to giue money theyr wiues and daughters abused and in fine what else is to the nature of man most grieuous and intollerable The barbarous crueltie of the Spanish soldier they are constrayned to indure yea insomuch that I haue seene the rude and barbarous souldier cut off the fingers of women to come to their ringes which otherwyse woulde not come off with such speed as they desired Neither is the condition of the poore Citizen or Townes-man anie better who beeing constrayned in places of garrison to lodge souldyers in theyr houses imparting to them the best lodgings and commodities of the same neuer hearing from them anie other woorde especiallye if hee please them not in all theyr exorbitaunt demaundes than Perro Flamenco Luterano Borachio c. Yet besides all this hee is daylye wearyed out with continuall exactions and taxations as of the hundreth pennie the tenth pennie and once a yeere without faile the fifth pennie of valure of all his goods and landes whatsoeuer besides infinite other pillages and gatheringes towardes the making of rampires reuelins bulwarkes palisados countrescargres casamats pertayning eyther to the reparation of theyr walles or the fortification of theyr Townes and besides to giuing of munition bread breere and cheese to such companies of souldiers shall passe by theyr Townes distressed of victualls with infinite such lyke I haue knowen it I speake it on my faith poore people of Antwarpe forced to sell theyr beddes they lye vppon A strange exaction of the king of Spaine to satisfie these yrannous exactions which if they shoulde not doo execution of theyr goods and attachment of theyr persons shoulde followe But which is most beyonde reason whereas within the Townes manye of the houses lye vacant and vnhired yet the owners of them are taxed according to the value in which they were wont to be rented Insomuch that in Antwarpe and other Townes it is a matter verye vsuall for men to disclaime and quite theyr owne houses thereby to bee exempted of such payment The Amptmā is a magistrate for the King whose chief authoritie consisteth in the execution of ciuil causes after sentēce giuen which the Dutchmen call Vonnysse Likewise in matter of confiscation and forfaiture as otherwise by reason of them they are charged with and that they doo formally before the magistrate at which time the Amptman entereth in and ceazeth them to the kings vse But besides whereas sundrie Gentlemen and others the inhabitants of these prouinces hauing certaine annuall rentes issuing and growing out and charged vppon the Kinges demaines in the Dutchie of Brabant at least to the yeerely value of tenne thousande poundes some of which rentes haue beene by themselues bought of the states generall some lefte vnto them by theyr parents and predecessours the King without all conscience most vniustly and wrongfully disanulling the sayde rentes hath and doeth without all equitie or forme of iustice take into hys owne handes the sayde demaines appropriating the vse commoditie and reuenue thereof to the maintenance and keeping of his troupes of horse men Lykewse what bondage can be greater than that of theyr Assises which constrayneth them to paie for theyr wine and beere as much in equall portion to the King as they doo to the Vintner or Brewer from which the poore begger is not free but if hee will drinke hee must paie as much vnto the King as hee doeth to the victualler Neyther doe they eate their bread or flesh without yeelding and paying dueties to the King Compare nowe I praie you heerewith your estate of gouernment at home and tell me which of the two you doo thinke to bee most fortunate Doth her Maiestie deale in this order with you whose gouernment you so much mislyke Oh good God howe can you bee so peruerse seeing the greate happynesse and securitie wherein shee keepeth and maintaineth you as not to acknowledge and confesse the same Howe gentle are the helpes and subsidies which shee exacteth of you without the vndooing or hinderance of anie man of whome they are exacted And on the other side how profusely spendeth shee her owne treasure for the maintenance of you your wiues and children in quietnesse iustice and freedome Oh praie vnto God therefore that shee may long and prosperously liue for in her consisteth the type of your felicitie But now to the other pointes of your mislike Whereas the aduersarie goeth about by all meanes possible to beate into your mindes a fearefull imagination of the King of Spaines forces and the daungerous weaknesse of your state perswading you that the same is farre to feeble and insufficient to withstande and resiste so mightie an opposed enemie as is the King of Spaine terrefying you with his millions of golde and the manye mightie and powerfull Nations ouer whome hee commaundeth I hope notwithstanding all this ruffeling and great shewe by cleere and euident reasons to let you vnderstande and knowe that the fame of him is farre greater than his force and that there is not this daie anie prince in the whole worlde whose estate standeth more tickle and readie to ruine than his That the fame of the king of Spaine is greater than his power and that there is no cause why wee should feare him but many why he should feare vs. First that hee is the most mightie and oppulent Prince I doo not denye if hee had vsed moderation in his greatnesse and acknowledged the greate benefites which it hath pleased God to haue bestowed vppon him with thankefulnesse vsing them vnto his glorie and not making them instrumentes of his vnlimitted ambition to the ouerthrowe and destruction of his neighbours and the maintenaunce of factions warres in euerie corner of Christendome To which dissention occasioned by his meanes wee must needes attribute this late formidable descent which the Turke hath made into Christendome But such is nowe the estate where unto his all-coueting ambition hath brought him or rather the reuengefull hande of almightie God which hangeth ouer his head for his many cruell bloudie and vnchristian practises and aspiringe tyrannyes Apolog principis Auraici especiallye for imbrewing his handes in the royall bloud of his innocent wife of his eldest sonne Prince Charles and of sundrie other his best and truest subiectes that hee is in the middest of all his glorie and pompeous magnificence turmoyled with vnquiet thoughts in the midst of his riches treasures indigent poore and indebted vnable to giue satisfaction vnto such armies as hee maintaineth to which ende hee is forced to extort from his poore subiectes and to make himselfe to all future ages a president of the extreamest tyranny that euer in any time was vsed of which his scarcitie and indigence what more manifest proofe can wee desire than the daily experience which wee haue before our eyes of his owne naturall subiects the Spaniardes who beeing the best disciplined souldiers he hath those of whome hee maketh best and most accompt and in fine
This Gentleman to the end you should the better know him was one of the craftiest Conicatchers that euer liued and had all his life time shifted it out with coosening sleightes and practises of vilanie as all the olde Flaunders souldiers that knewe hym can well testifie now by reason of his good experience hee was growne verye weather wise and did by manye coniectures foresee the stormes and tempestes that were comming towardes him and hys followers and therefore thinking it a great madnesse to lye still at Anker in so daungerous and vnsafe a roade hoysed vpp his sayles and shewed them a fayre payre of heeles running awaye from them at Torney where the Duke of Parma then kepte his Courte into Fraunce yet because hee woulde not bee in hys absence vnremembred hee first tooke vp vppon his credite as much wares as by all his vtmost deuises hee coulde procure eyther of Mercers Goldsmithes or anye other sorte of Artificers Thence hee conueyed himselfe into the North partes of Englande where as hee had gotten his goods wickedly so he spent them as riotously afterwards changing his name hee betooke him to sea Dalton hanged in the North Country and became a pirate for which and sundry other such honest parts as hee had plaid he was of afterwards apprehended and tied vp to the galowes there in the North in the yere 1586. Tailor of all the rest was most to be pittied for hee was a man of very comely personage fine qualities verie gentlemanly behauior His father had long serued her Maiestie as likewise himself had done in some office as I take it pertaining to the prouisions of her stable it was my chance to conuerse much with him both because we were of acquaintance in England as also that I liked exceedingly his conuersation and the manner of his carriage truly thus much I must saie of him beeing now dead that I did neuer know anie man that was striken with a greater apprehension of his owne fault and that did more euerie waie beat his braines and seeke all occasions how to amend it The cause that had drawen him into this matter as sundry times he told me and sometimes not without teares were the many debts with which being very youthfully giuen he had intangled himselfe in England withal his marriage which was most vnfortunate To rid himself of both which inconueniences at once he had throwē himself into this headlong action which surely if God had lent