Transcript
Editorial comments:
BL MS Lansdowne 16 f. 102r - 103v. William Herle to Lord Burghley.
Address Leaf:
[Superscription:]
To the right honorable my good Lord, The Lord Thresuror of England give
these with spede the Cowrte yt may plese your L to rede this assone as your leysure
will serve./
[Endorsement by unknown hand:]
William Herle to my L.
Letter Text:
[fol. 102r]
a
[
deleted: dis]
discontented man, wold dooble his service & credit there, & content your L. in that
ye had fownd so juste an Instrument to decipher even their secrettest Conwncelles &
motyons: for of a mene man he saith, there was non more dere & familyer to sayas
than he was, nor habler to enter into his bosom soner, which he hopes to revive again,
nott only with hym, butt with other of gretter calling, whose humors he can intertayne
verey well./
Then for owr englishmen there, he perswades that he may bothe
understand & directe all their Cowrses, wherin your L. shall adventure nothing other in
credite or money by trusting of hym over, butt rather if he shold be an
[ ... ]
man, to make a gayne by havyng hym hence: And to conlcude he saith, that he may
(considring these tymes, & the disposityons of Spaine towards us) do good mani
wayes, but harme nowaye though he wolde; desireng herin to be justeffied &
accepted by the'ffecte only of his true & diligent service, which shall appere to the
Q. & your L. to be bothe sincere & faithfull./ Wherunto I ad humbly mi oppinion, that
he apperes a full reconsiled man, & will performe more than he promiseth for he hath
a zele to his Contrey, & wold wyn his Credite again by whatt hardnes or travayll
soever it were: And as there cam good intelligence thence of late by Brittain; so this
man if he prove juste, might excede them all, be it ether for sufficyencye or secresye./
Lastly I have to advertis your L. of a new Conspiracye, that is intended by certain
decayed men to go over into Spaigne, & to joyne with Stukely in his practises for the
invading of Ireland, & the subversion of this State, as far as in them lyes. The matter is
handled in sentligers howse & there concluded uppon. The cheeff partyes be sir
warham sentliger hymself & Jerom Brett, having allured to them martin furbisher
with the promis of 20li land by the yere, or with the vallew of it in redy money, to
transport them over to their Cosin Stukely. They have joyned to them on Haselby a
seaman & John Poole mi frind for whom I am most sory, butt that I prefferre loyallty
to ani fryndship. They allso mene to bring in som more decayed gentilmen, & som
other suche as they note ether discontented or addicted this waye, & among these they
wold have yong Brown with them a base brother to the L. Montacute. Their pretence
wilbe to ship corne over into Ireland, & therwith to passe into Spaine; to which end if
Jerom Brett have nott bin allredy with your L. to obtayne a lycens for the sayd Corne
he menes to be. The occasion of this Bile (beside their own decaye & lewdnes is an
offence that som [fol. 102v] of them have conseved against your L. namely sir warham
sentliger, for the restoring of the Erlle of Desmond into his Contrey again: which he
takes on so ylle parte, that he hopes to se the Q. majestie he sayth destroyed with all
the pack of suche villaynows Cowncelllors, as now governe, having opened to your L.
grett secretts he saith, of the sayd Erlle of Desmond & of the state of Ireland, wherby
he hath discredited hym self utterly, & is rejected with all from that he loked for &
shold have had there, butt the Pope shall grow on their heeles, or ether he advertys ani
more or serve in suche a state, where upstarts do comande & that the nobility of the
land is kept back & contempned, cursing that blablipped Cowardly foole, the Duke of
Northfolk, that he had nott gon rowndly to his busynes, who might have had xv, men
to on of the Q. & yett wold suffer hym self to be intrapped like a Dollte; which words
& matter as they be grevous, so it may plese your L. to construe of them as yow se
cawse & to hold me discharged, for imparting the same unto yow; herof your L. shall
trye the whole truthe with further circumstance if ye vowchesave to speke with
furbishers wife, whom I will send to you with a lyttel scedule of myne, by whom her
husbond may be made a mene to entertayne this matter to his full ripenes; for they
canott departe before the next terme, for that their Banck will nott be redy till then. I
have enjoyned grett secresy to furbishers wife, who is the discoverer of this pack, &
though it procede partly of displesure borne to sir warham sentlyger as I perceve, &
partly of som jarre hapned bettwen furbisher & her by sir warhams menes, yett there
is grett likelihood that every parte therof shold be true, & by suche displesures,
women mani tymes have disclosed grett tresons, wherin it may plese your L. to
examine her of every parte that I have written, which she will shew you
[
deleted: in effect]
allso
written with her own hand./
Now in th'end these few words towching mi self, beseching your L. to be good unto
me & to consyder of mi hard estate, for nether have I cowntenance nor hability to lyve
by ani longer, nor hope remayneng but in the Q. majestie alone & in your L./ yow
know that I have nott bin importunate since I was comitted to the Towre, which is
now ij yeres since & more, butt rather modestly attending whatt shold be disposed of me,
than craving whatt becam me nott. Notwithstanding her majestie hath bin good unto
me dyverse wayes, bestowing somes of money uppon me, wherwith partly the chargs
of mi long imprisonment [fol. 103r] in the marshallsea & other detts were payd, & partly I have
lited by the rest. Allso her majestie bestowed a lease in reversion uppon me which I
followed not. And lastly, having granted to me by your L. good mene the stallment of
Richard Smiths detts; where I thought it shold have bin servisabell to her majestie &
proffitable to mi self, I perceve it canot be performed in ani of the parts, & this I rest
by myne own unhappines an unhappi man still. Butt if it wold plese her majestie to
bestowe uppon me the reversion of Chamberlaynes office in the Towre, (which most
be given to som bodye) I shold nott only be well stayed therby, butt allso enhabled
therin to obtayne a wydow that hath a Cli by the yere, which wold grettly expresse her
majesties gracyousnes towards me, as a prefferment of her own, & make me hable to
serve her in som better degre to the incoraigement of other, butt without suche a
cowntenance & stay, first in on of mi sort, nothing ether prevayles or is acheved,
which I humbly comend to her majestie & your L. Mary I have nether fee ferme nor
fre holde to comande mi self to the Rowme, to make me the fitter for it, butt only mi
faithfull, humble, & diligent menyng, which shall make me ye more bownd in duty &
obedience to deserve her majesties liberality in obtayneng this, & therin do Princs most
shew their grettnes in rayseng those that ar under foote, At lestwise consydring that the
gretter nomber of small offices in this land ar employed uppon these that have as littel
as I, & perhaps les goodwill, I humbly hope not to be excluded from the rest, & that in
faith may have som place of beginneng, as other that pretend to rise by vertue &
service, which now is to be hoped for or never, being growen to grey heres & to a
staydnes of life & manners, which alltogether do verey hubly intrete for me, wherwith
I take mi leve, craving pardon for this mi long lre & prayng to God for your L. good
helth & contynuance./ from London this xvj of marche. 1572./ your L. verey hublye./ W.
Herlleli.