him odious to his people and in the mean time fleece the poor miserable Subjects Therefore let every Officer provide himself to render an Account of his Administration to the People who are to give in Information to the King every ten yeares where they have been honestly dealt with and where not All False Witnesses also of whom the World is so full must likewise be severely punished and there must be care taken also that the Atturnies of the Exchequer may not force men by threatning words and sometimes by blowes too to be Witnesses for them But the best Course would be that the Law of Retaliation should be in force that the Complainant that makes not good his Accusation should suffer the same punishment that the other should have done if found guilty because that now adaies there are more Calumnies brought into Courts then Just Accusations And therefore any Lawyer that shall be found to have suborned any such Witnesse or any Judge that shall be proved to have taken any Bribe to pervert the Lawes should be debarred for ever after either from pleading at any Bar or giving sentence in any Court The King must also take care that Judges give sentence alwaies according to the Lawes and not according as Policy of State as they use to speak shall require and afterward either the King himself or his Viceroy or any other of the Kings Ministers may mitigate the Rigour of the Law as they shall see cause provided it be not in Case of High Treason that by this meanes they may gain the more upon the Peoples Affections And that untoward Custome is to be rooted out of the minds of Ordinary Judges which yet hath taken deeper root in the minds of the Superiour Judges also namely that although they know an accused person to be Innocent yet they will condemn him though it be in a matter of no Moment to the end that the fault may at last light upon Him after the businesse hath been a good while depending under the Judge that so as they use to say there may seem to have been Pregnant Reasons for the long depending of the Cause Whereas they should be so far from aggravating any fault as that they should rather lessen it as much as may be and so they should endeavour the rather to be really Just then to get an Opinion of being so to the great detriment of the People and also of the King himself who through the wickednesse of these Unjust Judges who are hated both by God and Himself is deprived of the Love and Affections of his People which is the main Prop of His Affaires and besides Good Men having lost their reputation desire to change their present state for a better as we see it usually comes to passe And no people have opportunity of offending more dangerously and closely then your Inferiour Officers have and besides these men the more in favour they are with the Prince the more grievously are they wont to aggravate mens crimes And therefore in this case there ought to be certain Commissaries at all times deputed and the same also to be maintained at the Charge of the said Ministers who shall yearly also lay down a certain summe of Mony to be kept in some Common place for the charges of the next Commissaries the following year that by these their Books of Accounts may be examined during the time of their being in Office or afterwards also if need be For by reason of the Corruption of these Inferiour Officers whole Provinces have many times heretofore fallen off from the Roman Empire especially when they have been found to be too ambitious and active in squeezing the Subjects either for the enriching of the Publick Treasury or else for the filling of their own private Coffers And for this reason it was that the Parthians having killed Crassus filled his mouth full of Melted Gold as a certain Spanish Grandee was also served by some Indians in the New World And certainly Covetousnesse and an open barefaced Desire of Gold was the reason that the Affaires of the Spaniards succeeded so ill in the New World into which at first they had so miraculous an Entrancâ— and that the other Nations there perceiving that humour in them stood upon their guard as well as they could against the Spaniard whose Government notwithstanding before they had not refused The same manner of proceeding also in the Netherlands was the cause of the ruining of the Spanish Affaires there Let all Criminal Causes in times of Peace be protracted as much as may be For No delay about the death of any man can ever be too long but this must not be in times of War As for Civil Causes they ought all to be without any demurring or delay heard and determined CHAP. XIV Of the Barons and Nobility of the Spanish Monarchy THe King of Spain to the end that so vast a Monarchy may not fall to decay hath need of such men as are excellent both for Learning and the practise of Armes whom He ought to reward afterwards with Baronies that so being from thenceforth made sharers as it were of the said Monarchy they may to their utmost power endeavour to maintain and make good the same to their Prince Which Baronies notwithstanding when they once fall into the hands of Unworthy persons are the cause of much mischief And they do fall into such hands when they come to be bestowed either upon Buffoons or perhaps such Exchequer Men as have found out new waies of oppressing the Subject or else when they have been conferred at first upon Wise and Valiant men whose Successors for all that may have proved to be Mean Inconsiderable persons or are else riotous and proud and such as laying aside all thought of their Ancestors Virtue take the full enjoyment only of that they have left them and having no worth of their own can onely boast of the Nobility of their Ancestors And hence it is that the King is in want so much of Persons of Worth whilest the number of such Uselesse Drones encreaseth in the Kingdom The Great Tuâ—k that he may prevent the latter of these Mischiefs putting by all such as are bottom'd only upon Others Nobility takes notice of such onely as are Eminent for some worth of their own Neither doth he suffer any son to succeed in the Estate or Goods of his Father by Right of Inheritance but he is to receive the same at his hands as a reward of his Service if so be he deserve it But in case he do not he must then serve him either in some Ignoble Art or else in some inferiour Office in his Wars The Former of these Inconveniences any King of Spain may prevent if he but confer these rewards upon such onely as are deserving Persons but the Remedy of the Second which is practised by the Turks cannot be made use of among Christians Onely let him be sure that many of these Baronies
most Idle and Vile persons who after they have once gotten themselves Wives do then by their crafty Wiles oppresse poor men and begin to spread abroad the Poyson of their Wickednesse far and near And for this reason it was that Bishops have oftentimes forbidden those Prelats that have been under their Jurisdiction the use of a Numerous Retinue though here there was no great need of any such Interdiction For although that such Servants of Prelates are not in truth Honest and Good men yet are they forced at least to appear such in those places and so they give the lesse Scandal to the World Wherefore the King ought to endeavour to introduce an Equality by restraining all Numerous Retinues Let Him moreover indulge the Common People so much as that for the space of whole ten years they shall pay onely the one half of their Taxes and for the other half let Him exact the payment of it at the hands of the Barons and others that are Artificers I would also have those Lawes and Arts spoken of before where I treated of the Barons and Usurers to be brought into use But for as much as the Spaniards are hated by all Nations the best Course would be that the King should endeavour to reconcile them to the Spaniard by intermarrying with them and also by erecting such Military Seminaries into which should be admitted indifferently and be there maintained Souldiers of all other Nations For by this means the King shall have both a more Copious and also a better Tempered and more Generous Army as we see Chestnut Graffes when they are set upon other stocks bring forth the better fruit And this very course God himself is wont to take who that He may render all Mankind the more Noble uses to transplant the People of the Northern Parts and to remove them into the more Southern which He also does for some other causes which yet are all save one or two unknown to us After this let the King of Spain so order his affairs as that not only his subjects may live together in mutual love amongst themselves but also that He himself may be beloved by them which thing he may easily effect by Enacting Profitable Lawes by encreasing the number of his subjects by remitting their Taxes and Impositions by bringing in an Equality amongst them and lastly by not omitting even those things also of which We spoke before And because that nothing is so destructive to a Prince as the stirring up of the subjects Hate against Himself whence it is for the most part that Conspiracies and Treasons are plotted