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Title: Cultural Interest of Women in England from 1524 to
	    1640 Indicated in the Writing of the Women, an electronic edition.
Author: Hughey, Ruth Willard, 1899-
Publisher: 
Place published: 
Date: 1932
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Cultural  Interest of
Women  in England
From 1524 to 1640
Indicated in the Writing of the WomenA SurveyA Thesis
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School 
Of Cornell University for the Degree of
Doctor  of Philosophy
By
Ruth Willard HugheyThe writer attended grade schools in  Arkansas and in 1917 completed the high school course in Fort Smith, Arkansas.  She entered Galloway Woman's College, where for two years she was elected ranking student in the college, and was graduated  in  1920 with the A.B. degree.  In 1921 she was graduated from Columbia University with the A.M. degree.  She then began her teaching career, spending the years 1921-23 at St. Mary's School in Memphis, Tennessee, as teacher of Latin and English; the year 1923-24 at Henderson-Brown College, instructing freshmen and sophomores in English; the years 1924-26 at Grenada College as head of the English department; and the years 1926-29, again instructing freshmen and some upper classmen, at the University of Missouri.  In February, 1930, she began definite work  for  the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Cornell University, where she has been elected to Pi Lambda Theta and Phi Kappa Phi.  For the year 1931-32  she was appointed to the Graduate Scholarship in English, and she was also awarded the annual Fellowship of the Yardley Foundation, sponsored by the New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs.  For the year 1932-33 she has been awarded the Margaret E. Waltby Fellowship of the American Association of University Women for the purpose of study in England.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSTo Professor J. Q. Adams, with whom I first began my graduate study at Cornell  University, I am deeply indebted for arousing my interest in Elizabethan literature by his stimulating  exposition of the period; and to Professor J.W. Hebel, who has assumed direction of my work since  Professor Adams' departure, I am grateful for valuable advice and discriminating suggestions in the preparation of this study.  Without the assistance of Professor F. G. Marcham my investigation of Tudor and Stuart women would scarcely have been possible.  Through consultation with him the study was first shaped into a definite problem.  He has been generous in his encouragement and equally generous in allowing me the use of rotographs made from manuscripts in the British Museum and  of a photo static copy of a rare book in the Huntington Library.  To the criticism of Professor F. C. Prescott I owe not only the improvement of many stylistic details in the thesis but also an increased appreciation for the significance of words.  I hold myself fortunate in having worked also with Professor M. W. Sampson, who made poetry an inspiring reality for his students.I wish to thank my friend Dr. Mary F. Tenney for assistance in the citing of certain Latin and Greek quotations.PrefaceFor making a survey of the cultural interests of women in England from 1524 to 1640 as those interests are revealed in the writings of the women, no apology is needed.  The field has been lightly dismissed by scholars.   Little effort has been made to investigate the amount of writing done, the types represented, and the influences stimulating, or conversely, repressing the expression of thought and  emotion. Without such an investigation a history of cultural development  among Tudor and Stuart women is impossible.Single studies have appeared of a few women, for example, of Mary,
Countess of Pembroke, of Lady Anne Clifford, and, of course, of the
royal women, although even these have failed to reveal the full
significance of intellectual pursuits.  Twentieth-century interest in
the education of English women in the sixteenth century began with
Mrs. C. C. Stopes.  Her chapter in Shakespeare's
Environment (1904) on "Women Students," apparently gleaned
largely from the eighteenth-century Memoirs of Several Ladies
of Great Britain by George Ballard, suggests briefly the vast
possibilities for investigation.  In 1912 Foster Watson published
Vives and the Renascence Education of Women,
with enlightening introduction.  His concern, however, was chiefly
with contemporary essays on the education of women and with a few
women exemplifying in their achievements the practical application of
these ideas.  The 1929 edition of English Girlhood at
School by Dorothy Gardiner, devoting several detailed chapters
to the education of sixteenth and seventeenth-century girls, presented
for the first time the history of education among girls of the middle
class, adding, at the same time, many illuminating points about the
training given noblewomen.  The unpublished thesis by Dorothy Meads on
The Education of Women and Girls under the Tudors
(1929) would also, without doubt, if available, contribute valuable
information.  Louis B. Wright in "The Reading of Renaissance English
Women" (Studies in Philology, vol. xxviii, 1931) suggests what is to
be investigated rather than what can be determined.Conclusions concerning cultural interest drawn from the writings of
the women may not be, and probably are not, completely representative
of all interests.   Nevertheless, the writings of the women should
furnish more accurate sources for their cul-tural history
than dedicatory addresses to them or references about them in
literature by men.  Obviously, all sources should be considered in any
attempt at a complete understanding of their lives.  Too much
emphasis, I believe, has been placed upon the large number of
dedications penned by poets, playwrights, and every other writer to
women.  Without doubt many of these have little interpretative value
other than that of personal admiration or, perhaps, desire for some
reward.  Their complete significance, however, would form a separate
study, for certainly some women were influential patronesses of literature.I have selected as the first inclusive date of the survey 1524, the year of the publication of Margaret More's translation of the treatise on the Pater  Noster by Erasmus, believing that to be significant in showing definite influence of the Renaissance.  Moreover, in her, possibly to a greater degree than in any other woman of the period, the ideals for feminine education advanced by humanistic scholars were realized.The date 1640, introducing the decade of the Civil War, is commonly
accepted as a line of demarca-tion between different types of interests and influences.  Without doubt, women developed remarkably during and after the Civil War.  But, of course, lines of demarcation are necessary evils -- always dangerous.In making my investigation of the writings of women in England
between 1524 and 1640, I have necessarily been forced to make certain
limitations.  I have endeavored to make the history of the printed
matter complete in the sense that I have tried to ferret out the title
of every piece published by women; but I am forced to say only that I
hope I have succeeded; I cannot be sure.  I have used as guides
A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland,
and Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad 1475-1640,
compiled by A. W. Pollard and R. G. Redgrave and others (designated in
the footnotes as S. T. C.); A Transcript of the
Registers of the Company of Stationers of London 1554-1640,
edited by Edward Arber; Bibliographical Collections and
Notes, compiled by W. C. Hazlitt.  In addition I have examined
all minor cataloguers, such as Corser, Brydges, Walpole, Park, Ritson,
Jacob, Phillips, Duff, etc.  As a matter of course I have used
publications of learned societies.  The publications of
the Parker Society have been especially helpful because of the many
religious writings.  I have made it a point to indicate whether books
are available either in the original form or in reprint, and whether
they were entered on the Registers after 1554.  Many of
the printed books are extant only in rare copies, and reprints are often to be had only in excerpt.  As might be expected some of the books have been lost.  I have been so fortunate as to have a photostatic copy of the 1605 edition of Elizabeth Grymeston's Miscellanea, made from the original in the Huntington Library.The chapter on Formal Manuscript Writings is necessarily suggestive, not exhaustive, and drawn from descriptive rather than original sources.  I have examined in detail catalogues of the Sloane, Stowe, Harleian, and Lansdowne MSS., and I have similarly examined several catalogue volumes of the Additional MSS.  For a description of MSS. in private collections I have used the Reports of the Historical Manuscripts Commission.  Frequently information of MSS. is included with that of printed matter in the regular catalogues.  There are, of course, many other manuscript sources that are not available to me.For the study of familiar letters and diaries I have availed myself of the sources just mentioned, but I have been compelled to confine myself to descriptions about the MSS.  I have had access to some three hundred rotographs of manuscript letters preserved among the various collections in the British Museum.  In addition, there are several editions of published letters and diaries.  Since emphasis has usually been placed on the study of noblewomen, I have chosen for the two individual studies a woman of the gentry class and the wife of a Reformation bishop.From the factual data I have endeavored to point out what seem to be the significant influences and trends in the cultural history of women in England between 1524 and 1640.TABLE OF CONTENTSpageBook I - Formal WritingsChapter I - Printed Matter1Illustrative Chartsafter page 96Chapter II - Formal Manuscript Writings97Book II - Familiar Letters and DiariesChapter I - Letters and Diaries in Survey118Chapter II - Mistress Anne Hooper.  A Sixteenth - Century Portrait142Chapter III - Katherine, the Lady Pastor.  A Seventeenth -
Century Portrait199Conclusions256Bibliography260BOOK I
FORMAL WRITINGSI
Printed Matter1. IntroductoryFor the student of literature and of cultural history the matter written and published by women in England during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries affords concrete evidence of intellectual development and of significant influences.  The very number of the books, few at first, increasing steadily after the middle of the sixteenth century; the type of material presented; the trends of political, educational, and religious thought influencing the subject matter of the books; the classes of women who were writing, not always in the same proportion -- these are salient factors in an evaluation of cultural interest and achievement.  Furthermore, the published books indicate not only the ability to write and the desire to deal with ideas, but also initiative, confidence, and curiosity sufficiently keen to stimulate experiment in a comparatively new field, that opened up by the invention of the printing press.Although the inclusive dates of the present survey are 1524 and
1640, for the particular investigation of printed works by women it is
profitable as a preliminary study to attempt to discover
just how much publishing was done by women between 1476, the time of
the first setting up of a printing press in England, and 1524.  For
that purpose then, 1486 becomes the significant date, since in that
year there appeared from the press at St. Albans the first book,
apparently, written by an English woman.  Since there are no records
until the establishment of the Stationers Company in 1554, the
difficulty in following the history of English bibliography,
sufficiently devious and labyrinthine after the Stationers devised
their Registers, is such before that time that discretion will
scarcely permit a superlative statement about any one publication.
Therefore, one is forced to hedge and say with caution the The Bokys
of Haukyng and Huntyng, and also of Cootarmuris1William Carew Hazlitt, Bibliographical Collections and
Notes, p. 27.  In Fifteenth Century English
Books, compiled by E. Gordon Duff, the title of this edition
is given as The Book of Hawking, Hunting, and Blasing of
Arms, p. 15, no. 56.  The edition is described in A
Short-Title Catalogue, compiled by A. W. Pollard and R. G. Redgrave, with the title supplied: [The book of Hawking, hunting and blasing of arms.]  No. 3308.  by Dame Juliana Berners2Her name appears as Berners, Bernes, and Barnes.  Berners is the accepted modern spelling. was the first book published in England
written by an English woman.1No earlier book appears in
catalogues listing books of this period.  Few of the early
publications were more popular in the sixteenth century.  From 1486 to
1881 the book went through twenty-five editions, three appearing
before 1500 and nineteen others between 1500 and 1614.2William Blades, The Boke of Saint
Albans...Reproduced in Facsijile.  Introduction,
pp. 22-23.  In 1595 the book was "reduced into a better fashion"
by Gervase Markham and called The Gentlemans
Acadamie;3Hazlitt, op. cit., p. 28.and in 1614 it was further altered into 
	A Jewell for Gentrie.  Being an Exact
	Dictionary or true Method, to make any Man understand all the
	Art, Secrets, and worthy Knowledges belonging to Hawking,
	Hunting, Fowling and Fishing, Together with all the true
	measures for Winding of the Horne.4Ibid., p. 28.The last edition of the book (1881), edited by William Blades, is a
facsimile of the original black letter edition published by the
unknown schoolmaster printer of St. Albans,5"The printer of the first
edition of the Book of St. Albans is known only from Wynkyn de Worde's
reprint of 'St. Albans' Chronicle,' the colophon of which states:
'Here endith this present chronicle, compiled in a book and also
enprinted by our sometime schoolmaster of St. Alban.'  From 1480 to
1486 he issued eight works, the first six of which are in Latin... his
last two books, 'The Boke of St. Albans' and 'St. Albans' Chronicle,'
were printed in the vernacular." D. N. B iv, 391-92. who gave to the
publication the title by which it is commonly known, The Boke of Saint Albans.The book has four distinct tracts, although the last two, both on
heraldry, are usually counted as one.1Blades, op. cit., Intro., p. 7.
The second treatise on hunting reveals the authorship, for on the
twenty-fourth page occurs the statement: "Explicit Dam Julyans
Barnes."2Ibid., Intro., p. 8. This statement is, of course,
in the facsimile.  That Wynkyn de Worde, the contemporary of
Dame Berners and the printer of two editions of the book in 1496,
believed her to be the author as well as the translator is evinced by
his variation: "Explicit dame Julyans Bernes doctryne in her boke of
huntynge."3Ibid., Intro, p. 8.
Two editions are here described.  One edition of 1496 is described in
S. T. C., no. 3309;  one in Duff, op. cit.,
no. 57; one in Haz., op. cit., p. 28.  Hazlitt
attributes the second Wynkyn de Worde edition to 1500.
According to Blades, from internal evidence, the same person would
certainly have written the four tracts but not the later treatise on
Fysshynge with an Angle. Included by Wynkyn de Worde in
his edition;4S. T. C., no. 3309:
"Anr. Ed. to wh. is added: 'the treatyse of fysshynge wyth an angle.'
fol. Westmestre. W. de Worde, 1496."  The Treatyse of Fysshynge
wyth an Angle was issued in separate reprint in 1885 by the
Bibliotheca Curiosa. and further according to the same critic, all the work, not only the book on blasing of arms, as
the colophon states, was "translatyt and compylyt togedyr.1Haz., op. cit., p. 27.  The writer permitted herself, however, the originality of metrics and the device of addressing herself to "my deare child":
Beastes of Venery are iiii kindes;Where soeuer ye fare by frith or by fellMi dere child take hede how Tristã doth you tellHow many maner beastes of Veneri there wereLysten to your dame, and she shall you lereFoure maner of beastes of Venery there areThe  fyrst of them is the hart, the second is the HareThe Bore is one of tho, the wolfe and not one
mo.2Thomas Corser, Collectanea Anglo-Poetica,  Pt. 2, pp. 261-62.The author of this oft reprinted book is a shadowy character,
reputedly Prioress of Sopewell Abbey in the fifteenth century and
sister of Richard Lord Berners.3Ibid., p. 259; D. N. B., iv, 390-92.  Blades summarily dismisses legendary material and writes cursorily:
What is really known of the Dame is almost nothing, and may be
summed up in the following words.  She probably lived at the beginning
of the fifteenth century, and she possibly compiled from existing
MSS. some rhymes on Hunting.4Blades, op. cit., Intro., p. 13.Rather curiously the only other woman to have anything printed in
England before 1500 wrote also a book on heraldry.  This
writer was the Italian-born poet Christine Pisan, or De Castel, whose
Book of fayttes of armes and of chyualrye1S. T. C., no. 7269; Duff, op. cit., no. 96. was translated into
English on order of Henry VII by Caxton and printed by him in
1489.2Enc. Brit., xvii,
957. Ed. 14.  Another volume of hers, The morale
prouerbs of Cristyne.3Ibid.,
p. 957; S. T. C., no. 7273; Duff, op. cit., no. 95.  translated into English
by Earl Rivers, was printed by Caxton in 1478, antedating The
Boke of St. Albans by eight years.  But Christine Pisan was
not an English woman, nor did she write on English soil.  Her works
continued to be read in England, however, in the sixteenth century.
In 1521 The Cyte of Ladyes4S. T. C., no. 7271. and The bodye
of polycye5Ibid.,
no. 7270. appeared in translation, and in 1540, The
Hystoryes of Troye.6Ibid., no. 7272. Christine Pisan was more versatile and more influential in cultural development than any contemporary English woman.Not only is The Boke of Saint Albans by Juliana
Berners the only publication by an English woman before 1500, it is
also apparently, the only non-religious book by an English woman
published before 1551.  The next printed book, A
Shorte Treatyse of Contemplacyon taken out of the boke of Margarie
Kempe,1S. T. C., no 14924; Haz., op. cit., I, 489. a collection of various
sayings of Christ to holy women,2George Ballard, Memoirs of Several Ladies of Great Britain, p. 8. issued by Wynkyn de Worde in 1501, points the way for the emphasis upon religious treatises in the writings of women during the sixteenth century.The only other English woman to publish anything before 1524 was
the highly educated and influential Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess
of Richmond and Derby, mother of Henry VII, long famous as an example
of the learned lady of the late Medieval and the early Renaissance
period.  She is, however, better known as the foundress of a free
grammar school at Wymbourn, of St. John's and Christ's Colleges at
Cambridge, of various lectureships and preacherships, and as a
patroness of writers than for her own literary activities.3Accounts of Lady Margaret Beaufort are given in
D. N. B. iv, 18; Ballard, op. cit., pp. 21-23; Horace Walpole, Royal
and Noble Authors (edited and enlarged by Thomas Park), I,
255-56. She was the first of the cultivated women among the
nobility in the sixteenth century who employed themselves assiduously
with translation.  Two of Lady Margaret's translations were
printed.  The earlier was from the French version of the fourth book,
"De Sacramento," of the treaties De Imitations Christi,
printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1504 with the translation of the first
three books by Dr. William Atkynson,1John K. Ingram, "The Earliest English Translation of the
First Three Books of the De Imitatione... Also The
Earliest Printed Translation of the Whole Work."  Preface, p. vii.
Early English Text Society, vol. xvii.  a study undertaken at
Lady Margaret's command.2R. and N. Authors. I, 256. Her second translation, printed by Wynkyn de Worde as a separate publication in 1522, thirteen years after her death, was called:
The mirroure of Golde to the sinfull Soule; the whiche hath ben
translated at Parice oute of Laten into Frenche, and ...nowe of late
translatede out of Frenche into Englisshe by the right excellent
princesse Margarete, moder to oure souerain lorde king. Henry the vii,
and countesse of Richemond and Derby.3Ibid., I, 254; S. T. C., no. 6895 (ed. 1525).More significance pertains to the printing of her translation from
the De Imitatione Christi, since it appeared during
Lady Margaret's lifetime.4I find no evidence that Lady Margaret's Ordinances and
reformations of apparel for princes and estates, with other ladies and
gentlewomen, for the time of mourning, compiled in 1493, was
published.  See Dorothy Gardiner, English Girlhood at
School. p. 105.There were, then, four publications by three different English
women before 1524.  Between 1524 and 1640 there seem to have been
eighty-five printed pieces, written by fifty-one women.1I have arbitrarily omitted perfunctory royal compositions in the
form of printed speeches, public prayers, and state letters.  Two of
Elizabeth's addresses, several state letters, and at least three
public prayers were published contemporaneously. Since only two
of the eighty-five pieces appeared between 1524 and 1545, the emphasis
for the survey of printed matter falls on the near-century from 1545 to 1640.  Estimates of amounts published and of the significance of types, therefore, will have almost equal time limits in the two centuries; and for that reason some of the results are all the more interesting.Of the eighty-five compositions fifty-eight were printed as
separate books; the others appeared in anthologies, liturgies,
primers, and other collections.  Because of the manifest influence of
religion and because of the number of translations among the
publications, the most convenient classification for purposes of more
particular consideration is (1) translations, (2) original
non-religious pieces, (3) original religious pieces.  There are
nineteen printed translations, thirty original non-religious printed
pieces, and thirty-six religious printed pieces.  Since sixteen of the
translations are of religious works, the total number of religious
productions is fifty-two, more than one half of all books by English women printed before 1640.Twenty-four of the thirty-six religious works belong to the
sixteenth century, and the twenty-four were written by nine women, six
of whom were of the nobility.  The twelve religious publications after
1600, however, were written by twelve different women, most of them
from the gentry class.  Moreover, these twelve books were separately
printed; whereas but fourteen of the twenty-four belonging to the sixteenth century appeared as separate books.Similarly the thirteen non-religious compositions belonging to the period after 1600 were all separately printed and were written by twelve women, eight of whom belonged to the middle and gentry classes.  Although seventeen of the thirty non-religious writings were printed in the sixteenth century, they were written by twelve women, only two being without noble rank.Even more striking is the computation in an examination of the translations.  Sixteen translations were printed before 1600, and one of the three falling beyond that date appeared in 1605.  The sixteen translations, however, ten of which appeared separately, were made by eleven women, only three being from the middle class.  Two of the three translations printed between 1600 and 1640 were the work of noblewomen.Thus, there is a definite tendency for the literary efforts of women in the sixteenth century to be carried on by the royal and noble few; whereas in the part of the seventeenth century falling within this survey, the women of the gentry class and of the middle class expressed themselves in print with increasing frequency.  It would be a mistake to consider this circumstance a sudden development; during the latter part of the sixteenth century women from the middle class began to avail themselves of the advantages of the printing press.  Their literary achievements were, of course, guided by their educational advantages.  The erudition of the noblewomen is especially noticeable in the translations, undertaken less frequently than original writings by women from the gentry and middle classes.Final conclusions cannot be made, however, without examination of
the particular writers and publications making these groups just
described.2. 1524-1600Two years after Lady Margaret Beaufort's translation of The Mirroure of Golde had appeared, Wynkyn de Worde again printed a translation by an English woman:
A Deuout treatise vpon the pater noster, tourned in to
englisshe by a young gentylwoman.1S. T. C., no. 10477.
The date for publication is here given as [1526]; but Foster Watson in
the Bibliographical Note, p. xiv, Vives and the Renascence
Education of Women states that the first and only edition was
printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1524.  Margaret More was born about 1508
and was married in 1528.  Ballard, op. cit., pp. 38, 51.The "yong gentylwoman" was Margaret More, daughter of Sir. Thomas
More and later wife of William Roper; and the treatise translated was
from the Latin text of Erasmus' book Precatio Dominica in
Septem Portiones Distributa, published at Basel in 1523.2Watson, op. cit., Bib. Note,
p. xiv. Lady Margaret Beaufort had been only slightly
acquainted with Latin3"Bishop Fisher in his
Mornynge Remembrance observed: "'Full often she
complayned that in her youthe she had not given her to the
understanding of Latin, wherein she had a lytell perceyving.'"
Gardiner, op. cit., p. 104 and had
chosen a French translation of the Latin; Margaret More read Latin
written by a renowned humanistic scholar,.  The preface of the book,
by Richard Hyrde, was a plea for the higher education of women.4Watson, op. cit., Bib. Note,
p. xiv. These are significant facts; but the published material
does not emphasize their importance, as does the manuscript material,
until a number of years later.  Other translations and some original
writings by Margaret More and similar compositions by other young women
of her day are extant in manuscript form5See Chapter II. to testify more fully to their enthusiasm
for the study of Latin and Greek.  Not without significances is the
fact that Margaret More's printed work is a religious treatise.Evidence for the only other publication of a woman's composition
before 1545 is not convincing.  George Pearson, editor of Coverdale's
Remains, published for the Parker Society, in his introductory note
to the Goostly Psalms and Spirituall Songes, states that Dr. Cotton
mentions a metrical verson of Psalm xxv, made by the Princess
Elizabeth and printed in 1542.1Myles Coverdale, Remains, p. 535.
Ed. by George Pearson.  Parker Society. No record of this psalm
appears, however, in Cotton's Editions of the Bible and Parts Thereof
in English;2Henry Cotton, Editions of the Bible and Parts Thereof in
English from the Year MDV. to MD. CCCL. nor does there seem to be
any account of it elsewhere.A significant figure, possibly the most
significant, in the cultural history of women in the mid-sixteenth
century was Queen Katherine Parr, the author of the printed volume of
prayers appearing in 1545.3S. T. C., no. 4818. Even before her
marriage to Henry VIII on June 24, 1543,4Richard Daven, The Nine
Days' Queen, p. 39. Katherine Parr, or the Lady Latimer, as she
then was called, was influential among a circle of great ladies and
Reformation leaders.As soon as her husband (Lord Latimer) was safely
buried in St. Paul's Churchyard,1Lord Latimer died in February,
1543.  Davey, op. cit., p. 34. Katherine began to indulge her
leaning towards what was then known as the "new learning"; and her
house became the resort of the leaders of a movement which was
eventually to complete the Reformation in England.  These gentlemen
were wont, it is said, to assemble at regular intervals and hold
conferences on religious subjects in the presence not only of
Katherine and her household, but of a select circle of great ladies,
among them Katherine's sister, Anne Herbert, and the charming
Katherine, Duchess of Suffolk... who were only too willing,
notwithstanding the risk they ran, to sit at the feet of Coverdale, a
Latimer, or a Parkhurst.2Ibid., p. 34.  Other guests were Anne
Stanhope, Countess of Hartford; Lady Denny, wife of Sir Andrew Denny;
Lady Fitzwilliam, wife of Sir William Fitzwilliam; Lady Tyrwhitt, wife
of Lord Robert Tyrwhitt; Anne Calthorpe, Countess of
Sussex.After
Katherine became queen, she caused out of her zeal to the Scripture,
and her desire to bring in the knowledge of it among the common
people, that divers at her great cost and charges, should be employed
in translating Erasmus' paraphrase...The translation of the paraphrase
upon St. Luke was finished in 1545, for in that year the epistle
dedicatory was writ.3John Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials.  II, I,
204. The translation of St. Luke was made by Nicholas Udall, who in
his dedicatory address, describes the queen as "endued with a pregnant
wittiness, joined with wonderful grace of eloquence: studiously diligent
in acquiring knowledge... studious to promote the glory of God, and of
the holy Gospel."1Strype, op. cit., II, I, 203.Upon the
suggestion of her step-mother, the Princess Mary employed herself with
the translation of the paraphrase upon St. John.  But being cast into
sickness, partly by overmuch study in this work, after she had made
some progress therein, she left the doing of the rest to Dr. Malet her
chaplain.2Ibid., II, I, 47.The Latin letter written by Katherine
Parr to the Princess Mary, commending her translation of the
paraphrase upon St. John and urging its revision for commitment to the
press, has great significance in a study of the printed works of women
in the sixteenth century.  The queen desired to know whether "sub tuo
nominee in lucem felicissime exire, an potius incerte auctore." And she
continued further: Cui operae mea sane opinione injuriam facere
videberis, si tui nominis autoritate etiam posteris transferendo tantos
labores summo Reip. bono suscepiati; pluresque (ut satis notum est)
susceptura, si valetudo corporis permisisset.  Cum ergo in hac re abs
te laboriose admodum sudatum fuisse nemo non intelligat, cur quam
omnes tibi merito deferant laudem rejicias, non video.  Attemen ego
hanc rem omnen ita relinquo prudentiae tuae, ut quamcunque velis
rationem inire, eam ego maxime approbandam censuero.1Strype, Ec. Mem., II, ii, 330-31.That the queen should urge the printing
of the Princess Mary's translation is significant in itself, but that
she should further urge the use of Mary's name, seeing no reason to
reject deserved praise, is indicative of an attitude looking forward
to greater freedom than women had formerly known in the expression of
their intellectual interests.  Mary's translation was accordingly
included in the first volume from the paraphrase of Erasmus, printed
in 1548,2Ballard, op. cit., p. 127.  with a preface by Udall,
addressed to the Queen Dowager Katherine.  Since it describes the
cultural activities and attainments of women in England in the
mid-sixteenth century, Udall's preface is worth of some consideration.
He would have the queen note 
the great number of noble women at that
time in England not only given to the study of humane sciences and
strange tongues but also so thoroughly expert in Holy Scriptures that
they were able to compare with the best writers, as well in enditeing
and penning of godly and fruitful treatises to the instruction and
edifying of realms in the knowledge of God, as also in translating
good books out of Latin or Greek into English, for the use and
commodity of such as are rude and ignorant of the said tongues.  It
was now (he added) no news in England to see young damsels in noble
houses and in the courts of princes, instead of cards and other
instruments of idle trifling, to have continually in their hands
either Psalms, homilies or other devout meditations, or else Paul's
epistles, or some book of holy scripture matters; and as familiarly
both to read or reason thereof in Greek, Latin, French or Italian as in
English.  It was now no news at all to see Queens and ladies of most
high estate and progeny, instead of courtly dalliance, to embrace
virtuous exercises of reading and writing, and with most earnest study
both early and late to apply themselves to the acquiring of knowledge,
as well in all other liberal artes and disciplines as also most
especially of God and His holy word.1Ballard, op. cit., p. 127.Certainly the few printed books by the women of this period serve to
substantiate this description of learned piety among ladies at court.Katherine Parr did not belie her own counsel to the Princess Mary.  As
her "servant" Udall wrote, When she was Queen, she employed herself
days and nights in psalms and contemplative meditations in lieu of vain
courtly pastimes and gaming.  And these she herself set forth in
print, for the example of all noble women, and to the ghostly
consolation and edifying of all that read them.2Strype, Ec. Mem.,
II, i, 203.Thus, in his statement that "she herself set forth in
print, for the example of all noble women," Udall emphasized her
advice to Mary.  Katherine Parr's chief concern in publication,
however, was for the presentation of religious doctrine, interpreted
according to Reformed tenets.  Her first setting forth in print was in
January, 1545, with a volume, previously mentioned, Prayers stirryng
the mynd vnto heauenlye medytacions.1S. T. C., no. 4818.  In
November of the same year another edition appeared with slightly
different title: Prayers or meditations, wherein the mind is stirred
patiently to suffer all afflictions here; and to set at nought the vain
prosperity of this world; and alway to long for everlasting felicity:
collected out of holy works by the most vertuous and gracious
Katherine, Queen of England, France and Ireland.2Strype, Ec. Mem., II, i, 205; Ballard, op. cit., p. 87; S. T. C.,
no. 4819.Three
other editions were printed during Henry's reign;3Ibid., nos. 4820-4822. three
during Edward's reign;4Ibid.,
nos. 4823-4824a. one during Mary's reign;5Ibid., no. 4825. and
one during Elizabeth's reign.6Ibid., no. 4826.  These prayers were
also included among the King's Psalms.7Ibid., nos., 3009 sqq. The
book was unquestionably popular.From descriptions of the book it is
difficult to determine whether the first edition contained only
metrical prayers and meditations, or whether it included the psalms
and other writings printed certainly in some of the editions.
The
psalms were in number fifteen, of good length each, made in imitation
of David's Psalms; being digested into versicles; whereof many were
exceptions out of the book of Psalms and other places of Scripture.
Each psalm had its proper subject.1Strype, Ec. Mem., II, i, 204.The subjects pertained to remission of sins, the obtaining of godly
wisdom, trust in God, deliverance from enemies, etc.2Ballard,
op. cit., p. 86.  Besides these fifteen Psalms other writings
subjoined were:
1. The twenty-first Psalm, another of Thanksgiving,
and two prayers.2. A goodly exposition, after the manner of a
contemplation, upon the fifty-first Psalm, made by Hierom of Ferrary.
(Translated by Kathrine Parr).3. A Pious Prayer in Short
Ejaculations.4. A Latin Epistle to the Lady
Mary.3R. and
N. Authors, I, 50.The picture of the young Princess Elizabeth with
this devout work of her step-mother's before her, engaged in
translating it into Latin, French, and Italian4These translations by
Elizabeth were not published; they are extant in MS.  See Chapter
II. presents a realistic study of devotion and assiduity and
likewise another evidence of the influence of Katherine Parr upon her
step-children.1"The interest taken by Catherine in the studies and
education of her step-children appears in many ways."  D. N. B., ix,
309. Her influence with Mary and Elizabeth was no doubt increased
by her procurement of their recognition as princesses.  For several
years they had been treated as bastards.2Ibid.,
ix, 309.In November, 1547, a second volume by Katherine Parr appeared, entitled,
The lamentacion of a sinner,3S. T. C., no. 4027.  presenting in
twelve chapters her acknowledgment of the erring way of her early
life, her awakening to the power of religion through study of
scripture, and her conception of justification by faith.  An edition
in 1548 is described as "Set foorth and put in print, at the instaunt
desire of the right gratious lady Katherin, duches of Suffolke, and
the ernest request of the right honourable lord William Parre,
marquesse of Northampton."4R. and N. Authors., I, 46; S. T. C.,
no. 4828. In 1563 still another edition of the book
appeared,5Ibid.,
no. 4829. apparently the one published under the indorsement
of William Cecil, who "having taken much Profit, by the Reading of
this Treatise following wisheth unto everie Christian by the Reading
thereof, like Profit."1Harleian Miscellany, v. 293. The reprint of
The Lamentation of a Sinner is here given, pp. 293-313.  According to
fn. 2, p. 293, the reprint is made from an earlier edition than that
of 1548; yet the fn. further states that Cecil published the edition
after the queen's death, which was in September, 1548.  The other two
editions were printed before her death.Since there is definite
record that Katherine Parr urged her step-daughter Mary to allow her
translation of Erasmus to be printed, it is very probable that
Katherine Parr also encouraged Mary in the printing of a prayer
translated from Thomas Aquinas in 1527.  The prayer was included with
some changes and without signature in the Primer of
1545,2Beginning
with, "Give me grace to love thy holy word fervently," the rest of
the prayer which is called "A prayer necessary for all persons," in
Liturgical Services, Elizabeth, pp. 250-51, "is based completely upon
one given in the Primer of 1545... the latter, except at the end,
being a version out of Aquinas made by 'the most exselent Prynces,
Mary.'"  Data in fn. 3.  In Monumenta Ritualia, iii, 287-88, by
Wm. Maskell, the prayer is printed directly from the MS. in the
British Museum.  apparently the only literary composition by Mary,
besides the translation from Erasmus, published during her life time.It seems reasonable to conclude also that the queen may have been in
some degree responsible for the printing of her second step-daughter's
translation from Margaret of Navarre.  In 1544, a year before her
translation of Katherine Parr's Prayers and Meditations, the Princess
Elizabeth made a prose translation from the French of a poem by
Margaret of Navarre and presented the manuscript to her step-mother
for correction and improvement.1D. N. B., ix, 309 In 1545 the
translation was published at Wesel with the title A godly medytacyon
of the christen sowle.2S. T. C., no. 17320.I have examined an
edition made for the Royal Society of Literature n 1897, edited by
Percy W. Ames, reproduced in facsimile of the hand.The book was
reprinted in 1567/8 (S. T. C., no. 17321), being properly entered on
the Stationers' Registers Edward Arber,
Transcript, i, 356. 
Appended was Elizabeth's metrical version of the fourteenth Psalm.3Alexander Dyce, Specimens of British Poetesses.  pp. 21-22.  The psalm
was called, "Dixit insipiens."Not without significance is the fact
that Elizabeth's early translations, made during the period of
Katherine Parr's supervision, were from religious works; her later
translations were, in large part, secular and remained in manuscript
until more recent times.  Certainly it is significant that Mary was
prevailed upon to begin a translation from the humanistic Reformer
Erasmus, despite the fact that her health, as the account has it,
would not permit its completion and that she later caused its
suppression.Furthermore, Katherine Parr unquestionable had a decided
influence upon Lady Jane Gray, who "entered the queen's services at
nine years old [1546], and remained with her till her death in
September, 1548, acting as chief mourner at the funeral."1Gardiner,
op. cit., p. 176.  Upon Katherine Parr was placed the responsibility
of directing Lady Jane's studies to the end that she might be a
suitable heir to the throne.2Davey, op. cit., p. 18. The later
serious writings of Lady Jane, pregnant with principles of the
Reformation, testify to the success of the queen's training.  The
writing of these pieces, however, belongs to a later decade, and their
printing to a still later one.In the years immediately following the
time of Queen Katherine Parr a number of books appeared from the
press, written by women ardent in their devotion to the Reformation.
It would, of course, be manifestly illogical and exaggerated to
attribute to the influence of Katherine Parr all of these evidences of
the concern of women for the progress of the Reformation and of their
increased willingness to submit books for publication.  The
Reformation, guided by many continental refugees and by English
prelates just returned from the continent, was well under way in the
reign of Edward VI.  The atmosphere was rife with religious
discussion.  Nevertheless, as a queen consort of an earlier reign,
unquestionably sympathetic with the Reformers, presenting her own
religious experiences and opinions to print "for the example of all
noble women," and urging the like pursuit upon the Princess Mary,
Katherine Parr had established a precedent of no mean value for all
women contemporary with and immediately succeeding her.  Her writings
are significant not because they have great literary value, but
because they were the first printed writings by a women motivated by a
desire to place the principles of the "new learning" before the
public.The only other woman to have anything published before the
middle of the sixteenth century is especially interesting for our
study because she was not a member of the royal family - Anne Kyme,
commonly known by her maiden name, Askew.  She was highly educated,
and much devoted to biblical study.  When she stayed at Lincoln, she
was seen daily in the cathedral reading the Bible, and engaging the
clergy in discussions on the meaning of particular texts.  According
to her own account she was superior to them all in argument and those
who wished to answer her commonly retired without a word.1D. N. B., ii, 190.Because of her unwillingness to accept the doctrine of
transubstantiation, she was burned at the stake in 1546.  Her own
accounts of her two examinations preceding the martyrdom were
published after her death by John Bale in Germany. The first
examinacyon of A. Askewe, latelye martyred in Smythfelde: with the
Elucydacyon of J. Bale... Marpurg in the lands of Hessen [Wesel D. van
der Straten]. 1546.1S. T. C., no. 848.The latter Examinacyon of
A. Askewe...[Marpurg Wesel, D. van der Straten].  15472Ibid.,
no. 850English reprints including both examinations followed
immediately: one in 1546/7 and two in 1548/9.3Ibid., nos.,
851-853.  With the Lattre examinacyon was "The Balade whyche Anne
Askewe made and sange whan she was in Newgate," beginning: 
Lyke as the
armed knyghtAppoynted to the fieldeWith thys world wyll I fyghtAnd
fayth shall be my shieldeFaythe is that weapon strongeWhych wyll not
fayle at nede;My foes therfor amongeTherwith wyll I
procede.4Dyce,
op. cit., p. 7.  The ballad was separately
printed n 1635.  S. T. C., no. 854.She is thus listed among the minor poets of the sixteenth
century.5See Joseph Ritson, Bibliographia Poetica.  Her metrical
verson of Psalm liv was included by John Bale among his own
publications.1John Bale, Select Works, p. 184.  Parker Society.
Anne Askew was the first woman to have printed an account of personal
experience written in narrative form.  It is doubtful whether an
earlier one existed in manuscript.  The examinations relate by the
dialogue device her experience under severe trial.  Her replies, made
in answer to questions subtly aimed to trap, throw light on the
penetration of her thinking and upon her knowledge of the technical
points under discussion.2I have examined the portions included by
John Foxe in the Acts and Monuments, v, 537-550. Because the books
appeared after her death, the printing of Anne Askew's story is not
significant as an indication of her own interest in publication, but
rather as further proof of the concern of the public for religious
matters.Between 1550 and 1560 but three books seem to have been
published by English women, and one of these was printed in France.
In 1549 the young daughters of Protector Somerset, the Ladies Anne,
Margaret, and Jane Seymour, composed a series of four hundred Latin
Distichs in honor of the recently deceased Margaret of Navarre.  The
following year the Distichs were published in Paris with a Latin
title-page by Nicholas Denisot, former tutor to the Ladies
Seymour.1Gardiner, op. cit., p. 178.  I have not had access to the book by the
Ladies Seymour in any form, and I have accordingly drawn my account
from that given by Dorothy Gardiner, pp. 178-180.  Apparently no
copies of the original editions are extant.  No mention of them is
made in S. T. C.  The book seems to have received an enthusiastic
welcome in France; it reappeared in new fashion: Le Tombeau de
Marguerite de Valois, royne de Navarre.  Faiot premièrement en
Distiques Latins par les trois Souers, Princesses en Angleterre,
Depuis traduiotz en Grec, Italien et François par plusieurs des
excellentz Poëtes de la France 1551.Accompanying the verses were
Denisot's introduction of "les vers divins de ces trios diuines et
doctes Soeurs, vierges Angloises," telling of the writers' admiration
for Margaret of Navarre because of her learning and religious faith;
Nicholas de Herberay's address to the writers, assuring them of the
laurel, "for neither Sappho nor Cassandra, Cornelia, nor Lilia Sabini
could have done more to keep alive the fame of La Reine Marguerite";
and Pierre de Ronsard's ode celebrating the fame of the ladies and in
them "the union of the beaux esprits of England and France in a war
upon Ignorance."  Dorothy Gardiner ends her description of this
literary triumph thus: If with so gallant an escort as the Pléiade,
and with gestures so magnificent, the Ladies Margaret, Anne, and Jane
Seymour made their bow to the world of letters, the youthfulness of
their productions may well be forgiven, and the reader in welcoming a
few examples of the famous Distichs for their commendable industry need
entertain no very high expectation of original thought.Distichs from
Le Tombeau de Marguerite de Valois: Anna, 16.Margaridis tumulo si
non bona verba precerisVel Christi ignarus vel male gratus homo es.
Margarita, 17.Si qua dei pura de religione fidequePromeruit laudem,
Margaris illa fuit.Jana, 18.Hic cui nostra parem prisci neque
temporis etasNec similem cernent secia futura,
iacet.In the strict
sense this book does not belong to the group of religious writings,
and it is therefore the first non-religious book by English women
since the appearance of The Boke Saint Albans, a space of sixty-five
years.  If, however, we recall that it was written in honor of the
French queen, celebrating her learning and her piety, the relation to
the religious books is almost sufficient to allow inclusion with them.The other two books of the decade between 1550 and 1560 were in keeping
with accepted religious tradition.  Lady Elizabeth Vane, or Fane, wife
of Sir Ralph Vane, who was attainted with Protector Somerset,1Strype,
Ec. Mem., III, I, 226; D. N. B., xviii, 179. herself an ardent
supporter of Reformed religion,2Ibid., III, i, 226.  She died in
1568. published in 1550 Twenty-one Psalms
and 102 Proverbs.1Haz.,
op. cit., p. 192. This is not
available,2Apparently no copy is
extant.  It is not recorded in S. T. C., and I have discovered no
reprint. but it is reasonable to assume that it was modeled after
the publications of Katherine Parr.  Lady Vane may possibly have been
among the group of ladies who gathered at the Lady Latimer's for
instruction from Reformed divines.  Certainly she sought their
guidance by correspondence.3Lady Vane corresponded with Bradford,
Philpot, Trahern, Careless, Rose, and others of the leaders.  Strype,
Ec. Mem., III, i, 226.  The lucidity with which she expressed her
religious ardor is evinced by one of her letters to Bishop Philpot:
Hearty thanks rendered unto you, my well-beloved in Christ... And so
in the strength of my God I trust to leap over the wall: for his
sweetness overcometh me daily, and maketh all these apothecary drugs
of the world even medicinal-like in my mouth.  For the continuance
whereof, I beseech thee, my dear fellow-soldier, make thy faithful
prayer for me, that I may with a strong and gladsome conscience finish
my course, and obtain the reward, though it be no whit due to my
work... Solomon saith, "All things here have their time; you to-day
and I to-morrow; and so the end of Adam's line is soon run out."  The
mighty God give us grace, that during this time his glory be not
defaced through our weakness.4The Examinations and Writings of John
Philpot, pp. 155-56.  Ed. by Robert Eden.  Parker Society.In the
same year, probably, with Lady Vane's psalms and proverbs appeared
from the press two books inspired also by a desire for advancement of
Reformed tenets.  These were Ann Cooke's translations from the Italian
of Certayn Sermons by Bernardine Ochino, a follower of
Martin Bucer,1Martin Bucer was a leader of the Reformation in Strasburg; he came
to England during the Interim.  Enc. Relig. Know., II 323. and, as
prebendary at Canterbury in 1550,2Nicholas Sander, The Anglican
Schism, p. 193, fn. 2 Trans. and ed. by David Lewis.  one of the
many influential religious leaders from the continent who sought
refuge in England during the Interim.  Certayne Sermons of the ryghte
famous and excellent clerk Master B. Ochine... now an exyle in thys
lyfe for the faithful testimony of Jesus Christe.  Faythfully
translated into Englysche.  J. Day.  London [1550?]3Mary A. Scott,
"Elizabethan Translations from the Italian," P. M. L. A., xiii, 49.
