Volume 1

Desiderata curiosa: or, a collection of divers ... pieces relating chiefly to matters of English history : consisting of choice tracts, memoirs, letters ... etc / Transcribed ... and illustrated with ample notes ... By Francis Peck.

Francis Peck

Date:: 1779

Credit: Desiderata curiosa: or, a collection of divers ... pieces relating chiefly to matters of English history : consisting of choice tracts, memoirs, letters ... etc / Transcribed ... and illustrated with ample notes ... By Francis Peck. Source: Wellcome Collection.

42/298 page 8

$i. % Ji THEN Queene Marie came in, fhe graunted Sir William Cecil a general pardon, i VV 2* And in choofing her counfellors fhe had [alfo] fo good liking of him, as, if he wold chaunge his religion, he diold be her fecretarie & counfellor.* 3. And, to that purpofe, fome wife men weare, under hand, fett to allure him, & difcover his difpofition. 4. But, like himfelf, he wifely & chriftianlie anfwered, c he was tought, & bound to ferve But. MS. ‘ God firft, & next the queen. {And*'] if her fervice fhold put him out of Gods fervice, he ‘ hoped her majedy wold give him leave to choofe an everladinge, rather then a momentarie ‘ fervice. And [as] for the queene die had byn his fo gracious ladie, as he wold ever ferve, ‘ & praie for her in his heart; &, with his bodye & goods, be as ready to ferve in her defenfce, c as anie of her [mod] loyall fubjedts, fo fhe wold pleafe to graunt him leave to ufe his con- ‘ fcience to himlelf, and ferve her at lardg as a private man, rather then to be her greateft * counfellor.’ t There. MS. 5. [Here f] was no torne-coate, nor feller of his foule, nor renouncer of his faith, for ambition of a councellors place, as manie wold doe upon fo fair an offer. But where the foundation is furely laid, the houfe is hardly fhaken. And God, laieing the firft done, the X is. MS. buyldinge mud: needes profper. As [was% j veryfied in him; to whome God gave the fruits of his faith, and the reward of a good deward. § And. MS. 6- [L>/,§] though he had dill the queens favoure, he was, by fome, not favoureing or fearing him, fought to be brought into danger; [they] urging manie heynous crymes againd him. ,|| for. MS. 7. Among the red, [his^~] being received in[to] fervice & intelligence with the Ladie Eli¬ zabeth, now queene.3 8. But neither their might nor mallice prevailed. For his temperance quenched their fury; ** tc MS. & his witt made efcape out of danger. Ye[<2,**] the queene dill ufed him very gracioufiy, & forbare either to heare his accufers, or to difgrace [the knight] himfelf.4 9. For, in the fecond yere of her reigne, he was fent to Bruxells, with the Lord Pagett, to bring in Cardinal Poole.£ 1. ‘ On the xx. of July, 1553. letters were delivered ‘ to Richard Rofe, herault ; to be declared to the Duke * of Northumberland Sc his band, that, if he doe not ‘ fubmit himfelfe to the queenes highnefs Queene Mary, ‘ he Ihall be accepted as a traytor. And all we 'of the ‘ nobilitie that were counfellors to the late king, will to ‘ the uttermoft portion, perfecute him 8c his to their ‘ utter confufion.’ Stow, p. biz. b. 2. ‘ William Cecil had been fecretary of eftate to ‘ Edward the lixth, Sc dilcharged the office fo well, that, * if his religion had not ilood in the way, he had been ‘ continued in the fame poll under Mary.’ Rapin Vo!. [II. p. 275, 276. 3. ‘ In Queen Mary’s time he added privately for the ‘ Lady Elizabeth.’ Dudg. (a Camd.) Vol. U. p. 406. a. .4. ‘ He was neverthelefs expofed to no perfecution on * account of his religion ; whether his artful behavior * gave no advantages againll him, or his particular me- ‘ rit procured him a diltindtion above all other P10- ‘ teftants.’ Rapin, Vol. VIII. p. 276. 5. ‘tv0. Novembris 1554. \ii°. Maria] ccepi iter cum * Jlomino Paget fe1 Magijtro Hajiings verfus Cafarem, pro ‘ reducendo cardinal m.’ MS. Diary. ‘ Venimus Bruxcllis xi°, Novembrisd Id. ‘ Redi-vimus xxiii0. Novembris IVeJlm'nnaJlerium cum 1 Cardinal’ Polo I Id. 1 he queen now fancying her felf to be with child, it was accordingly fo given out, and Te Dcum publickly fung for it. This conceit Sir William briefly touches in his Diary. ‘ xxi>iii°. Novembris 1554. declaratum rjipu~ ‘ bhcis orationibus reginam gravidam rj/e, atp. ... . 10. After ‘ xviii°. Mali, 1535. ego irajeci mare, fe1 pervcni Ca• ‘ letum cum R. Cardinale Poind MS. Diary. This was his fecond journey abroad to attend that cardinal. Agreeable to which I find,-‘ In May ‘ Cardinal Poole, the Lord Chanceller, the Earl of ‘ Arundel, & the Lord Pagett, went over to Caleis.* Stow, p. 626.1. This then is the company he went with. What they went for I lhall tell you prefently. ‘ 23. May, 1555. received of Mr. Grefham’s man at 1 Antwerp, by Henry Stephenfon, v. 1.’ MS. Diary. * 27. May, 1555. bought at Callice three hats for ‘ the children, at xx.d. each.’ MS. Diary. The next think he fpeaks of is, ‘ the journey from ‘ Callice the iii. of June.’ The place he went to was fome town or houfe near Mark. For (to open now the builinefs of this journey) Stow, after the words above cited, proceeds-‘ &c ‘ neere unto Marke treated with the emperours & the ‘ French kings commiffioners for a peace to be had be- ‘ tweene thefaid princes, Cardinal Poole being prefldent x there.’ ubifupra. xviii. Junii 1555. I find him again at Callis, Sc with him Harry Stevenfon his faithful fervant. MS. Diary. 1 xxiiiJ. Junii 1555. bought iiii. c. ells of canvafs at * Callice, at iiii.1. an hundred.’ MS. Diary. * xxvi. June, he got home again.’ Id. With this ac- account well enough agrees Stow. ‘ Cardinal Poole, ‘ See. returned again into England about the midll of ‘ June, without any agreement making.’ /. 626. b.$