And they seyd he most speke with here master.

And soo he,

with ij or iij of his men, wente forth with hem yn here bote to the Nicolas; and whanne he come, the master badde him 'Welcom, Traitor,' as men sey; and forther the maister desyryd to wete yf the shepmen wolde holde with the duke, and they sent word they wold not yn noo wyse; and soo he was yn the Nicolas tyl Saturday next folwyng.

Soom sey he wrotte moche thenke to be delyverd to the Kynge, but that is not verily knowe. He hadde his confessor with hym. And some sey he was arreyned yn in the sheppe on here maner upon the appechements and fonde gylty.

Also he asked the name of the sheppe, and whanne he knewe it, he remembred Stacy that seid, if he myght eschape the daunger of the Towr he should be saffe; and thanne his herte faylyd him, for he thowghte he was desseyvyd, and yn in the syght of all his men he was drawyn ought of the grete shippe yn to the bote; and ther was an exe, and a stoke, and oon of the lewdeste of the shippe badde him ley down his hedde, and he should be fair ferd wyth, and dye on a swerd; and toke a rusty swerd, and smotte of his hedde withyn halfe a doseyn strokes, and toke away his gown of russet, and dobelette of velved mayled, and leyde his body on the sonds of Dover; and some sey his hedde was set oon a pole by it, and hes men sette on the londe be grette circumstaunce and preye. And the shreve of Kent doth weche the body, and sent his under shreve to the juges to wete what to doo, and also to the Kynge whatte shalbe doo. Forther I wotte nott, but this fer is that yf the proces be erroneous, lete his concell reverse it.

Sir Thomas Keriel is taken prisoner and alle the legge harneyse, and aboute iij. m1 (3000) Englishe men slayn.1

Mathew Gooth with xvc (1500) fledde, and sayvd hym selfe and hem; and Peris Brusy was cheffe capteyn, and hadde xml (10,000) Frenshe men and more. I prey you lete my mastras your moder knowe these tydingis, and God have you all in his kepyn. I prey you this bille may recomaunde me to my mastrases your moder and wyfe.

Wretyn yn gret hast at London the v. day of May.

W. L.

Reference to a battle fought near Caen during the French war. Our troops sent to the aid of the Duke of Somerset in Normandy were defeated.

II.

Henry VI., after a period of mental derangement, recognises his infant son, Edward, Prince of Wales.

Edmund Clere to John Paston.

January 9, 1455.

Right welbeloved cosyn,-I recomaund me to you, latyng you wite such tidings as we have.

Blessed be God, the King is wel amended, and hath ben syn Cristemesday, and on Seint Jones day comaunded his awmener to ride to Caunterbury with his offryng, and comaunded the secretarie to offre at Seint Edwards.

And on the Moneday after noon the Queen came to him, and brought my Lord Prynce with her. And then he askid what the Princes name was, and the Queen told him Edward; and then he hild up his hands and thankid God therof. And he seid he never knew til that tyme, nor wist not what was seid to him, nor wist not where he had be, whils he hath be seke til now. And he askid who was godfaders, and the Queen told him, and he was well apaid.

And she told him that the Cardinal1 was dede, and he seid he knew never thereof til that tyme; and he seid oon of the wisist Lords in his land was dede.

And my Lord of Wynchestr and my Lord of Seint Jones were with him on the morrow after Tweltheday, and he speke to hem as well as ever he did; and when thei come out thei wept for joye. And he seith he is in charitee with all the world, and so he wold all the Lords were. And now he seith matyns of Our Lady and evesong, and herith his Masse devoutly; and Richard shall tell yow more tidings by mouth.

I pray yow recomaund me to my Lady Morley and to Maister Prior, and to my Lady Felbrigge and to my Lady Hevenyngham, and to my cosyn your moder, and to my cosyn your wife. Wreten at Grenewich on Thursday after Twelftheday

Be your cosyn

EDMUND CLERE.

1 John Kemp, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor, who died nine months before the date of this letter.

III.

If the style of correspondence of the Public-School boy of the fifteenth century was more finished than it is to-day, the subject-matter seems much the same: viz., money, clothes, and

exeats.

William Paston, junior, to his brother, John Paston.

[Written from Eton College.]

Nov. 7, 1478.

Ryght reverent and worchepful brodyr,—I recomaunde me on to you, desyrynge to here of yowre welfare and prosperite; letynge yow wete that I have resevyd of Alwedyr a lettyr, and a nobyll in gowlde therin. Ferthermor my creansyr1 Mayster Thomas, hertely recomandyd hym to yow, and he praythe yow to sende hym sum mony for my comons; for he seythe ye be xxtis. [twenty-two shillings] in hys dette, for a monthe was to pay for when he had mony laste.

