XXII. Wilkins, Concilia, vol. iii. Mandate by the Archbishop of Canterbury, to the Bishop of London, for Prayers of Procession in English P. THOMAS, &c. venerabili confratri nostro domino Edmundo, &c. salutem et fraternam in Domino charitatem. Literas inp.869. from victissimi domini nostri Regis, manu sua signatas, et signeto suo Cranm. Regist. f. 48.b. obsignatas, nobis inscriptas, et ad nos datas, nuper debitis cum honore et reverentia accepimus, tenorem subsequentem complectentes: q Most Reverend Father in God, right trusty and right wellbeloved, we greet you well; and let you wit that, calling to our remembrance the miserable state of all Christendom, being at this present, besides all other troubles, so plagued with most cruel wars, hatreds, and dissensions ", as no place of the same almost being the whole reduced to a very narrow corner, remaineth in good peace, agreement, and concord, the help and remedy whereof far exceeding the power of any man, must be called for of Him who only is able to grant our petitions, and never forsaketh nor repelleth any that firmly believe and faithfully call on him; unto whom also the examples of Scripture encourageth us in all these and other our troubles and necessities to fly, and to cry for aid and succour: being therefore resolved to have continually from henceforth general Processions in all cities, towns, churches, and parishes of this our realm, said and sung with such reverence and devotion as appertaineth, for as much as heretofore the people, partly for lack of good instruction and calling, partly for that they understood no part of such prayers or suffrages, as were used to be sung and said, have ? [“ Occasional prayers and suffrages to be used throughout all churches, "began now to be more usual than formerly. For these common devotions "were twice this year [1544.] appointed by authority, as they had been "once the last; which I look upon the Archbishop to be the great instru"ment in procuring that he might by this meaus, by little and little, bring "into use prayer in the English tongue." Strype, Cranm. p. 127. One of the instances mentioned by Strype must be referred to the following year. See No. XXIII.] : [See Buruet, Ref. vol. i. App. B. III. No. 28. Strype remarks that the King's letter" runs in such a pious strain, as though none but the Archbi"shop had been the suggester thereof." Strype, Cranm. p. 128.] r [Henry VIII. was now at war with France and Scotland, and was on the point of invading the former country in conjunction with the Emperor Charles V.] used to come very slackly to the Procession, when the same have been commanded heretofore: we have set forth certain godly prayers and suffrages in our native English tongue, which we send you herewith, signifying unto you, that for the special trust and confidence we have of your godly mind and earnest desire to the setting forward of the glory of God and the true worshipping of his most holy name within that province committed by us unto you; we have sent unto you these suffrages, not to be for a month or two observed, and after slenderly considered, as other our Injunctions have to our no little marvel been used; but to the intent that as well the same as other our Injunctions may earnestly be set forth by preaching, good exhortations, and otherways to the people, in such sort as they, feeling the godly taste thereof, may godly and joyously with thanks receive, embrace, and frequent the same, as appertaineth. Wherefore we will and command you, as you will answer unto us for the contrary, not only to cause these prayers and suffrages aforesaid to be published frequently, and openly used in all towns, churches, villages, and parishes of your own diocese, but also to signify this our pleasure unto all other bishops of your province, willing and commanding them in our name, and by virtue hereof, to do and execute the same accordingly; unto whose proceedings in the execution of this our commandment, we will that you have a special respect, and make report unto us, if any shall not with good dexterity accomplish the same, not failing, as our special trust is in you. Yeven under our signet at our manor of St. James, the eleventh of June the xxxv1 year of our reign. In capite vero eorundem sic scriptum est: By the King. Inscriptio autem hæc est: To the most reverend father in God, ["I