the brother's death. About the end of December 1613, sir Thomas desired leave to return to England, but was denied till he should have received the final resolution of the court of France about the treaty of marriage; which being accomplished, he came to England towards the end of January 1613-14. Though the privy-council strenuously opposed this match because they had not sooner been made acquainted with so important an affair, yet, so zealous was the king for it, that he sent sir Thomas again to Paris with instructions, dated July 20, 1614, for bringing it to a conclusion. But, after all, it appeared that the court of France were not sincere in this affair, and only proposed it to amuse the protestants in general. In 1616 sir Thomas assisted at the conference at Loudun, between the protestants and the opposite party; and, by his journey to Rochelle, disposed the protestants to accept of the terms offered them, and was of great use in settling the pacification. About the end of October, in the same year, he was ordered to England; not to quit his charge, but, after he should have kissed the king's hand, and received such honour as his majesty was resolved to confer upon him, in acknowledgment of his long, painful, and faithful services, then to go and resume his charge; and continue in France, till the affairs of that kingdom, which then were in an uncertain state, should be better established. Accordingly he came over to England in December; and, on the 21st of that month, was made comptroller of the king's household; and, the next day, sworn a privy-counsellor. He returned to the court of France in April 1617; but took his leave of it towards the latter end of the same year. And, on the 19th of January, 1617-18, was advanced to the place of treasurer of the household; and in 1620 was appointed clerk of the crown in the court of king's bench, and might have well deserved the post of secretary of state that he had been recommended for, which none was better qualified to discharge. He was elected one of the burgesses for the university of Oxford, in the first parliament of king Charles I. which met June 18, 1625, and was also returned for the same in the next parliament, which assembled at Westminster the 26th of February following; but his election being declared void, he was chosen for another place. Some of the speeches which he made in parliament are printed. On the 11th of June 1629, he was commissioned to go ambassador to the French court, on purpose to carry king Charles's ratification, and to receive Lewis the XIIIth's

oath, for the performance of the treaty of peace, then newly concluded between England and France: which he did in September following, and with this honourable commission concluded all his foreign employments. Having, after this, enjoyed a creditable and peaceful retreat for about ten years, he departed this life, September 20, 1639. His lady was Magdalen, one of the daughters and co-heirs of sir John Wood, knight, clerk of the signet, by whom he had one son, and three daughters. She died at Paris, December 31, 1614, with a character amiable and exemplary in all respects. Sir Thomas had with her the manor of Albins, in the parishes of Stapleford-Abbot, and Navestoke in Essex, where Inigo Jones built for him a mansionhouse, delightfully situated in a park, now the seat of the Abdy family. Sir Thomas was small of stature, but great in understanding. He was a man of uncommon sagacity, and indefatigable industry in his employments abroad; always attentive to the motions of the courts where he resided, and punctual and exact in reporting them to his own; of a firm and unshaken resolution in the discharge of his duty, and beyond the influence of terror, flattery, or corruption. The French court, in particular, dreaded his experience and abilities; and the popish and Spanish party there could scarcely disguise their hatred of so zealous a supporter of the protestant interest in that kingdom. His letters and papers, in twelve volumes in folio, were once in the possession of secretary Thurloe, and afterwards of the lord chancellor Somers. The style of them is clear, strong, and masculine, and entirely free from the pedantry and puerilities which infected the most applauded writers of that age. Several of them, together with abstracts from the rest, were published by Dr. Birch in a work entitled "An historical view of the Negotiations between the Courts of England, France, and Brussels, from the year 1592 to 1617. Extracted chiefly from the MS State-papers of sir Thomas Edmondes, kt. ambassador in France, &c. and of Anthony Bacon, esq. brother to the lord chancellor Bacon," London, 1749, 8vo. Several extracts of letters, written by him in the early part of his political life, occur in Birch's "Memoirs of queen Elizabeth," and other letters are in Lodge's "Illustrations of British History."

1

1 Biog. Brit.-Lloyd's State Worthies.-Prince's Worthies.-Lodge's Illus

trations.

EDMONDES (CLEMENT), son to sir Thomas Edmondes, mentioned as the patron of the preceding sir Thomas, was born in Shropshire in 1566; and in 1585 became either clerk or chorister of All Souls' college; took one degree in arts, and then was chosen fellow of the house in 1590. Four years after, he proceeded in that faculty; and then leaving the college, was, mostly by his father's endeavours, made successively secretary, as it is said, for the French tongue to queen Elizabeth about 160!, remembrancer of the city of London, master of the requests, muster-master at Briel, in Zealand, one of the clerks of the council, and in 1617, a knight. He was a learned person, was generally skilled in all arts and sciences, and famous as well for military as for politic affairs; and therefore esteemed by all an ornament to his degree and profession. He published "Observations on the five first books of Cæsar's Commentaries of the civil wars," London, 1600, folio; "Observations on the sixth and seventh books of Cæsar's Commentaries," &c. London, 1600, folio; "Observations on Cæsar's Commentaries of the civil wars, in three books," London, 1609, folio. On which, or the former observations, Ben Jonson has two epigrams. All, or most, of these observations, are reprinted with an addition of an eighth commentary by Hirtius Pansa, with our author's (Edmondes) short observations upon them, London, 1677, fol. Before which edition is the Life of Cæsar, &c.

