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Auction: 26066 - Historical Documents, Autographs and Ephemera
Lot: 1078

John Goodwyn - A Description of the State of the Protectorate
1656 (20 Feb.[?]) autograph letter signed to an unnamed recipient reading:

"I canot give you any certaine Information in any particulars but that there are great Rumors from beyond the Seas & some action are expected. There is an oath of Abjuration comeing out against the ffamily of the Stewards, and their adherents, & a Report that a high Court of Justiceis to be sett up in Surry County, the Major Generalls being to be Presidents thereof. The Protector & Parliamt doe very much agree in all things, many of the Members being excepted against are returned to the severall places from whence they came. The Leiftenant of the Tower is dead but as yet I canot informe you whoe shalbe his Successor. There is a Report that there is more Treachery discovered in Flanders, & some say my Lord of Bristoll hath suffered death for the same. Wee are here full of Distress & jeopardy, & I beleive the Country is not free. I desire to receave a Lyne or 2 from you with mine & my weary [?] true Respects to you, I conclude & subscribe my selfe"

With postscript that "Capt: Roberts presents his Service to you".

An extraordinary account.

Notes: John Goodwyn (1594-1665) was an independent minister, born in Norfolk, known for his Puritanical preachings and his contrarian views of English rule. He published, dangerously, a work titled "Bone for a Bishop" which critiqued the divine right of King's. He also advocated the purge of Parliament, the execution of King Charles I, and defied the State's right to execute heretics.



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Estimate
£400 to £600

Starting price
£320