preserve her long to Reign over her People and that his Grace and Mercy would turn all to the best In the midst of these Cares of our Ambassador the Lord Burghley wrote to him of a Matter that put him and his Collegue into a great Consternation It was concerning the Queen's falling Sick of the Small-Pox and withal of her speedy Recovery again His careful Mind for this Matter he thus exprest 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 having 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 Uncertainty 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 Common-wealth 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 Queen's Sickness so her Slowness to resolve and the tedious Irresolutions at Court. Of which he spake in some Passion after this sort That if the Queen did still continue in Extremities to promise in Recoveries to forget what shall we say but as the Italians do Passato il pericolo gabbato il fango He told that Lord moreover That he should perceive by their Proceedings in their Embassy what justly might be required was easie to be done But if her Majesty deceived her self and with Irresolution 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 her self that is to be counted uncertain irresolute 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 rendring his Reason That he had been kept 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 wisht 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 publick Affairs as he conceived discovering as his Zeal and Affection to the Queen and the State so the Temper of his Mind somewhat enclined to Heat and Choler This he writ from Blois on Good-Friday While Sir Thomas Smith was here Ambassador the Treaty of Marriage was in effect concluded between the Prince of Navarre and the Lady Margaret the present French King's Sister Which lookt then very well toward the Cause of Religion and both that Ambassador and his Collegues Walsingham and Killigrew 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 Marriage 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 Navarre 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 Tho. Smith who happened to be at that very Treaty By her Messenger she signified that she sent to him to know because he was a Dealer in the same whether he would not justifie 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 Office that might advance the said Marriage 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 Massacre SIR Thomas being still abroad in France the Queen conferred upon him the Chancellorship of the Order of the Garter in the Month of April as some Reward of the League that he had taken so much pains in making For which he thanked her Majesty and said it must needs be to him many times the more welcome because that without his Suit and in his Absence her Highness of her gracious goodness did remember him About Iune 1572. he came home with the Earl of Lincoln Lord Admiral who was sent over to take the Oath 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 Convenience It was not long from this Time that the old Lord Treasurer Marquess of Winchester died and the Lord Burghley Secretary of State succeeded in his Place Then Smith was called to the Office of Secretary viz. Iune 24. having sometime before assisted the Lord Burghley in that Station And surely it was the Opinion of his great Learning as well as his long Experience and other Deserts that preferred him For his Learning had rendred him very famous in the Court A Poet in those Times writing an Heroick Poem to the Queen therein describing all her great Officers one after another thus depainted this her Secretary Inde tibi est altis SMYTHUS à gravibúsque Secretis Doctrinae Titulis Honoris fulgidus ut qui Pierius Vates prompto facundus ore Et cui solliciti exquisita Peritia Iuris Astronomus Physicusque Theologus insuper omni Eximiè multifaria tam structus in Arte Ut fedes in eo Musae fixisse 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 Physick in Divinity and in a word so richly furnished in all the Arts and Sciences that the Muses themselves might be supposed to
he lose the Favour 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. Altho' 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 Mens 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 your selves 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 do hurt tho' you may For the Tears of the Offended and the Complaints of the Grieved may one Day have place in the sight of God to move him to Chastise you and also 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 advisedly For altho' 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 amd 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 received of others and enforce your selves to forget such Injuries as others have done unto you 11. Esteem much that Little of your own and regard not the Abundance of others 12. Endeavour your self 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 rightous This hath a Line drawn through it by the Pen of Sir Thomas Smith Thimself 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 17. Do not good only for Love neither chastise only for Hatred 18. In evident Cases abide not the Counsel of others and indoubtful Cases determine not of your self 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 CHAP. VII Smith called for to Queen Elizabeth's Court. Concerned in the Settlement of Religion His Iugement of the Queen's Marriage WHEN Queen Elizabieth's Turn came to sway the Scepter Sir Tho. Smith was presently called to the Court and made use of And assisted in settling the publick Affairs both in Church and State The first thing he seemed to be employed in was in preparing a Reformed Office of Religion 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 Service