him as may stand most with your lordship's pleasure in the preferment of this bearer, which only hath and must depend upon your goodness; whom I am the more bold to name your kinsman, by cause I would the said Earl should more earnestly tender your lordship his letters and request. And thus I pray God long to preserve your lordship in health. From Croydon, the viiith day of April. Your own assured ever, To my very singular good lord, my Lord Privy Seal. T. Cantuarien. CCXVI. TO CRUMWELL. House, My very singular good Lord; forasmuch as this bearer, Mss. your trusty chaplain, Mr. Malet, at this his return towards Chapter London from Forde, (whereas I left him, according to your Westminlordship's assignment, occupied in the affairs of our Church ster; Service, and now at the writing up of so much as he had to Corres r [The result of Malet's labours is not known. Burnet says, that "there was no new impression of the breviaries, missals, and other "rituals during this reign;"" for a few rasures of those collects in "which the Pope was prayed for, of Thomas Becket's office, and the "offices of other saints, whose days were, by the King's Injunctions, no "more to be observed, with some other deletions, made that the old "books did still serve." He may be correct respecting the missals, but, as has been observed by Collier, an amended breviary was printed in 1541, and again in 1544, under the following title: Portiforium secundum usum Sarum, noviter impressum et a plurimis purgatum mendis, in quo nomen Romano Pontifici falso ascriptum omittitur, una cum aliis quæ Christianissimi nostri Regis statuto repugnant. Lond. Edw. Whitchurch, Cum privilegio. It is possible that the preparation of this edition may have been the work on which Malet was employed. But however this may be, the alterations made in it were too inconsiderable to satisfy the reformers, and much more sweeping changes seem to have been in contemplation, when, on Cranmer's announcement of the King's pleasure, it was ordered by the Convocation in 1543, that "the examination and correction of the Service Books should "be committed to the Bishops of Sarum and Ely, [Salcot and Good"rich,] taking to each of them three of the Lower House, such as "should be appointed for that purpose: but this the Lower House "released." And their coolness appears to have prevented for a time the execution of the design. It was not however relinquished, for in a Letter written by Cranmer in Jan. 1546, mention is made of the Bishops Crumwell's mer, vol. i. p. 198. you, pondence. do,) came by me here at Croden to know my further pleaOriginal. sure and commandment in that behalf; I shall beseech Todd, Life of Cran- my lord, that after his duty done in seeing your lordship, he may repair unto me again with speed, for further furtherance and final finishing of that we have begun. For I like his diligence and pains in this business and his honest humanity declared in my house for this season of his being therein so well, that I can be bold so to commend him to your lordship, that I shall with all my heart beseech the same, to declare your goodness and favour to him by helping his small and poor living. I know he hath very little growing towards the supporting of his necessaries; which is much pity, his good qualities, right judgment in learning, and discreet wisdom considered. Thus fare your good lordship heartily well. From Croden, the 11th of April. Your own assured ever, To the Right Honourable and my T. Cantuarien. MSS. CCXVII. TO CRUMWell. My Lord, in my most hearty wise I commend me unto Chapter your lordship. This shall be to desire you to be good lord Westmin- unto certain men of Smarden and Pluckeley in Kent, whose House, ster; of Worcester and Chichester, [Hethe and Day,] with other learned men, "being appointed to peruse certain Books of Service:" and it may be inferred from the following passage in the petition of Edward VIth's first Convocation, that the work was actually completed: "Whereas by the commandment of King Hen. VIII. certain prelates " and other learned men were appointed to alter the Service of the "Church, and to devise other convenient and useful order therein, who according to the same appointment did make certain books, as they "be informed; their request is, that the said books may be seen and (6 perused by them, for a better expedition of Divine Service to be set "forth accordingly." Wilkins, Concilia, vol. iv. p. 15. See Letter CCLXVI; Burn. Ref. vol. i. p. 599; Ames, Typog. Antiq. Ed. Dibd. vol. iii. pp. 449. 485; Wilkins, Concilia, vol. iii. p. 863; Strype, Memorials, vol. i. p. 375; Collier, Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 191.] Corres names shall be delivered unto your lordship herewithal, Crumwell's which are indicted for unlawful assemblies at the last ses- pondence. sions at Canterbury, and as they report unto me of none Original. occasion or ground else, but for by cause they are accounted fauters of the new doctrine (as they call it); beseeching your lordship therefore, that if it cannot be duly proved that they are worthy thus to be indicted, they may be released of this their indictment. For if the King's subjects within this realm which favour God's word, shall be unjustly vexed at sessions, it will be no marvel though much sedition be daily engendered within this