12 4 Mary I Naval Expeditions ? &c of the English, Look I'

1554. sure from Mufco-w, he had a Letter de-livered him from the Emperour to KingEdward VI. Phackluyt gives us a Tran-slation* of it, which, as it was the firstGround-work to the considerable Tradethat was afterwards established be-tween England and Muscovy, I shall in-sert at large, as I shall the Answer to it,from King Philip and Queen Mary, be-low.

The Enwe - " The Almighty Power of God,rour of J " and the incomprehensible HolyM uscovy’* -- Trinity, rightful Christian Belief,Edw^vr " £sfr. We Great Duke, 'Juan Bastli-Hackluyt, “ wich, by the Grace of God, greatP. I.p. 255. " Lord and Emperour of all Rustia,&c.

" Before all, right great, and worthy" of Honour, Edward , King of England," &c. according to Our most hearty and" good Zeal, with good Intent and" friendly Desire, and according to OurHoly Christian Faith, and great Go-“ vernance, and being in the .Light of" great Understanding, OurAnfrver, by" this Our Honourable Writing, unto" Your Kingly Governance, at the R,e-" quest of Your faithful Servant jR ichard“ Chanceller, with his Company, as they" shall let you wisely know, is this. In" the Strength of the twentieth Year of" Our Governance, be it known, that" at our Sea-Coasts arrived a Ship, with" one Richard and his Company, and" said, that he was desirous of coming" into our Dominions, and, according" to his Request, has seen Our Maje-" sty, and been in Our Presence : And" has declared unto us Your Majesty’s" Desire, as that We should grant unto" Your Subjects, to go and come, and“ in Our Dominions, and among Our" Subjects, to frequent free Marts, with" all Sorts of Merchandizes, and upon" the fame to have Wares for their Re-" turn. And they have also delivered" Us Your Letters, which declare, the<c fame Request. And, hereupon We“■ have given Order, that wheresoeverYour faithful Servant, Hugh Willough-by, shall land or touch, in Our Domi-" nions, to be well entertained, who as" yet is not arrived, as Your Servant" Richard can declare.

" And We, with Christian Belief" and Faithfulness, and according to" Your Honourable Request, and my" Honourable Command, will not leaveit undone: And are furthermore wil-t( ling, that You fend unto Us Your“ Ships and Vessels, when, and as often,“ as they may have Passage, with good" Assurance, on Our Part, to fee them

" harmless. And if You fend one of j 55s" Your Majesty’s Council, to treat with" Us, whereby Your Country Mer-" chants may, with all Kind of Wares,

" and where they will, make theirMar-" ket in Our Dominions, they shall" have their free Mart, with all free" Liberties, thro’My wholeTerritories,

" with all Kind of Wares, to come and" go at their Pleasure, without any Let,

" Damage or Impediment, according" to this Our Letter, Our Word, and" Our Seal, which We have comman-iC ded to be undersealed. Written in“ Our Dominion, in Our City, and" Our Palace, in the Castle of Muscow,

" in the Year 7060. the second MonthfC of February.

This Letter was written in the Mus-coviteV ongue, with a broad Seal hangingto it: And, under theLetter, was aTran-siation of it, in the Hutch Tongue.

Besides this Letter of Assurance ofAmity, the Emperour gave the EnglishLetters Patents, under his Seal, bywhich he granted them a Freedom ofCommerce, throughout all his Domini-ons, which we shall find He afterwardsamplified ; and added several Privilegesand Immunities.

Captain Chanceller , at his Return, captat*finding King Edward dead, gave this ChancelsLetter, with an Account of his Voyage, toto Queen Mary, who gave farther En-couragement to the Undertaking, as weshall fee below.

The Year 15fa- Mr. William Fowr- Tow r / 0 '’bson, Merchant of London, set Sail onthe thirtieth of September the Isle 0 fG uin ea '

of Wight, with two Ships, the Hart and HacklufL.the Hind, of London, on a trading Voy - P 'age, to the River oi'Sestos, in Guinea,and other Havens thereabouts, fromwhence he returned to Bristol, the four-teenth of May following. The four-teenth of September, next ensuing, hefaded from Harwich, with two Ships, theFig er and the Hart, of London, togetherwith a Pinnace, on the lame Voyage,from whence he returned, on the nineand twentieth o {jlpril, of the Year fol-lowing, to Plymouth. We have a veryexact Journal of these two Voyages, mPiackluyt , with a particular Account oftheir several Adventures, the Mannerofi Tiading on those Coasts, the Quanti-ty °! Oold and other Merchandizes,

W Tr!r - bP to °P i n from Place to Place,a -Oofr i'iption of the Coasts, Country andInhabitants, with many other Circum-stances ; But as they are too long to beinserted here, and are not of a Nature

to