It was agreed that two dayes after he should meete the Queene a league and a halfe thence so to proue if any thing might be determined which he did There after many speeches the said Prince did in the end make her the offer aforesaid namely to depart the realme so to testifie his zeale to the quiet thereof which she tooke holde of before the word was out of his mouth telling him that that in deed was the true meanes to preuent all mischiefes feared for the which all France should be bound vnto him also that the King comming to his maioritie would bring all into good order wherby euery man should haue cause to be content Nowe although the Prince was a man that would not be easily danted neyther wanted his tongue yet was he at this time astonished as not thinking to haue bene taken so short because it waxed late she tolde him that in the morning she would send to knowe what conditions hee would demand Thus she departed in good hope and the Prince returned to his campe laughing but betweene his teeth with the chiefe of his Gentlemen which had heard all his talke Some scratching their heads where they itched not others shaking them some were pensiue and the younger sort gybed oue at another each one deuising with what occupation he should be forced to get his liuing iu a forein land At night they determined the next morning to call all the Captaines together to haue their aduice in so waightie a matter In the morning they entered into counsayle where the Admirall propounded that in as much as this matter concerned all it was in his opinion good to impart it vnto al which was done and the Colonels and Captaines were sent to demaund the aduice as well of the Gentrie as footemen But they imediatly aunswered thatsith France had bredde them it should also be their scpulture likewise that so long as anie drop of bloud rested in them it shoulde bee imployed in defence of their religion With all they requested the Prince to remember his generall promise that hee would not forsake them This being reported to the Counsaile haâ—ted the conclusion of those that were there to deliberate who considering of the generall disposition of all were the rather confirmed in their opinions which did concurre w t the same neither were there aboue three or foure that vsed anie speech the matter being so euident and I do yet in part rememâ—er the particularities there deducted The Lord Admirall declared vnto the Prince that albeit he supposed that the Queene in accepting of his offer meant no harme as one that desiring to deliuer the state out of miserie means conuenient 〈…〉 ot that he thought those which had weapon on hand did circuÌ„â—ent her to the end to betraie him that he neither ought neither could performe that that was propouÌ„ded himself had promised in respect that beforè he stoode bounde in stronger bandes and besides all this that if he should now absent himselfe he should vtterly loose his credit condemne the cause that he had takeÌ„ in hand which besides the equitie therof being authorised by the Kings edict ought to bee maintayned euen with hazarde of life The Lord of Andelots speech was this My Lord the enimies power lyeth but fiue small leagues hence if it perceiueâ—â— amoÌ„g vs either feare breaking vp or other alterà tioÌ„ whatsoeuer it wil with â—â—â—ord and speare driue vs euen into the Ocean sea If you none shoulde forsake vs it will bee sayde that yee doe it for feare which I knowe neuer harboured in your heart Wee are your poore seruantes and you our maister diuide vs not then sith wee fight for religion and life so many parleyes are but snares layde to intrappe vs as appeareth by the effectes else where The best waie therefore to come to a speedie agreement is that you will vouchsafe to bring vs within halfe a league of those that wish vs to departe the Realme so may wee peraduenture within an houre after growe to some good resolution for wee can neuer bee perfect friendes before wee haue skirmished a little together Then stepped foorth the Lorde of Boucarde one of the brauest Gentlemen in the Realme whose head was fraught both with fire and Lead My Lorde sayde hee hee that either giueth ouer or putteth of the set looseth it which is more true in this matter now in hand than in the tenis court I haue alreadie seene fiftie yeeres in which time I may haue learned alittle discretion I would bee loth to walke vp and downe a foraine lande with a tooth picker in my mouth and in the meane time lett some flattering neighbour bee the maister of my house fatten himselfe with my reâ—â—newes God willing for my parte I will die in my Countrie in defence of our alters and hearthes I beseech you therefore my Lorde and doe wish you not to abandon so many good men that haue chosen you but to excuse your selfe to the Queene and imploie vs with speede while we are willing to bite Little more was there spoken except a generall approbation of all men Then the Lord Prince began to speake and for the iustification of his offer sayd that he made it because they went about couertlie to taxe him with the cause of the warre as also for that if his absence might breede theyr peace he would thinke himselfe happie as not respecting his owne particular affayres lykeâ—â—se that hee did well perceiue seeing the enemies power so neere and theyr resolution that they woulde impute his humilitie to cowardlynesse whereby it should breed no rest but rather destruction to the cause that hee maintayned and that in consideration thereof hee was resolued to followe theyr counsayle and to liue and die with them Thus sayde they all shooke handes in confirmation thereof At the breaking vp of the Counsaile Theodore Beza with others of his companions made vnto him a verie wise and piâ—hre exhortation to comfort him in his resolution alleadging vnto him the inconueniences ensuing the departure from the same and so besought him not to giue ouer the good worke hee had begun which God whose honour it concerned woulde bring to perfection About the same time came the Lorde of Frense Robertet Serrâ—tarie of the commaundementes whome the Queene had sent to knowe vppon what conditions the Lorde Prince woulde departe Whose â—unswere was That it was a matter of waight neyther was hee yet resouled thereof in respect that many murmured thereat but when it was concluded hee woulde eyther sende or bring the Queene worde himselfe But Roberter by some particular speeches perceiued that matters were altered and so returned to the Queene whome hee certefyed that shee must haue more than paper to thrust him out withall who afterwarde went her waie Heereby may Princes and great Lordes learne in matters of importance not to binde themselues by promise before they haue throughly consulted thereof with the
place will I attribute to superfluity in aparrell that exceedeth euery where whereof proceedeth generall pouertie which to redresse seemeth but small difficultie and yet it cannot bee touched but two millions of men will crye out and exclaime What meanes is there then to prouide for it Euen to laugh at all those lamentations complaints and rages For from a foole if you take his bable he will storme and yet is it requisite to do it least he hurt others But which is yet worse these excesses that we speake of doe hurt those especially that commit them though at the first they be as pleasant as in the ende they be pinched when their liuing is morgadged out He that would perticulerly touch all these kindes of folly as the inuenters of auriculer confession haue deuided mortall and veniall sinnes into an infinite number of rootes and braunches should neede a whole volume It hath in all ages bene a hard matter to cut off the things that men haue esteemed to bee their principall delights yea some histories doe reporte that euen the Romaines were much troubled therewith Yet is there great difference betwéene vs and them For they excéeded when they had aboundance of all things but wee doe it now that we haue almost nothing Neither doe I feare that we shall enter into sedition for this poynt They that keepe the Custome house at Lions will say that vnlesse euery man may haue libertie of apparell the King shall lose aboue three hundred thousand crownes of yeerely rent But if we turne ouer the leafe wee shall finde that there is yeerely transported out of the Realme aboue fower millions of Francks which is caried into Italie for such warres and doe cause the King and his subiects to spende aboue twelue millions in superfluous apparell that might well bee spared In the tyme of Phillip the Conqueror vnder whom France florished and was aloft Veluet was out of vse with them neither had they any store of Silkes at the least fewe men did weare them Neuerthelesse the great men were neuer better obeyed each one in his degrée then in those daies So long as nothing but ritch garments doe procure reuerence and loue there is but small sted fastnesse therein and therefore there must be stronger bonds to bring vs to our dueties Yet doe I not meane that we should order our garments after the simplicitie of olde tyme for now doe many things abound that were then very rare The third parte of the Nobilitie at the least could wish there were some good order taken herein so should they bee better furnished with money and lesse endebted And I beleeue they could be content rather to spend that which they doe consume in such superfluities in the Kings seruice in the field where their expenses should be better employed theÌ„ to empouerish themselues in these follies and in liew of so many gay hosen and cloakes brodered with gold and siluer to buy good horses armour furniture therewith to bee worthely furnished in these honorable necessities So should wee finde aboue 1200 gentlemen able without pay to accoÌ„panie him which are yet good relickes of our decayed France and might worke as great miracles as euer did S. Mathurin of l' Archant And as these doe cure fooles as y t report goeth so would the others heale certeyne dolts y t think vs Frenchmen to be euen in the Hospitall Who theÌ„ would make any stirre for these things Peraduenture the women who are wonderfully affected to these goodly ornaments and would bee very forie they should be cut off Indeede they should bee allowed much more then men as well to content their curiositie as also because they loue to haue somewhat that may giue a glosse to their beautie Howveit Aristotle saith that women are the one moitie of the Commonwelth and therefore ought to bee brideled by good lawes but they will not beléeue him but say that he is an hereticke There be many other superfluities which I will not speake of as hauing touched them els where Only I haue chosen this kind which is as hurtfull as common which also I haue layed open to the ende to shewe that sith it may bee amended so may others likewise that make vs worse and more needie Which if any man desire me to name I must report these excessiue expences wasted in sumptuous Feastes vppon small occasion Maskes Playes superfluous retenues stately builoings precious moueables with many other pomps and pleasures which all do stand in great néede of reformation because that many doe passe their dueties and habilities neither should a man lye that should say that they are readier to spend 1000 crownes in such vanities theÌ„ to giue half a one to a poore soule that dyeth for hunger or tenne to a friend that standeth in great neede The cause whereof is ouermuch selfe loue and want of charitie toward others Now will I speake of matters which seeme necessarie to be touched if we minde to reforme the estate notwithstanding it be daungerous stirring of theÌ„ There be that thinke that if in this our pouertie those mén be not visited that haue so vnreasonably enritched themselues by our confusions the King shall bee defrauded of a woonderfull coÌ„moditie that would arise of the restitutions that diuers should be forced to make which also being applyed to good vses would stop great gaps This proposition is plausible grounded vpon equitie but y e execution therof is very difficult coÌ„sidering the great nuÌ„ber of those whose consciences are larger then a Friers â—léeue some in receiuing too much others in seruing their owne 〈…〉 es and others in catching and snatching And vndoubtedly if wée should driue them to giue accompt of their administration past it would bréede some iarre Yet if there were but a fewe exchetors in this number who now should deale faithfully in their offices if they could remember what shipwracke they had once almost fallen into was should bee sure enough from any warre there about But to close with those that weare Swordes that can both commaund and strike and that haue authoritie friendes and intelligences vndoubtedly it would breede great alterations Was it not one of the causes that moued Caesar to take armes because they would haue visited him and his partakers about the wealth that he had gathered in Gaule When the Gracchies propounded and purposed to put in execution the law Agraria which cut off the possessions of the ritch what bloodie sedition did ensue For although a thing be lawfull yet is it not expedient to put it alwaies in vse because that neither the indisposition of the affayres can beare it neither the tyme require it Some will say that it is a gentle way to redemand that thing by lawe that hath bene vsurped against lawe True But if we doe well marke the consequences wee shall finde them so daungerous that it were a great ouersight for the gathering vp of a fewe small profites
the Realme who thereby entended to prouide some remedie against the diuers and vniuersall coÌ„motions thereof and to conforme it to the coÌ„mon lawes was not yet brought into tranquilitie as well by reason the Protestants were so earnest to establish and confirme themselues in that libertie which they had obteyned as also through the generall feare of the Catholickes who could not endure such a noueltie Some of the Princes and Lordes that held this parte being greatly agrieued at the sight of such encrease did make a secret League to suppresse it And whiles some of them were on their way to Paris where they purposed to ioyne to their generall bodie fell out the disorder at Vaâ—siâ— where many being at the sermon were murdered which deede being by other Historiographers alreadie described I will meddle no farther with For my entent is only to note not so much y e grief that it bred to the Protestants as the instruction which they tooke together with the fruite that vnto them did redound thereof The Lord Prince of Condé was at Paris about the establishing of the publicke exercise according to the Kings Edict when this newes was brought him which made him to growe into consultation with the wiseâ—t Lordes and Gentlemen of his companie who iudged this small storme to bee an assured forewarning of a greater and therefore wished to looke farther then to things present Immediatly he gaue notice to some of the chiefest in the Court of that that had happened who therof tooke an alarum and counsailed him to seeke some preseruatiues and remedies for himselfe and the estate He also warned all the French Churches to looke to themselues of whom the most parte imagining to haue alreadie obteyned some assured rest were more ententiue to the building of Churches then to thinke vppon Militarie prouision for their owne defence This bruite did wonderfully waken the gentlemen Protestants abroade in the Prouinces and made them readie to prouide horse and armour waiting what would bée done at the Court and how Paris would take it Shortly after there ariued the Lord of Guize the Constable and the Marshall of S. Andrews also the King of Nauarre whom they had drawne to their League who forced the Prince of Coudé to retire into the towne of Meaux with a good traine of Nobilitie and Gentrie Being come thether with all speede he sent word to the Lord of Andelot and the Admirall that not want of courage but of strength had driuen him to forsake Paris wishing them with all diligence to march toward him For Casar had not only passed Rubicon but was euen seased of Rome and his flagges began to waue abroade in the fieldes Which presently they did with all their friends and furniture howbeit not yet manifesting their armes as the League had done There staied they fiue or sixe daies as well to deliberate of their affayres as because of administring the supper which was to be celebrated at Easter The Lord Admirall no nouice in matters of estate foreseeing that the game waxed warme shewed that it was requisite either in all diligence to strengthen themselues with men either els to take them to their heeles yea that he was afrayed they had alreadie stayed very long But whiles they stoode vpon those poynts many gentlemen came in from all parts vnlooked and vnsent for so as in foure daies they were abont fiue hundred This refeshing caused them to resolue vpon their departure and that for two purposes The one to trye whether they might winne the Court and so enstall themselues about the King and Queene or not able so to doe to sâ—â—se vpon Orleans there to forme a maine head if they chaunced to bee driuen to come to handie blowes Hauing therefore in sixe daies gathered a greater troope then they looked to haue gotten in a whole moneth they tooke their way toward S. Claud where their troope was refreshed with three hundred good horse where also they were aduertised that the Lord of Guize and his assotiates had seased of the Court which diligence falling out well for them brake the Prince of Condees first purpose who ment to haue done the same and so to haue authorised his doings vnder the Kings fauour for the preseruation of himselfe and the rest of the Protestants From S. Claud they marched toward Chastres and Angeruile and by the way met fiue or sixe troopes of gentrie This bred some astonishment to the contrary parte when they began to consider the sudden encrease of our bodie which consisted not of lesse then a thousand gentlemen who made 1500. good horse better armed with courage then Corcelets Then drew they toward Orleance which was taken in such maner as the Historiographers doe set it doune This we must note that if the Prince of Condé had at that time had but a small power he had bene oppressed or besieged but when they perceiued him to bee so mightie as to keepe the fielde in subiection also that he spake as boldly to his aduersaries as coldly to his King they were not very earnest vpon him whereby he had oportunitie to preuaile in sundrie attempts This profite did he reape of being strong in the beginning Some men haue imagined either that these things were long before premeditated or els to haue so happely fallen out through the dillgence of the Captaines But I as one that was present and made curious search into the causes dare affirme the contrary True it is that most of the Nobilitie hearing of the slaughter at Vassie partly of a voluntarie good will and partly for feare determined to drawe toward Paris imagining as it were at aduenture that their protectors might stand in some néed of them Thus did the most renowmed depart out of their countries with some tenne some twentie or thirtie of their friends secretly armed and lodging in Hosteries or Uillages where they payd truely for euerie thing vntill they met both with the bodie and cause together Many of them haue assured me that this only reason moued them and I haue heard my Lords the Prince and Admirall many times confesse that had not this benefit happened they had bene in daunger to haue taken a bad course Hereby it appeareth what fruite is sometimes gotten of hurtfull things which at the first blush appearing ruinous doe neuerthelesse after the euent giue vs to weere that they bree our good instructions Men may also learne yea euen the best Captaines not to attribute too much to their owne wisedome in the conduct of affaires either publique or priuate For ableit it be a most necessarie instruction yet sometimes it is as it were vayled so as among many waies and proceedings they can hardly tell which is the best to leane vnto in such vnlooked for stormes and troubles And this falleth out to the ende to humble them and to make them from else where to seeke the cause of good successe Silla with whom no man now liuing dare compare
