than to agree to suche a peace as might to each parte be both profitable and agreeable which would cause it to be of continuāce In this respect the great warrior Hāniball demanded peace of the valiant happy Scipio after this maner It is I Hānibal that do demaund the peace which I would not demaunde if it might not be profitable and hauing obteyned such a one I wil willingly keepe it for the very same profit for the which I required it for to bee shorte a good peace ought not to be made in hast but rather to be digested with meere deliberation loking to none other end than the profite of the common weale And for this cause was it by Tullus Hostilius king of the Romanes saide that the mutual entercourse of commodities was the true band of peace But cōming now to intreat of those three points whiche before I proponed as subiect to this declaration Touching the first whiche is that a prince ought not to take in hand the making of wars against his subiects I set down for a true cōsequēce that a people do neuer die The perticulars or seueral parts of the same do die in deede but they leaue alwayes behind such as do succeede them not only in their inheritāces but also in their quarels passions so as seldome or neuer dieth ther any so very a caytife vnfortunate wretche that leaueth not another yea two or three eyther children brethren parēts or friēds which wil be sorie for his death seeke reuēgemēt of it if it wer violētly procured Wherfore who soeuer hath to do with a people by killing of the perticulars profiteth little bicause they leaue alwais to succede thē such as are as it were maried to their quarels The same is at thys day to be sene by the Gospellers so do I tearm them in stead of Hugonots and catholikes in stead of Papists as did the Lord of Valence in his declaratiō made to the Poloniās for within these .xv yeres what by the warres what by iustice and what by murthers there hath bene done to death more than 200000. and yet for all that there are still so great a number of them as it may seeme there hath not any one dyed There is very apparant reason why it should be so namely for that a people dyeth not bicause the perticulars haue alwayes other perticulars to succede them not onely in their inheritances but also in theyr maners instructions and other conditions But contrarywise the great Princes dye as the late king your brother is deade and many of his best seruitors are deade your selfe also are mortall and your best seruitors be mortall wherthrough it is commonly seene that great mens great deuices vanish away in the smoake bycause that for the moste parte their successours are not of the same humor and will but vse their gouernment farre otherwise the one vndoing what by the other was done In so much as it is sene that ordinarily they pull downe whome their predecessours had set vp Whereof among others master Enguerran of Marigny may be a witnesse which hauing bin in great credite and authoritie in the time of king Philip the faire was by his brother and successor king Lewes Hutin so abased as he therethrough became a poore man without any cause apparant other than for the enuie hate borne to the greatnesse that he had gotten Also the wise Courtiers which will not their liues honors and goods to depend vpon the life of one onely man are accustomed not onely to please him that presently raigneth but also him that is like to succede him For as Pompei said vnto Scilla there be moe that doe worship the sunne rising thā the sunne setting Alexander the great did in his time many wonderful incredible things For with an armie of .30000 Macedons he ouercam Darius the great monarch of al the east leuant in three battels In the first wherof Darius had 300000. mē which was twentie against one In the .2 he had .600000 which was .20 against one And in the third he had a Missiō which was thirtie against one He subdued al the Empire of Darius as the Persians the Medes the Parthians the Armenians the Babylonians with Egypt Palestine and Syria and generally all the lande habitable of Europe and Asi from Macedonie eastwarde vnto India But all those faire conquestes vanished like smoke and in the ende came to nothing for he him selfe died yong and left not successors of like noblenesse and valiācie as he was Whervpon Titus Liuius putteth forth this question If Alexander the great had taken in hande the warres of his time against the Romanes whether he should as easily haue ouercome them as he did Darius he answereth no. For though saith he Alexander was a valiant king and a stout braue warriour yet was he but one in hauing to do with Darius he had to do but with one head Where had he had to do with the Romanes he must haue fought with a number of braue Captaines one after another As Valerius Coruinus Martius Rutilius Caius Sulpicius Manlius Torquatus Publius Philo Papirius Cursor Fabius Maximus Lucius Volumnius the two Decians Marcus Curius and many other which would from hand to hande haue receyued him so as he shoulde haue knowne that they vnderstoode the mysteries of the warres And as concerning Councell Alexander whiche was a yong Prince could haue no better than they that were guided by the heades of a whole Senate The conclusion saith Titus Liuius is That the Macedons had but one Alexander but the Romanes had many captaines which woulde haue matched him of whome euerie one should haue liued and dyed without perill or danger to the state publike Whereas by the death of Alexander the state of his Monarch was rent and torne in peeces The experience of this discourse of Titus Liuius was well seene in the warres that Hanniball had against the Romanes For he was a wise and valiaunt Captaine and knewe as well howe to guide his armie as when to fight Neyther was he ignorant of the stratagemes or policies of warre And in deede he ouerthrew many of the Romane Captaines as Flamminius Paulus Emilius Terencius Varro Marcellus and many other But in the ende he was repulsed by Claudius Nero Fabius Maximus and other and last of all so vtterly ouerthrowne by the great Scipio the Affricane as he founde well that it was no small thing to haue to doe with a people which do dayly breede newe Captaines and men of warre And that wel the perticulars of a people may be vanquished and ouerthrowne but the whole people neuer According to this saying of the philosophers A generall kinde is immortall by reason of the succession of perticulars which succeede one another though euerie perticular in it selfe be mortall And this reason aduiseth a Prince not onely to forbeare to striue with his people but also to shunne the euill will of
