call that agayn; wherfor yt ys the more Almones to helpe. Bout yeffe I war at my Leberty and myhte chous, I ynfeure you, Maftar Sekretory, for my lytyll Tyme I haue tryyd fo myche Onefty to be yne hym, that I had rathar beg my Bred wyth hyme, thane to be the gretyst Quene krystynd-and Í bylyve veryly he ys yne the fame Cas wythe me, for I bylyve veryly a would nat forfake me to be a Kyng; therfor, good Maftar Sekretory, beyng we are fo well togethar, and does ynetende to lyve fo onefte a Lyffe, though yt be but pour, fhou Part of your Goodenes to ous, as well as you doe to all the Worlde byfyds; for I promys you ye have the Name to helpe all them that hathe Ñede, and amonkst all your Suetars, I dar be bolde to say that you have no Mater more to be pytyed thane ours; and therfor for God's fake be good to ous, for yne you ys all our Trouft; and I befhych you, good Maftar Sekretory, pray my Lord my Father, and my Lady, to be good to ous, and to lete me have thayr Bleffyngs, and my Housband thayr good Wyll, and I wooll never defyr mor off them. Allfo I pray you defyr my Lorde of Norfolke, and my Lorde my Brouther to be good to ous; I dar nat wryte to theme, they ar fo cruel agaynft ous; but yeff wyth any Payne that I could take wyth my Lyffe I myght wynether good Wyls, I promys you therys no Chyld lyvying would ventar mor than I'; and fo I pray, you to report by me, and you fhall fynd my Wrytyng true, and yn all poynts, whyche I may ples theme yne, I fhall be redy to obay theme neryft my Husband, home I ame mofte bound to, to, whom I most hartly befhych you to be good unto, whyche for my Sake, ys a pour banyfshed Mane, for an oneft and a godely cawes; and beyng that I have red yne old Bouks, that fome, for aws aws jouft Cauffys, have by Kyngs and Quens byn pardonnyed by the Suete of good Folks, I trouft yt fhall be our Chans, thourow your good Help, to come to the fame, as knoyth the God, who fende you Helthe and Harts efe. Scryblyd wyth her yll Hande, who ys your pour humble Suytor always to commande, MARY STAFFORD. To the Right Wourfhypfull, Hynes thys be, S. LETTER X. Earl of Effex to Queen Elizabeth. FRom Rom a mind delighting in Sorrow, from Spirits wafted with Paffion, from a Heart torne in Pieces with Care, Grief and Travel, from a Man that hateth himself and all Things that keepeth him alive, what Service can your Majefty expect, fince your Service past deserves no more then Banishment or Prescription in the curfedeft of all other Countries? Nay, nay, it is your Rebel's Pride and Suc cess that must give me Leave to ranfom my Life out of this hatefull Prifon of my loathed Body; which if it happen fo, your Majefty fhall have no Caufe to miflike the Fashion of my Death, fince the Course of my Life could never please you. Your Majefly's exiled Servant, Ro. ESSEX.. LETTER LETTER XI. Lord Chancellor Egerton to the E. of Effex. My very good Lord, IT is often feen, that he that stands by feeth more than he that playeth the Game; and, for the moft Part, every one in his own Caufe ftandeth in his own Light, and feeth not fo clearly as he fhould. Your Lordship hath dealt in other Men's Caufes, and in great and weighty Affairs, with greatWisdom and Judgment; now your own is in Hand, you are not to contemn or refuse the Advice of any that love you, how fimple foever. In this Order I rank myself among others that love you, none more fimple, and none that love you with more true and honeft Affection; which fhall plead my Excufe if you fhall either miftake or miftruft my Words or Meaning. But, in your Lordship's honourable Wisdom, I neither doubt nor fufpect the one nor the other. I will not prefume to advise you, but shoot my Bolt, and tell you what I think. The beginning and long Continuance of this fo unfeasonable Difcontentment you have feen and proved, by which you aim at the End: If you hold ftill this Courfe, which hitherto you find to be worfe and worfe (and the longer you go, the further you go out of the Way) there is little Hope or Likelihood the End will be better: You are not yet gone fo far, but that you may well return: The Return is fafe, but the Progrefs is dangerous and defperate in this Courfe you hold. If you have any Enemies, you do that for them which they could never do for themselves: Your Friends you leave to Scorn and Contempt; you forfake your felf, felf, and overthrow your Fortunes, and ruinate your Honour and Reputation: You give that Comfort and Courage to the foreign Enemies, as greater they cannot have; for what can be more welcome and pleafing News, than to hear that her Majesty and the Realm are maimed of fo worthy a Member, who hath fo often and so valiantly quailed and daunted them? You forfake your Country, when it hath most Need of your Counfel and Aid: And laftly, you fail in your indiffoluble Duty which you owe unto your most gracious Sovereign, a Duty impofed upon you not by Nature and Policie only, but by the religious and facred Bond wherein the divine Majefty of Almighty God hath by the Rule of Christianity obliged you. For the four firft, your conftant Resolution may perhaps move you to esteem them as light; but being well weighed, they are not light, nor lightly to be regarded. And for the four laft, it may be that the Clearnefs of your own Confcience may feem to content yourfelf; but that is not enough; for thefe Duties ftand not only in Contemplation or inward Meditation, and cannot be performed but by external Actions, and where that faileth, the Subftance alfo faileth. This being your prefent State and Condition, what is to be done? What is the Remedy, my good Lord? I lack Judgment and Wifdom to advise you, but I will never want an honeft true Heart to with you well; nor, being warranted by a good Confcience, will fear to fpeak that I think. I have begun plainly, be not offended if I proceed fo. Bene credit qui cedit tempori: And Seneca faith, Cedendum eft fortuna. The. Medicine and Remedy is not to contend and ftrive, but humbly to yield and fubmit. Have you given Caufe, and yet take a Scandal unto you? then all you you can do is too little to make Satisfaction. Is Caufe of Scandal given unto you? Yet Policie, Duty and Religion enforce you to fue, yield, and submit to our Soveraign, between whom and you there can be no equal proportion of Duty, where God requires it as a principal Duty and Care to himself, and when it is evident that great Good may enfue of it to your Friends, yourself, your Country, and your Soveraign, and extreme Harm by the con- : trary. There can be no Difhonour to yield; but in denying, Difhonour and Impiety. The Difficulty (my good Lord) is to conquer yourself, which is the Height of true Valour and Fortitude, whereunto all your honorable Actions have tended. Do it in this, and God will be pleased, her Majefty (no doubt) well fatisfied, your Country will take Good, and your Friends Comfort by it; and yourfelf (I mention you laft, for that of all thefe you efteem yourself leaft) fhall receive Honour; and your Enemies (if you have any) fhall be disappointed of their bitter fweet Hope. I have delivered what I think fimply and plainly: I leave you to determine according to your own Wifdom: if I have erred, it is error amoris, and not amor erroris. Conftrue and accept it, I befeech. you, as I meant it; not as an Advice, but as an Opinion to be allowed or cancelled at your Pleafure. If I might conveniently have conferred with yourself in Perfon, I would not have troubled you with so many idle Blots. Whatsoever you judge of this my Opinion, yet be affured my Defire is to further all good Means that may tend to your Lordfhip's Good, And fo wishing you all Happiness and Honour, I cease. → Your Lordship's most ready and faithful, |