492 LETTERS FROM THE LAMBETH LIBRARY. 



T. Meautys to Lord St. Alban.* 

 My all honoured Lord, 



Upon the first reading of your lordship s, received this 

 day, I had almost put pen to paper to ask your pardon for 

 having (as I supposed) too rudely broken open a letter 

 intended to another, some more deserving friend or servant 

 of yours (for, by the infinite disproportion between the 

 noble favours therein expressed, and my disability any way 

 to merit, I could not otherwise conjecture) ; but, upon second 

 cogitations, remembering it to be incident to heroic natures 

 and spirits to measure out and confer their graces and 

 favours according to the latitude and dimensions of their 

 own noble and capacious hearts, and not according to the 

 narrower span and scantling of others merits ; and calling 

 to mind that this is not the first time by many, that your 

 lordship hath pointed me out as an instance hereof, by your 

 singular and accumulate favours, I come now, instead of 

 asking pardon for a supposed error of my own, to render 

 unto your lordship all humble acknowledgment for a wilful, 

 or rather, willing error of yours, in so overprizing the poor 

 endeavours of your unprofitable servant. 



Next, I take leave to say somewhat of what we say here, 

 arising as well from abroad as at home; viz. that, upon 

 later and more certain advertisement out of Germany, it is 

 found the blow given to the imperialists was far greater, 

 both for numbers, being at least 20,000, and for quality of 

 the persons, than was first reported. Tilly himself being 

 mortally wounded, and escaping to a town called Holver- 

 stat, some miles distant, was pursued by the King of Swe 

 den, who, being advertised that he was dead, and that his 

 body was newly taken thence, to be conveyed by a guard 

 of 1500 horse to the Duke of Bavier s court, instantly went 

 after them, and in a few hours overtook them, defeated the 

 whole troops, and brought back the corpse to Holverstat, 

 where it remains in the town house, a spectacle of the 

 divine revenge and justice, for the bloody execution at 

 Mackdeburgh. On Sunday, at Hampton Court, the States 

 ambassador here resident, at a solemn and public audience 

 in the presence, sung us in effect an old song to a new 

 tune, for his errand was only a formal relation of the pas 

 sages of that achievement and defeat in the Low Countries 

 (wherein, by the way, I heard not any mention at all of 



MS. Gibson, Lambeth Lib. 936, fol. 252. 



