_The Petworth Register_ (Vol. iii., p. 510.; Vol. iv., p. 27.).--Your
correspondents LLEWELLYN and J. S. B. do not appear to be acquainted
with Heylyn's quotations from the book thus designated. In one place (p.
63., folio; vol. i. p. 132., 8vo.) he refers to it for a statement--
"That many at this time [A.D. 1548] affirmed the most blessed
Sacrament of the altar to be of little regard," &c.
And in another place (p. 65., folio; vol. i. p. 136., 8vo.), he gives an
extract relating to Day, Bishop of Chichester:--
"Sed Ricardus Cicestrensis, (ut ipse mihi dixit) non subscripsit."
Hence the _Register_ would seem to have been a sort of chronicle, kept
by the rector of Petworth; and it does not appear whether it was or was
not in the same volume with the register of births, marriages, and
deaths. In the latter case, it may possibly be still in the Petworth
parish chest; for the returns to which your correspondents refer, would
probably not have mentioned any other registers than those of which the
law takes cognizance. On the other hand, if the chronicle was attached
to the register of births, &c., it may have shared the too common fate
of early registers; for, when an order of 1597 directed the clergy to
transcribe on parchment the entries made in the proper registers since
the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, they seem to have generally
interpreted it as a permission to make away with the older registers,
although there _are_ cases in which the proper books are still
preserved. (I am myself acquainted with two in this neighbourhood; and
J. S. B., if I am right in identifying him with the author of the very
curious and valuable _History of Parish Registers_, can no doubt mention
many others.) But how did Heylyn, who collected most of his materials
about 1638, get hold of the book?