hap.XXIV, from the Conquest, to the Death of gt Mary I.
1553. " Honour be unto You, and your“ Lands and Regions, which are under" yourDominions, and to every of You," as is convenient.
" Forasmuch as the great and Al-€c mighty God hath given unto Man-kind, above all other living Creatures,, f such a Heart and Desire, that every(c Man covets to join Friendship with o-«s thers, to love and be loved, also to,( give and receive mutual Benefits; Itis, therefore, the Duty of all Men,\< according to their Power, to main-tt tain and encreafe this Desire in every«c Man, with well deserving to allMen;ft And especially to shew this good Af-it section to such, as being moved witht t this Desire, come unto them fromtc far Countries. For howmuch thett longer Voyage they have attemptedtt for this Intent, so much the more dott they thereby declare that this Desirett hath been ardent in them. Further-more also, the Examples of our Fa-«» thers and Predecessors do invite usft hereunto; forasmuch as they have•f ever gently and lovingly intreated•f such as of friendly Mind came to« them, as well from Countries near** Hand, as far remote, commending•f themselves to their Protection. And« if it beRight and Equity to siiew such“■ Humanity towards all Men, doubt-er less the fame ought chiefly to be" shewed to Merchants, who, wander-«r ing about the World, search both" the Land and the Sea, to carry such" good and profitable Things, as are" found in their Countries, to remote\ " Regions and Kingdoms, and again to
" bring from the fame, such Things as'* they find there commodious for their" own Countries: Both as well that* c the People, to whom they go, may*■* not be destitute of such Commodities,tr as their Countries bring not forth to" them, as that also they may be Par-tr takers of such Things, whereof they** abound. For the God of Heaven" andEarth, greatly providing for Man-" kind, would not that all Things" should be found in one Region, to" the End that one should have Need" of another, that, by this Means,,c Friendship might be established a-" mong all Men, and every one seek to* c gratify all. For the establishing and" Furtherance of which universal Ami-" ty, certain Men of Our Realm, mov-“ ed hereunto by the said Desire, have“ instituted and taken upon them a
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Voyage by Sea into far Countries, tothe Intent, that between Our Peopleand them, a Way may be opened, tobring in, and carry out Merchan-dizes, desiring Us to farther theirEnterprize. Who assenting to theirPetition, have licensed the right va-liant and worthy, Sir Hugh IVillough-by, Knight, and others, Our trustyand faithful Servants, which are withhim, according to their Desire, to goto Countries to them heretofore un-known, as well to seek such ThingsasWe lack, as also to carry unto them,fromOurRegions, fuchThings as theylack. So that hereby not only Com-modity may ensue, both to them andUs, but also an indissoluble and per-petual League of Friendship be esta-blished between Us both, while theypermit Us to take of their Things,such whereof they have Abundance,in their Regions, and We again grantthem such Things of Ours, whereofthey are destitute. We thereforedesire You, Kings and Princes, andall other, to whom there is any Pow-er on the Earth, to permit unto theseOur Servants free Passage by yourRegions and Dominions; For theyshall not touch any Thing of yours,unwilling unto You. Consider You,that they also are Men. If there-fore they shall stand in Need of anyThing, We desire You, of allHuma-nity, and for the Nobility which is*in You, to aid and help them withsuch Things as they lack ; Receiv-ing again of them such Things asthey shall be able to give You in Re-compense. Shew yourselves so to-wards them, as You would that Weand our Subjects should shew Our-selves towards Your Servants, if atany Time they should pass by OurRegions.
" Thus doing, We promise You, bythe GOD of all Things that are con-tains in Heaven, Earth and the Sea,and by the Life and Tranquilly ofOurKingdoms, that We will,with likeHumanity, accept Your Servants, ifat any Time they shall come to OurKingdoms, where they shall as friend-ly and gently be entertained, as ifthey were born in Our Dominions,that We may hereby recompense theFavour and Benignity, which Youhave shewed toOur Men. Thus af-ter We have desired You, Kings andPrinces, be. with all Humanity and
" Favour,