sanctum, as we say here, he shall be admiral, or he shall lye thereby, &c., by my faith here is a coisy (unsettled) word (world). Walsham of Chancery that never made leasing (lying), told me that Bocking was with my Lord Chancellor this term, but I asked not how many times, &c.

As I have written to you often before this, "Facite vobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis," (Luke xvi. 9.)

Thomas Todenham, Johannes Heydon, et J. Wyndham cum cæteris magistri Fastolf fallacibus famulis magnam gerunt ad vos invidiam, quod excelleritis eos in bonis, &c. Judas non dormit, &c. "Noli zelare facien

tes iniquitatem quoniam tanquam fenum velociter arescent, et quemadmodum olera herbarum cito per Dei gratiam decident." Ideo sic in Psalmo, "Spera in Domino et fac bonitatem, et pascêris in divitiis ejus et delec

tare in Domino et dabit tibi petitiones cordis tui." (Psalm xxxvii. 1, 2, 3, 4.) “Et aliter. Jacta cogitatum tuum in domino, & ipse te enutriet." (Psalm lv. 22.) "Utinam inquit apostolus abscindantur qui vos conturbant," &c. (Gal. v. 12.) "Et alibi, cavete vos a malis et importunis hominibus." (2 Thess. iii. 2.)

Precor gratiosum Deum qui vos et me creavit et suo pretioso sanguine nos redemit, vos vestros et vestra gratiose conservet in prosperis, et gratiosius dirigat in agendis.

Scriptum, Walsham feria 4ta in nocte cum magna festinatione, &c. Utinam iste mundus malignus transiret et concupiscentia ejus. Vester ad vota promptissimus.

Frater JOHANNES BRACKLEY,
Minorum Minimus.

Walsham, Norfolk, Wednesday,
1459. 38 H. VI.

LETTER CXXXI.—(LXXXVII. vol. iii. p. 353.)

We have in this letter an account of the proceedings on the death of that renowned knight and valiant soldier Sir John Fastolf, relative to his effects. After his return and settlement in his native country, he became a great builder; and at Caister are still to be seen such magnificent remains of his seat or castle, as even now do testify its former state and grandeur: it was a square building of brick, coped with freestone, each side of it being about 300 feet long, having a large and lofty tower at each corner, one of which was a few years ago standing almost entire. The hall, we are informed, was 59 feet long, and 28 broad; the whole was surrounded by a moat, and was a place in those days of strength and defence, having, in the year 1469, 9 E. IV., sustained a siege by the Duke of Norfolk, &c. After the death of Sir John Fastolf, this was for several generations the seat of the Paston family; and so continued until Clement Paston, Esq., in the reign of Elizabeth, built Oxnead-hall, which then becoming their chief place of residence, this noble mansion began to be neglected. He likewise built a splendid house in Yarmouth, and a palace in Southwark. At length, being nearly eighty three years of age, and as he says of himself in his will, dated 4th Nov., 1459, "in good remembraunce albeit gretely vexed with sickness, and through age infebelyd," he departed this life, without issue, on Monday the 5th of November, 1459, 38 H. VI., at his manor of Caister, and was most sumptuously buried in the con ventual church of St. Bennet in the Holm, in Norfolk, under the arch of the new chapel which he had lately rebuilt there, on the south side of the choir or chancel, under a marble tomb by the body of Dame Milice his wife, [who died about 24 or 25 Hen. VI., and whose son Stephen Scrope, by her first marriage, succeeded!) her estates in Wiltshire and Yorkshire.] When we consider this our worthy knight, as sprung from an ancient and honourable family, inheriting ample fortunes, but immensely increasing them through a long, laborious, and indefatigable life, spent in the service of his country, and acquiring riches at the cost of its enemies only acting in a very high and exalted sphere, renowned for his courage and conduct in the field, and his abilities in the council, dispersing the fruits of his riches by his magnificent buildings and hospitality in his lifetime. and at his death devising the capital itself for almost every purpose he could think of useful to the public, can we help exclaiming, "Thou hast founded the fair fabric of thy fame upon a rock to last for ages [Whether Sir J. Fastolf deserved the character here given of him, the reader can partly judge. In the memoirs of him in the Biographia Britannica, written by Oldys, and revised and corrected by Gough, this praise is greatly transcended. It is there said, "As his valour made him a terror in war, his humanity made him a blessing in peace; all we can find in his retirement being elegant, hospitable, and generous, either as to the places of his abode, or those persons and foundations on which he showered his bounty. The streams of his treasure that fed this fountain of his munificence were numerous and plentiful, as may be seen by the jury's return to the writ of inquiry into the lands and estates whereof he was possessed at his death, in Norfolk, Suffolk, Yorkshire, and Wiltshire." To us this eulogy seems greatly in excess. He appears to have been a brave, active, and very careful man, but by no means generous, as is shown in several passages of his own letters and of others relating to him in these columns. He had no doubt large estates, and, being childles he bequeathed great part of them to charitable or rather superstitious purposes, giving little while he lives and endeavouring to effect his last object at as small a cost as he could. We have already alluded to the

