any dealing with the common enemie Seeing then my Lordes that you knowe their purposes and attemptes there resteth no other thing but this that you doe in time prouide for them and labour what ye can to redresse the same And how shall this be perfourmed forsooth by this meanes that ye performe in effect that which ye haue alwayes in your mouth and that which the marke of your sheafe of arrowes signifieth which it hath pleased you to haue grauen in your seale that is to say that no member of this goodlie bodie respecte that which is his owne but regard the whole bodie altogether that some one parte of the bodie take not vnto it selfe that meate whiche is prepared for the whole but that it suffer the stomacke whiche is the counsell that yee shall ordaine and appoint to concoct and digest the same and to sende it by the vaynes to all the members of this estate and speciallie that wheresoeuer any disease or sicknesse shall appeare the Phisitions shoulde speedilie be sente thither and that the Patientes shoulde quietlie beare for a time the miseries vppon them that so they maye feele at the length a ioyfull deliueraunce from their disease and euill Shall not this be a iust reproche vppon vs and oures for euer if that hauing so glorious an estate vnder our power and so goodlie meanes for our defence we doe thorow a miserable couetousnesse and greedie desire to get vnto our selues some commodities and that with the preiudice and hurte of our countrey men and friends whilest some draw one way and other some an other if wee doe I saye finde our selues and that in a moment snared and ouerwhelmed by our deadly enimies Remember my Lordes I pray you the very great diminishing and weakening of this estate which came to passe after the death of Duke Charles which fell vpon vs for no other thing but because that while the Prouinces busied themselues to contende and to fight one of them against another for certaine pretended priuiledges and for certaine commodities the rest was abandoned and forsaken Thinke not that it is in my power the affaires and matters being in such condition as they are any long time to resist the enemie with such small and slender meanes as you my Lordes know that I haue had in my hand and possession But on the other side if I haue any experience or practise of gouernment and warre if I knowe this Countrey and the meanes that the enemie hath though that all the armies and powers whiche they threaten shall come the nexte yeare out of Spaine and Italie shoulde come vpon vs and our powers they shal doe no more but much lesse rather then the Duke of Alua did in Holland and Zeland And if it be in your power to take order for this as it is indeede and yet notwithstanding ye doe it not by what name shall a man call this fault if it be committed by you my Lordes who are here assembled and vpon whome all the good people of this countrey stay themselues esteeming you as their fathers and their Protectors who will also willingly imbrace as some ioyfull newes sent from heauen any good order which you shall decree and establish Wherefore take pitie of your selues and if that which concerneth your selues moue you not yet take pitie I pray you of so many poore people alreadie destroied and more like to be of so many poore widowes and fatherlesse children of so many murthers and slaughters committed within the bowels of your owne countrey of so many Churches destroyed and of so many Pastors wandering vp and downe together with their poore flockes Set before you that cruell and barbarous execution committed at Niuelle by the Countie of Mansfeld Which thinges you may easily auoide and cast all the euill and mischeife of this warre vppon the enemie if only you remoue partialities and partakinges and with one courage and hart as it were imploye together all the meanes that you haue without sparing I say not the bottome of your purses but that whiche aboundeth therein And as concerning that which particularly toucheth my selfe you see my Lordes that it is this head that they seeke for the which by such a price and so great a summe of money they haue vowed and appointed to death and saye that so long as I shall be amongest you the warres shall haue no ende Would to God my Lordes either that my perpetuall banishment or else my very death it selfe might bring vnto you a found and true deliueraunce from so many mischeifes and calamities as the Spaniardes whome I haue seene so many times deliberate in counsell deuise and speake of particularly and whome I know within and without doe deuise against you and prepare for you O how sweete should this banishment be vnto mee O how delitefull should this death be vnto me for wherefore is it that I haue giuen ouer yea lost all my goods is it to inriche my selfe Wherefore haue I lost mine owne bretheren whome I loued more then mine owne life Is it that I might finde some other else where Wherefore haue I so long time left my sonne a prisoner my sonne I say whome I oughte so much to desire If I be a father is it because you are able to giue me an other or because you are able to restore him to me againe Wherefore haue I put my life so oftentimes in daunger what other recompence what other rewarde can I looke for of my long trauailes which haue come vpon me for your seruice sake euen so farre that they haue brought vppon me olde age and the ruine and losse of all my goods excepte it be to purchase and to procure you libertie and that if neede be with the price of my blood If you therefore my Lords do iudge either that my absence or that my very death it selfe may serue you or stande you in any steede beholde I am readie to obey commaunde me yea send me euen to the worlds ende and I will obey you Beholde my head ouer whiche no Prince nor Monarche hath any power saue you only dispose thereof as shall make most for your owne good and for the health and preseruation of your common wealth But if you iudge that this meane experience and small diligence that is in me and which I haue attained by so long and so continuall trauell If you iudge that the remainder of my goods and that my life it selfe may as yet serue you as in deede I doe wholie dedicate and consecrate the same vnto the countrey resolue then vpon the pointes which I propound vnto you and set before you And if you thinke that I beare any loue to the countrey and that I haue any sufficiencie in me to giue counsel beleeue that this is the only meane to assure yea to deliuer our selues from the enemie This being done let vs with one hart and good wil go together and let vs together imbrase the defence of this
A Treatise against the Proclamation published by the King of Spayne by which he proscribed the late Prince of Orange wherby shall appeare the sclaunders and falce accusations conteyned in the sayd proscription which is annexed to the ende of this Treatise PRESENTED TO MY LORDS THE Estates generall in the Low Countries Together with the sayd Proclamation or Proscription Printed in French and all other Languages AT DELFT ¶ A copie of the Letters which my Lord the Prince of Orange sent vnto the Kigns and Potentates of Christendome * ⎠* SIr I doubt not but that your Maiectie hath bin aduertised of a certaine Proscription which the King of Spaine hath appointed to be published againct me because he hath caused the same to be spread abroade in all languages and hath sent it also into diuers quarters of christendome I and all my verie good freendes haue thought that I could not sufficiently defende myne honor which I am aduised and purposed not to hazard or indaunger for anie thing but by setting a iust defence against this vniust Proscription In regard whereof I haue presented vnto my Lords the estates of these countries my aunswere which aunswere also for the maintenaunce of myne honor and reputation amongest the Princes Potentates of Europe who in respect of their preheminences and dignities are the succours of poore Princes and distressed noble men I haue bin bolde to sende vnto them and to you Syr particularlie most humblie beseeching your Maiestie that after you haue seene it you would yeelde like iudgement thereof as it hath pleased my Lords the Estates who haue bin most faithfull witnesses of all myne actions to do and to esteeme and iudge thereof also as it shall please your Maiestie to take knowledge of it by their aduise and counsell which also is annexed to my said defence And because Sir your Maiestie may thinke it straunge that the King of Spaine hauing heretofore violently taken from me all my goods after that I had put my gouernementes into the hands of the Dutches of Parma then the Gouernesse of this estate and had withdrawen my selfe into the countrey of Germanie the place of my natiuitie where I kept my selfe peaceablie among my brethren kinsfolkes freends as also I had fully purposed so to continue and that hauing at the same time conueyed or caried awaie from the scholes my sonne the Countie of Bueren and both contrarie to the priuiledges of the countrey and against his owne othe causing him to be caried prisoner into Spaine wher he is as yet cruelly kept captiue and besides hauing procured me to be condemned to death by the Duke of Alua his owne officer because I saie your Maiestie may thinke it straunge that for all these reasons which were neuerthelesse verie great and waightie I haue not hitherto published anie defence which was directed to the said King or might directly concerne him which thing notwithstanding I do at this present and declare thereby that the faultes wherewith the King of Spaine mindeth to charge me belong vnto him selfe I do therfore most hūblie beseche your Maiestie Sir that before you iudge of this my writing you would cōsider the qualitie both of the crimes and faultes where with I am charged by this Proscription and also the qualitie of mine owne person For if the King of Spaine was content to withhold from me my sonne and my goods which he hath in his possession further to offer as at this present he