A S C 



A S C 



t!ie Affairs and State of Germany," !ic. which containj 

 valunbk' information and judicious refledtiunG. 



On the death of Edward VI. in IJJ^, Mr)ryfinc was 

 recalled, and Afcham returned to his college, with no other 

 fupport than his fellowfhip and falary as orator to the iini- 

 vcrfity, and the lihevality of his friends. But by the inter- 

 ell of bifhop Gardiner, who, though he knew him to be a 

 proteilant, did not defert him, he was appointed Latin fe- 

 crctary to queen Mary, with a {Aiwy of ten pounds a year, 

 and permifTion to retain his college preferment. Afcham by 

 his prudence, without any fervile compliances that re- 

 proached his integrity, enjoyed the favour ot the queen, and 

 in the moft perilous times, he maintair.ed his intereil with Eli- 

 zabeth ; and he v/as partly indebted to the fidelity of his friend- 

 fiiip with Cecil for his profperity in the next reign. Indeed, his 

 learning, and the facility with which he wrote Latin, made 

 him necciTary at court. In his capacity as Latin fecretary, 

 he is faid to have written in three days foily-lcven letters 

 to perfons of fuch rank that the lowcli of them was a car- 

 iiinal. Upon the accefiion of Elizabeth, Afcham was con- 

 tinued in his former employments with the fsnie Itipend. 

 He had daily accefs to the queen, and read with her lome 

 portions of works in the learned languages tor foir.e hours 

 every day, and of her proficiency under iuch a inafter 

 many proofs remain. Notwithilanding the benefit which 

 the queen derived from his fervices, and the intimacy with 

 which fhe honoured him by permitting him to play with her 

 jit draughts and chefs, he obtained from her no other re- 

 compence than a pcnfion of twenty pounds a year, and the 

 prebend of Wcltwang in the church of York. This poor 

 pittance has been afcribcd by fome to the parfimony ot the 

 queen, and bv others to her knowledge of the extravagance 

 of Afcham. He has been charged, and not uujullly, with 

 a propcnfity, difgraceful to a man of ktters and humanity, 

 to cock-fighting. In his " Schoolmafter," he intimates a 

 dciign of writing a book " Of the Cockpit," which he 

 reckons among the paftimes fit for a gentleman. It is a fub- 

 ]eA, ho »\ ever, of regret, that whilll the queen did nut 

 think him unworthy of her patronage, (lie did not think 

 proper to remunerate him for his fervices with a liberality 

 more fuitable to her high flation. In the year 1563, a con- 

 verfation occurred at fir William Cecil's on the fubjeCl of 

 education. Whilll the fubjedl vvas much agitated, and dif- 

 ferent opinions were entertained, fir Richard backville was 

 fo much prepotlttTed in favour of Afcham, by the argu- 

 ments which he ufed for the mild treatment of boys, that he 

 fohcited his counfcl aud affiilance with regard to the edu- 

 cation of his fon, and at the fame time requelled that he 

 would write a treatiCe on the general fubjeft of education. 

 Thus was produced Afcham's excellent performance, inli- 

 tlcd, " The Schoolmafter ;" a work replete with erudition, 

 and fuggelling ufeful advice on the bell method of teaching 

 the dailies. Afcham particularly recommends the method 

 of " double tranllation," which merits adoption in fchools. 

 This treatife was publifhed after the authoi-'s death by his 

 widow, in 157 1 ; and reprinted with notes, in 8vo, at Lon- 

 don, by Upton, in 1711. Afcham's latl illnets vi'as occa- 

 fioned by too fcdulous application to the compofition of a 

 poem, which he intended to prefent to the queen on the 

 New Year's day of 1569. He died in his 53d year, De- 

 cember 23d, 1568. His death was generally lamented, and 

 the queen expreiftd her concern by exclaiming, that " (lie 

 vvould ratl.i.r have loll lo,oco 1. than her tutor Afcham." 

