it is so that as to-morrow I purpose to ride into Flanders to purvey me of horse and harness; percase (perchance) I shall see the siege of Nuys' ere I come again if I have time; wherefore, if I so do, by likelihood it will be a fourteen days ere I be here again; and after, as I hear from you and others thereupon, that at the next passage, and God will, I purpose to come to London ward: God send me good speed; in chief for the matter above written; and secondly, for to appoint with the king and my lord for such retinue as I should have now in these wars into France; wherefore I pray you in Norfolk and other places, commune with such as ye think likely for you and me that are disposed to take wages in gentlemen's houses and elsewhere, so that we may be the more ready when that need is; nevertheless at this hour I would be glad to have with me daily three or four more than I have, such as were likely; for I lack of my retinue that I have near so many. I pray you send me some tidings, such as ye hear, and how that my brother Edmund doth; for as for tidings here there be but few, save that the siege lasteth still by the When I hear more I shall send you more tidings. The king's ambassadors Sir Thomas Montgomery and the Master of the Rolls be coming homeward from Nuys, and as for me I think that I should be sick but if (unless) I see it. Sir John of Parre and William Berkeley came this way to Flanders ward to buy them horse and harness, and (1) made Sir J. Parre (as) good cheer as I could for your sake; and he told me that ye made him haulte (high) cheer, &c. at Norwich. No more. Written at Calais, the 17th day of January, in the 14th year of Edward IV. Calais, Tuesday, 17th of January, 1474. 14 E. IV. LETTER CCCLI.—(XVII. vol. v. p. 83.) "for [MARGARET PASTON writes to her son John again about money, complaining that Robert Clere had not been paid 207. lent by him and his mother to Sir John; she supposes that William Paston ought to have paid it, he hath a surety for all that and more," but he had refused unless on the delivery of some pledges of Margaret Paston's then in the hands of Clere. Margaret Paston requests her son to ascertain "in haste," and let her "understand how it is," "for I were loath to lose my pledges; I wot it well your good uncle would be in possession with good will, but I would not so." She next alludes to other matters of family discontent. Agnes Paston had been for some time living in London, and Margaret says "Remember me 1 [Nuys is a town in Germany, in the government circle of Cologne, in Rhenish Prussia, on the west side of the Rhine.] to your grandam; I would she were here in Norfolk, as well at ease as ever I saw her, and as little ruled by her son as ever she was, and then I would hope that we all should fare the better for her." This son was no doubt the "uncle William" so often alluded to, of whom the rest of the family seem to have been very willing to borrow money, and very much surprised at being expected to pay; whether or not he was aware of this family defect, he seems to have been by no Saturday, Jan. 29, 1474. In a sort of post- LETTER CCCLII.-(XVIII. vol. v. p. 87.) [THIS letter is written from Norwich on the As for your barley in this country, it cannot is none outload suffered to go out of this country as yet; the king hath commanded that there should none go out of this land. I fear me we shall have right a strange world; God amend it, when his will is." The quantity worth the above-named prices was no doubt the comb, equal to two bushels, a term still frequently used in reckoning in the eastern counties. The low price is confirmed by the list of prices, in Eden's' State of the Poor; in Appendix, page xi. he gives the price of oats in 1475 as ls. 10d. per quarter. The attempt to regulate prices by preventing traffic seems to have been constant, and always to have been attended with suffering. She concludes with an account of the books so earnestly desired by Sir John. "As for the books that ye desired to have of Sir James's, the best of all and the fairest is claimed; nor it is not in his inventory. I shall assay to get it for you an I may; the price of these other books, besides that, is 20s. 6d. the which I send ye a bill of. If ye like by the price of them, and ye will have them, send me word."] LETTER CCCLIII.-(XIX. vol. v. p. 93.) [SIR J. Paston writes from Calais, Sunday, vented from leaving Calais to urge his suit LETTER CCCLIV.-(XX. vol. v. p. 97.) [IN this letter Sir John Paston answers his mother's letter (ccclii.) Having now got a price fixed on the books, he seems indifferent about them; he probably wished his offer as to paying in prayers to have been accepted. "As for the books that were Sir James's, God have his soul! [he continues to pray] I think best that they be still with you, till that I speak with you myself. My mind is not now most upon books." The rest of the letter consists of details as to his money transactions. It is dated Calais, Feb. 22, 1474-5.] LETTER CCCLV.