of a strong and valiant Knight and a greater of being overthrown by his Majesty Having engaged his Majesties Person at home he had the Honour to represent it abroad where his Commission was to complement the French King about his Liberty but his Business to observe the state of that place Where he saw that a Kingdom governed by a Prince who hath under him other independent Lords as that of France is no longer safe than those Lords are either in Humour or in Purse being always in danger either from their discontent or corruption 2. That Faction is always eager while Duty is modest and temperate This Occasion ennobled his Vertue and his Vertue improved the Occasion so well that I finde him so eminent a Parliament-man the 22th of King Henry that as Sir Brian Tuke had the Honour to open the several Boxes sent from the respective Universities with their opinions about the Kings Divorce so Sir Thomas had the happiness in a set Speech to insist upon them all in general and every one in particular And at Queen Anne's Coronation my Lord Vaux Sir John Mordant Sir Thomas and ten more are made Knights of the Bath Having acquitted himself Nobly in Court and Council he attends the Earl of Hertford against the Scots as Commissary and Sir John Wallop with Sir John Rainsford as Marshal for his Services in both which capacities he is made Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in England and with the Comptroller Sir John Gage made Field-Marshal and Treasurer of the Army before Bulloign And not long after Treasurer of the Houshold and one of the Assistants for the Over-seeing of King Henry's Will When some were joyning Others with the Protector others for limiting him Sir Thomas would say That as Machiavel saith No Laws so No good could be done by a Governour that was not absolute without either a Restraint or a Competitor Upon the Reformation he would say That the disestcem of Religious Ceremonies argued the decay of the Civil Government good Princes have first kept their People Religious and thereby Vertuous and united both old and new Rome stand by this In a word what makes all men made him A generous industry of Minde and a well-set hardiness of Body which were attended while he lived with Honour and Success and since he is dead with Repute and Renown Where eminent and well-born Persons out of a habit of sloath and laziness neglect at once the Noblest way of employing their times and the fairest occasions of advancing their fortunes that State though never so flourishing and glorious wants something of being compleatly happy As soon as ever therefore the Kingdom is settled sedate times are the best to improve a Commonwealth as his quiet hours are the best to improve a man he and Sir William Howard addressed themselves as vigorously to the opening of Commerce and Traffick for the enriching of this Nation as they had before to the exercise of Arms to secure it Pursuing the Designe with Resolution and keeping the frame of it in order with Industry their constant Spirit surmounting all Difficulties that stood in the way of their own Glory or their Countrey 's Happiness working so well upon the Russians that they not onely obtained their Desire but gained so far upon the Affections of that People that they obtained the greatest Priviledges any Tradesmen ever enjoyed in Muscovy which the Russians were not easier in the promise of then just in the execution of that promise So that that Trade is advanced not onely beyond our hopes but our very pretences too by those three Particulars that never fail of success 1. Union 2. Conduct 3. Courage in enterprizes vigorously begun and watchfully pursued Until Queen ELIZABETH concerned her self so far in the Undertaking as to influence it with a Character peculiar to the Dignity of such a Constitution which carried that Commerce higher then Others could raise their Imaginations as we see whose profit by it is as remarqueable in this Age as their zeal for it was in the last When Fear and Distrust those ignoble Passions that disparage all great Undertakings which judged that Design a Piece of extravagant Folly seeth it now an Act of profound Wisdom especially when it may be improved under CHARLES the Second and the Great a Prince who by admirable order of his conduct the just administration of his Revenue and by his fatherly goodness towards his people hath put himself into a condition to undertake without fear whatsoever may be put in execution with Honour or Justice The End of the Observations upon the Lives of the Statesmen and Favourites of England in the Reign of Queen Mary THE STATES-MEN and FAVOURITES OF ENGLAND IN The Reign of Queen Elizabeth Observations on the Life of Sir Nicholas Bacon SIr Nicholas Bacon a man full of wit and wisdome was a Gentleman and a man of Law and of great knowledge therein whereby together with his other parts of Learning and Dexterity he was prompted to be Keeper of the Great Seal and being kin to the Treasurer Burleigh was brought by his help into the Queens favour This Gentleman understood his Mistress well and the times better He could raise Factions to serve the one and allay them to suit the others He had the deepest reach into Affairs of any man that was at the Council-table the knottiest Head to pierce into difficulties the most comprehensive Judgement to surround the Merit of a Cause the strongest memory to recollect all circumstances of a Business to one View the greatest patience to debate and consider for it was he that first said Let us stay a little and we will have done the sooner and the clearest reason to urge any thing that came in his way in Court or Chancery His favour was eminent with his Mistress and his Alliance strong with her States-men No man served his Soveraign more faithfully none secured himself more wisely Leicester seemed wiser then he was Bacon was wiser then he seemed to be Hunsdon neither was nor seemed wise Much Learning my Lord Bacon gained in Bennets Colledge in Cambridge more Experience in Paris of France His Dexterity and Dispatch advanced him to the Court of Wards his deep Experience made him Lord Keeper Alliance was the Policy of that time Bacon and Cecil married two Sisters Walsingham and Mildmay two more Knowles Essex and Leicester were linked the prudent Queen having all her Favourites Relations and Dependencies in her eye and disposing of them according to their several Interests Great was this States-mans Wit greater the Fame of it which as he would say being nothing made all things For Report though but Fancy begets Opinion and Opinion begets Substance He was the exactest man to draw up a Law in Council and the most discreet to execute it in Court When others urged the repeal of that Act whereby Queen Elizabeth was declared Illegitimate he rather suppressed it chusing the closure of a festered Wound more
more where he and his old setters at Court discovered the grand Plot in the North as Hunsdon and his old Souldiers at Berwick defeated it and both harassed the Scotish Borders all things yeilding to those two grand Disposers of the World now predominant in England Wisedome and Cecil at home Arms and Hunsdon abroad and both with Sussex at home now for his approved Wisdome and Fidelity made Privy Counsellour and abroad alway Lord General Of many I pitch on this one Argument Of the greatness of his Minde that he scorned to trample the Prostrate that he had a just Passion but not an unworthy Malice for an Enemy whom he had a generous goodness to pity when unhappy as well as a brave spirit to contest with when injurious The lesser fry of adversaries railed against this great one pleaded for Leicester when his practices against Anjou's marriage with the Queen confined him to the Castle of Windsor and his Menaces had cast him to the Tower of London had not my Lord minding more the common Interest then his private resentments first moderated the Queens Passion with Reason and then overcame it with this Jest You must allow Lovers their jealousie Alter idem or other Observations on the Life of the Lord Hatton HHis first Preferment at Court was to be one of the fifty Pensioners whence his modest sweetness of Manners advanced him to the Privy Chamber where he had not been long but his face and tongue which most eloquent which most powerful was in those days a question made him Captain of the Guard his presence and service Vice-Chamberlain and his great improvement under my Lord Burleigh placed him in that grave Assembly the wisest Convention in Europe at that time the Privy-Council where he had not sate long when his enemies as well as his friends made him Chancellour and Knight of the Garter the one to raise him and the other by that rise to ruine him The Eagle-eyed men of those times carried up on high the Cockleshel they had a mind to crack A man of a pious Nature very charitable to the Poor very tender of dissenting Judgements saying That neither searing nor cutting was to be used in the cause of Religion very bountiful to Scholars who chose him Chancellour at Oxford very exact in his Place whence he went off though not with the applause of a great Lawyer to split Causes yet with the Conscience and comfort of a just man to do equity Take his Character from his own words those words that prevailed with the Queen of Scots to appear before the Commissioners at Fotheringaz when neither Queen Elizabeths Commission nor the Lord Chancellours Reason nor the Power of the Kingdome could perswade that good Lady to it The words are these You are accused but not condemned You say you are a Queen be it so if you are innocent you wrong your Reputation in avoiding tryal You protest your self innocent the Queen feareth the contrary not without grief and shame To examine your innocence are these honourable prudent and upright Commissioners sent glad will they be with all their hearts if they may return and report you guiltless Believe me the Queen her self will be much affected with joy who affirmed to me at my coming from her that never any thing befel her more grievous then that you were charged with such a crime Wherefore lay aside the bootless priviledge of Royal Dignity which here can be of no use to you appear in Judgement and shew your Innocence lest by avoiding tryal you draw upon your self suspicion and lay upon your Reputation an eternal blot and aspersion Four things I observe he did that deserve a Chronicle 1. That he delayed the Signing of Leicesters Patent for the Lieutenancy of England and Ireland the Preface to his Kingdome until that Earl was sick 2. That he reduced the Chancery and all other Courts to Rules 3. That he stood by the Church against the enemies of both sides Archbishop Whitgift when checked by others for his due severity writes to him thus I think my self bound to you for your friendly Message as long as I live It hath not a little comforted me having received unkinde speeches not long since c. And therefore