Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 23.djvu/276

 later informs Colet that Grocyn, 'the most upright and best of all Britons,' has undertaken to distribute his 'Adagia' in England. About the same time Grocyn took Erasmus to Lambeth to introduce him to Archbishop Warham. In 1514 Erasmus wrote that when in London he lived at the expense of Grocyn, 'the patron and preceptor of us all.'

Grocyn's residence in London was interrupted in 1506, when his old friend Warham presented him to the mastership of the collegiate church of All Hallows, Maidstone. He contrived, however, to hold the rectory of St. Lawrence Jewry until 1517, and obtained in addition the rectory of Shepperton, which he held from 1504 to 1513, and in 1511 that of East Peckham, on condition of his placing a vicar there. His emoluments were considerable, but he was very generous in his gifts to Erasmus and other friends. Towards the end of his life he suffered from pecuniary difficulties, and borrowed money on his plate. An attack of paralysis in 1518 disabled him. He made his will on 2 June 1519, and died before the October following. He was buried in the church of All Hallows, Maidstone. A monument to his memory has been placed by New College in the church to which he was first presented—that at Newton Longueville. Grocyn was a clever talker, fond of a jest, and always expressing himself briefly and to the point. Until his death, as his will proves, Grocyn, despite his varied learning, adhered strictly to the old form of religious belief.

Except the letter to Aldus and an epigram on a lady who threw a snowball at him (cf., Worthies, 1811, ii. 298), no writings by Grocyn are known. Erasmus explains in his dialogue called ‘Ciceronianus’ that weak eyesight made Grocyn chary of writing, but Erasmus praises highly his Ciceronian style in Latin, and was clearly acquainted with some works from his pen. Wood supplies the following list of works: ‘Tractatus contra Hostiolum Jo. Wiclevi,’ ‘Epist. ad Erasmum et alios,’ ‘Grammatica,’ and ‘Vulgaria puerorum,’ to which Tanner adds: ‘Notse in Terentium’ and ‘Isagogicum quoddam.’ Menckenius, in his ‘Life of Politian’ (Leipzig, 1736), refers to ‘Grocyn's epistles to learned men, and especially Erasmus, and other most excellent monuments of his ability.’ But these references are devoid of authority. Wood and Tanner obviously constructed their bibliographies out of vague rumours. It is possible that in his early days Grocyn may have written against Wycliffe's ‘Wicket,’ although the work has never been seen. An interesting catalogue of his library, found in Merton College in 1889, and printed by Professor Burrows for the Oxford Historical Society, illustrates the character of his studies. The inventory was drawn up after his death by his executor, Linacre, and some of his books were disposed of before it was compiled. Little can therefore be inferred by the absence of any well-known author. The printed volumes number 105, and the manuscripts 17. The works of St. Augustine are lavishly represented. There are the Greek and Latin versions of the New Testament, the ‘Concordantiæ Biblii,’ some commentaries on the Psalms and the Sarum Breviary, together with nearly complete copies of Origen, Cyprian, Eusebius, Ambrose, Jerome, and Gregory the Great. The schoolmen include Anselm, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Ockham, Bonaventure, and Nicholas de Lyra. In the Latin classics Cicero holds the first place, but all the leading authors appear with him, together with Valerius Maximus, Aulus Gellius, Boethius, and Cassiodorus. The Greek classics include only Aristotle and Plutarch. There are many books on astronomy, together with the works of such modern Italians as Ficino, Filelfo, Lorenzo Valla, Æneas Sylvius, Gaguinus, Perotti, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. There is only one work of Erasmus, the ‘Adagia.’ A few of Grocyn's manuscripts were purchased by John Claymond, the president, for Corpus Christi College, and are still in the library there. They include his ‘Theophylact,’ ‘Chrysostom,’ and Suidas's ‘Lexicon.’

By his will, which was dated 2 June 1519, and proved at Lambeth by his executor, Linacre, on 20 July 1522, Grocyn, after a few bequests to friends, including William Lily, his godson, leaves the residue of his property to Linacre, 'to bestowe such parte therof for the wele of my soule and the soules of my fader, moder, benefactors, and all Xtian soules as it shall please hym.' The manner in which Linacre fulfilled this direction is set forth in his accounts of his expenses, which are preserved among the archives of Merton College, Oxford. We thus learn that, besides providing relief for the poor, he purchased books at Louvain for distribution to studious Oxford scholars, and gave 'Master Lilly' 40s. to procure Greek books to give away.

[The most complete account of Grocyn is that appended by Professor M. Burrows to the list of Grocyn's books and Linacre's accounts, as executor, which he printed for the first time from the Merton College MSS. in the Oxf. Hist. Soc.'s Collectanea, 1890, ii. 319-80. See also George Lily's Virorum aliquot ad Britannia … Elogia, 1548, appended to Paolo Giovio's Descriptio Britanniæ; Wood's Athenæ Oxon. ed. Bliss, i. 30-33; Seebohm's Oxford Reformers; Tanner's Bibl.