such recompences Of the small order obserued by the Frenchmen in respect of rewardes A meane how to establish this disciplines The Reisters actiue with the Pistoll what aduantage they seem to haue of the Speares What aduantage the speare seemeth to haue ouer the pistoll especially head to head Which of the 2. Squadrons should haue the aduantage Answer to the obiection that the Reistres haue diuers times suffered the speares to beate them Ouersights of the Reisters Of the effect of two Squadrons when they come to charge Why moste men do reiect this Paradoxe Proofes hereof may be performed by the notable examples taken out of the stories of our time The first example The second example That such restraites may be made when the arte of warre and in struction of the Soldiers is ioyned with bould resolution Of the ordering of the battailes Answer to the obiection against the former aduice How the battailes should beare themselues either to fight or to retire Aunswer to another obiection founded vpon the impossibilitie Aunswer to two other obiections A meane to proue what assurance is in this paradox also a remedie to the difficultie propounded there against The generall ground of this paradoxe The perticuler ground hereof Example of Captaines that haue benefited by the ouerthrowes that they haue susteyned An other example in Cesar The vse of these examples The first cause of presumption The second cause The third cause The effectes of pride enflamed through our owne bad nature and the discourses of our frendes flatterers Remedies against these effectes In his treatise of profit to be taken of enemies An exhortation to Captaines with a description of the good which the vertuous do reape whiles the viti ous and ignorant doe empaire and confound them selues Where to costly fortifications doe serue To whom those of smale expense are profitable Forteresse which haue so much Against those that like of such expenses How to helpe our selues with the Ingeniors deuises and yet auoide excessiue expenses An aduise vpoÌ„ the meanes to fortifie with smale cost The way how to descend a place that is besieged Against such as thinck water to be hurtfull to rampiers of earth The Duke of Burgundy an Image of such as haue no delight but in troble and coÌ„fusion The meanes which doe seeme necessary to be houldeÌ„ in the consideration of the present estate of the Realme to restablish it The miseries of warres especially ciuill Examples of these miseries of Warre Other miseries of ciuil warres The straÌ„ge offence of the most of those that beare armes in such warres An exhortation to those Frenchmen that are banded one against an other To the Souldiers To whome the aforesaid calamities are to be imputed The state of warres in ould time coÌ„demne those of our dayes The ambition of Princes and common welths cause of great calamities Whar considerations ought to moderate the desires of princes Answer to the obiections of ambitions Counsailers Aunswere to an other obiection touching the mightinesse of Prinses Consideration of the greatnesse of a king of France The extent of the realme The fruictfulnesse The people The contry Aunswere to those that emblason and abase France because of her miseries Of godlinesse Of Iustice Of the tresury Of the Frenchmens concord Of Martiall discipline Of the chiefe martiall Capteyns What meanes the King hath to defende him selfe against any Prince his neyghbour that list to assaile him Of the restoring of order in France What the groundes of publike actioÌ„s ought to be The grouÌ„d of confederaties with Turkes The originall of the Turkes their increase behauiours gouernments as well in respect of the soules as of the bodies What Christian princes were the first that repented their confederaties with the Mahumetistes Ihon Paleoiâ—gue Answer to the obiection of such as vnder coulor of couenants euel kept among some Christian princes doe alowe of conâ—ederaraties of Infidels so as therin men be wise and circumspect What treaty may be made with Turkes also what difference is betweene such treaties and true alliance with the danger of stedfast consederaties with tirants Other latter examples of the danger that is in confederaties and trust to Turkes Other examples How many mishappes haue bene hatched out of the confederaties of Christians wihch the Turkes The originall and occasion of the alliance of the French Kinges with the Turkes What seruice the Turkes haue done to France How â—ore this league hath blemished the glory of the French nation How farre such confederaties doe preiudice christiaÌ„ religion Whether confederaties with the Turkes be lawfull Answer to an obiection grounded vpon the consideration of the Turkes prosperitie Aunswer to those that thinke it no time now for the Frenchmen to breake their league with the Turkes The conclusion of this discourse The excuse occasion of this discourse A brief Description of the Turkish dominion Of their hatred and conspiratie against ChristeÌ„dome why they suffer Christians among them The meanes to suppresse the Turkes insoleÌ„cie also the cause why it is propounded Against those that thinke the Turkish tirannie to be so farre of as it can neuer reach vnto them How terrible the Turkes power is at this day and why To whome it belongeth to suppresse the tirannie of the Turkes What letteth princes from thinking therof also the meane to set this matter in hand Who they are that ought to begin to sette the rest on worke The Pope The Emperor The King of Spayne How other princes may be induced to ioine with the three asorenamed Reasons for the leagne betweene France the Turkes Answer to the reasons and allegations aforesayed That it is requisite to vnite Christian princes before they meddle with the Turkes Of the vnion of princes with their subiectes and the ceasing from all acts of hostilitie and ciuill warres within their lands Of the necessitie of peace in the Low couÌ„tries and how the King of Spaine may and ought to graunt it Vpon what consideration the enterprize against the Turke ought to be of great commendation among all Christian princes Hauing treated of the fouÌ„dations of this warre it is here spoken of the proceeding thereof and first of the generall assembly for the entire resolution of the affaires Of the meanes to continew the warres diuers yeares Of treasure to maintaine this warre Of forces necessitie for the executioÌ„ herof Of Martiall discpline Of other preparatiues requisite to beginne withall Against those that thinke the Turkes easy to be subdued Of the great power and habilitie of the Turkes Of the manner how to assiuill the Turkes in what places and with what power How longe our auncestâ—rs were in their warre also whether it bee harder in these daies then in those What was the cause that our forefathers lost the aduantage they had of them were driuen out of the east The warres of those princes that succeded Godfrey and others against the Turkes Why the time is now conuenient to sett vpon
long tyme take an other course I will also repeate one domesticall example namely the deuision betwéene the houses of Burgundie and Orleance which was so sharpe as it induced the English warres which brought France to so lowe an ebbe that it was almost vtterly destroyed yea it had dismembred the state into sundrie morcels if Gods great goodnesse had not holpen In the meane tyme for the space of fortie or fiftie yéeres it was made a pray euery one seeking either to kéepe himselfe or to encrease his owne power either els to destroye his enemie All publique force mightinesse or iustice whereto men might haue recourse being vtterly extinguished To be briefe it was a Countrie habandoned to euery one that could catch any part thereof all which miseries doe warne vs that wee may yet happen to trye them once more For straungers may see so good sport that they may fall vppon vs againe But it is farre more likely that our estate should incurre the other dismembring whereof I haue spoken And the reason is because the French being by nature fierce and hating forraine bondage will rather become subiect to it selfe and so of this one great bodie make many péeces For the assurance whereof the vsurpers would put themselues into the protection of such of their neighbours as could most commodiously mainteyne them and withall were most conformable to the opinions that they shall haue embraced When I doe more néerely consider this I finde no condition so miserable disordered and confused as ours which being such would burie all iustice lawfull authoritie respect feare good maners and concorde and to the contrary encrease all malepertnesse ambition trecherie violence Impietie guile and sedition And who could delight to liue among such stormes vnlesse it were some barbarous minded person Among all these alterations I imagine some Prince to seaze vppon some one Prouince some Lord vppon some Townes some head Cities to conuert their Parliaments into Aristocratyes of some of their noblest and principall Citizens and others to growe into Commonwelths Among the Nobilitie also other sorts of Gouernements Oligarchiall or Monarchiall One would become a prince ouer his owne Castles an other a Tyrant ouer other mens One quarter of the Countrie would growe into Cantons an other commit it selfe to some warlike Capteyne as for those that should at such a tyme finde themselues seazed of the strong holdes of the greater Townes thinke whether they would haue any parte herein All which diuersities of gouernments humours and qualities of men must néedes bring in mortall warre and dissention which would not bee ended while wee and our children were consumed Of these my spéeches some man might imagine that I presuppose that the royaltie should then bee as it were made voyde because that so long as that remaineth in authoritie the aforesayd confusions can no way come néere vs. Truely my selfe would be as loath as any man that the same should bee so much as contemned For sith wee haue liued 1100. yéeres vnder that gouernment it were our partes to reuerence it as a lawfull power ordeyned by God whereto whosoeuer doth not voluntarily yéeld obedience the same is guiltie before him Besides that wee are to thinke no other gouernment more meete to guyde the French then that But because the matter whereof I entreate doe leade me from bad causes to those worse effects y t ensue it hath also caused me to set downe such things as might happen to the ende that imprinting in vs some feare wee should endeuour so to behaue our selues as they might not come to passe But if wee still perseuer any tyme in our imperfections and disorders let vs not doubt but God will take away his good Angell from France whereby wee shall see the royall dignitie disobeyed and in small fauour with the subiects and the same likewise exempt of all loue and humanitie toward them which will bee the accomplishment of the desolations aforesayd For the eschuing of which inconueniences we ought most zealously to pray to God long to continue our King and in him to encrease all true Pietie Justice wisedome and affabilitie graunting vs likewise to bee as affectionate toward him as were the Romaines to the good Emperours Traian and Titus for if the Realm should fall vnto children especially now that the lawes are out of force Magistrates contemned maners corrupt hatred and ambition excessiue it must needes be in great daunger Now let vs proceede to the remedies and see whether there be any so sufficient as to warrant vs from destruction In my opinion there be some if we can finde the way to take hold of them in tyme. For in this tempest wherein wee are tossed wee must not shrinke vp our shoulders and say All is lost but wee are valiantly to helpe one another But to what remedies shall wee haue recourse To Philosophers rules Or to passed experience of such meanes as haue serued to vnderproppe this Realme when it hath bene shaken Either els to the politique counsailes of the wise that now liuing doe knowe our griefes For that were the way that wisedome would teach Hereto I aunswer that wee may reape profite out of all but it is necessarie that wee beginne further of In as much as wee see that for our transgressions God hath withdrawne his fauour from vs it is requisite that wee appease him to the ende he may returne vs it againe otherwise all humaine remedies are in vaine for what power wisedome or counsaile is there that can alter any thing that he hath decréed against vs In the holy Scriptures wee haue a notable example of his mercie toward the Niniuites that were heathen people for when his wrath was kindled against them and he had by the Prophet Ionas to the ende to terrefie them pronounced the sentence of their destruction they were so touched to the quicke that their King and all the people hauing fasted wept and prayed and turned from their wicked way he withdrewe his plagues which alreadie hung ouer their heads tooke them to mercie How often did the Iewes féele his woonderfull compassions when for their wickednesse and transgressions his scourges euen light vpon them Whē they and their Kings through true repētance turned vnto him he tooke pitie of them conuerted their pitifull estate into prosperitie Wherof it followeth that our soueraigne and onely meanes to auoyde these calamities that doe now assaile and threaten vs is to imitate those whom I haue named For as it is one great comfort when a man knoweth that his griefe is not altogether incurable and that there be meanes to heale him much more doth it increase when he finddeth the same to bee easie The same is in vs and consisteth in knowledge will and execution whereof euery one through holy perswasions and example of the greatest may bee made capable For when men shall see first the King and then the Princes and such as
necessarie for the helping of our poore France which through the banishment therof is almost rent in péeces that me think all good men should bend their whole vowes and endeuours to the calling of it back againe And when we shall haue shewed how other estates are thereby encreased and redressed men will be farre the more affectionate to put it in execution Plato the Philosopher sayth that the greatest mischiefe that can befall any citie is sedition which is no other but discord Whereof it followeth that concord being the contrary must needes be a great benefite to them that enioye it Likewise it is vnpossible to thriue by their commodities before this foundation be layed yea we see that the greater plentie of power wealth and habilitie that is in a state if this good temperature be away is but matter of greater ruyne Some wise men in old tyme knowing this did vse to send to such of their friends as had the gouernment of commonwelths a sheafe of Arrowes bound together to the ende to admonish them that as these so small péeces of brittle ware being knit together made a strong bodie not easely shaken so if the mindes of their people consented well together were vnited in themselues y t which of it self were but weake would become mightie strong The experience here of hath bene seene in the Grecians who so long as they agréed among themselues did withstand the power of the Kings of Persia which was incōparable for sometymes they brought in nauies of 1000. sayle an other tyme by land 600000. men who all were ouercome by small armies of such men as loued like brethren and which accōpted y e bondage of their fellow countrimē as their own so good concurrence was there betweene thē so long as this continued they mainteyned themselues in credite felicitie Plutarke reporteth that before the tyme of Aratus all the townes of the Achaians were of small accōpt each trafiking doing their affaires apart and taking no care but for themselues but after he had ioyned them together and vnited sundrie other small Townes vnto them by perfect concord they grew into a great and mightie body in Peloponessus and oftentimes did resist such tyrants as sought to vsurpe their libertie wherby they became terrible to their neighbours But if anie man imagine that examples taken of Monarchies would better fit our estate to the end to content him I will also aleadge some such The first of the kingdome of the Lacedemonians wherein Licurgus established most excellent discipline which among all other things commended prowesse concord whereof also a long time they continued so good obseruers that their Citie séemed to be but one sole family so steadfast and good was their vnion By that did they increase and purchase such fame that all Greece did oftentimes submit it selfe to their conduct and iudgement Many other might likewise be herevnto added as wel Romanes as other Nations whereof such as vse the reading of histories cannot be to séeke and therefore it were but a superfluous repetition here to heape them vp againe Onelie it shall suffice to remember that such Monarchiall estates haue from time to time increased as much by concord as by anie other vertue that euer they put in practise And although the Romanes