after an expostulation about some States-mens Proceedings against the Law and State of the Realm and a Declaration of his own resolution saith he your Honour in offering that great courtesie offered unto me as great a pleasure as I can desire Her Majesty must be my Refuge and I beseech you that I may use you as a means when occasion shall serve whereof I assure my self and therein rest John Cant. 4. That he promoted the Proclamations for Plain Apparel for Free Trade for Pure Religion and the Laws against the Papists Observations on the Life of Sir John Puckering SIr John Puckering was born at Flamborough-head in Yorkshire He was second Son to his Father a Gentleman that left him neither a plenteous nor a penurious Estate His Breeding was more beneficial to him then his Portion gaining thereby such skill in the Common Law that he became the Queens Sergeant Speaker in the House of Commons and at last Lord Chancellour of England How he stood in his Judgement in the point of Church-Discipline plainly appeareth by his following Speech delivered in the House of Lords 1588. And especially you are commanded by Her Majesty to take heed that no ear be given nor time afforded to the wearisome Sollicitations of those that commonly be called Puritans wherewithal the late Parliaments have been exceedingly importuned which sort of men whilst that in the giddiness of their spirits they labour and strive to advance a new Eldership they do nothing else but disturb the good repose of the Church and Commonwealth which is as well grounded for the body of Religion it self and as well guided for the Discipline as any Realm that professeth the Truth And the same thing is already made good to the world by many of the Writings of godly and learned men neither answered nor answerable by any of these new-fangled Refiners And as the present case standeth it may be doubted whether they or the Jesuites do offer more danger or be more speedily to be repressed For albeit the Jesuites do empoyson the hearts of Her Majesties Subjects under a pretext of Conscience to withdraw them from their Obedience due to Her Majesty yet do they the same but closely and in privy-corners But these men do both teach and publish in their printed Books and teach in all their Conventicles sundry Opinions not onely dangerous to a well-setled Estate and the Policy of the Realm by putting a Pike between the Clergy and the Layty but also much derogatery to her sacred Majesty and her Crown as well by the diminution of her ancient and lawful Revenues and by denying Her Highness Prerogative and Supremacy as by offering peril to her Majesties safety in her own Kingdome In all which things
below or besides his care going not besides his observation He anticipated his age with his worth and died at fourscore in merit when not fifty in yeares filling his time not with dayes but with vertues so early as seemed rather innate than acquired For which he was so popular in the Countrey as well as favoured at Court that a corpulent Officer of Bath-Church being appointed on the day of his Burial to keep the doors entred on his employment in the morning but was buried himself before night and before the Bishop's body was put in the ground because being bruised to death by the pressing in of people his Corps requsred speedy interment In those days the Plebs concurred with with the King in their affections to because they submitted to him in their choice of persons for then wisdome was thought to dwell in the Head and good Folks thought their Soveraign wiser than themselves Observations on the Life of Sir Edm. Anderson SIr Edmund Anderson was born a younger brother of a Gentile Extract at Flixborough in Lincolnshire and bred in the inner Temple I have been informed that his Father left him a thousand pounds for his portion which this our Sir Edmund multiplyed into many by his great proficiency in the Common-Law being made the â—4th of Queen Elizabeth Chief-Justice of the Common-Pleas When Secretary Davison was sentenced in the Star-Chamber for the businesse of the Queen of Scots Judge Anderson said of him that therein he had done justum non juste and so acquitting him of all malice censured him with the rest of his indiscretion When H. Cuffe was arraigned about the rising of the Earl of Essex and when Sir Edward Coke the Queens Solicitor opposed him and the other answered Syllogistically our Anderson sitting there as a Judge of Law not Logick checked both Pleader and Prisoner ob stolidos syllogismos for their foolish Syllogismes appointing the former to presse the Statute of Edward the third He died in the third of King James leaving great Estates to several sons He was a pure Legist that had little skill in the affairs of the world always alledging a decisive Case or Statute on any matter or question without any regard to the decency or respect to be had towards a State or Government and without that account of a moderate interpretation some circumstances of things require being so much the lesse useful as he was incompliant and one whom none addressed to because as one observes of Cardinal Corrado Such think they do in some manner sacrifice themselves when they do but in the least act against their own opinions to do a man a little pleasure There are a kinde of honest men of good conscience whose capacities being narrow entertain private resolutions inconsistent with publick interest who may for me passe for good men but shall never be censed or registred for good Citizens because when streight â—aced and short apprehensions are resolved into conscience and maximes those men are obliged to be so obstinate as to change or remit nothing of their first resolutions how unreasonable soever in themselves or dangerous in the consequence Observations on the Life of Sir Thomas Bodley by himself 1. I Was born at Exeter in Devonshire March 2. 1544. descended both by Father and Mother of worshipful Parents My Father in the time of Queen Mary being noted and known to be an enemy to Popery was so cruelly threatned and so narrowly observed by those that maliced his Religion that for the safeguard of himself and my Mother who was wholly affected as my Father he knew no way so secure as to flye into Germany 2. My Father fixed his abode in the City of Geneva where as far as I remember the English Church consisted of some hundred persons I was at that time of twelve years of age but through my Fathers cost and care sufficiently instructed to become an Auditor of Chevallerius in Hebrew of Beroaldus in Greek of Calvin and Beza in Divinity and of some other Professors in that University which was newly then erected besides my domestick Teachers in the house of Philibertus Saracenus a famous Physitian in that City with whom I was boarded where Robertus Constantinus that made the Greek Lexicon read Homer to me 3. In the first of Queen Elizabeth my Father returned and setled his dwelling in the City of London It was not long after that I was sent away from thence to the University of Oxford recommended to the teaching and tuition of Doctor Humphrey In the year 1563 I took the degree of Batchellor of Arts within which year I was chosen Probationer of Merton Colledge and the next year ensuing admitted Fellow Afterwards in the year 1565 by special perswasion of some of my Fellows and for my private exercise I undertook the publick reading of a Greek Lecture in the same Colledge-Hall without requiring or expecting any stipend for it Neverthelesse it pleased the Fellowship of their own accord to allow me soon after four marks by the year and ever since to continue the Lecture to that Colledge 4. In the year 1566 I proceeded Master of Arts and read for that year in the School-streets natural Philosophy After which time within lesse than three years space I was won by intreaty of my best affected friends to stand for the Proctorship to which I and my Colleague were quietly elected in the year 1569 without any competition or counter-suit of any other After this for a long time I supplied the Office of University-Oratour and bestowed my time in the study of sundry faculties without any inclination to professe any one above the rest insomuch as at last I waxed desirous to travel beyond the Seas for attaining to the knowledg of some special modern Tongues and for the encrease of my experience in the managing of affairs being wholly then addicted to employ my self and all my cares in the publick service of the State 5. After my return in the year 1585 I was employed by the Queen to the King of Denmark and to the German Princes Next to Henry the third King of France After this in 88 for the better conduct of her Highnesse Affairs in the Provinces United I was thought a fit person to reside in those parts and was sent thereupon to the Hague in Holland where according to the Contract that had formerly pass'd between her Highnesse and the States I was admitted for one of their Council of Estate taking place in their Assemblies next to Count Maurice and yielding my suffâ—age in all that was proposed During all that time what approbation was given of my painful endeavours by the Queen by the Lords in England by the States of the Countrey there and by all the English Soldiery I refer it to be notified by some others Relation 6. I received from her Majesty many comfortable Letters of her gracious acceptance of my diligence and care and among the Lords of the Council had no man more
