LETTER FROM KING HENRY VIII a.d. 



1531 



vehementer rogamus, ut Joannem RatlifFe proesentium 

 latorem, & dicti Johannis Gresham novum constitutum 

 procuratorem, hujus rel causa istuc venientem, velit in 

 suis agendisj in dictisque bonis recuperandis, impuneque 

 asportandis remittendisque vectigalibus (quod nos in 

 vestros subditos fecimus) quum per navis prasfectum 

 fraude, ac dolo istuc merces fuerint advectae, nisi istic 

 vendantur, ac toto denique ex aequitate conficiendo 

 negotio, sic commendatum suscipere, sicque ad suos, 

 quos opus fore intellexerit magistratus missis literis rem 

 omnem juvare, & expedire, ut perspiciamus ex hac nostra 

 commendatione fuisse nostrorum subditorum juri, & 

 indemnitati quam maxime consultum. Quod nobis 

 gratissimum est futurum, & in re consimili, aut graviori 

 vestra Serenitas nos sibi gratificandi cupidissimos ex- 

 perietur, quae foeliciter valeat. Ex Regia nostra de 

 Waltham, Die 15. Octobr. 1531. 



The same in English. 



TO the high and mighty prince, John by the grace 

 of God, king of Portugale, and of Algarve on this 

 side and beyond the sea in Africa, lord of Ghinea, and 

 of the conquest, navigation, and traffique of ^Ethiopia, 

 Arabia, Persia, India, &c. our most deere and welbeloved 

 brother. 



Henry by the grace of God, king of England and of 

 France, defender of the faith, and lord of Ireland : to 

 John by the same grace, king of Portugale and Algarve, 

 on this side and beyond the sea in Africa, and lord of 

 Ghinea, and of the conquest, navigation, and traffique of 

 Aethiopia, Arabia, Persia, India, &c. our most deare and 

 welbeloved brother, sendeth greeting. So much ye more 

 willingly and readily we undertake the recommending of 

 all just causes unto your highnesse, because by the daily 

 testimonie of our subjects which traffike in your king- 

 doms and dominions, we are informed, that according to 

 the dutie of a most worthy prince, so carefully and 

 exactly you minister justice unto every man, that all men 

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