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before her father, and closely embracing him, could only utter, My father, oh, my father!" He tenderly returned her embrace, and exhorting her to patience, parted from her. She soon in a passion of grief, again burst through the crowd, and clung round his neck in speechless anguish. His firmness was now overcome; tears flowed plentifully down his cheeks, till with a final kiss she left him. All his subsequent behaviour was marked not only with a calmness of resignation, but with the humorous and even mirthful cast which was radical in his temper. The king spontaneously remitted the sentence of hanging and quartering, and changed it into beheading; upon which Sir Thomas said, in his jesting manner, "God forbid his majesty should use any more such lenity to any of my friends, and God bless my posterity from such pardons." He expressed great thankfulness for the permission given to his wife and family to attend his funeral, and he acquiesced in the tyrannical mandate, "That he should not use many words at his execution." Being denied the use of pen and ink, he wrote a letter with a coal to his daughter Roper, to whom he also sent his whip and hair shirt, of which circumstances of his devout discipline, she was the sole confidante. On the fatal day, July 5, 1535, he dressed himself in his best apparel, and walked cheerfully to the place of execution. Observing that the scaffold was weakly built, he turned to the lieutenant of the Tower, and said, "I pray you, Mr. Lieutenant, see me safe up, and for my coming down, let me shift for myself." He desired the spectators to pray for him, and to bear witness that he died in and for the holy Catholic church, and a faithful servant both of Gd and the king. He then said his prayers; and when he had finished, he addressed himself with a lively and pleasant countenance to the executioner, and exhorting him to perform his office boldly, and take care that he did not strike awry. Then calmly laying his head on the block, and having desired the executioner to stay till he had removed his beard, "For that had committed no treason," he received a single stroke, which severed his head from his body. This was the end of Sir Thomas More, at the age of 55.

His body, which was first interred in the Tower, was begged by his daughter Margaret, and deposited in the chancel of the church at Chelsea, where a monument, with an inscription written by himself, had been erected, and is still to be seen. She also procured his head after it had remained 14 days upon London bridge, and preserving it carefully in a leaden box, gave directions that it should be placed in her arms when she was buried, which was accordingly done. Sir Thomas More was a man of some learning, and an upright judge; a very priest in religion, yet cheerful, and even witty on many occa

He wanted not saga

sions, particularly at his execution. city, where religion was out of the question; but in that his faculties were so enveloped, as to render him a weak and credulous enthusiast. Of his manner of life during his prosperity, Erasmus has drawn the following interesting picture." More has built near London, upon the Thames, a commodious house, neither mean nor an object of envy. There he converses affably with his family, his wife, his son, and daughter-in-law, his three daughters and their husbands, with eleven grand-children. There is no man living so affectionate to his children; and he loves his old wife as well as if she was a young maid. Such is the excellence of his temper, that whatever happens which could not be prevented, he is as well pleased, as if it could not have been better. His house may be resembled to Plato's academy, or rather may be called a school or university of Christian religion, for there is no one in it who does not read or study the liberal sciences; piety and virtue are the care of all; no quarrels or intemperate words are heard; and none are seen idle. His household discipline is not maintained by harsh and lofty language, but by all kindness and courtesy; every one performs his duty with alacrity, nor is sober mirth wanting." We further learn, that he was fond of music, in which several of his family were proficients. His attachment to the fine arts is attested by his patronage of Holbein, whom he entertained in his house nearly three years. Sir Thomas left one son and three daughters. Sir Thomas was the author of various works, though his Utopia is the only performance that has survived in the esteem of the world; owing to the rest being chiefly of a polemic nature. His answer to Luther Las only gained him the credit of having the best knack of any man in Europe, at giving bad names in good Latin. His English works were collected and published by order of Queen Mary I., in 1557; his Latin, at Basil, in 1563, and at Louvain in 1566.