doth fiue twētie thousand crownes for my head and to promise to make such noble as should murther me and to pardon them all the faultes whatsoeuer that they could haue committed before that time no man should thinke it euill in me that I haue attempted by all the meanes I could as in deede heretofore I haue done to preserue my selfe and myne and to inable my selfe what I could to enter againe into that which is myne owne and that I haue followed that order and course of life that I haue done But further the King of Spaine hauing al the world thorowe published that I am a publike plague an enemie of the world vnthankfull vnfaithfull a traytor and a wicked person these are such iniuries Sir that no gentleman no though he were of the basest of the king of Spaines naturall subiectes can or ought to endure in so much Sir that though I were one of his simple and absolute vassals who oweth homage vnto him by honor yet so it is that by such a sentence and so vniust in all and euerie part thereof I also hauing bin by him spoiled of my landes and Lordshippes in respect of which I should heretofore haue taken an othe vnto him I might haue helde my selfe absolued and free from all my bandes towardes him haue assaied also which thing euen nature hath taught euerie one by all the meanes I could to maintaine myne honor which ought to be to me and to all noble men more deare than life and goods Notwithstanding seeing it hath pleased God to shewe me this great grace that I am borne a free Lord not holding of anie other but of the Empire as do the Princes and other free Lordes of Germanie and Italie and further seeing that I beare the title and haue the name of an absolute and free Prince though in deede my Princedome be not verie great yea whatsoeuer it be I not being his natural subiect neither hauing helde anie thing of him but by reason of my Seignuries Lordshippes shippes of which notwithstanding he hath wholly dispossessed me it hath seemed vnto me that I could not defende myne honor and satisfie or content my neare kinsfolkes sundrie Princes to whom this is my honor that I am lincked and my whole posteritie but in aunswering by publike writing to this accusation which in the presence of all christendome is published and set out against me And though I haue not bin able to do it without touching his honor I hope notwithstanding Sir that your Maiestie will impute it rather to the inforcement that the qualitie and hainousnes of this Proscription hath laide vppon me than to my nature or will For as concerning this point that some men maie thinke it straunge that I do after this sorte defende my selfe seeing that I haue sometimes heretofore helde of him sundrie landes and Lordshippes for aunswere thereto I will most humblie beseeche your Maiestie to consider the hainousnes of the iniurie that is done me which a right noble man will neuer in deede abide also that I am not his naturall subiect and as concerning my fees and pensions that he hath spoiled me of them But suppose that I had alwaies enioyed them yet so it is that the same lawe which he vseth towardes others should not be denied to me In the letter sent to the Frēch King it is vvrittē He holdeth of your Maiestie He holdeth of the French King in loyaultie and homage and euen as the vassall doth of
Souldiers who were alwayes at the Duke of Alua his commaundement nor yet for so many armies by sea nor yet for so many treasons of the sayd Duke or of his successor against me nor for the treasons of the Duchesse of Parme who was before them and yet notwithstanding this was in deede a more fearefull thing than a vaine noise of such a great thunder which so quickly vanished away and hurt no man And it is sufficient for nâ—ee shortly to say before you my Lordes and before all Europe that euery Spanyarde or euery one that fauoureth the Spaniardes of what qualitie or condition soeuer he bee I respecte not nowe any mans person who hath sayde or shall say as this insamous Proscription hath published it that I am a Traitor The aunsvvere of the Lord Prince to the sentice of Proscription and wicked man that he speaketh falsly and against the truth In the meane while let them forbid me as long as they will both fire and water I together with my frindes will not leaue of for all that euen in despite of their rage to liue as long as it shall please God to giue vs grace which God only hath in his power my life and my death and hath numbred all the heares of my head whose great fauour and assistaunce I haue felte euen vntill this present time and I hope that he will preserue me euen vnto the ende As concerning the goods which I possesse which also he giueth away for hitherto he hath bene so good a husband that he will giue nothing of that whiche he hath violently taken from me I hope God aiding me that it shall cost them so deare to haue them that they shall get others else where farre better cheape As concerning my other goods which he keepeth from me I hope that God will giue me grace as well to dispossesse them thereof wholy as I haue already done of a good part and that they haue neuer violently taken goods from any poore Prince albeit that they haue spoiled sundrie thereof which shall lie and waigh more heauie vpon them He promiseth fiue and twentie thousande Crownes either in landes or in readie money to him that shall yeelde me vp into his cruell handes dead or aliue or to him which shall take my life from me But albeit there hath heretofore no publication bin made of such a matter vntill this present time thinketh hee that I am ignoraunt how oftentimes he and his haue bargained with murtherers and poysoners to take away my life from mee And if God haue shewed me such grace as to make me able to preserue my selfe euen then when I was not aduertised of any such daunger I hope that he will not shew me lesse fauour at this time wherein I am admonished but rather that as I haue great occasion to looke vnto my selfe so he will stirre vp sundrie good and vertuous people who shall watche for my assuraunce and safetie But albeit that I know not in the world any impudencie so shamelesse which may be compared with the impudencie of the Spaniardes notwithstanding I cannot sufficiently maruaile that they haue bin so shamelesse as to dare to publish before all Europe not only that they set a price vpon a franke and free Captaine who thanks be to God for it did as yet neuer feare them but also that they annexe therevnto such recompences and rewardes yea and those so barbarous and so estraunged from all rule of honestie and humanitie as the like hath not bin hearde of that is to say in the first place that they will make him noble if he were not noble before who shall doe so Gentlemanlike or so noble an act But I beseech you suppose that hee which shoulde execute so wicked an acte which thing I hope GOD will neuer suffer were of a Noble rase and stocke thinke you that there is any Gentleman in the worlde I meane amongest the Nations which knowe what Nobilitie is who woulde so muche as eate with so wicked vngodlie and mischeeuous a man who for money shoulde kill another man yea though hee were the least and the most abiecte person that coulde be sounde Nowe if the Spaniardes accounte suche people for Noble men and if this be the waie to come to honour in Castile and Spayne I will no more wonder at that whiche all the worlde beleeueth to witte that the greatest parte of the Spanyardes and specially those that counte themselues Noble men are of the blood of the Moores and lewes who also keepe this vertue of their Auncestors who solde for readie money downe tolde the life of our Sauiour which thing also maketh mee to take patientlie this iniurie lay de vppon me In the seconde place they pardon him euerie offence and faulte how greeuous soeuer it might bee But what if he had pulled vp the Christian Religion out of one of his Kingdomes what if he had rauished his Daughter what if hee had spoken euill of the inquisition which is the greatest crime that can be in Spayne Shoulde he be pardoned But seeing mine enemie ment so farre to forgette himselfe that hee would attempt to take away my goods my lyfe and myne honour and that he might haue more witnesses of his iniustice and follies to publishe it so thorow out the worlde and that in so many languages I coulde not very well desire in respect of most great aduauntage vnto my selfe that he should haue enriched and adorned this his Proscription with any other ornamentes than these very same to witte that for killing of mee he shoulde make noble not onely villaines and infamous persons but also the most wicked and the most execrable people of the whole earth and to giue such a greate yea so honourable a rewarde to so notable a vertue For what coulde be founde out more fit to iustifie my righteousnesse and innocencie then to go about to roote me out by such meanes and then this to carrie a mind by tirannie impoisoninges forgiuing of greeuous crimes making of wicked men noble and such like to oppresse the defendour of the libertie of a people that is cruelly and tyrannously vexed I doubte not my Lordes but that GOD who is iust hath taken from him and his all vnderstanding and that he hath suffered him to declare and set out to all the worlde matter ynough whereby they may know his poysonfull hart against this countrey and against our liberty in as much as he maketh no account of any act how wicked and detestable soeuer it may be in respect of the death of him who hitherto hath so faithfully scrued you And further he is not ashamed to mingle with such sacriledges as these are the name of God calling himselfe his Minister or Officer Hath the Officer then this power not onely to permit that which God hath forbidden but also to reward it with money or money worth with nobilitie and the forgiuenesse of offences And what offences or crimes I pray
