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SP 12 83/13 f. 13r – 14v. Frances Franckard’s offer of salt works. 
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[fol. 13r] The offers & Contract that I francs franckard, do present to the right honorable Lords of the Privilege of the sallt, & to the rest of thatt worshipfull Compani &c.

For asmuche as I perceve, that I have to dele with so honorable & worthy personaigs, who with a verteows desire, to advance so grett a comoditye to all the Q. majesties domynions & subjects (as might rise perpetually to the same, by the inventyon of sallt, made only of sallt water in this Reallm) have spent grett somes of money, long tyme, & muche travayll to bring the sayd inventyon to his full plentye & perfectyon, which moves me with the more humbellnes & desire, to present mi self, mi scyens, & all that I can do that way to further & perfect so good a beginneng, & to serve so honorable a Company, giveng [ deleted: your wisdome] theme assuredly to understand, that by the grace of allmighty God (who departes mani tymes his secrett gifftes & misteryes, even to the verey simplest) that I have this scyens & inventyon of sallt in me, to be hable abowndantly, att resonable lowe prises, to serve bothe the Reallmes of England & Ireland, withowt further subjectyon to ani other natyon for sallt ani more: which the prooff of mi worke (& no sophisticatyon of working) shall fully & presently shew, with that sincerenes & perfectyon, that may be desired of ani party, nott only abhorring those which be abusers of vertue, & therby abuse other with them, butt yelding mi body to ani torture or bondaige, if mi prooff & deling answer nott throwly to mi offer. Butt if haply their honors be assured allredy of this inventyon, by ani other mene or party (as partly I here of som motyon that is made) I shall gladly depart as I cam, desireng only that this mi presentacion & willingnes, may be interpreted, as an humble zele & dutye that I bere to this noble state. As of the other side, if the inventyon rest soly in me (as I hope sufficyently to prove) then dowtt I nott butt their honors will so esteme of me & of th'inventyon, as may be bothe for the publick weall of ether Reallm, & to their own satisfactyon & myne: Considring this far with modestye, that the inventyon was th’occasyon whye this Privilege was first granted, & the end of every Privilege, is to effect the cawse whye it was given for, which fayleng in the inventyon the Privilege then fayles of it sellf, & yett worthy to be used by suche as can use it, lest somani subiects be publickly deprived of an infinite benefite, by ani respect privately pretended: wherin (with favor be it spoken) a long tyme hath bin consumed & nothyng brought to passe, wherby the tyme that is to com, shold be the more ^precyouslye^ regarded, which I thought mete as an entry to mi purpose, & as a declaratyon of my playn & sincere me [fol. 13v] nyng, to discowrse unto you, making herunder ij offers to their honors & the Company (like as it plesed you that I shold putt the same in wryteng) wherunto I will stand in every poynt. And for that vayne speche & circumstancs ar to be avoyded with men of your gravitye & wisdom, & mi self far unhable to argue matters by mowth, butt rather by demonstracyon of mi working, to expresse mi sellf, & have comprehended in these poynts following, whatt I can do, & whatt humbly I desire of the Company: more than which I canott agre to, & lesse than which I may nott accept, which is the verey conclusyon of the whole; wherof it may plese their honors to con syder of, & to vowchesave unto me a present & favorable resolutyon, for that tyme is dere, & mi chargs waxe grett.