against both Prince and State it would be very well if all the subjects were of the same Religion that the Prince is of for nothing in the World doth more set men at Variance then Diversity of Religion And this the King of France hath found to be true by his own sad Experience But it is here necessary that the Prince should shun those two Extreams to wit Hypocrisie â—ud Superstition God is Truth and will be worshipped in Truth and with a Clear upright mind Let our Prince therefore be sure that he approve himself to be a Pious and Religious Prince without Hypocrisie by which Tiberius Caesar did himself much wrong and without any apparent softnesse or Effeminatenesse But nothing more commends a Prince to his People then to be furnished both with Domestick and Military Vertues which are sufficient to engage all his subjects of all Ranks and Conditions whatsoever to be faithful to Him for these are the Foundation and Groundwork of all Principalities For as the Elements and all Bodies compounded of them do without any Reluctancy obey the Motions of the Celestial Bodies by reason of their Ingenit Excellencie of Nature and in the Revolutions of the Celestial Orbes themselves the Inferiour follow the Motion of the Superiour in like manner do all men willingly submit and yeeld themselves up to such a Prince in whom they find all Eminent Vertues shining forth For this is an Impression of Nature imprinted on all that no Inferiours refuse to yeeld Obedience to those that are above or better then themselves For it is received by the Eternal Law of Nature that Inferiours should obey their Superiours And it is the Bond of Faith saith Livy to obey our betters Andâ— Our Superiours Commands are to be obeyed saith another Author And Aâ—istotle sayes that Natural Reason requires that those that do excel in Wit and Iudgment should govern those that are not so excellent therein When any Prince therefore is Eminent for Vertue it gains Him the Love of his People especially if he shall but make it appear to them that He loves them with a Fatherly Love admitting them to come into his presence and to discourse with Him and withall looking into the Accounts of His Inferiour Ministers and alwayes more readily lending an ear to the Poor then to the Rich and besides if He pardon all Offenders and bestow all Rewards Himself but inflict punishments on Malefactors by his Ministers and also if He suppresse Usurers and those Mercenary Barons spoken of before and shew Himself clear from all Wicked Acts whatsoever and withall render Himself worthy to be reverenced for his Religion by having Godly Counsellors about Him and winning to himself a holy love from all by reason of the most strict Tye that is between Him and the Pope and the Holy Church And let Him in all things Propose for Examples for Him to follow David Constantine Theodosius Trajan Augustus Martianus Charles the Great all which being endowed with the forementioned Vertues aâ—d with Sciences raigned more happily then Iulian Frederick Henry Tiberius Nero and Philip Surnamed the Faire who spent his time in a quite contrary course to what Charles the Great did Besides I would have Him to invite his Subjects by honours and Rewards to an Emulation of Vertue and Sciences and an Endeavour to excel each other herein by which means there would be New Sciences invented Gaming also would be of good use in Spain and would serve to divert the Common People from prying over-curiously into Affairs of State or else it would necessitate those that have lost all their Estates that way to turn Souldiers But yet seeing that this breaking of one another is the cause of Extortion Covetousnesse Hatred of their fellow Subjects and of the love of Mony this Gaming seems in the end to bring more damage to the State then benefit And therefore I conceive it were better that there were some Sports of Recreation devised for his Subjects of Spain to try Masteries in and some Velitations and Innocent Contentions in some Arts or Sciences but for his Forraign subjects abroad they should use Gaming either at Cards or Dice which they should be put upon by the Leiger Ambassadours there that so by this means they may become Broken and Heartlesse through Idlenesse and want of Exercise I would also have some Mathematical
means of the Bishops though under some other name And yet even then He should have forborn to have imposed any Taxes upon them that so it might appear to all the world that nothing but their own Welfare and Good was sought after by Religion and not the Kings Advantage and Benefit onely There should also have been set over them such Governours as were chosen either out of the Germans or Italians seeing they naturally abhor a Spaniard and these indeed should be employed only in the keeping of Cities but not be made Governours of them for they are too Severe and Ceremonious whereas the Dutch should have such Governours set over them as are more Remisse and Easie. To these Errours were added others that were committed in the Managing of the War for the King himself who was very much beloved of them as being descended of German Blood yet never went himself in person to the War but sent in his stead Spanish Commanders who were cruel by nature and withal extreamly hateful to the Dutch being such as in their Commands would make use of Blowes rather then of Fair Words And the truth of this appeared in that they desired to have one of the House of Austriâ— to be their Head and therefore made choyce of Matthias the Arch-Duke After him they chose one that was neâ—rer unto them namely Francis the King of France his son who yet having afterwards laid a plot so as that upon a certain day appointed he would have entered into the City of Antwerp upon a sudden with all his Horse whilest the Citizens dreamt of no such thing and would by this meanes have made himself Master of it but in the mean time having before-hand laid no foundation for this his design neither by way of Religion nor Policy He was in an instant driven out again by the Tradesmen and Merchants and that not onely with the losse of his Reputation and Principality but so great was the Tumult that He had like to have lost his life in it too And although Margaret Arch-Duchesse of Austria was made Governesse of these Provinces for one while and ruled there indeed with the Love and good Will of the Subjects yet could She not by any means reduce the same into a due Obedience because that Heresie had now taken so deep root amongst them and that the People had besides a suspition that She had a Design of reducing them and bringing them again under the Obedience of the Spanish Scepter and this was the Pretense under which the Ringleaders of that Sedition amongst them covered their desire of Principality and Liberty which they so greedily thirsted after And yet afterwards God himself shewed a way by which these people might have been subdued seeing that they were so divided by their several Sects into divers parts some of them standing for dull Luther others for subtile Calvin and some again for dissolute Zuinglius and Mennon in so much that you can hardly find a house amongst them wherein these different Heresies are not maintained neither are we wanting to our selves in any thing save only that we have not the skill to lay hold on so wished an Opportunity as this is and to make the best use of it For every Kingdom that is divided within it self shall be destroyed and a firm Union hath alwaies a very hard Knot to â—ye Notwithstanding we have not yet succeeded all this while not because the Enemy doth do us any harm but because we annoy them For it is certain that by reason of their differences in Religion they dare not one of them so much trust another as to joyn together in the Election of a General for their Wars so that if ever any where it may be truly said here that Quot capita tot sententiae so may Men so many minds I would be understood to speak here in reference to their Making of Warres abroad for the enlarging of their Dominions For they are every one of them so Jealous as that they cannot believe but that should they proceed to the chusing of such a General to be over them He would presently take upon himself the Authority to extirpate all such Sects of Religion as are different from that which He professeth and it would be the general fear of them all that such a one would usurp an Absolute Power over them And therefore we see that the successes which they have had in their Wars under the Conduct of Count Maurice have yet heartned them so far onely as to enter into a League amongst themselves of maintaining a Defensive War but not of an Offensive And then in the last place there be many other mischiefs that lye in the way to hinder the Spaniards from compassing the Dominion of these Provinces The First whereof is because they are to fight with an Enemy in his own Country to whom both the Nature and Site of the Country and also the Temper of the Air are very agreeable all which are most contrary to the temper of the Spaniard The Second isâ— because that this Nation understandeth very well how