in Germany where all the Nobility attended him the Great Seal of England was carried before him and the Emperour observing his Commission and Honour met him with his whole Train and harangued it with him no less then two days He that over-ruled Empires might well presume on Subjects and no sooner therefore doth he return then by his own Authority he levieth four shillings in the pound of every man that was worth fifty pound per annum and when that would not do pretending to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen that he had been upon his Knees to revoke those Commissions other Letters for a Benevolence which lost him as much in the Countrey as his Reformation of the Houshold did him at Court But the King employeth him to France as his Second and takes his leave of him as his intimate Friend 1200 Horse attended him Calice Bullein Amiens honour him with the name of The Peaceable Cardinal and the Statue of a Cardinal Rescuing a Church and a Pope from danger Cardinal Wolsey going over to France upon an extraordinary Embassy had for his Attendance Tonstal Bishop of London the Lord Sands late Chamberlain the Earl of Derby Sir Tho. More Sir H. Guilford and 200 Horse and was met two days journey from Paris by King Francis and his mother carrying with him 140000 l. though silver was but 20 d. an ounce to assist that King in the War against Charles the fifth and furnished with such a Plenipotentiary Commission that he gave Law to France and the Popedome and he comported himself with such dexterity and high wisdome that all the Princes of Christendom who had their eyes fixed upon him admired him The King gave him many places and he bestowed on him his magnificent Palaces fitting his humour with pleasant habitations and he suited his ambition with power and authority But the King broke with him at last about the divorce being vexed with so many delays defers retardings and prorogations between two Popes Clement that was and Wolsey that would be yet rather eased him of his burdens then deprived him of his preferments continuing him Bishop of York and Durham when he turned him out of his Chancellourship of England where he lived rather like a Prince then a Priest providing as magnificently for his Installation as a King should for his Coronation which unseasonable ambition was improved by his enemies malice and the Kings jealousie to his ruine for in the midst of his solemnities he is arrested by the Kings order whose wrath was the Messenger of Death and in his way to London being distracted between hope and fear died at Leicester giving his servants large rewards upon condition they served none but the King and breathing out his soul in words to this purpose viz. If I had served the God of heaven as faithfully as I did my Master on earth he had not forsaken me in my old age as the other hath done he died swelling in his body as he had done in his mind When good men die suddainly it is said they are poysoned and when the bad fall unexpectedly as he did it is said they poyson themselves He died unpitied because he had lived feared being the great Bias of the Christian world Too suddain prosperity in the beginning undoeth us in the end while we expect all things flowing upon us as at first we remit our care and perish by neglecting Every head cannot bear wine nor every spirit a fortune Success eats up Circumspection How many a man had ended better if he had not begun so well It 's the Emphasis of misery to be too soon happy Prosperity growing up with experience takes a man in a firm settlement inured to all events I will ever suspect the smooth waters for deepness in my worst estate I will hope in the best I will fear in all I will be circumspect and still Rufiling Ambition reacheth great Honours a Sedate Humility supports it the Lower the Basis the higher and stronger the Pyramide Love the Issue of Humility guardeth the weakest Hatred the Daughter of Pride ruines the strongest Ego Rex meus was good Grammar for Wolsey a School-master but not for the Cardina a States-man to be humble to Superiours is duty to Equals is courtesies to Inferiours nobleness and to all safety it being a vertue that for a her lowliness commandeth those souls it stoop to In a word as I love Vertue so I hate Vice for her inside and her end Cardinal Wolsey 〈◊〉 famous for two things that he never spoke a word too much and but one too little Observations on the Life of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk SIr William Brandon dying in King Henry the seventh's service no wonder if his son lived in his favour it being as prudent to continue his Loyal spirit in his son as it was just to reward it He was as intimate with Henry the eighth in his pleasures when a childe as in his counsels when a man There was a sympathy between their active spirits which improved the familiarity of their tender years to a firm friendship in their age at a Tilting in Paris to which many young Noble-men were licensed to go Brandon overcame others every day and one day himself against a Gyant Almain where the Lords looked not on him with more envious then the Ladies with gracious eyes who saith my Author darted more glances in love then the other did spears in anger against him He is the compleat Courtier in whom Beauty and Valour Mars and Venus are joyned in one happy constitution which awes and allures Beholders Being employed to bring over Queen Mary King Lewis the twelfth's Relict to her Brother he won her to himself whether his affections were so ambitious as to climb up to her or hers so humble as to condescend to him may be the subject of a more amorous discourse and considering with himself that matters of this nature are never sure till finished that so Royal an opportunity happened but seldome and that leave for such an enterprize was easier gained when it 's done then when doing he humbly requested his Majesty to give way to that Match which was indeed already concluded who after some State-discontent was quickly pleased the Duke being no less esteemed by him for many years then he was beloved by the people His Genius was more Martial then Mercurial and we hear of him oftner in the French Wars then in the English Councils Being vexed with the delays at Rome and the delusions at Bridewel where the Cardinals proceeded according to their instructions at Rome one day he knocks on the Table in the presence of the two Cardinals and binds it with an Oath That it was never well in England since Cardinals had any thing to do therein and from that time forward as an active Instrument he endeavoured the abolishing of the Popes power in England against whom he was not more active in the Parliament 1534 then he was vigilant in
his Memory his Standard was born in the Fore-ward all this Expedition A Person in whom Prudence was even with Activity Resolution with Prudence 〈◊〉 Success with Resolution Moderation with Success Honour and Favour with All. Observations on the Life of Sir Thomas Darcy SIr Thomas Darcy was one of King Henry the Eighth's first Counsellours so advanced as most of his Fellows not for Affection but Interest owing his Promotion to his own sufficiency rather then his Masters favour His Counsel was weighty at Home his Assistance necessary Abroad where in behalf of Pope Julius the second and the Emperour he did more with 1500 Archers in a year for the ballancing of Europe then had been done before in an Age. No Employment so dangerous at that time as that of the Warden of the West Marches of Scotland none so able for that Employment as my Lord who was equally knowing and stout and at once most feared and most loved The Earl of Shrewsbury made some Inroads into Scotland the Lord Darcy seconds him But being surprized by the Duke of Albany's preparations he had as much Wit to make Peace as he had Resolution to carry on the War None knew better when to yeild none better when to conquer so great a command had he over himself so great over the Enemy that he brought them to request his Wish and offer what was his Interest With the Duke of Surrey's assistance by Land and Fitz-Williams his by Sea he reduced that Nation to a good Inteligence with Us that year and a Peace the next a Peace as he observed that would be no longer kept then we had a Sword in our Hands and an Army on their Borders For Conscience guided other parts of the World he said and Fear Scotland Whence he invaded them duely once a year Observations on the Life of Sir Thomas Howard SIr Edward's Brother in Worth as well as Blood His Fathers Interest set him up and his own Industry kept him so All the Children were brought up for Sea-Services this Gentleman for Sea-Commands He immediately succeeds his younger Brother in the Admiralty and wisely considering the advantage of the French Gallies in a calm the number of their ships the danger of their windes for us if they blew Southwest desired of the King so many Souldiers a◠might man the ships and make good the landing wherewith he scoured the seas and secured the Kings passage with so much Honour that he was able to assist his Father at Court as much as Wel 〈…〉 did Fox his Gallantry being no less pleasing to his Master then the other young Favourites Compliance and both these young men had no less Art to govern this Prince then he had to govern his Kingdom These Arts which all other Favourites use being Hopes and Fears which as Doors and Passages to the heart are so guarded by their vigilancy that they can both let themselves in and keep all others out the two Ends upon which the Thread of Government depends His Father is made Duke of Norfolk and he Earl of Surrey both are an eye-sore to the Cardinal whose Fortune had no Superior in the Kings Favour whose Ambition would endure no Equal The Old Mans years and cares are fitted with a Retirement in the Country the Young Mans ambition and activity with a Government in Ireland which he reduced as speedily to obedience notwithstanding Desmond's Rebellion as he had to civility had it not been for Wolsey's Underminings who endured no publick service but what he did himself and would chuse rather that the Kingdom should perish by a Traytor then be saved by a Nobleman Beloved he was by that Countrey where he left a Peace and a Parliament Anno 1521. so that they were loth to part with him Wanted he was by the King to scour the narrow seas for the French War so that he must have him The King had made him formerly His Admiral the Emperour upon his return from England makes him his and with both their Commissions he lands in Normandy wastes the adjacent Countries sparing onely Religious Houses takes and sacks Morlais in Bretaign which he entered under the smoak burns their ships commands the sea and sets the Emperour safe in Spain advising his Majesty from thence to make a general Muster of his Subjects for his own satisfaction and others terrour March 27 1522. The troubles in Scotland required an able Head and a stout Heart two Endowments that no man was more Master of then the Earl of Surrey now Duke of Norfolk upon his beloved Fathers decease whose Prudence toyled the Scots to deliver up their King as his Prowess frighted them to yeild up themselves as they did in that most exquisite Treaty where the Earl of Worcester beat the Bush saith my noble Author and our Duke catched the Hare A while after he is Earl Marshal and Embassador to King Francis about those two grand points 1. That the French King should set up a Patriarch 2. That he should stop up all the payments made to Rome with fair promises of that supply of men and money he then most wanted When the Pope stuck to Queen Katharine three things he advised the King to 1. To teach the people that a general Council was above the Pope and proclaim that he did appeal to it 2. To fix upon every Church-Door the Dowagers Appeal to Rome and the late Statute against it 3. To consederate with the Kings of Hungary and Poland the Estates of the Empire and the Hanse Towns Three things that would settle his People at home and strengthen his Interest abroad To which he added the Statute of Succession the Oath of Supremacy sir Howard's Embassy to the Scotch King the suppression of Religious Houses the War in Ireland under sir William Sheffington and a thorow search into the bottom of the Rebellion in the North by a connivance and delay But all his services could not quit him from suspicion nor his popularity from envy The Lord Darcy accuseth him to excuse himself and Cromwel seconds him to secure himself and as unhappinesses follow one another in the same order as one wave floweth after another his Nieces miscarriages threatned his fall but that the honest man as appears from a Letter the whole Council sent to sir William Paget then resident in France was the first that declared against her and put the King upon the most safe and honourable ways of trying her which satisfied his Majesty so far that he employed him as chief in the Treaty upon the Borders and General in the War when that Treaty failed Sir Anthony Brown upon his Recommendation being added to the Commissioners in Scotland and to the privy-Privy-Council in England as Master of the Kings Horse as Sir John Gages was Comptroller of his House Several Persons came to London for a Reward of their Scotch services this Duke gave the King a wary and grave counsel to bestow upon them as much Land as they could win in
