HENRY PEACHAM

Was author of " Minerva Britanna, or a garden of heroical "Devises," &c. 1612, 4to, (a collection of Emblems in verse, with a plate to each, from which the following extracts are taken) as well as "The Period of Mourning "—in memorie of the late Prince. Together with Nup“tial Hymnes in honour of this happy marriage betweene "-Fred. Count Pal.—and Eliz.-Daughter to our So"vereigne," 1613, 40. "A most true relation of the "affairs of Cleve and Gulick," &c. 1614, 4to. (prose) "Prince Henrie revived; or a Poeme upon the Birth“of—Prince H. Frederick-Heire apparant to Fred. "Count Pal. of the Rhine," &c. 1615, 4to. "The Com66 pleat Gentleman," ," 1622, 1627, 1634, 1654, 1661, 4to. (prose)" The Gentleman's Exercise," 1612, 1634, 1654, 1661, 4to. (prose) “ Thalia's Banquet," a volume of epigrams, 1620, 12mo. "The Valley of Varietie,” 1638, 12mo. (prose, as well as the two following.) "The Duty “of all true subjects to their king; as also to their na❝tive country in time of extremity and danger,” &c. in "two bookes," 1639, 4to." The Worth of a Peny, or a "caution to keep money,” 1647, 1667, 1677, 1695, 4to. &c. All works of considerable merit. He is placed here owing to the uncertainty of the time of his birth. If, as Mr Ritson assumes, he is the same as “Henry Pecham, Minister," who published “ The Gar"den of Eloquence,” (a treatise on rhetoric,) in 1577, 4to, bl. 1. he ought to be referred to the early part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. If, on the other hand, as Mr Malone conceives, our author is a different person, (perhaps son to the last-mentioned), and the earliest date of his compositions, 1611, (verses in" The Odcombian Ban“ quet,”) he would then rather belong to the succeeding one of James I.

I have only to add, that he was born at or near St Albaus; assisted in educating the children of Thomas, earl of Arundel; and attended that nobleman into the Low Countries. In the title to his " Minerva” he styles himself Master of Arts; and it appears that he was some"time of Trinity College, Cambridge." His father was "Mr Henry Peacham, of Leverton, in Holland, in the 66 county of Lincoln."

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Further particulars of his History I am unable to furnish, (though, in all probability, they might be supplied by an attentive perusal of his various publications,) and, till I have it in my power to ascertain with accuracy, either the year of his birth, or whether or not he was the author of "The Garden of Eloquence," venture to place him between the reigns of Elizabeth and James.

Humilibus dat Gratiam.

THE mountains huge, that seem to check the sky,
And all the world with greatness over-peer,
With heath or moss for most part barren lie;
When valleys low doth kindly Phoebus cheer,
And with his heat in hedge and grove begets
The virgin primrose or sweet violets.

So God oft-times denies unto the great
The gifts of nature, or his heavenly grace,
And those that high in honour's chair are set

Do feel their wants; when men of meaner place, Although they lack the others' golden spring, Perhaps are blest above the richest king.

Gloria lata Via.

THOUGH life be short, and man doth, as the sun, His journey finish in a little space,

The

way is wide an honest course to run,
And great the glories of a virtuous race,

That, at the last, do our just labours crown
With three-fold wreath, love, honour, and renown.

Nor can night's shadow, or the Stygian deep,

Conceal fair Virtue from the world's wide eye; The more oppress'd, the more she strives to peep, And raise her rose-bound golden head on high: When epicures, the wretch, and worldly slave, Shall rot in shame, alive and in the grave.

Nec in una sede morantur.

THE awful sceptre, though it can compel
By powerful might great'st monarchs to obey,
Love where he listeth liketh best to dwell,

And take abroad his fortune as he

may: Ne might, or gold, can win him thence away, Whereto he is through strong affection led, Be it a palace, or the simplest shed.

But, Venus' infant! dread of all beneath!

Imperious fear from my sweet saint remove, And with thy soft ambrosial kisses breathe Into her bosom meek and mildest love

With melting pity from thy queen above: That she may read, and oft remember this, And learn to love, who most beloved is.

Ad generosissimum et opt. spei juvenem Nobilem D. C. M. in Italiam nuperrime profectum.

THE Spartan virgins, ere they had compos'd Their garlands of the fairest flowers to sight, The wholesom❜st herbs they herewithal inclos'd, And so their heads full jollily they dight,

In

memory of that same leach, they write,

Who first brought simples, and their use to light.

So ye, brave lord, who like the heavenly sphere Delight in motion, and about to roam,

Must learn to mix in travel far and near

With pleasure profit, that, returning home,

Your skill and judgment more may make you known

Than your French suit, or lock so largely grown.

For who's he, that's not ravish'd with delight
Far countries, courts, and cities strange to see?
To have old Rome presented to his sight,

Troy walls, or Virgil's sweet Parthenope?
Yet nothing worth, unless ye herewith find
The fruits of skill, and bettering of your mind.

Rura mihi et Silentium.

[From 11 stanzas.]

WERT thou thy life at liberty to choose,

And, as thy birth, so, hadst thy being free,
The city thou should'st bid adieu, my Muse,
And from her streets, as her infection flee;
Where chaos and confusion we see
As well of language as of differing hearts,
A body sever'd in a thousand parts.

Thy solitary Academe should be

Some shady grove upon the Thames' fair side; Such as we may near princely Richmond see, Or where along doth silver Severn slide, Or Avon courts fair Flora in her pride. There shouldst thou sit at long-desired rest, And think thyself above a monarch blest.

There might'st thou sing thy sweet Creator's praise, And turn at quiet o'er some holy book,