up to the English Battail where the young Prince was The fight grew hot and doubtful insomuch that the Commanders sent to the King to come up with more power The King asking the Messengers Whether his Son was hurt or slain and being answerd No he replies Then tell them who sent you that so long as my Son is alive they send no more to me for my Will is that he have the honor of the day So the Fight on both sides growing very furious the French King having his Horse kill'd under him withdrew which being known by the English it added so to their courage that they soon after won the Field This was the first considerable Battail the English had of the French which was so sanguinary that ther were none made Prisoners but all put to the Sword and the number of the slain French surmounted the whole Army of the English for the number of the slain were about 30000. the chief whereof was Alenson the Kings Brother the Dukes of Bourbon and Lorain the Earl of Flanders the Dauphin de Viennois Son to Imbert who after gave Dauphine to the King of France provided his First Son shold still be calld the Dauphin which hath continued ever since This signal Victory was seconded the same yeer about six weeks after with another the Queen of England got against the Scots then confederat with the French where David the Scots King was taken Prisoner but this is reserv'd for another place because for a more methodical order we will hasten to the second great Victory in France the Battail of Poitiers The Battail of Poitiers The Black Prince being taperd up now to a good growth was sent by advice of Parlement to Gascony whence the Truce being expird he oreran and ravagd all the Country as far as Tourayne Iohn the French King raiseth a potent Army more numerous then that at Cressy and going to find out the Prince of Wales found him about Poitiers having not much above 10000 effect if men in his Army wheras the French had six times as many whereupon being advisd to make for Bourdeaux he was prevented by the French Army on all sides so a Battail being intended two Cardinals came from the Pope to mediat a Peace but the French King wold hearken to none unless that he wold as a Vanquish'd Man send him four Hostages and give up himself and his Army to discretion The Prince answerd That he was willing to restore what places he had taken of His in good War but without prejudice to his Honor wherof he was accountable to the King his Father c. Iohn not hearkning to this but being resolvd to fight the Prince also resolvd to part with his Life upon as high a rate as he could being reducd to this streight therfore he providently makes use of the Position of ground and finding that the main Army of the French consisted in Horse he entrenchd among the Vineyards where when the French Cavalry entred being wrapd and encomberd among the Vines the English Archers did so ply and gall them that being therby disorderd and put to rout the whole Army was soon totally defeated But it seems this Battail was not so fierce as that of Cressy where no quarter was given for in this Prisoners were made among whom was King Iohn himself whom the Prince brought to England and as the French Historians themselfs confess he was so civil to him all the while that he knew not whether he was a Free King or a Captif Besides Lords ther were slain 2000 of the French Nobless as Froissard hath it in this Battail and as at Cressy more French slain then the whole English Army was in number We will now to Agencourt Agencourt Battail Henry the Fifth that Man of men and mirror of Princes being come to the Crown he did cast his Eyes presently towards France for claiming of his Title In order wherunto he alterd in his Arms the bearing of Semy de Luces and quarters the three full Flower de Luces as the King of France himself did bear them He sends the Duke of Exceter with the Archbishop of Dublin and sundry other Noblemen in a magnificent Ambassy attended by 500 Horse to Paris to demand the Crown but receiving no satisfactory answer but rather a kind of jeer the Dauphin sending him a Sack full of Racket-court-Balls to pass away his time He replyed That for evry one of those Balls he had so many fiery Bullets to shoot at the proudest Turrets in France as he shold shortly find And he was as good as his word for he presently got over and encountring the French Army at Agencourt he gave it an utter overthrow and took more prisoners then his own Army had Soldiers which was upon a Sunday-morning about Ten of the Clock whereof having sent notice to England