SInce my laste let­ters set vnto you; of the newes in these parties (Be­cause I wyll kepe my fyrst promes, for enterchaū ­ge of lettres) I haue chaūsed of matter worthye aduertisment & some leasure to aduertyse thesa­me, so that I could not with ho­nestye, but satisfye your desyre, to knowe our newes, as I my self am verie desirouse of yours. By my former letters you vn­derstode [Page]the dysordre and dy­stoyall, vprores of the Deuon­shyremen, whyche at the begyn­nyng semyng to me, to haue proceded but of some wyldenes of theyr braynes, or of some igno­cance lackynge teachynge, I thought wolde sone haue bynne tamed wyth authoryte, and re­formed wyth instruction, as I vnderstande the lyke ende hath wel happened of al the disquiet assemblyes, in the other partes of the Realme. But the mat­ters of Deuonshyre nowe she­wes furthe the rotes of treason, the buddes of rebellion, and the fructe of fylthye poperye, lea­uyng now pretenses of treason, and auowynge hyghe treason, leauynge nowe colour of Rely­gion, [Page]and reiectyng all trewe religion, nowe come to verye madnes, whyche before were but droncke, and cared not, for the name of rebelles, whych be­fore were angry to be called tres­passers, thys crafte hath the de­uyll to encrease hys swarme. He taughte the Priestes and theyr Captaynes to cal the peo­ple together to defende theyr olde fayth, and therin vsed the name and aucthoryte of the kynges mayestye, hauyng no waye so ready, to assemble them to ge­ther, whyche vsuallye is the trompet, that good subiectes followeth, two good begyn­ninges, Ye see the deuil vsedthe name of God, and of the Kyng, [Page]and in dede, dyrectlye agaynste God and the Kynge. Wel, nowe was it tyme for hym to worke, he sawe the assemblye dayly en­crease. One part was assured his owne, the Romysh priestes and the sturdy vacabundes. Wyth them he neded not vse craft, but rather taught them howe to vse it with others. The other parte were symple ignoraunt people, easelye disceyued, and quicklye made the partakers of euyll. Thus the deuyl hauyng made hys bandes (parte of hys owne olde seruauntes, parte of a new retynewe) beganne to send forth hys embassages (the same beyng certen requestes, as he termed them) to remedye the grieffes of the Deuonshirmen, to the which the Kynges maiesty, made a ve­rye [Page]princely and reasonable an­swere. Of the whych I receyued syxe Copies in printe from you, by M. Mohan, at his last com­ming frō the Court to my Lord pryuey seale. And for the same I thanke you, prayng you, yf any suche lyke thynges come fourth in printe, I may haue some sent me wyth the fyrst, & yf you wyll speake to the Kynges Prynter in my name, I dare say, he wyll not denye you. But nowe to my matter. By these embassages of his he thought to haue encreased hys power, thynkyng in dede y^t all they (whyche gathered them selues together in other partes of the Realme, for pluekynge downe enclosures, & enlargyng of commēs) would haue entered in to hys seruice and taken hys [Page]quarell: but after hys articles were confounded by the kynge, and certen knoweledge came in to Deuonshyre, by theyr cur­rours abroad, that the Kentysh Essex, Suffolke, and speciallye Hampshire, hauing byene with­in the iurisdiccyon of the stoute Prelate of Wynchester, vtterly dyffyed and abhorred the De­uonshyremē, protestyng euen in theyr moste disorder, that they wolde spende theyr lyues agaīst all suche rancke rebelles tray­tours & papistes. It was mar­uell to se the newe deuyses and inuencyons of the pryestes and vagabunde Captaynes, for the furtheraunce of theyr first pur­poses. Then begāne they to per swade theyr people, that they had all gone to farre to shrinke, [Page]and that nothinge now shoulde helpe them, but stoutnes & cou­rage, eyther wolde they now be Lordes, or els haue nothynge, eyther rule, or els not lyue, ey­ther make a Kynge, or haue no Kynge, no meane thynge might content them. Theyr fyrst botye (they thought) shoulde be the cytye of Excetter, the next, y^e