leaveth the school for an hour, and recreates himself till time calls him to repeat; where perhaps he stays an hour, &c. After a long note upon this subject, Mr. Dibdin (naturally enough) remarks with surprise, first, "That in a country like our own, distinguished by the gravity, reserve, and good sense of it's inhabitants, boys should conduct themselves with so much rudeness, flippancy, and tyranny toward each other; and, secondly, that masters should too frequently exercise a discipline suited rather to a government of despotism and terror, than to a land of liberty and social comfort!" His Epistles, likewise, were collected by Graunt, who dedicated them to Elizabeth, that he might have an opportunity of recommending his son Giles Ascham to her patronage; and the dedication was not lost. The young man was made, by the Queen's mandate, fellow of a college in Cambridge, where he obtained considerable reputation. Those Epistles, valuable both for stile and matter, are almost the only classic work of the kind written by an Englishman. Thuanus elegantissimè scriptas judicat. Penè unus è gente Anglica est, cujus stilus veterem Latinitatem sapit. Cum Joanne Sturmio singularem coluit amicitiam; cujus exemplo erectus, elegans dicendi genus sectatus est.* Their character is thus given by Bishop Nicholson: "We have in them all the fine variety of lan nard Hampton, and Mr. Nicasius. These, assembled in Sir Wil liam Cecil's chamber at Windsor, abundantly prove the respectability of Ascham's connexions. It may be regarded as surprising, that his remarks on the utility of 'double translations' has not led to the universal adoption of this method in schools. *Markof. Polyhist. Lit. guage, that is that is proper either for rendering a petition or complaint the most agreeable; and withal, a very great choice of historical matter, that is hardly preserved any where else. Together with the author's own Letters, we have a good many that are directed to him, both from the most eminent foreigners of his time, such as Sturmius, Sleidan, &c., and the best scholars as well as the wisest statesmen of his own country. And the publisher of these assures us, that he had the perusal of a vast number of others in the English tongue, which were highly valuable. His attendance on Sir Richard Morisine, in his German embassy, gave him an intimate acquaintance with the affairs of that country; and the extraordinary freedom and familiarity, with which the two sister Queens treated him here at home, afforded him a perfect knowledge of the most secret mysteries of state in this kingdom: so that, were the rest of his papers retrieved, we could not perhaps have a more pleasing view of the main arcana of these reigns, than his writings would give us.” * From 1563, we have little account of any exertion of his literary talents: his bad state of health indeed, it appears, obliged him to forbear all close ap * The last and best edition of these Letters was published at Oxford in 1703 by Mr. Elstob, who has added many from MSS.; omitting however the Poems, by which they had previously been accompanied. Wood mentions a treatise of Ascham's, entitled Apologia contra Missam, said to have been printed in 1577; and another, under the name De Imitatione, has likewise been ascribed to his pen. In 1761, a complete edition of his English works was published by Bennet, with his Life prefixed by Dr. Johnson, and some letters never before given to the world. It has recently been reprinted. plication to study, except in the morning. As a last effort, however, in 1568 he attempted to compose a poem, to be presented to the Queen on the anniversary of her accession; but his distemper, a consumption, being exasperated by the effort and depriving him of rest, he was obliged to forbear, and prepared with pious fortitude to meet his approaching end. He died on the thirtieth of December, 1568, deeply lamented by Elizabeth (who emphatically declared," she would rather have lost ten thousand pounds") and by all his contemporaries in the literary world, and was interred in St. Sepulchre's church, London, in the most private manner, agreeably to his own direction. Buchanan's Tetrastic to his memory is preserved in the second book of his Epigrams: Aschamum extinctum patriæ, Graiæque Camana, Principibus vixit carus, jucundus amicis, O'er Ascham withering in his narrow urn, F.W. "He was an author (says Dibdin) of a peculiar and truly original cast. There is hardly a dull page, or a dull passage, in his lucubrations. His treatises contain a great deal of information respecting the manners and customs of his times;" and, as Dr. Johnson has well remarked, his philological learning would have gained him honour in any country. His invectives however against the Italian school, and his hard-hearted strictures on Petrarch and 6 Boccacio have drawn down upon him the animadversions of Mr. Burnet, in his Specimens of English Prose-writers.' But, above all, he is to be commended for having taught his countrymen the value of making the road to knowledge smooth and inviting by smiles and remunerations, rather than harsh and dreary by stripes and other punishments.* Such, indeed, was the stern and Draco-like character, which school-masters of this period conceived themselves authorised to assume, that neither rank, nor situation, nor sex, were exempt from the exercise of their tyranny. Two gentlemen, who dined with him at Cecil's table, as he relates in the preface to his Schoolmaster,' were of opinion, that Nicolas Udal (then head-master of Eton School) was "the best schoolmaster of their time, and the greatest beater!" 6 His funeral sermon was preached by his intimate friend, Dr. Nowel; from the valuable Memoirs of whom, lately published by Dr. Churton, we learn that "he often visited Ascham during his illness, and supported and comforted him, by setting before him the sufferings of earth and the prospect of heaven: but in a strain and manner so divine, that when he had left the room, the sick man declared with joy, that the excellent Dean had sustained his soul with * Erasmus, likewise, was an advocate for a gentle and humane mode of education. The good Dean of St. Paul's, of similar erudition and congenial spirit, also approved of mild discipline, as his emendations of the Tunbridge School Regulations (submitted to his correction by the Skinners' Company, it's patrons) all on the side of lenity, evince. Among others, where it was provided that no "remedy for play" (or half-holiday) should be allowed "above four times in the year," he wrote in the margin, Leave to play once a week may well be borne with.' food that would never die!' His disease grew more oppressive; but his rich and happy memory did not forsake him, and he rehearsed before the Dean and other surrounding friends a variety of passages, expressive of the mercy and love of God to mankind, and of his blessings bestowed on them." To Gravet, one of the Prebendaries of St. Paul's and Vicar of St. Sepulchre's, his dying words were, "I desire to depart, and to be with Christ." Dr. Nowell indeed, in his sermon, affirmed that he "never saw or heard of a person of greater integrity of life, or that was blessed with a more Christian death." 6 He was the pride, and in one respect, perhaps, the shame, of the days of Elizabeth. In a letter to the Earl of Leicester, who had been godfather to one of his sons, he laments that through tedious and expensive suits at law and other difficulties he had been obliged to sell his plate, and that which grieved him much, his wife's poor jewels; and was not very like to live long, nor to leave to his family any thing but beggary.' "And yet (says he) that poor service, that I have done to Queen Elizabeth, shall live still, and never die, as long as her noble hand and excellent learning in the Greek and Latin tongues shall be known to the world." But he had learnt the truest and best philosophy. He seems to have been unfortunate in the loss of children: such language, at least, fathers may venially adopt; though he himself in a letter to his wife, on the death of one (probably, the first) of their offspring, says, " Mine own good Margaret! referring me wholly to the will of God, I found cause of joy. You well remember our continual desire and prayer together: we desired to |