before and that extraordinary Masses shold be sung then in all Churches he stood upon the defensive part till that hour but then making a Speech of encouragement to his Army and among other strains telling how all England was praying for them at that time he carried away a compleat Victory he himself leading the main Battail with the Duke of Glocester his Brother c. But besides the foresaid Piety ther was Policy also usd for the King to prevent the fury of the French Cavalry appointed divers Stakes studded with Iron at both ends of six foot long to be pitch'd behind the Archers and ordred that Pioners shold attend to remove them as they shold be directed which invention conduc'd much to the success of the Action The King himself charg'd the Duke of Alenson and beat him off his Horse who therupon was slain so ther was a compleat and glorious Victory obtain'd We come now to the Battail of Spurs so calld because the French-men trusted more to their Spurs in fleeing away then to their Swords and Lances It was before Terwin in Hen. 8. Raign when Maximilian the Emperour servd under his Banner and receavd pay Ther came 8000 French Horse to relieve the place and a hot Dispute happend but they were all routed and put shamefully to flight so the Town was taken by the English Ther were a world of other Warlike Encounters and Skirmiges twixt the English and French whereof the stories are full and t is observd that the English at most were but half in number to the French in all Engagements insomuch that by pure prowess and point of the Sword they possessd two parts in three of that great Kingdome We read that when the English were at the height of their power in France the Pope came then to keep his Court at Avignon and ther was a common saying among the Peeple which since is grown to be a kind of Proverb Ores le Pape est devenu Francois Iesus Christ est devenu Anglois The Pope is turnd French-man and Jesus Christ is become an English-man which was spoken in regard we had such prodigious
person with his Mother and most of the chief Peers came to meet Him as far as Amyens above two days distant from Paris He carried with him 140000l sterling a prodigious sum in those days though Silver was but 20d an Ounce He transported that vast sum with him to assist the French King and other Confederats in a War against Charles 5. Emperour Ther is no History can parallel this Embassy it was performd with such a glorious Equippage Besides the Ambassador had such a Plenipotentiary and transcendent Cummission that he gave the Law both to France and the Popedome and he comported himself with such dexterity and high wisdome that all the Princes of Christendome who had their eyes fixt upon him admired him This second example shall be of another strain of Gallantry by Sir Ierome Bowes who was employd Ambassador to the Emperor of Russia who was cryed up for a Tyrant Sir Ierome at his first audience having some affronts offerd to be put upon him that he shold put off his Hat els it shold be naild to his head he was not a whit daunted but kept it on still saying he had no such commission from the Queen his Mistress Therupon the Emperour slighting the Queen in comparison of the Emperour of Germany who was the only Prince Paramount Sir Ierome replyed That his great Mistresses Father had the Emperour his Majesty speaks of to serve him in the Wars and receavd pay of him Wherupon with a kind of astonishment at his courage he parted peaceably But afterwards being advancd in his Journey as far as Archangel and being embarkd ther came some of the Emperours Officers with Presents of rich Furs for the Queen and some for himself and being come to the side of the ship with them He wold not suffer them to board but drawing out his Sword said My Mistress the Queen of England hath no need of your Catskins nor I neither therfore you may carry them back Ambassadors being sent to Bourbourgh to treat of a Truce betwixt the King of Spain and the Hollanders Doctor Dale was sent for an assistant and coming to kiss the Queens hands she told him That understanding he was a Learned Man and a good Civilian she made choice of him for that employment and she wold allow him 20s a day He humbly thankd her Majesty and said he wold spend nineteen of them evry day for her Majesties honor therupon the Queen asking him what he wold do with the other odd shilling he replyed I will keep that for my Wife Kate so the Queen encreasd his allowance Being assembled to treat ther was a Debate in what Language they shold treat the Spanish