Also I beseche yow to sende me a hose clothe, one for the halydays of sum colore, and anothyr for the workyng days, how corse so ever it be it makyth no matyr; and a stomechere, and ij schyrtes, and a peyer of sclyppers. And if it lyke yow that I may come with Alwedyr be watyr, and sporte me with yow in London a day or ij thys terme tyme, than ye may let all thys be tyl the tyme that I come, and than I wol telle yow when I schall be redy to come from Eton, by the grace of God, Whom have yow in Hys kepyng.

Wretyn the Saturday next aftyr All Halown Day with the hand of your brodyr,

IV.

WILLIAM PASTON.

The Viscount Lovell here referred to was one of the adherents of Richard III., who was attainted on the accession of Henry VII. An unsuccessful conspirator on his own account, he fought on the side of the impostor Lambert Simnel, at the battle of Stoke A.D. 1487, and is said to have been drowned in the river Trent while beating a retreat from the royalist troops.

1 Creditor.

Margaret, Countess of Oxford, to John Paston.

To my right trusti and welbiloved John Paston,
Shrieve of Norffolk and Suffolk.

May 19, 1486.

Right trusti and welbiloved,—I recomaund me urto you. And for as moche as I am credebly enfourmed that Fraunceis, late Lorde Lovell, is now of late resorted into the Yle of Ely, to the entente by alle lykelyhod, to finde the waies and meanes to gete him shipping and passage in your costes or ellis to resorte ageyn to seintuary, if he can or maie; I therfor hertily desire praie yow, and neverthelesse, in the Kinges name streitly chargie you that ye in all goodly haste endevore your self that such wetche or other meanes be used and hadde in the poorts, and creks, and othre places wher ye thinke necessary by your discrecion, to the letting of his seid purpose; and that ye also use all the waies ye can or maie by your wisdom to the taking of the same Lorde Lovell. And what pleasur ye maie do to the Kingis Grace in this matier, I am sure, is not to you unknowen. And God kepe you. Wretyn at Lavenham, the xix day of May.

MARGARET OXYNFORD.1

V.

This very curious letter is printed in the Camden Society's
publications for the year 1863. The young Queen Margaret of
Anjou is urging the suit of a member of her household, a
staunch Lancastrian of the Red Rose, for the hand of a wealthy
widow who had the disposal of seventeen manors. But Dame
Carew was not to be inveigled by royal advances. She bestowed
her hand and chattels real on the handsome young De Vere,
brother of the twelfth Earl of Oxford.

Margaret, Queen of Henry VI., to Dame Jane Carew.
Eltham [1450].

BY THE QUEEN.

Right dere and welbeloved, we grete you well; and, for as moch as oure trusty and welbeloved Squier, Thomas Burneby,

1 Daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury and sister of Richard, Earl of Warwick.

sewer of our mouth, aswel for the greet zele, love, and affeccion that he hath unto yor personne, as for the womanly and vertuouse governance that ye be renowned of, desireth with all his hert to do you worship by wey of mariage, bifore all creatures lyvyng, as he saith; We, desiryng th' encres, furtherance, and preferring of oure said squire for his manyfold merits and deserts, as for the good service that he hath done unto my lord and us, and yet therin dayly continueth, praye you right affectuously, that, at reverence of us, ye will have oure said squire towards his said mariage especially recommended, inclynyng you to his honest desire at this tyme; the rather by contemplacion of this oure praier, wherin we trust verreily ye shul mowe pourvey right well for yor self, to yor greet worship and hertsease, and cause us to have yow both in suche tendernesse and faver of our good grace, that by reason ye shul holde you right well content and pleased; and how ye thinke to be disposed to our pleasir in this partie, ye will acertein us by the bringer of these. As our singler trust is in yow.

Given, etc. at Eltham, the, etc.

To Dame Jane Carew.

VI,

Considering the weakness of Henry VII.'s title to the throne, and considering also the fact that among the small remnant of 'Greater Barons' who survived the Wars of the Roses, the wearers of the white rose were the more numerous after the battle of Bosworth, it is not surprising that Henry of Richmond, during the first years of his reign, was set the troublesome task of beating off pretenders to his throne. The Court of Burgundy, where the sister of our Edward IV. was despotic, was the rendezvous of the disaffected Yorkist nobility.

Henry VII. to Sir Gilbert Talbot.

Kenilworth Castle: July, 1493.

Trusty and well beloved,-We greet you well; and not forgetting the great malice that the Lady Margaret of Burgundy beareth continually against us, as she showed lately in sending hither of a feigned boy, surmising him to have been the son of the Duke of Clarence, and caused him to be accompanied with the Earl of Lincoln, the Lord Lovel, and with great multitude of Irishmen and of Almains, whose end, blessed be God, was as ye