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A05410 A discourse of the vsage of the English fugitiues, by the Spaniard Lewkenor, Lewis, Sir, d. 1626.; Wadsworth, James, 1572?-1623, attributed name.; Scarlett, Thomas, attributed name. 1595 (1595) STC 15562; ESTC S106916 37,206 82

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heretike But the best is to see how busie and diligent they are when they heare of a wealthie man that lyeth sicke and is in danger of death This is their chiefest haruest and most optima praeda then they commend vnto him the pouertie of their cloister and the merite that hee shoulde gaine as beeing for euer to be remembred in theyr masses as one of theyr benefactors the Iesuits and Cordelleres are at this present in processe in Spaine about this matter of visitation of sicke men in articulo mortis The Iesuites saie that it appertaines vnto them because theyr profession is actiue and alwaies stirring among the flocke and to doo good in the worlde abroade whereas that of the Cordelleres is contemplatiue and so by consequence most decent that they shoulde containe themselues within theyr cloysters The Cordelleres on the other side replie that theyr profession is meeknesse innocencie and pouertie and to doo good vnto all men As for the Iesuites that they are proude ambitious aspiring medlers in matters of state men of great riches and couetous of more and therefore by no meanes to bee admitted to such as lye at the article of death The matter hath beene much argued of and greatly debated in Spaine and besides the Iesuites haue openly inueighed agaynst them in the publyke schooles of Louaine yet notwithstanding how euer the crie goeth agaynst them they holde theyr owne But this by the waie seeing it comes so well to our purpose I cannot choose but tell you a pretie ieast that happened this last Summer in these partes A Marchant of Antwarpe whose name was Hamiel beeing sicke of a consumption or feauer ethike the Iesuites knowing him to bee a man of great possessions and without children presentlye repayred vnto him vnder colour of spirituall consolation laying before him the vanitie of this lyfe and the certaintie of the worlde to come wyth sundrie other perswasions as of all men lyuing they haue their tongues most at will withall commending vnto him their order as of all other the most meritorious perfect and acceptable to God and to which our holye father the Pope and his predecessors haue granted more indulgences than to anie other order whatsoeuer they brought the poore man being of himselfe simple into their societie thinking that there was no other waie to bee saued and withall before hand infeoffed their college with his land which was two hundred pound a yeere giuing them besides much goods and riche moueables and when he had so done died within three moneths after the same his next heires by counsell of their friends put the Iesuites in sute agaynst which though they opposed themselues withall vehemencie yet to their great shame and reprehension sentence was giuen agaynst them Notwithstanding they woulde not giue ouer but by the meanes aid and support of president Pameley who is one of theyr best children they appealed from thence to the councell of Brussels getting the cause after sentence giuen to bee remooued a thing vnusuall or scarcely euer heard off before as yet there the processe hangeth by hooke or by crooke it is thought they will haue it in the ende Another time a riche and wealthie Marchaunt of Antwarp but one in that point whose deuotion and scrupulocitie ouer-went his wisdome comming to them in confession and telling them of some vniust gaine with which he felt his conscience touched they presently with sundrie terrifieng speeches tolde him that hee was in the state of damnation out of which hee coulde not bee deliuered vntyll such time as hee had made restitution as well of that confessed as of all other monie and goods that hee had by vsurie vnlawfully gotten laying before him Quod non dimittitur peccatum nisi restituatur oblatum with sundrie other such sentences of which they had store in fine they put the poore man into such feare of conscience that he yelded to make restitution if so the same might bee done without his vndooing discredite or shame Whereupon to comfort him againe but in deede fearing least that if they dealt too rigorouslie with him they shoulde get nothing they tolde him that if in stead of all such interest and iniuries with which hee felte his conscience burdened hee would onely be content to deliuer vnto them some such summe of monie as without his vndooing he thought conueniently he might spare they woulde take it vppon their soules to see the said summe imployed vpon good vertuous and charitable vses to the greater benefite and merite of his soule and as a thing more acceptable to God and lesse scandelous to the world than if he should make restitution to whome it appertained and that were by that his vsurie interessed Whereupon the Marchant beeing well satisfied in conscience gaue them the monie and they him their absolution But I will holde you no longer with the recitall of these things of which if I would intreate theyr impietie would