him life Coronell Morgan sent a Letter to Captaine Tailor in the hair of an Irish lacky he would haue indeuored to amend For I remember once the camp lying then at a place called Euergham that coronel Morgan sent him a secret Letter wrapped in the long haire of an Irish lacky that brought it who not handling his matters with that warines as was requisite the Letter was discouered Captaine Tailor apprehended neuertheles by the helpe of his owne wit and the assistance of his friends he was soone set at libertie againe though with an exceeding suspition that euer after ouerlooked his doings insomuch that in great griefe of minde he complained vnto me that the only iealousy held of him in regard of this Letter would be a great hinderance to that satisfaction which hee had in his minde resolued which was at least to haue drawen back awaie with him all such English souldiers as serued the king in that regimēt which in regard of their loue vnto him he might easily haue done But it pleased the almightie in his iudgements to preuent him to take him awaie in the midst of his imaginations for he and my L. of Westmerland hauing bin one daie in the quarter of the Wallons The Earle of Westmerlande and Captayne Tailor entered into quarrell banqueted by a captain of the Count of Egmonts where according to the vse of that nation either of them had bin constrained to drinke liberally as they returned backe together they two in companie alone towards Euergham they fel in to contention about a friuolous matter concerning one Dauies an Irishman that serued the Earle and that so far that the Earle reuiling him in many opprobrious names lighted down his horse drew his sword willing him to doo the like but Tailor knowing howe extreamly there the law determines of him that should draw his sword against his Coronell put spurs to his horse galloped home before to his lodging which scorne of his as the Earle did interpret it moued him to so great cholar that getting vp on his horse he pursued him and drew vpon him againe afore the verie doore of his loding which indignity Tailor not being able any further to indure drawing his rapier likewise encountered him and after some thrusts betweene them Tailor hurtes the Earle ranne the Earle verie daungerously into the brest at which instant Contraras the Spaniard accompanyed with many souldiers of the Earles companie the most parte of the which had halbertes came running in Tailor slaine by the Earle of Westmerland Contraras a Spaniard and inuironing Tailor of all sides most cruelly murthered him with aboue twentie woundes for which cause the Earle was vpon the complaintes and earnest pursuite of the other Captaines and souldiers by the Duke of Parma for a time bannished the Regiment and the gouernment thereof giuen to one Mana Cardonni an Italian Shortly after another of these Captains called Edward Vincent was sent out of the lande of Waft where the Spanish armie laie then incamped with two hundred English souldiers in companie of an Italian captaine with as many more Italians towardes the forte of Terneuse where by a sallie made from out the forte they were all ouerthrowen Captaine Vincent taken prisoner sundrie slaine and among the rest Captaine Vincent taken prisoner where neuerthelesse in regarde of former acquaintance with Coronell Michael who was there commaunder for the States hee found such fauour at his handes that hee was not presently deliuered ouer to the States as hee mortally feared but set at raunsome at an hundred and fiftie poundes prouided that the same shoulde bee sent with speed for otherwise when the matter shoulde bee once knowen to the States in Holland it coulde not bee in his power possible anie longer to vvithholde him of which desperate estate Vincent did with all speed aduertise his father being then a poore olde man vvell neere seuentie yeeres of age vvho hauing by present sale of such thinges as his son had lefte vvyth him raisde some parte of the money fell dovvne vppon his knees before the Duke weeping and imploring his helpe for the rest telling him in the Spanish tongue in the vvhich language he was verie perfect the great daunger and extremitie of the case his sonne then stoode in if so bee his raunsome were not presently sent But in stead of yeelding him releefe the Duke badde take awaie the importunate dotard but vvhen neuerthelesse hee persisted ouercome vvith a
Fathers affection to vse many loude and passionate speeches the Spaniardes by violence thrust him avvaie calling him foole and dronkarde The griefe whereof strake the olde man so inwardly to the heart that hee vvent home to his lodging and died vvithin sixe dayes after And his sonne when his raunsome came not in time Vincents father dyed of sorow himself hanged in chains at Bargenopsome was by the States commandement sent to Bargenopsome and there hanged in chaines where his cracasse remaineth yet wauing in the vvinde Smith held yet somewhat longer out though drinking as deeply in the cup of miserie or rather deeplier than anie of the rest for hee fell thorough sicknesse and pouertie into such extremitie of vvantes that of a Captaine hee was faine to be come a victualler and to buy butter and cheese and by making sale thereof againe to helpe to releeue his poore estate Withall he fel into so strange extreme a dropsie that I scarcely beleeue the like was euer heard of neither truly doo I speak this to amplifie the matter for all those that haue seen him beyond sea will approue my speeches either of his legs was swollen to that bignes of a mans middle his face onely was bare of flesh and miserable and his eies sunke into his head in such sorte that I neuer remember to haue beheld a more pittifull spectacle in which miserie after he had languished well neere a yeere and a halfe he died finally in extreame calamitie as it is tolde me since at Gaunt in the yeere 1588. Walsh onely had this good hap that he suruiued all the rest of whom I will speake the lesse because there is scarcely anie one in England that professeth armes but knew both him and his fortunes After the breaking of the regiment from a Captaine he was faine to become a priuate soldier and yet not thereunto without great sute accepted vnder Canullo de Mounts companie of horsemen in the garison of Breda which issuing one daie forth of the towne was vpon the plaines neere adioyning encountered defeated by sir Phillip Sidneys companie of English lances Captain Walsh taken prisoner among the rest Captaine Walsh in two places grieuously wounded and taken prisoner brought into Holland where my L. of Leicester gaue commandement presently to hang him Sir Phillip Sidney being full of true honor earnestly intreated my Lord for his pardon obtayned it in respect that he knew him to bee valiant and withall that howsoeuer in this action transported yet he had euer borne a dutifull regard towards her Maieiestie Whereupon beeing recouered of his hurts hee serued some while in the armie vnder my L. of Leicester as a priuate soldier Afterwards comming into England he went with my Lord Willoughbie as Ensigne to one of his companies to the siege of Paris Lastly hee followed my L. of Essex into France as a priuate souldier where his fortune was to be slaine vnder the wals of Roane Captain Walsh slaine vnder the wals of Roane and with his death finished the last act of this tragedie Of which truly I knowe not what you wyll iudge that reade but sure I am that I who write it am full of wonder and amazement when with my selfe I consider in so short a space the fal of so many men of great courage and valour all taken awaie by violent death Which vndoubtedly maketh me assure my self that God doth mightily protect the cause of her Maiestie God doeth apparātly protect the cause and quarrell of her Maiestie and wil not suffer the disloialties of her vnfaithful subiects to escape vnpunished as by these most miraculous foreremembred examples most euidentlie appeareth But now to proceed with my Discourse Sir W. Stanley and R. Yorke the one rendering the towne of Deuenter and the other the forte of Zutphen Shortly after came sir William Stanley Rowland Yorke either of them being a man of great courage well approued valor and long experience in the warres the one rendering vnto the king the towne of Deuenter and the other betraying the fort of Zutphen the one being coronel ouer a regiment of foot the other captain of a companie of lances Let vs see the one the others prosperitie and the sequell of their vsage vnder their new chosen master the Spanish king First sir W. Stanley was confirmed gouernor of the towne which hee rendred his regiment left there in garison with the receit of two moneths pay For a while he liued in the greatest applause that might be Cardinall Allen was written vnto to Rome to send down priests to instruct this religious regiment He informed the Pope thereof who both wrote ioyntly vnto the king to be good and gracious vnto this regiment which being well liberally intreated as they had alreadie at Rhemes and Rome a Seminarie of students and schollers to praie write for the Catholike cause of our Countrie so this being conducted by so worthy and Catholike a Gentleman as sir William Stanley might bee a contynuall nurserie and seminarie of souldyers to fight for the same A Treatise written by