William Tyldesley to Cecil on the Administration of Various Statutes in the Shires
| Artifact Summary | |
|---|---|
| Artifact type | |
| Creator/author | William Tyldesley |
| Date | 1561 |
| Period | |
| City and country of origin | |
| Abstract | |
Entry
[S.P.D., Eliz. , Vol. XIX., No 43.]
Ryght honorable Sir etc. Albeyt that in my hart I have often wisshed myselff to be with you, yet never moor then now, so muche my hartt fayntyth toward all good hope, for I do se that all godlye meanings be crayftelye undermyned by false & devillyssh subtill wurking. And as ye have alwayes most gentillye borne with me, so my faythfull trust ys, that ye will do now And gyve me Leave frelye to discourse all my fond fantasye, casting peraventure moo perell then nedith.
Wheras of late, hyt pleased the quenes maiestie to send out into the shyres, sertayne penall statutes to be enqueryng off, Ther came also with them an ernist Letter from the Cownsell, which, as I do perceyve, haith caused in some shyres A littill to be done, & in some shyres nothing at all, yea & as farre as I can perceyve, they that had begone to do partelye well, begyn now to wexe so cold, that as me thynck they be Rother sore for that they have almost well begonne, then mynded to contynue ; And what haith or doith encourage them so to do, I can not ymagyne, except, having now had conferens with the Justices of other shyres, they have taken some boldnesse of ther doings. So that in the end, I do fer that all will be as good as nothing. And fyrst of Alehouses (which I do thynck to be the verey stake & staye of all false theves and vagobundes) yf one or ij Justices be Redye to put them downe that be to to bad, by & THE STATUTE OF ARTIFICERS by other Justices be Redye to sett them vpp agayne, yea, and that with stoutnesse, besyde more. Sothat inAlehouses, ther ys littill hope of eny Amendement to be had. And as for apparell, Amongist pore men ther war some hoope of good to be done yf that might be folloed which ys begone. And for apprentyces, yf those shuld be now taken awaye, & sett at lyberte from ther mayster's, which they have alredye served for a tyme, I do fear that hyt wold do more hurtte then good.
Off Archery, When gentylmen, & others of the better sorttes of men, do begyn to take bowes in hand & shote, then the other will follow, but vntyll that tyme, surelye ther will noo better be had, & flatering petie of them that Rule will putt no punisshment to the Redresse theroff.
Off playes & gammes, I do se no prase in the amendmentt theroff.
The statute of Rebellion ys Red in some place. Of forstallers & Regratours, hyt wilbe a good whyle, or eny of them be found & presentted, for they lack no good maysterschyppe.
Off tillage, hyt is playne sacreleage to medill with that mater, for they be all gentylmen of the Rycher sortt of men that be offenders therin. And besyde that, they saye hyt may not be enqueryd off, without a speciall commission. And for victualles & wood, the lose of Caleys Hammes & Guynes & the Rest, haith taken (as they saye) that mater Awaye.
And for wynes, they that sell them be my lordes servands, or my masters servands, yea, or have suche kynd of Lycenses, & Lycens out of Lycens to them & ther Deputyes & assignesse, & to the assignes of ther deputyes & assignes, that no dout off, yf they maye be allowed for good, they have Autoryte to gyve Lycens unto all men whom please them to sell wyne. For the preservacion of woodes, I do thynck that statute to be best observed.
And for vagabundes, I prae god hyt might be better loked vppon thenn hyt ys.
And for Receyvours & gyvers of Lyverryes, I do se the experiens of that to muche, for in effect, hyt touchyth none but greate men & therfore so muche danger to be medilled with all, that hyt maye at no hand be touched, & the Rest I had Rather tell you by word of mouth. And for Robberyes, theves wilbe theves, for thei lack no frends,
& for Watches be kept indifferentlye well. And for sklanderous tales & newes, ys even loked unto lyke the Rest. And to saye the truyth, I do se no man ernistlye bentte to put lawes in execucion, but every man lettith slyppe & passe furth. So that for my part, I do loke for no lesse but subuersion of the Realme, which most nedes folloo, for all thyng wurkyth to that end. Quod enim ad nihilum casurum est, cedat tandem aliquando necesse est.
