after divers examinations, sent him to Cambridge Castle, where he remained but a while. From thence he was conveyed to the townprison, commonly called the Tolbooth, lying there almost a quarter of a year, while at length he was cited to appear at Great St. Mary's on Palm Sunday eve, before divers doctors, both divines and lawyers, amongst whom was chiefest Dr. Shaxton; also Dr. Young, Dr. Segewick, Dr. Scot, Mitch, and others; where, after examination had, for that he would not recant, he was first condemned, the sentence being read by Dr. Fuller. "On Maundy-Thursday coming to the stake, he exhorted the people to pray for him; and after holding his peace, and praying to himself, one spake to him, saying, 'The Lord strengthen thee ;' whereat a sergeant, named Brisley, stayed and bade him hold his tongue, or else he should repent it. Nevertheless Hullier answered and said either thus or very like (the effect was all one), 'Friend, I trust that as God hath hitherto begun, so also he will strengthen me, and finish his work upon me. I am bidden to a Maundy, whither I trust to go, and there to be shortly. God hath laid the foundation, as I by his aid will end it.' "Which done, he went meekly himself to the stake, and with chains being bound, was beset with reed and wood, standing in a pitch-barrel; and the fire being set to, not marking the wind, it blew the flame to his back. Then he feeling it, began earnestly to call upon God. Nevertheless his friends, perceiving the fire to be ill kindled, caused the sergeants to turn it, and fire it to that place where the wind might blow it to his face. "That done, there was a company of books which were cast into the fire; and by chance a communion-book fell between his hands, who receiving it, joyfully opened it, and read so long as the force of the flame and smoke caused him that he could see no more. And then he fell again to prayer, holding his hands up to heaven, and the book betwixt his arms next his heart, thanking God for sending him it. And at that time, the day being a very fair day and a hot, yet the wind was somewhat up, and it caused the fire to be the fiercer; and when all the people thought he had been dead he suddenly uttered these words, 'Lord Jesus! receive my spirit,' dying very meckly. "The place where he was burned is called Jesus Green, not far from Jesus College. Seager gave him certain gunpowder, but little to the purpose; for he was dead before it took fire. All the PROVOSTS LUPTON, DAY, AND BISHOP ALLEY. 71 people prayed for him, and many a tear was shed for him." (Fox's Martyrs, vol. viii. pp. 378-381.) One Eton Provost of this century signalised himself among the persecutors of those whose tenets he had once professed to hold. This was Dr. Henry Cole, who was made Provost of Eton in 1554. The brief record of this man's disgraceful career, in the "Registrum Regale," is as follows:-" Henry Cole, Fellow of New College, Oxford, in 1523; Warden of New College, Oct. 4, 1542, which he quitted in 1551. Having advocated the Reformation, he became in Queen Mary's reign a rigid Romanist, and was appointed by her to preach, before the execution of Cranmer, in St. Mary's Church at Oxford. Dean of St. Paul's, in 1556. Vicar-General under Cardinal Pole, in 1557. Soon after the accession of Elizabeth he was deprived of his Deanery, fined 500 marks, and imprisoned. Whether he was formally deprived of the Provostship, or withdrew silently, does not appear. He died in the Fleet in 1561." There are several names and notices of Etonians in the lists of Eton Provosts and Fellows and Alumni Etonenses between 1500 and 1600, to which I have not yet adverted, but which must not be wholly omitted from this Chapter. ROGER LUPTON was elected Provost in 1503; he was made Fellow of Eton, Feb. 16, 1503, the day before he was elected Provost; Canon of Windsor, 1504; resigned the Provostship in March, 1535; died in 1540; buried in Lupton's Chapel, which he built; he also built the great tower and gateway leading to the cloisters. WILLIAM DAY was made Provost in 1561. He had been admitted into King's College from Eton, 1545. He was appointed Fellow of Eton, in 1560; Canon of Windsor, in 1564; Dean of Windsor, in 1572; Bishop of Winchester, in 1595. Died Sept. 20, 1596. WILLIAM ALLEY, went from Eton to King's in 1528. He left Cambridge when a Bachelor of Arts, and then studied for some time at Oxford. He afterwards entered the Church, and distinguished himself among the Reformers. On Queen Mary's accession, he left a benefice which he had been holding, and fled into the North of England, where he was unknown. He there travelled from place to place, and obtained a subsistence for himself and his wife by teaching youth and practising physic-which he had studied at the University. On Queen Elizabeth's coming to the throne, Alley was made Divinity Lecturer at St. Paul's Cathedral, and in 1660 he was raised to the Bishoprick of Exeter. He is said to have been eminent for the variety as well as the depth of his knowledge: and he was also honourably conspicuous for his faithful and earnest attention to his Episcopal duties. He died in 1570. JOHN LONG, who became a Scholar of King's in 1533; became Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. EDMUND GHEAST (Kingsman in 1536) was made, in 1559, Bishop of Rochester, and in 1571, Bishop of Salisbury. GILES FLETCHER (King's in 1565), father of the two Etonian poets of that name, was employed on many state affairs by Queen Elizabeth. When that Queen, in her desire to encourage the trade with Russia, which was opened by the English ships that in her reign first effected a passage to Archangel, resolved on sending an Ambassador to Muscovy, she selected Dr. Fletcher for that mission. He resided for some time in that country, and on his return published a curious account of the condition of the Russian people, their government, army, &c., which