Cardinal Allen Withall Cardinall Allen wrote a booke vnto the Captaines and souldiers of this regiment indeuoring therein to satisfie theyr consciences as touching the iustice of this action and likewise animating them constantly to perseuer in this goodly course into the which they were now entered Besides downe came Priestes thicke and threefolde from France and Italie catechizing these newe souldyers with many Masses and continuall Sermons Gentlemen that for theyr conscience laye dispearsed in other partes all drewe downe thether in hope of this good payment and golden world that there was talked of In the meane time while the matters were thus in handling there chaunced to arise a great and deadly contention betweene sir William Stanley and Rowland Yorke Quarrell betweene sir William Stanley Yorke which as you shall heare yeelded a verie good and easie occasion to ouerthrowe them both which to the ende you may the better vnderstande I thinke it not amisse to fetch the matter somewhat farther frō the beginning Deuenter whereof sir William Stanley was made gouernour by my Lorde of Leicester is a fayre Citie chiefe and metrapolitane of the Prouince called Ouerisel which confineth on Frizeland scituated vpon the inside of the riuer Isel not farre thence vpon the same riuer and the same side standeth a great towne called Zutphen wherin there was for the king of Spaine a gouernour called Tassos a Germane borne and of obscure parents but himselfe of notable courage Tassos gouernor of Zutphē and by degrees and deserts was growen vnto these partes to great reputation and commandement next in authoritie to Verdugo who was Generall of Frizeland Ouerisel Zutphen and the bordering places he had first trained Tassos vp to the warres Verdugo Lieutenant generall of Frizeland and giuen him from time to time such charges and preferments
euer I knew aduanced Hugh Owen credited or graced in his seruice and yet God wot all that he getteth is no more than to maintain him in a meane estate or shew with a man onely or two to serue him where on the other side I will recken you vp of those that are onely for want of things necessarie of pure pouertie Sundry English Gentlemen of good houses that haue perished in the King of Spaines seruice consumed and dead M. Dakers Michael Tempest old Norton Israel Harman Markenfield Tremaine Stradling Henrie Carew Edward Allen Fleming Suthwell Bulmer with sundry others of good race credit in their countrie But to recite vnto you the names of those that doo yet liue so poorely vncomfortably in his pension would be a matter too tedious therefore take them all in generall C. Paget onely excepted who came wel furnished with crownes out of England likewise inherited many good things that my L. Paget lefte vnto him at his death and examine them one from another from my L. of Westmerland downe euen to the verie lowest and if there be in the whole world a more miserable and discontented troupe of Gentlemen let me neuer be credited in anie thing else that I shall tel you And because you shall your selfe the better iudge I will tell you what paiment they haue of such pensions as the king hath giuen them They had graunted them at Bruges the first daie of August in the yeere one thousand fiue hundred eightie eight a general Liberanca to receue three moneths paie a peece of their pensions But first before I goe anie further I thinke it verie necessarie to let you vnderstand what manner of thing this Liberanca is of which I speake to the end that you may bee acquainted with the inuentions and craftie delayes that they vse in this matter of payment for if you haue not especiall fauour it will bee sixe moneths after the grant thereof do what you can afore it will be fully signed and in estate 〈◊〉 manner of paiment that is that is granted by waie of Liberanca for you to demand your monie A Liberanca is a bill of assignation for the receite of monie graunted to some one in particular or to two or three ioyntly or a hundred or more as occasiō shal require it is first drawen and vnderneath signed by the chiefe Secretory that attendeth on the generall it is directed by the Duke vnto the treasurer general commanding him to paye the same of whatsoeuer monie hee shall haue within his charge but first to see that the same be perused and registred in both the offices of the two Contadors of the armie and signed with their names rubrikes and then that it be likewise registred perused rubrikt by the Veedor generall and signed with his name The Veedor is as it were a censor or ouerseer of all the other officers and is a man of great principall dignitie After this he expresseth the causes that moueth him to grant the summe of monie to the partie that bringeth the Liberanca with many other particularities This is the manner of a Liberanca without which there is not there anie paiment made of monie to any man vnlesse it be by secrete billets from the generall which are but seldome and that vpon secret sodain causes as trecherie intelligēce or espial or some such base matter as requireth secrecie and not to be delaid The wordes of such billets Paiment by secret billets are to command the treasurer to paie vnto the bringer for secrete seruices so much monie as is therein expressed which without more words being signed with the Dukes hand is presently dispached But vnles it haue bin to some notable spie fewe such billets haue fallen to anie Englishmans share As for the Liberanca which is the ordinarie and vsuall kind of paiment after that by tedious labor and solicitation a man hath in sixe moneths space gotten all their hands yet in a manner he is neuer the neerer for some of thē are neuer paid scarcely anie til they be two or three yeres old if in the meane time the partie loose his Liberança there is no recouerie of a new by anie meanes possible if hee die no benefite thereof riseth to his wife children or heirs for a Liberança is neuer paide but personally to him in whose name it is first granted If it be with long carriage fretted or the names of those that signed it obscured it is a sufficient cauill to frustrate the payment insomuch that one Camell A pretie iest of one Camell a Scotchman a Scotchman came with a faire peece of parchment in his hand to Cosmo the Secretorie humbly desiring that his Liberança might be therein ingrossed for in paper he was sure it wold be worne out before he should recouer the payment Such a Liberança I saie as this was graunted to the English pensioners in the yeere abouesayde for three moneths paie of which till October in the yere 1590. I am sure they had not receiued one penny how long they staid without it afterwards I know not for of later time I cannot giue anie so certaine assurance onely the commō report is that things there are not much bettered but now especially since the Duke of Parmas death much impaired Their necessitie was great and they followed the Duke from towne to towne importunatly requiring paiment but especiallye they neuer lefte Cosmo the Dukes Secretorie in quiet who to rid himselfe of their troublesome importunities addressed them to Baptista Spinola a Genouese Banker dwelling in Antwarpe giuing them his Letter and sending the same by one Henry Haslewood requesting him to releeue those distressed English Gentlemen and to buy their Liberança which hee doubted not but they woulde sell good cheape greatly to his profit the whole summe was ten thousand crowns which Cosmo promised him should be allowed and passed in the reckoning which he had with the king Haslewood in the name of the rest offered him the sayd summe for sixe thousand but Spinola vtterly refused the same saying he would not take it for two thousand and withal he desired that hee might not meddle anie more with the king wishing that hee had not medled with him so much So that they were faine to returne poore and pennylesse and did in that instant of which I speake liue in so poore and pittifull a sort that truly it was a griefe to see it insomuch that I knew a Gentleman that solde his part there amounting to 24. pounds for three poundes But perchance you will saie hee giueth great pensions intertaineth many of our nation It is true in deed in shew he doth so and therewith doth bleare the worlds eies with an apparance of great liberalitie But his paiment vsage cōsidered I protest vnto you that I speak vnfainedly I do not know anie estate of life in England so meane which I do not much prefer