Ambassador thinking to put a jeer upon our Ambassadors said Let us treat in French for your Queen is Queen of France No said Doctor Dale then let us treat in Hebrew for your Master the King of Spain calls himself King of Ierusalem Sir Edward Herbert late Earl of Cherberry being Ambassador in France it happend that he had a clash with the great Favorit and Constable Luynes which was thus Sir Edward had receavd privat Instructions from England to mediat a Peace for Them of the Religion and in case of refusal to use certain Menaces Hereupon He coming to the Army which was then before St. Iean d'Angely where the King was in person and he finding that the approches to the Town were almost finishd He hastned his address to the King for an audience The King referrd him to Luynes desiring that what he had to say might be imparted unto Him Wherupon he went accordingly to Luynes Lodgings and deliverd his Message but so that he reservd the latter part which was Menaces until he heard how the business was relishd Luynes had hid behind the Hangings a Gentleman of the Religion who was upon point of turning Roman that being an Ear-witness of what had passd between the English Ambassador and Luynes he might relate unto Them of the Religion what little hopes they were to expect from the intercession of the King of England The Ambassador and Luynes having mingled some Speeches the language of Luynes was very haughty saying What hath your Master to do with our Affairs why doth he meddle with our Actions Sir Edward replyed It is not you to whom the King my Master doth owe an account of his Actions and for Me t is enough that I obey Him In the mean time I must maintain that the King my Master hath more reason to do what he pleaseth to do then you have to ask why he doth it Nevertheless if you desire me in a gentle fashion I shall acquaint you further Wherupon Luynes bowing a little said Very well The Ambassador answerd That it was not on this occasion only that the King of Great Britain had desired the peace and prosperity of France but upon all other occasions whensoever any troubles were raisd in that Country And this he said was his first reason The second was That when a Peace was setled there his Majesty of France might be better disposd to assist the Palatin in the affairs of Germany Luynes said We will none of your advices The Ambassador replyed That He took that for an answer and was sorry only that the affection and good will of the King his Master was not sufficiently understood and that since t was rejected in that manner He could do no less then say that the King his Master knew well enough what He had to do Luynes answerd We are not afraid of you The Ambassador smiling a little replyed If you had said you had not loved us I shold have beleevd you and made you another answer in the mean time all that I will tell you more is this That we know very well what we have to do Luynes herupon rising a little from his Chair with a fashion and countenance much discomposd said By God if you were not Monsieur the Ambassador I know very well how I wold use you The Ambassador râ—…sing also from his Chair said That as he was his Majestie of Great Britain's Ambassador so he was also a Gentleman and that his Sword wheron he laid his hand shold do him reason if he had taken any offence After which Luynes replying nothing the Ambassador went on his way towards the door and Luynes seeming to accompany him the Ambassador told him That after such Language ther was no occasion to use such ceremony and so departed expecting to hear further from him But no message being brought him from Luynes he did in poursuance of his Instructions demand audience of the King at Coignac St. Iean d'Angely being now renderd up who granting it he did in the same terms and upon the same motives mediat a Peace for Them of the Religion and receavd a far more gentle answer from the King The Marshal of St. Geran coming to Sir Edward Herbart told him in a frendly manner You have offended the Constable and you are not in
