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Article THE TOMB OF JOHN STOWE. ← Page 3 of 8 →
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The Tomb Of John Stowe.
Camden and Bacon , no mean authorities , Avho constantly in their works cite certain facts as facts , inasmuch as they are recorded by Stowe . It is distressing to reflect that so painstaking a man should have been suffered to have literally begged his bread in his latter clays , and that no pension or state endowment was given him to shield him from the ravages of disease
and the infirmities of old age . Through the long course of eight years , broken down by sickness , poverty , and its attendant miseries , did this earnest old citizen wield his pen in the compilation of his " Survey . " Interruptions of all kinds beset him at every turn , but he remained faithful to his undertaking , and was not to be thwarted from his purpose , although the gout ,
and severe pains in his extremities , chained him to his bed for weeks and months together . These maladies were occasioned by his zeal in collecting materials for his work , in his diligent search after manuscripts and all the scattered books distributed far and Avide in remote places , and in nooks and corners hard and difficult to be got at in those days of imperfect means of
locomotion . It is greatly to the honour of Parker , the then Archbishop of Canterbury , that he , on more than one of those occurrences in which Stowe Avas prevented by penury from continuing his literary pursuits , came to his rescue , and gave him
money to continue them . The kingly help bestowed by the socalled patron of learning , James the First , was niggardly enough , and was a poor response to the needy application of the aged man . It is calculated , indeed , to raise a smile Avhen we find that His Majesty vouchsafed to grant him a royal licence to collect alms from all and sundry of his Avell-beloved subjects in
thirty-six counties of his realm : only this , and nothing more , in consideration of the great pains and cost , travail and disquietude , in acquiring so vast and full a measure of information concerning the past history of the greatest city of the Avorld , —a sorry recompense for a life-long labour , and a miserable stimulus to future compilers of their country ' s history . The manner in
which this memorable document is worded is indeed remarkable , and of itself warrants a larger meed of bounty than the King thought fit to give . It states that Stowe , "for the good of posterity , employed all his labour to commit to the history of , chronicles all such things worthy of remembrance as from time to time happened within this whole realm for the space of five and
forty years until Christmas last past ( as by divers large and brief chronicles of his Avriting may appear ) , besides his great pains and charge in making his book called the ' Survey of London , ' wherein he spent eight years in searching out of ancient records concerning antiquities , " & c . Five and forty
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Tomb Of John Stowe.
Camden and Bacon , no mean authorities , Avho constantly in their works cite certain facts as facts , inasmuch as they are recorded by Stowe . It is distressing to reflect that so painstaking a man should have been suffered to have literally begged his bread in his latter clays , and that no pension or state endowment was given him to shield him from the ravages of disease
and the infirmities of old age . Through the long course of eight years , broken down by sickness , poverty , and its attendant miseries , did this earnest old citizen wield his pen in the compilation of his " Survey . " Interruptions of all kinds beset him at every turn , but he remained faithful to his undertaking , and was not to be thwarted from his purpose , although the gout ,
and severe pains in his extremities , chained him to his bed for weeks and months together . These maladies were occasioned by his zeal in collecting materials for his work , in his diligent search after manuscripts and all the scattered books distributed far and Avide in remote places , and in nooks and corners hard and difficult to be got at in those days of imperfect means of
locomotion . It is greatly to the honour of Parker , the then Archbishop of Canterbury , that he , on more than one of those occurrences in which Stowe Avas prevented by penury from continuing his literary pursuits , came to his rescue , and gave him
money to continue them . The kingly help bestowed by the socalled patron of learning , James the First , was niggardly enough , and was a poor response to the needy application of the aged man . It is calculated , indeed , to raise a smile Avhen we find that His Majesty vouchsafed to grant him a royal licence to collect alms from all and sundry of his Avell-beloved subjects in
thirty-six counties of his realm : only this , and nothing more , in consideration of the great pains and cost , travail and disquietude , in acquiring so vast and full a measure of information concerning the past history of the greatest city of the Avorld , —a sorry recompense for a life-long labour , and a miserable stimulus to future compilers of their country ' s history . The manner in
which this memorable document is worded is indeed remarkable , and of itself warrants a larger meed of bounty than the King thought fit to give . It states that Stowe , "for the good of posterity , employed all his labour to commit to the history of , chronicles all such things worthy of remembrance as from time to time happened within this whole realm for the space of five and
forty years until Christmas last past ( as by divers large and brief chronicles of his Avriting may appear ) , besides his great pains and charge in making his book called the ' Survey of London , ' wherein he spent eight years in searching out of ancient records concerning antiquities , " & c . Five and forty