Thomas McKinnon Wood,
Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition…
“ In the first three parliaments of the reign of Charles I. Eliot was the foremost leader of the House of Commons. The House was at that time rich in great statesmen. Upon its benches sat Pym, Humpden, Selden, Coke, and many other sincere and steadfast patriots. ”
Thomas McKinnon Wood,
Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition…
“ From the first he perceived that the success of the popular cause required the entire independence of parliament; and his earliest. recorded speech was to propose that, as “misreports” were Constantly being carried to the king, the deliberations of the House of Commons should be kept strictly secret. In the days of Eliot, such a measure would have carried with it advantages of the first importance ; and it was only natural that, in his anxiety to make parliament an efficient check upon the crown, he should forget how necessary was the check upon parliament which would thus have been lost. ”
Thomas McKinnon Wood,
Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition…
“ Against his youth no fault has been charged except such as was the natural fruit of a fiery but generous temper, and that it was not entirely spent in idle frolic is proved by the considerable scholarship which he attained. At fifteen he entered Exeter College, Oxford; and, on leaving the university, he studied law at one of the inns of court. He also spent some months travelling in France, Spain, and Italy, in company, for part of the time, with young George Villiers, afterwards duke of Buckingham. ”