going out Among Artificers and Men of Trade the Civilians say that each one is to precede according to the Dignity of the Stuff wheron they work Moreover when Publik Instruments are made that Kingdom in whose Right t is made hath the Precedence so somtimes Scotland is namd before England c. General Precedences do differ according to the Genius of some Nations as among the Turks to go on the left hand is more honorable sedendo incedendo in sitting and going then on the right and the reson is good because he may seaze upon his Companions Sword at plesure In Spain the Pages and Laquays go before and the Lords follow And in some cases t is so in France as in going over a Bridg a Plank or a River the Man goes before the Master according to the old Proverb En Pont en Planche en Riviere Valet devant Maitre derriere Concerning Ambassadors ther is a way that they shall never clash which is to make them Parallels viz. that the Ambassadors of those Kings who stand in competition for Precedence do never meet unless it be in visiting one another And the Mathematician tells us That Parallelae etiamsi ducantur in infinitum nunquam concurrent Parallels although they be drawn in infinitum they will never meet and if Ambassadors never meet they will never jussle or jarr J. H. THE Civilians Antiquaries and Historians BOTH Latin English British Italians Spanish and French That were Consulted and Cited in the Compilement of this WORK GOldastus Cassanaeus Besoldus Valdesius Francisco Vasquez Volaterranus Bodin Boterus Albericus Gentilis Lansius Augustin Caranato Thesaurus Politicus Ant. Corsetus Camillo Borrello Boccolini Sleidon Dr. Gaspar Bragaccia Paschalius Don Ant. de Zuniga Mariana Garibai Fredericus de Marselaer Carolus de Grassaliis Du Haillan Comines Pierre Matthieu The Bishop of Rhodes Du Serres Versâ—…egan Il Conte Losco The Lord Coke Bishop Usher Sir Thomas More Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Robert Cotton Sir Henry Spelman Sir Richard Baker Sir Iohn Finet Sir Iohn Price Iudg Doddridge Humphry Lloyd Iudg Ienkins Mr. Campden Mr. Selden Mr. Fabian Philipps Barclays Argenis Matthew Paris Polydore Virgile Sir Henry Wotten Sir Isaak Wake Mr. Minshew Besides these Authors many Ancient Records and Manuscripts have bin consulted and the perusing of old Parchment-Records is a hard and harsh Work it may be said to be like the peeling of old Walnuts ANALYSIS Totius Operis TOuching the Matter and Method in framing this Work it is by dividing it into four Compartments viz. into four Sections The first three treat of the Precedence of Kings The fourth of Ambassadors Evry one of the Sections is subdivided into ten heads or Paragraphs containing still new matter The first Section consists of the Resons of the King of Great Britain c. First That He had to his Predecessors as ancient Kings as France and Spain and as famous among others Mulmutius Dunwallo who raignd here many hundred yeers before the Romans came in and he was so great a Legislator that his Laws are calld Leges Mulmuntinae and stand upon record to this day Moreover his Majesty now Regnant is the hundred thirty ninth King of Britain and the hundred and ninth of Scotland wheras neither Spain or France can shew a Catalog of half the number 2. The King of Great Britain had to his Predecessor the first Christian King that ever was upon earth viz. King Lucius according to the concurrent Opinion of all Antiquaries for St. Peters Church in Cornhil was built by him as a Record yet extant shews and this was many hundred yeers before France or Spain had any Christian King which made England to be entitled in all dispatches from Rome Primogenita Ecclesiae the first-born Daughter of the Church Now it is a Canon among the Civilians Summa Ratio quae ducitur à Religione and Grotius hath also a Principle Qui primò Christianismum professi sunt Praecedant c. 3. The King of Great Britain hath a Merum immixum Imperium he hath as absolut Possession and Authority and more Independent then France or Spain take Spiritual and Temporal together 4. The King of Great Britain for Eminence of Royal Dignity for State and Titles hath as fair Flowers He hath as rich Jewels in his Crowns as any other He hath as Noble Arms the Cross and the Lyon who is King of Animals 5. The King of Great Britain had to his Predecessor the first Christian Emperour Constantin and the first Christian Worthy Arthur the first Founder of Martial Knighthood whom ther is Truth enough to make Famous without that which is thought Fabulous 6. The King of Great Britains Predecessors were the first who freed themselfs from the Roman yoke long before France or Spain and this is one of the greatest Arguments that those Kings do produce for a Precedence one of another 7. The Kings of Great Britain had Precedence adjudgd Them both of France and Spain in General Councils as also by the Decrees of Popes as it will appeer in the following Discours 8. The King of Great Britain is Souverain of as Noble an Order of Knighthood as any in Christendome wherof eight Emperours and well neer