before being here a pensioner to the king of Spaine I leaue the iudgement of the truth heereof to those that haue tried it you haue many of them amongst you conferre with them and examine them vpon their conscience As for my part in good faith I cannot imagine the cause why hee intertaineth vs vnlesse it be to vse vs as stales to allure others cōnsidering the hatred that he and his beareth vs and so vnder the dissembled colour of a false affection at length to ouerthrow vs all Thus much I dare boldly saie because through the conference that I haue had with them I doo knowe it assuredly that euen those of our natiō which do most serue his turne howsoeuer in outward apparance they seeme for some particular causes to magnifie and extoll his liberalitie yet in theyr owne secret conceites they doo imagine and knowe nothing in the worlde to bee more reproachfull base and contemptible than to be an Entretenido in the king of Spaines seruice especially if hee serue not in the warres and haue his entertainment assigned him in some companie or other which fewe or none of our Countrymen haue chiefely those of the better sorte As for those that haue their pensions granted them to follow the court without anie obligation of seruice as in a manner all the pensions granted to the Englishmen are the Spanish souldier maketh the most base and contemptible reckoning of them that may bee euen as of men that liue by charitie as our poore knightes doo at Windsore English pensioners there vtterly scorned and vnregarded But to the end you may in this point cleerly discerne the manner of their vsage you must vnderstand that the king granteth two manner of pensions or extraordinarie paies bestowing vpon men of desert eyther of them as the occasion and the qualitie of theyr seruice shal require the one called by the name of Entertainment and the other Ventaja in the Patents wherin they are granted The difference betweene two kindes of pensions or paimēts which the king giueth to such as serue him the one called Entretenumēto the other Ventaja The first which they call Entertainment is such as is graunted to our Countrymen to stragling Italians and to some cashierd Captaines such as are of best regard and to strangers of other nations who are neuer paid till the whole armie be satisfied al other occasions defraid then if any ouerplus remaine which seldome happeneth somwhat therof perchance may come to their share This pension is verie casuall and hath often bin abolished taken awaie quite as well from the English as from all other nations witnes Charles Browne Hugh Owen and Ralfe Ligons that were faine foure yeres since vpon that occasion to go into Spaine where after long great sute they brought downe order again to haue the same renued yet still commonly once a yeere there comes an allarum among thē that the king will not be any longer at the charge of so many pensions and in danger to be turned out of paie And some three or four yeres agone they were all commanded to go downe to the armie and to put themselues in seruice vnder some companie or otherwise not to expect anie pension or paiment which how vnfitting it is and vnworthie to men brought vp in other courses as most of them are I leaue to your iudgement yet the misery of that bondage to which they haue subiected themselues must indure al and which is most miserable must not complain when they are striken The other paimēt or pension which is called Ventaya as it is much more honorable because though verie vsuall among the Spaniards and all other nations ours excepted yet they are neuer granted but vpō pretence of good seruice don or some duenes of desert they that haue thē are more respectiuely regarded and better paid than the other and they are neuer taken from them so long as they follow the kings seruice Many of our nation haue serued among the Spaniards yet to this daie did I neuer knowe anie one graced with one of these Ventayas though they are cōmon to all other nations yea euen to the Germanes though granted to thē by the name of Sobrepagas which in effect is all one If I were guiltie to my selfe that this which I doo write were vntrue I should greatly feare the shame of reprofe in a matter so manifest especially there being now in England many that are as well or better acquainted with these matters than my selfe can contradict me where I erre But grounding my selfe vpon the confidence of an assured truth I cannot but wonder these things being so how anie that hath the true feeling of that which pertaineth to the honor of a gentlemā cā indure an vsage so scornful contumelious as this which daily they receiue from the Spaniard of which if you desire one example for all this may satisfie you which followeth The most contemptible vsage of the English at Bruges At such time as the Duke of Parma lay at Bruges busie about his preparations for England attending the Spanish fleet when they all expected to be made knights Coronels Captaines conducters of the armie to be filled with crownes they were so far from those matters with which they flattered themselues that in sted of being honored and aduanced they were the only reiected contemned people that followed the court all nations els beeing releeued with some moneths paie they onley excepted And which is more wheras they moued the duke sundrie times to know his pleasure how he would dispose of them in that iourney telling him besides that vpon the well vsage of them depended much matter of importance as the alluring drawing vnto them other Gentlemen of their kinsmen friends who vpon hope of the like good vsage honor aduancemēt would be able to do great seruice vpon their landing wheras contrariwise seeing them come ouer so poore in shew without credit money or armes like lackies for so were the words of their request it would be a cause to terrifie them from vndertaking of anie such course they were by the Duke scornfully with derision reiected neither did he vouchsafe to giue them anie other answere than only that he would think vpon it But on the night in which vpon the hurly burlie of the comming of the Spanish nauie they thought to imbarke he departed towards Donckerk leauing them all behind not thinking them any way worthy to bee called vpon or to be taken with him Wheruepon the Earle of Westmerland the L. Paget sundry of the better sort laide their heads together made their complaint vnto the D. of Pastrana who was newly come out of Spaine with great fauors from the king The D. of Pastrana supposed to be the kinges bastard there liued in great honor and applause among the Spaniards but by him some saye they were as basely and scornfully handled as by
proue it against him Therfore seeing that they had in this failed they determined to take their reuenge by another course to effect the which they vsed as an instrument a young Gentleman called Gage whom by many pratises they suborned incensed thereunto the manner whereof was as followeth Morgan being come downe into the low countries in company of the L. Paget his brother Charls hauing bin one night late at euening seruice in the Church of Saint Gudala at Brussels was as he came down the church staires encountered in the darke by Gage Morgan wounded by Gage suborned therevnto by the Iesuites by him grieously wounded in the face Who thereupon presently fled thinking that he had slaine him but afterwardes by the means and earnest pursuit of the L. Paget was apprehended The Iesuites and their partie seemed at the first stifly to deny that they had bin the causers of this fact but the sequel of their proceedings made it most apparant to the whole world For when Morgan the L. Paget and diuerse of his friends labored verie earnestly with petitions vnto the duke to haue the rigor seueritie of iustice to proceed against him by whom this great violence was offred they first labored for reconciliation which being flatly refused Morgan accused by the Iesuites of treason then to stop the plaintifes mouthes and to preuent such mischiefes as they feared might insue they found no better meanes than once again to accuse Morgan of treason laying to his charge sundrie points of trecherie as well in former matters concerning the Scottish queen as also the seruice person of the d. of Parma Besides they accused him to haue bin a setter on of Gilford his confederates in such practises as they had vndertaken by sir Frances Walsinghams warrant setting on to that end they sent Chriton the Scottish Iesuite to Paris to take Giffords examination whose imprisonment they had there procured and withall they caused all such as anie way relied vpon them to take their oath before the auditor generall that in their conscience they though Morgā to be a traitor and a spie vnto the taking of which oath also they laboured earnestly with sundrie others which they not hauing their conscience so saleable refused vtterly denied to doo yet in the meane time while these things were in hand they wrought so with their forged accusatiōs that Morgan was clapt close prisoner in a miserable dungeon called the Truerenborche where til the D. of Parmas death he remained at which time as it is said he was set at libertie and liueth now with the Bishop of Cusano Vpon his apprehension there were aboue thirtie seuerall ciphers found in his closet in which abroade in the world he corresponded with great personages and withall a Letter which hee had newly written to the Bishop of Dunglane verie defamatory against the person of the D. of Parma which incensed the Duke exceedingly against him was without doubt the chiefest cause of his long imprisonment for otherwise it is thought hee wold easily haue ouerpassed the calumniation of the Iesuits In fine these two factiōs haue sought to ouerthrow one anothers credit in the chiefest courts of christēdom opening of either side such foule matters and tossing to fro such filthie slanderous defamations that al men crie out against them both holding thē to bee traitors men of no fidelitie So that vndoubtedly I cannot but thinke him distracted of his wits that hauing meanes to lieu else where quietly wil make himself a partie in these partialities and contentions which whosoeuer liueth there must