him Reader he purposes slaughter vnder a Lambs-skinne yet seeing hee prouokes vs let vs make a publick enquirie Berneuell why doe you make no conscience so often to lie Why doe you so maliciously oppose the reformed Religion Why are you an enemy to the Ministers of your Countrey why do you extenuate their authority Why are you a hater hinderer of a future Synod Why are you a traytor to your countrey A priuate friend to the Spaniard A hunter after glory wealth A foe to the house of Nassaue Orenge A spend-thrift of the common Treasure A persecutor of all good men and fauourer of euill Will you answere mee Doe but publickly otherwise you shall be held as guiltie of all these crimes neuer so small in businesses either publique or priuate managed by mee seeme liable to the reproofe of any let that man openly speake it whosoeuer he is I craue no fauor I presume I shall conuince him and in reasonable tearmes shew him his errour It is true that according to a custome receiued in transactions of leagues and peace I receiued gifts more then the Lords condeputed with mee though they were of great estimation and of this publique notice was taken But that either (c) Hee that hath not learned to lie notably fayles in confirming his owne cause Sweare forsweare doe any thing sooner then bewray your secrets before or after the Treatie either directly or indirectly either by my selfe or any proxie I eyther did take or purposed to take any thing whatsoeuer more of the Spaniard or his complices or had the least dealing communication or treatie by my selfe or by another with the Spaniard or his confederates without publike knowledge that I solemnly auow to bee deuised fained and most contrary to the truth Furthermore it is knowne vnto you that I my selfe motioned and thought fit that the gratuities before spoken of which were bestowed on me should bee kept for the publike good benefit and some others there were who approued not hereof For the space (a) How oft haue you sung this song your repetition of the same things argues your memorie lies in your heeles of 32. yeeres in which as Aduocate of the Countrey I bestowed my paynes in your seruice I was thus much honoured that I was often intreated by the (b) What doe you meane man here is another grosse absurditie you leaue out your great friend the King of Spayne whose right challenges the first place in your Catalogue But you will say it is conditioned bewtixt vs that I should not name him but vpon the rack Excuse me I was not priuie to your crafty dealing King of France by Eliz. Queene of England both of famous and immortall memorie That I was often intreated by the King of great Brittaine the K. of Sueland the Elector Palatine of Bradenburg (c) It is suspected you had too great dealings with him and afterward through his meanes with the Spaniard the Elector of Colen in diuers occurrences and businesses concerning them to doe vnto them acceptable Offices and seruices This I did being so desired either by their Letters or Embassadors or Commissaries in such matters as might be done with the benefite of the Countrey or at least without the losse and hindrance thereof Namely and for example I laboured in the Elector of Colens behalfe that agreement might bee made betwixt him and the Arch-Dutchesse of Arschot the Countesse of Neeuweuaer the Count and Countess of Solmes euen to the finishing cōpounding of maters controuerted among them finally with the Count of Benthem for restitution of speciall Offices of the Arch-bishoprick of Colen For which seruices hee both thanked me by Letters presented me with gifts In like maner I helped other Princes Counts and forain Cities earnestly requesting mee thereto by my good counsell And thus much also was performed by me to Domestick Prouinces Commanders Counts Lords and moreouer to great societies and also to many priuate and particular persons who willingly of their owne accord acknowledged these my seruices although I neuer asked or demanded any of them any thing directly or indirectly by my selfe or by another The (d) Now he swels Reader giue him the hearing Now a stiffe gale filles his sayles lend him your best obseruance Here are great maine matters of greatest consequence and import Bragge is a good Dog still chiefe matters which I did performe for the vnited Prouinces are these (e) Hee harpes againe vpon the same string you see he dotes but he is old we must pardon him for he was a great bragger from his infancy shortly he wil leaue it First fiue times I performed a Regall Embassage and in foure Embassages the managing and (a) How the cōmonwealth was adminished by his words guidance gouernment and successe behold now he meditates direction of all things was committed vnto me and I my selfe spake to Kings face to face The first was in the yeere 85 wherein we first obtained of the Queene of England the ayde of foure thousand armed men to rayse the siege from Antwerpe afterward a promise of 5000. foote-men and a thousand horse-men the Garrison at Brill and the Forts of Flushing and Rammekens not reckoned herein because they were places and cities deliuered vp to her Maiestie as pledges