S. T. C., no. 18766.Fourteene Sermons concerning the
Predestinacion and Eleccion of God: very expediente to the settyngs
forth of hys Glorye among his Creatures.  Translated out of Italian of
Bernardino Ochino into oure natyve Tounge by A. C. [Ann Cooke],
London, by John Day and W. Seres [1550?] ... Dedicated by A. C. to her
mother, the lady F.4Mary A. Scott, op. cit., p. 51.  Not recorded in 
S. T. C.The first edition was a collaboration with one
R. Argentine, who translated six of the sermons.5S. T. C.,
no. 18766.  Whether Ann Cooke contributed twelve or fourteen to this
edition seems to be a moot point.  Mary A. Scott in "Elizabethan
Translations from the Italian"1Op. cit., P. M. L. A., xiii,
51. states that the Fourteen Sermons of the second edition are the numbers
twelve to twenty-five in the collection Certayne
Sermons. In A Short-Title Catalogue twelve of
the Certayne Sermons are
attributed to Ann Cooke.2No. 18766.In 1570 another edition of
the book appeared with additional sermons: Sermons (to the number of
25) concerning the predestination and election of God.
Tr. A. C.[ooke].  J. Day, 1570?3Ibid.,
no. 18768.Since Sir
Anthony Cooke felt strongly enough about the tenets of Reformed
religion to seek refuge on the continent during the Marian
persecutions,4D. N. B., xii, 76. it is not surprising to find his
daughter Ann, educated with her sisters under his vigilant
supervision,5Ibid., ii, 323.  She "had the same liberal education as
her elder sister Mildred, and indeed all the remarkable household,
under the vigilant eyes of a father 'eminent in the whole circle of
arts and learning.'" at the age of twenty-two, lending her
capabilities for the interests of the Reformation.  After her marriage
to Sir Nicholas Bacon6Ibid., ii, 323.  She was born in 1528 and
married probably in 1556/7.  she continued her religious studies
with a translation from Latin into English of Bishop Jewel's Apologia
Ecclesiae Anglicanae.  The translation was published in
15621S. T. C., no. 14590.  An apologie or answere in defence of the Church
of England.  Tr. Ann, Lady Bacon... 1562. under the direction of
Archbishop Parker, to whom she had sent the work for approval.  Thus
he wrote her: Madam, According to your request I have perused your
studious labour of translation, profitably employed in a right
commendable work; whereof for that it liked you to make me a judge,
and for that the thing itself hath singularly pleased my judgment, and
delighted my mind in reading it, I have right heartily to thank your
ladyship, both for your own wellthinking of me, and for the comfort
that it hath wrought me.  But, far above these private respects, I am
by greater causes enforced, not only to shew my rejoice of this your
doing, but also to testify the same by this my writing prefixed before
the work, to the commodity of others, and good encouragement of
yourself.You have used your accustomed modesty in submitting it to
judgment; but therin is your praise doubled, sith it hath passed
judgment without reproach.  And whereas both the chief author of the
Latin work and I, severally perusing and conferring your whole
translation, have without alteration allowed of it, I must desire your
ladyship, and advertise the readers, to think that we have not therein
given any thing to any dissembling affection towards you, as being
contented to wink at faults to please you, or to make you without
cause to please yourself; for there be sundry respects to draw us from
so doing, although we were so evil-minded, as there is no cause why we
should be so thought of.  Your own judgment in discerning flattery,
your modesty in misliking it, the laying open of our opinion to the
world, the truth of our friendship towards you, the unwillingness of
us both (in respect of our vocations) to have this public work not
truly and well translated, are good causes to persuade, that our
allowance is of sincere truth and understanding.  By which your
travail, Madam, you have expressed an acceptable duty to the glory of
God, deserved well of this church of Christ, honourably defended the
good fame and estimation of your own native tongue, shewing it so able
to contend with a work originally written in the most praised speech;
and, besides the honour ye have done to the kind of women and to the
degree of ladies, ye have done pleasure to the author of the Latin
book, in delivering him by your clear translation from the perils of
ambiguous and doubtful constructions, and in making his good work more
publicly beneficial; whereby ye have raised up great comfort to your
friends, and have furnished your own conscience joyfully with the
fruit of your labour, in so occupying your time; which must needs
redound to the encouragement of noble youth in their good education,
and to spend their time and knowledge in godly exercise, having
delivered them by you so singular a precedent.  Which your doing, good
Madam, as God (I am sure) doth accept and will bless with increase, so
your and ours most virtuous and learned sovereign lady and mistress
shall see good cause to commend; and all noble gentlewomen shall (I
trust) hereby be allured from vain delights to doings of more perfect
glory.  And I for my part (as occasion may serve) shall exhort others
to take profit by your work, and follow your example; whose success I
beseech our heavenly Father to bless and prosper.  And now to the end
both to acknowledge my good approbation, and to spread the benefit
more largely, where your ladyship hath sent me your book written, I
have with most hearty thanks returned it to you (as you see) printed,
knowing that I have therein done the best, and in this point used a
reasonable policy; that is, to prevent such excuses as your modesty
would have made in stay of publishing it.1Correspondence of Matthew
Parker, pp. 219-21.  Ed. by John Bruce.  Parker
SocietyThus, again,
as in the days of Katherine Parr, a book was published to serve as an
example for "all noble gentlewomen," and "to spread the benefit more
largely."  The fact that Archbishop Parker took care to print the book
"to prevent such excuses as your modesty would have made in stay of
publishing it," and that Lady Bacon's name does not appear in the
entry1Arber, Transcript, I, 178: "Recevyd of master Wolfe for his
lycense for pryntinge of a polige in englisshe."  nor on the title
page2I have examined the reprint in the Works of Bishop Jewel, iii,
50-108.  Ed. by John Ayre.  Parker Society.  indicates that the
arguments of Katherine Parr for printing with signature had not been
generally accepted.To the translation Lady Bacon appended a rather
curious document: "The manner how the church of England is
administered and governed," including with this an account also of the
universities.3Ibid., iii, 109-112. Notwithstanding her seeming
partisanship for the Church of England, by a letter written some years
later to Lord Burghley asking that Non-conformist preachers be allowed
to plead their cause before the queen or her council, Lady Bacon
bespeaks for herself a broad-mindedness not a little unusual in that
bigoted age.4James Spedding, Life of Bacon, i, 40-42.  The letter
was written in Feb., 1584.A year after the appearance of the
translation of the Apologia writings of Lady Jane Grey were brought to
the attention of the public by the Martyrologist John Foxe in the
first edition of his Acts and Monuments (March,
1563)1S. T. C.,
no. 11222.  Their author, taken to the scaffold nine years before at
the age of sixteen, had made no effort to have them printed; indeed,
circumstances of composition, in some cases, made any concern for
publication an impossibility for the author.  Moreover, their nature
was such that the author would not likely think of them as literary
contributions.  Foxe, of course, included them because of Lady Jane's
devotion to the Reformed faith and of the consequent religious fervor
of her writings.  Such was her epistle "to a lerned Man of late fallen
from the truth of God's word, for fears of the World";2Harl. MSS. 416, f. 15.  The selections in Foxe are found in vol. vi,
pp. 415-25.  such was the communication with John Fecknam,3Harl. MSS.  425, f. 83. the priest who attempted to persuade her to
Catholicism; such was her printed prayer; and such was the letter
written to her sister in the end of her Greek Testament the night
before her execution.4Ibid., 416, f. 28.  Touched also with a
pathetic trust in God were the Latin verses originally written with a
pin, also printed by Foxe: Whate'er to man, as mortal is assign'd,Should raise compassion reader in they mind,Mourn other's woes, and
to thy own resignThat fate which I have found may soon be thine! Jane
Dudley. While God assists us, envy bites in vain,If god forsake us;
fruitless all our pain!I hope for light after this darkness.Probably also in 1563 two separate publications of Lady Jane's
compositions appeared from the press.  The lamentacion that Ladie Jane
made saiying for my fathers proclamacion now must I lese my heade was
entered to John Tysdale in 1562-631Arber, Transcript, i, 209.
S. T. C., no. 7280 incorrectly states the entry was in 1561. and was
published without date by John Wight.2S. T. C., no 7280.  Between
1563 and 1564 Serten godly prayers of Lady Janes3Arber, Transcript.,
i, 235. were licensed to J. Charlwood, and the book was printed,
although no copy is extant.4Haz., op. cit., ii, 258.  Not recorded in
S. T. C.  Six years later an edition was published containing
several writings printed earlier by Foxe: the epistle to a learned
man, the communication with Fecknam, the epistle to her sister, and,
in addition, her parting words upon the scaffold.5S. T. C., no. 7279;
Haz., op. cit., ii, 258. The volume was
published with the
admonition: "Read it, to thy consolacion," serving to emphasize the
conclusion that the writings of Lady Jane were being presented in the
interests of Protestantism.  Lady Jane had become an idealized heroine
who had suffered at the hands of the Catholic Mary; therefore her
compositions, pregnant with Reformed tenets, would be received with
enthusiastic acclaim.  No virtue, therefore, attaches to the printing
of Lady Jane's compositions as far as she herself was concerned.  It
should be borne in mind, however, that she was a girl of sixteen at
the time of her death, only a student beginning her career.  Her
printed pieces are occasional, not the fruition of conscious literary
effort; they are testimonials of her preoccupation with Reformed
theology and of her sincere piety, suggesting latent possibilities for
mature production.  It would be manifestly unfair to accredit her with
nothing but religious interests; stories of her erudition are widely
current.  It seems reasonable to conclude, however, both from her
printed pieces and from her correspondence1Her letters to Henry
Bullinger, Zurich Letters. iii, 5-10, are especially revealing.
that she was more directly influenced by religion than by any other
factor.  If she knew Cicero,1Zurich Letters. iii, 6.  she also
knew the early Church Fathers; if she read Plato,2Davey, op. cit.,
pp. 172-73. she also read Bullinger.3For discussion of Lady Jane's
translation of Bullinger's Der Christlich Eestand see Chapter II.Despite the theological preoccupation of many young women, others were
concerned with lighter matters, as the press of 1567 attested: The
Copy of a letter lately written in meeter by a yonge Gentilwomen: to
her vnconstant Louer. With an Admonition to all yong Gentilwomen, and
to all other Mayds in general to beware of mennes flattery.  By
Is. W. Newly ioyned to a Loueletter sent by a Bacheler, a most
faithfull Louer to an vnconstant and faithless Mayden.  Imprinted at
London, by Richarde Jhones dwelling in the upper end of Fleetland: at
the Signe of the Spred Egle.4Haz., op. cit., p. 654.  This piece was
entered on the Registers between 1566 and 1567 (Arber, Transcript, i,
329) and was probably printed shortly thereafter. The only extant copy
is in the Bodleian.  S. T. C., 25439.  Apparently there is no
reprint.In 1573 appeared A Sweet Nosegay, or pleasant Posye,
contayninge a hundred and ten Phylosophicall Flowers.5Haz.,
op. cit., p. 654; S. T. C., no
25440.  No reprint.This was
dedicated to Sir George Mainwaring by "your welwillyng Countrywoman,
Is. W." and concluded with "the Auctors (feyned) Testament before her
departyng," which contained allusions to London localities and
trades.1Haz., op. cit.,
p. 654; S. T. C., no 25440.The Is. W. of
these volumes is adjudged to have been one Isabella Whitney of
Cheshire, sister of Geoffrey Whitney, author of the first emblem book
to appear in England.2D. N. B., lxi, 142-43.  Isabella Whitney is
not mentioned by the nineteenth-century cataloguers, that is, Corser,
Brydges, Byce, Park, Phillipe, Ritson, Jacob, etc.  Miss Whitney
was apparently conversant with George Gascoigne's volume of 1572: A
Hundreth sundrie Flowres bounde up in one small Poesie.  Gathered
partely (by translation) in the fyne outlandish Gardins of Euripides,
Ouid, Petrarke, Ariosto, and others; and partly by inuention out of
our owne fruitful Orchardes in Englande; Yelding sundrie sweete,
sauours of Tragical, Comical, and Morall Discourses, both pleasant
and profitable to the well smallyng noses of learned Readers.3Haz.,
op. cit., p. 221.The religious tradition was broken, and the
daring perpetrator was merely a "yonge Gentilwoman," protected neither
by royal nor noble title.  Perhaps, however, her lack of such
protection was one reason for her venture.  Certainly not unimportant
is the appearance of a woman among the versifiers, concerned not with
problems of theology but with constancy of lovers.Nevertheless,
books of prayers and meditations continued to be prepared by women.
Numerous entries upon the Stationers' Registers1Arber's
Transcript. for books of sermons, prayers, meditations, translations
of scripture, and religious controversial pamphlets are convincing
evidence of the tremendous influence of religion upon written matter
even after the early days of the Reformation, when length of life was
often governed by proper direction of faith.  Opportunity for
controversy tended to increase as Puritanism developed in Elizabeth's
reign and so the Catholics continued to maintain a hold.  The Church
of England could scarcely be called established.  A sufficiently
large number of Reformation supporters, exiled under Mary, were active
well into the latter half of the sixteenth century to insure little
abatement in the fervency of their religious faith.  Depending usually
upon the place of their former exile, whether Germany or
Switzerland,2Switzerland was the home for the Non-conformists. some of them became
loyal adherents to the Church of England, some became leaders in the
Non-conformist movement.  Among those who held to the Catholic faith,
ardor was likely to be intensified from persecution.  Furthermore, the
presence of Protestant refugees in England during the periods of
persecution in the Low Countries and in France increased religious
unrest.  Although the women occasionally expressed opinions upon
controversial points, they usually followed the pattern of Katherine
Parr's devotions or of Lady Margaret Beaufort's translations.Between
July 1569 and July 1570 there was licensed to Richard Watkins A
heavenly Recreation or comforth to the sowle by Lady
Knollys,1Arber,
Transcript. i 400. niece of Anne Boleyn and sister of Henry Carey,
Lord Hunsdon.2D. N. B., xxxi, 27i5-278.  Lady Katherine Knollys was
daughter of William Carey by Mary, sister to Anne Boleyn.  Lady
Katherine and her husband, Sir Francis Knollys, had been among the
exiles in Germany during Mary's Reign.  After their return to England,
until her death in January, 1569, Lady Katherine was one of the women
of the privy chamber in the service of her cousin Elizabeth.  Thus, A
heavenly Recreation was printed posthumously, possibly as a memorial
to the writer. No copy of the volume is extant;3No record in
S. T. C.  Haz., op. cit., ii, 329, names a copy. but without doubt
it was a book of pious devotions, prepared by a member of the
established church.In 1574 Christopher Barker issued a book of
devotions, licensed five years earlier:1Arber, Transcript. i, 398.Morning and Euening Prayer, with diuers Psalmes, Himmes, and
Meditations.  Made by the Lady Elizabeth Tirwit.  Seene and
allowed.2Haz. op. cit., ii,
599.By the clause of permission inference may
be drawn that the book was in accord with accepted doctrine.  That
the author of Morning and Euening Prayer may have been the same Lady
Tyrwhitt who frequented the gatherings at Lady Latimer's twenty-five
years before the licensing of this book is not improbable.3Davey,
op. cit., pp. 34-35.  "To these pious gatherings of the widow Latimer
came likewise... the Lady Tyrwitt who came very near martyrdom for her
heretical opinions, in the last year of Henry's life."  The Lady
Tyrwhitt here described was wife of Lord Robert Tyrwhitt and daughter
of Sir Gerald Oxenburgh of Sussex.  But records of her are elusive;
her book itself no longer remains to aid in establishing her
identity.4Not in S. T. C.  No mention of Lady Tyrwhitt occurs in the
minor catalogues.Three years after the appearance of Lady
Tyrwhitt's book of prayer entry of a similar composition was made on
the Registers: hugh JaxonSeptimo die Decembris 1577 Licenced vnto him
a booke intituled precious perles of perfecte godlines to be vsed of
euery faythfull christian begonne by the lady Ffraunces Aburgavenny
and finished by John Philip, auctorised by the Bisshop of
London.1Arber,
Transcript, ii, 321.If this book was printed, no record
seems to be available.  Lady Abergavenny,2Lady Abergavenny was
daughter of Thomas Earl of Rutland.  R. and N. Authors. i, 324-27.
 however, was also a contributor3Ibid., i, 326. to Thomas Bentley's
compilation The Monument of Matrons containing seven several Lamps of
Virginitie, or distinct Treatises, published in 1582.4S. T. C.,
no. 1892. Her contributions consisted in prayers on her daughter
Lady Mary Fane, one prayer presenting Lady Fane's name in alphabet
form, and an acrostical hymn.Bentley's Monument of Matrons5The
book is listed by Cotton in his Editions of the Bible, p. 45, as
Divine Praiers, Hymmmes, or Songs: made by sundrie holie women in the
scripture. included also selections from Katherine Parr, Elizabeth,
and Lady Jane Grey.6R. and N. Authors. i, 324,
332, 335.The
appearance of two books by Elizabeth in 1578 must certainly have given
stimulus to women for literary composition and recognition.  Until
1578, except for another edition of her translation of A godly
medytacyonin 1568,1S. T. C., no. 17321. Elizabeth had made no
printed contribution to the world of letters during her reign.
Unfortunately, copies of these two books by the queen are apparently
not now extant, although they are recorded by W. C. Hazlitt.2Op. cit., ii, 193. The entries read: Toby Cooke sub manugardianorum xi mo die
Septmebris 1578 Lycensed vnto him a booke beinge A
 Discourse of the happiness of this our Age.3Arber,
Transcript, ii, 337.master Barkerprinter to theQuenes Maiestie15 novembris 1578 
Lycenced vnto him vnder th [eh] andesof the wardens
ij Little Anthemes or thinges in meeter of hir
maiestie.4Ibid., ii,
341.Two prayers prepared by the queen for her private devotions
were printed by Christopher Barker in 1582 in Jussu, Variae
Meditationes at Preces piae, variis designatae usibus, Latino,
Italico, Gallico, et Anglico sermone conscriptae.5Private Prayers.
Queen Elizabeth.  p. 475, fn. 8.  Parker Society.Elizabeth's gifted
rival Mary Stuart seems not to have been interested in securing
publication for her poems and translations.  The French verses which
she sent with a "diamond curiously set, to queen
Elizabeth"1R. and
N. Authors, v, 39-40, fn. 7. were printed in Latin translation by
Sir Thomas Chaloner at the end of the De Republica Anglorum
Instauranda libri decem in 1579;2S. T. C., no. 4938. but her other
compositions were not published apparently until a much later
date.3These compositions are discussed in Chapter
II.All of the
published translations by English women up to the year 1578 were
religious in character.  In that year one Margaret Tyler, a woman not
of the nobility, had printed a translation from the Spanish, breaking
successfully, and, from her own account, self-consciously, with the
religious tradition.  This was The mirrour of princely deedes and
knighthood, translated from Ortumez de Calahorra Diego, printed by
Thomas East in 1578,4S. T. C., no. 18859; Arber, Transcript, ii,
334. "wherein is shewed the Worthinesse of the Knight of the Sunne,
and his brother Rosicleer, with the strange Love of the beautiful
Princesse Briana and the valiant Actes of other noble Princes and
Knights."5Sir Egerton Brydges, Censura Literaria, ii, 382.  Quoted
from the edition of 1598. That the translator recognized her daring
in departing from the circumscribed path of religious works and that
she felt the need of defending herself against critics is evident from
her epistle to the reader.  She fears that she will be severely
adjudged for not spending her time in penning matters of great waight,
& sadnesse in diuinitie, or other studies, ye profession whereof more
neerely beeseemeth my years, other some discoursing of matters more
easie and ordinary in common talke, wherein a Gentlewoman may honestly
imploy hir travaile... But my defence is by example of the best,
amongst which, many haue dedicated theyr labours, some stories, some of
warre, some Physicke, some Law, some as concerning gouerment, some
diuine matters, vnto diuers Ladies and Gentlewomen.  And if men may &
doe bestow such of theyr woorkes as they dedicate vnto us, and if wee
may read them, why not farther wade in them to the search of a
truth... But amongst all my ill willers, some I hope are not so
strayght that they would enforce mee necessarily either not to write
or to write of diuintie... And thus much concerning this present
storie, that it is neither vnseemly for a woman to deale in, neyther
greatly requiring a less stayed age then mine is.1Quoted from the
edition of 1599 by Louis B. Wright in "The Reading of Renaissance
English Women," Studies in Philology, xxviii,
154.By her own
confession, therefore, Margaret Tyler's work is not typical of the
current writing of women;2Wright gives greater significance to the
representative character of Margaret Tyler's work than I believe is
justifiable. her secular translation stands apart from the religious
type commonly undertaken by them.  Her letter, however, suggests that
women were accustomed to write upon "diuintie," not necessarily
because it was interesting but because it was "seemly."  Since, as
will be developed later, the proportion of secular writings among those
remaining in manuscript is slightly larger than among those published,
the conclusion may well be that religious writings by women were more
agreeably countenanced for publication than their non-religious
compositions.Anne Wheathill is more representative of the
middle-class woman in her literary interest than is Margaret Tyler.
In 1584 Henry Denham brought out A handfull of holesome though homely
hearbes, gathered out of the goodly garden of God's most holy word,
dedicated to all religious ladies, gentlewomen and others, by Anne
Wheathill.1C. C. Stopes, William Hunnis and the Revels of the Chapel
Royal, p. 219.  S. T. C., no. 25329.  Only extant copy in Harmsworth
Library.  Entered on Registers, ii, 430.According to Mrs. Stopes,2Op. cit., pp. 209-219. this volume was directly in keeping with
fashion set by William Hunnis in his "newe yeares gift unto the Ladies
and gentlewomen of the Privie Chamber," A Handfull of Honnisuckles,
Gathered by William Hunnis, one of the gentlemen of her Highnesse
Chapell, and Maister to the Children of the same.  Prepared with
faith, confirmed with hope and furnished with love,Approach and
praise; so thou beeloweShalt please the Lord
above.Of like nature
were two other books published by Henry Denham, both by Abraham
Fleming: The footepath to Felicitie.  A guide to godliness.  A swarme
of Bees with their Honie and Honicombes, gathered out of the sweete and
odoriferous garden of God's word.  Henrie Denham.  1581.A Plant of
Pleasure, bearing fourteen several flowers called by the names of holy
Hymnes and Spiritual Songs, 1581.  Henrie Denham.1C. C. Stopes,
op. cit., p. 218.Anne Wheathill was an apt imitator of a current
vogue.2Anne Wheathill is not mentioned in the minor catalogues.In 1584 appeared also Soothern's Diana,3S. T. C., no. 22928; Haz.,
op. cit., p. 568. dedicated to Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, and
including four epitaphs upon the death of her young son by the wife of
Edward De Vere, Anne Cecil.  Thomas Park has observed of the epitaph
quoted below that it "so much resembles the style of Soothern, that it
may almost be suspected of being tricked out by his incomprehensible
pen":4Quoted by Byce, op. cit., p. 13.Had with moorning the gods left their willes undon,They had not so soone herited such a soule:Or if the mouth Tyme did not glotten up all,Nor I, nor the world, were depriv'd of my sonne.Whose brest Venus, with a face dolefull and milde,Dooth wash with golden teares, inveying the skies:And when the water of the goddesses eyesWakes almost alive the marble of my childe;One byds her leave styll her dollor so extreme,Telling her -- it is not her young sonne Papheme!To which she makes aunswer, with a voice inflamed,(Feeling therewith her venime to be more bitter)"As I was of Cupid, even so of it, mother;And a woman's last chylde is the most beloved.5Ibid., pp. 13-14.The Diana also included an
"Epitaph, made the the Queen's Majesty, at the Death of the Princess
Espinoye."1Dyce, op. cit.,
pp. 20-21.  Given in reprint. A so-called sonnet by Elizabeth,
the verses on Mary Queen of Scots,2Ibid., pp. 16-18. appeared a few years later (1589) in Puttenham's
Art of English Poesie.  It was of these verses that Puttenham asserted
he found no example in English metre so well maintaining the figure of
Exargasia, or the Gorgeous "as that ditty of her Majesty's own making,
passing sweet and harmonical, which figure being, as his very original
name purporteth, the most beautiful and gorgeous of all others, it
asketh in reason to be reserved for a last compliment, and decyphered
by a lady's pen, herself being the most beautiful, or rather beauty of
queens."3Ibid., p. 16.  Quoted
from the Art of English Poesie. Elizabeth's pleasure in reading that glowing tribute would have been
exceeded only by her gratification from the following eloquent lines
by the same critic: But last in recitall and first in degree is the
Queene our soueraigne Lady, whose learned, delicate, noble Muse
easily surmounteth all the rest that haue written before her time or
since, for sence, sweetnesse, and subtillitie, be it in Ode, Elegie,
Epigram, or any other kinde of poeme Heroicke or Lyricke wherein it
shall please her Maiestie to employ her penne, euen by as much oddes
as her owne excellent estate and degree exceedeth all the rest of her
most humble vassals.1G. Gregory Smith, Elizabethan Critical
Essays. ii, 66.In 1589 two women from the middle class presented
printed copies of their works to a public, perforce becoming
accustomed to lack of modesty from feminine ranks.  Jane Anger with
Her Protection for Women. To defend them against the Scandalous
Reports of a late Surfeiting Louer, and all other like Venerians that
complaine so to bee oueroloyed with kindnesse2Haz., op. cit.,
p. 674; S. T. C., no. 644. seems to have produced the first of those
pamphlets concerned with defending the maligned virtue of women which
increased in frequency during the seventeenth century.  Anne Dowriche
with The French Historie, its controversial note and its narrative
form, is significant not merely for her contribution but for her
account of her reasons for writing and of the pleasure she has derived
from this "recreation," and likewise for her humble plea that it be
accepted as "a woman's doing."  The extended title indicates the
subject matter: The French Historie, That is; a lamentable Discourse
of three of the chiefe, and most famous bloodie broiles that haue
happened in France for the Gospell of Jesus Christ.  Namelie: 1.  The
outrage called The winning of S. James his streete 1557.  2.  The
constant Martirdome of Annas Burgoeus one of the K. Councell 1559.  3.
The bloodie marriage of Margaret Sister to Charles the 9.  anno 1572.
Published by A. D.All that will liue godlie in Jesus Christ, shall
suffer persecution.  1 Tim. 3. 2.Imprinted at London by Thomas Orwin
for Thomas Man. 1589.1Corser, op. cit., Pt. 5, pp. 241, 42.
S. T. C., no. 7159.  Entered upon the Registers, Arber, ii, 523.The work is dedicated by the writer "To the right worshipfull her
louing Bro. Master Pearse Edgecombe, of Mount Edgecombe in Deuon
Esquier."2Corser, op. cit., Pt. 5, p. 242.  In this dedicatory she
reveals her attitude toward her work and her evaluation of it: This
booke, which proceeds under your protection, if you consider the
matter, I assure you it is most excellent, and well worth your
reading; but if you weigh the manner, I confess it is base, and scarce
worth the seeing.  This is therefore my desire, -- that the simple
attire of this outwarde forme maie not discourage you from seeking the
comfortable tast of the inward substance, You shall find here manie
things for comfort worthy the considering, and for policie the
observing.  This hath beene my ordinarie exercise for recreation at
times of leasure, for a long space togeather.  If I were sure that you
would but take halfe so much pleasure in reading it, as I have in
collecting and disposing it, I shoulde not neede anie farther to
commend it.  If you find anie thing that fits not your liking,
remember, I pray, that it is a woman's doing.  The thing itself will
sufficientlie proove this to be true.3Brydges, Restituta, iv, 180.Following the dedication is a quadruple acrostic, Pears Edgcomb,
introduced by an anagram:The sharpest Edge will soonestPeares and Come unto An end.Yet Dowt not, but be Riche in hopeAnd take that I doo send.A. D.4Corser, op. cit., Pt. 5, p. 242.In the
letter "To the Reader," closing the preliminary matter, the author
relates her reasons for writing in verse: First for mine owne
exercise, being a learner in that facultie: Secondlie, to restore
againe some credit if I can unto Poetrie, hauing been defaced of late
so many waies by wanton vanities: Thirdlie, for the more noveltie of
the thing, and apt facultie in disposing the matter, framed to the
better liking of some men's fantasies, because the same storie in
effect is alreadie translated into English prose.  Many of these
orations that are here fully and amplie expressed, were in the French
Commentaries but onely in substance lightly touched and the summe set
downe without amplifying the circumstance, and yet heere is no more set
downe, than is there signified.  I haue also, for the more terror unto
the wicked, diligentlie collected the great plagues and iust
iudgements of God shewed against the persecutors in euery seuerall
History, and haue set them downe so in order, and amplified them by
the like iudgments against sinners out of the Word and other
histories, that euerie proud persecutor may plainly see what
punishment remaineth due unto their wicked tyrannnie.
                1Corser,
op. cit, Pt. 5, pp. 243-44.The book is pregnant with anti-Catholic
sentiment, stimulated particularly by Catholic plots in England and by
the persecutions of the Protestants in the Low Countries and in
France.  The outline of the narrative is given by Thomas Corsor: The
author, in walking abroad, supposes that he meets with a godly French
exile, driven from his country by religious persecution, with whom he
enters into conversation, and who describes to him the cause of the
Civil wars in France in the reign of Henry II, the persecution of the
Protestants, the murder of Gaspar de Coligni, and other
events.2Ibid.,
p. 243.Since Mistress Dowriche proposed "to restore againe
some credit ...unto Poetrie," it is not amiss to quote from the
beginning of her poem that all who read may judge whether she
succeeded with her Alexandrines: 
As walking on a daie, the woods and forests nie:In shrilling voyce, and mournfull tunes, methought I heard one crie.Which sodaine feare so dasht my blood and sense all,That as one in a traunce I staid to see what would befall.A thousand thoughts opprest my fearfull wauering braine,In musing what amid the woods that fearfull voice should mean.I feard least theeues had robd and cast some man aside:Because it was the common waie where men did vse to ride.Among the sauage beasts that in these woods remaine,I doubted least some trauler stood in danger to be slaine.But casting fears apart, I ranne toward the placeTo see the wight that did lament, and waile his Wofull case.Alone, no perill nigh, within a bushie daleA stranger sate; I got aside to heare his dolefull
tale.1Corser, op. cit.,
Pt. 5, p. 243.Very probably no woman of the middle class had up to this time
given as serious consideration to the value of her own verse as did Mistress Dowriche; nor was one of them likely
to have given as much time to original composition.  The effort of
Anne Dowriche to tell a story is not without significance; she did not
confine her religious sentiments to the medium of prayers and
meditations.  In the same year with The French Historie there was
separately entered on the Stationers' Registers: A Ffrenche mans songs
made vppon the deathe of the Ffrenche king whoe was murdered in his
owne courte by a traterouse ffryer of Sainct Jacobs order on the
ffirst daie of August 15891Arber,
Transcript, ii, 530.This poem is reputed to have been written by Anne Dowriche, although no copy is
known to be extant.2Haz., op. cit., p. 164.  Not recorded in
S. T. C.Another woman from the middle class, apparently, Anne
Prowse, published in 1590 a translation of John Taffin's Marks of the
Children of God and of Their Comfortes in Affliction.3Ibid., p. 59.
Arber, Transcript, ii, 541.  Not in S. T. C.  The religious
translations were continued also by Anne Douglas, Countess of Argyle,
who, sometime in the latter part of the sixteenth century or the
beginning of the seventeenth century, published in Spanish a set of
sentences from St. Augustine: El Alma dol imcomparabil Sacada del
Cuerpo de fus Confessiones, colegida por la illustrissima Senora Dona
Anna, Condesse de Argyl, dirigida a la seremissima Senora Dona Isabel
Clara Eugenia, Infanta d'Espagna.  En Ambres por Geraldo
Wolschaten.4R. and N. Authors. v, 71.  I
find no other record.The 1590's,
however, show a decrease in the number of religious books published by
women and in the amount of material produced by middle-class women.
Whatever reason may have caused this lapse was temporary, for with the
beginning of the next century religious writings again appear, and
middle-class women print their books with increasing frequency.This
was the decade when Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, was writing and
publishing.  Because of certain lines in the dedicatory address of
John Davies' Muses Sacrifice or Diuine Meditations (1612), written to
Lucy, Countess of Bedford; Mary, Countess of Pembroke; and Elizabeth,
Lady Cary, the impression has unfortunately been left that none of
these woman had published anything before 1612.  Thus wrote Davies: But
your Three Graces, (whom our Muse would grace,had she that glory,
that our Philip had,that was the Beautie of Arts Soule and Face)You
presse the Presse with little you haue made.1The Tragedy of Mariam. Malone Society Reprints.  Intro., p. xvii.With this basis the
editor of Lady Cary's Mariam states that "the works of these ladies
remained unpublished apparently;"2Ibid., p. xvii. and Dorothy
Gardiner in English Girlhood at School3p. 187. draws the same
erroneous conclusion: These girlish efforts [those of Lady Cary]
excited the interest of John Davies of Hereford, who addressed to her
his Muses' Sacrifice or Divine Meditations, printed 1612, coupling
with her name those of Lucy, Countess of Bedford, and Mary, Countess
of Pembroke, all whose works had hitherto remained unprinted.It is
true that Lady Cary and Lucy, Countess of Bedford seem to have
published nothing before 1612, but Mary, Countess of Pembroke had
contributed more than once to the press.  Two separate entries and
publications under her own name appear during the twelve years from
1590 to 1602, and other compositions were printed in collections.  The
Countess of Pembroke's name was entered upon the Stationers' Registers
for May 3, 1592: William ponsonbyEntred for his copie by warrant ffrom
master Watkins, to be Joyned together in one Booke, A
Discours of Lyfe and Death written in French by Phillip De
Mornay. Item
Anthonius a tragedie wrytten also in French by Robert Garner.  Both
donne in English by the Countesse of
Pembroke.1Arber, Transcript, ii, 611.The edition was printed, and copies of it are
still extant.2S. T. C., no. 18138.
New editions appeared in 1600, 1606, and 1607,3See S. T. C. and a separate edition of The
Tragedie of Antonie in 1595.4Ibid., no., 11623.  This is available in
reprint.  Edited by Alice Luce, Weimar, 1897.These translations were completed two years before publication,
since the last leaf of the volume of Mornay is dated, "Wilton, the 13
of May, 1590."1Cens. Lit., v, 45."The Doleful Lay of Clorinda," an elegy upon the death of Sir
Philip Sidney, was "probably but not certainly written by Lady
Pembroke,"2Frances B. Young, Mary Sidney,
Countess of Pembroke, p. 134. and was first printed in
Spenser's Astrophel, which appeared in 1595 as an
appendix to Colin Clout's Come Home Againe.3Ibid., p. 134.  S. T. C., no. 23077.  Reprints of this elegy are easily available.  Since Spenser's epistle to Colin Clout is dated in December, 1591, the elegy also was probably written about that time or shortly before.The pastoral dialogue "In Praise of Astrea," Mary Sidney's verses in honor of Elizabeth, was first published in 1602 as the only contribution from a woman in Francis
Davison's anthology, A Poetical Rapsody.4Young, op. cit., p. 134.  The original edition is recorded in S. T. C., no. 6373.  A good reprint with introduction is that edited by H. H. Bullen, 1890.  "Astrea,"  pp. 40-42.  The full title of the poem bore the name of the writer:
A Dialogue between two shepheards, Thenot and Piers, in praise of
Astrea, made by the excellent Lady Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at the
Queens Maiesties being at her home at ___, Anno 15___5Young, op. cit., p. 134.  The queen's visit did not materialize.  Inference is that she was expected.Other compositions by the Countess of Pembroke remained in manuscript, but that she had no compunctions against printing is evinced by the appearance of her name both on the Stationers' Registers and in the published books.  That so prominent a woman allowed her work to come before the public with a signature is significant.  In her the influences of the late Renaissance from Italy and France found sympathetic cultivation.
As a patroness of letters, a capacity in which she is better known
than as a creative writer, she tended to encourage expression finding
stimulus in the writings of Petrarch, of Tasso, and of the
Pleiade.1For a detailed discussion of Mary Sidney as
a patroness of letters see Young, op. cit.,
Chap. v, pp. 150-204.  Much of her own work, all of the printed
pieces and the manuscript translation from Petrarch,2See Chapter II. testify still further, and even more
concretely, to her appreciation of French and Italian literature.
Although she was regarded as one of the most cultivated women of her
day, she was concerned less with classic learning than with that of
more recent time; and although she collaborated with her brother
Philip in metrical verson of the Psalms,3Unpublished. she was not preoccupied with the study of
theology nor fervent in her devotion to a faith.  The Countess of Pembroke stands at the end of the century in striking contrast with the educated women of its early and middle years, Margaret More, Katherine Parr, Lady Jane Grey, and Lady Ann Bacon, pupils in the classic school, ardent devotees of religion, disciples of an Erasmus, a Coverdale, or a Bucer.Whether the recognition given Mary Sidney is justified may be a matter of opinion.  That her fame has come in part from the linking of her name with that of her brother Philip is undeniable, and equally undeniable is the recognition she attained from patronage of literary men.  It is doubtful whether a Mary Sidney without rank and possibilities of patronage would be especially noticed today merely because she had translated some French and Italian and had written some verses.  Margaret Tyler translated Spanish ten years earlier than Mary Sidney published her French translations but without acclaim; Anne Dowriche set about to improve "poesie" by her verses but without reward.  Nevertheless, the Countess of Pembroke is unusually significant because, more than her feminine contemporaries, she was receptive to the influences from France and Italy contributing so largely to the molding of secular English literature in the late Renaissance period.Although her name belongs rather with the sonneteers and
playwrights of the 1590's than with austere and philso-ophic classicists, she did not submit to the vogue of
sonneteering sufficiently to compose a cycle herself.  Despite the fact that the decade between 1590 and 1600 was the popular era for sonneteers, no sonnet cycle seems to have been written by a woman.  This lack may have been caused by the convention of the cycles demanding address to a disdainful lady from a suppliant lover.  (Shakespeare's and Barnfield's sonnets, of course, do not follow the convention.)  Also despite the glories 
of the drama in this decade, there were no plays by women.1Lady Elizabeth Cary published Mariam in 1613.
See ff.  The period, indeed, offers
little else for our consideration in published material.  Some verses
by Katherine Killigrew, one of the daughters of Sir Anthony Cooke,
addressed to another daughter, Lady Burghley, appeared in the notes to
John Harington's Ariosto in 1591.2Ballard, op. cit., pp. 202-203; Haz., op. cit., p. 11 Paul Hentzner, who traveled
in England in 1598, copied Elizabeth's verses written with charcoal
when she was prisoner at Woodstock3Dyce, op. cit., pp. 14-15 and also
an epitaph by the third daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, Lady Elizabeth
Russell, in memory of her husband.4Horace Walpole, Trans. of Paul Hentzner's
Travels. p. 18  These transcriptions Hentzner included
in his published account of his travels.
  5I have been unable to find date of first publication.3. 1600-1640With the opening of the seventeenth century new aspects become
apparent in the literary activities of women.  Elizabeth was too old
to exert herself during her three years in the new century; and
although James I was interested in education and provided carefully
for the training of the Princess Elizabeth,1Gardiner, op. cit., pp. 231-32. he
is reputed to have preferred domesticity rather than intellectual
pursuits for women.  According to an anecdote in the
Commonplace Book of John Collet (1633) "when a learned
maid was presented to King James for an English rarity, because she
could speake and rite pure Latine, Greeke and Hebrew, the King ask'd
'But can she spin?'"2Quoted by Gardiner, p. 232, fn. 4. As
opposed to Elizabeth with her industrious study and her sympathetic
appreciation of knowledge, Queen Anne was not disposed to concern
herself with matters of learning.  There was therefore, less stimulus
for arduous study among the women of the nobility than in Tudor days.
At the same time, the dissemination of education among girls from the
gentry and middle classes had advanced through schools set up in the
latter half of the sixteenth century by religious refugees
from the continent, usually in the form of day schools for both sexes
but in one case, at least, with the establishment of something like a
boarding school.1I have drawn the material for the summary
of the education of girls of this period from Gardiner, op. cit., pp. 194-270, passim.  Chap. X, "The Development of the Boarding
School," Part I, section 2, "The Refugees and Early Girls's Schools,"
section 3, "The Foundation of Christ's Hospital," section 4, "The
Woman Teacher": Chap. XI,  "The Development of the Boarding-School,"
Part II, section I, "Girls's Public Schools in the Seventeenth
Century"; Chap. XII, "Aspects of Seventeenth Century
Education."  Some of the regular grammar schools indeed,
admitted little girls in the latter part of the sixteenth century;2Statutes of Banbury Grammar School (1594) ordered admission of
girls to the age of nine.  Mulcaster in 1581 speaks of elementary
training for boys in which "young maidens ordinary share."  The Rules
of Thomas Saunders School, although refusing girls, speak of "The
common and usual course for many to send their daughters to common
schools to be taught with and amongst all sorts of youths."  Ibid., p. 200.  Christ's Hospital School was
established in 1553 for children of both sexes, the "mayden children"
to have their own matron.3Henry Machyn records appearance
of the 400 children from Christ's Hospital:  "Men and women chylderyn,
alle in blue cotes, and wenssys [wenches] in blue frokes, and with
skoychons in-brodered on ther slevys with the armes of London and red
capes."  Diary of Henry Machyn. p. 33.  Camden
Society.  Girls from Catholic families were educated secretly
or were sent abroad to nunnery schools.  Thus, although it is true
that the first separate public schools for girls were not
established until the seventeenth century,1The first "public school" for girls of which record can be found
was the Ladies Hall at Deptford, operating certainly in 1617.  Lucy,
Countess of Bedford, was a patroness.  Similar schools were
Mrs. Friend's at Stepney and The Ladies University of Female Arts at
Hackney.  Gardiner, op. cit.,
pp. 209-211. advantages of education outside the home were
sometimes at hand for girls during the latter half of the sixteenth
century.  Obviously, however, opportunity to girls from middle-class
families for a few years in grammar school would not suddenly cause
marked intellectual interest and productivity among them in their
later mature years.  That occasionally in the late sixteenth century
women from the middle class did write and publish has already been
noticed.  By the opening years of the seventeenth century advantages
of education for girls had been somewhat general for a length of time
sufficient to develop a semi-intellectual level among middle-class
women.  Consequently, that these women should express themselves
through the press with increasing frequency in the seventeenth century
is not surprising.  Indications of erudition such as were found among
women of the Tudor nobility, however, do not occur.  It would, of
course, be a mistake to draw a definite line and say that the era of intellectual interest among middle-class women began at the opening of the seventeenth century, or that similar interests entirely disappeared among women of the nobility.  Such a demarcation would not be justifiable.  Without doubt, however, those were the tendencies.As might be expected, there was a marked increase in the amount of
creative writing and a decided decline in the number of translations
published.  The only translation printed between 1600 and 1630 was a
tract from the French by Lady Elizabeth Russell, dedicated in metrics
to her daughter Ann Herbert, Countess of Worcester:1Ballard, op. cit., pp. 198-200; R. and N. Authors. ii, 54-56.A Way of Reconciliation of a good and learned man, Touching the
true nature and substance of the body and blood of Christ in the
sacrament.2Ballard, op. cit., p. 198; S. T. C., no. 21456.The title echoes strangely back to the mid-sixteenth century, when the problem of the eucharist was paramount; and not without reason, for Lady Russell was a product of  that period.  This translation was the last of the intellectual contributions from the learned daughters of Sir Anthony Cooke, so indicative in their achievements of Renaissance ideals of education for women.Echoes of the type of education set by Sir Anthony Cooke for his daughters are found in the work of Elizabeth Jane Weston, born about the beginning of Elizabeth's reign. After her marriage and removal to Prague in Bohemia she carried on correspondence with learned foreigners and wrote a Latin poem in praise of typography, published with a collection of Latin poems and epistles to her about 1606 under the title:
Parthenicon Elisabethae Joanne Westoniae virginibus nobilissimae, poetriae florenntissimae, linguarium plurimarum peritissinia, Liber III opera ac studio G. Mart. a
Baldhoven, Sil. collectus; et nunc demio, amicis desiderantibus
communicatus, Pragae, Typis Pauli Sessii.1Ballard, op. cit., p. 245.  Not in S. T. C.Of a less erudite character was the publication of Lady Elizabeth
Melville, daughter of Sir James Melville and wife of John, Lord
Colvill of Culross,2D. N. B., xi, 419-20
printed in 1603 at Edinburgh, "Ane godlie dreame compylit in Scottish
meter,3S. T. C., no. 17811.  Arber, Transcript, v. 213. a fantastical description of Purgatory and Hell, interspersed with slanders against Catholics.  It begins thus:
I Luikit down and saw ane pit most black,Most full of smock, and flaming fyre most fell;That vglie sicht maid mee to flie aback,I feirit to heir so many shout and yell;I him besocht that hee the treuth wald tell --Is this, said I, the Papists' purging place,Quhair they affirme that sillie saulles do dwell,To purge thair sin, befoir they rest in peace?The braine of man maist warlie did inventThat Purging place, he answerit mee againe:For grediness together they consentTo say that saulles in torment mon remaine,Till gold and gudes releif them of their paine.O spytfull spreite that did the same begin!O blindit beists, your thochts ar all in vaine,My blude alone did saif thy saull from sin.This Pit is Hell, quhairthrow thou now mon go.Thair is thy way that leids thee to the land:Now play the man, thou neids not trimbill so,For I sall help and hald thee by the hand.Allace! said I, I have na force to stand,For feir I faint to sie that vglie sicht!How can I cum among that bailfull band?O help mee now, I have na force nor micht!1Dyce, op. cit., pp. 24-25.  The poem is reprinted in full in Early Metrical Tales.  Ed. by David Laing. 1826.Curiously erudite was the book Miscellanea, written
by one of Elizabeth Melville's despised Catholic women, Elizabeth
Grymeston, wife of Christopher Grymeston, a middle-class family in
York,and daughter of Martin Bernys of Norfolk.2Corser, op. cit., Pt. 7, p. 101.
