IN the reign of Edward the ſixth, when the religious and political affairs of the kingdom took another turn, and all public buſineſs fell into the hands of new miniſters and managers, ſir Thomas Pope did not comply with the times. He was appointed to no office, nor enjoyed any favor in this reign. He received indeed ſome grants of land from the crown about the firſt year of this king, with Cranmer archbiſhop of Canterbury, the duke of Somerſet, the earl of Warwick, the marquis of Northampton, and ſeveral other principal perſons of the court. But theſe grants were made for paſt ſervices, and in conſideration of other claims due from the deceaſed kingStrype Eccl. Mem. ii. 78.—Some of the particulars may perhaps be ſeen in pat. 1. Edw. vi. teſt. Jul. 24. par. 4.—Likewiſe, in this reign, ſir Richard Leigh is licenced to alienate a manor to ſir T. Pope, pat. 1. Edw. vi. teſt. Maii 27. par. 7.—Sir T. Pope is licenced to alienate a paſture in Bermondſey to Will. Gerrard, pat. 2. Edw. vi. teſt. Jan. 16. par. 3.—Sir T. Pope is licenced to alienate the manor of Broughton, co. Oxon. to William Godolphin and Henry Boothe, pat. 5. Edw. vi. teſt. Sept. 17. par. 7. Theſe are all the patents, of any ſort, which he received in this reign..

The unlimited authority, and arbitrary dominion of Henry, had kept both proteſtants and papiſts in ſubjection. Under ſuch a government they both acted uniformly, and neither party preſumed to claim any apparent ſuperiority. But upon the deceaſe of that uncontroulable monarch, the people diſcovered their real ſentiments without reſerve, and proteſtantiſm manifeſtly began to be the prevailing religion. The protector Somerſet, who had long been a ſecret partiſan of the reformers, on the acceſſion of young Edward, publicly declared his intention of forwarding and eſtabliſhing the reformation. In this ſcheme he was happily ſeconded by moſt of the privy council, who after the fall of Southampton ſeem entirely to have deſerted the catholic communion. The protector wiſely took care that all perſons to whom he entruſted the education of the young king, ſhould be attached to theſe rational principles; and preferred and encouraged thoſe alone that appeared active in this profeſſion.

Thus moſt of the courtiers, yet more perhaps in general from lucrative views than from real conviction, became converts to the predominant party: amongſt which, however, I do not find ſir Thomas Pope. This, at leaſt, ſhews a ſteadineſs and uniformity of mind in thoſe days of change, which afford ſuch frequent inſtances of occaſional compliance.

Nor let it be deemed any inconſiſtency of character, that he, though a rigid papiſt, ſhould have been in the preceding reign an agent for ſuppreſſing the monaſteries, and a receiver of their poſſeſſions. For the demolition of theſe houſes was not an act of the church but of the ſtate. It was prior to the reformation of religion, and effected by a king and parliament of the popiſh communion. It was even confirmed by the parliament of queen MaryStatut, 1, 2. Phil. Mar. cap. viii. inf. citat..

Very few papiſts wrote or remonſtrated againſt the deſtruction of theſe ſocieties. Without the leaſt impeachment of their principles, or ſuſpicion of apoſtacy, ſeveral others, the ſtricteſt members of the catholic perſuaſion, and the moſt reſpectable characters of thoſe times, among which, to mention no more, was the duke of Norfolk, accepted grants of the conventual eſtates.

Even the clergy thought it no ſacrilege to ſhare in theſe acquiſitions. The dean and chapter of Litchfield, and the abbot and convent of Weſtminſter, made no ſcruple of receiving manors alienated from other religious corporationsSee Tanner's Notit. Mon. fol. edit. pref. p. xxxix., lately diſſolved. Burnet tells usRef. i. 251., that biſhop Gardiner was remarkably vehement in declaiming againſt the monaſteries; and that in many of his ſermons he commended the king for ſupperſſing themSee Fox, vol. ii. p. 426.. Queen Mary, in the very firſt year of her reign, made grants of the ſite of twenty religious houſes, and of very large quantities of abbey-landTanner, ubi ſupr.. The biſhops and clergy in a catholic convocation, 1554, petitioned that the pope would not inſiſt on a reſtitution of the eccleſiaſtical revenues, but rather confirm them to thoſe lords and gentlemen by whom they had been obtainedWilkins's Councils. iv. 10t.. And it is notorious, that ſome of the popiſh biſhops were no leſs alienators of their epiſcopal endowmentsTanner ubi ſupr. And Collier Eccl. hiſt. xi. 324, 306. Heylin p. 121., than many other biſhops of the proteſtant church proved afterwards, in the reigns of Edward the ſixth and Elizabeth. The biſhop of Chicheſter, in opening the diſputation of Henry the eighth with Lambert, in Weſtminſter-hall, ranked the king's diſincorporation of the monks with his rejection of the ſee of Rome, his abolition of idolatrous adoration, and the introduction of the Engliſh bible; as a matter of an external nature, and in no reſpect interfering with the eſſentials of the catholic communionSee MSS. C. C. C. C. cxxvii. 5.. The monaſtic inſtitution was no part of the papiſtic theology. Undoubtedly the ſuppreſſion of the convents facilitated the admiſſion of proteſtatiſm: but it was evidently undertaken on other principles.

When queen Mary ſucceeded to the throne, ſir Thomas Pope was again taken into favour, and ſoon afterwards conſtituted one of the queen's privy counſellorsHollingſhead. iii. 1159. Speed, 854.. He is likewiſe ſaid to have been appointed cofferer to the houſholdMSS. Rawlinſ. bibl. Bodl. Hiſtory of Oxfordſhire, Wroxton. But it does not appear by the patents. And Richard Freſton is made cofferer, pat. 3, 4. Phil. Mar. par. 2..

But before I proceed further in this reign, it may be proper to obviate ſome ſeeming difficulties and inconſiſtences, by premiſing, on what ſecurity ſir Thomas Pope, together with many others, held his church-revenues, under a bigotted catholic queen, and upon the reſtoration of the popiſh religion. By way of procuring new conceſſions in favour of Rome, and to prevent unſeaſonable alarms, at the beginning of this reign, both the queen and the pope had given repeated aſſurances that the church and abbey lands ſhould remain, forever unreclaimed, in the hands of their preſent poſſeſſorsHeylin Eccle. reſt. p. 41.. But that the tenure of theſe poſſeſſions ſhould not be fixed on ſo precarious a foundation as that of mere promiſes, in 1554, an act of parliament was paſſed; which, while it reſtored the pope's authority, gave abſolute ſecurity to the proprictors of the eccleſiaſtical eſtates, entirely confirmed their title beyond the power of reſumption, and, at the ſame time, exempted them from the danger of ſpiritual cenſuresStatut. 1, 2. Phil. Mar. cap. viii.. In the mean time, that this meaſure might receive the fulleſt ſanction, cardinal Pole, who was inveſted by the pope with legantine juriſdiction, ratified the parliament's decree: and, that the diſpenſation might be ſtill more ample and effectual, in conſequence of his maſter's commiſſion, the legate enſured even the property of future acquiſitions of church lands to the preſent receiversIbid. And Strype Eccl. Mem. iii. 159. ſeq. See alſo Harl. miſcell. vii. p. 264, 266..

Thus, an equivalent was granted on both ſides. The nobility and gentry were ſettled in the quiet enjoyment of their eſtates; and the pope, although moſt eſſentially weakened by the alienation of that wealth on which his power ſo much depended, was reinſtated in his ſupremacy over the church.

During this reign ſir Thomas Pope was often employed in commiſſions of conſequence. On the twenty-ninth day of July, 1553, he was commiſſioned by the council, together with ſir Arthur Darcy, and othersBurghley's State papers, by Haynes, p. 162., to apprehend lord Ruſſel, Anthony Browne of Eſſex, and ſeveral accomplices concerned in the duke of Northumberland's inſurrection; who, on the death of Edward, had raiſed an army with an intent to place the lady Jane Gray on the throne, before Mary was proclaimed queen. The duke himſelf had been apprehended ſome little time before. For after many fruitleſs efforts, and vain expectations of a reinforcement, he ſuddenly changed his principles, diſmiſſed his troops, and tamely ſubmitted to proclaim queen Mary with all external demonſtrations of triumph and ſatisfaction. Being immediately arreſted by the earl of Arundel, he fell on his knees and abjectly begged his lifeBurnet, Ref. ii. 239..

In the ſame year, on the twenty-third day of February, I find him directed by the council, together with lord Rich, the maſter of the rolls, the lieutenant of the Tower, and others, to appoint a certain number of the council, who ſhould conſtantly remain, and diſpatch buſineſs, at LondonQ Mary's council book, MSS. Harl. Brit. muſ. 643.. For the court, whom the privy council always followed and attended, was often held at different palaces in the country; as at Oatelands, Richmond, Greenwich, and other placesIn the reign of Henry the eighth, the principal places of the royal reſidence in the country were Richmond, Hampton court, Wird or, Eltham, and Woodſtock. In a book of Injunctions for that king's houſhold, given by Cardinal Wolſey, it is at theſe five palaces only, when the king is preſent, that the ſolemnities of the Chapel and Hall are ordered to be kept. MSS. Laud. K. 48.. At the ſame time he is commanded, with the ſame perſons, to give orders for victualling and furniſhing the Tower of LondonCouncil book.. There was another commiſſion, the ſame year, directed by the queen to ſir Richard Southwell, and others, for inſpecting the office of ordinance, and examining the ſtate of ammunition in the TowerStrype Eccl. Mem. iii. 33.. By which it appears, that this department had been greatly neglected in the foregoing reign; or that the queen was willing to take the proper precautions againſt any future attack on her title, from her factious and diſcontented ſubjects. The ſame year, on the twenty-ninth day of October, he was appointed, with the lord treaſurer, the earl of Arundel, lord Rich, ſir Francis Englefield, and ſeveral others, to examine certain offenders taken in Northumberland's rebellion, and to aſſeſs their finesBurghley's State papers, ut ſupr. p. 193.. Soon afterwards, in the beginning of 1554, I find him preſent, together with ſir Philip Denny, ſir Thomas Brydges, and others, when ſir Thomas Wyat, and his deſperate aſſociates, after their raſh and abortive enterpriſe, were led priſoners into the tower of London. On which occaſion ſir Thomas Pope ſeverely reproached Brett, one of the principal rebels, for his complicated cowardice and treachery. A charge which the priſoner could not but acknowledge with much ſhame and confuſion. For Brett, being the captain of a detachment of archers in the queen's ſervice, had privately revolted with all his party at a time of danger, and joined Wyat's army MSS. Annale of queene Marie her reigne. MSS. Harl. 194. Brit Muſ.—This, and other particulars, have been tranſeribed by Stowe. Annals, ed. 1615. p. 621. col. 2.—The manuſcript adds, that during the ſkirmiſh of Charing-croſs in which Wyat was taken, "there ſtood upon the leades [of the white tower] the marques of Northampton, ſir Nicholas Poines, Sir Thomas Pope, maſter John Seimer, and others." This paſſage is alſo tranſcribed by Stowe. This manuſcript formerly belonged to Stowe, who drew from it great part of queen Mary's reign: yet omiting many paſſages. It is cited by ſir Simonds D'Ewes, to whom it afterwards belonged, in his tract, entit. Primitive Practiſe for preſerving Truth. Lond. 1645. 4to. He ſays it was written "by a courtier under queen Mary,—the very autograph being in my library, written with his own hand." p. 13..

In the ſame year, ſir Thomas Pope was one of the champions at a magnificent juſting exhibited before the queen at Weſtminſter. On which occaſion the horſes were richly capariſoned with red velvet and ſilver boſſes, and the helmets of the knights were plumed with oſtrich-feathers. Many Spaniſh noblemen were preſentMSS. Cotton. Vitell. F. 5. MSS. Strype..

On the fifteenth of March, 1554, he was conſtituted, with ſir Robert Rocheſter, comptroller of the houſhold, ſir Richard Southwell, ſir Thomas Cornwallis, ſir Edmund Peckham, and ſir Edward North, knights, a commiſſioner, for examining, adjuſting, and balancing the accounts of ſir Thomas Greſham, who was agent to the queen at Antwerp for taking up money of the merchants of that cityRymer's Foed. tom. xv. p. 371. Pro Thoma Greſham de commiſſariis ad computa examinanda. "Mary by the grace of God, &c. To our right truſtie and wel-belovid counſaillors, ſir Rob. Rocheſter, comptroller of our houſe, ſir Rich. Southwell, knight, ſir Thomas Cornwallis, knight, and to our truſtie and right wel-belovid ſir Edward North, and ſir Thomas Pope, knights, Greetinge. . . . We having ſpecial truſt and confidence in your approvid fidelities, wiſdomes, and circumſpections, &c." . The commiſſioners are ordered to examine, allow, and determine all receipts, payments, charges, and diſcharges, declarations, or employments, of ſir Thomas Greſham, or his agents; to aſſign him, by deduction, an allowance of twenty ſhillings per day, with all incidental expences: and finally to acquit and diſcharge the ſaid ſir Thomas Greſham: to charge and diſcharge all allowances and defalcations in ſtating the account, according to their wiſdom and diſcretion, either of monies taken up for Edward the ſixth, or for the preſent queen. For this buſineſs ſir Thomas Pope was admirably qualified, from that knowledge and experience in ſtating extenſive and complicated accounts, which he muſt have acquired while he was concerned in the court of Augmentations. And for the ſame reaſon, in the ſucceeding reign, ſir Walter Mildmay was deputed by the lords, to make a general inquiſition of the royal revenueStrype. Ann. Ref. i. 13. ſect. ii..

This expedient of borrowing money at an exorbitant intereſt of the merchants of Antwerp, was a meaſure which Mary was obliged to put in practice more than onceCouncil-book. MSS. Brit. Muſ. ut ſupr.. And it had been to her honor, if ſhe had uſed no worſe. For indeed the chief object of government, which for ſome time engaged her attention, was to raiſe large ſums by the moſt irregular methods, or to extort money from her ſubjects. She ſometimes endeavoured to recruit her exhauſted exchequer by retrenching the public expences at home. She demoliſhed ſeveral forts on the river below Graveſend, which were filled with ſuperfluous garriſons; ſhe broke all the body guards, half the band of penſioners, the gentlemen of the ſtables, and the pages of honor: and propoſed to diſband the hundred archers of the guard. But to frugality ſhe added oppreſſion, and her unhappy neceſſities frequently compelled her to the moſt violent and unjuſtifiable experiments. She levied ſixty thouſand marks from ſeven thouſand yeomen, and thirty-ſix thouſand pounds from the merchants. This was exacted, becauſe they had not contributed to a former loan of ſixty thouſand pounds levied on a thouſand perſons, in whoſe compliance, either on account of their loyalty or their riches, ſhe firmly confided. But that tax not being found ſufficient, ſhe exacted a general loan of an hundred pounds each, on all who poſſeſſed an annual income of twenty pounds. This impoſition obliged many of the gentry to reduce their domeſtic expences, and to diſmiſs many of their ſervants, that they might, at leaſt more prudently, comply with her commands. And as theſe ſervants, having no means of ſubſiſtence, by too common a tranſition from that ſtate of idleneſs, betook themſelves to theft and robbery, the queen knew no better method of redreſſing the grievance, than to publiſh a proclamation, obliging their former maſters to take them back to their ſervices. In order to gratify the city of London for paſt favors, and to engage them to aſſiſt her with future ſupplies, ſhe iſſued an edict, at their inſtance, prohibiting for four months, the exportation of Engliſh clothes into Flanders. By this iniquitous combination, a good market was procured in that country for ſuch as had already ſent thither large quantities of that ſort of merchandiſeCarte, iii. 330, 331, 337, 341..