And thys one thing be you most sure off, that as muche evill as can be invented by the develyssh wytt of them that be nought, ys spoken & murmered abrode agaynst you. Hyt ys not yet iiij dayes past syns one of my men said unto me in greate counsell, Sir, wolde to god ye wolde not medyll so muche as ye do, nor be so ernist, for, said he, yf ye herd so muche as I do here, ye wold mervell, for even they that do speyke you most fayrist & flo1 to your face do name you behynd your back to be a Cruell & an extreme man, with a greate deall more then shall nede to reherse, And they saye (said he) that all thees doinges ...
ys long of master secretarye Cicill. I do know, said he, all thys to be true, for I do here hyt amangist ther servandes, & belyke they have herd hyt of ther maysters at one tyme or other. And further, said he, when I was last at London, ther was then a busynesse in hand, as touching what wayges water men shuld take1 from one place to Another, which thing was muche cryed out uppon, And they 1 that Mr. Cicill was all the doer of that mater to. Surelye, said he, he ys not be ¹ And therfore for god sake, sir, be you ware. I have not spoken eny of all thys to the entent that I wold ..
have you eyther to Leave off or to slack eny partt of all your godlye doinges, but Rather yf I cold to sharp you furthe agaynist the Devyll & all his wyked instrumentts. 1MS. torn.
THE STATUTE OF ARTIFICERS But yet, yf ye wold gyve me Leave, I prae you what comfortt can the honest sortt of men have, when they do se suche as Bruerne ys, to be made provest of eaton ? A place more mete for a man moost wurthye, yea, and as the papistes do secretlye mutter even as hyt ware in dispyte of the pye, was hyt not talked Amongist them, that he would surelye have hyt, or elshyt shuld cost so muche money. So that thys ys the opinion, Omnia venalia Roma etc.
Alas, I do her that bothe at Oxford, & in all other places wheras prefermentts do Lye, the papiste be preferred, & other honest godlye & vertes men be kept back.
Trulye my hart is woo, that myne eares shuld here or myne eyes shuld se suche evill to growe uppon evill, And yet do I feare wurse to follow et. I beseke chryst to preserve the quenes maiestie, for ware hyt not that my hert ys fullye satisfyed with good hoop of her grace most godlye meaning, I shuld els wyssh (a thousand tymes over) my selff to be deade. I prae you beare with myne over bold ernistnesse, & be you most sure that I have not wreten thys without the soroo of myne hartt & the teares of myne eyes.
The lord of lyffe & deathe, Strenthen you in all godlynesse vnto the end. From Burnham the iijde of September, 1562.1 Yours during lyffe Wylliam Tyldsley. And yet me thynck I have forgotten one thing which I ought to tell you, which ys, that in all the hyther partte of Berkshyre they have done nothing at all, And hyt doith not onelye hynder thys littill beginning that ys here in Buckingham shyr, being so nere Joyning together, but also others that do border vppon them. And as I can Lerne, this ys ther excuse, That Sir Henrye Nevell haith not ben at home of all thys sommer, nor yet lyke to be, & that Mr. Weldone & Mr. Ward be at the court, & that Mr. Norres ys sick. And of Mr. Holrye being alone etc. And for myddelsexe our neyghbours, I do thynck they had no 1This must be an error for 1561 (as in the endorsement), since Richard Bruernewas elected Provost of Eton in July and resigned in September, 1561 .
Letters, or els yf they had, then surelye I thinck that, comming vnto Sir Roger chomeley, they be uterlye forgoten in the bag of his cote, & so nothing done ther, for surely he & Mr. Chysley can better skyll at the affayres of the Lite then of the contere.
[Endorsed :-] 3d Sept., 1561, Mr. Tyldesley to W.C. Rates of labourers wages.
