IV. CHAP. berland and his party, who put the sick King upon settling the kingdom upon the Lady Jane, eldest daughter of Anno 1553. Grey Duke of Suffolk, excluding the next legal heirs, his His inclina tion to Jane. Grey. two sisters. And it must be placed among the slips of the loose pen of the author of the State Worthies, when he writes that Cheke was against this will of King Edward, and puts this sentence in his mouth thereupon, “That he "would never distrust God so far in the preservation of "true religion, as to disinherit the orphans to keep up "Protestantism." It swayed him, while he foresaw what a persecution was like to ensue, and what an overthrow of that reformed religion, that had been so carefully planted by good King Edward. For though some secular and ambitious ends drove on the Duke in these lofty and dangerous projects, yet the fears of the return of Popery, and miserable times consequent thereupon, both to the nation and to the state of true religion, were the arguments that prevailed with Cheke to countenance that interest; and his inclination perhaps to this party made the way for him to be Secretary. To which office he was sworn and admitted June the 2d, and the two other Secretaries were yet continued, and all three Secretaries appeared in Council together. And this appears from the Council Book. So that a cerState Wor- tain observator, that tells the world that Cheke enjoyed this place three years, imposes upon his readers, since in truth he enjoyed it little above four weeks: to which we may add the nine days of the Lady Jane Grey's reign. thies. Ascham congratu lates his high place Now we may look upon him employed in the public affairs of state, and advanced into a high and honourable station. On occasion of which, Ascham, being now at Brussels a with Morison the King's Ambassador, begged Ep. III. 9. his pardon for detaining him with his letters, forgetting the authority he had, and the momentous businesses with Ep. III. 11. which he was now taken up. And in another letter con he was advanced to. gratulated the high place he was advanced to; adding, "that this was an honour long before due to his learning, I. ❝ his prudence, and integrity, by the voice of all; and that SECT. "he did not so much congratulate him alone, as those to "whom, in his opinion, it was a greater commendation of Anno 1553. "their prudence in choosing him, than a part of his hap 66 66 66 66 piness in ascending to this promotion. He congratulated "therefore," he said, "the whole British name, and first, ❝ and chiefly indeed, the Prince; that as his childhood en"joyed Cheke, a most excellent preceptor, so his youth, " and hereafter his elder age, should make use of him as a "most prudent and faithful Counsellor for many long years to come;" [but alas! that could not be, the good King was dead just a day before Ascham wrote this letter.] He proceeded; "I extremely congratulate our civil state, “our land, and our Christian state; the safety of all which "three was always so dear to you, that the single tranquillity of each man, the desired name of studies, the quiet of purer religion must henceforth abide in your 66 authority alone, in your excellent learning, and in your ❝ardent love of God. I heartily congratulate Cambridge, "which brought you forth; but above all, St. John's college, which taught you: of the one you were a native, "of the other a most flourishing scholar; both see you 66 now their best and ablest patron." But alas! all these congratulations, which came to Cheke's hands not many days after his master the King's death, were to him but like the joy of Jephthah's daughter to Jephthah, when she came out to him with her timbrels and dances, congratulating his victory; it was but a trouble and unspeakable grief to him to hear and see it. 66 Secretary Council. King Edward being dead, and the Lady Jane set up and Cheke as proclaimed Queen, letters at this time were sent from the writes letCouncil to the gentry, and other state letters were written ters for the by Cheke as Secretary. He checked his brother Cecil, who would not be induced to meddle in this matter, but endeavoured to be absent; and to the very utmost day of Queen Jane's reign, viz. to July the 19th, he acted as Secretary to her and her Council. On which day, upon information from the Lord Rich, Lord Lieutenant of the V. CHAP. County of Essex, that the Earl of Oxford (who lived in that county,) had gone over to the Lady Mary, a letter Anno 1553. signed by the Lords of Queen Jane's Council, sitting in the Tower, to excite that Lord to stand firm, was drawn up by Cheke's own pen, and by him signed with the rest: which letter he thus worded; " requiring him like a noble 66 man to remain in that promise and stedfastness to our sovereign Lady Queen Jane, as ye shall find us ready "and firm with all our force to maintain the same: which "neither with honour, nor with safety, nor yet with duty, 66 we may now forsake.” mitted to SECT. II. Committed, indicted, pardoned. Travels abroad. Cheke com- IT was but the next day that the Lords that signed the Tower. this letter turned about, proclaimed Mary Queen, and wrote their letters to her, owning her their Sovereign; and thus was poor Sir John Cheke left in the lurch, (for he could not do as they did,) and on a sudden thrown down from