Charity Observations on the Life of Sir Thomas Wentworth SIr Tho. Wentworth of Nettlested in Suffolk so a younger Family confessed by the Crescent in his Coat descended from the Wentworths of Wentworth-wood-house in York-shire and was created Baron Wentworth by King Henry 8. He was a stout and valiant Gentleman a cordial Protestant and his Family a Sanctuary of such Professors John Bale comparing him to the good Centurion in the Gospel and gratefully acknowledging him the cause of his conversion from a Carmelite The memory of this good Lord is much but unjustly blemished because Calis was lost the last of Queen Mary under his Government The manner was huddled up in our Chronicles least is best of bad business whereof this is the effect The English being secure by reason of the last Conquest at St. Quintin and the Duke of Guise having notice thereof he sate down before the Town at the time not when Kings go forth to but return from battle of mid-winter even upon New-years-day Next day he took the two Forts of Risebank and Newman-bridge wherein the strength of the City consisted but whether they were undermined or undermoneyed it is not decided and the last left most suspitious Within three days the Castle of Calis which commanded the City and was under the command of Sir Ralph Chamberlain was taken the French wading through the Ditches made shallower by their artificial cut and then entring the Town were repulsed back by Sir Anthony Ager Marshal of Calis the onely man saith Stow who was killed in the fight understand him of note others for the credit of the business accounting fourscore lost in that service The French re-entring the City the next day being Twelfth-day the Lord Wentworth Deputy thereof made but vain resistance which alas was like the wrigling of a Worms tayl after the head thereof is cut off so that he was forced to take what terms he could get viz. That the Towns-men should depart though plundered to a Groat with their lives and himself with 49 more such as the Duke of Guise should chuse should remain prisoners to be put to ransome This was the best news brought to Paris and worst to London for many years before It not onely abated the Queens chear the remnant of Christmas but her mirth all the days of her life Yet might she thank her self for loosing this Key of France because she hung it by her side with so slender a string there being but five hundred Souldiers effectually in the Garison too few to manage such a piece of importance The Lord Wentworth the second of June following was solemnly condemned for Treason though unheard as absent in France which was not onely against Christian charity but Roman justice Festus confessing it was not fashionable amongst them to deliver any man to die before he which is accused have the accusers face to face and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him It was well for this Lord that he was detained in France till his ransome was paid and Queen Mary dead who otherwise probably had lost his life if he had had his liberty But Queen Elizabeth coming to the Crown he found the favour or rather had the justice to be tryed again and was acquitted by his Peers finding it no treachery cowardise or carelessness in him but in Sir John Harlston and Sir Ralph Chamberlain the one Governour of Risebank the other of Calis-Castle for which they were both condemned to die though their judgement was remitted This Lord was the onely person I have read of who thus in a manner played Rubbers when his head lay at stake and having lost the fore recovered the after-game He died a very aged man 1594. Thus far Mr. Fuller Two ways a Courtier advanceth himself the first that more leisurely slow though sure of watching Offices Preferments and Dignities that may by steps bring them to the Kings presence The second that more quick and short but most practised of following the Court for such extraordinary Commissions and particular services to the Empire as may without the danger of delays that must be fatal amidst so many Competitors recommend him to his favour It was below Sir Thomas his Estate to stoop to that first method it suited more with his activity to embrace the second Two usually-inconsistent qualities he had The closeness of an Agent and The Valour of a Souldier To Rome he was sent in disguise and to Treport with an Army so graceful his carriage so insinuating his affability so clear and well-weighed his discourse so searching and comprehensive his judgement so gravely Aiery so Majestically pleasant his countenance so becoming his gate and apparel so watchful his Negotiations so winning his Addresses so discreetly smart his Reparties darting a suddain lustre and vigour to the darkness and heaviness of his graver Discourses neither common nor unsavoury neither affected nor far-fetched neither abusive of others nor mis-becoming himself so discreet and well-managed his complaisance with reference to circumstances person place time matter and cause that he had Cardinal Senhault's Secretary to bring him to the Popes Closet the Emperours Agent Randolphus to introduce him to Court that he won Fryar paul to shew him the mysteries of the Church Engineer Palvino to represent the Popes Cities Towns Fortifications Havens Harbours Antiquities Seminaries Exercises Ships Treasure Armories Arsenals Magaâ—ines having always by him a Card of the Territories and the Popes Bedchamber-man to shew him all the Papers and Transactions that concerned Henry the eighth So well experienced his Conduct so well disciplined his Army so watchful and industrious his Nature so good his pay though he pawned as once in Normandy his own Estate to satisfie his Souldiers so noble his rewards of valour and service it being his rule That every man should enjoy as much as he could conquer so prevalent his example that he did more with 2000 men in three moneths then the Duke of Suffolk had done with 8000 in three years The Duncery and idleness of the Monks in his time as he writes himself made Erasmus a Student the sloth and carelesness of Commanders in Sir Thomas his time made him a Souldier Edward the third of England having sent to France to demand the Crown by Maternal Right the Council there sent him word That the Crowe of France was not tied to a Distaff To which he replyed That then be would tie it to his Sword Sir Thomas Wentworth demanding Normandy in right of the Dukes thereof Kings of England was told That Dukedomes were never given away in France by the Wills of the Dead Nay then replyed he we will have them against the Wills of the Living It 's written of our Henry the fifth that he had something of Caesar in him which Alexander the Great had not That he would not be Drunk and something of Alexander the Great which Caes 〈…〉 had not That he would not be Flattered Sir Th
or Military suitable to the occasion all charges to be defrayed from the English Exchequer His Pension was two hundred and twenty pounds a year his Circuit waâ— France the Netherlands and Italy his Commission was to engage any knowing person of those respective Courts that could transcribe their Edicts or Orders give exact Intelligence make any Interest or had any influence upon their respective Governments His Rules were 1. To correspond with his Majesties Agents 2. To have few and choice Acquaintance 3. To make Collections of and Observations upon the Histories the Laws Customs and the most considerable Statesmen Governours and Great men with their Relations and Dependencies in those Courts 4. To give a monthly account of such Remarques as occurred at large to the Secretary and in brief to the King and Cardinal His first undertaking was in France where his Gravity was too severe beyond the dalliances of that place His next was to Italy where he shewed as great a reach in countermining as the inhabitants of that place do in managing their plot None designs saith the Character further off then the Italian None seeth said Sir Tho. Audley further off then Sir John Mason His last voyage was to Spain where he out grav'd the Don Himself and then returned with the Italians quickness the Spaniards staidness the Frenchmans Ayr the Germans Resolution and the Dutchmans Industry Qualities that demonstrated he understood other Countreys and could serve his own There this pregnant Gentleman being at some distance could look more inwardly into the Constitution Situation Interest State and Complexion of his own Countrey and being near could discern those of other parts with the mutual aspect of England upon them and theirs upon it They that lived in those times say that none understood the affairs of England and France together with their mutual advantages or disadvantages better than Sir John Mason He that had seen the mysteries of four Courts might be trusted with those of one as he was in King Henry the Eighth's time in the capacity of a Privy Counsellour and in Edward the Sixth's in the Trust of chief Secretary At the Board none clearer in his Proposals in his Office none quicker for Dispatch Let me hear Sir John Mason said the King Let us to Sir John Mason said the Subjects so much the reputation of his prudent integrity with the one and of his familiar access with the other Four things he said kept him in under all the Revolutions during the four Princes Reigns whom he served 1. That he thought few Things would save a man 2. That he was always intimate with the exactest Lawyer and ablest Favourite 3. That he spake little and writ less 4. That he had attained to something which each party esteemed serviceable to them and was so moderate that all thought him their own When a compleat man he was called home to be first Clerk of the Council a place of great Trust secondly Secretary of State a place of great Employment thirdly Master of the Requests an Office of great Dispatch and Business and fourthly Treasurer of the Houshold an Employment of constant care No Age wanted an able man more no Age had