parted, as of my Lord Cardinal a, my late Lord of Canterbury, with divers other. To show you the whole story of all the matter, it were too long to write in two or three letters; you shall know further thereof at your coming home. As touching the bishopricks that be void, ye shall understand, that Doctor Salcott, the Abbot of Hydde, is elect Bishop of Banger, Doctor Lee, the lawyer, is elect Bishop of Chestre b. There is as yet none elect Bishop of Elie: you shall know at your coming home who shall be c. The Parliament is not holden this term, but is prorogued to the xv. day of January. The Queen's Grace was brought about the xiii. or xiv. d day of September of a princess. I myself a [See p. 79, note (s.)] b" There sat but one Bishop at Chester before 1541, viz. Peter, "consecrated 1067: yet several of his successors in the see denomi"nated themselves Bishops of Chester instead of Litchfield." Willis, Hist of Cathedrals, vol. i. p. 318. So also Le Neve. Yet Stow says, that "Dr. Rowland Lee, that married the King to Queen Anne, was "made Bishop of Chester, then Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield, "and President of Wales." Annals. His election to the see of Litchfield and Coventry took place the 10th of January, 1534. Le Neve, Fusti.] [See Letter XIV. p. 33, note (d.)] [It is singular that this date is not correct. The Princess Elizabeth was born on Sunday, September the 7th; as is proved beyond dispute by an official note announcing the event, from Queen Anne Boleyn to Lord Cobham, which is preserved in the Harleian Collection, and has lately been printed in the State Papers. This note, it may be remarked, was evidently prepared beforehand, by a secretary who anticipated the gratification of the King's wishes for a son; for the word Prince has been altered in two places into Princess by the insertion of an s. The well known passage of Shakspeare on this subject will occur to every one: "K. Hen. Now by thy looks, "Lady. Is the Queen delivered? Ay, ay, my liege; "And of a lovely boy: the God of heaven Hen. VIII. The Latin lines in Holinshed both give the date accurately, and notice that the birth took place on a Sunday. Septembris (Deus hoc voluit) quæ septima lux est Consecrata venit Domino volventibus annis, Parturiet conjux Henrici principis Anna. But his authority has not been universally followed by historians; some naming September the 6th, others, like Cranmer, September the 13th.] was godfather, the old Duchess of Northfolke and my Lady Marquess Dorset were godmothers. The Duke of Richmonde hath married my Lady Mary, the Duke of Northfolke's daughter. From Lamethe, the xx. day of December, Ao. xxv Reg. [1533.] Harl. MSS. 40. LXXXV. TO A PRIOR. Brother Prior, I do right heartily commend me unto you. 6148. fol. And so likewise desire the same, that, at this mine instance, ye will grant unto me the next admission of a student unto the University of Oxford, when any such of your company shall hereafter happen to be permitted thereunto. And for the same I will be ready to do unto [you] as great a pleasure. From my manor of Ford, the xxv. day of December. LXXXVI. TO HIS CHANCELLOR AND DEAN OF THE Harl. MSS. I commend me unto you. And whereas the Commissary of [See the last scene in Shakspeare's Hen. VIII.] [Henry Fitzroy, the King's natural son. He was at this time fourteen years old.] 8 [John Butler. See Letters xcI. ccxxv.] LXXXVII. TO THE ABBOT OF READING h. Brother Abbot, I commend me unto you. And whereas Harl. MSS. I am credibly informed, that, through the death of Doctor 6148. f. 40. Benet, (whose soul God pardon,) there is the collation of a benefice called Aston, in Hartefordshere, in your hands and disposition; which, forasmuch as the same standeth very commodiously for a friend of mine, I heartily require you that at this time you will give unto me the collation thereof, not doubting but that I shall exhibit and promote such a personage thereunto, as you shall hereafter think the same well bestowed. And I for my part will be ready at all times to show unto you like pleasure accordingly. 6148. I commend me unto you. And where I do right well Harl. MSS. perceive by a testament now before me of one Thomas fol. 40. b. Broune, late Poticary of the town of Bristow, that he, amonges other legacies comprised therein, hath bequeathed and given a certain garden lying and being in C. Street, to my loving friend David Hutton, which said garden ye (in the name and title of Marget your wife, late wife and executrix to the said Thomas Broune) do retain and occupy, not alonely contrary to the intent of his said will, but also against good right and conscience denieth unto the said David the just possession thereof: I do require you, and thereto likewise exhort you, for a more quietness herein, that ye, according to the delegation of the said testament, from henceforth do not interrupt, let, or hinder the said David lawfully requiring or seeking his interest in the said garden; to the intent that you, in your so doing, may both [There is no authority in the manuscript for this address, but there can be little doubt of its being correct: for the Manor and Church of Aston were given by the Queen of Henry I. to the Abbot and Monks of Reading, and continued in their possession till the general dissolution. Chauncy, Antiq. of Hertfordshire.] i [Near Stevenage.] accomplish justice, and also avoid thereby farther inconvenience that may ensue on your behalf, if he, in attempting the law against you, do attain unto the same; whereunto you shall