may be seen in Hakluyt's collection of Voyages. Dr. Fletcher died in 1610. JOHN COWELL, who left Eton for King's in 1570, was an eminent student of the Roman law, and was also a grand common lawyer. He and Coke were constant rivals and opponents. Coke, with his customary coarseness, always called Cowell "Dr. Cowheel." Cowell compiled and published a Law dictionary, which gave great offence to the House of Commons by some of the high prerogative doctrines which its author had asserted in it. Cowell's "Interpreter, or Signification of Law Terms," is still the basis of our Law dictionaries, as Jacobs and Tomline did, in fact, little more than re-edit him with additions; nor are the bulky quartos, which now figure with a new editor's name on the shelves of the law-student, anything more than amplified and interpolated Cowell. RICHARD MOUNTAGUE, born in 1576, at Dorny, Bucks, was educated on the foundation at Eton, and in 1594 went to King's. In 1613 he obtained the rectory of Stamford Rivers, in Essex, with a Fellowship at Eton, and three years subsequently the deanery of Hereford. His next piece of preferment was a stall at Windsor, where he read the divinity lecture from 1720, the date of his appointment, till 1728. In the mean time he commenced an attack on the first part of the learned Selden's "History of BISHOP MOUNTAGUE AND JOHN CHAMBERS. 73 Tythes," which performance James the First was much pleased with, and encouraged him to proceed in his examination of early Church history. This work appeared in 1621, and in the following year he published his "Analecta Ecclesiasticarum Exercitationum." In 1624, finding that some of the Society of Jesuits were making converts in his parish of Stamford, he gave them a challenge to answer certain queries, to which they replied by a short pamphlet, entitled "A New Gag for the Old Gospel." To this Dr. Mountague rejoined another, "An Answer to the late Gagger of the Protestants." In the management of this controversy, however, he gave considerable offence to the Calvinistic party, who accused him before the House of Commons as a favourer of Arminianism; but the encouragement which he received from the King induced him to publish a vindication of the work, under the title of "Appello Cæsarem." This aggravated his offence in the eyes of his antagonists, and he was brought in 1625 before the first Parliament of Charles the First, in spite of whose personal countenance the book was voted seditious, the author reprimanded by the Speaker at the bar, and ordered to find security for his appearance in 20007., being committed in the meanwhile to the custody of the Serjeant-atarms. Archbishop Laud now interfered in his favour, and with such success, that in the following year, although on a revision of the case Parliament still pronounced the work "calculated to discourage the well-affected in religion from the true Church;" yet the proceedings against its author were discontinued, and in 1628 Charles advanced him to the Episcopal Bench, as Bishop of Chichester. Over this diocese he presided ten years, at the expiration of which period he was translated to Norwich, but survived this last elevation only a short time, dying in 1641. Besides the writings already enumerated, he assisted in bringing out Sir H. Savile's edition of St. Chrysostom's works, which appeared in 1613, and was the author of a "Commentary on the Epistles of Photius," folio, Gr. et Lat.; "Originum Ecclesiasticarum," folio; "The Acts and Monuments of the Church before Christ," folio; and "Theanthropicon, seu de Vita Jesu Christi." Bishop Mountague was a prelate of great acuteness as well as learning, and even his opponents, Selden among the number, do justice to his scholarship and Biblical learning. (Biog. Brit.) JOHN CHAMBERS, who was made a Fellow of Eton in 1582, deserves to be mentioned as one of the benefactors of the College. He founded two Postmasterships in Merton College, Oxford, for superannuated Eton scholars: one in the gift of the Provost of King's, the other of the Provost of Eton, value 657. per annum, besides rooms, and a portion of commons. The buildings of the College were continued during the early part of this century. Dr. Lupton, who was Provost from 1503 to 1535, built the Chantry Chapel in which he lies buried, and on the door of which is carved the Rebus of his name, the syllable LUP, with the figure of a Tun below it. He also built the Great Tower and Gateway leading to the Cloisters. Eton came into imminent peril near the close of the reign of Henry the Eighth. The last Parliament of that monarch subjected to his disposal all the Colleges, Chantries, and Hospitals, in the kingdom, and all their manors, lands, and hereditaments; and the King was empowered to send his Commissioners to seize them to his use. Henry's officers came to Eton, and took an inventory of all the College property; and, had he lived a few months longer, there is good cause to fear that Eton would have ceased to flourish. The survey which was then made of the College property is preserved, and may be seen in the MS. History in the British Museum. The information contained in it is curious and minute, and I have set it out at length in a note.' There is written at 5 SURVEY OF EATON COLLEGE, Co' BUCKS. In the above year (1545), a Survey was made of the state of this College, wch was return'd thus : : De Collegio Etonensi, VIII.} Com. Bucks, 37.o H. VIII The College of Eton, founded by K. Hen. VI. The said College is a Parish Church. The said College is of the yearly value of £ 8. d. 1066 16 91 Whereof, paid for Collectors fees & Rents, Resolutes and Paid to the Provost for his Stipend To 7 Fellows at 5£ the peice To 5 Chaplains at 4£ the peice To one of the Chaplains having more To the Schoolmaster To the Usher To the Clerks call'd Conducts, yreof one is an Organ Player 62 17 11 30 0 0 35 0 0 1 20 0 0 0 13 4 10 0 0 4 0 0 21 6 8 |