trictness of his protestant
principles rendered his situation under the reign of Mary both
disagreeable and hazardous, and he generously added to its perils by his
strenuous exertions in behalf of the unfortunate Cheke; but the services
which he had rendered in Edward's time to many of the oppressed
catholics now interested their gratitude in his protection, and were
thus the means of preserving him unhurt for better times.

Soon after his return from his embassy to the emperor Ferdinand, we find
him engaged in a very perplexing and disagreeable mission to the
unfriendly court of Philip II., where the mortifications which he
encountered, joined to the insalubrity of the climate, so impaired his
health that he found himself obliged to solicit his recall, which he did
in an Ovidian elegy addressed to the queen. The petition of the poet was
granted, but too late; he sunk under a lingering malady in October 1565,
a few months after his return.

The poignant grief of Cecil for his loss found its best alleviation in
the exemplary performance of all the duties of surviving friendship. He
officiated as chief mourner at his funeral, and superintended with
solicitude truly paternal the education of his son, Thomas Chaloner the
younger, afterwards a distinguished character. By his encouragement, the
Latin poems of his friend, chiefly consisting of epitaphs and panegyrics
on his most celebrated contemporaries, were collected and published;
and it was under his patronage, and prefaced by a Latin poem from his
pen in praise of the author, that a new and complete edition appeared of
the principal work of this accomplished person;--a tractate "on the
right ordering of the English republic," also in Latin.

Sir Thomas Chaloner was the first ambassador named by Elizabeth; a
distinction of which he proved himself highly deserving. Wisdom and
integrity he was already known to possess; and in his negotiations with
the imperial court, where it was his business to draw the bonds of amity
as close as should be found practicable without pledging his mistress to
the acceptance of the hand of the archduke Charles, he also manifested a
degree of skill and dexterity which drew forth the warmest commendations
from Elizabeth herself. His conduct, she said, had far exceeded all her
expectations of his prudence and abilities.

This testimony may be allowed to give additional weight to his opinion
on a point of great delicacy in the personal conduct