Excellencies person ouer for a parie and to take from it the honor thereof hauing in like sorte seene and viewed a defence sett out by your Excellencie against the said Proscription finde by the trueth of that which hath passed in these countries and which is knowen and manifest also to euerie one of them in respect of them selues that the said crimes faultes and reproches haue vniust lie bin laide vpon the same And as concerning the offices as well of Lieutenaunt generall as of the particular gouernementes they affirme that his excellencie yea euen then when he was lawfully elected chosen did not accept them but at our instant request in which also he hath continued at our intreaties and that with the sounde contentment and satisfaction of the whole countrie and the saide Estates doo yet againe beseeche him that it would please him to continue therein promising him all ayde and assistance without sparing anie of the meanes they haue and also to yeelde vnto him readie and willing obedience And because they knowe the faithfull seruices that your Excellencie hath yeelded to these countries and those also which they hope in time yet hereafter to come you will performe they offer vnto him for the assurance of his person to maintaine a companie of horsemen for the sauegarde thereof beseeching him to accept it on the behalfe and at the offer of those persons which thinke them selues much bound to the preseruation thereof And so much as toucheth the said Eslates who think them selues also charged by the said Proscription they minde shortly in like sorte to iustifie them selues so farre forth as they shall thinke it conuenient So concluded in the assemblie of my Lordes the Estates generall in the towne of Delft the xvij day of December In the yeere of our Lorde 1580. By the expresse determination of the said Estates Signed I. Houfflin AN APOLOGIE OR DEFENCE OF MY Lord the Prince of Orange Countie of Nassau of Catzenellenboghen Dietz Vianden c. Burchgraue of Antwerp and Vicount of Bezanson Baron of Breda Diest Grimberghe of Arlay Nozeroy c. Lord of Chastelbellin c. Lieutenaunt generall in the lowe Countries and Gouernour of Brabant Hollande Zeeland Vtrecht and Frise and Admiral c. Against the Proclamation and Edict published by the King of Spaine by which he proscribeth the said Lord whereby shall appeare the slaunders and false accusations conteyned in the saide Proscription THis is the thing which I haue alwaies praied vnto God for my Lords desired withal my hart that he would graūt it me frō the time that I vowed my person all the meanes that I haue in the worlde for the recouering of your libertie the safetie of your persons goods and consciences if I saie I should at any time haue preferred that which respecteth my self particularly before your health wealth generally that I niight in this behalf beare an eternal punishmēt which I shuld haue drawē vpon my self by myne own good wil and accord But on the other side if that which I haue done heretofore hath bin by me attempted takē in hand only for the preseruatiō of your estate and that I haue borne a great parte of the burthen of this present warre onely for the cōmon safegarde of the countrey and that the hatred conceaued by certeine wicked persons against the countrey against godly people honorable personages hauing bin for a certaine time dissembled and couered in their hartes commeth wholly and that at once to vomit and cast vp it selfe vpon me only rather then vpon so many good people specially vpon the general estate of the common wealth then I saye this hath bin the thing that I haue greatly desired that if my good will had bin such towardes you my Lordes your chilrden your townes and communalties as in deede it hath bin I might one day carie awaye a solemne testimonie thereof as wel for the peace of myne owne conscience as for the defence of myne owne honor before all the people of the earth and before al posteritie And nowe I do greatly reioyce my selfe and yeelde immoatal thankes vnto our good God I haue great occasion of contentement and quietnes seeing that he suffereth me to be made so rare and so noble and so excellent a marke thereof by this cruell and barbarous Proscription yea such a one as the like hath not bin heard in these countries commended amongest all people nations for their singular and incredible courtesie For albeit that nothing be more to be wished of a man than the race and course of his life to be sound blessed prosperous and vpright without any dashe blowe stumbling or any wicked incountring notwithstāding if all things had fallen out vnto me as I would haue wished and that I had not incoūtred with the hatred of the Spanishe nation and his adherentes I should haue lost the gaine of this testimonie which my very enemies haue yeelded me which I take to be the most excellent flowre of glorie that I had bin able to haue desired to haue bin crowned with before my death For what in this worlde can be more acceptable and that specially to him who hath enterprised so great and excellent a work as is the libertie of so good a people oppressed by so wicked people than to be deadly hated of his enimies yea such enimies as are withal the enimies of the countrey by their owne verie mouth and confession to receaue a sure testimonie of his faithfulnes towardes his owne people and of constancie against tyraunts disturbers of cōmon peace in so much that the Spaniards and their adherents thinking in deede to do me displeasure haue done me many pleasures as by this infamous Proscription they haue thought to hurt me more than before and yet they haue made me more reioyce and giuen me more contentednes of minde For I haue not only thereby receaued that profit but they haue opened vnto me a more large field to defend my selfe than I durst euer be bolde to desire that so I might cause all the world to know the equitie and iustice of my enterprises by it leaue vnto my posteritie an example of vertue meete to be followed by all those that would not dishonour the nobilitie of their auncesters from whence we are descended of whom not so much as one onely hath at any time fauoured tyrannie but all they haue loued the libertie of the people amongest whom they haue borne office and had authoritie I haue no occasion to cōplaine that I haue not had heretofore matter large ynough to speake of my selfe and to reproue the foule and hayuous faultes of myne enemies but neither would shamefastnes suffer me my selfe to sing and set out myne owne prayses which surely is a hard matter not to do whatsoeuer modestie a man pretend in such a matter neither would publike honestie permit me to enlarge my selfe to rehearse the faultes of mine enimies
this is this infamous frame or building of Proscription stayed and setled But if on the other side I should come largely to laye out howe much the house of Spaine is bounde to my predecessors for concerning my selfe I will as yet say nothing I am afraide to enter into so great a sea which I can not passe ouer in many monethes wherefore I will touche onely the principall matters leauing vnto you my Lordes and to the readers the particular searching and finding out of the saide boundes in the histories and auncient recordes of this countrey He that of the house of Austriche firste came into the lowe countreis and that a long time after that my predecessours helde therein both Counties and Baronneis was the Emperor Maximilian then Archduke of Austriche Nowe who knoweth not that the Countie Engelbert my great vncle was he who maintayned and vphelde the saide Emperour My Lorde Engelbert Countie of Nassau imploying his goodes his life and his witt for the presetuation of him Was it not the Countie Engelbert together with my Lorde of Romont that obtayned the victorie of Guinegaste hauing by his courage kept the footemen together when as the horsemen had broken the rancke and order by meanes whereof the great conquest of King Lewis the eleuenth was stayed and let which thing dyd afterwardes assure Maximilians state and condition Was it not he which vpon his returne out of prison out of Fraunce founde Maximilian wonderfully troubled in Flaunders against my Lorde of Rauestain and those of Bruges who also preuayled so much by armes and by counsel that a truce and conclusion was made who was once againe the cause to vpholde and mainteyne the saide Archduke and who in like sorte caused the accorde made with the inhabitaunts of Bruges to be mainteyned whereof euen yet at this day there do remaine notable markes and tokens both of his fidelitie and of the thankefulnes of the inhabitaunts of Bruges It is the verie same Engelbert that subdued those that rebelled against him about the borders of the Rhine and established the saide Emperour quiet in his countreis of Oultremeuze that I may speake no more of the daungerous voyages attempted for the saide Emperor as that voyage into Brytan for the treatie of mariage betweene the saide Lorde Archduke the Ladie Anne heire of the Dutchie and afterwardes twise Queene of Fraunce which matter he so well followed that all was agreed and further proceeding should haue bin made therein sauing that my Lord Iohn Prince of Orange father of my Lord Philibert The saide Coūtie Lieu tenaunt generall from the time of Duke Charles dashed all and procured the mariage of the said Ladies cousin germaine with Charles the French king And the merites and valures of the saide Lord Countie were in those countreis so great that he was made Lieutenaūt general thorowe out the lowe countrie The successour and heire of the saide Lorde Countie Engelbert and of his goodes which he had in these countreis was my Lorde the Countie Iohn of Nassau My Lorde Henry Coūtie of Nassau his brother and my great vncle and after his death there succeeded him my Lorde the Countie Henrie my vncle the eldest sonne of the said Lord Countie Iohn and his heire in the goodes and possessions he had here in Brabant Luxenbourg Hollande and Flaunders and my Lorde the Countie William my father was his heire in the goodes and possessions which he had in Germanie No man can denie that in his time there was