Her extravagancies proved a perpetual obſtruction to the commercial intereſts of the kingdom. Her own bigottry was not always a ſufficient reſtraint on her conſcience, to prevent her from expoſing to ſale the revenuesSee ſupr. pag. 40. of that church, in defence of which ſhe had ſacrificed in the flames ſo many victims. But it would be endleſs and impertinent here, to mention at large her multiplied extortions; and the various imprudent or fraudulent ſchemes, which her exigencies invented for obtaining money. It may be ſufficient to add, that theſe expedients were employed, not to carry on an expenſive war, for ſhe was in profound peace with all the world; nor to promote the national welfare by any new eſtabliſhments or improvements: but to ſatisfy the unjuſt demands of a huſband, who ſlighted her love, neglected her intereſts, and ſolely conſulted his own convenience.

On this occaſion one cannot help obſerving the weakneſs of the human mind under the moſt powerful and importunate of paſſions. Mary regarded her huſband Philip with all the fondneſs and ſollicitude of an uncertain lover. This attachment produced ſtrange contradictions in her ſentiments and behaviour. She was naturally too phlegmatic to be profuſe; yet, from a penurious and economical habit of mind, ſhe ſuddenly became rapacious and expenſive. She perſecuted the reformed with the moſt barbarous ſeverities, yet alienated the riches aſſigned to ſupport her favorite ſuperſtitions. In this ſituation, ſhe was at once deſerted by that cold and ſtoical inflexibility which diſtinguiſhes her character; and the ſedate and gloomy queen ſuffered herſelf to be betrayed into greater inconſiſtencies of conduct, than even the moſt unaccountable caprice of her father Henry could have dictated.

Before the reign of queen Mary, it was the common practice with our Engliſh princes to have recourſe to the city of Antwerp for voluntary loans; and we generally find their credit ſo low, that they were obliged to engage the city of London to join in the ſecurity. But this buſineſs ſeems never to have been ſo effectually conducted as by that public-ſpirited and enterprizing merchant, ſir Thomas Greſham, who began to be employed in this agency by Edward the ſixthSee Burghley's State papers, by Haynes, p. 185. And Ward's Life of Greſham, p. 7.. He was likewiſe employed by queen Elizabeth for the ſame purpoſe; one of whoſe firſt ſteps, at her acceſſion, was to procure money. She ſent Greſham to Antwerp to borrow two hundred thouſand pounds, in order to enable her to reform the coinage, at that time extremely debaſed. But, as a moſt ſenſible and acute hiſtorian obſervesHume, hiſt. Eliz. p. 731. edit. 410., ſhe was ſo impolitic as to make herſelf an innovation in the coin; by dividing a pound of ſilver into ſixty-two ſhillings, inſtead of ſixty, the former ſtandard.

In the year 1557, on the eighth of February, ſir Thomas Pope was joined by the queen, in a famous commiſſion for the more effectual ſuppreſſion of hereticsBurner's Reformation, Coll. of records, part. ii. b. ii. p. 311. "Having ſpecial truſt and confidence in your fidelities, wiſdoms, and diſcretions, &c." , in concert with Bonner, biſhop of London, Thirlby, biſhop of Ely, the Lords Windſor and North, ſecretary Bourne, ſir John Mordaunt, ſir Francis Englefield, ſir Edward Waldegrave, ſir Nicholas Hare, ſir Roger Cholmeley, ſir Richard Read, ſir Thomas Stradling, ſir Rowland Hill, ſerjeant Raſtall, Cole, dean of ſaint Paul's, William Cooke, Thomas Martin, John Story, and John Vaughan, doctors of law, and William Roper and Ralph Cholmeley, eſquires. Theſe commiſſioners were empowered to enquire after all perſons ſuſpected of heretical opinions: to ſearch for and ſeize ſeditious and heterodox books, either expoſed to ſale, or ſecreted in private houſes: to inveſtigate and examine concealments, contempts, conſpiracies, and calumnies, againſt the government. They were ordered to detect thoſe perſons who refuſed to preach the ſacrament of the altar, to hear maſs, to take holy bread or holy water, to frequent their reſpective public churches, and to aſſiſt in the ſolemn proceſſions. They were likewiſe privileged to ſummon what witneſſes they judged moſt proper, and to tender oaths to the parties proſecuted, for anſwering ſuch queſtions as might be deemed moſt convenient for diſcovering the truth, In this injunction however, there is a remarkable clauſe of reſtraint upon the commiſſioners. For it is expreſſly commanded, that if any perſon brought before them for heretical doctrines or opinions, ſhould ſtill obſtinately perſiſt in his error, "He ſhould immediately be committed to his ordinary, there to be uſed according to the ſpiritual and eccleſiaſtical laws."

Biſhop Burnet, whoſe imagination was perpetually haunted with the horrors of popery, ſuppoſes, that ſomething more dreadful was intended by this commiſſion than appears at firſt ſight, and that it was undoubtedly deſigned as the tribunal of an Inquiſition in EnglandHiſt. Ref. ii. 347.. But a ſuperficial reader may plainly perceive, that there is nothing of the form, proceſs, or power, of an Inquiſition contained in this inſtrument. The commiſſioners receive no authority to try heterodoxy, nor to put the offenders upon making an act of faith. On the contrary, they are directed to deliver up all delinquents to the ordinary. And even here the proceſs is to be regulated by the laws of the church. Theſe circumſtances ſeem ſufficiently to exclude the idea of an inquiſitorial tribunal. For the proceedings of the commiſſioners, however rigorouſly they might have been conducted, were not unlimited and arbitrary; but finally determinable by the proper eccleſiaſtical officer, who was himſelf controlled by the ſpiritual conſtitutions of the land, which did not at leaſt on this occaſion, receive any degree of extenſion. The zealous biſhop makes the matter ſtill more alarming, where he tells us, that in ſupport of ſuch meaſures, "he finds it ſaid, that ſome adviſed that courts of inquiſition, like thoſe in France and Spain, might be ſet up in EnglandUbi ſupr. p. 346.." But he does not inform us by whom this is ſaid, nor can I find this advice in any of our hiſtorians. Even Fox, who omits nothing that can expoſe the papiſts, who has ſtudiouſly recorded all the idle reports of the times, and who ſuppoſed that the papiſts worſhipped one god and the proteſtants anotherHe thus rallies the devotion of the people, for praying for Mary's happy delivery of a child, "Cry up louder you prieſts, peradventure YOUR GOD IS ASLEEP. Vol. iii. p. 116., is ſilent on this important ſubject. And indeed if we conſider the queen's late expoſtulation with the pope, in which ſhe declared her reſolution of maintaining the prerogative and the conſtitutionWhen the Pope would have obtruded a new legate, in the place of cardinal Pole, and while he was actually on his journey to England, the queen abſolutely refuſed his admiſſion into the kingdom. Collier, Eccl. Hiſt. ii. 403.; if we recollect that Philip's confeſſor, Alphonſus, expreſſly declaimed againſt perſecutions in the pulpit, by the king's own deſireNeal's Hiſt. Pur. i. 99. Strype Eccl. Mem. iii. 239. Heylin, p. 56. Burnet, Ref. ii. 305.: and if to theſe reaſons we add the diſtinguiſhed lenity, moderation, and candor of cardinal Pope; this project of an Engliſh inquiſition muſt appear altogether improbable.

But whatever was the real ſtate of the caſe, we find that the commiſſioners, ſenſible that perſecution naturally counteracts its own purpoſe, and averſe to meaſures which might probably end in the moſt inhuman puniſhments, did little or nothing in this buſineſsHeylin, ubi ſupr.: eſpecially as to the detection of prohibited books. For ſo inactive were they, that on the ſixth of June, 1558, the queen was obliged to publiſh a proclamationHeylin, ubi ſupr. Strype, Eccl. Mem. iii. 459.; in which ſhe complains, that not only numberleſs ſeditious and treaſonable treatiſes, were printed at home and diſperſed without controul, but even imported from abroad. As the provocation was great, ſo the proclamation is conceived in the moſt deſpotic and unconſtitutional terms. It ſets forth, amonſt other extraordinary menaces, that if thoſe perſons who find ſuch unlawful books do not immediately deſtroy them, they ſhall be reputed rebels, and executed accordingly by martial law. The queen indeed had ſome reaſon for complaint, and for ſubſtituting ſomewhat more effectual in the place of her former commiſſion by this recent injunction. For during the actual ſubſiſtence and authority of that commiſſion, Knox and Goodman printed, and imported from Geneva, a piece entitled, The firſt Blaſt of the Trumpet againſt the monſtrous Regimen of Women Genev. 8vo. 1558.. In this performance, which is full of paradox and enthuſiaſm, they call the queen Traitreſs, Baſtard, Proſerpine; with other terms of illiberal and ridiculous abuſe. Goodman alſo publiſhed about the ſame time, How ſuperior Powers ought to be obeyed of their Subjects, and wherein they may be lawfully by God's Word diſobeyed and reſiſted Genev. 16to. 1558. printed by John Criſpin. Unluckily, Mary herſelf while princeſs, in 1548, yet certainly without any heretical intention, had publiſhed a piece, which of courſe fell under the cenſure of this commiſſion. It was a tranſlation of Eraſmus's paraphraſe on St. John, and done by deſire of queen Catharine Parr. The preface is written by Udall, maſter of Eton-ſchool; in which he much extolls, and I believe not without reaſon, Mary's proficience in literature.. But theſe treatiſes, written chiefly for the gratification of Calvin then living at Geneva, were not more invectives againſt the invincible bigottries of Mary, and the groſs abſurdities of popery, than they were openly ſubverſive of all eſtabliſhed government and religion. Juſt before, a book of very pernicious tendency had appearedCollier, Eccl. Hiſt. p. ii. p. 404., called a Treatiſe of politick Power Suppoſed to be written by Poynett, the deprived biſhop of Winton. infra citat. Stowe reports, that Poynett was in Wyatt's army; but that finding that enterpriſe likely to miſcarry, he fled, and embarked for Germany, where he joined has reformed brethren, the religious exiles. Stowe, Ann. per Howes, p. 620.. Plays and enterludes ridiculing the queen's perſon and government were exhibitedCouncil book. MSS. Harl. and Strype. Burnet.. Libels and ſatires were thrown into the houſes of the privy counſellors; and even dropped in the queen's own chamber.

Amongſt other paſquinades, there were prints, or pictures, repreſenting her majeſty, naked, meager, withered, and wrinkled, with every aggravated circumſtance of deformity that could diſgrace a female figure, ſeated in a regal chair; a crown on her head, ſurrounded with M. R. and A. in capital characters. In the firſt of theſe was written, in ſmall letters, Maria, in the ſecond regina, and in the third Anglioe. The additional figures were a great number of Spaniards ſucking her. Underneath, in Italian characters, were legends, ſignifying that the Spaniards had ſucked her to ſkin and bone; as alſo ſpecifying minutely the money, rings, jewels, and other preſents, with which ſhe had ſecretly gratified her huſband Philip. The queen was highly incenſed at this inſolent and popular piece of ridicule; eſpecially as ſhe ſuſpected ſome of her own council, who alone were privy to theſe tranſactions, and acquainted with her ſecretsCarte, iii. 331..

With regard to the perſecutions of this reign, which occaſioned the commiſſion in which Sir Thomas Pope was concerned, relating to the ſuppreſſion of heretics, we will allow that the queen and her friends had ſuffered, what they thought the moſt injurious treatment; and, no doubt, when power returned into their hands, were but too naturally diſpoſed to retaliate in their own way. Theſe oppreſſions, perhaps injudiciouſly conducted, prepared the way for popery: juſt as the ſeverities of Mary, at the ſucceſſion of Eliſabeth made the proteſtants more violent againſt the papiſts. In the reign of Henry the eighth, the monaſteries were deſtroyed, and the wealth of the church, in which it's ſtrength conſiſted, was diſſipated. Three of the abbots, in the courſe of that tranſaction, were unjuſtly put to deathCollier, Eccl. Hiſt. ii. 164.. Six biſhops, amongſt which were Mary's favorites, and the great champions of her religion, Bonner and Gardiner, were deprived, inſulted, and impriſoned, during the reign of Edward the ſixthSee Heylin, Eccleſ. Reſt. ſub. ann. 1551.. In the ſame reign, the queen, while princeſs, was abſolutely forbidden to hear maſs; a misfortune, in her ideas, almoſt equal to the loſs of lifeSee MSS. Harl. Brit. Muſ. 6195. 26. "Mary had rather loſs her life than part with the maſs." : and her friends who privately interpoſed to defeat the execution of this dreadful interdiction, were ſent to the TowerStrype, Eccl. Mem. iii. 253. ſeq..

But as no religion can expiate, ſo no provocation can juſtify, no reſentment can excuſe, that uninterrupted ſeries of deliberate barbarity which marks every page of her unproſperous annals with martyrdoms, hardly to be paralleled in the pagan perſecutions of primitive chriſtianity. If in the two preceding reigns, many venerable prelates of Mary's communion had been injuriouſly treated, or even put to death, for conſcientious diſobedience, yet none of them were inhumanly dragged to the flames like the meek Latimer or the learned Ridley. It is alſo allowed, that to burn heretics was an eſtabliſhed doctrine of the catholic religion. But in what age of the ſame religion, or in what country, were theſe puniſhments ever executed with ſo many circumſtances of cruelty? Her attempt to reſtore the monaſteries, however conformable to her ſyſtem, was a meaſure, which tended only to bring back national poverty with national ſuperſtition: for it is certain, that Henry's diſtribution of the monaſtic revenues into private hands, although dictated by ſelfiſh and fordid motives, founded the preſent greatneſs of England. In the mean time it will be but charitable to grant, that her private life was confeſſedly blameleſs and unblemiſhed. I will not ſay whether it was her fault or her unhappineſs, that the conſtancy of her attachments ſeldom met with ſuitable returns of gratitude and affection. In this at leaſt ſome goodneſs of heart appears, that nothing affected her ſo much, as the unkindneſs of thoſe whom ſhe beſt loved. She poſſeſſed a firmneſs of mind, which deſerved better times; and a vigour of underſtanding, which was impeded by religious prejudices. Her merits, whatever they were, ſeem to have been overlooked in her misfortunes: and as the latter were aggravated, ſo the former were obliterated, by that blaze of proſperity which ſurrounded the ſucceeding reign.