number about him and therin surely he did well Neuerthelesse the writers of histories find fault with him in this that he gaue too muche authoritie to his mother Mámea which otherwise had bin a good woman but that shee was not only greedy in gathering of goods from the poore people but also a couetous niggarde towards such as serued the Emperour hir sonne beside the which she was very ambitious aspiring altogether to the gouernement of the affayres euer sorie to see hir sonne so curteous gentle in his gouernemente for where hee was surnamed Seuerus hee tooke that aswell of his predecessor Septimius Seuerus as of his seuere obseruing of warlike discipline but otherwise he was the most affablest and geÌ„tlest prince in the world Neuerthelesse by his yeelding so much authoritie to his mother Mámea he so gate the euill will of hys gentlemen and men of warre as by way of a conspiracie they slew them both togyther Truely it was a spectacle very piteous to see this gentle yong Prince when the conspiratours entred the chamber to kill him runne and cast him selfe betweene the armes of his mother lamentably crying Ah mother mother you are heereof the cause So were they wretchedly flayne the one in the others armes to the greate damage of the Empire for the losse of so good and gentle a prince who in al other things gouerned him selfe aswell as might be possible through the good and wise aduises of such excellent personages as were of his priuie counsell Amongst whome the chiefe was doctor Vlpian a maÌ„ singularly learned in the ciuil law and very well practised in matters of the state and issued of the house and stocke of Alexander whome hee serued as his chanceler This maÌ„ was not an old doterd of a straÌ„ge nation ignorant of the lawes manners and customes of the countrie draweÌ„ out of Vulcans shop to deale with sealing he was one made of another manner of metall But in summe as I sayd the fault of this good Emperour Alexander in giuing his mother too much authoritie cost both him and hir theyr liues And truely that fault of his was not small For Alexander ought to haue considered what hee had learned of Heliogabalus his cosin and predecessor which Heliogabalus gouerning by his mother Semiamira without whose aduise nothing passed touching the common wealth was incontineÌ„tlye despised of all the worlde and after he had raigned not passing three yeeres was by certaine rebels slayne very yong and had his body togither with his sayde mothers drawen through the fylth of the riuer Tiber. And therevpon it was decreed by the Senate that neuer woman should enter into the counsel The gentle King Edward of England the thirde of that name gouerned himselfe farre otherwise He was sonne to Edward the seconde a cruell king that was depriued of his kingdome by his subiects and to the Lady Isabell daughter of Philip the fayre king of France This Lady Isabell Queene of England was the cause that hir sonne was crowned King by the estatâ—… of the Realme and therefore thought he should doe nothing but by hir councell as in very deede he dyd not for a tyme but gaue to hir the chiefe authoritie touching the gouernement of his realme But it happened that this good Queene mother to reuenge hir selfe of certayne of the nobilitie at hir pleasure caused hir sonne to committe certaine cruelties for the whyche hee was misliked and muche blamed of his subiectes Whiche when thys gentle King Edwarde perceiued iudging it best rather to loose the fauour of his mother than of his people he neyther woulde fall into like perill as did Nero and Alexander Seuerus nor yet put his mother to death as Nero did but made hir to be bestowed in a strong howebeit a very faire and pleasant castell of large circuite wherein there were many goodly courtes gardens and walkes inclosed with walles and appoynted hir a good companie of Ladies and gentlewomen with men of worship and honour to serue hir after hir state And bycause she was of the house of France and Queene mother of Englande he assigned hir a sufficient reuenue for the maintenance of hir estate And to honour hir as his mother hee went to visite hir twice or thrice a yeere But neyther woulde he euer suffer hir to passe out of the precinct of the castell nor to meddle any more with the gouernment of the realme And he was muche esteemed as well of strangers as of his subiects for his valiant and manly heart in that he would not submit himselfe vnder the rule of a woman But let vs returne againe to our former matter touching such Princes as haue vndone them selues by making warre against their subiectes The Emperour Vitellius ouerthrewe and made a great slaughter of the Romanes in his battell had against Otho his souldiers seeing so many deade bodyes in the fielde were therefore verie sorowfull but especially for that there was of them few or none that founde not amongst those deade bodies some of their parents friends for they were all Romanes whose death ministred to them muche cause of griefe vpon the which occasion they generally detested those ciuill warres had betweene Vitellius and Otho Vitellius one day walking through the field wher the dead bodies of that ouerthrow lay and seeing some stop their noses did as