anie Lorde in all these countreis who laboured more in the seruice of the Emperour Charles than he And to the ende I be not ouerlong in reciting that which is so well knowne I will onely in a worde tell you that it was he that put the imperiall crowne vpon the Emperours heade hauing so earnestly followed this matter euen then when the Emperour in respect of his young age by reason of his absence for he was in Spaine was not able to pursue the same that he perswaded the Princes Electours to preferre the Emperour before the Frenche King who earnestlie laboured to obteyne the saide election And as euerie one knoweth that this imperial crowne was the bridge which afterwardes made a passage to the Emperor to obtaine so manie conquestes so none can denie but that the acknowledgement thereof ought to be giuen to the saide Lorde Countie But can anie man shewe me at this present so much as one marke or note of recompence or one onely good turne that our stocke hath receaued from the house of Spaine Men may see in sundrie places of these countreis peeces of ordinaunce with the armes of Hungarie vppon them which the King of Hungarie gaue to my predecessors in testimonie and remembraunce of that their vertue and strength which they had imployed and shewed in their seruice against the Turkes certaine of which peeces were violently taken from me caried away by the Duke of Alua out of my house of Breda when he played the tyraūt in this countrey and yet some of them remaine there to this day Which thing I put downe to declare that so long as these peeces shall last so long also shall the notes and markes of my auncestours vertue indure there shall remaine also a notable testimonie which the King of Hungarie hath giuen them But as my predecessours haue bin so noble and by the grace of God the good gouernemēt of their things were neuer yet poore so they neuer yet demaūded any thing of the Princes of these coūtreis neither yet receaued any thing as of free gift and yet I am sure that the imperial Crowne at the least deserued some one recompence or other I confesse that the succession of Challon and of the Princedome of Orange was a great increase vnto our house but if we be bound to any for that truly it is to the great King Frauncis who gaue in mariage to the Lord myne vncle the sister of my Lorde the Prince Phillibert the daughter of my Lorde the Prince Iohn who was nourished and brought vp with Quene Anne the Graūdmother of the said Lord King whose Cousin the said Princes was And thus you here see my Lordes the honestie and good behauiour of this Monarche of Fraunce The Emperour got and receaued his crowne by the paines and tranayles of my vncle Frauncis the King who knew all that the saide Lord had done for his Competitor that is for him that sought to be Emperour as well as he ceased not for all that to giue him this Princesse in mariage who was not the supposed heire only but the verie heire in deede of my Lorde the Prince Philibert the saide King confessing that he ought not to be displeased with him who had constantly followed that parte which he tooke vpon him to followe In so much that I may say of him as the Historiographers of his time said that it was an assured testimonie of a noble and
vnderstanding that their wickednesse was growen so great so apparaunt and so palpable that no man was able to indure them but that they were cast out of the countrey as a venime or poyson yea as a publicke plague Nowe for as much as they haue not onely directed themselues against my person Of the last mariage of the saide Lord Prince accusing me of vnthankefulnes and vnfaithfulnes but euen as rage and madnes doth equallie byte the whole worlde as wel the innocent as he whom men iudge culpable so their petulancie and disorder hath bin so great as that they haue desired to touche taint the honour of my wife by the blame which they suppose to laye vppon my last mariage I knowe not whether I may iudge them more to be condemned in impudeucie or in beastlines whilest that these skilfull men who boast them selues to be so good painters knowe not as yet to practise that lesson which is so often saide and repeated by the meanest schollers that be that is that he that prepareth him selfe to speake euill of an other man ought to be exempted from all crime and faulte For this argueth great impudencie and rashenesse if men knowe their notable faultes and yet will notwithstanding passe ouer their owne thornes and thissels as if they were roses or if they knowe them not what beastlines blockishnes doth this argue not to perceaue and see that which euerie houre of a daye offereth it selfe to their eyes and sight They see euery day before them an incestuous king which is one onely halfe degree nigh vnto Iupiter the husbande of Iuno his owne sister yet they dare reproch me with a holy an honest and a lawfull mariage made according to Gods worde and celebrated according to the ordinaunces of the Church of God And againe I am here inforced to beseeche you my Lordes not to thinke of me that which as yet you haue neuer seene in me to witt that by their wicked speaches I am moued to laie open these abhominable biles and to sett before the eyes of al the worlde the benummednes and hardnes of such consciences as these men carrie but rather that it would please you to impute it to this rage and desperate madnes of the enemies of God of the enimies of all Christendome and your enemies particularly who are inflamed set on fire against me for no other reason but for this that they knowe the great care diligence and faithfulnes that I haue had for your preseruation He then that hath maried his Neice dare reproche vnto me my mariage a mariage I saye verie lawfull and according to Gods order He I say dare vpbraied me with my mariage who to the end he might obtaine such a mariage hath cruelly murthered his owne wife the daughter and sister of the kings of Fraunce as I vnderstande they haue in Fraunce The murther of the Queene of Spaine informations and instructions concerning that matter yea his lawfull wyfe the mother of two daughters the true heires of Spaine as I doubt not but that the Crowne of Fraunce the whiche heretofore hath giuen the Crowne of Castille to a bastard of whom Philip is descended dispossessing a tyraunt thereof though he were lawfully borne thereto shal haue no lesse power to mainteine and keepe it for the true heires if God which is a iust Iudge and neuer suffereth such wickednesses vnpunished doo not take vengeaunce of it in his life time depriuing him of his estate which thing he hath most rightly deserued although he had not committed anie other faulte but this incest accompanied with so abhominable a murther But you wil say he had a dispensation for it From whom From the Pope of Rome which is a god in earth Verely I beleeue that for the God of heauen would neuer haue cōsented thereto But what was the groundworke and foundation of this earthly heauenlie dispensatiō For soth this that he must not leaue so goodlie a kingdome without an heire and marke wherefore there was added to the former horrible faultes a most cruell murther the father vnnaturally murthering his owne childe and heire The murther of the Prince of Spaine to the ende that by that meanes the Pope might haue a gapp open to giue a dispensation for so execrable an incest abhominable to God and men If therefore we saye that we do reiecte the gouernement of such an incestuous king the slayer of his sonne and the murtherer of his wife who can iustlie accuse vs therefore Howe many Kinges haue there bin which haue bin banished and driuen out of their kingdomes which had not committed such horrible crimes For as concerning Don Charles his sonne was he not to be in all likelyhood our Lord and Maister And though the father could alledge against his sonne a iust cause of death did not this matter belong vnto vs who had so great interest therin rather to iudge thereof than to three or foure Friers and Inquisitors of Spaine But it may be that he made conscience to leaue him for his heire whom he knewe to be borne in vnlawfull mariage because that at the time that he seemed to marie the daughter of Portugale the mother of Don Charles he was maried to the Ladie Isabella Osorius The mariage of the K. of spaine vvith the Ladie Isabel Osorius by whom also he had two or three children whereof the first was named Don Pedro and the seconde sonne was named Don Bernardino of which mariage Rigomes the Prince of Yuoli if he were liuing could giue a good and sufficient testimonie for he was the procurer thereof whereby also he obtayned that great credite and so much goodes in Spaine the which they do at this present vnkindlie sucke and drawe from his widowe as it were with a sponge Nowe if he haue so well behaued him selfe in that supposed mariage that mariage also which he hath made with the daughter of Fraunce hath not as yet bin more happie For beside the murther of the Queene his wife it was also made noble by an adulterie excelling all other adulteries that is that he kept ordinarie and common housholde with the Ladie Eufrasia The adultery vvith the Ladie Eufrasia who being become great with childe by him he inforced the Prince of Ascoli to marie hir and at the ende of a certayne tyme the poore Prince as the ministers of the Kinges tyrannie saye died for griefe because that hauing to strong an enemie he was not able to remedie this but that an other mans bastarde shoulde be his heire But they that speake more certainlie of this matter affirme that he receaued a morsell more easie to swallowe downe than to digest And yet he who is decked with a crowne of three such mariages being I saye him selfe three tymes such a husbande dare vpbraide and reproch me with my mariage But suppose that he were not so defiled and that we might coūt him for a guiltles person yet for