—(LXIV. vol. ii. p. 179.) [This letter is written on the back of Letter cccl., from J. Paston, and is a curious instance of the uncertainty of the transmission of correspondence. If it is meant that she had received no letter since St. Matthew's even, she had not yet had that of Nov. 20 (Letter cccxlvii.), a period of nearly four months. But she may mean that she had written this letter on St. Matthias' even, but could not send it, as she adds, "if I might have had a messenger ere this time, I had sent it you." She could scarcely have thought it long not to have received a letter since Matthias' even, a period of only ten days. We are inclined to think she alludes to her own writing.] Mrs. Margaret Paston, to her son John Paston. JOHN PASTON, I send you God's blessing and mine; letting you weet, that I had none ere this letter than on Saint Matthew's even; if I might have had a messenger ere this time I had sent it you; I con you thank for the letter that ye sent to my cousin Calthorp and me of the tidings; I would ye should do so more. As ye may remember that I spake to you for the 207. for my cousin Clere, speak to your uncle thereof, and send me an answer thereof in haste. And for the licence that I spake to you, for to have the sacrament in my chapel, if ye cannot get it of the Bishop of Norwich, get of the Bishop of Canterbury, for that is most sure for all places. God keep you. Written on Midlent Sunday. Midlent Sunday, 5th of March, 1474. 15 E. IV. LETTER CCCLVI.-(XXI. vol. v. p. 103.) [A NEGOTIATION for a marriage. Fenn says that the gentleman was John Berney, of Reedham, Esq., and that the negotiation was successful, as he married Alice, daughter of Richard Southwell, Esq. of Wood-rising in Norfolk, the writer of this letter to John Paston, Esq. We give all but the complimentary part of the letter. "And, cousin, in the matter that it liked you to remember me in, both to my worship and pleasure, I fear me that neither my poor daughter nor poor purse can nor may be to his pleasure; would God either might; and I should take me right near to his pleasure, saving myself, I ensure you by my troth; and how to understand his disposition and pleasure therein, I 1 [St. Matthew's anniversary is September 21. St. Matthias's (in original "Sent Matheus") is Feb. 23.] see no mean as thus advised, but if it might please you by your wisdom to attempt farther, as ye seem most convenient, and thereupon to be guided by your good advice, as the case shall require, wherein ye shall bind me hereafter to do that may be your pleasure to my power, and yet with no better will than I have had, so God help me, who have you ever in his keeping, and send you your heart's desire to his pleasure; and if it please you to remember farther in the premises, I trust ye shall lose no labour on my poor part; howbeit I fear me sore, as began, both of my poor daughter and purse.' Dated Woodrising, March 26, about 1475.] 2 We are here informed that the archbishop's licence was preferable to that of the diocesan, and seems to have had greater privileges annexed to it. LETTER CCCLVII.-(XXII. vol. v. p. 105.) [MARGARET Paston again writes to Sir John, chiefly details about money matters; money, she says, is very scarce; "the king goeth so near us in this country, both to poor and rich, that I wot not how we shall live, but if the world amend: God amend it, when his will is. I can neither sell corn nor cattle to no good preve (profit.) Malt is here but at 10d. a comb; wheat, a comb, 28d. ; oats, a comb, 10d.; and thereof is but little to get here at this time." She says Peacock, apparently his steward, hath paid for him two tasks (subsidies) at this time. Her ideas of soldiership are remarkably clear for a female, and her recommendation to Sir John, who had served, good. "If your brethren go over the sea, advise them as ye think best for their safe-guard, for some of them be but young soldiers, and wot full little what it is to be as a soldier, nor for to endure to do as a soldier should do." The letter is dated Mawteby, Tuesday, May 23, 1475.] LETTER CCCLVIII.-(XXIII. vol. v. p. 111.) 66 SIR John Paston writes to his brother Edmund, that a vacancy has occurred at Calais, and that he may come and live like 1 gentleman," if he can manage to obtain the ppointment; "else," he adds, "if ye dispose you to abide in England, since it is so hat the Bishop of Lincoln is chancellor, his ervice is the meeter for you, he is next neighbour to Norfolk of any estate: God send you some good ward of his." Place-hunting, from a place under the government to one under a private nobleman, seems to have been the general pursuit, and by no means incompatible with the character of a gentleman. The letter is dated Calais, Tuesday, June 13th, 1475.] LETTER CCCLIX.