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/389

 A S H M O L E. t)pnn the reilorntion of king Charles If. Mr. Afhrr ' of uluccd to r, who irceived hit-.i T . i;:i the ib'th of June, 1660, In-llovvr;! on I i;n the . his of Vv'iiuifor hcr;ild ; ;in.i :i lew ilays after, he ;i . of i r ii i v 1-1 Berkfliue. to give ;i defcnpti -i ol his medals, which wore accordingly I0> delivered into his poilcflion, and kir^ Henry VIII's tit-let was afi>ned for his ufe : at the fame time a commjflion wasDiary,p. 37, granted to hini, to ex ami no- Iluuli Pctirs about the contents of the king's library which h:'d fallen into his hamls ; which was carefully executed, but to little efTedt [cj. On ths 1 5th of February, Mr. Afhmole was admitted a fellow of the Royal Society ; and on the 9th of [bruary following, the king appointed him fecretary of Surinam, in the Weft Indies. On the i gth of July, 1669, the univirfuy of Oxford, in Ibid. coniuieration of the many favours they had received from Mr. Afhmole, created him doh>r of phyfic by diploma, which was preferred to him by Dr. Yates, principal of Brazen Nofe college. On the 8th of May, 1672, he prefented bis " In- Memoirs, " ftitution, Laws, and Ceremonies of the moli noble Older P- 22> fc] In the tiaie of the great rebel- lion, Hugh Peters had got poffeffion of the king's library and clofet, the moft valuable curiofities whereof had 1 en embezzled, and dilTipated jll over Eu- rcpe: the parliament /hewed an early care in this refpedt. (Kennet's Re- gifter, p. 36.) And the king alfo iflued the following warrant: CHARLES R. To our trufly and well beloved fir John Rubin-on, ki.ight and ba- roner, lieutenant of our Tower of London : OUR will and pleafure is, that you permit Thomas Rofs and Elias Afh- mole, efquircs, to fpeak with and exa- mine Huyh Peters, concerning our bo(.ks and medals, that have been em- bezzled j and this to be performed in your prefence; for which this {hill be yourwanant. Given at our court at Whitehall, the loth day of September, 1660, in the twelfth year of cur reign. By his majefty's corr.man ', EDW. NICHOLAS. Upon thi?, Mr. Aflimole and Mr. Rofs did accordingly take fome pains with Hugh Peters oa this head, but to VOL. I. little effeft, as the following report /hews : An account cf what Mr. Hi'gh Peters gave, upon his examination before the honourable fir John Robinfon, lieutenant of his maiedy's Tower, taken by Mr. Rofs and Mr. Afn- mole, afligned thereunto, 12 Sep- tember, 1660. THE examinant faith, that about the year 1648, in Auguft, he pn:- fervcd the library in St. J;u againft the violence and rapine of the foiiiiersj and the f.ime cuntinued three or four nrniihs under his cuftody, and that he did not t-ilce there any i; but left it unviwl. led as he fcund it. He doth contefs, that he faw divcis medals of gold, filver, and br.ifs ; and other pieces of antiquity, as ir.n rings and the like ; but that he to k nothing thence, anJ t!u-n delivered up the key and i.ufto.'.y of them to major- general Irct.m : and further he , th-it he ni-.t-r had <. r law any belonging thereto. Given up''n oath before me, John Robin Con, lieute- nant of theTo'v HUGH PETE?.*. .mit. 1 ! IliC lU'-tl, Ar.tiq. of Berk/hire, vol. 104. A a P. 103,
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