also as well to be from a Queen an Empressj
or from a Queen of one kingdom a Queen of two or three.;
and so the more honourable, and the more to be sought
and desired ? To the increase of which honour, if men do
apply and study themselves sometimes by sword and
sometimes by marriage to attain, why should not a Queen
desire to do as well as they, especially by the better, more
sure, and more amiable way? Which thing, ye.see> can
be done either by no ways, or by no ways better than by
marriage. And this I have to say of honour.
Now I come to power or strength ; which standeth in
two things : either for a Prince to keep his own realm
quiet from rebellion, or to make that the foreign. Prince
being ambitious or desirous of war, neither may dare in
vade him, or else, if the Prince be so minded, to conquer
and recover such things, which of old by titles and just
reasons remain to be claimed. The Which the Prince
heretofore, either for lack of power or money, for shortness
of time, civil dissension, their own sloth, or any cause
whatsoever it be, hath omitted or foreslowed. For these

THE APPENDIX. 227
remain still as causes unto Princes, when they be weary /
of ease or desirous of honour, or when other just occasignJ
is offered to exercise themselves- and their subjects. /For]
any of those, if her Majesty marry within the realm, whati
hath she gained ? AU her own subjects were her own be-l
fore, all their powers are hers already ; not one man hat
she for the marriage more than she had before. Whereai
if she marry a foreign Prince/if he be an Emperor, all th
empire is hers to aid her, and her husband at all events :'
if she marry a King, likewise all his kingdom: if she!
marry a Duke, Earl, or Prince^ill his vassals, kinsfolks,
allies, and friends are united to her realm, and be taken all
for brethren, to allow strength and aid, both offensive and
defensive, as occasion and necessity shall serve : for who
can offend the wife, but he must offend the husband also ?
So that her Majesty's power must needs be increased by
so much as the power of her husband doth extend, either
by authority, title, blood, alliance, friendship, or affinity^/ ,
Then if Princes be glad, whensoever they invade or be |
invaded, to ally themselves with the Princes their neigh
bours, many times by costly leagues and much suit and
entreaty of ambassadors, if that may be done by one small
act, as choosing such a puissant Prince to her husband, |
as we would most desire to be our friend or aid in neaes- I
sity either of defence or invasion, why should not I think j
that it were better for the Queen's Majesty to take such |
an one, whereby she may be backed and strengthened, |
and her power as it were double and treble, than to take I
one by whom she shall have no more power, help, aid,
nor succour brought unto her, than she had before ? And
it is to be feared that she shall rather have less : for when
envy naturally kindleth amongst equals, if the Queen take j
one of her higher and stronger nobility, all the rest it will i
be doubted will envy his felicity, and though in words '
they speak him fair, yet in heart hardly will they kws
him.vxFox they shall be as rivals and candidati for one of
fice ; where commonly he that hath obtained, if of the in
ferior sort, all the rest shall disdain at him; which disdain
q 2

228 THE APPENDIX.
will bring grudge ; and grudge never bringeth good- will.
So that by this marriage her Highness shall seem, not to
increase her strength, but to weaken it, not to unite it, but
to dissolve it.
Examples be too near to be found. King Edward IV.
married the Lady Katharine Gray, a goodly lady, and his
enemy's wife. Did not that marriage, as all histories make
mention, fill in manner all the rest of the nobility, that
thought themselves somewhat, with malice, envy, grudge,
and displeasure against all her blood? and her blood by
most likelihood did not greatly come behind them. This
mischief was the destruction both of th'one and th'other ;
and not that only, but of the two goodly young gentlemen
King Edward's sons, the Prince and his brother. Had it
not been better he had married there where the Earl of
Warwick was his spokesman; whereby he should have
gotten strength abroad, and his nobility at home not so to
have been dissevered? Thus far of power and strength.
The same I do think also of riches. For the which al
though it doth most become poor men to travail, yet I do
not see, but" that Princes both do and have as much need
to look" and study for to get it : especially now in our
times, when war is made as much by money as by sword ;
and he that may longest pay his soldiers, goeth victor
away : and if they be both disposed to cock it throughly,
yet when they both be made bankrupts, then they must
needs conclude a peace. But if her Highness do look to
enrich herself and her realms, as both reason would, and
I am sure it is no little part of her Grace's study so to do,
(which thing may appear by many evident tokens,) seeing
that which in England and Ireland is to be accounted her
own, (as no man doubteth,) there can of the gathering to
gether of that no advancement be accounted: but if to
that which her own kingdom hath, her Highness doth ad
join the riches of another region which is none of hers_,
then must we needs judge the true increase to be made.
Which thing, you know, the marriage of the Lord of the
country doth without further cost or danger bring to pass.

THE APPENDIX. 229
And this ye may be sure, that her Highness can take to
husband no foreign Prince, nor nobleman of another coun
try, but some riches he will bring with him, more than
shall bear his costs. And contrariwise, if her Majesty take
one at home, both her own crown must be spoiled of lands
and her coffers of money, to furnish him according to his
estate : for what private man, of what condition, riches, or
power soever be be, is able of his own lands or coffers to
bear or maintain the state of her Highness's husband ?
And of this matter I think I have said enough. For
where there be but six causes or occasions of marriage, as
I have declared, whereof the three first be indifferent, that
neither the stranger is excluded, nor the Englishman reck
oned to have any advantage in them, (which three do
appertain chiefly to the conscience, and the godly motives
towards matrimony,) and the three other, which rule and
lead almost all the world after them, be all upon the stran
ger's side, as you see, whether way I should lean, if my
judgment were asked, it is apparent enough. If th'ad-
vancement to honour, whereto all Princes, as ye know,
have a special regard and eye ; if the increase of power
and strength, which is the thing that a wise Prince and
Governor doth chiefly covet ; if th'augmentation of riches
and wealth, which is not the least care that a King or a
Queen ought to have ; if not one, I say, but all these stand
on his side ; so that the marriage of a stranger doth ap
pear not only more honourable, but also more safe and
more profitable to the Queen's Majesty, I must needs be
in this opinion, that it is better for her Highness to take
to husband a stranger, than any subject of hers within the
realm of England or Ireland.
After he had ended all, the rest held their peace, till my
friend the stammerer began, whom they all the night after
(as I say) called Mr. Godfather, because he was so ready
to nickname the rest. So that as he misnamed others,
(and yet not misnamed, for according to their opinions
and doings he gave them names ; but as he did,) so like-
q3

230 THE APPENDIX.
wise was he upon his doings called of them Mr. Godfather;
because that he, as though he had been at a christening,
named them all of new. Which names they seemed to
me not much to refuse, nor to be angry with them, nor he
with his ; and therefore I will hereafter so name them all.
Well, saith he, for your part, Mr. Lovealien or" Lewelyn,
(for my tongue loveth to speak short,) you have played it
well ; and now I am content to be on your side. Many,
I cannot tell what I shall be when my friend here hath
spoken, what shall I call him? what other than Home
friend, or, if ye would be christened in Greek, 'Aghios, or
rather <J>i\ol3pvTavvo; ; for in good faith he is nothing but
English. I think he be the patron and very idea of an old
Englishman, which thought no country so good, so plen
tiful, so rich, so happy as England is ; nor no men so fair,
so well, made, so bold, so hardy, so good warriors, so wise
and so discreet, as we Englishmen be. And even now he is
so enamoured of his country, that he taketb, I dare say, as
the proverb is, the smoke in England to be warmer and
better than the fire in France or Italy; and as for the
stoves in Germany, he cannot abide them. Well, said Mr.
Homefriend, and laughed, I am glad I have my name yet
before I shall begin ; and I do not fear, but when you have
heard me, you will be of my side, and so we shall be at
the least two to one ; although Mr. Spitewed tarry still in
his opinion of nunnery and sole life. And after a httle
space thus he began.

IV. Axenius, or Homefriend, his Oration for the Queen's
Majesty's marrying with an English Nobleman, rather
than any foreign Prince. ,
w one part of my oration, Master Lovealien, saith he,
I take myself to be well eased; for you have so much
proved the necessity and commodity of her Highness's
marriage, and so well refuted Agamus's oration, that

THE APPENDIX. 231
it were superfluous for me therein to make any words.
And if you had been disposed to have stretched the vein
of your excellent wit, as well in the behalf of our country
men, as ye were of the strangers, who neither are so near
unto you, and shall never do you nor your country so much
good, I know you would have done it much better, and I
had been eased of my labour, who had rather a great deal
be a hearer than a talker. But now, seeing that through
your unnaturalness this burden lighteth on my back, al
though I know that I am very weak, yet had I rather over
burden myself than leave my country undefended, or to
see my countrymen so much disgraced.
' Our question is, whether, if it please the Queen's Ma
jesty to marry, it were better that her Majesty took an
Englishman or a stranger. Here you come with your fine
and logical distinction, and bring in the causes essential
and accidental of marriage ; as though we were in a school
of dunsery, and not in a discourse of pleasure, where we
would seek out the truth without any fraud or circumven
tion. I pray you either mince not the matter so finely, or
else go not so lightly away with every piece, before it be
either granted to you, or else fully proved.
And first, to the three essentials which you make, I will
never grant that the Englishman and the stranger be
equal. For even for the first, I mean getting of children, if
you ask mine opinion, although after marriage, by the law
of God, whosoever the father be, the Prince or child which
is gotten shall be most rightful heir of England, and an
Englishman, yet it must needs be better an hundredfold
that our Prince be a mere Englishman, as well by the
father as by the Queen his mother, than half English,
which shall have any part of stranger's blood in him.
We laugh at this ; and you think that I speak now of
the honour and of the affection which I have to our coun
try above other. No, I speak not of affection, but as great
causes move me. For I would the Prince of this realm
should be wholly Enghsh, and that no other realm had
any duty to claim of him, but that he should think this his
q4

232 THE APPENDIX.
whole and only country, and natural soil. So shall he
never set by other countries, but by this ; so shall he not
prefer fickle strangers to his trusty subjects ; so shall he
ever covet to adorn, magnify, and exalt this realm, and
drive away no part of his love from it to another. Whereas,
if he should have to his father a stranger, it cannot be but
he must have a natural mind and affection to this his fa
ther's country, and his elder country, and either as much
or more than to England : of which thing this realm al
ready hath had proof enough.
The Danes enjoyed once this realm too long : of which,
although some of them were born here, yet so long as the
Danes' blood was in them, they could never but favour the
poor and barren realm of Denmark more than the rich
country of England.
The Normans after won and possessed the realm. So
long as ever the memory of their blood remained, the first
most, and so less and less, as by httle and little they grew
to be Enghsh, what did they? Keep down the, Enghsh
nation, magnify the Normans; the rich abbeys and prio
ries they gave to their Normans ; the chief holds, the noble
seigniories, the best bishoprics, and all. Yea, they went so
low as to the parsonages and vicarages ;. if one were better
to the purse than another, that a Norman had : poor Eng
lishmen were glad to take their leavings. And so much
was our nation kept under, that we were glad to dissemble
our tongue, and learn theirs : whereupon came the pro
verb, Jack would be a gentleman, if he could speak
French. But as the Norman blood and tongue vanished away, so
by little and little, thanks be to God, this mischief began
to cease ; and the Princes, by process of time made mere
English, merely favoured this our nation. And is not this
a good cause, think you, why I should wish the Queen's
Highness's husband to be of our country, and the Prince,
her Majesty's son, to be a mere Englishman ? For, as we
have seen by these and other proofs in time past, if the
Prince should be a Frenchman, he would favour the

THE APPENDIX. 233
French ; if an Italian, the Italians ; if a Dane or a Swe-
dener, he would also favour his country and countrymen.
And is not the whole, at least the greatest part of the love
which we Englishmen should require of him, to be derived
thither? And you may be assured, as the people see the
Prince part his love, so will they part theirs : which love
I would have, and wish always to be, whole, entire, and
perfect in both; that there should not arise a seditious
person to say, Non est nobis pars in David, nee haereditas
in filio Jesse. Unusquisque ad tentorium, O Israel.
As for the second, which is the avoiding of adultery and
fornication, it lieth more in the gift of God, and the godli
ness of the mind of the married person, than in the quality
of his or her make. But will not evil examples, think you,
do much ? And, I pray you, what nation is there, where
matrimony is so indifferently of each, and so godly of both
kept, as in England? The Italians be so jealous, that
almost every private man there doth not think himself
sure of his wife except he keep her close in a mew, as here
in England men keep their hawks. Again, he for his part
taketh so much liberty, that, to resort to courtezans, to
describe his loves and pastimes with others besides his
wife, so it be in fine rhyme, and wittily contrived verse,
he taketh rather an honour than a dishonour.
Do you think her Majesty, brought up in Enghsh man
ner, can hke this suspicion against the wife, or this licen
tious liberty of the husband ? And yet, if her Grace should
take an Itahan, this is the manner of his country.
The Frenchman in jealousy is not so much, nor doth so
straitly, as in prison, keep his wife, as doth the Itahan.
Marry, for his own liberty, he will give the Italian no place.
Their own French books do shew no less ; and whoso is
conversant with them shall understand the same. And if
her Majesty should marry a Frenchman, think you he
would not have some great piece of his country manners ?
The Scots be in so natural league with France, that he
is no true Scot, unless he speak and do French-like.
The Spaniard will rule, and standeth all upon honour.

