Thomas Wriothesley

“ On the evening of the 6th or 7th of June Sir Thomas Wriothesley repaired to Cromwell’s house with the ordinary reports of public business. He found the minister alone in a gallery, leaning against a window. “Were there any news abroad?” Cromwell asked. Wriothesley said he knew of none. “There is something,” the minister said, “which troubles me. The king loves not the queen, nor ever has from the beginning; insomuch as I think assuredly she is yet as good a maid for him as she was when she came to England.” ”

“ Martin Outwich in London, and earlier in the same year he was elected master of St. John's College, Cambridge, in opposition to the king's nominee, George Day [q. v.] , an event which nearly proved fatal to the college. Wilson did not venture to accept the office, and in a letter to Thomas Wriothesley, now in the record office, he disclaimed all knowledge of the society's intention (ib. xii. ii. 425) . ”

“ From him were descended various Russells who enjoyed as many of the good things of this life as they could decently lay hands upon, and two of whom were famous men in their day. William, Lord Russell, is best known to posterity as the husband of the admirable Rachael Wriothesley, daughter of Thomas, Earl of Southampton, and widow of Francis, Lord Vaughan. With respect to his execution there has been some difference of opinion; but the probability is that it was a judicial murder of the worst kind. Immediately after the Revolution, Lord Russell's attainder was reversed by Parliament. ”

“ Pate, the ambassador at the Emperor's Court, absconded to Rome in fear of arrest, and his uncle, Longland, Bishop of Lincoln, was for a time in confinement; Sir John Wallop, Sir Thomas Wyatt, diplomatist and poet, and his secretary, the witty and cautious Sir John Mason, were sent to the Tower; both Cromwell's henchmen, Wriothesley and Sadleir, seem to have incurred suspicion. [1114] Wyatt, Wallop and Mason were soon released, while Wriothesley and Sadleir regained favour by abjuring their former opinions ”

“ In reality Wriothesley had proved himself useful by the evidence he gave with respect to Cromwell's case and the repudiation of Anne of Cleves. Apparently, too, he had made his peace with the now powerful Gardiner, with whom he henceforth acted in concert, and had given sureties against any recurrence of his former religious and iconoclastic zeal; at any rate, he now became one of the mainstays of the conservative party. ”

“ By his will Henry VIII left Wriothesley 500l., and appointed him one of his executors and of his son's privy councillors. There is no authority for the speech in opposition to Somerset's elevation to the protectorate which Froude attributes to Wriothesley at the meeting of the executors on the afternoon of 31 Jan., but it probably represents with some accuracy the lord chancellor's sentiments. Cranmer alone ranked before him in order of precedence, and Wriothesley conceived that his position and abilities entitled him to an influential if not a preponderating voice in the new government. ”

“ He was hampered by a council of which the chancellor was a member; and so long as he could do nothing without the council's consent, he could but walk in the track which Henry had marked for him. Wriothesley, however, by a fortunate want of judgment, gave Somerset an opportunity to shake him off. There was a jealousy of old standing in the profession to which he belonged between the civilians and the common law lawyers. ”

“ The complaint of the students and the entries in the Council Register contain the only surviving account of this transaction, and from an ex parte statement no conclusion can be drawn on the fairness of Wriothesley's treatment. The Protector, however, was conveniently freed from his ablest opponent, and he was enabled to make a more considerable innovation in the structure of the Government. A week after he took out a new patent for the Protectorate, which was drawn in Edward's name. The executors were left as his advisers ”

“ By his first wife, Joan, daughter of William Hall of Salisbury, Wriothesley was father of Charles Wriothesley [q. v.] , the chronicler, two other sons, and three daughters. His second wife was Anne, daughter of William Ingleby of Yorkshire, and widow of Richard Goldesborough and also of Robert Warcop. ”