it were in mockage thereof and as one glad of the slaughter vtter this detestable saying the body of a slaine enimie hath a good sent but the body of a slain citizeÌ„ hath yet a better But not long after that tyrant which found so muche sweetnesse in the sauour of his slaine citizens was him selfe slaine as shamefully as he possibly might be For being taken and bound by suche as conspired against him he was brought into the market place with a halter about his necke all naked from the waste vpward his apparell all to torne and his handes fastned behinde him his chin also being vnderset with a bodkin to make him hold vp his head With which furniture hee was in derision harryed through the streetes not without dirt and filth flung in his face till he came to the coÌ„moÌ„ gibet where he was slaine and cut in peeces lastly cast into Tyber That was the rewarde that he reaped of his pleasure taken in the smel of the dead bodies of his citizens The Emperour Gallien made war against the inhabitants of Bizance his subiectes Bizance was then a goodly florishing citie which was after named Constantinople by Constantine the great This Gallien hauing gotten the possession of this goodly citie the townsmeÌ„ wherof had yelded themselues to his deuotion caused to be slain murthred contrary to his word al the inhabitantes of the same yong and olde without mercie none other escaping than such as he coulde not come by And he vsed like crueltie against many other good towns wherin his maner was to leaue no male vnkilled so bestly a
A DECLARAtion concerning the needfulnesse of peace to be made in Fraunce and the means for the making of the same exhibited to the most Christian king Henrie the second of that name King of Fraunce and Polande vpon two Edictes put forth by his Maiestie the one the tenth of September the other the thirtenth of October Anno. 1574. Translated out of Frenche by G. H. Esquire ¶ Jmprinted at London by Henrie Bynneman for Raufe Newberie dwelling in Fleetstreat a little aboue the Conduit ¶ To the right worshipfull his especiall good father Sir Pearciuall Hart Knight one of the Sewars and Knight Harbinger to hir Maiestie his humble and obedient sonne G. H. wisheth health and long lyfe IT is now Syr long time since I not onely desired but fully determined to testifie the acknowledgement of my dutie towardes you by some peece of my trauell in this present kinde of exercise The bringing whereof to passe although I haue oftē sought by perusing many bookes yet could I not light vpō any to answere my contentment which stood alwayes on the choyce of some such matter as J thought myght best like you vntil there chanced into my hands this little frenche aduertisement The which I had no soner read ouer but by and by there was kindled in me a certaine desirousnesse to take it in hād partly for the argumēt therof which caryeth great cause of likelyhoode to please the reader in generall but chiefly for my perticular purpose to delight you whom I know to haue a special inclination to heare and reade the discourses of the frenche affayres bycause you youre selfe in youre yong dais hauing serued the kings Grandfather Francis of Valoys in his Courte and trauayled that countrey haue had good occasion to be acquainted with the customs thereof and with the nature of the people there And I doubte not but it will like you so much the better for the varietie of foraine histories applyed most aptly to the groūd of the present mater wherwith it is I say not poudered or filled but fraughted Neuerthelesse althoughe my liking of the worke did hale forward my labour to the translating thereof yet I must needes say that after I was somewhat entred thereinto straitwayes there stoode vp such a number of doubts and so huge a heape of imperfections to withstand me as had not my desire to pleasure you preuayled againste all those stoppes and stayes my trauell and deuotion therein had lyen in the dust before my race had halfe bin runne But yet notwithstandyng the reasons aforesayd and the desire I had to do the thing and the delight I tooke in doing it wrought such persuasion and incouragemēt in me and did so keepe me still in breath as I neuer gaue it ouer till J had turned it into Englishe in suche sorte as you my good father may nowe vouchesafe to see to whome J moste humbly present it as a newyeeres gift Therewithall hartely wishing that your earnest zeale towardes all wise worthy and vertuous proceedynges whereof neerenesse in bloud forbiddeth me to speak according either to your desert or to my knowledge desire and duetie may encrease to Gods glory the profit of your countrey And the same God prosper you and all youre doinges and blesse you with manye moe newe yeeres to the contentation of your owne harts desire This first of Ianuary .1575 Your humble and obedient sonne George Harte ¶ The fyrste Edicte the tenth of December of the wil and intent of the most Christian King of France and Poland Henry of Valoys the third of that name HEnry by the grace of God Kyng of France and Poland To all that shall see and reade this present Edict greting The brotherly amitie whyche alwayes hathe bene mutually betweene our late most honorable Lord and brother king Charles whose soule God pardone and vs and the naturall inclination and duetie whiche we haue to the conseruation and quietnesse of thys realme hathe heretofore not only made vs mindfull of the welfare of our sayde late Lorde and brother and of his subiects but also inforced vs to neglect our owne commodities and to participate the care trauell of managing all affayres as wel publike as priuate and as well of wars as of peace in which we haue willingly imployed not only al our means but also our own proper person as appereth by diuers encounters battailes which God by his holy grace hath alwais fauored according to the right equitie of the cause which we defend Whereas notwithstanding it is