for securities sake to be maintained in the time of warre The second Embassage was in the yeare 1598 to the King of France a promise was made by his Ma of paying two millions nine hundreth thousād Florens to the States within the space of 4. yeares furthermore a securitie concerning his Maiesties full and sincere purpose to preserue the good of these Dominions In my third Embassage performed the yeare premised vnto the Queene of England I (b) Paice vol figlio di padre crudele We haue a sweete sonne of so cruella Father effected that howsoeuer the King of France had couenanted a league of peace with the K. of Spayne the Archduke at Veruyns neuertheles his Maiesty was moued to deferre and suspend the like Treaty In my fourth Embassage into England a remission of the third part of the exacted debts esteemed one and twenty hundred thousand Florens was obtained of the Queenes Maiesty So that it was agreed much labour and difficultie praeceding concerning the payment of fourescore thousand pounds Flemish and the tearme of payment appointed for the halfe part viz. fortie hundred thousand pound was about twentie yeere when in the compact made in the yeere 1585 wee couenanted to pay the whole debt within the space of foure yeares and the terme when wee should paie the other halfe was delaied and put off till another time In my Embassage to the King of England at this day I obtained that the King gaue vs libertie to muster two or three thousand souldiers in Scotland for the benefit of the Prouinces and also consented that the King of France for that yere
you ouerprise your selfe You â—hould rather haue said with drudges and Kitchinâ—oyes Gentrie Nobilitie and free-Cities of Holland and West Frisland yea and the very Princes of the Countrey and the Gouernours thereof alwaies retained the name of (d) Could you chalenge the name of Aduocate-general before the warres You are taken in the manner For if this be so you were Aduocate in your â—adling cloutes or when you could not sit on a â—unch of Straw Aduocate general which it pleased the Gentrie Nobility who appeared personally in our Countries Parliaments to vse as a set Officer (a) Open your minde briefely and boldly say I was α and ω the beginning and the ending the first and the last of honourable and mighty States of all the Councels and Assemblies of all Statutes and Decrees Alter your stile and wee will subscribe you werâ— the originall of all disasters anâ— calamities especially such as happened vpon the rent and schisme in the renewed and reformed religion whose sworne enemy wee auow you The prerogatiue of my Office then consists chiefely in this viz. to haue a prioritie in all matters and to defend the Soueraignties and rights of your Honors and Excellencies and the immunities of our Countrey to haue the care of calling your publique Assemblies in them to haue a voice in all businesses to take charge of Remonstrances and Petitions tendred vnto you and to exhibite them at time conuenient to consult and deliberate with the Nobles concerning them and all other things propounded in these meetings That being done to pronounce the verdict passed either by ioynt consent or at least pluralitie of voices to be your verdict and to strengthen the same with allegations and reasons as should be most fit Afterward to demand the suffrages of free-Cities to conclude by most voices and lastly to imploy my vtmost abilitie that what then was decreed might be put in execution This Office was vacant both in Holland and West-Frisland anno 1584 where my Predecessor Paul Buys renounced and gaue it ouer Now as I with others of the Nobilitie and free-Cities of Holland and West-Frisland first went Embassadour to the Queene of England anno 1585 So was the forenamed Master Paul Buys sent Embassadour thither by the States of Vtrickes That very yeere after my returne out of England two seuerall Treaties beeing dispatched there with the Queenes Maiesties Commissaries I (a) Your perswasions shall not perswade vs to beleeue you manifested my zeale and affection towards my best deseruing Lord and Master the Prince of Orenge of famous memory (b) Now your policie shroudes itselfe in a gowne which afterward wee shall see changed into a souldiers Iacket I dealt earnestly that the Gouernment of Holland and West-Frisland might be deliuered vp to him by the worthy Lords the States of Holland and West-Frisland before the comming of the Earle of Leicester because my thoughts told mee that hee by reason of a custome receiued in Brabant and a rumour which I tooke notice of in England would make claime to it The matter was determined of by the consent of the maior part though after a canuase and much adoe Towards the end of the yeere 1585. the Earle of Leicester entered into these Regions was euery where (c) Whether doe you command â—eere the person entertained or his entertainers entertained with great triumph and at the Haighe about the beginning of the yeere 1586. ordained generall Gouernour with absolute power and authoritie Now was Master Paul Buys admitted into the Counâ—ell in behalfe of the Prouince of Vtricke Hereupon it seemed good to the Gentlemen