234 THE APPENDIX.
For other hberty of such pastime he will give place to
none, but go as far as any ; yet he will do penance perad
venture in Lent, or at Easter, and whip himself then in a
visor, naked; supposing to make God and his wife amends
by it, as he thinketh, and to salve his fond conscience.
But for our English manners, I dare say we esteem it-
more honourable and more godly, not with such untroth
to offend our wives, than first to take liberty, and then to
make so mad amends.
The Dutchmen, and the Dane, and all such countries
as draw in language and conditions towards them, with
the great love which they have to drink, do shadow the
other vice, and either may so excuse them, that they did it
overcome with drink, or else, indeed, for too much pleasure
in the one, care less for the other. But what excuse is
that, with vice to elude vice ? Or else, what pleasure shall
it be to one brought up in English manners, to have an
husband which shall almost ever be drinking or sleeping ?
or if not ever, yet too many times she must be fain thus
to bear with him : for it is the manner of his country, and
so he was brought up.
These be the faults of other nations; which, though
they seem strange to us, yet among them at home, use,
custom, and the multitude of them that do so, maketh it
no shame, reproach, nor rebuke. Which if her Majesty
do mishke, as I am sure her godly wisdom must needs
cause her not to like them, then must our Englishman in
this case be preferred. And this for the two parts which
ye passed so lightly, and take as granted, that in them
there was no difference between the Englishman and the
stranger. For the third, that is, the comfort, pleasure, and joy,
which the one otherwise privately shall take of the other,
which is most necessary, for quietness of mind, and go
vernment of the house and family, I take that there is no
comparison. For if likeness of tongue, behaviour, manners,
education, be those which make love, bring fruit, and
cause amity ; what can diversity of all these do, but bring

THE APPENDIX. 235
misliking, distrust, and hatred ? which be very handsome
servants, I assure you, to go on message betwixt the hus
band and the wife.
And if men be so naturally affectioned to their own
country, that they do not only prefer the soil and air
thereof before other countries, although they be indeed
much better; as the poets, for example, to declare the
nature of man's affection, make Ulysses, whom they de
scribe as the wisest and most foreseeing of all the Greeks,
after manifold torments of the sea and land, yet to prefer
the httle, barren, and rocky island Ithaca, which was his
own natural country, to all other, yea to the pleasant
country of Campania, where riches did dwell, and to the
rich and plenteous country of the Phaeaces, wherein one
grape doth ripen upon another, and figs upon figs, so that
there is always plenty; but also the manners, conditions,
affections, ordinances, and laws of his own country, every
man doth think them better, and more to be esteemed,
than those of any other ; as Herodotus doth also write,
who bringeth this thing for a great argument, that Cam
byses was mad, and out of his right wits, because he did
not esteem the manners and conditions of his own coun
try. And Alexander had much ado to keep the love of his
soldiers and princes of Macedony, and was of them mis-
liked, as one drunken with pride, and half out of his right
wits, because he began to wear the apparel, and to like
the manners and behaviour of the Persians ; insomuch
that, although he much desired it, yet he was fain to remit
that to his Macedonians, that they should not kneel when
they spoke to him, because they could not be brought unto
it, forsomuch as it was not the manner of their country to
do so to their Princes. So Juhus Caesar durst never call
himself King, nor would suffer any man to name or write
him Lord or King, because he knew the Romans, otherwise
brought up, could not abide it. We see, when Christian
religion began first, how earnest the Jews were to bring in
their circumcision and ceremonies, and to lay their cus
toms and manners upon our backs: and so much they

236 THE APPENDIX.
esteemed them, that they thought Christ scarcely able
enough without them to save us ; and that he was no good
man except he did as they did.
What shall I gather of this, but that if the Queen's
Majesty should marry a stranger, she shall take one who
shall not only love his own natural country better than
England, but also the apparel, conditions, manners, pas
time, and behaviour of his own country, better than those
of England. For as it is natural for an Englishman to
love England, and to hke the manners and conditions of
England, so it is natural to Italians, Frenchmen, Germans,
Danes, men of Sweden, each one to like theirs. And if it
be natural so to do, then he is an unnatural man that doth
not, and, as Herodotus thinketh, a man to be counted
rather mad and beside himself than otherwise.
Now whether think you better, Master Lovealien, for
the Queen to take a stranger, which should be counted a
wise, natural, and godly man to his country, or no ? If he
be so, then shall he set more by his own country than
England. And if he be not, then whom will you have the
Queen to marry? One who neither shall be counted wise, nor
natural to his country ? And if he be to that his own coun
try unnatural and unkind, do you think that her Highness
shall find any natural love in him, in whom his country, as
mother who first brought him up ; his subjects, of whom
he is lord and patron ; the land that bred him ; the tombs
of all his ancestors ; that country where all his friends and
kinsfolks dwell ; that place which, next unto God, he oweth
most duty unto, cannot find ? He that is unkind to his own,
seldom is found kind to another ; he that is most loving to
his kin, hardly is to be thought for to be loving to strangers.
And again, if he be to be counted a wise and discreet man,
and a.natural man to his own country, as it is most likely
he will be, then shall he covet to enrich that, and to im
poverish ours ; to honour and exalt that, though it be
with the oppressing of this ; to bring in the manners and
conditions of that country which he liketh best, and to see
if he can bring the Queen's Highness to them; and so

THE APPENDIX. 237
to frame her Majesty, as they call it, to his bow, which he
thinketh best ; not to apply to our institutes, conditions,
and manners, which be best indeed. Or be it in case they
be not, (as for my part I think they be,) yet our Queen
and her people, brought up in them, must of force and
nature think them best. Now, Sir, as you say of apparel,
manners, customs, behaviour, pastimes, exercises, eating and
drinking, so say I also of laws, (for this education contain
eth all,) what contention hath been always betwixt us and
strangers, because they hke their laws and customs best,
and we ours ? They say we do wrong where we do not as
they do. And we again think their laws unjust and un
equal for us, not only in succession of heritage, but in
many other contracts. And when they be here, we make
them follow our laws ; and when we be there, we must do
as their customs be. Now this contention is easily borne,
for the one part of fine force must give place. But if you
bring this contention once into England, the Queen's Ma
jesty shall hke her own realm, customs, and laws; and her
people will so desire. Her husband possibly, as he shall
think himself as great a Prince or greater, shall like his
laws, customs, and ordinances better, and shall by all
means study to bring them hither, or else he shall not
think himself sure, or not fully a Prince. What turmoil
shall that be, trow you, to the realm ; what disquiet to her
Highness ; what fear, suspicion, and heart-burning to her
subjects ? And what better argument will you have of this,
than our laws and customs of England, which may evi
dently appear (except the acts of Parliament) to be a thing
made and gathered of the laws of the Romans, Daries, and
Normans: which three nations have been in past times
governors and heads of the realm; each one, for their
time, bringing in as they could a piece of their country
ordinances. And do you not think, that if King Philip had
been long here, he would not have brought some piece
from Spain ? If nothing else, at least the Inquisition, as
they call it, as he did to Naples : whereby, what insurrec-

238 THE APPENDIX.
tions and troubles arose there, it is easy to learn by the
French histories.
Now if it please, her Majesty to take one of her own
country, all these doubts be removed. He must needsi
love his country as his own ; he must favour it as the
mother of him and ah his ancestors, as the land wherein
he took his first breath, and that wherein not only the
most, but all his living is ; and he must love her Majesty
as the chief of the same, reverence her as the mother of
his country, obey her as the head of the realm, to the
which, next unto God, he oweth duty and love. His man
ners, customs, pastimes, diets, laws, titles, rights, be all
English; nothing differing from those wherein the Queen's
Majesty hath been brought up. But so much as should
make him have the . more honour, admiration, and obe
dience to her Majesty ; and so much the more, because he
cannot, though he would, dissemble or forget from what
place her Highness taking him, to what place she hath
brought him. Whereas, on the contrary side, the foreign
Prince, standing upon the reputation of his country, may
perhaps little weigh that as a benefit, but stand upon the
terms of as great and as good.
Yea, but whosoever her Highness would marry, he shall
be such as will frame himself to all these. First, there is
a question^ If he can : for they say, Mercury is not made
of every wood; so every person is not apt to all kind of
manners. Then the next is, If he will : for it is hard bend
ing an old Oak ; and an old tree, long grown crooked, will
not with ease grow the other ways. But if he will and
can learn to .apply himself to our manners, is it not better
to take one which is already for the purpose, if he may be
had, than to take one which is to break anew, and to be
doubted of when you have done ? And if any breach or
dissension should chance to arise between her Highness
and her husband, as we see no year is so fair but there be
some foul and rainy days in it, and no peace so surely
made, but that it is wisdom for Princes to provide against

THE APPENDIX. 239
war, let us examine this part. The stranger strait
Standeth upon his reputation, which should he yield, he is
a great man born, a Prince as she is ; his country as good,
or, as he peradventure will think, better ; why should he
yield to his wife ? He will peradventure say, he hath borne
too much, he will bear no more. And if he cannot make
his party good here, he will send to his subjects, his friends,
his kinsfolks, his allies. So shall we have her Highness in
a strange agony, the realm in an intricate and unspeakable
trouble. Or if he despair to make his party good, he hath
a ready passage home to his country agaim There will he
triumph at his pleasure, and have leisure there to study
upon mischief to her Highness and realm; or at the least
so long to hold out, till the Queen's Majesty be glad to
sue to him for a peace, and to make ambassadors for a
concord. Can this happen, if her Majesty marry one here in Eng
land? What refuge, what comfort or succour can he have,
but in her Highness ? If her Highness be displeased with
him, where is his stay, his aid, his defence, his garrison,
and help to fly unto? what hath he to make any brag
again to her Majesty ? No, no ; it will not be. And as a
man bound to the peace in the Star-chamber in the paiit
of 10,000/. he will be loath, yea by countenance, to seek to
break it, for fear of forfeiting of his bond, which he is not
able to pay : so that person, if natural love and duty can
not make him, yet this danger and fear shall make him
always to apply to love, serve, and honour her Majesty,
because the contrary bringeth to him the next pain to hell.
And if he should be faulty, no sanctuary, no refuge hath
toe to avoid the forfeit.
This part indeed is that which nippeth the most, and
which yoii- would fain steal away from us. With which,
and the other, three, ye joined God as the author of those
jaarrfeges, which was before all these three causes, or any
of them, were made : wherein, I do assure you, in my mind,
you did not only like a wise and learned man, (as we all
know you are,) but like one that cannot dissemble the

240 THE APPENDIX.
truth. Although, to make for your purpose, you can play
the orator's part, and pass after such a sort, that if we had
not given good eye unto you, we should have taken no
advantage thereat ; which must have been counted rather
our folly in this part, than any thing else. Then those
marriages which be made for these three grounds, ahd for
these three causes only ; that is, the continuance of suc
cession, the avoiding of fornication, the hearty love grow
ing upon the virtuous and godly disposition each of others,
and comfort and pleasure, which they look to have in that
fellowship of hfe and community of all thoughts, pleasures
and displeasures, be the godly marriages, and those which
most commonly God will bless, and upon whom smallest
repentance doth follow. And that man or woman, which
for these three causes especially do take their mate, seem
to have God before their eyes, and to have a godly mind
and will, and to take the just and right way : and he or
she that taketh any of the other three, which is honour,
power, and riches, to be their guide, and chief cause, and
hath not the chief regard to the other three beforenamed,
(which you call essential,) leaveth God out of the way,
and taketh some other tickle or frail things, the Devil or
the world by most likelihood, to be his broker and mar
riage-maker. So that her Highness, by your school and
teaching, having first in her mind the continuation of her
posterity with the fear of God, is to consider and make
election of one, whom her Majesty can fancy, by the stable
and profound judgment of her most excellent wisdom, to
be such an one, as whom she shall have always a joy to
behold; a comfort to have at home, a most sure trust
abroad, an helper in adversity, a pleasure in prosperity;
whom, for his wisdom and dexterity, gentleness, faithful
ness, and affability, and other noble virtues and qualities,
her Majesty shall think worthy to be preferred above all
others ; and whom she shall not think for a while to be so,
or so for a show, but to be so indeed, and ,(so much as
man's instability can suffer) to be so for ever. Wherein,
as it appeareth, little regard or nothing is to be had of