spoyle of theyr owne countreye, and so consequently all other partes of the Realme, for Excetter they gape, but they catche nothynge sauing gonne shot, wherof God geues them plētye. Theyr owne countrey they haue so spoyled, & so disordered, that it is mysera­ble to heare. The sonne robbeth the father, the doughter is raui­shed before the mother, he hathe nothing at night, that had most [Page]in y^e morninge, & he hath moste, whiche ought to haue nothing. And how longe he shal haue it, there is noo warrant. Two ma­ner of men go to wrack amōgest thē. Good true subiectes, & wel thie. And other two, be daile promoted, traitours, and vile vaga boundes. The viler mā, of more aucthorite, the honester of more scruitude. Byeng and selling sea seth amonges them, in place whereof is come Robbynge, and reauynge, If hell be in earth, it is amōges them. And the pri­stes there, be the deuils. And the traytours be the tormētours, & the reste of the people forget­ting of their King, be as it were soules tormented. Alas howe shall I be wayle them? shall I pray to God that they may pe­rishe? [Page]or that they may amend? The one they haue deserued, the other me thinkes I dare not as­ke of god. For settig a syde their robberies, their murders, theyr raueshynges, their spoyle of the countrey, and the losse of it for many yeres, howe haue they of­fended their Kyng & soueraigne Lorde? How haue they dispysed hys name and aucthorite. And (as much as lyeth in thē) demi­nyshed his credit and renoume. Shal I say merely? Euery ho­nest man amōges them, may re­pēt him self of his good lyuing. And euery euil mā (I thinke) is sory: he was no more wretched, & yet no euilnes nor wretchednes, alloweth any mā (yf he wyl not be a ranck traytour) onelye that profession maketh rulers. And because they vnderstād that ser­uynge [Page]men be comenly brought vp in such ciuylite that hardely they be made traytours, Yt is a common Prouerbe, that trust ser­uynge man, trust gentyll man, [...] now no place is left but for tray­tours, all other sciences goeth [...] beggynge with them, and yet I doubt not, but theyr facultye wyll haue the price of the mar­ket whiche is a halter and a tre. Thus farre after my accusto­med maner I haue entreated generallytees, and yet such as my harte is ful of, and where my­ght I better discharge my so­rowe then wyth one, which wyll take parte thereof, I coulde not tell? But you wyl say, ye can la­mente the thynges as much as I, but for the matter of my Let­ter, you wolde desyre some parti­cular [Page]newes, or at the leaste my Iudgement, what I thoughte wolde folowe. For newes, as I [...]omysed you in my former let­ters to sende you theyr Articles, [...] I do nowe here include them, [...]he whiche I coulde not well performe before, because they [...]aunged them so often, and de­ [...]ysed so many, somtyme hauing [...]ome reasonable, an other tyme. [...]ot one tollerable, suche diuer­ [...]tees of heades there was a­monges them, that for euerye [...]ynde of brayne there was one [...]aner of Article, the priestes, [...]ey harped all vpon a playne [...]nge of Rome, certē traytours [...]oulde halow home Cardinall [...]le, a nombre of vagabon­ [...]es wolde haue no Iustice, a [...]nde of theues, wolde haue [...] State of anye Gentlemen [Page]and yet to put al in one bagge, [...] sorte of traytours wolde haue nother king nor good subiectes. And so euery varlet (abounded in hys owne sense) At the laste, they concluded vpon these Arti­cles, and set to their names as ye shal see in the copie therof. As for other newes (vntil my Lord Priuey seale shal haue y^e power come to hym, which he daily lo­keth for) I cā not haue to write. For my Lord lieth wyth the kinges power, here at a place called Honnyton. Who (I assure you) hath so gouerned these parties here, by hys contynuall labour, and wisdome, that hyther to, the ennemyes dare not come forth out of their dennes (for so wold ye cal them) yf ye saw the lanes, the hilles, the woodes & straight [Page]passages, betwyxt vs and them, They lye stil nere Exceter as I wrote in my last Letters. And not w^tstandynge, the twyse bur­hyng of the gates, yet hyther to can they not preuayll. A greate part of thē cōtinueth with their fyrst Captain called vndethyl, a taylour of Sāpforde courtney. I thinke they kepe hym styl, be­cause they can not fynde hys match, a Captaine wel chosen by the deuil at the first. This is for the newes. For my opiniō, I dare be bolde wyth you and yet therin I wyll vse few woordes, because yf I erre, I wil not erre to long a time, I assure you, no­thyng more encouraged them, then that they loked all other people being sturred vp in other parties for enclosures and such [Page]lyke grieffe wolde haue taken theyr quarell in hande, so nowe nothynge hath so muche decay­ed theyr courage as that they heare and knowe the contrarye. Theyr boldenes beyng nowe of theyr owne stoore, without hope of partakynge, more desperate then myghtye and lesse for theyr purpose, then for theyr nombre, very many beynge there assem­bled with them, by force against theyr wyll, and manye dayle by repentaunce, reacknoweledgīge theyr dutyes and Subieccyon. And in dede, the very ordre and maner of quyetynge of all other countreys putteth them clerelye from hope to styrre agayne, for they be not ignoraunt that the more parte of the requestes of them were such, as bycause they [Page]could not reasonable be reiected, being for reformacion of diuers abuses in the comūe wealth (not for the brīging in of the Romish aucthoryte agaynst the Kyng, & hys Royall Croune) they be for the most parte graunted, in such sorte as the people haue recey­ued mercye, and be departed ho­me wyth good contentacyon, ly­ke good Subiectes. The Kin­ges Maiestye sustayned no dis­honoure, hauyng ruled, his peo­ple, bothe wyth Iustyce & mer­cy, proporcyonallye, and finally the thynges whiche were euyll vsed in the comon wealthe, very lyke to be reformed, part, presēt­ly by Commission, parte, by Parliament, to the comen profyte of the whole Realme, of so good an ende oure rebelles here haue bē [Page]moste sorye wisshing that the o­ther people had leaped frō hedge breakinge, to house robbing, frō dere huntyng, to horse hunting, from wantonnes, to starke mad­nes, as they haue here frō robberies to rape, frō rape to murder, frō murder to treason & popery, & so to the deuil, whereas I fear they wil cōtinue. And in dede yf I maye presume (as I dare do much w^t you my freind) to alow the Cousels dede, me thinketh, y^• matters haue byne very wel or­dered (as it is reported here amō ges vs) for although by Iustice euery mā deserueth death, which ryseth againste his prince, yea though he haue moche griefe, & that the kinges Maiesty might of Iustice make slaughter of his people, yet yf there be any place [Page]for mercy, it was in this case for the Kinge to shewe it, vpon hys owne people, vpō people forget full, not obstynate, traytours by construccyon of Law, not by of­fence of harte, where the fault of the mooste parte of them was in dede vnlawfull Assemblyes, but wythoute open robberyes, inurder or spoyles, referrynge theyr grieffes as Sutours, not Orderars, cryeng for mercye as offendours; not Challengers. And on the other syde, the Iu­stice shewed, was ryght ne [...]ssa­ [...]e, beyng extēded, vpon such as [...]ther lacked cause to cōplayne, [...] lacked grace to seke for y^e kin [...]s mercy, and to say my mynde [...]s one nether of Court nor Coū ple, yf the Kynges sworde [...]ghte shorte vpon anye, it was [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page]vpon two kinde of people, tāke Popish priestes, repynynge a­gaynst the kynges holsome doc­trine, or vpon the cōmon runne­gates, seedmē of sedicion, of the which we haue plentye here, a­gaynste whome. If the martiall law were executed, and were currante quoyne in euery shyre, as I here say, there is a Proclama­tion for the same (which I haue not yet sene, but by youre nexte letters trust to receiue) I