I R  HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE DIEV ET MON DROIT  English royal blazon surmounted by a crown and flanked by the English lion and Scottish unicorn, and surrounded by other royal symbols, each surmounted by a crown: the Tudor rose, the French fleur-de-lis, the Scottish thistle, and the Irish harp  
Hastings, An ancient Port Town in Sussex. JAMES By the Grace God, King of England▪ Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. TO all people to whom these our Letters Patents shall come, greeting.  
WHEREAS We are credibly given to understand aswell by the humble Supplication and Petition of our true & Loyal Subjects the Mayor and jurats of our Town and Port of Hastings within our County of Sussex, being subscribed by our right trusty & well beloved Counsellor Edward Lord Zouch Lord Warden of our Cinque Ports; As also by a Certificate under the hands of our right trusty & well beloved Henry Lord Hunsdon, Sir Thomas Pelham Knight & Baronet, sir Nicholas Parker, & sir john Wildegos Knights, Nicholas Eversfield Esquior, High Sheriff of our Counties of Surrey and Sussex, Thomas Aynscombe, and Anthony Apsley Esquiors, justices of the Peace within our foresaid County of Sussex: That our said Town of hastings hath been & yet is the ancient Port Town of the Cinque Ports, the which standing & being right over against the Kingdom of France upon the main Sea, hath hėeretofore not only been well inhabited with warlike people that have manfully defended themselves against the sundry invasions & attempts of the Enemy, but also it hath been plentifully furnished with Fishermen & good Mariners, and other serviceable Seamen, and well stored with Shipping, Barks, and Boats for service & for shipping, from whence not only our own Household, and our City of London, with diverse other places from time to time are plentifully furnished with Fish, but also Our Navy Royal upon any occasion is the better appointed, by reason of the skilful Mariner's and cunning Seamen; But the same Town is lately very much decayed & ympoverished for want of a Peer there to secure and defend their shipping in fowl weather, whereby hath happened unto them of late years infinite great losses both of shipping & men, and many Strangers from time to time that sail that way have been & daily are cast away, to the undoing of many our Subjects, and the loss of many good Seamen. For prevention whereof, our poor subjects the Inhabitants of our said Town & Port to their great charge & impoverishing made out a Peéere into the Sea with Timber & Rocks, that their Ships in any storms might ride safe under the Peer, but the cost and charge of making & repairing the same from time to time hath been so great & burdensome, that it hath in a manner undone the said Town, & driven away many of the best & wealthiest men, to seat themselves elsewhere, so that to this day not only the said Peer for want of reparations is fallen down & quite destroyed, but also the said Town that is seated in a place of danger from invasion of Foreign Enemies, which heretofore hath defended itself in many assaults, is now relinquished, and for the most part unpeopled, and the trade of fishing there decayed, all passengers that way distressed & left destitute in stormy & tempestuous weather, and undefended against Pirates & other Enemies. Upon Our Princely consideration whereof, & minding to provide for the preservation of the lives of Our people, the maintenance of shipping, and the continuance of our Towns upon the Sea coast, the increase of Fishermen & Mariners, and that the provision of our Household, our City of London, and Country be not diminished: And taking also into Our Princely consideration, that our said Subjects the poor Inhabitants of Hastings, by reason of their great charge already from time to time bestowed in repairing the said Peer, are not able any longer, howbeit most willing, to contribute thereto, The effecting whereof by the opinion of men experienced in those affairs, will amount unto the Sum of Two Thousand Pounds & upwards, We have thought good aswell upon the humble Petition of the said Inhabitants, as also upon the recommendation of our foresaid right trusty & well-beloved Counsellor, together with the humble request of all our foresaid Justices made unto Us on their behalves, to commend the furtherance of so needful & laudable a work, unto the charitable and serious consideration of all our loving and well-disposed Subjects within certain Counties & Cities of this our Realm hereafter mentioned: Not doubting, but that all good subjects (well weighing with themselves the public good ensuing by this work) will be ready and willing▪ and the rather for our good conmendation héreof) to extend their liberal contributions more than in ordinary Collections, towards the finishing of the said Peer, wherein they will declare their willingness to augment the good and prosperity of this our Realm.  
KNOW Yée therefore, that of Our especial Grace & Princely compassion, we have gíuen & granted, and by these our Letters Patents toe give & grant unto our true & Loyal Subjects the Mayor & Jurats of our said Town of sHastings for the time being, and to every other person or persons that shall be deputed or assigned by them by a Deputation under their common Seal of the said Town, full power, licence, & authority, to ask, gather, receive, and take the Alms and charitable benevolence of all our loving Subjects whatsoever aswell Spiritual as Temporal, English borne, Denizens, and Strangers within our Counties of Southampton, Wiltes, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, with our City of Winchefier, our Isle of Wight, and Town of Southampton, with our Cities of Salisbury, Bristol, Bath, and Wells, and Exeter, with our Town & County of Poole: And in all Towns corporate, privileged places, Parishes, Villages, and in all other places whatsoever within our foresaid Counties, and not elsewhere, for & towards the fortifying, repairing and finishing of the said Peer, and the better and more speedy execution of this Our Royal pleasure.  
