was now at Court, but was not unmindful of Haddon's SECT. IX. declining condition, and did the part of a true spiritual friend, by sending him his counsel and comfort in a wise Anno 1550. and compassionate letter; which, having such a mixture of piety and eloquence, and to preserve the small remainders we have of this great man's composures, I shall translate for the English reader's benefit, though falling far short of the writer's elegant Latin. It began, Ærumnæ et miseriæ nostræ, quibus non modo quotidie jactamur, sed fluctuamus etiam, &c. "Our afflictions and miseries, wherewith we are not "only daily tossed, but also are fluctuating up and down, "do administer great ease to your ailments, and comforts 66 in your sickness. I suppose, now you do not only look upon death, which is the end of life, but also upon "Christ, who is the end of death, whose servants we are, "whether we live or die; you have the example of a good " and religious man, whose departure you lately most elo"quently bewailed, [in his funeral oration upon Bucer,] "who hath prepared you an entrance to Christ. That if any must leave this light, the enjoyment whereof is wont "to be dear to us all, he cannot be furnished with so many 66 nor more noble exhortations, if he would turn over all "the monuments of antiquity, than you have now placed "before your eyes; viz. the length of the distemper, which 66 66 by much premeditation mitigates all grief; the frequent "and necessary thoughts of death, which take away the "delights of this world, and diminish the childish appre"hensions of life and ease; the great and heavy assaults "of a disease, which break strength, and draw you neces"sarily into the meditation of death; the death of Bucer, "the worth of whose life, if it could not deliver him from "the jaws of death, what hope may we have of others, "whose praise, although great, yet of him there could not "be greater and worthier; but as children, so you per"haps, when they see their parents going out, they la"ment, they take on, they pray they may go abroad with "them. Servants, who are employed upon ordinary and "domestic work within doors, do not ask for that which III. 66 CHAP. they cannot obtain; nor do they know what they should "do abroad, being not accustomed to the business that Anno 1550.“ lieth without, nor skilful how to manage it. You see "Bucer going before you. In his departure, you, half dead, cry [after him ;] your friend doth not hear; you go not "where fain you would: but there is one perhaps that "hears, and leads you after your parent; and in the mean "time increaseth the anguish of your disease, which press"eth you with grief, to make you weary of your body as a prison; that your mind, free and at large, might "take her flight to heaven, as your dwelling-house, and "deliver it from these common and daily afflictions, which "set so hard upon human life. 66 66 "Considering all this, what else may you think than "this: My father is gone home; he calls me; I must fol"low: so my will, so my nature bids me; and so the wise " and the good God will have it; whose goodness I per"ceive as a son, whose wisdom I perceive as a mortal 66 man, and whose presence as a creature. You arm your"self against the rage of the flesh, which if it be not quite “buried, yet it is broken with diseases; and it teacheth you, (unless the eternal Workmaster restore you,) that an inveterate evil cannot be mended, and that we must "look for another house whither to go, when we see the "imminent and tottering ruin of this. But why do I call "it a house? A kingdom, and that hereditary, and a spa"cious territory, is prepared for you; which, when it was "once lost, Christ purchased for his people, by redeeming "them from their sins, and bestowing on them his Spi❝rit. 66 66 "Here, perhaps, you will interpose, and say, Not all who "are oppressed with these pains presently ought to despair of health. It is not of necessity indeed; but, how"ever, it is the part of wisdom to provide against the 66 worst; and, that nothing may happen unawares, to think "of extremities, not to be afflicted for the loss of life, and "not to despair of a better state: for neither should we "live without hope, nor die with care; lest either the life "be miserable, wanting the comfort of hope, or death be ❝ bitter, being in a torture at the approach of it. For there SECT. IX. are twelve hours in the day; which being spent, the sun "sets; being not spent, the light diffuseth itself to mor- Anno 1550. "tals: nor does it set before the time prescribed by God "come; nor doth it stay longer than the appointed end of "its course. Not so much as an hair falleth to the earth "without the will of our heavenly Father, at whose com"mand they all fall, and without it they remain; giving "us to understand, that life and death are governed by his 66 authority and pleasure. And we should not be