Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 December 2009
It is a commonplace that contemporary descriptions of England depend for their historical value largely on the personalities of their authors, and the major claim of the following document for publication lies less in any exclusive information that it may contain than in the point of view from which it is written. Wilson himself was scarcely an important person, but the circumstances of his life bred in him habits of thought that make his comments on society more illuminating than those of worthier and ablermen.
page v note 1 In the Dictionary of National Biography.
page 1 note 1 MS. B.
page 1 note 2 MS. B.:—“this.’
page 2 note 1 MS. B.
page 2 note 2 MS. B.:—“Pope's.”
page 2 note 3 MS. B.:—“that.”
page 2 note 4 In margin: “la Arabelle.”
page 3 note 1 MS. B.:—“both found.”
page 2 note 2 MS. B.
page 4 note 1 MS. B.:—“forrayn.”
page 4 note 2 MS. B.
page 4 note 3 MS. B.:—“cach.”
page 4 note 4 i.e. the Duke of Braganza.
page 5 note 1 MS. B.
page 5 note 2 MS. B.:—“Infanta.”
page 5 note 3 i.e. A conference about the next succession to the crowne of England, published in Antwerp under the name of R. Dolman.
page 5 note 4 MS. B.:—“will.”
page 6 note 1 Here both MSS. contain a genealogical table (omitted here) showing the descent of the various claimants from William the Conqueror.
page 6 note 2 MS. B.
page 6 note 3 MS. B.:—“my.”
page 7 note 1 MS. B.
page 7 note 2 For the development, at this time, of the conception of the crown as a corporation see The Collected Papers of F. W. Maitland, Vol. III, pp. 244–70.Google Scholar
page 8 note 1 In margin: “this is written by Polidore who writt ye affayres of ye tyme by ye command of King Henry 7.”
page 8 note 2 MS. B.:—“or.”
page 9 note 1 MS. B.
page 10 note 1 MS. B.:— “thes.”
page 11 note 1 MS. B.
page 12 note 1 MS. B.
page 12 note 2 MS. B.:—“Birstoll.”
page 13 note 1 MS. B.:—“belonge.”
page 14 note 1 MS. B.:—“alloweth.”
page 14 note 2 MS. B.
page 15 note 1 MS. B.:—“yea.”
page 16 note 1 Giovanni Botero (1544–1617), Italian economist and political theorist. This reference to him is somewhat puzzling, as his famous Relationi Universali did not appear until 1591 and do not contain the statement here quoted. In any case, the following sentences suggest that two millions is a slip for 200,000. Cf. the different totals of lives lost in the Wars of the Roses given on pp. 3 and 6.
page 17 note 1 The earls are given “secundum ordinem eorum antiquitates et antecedentia.”
page 18 note 1 This does not appear ever to have been published, or even to exist in manuscript.
page 17 note 2 MS. B.
page 17 note 3 MS. B.:—“consisteth.”
page 19 note 1 MS. B.:—“and.”
page 19 note 2 MS. B.:—“1.000l.”
page 19 note 3 MS. B.
page 20 note 1 MS. B.
page 20 note 2 i.e. war.
page 21 note 1 MS. B.
page 21 note 2 In the margin:—“Dr. Wilson”, i.e. Dr. Thomas Wilson (1525 ?–1581),. Secretary of State from 1577 to 1581 and a noted scholar and author.
page 23 note 1 i.e. Rouen.
page 23 note 2 MS. B.
page 24 note 1 MS. B.
page 25 note 1 MS. B.:—“be.”
page 25 note 2 In margin:—“Sir Ed. Coke.” For the eighteenth-century traditions of Coke's earnings, see Barrington, Daines, Observations on the more ancient Statutes, 4th ed., p. 508.Google Scholar
page 25 note 3 MS. B.:—“pore.”
page 25 note 4 MS. B.:—“some.”
page 26 note 1 Actually both Sir Thos. Smith, Secretary in 1572, and Dr. Thos. Wilson, Secretary from 1577 until 1581, were civil lawyers.
page 26 note 2 Wilson seems to have drawn upon his imagination as well as upon records in compiling this statement of the royal revenue and expenditure. Cf. the figures printed by F. C. Dietz in his two volumes on the subject, The Exchequer in Elizabeth's Reign (1923)Google Scholar and English Public Finance, 1558–1641 (1932).Google Scholar
page 28 note 1 MS. B.
page 28 note 2 MS. B.:—“35,000l.”
page 29 note 1 MS. B.:—“eyther.”
page 29 note 2 MS. B.
page 30 note 1 MS. B.:—“boylinghouse.”
page 30 note 2 MS. B.
page 30 note 3 MS. B.:—“followeth.”
page 31 note 1 MS. B.:—“938 2–4.”
page 31 note 2 MS. B.:—“938 15–2.”
page 31 note 3 MS. B.
page 32 note 1 MS. B.:—“5,000l.”
page 33 note 1 MS. B.:—“soldiers.”
page 33 note 2 MS. B.:—“they.”
page 33 note 3 “as” does not appear in MS. B.
page 33 note 4 MS. B.:—“later.”
page 34 note 1 MS. B.:—“suite.”
page 34 note 2 MS. B.
page 34 note 3 MS. B.:—“armory.”
page 35 note 1 MS. B.
page 35 note 2 i.e. p. 16 here.
page 35 note 3 MS. B.:—“100.”
page 36 note 1 MS. B.:—“460.”
page 36 note 2 MS. B.:—“260.”
page 36 note 3 MS. B.
page 37 note 1 MS. B.
page 37 note 2 MS. B.:—“altereth.”
page 39 note 1 MS. B.:—“100.”
page 39 note 2 MS. B.:—“payd.”
page 40 note 1 MS. B.:—“copers?”
page 40 note 2 MS. B.:—“decay.”
page 41 note 1 MS. B.:—“wheras.”
page 42 note 1 MS. B.:—“pleaseth.”
page 42 note 2 MS. B.:—“those.”