Nobles and free-Cities of Holland and West-Frisland to reuiue the Office of Aduocate-generall of the countrey And Legates vvere sent by the Nobles and free-cities to the Gouernours thereof as also (d) A matter of import no doubt Which huffâ—puft lungs thus belches out priuately to my selfe to proffer that dignitie to mee and exempt and acquite mee of my bounden seruice to the Gouernours of Rotterdam I (a) Now for a Momus if this mans brest had a Latice window in it vrged then many reasons that they would hold mee excused As first want of money which was required in a man of that place then my desire to eschew aemulation and diuers other causes but no excuse might serue the turne Thus was I enforced to aduenture my shoulder vnder a (b) This the language of dissimulation with whom a scape passes for curraÌ„t vnder the name of coughing burden vnsought for Neuerthelesse I put in two cautions First (c) This vnderhand-packing is then most treacherous when it is couered with the cloke of honestie You sweat much in labouring to auert the suspicion of close league and intelligence betwixt your selfe and the Spaniard but credulitie it selfe will not credit you in case consultation were had of returning these Regions to the Spaniard which I feared for many weighty causes that then I would bee discharged of this Office ipso facto Secondly (d) Herein I assent to you though the reasons which you alledge will not abide the triall For put case none of the feared inconueniences followed vpon your absence yet would not you be wonne to leaue the Countrey vnlesse you might hope to fill your pouch with pelfe and bribes and turne your absence to your priuate commoditie that I might be sent no where out of the Prouince without my owne free consent that by this means nothing might scape my knowledge and I might in person withstand those who haply would embrace all aduantages which my absence promised in infringing our customarie proceedings the rule whereof was to be sought for at my hands I vndertooke this weight in the beginning of March Anno (e) Then the warre was not afoot How then durst you broach a lye before But this is no vncouth matter with you who in these few sheetes haue transgressed thâ— bounds which truth prescribed not fewer then a hundred times which euery attentiue Reader mâ— obserue and consider the Dutcâ— Prouerbe which sayes Shew mâ— a lier I 'le shew you a Theefe 1586. and I found all former customes and orders inuerted All autoritie was transferred vpon the Earle of Leicester Graue Maurice and Count William receiued instructions for their gouernement of the foresaid Earle At Zeland they moued questions touching the extent of their borders portions to the great annoiance of the Hollander and West Frislander The (f) Persist in your lying and exaggerate all things that you maâ— lay a sure foundation of your braggarisme and vaine-glory for yoâ— haue the tricke of it Companies of the Grand-Prouinciall Assemblies the Masters of Accounts and Magistrates of the Haighe were so animated against the States of Holland that both by words and writing they called into doubt whether the States of Holland and West-Frisland had so much autoritie left them as might warrant them to enioine the performance of the tribute and contributions imposed
should lend vnto the Lords of the States-Generall a thousand three hundred and fiftie pound two thirds in his owne name and one in the King of Great Brittaines name to strike off some of the debt wherein the King of France was engaged to the King of Great-Brittaine vpon sight of which agreement the King of France in the yeere 1603 for the King of Great-Brittaines third gaue the summe of three Millions of pounds fiue hundred and fiftie thousand and so much for himselfe so that the totall summe was tenne millions of pounds 350000. By reason of these fiue Regall Embassages and tractates it happened that the forenamed Kings afforded to the States more then two hundred fiue hundred thousand pounds from the payment wherof the confederated Prouinces I hauing a principall hand therein were discharged and their Obligations surrended as also their Citties and strong holds laid to pledge Another thing yet is this that I for the most part was a speciall ouerseer in our resolutions expeditions and warlike attempts as well secret as all others whatsoeuer from the yeere 1558 vntill this time and to further these things as also to prouide all our purposes might bee effected approued and put in execution (a) Dare you only here bragge of your selfe and your doings where were the orders where the states where Graue Maurice I thirtie (b) How oft will you hitte a most Martiall Prince in the teeth with this Doe you thinke hee could not haue managed the affaires without your helpe Yea it is to bee wished that sometimes you had beene absent when you were not seuerall times eyther accompanied his Excellence or mette him in his Campe and there I continued sometimes a moneth somtimes more or (c) That was when you were afraid for it is most certaine Sempree longiunto ne vn medesimo soggetto l'insolentia con la timidita lesse according to different necessitie