great Inconveniences do arise unto them by this their War with the Spaniard and therefore it is not without good cause that they do so hate the Spaniards who are the Authors of this War and certainly to them Pax una triumphis Innumeris potior A Firm Peace once settled betwixt them would be infinitely more Advantageous then all the Victories they shall get be they never so many A Third is because that the Spaniards being now as it were mad that the Netherlanders have been able to hold them play now for so many years together should they but once get the better of them They would questionlesse make a horrible slaughter amongst them seeing that They do now at this time miserably afflict what Towns soever they take in punishing the Inhabitants most grievously A Fourth Hinderance of the Spaniards Successe herein is because that the Spanish Commanders fight onely so as that they may have still Occasion to fight and not that they may get the Victory by this means making as it were a Trade of War which should be used rather as a Means not only of Defending but also of Enlarging their Dominions And the very same is the Practise of the Commanders of the other side also for even Count Maurice himself to the end that He may the longer keep that Power he hath in his hands and that conquering the Country by degrees he may at length get into his power the whole Principality of it protracts the War and spins it out as long as he can and His footsteps do the rest of the Officers and Commanders diligently follow Now the Spanish Commanders prolong the War that so their Pay as well as their Authority may also be prolonged and take the same course here that Charles Spinola took when he was sent into Abruzzo against Mark Sciarra with whom he dallied only and had no desire
day who are so distracted and divided by several Heresies that the Assyrians were of old to the Iewes who by faction were divided into the Kingdomes of Iudah and Israel except the Good Angell of Spain afford us his assistance as I have elsewhere shewed CHAP. III. Of the First Cause of Empires namely God IT is very evident that neither Prudence alone nor yet joyned with Occasion is sufficient for the attaining to or governing a Kingdome for as much as we know that the Freedom of the Will consists only in the Will it self and not either in Action or Passion For it may so fall out that a man may over night purpose the next morning to go to Sea or to study or to go to plow or to do any other businesse and yet upon a sudden the falling of Rain or unexpected tempestuous and foul weather may crosse that so wise counsel of his so that he must be forced to do not according to his own determination but according as matters shall fall out So that he that knowes how so to order his Counsels and Determinations as that they shall alwaies be subordinate to the Superiour Causes his affaires shall seldom fail of succeeding prosperously Wisemen therefore make it their businesse to labour after the knowledge of these Superiour Causes of God and His Divine Will on which the whole Chain and Series of future things depends And hence it is that some have sought for God in the Stars who hath also answered some by the Stars as namely the Magi or Wisemen at our Saviours Nativity And perhaps a Rainy Morning may have done no hurt at all to this or that Astrologer because they foresaw this Rain and so probably ordered their affaires accordingly having regard to the Will of God herein who out of his singular goodnesse will be found there where we seek him with a sincere heart Nay when the businesse so requires he answereth even those that do not seek him with a sincere heart as we see in Balaam whom he answer'd perhaps when he was not askt And so likewise in King Saul who was informed by Samuel what the Event of things should be though he had by Witchcraft consulted the Divel and not Samuel as Tho Aquinas also is of opinion in his 2.2 4.140 And therefore we also ought to believe that the True God gave answer to the Diabolical Superstitions of the Romans Graecians and Chaldeans by the Ministry of the peculiar Angel of each of these several Empires For the Inevitable Decree of his Will sometimes exalted and again sometimes depressed and clouded the Majesty of those Monarchies Therefore the Chaldeans and so likewise the Medes whensoever their own Wisdom failed them made their Invocations upon God by the Stars as the Greeks did by their Oracles at Delphos the Romans by their Auguries and Observations of Birds and as the more Sound Philosophers sought Him in the Works of Nature as Pythagoras also did in Numbers which are as a certain Ray of Divinity disseminated and diffused throughout the whole Universe But much more rightly did the Iewes seek after him by the Prophets which were sent unto them Which custome of theirs the Christians also followed when as the Archangel Michael had gone over from the Iewes to the State of the Christians For in all probability we ought to believe that when any Empire is overthrown the Angel of that goeth over to the Conquerour And this is a Secret which was not unknown to the Romans who for this very reason would not have their Tutelar Angel to be known to the end that he might not be invoked by other Nations And therefore we may probably believe that either the Angel of Persia yeelded to that of Greece or else that He went over from the Persians to the Greeks and so consequently that the Angel of Constantinople does at this time fight for the Turks or else having removed his station stands now for Germany and hath joyned himself to Her Angel Now where there are the more of these Tutelar Angels There there is the greater growth and stronger confirmation of Power And therefore being instructed hereto out of the Scriptures I affirm that if at any time God appear to treat either favourably or else contrarily with any Monarchy we are to understand this in reference not to that present Monarchy only but to the succeeding also For unlesse this were so God should not have revealed the Knowledge of Future things to his Church by the Prophets which is an absurd thing to believe and it would also follow that this Knowledge was to be sought for by the Stars or some other things Which things seeing they are partly also forbidden by the Pope we are necessarily to believe that all things are otherwise sufficiently provided for Wheresoever therefore God speaks of the Babylonish Empire we are to understand it as said also of the Persian Grecian and Roman which in their turns succeeded It. And hence it is that St. Iohn calls Rome Babylon And so likewise what is said of the Kingdom of the Iewes the same is to be understood also of the Church of Rome which hath received the Keyes of David and the Name of Ierusalem according to that which is said to the Angel of Philadelphiae Now Philadelpâ—ia is Brotherly Love as Roma Rome by turning the Letters backward is Amor Love And God oftentimes threatens his Church I will remove thy Candlestick out of its place unlesse thou repent For in like manner the Angel of God may be said to remove from one Church to another as for example from Heretical England to Catholick Borussia as from one Kingdom to another And so what is pronounced by Ezechiel Ieremy and Esay concerning the Prince of Tyre is sometimes to be taken as spoken of the Prince of the Angels that fell from Heaven and were cast out of their Kingdom there Where that also which is said How art thou fallen O Lucifer which is spoken of the King of the Chaldaeans is to be taken as by way of similitude spoken of his Successors and of the Aerial so called Empire of the Great Divel For both Empires and all other Earthly things bear a similitude to the Heavenly as those of the Sea do to them of the Land Whence it is that you have your Bishop-fish your Sea-calf and the Calamary or Sea-Clark for as much as all of them have their dependance from the Prime Reason or the Divine Idea which is the Eternal Word Whence I seem to my self to have found out a Key by which I may find out a passage to the knowledge of the Original Government and end of the Kingdome of Spain by the First Cause which God hath laid open in the Prophets and by which we may proceed on further to discover the Prudence herein requisite and the Occasion which the Spaniard ought to lay hold on CHAP. IV. Of the Spanish Empire considered according to the First Cause IT is evident that