in the daies of their first kings did sometimes disagrée with their next neighbors yet doe we sée that afterward they grew into most firme accord as with the Sabins for of the two Nations they became but one people but farre better ordered and a greate deale more mightie than they were before From this antiquitie let vs descend euen to our daies and vnto that which is euident in our owne eies to the end thereby to be the better persuaded consider the state of the Suitzers for that may be vnto vs a cléere spectacle wherein we shall perceiue the praise of concord and fruites thereof The histories do testifie that the thrée little cantons Schuitz Vri Vnderualde whose habitations are onely in villages were the first authors of that their vnion whereinto the rest are since incorporated Which euer since hath so well continued that at this daie their bodie séemeth as it were inuincible I must also commend the concord of Germanie which notwithstanding their controuersies in religion and strife for dignities hath neuer altered and in déede it now flourisheth as much as euer it did What excuse then maye wee alleadge wee Frenchmen as a sufficient discharge for that we haue so long fought one with another considering how other nations can vpholde themselues in conford and amitie Trulie it is time we should take instructions for remedie of our calamities by the felicitie of others to the end to make vs seeke meanes to returne into that which now hath forsaken vs. The waie is alreadie found if wee woulde put it in practise That is to grow into concord among our selues for so shall we rise againe and increase I knowe some will saie that it is but a discourse to affirme that France grew great by concord for their increase procéeded of the Frenchmens valiancie Whereto I aunswere that I will not denie but that force together with iustice and good order were causes of the increase yet must they néedes confesse that if these mightie pillers had not had for their base and foundation mutuall concord betwéene the king the nobilitie and the commons it must néedes haue yéelded vnder the waight of so great a burthen Our first auncestors did sufficientlie shew forth the profite that therein they reaped in that they knew howe to vse that vertue For they were many diuerse nations inhabiting the bankes of lesser Germanie who not hauing felt the Romanes bondage neither willing in anie case to trie it did assemble and gather themselues together and named themselues Francons Then they planted themselues along the Rhine from whence they stepped into Gaul which they subdued Thus hath a certaine learned man written in a treatise of the originall of the Frenchmen which opinion I thinke to bee more likely than that which the other writers report Heereby it appeareth that concorde hath beene one of the chiefe causes that of many Nations we were made but one and if wee will farther marke the increasing thereof wee shall finde that same occasion hath likewise stoode them in greate steade This doe I speake in generall because the perticular effectes which haue from time to time ensued woulde bée ouer painefull to rehearse and maye likewise bee troublesome Onelie I will by the waie report the blessed concord that was among the French nation in the time of king Lewes the twelfth Frances the great and Henrie the welbeloued which continued aboue sixty yeres not so much to refresh the remembrance of diuerse yet liuing who haue séene the most part of that time as for the instruction of such as haue beene onely beholders of the last disorders
aduowe our zeale to be good when leaning vppon the said Charitie it is guided by knowledge which are the two principall markes to discerne the true zeale from the false The Apostle Saint Paule teacheth vs to eschue that which is without knowledge for being destitnte thereof it aimeth rather at reuenge than Charitie as in himselfe it appeared when he assisted at the death of Steuen Now will it be easie for vs to knowe the markes of false zeale if we doe but consider of the vices that are opposite to the aforesaide vertues which are Ignorance wherewith mallice is oftentimes mixed and hatred of our neighbour for whosoeuer diligentlie obserueth not those differences the same doe runne into errour Of these affections which euerie one attributeth to pietie are ingendered the iudgements that we make of our neighbours whereof the most part are wonderful rash for many there are who séeing some one that consent not with them in pointes of religion doe not onely charge him that he walketh in errour but also imediatly account him a prophane and wicked man This opinion hauing once gotten holde in the minde is hard to be rooted out againe and is the cause of breach as well of brotherly loue as of publike concorde We must therefore take heede that in our selues wee conclude not so hastilie vpon the condemnation of those whō we will not vouchsafe to take leisure to know throughly If we were to enquire whether a horse or a dogge were good or bad we would haue a time of triall before we would iudge how much rather should we put that rule in practise concerning men otherwise we must make lesse account of them than of the sayd beasts But see how diuerse do now gouerne thēselues herein If a man say to one This man is a Protestant by and by he will answere Then is he a wicked heretik and saie to another This man is a Papist and he also wil say Then is he naught And why do you thus reproue him Because saie they his religion is contrarie to ours Truely this readinesse is ouer readie Well whether this iudgement may be false or true yet are we in the meane time to vse great moderation in both When he that is blinded with ignorance shall condeinne the true doctrine and the maintayners thereof his zeale shall not so iustifie him that he may not iustly be accused to be a prophaner of the truth neither wil it any whit auayle him to alledge his good intent because the same can not alter the nature of things But is there not matter sufficiēt not to laugh at but euen to bewayle him who being spiritually blind doth not so think but rather noteth the cléerest sighted of blindnes Wel may it be said vnto him Thou Phisitiō that iudgest thy neighbor to be sick in stead of seeking to cure him wouldest that he were knocked on the head enter into a little consideratiō of thy selfe thou shalt perceiue that it is thou that doest aboūd in diseases those most dangerous Thinke therfore thrice before thou say once to another Thou art an heretike But in truth it is a word in these dayes common in most mens mouths and some there are from whom if we should take the vse of y t tearme their beades from their girdles and hatred from their hearts they would be as much astonied as a couetous wretch that hath lost his purse And yer are these men lesse to bee blamed than some that willingly doe erre in that they know the thing that they reiect not to be reprouable Before these last mens eyes will I set a saying of the Prophet Esay Cursed bee you that call euill good and good euill or that make darknesse light or light darknesse to the end so hard a sentence terryfieng their consciences may withdrawe them from iniquitie to righteousnesse Others there bee also which beeing well instructed doe neuerthelesse growe into such arroganice that to those that yet walke in the paths of straunge doctrine they giue ignominious names and do greatly disdayne them Whereby they shewe theyr owne abuse of Charitie which in liew of pride and insolencie should bee meeke as Saint Paule saith It were rather their partes to haue compassion of them with all gentlenesse to take them by the armes and by little and little remouing the vaile that blindeth their sight to shewe them the gulfes wherein they doe inconsideratlie plonge and cast themselues awaie For it is horrible crueltie séeing the soules in euident danger to curse the bodies One thing there is that moueth these men namelie the falsenesse of the doctrine which in truth is to bee condemned But they ouerskipping this consideration doe build their hatred vpon the persons that are deceiued therein and doe neuer thinke that they may in time be lightned and conuerted as some of those were that consented to the death of Iesus Christ who afterward worshipped him as God notwithstanding they had before crucified him as an heretike and seditious person Reason woulde wee shoulde presume of our neighbour that he will rise rather than perish vnlesse we sée anie euident tokens of hardnesse of heart in him Yet doe I not here meane that he shoulde bee flattered in his imperfections neither take awaie all place from perticular iudgementes procéeding of a good conscience because as well the one as the other woulde be hurtfull for so shall I couer the disease that ought to be opened to the end to be the better cured But let him that will iudge kéepe himselfe within the rules of charitie For it so falleth out that those which through presumption doe condeme others God condemneth by iustice Other some of these inconsiderate zelators are of a verie bad opinion That is that they are persuaded that those whose religion they haue reproued in themselues are not to be accounted their neighbours no more than the Turkes or Tartarians wherein they are grosely deceiued And in case they were as diligent in reading the Scriptures as they are to cleaue to the readinesse of their passions they would be of another minde For there should they find that the word neighbor stretcheth indifferentlie to all men because mankinde is conioyned together with a sacred bonde of communitie to the end that by that bond men shuld be stirred vp to loue each other It is enough therefore for any one to be our neighbour because he is a man For it lieth not in vs to blot out common nature And who is he how barbarous so euer that beareth not the image of God printed in his soule although it may be that it is almost blotted out And for this cause ought wee among so many blemishes and in so noble a creature still to consider the excellent marke that God hath imprinted to the end we hold not that to be abhominable which himselfe can crowne with his grace In olde tyme the Pharisies violating the
footemen and they goe thether at fiftéene sixtéene or seuentéene yeres of age In tyme past being a little elder they were made archers in the bandes of Ordinaunce and then did all those companies consist of Gentrie onely and the Capteynes had a care to kéepe them in good order As also many went into the bands of footment of Piedmont who had most excellent orders Contrariwise now that discipline is reuersed euen among the footemenl it is perillous for the instruction of youth For hauing for the most part none but vnthriftes to their maisters euill examples doe in tyme drawe them into disorder and in liew of fashioning them bring them quite out of fashion And to what purpose is it to learne to discharge a Péece to knows what warding sentinâ—ll or skirmish doe meane and to shewe the braue countenaunce of a So 〈…〉 ier if in counterchaunge herof they habandon themselues to Sundrie â—iâ—es among which blaspheming of God quarelling with friends playing away all euen to the shert filthie lust after Harlots and for the fulfilling of all disorder an vnbridled libertie to â—eate robbe and deuoure the people without compassion doe beare the greatest sway These abuses doe the most part of our footmen commit except it bee peraduenture some olde regiment and auncient garrison that liue in better discipline The best remedies therefore for parents in this necessarie euill is not to sende their children alone neither to suffer to enroule them selues in the first companie that they list to choose but to hearken whether any of their neighbours will likewise send theirs and so to ioyne thrée or fower of them together as it were sworne companions with prohibition the one not to leaue the other For being so together shame will restrayne them from euill and withall they shall still succour one another in their necessities if besides their fathers be acquainted with any honorable Capteyne they should direct them to him with earnest request to haue a care to rep 〈…〉 ue them when they doe amisse Some there are likâ—wise that take vpon them to trauayle into forreine countries vpon a certeyne conceiued opinion that others drugges are better then those of their owne land Others also doe allowe thereof in respect of the learning of common languages seruing to communication with straungers Such as trauaile into Germanie where the customes and behauiours doe farre differ from ours at their returne are found to be dull and rude so that for the refyning of them againe their parents must send them into other places wherof ariseth double labour double tyme and double charges And it doth oftentymes come to passe that some hauing bene brought vp in the grosse maners of Germanie and then returning to finde the vnbridled libertie of France doe so vnconsideratly flye vpon it that they stray out of the right course And as for the voyadges into Italie there be more that vndertake them especially to bee instructed in many honest exercises which doe there abound But among those Roses they méete with many Thornes because that a thousand baytes of lust being as it were sowne in the goodliest townes youth which is desirous of noueltie and fierie in affection cannot be kept from going to taste yea euen to glut it selfe with these sweete poysons and so by continuance doe become most indurate therein Thus is the habitation of Italie to those that applye themselues to goodnesse more profitable and to those that applye themselues to lewdnesse hurtfull and worse then that of Germanie But what counsell is to be giuen or remedie to be prouided against these inconueniences The fittest is to sende the younger sorte whose maners are not yet formed into Germanie where simplicitie doth take most place and let the others that are alreadie any whit grounded in godlinesse or loue of honestie goe into Italie notwithstanding the prouerbe That neuer good horse nor bad man amended by going to Rome This likewise must Parents yet note that they keepe them not there aboue two yéeres so to be the more assured that forreine wickednesse take not so déepe roote but that it may easely be plucked vp againe Now doth it rest that I speake of studie in famous Uniuersities whether many Gentlemen doe send their Children to bee instructed in learning which also they the rather doe because the life that they there leade is somewhat better ordered then in the aforename 〈…〉 places where much vanitie is learned as well as ciuilitie They perswade themselues and not without reason that the liberall Sciences are a great ornament to Nobilitie and maketh it more worthie to administer all publique functions which is the cause that they seeke to haue them at the first watered with so good liquour Howbeit this notwithstanding among many that there spend their youth fewe doe reape any great profite which procéedeth of that that the fathers doe take them away so soone euen at the tyme that they begin with iudgement and discourse to attaine to the depth and consideration of the excellencie of Sciences And in my opinion the chiefe cause that leadeth Parents so to doe is for that they see that Ecclesiasticall promotions are not giuen to the learned but to those that can best court the Cardinals and Bishops or the Kings fauourites and the offices of Iustice in liewe of being conferred to the best deseruer are sould to him that hath most money This considered and likewise perceiuing that the greatest honors are gotten with the sword they will haue their children betymes to accustome themselues to Armes And peraduenture they are not herein altogether inexcusable One thing more there is that bringeth them out of taste with keeping them long to studie That is that when they come to consider the countenances and simple and vnpolished fashions of Schollers in respect of the ciuilities courtesies and dexterities of those young Gentlemen that haue made but two iourneys to the Court they thinke that their children shall neuer come tyme enough who also for their partes neede no great force to fetch them from the Colledge because the inclination to libertie together with so many fayre bragges whereat they leuell a farre of which also the world presenteth to their viewe maketh theÌ„ but too desirous to get foorth I will not speake of the delayes made in Colledges in the teaching of children for it is wel inough knowen that there is no good thing but hath some bad mixed withall Herein cannot the parents better prouide than with themselues wel to aduise of what profession they will haue their children to be to the end to accomodate their studies to the same vocation as beeing assured that hee that is vowed to the warre néede not to procéede so farre in studie of the sciences as those that thereby séeke to growe and inrich themselues They must also haue a care that they put their children to learned tutors and well conditioned least in lieu of knowledge they should reape ignorance and