The first edition of the book was printed in 1604 by Bradwood for
Felix Norton with the title,
Miscelanea. Meditations. Memoratives.3S. T. C., no. 12407.  Arber,
Transcript, iii, 251.  A second edition, printed by Bradwood for William Aspley, appeared in
1606, adding six new chapters and entitled, Miscellanea,
Prayers, Meditations, Memoratives.1Title-page of the 1606 edition.  No date is given.  Dates have
been supplied in S. T. C. for the editions after 1604.
This edition was entered on the Registers on January
28, 1605.  Arber, Transcript.  iii, 281.  Still
another edition appeared in 1606, one in 1608, and one in 1610,2S. T. C., nos. 12409-12411. indicating that the book was in demand, a not unimportant point when further examination reveals the nature of the work.From the verses printed in the introduction, addressed "To the
Authour" by Simon Grahame,3Simon Grahame was the author of The passionate sparke of a relenting mind (1604) and of The anatomie of humors (1609).  S. T. C., nos., 12169-68. supposition may clearly be drawn that Elizabeth Grymeston was not living at the time her work was published:
Though th' authors selfe triumph in heavenly glore,Thou sacred worke giu'st mortall life againe;and so thy worth hath made her euermorein heauen and earth for euer to remaine.
.......................................................
The fruitful flowing of her loftie braineDoth now bewray a mothers matchlesse care,while she liues crown'd amongst the high diuines,Thou on her sonne celestiall sunne downe shines.4I quote from the edition of 1606, but Corser, op. cit., Pt. 7, pp. 100-102, describes these
verses as belonging also to the edition of 1604.The reference to her "sonne" and the line, "doth now bewray a
mothers matchlesse care," have special meaning after reading Elizabeth
Grymeston's dedicatory epistle, written "To her Loving Sonne Bernye
Grymeston"; and the line, "The fruitfull flowing of her loftie
braine," is an answer to a sentence in the epistle, "I resolved to
breake the barren soile of my fruitlesse braine."1Since I have examined a photostatic copy of the second edition
[1606], now in the Huntington Library, I shall give quotations from
and make references to that edition.  Chapters XIII-XVIII in this
edition are not in the edition of 1604.  Chapters XIII and XIV of the
second edition are Chapters XII and XX of the second edition.  This
conclusion is easily apparent after a comparison of the second edition
with the description of the 1604 edition given by Corser, op. cit ., Pt. 7, pp. 100-105.  In the
epistle the author describes herself as "a dead woman among the
living," brought to "languishing consumption" by her mother's
"vndeserued wrath."  She has consequently determined to leave with her
son, in whom her "affectionate loue which diffused amongst nine
children which God did lend, is not united," this "portable veni mecum for thy Counsellor, in which thou mayest
see the true portraiture of thy mothers minde, and finde something either to resolue thee in thy doubts, or comfort thee in thy distresse."  She proceeds with advice for the hours of marriage and death, urging him to censure his will and examine his thoughts, "for he seldome dies well that liveth ill."  Of marriage she advises: 
Marrie in thine owne ranke, and seeke especially in it thy contentment and preferment: let her neither be so
beautifull, as that euery liking eie shal leuel at her; nor yet so
brown, as to bring thee to a loathed bed.  Defer not thy marriage till
thou commest to be saluted with a God speed you
Sir, as a man going out of the world after forty; neither yet to
the time of God keepe you Sir, whilest thou art
in thy best strength after thirty; but marry in the time of You are welcome Sir, when thou art coming into the world: for seldom shalt thou see a woman out of her own loue to pul a rose that is ful blown deeming them always sweetest at the first opening of the bud.Thus, the book is another "Advice to a Son," but with digressions
in religious devotion and theological opinion, all behind a bulwark of
quotations from Church Fathers and classic writers and a euphuistic
style of writing.  She openly confesses her indebtedness to other writers:
For albeit, if thou proouest learned (as my trust is thou wilt; for
that without learning man is but as an immortall beast) thou mayst
happily thinke, that if euery Philosopher fetched his sentence, these
leaues would be left without lines; yet remember withall, that as it
is the best coine that is of greatest value in fewest pieces, so is it
not the worst booke that hath most matter in least words... And the
spiders webbe is neither the better because wouen out of his owne
brest, nor the bess hony the worse for that gathered out of many
flowers: neither could I euer brooke to set down that
haltingly in my broken stile, which I found better expressed by a
grauer author.1From the epistle, p. 3, Photostat numbers.In her very borrowings, however, lies much of the interest of her work, for they indicate the extent and type of her reading and, furthermore, her ability to use it.  Whether she gleaned her many quotations, both direct and indirect, from their original sources is problematical.  Since she frequently misquotes, supposition may be readily drawn that she used intermediate sources; but this conclusion is not so certain when it is further noted that she misquotes scriptural passages and contemporary English writers as well as the Latin and Greek authors.  Furthermore, it seems fairly obvious that she understood the Latin and the Greek, since she weaves the quotations into her own text, enlarging upon the moral or religious significance.She was especially conversant with writings of Robert Southwell, a
Catholic priest of Norfolk, martyred in 1595.2D. N. D., liii, 294-99.  In the title to
Chapter XI she states that the sixteen stanzas of verse in the chapter
are "taken out of Peters complaint, which she vsually sung &
plaied on the winde instrument."3p. 23.  Six of these
stanzas are incorrectly quoted.1In quoting stanza lxxx she fails to catch the rhyme.  Her selection of stanzas does not follow Southwell's order.  Robert Southwell, Complete Poems, Ed. by Alexander Grosart, pp. 9-44.  The unacknowledged verses in the epistle beginning:
Crush the serpent in the headBreake ill egs yer they be hatchedKill bad chickens in the tread,
are from the fifth stanza of Southwell's "Losse in Delaye."2Ibid., p. 76.  Moreover it is
probable that her notion of writing an epistle to her son may have
been derived from her reading of Southwell's epistles to his father,
his brother, his cousin, and "The Triumphs ouer Death: or A
Consolatorie Epistle for afflicted minds in the affects of dying
friends."3All of these epistles are in reprint in
The Triumphs over Death.  Ed. by John
W. Trotman.  The title of her first chapter, "A Short line, how
to leuell your life, " seems certainly to have come from Southwell's
A short rule of good life, likewise described as an
epistle.4Described by Grosart in his introduction to
Southwell's poems.  I have not had access to a copy.  Since she
had originally lived in Norfolk, as did Southwell, she may have had
access to the manuscript of his Hundred Meditations in the Love
of God, first published in 1873.5D. N. B., liii, 298.The main portion of her title for Chapter XI, "Morning
Meditations with sixteen sobs of a sorrowful spirit," was likely
modeled upon the Seven Sobs of a sorrowful soul for sin
by William Hunnis.1C. C. Stopes, op. cit., p. 211.  The Seven
Sobs by Hunnis, a metrical version of the seven penitential
psalms, may have influenced her "Euening Meditation: Odes in imitation
of the seuen poenitentiall Psalmes, in seuen seuerall kinds of verse"
(Chap. xix);2Photostat, p. 49.  Thee psalms in the order
in which she gives them are: 143; 130; 102; 51; 38; 32; 6. more
likely, however, she drew from Richard Verstegan (Rowlands), a
Catholic writer who had published in 1601 Odes in imitation of
the Seaven Penitential Psalmes.  With sundry other poemes and Ditties,
tending to devotion and pietie.3Thomas Park in Censura
Literaria, ii, 95, S. T. C., no. 21359.
Since this work by Verstegan addressed to "the vertuous ladies and
gentlewomen readers,"4Cens. Lit., ii, 95.  contains, according to Park, songs from Ambrose and Augustine and verses on the world's vanitie, supposedly made by St. Bernard, Elizabeth Grymeston may have used it as an intermediate source for some of her gleanings from the Fathers.Her fourth chapter, a panegyric on the beauty of death; the fourteenth chapter, directed against lasciviousness; and the fifteenth chapter, on repentance, have a particularly large number of quotations.  Thus, for example, she writes:
Greg. 3. ho. vpon Exechiel: Qui minue tradit
corpori quam debit corpori, ciuem necat:  He that giues not the
body his due, murders his friend.  It is the same Fathers speech in
the twelfth of his Morals.  The reason of both is giuen by Hugo in his booke De claustro
animas, cap. 10.  Quia eadem caro quae se
ductrix est in malis, adiutrix est in bonis.  And by August.  in Confess.  Non est caro mala, si malo careat:  Our body is not
ill, if it have a good keeper.1Photostat, p. 38.Or again:
Nostrum viuere, e vita transire2cf. Gregory, Moralia xii, on ch. xiv, Bk. ii of
Job. J. P. Migne, Patrologiae Cursus Completus. lxxxv,
390-91. our best life is to die well: for liuing here we enjoy
nothing: things past are dead and gone: things present are alwaies
beginning: while we lieu we die; and we leaue dying, when wee leaue
liuing.  Our life was a smoake, and is vanished; was a shadow and is
passed; was a bubble and is dissolved.  The poore mans life is ledde
in want, and therefore miserable.  The rech mans ioy is but vanitie:
for he is poore in his riches, abiect in his honours, discontented in
his delights.  This made Hilarion say.  Egredere, quid times anima?  octoginta annos seruisti
domino:  Thou hast serued thy God foure score yeares, and
therefore feare not now to soe take thy wages.  And Ambrose: Non mori timeo, quia bonum habeo dominum:
Who feared not to die, knowing that he that came hither to buy vs an
inheritance, is gone before vs to prepare it for vs.3Photostat, p. 15.Other quotations from these Fathers occur and also from Bernard and Chrysostum; she is by no means always careful to mention her authority, as for example, the uncited sentence from Augustine:
Inter omnia Christianorum cert amina, durissima sunt proelia
castitatis, vbi quotidiana pugna & rara victoria.1Migne, op. cit., xxxix, 2302.  Sermon 293
in Appendix of suppositious works.She follows the same plan in citing scripture, sometimes naming the exact reference and sometimes working it into her text without source.  She not infrequently uses the Latin for the scriptural passages and occasionally Greek, translated by Latin and English.Her references and quotations are not confined to the Church Fathers and to scripture.  Even in the epistle to her son she quotes from Seneca:
It was Phaedra her confession to  her
confession to Hippolytus, and it holds for
trueth with the most: Thesei vultus amo illos
priores quos tulit quondam inuenis.2Phaedra, 654-5.In Chapter XIV she quotes again from the Phaedra and
likewise from the Moral Epistles and the
Troades.3Ibid.,
137-40; Moral Epistles, iii, 316;
Troades, 1-6.  She cites the
Epistles.   Her line, "Ut hora, sic fugit
vita?"4Photostat, p. 15. may be an
adapta-tion from Persius, "Fugit hora."1Satires, v. 153.  The quotes from the
Pythian Odes of Pindar,2Pythian Odes, viii, 136. translating the
Greek into both Latin and English:3Chapter IV, p. 15.  "Man is but the dreams of a shadow."For one chapter she uses the device of putting counsel into the
mouth of Heraclitus, the "weeping Philosopher" of Ephesus, and in
another she presents a discussion of death by means of "A pathetical
speech of the person of Diues in the torments of hell."4Chapters II and III.  She relates at some length stories of early Christian martyrs, comparing their religious life from baptism until the final flight to heaven with the life of the silkworm.
The Silkworm first eateth hirselfe out of a very little feed, and
groweth to be a small worme: afterward when by feeding a certain time
vpon fresh and greene leaues it is waxed of a greater sise, eateth
itselfe againe out of the other coate, and worketh it selfe into a
case of silke; which when it hath once finished, in the end casting
the seed for many young to breed of, and leauing the silke for mans
ornament, dieth all white and winged, in shape of a flying
thing.5Chapter XIII, p. 34.The author evinces, indeed, a fondness for concrete images and balanced construction.
Canst thou feele the winde beat on thy face, and canst
thou forget that thou holdest thy tenement by a puff of winde?  Canst
thou sit by the riuer side, and not remember that as the riuer
runneth, and doth not returne, so is the life of man?  Canst thou
shoot in the fields, and not call to mind that as the arrow flieth in
the ayre, so swiftly do thy dayes pass?  Or canst thou walke in the
fields, and see how some grasse is coming, some newly withered, and
some alreadiecome, and doest not remember that all flesh is
grasse?1Chapter XIV, p. 15.  cf. I Peter, i, 24:
"For all flesh is as grass."The "Memoratiues," forming the last chapter of the Miscellanea, are a collection of proverbs and sententious sayings, designed probably to be committed to memory for the insurance of some ready guides for conduct.  Very likely no one of them was entirely original.  A few will suffice to indicate their temper:
Let thy wit bee thy friend, thy minde thy companion, thy tongue thy seruant.Let vertue be thy life, valour thy loue, honour thy fame, and heauen thy felicity.Labour in youth, giues strong hope of rest in olde age.Let thy speech be the shadow of thy deed.The whole world is as an house of exchange, in which Fortune is the nurse that breeds alteration.Mishap is the touchstone of friendship, and aduersitie the triall of friends.Wisedome is that Oliue that springeth from the hart, bloometh on
the tongue, and beareth fruit in the actions.2Proverbs were very common in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries.  See Morris P. Tilley, Elizabethan Proverb Lore in
Lyly's Euphues and in Pettie's Petite pallace, with Parallels from
Shakespeare. 1926.It has seemed wise to deal thus fully with Elizabeth Grymeston1My access to the photostatic copy of the Huntington Library edition of Miscellanea has enabled me to handle the material by Elizabeth Grymeston more completely than that of some of her middle-class predecessors and contemporaries, whose writings have frequently been unavailable except in partial reprint or by description. because her work reveals, as she said to her son, "the true portraiture" of her mind, indicating something about her reading, the bent of her interests, and the method of  her literary expression.  Although it may be true that she drew some of her lore from compilations, she nevertheless evinced understanding of Latin and Greek in the original.  Even if she read intermediate sources, the fact remains that she knew the material and was interested in it.  Furthermore, she wove her bits together with some fluency, frequently with grace.  Since she belonged to the middle class, these factors are all the more significant.  There is, of course, nothing new in her preoccupation with theology and religious devotions, except that in England after 1540 the greater number of women who printed religious books received their stimulus from the Reformers, whereas Elizabeth Grymeston was a devotee of the Catholic Fathers.Another religious work appeared from the press in 1611, a poem by
Mrs. Aemelia Lanyer, Salve. Deus Rex Ivdaeorum,
containing:
1. The Passion of Christ.2. Eues Apologie in defence of Women.3. The Teares of the Daughters of Ierusalem.4. The Salutation and Sorrow of the Virgin
Marie.
	With divers other things not unfit to be read.1Haz. op. cit., p. 327.  Arber, Transcript. iii, 445.   S. T. C., 15227.Although Emelia Lanyer dedicated her book to Anne of Denmark and
the Princess Elizabeth, she harks back to the days of "great Elizae,"
the time of her youth when she enjoyed the favor of the queen.2Gardiner, op. cit., p. 188, fn. 1.  I
have had access to no copy of Emelia Lanyer's book.  Only three copies
are known, and there seems to be no reprint.In 1613 an original play was published, the only one by a woman
printed within the years of this survey.  The Stationers'
Registers, with the entry of "A Booke called Mariamme The
tragedie of the fayre Mariamme Quene of Iurye," made on December 17,
1612,3Arber, Transcript, iii,
231. offer no clue to the authorship; but the printed edition
of the play in the following year purported to be "Written by that
learned, vertuous, and truly noble Ladie, E. C."4The Tragedy of Mariam.  1613.  Malone Society
Reprints.  Intro., p. v.  Material on Lady Cary is taken from the
Introduction, pp. v-xix, unless otherwise designated.  Notice is given
her also in D. N. B., ix, 241-42; in
Cens. Lit., i, 152-54, and vi, 172; in Giles Jacob,
English Dramatic Poets, i, 27.  That E. C. was
Lady Elizabeth Cary, only child of Laurence Tanfield, and wife of Sir
Henry Cary, later Viscount Falkland, seems to be a conclusion now
estab-lished beyond doubt.1See the Introduction to the Malone Reprint previously cited.  She was the same Lady Cary, who, in company with her illustrious contemporaries, Mary, Countess of Pembroke, and Lucy, Countess of Bedford, was eulogized by John Davies in his Muses Sacrifice as one of the "Three Graces" and "Glories of Women," and who is described by Marston in the dedicatory epistle to his Works in 1633 as "well acquainted with the Muses."  More particularly Davies wrote of Lady Cary:
Thou mak'st Melpomen proud and my heart greatof such a Pupill, who in Buskin fine,With Feete of State, dost make thy Muse to metethe scenes of Syracuse and Palestine.The biography of Lady Falkland, written by one of her daughters and
revised by one of her sons, reveals her as a great reader, both of
religious and secular literature, and an especial devotee of the
drama.2To say, however, that "No one probably
equaled the record of Elizabeth Carey, Viscountess Falkland
(1589-1639), who mingled letters of the world with her piety," as does
Louis Wright, op. cit.,
P. M. L. A., xxviii, 145, is obviously an erroneous
conjecture.  Too much evidence to the contrary has already been
given. Probably her first literary venture was a play, now
lost, written shortly after 1600, the scene of which was laid at
Syracuse. This was dedicated to her husband; her published play,
Mariam, was dedicated "To Dianaes Earthlie Deputesse and my worthy Sister, Mistris Elizabeth Carye," presumably her sister-in-law, wife of Sir Henry Cary's brother Philip.The Tragedie of Mariam is an adaptation from the story of Mariam as told by Josephus in the Antiquities, but the assumption is that she did not use the Greek text.  Before her drama appeared, Dolce, Hans Sachs, and possibly Hardy had written plays based on the theme; and translations of Josephus in French, German, and English had been published.  Evidence points to her use of Thomas Lodge's English translation printed in 1602.  There is no indication that the play was performed.Lady Cary is reputed also to be the translator of the Reply
of the Cardinal of Perrom, 1630, one of the three translations
published between 1600 and 1640.1No record of this translation in the Stationers' Registers nor in S. T. C.  The account here given is from the Introduction to the Malone Reprint, p. xvi.Of a different but more popular nature was The Mothers
Blessing2S. T. C., no. 15402.  Arber,
Transcript, iii, 583.  by Mistress Dorothy
Leigh.  Between 1616 and 1640 seventeen editions of the book were
printed3S. T. C.,
nos. 1542-1548.a record second to none of the
women's books for the same span of years.  The Boke of Saint
Albans had nine more editions than this but over a longer
period of time.  Since The Mothers Blessing was the
"godly Counsel of the Gentlewoman... left behinde her for her
children,"1Haz., op. cit., p. 331. its popularity denotes a decided interest in the training and education of children.
She advises that teaching should begin at four years or earlier,
and continue till ten; gentleness and patience are essential, for
curtness hardens a child's heart and makes him weary of virtue:
children of special capacity should be sent to school; those not
scholars by nature, having at all events learnt to read the Bible, may
be put to some good calling.2Gardiner, op. cit., p. 237.  From the 1621 edition of The Mothers Blessing, ch. ii, p. 46.Similar to this Blessing was The Mothers
Legacie to Her vnborne Childe by Elizabeth Joceline, published
in 16243S. T. C., no. 14624.  Date is given as 1624.  Gardiner, p. 237, states that the date was 1662.  This must refer to a later edition.  The book was entered on the Registers January 12, 1623/4.  Arber, Transcript, iv. 110. and dedicated to her husband, Tourell Joceline.  She describes to her husband how she would have him educate the child in the event of her own death:
If the child bee a daughter I hope my mother Brooke, if thou
desirest her, will take it amonge hers and let them learn one lesson.
I desire her bringinge up may bee learninge the Bible as my sisters
doo, good huswifery, writing and good work; other learninge a woman
needs not; though I admire it in those whom God hathe blest wt  discretion yet I desire it not
much in my own, having seen that sometimes women have greater portions
of learninge then wisdom wch is of no better use
to them than a Maynsayle to a flyboat wch runs it
under water; but where learning and wisdom meet in a vertuous disposed
woman she is the fittest closet for all goodness, she is a
well-ballaced ship that may bear all her sayle, she is -- indeed I
should but shame myselfe if I should go about to prays her more; but,
my deare, though shee have all this in her she will hardly make a poor
man's wife, but I will leave it to thy will.  If thou desirest a
learned daughter I pray God give her a wise and religious
hart...howsoever thou disposest of her educacyon, I pray thee labor by
all means to teache her true humilitie, though I as much desire it may
be as humble if it bee a son as a daughter, yet in a daughter I more
fear that vice, pride beeing now rather accounted a vertue in our sex,
worthy prays, then a vice fit for reprof.1Gardiner, op. cit., p. 236.  Quoted from the Treatise of Education. B. M. Add. Ms. 27467.More than ordinary interest attaches to a book setting forth the opinions of an early seventeenth-century woman about the education of a daughter.  To be especially noted is her disbelief in the value of great learning for women and her insistence upon good "huswifery."  This educational tract with that of Mistress Leigh is a new departure for women in literary composition -- significant because it is a beginning toward an expression of practical philosophy, more likely to be original than the religious treatises.Resembling these, but more concerned with the problems of nursing
children, was The Countesse of Lincolne's Nur-serie1S. T. C.,
no. 5432.  Published in 1622. by Elizabeth Clinton, Countess of
Lincoln, daughter of Henry Knevet of Charlton.2Ballard, op. cit., p. 265  Since
the writer had seven sons and nine daughters, her advice, addressed
especially to her daughter-in-law Bridget, Countess of Lincoln, should
not be lightly dismissed.  Thomas Lodge lent his approval to the book
by an address to the "courteous chiefly most Christian Reader."3Haz., op. cit., p. 335.The year 1617 saw the appearance of three pamphlets written to controvert 
The Arraignment of Lewde, idle, froward, vnconstant women:  Or the
vanitie of them, choose you whether.  With a Commendacion of wise,
vertuous and honest Women.  Pleasant for married Men, profitable for
Young Men, and hurtfull to none.  (1615, Joseph Swetnam)4Title-page from the reprint by Joseph Smeeton, 1807. S. T. C., no 23533.Although the author promises to uphold "wise, virtuous, and honest
Women," he actually attacks all women, holding them up to ridicule,
according to a vogue of the day.5Swetnam the Woman-Hater Arraigned by Women (1620).  In Unique or Very Rare Books, vol. xiv.  Ed. by Alexander Grosart.  Intro., p. ix.  The retorts printed in 1617 were all by women:
1. A Mouzell for Melastomus, the Cynicall Bayter of, and foule
mouthed Barker against Evahs Sex.  Or an apologeticall Answere to that
Irreligious and Illiterate Pamphlet made by Jo. Sw. and by
him Intituled, The Arraignment of Women.  By Rachel Speght.  Proverbs
26.5.  Answere a foole according to his foolishnesse lest he bee wise
in his owne conceit.  London, Printed by Nicholas Okes for Thomas
Archer, and are to sold at his shop in Popes-head-Pallace.  1617.1Haz. op. cit., p. 572.  S. T. C., no. 23058.  Arber, Transcript, iii, 597.2.  Ester hath hang'd Haman: or An Answere to a lewd Pamphlet,
entituled, The Arraignment of Women.  With the
arraignment of lewd, idle, froward, and vnconstant men, and Hvsbands.
Diuided into two Parts.  The first proueth the dignity and worthinesse
of Women, out of diuine Testimonies.  The second shewing the
estimation of the Foeminine Sexe, in ancient and Pagan times; all
which is acknowledged by men themselues in their daily actions.
Written by Ester Sowernam, neither Maide, Wife
nor Widdowe, yet really all, and therefore experienced to defend all.
Iohn 8. 7.  He that is without sinne among you, let
him cast a stone at her.  Neque perire sua, London,  Printed for
Nicholas Bourne, and are to be sold at his shop at the entrance of the
Royall Exchange.  1617.2Title-page from the reprint by Joseph Smeeton, 1807, included with The Arraignment of Lewde Women.  S. T. C., no. 22974.  Arber, Transcript, iii, 600.3. The Worming of a mad Dogge of a Soppe for Cerberus the Iaylor of
Hell.  No Confvtation bvt a sharpe Redargution of the bayter of Women.
1617.  By Constantia Munda.3Introduction to Swetnam the Woman-Hater, p. xxx.  S. T. C., no. 18257.  Arber, Transcript, iii, 608.Alexander Grosart thus describes these attempts at refutation:
Unfortunately not one of these 'Answers' rises above the level of a
theological-Biblical 'defence' of Woman.  Now and again there is
swift, dexterous making of a point against Swetnam from his own
ungrammatical and illogical laches; but sooth to say they are somewhat dreary reading.  The 'Mousel' and 'The Worming of
a mad Dogge' have a certain smartness, yet 'Ester hath hang'd Hamin'
is the more substantive.1Introduction to Swetnam the Woman-Hater, p. xxx.The author of this pamphlet, Ester hath Hang'd
Haman, addresses first "All Right Honourable, Noble, and
worthy Ladies,"2Smeeton reprint, Epistle Dedicatory.
and next "All Worthy and Hopefull young youths of Great Brittaine: But respectiuely to the best
disposed and worthy Apprentices of London,"3Ibid., Address to the Reader. thus indubitably announcing the class of society to which she belonged.  Vehemently she writes:
This matched and misshapen hotch potch, is so directed, that if
Socrates did laugh but once to see an Asse eate Thistles, he would
surely laugh twice to see an idle franticke direct his mishapen
Labours to giddy headed youngmen...  The Author of the
Arraignment, and myselfe, in our labours doe altogether
disagree: he raileth without cause, I defend vpon direct proofe: He
saith, women are the worst of all Creatures, I prooue them blessed
aboue all Creatures: He writeth, that men should abhorre them for
their bad conditions: I proue, that men should honour them for  their
best dispositions: he saith, women are the causes of mens ouerthrow.
I proue, if there be any offence in a woman, men were the
beginners.4Ibid., from the Address to the Reader.She cites an argument from Rachel Speght:
It is furthermore to be considered, as the Maide, in her Mussell for Melastomus hath obserued: that
God intended to honour woman in a more excellent degree,
in that he created her out of a subiect refined, as out of a
Quintessence: For the ribbe is in Substance more solid, in place as
most neare, so in estimate most deare, to mans heart.1From the Smeeton reprint, p. 6.Whether the fourth of the answers, an anonymous play called
Swetnam the Woman-Hater Arraigned by Women, published
in 1620 and played at the Red Bull, was by a woman it is idle to
speculate.  Probably, however, it was by an experienced
playwright.2Grosart in the Introduction to the reprint of Swetnam the Woman-Hater, p. xxxiv.Rachel Speght also printed in 1621 a poem in six-line stanzas,
called Mortalities memorandum, with a dreame.3S. T. C., no. 2305.  Haz., op. cit., 572.  Arber, Transcript, iv, 10. presumably semi-religious in character.While these writers from the lower middle class were expressing
their opinions in none too reserved a manner about the rights of their
sex, while others from the middle and upper classes were leaving
messages for the education of their children, a woman from the
nobility was following the school of literary fashion set by her uncle
and aunt and was writing a pastoral romance.  In 1621 Lady Mary Wroth,
"Neece to the ever famous and renowned Sir Phillipe
Sidney, Knight, and to ye most exẽlet Lady Mary Countesse of
Pembroke, late deceased,"1Haz., op. cit
., p. 680. published The Countess of Montgomeries
Urania (Pamphilia to Amphilanthus)2S. T. C., no. 26051., modeled after
The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia.3Gardiner, op. cit., p. 233.
echoing the days of the 1580's and 1590's.  The Countess of Montgomery
also belonged to a family renowned in that earlier period -- she was
daughter of Anne, Countess of Oxford, and grand-daughter of Lady
Mildred Burghley.4Ibid., p. 233.
Lady Wroth entered her romance on the Registers in
July, 1621,5Arber, Transcript, iv,
19. and by December 15, 1621, she was writing to the Marquis of
Buckingham that "she never meant her book to offend and has now
stopped the sale of it."6Fortescue MSS.,
ii, 60. His. MSS. Comm.  Perhaps archives some
day will reveal the rest of the story.  Certainly, the literary career
of the Lady Wroth seems to have been ended.Because
love songs are so rare among the writings of sixteenth and early
seventeenth-century women, excerpts are given below from two of the
songs interspersed through the prose romance.1Reprints from Bk. I of the prose romance and from some of the sonnets are given in Restituta, ii, 261-75.  The book is not available in full reprint.Who can blame me, if I love?Since Love before the world did move.When I lov'd not, I despair'd,Scarce for handsomeness I car'd;Since so much I am refin'd,As new fram'd of state and mind,Who can blame me if I love,Since Love before the world did move?Some in truth of Love beguil'd,Have him blind and childish stil'd;But let none in these persist,Since so judging judgement mist.Who can blame me?The meter and rhymes of the second song are not quite so labored:
Love, a child, is ever crying;Please him, and he straight is flying;Give him, he the more is craving,Never satisfied with having.His desires have no measure;Endless folly is his treasure;What he promiseth he breaketh;Trust not one word that he speaketh.He vows nothing but false matter;And to cozen you will flatter;Let him gain the hand, he'll leave you,And still glory to deceive you.2Dyce, op. cit., pp. 40-42.As an original writer Lady Wroth probably excelled her better known
aunt, although she was not so influential as a patroness of letters.
She is, nevertheless, usually noticed today as the person to whom Ben
Jonson dedicated The Alchemist.1Dyce, op. cit., p. 40.The 1620's saw the publication of four more religious books:
A warning to the dragon and all his angels (1625) by
Eleanor Audley;2S. T. C., no. 904.A ladies present to a princesse or godly prayers (1627)
by Dame Anna Wigmore;3Haz.,  op. cit., ii, 644, Arber,
Transcript, iv, 145.Confession and
Conversion (1629) by Helen Livingston, Countess of
Linlithgow;4S. T. C., no. 16610.  Not
entered on the Registers.  Writer was probably wife of
George, third earl of Linlithgow, D. N. B., xxxiii,
396.A mothers teares over hir seduced sonne, or a
dissuasive from idolatry (1627),5S. T. C., no. 18212.  Not entered on
Registers. apparently similar to The
mothers counsell or live within compasse by M. R., published
in 1630, though entered on the Registers as early as
1618.6S. T. C., no. 20583.  Arber, Transcript, iii, 642.  Re-entered 24 Jan. 1622/23.The efflux of religious books increased in the 1630's, probably
because of the general religious unrest preceding the
Civil War.  Two books on death were in the group: Medtacions of
Mans mortallity or a way to true blessedness (1633) by Alice
Sutcliffe;1S. T. C.., no. 23447.  Arber,
Transcript, iv, 265.  Only copy in Brit. Mus.
and Meditation of Death (1639) by Bridget Paget
(?),2Haz., op. cit., iii,
183, gives the title under Bridget Paget.  In S. T. C.,
no. 19099 it appears under John Paget.  No other record found.  Not
entered upon the Registers. dedicated to Queen
Elizabeth of Bohemia.  In 1634 one Jane Owen published An
Antidote against Purgatory,3S. T. C., no. 18984.  No other record. and
in 1637 a similar title appeared, An Antidote against
sinne, by Lady Ursula Harvey.4Haz., ii, 270.  Arber, Transcript, iv, 374.  No other record.  The last published translation before 1640 was also religious:
Certaine singular Events selected out of four bookes written by the
reverend and learned John Peter Camcus Bishop of Belley. translated
into English by Susan du Vergerre.  (1639).5S. T. C., no. 4549.  Haz., op. cit., iii, 71.  Arber, Transcript, iv, 412.Religious writings did not have entire sway during the ten years
from 1630 to 1640, however, for in 1630 "the noble lady, Diana
Primrose," published a tract of twelve pages, entitled A Chaine
of pearle, or a memoriall of Queene Elizabeth.6S. T. C., no 20388.  Arber,
Transcript, iv, 192.  The chain is made of
twelve pearls:  Religion, Chastity, Prudence, Temperance, Clemency, Justice, Fortitude, Science, Patience, and Bounty, virtues of Elizabeth.  Dyce reprints the fourth and eighth Pearls.The fourth Pearl.
	TemperanceThe golden bridle of BellerophonIs Temperance, by which our PassionAnd Appetite we conquer and subdueTo Reason's regiment; else may we rueOur yielding to men's siren-blandishments,Which are attended with so foul events.This Pearl in her was so conspicuous,As that the king her brother still did useTo style her his sweet sister Temperance;By which her much-admired self-governance,Her Passions still she check'd; and still she madeThe world astonish'd, that so undismay'dShe did with equal tenor still proceedIt one fair course, not shaken as a reed;But built upon the rock of Temperance:...O Golden age!  O blest and happy years!O music sweeter than that of the spheres!When Prince and People mutually agreeTo sacred concord, and sweet symphony!The eighth Pearl
			   Science...How many arts and sciences did deckThis Heroina! who still had at beckThe Muses and the Graces, when that sheGave audience in state and majesty:Then did the goddess Eloquence inspireHer royal breast: Apollo with his lyreHe'er made such music; on her sacred lipsAngels enthron'd most heavenly manna sips.Then might you see her nectar-flowing veinSurround the bearers: in which sugred streamShe able was to drown a world of men,And drown'd, with sweetness to revive
			     again.1Dyce, op. cit., pp. 45-47.  The Pearl of Science continues for some twenty lines.Diana Primrose was probably a woman past middle age, dissatisfied with the regime of Charles I and consequently idealizing, as did Emelia Lanyer, the "golden age" of Elizabeth,
Then Prince and People mutually agreeIn sacred concord, and sweet symphony.If these verses are labored and curious, those in Mistress Mary
Fage's Fames Rowle1S. T. C., no. 10667.  Arber, Transcript, iv, 382.  Published, 1637. are even more so.  Her title in full length give the
Names of our dread Soveraigne Lord King Charles, his Royall Queen
Mary, and his most hopefull posterity: Together, with the names of the
Dukes, Marquesses, Earles, Viscounts, Bishops, Barons, Privie
Counsellors, Knights of the Garter, and Judges of his three renowned
Kingdomes, England, Scotland,and Ireland: Anagrammatiz'd and expressed
by acrosticke lines on their names.  By Mistris Mary Fage, wife of
Robert Fage the younger, Gentleman.2Haz., op. cit., p. 191.On through four hundred and twenty royal and noble personages she
takes her weary, anagrammatized way,3Restituta, iv, 106. the letters in each name furnishing the anagrams, which are then turned into the subject of the verse.  For example:To the Right Hon. John Earl of
	Clare, Lord Houghton of Houghton.John Hollis,Anagramma,
Oh! on hy hills.In virtue when I see you make such speed,Oh, it doth then no admiration breed,
Hy, on hy hills of honour that you stand:
Nature commandeth virtue such a band.
Honour on virtue ever should attend:
Oh, on hy hills you may forever wend:
Loving of virtue, which doth shine so clear,
Likely it is, you earl of Clare appear.
Insue then well, what you have well begun,
So on hy hills to stand you well have
  won.1Dyce, op. cit., p. 50.Fearing the discrimination of her reader, she gives "Certaine Rules for the true discovery of perfect Anagrammes":
E may most--what conclude an English word,And so a letter at a need afford.
H is an aspiration and no letter;
It may be had or left, which we think better.
I may be I or Y, as needs require;
Q, ever after, doth a u desire;
Two V's may be a double u; and then
A double u may be two V's again
I may divided by; and S and C
May by that letter comprehended be.
Z, a double S may comprehend:--
And lastly, and apostrophe may ease
Sometimes a letter, where it doth not please.2Brydges, British Bibliographer, ii, 573.After this introduction to Fames Rowle, it is
doubtful whether we shall join enthusiastically with the author in
calling it the 'bowl of water from the fount of Heli-con."1Brit. Bib., ii, 573.
Although Mistress Fage has been noticed by cataloguers and
compilers2She is noticed at some length in Restituta, iv, 105-112; in British Bibliographer, ii, 571-74; in Corser, op. cit., Pt. 6, pp. 346-48. more than some of her middleclass feminine predecessors and contemporaries, her work hardly merits the distinction.  It is a curiosity rather than a contribution.  Any significance lies in the fact that it was another attempt at verse making by a woman from the middle ranks.With The women's sharpe revenge (1640),3S. T. C., no. 23706.  Arber,
Transcript, iv, 464. a controbersial
pamphlet in answer to The Juniper and Crab-tree
Lectures (1639)4S. T. C.,
no. 23747. by Sir Seldom Sober" (John Taylor),5S. T. C., no. 23706. and purporting to be by one Mary Tattlewell, our survey of printed matter by women up to 1640 closes.  It is a far cry from Margaret More's translation from the Pater Noster of Erasmus to Mary Tattlewell's pamphlet.  And yet, probably no woman of the lower classes could have written a book, not even a pamphlet in 1524.If the type of work published in 1630 is on the whole of a quality
less exalted than that produced in 1550, the number of women who could contribute had increased in a degree defying comparison.  If there was less erudition, there was more education.Throughout the period religion is the dominant theme in the writings.  Theological treatises, meditative devotions, metrical scriptural versions, translations from divines were offered to the public with an almost monotonous regularity after 1545.  That many of these books were inspired by a very genuine piety would hardly be denied; that others were guided by "seemliness" is likely.  Modesty was not so closely jeopardized if works were directed into devout channels.  For that reason, possibly, the custom of publishing with signature was adopted to a surprising degree.  Women from all ranks used their names, and similarly women from all ranks withheld their names.The religious works do not exclude other types entirely.  The
drama, lyric and narrative poetry, pastoral romance, treatises  on
rearing children, controversial pamphlets were represented.  There was
no printed book on medicine, despite the interest of women in
medicine; there was no book on government or politics, save the early
translations from the French writer Christine Pisan; there was only
one book on heraldry -- the early Boke of Saint Albans
by Dame Berners.The printed works of the women of this period do not offer means
for a complete understanding of the interests; they do, however,
reveal definite controlling conventions and pursuits, and they serve
further to amplify, and even correct, impressions left by the
literature of men.  If the printed books were dictated to some extent
by the demands of society, they are all the more significant in
interpreting the interests of their writers, who in the end are a part
of that society.Printed Matter 1476-15491476-14991500-15391540-1549Dame Julia BernersThe Boke of
St. Albans. 1486Margaret Kempex A
short tretyse of contemplacyon. 1501Lady Margaret
Beaufortx1. Translation of Bk. IV of De Imitatione
Christi. 1540.x2. Translation of The mirroure of
golde for the sinfull soule. 1522
Margaret Morex Translation from Eramsus: A Deuout treatise
vpon the pater noster. 1524.Elizabeth Tudorx1. Translation of Psalm xxv. 1542.x2. Translation from Margaret of Navarre: A godly medytacyon of
ye Chrisitan sowle. (included translation of Psalm
xiv). 1548. (A new edition 1567).
Katherine Parrx1. Prayers stirrying the mynd vnto vnto heavenlye
medytacion. 1545. (9 other editions by 1559).x2. The Lamentacion of a sinner. 1547 (2 other editions
by 1563).
Mary Tudorx1. Translation of prayer from Aquinas in Primer of
1545.x2. Translation from Erasmus: Paraphrase upon St. John. 1548.
Anne Askewx1. The first examinacyon of A. Askewe. 1546.x2. The Lattre Examinacyon of A. Askewe. 1547. (3 other
editions of both together by 1549).x3. Translations of Psalm liv. Printed in Bale.x Religious in nature          
PRINTED TRANSLATIONS 1550-15991550-15591560-15691570-15791580-15891590-1599Lady Anne Baconx From Ochino:a. Certayne
Sermons. 1550.b. Fourtene
Sermons. 1550. (Am. ed. 1570).
Lady Elizabeth Fanex Twenty-one Psalms and 102 Proverbs. 1550.Lady Anne Baconx From Jewel: An apologie or
aunswer in defence of the Church of England. 1562.Margaret TylerFrom Ortuñez de
Calahorra: The mirroure of princely deedes and
knighthood. 1578 (2 other editions by 1599).Anne Prowsex From John Taffin: Of the
markes of the children of God. 1590.
Mary, Countess of Pembrokea From DeMornay: A discourse of life and death;b From Garnier: Antonius, a tragedie. Published
together 1592. (3 other editions by 1607;
sep. ed. Antonius, 1595).
