but a battered hulk. He died on board the Spanish fleet three days after, expressing the highest satisfaction, in his last moments, at his having acted as a true soldier ought to have done.* Ob. 1591. He was grandfather of the famous Sir Bevil Greenvile. CLASS VIII. KNIGHTS, GENTLEMEN, &c. HUMPHREDUS GILBERTUS, Miles Auratus; in the "Heroologia;" 8vo. SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT, knight; copied from the above; 4to. SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT, holding an armillary sphere; Virginia at a distance. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, half-brother, by the mother, to Sir Walter Raleigh, possessed, in a high degree, the various talents for which that great man was distinguished. He gained a considerable reputation in Ireland, in his military capacity, and was one of those gallant adventurers who improved our navigation, and opened the way to trade and commerce. He took possession of Newfoundland in the name of Queen Elizabeth, but was unsuccessful in his attempt to settle a colony on the continent of America. He, as well as Sir Walter Raleigh, pursued his studies at sea and land, and was seen in the dreadful tempest which swallowed up his ship, sitting unmoved in the stern of the vessel, with a book in his hand; and was often heard to say, "Courage, my lads! we are as near heaven at sea, as at land." He always wore on his breast a golden anchor suspended to a pearl, which was given him by the queen. There was a portrait of him in the possession of his descendants This was that enthusiasm, or rather madness of courage, which some will have to be the highest perfection in a sea-officer. It was a maxim of Admiral Howard, who lived in the reign of Henry VIII. that a degree of frenzy was necessary to qualify a man for that station.t + Had not our immortal NELSON that necessary degree of frenzy? in Devonshire, with this honourable badge. He wrote a discourse to prove that there is a north-west passage to the Indies. Ob. 1583. RICARDUS SCELLEIUS, Prior Angliæ, An. Æt. LXIII. a medallion, with two reverses. Basire sc. 4to. This curious medallion is in the king's collection. Sir Richard Shelley was the last of our countrymen, that I ever heard of, who was titular prior of the English knights of St. John of Jerusalem, or knights Templars.* He, in the reign of Elizabeth, without leave of that princess, resided in Spain and the Low Countries, whither he retired on account of his religion. The reader, who is curious to see particulars concerning him, is referred to the Collection of Letters to which the print is prefixed; to "Camdeni Elizabetha," sub annis 1560 et 1563; to the Index of the third volume of Strype's "Annals of the Reformation," and to Dod's "Church History," vol. ii. p. 57. THOMAS CANDYSSH, Nobilis Anglus, Ætatis suæ 28.-Hæc illa est, candide inspector, illustrissimi Thoma Canndyssh, nobilis Angli, ad vivum imago; qui ex Anglia 21 Julii, 1586, navem conscendens, totum terræ ambitum circumnavigavit, rediitque in patriæ portum Plimouth, 15 Septemb. 1588. Jodocus Hondius sc. Londini. 8vo. THOMAS CANDISH (or CAVENDISH); in the "Heroologia;" 8vo. THOMAS CAVENDISH, esq. six English verses; belonging to the set of Admirals, &c. by Boissard; h. sh. THOMAS CANDYSSH, &c. two hemispheres before him; six Latin verses; 8vo. æt. xxx. motto, Extremos Pudeat Redissce. C. v. P. In "Nautical Portraits." There is another neat print of him in 4to. with two hemispheres, and six English verses. They are now better known by the appellation of knights of Malta. THOMAS CANDISH. Larmessin sc. Copied from the "Heroologia." THOMAS CANDISH, with DRAKE. See Drake. Thomas Cavendish was a gentleman adventurer, who, soon after the commencement of hostilities between England and Spain, undertook to annoy the Spaniards in the West Indies, and carried fire and sword into their remotest territories. He burnt and destroyed nineteen of their ships, and took the admiral of the South Seas, valued at 48,8001. In this expedition he encompassed the globe, and returned in great triumph to England. His soldiers and sailors were clothed in silk, his sails were damask, and his top-mast covered with cloth of gold. In his second expedition, he suffered 1591. almost all the miseries that could attend a disastrous voyage.* His men mutinied, and he was thought to have died of a broken heart in America, 1592.† SIR JOHN PACKINGTON; from an original picture at Washwood, Worcestershire. Clamp sc. 4to. Sir John Packington was a person of no mean family, and of form and feature no way despicable: for he was a brave gentleman, and a very fine courtier; and for the time he stayed there, was very high in the queen's grace: but he came in, and went out, and through disassiduity lost the advantage of her favour; and death drawing a veil over him, utterly deprived him of recovery.