hauing liued licentiously vpon the spoile now are loth to return vnder the yoke of the laws which represse insolencie withal vnderstanding y t their good mother Nurce is else where are yet desirous to goe and sucke her breasts Some of them likewise are allured by foreine paie and others because they will not become artificers at home will liue abroade lyke souldiours These are the ordinarie causes that make them to take the fielde although most of them pretende the winning of honour As also since the beginning of these diuisions orders haue not bene so straightlie obserued as afore time for who so list may departe and no man taketh anie care thereof as if they were euill humours that purged away Now these men that make account that they cannot liue but in the warres and doe so vowe themselues thereto that they make of that profession which shoulde bee as it were extraordinarie such a perpetuall vocation as they exalt it aboue all others are greatlie deceiued as not knowing or at the least not willing to knowe that man ought principallie to shoote at peace and tranquilitie to the end to liue more vprightly For so long as the same beare swaie all thinges as well publike as priuate are in farre better order than when the confusions of warre haue as it were reuersed all manners and lawes In this my saying I meane not neuerthelesse to condemne the lawfull warres whereinto necessitie constrayneth men to enter for theyr defence for so is it no blemish to vse them Neyther will I anie whit contemne the ordinarie bandes of Princes and common wealthes because they bee the gardes of the lande who also for the most parte doe liue in rest But they of whom I minde to speake will neuer bee in peace neyther doe they care when they serue or wherefore so as they may finde fatte pastures There is a pretie Spanish saying which manye times they bee and I haue translated it thus Warre is my Countrie my harnesse my house I am readie at all times to fight for a souse What more could a bad Phisition and a worse iudge which wish the Citie to be full fraught with maladies mortalitie and strife to the end to haue good doings saie For these men likewise seeke nothing but alteration of estates that they may gorge themselues with the destruction of the same In this our age wherein wee liue it is impossible for anie to exempt themselues from warre because ambition couetousnesse and reuenge are as fruitfull as euer they were to ingender the same and when it comes good men doe swallowe it lyke a most bitter pill But to delyght in so troublesome a custome is to do as he that seeketh to be tormented continuallie vpon the sea Whome a man may iudge to be verie crooked and peruerse Moreouer these perpetuall warriours doe as much as in them lie shake off all such dueties as are most requisite in a good Citizen as that to their Countrie wherein they staie no longer than it is troubled c. to their parents whome some doe after they are growen prowd by armes disdaine because of their pouertie Concerning the perticular care that euerie one ought to haue to the erecting of a familie to the end to leaue children to his Countrie they neuer thinke of it as seeking rather to haue some bastard by their gentle gossips that followe them for whom afterward they take but small care These imperfections be the dependaunces of that choice of lyfe wherein the most of those that haue embraced it doe wrap themselues and finallie after long labour if they can attaine thereto they perish against some rocke or vpon some coast as a rouers ship There are will some man saie some that rise thereby true but not one of the fiftie And hee that woulde gather a Catalogue of those that suffer shipwracke vppon that hope must haue a long roule Another obiection is this many beeing brought vp â—ong in the warres and scarce knowing of whence they are cannot but followe that trade whereinto they are fashioned This were not to bee blamed if hauing reaped some fruite of their labours they would as some doe staie themselues when they are meetelie well But incessantlie to runne heere and there as rauens after carren that they haue smelt is as a man shoulde saie to transforme themselues into rauenous beasts or foules of praie The French souldiour ought in warre to serue his king and his Countrie and when peace commeth he must seeke if hee may to get into the entertayned bandes whereto if hee cannot reatch hee should not neuerthelesse vppon a desperate minde cast himselfe headlong into vnconsiderate enterprises as if the Realme were not able to keepe him or himselfe to finde meanes whereby to liue in the time of peace It is a wofull matter to thinke vppon the number of men that so cast awaie themselues For the pettie piracies of Perow doe swallowe vp aboue fiue hundred euerie yeere and other foreine warres more although the groundes bee vnlyke so as in fiue or sixe yeeres eight or nine thousande braue souldiours do shrinke awaie who might better haue serued some other time if they could haue had the patience to staie the necessitie of the common wealth I haue heard that at the battayle which Sebastian king of Portugal lost hee had certayne French harquebuts with him as also that in the armie of the Moores that ouer came him there were some lykewise Is not this a mad lusting after warre to runne so farre to seeke it yea and to serue vnder Infidelles I thinke when those men fall into anie premeditated perill they bee somewhat touched with repentance for theyr rashnesse but it is then verie late Those who for profite onelie doe flitter about like a birde at the call are more to bee excused than they that I haue spoken of For when some Captaynes haue spedde and the souldiours passed ouer their necessitie they returne home agayne although it many times fall out that as well the one as the other are defrauded of theyr hope in that the paie proueth so small and rare that they are not able to holde out yea and in place where paie is rifest the souldiours taste but little thereof It is onelie for a fewe Colonelles and Captaines who beeing licorous of such foode doe deuoure it and leaue the souldiours in lyke case as Colliers and Smiths who are all blacke and full of sweate while none but their masters that set them on worke doe gather the profite Which custome is farre different from that of our auncestours who appointed to the Captaines the honour and to the souldiours the siluer But of all that profite by payes none doe so well helpe themselues as the Reysters And to saie the truth wee are but clownes in respecte of them though some thinke themselues more actiue For they are so perfecte in Arithmetike that they neuer ouershoote themselues in accounts Lykewise they keepe possession
appeased our foreine warres we haue entered into ciuill which haue almost beaten vs quite down Moreouer that our Nation beeing insolent in peace impatient of tarrying long in the house full of generositie and desirous of glorie must of necessitie exercise it selfe in armes to the ende to discharge so many conceites of the minde without the Realme and not within Finallie that the badde humours remayning of our ciuill dissention by these humours meaning corrupted persons had need to be purged and therefore that we should suffer them to go out of themselues if wee see them so displosed or else to force them foorth by arte least they shoulde breede anie new disease And this hath beene put heeretofore in practise at the ende of our warres agaynst the English Nation Trulie I dare not denie but we are to attribute much to the obseruations of antiquitie of things that haue had good successe when they haue bene vsed in time conuenient But withall I dare aduowe that euerie time to applie the same to an estate and not to consider the seuerall disposition thereof is to mistake Likewise the better to know how to applie this vnto vs let vs looke in what state it now standeth In truth it is so euill at ease that the ministering of so vigorous a lawe in steade of a remedie were the waie to weaken it more and more Euerie man knoweth that our troubles began aboue 24. yeres agoe which haue beene no warres but butcherly slaughters who so list to beleue a booke printed vnder the name of Frumenteau which layeth open the chiefe desolations of our land how can be but wonder at so terrible destructions Aboue halfe the Nobilitie is perished As for souldiours we must count them by legions the people vniuersally wasted the treasuries sucked drie debts increased discipline neglected godlinesse perished manners depraued iustice corrupted men diuided and all thinges in sale Be not these braue preparatiues to build new purposes It is as if a man in lieu of stones should take clots of earth and myre in stead of lime and then choose a marish ground to builde a Castle vpon whom we might with good reason wish to renue his wits to consider the defects of his stuffe and to staie vntill hee were better prouided Likewise in that state wherein we now stand to enter of a iolitie into anie great warre before that foure or fiue yeres haue renued our youth were it not as a man shoulde say as much as to let him bloud againe that hath alreadie lost almost all his bloud And to vndertake the same w tout discipline is as much as to builde without rule Neither is it any lesse inconuenience to be vnprouided of money For sooner might a man make a ship to swim without oares or sayles than prosecute a warre without wealth Who then would be so farre ouerseene as to counsayle vs to beginne the thing that must haue a bad end which necessarilie will ensue of the defects aforesayd I am sure that Scipio Nasica aforementioned neuer meant to wish them voluntarily to begin an enterprise whereof they coulde reape nothing but losse and infamie neither would aduowe such a one to bee profitable to a lande alreadie halfe buried in miseries For hee feared not the Romaines aduersitie but theyr prosperitie which brought with it pride and insolencie And this we are to note that foure yeere after that Publius Cornelius Scipio had ouercome Hannibal and made peace with the Carthegenians the Romaines grewe so haughtie seeing themselues crowned with so many victories and triumphes that theyr skinnes coulde not holde them Then was not discipline anie whit out of frame The common treasurlie was mightilie increased as well with the riche spoylos of Carthage as of Spaine neyther had they anie want of men This was the cause that moued the Senate to thinke it conuenient to be doing with Philip of Macedon which was a verie wise practise of y e rule aforesaid But what conformitie is there between our present state and the state of the Romaines at that time As much as betweene a rich sound and well ordered man and a poore sieke and buruly person Let vs then first cure our diseases before wee imitate their dooinges in theyr full force and strength Many doe thinke France to bee as well replenished with men as euer it was Wherein they deceiue themselues And in my opinion the matter that deceiueth them is that they see the most of those that gaâ—â—e vp and downe make great bragges in words habite and coâ—â—tenaunce For if a cobler hath beene a souldiour but two yeeres hee will thinke himselfe worthie to weare a guilte swoorde which our Fathers woulde haue beene loath to permitte to anie vnder the degree of knighthoode yea and hee will weare it if hee can come by it eyther by hooke or crooke as also his silke neatherstockes which good King Henrie the second neuer ware whereto lykewise his speech shall bee correspondent For if this souldiour doe but looke awrie vppon a man hee is by and by dead at the least This is it that blindeth such as take in payment shews and lookes who peraduenture applying to them the Prouerbe that One man is worth an hundered doe imagine that our France doe ouerflowe with men of armes and warriours But my opinion heerein is that yet wee haue a good number both Gentlemen and commons These beeing well kepte and to them adioyning the youth which sixe yeeres may bring forward wee maye trulie saie that it shall ouerflowe with such men as shall neede no great pricking forward to make them to stirre Lesse time can we not haue to redresse our warfare and replenish our coffers but especially to restore our vertues But will some saie if anie good occasion should fall out shal we let it slippe That is the maisters parte to iudge of and peraduenture the Ladie may be so beautifull that shee may haue a good looke Yet will it be hard for vs to lyke of anie vntill we haue put on agayne our auncient ornamentes As for the purgation aforementioned meete to cast foorth the dregges which the ciuill wars haue lefte behinde them I doubt it will proue lyke to Antimonie which expelleth both good and badde humours together As wee maye see by that which euen lately wee haue to our domage tried Our weaknesse longeth rather after restoritiues than those things that purge violentlie For so to thinke that France cannot bee pacified without sending awaie fiue or sixe thousand disordered souldiours is but to winke with one eie But let vs stirre them a little and wee shall see that wee must goe farther and that these little bells doe not sound before the great ones haue rong out We must thinke that most Frenchmen yea euen those that follow aduentures are wearie of suffering so many mischiefes as the Romaines were of the slaughters of Marius and Silla lykewise that they mislike not of rest because they knowe it to
of many Gentlemen good Captaines that would not faile in their duties wherof in y e armies but one halfe were to bee vsed for feare of vnfurnishing the prouinces and the same would amount vnto about 1200. horse And in my opinion that Prince were farre out of taste that would disdaine to command ouer such a companie which vpon necessity might seeme to sight in flanke of a king in two great squadrons Neither is it yet al to haue propounded this braue patterne and set downe orders for small fruit would arise hereof vnlesse we should prouide for two pointes of great consideration The one to make a more iust valuation of that which the fees ought to coutribute the other to cut off vnnecessarie exemptions Concerning the first many abuses are therein committed For sundry doe spare themselues and burthen their neighbours or fauour others I remēber that once I heard of a fee not worth aboue 400. franks by yere belonging to an ancient Gentleman that in his youth had done verie good seruice rated at 80. franks for the Arrierban And of another goodly manor hard by it worth 1800. which a 〈◊〉 Aduocate had scratched in with 4. hands rated but at 35. This is the goodly equality many times obserued in such affaires Wherfore to preuent all such deceits it were requisite in euery bailiwick to chose six men of the three estates honorable honest men because at this daie the fees are diuided amōg them to assist at the taxing to y e end to draw thē neerer to reason so do I imagine that if we should take but the tenth part of the sayd fees the king should be well serued the priuate parties haue no great cause to complaine It were also good to haue regard to the persons For there were no reason as much to charge him who after a sorte serueth the common wealth or is vertuous or that hath bene employed in good seruice as a greate feed vsurer at whose gate the poore die for hunger or a pettie fogger that continually troubleth his neighbours Thus might men that would incroch fees be accustomed to abandon their euill manners that hurt others I knowe verie well that vpon this reuiew sundry will crie out and that peraduenture with sound heart saying What doo ye seeke to alter My fee for this hundred yeeres paide but so much which is peraduenture but the thirtieth or fortieth part and now you aske me more this violence is not to be borne If this plaintiefe be a Gentleman hee is one that eyther goeth to the warre or that tarrieth at home If he be a warriour he complaineth wrongfully considering that going to serue he is exempt frō paiments If he go not to the war he is either vertuous or vicious if vertuous he will consider that if it be a point of dishonestie to denie priuate bonds much more dishonestie is it to denie publike And then it is to be supposed he wil yeeld to reason But if hee bee one of them that doth but beare the name of gentilitie which he blemisheth w t vicious actions I would set before him the custome practised by our ancient Gaules in the time of Iulius Caesar which was this After the precepts directed forth for the assembling of the nobilitie he that came after the time limited not letted but by his owne negligence was put to death in sight of the whole armie thereby to warne the rest to be more diligent For so might he gather that if in those daies they did so seuerely punish their sloth that were willing to serue their ingratitude that will neither helpe in person nor in purse deserueth much greater punishment As for the vnnoble that haue fees such as haue anie iudgement or are endued with any indifferency or knowledge either be put in office should not murmure when they are called vpon to giue some small portion to be exempt from personall seruice whereto they are vnmeet Neither wil they in anie wise refuse so to do But as for those who as much vpō an earnest desire to be called Lords as for couetize do nothing but heape fee vpon fee do neyther serue the common wealth nor vse charitie yet would excuse thēselues frō discharging those most ancient duties which I doubt whether euen the Kings can bee excused of ought to bee charged double like the Asse y t hath a strong back to teach them to bee more willing Should they not consider y t they are vnworthy the prerogatiues honors of fees sith they are vncapable of military actions which ought to accōpanie those y t do possesse them They that séek nothing but starting holes will yet saie that the king raiseth subsidies of the people for the paie of his men of armes which sheweth that noble mens lands should be quite discharged Truely they doe wel fulfil y e rule of iustice making it to yeld to their owne profit straining it to the ouerthrow of others I thinke if anie man would euen flay the people they could be content so thēselues might haue some morcel of the skin It is the cōmons pouertie that ought to be pittied not their abūdance y t cannot be satisfied One word yet of exemptions which in such a case as this that concerneth the preseruation of the Realme are but ouer common The harme is the kings who is stil y e worse serued But as himself is the cause of this diminishing through the lyberalities which without giuing to him to vnderstande the consequences they force at his handes so is it his part also to enquire what may iustlie be granted and to cut off whatsoeuer is vnnecessarie Wherfore it were requisite the Captaine generall should be carefull to obtain of him a declaration for a rule in the Prouinces For as these dueties are no new matters but verie auncient and meete for the vpholding of the crowne and maintainance of the French Nation so must they be diligentlie seene into before they bee dispensed withall The Romaines who did but seldome oppresse their subiectes with great tributes had neuerthelesse when any great warre came vpon them especially agaynst the Gaules no respect of persons neyther were their Priests whom they esteemed sacred exempt from common contributions so carefull were they for the publike benefite The lyke regard ought we to haue of ours and not to let those helpes that serue to that end runne into decaie which neuerthelesse we ought not to vse to the murthering of our selues but rather to repulse the chiefe enemies of this estate who doe but watch occasion to destroie vs. For this cause ought wee of our pouertie and necessitie to make a vertue least we be circumuented For if we suffer our selues to be beaten our neighbours will saie that we shall haue wrong but if we well defend our selues as wée may if wee redresse the forces of our Realme they will be affeard to come and assaile vs. The twelfth Discourse Of the multiplying