Nassau As concerning that which they speake of the late my Lorde the Countie Lodowick my brother they should do better to leaue so good a Knight in peace and vnnamed than to speake of him seeing that he was much more honest then they and without comparison a better christian and I make no more of this that they call him Hereticke then our Lorde Iesus Christe did when as good people as our enemies are called him Samaritane As concerning publike preaching which after their maner they call hereticall Of the publike assemblies of thē of the religion you your selues my Lordes do sufficiently knowe by whom and howe they were brought in And albeit that I had not at that time so much credit with them as that they would demaunde my aduise therein neither in deed did I euer counsell them Notwithstanding the matters being come to such termes I confesse that I was of aduise that the Dutchesse of Parma should yeelde vnto them wherein if I haue giuen ill counsell then that which followed afterwardes doth at the least sufficiently declare whether those that supposed my counsell to be naught haue verie well handled their Masters affaires and businesses but rather God hath manifestly shewed that albeit he do for a time correct his own children yet he neuer leaueth a periurie so well qualified and notorious as that of the Kinges the Dutches of Parmes was without greenouslie punishing it to the ende that al the world may knowe that he saieth not without cause that he will not holde him guiltles who shall take his name in vaine As concerning the beaters downe of Images and other dissorders I beleeue my Lords that there is none amongst you Cōcerning Images beaten dovvne and ouerthrovven but he knoweth well inough that such wayes and manners of doing please me no whit at all and that many of them who should haue aided susteined me haue on the other side with great iniurie torne me in peeces because I would neuer consent that such things shuld be done without some ordinaūce and decree of the Superiours and Gouernours They haue no better foundatiō then such as you haue heard before for this that they saye that the prouidence and wise gouernement of the vvith dravving of the Lorde Prince into Germanie of the Dutchesse of Parma was so great that I was inforced to depart out of the countrey It may be that they shoulde say somewhat if they would saie that the deceites of the Dutchesse hir periuries were the cause thereof or if they would speake of the small resolution and of the ouer great easinesse to beleeue that some had who looked continually for the hangmen and tormentours and of the ouer great affection that I am other great Lordes had towards the King who perswaded my Lordes of Berghes and of Montignie to go into Spaine supposing that for their good seruices the nobilitie of their race the King him selfe would be content to vnderstande by their mouth that which was necessarie for the preseruation of the countrey rather than to heare it by the Spaniardes but seeing that they were intreated in such sorte as euery one knoweth I thought that I had iust occasion more nighlie to take heede vnto my self than before If they would say these things were the cause they should speake some peece of the trueth But I was resolued ayeere before to depart and to giue vp my offices as appeareth by letters written with the Kinges owne hande and which I haue also ioyned to this present writing which doth sufficiently set out the falshode of their speache And if any man would knowe why a yeere afterwardes I withdrewe my self into Germanie my defence published in t he yeere sixtie seuen doth sufficiently declare the causes thereof to witt specially because I would not consent that the Spanishe Inquisition should be receaued into my gouernementes By reason whereof I resigned them before into the handes of the saide Dutchesse with full purpose to liue in peace and quietnes with my kinsfolkes and friendes looking when it would please God either to giue the King better counsell or if he did yet waxe worse and worse when it would please God him selfe to open a gate to deliuer this poore countrey which I sawe plunged into a bottomlesse depth of mischieues and miseries For who can without being wounded with wounderfull griefe rehearse the banishementes the taking awaie of goodes the imprisonmentes the tormentes endured the sundrie sortes of horrible and miserable deaths wherewith these bloodie people surmounting in crueltie Phalaris Busyris Nero Domitian and all tyrauntes haue persecuted the poore subiectes of this countrey And notwithstanding these thinges I seeing no meane to comforte them ouer this miserie did holde my selfe peceable quiet And because in this Proscription they saie that I was at the least offered it The King of Spaine inforced my Lorde Prince by al maner of iniustice to take armes whilest that the last treatie helde at Colen lasted they ought to know that they should be contented with my voluntarie banishment and not to pursue me any further seeing in deede that I gaue them to vnderstande by a man of countenaunce and credit who yet is liuing that if they attempted to touche myne hounour and my goodes they would constraine me to take such order for my affaires as I might But as madd people after that they could not drawe me by their honied and flattering wordes the Kinge also thinking to busie me by ouer honest letters The Coūtie of Bueren taken in the scholes and caried into Spaine against the othe giuē made at the Kings gladsome entraūce and against the priuiledges of Brabant which yet notwithstanding I did plainly perceaue to be full of deceit they directed themselues first to my young sonne a childe and a scholler and against the priuiledges of the Vniuersitie they tooke him violently from Louain yea after the exhortation and declaration made by the Vniuersitie that barbarous fellowe Vergas aunswered barbarouslie in false latin Non curamus vestros priuilegios we regarde not your priuiledges After this they caried him out of Brabant against the priuiledges of the Countrey and against the Kinges othe and they sent him into Spaine that so they might remoue him from me who am his father and euen vnto this present they keepe this innocent in harde and cruell prison insomuch as if they had done me no other iniurie I should be vnworthie not only my stock and the name which I carrie but also of the name of a father vnlesse I did imploye all the witt and all the meanes that God hath giuen me to assaie to deliuer him out of this miserable bondage to recouer if I could such a wrong For I am not my Lords so vnnaturall that I feele not the affections of a father Nota. neyther yet so wise but that oftentimes the griefe of so long an absence of my Sonne doeth present and offer
the learned Orations of Master Peter Coignieres and a resolute King who caused his foolehood for so the King called him in his letters to be taken at Anania by one of the Lordes King Philip the faire be ginneth his letter vvith theis words Sciat fatuitas vestra that is let your follie or foolehood know and he the eldest of the noble house of Colonnes and by a gentleman of Languedoc named Nogaret who brought him to Rome where also they put him to death as he had most iustlie deserued the same But as I haue saide I will not staye my selfe vpon these foundations but minde to come to the mutuall bondes which are betweene him and vs. Let vs thē put the case that al this were neither so nor so Doth not he verie wel know that if he be Duke of Brabant I by reason of my Baronneis am one of the principal members of Brabant Doth he not know wherein he is bound to me my brethren and companions and the good townes of the countrey Hath he forgottē vpon what cōditions he keepeth this estate The iustifying of the taking of armes by the Estates against Philip Duke of Brabant Countie of Flaunders Doth he no longer remember his othe O if he thincke vpō it doth he so litle regard that which he hath promised to God and the countrey and that vpon conditions tied to his Dukes hatt or garland It is not needfull my Lordes that I should here set out vnto you that which he hath promised vs before that we tooke any othe vnto him for sundrie amongest you know the same But because that others shall see this my defence I was very willing to call to your remembraunce the summe of his othe You knowe my Lordes wherevnto he is bound and that it is not in his dispositiō to do whatsoeuer he liketh of as he doth in the Indies for he cannot here amongst vs by violence inforce one of his subiectes onely The summe of the priuiledges of Brabant to any thing whatsoeuer vnlesse that the custome of the benche of the iustices where they dwell permit the same He may not by anie ordinaunce or decree alter or chaunge after anie sorte whatsoeuer the estate of the countrey He must content him selfe with his ordinarie and common reuenewes he may not cause to be leuied nor yet exact any impositions or taxes without the good will and expresse consent of the countrey and according to the priuiledges thereof He can not bring souldiers into the Countrey without the consent thereof He maie not touche nor deale with the decrying or imbasing of money without the consent of the Estates of the Countrey He can not cause anie subiect to be apprehended without information made and knowledge first giuen by the Magistrate of the place Hauing anie for a prisoner he cannot send him out of the Countrey I beseeche you my Lordes do you not see hearing only this sūme rehearsed if the Barons and Nobles of the coūtrey who by reason of the preheminēces the charge of the armies do not oppose them selues I say not only when these articles are violated but whē they are tyrannously trodē vnder foote when not one article but all that not once but a thousand thousand times are broken corrupted not by the Duke onely but by barbarous and sauage people Do you not see I saye that if the Nobles according to their othe and bonde do not inforce the Duke to yeelde equitie and iustice to the Countrey that they them selues should be condemned of periurie vnfaithfulnesse and rebellion against the Estates of the Countrey And