Add MS 39853

"A COLLECTION of S^r Charles Cornwaleys my father's manuscripts " : copies of correspondence and papers of Sir Charles Cornwallis (d. 1629), Ambassador to Spain (1605-1609), Treasurer of the Household of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (1610-1612), a commissioner in Ireland to investigate grievances (1613), etc., probably made for Charles, one of his Younger sons (cf. Art. 17). Contents:-

1. " His letter of direction and advice to mee his sonne," written in his 75th year. Imperf. Partly (ff. 1, 2) printed by Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., in a tract entitled Sir Charles Cornwaleys' Letters. The leaves are misbound : f. 2 should certainly be the fifth leaf, the probable order being ff. 1, 5, 3, 4, 2.

2. " A view or survey of some reasons why Ireland hath alwaies been so full of troubles and subject to soe many insurrections and rebellions." ff. 2 b, 6-9.

3. Annual receipts and expenses of James I in England " besides assignments " ; [before 1610]. ff. 9 b, 10.

4. " A projecte for his Majesty to increase 30,000^l land to 120,000^l per annum." f. 10 b.

5. " Observations concerning y^e estate and government of Ireland collected by my father S^r Charles Cornwaleys in y^e time of his being there a Commissioner"; [1613]. f. 11 b.

6. "S^r Henry Wotton's cypher" for his correspondence with Cornwallis ; [circ. 1605-1607]. A variation of the same system, also attributed to Wotton, is in Add. MS. 4277, f. 200. f. l5.

7. " A declaration of y^e bouge of courte of every particular allowance to be served to ever person being lodged w^thin ye Princes courte ; and in absence y^e bouge to cease." Followed by " Orders for his Highnes chappell," etc. ; [9 May 1610 (?), cf. Harley MSS. 642, f. 263 b ; 293, f. 203]. Printed, from a shorter version in Harley MSS. 252, f. 13 (the last leaf of which is Harley MS. 293. f. 203) and 642, f. 260 b, in T. Birch's Life of Henry Prince of Wales, 1760, pp. 463-466, 443-448. A copy more akin to the present text, but with minor differences of arrangement and a few additional articles, is in Harley MS. 4942, f. 13. f. 15 b.

8. Papers concerning Cornwallis's imprisonment in the Tower of London, viz. :-

(a) " S^r Charles Cornwaleys his defence by way of letter to K. James by whom he was committed to y^e Tower after y^e dissolution of y^e Parliament, " 22 June 1614, and Another letter of S^r Charles Cornwaleys to King James," [- June 1614]. The originals are in the Public Record Office (Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1611- 1618, pp, 237, 238). Printed in Gutch, Collectanea Curiosa, Oxford, 1781, sol. i, pp. 161, 168. Numerous copies are in the Department. ff. 19, 20 ;-

(b) " The truth of y^e intention of S^r Charles Cornwaleys in y^e mocion he meant to have made this last parliament," etc. The original is enclosed in Cornwallis's second letter to James I (Cal. State Papers, l.c., p. 238). f. 20;-

(c) " S^r Charles Cornwaleys his answer to his charge at y^e Councell table." The Privy Council ordered his release on 8 June 1615 (Acts of Privy Council, 1615-1616, pp. 191- 194). f. 20 b;-

(d) Letters to [Catharine, wife of Thomas Howard,] "y^e Countesse of Suffolk out of y^e Tower," 17 Feb. 16l4/6, " a Freind of his written in y^e Tower," 27 Feb. 161 4/5, " Mr. Secretarye [Sir Ralph] Winwoode," " my Lady from y^e Tower." For other copies of the last see Harley MSS. 1221, f. 99 b; 6038, f. 40; 7002, f. 330. ff. 21, 22.

9. " The names of all y^e Dukes, Marquesses, Condes, Archbishops and Bishops in y^e kingdome of Spaine w^th y^e yearly revennue of their livings " ; [circ. 1605-1609 (?)]. The list ends abruptly with the note, " The rest of these Earles together w^th y^e Archbishopps and Bishopps and their revennues herew^th once transcribed are lost." None of the numerous lists of a similar nature (Cotton MS. Vespasian C. vi, ff. 199, 213 b, 266, 391 ; Lansdowne MS. 171, f. 258; Harley MS. 6275, f. 61 ; Stowe MS. 96, f. 208 ; Add. MS. 20915, f. 166) agrees with this copy. f. 23.

10. " An opinion of y^e match propounded by ye Embassadour of Savoy betweene y^e Lady Elizabeth his Ma^ties eldest (and now only daughter) and y^e Prince of Piemont," etc. ; 1611. An abridged and much altered version of Sir Walter Raleigh's " Discourse," written for the Prince of Wales (Works, Oxford, 1829, viii, pp. 223-236). f. 25.

11. " A discourse of y^e life of y^e most illustrious Prince Henry late Prince of Wales written Anno Dom. 1626 by S^r Charles Cornwaleys Knight sometimes Treasurer of his Highnes House." Printed, London, 1641 ; reprinted in the Harleian Miscellany, iv (1745), pp. 319-325, and iv (1809), pp. 333-340, and in Lord Somers's Tracts, ii (1809), pp. 217-225. Preceded by a dedicatory letter from Cornwallis to Charles I, which was replaced in 1641 by a letter addressed by the printer to Charles, Prince of Wales. f. 26 b.