“ Wriothesley, now Earl of Southampton, remained the solitary genuine adherent of the old faith belonging to the Council. His lack of caution in putting the great seal into commission without the authority of his colleagues afforded them an excuse for ousting him from his post of Chancellor; he was compelled to resign his office, and received orders to confine himself to his house, whilst Hertford, become Duke of Somerset, took advantage of his absence to obtain letters patent by which he became virtually omnipotent in the State. ”

“ Ye shall learn, Protestants that ye are, that if I be the flail of the monks I may be a [67] hail, a lightning, a bolt from heaven upon Lutherans that cross the King.'
The hard malice of his glance made Wriothesley quail and flush heavily.
'I thought ye had been our friend,' he said.
'Wriothesley,' Cromwell answered, 'I tell thee, silly knave, that I be friend only to them that love the order and peace I have made, under the King's Highness, in this realm. If it be the King's will to stablish again the old faith, a hammer of iron will I be upon such as do raise their heads against it. ”

“ Viscount Lisle was created earl of Warwick, and Wriothesley became earl of Southampton;—an empty dignity, which afforded him little consolation for seeing himself soon after, on pretence of some irregular proceedings in his office, stripped of the post of chancellor, deprived of his place amongst the other executors of the king, who now formed a privy council to the protector, and consigned to obscurity and insignificance for the short remnant of his days. ”

“ He was put into the custody of Wriothesley, the king's secretary, and his companions confined in the keep of Windsor Castle. Henry was contented—being then in the honeymoon of his fifth marriage—to menace the priest, and let him go; but such a clue could not have been put into the hands of the ruthless Wriothesley, who was attached to the Protestant party, without leaving serious results. From that moment, there is every reason to believe that that party worked unceasingly, till they had sufficient evidence to effect their purpose. ”

“ In the campaign in Scotland, and especially at the battle of Pinkie, Warwick had appeared the real achiever of victory, and now he was suffered to reap the easily-won distinction of suppressing the rebels. He returned from Norfolk like a victor, and his reputation rose remarkably from that moment. He was looked up to as the able and successful man, and his ambitious views were warmly seconded by the wily old ex-chancellor, Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, who hated Somerset for having dismissed him from office, and for a time banished him from the Council. ”

“ No one of the little group moved. Wrayson felt simply that events, impossible for him to understand, had marched too quickly for him. He stood like a man in a dream, whose limbs are rigid, whose brain alone is working. ”

“ Somerset had sworn never to act without the assent of the majority of the council, but he had little thought indeed of abiding by that oath. He could rely on Craumer's support in his attempts at supreme authority, as the primate calculated, through his means, to carry out the most extensive innovations in religion; but there was one man whom he well knew would oppose his aspiring proceedings—Wriothesley, the new Earl of Southampton. ”

“ The Norfolk rebels laid more stress on social and economic grievances, and their revolt was more serious. Somerset thought of taking the command against them himself, but it was finally given to Warwick, who crushed the rebellion in August.
This success encouraged Warwick to begin intriguing against the Protector, and he found ready listeners among many of the council. Wriothesley (now Earl of Southampton) had never forgiven Somerset his ejection from the chancellorship, and, like other adherents of the old religion, he thought that nothing but good could come of Somerset's fall. ”

“ Braver men the world has not known. Beside him, differing in creed, but united with him in works of love and charity, sat Thomas Whitson, of the Hicksite school of Friends, fresh from his farm in Lancaster County, dressed in plainest homespun, his tall form surmounted by a shock of unkempt hair, the odd obliquity of his vision contrasting strongly with he clearness and directness of his spiritual insight. ”

“ Sir John Wright or Writhesley, alias Garter king-at-arms; Joan, wife to Thomas Writhesley, Garter, daughter and heir to William Hal, esquire; John Writhesley, the younger, son to Sir John Writhesley and Alianor; Alianor, second wife to John Writhesley, daughter and heir to Thomas Arnold, sister and heir to Richard Arnold, esquire; John, her son and heir; Margaret, with her daughter; John Brigget; Thomas Ruston, gentleman; John Talbot, esquire, and Katheren his wife; Thomas Warfle, and Isabel his wife; Thomas Lucie, gentleman, 1447; Ralph Rochford, knight, 1409; Edmond Watar, esquire ”