have not met with these suffrages; which if I had, I should have "been inclined to publish them here, and the rather because I believe they were of Cranmer's own composing." Strype, Cranm. p. 129. But Burnet and Mr. Todd are probably correct in supposing that these prayers and suffrages are the same which formed a Litany published on the 16th of June in this year, by the King's printer Thos. Barthelet " Cum privilegio," under the following title: A Letany with Suffrages to be sayd or sung in Time of Processions. With an Exhortation to Prayer, thought meet by the King and his Clergy to be read to the People in every Church, afore Processions. Ames, Typogr. Antiq. vol. iii. p. 450. edit. Dibdin. A full account of this publication will be found in Burnet, Ref. vol. iii. p. 315. The Litany contained in it was inserted in the Primer of 1545, and differs but little from that still in use.] our right trusty and right well-beloved counsellor, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Nos vero pro nostra erga suam celsitudinem observantia, toto pectore affectantes literis et mandatis suis regiis, uti decet, obtemperare, volentesque pro debito nostri officii omnem curam et solertem nostram in commissis et demandatis a sua Majestate adhibere diligentiam, vobis pro parte regiæ suæ Majestatis tenore præsentium mandamus et præcipiendo injungimus, quatenus receptis præsentibus, non solum Injunctiones omnes regias ad sacrosanctam religionem firmandam et stabiliendam antehac per auctoritatem regiam promulgatas, cum omni reverentia observandas edicatis et mandatis: verum etiam omni sedulitate et celeritate accommodis sancta hæc suffragia, et salubres orationes, quarum unum exemplar præsentibus annexum vobis per latorem præsentium mittimus, tum quidem in omnibus et singulis ecclesiis cathedralibus, collegiatis, et parochialibus per diocesim et jurisdictionem vestras Londonienses ubilibet sitis et existentibus, tum etiam ab omnibus et singulis aliis episcopis, et confratribus nostris, nostræ Cantuarien' provinciæ suffraganeis, ubilibet locorum per dioceses et jurisdictiones suas juxta et secundum literarum regiarum suprascriptarum tenorem et continentiam, in omnibus et per omnia exponi, declarari, denunciari, cantari, dici, publicari, et observari facias et faciant, et fieri sedulo procures et procurent. In cujus rei testimonium sigillum nostrum præsentibus est impensum. Dat' [decimo] octavo die mensis Junii, Anno Domini MDXLIV. et nostræ consecrationis anno XII. Cranm. fol. 26. b. XXIII. Mandate by the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Bishop of THOMAS, permissione divina, &c. venerabili confratri nostro Register, Domino Edmundo permissione eadem London' Episcopo, &c. vestrove vicario in spiritualibus generali et officiali principali, salutem, et fraternam in Domino charitatem. Literas missivas clarissimorum et prudentissimorum Dominorum de privatis consiliis suæ regiæ Majestatis manibus subscriptas, nobis inscriptas et per equos dispositos [advectas,] nuper recepimus, tenorem sequentem complectentes. 'After our right hearty commendations to your good lordship, these shall be to signify unto the same, that the King's Highness having so provided for the safety of his Grace's realm, as the great malice of his enemies shall by the grace of God take small effect "; (for the repulsing of the which his Highness hath in a readiness to set abroad, at the furthest on Wednesday next x, such a puissant navy as hath not been seen assembled in the remembrance of man :) considering nevertheless that all victories and good successes cometh only at the direction and appointment of God, following herein the trade of such a Christian prince as he is, hath devised to have Processions throughout the realm in such sort as in like cases hath heretofore laudably been accustomed: requiring your lordship therefore to take order incontinently, that from henceforth t [This Letter from the Council is printed by Strype, Cranm. p. 129, who places it under the year 1544. But the date of 1545 is entered in the Register very distinctly, at the end of the Archbishop's mandate: and it may also be supported, as will be seen in the following notes, by internal evidence.] u [Great alarm was caused in England in 1545, by a threatened invasion from France; and in the month of July, the month immediately preceding the