his worldly greatness, which indeed he never Fox's Acts. affected; and within eight or nine days after, viz. July the 28th, together with the Duke of Suffolk, committed to the Tower as a traitor. And whereas the rest that acted as Queen Jane's Counsellors, being either Papists or indifferent in religion, were easily pardoned, Cheke and some few others (as the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Russel) were sent to the Tower, or kept under Indicted. harder and longer restraint. An indictment was drawn against him the 12th or 13th day of August; and his Cranmer's friends feared it would go hard with him. Archbishop him. Fox, Cranmer, who valued him highly for his learning and Epist. MS. goodness, privately sent to Cecil to know "whereupon "he was indicted; and signifying withal, that he had "great cause to hope that he should be one of them that "should feel the Queen's pardon, as one who had been "none of the great doers in this matter against her, [as concern for penes me. 66 66 II. was Northumberland, and those that were actually in SECT. arms ] and that his trust was not yet gone, except it. were for his earnestness in religion. For which," said Anno 1554. the good Archbishop, " if he suffer, blessed is he of God, "that suffereth for his sake, however the world judge of "him" adding, out of his dear respect for him, and his usefulness to be continued in the world, "Alas! if any means could be made for him and my Lord Russel, it were not to be omitted, nor in any wise to be neg"lected." 66 66 to go Sir John, (together with some others,) the next year, Pardoned. being almost spoiled of all his substance, obtained the fa- Is licensed vour of the Queen's pardon. But being not able to satisfy abroad. his conscience in the religion that was setting up, and foreseeing the evil times that were drawing on, obtained a licence from the Queen for some time to travel into foreign parts; but intending a voluntary exile, with many other noble and reverend personages, who fled their own country upon this change, and sojourned in divers places in Germany and Switzerland, or elsewhere, where they might enjoy their religion with safety. Such were Sir Anthony Cooke, Sir Thomas Wroth, Mr. Knolles, Mr. Hales, the Duchess of Suffolk and her husband Mr. Bertue, Mr. Rogers, and many of the best and eminentest sort of divines, as Barlow, Scory, Bale, and Ponet, Bishops; Cox, Grindal, Horne, Parkhurst, Jewel, Sandys, Pilkington, Nowell, Whittingham, Fox, Lever, and many more. And some took this opportunity to travel into Italy, and to see the countries and of these were Sir Anthony Cooke, and our Sir John Cheke, who passed into Italy through Basil; Comes to where staying some time, (for there were divers English Protestants here,) he came acquainted with Cælius Secundus Curio, a learned man, father-in-law to Hieronymus Zanchius. With this man he happened in their learned conferences to discourse of the pronunciation of the Greek tongue, and communicated to him at length the letters of that argument that passed between himself and the Bishop of Winchester. But because Cælius could not read Basil. CHAP. them over suddenly, Cheke, at his request, left them with V. him, till he should call for them again, and so pursued his Anno 1554. journey into Italy. Reads Greek at Padua. And being come to Padua, where was a famed University, he met with Dr. Thomas Wylson, sometime Fellow of King's college in Cambridge, (afterwards Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth,) and other English youth also, students there. To whom Cheke in an obliging way addressed, and exhorted them to follow their books, and directed them in their studies; and for the time he stayed there, read to Wylson and others certain orations of Demosthenes out of the Greek; the interpretation whereof they had from his mouth. And Wylson made his use of this afterwards, when being in England, and preferred for his learning to be Master of St. Katharine's near the Wylson sets Tower, he looked among his writings for Cheke's translamosthenes' tion of those orations; and some he found, though not all, Orations in which he turned out of his Latin into proper English, and English from printed anno 1570, viz. three Orations in favour of the Olynthians, and four against King Philip of Macedon; dedicating the book to Sir William Cecil, Cheke's brotherin-law and most dear friend; taking occasion there to speak largely of the great skill and learning of the said Sir John Cheke. forth De Cheke's Latin. Settles at When he returned from Italy, he cared not to go into Strasburg. England, observing how rigorously things went there, and what a dark and dismal cloud hung over his own country, but chose rather to settle himself at Strasburg, where the English service was kept up, and a great many of his learned and pious friends resided. This was taken hold of at home, and his back-friends aggravated matters against him; of whom his old antagonist Bishop Gardiner, now Lord Chancellor, may be reckoned none of the least. He had been chief instructor of King Edward, in his principles of religion, to which he stuck so fast: he was one of the great stays of evangelical doctrine, and had complete learning to maintain it against the gainsayers: and therefore, whatsoever his innocence and merits otherwise were, |