On this Day in History ... 26th September

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. After receiving these apostolic letters, the King convened a council at Lincoln¹, and after due deliberation, he gave the following reply:

"The Most High², the Inspector of hearts, knows, inscribed in the indelible script of our memory's archive, that our ancestors and forefathers, the kings of England, have from the most ancient times held superior and direct dominion over the kingdom of Scotland and its kings in temporal matters and their dependencies; and from those kings of Scotland, and from the nobles of that kingdom from whom they wished to receive it, they obtained lawful homage and oaths of fealty for the kingdom of Scotland. We, continuing in possession of this right and lordship in our own time, have likewise received the same homage and fealty from both the King of Scotland and the nobles of the realm. Nay more, such was the prerogative of right and dominion that our ancestors enjoyed over the kingdom of Scotland and its kings, that they would bestow that kingdom upon their loyal subjects; and even remove kings for just causes, and appoint others in their place to reign under them. These facts are undoubtedly held to have been known and acknowledged by all, though perhaps something else, falsely insinuated through deception by enemies of peace and sons of rebellion, may have been suggested to your paternal ears. We humbly pray that your Holiness may turn your eye away from their scheming and imaginary fabrications. And we devoutly entreat your paternal excellence that, keeping the deeds of former times intact for the sake of brevity, we may be permitted to mention a few things by way of example."³

Rex acceptis hujusmodi literis apostolicis, convocavit concilium Lincolniæ, et, deliberato consilio, respondit sic:

Altissimus, Inspector cordium, nostræ scrinio memoriæ indelebili stilo novit inscribi, quod antecessores et progenitores nostri, reges Angliæ, jure superiori et directo dominio ab antiquissimis retro temporibus regno Scotia et ipsius regibus in temporalibus et annexis eisdem præfuerunt, et ab eisdem regibus pro regno Scotiæ, et ejusdem regni proceribus a quibus habere volebant, legalia homagia et fidelitatis juramenta receperunt. Nos, juris et dominii possessionem continuantes hujuswards reply. modi, pro tempore nostro, eadem tam a rege Scotiæ quam ab ipsis regni proceribus recepimus. Quinimmo tanta juris et dominii prærogativa super regnum Scotia et ejusdem regem gaudebant, quod regnum ipsum fidelibus suis conferebant; reges etiam ex causis justis amovebant, et constituerunt sub se loco ipsorum alios regnaturos. Quæ proculdubio notoria fuisse et esse creduntur apud omnes, licet aliud forsan paternis auribus per pacis æmulos et rebellionis filios fuerit falsa insinuatione suggestum; a quorum machinosis et imaginariis figmentis ut vestræ sanctitatis oculus avertatur suppliciter quæsumus; et paternam excellentiam devotis affectibus exoramus, ut, brevitatis causa gestis anteriorum temporum salvis, quædam exempli causa tangamus.

Note 1. The writs of summons for the meeting of this parliament are dated at Rose Castle, Cumberland [Map], on the 26th of September, 1300. The King at the same time sent orders to the different monasteries to search their chronicles, and transmit to him whatever they could discover relative to the Scottish kingdom. He also directed the chancellors of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge to send four or five doctors in the common law to consult on the Scottish succession. Rymer, Fœdera, 1.923, 924. The evidence thus collected was embodied in a letter to the Pope, drawn up, it appears, by Rishanger; which letter, we find from an entry in Bishop Stapleton's Kalendar, though intended to be sent, was never actually dispatched. Vide Documents and Records illustrating the History of Scotland, i. Introd. CXXX, by Sir F. Palgrave. The copy of this document preserved by Guisborough differs considerably from the enrolment extant on the Rot. Claus, 29 Edward I m, 10, dorso, in the Tower of London. As there seems some probability that the enrolment was made from an earlier draught of the letter, it has been thought advisable to print the text of the document from the MSS. of Guisborough, with the variations of the enrolment as notes.

