LETTER CXXXV.-(XLVII. vol. i. p. 187.) This bold plan, for surprising the admiral and taking his fleet, was laid by the Earl of Warwick, &c. at Calais, and executed with success by Sir John Denham, at Sandwich, in January, 1459. Lord Rivers and his son, when prisoners, being only rated by the Lords, shows in them great moderation; as the cruelties usually exercised on prisoners of consequence in the civil wars of those ferocious times would have warranted their immediate execution. [We need not repeat, that, without at all apologising for the cruelties actually committed, we think there were fewer in these "ferocious times," than in any civil war in any other civilised country, except our own at a later period.] To his right worshipful brother, John Paston, be this letter delivered. AFTER due recommendation had, please you to weet that we came to London upon the Tuesday by noon next after our departure from Norwich, and sent our men to inquire after my Lord Chancellor,' and Mr. John Stokes, and Malmesbury. And as for my Lord Chancellor, he was departed from London, and was rode to the king two days ere we were come to London; and as we understand he hasted him to the king, because of my Lord Rivers being taken at Sandwich, &c. (Then follows a long account of private business, which is here omitted.) As for tidings, my Lord Rivers2 was brought to Calais and before the lords with eight score torches, and there my Lord of Salisbury rated him, calling him, "Knave's son, that he should be so rude to call him and these other lords traitors; for they should be found the king's true liege men when he should be found a traitor, &c." And my Lord of Warwick rated him, and said "that his father was but a squire, and brought up with King Henry V., and since made himself by marriage, and also made a lord; and that it was not his part to have such language of lords being of the king's blood. And my Lord of March rated him in likewise. And Sir Anthony was rated for his language of all the three lords in likewise. Item, the king cometh to London ward, and as it is said rereth (raiseth) the people as he come; but it is certain there be commissions made into diverse shires, that every man be ready, in his best array, to come when the king send for him. Item, my Lord Roos is come from Guisnes. London, Your brother, WILLIAM PASTON. Monday, 29th of January, 1459. 38 H. VI. LETTER CXXXVI.—(LXXXIX. vol. iii. p. 361.) We have here the private letter of a great nobleman, wherein he interests himself in the welfare and happiness of his domestics in a manner so very pleasing, as to show the goodness of his heart, and the kind attention which he paid to those connected with him. (See also to the same effect Letter xliv. p. 53.] To our right trusty and entirely well-beloved John Paston, Esq. RIGHT trusty and right entirely well-beloved, we greet you heartily well; and it is so as ye know well yourself, we have and long time have had the service of Thomas Denyes, by continuance whereof we wend (thought) to have had his attendance at our lust (pleasure), Laurence Booth, Bishop of Durham. 2 Richard Widville, Lord Rivers, married Jaquetta, daughter of Peter of Luxemburg, Earl of St. Paul, and widow of John, Duke of Bedford, by whom he was father to Elizabeth, the widow of Sir John Gray, and afterwards queen of Edward IV. the now Earl of March, by whom he was created Earl Rivers, &c. He was beheaded in July, 1469, by the Lancastrian mutineers in Northamptonshire. and nevertheless we have so straightly examined his demeaning, that we feel and plainly conceive that the love and affection which he hath to a gentlewoman not far from you, and which ye be privy to, as we suppose, causeth him alway to desire towards 3 The word knave appears, by this expression, at this time to have been used in a bad sense. [To a nobleman certainly, as it was degradatory of his rank. It is used in the same sense as "his father was but a squire," by Warwick.] 4 Sir Anthony Widville, afterwards Lord Scales and Earl Rivers, was beheaded by the tyrannic order of Richard III. at Pontefract, on the 13th of June, 1483. your country rather than towards such occupation as is behoveful to us. We write therefore to you, praying you heartily as ye love us, that it like you to do that labour at our instance, by such mean as your wisdom can seem, to move that gentlewoman in our behalf for the weal of this matter, undertaking for us that we will show our bounty to them both, if it please her that this matter take effect, so that by reason she shall have cause to take it in gree (to be satisfied); and if the coming thither cf our person self should be to (the) pleasure of her, we will not leave our labour in that; wherefore we pray you that ye will do your part herein, as ye will we do for you in time coming, and that ye see us in haste. The Holy Trinity keep you. Written at Wivenhoe, the 17th day of May. The Earl of Oxford. Wivenhoe, in Essex, 17th of May, NUMBER CXXXVII.-(XC. vol. iii. p. 363.) OXENFORD. The matters here commanded by the king to be respited, were probably some disputes relative to the manor of Gresham, a moiety of which had been purchased by Sir William Paston, the judge, and the other moiety had belonged to Sir William Molyns, the present Lord Molyns's wife's ancestor. As far as concerned his lordship, perhaps a respite during his absence on the king's affairs might be necessary, but to extend that to his tenants and servants seems an hardship upon the person who was plaintiff and thought himself aggrieved. The letter, however, is couched in the civilest language possible, and sealed with the king's privy seal on red wax, having the royal arms of France and England quarterly, surmounted by a royal coronet, and encompassed with a collar of SS. [We give it below, together with the king's autograph. This letter appears to be a continuation of the affair noticed in Letters cxii. to cxv.] To our trusty and well-beloved John Paston, Esq. BY THE KING. TRUSTY and well beloved, forasmuch as our right trusty and well-beloved the Lord Molyns is by our special desire and commandment waiting upon us, and now, for divers considerations moving us, we purpose to send him into certain places for to execute our commandments, for the which he ne may (may not) be attendant to be in our counties of Norfolk and Suffolk at the time of our commissioners sitting upon our commission of oyer (and) determiner within the same our counties. We therefore desire and pray you, that considering his attendance upon us, and that he must apply him to execute our Westminster, 18th of September, LETTER CXXXVIII.