improbability of Shakspere having had any reference to this somewhat common-place old soldier in depict ing the character of his immortal Falstaff. Independently of the fact that the character was originally written under the name of Sir John Oldcastle, there is nothing in common between the two, not anything to lead to such a conclusion, except the similarity of the names, and the fact of Falstaff being contemporary with Henry V., of whom he was, however, only about ten or twelve years the elder, and whom he outlived many years. But as the subject has excited much attention, it may not be uninteresting to give a slight sketch of the life of Fastolf here.

Sir John Fastolf was born of an ancient and respectable family in Norfolk, either at Caister or Yarmouth, about 1377, and is said to have been a page in the service of Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, and afterward to have held a considerable post under Thomas, subsequently Duke of Clarence, who, as early as the 2nd Hen. IV. (1401), was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whither Fastolf accompanied him, and where he married, in 1409, Milicent, Lady Castlecomb, daughter and heiress of Robert Lord Tibetot, and widow of Sir Stephen Scrope. Not long after his marriage we find him engaged in the wars of France, and, in 1413, the 1st of Hen. V., he was made governor of the castle of Veires in Gascony. On the taking of Harfleur by Henry V., in August, 1415, he was appointed to its command under the Duke of Exeter, but in the following October we find him dangerously engaged in the battle of Agincourt; in the same year, he and the Duke of Exeter having made a plundering expedition almost as far as Rouen, were surprised and forced to retreat by the enemy, but at length succeeded in totally defeating them; and when the constable of France laid siege to Harfleur, it was gallantly defended by Fastolf until relieved by the Duke of Bedford. He was actively engaged throughout the war during the life of Henry V., and his services seem to have been very well paid, being also made a Knight of the Garter about the end of 1417. Under the regency of the Duke of Bedford Sir John was Grand Master of his Household, and Seneschal of Normandy, and was very active and successful in his warlike enterprises. In 1424, at the battle of Verneuil, he took the Duke of Alençon prisoner, for whose ransom 200,000 crowns were paid, and for the payment of his share of which, as has been seen, Sir John was very urgent. In 1425, among other places, he took the castle of Sillie-le-Guillem, from which he received the title of baron. In 1428, during the siege of Orleans, he was despatched by the commander, the Duke of Suffolk, to the regent at Paris for supplies, of which the army were in great want; he was provided therewith, and also with a considerable force to convoy them safely to Orleans. The French, aware of his movements, attacked him on his return, but were totally defeated with a loss in killed, it is said, much exceeding the total of his force, besides prisoners and wounded. From the nature of the provisions he was conveying-barrels of herrings- this encounter was called by the French the Battle of Herrings. In 1429 the English were defeated with great loss in the battle of Patay, and though Fastolf succeeded in bringing safely off a considerable part of the army, yet his retreat, though conducted with great ability, seems to have given rise to some imputations on his character; it being even said that he was divested of his knighthood. It is upon this occurrence, and under his real name, that Shakspere dilates in the first part of Henry VI. Sir John Fastolf, from these letters appears to have had so little chivalry in his composition that it is no wonder he became unpopular, even by his prudence, when contrasted with the Talbots and Bedfords of his time, though by no means liable to the imputations of either cowardice or treachery. Hall says, "the Duke of Bedford took from him the image of St. George and his Garter, though afterwards, by means of friends and apparent causes of good excuse, the same were to him again delivered, against the mind of the Lord Talbot." According to Anstis (Hist. of the Order of the Garter), his name was never erased from the list of knights. At any rate, his disgrace was but temporary, as in 1430 he was appointed by the regent to the command of Caen in Normandy. In 1432 he was sent ambassador to the Council of Basle, and immediately afterward, in the same capacity, to negotiate a peace or a truce with France; and again in 1435. In the latter end of this year the Duke of Bedford died, and Sir John Fastolf was named one of the executors of his will. Richard Duke of York, who succeeded to the regency, had so high an opinion of the merit of Sir John, that he settled an annuity upon him of 201. a-year. For about four years he seems to have continued quietly in his government in Normandy, and in 1440 finally returned to England. He does not appear to have distinguished himself in the domestic politics of his time, although not wholly inactive; and after an illness of nearly five months' duration, he died on the 5th of November, 1459. Of his will and its consequences to the Paston family, we are told something in the foregoing letters, and shall learn more hereafter. The list of his landed estates is very long, but as it contains only their names, without quantity or value, has no general interest. A part of his personalty is stated as follows:-In coin, 26437. 10s.; gold plate, 10lbs.; silver plate, 1225lbs.]