THE APPENDIX. 241
advancement of riches, honour, or power : for whosoever
hath God on his side, and God his guide in marriage, must
need be counted to have all these.
And hitherto you see we have proved the Englishman,
for all these purposes, to be far above the stranger. And
if this election be to be had of the man, because for such
a prey no craft of wit or engine of man shall be left unas-
sayed ; the next care is to see that her Highness take not
a glass for a diamond, or gilt for true gold : and for that,
let us see where her Highness may soonest be deceived.
The stranger either her Majesty seeth not, or seeth but
for the time of his wooing. How then ? he doth it by
ambassadors, and moveth.it by letters; he, maketh his
friends to commend him ; he spareth for no gifts. What
judgment is all this of the man ? Will his ambassadors
tell any of his faults ? and will they disclose any of his
vices ? Will they open any of his imperfections ? Nay,
all that must be hidden within a ninefold stone Wall. But
they increase with words his virtues (if he have any) above
the skies ; they praise his stature, beauty, strength, body,
as much as their wits can extend unto. If, he have any
strength at all, they make him Achilles or Hector ; if he have
ever been at wars, he is as good a captain as Alexander or
Julius Caesar ; if he be not altogether a simple or ignorant
man, he is as wise as Ulysses, and as eloquent as Nestor ;
if he be not altogether deformed, he is as fair, as Paris .or
Nereus ; jf he be a Prince not altogether a beggar, he. hath
the riches of Croesus and magnificence of Solomon ; if any
doubt of his inconstancy, hastiness, or any other vice, he
is as continent as Xenocrates, as meek and patient as any
lamb, and more gentle than ever was Pomponius Atticus.
This shall the Queen hear to whom the suit is made, this
the ambassadors shall say, this the commender shall
write ; yea, and if need be, some shall be hired at home
to help to bear a part of this song. And is this a. sure
proof, trow you, for her Majesty to adventure her person
for a continual either joy or torment, as it shall happen ?
Well, but for a more sure trial of his personage, ye shall

242 THE APPENDIX.
have a picture brought, as they will swear, ad vivum. Of
which, if ye see two, not one shall be like the other : and if
they be, what is the picture to the man ? And yet I heard
not many years ago of a certain lady, who, having the pic
ture sent unto her of one whom she never saw, who should
be her husband, was so enamoured thereon, and so ravish
ed, that she languished for love, and was in a manner out
of her wits for his long tarrying and absence . But I ween hot
love was soon cold, and not long after repented. But what
other proofs can you have of him that dwelleth not within
four or five hundred, or a thousand miles or more of the
realm? And if he do come hither, he cometh but his
wooing time ; all which time he must be liberal, magnifi
cent, plentiful, princely, and make a shew of all his virtues,
although it be but for that while. How long, I beseech
you, can a man dissemble his nature, till he come to his
purpose ? Nero, the five first years of his reign, was the
best of all Princes. AU those whom you have named so
unkind to their wives, were not such aU that time that they
did woo, I suppose : for if they had been, I know those
marriages had never been made nor repented. Thus your
stranger cometh to be seen, but as it were in a visor,
scarcely so weU as if one should spy him out of a window.
So that what diseases, infirmities, or imperfections soever
the stranger shalHiave, either of body or mind, the Queen's
Majesty cannot know them but by hearsay ; and so, as I
have said, she shall hardly or never know them, or else by
assaying ; and that is when it is too late to repent.
The Englishman is here at home, not his picture or
image, but himself. His stature, colour, complexion, and
behaviour, is to be seen face to face. And not only that,
but his education and bringing up, his study, exercise, and
what things he hath a delight in, what things he doth
refuse, every fault, imperfection, deformity, and whatsoever
should be to his hindrance, is apparent and clear, both to
the ears and eyes of time past and present ; and may be
tried, and as it were pierced and looked clean through;
what he is disposed to, and what he is like for to be, almost

THE APPENDIX. 243
so well as if there were a window made in his breast, as
Momus did require. Then, if there be any such qualities
and perfection in any of our nation, which her Majesty can
like, were it not more to be wished for her Highness to
make her choice there where her own self is judge and
the trier of the truth, where her own eyes, her wise and
princely estimation, giveth the sentence, than to build
upon hearsay, and in so weighty a matter to buy, as the
common proverb is, a pig in the poke. With whether of the
two, I pray you, is it most like that her Majesty shaU lead
her life most quietly, most joyfully, and most to her heart's
contentation, most agreeing to the nature of her country,
stature, and comparature of his body, such as herself
being judge cannot be dispraised; the qualities of the
mind, which she doth esteem worthy such a personage ;
the manners, such as her Grace can best agree with ; or
else him whom she never saw before, whose tongue is not
like to hers ; the manners of the country, and the educa
tion, strange from hers, whose people is of another condi
tion than hers ; for whose corporature, lineaments of body,
behaviour of manners, and conditions of mind, she must
trust to others, and put in hazard and adventure, whether
after she shah like them or not. Of this you see, Mr. Love
alien, that in your three first chief and essential points,
which you not only made principal, but you joined with
God, I can nothing agree with you. Now wiU I come to
the incident matters, where ye think to have marveUous
advantage. And first for honour: in the which ye talked so, as
though the Queen's Majesty, if she should marry any no
bleman of England, it should be counted a disparagement.
And herein you bring in such ladies and duchesses as
have married with their own men, wherein I must needs
confess that there is a disparagement ; for that these
men were not noble by birth, and therefore not meet to
match with such noble women. But for the Queen's Ma
jesty to marry one of her noblemen is no disparagement
at all. Neither is the comparison like. And in this case ye
r 2

244 THE APPENDIX.
do make me to marvel at you, and to doubt What you do
think of the nobility of this realm of England, as though
they are not as noble as the nobility is of other realms. Is
not a Duke of England, an Earl, a Baron, and their sons,
as much to be counted noble, as they be in other realms?
That, I think, you cannot deny. How then should the
Queen's Majesty be more disparaged, marrying here one
of that degree than there ? For methinks you do so speakj
that if her Highness married a Duke or a Nobleman
of another realm, then it were no disparagement : which
if you grant, then either grant this also, or shew the divert
sity. Ye wiU say, because here they be all her Highness's
subjects. So surely they be. But her subjects be of divers
sorts and degrees ; whereof the nobUity is as the right
arm of the Prince, the glory and beauty of the realm, the
[root and] nursery of her Highness's stock and familyj
offsprings of Kings and Queens of England, and whom her
Highness and all her progenitors caUeth always in her let
ters and writings and common talk, cousins : which word
cousins betokeneth, that in mingling of that blood there
can be no disparagement. And so much as you would
seem in your talk to embase that order and estate, so
much you must needs appear to abase and contemn the
Queen's Majesty's own blood, to whom they be, and al
ways have been, accounted aUied and as cousins.
And is it a disparagement for the Queen of England to
marry an Englishman ? Why more than to the King of
England to marry an English woman ? The authority is all
one ; and as well is the English woman a subject to the
crown as the English man. Do you think that King Henry
VIII. her Majesty's father, was disparaged, when he married
her Highness's mother, or Queen Jane, or Queen Katharine
Par ; and that he was always disparaged save once, when
he married his brother's wife, which was a stranger ? And
think you that all the rest of the Kings of England, of
whom a great number married their own subjects, were
disparaged? Methinks this is a strange and unnatural opin
ion. If it be an honour to be a King's" wife, or a Queen's

THE APPENDIX. 215
husband, not only to the person, but also to the region out
of the which they come, no country may justlier crave that
honour, nor to none the Prince doth more justly owe that
love, than to her own country, where she was born, and
where she is Queen.
And if ye would be loath to suffer, and would spend your j
blood rather than this realm should be tributary or subject J
to any other ; yea, you would not gladly see that any fo
reign Prince should do so much here, or be so much set j
by here, and have so much power, as your natural Prince
and Queen ; and if you may justly caU that a disparage- i
ment, when this realm, which is the head of nations round \
about, is put under the girdle of another; who maketh \
more disparagement, I pray you, the foreign Prince to be \
the Queen's husband, or the English subject ?
But you are of the opinion, as I perceive, that Erasmus
speaketh of, that thinketh it not comely for a King's
daughter to be coupled but with a King or a King's son.
To whom he answereth as weU as if he had studied this
our case. " This is private men's affection," saith he,
" from which Princes ought to flee as fast as they may.
" If she marry," saith he, " to one who is not of such
"• power as she or her father, what is that to the purpose,
" if that he be for the realm more expedient ? It is more
" honour to the Prince to neglect that foreign dignity of
" the marriage, than to prefer her womanly affection to the
" profit of the realm." So far is that great, learnedy and
wis%man from your opinion, that he caUeth the marriage
withJstrangers uneven marriages, and, as a man would
say, disparagements, when he saith there lacketh both that
love and dearness, which the common country, likeness of
body and mind, doth bring; and that natural, and true,
and uncounterfeit affection, which those marriages have
which are made between them that have aU one country.
He saith also, as I have said before, that hardly the coun
try acknowledge them that are born of those uneven mar
riages for their own, or that those that are so born can
not with all their hearts love their country; but as their
r3

246 THE APPENDIX.
bloods be mingled out of divers countries, so their love is
but as it were half dealed and parted in twain. And did
not this man, think you, as a prophet, declare that thing
which we did see of late in Queen Mary ? Did not her ve
hement love toward Spain and Spaniards declare, that she
was but half English as it were in affection ? so that min
gled blood in her nature could not hide itself.
And if the case standeth so, and honour be so much to
be looked unto, as ye wiU have it, better it were for her
Highness, and more honourable, as it may appear evi
dently, to make one of her noblemen, by that means, equal
to a foreign Prince, who shall always be ready to obey and
honour her, than to take a foreign Prince from abroad,
who shall look to command, and be her superior.
And because that poetry is reckoned of a great learned
man to be the eldest phUosophy, (for long before the phi
losophy of Thales and Socrates began, most ancient writers
called poets, by feigned examples, or else by deeds done,
described hke fables, did instruct men, and cause the witty
reader in them to see the good success and happy fortune
of weU-doings, and the evil success and inconveniences
which follow of evil-doings ; that so we might have, as it
were, shewed before our eyes, what to follow, and what to
eschew,) let us weigh and consider what they write of this
matter, and what examples they make of those heroical
and noble women, who, forsaking their own countrymen,
feU into the love of strangers. How good, how true, how
loving, I pray you, were your strangers to them ? - ^Was
not that lusty and valiant warrior, Jason, soon gotten,
and most unkindly and uncourteously did forsake Medea
of Colchos, who not only saved his life, but for his love
lost her country ; and, to save her lover's life, did abandon
the lives of her father and brother ? How long was Theseus
of Athens kind to Ariadne, King Minos's daughter, who
saved his life, else to have been destroyed in the labyrinth ?
How true was Demophoon to PhyUis of Thracia, Hercules
to Omphale of Lydia, or ^Eneas to Dido of Carthage ? All
these Queens or Queens' daughters, who, contemning the

THE APPENDIX. 247
noblemen of their own country, as unequal unto them, chose
these lusty and courageous Knights, strangers, Kings or
Kings' sons, to be their husbands ; men of another coun
try, language, and behaviour, than theirs.
I would not wish her Majesty, but her Highness's ene
mies, such aid, help, honour, riches, and contentation of
mind, as those noble women had of those marriages by
the description of the poets. Therefore Sophonisba, wife
to Syphax, was worthy praise as a wise and stout lady,
who was content to put herself into the hands of Masi-
nissa; for so much as he was a Numidian, born in the
same country of Africa that she was. But rather than she
would come into the power and hand of the Romans, being
to her strangers, she chose with a draught of poison to rid
herself, both from her life and from her care.
WeU, I had rather in this matter bene ominari: and
therefore I will bring no more examples out of histories,
as ye know weU enough I can, of the successes of such
marriages. But well I wot our country, by aU likelihood,
rather desireth that her Highness had one of this realm
than a stranger. It is not long ago since there was a stir
for that matter, that cost a good sort of gentlemen's lives.
Do I forget, think you, what argument of authority you
used against my friend here, Mr. Spitewed? Do you then
remember the motion of our Speaker, and the request of
the Commons House, what they did, and could have
moved then; and how they ran aU one way, hke the
hqunds after the hare, high and low, knights and esquires,
citizens and burgesses, such as were of the Privy Council,
and others far and near ? Whom preferred they, I pray
you, then, if they should have had their wish, the stranger or
the Englishman ? And think you they did not consider her
Majesty's honour as weU as you ? Do you suppose that
they knew not as weU what was disparagement as you ?
whose judgments if you would have to be esteemed so
much, as appears in your argument you would, and as I
think you wUl even now subscribe unto, this matter is
concluded, and your disparagement is gone.
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248 THE APPENDIX.
And where you said that the marriage within the realm
should bring in envy, strife, contention, and debate ; and for
to prove the same you shew forth the marriage that King
Edward IV. made with the Lady Katharine Gray, wherein
foUowed such dissension, cruelty, murder, and destruction
of the young Prince and his brother ; the sequel I grant:
marry, if you do consider the matter well, ye do allege
non causam, tanquam causam. As for the stomach and
grief of the Earl of Warwick against the King, I think
indeed that marriage was the cause; not because the
QUeen was an English woman, but because the King
having sent the Earl as his Ambassador to conclude a
marriage for him, which the King did afterward refuse to
accomplish. And this the Earl thought not only to touch
the King's honour, but also his ; arid sought therefore the
revenging -. which he would as well have done, and he had
the same cause, if he had concluded it in England, and
after the King refused it. So that it was not the place or
person, but the breaking of the promise, and disavouching
of his ambassage, and the touching of the Earl's honour
herein, that made the strife between the Earl and the King.
For the rest, for the beheading of the Earl Rivers and
others; the marriage was not the cause, but the devilish
ambition of the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Buck
ingham; which may appear by the sequel: for the one
rested not till he had the crown, nor the other till he lost
his head. And I pray you what kin was the Lord Hastings
to the Queen ? arid yet he lost his head even then. King
Henry VI. married in France. And did not that marriage
make dissension enough in England ? And for all that the
Queen was a French woman, was not her husband and
her son, by the desire of the crown, which the Duke of
York had, both bereaved of their crown and lives?
So that you see that neither marriage within the realm
maketh these mischiefs, nor yet the marriages without can
let them, but wisdom, foresight, and good governance, and
chiefly the aid arid grace of God. But it is a great thing
to be considered, the riches, power, and strength, which