-(LXV. vol. ii. p. 181.) The abbey of St. Bennet at Holm was situated in the parish of Horning in Norfolk, in the midst of a now dreary and solitary marsh, not likely to be chosen for the wholesomeness of the air. The remains of this once grand and mitred abbey are now very small, standing in the midst of a level marsh, intersected by a great number of almost stagnant ditches. I am, however, informed by a most respectable gentleman, whose seat is in the neighbourhood, that many of the towns surrounding this spot are remarkable for the longevity of their inhabitants. If such is the effect of this air now, perhaps in the flourishing state of the abbey it might be still more salubrious. [1787. It is now much improved.] To the right worshipful Sir John Puston, Knight, in haste. RIGHT well-beloved son, &c. (The chief part f this letter relates to Sir John Paston's private ffairs, his rents and lands, and it informs him hat William Jenney had entered into Holmall, in Filby, in the right and title of his laughter-in-law, which was Boys' daughter, &c.) As for tidings here in this country, we have one but that the country is barren of money; and that my Lady of York' and all her household is here at Saint Bennet's, and purpposed to abide there still till the king come 1 Cecily, Duchess of York, daughter of Ralph Nevile, Earl of Westmoreland, was the widow of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, and mother of King Edward IV. &c. She died in 1495, and was buried near her husband in the college of Fotheringay. from beyond the sea,2 and longer if she like the air there, as it is said. I think right long till I hear some tidings for you3 and from your brethren. I pray God send you, and all your company good speed in your journeys, to his pleasure and to your worships and profits. Written at Mawteby, on Saint Laurence's even, the 15th year of the reign of King Edward the IV. Mawteby, Thursday, By your MOTHER. 2 He was at this time in France. 3 Quære, from? LETTER CCCLX.-(XXIV. vol. v. p. 113.) [SIR John Paston writes to his mother from Calais, and announces the conclusion of the journey to France of Edward IV. He had raised large sums in England to carry on a war against the French in alliance with the Duke of Burgundy, but the latter failing him, and, it is said, his ministers being bribed by the French king, a peace for seven years was concluded, after a personal interview between the two monarchs at Pecquigni, where they met on a bridge across the Somme. It contains no other matter of interest, and to this there is a mere allusion. Dated Monday, Sept. 11, 1475.] LETTER CCCLXI.—(XXV. vol. v. p. 117.) [JOHN PASTON writes to his brother Sir John of the further progress towards the recovery of Caister. He says the king has promised there shall be no delay beyond the 3rd Nov. of the present year; that the Duke of Norfolk's council acknowledge his right; and that "my lady sweareth, and so doth Barnard on her behalf, that she would as fain ye had it as any body; notwithstanding she said not so to me since I came home, for I spake not to her but once since I saw you last." He complains of illness occasioned by taking cold, both at Calais and since his return home; and says "but I was never so well armed for the war, as I have now armed me for cold; wherefore I advise you take example by me if it happen you to be sick, as ye were when I was at Calais, in any wise keep you warm. I ween Harry Wodehouse nor James Arblaster wear never at once so many coats, hose and boots as I do, or else by God we had gone therefore; what we shall yet I cannot say, but I bear me bold on two days amending." Rather a short time to recommend his experience so confidently. Dated Norwich, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 1475.] LETTER CCCLXII.-(LXVI. vol. ii. p. 183.) This letter records a most curious conversation between the king, the Duke of Norfolk, and Sir Willia Brandon, relative to Caister. Sir William Brandon was father of Charles Brandon, afterwards created Duke of Suffolk. To Sir John Paston, Knight, lodged at the George, by Paul's Wharf, in London. AFTER all duties of recommendation, please it you to understand that I have spoken with my lady since I wrote to you last; and she told me that the king had no such words to my lord for Caister as ye told me; but she saith that the king asked my lord at his departing from Calais how he would deal with Caister, and my lord answered never a word. Sir W. Brandon stood by, and the king asked him what my lord would do in that matter; saying that he had commanded him before time to move my lord with that matter, and Sir W. Brandon gave the king to answer that he had done so; then the king asked Sir lord W. B. what my lord's answer was to him, and Sir W. B. told the king that my lord's answer was that the king should as soon have his life as that place; and then the king asked my lord whether he said so or not, and my said, yea. And the king said not one word again, but turned his back, and went his way but my lady told me and (if) the king had spoken any word in the world after that to my lord, my lord would not have said him nay. And I have given my lady warning that I will do my lord no more service; but ere we parted she made me to make her (a) promise. that I should let her have knowledge ere I |