Queen Mary I

responding to their letters of the previous day, “Movinge us by our Mercye to Suspende and forebeare the arestynge and commyttinge of the Duke of Suff[olk] all contrarye to thinstruccions delyvered unto you from us, grounded uppon suche depe and weightie consideracions as you the Lord paget dothe knowe./ We marvayl not a Lyttell, of this your so soden mutacyon and chaunge in a Matter of suche weight / so Nerelye towchynge the state and Suertie of our parsons in this present case./ And for that we hetherunto perceyve no cause whye to alter our former Determinacion. We will you therefore directlye to procede therein, accordinge to your said instruccions. And that you also gyve undelayed order for the apprehencyon, and commyttinge of Sir John Cheke knight unto the Tower of London”, one page, oblong folio (215 x 310mm), integral address leaf, dispatch slits, docketed, Colchester, 27 July 1553, residue of red wax seal partially obscuring c.5 letters, splitting at folds, c.40mm tear with no loss

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

QUEEN MARY INSISTS ON THE IMPRISONMENT OF THE FATHER OF LADY JANE GREY JUST DAYS AFTER THE DEPOSITION OF THE “NINE DAY QUEEN”. Paget once again displayed impeccable skills in handling a transition of power at the death of Edward VI. He had been restored to the Privy Council in February 1553 but was not trusted by the regime headed by the Duke of Northumberland. He initially acquiesced with Northumberland's attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne, but when Northumberland left the capital to deal with Mary, leaving London under the control of Jane's father, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk (1517-1554), it was Paget, together with the Earl of Arundel, who led those members of the Council who remained in London to switch their allegiance and declare for Mary. This letter was written when the new Queen was still in East Anglia heading towards London, to men controlling the capital on her behalf but who had been part of the previous regime; Mary's evident lack of trust in her new servants is hardly surprising.

Paget probably resisted the new Queen's orders to arrest Suffolk because he had joined with other members of the Council to acknowledge Mary as Queen, betraying his own daughter in the process. Suffolk had little political intelligence or administrative skill but he had a wife with Tudor blood, and that was enough to make him a powerful figure. His wife was also close to Mary and despite the Queen's furious insistence that Suffolk be imprisoned, he only spent a few days in the Tower before being allowed to retire to his home near London – although his daughter Jane remained a prisoner under sentence of death in the Tower. However, by early the following year he was conspiring with Thomas Wyatt and others who were planning an armed rebellion against Mary's marriage to Philip of Spain. Suffolk lost his nerve and fled to his Midland estates, where a ramshackle and ill-planned rebellion took place that achieved little more than ensure that both he and his daughter found their way to the executioner's block in February 1554.

The second man, whose arrest is ordered almost in passing in the final sentences of this letter, was less well-born but of inestimably greater talent than the hapless Duke of Suffolk. John Cheke was one of the greatest humanist scholars of his generation, instrumental in introducing the new learning to England, appointed the first Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge whilst still in his twenties, and who had counted Roger Ascham and William Cecil amongst his students at Cambridge. Cheke left Cambridge to become tutor to the future King Edward VI in 1544. As one of the Principal Secretaries of State he was instrumental in producing the documents by which the Duke of Northumberland attempted to snatch the succession from Mary, and this was the reason for his arrest. He was a close friend of William Paget, who must have been deeply concerned by the orders contained in this letter. Cheke was nonetheless arrested and remained in the Tower for many months. As a committed Protestant he had difficulty reconciling himself to the Marian regime, and in September 1554 he was given permission to travel abroad.