most certain euident that the losses in that case so happening as wel on the one part as on the other did altogether tend to the diminishing weakning of the forces of the realme Our sayde late brother knowing this had at sundry times assayed to qualifie the sharpnesse of that inconuenience by benignitie and clemencie indeuouring to bryng agayne the hartes of his subiects to their due obedience by gentlenesse and to reconcile their willes to good vnitie and concorde whiche were at oddes before specially the yeere passed when I was his Liefetenant generall before Rochel we following his mind and commandement by the aduice and counsell of Princes Lords notable persons which at that time wer with vs did thē again accept that gētle means of pacification which we thought most meetest as the thing which we specially desired to be firme durable knowing that the most part of the subiects of the realme had sufficiently tried felt proued the miseries calamities which ciuil inwarde war bringeth with it And that was the very cause vpō hope wherof we tooke our iourney into Polande whither the states of the countrey that alittle before had elected vs for their king did call vs wheras if we had thought that the warres shuld haue seased rested so short a time we had not abādoned our said lord brother nor yet the realm But rather we wold haue preferred the conseruatiō defence thereof aboue al aduancemēt or perticular benefite that could touch vs or apertain vnto vs Yet notwithstāding some being seduced by euill councel haue vnder diuers pretēces renued the troubles and entred again into armes Wherby it is come to passe that the realme is immediatly falne into the same malady of whiche it was but newly crept out the means that had bin attēpted for the redresse thereof brought not the fruite that was looked for and desired Nowe for asmuche as it is the duetie of a good king as well as of a good father and pastor to strayne him selfe to the vttermost of his power and to imploy all his doyngs to the benefyte and preseruation of those whome God hathe put vnder hys charge specially at the beginning of hys raigne And seeing that it hath pleased the deuine bountie to call vs to the rule and gouernment of this realme We haue thought good fyrst of all to proue all meanes possible to bryng our subiectes agayne to the righte
suche wise as for the giuing of one blowe he caused three thousand persons to be slaine by his horsemen whome he made to trauerse and runne through the whole assembly of his people Wherevpon his brother Antipas sped him strayght vnto Rome where before Augustus Caesar he accused Archelaus for at that time welneere all the Kings of the world were subiect to the Romane Empire The Iewes also sente from Iudea to Rome fiftie Ambassadours to accuse hym before Augustus and to shewe how vnworthy he was to raigne that had vpon his people committed suche crueltie and that also there was no better curtesie to be loked for at his handes that woulde so soone after the death of his father and immediatly vpō hys entrie commit actes so cruell and vnnaturall In consideration wherof they besought Augustus to gyue them rather Antipas for their king Augustus Caesar tooke knowlege of this matter neuerthelesse for that hee bare some fauour and friendship to Archelaus be confirmed his succession in Iudea Samaria Idumea and assigned Galile to Antipas But therewith hee exhorted Archelaus to the gouerning of him selfe thencefoorth more mildly and gently towards his subiects Archelaus returning into his coūtrey with so good speede at Augustus hande behaued him selfe there more cruelly than before Wherevpon hee was agayne accused at Rome and there condemned by the Senate to whome Augustus had referred the examination of the matter in somuche that all his goodes were confiscate to the Emperour by sentence of the Senate and hee him selfe was banished to Vienna in Dauphine there to ende hys dayes as he miserably did After this iudgement Iudea Samaria and Idumea were ruled by suche gouernours as the Emperour did establishe as by Coponius and Annius Rufus in the raigne of Augustus Caesar and by Valerius Gratus and Pontius Pilate that cruell man whiche iudged our Sauiour to death during the dayes of Tiberius The conclusion is that Archelaus for his warring and ouerrigorous dealing with hys subiectes miserably ended his dayes and was the causer of the alteration of the state of hys countrie Vpon this matter of alteration of states I say by the way that it hath often fallen out and still dothe that when Monarchies haue bin excessiuely corrupted with vice they haue bin changed into common weales and likewise when the common weales haue once bin corrupted they also haue bin changed into Monarchies and kingdomes The example heereof was seene in the nation of the Iewes at whose beginning euen from the tyme of Moyses and Iosua that people was gouerned in the fourme of a Monarchie for those two were as chiefe gouernours one after another Afterwarde in the time of the Iudges was the same state chaunged to the fourme of a common weale for the people were gouerned by a chosen number of auncients except in time of warre when God alwayes raysed vp to them a Captayne which they called their iudge But againe in the dayes of Samuell it altered from a common wealth to a Monarchie at whiche time Saul was chosen king After that in the time of the Machabees it was changed from a Monarchie to a popular state howbeit that to say the truth it was a confused state whiche had no manner of forme of good gouernement and yet afterwarde it returned to the manner of a Monarchie in the raign of Herode the great and was lastly put into the forme of a prouince vnder the Romane Empire Likewise the estate of the Romanes was gouerned as a Monarchie frō the raigne of Romulus till the time of Tarquine the proud whose pride and euill gouernemente was the cause that the same state was changed