needs doo or else like an enemy to them both be rusht like a ship betweene two tempests But the pretiest of all is to see how smoothly they handle the matter with you in England abusing your simplicitie with the subtiltie of their words and the holynes of their apparance They make you and the other Catholikes of England beleeue that what practises drifts so euer they take in hand are all for the zeale of religion and aduancement of the Catholike cause And you silly soules thinke all they saie to bee Gospell whereas God wot religion is the least matter of a thousand that they thinke vppon The onely point they aime at beeing lost companions at home The drifte of the English traitors abroad is to make thēselues great where they are that by making you hazard your liues repuputations and credits and to that ende they are alwayes breeding of practises and conspiracies both within and without the realme caring not what successe they take if they proue well then they will haue the praise merite honor and rewarde thereof if otherwise then they saie their good will must bee accepted in greate matters the attempt is sufficient And thereby they thinke to win the reputation to be accounted great state men and contriuers of waightie matters not caring in the meane time for the securitie of them by whome they worke as appeareth by the example and fall of many braue gentlemen of England whome by their treacherous practises they haue brought to ruine and destruction They verie well knew that when they first began to set abroach the matter of Babbington his disloiall confederats that the effecting thereof in such sorte as they had plotted it was altogether vnpossible Babington and his confederats as Mendoza the Spanish Embassador told Ballard the priest their instrument in contriuing the same when he was at first in Paris brought vnto him by C. Paget to desire him to informe the king his master of their intention and withall that at a daie appointed there might be a force assistance of men readie to correspond with them But that was al one so they might be accounted men of great reach and dealers in such high state matters they spared not to proceede in inchanting those poore vnexperienced yong gentlemen neuer leauing till they had brought them to their ends to the vtter ruine of them and their houses in such sorte as to the whole world is manifest and needs not to be recited Let therefore all the gentlemen of England especially the Catholiks who in regard of their religion credulitie are by them likeliest to be insnared take heed beware of hauing any thing to do with this pestilent and factious race of people for they speak so deuoutly looke so smoothly and write with such counterfeted grauity and holines that it is hard for anie man to eschue theyr deadly baits vnles he do first knowe the falshood trecherie vnder which they doo colour and shroud them What else hath intangled M. Shelly in these extreame calamities M. Shelly What likewise brought the late Earle of Northumberlāà who neuer before was once detected of the least disloialtie towards his Prince or Countrie into so great troubles and distresses The lāte Earle of Northumberland and finally to so tragicall despairful an end
rich moueables when he had so done died within three moneths after the same His next heires by counsell of their friends put the Iesuites in sute Against which though they opposed themselues with all vehemencie yet to their great shame reprehension sentence was giuen against them by the roial councel of Macklin It is called Magnum regium consilium and hath authoritie to determin definitly both in ciuil criminal causes without appeale Notwithstanding they wold not so giue ouer but by the meanes aide and support of President Pamele a chiefe fauorite of theirs they appealed from thence to the councell of Estate at Brussels getting the cause after sentence giuen to be remoued a thing there vnusuall and scarcely euer heard of before There I lefte the processe hanging what became of it afterwards I know not but by hooke or by crooke it was thought they woulde carrie it awaie in the end Another time a rich wealthie merchant of Antwarp An other the like historie but one in that point whose deuotion and scrupulotitie ouer-went his wisdome comming to them in confession and telling them of some vniust gaine with which he felt his conscience touched they presently with sundrie terrifying speeches tolde him that he was in the state of damnation out of which he could not be deliuered vntil such time as he had made restitution as well of that confessed as of all other monie and goods that hee had by vsurie vnlawfully gotten laying before him Quod non dimittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum with sundry other such sentences of which they had store In fine they put the poore man into such a seare of conscience that hee yeelded to make restitution if so the same might bee done without his vndooing discredite or shame Whereupon to comfort him agayne but in deed fearing least if they dealte too rigorously and roughlye with him they shoulde get nothing they tolde him that if in steed of all such interests and vsuries with which he felt his conscience burthened he only would bee content to deliuer vnto them some such summe of money as without his vndooing he thought hee might conueniently spare His name is John Baptista Spinila a man known in most marchāt townes of christeodom they would take it vppon their soules to see the summe imployed vpon good vertuous charitable vses to the greater benefit and merite of his soule as a thing more acceptable vnto God lesse scandalous to the world then if he should make restitution to whome it apperteined and had bene by his vsurie interessed where vpon the marchant being wel satisfied in conscience gaue them the mony and they him their absolution It was a greate speech for a while about the towne that this great marchant would become a Capuchine and make a distribution of his goods among them he himselfe made greate shewe thereof a while but it the end he deceiued them and falling to his olde byas did not sticke to tel vnto some of his priuate friends this fore remembred tale But I will holde you no longer with the recitall of these their politique and vnconscionable practises which truly in my opinion are very vnfitting for men that professe themselues to be of the society of Iesus who being the fountaine of all purenesse will surely neuer associate himselfe with deceiuers and false wordly politicians But let them take heede for this the intrusion of themselues into temporall matters their subtilties and vnquiet stirring wittes hath made them odious to most parte of the worlde I meane euen to such as professe their owne religion The templers were as mightie as euer they were and in outward apparance of greate holines and integritie yet for their hypocricie God sodeinly ouerthrew them The Templers greater than euer they were yet sodainly for their hypocrisie ouerthrowen tooke awaie their liues and possessions made their memorie infamous Let them beware that the like punishment hang not ouer their heades for I can assure them they are growen odious to the world and to none more odious then to some of their owne religion who do wel forsee the scandal and slander that by their behauiour ariseth to the Romaine Church I could here in particular touche some of thē by name with matters that they would be ashamed to here of But I am not so vncharitable or malitious as to libell the names of any men or to defame them publiquely especially for matters of frailtie though amonge them nothing is more common and vsuall then vpon the dislike of any mans humor or action presently to publish his name to the world in some malicious pamphlet or other vpbraiding him therein yea euen with theverie errors and frailties of his youth if they can touch him with any such if not then imputing to him fained falshoods and vilanies which how false wicked or improbable soeuer they be they knowe they haue customers that will receiue them for currant They haue dared in their Libels to touch the maiestie of princes the dignitie of great honorable coūsellers Yet all were well so they would content themselues to deale onely with priuate men in this sorte But such is their respectlesse audatious and vnbrideled insolence that they haue dared to lift their damned and rebellious pennes dipped in stronger poison than the arrowes of Hercules against the soueraigne and sacred maiestie of Princes and against the high ancient dignitie of great and mightie counsellors yea euen of such as sit at the helme of gouernment taking out of the foulest sinkes of hel it self false defematorie periured abhominable speeches thereby to dispossesse the worldes minde of the opinion which theyr constant course in long continued virtue and integritie hath gained them But in fine they loose theyr labor and get no more than he that defiled his owne face with spitting into the winde or the other that kicking against a thorne made his owne heeles bloudie For howsoeuer in theyr commonwealth which they deliniate according to the guiltinesse of theyr owne feeling and gouernment or their Philopater which name they giue themselues by a figure called Antiphrasis But howsoeuer in them or anie other pamphlet they raile or bewraie their owne mallice they can no whit at all impeach the honour and reputation of these noble personages who like mightie and well grounded rockes contemning the forcelesse windes that blowe against them are so surely seated vpon the safe ground of loyaltie to their Prince and loue to their Countrie that albeit they please the humor of a few whom they leade like Buphals by the noses forbidding them to looke into the light least they should perceiue their iugling yet those that haue anie wisdome or discourse of reason will the more reuerence honour and esteeme them and admire their happines in hauing deserued so well of the realme as that therby they shuld procure vnto them the hatred of those that are such deadly