Anne, countess of Argylex From Augustine in Spanish: El Alma del incomparabil Sacada
del Cuerpo de fus Confessiones (d?).x Religious in naturePRINTED ORIGINAL RELIGIOUS WRITINGS 1550-15991550-15991560-15691570-15791580-15891590-1599Lady Jane Grey1 Writings included by Foxe in first edition of Actes and
Monuments. 1563:
a A Letter of the Lady Jane sent unto her father.b A Letter written by the Lady Jane in the end of the New Testament in
Greek.c The Communication between the Lady Jane and Fecknam.d Another Letter of the Lady jane to Master Harding.e A Prayer2 Serten godly prayers of Lady
Janes. 1563.3 An epistle of the Ladye Jane to a learned
man. 1569.
Lady Katherine Knollis
A heavenly Recreation. 1569.Lady Elizabeth Tyrwhitt
Morning and Euening Prayer. 1574.
Lady Frances Abergavenny
Precious perles of perfecte
godlines. 1577
Elizabeth Tudor
ii Little Anthemes or thinges in meeter of hir
maiestie. 1578.Bentley's Monument of Matrons, 1582 included
writings from:
ElizabethKatherine ParrLady Jane
GreyLady Frances
AbergavennyJussu, Variae
Meditationes et Preces piae. 1582. Two prayers by Elizabeth
included.
Anne Wheathill
A handfull of holesome
hearbes. 1584.
Anne Dowirche
1 The French historie. 1589.2 A Frenche mans songe. 1569.PRINTED ORIGINAL NON-RELIGIOUS WRITINGS 1550-15991550-15591560-15691570-15791580-15891590-1599Ladies Seymour (Anne, Margaret, and
Jane)Latin Disticks in honor of Margaret of
Navarre. 1550.In French: Le Tombeau de Marguerite de Valois. 1581.Lady Jane Grey
1. The lamentacion that Ladie Jane made saiying for
my fathers proclamation must I lese my head. 1563.2 Included in Foxe. 1562. Certain verses written with a pin.
Elizabeth Tudor
In Foxe. 1563. Verses written with her diamond on a glass
window at Woodstock.
Isabella Whitney
The Copye of a letter lately written in
myter. 1567.Isabella Whitney
A sweet nosgay or pleasant posye. 1573.
?Elizabeth Tudor
A Discourse of the happiness of this our
age. 1578.
Mary Stuart
Latin version of a French poem in Chaloner's De
rep. anglorum instauranda libri decem. 1579.Elizabeth Tudor
1. "Epitaph...at the Death of the Princess of Espinoye."
In Soothern's Diana. 1584.2. Sonnet on Mary Stuart in Puttenham's Arte of Englishe
Poesie. 1589.
Anne, Countess of Oxford
Four epitaphs on her young son in Soothern's
Diana. 1584.
Jane Auger 
Her Protection for Women. 1589.
Mary, Countess of Pembroke
:The Doleful Lay of Clorinda." In Spenser's Colin
Clouts come home againe. 1595.
Katherine Killigrew
Verses in Harington's notes to Ariosto. 1591.
Elizabeth Tudor
"Verses written Charcoal on a Shutter at Woodstock."
Transcribed by Hentzner in 1598 for his Travels.
Elizabeth, Lady Russell
Verses on her husband transcribed by Hentzner in 1598 for
his Travels.PRINTED TRANSLATIONS 1600-16401600-16091610-16191620-16291630-1640Lady Elizabeth Russell
x From the French: A way of reconciliation of a
good man and a learned man. 1605.Lady Elizabeth Cary
x Reply of the Cardinal of Perrom. 1630?
Susan Du Vergerre
x Frm J. P. Camus: Admirable
events. 1639.x Religious in naturePRINTED ORIGINAL RELIGIOUS WRITINGS 1600-16401600-16091610-16191620-16291630-1640Elizabeth Melville
Ane godlie dreame. 1603.
Elizabeth Grymeston
Miscelanea. Meditations. Prayers. 1604. (4
other editions by 1610).Aemelia Lanyer
Salve deus rex Judaeorum. 1611Lady Eleanor Audeley
A warning to the dragon and all his
angels. 1625A mothers teares over hir seduced sonne. 1627.
Dame Anna Wigmore
A ladies present to a princesse or gadly
prayers. 1627
Helen, Countess of Livingston,
The confession and conversion of. 1629.R.M.
The mothers counsell. 1630?
Alice Sutcliffe
Meditations of mans mortalitie. 1633.
Jane Owen
An antidote against
Purgatory. 1634.
Lady Ursula Harvey
An Antidote against sinne. 1637.
Bridget Paget
Meditations of Death. 1639PRINTED ORIGINAL NON-RELIGIOUS WRITINGS 1600-16401600-16091610-16191620-16291630-1640Elizabeth J. Weston
Parthenicon. c.1606
Mary, Countess of Pembroke
"in Praise of Astrea," included in Davison's A
poetical rapsody. 1602.Lady Elizabeth Cary
Mariam. 1613.
Dorothy Leigh
The mothers blessing. 1616.
Rachel Speght
A mouzell for
Melastomus. 1617.
Esther Sowernam
Esther hath hang'd
haman. 1617
Constantia Munda
The Worming of a mad
Dogge. 1617.Rachel Speght
Mortalities memorandum. 1621.
Lady Mary Wroth
Urania. 1621.
Elizabeth, Countess of Lincoln.
Nurserie. 1622.
Elizabeth Joceline
The mothers
legacie. 1624.Diana Primrose
A chaine of Pearle. 1630.
Mary Fage
Fames Rowle. 1637.
Mary Tattlewell.
The Woman's Sharpe
Revenge. 1640.II
Formal Manuscript WritingsFormal writings of women from 1524 to 1640, not published
contemporaneously, but remaining in manuscript1As I have explained in the preface, this presentation of formal
manuscript materials is suggestive, not exhaustive, and drawn from
descriptive rather than original sources.  I say with some confidence,
however, that I believe the material here mentioned to be
representative. offer the same possibilities for division as
were found in the printed works; that is, translations, religious
writings, non-religious writings.  Significantly, however, the
proportional amounts in the groups are not the same; also
significantly, almost all of the manuscript writings are by women of
the nobility; and, further, most of the compositions were written
before 1600.  Names of women whose works were published appear also as
authors of manuscript writings; but there are new names -- women who
published nothing, with literary and scholarly interests exemplified
in manuscript material only.2A number of these writings have been published since 1640, as will be indicated.Rarely does one find more concrete evidence of the influence of the
classics in the early English Renaissance than in the manuscript
translations of the women. Since the greater number of sixteenth-century translations by women were not published, the influence of Latin and Greek can be more clearly noted in the manuscripts than in the printed books.  Although translations of theological works continue to predominate in the manuscripts as in the published books, their ascendancy is not so pronounced.  This circumstance leads again to the supposition suggested previously that women were more likely to publish their religious writings than those of secular type.Extant manuscript translations seem to indicate a monopoly in that field by women of royal and noble rank.  Women of the nobility had greater opportunities for education, and translations are exemplary of cultivation and a certain amount of erudition, obtained only from training.  Without doubt, a number of the manuscript translations were originally designed merely as school lessons; that purpose may account to some extent for their remaining unprinted.  It is true that the published translations include some by middle-class women, but they are in a decided minority.The learned and gifted Margaret More, or Roper, translated not only
the treatise from Erasmus, printed in 1524, but also in co-operation
with her father, two original declamations, turned into Latin, and the
ec-clesiastical history of Eusebius from the original
Greek into Latin.1Ballard, op. cit.,
pp. 59-60.   Margaret Roper's daughter Mary Clarke Likewise
translated Eusebius,2The Catalogue of the Harleian MSS., no. 1860, states of Mary Clarke: "This Gentlewoman very hansomelie translated the Ecclesiasticall Historie of Eusebius out of Greeke into Latyn; and after, into English." 
Ballard, op. cit., p. 152, describes her as
translating her mother's Latin version into English. "which,
for that Christophersone Bishop of Lincolne his Translation was then
fames & extent, Hers came not to Printe."3Har. MSS., no. 1860.  Ballard states this
circumstance with reference to Margaret Rober.  Op. cit., p. 60.  Mary Clarke is also
described as translator of "the Historie of Socratis, Theodoretus,
Sozomemus, and Enagrius: these of her Modestie they caused to be
suppressed.  She also translated a Treatise of hir Grandfather Sir
Thomas, made upon the Passione; & so elegantlie hath penned it,
that a man would thincke it were Originallie writ in the English
Tongue by Sir Thomas himself."4Har. MSS., no. 1860.Cultivation of the classics was likewise diligently pursued in the
family of Henry FitzAlan, twelfth Earl  of Arundel.  His two
daughters, Jane and Mary, by his first wife, Katherine
Grey,1D. N. B., xix,
92-93. Katherine Grey was daughter of Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset,
grandfather to Lady Jane Grey. paternal aunt of Lady Jane Grey,
employed themselves assiduously with Greek and Latin.2"Both these ladies were eminent for their
classical attainments. Their learned exercises are preserved in the
British Museum among the Royal MSS., having been handed down with
Lord Lumley's library." D. N. B., xix, 93. The
elder daughter, Jane,3Lady Jane FitzAlan was married to John, Lord Lumley, before March, 1552, and died in 1576-7.  Her translations  probably belong to the period of her girlhood.  Ibid., xix, 93. later Lady Lumley, made translations from the Greek of Isocrates into Latin:
1. The oration Archidamus.2. The second and third orations to Nicoles.  (Dedicated to her father)3. The oration Evagoras.The Iphigenia of Euripides she turned into
English.4R. and N. Authors, ii, 22-27. cf. Ballard, op. cit., p. 121.  A facsimile of a page from Iphigenia is given in Gardiner, op. cit., p. 180, and is described as "written in a clear, childish hand."The younger daughter, Mary, later Lady Howard, Duchess of
Norfolk,5Lady Mary FitzAlan, c. 1541-1557, was
married to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, between 1552 and 1554.  She
was mother of Philip Howard, who inherited the earldom of Arundel.
D. N. B., xix, 92. dedicated to her father a
translation from Greek into Latin:
Sententiae quaedam acute ex varius Authoribus collectae atque e
Graecis in Latina versae.1R. and N. Authors. i, 355, cf. Ballard, op. cit., p. 124.The second wife of Henry FitzAlan, Mary, Countess of Arundel, was also an ardent student of the classics.  She translated from Greek into Latin:
1. Selectas Sententias septem Sapientum Graecorum.2. Similitudines ex Platonis, Aristotelis, Senecae, et aliorum
Philosophorum Libris collectas.2Ibid., ii, 2.These she dedicated with a Latin superscription to her father, Sir
John Arundell of Llanherne in Cornwall.3D. N. B., xix, 92.She turned from Latin into English:
1. Sententias et praeclara Facta Alexandri Severi, Imperatoris.  (Dedicated to her father.)2. De Stirpe et Familia Alexandri Severi et de
Signis quae ei portendebant Imperium.4R. and N. Authors., ii, 1-3.That the cousin of the Ladies FitzAlan, Lady Jane Grey, was well
versed in languages has been often attested, both by contemporary
writers and by later historians.  According to one of her biographers:
Her own language she spoke and wrote with peculiar accuracy; the
French, Italian, Latin, and it is said, Greek, were as natural to her
as her own: she was versed likewise in Hebrew, Chaldee, and
Arabic.1British Reformers, p. 274.
Three of her letters to Bullinger, originally in Latin, Zurich
Letters , iii, 5-10, indicate her classical reading.  She
studied Hebrew with Bullinger by correspondence.Despite the assurance, however, of her skill in languages, no
definite record seems to exist of her translations except that of
Henry Bullinger's Der Christlich Eestand.  She
translated into Greek the Latin version made by John ab Ulmis.2Henry Bullinger, Decades. vol. v, Biog. Not., p. xix.Contemporary with these cultivated young noble women was also Lady
Jane Howard, Countess of Westmoreland, daughter of Henry Howard, Earl
of Surrey, and consequently sister-in-law of Lady Mary Howard
(FitzAlan).3R. and N. Authors, i,
354.  Lady Jane Howard was so instructed by John Foxe that
"greke and lattyne was vulgar unto her.4Quoted by Gardiner, op. cit., p. 176, from Bercher, The Nobylyte off Wymen. p. 152.  But, again, of her work no illustration seems to be available.  Since, however she was trained by one of the Reformers, the conclusion is not unwarranted that her translations were very likely devout treatises.Even better known for their erudition are the members of the family
of Sir Anthony Cooke.  The printed works of his daughters
Lady Ann Bacon, Lady Elizabeth Russell, and Katherine Killigrew, have
been noticed.  The eldest daughter, Mildred, wife of William Cecil,
Lord Burghley, left in manuscript a translation from the Greek of
St. Chrysostum,1Ballard, op. cit.,
p. 182. thus adding to the number of religious writings
contributed by her sisters.2See pp. 30-32, 64.  For the influence of the Reformation upon Sir Anthony Cooke, see p. 32.The manuscript of the young Princess Elizabeth's3Since it was dedicated to her father on
Dec. 30, 1545, she was twelve years old at the time.
translation from English into Latin, French, and Italian of the
Prayers or Meditations of Katherine Parr4The MS, is preserved in the Brit. Mus.
Caroline Pemberton, op. cit., Early Eng. Text
Soc., xxiv.  Foreword, p. viii. of. Ballard, op. cit., pp. 212-13. is further evidence of
the guiding hand of a Reformer.  The translations of Elizabeth's
mature years, all of which were unpublished, are secular, except for
sermons of Ochino.5Ibid., Foreward,
p. vii.  Taken from Nicolas, Progresses of Queen
Elizabeth, iii, 564 (1823).  In 1567 she presented to
John Harington an Englishing of a letter from Seneca,6John Harington, Nugae
Antiquae, i, 109-115. and in 1579 she pre-sented him similarly with one of Tully's familiar
epistles.1Harington, op. cit.,
i, 143-149.  "She translated ... a Play of Euripides and two
Orations of Isocrates from Greek into Latin; and wrote a Comment on
Plato."2Pemberton, op. cit.,
Foreword, p. viii.  Early Eng. Text Soc., xxiv.  Her
translations of the "Speech of the Chorus in the second Act of the
Hercules Oetoeus of Seneca" was first printed in Royal and
Noble Authors,3Vol. i, pp. 102-109.
Preserved in Bod. MSSS.  Mus. 55. 12. and her translation from
the Greek of a Dialogue of Xenophon was printed with one page in
facsimile in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1743.4No. ii.  In 1593 she turned into
English the De Consolatione Philosophiae of Boethius;
in 1598, the De Curiositate of Plutarch and the
De Arte Poetica of Horace.5These last three translations are given in
reprint in Early Eng. Text Society, vol. xxiv, Ed. by Caroline
Pemberton.  According to Caroline Pemberton in "Queen
Elizabeth's Englishings,"6Ibid.
Foreward, p. xi. the best study of Elizabeth's scholarly
efforts, "The Boethius is indifferent, the Plutarch bad, and the Horace worse."  Concerning the fragment from Horace, Miss Pemberton observes:
Perhaps in the translation of Horace the Queen herself recognized the fact that she had undertaken a task above her powers, as she never completed the Ars Poetica, having translated only 178 of the 476 lines.That Elizabeth set an example, however, for assiduity in the cultivation of learning cannot be denied.  The stimulus was of no mean import among noble women at court.  Furthermore, she remained firmly attached in her studies to the Latin and Greek writers, disdaining to give serious attention to the more modern Italian and French, fast superseding the classic in popularity during the 1590's.  Elizabeth may not have had gifts for original poetic composition equal to those of her talented rival Mary Stuart, but she seems certainly to have devoted herself industriously to study.Apparently the only extant examples of Mary Stuart's translations
are a group of Latin themes, made from the French in 1554, during her
sojourn in France, and first published by the Warton Club in 1855.1Latin Themes of Mary Stuart,
Queen of Scots.  Published for the first Time from the Original
Manuscript in Her Own Handwriting.  Now Preserved in the Imperial
Library, Paris.  Ed. by Anatole De Montaignon.  Warton Club,
ii-iv.   Presumably they are translations of letters given her
as lesson themes by her preceptor, the collection forming
"what French school boys call a cahier de
corriges," similar to exercises of Edward VI in the Harleian
MSS.1Anatole De Montaignon, Intro. to
Latin Themes, pp. iv, x.  Plato, Cicero, and
Plutarch are the authors most frequently quoted in Mary's themes,
although three dialogues from Erasmus are included.  Fifteen of the
letters are filled with names of learned girls and women,2Ibid., pp. x,
xi. leading to the supposition that they were set as examples
for Mary in her scholarly attainments.3For a detailed discussion of the history of the manuscript and of its significance, see the Intro. to the Latin Themes.Obviously much of the work just described was of the nature of
these themes - exercises undertaken by girls from a few families of
the nobility, where the father, or perhaps an earnest tutor, embued
with humanistic ideals, encouraged the young women in the cultivation
of liberal pursuits.  Select, indeed, were girls to whom such
opportunities came, and by no means representative even of upper-class
women.  Thus, although there is marked influence of the classics upon
the manuscript translations of sixteenth-century women, the
circumstance does not follow that women as a whole were so influenced,
or even that they were sufficiently informed to understand the meaning of the classic revival.  The only conclusion to be drawn is simply that those women who were introduced to Latin and Greek and who were so fortunate as to be encouraged by liberal scholars apparently found pleasure in their studies and worked with some devotion upon their exercises.  Obviously the attitude of the father was of paramount importance; his initiative was usually that for the family.  Both Sir Thomas More and Sir Anthony Cooke definitely set about to educate their daughters as liberally as if they were sons and, since the daughters of Henry FitzAlan dedicated their translations to him, he must have encouraged their educational ventures.Of a different type is the manuscript translation of Petrarch's
Trionfa della Morte by Mary Sidney, Countess of
Pembroke.  As in her printed translations, she is inspired not by the
severe classical influence of the early Renaissance, but by the more
modulated influences from Renaissance Italy.  Mary Sidney was engaged
upon The Triumph of Death1The translation has been printed in Young,
op. cit., App. A, pp. 209-18. The MS, is among
the Petyt MSS. of the Inner Temple, London.
probably about the time Elizabeth was working with Boethius.In the metrical version of the Psalms of David, undertaken in
collaboration with Sir Philip Sidney, and reputedly made from the
Hebrew, Mary Sidney was following a vogue that had become increasingly
popular as the sixteenth century advanced.  Many were the editions of
metrical versions.1See Cotton, op. cit.  The estimate of  the number of Psalms done by the Countess of Pembroke is given by her biographer, Frances B. Young:
That Lady Pembroke was the translator of Psalms 44-150 is presumed
from various contemporary references, from Woodford's note, 'hitherto
Sir Philip Sidney,' from the title-pages of the Penshurst MS, and the
other Bodleian MS... and from the seven psalms accredited to Lady
Pembroke in Sir John Harington's 'Nugae Antiquae.'  Also in a letter
from Fulke Greville to Sir Francis Walsingham, November, 1586,  he
mentions, among other literary remains of Sidney, 'about 40 of the
psalms.'2Op. cit., pp. 138-39.The psalms were not printed in their entirety until 1823,3Sir Philip Sidney and Mary Herbert,
Countess of Pembroke.  The Psalmes of David Translated into
Divers and Sundry Kindes of Verse.  More Rare, and Excellent for the
Method and Variatie than Ever Yet Hath Been in English.
Printed from a transcript by John Davies.  1823. although
various ones of them had appeared in Sir Philip Sidney's
Defense of Poesie, in Daniel's Poetical
Works, and in Donne's Poems.4Ibid., Adv.,
pp. x-xi.  It is not a little curious that Mary Sidney, at a
time when women frequently published nothing except religious books,
should have failed to pub-lish her only religious work.  Despite the fact that she left her legacy of religious translation, she was not motivated by the same religious fervor that had characterized her feminine predecessors.  Her version of the Psalms seems to have been rather a study in metrics than a translation into the vernacular that the common people might know the Word of God, as Katherine Parr had urged.Catalogues and compilations are silent about manuscript
translations by women after the opening of the seventeenth century.
Elizabeth Jane Weston may have made her Latin translation of Aesop's
Fables after the turn of the century, but in all
probability that also belongs with the preceding century.1Ballard, op. cit., p. 245.  Since there were but three translations printed between 1600 and 1640, the conclusion is obvious that the vogue of translating had fairly run its course.Although many of the manuscript translations, like the printed
translations, were of a religious nature, comparatively few of the
original manuscript writings were devotional or theological.  Margaret
Roper is described as having written a treatise on the four last things, "adjudged by her father better than his own on the
subject."1Ballard, op. cit.,
p. 59.  Among the Cecil MSS. is preserved a religious poem in
French by Katherine Parr;2Cecil MSS., i, 53.
His. MSS. Comm. Strype has printed from
manuscript a prayer by her3Ibid.,
III, ii, 550-553.  From Sampson MSS. and three prayers by Mary
I.4Ec. Mem., II, ii, 398-401.
From Sampson MSS.  Devotional verses by them, by Margaret
Douglas, and by one M. T. are preserved in Lady Southampton's
Prayerbook.5Notes and Queries, 3, III,
405.  Ritson assures us that Lady Anne Southwell "wrote 'A
poem, or certaine choice meditations, upon the decalogue,' which
Thoresby had in manuscript";6Bibliographia
Poetica. p. 340. and that "an impostour, who, in 1562,
appear'd in the streets of London, pretending to be a messenger from
heaven to the queen, wrote 'Visions,' which Sir John Parker had in
MS."7Ibid., p. 232.The original non-religious writings also have less significance
than those published.  Here again the names of several of the same
women occur, but there are new names.Margaret More is once more the first of the number.  She is
described as having written an oration in answer to Quintilian, two
declamations, and a number of Latin poems and epistles, not
published.1Ballard, op. cit.,
p. 59.  The daughters of Henry FitzAlan seem to have contented
themselves with translation, for there is apparently no account of
original work by them either in manuscript or in printed form; but of
the Lady Jane Howard, Foxe said, "Her composycon in verse was
notable."2Gardiner, op. cit., p. 176.  Quoted from Bercher, The Nobylyte off Wymen. p. 152.To Queen Anne Boleyn, Sir John Hawkins attributed a poem of seven stanzas, beginning:
Defiled is my name full sore,Through cruel spyte and false report,That I may say for evermore,Farewell, my joy! adieue, comfort!3Dyce, op. cit., p. 5.  Taken from Sir John Hawkins, History of Music, iii, 30.On a sheet of paper among the Bath MSS., giving in diagram a large
window, probably from Buxton, are copied a number of verses originally
appearing in the fourth section of the window, bearing with other
signatures those of Frances Ratcliffe, after some verses in Italian
(dated, 1575), and Anne Talbot, after some English verses.4His. MSS. Comm., ii,
pp. 21-22.  Among the Cecil MSS, are the Latin verses addressed by Lady Elizabeth Russell to Cecil in 1597:
Quid voveat dulci nutricula magis alumnoQuam sapere et fari posse quae sentiat et cui;Cratia fama valetudo contingat abunde.Et mundus victus non deficient crumena.Gloria Patri Filio et Spiritui Sancto.1Cecil MSS., vii, p. 441.  His. MSS. Comm.Lady Russell's sister Katherine Killigrew wrote verses in Latin on
her own death;2Printed in Ballard, op. cit., pp. 204-206. one E. D., in 1587,
addressed commendatory sonnets to William Foular;3Dyce, op. cit.,
p. 11. Anne Dacres, Countess of Arundel, in 1595 wrote a poem
on the back of a letter in memory of her husband, Philip Howard;4Ibid., p. 43.  A
seventeenth-century life of Anne, Countess of Arundel, by the "Duke of
Norfolk, E. M.," was published in 1857.  She was foundress of Jesus
College, Cambridge. Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, in 1601
placed on an obelisk in Hornsey church an epitaph upon Richard
Candish.5R. and N. Authors, ii,
176.  According to the biographer of Lady Cumberland's daughter
Lady Anne Clifford at Appleby there is "a precious little volume in
manuscript with receipts for medicines, electuaries, cordials and
tinctures with annota-tions and corrections in Lady
Cumberland's handwriting."1George C. Williamson, Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery, 1590-1676,  Life, Letters, and Work, p. 367.The most profuse original writer whose work remained for many years
in manuscript was Mary Stuart.  Many of her poems did not appear until
1873, when a volume was published under the title Poems on
Various Occasions, in the Latin, Italian, French, and Scotch
Languages.2Ed. by J. Sharman.  Occasionally,
however, poems had been printed earlier than this by collectors in
anthologies.3A Latin version of one of her French poems
was printed anonymously by Adam Blackwood at Paris in 1644.
R. and N. Authors, v, 39, fn.  The original of this
poem and a sonnet to Francis appear in Piae afflicti Animi
Consolationes by Lesley.  Another of her sonnets was printed
by Brantome in Les Vies des Dames illustres de France de son
Tems.  Ibid., v, 39.  A French song by
Mary, the MS. remaining in the library of the King of France, is
printed in the first volume of the Anthologie
Francaise, edit. 1765, p. 19.  Her more ambitious
verses were usually in the form of sonnets, but she sometimes amused
herself with distichs, altering one from Caesar, writing an original
one in Latin and another in English.4R. and N. Authors,
v. 36.  Her best verses are those written in memory of Francis
II.  Not the least interesting of her compositions is The
Institution of a Prince in French Verse. prepared as royal advice for her son James.  Bishop Montague attests that James
I "esteemed it a most precious jewel; the queen having wrought the
cover of it in needlework, all with her own hand."1Ballard, op. cit.,
p. 175.  R. and N. Authors, v, 39.  There is
also record of a manuscript relating Mary's consolations during her
long imprisonment.2Ballard, op. cit., p. 175.Elizabeth's original writings were almost all of them published
contemporaneously; however, her verses signed, "Finis, Eliza. Regina, upon Moun..."s departure," were not published until a later time.  Presumably they describe her passion for Essex:
I grieve, and dare not show my discontent;I love, and yet am froc'd to seem to hate;I do, yet dare not say I ever meant;I seem stark mute, but inwardly do prate:I am, and not; I freeze, and yet am burn'd,Since from myself, my other self I turn'd.My care is like my shadow in the sun,Follows my flying, flies when I pursue it;Stands and lies by me, does what I have done;This too familiar care does make me rue it:No means I find to rid him from my breast,Till by the end of things it be supprest.Some gentler passions slide into my mind,For I am soft, and made of melting snow;Or be more cruel, Love, and so be kind,Let me or float or sink, be high or low:Or let me live with some more sweet content,Or die, and so forget what love e'er meant.3Dyce, op. cit., p. 20.The poems of the young Princess Elizabeth, daughter of
James I, written for her tutor Lord Harington were not published until
the first edition of the Nugae Antiquae in 1769.1John Harington, op. cit., 411-16.Among the manuscript writings of the seventeenth century there are
contributions from middle-class women.  Isabel Barber wrote verses to
a Lady at Eton;2Sloane MSS. 1807, f. 141. Anne
Saunders wrote a lamentation in verse;3Ibid., 1896,
ff. 8-11. Margaret Stewart left some Scotch ballads.4Add. MSS.  29409,
ff. 256-277.  The Commonplace Book of Lady Elizabeth Cope
(1631) is described as a curious compilation of doggerel, labored
rhymes, etc., some of them original, and some of them contributed by
her friends.5Notes and Queries, 4, viii,
391-92.Any discussion of manuscripts of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries prepared by women in England would scarcely be complete
without mention of those written and illuminated by the accomplished
calligrapher Esther Ingils Kello,6Mrs. Esther Kello, 1571-1624,
calligrapher and miniaturist.  Born in France; perhaps nurse to Prince
Henry. MSS. written or illuminated by her preserved in Brit. Mus.,
Bod., and continental libraries., D. N. B.  xxx,
346. of whom Ballard wrote:
All that see her writing are astounded at it, upon the account of
its exactness, fineness, and variety... Gazius, Ascham, Davies,
Gething, Lyte, and many others have been celebrated for their
extraordinary talent this way; but this lady has excelled them all;
what she has done being almost incredible.1op. cit., p. 267.Her book Les Proverbs de Salmon Escrits en diverses Sortes
de Lettres (1599), dedicated to the Earl of Essex, is
described more exactly as being written in forty different hands with
decorated margins and elaborate head and tail pieces.  This is
preserved in the Bodleian together with Les six Vingts et six
Quatrains de Guy de Faur sieur de Pybrac, escrits par Esther
Inglis (1617), dedicated to Joseph Hall.  She prepared also a
book of Fifty Emblems (1624); the Historiae
memorabilis Genesis (1600), and a copy of the Psalms of David
in French, the last presented to Elizabeth.2Ibid.,
pp. 267-270.  The book dedicated to Anthony Bacon  in 1599,
preserved among the Additional MSS., is described without title.3Add. MSS. 27927.In conclusion it may be noted that the manuscript writings, as a
group, are not as significant as those printed.  The translations are
impressive but only in their indication of the cultivation of a chosen
few.  Except for the compositions of Margaret Roper and Mary Stuart, the non-religious manuscript pieces are incidental
verses, suggesting no particular influence or development except the
increasing tendency to experiment with literary forms.  The small
amount of religious material emphasizes again the probable conclusion
that women were likely to prepare their devotional and theological
treatises for the press, deeming them most suitable for public
perusal.BOOK II
FAMILIAR LETTERS
AND DIARIESI
Letters and Diaries in SurveyThe familiar letters and diaries of men and women are frequently
more revealing in the portrayal of the sympathetic concerns of human
nature, in the intimate affairs of daily life, in the fundamental
character and cultivation of the writer than are the formal writings.
Less studied than writings intended for a public through press or
manuscript, they are often a more accurate medium for interpreting the
common general interests of the writers and of the recipients.
Letters are, of course, sometimes perfunctory in purpose and
restricted to the requirements of a particular matter; as such they
are valuable only when considered with similar letters to observe a
current tendency or when accepted as data in the solution of a factual
problem.  Such are business and official communications.  Letters of
this type are frequently but messages of information, and, as a matter
of course, have been customary through the centuries, the form suiting
the age.  The art of familiar letter writing, however, with the
ensuing emphasis upon current happenings and the depiction of intimate
personal concerns is a comparatively recent development; the
seventeenth century, indeed is sometimes described as "the glorious
age of letter writing."  To the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries belong the bulk of the news letters - the famous letters of Chamberlain, of Dudley, and of the Fuggers.  To the seventeenth century also belong letters of middle and upper-class women, stimulated to self-expression by a medium more kindly and inviting than a treatise or a set of meditations.It is idle to consider here in any detail the letters of women in
the royal families, either in the sixteenth or the seventeenth
centuries.  That they wrote letters and wrote them well, the printed
editions attest.  Their letters, to be sure, reflect the conventions
prevailing during the particular quarter or decade of the century when
they happened to be written; consequently, letters from royal women
are, on the whole, less formal and more sincerely expressive of
individuality during the latter part of the period than in its
beginnings.  The group of letters from Mary Stuart to Bothwell are a
famous exception -- love letters become classics.1Mary Stuart, Bothwell, and the Casket Letters.  Ed. with Introduction by J. Watts De Payster.  1890.Likewise the learned women among the nobility in steadily
increasing numbers were writing letters when the sixteenth century
began and when it ended, their letters sometimes rivaling their formal writings in import.  Of such a
character was the correspondence of Margaret More and her sisters with
Erasmus1Ballard, op. cit.,
pp. 53, 146, 147. and of Lady Jane Grey with Bullinger.2For further details of this correspondence, see Chap. II.Of a different type but scarcely less interesting for their
revelation of personal concerns and for the portrayal of character are
the letters of Viscountess Lisle and her daughters,3Honor, Viscountess Lisle, was daughter of
Sir Thomas Grenville.  In 1517 she became wife of Sir John Basset and
stepmother of two daughters, Jane and Thomasine.  During the eleven
following years Lady Basset became mother of four daughters, Philippa,
Catherine, Anne and Mary.  After Sir John Basset's death in 1528, his
widow remarried -- sometime before 1532 -- becoming wife of Arthur
Plantagenet, natural son of Edward IV, and Viscount Lisle.  Upon this
marriage she again became stepmother to daughters -- Frances,
Elizabeth and Bridget.  Letters of Royal and Illustrious
Ladies, ii, 76-77, editor's note.  Ed. by W. A. E. Wood.  For
further account of the Lisle family see this ref. written
between 1532 and 1540.  Since Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle, was
appointed to the office of lord deputy of Calais in 1533,4"On the 24th of March, 1533, Lord Lisle was
appointed to the office of lord deputy, or lieutenant of Calais, in
the place of Lord Berners, lately deceased.  Much preparation was made
for the reception of the new lord, his lady, and their numerous
family."  Ibid., ii, 85. most of the
letters of Lady Honor Lisle and her daughters belong to the period of
his incumbency in this office, being frequently
occasioned by the separation of members of the family during their
trips back and forth to England.1I have examined the
correspondence found in Add. MS. 24849.  ff 1-37.
Letters from the Lisle family are printed in Wood, op. cit., vols. ii and iii, passim. The lord deputy was at times away,
and Lady Lisle herself was long in England engaged upon business of
inheritance rights.2The business related chiefly to the settlement of the estate of Painswick, formerly property of Lord Lisle's first wife, but by arrangement settled as jointure upon his second wife. Difficulty arose from a promise to allow Cromwell to have Painswick.  The Lady Lisle, therefore, was endeavoring to arrange the matter with Cromwell.  She also conferred with Cromwell about the government salary for her husband, here referred to as the annuity.  Ibid., iii, 35, 46.  In her absence she wrote detailed letters to her husband, regaling him with spirit and charm about the developments in her business affairs, inquiring solicitously about his welfare, offering advice, with apologies, for his procedure, and expressing tender affection for him.  She seems to have been a competent manager:
I enten to se my lorde prynce or I goe/ but when it shalbe I knowe
nott for my besunes shalbe ffyrst at a poynt wherin I will vsse
delygence so that I intende to slack no tyme tyll I be at a poynt I
have good hope to establyshe bothe yor. affers
and myne or I dept and bryng yor. patent of
annywite wt me and also comyssion ffor the
ffrers/ I wyll assuredly do the best that lyethe me therin and all
others as god best know.3Add. MS. 24849, f. 14.From Canterbury she wrote him:
At my comyng to London I shall ffrom tyme to tyme stefye yor. how I shall psper and
pcede in all my afferes And doings wherin I trust you. shall not ffynde me slack but shall well knowe me to vsse suche Delygens as one sholde do whosse hoole hertt and mynde wyll neuer be settled nor stablishid tyll the body be retornyd vnto you ... good my lorde I do nowe remembre the words the Kings Mate. spake vnto you. at yor. last being here trusting when you. shall hire of thies you. wyll vtt them to no Creatr nor also be myscontent that I wrytt you  this my poure aduyc for good my lorde you  know Calays people ar not all one mens childreby hir that is more then all yor owen
  honor lylle1Add. MS. 24849, f. 10-11.Not content with this advice that he keep the matters in her
letters secret, she writes later, "I pray you my
lord kype my lettres secret or burne them."2Ibid., f. 19.  Again she chides him facetiously:
I haue in hope to Dispache my bezines or it be long for ffayne wild
I be wt  you. not wt  stonding youpmysed me that aftre my deptying/ you wold dyne at x of the clock eury
Day and kype lytle copany because you. wold
morne for myne  absens but I warrat you I know
what rywell you kype and company well Inowghe
syns my Departyng and what thoughet you. take
for me hwereof you shall hire at my commyng home.3Ibid., f. 12v.For his part the Lord Lisle wrote, "You may be assured ther was
neuer child that loked more for his Norse then I do for
you."4Ibid., f. 21That they not uncommonly had their letters, even the family letters
written by dictation is suggested in one passage:
Good my lord wheras in my former lettres haue
wrytten to you yt  you shuld wryght to me wt  yor. own hand wherof ij
lynes shuld bee more comfort to me then a hundred of a nother mans
hand/ my meaning therin is not to reqire of yow to take so moche payn
as to wryght to me of yor / own hande in or for
all yor. busyness or necessarye affayres but
onlye at yor  own pleasure of suche secret
things.  as yt shall pleas yow to aduertyes me of and
at yor. convenyent leysure to sygnyfye vnto me
pte of yor. gentill
harte whyche vnto me shalbe most reoujce and comfort I thynke ther is
no woman lyvyng haue thowght the tyme of hyr husbonde absens L[o]nger
then I haue Don yor and soo shall contynew vnto
yor. retorne and or. metyng.1Add. MS. 24849, f. 2."To the Ryght honorabyll my Syngular good Lady and mothyr my Lady
Vy Cowntes lylle at Calese," Anne Basset2Anne was Lady Lisle's own daughter. confessed her difficulties in correspondence: 
Right honorable and my most especyall good Lady and mother in my
humblest wise I haue me Lowly commendid vnto my
especyall good Lorde and ffather and vnto yor.
Ladiship/ according vnto my naturall and bounden dutye Desyring yor. Dayly blyssing which is more comfort vnto me then
all world treasr./ beseeching yor. L. not to conseyve anny ingratitude toward me
that I accordyng vnto my Dywtye haue not wrytten vnto you syns my Commyng into Englonde for suerly wher
yor. Ladiship Dothe thincke that I can writ
Englyshe in very Dede I can not/ but that lytle that I can wrytt is
ffrenche. and to cawse anny other to wryt ffor me vnto/ yor. Ladiship in Englyshe I knowe not whom I may trust
to open my myd vnto/ yor. Ladiship I trust wyll
evinso accept it and not Impute me to be therby Disobediet or remysse
and neglygent/ but if yor. Ladiship will pardon
me this I trust hereafter you shall fynde no
Lyke ffawte in me.3Add. Ms. 24849, f. 22.And so her master wrote for her:
And wheras ye  doo wrytt to me that I do nott
wrtt wt my owne hãde the truthe ys I cane
not wrytt nothyng my selfe but my owne name and as for that when I
hade haste to goupp to ye  gunne chamyr my mar dyd wrytt hyt.1Add. MS. 24849, f. 22.Since the letters are available in an eighteenth century
transcript,2Description of the manuscripts in the Brit. Mus. Cata. logue. it is impossible to tell anything about the original handwriting of any of them. Very likely, since Lady Lisle saw fit to question her daughter about the writing of the letters, she herself was able to write with fair ease.For a period so early as 1532 these letters are remarkable for their grace and freedom in expression.  It was of some of Lady Lisle's letters that Mary A. E. Wood wrote in her Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies: 
Contrary to the general tenor of the letters contained in these
volumes, which are, for the most part, addressed to public characters,
as ministers of state, etc., these epistles unveil "the secret
charities of domestic life," and, after a slumber of more than three
centuries, their writer comes before us, in all the freshness of
active life, displaying, in her confidential intercourse with her
husband, the affectionate familiarity of a fond and faithful wife,
along with the peculiar energy by which her character was so strongly
marked.3Op. cit., iii, 32.Lady Lisle was a noblewoman, however; letters from contemporary
middle-class women are rare, indeed.  For that reason
especially gratifying are the letters appearing among the publications
of the Parker Society, written many of them, about the middle of the
sixteenth century to Reformation leaders, zealously proclaiming their
religious ardor, vivifying the formal religious treatises.1The study of Anne Hooper, presented in Chapter II, is drawn from these letters.The letters of Elizabeth Bourne in the latter part of the sixteenth
century2Add. MS. 23212.  Written about 1580.  Letters from her father, Sir John Conway, are in the group as well as from other members of the family.  Many deal with property disputes. to "my nowne good knight," her lover, who was, apparently, causing the separation between Elizabeth and her husband, Anthony, are unusual reminders of the illicit affair of a middle-class woman of four centuries ago:
I wyll lyve to love and honor and ymploye my
tyme to do you trewe servyce this is all I can do and this I wyll
never sese to do so longe as I haue lyfe ... I am sattesfyed and
contented to staye yor layser and wyll both in
this and all other thinges. do you not thinke good I showld wryte to
mr  -- I thinke I had ned to make him prevye of
hit that I maye knowe whethe he wyll be wylling I showld be in his
howse: yf he wyll not I must seke further: howe shall we find a plase
for me to be in when you goo to london for I thinke you must not knowe
where I am... for fere you be put to yor
oth.3Add. MS. 23212, f. 136.With more fervor she begins:
My nowne good knight synse ovr loves ar so equall and fynne on to
the other that our eyes tell the joyes of ovr hartes... next to yor owne presence is the syte of yo
leters moste wellcom.1Add. MS. 23212, f. 137v.And the letters unfold their drama -- the settlements with the husband, the misunderstanding with the father, the continued difficulties in finding room for her.
Mrs feres thinkes I showld not be here a bove
a fortnyght she sayes you desired for no longer: she told me that she
might haue a kynswoman of hers to sogarn with her at myckellmas: there
love I must haue a nother plase provided for me  This levyng all to
you  wholl I and commendyng my selfe to yor  harte to be noroched and chereched for ever tyll
death2Ibid., f, 139.The letter of Mistress Margaret Hennyngborne written in 1578 to her relation Mistress Penn is a pathetic example of the efforts of a middle-class woman to express her desire for forgiveness:
My Dewty Hombelly remembred/ being mowid contrary to my desart in
evill deling/ to hope of yowr good cowntenance/ by the pswasion of my good frindes in this contri And
specali by this good jentall man mr Lewk spatlin
whom I have fownd not only a father to swstayn & comfort me in
my nessessite boot a spirvtall father in his good cownsell/ I am
imboldene umbelly on my knes to svbmyt my selfe vnto yowr goodness
wth  weping tears craving your good cowntenance/
non other wyse, then/ yowr worship shall. vnder stand of me/ I shall
deserve herafter hoping after theys my myseryes so many wayes
sostayned/ boot not more then I deservid/ It will please god of his
marcifull goddnes vppon my harty repentance to blot owt myn offences/
& renew. his. grace/ in me wch I
hartely. crave. of him for crytis sake/ And that yow whom hath bin A
mother towardes me. in. my yewth.  will. think. of me as.  A por.
sinfoll creatwr vmbelly.  on my knes axin forgevnes. of
yow And All other my frindes. vnto whom, I have. bin. An offence
& hoping my. desert. ther. after. shall a per sowch.  as yowr
good hope in me shall not be deservid vmbelly desiring/ yf yow so
think/ good my husband/ whom/ I have next/ offendid vnder. god. may
vnderstand/ of yowr/ good oppynnyon. in me who. will not loke
towards. me. except. he heres of my humbell svbmyssion to. my. frindes
& ther/ good contenances to ward me/ from vdone in the ile of
tenet this iiij of Jenevary 1578.1Lans. MS. 27. f. 80.Not without significance are the large number of letters addressed
by women to men holding lease of power in some degree.  To Sir Julius
Caesar in his capacity as Master of Requests2Sir Julius Caesar was appointed Master of
Requests in Ordinary in 1595; in 1600 he became senior Master of
Requests.  D. N. B., viii, 205-06.  The Catalogue for
the Add. MSS. made between 1841 and 1845 is a check for the letters
addressed to Sir J. Caesar. hundreds of such letters were
addressed, as the catalogues testify, and to William Cecil, Lord
Burghley, hundreds of others were sent.3Letters of this type to Lord Burghley are
most frequently found among the Lans. MSS.  I have
examined the following letters of request to Burghley: Mary Gray,
Lans. MS. 10 f. 135; Mary Hart, Lans.
