it go from the kynde of men they lose that state and name that nature put them in and are tourned into cruell vnnaturall beastes Nowe if vnkyndnes be such a vice in what hatred of all men ought traytours to be and traytours to theyr prynce and suche theyr prince of whom they had receyued so innumerable benefites and whiche so many wayes had declared his synguler fauour and loue towarde them ¶ For to come at the laste to the archetraytour and to speke some what of hym whom god hateth nature refuseth all men deteste yea and all beastes to wolde abhorre if they could perceiue how moche viler he is then is euen the worste of them what man wolde euer haue thought that Reynold Pole coulde haue ben by any giftes by any promotion by anye meanes in this worlde broughte from the loue whiche for so many the kynges high benefittes of all men he ought his grace the moste who wol yet beleue that knowith it not to be true that a manne so bounde to loue can hate so boūde to serue can brede traytours stire sedition intende his deathe for whome he ought with all harte to haue shedde his beste bloud rekenynge the losse of his owne lyfe well spente so that his hyghnesse might therby be preserued I wol not say from deth but from perill and danger Howe many fathers haue bene more tender ouer their sonnes than hath his grace bene in bryngynge vp the thou false Pole thou shamefull and shameles traytour from thy chyldhode euen tyll within these two yeres What letters wrote his highnes in thy fauour to the Uenetians at thy firste goinge into Italye what credyte what estymation couldest thou haue ben in there if thou haddest come alone without his gracis commendation what was in the at thy firste going thither besyde thy famylye worthye any gret estimation Thou mightest haue come with thy byrth and familie haue founde fewe there that wolde haue estemed the for them sauyng for his gracis sake His gracis fauour whom at that tyme the byshop of Rome and his adherentes honoured aboue all princis in Chrystendome wonne the thy frendes there if they may be callyd thy frendes whom thou so takest to be not knowyng who be thy frendes and who thy foes beinge thy selfe of all men moste ennemye to thy selfe Thou suffredst thy self to be callid the king of Englandes nephewe this title beinge fals wrought moche and made manye in loue with the for thy nobilities sake And yet thou gottest not so many that waye as thou dyddest by reason it pleased the kynge of his goodnes to giue the besyde thyne owne reuenues yerely an hundreth pounde out of his cofers It is a wonderfulle thinge to see the diuersitie of nature howe grate and kynde 〈◊〉 be and howe vnnaturall and vnkind some other be Many thinke them selfe to owe lyfe and all the reste to him that doth but a mean good tourne for their frende and canste nat thou receiuyng so many so great benefites thy family thy mother thy brethern so many wayes bounde to his hyghenesse auoyde treason Thou hast redde manye notable hystoryes that might haue kept thy cancred nature at the leste from treasone yf they coulde a wrought no farther in the. Howe many slaues do we rede of that haue liued with their maisters in great seruitude miserie whyche yet soo loued theyr maisters that they chose eyther to dye for theym or els to dye with theym ¶ Philotimus a seruaunt and a slaue a lyttell before his mayster dyed was made heire of all that he left Marke his true stomake thou muste nedes condemne thyn vnfaithfull fals and trayterous harte Whan the deed corps was caste into the fyre he remembring what a true seruaunte oweth to a good mayster forgate not onely the goodes that were bequethed hym but also contempnynge his owne lyfe lept into the fyre thinkynge trewe seruyce not to ende where lyfe remayneth Here as I doo nat lyke this Philotimus to hote loue or to saye as I ought his rashe deathe so I doubte nat but there be in Englande manye seruantes that wolde a thousand tymes hasarde their lyfe rather than their maister shuld be in any ieoperdy of his ¶ Marcus Antonius beinge ouercome of Augustus the emperour delyuered vnto Eros his seruaunte a swerde requirynge to be rydde ere his enmyes shuld take hym Eros toke the swerde and quickely turnyng it thought it lesse shame yea lesse hurte to kyll hym selfe then to kyl his master I coulde tary and fyll myne oration with suche examples but neyther to the Pole it nedeth nor to the suche a traytour it boteth thou hast red them as well as I yea thou knowest that very dogges vnto whome theyr mayster could neuer giue more then meate and drinke haue oft died for their master oft slayne them that slewe hym I wyll brynge in an example or two not that I thynke they can do the any good but that they maye set our thyne abhomynable vnkyndenes to thy shame confusiō It is notable that authors wryte of kynge Lisymachus his dogge whiche neuer left his lord and mayster but was in all huntynges in all warres in all ieoperdies at hande with him At the last when he saw his