XL. THE LADY PARKER.

This lady was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Philip Cal thorpe of Norfolk, and wife of Sir Henry Parker, the first Lord Morley of his family. She was afterwards the wife of Sir William Wodehouse of Hickling in Norfolk, and after his death married Sir Drue Drury, well known as the last and sternest Keeper of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. The time of her death is not known.

XLI. THOMAS PARRIE.

The friendship of Secretary Cecil, who was distantly related to this gentleman, introduced him at the court of Edward VI. In the following reign he was one of the Protestants who were allowed to attend on Elizabeth in her confinement, and became the principal officer in her slender establishment, but he had scarcely seen his mistress settled on her throne, when he was arrested by the hand of death. This event took place on the 15th of December, 1559.

XLII. SIR NICHOLAS POINS.

He was the son of a gentleman of the same names, and seems to have filled no higher station than that of a mere country gentleman.

XLIII. SIR NICHOLAS POINS.

He was the father of the preceding Sir Nicholas, and appears not to have been distinguished by any circumstances worth transmitting to posterity.

XLIV. JOHN POINS.

He was the eldest son of Sir William Poins or Poyntz of North Wokendon in Essex. His name is found in Rymer's Fœdera, in a list of the officers who attended Cathe

rine of Arragon, at the magnificent interview of the Kings of England and France, in 1520.

XLV. THE LADY RATCLIFFE.

It cannot at present be determined with certainty who was intended to be represented by this portrait.

XLVI. RESKIMER.

John Reskimer was a private gentleman, and was High Sheriff of the county of Cornwall in 1557. He was seated at a place called Murthyn or Murthyr Uni,

Holbein's picture of this gentleman after the drawing here imitated, is in the royal collection at Hampton Court.

XLVII. LORD RICH.

He studied the law in the Middle Temple, and was appointed Autumn Reader to that Society in 1530. After filling various offices connected with the law, the seals of the office of High Chancellor were delivered to him on the 30th of November, 1547, and soon after he was created Baron Rich, of Lees in Essex. He owed his advancement to Cromwell, and was a staunch supporter of that minister's favourite measures; he had little intellect, and less principle, which was sufficiently exemplified in his nefarious conduct to Sir Thomas More. He died in 1566.

This lady was the wife of the nobleman just mentioned, but her history is wrapped up in darkness,

XLIX. THE LADY OF RICHMOND.

This portrait represents Mary, only daughter of Thomas Howard, third, Duke of Norfolk, by his second Duchess. She was married, at a very early age, to Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, a natural son of King Henry VIII.

The celebrated Henry, Earl of Surrey, was her brother, at whose iniquitous trial, in 1546, this lady was called as a witness, and brought forward a body of evidence against him, so keenly pointed, and so full of secrets, which from their nature must have been voluntarily disclosed by her, that we cannot but suspect her conduct of a degree of rancour, unpardonable in any case, but in this unnatural.

L. THE BISHOP OF ROCHESTER.

This was John Fisher, born at Beverley in Yorkshire in 1459. He was a prelate remarkable for his private virtues, for his learning, and for a zealous discharge of the duties of his pastoral function. At a time when the lower order of the clergy were distinguished by their ignorance and debauchery, and the higher by a more refined luxury, and a turn for political intrigue, this bishop's conduct displayed the pure simplicity of a primitive Christian, and rigid morality of a Roman Stoic; plain, patient, and sincere, humble but courageous, mild though determined, his character has defied that oblivion, which commonly obscures the favourers of an exploded cause, and in the midst of our proud veneration for the Protestant Martyrs of the 16th century, we regret that he suffered for the contrary doctrine, and feel that the name of this good Catholic would have been a valuable addition to the glorious catalogue.

LI. J. RUSSELL, LORD PRIVY SEAL.

This gentleman owed his introduction at the Court of Henry VII to a mere accident; Philip, Archduke of Austria, having been shipwrecked at Weymouth, on his passage from Flanders to Spain was entertained by Sir Thomas Trenchard, and lived splendidly in his house till the King invited him to Court. It chanced that Sir Thomas sent for his cousin, Mr. Russell, then lately arrived from his travels, to wait on the royal stranger, who was so

much pleased with the conversation of his visitor, that he took him in his company to Windsor, recommended him strongly to Henry, and thus opened the way to his future fortune.

In 1538, he was created Baron Russell of Cheneys in Bucks, and in 1540, became enriched beyond all precedent, by grants of Church Lands. Edward VI created him Earl of Bedford in 1550. He died in 1555, and was buried at Cheneys.

LII. FRANCIS RUSSELL, EARL OF BEDFORD.

This nobleman devoted himself to his country on the only just principles of public service,-loyalty to his prince, reverence to religion, and submission to the laws. He had talents capable of directing the most important state affairs; but those talents were, in a manner, governed by a noble simplicity of mind, so contrary to the spirit of party and political intrigue, that he always declined accepting the great offices, which were repeatedly offered to him, choosing to serve his prince rather with his person than with his counsel, and preferring obedience, regulated by his own honesty, to that affectation of authority which must occa sionally submit to the interests and the caprice of colleagues. The vast wealth which he inherited in his youth from his father, seduced him neither into indolence, debauchery, or pride. His charity was as pure as his patriotism, and as free from vanity as that from ambition: he seemed to hold his weighty purse but as a trustee for the unfortunate: so extensive were his alins and his hospitality, that Queen Elizabeth used to say," my Lord of Bedford made all the beggars." To conclude, in the concise but comprehensive words of Camden," he was a true follower of religion and virtue." He died on the 28th of July, 1585, and was buried at Cheneys..

LIII. QUEEN JANE SEYMOUR.

She was the eldest daughter of Sir John Seymour of Wolf Hall, in Wiltshire. Her connexions and accomplishments procured for her the office of a maid of honour to Anne Boleyn, and her beauty made her the innocent cause of her mistress's ruin. Equally a stranger to sensibility and morals, the attachment of Henry to this lady soon became irresistible, and his disgust for the Queen increased to a degree of dislike little short of hatred. He determined to make Jane Seymour his wife, and the unhappy Anne Boleyn was accused of adultery, and put to death. The unfeeling widower married the lady of whom we are treating, in the last week of May, 1536, and on the 12th of October, 1537, she was delivered of a son, afterwards the excellent Edward VI, but the joy for his birth was soon abated by the death of the Queen. She was buried at Windsor on the 8th of November, 1537.

LIV. SIR WILLIAM SHERRINGTON.

There is but little known of this gentleman, and that little highly unfavourable to his memory, his dishonesty only having preserved his name from oblivion. He was appointed to the office of Vice Treasurer of the Mint at Bristol, under Henry VIII, and in the beginning of the next reign, was accused of embezzling the coin and of other misdeameanors in the execution of his office. The event of his prosecution is not known.

LV. SIR THOMAS STRANGE.

He seems to have retired at an early time of life, from all the vanities of the capital; and we find him in no public situation but that of High Sheriff of the County of Norfolk, which office he served in the 24th of Henry VIII. He died on the 16th of January, 1545.