John Paston to Margaret Paston

784

JOHN PASTON TO MARGARET PASTON¹

RYGHT worchepfull m[other, as lowly as] I can I re-
     comand me to yow, besechyng yow of your dayly
     blyssyng, praying yow to take thys key, and Sir
Jam[ys] . . . . [m]y broder E., or J. Pampyng, and
to ondo the kofyr that standith at my bedys feet, and ther in
a ly[tyl sqw]are box ye shall fy[nd two de]dys, wher of the
seallys be wownd in whyght paper; my brodyr E. sye [saw]
when I wond them up. The tone [begy]nyth ‘Sciant, &c.,
quod ego Matilda Bigota’; and the todyr begynyth ‘Sciant,
&c., quod ego Rogerus . . . .’ [I pray y]ow lett [them
be] sealyd and sent me by Radley with the deedes there in.
Sir Jamys knowyth the . . . . . . . But [if so] be
that ye fynd not thys box with thes two deedes in that cofyr,
then I prey yow take the k[ey] . . . . . . . . teye
of the same cofyr, and opyn the cofyr that standyth in the
utter chambyr, and ther ye shall fynd . . . . . . .
. . [d]edes. My brodyr, Sir John, recomandyth hym to
yow, and besechyth yow of your blyssyng; and as for hys
mater [there is yet no conclu]syon of no poynt, but I tryst
ther shall be with in thes ij. dayeys. Jenney, W. trowbly[th]
. . . . . . . [my] brodyrs servauntes with old accyons
and all syche thynges as he can renew to stoppe the oblyga-
cio[ns w]hyche he is bownd in on to my broder; but all shall
be easeyd, I tryst. As for Mrs. A. Hawlt, the mater is mevyd
[by div]ers of the Qwenys consayll, and of ferre by R. Hault,
but he wold it shold be fyrst of our mocyon, and we wold [it]
shold com of theym fyrst; our mater shold be the bettyr.

    Tydynges, ther is a generall pardon mevyd whyche my
brodyr J. trystyth to have the preve[lege] of as soone as it is
grantyd, whyche shall bee a bowght All Halow tyed at the
ferthest. I have spok with my L[ord Rive]rs and with all myn
old aqweyntance, and have good cheer of theym, hold as it
maye. When we be conclud[yd in] eny poynte of our maters,
ye shall have knowlage ther howhe to put yow in [comfort] er
we have eny . . . but in veyn when we have comfort ye
shall have parte. Newe tydynges, datys s . . . [s]ugyr
of Mr. Kwte (?) xd. di.lb., and bettyr I tryst. No more, but
I beseche God preserve yow and yours.

     Wretyn on [Seint] Symondes Day and Jwde.

                      Your humblest sone and servaunt,

                                                                                       J. PASTON.

     ² [From Paston MSS., B.M.] There was a general pardon in the latter part of the
year 1471, and both John Paston and his brother took advantage of it, as appears by
the Pardon Roll, 11 Edw. IV., membranes 9 and 25. The date of this letter is also
shown by the answer to it, written by Margaret Paston on the 5th November. Many
of the words in this letter are lost by the mutilation of the original MS., which is full
of holes, from having been exposed at one time to damp. The address is almost
completely lost, but a portion of the word ‘[Ma]rgaret’ is visible, and a small frag-
ment of an endorsement below in which the word ‘Paston’ is legible.

1471
OCT. 28

1471
OCT. 28