realm. Wherefore I pray you, my lord, that some remedy may in time be devised for the redress of such indictments. Thus, my lord, right heartily fare you well. At Lambeth, the 29th day of April. Your own assured, To the Right Honourable and my singular good lord, my Lord Privy Seal. T. Cantuarien. CCXVIII. To CRUMWell. House, My Lord, in my most hearty wise I commend me unto MSS. you. And whereas I moved you to write in the favour of Chapter Sir Thomas Lawneyt unto young Mr. Parre, for the resig- Westminnation" of the Vicarage of Roydon in Essex, belonging unto S [See Cranmer's correspondence with a Justice, Letter cxcvi. &c. The evil does not appear to have been remedied by the present complaint; for, at a Visitation in 1543, Vincent Ingeam, a justice of the peace, as Strype supposes, was presented, for commanding that no man should read, or hear the Bible read, upon pain of imprisonment; and for casting two men into prison, one for speaking against him therein, and the other for showing him the King's Injunctions concerning the same.] t [This Lawney was a witty man, and chaplain to the old Duke of "Norfolk, and had been one of the scholars placed by the Cardinal in "his new College at Oxon: where he was chaplain of the house, and "prisoner there with Frith. In the time of the Six Articles he was a "minister in Kent, placed there, I suppose, by the Archbishop." Strype, Cranmer, p. 25, where two specimens of his wit may be seen.] u [The resignation did not take place, Osias Le Moyne having held the Vicarage from 1523 to his death in 1541. Newcourt, Repertorium, vol. ii. p. 508.] ster; Crumwell's Corres- his chaplain, I have sent unto your lordship letters devised pondence. for that purpose, beseeching you, my lord, to assign them if Original. you like the draught of them, or else that they may be amended according to your mind. In accomplishing whereof you shall prefer a right honest man, worthy to have a much better thing than this is. Thus, my lord, right heartily fare you well. At Lambeth, the first day of May. Your own assured, To my very singular good lord, my Lord Privy Seal. T. Cantuarien. MSS. House, CCXIX. TO CRUMWELL. My Lord, in my hearty wise I commend me unto your Chapter good lordship. And whereas this bearer, my friend and Westmin- kinsman, hath certain suits before you, I pray you, my lord, Crumwell's that ye will be so good lord unto him in these his suits, if it Corres- may be, that he may have a short end of them, according to Original justice and equity, with your reasonable favour, and the ra ster; pondence. ther at this my request and instance; wherein ye shall both show unto me singular pleasure, and bind him to be your daily beadsman. Thus, my lord, right heartily fare you well. From my manor of Lambhyth, the 2nd day of May. Your lordship's assured, To my very singular good lord, my T. Cantuarien. MSS. CCXX. To CRUMWELL. My very singular good Lord, after most hearty recommenChapter dations: so it is, as I am informed, that there is an office House, Westmin- founden before the late Excheator of the county of Lincoln, Crumwell's after the death of one Thomas Tamworth, in the which of pondence. fice, amongs other things, it is founden, that the said Tho- Corresmas Tamworthe should be seized and die seized of one Originul. mese and fifty-eight acres of land and pasture, lying in a town called Leeke, in the said county of Lincoln; which lands, as I am credibly informed, is the true inheritance of this poor gentleman John Tamworthe, this bearer; and he that is heir of the said Thomas Tamworthe is now the King's ward, and was in the custody of Sir William Musgrave, knight, and Dame Elizabeth his wife, by the King's letters patents to the said Dame Elizabeth made; who having the custody of the same ward, by colour of the said office so founden, both against the due order of law and good conscience, hath, since the death of the said Thomas Tamworthe, not only taken the profits of the said mese and fifty-eight acres of land, but also of forty acres mo of other lands lying in the said town, in the said office not contained, which also is the inheritance of this poor gentleman; and forasmuch as his counsel doth inform him that he can have no traverse to the said office during the minority of the said John Tamworth, son and heir of the said Thomas Tamworth; therefore for restitution of the other lands in the said office not comprised, he hath sued to the Master of the King's wards, who, upon his long suit, did direct a commission to certain worshipful gentlemen of the said county of Lincoln, to inquire of the truth of the premises; who, by authority of the said commission, hath sitten and inquired by the oath of twelve men duly of the same, and which twelve men have given their verdict to the said Commissioners, and put thereunto their several seals; and as I am informed, there is so much affection in Thomas Browne, one of the said Commissioners, (who, by the consent of other his fellows, had the commission delivered unto him to make certificate thereof at the day of return specified in the said commission,) that as yet he hath made no certificate of the same, saying it is the commandment of some of your lordship's counsel, that he shall keep it out and make no certificate, which is great hinderance and cost to this poor gentleman, and loss of his in |