Almighty Jesu preserve, keep, and give you your heart's desire, which I wot well would be to God's pleasure.

This letter was written with as great pain as ever wrote I thing in my life; for in good faith I have been right sick, and yet am not very well at ease. God amend it, &c.

Roger Ascham to his Wife Margaret, in Consolation for the Death of their Son, Sturm Ascham.

The following letter was written by ROGER Ascham, the famous schoolmaster of the sixteenth century. He was the teacher of Queen Elizabeth in her girlhood, and of Lady Jane Grey; and these two princesses seem to have been favourite pupils of his, for he cannot speak too highly in praise of their learning and studiousness.

His marriage, which took place rather late in life, when he was nearly forty, seems to have been a very happy one. At the time of his marriage he wrote thus to his friend John Sturm : —

You wish to know about my wife. In face she is like her aunt, the wife of Sir R. Walop. She is just such a wife as John Sturm would desire for his friend Roger Ascham. Her name is Margaret; our wedding-day was the 1st of June, 1554, if there be anything lucky in that name or that day."

NOVEMBER, 1568. MINE OWN GOOD MARGARET, -The more I think on your sweet babe, as I do many times,

both day and night, the greater cause I always find of giving thanks continually to God for his singular goodness bestowed at this time upon the child, yourself, and me, even because it has rather pleased him to take the child to himself in heaven than to leave it here with us still on earth. When I mused on the matter as nature, flesh, and fatherly fantasy did carry me, I found nothing but sorrows and care, which did very much vex and trouble me; but at last, forsaking these worldly thoughts, and referring me wholly to the will and order of God in the matter, I found such a change, such a cause of joy, such a plenty of God's grace towards the child, and of his goodness towards you and me, as neither my heart can comprehend nor yet my tongue express the twentieth part thereof.

Nevertheless, because God and good-will hath so joined me and you together as we must not only be the one a comfort to the other in sorrow, but also partakers together in any joy, I could not but declare unto you what just cause I think we both have of comfort and gladness, by that God hath so graciously dealt with us as he hath. My first step from care to comfort was this: I thought God had done his will with our child, and because God by his wisdom knoweth what is best,

and by his goodness will do best, I was by and by fully persuaded the best that can be is done with our sweet child; but seeing God's wisdom is unsearchable with any man's heart, and his goodness unspeakable with any man's tongue, I will come down from such high thoughts and talk more sensibly with you, and lay before you such matter as may be both a full comfort for our cares past, and also a just cause of rejoicing as long as we live. You well remember our continual wish and desire, our nightly prayer together, that God would vouchsafe to us to increase the number of the world; we wished that nature should beautifully perform the work by us; we did talk together how to bring up our child in learning and virtue; we had care to provide for it, so as honest fortune should favour and follow it. And see, sweet wife, how mercifully God hath dealt with us in all points; for what wish could desire, what prayer could crave, what nature could perform, what virtue could deserve, what fortune could perform, both we have received and our child doth enjoy already. And because our desire (thanked be God) was always joined with honesty and our prayers mingled with fear, the will and pleasure of God hath given us more than we wished, and that is better for us now than we could hope to think

upon; but you desire to hear and know how, marry, even thus we desired to be made vessels to increase the earth, and God hath made us vessels to increase heaven, which is the greatest honour to man, the greatest joy to heaven, the greatest spite to the devil, the greatest sorrow to hell, that any man can imagine. Secondarily, when nature had performed what she would, grace stepped forth and took our child from nature, as where it could not creep in earth by nature, it was straightway able to soar to heaven by grace. It could not then speak by nature, and now it does praise God by grace; it could not then comfort the sick and careful mother by nature, and now, through prayer, is able to help father and mother by grace; and yet, thanked be nature, that hath done all she could do, and blessed be grace, that hath done more and better than we would wish she should have done. Peradventure you do wish that nature had kept it from death a little longer; yea, but grace has carried it where now no sickness can follow nor any death hereafter meddle with it; and instead of a short life with troubles on earth, it doth live a life that shall never end, with all manner of joys in heaven.

And now, Margaret, go to, I pray you, and tell

me as you think, do you love your sweet babe so little, do you envy his happy state so much, yea, once to wish that nature should have followed your pleasure in keeping your child in this miserable world, than that grace should have purchased such profit for your child as bringing him to felicity in heaven? Thirdly, you may say to me,— if the child had lived in this world, it might have come to such goodness by grace and virtue as might have turned to great comfort to us, to good service to our country, and served to have deserved as high a place in heaven as he doth now. Το this in short, I answer, ought we not in all things to submit to God's good will and pleasure, and thereafter to rule our affections, which I doubt not but you will endeavour to do. And therefore I will say no more, but with all comfort to you here, and a blessing hereafter, which I doubt not but is prepared for you,

Your dearly loving husband,

ROGER ASCHAM.

To my dear wife, MARGARET ASCHAM, these.

Sir William St. Lo to his Wife.

The Countess of Shrewsbury was one of the most remarkable women of the reign of Queen Elizabeth; beautiful in person, though masculine in character, and by all evidence