Our learned author died in St. Martin's in the fields, London, Oct. 12, 1622, and was buried in the little chapel belonging to his manor of Preston, near Northampton. Over his grave is a fair monument erected, with an English and Latin epitaph. That in English is as follows: "Here lieth sir Clement Edmondes, knt. one of the clerks of his majesty's most honourable privy council. His dextrous pen made him most worthily esteemed in his own vocation; and in the art military, by Cæsar's confession, an understanding soldier. He lived faithfully industrious in his place, and died religiously constant in the belief of the resurrection," &c."

EDMONDSON (HENRY), a learned schoolmaster, who styled himself Henricus Edmundus ab Edmundo, was born in Cumberland in 1607, and in 1622 entered a student in Queen's college, Oxford, in the inferior rank of tabarder,

1 Ath, Ox. vol. I.-Lloyd's State Worthies.-Fuller's Worthies.

from which he probably rose by his talents, as he took his degrees in arts, and obtained a fellowship. Afterwards he was employed as usher of Tunbridge school; and in 1655, was appointed, by the provost and fellows of Queen's college, master of the free school at Northleach in Gloucestershire, which he retained until his death, July 15, 1659, leaving the character of a learned and successful teacher. He published at least two school books; the one entitled Lingua linguarum," London, 1655, 8vo; and the other "Homonyma et Synonyma Linguæ Latinæ conjuncta et distincta," Oxon. 1661, 8vo.'

EDMONDSON (JOSEPH), Mowbray herald extraordinary, F. S. A. and an able heraldic writer, was a man who raised himself by dint of ingenuity and perseverance from a very humble station to considerable celebrity. He was originally an apprentice to a barber, but discovering some knowledge of the art, became an herald painter, and was much employed in emblazoning arms upon carriages. This led him to study heraldry as a science, which imperceptibly led him also to genealogical researches, and his progress in both was rapid and successful. When the baronets of England wished for some augmentation to their privileges, as appendages to their titles (in which, however, they were not successful), they chose Mr. Edmondson their secretary. In 1764 he was appointed Mowbray herald extraordinary. He died in Warwick-street, Golden-square, Feb. 17, 1786, and was buried in the church-yard of St. James's, Piccadilly. He was a man of good sense as well as skill in his profession, and maintained an excellent private character. His works, which will convey his name to posterity with great credit, were, 1. "Historical account of the Greville Family, with an account of Warwick Castle," Lond. 1766, 2. "A Companion to the Peerage of Great Britain and Ireland," ibid. 1776, 8vo. 3. "A Complete Body of Heraldry," ibid. 1780, 2 vols. folio; and 4. his very magnificent work, entitled "Baronagium Genealogicum, or The Pedigree of English Peers," 1764-84, 6 vols. folio.*

8vo.

EDWARD VI. king of England, deserves notice here as a young prince of great promise and high accomplishments, rather than as a sovereign, although in the latter character he afforded every presage of excellence, had his life been spared. He was the only son of Henry VIII. by

1 Ath. Ox, vol. II.

? Noble's Hist. of the College of Arms.

queen Jane Seymour, and was born in 1538. From his maternal uncle, the duke of Somerset, he imbibed a zeal for the progress of the reformation. The ambitious policy of his courtiers, however, rendered his reign upon the whole turbulent, although his own disposition was peculiarly mild and benevolent, and amidst all these confusions, the reformation of religion made very great progress. He was at last, when in his sixteenth year, seized with the measles, and afterwards with the small-pox, the effects of which he probably never quite recovered; and as he was making a progress through some parts of the kingdom, he was afflicted with a cough, which proved obstinate, and which gave way neither to regimen nor medicines. Several fatal symptoms of a consumption appeared, and though it was hoped, that as the season advanced, his youth and temperance might get the better of the malady, his subjects saw, with great concern, his bloom and vigour sensibly decay. After the settlement of the crown, which had been effected with the greatest difficulty, his health rapidly declined, and scarcely a hope was entertained of his recovery. His physicians were dismissed by the earl of Northumberland's advice, and the young king was entrusted to the hands of an ignorant woman, who undertook to restore him to health in a very short time; but the medicines prescribed were found useless: violent symptoms were greatly aggravated; and on the 6th of July, 1553, he expired at Greenwich, in the sixteenth year of his age, and the seventh of his reign. The excellent disposition of this young prince, and his piety and zeal in the protestant cause, have rendered his memory dear to the nation. possessed mildness of disposition, application to study and business, a capacity to learn and judge, and an attachment to equity and justice. He is to this day commemorated as the founder of some of the most splendid charities in the metropolis.

He

Many authors have preserved accounts of this prince's writings. Cardan talks much of his parts and learning. Holland affirms that he not only wrote notes from the lecfures or sermons he heard, but composed a comedy, entitled "The Whore of Babylon," in Latin. It is more certain, however, that he wrote "The Sum of a conference with the Lord Admiral," which, in his own hand, is extant among the Ashmolean MSS.; "A method for the proceedings in the council," in the Cottonian library; and