CHARLES BRANDON, duke of Suffolk, a favourite of Henry VIII., of England. He was valiant in the field, and handsome in his person. At a tournament, in honour of Mary the sister of Henry who married Lewis XII., of France, he was attacked by a gigantic German at the instigation of the French, who envied his reputation; but he had the good fortune to defeat his antagonist, and so noble was his conduct, says Henault the historian, that it won the heart of the youthful bride, who in three months became a widow, and offered herself in marriage to her favoured champion. The marriage accordingly was celebrated with the permission of Henry. Suffolk died in 1545.

SIR FRANCIS BRYANT, a soldier, statesman, and poet, was born of a respectable family, educated at Oxford,

and afterwards spent some time in travelling. In 1522, the 14th of Henry VIII., he attended the earl of Surrey to the coast of Brittany; and commanded the troops in the attack of Morlaix, which he took and burnt. For this service he was knighted on the spot by the earl. In 1529, he was sent ambassador to France, and, in 1530, to Rome on account of the king's divorce. He was gentleman of the privy chamber to Henry VIII., and to Edward VI., in the beginning of whose reign he marched with the protector against the Scots; and after the battle of Musselburgh, was made bannaret. In 1548, he was appointed chief governor of Ireland, where he married the countess of Ormond. He died soon after and was buried at Waterford. He wrote, 1. Songs and Sonnets, some of which were printed with those of the earl of Surrey, and Sir Thomas Wyat. Lond. 1565. 2. Letters written from Rome concerning the king's divorce, MS. 3. Various letters of state. 4. A dispraise of the life of a courtier, &c. Lond. 1548, 8vo. from the French of Alaygri, who translated it from the Castilian language, in which it was originally written by Guevara.

RICHARD PACE, an eminent statesman and ecclesiastic, in the reign of Henry VIII. He was born at or near Winchester, about 1482. He studied some time at Queen's college, Oxford, and afterwards went to Rome in the service of doctor Christopher Bambridge. On the death of Bambridge, in 1514, Pace returned to England. Henry VIII. sent for him to his court, and employed him in affairs of great political importance. In 1515, he went on an embassy to the emperor Maximilian, in order to engage him to check the progress of the French arms in Italy. Maximilian undertook the expedition, but was unsuccessful, and therefore was obliged to make peace with the French king, Francis I.

Pace now took orders and was made dean of St. Paul's, London, and also of Exeter. He went to Rome to solicit the Popedom for Wolsey, and was next ambassador at Venice. Here he felt all the weight of Wolsey's jealousy; no directions were sent him for his guidance, and no remittances made, and in consequence his spirits were so affected, that he became insane. As soon as Henry was informed of this, Pace was ordered home; and by the aid of the king's physicians he was restored to the use of his senses. Henry wished to preserve him from the persecutions of Wolsey; but the cardinal was so powerful at this time, that he procured Pace's imprisonment in the Tower; where he was in captivity for two years, at which period he was liberated by the command of the king. Pace, thus degraded, and depressed in body and mind, resigned his deaneries some time before his death, and expired at Stepney, in 1532, aged 50. He was a man universally beloved, and

enjoyed the friendship of Pole, Sir Thomas More, Erasmus, &c. He was the author of several works.

NICHOLAS VAUX, lord of Harrowden, Northamptonshire, distinguished himself at the battle of Stoke, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, in 1487, and was knighted. He continued a favourite at the court of Henry VIII., and attended his master in his interview with Francis I., and was raised to the rank of baron. He wrote poems called "The Paradise of Dainty Devices," and died at Northamptonshire in 1522.