should be framed to be shewn to the Queen and being 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 Westminister Dr Parker late Dean of Lincoln soon after Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. May late Dean of St. Paul's and soon after Elect of York Dr. Cox late Dean of Westminster and Christ's-Church Oxon after Bishop of Ely Dr. Pilkington late Master of St. Iohn's-College Cambridge and after Bishop of Durham Grindal late Chaplain to Bishop Ridley 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 Tho. Smith his Office was to call them together and to be among them And after Consulation with these other Men o Learning were to be drawn in being grave and apt Men to give their Assents And accordingly these Men met it being now Winter at Sir Thomas's House which then was in Chanon-Row Where was laid in a sufficient quality 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. Decemb. 23 the several publick important Affairs of the Kingdom were committed to the Cares of divers Noble Persons and Courtiers in five distinct Committees as I. The Cares of the North Parts II. The Survey of the Office of the Treasurer of the Chamber III. For Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight IV. For Enquiry into what Lands had been granted by the Late Queen Mary from the Crown V. For the Consideration of such Things as were necessary for the ensuing Parliament For this last Sir Tho. 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 employed to give the Treasurer and Chamberlains of his
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 Tenements or other Hereditaments to which any Tithe Arable Lands Medow 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 Mony 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 otherwise hereafter to be made and all Collateral Bonds and Assurances to the Contrary by any of the said Corporations 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 Diet of the said Colleges And by no Fraud or Colour 〈◊〉 or fold away from the Profit of the said Colleges and the 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 And this was no more than Sir Thomas himself had practised long before when he was Provost of Eaton whensoever he made or renewed the Leases of that College The Benefit of which he had well experienced by the rising of the Prizes of Corn even in his Remembrance For this Eternal Benefit to the Houses of Learning he deserved an eternal Monument and so a member of one of them in a Poetical Flight wrote O! Statua dignum Inventum Phrygiaque Columna About the year 1576. Sir Thomas Smith began to be afflicted with that Sickness and the publick Cares of the Queen and State As it is a Thing that is wont to create a true Friendship I mean the Proportion and Likeness of Tempers so it is not without Remark that Sir Thomas and the Lord Treasurer Burghley their Distempers were the same And which was more remakable 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 22d 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 Loosness and all over with Sweat now it fastned it self 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 without Hope of any speedy Help tho' he never took so much Advice as he wrote nor used so many Physicians nor observed so much their Rules which he styled their Preciseness But when all is done added he piously that man may or ought to do the Sequel and Event of Health and the End of Life is in Gods Will and Pleasure 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 Gods 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 my self 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 Tongue And he avowed That if it were at his own Choice he had rather his Disease had taken hold of any 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 Flegm still vexing it and interrupting the most necessary uses of the Throat This envious Disease stopt that Eloquent Tongue of his And that Sweet and streaming Rhetoric which was 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 Muses Tears for him thus expresses Nescio quis subito Morbus sic occupat artus 〈◊〉 quâ—â—lim mellita din jam verba solebat Fundâ—re vix aliquam possit transmittere vocem Gutturis ast imis latitans radicibus intus Haereret nullumque Sonum Lingua ederet illo Qâ—o solita esl Splendore decus laudemque merente He foresaw that he was like to continue a long while in this Condition And be so disablied from his common Function and to attend the Queen's Business But he could not be idle which he said was contrary to his Nature He was therefore minded to follow his Study and take a Review of what he had formerly done and in this â—eathful Leisure as he called it among other Occupations and Pastimes he would remember the Days of his Youth and look back again to his Doings then and now being Old Quasi repueraseâ—re i. e. hereby as it were to grow a Child again When he was Secretary in King Edwards Days he wrote a Book of the Value of the Roman Coins to our English Standard upon a Question Cecil his fellow Secretary had moved to him viz. What was the Ordinary Wages of a Soldier at Rome This Book as many others which he wrote in his Youth he had now lost Two of these he had sent he remembred one to Sir Robert Dudley now Earl of Leicester and the other to Sir Will. 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 LIFE Of the Learned Sir Thomas SMITH K t. Doctor of the CIVIL LAW Principal SECRETARY of STATE to King EDWARD the Sixth and Queen ELIZABETH WHEREIN Are 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 With an Appendix wherein are contained some Works of his never before published LONDON Printed for A. Roper at the Black Boy over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street and R. Basset at the Mitre within Temple-Bar Mâ—â—Xâ—VIII S r. THOMAS SMITH K t. Born March 28. 