-(XCI. vol. iii. p. 365.) [Lord Scales was of the party opposed to J. Paston, and we must not therefore accept this accusation against the latter as complete proof of his injustice; but it may rather lead us not to believe in the charges frequently made against other persons opposed to the Paston interests.] To our trusty and well-beloved friend, John Paston, Esq. RIGHT trusty and well-beloved friend, I greet you heartily well, and will ye weet that Wotton is ever crying and calling upon me to write unto you for his land: wherefore at the reverence of God considering the simpleness of them all, I pray you that ye put them at a certain (certainty), and let them all that they ought to have of right, for their crying cause men to think ye do them great wrong, which I wote (know) well ye would be sorry Our Lord have you in his governance. Middleton, 16th of October, LETTER CXXXIX.-(XCII. vol. p. iii. 367.) [This letter is a curious instance of the caution (arising from insecurity, at a period when all news was only gossip, through the want of a press,) with which information was received. The Duke hesitates to believe the letter from London till he has tested its truth by a circumstance within his reach. The request that the letter be burnt is also singular. The official or semi-official letters appear to have travelled very slowly.] To my master, John Paston, Esq. RIGHT Worshipful Sir, I recommend me unto you, and please it you to weet of our new tidings here; as this day came writing both to my lord and to my lady from London, that there be certain letters directed to my lord from my lady his Mother, and divers other lords, for to have Daniel in his favour again, and as it is supposed by the means of the Duke of Somerset, for he hath been right conversant with him all this quarter of this year. And also they that sent this writing say plainly that the Lord Scales is good lord to him, and that he hath promised him to make Sir Thomas Todenham, Heydon, and him accorded, and other men in the coun 1 John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, married Ellenor, daughter of William Bourchier, Earl of Eu, in Normandy. Catharine, daughter of Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland, and widow of John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. 3 Thomas Daniel, Esq. was constable of Risingcastle, and married Margaret, sister of John Howard, afterwards Duke of Norfolk. He is said to have been attainted in the beginning of the reign of Edward IV., but afterwards restored and taken into favour. try, and that he shall be suffered to enter into Brayston, and keep it, to the entent that the country shall think, and my Lord also, that he hath great favour amongst the lords of the council, and cause men to fear him the more. Whether it be thus or no I cannot say, nevertheless me thinketh ye shall soon know if Mounford will agree that he shall enter into Brayston, and if that be true, all the remanent shall seem the more likely. I pray you breme (burn) this letter when Framlingham, 18th of December, 4 [i. e. the Duke of Norfolk.] 5 Richard Southwell, Esq. married Amy, daughter and co-heir of Sir Edmund Witchingham, of WoodRising, Esq., and so became possessor of that estate. LETTER CXL.-(L. vol. i. p. 195.) This letter, written from Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, the ancient seat of the Mowbrays, Dukes of Norfolk, must have been written before 1460, when Viscount Beaumont was slain. It is all of the same hand-writing, and that most probably of the Duchess's secretary, the form of the letters not being like those of a female hand. The matter recorded shows the princely establishment of the households of the nobility in that age; and that they imitated the royal appointments, by having the officers on their own establishments under their letters patent. To my right worshipful and right entirely RIGHT worshipful, and right entirely wellbeloved cousin, I commend me to you with all my heart, desiring to hear and verily to know of your worshipful estate, profit, health, and good prosperity; the which I beseech our Lord Jesu ever to maintain and preserve in all worship, to his pleasance and to your heart's ease. Please it you, cousin, to weet, that your well-beloved servant Roger Hunt, and a servant of my most dread lord my husband, one William, yeoman of his ewry, have communed together, and been fully thorough and agreed, that the said William shall have his office, if it may please your good lordship. Wherefore, cousin, I pray you, as my special trust is in you, that ye will, at the instance of my prayer and writing, grant by your letters well-beloved cousin, the Viscount Beaumont, patent to the said William the foresaid office, with such wages and fees as Roger your said servant hath it of you; trusting verily that ye shall find the said William a faithful servant to you, and can and may do you right good service in that office. And, cousin, in the accomplishment of my desire in this matter ye may do me a right good pleasure, as God knoweth, whom I beseech for his mercy to have you ever in his blessed governance, and send you good life and long, with much good worship. Written at Framlingham, the 8th day of March. ELIANOR, the Duchess of Norfok3 Framlingham, 8th of March, before 1460. LETTER CXLI.