into the forme of a common wealth In that state the Romanes continued vnto the dayes of Iulius Caesar at which time it was so corrupted with riot auarice ambition whereof the ciuil warres betweene Scilla and Marius and betweene Caesar and Pompei may be a witnesse that it could not but alter and come agayne to a Monarchie Since the which time that great Romane Monarchie hathe bene piteously wasted by the euill gouernmentes of many Emperours And of the wast of the same haue bin erected many common wealthes and great kingdomes as Fraunce Spayne Englande and other greater and smaller Monarchies To bee shorte these chaunges haue bene seene in the state of the Romane Empire in lesse than .1500 yeare France before the time of Iulius Caesar stood in the state of small common wealthes which gouerned themselues apart the one by the other by cōfederations that they had together to reuēge them vpon strangers as the Cantons do at this day But ambition made them bandie and make warre eache agaynste other to proue whiche shoulde be the greatest Of whome when they of Autun had gotten the vpper hand as the stronger those of Sequanois their neighbours feeling them selues the weaker called the Almaines to their succors against them of Autun The Almaines comming downe vnder the conduct of Arionistus serued them and occupied a good part of the countrie Sequanois for their wages They of Autun on the other syde demanded succor of the Romanes wherevppon Caesar came into France and vnder the colour to succour them of Autun and to chace Arionistus from the countrie that he occupied he wonne to himselfe the whole countrie of France So as it may truely be sayd that that change of the Frenche state happened through the diuision that then was in Frāce without the which deuision Caesar had neuer vanquished them what Caesar soeuer he had bin And truely we see by the histories that alwayes till then the Frenchmen had well canuassed the Romanes yea and taken and burned Rome In somuch that as sayth Salust the Romanes so feared them that alwayes when they hearde the Frenche to be in armes yong and old priestes and lay-men none excepted or excused amongst thē were commaunded to arme them Yea they would openly confesse that against all other nations they warred for the gaining of honor and glory but ageinst the French men for the preseruation of their liues But Caesar finding them in deuision added oyle to the flame of their furie partly by whiche policie and partly by his valiancie he set vppon them and ouercame them changed their state from sundry common wealthes to one only Monarchie Yea thus muche more hee did that as with the Romane power he vāquished the Frenchmen so with the French mens money he obteyned the Romane Empire another very good policie for with the money that he gate in Fraunce he corrupted the chiefe of Rome through the fauour of whome he was chosen Dictatour perpetual which is as much to say as Monarch of the Romanes So was the Realme of France by Caesar vnited to the Romane Empire from the whiche they often after soughte to cutte them selues off as in the ende they did In the tyme of the Emperour Tiberius one Iulius Sacrouir of Autun made parte of Fraunce to reuolt raysing certayne small
assemblies secretely in the Townes and exhorting the people no longer to suffer neyther the continuaunce of the tributes wherewith the Emperour oppressed them nor the pride and crueltie wherewith the Magistrates sente thyther from Rome ouerburdened them Also they reuolted vnder the Emperour Nero as well for his greate crueltie as for his ouercharging them wyth greate paymentes of money by mee before spoken of Lykewise vnder the Emperour Gallien for hys greate riot and whoredome as before I haue touched For the Frenchmen sayeth Pollio were in those dayes of suche disposition as they coulde not abide a vicious Prince And agayne after they reuolted from the Emperoures Probus Dioclesian and others tyll they hadde quite cut off them selues agayne from the Empyre and politiquely broughte their countrie into a self settled Monarchie the which the Lord long mayntayne Who soeuer woulde take vppon him the discouering of the infinite number of examples whiche touche the alterations that haue happened in publique estates from Monarchies into common weales and from common weales into Monarchies when corruption hadde once caughte them shoulde neuer make an ende but to mee it suffiseth to haue touched these fewe to the ende that youre Maiestie by youre wisedome myghte prouide that the corruptions whiche are nowe crept into France and are dayly like to creepe further bring not with them a change to the state which God forbid For truely there is nothing that more foresheweth the alteration of an estate than when corruption is seene to spread ouer farre into it I knowe well that men can not be without faultes neyther can Monarchies nor common wealthes bee so gouerned as there may not in the gouernement be found matter of reproofe but when al things in the fame are to be seene turned the vpside downe when vice is made vertue and vertue made vice when good men are hated and euill men aduanced in summe whē corruption hath recouered the highest degree that it may reache to then may it well bee sayd according as men do see continually that an exchange of state approcheth Wherwithall is to be noted that by the ordinarie course of worldly things no one state can endure for euer And syr seeing that your kingdome hath endured this twelue hundreth yeeres and more you ought so muche the rather to feare least in the state thereof some alteration shoulde happen And if in Iulius Caesars time the strangers drawen into Fraunce coulde fynde the way to winne the same it is not to bee doubted but if it may lye in their power they will nowe doe the lyke The Frenchmen when they sawe the euill dealing of Caesar repented their calling him into Fraunce but then it was too late Let