souldiers be maintained therewith My friend what standest thou so much vpon the number I graunt thou maist haue souldiers but good ones I deny For to the ende to make them such they must be well vsed I meruaile thou canst cast thy niggardly eyes so farre into the lawfull rewardes of other mens so long labours and yet turne them from thy selfe For what els doest thou but liue delicately taking no payne but to stuffe thy coffers with the riches of the Commonwealth which doe farre surmount that which thou thinkest superfluous and which thy selfe wouldest faine catch Hould thy peace I pray thee or els my counsaile shall be to send thee to view the first breach that shall be made But if any man shall thinke that I would seeke out among forreine nations onely all that is well ordered to the ende thereto to giue due commendation and proceede no farther he is much deceiued For hauing set downe that which so deserueth I will stirre vp our great men to imitate the order that yéeldeth such fruite to others thereby to encourage our footmen who being wel ordered and vsed doth giue place to none in the world When I call to mind the small order obserued in the rewarding of our French souldiers I am ashamed that so much wisedome as we haue among vs could neuer perceiue that it was requisite to do more then we haue done I know that he which sheweth forth his valiancie may climbe to the degrees of the companies Likewise haue I sometime seene that when some had done any notable act he was rewarded with tenne or twentie crownes at a time though but sieldome Wherefore it were good either to establish some more firme and continuall order or els to accuse our recompencers of ingratitude But dare I speake of the ingratitude often seene when there is any question of the poore maimed or such as haue growne ould in our warres which craue that we should take some compassion of them If tenne of the hundred be gratified it is all and yet how is that With the roume of a lay Monck in an Abbay where after the poore souldier is come in before he hath bene a fortnight among them the most of the Monckes as scorners of labour danger and stripes and louers of idlenesse and bellie cheere doe so crosse and molest him that he is driuen to compound for some fiftie or sixtie Frankes pention and so get him some other where These examples doe discourage our souldiers and bring them to take bad waies which would not so often fal out if the order here propounded might be established among our bands But because our France hath not at this day any such yeerely fléetes out of both the Indies as this great Empire which threaten it it were meet though we cannot do so much yet to do some parte of that which were requisite so to make those that beare the pike and the harquebuze to defend it more brauely and willingly If to a regiment of ten Ensignes we should assigne only 4000. crownes by yere for Aduantages which should not bee giuen but vpon notable seruice and in tenne regiments would amount vnto 40000. crownes were it so euil husbandrie for the time of warre I think to some small Duke it were too much but to a King of France such a charge were to bee accompted small in respect of the good that would redound thereof which would appeare in that the souldier should growe both the better warriour and the better liuer when he should see his labour and diligence recompenced It is hard to thinke what a bad opinion strangers haue conceiued of our French Souldiers seeing them in their iorney into Flanders and warres in France so disordered in the fielde sometimes to fight so faintly which although it hath in part procéeded of giuing them the bridle too much and their bad pay yet may wee withall say that the small recompence which they hoped for and hath bene giuen them haue discontented them and caused them by all meanes to seeke their profite sith they were denied the rewards of honor Let vs therfore growe more readie to amend our faults and knowing our passed negligence followe good order shewing to those that being commanded doe so liberally hazard their liues that we hould them in some estimation so shal we both conquer others and keepe our owne I might here say somewhat of the great rewards and other honorable apparant tokens that appertaine to those braue Captaines and gallant Knights which atchieue braue enterprises But I will forbeare because my selfe am forced here to disgest the bitter pilles of an apparant likelihood of perpetuall emprisonment Foure Militarie Paradoxes The 18. Discourse The first Paradoxe That a Squadron of Reistres should beate a Squadron of Speares THE learned do knowe that Paradores are sentēces or propositions repugnant to common opinion and in ould time there were Philosophers which propounded some that they had gathered in the doctrine of the Stoickes were it to shewe that men might gather fruite of that which seemed vnfruitfull or for exercise of their wittes Howsoeuer it is I haue thought good imitating their examples to set downe to sundrie braue Captaines matter whereon to discourse to propound these thinking that when they haue bene well examined some may peraduenture giue as much credite to them as to common opinion Among those that professe armes it is so assured a principle that a troope of Speares should beate and ouerthrowe a troope of Pistols that who so seemeth to doubt thereof is taken to be but a meanly practised souldier The Spanyards Italians doe also make lesse doubt thereof then the French And although they be such men as with iudgement can alowe or disalowe whatsoeuer is set before them yet doe I thinke that herein they leane rather to some small experience then to any other ground of reason But in this as in many others matters it oftentimes manifesteth such effects that when we haue throughly considered their causes we find that they should fall out otherwise The Reistres should rather thē any other be the defenders hereof for y t their reputation consisteth herein peraduenture if they had at all times shewed themselues firme and diligent to doe it with their hands they might now with lesse difficultie haue defended it with their tongues We must yet grant them the honor of being the first y t brought the Pistols into vse which when a man can well handle I take to be very daungerous They are a discent come from the harquebuziers and to say as it is all these instruments are deuilish inuented in some mischieuous shop to turne whole realmes and kingdomes into desolatiō replenish the graues with dead carcases Howbeit mans malice hath made them so necessarie that they cannot be spared To the end therfore to profite by them it is requisite to haue a merueisous care which no nation doth approach any thing so nere vnto I
these retraicts here do appeare great determinatiō but small arte which neuerthelesse is very necessarie in such affayres wherto I will also adde the instruction of the souldiers For when all these three things shall concurre in one troope I doubt not but it may worke greater meruailes then the former Some will say that the Frenchmen can at this day hardly helpe themselues with the pike which is true neither do I merueile thereat for in deliuering both it and the corcelet to any man men looke to no more but whether he hath good shoulders as if it were to carie some coffer like a moyle and as for the gentrie they haue quite giuen it ouer This is the reason why I wish the restoring of martiall discipline as also that they would againe practise the pike wherewith to fight at hand and open and to leaue to the youth and poore Souldiers the handling of the harquebuze because that therewith they ordinarily fight a farre of and in couert for the one is farre more honorable then the other Captaines in ould time venturing vpon some difficult enterprise wished to haue their Souldiers not only well ordered but also old beaten warriours because their assurance is the greater For it were but an ouersight to attempt any perillous aduenture with newe men Now will I come to Instruction which is as I haue sayd merueilously requisite in extraordinary matters And yet we now see that the Souldier contemneth it and the Captaine careth not for it But admit a Souldier bee valiant and that wheresoeuer he be placed he will doe his duetie thinke you he will not doe it much better or that he will not fight more resolutly when before he hath by good reasons bene perswaded that the horse cannot force a battaile in the face likewise that for the flancke they must vse such fortification as I will hereafter set downe then if he were vtterly ignorant and wist not what might happen I thinke no man will denie it for certainly ignorance is in parte cause of the feare that many men of warre doe oftentimes conceiue For that seeing the enemie in their faces they thinke they should according to the prouerbe euen eate yron charets I know that practise teacheth to knowe the true from the false but there is much time spent therein vnlesse it bee holpen by familier and ordinarie documents which those captaines that seeke to haue the best companies doe diligently giue to their souldiers The ordering of the footmen asorenamed to withstand the hotse in the fielde For marching but 80. paces asunder and coasting each other it followeth that the head of the battaile marked A can hardly bee charged because the side of the battaile marked 3 doth flancke it as likewise the sayd head doth as much for the sayd flancke by the same reason also one of the heads of the battaile marked 2. and the flancke of the other marked D doe also succour each other by their harquebuziers so as it is very daungerous for the horse to assayle in such places which enterflancke each other But may some man say although the two battailes cannot be assaulted but each vpon two sides why is it not as good to make but one onely which cannot be assailed in any more places For it seemeth the resistance would bee more gallant because that force vnited is much greater then deuided I am of opinion that in these actions it is not so requisite to looke to the greatnesse or smalnesse of the battailes as to the difficultie and hinderance when they finde themselues assayled on euery side For it is a great aduenture but there will growe some disorder when one bodie must make defence in foure places but when they neede not to looke but to two sides the men doe frame themselues thereto with greater ease and much better order This reason shall content me for the verifying of my speech notwithstanding I could alleadge others Concerning the ordering of the battailes I would wish euery rancke to conteyne fiftie Corcelets whereof there should be seauen at the head which would make three hundred and fiftie then tenne ranckes of harquebuziers and in the middest of them the rancke of Ensignes afterward for the tayle sixe ranckes of Corcelets which in all make sixe hundred and fiftie Corcelets and fiue hundred harquebuziers placed in foure and twentie rankes For the flanckes wherein al the difficultie doth consist they should be ordered in maner following I would neuer place there any harquebuziers as hath hetherto bene vsed but make sixe rankes of three hundred Corcelets in each fiftie men which should serue to make head on those sides The enemies being néere they should march otherwise then the rest namely close and carying their Pikes vpright leaning against their shoulders which is now sufficiently in vse Whereas at the heads of the battaile when any thing is to be done in their march they trayle them which maketh much distance betweene their rankes Now these sixe ranckes when the charge is offered after they stand shall doe nothing but make halfe a turne and so continue in their array with their face to the enemie and by my aduice they should take but threescore common paces in length which properly should bee the same which the battaile being closed to fight may haue open by the flanckes Thus should they bee armed to withstand the horsemen which cannot bee well done but with Pikes for the harquebuze shot without couert wil easely be ouerthrowne There remaine yet two hundred and fiftie harquebuziers to bee placed in the battaile counting the Muskets whom I would wish to bee distributed into foure partes in each threescore and somewhat more to stande as it were loose before the Pikes and at the charge to arange themselues vnder those of the first ranckes on the foure sides of the battaile Some will mislike I should make the heades so weake and only of sixe ranckes of Corcelets thinking them too fewe to beare the brunt of a whole hande of horse To whom I may say that if there were tenne it were the better but I haue cut my coate after my cloath howbeit I thinke such frontes sufficient to resist the horse which may easely bée done if the men haue courage and will be sure to stand strongly and fewe battailes haue wee seene ouerthrowne by any assault of the horse at the head As for the flankes which I haue described in such sorte as before they be as strong as the heades so long as they can keepe their order And this order I would wish them to keepe in their fight First while the horse were farre of it were good the battailes did goe forwarde but seeing them readie to charge to stay to the ende the better to settle themselues in order and with good footing to beare their first brunt The first rancke of Corcelets to plant the endes of their Pikes sure in the ground and not to stirre though a horse should goare
that wee shall scarcely finde any Captaine that will be the first to proue it then that I doubt but it may be put in execution The third Paradoxe That it is expedient for a Captaine to haue susteyned an ouerthrowe PLutarke among his small workes in a treatise intituled Of profite to be taken of enemies doth somewhat verifie this proposition where with great arte and eloquence he generally sheweth the same which I pretend to describe perticulerly though rudely but this opinion of myne I thinke many Captaines blinded peraduenture with the apparance of things which by nature are hurtfull will gainesay howbeit when I haue discouered the fruites there vnder hidden they shall as I suppose though not wholy yet in parte be satisfied And therefore without farther circumstance of words I wil come to the principall matter Such as attaine to militarie offices doe ordinarily climbe thereto by two waies The one called merite or desert and the other fauour Some of those that haue trodden the first path seeing themselues in authoritie do grow proude and others that haue come by the second I doe imagine to be ignorant which are very great imperfectiōs as easie to bee knowne in others as hard to be espied by those that are possessed with them And as to diseases engendred in mens bodies the remedies must bee applyed according to the rules of Phisicke the like doe these that are of the minde stande in neede of But many times neither arte nor counsaile can preuaile but the accident which more properly seemeth to bee hurt and destruction then remedie Howbeit if any doe meruaile how any profite can be found in things hurtfull let them consider the Scorpion who carieth in her both the sting poyson that infecteth the deadly wound and the medicine that cureth the same So also may wee say that militarie mishaps doe sometimes worke the like effects For by bringing vpon vs an apparant calamitie they doe thereby serue for an instruction to heale the hidden euill that bred the other This inward euill whereof I purpose to speake is Pride which ordinarily breedeth in those that are endued with sufficiencie and valour and bringeth their soules as farre out of fashion as the Dropsie doth the bodie wherof ensueth an vnreasonable selfe-estimation and contempt of others which are two such errors as oftentimes doe cast those that followe them into most manifest destructions And as all men ought to beware of stumbling vpon such great inconueniences so must they take in good part the vnlooked for corrections which make thē wise to take héed another time The first example that I will alleadge of such as I thinke to haue gayned thereby shall be of Gonsales Fernando a Spanyard and most notable Captaine who hauing bene vnder Ferdinand of Arragon the chiefest instrument to tame and driue the Moores out of Granado was sent into the Realme of Naples which that King chalenged against the French men Comming thether with an armie against them he thought peraduenture that the French men of armes would as easely haue bene broken as the Moores Genetairies also that his fame alreadie obteyned would terrifie them But he was deceiued for they ouerthrewe his troopes And himselfe losing that field which the Lord of Aubigny wonne he afterward shewed that he had gathered instruction by such an ouerthrow for he guided himselfe with such arte and discretion that he ouerthrewe the Frenchmen in sundrie encounters and finally expelled them the Realme That great Iulius Caesar who in the arte of warre surpassed all Capteynes that euer were after he had driuen Pompey out of Italy enclosed him in Dirachium waxed proud cōtemned him so as vndertaking to entrench a great countrie wherby to close him vp the straighter Pompey knowing his aduantage came forth and flew the chiefe part of his armie and had like to haue wonne a full victorie This shrewd blowe made Caesar so warie and diligent that he neuer after gaue Pompey any oportunitie against him but with his 〈…〉 ted pollicies brought him to the same poynt that he required and so ouercame him These two examples the one olde and the other newe may suffice to giue to vnderstande that the greatest giuing themselues euen to the least pride doe sometimes encurre an ouerthrowe by this imperfection but withall they haue this good thing in them that hauing receiued of their enemies some chastisement for their negligence or rashnesse they will soone amend Many Capteynes therefore now liuing must not bee ashamed to confesse that in prosperitie they may bee ouer seene sith those that haue bene endued with such modestie haue so farre ouershot themselues The first cause of this mischiefe consisteth in our selues and is our had inclination which corroborated by custume tēdeth to exalt vs aboue measure so as if an occasion falleth out of a quarter long it stretcheth it to an ell Which appeareth in all professions of arte and knowledge but chiefly in the arte of warre the professors whereof doe make great account of themselues because they exercise the actions of Fortitude and Magnanimitie Many times among the Spanish bands you shall heare a newe Souldier of three crownes pay say I am as good as the King let vs then thinke what a Capteyne that hath bene in sundrie assaults and battailes will doe He will straight way say I am better then the Pope Thus doe wee see militarie presumption swell euen aboue the thing it selfe The commendations of friends are an other cause that helpe to encrease it for they not able to forbeare praysing those whom they loue who also doe deserue the same by powring plentie of this liquour vpon them doe sometimes make them drink so much therof that they be halfe giddie therewith Herein they that are too free in attributing doe ouershoote themselues at vnawares and they that are so curious in the receipt thereof are willingly ouertaken Flatterers also which followe such as are in authoritie as the shadowe doth the bodie doe greatly helpe to giue to Pride her true shape For with their deciptfull and windie words they puffe vp the soule like a bladder If a yong Lord doth any valiant act they straight compare him to Gaston de Fax If he be an expert Captaine they tell him he passeth Bertrande du Glesquin And if they haue any better hap they make him equall with Scipio and Marcellus To him whom in hope of profite they would allure they say he must proceede in his good fortune sith the mightie doe estéeme of him the Souldiers doe loue him and the people haue him in admiration Hereto they adde also that his fame is so dispersed among his enemies that when they knowe him to be in the fielde they feare him as the Shepheards in Barbary doe the mightie Lyon when he commeth out of the woods And that for their parts they are glad to see him in so good a way to atchiue most worthie tryumphes and