eight times as many Kings have bin and is more ancient then the Royal Orders of France or Spain 9. The King of Great Britain hath had as Martial and Magnanimous Progenitors as any of the other two who performd great Acts both far and neer and touching Exploits in the Holy Land the Kings of Spain had little share in them 10. The King of Great Britain hath as free-born and strong sturdy Peeple of four several Nations to make Soldiers of as either France or Spain He hath the best Mariners the stoutest Men of War the Noblest Haven for so Milford is accounted by all Geographers He hath the Inaccessiblest Coasts with the greatest Command and Power at Sea both Defensive and Offensive of any King whatsoever The second Section Consists of Reasons and Arguments why France doth pretend and challenge Priority of Place which Reasons under favor may be appliable also to the King of Great Britain and the world knows why But for to make the King of Great Britain come after the King of France is to make him come behind himself which is no less then an absurdity The third Section Consists of the Reasons and Arguments which Spain alledgeth for Precedence at least of an Equality with the two forementiond Kings extracted with as much fidelity as carefulness out of her own Authors as Don Diego de Valdez D. Francisco Vasquez with others The fourth Section Consists of a Discours of Ambassadors T is tru ther are some who have written of this subject already yet not any under this Meridian But those Forreners who have discoursd therof do amuse the Reader with such general Notions that the Breeding and Qualities which they require as also the Monitions Precepts and Instructions which they prescribe may fit any
community and free use of the Sea challenging no Dominion at all Ther are divers States in Italy that claim a particular command and propriety in some Seas as the Duke of Tuscany challengeth a Dominion of the Tyrrhene Sea the State of Genoa of the Ligustique Venice claims a right to the Adriatic as symbolically to a Husband for she marries him upon Ascention-day evry yeer the Duke going in procession with great solemnity in the Buantoro to that purpose and throwing a Ring into the water and She hath power to do in that part of the Sea which she calls her Gulph as much as she can do in Venice it self in point of laying Impositions and Gabels and to cause what Mercantile ships she please to unlade their Cargazons at the City of Venice it self God and Nature hath much favoured the King of Denmark with the command of a Neck of Sea I mean the Sound for it is the strongest Sinew of his Crown by the Tolls he receaves of those who pass and repass into the Baltik He commands also at large the Norwegian or Hyperborean Sea But among all if we observe his Title the King of Portugal hath a greater Maritime command then all these which Title runs thus Dom Manuel por Graca de Deos Rey c. Senhor de Guinee da Conquista Navigacaon Comercio d' Etiopia Arabia Persia da India à Todos c. Don Emanuel by the Grace of God King c. Lord of Guiney and of the Conquest Navigation and Commerce of Ethiopia Arabia Persia c. These are the Princes who have most command of Sea but they command only the Strands and Ports or Maritime Tract They cannot be said to command the Sea it self as the King of Great Britain doth for he commands no less then four Seas which are circumfluent about his Territories and the Law says The Sea is of the Ligeance of the King as any other thing He is Protector as well as Lord of them He takes both the Dominion and Defence of them also he scowres and secures them from Pyrats and Praedatory Rovers He makes all ships whether Merchants or Men of War Forreners or Subjects to dash their Colours and strike their Topsayls not onely to his Castles but to any of his ships Royal as they pass and repass Which mark of Dominion the Republic of Venice hath not though she also hath her Gallies always in cours to scowre and secure the Gulph from Cursaries and Robbers which is one of the chief Regalia's St. Mark hath though the Sea she thus commands be scarce 30 Leagues in extent for it is but fourscore Italian Miles Nor doth the King of Great Britains Dominion terminat in his own Seas but as most Civilians hold it extends as far as the shoares of his Transmarin Neighbours and as far North as the Artic Circle which Grotius did once acknowledg and publish to the world though another Caprichio came into his head afterwards in the Panegyrike he sent King Iames at his Inauguration when he says Rerum Natura