vs therefore in tyme bee warned by the harmes of our auncestours so to prouide for our safeties as we be not ouertaken as were the Troyans whiche became wise but not til after such time as they were vtterly ouerthrowen The seconde point HItherto I haue I thinke sufficientlye spoken of the firste poynte of my treatie that is to saye that a Prince shall not fynde profitable his making of warres agaynste his subiects It foloweth now that I come to say somewhat of the seconde whiche entreateth of those miseries that ciuill warres do engender and the profit that a good peace might bryng to youre Crowne and poore Subiects Of the calamities that from ciuil warres do proceede we neede not to make any long discourse eache seeing and feeling the same in a thousand sortes of afflictions touchyng their persons losse of goodes and deathe of parents and friends and each knoweth that hath any iudgemente the mischiefes thereof to be such as wil if they continue bring the realme to vtter destruction For ther is none that seeth what we see and knoweth what wee knowe but may thinke that the ciuill warres enduring it will happē vnto France as it happened to the two fighting Frogges whiche when they had fought till they were weery were by the Kyte that came to parte them in eache foote one carried away And it is not to bee doubted but the straungers whiche to that warre encouraged vs are as gladde to see vs togither by the eares as was the Kyte soaring ouer the Frogges to see them fyght whose fyghting he meant to make a furderaunce to his pray as they hope ours shall one daye bee to theirs when wee shall bee vnable any longer to mayntayne warres And therefore it is that some on the one syde and some on the other to the proceeding on both sydes gyue so great encouragemente Ah Syr sayth one will you lose the glorious title of most Christian King heeretofore gotten by youre auncestours through their maineteyning of the Romane Churche Will you sir cryeth another suffer your Subiectes to prescribe lawes vnto you and to bring into youre Realme a newe Religion maugre youre will will not you perfourme the agreemēt of the holy league whiche is to abolishe whatsoeuer in fayth is contrary to the holy Church of Rome The Frenchmen haue aforetime had this honor to haue often passed the mountaynes and to haue made beyonde the seas many iourneyes for the defence of the catholique religion holy sea of Rome and must they now lose that glory Philip August king of France ouerthrew the Albegeois his subiects made of thē a great slauter for that they would haue intruded into their countrey a new kinde of Religion which by the executiō was put away abolished Why folow you not then the exāple of the good king your predecessour These such other proper deuises put forth by the Spanyards Popes Pencionaries to encourage you to the setting on fire the foure corners yea and middle parte of your Realme But in the meane season none dothe saye vnto you Sir you spyll and vtterly spoyle youre Realme in making warre against your subiects whych kind of warre no Prince did euer finde profytable There is none that sayth vnto you Sir you bring your selfe in hatred of youre neighbours the Almaines Englishmen Scots and Flemings from whom in time of neede more amitie might be drawen than may eyther from the Italians or Spaniardes None dare to you say Sir this cause of religion is not yet so broughte out of doubte that the gospellers be vanquished in the error of their fayth for they presented themselues at Poissi in the time of your late brother to mainteine the poyntes of their Religion but my maisters the Prelates were as then at no leysure to confute them so that whether in fayth they erre or not is as yet vndetermined And therefore you shoulde not be so greatly moued as to execute them before they were condemned And touchyng the councell of Trent they say it is as it were a determined sentence giuen of a selfwil and that they ought neuerthelesse to be hearde at the least in purging themselues of stubborne dealing as in deede they may well doe Besides this there are that beate downe the sayd
bare to their vsuries wherevppon they yet vse this prouerbe when any is noted for a great vsurer He is in vsury a very Iewe. Vpon the whiche occasion also the Italians heeretofore called Lombards whiche with their great vsuries did robbe as still they do the realme of the treasure haue bin chased out of Fraunce In the best townes whereof yea and that in the very harte of the same where diuers streetes and places yet beare the names of Iewries the Iewes shuld now dwell at their ease as well as euer they did were there none other matter to let them than their onely religion whiche though it bee muche contrary to that of the Catholiques was neuer the cause of their chasing out of Fraunce where before their expulsemente they hadde dwelte many hundred yeeres Neyther can it bee denied that the Paynims Religion is cleane contrary to that of the Catholiques and yet haue diueâ—s Paynim Emperours suffered as many as wold to become Christians vnder them as Nerua Anthonius Pius and Alexander Seuerus Traian also did secretly suffer them likewise to do withoute any search made after them And those Emperours dyd not so in respecte of any good thyng they founde in the Christian Religion the professors whereof they beleeued to be the wickeddest people in the worlde in somuche as among the Paynim people the only name of Christian was detested and abhorred witnesse heereof Suetonius whych called the Christians men of a newe and malitious superstition And Tacitus sayd that the people vsed the name of Christian as a matter of mockery and derision the professours whereof were hated bycause of their wickednesse Wherein Suetonius and Tacitus shewed them selues good courtiers taking pleasure with lying to please the princes and the people Pliny the seconde though hee was a Painim as they were and lyued in