Note 2. To the Most Holy Father in Christ, Lord Boniface, by divine providence Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Roman and Universal Church, Edward, by the same grace, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine, devout kisses of the blessed feet. The following we submit not in the form or guise of a legal judgment, but entirely outside the context of litigation, for the purpose of calming the conscience of your holy paternity. May the Most High,..." etc. Rot. Claus.

Note 3. In place of this passage, the enrolment has the following: These things, without a doubt, were known and are acknowledged from ancient times, although perhaps something different may have been falsely insinuated to Your Paternal Ears by the enemies of peace and sons of rebellion. May your providence, we beseech you, reject their scheming and imaginary fabrications. Now, in the time of Eli and the prophet Samuel, there was a certain brave and distinguished man named Brutus, of Trojan descent, who, after the destruction of the city of Troy, arrived with many Trojan nobles in a certain island then called Albion, which was inhabited by giants. Having overcome and slain them by his own power and that of his followers, he named the island 'Britain' after himself, and his companions he called 'Britons'. He also built a city, which he named Trinovantum, now called London. Later, he divided his kingdom among his three sons: to Locrinus, the eldest, he gave that part of Britain which is now called England; to Albanactus, the second-born, he gave the part that was then called Albania from the name of Albanactus, and is now called Scotland; and to Camber, the youngest, he gave the part then named Cambria after himself, now known as Wales, while reserving royal dignity for Locrinus as the eldest. Then, two years after Brutus's death, a certain king of the Huns named Humber arrived in Albania and killed Albanactus, brother of Locrinus. When Locrinus, King of the Britons, heard this, he pursued Humber, who, fleeing, drowned in a river which was thereafter named Humber after him. And thus, Albania reverted to the aforementioned Locrinus. Likewise, Dunwallo, King of the Britons, killed Stater, King of Scotland, who had rebelled against him, and received his land in submission. Also, the two sons of Dunwallo, Belinus and Brennius, divided their father's kingdom between them, in such a way that Belinus, the elder, held the crown of the island with Britain, Wales, and Cornwall; and Brennius, to reign under him, received Scotland, for Trojan custom required that the right of inheritance should fall to the eldest son. Likewise, Arthur, the most famous Prince and King of the Britons, subjugated Scotland, which had rebelled against him, and almost completely destroyed its people. Later, he appointed a certain man named Anguselus as King of Scotland. And afterward, when King Arthur celebrated a most splendid feast at the city of Legions [Caerleon, Gwent] all the kings subject to him were present there, among whom was Anguselus, King of Scotland, who, rendering the service owed for the kingdom of Scotland, carried King Arthur's sword before him. And so, in succession, all kings of Scotland were subject to all kings of the Britons. But when the English kings later came to power in the said island and obtained its monarchy and dominion, then thereafter Edward...

Quæ proculdubio ab antiquo notoria fuerunt et existunt, licet aliud forte paternis auribus per pacis æmulos et rebellionis filios fuerit falsa insinuatione suggestum; quorum machinosa et imaginaria figmenta vestra providentia quæsumus aspernetur. Sub temporibus itaque Ely et Samuelis prophetæ vir quidam strenuus et insignis Brutus nomine, de genere Trojanorum, post excidium urbis Trojæ cum multis nobilibus Trojanorum applicuit in quandam insulam tunc Albion vocatam, a gigantibus inhabitatam, quibus sua et suorum devictis potentia et occisis, eam nomine suo Britanniam sociosque suos Britones appellavit, Et ædificavit civitatem quam Trinovantum nuncupavit, qua modo Londonia nominatur. Et postea regnum suum tribus filiis suis divisit, scilicet Locrino primogenito illam partem Britanniæ quæ nunc Anglia dicitur; et Albanacto secundo natu illam partem que tunc Albania a nomine Albanacti, nunc vero Scotia nuncupatur; et Cambro filio minori partem illam nomine suo tunc Cambria vocatam, quæ nunc Wallia