To my master, John Paston, in Norfolk.

RIGHT well-beloved brother, I recommend me o you, certifying you that on Friday last was in the morning Worcester and I were come to London by eight of the clock, and we spake with my Lord Chancellor, and I found him well disposed in all things, and

1 William de Wainfleet, Bishop of Winchester.

ye shall find him right profitable to you,

&c.

And he desired me to write you a letter in his name, and put trust in you in gathering of the goods together, and pray you to do so, and have all his goods out of every place of his, and his own place, wheresoever they were, and lay them secretly where as ye

thought best at your assignment, and till that he speak with you himself; and he said ye should have all lawful favour.

I purpose to ride to him this day for writs of diem clausit extremum,' and I suppose ye shall have a letter sent from himself to you.

As for the goods of Paul's they are safe enough, and this day we have grant to have the goods out of Bermondsey without advice of any man saving Worcester, Plomer, and I myself, and nobody shall know of it but we three.

My Lord Treasurer speaketh fair, but yet many advise me to put no trust in him; there is laboured many means to intitle the king in his goods. Southwell is escheator, and he is right good and well disposed.

My Lord of Exeter claimeth title in my master's place, with the appurtenances, in Southwark, and verily had purposed to have entered, and his counsel were with us, and spake with Worcester and me; and now afterwards they have sent us word that they would move my lord to sue by means of the law, &c.

I have spoken with my Lord of Canterbury, and Master John Stokes, and I find them right well disposed both, &c.

Item, to-morrow or the next day ye shall have another letter, for by that time we shall know more than we do now.

My Lord Chancellor would that my master should be buried worshipfully, and one

hundred marks (661. 13. 4d.) alms done for
him ;
but this day I shall wholly know his
intent; Master John Stokes hath the same
conce't and alms giving.

Harry Fenyngley is not in this town, nor the Lord Beauchamp.

Item, we have gotten men of the spiritual law withholden with us, what case soever happen; we have Master Robert Kent; but in anywise have all the goods there together, and tarry for no letting, though ye should do it by day-light openly, for it is my Lord Chancellor's full intent that ye should do

So.

As for William Worcester he trusteth verily ye would do for him and for his avail in reason, and I doubt not and (if) he may verily and faithfully understand you so disposed to him ward, ye shall find him faithful to you; in likewise I understand by him he will never have other master but his old master, and to my conceit it were pity but if he should stand in such case by mine master that he should never need service, considering how my master trusted him, and the long years that he hath been with him in, and many shrewd journey for his sake, &c.

I write you no more because ye shall (have) another letter written to-morrow. Written at London the 12th day of November in haste.