enforce him, if you persist in denying his just claim thereunto. And where also the said Thomas Broune bequeathed xx towards the marriage of a certain maid named Ales B., as likewise amonges the legacies of the said testament more evidently it doth appear, which sum of money the said David Hutton delivered unto you, to the intent that you should in the mean season have the occupying of the same; so it is, as I am informed, that ye be not now willing to depart from it, and in a manner denieth the receipt thereof. Therefore eftsoons I desire you, to the intent so charitable a deed be not hindered, nor the young woman defrauded of her right, that the said xx. may be delivered unto the said David Hutton, that thereby he, according both to his office, trust, and fidelity to him committed, may as well foresee the performance of the said legacy, as also provide for the safe custody of the same sum against such time it may be due to be paid. LXXXIX. To CRUMWELL k. Chapter In my right hearty manner I commend me unto you: cerWestmin- tifying you, that to accomplish the King's commandment I House, ster; Crumwell's k [Mr. Todd considers this Letter to refer to an embassy from England to the German princes assembled at Smalcald in Dec. 1535, in pondence. which Hethe was associated with Fox, Bishop of Hereford, and Dr. Original. Barnes. (Life of Cranmer, vol. i. p. 147.) But the object of that mission was the formation of a Protestant league against the Pope, rather than the defence of the King's marriage to Anne Boleyn; which was manifestly the "great cause" now to be maintained. The Letter seems also to have been addressed to Crumwell before he was Secretary of State; and if so, must have been written in January 1534. (See State Papers, vol. i. p. 425, note.) And it is clear from the language of Letter CLII, that Hethe filled some diplomatic situation on the continent before June 1585. He may perhaps have succeeded Archdeacon Hawkyns at the Court of the Emperor Charles V. early in 1534; or he may have been sent to a meeting of the German reformers held at Nuremberg in May of the same year; (when, according to Seckendorf, an attempt was made on the part of Hen. VIII. to obtain their approbation of his divorce ;) or he may have been employed on both these services. mer, vol. i. shall send unto you Mr. Heth' to-morrow, which for his Todd, Life learning, wisdom, discretion, and sincere mind toward his of Cranprince, I know no man in my judgment more meet to serve p. 148. the King's Highness' purpose; yet for many other considerations I know no man more unable to appoint himself to the King's honour than he; for he lacketh apparel, horses, plate, money, and all things convenient for such a journey; he hath also no benefice, nor no promotion towards the bearing of his charges. And as you know I am in great necessity, and not able to help him, in all these things I know no remedy, unless it please the King's Highness to furnish him of all things necessary to his voyage, and more Upon the whole, the most probable date of the Letter appears to be 1534. See Letter XIV. note (d). Seckendorf, Comment. de Lutheran. lib. iii. §. xxvi. (8.) and §. xxxix. Add. (d) and (e)]. 6 [Nicholas Hethe, afterwards a distinguished ornament of the Church of Rome, was at this time a zealous reformer. He seems indeed, from his conversation with Cranmer in the preceding year, to have been inclined to depart farther from the received doctrines than most of his brethren. "When," says Foxe," they had finished the examination of "Frith, (see Letter xiv. p. 31.) the Archbishop conferring with Dr. Hethe "privately between themselves said; This man hath wonderfully tra"vailed in this matter, and yet in mine opinion he taketh the doctors "amiss.' 'Well my lord,' should Dr. Hethe say, there was no man "that could avoid his authorities of St. Augustine.' Wherein?' said "my lord. Then Dr. Hethe began to repeat the said authorities of "St. Augustine again, inferring and applying them so straitly against 66 my lord of Canterbury, that my lord was driven to his shot anchor, " and said: "I see by it,' quoth he to Hethe, that you with a little more "study will be easily brought to Frith's opinion,' or such like words in "effect. And some chaplains there were of my lord of Canterbury's, "which openly reported, that Dr. Hethe was as able to defend Frith's "assertions in the sacrament as Frith was himself." Foxe, Acts, &c.vol. iii. p. 991. Under Henry VIII. Hethe was successively Bishop of Rochester and Worcester; under Edward VI. he was deprived; under Mary he became Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor, and in the latter capacity signed the writ for Cranmer's execution; and under Elizabeth," he lived after a little trouble, quietly and nobly in his own Lord"ship of Chobham, situate in Surrey. He was always honourably es"teemed by the Queen, and sometimes had the honour to be visited by "her Majesty." Strype, Annals, vol. i. p. 142. But it was not the least of his honours to have deserved the praise of Melancthon. This learned reformer, who became acquainted with him at the conferences at Smalcald, has thus contrasted him with his colleagues Fox and Barnes; "Unus Nicolaus Hethus Archidiaconus humanitate et literis excellit “ inter hospites nostros. Ceteri άγευστοι ἡμετέρας φιλοσοφίας καὶ γλυκύτητος, ❝ideo conversationem eorum fugio quantum possum." Seckendorf, Comm. de Luth. lib. iii. §. xxxix. Add. (e.) See also Wood, Athen. Oxon. vol. i. p. 704. Fuller, Church Hist. book viii. sect. ii. §. 19. |