vocitatur; reservata Locrino seniori regia dignitate. Itaque biennio post mortem Bruti applicuit in Albaniam quidam rex Hunorum nomine Humber; et Albanactum fratrem Locrini occidit. Quo audito Locrinus rex Britonum persecutus est eum. Qui fugiens submersus est in flumine, quod de nomine suo Humber vocatur, Et sic Albania revertitur ad dictum Locrinum. Item Dunwallo rex Britonum Staterium regem Scotia sibi rebellem occidit, et terram ejus in deditionem recepit. Item duo filii Dunwallonis scilicet Belinus et Brennius inter se regnum patris sui diviserunt, ita quod Belinus senior diadema insula cum Britannia, Wallia, et Cornubia possideret. Brennius vero sub eo regnaturus Scotiam acciperet; petebat enim Trojana consuetudo ut dignitas hæreditatis primogenito proveniret. Item Arturus rex Britonum princeps famosissimus Scotiam sibi rebellem subjecit et pene totam gentem delevit. Et postea quendam nomine Anguselum inregem Scotiæ præfecit. Et cum postea idem rex Arturus apud civitatem Legionum festum faceret celeberrimum, interfuerunt ibidem omnes reges sibi subjecti, inter quos Anguselus rex Scotiæ servitium pro regno Scotiæ exhibens debitum, gladium regis Arturi detulit ante ipsum. Et successive omnes reges Scotiæ omnibus regibus Britonum fuere subjecti. Succedentibus autem regibus Anglis in prædicta insula, et ipsius monarchiam et dominium obtinentibus, subsequenter Edwardus, etc.

"Sanctissimo in Christo patri domino B, divina providentia sanctæ Romanæ ac universalis ecclesiæ summo pontifici, Edwardus ejusdem gratia rex Angliæ, dominus Hiberniæ, et dux Aquitaniæ, devota pedum oscula beatorum. Infrascripta non in forma nec in figura judicii, sed omnino extra judicium, pro serenanda sanctæ paternitatis vestre conscientia vobis transmittimus exhibenda. Altissimus," etc. Rot. Claus.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. In the same year, Archbishop Thomas of York died in the month of September, namely, on the ninth day before the Kalends of October [23rd September 1304], and was buried at Southwell [Map] on the sixth day before the Kalends of October [26th September 1304]. He was succeeded by Master William de Greenfield, elected on the Friday before the feast of Saint Nicholas [4th December 1304], and confirmed at Lyon by Pope Clement XII in the following year. King Edward troubled Archbishop Thomas in a new way. Although custom had it that, because of the baronies which archbishops and bishops held from him, the king had custody of them during vacancies, and could grant the prebends and churches belonging to those baronies if they fell vacant in that time, still, the pope was accustomed to grant the prebends and dignities that fell vacant because of the confirmation and consecration of bishops-elect in the Roman Curia. So it happened that the pope granted the prebend of Stillingfleet of Archbishop Thomas. The archbishop had also obtained from the Curia the right, upon his return, to give the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre in York Minster to whomever he wished; and he gave it to one James Segrave. But the king, moved by counsel from I know not whom, began to claim such vacancies for himself, and granted it instead to one of his clerks, John Busse. He sent letters to the archbishop ordering him to admit Busse and give him corporal possession. The archbishop replied that the matter had been dealt with by the pope, and that he neither could nor should do anything. The king immediately had him summoned before his justices, to answer for contempt by a writ Quare non admisit ["Why he did not admit [him]"]. There was no one in the king's council, nor any of the lawyers, who could or dared to defend him; and so the archbishop himself, in his own person, like one of the common people, bareheaded before all the people, made his answer, for the courtiers did not love him. When he would not change his answer, but repeated that it was an act of the pope, they declared him undefended, and seized his barony into the king's hand. He went away sorrowful, and sorrow was followed by illness, and illness by death. When he was dead, the king carried out the same procedure against the dean and chapter. But they, fearing the king's harshness, because he intended to seize all their temporalities, placated him in part, and admitted the said clerk to the same chapel, putting the prebend, as a favour to the king, into suspension.