Turkish Empire shall be Lord of the whole Earth The House of Spain then can never attaine to any great Monarchy according to Fate but only by the adhering to Italy the Roman Empire which is the German the Right Head The King of Spain therefore is to use his utmost endeavour that he may be chosen Emperour seeing that not only God but even Human Prudence also may inform us that by that meanes he may attain to what ever his heart can wish A beginning of which thing appeared plain enough in Charles the Fifth King of Spain who being also Emperour and being assisted with the whole power of Italy and Spain overcame those of Tunis and the King of France and conquered all Germany in so much that Solyman seeing the prosperous Fortune of this Prince had good Cause to say that it behooved him to take heed of Charles neither would he though he were stronger then He fight with Him under the Walls of Vienna We see therefore that which way the Fates incline the same also goes all the rest of the Fortune and so on the other side all things must needs be successelesse that are â—aken in hand under a Reluctant Faâ—e I shall here also open another Mystery namely that all Empires according to the Prophesy of Noaâ— do descend from the Sons of Iaphet God shall enlarge Japhet and he shall dwell in the tents of Sem and Cham shall be his Servant And from Cham are to descend none but Slaves and Tyrants who are indeed Slaves as I have elsewhere proved Wherefore the Turkish Empire comes from Iaphet by Magog and as to the Law from Sem by the Line of Ishmael from whom Mahumet descended as it hath allwaies been observed to fall out that the Northern People which are fierce and by the armes of Iaphet still Victorious have yet received Lawes and Rules from the wiser Southern People who were the Ofspring of Sem. And yet the Empire sometimes hath otherwise had a succession of Tyrants also who have descended from Cham though by the intervention of the German who is descended from Iaphet as the Spaniard himself derives his Line from Iaphet by Tubal like as concerning the Law the Roman Christianity doth derive it self from â—em in respect of Christ who is a true Sem by the Line of Isaac Seeing therefore Dominion was promised to Iaphet it belongeth chiefly to the Spaniards who are more nearly and by a firmer alliance descended from the Law-giver then the Turks and their Victorie drives on to this end that they may dwell in the House of Sem seeing that they possesse the Greatest part of Italy by the Investiture of the Pope who is descended from Sem Of whom this is no fit occasion to say any more although I willingly would do so and indeed ought I shall only add here that they cannot according to Fate come to be Lords of all unlesse they become the Deliverers of the Church and set it free from out of the hands of the Babylonians that is to say of the Turks and Hereticks Upon this account they conquered the Moores God bestowing upon them so great an Empire as their reward Now it is evident that the Church is in subjection to Babylon as long as it is Militant and I have formerly shewed elsewhere that it doâ—h yet retain the dayes of Tuesday and Friday and the moneths of August and Iuly which were theirs of the Roman Babylon and the Church now suffers most grievous Persecutions under the Babylonian Infidels both in Africk Asia and Europe and especially in Germany France England and Polaâ—d This discourse therefore is to be listened unto with attentive eares because that all the Iewish Affaires were a Type and figure of those of the Christians He therefore that shall deliver the Church out of these evills shall become the Universal Monarch because He shall perform the Office of the Christian Cyrus whom God shall raise up as Esay saith to subdue the whole World to restore Ierusalâ—m to remove their Captivity and to build a temple to the God of Heaven and Earth wherein shall be set up the Continual Sacrifice as is foretold by Daniel Esay and Esdras Cyrus also was of the Linage of Iaphet by the Medes and notwithstanding that the Turk is descended of the same stock also yet shall He not perform the Office because that He is become an Enemy by setting up another Contrary Law The French in the time of Charlemagne arrogated this Office to themselves who by their often delivering the Pope out of the hands of the Princes of Italy the Lombards and the Gotâ—s arrived to so great power that they became formidable to all and the said Charlemagne might have come to have been Universal Monarch of the World had not his sons been at Variance among themselves but had managed their Empire rightly and as they ought to have done But the discords that were betwixt the Christians and â—he following Heresy raigning at this day broke the neck of the French Empire at least took away from it all hope of ever arriving to the height of so much greatnesse But the Spaniards by being continually rooting out of the Moors became powerful but contrariwise Constantinople because it deserted the Pope and adhered to Arrius Sabellius and others came to destruction The Venetians also have by the Popes meanes arrived to a great height because that they assisted him against Frederick So that it is manifest that he that shall take any enterprize in hand under a Favourable Fate shall have all happy successe therein but on the contrary he that shall rush on upon any undertaking under a Crosse and Vnwilling Fate shall find the Event also quite contrary to his desires Which may also be demonstrated out of Reasons of Policy For he tâ—at maintaines the Popes Interest maintaines the Universal Right of all Christendom which depends upon the Pope For this Cause is accounted both a Just and a Religious one and therefore all men will take it up And the Opinion also of Religion overcomes all other causes as we â—ave already shewed elsewhere and shall further shew hereafter Add hereto that the Pope is the Universal Moderator and Judge of all things to whom all people have their recourse and yeild obedience to him as to their God and Deliverer as on the contrary the Sweden Saxon and the Constantinopolitan Princes as being enemies to and Stubborn opposers of Him are rejected and deserted by them Therefore the Office of Cyrus belongs to the King of Spain who being now honoured by the Pope with the Title of The Catholick King may easily arrive to the Principality of the whole World and we see that he hath already followed his Footsteeps in having delivered the Church heretofore out of the hands of the Moors of Granado as he hath lately done from the Hereticks of England the Law-Countries and France and He maintaines besides with yearly Revenues so many Bishops Cardinals and
Rich and that He himself may have greater Testimonies of his Subjects Love and Fidelity which might easily be brought about if so be that those Rules before laid down touching the encreasing the Number of the Subjects and the remitting and abating the Taxes and Exactions laid upon them were but observed and if the King going into the Wars Himself in person would by that means chalk out to his Wise and Valiant Commanders and Souldiers the Way to Honour rather then to Covetousnesse and would also propose New Arts and Sciences So likewise if He would make some such Lawes to which those that are Obedient should have their former honours continued to them but the Refractory and Disobedient should have Disgraces cast upon them and to perswade Obedience to which Lawes there should in the Second place some Profit and Advantage be proposed for such but in the Third place before the Disobedient should be laid down the Fear of Punishment to which our Modern Writers absurdly attribute the First Place in Relation to the due Observing of Lawes who having regard to the Time rather then to Religion require Fear in Subjects rather then Love because that the Rulers of the Gentiles preferred this Later before the Former and so taught that Wicked Wretch Macchiavel and other the like Polititians those Rules But if there be no place left for a Reformation it is then necessary that respect being had to the Present Abuses there should be good store of Treasure got up together lest at length the King should be undone by Use-Mony or some other Losses should fall upon him in case the Plate Fleet should not return back from the West-Indies in three or four years together perhaps I shall first therefore lay down the Usual Rules in this case and then such other as I my self have thought upon First therefore there must be matter administred for the promoting of Vsury and Vsurers and every one of them is to be bound under a certain Penalty to have alwaies a stock of Monies lying by them that so when there shall be any Necessity the King may know where to fetch presently good store of Large Summes of Mony Which Course is to be taken in all the chief Cities both in the Kingdome of Naples and of Spain Then when any great War is near at hand the said Summes of Mony are to be called for at the said Usurers hands and that by the intervening too of the Popes Authority that so the King may not draw upon himself alone the Hatred and Ill Will of his Subjects Secondly let him introduce the Tribute of Apulia which was brought up by King Ferdinand through all the Provinces that are under him imposing it either in the same or some other the like Form Thirdly let Him cause all the Barons to bring in what summes of Mony they have binding them thereto in the name of Religion and the Crown of Spain to which they are joyned and engaged Fourthly let Him procure of the Popâ— Indulgences and Croisados for all his Kingdomes and those Summes of Mony that shall be raised by the same He shall lay up in some Treasury where they may encrease to such a quantity as that an Army may be raised out of them which may be sent into the Holy