18, f. 10; Mary Rogers, Lans. MS. 53, f. 112; Lady
Drury, Lans. 67, f. 108; Anne Somerset,
Lans. 36, f. 21; Anne Stanhope,
Lans. MSS. 12, ff. 2, 170; 14, f. 193; Penelope Riche,
Lans. 57, f. 104; Elizabeth Russell,
Lans. MS. 33, f. 85; Jane Cecil,
Lans. MS. 104, ff. 160, 162.  The writers are
pleading for the advancement of sons or husbands, asking intercession
in a family dispute, requesting wardship, explaining a misdemeanor.
Thus:
My uery good lorde, I am infourmed that master Rogers albeit he
hath serued her Maiestye in the commyssion of the peace
in Dorset shrye these 10 years & also dyscharged the place of
knight for the shyre.  3. seuerall parliaments ys now upon some
informatyon to my lord Chaunclour dyscharged from the sayed
commysion, the cause growing (as I perceyue) upon hys
absenc out of the contry, whych hath ben greatly agaynst hys wyll, but
that my ladys graces commandments & intreaties were the only
cause therof & preuayled greatly with hym, otherwyse he had
made hym selfe resydente there & dyscharged hys dewty in her
maistyes seruys to all good effectes: Wherfore my good lord for that
the same toucheth hym highly in reputation & credyte, &
my selfe greatly in honour, & that thys contry can not any way
dysable hys suffytiencye, as also for that the cause proccaded by my
attendaunce upon her Grace, doe thynke yt uery conuenyente to labour
hys restoryng, which I shall the better brynge to passe, yf your
lordship wyll doe me so much pleasure, as to intreate with my lorde
Chauncelour therin, other meanes haue I none, but such as shall
proccade from your honorable fauour, upon whome I among the reste of
her Graces chyldren doe imbolden my selfe to relye, and hope of no
lesse fauours now, then allwayes.1Lans. MS. 53, f. 112.  Mary Rogers to Burghley.I haue often Right honorable bin settinge pen to paper to laye my
grife afore you of my unkind sons dealing withe me who i thinke your
lordshipe may iuge by thos causes haue come before you, that i haue
littel desarued suche an indignitie to be offered by hime ... to your
most honorable consideration i refer my estate to be pittied as you in
your wisdome shal in my case thinke fite, and i wil abide your
dome.2Ibid., 67. f. 108.  Lady Drury to Burghley.Unusual is the letter of Mistress Ursula Randolphe to Lord Cobham,
written not in behalf of a son or a husband as keeper of the court of
Milton Manor, but in her own behalf that the Constableship of
Quinborowe "may goe by it self" and thus not affect her rights in
Milton Manor, of which she says, "I may and am aduysed to
hold and kepe the Courtes therof."1Lans. MS. 67, f. 82. The letter, in a fair hand, bears a signature much more crudely drawn, indicating that she had employed a copyist to pen the body.Such an arrangement was not unusual even as late as the date of
this letter, 1591.  The handwriting of women was often crude and
difficult to read. A more poorly formed hand could scarcely be found
than that of Lady Tresham's,2Ibid.,
68, l.  164.  Letter to her husband, Sir T. Tresham. 1591. and
little better is that of Margaret Hennyngborne,3See p. 126. of Frances Clynton,4Add. MS. 11042, f. 13,
Written 1585. of Susan Maynard,5Lans. MS. 91, f. 122.
Letter to Sir Michael Hicks, 1609. of Abigail Mundeford.6Add. MS. 27400, ff. 15-33.
Early 17 century.  Even Jane Cecil, Lord Burghley's mother, in
letters to her son in 1574 and 1577,7Lans. MS. 104, ff. 160,
162. writes in a hand obviously labored and infrequently
practiced.  Educated noblewomen like Penelope Rich,8Ibid., 57, f. 104.
Written in 1588. Elizabeth Russell,9Ibid., 33,
f. 85. and Anne Somerset10Ibid., 36. f. 21.  wrote with a facility
equal to that of their husbands.  A manuscript letter with the individuality of the written hand is far more revealing than that same letter conventionalized into standard print.Unusual are the letters of Gilbert and Mary Shrewsbury, belonging
to the early seventeenth century,1Their letters are found among the Lans. MSS.  I have examined Lans. MSS. 88, f. 155; 90, f. 146; 91, f. 68.  Mary, Countess of Shrewsbury, was daughter of Sir Wm. Cavendish and aunt of Arabella Stuart. written usually by Gilbert Shrewsbury but frequently bearing the signature of both him and his wife:
Yor frends moste assured:
Gil: Shrewsbury.  Ma: Shrewsbury.2Ibid., 88, f. 155.Mary Shrewsbury in a letter to Sir Michael Hicks3Sir Michael Hicks was secretary to Burghley.  D. N. B., xxvi, 359. adds an explanatory note, beginning:
Good sr mighel for the mater my lo: hath writ
of to desire your care and paynes, I can writ no
mor then he hath done in both ower names.4Lans. MS. 91, f. 68.And then, of course, she does proceed to "writ... mor then he hath done."Letters in the early seventeenth century to and from the members of
the family of Sir Michael Hicks are fairly numerous.1Found among the Lans.,
Bath. and Salisbury MSS. Anne
Lowe discusses family affairs with her sister Lady Hicks;2Lans. MS. 93, f. 6.
Helena Delahay writes similar letters to her mother, Lady Hicks;3Ibid., 93, ff. 9, 15. Susan
Maynard recounts to Sir Michael and Lady Hicks the recent illnesses in
the family, the guests who came to dinner, the plans for future
journeys and visits.4Ibid., 91, ff. 105, 122.There are also, among others, early seventeenth-century letters of
the Twisden family,5Add. MS. 34173 and
others. of the Mundeford family,6Ibid., 27400.
of the Barrington family,7Egerton MS.
2646 and others. and of the famous Paston family.8Add. MSS. 27447 and 36988
and others.  Lady Katherine Paston, presented in Chapter III as
an example of a seventeenth-century letter writer of the gentry class,
was scarcely more interesting than her sister Lady Mundeford.9For details of family, etc., see Chapter
III.  During a stay in London in 1627 Lady Mundeford wrote at
length to another sister Lady Bell:
I am sure I find it as I last told you. a place of les expense than
I was at at Moundeford: you say you could not serve your self; your
mony went upon nesessaryes for your person, such things as was felt
for one of your ayr and place to have; but sweet Sister that way of
all other I missed not, but I speak of howskeping and in that I know
and so do my Sarvents, that I spend les by 48. the week; but upon my
person I know I have not bestowed at maner of ways above 40 L.  I
humbly thank my god the vanitys of the place affect not me at
all. except it be in detestation therof. for I protest I am the worse
to fathom how thay cum to church. but the best is thay probe not my
eye might mutch for but in that place wher I can not avoyde it I do
never cum place wher thay are.  no not any wher have I ben sence my
coming up. but once or twice walked to my B. M. Lodging: I thank the
unfavredly for thy good advise concerning my going on foott
thether. you may be suer what so ever the fashion is in that respect
-- that if it wer fare I would not for my ease go a foott thether. but
indeed it is not faire. and suer I am I se Grand widows my antients
every way go by my dors weekly a fare greter walk; yett have some of
them coch and horse of ther owne but such is the condetion of some
that thay will take occation to break jests of others when themselves
commett greate absurdities...ther are in this citie as holly and
religious men and women as any parte of the country can afford.  God
have his curch, here some and ther sume ever among the worst... I
never lived a more solitary life in the cuntrey then now I do. my
uncle powyer tell me that I am cum a degree to fare. for I showld not
go beyond a 'privatt life but he say that my life is to solitary,
indeed I cowld as often terie as laugh; such delight take I here, but
he harp vpon the same thing... nothing but mariage say he is best for
vs both -- I thank God my desiers ar as faire from it as any womans
can be.1Add. MS. 27400, f. 12.Lady Anne Twisden, to whom John Hiud dedicated his Story of
Stories.2Hazlitt, op. cit.,
p. 276.  Lady Anne Twisden was wife of Sir William Twisden, first
Bart.  D. N. B., lvii, 405. reflects in her
letters to her husband her religious piety and her wifely devotion.
My swetehartI am very sory yt for so lietell porpos thow
didest so sonne leve me, yt would have bin very
glad of thy longer stay, & shallbe agane so of thy coming
vp... for my selfe I can write of littell amendment I am not wors, nor
I thinke better, I haue outeward slaps as well as inward... &
yet sweethart if thow beeat wth oute reson loth
to loose me, be not trobled att it for I may last thus a good while,
& ye end wilbe a consumtione wch of all deaths if it plese him who euer doth to
his wt is best I wowld chuse... all att my yeres
must feele those degays wch are but land markes
to descry ye hauen we hast too, therfore showld
by wellcom, be not thow sad good sweetehart for yt hath braught this to me, made more visibell I
thinke ye end of my way, wch euer had a serten apoynted distans, therfore
cannot be deferd or hastened, & for owght I feele may yet be
long enuff for vs to give cumforte to etch other good while
here... now my dere swete hart farwell good night & ye lord Jesus be suer wth thee
  & vs all.1Add. MS. 34173, f. 10v-11.  Written about 1625.The family eminence enjoyed by Lady Joan Harrington is delightfully
portrayed through letters of her daughter-in-law Lady Judith and of
her sons-in-law Gilbert Gerard and Richard Everard.2Lady Joan Barrington was wife of Sir Francis Barrington.  Lady Judith was wife of their son Sir Thomas.  Family identifications are given in the Catalogue of the Add. MSS. purchased between 1882 and 1887.Gilbert Gerard to Lady Joan:
Good Madam, Your
kind letter I resceived this night, and doe acknowlidge my selfe
exceedingly bound vnto you for your love, both in your willingness to
acept of such poore entertainment as my House can afford you, as in
your care of my daughter, for your comming as no thing
can bee more comfortable vnto mee, than the enioying your good
company.3Eg. MS. 2646, f. 42.  Written, 1632.Madam to leave Iesting my wife
rembers Her duty vnto you, and desires to be so much bound vnto you as
pvatly to enquire for Her
concerning one Mrs Browne that is skilfull in
musick, and in tutering yong woomen, shee Hath lived in Mrs Scotts House, if you thincke her fitt for my wife
for Her daughters, shee may Have Her I pray be pleased to inform vs as
sone as you can with convenencie God keepe you and continue you long
to the Comfort of many of your Childrens Childrens Children, which is
a blessing ever, and therefore by you not to be
forgotten.1Eg. MS. 2646, f. 36.I must acknowledge you were the
best surgeon that ever I mett withall.  and by your menes I was last
cured, I hope these notices will psuade you
to come vnto vs, which if you shalbe plesed to do you shall/engage vs
ever and binde mee in pticular to beeYour dutifull sonne:G. Gerard2Ibid., 2645, f. 259.Lady Judith Barrington to Lady Joan:Madam: I confess
ceariously it troubles me much yt I cannot now
attend you at Hatfeeld now; my Husband business goeth very sloely
forwards and corsly, soe yt it perplexeth vs
much, I pray God send vs a good end of itt... I beseech you render my
sister Euerett my best thanks for staying soe kindly with
you. & hope she will not leaue you tell I come:  & so
with my prayers for your Health, I comitt you to the Almightys
protection... I hope I shall beg your fauour that if my Sonnes follow
not thear Bookes well, & carry themselues not well in my
absence to you, or others, yt you will please to
vse your Authority to chide them: I heer they goe much abroad to
Neighbours Houses to fishing; I should be sorry if the eagernes of
ye Sport should make them the less minde thear
  Bookes, which must not be neglected.3Ibid., 2646, f. 30.Madam: this
night I receaved a letter from my Husband whoe is at my Brother
Lyttons; whearby I perceve the favour you intend us, of affording us
your company heer on Tuesday next; which I profess seariously I much
reioyce att: for yett the wayes are not very bad; & the dayes
of a resonable length; soe that I hope the jorney will not be troublesum unto you. and I am the gladder that you please now to make some hast to us that I may attend you the longer time before my Jorny to London come fortnight or 3 weeks after Micklemes... I am very sorry that my Coach cannot attend you as I would, by reason of my Mans being now in Suffolk I know not whear; who returns not tell the Latter end of next week; but if you please to Lett Ned Lytton Drive; the Coach & Horses are most willingly at your service and to this end I have sent this messenger to know... I shall thinke it not longe untill I see you hear; & therfore breifly hasten the tendor of those diew respects which you shall finde ever fromYour most faithful Loving 
  daughter to commandJ. Barrington:1Eg. MS. 2645, f. 295.Lady Joan's own letters2I have seen but two of lady Joan's letters: Ibid., 2646, ff. 50, 102. are written in semi-secretary hand, with signature in italic, a not uncommon custom in letter writing before the mid-seventeenth century, especially among older people who had received their training at an earlier time.Lady Joan Barrington doubtless directed her family in a way similar
to that employed by her much better known and more highly cultivated
contemporary Lady Anne Clifford,3Anne was born in 1590,
daughter of Margaret Russell, and George, Earl of Cumberland.  She was
married in 1609 to Richard Sackville, later Earl of Dorset.  She was
later married to Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.  See Williamson,
Lady Anne Clifford, etc. who has left one of the
three4Diary of Lady Hoby,
Introduction, p. 49.  Ed. by Dorothy Meads. extant diaries kept
by women in the early seventeenth century.  Lady Anne's diary, more exactly kept between the years 1603 and 1619,1"Of her own early compositions, there
exists to-day only an eighteenth century transcript of a narrative
which covers but a few years.  This begins in the form of a
reminiscence dealing with the year 1603, and then jumps, without
explanation, to 1616.  Thence it continues as a day-to-day diary,
through 1617 to 1619, omitting completely any description of the
events of 1618."  Meads op. cit.,  Introd.,
p. 55.  See The Lady Diary of the Lady Anne Clifford,
Ed. by V. Sackville-West. is a tale of many journeyings,
stubborn insistence for property rights,2She tried to regain the Cumberland inheritance.  Meads, op. cit.,  Intro., p. 54. accounts of family anniversaries and deaths, of court figures and county figures, of the reading of plays and of scripture, and of the  hearing of sermons.Anne's diary mentions, among other volumes with which she was acquainted, a History of the Netherlands, Montaigne's Essays, The Faerie Queen, a book on the government of the Turks, Chaucer, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and St. Augustine's City of God.  Poetry, history, religious works, all were read and enjoyed, in addition to the serious and frequent study of the Bible.As a married lady... Anne played at Barley Break upon the bowling
green, witnessed the performance of masques and plays at Court, sang,
played upon the viol, and at Tables and Blecko, and made cushions of
Irish stitch work.  Nevertheless, serious work was not neglected.  She
records one day, that she dressed a chamber in the afternoon, and set
up the green velvet bed on which she and her lord were to lie that
night.  Another day she spent with Marsh, "who did write the
chronicles of 1607," perhaps from his mistress's own notes.  On yet
another she signed with her own hand thirty-three letters to her
tenants in Westmoreland.3Ibid., Intro., p. 55.In his funeral sermon for Lady Anne, Bishop Rainbow said:
She was absolute mistress of herself, her resolutions, actions, and
time, and yet allowed a time for every purpose  None had
access but by leave, when she called; but none were rejected.  None
must stay longer than she would; yet none departed unsatisfied.  Like
him at the stern, she seemed to do little or nothing, but indeed she
turned and steered the whole course of her affairs.1Diary of Lady Anne Clifford, Intro., pp. liii, liv.Earlier than this diary or Lady Anne Clifford was that by Lady
Margaret Hoby, recording faithfully the events in her rather colorless
life between 1599 and 1605.2Diary of Lady Margaret Hoby.  Ed. by Dorothy W. Meads, 1930.  For full account of Lady Hoby and of the history of the manuscript, see the excellent introduction by the editor.  If the Diary of Lady Hoby gives an accurate record of the life of a Puritan gentlewoman in the early seventeenth century, it is nevertheless a dreary account.  Interest there is because the material is interesting -- but charm there is none.  Lady Katherine Paston's piety, so delightfully revealed in her letters, evinces vitality and variety: Lady Hoby's devotions become a somber performance of duties.
After I was readie I was Called away to the Church, for which Cause
I was dreuen to prepare myselfe, in parte, as I went to the holy
exercises: after the sarmone and sacraments, I came home and praied:
after dinner I talked a whill and then went to the after none sarmon:
after that I was busie tell all most supper time, then I praied and
examened my selfe, then went to supper: after, to publeck praers and
examenation of the sarmons, and after, that, talked a litle and, when
I had priuetly praied, went to bed.3 [ Ibid.,
p. 91.After priuatt praers I went to break-fast and then, hauinge talked
wt my mother and diuerse freindes, I came to
Hacknes, and there I talked a whill with Mr. Rhodes; I went to
examenation and praier: after, to supper, then to publicke praers and
lastly to priuat, and so to bed.1Diary, p. 143.And so it goes on day after day, with little variation in the accounts, and certainly none in the style.  It would scarcely be fair to seventeenth-century women to allow Lady Hoby to represent them, despite her minute day-by-day record.  Although women of the period were often painfully devout and serious in their religious observances, they are by no means always somber and plodding in their accounts, as their letters testify.  Perhaps, indeed, the letters offer better opportunity than the diaries for building pictures of the writers; certainly they more nearly relate the writers to family and friends.The other journal of the period is that of Grace Sherrington, Lady
Mildmay, set down when she was old and therefore more philosophic and
less concerned with details.  The story of her girlhood, of her
training, and accomplishments, of her rather dreary married life
appear under touch of a hand guided by a perspective attained through
the passage of years.  She has had time to reflect upon
the education of her daughter Mary and upon the training of children
in general.  Her portrait painted in 1613, shows the Book of
Simples in her hand a fitting accompaniment, for her daughter
wrote that she "spent a great part of her days in the search and
practice 'of man's body drugs, preparations of medicines, and signs of
disease.'"1Diary of Lady Hoby, Intro., p. 53.  An interesting study of Lady Mildmay, developed from her Journal is the article, "An Elizabethan Gentlewoman," by Rachel Weigall.  Quarterly Review, no. 215, pp. 119-138.  Lady Mildmay's Journal is unpublished.There are apparently no other diarists among the women until the
days of the Civil War.  The Add. MSS. hold promise of
an interesting volume in the journal kept by Lady Isabelle Twisden in
the 1640's2Lady Isabelle Twisden was wife of Sir Roger Twisden, son of Lady Ann Twisden.  The diary is found in Add. MSS. 34169-34172. -- but that is beyond our time.There are, however, many other letter writers.  The letters of Lady
Ann Bacon, published in Spedding's Life of Bacon, have
long been famous as a store house of wit, shrewd advice, and sound
sense, bestowed by a dominant personality determined to direct whether
or no.3A study of Lady Bacon, drawn chiefly from
her letters, appeared in the Contemporary Review,
No. 122, pp. 497-508.  By Mary Bradford Whiting.  Of a
different nature, but no less well written are the letters of Lucy, Countess of Bedford, found among the Private Correspondence of Jane, the Lady Cornwallis, a volume through which one seeks in vain for letters from the Lady Cornwallis herself.The letters and documents of Dorothy Wadham, foundress of Wadham
College, Oxford, written between 1609 and 1618 to her "good Companye,"
the "Warden Fellows and Scollers of Wadham Colledge," or to officials
connected with the college,1The Letters of Dorothy
Wadham, 1609-1618.  Ed. with Notes and Appendices by Robert
B. Gardiner. attest fully the strength of character and the
tenacity of purpose of this woman determined at the age of
seventy-five to carry out the terms of her husband's will "'upon
special trust reposed in her that she will bestow and employ' such sums
as come to  her 'to such uses and purposes as I have requested her,
and she hath assented thereunto.'"2Ibid., Intro.,
p. 2. The letters are described, however, as written by her "servant," John Arnold, with the signature only in her hand.As delightful as any of the published letters are those of Lady
Brilliana Harley to her son "Ned" at Oxford, belonging to the period
just within the 1640's.3Letters of Lady
Brilliana Harley.  Camden Society.  Their charm cannot surpass those of Lady Katherine Paston to her
son at Cambridge, written during the 1620's and preserved among the
Add. MSS., 27447 and 36988, together with miscellaneous
business letters and family letters.  Her portrait, drawn from these
letters, is presented in some detail in Chapter III, a picture, it is believed, of a representative woman of the country gentry in the early seventeenth century.  Letters of the wife of a Reformation bishop, Anne Hooper, have been chosen to build a picture of a sixteenth-century woman.On no account could these two women be accepted as true for all.
Their stories contain both the general and the particular
characteristics that go to make the story of every life.  They need no
apology.II
MISTRESS ANNE HOOPER
A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY PORTRAITJohn Hooper1"He himself usually spelt his name Hoper,
others wrote it Houper."  D. N. B., xxvii, 304.  The
signature in the Zurich Letters appears as Hooper. "that sometyme was a whyth monnke"2Chronicle of the Grey Friars of
London.  Sept. 1, 1549, p. 63.  Ed. by John G. Nichols.
Camden Society. in England and Anne De Tserclas, "a discreet
woman of the Low Countries,"3John Strype,
Ec. Mem., II, ii, 170. were married, perhaps at
Strasburg, perhaps at Basle, sometime in 1546.  There is no definite
record of their marriage;4"At Strasburg he had met with
a lady of Antwerp, Anne de Tserclas, whom he married at Basle towards
the end of 1546."  D. N. B., xxvii, 304.  "Before the
[Hooper's] marriage which took place probably at Basle towards the
latter part of 1546... " Later Writings of Bishop
Hooper.  Ed. by Chas. Nevinson.  Parker Society.
Biographical Notice., p. ix. but Hooper first
refers to his wife in a letter  to Henry Bullinger,5Henry Bullinger succeeds Zwingli in the
preachership of the Zurich Cathedral, a position he held from 1531 to
1574.  See the Biographical Notice in Bullinger's
Decades, v, pp. vii-xxxi.  Ed by H. I. Parker
Society. certainly written after December 12, 1546, for he
relates as news the recent commitment to the Tower of London of the Duke of Norfolk and his son the Earl of Surrey.1Original Letters Relative to the English Reformation.  Chiefly from the Archives of Zurich. iii, 42.  Trans. and ed. by Hastings Robinson.  Parker Society.  This letter relates the account of a recent journey from Strasburg to Basle but makes no mention of the marriage service.All references, quotations, and material taken from the letters of
John and Anne Hooper are from this volume unless otherwise
designated.  As early as January of 1546, however, while he
was a student of theology in Strasburg,2Zurich Letters, iii, 251.
Richard Hilles to Bullinger. Hooper had written Bullinger of a
certain Anna, a young woman of noble birth, "exceedingly favourable to
true religion," whom he had met at the home of Master Richard Hilles,
an English religious refugee in Strasburg.  In all probability this
Anna, whom, significantly enough, Hooper hoped Bullinger would shortly
see, and who commended herself to the prayers of the church in Zurich,
was Anne De Tserclas, who is also described by Bullinger3Heinrich Bullinger, Diarium (Annales vitae) de Jarhre 1504-1574, p. 35.  Ed. by Emil Egli. as being of noble birth and who was throughout her married life a devoted adherent of "true religion."Anne De Tserclas, then, was very likely among the group of
by-standers who heard the confession of Hooper which is described in a letter from Master Hilles:
If there is any news here, or from England, you will learn it by
the letter of a certain countryman of mine who is studying here, whose
name if John Hoper, formerly in the court of our king, but now a
disciple of Christ, the King of Kings, and glowing with zeal and
piety, and most attached to your name of all other divines.  He was
sick at my house, almost unto death; and when, to all appearances he
was on the point of departure, he uttered the language and profession
of a most godly christian breast respecting the matter of the
eucharist, and all the articles of the christian faith, before many
by-standers.1Zurich Letters. iii, 251.  Dated, January 8, 1546.Not only had John Hooper come to Strasburg to become better acquainted with the tenets of Reformed religion, but Anne De Tserclas had also very likely left her home in Antwerp to seek more congenial associates in Strasburg.  That her family cast her aside because of her religion is evident from an incident related by Hooper after their marriage:
Take care, I pray you, that the other letters which I send, may be
delivered to those to whom they are directed.  After Easter my wife
wrote to her mother, who lives about fifteen miles from Antwerp.  The
messenger found her father dead.  Her mother received the letter and
gave it my wife's brother to read, who immediately threw it into the
fire without reading it.  You see the words of Christ are true, that
the brother shall persecute the brother for the sake of the word of
God.2Dated, May 3, 1549.Hooper himself was suffering the displeasure of his father, a
wealthy man in Somerset, England,1Godwin de Pymesul, 552.  Quoted in a footnote, Zurich Letters, iii, 34. of whom he was the only son and heir and who was opposed to him on account of "Christ's religion."  Hooper feared that if he should refuse to act according to his father's wishes, he should be sure to find his father for the future "not a father, but a cruel tyrant."  Motivated by a desire to establish his claims to his inheritance and to secure an income suitable for his proposed marriage, he determined to return to England in the spring of 1546 "to bid farewell to the honours, pleasures, and friends of this world." 
I will then endeavour, he wrote, if possible, by the assistance of my friends, to obtain at least some portion of what I am entitled to, wherewith I may be able to subsist upon my slender means among you at Zurich: and should God order it otherwise, and see fit to visit me with poverty and want, or in any other way, I will bear it with an undisturbed mind, and choose rather, as an exile, to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.His arrangements with his father seem to have been satisfactory; but his journey was long and hazardous, keeping him three months away, bringing him twice into imprisonment, and causing loss of his fortune.It had been through the kindness of his father that he had first
been trained for service in the Catholic Church, when he had, as he
later described his monastic life, "begun to blaspheme God by impious
worship and all manner of idolatry, following the evil ways of my
forefathers, before I rightly understood what God was."  After the
dissolution of the monasteries he associated himself with the gay
circle of Henry VIII's court.  There chance brought to his attention
the writings of Huldrich Zwinglius and Henry Bullinger, which he began
at once to peruse "night and day, with earnest study, and an almost
superstitious diligence."  Intent upon furthering the doctrines of the
Reformers, he returned to Oxford;1D. N. B.,
xxvii, 304.  Hooper, op. cit.,
Biographical Notice. p. viii. but he was shortly
afterwards compelled to leave because of the preparations of
Dr. Richard Smith, regius professor of divinity, to try him under the
Six Articles Law.2Statutes of the Realm, iii,
739.  As steward in the house of Sir Thomas Arundell he had
refuge for a short time only, for that nobleman, discovering evidences
of heresy in his servant, sent him for instruction to Gardiner, Bishop
of Winchester.  When Hooper dared to dispute the eminent
divine and to remain fixed in his own ideas, he forfeited his safety
in England.  He fled to Paris; then, after a short time, ventured to
return.   Finding England still hazardous, he "was compelled, under
pretence of being captain of a ship going to Ireland, to take the
seas; and so escaped he, although not without extreme peril of
drowning, through France to the higher parts of Germany."1John Foxe, op. cit., vi, 638.This was the man, then, whom Anne De Tserclas met in Strasburg.  Whether she had already left Antwerp and had taken refuge in the house of Master Hilles before Hooper's arrival in Strasburg cannot be ascertained.  She may have come after his entry into the University as a student of theology.  There is no indication that she had at any time been a member of a cloister, although many of the women who were most ardent in their support of the Reformed religion were, like the men whom they frequently married, monastic in earlier training.At Strasburg marriage among the clergy was no innovation in 1546.
There in 1522 Martin Bucer2Martin Bucer had joined the
Dominican order in 1506; he left the monastery in 1520.  He later
became one of the leaders of the Reformation.
D. N. B., vii, 172. had mar-ried
Elizabeth Pallass, a woman who had spent twelve years in a cloister;
there Peter Martyr,1Gilbert Burnet, The History of the
Reformation in the Church of England, ii, 112-113.  Ed. by
Gilbert Pocock. an Augustinian monk from Florence, had come
upon the invitation of Bucer, and with him, his wife, an ex-nun, whose
broken vows were later to be so shamefully atoned by Mary on English
soil;2"Then they made a process against the body
of Peter Martyr's wife, that lay buried in one of the churches; but
she being a foreigner that understood no English, they could not find
witnesses that had heard her utter any heretical points; so they gave
advertisement of this to the cardinal [Pole], who thereupon writ back,
that since it was notoriously known, that she had been a nun, and had
married contrary to her vow, therefore her body was to be taken up,
and buried in a dunghill as a person dying under excommunication.
This was accordingly done.  But her body was afterwards taken up again
in queen Elizabeth's time, and mixed with St. Frideswide's bones, that
she might run the same fortune with her in all times coming."  Ibid., ii, 554. there Wolfgang Capito,
pastor and professor of theology, had married in 1524;3Enc. Relig. Know., ii,
407. there Paulus Fagius, who had married in Suabia in 1527,
had succeeded Capito in 1542.4D. N. B.,
xviii, 120.  Though Strasburg was one of the earliest centers
for the German Reformation,5Enc. Relig. Know., xi, 110. it was by no
means peculiar as a home for the married clergy.  In
Nuremberg Andreas Osiander, an Augustinian monk, the uncle of Thomas
Cranmer's second wife,1D. N. B., xiii,
20. had been living a comfortable married existence since
1525;2Enc. Brit., xvi, 949.
Ed. 14. in Kammerich,3Henry C. Lea, An
Historical Sketch of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian
Church, p. 411. in Loch, in Kitscheren, in Kolditz,4Ibid.,
p. 414. as well as in many other parishes, married priests
performed the duties for their congregations.  Luther himself by his
officiation in 1523 at the marriage of Wenceslas Link of the
Augustinian order,5Ibid.,
p. 414. by his publication of a Vindication of Married
Life,6Enc. Brit., xiv,
495. Ed. 14. and by his own marriage in 1525 at Wittenberg to
Catherine von Bora, an ex-nun from Nimptschen,7Lea., op. cit.,
p. 418. had given the same practical and definite significance
to this phase of the Reformation as he had given to the matter of
indulgences and to the question of papal power.  Thus
while clerical marriages did not secure full legal sanction in Germany
until after the Diet of Augsburg in 1555,1Lea, op. cit.,
p. 434. public opinion vouchsafed sufficient approval to make
them popular.  When, of example, in 1524 excommunication was
threatened against married priests of Strasburg, the senate of the
city openly supported them.2George Spalatin. Annales Reformationis. 1524.   (Quoted by Lea, op. cit., p. 416.)At Zurich in Switzerland, where John and Anne Hooper came to live
in 1547,3Hooper, op. cit.,
Biographical Notice, p. ix. the custom of
marriage among the clergy was as well established as in Germany.
Henry Bullinger,4Bullinger, op. cit.,
vol. v.  Biographical Notice, p. xi. Konrad
Pellican,5Enc. Relig. Know., viii,
444. Theodore Bibliander,6Zurich Letters,
iii. 73. Rudolph Gualter,7Gualter married the daughter
of Zwingli.  Enc. Relig. Know., v. 73. and
Gesner,8Zurich Letters, iii,
73. ministers of Zurich in the middle of the sixteenth century,
were all married.  Here also the marriages were frequently between men
and women who were both disciples of Reformed religion, their common
religious and intellectual interests apparently forming a definite
contribution to the marriage compact.  The early
continental clerical marriages differ in that respect from the lay
marriages of the period, which were ordinarily either arranged or were
dependent solely upon the romantic element, evincing little concern
for congenial mental tastes and interests. Thus there often appeared
in the clerical marriages something at least of the element of
friendship, though this was, of course, not always the case.
Zwinglius himself, for example, had married in 1524 Anna Reinhard, a
woman, reputedly very beautiful, who had been his mistress for several
years.1Enc. Relig. Know., xii,
539.  Bullinger, on the other hand, married in 1529 an ex-nun
from Oetenbach, Anne Adlischweiler.2Bullinger, op. cit., vol. v, Biographical Notice, p. xi.  The "godly wives" of Pellican, of Bibliander, and of Guelter, who married the daughter of Zwinglius, are often mentioned by John and Anne Hooper in their letters.Although John Hooper married almost twenty years after Henry
Bullinger, he was nevertheless his contemporary, for Hooper was
graduated at Oxford in 1519.3D. N. B.,
xxvii, 304.  Because of Henry VIII's violent opposition to
clerical marriages4Lea, op. cit.,
p. 477. and of the subsequent passage of the Six Articles Law,
impelling clerical celibacy, the English clergy did not begin so early to marry.  During an official trip to the continent,
Thomas Cranmer had been so indiscreet as to marry a German woman;1D. N. B., xiii, 23.
and, according to the reports of contemporaries, had her carried about
whenever she left her home in a chest with air holes in it.2"And I have already told you how he
[Cranmer] carried about with him (like a worthy Archbishop) his
darling in a chest."  Nicholas Harpsfield, Pretended Divorce
Between Henry the Eighth and Queen Katherine, p. 290.  Ed. by
Nicholas Pocock.  Camden Society."His [Crammer's] greatest
distress was that he could not show abroad as his wife the woman who
was living with him.  The king would not allow him to do so.  He must
therefore keep her secretly in his house.  When he went abroad, he was
compelled to carry her from place to place hidden from sight in a
chest."  Nicholas Sander, op. cit.,
p. 181.  After the passage of the Six Articles Law, Cranmer
sent her to Germany, where she remained until the death of Henry
VIII.3Strype, Memorials of Archbishop
Cranmer, I, 105.  With so cautious an archbishop the
lesser clergy would hardly dare to be bolder, though doubtless there
were numerous secret marriages.4Lea, op. cit., p. 485.In 1549, after Edward VI had been on the throne in England for two
years and the doctrines of Reformed religion were being openly
advanced, John and Anne Hooper left their home in Zurich to lend their
influence in forwarding the ideas of Zwinglius and
Bullinger in England.  There are no records of their two years in
Zurich, though inferences of certain events may be made from later
developments.  Their daughter, Rachel, was born in Zurich, probably in
1548, and was christened with Bullinger and Mistress Bibliander as her
"gossips."1Gossip:  one who has contracted spiritual affinity with another by acting as sponsor at a baptism.  In relation to the person baptized, a godfather or a godmother.  Now only arch. and dial.  N. E. D., 4, ii, 310.  Hooper and his wife were, as a matter of course, during this period engaged in the study of religion and were associated closely with the religious leaders and their families.  If she had been guided by fear and worry, Anne Hooper might well have hesitated to leave Switzerland after she heard the sadly prophetic parting words of her husband to his friends:
But the last news of all  I shall not be able to write; for
there... where I shall take most pains, there shall you hear of me to
be burnt to ashes: and that shall be the last news, which I shall not
be able to write unto you; but you shall hear it of me.2Foxe, op. cit., vi, 638.The journey to England, begun sometime in March, 1549, was not
finished until May, often proving fatiguing to Anne Hooper and her
infant daughter.  They stopped on the way at Basle, at Strasburg, at
Mayence, at Cologne, and at Antwerp, arriving in London sometime
before May 31.Immediately upon his arrival in England John Hooper because
chaplain to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who as Lord Protector
was still the most powerful person in England, and the acquaintance
of Mistress Hooper with people of rank was possibly increased by her
husband's connections with the Lord Protector.  Since, according to
Hooper's account, they were for a time "obliged to remain here in
London and in the family of the Lord Protector," the proud and haughty
Anne, Duchess of Somerset, must have vouchsafed some form of welcome
to Mistress Hooper.  Martin Micronius1Martin Micronius was a Dutch Protestant who
came to London as pastor of the Flemish congregation.
Enc. Relig. Know., vii, 365. some months later
speaks of her having gone to the mansion of a certain noble lady in
the neighborhood of the city for change of air.2Zurich Letters, iii, 562.
Micronius to Bullinger.  She may have known Lady Jane Grey, for
Hooper is reputed to have first drawn the attention of Konrad Pellican
to Lady Jane.3Das Chroniken des Konrad
Pellikan, p. 182, fn. 2.  The correspondence of Lady
Jane with Bullinger, which began in 1551,4Zurich Letters. iii,
4-11. was doubtless partially incited by the in-fluence of John Hooper and his wife.  Hooper, with John ab
Ulmis,1The letters of John ab Ulmis to Bullinger
appear in Zurich Letters, iii, 377-457, passim.  John ab Ulmis knew Lady Jane well and had
the greatest admiration for her.   It was of her that he wrote:  "I do
not think that among all the English nobility for many ages past there
has arisen a single individual, who to the highest excellence of
talent and judgment has united so much diligence and assiduity in the
cultivation of every liberal pursuit." a Swiss student at
Oxford who was patronized by Lady Jane's father, had encouraged
Bullinger to dedicate to Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset, one of the
Decades.2Zurich Letters, iii,
3.  It is not unreasonable to believe that Lady Jane, who
gathered "daily as out of a most beautiful garden, the sweetest
flowers" from Bullinger's Christian Perfection,3Ibid., iii, 6,
fn. 2. and who besought him to allow her to "draw forth from
the storehouse of his piety such instruction as may tend both to
direct my conduct, and confirm my faith in Christ my Saviour,"4Ibid., iii, 6. would have desired the acquaintance of a woman who had known him well before her coming to England.It is difficult to surmise, however, just what Anne Hooper's
position in the society of London would be at this period.  Certainly,
as the parliamentary statutes attest, the attitude
prevailing toward the wives of clergy was different from that which
she had known in Zurich, where the wives of ministers and the wives of
magistrates were one and the same.1Enc. Brit. xxiii, 998.Edward VI came to the throne in January, 1547; and on December 17
of that year a "proposition was submitted to the effect that all
canons, statutes, laws, decrees, usages, and customs, interfering with
or prohibiting marriage should be abrogated, and this bill was carried
by a vote of 53 to 22."2Lea, op. cit., p. 487.  The Six Articles were
repealed on December 23, 1547,3Statutes of the
Realm, IV, I, 19. thus permitting clerical marriage
according to the previous laws of Henry VIII, which imposed certain
penalties.  Although a bill was introduced in December, 1547,
permitting married men to hold benefices, it failed to pass the House
of Lords.  In December, 1548, a similar bill was presented; then
another, which added the further concession of liberty of marriage to
those already in orders.4Burnet, op. cit., ii, 168-169.  After much dispute
this bill was finally passed on February 19, 1549.  The wording of the
bill was unfor-tunate, however, and was not destined to confer sanction of public opinion for marriages of prelates.  Thus the bill begins:
Althoughe it were not onely better for thestymacon of priestes and
other ministers in the Churche of God to lyve chaste, solo and sepate from the companye of Wymen and the bond of
Mariage, but also therby they myght the better entende to
thadmynistracyon of the Gospell, and be less entricated
and troubled with the Chardge of householde, beinge free and
unburdened from the care and coste of fynding Wyef and Children, and
that it were most to be wisshed that they woulde willingly and of
their selfes endevor themselfe to a ppetual
chastytie...1Statues of the Realm, IV, I, 67.The right of marriage came then as a concession.  The effect upon
the wives and children of the ministers was degrading, so much so in
fact that it was advisable in 1552 to pass another bill for the
purpose of further exonerating clerical marriages and of insuring
legality to the children of these marriages.  According to this later
bill "evill disposed peons... have and doe
slaunderouslye report of Priestes matrimonye, sayinge that the same
Statute is but a pmyssion of Priestes
matrimonye as Usurie and other unlawfull thinges be nowe pmytted."2Ibid., IV, I, 146-147. The bill further relates:
The children pcreat and borne in suche
lawfull matrimonye, rather be of a great nombre of the Kinges
Subjectes accompted as Bastardes... which untrue slanderous reproche
of Holie Matrimonye dothe not onely redounde to the highe dishonor of
Almyghtie God, but also to the Kinges Majesties dishonor
and his highe Corte of Parliament and the lerned Clergye of this
Realme... And that most of all is to be lamented throughe suche
uncomelye raylinges of Matrimonye and slaunderous reproches of the
Clergie, the worde of God is not hearde with reverence, followed with
diligence, the godlie pcedinges of the Kinges Majestie not received with due obedience.Consequently hereafter marriage of priests are to be considered
true and lawful to all "intentes construcioons and purposes."Anne Hooper arrived in London shortly after the passage of the bill of 1549, and it is very probable that she felt the disrepute accorded in general to those women who were daring enough to become wives of priests.  From the fact that it was necessary to pass the second law, inference may be fairly drawn that conditions were similar to those described by a contemporary writer during the early part of the reign of Elizabeth:
Neither archbishop nor bishop, nor any other prelate, if married, can give any rank or precedence to his wife, who is no better than an unmarried woman.Accordingly the queen herself never receives these women in court,
not even those who are said to be the wives of archbishops.  The wives
of the nobility avoid them also, and they confine themselves to the
houses of those who have taken them into them.1Sander, op. cit., p. 280.  The queen issued a proclamation, Aug. 9, 1561, forbidding the head or member of any college or cathedral church to have his wife or any other woman to dwell in the same.  David Wilkins, Concilia Magnae Britanniae. iv, 227. 
	The privilege for marriage of priests in England was bestowed
	in such a way that the effects were peculiarly injurious.  Sander, who since he was opposed to the
	Reformation, may have exaggerated somewhat, reports that
	"hardly any honest woman could be found who would become the
	wife of even the highest dignitaries."1Op. cit., p. 280.  At any
	rate, wives of clergy in England were so often women of
	questionable reputation that an injunction was issued by
	Elizabeth compelling any woman about to be married to a
	clergyman to be approved by an appointed committee.2Wilkins, op. cit., iv,
	185-186.  Priests in England were "either careless or
	unlucky from the very first in the choice of wives."3Sander, op. cit., p. 279.
	Consequently over a long period of time the clergy suffered in
	the respect due them in the type of family life which they
	were able to maintain.4See Lea, op. cit., p. 507.  Macaulay's third chapter
	in his History of England gives a vivid
	description of the rural clergy at a later date.
	Records of leading English ministers in the sixteenth century
	do not show the same tendency for ex-monks and nuns to marry
	as was the case on the continent.5Ridley, Jewel, Tyndale, and Bradford were unmarried.
	Aylmer, Parker, Foxe, and Bonet did not marry nuns.  In 1546
	Hooper wrote that there were ten thousand unmarried nuns in
	England.  The basis for clerical marriage in England,
	then, was less likely to be one of common interest and religious faith than in Germany and in Switzerland.  English clergymen who married on the continent and brought their wives to England would introduce to English society women more cultivated than the clergymen who married at home were usually able to do.Because of the Interim, which went into effect in 1548, and because
of the religious persecution in the Low Countries and in France, many
of the continental Reformed leaders, both from the Lutheran and from
the Zwinglian groups, came to England.  With them were their
wives,1"Their wives have come over to them."
Micronius to Bullinger, Sept. 30, 1549.  Zurich
Letters. iii, 558. usually women of the same station
and interests as Anne Hooper.  Bucer and Fagius became professors at
Cambridge; Peter Martyr, at Oxford.2For identifications and marriages, see
pp. 147-48.  Bernardine Ochino was made prebendary at
Canterbury.3Sander, op. cit.,
p. 193, fn., 2.  John à Lasco, the Pole, an ardent
admirer of Bullinger's, was minister of Austin Friars, the newly
authorized German church in London;4Strype, Ec. Mem., II, i,
376. Martin Micronius was pastor of the Flemish con-gregation in London;1Enc. Relig. Know., vii, 365. Valerandus
Pollanus was superintendent of a church for strangers at Glastonbury,
imported from Strasburg.2Strype,
Ec. Mem., II, i, 378-79.  The wife of Pollanus
was closely related to Anne Hooper.  Strype tells us that "great was
the brotherhood and friendship between the foreign divines and
ours."3Ibid., II, i,
399.  Very possibly there was nothing extraordinary in the
invitation which John à Lasco gave to John and Lasco gave to
John and Anne Hooper for dinner, "propounding that they should meet
the next day at eight in the morning at Utenhovius's4John Untenhovius was one of the ministers
of the Dutch church.  Ibid., II, i, 377.
house, and confer about certain business relating to religion, I
suppose, and their church, between themselves and some of their
members, and then to dine with à Lasco, and spend the afternoon
in conversation."5Ibid., II, i, 399.According to Sander there were entirely too many of these conversations:
Men were now discussing matters of faith in every workshop, tavern,
and alehouse; every gossiping old woman, every silly old man, every
wordy declaimer, as St. Jerome complained of old -- in short, every
one took up the sacred books pulled them to pieces,
taught them to others before they had been taught them themselves.