Creatrix Divisit populos metas ipsa notavit Sic juga Pyrenae sic olim Rhenus Aspes Imperii mensura fuit Te flumine nullo Detinuit nulla nimbosi verticis arce Sedtotum complexa Parens hic terminus ipsa Substitit atque uno voluit sub limite claudi Te sibi seposuit supremo in gurgite Nereus Finis hic est qui fine caret Quae meta Britannis Littora sunt aliis Regnique accessio tanti est Quod ventis velisque patet We will put a period to this Paragraph with a Request to the Reader That having well weighed the Power of the King of Great Britain and joyn'd that of the Sea with the Land as also the Reasons of the preceding Paragraph with this to judge whether it be fit that He shold go or come in the Arriere to any King whatsoever We will now to the third Paragraph Touching the Eminence and Royal Dignity the State Grandeur and Titles of the King of Great Britain Corsetus a known and well-accounted Author divides Kings into Illustres and Super-Illustres He gives the King of England the second place among the Super-Illustres and one of the Reasons are that he is an Anointed King whereas the King of Spain and others are not unless the King of Spain may claim it as he entitles himself King of Ierusalem and Sicily for besides the Kings of England and France they two are onely capable of being Anointed The King of England hath a Gift also to cure the Strumatical Disease call'd therefore in England The Kings Evil ab effectu sanationis whereas in French 't is call'd Les Ecrouelles and Los Lamperones in Spanish c. Some have written that the King of England hath a Vertu to cure this Disease as he is King of France but that 's a vulgar Error for King Edward the Confessor was us'd to heal that way which was 300 years before Platina makes the King of England Filium Adoptivum Ecclesiae the Emperour Filium Primogenitum and the French King Filium natu minorem One the Adopted Son the other the First-born the third the Cadet or younger Son Volaterranus is related by Philippus Honorius in a well-known Work of his call'd Praxis Politicae prudentiae anno 1610. that Iulius 2. gave the Precedence to the English Ambassador before him of Spain Hen. 2. was King of Ierusalem and Edward 3. was made Perpetuus Vicarius Imperâ—…i which is no mean Title The Spanish Ambassador never questioned the Precedence of the English Ambassador till in the Council of Basile and touching the Contest twixt them in the Council of Constance ther was at Lovain Anno 1517. a Book entituled Nobilissima disputatio super dignitate magnitudine Regnorum Britannici Gallici habita ab utriusque Oratoribus in Concilio Constantiensi where you see he puts Britains King before the French in the very Frontispice and the chiefest Reasons asserted therein are found in this Discours Hen. 6. employed Thomas Polden Bishop of Chichester with others in quality of Ambassadors to the Council held at Siena to claim his session otherwise he would protest and poursue the Protestation In the Raign of Hen. 6. ther was a Public Instrument put forth by Ericus King of Sweden and Denmark wherein he puts England before France which Instrument â—…uns thus Caveant omninò Mercatores alii quicunque homines subditi Reg. Angliae Franciae ne de caetero sub poena amissionis vitae Bonorum visitare praesumant Terras Islandiae Finmarchiae Halghalandiae seu alias quascunque Terras prohibitas aut Portus illegales in Regnis Daniae Sueciae Norwegiae An authentic Copy of this Instrument was brought by the Danish Ambassador to Breme 1562. and shew'd to the English Delegates there at that time from Queen Elizabeth about the great business of the Hans Towns In the Capitulations of Peace twixt Hen. 7.
Christ. Catholicae Ecclesiae Episcopus ss Then his Seal or Signet engraven within Sanctus Petrus †Sanctus Paulus and this Motto about Ad Dominum cùm tribularer clamavi Exaudivit Me. Then the subscription of 27 Cardinals on both sides of the Signet the Cardinal Bishops on the right-hand of the Signet and close to it then on their right-hand the Priests-Cardinals and on the left side of the Signet as it is accustomed in all Bulls and other Public Instruments the Deacon-Cardinals have their place and precedence King Henry's Book against Luther was presented to the Pope in full Consistory by Sir Iohn Clerk then Ambassador at Rome for the King with a long solemn Oration the Original of which Book is yet to be seen in the Vatican at Rome with this Inscription written with King Henries own hand Anglorum Rex Henricus Leoni XÌ„ mittit Hoc Opus Fidei testem Amicitiae Henry King of the English