Note (Back to Main Text) — INDEX.

The writs went out at the beginning of December, accompanied with the usual circulars; to which the queen added a promise, that if the mayors and sheriffs[610] would consult her wishes she would remember their services. In a second address she said her pleasure was that when the privy council, or any of them within their jurisdiction, should recommend "men of learning and wisdom," their directions should "be regarded and followed."[611] Yet there was not perhaps any wish to have the House of Commons unfairly packed. Mary desired, probably with sincerity, "to have the assembly of the most chiefest men in the realm for advice and counsel."