Some discoursed to women, others learned from women what they taught
to men.1Sander, op. cit., p. 179.If Anne Hooper had felt deeply enough about matters of religion to cause her to leave her home in Antwerp and come to Strasburg, and if before her marriage she was described as "exceedingly favourable to true religion," it is not strange to find her now included in invitations for all-day conversations about religion.  It would be a mistake, however, to assume that she entered into these discussions as an equal or that she accounted her own opinion as of value, especially when her husband was present to offer counsel.  She came to these conversations doubtless as the early Christian women turned to the elders of the Church, to whom Lady Jane Grey compared her own relations to Bullinger.
For no better fortune can await me than to be thought worthy of the
correspondence and most wholesome admonitions of men so renowned,
whose virtues cannot be sufficiently eulogized; and to experience the
same happiness as was enjoyed by Blesilla, Paula, and Eustochium, to
whom, as it is recorded, Saint Jerome imparted instruction, and
brought them by his discourses to the knowledge of divine truths; or,
the happiness of that venerable matron,1Mammaea, mother of the emperor Alexander
Severus, caused Origen to come from Alexandria to Antioch that she
might hear him preach.  A. D. 229.  Zurich Letters,
iii, 6, fn. 1 to whom St. John addressed an exhortatory and
evangelical epistle; or that lastly, of the mother of Severus, who
profited by the counsels of Origen, and was obedient to his presents.
All which personages were less indebted for their renown and celebrity
to their beauty of person, nobility of birth, and large
possessions,than to the glory and happiness they derived from the
instructions of wise men, who, though singularly eminent for erudition
and piety, did not disdain to lead them, as it were, by the hand to
every thing excellent, and to suggest to them such thoughts as might
especially conduce to their eternal salvation and happiness in the
life to come.2Zurich Letters, iii, 6.As Bishop Latimer preached, women were expected to follow the
example of Mary, to leave their "vain speaking" and keep silence.3Hugh Latimer, Sermons and
Remains, pp. 92-93.  Ed. by George E. Corrie, Parker
Society.  Furthermore, Bacon's Catechism specifically
commended, according to St. Paul, "Ye women, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the wife's
head even as Christ is the head of the congregation... Therefore, let
the wives be in subjection to their husbands in all things."4Thomas Bacon, Catechism,
p. 340.  Ed. by John Ayre.  Parker Society.  The married man in
his turn would love his wife because she was his sister in the
Christian faith.5Ibid.,
p. 334.  Anne Hooper, like the other religious women of her time, accepted the inferiority of her sex as a part of her religious duty.  There was among these women a definite selfconsciousness with regard to their sex inferiority.  Anne Hooper once wrote Bullinger:
My woman's mind being battered with these two engines, what wonder if it seemed immediately about to give way?Another time she relates a circumstance and adds, "On whom the
blame is to be laid you know better than I do."  She was unwilling to
attempt any explanation of her husband's affairs without consulting
him.  Lady Jane Grey begs Bullinger to "excuse the more than feminine
boldness" which allows her, "girlish and unlearned," to write,
assuring him that she has heretofore hesitated to do so when she
considered her "age, sex, and mediocrity, or rather infancy in
learning."1Zurich Letters, iii,
10.  Lady Elizabeth Vane, translator of psalms and
proverbs,2See pages 28-29. wrote Bishop
Philpot to thank him for a book, "wherein I find," she says, "great
consolations, and according to the doctrine thereof do prepare my
cheeks to the strikers, and my womanish back to the burdens of
reproof."3John Philpot, op. cit., pp. 155-56.
 Even the bold and daring Anne Askew, who was martyred in
 1546, when questioned upon the interpretation of a text, answered
 that it was against "St. Paul's learning, that I, being a woman,
 should interpret the Scriptures; especially where so many wise and
 learned men were."  Her cousin desired her examiner to take her "as a
 woman," and not to set her "weak woman's wit to his lordship's great
 wisdom."1Foxe, op. cit., v, 541, 543.  Queen Katherine Parr had expressed the accepted opinion very clearly in one of her speeches to Henry VIII:
Your Majesty doth know right well, neither I myself am ignorant
what great imperfection and weakness by our first creation, is
allotted to us women, to be ordained and appointed as inferiour and
subject unto Man as our head; from which head all our direction ought
to proceed: and that as God made man to his own shape and likeness,
whereby he being indued with more special gifts of perfection, might
rather be stired to the contemplation of heavenly things, and to the
earnest endeavour to obey his commandments: even so  also made he
woman of man, of whom and by whom she is to be governed, commanded and
directed.  Whose womanly weakness and natural imperfection ought to be
tolerated, aided and born  withall, so that by wisdom such things as
be wanting in her, ought to be supply'd.2George Ballard, op. cit., pp. 81-82.Woman was made from the rib of man; therefore he was her lord.  But
she was redeemed by Christ as was man; therefore she owed the same
strength in the Christian faith, as Julitta, a martyr of
early Christian days, had taught long before.1John Bradford, Writings, i, 554.  Ed. by Aubrey Towsend.It is not improbable that the question of woman's place in the
church was discussed in these conversations.  Tyndale had thought a
woman might preach if she were driven into some island where Christ
was never preached.  She might also there baptize and minister the
sacrament.  He ends pityingly, "O poor women, how despise ye
them!"2William Tyndale, An Answer to Sir
Thomas More's Dialogue. p. 18.  Ed. by Henry Walter.  Parker
Society. Whitgift allowed to women the right of instruction in
private families and also permission to speak in the congregation if
none else would preach Christ.3John Whitgift,
Works, ii, 499.  Ed by John Ayre.  Parker
Society.  Without doubt, however, all the Reformers, including
the women, would have inclined to the belief of Luther that women
"should remain at home, sit still, keep house, and bear and bring up
children,"4Martin Luther, Table Talk,
DCCXXV, p. 299.  Trans. and ed. by William Hazlitt. for "God
created Adam master and lord of living creatures."5 [ Ibid., DCCXXVII, p. 300.Other topics of discussion at these meetings might reasonably center about the question of divorce, about clerical marriages, about the connection of church and state, and, most of all, about the problem of the eucharist.  Whether Anne Hooper was in part responsible for her husband's advanced ideas about divorce is impossible to say; but it is not unlikely that indirectly because of his high regard for her integrity she influenced his liberal views with respect to the rights of women.  Shortly after his arrival in London Hooper was engaged in controversy concerning rights of divorce on grounds of adultery and subsequent rights of remarriage.  Since he allowed the husband and wife equal redress, the conservatives, permitting the privilege to the husband only, bitterly attacked him.Between à Lasco and John and Anne Hooper there could be no
argument about the doctrine of the eucharist, for they followed the
doctrine of Zwinglius and Bullinger.  It was with Martin Bucer that
they disputed on that point.  In 1548 Hooper had written Bucer, who
had brought about the Wittenberg Concord in 1536 in an attempt to
effect a compromise between Luther and Zwinglius,1The concession to Luther was made at the
Concord that the body and blood of Christ are present with the bread
and wine and that the unworthy but not the unholy receive the body.
Rupture followed between Bucer and the Swiss.
Eng. Relig. Know., ii, 323. a full discus-sion of his doctrine on the eucharist.  Anne Hooper no doubt accepted this tenet thus expressed by her husband:
Thus the holy supper is a testimony of grace, and a mystery of our redemption, in which God bears witness to the benefits bestowed upon us by Christ: not that the remission of sins, which in believers ought to precede all use of sacraments is there applied; nor that the true body of Christ, which is in heaven and not on earth, is exhibited together with the bread; but that it may confirm that faith which I have in the death and passion of that body which was alive, died, and rose again: and the minister gives what is in his power, namely, the bread and wine, and not the body of Christ; nor is it exhibited by the minister and eaten by the communicant otherwise than in the word preached, read, or meditated upon... It is necessary therefore to bring Christ to the sacraments by faith, and not to look for him there.Because Edward VI was favorably impressed by Hooper's opinions on the eucharist, he asked Hooper to preach the Wednesday Lenten sermons at court during the spring of 1550.  This is significant inasmuch as Hooper represented the most advanced views of Reformed religion; it likewise indicates the tendency toward the doctrines from Zurich as opposed to those from Wittenberg.  According to Hooper, one of the articles demanded by the Archbishop of Canterbury from his preachers was a subscription to the eucharist as taught at Zurich.  Hooper further writes:
With the exception of the church of Zurich, and those which agree with it in religion, the word is in no part of the world preached more purely than in England.This situation came about through the influence of Somerset, who
accepted the Swiss doctrine of the eucharist.1D. N. B., Ii,
306-309.After the death of Henry, who had
opposed Luther, Cranmer published a Catechism according to Lutheran
tenets; but later, during the time of Somerset, he revised it to
concur with Swiss doctrine.1 Sander, op. cit., pp. 181-182.  Apparently Archbishop Cranmer was subject to the politics of the time.Hooper's advanced ideas caused no small amount of trouble when,
following the Lenten sermons in 1550, he was offered the bishopric of
Gloucester.  He refused the see because he objected to the oath of
supremacy and to the wearing of the vestments.  The oath was removed
by order of the king; but Cranmer refused to omit the vestments.
There was great dispute, much passing of opinions among the divines;
and finally Hooper's commitment to the Fleet on January 27, 1551.  At
length, however, he agreed to accept the vestments and was consecrated
Bishop of Gloucester at Lambeth, March 8, 1551.2D. N. B., xxvii,
304-305.Burnet, op. cit., ii, 265-268,
gives an account of the dispute about the vestments.  Many letters
from John ab Ulmis, Martin Micronius, and others in Zurich
Letters, iii, discuss this dispute.After his departure for his see Anne Hooper, still in London, wrote
the first letter which is preserved. This letter, like many of her
husband's is written to Bullinger and is in answer to an inquiry from him about reasons for Hooper's imprisonment; but she does not answer his question, nor does she express any opinion about the recent disturbances.
I will not acquaint you with the reason of master Hooper's imprisonment, until I have communicated to him your letter, which at present is quite out of my power; for he went down to his see as soon as he was discharged.  I doubt not but that he will satisfy your desire as soon as he is informed of it; and this seems to me far more convenient, than for me to make the attempt without consulting him.She was, it is to be remembered, "a discreet woman of the Low countries."The six letters from Anne Hooper to Bullinger, translated and
published by the Parker Society in the Zurich Letters,
were originally written in Latin,1The original Latin of her last
letter to Bullinger is printed in Zurich Letters, iii,
774. a significant factor in considering the extent of her
training and education.  She herself regrets her inability to write in
German, assuring Bullinger that she would write him more frequently if
she could use that language.  Anthony Wood2Athenae Oxoniensis, i,
223. describes her as "applied very studiously in the Hebrew
tongue," an accomplishment she may have attained at Zurich under the
tutelage of Pellican1Konrad Pellikan, or Pellican,
was professor of Greek and Hebrew literature at Zurich.
Enc. Relig. Knox., viii, 444-445. or Bullinger.
Under their direction Lady Jane Grey studied Hebrew through
correspondence.2Lady Jane Grey wrote Bullinger in July, 1551, requesting his guidance in the study of Hebrew.  In July, 1552, she wrote, thanking him for the method he had suggested to her.  Zurich Letters, iii, 7, 8.  John ab Ulmis wrote Pellican in May, 1551, to the effect that Lady Jane Grey was desirous of aid in the study of Hebrew and that she had written Bullinger for assistance.  Ab Ulmis suggested that Pellican take over the office.  Ibid., iii, 432.  Only one other of Anne Hopper's preserved letters was written on English soil, that dated from Gloucester in 1551; the other four belong to the later period of her exile in Frankfort, Germany, after the coming of Mary to the throne of England.  The signature to her first letter is, rather curiously, "Anne De Tserclas, now Hooper"; thereafter the signature is simply "Anne Hooper."In her letters there is usually some reference to current affairs.
In this earliest one she refers to the preparation of a fleet of the
French king for the purpose of taking Ireland, and of the discovery of
his designs by a Frenchman in the employ of the English.  She likewise
mentions danger of riots from shortage of provision.  After her
removal to Germany she relates to Bullinger n a letter of 1554 news both about England and Germany:
There is no news much worth your notice.  For there has not been of a long time any certain intelligence from England; except that those persons who arrived from thence on the 10th instant, assert that a meeting of parliament had taken lace respecting the coronation of the Spaniard; and that the hand of an individual had been burnt off, because he refused to hear mass, and chose rather to be brought to the stake; also that some godly persons had lately been thrown into prison for the sake of religion... The lesser assembly of the states of Germany commenced here on the fourteenth of October; but this has no concern with religion, about which they have not yet said a single word.  They are labouring for the tranquility of Germany, that it may be safe from the attacks of the marquis of Brandenburgh.  I cannot say what is proposed respecting the French (king), for I have not heard.  I wish the people of Germany would not so rashly trust in foreign princes who are of a different religion from themselves.The point of view in this account, obviously religious, is by no means unintelligent and evinces a definite interest and opinion.  Since her husband was not with her at the time of writing, these results are all the more significant.  In her letters to Bullinger she at no time takes up theoretical discussions, as does her husband in his letters to the foreign divines.  Nor are her letters as highly polished in diction or as indicative of a background of reading as are those of Lady Jane Grey to Bullinger.  Thus, for example, writes Lady Jane:
For you are not only, as St. James says, a diligent herald and
preacher of the gospel, and of the holy commands of God, but also a
true observer and doer of them; and you manifest in your own life the
practice that your precepts enjoin, not deceiving yourself.  Neither,
in-deed, do you resemble those who behold their natural
face in a glass, and, as soon as they have gone away, forget the form
of it; but you preach true and sound doctrine,and by your manner of
life afford an example and pattern for others to follow what you both
enjoin and practise... Were I indeed to extol you as truth requires, I
should need either the oratorical powers of Demosthenes, or the
eloquence of Cicero.1Zurich Letters, iii, 9.  See also the quotation from another letter of Lady Jane to Bullinger, pp. 21-22, this paper.Less pretentious, Anne Hooper's letters are more intimate, concerned with the affairs of everyday life, expressive of warm friendship.  To Bullinger and his wife she stands somewhat in the relation of a daughter.  
If your son should happen to come to England, I shall have a better opportunity both of writing, and also in some measure of repaying your paternal affection for us, and which I value more than the richest treasures of gold or silver.I recognised, my venerable friend, in the letter you lately wrote me, your wonted kindness; you shew yourself so anxious about me, that I could not expect more even if you were my father.I pray you, my father, to salute your wife, my mother affectionately in my name.She beseeches Bullinger to recommend to "master Hooper to be more
moderate in his labour: for he preaches four, or at least three times
every day."  She considers it her duty to give an account of her
daughter Rachel, the more so, no doubt, since Bullinger was the child's godfather.  At the time of Anne Hooper's first letter Rachel could have been no more than three years old.  We are therefore compelled to consider from this account that she was something of a prodigy and also that she had careful instruction.
First, then, you must know that she is well acquainted with English, and that she has learned by heart within these three months the form of giving thanks, the ten commandments, the Lord's prayer, the apostle's creed, together with the first and second psalms of David.  And now, as she knows almost all her letters, she is instructed in the catechism.As early as December of 1549 John Hooper had written that his daughter was endued with a most happy memory and that of all languages she best understood the Latin.  Again in February, 1550, he wrote that she was making progress both in body and mind and that she understood the "English, German, French, and Latin languages very tolerably, and especially the Latin."  That John Hooper, perhaps more than his wife, was building hopes upon the future religious activity of his daughter in the same way as if she had been a son is an interesting fact.
You must know however that I have had no addition to my family since the time I quitted your godly society.  If the Lord will preserve my little daughter Rachel, so that she may embrace his Son Jesus Christ, and promote his cause, I shall think my desires abundantly accomplished even if I should have no more family.The little girl seems to have received diligent attention from both her father and her mother and to have become at an early age a painfully serious adherent of religion, though perhaps their accounts should not be read too literally.  It was upon the mother that the burden of instruction fell, as might be expected, since Hooper was preaching several times a day and was often from home.
She [Rachel] very frequently hears from her mother the great commendation of the country and place where she was born; and she is with great care and diligence instructed in the promises which she formally made to the church by means of your kindness and that of the wife of master Bibliander.  She sorely complains of my not more frequently saluting by letter so holy a church and such faithful ministers of Christ.  She now sends an entire piece of cloth as a token of her reverence and respect, one half to yourself, the other to the wife of master Bibliander; and she heartily thanks her heavenly Father, that by you as her sponsors she has been received into the society of his holy church.Surely one would be justified in saying that the little Rachel was without doubt in a religious home, the daughter of earnest parents, where the glorification of the Reformed church was the chief end in life.  Their son Daniel was not born until some time later, evidently only a short time before Anne Hooper left England.  Nothing is said of his training, but it was very likely similar to that accorded Rachel.Perhaps their zeal became less intense just after Hooper became Bishop of Gloucester; or perhaps Martin Micronius was not justified in his criticism of them to Bullinger.  He urged their counsellor to recommend meekness and gentleness to Hooper and to exhort Mistress Anna not "to entangle herself with the cares of this life."  He proceeds further:
Let her beware of the thorns, by which the word of God is choked.
It is a most dangerous thing for one who is in the service of Christ
to hunt after riches and honours.1Zurich Letters. iii, 576.  Dated, Aug. 14, 1551.Hooper himself had at one time passed criticism on Bernardine
Ochino's2See page 30. wife, who exhibited
herself in England "in dress and appearance as a French lady of rank."
But of what offence Anne Hooper was guilty, it is impossible to say.
She mentions in her letter to Bullinger dated from Gloucester in 1551
that she has had no leisure to write because she has been "overwhelmed
by so many and urgent engagements."  It is necessary to remember also
that the Reformed leaders, especially those of the Zurich group, were
very strict in their standards of godliness, and therefore the
criticism of Micronius cannot be considered too seriously.  Hooper
spoke of his wife as "a godly and wise woman."1Hooper, op. cit.,
p. 619.  John Foxe says of Hooper that his life was "such that
to the church and all churchmen, it be a light and example; to the
rest a perpetual lesson and sermon."2Foxe, op. cit., vi, 644.  He praises Hooper for his care of his children and for his religion at home as well as abroad.  
So that if you entered into the bishop's palace, you would suppose
yourself to have entered into some church or temple.  In every corner
thereof there was some smell of virtue, good example, honest
conversation, and reading of holy Scriptures.  There was not to be
seen in his house any courtly rioting or idleness; no pomp at all; no
dishonest word, no swearing could there be heard.3Ibid., vi, 644.Foxe draws this picture of the Hooper household after their removal
to Worcester, where they went upon Hooper's being appointed bishop of
that see as well as that of Gloucester.4D. N. B., xxvi,
304-305.  The bishop's palace in Worcester was in the shadow of
the cathedral of Worcester, on the river Severn;5Valentine Green, The History and
Antiquities of the City and Suburbs of Worcester, ii,
1. and there Anne Hooper made her home famous for hospitality
to the poor of the parish. Foxe continues:
Twice I was, as I remember, in his house in Worcester where, in his
common hall, I saw a table spread with good store of
meat, and beset full of beggars and poor folk: and I, asking his
servants what this meant, they told me that every day their lord and
master's manner was to have customably to dinner a certain number of
poor folk of the said city by course, who were served by four at a
mess, with hot and wholesome meats; and when they were served (being
before examined, by him or his deputies, of the Lord's prayer, the
articles of their faith, and ten commandments), then he himself sat
down to dinner, and not before.1Foxe, op. cit., vi, 644.Foxe relates the circumstance as Bishop Hooper's story; but we may
be very sure that it was Anne Hooper who directed these dinners, for
Hooper doubtless said to her as Luther said to his wife: "You have
full sovereignty here, and I award you, with all my heart, the command
in all household matters, reserving my rights in other points."2Luther, op. cit.,
DCXXVII, p. 300.  She had, by right of special license,
privilege of serving five or six guests "flesh and white meats" during
Lent and on other fasting days.3Hooper placed the request
before Cecil in April, 1551.  C. S. P. Dom., 1547-80.,
p. 32.  It was granted in June, 1551.  Strype,
Ec. Mem., II, ii, 265.  She seems, indeed, to
have entertained many guests.4Zurich Letters,
iii, 562, 564.  Micronius relates that John Ullenson and John
Utenhovius lived with them in London. These activities may have
taxed her strength, for Hooper speaks occasionally of her
lack of health after her coming to England.  In the summer of 1551 she
fell ill from sweating sickness, a prevalent malady of the season,
which, like the plague, often brought death in its wake.1 [ John Stowe, Annals, 1551.
p. 605.  Strype, Ec. Mem., II, ii, 491.  Eight hundred
persons died in London within the first week.   John Hooper,
too, was not robust and is described by Bishop Blandford as "much
afflicted with sciatic pains."2Green, op. cit., ii, 202-203.On the whole, however, the period at Worcester was happy and
useful; but it was destined to be brief.  The gift to John Hooper and
"his successors forever, of all the lordships and manors of
Alchurch,"3Strype, Ec. Mem., II, ii,
275.  November, 1552. and the order that "no person do demand a
fee of the Bishop of Worcester and Glocester"4Ibid., II, ii, 275.
December, 1552. had in the end little significance.  Edward VI,
having exhausted his frail resistance, died in 1553, and his elder
sister Mary came to the throne.  Mary was Catholic; John and Anne
Hooper belonged to the most advanced section of the Reformed church.
Therein lay a tragedy.  For Anne Hooper and for many other women in
England peace ceased to exist with the crowning of the new sovereign, a Queen.  The queen was after all but the earnest and zealous representative of a group who were as sincerely religious as were those who held the tenets of Reformed religion.  Each was equally unyielding, perhaps equally narrow.Whatever regard may have accrued to the wives of the clergy after
the passage of the bill of 1552 was forthwith removed.  Parliament
from October 23, 1553 to December 6, 1553, repealed nine acts which
had been enacted under Edward VI, all having to do with the
Reformation.1Strype, Ec. Mem., III, I,
83.  Among these was "utterly repelled voide, adnichillate and
of none effecte" an act "made for the Declaration of a Statute made
for the Mariage of Priestes and for the legittmacion of
their children."2Statutes of the Realm. IV, i, 202.  After the twentieth of December, 1553, the service, sacraments, etc., used in the last year of the reign of Henry VIII had to be followed.Although Bishop Hooper had opposed the placing of Lady Jane Grey
upon the throne and had declared himself in favor of Mary, he was
nevertheless one of the first of the bishops to be summoned for
examination.  He was ordered to London to answer Dr. Heath, who had
been deprived of the bishopric of Warcester under Edward VI, and Dr. Bonner, Bishop of London.  Before he could meet
them, he was taken before the Council at Richmond, August 29, 1553,
where his old enemy Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester -- deprived under
Edward VI by Ponet - met him with many taunts about his religion.
Since the laws of persecution were not yet revived, it was necessary
to condemn him on some charge other than that of religion; he was
therefore sent to the Fleet on account of debt to the queen.1Foxe, op. cit., vi, 645.  Burnet, op. cit., ii, 397.  Hooper, op. cit., Biographical Notice., p. xxii.On October 13, 1553, while he was in the Fleet, he wrote his wife
the letter bearing this caption:  "An exhortation to patience, sent to
his godly wife Anne Hooper: whereby all the true members of Christ may
take comfort and courage to suffer trouble and affliction for the
profession of his holy gospel."2Hooper, op. cit., pp. 578-588. The letter, which is
about three thousand words in length, is similar to many others
written during Mary's reign by ministers to members of their churches
to exhort them to courage under their trials.  Especially were the
women recipients of these letters, modeled after the epistles of
St. Paul. Hooper's letter begins:  "Our Saviour Jesus Christ, dearly
beloved and my godly wife, in St. Matthew's gospel said to his disciples, that it was necessary slanders should come."  He reminds her that in times past men born of the Flesh persecuted him born of the Spirit.  Corrupt minds are incapable of perceiving the truth and persecute in the name of God.  Since such dangers must come, Christians must bear them in patience as Christ commanded.  There should be no sedition, for Christ will protect Christians: the very hairs of their heads are numbered.  To people of God trials can be but  a gain and an advantage, but it is not the nature of man to bear troubles either of body or mind until he has been regenerated by the Spirit.  Man cannot endure his losses in this life unless he learns, as St. Paul commands, to think upon the certainty of heavenly joys in the life to come.  "But these things, my godly wife," Hooper continues, "require rather cogitation, meditation, and prayer, than words or talk."  He suggests definite scripture for her perusal, urging her again to remember that it is a reward to suffer for Christ.
Is it then any marvel, if such Christians as God delighteth in be
so mangled and defaced in this world, which is the kitchen and mill to
boil and grind the flesh of God's people in, till they achieve their
perfection in the world to come?  And as man looketh for the nutriment
of his meat when it is full digested, and not before; so must he look
for his salvation when he hath passed this troublous world, and not
before.  Raw flesh is not meat wholesome for man: and unmortified men
and women be no creatures meet for God.  Therefore Christ saith that his people must be broken and all-to torn in the mill of this world, and so shall they be most fine meal unto the heavenly Father.  And it shall be a christian man's part, and the duty of a mind replenished with the Spirit of God, to mark the order of God in all his things, how he dealeth with them, and how they suffer, and be content to let God do his will upon them; as St. Paul saith, they "weep until the number of the elects be fulfilled, and never be at rest," but look for the time when God's people shall appear in gloryWe must therefore patiently suffer, and willingly attend upon God's doings, although they seem clean contrary, after our judgment, to our wealth and salvation... When Christ would make the blind man to see, he put clay upon his eyes, which, after the judgment of man, was means rather to make him double blind than to give him his sight; but he obeyed, and knew that God could work his desire, what means soever he used contrary to man's reasons: and as touching this world, he useth all his after the same sort...But, my dearly beloved wife, you know how to perceive and to beware of the vanity and crafts of the devil well enough in Christ.  And that he may the better have patience in the Spirit of God, read again the 24th chapter of St. Matthew, and mark what difference is between the destruction of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the whole world; and you shall see that then there were left alive many offenders to repent: but at the latter day there shall be absolute judgment and sentence, never to be revoked, of eternal life and eternal death upon all men; and yet towards the end of the world we have nothing so much extremity as they had then, but even as we be able to bear.  So doth the merciful Father lay upon us now imprisonment (and, I suppose, for my part shortly death), now spoil of goods, loss of friends, and the greatest loss of all, the knowledge of God's word.  God's will be done!  I wish in Christ Jesu, our only Mediator and Saviour your constancy and consolation, that you may live for ever and ever; wherof in Christ I doubt not; to whom for his blessed and most painful pass on I commit you.  Amen.  Your brother in Christ.Thus did an imprisoned Reformation bishop in the sixteenth century address his wife.The letter has great significance.  It indicates the relation which
existed between John Hooper and his wife, and it definitely suggests the mental equipment and the religious training and experience with which Anne Hooper was able to meet her husband's Biblical exhortations.  If he had not been accustomed to discussing matters of religion with her, after his imprisonment he would hardly have written so at length and with so much certainty of being understood.  He states specifically that she knows well enough "how to perceive and to beware"; he refers to her scriptural reading; he adopts the attitude of one who presupposes full comprehension.  At the same time, the tenor of the letter throughout is that of one written by an instructor to an intelligent pupil.  That attitude is to be expected when we recall the generally accepted opinions of the relation of the husband to the wife as comparable to that of Christ to the Church.  The letter by its painful seriousness, by its all-pervading concern with matters of religion, by its formal expression of regard and its lack of intimate tenderness reveals poignantly the stark intensity of the lives of these two people, consumed with a passion for religion, almost to the exclusion of all else.John Knox wrote many letters giving spiritual counsel to his wife
and his mother-in-law, with whom he had a curious spiritual
affinity.1John Knox, Writings,
pp. 432-33; 437-39.  John Bradford wrote letters to several women, but especially to Mistress Joyce Hales, to whom he was indebted for his interest in election.
Now because I know you are like hereafter to have something to do
with some hereabouts in this thing, because by your means I was first
brought in talk or debating of this matter [election]; in that I am
thus drawn to wade in it, I thought good even to dedicate this, which
I have done herein, unto you, as well to be a help to you in this
matter, joining to it the explications of the places, (which places
and the explications I have sent to you at divers times,) as also to
be a pledge of my careful love and hearty desire I have for your
continuance in the truth: wherein I trust you stand presently when I
shall be dead and burned.1John Bradford, op. cit., I, 309-10.  Letters to Joyce Hales occur on pp. 307-30; 351-364.Bishop Ridley urged Mistress Glover to do her duty by her husband
in Christ, to suffer with him for his cause, which is Christ's cause,
"as the true faithful christian woman unto her husband is bound to
do...seeing your husband...to be your head."2Nicholas Ridley, Works,
p. 384.  Ed. by Christmas Park, Parker Society.  Numbers of
letters from various ones of the bishops are addressed to Mistress
Warcup3Strype, Mem., III, i, 224,
says that Mistress Anna Warcup, of the manor of English, in the parish
of Nuffield in Oxfordshire, was with Mistress Wilkinson distinguished
for beneficence to the Marian confessors and martyrs.  She was
instrumental in saving the life of Bishop Jewel. and to
Mistress Wilkinson,4Mistress Wilkinson is described by Foxe,
Uop. cit., vii, 511, as "a godly matron... and
singular patroness to the good saints of God and learned
bishops." who seem to have been especially active
in sending aid to those who were imprisoned.  Since Bishop Hooper
wrote letters both to Mistress Warcup and to Mistress Wilkinson,1Hooper, op. cit., pp. 601-604. it is probable that his wife knew them both.  By his reference in his letter to his wife of their loss of friends, inference may be made that there were not many who remained to give her sympathetic advice and friendly company after her husband was committed to the Fleet.That women were not spared by ministers in their exhortations to
martyrdom is evidenced by John Bradford's letter to Mistress Wilkinson
where he urges her to become doubly thankful if God should call her
forth for a rare blessing -- that of martyrdom, for nothing could be
so glorious as to lose this life.2Bradford, op. cit., ii, 182.  This appeal of the gain
of life by loss of it had its effect upon the women as well as upon
the men.  During the five years of Queen Mary's reign fifty-five women were martyred.1Foxe in the Acts and Monuments has record of 55 women who were martyred during Mary's reign.  Four of these are not included in the list of martyrs given by Samuel B. Maitland in Essays on the Reformation, pp. 449-455.  Arthur L. Cross in A History of England and Greater Britain, p. 363, fn. 2, states that there were 55 women who were martyred under Mary.  Thomas Bryce in The Register found in Select Poetry, i, Parker Society, recounts the martyrdom of a number of women.  Thomas Bacon was but expressing a general opinion when he said:
Ah, Lord! to take away the empire from a man, and to give it unto a
woman, seemeth to be an evident token of thine anger toward us
Englishmen.  For by the prophet thou, being displeased with thy
people, threatenest to set women to rule over them, as people unworthy
to have lawful, natural, and meet governors to reign over them.  And
verily, though we find that women sometimes bare rule among thy
people, yet do we read that such as ruled and were queens
were for the most part wicked, ungodly, superstitious, and given to
idolatry and to all filthy abominations.1Thomas Bacon, Prayers and Other Pieces, pp. 227-228.  Ed. by John Ayre.  Parker Society.John Knox in his The First Blast of the Trumpet against the
Monstrous Regiment of Women, published just at the close of
Queen Mary's reign, carried the idea against feminine rule to the
violent excess which he lived to rue under the scathing dislike of
Elizabeth.2The First Blast of the Trumpet was published in 1558 and was directed against Mary.  For the discussion of the subsequent dispute see the extracts from David Laing's Preface in the edition edited by Edward Arber, 1895.Bishop Hooper may have felt that his own wife might soon be
compelled to follow him to prison and even to the death he predicted
for himself from his earliest confinement.  He consequently urged her
departure from "out of the land from the hands of the cruel."3Hooper, op. cit.,
p. 597.  Bishop Cranmer advised departure to Mistress
Wilkinson, reminding her that Christ when his hour was not yet come
departed into Samaria to avoid the malice of the scribes and
Pharisees, and that he urged his disciples if they were pursued to fly
to another place.  Even of St. Paul it is reported that
"the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a
basket."1The Acts, ix, 25.  It
is Christian duty to seek some place where Christ may be served in
peace; Christians should preserve themselves for the perpetuation of
God's kingdom.2Thomas Cranmer, Letters and
Remains, pp. 444-445.  Ed. by John E. Cox.  Parker
Society.  The arguments of Cranmer were effective: Mistress
Wilkinson sought refuge in Frankfort, Germany, and died there in
1568.3Bradford, op. cit., ii, 39, fn. 3.Thus it was that there wee those who went into exile; and there were those who remained, some to recant and some to be burned.Because she was of foreign birth Anne Hooper would be assured of
safer passage out of England than would be accorded to any native
English woman.  Both the Germans and the French who had been invited
to come over in the reign of Edward VI for the further promotion of
the gospel were now required to leave.4Burnet, op. cit.,
ii, 402-403.   Peter Martyr was given safe conduct; John
à Lasco and a hundred and seventy-five of his congregation left
England in September, 1553.  Many Englishmen, about a
thousand, according to Burnet, fled in the company of the French
Protestants, although certificates from the French ambassador were
required for this privilege.  Anne Hooper very probably left England
with French friends, for she wrote Bullinger that she was conducted
safe to Antwerp and from there accompanied a suitable party to
Frankfort, where she joined a "female relative."   This relative, it
happens was the wife of Valerandus Pollanus, the minister of the
former Church of the Strangers in Somerset, England.1See page 161.Frankfort was a popular resort for both the English and the French exiles.  Anne Hooper wrote Bullinger on April 20, 1554, that the senate had granted liberty to the foreign church for their whole ecclesiastical ministry both of the "word and the sacraments."  Master Pollanus was chief pastor of the Church of the White Virgins, which was opened by him on April 19, 1554.  In September of that year Mistress Hooper sent Bullinger a book "from which you may know the constitution and general order of our little church: in which should there be any thing which you think requires correction, you will exceedingly oblige him by letting him [Pollanus] know; and I entreat you to do so for Christ's sake."She was thus not a member of that group of English
refugees in Frankfort who formed a separate congregation in July,
1554,1For the account of this congregation and
the dispute, see Strype, Ec. Mem., III, i, 404-405;
Burnet, op. cit., ii, 681-682;
D. N. B., xxxi, 312-313. using with permission
the French church.  This congregation subscribed to the French
confession of faith but were allowed the English order of service with
some omissions in responses and in liturgy.  Anne Hooper makes no
reference to the quarrel ensuing between this congregation and that of
the exiles in Strasburg, who offered to join their fellow believers in
Frankfort; but she could scarcely have lived in Frankfort as a member
of the French church and not have been aware of the flanks of
Knoxians, representing Frankfort, and of the Coxians, representing
Strasburg, who were waxing tempestuous by the spring of 1555.  It is
perhaps odd that she expresses no opinion, since Bullinger with Calvin
and Martyr was to be consulted should further dispute arise after the
settlement agreed upon early in 1555.Anne Hooper had at this time troubles far more poignant than those of church disputes.  Her husband had remained in England.
Once I did flee, said he, and take me to my feet; but now because I
am called to this place and vocation I am thoroughly persuaded to
tarry, and to live and die with my sheep.1Foxe, op. cit., vi, 645.He continued in prison2The best account of his
imprisonment is found in his own report, Later
Writings, pp. 619-621. and was deprived of his
bishopric on March 20, 1554.  Seven of the married bishops were made
an example for the rest of the clergy who had in similar manner broken
their vows.3Burnet, op. cit.,
ii, 444-441; Strype, Ec. Mem., III, i, 168.
Henry Machyn, Diary, p. 58.  Ed. by John Gough,
Cam. Soc.  On January 28, 1555, he was called before Bishop
Winchester and examined.4For the account of his trial
and execution see Foxe, op. cit., vi, 640-643;
Burnet, op. cit., ii, 483-486; Strype,
Ec. Mem., III, i, 282-291.  The first charge cited against him
was his refusal to renounce his wife, to whom, according to the
examiners, he should never have been married: "Being a priest, and of
a religious order, expressly professing a rule approved by law, he took a certain woman to be his wife, de
facto, whereas de jure he ought not, and
cohabited with her in wicked and unlawful marriage; and preached,
taught, and by books set forth, published, and defended such pretended
marriages to be lawful and valid by God's law."1Strype, Ec. Mem., III, i, 287. He was also denounced for his views on adultery and for his refusal to support the doctrine of transubstantiation.Although Anne Hooper had word of him,2Hooper wrote to "W. P." on April 29, 1554:  "I have sent you letters for my wife, who is at Frankfort in High Almain; I pray you, convey them trustily and speedily, and seal them close after the merchants' fashion, that they be not opened."  Ibid., III, i, 275.  On Sept. 22, 1554, Anne Hooper wrote Bullinger: "For hitherto, by the goodness of God, he has always been allowed to write to me, and to receive my letters." she could not have heard often, for he mentions the necessity of writing by stealth.  His letters frequently miscarried, and he urged members of his congregation to write her in his stead.
For God's sake, as soon as ye can, send my poor wife and children
some letter from you, and my letter also which I sent of late to
Downton.  As it is told me, she had never letter from me sith the
coming of master S. unto her: the more to blame the messengers; for I have written divers times.  The Lord comfort them, and
provide for them; for I am able to do nothing in worldly things.  She
is a godly and wise woman; and if my meaning had been accomplished,
she should have had necessary things: but that I meant God can
perform, to whom I commend both her and you all.1Hooper, op. cit., p. 619.  Dated January 21, 1555.He likewise wrote Bullinger, urging his old counselor to comfort his wife and to "exhort her to bring up our children carefully, Rachel, your little god-daughter, an exceedingly well-disposed girl, and my son Daniel, and piously to educate them in the knowledge and fear of God."  Anne Hooper was at the same time writing to Bullinger not to deny her husband the comfort of letters and also reminding her friend of her own "need of the prayers and sweet consolations" of her friends to aid her in bearing her burden of widowhood. 
I earnestly entreat you therefore, not to cease pleading for me
with the Lord in your prayers, and by a letter from time to time to
arouse my spirit, which, to say the truth, I very often feel to be all
but dead through grief.  And I now require the aid of all godly
persons, although I am never entirely forsaken of the Lord, who
sometimes refreshes me with the anticipation of a better life.  But
you yourself know how suitable to a diseased mind is the conversation
of a sincere friend.  I trust in the Lord, that the letter which you
are writing to my dear husband, will afford him no less consolation
than the one to myself; and in his name I thank you for that service.  He is indeed worthy of the kind attention of all godly persons.Sometime in the spring of 1555 Anne Hooper had to learn of her
husband's martyrdom: he was burned at the stake in Gloucester on the
ninth of February, 1555.1See page 192.  To Bullinger she turned again for special consolation and guidance:
I am dead here till God shall again unite me to him.  I thank you
for your most godly letter.  I certainly stand much in need of such
consolations, and of your prayers.  I pray you therefore by the holy
friendship of the most holy martyr my husband, of whom being now
deprived I consider this life to be death, do not forsake me.  I am
not one who is able to return your kindness; but you will do an
acceptable service to God, who especially commends widows to your
protection.2The original Latin of this letter is printed in Zurich Letters, iii, 774.She requested Bullinger to publish a book of her husband's, the
manuscript of which he had sent her before his death.  She had first
asked the favor of Peter Martyr, who was then in Strasburg, but Martyr
refused because of Hooper's doctrine of the eucharist, not then
accepted in Stras-burg.  She had permission of the senate
at Frankfort to have the book printed there, but she preferred that
Bullinger should revise it and have it printed in Zurich under his
direction.  She gives no indication of the title of the book; and,
since Hooper wrote some twenty-four pieces during his
imprisonment,1Strype, Ec. Mem., III, i, 282. it is difficult to identify the particular manuscript in question.Whether the farewell of this letter of April 11, 1555, closed the
correspondence between Anne Hooper and her old friend Bullinger cannot
be determined.  At least there is no later letter available; but there
would surely have been other letters about the publication of the
book.  More exactly, however, a postscript and not the formal farewell
from a "loving gossip and sister in Christ" closed this last letter to
Bullinger.  The postscript is curiously interesting and even a little
gratifying; for though it reflects the bitterness of her recent
experience and the habit of interpreting Biblically, it also
indicates that she who was so entirely trained in patience was not
without some spark of human indignation.  This is the postscript:
Your god-daughter Rachel send you an English coin, on which are the
effigies of Ahab and Jezebel.1The English money of this period bore the effigies of Philip and Mary.With the word Jezebel, the last we have from her, Anne Hooper condemns the queen who, as religious and as earnest as Anne herself, had brought suffering and exile to Anne Hooper and death to John Hooper.  With that significant word Anne Hooper's story ends.The story is not so colorful as is that of Anne Askew.  There is no
bold and daring martyrdom to relate, no adroit fencing with examiners,
no formal written testimonial of religious experiences.  And yet Anne
Hooper left her home for the sake of religion; she came to England,
aware of her husband's prophecy of death for himself and experiencing
opprobrium for her marriage.  Her story is not an impressive in
erudition as is that of Lady Jane Grey; and yet she wrote letters in
Latin to one of the most renowned men of her time.  She knew also
Hebrew, French, and English, and she regretted that she did not know
German.  She wrote intelligently of current affairs, and she met the
teachings of her husband with understanding.  She was a careful and
intelligent teacher of her children, holding Reformed religion as the motivating force.  Because of that force one looks in vain for lightness and humor in her story, but one finds only accounts of patience and earnest godliness.Through all she deferred to masculine guidance.  She accepted the
inferiority of her sex as a Christian tenet set down by St. Paul and
therefore to be followed.  So she was taught by all the Reformed
leaders.  Her husband and his associates were preceptors to whom she
could listen.  Despite her belief in her native inferiority she never
questioned that she must show equal strength and patience in the
religious life: she had been redeemed by Christ as had her husband.
The force which molded this attitude was a potent one and significant
not for one century but for many.III
KATHERINE
THE LADY PASTON
A SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PORTRAITIn February of 1603 Thomas Holland1Thomas Holland of Quiddenham married Mary
Knyvett in 1601.  She died in 1605.  His second wife was Mary Wigmore.