more with the king wishing that he had not medled with him so much So that they were fain to returne pennilesse and doo at this instant liue in so poore and pitifull sort that truly my hart grieueth to see it insomuch that I knew a Gentleman that solde his part there being foure and twentie pounds for three pounds But perchance you will saie he giueth great pensions and entertaineth manie of our Nation it is true in deede in shewe hee doth so and therewith doth bleare the worldes eyes wyth a shew of great liberalitie But his payment and vsage considered a God is my iudge and witnesse I speake vnfainedly I account it a farre happier estate to bee a doore-keeper in that your blessed soile than to be heere pensioner to the king of Spaine I leaue the iudgement of the truth thereof to those that haue tryed it you haue many amongst you confer with them and examine them vppon their consciences as for my part in good faith I cannot imagin cause why he entertaineth vs vnles it be to vse vs as stales to allure others considering the hatred that he his beare vs and so vnder the dissembled colour of a false affection to ouerthrow vs all at the last Thus much I dare boldly say because through the conference I haue had with them I doe know assuredly that euen those of our nation which doe most serue his turne howsoeuer in outward apparance they seem for some particular causes to magnifie and extoll his liberalitie yet in their owne secret conceits they do imagin know nothing in the world to be more reprochfull base and contemptible than to be an Entertain do in the king of Spaines seruice As for example you shall easilie see what account is made of them At such time as preparation was made at Brussels for the voyage of Englande when they all expected to bee made knights coronels captaines and conducters of the armie and to be filled with crownes they were so farre from those matters with which they flattered themselues that in stead of being honored and aduaunced they were the onelie reiected and contemned people that followed the Court all men beeing releeued with some moneths paie they onely excepted and which is more whereas they mooued the Duke sundry times to know his pleasure how hee woulde dispose of them in this iourney telling him besides that vpon the wel vsage of them depended much matter of importaunce as the alluring drawing to them other gentlemen of their kinsmen and friends and vpon hope of the like good vsage honour and aduancement woulde bee able to doe great seruice vpon their landing where contrariwise in seeing them come ouer so poore in shew without credit mony or armes lyke lacke is for so were the words of their request it would be a cause to terrifie them from vndertaking any such course They were by the Duke scornefully and with derision reiected neyther did hee vouchsafe to giue them any other answere than onely that hee would thinke vpon it But on the night that they thought to embarke he departed leauing them all behind not thinking them any way woorthy to be called vppon or to be taken with him VVherupon the lord Westmerland and Paget and sundry others layd their heads together and made their complaint to the duke of Pastrana by whom they were as basely and scornfully handled as by the other insomuch as a great Spaniard standing by asked them whether they thought the king of Spaine not puisant enough to winne England without them and their friends Vpon which answere the Lord Paget that verily thought hee shoulde haue beene made one of the priuy Councell and now finding himselfe to bee had in so small account conceiued such an inward griefe that for that time forward hee neuer ioyed till his dying day Sir William Standley also tooke it in such heauy and disdainefull sorte that he was not called to be counsell of warres wheras hee presumed and so gaue out that no man in the army knewe more or was better able in this voiage than himself that he sequestred himselfe frō the Country and came malecontent and hired an house in Antwerpe where hee liued a most melancholy lyfe foure or fiue moneths and oftentimes would burst out into such impassionate speeches that the world verily imagined he would haue professed himselfe into a cloyster Besides the loue the Spaniarde beareth vs appeareth by the speeches hee dayly vseth in publike assemblyes concerning vs. Once seeing certayne English-men passe by as they stoode a great many of them in a ring as they vse together vppon the bridge in Antwerpe they sayde They wondered what the king made with such vermin in his coūtry one of them swearing a great oath that looke how many English-men there were in the Lowe countries there were so many spies and traitours Another sayd it were an almes deede to put them all in sackes and throw them into the riuer I could recite a thousand more such speeches but that they are not worth the remembring They are so ielous and suspitious of vs that if any thing proue vntowardly in their seruice they think it straight to be done by our especiall meanes and intelligence As vpon the taking of Axhil by that braue worthie souldier Sir Philip Sidney of worthie memorie Mondragon presently imprisoned Paget within the Castle tooke away all things whatsoeuer that hee had woorth anie thing and the rest he caused his men to ryfle and steale saying openly that we all are traitors and spies To confirme the confidence they haue in vs tell mee what companies of English they haue trusted within these ten yeares in garison I am sure you cannot name one And whereas sundry Gentlemen amongst vs haue instantly sued to haue theyr pensiōs granted them in the castle of Antwerpe or Gaunt because the payment is there somewhat better no one hath hitherto been able to attayne the same so vile base is the reckoning they make of vs. I could alledge vnto you many other exampls of sundry disgraces offered vnto our nation wherby we myght if we lust easly discouer the hatred they beare vs the suspition they haue of vs and the danger wherein we stand to haue one day our throates cut But this I hope which I haue already rehearsed shall suffice fully to assure and persuade you that here is no aduancement wealth or reputation to be gotten but pouerty peril iealousie and disgrace Now let vs see touching the point of conscience and repose in religion if the fame be to be found here such as you expect In matter of religion I will not take it vpon me to dispute because it were to digresse from my purpose and besides I neuer studyed diuinity only making comparison between the comfortable freedome of the one and the dispayring slauery of the other laying of the one side Indulgences pilgrimages forged relikes fabulous deuises and auricular confessions on the other side the merites and
order whatsoeuer they brought the poore man being of himselfe simple into their society thinking that there was no other way to bee saued and withall before hand infeoffed their college with his land which was two hūdred pound a yeere giuing them besides much goods and riche moueables and when he had so done died within three moneths after the same his next heires by counsell of their friends put the Iesuites in suite agaynst which though they opposed themselues with all vehemencie yet to theyr great shame and reprehension sentence was giuen agaynst them Notwithstanding they would not give ouer but by the meanes aid and support of president Pameley who is one of theyr best children they appealed from thence to the councell of Brussels getting the cause after sentence giuen to bee remooued a thing vnusuall or scarcely euer heard off before as yet there the processe hangeth by hooke or by crooke it is thought they will haue it in the ende Another time a riche and wealthy Merchaunt of Antwerp but one in that point whose deuotion scrupulocity ouer-went his wisdome comming to them in confession and telling them of some vniust gaine with which he felt his conscience touched they suddenly with sundry terrifiyng speeches tolde him that hee was in the state of damnation out of which he could not bee delyuered vntyll such time as hee had made restitution as well of that confessed as of all other mony and goods that hee had by vsury vnlawfully gotten laying before him Quod none dimittitur peccatum nisi restituatur oblatum with sundry other such sentēces of which they had store in fine they put the poore man into such feare of conscience that he yelded to make restitution if so the sane might bee done without his vndoing dyscredite or shame VVhereupon to comfort him agayne but in deede fearing least that if they dealt too rigorously with him