one more willing to secure the Universities than that which chose him to be Chancellour of Oxford at the same time that his Prince made him Treasurer of the Houshold Sacriledge it self then gaping after the University-Lands durst not tempt so honest a Man nor perswade so great a Scholar nor fright so resolute a Statesman to betray or yeild up those ancient Encouragements of Learning and Vertue Loth was Oxford to part with him when a Scholar glad to entertain him a Statesman with a power to protect her well tempered with Obligations to love her he who is now the Father being lately the Son maintained by a part of it as he now maintained the whole That was a scrambling time when it was catch who catch can I finde not any particular favour conferred or benefaction bestowed by him in person on the University but this great good he did That his Greatness kept others from doing any harm Many hungry Courtiers had hopes to catch Fish and Fish it would be whatever came into their Nets on this turning of the tide and alteration of Religion How easie was it for covetousness in those times to quarrel the Colledge-Lands into superstition Sacriledge stood ready to knock at their Gates and alas 't was past their Porter's power to forbid it enterance had not Sir John Mason vigorously opposed it and assisted the University on all occasions He inciteth them to the study of the Tongues because sensum alicujus rei non potest ille assequi qui rudis est Idiomatis quo traditur and directed the reading of Aristotle Agricola Melancâ—bon c. instead of Scotus Burleus Bricot calling for all their Charters Donations Satutes Popes Bulls with an exact Rental of their Lands and Inventory of their Goods which were restored intire and safe The University that could not enjoy his presence craves his protection and foreseeing in the fall of Abbeys their danger especially when Foundations erected for superstition were given by statute to the King chose Sir John Mason their Chancellour who was at once a Favourite of Power and of Learning the greatest Lay-Statesman that was a Scholar and the greatest Scholar that was a Lay-States-man He was not contented to secure but he must improve Oxford gaining it New Priviledges when it feared the loss of its old ones A grave and reserved man he was who understood the Intrigues and Motions of those dark and uncertain times and his nimble and present Prudence could accommodate them His Maxime was Do and say nothing Commending the active and close man whose performances were as private coherent continued and suddain as his counsels who would not spend that time in advising that would serve for executing Many were his pensions to Scholars at home more to Agents abroad that assisted either his studies or employments whom he designed an honour to his middle and a support to his old age He had a peculiar way of satisfying suiters by plain dealing and dispatch he would divide all suits either into matter of Equity or a suit of Controversie or into matter of Desert or a suit of Petition In the first he had his Referrendaries to see the matter compounded between both Parties rather then carried by either In the second he preferred all suitably to their Abilities No man understood better the nature of Court-places than he and none saw further into Court-Persons Two things he said always promoted a matter 1. Secresie Boasting which is the way of some Courtiers though it discourageth some Competitors yet it awakeneth Others 2. Timing of it with an Eye to those about us He would advise a Man to begin with a little and mean suit For though as my Lord Bacon observes iniquum petas aquum feras is a good Rule where a man hath
Study and a very great Experience qualities separated in others but united in him Nature will out Education is rude Education without Resolution is loose Resolution without Experience is heady Experience grounded upon particular Events is uncertain without the study of General and Immoveable Principles Knowledge of things in their sources and original causes without Nature is a Burden All these without Exercise are a Notion This Nobleman thus furnished derived much Honor from his Ancestors more to them ennobling that Blood to a Glory which some had debased to a Blush That great Name after four hundred years shining in that Honour with various lustre setting in him as the Sun he bore with a full splendour The last effort of Nature is a Master-piece the last blaze of the Candle a shine Other Noblemen were made King Edward's Overseers for their Integrity he one of his Assistants for his Ability When an Enemy was to be awed to a submission he was General such his Fame When the Countrey was to be obliged to a loan he was Agent such his Popularity The first advanced him to the Comptrollership under Henry the Eighth the second to the Chamberlainship under Edward the Sixth Nature hath provided that ravenous Beasts should not associate leâ—t they should be too hard for it and Government that prime Counsellours should not agree leâ—t they overthrow it Warwick envied the Protectors Greatness and Arundel would limit his Power both with the rest of the Council declare against him But leâ—t he should urge the same things against Warwick that he did against Somerset they who love the Treason bu 〈…〉 hate the Traytor turn him first out of Favour and then out of Council until Queen Maries time when he as an antient Nobleman of England tha 〈…〉 owned no upstart-designs against the old way of succession stood for her Right and as a stiff Catholique promoted her Religion So that July 21 1553. he came from the Queen to Cambridge where the Duke of Northumberland was and entering his Chamber the Duke fell at his feet desiring him for Gods sake to consider his case who had done nothing but by Warrant from the Council My Lord said the Earl I am sent hither by the Queen to arrest you And I said the Duke obey your Arrest beseeching your mercy for what I did by Commission You should have thought of that sooner said the Earl Here you might have seen at once the vicissitude of Fortune the frailty of Man the dejectedness of Guilt the bravery of Innocence who would neither be trampled on by Greatness nor trample on Misery of an equal temper between pity and resolution As long as his Youth bore it we finde him for Action but when years came upon him we finde him in Council as with Wotton 〈◊〉 the great Treaty at Cambray Yet not so unactive but that as Sir William Pickering for his sweet Demeaner so he for his Estate was voiced an Husband to Queen Elizabeth When the rest of the Council were for dealing with the Queen of Scots underhand and at distance he was for treating with her plainly and said in the Queens presence The wisdom of the former Age was so provident that it needed not and so plain that it endured not shifts Leicester would perswade the Duke of Norfolk to court the Queen of Scots but Arundel would not hear of it without the Queen of England's consent Experience is always wary yet hath its weaknesses wherein it may be surprized For this Noblemans Kindness to his Friend balancing his Duty to his Mistriss brought him the Earl of Southampton the Lords Lumley Coâ—ham Piercy c. to a Praemunire whereupon he said He is never wise that is not distrustful Fear that betrayeth the succours of Reason when predominant guardeth them when moderate and is more safe though not so Noble as that valiant confidence that bequeaths a dilated Freedom to all faculties and senses But of all his Actions this is most remarkable Treating with the Scots he writ to his Majesty King Henry the Eighth what he had gained already requiring to know his further pleasure The King takes advice with his Council who all agree that the Peace should be concluded Whereupon the King caused his Secretary the Lord Paget to write to him to that purpose but withal he called Mr. Cecil secretly to him bidding him tell my Lord That whatsoever he had written in his Letter yet with all speed possible he should break the Treaty Mr. Cecil replying That a message by word of mouth being contrary to his Letter would never be believed Well said the King do you tell him as I bid you and leave the doing of it to his choice Upon Mr. Cecil's arrival the Earl of Arundel shewed the other Commissioners as well the Message as the Letter they are all for the Letter he said nothing but ordered that the Message should be written before and signed by his fellow-Commissioners and thereupon immediately broke up the Treaty sending Cecil with the advertisement of it to the King Who as soon as he saw him asked aloud What will he do it or no Cecil replied That his Majesty might understand that by the inclosed But then the King half angry urged Nay tell me Will be do it or no Being then told it was done he turned to the Lords and said Now You will hear news The fine Treatie is broken Whereto one presently answered That he who had broke it deserved to lose his Head to which the King straightly replied That He would lose a dozen such heads as his was that so judged rather than one such Servant as had done it and therewith commanded the Earl of Arundel's Pardon should be presently drawn up the which he sent with Letters of Thanks and assurance of Favour Five things must a Statesman comprehend 1. The Law 2. The Government 3. The Time 4. The People And 5. The Prince Under an active Prince you must regard the Prerogative under an easie one the Law under a compleat one made up of a just measure of Greatness and Goodness those two things are distinguished onely in the nice discourses of some Speculative being but one great Rule in the solid actions of that Prince Observations on the Life of Sir John Dudley Duke of Northumberland HIs favour was first purchased by his Fathers blood and improved by his own cunning King Henry sacrificed Sir Edmund Dudly to allay the Peoples rage and raised his Son to appease his Ghost He that disobligeth a multitude must fall himself but he that in so doing serveth his King may advance his Posterity Something high he was in the Kings favour because standing on his fathers Grave but higher as he stood on his own Merit He knew his Fathers service made his way to favour his own Education therefore must prepare him for employment Favour without Parts is a reproach Parts without favour are a burden The King restored him to his Fathers blood and his own
