[453]
JOHN SMYTH TO JOHN PASTON, SENIOR[271.3]
To hys worschepfull mayster, John Paston the Eldest, Esquier.
1461
MAY 10
Ryght worschepfull and my synguler mayster, I recomaunde me to you. If it plese your maysterschepe to wete, the cause of my wryghtyng is thys. I have understande be comunyng with othyr credybell men that many and the more part of the feffeys of the landys late Sir John Fastolf, and also thei that pretende to ben executores of the seyd Sir John, purpose them to sell to my Lord of Suffolk, thow he recuver not be tayle, or to othyr myghty lordys, a gret part of the landys of the seyd Sir John, to the entent that ye schal not have them; upon wech sale thei wole make astate and entre and put you to your accion, and thow ye recuver in the lawe, as I am enformyd, ye schall recuver of hard and but a part, the qwech schuld be dere of the sute. Qwer it semyth to me, yt wer necessarye to you to se remedy for thys mater, and eyther putt it in award or elles that my Lord of Wa[rwick], the qwech is your good Lord, may meve that the Kyng, or hym sylf, or my Lord Chawmbyrleyn or sum othyr wytty me[n], may take a rewle betwexe you and your adversaryes; for yf ye may not holde the forseyd landys ther schal growe [great] losse bothe to the dede and to you, and men schal putt you in defawte therof; your frendys schal be sory. It is [better to] bere a lyttell losse than a gret rebuke. Your mater hangyth longe in the audyens. Yf ye hadde ther your entent your ad[versaries should] cese the rather. I beleve veryly yf ye do your part to have pees, God of Hys gret grace schal graunte it to you, the q[wech give] you the speryte of wysdam to gyde you on to Hys pleser. Amen.
We desyre to se your maysterschep in Norffolk; your pr[esens] there be necessarye.
From Norwych the x. day of May. Your clerk, [John] Smyth.
[271.3] [From Paston MSS., B.M.] This letter was evidently written in the beginning of Edward IV.’s reign; and as it appears by [No. 458] that Paston had already been dispossessed of Caister, not indeed by the Duke of Suffolk, but by the Duke of Norfolk, as early as the 5th June 1461, we may presume that this letter, dated in May, belongs to that year. The margin of the letter is slightly mutilated, but the words which are lost are obvious, and have been supplied in brackets.
[454]
THOMAS DENYES TO JOHN PASTON[272.1]
To my maister Paston.
1461