THE APPENDIX. 249
shall be, by marriage of a foreign Prince, as well for the
establishment and weU keeping of her Highness against
insurrections and conspiracies which might chance here
within the realm ; and for invasions, war, battle to be
made by or against Princes abroad, and without the realm.
And here you seem to triumph, as though aU were yours,
and as though it were a thing clear, and without all con
troversy. But I pray you let us weigh this matter. Do you think
so much riches and so much strength gotten unto the
realm, when she shaU marry a foreign Prince ? Do you
praise so much Queen Mary for marrying King Philip?
Indeed he is a Prince, as you say, as great in birth and
possession as any Christian Prince is at this day. But what
was England the better for his marriage ? We kept Calais
above two hundred and odd years in the French ground,
in despite of all the French Kings which have been since
that time, in aU the civil wars, and the most pernicious
dissension that ever was, either in King Henry IV. Henry
VI. Richard III. or King Henry VJI. their times. And in
King Henry VIII. 's time we won also Boloign and Bo-
loignois. And did the increase of strength in his marriage
make us to lose in this time ? I do assure you, for my
part, I never saw, nor I think if I should have lived this
five hundred" years heretofore past, I should not have seen
at any time England weaker in strength, men, money, and
riches, than it was in the time when we wrote King Phi
lip and Queen Mary, King and Queen of so many king
doms, dukedoms, marchionates, and countries, &c. For all
those jolly titles, our hearts, our joy, our comfort, was
gone. As much affectionate as you note me to be to
my country and countrymen, I assure you I was then
ashamed of both. They went to the musters with kerchiefs
on their heads. They went to the wars hanging down their
looks. They came from thence as men dismayed and for
lorn. They went about their matters as men amazed, that
wist not where to begin or end. And what marvel was it ?
as my friend Mr. Agamus saith. Here was nothing but

250 THE APPENDIX.
fining, heading, hanging, quartering, and burning; taxing,
levying, and pulling down of bulwarks at home, and beg
garing and loosing our strong holds abroad. A few Priests,
men in white rochets, ruled all : who, with setting up of
six-foot roods, and rebuUding of rood-lofts, thought to
make aU cock-sure.
And is this the surety we shaU look for, the defence we
shall find, the aid we shall hope of, if the Queen's Majesty
take a foreign Prince to her husband ? And what decay
came at that time to the substance of the realm, and riches
both public and private, it would be no less pity to think,
than it is needless to teU unto you especially. For first,
what debt the realm was left in, to be paid beyond the
seas, you heard it declared by Mr. Secretary in the first
Parliament of the Queen's Majesty; and how much it did
exceed the debt of King Edward VI. What was owing
also to the subjects within the reahn ? It was marveUous
to hear how the private substance was diminished : part
might be seen by the subsidy books. And in the first
Parliaments of King Philip and Queen Mary, you heard a
burgess of London make plain declaration and proof, that
the city of London alone was worse in substance, in those
five years, by 300,000/: than it was at the death of the
late King Edward. And if you wUl say that King Philip,
being so Occupied with continual wars, in which the Em
peror his father left him, could not be rich : but her Ma
jesty may take one that shall bring in great wealth and
treasure, and whom his friends have left very rich : this
may be done I do not deny, although it be unlikely that
any Prince would be so unnatural to rob, spoil, make bare,
poor, and naked his own country or realm, to enrich this.
But if he should do, doth he not, think you, look to be. a
gainer by it ? I think he doth not mean to cast his money
away ; but possibly he may look for the greater usury, the
longer he tarrieth for it, and do as some men do, adven
ture a little to get a great treasure.
But grant that he looketh for nothing. Even for mere
love and royalty he will bestow the money here in the

THE APPENDIX. 251
realm, he wiU enrich the Queen's Majesty, he will franldy
spend aU. What shall he do when all is spent ? We see
the treasure of King Henry VII. All the treasure which
Maximilian left to the Emperor Charles, and which came
to him out of the Indies, and other countries, which I take
to be as rich to his coffers as the Indies, had an end. That
which in long time is slowly gathered, is, if occasion so
serve, soon spent and consumed. I pray God then this
sudden riches make not again a long repentance; this sud
den joy a long ruing ; this speedy enriching a longer tak
ing. Whereas if we were content with our own, as we
know the coming in, so we measure the spending. If we
will say that yearly there shaU come in the revenues of
that realm, which shaU supply again the empty coffers :
first, I wiU ask you, if that realm you do speak of is kept
with nothing? and where that realm shaU stand that
hath no enemies near it, no garrison on the frontiers, no
soldiers to be paid, no officers to be kept, no charge to go
out ? I know few regions, but all that ever can come of
them ordinarily can do no more, but keep their own ordi
nary charges. For I see when they have any extraordi
nary thing, as war or marriage to be made, the Princes
are constrained to seek extraordinary means, by subjects'
love, and other devices, to bear them. I see this in France,
in Italy, hi Spain. The rich Indies be so rich to the King
of Portugal, for all that he is only the merchant of spices
to aU Europe : yet now almost every man doth see, that
he is scarcely with the revenues of them able to bear
their charges. As Milan and Naples, so the charges of
keeping them is no doubt incredible to him that hath not
marked nor known it. And the accounts truly made, I
assure you, smaU gains King Philip hath of them. And if
the Prince being away from thence remaining, the enemies
should invade the realm you speak of, should it not be ne
cessary, trow you, to employ that revenue and more upon
it ? Or if the people seeing their treasure so wasted, and
their realm impoverished, should repine at it, as some
countries would do, and refuse to pay any more ; or if any

252 THE APPENDIX.
other in his absence should take upon him to usurp the
state, and pretend some titles, (as we see to ambitious
heads there never lack titles, either of kindred or common
wealth, to claim to themselves the sovereignty,) what gain
shall be looked for from thence ? Nay, what charges shall
we be put to by it ? Either we must abandon that reahn,
which were the greatest dishonour that could be ; or else
employ all our force and treasure to the recovery thereof :
either of which, if they should chance, (as few realms be
long without them,) then casting our cards aright, we shall
find very smaU advantage.
And for proof of this which I say, we wiU but examine
your own examples. Mary the Scotch Queen was highly
advanced, you say, to the Dauphin ; who afterwards was
the French King, called Francis the Second. But what
riches came by that match to the realm of Scotland ? Ask
the Scots ; who for the great oppression which they suf
fered by the French, and the great impoverishing of the
poor realm, were fain to demand aid of us their old ene
mies ; and yet in their distress their most sure friends
and faithful neighbours. And then what aid had she of
the French, I pray you, -when for the misgovernment of
them, the subjects of her purchased realm, she had almost
lost the government of her own natural, and, as I would
caU it, patrimonial realm, which came to her by inherit
ance from her ancestors ?
We will come to the third Mary, the daughter and heir of
Charles the Hardy, Duke of Burgundy, because here you
think to have your strongest bulwark ; she marrying Max
imilian the Emperor's son, I cannot deny but her posterity
is now in divers places of Christendom the chief rulers
and governors ; but I will deny that her country of Bur
gundy is in so good an estate as it was in her father's
time : for then it was head and chief, but now it is subject
to the House of Austrich : then the Burgundians were reck
oned the hardiest and most valiant warriors ; now be the
Spaniards, Almains, and Italians before them. Their
riches were then a terror to France, a marvel to aU the

THE APPENDIX. 253
world; now it is but a little patch to King Philip's power.
And if they were not as well taxed and assessed in the
Emperor Charles, and this mighty and puissant King Phi
lip's time as ever they were, the Burgundians were much
to blame to groan so fast. Take Antwerp apart, and a
few small things by the sea-side, which have had another
cause of increase, let us see if aU the rest of the cities be
not greatly in decay, and in far worser state than they
were when they had but a Duke to their head. rAs when i
one river falleth into another, they do increase indeed, and
make larger water, but yet the less river thereby loseth
both his name and strength; and the biggest river that is
falling into the sea, loseth his force and power, and is
salted as weU as the rest be. So a kingdom swaUoweth
up a dukedom adjoining, and the bigger kingdom the less.
And if they faU both into the lap of a mighty great mo
narch, as the Emperor of Rome, of the Turks, or of the
Persians, security they may have, but their honour and li
berty is clean lost :Avhether conquest giveth it them, or
marriage. Howbeit of these the empire of the Romans
doth least oppress, and leaveth most liberty ; which is not
for fault of wiU but of strength. What intended Charles the
last Emperor to do to the Almains ? what attempted his
predecessors against the Swissers ? what hath he brought
to pass at Naples and MUan ? and what did King Francis
to Piedmont ?
These may be mirrors and examples to us to consider,
and see what advancement it would be to us, to faU into
the hands and power of a Prince that is a stranger, and
stronger than we be.
Now if you wiU say, there may be covenants made,
bonds taken ; and for the more surety, by the Parliaments
of both realms, the conditions of matrimony may be en
acted, and such assurances devised,- as there may be no
doubt of any inconveniences to foUow: indeed this is a
device, but I pray you, let me tell you of a question that
not long ago a Baron of England moved in the Parliament

254 THE APPENDIX.
to this purpose : and if you can assoil it, you shaU move
me much. If the bands be broken between the husband
and the wife, either of them being Princes and Sovereigns
in their own country, who shaU sue the bands ? who shall
take the forfeit ? who shaU be their judge ? and what shall
be the advantage ? If you wul not answer, I will tell you :
discord, dissension, war, bloodshed, and either extreme
enmity, or else the one part must at length break and
yield. If you will say, Tush ! he wiU not do against his
promise ; he wiU not break his accord and agreement ; he
wUl so much consider his honour and love, that what he
hath once said, he wiU always stand to. Well, granting
that, I pray you, what needs any bonds ? whereupon com
eth this mistrusting, but upon fear ? So long as love last-
eth, and he standeth in that mind in which he was when
he made the bonds, I myself do not doubt but he wiU
keep them, because he so mindeth : and then the bonds
be superfluous. But if his mind fortune to alter or change,
and so he misliketh the conditions whereto he hath agreed,
and wiU not keep the' covenants, what shaU these bonds
avail ? To which you have neither place of judgment, per
sons of plaintiff or defendant, and least of aU a competent
judge to compel the wrong doer to abide right. And if it
were done, what pleasure shaU the compeUed party have
of the compeUer ? or what trust can the compeUer have of
the compelled? Nay, bonds, covenants, indentures, and
conditions, be far from the free love, sincerity, and hearty
doings of love, when the hearts, minds, and bodies be
united. Can there be a surer bond than that which mak
eth them aU one ? and if they be not so, then they be two;
and what two ? Marry, Princes, which know to rule, and
not to be ruled, and who may not abide to be compeUed
or enforced. Nor is it so meet that otherwise they should^
but only by persuasion ; nor indeed cannot without battle
or bloodshed. I think an article comprised in the condi
tions by act of Parliament with King Philip was, that we
should not for his cause enter into war with France. , But