prudent then the opening of it and judging it more wisdome to satisfie the world with the old Law That the Crown takes away all defects then to perplex it with new disputes Whether Queen Elizabeth were Legitimate State-miscarriages are rather to be privately connived at then publickly redressed the remedy it may be doing no more service then putting the people in minde of the mishap He neither affected nor attained to Greatness Mediocria firma was his Principle and his Practice When Queen Elizabeth asked him Why his House was so little he answered Madam my House is not too little for me but you have made me too big for my House Give me said he a good Estate rather then a great one He had a very Quaint saying saith Robert Naunton and he used it often to very good purpose That he loved the Jest well but not the loss of his Friend He would say That though unusqnisque suae fortunae faber was a true and good Principle yet the most in number were those that marred themselves but I will never forgive that man that looseth himself to be rid of his Jest The Excellency of his Parts was set off with the Gravity of his Person and the Queen would say My Lord Bacon ' s Soul lodgeth well His Account of England and all its Affairs was punctual his use of learned Artists was continual his correspondence with his fellow-States-men exact his apprehension of our Laws and Government clear his Model of both methodical his faithfulness to the Church eminent his industrious invention for the State indesatigable He was in a word a Father of his Country and of Sir Francis Bacon Sir Nicholas Bacon was that moderate man that was appointed to preside at the Disputation between the Protestant and Popish Doctors in the first of Queen Elizabeth He was that Judicious States-man to whom was trusted the management of that Parliament and Convocation The satisfaction of the People and Kingdome and those Delatory Proceedings with France Spain and Rome that were at the bottom of the great work of Reformation and settlement at that time Observations on the Life of William Cecil Lord Burleigh WIlliam Cecil was born with the advantage of being Cecil's Son who was of the Robes to King Henry and a Legatee in his Will and bred with that of being Commoner of St. Johns in Cambridge and Student at the Innes of Court in London whence he was advanced by his Pregnancy to serve the Duke of Somerset in quality of Master of Requests as he was afterwards by his Master to attend King Edward the sixth in the capacity of Secretary of State where he furnished all Acts and Orders with Reasons of State as he had them fitted by able Lawyers with Arguments of Law He loved always they say to wrap the Prerogative in the Laws of the Land He was constant but not obstinate in his Advice As the Planets are whirled about dayly from East to West by the motion of the Primum Mobile yet have a contrary motion of their own from West to East which they slowly yet surely move at their leisures so our States-man though yeilding in some things to Greatness of some Persons in an Age wherein it was present drowning not to swim against the stream Yet had he his counter-endeavours against the prevailing strain and privately advanced his rightful Intentions against others wrongful Ambitions If dissenting from his Superiours he did it with all humility and moderation yet chusing always rather to displease then betray He was in much favour with King Edward in some with Queen Mary in most with Queen Elizabeth who though sparing of her Honours yet heaped on him the trust of Secretary of State the Profits of the Master of the Wards the Advancement of Lord Treasurer and the degree of Baron of Burleigh for as he followed the Marquess of Winchester in his Employment so he did in his Complyance When he was out of Place he was not out of service in Queen Mary's days his Abilities being as necessary in those times as his Inclination and that Queens Council being as ready to advance him at last as they were to use him all her Reign In Queen Elizabeth's time he setled the Crown by setling Religion and by an utter separation from Rome strengthened England He made equal use of those that were then Protestants by Interest and they who were so in Conscience Those that had affections for Church-lands and those that had affections for the Church The Pope would by a Bull confirm the sale of Abby-Lands But who said Burleigh can confirm the Popes Bull The King of Spain secured the Queen in hope of her Bed the Pope winked at her in hope of her Heart Burleigh over-reached the one by a fair complaysance and the other by insensible alterations During the Queens ten years calm Cecil provided for a tempest and improved her Shipping and Ammunition to a dreadfulness at Sea as he did her Army to a great skill and experience by Land He made Holland our Stage of War and our School of Discipline where England gained the security and experience of War without its calamity and desolations always Offensive and once onely Defensive His Intelligence abroad was no less then his Prudence at home and he could write to a friend in Ireland what the King of Spain could do for two years together and what he could not do His Advices from his Pensioners abroad were presented Queen Elizabeth once a fortnight 1. clearly and plainly 2. methodically and distinctly 3. speedily and seasonably 4. truly and fully He exchanged his Interest for Walsinghams Intelligence who commanded what he could do as he did what the other knew The Bull clapped at London-house was first in our States-mans Study where they might learn what they were to do and Protestants what to expect many years before any thing was visible When Leicester would have no Equal and Sussex no Superiour then Cecil as Neuâ—er served himself of them both He would wrestle with neither of them yet he would trip them both they having many rubs in their way yet never saw who laid them He never quarrelled with any neither saith Cambden did he ever sue or was he ever sued Prudens qui Patiens was his saying before it was Sir Edward Cookes Motto and he had rather tire out Opposition by his Moderation then improve it by his Impatience Others were raised to balance Factions he to support the Kingdome Fickle Favour tossed them constant Interest secured him No fewer then the Marquess of Winchester the Duke of Norfolk the Earls of Northumberland Arundel Pembroke Leicester and Westmorland contrived his fall but reason of State and his Mistress kept up his standing Sir Nicholas Throgmorton advised them to clap him up saying That then men would open their mouths to speak freely against him but the Queen understanding hereof and standing as I may say saith my Author in the very prison-door quashed
to friend then was the Lord Treasurer Burleigh For when occasion had been offered of declaring his conceit as touching my service he would always tell the Queen which I received from her self and some other Ear-witnesses that there was not any man in England so meet as my self to undergo the Office of the Secretary And sithence his son the present Lord Treasurer hath signified unto me in private conference that when his Father first intended to advance him to that place his purpose was withal to make me his Colleague But that the daily provocations of the Earl of Essex were so bitter and sharp against him and his comparisons so odious when he put us in a balance as he thought thereupon he had very great reason to use his best means to put any man out of hope of raising his fortune whom the Earl with such violence to his extream prejudice had endeavoured to dignifie 7. When I had well considered how ill it did concur with my natural disposition to become or to be counted either a stickler or partaker in any publick faction how well I was able by Gods good blessing to live of my self if I could be contented with a competent livelihood I resolved thereupon to possess my soul in peace all the residue of my days to take my farewel of State-employments and so to retire me from the Court. 8. Now although after this by her Majesties direction I was often called to the Court by the now Lord Treasurer then Secretary and required by him and also divers times since by order from the King to serve as Ambassador in France and to negotiate in other very honourable employments yet I would not be removed from my former final resolution but have continued at home my retired course of life which is now methinks to me as the greatest preferment the State can afford 9. This I must confesse of my self that though I did never repent me yet of my often refusals of honourable offers in respect of enriching my private Estate yet somewhat more of late I have blamed my self and my nicety that way for the love that I bear to my Reverend Mother the University of Oxford and to the advancement of her good by such kinde of means as I have since undertaken 10. Having examined what course I might take I concluded at the last to set up my staffe at the Library door being throughly perswaded that in my solitude and surcease from the Common-wealth affairs I could not busie my self to better purpose then by reducing that place which then in every part lay ruined and waste to the publick use of Students 11. For the effecting whereof I found my self furnished in a competent proportion of such four kinds of aids as unlesse I had them all there was no hope of good successe For without some kinde of knowledge as well in the learned modern Tongues as in sundry other sorts of Scholastical literature without some purse-ability to go through with the charge without very great store of honourable friends to further the design and without special good leisure to follow such a work it could but have proved a vain attempt and inconsiderate 12. But how well I have sped in all my endeavours and how full provision I have made for the benefit and ease of all frequenters of the Library that which I have already performed in fight That besides which I have given for the maintenance of it and that which hereafter I purpose to add by way of enlargement to that place for the project is cast and whether I live or die it shall be God willing put in full execution will testifie so truly and abundantly for me as I need not to be the publisher of the dignity and worth of mine own institution Writtten with mine own hand Anno 1609. Decemb. 