lo. to give offeciall charge wthin yor Diocese, that the severall churchwardens in each parish be verie circumspect to performe the direccons therein menc'oned; whereby not only his Matys princely law, but their ll. most p'vident regarde for the welfare and safetie of this realme, male be duly and dutifully observed as app'taineth.
And wth all I forthwith expect yor lops, answere wth the accompt of 300 printed briefes sent to yor lo. a yere agoe for a colleccon in that yor Diocese for redeeming of 1500 English captives from the turks, that the same maie be sent up to his gr. of Cant., my verie good lo. & brother, as in the said briefes is expressed, & for wch his gr. hath oft times written to me for the moneys so collected to be conveyed up accordingly.
And I right hartily betake yor lo. to the blessed p'teccon of the Almightie. At Bishopthorpe the xxth of August, 1625.
- Yo' lo. verie loving Brother,
- Lo. Bp of Chester.[1] Tobias Eborens."
In compliance with these injunctions bishop Bridgeman summoned James Pilkington, the mayor, &c., "and gave him orders to be observed now in this dangerous time of the plague, namely that the towsmen should watch in their own persons daily, the chief of them, and let none lodge in the town which would not voluntarily take his oath that he came not from any infected place within a fortnight and that himself (to his knowledge) was free from the infection: Item that they should provide an outroom (out of the town) for such to lodge in as, coming from London and going farther, had no place to lie in, and another room for such as may chance to be infected, and some ale house at the upper end of Wigan Lane to deliver passengers victuals for their money when they come from London." And because when they watched in the other parts of the town, strangers and beggars came over the field up by the bishop's house and hung about his gates more than before, he charged them to provide a watchman daily for Hallgate, to stand at the lower end of his
- ↑ Original MS. letter preserved among the Family Evidences at Weston. Tobias (or Toby) Matthew, formerly bishop of Durham, was translated to York in 1606. He died 29th March, 1628, ætat, 82, and was buried in York cathedral.