-Had he brought less to the court than he did, he might have carried away more than he brought: for he had a time of it, but was an ill husband of opportunity. His handsome features took the most, and his neat parts the wisest at court. He could smile ladies to his service, and argue statesmen to his design with equal ease.-His reason was powerful, his beauty more.-Never was a brave soul more bravely seated; nature bestowed great parts on him, and education polished him to an admirable frame of prudence and virtue. Queen Elizabeth called him her Temperance, and Leicester his Modesty. By the courtiers he was called Moderation. In the Straits of Magellan his men perished in great numbers from cold and famine. Knivet's feet turned quite black with the cold, and his toes came off with his stockings. Another blowing his nose with his fingers, threw it into the fire. + Dr. Ducarel has a curious drawing, by Vertue, from an original painting, of Captain Thomas Eldred, who sailed round the globe in the sixteenth century. This new court-star was a nine days' wonder, engaging all eyes until it set satisfied with its own glory. He came to court, he said, as Solomon did to see its vanity; and retired as he did, to repent it. It was he who said first what Bishop Sanderson urged afterward, that a sound faith was the best divinity, a good conscience the best law, and temperance the best physic.-Lloyd in his "State Worthies," says, Sir John Packington was virtuous and modest, and died in his bed an honest and an happy man. A wager was laid by Sir John, commonly called lusty Packington, that he would swim from Whitehall-stairs to Greenwich, for the sum of 30007. But the queen, who had a particular tenderness for handsome fellows, would not permit him to run the hazard of the trial. THOMAS GRESHAMUS: De pictura archetypa penes Mercerorum Societatem. Vertue sc. h. sh. SIR THOMAS GRESHAM. Delaram sc. 4to. P. Stent.* SIR THOMAS GRESHAM; with a view of the Royal Exchange. Overton exc. whole length; h. sh. SIR THOMAS GRESHAM; copied from the next above; sold by Walton; 4to. SIR THOMAS GRESHAM; a small oval. SIR THOMAS GRESHAM, Miles, &c. Faber f. large 4to. mezz. SIR THOMAS GRESHAM; a whole length; a bale of goods, ship under sail, &c. 4to. SIR THOMAS GRESHAM, sitting. A. More pin. R. Thew sc. 1792; fine. SIR THOMAS GRESHAM. A. More pinx. Michel sc. SIR THOMAS GRESHAM; from his statue by Cibber, in the Royal Exchange. G. Vertue sc. * The first impression, "Sould by Jo. Sudbury, and G. Humble." SIR THOMAS GRESHAM; in a small circle, in Hollar's view of the Royal Exchange. Sir Thomas Gresham was agent in the Low Countries for Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. His mercantile genius exerted itself not only in contriving excellent schemes for paying the debts of the crown, and extending our foreign trade; but also in introducing into the kingdom the manufactures of small wares, such as pins, knives, hats, ribands, &c. He was, in a word, the founder of commerce; and, beside other great and charitable acts nobly endowed, he founded Gresham College, the seat of learning and liberal arts, and the Royal Exchange; which alone is a Finished monument that will deservedly last as long as trade flourishes in this kingdom. Ob. 21 Nov. 1579. SIR JOHN BROCKETT. Sir A. More pinx. 1568. G. Barret sc. Sir John Brockett was a respectable Spanish merchant, and more than once member of parliament for Oxford: his residence, called, after his name, Brockett Hall, was near the village of Wheathempstead, in Hertfordshire. He had three daughters, to each of whom he left a house in Wheathempstead, with a handsome portion in money: from one of these houses came the picture from which the print was engraved; and there still remain, to the present time, the arms of Brockett, correspondent with those in the picture, carved over the mantlepieces of the two parlours.-In Chauncy's Hertfordshire is a very copious account of Sir John, and the rest of the Brockett family. Brockett Hall, which has been rebuilt within the last forty years, is now the property and country-seat of Lord Viscount Melbourne. A set of the Lord Mayors of London, from the first year of Queen Elizabeth to 1601; when the prints, which are cut in wood, were published. Some of them serve for several mayors.* Under the portraits are mentioned their charitable gifts, and places of burial, with a few other particulars. Among them are seven *This circumstance brings in question the authenticity of the set. Possibly the repetition of the prints was only when originals could not be procured. 1569. |