afraid of "what he provides, nor shun what he sends, nor decline "what he commands. But I have no time for further dis66 course of these things, by reason of my business; nor "have you leisure to read them, by reason of your indis66 position. You will therefore excuse me, that here I make "a stand. Farewell in Christ, dear Haddon. March 19, anno 1551. [i. e. anno 1550 exeunte.]” This was the sum of Cheke's Christian as well as eloquent letter to the sick Haddon; wherein he shewed himself a true friend, in the spiritual comforts and counsels suggested to him. But Haddon (though at this present low ebb of health) at length recovered, and lived to be made use of both by King Edward and Queen Elizabeth. To the latter whereof, after she had employed him in embassies abroad, he became Master of her Requests. And as he not long after this was preferred by the King, so was Cheke the one to be President of Magdalen college in Oxford, anno 1552; the other, as a special mark of the King's favour, to the honour of knighthood this ensuing year, as we shall hear by and by. F CHAP. IV. From the time of Cheke's knighthood, to his being made a SECT. I. Cheke is knighted. Honours FOR in the year 1551, and in the month of October, was conferred by the King and others. a great advancement to honour granted unto certain of the upon Cheke nobility: Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset, who married a daughter of the late Duke of Suffolk, (which daughter he had by Mary of the royal blood,) was created Duke of Suffolk; John Sutton, alias Dudley, Earl of Warwick, was created Duke of Northumberland; Paulet, Earl of Wilts, was created Marquis of Winchester; Sir William Herbert was made Lord Cardiff, and soon after Earl of Pembroke; and at the same time, for the greater splendour of the day, the King knighted his Secretary Cecil, his schoolmaster Cheke, and two that were chief gentlemen of his privy chamber, Nevyl and Sidney. The King's gift to him. To which I add the King's gift to him about six months before, namely, in May, to enable him the better to maintain the port and honour that he was ere long to be invested with. It was a gift in fee simple to John Cheke, Esquire, (as it is set down in the warrant book,) in consideration of the surrendry of an hundred mark rent, granted him by letters patents, dated the 26th of August, in the second year of his reign for twenty-one years, if it should so long please the King, of all the manor of Stoke juxta Clare (as he had before given him the site of the college, and other lands belonging to it) in the counties of Suffolk and Essex, with divers other lands, tenements, &c. all to the yearly value of 145l. 19s. 3d. To hold all the premises in capite, by the fortieth part of a knight's fee, (except the Fuller Mill in Stoke, and the Guildhall house there,) the Pistery pasture, and other premises in Spalding, and the rec II. tory of Sandon, and other premises in Sandon; to be holden SECT. as of the manor of Greenwich by fealty only, paying yearly to the King for the manor of Stoke 4l. 17s. 7d. SECT. II. Cheke inquisitive after Dr. Redman's declaration concerning religion at his death. Anno 1551. NOTHING of moment passed at Cambridge, or relating Yong's letto the members of it; but Sir John Cheke was inquisitive ter to Cheke about it. Dr. Redman, Master of Trinity college, some Redman. time fellow collegian with Cheke, one of the learnedest and gravest men in that University, in the month of November, anno 1551, departed this life. A man he was of such great esteem for his deep knowledge in divinity, and acquaintance with the ecclesiastical fathers and writers, and skill in the Scriptures, that his words bore a very great weight and authority. This Doctor was reckoned rather of the Popish side, than that of the Protestants. He owned outwardly transubstantiation and justification by works; though in other matters he was more loose from the corruptions and superstitions of the Roman Church. But coming to lie on his deathbed at Westminster, the learneder sort attended him, and prayed him, as a dying man, (since the world had such a deference for his learning,) to declare impartially his thoughts of several matters then controverted in the Church, which he promised he would do most sincerely. His answers were all in favour of the Reformation, and particularly he shewed the rottenness of those distinguishing Papal doctrines before mentioned, which he seemed outwardly to have adhered to. There were then present Wilks, Master of Christ's college, Cambridge; Alexander Nowell, Master of the King's school at Westminster, and divers others; and particularly Mr. Yong, B. D. of Trinity college, none of the most earnest favourers of religion, and a great opposer of Martin Bucer, but a learned man. Cheke, desirous to know the truth of these things, sent to the said Yong, praying him |