IN the year 1555, the princeſs Elizabeth, afterwards queen, having been before treated with much inſolence and inhumanity, was placed under the care and inſpection of ſir Thomas PopeFox, edit. 1684. iii. 798. Speed, &c.. Mary cheriſhed that antipathy to the certain heireſs of her crown and her ſucceſſor, which all princes who have no children to ſucceed naturally feel. But the moſt powerful cauſe of Mary's hatred of the princeſs, with whom ſhe formerly lived in ſome degree of friendſhipStrype, Eccl. Mem. iii. 14. 17. 82. At queen Mary's coronation, the lady Elizabeth rode in the firſt chariot, with lady Anne of Cleves, after the queen's litter, in the proceſſion from the tower to Weſtminſter. Strype, ib. 36. See alſo Hollingſh. Chron. iii. 1152. col. 1., ſeems to have ariſen from Courtney, earl of Devonſhire.

The perſon, addreſs, and other engaging accompliſhmentsHe was polite, ſtudious, and learned; an accurate maſter of the languages, ſkilled in the mathematics, painting, and muſic. He lived a priſoner in the tower, from fourteen to twenty-ſix years of age; when he was ſet at liberty by queen Mary, at her acceſſion. Strype, Eccl. Mem. iii. 339. of this young nobleman, had made a manifeſt impreſſion on the queenBurnet, Ref. ii. 255.. Other circumſtances alſo contributed to render him an object of her affection; for he was an Engliſhman, and nearly allied to the crown; and conſequently could not fail of proving acceptable to the nation. The earl was no ſtranger to theſe favorable diſpoſitions of the queen towards himGoodwyn, p. 339.. Yet, he ſeemed rather to attach himſelf to the princeſs; whoſe youth and lively converſation had more prevailing charms than the pomp and power of her ſiſterBurnet, Ref. ii. 273. Collier, Eccl. Hiſt. ii. 352, 362.. This preference not only produced a total change in Mary's ſentiments which regard to the earl, but forced her openly to declare war againſt Elizabeth.

The ancient quarrel between their mothers remained deeply rooted in the malignant heart of the queenCamden, Eliz. per Hearne, i. Apparatus, pag. 19.: and ſhe took advantage from the declaration made by parliament in favor of Catharine's marriageStatut. Mar. i. cap. i., to repreſent her ſiſter's birth as illegitimate. Elizabeth's inclination to the proteſtant religion ſtill further heightened Mary's averſion: it offended her bigottry, diſappointed her exſpectations, and diſconcerted her politics. Theſe cauſes of diſlike, however, might perhaps have been forgotten by degrees, or, at leaſt, would have ended in ſecret diſguſt. But when the queen found that the princeſs had obſtructed her deſigns in a matter of the moſt intereſting nature; female reſentment, founded on female jealouſy, and exaſperated by pride, could no longer be ſuppreſſed.

So much more forcible, and of ſo much more conſequence in public affairs, are private feelings, and the ſecret undiſcerned operations of the heart, than the moſt important political reaſons. Monſieur Noailles, however, the French embaſſador at the court of England during this period, with the true dignity of a myſterious ſtateſman, ſeems unwilling to refer the queen's diſpleaſure to ſo ſlight a motive: and aſſigns a more profound intrigue as the foundation of Courtenay's diſgrace. Domeſtic incidents operate alike in every ſtation of life; and often form the greateſt events of hiſtory. Princes have their paſſions in common with the reſt of mankind.

Elizabeth being now become the public and avowed object of Mary's averſion, was openly treated with much diſreſpect and inſult. She was forbidden to take place, in the preſence chamber, of the counteſs of Lenox and the dutcheſs of Suffolk, as if her legitimacy had been dubiousGoodwyn.. This doctrine had been inſinuated by the chancellor Gardiner, in a ſpeech before both houſes of parliamentSeſſ. ſec. ann. prim. Mar.. Among other arguments enforcing the neceſſity of Mary's marriage, he particularly inſiſted on the failure of the royal lineage; artfully remarking, that none of Henry's deſcendants remained, except the queen, and the princeſs EliſabethAvoiding the term ſiſter. Amb. de Noailles, apud Carte, iii. 310.. Her friends were neglected or affronted. And while her amiable qualifications every day drew the attention of the young nobility, and rendered her univerſally popular, the malevolence of the vindictive queen ſtill encreaſed. The princeſs therefore thought it moſt prudent to leave the court: and before the begining of 1554, retired to her houſe at Aſhridge in Hertfordſhire "Wherein our moſt worthie and ever famous queen Eliſabeth lodged as in her owne, beinge then a more ſtately houſe, at the time of Wyatt's attempte in queen Maryes daye." Norden's Diſcription of Hartfordſhire, written 1596. pag. 12. edit. 1723..

In the mean time, Sir Thomas Wyat's rebellion, abovementioned, broke out, in oppoſition to the queen's match with Philip of Spain. It was immediately pretended, that the princeſs Eliſabeth, together with lord Courteney, was privately concerned in this dangerous conſpiracy, and that ſhe had held a correſpondence with the traitor Wyat. AccordinglySee Hollingſhed's Chron. iii. 1151. ſeq. From Fox., ſir Edward Haſtings, afterwards lord Loughborough, ſir Thomas Cornwallis, and ſir Richard Southwell, attended by a troop of horſe, were ordered to bring her to the court. They found the princeſs ſick, and even confined to her bed, at AſhridgeAmb. de Noailles, whoſe papers are cited by Carte, calls this a favorable illneſs. "Since, he adds, it ſeems likely to ſave Mary from the crime of putting her ſiſter to death by violence." Carte, iii. 306.. Notwithſtanding, under pretence of the ſtrictneſs of their commiſſion, they compelled her to riſe: and, ſtill continuing very weak and indiſpoſed, ſhe proceeded in the queen's litter by ſlow journies to LondonHer manner of coming to London is thus deſcribed in a manuſcript chronicle, often cited hereafter, "The ſame tyme and daye, between four and fyve of the cloke at night, my lady Eliſabeth's grace came to London, through Smithfielde, untoo Weſtminſter, with c. velvet cotts after her grace. And her grace rod in a charytt opyn on both ſydes: and her grace [had] ryding after her a 100. in cotts of fyne redde gardyd with velvett; and ſo through fletſtrete unto the court through the quenes garden, hir grace being ſycke." MSS. Cotton, Vitell. F. 5.. At the court, they kept her confined and without company, for a fortnight: after which, biſhop Gardiner, who well knew her predominant diſpoſition to cabal and intrigue, with nineteen others of the council, attended to examine her concerning the rebellion of which ſhe was accuſed. She poſitively denied the accuſation. However they informed her, it was the queen's reſolution the ſhould be committed to the Tower, till further enquiries could be madeHollingſhead, ut ſupr.. The princeſs immediately wrote to the queen, earneſtly entreating that ſhe might not be impriſoned in the Tower, and concluding her letter thus: "As for that Traytor Wiat, he might paraventur write me a letter; but on my faith I never receved any from him. And as for the copie of my letter ſent to the Frenche king, I pray God confound me eternally, if ever I ſent him word, meſſage, token, or letter, by any menesCamden's Eliz. per Hearne, vol i. editor. praefat. p. 78." Her oaths, and her repeated proteſtations of innocence were all ineffectual. She was conveyed to the tower, and ignominiouſly conducted through the Traitor's gateMay 18. As MSS. Cott. Vitell. F. 5..

At her firſt commitment, only three men and three women of the queen's ſervants, were appointed for her attendants. But even theſe were forbidden to bring her meat; and ſhe was waited on, for this purpoſe, by the lieutenant's ſervants, or even by the common ſoldiers. But afterwards, two yeomen of her chamber, one of her robes, two of her pantry and ewry, one of her buttery, one of her cellar, another of her larder, and two of her kitchen, were allowed, by permiſſion of the privy council, to ſerve at her table. No ſtranger, or viſitor, was admitted into her preſence. The conſtable of the tower, ſir John Gage, treated her very ſeverely, and watched her with the utmoſt vigilance. Many of the other priſoners, committed to the ſame place on account of the rebellion, were often examined about her concern in the conſpiracy: and ſome of them were put to the rack, by way of extorting an accuſation. Her innocence however was unqueſtionable: for although Wyat himſelf had accuſed her, in hopes to have ſaved his own life by means of ſo baſe and ſcandalous an artifice, yet he afterwards denied that ſhe had the leaſt knowledge of his deſigns; and leſt thoſe denials which he made at his examinations might be inſidiouſly ſuppreſſed, and his former depoſitions alledged againſt her adopted in their ſtead, he continued to make the ſame declarations openly on the ſcaffold at the time of his executionHollingſhead, ut ſupr.,

There was a pretence, much inſiſted on by Gardiner, that Wyat had conveyed to her a bracelet, in which the whole ſcheme of the plot was incloſed. But Wyat acquitted her of this and all other ſuſpicionsStrype, Eccl. Mem. iii. 97.. After a cloſe impriſonment of ſome days, by the generous interceſſion of lord Chandois, lieutenant of the tower, it was granted that ſhe might ſometimes walk in the queen's lodgingsConcerning theſe apartments in the Tower, ſee the very judicious and ingenious Mr. Walpole's Hiſtoric Doubts concerning Richard the Third. , in the preſence of the conſtable, the lieutenant, and three of the queen's ladies; yet on condition that the windows ſhould be ſhut. She then was indulged with walking in a little garden, for the ſake of freſh air: but all the ſhutters which looked towards the garden were ordered to be kept cloſe.

Such were their jealouſies, that a little boy of four years old who had been accuſtomed every day to bring her flowers, was ſeverely threatened if he came any more; and the child's father was ſummoned and rebuked by the conſtable. But lord Chandois being obſerved to treat the princeſs with too much reſpect, he was not any longer entruſted with the charge of her; and ſhe was committed to the cuſtody of ſir Henry Bedingfield, of Oxburgh in NorfolkHe was firmly attached to the queen's intereſts. Beſide his Government of the Tower, he was knight marſhal of the queen's army, captain of her guards, vice-chamberlain to the queen, and a privy counſellor. She alſo granted him a yearly pention of 100 l. for life, and part of the forſeited eſtate of ſir Thomas Wyat. Blomefield's Norfolk, iii. 481. He is often, by miſtake, written Beningfield, Benfield, &c., a perſon whom ſhe had never ſeen nor knew before. He brought with him a new guard of one hundred ſoldiers, cloathed in blue; which the princeſs obſerving, aſked with her uſual livelineſs, If lady Jane's ſcaffold was yet taken away?

About the end of May ſhe was removed from the tower under the command of ſir Henry Bedingfield, and lord Williams of Thame, to the royal manor or palace at WoodſtockMSS. Cotton. Vitel. F. 5. "The xx daye of May my ladie Eliſabeth, the quenes ſiſter, came out of the tower, and toke hir barge at the tower-wharffe and ſo to Rychmond, and from thens unto Wyndſor, and ſo to Wodſtoke." . The firſt night of her journey ſhe lay at Richmond; where being watched all night by the ſoldiers, and all acceſs of her own private attendants utterly prohibited, ſhe began to be convinced, that orders had been given to put her privately to death. The next day ſhe reached Windſor, where ſhe was lodged in the Dean's houſe near ſaint George's collegiate chapel. She then paſſed to lord Williams's ſeat at Ricot in Oxfordſhire, where ſhe lay; and "was verie princelie entertained both of knights and ladies." But Bedingfield was highly diſguſted at this gallant entertainment of his priſoner. During their journey, lord Williams and another gentleman playing at cheſs, the princeſs accidentally came in, and told them ſhe muſt ſtay to ſee the game played out; but this liberty Bedingfield would not permitHollingſhead, ut ſupr..