12. " Extracts out of y^e annalls of Arragon by S^r Charles Cornwaleys Knight Ambassadour into Spayne for his Ma^tie of great Brittaine K. James": brief extracts (to A.D. 1412) from Los Anales de la Corona de Aragon, 1562-1580, vols. i-iii (lib. i-xi), by Gerónimo Zurita (called, f. 55, " Suierta") f. 29 b.

13. " Letters of negotiation during S^r Charles Cornwallis his Embassie in Spaine. March 1607 "-19 Sept. 1607 (f. 103). Forty-nine letters, viz. :-

(a) Correspondence with [Robert Cecil, 1st] Earl of Salisbury (20), [Henry Howard, 1st] Earl of Northampton (6), [Francisco Gomez de Sandoval y Rojas,] Duke of Lerma (4), and [Andres de] Prada [Secretary of State to Philip III of Spain] (2);-

(b) Letters to James I (1), the Privy Council (11), [Thomas Howard, 1st] Earl of Suffolk (1), [William Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham] (1), [Richard Bancroft,] Archbishop of Canterbury (1), and the Lords of the Council of State in Spain (1) ;-

(c) A letter from [George Carew, Baron] Carew [of Clopton, Earl of Totnes 16 5/6]. Cotton MSS. Vespasian C. ix-xi contain copies of letters covering the entire period of Cornwallis's residence in Spain. The present correspondence will be found in Cotton MS. Vespasian C. x, ff. 41-180 b, the principal difference being that a letter to the Earl of Suffolk (Vesp. C. x, f. 53 b) is omitted from this MS., its heading (f. 73) replacing that of the following letter (addressed to William, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham in the Cotton MS. Many of the letters between ff. 73 b-102 are printed in Sawyer's Memorials of Affairs of State, 1725, ii, pp. 299-339 passim. An index to the whole MS. in Sir Thomas Phillipps's tract Sir Charles Cornwaleys' Letters contains a list of these letters together with those in art. 15. f. 69 b.

14. " A discourse written by my lo: to proove that a conjunction by allyance of England and Spaine is the most safe ho:^ble and profitablest course for both the monarchies, especially for Spaine." Dated Sept. 1607 in Add. MS. 4149, f. 153; another copy in Vesp. C. x,. f. 180 b, interpolated at the same place in Cornwallis's correspondence, viz. between letters of 18 Sept. and 7 Oct. 1607. f. 106.

15. " Copies of letters written and received by the right Ho:^ble S^r Cha: Cornwaleys his Ma:^ties Amb^r . in Spaine, in this second halfe of the third yeare of his Embassage " ; 27 Sept. 1607 (f. 109 b) - 22 April 1608 (f. 146). Fifty-six letters, viz. :-

-(a) Correspondence with the Earls of Salisbury (29) and Northampton (5), and the Privy Council (11) ;-

-(b) Letters to the Earl of Suffolk, Lord Chamberlain of the Household (2), [Phillip III,] King of Spain (2), Enevold Kruse, Lord Treasurer of Denmark (1)," the llo[rds] of the privie Counsell in Denmarke " (1) ;-

-(c) Letters from James I (1), Edward [1st Baron] Denny [Earl of Norwich 1626] (1), [George Home] Earl of Dunbar (1), "Certaine prisoners (released by his Lo: procurement out of the Gallies in Lisbone)"(1); - -(d) Letter from James I to Philip III of Spain. The chief differences in the copies in Vesp. C. x, ff. 189-344 b are :- Vesp. C. x omits the letter to the Earl of Salisbury on f. 128 b (part of its contents is inserted in the following letter to the Privy Council, the remainder occurring in a letter sent to Salisbury on 3 Jan. 1607/8) ; it contains (ff. 311 b, 1. 26-313 b, 1. 22) the conclusion of the unfinished letter on f. 140 b and the beginning of the following letter to Lord Salisbury, for which a blank leaf has been left in this MS. Many of the letters between ff. 108-145 are printed in Sawyer's Memorials ii, pp. 340-384 passim. f. 108.

16. "A discourse of the state of Spayne written by my Lo: about the begininge of this yeare . 1607[8]." Other copies are Vesp. C. x, ff. 1-35, Add. MSS. 4149, ff. 132-152, 36444, ff. 14-61. Partly (ff. 150-156 b) printed, with minor differences, in Somers Tracts, 4th collection, vol. ii (1751), pp. 438-452 ; reprinted ibid., vol. iii (ed. 1810), pp. 304-315. f. 150.

17. (a) Monumental inscriptions to Sir Sackville Crow, [2nd] Bart., and his family; 1679-1728. f. 162 ;- (b) " The names and births of ye children of S^r Francis Cornwaleys K^t, sonne of Charles Cornwaleys of London Esq^r, a younger son to S^r Charles Cornwaleys K^t author of this manuscript," etc. f. 163. Both are printed in Sir Thomas Phillipps's tract Sir Charles Cornwaleys' Letters. Other papers concerning the families of Crow and Cornwallis are in Add. MS. 38175. Paper; ff. i + 163. Folio. XVII-XVIII centt. Belonged to Austin Cooper, F.S.A. (MS. 17 ; sale-cat., Feb. 1831.), and Sir Thomas Phillipps (MS. 6469 ; sale-cat., 26 June 1919, lot 646).