thinke there wolde be as fewe runners abrode, as now there be many. You must geue me leaue to talk a litle more after my wounted maner, which is to sai my mynd frākly vnto you without offēce. Nowe me thinketh the ende is such of your matters there, as euery state of people wilbe con­tent [Page]therwith, and so the mooste trouble wil rest with these tray­tours. For with you, the kinges people which deserued death, be by mercy preserued, & the thyn­ges euell vsed (as in dede disceases there be in the cōmō wealth) shalbe now wel ordered by Par­liamēt. And if the cōmon people shalbe eased of their griefes, the gentelmen shall also be relieued of them, for se how much the fer­mour crieth oute of hys rent, so may the gentelman wel crye out of the market, the one as muche greued as the other, & one reme­dye I trust shal serue both. For me thinketh it is no more diffe­rence for me, to haue. xx. pound, spēdyng. xx. pound, then to haue xx. marke, spendinge. xx. marke, so that my estate be kept like w^e [Page]both, you wyll thynke I wryte now at my wyl, because yf ye re­meber the last y [...]re in the parke at Wynsour when the Court was there, thys question made great argument betwyxre you and me, whether for the amende­ment of thinges in the common wealth the fermour should fyrst abate hys pryce, and then the Landed man his rent, or in con­trary order, at whyche tyme, I remembre you stode vpon one poynte, whych I could not d [...] ­nye, that the Gentylman by deere byeng, was dryu on to let deere, and I vpon an other poynte (not al vntrewe) that the deere hyrynge made deere fel­lynge, But where the fault fyrst beganne, neyther of vs woulde graunt to the other, neuer the­lesse, [Page]so wayghty a matter it is, as no wayes to be diseussed but by Parliament. Where when the argument is at an ende, it may be citablyshed by a lawe, wherof there was neuer more wkelyhood, because the ameu­dement therof, wyl helpe so ma­ny as well Lordes and Gentil­me, as al other Commoners, no man hauyng eause to repyne a­gaynst it, but suche as gather, not to spende and improue their lyuinges not For their charges, as many Geutilmen haue done, but for their coffers, So that to conclude, improuemet alone maketh no man ryche, but improuement and sparynge. But what [...]edle I wyth thys matter and yet what dare I net to you my fryende, by Sayncte G [...]orge [Page]I saye to you merely out of bo­urde, no one thinge maketh me more angry with these rebelles then one article, which toucheth me on the quicke, and I beleue, there be few in the realme, but it will make them smart, to forgoe his Abbey & Chauntrye landes wherin I for my part am so hea­ted, that if I should fight wyth those traitours, I wold for eue­ry two strokes to be stricken for treason strike on to kepe my lā ­de, the which I bought to suer­lye, to deliuer it at a papistes appoyntement. Thus I haue ex­ceded in woordes, & yet you shal counte it littel, because the mat­ter is large, & therby you muste measure me, & not by my lynes, One thing I wil ye shal marke and then I ende, the matter of [Page]Cardynal Pole (as in this case) of greate importaunce, lyke as I am sure my Lord Protectour is aduertised, for emonges these rebelles, the chiefe Captayne of all, sauinge one, was the Mar­ques of Excetters man, and set­teth forth the matter of the Car­dinall so much, as in dede, he maketh no other matter. Hys name is Berry, one of them which sub scrybed the Articles. Yf ye can conuenientlye sende me a Dagg when the Kynges Maiestyes ordynance commeth doune. Ye shall receyue moneye for the same of my Brother Henry. Ye shall take payne to do my hum­ble commendacyons to myne olde Mayster (good Syr Anthonye Dennye knyght) and especyally to my Coosyn May­ster [Page]John Peres of the Garde, who I woulde were here with one or two hūoreth of y^e Garde, to knecke these knaues wyth theyr Halo [...]r [...]s. Thus f [...]re ye mo [...]e h [...]r [...]elye wel, and pr [...] you, as I do, that [...] maye mete merclye.