Arriving at Woodſtock, ſhe was lodged in the gatehouſe of the palace; in an apartment remaining complete within theſe fifty years with it's original arched roof of Iriſh oak, curiouſly carved, painted blue ſprinkled with gold, and to the laſt retaining it's name of Queen Elizabeth's chamber The old royal manor, or palace, at Woodſtock, was beſieged in the grand rebellion, and much damaged in the ſiege. The furniture was afterwards ſold, and the buildings portioned out by Cromwell, or his agents, to three perſons. Two of them, about 1652, pulled down their portions for the ſake of the ſtone. The third ſuffered his part to ſtand, which conſiſted of the gatehouſe in which the princeſs Elizabeth was impriſoned, and ſome adjoining ruinous buildings. After the rebellion, lord Lovelace turned this gatehouſe into a dwelling houſe, and lived in it for many years. As to its adjoining ruins, perſons now living remember ſtanding, a noble porch, and ſome walls of the hall; the walls and magnificent window; of the chapel; ſeveral turrets at proper diſta ces; and could trace out many of the apartments. Sir John Vanbrugh, while Blenheim palace was building, had taſte enough to lay out 2000 l. in keeping up the ruins. But afterwards lord treaſurer Godolphin obſerved to Sarah, dutcheſs-dowager of Marlborough, that a pile of ruins in the front of ſo ſine a ſeat, was an unſeemly object, all the old buildings, and amongſt the reſt, the princeſs Elizabeth's gatehouſe, were entirely demoliſhed and eraſed. Aubrey, the antiquarian, acquaints us that in the old hall there were two rows of pillars, as in a church; and that the arches were of the zigzag Norman ſhape. He has left us in his manuſcript, Drawings of the windows in the larger apartments, and in the chapel and hall. Aubrey's CHRONOLOGIA ARCHITECTONICA, MSS. in Muſ. Aſhmol. Oxon. fol. pag. 7. Of fair Roſamond's Bower, which literally ſignifies no more than a chamber, and which was a kind of pleaſure-houſe on the ſouth-weſt ſide of the old palace, ſome ruinous remains are ſtil remembered: particularly, an apartment over Roſamond's-well. This well, which is a large, clear, and beautiful ſpring, paved and fenced about the inſide with ſtone, was undoubtedly a bath, fountain, or reſervoir, for the convenience of the Bower, or perhaps of the palace. The author of the hiſtory of Allcheſter, written 1622, tells us, that "the ruins of Roſamond's Bower are ſtill to be ſeen againſt the court-gate." Apud Kennet's PAROCH. ANTIQ. p. 694. Henry vii. built much here: particularly the front and principal gate of the palace. On this gate was his name, and an Engliſh rhyme, importing that he was the founder. Wake's REX PLATONICUS, edit. Oxon. 1607. pag. 6. 4to. It was a favorite ſeat of our kings, who all reſided here from Henry I. to Charles I. Queen Eliſabeth in particular, notwithſtanding her impriſonment here, perhaps on that account, was remarkably fond of living at this palace: and ſhe became a conſiderable benefactreſs to the town of Woodſtock. I have a ſmall etching of a proſpect of the Princeſs Elizabeth's chamber and its adjoining ruins; done, a few years before they were deſtroyed, in 1714, by J. Whood.. Hollingſhead gives us three lines which ſhe wrote with a diamond on the glaſs of her window; and Hentzner, in his itinerary of 1598Edit. Noriberg. 1629. pag. 215., has recorded a ſonnet, which ſhe had written with a pencil on her window ſhutter. In the Bodleian Library at OxfordInter MSS. 242. 12mo. In the ſame library is a tranſlation by the princeſs Elizabeth into Latin, of an Italian ſermon of Occhini. Calligraphy was a requiſite accompliſhment of thoſe times, and it is accordingly written, on vellum, with uncommon elegance, in her own hand. It is dedicated in Latin, to her brother king Edward, to whom ſhe ſends it as a newyear's gift. The dedication is dated Enfield, December xxx. Bibl. Bodl. Arch. D. 115. 8vo., there is an Engliſh Tranſlation of ſaint Paul's Epiſtles, printed in the black letter, which the princeſs uſed while ſhe was here impriſoned; in a blank leaf of which, the following paragraph, written with her own hand, and in the pedantry of the times, yet remains. "I walke many times into the pleaſant fieldes of the holye ſcriptures; where I plucke up the goodlieſome herbs of ſentences by pruning, eate them by reading: chawe them by muſing: and laie them up at length in the hie ſeate of memorie, by gathering them together. That ſo having taſted the ſweetenes, I maye the leſſe perceave the bitterneſſe of this miſerable life." The covers are of black ſilk; on which ſhe had amuſed hesſelf with curiouſly working, or emboſſing, the following inſcriptions and devices in gold twiſt. On one ſide, on the border, or edge, CAELUM PATRIA. SCOPUS VITAE XPVS. CHRISTO VIVE. In the middle a heart; and about it, ELEVA COR SURSUM IBI UBI E. C. [i. e. eſt Chriſtus.] On the other ſide, on the border, BEATUS QUI DIVITIAS SCRIPTURAE LEGENS VERBA VERTIT IN OPERA. In the middle a ſtar, and about it, VICIT OMNIA PERTINAX VIRTUS E. C. [i. e. Eliſabethae Captivae; or, Eliſabetha Captiva.] One is pleaſed to hear theſe circumſtances, trifling and unimportant as they are, which ſhew us how this great and unfortunate lady, who became afterwards the heroine of the Britiſh throne, the favorite of her people, and the terror of the world, contrived to relieve the tedious hours of her penſive and ſolitary confinement. She had however little opportunity for meditation or amuſement. She was cloſely guarded: yet ſometimes ſuffered to walk into the gardens of the palace. In this ſituation, ſays Hollingſhead, "no marvell, if ſhe hearing upon a time out of hir gardin at Woodſtocke a certaine milkmaide ſinging pleaſantlie, wiſhed herſelf to be a milkmaide, as ſhe was; ſaying that her caſe was better, and life merrierThis circumſtance has given occaſion to an elegant ballad by Shenſtone.."

After being confined here for many months, ſhe procured a permiſſion to write to the queen: but her importunate keeper Bedingfield intruded, and overlooked what ſhe wroteHollingſhead ut ſupr.. At length, king Philip interpoſed, and begged that ſhe might be removed to the courtWhen ſhe came to the crown, ſays Hollingſhead, ſhe diſcharged Bedingſield from the court, telling him, that whenever ſhe ſhould happen to have a ſtate-priſoner who required to be "hardlie handled and ſtrictlie kept," ſhe would ſend for him. Hollingſhead, p. 117. col. 2. But there is ſome reaſon to ſuſpect, that Fox, from whom Hollingſhead tranſcribes, has aggravated, in his account, ſir Henry's uſage of the princeſs. After ſhe was queen, he was very often at court, and her majeſty viſited him in a progreſs, 1578. And though ſhe frequently called him her Jaylor, yet this ſeems rather to have been a term of royal familiarity than of contempt. Though I doubt not that he treated the princeſs with no great compaſſion or delicacy; a circumſtance which reſlects honor on her forgiveneſs. See Blomeſield's Norfolk, iii. 481.. But this ſudden kindneſs of Philip, who thought Eliſabeth a much leſs obnoxious character than his father Charles the fifth had conceived her to have been, did not ariſe from any regular principle of real generoſity, but partly from an affectation of popularityHe affected to treat the princeſs with much reſpect. In an examination, cited by Hollingſhead, it appears, that accidenttally paſſing her in a chamber of the palace, he paid her ſuch obeiſance as to fall with one knee to the ground, notwithſtanding his uſual ſtate and ſolemnity. Chron. iii. 1160. col. 1.; and partly from a refined ſentiment of policy, which made him foreſee, that if Eliſabeth was put to death, the next lawful heir would be Mary queen of Scots already betrothed to the dauphin of France, whoſe ſucceſſion would for ever join the ſceptres of England and France, and conſequently cruſh the growing intereſts of SpainCamden, Eliz. per Hearne, vol. i. Apparatus, pag. 21. However, it is ſaid, that out of gratitude for her preſervation, ſhe conſtantly kept Philip's picture by her bed-ſide; even to her death, notwithſtanding his perfidy after ſhe became queen. Ballard's Mem. of L. ladies, p. 217..

In her firſt day's journey, from the manor of Woodſtock to lord Williams's at Ricot, a violent ſtorm of wind happened; inſomuch, that her hood and the attire of her head were twice or thrice blown off. On this, ſhe begged to retire to a gentleman's houſe then at hand: but Bedingfield's abſurd and ſuperabundant circumſpection refuſed even this inſignificant requeſt; and conſtrained her, with much indecorum, to replace her head-dreſs under a hedge near the road. The next night they came to Mr. Dormer's, at Winge, in Buckinghamſhire; and from thence to an inn at Colnebroke, where ſhe lay. At length ſhe arrived at Hampton-court, where the court then reſided, but was ſtill kept in the condition of a priſoner. Here biſhop Gardiner, with others of the council, frequently perſuaded her to make a confeſſion, and ſubmit to the queen's mercy. Diſſimulation appears to have been a conſpicuous feature in Eliſabeth's character. One night, when it was late, the princeſs was unexpectedly ſummoned, and conducted by torch light to the queen's bedchamber: where ſhe kneeled down before the queen, declaring herſelf to be a moſt faithful and true ſubject. She even went ſo far, as to requeſt the queen to ſend her ſome catholic treatiſes, which might confirm her faith, and inculcate doctrines different from thoſe which ſhe had been taught in the writings of the reformers. The queen ſeemed ſtill to ſuſpect her ſincerity: but they parted on good terms. During this critical interview, Philip had concealed himſelf behind the tapeſtry, that he might have ſeaſonably interpoſed, to prevent the violence of the queen's paſſionate temper from proceeding to any extremitiesHollingſhead ut ſupr..

One week afterwards ſhe was releaſed from the formidable parade of guards and keepersBurnet, Fox, Speed, &c.. A happy change of circumſtances enſued; and ſhe was permitted to retire with ſir Thomas PopeMaiſter Gage, who is called the queen's gentleman-uſher, or maſter of the ceremonies, is ſaid by Fox and others, to have been joined with ſir Thomas Pope in this appointment. But he ſeems to have acted only as an aſſiſtant or inferior. Probably this was ſir Edward Gage, to whom the queen granted in 1556, thirty retainers. Strype, Eccl. Mem. iii. 480. Sir John Gage was conſtable of the tower; and died in 1556. Anſtis, Regiſt. Gart. i. 423. Notes. He [Sir John] was alſo chancellor of the dutchy of Lancaſter. chamberlain of the houſhold, and a privy counſellor. Anſtis, ibid. to Hatfield-houſe in Hertfordſhire, then a royal palaceThe preſent noble ſtructure was erected by Robert, firſt earl of Saliſbury, about 1610. James the firſt exchanged Hatfield, with lord Saliſbury, for Theobalds. It orginally belonged to the biſhops of Ely, and was built by biſhop Morton about 1480. The chapel was conſecrated in 1 • 15. See Le Neve, Prot. Biſh vol. 1, 2. pag. 144. Peacham tells us, that this chapel was adorned with paintings, by Butler, and other eminent artiſts. GENTLEMAN's EXERCISE, Lib. i. c. 3. "Robert earl of Saliſbury, lord high treaſurer of England, who as he favoreth all learning and excellencies, ſo he is a principal patron of this art; having lately imployed M. Butler and many other excellent artiſts for the beautyfying his houſes, eſpecially his chappell at Hatfield." pag. 310. edit. 1661.. At parting the queen began to ſhew ſome ſymptoms of reconciliation: ſhe recommended to her ſir Thomas Pope, as a perſon with whom the princeſs was well acquainted, and whoſe humanity, prudence, and other valuable qualifications were all calculated to render her new ſituation perfectly agreeableSee Thomas Heywood's ENGLAND's ELIZABETH. Lond. 12mo. 1631. p. 20 • ; and at the ſame time ſhe preſented her with a ring worth ſeven hundred crownsCatte, iii. 326..

But before I proceed further in this part of my narrative, I ſtop to mention a circumſtance unnoticed by our hiſtorians: which is, that ſir Thomas Pope in conjunction with others, had ſome concern about the perſon of the princeſs Elizabeth, even when ſhe firſt retired from the court, in diſgrace, to her houſe at Aſhridge; and before her troubles commenced, occaſioned by Wyat's rebellion; all which I have already related at large. When that rebellion broke out, Mary wrote to the princeſs then ſick at Aſhridge, artfully requeſting her immediate attendance at the court. Elizabeth's governors at this time, whoſe names are no where particularly mentioned, waiting every day for her recovery, very compaſſionately declared it unſafe yet to remove her. And the princeſs herſelf in the mean time, ſignified by letter her indiſpoſition to the queen; begging that her journey to the court might be deferred for a few days, and proteſting her abhorrence of Wyat's ſeditious practices. Her governors likewiſe, on their parts, apprehending that this tenderneſs towards their miſtreſs might be interpreted in a bad ſenſe, diſpatched a letter to biſhop Gardiner, lord chancellor; acquainting him with her condition, and avowing their readineſs to receive the queen's commands. An original draught or copy of this letter in Sir Thomas Pope's own hand, with ſeveral corrections and interlineations by the ſame, is now preſeved in the Britiſh Muſeum

Brit. Muſ. Bibl. Cotton. MSS. Titus. B. ii. fol. 159. After it, follows the letter from the privy council to ſir Thomas Pope, cited below. The paper which contains both is endorſed, "Minute of the lady Elizabeth's Officers to the Queen's counſall." The letter here mentioned in the text, begins thus.

"It may pleaſe your good lordſhip. That albeit we attende on my ladie Elizabethes grace our miſtres, in hope of her amendement to repair towardes the queenes highnes, whereof we have as yet none apparaunt likelyod of helthe; yet conſideringe this daungerouſe worlde, the perillous attemptes and the naughty endevours of the rebelles, which we dayly here of againſt the queenes highnes our ſovereigne ladie, we do not forgeate our moſt bounden dewty, nor yet our readynes in worde and dede to ſerve her highnes by all the waies and meanes that may ſtande in us, both from her grace our miſtres, and of our owne partes alſo. Which thing although my ladie's grace our ſaid miſtres hath tofore this ſignified unto the queenes highnes, of her behalffe, by meſſage; it might nevertheles ſeame to your good lordſhip, and the lordes of the councel, ſome negligence, that we did not make you alſo privy herunto. We have therefore thought it our deuties to declare this unto your lordſhip, &c." The whole is printed in Strype's Mem. Eccl. iii. 83. From MSS. Petyt, Now in the Inner-Temple library. Strype ſays only, that it was written by the lady Elizabeth's governors; or, "by thoſe that had the care and government of her." Among the princeſs Eliſabeth's domeſtics or attendants was John Aſtley, one of Roger Aſcham's literary friends, and to whom many of his Latin letters are written. Prefixed to Aſcham's very ſenſible Engliſh political tract on the AFFAIRES OF GERMANIE, and addreſſed to Aſtley, is an Engliſh letter, dated 1553, from Aſtley to Aſcham, in which the latter ſpeaks feelingly of their frequent agreeable converſations on learned ſubjects at Hatfield-houſe. Aſcham was preceptor to the princeſs. Sir Thomas Pope, in a fragment of a letter to the preſident of Trinity-college Oxford, and dated Hatfield, ſays, that he had procured an Office in the Tower of London for Maiſter Aſteley. Probably this is the ſame perſon. Aſcham in ſome of his Epiſtles complains, that he was unjuſtly driven from his tuition of Eliſabeth, in a conſequence of a party formed againſt him in the family of the princeſs. My principal reaſon for mentioning theſe particulars is to ſhew, that ſir Thomas Pope could not have been one of Aſcham's enemies on this occaſion; for, had that been the caſe, it is not very probable that he ſhould promote Aſcham's friend. He was huſband of Catharine Aſteley, the governeſs of the princeſs. See below, p. 99. Aſcham mentions this Catharine Aſteley in very reſpectable terms, in a Letter to the princeſs, on the death of her tutor Grindall. "Hunc dolorem, magis apud te renovando augere, quam conſolando lenīre vererer, niſi perſpecta eſſet mihi prudentia tua, ſic conſiliis prudentiſſimae Feminae dominae Catharinae Aſtleae munita, &c." EPIST. Lib. ii. p. 95. a. edit. 1581. See alſo ibid. p. 89. b. This Aſtely was made maſter of the Jewel houſe at queen Eliſabeth's acceſſion, with a ſalary of fifty pounds. Decembr. 23. LIT. PAT. i. Eliz. He wrote a treatiſe on HORSEMANSHIP, printed without his name, in 1586. 4to. By the way, it appears from what has been ſaid, that the princeſs before her final ſettlement at Hatfield under ſir Thomas Pope's care, was occaſionally ſhifted about to various royal ſeats, of which Hatfield was one.

WE have now done with ſir Thomas Pope's political character; and are entering on that moſt memorable circumſtance of his life, before incidentally mentioned, by which he ſecured immortality to his name, and conferred a perpetual emolument on his country; I mean, the foundation of Trinity college in Oxford. His good ſenſe and good diſpoſition led him to reflect, that he could not beſtow a competent proportion of thoſe riches which he had ſo largely received, with greater propriety, utility, and generoſity, than in the ſervice of the public. I ſhall therefore make no apology for delivering at large a hiſtory of his proceedings in forming and completing this liberal deſign.