LETTER CXXXII.—(LXXXVIII. vol. iii. p. 359.)

William Wainfleet, Bishop of Winchester, the first of Sir John Fastolf's executors, was at this time Lord Chancellor, to whom the others applied for his advice and directions concerning the execution of his will. He here gives them fully, but at the same time advises them to apply to some one learned in the spiritual law concerning the administration, &c. In times of popery the "Month's Mind" was a monthly solemnity in memory of the deceased, when prayers were offered and alms given for the health of his soul, &c. William Wainfleet was consecrated Bishop of Winchester in 1447, and continued there till his death, in 1486, just living to see the line of Lancaster (to which he had ever been a well-wisher) restored to the crown in the person of Henry VII. He was a worthy prelate, and a man of great wisdom and integrity. There is no address to these directions.

BE it remembered, that forasmuch as Sir
John Fastolf, late deceased, of great affec-

This was a writ which issued out of Chancery to the escheator of the county, upon the death of any of the king's tenants in capite, to inquire by a jury of what lands he died seized, and of what value, and who was next heir to him.

tion, hath put me in trust to be one of his executors, and since it is desired (of) me to

2 An abbey in Southwark, where some of his goods were deposited.

3 James Butler, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond. [In orig. "brod [brother] tr'sorer," probably an error in transcribing, and the translation is right.]

4 Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter.

LETTER CXXXIII.-(XLV. vol. i. p. 179.)

This letter was written at Coventry, where the parliament appears to have met, after the desertion of some and the surrender of others of the Duke of York's troops to the army of Henry VIth, commanded by the Dukes of Somerset and Exeter, near Ludlow, in October, 1459; and though it contains chiefly accounts of a private nature, yet as a list of those there attainted is affixed, it seemed worthy of insertion.

To my right worshipful masters, William Yelverton, justice, John Paston, and Henry Filongley,1 and to each of them.

LETTER CXXXIV.-(XLVI. vol. i. p. 183.)

John Berney, Esq., appears to have been the son of John Berney, by Isabel, daughter and heir of Sir John Heveningham, knight, and died without issue, in 1461. He had served under Sir John Fastolf, in the wars in France, as appears by a part of this letter where W. Worcester says, "You had verrey and faythfull lofe to my maistr yn the yeers and dayes that ye dyd him s'vice yn the werrs and suffred prysonment and manye a sherp day for hys sake not rewarded."

To the right worshipful Sir, John Berneye, Esq., at Castre being.

RIGHT worshipful Sir, I recommend me to you. (Here follow complaints against Fryer Brakley, &c., concerning Sir John Fastolf's interment, affairs, &c., &c.)

As to tidings here, I send some off hand, written to you and others, how the Lord Rivers, Sir Anthony his son, and others, have won Calais,5 by a feeble assault made at Sandwich by Denham, Esquire, with the number of 800 men, on Tuesday between four and five o'clock in the morning. But my Lady Duchess is still again received in Kent. The Duke of York is at Dublin, strengthened with his earls and homagers as ye shall see by a bill. God send the king victory of his enemies, and rest and peace amongst his lords!

I am right greatly heavied for my poor wife for the sorrow she taketh; and must

1 Edmund Lord Grey, afterwards Earl of Kent. 2 John Bocking was in employment under J. Paston.

3 Alice, daughter and heir of Thomas Montague, Earl of Salisbury, wife of Richard Nevile, in her right, Earl of Salisbury.

4 See notes to the following letter.

5 The expression of Lord Rivers, &c., having won

leave her and her country; I shall nothing take from her more than a little spending money till better may be. And the blessed Trinity keep and send you health. Written at London hastily the Monday after I departed from you, 1459-60.

Your,

W. BOTONER, called WYRCESTER.

London,

Monday, January,

1459-60. 38 H. VI.

Calais, seems to be meant as a sneer upon him, as he commanded the ships going to the Duke of Somerset with supplies to enable him to drive out the Earl of Warwick from Calais, and take possession of it as governor under the king's commission.

6 John Denham, Esq., afterwards Sir John Denham.

7 Cicely, Duchess of York.