THE APPENDIX. 255
yet I trow we did, to our no small loss. And you heard
rehearsed by Agamus, how well Jaques de la Narde kept
his bonds to Queen Jane of Naples.
But let us leave aU this, and have respect only to our \
gain, and that the Queen's Majesty shall have her honour
and power marvellously advanced, and her dominion en
larged into I cannot teU how many miles. This is the fair
show: look what followeth. The greater monarchy, the
larger frontiers ; the more garrisons, the more intricate
titles, the more ready occasions for war : which must
needs be the consuming of money, of disquieting her sub
jects, of emptying the realm of able men. We had two
Emperors of Rome came out of the isle when it was Bri
tain, Constant and Constantine. This, you will say, was a
great honour to the realm, that a nobleman of England
should hold the crown of the empire : not now, when it is
in manner but little, but then, when to be Emperor of
Rome was to rule aU the world. And so would I say too,
if I did not consider as weU the sequel thereof as the first
fair show. For in taking the power from hence, they took
so many of the good warriors, expert captains, taU and
likely men ; that they left the Britains so weak, that the
Scots, and Princes over them, overcame them in every
place. They were fain to ask aid of the Saxons : and of
them who came for their aid, they and their posterity for
ever were driven down, out of, the whole country of Eng
land, into the barren mountains of Wales. King Edward
III. a Prince most vahant and victorious, with those victo
ries in France, and continual carrying over of men, to peo
ple such towns, cities, and fortresses as he had won there,
did make the people here at home so thin, and those that
were left so desirous rather to spoU than to labour, that
from the twentieth of his reign to the twenty-sixth or
twenty-seventh, he and all the CouncU of the realm were
most troubled and occupied, how to cause the fields of
England to be tiUed ; as may appear by the acts of Par
liament made in that space. And if this disadvantage be

256 THE APPENDIX.
in victory, what shaU be in the loss ? If it be thus in con
quering, what shaU it be in being overcome ?
As for such wars as we have for our own to do, I have
not seen it, neither read, but with our own nation we
have been able to man them weU enough ; and have not
used, or have not much been helped with the power of
other Princes allied. Which thing also Nicolao MichiaveUi
i hath noted. And road you the histories, and you shaU see,
| that when we had. most help of them, then least was done.
| And first of France, at Agincourt, at Cressy, and at Poi
tiers, wherein the greatest battles were foughten, and the
most noble victories obtained, there was but our own na
tion, and the King of England's subjects. King Edward
I. in so often conquering aU Scotland used but his own
subjects. And hitherto sith the time of William the Con
queror, we have, thanks be to God, been able to defend
ourselves against the French and the Scots, always aUied
together, without the help of foreign aid. So that we have
at the end saved our realm, and rather gotten of them
than lost. And King Henry VIII.. marrying at home, did
not oidy save, but also got both in France and Scotland;
and kept also that which he had gotten. Queen Mary
having by marriage aU these helps, which you so greatly
praise, so far she was from getting now, that she lost that
which was gotten by her ancestors, and had been kept by
I the English so long.
But because we shaU better and more near at hand see
the advantage of heaping realms together, King Edward
III. and the Black Prince got almost aU France. His next
successor therefore must needs have his power marvel
lously increased. So may it appear. For thoUgh he were
confessed the right heir, yet a nobleman of this realm of
England bereaved him of both France and England. King
Henry V. again drove the Dauphin to a very strait room
in France. Wherefore by your reason his power must be
marveUously augmented, which he did leave to his son.
Did not a Duke of his realm dispossess him of his crown,

THE APPENDIX. 257
for aU the help that Queen Margaret his wife, and daugh
ter to Reigner Duke of Anjou, and King of Sicily/Naples,
and of Jerusalem, could bring from her father, and all
those four realms, to the aid of her husband, or the Prince
her son : so that for that matter the Italian proverb seem
eth true, Chi troppe abbraccia poco stringe, " He that
" embraceth too much, holdeth fast but a little."
Now for increase of riches, let us go as near. Many
would judge that the getting and keeping of Boulogne
and Boulognois in France, now in the time of King Henry
VIII. and the obtaining and holding of Haddington, and
the Peethes, and a great part of the Lowdian in Scotland,
should have brought in great riches to this realm. It was
that almost beggared England : for thereby our fine gold
was conveyed away, our good silver appeared not, our
massy and old plate was melted; and every man seeth
that not only our good coin was wonderfully consumed,
but that which was left, piteously altered and made worse;
the gold much debased ; arid at the last, for sterling silver
we had two parts of copper, and scarce the third part true
metal remaining in the coin : which now, without any
such revenues, either out of France or Scotland, thanks be
to God and the Queen's Highness, beginneth well to
amend again. Whether think you King Henry IV. which
had but England, left his kingdom richer to his son King
Henry V. than he, with all his conquests, to his son King
Henry VI. who had nothing in France but Calais ? Did
not King Henry VII. leave more riches in his coffers to
King Henry VIII. who conquered both in France and
Scotland, than he left to King Edward VI. ? And do you
not perceive that Queen Mary, who wrote that she was
Queen of so many kingdoms, Duchess of so many duke
doms, Marchioness and Countess of so many marchionates
and earldoms, &c. did not leave less riches in her coffers
and wealth in the realm, at the time of her death, than
ever any of her progenitors did ?
My masters, say what you wUl, and call me as it please
you, either enemy to strangers, the pattern or idea of an

258 THE APPENDIX.
old Englishman, Home-friend, or what you list, I say and
see that^tls England alone that shall make her High
ness strong; England, and no other, her true patrimony,
riches, power, and strength, whereto she must trust;
England, her Highness's native country alone, being weU
tilled and governed, shall be better to her Majesty in the
end, than aU those empires, kingdoms, dukedoms, and
marchionates, and other rabblements of gay titles, which
are but wind and shadows, and makers of cares and costsj/[
which are no profit, but rather hindrance and lossjas at f
last wiU be proved, and, as you may perceive by these dis-i
courses, her predecessors have proved./Nolv^'l^rPh^
loxenus, or Lewelyn, or Love-ahen, (for I thank my god
father neither you nor I can lack names,) I have suffi
ciently, as methinketh, answered you to your six parts,
causes, or occasions, which you make of marriage.
You see, that for succession, that Prince shaU be to the
realm most loving, most tender, and most natural, which
hath both his parents mere English: and such an one
hath England most cause to love, who is mere hers, of
whom no other region may claim any part. You see that
for pleasure, comfort, and joy, which in matrimony the
one should have of the other, the Englishman for likeness
of manners, for naturalness of education, yea, and because
he is most tried and best known, is most likely to be more
kind, loving, and natural, than the stranger ; who is both
different in tongue and manners, rather stumbled on by
fortune, than chosen by certainty. You see how it is to
the realm most honourable, and to her Grace most aUow
able, not to despise and contemn, or to reckon inferior to
any other country men, those which her own region and_
country bringeth up. Ye see that strength, which foreign'
Princes' bring, is rather a weakening than a strengthening,
rather to be suspected than trusted. Ye see also, that the
stranger ever is like to have, and also more like to impo
verish, than to enrich the realm : and that the realm itself,
by good government, both is able enough to enrich the
Princes thereof, and hath enriched them, when they have

THE APPENDIX. 259
been contented alone with it, rather than when they have1!
sought and gotten great augmentations of other countries.]*
Wfiich things if you wiU weigh in a just pair of balances,
without being affected so much as you are to strangers, I
do not doubt but ye wiU condescend now at the last to my
opinion and judgment, and think, as ever I have thought,
that for aU purposes it were better for the Queen's Ma
jesty, if it could stand with her pleasure, to marry an Eng
lishman, than any other stranger whatsoever he be.
Nay, said he whom they called Mr. Godfather, stam
mering after his manner, speak to me, man, that am indif
ferent, never speak to him. For ye are not so far in with
England and Enghshmen, as he is with strangers ; or to
this our host here. Let him give judgment ; for he hath
been attentive enough ; I am sure he hath borne away all
that hath been spoken. Come on, quoth he to me, what
say you to the matter? Marry, quoth I, it were a pre
sumption indeed to speak before my prince, without com
mission. I trust her Highness shortly wiU give sentence
herself: and not with words, but with deeds, shew who
took the better part to the great contentation of us aU.
But yonder hath one stood a good while to caU us to sup
per. I have caused him to stay whnst aU were ended.
Why, is it supper- time so soon? quoth one of them: it
may be so by the day, but methought the time was very
short. So it appeared to me, quoth I ; but supper tarrieth
for you. Well, we must obey our host, said they ; and so
walked in fair and softly, jesting one with another at their -
new names.

260 THE APPENDIX.
Number IV.
To the King's most excellent Majesty.
The humble petition of Thomas Smith, Esquire ; uncle
and heir of Edward Smith, Esquire, deceased; son and
heir of Sir William Smith the younger ; and heir of
Sir William Smith the elder; who was nephew and
heir of Sir Thomas Smith, Knight, deceased; sheweth,
-L HAT the said Sir Thomas Smith, the petitioner's an
cestor, had the honour to serve as Secretary of State to
your Majesty's most noble progenitor Queen Elizabeth of
happy memory, and served her in that employment faith
fully many years. And in the thirteenth year of her reign,
the said late Queen did make a grant, by letters patents
under the great seal, to the said Sir Thomas Smith, and
Thomas his then son, and heir apparent, of divers manors,
castles, and lands thereto belonging, in the county of
Downe in the realm of Ireland: which were then pos
sessed by divers persons, who were in actual rebeUion
against her Highness,' with command, that the said Sir
Thomas Smith should enter upon the parts infested by
the said rebels, and by force of arms obtain the same from
them. And the said Sir Thomas Smith did at his great charge
raise an army, and entered those parts, and gained them
unto their due obedience : in which said service the said
Thomas, his son, was slain. And then the said Sir Thomas
Smith assigned the said Sir William Smith, his nephew,
to take the charge of prosecution of that war, and came
over to England to attend the further service of her Ma
jesty, and to solicit her Majesty, that the lands might be
surveyed, and the rents ascertained, and his grant and title
perfected. And her Majesty taking notice of such the
great service of the said Sir Thomas Smith, was pleased
several times graciously to declare, that her royal inten-

THE APPENDIX. 261
tions to the said Sir Thomas Smith should be made
good. But by reason of the many great troubles falling
out in her time, the same was not done during all the time
of her reign.
And afterwards the said Sir WiUiam Smith the elder
was commanded by the said Queen upon service into
Spain ; and upon his departure out of England, he desired
Sir James HamUton, Knight, to prosecute his said grant
on the said Sir Wnliam's behalf, and procure the same for
him. And the said Sir James Hamilton, in the time of
your noble grandfather King James, upon some undue
pretences, contrary to the trust in him reposed by the said
Sir WiUiam Smith, obtained the said lands to be granted
to himself, upon pretence of a valuable consideration paid ;
which, in truth, was never paid. But, in truth, according
to the intention of the late Queen, the said lands are the
right of your petitioner.
That Sir WUliam Smith died about forty years since ;
and Sir WiUiam, his son and heir, since died, and left his
son and heir, an infant of two years old; and until he
came at age, nothing could be done. And the troublesome
times happening since his death, the petitioner and his
ancestors have sit down by the loss. Yet your petitioner
hopeth that that long discontinuance shall not be a bar to
his just right :
But humbly prayeth your Majesty to cause an ex
amination of the premises to be made, and certified
to your Majesty; and then the petitioner hopes,
that when the truth of the fact shall appear, your
Majesty will be graciously pleased to do therein,
for the petitioner's relief, what shaU be agreeable
to justice. And your petitioner shall, &c.
At the Court at Whitehall, 14 Nov. 1660.
His Majesty is pleased to refer this petition to the
Right Honourable Sir Maurice Eustace, Lord ChanceUor
of Ireland; who having examined and considered the
s 3

262 THE APPENDIX.
contents and allegations of this petition, is to certify his
Majesty how he findeth the same, and what his Lordship
cOnceiveth to be just and fit for his Majesty to do therein,
and then his Majesty wiU declare his further pleasure.
EDW. NICHOLAS.

Sir Maurice Eustace's Certificate.
It may please your ExceUent Majesty,
I have, according to your Majesty's gracious reference,
considered the petition of Thomas Smith, Esquire: and
considering that the petitioner doth ground his title upon
a patent made 13 Elizabeth unto his ancestors, and that
the said title hath been very much controverted, and the
possession gone for a long time against the petitioner, and
some descents last ; I humbly conceive that it is neither
fit nor convenient for your Majesty to determine this cause
upon a paper petition. But your Majesty, in regard your
courts of justice in Ireland will be soon open, may be
pleased to leave all parties pretending interest to the said
lands to your Majesty's courts of justice, in that your
kingdom, to be proceeded in as they shall be advised by
their counsel. And the rather for that the Earl of Clan-
brazil, who is interested in the said lands by descent from
his father, is a minor, and under years, and cannot be con
cluded by any order which can be made against him dur
ing his minority. All which is humbly submitted to your
Majesty's judgment.
MAURICE EUSTACE, Cane.

THE APPENDIX. 26*

Num. V.
Sir Thomas Smith's Tables of Money. And for the re
ducing the Roman monies to the English standard.
Table I.
In the pound weight of silver there is, of current monies,
Groats irence. the ounce at 20d.
the ounce at 2s.
the ounce at 2s. 8d.
the ounce at 2s. 9d. q. \ of a q.
the ounce at 3s.
the ounce at 3s. 4d.
the ounce at 3s. 8d.
the ounce at 4s.
the ounce at 5s.
» This Budaeus maheth the Roman standard, adding to it half an ounce.
b This I take to be the Roman standard.
c The standard 1568. reg. Eliz. 9.