15. Observations on the Life of Henry Vere Earl of Oxford HEnry Vere was son of Edward Vere the seventeenth Earl of Oxford and Anne Trentham his Lady whose principal habitation the rest of his patrimony being then wasted was at Heningham-Castle in Essex A vigorous Gentleman full of courage and resolution and the last Lord Chamberlain of England of this Family His sturdy naâ—ure would not bow to Court-compliants who would maintain what he spake speak what he thought think what he apprehended true and just though sometimes dangerous and distastful Once he came into Court with a great milk-white Feather about his hat which then was somewhat unusual save that a person of his merit might make a fashion The Reader may ghess the Lord who said to him in some jeer My Lord you wear a very fair Feather It 's true said the Earl and if you mark it there is ne're a Taint in it Indeed his Family was ever loyal unto the Crown deserving their Motto Vero nil Verius Going over one of the four English Colonels into the Low-Countries and endeavouring to raise the fiege of Breda he so over-heated himself with Marching Fighting and vexing the Designe not succeeding that he dyed after Anno Dom. 16 ...... He married Diana one of the Co-heirs of William Earl of Exeter afterwards to Edward Earl of Elgin by whom he left no Issue Observations on the Life of Sir Francis Vere SIr Francis Vere Governour of Bril and Portsmouth was of the ancient and of the most noble extract of the Earls of Oxford and it may be a question whether the Nobility of his house or the honour of his Achievements might most commend him who brought as much glory to his name as he received honour from it He was amongst his Queens Sword-men inferiour to none but superiour to many He lived oftner in the Camp than Court but when his pleasure drew him thither no man had more of the Queens favour and none lesse envied He was a Soldier of great worth and commanded thirty years in the service of the States and twenty years over the English in Chief as the Queens Generall and he that had seen the Battel of Newport might there best have taken him and his noble Brother the Lord of Tilbury to the life They report that the Qu as she loved Martial men would court this Gentleman as soon as he appeared in her presence for he seldome troubled it with the noyse and alarms of supplication his way was another sort of undermining as resolved in the Court as in the Camp as well to justifie his Patron as to serve her Majesty telling her the plain truth more sincerely than any man choosing as he said rather to fall by the malice of his enemies than be guilty of Ingratitude to his friends Yea and when he sued for the government of Portsmouth and some Grandees a objected that that place was always bestowed on Noblemen he answered There were none ennobled but by their Princes favour and the same way be took The Veres compared Veri scipiadae Duo fulmina belli SIr Francis and Sir Horace Vere sons
so many but that there may be elbow-room enough for them and for the Adventives also All which are likely to be found in the West-Indies 2. It would be also such as is not already planted by the Subjects of any Christian Prince or State nor over-neerly neighbouring to their Plantation And it would be more convenient to be chosen by some of those Gentlemen or Merchants which move first in the work than to be designed unto them from the King for it must proceed from the option of the people else it sounds like an Exile so the Colonies must be raised by the leave of the King and not by his command 3. After the place is made choice of the first step must be to make choice of a fit Governour who although he have not the name yet he must have the power of a Vice-Roy and if the person who principally moved in the work be not fit for that trust yet he must not be excluded from command but then his defect in the Governing part must be supplied by such Assistants as shall be joyned with him or as he shall very well approve of 4. As at their setting out they must have their Commission or Letters Patents from the King that so they may acknowledge their dependency upon the Crown of England and under his protection so they must receive some general instructions how to dispose of themselves when they come there which must be in nature of Lawes unto them 5. But the general Law by which they must be guided and governed must be the Common Law of England and to that end it will be fit that some man reasonably studied in the Law and otherwise qualified for such a purpose be perswaded if not thereunto inclined of himself which were the best to go thither as a Chancellor amongst them at first and when the Plantation were more setled then to have Courts of Justice there as in England 6. At the first planting or as soon after as they can they must make themselves defensible both against the Natives and against Strangers and to that purpose they must have the assistance of some able Military man and convenient Arms and Ammunition for their defence 7. For the Discipline of the Church in those parts it will be necessary that it agree with that which is setled in England else it will make a Schism and a rent in Christs Coat which must be seamless and to that purpose it will be fit that by the King 's supream power in Causes Ecclesiastical within all his Dominions they be subordinate under some Bishop and Bishoprick of this Realm 8. For the better defence against a common Enemy I think it would be best that Foreign Plantations should be placed in one Continent and neer together whereas if they be too remote the one from the other they will be dis-united and so the weaker 9. They must provide themselves of houses such as for the present they can and at more leisure such as may be better and they first must plant for Corn and Cattel c. for food and necessary sustenance and after they may enlarge themselves for those things which may be for profit and pleasure and to traffique withal also 10. Woods for shipping in the first place may doubtlesse be there had and Minerals there found perhaps of the richest howsoever the Mines out of the fruits of the earth and seas and waters adjoyning may be found in abundance 11. In a short time they may build Vessels and Ships also for Traffique with the parts neer adjoyning and with England also from whence they may be furnished with such things as they may want and in exchange or barter send from thence other things with which quickly either by Nature or Art they may abound 12. But these things would by all means be prevented That no known Bankrupt for shelter nor known Murderer or other wicked person to avoid the Law nor known Heretick or Schismatick be suffered to go into those Countreys or if they do creep in there not to be harboured or continued else the place would receive them naught and return them into England upon all occasions worse 13. That no Merchant under colour of driving a Trade thither or from thence be suffered to work upon their necessities 14. And that to regulate all these inconveniences which will insensibly grow upon them that the King be pleased to erect a subordinate Council in England whose care and charge shall be to advise and put in execution all things which shall be found fit for the good of those new Plantations who upon all occasions shall give an account of their proceedings to the King or to the Councel-board and from them receive such directions as may best agree with the Government of that place 15. That the King 's reasonable profit be not neglected partly upon reservation of moderate rents and services and partly upon Customs and partly upon importation and exportation of Merchandize which for a convenient time after the Plantation begin would be very easie to encourage the work but after it is well setled may be raised to a considerable proportion worthy the acceptation VIII I come to the last of those things which I propounded which is the Court and Curiality The other did properly concern the King in his Royal capacity as Pater patriae this more properly as Paterfamilias And herein 1. I shall in a word and but in a word onely put you in minde That the King in his own person both in respect of his Houshold or Court and in respect of his whole Kingdom for a little Kingdom is but as a great Houshold and a great Houshold as a little Kingdom must be exemplary Regis ad exemplum c. But for this God be praised our charge is easie for your gracious Master for his Learning and Piety Justice and Bounty may be and is not onely a president to his own Subjects but to foreign Princes also yet he is still but a man and seasonable Memento's may be useful and being discreetly used cannot but take well with him 2. But your greatest care must be that the great men of his Court for you must give me leave to be plain with you for so is your injunction laid upon me your self in the first place who is first in the eye of all men give no just cause of scandal either by light or vaine or by oppressive carriage 3. The great Officers of the King's Houshold had need be both discreet and provident persons both for his Honour and for his Thrift they must look both ways else they are but half-sighted Yet in the choice of them there is more latitude left to affection than in the choice of Councellors and of the great Officers of State before touched which must always be made choice of meerly out of judgement for in them the Publick hath a great interest 4. For the other Ministerial Officers in Court as for distinction
sake they may be termed there must be also an eye unto them and upon them they have usually risen in the Houshold by degrees and it is a noble way to encourage faithful service But the King must not binde himself to a necessity herein for then it will be held ex debito neither must he alter it without an apparent cause for it but to displace any who are in upon displeasure which for the most part happeneth upon the information of some great man is by all means to be avoided unlesse there be a manifest cause for it 5. In these things you may sometimes interpose to do just and good offices but for the general I should rather advise meddle little but leave the ordering of those Houshold-affairs to the White-staff which are those honourable persons to whom it properly belongeth to be answerable to the King for it and to those other Officers of the Green-cloth who are subordinate to them as a kinde of Councel and a Court of Justice also 6. Yet for the Green-cloath Law take it in the largest sense I have no opinion of it farther then it is regulated by the just Rules of the Common-Laws of England 7. Towards the support of his Majesties own Table and of the Princes and of his necessary Officers his Majesty hath a good help by Purveyance which justly is due unto him and if justly used is no great burthen to the Subject but by the Purveyors and other under-Officers is many times abused In many parts of the Kingdome I think it is already reduced to a certainty in money and if it be indifferently and discreetly managed it would be no hard matter to settle it so throughout the whole Kingdom yet to be renewed from time to time for that will be the best and safest both for the King and People 8. The King must be put in minde to preserve the Revenues of his Crown both certain and casual without diminution and to lay up treasure in store against a time of extreamity empty Coffers give an ill found and make the people many time forget their Duty thinking that the King must be beholden to them for his supplies 9. I shall by no means think it fit that he reward any of his servants with the benefit of forfeitures either by Fines in the Court of Star-Chamber or High-Commission Courts or other Courts of Justice or that they should be farmed out or bestowed upon any so much as by promise before judgement given it would neither be profitable nor honourable 10. Besides matters of serious consideration in the Courts of Princes there must be times for pastimes and disports When there is a Queen and Ladies of