Hugh Latimer, Bishop
of Worcester, to
Lord
Cromwell, on the birth of
the
Prince of Wales
(afterward
Edward VI.).
———
from the national manuscripts preserved by the
british
government.
———
[begin page 29]
Hugh Latimer, Bishop
of Worcester, to
Lord
Cromwell, on the birth of
the
Prince of Wales
(afterward
Edward VI.).
———
from the national manuscripts
preserved by the
british government.
———
Ryght honorable. Salutem in Christo Jesu. And Syr here ys no lesse joynge and rejossynge in thes partees for the byrth of our prynce, hoom we hungurde for so longe, then ther was, (I trow) inter vicinos att the byrth of S. I. Baptyste, as thys berer Master Evance can telle you. Gode gyffe us alle grace, to yelde dew thankes to our LordeⒶtextual note Gode, Gode of Inglonde, for verely He hathe shoyd Hym selff Gode of Inglonde, or rather an Inglyssh Gode, yf we consydyr and pondyr welle alle Hys procedynges with us from tyme to tyme. He hath over-cumme alle our yllnesse with Hys excedynge goodnesse, so that we ar now moor then compellyd to serve Hym, seke Hys glory, promott Hys wurde, yf the Devylle of alle Devylles be natt in us. We have now the stooppe of vayne trustes ande the stey of vayne expectations; lett us alle pray for hys preservatione. Ande I for my partt wylle wyssh that hys Grace allways have, and evyn now from the begynynge, Governares, Instructores and offyceres of ryght jugmente, ne optimum ingenium non optimâ educatione depravetur. Butt whatt a grett fowlle am I! So, whatt devotione shoyth many tymys butt lytelle dyscretione! Ande thus the Gode of Inglonde be ever with you in alle your procedynges.
The 19 of October.
youres H. L. B. of Wurcestere
now att Hartlebury.
Yf you wolde excytt thys berere to be moore hartye ayen the abuse of ymagry or mor forwarde to promotte the veryte, ytt myght doo goode. Natt that ytt came of me, butt of your selffe, &c.
(Addressed) To the Ryght Honorable Loorde P. Sealle hys synguler gode Lorde.
In 1900 an editor examined the American Publishing Company's 1899 “Royal Edition” of The Prince and the Pauper to determine which plates could be reused without alteration and which would need correction and repair. He must have compared the transcription in that edition with the facsimile, for he marked his corrections on the page and wrote, “I don't know whose deciphering this is, but it is wrong in many places. FM.” Frank Bliss, president of the American Publishing Company, replied, “Clemens wrote Dec 31, 1900 to let it stand & not make corrections. ‘They are not important’ ” (Yale).
This edition ignores Mark Twain's instruction of 1900, since it arose from a different set of circumstances. The author apparently neither made nor even copied out the transcription, and so he had no hand in introducing the errors that appeared in the first American edition and derivative versions such as the “Royal Edition.” Furthermore, it is unlikely that he introduced any changes for literary purposes. He must originally have intended to print the transcription exactly as given in Facsimiles (which modernized some spellings, for instance turning “yt” into “that” at 29.14), and therefore that source has been made the authority here.
A list of rejected prospectus and first American edition (A) readings follows. A wavy dash (˜) on the right of the dot stands for the word on the left and signals that only a punctuation mark is changed. A caret (ʌ) indicates the absence of a punctuation mark.
| 29.6 | honorable. (Facs) • ˜, (A) |
| 29.6 | Jesu. And (Facs) •˜, and (A) |
| 29.8 | was, (Facs) •˜ʌ (A) |
| 29.8 | trow) (Facs) •˜), (A) |
| 29.9 | berer (Facs) •˜, (A) |
| 29.9 | Evance (Facs) •Erance, (A) |
| 29.21 | depravetur. Butt (Facs) •˜. ¶ Butt (A) |
| 29.26 | youres (Facs) •Youres, (A) |
| 29.26 | Wurcestere (Facs) •˜, (A) |