their time durst not lye so impudently but of the liues of the Christians to the Emperour Traian rendred a good testimonie as in his Epistles is to bee seene Seeyng then the Painim Emperoures had so euill opinion of the christians wherefore suffered he them to be Christened Euen for the benefyte of peace The Emperours Dioclesian and Maximian did greatly persecute the Christians and that of purpose to roote them out in whyche persecution they did to deathe an infinite number but when they sawe theyr crueltie nothyng to paruayle but that for euery one they kilde ten other encreased Maximian at the last suffered who so woulde to become Christened and to exercise that Religion As much myghte bee sayde of the Christian Emperours which did as well detest the Painims Religion as dyd the Painims that of the Chrystians yet woulde they neuer take vppon them she constraint of their consciences but suffered to continue Painims as many as woulde The Historiographer Marcellinus witnesseth that the Emperoure Valentinian whyche was a Christian vsed not to molest any person for matters of Religion nor euer commaunded that any shoulde worship eyther this or that with one fashion or other Likewise also the Emperours Honorius and Theodosius whyche were Christians woulde not that the Painims should be forced to be Christened but caused an expresse lawe to bee made that none should offende them eyther in their persons or their goods vnder the pretence of Religion If then the Christians haue suffered the Painims Religion and the Painims haue likewise suffered the Religion of the Christians Wherefore to winne peace will not the Catholiques suffer that Religion of the Gospellers Those two religions haue bin seene sir to dwel peaceably togither within your realme of Poland as also in many towns of Almaine and wherefore should they not as well dwell peaceably togyther in Fraunce Are the French men more hard to be tamed more disobediente or more barbarous and fierce than other nations It appeareth cleane contrary For vpon the Edict of Ianuary the Catholiques were not greeued at all to see the Gospellers vse the exercise of their religion though it were somewhat newe vnto them but liued the one with the other togither in good peace wherein also they had till this time continued if the vnhappy execution of Vassi which was the welspring of all our warres and of all the miseries and mischiefes which we haue since that time suffered or yet doe suffer had not happened I will not denie but the warres and acts of hostilitie passed betweene the one the other haue bredde in the hartes of men hautie minds euil dispositioÌ„s which may be som cause that the Catholiques will now more hardly thaÌ„ in the beginning suffer to come so neere them the exercise of the Religion and the rather for that many esteeme the same Religion to bee the cause of all the sayde miseries and mischiefes whiche they feare would exceede if it shoulde againe be reestablished in Fraunce Wherevnto I answere that the people of any good iudgemeÌ„t are not of that opinion as those that well knowe and it is in deede most true that the ambition of some with the desire they haue to commaunde and their greedinesse by the robberie of other to enrich them selues haue bene and are the only causes of our troubles and that there the name of Religion hath bene vsed but as a cloake or a curtaine to couer those pretences For some say they wyll not suffer in Fraunce any other religion thaÌ„ the Catholike as the most auncient and that hath bene receiued from time out of mynde since the time of great king Clouis and other some say they will folowe the religion refourmed that was not only before Clouis but also before the realme of Fraunce and that they ought not in their consciences to be forced vpon the which controuersie these ciuill warres haue bene builded but the chiefe aduauncers of the cause haue had in their hartes another maner of zeale than of religion as men of iudgement haue well perceyued the common people which iudge all things rashly for that they esteeme religion to be the cause of our warres and calamities stande in feare that it taking place the olde woundes woulde breake out and bleede againe This vulgar opinion is not much to be passed on bycause it always readily rangeth to the strongest parte But for myne owne part I beleeue that the best part of nobilitie of the commonaltie yea of the cleargie for the obtayning of peace would easily consent that the Gospel should freely be stablished in Fraunce till such time as God to whome onely the clearing of mans heart by the light of his truth appertayneth myght knit vs all in one kynde of religion whiche we are to hope that he who is the father of knowledge and discouerer of all things will doe after men shall awhyle haue reposed them from the ciuill warres and cast quite off thâ—… stoutnesse and hatred whiche nowe blindeth their iudgementes There is at this present no order bycause each to the side be standeth on sticketh fast each 〈◊〉 saith to him selfe my
was al one as if they them selues had made them When the Emperour Iustinian collected the ciuill lawes into certayne volumes which he called Code è digeste generally vsed at this day he coÌ„mitted the doing thereof to Tribonian Theophile Dorothe and other notable lawyers for him selfe vnderstoode nothing thereof as witnesse the Historiographers that saye he coulde not reade so is it very certaine that hee neuer vnderstoode the thousande part of these matters contayned in the saide Code è digeste Yet were those bookes neuerthelesse by hym aucthorised in his allowing of that whiche his commissioners by his commaundement did And it was neuer fayde that those Romane people had done any derogation to their souereigntie in their authorising of those ten persons to the composing of those twelue tables nor that the Emperour Iustinian nor youre predecessours did any whit derogate their