“ He added that he could make great discoveries were he not deterred by the queen's powerful faction.
This was enough to raise all the demon in Henry's soul. To imagine that any one in his palace should dare to think contrary to his will and order; that this was fostered by the queen, and was spread all around him, was intolerable to his pampered egotism. He gave Gardiner and Wriothesley commands to draw up articles against the queen, on these heads, touching her very life. ”

“ Outside was the delicious sunshine, through the open window stole in the perfume of the roses which covered the wall, and mignonette from the trim borders, and stocks from the bed fringing the lawn. The murmur of pleasant conversation was incessant and musical. For a time Wrayson had escaped. He swore to himself that he would go back no more into bondage; that he would dwell no more upon the horrors through which he had lived. He would take hold of the pleasant things of life with both hands, and grip them tightly. A man should be master of his thoughts, not the slave of unwilling memories. ”

“ Set yourself then to redress as heartily as ye have set yourself in the past to make sad. That land is blest whose people are happy; that State is aggrandised whence there arise songs praising God for His blessings. You have built up a great city of groans; set yourself now to build a kingdom where "Praise God" shall be sung. It is a contented people that makes a State great; it is the love of God that maketh a people rich.'
Cromwell laughed mirthlessly:
'There are forty thousand men like Wriothesley in England,' he said. 'God help you if you come against them ”

“ This fat (gras) Thomas was contemporary with the gallant (preux) William—William le Pruz, or Prowse—whose effigy rests in the transept of the church at Lustleigh.
Teigncombe, further up the Teign, has given its name to a family that came from there. Their name is written as Tinckcom on the court-roll of Wreyland manor; and I believe that one branch of the family now bears the name of Tinker. The family of Pipard gave its name to Piparden, which now is Pepper Down; and Genesis Down owes its name to the Genista, the broom plant of the Plantagenets. ”

“ The Misses Trenor were followed by Lady Cressida Raith, a weather-beaten person in Liberty silk and ethnological trinkets, who, on seeing the omnibus, expressed her surprise that they were not to walk across the park; but at Mrs. Wetherall's horrified protest that the church was a mile away, her ladyship, after a glance at the height of the other's heels, acquiesced in the necessity of driving, and poor Mr. Gryce found himself rolling off between four ladies for whose spiritual welfare he felt not the least concern. ”

“ Wrayson was silent for a few seconds.
"Look here," he said, "this is a matter of common sense after all. If you were not deceived by a likeness, it was the man himself! That goes without saying. What reasons had you for supposing that he was dead?"
"The newspapers, the War Office, even the return of his effects."
"From where?" Wrayson asked.
"From South Africa. He was shot through the lungs in Natal!"
"Men have turned up before, after having been reported dead," he remarked sententiously. ”

“ The Lord Darcy was conspicuous in it on the Borders, and there were calculated to be not less than 40,000 men in arms. Henry was this time greatly alarmed, and sent Cromwell to the Jewel-house in the Tower, to take as much plate as he thought could possibly be spared, and have it coined to pay troops, for he had no money in his coffers, notwithstanding all the monasteries he had seized. Wriothesley, the Secretary of State, wrote in haste from Windsor to Cromwell to expedite this business, superscribing his letter, "In haste—haste for thy life;" ”

“ During his absence his enemies had tried to undermine his credit with the queen; and early in 1580 one Thomas Wyriott, a justice of the peace, formerly a yeoman of the guard, exhibited certain complaints against ‘his intolerable dealings.’ Wyriott's complaints were submitted to the privy council, and, being pronounced slanderous libels, Wyriott was committed to the Marshalsea. But he had powerful friends at court; and shortly after Perrot's return to Wales he was released, and letters were addressed to the judges of assize in South Wales, authorising them to reopen the case. ”