master deed and cast into the fyre as the maner of burial was then the dogge a gret whyle mornefully yowling and lamentynge the deathe of his mayster caste hym selfe euen into the fyre also and there died by his mayster Pliny writeth that Hiero kynge of the Syracusans had a dogge which did euen the same It is more notable that wryters leaue in memory of a Romaynes dogge whiche Romaine was put to deathe when Titus Fabinus his famylye were slayne This dogge wolde away from his maister for no strypes for no whyppynge but laye by the deed body and styll howled wonderfull mornyngely many of the Romaynes standyng about moche meruaylyng at the true faith harte that that sorye worme bare vnto his inayster At the laste when they thought the dogge hungrye one of the stāders by gaue him meate whiche he straighte caryed to his maysters mouth and left it there Shortly after the body being hurled into the floudde of Tyber the dogge lept in after and gate hold of his mayster kepynge hym aboue water as longe as he could If the lawes hadde prouyded no payne for treason were not these examples ynough to make men teare such traytors as thou arte with theyr teethe If men wolde spare the wold not dogges pursewe a beaste thus ouerwhelmed with all kynde of treason A beast so false to his soueraygne lorde and suche his souerain lord How be it if thou be as I surely thinke thou arte he is moche more thye frende that wysheth the ded then a lyue Treason can neuer lye alone in a traytours harte it hath suche a rablemente with it that deathe is pleasure if it be compared with the gripes the woundis the tossynge and turmoylyng the heauyng and shouyng that
AN INVECTIVE AYENSTE the great and detestable vice treason wherein the secrete practises and traiterous workinges of theym that suffrid of late are disclosed made by Rycharde Morisyne A preface to the reders I DOVBTE NOT gentle reders but that if ye haue ben conuersante in old histories so perceyued both howe many moo prynces haue ben endaungered by treason of theyr famylyer seruauntes then by open warre of theyr enemyes and also sene what ende they come to that venture vpon so daungerous an enterprise ye woll thynke my labour not euyll employed whiche tendeth hole to this ende that all subiectes ones being brought into hatred of treason maye at the laste fall in loue with their duetie and seke truly to serue where god hath appoynted theym so to doo For as the incommodyties that treason bryngeth into a common welthe be excedynge many and are ofte tymes the vtter vndoyng of ryche and welthy realmes so that kyngdome must nedes prosper and flourishe where all men stryue who may best do his duetie best serue his countrey in that god and his souerayne lorde hath callyd hym vnto We haue hadde ofte experience howe euylle they spede what infamye commeth to them what ende they make whiche at any tyme attempte treason against their soueraigne lord and kynge These whiche of late lost their honour landes and lyues are not the fyrste that haue bene moued with to many benefites to become traytours no nor yet the fyrst that came to shamfull death for soo foule an enterprise They haue companyons which though they be not able to goo cheeke by cheke with them yet they comme nat farre behynde ¶ Perennius a man that had receiued wonderful many benefites of Cōmodus themperour where as he sawe but oone aboue hym thynkyng that he myght by treason brynge hym downe and sette vp hym selfe trayterousely conspired the deathe of Commodus his lorde and maker ¶ Plautianus an nother of all men mooste bounde to Seuerus the emperour soughte also to dystroye hym not that euer he hadde receyued any iniurie or displesure at his handes but that the blynd desyre he hadde to the Empyre wrought moche more in him than coulde al themperours benefites ¶ Seianus as moche bounde as any of thother two euen vpon lyke cause thought to haue slayn Tiberius themperour his lorde and mayster But they came euen to suche ende as dydde the Marques the lorde Montacute and suche other as by their exaumple teache all men that be nat yet werye of their lyues and honestie to be ware of treasone Certaynely who so wayeth how hard a thing it is to enter with any manne in treason howe full of ieoperdies howe fewe there be that a manne maye truste howe soone menne maye be deceyued takynge some to beare them moch greatter loue than they do howe no experience can soo vtter one man his hart to an nother that in suche a case he may leaue lyfe in his handes he woll I suppose moche wonder to see any man thoughe the fyne for it were but the losse of goodis so madde to venture vppon treason Many chaunces make treason whan it is kepte most secrete to appere An harte that stylle feleth the stinge of treason must nedes at one tyme or an other make the tonge and countenance parttakers of his grefe ¶ Lucilla syster to Commodus the Emperoure hadde appoynted oone Quintianus to slee her brother This traytour waited for the Emperour at the entrynge