Caesar and to God the things that appertaine to God But when I remember my selfe how can you you Souldiers fulfill this who haue forgotten the arte of rendering and can doe nothing but take Who sometimes doo saie well and alwayes liue euill What are your troupes and armies in these dayes but shoppes of all vice which where they passe doe leaue more horrible footsteps than doe the Grashoppers where they liue continuallie Your enimies do hate your crueltie your friends doe feare your sackings and all people doe flie from before you as from the flouds Who wil beleeue that your cause is iust when your behauiours are so vniust And although it were iust doe not you yet hazard it to all rebuke and slaunder To be briefe learne to liue better or thinke not much that no man beleeueth your wordes but cry out against your deeds This truly were a very free speech which neuertheles I think to approch so neere y e truth y t I wil not giue it the lie least they y t haue indured it should come in for witnesses against mee and so returne my lie vpon my selfe Out of this ranke I will exempt the honorable and good mem that professe armes as well noble as others of whome there be yet many abroad Neither must the whole blame of these disorders be layde vpon the small whose wantes doe oftentimes stirre vp their mallice For there be great ones who because they care not for moderating or suppressing them must haue their parts those especiallie are most guiltie that had rather see whole riuers of mischiefe than loose anie part of their reuenges or dominion If anie man aske the souldiours why they make such hauock they will answere that want of paie compelleth them which is a reason to be considered of If they tel the Princes y t these behauiors sauour verie euill and must be taken awaie with golde they wil say that all the Indias will not suffice for so many high payes and other subtill proulings Which cause must be well waied In the meane time vnder these excuses the mischiefes doe on both sides continue and feede vpon the infortunate Prouinces that beare theÌ„ which cannot possiblie be eschued so long as the mightie ones are so obstinately bent to make the wars perpetuall by keeping great armies all Winter and Summer in the fielde whereof it followeth that in the ende most of the men become rauening beastes the country is disinhabited the treasure is wasted the great curse themselues and God is displeased If we should call to minde how in the wars betweene the French and Spanish especially in Piedmont we should often see a Cornet of speares passe through a village where they might see banqueting dauncing the people without anie force come bring them all kinds of refreshing Againe within halfe an houre after another troope enimie to the former to passe in like sort and to receiue all kinds of curtesies Also these 2. troops within a while after to meet and beate each other well fauouredly Then the conquerer to carie into the sayd village the sore wounded as well of the one partie as of the other to be dressed and to lie all in one hostrie the vanquished vpon their faiths and the vanquishers in the custody of the aforenamed vnto their ful â—nre when each ought to returne to theyr Captains Thus should we see that these and such maner of proceeding purchased to both nations great fame among strangers and more amitie than is now to be found among pareuts This I say being reported vnto them they would account for fables because our present customes are cleane repugnant thereto And yet if in any wars ciuill behauiour be to be practised than in these wherein fellow Citizens after they haue ben together by the eares in their natiue soile doe fall agayne into familiaritie and loue one with another which neuer happeneth with strangers for the controuersies ended they neuer lightly haue occasioÌ„ to see one another again yea they ought to behaue themselus herein as kinsmen who among their hatred force doe intermingle equitie and honestie Finally such as do better note pollicie and good order and withall doe shew themselues most curteous doe giue the lookers on to thinke that they haue the better cause who therefore do fauour them with their prayers and themselues likewise by their good actions are the more satisfied and confirmed in their opinions which make them the bolder Contrariwise those who through their dissolutions doe make their warre which of it selfe is terrible vtterly detestable notwithstanding the cause be neuer so iust God will not fayle to punish for prosecuting it by such sinister meanes The 20. Discourse That a king of France is of himselfe mightie enough though he neither couet nor seeke other greatnesse than his owne Realme doth afford him ALL such as professe the reading and diligent examination of histories doe with one voice confesse that most of the calamities miseries fallen vpon diuerse lands and nations haue proceeded of the ambition of Princes and common wealthes who haue raysed such warres as â—red the same To auoide all the doubtes whereof reade but the liues of Philippe of Macedon Alexander Pirhus and Demetrius with the warres of the Romaines against the Catthaginians wherein ye shall finde that nothing is more true And although time by little and little suppresseth the force of the strongest things yet coulde it neuer much extinguish the flames of so vehement a passion which passing from the Father to the sonne heaping the former ages with mischiefe hath reached euen to ours I will forbeare to speake of things happened within these fifty yeres in respect of so many people yet liuing which may haue considered thereof but of foure score yeres ago Phillip Commines Fran. Guicciardine doe yeeld such testimonie that wee may say that the desire of dominion haue caused infinite disorders which haue disfigured the beautie of politike gouernment It cannot be denied but ours haue danced at the feast among others and peraduenture oftner but it hath likewise soone after mourned for it as wel as y e rest as hauing reaped no other commoditie of the greate warres of Charles the eight and Lewes the twelfth which neuerthelesse were not quite deuoide of all grounds of iustice but wast of money and consumption of men Which might admonish all Princes to undertake none but such as be necessarie vtterly to reiect those that containe no necessitie I knowe they haue a wonderfull quick desire to increase which neuertheles they maye moderate by a representation of the mischiefes and difficulties of warres were it not that they find themselues strengthned and vnderpropped with the counsayle of the young together with custome which not onely maintaineth it in force but also dooth greatly increase it For assuredlie the mightier that a Prince is the more is hee pricked forwarde with such stings as leaue him but small rest
vntill that hee hath chaunged other mennes mindes whereby he entangleth himselfe in many cares and wantes which he might well inough forbeare Howbeit those men are happie who in the middest of such disordered broiles false perswasions and wicked customes doe guide themselues by wisdome and discretion for ordinarilie they passe on the waie without stumbling and attaine to such endes as breede their contentation Our good King Henrie the seconde hauing practised and tried the vanitié of couetousnesse and warres was determined to passe ouer the rest of his daies in tranquilitie and content himselfe with that mightinesse that to him remained which was not small but it pleased God to call him And although all things haue since greatly decayed throughout this Realme yet I thinke our king hath cause enough preseruing and accommodating that which yet remaineth to account himselfe mightie happie though he neuer seeke with yron fire and bloud the forced dominion ouer his neighbours By this proposition I bring the ambitious into the listes who saie That the inclosing of our kings heartes within the accustomed bounds is the waie to quaile their courages and to depriue them of all trophees and conquests the goodlie inheritances wherein theyr auncestours meant they should participate likewise That it is vnpossible when they consider the dominions of Charlemagne which as all good histories doo testifie stretched into Italie Germanie France che lowe Countries Spaine euen to the riuer Ebro but they must needs blush for shame thinking how themselues lurke at home do nothing Trulie these be high wordes which in my opinion doe resemble the furious Northerne windes that stirre vp the greate tempests for by theyr often blowing in kings eares they prouoke their mindes whereof doe ensue the torments of warres which drowne so many people If they could weigh the dissimilitude between old and new vertue they would bee more stayed For as sayth Plutarke in his small workes it is as much follie to applie the heroycall deedes of those that are past vnto men present as to put vpon the head feete of children of sixe yeres of age their grandfathers hats and shooes But men ought to propound things conuenient to that age wherein a man liueth so long as they bee iust and honest We Frenchmen should thinke that France is past her greatest grouth and that wee are come to the time of her declination wherein wee shall doe much if wee can but keepe her well which we shoulde endeauour to performe and not to feede vppon her passed glorie and mightinesse because we are destitute of y e power occasion and good happe that lead our auncestours thereto Some there are that thinke that a Prince cannot bee tearmed mightie or great vnlesse hee ioyne newe Prouinces to his estate and make his neighbours to feare and stand in awe of him through his weapons which doe incourage him to enterprise and threaten greate thinges wherein they followe the common iudgement which as sayth Plutarke also doe admire the Thunder and lightning and make small account of the sweete Zephirus for they making no reckning but of whatsoeuer procedeth of force do leaue behinde them any thing proceeding of iustice notwithstanding the one be to be preferred before the other Many Emperours Kings there haue bene who haue indeauoured to purchase fame through their conquests and yet those that had bene content to take paines to bee good and so to make their people and well to rule and gouerne them haue purchased another greatnes if we iudge vprightly no lesse thā the former seeing it alwais profiteth where the other doth ordinerilie hurt Yet doe I not meane that a Prince shoulde tread armour vnder his feete or contemne it for so shoulde hee but giue himselfe to be a praie but that he should vse it onely to keepe himselfe from taking of harme and not to doe hurt to others I will therefore begin to shew forth the greatnesse of our king by the extent of his Realme which in length containeth aboue two hundred French leagues For from Bayone to Mets it is more and from Cales to Narbonne almost as much But from Morles in Britaine to Antibe in Prouence it is at the least 250. which is the longest waie True it is that from Roche◠to Lyons which is a straightning made in the middest of Fraunce is but sixe score leagues But be what it will it is a goodly peece of ground well inhabited As for the fruitfulnesse thereof it is such as all thinges necessarie to mans life doe so abound that onely for Corne Wine Salt and Woad transported into foreine lands there is yeerelie brought in in counterchaunge therof aboue 12. millions of franks This is our Peru These are our mines which neuer drie vp and peraduent ure from the West Indies which are so rich the Spaniards doe not yeerely receiue much greater treasure But the principall that we are to consider is the multitude of people wherwith it is replenished for turne which way ye wil the people do swarme as they did in the Countie of Flanders before the last tempest wasted the inhabitants their wealth stately borowes The peasants are verie simple and obedient the Townesmen painfull industrious and affable also the men that giue themselues to learning both diuine and humaine are most learned The Nobilitie is very valiant and curteous neither is anie estate in Christendome so plentifully stored therewith More might I saie had I not spoken therof at large in other places but this we may affirme that vniuersallie they are giuen to rebellion which is the testimonie that Caesar gaue of the auncient Gaules If anie man should doubt thereof I would present him the deuotion of our Fathers which haue engenderd aboue an hunderd Archbishops and Bishops sea◠about 650. Abbies of the order of Saint Barnard and S. Benet beautified with good kitchins and aboue 2500. Priories For then did the chiefe holynesse consist giuing to the Oleargie Neither were it any lie to saie that at this day they possesse aboue 20. millions of frankes in rent Who then can tearme that land wast where in one of the members is so great fat and plentifull Hold your peace wil some forren sensor say and labour no more to exalt set out that state which hath neither godlines iustace weath concord martial discipline nor order But haue patience a while will I answere vntil I make a reuiew of this great and olde vessell which the stormes and tempest haue cast vpon the sands then hauing shewed vnto your hat the chiefe members there of which haue bene so tossed and seabeaten haue yet some force and power also that it is no harde matter to redresse the whole you wil peraduenture be of another mind and confesse the verie relickes to be great I wil begin with deuotion which as I haue said our fathers as they thought did stedfastly embrace for the manifesting
and Sclauons haue bene forced to proceede farther as to submit themselues to the Turkes to the ende to eschue their furious cruelty for want of meanes of defence and of them wee ought to take compassion Some would peraduenture think that this proud nation would be loth to enter amitie with the Christians But the contrarie is most true For albeit they be barbarous yet doe they herein imitate the auncient pollicie of the Romaines who vnder coulour of confederacies set foote in Greece and Gaule which afterwarde they subdued The lyke would these doe if they might but at the least in their haunting among Christians they discouer our affaires diligently considering our forces and meanes which afterward doe the more kindle their desire to enterprise against vs neither doe our men through their conuersation among them reape any other fruit than apprentiship of most wicked customes which doe infect particular persons with corruption and entangle the mindes of those whome they gouerne with tyrannous precepts I will yet alleadge other of the most notable examples of such as haue abused thēselues found inconuenience in reposing too much confidence in Turkish infidelitie One shall bee of the last king of Hungarie named Iohn whome the Hungarians chose after that Lewes was slaine in battaile against the Turkes This king soone after his election did Ferdinand expulse vnder some pretended title to the Realme which forced him to haue recourse to put himselfe into the protection of Sultan Soliman who thereby had a good occasion For he waited only how through the meanes of the Christians to get accesse into those places where he sought to establish his greatnesse Thus hauing for the time restored him into his dignity and beaten Ferdinandes men he kept not his promise long for after the decease of Iohn he dispossessed the Queene his widow his orphane who had craued his helpe against Ferdinand that had besieged them and euer since haue the most part of Hungarie continued in the hands of the Turkes In this their deede the grieuous iniuries offred by y t aforenamed may to some seeme to excuse their submissiō to Soliman howbeit they were not free frō blame in that for their owne particular interest they were the cause on that side to aduance the destruction of the Christians peraduenture 30. yeres sooner thā it would haue happened besides that they ought rather to haue summoned the Christian princes to take order for their controuersies or else to haue growen to composition with Ferdinand But how should these confederaties be other than mishaps to those that put them in practise sith such Princes as haue made them only to the end to reuenge themselues of or resist their enimies haue come to euil ends Of whom Alphons king of Naples is one who fearing the power of Charles the 8. king of France did after the imitation of Pope Alexander the 6. who before had done the like sent his Embassadors to Baiazet to craue helpe As also Lewes Sforza who to the end to molest the Venetians sought to y e Turks of whom he brought a certaine number into Italy but neither of thē attained to their pretences as being preuented by the subiection of themselues and their estates It is no meruayle that shame and destruction doe followe such deliberations and who so liste well to consider the causes thereof shall see that a vehement desire of reuenge stirred vp these Princes to call them in Is it not as much as if a man should go into the woods to hier theeues to murther his kinseman or friend in his owne house for some debate risen betweene them Either to open the windowe to the wolfe and so to bring him into the flock to deuour the sheepe Those that were at the first war in Hungarie when