Transcript

[fol. 9r] I have spoken mi Lord with Horneby on sonday last, who excuses hym self verey muche uppon Dawbeny, that he went abowt nott only to get all the knowlege he cowd of hym & so to deprive hym of a iiij ^th^ parte which was promised, butt allso how secrettly soever he delt, his delyng was reveled to the Customers, which he ascribes to Dawbney, wherby the sayd Horneby shold have bin brought into ij extremityes, th'one to have lost cawtelowsly the frute & comendacyon of his service, & the other to have bin browght into hatred with the officers of the Custom howse, who threttned to laye an actyon of a M li uppon his neck, & so to have byn utterly undon for ever, perceving withall that the sayd Dawbney had another intent in hym than ether was pretended to the Q. majestie & to your L. or was the indevor of this Horneby, for the Comissyon being to discover openly & sincerely the frawdes & abuses which the Customers deceved the Q. majestie [ ... ] & theruppon due correctyon to have followed, & amendment for the state of thyngs to com. Dawbney he sayth practised a private appoyntment bettwen the Customers [ deleted: of] & hym wherin the sayd Horneby, was allso made an Instrument sondry tymes & by this menes he sayth the Q. majestie shold have bin under a certain trust more deceved than before, & these cawses shold have bin utterly obscured & confownded for ever, & yett beholding that Dawbney had that Credite with your L. wherby he did discredite this Horneby unto you, so as he sawe no surety to hym self, nor hope of benefite to ani of his travayles, he in this desperatyon or raige burned a booke that he had drawen furth, as he wold have don all the rest at that instant if they had [ deleted: hym] byn in his hands butt God he sayth preserved them better alledging that the sayd Booke which was burned, was imperfect & in mani parts untrue, by reson that the gaygers bookes & the Customers, of which he had Collected notes, were uneven in mani partes, & nott triable but by a long cowrse abowt, the lengthe of the tyme passed, giveng grett difficulty to the same, which he takes uppon his sowle to be true, even as [fol. 9v] he wryte to your L. by master seres. Wherwith he sent unto yow certayn bookes that dyd conteyn the whole effect & truthe of that other booke which was burned & the same he sayth will appere by the files, by which files may be sene that these bookes now sent to yow ar the verey principalles of that booke he burned, hoping he sayes, that as your L. gave him severe & honorable admonytyon to sclander noman [ Marginalia (by Herle): which he repetes offten] nor yet to hyde the truthe, so for the booke burned that yow will vowche save to take this answer of hym ^as an invyolabell truthe^ for that the sayd booke was nether perfect nor justifficable in it self, muche lesse wold he swarve from your L. grave justyce & comandement to be a sclanderer of ani man in that he cowd nott mayntayne justlye. Butt he conlcluded that he had other wrytengs for your L. which were nott as yett in towne, & that he wold hyde nothing in the world that he knew from yow, having som secrett matters towching this busynes, which he had lerned in serchyng the Records of th'excheqwer, so grett & so worthy to be knowen, as he wold revele it to non butt to your L. ^alone^ by mowth, to the which when I added that haply your L. affayres were so weighty, as cowd nott intend to here [ deleted: them] hym, butt that he were best to wryte those ^things^ bothe for better memory [ deleted: &] of them, & to appere the more substantiall in his doings, which he sayd if your L. comanded hym so to do he was redy to obey in every parte yow wold, proceding that he cowd charge the Customers & other officers which their own hands & warrants in these fawtes which they were to be towched with, so as ther were nether denyall of their syde, nor ani malycyows untruthe of hys [ Marginalia (by Herle): butt he mixed herewith a certayne pyttye, that the fawts might be redressed & the extremitye forborne, which might be ministred against the offenders to their utter undoyng & infamye./] which is the substance of mi delyng with hym, mary I observe that he affectes grettly to be wyse in speche, butt otherwise a grett babler verey busy & arrogant, & on [ deleted: inf] in effect, whom your L. shall finde apte inowgh to go abowt the Bushe with yow. I was yesterday att the Cowrt to have made this repport [ deleted: unto you] butt your L. was [ deleted: att] com to London, & so most humbly I finishe. the vj ^th^ of november. 1571 your L. verey humbly. w. herlle. [fol. 10r]