Sh.

D.

VTIUrtlS
current.

Pence.

20

0

60

240

24

0

72

284

32

0

96

a384

33

4

100

^400

36

0

108

432

40

0

120

480

44

0

132

528

48

0

144

576

60

0

180

c720

S4

264

THE APPENDIX.

Table II.
When the standard money is at 20d. the ounce.

Groats. Fence.

Aco&exarijfiO-piov Uncia
Semuncia
Duella Siciliquus

1

2^

20 10 6§

Half
pence. 4020

Far
things.

Grains Fr.

80 576

40
26^

288 192

Didrachmum J * ?

10 20 144

Grains Eng. 640
320213| 160

Sextula
The Angel
Dena. Rom.
Drachma Half Real

1
y
r

9 I
TS

Half Angel
Sterling Penny
Scrupulusvel Denarius £.
Gallic.

There is » third Table, when 7 groats, viz. 2s. 4d.
made the ounce, shewing how many pence, half
pence, farthings, and Q. were required to make
each piece accord with the Roman Semuncia, Du
ella, Sicilicus Regalis, Denarius primus, Sextula
Angelatus, Denarius secundus, Drachma, Scrupu
lus, Obolus. A fourth Table, when 8 groats, viz.
2s. 3d. made the ounce. A fifth, when 10 groats,
viz. 3s. 4d. made the ounce. A sixth, when 5 groats,
viz. 20d. made the ounce. A seventh, when 8 groats,
y, or 2s. 9jd. made the ounce. An eighth, when
15 groats, or 5s. make the ounce. All which Tables
I will pass over, and set down only the last, because
that is the present standard at this day. .

| ,\y Unciae
}, J Unciae
"I*

Drachm.

OjoIus

Semiobolus

Ceratium

M

c Unciae

| Scrup.
(.4 Drachm.

|Obol

{V
l ITS"

•{¦

Drachm. Unciae

Drachm. Unciae

THE APPENDIX. 265
Table VIII.
When 15 groats, or 5 shillings, make the ounce.

Groats.

Pence.

Ob.

Qrs.

Q.

c.

1

15

60

120

240

480

960

Uncia

I
5

71

30

60

120

240

480

Semuncia

I

5

20

40

80

160

320

Duella

i

H

15

30

60

120

240

Sicilicus

i
T
T

3

12
10

24
20

48
40

96
80

192
160

r Dena. Ro.
*• primus Sextula

l
7

2T

8y

17*

34f

68f

137|

rDena. Ro.
1 secundus

i
T i
T
T5

It1 I
*2

n6

1513§
12

30 26f
24 *

6053§
48

112
106 \
96

r Drachma
«¦ Dena. tert

1
TT j
11

1 6
Mr1 I

Ji r
5

101? 10

21 ;?
20

43 h
40

87tV 80

r
TT i i
TT

1 ^
xrr 1 1
1 ' +

4 8-
*rr4- 4

9-V 8*8

18 <V
17-f16

36]*- 34|32

mi
68 +
64

i
TT
0
33
/ 2
15
30
60
Tl
TT
0 0
21 11
5 2f
10
20 10f
40 21§
Scrupulus Obolus
Table IX.
The mark containeth
Sh.
D.
Groats.
Pence.
13
4
40
160 the
ounce
at 20d.
16
0
48
1 92 the
ounce
at 2s.
21
4
64
256 the
ounce
at 2s. 8d.
24
0
72
288 the
ounce
at 3s.
26
8
80
320 the
ounce
at 3s. 4d.
266

THE APPENDIX.

Table X.
Twenty English pence of the standard make one ounce.
Twelve ounces make the English pound sterling, at
1 1 ounces silver, and one the ounce allay.
The pound containeth
Sh. Groats. Pence.
20 60 240 the ounce at 20d.
a32 96 484 the ounce at 2s. 8d.
36 108 432 the ounce at 3s.
40 120 480 the ounce at 3s. 4d.
44 132 528 the ounce at 3s. 8d.
48 144 536 the ounce at 4s.
60 180 720 the ounce at 5s.
» This is next to the Roman supputation.

Table XI.

1

Uncia
Semuncia \
Didrachma | r
Siciliquum j *
Drachma £
Sesqui- scrupulusScrupulus
ypct^ftM Obolus

h

Siliqua

Sh. 5
2

Groats. 15 7

Pence.
60
30

Halfpence. Farthings.

1 3

3 3 15

TT

TTT

0 0 1 3ob.
( Half Drachma
(. Sesquiscrupulus
f The third part
\ of a Drachme
f The half of a
\ Scruple
J The third part
( of Obolus

}

}

7ob. 3ob.

120 6030 15

lq. 2q.

lq.

240 120 6030

7q. 15

1 q. prick

Jofl
prick.

Gallorum. ( Denarios ) ,

Drachma vocatus 1 .  ,
}continet|Gall.co8 J3 Sterhnos 2\

a GaUis Grossus

THE APPENDIX. 267

Then follows a discourse for demonstrating the reduction
of the Roman coins to our money.
TO esteem these by the coins of England which I have.
I have an old Edward groat, whether the third or fourth I
know not. This groat weigheth 8d. ob. of the standard,
which is current (1561. viz.) at 5s. the ounce: whereby it
appeareth, that then the monies went at 2s. 4d. q. the
ounce. The pound then contained
Shillings. Groats. Pence.
28— 3d. 84! 339
I have also two Roman denarii ; the one entitled Lucius
Valerius Flaccus, the other Marcus Herennius. On the
one side iEneas is pictured carrying his father; on the
other side Pietas, with the face of Herennius. But each of
them be too hght for the groat of King Edward. And
these two denarii weigh just the aureum or didrachma of
gold, which was coined in the time of Tiberius Claudius :
which hath on the one side his iiriage, with the titles ; on
the other side a triumphal arch, written upon it De Bri
tannia. Which was found on the WindmiU HiU at Wal
den, about 1 535 ; and brought to me, a Scholar in Cam
bridge, aU black : and it weigheth just the old rial, caUed
the noble of the rose; which is the angel and the half-
angel, and is as fine gold. So that it doth agree with
those coins of gold whereupon Budams maketh his esti
mation. And if an hundred of those denarii made a just pound
of the Romans, as Budaeus doth plainly gather, and as it
doth appear by aU authors, then the money was at eight
denarii or groats, and one \ of denarius. And so, if we
count after our money, the 2s. 9d. q. f- of that standard
maketh an ounce. And so the pound then contained
Shillings. Groats or Denarii; Pence.
33  4d. 100 400 of that standard.

268 THE APPENDIX.
Whereby it doth appear, that the standard in that King
Edward's time, whose groat I have, was of more value and
weight than the Roman standard, yea before the Emperor
did abase it.
I have also divers pence, but they seem to be elder ; for
three of the pence, titled Edward's, with two Edward half
pence, weigheth more than that Edward groat by half one
of Queen Elizabeth's pence. Wherefore I take his pence
to be of some elder Edward, either the third, second, or
the first, and not of that Edward whose I have. Of which
I have also another guess : for they do name him only
Rex Anglice Dns Hybernice, where the groat hath Rex
Anglice, Francice, et Dns Hyberniae. And as I remem
ber I have read that Edward III. or else the IV. was
the first coined groats, where before they used aU pence,
and no bigger coin of silver: as now the Turk coineth
only aspers, much of the value of our elder penny.
And by these accounts it appeareth that Tonstal must
be civilly understood in his addition to his book de Arte
Supputandi ; where he saith, that the Roman pound is
double to ours : for, by all accounts, both the ounce, and
also the pound, is all one. For six aurei solidi, or sextulae,
made an ounce to the Romans ; and so do to us six angels.
Four aurei didrachmales made an ounce, and so do to us
four rials : which be, both in fineness of gold, and also in
weight, all one with the Roman coins. And then twelve
ounces made the Roman pound ; and so it doth to us in
all supputation of money. Wherefore he must not be
simply taken, that simply the Roman pound was double
to our English pound-weight ; for without fail they were
all one. Yet I must needs note, that Budaeus maketh
minam, or libram nummariam, to contain twelve ounces
and half ounce, and maketh his supputation at eight de
narii, drachmas, or groats, the ounce. And so, at 2s. Sd.
the ounce, as it is afore at twelve ounces, the pound con
taineth Shillings. Groats. Pence.
32 96 384

THE APPENDIX. \ 269
Putting to the hahvounce, it maketh
Shillings. Groats. Pence.
32 4d. 100 400
Marry, Budee, to make the French gross francs and de-
niers to agree with the Roman pound, is put sometimes
to hard shifts.
But howsoever it be, whether the Roman denarius was
to be accounted, as I do account it, at 8g to the ounce, or
at 8, denarii or groats to the ounce, and then the Roman
pound to have one half ounce more than twelve ounces ;
yet when Tonstal wrote, by no estimation their pound can
be double to ours. For he wrote about the 12th or 16th
year of King Henry VIII. and then the standard was, as
may appear by his supputation, of the crown of the sun,
which is 3s. 4d. and at that account those groats could
not be the one half in proportion, neither to the monies of
2s. 8d. as Budaeus doth account, neither of 2s. 9d. q. § of
our farthing, as I do account. But troth it is, that at
3s. 4d. the ounce, 40s. of our current money maketh the
English pound-weight, and also the Roman pound-weight.
And thereby it appeareth that the 20s. at the first coin
of England weighed double so much, as then at 3s. 4d.
the ounce it did. And so our first English pound is
double to that in weight which was then called in pay
ment the English pound, and treble to that which is
now current. But the Roman pound and denarii were in
proportion to that current money in the time of Tonstal,
as 120 is to 100, or 6 to 5, which is called sesqui quinta.
And it is to our current money now, I mean the denarius
to our groat, and the sestertius to our penny, as 18 to 10,
or 9 to 5, which is called sesqui quadripartiens quintas.
And so the Roman denarius containeth of our money now
current 7d. \, and one halfpenny ; and which, by the old
and first sterling of groats, the groat weigheth just 12d. of
our current money, anno 1561.
Wherefore, leaving all other altercation and variety
apart, I do take to be most sure which Budee, with ex
ceeding labour, and no less wit than dUigence, hath found

270 THE APPENDIX.
out, that the Roman denarius and the Athenian drachma
was, in the better worlds, and when the surest supputation
is to be made, all one : and that the coin called aureus,
and sometimes Philippei, or other names, weighed just
two denarii or drachmae, and so four made the ounce, and
twelve of those ounces made the pound ; so that it is more
than manifest that the Roman pound, and the English
pound, called Troy weight, or the pound of silver, or the
goldsmith's pound, was, and is, all one with the Roman
pound. Wherein we have "to glory, that our nation hath
reserved that antiquity more than any other that I know.
For they follow aU the pound of eight ounces, which is
caUed the mark; which I think was brought into this
realm first by WiUiam the Norman. For I have certain
coins of Etheldred, or other before the Conquest, whose
silver, although it appeareth not so good, yet the weight
goeth near to the old rate of the English penny.

Table XII.
For weighing monies of gold, current in Sir Thomas
Smith's time.
In this manner following you may weigh aU manner of
gold,- what coin soever it be, with these kind of weights,
which are called pence and grains, that is, with six pence
and four and twenty grains. The twenty-four grains weigh
one penny, and the twenty-four pence weigh one ounce. d. gr.
First, the rose noble  6
Thehalfnoble  3
The quarter of a noble  1 12
The Henrys' noble, the Flanders noble, and the )
double ducat of Italy  )
The double ducat of Spain  5 12
The half real, the ducat of Spain, and the ducat ^
of Portugal and Hungary, and the Flanders [-2 18
rider  J

THE APPENDIX. 271
d. gr.
The half ducat of Italy, the French crown, the 1
salute, and the Flanders crown  \
The old Enghsh crown  2 8
Thereal  4 4
The sovereign  4 16
The Karolus gilden  2 8
The Andrews gilden, and the PhUips gild  2 14
The angel  4
Thehalfangel  2
The golden lion  3 6
The Cornosters gdden  2 13
And aU the gold that is not here named, and current,
and valued, may with these weights be weighed.
Table XIII.
Supputatio nostras Pecuniae ad veterem Romanorum, ut
colligit Tonstallus e Budceo.
Aurei Romani quatuor pendebant unciam. Hos aequant
nobiles rosati quos regales vocamus.
Aureus hie Othonis tempore c. sestertiis valebat ; hoc Bud. Hb. 2».
est 25 denariis. deAss.112.
. . . et 30. 213.
Aurei mmores solidi et sextuhe dictae sex pendebant
unciam. Hos aequant angelati nobiles.
Libra nummaria argenti continebat 100 denarios ar-
genti. Denarii vero et drachmae ejusdem erant ponderis.
Hos aequant nostri grossi, [groats.]
Sestertii argentei quatuor denarium faciebant ; et pon-
dere et indicatura nostri sterlingi denarii (sive pennies)
valent sestertiis.
Aureus rinus c. sestertia Galbae tempore, 5000 sestertia
in libra.
Auri ad argentum analogia 121=1.