yeeld mee too much matter My principall meaning and intention onely beeing to let you see that vnder heauen there is no state so wickedly impiously and deuouringly gouerned in matter of religion and conscience as these here vnder the Spaniard I thinke the recitall of their miseries woulde rather breede in you admiration than beleefe so farre doth the same exceed the compasse of all other tyrannies that euer were vsed there being no calamitie in the worlde of which they haue not tasted of Their noble men rulers in whose vertue and courage consisted their chiefest refuge in times past when they were wronged and tyrannized haue bene murthered strangled poysoned and slaine by the bloudie ministers of theyr cruell king they are taxed in great summes and numbers of men sent violently into France and forren wars and the relikes of their nobilitie forced to go wyth them in person to their apparant slaughter leauing in the meane time theyr countries in praie to the enemie theyr villages flaming in fire theyr towns battered about theyr eares with the Cannon theyr priuiledges are by wrong and tyrannie taken from them their cities that sometimes striued with oppulencie and glorie with the goodliest and greatest of the world are gouerned by base and barbarous Spaniardes bridled with theyr garrisons and castles and forraged and spoiled by them at such time as their payment faileth No face of iustice in theyr common-wealth but the same is pliable to the wil of such strangers as are gouernors of their towns captaines of their castles theyr goodly hauens harbouring sometimes with innumerable shippes laden with marchandise from all partes of the world are now frequented euen of the fisher-boates their trafficke ceased and theyr townes almost desarte in the most of which of tenne houses together there are scarse three inhabited theyr villages abroade burned and ouergrowen with bushes their goodlye meddowes and fruitefull pastures drowned many miles wide and longe by letting in of sluses and cutting downe ditches The mansion houses and castelles of theyr Nobilitie
abused and throwen downe they errable grounde waste and vntilled insomuch that there a man maye haue as much lande as hee will and thankes withall for the onely manuring thereof As for the poore labouring people of the countrie for the most parte they are al starued and consumed with hunger of which disease I my selfe haue knowen two thousand die in one summer so that you may ride in some places an hundred miles without seeing of a man woman or childe vnlesse it be some poore silly soule that commeth creeping out of the woodes hunger starued more lyke confusitated ghostes than a lyuing christian creature And yet all these in a maner happier because they are at an ende of theyr miseries than such as doo liue within the inhabited places of the countrie as Cempine and the land of Wast and these of all the people in the worlde I take to be the most wretchedst Ouer euerie village of these are appointed certain horsemen to whom they are all to paie monethly contribution some ten poundes some twentie and some thirtie some more and some lesse I knew one village that paide an hundred poundes euerie moneth called Turnolt but they paide it so long till all the dwellers ranne awaie and haue now in a manner left it void of inhabitauntes Ouer this village and the whole Countrie is appointed a Comissarie called Sygonio for the payment of theyr contributions of all tyrantes liuing the most cruellest and of least conscience Who if they faile and doo not bring in theyr moneie at the last daie of the moneth hee sendes foorth troupes of horse-men to take the best of them prisoners and withall to driue home to their quarters or garrisons such sheepe oxen or cattell whatsoeuer as they finde in those villages which hee causeth if the money followe not within fiue or sixe daies at the furthest to be sold at the drum or Trumpet and with●●● forceth them to paie a great fine the one halfe 〈◊〉 ●hich he retayneth to himselfe and the other to the souldiers for their out-roades and forberance of the monie But the miserie of these poore people endeth not here for besides all this they are forced many times to lodge soldiers in their houses as they march along the countrie vpon seruice at which time it is incredible what outrages they receiue theyr cattell killed their corne threshed out and giuen to horse their chests broken vp their goods euen to the very sheetes and tikes of beds stollen and carried awaie by the soldiers when they march themselues beaten and their wiues and their daughters abused and in fine what else is to the nature of man grieuous and intollerable they are constrained to indure Neither is the condition of the poore citizens or townes-men any better who being forced to receiue garrison and to lodge souldiers in their houses imparting to them the best chambers and commodities of the same neuer hearing from them anie other word especiallie if they please not them in all their exhorbitant demands than Perhamengo Lutherano Borchio c. Yet besides they are daylye wearyed out with continuall exactions and taxations as the hundreth pennie the tenth pennie and once a yeere without faile the fifthly