And perhaps there are ſome of my readers, who will be more pleaſed to view him in the milder and more amiable light of the father of ingenuous education, diſpenſing rewards to ſcience and virtue, than in the more active yet turbulent ſcenes of public life, diverſified only by the vain viciſſitudes of human affairs, or fraught with the crimes and misfortunes of mankind.

About the year 1290, Richard de Hoton, prior, and the monks, of the cathedral convent of Durham, erected a college in the northern ſuburbs of Oxford, for the education of the novices of their monaſtery; to which it was conſidered as an appendageSee grant in the Appendix, Numb. VI. Which, as it probably contains the firſt and early ſeparation of the ground on which Trinity college now ſtands, with its precincts, or of the greateſt part of theſe, to the purpoſes of learning, was thought too curious to be omitted among the original papers.. This was afterwards increaſed, with the addition of revenues and books, by Richard of Bury, biſhop of Durham, in the year 1345. It was at length entirely rebuilt, more effectually eſtabliſhed, and more amply endowed, for eight benedictine monks and eight ſecular ſtudents, in the year 1370, by the munificence of Thomas Hatfield, biſhop of the ſame ſeeThe monks were allowed annually ten pounds each, and the ſeculars five mar • s. It is remarkable, that the ſtipend of theſe monks is treble to moſt of the fellowſhips then in Oxford.. About the year 1541, this college was diſſolved by Henry the eighthSee Stevens's Monaſt. vol. i. p. 343. from MSS. A. Wood.: at which time, all its eſtates, its ſite, precinct, chapel, bellfry, buildings of all ſorts, with the entire appurtenances of the ſame, were granted by the king to his new dean and chapter of Durham cathedral, which, as I preſume, they now poſſeſsSee Append. Numb. *VII*.. Its ſite only reverted to the crown; for Edward the ſixth, in the ſeventh year of his reign, by letters patent dated February the fourth, 1552See Append. Numb. VIII., granted the ſite of this college to George Owen, of Godſtowe, the king's phyſician, and William Martyn, gentleman.

On this ground ſir Thomas Pope determined to found his intended college. Accordingly, by indenture, dated February the twentieth, 1554See Append. Numb. IX., he purchaſed the premiſes of the ſaid Owen and Martyn. In the ſame year he obtained from Philip and Mary a royal licence, or charter, dated March the eigthth, 1554See Append. Numb. X., empowering him to create and erect a certain college within the univerſity of Oxford, conſiſting of one preſident a prieſt, twelve fellows, four of whom ſhould be prieſts, and eight ſcholarsThis Number he afterwards encreaſed to twelve. : and liberally and ſufficiently to endow the ſame and their ſucceſſors with certain manors, lands, and revenues. In the ſame charter, and with the eſtates and poſſeſſions therein recited, he likewiſe obtains licence of the king and queen to found and endow a ſchool at Hokenorton in the county of Oxford, to be called Jeſus Scolehouſe; and to give ſtatutes as well to the college, as to the firſt and ſecond maſters of the ſaid ſchool "Ac eciam ulterius damus et concedimus eidem Thomae Pope, militi, plenariam facultatem et auctoritatem condendi et ſanciendi, pro bono regimine dictorum COLLEGII et SCOLAE, ac terrarum, tenementorum, hereditamentorum, bonorum et catallorum, eorundem, quecunque ſtatuta, ordinationes, et regulas, per dictos, Preſidentem Socios et Scholares, Archididaſcalum, Hypodidaſcalum, et eorum quemlibet, obſervanda, &c." EX CHART. ut ſupr.. On the twentyeighth day of March, 1555, by deed ſo datedSee Append. Numb. XI., he declares his actual erection and eſtabliſhment of the ſaid college: and conſigns the ſite and place above-mentioned, to Thomas Slythurſte, S.T.B. Preſident: Stephen Markes, A.M. Robert Newton, John Barwyke, James Bell, Roger Criſpin, John Richardſon, Thomas Scotte, George Sympſon, Bachelors of Arts, Fellows: And John Arden, John Comporte, John Perte, and John Langſterre, Scholars. In the morals, learning, and ſtudious diligence of all which perſons, he therein declares that he much confides. Reſerving to himſelf, at the ſame time, the right of nominating the remainder.

With this deed the founder himſelf, the ſame day, came to Oxford; and in conſequence of it, in his own perſon delivered poſſeſſion of the college to the ſaid Preſident, Fellows, and Scholars, in the preſence of John Warner, vice-chancellor of the univerſity, warden of All Souls college, and archdeacon of Cleveland, and of ElyHe was alſo or had been, profeſſor of Phyſic in Oxford, and prebendary of Wincheſter and Saliſbury. He died Dean of Wincheſter. A ſmall Hiſtory of All Souls college occurs in his hand-writing, about the year 1560, in Cod. MSS. Rawlinſ. 236. fol. Bibl. Bodl.; Owen Oglethorp, preſident of Magdalene, and dean of WindſorAfterwards biſhop of Carliſle: in which character he crowned queen Elizabeth.; Robert Morwent, preſident of Corpus Chriſti; Walter Wryght, archdeacon of Oxford; John Browne, canon of WindſorSee Wood, Ath. Oxon. i. F. p. 65. edit 2.; Edmund Powel, eſquireOf Sandford, near Oxford., Edward Love, John Bylling, Simon Perrot, John Heywood, Henry Bryan, Arthur Yeldard, John Myleward, John Edmundes, John Beresford, Ralph Dodmer, John Lawrence, Bartholomew Plott, Humfrey EdmundesIndorſed on the inſtrument cited Append. Numb. XI., gentlemen, and many othersMany of theſe perſons occur in different parts of theſe memoirs; and their characters, and connections with ſir Thomas Pope, are explained in their proper places.. In conſequence of this laſt-mentioned deed, by an inſtrument dated the ſame day and year, Thomas Slythurſte appoints Stephen Markes and Robert Newton, his lawful attornies, to enter, in his name and ſtead, into a certain meſſuage or building, with its appurtenances, in Oxford, called Trinity college, of the foundation of ſir Thomas Pope, knight; and of the ſame to take full and peaceable poſſeſſion; and to keep and retain it for the uſes and purpoſes of the ſaid Thomas Slvthurſte, according to the force, form, and effect, of a certain grant made to him and others by the ſaid ſir Thomas PopeSee Append. Numb. XII..

In May following, the founder furniſhed his college with neceſſaries and implements of every kindEx indent. dat. Maii 5. ii. iii. Phil. Mar. In Theſauriar. et Regiſtr. prim. Coll. fol. 5.. To the library in particular he gave no inconſiderable collection of valuable and coſtly books, both printed and manuſcriptIbid.. But above all, he adorned the chapel, as appears by a deed dated the fifth of May, 1555See Append. Numb. XVI., with ſilver veſſels, embroidered veſtments, copes of tiſſue, croſſes, and illuminated miſſalsThe altars of the chapel were dedicated the following year, as appears from the following entry, in Comp. Burff. 1556, anno primo Coll. "Sol. pro Obſoniis datis Dom. Epiſcopo Gloceſtrenſi et Miniſtris ejus in conſecratione altarium, xviij s. x d. ob." . The next year, he tranſmitted to the ſociety a body of ſtatutes, dated the firſt of May, 1556. On the eighth of the ſame month, he gave them one hundred pounds for a ſtock to begin withEx acquietantia in Regiſtro primo, fol. 6. b.. Matters being thus duely prepared and adjuſted, and his endowmentSee an inſtrument ſigned with his own hand, viz. "A Valewe of all the Manors, Londes, Tenements, and Hereditamentes, which I Sir Thomas Pope, Knighte, Founder of Trinitie colledge within the Univerſitie of Oxford, have given to the Preſidente, Fellowes, and Schollers, of the ſame, and to their Succeſſors for ever. As well at the firſt Erection of the colledge, as hereafter followithe, &c." Ad. Calc. vet. Libri Statutor. in pergamen. penes Praeſid. fol. 109. b. etc. of the college conſiſting of manors, lands, and impropriations, having effectually taken place before or upon the feaſt of the annunciation, 1556Comput. Burſſ. anno primo Coll.; the firſt preſident, fellows, and ſcholars, nominated by himſelf, were formally and actually admitted within the chapel, on the thirtieth day of May, being the eve of Trinity Sunday, the ſame year, yiz. 1556. They were all, the graduates at leaſt, taken from different colleges in Oxford; except one, who was of Cambridge. Their names, dignities, colleges, degrees, counties, and appointments in the new ſociety, as far as notices have occurred, are here ſpecifiedSee Append. Numb. XIII..

On ſaint Swithin's day, being the fifteenth of July, in the ſame year, the founder paid a viſit to his college. He was accompanied by the biſhops of Wincheſter and Ely, and other eminent perſonages. He diſmounted from his horſe at the college gate, where he was received by the preſident, who ſtood at his ſtirrup. At entering the gates he was ſaluted in a long and dutiful oration by the vice-preſident: after which the burſars offered him a preſent of embroidered gloves. From thence he was conducted with the reſt of the company into the preſident's great chamber: the fellows and ſcholars ſtanding on either ſide, as he paſſed along the court. Having viewed the library and Grove, they proceeded to dinner in the hall, where a ſumptuous entertainment was provided. The preſident ſate on the left hand of the founder, yet at ſome diſtance, and the reſt of the gueſts, and the ſociety, were placed according to their rank, and in their proper order. There were twelve minſtrels preſent in the hall; and among other articles of proviſion on this occaſion, four fat does, and ſix gallons of Muſcadel, are mentioned. The whole expence of the feaſt amounting to xijl. xiijs. ixd. After dinner they went to evening maſs in the chapel, where the preſident celebrated the ſervice, habited in the richeſt cope: and the founder offered at the altar a purſe full of angels. They then retired to the Burſary; where the founder paid into the hands of the Burſars all the coſts incurred by this viſit: and gave them beſides, at the ſame time, a ſilver goblet gilt, which being filled with hypocraſſe, he drank to the Burſars, and to all the company preſent. He then departed towards Windſor: but before he left the college, gave with his own hands, to each of the ſcholars, one marcSee Append. Numb. XXIX..

In November following, I find a letter to the preſident from the founder; in which, as likewiſe in eighteen others written afterwardsFourteen of theſe letters are the originals in his own hand, preſerved in the treaſury of the college. The reſt are copies in the firſt regiſter., are many marks of his attention to the affairs and economy of his college, and of his ſollicitude about ſettling every article of the new foundation in the moſt effectual manner: as alſo of his readineſs to aſſiſt on all neceſſary occaſions. In the letter juſt mentioned, among ſeveral other particulars, he tells the preſident, in conſequence of a converſation which had lately paſſed between them both at Tyttenhanger in Hertfordſhire, by what expedient certain extraordinary expences of the college, in the late viſitationConcerning which I find the following entries, in Comp. Burſſ. 1556. "EXPENSAE EQUITANTIUM.—Sol. per dum. Perte in equitando ad fundatorem primo. ijs. ijd.—Sol. dom. Bellamie equitanti ad Mag. Love [the founder's receiver] ut certiorem cum redderet de adventu viſitatorum, et pro expenſis propriis. xjd.—Sol. pro obſoniis, aliiſque rebus, pro viſitatcribus reverendiſſimi Cardi alis Pole. xxivs. ixd. Sol. in regardo miniſtris viſitatorum. xxvs."—For an account of this viſitation, ſee Wood, Hiſt. Antiq. univ. Oxon Lib. i. p. 278. col. ii. The viſitors were Brookes biſhop of Gloceſter, Cole dean of Saint Paul's, Morwent preſident of Corpus, Wright archdeacon of Oxford, and Ormanet the pope's datary. Their deſign was to reſtore the pope's authority in the univerſity, and to eject all ſtudents who were diſaffected to the catholic ceremonies. The viſitation ſeems to have ended in burning a conſiderable number of Engliſh bibles, and in removing the body of Peter Martyr's heretical wife from the cathedral of Chriſtchurce. of the univerſity by the deputies of cardinal Pole, and in ſome other inſtances, ſhould be diſcharged. He commiſſions him to thank maſter Rawes, a canon of Windſor

He lies buried under the fourth arch of the ſouth ile, on the choir ſide, of St. George's chapel, at Windſor, with a plate of braſs on his grave, much injured; having the figure of a prieſt in a canon's mantle, with St. George's arms on his left ſhoulder, with this inſcription.

Orate pro anima Magiſtri Thomae Rawes hujus ſacri collegii Canonici, qui obiit xii. die Maii anno dni milleſimo quingenteſimo quinquageſimo ſexto. Cujus anime propicietur deus. Amen.

In Rymer's FOED. Tom. xv. p. 463. is queen Mary's grant of his canonry to Richard Brewarne, canon of the firſt ſtall of Chriſt Church, Oxford, dated May 24, 1557, in which inſtrument he is called "nuper defunctus." According to Frithe's Catalogue of canons of Windſor, in Aſhmole's Berkſhire, vol. iii. p. 260. he was alſo vicar of Wantage, Co. Berks. His books, conſiſting of near fifty volumes in folio, came to the college in 1557. He was of Oxford, where he occurs determining in Arts, 1518. Wood MSS. Aſhmol. E. 6.

IN the year 1556, ſir Thomas Pope having now finiſhed the foundation of his college, made his laſt WillRegiſtr. Cheyney, qu. 10. 86. In cur. Praerogat. Cant., which is dated the ſixth of February the ſame year, he being then no more than forty-ſeven years of age. Of the ſeveral bequeſts and appointments contained therein, and in the codicil annexed dated the twelfth of December 1558, I ſhall inſert a ſummaryThe probate is dated May vi. 1559. About three month after his death. Before Dr. Walter Haddon, keeper of the ſpiritualities and commiſſary, in the vacancy of the arch. biſhoprick..

He deſires to be buried in the church of ſaint Stephen's Walbrook, London, in the tomb, or vault, in which his firſt wife dame Margaret, and his daughter, were interred. His funeral to be without pomp, "or herſe of wax," and only two tapers of virgin wax with branches, to burn on his hearſe, in the church of the pariſh in which he ſhall happen to die, for the ſpace of one week.

He gives "blacke cootes or gownes," to all his executors, his retainers, his houſehold ſervants; and all ſuch of his overſeers, friends, and kindred, as ſhall happen to be in his houſe at the time of his deceaſe.

He bequeaths xxl. or more to be diſtributed in alms to the Poor, in general, at his burial: and at the ſame time, xls. beſides, to twenty poor men, and as many poor women, in parricular, with "a gowne of good mantill fryſe each:" and when his obſequies were finiſhed, vl. more at leaſt, to be diſtributed in alms. He gives alſo xxs. to a diſcreet preacher for two funeral ſermons: one to be preached in the church of the pariſh in which he ſhall die; and the other in the church of ſaint Stephen's Wallbrook, at the time of his interment.

To the priſons of Newgate, Ludgate, Counter of Bread-ſtreet, Poultry-Counter, the Fleet, King's Bench, Marſhalſea, New Counter in Southwark, Gate-houſe, ſaint Alban's, and Hertford, xviijl. To be given within one month after his death.

