Memoir Of Elias Ashmole.

of Clement ' s Inn ; while in December of the same year he lost his wife , to whom he was greatly attached , ancl whose death was the more acutely felt , seeing it occurred quite suddenly and unexpectedly . In the great struggle , which began in 1642 , between Charles I . and his Parliament , ancl terminated so fatally for the former , Ashmole , though we have but scant particulars of the part he playedattachedhimself most zealously to

, , the cause of his royal master . We react of him as being , on 9 th May , 1645 , one of the Gentlemen of the Ordnance in the garrison of Oxford , whence , for a time , he seems to have removed to Worcester , where he became Commissioner , Receiver , and Registrar of the Excise ; this post he . afterwards exchanged for a captaincy in Lord Ashley ' s regiment ancl the Comptrollership of the Ordnance . But though his loyaltto Charles I . was conspicuoushe does not

y , seem to have allowed it to interfere with his studies , for it was about this period that he entered himself of Brazenose College , Oxon , and devoted himself closel y to natural philosophy , mathematics , ancl astronomy , to which his intimacy with Mr ., afterwards Sir George , Wharton , induced him to add astrology . In July , 1646 , he hacl the misfortune to lose his mother , who would seem

to have been a lady possessing great mental and moral accomplishments . " She was , " writes Ashmole , " a discreet , sober , provident woman , and with great patience endured many afflictions . Her parents hacl given her exceedinggood breeding , and she was excellent at her needle , which ( my father beingimprovident ) served her in good stead . She was competently read in divinity , history , and . poetryand was continuallinstilling into my ears such reliious

, y g ancl moral precepts as my younger ears were capable of ; nor did she ever fail to correct my faults , always adding sharp reproofs and good lectures to boot . She was much esteemed ; she lived in much friendship among her neighbours , ancl left a good name behind her ; in fine , she was trul y religious and virtuous . "

This irreparable loss happened while the subject of this sketch was in in Worcester , and when the siege of that city came to a close , Ashmole went to reside in Cheshire , ancl it was during his stay in these parts that he and the Colonel Henry Mainwaring , of whom mention has already been made , were admitted into the membership of a lodge of Masons held at Warrington , in Lancashire , the exact date being , as before stated , the 16 th October , 1646 , and the presiding officer of the lod a Mr . Penketthe Warden . The year

ge , , following be sought retirement from the political troubles then prevailing , and went into Berkshire , where he selected the peaceful little village of Englefield as the place of his residence . It was here that Ashmole gave himself up to the pursuit of " simpling , " ancl very speedily became an eminent botanist . Here , too , it was , that he made the acquaintance of Mary , sole daughter of Sir William

Foster , of Aldermarston , Berks , Bart ., then a widow for the third time , having been married in the first instance to a Sir Edward Stafford , then to a Mr . Hamlyn , and thirdl y to Sir Thomas Mainwaring , Knt ., Recorder of Reading , ancl a Master in the Court of Chancery . This acquaintance , however , ripening , as it soon did into the stronger feelings of respect and love for Ashmole , was like to have cost him his life , for Lady Mainwaring ' s second

son by her first marriage , Mr . Humphrey Stafford , conceived so great an opposition to the match , that one day when Ashmole was lying ill in bed he broke into his apartment , and would have killed him , had he not been fortunately prevented . In 1648 Lad y Mainwaring conveyed to him her estate at Bradfield ; but a very short time afterwards , owing to Ashmole ' s loyalty to his sovereign , his newly-acquired property was put under sequestration . Fortunately , he hacl made the acquaintance of and possessed great influence with William Lilly ancl other upholders of the Parliament side , and through their exertions in his behalf no long time elapsed ere the sequestration was