-(XCIII. vol. iii. p. 371.) The date of this letter cannot be exactly fixed, though I believe it was written in 1460, or, if not then, it must have been written early in the reign of Edward IV., as I find there was a presentation to the church of Drayton both in 1460 and 1461, but Sir Thomas Hakon was not the person presented on either of the vacancies. East Dereham, a market town, situated nearly in the centre of the county of Norfolk, we here find in the fifteenth century a place of sufficient consequence to have an adjournment of the general quarter sessions of the peace from Norwich held in it. It has been since that period twice destroyed by fire; once on the 1st of July, 1581, and again on the 3d of the same month, in 1679. It is now a pleasant, handsome, and well-built town, inhabited by several respectable families, and furnished with many accommodations for genteel life. [East Dereham has maintained its rank from Fenn's time, and is a clean, well-built, and thriving town. Walsingham has been already noticed.] To my right worshipful master, John Paston, be this letter delivered in haste. RIGHT worshipful husband, I recommend me to you, please it you to weet that the cause that I wrote to you none ere [earlier] than I did after the sessions, was because that Yelverton held the sessions at Dereham and 1 An officer who had the charge of the table-linen, &c. 2 It seems by this representation of the matter, as if Roger Hunt, the officer of the Viscount Beaumont, had sold his office under his lordship to William, yeoman of the ewry to the Duke, if, through the Duchess's recommendation, Lord Beaumont should think proper to accept him. Walsingham the next week after the assizes, and to have knowledge what labour that was made there, and to have sent you word thereof; there was great labour made by the bailiff of Cossey, and other, for to have indicted your men both at Dereham and at 3 Ellenor, Duchess of Norfolk, wife of John Mow bray, Duke of Norfolk, was the daughter of William Bourchier, Earl of Eu, in Normandy, and sister of Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex. The Duke died in 1461, and was buried at Thetford, where his Duchess was likewise buried. Walsingham, but I purved1 a mean that their purpose was letted at those two times. Hugh a Fenn is in Flegg; Richard Calle spake with him this week, and he said to Richard that he and his wife would be with me here this week, towards a place of his that he hath purchased of Godered; if he come I shall make him good cheer, for it is told me of divers folks that have spoken with him, sithen (since) he came into Norfolk, as they feel by his saying that he oweth you right good will. Item, as for my coming to you, if it please you that I come, I hope I shall purvey so for all things ere I come, that it shall be safe enough by the grace of God till I come again; but at the reverence of God, if ye may,2 purvey a mean that ye may come home yourself, for that shall be most profitable to you, for "men cut large thongs here off other men's leather." I shall write to you again as hastily as I may. God have you in his keeping. Written in haste at Hey lesdon, the Sunday next after the Assumption of our Lady. Item, my cousin, Elizabeth Clere is at Ormsby, and your mother purposeth to be at her place at Caister this week, for the pestilence is so fervent in Norwich that they there no longer abide there, so God help; me thinketh by my mother, that she would right fain that ye did well, and that ye might speed right well in your matters; and me thinketh by my cousin Clere that she would fain have your good will, and that she hath sworn right faithfully to me that there shall no default be found in her, nor nought hath been, if the truth might be understood, as she hopeth it shall be hereafter; she saith there is no man alive that she hath put her trust in so much as she hath done in you: she saith she wot well such language as hath been reported to you of her, otherwise than she hath deserved, causeth you to be otherwise to her than ye should be: she had to me this language weeping, and told me of divers other things, the which ye shall have knowlege of hereafter. As for the high sheriff he demeaned him right well here to me, and he said to me, as for the replevins he would ask counsel of learned men what he might do therein, and as largely as he might do therein, or in any other matter touching you, saving himself harmless, he would do for you and for yours that he might do. Item, I have do layd in (caused to be laid in) the presentation of Drayton, and have presented Sir Thomas Hakon, parson of Felthorp, the which is held right a good man and well disposed; and the Duke of Suffolk hath laid in another, and there shall be taken an inquisition thereupon, and Master Stephen is your advocate therein. Master John Estgate is passed to God on Thursday last past, whose soul God assoil! whereof in good faith I am right sorry, for I find him right faithful to you; they die right sore in Norwich. John Russ saith the profits that hath been taken of the manor of Caister since Sir J. Fastolf died hath been taken by Sir Thomas Howes and Jenney. Heylesdon, By yours, MARGARET PASTON. Sunday after the Assumption of our Lady, 17th of August, 1460. 38 H. VI. I marvel that ye had no tidings from me at that time that your letter was written, for I sent you a letter by Chittock's son, that is prentice in London, and the said letter was of the demeaning at the assizes at Norwich, and of divers other matters. I pray you send me word if ye have it: as for the replevins, Richard Calle saith he hath sent you an answer of them, and also the copies of them. |