date of this mandate, the French fleet rode triumphant in the Channel, and made descents on the coast of Sussex and on the Isle of Wight. See Stow, Annals; and State Papers, vol. i. p. 786, &c.] x [In the State Papers is a letter from John Dudley, Lord Lisle, the Lord Admiral, in which he speaks with confidence of sailing from Portsmouth on Tuesday the 11th of August; and on the 15th he writes from sea, that "the enemies and we have sight one of the other, striving who shall get "the advantage of the wind." No action however took place, and on the 21st Lord Lisle had received information that the French fleet was riding off their own coast, and that it was "not possible for their army to return any "more to the sea this year, both for scarcity of victuals and for lack of men. "For the most part of these that have been out, had rather be hanged than "go forth again. There is no manner of courage, nor gladness, nor appearance of comfort among them. The common people (talking as they dare) "grudgeth, saying, their King hath been at great charges, and nothing "done." In September the English fleet in their turn made a descent on the coast of Normandy. See a large collection of documents on the events of this summer in the State Papers, vol. i. p. 786, &c. In one of them, a Report of the "State of Things," Cranmer appears in a new character. "My "Lord of Canterbury having required certain pieces of artillery to be drawn "to and from sundry places upon the cliffs, with horses at the charge "of the country, for the repelling of the enemies, shall be furnished of the "same, if Mr. Seymour, upon view of the places, shall think it expedient." p. 786.] Y [This "puissant navy" consisted of 104 sail, carrying 12,738 men. The names of the vessels and of their captains, their tonnage, and the number of their crews, with the orders issued on sailing, will be found in the State Papers, vol. i. p. 810.] throughout your province the said Processions be kept continually upon the accustomed days and none otherwise, and sung or said, as the number of the quire shall serve for the same, in the English tongue, to the intent that there may be an uniformity in every place; whereby it may please God at all times to prosper his Majesty in all his affairs, and the rather to have regard at this time unto the uprightness of his Grace's quarrel, and to send his Highness victorious success of the same. And thus we bid your good lordship most heartily well to fare. From Petworth, the 10th day of August. Your lordship's assured loving friends, W. Essex, Ste. Wynton., Anthonye Browne, William Paget. Quibus pro nostro officio obtemperare, uti decet, summopere cupientes, vestræ fraternitati tenore præsentium committimus, et regiæ Majestatis vice et nomine quibus fungimur, mandamus, quatenus attentis diligenter literarum hujuscemodi tenore, et bellorum tam terrestrium quam maritimorum tumultubus, quibus hoc inclitum regnum Angliæ undique per mare et terram tum in Gallia et Scotia, tum in partibus Boloniæ assidue infestatur et gravatur, omnibus et singulis confratribus, coepiscopis nostris et Ecclesiæ nostræ Christi Cant' suffraganeis, cum ea qua poteritis celeritate accommoda præcipiatis, ut ipsorum singuli, in suis cathedralibus et civitatum ac dioc' suarum parochialibus ecclesiis exposito publice literarum hujuscemodi pio et sancto tenore, clericos et laicos infra suas dioc' degentes sedulo et accurate moveant et inducant, aut moveri et induci sanctis monitionibus et salubribus præceptis faciant, (atque sic a vobis in civitate et dioc' London' fieri volumus) qualibet quarta et sexta feria publicis supplicationibus et suffragiis dudum Angliæ [sermone] conceptis et publicatis, concinna modulatione et una voce, cunctipotentem Deum Sabaoth omnis victoriæ largitorem unicum, sancte et pie, non labiis sed corde puro adorent, et precibus in perpetuum ipsius auxilium implorent; quatenus eidem domino nostro Regi, exercitubus et classi suæ navali, (quam non solum ad propulsandos verum etiam ad opprimendos et profligandos hostium suorum sceleratos conatus habet instructissimam) de immensa misericordia et justitia suis, victoriam pariter et triumphum, clementer et benigne in tam probato certantibus agone largiri et concedere dignetur, ut devictis hostibus nostris, et rebus ex sententia feliciter gestis, illi concordibus animis assidue |