THOMAS HOWARD, earl of Surrey, and duke of Norfolk, an eminent commander in the reign of Henry VIII., was born about 1473. He was brought up to arms by his valiant father, the earl of Surrey; and soon after the accession of Henry VIII., was decorated by the knighthood of the garter. He assisted his brother Sir Edward, in his attack against Sir Andrew Barton, a Scotch pirate, who in 1511, spread terror on the English coast. He next embarked for Guienne with the marquis of Dorset, and ably contributed to the conquest of Navarre by the arms of Ferdinand. Raised to the honour of high admiral, he displayed his valour in the field, and ensured the defeat of the Scotch at Flodden-field, where James IV. was slain. He afterwards went to Ireland as viceroy, and after two years he returned to lead a fleet against the French. These services were rewarded by the king, who created him earl of Surrey, and restored his father to the dukedom of Norfolk, but his popularity was transitory. The great reputation, property, and influence of the duke of Norfolk, began to excite the jealousy of Henry VIII., who was sensible of his own approaching end, and probably feared the authority of so potent a family, during a minority of the crown. As past services stood for nothing in the mind of this unfeeling tyrant, he resolved to sacrifice the duke and his eldest son, the gallant earl of Surrey, to his suspicions. Nothing could be more frivolous than the accusations brought against them. They had quartered the arms of Edward the Confessor upon their scutcheon, as their ancestors had done before them, without ever being questioned for it. The duke who had the misfortune of living on bad terms with his wife, and who was also betrayed by his mistress, had used some expressions in private conversation concerning the king's bad state of health; and the probable disorders in the kingdom in case of his death. On such slight grounds, they were both arrested, December 1546, and confined in the Tower. The earl was attainted and executed. The duke, notwithstanding his submissive behaviour and pathetic remonstrances, was attainted in the house of lords, without trial or evidence, and the bill of attainder was passed through both the houses. The king, though expiring, seemed to have nothing

so much at heart as that the duke should not escape him, and ordered him to be executed on January 29, 1547, but dying himself the night before, the order was suspended. He was, however, excepted by the regency of Edward VI. from the general pardon issued at his accession, and was kept in prison during the whole of that reign. One of the first acts of queen Mary, on her accession, in 1553, was the liberation of the duke of Norfolk, and other state prisoners of that party. He was restored to his title and possessions without any pardon, his attainder being regarded as null and invalid. He was immediately admitted to confidence, and sat as high steward at the trial of the duke of Northumberland. Upon the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat, in 1554, the duke of Norfolk raised a body of horse and foot, and marched against him. After that insurrection was suppressed, he retired to his seat in Norfolk, where he died in August, 1554, having passed his eightieth year.

EDWARD HOWARD, a brave English admiral, younger brother to Thomas Howard. The honour of knighthood was conferred on him, about 1494, for his services, and he was afterwards placed at the head of a fleet to attack and destroy the French ships which infested the English coast. He defeated the enemy's fleet off Brest, but the following year 1514, he was killed in boarding Pregant, the French admiral's ship.

THOMAS PARR, or OLD PARR, a remarkable Englishman, who lived in the reign of ten kings and queens. He was born in 1483, and was the son of John Parr, a husbandman of Winnington, in the parish of Alderbury, Salop. Following the profession of his father, he laboured hard, and lived on coarse fare. Being taken up to London by the earl of Arundel, the journey proved fatal to him. Owing to the alteration in his diet, to the change of the air, and his general mode of life, he lived but a very short time; though one Robert Samber says, in his work, entitled "Long Livers," that Parr lived sixteen years after his presentation to Charles II. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. After his death his body was opened; and an account was drawn up by the celebrated Dr. Harvey, of which the following is an extract. "He had a large heart, not fungous, but sticking to his ribs, and distended with blood; a lividness in his face, as he had a difficulty in breathing a little before his death, and a long lasting warmth in his arm-pits and breast after it; which sign, together with others, were so evident in his body, as they used to be in those that die with suffocation. His heart was large, thick, fibrous, and fat; the blood in the heart blackish and diluted; the cartilages of the sternum not more long than in others, but flexile and soft. His viscera were sound and strong, especially the stomach; and he used to eat often by night and day, though contented with old cheese,

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