Land Fifthly let Him get an Injunction from the Pope that for the space of five years all Churches Monasteries Bishopricks and Parishes throughout all his Provinces shall pay in a certain sum of Mony into The Sacred Treasury so called as being collected for the making of a War against the Infidels that is to say Five in the Hundred of all their Revenues but so that every year there should be an abatement made of One As namely the first year they should pay Five in the Hundred the second year Fourâ— the third Three and so on till the five years be expired But the Venetians exact the Tenths And this Course may be takenâ— betwixt the King and the Pope under the Pretense of making a War upon the Infidels After all this is done let Him then appoint two Bishops to be the Treasurers of this Mony Sixthly let the King by his Treasurers traffick in every Country with such Commodities as are used there as in Calabria with Silks in Apulia with Wheat in Sicily with Oyl for by this means He will divert his Subjects from applying themselves to Usury and will cause them to attend more the Manuring of the Ground and withal will hereby mightily enrich Himself Seventhly let Him send out into every City and Town especially in the Kingdom of Naples a Commissary having a Counsellour joyned with him who shall be one of the Clergy to make enquiry into all Usurers and to cause Them to make it appear by the testimony of Three Witnesses that they have taken no other Use then what is allowed to be taken by the custome of the Kingdom and where they shall find any to have done otherwise to seize upon all they are worth and carry it away to some publick place for the King's use But then the King may afterwards restore half of it to them again if he think fit as for example suppose his Officers took away from any of these Usurers Ten Thousand Crownes He may then restore to the Owner Five Thousand Crownes of his Mony again For they are a hateful sort of People and are despised by all men so that you need never fear that they will rebel and besides the people when ever they see Them ruined will be very glad of it neither will any of them take their parts and indeed the Usurers themselves when they have half of their estates left them will think themselves very well dealt withal And with the rest of such Monies the King may set up A Bank of Charity where poor people shall take up Monies upon their Pawn but upon this condition that if they redeem not their Pawn by the Limited Time that then it shall be forfeit to the King And afterward with the Mony arising from hence He may drive a Trade of Merchandise as the Usurers themselves use to do or else He may with those monies erect Cloysters or Seminaries for Souldiers and Poor Women as hath been shewed before And if some of the Clergy were sent abroad with the like Commissions to inquire into the Barons also it would do them much good both in reference to their Soul Body and State who otherwise by their arts would swallow up and devour the whole World Eighthly let Him require an Account of all the Kings Ministers and Commissioners for the whole time of their being employed in their Offices and whatsoever Fines shall be set upon their heads let it be put into the Treasury or the King may remit half to them if he please or lesse as he shall see cause and by taking this course with them both Himself and his Subjects shall be much advantaged and have cause to rejoyce Ninthly let Him call all
Popes as have been obstinate perverse Persons and enemies to them to appear before a General Councel but this devise of theirs the Pope hath now eluded it being openly delared to all the World that a Generall Councel hath no power at all over the Pope and a Decree being also made That No Councel shall be called but by the Pope alone And for this reason did Pope Leo X. ruine those Cardinals that were present at the Councel of Pisa and yet neither did their friends the Princes obtain what they desired Eclesiastical Princes have alwaies been wiser then Secular some of whom have found a remedy for this Evil by yeilding and submitting themselves as Theodosius the Emperour humbled himself before that Good Bishop St Ambrose and the Kings of the Goths left Rome and went to Ravenna to reside giving way to the Popes as well to the Bad as the Good And That King of England also by whose command Thomas Beckâ—t Archbishop of Canterbury was murdered made choyce rather to enter into Conditions of Peace with the Pope then to lose his Kingdom and so was forced to pay yearly to the Pope forty Thousand Marks of Gold and besides at his death he made the Pope his heir to the Kingdom by his last Will and Testament After the Example of these Princes it will behoove the King of Spain also to give way to the Pope whether He be Good or Bad and to lay aside what Controversies soever he shall have with him and to leave such Bishops as are his enemies to be chastised by the Pope to whom He must wholly unite himself by those waies which are before set down Alexander the King of the Iewes having drawn upon himself the hatred of the Pharises and being now upon his death bed persuaded his wife as Iosephus testifies that by all meanes she should take him and throw him down headlong out at the Window telling her that by so doing she should give full satisfaction to the Incensed Pharises who after she had done that Act would suffer her to succeed him in the Kingdom giving her Counsel besides that she should ever take head how she fell out with any Religious persons least she suffered that which himself had done But if such men as are Authorised by no Superiour Power especially if they be Clergy men such as were Arrius Savanaâ—ola and Luthâ—r shall rise up against any State this is a very dangerous case and it must then be enquired into whether these men have any encouragement from the Pope to do so or not for if so be they have and He contradicts them not then is the Evill in a manner Incurable but if they have not Him for their Abettor then may an order be very easily taken with them For here it is necessary that it be considered whether these Men be Good or Bad for both may prove very dangerous and if they are Bad they must then be rooted out by the Authority of the Pope but if they are Good men they must then be cited to appear before a General Councel where by the Authority of the Pope being also interposed they may be openly convinced in like manner as Berengarius being convinced of his Errour yeilded to the Truth and submitted and this is the Course that ought to be taken where the Parties are sincerely and really Good men and not meer Hypocrites onely But if they maintain a Good Cause those Faults which they did inveigh against in their Sermons are to be mended and they themselves are to be sent for away to Rome where they should afterwards spend the rest of their Lives as was done by Bartholomaeus Miranda Archbishop of Toledo and the Bishop of Curzola who was expelled from his Bishoprick by the Venetians If they are Lay-men as was Iohn of Leyden and Philip Melancthon there is no great danger to be feared from them For these two after the breach had been first made by Luther at length rose up and when now Luther had already setled his Erroneous Religion and false Priesthood in Germany But in our Dominions no One Lay-man whatsoever would be able to bring about such a businesse without the assistance of some one of the Clergy It is an Infallible Rule that no Heresie did ever do any hurt in a Countâ—y unlesse the Prince himself of that Country for some Reasons of State afforded some Patronage to the same as I have shewed where I discoursed touching the Monarchyâ— It will therefore concern all Princes to take care that their Nobles also be not infected with the said Heresie which they may prevent by taking them off with Employments and so diverting their Minds from any such thoughts as I have delivered before Now these Rules are to be diligently observed with these aforesaid Hereticks You must be careful that you do not fall to dispute with them about Minute Quirks and subtilties in Divinity but only that you require them to give you a good account of their Calling and to produce the Names of their Authors after this manner suppose Who commanded you to teach these things publickly Were they Men or Divels rather For we cannot believe they should be any other And then if they shall answer that Godâ— let them then make the same appear to you by doing some Miracles or other such as God heretofore armed His Messengers with namely Moses Elijah and the Apostles And if they are not able to do any such things you should then bring them to the Stake and burn them if you can and render them as Infamous as possibly you may But be sure you avoid all Grammatical Disputations and Logical Subtilties but dispute with them only according to the Principles of Divine Logick as St. Francis did in Egypt and St. Iohn Guidalbert and as I my self have endeavoured to do in my Dialogues against the Lutherans and Calvinists laying down a way how they are to be convinced by an Apostolical and Political way least out of multiplying idleâ— and vain words one Controversie may still be started out of another which â—o perverse and Malicious spirits will be taken for a kind of Victory I would also have them condemned to be Burnt out of the Imperial Constitutions for as much as they rob Persons in Authority of their Goods and Good name such as are the Pope and other Religiousâ— and Pious men who have confirmed the Faith of the Church and sealed it with their Blood which indeed is more precious then what ever other Treasures in the World and therefore whosoever they are that are Refractory to and perversly oppose such Persons and seduce others to do the like they justly deserve to be punished A second Rule is that all care be taken that there be no fruits suffered to spring from such branches for the hindering whereof the best course would be to prefer only men of excellent parts to Bishopricks and Benefices and withal you are to consider that such if they be good Men will
