it, and no less thankful for it, and make the same to be for ever an occasion unto us of more faithful subjection to our own dread -Sovereign — whom. Lord, we beseech, now and evermore most mercifully bless, with health of body, peace of country, purity of religion, prosperity of estate, and all inward and outward happiness, and heavenly felicity. This grant, merciful Father, for the glory of thine own name, and for Christ Jesus’ sake, our Mediator and only Saviour. Amen.”
Another Latin letter by Castol is extant (Strype’s Whitgift, Book IV., Appendix No. 32). It was addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who forwarded it to the Lord Treasurer. The date was 24th July, 1596; the contents were news from abroad. Henri IV. is called Gallus, and Philip of Spain Hispanus; and peace between them is deprecated, as threatening combined hostilities against the Dutch. Our Queen’s friendship, he hints, will not be much affected by either potentate, except as events may render it convenient; (credo augustissimae Reginae amicitiam, non factis sed eventis tantum, ab ejusmodi sociis ponderari).
From Mr Bumn’s lists it appears that Monsieur Castol was inducted to the City of London Church in 1582. He was colleague of Robert Le Maçon, called De la Fontaine, who had been inducted in 1574, and whom we meet again in 1604, the year of the promotion of Bishop Vaughan to the See of London. On that year Mr de la Fontaine made a Latin speech to the former Bishop (Bancroft) who had received his appointment to Canterbury, and another to the new bishop. The latter speech is interesting as narrating the fact that on the accession of Elizabeth, the office of superintendent of Foreign Churches, which had been held by John a Lasco, was given to John Utenhove, who held it till his death. [“The widow of Utenhove, with three children, boarders with her,” is included in the Lists of Strangers in 1568.] It was after that event that Bishop Grindal was requested to become Patron and Superintendent, and he having accepted the charge with the Queen’s permission, it devolved by custom on the Bishop of London, ex officio. Bishop Vaughan, in reply, eulogized John a Lasco as vir priestantissimus, ornatus multis dotibus animi et ingenii, and acknowledged the good services to religion and to the state, rendered by the Foreign Churches, with which he had been acquainted for a quarter of a century. He expressed regret at the internal dissensions in the Church of England, and concluded by apologizing for his latinity, his speech being ex tempore. Mr. De la Fontaine replied briefly (in Latin), that as refugees they could not interfere in English ecclesiastical affairs, but that they would entertain any suggestion for the promotion of peace in the Church, an end for which they would even lay down their lives.
We are now in the reign of King James. The greatest Frenchman who took up his residence in England in this reign was Isaac Casaubon.[1] He was a Protestant, and his judgment and conscience adhered to his creed; but his piety was somewhat undermined in the court of Henri IV. On the death of that king he came to England, and was induced to prolong his stay until he finally settled among us. It may be questioned, however, if we should give a place among Protestant Refugees to one concerning whom Du Moulin wrote, “By all means detain Casaubon in England, for if he returns to France there is every reason to fear that he will recant.” His parents fled from Bordeaux in Gascogne in the reign of Henri II.; his father was the Pasteur Arnauld Casaubon; his mother’s maiden name was Jeanne Rousseau. Isaac was born at Geneva on 8th Feb. 1559 (o.s.). He became Greek Professor at Geneva in 1583, and held his chair till 1597, when he removed to the Greek Chair in the College of Montpellier. The chief sources of information concerning him are the collection of his letters (Casauboni Epistolae), and his Diary, begun at Montpellier, which was composed in the Latin language, and which was printed in the same learned tongue by the University of Oxford in the present century. In the beginning of the seventeenth century he came under royal patronage and was brought to Paris, and honoured with office and salary as Reader to the King and Keeper of the Royal Library. His favourite friends and correspondents were Protestants; Henry Stephens (Henricus Stephanus) was his father-in-law; Theodore Beza
- ↑ For my account of Casaubon I am much indebted to an article in Household Words, Vol. XI., page 76. The writer, however, has overlooked the difference between Bordeaux and Bourdeaux.
