Page:A new and general biographical dictionary; containing an historical and critical account of the lives and writings of the most eminent persons in every nation v1.djvu/379

 A S C H A M. 543 him, at the recommendation of fir William Mr. Afcharn v.s remarkable for writing a fine hand, and was employed to teach this art to piince Edward, the lady Elizabeth, and the two brothers Henry and Charles dukes of Suffolk. The fame vear in which he published his book, Grant,p.i4. he was chofen univerfuy oratnr ; an office extremely well ifuited to his genius and inclination, as he had thereby an op- portunity of difplaying his fuperior eloquence in the Greek and L-uin tongues. In February, 154^, he was Tent for to ourt, to inftru& the lady Elizabeth in the learned languages; and fhe attended him with fo much pleafure, that it is difficult 4o fay, whether the matter or the fcholar had greater fatis- fadion [D]. He read with her rnoft of Cicero's works, great part of Livy, felecl orations of Ifocrate--, the tragedies of Sophocles, the Greek Teftament, and many others of the mod confiderabie authors. He had the honour of afliilinj; this lady in her ftudies for two years, when he defired leave to return to Cambridge, where he refumed his office of pub- lic orator; and, among other encouragements, he enjoyed a penfion fettled upon him by king Edward. In the fummer of Ibid, r, 16. 1550, being upon a vifit to his relations in Yorkfhire, he re- ceived a letter of invitation to attend fir Richard Moryfine in his embaffy to the Emperor Charles V. In his journey to London, he vifited the lady Jane Grey, at her father's houfc at BradgateHall, in Leiceiterihire ; and it wason thisoccafion, as he himftlf tells us [E], tnat he furpriled her reading Plato's Phaedo in Greek, in the abfence of her tutor, while the reft of the family were engaged in hunting and diverfion : he ob- ferved to her, that in this refpedt (he was more happy, than in being descended from kings and queens on botu father's and mother's fide. In September following, he embarked with the atnbalTador for Germany, where he remained three with his boy, as being inconfiftent with animo didicerit, non pofTum quidem fa- the charafler and gravity of $ fcholar. cilc ilamere.*' Grant, p. u. 14. lie anfweied fuch objedions in the ftrA [E] " Nihil tamen in tanta rerum va- book of his " Toxophilus," an.^ Slewed rietate tam juftam mihi admiraMonern the realonablenefs of relaxing tkc mind retert, quam quod hac proxiina fupe- trom graver ftudies, by proper exercills of riori aftate offendfrim tc-, tam nobi- the body, which was the more necelTary lem virginem, abfente optimo prxcep- for him, as he had a very infirm con- tore, in au!a nobiliifimi patris, qu.) ftitution. Faft. Oxon. vol. i, fol. tempore reliqui et reliquae vcnatioai ec 65. jucundatihur lee dent, oftende'im in- [D] "Illam ille tanta diljoentia, tanta quam, *- ; ?tt~, divinan? virginem c-xpp rientia, eft ftudio duos annos docuit, div'unim divlni Pi..' n ; s Pna-donem et ilia ilium tanta conftamia, labore, Crsece fedulo pfrk-gt raena. Hac p.irte amore, et voluptate audivir, ur, illene feliciur ei judicanda, quiinn quod -aralj}- jn.ijore quidem cum jucunditate et vo- 6(v fj.r^oi'.^,( ex re^ibus icginiique ^;nu3 praelegerit, a,n ilia lubentiore tuurn doouci;." Epiit. vii. lib. 3 Z 4 years,