*

The father was the first who planned the elevation of
Henry VII. to the crown, and fell a victim in the Lan-
castrian cause. Henry therefore, out of gratitude to
the father, restored the son to the fortunes and dignities of
his family. His wealth was great; he was Lord of Bre-
chin, and Holderness, and privy counsellor to the King.

From this hall, as its first fruits, went Sir Robert Reade,
afterwards chief justice of England, of whom notice has
already been taken, among the benefactors of Jesus Col-
lege. He was afterwards fellow of King's Hall, and
founded lectures in the University, with proper salaries, on
philosophy, and lectures on Terence: and Cranmer con-
tinued, after his retirement from Jesus College, to give
lectures here.

Next followed Thomas, Baron Audley of Walden, who became patron of this college, and, according to Archbishop Parker, by articles of agreement entered into on the 3d of April, in the thirty-fourth year of Henry VIII. settled one master and eight fellows. But it seems he died soon afterwards, and the rents, according to Caius, were not sufficient for that number of fellows; which will account for that less number of fellows, as stated by Carter, and not contradicted by Smyth.

These rents issued out of tenements and lands, which had belonged to the priory of the Holy Trinity in London. By the appointment of Sir Thomas Audley, the founder, the mastership, and visitorship, were vested in himself and proprietors of the monastery of Walden; and they, accordingly, still continue in the Audley family, in Essex.

Sir Thomas Audley is he of whom it was said, "Essex bred him to that honour which his ancestors lost; Henry

!

loved a man ;—his fair estate brought him to the court; his proficiency in the law, to the Temple; his reading upon the statute of privileges recommended him to the king's service; his speaking for the prerogatives in parliament brought him to the king's favour," and thus he made his way: "for noble service, as the same writer observes, "is the way to the royal onea." He became steward to the Duchy of Suffolk, and attorney to that of Lancaster. When Sir Thomas More was called to serve the king in the House of Lords, Sir Thomas Audley succeeded him as speaker in the House of Commons: he contrived always to keep in favour with the king, nor less with his queens: he was a great statesman; a polite courtier, a consummate politician; "the most dexterous and passable, rather than the wisest or greatest man of his age: he could please the humour of the king, where Sir Thomas More failed; when the former resigned the seals, the latter was prepared to take them: his rule was to believe no doctrine but what the law established, concluding that church and state had more knowledge than himself; and when Cromwell attacked popery by power, Audley was for weakening it by policy:" to him was well addressed

"Treasure of arms and arts, in whom were set
The mace and books, the court and college met,
Yet both to serve, that in that mingled throng
They both comply, and yet goes neither wrong."

Lloyd's Statesmen and Favourites of England.
Ibid.

His college was incorporated 1542, and called after St. Mary Magdalen. Mr. Parker, with the same breath, says, the name of Magdalen, vulgarly in English pronounced M'Audley-n, contains the founder's name, with the addition of the one letter, at the end, and one at the beginning: this would be a worse conceit than that of Trinity, which, according to Fuller, had a reference to the three houses, out of which it was composed.

The endowment was enlarged by other benefactors, conspicuous among whom were Sir Christopher Wray, lord chief justice, who had been educated at this college: he settled on it lands to a considerable amount; his widow, Ann Wray, who founded two fellowships; Archbishop Grindall, a scholarship for the best proficient in literature, of a school in Cumberland, founded by him; Mr. W. Roberts three; Mr. John Spendlove two more, and one fellowship; Frances, Countess of Warwick, and daughter of Sir Christopher Wray, one fellowship and a scholarship. There have been also other benefactors, among whom we must not forget their royal benefactor, Hen. VIII. who founded two fellowships, and gave the college 201. per annum.

It may be just mentioned, that the daughter and heiress of the founder, though not as I recollect a benefactress to the college, was mother of that Earl of Suffolk, chancellor to the University in James the First's reign, who to the public orator, after he had addressed his lordship in Latin, made this memorable reply:—

"Though I understand not Latin, I know the sense of your oration is to tell me, that I am welcome to you; which I believe verily. I thank you for it heartily, and

will serve you faithfully in any thing within my power":" and he accordingly obtained for the University the honour of a visit from James I.

The following are a few of their distinguished writers.

Lord Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, heir to the founder of Buckingham Hall: he translated two of Erasmus's Latin Epistles to Luther, and Bishop Fox's work (written in Henry VIIIth's reign), De vera differentia Regalis Potestatis et Ecclesiastica. He died in 1551.

Nicholas Carre, A. M. afterwards L. L. D. translated into Latin some parts of Demosthenes: he was master of this college, but displaced by Queen Elizabeth in 1559.

Brian Walton, Bishop of Chester: he was the editor of the famous work, Biblia Polyglotta, or Polyglot Bible, in four volumes, folio, and a work against Dr. Owen, and the Independents. He died in 1661.

Sir Robert Sawyer, author of Pleadings and Arguments in the Court of King's Bench: he was attorneygeneral, and died in 1688.

John Northleigh, of Exeter, M. D. was fellow of this college, and distinguished himself by various writings against the Independents and Presbyterians.

Mr. Sadler was distinguished as an oriental scholar and historian: he was author of a work entitled, The Rights of the Kingdom, &c. touching the Duty and Power of our Kings and Parliaments.

Dr. Duport, prior to Joshua Barnes, was Greek professor, and, like him, a great writer of Homerics, author of the Gnomologia Homeri, and translator of

• The Statesmen and Favourites of England, p. 568.

1