Eodem anno obiit Thomas archiepiscopus Eborum, mense Septembri scilicet nono kalendas Octobris, et sepultus est apud Sutwell, sexto kalendas Octobris. Cui successit magister Willelmus de Grenefelde, die Veneris ante William festum Sancti Nicholai electus, et Lugduno a papa Clemente XII confirmatus in sequenti anno. Dominus rex inquietavit archiepiscopum Thomam novo modo; licet consuetudo se habeat sic, quod dominus rex, ratione baroniarum quas tenent de eo archiepiscopi et episcopi, habeat custodias earundem tempore vacationis, et præbendas et ecclesias ad advocationes earundem spectantes vacantes medio tempore conferat; tamen præbendas et dignitates per confirmationem et consecrationem electorum in curia Romana vacantes, dominus papa conferre consuevit; tical affairs. et sic contulit præbendam istius Thomæ de Styvelington. Ipse etiam archiepiscopus impetravit in curia, quod capellam Sancti Sepulchri in ecclesia Eborum conferre posset in reditu suo cui vellet, et dedit eam cuidam Jacobo Segrave. Modo dominus rex, nescio quo ductus consilio, cœpit vendicare taliter vacantes, et eam" contulit cuidam clerico suo Johanni Busse, misitque literas suas domino archiepiscopo ut eum admitteret, et in possessionem duceret corporalem. Qui respondit, hoc esse factum domini papæ, nec se posse quicquam facere seu debere; statimque rex eum vocari fecit coram justitiariis suis de contemptu responsurus per breve, Quare non admisit. Nec fuit aliquis de consilio suo seu aliquis narratorum omnium qui posset vel auderet respondere pro eo; immo ipsemet in propria persona, quasi unus de populo et coram omni populo, discooperto capite respondebat, non enim eum amabant curiales. Cumque nollet suum mutare responsum, sed factum domini papæ iterabat, pronunciaverunt eum indefensum, et baroniam suam in manum domini regis seisierunt. Recessitque tristis, et tristitia successit infirmitas, et infirmitati mors extrema sociatur. Quo mortuo, fecit dominus rex eundem processum contra decanum et capitulum. At illi timentes sævitiam regis, eo quod dominus rex omnia temporalia sua seisisse voluerat, placaverunt eum in parte, et prædictum clericum admiserunt ad capellam eandem, ponentes præbendam ex gratia regis in suspenso.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. "To the most holy father in Christ, lord Clement, by divine providence supreme pontiff of the most holy Roman Church, Edward, by the same grace king of England and France and lord of Ireland, [offers] the devout kisses of the blessed feet. Considering the clemency of the Apostolic See, which is wont to be supremely solicitous for the fostering of the devotion of Christ's faithful and the salvation of souls, seeking not its own things but those of Jesus Christ, our trust is reasonably held that your maturity, raised by divine grace to the watchtower of apostolic eminence and to the brightness of merits and knowledge, will mercifully take care to reform those things which diminish the honour of the Church and the devotion of the people, and which threaten the peril of souls and of property. We do not doubt that it has come to public knowledge how, from the beginning of the nascent Church in our kingdom of England, by the kings of England, our forebears, and by the nobles and faithful men of the said realm, worthy of perpetual remembrance, the primacy, for the increase of divine worship, constructed churches and further endowed them with possessions, strengthened them with privileges, and placed in them fit ministers who faithfully propagated the Catholic faith among the peoples and in the tongues subject to them; by whose care and diligence the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts wonderfully flourished there in worship and fruit. But, what is to be lamented, the shoots of that vineyard are degenerating into wild vines, and the boars from the forest are laying it waste, and solitary beasts are devouring it, while the impositions and provisions of the Apostolic See, which now prevail more heavily than before, seize for the hands of unworthy men, and especially foreigners, the possessions of that heritage, against the pious will and ordinance of the donors; and its dignities and rich benefices are conferred on unworthy persons and aliens, often suspected by us, who do not reside in the said benefices, who do not recognize the faces of the sheep committed to them, who do not understand the language, but, the care of souls neglected, like hirelings seek only temporal gains. And thus the worship of Christ is diminished, the care of souls is neglected, hospitality is