Soliman came in person doe affirme that in that one onelie voyage there were aboue 200000. persons of that onely Realme either slaine or caried awaie captiue which violences together with innumerable other more haue bene such pastimes as these horrible monsters haue within these two hundred yeeres taken to our costs Who is he that reading or hearing of the cruelties villanies torments which the poore Christians indured at the taking of Constantinople but will euen faint for sorrow and pittie In this shipwracke neither the greatnesse nobilitie and affabilitie neither the teares nor lamentations of the olde yong women or children could any whit mitigate their crueltie vntill that hauing glutted theyr desires and reuenges with the bloud riches beautie of the youth of each kinde they graunted some small release to those miserable persons that remayned of that furie who had ben farre more happy to haue bene swallowed vp among the rest I could heere adde sundrie other deeds wherewith to describe the fiercenesse of this nation but it shall not greatly neede because wee are to beleeue theyr proceedings to haue bene almost alwaies alike as if theyr onely drift tended to tread all mankinde vnder their feet Our neighbours alwayes haue and still doe thinke it wonderfull strange how such learned wise men as haue continually florished in France could counsayle our kings to enter league with these yea and so long to perseuere therein considering how infortunate such confederacies haue bene Some auncient persons haue in this sort reported the cause That king Frances the first seeing himselfe stil beset with the Emperour Charles a mightie Prince Henrie king of England and diuerse other enimies who oft brought his state in to daunger was for his owne saferie counsailed to confederate himselfe with Sultan Seliman to the end when they should molest him to oppose agaynst them so mightie an enimie And this treatie was concluded about the yeere 1535. by vertue whereof wee haue often times had succour from the Turkes which haue greatly hindered those that troubled France and without the which it must needes haue indured much more through the ambition of them that ought not to haue brought our Kings into necessitie to employe so terrible armies All these accusations and iustifications haue moued me to peruse some histories to the ende to see what profite or hurt wee haue reaped by their succour I haue noted three or fower armies by Sea brought into Christendome at the pursuite as they say of the French men vnder the conduct of Barberossa and other Admiralles who haue bred great terror The most notable of al their exployts in my opinion was the taking of Boniface in Corse But I haue laboured to learne of diuers auncient Captaines and other skilfull persons both Italians and Spanyards what their nations either thought or sayd of these Turkish tempestes who all reported vnto me that these barbarous people wrought lamētable desolations as hauing burned sacked yea and led into perpetuall bondage a merueilous number of poore Christians for the most part which was worse were forced to renounce Christianitie and to embrace the false doctrine of Mahumet a most lamentable
destruction truely of so many soules fallen into such horrible gulfes of perdition Neither is it almost to bee imagined how grieuously these mischiefes haue moued all countrie people both to speake and write in the reproach of the French nation What then might sayd they the kindred and friends of those that were led into this miserable bondage doe One lost his father and mother an other his wife and children this man his brother that man his cosen It is very likely that their iust sorowe haue wrested from them infinite complaints teares and lamentations which haue peraduenture knocked at heauen gates This confederacie seemeth to haue bene the cause of the deminishing of the glorie of so florishing a Realme as France for euen at the death of King Henry the second it was fallen from a great parte of that greatnesse which fortie yeeres before it did enioye And although other causes might set forward this declination yet doe many thinke this to haue bene none of the least Yea say they if we should compare the commoditie reaped by all this Turkish succour with the onely tainting of the French good name among all nations in Europe we must of force confesse that the reproach doth farre exceede the profite For what is the winning of two or three townes to the reproofe of so many people for actions so vniuersally condemned Yea our selues can yet testifie that at the concluding of the peace betweene the two Kings of France and Spayne Anno 1559. the common speech of Germany Italie and Spayne was that one of the chiefest causes of our misfortunes proceeded of confederating with the Turkes bringing in and fauouring them to the hurt of the Christians To whome I aunswered That they did too sharply taunt those things which in some respects might be borne with neither were so vnlawfull but that vpon necessitie they might bee vsed likewise that the offence was in him that forced others for their safegard to haue recourse to such meanes But they replyed That it is one thing to confederate with a Christian Prince though vniust and ambitious and an other with these barbarous people which are the instrumēts of Gods wrath Also that those which seeke to excuse these errors ought to shew what wisedome there is in backing our selues with the succour of such as blemish the Princes fame and bring him into reproach Moreouer whether it be not mere blindnes to passe the same way wherin we see euery man encurre shipwracke Finally that their opinion was that no wise man endued with any conscience could much gainsay so euidēt a truth but would rather yeeld and grannt not onely to condemne that which was so vnlawfull but also to abstaine from perseuering therein These in brief were the reasons that they propounded which also I could not finde to be much impertinent Neuerthelesse for my better satisfying I thought good to trye the opinions of some Deuines which came to visite me whether Christian integritie were empaired by such confederaties To this question they aunswered that Daniel in his prophetie speaking of the 4. Monarchies which should be in the world and describing them vnder the shape of 4. beastes sheweth that toward the declining of the fourth which was the Romaine there should spring vp a little horne that is to say a kingdome which should be more mightie then the rest also that this horne should haue eyes a mouth That the eyes signified a law craftely inuented the mouth blasphemy against God also that this power should fight against the Saincts and haue great victories This did they affirme to signifie the doctrine of Mahumet houlden first by the Sarazens and then by the Turkes That if we list well to consider the Turkish kingdome wee should finde it to be a terrible tyrannie whose subiects were wonderfully enthralled their warres destitute of all good foundation their politique gouernmēt being wel examined to be but a bare name their Ecclesiastical regiment to be none but in liew thereof wee should see a wicked prophaning of the name and seruice of the true God their household affayres subuerted with Poligamy other disorders which dissolued all humaine societie And as for their trecherie and crueltie the histories together with experience the matters afore alleadged doe yeeld sufficient testimonie to make vs to beleeue that prophetie to belong to them as being therein so figured as they are Now presupposing the premises to be true say they we would weete how a Christian Prince can confederate or make any stedfast league with such barbarous nations as are as it were marked and appoynted to be the scourges to Christians For as we thinke they can hardly be vsed without offence to pietie In olde tyme God expressely forbad the Iewes to enter amitie with the Canaanites or Amorites people whom for their abominable vice he did abhorre Neither were the comparison amisse in setting the Turkes downe for the one and our selues for the other whereof it must of necessitie followe that the same defence ought to stand vs in stead of a lawe to restraine vs least we pollute our selues in their abominations Then did I tell them that I much meruailed how so many Cardinalles Bishoppes and Doctors endued with great learning of whome France had no want could brooke this league or made no meanes to breake it Hereto their aunswer was that many tymes Princes made the gownes to yeeld to the sword and the counsaile of the Clergie to the necessitie of the state And so wee brake off our conference which hauing since well considered hath forced me to say That these barbarous people are the same against whome the Pope ought to turne his excommunications and all Christian Potentates their wrath and weapons rather then against them selues or their Subiects to whome very rashly they impute Heresie when they should haue in much greater abomination all Turkish infidelitie Against those should they drawe their Swordes not to conuert them for the Gospell taketh no roote in mens mindes but by preaching and holinesse of life but to represse their crueltie and tyrannie and these warres would bee as necessarie as our domesticall bee vnnecessarie But there are some who seeing the Turkes prosperitie to continue so long and to encrease rather then deminish are as it were confounded in themselues and cannot thinke their dominion to bée so detestable considering that God powreth not his wrath vpon them but rather his fauour I doubt not but such as want instruction in Gods prouidence are sometimes when they enter into discourse hereof euen shaken but they ought to bee assured that this power can haue no perpetual continuance which hath her bounds as had the Sarazēs that is ended together with their name so that these many yeeres we haue heard no newes thereof These rods doth the Lord entertaine to the ende only to punish and chastise those who bearing the glorious title of Christians doe neuerthelesse through their iniquities
standeth in the same climate as Strigon so as we shal need to feare no more but our enimies yron But to proceede we are to vnderstand that after the posteritie of Godfrey of Bolleine had inioyed the lande aboue 80. yeeres ciuill dissention crept in among them and some of them calling the Sarazens to their aide grew so strong that they droue out the rest This afterward moued diuerse Christian Princes to ioyne againe in the recouerie of that which was lost so as in fiue or six score yeres they made sixe or seauen notable voiages wherein went personally the Emperours Fredericke Barbarossa Frederick the second Conrade king of Germanie some kings of France and of England wherof neuerthelesse grew smal profit At the beginning the Christians had goodly victories but in the end they had the foile were neuer able to expell the Turkes and Saracens out of the lands that they had recoueres All these later losses proceeded of sundrie causes as of particular warres leauied by some of the princes that staied behinde in their lands that were gone y t voiages of want of wine other prouision of the small perseuerance of them that were leagued of the pestilence that fell in the armie finally of such hinderances as the Emperors of Greece did vnderhand work to the westeru forces enuying as it shuld seme their generosity being loth they shuld conquere the land which y t Sarazens had won froÌ„ the said Empire These are the deformities of the former enterprises which ought to be warily shunned for feare of disgracing the present for it is a double fault to know the former ouer sightes yet to fall into theÌ„ again Other princes y t followed the aforenamed haue but defeÌ„ded yelded to y e Turkish rage which ouerflowing in y e family of the Ottomans hath for these 300. yeres stil increased to our great losse destruction howbeit euen in the middest of our disorders we haue not wanted some excelleÌ„t persons who with very smal means haue withstood the meruailous force of these barbarous nations whiles life hath lasted ben a rampier to all Christendome One was Iohn Huniades the Father of Mathy Coruine chosen to be king of Hungary Another Scanderbeg Prince of Albania who both were surnamed The scourges of the Turkes because of the great slaughters that they made in those battailes that they won Wherin we are to note Gods power wisedome who with weak smal things can pluck down the pride of the mighty They like wise haue held long wars vpon the seas yea the Sarazens haue ben so strong therin y e oftentimes they haue made great discents in the costes of Christendome and haue taken land in sundrie places as in Spaine the most part whereof they possessed aâ—oâ—t 780. yeeres also in Sicil where they remained aboue two hundred â—eâ—res But the Turkes great power vpon the seaneuer appeared so much as after the losse of Constantinople For hauing so commodious a harborow they thereof tooke occasion to thinke vppon sea matters shewing themselues terrible in the conquest of Ilandes and firme land where they haue descended The Christians alwaies so much as they might withstoode them but in the end by litle litle were through their great force oppressed so as for theyr more assurance they haue bene driuen 〈◊〉 them with the Mediterranean and Adriaticke sea abandoning vnto them almost all that is beyonde the same Diuerse are the reasons that leade me to thinke the time to set vppon them as conuenient now as euer First the want of experience in their greate Lord who is sayde to be rather a Philosopher than a souldiour as neuer wearing armour as his grandfathers Selim and Soliman the conquerâ—rs of sundrie countries did For the Turkish nation hauing such leaders doe notable things Then their losses in the Persian warres haue much weakened them whereof we are to gather that their great prosperitie which so long hath accompanied them doth now begin to droope Thirdly Don Iohns victory hath eased vs of one errour wherein wee were which is that wee thought theÌ„ to be by sea inuincible withal taught vs what aduaÌ„tage in ioyning we haue ouer them wherein wee should scarcelie haue bene confirmed but by this experience All this together considered should the more incline vs to take the occasion when it is offered for we must imagine that time altereth things men grow into experience good hap returneth inuentions increase I know our sinnes are the chiefe causes that God vseth them as scourges to smite vs but we neede not doubt but they haue like wise fourefolde procured his wrath And who knoweth whether their time bee not come to receiue the same that they haue inflicted vpon others We ought to be assured that in his iust iudgementes toward his hee alwayes mixeth his abundaunt mercie with his wrath and they that be vesselles of his wrath shall soone or late feele his vengeance without mercie To this purpose I will alleade a foolish Prophetie contained in their Alcaron where I haue read it not that I thinke anie truth to be harboured in theyr false Oracles vnderpropped with lies but because sometime the wicked haue at vnawares foretolde thinges that haue afterward come to passe This it is In the later dayes it shal come to passe that the Musulmans that is to say the Turkish nation shall straie from the lawes of the great Prophet Mahumet giuing themselues to all iniquitie Then shall the Christian swoord arise and thrust them out of their Empire Such as haue ben conuersant among them do report that their wise men doe sometimes set these speeches before them and they feare them as indeede they ought sith they were neuer so corrupt as at these dayes or so worthie grieuous punishment I haue bene long before I could speake of the meanes to assayle these so mightie aduersaries and the rather because I haue imagined the former matters verie requisite for the better vnderstanding of that which I wil saie To begin therefore I wil set to your view some counsayles of our forefathers out of the which we may gather good instructions who for the like causes haue often beene stirred vp to frame braue purposes Guic ciardine the historiographer who well noted such things as happened in his time reporteth that when Selim had conquered all Aegypt and obtayned sundrie victories else where all Christendome grew into great feare His owne wordes because they deserue consideration I will set downe The Pope sayth he with all the Court of Rome astonished at such successe and to the end to prouide against so great a mischiefe shewing that he would first craue Gods helpe commanded sundrie deuout processions at Rome wherin himselfe went barefoote Then calling vpon the help of men hee sent his Mandats to all Christian Princes admonishing them of this great danger and perswading them to laie aside all disorders and contentions speedely to