Of Poland Muscovia and Transylvania THe Kingdom of Poland is in Our time the most Potent of all the Northern Kingdomes insomuch that if it were not so divided in it self about Points of Religion as it is and were withal an Hereditary Kingdome and had a Prince that were a Native and were not Elected out of some Forraign Nation as their custome is it would prove a sufficient Terrour to the Great Turk especially if the Great Duke of Muscovia were but joyned with them But the Nobility of that Nation in whose Power the Election of the King is are very much afraid of the King's Power and for that reason They keep as hard a hand over Him as possibly they can The King of Spain therefore must endeavour as much as lies in Him that no King be elected there but such a one as is of the Catholick Religion which course hath hitherto been observed amongst them For should they chuse themselves a King that were of any other Religion He would then very easily be induced to countenance by his Authority the Northern Hereticks who do all agree in these two Points although they differ among themsâ—lves almost in all the rest namelyâ— that the Pope is Antichrist and that the Arch-Dukes of Austria are all of them such as fight for Antichrist And therefore upon any the least Occasion that could be they would be apt to joyn their forces together against both the Pope and the Emperour their Neighbour had they but any Powerful Prince to head them and to be their General which Charge none is so able to undertake and go through with as the King of Poland is For the King of Denmark is but a weak Prince and the King of Sweden lies too far off and besides is severed from Germany by the Sea The King of Spain must then in the next place by all meanes endeavour that one of the House of Austria may be advanced to the Crown of Poland or at least such a one as is some way or other allied to the House of Austria as the now King of Poland is And lastly he must be such a one as shall alwaies make head against the Turk and that should enter into an Association with the Muscovites who together should to their utmost endeavour as much as in them lies the utter Ruine and Extirpation of the Turks He must also make choyce of some of the Wisest and most Eminent persons of his Kingdom whom He shall send as Embassadours to Cracovia and who by their presence may adde Authority and Weight to the Spanish Union in the Esteem of the Electors of Poland and that may obtain of them that in case the King of Spain should have more Sons then one that theâ— They would Elect one of the Younger of them to be their King for certainly were any of the King of Spain's Sons chosen King of Poland He would never be so simple and foolish as to take upon him to govern the Kingdome of Poland according to his Own Will and pleasure as the King of France's Son endeavoured to do Besides He must deal with the People of Scandia and the Dantzickers by the means of the King of Poland who now is King of Swethland also that they would joyn together and send out a Fleet against the English as hath been said before For by taking this course the Kings expense will not be half so great as his Gains will be He must also labour that the Prince of Transylvania may in like manner enter into a league with the Polanders or else that either He or the great Duke of Muscovia may be chosen King of Poland For seeing that these two Nations are not only Neighbours to â—he Turks but do also naturally hate them they might easily be able to stop his proceedings And I am verily perswaded that among all the Northern Nations there is not any so fit and able to oppose the Turk as is the Muscovite who would but the Tartarians and the Polanders joyn with him might be able to make Incursions into the Turks Dominions and march up even to the very Walls of Constantinople Neither indeed hath Macedonia or Moldavia or Bulgaria or Thrace ever suffered so much losse by any Nation as by the Muscovitâ—s And if there were an Association contracted betwixt the King of Spain and the Muscovite either by Marriage or else by the nearer Tie of Religion brought about there by the Industry of the Iesuites it must needs prove a very advantageous businesse to Him because that Spanish Gold is among these Northern Nations of greater Estimation and Account then any thing else in the world And then must the King of Spain be very careful that as soon as ever he finds he hath wrought up the affections of these people to a Willingnesse to do him any service He set them upon some Notable Expedition or other while they are now ready for it and before they begin to cool again and repent themselves of their forwardnesse For Delay hath alwaies been the Ruine of the King of Spain's Affaires by reason that his Confederates through his slownesse in putting them in execution have alwaies had time enough to smell out the subtilty of His Designs and by this means it comes to passe that he commonly loses his labour and is at charge to no purpose The Bohemians also might be hired by the King of Spain's and the Popes Mony to joyn with the Transylvanians against the Turks because that They are in league with the House of Austria Yet when all is done there cannot be any considerable matter done in this Particular without the Assistance of the Polanders also and the Muscovites and unlesse the Emperour himself also be a Man of a stout and Warlike spirit as we shewed before when we spake of Germany and use his utmost endeavour to stop all growing Mischiefs in their very Beginings least by Delay they get head and grow so much the stronger and Intractable CHAP. XXVII Of Flanders and the Lower Germany IT is not without good cause that the King of Spain endeavours by all possiblâ— meanes that he can to recover the Low-Countries again about the keeping of that only part whereof which he still possesseth it hath cost him more Humane Blood then there is Water in it and about which He hath spent more Gold then there are stones in it And yet neither is this a matter so much to be wondred at seeing that could He but once make himself Master of those Countries again He might then very easily make himself Lord also of the Whole Earth For were this but done both France and Germany would quickly follow in spite of what ever they could do and also England it self would be utterly ruined and indeed all the Northern Nations would be much weakned and rendred utterly unable to make any resistance against Him For we see that Caesar after he had once conquered the Belgians made little account of all the rest
is said first to kill a Serpent by which was signified the Defence and Safeguard of Thebes and then afterwards to sow the Teeth of it that is to say to scatter abroad the Poyson of Desire of Innovation and an Earnestnesse to be instructed in the knowledge of learning namely in such New Sciences and Arts as he had brought over with him from his own Country And hence Souldiers are said to spring up who through mutual discord slew each other and the remainders of them that were left joyned themselves with Cadmus their Head and Captain so laying the foundation of the Kingdom of Thebes in Boeotia I affirm therefore that these very Courses ought to have been taken by the King of Spain and not a war to have been onely maintained against them all this while And certainly if the Southern People would ever conquer or lay the foundations of a Monarchy over the Northern seeing that they are not strong enough to bring the same about they ought to have recourse to the Arts either of Cadmus or else of Iason although of the two Iason went the more wisely to work seeing he first wonne the heart of Medea that is the good will and Affections of the Northern Women to him for the Women of those Countries are easily brought to love Southern Men by reason of the Natural Heat that is in them which those Women like very well neither indeed do the Netherlanders hate the Spaniards so much as their Wives love them Afterwards Iason by the enchantments of Medea slew the Dragon that is the Guard of the Kingdom such as are the Warlick and Valiant men of a Nationâ— with the Preachers And then did