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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68163	A comparison of the English and Spanish nation: composed by a French gentleman against those of the League in Fraunce, which went about to perswade the king to breake his alliance with England, and to confirme it with Spaine. By occasion whereof, the nature of both nations is liuely decyphered. Faithfully translated, out of French, by R.A.; Discours politique, tres-excellent pour le temps present. English	Gentil-homme francois, fl. 1588.; Ashley, Robert, 1565-1641.	1589 (1589)	STC 13102; ESTC S120864	30,635	50

king Henrie for greater confirmation of amitie a mariage was intreated of betweene him and the Ladie Marie eldest daughter to king Henrie Insomuch that all thinges accounted the English had then no cause to be affraid of the Emperour Moreouer the Emperor could not enterprise any thing on the estate of France without parting stakes with the English for their olde pretence vnto Guyen and Normandie This matter deserueth longer discourse but I studie after breuitie that I may speake somewhat of king Edwarde the sixt the sonne of king Henrie This Prince was so full of vertue and the feare of God that he may be good right be called the Iosias of the new Testament and the Paragon of Princes Christian. But laying aside his rare vertues whereof the best speakers can speake but too compendiously I will only touch that which neerest concernes our subiect This Prince by the counsell of the late duke of Northumber lande carried so entire and sincere an affection to our king Henrie the seconde that if God had lent him longer life there had beene a league made betweene these two kinges duke Maurice of Saxonie In such sort that there is great likelihood that an allyance made betweene three such mightie Princes had then brought the Emperour Charles to take that part which afterwardes he tooke that is to retire himselfe into Castile to the Monasterie of Saint Iust. I speake not of his humanitie vsed towardes our poore Frenchmen fled into England for refuge in a time when to make p●ofession of a Christian life in France was but to expose themselues to the death This obligation is common to vs with almost all the Nations of Europe whose exile hath beene honored with the assistance and comfort of this most holy and happie king Edwarde Happie say I not only in respect of him selfe but for that he hath also in his sister the Queene Elizabeth so perfect a portraiture and so right a resemblance of his most Christian and Heroicall vertues Which causeth that all such as throughout Europe are indued with sound iudgement do wish of all thinges in the world eyther to be the subiectes of such a Princesse or at least to liue vnder the subiection of such a Prince as might most resemble her But I dare not vndertake to set foorth the prayses of Queene Elizabeth in respect that if I should omit any one of her rare vertues my discourse would not be well taken of the better sort and to go about to discourse of thē by particulars were neuer to haue done Taking then a shorter course I will only say that she hath made demonstration of her good will towardes France as often times as the estate of our affaires hath presented her any occasion Aboue all she hath alwaies showed her selfe affectionate to the intertayning of peace with vs being induced thereunto as well by her owne cleare insight and wise forecast as also by the mature sage counsell of the right vertuous and noble Lords Sir William Cecill yet at this day Lord Treasurer of England and Sir Nicholas Bacon of worthie memorie sometimes Lorde Keeper of her Maiesties great Seale personages indued with so high and eminent wisedome and so happily qualified in all kinds of vertue that he shall well deserue a place amongst the best speakers that shall duly set foorth their praises to posteritie For my part I magnifie that most mercifull God which hath so well married good happe to the vertue of these two English Nestors that in them may be seene the accomplishment of that prayer so much celebrated by Callimachus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O blessed father be thou blest Giue vertue giuing store Goods without vertue do no good with vertue euermore And vertue feeble feeles her force if so she liue in want Then blessed father vertue giue and let not store be scant It remaines now to speake of a like demonstration of amitie towardes vs and yet in a case much vnlike France hath not in it any greater ornament then the Citie of Paris nor the City of Paris then the exercise of learning which hath beene there continued euer since the time of Charlemaine that is to say since the yeare 792. euen till this day with such reputation that in the time of our fathers to haue studied at Paris and to be well learned were two diuerse termes signifying one and the selfe same thing But if this benefite be great as it can not be otherwise accounted sauing of such as want iudgement we can not acknowledge to haue receiued it of any but the English Nation except we will in depriuing thē of their deserued praise bereaue our selues also of being reputed a people that loues roundnesse and integritie For Charles the great was induced to this so happie an enterprise by the counsell of Flaccus Albinus an Englishman seconded by two Scotishmen the one named Ioannes Milrosius the other Claudius Clemens But euen as euill counsell by a iust iudgement of God fals ordinarily to the preiudice of him that giues it contrariwise the author of good and holy counsell is hee who willingly tasteth the first fruites thereof So the Englishmen haue reaped the fruite of that good and wholsome counsell of Albinus and his companions in that the Vniuersitie of Oxford is a branch of that of Paris But because wee see men to be so much the more inclined to thinges vnto the which they are drawen for the conseruation of that which doth neerest concerne them I say that the safetie of England toucheth vs so neerely and our safegarde so neerely the English that one of the two Nations being distressed by a stranger the other may make reckoning that they are not long to enioy any great quietnesse It is knowen that as soone as Caesar had set on foot the Romaine power in France he thought hee had not well played his part vntill he went to remoue houshold into England The histories haue so cleared this article that it were but superfluitie of speech to extende our selues any farther in deduction thereof I would now that some one of our maisters of the Court who are so affectionate and make so great account of the allyance of Spaine wold show me the like motiues groūds of their opinion But I assure my selfe that they will not put themselues to the paynes of proouing any naturall affinitie betweene the French and Spanish vnlesse they fetch it from the Arke of Noe or else make reckoning of that which the Poets tell touching the beautifull Bebrix Which neuerthelesse were an argument as feeble as far from the purpose as is knowen to such as are seene in the knowledge of antiquitie and specially of Poeticall fictions But being now entered into this discourse it will not bee impertinent to speake of the originall of our Spaniardes at this day For euē as waters which run out of sulphur springs haue alwayes a taste of brimstone