sends this Work to Leo the Tenth as a Witness both of Faith and Friendship And as the Kings of England themselfs have such super-eminent Titles so their First-born Sons have a Title not inferior to any Royal Heir apparent in Christendome which is Prince of Wales and this Title is many years more ancient then that of Dauphin in France Moreover whereas other Kings Sons come so naked to the world that they have not of their own wherewith to buy them Clouts or pay their Nurses but what they have from their Parents The First-born of the King of England ipsissimo instante the very same instant that he is born is Duke of Cornwal and is presuppos'd by the Law to have Livâ—…ry and Seisin then given him of the said Duchy with all the Lands Rents and Honors therunto annex'd T is tru that the conferring of the Title of Prince of Wales depends meerly upon the Kings Plesure which was done out of a Political consideration to keep the Kings first Sons still in awe and within the bounds of a greater Obedience Nor is there any Queen also lives in a greater State and Dignity or hath more Prerogatives and greater Joyntures then the Queen of England For though Aliens at first and still under Couvert Baron yet they may pourchase Lands by Fee-simple They may make Leases and Grants without the King They also must be petitiond unto first before any can implead them in point of right We will proceed now to the fourth Paragraph Touching the Martial Exploits and Achievments which the Kings of Great Britain have performed from time to time c. TO proceed in this Paragraph we must make Retrosvects a far off we will begin with Brennus that bold Britain who in the Government of Consuls took and sack'd Rome 364 yeers before Christ and did notable feats afterwards in Greece and Asia insomuch that the Welch in honour of that Heroe their Country-man call a King from his Name Brenin to this day Cataracus overthrew a mighty Army of the Romanes and Boadicia slew 70 thousand of them in one Battel as their own stories declare King Arthur is rank'd among the Nine Worthies for he discomfited the Saxons in twelve several Battails and erected the first Order of Knighthood There was one English King and three Kings Sons went to the Wars of the Holy Land What Exploits did Richard coeur de Lion perform there so much to the envy of the King of France who therfore returnd before him He conquerd the Iland of Cyprus where Marrying Berengaria he transferrd the Kingdome to Guy Lusignan who had right to the Crown of Ierusalem which in exchange he resignd to King Richard But the French are they whom the English did so often rout subdue and subjugat with the Grey-goose Wing wherwith they did so often penetrat the very heart of France in so many glorious Victories that can be hardly paralleld take all circumstances We will instance in some of the most famous and begin with that of Cressy the first great Battel The Battail of Crâ—…ssy in France That Heroyk King Edward the third having been provoked by divers Affronts that Philip of Valois the French King had offeâ—…'d him goes over in person to France with an Army of 80000 men at Arms and 10000 Archers as Froissard hath it He takes with him his Son the Prince of Wales and Duke of Guyenne being but 15 years of Age calld afterwards the Black Prince to train him up in feats of Arms. Landing in Normandy he carries all the Country before him as far as Poissy within ten miles of Paris and after divers Skirmiges a Battail was appointed King Edward had incamp'd neer a Village calld Cressy where he divided his Army to three Battalions the first was led by the Prince of Wales the second by the Earls of Arundel and Northampton in the third was the King himself The Battail thus orderd being mounted upon a White Hobby he rides from Rank to Rank encouraging evry man to the performance of his duty and to have a regard to the Honor of his King and Country The French Kings Army was at least twice the number consisting of above 60000 Combatants with all the flower of the French Chivalry whereof the chief were the Duke of Alanson the Kings Brother the King of Bohemia the Duke of Lorrain the Earl of Flanders and Savoy with other great Princes The Vangard was led by the Kings Brother the Reer by the Earl of Savoy the main Battail by the King himself The French King was so fierce in assurance of Victory that he wold scarce admit of any counsel The old King of Boheme advis'd that the Army shold receive some refreshment before and that the Infantry of Genowais whereof ther were 15000 Crossbows