1512. Deceased â—uâ— 12. 1577. in y â— 65 â— year of his 〈◊〉 TO Sir EDWARD SMITH OF HILHAL IN ESSEX Baronet SIR THE Regard I have ever born 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 Wisdom or Integrity led me at my leisure-Hours to make cursory Collections out of my Books and Papers 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 enlighten 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 tho' 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 Counsils 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 Parentage their Education their Tempers and Inclinations 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 By-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 delightful to others as to my self to revive the Memory of such and represent as much of them as can be retrieved hath moved me to make publick some of my Collections of this nature And moreover I reckon it a Matter of Equity and Gratitude due from Posterity to preserved the Names and Remembrances of all worthy men that have served God their Prince or Country by their Learning or other Abilities And God himself seems to take care of this when he saith that the Memory of the Iust shall be Blessed 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 Accomplished 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 upâ—n his Legs but by his great Wisdom and Moderation tho' he sometimes fell he fell softly and fell to rise again with 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 Linguist 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 Justice which he made his Politicks to comport with and lastly a con stant Embracer of the Reformed Religion 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 Publick so Sir let me add he is and ever will be an Ornament to your ancient House and Family to your â—â—den 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 publick 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 my self 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 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 tho' 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 Rheâ—orical Panegyric wherein more Care is taken to Praise than to speak Truth To which last I have had a very tender Regard being born 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 concâ—rning Queen Elizabeth's Maâ—riage and his Tables 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 Political and Divine Thoughts digested by him into divers Tracts are now t is to be feared except his Common-wealth and his Books of Pronuntiation utterly lost together with all his other Papers except some Letters of State that lie in the Kings Paper-hâ—use 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 Vertue Morality and found Knowledge his Correspondences with the best Wits of his Age and many Elucubrations upon ingenious Subjâ—â—â—s which his busie Head was always employed in I am affraid I must say they are perisht irrecoverably So that this poor Book
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 Iohn 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 Vertue 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 Letters Patents the said Iohn 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 Iohn to the Town was That when an ancient Alms-house founded Anno 1400. the Lands of which were swallowed up and lost being given to the King by Act of Parliament as an Appendent perhaps of the Guild the Parishioners made Suit to him in behalf thereof by this Iohn Smith who by means of his Brother our Sir Tho. Smith then Secretary of State obtained Letters Patents from the King dated Feb. 18. in the Third of his Reign That he the said Iohn Smith being then Teasurer and William Strachy the younger and Thomas Williamson then Chamberlains and their Successors might found erect c. an Alms-house with one Master and his Brother c. and that it should be called King Edward 's Alms-house 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 Merchant of London living in a House of his Brother Thomas'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 Half-penny Advantage in consideration of his Loan the better to assist him in carrying on his Traffick as Sir Thomas wrote somewhere to justifie himself from an Imputation of Covetousness charged upon him once by the Dutchess of Somerset when he lived in her Family Where our Youth 's tender Years were formed I cannot assign but I conclude it to be at the old School in his Native 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 accrewing and an Annuity of Twelve Pounds issuing out of the Mannor of Willingale Spane in Essex for the Maintenance 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 present Vicar of Walden and he from the Inspection of the Town-Writings That there was anciently a School in this place and a Master and Usher over it and that it was governed by divers excellent Orders for its Six Forms and that in the 14th Year of King Henry VIII one Dame Iane Bradbury for why should these old Memorials be lost settled 10. l. per Annum upon it That there was also a Tripartite Indenture for the said School dated Aug. 24. betwixt Dame Iane Bradbury Widow Sister to Iohn 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 Eaton and to teach freely the Children that were born in Walden Little Chesterford Newport and Widdington and the Children and Kinsfolk of the said Dame Iane. We are in Obscurity concerning the Towardliness of Smith's young Years and those Sparks of Aptness Ingenuity and Vertue 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 14 or 15 Years at the most And having brought him thus far to enter now upon 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 Honour Vertue and Generosity We shall take a four-fold View of him I. At the University where his Learning made him famed II. Under King Edward when he became a Courtier III. Under Queen Mary when he concealed himself and lived in a private Capacity IV. Under Queen Elizabeth when after she had much employed him in her Service both in her own and Foreign Courts he piously concluded his useful Life 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 He was admitted in Queen's College in the aforesaid University a College then reckoned in the Rank of those Houses that Savoured Erasmus and Luther and harboured such as consorted privately together to confer about Religion purged from the Abuses of the Schools and the Superstitions 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 Writings 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
