"former custom and practice: which was ever full "of forwardness and celerity to make head against "them, or to set upon them as soon as ever they

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were in action. This he was wont to do. But "now, besides that he was attempered by years, and "less in love with dangers, by the continued fruition "of a crown; it was a time when the various appearance to his thoughts of perils of several na"tures and from divers parts, did make him judge "it his best and surest way, to keep his strength together in the seat and centre of his kingdom: according to the ancient Indian emblem, in such a swelling season, to hold the hand upon the middle "of the bladder, that no side might rise." And again, "All this while the rebellion of Cornwall, where"of we have spoken, seemed to have no relation to "Perkin; save that perhaps Perkin's proclamation "had stricken upon the right vein, in promising to

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lay down exactions and payments, and so had made "them now and then have a kind thought on Perkin. "But now these bubbles by much stirring began to "meet, as they use to do upon the top of water.”* And his kind nature and holy feeling appear in his account of the conquest of Granada. † "Some"what about this time came letters from "Ferdinando and Isabella, King and Queen of

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Spain; signifying the final conquest of Granada "from the Moors; which action, in itself so worthy, King Ferdinando, whose manner was never to lose

any virtue for the shewing, had expressed and displayed in his letters at large, with all the particu"larities and religious punctos and ceremonies, that "were observed in the reception of that city and "kingdom: shewing, amongst other things, that "the king would not by any means in person enter "the city, until he had first aloof seen the cross set up upon the greater tower of Granada, whereby "it became Christian ground. That likewise, be"fore he would enter, he did homage to God above, pronouncing by an herald from the height of that tower, that he did acknowledge to have recovered "that kingdom by the help of God Almighty, and "the glorious Virgin, and the virtuous Apostle Saint James, and the holy father Innocent the Eighth, together with the aids and services of his prelates, nobles, and commons. That yet he stirred not from his camp till he had seen a little army of martyrs, to the number of seven hundred and more Christians that had lived in bonds and servitude, as slaves to the Moors, pass before his eyes, singing a psalm for their redemption."

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HISTORY OF HENRY VIII.

Of this tract Archbishop Tenison says, "the "Second is, the fragment of the History of Henry "the Eighth, printed at the end of his lordship's "miscellany works, of which the best edition is that "in quarto, in the year 1629. This work he un"dertook, upon the motion of King Charles the "First, but (a greater king not lending him time)

"he only began it; for that which we have of it, was

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(it seems) but one morning's work."

This tract is thus noticed in his letters.

To the Marquis of Buckingham. "Excellent Lord,

Though your lordship's absence fall out in an "ill time for myself; yet because I hope in God "this noble adventure will make your lordship a "rich return in honour, abroad and at home, and chiefly in the inestimable treasure of the love and "trust of that thrice-excellent prince; I confess "I am so glad of it, as I could not abstain from your lordship's trouble in seeing it expressed by "these few and hasty lines.

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"I beseech your lordship, of your nobleness "vouchsafe to present my most humble duty to his highness, who, I hope, ere long will make me leave King Henry the Eighth, and set me on work in "relation of his highness's adventures.

" I very humbly kiss your lordship's hands, resting

"ever

"Your lordship's most obliged friend and servant." "February 21, 1622."

To the Prince.

"It may please your excellent highness, "I send your highness, in all humbleness, my book "of Advancement of Learning, translated into Latin, "but so inlarged, as it may go for a new work. It is a

"book, I think, will live, and be a citizen of the "world, as English books are not. For Henry the

Eighth, to deal truly with your highness, I did so

despair of my health this summer, as I was glad "to choose some such work, as I might compass "within days; so far was I from entering into a "work of length. Your highness's return hath "been my restorative. When I shall wait upon your highness, I shall give you a farther account.

So

"I most humbly kiss your highness's hands, resting "Your highness's most devoted servant.

"I would (as I wrote to the duke in Spain) I "could do your highness's journey any honour with my pen. It began like a fable of the poets; but " it deserveth all in a piece a worthy narration."

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

The first letter upon this subject is

"To the Lord Chancellor, touching the History of

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"Britain.

"It may please your good Lordship,

"Some late act of his majesty, referred to some " former speech which I have heard from your lordship, bred in me a great desire, and the strength "of desire a boldness to make an humble proposi"tion to your lordship, such as in me can be no "better than a wish: but if your lordship should

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apprehend it, it may take some good and worthy "effect. The act I speak of, is the order given by "his majesty for the erection of a tomb or monu

VOL. 3.

d

"ment for our late sovereign Queen Elizabeth :* "wherein I may note much, but only this at this "time, that as her majesty did always right to his 'majesty's hopes, so his highness doth in all things

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right to her memory; a very just and princely re"tribution. But from this occasion, by a very easy "ascent, I passed farther, being put in mind, by this 66 representative of her person, of the more true and "more vive representation, which is of her life and

government for as statues and pictures are dumb "histories, so histories are speaking pictures; where"in if my affection be not too great, or my reading "too small, I am of this opinion, that if Plutarch "were alive to write lives by parallels, it would "trouble him both for virtue and fortune, to find "for her a parallel amongst women. And though "she was of the passive sex, yet her government "was so active, as, in my simple opinion, it made more impression upon the several states of Europe, "than it received from thence. But I confess unto

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your lordship I could not stay here, but went a "little farther into the consideration of the times "which have passed since King Henry VIII; "wherein I find the strangest variety, that in so "little number of successions of any hereditary mo"narchy hath ever been known. The reign of a "child; the offer of an usurpation, though it was

"The monument here spoken of was erected in King "Henry VII's chapel at Westminster, in the year 1606.”