withdrawn, the rights of the churches are destroyed, the buildings of the clergy fall into ruin, the devotion of the people is diminished, and the clergy of the said realm, men of great learning and honourable life, who could profitably exercise the care and governance [of souls] and who would be suitable for our counsels and those of the public, abandon study because the hope of fitting promotion is taken away, which we know is not pleasing to the will of God. Nay rather, a serious prejudice to us and to our faithful subjects, and inestimable peril, is at hand unless we take prompt and prudent precautions in this matter. For the right of patronage which we and our faithful subjects possess in such benefices is weakened; our court, in which alone cases concerning the right of patronage of the said benefices ought to be heard, is evaded; and thus the rights of our crown perish as disgracefully as they do harmfully, and the treasure of the realm is carried off to foreigners, nay, to say nothing of our ill-wishers, perhaps by subtle contrivance; and with the clergy of the realm thus brought low and the treasury thereof drained, the realm is rendered weak in adversity. All these things, and other inconveniences which follow from the aforesaid matters, were openly set forth before us in our general parliament by the commons of the said realm, accompanied by their unanimous and earnest petition that we should quickly take steps to meet the said losses, which to the said community seem intolerable. But we, plainly beholding with open eyes the depression of the English Church and the disinheritance of the royal crown, and the aforesaid evils, which, if long dissimulated, would likely increase to yet graver ones, bring these matters before you, the successor of the prince of the apostles, who received from Christ the command to feed, not to shear, the Lord's sheep, and to strengthen, not to cast down, his brethren, beseeching with earnest desire that, having duly weighed the premises, and considering that by right magistrates are to be chosen from among the people, and, according to the saying of the prophet, defenders are to be appointed from the midst of the people, something which we read was done by the blessed apostles when they sent to the nations men having knowledge of their own tongues, also considering the fullness of devotion in which our royal house, and the clergy and people of the said realm, have hitherto persevered in obedience to the said See (for which reason a fatherly affection would not heap upon them burdens and grievances), you may be willing, as a father laying up treasure for his children, to lighten the weight of the said impositions, provisions, and burdens, now prevailing through the Apostolic See; granting further that patrons may not lose the comfort of their patronage, and that the cathedral and other churches of the said realm may enjoy free elections and their effect, churches which our said progenitors in former times, upon each vacancy, were wont by their royal right to confer freely upon fit persons, and which they afterwards, at the request and instance of the said See, under certain modes and conditions, granted that elections should be made in the said churches by their chapters, a grant which was by the Apostolic See, of its certain knowledge, confirmed. But contrary to the form of the grant and confirmation aforesaid, the said See, by its reservations and provisions, takes away from the said chapters the aforesaid elections, and from us the right and prerogative which, according to the form of the said grant, belong to us in this matter; wherefore, according to the law of our said realm, since the condition expressed in the grant is not observed, the grant is annulled and the matter reverts to its original state. Wherefore, upon the premises, may your kindness deign, we beseech you, for the honour of God and the salvation of souls, and for the removal of the aforesaid scandals and prejudices, to apply a prompt and wholesome remedy, so that we and ours, desiring, as we ought, to revere your most holy person and the holy Roman Church, may, these said intolerable evils having ceased, rest in the sweetness of your fatherly love, and that our devotion may revive, refreshed by the display toward us of the mercy of your pious moderation. May the Most High preserve you for the governance of His holy Church through prosperous and long-lasting times. Given at Westminster on the 26th day of September [1343], in the fourth year of our reign of France and the seventeenth of our reign of England."

