Page:The Life of Sir Thomas More (William Roper, ed by Samuel Singer).djvu/25

 With this excellent woman Mr. Roper lived about 16 years, she dying 1544, nine years after her father, when she was buried in the family burying place at St. Dunstan's, with her father's head in her arms, as she had desired. By her Mr. Roper had two sons and three daughters: of whose education the mother took the same care that had been taken of her own. The famous Roger Ascham, then fellow of St. John's College in Cambridge, and afterwards Latin Secretary to Queen Elizabeth, tells us, That she was very desirous of having him for their tutor to instruct them in the learned languages, but that he would not then upon any terms be prevailed with to leave the university; that therefore she procured Dr. Cole and Dr. Christopherson, afterwards Bishop of Chichester, both very famous at that time for their skill in the Greek tongue. Ascham stiles this Mrs. Clarke, one of Mrs. Roper's daughters, an eminent ornament of her sex and of Queen Mary's court. This daughter of Mrs. Roper's, who afterward married James Basset, was one of the gentlewomen, so they were then called, of Queen Mary's privy chamber, and translated into English part of her grandfather's exposition of the passion of our Saviour, which he wrote in Latin; and is said so well to have imitated Sir Thomas's stile that any one would think it was written by him in English.