in to the Amphitheatre and whenne he sawe Comodus all moste come to the place where he intended to haue slayne hym his hande his tongue his gesture his countenaunce coulde suffre his harte to be no lenger hyd No he hauinge his dagger redy naked cryed out before the Emperour camme vnder the strooke This the Senate sendeth the. Uppon whiche wordes he was taken and Commodus nothynge hurt ¶ Likewyse Marcus Antonius of Uolterra was set to kyll Laurence Medices and had so done but that he cried before o traitour which voyce saued Laurence and disclosed as many as were of that conspiracie ¶ The same mornynge that Brutus and the reste of his felowes hadde determyned to slee Iulius Cesar it so chaunced that Cesar commened a greatte space with Gneius Popilius oone of those that had conspired his deth Brutus and many mo of his companions were bye and were caste into suche a feare that they wyste neyther what to doo ne what to thynke They all were a frayde lest Popilius had vttered the treson vnto Cesar and wolde euen there haue set vpon hym sauinge that they perceyued Cesar his coūtenaunce nothynge moued ne his colour any thyng altered And yet if Cesar had redde the letter that was delyuered hym not halfe an houre before his deathe he hadde knowen his enemyes counsel and myght haue broughte them all to theyr confusion ¶ The daye before that Sceuinus thoughte to haue slayne Nero he put an olde rustie daggar that hadde layne longe by hym to gryndynge He made his testamente he made all his bonde men free he gaue euery one of thē a certayne somme of moneye he caused rollers to be made to wrap woūdes in by which tokens Milichius his seruaunt gathered he wente about some naughty pourpose and so accused hym vnto the emperoure Sceuinus streyghte confessed that his intente was to haue slayne Nero. ¶ This I brynge in not so moch to shewe that treason woll out as to make men see howe god plucketh wyt and prudency from malyciouse traytours He hath done so where treason was intended ayenst Nero one of the worst prynces that euer the worlde had and trowe traytours he woll suffre Henry the eyght his chosen king a prynce that chyefelye aboue all thinges hath soughte and seketh to sette forthe his glorie to restore his holy worde to put downe hypocrysie to banishe idolatry finally to bryng this ones to passe y t al his people may be as they ar called that is trewe chrystians Rede this lyttell inuectiue that foloweth I truste by thynges past ye shall perceyue it very vnlyke that any traytour here after maye or can hurte his highnes Ye shall see who is his gracis protectour from what daungers he hath preserued hym and therby gather an assured affyaunce that traytours can but worke their owne confusion when so euer they seke to do his highnes any displeasure God hitherto hath wonderfully troden downe his graces enemyes styll shewynge hym selfe to be of his syde if he be so stylle as our trust is he wol be euer be traytour who woll he knoweth his ende ALL BE IT I acknowlege my self neyther so able as I am wyllynge neither soo meete as I am redye to write in such a matter as I nowe haue taken vppon me yet trustynge where my wylle is to doo welle that thoughe I faylle of thanke I shall nat mysse of pardon I can nat but admonyshe al my countray men in so plentifull an occasion that as the benefites of god be great straunge and almoste
hynder his graces godly procedynges Was it not a syngular prouydence of god that the Marques of Exettour was put oute of the preuye chaumber vppon noo deserte I thynke at that tyme knowen but euen that god put it in the kinges heed so to do Is it nat to be meruayled that he and Edward Neuyll a couple worthy all mennes hatrede a couple ioyned in traiterous intentes beinge soo longe togither about his highnes owne persone dyd no more hurte Is it not more meruayle that th one beinge put out of the priuie chaumber thother attempted nothinge Men that know not the goodnes of god towarde his electe rulers may meruaile at al these thinges but let vs laude god for them all assure our selues that god woll not suffre a prince whom he hath chosen to greatter affaires than grosse heedes can attayne vnto to be vyolated of his trayterous subiectes God hath ioyned with the maiestie of a kynge suche a feare that false hartes haue noo power to offre wrong to a prince thoughe all oportunities seme to serue them wherfore if we list to meruail let vs a litle while intrete of the disclosyng of these tresons Syr Geffry Pole was cōmitted to the towre neyther the kynges hyghnes nor any of the counsaile suspectynge either the Marques eyther the lorde Montacute his brother or syr Edward Neuyll of any of al these thynges that they were founde giltie of Geffrey beinge in the towre hauynge his breste full of wytnesses agaynste him selfe agaynste his brotherne ayenst the Marques was brought into such a thronge of thoughtes into suche a conflycte of pensiers that bloud and nature workinge on th one syde god conscience