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 Chapters 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 â—o him than they were at present would serve him to make the Instructions again Wherefore he prayed that Lord to look out the Book but especially the Tables This he wrote from his House at Chanon Row April 22d This Book as it seems the Lord Treasurer found out among his Papers and sent it to the Secretary according to his Request which he had desired to see as he said to the said Lord anquam filium postliminio redeuntem perditum quasi iterum inventum This Book is mentioned and no more but mentioned in the History of Queen Elizabeth by Mr. Cambdâ—n only that he calls it an exact Commentary and worth the publishing After I had made great Enquiry after it without success at length I fortunately met with Sir Thomas his 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 April 25th the Lord Burghley sent a Gentlemen to Sir Thomas to visit him in this his Valetudinary State Which he took kindly and gave him an account of his Sickness 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 setled they gave him a Pill which was as insuccesful as the other For it gave him scarcely a Stool and that with abundance of Wrack and Torment and left such an unpleasant and bitter Relish in the Stomach that he was forced to vomit it up again The next Course that was taken with him was Shaving his Head and wearing a Cap Which one Dr. Langton was the chief Prescriber of accounted of Excellent Use for those that were troubled with great Rheums And was himself present when it was laid on The Effect whereof was to be seen after Eight or Ten Days Sir Thomas was very unsatisfied with his Physicians who for two 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 Smiths mind his Namesake in Plato who willed the Physician to give him a thing that would speedily rid him of his Diseasâ— that he might again Sustain his Wife and Family with his Labour or else be rid quickly For he had no leisure to attend the long Prorogation of thin Diet and protracting Phisic 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 Common Wealth In the beginning of May his Physic having greatly weakned his Body and all his good Humours dryed therewith and his Sickness so obstinate that it little cared for Medicine all his Physicians with one accord agreed advising him to forbear all further Medicaments and to apply himself to Kitchin Physic giving him leave to Eat and Drink what he would and what his Appeite desired And so he resolved to retire home to his House called Mounthaut in Essex a Mannor 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 Will God gave not our Knight his Desire that is a Speedy Death or speedy Recovery For he continued in a decaying consumptive Wasting Condition all this Year and onward the next till August putting a Conclusion to his generous 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 easie and quiet Departure And he never was afraid of Death He was attended to his Grave with a Decency and Splendor becoming the high Place and Figure he had made There assisted in Mourning at his Funerals George Smith his Brother and William the said Georges Son Wood Sir Thomas's Nephew Altham Nicols Recordor of Walden Wilford Goldweâ— 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 University to pay their last respects to that Grave Head Venerable for his 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 Theydon Mount where he dyed On the North side whereof at the upper end there still remains a fair Monument dedicated to his Memory Tho' 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 right side in Armour a loose Robe about him with the Arms of the Knighthood of the Garter upon the left Arm of the said Robe denoting him Chancellor of the Garter Placed under an Arch or Semicircle on which is Engraven this English Stanza 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 Armes which was three Altars flaming supported with as many Lions Round which were these two Verses Written alluding to the Fire or Flame there Tabisicus quamvis
listen more attentively And when Smith had often inculcated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as E and OI they who three Years before had heard him sound them frequently uncorrectly after the old way could not think it was a Lapse of his Tongue but suspected something else and laughed at the unusual Sounds He again as thoughâ— his Tongue had slipp'd 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 corrected 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 Publick They on the other hand prayed him not to conceal it from them but to tell them without any grudging Whereupon he promised he would Upon this Rumor many came together and repaired to him whom he required 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 little he explained 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 At this very time Smith read upon one of Homer's Odysses at home in the College There he began more plainly and openly to shew and determin the Difference of these Sounds Then many came that they might the more easily learn of him vivâ— vâ—ce to frame their Tongues and utter the true Sounds The same did Cheke in his College It is not to be express'd with what Greediness and Affection this was received among the Youth and how gladly they agreed to it The following Winter in St. Iohn'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 not so much as one that signified any Dislike or shewed any Opposition Iohn Ponet a Learned and Ingenious young Man and Smith's Scholar afterwards Bishop of Winton seems to have succeeded his Tutor in this Place For he read Greek in the Schools in the Name of the University near this time and followed his Masters way of sounding Greek Words Next him came into this Place Ascham of St. Iohn's a Person of like Wit and Diligence who read Isocrates He in the beginning of his Lectures contended with Ponet about this way of pronouncing and refâ—sâ—â— 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 Iohn Redman Publick Professor and Reader of Divinity 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 Reading he allâ—dgâ—d a Text in Greek used to read it after the correct Pronunciation And thus by Smith's Pains and Endeavours never to be forgotten by Posterity was the Noble Greek â—ongâ—e restored to it self as it was spokâ—n in the Times when Greece flourished and brought forth Plato Dionysius Plutarchus Dâ—mosthenes Thucydides and others Out of whose