"Sanctissimo in Christo patri domino Clementi, divina providentia sacrosanctæ Romanæ ecclesiæ summo pontifici, Edwardus, eadem gratia, rex Angliæ et Franciæ et dominus Hiberniæ, devota pedum oscula beatorum. Pensata sedis apostolicæ clementia, quæ de fomento devotionis Christi fidelium et animarum salute, solet esse summe sollicita, non quærens quæ sunt sua sed quæ sunt potius Jesu Christi, tenet probabiliter nostra fiducia, quod vestra maturitas in specula celsitudinis apostolicæ, præclaritate meritorum et scientiæ divinitus jam erecta, ea quæ decus ecclesiæ et devotionem plebis attenuant, ac animarum et rerum pericula comminantur, curabit misericorditer reformare. In publicam autem non ambigimus notitiam pervenisse, qualiter ab exordio nascentis ecclesiæ in regno nostro Angliæ, progenitorum nostrorum regum Angliæ, et procerum ac fidelium dicti regni, digne recolenda, prioritas propter divini cultus augmentum construxit ecclesias, et ipsas amplius dotavit possessionibus, privilegiis communivit, et ponens in eis ministros idoneos, qui fidem catholicam in subjectis sibi linguis et populis fideliter propagarunt, per quorum curam et sollicitudinem vinea Domini Sabaoth in cultu et fructu ibidem mirifice fecundavit; sed quod dolendum est, ipsius vineæ propagines degenerantur in labruscas, et exterminant illam apri de silva, singularesque feræ depascunt eam, dum impositiones et provisiones sedis apostolicæ, quæ solito gravius invalescunt, ipsius peculium contra piam voluntatem et ordinationem donatorum manus occupant indignorum, et præsertim exterorum, et ejus dignitates et beneficia pinguia personis conferuntur indignis ac alienigenis, plerumque nobis suspectis, qui non resident in dictis beneficiis, et vultus commissorum eis pecorum non agnoscunt, linguam non intelligunt, sed animarum cura neglecta, velut mercenarii solummodo temporalia lucra quærunt, et sic diminuitur Christi cultus, animarum cura negligitur, subtrahitur hospitalitas, ecclesiarum jura depereunt, ruunt ædificia clericorum, attenuatur devotio populi, clerici dicti regni, viri magnæ literaturæ et conversationis honestæ, qui curam regimen possent salubriter peragere, et forent pro nostris et publicis consiliis opportuni, studium deserunt propter promotionis congruæ spem ablatam, quæ divinæ scimus non esse placita voluntati. Quinimmo grave nostrum et fidelium nostrorum versatur in præjudicium et inestimabile periculum, nisi super hoc citius et consultius caveamus. Nam jus patronatus, quod nos et fideles nostri in talibus obtinemus beneficiis, enervatur; curia nostra, in qua duntaxat causæ super jure patronatus dictorum beneficiorum tractari debent, deluditur; et sic jura coronæ nostræ tam probrose quam damnose depereunt, et regni thesaurus ad extraneos, ne dicamus nostros malivolos, asportatur, subtili forsitan conjectura, et regni depresso sacerdotio, et ejus exhausto thesauro, redditur regnum debile in adversis, quæ singula et alia quæ ex præmissis sequuntur incommoda, fuerunt coram nobis in parliamento nostro generali per communitatem dicti regni palam exposita, unanimi et ferventi petitione subjuncta, ut prædictis dispendiis quæ prædictæ communitati videntur intolerabilia, celeriter occurramus. Nos autem Anglicanæ depressionem ecclesiæ et exhæredationem coronæ regiæ, ac mala prædicta quæ dissimulata diutius adjicerent verisimiliter graviora, patulo cernentes intuitu, ad vos successorem apostolorum principis, qui ad pascendum non ad tondendum oves Dominicas, ac ad confirmandos non ad deprimendos fratres suos mandatum a Christo suscepit, ista deferimus votivis affectibus supplicantes, quatinus præmissis debite ponderatis, ac considerato quod de jure creandi sunt de vico populi magistratus, et juxta dictum prophetæ, dandi sunt de sedentis loco populi munitores, quod per beatos apostolos legitur esse factum, dum gentibus viros linguarum suarum habentes notitiam transmiserunt; pensata etiam devotionis plenitudine, qua domus nostra regia, et clerus et populus dicti regni perstiterunt hactenus in obedientiam dictæ sedis, propter quod non haberet paternus affectus eis onera et gravamina cumulare, velitis, ut pater filiis thesaurizans, alleviare dictarum impositionum et provisionum ac onerum, jam per sedem apostolicam invalescentium, gravitatem, permittentes ulterius ut patroni patronatus sui solatium non amittant, ecclesiæque