 His epiiUes, which have been much commended for tlic ele- 

 gance of their llyle, and alfo for tlie abundance of hillorical 

 matter which ttiey contain, were publiflicdin 1577, by Grant, 

 9Dd dedicated 10 queen £Lzabethj nad Lis iniTcellaucous 



pieces liavebeen fince colleiled by Bennett into 'Tie vol-jm?, 

 with a life by Dr. Johnfon prefixed, and publilhed in 17'jl, 

 in 4to. Afcliam is faid to have been an elegant poet ; but 

 his verfes are not to be found in the bed edition of his 

 works. One of his biographers, fpeaking of his works, 

 fays, " His Toxophilus was a good book for voting men, 

 his Schoolmafter for old men, and his Epiftles for all men." 

 Mr. Wood afcribes another work to our author, intitled, 

 " Apologia contra Miffiim," printed in 1577, 8vo. 



It appears from the writings of Afcham, and thofe re- 

 cords of him that remain, that his temper v/as amiable ; 

 that he was kind to his friends, and grateful to hi> bene- 

 faftors ; that he was inclined to free inquiry on the fubjeft 

 of religion, but too much engaged in other purfuits to be- 

 llow much attention on this objeft ; that he was, as a man, 

 refpeftable ; and that, as a fcholar, be promoted correal 

 tafte and found learning ; and by thus fciving both his co- 

 temporaries and pofteriiy, he deferved much more ample re- 

 compence than he received. He died poor, and left a wi- 

 dow and feveral orphans in deftitute circumftances. Hi* 

 poverty has been afcribcd In fome to hie attachment to 

 dice and cock-fighting ; and it !> noticed by Buchanan ia 

 the following fhort epigram, faid by* fome to difplay more 

 wit than frienddiip, which he confecrated to his mem.ory ! 

 " Afchamum extinftum patriae, Grajsque Camaeux 

 Et Latis vera cum pittate, dolent ; 

 Principibus vixit carus, jucundus amicis. 

 Re modica, in mores diccre faraa nequit." 

 Thus tranr.ated, and paraphraled : 



" The Attic aud the Latian mufe deplore 



The fate of Afcham, once their joy and pride < 

 His lays ftiall charm the lift'ning crowd no more '. 

 Efteem'd by kings, lov'd by his friends, he died. 

 Fortune denied her treafures ; — jufter fame 

 Honoured his worth, and fpread abroad his name." 

 Grant. Oratio de vita et obitu R. Afchami. Biog. Brit. 

 Johnfon's Life of Afcham. Andrews's Hiftory of Great 

 Britain, vol. ii. p. 85. 



ASCHARIANS, or Asharians, followers -of Af- 

 chari, or Alhari, one of the moft celebrated doClors among 

 the Mahometans, who died at Bagdat, about the year of 

 the Hegira 329, or of Chrift 940, and who was fecretljf 

 buried, left the Hanbahtes, by whom his opinions were 

 reckoned impious, (hould tear up his remains from the 

 grave. The Afcharians were a branch of the Sefatians ; 

 and their opinions were, i. That they allowed the attributes 

 of God to be diftinft from his cffcnce, yet fo as to forbid 

 any comparifon to be made between God and his creatures. 

 2. As to predeftination, they held that God hath one eter- 

 nal will, which is applied to whatfoever he willcth, both d 

 his own aftions and thofc of men, fo far as they are created 

 by him, but not as they are acquired or gained by them ; 

 that he willeth both their good and evil, their profit and 

 their hurt ; and as he willeth and knoweth, he willeth con- 

 cerning them that which he knoweth. They went fo far 

 as to fay, that it may be agreeable to the will of God 

 that man (hould be commanded what he is unable to per- 

 form. But while they allow man fome power, they reftraiu 

 it to fuch a power that cannot produce any thing new. 

 God, they fay, orders his providence fo, that he creates 

 after or under, and together with, every created or new 

 power, an adlion which is ready whenever a man wills it and 

 fets about it ; and this aftion is called " caab," or acquifi- 

 tion, being, in refpctt to its creation, from God, but in re- 

 fpeft to its being produced, employed, and ac<juired, from 

 man. This is generally eileemed the orthodox opinion, 

 aad has been varioufly explained. 3. As to mortal (in, the 

 a 2 Afcbarian>~ 



