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Though my letter is short, yet it wanteth not good will. I pray God to preserve you safe and in health! At Hartford, 11th March, 1545.

EDWARD THE PRINCE.

to me,

Prince Edward to Richard Coxe. 1

I give you thanks for the letter, which you have written to me. This I ought to do, when I perceive in it such love, good will, and civility. Your love is great ; and your good will free and generous, because you write when you have matters more important on hand; and your civility is welcome, for nothing can come from you, that is not welcome. But, when you write that you are more obliged to me than to the other lads here; yet, however, negligent they may have been, I have only done my duty; because it is my duty to write to you. Moreover, I beg you to take in good part this my letter; for I should wish you to take it in good part, because it has been done by my own judgment and labour entirely. May God grant you the wisdom of Aaron and of Samuel. Farewell, my most loving and kind preceptor. At Hartford, 2nd April, 1546.

Your most loving scholar,

EDWARD THE PRINCE.

Prince Edward to Richard Coxe. 2

As my duty demands, I write to you, my dearest almoner, that you may be assured I am mindful of you.

1 MS. Harl. 5087, f. 2. From the Latin.

2 MS. Harl. 5087, f. 3. From the Latin.

For, if I did not write to you, it were a sign I was forgetting you; but now that I write, it is a proof that I love and remember you. And, as he who writes to an individual, cannot but remember him, because he writes his name on the superscription; so, when I write to you, I cannot forget you, because I write your name on my heart.

Further, I am informed that a letter is as delightful to you as hunting and fowling are to others. Indeed, letters are better than treasures of gold and silver; and he that possesseth a letter, possesses the greatest treasure. It is said by Cicero in his Paradoxes" That the wise man alone is rich ;" and to him letters are riches.

I pray you salute the king's secretary, and return him thanks for the little sand-box. Now farewell, my almoner, the best, the most accomplished, most kind! May God never suffer your foot to be turned from the right path!

At Hartford, 9th April, 1546.

Your most loving pupil,

E. PRINCE.

Prince Edward to his sister Mary.1

Although I do not frequently write to you, my dearest sister, yet I would not have you suppose me to be ungrateful and forgetful of you. For I love you quite as well as if I had sent letters to you more frequently, and I like you even as a brother ought to like a very dear

1 Harl. MSS., 5087. From the Latin.

sister, who hath within herself all the embellishments of virtue and honourable station. For, in the same manner as I put on my best garments very seldom, yet these I like better than others; even so I write to you very rarely, yet I love you most. Moreover, I am glad that you have got well; for I have heard that you had been sick; and this I do from the brotherly love which I owe you, and from my good will towards you. I wish you uninterrupted health both of body and mind. Farewell in Christ, dearest sister.

At Hunsdon, 8th of May.

EDWARD THE Prince.

Prince Edward to Queen Catharine. 1

1

Pardon my rude style in writing to you, most illustrious queen and beloved mother, and receive my hearty thanks for your loving kindness to me and my sister. Yet, dearest mother, the only true consolation is from Heaven, and the only real love is the love of God. Preserve therefore, I pray you, my dear sister Mary, from all the wiles and enchantments of the evil one; and beseech her to attend no longer to foreign dances and

1 Rawlinson MSS. From the Latin. It would be difficult to ascertain with certainty the exact occurrence to which this note refers. Mary seems to have been more gay than usual; but that she was given to dancing appears from a ballad in MS. Ashmole 176:—

"I saw a king and a princess

Dancing before my face;
Most like a god and a goddess!

I pray Christ save their grace."

merriments which do not become a most Christian prinAnd so, putting my trust in God for you to take this exhortation in good part, I commend you to his

cess.

most gracious keeping.

From Hunsdon, this 12th of May.

EDWARD THE PRINCE.

Edward, the Prince, to the most illustrious Queen, his mother.1

Perhaps you will be surprised that I so often write to you, and that in so short a time, most noble queen and most dear mother; but by the same rule you may be surprised that I do my duty towards you. However, this I am now doing more willingly, because I have got a suitable messenger, my servant; and therefore I could not help sending a letter to you, in order to testify my respect and affection.

Fare thee well, most noble queen.

At Hunsdon, 24th of May.

Your most obsequious son,

EDWARD THE PRINCE.

Prince Edward to his Father, Henry VIII.2

Not any letter have I sent to you this long time, O king most illustrious and most noble father! It is not that I

IMS. Cott. Vespas. E. iii. Art. 40, and MS. Harl. 5087. Translated from the Latin original.

2 MS. Harl. 5087, f. 3. From the Latin.

have been at all neglectful of you; but, considering that your majesty is disturbed by the concerns of war,1 I thought I should further disturb you by these boyish letters of mine. And therefore I had some scruple whether I should write to you or not. But now reflecting that, as any labourer after his daily toil desires to refresh his spirit, so I hope, since your majesty has had trouble and fatigue for a long space, that this letter will rather refresh than disturb your mind. For, seeing you are a loving and kind father to me, and as I hope I shall prove to you a most dutiful son, I therefore judge your benevolent heart will take in good part this letter, though of itself unworthy.

Moreover, I pray you to bestow on me your blessing; and I wish you a happy issue in all your affairs. Farewell, most noble father and most illustrious king!

At Hunsdon, 2nd June, 1546.

EDWARD THE PRINCE.

Prince Edward to Richard Coxe. 2

Ever since Fouler went away, my dearest almoner, I have not sent an epistle to you, because I knew no one would be going to you from that time to this. If I have not studied elegant words and phrases, and well-turned sentences, I hope my negligence in this point will find excuse for I have done my best. If I should be slug

The prince here alludes to the war with France, which was concluded a few days after the date of this note, and a peace declared.

2 MS. Harl. 5087, f. 5. From the Latin.

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