272 THE APPENDIX.

Table XIV.
Collatio mensurarum Anglicarum cum Romanis. Ex
Columella, Li. 5°. ca. 1°.
Pes digitos habet 16. [libra] uncias 12.
Passus pedes 5. Actus minimus [a ridge] ut ait Varro,
latitudinis pedes 4, longitudinis pedes 120.
Clima quaquaversum pedum 60.
Actus quadratus finitur undique pedibus 120, et continet
14400 pedes quadratos.
Jugerum a juncto dicitur; continet actus quadratos
duos, pedes 28800.
Agnam rusticae betici actum quadratum vocant.
Porcam iidem vocant latitudinem 30 pedum, longitudi-
nem 180.
Candetum in areis urbanis Galli vocant spatium pedum
100. Candetum in agrestibus pedum 150.
Semijugerum, hoc est, actum quadratum GaUi Arepen-
nem vocant.
Ergo duo actus jugerum efficiunt, longitudine pedum
240, latitudine pedum 120. Quae utraeque summae inter
se multiplicatae quadratorum faciunt pedum 28800.
Anglorum mensura.
Pollex vel uncia spatium est quod faciunt tria grana
hordei sicca et rotunda.
Pedem faciunt poUices duodecim.
Ulnam (a yard) pedes faciunt tres.
Pertica, quinque ulnae et dimidium, hoc est 161 pedes.
Acra 40 perticae in longitudine, et 4 in latitudine.
Ergo acra seu jugerum Anglicum continet in latitudine
pedes 66, in longitudine pedes 660. Quae summae multi
plicatae faciunt pedes quadratos 43560.
Ita jugerum, seu acra Anglica, major est jugero Romano
pedibus quadratis 14760.

THE APPENDIX. 273
Et pertica Romana videtur continere pedes 13 — 3 — 5.
14760 pedes quadrati faciunt perticas Anglicas quadratas
40. hoc est, £ jugeri, et 14 perticas simplices et pedes 501.
Semijugerum, seu actus Anglicus, continet in latitudine
pedes 33, in longitudine 330, et pedes quadratos 21780.
Jugerum vero Romanum, ut antea, pedes quadratos
28800. Ita jugerum Romanum non exuperat Anglicam
semiacram nisi pedibus quadratis 7020.
Pertica Anglica quadrata continet pedes 272^.
Jugerum continet perticas quadratas 160.
Jugerum Anglicum, quam vocamus acram, continet pe
des quadratos 43560, perticas quadratas 160.
Semijugerum, quam haulfacre appellamus, continet pe
des quadratos 21780, perticas quadratas 80.
Quadras jugeri, quern rudum appeUamus, [vel potius
roodum,] continet pedes quadratos 10890, perticas qua
dratas 40.

274

THE APPENDIX.

Number VI.

Sir Thomas Smith's library, Aug. 1, 1566, in his gallery
at Hillhall.

, Theologici.
OMNIA Opera Augustini,
in 10 vol.
Chrysostomi Opera Latine,
in 5 vol.
Origenis pars prima
Origenis pars secunda
Ambrosii Opera, vol. i.
Bedae Opera, vol. i.
XpoirooTOjitojsif iTrioroAaj Ilau-
Xou, vol. ii.
OixBjuivioj, vol. i.
Lutheri Opera, torn. iii.
Erasmi Opera, torn. ix.
Bucerus in Paulum
Ecclesiastica Historia Tri
partita
Galatinus
Biblia Castalionis
Nicephori Historia, vol. i.
Felinus in Psalmos
Clementis Stromata
Psalterium quintuplex
Concordantiae Biblior.
Biblia Tostana
Biblia en Francois
Catalogus Testium Verita-
tis contra Papam
PosteUus de Orbis Concor
dia
Harmonia Evangelica

Biblia Hebraica, vol. ii.
Mahomet, vol. i.
Proverbia Salom. Hebr.
Mases Latinus
Pet. Martyr in Lib. Jud.
Hieremias, Hebr.
Conference de la Mes.
Ma£ i'/*ou Tup/oii
Differentia Reg. Potest, et
Ecclesiast.
Proverbes du Solomon
Satire Papale
Apologie de l'Eglise d'An-
gleterre
De Faux Prophetes
Les Epistres Guevarre
Prediche di Bernard Ochiu,
vol. ii.
'H nouvri AiaSijxij
Proverb. Salom. Hebr.
Flores Theologici
'H xaivij AiaSijxi]
Resolutiones BuUingois
Cent Sermons sur l'Apoca-
lypse
MaUeus Maleficarum
K. Henry VIII. Book
Response de Ro. Prestiene
Disputatio Oxon. de Sacra
mento
De Monde a l'Empire

THE APPENDIX.

275

Cassander de Missa
Paradoxa Lamberti
Commentarii di Psal.
Eusebius Captivus
Ordonances de l'Eglise de
Geneve Juris Civilis.
Pandectae Grand, vol. iii.
NoveUae Constitut. vol. i.
Codex, vol. i.
Repertorium Bertachini, vol.
hi.
Lindwood Compendium Jur. Civihs
Corani, vol. ii.
Processus Juris
Decreta Decretalia Sextus cum Clementinis
De Maleficiis, et Poemis, et
Praxis Crim. persequent.
Pandectae, in 4to. vol. v.
Consuetudines, in 4to.
Instituta, in ito.
Alciati Opera
Zazius de Act. et Exc.
Mainerii de Reg. Juris
Speculum Juris, vol. iii.
Ars Notariatus
Divus et Decius
Instituta ©eop iA,ou
BeUonus et Canciuncala
Codex Theodosii
Tlpo^stpo; VOpCOV
Practica Baldi et Lanfran-
cus
Paris de Puteo de Duello

Suva nup. et Parerg. Alci
ati
Praxis Alciati
Les Institutions Imp.
Axiomata Legum
Praesumptiones Alciat.
XII. Tabulae
Codex in octavo
Digest, vet. in octavo
Decretal, in octavo
Pragmatic Sanct.
Militiae forensis
Les Statutes de Proven.
Fitz Herbert's Abridgments,
vol. ii.
Years and Terms of Henry
VI.
Years and Terms of Edward
HI.
Statutes of Ed. and Mar.
Les Pleas de la Corone
Natura Brevium, F. He.
Thabridge of the Acts
BritonJustices of Peace
ParkynsNatura Brevium
Littleton's Tenures
GlanvUe Old Abridgment of Statutes
Magna Charta
Historiographi.
'Hpo'SoTOj. ©ouxoSi'Stjc. Eevoifwv.
vol. i.
Euo-e|3ios ixxXij(r»«o-T»q.
Titus Livius
¦ 2

276

THE APPENDIX.

Suetonius
Antonius SabeU. vol. ii.
Albert. Crantzii, Danica,
Suevica, Norvegica
Cornel. Tacitus
TlapaAAijX'a YlXooTag^ou
Witichindus, Luitprandus et
iEneas SUvius
Pirrhy Piacii de Reb. Tri
dent.
Dionysii Halicarnass.
Annales Boiorum
Nebressensis Hisp,
Cromeri Polon. Hist.
Olaus Magnus de Gentib.
Septen.
Paulus jEmUius
Polydore Virgil
Chronica di Genoa et Flo-
rent.
Annales Genealog,
Chroma de Nismes et Ar
mories des Conest.
Platina de Vitis Pontif.
Chronica Phrigionis
. 'SiTpuficOV, 2tI^«V0C, n«U(Ta-
via.;,
Histoire Ecclesiastique, vol.
ii.
Paulus jEmilius, et Ferronus
de Regib. Gallor.
Les Annales de France, et
Philippes Comming
Description d'Affrique
Fasti et Triumphi Romani
Les Annales 'de France
Les Annales de Bretaigne
Les Annales de Aquitaigne

Commentaria Rerum Flan-
dricarum
De Migrationib. Gentium
Plutarchus de Vitis
Annales Genealogiques
Boccalii Genealogiae Deo-
rum
Beda & Saxo Gram.
'AirwiaMOv 'Pcoftaixa.
Terrae Sanctae Descriptio
Gaguinus
Portenta et Prodigia
Solinus Aiuj'iajgo; 6 SixsAiairijj.
Aiovutnoj ,o 'AXixapwsHTirstJf ,
Nicetas Choniates
Paradini Continuation des
Temp.
Petri Bembi Historia Ve-
neta
Historia di Giovanni ViUani
Cbroniques de Savoie
Appiani Alexandrini de Bel-
lis Civilibus
Thucydides en Francois
Cosmographia Ptolomaei
Discourse de Guerres Ci-
viles
Asia di Barros
HaU's Chronicles
Fabian's Chronicles
Bavaria; Insubres, Carolus
V.
VolaterranusStrabo
Blondus Herodoto, et il Principe di
Machiavelli

THE APPENDIX.

277

Quinte Curce
Munsteri Cosmographia
Silva de varia Lection^ et
Justino Historiad.
Lucius Florus
Notitia utraque Or. et Oc-
cid.
HardingSuetonius Historie di Guazzo, vol. ii.
Di Nicolao Leonico Varie
Historie
'Aimavov 'Ipsoixa xai 'Avvi-
/3aAixa
Olai Magni Suetica
Les Chroniques des Rois de
France
Ludov. d'AvUa de Bello
German.
Justinus Hist.
XH. Vicecomites Pauli Jo-
vii
Appiano di Guerre Civile
Johan. Major de Hist. Sco-
torum
Paulo Jovio
Leo Arretinus, de Bello
Gothorum
CapeUa de BeUo pro Restit.
Francisci II. Ducis Me-
diolan.
Vita di Leone, Adriano Pon-
tif. et Car. Colon.
Salust. et Q. Curtius
The Decades of P. Martyr
Commentaria Caesaris
Historie Florentine di Ma-
chiavel

Discorsi di Machiavelli
TecoyptxtfuxoL nroXs|xaiou.
Aaepn'ou Ttsp) /3/cov piAoero'ipeov.
Dione delle guerre di Ro-
mani
Ammianus Marcelhn. et Cis-
alpinae Gallise Descriptio
Lambertus de BeUo Ger-
manico
Le Livre de P. de Conde
Continuation de Rabatin
Les Martyrs de Paris
La Response du Gentil-
homme de Henalt.
Expeditio Tunetana
Commentar. de I'Estat de
la Religion, torn, primus
Valerius Maximus
La Vita di EceUino Roma
no
De la Majorite du Roy
Compendio d'Historie de
Naples
Responsio Venetorum
Philosophic®.
'O TlKarcav.,
Plato Latine
'ApKTTOTeAlJJ, vol. ii.
Politica Aristot.
Historia Animalium Aristot.
Ciceronis vol. ii.
nxouTap%oy Opuscula
Politianus
'A0>jv«7os x«i 'Havy^io;
Gesnerus Quadruped.
npoxXoe slg Ti/x«Tov
Aij/ioo-fleffij.
t3

278

THE APPENDIX.

Alexander Genialium Die-
rum
Francisci Pici Mirandulae
RueUius
Dioscorides Galenus
Mattheolus super Diosco-
rid.
De Varietate Rerum
De Subtilitate
Aioo-xopi'S))j xai NixavSjjp
Galen, de Compos. Medica
mentorum
Agricola de re MetaUica
Vulturius de l'Art MUitaire
Rondeletius de Pise. vol. ii.
Cato, Varro, et ColumeUa
Icones Avium
Gentium et Familiarum Ro
man. Stemmata
Macrobius
Lazari Baisii de re Vestia-
ria
Agricolae Scholia in Thefa-
peuticen.
Philonii Comment, in Archi-
tectur. Vitruvii
Ludo. Vives de Corrup. Dis-
ciplin.
Polydor. de Inventorib. Re-
rum
Cicero defFinib.
Budaeus de Asse
Rhetorica ad Hereun. &c.
De Colorib. de Ponderib. de
re Vestiaria
De Divinationum Generi-
bus

Rhetorica Trapezuntii
Li Notti di Straparola, et
Ord. di Cavilcaro di Gri-
zoni
Cornel. Agrippa de Occult.
PhUosoph.
Tsamovwa. Koi/crravTivoy
'I(roxpaT)]5 Galeotus de Doctrina pro-
miscua
Aristot. de Arte Rhetorica
Vives de ratione Dicendi
Plinii Epist.
Cato, Varro, ColumeUa de.
re Rustica
La Maison Rustique
Quintilianus Galeotus de Homine
'EttwtoKu) Aovxiuvov a', xai
Topographia Antiquae Ko-
mae
Apophthegm. Erasm.
Moriae Encomium
Dialect. Melancth.
Lucianus de Sectis
Dialectica Caesarii
Dialectica Agricolae
Demosthenis et iEschinis,
Plutarch, de Platon. Phi-
losoph.
Agricola de Ponderib. et
Mensur.
Dialogues de Charon
De Arte Magirica
Antiochi Chiromantia, et
Convival. question.
II Cortegliano

THE APPENDIX.