generally afterwards received a late Learned Professor of that Language in Basil named Witstein made an Oration in that University lately Printed to confute it and to revive the old exploded Sounds And as he was thus useful to Learning in the University so he was also to Religion He was bred up in the Protestant 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 somewhere of himself all enclining 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 Hot-spurs would have him who knew not what the matter meant For he was publickly known to be a Protestant in the time of King Hâ—nry VIII living then in Cambridge and being there in place of Eminence when the Bishop of Winchester the Chancellor of that University was severe towards those that professed the Gospel and threatned Fire and Faggot-bearing Smith publickly defended them and opposed 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 publickly 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 himself And being a Man of Reputation among them the University made use of him once as their Messenger and Advocate to the Court to address to Queen Katharine Par to whom he brought their Letters beseeching her Intercession to the King on their behalf being now as they apprehended in imminent Jeopardy For the Parliament in the 37th that is that last Year of that King's Reign had given him all the Colleges in the Kingdom whereat the University was sore afraid Dr. Smith repaired to that good Queen entreating her to prevail with his Majesty that not withstanding 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 Advocate and having admonish 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 Parliament his Highness was such a Patron of good Learning 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 her self In his publick Academical Performances he acquitted himself with wonderful Applause and Admiration of all the Hearers And at a Commencement which happened as near as I can guess this Year being now the King's Professor both his Disputations and his Determinations were such that Haddon as 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 another Socrates and that he caught the forward Disputants as it were in a Net with his Questions and that he concluded the profound Causes of Philosophy with great Gravity and deep Knowledge Dr. Smith's Places and Preserments in Cambridge and elsewhere as they brought him in tolerably fair Incomes so they together with his Eminent Vertue and Learning reconciled him great Respect For he had the Lecture in the Civil Law bâ—ing the King's Professor in that Science for which he received 40 l. per Annum He was Chancellor to the Bishop of Ely which was worth to him 50 l. per Annum Besides he had a Benefice viz. of Leverington in Cambridgeshire which came to the Value of 36 l. per Annum So that his Preferments amounted to 120 l. a Year and upwards 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 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 l. per Annum together with his own Board CHAP. IV. Smith is removed into the Protector 's Family His Preferments under King Edward Made Secretary Goes an Embassie Doctor Smith was often at King Henry's Court and taken notice of by that King and was growing so dear to him as to be received in Place and Office under him had he lived a little longer But soon after K. 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 Governour 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 earnestly address'd to him to stand their Friend in some certain weighty Matter wherein not any single Cause of theirs was in hazard but themselves and their All. Which without Question was the Danger the University was in upon the Bill in Agitation in the Parliament-House for giving the King the Chauntries Hospitals Fraternities and Colleges which last Word took in the Societies of the Universities At which they look'd about them 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 exquisite Pen of Ascham their Orator wherein may be observed what a general Opinion there went of his compleat Learning Si tu is es Clarissime SMITHE in quem Academia haec Cantabrigiensis universas vires suas universa Victatis jura enercuecrit si tiki uni omnia Doctrinae sâ—ae genera omnia Reipub. Ornamenta licentissimè contulerit si fructura gloriae suae in te uno jactaverit si spem Salutis suae in â—â—â—otissimùm reposuèrit Age ergo mente-ic cogitatione tua complectere quid tu vicisson illi debes quid illa quid Literae quid Respublica quid Deus ipse pro tantis Vietatis officiis quibus sic Dignitas tua efflorescit justissime requirit Academia nil debet tibi imo omnia sua