he by the meanes of enchanted Oyntments tame fierce Beasts the Brazen-footed and fire-spitting Bulls that is by his Friendship and Gifts He won over to him the Nobles and Principal men of the Kingdom And at length by them he sowed about the Teeth of the Dragon that is by the assistance of the Nobles he spread abroad the Seeds of Discord and Dissention about Religion Arts and Honours Whence in the last place sprung up Souldiers that is Factions such as are those of the Guelphs and Gibellines the Pontificians and Imperialists the Lutherans and Catholicks wherein they killed each other But those that remained chose Iason for their Head and Commander and though few in number yet afforded Him their assistance in the getting of the Golden Fleece that is to say such an Empire as we here speak of This Learned Fable I have therefore proposed and explained that I might shew the King of Spain what he is to do seeing that He hath hitherto taken so great pains and lost so many men and all to no purpose as Cadmus did before he had killed the Serpent Namely in the first place I would have either the King himself of else his Daughter or his son to go and dwell either a Antwerp or Bruxels or if he think fit rather at Gaunt that so by their Presence the Subjects may be the more encouraged and withal Forraigners may be drawn thither too herein following the Example of Cadmus who after his men were slain went himself to the Fountain of the Serpent that kept the same In the next place I would have Him remove from all the Neighbouring Provinces all Suspition or fear of having any more Wars made upon them by the Spaniards and He should suffer them to live a while in peace and quietnesse and He withal shew himself so gentle and full of humanity to his own Subjects there that Forreigners taking notice of it should even repine thereat and should have a desire kindled within them of enjoying the same happinesse and of joyning themselves with His Subjects in the defending of that his Dominion In the Third place He should remit the Taxes and Impositions that have been laid upon those Places that are under his subjection and should exact no more of them then what is necessary for the Maintenance of the Kings Court only and the payment of the Souldiers that keep the Garrisons there But however instead thereof He should require a certain number of Souldiers to be raised yearly out of every City which He may send away into the West-Indies And let him be sure to pick out the stoutest and ablest men for this purpose by this means diverting the Noxious Humours from hence and turning them another way and filling up with these men his Armies in other Parts For from all such Countries as abound in Men it is better to require Men then Mony for this is both more advantageous to the Prince and also more agreeable to the humour of the People themselves Fourthly I would have Him make a General Feast every year to be kept upon one certain day in each several City and great Town and at His own charge at which time every City throughout the whole Province would Voluntarily declare their readinesse to serve the House of Austria And at this Yearly Feast I would have no cost to be spared for there is nothing in the world that doth more unite this People among themselves and bind them to others then to Feast them and make them Drunk once a year at least which Practise is said to have been first taken up by Minos the ancient Law-giver Fifthly I would have the Name of the Inquisition taken away though the Inquisition it self should be kept up by the Bishops but under some other Name and â—t should not be so severe as it is in Spain and at Rome but the Terrour of it should consist in Words only and Threatnings rather then in any more Harsh Usage Sixthly that under pretense of a Croysade Expedition there should be Indulgences and Dispensations procured from the Pope concerning Fasting daies and the Abstaining from Flesh at certain times of the Year for these People are infinitely given to Feastings and Revellings Seventhly all Garrison'd Towns should be kept by Spanish Souldiers but the Government of the same should be committed to the care of Bishops as the Government of the several Provinces should be put into the hands of Cardinals who should be such as are of Ripe Years and aâ—e eminent also for Wisdom And then would I have some of the Gentry of Venice to be appointed as Judges and to have the hearing of all Law Causes amongst them for by this means the Italians and Low-Country-men will easily be reconciled to each other seeing that these later love the Itaelians much better then they do the Spaniards Eighthly let Souldiers be tempted by large Pay to leave the service of the Rebel Netherlanders and these should be sent away to the King 's other Armies abroad and the Spaniards should do well to inveagle and fetch away Women out of Their Quarters into their own where they should be married to Spaniards And I would also have Women of Qâ—ality from among the Dutch Hereticks to be chosen out and married to some of the Catholick Nobility
King is possessed of the Kingdome of Oran there already where He is in continual Wars with the Moors who might easily all of them be conquered if he should but make One Invasion only upon them with an Army of Germans Neither indeed need the King fear any Obstruction to His Spanish Monarchy from those Parts For those Nations are much fitter to serve then to Command and bear Rule neither have They ever been able to conquer any of the Northern Nations but rather themselves have been alwaies conquered by Them excepting only Carthage which was a Colony of Tyre who yet were at length utterly ruined by the Romans And the Arabians also passed over out of Africk into Spain where they kept their footing for the space of Eight Hundred yeares yet were at length quite driven out again Neither indeed were they truly Africans but only the Novelty of their Armes together with that of their Mâ—hometan Religion encouraged them so far as to fall upon so bold an attempt But the Africans at this day are a very Weak unwarlike People and for as much as they are Naturally Envious Crafty and of a servile Nature the King of Spain by making use of one of the little Kings there might in a little time break in upon them and make his way to the most Inmost Countries of all Africk as the Romans of old did by the help of Mâ—sinissa And therefore Sebastian King of Portugal did wisely when he made use of the King of Fâ—z his sons for the getting and possessing himself of that Kingdom although he was not so very wise in venturing his own Person in that Expedition And indeed because that the sons of those Kings are wont to kill one another they are so much the more easily conquered if a man do but make any one of them over to him But seeing these People are so much divided among themselves there is no need of fearing them at all The King of Spain ought therefore to get further footing in Africk seeing that he hath opportunity enough of doing so by reason of the many strong Holds that He is Master of all along the Western and Soâ—thern Coast of Africk And He should do well to make over to him the above named Prester Iohn whom he should cunningly set against the rest and get him to make War upon them And the King of Spain may very easily contract friendship with this Prester Iohn by means of the Jesuites whom he may send thither And He should also by his Emâ—assadours sent to him for that purpose put him in mind of the Duty and Obedience that he owes to the Pope which was formerly done in the time of Pope Eugenius IV. and Clemens VII by means of the Portuguez and so should make a League with him There should therefore be sent thither such as are both true Catholicks and Learned men to instruct them in the Arts and in the True Religion both which they are as yet Ignorant of For they would be easily converted and that so much the rather because they say it hath been heretofore foretold them by a certain Prophetesse whose name was Sinoda that They were predestinated to joyn with the Latines and to root out the Turk and to set at Liberty the Holy Sepulchre of Christ. Seeing therefore that the King of Spain is Master of all the African shores He must make it his care that none may have any Fleets to passe by the said Coasts but that it may be free and safe for the aforesaid Prester Iohn by the assistance of the Portuguez to sayl into Palestine when ever he pleases by the Gulf of Arabia and there to fall upon the Turks and to do them what mischief he can And to this purpose He is to be furnished with all Necessary Means as namelyâ— Engines of War and other such Provisions whereby he may be the better enabled to conquer the Turk For if Mahumetanisme should but once be introduced into that Kingdom of his it would prove extreamly prejudicial to the whole Christian World and especially to Spain He may also come in by Egypt and so fall upon the Turk And if there were but a gallant Fleet lying about Naples that might go out at pleasure and scour the Seas all along the Northern Coast of Africk it might easily be brought