, he so interested himself, as soon to procure the payment of all
his debts.--Cromwell then informed the merchant, that he was himself
the person he had thus relieved; and for every Ducat which the
merchant had given him, he returned to the value of a hundred, telling
him, that this was the payment of his debt. He then made him a
munificent present, and asked him whether he chose to settle in
England, or return to his own country. The foreigner chose the latter,
and returned to spend the remainder of his days in competence and
quiet, after having experienced in lord Essex as high an instance of
generosity and gratitude as perhaps ever was known. This noble act of
his lordship, employed, says Burnet, the pens of the belt writers at
that time in panegyrics on so great a behaviour; the finest poets
praised him; his most violent enemies could not help admiring him, and
latest posterity shall hold the name of him in veneration, who was
capable of so generous an act of honour. But to return to Ferrars.

In our author's history of the reign of Queen Mary, tho' he shews
himself a great admirer of the personal virtues of that Princess, and
a very discerning and able historian, yet it is every where evident
that he was attached to the protestant interest; but more especially
in the learned account he gives of Archbishop Cranmer's death, and
Sir Thomas Wyat's insurrection[8]. The works of this author which are
printed in the Mirror of Magistrates, are as follow;

The Fall of Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice of
England, for misconstruing the laws, and expounding
them to serve the prince's affections.

The Tragedy, or unlawful murther of Thomas
of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester.

The Tragedy of Richard II.

The Story of Dame Eleanor Cobham, Duchess
of Gloucester.

The Story of Humphry Plantagenet, Duke of
Gloucester, Protector of England.

The Tragedy of Edmund Duke of Somerset.

Among these the Complaints of Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester,
who was banished for consulting Conjurers and Fortune-tellers about
the Life of King Henry VI. and whose exile quickly made way for the
murder of her husband, has of all his compositions been most admired;
and from this I shall quote a few lines which that Lady speaks.

The Isle of Man was the appointed place,
To penance me for ever in exile;

Thither in haste, they posted me apace,
And doubting 'scape, they pined me in a pyle,
Close by myself