of businesses then in hand A third thing is that I was a chiefe instrument and hinderance with policie with paynes and waight of Reason now more then thirtie yeeres (d) Would you perswade this also vnto me but be it that you were such an one then Quantum mutatus ab illo You are now strangely altered that the propositions concerning peace-making with the Spanyard and his confederats might not take effect so long as they perseuered to insist in their pretended courses Especially because they auouched that the inhabitants of these Prouinces were their subiects But after they renounced this claime and pronounced that they accounted the Prouinces free to which neither in their owne behalfes nor in the behalfe of their heires they made no chalenge and were content to determine of matters vvith the States vpon these tearmes and a meeting begunne vpon these tearmes might seeme to promise a diuine honourable and secure dispatch of all things by the intercession of the Embassadours of the Kings of France Great Britaine Denmarke and diuers of the Electors and Princes of Germany speciall friends and confederates to these Dominions with singular difficultie labour danger and constancie I bestirred my selfe to obtaine the fore-spoken end of matters vntill the time all things were quite finished wherevpon that (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These are sure truthes which we may build vpon But why did you change the warre against a foraine enemie into ciuill warre against the followers of true Religion for this was no lesse difficult chargeable and I would not bloudie too then the other difficult bloudy and chargeable Belgicke warre was ceased now and appeased for ten yeeres A fourth thing is that I was one of the principall by whose meanes the dangerous and pernicious plots of the (b) The same thing now ten times repeated Earle of Leicester and his complices plottes were auoided and defeated and of those who prouided that the confederated Prouinces might not bee ruined by his two yeeres vnfortunate gouernement and come into the Spaniards power A fift thing is that about the (c) Nothing but the same song still Parret Repeat it a thousand times but to your selfe alone beginning of my fore-named Office to wit of my being Aduocate of the Countrey when all things were in great confusion the very name of the Lords of the States was hated within the compasse of a few yeeres matters were brought in better case so farre forth that there was correspondence agreement and loue betwixt the Lords of the States his Excellencie as Gouernour the Companies of the grand and Prouinciall Councell the treasurers and accountants and the Officialls and Magistrates of cities and common-weales A sixt thing is (d) Stil he stirs a stinking puddle That all the heads Admiralls Commanders Administers of the principall Offices of warre Gouernours of horsemen Captaines Officers souldiers which earned pay either by sea or by land all these I say acknowledged the Lords the States of Holland and West-Frisland as pay-masters of their stipends swore faith and obedience vnto them and honoured his Excellence as Captaine Generall in commanding the execution of such things as the Lords the States determined that euery one intended his Office and place hee was called vnto And moreouer that for many yeeres the (a) Was not this alwaies opposed You cannot shew any prescription to the contrary Fret if you please yet will we haue what we wish Ecclesiasticall persons acknowledged your Honours for their lawfull and chiefe Gouernour So that for the space of well-nigh thirtie yeeres in which the Lords the States had somtimes threescore troopes of horsemen seuen hundred companies of footmen and more then an hundred Captaines making vvarre by sea there vvas neuer any (b) And now how great mutinies are there among brethren If you then made peace among others why are you now your selfe seditious Haply this comes into your head for defence of your Arminians Great tranquillitie is not procured with great hurly-burly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. God knowes who is authour of all these stirres and euills dissension rebellion or treacherie among them And the Comminaltie vvas kept in rest and quietnesse due obedience to their lawful Gouernors The matter certainely was strange and singular vvorthy our obseruation and consideration especially in nations so different For besides strangers we vsed at those times either as intire companies or otherwise diuided and bestowed Germans Frenchmen English Scots Switzers Wallons Whosoeuer shall certainely weigh these things and hath read the ancient times and shall consider what things haue beene done vnder vs for these fourteene yeeres and so onward while the warre continued vnder the Spaniard they shall finde that we haue iust occasion to render Almighty God praise and thanksgiuing therefore Many men famous for their power dignity and learning haue highly commended this matter And thereby the Lords the States and his Excellence haue wonne much credit praise and authoritie not onely with the inhabitants of the confederated Prouinces all neighbour