they should get nothing they tolde him that if in steade of all such interest and iniuryes with which hee felt his conscience burdened hee would onely be content to deliuer vnto them some such summe of monie as without his vndooing he thought conueniently he might spare they woulde take it vppon their soules to see the said summe imploied upon good vertuous and charitable vses to the greater benefite and merite of his soule and as a thing more acceptable to God and lesse scandelous to the world than if he should make restitution to whome it appertained and that were by that his vsurie interessed VVhereupon the Marchant beeing well satisfied in conscience gaue them the monie and they him their absolution But I will hold you no longer with the recitall of these things of which if I would entreate their impiety would yeelde me too much matter My principall meaning and intention onely beeing to let you see that vnder heauen there is no state so wickedly impiously deuouringly gouerned in matter of religion and conscience as these here vnder the Spaniard I thinke the recital of their miseries would rather breede in you admiration than beleefe so far doth the same exceede the compasse of al their tyrannies that euer were vsed there being no calamity in the world of which they haue not tasted of Their noblemen rulers in whose vertue and courage consisted their chiefest refuge in times past when they were wronged tyrannixed haue beene murdered strangled poisoned and slayne by the bloudy ministers of their cruell king they are taxed in great summes and numbers of men sent violently into France forrein wars and the relikes of their nobility forced to go with thē in person to their apparant slaughter leauing in the meane time their countries in pray to the enemy their villages flaming in fire their towns battered about their eares wyth the canon their priuiledges are by wrong and tyranny taken from them their cities that sometimes striued with oppulency and glorie with the goodliest and greatest of the world are gouerned by base and barbarous Spaniardes brideled with their garrisons and castels and forraged spoyled by them at such time as their payment faileth No face of iustice in their common-wealth but the same is pliable to the wil of such strangers as are gouernors of their towns captains of their castles their goodly hauens harboring sometimes with innumerable ships laden with marchandise from all parts of the world are now frequented euen of the fisher-boates their trafficke ceased and their townes almost desarte in the most of which of tenne houses together there are scarse three inhabited their villages abroade burned and ouergrowen with bushes their goodly meddowes and fruitfull pastures drowned many miles wide and long by letting in of sluces and cutting downe ditches The mansion houses and castels of their Nobilitie abused and throwen downe the errable ground waste and vntilled insomuch that there a man may haue as much land as hee will and thankes withall for the onely manuring thereof As for the poore labouring people of the country for the most part they are all starued and cōsumed with hunger of which disease I my selfe haue knowne two thousand die in one summer so that you may ride in some places an hundred miles without seeing of a man woman or childe vnlesse it bee some poore sillie soule that commeth creeping out of the woodes hunger starued more like confusitated ghostes than a lyuing christian creature And yet all these in a maner happier because they are at an ende of theyr miseries than such as doe liue within the inhabited places of the countrie as Cempine and the land of VVast and these of all the people in the world I take to be the most wretchedst Ouer euery village of these are appoynted certaine horsmen to whom they are all to pay monethly contribution some ten pounds some twentie and some thirtie some more and some lesse I knew one village that paide an hundred poundes euery moneth called Turnolt but they payde it so long till all the dwellers ranne away and haue now in a manner left it void of inhabitauntes Ouer this village and the whole Countrie is appoynted a Commissarie called Sygonio for the payment of theyr contributions of all tyrants liuing the most cruellest and of least conscience VVho if they faile and doe not bring in theyr money at the last day of the moneth hee sendes forth troupes of horse-men to take the best of them prisoners and withall to driue home to their quarters or garrisons such sheepe oxen or cattell whatsoeuer as they finde in those villages which hee causeth if the money followe not within fiue or sixe daies at the furthest to be sold at the drum or Trumpet and withal forceth them to pay a great fine the one halfe of which hee retayneth to himselfe and the other to the souldiers for their out-roads and forbearance of the money But the miserie of these poore people endeth not here for besides all this they are forced many times to lodge soldiers in their
houses as they march along the countrie vpon seruice at which time it is incredible what outrages they receyue their cattell killed their corne threshed out and giuen to horse their chests broken vp their goods euē to the verie sheetes and tikes of beds stollen and carried away by the soldiers when they march themselues beaten and their wiues and their daughters abused and in fine what else is to the nature of man grieuous and intollerable they are constrained to indure Neither is the condition of the poore citizens or towns-men any better who being forced to receiue garrison and to lodge souldiers in their houses imparting to them the best chambers and commodities of the same neuer hearing from them anie other worde especially if they please not them in all their exhorbitant demand than Perhamengo Lutherano Borchio c. Yet besides they are daylye wearied out with continuall exactions and taxations as the hundred pennie the tenth pennie and once a yeere without faile the fiftly pennie of all their goods and landes besides infinite other pillages and gatherings towardes the making of rampires bulwarkes ballasadowes countercerpes and the reparation of their wals and to giuing of munition bread beere and cheese to such souldiers as shall passe by their townes distressed of victualles with infinit such like I haue knowen I speak it of my faith poore people of Antwerpe forced to sell their beddes they lie vppon to satisfie their tyrannous exactions which if they should not doe execution of their goods attachment of their persons shoulde presently followe But which is most beyond reason whereas within the townes the most part of their houses are vacant and vnhired yet the owners of them are taxed according to the value in which they were wont to bee hired Insomuch that in Antwerpe other townes it is a matter verie vsual for men to disclaime and quit their owne houses thereby to be exempted of such paiment as otherwise by reason of thē they are charged with that they do iurisdicially before the magistrate at which time the Ainan entereth in and ceaizeth vpon them to the kings vse Besides when as sundrie Gentlemen and other the inhabitants of this countrie hauing certaine annuall rents issuing out and charged vpon the kings demaines in the Dutchie of Brabant at least to the yeerely value of ten thousand poundes some of the which rents haue bene by themselues bought of the states generall some left vnto them by their parents and predecessours The king vniustly and by tyrannie disanulling the said rents hath doth without forme of iustice take into his owne hands the said demains appropriating the vse commoditie and reuenue thereof to the maintenance of the troupes of horse men But what shall I trouble you any longer with recounting vnto you the assise impositions taxes extortions pillages and heauie intollerable burthens laid vpon this afflicted poor people by their vniust and cruell king Compare now I pray you heerewith your estate of gouernment at home and tell me which of them two you thinke to bee most fortunate Doth her MAIESTY deale in this order with you whose gouernment you so much mislike Oh God how can you be so peruerse seeing the blessednesse wherein shee maintaines you as not to acknowledge the same How gentle are the helpes and subsidies which she exacteth of you without the vndooing or hinderance of any man of whom they are exacted And on the other side how profusely spendeth shee her owne treasure for the maintenance of your wiues and children and parents in repose iustice and securitie Oh pray to God for her long life and prosperous estate for in her consisteth the tipe of your felicitie But nowe to the other point of your mislike VVhereas the aduersarie hath beaten into your heads that the state standes daungerous as beeing farre too feeble and not sufficient to withstand and resist so mightie and opposite an enemie as is the king of Spaine terrifying with millions of gold innumerable nations ouer whome hee commaundeth I hope by the cleer and euident reasons I shal shew you to make you vnderstand that the fame of him is farre greater than his force and that there is no prince this day in the world whose estate standeth more tickle and ready to ruine than his and that there is no cause why we should fear him but many why he should feare vs. First that