Note 5 — Chapter II · THE FOUNDER OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY.
Reading edition
The story which, has been told—on the authority of one of John Chamberlain’s letters to Carleton (April, 1612) that ‘Sir Robert Cotton was sent out of the way’ at a time when certain claims of the Baronets were to be definitively heard at the Council Board, ‘in order that he might not produce records in their favour,’ rests on mere rumour. Charles, Lancaster Herald, wrote to Cotton immediately before the hearing in these terms: ‘On Saturday next the final determination is expected, if some troublesome spirit do not hinder; which end I wish were well made, and am glad that you are not seen in it at this time.’—Cotton MS., Julius, C. iii, f. 86.