To ſeveral of his kindred ccccccclxxxiijl. vs. and xl. marksAmongſt others, he leaves to the children of William Hyde, of Denchworth, co. Berks, xxl. He is buried in the church of Denchworth; where on a braſs-plate it is ſaid, that he and his wife Margery had xxx children. He was related to ſir T. Pope, by means of Hyde marrying into Yate of Berks. This I chiefly mention, to confirm what is ſaid above, pag. 2. concerning the family of ſir Thomas Pope's mother. See Aſhmole's Berkſ. iii. 322. There is another William Hyde, who died 1567, with Alice his wife, buried in the ſame church. They had ten children.. Beſide certain ſmaller bequeſts to ſome others.

To his couſin Jane Hankes one new gilt ſtanding cup of ſilver, with a cover, weighing twenty-five ounces. To his ſon in law John Basford, or Beresford, the third part of all his "My harneys." armour "and artillerieThat is Bows and arrows, and perhaps croſs bows, lances, guns, &c. See Aſcham's TOXOPHIL. f. 19. a. edit 1571. But the word ARTILLERY, that is Ars telaria, as appears from many other paſſages in Aſcham, was originally and properly reſtrained to the Bow and Arrow. Compare Engl. Bibl. i. SAM. xx. 38. 40. And Maundrell's TRAVELS, p. 19. Sund. Mar. 7. See alſo Du Cange, GL. Lat. V. ARTILLARIA. edit. 1733.," his beſt gauntlets and target, and his beſt horſe.

To Mr. Thomas Abrydge, "his ſtele ſaddill gilte, and all the harnes of crymſyn velvett belonging to the ſame." To miſtreſs Staveley, his mother in law, and to three others of his kindred, each, a fair new cup, or bowl, of ſilver, weighing each twenty ounces. To his ſon in law, John Dodmer, fifty angels to make him a chain; and his mother's picture in the bracelet of gold, "which I ware about my arme, and the ring of gold hanging at the ſame; which bracelett was the firſt tokyn that ever his mother gave me."

To nine of his ſervants by name, lviijl. xiijs. ivd. Beſide gratuities to all the reſt of his ſervants, of every ſort, living in his houſe at the time of his deceaſeTo many of them, vl. To others, vjl. xiijs. iiijd. To None, leſs than xls. . Praying his executors, that if his wife ſhould not find it convenient to retain them after his death, they would help the ſaid ſervants to ſome worſhipful man's ſerviceBut he permits all his ſervants to remain, and to be maintained, in his houſe, for one quarter of a year after his death; in which time they may provide themſelves with other ſervices..

To Trinity college in Oxford, by him founded, cl. for building a wall round the Grove of the ſaid college.

To the ſaid college five hundred marcs for building at Garſington near OxfordHe repeats this charge to his wife at the end of his Will. "I beſeech my good wife moſt hartely, that in caſe I do not in my life make a Howſe for my Scolers of my College to repare thereto at Garſington in ſicknes tyme, that ſhe will in as convenyent ſpede, &c." , a houſe to accommodate the ſaid college, in time of the plague at Oxford; in caſe he ſhould not live to accompliſh the ſame: And then charging his wife, if the ſaid ſum ſhould not be found ſufficient, as he believes and intends it to be, fully to ſupply the defect.

To the ſaid college, beſide thoſe which he before gave for the ſervice of the hall, the following pieces of ſilver plate, viz. Three goblets gilt, weighing together threeſcore and three ounces. Six plain cups gilt, each with one handle, weighing together ſeventyſeven ounces and an half. Three other goblets parcel gilt, with covers, weighing ſixty ounces. Thirteen ſpoons, one completely gilt, weighing together forty ounces and an half. All the foregoing to be new made. He likewiſe bequeathes to the ſaid college, the largeſt of his ſtanding cups with a cover, completely gilt, weighing twentythree ounces and a half. Alſo one of his baſons and ewers parcel-gilt, weighing threeſcore and fifteen ouncesThey were received May 25, 1564. Ex acquietant. in Regiſt. prim. fol. 22..

To the Nuns of the convent of Syon vl. To the Friers Obſervants in the chapel of the Holy Croſs at Greenwich, vl. To the Black Friers at London, vl.

To ſaint Bartholomew's hoſpital in Weſt-Smithfield, ccl. To be beſtowed in conſtructing a conduit for conveying water to the ſaid hoſpital. Otherwiſe, to be expended in purchaſing an eſtate of xl. per annum, for providing coats, ſhirts, and gowns, for the ſick and poor at their firſt reception into the houſe "For ſuch as from tyme to tyme ſhall enter into the ſaid hoſpitall, being diſeaſed and wanting the ſame things at their entre." .

To the repair of the church of Clerkenwell, London, xll. To Wallbrook church for opening the vault therein for his ſepulture, xxs. To the vicar of Clerkenwell church, xs. And to the vicar of Ridge in Hertfordſhire, xs.

To John HeywardSee Append. Numb. IX. In the Notes., his "trewe frynd," one of his gowns of ſilk. To Mr. Croke, his old maſter's ſon, his gown of black ſattin faced with luſerne ſpotsHe is painted in ſuch a gown by Hans Holbein. At Trinity college, there are five portraits of him, all of the ſame dimenſions, dreſs, and attitude. A ſixth, a moſt high-finiſhed old portrait, was lately given by the college to the picture gallery at Oxford, inſtead of another now in the library. One of theſe ſix, and the oldeſt, came to the college 1596. Ex Comp. Anni. Another is mentioned as hanging in the chapel 1634. Ex Comp. Anni. One of all theſe which is now in the Hall, was painted by Francis Potter, a curious mechanic and mathematician, and a member of the college, about 1637. Another, mentioned above, was painted in 1665, at the expence of the college, for the picture gallery. This is now in the college library. Another lately purchaſed, a copy of Holbein, the painter unknown, is in the Burſary. There is a ſeventh at Tyttenhanger in Hertfordſhire. They are all ſuppoſed to be copies from a valuable picture by Hans Holbein, in the poſſeſſion of lord Guildford at Wroxton. It is not, however, quite improbable that Holbein might have painted ſome of the ſuppoſed copies.—Sir Thomas Pope ſate to Hans Holbein, for his picture, in the chamber within the gallery gate-houſe at Whitehall, deſigned by Hans Holbein, and lately demoliſhed. Hans Holbein painted many of his pictures in this chamber, which was uſed by king Henry the eighth as a ſtudy or library. To lord Vaulx, cl. To ſir Nicholas Shirley, ll. in abatement of cccll. owed, and payable at Midſummer next. Beſide debts forgiven to ſome of his poor relations.

To Mr. Gerrard, the queen's attorney general, one ring of fine gold. To Thomas Slythurſte, clerk, preſident of Trinity college aforeſaid, one ring of fine gold. Another to Sir Arthur Darcy, knight. Each ring to weigh one ounce, with the initials of his name on one ſide, and a Death's head on the other.

To the children of ſeveral poor tradeſmen and others, xxxl. and five marcs.

Of this his laſt will and teſtament, he conſtitutes his wife Eliſabeth, his moſt true and aſſured friend Nicholas Bacon, eſquire, afterwards ſir Nicholas, and his wife's brother, William Blunt, eſquire, Executors. He alſo appoints his moſt truſty, worſhipful and loving friends, ſir Thomas Cornewallys, knight, comptroller of the king's and queen's houſhold, ſir Francis Englefield, knight, ſir Edward Waldegrave, knight, ſir Richard Southwell, knight, ſir Robert Southwell, knight, William Cordall, eſquire, ſollicitor general to the king and queen, Richard Goodryck, eſquire, John Wyſeman, eſquire, and Antony Wayte, gentleman, overſeers of the ſame. To each of the ſaid overſeers he gives a ring of gold, of the faſhion of thoſe before-mentioned. To Nicholas Bacon, one of his executors, he gives his whiſtle, ſhaped like a dragonHe is painted by Hans Holbein with a whiſtle hanging to his chain, ſhaped like a mermaid., and ſet with ſtones, which he commonly wore at his chainJohn de Veer, earl of Oxford, by Will dat. Apr. 10, 1508, deviſes his "chain with the whiſtell, having ſix ſcore and one links, weighing xcviii ounces, to be ſold." Regiſtr. FETTYPLACE, Cur. Praer. qu. 11.—Sir Edw. Howard by will, dat. 1512, bequeathes to "ſir Charles Brandon the roope of bowed nobles that he wore his great whiſtle by, and to the kings grace his greate whiſtle." Ibid. qu. 18. About the year 1519, Hall mentions the earl of Surrey "on a great courſir richely trapped, and a greate whiſtle of gold ſet with ſtones and perle, hanging at a great and maſſy chayne baudrick-wiſe." Hall's CHRONICLES, p. 65. a. The curious Mr. Anſtis endeavours to prove, by theſe and other inſtances, that the Whiſtle was the badge, or emblem, of admirals. ORDER of the Garter, ii. 121. But it is certain, from the paſſage in the text, and other places, that it was often indiſcriminately uſed. It was perhaps even a common ornament. Robert Arderne, a gentleman of Oxfordſhire, bequeathes his beſt whiſtle, ſilver and gilt: and his ſecond whiſtle, ſilver and gilt. Aug. xx. 1593. Regiſtr. Cur. Cancell. Oxon. G G. fol. 203.. To his other executor, William Blount, he gives xl angels, to make him a chainHe heartily deſires the ſaid executors, and overſeers, "not to waye my ſimple gifts any other than as a remembrance of my unfayned good will and diſpoſition towards theym in my lyfe tyme." He at firſt had bequeathed to each of the Overſeers "a fair jugge of ſilver," to be new made, weighing xxiv ounces: With a death's head in a roundell, and the initials of his name, graven on the covers. But this bequeſt was afterwards altered in the codicil, as in the text..

To Eliſabeth his wife, and Executrix, whom he declares ever to have found, honeſt, true, faithful, loving, and obedient, he bequeathes the reſidue of his moveable goods, leaſes and debts: praying her heartily that ſhe would beſtow part of the ſame among the Poor "Being hartely ſory I am able to give her no more, to recompens her moſt honeſt, obedient, and womanly behaviour towardes me in my life tyme, which hath byn ſuch as well hath meryted a thowſand tymes more than I am able any waye to give her, &c." . He commiſſions his ſaid wife, to furniſh Trinity college aforeſaid, with copes, veſtments, and ornaments for divine ſervice, and houſhold neceſſaries. But all theſe things he completely accompliſhed himſelf, in his own life-time, as has been already related. He requires his ſaid wife, in caſe John Pope, his only brother, ſhould be without a male heir when Eliſabeth Pope, daughter of the ſaid John, marries, to beſtow ccc marcs, otherwiſe bequeathed to the ſaid Eliſabeth Pope for a marriage-portion, in deeds of charity.

As to his eſtates, not ſettled on Trinity college, he wills that they ſhould remain, as is expreſſed and covenanted in a certain pair of quadripartite indentures, dated April the firſt, 1554In Theſauriar. coll. Trin. Oxon. Saepius citat. Between ſir Thomas Pope, and Eliſabeth his wife, on the one part; And ſir Arthur Darcy, Richard Catelyn ſerjeant at law, deceaſed, Richard Goodrick, and Antony Waite, on the other. Dat. April i. i Phil. Mar.. By which indentures it appears, that the principal demiſes of the ſame were made to Eliſabeth his wife, John Pope his brother, John Edmondes his uncle, and Edmund Hutchins his nephewBut in caſe of non-performance of covenants and conditions therein ſpecified, he orders many of them to be given to "king Henry the eighth's houſe of poor in Weſt-Smithfield," i. e. ſaint Bartholomew's hoſpital; to which he actually bequeathed, as above, 200l. After his death, an inquiſition was taken of all his lands and poſſeſſions, at Chipping-Norton, com. Oxon. In which the ſaid quadrip. indenture is recited..

He further wills, that all manors, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, whatſoever, by him lately given to the preſident, fellows, and ſcholars, of Trinity college aforeſaid, ſhall for ever remain under the firſt aſſurances by which they were by him ſettled upon the ſaid college; without interruption or claim of heirs, executors, and aſſigns, or diſturbance of any other perſon claiming in in their right, name, or title.

During the time of founding his college, he chiefly reſided at Clerkenwell, LondonFrom his letters to the college. And other evidences. ibid., within the diſſolved priory of Black nunsIn a deed of dame Eliſ. Paulett, dated Feb. i. 35 Eliz. infra-citat. This manſion is called the "capital meſſuage and ſcyte of the late diſſolved monaſtery of Clerkenwell." It was granted him by queen Mary, Pat. Phil. Mar. an. 3, 5. Febr. i. par. 4. "Rex et Regin. conceſſ. T. Pope, et al. Pardonationem alienationis pro ſcitu monaſterii de Clerkinwell in com. Middl." In an indenture dat. May xxx, 1538. 30 Hen. viii. he is ſtyled Thomas Pope of London, eſquire.: to the repair of the conventual church of which, being left ſtanding at the diſſolution, he gave the ſum of forty poundsSee pag. 163. ſupr.. The buildings and ſite of this religious houſe, containing fourteen acres, had been granted by king Henry in 1545, to ſir William Henley and ſir John WilliamsWeever, Fun. Mon. p. 428. Tanner Not. Mon. fol. p. 299.. In the country, he lived much at Tyttenhanger, in the pariſh of Ridge, in HertfordſhireThe Statutes of his college are dated there.; which had been the country-ſeat of the abbots of ſaint Alban's, and was conveyed to ſir Thomas Pope by Henry the eighth, in the laſt year of his reign, 1547, but not confirmed to him till by letters patent of Edward the ſixth, dated July the twenty-fourth, in the following yearLiber ſecundus de Les Rates, ann. 3, et 4. Phil. Mar. fol. MSS. Harl. 607. 1. fol. 1. Brit. Muſ.—See alſo pat. Edw. vi. an. 1. Jul. xxiv. par. 4. Where the grant ſpecifies "Scitum Capitalis manſionis de Tyttenhanger, ac Manerium de Tyttenhanger, &c." . However, it appears that he bought this eſtate of Queen Mary, June the ſixteenth, 1557, for twenty years purchaſeIbid. MSS. Harl.: notwithſtanding, in a deed dated 1555, he ſtyles himſelf of TyttenhangerSee Append. Numb. XI., and in the charter of his college, 1554, mentions Tyttenhanger as one of his manors. The houſe was built by John Moot, one of the abbots of ſaint Alban's, in 1405Willis Mitr. Abb. i. 22., and much enlarged and adorned by his ſucceſſors, particularly the learned and munificent John Whethamſtede, in the reign of Henry the ſixthWeever Fun. Mon. p. 565. edit. 1631.. The chapel was an elegant edifice: and the wainſcott, behind the ſtalls, was beautifully painted with a ſeries of the figures of all the ſaints who bore the name of John. The windows were enriched with painted glaſs, which ſir Thomas Pope brought hither from the choir of ſaint Albans abby, when that church was, by his interpoſition, preſerved from total deſtruction. Sir Thomas Pope alſo erected over the veſtibule of the great hall a noble gallery for wind-muſicFrom the Information of Sir Harry Pope-Blount, ut ſupr.. This houſe was ſo large, that in the year 1528, King Henry the eighth and his queen, with their retinue, removed hither from London, during the continuance of the Sweating ſickneſsHollinſh. Chron, vol. iii. p. 906. 10. col. 2.. But this antient and ſtately manſion was intirely pulled down, and that which is now ſtanding built in its place, about 1654, by ſir Henry Blount, the famous travellerEngl. Baronet. iv. 669. edit. 1741.. Of this county, and of Eſſex, ſir Thomas Pope was twice ſheriff, in the years 1552, 1557Chauncy's Hertfordſhire, p. 23. Fuller, WORTHIES, p. 31. ſays, that as to their Sheriff, Hertfordſhire and Eſſex were united till the ninth of Eliſabeth, 1567..