279

Le Sympose du Platon
Le Timee du Platon
Le Cinquiesme de Polit.
d'Aristot.
Petri Rami Oratio
Mathematica.
AlchimiaEuchdes et Archimedes
Appianus et Astronomia
Gebri
MeyaXj) o-oVree£ij TItoAe/sicwou
Juhus Firmicus, et Compo-
sitio Astrolabii
Cyprianus Leovicius
Ephemerides Stadii
Alphonsi Tabulae
Haly de Judiciis
Cardanus super Quadripar-
tium Ptolomaei
Guldo Bonatus
Schonerus de Nativitati-
bus
ArmiUa Regiomontani
Prutenicae Tabulae
Tabulae Directionum Cypr.
Leovicii
Abrah. Judaeus, de Nativi-
tate, et DC. Judicum, pla-
nisph. roias
Elcabitius, &c.
Liber Directionum Eras.
Reinholdi
Ephemerides Stoflerini
Cosmographia di Ptolomaeo
Ephemerides Simi Cardani,
de Judiciis, &c.

Tabulae direct. Regiomon
tani
Johan. Pontani in Quadri-
part. Ptolomaei
Copernici Revolutiones
Ephemer. Stophler.
Albert. Dur. de Symetria
Horologiogr. Munsteri
De le steUe fisse
Lucas Gauricus
Radius Gemmae Phrysii
Regiomont. de Triang. et
Problem.
Astronomiae, et Geometr.
Elf T7)V T6Tp«/3l/3X0K Uto\s-
/xa/ou
Hispalensis
Tabulae Berg. Stadii
De Praedictione Astronom.
L. Vitruv. di Architect.
L'Architecture de Vitruve
Le Vitruvio
Vitruvius de Architectura
Lib. X. Euclidis
The Art of Navigation
Supputationes TonstaUi
AlgebraArithmetica de Pietro Borgi
Paraphrase d' Astrolabe
Medica et Chirurgica.
GalenusRueUiusMatthe. super Dioscor.
Dioscorides Graece
Galen, de Composit. Medi-
cam. T 4

280

THE APPENDIX.

Institutiones Chirurg.
Guido
Is. de Vigo
ActUariusEuonymii Thesaurus
Method. Medendi
Fuschius
Schoha in Therapeucen
Gal.
Cornel. Celsus
Alexis Galenus de Aliment, facul-
tat.
La MareschaUerie di Lau
rent Ruse
L'Art Veterinarie du Jean
Mass. et Vigetii
Le Perquirie du Grison et
Ruse
Hippiatria Laur. Ruse
Grammatica et Poetica.
Nizolius
4>«/3ajpit/o;Diction. Latino-Gallic.
Com. Budaei
Grammat. Theod. Gazae
Calepinus
Dietionar. ItaUc.
"O/iijpoc Dantes Petrarcha
Aejixov Graec.
II Meschino
Fabulae ^Esopi
Epist. ^Eneae Silv.

Grammat. Despauter
Eupi7ri'Sou a. xai |3 .
FLySapou Grammatica Hehae
Statius
Aristophanes Conciones Livii
Sophocles cum Com.
Plautus
Dietionar. Hebraic.
Copia Verbor. Erasm.
Aulus Gellius
Horatius
Diomedes et Donatus
©aiju.« fjLctyia-Tpou
Erasm. de Pronunciat.
Qsoyoviat 'Hcno'Soy, xai yvw-
fjtixa
Grammat. Aldi
II Petrarcha cum Com.
WiUichius in Artem Poeti-
cam
Munster Gram. Hebr.
Viridarium Poetarum
Picolomino d'lnstitut. d'huo-
mo Nato
SopoxXij;
Epitome Adag. Erasm.
Aphthonius
II Filocopo Boccacii
Aiovuaiau xo(r/x.oypap.
©Eo'xpiTOC
Di Pet. Aretino Corned.
Comcedia Celestina
'IXi^j Joachim de BeUay
MisceUanea Nanii

THE APPENDIX.

281

'IouAioj woXvhvxris
'Epftoylvijj Theatre de Jaques Grevin
Tragcedia de Franc. Arbi-
tre
Defense des Dames

Jaques Pelcher de Pronun-
tiatione Linguae GaUicae
Petr. Ramus de Morib. Ve-
ter. GaUorum
Erotemata Linguae Hebrai-
cae

282 THE APPENDIX.
Number VII.
THE patent for the New Art, as it was caUed, for trans
muting iron into copper, was there said to be signed Ja
nuary 1574, but it seems to have been drawn up two years
before. For I find a brief of these letters patents with this
date, viz. 4 Decemb. an. Reg. Eliz. 14°. Which brief or
summary was as foUoweth :
A brief of the letters patents of priviledge for the making
of copper and quicksilver by way of transmutation, with
other commodities growing of that mystery, graunted
by her Majestie to Sir Thomas Smith, Knight, Robert
Earl of Leicester, William Lord Burghley, and Sir
Humfrey Gilbert, Knight.
First, they are incorporated by the name of Governor
and Society of the New Art.
They may have and use a common seal for their com
mon affaires touching the same art.
They have capacity to take to them and their successors
any lands, tenements, rents, reversions, or other heredita
ments, goods and chattels whatsoever, in fee, perpetuity,
term of hfe or lives, or other meaner estates; and the
same to alien at their plesures by common consent, to any
person able in law to receive them.
Also by the same name they are enhabled to plead or be
empleaded in any court or action touching the said Go
vernor and Society, or any the liberties, powers, authori
ties, profits, or immunities whatsoever to them graunted, or
hereafter to be graunted, in as ample maner as any other
corporations within the realm of England.
They may have one Governor, and one Deputy, for the
rule and order of the affairs appertaining, to govern ac
cording to laws and ordinances to be made as in the said
letters patents is appointed.
Sir Thomas Smyth to be the first and present Governor,
to hold the same during his life, if he shall not sooner re
linquish the same.

THE APPENDIX. 283
That during his continuance in that office, he may, with
the assent of the more part of that Society, depute some
sad and discreet person.
That they may at al times hereafter, and in al places
convenient, assemble themselves for the keeping of courts,
for the good government of that Society, and al their fac
tors, ministers, or any the workmen, &c. and for the ex
ecuting of the powers and authorities graunted by those
letters patents.
That after the death of the now Governour, or relinquish
ing of that place, they may chuse another Governour and
Deputy, to continue for one year, or for such time as by
the laws and ordmances of that Society shalbe hereafter
from time to time limited and appointed.
If any dy, or be duely removed from the office of Go
vernour within that time that he should otherwise have had
continuance therein ; that they, or so many of the Society
as the ordmances shal aUow, may chuse another, to sup
ply the residue of that term unexpired.
That by themselves, or others for them, at al times
hereafter, and in al the parts of any the dominions of her
Majesty, her heirs or successors, by and according to the
said art and invention, or any other device hereafter by
them or any of that Society, or any other persons at their
costs and charges, to be found out and invented, they may
fine, alter, and transmute iron, iron ower, and every thing
that doth or may come theron into an kind of copper;
and likewise antimony, lead, or lead ower, and every thing
that may come or precede therof, into quicksUver.
That they may dig, open, and work for any mines, owers,
and things whatsoever, meet and needful to be occupied,
used, or had in or about the premisses, or any of them ;
and to do, execute, and cause to be don and executed al
devices needful; or which conveniently or incidently wil
or shal fal out in or about this mystery.
That they may at al times, and from time to time, sel,
estchange, or otherwise utter or cause to be uttered, to
their most advantage in any place within this realm, or

284 THE APPENDIX.
any the dominions belonging to her Majesty, her heirs or
successors, or any foreign or outward realm, place, or do
minion whatsoever, other then to the known and open ene
mies of her Majesty, her heirs or successors; and the same
to utter for their most commodity; paying to her Ma
jesty, her heirs and successors, only after the rate of xl
shU. for every parcel of any of the said commodies
amounting to the value of an 1001. The same to be valued
after these rates : that is to say, every hundred pound
weight of Copper at 40*. English,
QuicksUver at 5l. English,
Vitriol or Coperas at 2s. English,
Alome at 5s. English,
to' be paid after such maner as the subsidy caUed pound
age, graunted by Parlament in the first year of her Ma
jesties reigh, for al customes, subsidies;, and duties what
soever, in respect of the premisses, or of any thing touch-.
ing the same, without manifesting before the shipping
therof fo any customer, or other officer, or person what
soever, the true weight of any such mettal, as shal be so
shipped, in such maner, or to such intent, as by the sta
tute of the 33 Henry VIII. concerning the conveyance of
bras, lattin, or bel-mettal over the sea; and one other
statute [of Parliament] holden by prorogation 2 Edward
VI. against the carying of bel-mettal out of the realm, or
by either of them is limitted and appointed; with a general
dispensation against al the branches of the same statutes*
or any other laws or customs heretofore made, or to be
made with a discharge to the customers, searchers, or
other ministers, that they shal not take any mony for
custome, subsidy, or other duty whatsoever, other than
is above mentioned; nor be chargeable for the conceler
ment of any copper so made and transported;
That the said Society and their factors shal solely enjoy
this privilege for the exercise of this said art, al other
persons prohibited to put the same in use in any her Ma
jesties dominions, or to bring from any foreign parts any

THE APPENDIX. 285
of the said mettals so tryed, fined, or transmuted, or any
commodities growing theron; upon pain of one year's
imprisonment, the forfeiture of the said mettals, and other
the said commodities, and the fine of an 1001. the one
moiety therof to her Majesty, her heirs, &c. and the other
to the said Corporation, with such further penalty as by
her Majesty, her heirs, or successors shal by then- prero
gative be imposed for the contempt.
That hke privUege shal hereafter be graunted to any
other persons for the exercise of the hke mystery, but that
the aid and assistance of their prerogative royal shal be
extended to the disturbance of such persons, and the de
facing and destroying of their engins and instruments
belonging therto, and the defence of this present graunt
according to the purport thereof.
That the Governour, with al such persons as for the
time shal be of that Society, and with their whole con
sents, may make laws and ordinances for the admitting of
moe persons into this Corporation, and the expeUing of
any as cause shal be ; and for the limiting of the divident
arising to every of the members of this Society by the
said new art, or of any the lands, tenements, or heredita
ments belonging to the said Society ; and for the abrogat
ing of any ordinances by them made ; so the same be by
like universal consent, as is abovesaid.
That so many as by the laws and ordinances so to be
made shal be hmited and appointed may put in execution
al the said laws so made for the government of this So
ciety, and of every member therof, and every thing con
cerning the same, so long as they shal stand in force.
That every person admitted into this Society according
to the same laws, shaU be free of the same from the time
of his admittance.
That none admitted in any other maner than is before
exprest, or contrary to the purport or true meaning of
the said letters patents, or which shal be expeUed, or dis
membered from the said Society, shal at any time after
be, or be accompted, any member of the said body politic.

286 THE APPENDIX.
A tenth part of the copper and quicksUver to be yielded
At the feast to her Majesty, for the space of five years after the feast
chad'.M'" of ^ Saints, next after the date of the letters patents,
and dehvered to such persons as' by her Majestie, her
heirs and successors, shal be appointed, at such place as
the same shal be transmuted: or in lieu therof an 100/.
yearly for every year of the said five ; in which the said
Governour and Society shal make any such copper or
quicksUver, at the choise of the said Governor and So
ciety, and their successors ; to be paid on the last day of
October at the receit of the Exchequor. And after the
said five years, either the said tenth part in maner and
form aforesaid, or the sum of 2001. yearly in lieu therof,
in every such year wherin they shal by the said art make
any such alteration as is aforesaid ; and that al their elec
tion and their successors.
That the Corporation shal not consist of moe then
xx persons at any time hereafter.
That al the gains and charges shal always be equally
taken and born after the rate and proportion of the whole
in effect in five parts to be divided.
That every person of this Society that shal privatly
practise this art, for his own lucre and commoditie, or go
about the same otherwise than by the common appoint
ment of the said Governor and Society, shal be dismem-
bred therby for ever, and be dishabled to enjoy any part
of the privnege or other interest granted hereby.
That the said Society may have capacity to purchase
lands to the value of an 100 marks by year over and
above al reprises, being not holden immediately in capite,
or by Knights service of her Majesty, &c.
With a charge of aid to be yielded to the said Governor
and Society, and al the members and ministers therof by
al her Majesties officers and loving subjects, in this their
art and mystery, and the practice and exercise therof,
THE END.