Writings he had Cheke produced Authorities that they pronounced the Greek as he taught And by this revived Pronounciation was displayed the Flower and Plentifulness of that Language the Variety of Sounds the Grandure 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 Office of their Orator In his Greek Lectures among other good Authors as Aristotle and Homer he read Socrates and Euripides for Philosophy and Morality His Oratory 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 like to have changed her Name from Queen's to Smith's College Unius Eloquio sic jam Reginea tecta Florebant quasi quae vellent SMITHE A vocari Sic reliquos inter Socios Caput extulit unus As Gabriel Harvey Smith's Townsman and one that knew him well writes upon his Death 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 Unius privata domus Schola publica docti Indocti Schola tota Virûm Schola tota Puellûm 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 Treasurer Haddon Ascham Car Tonge Bill Wilson Goldwel Watson c. Men of great Name afterwards in Church and State Felix qui pâ—tuit Smitho auscultare loquenti Sive illi Graecè dicendum sive Latiné And happy he that might hear Smith speak whether it were in Greek or Latine Thus he continued divers Years in the University till he was succeeded in the Place of Orator by his Fellow and Friend Iohn Cheke and he by Roger Ascham another curiously Learned Man in the Year 1544. 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 Controversie there arisen about his way of pronouncing Greek SMITH having now arrived at some Maturity of Knowledge and Learning and in the Seven and Twentieth Year of his Age it being now the Year of our Lord 1539. 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 practis'd by Scholars in these times to study sometime at Foreign Universities in France and Italy which used then to be replenished 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
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
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
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
see him burie in his Astronomy Nay if we may believe his Poet and that he did not take too much Poetical Liberty Smith was arrived to the very Top of the Astronomical Skill and might be a companion for Ptolomy Alphonsus and Zacutus if they were alive Nec Polus aut Tillus mâ—gâ—â— ulli cognâ—ta cuiquam Quorsum â—go dâ—ssâ—mulâ—m Fuit unus unicus ille Fâ—lâ—us Uraniâ— Ptolomâ— major utroque Et centum Alphonsis 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 In State-Policy he was a great Master Which by long Experience in State matters at home in the Reigns of four Princes and Embassies abroad he had acquired Walsingham that most compleat and happy Secretary of State improved himself much by making his Observations of Smith how quick and sharp his Apprehension of things how grave and sound his Counsels and with what Dexterity and admirable Parts he managed publick Affairs and yet with clean and just hands So he sung that made his Funeral Verses Sâ—cius tâ—nâ—orum insignis Honorum Qui vigilanti oculo SMITHI observasset Acumen Sensissâ—tque acres sensus animumque virilem Consiliumque grave pectus moresque colendos Virtutes etiam raras Dotesque stupendas He was also an excellent Linguist and a Master in the knowledge of the Latin Greek French Italian and English Tongues A great Historian especially in the Roman History An Orator equal to the best and a perfect Ciceronian A Notable Specimen of whose Oratory and History as well as of his Polities appears in his Discursive Orations about Queen Elizabeth's Marriage He had also a very good Genius in Architecture which that Noble Pile of Building at Hilhal 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 tho' the Winds then were very unkind to him Of which complaining to the Lord Treasurer he said he should soon be weary of Mounthaut because he could not graft nor transplant any Trees the Winds that then brought over the Earl of Worcester from France who had been lately sent to Christen that Kings 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 And as he was an universal and thorow-paced Scholar so he had a most compleat Library and kept a Learned Correspondence and was of a very accurate Judgment in 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 Queens Library Libros Monumentaque mille Graeca Latina omnis generis nova prisca profana Religiosa dedit Italicos praeter quosdam Francosque libellos Elizabeteae pius Heros Bibliothecae A Catalogue of the Books which he had at Hilhal in the Year 1566. may be seen in the Appendix And as he was Owner of many Books so he composed not a few himself Three whereof are Printed I. His Commonwealth of England both in Latin and English II. 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 compendious 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 superflous Letters and accommodating the Sounds of long and short Vowels with distinct Characters III. 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 Queens Marriage His discourse of Money and his Tables for the reducing the Roman Coins to the just English Standard I have also seen another large Writing which by the hand seems to be his shewing certain ways and means for the taking care of and for the maintaining 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 Burghley and being Secretary of State to Sr. Francis Walsingham Ambassador in the same Court which are Printed in the Compleat Ambassador And a Bundle of other Letters writ to the Court when he was Ambassador with the French King Ann. 1562. the Earl of Warwick going then in the famous Expedition to New-haven which are yet reserved in the Kings Paper House He was a great Judge of Learning and Applications were often made to him for his Judgment in Matters of that Nature So Dr. Haddon appealed once to him in a sharp Controversie between the French Ambassador and himself Whether Tully were a good Lawyer Which that Ambassador 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 past his accurate Perusal and Correction His Acquaintance was with the Learned men of his Age. As Ramus and 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 enquired 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 illum excantâ—sse 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 1â—68 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 least the first Copy and the whole Invention should perish together And 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