hee is the most mighty and oppulent prince of Europe I do not deny if hee had vsed moderation in his greatnesse and acknowledged the benefites which God hath bestowed vpon him with thankfulnesse But such is the state whereunto his ambitious aspiring hath at this present brought him or rather the reuengefull hand of God which hangeth ouer his head for his horrible tyrannies and odious offences especially for his wicked pariacide and murther committed vppon the person of his wife his sonne and sundry others of his best and truest subiects that he is in the midst of these his riches indigent poore and indebted vnable to giue satisfaction to such souldiers as he maintaineth to which end he is forced to extort vpon his poore subiects and tyrannize ouer them Of this his indigency beggery wee see euery day experience here before our eyes his owne natural subiects the Spaniards being the best disciplined souldiers he hath and of whom he maketh greatest account are forced for want of their paimēt which is now three yeres behind to cease his towns and artillary to contemne his commandements and proclamations finally to bend their armes display their Ensignes vpon the wals against the Duke To remedie which mutinie there was post vpon post sent into Spain yet in seuen moneths there could no monie be found Notwithstanding many most important detriments he receyued by occasion of this mutiny as the losse of Breda the retardaunce of the French succours the danger of Numigen c. whereas the whole summe they demaunded was not much aboue fifteen thousand Besides do but looke into the maner of his proceedings in these lowe countries with his souldiers of which because I haue best experience I will chiefly speake and you shall find nothing in the world more beggarly and indigent Neither as I heare is it better in his other prouinces which verily I beleeue seeing of all others it importeth him to vse them best as being his eldest perfectest in discipline best experienced troupes and in fine those vnto whom he chiefliest reposeth as the onely vpholders and maintainance of him in his tyranny Yet was there neuer in the world I dare vndertake King nor Prince how bankerout or needy soeuer in whose seruice so many braue souldiers haue died of hunger or that haue vsed such coosning trickes and snifts to stoppe necessities and to deceiue his souldies as he hath done First the countrey not being yet fully consumed wasted and destroyed he authorized his soldiers to spoyle and steale the goodes and cattell of the poore pesants
forcing them to raunsome theyr houses from fire and their persons from murther by which meanes the souldiers lingered in such sort that I haue knowen them remaine three yeres together with out one months pay But afterward Antwerpe being rendered by reason of the generall deuastation of the countrie the souldiers failing to finde their wonted reliefe and praie grewe into so great and miserable extremitie that it was a great matter to finde twentie souldiers vnder any Ensigne The Spaniards mutined vpon the Staunda whome they found meanes to appease wyth some few months paiment The VVallounds mutined in Laiskine Houlke and the land of the Wast the Almaines went by hundreds begging vp and downe the streets of Antwerp bare legged and bare footed or in manner naked the Italians starued in their quarters and diuers of them being in garison in Breda ran thence to Huisden and to other towns of the enemy To remedy all which inconueniences he found meanes to deale with the Italian Bakers of Antwarp for cloth and silke as Northerne kersies packe-clothes baies refuse Italian silkes taking vp the same vpon excessiue interest yerely to a certayne summe for receit of which and deliuery out agayne hee appoynted a Spaniard one Christopher Craesa a man of most wicked conscience to be his treasurer Then he began to grant payments to the whole campe horse and foote vnto such gentlemen and pensioners as were in great extremity had bin long sutors which they hauing receiued were forced for want of mony presently to make sale thereof for the third of that value in which they receiued it so that a souldier hauyng foureteene shillings a moneths pay receiued onely foure shillings and sixe pence And he hath his factors and brokers abroad to buy those sayd clothes and silkes again which he deliuereth presently out of the first price to the next that comes and so still forth deliuering and buying the same againe for the third part of the price insomuch that with an hundred pounds he maketh ten thousand poundes in a yeere and yet sometimes he maketh them stay foure or fiue moneths before he will deliuer them cloth or any contentment at all And sometimes hee neuer troubleth himselfe with the deliuery of the cloth but causeth their assignatiō to be boght as now at this instant sir William Standly before his departure had obtained a Liberanca for two moneths for his regiment amounting to an hundred and fifty pounds the payment thereof hath beene deferred till this present and is now solde in Antwerpe to one of his factors for three score poundes and yet hee that solde it made a good bargaine I haue knowen diuers that haue solde diuers such Liberancas for thirty pounds and eight and twenty pounds in the hundred Yet this payment how bad soeuer hath somewhat contented the souldiers foure or fiue yeeres rather hauing that than nothing But now also the same is dryed vp and come to nothing Payments haue beene this halfe yeere very scarse and with much difficulty for the marchants haue at this instant vtterly refused to furnish him with any more wates both because the same wherein he standeth already indebted vnto them amounteth to an excessiue matter as also he beginneth to wrangle with them aboute the interest of which he craueth moderation seeing besides before their eies so many presidents of men ruined vndone and dishonored such as he hath delt withall of which what more apparaunt example maye there be than that of S. Siueres a Portugal marchant and one of the chiefest best respected marchāt of Antwerpe both for the wealth and credit which he possessed as also for the securitie and vprightnesse which he handled the Duke of Parma reducted of Antwerpe the passage of the riuer shut vp and the countries and townes afflicted with great dearth scarcity of corn at which time rie was at 44. s. sterling the virendel in Antwerpe withal being daily cried vpon by the generall of Vibres for munition corn to victual the camp the old store being cleane consumed knewe no other meanes than to deale earnestly with this S. Siueres and other marchants that had trade with Hanborough Lubeck and the Easterlings which countries were replenished with corn to make some aduenture thether for the releefe of the countrie he amongst the rest shewed not himselfe vnwilling to enter into an action so charitable and vertuous if so be his pains might be requited and hee sufficiently warranted and kept free from such danger as might insue either by peril of sea taking of the enimies or losse in the same when it came to this end the duke sent into Spaine and procured him the kings Letters of assurance in the most ample manner possible incouraging him with much thankes many promises to proceed which hee did with the aduenture of most part of his credite and goods insomuch that hee laded three shippes of which one was scattered by tempest and cast away vpon the coast of Scotlande the other two came safelie home to Callice but at that time such was either the il luck of him or the good lucke of the countrey that vpon a new plentie haruest which they had corne was abated from fortie foure shillinges the Virendell to sixe shillinges at which price the Duke by the kings appointment bought his prouision and munition vtterlye refusing that of Syueres so that he was faine whilest he made his sute to the king to keepe the same so long vpon his owne hands that it venowed and waxed mustie in some sort that he was faine to throw the greatest part away without euer to this day beeing able to receyue of the king one penny of recompence insomuch that hee was forced to the wonderfull griefe shame and confusion of him his wife his children and friends hauing before time liued in the greatest honour and magnificence of any Marchant in the Towne to breake banquerout and is at this present suing to the Duke and the priuie Councell at Brussels for a protection to keepe his bodie from attachment These are the rewardes and recompence that this mightie Monarch giueth to those that imploy their indeuours in his seruice Of which if you doe desire to haue better experience looke but into the office of his treasurer at Brussels and there you shall dayly and hourely see a token sufficient of his oppulencie and great magnificencie there shall you finde a miserable troupe of sutours with assignations for monie graunted them by the Duke some of which haue lost a legge or an arme eyther thorough age or infirmitie that hath gotten their Lisence and Pasport to depart into their Countries some pretending one cause and some another but no one man able in two yeres folowing to get one pennie so that there is no yeere but a great number of them die in the pursuite for hunger yea and some of them euen at his gates Of my saluation I speake it I haue knowen some poore people