in te transfudit Et propterea abs te non simpliciter petit Benesicium sed meritò repetit Ossicium nec unam aliquam causam tibi proponit sed sua omnia seipsam tibi committit Nec sua necesse habet aparire tibi consilia quorum recessus diverticula nósti universa Age igitur quod scis velis quod potes persice quod debes Sic Literis Academiae Reipublicae Religioni sic Christo Principi rem debitam Expectatam efficies IESUS te diutissmè 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 tho' the aforesaid Bills pass'd into an Act which we must attribute in good measure to Smith and his Party stirring in the House to bring it to pass The Lord Protector had set up an Office in his House of a Master of Requests for the better care-taking of poor Mens Sutes 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 While he was in the Service of this Great Duke he obtained divers other considerable Places As to be Steward of the Stannaries Smith being an excellent Metallist and Chymist Provost of Eaton College wherewith he was very well pleased where whether he were present or absent there was always good Hospitality kept Dean of the Cathedral Church of Carlisle being at least in Deacons Orders And at last Secretary of State to the King with a Knighthood By this time he had purchased two Houses one in Channon-Row Which he bought for Two hundred Mark of Sir Ralph Sadleir sometime Secretary of State to King Henry which he Let to Mr. Comptroller for 30 l. per Ann. And here he lived himself in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth And this was the House where the Commissioners 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 Philpot-lane London where his younger Brother a Merchant lived It was a large and fair House He bought it of certain Executors 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 another 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 Mannor of Yarlington in Somersetshire worth 30 l. per Ann. of the Marquis of Northampton it being given to him at the Coronation of Queen Katharine his Sister This Cost Smith 300 l. or thereabouts being Money that he had gotten at Cambridge before he came into the Protectors Service and lent to his Brother the Merchant Of the Commissioners for the Chauntries he also bought the College of Darby which went at 33 l. per Ann. which Cost him a Thousand Marks Which was the Portion he had with his Wife For while he lived in the Dukes Family he Married his first Wife named Elizabeth Daughter of William Karkek or Carkyke of London Gentleman Whose Sister Anne after Married to Sir Thomas Chamberlayn long Embassador Resident in Flanders and Spain Smith's Lady was a little Woman and one that affected not fine gaudy Cloths for which she was taxed by some And by this one might rather judge her to have been a Woman of Prudence and Religion and that affected Retirement rather than the splendor of a Court. For Dr. Smith allowed her what she pleased And she was his Cash-keeper However he used to wear goodly Apparel and went like 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 Iohn Hambden who out-lived him Whose Joynture 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 But we are yet to look upon Smith as one of the Protector 's Family where he fluorished in Places and Honours as we heard before Yet he had his Share of Trouble and Sorrow as the Anger of his haughty Mistriss the Dutchess of Somerset and many unjust Imputations that were raised against him whereto she gave too much Credit Which was the Cause of a large Letter which he address'd unto her Wherein he vindicated himself against many Slanders which were told the Dutchess whereof she had twitted him in the Teeth as Things the World took notice of in him Namely I. Haughtiness and a disregardful proud Temper II. That he was Oppressive and had by Extortion and Griping got a great deal of Money III. Covetousness IV. 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 sitting That he kept no House And That he was a Neuter in Religion But these were mere Aspersions and malicious Insinuations his generous Mind ever abhorring any thing that was base and unjust or unworthy of a Man and a Christian Philosopher And these Calumnies he wiped off assoiling one Particular after another in his said Letter to the Dutchess Indeed she was an Imperious and Ill-natur'd Woman and had taken some Occasion to fall out with him and in her Passion it seems had cast out these Reports before him But Smith was a true and faithful Servant of the Duke and in his Troubles suffer'd with him For he was taken up with him and among those that were sent with the Duke to the Tower Sir Thomas was one Tho' afterwards 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 the Secretary of State as in September the same Year William 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 Iuly the same Year 1548 he with Mr. Chamberlain went Ambassador to Brussels to the 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
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 Cornwal 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 like 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 an Hedge and was Gentlemens Doings I perceive your meaning said the Bishop again as who should say the Bishop of London is a Rebel like them Yea by my Troth said the secretary Whereat the Standers by fell into a Laughter How this Bishop was afterwards deprived and committed and how he Protested and Appealed may be seen in other Historians In October the Duke of Somerset the Protector received a terrible Shock almost all the Privy Counsellors making a Defection from the Court and meeting in London 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 Adversing viz. Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury Sir William Paget and our Sir Thomas Smith Between whom and the Lords at London Letters past upon this affair carried by Sir Philip Hoby The Peril they ran was not a little For the Lords wrote to them that it seemed strange to them that they should either assist or suffer his Majesty'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 sequestred 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 Archbishop Paget and Smith in their Letter to the Lords told them They knew more than they the Lords knew at those Words thay took this advantage as they returned them Answer That if the Matters that came 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 over-powered Smith together 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 Lord's 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 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 For at this Time it appears by the King's Journal that Dr. Wotton was made Secretary Tho' he seemed soon to be restored again In the Year 1550. Sir Thomas was summoned a Witness together with a great many other Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Court in the great Trial of Gardiner Bishop of Winton He was sworn against him in the Month of February being then 33 Years of Age as it is set down in his Deposition by an Error of the Printer for 39. By which it appeareth that in the Year before 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 otherwise 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 several 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 Lord Wiltshire sent to him to whom he shewed some Conformity herein Soon after that Lord went again accompanied with Smith to know his final Resolution To whom he shewed great readiness to set 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 under Queen Mary he was a Friend to him when he was such a bloody Enemy to all Protestants besides In this same Year 1550. He made a Purchase of the King of the whole Mannor of Overston alias Overston in the County of Northampton parcel of the Possessions called Richmond Lands and divers other Lands Tenements and Hereditaments in the Counties of Norfolk Suffolk Bucks Surry and Hertford For which he gave 414 l. 10. s. 4 d. and other Lands in Derby and Middlesex The Yearly value of this Purchase was 87 l. 17 s. 9 d. In the Year 1551. the 30th of April Sir Thomas Smith still under the Name of Secretary was appointed one of 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 Marquess of Northampton went the Order of the Garter to the said King With whom was joyned in Commission the Bishop of Ely Sir Philip Hoby Sir William Pickering and Sir Iohn Mason These two Leiger Embassadors there and two Lawyers whereof Smith was one CHAP. VI. The Condition of Sir Thomas Smith under Queen Mary His wife Advertisements SIR Thomas past the Reign of King Edward in great Reputation and Prosperity But upon the Access of Queen Mary to the Crown as many of the deceased King's Ministers of State especially such as favoured Religion were cast off so were the two Secretaries Sir William Cecil and Sir Thomas Smith And besides the loss of that honourable 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 Deanry of Carlisle And to spoil him of these and other places with the more Formality he was summoned 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 tho' he were a Protestant and had an 100 l. per Ann. allowe him for his
him divers Books which where not to be had at home Thus once he conveyed over Onuphrius and Polydore and certain French Books of Genealogy and Chronology for the Secretary There had been a dangerous Book wrote in Latin and lately printed abroad against the present State of Religion in England An Answer to which in the same Language 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 Strasburgh 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 Strasburgh for him to take care for the Publishing of it But to relate a few particulars of this Book which made no small stir in these Days Hieronymus Osorius a Portugal then a private Man afterwards Bishop of Arcoburge or Sylvane wrote an Epistle to Queen Elizabeth in an elegant Latin Stile being nothing in effect but an Admonition to Her to wheel about to Popery In this Epistle he imagined many monstrous Errors to be nurselled in our Church and with much reproachful Language depraved the Professors of the Gospel This Libel was soon after printed in France both in Latin and French as it was also printed in English at Antwerp Ann. 1565. Translated by one Richard Shacklock M. A. and Student of the Civil Law in Lovain and Intituled A Pearl for a Prince This the State thought necessary to have an Answer to because it reflected much upon the Justice and Wisdom of the Nation Dr. Walter Haddon one of the finest Learning and of the most Ciceronian stile in England was imployed to answer this Foreigners Book which he finished in this Year 1563. Beginning Legi Hieronyme tuam Epistolam c. It is extant in the said Haddon's Lucubrations Published by Hatcher of Cambridge In the Beginning Haddon shewed the Cause of his answering of Osorius and of his publishing the same namely that Osorius had indeed writ his Epistle separately 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 unacquaintâ—d also with English Affairs should so considently take upon him to speak to the Queens Majesty that he diminished the Dignity of the Laws of England and that in general he madâ— 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 full neither Because he supposed as he wrote in his Apology that Osorius might be deluded by some malicious Reports of our Adversaries Haddon's Book being thus prepared the care was to get it published And because Osorius was printed in France both in Latin and French Cecil thought it convenient that Haddon's said Answer should be printed in the same Place and in both the same Languages Hereupon the said Cecil in Ianuary sent the Treatise to our Ambassador desiring him to procure the Printing of it and that with all Expedition And that he would add to it something by his own hand where and as he thought 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 considered