Francis Blomefield and Charles Parkins, History of the County
of Norfolk, v, 163; i, 344.  He was knighted in 1608.  Henry
Mason, The History of Norfolk, p. 234.  Chosen for
Parliament in 1625. Ibid., p. 251.  Sheriff of
Norfolk, in 1618 and 1625.  Pub. Rec. Office Lists and
Indexes, ix, 88-9.  He died in 1626.  London
Times, Feb. 3, 1931, p. 15. was writing to his
mother-in-law, the Lady Muriel Knyvett:2Wife of Sir Thomas Knyvett of Ashwellthorpe.  Index of the Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum, 1854-75, p. 1115.Good Madame I muste thanke yor Lad: yt will impart unto mee a matter of such secrecy the
knowledge wherof I doe no litle reioce at and pray yt the successe may bee psperous and the sequele answerable to your good
likings wherof there is noother likelihoode your pra' considerations
being grounded upon good circumstances: I would to god our other
sister were in as good a forwardness wch  I hope
will shortly take place:3Add. MS. 27447, f. 143.  Dated Feb. 16, 1602 [3].  Not all MSS. to which reference is made in this study are dated.  Dated MSS. will be so noted; other MSS. have been placed in chronological sequence, when possible, by means of content.In three months this matter of such secrecy had become public
knowledge, and there was entered upon the Parish Register at
Ashwellthorpe in Norfolk this item:
1603. Edmund Paston and Catherine Knyvet, Married 28 April; she was
daughter of Thomas Knyvet, Esq.1Blomefield, op. cit., v, 163.There has been some confusion about the identity of Lady Katherine Knyvett Paston:a.  In the Reports of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, vol. vii; App., p. 530, appears this footnote as explanation for an excerpt printed from Add. MS. 36988, f. 32:  "Lady Katherine Paston, wife of Sir William Paston and daughter of Sir Thomas Knyvett."  This is in part erroneous.  The Lady Katherine Paston to whom her son William was writing from Cambridge in 1626, as the MS. of the excerpt indicates, was wife of Sir Edmund Paston.  Numerous references within Add. MSS. 27447 and 36988 testify to that fact.  Catherine Bertie, daughter of Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsey, was wife of Katherine Knyvett Paston's son William.  Add. MS. 27447, ff 274v-275, MS. of the marriage articles; John and J. A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses, I,iii, 318.  Old Sir William Paston, great-grandfather to the above-named William, was married to Frances Clere.  Visitations of Norfolk, Harleian Society, xxxiv, 217; Thomas Fuller, The Worthies of England, ii, 140; Venn, op. cit., I, iii, 317.   b.  Charles Romance in The Calls of Norfolk and Suffolk, p. 26, has the statement, "Katherine Kerewitt, wife of Sir Edmund Paston."  The confusion of Knyvett or Knevet with Kerewitt may have been caused by a misreading of the secretary hand."Our other sister"2Muriel Knyvett was married to
Sir Edmund Bell, Knt., Oct. 30, 1605.  Blomefield, op. cit., v. 163.  Their son Robert was
posthumously born, 1608.  Venn, op. cit., I, i,
128.  Blomefield, op. cit., xi, 10, states that
"Muriel, daughter of Sir Thomas Knevet of Ashwellthorp," was wife of
Sir Charles le Gross of Crostwick.  If Muriel Knyvett Bell remarried,
it was after October, 1627.  Add. MS. 27400, f. 22.
Letter from Lady Mundeford to Lady Bell. did not thus gratify
the anxiety of her worthy brother-in-law for two years yet, and he
doubtless wrote to the Lady Knyvett many other sentences beginning, "I
would to God," before he could again say, "Your practical considerations being grounded upon good circumstances."It was but natural that Lady Muriel Knyvett and her husband, Sir
Thomas, should desire suitable marriages for their daughters.  Each
parent boasted a proud family inheritance.  Sir Thomas Knyvett was the
descendant of the famous translator of Froissart, John Bourchier,
second Baron Berners, and, indeed, the inheritor of all save a small
portion of that great nobleman's property.1Edmund Knyvett, sergeant porter of Henry
VIII, second son of Edmund Knyvett of Buckenham Castle in Norfolk,
married Jean or Jane Bourchier, daughter of John, Baron Berners.
Jane's only sister dying without issue, the estate of Lord Berners
came to her.  Jane Bourchier Knyvett survived her husband by many
years and likewise her eldest son, John, upon whom she made a
settlement at his marriage with Agnes Harcourt.  The bulk of her
estate passed on her death in 1561 to Thomas Knyvett, son of her
eldest son, John.  The part of the estate held by John's wife, Agnes,
came to Thomas at her death in 1579.  Blomefield, op. cit., v, 153-4.  Sir Thomas Knyvett petitioned
the Crown to grant him the barony of Berners, but he died in 1616
before the claim was ratified.  In 1720 Elizabeth, a
great-granddaughter of Sir Thomas, was confirmed in the barony.
Dictionary of National Biography, vi, 13.  Sir
Thomas' daughter, the Katherine2Lady Katherine Paston signed
her name with the K.  It is sometimes
printed with the C.  See Blomefield, op. cit., v. 163. of our present concern,
may have been given the name of her great-great-grandmother, the wife
of John Bourchier, Lord Berners, a woman noble in her own
right -- Catherine Edward, she was, daughter of the Duke of
Norfolk.1Blomefield, op. cit., v. 152.Catherine Howard Bourchier died in 1535.The Lady Muriel Knyvett bore the name Parry before her marriage.
Her father, Sir Thomas, was at one time Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire,
member of the Privy Council, controller of the household to Queen
Elizabeth, master of the court of wards and liveries.2D. N. B., xliii, 385;
Blomefield, op. cit., v. 154.  Blomefield has
the account of this sir Thomas Parry confused with that of his
son.   Her mother was one of the ladies of the privy
chamber.3D. N. B., xliii, 385.
Lady Muriel's brother Sir Thomas was even more illustrious than her
father, being ambassador to France under Elizabeth and James, a member
of the Privy Council, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.4Ibid., xliii, 385.
This Sir Thomas Parry died in 1616 and was buried at Westminster, as
was his father.  Since Muriel Parry was one of those fortunate
young ladies, an heiress,5Blomefield, op. cit., v, 154, footnote. Sir Thomas
Knyvett was able to thank God upon his own marriage for a consummation
of "practical considerations."  The two of them, however, seem to have
been liberal enough with this vast amount of property,
being noted for their bounteous hospitality and their kindness to the
poor.  "The Ballad of Ashwellthorpe" was written in praise of Sir
Thomas' goodness, and the Lady Muriel was called "Norfolk's Wonder,"
as token of her virtue.1 [ Blomefield, op. cit., v, 155.Nevertheless, they did have four daughters,2Abigail, married to Edmund Mundeford, 1600;
Mary, married to Thos. Holland, 1602; Katherine, married to Edmund
Paston, 1603; Muriel, married to Edmund Bell, 1605.  Ibid., v. 163. and it was not unseemly to
desire their children to be well placed.  To Thomas, junior, the
greater portion of the Knyvett property would go;3Sir Thomas Knyvett, jr., entered Cambridge,
1584; was knighted, 1603; married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Nathaniel
Bacon of Stiffkey, 1592.  Died, 1605.  Venn, op. cit., I, iii, 28.  Since old Sir Thomas lived
until 1617, Blomefield, op. cit., v. 154, it
was, as events happened, his grandson who became his heir.  It is this
last Sir Thomas Knyvett who was so loyal a Royalist in the Civil War.
His letters are now being edited.  London Times,
Feb. 3, 1931, p. 13. therefore, all the more reason for wise
marriages on the part of the Misses Knyvett.  It was no small cause
for rejoicing when a Paston presented himself as suitor.  Long had
that family lived in Norfolk and great had it grown in name and
estate.4"Next it is Paston a small townlet which
yet hath given sirname to a Family growne great, both in Estate and
alliance, since they matched with an Heiresse of Beary and Maultbye."
William Camden, Britannia, p. 479.  The Pastons had
been in Norfolk since the Conquest.  Blomefield, op. cit., xi, 57-58; Vis. of
Norfolk. Har. Soc., xxxiv, 214.  Edmund Paston was the grandson of Sir William Paston of Paston and
Oxnead,1Oxnead Hall is named as one of the two
principal houses built in Norfolk during Elizabeth's reign.  The
material was brick.  William Harrison, A Description of
England,  Pts. 2 and 3, App. 2, p. xlii.  Oxnead Hall was
built by Clement Paston, who in his will stipulated that the Queen's
chamber should be kept permanently for her.  Upon Clement's death in
1599 Sir William Paston, his nephew, became his chief heir.
Add. MS. 27447, f 228, one of the MSS. of the Chancery
suit in 1618-19; Blomefield, op. cit., vi, 489.
The Dictionary of National Biography, xliv, 6,
incorrectly states that Clement died in 1597. holder of many
manors and advowsons,2I have been able to discover
no definite record of all the property in Sir William's possession.
See Blomefield, op. cit., vi, 125-6, 315; viii,
84, 87, 102, 127, 259-60; ix, 315, 377; xi, 19-20, 196, 194, 210, 211,
229.  Also Henry Manship, The History of Great
Yarmouth, p. 206.  The income from that portion of the estate
which was enfeoffed in 1603 and in 1607 to his own use was L 3300 per
annum.  Add. MS. 27447, f. 226, a MS. of the Chancery
suit, 1618. a powerful old gentleman in Norfolk,3Sir William Paston, 1528-1610.
Matriculated at Cambridge, 1546.  Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in
1565; knighted, 1578; founder of North Walsham Grammar School.  Venn,
op. cit., I, iii, 317.  His effigy in armour is
visible in North Walsham Church, with a Latin epitaph recording acts
of munificence on his part.  Paston Letters, ed. by
James Gairdner.  Intro. and Supp., p. xxxiii.  Entertained 1608 at the
"town's charge."  Great Yarmouth Records,
p. 265. who in his turn pointed with pride to his inheritance
from that worthy, William Paston, the second judge of the Common
Pleas, "learned in the laws of this Realm."4Fuller, op. cit.,
ii, 128.  We should  not mention the fact  that
Edmund was the son of Christopher Paston, since to his family
apparently Christopher Paston was non-existent.  Upon the tombstone of
his daughter Bridget there appears, "Wife of Sir John Heveningham and
granddaughter of Sir William Paston."1Blomefield, op. cit., v, 94.  In 1611 at an inquisition
Christopher was declared to be Fatuus et Ideota
and to have been so for twenty-four years.2"At the inquisition taken at Norwich Castle, September 3d, in
the 9th year of James I before Sir Henry Gawdy, Sir Thomas Berney,
Knts.  Thomas Corbett Esq. Henry Branthwayte, Esq. feodary, and John
Forest, Esq. escheator of Norfolk by virtue of the King's commission
the jurors find that the said Christopher appeared before them
personally and that he was Fatuus et Ideota,
and had been so for 24 years past."  Blomefield, op. cit., vi, 490.The inquisition is
recorded in C. S. P. Dom., 1611-18, p. 268. No details
are given.See D. N. B., xliv, 8; Christopher is
said to be insane.  See Paston Letters,  Intro. and
Supp., p. xxxiii, "From Sir William the line descended through
Christopher Paston (who, on succeeding his father, was found to be an
idiot, incapable of managing his affairs)."  Fortunately for
Edmund modern science with its warning against the danger of
perpetuating mental diseases could not speak; the Knyvetts could
disregard the fatuus Christopher and his
somewhat poverty-stricken wife, Anne Audley,3That Anne Audley's father, Philip Audley,
and her brothers were losing their property was evident.  See
Blomefield, op. cit., ix, 479; vi, 210.
and think only of the successful and influential grandfather, Sir
William, and the many acres of Paston property.Thus it happened that in 1603 Katherine Knyvett and Edmund Paston
were married, and Katherine very likely went as a bride to be mistress
of Paston Hall in Paston.1There is no definite record
that Paston Hall was in Katherine's jurisdiction before 1618, but
there is no question from the content of letters of that year that she
had lived there for many years.  Add. MS. 27447,
ff. 156, 160.  Old Sir William had removed to the more
pretentious Oxnead in 1599,2D. N. B., xliv,
6. and Christopher and Anne Paston were living at Swanton
Abbot.3Blomefield, op. cit., vi, 490.  All three families,
however, were subject to the dispensations of Sir William, for with
tenaciousness of an imperious nature he had estated the Paston
property in trust to the use of himself "without Impeachment" until his death.1"Sr
William Paston grandfather of the plt [Edmund
Paston] and father of Xpifer Paston by seuer all
Conveiance the first dat 8 Aprill Jar 1603 the other dat Marcy 5 Jar
1607 did estate diuers Mannors
messuages and lands etc val^ 3300tp ann vpon the defdts [Sir John Heveningham,
Edward Paston, John Jermy] and others who are sinc dead in trust to
the vse of himself for his life wt out
Impeachment."  Add. MS. 27447, f. 226, a MS. of the
Chancery suit, 1618.cf. W. S. Holdsworth, A History of
English Law, iv, 423;  "It happened in many cases that a man
conveyed his land to feoffees on the understanding that they held to
his use until he gave them further directions.  In such a case he
continued his possession and enjoyed the profits."Also, Ibid., iv, 429: "Finally it should be noted that at
this period (15 and 16 centuries) it was only a feoffee of an estate
in fee simple who could hold to another's use.  A feoffee of an estate
for life or in tail could hold only to his own use."Sir William
Paston held the property in fee simple: "Sr
William Paston who was the Grandfather of the same mannors & lands in the disposinge &
intaylinge therof he neu limitted any pte
thereof nor any estate or remainder therein to the saide Edward Paston
nor his father but for wante of issue male of his other sonnes
(alwayes omittinge ye  father of the said Edward
Paston & his children) he did limitt the ffee simple to the
saide Sr  Willm Paston the Grandchilde."
Add. MS. 27447, f. 230, a MS. of the Chancery suit,
1618.  Not content with absolute control during his
lifetime he so arranged the conveyances that his wishes might guide
the estate for many years to come.2Holdsworth, op. cit., iv, 437:  "Therefore the owner, through
the agency of this body feoffees may control the fate of the property
long after his death."  With his incompetent son Christopher as
the direct heir, he doubtless felt impelled to provide carefully for
the preservation of the Paston estate. He may also have
had some fear that the grandson Edmund might in time be unfit to cope
with business details.  At any rate, after Sir William's death in
16101Add. MS. 27447, f. 226,
previously described. Katherine and Edmund received L 800 a
year from the feoffees for their maintenance.2Ibid., f. 226:
"That with the pffitts of the prmisses from & after the death of Sr wm they allow 600£
and 200£p ann
to xpifer to kepe A standinge howse duringe his life and to the plt  [Edmund] 800£ p
ann and after the death of xpifer 200£
more to be added."  Old Sir William had also assumed that there
would be Paston heirs to succeed Edmund, and therefore he carefully
provided for the entail upon the eldest son and then upon nine other
sons in order, should the eldest die.  If all went well, the younger
children were to have portions from the profits.3The exact arrangement was as follows:  (See
page 9, fn. 1, quotation from Add. MS. 27447, f. 226
for the first part of the arrangement.)  "And after to the vse of the
feoffees the deft etc dureinge the lifes of the plt [Edmund] and of xpifer Paston the plt father sone and heire of the said Sr  William and the longer liver of them & for
xxi yeres next after the death of the surviud of them  Then to the
first issue male of the plt  in taile &
so to the tenth etc wt  diuers
Remiron."  (Portions and arrangements for the younger
children follow.)  Add. MS. 27447,
f. 226.cf. Holdsworth, op. cit., iv,
475:  "A person seised in fee simple is able to convey the property to
trustees to the use of himself and his heirs till marriage, and from
and after the marriage to the use of himself for life, with remainder
to the use of his eldest and other sons successively in tail, with
remainder to the right heirs.  The claims of his widow and younger
children can be met by rent charges on the property secured by
limiting long terms of years to the use of the trustees in priority to
the estates tail."By 1618, however, there were but two small boys, William, eight,
and Thomas, four;1Add. MS. 27447, f. 226.
This MS. may be dated from letters in the series which is concerned
with the question at hand: f. 166, John Heveningham to Katherine
Paston, October 7, 1618; f. 168, Thomas Holland to Katherine Paston,
October 28, 1618; f. 181, J. Heveningham to K. Paston, January 18,
1619; f. 183, K. Paston to J. Heveningham, January 20, 1619.The
exact statement in f. 226 reads:  "There was noe sonnes or dawghters
at the tyme of the conveyance but sinc two sonnes the eldest 8 years
old the yonger 4 yeres old." and the Lady Katherine and Sir
Edmund desired to have the surplus money from the profits invested for
the protection of these sons.2Add. MS. 27447,
f. 226v, a MS. of the Chancery suit.  "The plt
desire is to haue lands bought with the monyes now in hand wt  most conveniency & still as yt shalbe
received wherby the porcons may be secured yf any yonger children
happen and the ouer  plus to the heire male of the plt at 21 yeres & yf noe yonger children
happen then the whole to those now in beinge."  By that time
Sir Edmund may have become incapable of managing affairs, since all of
the informal business details of the Lady Katherine.3The formal suit was filed in Sir Edmund's
name.  Ibid., f. 226v.  It was to her
that the feoffees wrote about the advisability of purchasing land with
the surplus income.4Ibid., f. 164,
J. Heveningham to K. Paston, October 6, 1618; f. 166, same to same,
October 7, 1618.  It was she who bore the brunt of their
criticism and jealousy.  According to the conveyances of
Sir William Paston1Add. MS. 27447, ff. 226,
226v, MSS. of the Chancery suit. the feoffees from the
beginning of their office were supposed to put the surplus money in
security, and they resented the movement to compel fulfillment of the
contract.  Mr. Jermy was particularly averse to making any written
agreement.2Ibid., f. 166,
J. Heveningham to K. Paston, Oct. 7, 1618: "Mr Jermy sayth he will performe that which heretofore he hath promised for the buyinge of land for the children with such money as is remayning in his hands & he sayth he hath entered bonds for the securyty of the money, but for settinge his hand to any thinge which you desire, which now at this present I propownded to him, he will not by any means be drawen to."  Katherine Paston wrote John Heveningham:   
Mr  Jarmis frowardnes hathe Cawsed much
truble to vs all... he hathe shewed so many rare devises sinc this
bisnes begane that I can proue he hathe an extradordinary
invention.3Ibid., f. 179.Edward Paston was jealous of his wealthier cousins, and Sir John
Heveningham was negligent, possibly because he was the youngest of the
living feoffees4Ibid.,
f. 226v. and was desirous of becoming the sole feoffee.  One
result of the suit was the creation of new feoffees.5Add. MS. 27447, f. 175,
K. Paston's petition.  Sir John Holland wrote sympathetically
to Lady Paston, "Be not perplexed either with Sr Jo:  Neglect or Mr  Pastons
Jelousie neither of wch  can hurt you."1Add. MS. 27447, f. 177.  March 2, 1619 [20].  A letter from Muriel Bell to her sister Katherine relates with much spiciness the gossip which attended this "Greatt bussines in hand."
I being att kettringhame [the home of Sir John Heveningham] did
ther meett w m  Litle... he came vnto me and sayde;  O madame is in a
busines; that I fear will work her much disscontent in the end I asked
his reason; the cause being so good; your demands so just your course
so temperatt Why itt should be thought; to be so dangerous for
you... he wished me withall to consider the times Whatt they are and
the manner of proceeding of thatt courtt what itt is... he sayd thatt
the monys in the feoffees hands should be imployed in purchaseing of
Land; I sayd if yt  Whould haue ben granted vnto
you Whould neuer haue stured out of doores abought itt for itt is all
you haue dessiered.2Ibid., f. 221.Lady Paston made the trip to London for the Michaelmas term of
Chancery Court3Ibid., f. 168,
Thomas Holland to Katherine Paston, October 28, 1618.Although
the Statute of Uses, 1535, provided that numerous cases for uses be
tried in the courts of the common law, there were exceptions, among
them a trust for a long term of years, which would be controlled by
Chancery Court.  See Holdsworth, op. cit.,
v. 304. in 1618 where in the name of Sir Edmund she
presented the bill against the living feoffees,1Add. MS. 27447,
f. 226v. her brother-in-law, Sir Heveningham;2Sir John Heveningham was husband of
Edmund's only sister, Bridget.  He was the sole executor of Sir
William Paston's purchased lands as apart from the inheritance.  Ibid., ff. 228, 230, MSS of the suit. her
cousin, Edward Paston;3Edward Paston was son of
Thomas Paston, who was brother to Erasmus, the father of Sir
William. Blomefield, op. cit., viii,
330. and John Jermy of Norwich,4John Jermy was Justice of the Peace in
Norfolk in 1614.  Stiffkey Papers, Cam. Soc., xxvi, 34.
Commissioner for subsidies.  Ibid., xxvi,
84. demanding that they secure the surplus, as the conveyances
stipulated,5Add. MS. 27447, ff. 226,
226v.  The conveyances stipulated that the money should be secured,
but they did not state the exact manner. and for the benefit of
her sons. Then when answer had been made by the feoffees that they
were willing to purchase lands and estate them upon her children,6Ibid.,
f. 226. she heard and answered the quarrel of Sir John
Heveningham and Edward Paston concerning the further entailing of the
property, should Sir Edmund's line of in-heritance
fail.1Add. MS. 27447, f. 183.  At
the end of this letter, signed by Katherine Paston, is this statement:
"The copy of my letter to sr  Jo: Hev: the 20 of
January 1619," a statement which indicates the care with which she
acted.  Sir John Heveningham presented reasons in court during
Hilary term, 1620,2Ibid., f. 181.
Letter from J. Heveningham to K. Paston, January 18, 1619 [20].
to the effect that the newly purchased property should be estated upon
his wife, Bridget, the sister of Edmund;3Ibid., f. 230,
MS. of Heveningham's reasons.  Edward Paston answered his
reasons by pointing out that since the inheritance was entailed upon
him and his sons, the purchased lands should be conveyed in the same
manner.4Ibid., f. 228,
MS. of Edward Paston's reasons.  The decision of the court was
for the benefit of Edward.5Ibid., f. 183.  Letter from K. Paston to J. Heveningham Jan. 20, 1619  20.  Katherine Paston had no opinions about the inheritance rights of a woman as such; her regret that Bridget, Edmund's sister, should not be favored with the property settlement was personal only.  With a distinctly maternal feeling she was content when she found the land arranged for the benefit of her own children; she took up no arms to defend the rights of the near female line.
Now for that I haue bine much taxed fro seekinge to prefer my
Cosine Paston and his sonns in the lands to be purchased before you
and your posteryty; it is suffitient for me to know my selfe
wronged... my Lord Chancellor vpon heeringe of the Cawse debated on
all parts... he wt  the mr
of the Rowls, at that time, did thinke it most meet to settell the
estate of the new purchised lands as the others wear; therby to go so
neer to sr  Willame pastons his purpos as he
coold and as it wear to strengthen rayther then to weaken the
same... my hart is very full for being wrongfully condemned by you and
my good sister Heveningham.1Add. MS. 27447, f. 183.   Jan. 20, 1619 [20].  Bridget, as Edmund's only sister, was, of course, the next general heir.  Had there been a younger brother, Edward Paston, the distant cousin, would have been given no consideration.It must be emphasized, however, that Lady Katherine was not
satisfied until the interests of her children were assured.  Because
the court of Chancery was slow with the final decree, at the Easter
term in 1619 she presented a petition to the Lord Chancellor, Francis
Bacon, asking that the matter be quickly acted upon.2Ibid., f. 175,
MS. of the petition.  Dated in another hand Apr. 29, 1619.  It
may be assumed from Bacon's answer to the petition that the business
was speedily dispatched.3Ibid., f. 175.  The answer of Bacon appears at the end of the petition.Even before the official termination of the question Lady Katherine
was in communication with Sir John Heveningham, Sir Thomas Holland,
and Edward Paston about the purchases to be made.1Add. MS. 27447, f. 172,
K. Paston to J. Heveningham; f. 177, T. Holland to K. Paston, Mar. 2,
1619 [20]; f. 185, same to same, Mar. 4, 1619 [20]; f. 209, Edward
Paston to K. Paston, April 15, 1624; f. 217, T. Holland to
K. Paston.  To Sir Thomas Holland, who had no claim upon Paston
Property, she looked for protection and honest guidance.2For the identity of Sir Thomas Holland see page 1.  Thus he wrote her: 
Be therefore of good cheere so long as my leggs will carry mee and
my best endeuour may pleasure you I will neuer faile you.3Ibid., f. 177.  March 2, 1619 [20].Assure yor  selfe so long as life remayneth
in my carcase I will not faile to performe the best offices yor  loue meriteth.4Ibid., f. 185.  March 4, 1619 [20].There was further difficulty in persuading John Jermy to submit the
amount of his receipts from the Paston property for the use of the
feoffees in buying land.  By 1623 Edward Paston was urging another
suit in Chancery and was advising the Lady Katherine to bring all former bills and answers to London to file
complaint against John Jermy.1Add. MS. 27447, f. 197, Edward Paston to K. Paston, May 26, 1623; f. 201, same to same, Jan. 2, 1623 [4]; The correspondence continued for over a year: f. 209, same to same, April 15, 1624,; f. 212, same to same, May 29, 1624.cf. Holdsworth, pp. cit., v, 317: "Thus in equity one executor could sue the other... one executor could compel the other to give security for the carrying out of a trust imposed upon them."  The correspondence fails to reveal whether or not the plaintiffs were successful, but in view of the former decree we may assume that Mr. Jermy would have been forced to abide by the decision.During the time that the Lady Katherine was concerned with the
settlement of the securities, she was likewise attending to the
routine affairs of business connected with the management of so large
a property.  In 1611 Sir Edmund Paston was the one to whom such
matters were brought for counsel;2This circumstance may be
inferred from a letter of Edward Paston to Sir Edmund, dated July 25,
1611, in which the payment of a legacy left Sir Edmund by Clement
Paston is discussed, Edward Paston being an executor for Clement
Paston.  Add. MS. 27447, f. 151. but after 1618,
if not earlier, the Lady Katherine is the final arbitrator.  The
correspondents usually beg their remembrances be given to
her husband,1Add. MSS. 36988, f. 23;
27447, ff. 156, 191, 193, 195, 197, 170, 201, 203, 207, 209.  This
statement appears in f. 160, letter from Edw. Paston to K. Paston
dated Aug. 23, 1618: "I doe request the said Sr
Edmonde to stay the makinge of any lease of the said Lands and
Tenements vntill I doe talke the said Sr
Edmonde."  Since the short letter is concerned only with that point,
it is curious that Edw. Paston did not write directly to Sir
Edmund. and it is probable from her statement that he was
"exceedinge sickly in the Countrye"2Ibid., f. 175.  The
petition. that she had become his agent because of his impaired
health.  As early as February of 16193Ibid., f. 170.
J. Heveningham to K. Paston, Feb. 10, 1618 [9]. we find her
checking up on the rentals and fermals4Fermal, a fixed
yearly amount (whether in money or in kind) payable as rent, tax, or
the like, as opposed to a rent, tax, etc. of variable
amount. Obs. N. E. D., 6, I, 76. from Sir
William Paston's estate and receiving the audit accounts made during
the first three years after Sir William's death.  She was also
preparing to have her own books kept as a check upon the feoffees.5Add. MS. 27447, f. 170.  See
fn. 3.  This would imply that her management was beginning at that time; and it further indicates a more
thorough method than that her husband had used.  It is to her that Sir
John Heveningham and Edward Paston write when reporting rents and when
asking advice about improvements, permissions, and wages.1Add. MS. 27447, f. 187,
J. Heveningham to K. Paston, March 29, 1620: "Withall I haue sent you
by him accordinge to my promise three score & ten pound which
was due fro the halfe yeares Rent & ffarme of the Mannor of
Lowned at Mikelmas last & the halfe yeares farme for the
demeanes in Blunston due at Christmas last."  Similarly he writes in
Add. MSS. 27447, ff. 191, 195; 36988,
f. 21.Likewise Edward Paston to K. Paston, May 26, 1623, Ibid., f. 197:  "I will send you  a bill for the charge of his dyet & the
tenants and for his fees wch  you must take order to be payd."
Add. MS. 36988, f. 23, Sept. 11, 1623:  "I will write
noe more in his behalfe, but that he is well able to paye his
farme... yet I leaue it to yor  good
consideration to lett the sayd grounds & tower to what farmer
you  thinke good." Sir John Heveningham thus commits himself:
Worthy Sister, you may be assured that I will alwayes acquaint you
with any thinges concerninge the estate of Sr
William Paston before I conclude thereof, and will not doe any thinge
without yor approbation.2Add. MS. 27447, f. 207.  Feb. 24, 1623 [4].Edward Paston is concerned because he has encountered a man at her
stone pit in Middleton who has no note of permission from the Lady
Katherine or her servant Mr. McAlpe.1Add. MS. 36988,
f. 23. Sept. 11, 1623  Questions of drainage,2Ibid., f. 23, Edward
Paston to K. Paston: "Vppon the 23 of this psent Moneth the comissioners for the Scewers
fill meet at Lynn... You should doe well to send
to the rest of the feoffees... to write vnto me to deale earnestly in
their behalfe as in myne." of common and
"seuerall fishing" grounds,3Add. MS. 27447, f. 187,
J. Heveningham to K. Paston, Mar. 29, 160.Several: Private; privately owned or occupied.  Obs. exc. in several
fishery, a right to fish derived through or on account of
ownership of the soil.  N. E. D., 8, II,
569. of the appointment of the livings4Ibid., f. 207,
J. Heveningham to K. Paston, Feb. 24, 1623 [4]. were, in
addition to rents and tithes5Ibid., f. 156, same to same, Mar. 30, 1618. duly brought to her attention.In the midst of her business agency she was preparing her eldest
son, William, for Cambridge.  Very probably she sent him to North
Walshem Grammar School, for old Sir William had founded that
school.6See page 6, fn. 3.  It was not more
than eight miles from Paston, and it is hardly likely that with such
an advantage at hand the boy would go down to Great Yarmouth Grammar
School,7Augustus Jessopp, One Generation of
a Norfolk House, p. 36. or over to the
Norwich School, which his famous relative Sir Edward Coke had attended
in his youth.1Jessopp, op. cit., p. 36.  The first wife of Sir Edward Coke was Bridget Paston, daughter of John Paston, who was uncle of old Sir William, Edmund's grandfather.  Collectanea Topographica Genealogica, vi, 111; Vis. of Nor., Har. Soc., xxxiv, 116.However, that may be, in January, 1624, when he was fourteen,
William entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.2Add. MS. 36988, f. 32, Wm to
his mother, Jan. 26, placed by His. MSS. Com.  1623/4;
f. 33, MS. giving a brief account of William.  Venn, op. cit., I, iii, 318.  For Williams' age,
Add. MS. 27447, f. 226.  He was eight in 1618.  See
page 11, fn. 1.  The Pastons went to Cambridge; they had been
going for centuries,3Consult the record of Paston graduates from
Cambridge.  Venn. op. cit., I, iii,
317-18. a natural sequence for the gentry of Norfolk, since
Cambridgeshire was just next to Norfolk, and Oxford was at a
troublesome distance for horses and coaches.  It is through her
letters to her son that Katherine Paston reveals an integrity of
character and a perception of fundamental cultural values that might
well be envied by a woman of any age.  Katherine Paston of the
business correspondence is a careful secretary and accountant, a
competent manager, a far-sighted and fearless champion, an intelligent
person, essentially neither masculine nor feminine, if we
assume that in either parent the motivating force is the future
protection of the family.  Although she received more advice than
would have been given her husband, since her brothers-in-law, Sir
Thomas Holland and Sir John Heveningham, and her cousin, Edward
Paston, took occasion to instruct her in procedure,1Thomas Holland to K. Paston, March 2, 1619
[20], Add. MS. 27447, f. 177: "I desire you will send
for him and let him know so much if he will vndertake it what his fee
shalbe."  Edward Paston to K. Paston, April 15, 1624, Ibid., f. 209: "And if you
purpose to goe to London... I would we might meete together that night
that we may travell both together to London for yf you goe before I doubt that till I come vp you shall dispatch but a litell business... I would
haue you to be very well advised howe you deale and what you agree
vnto."  J. Heveningham to K. Paston, March 29, 1620, Ibid., f. 187:  "Therefore if it please you to haue
the sayd Mannor you must prouide a baylie to gather vp the Rents now
due at or  Lady, & I shall otherwise
dispose of my money, wch  I had thought to haue
payd in." she nevertheless maintained throughout a rare
independence of spirit and action.2As previously indicated.  In the
intimate correspondence with her son she reveals the depth of her
understanding and the sensitiveness of her nature as well as an
intensification of the same practical wisdom which appeared in her
management of the estate.  It is in these letters also that her
limitations in training appear, in the exterior form of her hand-writing,1The hand is script, modified by secretary
letters.  It is reasonably legible and well formed, but the grammar
and construction is not so good as that which appears in the letters
of Sir J. Heveningham and Sir T. Holland. in the simplicity of
her interests, and in the narrow scope of her intellectual reference,
which is chiefly Biblical.2This point will be developed.During her son's three years and a half at Cambridge, until he took
his A. B. degree in 1627,3Add. MS. 36988,
f. 71; Venn, op. cit., I, iii, 318. the
Lady Katherine planned to write to him regularly.  As she herself
said, "I had sett by my rest, onc a weeke, namly on the wedensdays to
haue written to the; hopeinge to haue hearde from Cambridge on the
munday every week."4Add. MS. 27447,
f. 238.  If she was forced by family illness5Ibid., f. 242. or
other cause6Add. MS. 36988,
f. 65. to fail in her weekly letter, she wrote two the next
week, "But will repayer my last weekes omision wt my duble wrightinge to the... and then shall thow
haue two of min in on weeke which will make a peec of amends to
the."7Add. MS. 27447,
f. 250.  "I will not fayll the," she tells him, "but vpon some
vrgent lett."8Add. MS. 36988,
f. 65.  Occasionally it was dif-ficult to find
opportunity:  "I am fayne to take the oppertynyty of diner time to
wright this to thee";1Add. MS. 27447,
f. 256.  "I am so strayed of time as I can no tary longer to
talk wt  the now."2Ibid., f. 232.She was, however, dependent upon uncertain methods of postal
delivery so that her efforts for a regular correspondence might easily
be frustrated.  It was fortunate that she was able to send servants
back and forth to Cambridge, for they were often her only means for
mail.3Ibid., f. 250, and
elsewhere in the series.  As long as she was in Paston,4Some of the letters are written from
Pagrave, one of the Paston manors, where the family spent the winter
of 1626-27.  Add. MSS. 36988, ff. 55; 57, dated
Nov. 13, 1626; f. 59, [Nov., 23, 1626]; f. 61, dated Dec. 4, 1626;
f. 63, dated Ashwednesday, 1626 [7]; f. 67; 27447, ff. 236,
256. she seems to have suffered no great inconvenience, for she
makes reference to carriers.  A service of carriers, who traveled at
first only with pack-horses, was instituted to and from London from
country places in the sixteenth century.5Shakespeare's England, i,
206. Thomas Hobson, a Cambridge carrier, was born twenty years
before Shakespeare.  Although they were merchandise carriers, they are
supposed to have had the greater portion of the private
correspondence.1Shakespeare's England, I, 206.  Also, J. C. Hemmeon, A History of the British Post Office, Har. Ec. Studies, vii, 92: "The convenient activity of other besides the state agencies for the carriage of private letters was not only tolerated but officially recognized."I hope before this you haue rec:/ my letter by Johnsons the
Cambridge Carrier.2Add. MS. 36988, f. 31.  June 25, 1624.I haue receiued 6. of thy letters and bothe thow and I haue wronge
if thow hast not receiued 4. of min/. besids this, on by my Cosine
Cook on by m Parker.  on by Johnsons the Carier, on by Cowell the
Carier.3Ibid., f. 47.We may assume from William's statement that his mother shall have
every Saturday "a Letter from me or my Tutor, if They doe not miscary
By The carrier,"4Ibid., f. 32.
an. 26, 1623 [4]. that the method was none too safe.  Quite as
frequently as Katherine employed the carrier for mail, she relied, as
the quotation above suggests, upon the courtesy of friends who were
chancing to make the trip to Cambridge, or at least in that
direction.5For example, there is the delivery of a letter by John Borows, Add. MS. 27447, f. 260; of one by Tom Harston, Ibid., f. 250; of one by Jo: Wigteman, Ibid., f. 240.Upon the first arrival in Pagrave in the autumn of 16266See page 24, fn. 4. Lady Katherine
was very much troubled about the routes for communication.I can not yett learne by what means to send to Cambridge from this
plase we are wt in a mill of Swafam. and if you
know any com thither you may wright.1Add. MS. 36988, f. 55.  Hallowmas Day, 1626.She is indebted to a farmer of Sporle for a letter,2Ibid., f. 57.
November 13, 1626. and once she made use of "mr Rawlins his lacky goinge to Norwich, hopinge he
will deliuer these my letters to the Cambridge Carier."3Ibid., f. 59.  In a
different hand: Nov. 23, 1626  Later she suggested that William
"inquier out som foot post that come to linne by Saff horn."4Ibid.,
f. 57."Lord Stanhope in 1618 issued an order to the justices of
the Peace in Southwark to aid the post-master of that place in the
delivery of letters within six miles.  This was followed two years
later by a general order to establish two or three foot-posts in every
parish for the conveyance of letters."  Hemmeon, op. cit., p. 10.  The letters of private
individuals might be carried by the posts, but up until 1633 the
government received no revenue therefrom. Ibid., p. 12.  Not long after she was
intrusting a letter and a "leap of pateridges" to the foot-post Nipps,
"if he did not giue the child a wronge nam: but I feare he is nipt in
the Crowne  that he is not yet returned."  In a postscript she adds,
"I am glad as you say that owld father nipps did not nip5Nip: to steal.  Greene, Third Part
Conny Catching. Works. x, 157, "Oft this crew of mates met
together and said there was no hope of nipping the boung purse."  The
expression "nipt in the Crowne," may refer to another meaning, to
pinch: or it may have reference to taking a dram of liquor,
J. S. Farmer and W. E. Henley, Slang and Its Analogues,
v, 47-49. away the pateridges from the:/ but yett he is not com."1Add. MS. 36988, f. 59.
In a different hand:  Nov. 23, 1626.Mail of all kinds was slow.
"Before 1635 the post enjoyed no priority over the traveller in being
provided with horses, and if all the horses happened to be in use when
the mail arrived, it had to wait."  Hemmeon, op. cit., p. 92.  "The posts were slow and the rates for private letters uncertain."  Ibid., p. 13. There  is yet another resort for the mail - a peddler.
I am faynt to send by the pedder and am not certine whether he will
doe this kindness for me to overlode his horse wt a bigger burden then ordinary:/ but I will pute
that in a venture, and will content him for his paynes.  I send the
the peye.2Add. MS.
f. 67. cf. 27447, ff. 238, 254.Letter from Jane and Jo: Smith
to K. Paston, Nov. 18, 1623, Ibid., f. 199: "To
send yt by this poour Pedler an Inhabitant in this Pish who having a occasion to Paston &
that ptes pmotly  to delyvor yt safly."But the peddler with his wandering, uncertain motion3Ibid., f. 238.  "I doe not yet know, what to thinke of this new fownde pedder... now I parceive he will haue such a wandering and vncertain motion, as till he doe appear in his liknes.  I shall not know when nor whear to find him: for by good chance I heard he must haue my letter this sunday night: if I will sende any by him: the which I sende though my waringe was very vnseasonable." was as unsatisfactory as the foot-post, father Nipps.She was a very gracious recipient of her son's letters: "I thanke
thee for thy many letters, thay can never be too many."4Ibid., f. 232.Though thow wilt not giue me leave to goe beyonde the in kindnes, I
doe like this striffe if I maye so cal it: exelently well, for in this
kinde the more we striue the better we agree. by this time I hope thow
hast receiued as many letters from me as thow has written: and I am
glade of thine.  as thow arte of mine.1Add. MS. 36988, f. 65.I doe like that thow doest inditt2Indite: the use of the word indite is evidently to be construed in this
instance as signifying the actual penning of the letter.  This was the
early meaning of the word.  N. E. D., 5, II, 222.  In
Add. MS. 36988, f. 27 there occurs this sentence: "Your
brother is very well and haue sent you a letter of his own
indittinge... but mr  brend was his clarke."
This is the later meaning, signifying, "wording." thy owne
letters thyselfe, for thow weare wont to know how to speak to me, and
even so wold I haue the wright, and hetherto I doe like excedingly of
them and of the well wrightinge of them; the use of wrightinge will
perfict your hand very much.3Add. MS. 27447, f. 232.It was not only letters that passed from Paston Hall and Pagrave to
Corpus Christi College but also tokens from the one to the other.  He
sends some gold grams4Ibid.,
f. 248. and a knife5Add. MS. 36988,
f. 65. for his small brother Tom; to his mother, some "guilt
paper,"6Ibid.,
f. 43. cf. 1661.  M. H. Acc.  Receipts Comm. Safety 4.
"Ten gilt Paper.books... for his Lady to write in at Church."
N. E. D., 4, II, 165. a fine payer of wrightinge
tables,"7Add. MS. 36988, f. 54v.  May
6, 1625.  Writing-tables: a small tin tablet for writing upon.
Usu. pl. Obs. Nashe, Pasquil's
Counter - C. A. iib, "A newe paire of Writing-tables with
profitable Notes for that quarter."  N. E. D., 10, II,
2., 385. a pot of olives, some books, a
candle.1Add. MS. 27447,
f. 236.  When Katherine thanks him for these last two, she
indulges in a bit of punning:  "Now least I shold forget to be
thankefull for a sorte of tokens.  bothe for booke and candell; ther
want but a bell; could you not haue perswaded your Cosine man bell2Robert Bell, son of Katherine's sister
Muriel.  See page 2, fn. 2.  Robert was in Cambridge at this time.
Venn, op. cit., I, I, 128. to haue com
this way: then I shold haue bine fully suplyed of bell booke and
candell."  She rewards his good conduct report with "a Cake and Cheese
a fewe puddinges and links:3Links: one of the divisions of
a chain of sausages or black puddings.  Now
dial. N. E. D., 6, I, 319. a turkey pie pasty; a
pot of Quinces and sume marmelate."  The neighbors likewise
contribute their share: Goodman Payne, some cheese and Mrs. Smith, a
cake.  All of this is but some "edible Comodity for this Lent.  To
eate in your chamber your good tutor and you together."4Add. MS. 36988, f. 36,
cf. Ibid.: f. 38: "Moreover I sende the and thy
tutor a turkey paddy and the other is a pateridge pie, a littell Cake
and a Littell cheese for Robin the great Cake the Cheese and the
pudinge for thy tutor and thyself... goodman Payne wold needs rember
the with  a fate goose."  Perhaps to protect him
from addicting himself to "that vayne garbe: which is most in fashion
amongst youth...as promiseth no hope of grase in them for
the present much less a blesinge for the world to come,"1Add. MS. 36988, f. 57.
Nov. 13, 1626. she sent frequent replenishments for his
wardrobe: "sume clockt2"Cloct": embroidered with
clocks; used of similar embroidered patterns.  Obs. N. E. D., 2, I, 511.
bands, the very best watsons shop will afford,"3Add. MS. 36988, f. 45.  May
6, 1625.  cf. also 27447, f. 268. some new shirts,4Add. MS. 27447,
f. 244. a new suit,5Ibid.,
f. 242. a "Beevor Hatte,"6Ibid.,
f. 232.  In 36988, f. 38, she states that she is sending L5 for him to
buy a beaver hat.  If it comes to more, she will allow it.  Pepys in
1661 gives the cost as L 4 s 5. N. E. D. 1, II, 745.