pennie of all their goods and landes besides infinite other pillages and gatherings towardes the making of rampires bulwarkes ballasadowes countercerpes and the reparation of theyr wals and to giuing of munition bread beere and cheese to such souldyers as shall passe by theyr townes distressed of victualles with infinite such like I haue knowen I speake it of my faith poore people of Antwarpe forced to sell their beddes they lie vppon to satisfie their tyrannous exactions which if they should not doo execution of their goods attachment of their persons shoulde presentlye followe But which is most beyond reason whereas within the townes the most part of their houses are vacant and vnhired yet the owners of them are taxed according to the value in which they were wont to bee hired Insomuch that in Antwarpe and other townes it is a matter verie vsuall for men to disclaime and quit their owne houses thereby to be exempted of such payment as otherwise by reason of thē they are charged with and that they do iurisdicially before the magistrate at which time the Ainan entereth in aud ceaizeth vpon them to the kings vse Besides when as sundrie Gentlemen and other the inhabitants of this countrie hauing certaine annuall rents issuing out and charged vpon the kings demaines in the Dutchie of Brabant at least to the yeerelye value of ten thousand poundes some of the which rents haue bene by themselues bought of the states generall some left vnto them by their parents and predecessours The king vniustlye and by tyrannie disanulling the said rents hath and doth without forme of iustice take into his owne hands the sayd demains appropriating the vse commoditie and reuenue thereof to the maintenance of his troupes of horse men But what shall I trouble you anie longer with recounting vnto you the assize impositions taxes extortions pillages and heauie intollerable burthens laid vpon this afflicted poore people by their vniust and cruell king Compare now I praie you heerewith your estate of gouernment at home and tell mee which of them two you thinke to bee most fortunate Doth her MAIESTY deale in this order with you whose gouernment you so much mislike Oh God how can you be so peruerse seeing the blessednesse wherein shee maintaines you as not to acknowledge the same How gentle are the helpes and subsidies which she exacteth of you without the vndooing or hinderance of anie man of whom they are exacted And on the otherside how profusely spendeth shee her owne treasure for the maintenance of your wiues and children and parents in repose iustice and securitie Oh praie to God for her long life and prosperous estate for in her consisteth the tipe of your felicitie But nowe to the other pointe of your mislike Whereas the aduersarie hath beaten into your heads that the state standes daungerous as beeing farre to feeble and not sufficient to withstande and resist so mightie and opposed an enemie as is the king of Spaine terrifieng with millions of gold and innumerable nations ouer whome hee commandeth I hope by the cleere and euident reasons I shal shew you to make you vnderstand that the same of him is farre greater than his force and that there is no prince this daie in the world whose estate standeth more tickle and readie to ruine than his and that there is no cause why we should feare him but many why he should feare vs First that hee is the most mightie and oppulent prince of Europe I doo not denie if hee had vsed moderation in his greatnesse and acknowledged the benefites which God hath bestowed vpon him with thankfulnesse But such is the state whereunto his ambitious aspiring hath at this present brought him or rather the reuengefull hande of God which hangeth ouer his head for his
mightie bribes bestowed vpon the nobles of the countrie as also the charges of a great armie of Rewtiers hee sent his kinsman Maximilian of Austria what by force and what by helpe of the parte which he had gained with his treasures thought to inuest him in the kingdome The successe of which enterprise I wold not write being to the whole world notorious and knowen In the consistorie of Rome hee is faine to entertaine a great number of those hungrie Cardidinals in pension and fee therby to gaine their voices when need requireth which liberalitie of his he cannot by anie meanes withdrawe for in so dooing he should be assured to haue them his enemies and contrarie to his proceedings Lastly for conclusion he maketh at this instant open warres with France England and the Lowe countries What deme you then hereof Hath he not trow you vent for his treasures His father was a better souldier and a greater man of warre than he is and as mightie a prince euerie deale his Portugall Indians only excepted in place of which he quietly inioyed these his Lowe countries which in respect of their great oppulencie abundance of riches conuenientnes of scituation were to them accounted nothing inferior And yet he neuer dared attempt to make warres vpon France alone but he first sought by all possible meanes to assure himselfe in friendship with England giuing to that end great and mightie presents to Cardinal Wolsey and others of the councel that in those daies were with her Maiesties