WHEREFORE We do by these our Letters Patents will and require all our Sheriffs in their several Shires & Counties, all Justices of Peace in their several Divisions, and all Majors, Bailiffs, and other head Officers within any City▪ Town corporate, or their Jurisdiction; And also all Parsons, Vicars, Ministers, and Curates of Parishes, Churches, & Chapels, not only of their own parts to be helping with their liberal devotion towards the said good & laudable work, but also to recommend our special pleasure, and the furtherance of the repair of the said Peer, in their several Seissons, Cities, Towns, Liberties, Parish Churches, Hamlets, or Villages, for the better obtaining of liberal contribution thereunto. And we will & command all and every the chief Constables of every Hundred, and where no chief Constable shall be, than we require the Justices of Peace or other head Officer of any such place, that at such time & times, as the said Mayor & Jurats for the time being, or any person by them deputed under their common Seal of the said Town, shall come & repair to you or any of you, with these our letters Patents under our great Seal of England, that forthwith upon sight thereof, you receive & take the Briefs or Copies thereof, and them deliver, or cause to be delivered to the Minister or one of the Churchwardens of every Parish within your several Hundreds, limits, or beurds, to be published by the Minister of every such Parish the next Sabbath day after the receipt thereof▪ if with conveniency it may be done) otherwise the next Sabbath day following. And we will & require you the said Parsons, Vicars, and Curates, for the better stirring up of a charitable devotion, deliberately to publish & declare the Tenor of these our Letters Patents or the Brief thereof, within your Parish Churches and Chapels to all our loving Subjects within the time before prefixed, and that when no other Collection shall be made, Exhorting & persuading them to extend their liberal contributions in so good & needful a work. And we require you the Churchwardens of every Parish where such Collections are to be made as aforesaid, that immediately after the publishing of these our Letters Patents, or the Brief thereof, you carefully collect & gather from seat to seat the benevolence of all our loving Subjects, aswell strangers as others, and such as are absent from Church to repair unto their houses for their benevolence, and to set down in writing in a paper Book the name of the Parish, together with the several names & Sums of those which give and contribute in any City, Town, or Hamlet, and the sum total which shall be by you so gathered, to be by the Minister & yourselves endorsed on the Backside of the Brief, in words at length, and not in figures, under your hands: And the said Briefs so endorsed, and the sum or sums of money so gathered, together with the said paper Book, you the Churchwardens of every Parish, or Petty Constables, or other inferior Officers, aswell in every City, Town corporate, privileged places, or elsewhere, shall return unto the Justices of Peace, Head Officers, or chief Constables from whom you received your charge, or to their Successons within Ten days after such Collection made. And you the said Justices of Peace, Head Officers, and chief Constables, to deliver the said Money, Paper Book, & Briefs to our High Sheriff of the same County at the next Quarter Sessions. And you our High Sheriff to deliver, or cause to be delivered the foresaid Money, Paper Books, and Briefs the next Term following after such your receipt unto our trusty & well-beloved Subject Robert Tichborne Citizen & Linen Draper of London, at his house in Cheapside, who upon the receipt thereof, shall give unto our said High Sheriff an Acquittance for his discharge. And you the said Robert Tichborne from time to time upon demand, to deliver unto our foresaid subjects the Mayor & Jurats of Hastings aforesaid, or to their Deputy, or Deputies authorised under their common Seal, all such Sum & Sums of Money, together with the said Paper Books, Briefs, taking from them, or any of them, an Acquittance for the same, whereby it may appear unto Us, that there hath been no default or neglect of this Our Royal pleasure, for the performance of so good and needful a work. Any Stature, Law, Ordinance, or provision heretofore made to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.  
IN witness whereof, we have caused these our Letters to be made Patents for the space of One whole year next after the date hereof to endure.  
Witness ourself at Westminster, the sixteenth day of May, in the eighteen year of our Reign of England, France, and Ireland; and of Scotland the Three and Fiftieth.  oak cluster Steward  
 thistle God save the king   

Printed by Thomas Purfoot.   

Note. It is his Majesty's pleasure, for the better furtherance of this necessary work, (in regard it is a Town Defence, and hath been often assualted by the Enemy) that the Churchwardens of every Parish, shall have a special care in performing of the Collection, according to the intent and true meaning of the Letter Patents, whereof this is a true Brief.