First I desire, in respect of mi scyens & inventyon, which I esteme to be the verey grownd of the Privilege, th’one moytye of the same, the sayd Privilege being renewed uppon this Contract for 21. yeres to com, & mi self & mi deputes intytled accordingly in the sayd Privilege, to the sayd moytye demanded, wherin I am to be Contributor to on hallf of all the chargs that ar to be made towching the worke, or ani parte therof durying the sayd Priviliege & worke. Butt wheras there hath bin grett chargs made heretofore, in seking the perfectyon of this worke, wherby grett losses remayn unsatisfyed to their Honors & the Company att this daye, I thynck it nott resonable that I shold be ani Contributor to those things don before mi tyme, like as it were no reson nor eqwitye, that I in comitteng errors, another shold make the amends; butt beginneng with the new Privilege, a new accompte, I dowt not butt the gayne to com shall well cowntervayle ani losse before, & satisfye ani hope that hath bin or may be conseved herafter of thinventyon: yett receving suche vesselles howses & implements, as may stand us in stede, att their due prises, which the Company hath remayneng of their former workes, which shalbe answerd owt of the worke [ deleted: accordingly] ^agayne^ And finally, for that merchants do nott willingly joyne with nobel & grett personaygs, avoydeng wisely this ineqwalitye, I canott undertake to furnish by merchants ani stock of money towards these grett workes (mi prooff only excepted) whyle as the Privilege is thus devyded bettwen this right honorable Compani & me, being of non hability mi self (besyde mi inventyon) to do ani thing, & then merchants ar hardly trayned to disburse money among suche grett Companions, where they be nott masters of the whole them selves so as it most plese their honors, if they grawnt the moytye of the Privilege to me in thys maner, to studye allso for the supplye of money, which being deducted from tyme to tyme owt of the worke as it riseth, with all the chargs appertayneng therunto, the resydue (being the [clere gayne] ) is to be devyded eqwally bettwen us, & this muche for mi first offer./ [fol. 14r] In the second, consyder that as it is a hard matter to bring with me, bothe the inventyon & stock yett seing a certayn resolutyon in their honors & the Company, nott to disburse willingly ani more money therin, I do present another motyon, to have the Privilege entyerly for 21. ye res to mi self, & to suche compani as I will chuse, furnisheng the whole som that shall go therunto, & will give unto their honors & the Company for every vessell that I shall erect xijd by the daye, byndeng mi self ( the Privilege being granted to me & mi compani in this degre) to make mi prooff presently, & then by the 25. of marche com xij moneth a ^o^ 1573 to have erected a C furnaces, & to eche furnace a vessell: & the second yere expired on C furnaces more with their vesselles; & by the third yere to have erected somani furnaces & vesselles, as shall serve to furnish throwly both the Reallmes, though they amownted to 2000. vesselles, with their furnaces, wherby the gayne is apparent after xijd uppon every vessell daylye, whatt this will ryse to their honors & to those of the Company by the yere, they disbursing nothing att all; & I shall receve singuler comfort to be the instrument of suche a generall comoditye, which is noles publick than private, nor ani lesse riche than necessary; & aswell to contynew the wynter as the somer in working, & to allow the sayd xijd for every vessell contynually, aswell the sondayes & holydayes (duryng the Privilege) as the workdayes withall: Hoping then that I shalbe curteisly used in mi precedinges. And wheras your worships made som motyon that the Turve shold coste me nothyng, butt the making cariaige, that therin it wold plese you to performe the same to mi advantaige: which is the Content of all I have to present to the right honorable Compani, to whose service & good favor, I most humbly comend mi self & mi devotyon. with all affectyon & dutye. This Monday the xix. of november in London. 1571.
[Postscript:] postscriptum 22 novembre. To this the sayd franckard addes, that he hath the scyens so perfect, as nothing can be required more in it, ether for the multiplicatyon of the sallt, or for the easines of the price & making, [wherin] he never fownd party to this daye that ones cowd even com nere hym, so as he doth assure the Lords, that they them selves shalbe judges of the same, who shall receve so grett proffitt by the worke & th’inventyon, as may content them & satisfye the world besyde, wherof I suppose master osburne is noles perswaded in the man (having examined things verey narowly) than glad to have the work offred by suche a on. Nottwithstanding this franckard alledges, that therbe ij sorts att this instant, that makes the like motyon that he doth, butt som of them he sayes ar ignorant men, & by giveng words (as other of their sort have don) wold indirectly bothe hynder so genrall a benefite, & discredite partyclerly the true vertue of her perfectyon, by their [fol. 14v] imperfectyons. And the other sorte he sayes, wold gett first the grawnt of the Privilege to them selves, as though they had the scyens inded, & then wold compownd withhym for th’ynventyon afterwards, abusing the Lords & hym bothe att on instant, of which sort ther ar he sayth, that do secrettly sollicyte for Buckhollt & for suche like lowse fellowes. Butt he presents to the Lords of the Privilege, to prove before them, even to their faces that make these motyons, that they ar butt abusers, or att lestwise that he will [excuse] them in that they shalbe hable to do for this scyens ani [ ... ] & then he hopes that he shall have that prefferment of the Privilege, which his true zele & vertue doth desire, & the rather for that his motyon was before theirs, being a verey pore man, whom God he hopes wold releve by this mene./
Francs franckards offer to the Lords & the rest of the Company of the sallte./ 19 Nov 1571.

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