father of worthie memorie K. Henrie the eight whereas his sonne makes war with all the world carelesly at once but the Italians haue a true prouerbe Cum tutto abracci●nes iunque string And so I hope it shall fare with him Now as touching those his mightie and puisant numbers of men which they say he is able to make I take vpon me to know the state of his forces aswel as other and I herein of all other men know him to be most needie and wanting For as for Spain Naples and Lombardie of which his only force consisteth and which are his chiefest store-houses of men it is sufficiently knowen that his drums haue gone a whole yeere beating vp and downe according as their maner is to get together six thousand men and those all shepheardes hedgebreakers and such idle trewantly rogues the most parte of which he is forced to put in garrison for a yeere or two to fashion them before he send thē to seruice I saw about two yeres agone a fresh leuie that came out of Pastrauia who put them presently in the castle of Antwarp drawing out the olde garrison the most silly naked snakes that euer I sawe in my lyfe such as in my conscience a man in deed wold beat ten of them As for Germanie out of the which heeretofore he hath drawen greate numbers and by theyr helpe done great matters before Mastrig in Freisland and those places his vsage hath bene so base and miserable vnto them that the old souldiers are all starued and consumed in his seruice whose calamitie hath so terrified the rest at home that no prince in Europe hath lesse credite to raise men there than hee And though there were no such matter yet they are no waie bound vnto him more than to an other theyr profession beeing to serue onely him that will best paie them best and yet if hee shoulde raise anie of the alliaunces of her Maiestie and the scituation of their Countrie considered it shoulde be a matter of great difficultie to ioyne them wyth his other troups Where are then his innumerable legions with which hee meanes to ouercome the world Alliance he hath none vnlesse it bee wyth the rebellious league of France of them he can receiue no aide nor comfort themselues being miserable and distressed by reason wherof most burdenous vnto him yet there is no man liuing in the world lesse beholden vnto them than he For notwithstanding all his assistance they woulde neuer yeeld to receiue his forces into their townes or fortresses seruing onely their turns on him for the present time As for the pope and the Princes of Italye what fayre weather so euer they doo beare him he both trusteth them and they him and great reason they haue so to doo And withall this malediction hangeth vpon him that as hee is of all forraine nations distrusted doubted and abhorred so both he and the very name of a Spaniard is most loathsome and hatefull to the rest of his owne subiectes Insomuch that in Millaine the young Gentlemen haue a pastime by night which they call Caccia Marran that is putting on a visard on theyr face by night they goe with theyr long rapiers or picked bastinadoes vnder they cloakes out in the Towne to seeke Spaniardes in the stewes or anie other place where they thinke they are lykely to finde anie of them vnto whome they giue as manye stabbes and blowes that they can laie vpon them insomuch that the Spaniards dare not for their eares abide out of the castle after shutting in of the gates As for his dealing in Portugall who knowes not his cruell tyranie and the hatred they beare him But now come to her MAIESTY and you shal find another manner of state of matters her realme plentifully abounding in men of warlike disposition of whom she is loued adored her warres are iust charitable godly defensiue for maintenance of which besides the trust that she reposeth in God who hath hetherto mightily and miraculously defended her she is alied in straight league friendship confederation with the most victorious christian king of France with the kings of Denmarke Scotland with the Switzers and with sundrie princes and states of the Empire al being her neighbors dominions vnited with hers and thereby ready to assist aid succor one another in all such occasions as shall or may happen Al this then considered tell me I praie you what occasion of feare or misdoubt you haue If you thinke the English valor not to be compared with that of the Spaniard reade but the Chronicles and you shall finde how much you are deceiued you shall finde that a smal armie of English-men vnder the conduct of that worthie prince of Wales eldest sonne to Edward the third passed in despight of them thorough Cauarre into Spaine and there in the middest and bowels of their owne countrie ouerthrew at Nadres their vsurping king Henry the bastard of whose rase this man is descended by his grandmother being accompanied with the nobilitie of the countrie and 60000. of the brauest fighting men in Spaine so vtterly ouerthrew him that they erected king in his place Don Pedro their iust lawfull prince of that kingdome whom by maine force they constrained all their cities and noble men of the country to receiue Read besides the valerous conquestes atchieued by Iohn Duke of Lancaster brother vnto the sayd prince in Gallicia against Don Iohn