as concerning my selfe I haue in deede a particular reason and which toucheth me yet more nighe that is that contrarie vnto all the saide priuiledges I was depriued of all my goodes without obseruing any forme or order of iustice therein But that which fell out in the person of my Sonne the Countie of Bueren is so euident a testimonie of the enemies disloyaultie and vnfaithfulnes of the transgression or breache of the priuiledges that no man can with any good reason doubt why I haue taken vp armes And in that I was not able at the first time to take fast footing in the countrey which he vpbraideth me withall what newe thing hath betithed vnto me The first armie of the L. Prince which hath not fallen out vnto rhe greatest Captaines of the worlde Yea euen vnto him him selse who hath so oftentimes entered and that with so great and mightie armies into Holland and Zealand and yet with a handfull of people and by the ayde of my Lordes the Estates of the saide prouinces he hath bin shamefully driuen out of the saide countrey and that great Captaine the Duke of Alua and his successours without hauing at this day in the said countreis one foote of lande vnder his disposition and gouernement as by your good ayde I hope that shortly he shall not haue any in all the rest of the countrey To be short by his othe he meaneth that in the case of gainestanding him we should be no longer bounde vnto him neyther yeelde him any seruice or obedience as appeareth by the last article If then I be not bounde vnto him If I owe him not any more seruice or obedience why is he so rashe as to saie that I haue taken vp armes against my Lord Certainly betweene al Lords and Vassailes there is a mutuall bonde and this saying of a certaine Senator to a Consull shal be alwayes praysed If thou doest not account me for a Senator I wil not account thee for a Consull But betweene Vassals there is verie great difference some remayning without comparison in farre greater libertie than other some as we are in Brabant hauing such large priuiledges and rightes that we may freelie make giue graūts in our landes so that excepting the homage which we owe we cannot haue any thing more than we haue And amongest other rightes and priuiledges we haue this to stande our Dukes in that steede that the Ephori at Sparta did their Kinges that is to saie to keepe the Kingdome sure in the power of a good Prince and to cause him to yeelde equitie which stood against his othe But some will say that there is a condition annexed that is that we shal be so long freed from our othe An obiection till he haue amended the faulte But what if he will neuer amende it If after the Emperour Maximilian and the Princes of the Empire entreat him and make intercession for vs that it woulde please him to vnburden the countrey for a ful aunswere some would saie vnto them that they should meddle with their owne matters and that the King knoweth wel inough how to gouerne his subiectes If after infinite declarations by the message of verie noble Lordes of this countrey we do request him to do vs iustice he proudly reiect our requestes and put to death the saide Lordes and
the deliueraunce of the countrey against the tyrannie of the Spaniardes namely of the Duke of Alua. And as concerning the promises that I made at my entraunce thereinto and namely that they saye that I promised the saide Estates to mainteine them if the Duke of Alua would presse them with the tenth and twentith pennie shall neuer be founde true but this rather that I came the seconde time openly and in armes into the countrey that I might deliuer it from that tyrannie whiche then oppressed them not onely in respect of the tenth pennie but for a thousande other sortes of more than barbarous crueltie and specially for the great slaughter that the Duke of Alua thē made of the poore inhabitauntes of the said countreis And as concerning that that they saie that the ecclesiastical Romanistes were persecuted by me and driuen from their goodes and an other religion brought in I neede my Lordes for this no other defence but that which you your selues knowe thereof to wit that the whole chaunge which insued therevpon was rather a worke of God then of men You knowe howe often I haue bin accused that I did ouer coldly set my selfe against the aduersaries that I did suffer them to much and that I should be the cause of the ruine of the countrey because I was ouer slowe to chase them away and to roote them out And when the question was to sende some of them packing you knowe the duties that I perfourmed to the ende that euerie one might liue in peace and one of them with an other But the Estates which at the first thought it fit and profitable for the preseruation of the countrey that both the one and the other religion should be tollerated learned afterwards by the insolencies attemptes and treasons of the enemies whiche were mingled amongest vs that their Estate was in daunger of an vnavoydeable ruine vnlesse they hindered the exercise of the Romane religion and they perceaued that those that made profession thereof at the least the preestes had taken an othe to the Pope as they do in euery place where they come which they preferred before the othe they had made to the countrey insomuch that in the assemblie of the Estates at Leyden as also in the league of the countreys of Holland and Zealande this article was with one consent agreed vpon The causes vvherefore some of the Romishe Church vvithdrevv them selues out of Hollande neyther could the enemies be ignoraunt of these thinges seeing that in the treatie helde at Breda about the question of religion the enemies there propounding this on their owne behalfe that that chaunge fell out by the guiding of certaine particular persons there was shewed vnto them the consent of all the townes vnder their seuerall seales And nowe I beseeche you what bonde coulde there remaine vnto me seeing that they vnto whom I had made a promise The establishmēt of one onli religiō in Hollande and Zealand vvherefore it vvas so done did not only discharge me thereof but they them selues also did cut it in sunder breake it and made it of no force And notwithstāsding I will leaue it to the iudgement of the wise whether therein I haue done well or euill This only I say that when such things were propounded I desired them that they would not proceede so farre and therefore much more when they did execute and perfourme the same whereof not onely my Lordes of Hollande and Zealande but also certaine troublesome waieward persons amongest vs who also haue spread abroad against me in straunge countreis their wicked speaches will giue me so good a testimonie that I hope I shall not neede anie great defence against such accusations which being by me denied as false for so they are in deede I feare not that they shal be able to yeelde any proofe thereof leauing it to you my Lordes to iudge howe foolishe such an accusation is whiche maie be beaten backe with a simple deniall and yet notwithstanding the greatest parte of the goodlie colours wherewith this painter boasteth that he hath set me out may be quite cleane defaced with such a sponge only If they will alleadge that yet notwithstanding they that were driuen out haue iust occasion to complaine because that promise was not kept with them I aunswere that albeit this is not directed against me yet notwithstāding for the defence of the Estates of Hollande and Zealande I will saie this much that this complaint should haue but a verie ill foundation because it is not reasonable that any such people shoulde enioye a priuiledge by meanes of which they would deliuer the coūtrey into the enemies handes Their purpose was to betraie the liues and the goods of the subiectes and not one or two or three priuiledges onely but all the fraunchises and liberties preserued time out of minde and from age to age by our predecessours and auncestours They add withall That I haue procured libertie of conscience If they vnderstande thereby that I haue made an open way to such impieties as are commonly committed in the house of the Prince of Parme where Atheistrie and other vertues of Rome are counted but sporte I aunswere that it is amongest the heires of the Lord Peter Lewis where a man must seeke finde such libertie or rather vnbridled licence But I will in deede confesse that the brightnes of the fiers wherein they haue tormented so many poore christians was neuer deliteful or pleasaunt to myne eyes as it hath reioysed the sight of the Duke of Alua and the Spaniardes and that I haue alwayes bin of this minde to wishe and procure what I could that the persecutions might cease in the lowe Countreys I will moreouer confesse vnto you to the ende that the enemies maye knowe that they haue to doo with one that speaketh roundlie without anie painting to witte that the King when he departed out of Zealande whiche was the last place that he left in this Countrey commaunded me to put to death manie godly and vertuous people that were suspected to be of the Religion Which thing I would not perfourme but aduertised them them selues thereof knowing in deede that I could not doo it with a good and safe conscience and that I was rather to obeye GOD than man Let the Spaniardes then speake what they them selues shall thinke good I knowe that sundrie peoples and nations whiche are much better then they who also haue learned that by fire and sworde men little or nothing preuayle would prayse mee and approue my fact But seeing that you my Lordes together with the generall consent of the people haue since that tyme approoued it in condemning the rigour of the placardes and licences and in causing those cruell executions to cease I doo no whit at all regarde that which the Spaniardes and their adherentes do murmure and whisper concerning the same Neither can I sufficiently wonder at their follie They that ill
