Sandys, Sir Edwin

, second son of the preceding, was born in Worcestershire about 1561, and admitted of Corpus-Christi-college, Oxford, at sixteen, under the celebrated Hooker. After taking his degree of B. A. he was made probationer-fellow in 1579, and was collated in 15S1 to a prebend in the church of York. He then completed his degree of M. A. and travelled into foreign countries, and at his return was esteemed for learning, virtue, and prudence. He appears afterwards to have studied the law. While he was at Paris, he drew up a tract, under the title of “Europae Speculum,” which he finished in 15b>9; an imperfect copy of which was published without the author’s name or consent, in 1605, and was soon followed by another impression. But the author, after he had used all means to suppress these erroneous copies, and to punish the printers of them, at length caused a true copy to be published, a little before his death, in 1629, 4to, under this title “Europae Speculum or a- view or survey of the state of religion in the western parts of the world. Wherein the Romane religion, and the pregnant policies of the church of Rome to support the same, are notably | displayed; with some other memorable discoveries and memorations. Never before till now published according to the author’s original copie. Muituin diuque desideratum.” Hagae Comitis, 1629. To this edition was a preface, which has been omitted in the latter editions though some passages of it were printed in that of 1637, 4to. It was also reprinted in 1673, and translated both into Italian and French,

In May 1602, he resigned his prebend, and in May 1603, received the honour of knighthood from James I.; who afterwards employed him in several affairs of great trust and importance. Fuller tells us, that he was dextrous in the management of such things, constant in par^ liament as the speaker himself, and esteemed by all as an. excellent patriot, “faithful to his country,” says Wood, 66 without any falseness to his prince.“It appears, -however, that for some opposition to the court in the parliament of 1621, he was committed with Selden to the custody of the sheriff of London in June that year, and detained above a month which was highly resented by the House of Commons, as a breach of their privileges but, sir George Calvert, secretary of state, declaring, that neither Sandys nor Selden had been imprisoned for any parliamentary matter, a stop was put to the dispute. Sir Edwin was treasurer to the undertakers of the western plantations. He died in October 1629, and was interred at Northborne in Kent; where be had a seat and estate, granted him by James I. for some services done at that king’s accession to the throne. A monument, now in a mutilated state, was jerected to his memory, but without any inscription. He bequeathed 1500l. to the university of Oxford, for the endowment of a metaphysical lecture. He left five sons, all of whom, except one, adhered to the parliament during the civil wars. Henry, the eldest, died without issue. Edwin, the second, was the well known parliamentary colonel, of whose outrages much may be read in the publications of the times, and who, receiving a mortal wound at the battle of Worcester, in 1642, retired to Northborne to die, leaving the estate to his son sir Richard, who was killed by the accidental explosion of his fowling-piece in 1663. His son, sir Richard, was created a baronet in 1684, and dying in 1726, without male issue, was the last of the family who lived at Northborne, where the mansion remained many years deserted, and at length was pulled down. | There was one sir Edwin Sandys, who published, as Wood informs us,” Sacred Hymns, consisting of fifty select Psalms of David," set to be sung in five parts by Rot bert Taylor, and printed at London, 1615, in 4to; but whether this version was done By our author, or by another, of botii his names, of Ladmers in Buckinghamshire, is uncertain. ¹