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 170 THE CECILS

hands." a Certainly the correspondence at Hat- field shows that everybody with any grievance, public or private, thought Cecil the right man to apply to for relief. A typical appeal is presented in the following letter from a Mrs. Anne William- son : 2

" I lived happily with my husband for twelve years, until for causes to me unknown he was committed to the Tower. Now, being released from thence, he utterly rejects my company. I have tried the mediation of friends without avail. He yields me no relief, although at his request I sold and conveyed away my jointure, without assurance of other living. Wherefore, forcedly and with shame, I have presumed to trouble your Honour, to whom the reformation of such demeanours doth appertain."

1 June aoth, 1598 (Cal. S. P. Dom.).

2 November 6th, 1598 (Hatfield MSS., VIII. 430).

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