In 36988, f. 47 Katherine writes: "I doe not send my beuer Hate as I
thought to haue don... wherfor make vse of your best beauer, and when
thow comest home I will see if any of myn will fitt of which I make
sum doupt." a complete set of clothes -- "a new sute of sattine
to weare this commencement, as allso a payer of silke stockins,
poynts, garters, and shoe strings, and a silver girdell sutable to
weare with those things that are silvered."7Add. MS. 36988, f. 47.
Printed in Reports of the His. MSS. Com., vol. vii,
App., p. 530. Surely her generosity would justify her in
saying:  "Good boy haue a great care to wear thy Clothes neat and
Clean it is a great Comendation to se a yonge man
spincs1Spincs.  I can find
no further reference for this word.  Spink was used frequently in the
phrase, "spink-span new," meaning entirely new.  Joseph Wright,
The English Dialect Dictionary, p. 666. and
neat.  wt out spots and durtines vpon his
clothes."2Add. MS. 36988, f. 47.Occasionally she chose to direct Mr. Roberts,3Roberts, Wm. Matric.  Corpus Christi, 1617,
B. A. 1619-20; M. A. 1623; B. D. 1631.  Fellow, 1626-35.  Proctor,
1629-30.  Venn, op. cit., I, iii, 467.
the tutor, in purchases for William: "I sent in my last letter, that
mr Roberts wold doe so much as by you a tamill
gowne4Tamill:  doubtless
tamin, a thin woollen stuff.  cf. 1625, Massinger, New
Way, III, ii, I took her up in an old tamin gown."
N. E. D., 9, II, 67. to wear this sumer I hope
it is done."5Add. MS. 36988, f. 29.  June 11, 1624.  cf. Brilliana Harley to her son at Oxford, Letters, p. 22:  "I like ti well that your tutor has made you hamsome cloths."Upon Mr. Roberts she relied for the control of William's payments and spending money:
Comend me very kindly to good mr  Roberts I
doe not know whether he shall need a new supply:  yett before our
Lady6Our Lady:  Lady Day,
a day in celebration of some event in the life of the Virgin Mary.
Now only Mar 25.  Formerly also Dec. 8, Sept. 8, Aug. 15.  A quarter
day.  N. E. D., 6, I, 24. I will sende so soon
as the wether breake vp to know how the squars7Squares:  affairs,
events, matters.  Only in the phr., "How the squares go."  Obs. Common in 17 cent. Middleton, 1607,
Fam. Loves, I, iii, "How goes the squares."
N. E. D. 9, I, 726. goe.8Add. MS. 27447, f. 262.The bagge wt the mony I woold haue you to
deliuer to mr Roberts therein in your 40L: and
30L for poor tom Hartston, and 20L for yonge Colby his qtre.1Add. MS. 36988, f. 36.  Tom Harston was the son of Rafe Harston of South Repps, Vis. of Nor., Har. Soc., xxxiv, 146.These boys seem to have been under her protection.  She also sends
L 10 for Hary Hatson and directs William to give him a suit.2Add. MS. 36988, f. 38.
Brilliana Harley was similarly interested in a certain G. Griffets.
Letters, p. 146.  She further urges:  "Lett not
a poor hungery siser want a reward from the... let such not want bread
or beer, in a moderat manner."3Add. MS. 36988, f. 31.	There is scarcely a letter in which she does not ask to be
commended to "thy good tutor, Mr Roberts,"4cf. Brilliana Harley: "Remember my saruis
to your worthy tutor.  I did reseaue a letter from him by Looker, and
I thanke him for it." Letters, p. 12 "I haue sent your
tutor a box of dryed prunes, the box is directed to you." Ibid., p. 31. and often to "the most worthy
doctor," he being the master of Corpus Christi College, Dr. Samuel
Walsall.5"Thomas Jegan was succeeded by Samuel
Walsall, a man of little mark, and Walsall in 1626 was succeeded by
Dr. Butts."  James B. Mullinger, University of
Cambridge, ii, 496.Matric.  from C. C. College, 1589;
B. A. 1592-3; Master 1618-26.  Died, July 1626.  Venn, op. cit., I, i, 325. She mentions her
own letters to them and letters from them, signifying that she kept up
a never-ceasing interest in all that concerned her son.6Add. MS. 27447, ff. 232,
242, 254, 262, and others.  From a letter of Dr. Walsall to the
Lady Katherine we may conclude that her graciousness was not a little unusual even for that formal age.  In February of 1624 he wrote her:
Madame, It hath pleased you now the second time to reach out your
bountiful hand to me: which I embrace, as becometh me, with all
thankfull acknowledgement.  I think I may truly say; I have never,
upon so little acquaintance, and desert, received so much courtesie
& bountie from any.  And so standing bound in a double
obligation, of conscience, & thankfulness; if I should not have
a singular care of your hopefull sonn, I were not iustly to be ranked
in the number of Christians.1Add. MS. 27447, f. 205.  Feb. 23, 1623 [4)].The worthy doctor assures the mother that the son's "conversation & demeanour is generally, not onely approved but applauded."  No account was so welcome to her as that of William's good conduct.
Comend me very kindly to the most worthy doctor; and to good mr  Roberts... espetially heering of thy well doinge,
which dothe so much comforte me, as I will not hide from the, the
content I take in it; the which I am parswaded, will rayther
incouredge the to goe on in vertuous courses, then be any Cawse to
procure neglect to the; for good minds are allways drawn on by good
means.2Ibid., f. 246.Truly ther is nothinge in this liffe, which dothe afforde vnto me
that comforte and content, as to heer of thy good and welfare every
way: Nayther Coold ther be to my thinkinge, any thinge befall me in
this world which wold be so grevous to me, as that thinge which shold
ill befalle the; eyther, by outwarde or inwarde defects
of body or minde.1Add. MS. 36988, f. 43.  In a different hand: April 18, 1625.  Similarly, 27447, f. 250:   "What is ther in this liffe which can joy me so much as thy perseverance in all good Coorses farwell sweet harte."  cf.  Brilliana Harley:  "My deare Ned, nothing heare belowe on earth is more deare to me, than your being well.  It is that I pray for, and reioce when I am ashured of it, but, my deare Ned aboue all, the well being of your sowle is most dear to me, next to my owne."  Letters. p. 17.Her belief in her son's affection for her and in his pleasure in
her happiness forms one of the most delightful aspects of her
letters.  "I know thow dost loue to haue me cheerly," she tells
him.2Add. MS. 27447, f. 232. She had his assurance of affection:
Deare mother I will euer haue your prcepts in my minde puttinge Them allwaies in
practice, and hope iff I obey them, I shall still Keepe your
accostumed Loue, which, next to The grace of god, I esteeme aboue anie
Thing.3Add. MS. 36988, f. 32.Before we have read many of her letters, we become aware that deep
in Katherine's heart there is a hidden fear that her son may not
always choose the wise course.  "Thow must still take a mighty good
care of thy diet and recreations shun excesses in ayther: and be sure
that pasty crust & cheese doe not make thee wise."4Add. MS. 27447, f. 246.  Similarly in 36988, f. 38.  For wine and tobacco she has special advice: 
Send you a boxe of juse of likorous1Liquorice: cf. 1611.
Beau. and F1. Knt. Burn. Pestle. I, i.  "Carry him this
sticke of Liccoras, tell him his Mistress sent it him, and bid him
bite a peec, 'twill open his pipes the better."
N. E. D., 6, I, 332. it will stay the ruhum2Ruhum. rheum.
when tobaka will not;/  I hop to heer you still hate the very smell of
tobaca.3Add. MS. 36988, f. 29.  June 11, 1624.I hope thow dost not eate of those possetty curdy drinks which
howsoever pleasinge to the palett it maybe for a time, yett I am
parswaded are most unhollsom and very Clogginge to the stomack... but
if need be to haue such things... you know how clear thay wear made at
hom for the and so lett them be still.4Ibid., f. 36.(And in that last sentence does she show great wisdom.)Her warning against wine is equalled only be her warning against
tennis.5Tennis was the most popular ball game of
the time.  See Shakespeare's England, i, 459-60.  It
was played with the same count as today.  See the dialogue entitled
"The Tenise Play" in John Eliot's Ortho-epia Gallica,
found in the Parlement of Pratlers, (1928), 1593.Be not to violent of tenisinge. and if you be whote. bewar you
cooll not to sudinly.   drinke no wine this year or a very littell.
for it is dangerous and the more for that thay be sweet and new:/ and
in many it heats ther bloud to the deathe of them.6Add. MS. 36988, f. 40It seems that his Cousin Gawdy1Add. MS. 27447, f. 234.  "Cosin Gawdy" was distantly related to the Pastons.  Katherine's brother Thomas married Elizabeth Bacon; Elizabeth's sister Winifred married Sir Robert Gawdy of Claxton Hall.  This is evidently their son Henry, who is known to have died early.  Venn, op. cit., I, ii, 201. has recently died from a consumption, as she thinks, contracted from too violent playing at tennis.
His mother towld me onc that he gott that surfitt wt  too violent playing at tenis... sum doe vse to
heat themselves very much wt it and then drinke
burnt sake or such like: but for the: I can not be parswaded, but it
shold be very hurtful and dangerous so to do wherfor if thow louest my
liffe lett me intreat the to be very careful of thy self for over
heatinge thy blud.2Ibid., f. 234. Sack was the generic name for Spanish and Canary wines.  Shakespeare's England. ii, 136.So great did her concern about the tennis become that she evidently
wrote Dr. Walsall.  We do not have her letter to the doctor, but we
have his answer.  "I perceive," he writes, "your Ladiship feared his
excess at tennis."  The doctor assures her that he is convinced there
is not any exercise more wholesome nor more gentlemanlike; yet to
prevent danger he has prescribed William's hours more particularly
than he had done, "allotting to morning exercise, till somewhat past
eight to breakfast, till nine: to studie, from nine till eleven: in
the after-noon, to recreation in the garden, till one; to
studie from one till somewhat past three; to exercise till
prayers."1Add. MS. 27447, f. 205.
February 23, 1623 [4].  Katherine urged that these directions
be kept, for they seemed "admirable good ons" to her;2Add. MS. 36988,
f. 36. but they were not strict enough to keep William from
taking delight in a sport which his mother termed "next Cosine to
horse Coorsinge," and "no way comendable in one of your sorte."3Ibid., f. 67.Horse-racing became popular at Newmarket during the reign of James I.  Enc Brit., xi, 762.  Ed. 14.If she desired that great care be taken of his body, even more did
she desire that he guard "that pretious sowle"; "every foot a good
motion a good thought in thy harte; in what company so ever thow beest
in: thow shalt not be a whitt the les mery but a great deal the
more."4Add. MS. f. 27447,
f. 266.  She reminds him that "if a man be indowed wt many good giffts and haue a mind to harbore but on
beloued vice, it is like Coliquin tedar1Coliquin tedar: coloquintida, the colocynthm 1398,  Trevisa Barth
De P. R., xvii, xl (1495) 626: "Coloquintida is a manere herbe that is
moost bytter, and is lyke to the comyn Gourd and hath rounde fruyte."
1604.  Shakes.  Oth., I, iii, 355; "The Food... as
bitter as Coloquintida."  N. E. D., 2, I, 635.
spoylinge a wholl Pott of Pottage."2Add. MS. 36988, f. 45.  May
6, 1625.  She customarily begins and ends her letters with a
prayer for the blessing of God upon William.3E. g., "The Lord bless the ever more in all
thy goings outt and thy Cominges in.  even in all thy ways works and
words, for his mercy sake."  Ibid.,
f. 27.  She urges him not to fall to render most humble thanks
unto God on "thy bowed knees from the ground of thy harte: in thy
Closit privately by thy own selfe. when non may heer or see thee, but
hee along who searchethe the harte and the raynes."4Add. MS. 27447, f. 250. of. Brilliana Harley: "Deare Ned, let nothinge hinder you from performeing constant priuet duties of prayeing and redeing."  Letters, p. 15.And forgett not to be thankefull to him for thy good health and all
other his infinit mercys to the shewed; for the Lord dothe acsept of a
thankefull harte when kinge David inquired what shold he paye the Lord
for all the benefits wch he had bestowed, all
thowgh he ought and inoyed a kingedom, yett coold he not bethinke him
of any better present, then thankefullness, and to take vp the cupe of
salvation and Call vpon the name of the Lord:/ and so I pray vnfayned:
thow mayest doe.5Add. MS. 36988,
f. 36.She advised him to meditate upon the Psalms and scriptural passages
which he had learned at home;1Add. MS. 36988,
f. 45.  May 6, 1625. she urges particular study of the meaning
of the sacrament2Ibid., f. 40.
and is insistent upon his receiving the Holy Communion from
Dr. Walsall.3Add. MSS. 36988, f. 41;
27447, f. 256.  The death of Sir Thomas Holland in 16264Add. MS. 36988, f. 40.  See page 1. causes her to urge upon William the realization of the frailty of life:
By the death of others we may read our own destyny: the brittell mettell wherof we be made glase is not more.Wherefore time should be carefully spent:
"In the morning sowe thy seed, and in the evening let not thy hands
be idle."5Ibid., f. 53.  In a different hand:  October 27, 1626.This proverb is similar to the following which she quotes from the
"Cunditt of Comfort:6The Cunditt of Comfort" is mentioned twice:
Add. MS. 36988, ff. 27, 45.  Judging by this quotation,
which she gives in f. 27, I presume it was a book of meditation for
young people.  I can find no further reference.  In f. 45 the
reference is:  "I wold be sory thow sholdest forget thy Conduit of
Comfort: the things lett not slipe out of thy mind, for thay will be
to the in time to com bothe Comforters and Cownselers.""The seeds wch now in youth you sowe", "springe vp and sprout in grass and grow."She was, indeed, jealous for his earnest use of time: "Surly ther
is the plase, now is the time to doe thy self good by applyinge thy
time in good and vertuous delights."1Add. MS. 27447,
f. 240. Learning, she tells him, though it come not easily to
every one, is of all things most delightful, once gained.2Ibid., f. 250.  cf. Brilliana Harley:
"Now ernestly I desire you may haue that wisdome, that from all the
flowers of learninge you may drawe the hunny and leaufe the rest."
Letters, p. 8.  She hopes to receive him "from
that plase adorned bothe wt devine and humayne
Learning"3Add. MS. 36988,
f. 27. and "furnished wt  grassces, as a
bee coms loden to her hiue."4Ibid.,
f. 31.  June 25, 1624.  She reminds him that wisdom is found
only as a hidden treasure, "which must be digged for affter much
scerch to finde it out," but "the sonns of Adam wear borne to digge
and delve, even in the sweat of our browes."5Ibid., f. 27
If he cannot attain to learning the Latin tongue perfectly, she would
have him bestow his time in reading good English books, which may
furnish his mind with pleasant things.6Add. MS. 27447,
f. 240. Even though she would be most happy to have him at home with her, it cannot be so good for him to stay:
I howld the better ther a thowsand times then at home, vntill thy
mind be furnished wt those liberall sciences,
which that nurcery affordeth to the studious and best minds.  now is
the time.1Add. MS. 36988, f. 45. May 6, 1625.  Also  27447, ff. 240, 256.We may infer that the boy wanted to come home.  Her answer reveals her insight into his life, showing at the same time the unselfishness and the positiveness of her nature:
Besides: ther is that soscietie which thow delitest in.  the want
of which at home dothe make the love to be much abroad, and maybe
bringe those inconveniencis which I wold be sory for consider; who is
ther to keep the company: and it wold as much dislike me to haue the
as yett to wander to much abroad.  for the love of god settel thy
minde to continew ther wher most likely hood is of most good for thi
selfe: then will I not be agaynst thy cominge home sometime to se thy
frindes. and if soon affter Easter thow sholdest make a jorney, I will
not be agaunst it.  but doe not com to tary longe. but neer
Whittsontid: this is my minde and desire.  I hope it shall well sute
wt thyne.2Add. MS. 27447, f. 256.What son would have had the courage of a contrary mind and desire?The boy did, however, at intervals go home for a "recreation fitt."1Fit: a
defined portion of time characterized by some distinct peculiarity.
"A varry stiff fit," a hard frost.  Wright, The English Dialect
Dictionary, ii, 370.  The expression "recreation fitt" occurs
in Add. MS. 36988, f. 47. During the year
1626-27, when the family was at Pagrave, Lady Katherine took some care
in preparing a room with a chimney for his use during the Christmas
vacation;2Add. MS. 36988, f. 59.  In a
different hand: Nov. 23, 1626. and she made suitable
preparations for Easter vacations,3Add. MS. 27447, ff. 256,
260. and for the long summer vacations.4Add. MS. 36988,
f. 47.  Occasionally he brought his tutor5Add. MS. 27447,
f. 254. or some of his comrades.6Ibid.,
f. 234.  She never failed to urge care of the journey: he must
keep warm, put "somewhat" about his neck;7Add. MS. 36988, f. 61.
Dec. 4, 1626. he must be careful of fact riding, of "glasings
icy ways" and deep snows;8Add. MS. 27447,
f. 258. nor even attempt the trip if "frosting of horses"9Frosting: to treat a
horse's shoes by the insertion of frost-nails, in roughing, etc., as
protection against slipping in frosty weather.  Pepys in 1665,
Diary, Nov. 26:  "My horses being frosted."
N. E. D., 4, I, 568. will not serve.  One of the
servants was ordinarily appointed to attend him,1Add. MSS. 36988, f. 61;
27447, f. 258. but he is permitted to use "hacknys"2Hackneys: a horse kept for hire; a carriage kept for hire.  N. E. D., 5, I, 11."Persons who owned no horses and either could not afford post-horses or were bound for places beyond the post-roads might hire a horse for the whole journey at 12d.  the first day and 8d. the day afterwards."  Shakespeare's England, I, 203.  "Post-horses were only in use for business of urgency.  For ordinary travel English gentlemen rode their own horses."  Ibid., I, 202.  In 1609 the fee for a post-horse was 3d. a mile.  Hemmeon, op. cit., p. 92. if it is his pleasure.  At length the time came for her to send directions for his final departure from Cambridge:
I haue now sente for you home... I send this soon that you maye
bethinke you of sendinge home your trunks and other things by Norwich
Carte when thay be at barberham.  you may leaue your chamber hanged if
your tutor will agcet of them lett him haue them likewis your bedsted
and curtins the chayer and stools to it you maye if you will leaue
them to him, if he will haue or regard them, but the featherbed
bowlster and the rest you may bringe wt you or
send them home I meane -- for I know he had a bed befor you came but I
thinke not so good a bedsted: I hope you are clear from oweinge any
thinge to any body.3Add. MS. 36988, f. 71.Katherine Paston herself was no great traveler.  The removal of the
family to Pagrave in 16264See page 24, fn. 4. was
not at all to her liking, and she was longing constantly to be back in
Paston.5Add. MS. 27447, ff. 236,
240, 254.  With the difficulties of "owld ruinous howses and all things exedingly rune to decaye: and out of all the
Corners,"1Add. MS. 36988, f. 59.  In a
different hand: Nov. 23, 1626. besides being "Raughty and
Cowld,"2Add. MS. 36988, f. 55.
Hallowmas Day, 1626. and not large enough for the company, it
is not strange that she should write, "I thanke god I can now tell
ye  that we are preparinge home, and hope to be
there before Easter.3This refers to the Easter of 1627.
if thow shouldest now come to pagraue, thow sholdest not find a
lodginge for we pake all away."4Add. MS. 27447,
f. 256.  She makes mention of a visit to "Cosin Cok's" in
Norwich, where she writes a letter with a pen so bad that she is sure
it "hath signed many an indenture."5Ibid., f. 252.  This
probably refers to the home of Sir Edward Coke.  For the relation, see
page 21, fn. 1. A trip to Linne, where she tarried only a day,
caused her to be wearier than of any "London Jorny."6Add. MS. 36988, f. 63.  Ash
Wednesday  Feb. 7, 1626 [7].  It had been her plan to go to
London in the spring of 1625, and she intended to stop at Cambridge on
the way;7Add. MS. 27447,
f. 264. but she was afraid to venture to so dangerous a spot as
the city at that season.
I was in hope to haue seen thee this weeke. but I heer so bade
newes of the increase of the sikenes at London, that all though I haue
great ocation to haue bine ther, yet will I forbear till it shall
please god in mearcy to scease it.1Add. MS. 27447,
f. 264.The term sickness is used to designate the plague as opposed to other illness.  For an official tabulation of the increase of the plague in 1625 consult the table in Graunt's Observations, Writings of Sir W. Petty, ed. by C. H. Hull, ii, 426.  cf. "Though the sickness increase shrewdly upon us, so that this week died in all 640; of the plague, 239."  Chamberlain to Carleton, June 25, 1625.  Court and Times of Charles I, I, 34.Though the plague had come upon them apace, almost unaware, a part
of the prevalent illness was caused from the ague.2"But though the plague held off
[1613-1624] the health of the city was troubled by other
diseases... In 1623 a 'contagious, spotted or purple fever' and the
small pox killed off men and women of all classes.  In August 1624 may
were sick of the 'spotted ague'," F. P. Wilson, The Plague in
Shakespeare's England, p. 124.Chamberlain, August 21,
1624: "No mention of the plague... but this spotted feaver is cousin
german to it at least."  E. P. Statham, A Jacobean
Letter-Writer, p. 224.  "Malarial diseases also in the
seventeenth century... frequently assumed a malignant and pandemic
character... raged most fiercely in England and the
Netherlands... Ague was less prevalent after the Great Fire."
J. H. Baas, A History of Medicine, p. 549.
In Norfolk, surrounded as it was with sea and fens, the ague was
common.  "Hence it is," wrote Thomas Fuller, "that strangers coming
hither are clapt on the back with an ague,
which sometimes lasts them longer then a stuffe
suit."3Fuller, op. cit.,
ii, 126.  Not only were strangers clapped on the back, but quite as often the old-time inhabitants.  The
letters of Katherine Paston are an excellent mirror for the pictures
of Norfolk inhabitants as they fought with disease and death at this
time.1"Constables in Norfolk were given instructions that no persons known or suspected to come from infected places 'be suffered to abide or lodge in your Town if by any fair means they may be kept out.'  A watch was to be kept both day and night, and offenders brought before Justices of the Peace to be committed to gaol."  Wilson, op. cit., p. 159.  From Bodleian Tanner MS. 177, f. 46.It is a very sickly world for agues I did never know any time,
wherin ther wear half so many, we haue had many in our howse down of
it, but I thank god soon up agayne, and now thy brother I think haue
goot on, for he haue bine ill this sevennight; thy father is exedingly
well agayne as ever, blessed be my good god for itt for he was as
dangerously ill as coold be.2Add. MS. 27447, f. 246.Sir Edmund's trouble seems usually to have been caused from
"swelled legge."  The sentence, "Thy father is down agayne wt his legge and very ill it is,"3Add. MS. 36988,
f. 49. occurs with painful frequency in the letters.4E. g., "Thy fathers
illness of his legge haue bine the Cawse of our stay for he was faynt
to take Phisike for it: but yett it is bigge so that he can not endure
on his boots."  Add. MS. 36988, f. 53.  Oct. 27,
1626.  At one time Katherine prays William to delay a visit,
for she has been using his bed room for some of their company who have
become ill with "Ague cowld and sweld fase."1Add. MS. 27447, f. 254.  "Patients Face appear swoln and palish, also their Legs swell towards night."  Lazarus Riverius, Four Books containing Five hundred and thirteen Observations or Histories of Famous and Rare Cures, trans. by Nicholas Culpepper, p. 583.  The accounts of deaths she relates faithfully:
I her that ther died but 4 at Walsorn wherof but one child in the
marketsted,2Marketsted:
market-place.  Now archaic.  Found in Chaucer and Shakespeare.
N. E. D., 6, I, 174. the other 3 in the
outshiffts3Outshiffts: in pl.  Outskirts of a town.
1592, Nashe, P. Pennilesse, 22 b:  "In backe lanes, and the outshiftes
of the Citie."  N. E. D., 7, I 271.. not on this
fortnight at trunch; but 6. at Norwich in all, died the last weeke:
wherof not on of the Visitation.4Add. MS. 27447, f. 240.  The
visitation is the plague as opposed to the ague.Fells is on the mendinge hand it seems he had a spotted Ague: ther
haue died at walsorn but three; this two days and thay be children:
the howse at trunch is saffly garded it is sayd purgalls died not of
the siknes. the howshold ther, is all well as yett.5Add. MS. 36988, f. 49.She is greatly distressed by the illness and death at "Koks,"6Add. MS. 27447, f. 236.  The
Coke mentioned here is probably Sir Edward's son John.  Of John's
fourteen children only one survived him.  Collectanea,
etc., vi, 121. where "of 12 of them, ther are but 5 leaft
alive: and 4 of them haus bine sike."  She is not without indignation
at their neglect of proper care, and she thinks the little child just
buried was quite "cast away," for "when the owld man was
sike of two sors:1Sores:  "But the
chief Diseases which shew themselves in a pestilential Feaver, are
two, viz.  A pestilent Bubo and a Carbuncle."  Riverius, op. cit., p. 613. the younge folke sent the
child to his grandfather: and the owld man did keepe the child and
made it lie wt  him a nights."  We are left with the impression that she attaches no little significance to an old man's prophecy made before the child was sick that he was already buried.Lady Katherine herself was ill in the winter of 1627.2Add. MS. 36988, f. 63.  Ash
Wednesday, 1626 [7].  She sent her son Thomas to Norwich with
"Cousin Coke," and kept Mr. Birch the physician in the house when need
was most pressing.3Ibid., f. 67.  Also 27447, f. 254.However, she was quite capable of giving a prescription of her own, and in her concern for William's tutor, who was ill, she sent her treatment for a fit of ague:
If we had had him heer when it first did begine w  him, I beleve he
had bine red of it much sooner:  wt the sake
sopes: a pint of sake, and a manchett4Manchet:  the finest
kind of wheaten bread.  Obs. N. E. D., 6, I,
108. not to new crumed into it, and eat it out wt a spoon as he wold eat a mess of potage: it will
make him sweat and sleape execently: surly for a very cowld shakeinge
ague to take it in the beginnge of the fitt and lie dowen and be close
covered and in the sweatinge to be dried wt very
warme napkins, and kepe out of the ayer 2 or 3 days, I haue
fownd it the rediest help we haue, diuers in our howse haue bine
holpen of it wt  twis takinge it:  and the
second fitt nothing to speake of.1Add.   MS. 27447, f. 248.  cf. "Seed of wild Rue given before the Fit in White Wine, Cures."  Riverius, op. cit., p. 591.  Evidently he would not approve of Katherine's "sweating the patient":  "For the solution of an Ague by Sweat or insensible Transpiration, as not to be trusted unto, gives suspision of a Relapse."  Ibid., p. 583.Her good sense would not seem to bear out the complaint of Lazarus
Riverius, the Montpellier physician,2"In France the first Iatro-chemical chair
at Montpellier was filled by Lazarus Riverius."  Baas, op. cit., p. 486. with regard to the
"refractoriness of Women (who fear nothing but that the sick Person
shall be starved, as all their care in a manner is to cram their
Children with meat like Pudding bags; how empty their Brains of Wit,
or their Hearts of Wisdom matters not."3Riverius, op. cit., p. 566.  She is also capable of distinguishing the kind of ague:
Phillups quartine Ague is com to a Cotidian ague, it takes him in
the night.  yet is he now more cheerly wt  his
every day fitts.  then when thay cam every third.4Add. MS. 27447, f. 236.  cf.
"Quartan Ague is that which hath its Fits returning every fourth day,
and it is caused by Melancholy putrifying in the first Region of the
Body."  "Quotidian Ague is so called because its Fits do return every
day... This Ague is caused by flegm putrifying in the first Region of
the Body... And this feaver for the most part comes in the night."
Riverius, op. cit., pp. 586-7.Katherine Paston's strength of character is in no instance better indicated than in her determination that William shall not leave Cambridge in the spring of 1625.  She is accordingly willing to leave the matter entirely to the discretion of the tutor:
Nyther wold I for any Cawse haue the hom till whot wether or fear
of danger provoketh me:  wherfor I haue leaft it to Mr Roberts best consideration:  for I am so lothe thow
sholdest loose the time wt being at hom wherfor
if thow wholdest com hom soone, I pray the resolve wt thy selfe to apply thy self strictly to certine
howers tasks every day... but if ther be just Cawse of feare of
taringe, and that you will purpos to settle thy self to parforme my
desire, then Com and well com.1Add. MS. 27447, f. 264.She preferred that he stay until July,2Ibid.,
f. 268. that being the regular commencement time.  Because of
the plague Cambridge was dismissed between August and December of
1625,3Mullinger, op. cit., iii, 11.  Joseph Mead, master of Christ's College, wrote July 17, 1625:  "The university is yet very full of scholars, whereat I much wonder."  Court and Times of Charles I, I, 43. but students were doubtless leaving throughout the spring and summer of that fearful year, so that it was not strange for the young William to desire to return to Paston.If the surrounding sea made Norfolk a prey for agues, it also made
the county a prey for coast storms and for Dunkirkers.  Katherine writes of the "howlsum" weather which has caused much loss:
Diuers botts wt  wheat wch was to be delivered for the kinges provision at
Yarmouth are sunk in the river, which is the owners loss and not the
kings.1Add. MS. 27447, f. 262.No one could live near the coast of England and not be aware of the
Dunkirkers, the Spanish ships so called from their stronghold,
Dunkirk, on the coast of France.2Mason, op. cit., p. 259. The Dunkirkers harried
ships and seamen, causing much loss of life and destruction of
property.3See C. S. P. Dom., 1625-6,
pp. 278, 294; 1627-8, pp. 102, 145, 169, 195.  Mason, op. cit., pp. 244-5.  Court and Times of Charles I, i, 94, 97, 197.  Paston was on the coast, not far from Yarmouth, which was a center for attack.  During 1626 and 1627 Katherine Paston has much to say about the attacks of the marauders.  She relates a particular loss at Bacton, very near Paston, but she continues proudly:
What time Koke and his sone came down to the sease side and made
the company rune faster away than the Dunkark's bullets.4Add. MS. 36988, f. 67.
Printed in Reports of the His. MS. Com., Vol. vii,
App., p. 530.She is very such rejoiced in March of 1626 because the King has
sent "8 brave ships to guard the seamen," with other ships to scour
the seaes";1Add. MS. 36988, f. 51.
Printed in the Reports of the His. MSS. Com., vii,
App., p. 530.  cf. C. S. P. Dom., 1625-6, p. 278;
Court and Times of Charles I, i, 197.  In
Add. MS. 36988, f. 65, she writes:   "It is too trewe
that the dunkerkers haue robed and riffled heer a-bowtes: but the
deputye Lefftenantes haue giuen order for watch night and daye a longe
thes Costs wt  horse and foote, it begune in our
towne and so to the rest in order." and in May of the next year
she is again sending good news.  There has been but little loss by
Dunkirks and now two friendly Holland men-of-war ply the coast
line.2Ibid., f. 69.  May 3, 1627.  Printed as above.  One particular incident she relates quaintly: 
Tom Harbston will tell you of the fayer shipe which is run on
ground within Mr John Smith's Liberty sayd to be
as great as the Dans ship which cam up long sinc; ther is not on
livinge thing in her of man or beast: sum thinke it is a riffled ship
of the Kinge of Denmarke becawse it haue a witt Lion badges as the
other Danish ship had; sum thinke she is a Dunkerk, but God know what
she is.3Ibid., f. 25.  Printed as above.If we find news of wide import in her letters, it is because that
news is bound up with her daily life.  She is concerned with local and
family affairs:  "The widdow Paston, our Cosine is late married to on
Sr Henry Compton,"1Add. MS. 27447, f. 248.  The
"Widdow Paston" had as her first husband, Thomas Paston, son of Edward
Paston, the cousin who acted as one of the feoffees.  Thomas Paston
died in 1624.  Blomefield, op. cit., viii,
330. and this she thinks may be "Roppers news"2"Roppers news," Roper's
news: stale news; anything heard before.  Cor, Flk-Lore
Rec (1879), vii, 203; "That's Roper's news -- hang the crier
!"  Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, v,
152." for him;  "My Neec Knyvett hathe a yonge soone";3Add. MS. 27447, f. 262.  "My
Neec Knyvett" was Catherine Burgh Knyvett, wife of Katherine's nephew
Sir Thomas.  London Times, Feb. 2, 1931, p. 13.  This
son Thomas was baptised Feb. 22, 1624.  Blomefield, op. cit., v, 160.  "At this time is your
Cosine Betty Mundeford at Pagraue."4Add. MS. 27447, f. 256.
Betty Mundeford was the daughter of Katherine's sister Abigail, who
married Edmund Mundeford of Feltwell.  Vis. of Nor.,
Har. Soc., xxxiv, 201;  Blomefield, op. cit.,
xi, 234; v, 163. Once she relates news of the election of
knights of the shire:
Now we heer ther was much a doe at last sr
Edward Coke and sr Ant: Drury haue Caried it:
from sr Ro: Gawdy and sr
Charles Grose, thay had the poll: and he that had least had 1110. and
he that had most had 1610: sum say sr Jo: Corbett
stood for it. and he had 4 skor 18:  and no more, he had bine as good
haue no body.5Add. MS. 36988, f. 65.  In a different hand:  April 19, 1625.Although one king died during this time and another was crowned, we
have no mention of that in her letters; nor of the great Buckingham,
who was elected Chancellor of Cambridge in 1626.1Mullinger, op. cit., iii, 56-63.  After Charles I came to the throne, however, she was not unaware of the unrest in the country:
I pray god be mercyfull vnto our kinge and state for many rumors
fliethe abroad of much intended mischiff agaynst bothe, but the Lord
can prevent ther desingns.2Add. MS. 36988, f. 65.In the two letters still preserved which William wrote to his
mother during his college days,3Ibid.,
f. 32, January 26, [1623/4]; f. 34, February 22, [1624/5].  Dated by
His. MSS. Com. he speaks of James I.  In one
written on January 26, [1624], he states that the King is expected for
Candlemas day;4Ibid., f. 32.  This
sentence is printed in Reports of the His. MSS. Com.,
vii, App., p. 530.  The King was at Cambridge in March 1623/4.
C. S. P. Dom., 1619-23, p. 522.  Statham, op. cit., p. 208. and in the other, February
22, [1625], he reports a visit to Newmarket, where he saw "the Prince,
the Duke, and many other noblemen, but not the Kinge by reson he was
not well."5Add. MS. 36988, f. 34.
Printed as above.  The king was at Newmarket at this time.  John
Nichols, The Progresses,  Processions, and Magnificent
Festivities of King James the First, iv, 1027.
Doubtless he did write her of the excitement at Cambridge when James came for the meetings with the French ambassadors,1C. S. P. Dom., 1623-25,
pp. 404, 411; Nichols, op. cit., iv, 1008.
December, 1624, was the time. when Charles came to the
throne,2Mullinger, op. cit.,
iii, 5. when Buckingham was inaugurated and when he visited
Cambridge;3Ibid., iii, 72-4.
Buckingham was elected Chancellor in June, 1626; inaugurated, July 13,
1626; visited Cambridge, March, 1626/7. and she would have read
about these happenings with the same clear insight that she read his
news of the lusty bachelors, possibly adding again, "Take heed and
beware of Pride."4Add. MS. 27447, f. 238.But of these things we can only surmise.  Nor can we know whether
she had any part in planning the marriage of William with the Lady
Catherine Bertie in 1629,5The marriage articles are
given in Add. MS. 27447, ff. 274v-275.  See Venn, op. cit., I, iii, 318. for the Lady Katherine Paston was buried a year before that time.  In the chancel of the church at Paston there is a tomb with effigies, bearing this inscription:
To the memory of the vertuous and right worthy Lady Dame Katherine
Paston, daughter of the right worshipfull Sir Thomas Knevet Kt and
wife of Sir Edward Paston, with whom she lived in Wedlock
26 years, and had issue two sons surviving, William and Thomas: she
died March 10, 1628.1Blomefield, op. cit., xi, 59.If she was "vertuous and right worthy," she was also much more.  She was wise in the understanding of the human heart, sensitive to the desires of others, appreciative of kindness and affection, positive in her opinions but gentle in her bearings, capable of quaint flashes of humor, unafraid of the demands of hard work and of seasons of illness, perceptive of the value of learning, though she was herself no scholar, religious with enviable sincerity.  In her letters there lives on the story of human life that is always fundamentally the same, a story, though enhanced and brightened by local allusions, both of time and place, yet, still modern in its basic significance. ConclusionsWomen in sixteenth-century England were disciples of the Reformation rather than of the Renaissance.  The strongest force, indeed, affecting the lives and interests of all classes of both Tudor and Stuart women, if we may believe their writings, was religion.  Although the particular impetus might be Catholic, Reformed, or later, Puritan doctrine, fundamentally the stimulus was the same.  Because of the general sway of Reformed tenets in England, and, also, because of the censorship of the press, more women appear to have given themselves to the advancement of that faith, emphasizing lack of attainment in this world and happiness in the next -- a doctrine by no means confined to women but intensified by them.  Paradoxically, religion served both to liberate and to repress.  By teaching necessity of deference to the opinions of men and by laying stress upon general feminine weakness, the religious tenets contributed certainly toward the development of selfconscious humility among the women.  With so authoritative an assurance of mediocrity it is to be wondered that women gained confidence to write, much less to publish.At the same time, however, religious devotions were accepted media through which women could express themselves without inviting criticism for "unseemly" conduct.  Katherine Parr "set forth into print" her prayers and psalms for "the example" of all women; consequently the first avowed encouragement to women to write and to publish came for the purpose of putting scriptural teaching before the people.  The precedent thus established doubtless served as a barrier against future secular publications by women.The religious emphasis directed also much of the reading, nowhere
evinced more clearly than in the large number of theological
translations from divines.  Latin and Greek most commonly quoted and
most frequently chosen for translation was that of an early Church
Father or of a contemporary prelate. Scripture was better known than
any classic.  They did, however, read Plato, Euripedes, Seneca,
Cicero, Tully, and many others of the classic writers -- if they were
introduced to them. Only occasionally did a middle-class woman seem to
have acquaintance with the classics; she was more likely to know
French, Italian, or Spanish.The most significant trend from the middle of the sixteenth century to the middle of the seventeenth century is that of the leveling of cultural interest among women.  The sixteenth century contributed an ideal for the development of a highly educated woman; the seventeenth century compromised with the ideal -- lowering it and broadening it.  As education became more general, it became less elevated.  Ideals for feminine development emanating from humanistic scholars were modified by practical instruction by continental refugees and later by assuaging influences of a Stuart court.  Middle-class women in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries were expressing themselves in formal writings of a type showing moderate cultivation.  Results of a fairly general education and of a broadening in interest are best revealed, however, by the familiar letters, evidences in themselves of a basic education in rudiments.Writings of the women reflect little concern for the gayer sides of
the Renaissance, the frivolous side of feminine character customarily
portrayed by the men in their writings, for gaiety lends itself better
than sobriety to the story seeking a public.  The women for whom Lyly wrote Euphues were apparently not the women who were writing either in formal literary style or in letters.If we should attempt to understand all phases of the lives of Tudor and Stuart women, we should need to examine not only their own writings, but writings about them and for them.  Nevertheless, their own writings would still remain the basic source for information, more nearly furnishing, as Elizabeth Grymeston wrote, "the true portraiture" of their minds.SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FIRST IMPORTANCE
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RUTH W. HUGHEY
1899-1980Joni Laney and Mary Ruth Laney Reilly
Great-Nieces of Ruth HugheyBorn in 1899 in rural Arkansas, Ruth Hughey was the eldest daughter of a Methodist minister and his wife, both college graduates. When she was two years old she was stricken with polio, leaving her severely crippled and requiring braces on both legs and crutches to walk. In 1920, Hughey graduated from Galloway College, located in Searcy, Arkansas and, encouraged by her English advisor, sought to pursue graduate studies at Columbia University. Though the university would not formally accept her, she traveled to New York anyway and began taking courses to prove that she could do the work. After a trial semester, she was admitted to full standing, no matter that she was a woman and Southern, from a college no one had heard of, laboring under the ravages of polio. Hughey graduated the following year with a masters degree in English, but by now she had run out of money.Determined to obtain her Ph.D., she returned South where over the next several years she earned enough money by teaching to resume her graduate studies, this time at Cornell. She received her Ph.D. in 1932 with her thesis entitled "Cultural Interests of Women in England from 1524 to 1640 Indicated in the Writings of the Women." Upon graduation she received an American Association of University Women Fellowship for research in England, the first of several trips she would make. In 1935 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship that enabled her to continue her work in Britain. Through the personal courtesy of the Duchess of Norfolk, she had use of the private library in Arundel Castle where she discovered the Harrington Manuscript of Tudor Poetry. The New York Times called Hughey’s archival discovery "the most important find in English letters this century." She returned to the United States just as war broke out in Europe.After teaching a year at Mount Holyoke College, Hughey was invited to join the English Department at Ohio State University. At that time she was the first woman faculty member in the Humanities. Her office was on the third floor of a building without an elevator. She climbed the stairs several times a day managing books and crutches without assistance. She quickly won the respect of faculty and students with her courage, her rigorous scholarship and fine teaching.  Some years later she became the first full professor in the Humanities at Ohio State. She retired in 1974.Ruth Hughey may have been known in the scholarly world as Dr. Hughey, but her nieces and nephews knew her as Aunt Ruth. Early on we noted her fierce rejection of any pity and her determination to do things on her own, even when, as she grew older, her gnarled arthritic fingers could no longer hold a pen and her once-strong shoulders could hardly manage her crutches. She was a demon in Canasta, ruthless in Scrabble, intent on teaching us how to be good losers yet not to give up. She was also tender, listening to our young musings as if we were brilliant, offering comments and insights as she would her own students. While in later years she mellowed, she never lost her zest for and delight in English literature. She never lost her conviction that women could overcome any obstacle and that they could and would prevail in the academy and in society.When we were young, Aunt Ruth often visited our house, then full of children and activity. Her presence had a calming influence; she would be an anchor in a room of swirling movement. In a time when women in the household were constantly busy preparing or cleaning, she gave the girls in the family tacit permission to sit for a while and enjoy the pleasure of a quiet conversation. Aunt Ruth spoke with measured deliberation, which matched her careful physical movements. This demeanor gave her a natural authority that captured the attention of her family and her graduate students. She was elegant and precise in her manner and appearance, and inspired excellence in those around her.As a child, she had excelled at handwork. The family now treasures examples of her intricate tatting and embroidery she did at an early age, an interesting parallel to the sixteenth and seventeenth century women whose writings she studied, many of whom also did handwork. Aunt Ruth recognized the value of work well done, whether it was more conventional women’s work or the writings that women have produced throughout history with little recognition. She knew that good work itself had an innate nobility that would withstand the test of time.She died at the age of eighty, leaving a legacy of research on previously unknown women writers. Her determination to herald their literary talent, which for centuries had gone unnoticed, mirrored her own struggle to survive and prevail in a culture unfriendly to brilliant, scholarly women. Like those women before her, she was heroic in refusing to let the outside world define her limits and her identity.