is not put in practise resteth in the Kings Princes and Potentates that beare soueraigne dominion ouer the people and much more profitable and honourable would it bee vnto them than to stand quarrelling with their neighbours or to suffer so much of their subiects bloud to be shedde vnder coulour of pietie and so make their warres domesticall and perpetuall I knowe wee haue some controuersies in religion among vs which notwithstanding the Protestants and Catholiks are still brethren and grafted vpon one selfe stocke Iesus Christ But with these prophane Mahumetists who worshippe an imaginarie God which is as the Scripture sayth rather a deuill and do pollute al honestlie and sack the world what coniunction or fellowshippe can we haue Agaynst these enimies the rauishers of our goods tormentours of our bodies and poisoners of our soules are wee to striue with our swoords But among those that beare one selfe title all controuersies ought to be ended in modestie and truth The 23. Discourse Of the Philosophers Stone AFter that through the knowledge of good Letters which by Gods especiall goodnesse are dispearsed in sundrie places in this latter worlde the artes and sciences had recouered their auncient beautie diuerse men hauing seene the glimpes of this light which for many yeeres had as it were layen buryed haue therewith holpen themselues in the safe conduct to the search of difficulte and hidden secretes and according to the greater light that eache hath receiued so hath he penetrated farthest into the deapth of such wonderfull secrets as are dispearsed throughout the whole worlde Yea euen at this daie who so list to beholde anie Countrie whatsoeuer shall in diuerse persons perceiue the lyke affection and diligence as haue beene in their predecessours to finde out the perfection of those things that other men had in their dayes sought for But as when many archers do shoote few doe hit the marke so are there not many that can atteyn to that that in their imaginations they had conceiued which default is rather to be attributed to the weaknesse of mans braine than to any imperfection of the arts and sciences the which he that can wel vse and reduce to their true end doth attaine a great part of his desire Among those that are but ouer curiouslie giuen to the pursuit of diuerse obiects there are none that stande in greater need of admonition than such as professe with continuall blowing to make their furnaces yeeld forth great treasure which they imagine their long proofes should reueale for wee ought to take compassion of those whome we see in errour to spend their yeeres and loose theyr labour without reaping any fruit whatsoeuer which haue mooued me to giue thē this smal aduertisement which they may vouchsafe to take in good part wherein I pretende by common reason easie to comprehend and according to my abilitie to shew them that they are deceiued in those meanes that they take to attaine to their wished end Afterward I will speake one word to some learned Philosophicall Alcumists that prosecute the same obiect as also shew what is to be iudged of their so rare and vnknowen purpose Finallie hauing confessed that there is a true Philosophicall stone but rather spirituall than materiall I will declare what it is also that being diligently sought it may be found and found will bring incomparable treasure and contentation There be as I take it in these dayes three kindes of men which deale in seeking for golde by Alcumistrie The first beeing poore are through necessity that oppresseth driuen to haue recourse to this art hoping thereby to find remedie for their want The second beeing learned are by the curiositie of their minds moued to search into natures principall workes but thereto especially driuen by lycorousnesse of profite The third are mightie Lordes whose desires still tending to greatnesse and wealth are through other mennes perswasions so stirred vp that for the compassing as wel of the one as of the other they are disposed to vse this art Now by the examination of the causes that moue each part we may iudge who hath the best intent But in the meane time it is greatly to be presumed that they all shoote and draw at the deuill of siluer I haue hard some of them discourse in this manner There haue bene say some of them in time past sundrie learned persons as Mercurius Trimegistus Geber and diuerse Arabians that haue imployed their time in the consideration of both naturall and supernatural things who in their bookes haue left written diuerse goodly instructions concerning the Philosophers stone or pouder of proiection which is of so wonderful a vertue that albeit their speeches be verie darke yet are they of such sort that sundrie excellent wits haue since vnderstood them plainly expoūded their highest conceits in putting in practise that which others haue bene content to see into by speculation for both these conioyned they haue by sūdry proofes deliuered to the view of the sense that which in old time was cōprehēded only in imaginatiō whence haue proceeded the discouerie of wonderfull secrets Truly these speeches bere a goodly shew and are built vpon the authorities of very braue personages which these puffing bellowes do diligently note to the end to set the better glosse vpon their merchandise Neither can I tell whether I dare alledge that which one of their learned Alcumists did on a time tell me namely That they were the heretikes of their sect but I referre my selfe to the truth thereof Now if the considerations of antiquitie haue ben able as sparkles to kindle in their hearts the desire which wee see doth consume them the receites and books written in our dayes of the like argument cannot but haue greatly increased the same and experience most of all in such manner as some do seeme to be euen rauished in discoursing vpon the excellencie of this art Now will I proceed in the course of their reasons which are as doe follow That God hath not in vaine indued man with the vnderstāding which he hath giu him to the end to consider of the greatnes and beautie of his diuine workes and thereof reape so much fruite as shoulde bee vnto him permitted that afterward he might yeeld to him all praise That in time past he reuealed infinite wonderful and singular things alwaies reseruing to himselfe neuertheles sūdry new secrets to disclose by the varietie whereof the more to stirre vp euerie man to confesse that the abundance of his workes are incomprehensible That the West Indies which seeme to inclose the whole tresures of the earth vntill before vnknowen were not discouered within these hundred yeeres Likewise that in these later yeeres the art of transformation of vnperfect mettals into perfect the multiplying of the quantity therof which barbarousnesse and ignoraunce had long buried is as it were reuiued agayne Also that men haue learned with fire to drawe forth the essence of sundry
Romish religion also the King of Nauarre reuolted conformed themselues to them which redounded to the greate disgrace of the Prince of Condie and those whome hee maintained Besides that if hee had come first hee coulde not haue soiourned there long without incurring much hatred for if to a Court you propounde reformation take awaie vaine pleasures and entangle it in businesse it will hate you euen vnto the death Finallie hauing manie enemies therein and more abroade hee coulde not but haue verie small assuraunce This maketh mee to thinke that the fouudation of the Court was not of anie more certayntie than that of Paris Howbeeit hee attempted another deuise but it was not put in execution in my opinion of more apparaunce which was his moouing of the Queene mother to goe and carrie the King to Orleance and some writers doe saie that it was motioned to her when shee feared the motions of the league also that shee hearkened thereto but all vanished awaie in smoake neuerthelesse I suppose that if the effect heereof had ensued all theyr weapons had beene sheathed vp agayne For had the Court beene in place where it coulde not haue beene surprised in respect of such force as might haue ben brought and where it shoulde not haue beene forced for no man durst haue discharged the Canon agaynst the walles that enuironed the King they might haue parleyed and dealte on horsebacke vntill the affayres had beene somewhat reestablished according vnto the Edict of pacification not withstanding euen to imagine that this remedie coulde haue vtterly extinguished the warres I dare not presume onelie it had sufficed if it had but delayed them for a while Of three things which I noted that happened before the armies tooke the fielde The one pleasaunt the other arteficiall and the thirde lamentable THE Writers of greate Histories who are to represent more matters than there bee leaues vppon a spread Oake cannot alwayes expresse and note euerie the perticulars that accompanie them for if they shoulde binde themselues thereto for euerie volume that they publish they shoulde bee forced to sette out foure and therefore it is enough for them to declare whatsoeuer is most notable Wherefore my selfe if in reading things past I meete with ought eyther much or little wherevppon a man to the ende to bring it into taste or reape anie profite might dilate doe somewhat delight so to doe especiallie in those thinges whereof I haue beene an eie witnesse which also may peraduenture somewhat serue to the vnderstanding of the storie which is the rich storehouse whereto they that couet goodly ornamentes ought to haue recourse for that which I heere sette downe is but a Pedlers packe conteyning wares of meane price albeit vnlesse I bee deceiued not falsefied or counterfait The first matter that I meane to shew is in what sort the Prince of Conde and his troope ariued at Orleance The daie before hee came hee sent the Lorde of Andelot to take the Towne who comming vnknowen perceiued there woulde bee some lette wherevppon hee sent worde to the sayde Lorde to make speede to assist him for hee was lykelie to haue some bickering Nowe the whole companie beeing loth to loose so good a morcell desired not to trot but euen to galloppe which was no sooner sayde but it was done For sixe leagues off beganne the course The Prince hauing with him as well in maisters as seruauntes aboute two thousande horse taking the greate galloppe the whole bodie did the lyke and so continued euen to the verie gates Innumerable were the people that they mette by the waie going to Paris who beholding the mysterie of this course and withall that none asked them anie question did for the most part at the first thinke that all the fooles in Fraunce had beene there assembled or else that it had beene for some wager for as yet there was not anie noise of warre Howbeit thinking better thereof and considering both the number and nobilitie they grewe into greate admiration yet so as they coulde not but laughe at so forcible a motion which did not beare downe the trees as the windes of Languedocke but seemed rather to beare downe it selfe for ordinarilie by the waie they might behold seruants cast downe horses shouldered and tyred and sumpters ouerthrowen which bred continuall sporte euen in those which did runne But they that the same daie were thrust forth of the towne did Catholikly bewaile their dispossession from the staple of the pleasantest wines in France Concerning the second point the matter is of more grauitie as consisting in both generall and priuate accusations defences reasons and other pollicies to perswade which were the weapons wherewith so many great Captaines for the space of two moneths fought together as also to comfort and hearten their confederates and partakers For in these so new and extraordinarie alterations of estate it was verie requisite to abolish all bad opinions out of the minds of those that knew not the drifts of the enterprisers and as the assault was great so was the defence forcible as may appeare by reading the actions as well of the one part as of the other which are inserted into the Annales Some there are that weene if their cause be good that it will so shew it selfe to all men and therefore will not publish the truth thereof wherein they ouershoote themselues For albeit iust and true matters doe in time shew forth their light yet is it in sundrie occurrences meete to anticipate them and that men should betimes knowe that that will at length appeare though not with so much fruit Also as weedes doe many times for want of pulling vp choke the good hearbes so if the slanders which the aduersaries doe ordinarily obiect agaynst such things as bee good be not refelled they would no doubt many times thereby bee suppressed besides that we are the more supported when in whatsoeuer case we haue proued that we walke vpright and labour with an euen hand To be briefe in this world men are so slothful in publike duties that without continuall calling vppon they remaine immoueable But they that haue but a bad cause in hand haue more need of arteficiall speeches to cloake that which being reauealed will bring it out of fauour neither do I thinke them to be tongue tied whereby we may perceiue that eloquence resembleth a two edged knife but whatsoeuer men saie it is a hard matter to disguise falsehood or blemish the truth The third point consisteth in the parley néere to Toury in Beausse betweene the Queene Mother the king of Nauare the Prince of Condie to deuise vpon some meanes to appease the controuersies fallen out Many did imagine that the presence and conference of the greatest woulde bee of more efficacie than the sundrie embassages from part to part and albeit euteruiewes be sometimes dangerous yet was it concluded the rather at the Queenes instance with the limitations ensuing That on each
Howbeit howsoeuer the matter had fallen out had it not bene wonderful in an assalt to see the horsemen fight among the footmen on either part There also happened another matter contrarie to that which ordinarily chaunceth in townes not forced that is that they within lost more than they that were without neuerthelesse such as were lost it was with great commendation for we might plainlie see them come boldly and assuredly present themselues with the Canon and harquebuze shot In the ende Monsieurs armie did the Protestants greate honour in comming to assayle Chastellerault For the same was to them a lawfull occasion to raise the siedge with neuerthelesse they woulde haue raised because they wist no longer of what wood to make their boultes and I beleeue that the besieged were no lesse busied Concerning the siege of this towne thus much I will say that the captaynes doe easily yeelde to any high attemptes for hauing great stomackes they aime at obiectes of the same nature howbeit the surest way is to rely vpon the prouerbe He that gripeth too much straineth but little The D. of Guize his brother purchased great fame in kéeping so weake a hold considering their youth Some made no lesse accouÌ„t of this act theÌ„ of y t of Mets Others said y t the Admiral he staied ther purposely to catch those Princes whome they presumed to be perticularlie his enimies but himselfe hath often tolde mee that if the towne had beene taken so farre woulde hee haue beene from suffering them to bee anie waie misused that contrarywise he would haue caused them to haue bene honourablie intreated according to their dignities as hee had done their vnkle the Marques of Elbeufe when he fell into his handes at the taking of the Castle of Cane and my selfe do remember that at the capitulation he sent me because I knew him into the Castle to assure him from hauing anie harme which was obserued Monsieur seeing our armie fraught with spight rise to come towarde him hauing in vaine attempted one assault against Chatellerault where the Popes Italians who were nothing slacke in their duties were receiued according to that good affection that the Protestants doe beare to theyr maister did retire We folowed weening to haue constrayned him to buckle but still hee kept a riuer in our faces to coole our heate When an action tending to diuersion fayleth in the accessaries and is executed in the principall it is not to be complayned of for the great fruit of the one dooth sufficiently recompence the small losse of the other as also we are to note that wee ought to study thrice or foure times before we vndertake to besiege any great towne once Of the battaile of Montcontour SOme will say that this battaile was a consequence of the siege of Poictiers because the ProtestaÌ„ts power was much weakned before which in troth happened rather through sicknesse and the retiring both of Gentlemen and souldiers then by any violent death Indeed this was one of the causes of our mishap but there were others as our seiourning at the borough of Fay La Vineuse while the armie of Monsieur grewe strong at Chinon Whereto we were all forced because then all our draught horse for our ordinance were sent awaie to carie to Lusignan part of that artillery which had ben emploied at the siege of Poictiers had euer since remained in a Castle which returned so iust that had they staied but one daie longer we should haue bene driuen to haue forsaken ours by reson of the approch of Monsieurs army to London which was within three leagues of vs. Also because we were in a deuoured soyle and but badly seated the Lord Admiral thought it better to goe lodge at Montcontour where the lodginges were commodious and victualls more plentifull and I beleeue that as well he as many other were deceiued in that no man supposed that they whome we had forced to so long a retreate that in the night from before Chastelleraud could so soone haue bene readie to seeke vs. Thus on the fridaie he departed sending his carriage one waie while himselfe with the armie went another Now neere to a village called Saint Clere the one hearing in manner no noise of the other the head of the Catholikes armie led by the Lord of Biron met with ours as we marched almost vppon our flanke he seeing opportunitie with one thousand speares gaue a charge vpon the Lord of Mouie who was vpon the retreate with 300. horse and two hundred harquebuziers on foote These hee ouerthrew and put to flight and there were lost the most part of the sayd shot and about fortie or fiftie horse This happening sodainlie and at once with the sound of foure Canons that were discharged bredde such a terror among our men that without telling who had wonne or who had lost euerie man at the onelie noise they heard behinde them fled as halfe afraide One thing I will aduow not that I will speake it to our reproch but rather to shew preuention to be a cause of great disorder also that the hazards of warre are dangerous that is that had it not bene for a passage which was founde in time where there could but twentie horse passe in front and so staied the Catholikes our whole armie had bene ouerthrowen at this first encounter The Lord Admiral séeing this shewed himselfe to his men gathered togither his troopes so as at this passage there were giuen two or thrée great assaults repulses of 1500. or 2000 horse at a time and whosoeuer passed ouer was soone driuen back there did Countie Lodouicke Countie Wolrad of Mansfield behaue theÌ„selues very wel The two armies planted themselues in battell araye the one on the one side and the other on the other within a good musket shot together where ours was somewhat in couert neyther did I euer see any so neere together and not to fight a maine battell No man durst aduenture any more ouer the passage in respect of the daunger thereof for sundry squadrous would haue oppressed that which should haue aduentured But the Catholikes hauing their ordinance there and ours beeing already at Monâ—contour they vsed it and therwith slue about 100 men in the squadrons who neuerthelesse set a good countenaunce and had not the night come on vnder the fauour wherof euerie man retired we had had more hurt That at S. Denis this came wel for vs. In the morning Monsieur caused to discouer y e lodgings at Montcontour and to tast the Protestants but he found them verie well fortested in the suburbes hauing no other comming thereto where was a skirmish both of horsemen and footmen The same time it happened that two Catholike Gentlemen stragling came and spake to some Protestants in place where there was a ditch betweene My masters sayde they we weare the badges of enemies albeit we hate neither you nor your party Warne my L Admirall to