soueraigne authoritie by deputing commissioners to make lawes and ordinaunces that passed vnder their princes names and commaundementes who as it appeareth alowed of what their deputies so by their commissions had done Wherefore me thinkes the saying may be holden for voyde that youre maiestie may not make an Edict of peace by commissioners withoute any derogation to youre royall authoritie or soueraigntie No more shall be any thing againste the same youre giuing to the Gospellers the nomination of the sayde number of persons whereout your maiestie to choose the moytie for the ioyning with the like number by your selfe to be named and chosen as legates or deputies for the bringing to passe of thys good worke Your predecessors haue giuen the nomination to two or three persons of their courtes of Parliaments whom they would to choose for them meete men to supplye the offices of Presidentships counsellours roomes that were void in the said courtes as they haue also done to Maiors Consuls Shireses and other like officers of Townes for the choosing of vnder Baylifes vnder stewardes other like petie officers yet hath it neuer the more bin said that your saide predecessors in graunting the saide nominations to theyr subiects haue taken ought from their authoritie royall which lieth asmuche in creatyng of magistrates as in making of lawes as any man of iudgemente maye both see and vnderstand The Pope whiche saieth hymselfe to haue full power ouer the giftes of benefices leaueth the nomination of the incumbent not to two or three but to one not to princes but to perticular persons whiche commonly in benefiers haue the right of nomination and the presenting of such persons to the same as to theÌ„ semeth good without reseruatioÌ„ to the said Pope of any election but only the institution and if by suffering of the same he thought any whit to derogate the soueraigne power and authoritie whiche he hath ouer the said benefites he woulde not I warrant you permit any such nomination So may it playnely be seene to youre maiestie that your authoritie royall shall no whit bee deminished by the graunting of your good fauour to the gospellers in the sayd nomination Withall is to be considered that it were a thing vnreasonable with youre fauour that all the sayd Commissioners shoulde be Catholiques for by the ordinaÌ„ce of the kings your predecessours by all the fourme of iustice here and else where and by the lawes deuine naturall and ciuil it is lawfull for the partie to accuse his iudge suspect be it in matter criminal or ciuil And a iudge may be holden for suspect not only if he be of kinred alied or Gossip a friende to the partie adurrse but also if he be enemie to the partie that refuseth him or if hee or any of hys kinne haue any interest little or much in the cause yea if he haue at any time shewed hym selfe more affectionate on the one syde than on the other as he may also in diuers other lesse causes of refusall And who is he that seeth not that there is neuer a Catholique in Fraunce against whome these poore gospellers cannot alledge not one but many and sundry causes of recusation And if it be thought tollerable to holde a iudge for suspect and vpoÌ„ that suspition to refuse him in matters of mean weyght ought he not then to be refused wheÌ„ he shal haue to deale with conscience honor landes goodes wiues children and life And it ought not to seeme straunge that I said it should be meere that the said peace by the said commissioners were entreated of without the Realme for there be many reasons that require the same Fyrst for that it is better as sayeth Master Philip de Comines a man wel experimented in the affaires of an estate it shoulde be done farre off than meere and that for diuers considerations namely for the keepyng close of that whyche shall from tyme to time be agreed vpon till all be concluded and finished For as in a paynted table he that veweth the first draught shall finde in the same little or nothyng to hys contentment yet after the whole work beeing perfited doth please him very well Euen â—o if during the time of the treatie and before the conclusion of all thynges therein to be argued some peece thereof agreed vppon shoulde bee published many were lyke ynough to gaynesay and controll that peace that vpon the sight or bearing of the hole resolution woulde fynde good cause of contentment bycause that he which is not satisfyed in one poynte may be satisfyed in another And as the Doctors of the lawe say it standeth not with good reason that any should iudge of a lawe or of an Edict without hauing redde the same from the one ende to the other And as it were a thing very hard to decide or deale with any thyng within the Realme that should not incontinent be deuulged â–ª so the reprehensions and sclaunders that would follow suche diuulgation might be an infallible cause that nothyng shoulde bee done but that entended good worke broken off and laide aside Besyde that there is no place within youre Realme but is suspected of the one syde or of the other For the Catholiques will not goe to Nismes nor to Rochell and the Gospellers will bee as vnwilling to come at Paris Lions Tholosa or other like place so that for the doing thereof such a place is to be chosen as may be sure and free for al that shall there in haue to doe And therefore it was that in times past when they woulde holde any councill for the examining of any newe doctrine newly come abroade for place where the councell shoulde be holden was chosen within the prouince where suche doctrine was abroade or else in some other such place neere therevnto as was both sure and commodious Therefore was it also that by the ordinaunce of your predecessors no inquest mighte be taken nor any iustice proceede in a place by any of the parties holden suspected as in the house of the kinsman ally or speciall friend to him that caused the inquest to be enpauelled but