on thother he was caried into suche a perplexitie that he coulde neither condiscende to accuse his brother his cousyn syr Edwarde Neuyll and hym selfe chyefe of all endaungeryng all foure with the gylte of treason nor yet vtterlye withstande the workynge of god and his conscyence within hym whiche ofte put in his mynde rather to suffer them and hym selfe to bodely to be brought to death then to goo body and soule to the deuyll This motion ranne oft in his heed but the dyuell continuall aduersarye to goddis honour and mans welthe put in his fote and soo toste this wretched soule that of many euelles he chose euen the worste of all which was a ful purpose to slee hym selfe The cōmodities of his death were many as the dyuel made them to the shewe his brother shulde liue stil theyr famylie continue in honour the lorde Marques shoulde haue greate cause to loue all his bloud whiche hadde kylled hym selfe to saue him with many suche fantasyes as desperate menne fynde to helpe them to theyr ende He was fully perswaded to slee hym selfe Desperation hadde wroughte her feate nowe see howe oportunitie made all thynges redye for hym his keper was absente a knyfe at hande vppon the table he rysethe out of his bed taketh the knyfe and with full intente to dye gaue hym selfe a stabbe with the knyfe vppon the breste The deuyll lacketh strength where god hath any thinge to do and can better begynne thynges then brynge them to effecte The deuyll had played his parte nowe se howe god as he ofte dothe tourned all the deuels hole worke to his glory and Geffreyes saluation The knyfe was blunte and so dyd perse but the wounde as god wolde was not mortall and yet for as moche as bloud came after the wounde Geffrey began at the last to feare god to feare hel to remember into what case the deuyll had brought hym and then beganne to deteste the slaughter of hym self to wishe he had opened al to gether rather then to haue loste his bodye and soule after that sorte He nowe beganne to caste whiche waye he mought apease the wrothe vengeance of god redy as he thought to hurle hym in to hell He nowe caste his counte after an nother sort drede of deathe whiche as he thoughte wolde haue folowed the wounde beganne to teache him a new lesson his brother his cosen syr Edwarde Neuylle nowe waied as moche with hym as they oughte to do he sawe before hym the losse of his soule and thought it moche better they loste theyr hedes he sawe in what daunger he shulde leaue his soueraygne lord whose benefyttes beganne nowe to muster before hym and the vele of malyce layde asyde to tourne his harte he sawe the damages the slaughters that myght come to his countrey he sawe it not possible that god shuld be any thing good to hym whiche shulde conceale the destruction of soo many In so moche that nowe he which wolde haue dyed to saue his brotherne and cousyn desyred life for no cause so moche as y t he might brynge them to that they had deserued and thervpon of his own mynde no man requirynge hym to it no manne thynkynge of any suche thynge he desyred to speake with the lieutenant of the toure and after to speake with some of the kinges priuie coūsel to whom whan they came he as a man styl lokynge whan the wounde shuld haue ended his lyfe disclosed all the hole treasons Thus the dyuels subtyl prouision of the knife of his beinge alone of perswading him to abuse the knife to his distruction vtterlye deceiued the dyuell all his gynnes al his craftis now being turned ayenst hym selfe all the hurt that might haue come to his aduersaries god and those that loue and seke his glory nowe redoundyng vpon his own heed wylle ye haue a sure token that this is the worke of god ye haue herde of the message which Reynold sent to his brethern that is y t they in no wyse shulde sturre vntyll his cōmyng ye may know who was author of so godly a message Who but the deuil author of al dissention al rebellion all treason could be either of coūsell with him that sente suche a message or with theym that wolde kepe it secrete If he were thautor of it thā coulde he nat be the vtterer of it also his kyngedome must nedes falle if he fyght ayenst hym selfe God god brought it to lyghte as one that hath taken vpon hym to defende his trewe and faithfulle ministre kynge Henry the eight God hath disclosed all vsynge suche wayes that all menne maye knowe it is onely he that coulde do suche a thinge A man wolde thynke it vnpossyble that where no force no violence no tourmentes are vsed fleshe bloudde and nature coulde suffer one brother to brynge the other to his deathe Some woll say he lacked no tormentes as longe as he had treson waltrynge in his hart A traitour whether he be so taken or nat can lacke no scourginge whan he is moste alone He hath his whyppe in his bosom and playeth the tormentour him selfe for lacke of an officer I wol not say but Geffrey Pole felt suche tormentes no I must nedes grāt he was shreudly scourged that thought it an ease to rydde hym selfe