over and weighed by Smith and had his Castigations 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 sit to be seen and read for the Vindication of the Queen and Realm Smith also spake to Robert Stephens the French King's 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 Nations 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 Ambassador's leave or no went to Stephens as from the Ambassador and took the Book from him to peruse it for a time But while it was in de Valla's Possession the Provost 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 Religion of England not according to the truth of the thing as indeed 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 and in the Shadow of his own Closet no matter would have been made of it But when he had made that publick Vaunt of his performance by setting it forth in Print and making a Boast of himself to the World in this new and unusual Argument what did he do but display to all not only how ignorant he was of the Institution Manners and Customs which we said he use at present in England but how little he knew of those Controversies and Questions 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 Chancellor one was that after he had read this Epistle of Dr. Haddon he would procure that the Copy might be restored to Stephens to Print it Cum Privilegio or if that were not allowed yet that he might not be hindred 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 Melum a place about twenty Miles from Paris To which the Chancellor gave this Answer That the French Queen was much offended with those Folks that presumed to print Osorius his Book in
doth bring to th one and so much more Hatred and Displeasure the Denying doth bring unto thother As for Example sake it K. Philip desired most earnestly we should make War with the Frenchmen and Q. Mary desired no less to live in Quiet and to have Peace with them the Husband and the Wife in most contrary Appetites the Granting extremely grieved th one the Denyal should as extremely have offended thother Of the Event what followed we know But ye wil say this was when a Foreign Prince did marry the Queen who having War of his own with the Frenchmen must needs desire his Wifes Country for Loves-sake to joyn 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 wil say but their Minds shall be al one whom th one loveth thother loveth also and whom the one misliketh so wil 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 mislike 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 Judgment 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 Break may bring we have too many Examples both amongst the Graecians Romans and â—arbarians 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 K. Theodoricus King of Rome and al Italy and so rightfally Heir of that Kingdom to govern the Realm the better took to her Husband Theodotus a Nobleman of the â—oths 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 Philippe Vicecount of Milain 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 a great number of Riches Thereby he recover'd again the State of Milain and Lumbardy which was before lost This man to recompence her Kindnes and al these Benefits within a short while after caused her to be convicted of Adultery and cruelly to be put to death Iane the 2d Queen of Naples did otherwise She took to Husband Iaques Countie de la Nardy of the French Kings Blood with whom she indented that he should be contented 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 els his Counsillors and so removed her from Administration and kept her almost as a Prisoner She like a wise Woman feigned to rejoyce thereat and to bear it well until such time as she had compassed all her Device and shut him clean out of Naples For which Cause altho' he made War yet was he sain at the last willed he nilled he to live as a Man banished out of that Realm I have read of many being Sole Inheritors and Princesses of many Countrys which after took unto them Husbands who had no better success tho' not all so evil Even in our days Q. Mary took K. 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 incredible 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 living Sole and as may be thought a Virgin did so suddenly choose to marry or rather that she finding the Light 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 â—ngland was consumed Ye see I do pass oâ—e◠〈◊〉 thinâ—s liâ—htly and do not Amâ—lify thâ—◠〈◊〉 Oratoâ—◠〈◊〉 Bu◠〈◊〉 â—â—ould have evâ—ry Piece rathâ—â—â—o 〈◊〉 â—eighed of you deâ—per than that you 〈◊〉 think that I should with words overlade the â—atter I comâ— 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-slip 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 Q. Maries Time married and the Q. Highnesses Time that now is unmarryed 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 Promooters 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 tho' even the Papists altho ' otherwise they lost for their Stiffness yet they be more sure of their 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-Mony good Silver For Servitude Liberty What can a Common-wealth desire more than Peace Liberty Quietness little taking of base Mony 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 Except peradventure we should seem to do as Aesop's Frogs did which not content with the King which Iupiter 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 Cryes these many Thousand years they cannot be delivered 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 himself which is marvellous Encouragement to the Souldier to Fight in the Sight of the Prince where he thinks his Reward shall be according to his Deserts And as a great Warrior said I had rather have an Army of Harts their General being a Lyon than an Army