cathedrales et aliæ dicti regni liberas electiones et earum effectum habeant, quas quidem ecclesias dicti progenitores nostri dudum in singulis vacationibus earundem personis idoneis jure suo regio libere conferebant, et postmodum ad rogatum et instantiam dicta sedis, sub certis modis et conditionibus concesserunt, quod electiones fierent in dictis ecclesiis per capitula earundem, quæ concessio fuit per sedem apostolicam ex certa scientia confirmata. Sed contra formam concessionis et confirmationis prædictarum, dicta sedes per reservationes et provisiones suas dictis capitulis electiones adimit supradictas, et nobis jus et prærogativam, quæ juxta formam dictæ concessionis, nobis competunt in hac parte, propter quod, juxta legem dicti regni nostri, ex quo lex in concessione posita non servatur, concessio resolvitur et res statum revertitur in primævum. Super præmissis itaque dignetur quæsumus vestra benignitas, ad honorem Dei et salutem animarum, necnon ad tollenda scandala, præjudicia prælibata, festinum et salubre temperamentum apponere, ut nos et nostri personam vestram sanctissimam et sanctam Romanam ecclesiam revereri cupimus ut debemus, cessantibus dictis malis intolerabilibus, in paternæ vestræ dilectionis dulcedine quiescamus, revirescatque vestra devotio per ostensam nobis piæ moderationis vestræ clementiam recreata. Conservet vos Altissimus ad regimen ecclesiæ suæ sanctæ per tempora prospera et longæva. Datum apud Westmonasterium XXVI die Septembris anno regni nostri Franciæ quarto, regni vero nostri Angliæ decimo septimo."

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 26th September 1668. Could sleep but little last night, for my concernments in this business of the victualling for Sir Prince, so up in the morning and he comes to me, and there I did tell him all, and give him my advice, and so he away, and I to the office, where we met and did a little business, and I left them and by water to attend the Council, which I did all the morning, but was not called in, but the Council meets again in the afternoon on purpose about it. So I at noon to Westminster Hall [Map] and there stayed a little, and at the Swan [Map] also, thinking to have got Doll Lane thither, but elle did not understand my signs; and so I away and walked to Charing Cross [Map], and there into the great new Ordinary, by my Lord Mulgrave's, being led thither by Mr. Beale (age 36), one of Oliver's, and now of the King's Guards; and he sat with me while I had two grilled pigeons, very handsome and good meat: and there he and I talked of our old acquaintances, W. Clerke and others, he being a very civil man, and so walked to Westminster and there parted, and I to the Swan [Map] again, but did nothing, and so to White Hall, and there attended the King (age 38) and Council, who met and heard our answer. I present, and then withdrew; and they sent two hours at least afterwards about it, and at last rose; and to my great content, the Duke of York (age 34), at coming out, told me that it was carried for Prince at 6d. 8d., and 8 3/4d.; but with great difficulty, I understand, both from him and others, so much that Sir Edward Walker told me that he prays to God he may never live to need to plead his merit, for D. Gawden's sake; for that it hath stood him in no stead in this business at all, though both he and all the world that speaks of him, speaks of him as the most deserving man of any servant of the King's in the whole nation, and so I think he is: but it is done, and my heart is glad at it. So I took coach and away, and in Holborne overtook D. Gawden's coach, and stopped and went home, and Gibson to come after, and to my house, where Prince did talk a little, and he do mightily acknowledge my kindness to him, and I know I have done the King and myself good service in it. So he gone, and myself in mighty great content in what is done, I to the office a little, and then home to supper, and the boy to read to me, and so to bed. This noon I went to my Lady Peterborough's (age 46) house, and talked with her about the money due to her Lord, and it gives me great trouble, her importunity and impertinency about it. This afternoon at Court I met with Lord Hinchingbrooke (age 20), newly come out of the country, who tells me that Creed's business with Mrs. Pickering (age 26) will do, which I am neither troubled nor glad at.