Honour attending her there must sometimes be Masques and Revels and Enterludes and when there is no Queen or Princess as now yet at Festivals and for entertainment of Strangers or upon such occasions they may be fit also Yet care would be taken that in such cases they be set off more with wit and activity then with costly and wasteful expences 11. But for the King and Prince and the Lords and Chivalry of the Court I rather commend in their turns and seasons the riding of the great Horse the Tilts Barriers Tennis and Hunting which are more for the health and strength of those who exercise them than in an effeminate way to lease themselves and others And now the Prince groweth up fast to be a man and is of a sweet and excellent disposition it would he an irreparable stain and dishonour upon you having that accesse unto him if you should mis-led him or suffer him to be mis-lead by any flattering Parasites The whole Kingdom hath a deep interest in his virtuous education and if you keeping that distance which is most fit do humbly interpose your self in such a case he will one day give you thanks for it 12. Yet Dice and Cards may sometimes be used for recreation when field-sports cannot be had but not to use it as a mean to spend the time much less to mis-pend the thrift of the Gamesters SIR I shall trouble you no longer I have run â—over these things as I first propounded them please you to make use of them or any of them as you shall see occasion or to lay them by as you think best and to add to them as you daily may out of your experience I must be bold again to put you in minde of your present condition you are in the quality of a Senâ—â—el if you sleep and neglect your charge you are an undone man and you may fall faster than you have risen I have but one thing more to minde you of which neerly concerns your self you serve a great and gracious Master and there is a most hopeful young Prince whom you must not desert it behoves you to carry your self wisely and evenly between them both adore not so the rising Son that you forget the Father who raised you to thâ— height nor be you so obsequious to the Father that you give just cause to the Son to suspect that you neglect him But carry your self with that judgement as if it be possible may please and content them both which truly I believe will-be no hard matter for you to do so may you live long beloved of both which is the hearty prayer of Your most obliged and devoted servant THese were his Rules and this his practice My Lord of Nottingham he bought nobly from the Admiralty his Assistant Vice-Admiral Maunsel he entertained civilly and procured that place for life which he had onely during pleasure The Warden of the Cinque-ports resigned his place seasonably the Master of the Horse gave up his preferment and his life opportunely He advanced his Relations prudently gratifying them and fortifying himself He made an excellent choice of Servants and Confederates entertained the ablest and most faithful Assistants Doctor Williams and Dr. Laud were of his Council for the Church Sir Francis Bacon for the State From the first he received frequent Schedules of Persons and Doctrines from the other constant Transcripts of Rules and Intelligence Never any man more constant to his approved friend never any more fatal to his known Enemies He was the instrument of all the Subjects services to his Soveraign and of his Sovereign's favours to his Subjects no place was bestowed without his knowledge no action passed without his approbation not an eminent man but depended on him and was subordinate to him His dispatches were many and pregnant testimonies that he was a great Master of his Time and a greater of his Method and Affairs Great he was indeed and humble too not raised by his present fortune above the sense of his former envied he was not haud applauded in the same Parliament for his services declaimed against for his preferments ever studious of the Peoples Interest which is the care if few Favourites never happy in their love which is the fate of all He approved himself
and Antiquity of whose old pieces he was the greatest Hoarder in Europe setting aside Ferdinando de Medicis grand Duke of Tuscany from whom by the mediation of Sir Henry Wotton he borrowed many an Antique Sculpture which furnished his Archives so well as we may guess by Mr. Selden's Marmora Arundeliana that as my Lord Burleigh's Library was the most compleat one for a Politician my Lord Bacon's for a Philosopher Mr. Selden's for an Historian Bishop Vsher's for a Divine my Lord of Northampton's for a Poet Mr. Oughtred's for a Mathematician Dr. Hammond's for a Grammarian or an universal Critick so the Earl of Arundel's was the best for aâ— Hearld and an Antiquary a Library not for shew but use Neither was he more in his study where he be stowed his melancholy hours than in Councel where he advised three things in reference to the Foreign troubles 1. Correspondence abroad 2. Frequent Parliaments 3. Oftner progresse into the Countries Neither was he lesse in the Field than in Council when General against the Scots the more shame that Protestants should 〈◊〉 time rebel against their King when Papists vent 〈…〉 red their lives for him After which Expedition he was ordered beyond Sea with the Queen-Mother of France 1639. when they say he looked back on England with this wish May it never have need of me It 's true some observe that the Scots who cried upon him as a Papist yet writ under hand to him their Noble Lord as they did to Essex and Holland so effectually that they had no heart to that War afterward and it is as true that thereupon a schedule was now the second time given of the parties that combined against the Government viz. 1. The busie medlers that had got the plausible trick of Haranguing since King James's time not used in Parliament from H 6. time to his 2. The covetous Landlords Inclosers Justices of the Peace that ruled in the Country and would do so in Parliament 3. Needy men in debt that durst not shew their heads in time of Peace 4. Puritans that were so troublesome against Hatton c. in Queen Eliz. dayes and under pretence of Religon overthrew all Government 5. Such Male-contents as either lost the preferment they had or had not what they were ambitious of with their Kindred and Dependants 6. Lawyers that second any attempt upon the Prerogative with their Cases Records and Antiquities 7. London Merchants that had been discovered by Cranfield and Ingram as to their cheats put upon the King in his Customes and Plantations 8. Common-wealths-men that had learned from Holland in Queen Eliz. days to pray for the Queen and the State And 9 Because there cannot be a Treason without a P such Recusants as were Hispanioliz'd whereof this Earl was none but though as a Church-Papist he had most of the Catholick Peers votes devolved on him he never bestowed them undutifully albeit sometimes stoutly and resolutely A great friend he was to all new Inventions save those that tended to do that by few hands which had been usually done by many because said he While private men busie their heads to take off the Poors employment the publick Magistrate must trouble his to finde them maintenance Either he or the Earl of Northampton used to say when asked what made a compleat man To know how to cast Accompts an accomplishment though ordinary yet might save many an Estate in England Observations on the Life of Esme Duke of Richmond GReat in his Ancestors honour greater in his own vertu and greatest of all in that like the Star he wore the higher he was the lesse he desired to seem affecting rather the 〈◊〉 than the pomp of noblenesse therefore his courtesie was his nature not his craft and his affableness not a base servile popularity or an ambitious insinuation but the native gentlenesse of his disposition and his true value of himself He was not a stranger to any thing worth knowing but best acquainted with himself and in himself rather with his weaknesses for Caution than his abilities for Action Hence he is not so forward in the traverses of War as in Treaties of Peace where his honour ennobled his cause and his moderation advanced it He and my Lord of Southampton managing the several Overtures of Peace at London Oxford and Oxbridge with such honourable freedome and prudence that they were not more deservedly regarded by their Friends than importunately courted they their Enemies who seeing they were such could not be patient till they were theirs though in â—ain their honours being impregnable as well against the Factions kindnesse as against their power At Conferences his conjectures were as solid as others judgements his strict observation of what was passed furnishing him for an happy guesse of what was to come Yet his opinion was neither variably unconstant nor obstinately immoveable but framed to present occasions wherein his method was to begin a second advice from the failure of his first though he hated doubtful suspense when he might be resolute This one great defect was his good nature that he could never distrust till it was dangerous to suspect and he gave his Enemy so much advantage that he durst but own him for his friend One thing he repented of that he advised his Majestie to trust Duke Hamilton his Adversary with the affairs of Scotland in compliance with the general opinion rather than the Marquess Huntly his friend in compliance with his own real interest an advice wherein his publick-spiritednesse superseded his particular concerns and his good nature his prudence So true is it that the honest mans single uprightnesse works in him that confidence which oft-times wrongs him and gives advantage to the subtle while he rather pities their faithlesness than repents of his credulity so great advantage have they that look onely what they may do over them that consider what they should do and they that observe onely what is expedient over them that judge onely what is lawful Therefore when those that thought themselves wise left their sinking Soveraign he stuck to his Person while he lived to his body when dead and to his cause as long as he lived himself attending the first resolutely burying the second honourably and managing the third discreetly undertaking without rashnesse and performing without fear never seeking dangers never avoiding them Although when his Friends were conquered by the Rebels he was conquered by himself retyring to that privacy where he was guessed at not known where he saw the world unseen where he made yielding a conquest where cheerful unconcerned in expectation he provided for the worst and hoped the best in the constant exercise of that Religion which he his maintained more effectually with their Examples than with their Swords doing as much good in encouraging the Orthodox by his presence as in relieving them by his bounty In a word I may say of him as Macarius doth of Justine There was no