Transcript

[fol. 1r] In beholding these lynes mi Lord, yow shall behold withall from how unhappi a man they com, butt whyles I contend, with fortune & not with Justice, I presume to crave your honorable ayd, a matter which to Innocencye ye never yet denied. Mi contencion with fortune is hevye, havyng long since endevord by myne honest travayles to rise being fallen, & from a weke state to wyn a more certayne staye, butt so untretable I finde all attempts, as in place of gaine I have losse, & for prefferment destruction, nether can policye nor vertue be expressed, where this sharp infelicitye still pursues me. which then of verye conseqwens mi good Lord, drawes a certayne lamentable discredite with it, drawing withall (do I never so well) mi name & procedings bothe into unhappi qwestion & miserable declination. which is no contentyon with Justice, butt a work of most pietye for Justice to use mildly her protection in. And thys Charitye am I bold to present to your L. understanding & ayde (a moderater of ani extremitye being besought, & mi consciens the moderator of afflyctyons to the harme les) having bin thys whole somer with worshipfull fryndes of myne, & employed in honest actyons, yett som ill suggestion made to the right honorable Cowncell, caused them to send for me & for certayne other abowtt the wight addressing their lres to master horsey, wher uppon I was comitted from Hampton Cowrt the xiiij ^th^ of November last to close prison here, where I remayne this long noles miserably consumed, than bothe unhard & unpittied, & withall no due cause to be objected unto me. As surely whosoever they be that first moved the Cowncell hereunto, have fowlly abused them, & deserves in example to be sharply tryed. Which is the whole som of mi cause, & more knowe I nott in offence, whom [mi] thought herin canot ones accuse, & yett mi detaynement is so bitter (where the State of a Land comittes ani) as all frinds ar excluded, & all releeff cutt of, inough to kille the verey sowle, butt that God mercifully hath tempred mi gretter distresse with equall sufferance: ye wholy voyd bothe of mony creditt & apparayll, & yett mi inward Conflyctes, ar more vehement than the owtward. Butt of thother side iij of us ar discharged long since, & ij remayne still. And where moe were joyned in the sayd lre to master horsey, they enjoye libertye unspoken to, & we detayned here, I wott nott to whatt end: whose better hap I certaynly envye not, yett these worse happes ar the more vyolent to a true unpartiall mynde. Butt to chere all, I have framed herwith an humble accompte to their honors of mi self & mi life for vj moneths before mi apprehension that they beholding in the same a playne sincere proceding of mi parte, they may use that preservatyon accordingly, which besemes their goodnes & is metest for a sownd [fol. 1v] subject whose office I know withall, canott erre in matters of state (& is a mete constructyon for eche mene member so to conseve) so do I dutifully acknowlege to nede their grace, & with as grett reverens beseke it. Wherin the condicion of man borne under lawe, can without grace nether satisfye Lawe nor Soveraigne, repayreng to your good L. herin, for mediatyon bettwene me & them, which in your Charitye joyned with supreme degre, I am assured as charitably to receve (for they ar nott produced butt to the good of mani) sending yow mi foresayd accompte to peruse, a circumstance though long, yett lett it nott be tedyous, proceding from affliction & endurance. Lastly as mi sute conteynes the peticion of desired libertye, & of their honorable favor in mi well doings: so libertye without favor, is a life without motyon, & hath overthrowen all mi better hopes & travayles hitherto, which certainly is more hard than dethe, & is entyerly comended to your goodnes, presentyng to mi Lords of the Cowncell in the sayd petycion som servyce (havyng their good oppinion & cowntenance) which shalbe of importance to her Majestie & without charge to ani: Concluding that if yowth & folly heretofore have borne swaye with me, Alas who can excuse his yowthfull season, which joyned with necessitye, is the more rigorows in ani, & the more pardonable by good men: yett the correctyon of the present man & present tyme, is above the rest to be regarded, & with a certayne joye to be prefferred: for as men, we may all slyde, butt the grace of God [acceding] , the retorne is contempnible in non. So truly do I renownce all vanityes & errors that have bin noted in me for ever, as haply more have bin noted than ever were, & if I have offended in thys, which I now suffer hardly for, I aske no favor butt extreme Justice, fiat enim Justicia, & pereat mundus. Wherbi your L. hath dooble merite beffore God, to deffend the truthe oppressed, & to restore a strayer to the Comune weall, which mi servyce & life shalbe thanckfully bownd for, to the verye lest of your L. name & frynds. from the marshallsea the viij ^th^ of January 1570. your L. most humble (though poorest) well willer. W. Herllely.