Page:Biographical catalogue of the portraits at Weston, the seat of the Earl of Bradford (IA gri 33125003402027).pdf/171

 inspired those favourite lines of Dr. Donne, Dean of St. Paul's, so often quoted—

'No spring or summer beauty hath such grace As I have seen in an autumnal face.'

She lies buried at Chelsea.

No. 44.

THOMAS CROMWELL, EARL OF ESSEX.

Black and white dress.

He was the son of a blacksmith at Putney; his mother, who married again, sent him to a small school, where he learned little more than reading, writing, and the rudiments of Latin. When quite young he evinced a passion for travel, and set out for the Continent with very scanty means, which were soon exhausted, and he found himself at Antwerp without money or connections of any kind. But he was energetic and hard-working, and he soon found employment as a clerk in an English factory established in the city. Glad as Cromwell was to earn his livelihood, the drudgery and confinement of the life were irksome to the eager restless spirit of our young adventurer, and he took advantage of the first opportunity to escape. He made acquaintance with some countrymen from Boston in Lincolnshire, bound for Rome, in order to obtain certain indulgences from the reigning Pope, Julius the Second. These men soon became aware that Cromwell's intelligence and capability were likely to make him a valuable fellow-traveller. They therefore proposed to convey him to Italy,