I muſt not here forget, that the learned and candid John de Feckenham, the laſt abbot of Weſtminſter, and a great friend to the princeſs Eliſabeth, about the reign of Edward the ſixth, often viſited ſir Thomas Pope, at Tyttenhanger-houſe; who never ſuffered him to depart without a preſent. Once in particular he gave Feckenham, at parting, a purſe filled with twelve angels, his picture in enamel, a ſilver crucifix ſtudded with pretious ſtones, and a large miſſal richly ornamented with thirty-ſix hiſtorical picturesFrom the information of ſir Harry Pope-Blount, ut ſupr.. On the mention of Feckenham, I obſerve here, perhaps out of place, that Sir Thomas Pope is ſaid to have joined with abbot Feckenham in an application to queen Mary, to ſpare the life of ſir John Cheek; in conſideration of Cheek's eminent learning and integrity, and on condition that he would renounce the hereſies of the reformationMSS. F. Wiſe.. It is certain that this admirable ſcholar, the reſtorer of the Greek tongue, would otherwiſe have been executed in the flames. Yet he did not long ſurvive the remorſe of a recantation. His own conſcience had all the ſeverities of a martyrdom.

To reſume the courſe of our narrative. He ſeems alſo, for ſome time, and ſo early at leaſt as 1546, to have been ſettled at Bermondſey in SouthwarkEx indentura dat. May xiii. 38. Hen. viii. MSS. F. Wiſe.—He alſo ſtyles himſelf of Bermondſey, in a deed without date: which however appears to have been made after 7 Edw. vi. In Theſauriar. coll. Trin. The earlieſt notice of his connection with this place appears from the Patents. Pat. Hen. viii. an. 33. Jan. xvi. par. 5. Edward Powell is licenſed to alienate a meſſuage in Bermondſey to Thomas Pope, knight. This year the monaſtery there was diſſolved.; at which place, and in the neighbourhood, he had acquired a very conſiderable propertyPat ſupra citat.. Here, as I conjecture, he built a houſe on the ruins of the diſſolved abbey of Cluniac monks which he probably purchaſed of his friend ſir Robert, or ſir Richard, Southwell, to one of whom that monaſtery was granted at the diſſolutionTanner, Not. Mon. fol. p. 535.. This houſe, which Stowe calls "a goodly houſe builded of ſtone and timber," afterwards came into the poſſeſſion of the earls of SuffexStowe ubi ſupr. p. 344. Aubrey's Surrey. V. 39..

What was ſir Thomas Pope's laſt illneſs, or the particular circumſtances of his death, I have not found. It is not improbable, but that he was carried off by a peſtilential fever, which began to rage with uncommon violence in the autumn of the year 1558, and before the end of the ſucceeding winter, ſeized three parts in four of the people of EnglandCooper's, or Lanquette's Chronicle, 4to. 1560. p. 377.; deſtroying in the general devaſtation, thirteen biſhops, and ſeveral other perſons, both men and women, of the moſt eminent rank and qualityGodwyn, p. 340. Engl. edit. 1630. Stowe, by Howes, 634. Strype, Ann. Ref. i. 30, 31.. His laſt letter to his college, which having eſtabliſhed by his munificence, he lived near five years to protect and aſſiſt with his patronage, is dated Auguſt the eighth, 1558Regiſtr. prim Coll. praedict. fol. 23. b.. While he meditated further benefactions for the encreaſe of its endowmentSee Append. No. XXV. Under JOHN PERTE., he died the twenty-ninth day of January following, 1559, on Sexageſima Sunday, at his houſe in Clerkenwell, in the fiftieth year of his ageFrom an inſcription on his Picture, in Trin. coll.—And Wood, Hiſt. Antiq. Univ. Oxon. ii. 301. col. 2..

He was magnificently buried, with the following ſolemnitiesMSS. Cotton. Vitell. F. 5. In the Britiſh Muſeum. See Append. Numb. XXVIII.. His body was firſt carried to the church of Clerkenwell in London, where it was laid under a herſe, or ſhrine, illuminated with wax tapers, for the ſpace of one week. On the ſeventh day of February, began his funeral proceſſion to the church of ſaint Stephen's Wallbrook: to which he was conveyed with a ſtandard, a Coat, a penon or banner of arms, a target, helmet, ſword, and four dozen of arms, with twelve for the branches of wax tapers, and ſix for the body, or ſhrine. He was attended by two heralds at arms, Clarencieux and York. The firſt bore the coat, and the latter the helmet and creſt. Twenty poor men and twenty poor women, carried torches. The men were cloathed in mantle frieze gowns, and the women inA ſort of white veil, often mentioned as part of the mourning-dreſs of women, at antient funerals. See Strype, ECCL. MEM. iii. 385. rails, which he gave them. Sir Richard Southwell, and ſir Thomas Stradling, knights, and diverſe gentlemen and others, all in black, where mourners, to the number of ſixty or more. All his houſe at Clerkenwell, and the church, were hung with black, with eſcotcheons of his arms. After the heralds had offered the ſword, target, coat, and helmet at the high altar, and other ceremonies were performed, the company returned back to his houſe to a banquet, where they were refreſhed with ſpiced bread and wine. The next day followed his morrow maſs, in the ſaid church; at which were three Songs, two being pricked ſongs, and the third the maſs of requiem, all ſung by the Clerkes of London. He was then buried; after which they went back to his houſe to dinner, "being, as my manuſcript ſays, a very great dinner, and plenty of all thinges." Then followed a great dole of almes diſtributed among the Poor.

Stowe inſinuates, that he was interred in the north ile of the choir of Wallbrook church. Here was a vault, in which before had been buried his wife Margaret, his daughter Alice, and Anne Pope his ſiſter in law. Stowe adds the following inſcription, which was evidently placed there before his death, and I ſuppoſe immediately upon the deceaſe of dame Margaret. It was deſtroyed with the old church. Hic jacet Thomas Pope Primus Theſaurarius Augmentationum, et domina Margareta uxor ejus, quae quidem Margareta obiit xvi Jan. MDXXXVIIIFol. edit of Stowe's Survey. 1633. p. 245..

But in 1567, eight years after his death, his body and the body of dame Margaret aforeſaid, were removed from ſaint Stephen's Wallbrook to the chapel of Trinity college in Oxford; where they were again interred on the north ſide of the altar, under a ſtately tomb of good gothic workmanſhip, on which are the recumbent figures of ſir Thomas Pope in complete armour, and of his ſecond wife Eliſabeth, large as the life, in alabaſter, with this inſcription.

Hic jacent corpora Thome Pope militis fundatoris hujus collegii Trinitatis et domine Elizabethe et Margarite uxoris ejus. Qui quidem Thomas obiit xxix. die Ianuarii, M.D. LVIII.

That the body of the founder was actually removed hither, appears unqueſtionably from the Will of Elizabeth his ſecond wife, who deſires expreſſly to be buried in a vault or tomb in Trinity college chapel in Oxford, "wherein lieth the corps of my late good huſband ſir Thomas PopeInfra citat.." This is alſo further confirmed from the teſtimony of Anthony Wood: who in the Appendix ſubjoined to his Hiſtory of the Univerſity of Oxford, containing omiſſions and miſtakes of the tranſlator in the Text of that elaborate work, obſerves; that notwithſtanding the inſcription in ſaint Stephen's Wallbrook, his Tranſlator, according to the original Engliſh copy, ought to have expreſſly inſerted, in the place where ſir Thomas Pope's burial is mentioned, "Sed ſepultus fuit in capella coll. S.S. TrinitatisIn Appendic. Hiſt. Antiq. Oxon. p. 447. Although this point needs no further authentication, I will add part of a letter written from Strype to Dr. Charlett, maſter of Univerſity college, Oxford. "The funeral of ſir Thomas Pope, as it is ſett down in the Cotton volume, [ſee Append.] I mentioned to you in my laſt, you ſhall have at the foot of this letter. His body, I find, was ſoon removed from Clerkenwell [Walbroke] to the college which he founded, and honoured deſervedly with a monument there." Dated Low-Layton, April xx, 1709. This letter, as I am informed by the very learned and communicative Dr. Ducarrell, was given by Dr. Charlet to Dr. Dobſon, preſident of Trinity college. The ſame, being the original, is now in the Burſary of Trinity college. A copy of it is among Cod. MSS. Ballard. Bibl. Bodl. vol. xv. 31.". In the mean time, it is extraordinary that no mention ſhould be recorded of this Removal of the founder's body in any regiſter of the college. That this tomb in the college chapel was ſtanding in the year 1567, at leaſt, that the founder was then removed thither, may be fairly concluded from the two following entries in the computus of the Burſars of that year, and they are the only notices that any where occur concerning it, viz.

"Sol. Mar. 10. tribus Operariis laborantibus per quatuor dies in ſacello circa ſepulcrum fundatoris, x s. xiij d.

"Sol. pro quinque modiis calcis circa ſepulcrum fundatoris, ij s. xj d.Comp. Burſſ. 1566.—7..

This monument was probably given by Elizabeth his ſecond wife in her life-time. It was certainly erected after his death, viz. after 1559, as the inſcription, which is wrought in large gothic characters out of the ſubſtance of the ſtone, minutely ſpecifies the date of his deceaſe. Elizabeth ſurvived her huſband more than thirty years; and, if at all, ſhe muſt have erected it before 1567, when it appears to have exiſted. But of this I ſhall have occaſion to bring further evidences.

I Now proceed to throw ſome collateral light on ſir Thomas Pope's hiſtory, by giving a detached and diſtinct account of his brothers, ſiſters, wives, and friends: moſt of which have already been occaſionally mentioned in the courſe of this narrative.

His brother John Pope, who was one of his heirs, and to whom he granted large eſtates, appears to have been ſettled at Wroxton in Oxfordſhire, in the reign of Edward the ſixthEx Indentur. dat. Aug. 1. 5 Edw. vi. Wroxton was a priory of Auguſtine Canons. See Append. Numb. XVII.. I find John purchaſing of Henry the eighth, in the year 1544, eſtates belonging to the diſſolved canons of Kenilworth in Warwicſhire, for 1501l. 13s. 8d Dugd. Warw. p. 474.. In the ſame year he recieved a grant of the ſite of the houſe of Franciſcan friers at LincolnTanner's Not. Mon. fol. p. 281.: as alſo, jointly with others, the ſite of the black friars at Beverly in YorkſhireIbid. p. 689.. In 1545, he received ſome lands belonging to the priory of Bileigh in EſſexNewc, Rep. ii. 610.. I could give many more inſtances from the patents, and privy ſeals. I find him often entertained at Trinity college, Oxford: and once with his ſecond wife Elizabeth Brockett

Comp. Burſſ. 1561.—2. "Sol. pro vino, pyris, aliiſque bellariis, inſumptis in Magiſtrum Pope viſitantem collegium. ijs. vjd.

Comp. 1562.—3. "Sol. ex ceraſis, fragis, vino, potu, et ſaccaro, datis Magiſtro Pope et uxori ejus viſentibus collegium. iijs. xd.

Comp. 1562.—3. "Sol. 7 Mart. pro vino, pomis, etc. datis Magiſtro Pope viſenti collegium. xviijd.

Comp. 1563.—4. "Sol. 23 Feb. ex bel • ariis inſumptis in Magiſtrum Pope viſentem collegium. xviijd. —"Sol. Magiſtro Pope inviſenti collegium. xixd.

Comp. 1564.—5. "Sol. in bellariis Magiſtro Pope, et quibuſdam advenis, viſentibus collegium. xxijd.

Comp. 1568.—9. "Allocat. in epulis Magiſtri Pope et Magiſtri Billinge in temp. feſſionum. iijs. viijd.

Comp. 1572.—3. "Allocat. pro epulis pro Magiſtro Johanne Pope fratre fundatoris quum hic nos inviſeret. vjs. vij d. ob.

Comp. 1573.—4. "Allocat. in epulis pro Magiſtro Pope fratre fundatoris inviſente collegium. vjs. viijd.

Comp. 1581.—2. "Allocat. in epulis pro Magiſtro Pope. xs. vjd."

IT may be neceſſary to ſpeak of ſir Thomas Pope's friends, and of thoſe with whom he ſeems to have maintained any particular intimacy, connection, or intercourſe: notwithſtanding moſt of their names have before occurred incidentally. Theſe were ſir Thomas More, lord Audley, ſir Richard Southwell, ſir Thomas Stradling, ſir Nicholas Bacon, ſir Thomas Cornewallys, ſir Francis Englefield, ſir Robert Southwell, ſir Edward Waldegrave, William Cordall, eſquire, Richard Gooderick, John Wyſeman, ſir Arthur Darcy, ſir Gilbert Gerrard, lord Vaulx, ſir Thomas Brydges, cardinal Pole, Thirlby biſhop of Ely, ſir Thomas Whyte, lord Williams of Thame, Whyte biſhop of Wincheſter, and Thomas Slythurſte, preſident of Trinity college ſo often mentioned.