under the King of Spain's power and those Slaves also that are at Algier and in Cyrene might be dealt with to rise up all at once and rebel in favour of the Spaniard And such a Fleet as I but now spake of might be maintained meerly by the Prizes that they should take and so by that means would both Italy be secured and all such other places also that are now obstacles to the Spanish Monarchy might be taken in CHAP. XXIX Of Persia and Cataia THe King of Spain must endeavour by all Means possible to hinder the Persians and those of Taprobana from putting out any Fleets of Ships to Sea and also the Arabians for these people would questionlesse be a great hinderance to his Affaires in the East-Indies and would annoy His Fleet in its passage that way and might also probably infect the New-converted Christians there with Mahumetanisme He ought therefore to build strong Castles all along the Coasts of Arabia and Ethiopia and so likewise upon the Coasts of the Arabian Gulf and also in all the Southern Islands that lye upon the Coast of Africk and Asia and He should enter into a League with the Persian against the Tâ—rk And yet perhaps He need not so much care to have the Turk quite extirpated for whosoever of those two should overcome the other whether the Turk or Persian he would thereby become so powerful as that he would be able to conquer the whole Christian World and so consequently to spoyl all the hopes of a Spanish Monarchy and it might prove as Prejudicial to Christendom to have the Turk ruined by any other but some Christian Prince as it would be for the advantage of Christendome that he should be conquered by the Christians themselves alone But yet seeing that the Turk does us continually very much harm breaking in upon us by Hungary Sclavonia and Africk it would be good Policy to set the Persian upon him and to take a course that He may have Guns and such like Artillery â—ent unto him to make use of in his Warres against the Turk For it was meerly the want of these that was the cause that He lost almost all Armenia and that the Turk is now so Potent in the East and that he so little fears the Persian as he does for by this means whiles he is making War upon the Christians in the West He is secure from all danger from Asia and so gets ground upon us daily more and more It would be convenient therefore to make a League with the Persian and especially in respect of the Kings Negotiations in the East-Indies because that His Fleet must passe by
is Impossible but that things should alwayes succeed ill with Him so long as there is no provision made for the remedying of this mischief Yet I do not say that a Kings whole strengh consists only in his Mony but He is to consider that Mony alone will do little toward the subduing of an Enemy And indeed we read that Iulius Caesar by his great knowledge in Military affaires and having withal the love of his Souldiersâ— though they were but a very Small Army to speake of yet for all this conquered the whole World And so likewise the Saracens Tartarians and Hunnes without any Mony made themselves Lords of almost the whole World We confesse therefore that Mony is of Excellent good use and most necessary for a Prince for the Preserving and making good the Bounds of his Dominions but not at all for the enlarging of them by adding New Provinces to the same And therefore let him believe that the sinews of his Strength lye in something else then his Mony For that Faith that is purchased by Mony may again be sold for Mony And therefore I beseech you do but observe how in France our King Philip by his mony procured the Dukes of Maine Ioycuse Mercoeur and Guise to take up Armes against the King of Navarre and then again how the King of Navarre by the same meanes got over the very same men to His side after they found King Philip to be grown somewhat close-sisted and not to come off with his Mony so freely as before And in like manner the Commanders and Souldiers in the Low-Countries do now a daies rather exercise the profession of Hucksters then of Souldiers for they do not fight that they may overcome their Enemy but that they may make a gain of their serving in the Wars And so have made Armes which are the Instruments of Monarchy to be the Instruments of their Covetousnesse and their Sports And the King deceives himself whiles He pursues all Covetous Designs for He hath Mony enough if he have but Souldiers enough and if there be withal but Mutual love betwixt him and them and a due regard had to their several merits which things if they be wanting he shall be sure to be a sufficient Loser in the end First therefore and above all things let the King endeavour to treasure up to himself the Minds and Affections of his Subjects and Vassals and indear himself to them by his own Gallantry both in Peace and in War making Himself admired by them by making profession of and proposing to them some New Sciences c. as hath been said before Secondly let Him raise himself a Treasure of his Subjects Bodies by causing them to multiply by Frequency of Marriages to which they are to be encouraged by Honours and other Inticements c. as was also touched before And in the Third place let Him raise himself a Treasure out of the Wealth of his Subjects whiles He makes them Rich by taking care that Agriculture and Manuring of the Ground be promoted and that the making of Silks Woollen Cloath and the like Useful and Profitable Arts and Trades be set on foot and diligently followed rather then that such Courses should be taken as we see now adaies every where whiles in the smaller Towns most people give themselves to Usury and in the Greater Cities men for the most part apply themselves to Merchandise and Extorsion The Pope raises up his Treasures in the Minds of Men and therefore is He a Conquerour because that This being conjoyned with Eloquence and Wisedom is the onely Instrument by which that Treasure is acquired And hence it was that the Saracens by the use of their Tongue and also by making Profession of New Sciences and of a New Religion became Conquerours Iulius Caesar raised Himself a Treasure both in Minds and Bodies by His own Personal Virtue and Gallantry winning to himself and obliging the Hearts and Affections of the Whole Souldiery But the Taâ—tarians and Hunnes did this by Bodies only rendring them so Fruitful as that by reason of their Vast numbers they were fain to leave their Native soyl marching out of it in huge bodies like swarms of Bees and seizing upon others Territories But now the King may by His Own just Right exact all these Treasures at the hands of his Subjects as namely Religion by placing Able Preachers among them Love by Good Lawes the Subjects Profit and True Justice and Multiplication of them by the Waies before laid down where I spoke touching the encreasing of the Number of the Souldiery and let Him require of each several Nation that which they most abound in as People from the Germans Souldiers from the Spaniards Commanders in War and Garments from the Italians from the West-Indies Gold but not the contrary We may truly affirm that the New World hath in a manner undone the Old for it hath sowen Covetousnesse in our Minds and hath quite extinguished Mutual Love among men For all the World are wretchedly in love with Gold only and hence it is that Men are become Deceitful and Fraudulent in their dealings and have often sold and re-sold their Faith for Hire because they saw that Mony was That that did the businesse every where and that was held in Admiration by all people and so They are come now to despise all Sciences and Holy Sermons in comparison of Mony and have bid Adieu both to Agriculture and other Arts applying themselves only to look after the Fertility and Increase of Mony and to get themselves into Rich Mens houses It hath likewise Introduced a great Disparity amongst Men making them either too Richâ— whence they become Proud and Insolent or else leaving them too Poor whence proceeds Envy Theft and Open Robbery Hence also it is that the prices of Corn Wine Flesh Oyl and Cloath are very much raised because that no man applies himself to this kind of Merchandise whence followes Want and Penury and yet Monies in the mean while must be laid out In so much that the poorer sort being not able to hold out in the world are fain either to put themselves into service or else betake themselves to robbing upon the High-Way or else turn Souldiers being necessitated to do so through Poverty and not at all for Love either of the King or of Religion and many times also they run away from their Colours or else change them neither do they endeavour to get Children in a Lawful Way of Marriage because they are not able to pay Taxes or else perhaps they try all the waies that possibly they can to get to be admitted into some Covent or other for Friers or Preachers I therefore here leave it to the King to consider whether or no He may not rather be overcome by Gold which is the Cause of so many Evils I say therefore that there are many things here that stand in need of a Reformation that so the Kings Treasury may grow