the English auncient enemies to the estate and crowne of France thinking thereby to be accounted learned amongest the ignorant discouer themselues to be vtterly ignorant amongst the learned And for so much as diuers Courtiers whom I haue heard discoursing on this argumēt haue come to this conclusion that they prefer the alliance of Spain before any other whatsoeuer hauing regard as they say to the safetie and welfare of France I purpose to dispute this question which in my iudgement hath no better foundation then a partialized affection or else too litle knowledge of the affaires of this world I hope then by liuely reasons to enforce that the alliance of Englande is much more expedient for vs then that of Spaine by the same means to cleare the generall controuersie and to make knowen that there is no people in the world whose alliance is so commodious so necessarie vnto vs as that of the English nation And to lay some foundation for my opinion I say that whē there is question of making alliance with some nation there is principall regard to be had of two things th' one that those whose allyance we preferre haue more wayes meanes to helpe vs th' other that they haue also more means to harme vs being once become our enemies And I pray you what people is there in the world that hath iuster occasiō to loue vs then the English which are allyed vnto vs in bloud conformable in manners and brotherly giuen to the selfe same vertuous inclinations which I meane nor onely of those whō at this day we call English but also of the ancient Britains the remainder of whom we see at this day in the countrie of Wales who though they agree in manners fashions customes and vsages yet in language they differ from the other inhabitants of Englande Caesar who first amongst the Romaine Captaines discouered and had knowledge of the estate of this Ile teacheth vs that one part of the Britaines that is they which dwell next the sea haue taken their originall of the Belgae the same author hath also left vs in writing that in his time the king of the Switzers named Diuitiacus did rule also ouer great Britaine And therefore is it no meruaile if the Britains especially those that inhabite about Kent were agreeable in humanitie and maner of liuing with the French And indeede if we iudge by that which we find in writing nothing can be sayde more brotherly then these two Nations That I may not busie my selfe too much in sifting out particulars I will speake only of the Druides which in auncient time bare rule in both Nations These Druydes were Poets and Priests as in ancient time was Hesiodus in Greece Most certain it is that the first among the Grecians who haue adorned their coūtry with the knowledge of learning comprehended all their doctrine in verse as Homerus Hesiodus Orpheus Musaeus Linus Empedocles Parmenides and Pitheus of whom Plutarch maketh mention And therefore it is that Plato hath attributed so much vnto Poets calling them fathers and fountaines of wisedome These Druydes were also Mathematicians Philosophers which make me that I can not comprehend wherupon Citero should thinke when he compared the Britains with the Scythians in respect of their ignorāce of the Mathematikes If he relyed on the testimonie of his friend Trebatius euerie one knowes him to be a witnes as may be gathered euen out of the workes of Cieero Qui calat hum libentius quam celum contemplabatur But it seemes that Cieero a person otherwise of exquisite iudgement would needes versie the saying of Thales of Milesia who being asked how farre trueth was different from falshood answered as farre as the eyes from the eares So may we say in respecte of that which 〈◊〉 are now to intreat of that we acknowledge eies in Caesar and eares in Cicero But howsoeuer it be either that the Britains receiued the knowledge of good letters from the Gaules or the Gaules from the Britaines so it is that the young men of France for farther aduancement in their studies transported into Britaine to the Druydes of that countrie of whom they learned the most hidden secrets of Philosophy of the Mathematicall sciences If we report our selues to what Caesar hath writen hereof the Philosophie and doctrine of the Druydes had his first beginning in great Britaine which opinion I willingly embrace howbeit that rare and excellent personage Petrus Ramus seemes in a worke of his to holde the contrarie No maruell then if so learned a Nation and so well nurtured in good letters hath beene endewed with so singular humanitie sortable to their knowledge and such as whereof our ancient Gaules haue gathered the principall fruite In so much that Caesar intending a descent into Britaine alleageth for his purpose an other pretence but that the Gaules had beene succoured by the Brytains in all their quarrels which they had against the Romans But if any one thinke that those people which since the time of Caesar haue made themselues masters of Gaule and of Britaine namely the English the French haue not had so firme friendship but rather lesse occasions of louing one another he deceiues himselfe as much as he that is ignorant howe great is the force of that friendship which is founded on naturall allyance the memorie whereof can not be blotted out neyther by tract of time nor distance of place The Citizens of Sais in Aegypt sayd that their Citie was founded by the Goddesse Minerua as did also the Athenians of theirs In contemplation of which allyance as Plato witnesseth the Grecians in generall and specially the Athenians were welcomed and well intertained at Sais It resteth nowe to consider howe straightly the French are vnited to the English and what demonstration of friendship they haue made from time to time the one to th' other Neither is it sufficient to say that they haue had great and long warres togither euen in the memory of our great grandfathers for by the same reason shold we banish amitie from amongst all Nations of the earth By the same reason should we conclude that there could be no friendshippe amongest the French themselues who euen of late daies haue furnished a stage in their own countrie with the bloudiest tragedie that euer was heard of And touching the wars betweene the English and French I hope hereafter to showe in due place that so farre off is it that this consideration should bring any alteration of friendshippe or amitie betweene them and vs that contrariwise it ought to enforce at our handes some increase of good will in their behalfe For God hauing giuen them so great aduantages ouer vs as euerie knoweth it is hard to say whether this noble nation haue showen themselues more valiant in fight then mild gentle after the victorie To lesse purpose yet serue those vnseemely speeches which may be heard in the streetes as well