intreated the preestes vvere punished when they are not ashamed to obiect vnto me the murtheringes of the people of their Church seeing that not onely they knowe my naturall disposition to be altogether estraunged from such violences but also that you and the whole worlde doo verie well knowe that by commaundement and appointement some in respect of such outrages as these men would charge me withall were put to death and other some being of great note and noble houses were arrested by the principall seruauntes of my housholde and after that they had bin kept prisoners a long time they were not deliuered but in respecte of the house from whence they had this honour to proceede and come the long imprisonment of their persons being appointed vnto them for the punishment which they had deserued But that whiche was done by my charge and appointement is in such sorte knowne to all the worlde that they are not able eyther to disguise or darken the same onely as they haue verie well learned to speake trueth that which I haue done vertuouslie they saye that I haue feigned that the thing did displease me But who hath tolde them that I feigned Or who is he that hath reuealed vnto them so much of my secreates They see that which I haue done they can not iudge my hearte neyther is there anie man so malitious except it be the forger of this writing or some Spaniarde whiche ought not rather to giue iudgement vppon that whiche he seeth than vppon that whiche he malitiouslie and wickedlie suspecteth The cast also infinite blames and slaunders vpon our religion and they call vs heretiques But it is such as a long time since they tooke vpon them to proue it and yet were neuer able to bring it to purpose or effect And I saie that these iniuries being like vnto the wordes of women prouoked chafed with collor do not deserue any aunswere much lesse that beastlinesse to saie that I neuer trusted any eyther Preest or Friar vnlesse he were maried and that I inforced them to marie For who is it that knoweth not that without choise or discretion they cast at my head euery thing that they finde in the waye so great is their furie and their passion so outragious and vnmeasurable And albeit that these things were true Cōcerning the mariage of Preestes as in deed they are not neither yet reasonable for we learne by our Religion that mariage ought to be free and should not be either inforced or forbidden yet so it is that this faulte should not be comparable with that tyrannie ouer cōsciences which hath forbidden mariage to a great part of Christendome against which forbidding nor onely the East churches opposed them selues but also the churches of Germanie and Fraunce But that my Lordes which is greatly to be esteemed in this Proscription so true and well grounded is this That the King commanded not the Duke of Alua to impose the tenth and twentieth pennie without the consent of the people If thē the Duke of Alua in a matter of so great importaunce and whiche was the cause of the death and destruction of so many thousandes of men hath passed his commission what punishment folowed thereof The Duke of Alua for hauing perfourmed to his owne sonne this dutie to wit that he might marie his cousin leauing another whom vnder the colour of mariage accomplished he had abused euen as Rigomes had before perfourmed for the King as before hath bin declared was cast into prison and put out of fauour and shoulde not as yet haue bin deliuered if in all Spaine they had bin able to haue founde a tyraunt Cōcerning the tenth tvventith pennie more fitt to exercise tyrannie vpon the poore Portugales then he He was then chastised for a small faulte and for such a great one he was honoured much made of and filled with rewardes And he that would presse the King with the death of my Lordes of Egmount and of Hornes he would say as much and disallowe againe the Duke of Alua for it Is not this a good meane thinke ye to discharge him selfe of all faultes But let them take which parte they will either the King commaunded it and then he can not auoyde the name of a tyraunt or els he commaunded it not and yet for all that the name of a tyraunt shall remaine vnto him because he did not chastise and correct him who of his owne priuate authoritie had vsurped such a tyrannie vppon a franck and free people whereby it appeareth that he is culpable thereof And albeit that I haue alwayes esteemed the Duke of Alua for the enemie of the Countrey and as one who hath willingly bathed him selfe in our blood and in the blood of all Christians carying closely a Turkishe hearte within him yet so it is that I haue knowne him to well and haue bin to to much practised to beleeue this that he should be so sottishe and so presumptuous as to dare to attempt to laye vpon the people an imposition of such consequence and to pursue it so long time and that by such extraordinarie yea altogether insupportable meanes to the countrey without good and sufficient cōmaundement directed vnto him therefore and that not once only but sundrie times I beseeche you my Lordes to weye this well whether he that in his owne proper and priuate name durst condemne or fauoure them that did condemne the Burgmaster of Amstelredam in fiue and twentie thousande Florins of amercement because he set him selfe against the tenth pennie was not well assured and had not sufficient discharge for the same from his Superior Neither neede we my Lordes any other place then this whereby to knowe the fraudes dissimulations and craftes wherewith the King hath so long a time led and deceaued vs and yet purposeth still to do if we suffer him to wound vs with the prick of his tongue or to astonishe vs with the threatnings of his armies And because he will haue the bruite thereof sounded abroad by reason of the Townes taken and surprised in Hollande to witte within this two three or foure veeres and that with more force then he hath fought against the Turke withall I aunswere him that hauing the aduantages whereof he braggeth he ought to consider whether this tende not to his very great shame that he is altogether driuen out of that Countrey And it standeth him not in any steede to alleadge the mutinie of the Spaniardes For a Gouernour and specially such a one as had such great meanes as hee had doeth sufficientlie bewraie his insufficiencie vnworthinesse to commaunde when he is not able by such meanes to keepe in obedience his own Souldiers on the other side in excusing him selfe so foolishlie he seeth whether he will or no that he is inforced to confesse that I and my Lordes of Hollande and Zealande hauing verie slender meanes as namely but foure or fiue thousande men haue broken his attemptes and
caused him to consume three score thousande And whilest my Lordes he thus in this countrey lost his time his men and his money he lost likewise within two monethes the Kingdome of Tunis and the Goulette The shameful lostes of the kingdōe of Thunis the Goulette with the greatest shame and confusion that euer anie mightie Prince did yea though he were driuen out of his owne lande albeit some would laie the faulte hereof vppon the youth of Don Iohn vpon the whoredome of the Cardinall For whilest he did so ill imploye his forces here amōgst vs Sinam Basscha tooke from him that Kingdome and that fortresse which men supposed could neuer haue bin taken this he did in the sight of Spaine and of Sicilia without that euer anie of the Kings side durst so much as shewe his head to fight against him or onely to turne him aside And yet if he had no regarde to the good of Christendome which in deed he neuer had as witnesseth the painted league that he made which also cost the Venetians so much nor respect to his own honour at the least the memorie and name of the Emperour his father who did little or nothing regarde all his notable deedes and feates of armes in respect of that conquest ought to haue moued and thrust him forwarde with a noble and earnest desire wisely to haue mainteyned that which the Emperour his father had so valiauntly conquered for him and all Christendome But the rage and furie to destroye vs which caried him awaie tooke both his eyes from him that he could not see that euill and his vnderstanding also that he could not discerne it he louing ouermuch to make proofe rather of his weakenes against his owne proper people then of his forces against the common and vniuersall enemie of Christendome This my Lordes is that which he obiecteth against me which also fell out before our generall coniunction and ioyning together Wherevnto it may be it was not altogether necessarie to aunswere sauing that it is requisite not onely to satisfie you but also to stoppe their mouthes and to make all the worlde to vnderstande their impudencies and slaunders For if the question were but of that which cōcerneth your selues and those whiche heretofore were on our side who haue notwithstāding verie euelly and without any cause withdrawen them selues from vs you and those with you haue heretofore sufficiently declared that you had a farre better opinion of me For first the accorde treated of by you with me my Lordes of Hollande and Zealande at Gaunt hath sufficientlie iustified me seeing that if you had supposed me to be such a one as this infamous Proscription describeth me you neyther would nor could haue entered into treatie with me beside so many honorable embassages as you since that time haue sent vnto me to S. Gheertrudenberghe and euen yet to Antwerp both to cause me to come into Brabant and to cause me to come vnto you to Bruxelles that I might be assistaunt with you in Counsell and also that yee did honour me with the title of Lieutenaunt generall All these things I saye doo sufficiently declare what is the opinion and iudgement that yee haue had of all these false and friuoulous accusations whiche thing alone I suppose to be ouer sufficient and strong to confute them But let vs nowe see howe before that time they on their behalfes gouerned themselues with what pride insolencie and disdaine of our whole nation I will not repeate the periuries and deceites of the Dutchesse nor