то

THE K IN G.

SIR,

HE Honour of laying my Book at the foot of Majefty conftitutes the smallest part of my pleasure, on receiving YOUR ROYAL PERMISSION for this Address.

I glory in the conscious-fatisfaction of dedicating it, to the Munificent Encourager of Knowledge in general; to the Avowed Patron of that particular Branch of it, the Antiquities. of Thefe Kingdoms; to a Prince, Who has no cause to blufh at the Idea, that Pofterity

may

may read, in the private Letters of the prefent Age, the undisguised Opinion which His Subjects entertained of His moft fecret Actions.

A Permiffion to dedicate to fuch a KING, is an Honour fo highly flattering, that it will ever be remembered with the utmost Gratitude.

Condescend, MOST GRACIOUS sovereign, to accept this humble Testimony of profound Respect, from

YOUR MAJESTY'S

Moft loyal Subject,

And moft dutiful Servant,

Eaft Dereham, November 23, 1786.

A

PRE FAC E.

LL civilized Nations have been anxious to preserve Nations preferve every authentic record of their former transactions, Records. both public and private; and with the greatest reason, fince even the proof of their existence, as a nation of confequence in the estimation of the real hiftorian, who pays no attention to fabulous narratives, entirely depends upon fuch undoubted memorials.

Period to be

Whenever, therefore, any particular period of a great Defective nation is imperfectly known, from the want of real and fupplied. authentic records; every one, who wishes to see an⚫unbroken chain of national events, will with the greatest eagerness seize any information of undoubted authority, which presents itself, from which either new matter may arife, or the truth of accounts now exifting may be afcertained, and confirmed.

of the Reigns

Ed. IV. and

That our own kingdom has fewer authentic records Few Records of the tranfactions, during the reigns of Henry VI. of Henry VI. Edward IV. and Richard III. than of many other earlier Rich. III. periods of our History, is a truth known to, and lamented by, every man of historical knowledge.

This deficiency of information in the above period The Reafons. arifes from the following caufes.

2

I. The

Employment

Printers.

I. The civil contentions between the houses of York and Lancaster.

II. The flaughter of our nobility and gentry in the field, and on the scaffold.

III. The unfettled ftate of property.

IV. The invention of printing at the time.

The operation of the three first causes is very obvious; but as it may seem paradoxical to affert, that an invention to which learning owes its prefent wide diffufion, fhould, in its infancy, have had a contrary effect, a few words of explanation on the fourth may not be improper.

At the beginning of the art of printing, thofe who pracof our early tifed it, were folicitous to perpetuate things already committed to writing, relative to past times and past occurrences; not regarding recent tranfactions as of equal confequence.

Reformation

confidered.

This art likewise probably prevented the writers of manuscripts from multiplying their copies; they foreseeing that the new invention would, in time, supply a fufficient number at a much lefs price, by which means the value of their manual labour would be greatly diminished: and the early printers being bufy in preparing for the prefs old Hiftories, Legends, Dicts and Sayings of Philofophers, Translations, &c. &c. could not find time for printing the then modern hiftory, which being preferved by few, the manuscripts containing it were easily loft, or destroyed, and so never came down to us.

The Deftruction which overwhelmed our manufcripts and records at the Reformation, is not here confidered; as that affected all the preceding ages, equally with that which is now under our confideration.

Some