I need not repeat his laſt interview with ſir THOMAS MORE: of whom it will be ſufficient to add here, that he was the greateſt ornament of the Engliſh nation at the reſtoration of polite literature; that he was a man whoſe life and death are equal prodigies, and whoſe valuable virtues and untimely fate are alike admired and lamentedEraſmus who always preſerved the higheſt opinion of More, has, with great elegance and truth, drawn his character at full length, EPIST. 447. See alſo 605. More was among Eraſmus's moſt intimate friends.. THOMAS lord AUDLEY, made lord high chancellor of England on ſir Thomas More's reſignation in 1533, was probably ſir Thomas Pope's particular patron, and perhaps not a little inſtrumental towards his riſe in the world, as has been already hinted. In how great confidence and eſteem ſir Thomas was held by lord Audley, is further manifeſted, from his being appointed, with ſir Edward North, and two others, an executor of lord Audley's willRegiſtr. Allen. Cur. Praerog. qu. i. dat. April. xix. 1544; in which, among ſeveral other directions, they are requeſted to deliver, the next new year's day after his deceaſe, one hundred pounds to the king; from whom the teſtator profeſſes to have received all his reputations and benefits He bequeathes the reſidue of his plate, goods, and chattels, to lady Elizabeth his wife, ſir Edward North, and ſir THOMAS POPE, knights, and his ſervants Edmond Martyn and Thomas Barbour. And "the ſum of ccljl. to either of the ſaid ſir Edward and ſir THOMAS." . Few of the favorites of Henry the eighth appear to have more ſucceſsfully recommended themſelves to their ſovereign than lord Audley. But although by his perſeverance in the buſineſs of the Divorce, and the diſſolution of the monaſteries, he ſo gratified the kings private views, as "to ſuſtain, according to his own declaration, much damage and infamy;" yet the beſt hiſtorians admit, that he oppoſed the dangerous deſigns of his arbitrary maſter in a matter of the higheſt importance. In 1539, many ſevere acts were made, in which thoſe ſtyled the ſix bloody articles were included; and the prerogative was carried to ſuch an enormous height, that the king's proclamation was allowed to attain the force of a law. It does not very plainly appear who were his majeſty's principal counſellors in this affair: but we are aſſured, by concurrent and undoubted authorities, that the rigorous execution of thoſe laws which the king had at firſt intended, was prevented by the ſpirited interpoſition of lord AudleySee BIOGRAPH. BRIT. Vol. i. AUDLEY.. But I forbear entering further into the hiſtory of this diſtinguiſhed ſtateſman and lawyer; who bore ſo conſiderable and ſo public a ſhare in the moſt important tranſactions of the reign of Henry the eighth. I ſhall only add, that with ſir Thomas Pope, he was an encourager of literature; and the founder, or reſtorer, of Magdalen college in CambridgeFuller, Hiſt. Cambr. pag. 120.. Sir RICHARD SOUTHWELL was one of the chief mourners at ſir Thomas Pope's burial. He was educated at Bennet college in Cambridge, and from thence removed to the inns of courtStrype, Eccl. Mem. i. 385.. He was ſummoned, in 1537, with many lords and knights, to attend the baptiſm of prince EdwardIbid. ii. 5.. He was a viſitor at the diſſolution of religious houſesRymer, Foed. xiv. 558., privy counſellor to Henry the eighth, and an executor of his willMaſter's Hiſtory of C. C. C. C. p. 373.. In 1545, although a ſtrict catholic, he protected, in his houſe called the Charter-houſe at London, his tutor at Cambridge, one John Loude, a polite ſcholar, who was perſecuted for hereſy, being a friend to his literature notwithſtanding his religionStrype, ut ſupr. i. 386.. When ſir Thomas More was committed to the tower, he was ſent by the king, with Rich the ſollicitor-general, to take away More's booksSee this whole tranſaction in the STATE TRYALS.. Henry the eighth left him by will two hundred poundsRymer, Foed. xv. 117.. In the reign of Edward the ſixth, he was appointed one of the counſellors to the young king, during his minorityStrype, Eccl. Mem. ii. 457.. In 1551, he was concerned with lord Wriotheſley, and others, in bringing about the fall of the protector Somerſet; who was become odious to the people on accont of his ambitious views, and the riches he had amaſſed in plundering the revenues of the church and crown. But in conſequence of this intrigue, which was deemed a faction, he was impriſoned, but pardoned. At the acceſſion of Mary, he received a grant from the queen of an annual penſion of one hundred poundsThis affair is related, perhaps with ſome partiality, in an old treatiſe entitled, "A ſhort treatiſe of politike power and of the true obedience, etc. Compyled by D. J. P. B. R. VV. 1556." 12mo. It is ſuppoſed to be written by Doctor John Poynet biſhop of Rocheſter, then of Wincheſter. See ſignat. iiii. The book appears to be printed abroad. See ſupr. p. 58., for his ſervices in oppoſing the duke of Northumberland who diſputed her title, and was accordingly beheaded for rebellionRymer, Foed. xv. 355.. In the ſame reign, 1553, he was maſter of the ordinance and armoryViz. Maii 2. Lit. Pat. Mar. an. reg. i. Par. 4. With a ſalary of cc marcs.; the nature of which, at that time, appears from the following warrant, requiring him to deliver, "towardes the furniture of the bande of horſemen, appointed preſently to attend upon her Grace, theis parcells of armour; four hundred demy launces, with all their furniture, five hundred corſeletts, one hundred and fiftie ſhirtes of mail, with morions to the ſame." Afterwards mention is made of "two hundred bowes, with ſheffs of arrowes, two groſſe of bowſtringes, fifty partizans [halberds] and five hundred pikesBurghley's State Papers, p. 166. 169.." In 1554, the queen gave him a licence for forty retainersSee Eccl. Mem. iii. 480., an honor only granted to perſons of uncommon diſtinction. In this reign he was alſo one of the privy council, and repeatedly joined in the moſt important commiſſionsBurghley's Pap. ut ſupr. paſſim. And Strype, Rymer, &c.; one of which he executed in conjunction with ſir Thomas Pope. In the firſt year of queen Elizabeth, he was continued maſter of the ordinance and armory; when he made ſuit to the lords, that he might exhibit a declaration of the ſtate of his office, and of the military ſtores then remaining in his poſeſſion. In a letter to Slythurſte, the firſt preſident of Trinity college, dated Whitmonday 1558, ſir Thomas Pope propoſes to place his ſon in law John Beresford abovementioned, a ſtudent in his college, and concerning whoſe ſucceſs in life he appears to have been very ſollicitous, as a page with ſir Richard Southwell, and his brother ſir Robert, "to lerne there amonge his [ſir Richard's] childern, the Latin tonge, the French tonge, and to playe at wepons

Sir Richard Southwell's children were placed, in his own houſe, under the care of John Loude. Of whom he uſed to ſay, "He will make my boy, like himſelf, too good a Latiniſt, and too great a heretic." Stype, Eccl. Mem. i. 386.

Tuſſer the poet, in his HUSBANDRIE, mentions ſir Richard Southwell, as a moſt bountiful patron. Edit. 1593, 4to. pag. 159.

AN anecdote equally ridiculous and ſcandalous, has been propagated by Antony Wood, highly injurious to the honor of ſir THOMAS POPE; which, notwithſtanding it appears at firſt ſight ſtrongly to confute itſelf, I ſhall here examine and diſproveAlthough poſſeſſed of the proper information and evidence, I had long ago, and for many reaſons reſolved, never to enter into a particular diſcuſſion of this idle calumny. But as, ſince the appearance of my firſt edition of this work, it has been circulated both in converſation, and by more biographers than one, as a pleaſant ancedote, I could no longer forbear uſing the means in my power of expoſing its falſity and futility. It originated from Henry Cuffe, the famous ſecretary of the unfortunate earl of Eſſex, who was executed, ſoon after his maſter, in 1601.

Cuffe, being a boy of the moſt promiſing abilities and uncommon proficiency in literature, was ſent at fifteen years of age, by Lady Elizabeth Powlett, often mentioned above, from Hinton ſaint George in Somerſetſhire, to Trinity college in Oxford, where he was elected ſcholar on the twentyfifth of May, 1578REGISTR. PRIM. fol. 37. b.. Within five years he was admitted fellow, May 30, 1583Ibid. fol. 42.. But even in this ſituation, the ſame diſcontented and arrogant ſpirit, which afterwards hurried him to an ignominious end, could not be ſuppreſſed. Soon after his admiſſion, when he was now not more than twenty years of age, and in the year of his probation, he endeavoured to defame his founder by a falſe inſinuation, which ſavored alike of petulance and ingratitude; and which, had it been true, deſerved animadverſion. The matter being reported to Lady Powlett the foundreſs, ſhe tranſmitted a mandate to the college, ordering him to be inſtantly removed from his fellowſhip. This we learn from the words of the college regiſter. "Reſignante CUFFO, et locum Litteris Fundatricis dante Ibid. fol. 42. b.." The cauſe of his amotion is twice mentioned by the Oxford antiquary. In the ATHENAE he ſays, that Cuffe "was forced to reſign his fellowſhip of Trinity college, for ſpeaking certain matters though true, which redounded to the great diſcredit of the FOUNDERATHEN. OXON. vol. i. col. 307. edit. 2.." In another place, however, he tells the whole ſtory without reſerve, and produces his authority. "Doctor Bathurſt told me that our Cuffe was of Trinity college, and expelled from thence upon this account: the founder, ſir Thomas Pope, would, wherſoever he he went viſiting his friend, ſteal one thing or other he could lay his hands on, put it in his pocket, or under his gown. This was ſuppoſed rather an humour than of diſhoneſty. Now Cuffe, upon a time, with his fellows being merry, ſaid, a pox this is a poor beggarly college indeed, the plate that our founder ſtole would build ſuch another, which coming to the Preſident's ears, he was thereupon ejectedSee Hearne's LIB. NIG. SCAC. p. 593.." The reader muſt have already noticed the glaring inconſiſtency of theſe two curious narratives. In the firſt, ſir Thomas Pope, is by implication at leaſt, repreſented as a thief: in the next, his diſhoneſty is ſoftened into humour and jocularity. That the whole is a miſrepreſentation, and a jumble of circumſtances, appears from an original paper in the hand-writing of Doctor Bathurſt. "Secretary Cuffe was expelled from a fellowſhip of Trinity college, on this account. Our founder, when upon a viſit, would often carry away a ſilver cup under his gown for the joke-ſake, ſending it back the next day to laugh at his friend. Cuffe being merry at ANOTHER COLLEGE with ſome of his boon companions, ſaid, A pox this is a beggarlie college indeed, the plate that our founder ſtole would build another as good. Theſe words being told to the Preſident, he was ejected. This I have often heard from my predeceſſour doctor preſident Kettell who was contemporarie with CuffeBATHURST PAPERS, MSS. In the poſſeſſion of the late Mr. Payne, canon of Wells.." In the margin, Bathurſt has recorded the name of the other college, which Cuffe was pleaſed to treat in ſuch terms of contempt, and which needs not here to be mentioned. Indeed, it was no part of the accuſation againſt Cuffe, that, as Wood's context inſinuates, his pleaſantry led him to depreciate the buildings of his founder: but that he wantonly converted one of his practical jokes, a ſpecies of humour not uncommon among our feſtive anceſtors, into a petty larceny. On the whole, we now perceive that Wood has inaccurately related this ſtory from a caſual converſation with Bathurſt, which he remembered as imperfectly. As to Cuffe, I know not whether he ſtill continued at Oxford after this ejection. But having great addreſs, and much real merit, about three years afterwards, that is in the year 1586, he was choſen fellow of Merton college. Being an admirable Grecian, he was about the ſame time made profeſſor of Greek in the univerſity. It was in this department, that he aſſiſted Columbanius in the firſt edition of Longus's elegant PASTORAL ROMANCE, which was printed at Florence in 1598COLL. MSS. T. Hearne, vol. xiii. p. 236. Columbanius ſays in the Dedication, p. ii. "Qua in re operam mihi ſuam, non ingratam iliam quidem, navarunt viri omnium literatiſſimi atque officioſiſſimi Herricus CUFFUS Anglus, &c." . He was no leſs eminent as a logician and a diſputant. His intimate friend Camden, to whoſe BRITANNIA, at its firſt appearance, he prefixed an excellent Greek epigram, characterizes Cuffe, as a man of exquiſite learning and genius, but of a factious and perverſe temperCamd. ELIZ. p. 869. edit. Hearn.. Notwithſtanding the ſevere check he received at Trinity college, he generouſly preſented to the library there ſeveral volumes. Perhaps ſome readers will be candid enough to think, that his expulſion from this ſociety was rather owing to an unguarded vivacity of diſpoſition, than to any malignity of mind. Our hiſtorians ſay, that the earl of Eſſex, who began, after a tedious confinement, to feel the dangers of his ſituation, diſmiſſed Cuffe from his ſervice and family, for turbulence and inſolenceCamden, ubi ſupr. p. 827. 833.. Eſſex was unfortunate in not having before perceived theſe qualities, in a man who ſhared ſo much of his confidence.

FROM a recapitulation of what has been ſaid, the following character of ſir THOMAS POPE ariſes. He appears to have been a man eminently qualified for buſineſs; and although not employed in the very principal departments of ſtate, he poſſeſſed peculiar talents and addreſs for the management and execution of public affairs. His natural abilities were ſtrong, his knowledge of the world deep and extenſive, his judgment ſolid and diſcerning. His circumſpection and prudence in the conduct of negociations entruſted to his charge, were equalled by his fidelity and perſeverance. He is a conſpicuous inſtance of one, not bred to the church, who without the advantages of birth and patrimony, by the force of underſtanding and induſtry, raiſed himſelf to opulence and honorable employments. He lived in an age when the peculiar circumſtances of the times afforded obvious temptations to the moſt abject deſertion of principle: and few periods of our hiſtory can be found, which exhibit more numerous examples of occaſional compliance with frequent changes. Yet he remained unbiaſſed and uncorrupted amid the general depravity. Under Henry the eighth, when on the diſſolution of the monaſteries, he was enabled by the opportunities of his ſituation to enrich himſelf with their revenues by fraudulent or oppreſſive practices, he behaved with diſintereſted integrity; nor does a ſingle inſtance occur upon record which impeaches his honor. In the ſucceeding reign of Edward the ſixth, a ſudden check was given to his career of popularity and proſperity: he retained his original attachment to the catholic religion; and on that account, loſt thoſe marks of favor or diſtinction which were ſo liberally diſpenſed to the ſycophants of Somerſet, and which he might have eaſily ſecured by a temporary ſubmiſſion to the reigning ſyſtem. At the acceſſion of Mary, he was reſtored to favor; yet he was never inſtrumental or active in the tyrannies of that queen which diſgrace our annals. He was armed with diſcretionary powers for the ſuppreſſion of heretical innovations; yet he forbore to gratify the arbitrary demands of his bigotted miſtreſs to their utmoſt extent, nor would he participate in forwarding the barbarities of her bloody perſecutions. In the guardianſhip of the princeſs Elizabeth, the unhappy victim of united ſuperſtition, jealouſy, revenge and cruelty, his humanity prevailed over his intereſt; and he leſs regarded the diſpleaſure of the vigilant and unforgiving queen, than the claims of injured innocence. If it be his crime to have accumulated riches, let it be remembered, that he conſecrated a part of thoſe riches, not amid the terrors of a death-bed, nor in the dreams of old age, but in the prime of life, and the vigour of underſtanding, to the public ſervice of his country; that he gave them to future generations, for the perpetual ſupport of literature and religion.