of the King in the behalfe of my Lordes the Counties of Egmount and of Horne nor the baites and allurementes which they prepared for me nor yet generally that which fel out before the cōming of the Duke of Alua but that onely whiche was done afterwardes vntill the time of our generall coniunction and ioyning together to the ende that as the remembraunce of the mischiefes and griefes past shall bring vnto you pleasure and contentement and the same as I hope vnto me who with some delite haue ayded you therin so that by the same you will more and more strengthen your selues in this resolution which is both holie and worthie of immortall prayse which you also haue taken vpon you that is to oppose and set your selues against the Spaniardes and their adherentes Nowe as well the saide Duke of Alua as those that commaunded vnder him and after him haue sufficiently made vs to vnderstande what was at all times the counsell of Spaine to wit to roote vs out and to bring vs into bondage For as Hanniball euen when he was but nine yeeres olde did sweare by the altar of his goddes that he would be al his life long an enemie to the Romanes so was this Duke of Alua from his childhood nourished and brought vp in an vnreconcilable hatred against this countrey The insupportable pride of the Duke of Alua other officers being Spaniardes which by so much blood as he hath spilt could as yet neuer be satisfied but so much the more hath he caused it to runne out on euerie side in all the Townes of this Countrey yea so farre forth that he hath caused to be put to death which thing also he him selfe bragged of eightene thousand poore innocent men and more and that by the handes of the hangman or tormentor and yet for all that that cruell lust of his could neuer be satisfied So that if any would knowe what are the priuie counsells of Spaine what is the Kings good wil and howe much he loueth vs he shall finde it all deciphered sett out in the bloodie deedes of the Duke of Alua as if it were set out before his eyes and liuely painted in a table of painters worke For there hath not bin any kinde of dissimulation treason and vnfaithfulnes which he hath not vsed that hee might bring vnder his subiection and seruice the principall Lordes of this Countrey and that by offers promises newe titles of Honour bestowed vpon them But the good vertuous people that he could get into his handes he hath cruelly put to death without any respect either to their innocencie or to the priuiledges of the countrey and yet nothing was done but by the Kings commaundement He committed the like against the Citezens and good Marchauntes so proudly treding vnder feete our auncient liberties and freedomes yea euery thing that was remayning amongest vs of the glorie of our auncestours that it seemed that he thought that you were at no hande worthie to be reckoned in the number of men And where is it that we can haue a more certaine and playne proofe and that so open that it is as it were in the sight and beholding of all Christendome concerning this matter the profane and proude erection of the Duke of Alua his image in the midst of the late Citadel at Antvverp and withall of his vnsupportable contempt and disdaine
you Verely of all crimes how greeuous soeuer they can be But I doubt not but that God thorow his most iust iudgement will cause to come downe the iust vengeaunce of his wrath vpon the Captaine and head of such ministers and officers and that on the other side he will of his great goodnesse maintaine mine innocencie and mine honor so long as I liue and amongst my posteritie after me And as concerning my goods and my life it is long time since that I dedicated them to his seruice and I knowe that he will doe therewith whatsoeuer he shall see to be good for his own glorie and for my saluation And because my Lords he proceedeth also to bring the droppes of this infamous Proscription vpon your heads so far of is it that you shall be moued therewith that ye shoulde rather thinke that herein the Spaniarde and his adherentes follow the naturall disposition of women who after that they haue wept scratched and bitten doe for their last remedie and refuge come to iniuries and reuilinges and euen so doth your enimie now yeelde out his last barkinges and if we giue them proofe of our constancie resolution and courage beholde they are at the last of their miserable and wretched enterprises For Sylla Carbo Marius Antonius and such other tyraunts the first fathers of these abhominable Proscriptions neuer gaue example to the Spaniardes to commit such follie and beastlinesse albeit that they haue traced out before them that example of crueltie and barbarousnesse which these miserable wretches haue accomplished and perfourmed But they proscribed such only as were fugitiues driuen away hidden in secret and that within the countreys ouer which they had power and authoritie And these men are like vnto them in this that is to say in crueltie because they proscribe good vertuous and honourable personages but yet in this point they shew themselues sottish and foolish that they proscribe him whome they should fight against with an armed power For to sende a poisoner as the Duches of Parme sent one or to send a murtherer as hir sonne the generall heire of the vertues of his auncestors did this is not the effect of a Proscription but of briberie and the euerie rather Beholde my Lordes not what I am able to say against this tyrannous Proscription but what I haue thoughte meete for this time speaking vnto you which haue the knowledge of sundrie thinges that I omit because they are known vnto you and because also that if I would attempt to speake of the particular enterprises of the King and of his cheefe Officers I should assaie to doe that which no Orator is sufficiently able worthely to describe yea that which no good man was euer able to conceaue so great is their crueltie tyrannie and all maner of vniust dealing Notwithstanding I hope that as well by the matter contained in this Proscription which is a sufficient testimonie of their ouer base and abiect courage as by my aunswere you shall sufficiently know what are their pernitious purposes and miserable attemptes and by this knowledge you shall also learne what it is necessary for you to cast your eye vpon and diligently to vnderstande that is that they dispaire that euer they shall be able to vanquish you by force and therefore they assay to sow diuision amongst vs magnifying cheefly those who haue not only forsaken vs against their othe but euen haue left vs in perillous times and namely whilest that one of our Townes was besieged whereof they are not able to make any iust complaint nor alleadge their accustomed pretext and cloake yea which also is the heape of all disloialtie and vnfaithfulnesse at the very same time they come to assault vs in other places and quarters As for the threats annexed in this Proscription tende to no other ende but to astonish you to the end you might seperate your selues from me and plainely to declare that they make war against me and not against you euen as the woolfe woulde perswade the sheepe that he had not war with any but with the dogges which being once discomfited he would easilie agree with the slocke of sheepe for the dogges were alwayes the authours of their debate and combatting But my Lordes though I were absent though I were departed into Germanie would they burne no more would they spill no more blood would they drown no more Was the libertie of the Countrey maintained by that gentle and milde man the Duke of Alua Did they not then wickedly put to death in Spaine your owne Ambassadors my Lords of Bergues and of Montigni Did they not at the same time set before your eyes vppon speares and launces the heads of your principall Captaines and gouernors The other point which they most set before them is the extirpation of Religion I minde not here my Lords to enter into this question which is the true Religion wherein God is truely serued and called vpon and that according to his worde but leaue it rather to bee declared by others more excercised in that matter than I and yet so that euery one may know by my profession what I beleeue concerning the same But this I cannot chuse but tell you that such is the estate of your countrey that without the exercise and free vse of the sayd Religion it cannot stande three dayes You see the number of them that professe it maruailouslie increased you see that hatred agaynste the Pope is inrooted deepelie in the hartes of all the inhabitauntes of the Countrey because that his damnable practises agaynste this whole estate are manifestly discouered Who is he then that can boast that he loueth the Countrey and woulde giue counsell to driue away such a great number of people which once departing shall leaue the Countrey waste poore and miserable and shall people and inriche the straunge nations about vs But suppose that they will not departe or voyde the Countrey who is hee that can inforce them so to doe let vs looke vppon our neighbours Lette vs consider our owne examples and if wee bee not vtterlye voyde of witte and vnderstanding wee will neuer chuse such pernitious and hurtfull counsels as shall vtterlie euen from toppe to toe bring to ruine and destruction this estate I will yet say somewhat more vnto you my Lordes that albeit that amongst them which follow the Romane church there are sundrie good people and louers of their Countrey and that amongest them there are some also whiche haue most honourablie acquited and behaued themselues yet notwithstanding those of the Religion are very well assured of this that there shall neuer be found any amongest them who hath had intelligence or made any practise with the enimie but all of them generally haue bin contrarie vnto him And albeit that some haue bin founde amongest them who being like vnto wanton and proude children haue brought thorow their vnheedinesse some trouble into the house yet for all that they haue not had