shold make the first Front and the Cavalry to follow which being agreed on the Duke of Alanson did stomack that the Genowais shold have the honor of the first Rank so in a kind of fury he caus'd them to change place which bred such a discontent that they were more incensd against their Leader then against the Enemy but in the interim ther fell such a showre of Rain that wetted their Bowstrings which they had not the wit to cover all the while as the English did that for the limmerness therof when they came to action they grew useless At the ceasing of the showre the Sun did shine full in the face of the French therby dazzling their eyes but on the back of the English King Edward being got into a Windmil all the while whence as from a Sentinel he might explore and behold the face of the Enemy and discovering the disturbance that was made because the Genowais were put to change their place instantly gave order to charge that part which made the discontented Genoway to recoyl Alenson perceiving this rides on in a rage crying out Sa sa on on let 's make way ore the Bellies of these Genowais for they do but hinder us So riding through them he came
choice men at Arms in a Fleet of 60 Sayl of Ships with Arms for 12000 men more into Scotland Therupon an English Army being raisd it struck into Scotland like a Whirlwind and piercing the very heart of the Country advancd as far as Dundee and returnd Victorious Henry the Fifth took Iames the first Prisoner and carried him over to attend him in his French VVars In Hen. 8. time the Scots King although his Brother-in-Law taking his advantage when he was in France battring the Walls of Bullen with the flower of the English Nobility raisd the greatest Army that Scotland could make for invading England therupon King Harry sent a Commission to the Earl of Surrey to raise Forces accordingly The two Armies met at Flodden-field where the Scots King and the Archbishop of Saint Andrews his Brother were slain with twelve Earls 14 Barons and 12000 more Not long after Solmosse Battail was fought where eight Scots Earls were taken Prisoners with 200 Gentlemen and others insomuch that as the story saith ther was never an English soldier but had his couple of Scots Prisoners Four and thirty yeers after the same day both of the month and the week as the Historians observe Musselborough-Battail was fought which because it was the last and one of the most signal and sanguinary great Battails from the Conquest that was fought twixt the English and the Scots I will here particularize but with as much brevity as may be The Duke of Somerset was General of the English the Earl of Warwik his Lieutenant the Lord-Admiral Clinton had 60 ships of War which were to hold cours with the Land-forces the whole Army consisted but of about 13000 Foot 1200 men at Arms 2500 Light-horse 16 Peeces of Ordinance evry Peece having a Gard of Pioners who came to about 1400. From Berwick they entred Scotland and marchd as far as Musselburgh far within the Country they seizd upon three small Castles as they passd and with infinit pains overcame the Natural and Artificial Difficulties of the Ways They understood that the Scots Army far exceeded them in number and ther came Recreuts dayly unto it For the Fire-cross was carried about by the Heralds through all parts which is two Firebrands upon the point of a Spear that all above sixteen and under sixty yeers shold repair to the General Rendevous insomuch that the Scots Historians themselfs do mention that ther were above thirty thousand in the whole Army which was twice the number of the English The Battail was fought with much resolution and cagerness on both sides yet notwithstanding that the Scot was at his own home and that the English were tir'd by a long difficult march they obtaind an absolute Conquest ther were slain of the Scots about 14000 out-right upon the place wherof ther were 3000 Kirk-men as Fryars and Monks Huntley with other great Lords were taken Prisoners 30 Peeces of Ordinance were taken and shippd for England with 30000 Iacks as the Record says and the English plunderd the Country five days march further and did what they wold We will conclude with the late Battail at Dunbar still fresh in memory where ther were not much more then 8000 English and the Scot had them at a great advantage yet the English making a Vertu of Necessity utterly overcame an Army of about 24000 Scots an Army that had been long a moulding and consisted of many of their Nobility and Gentry they lost both Bag and Bagage Artillery and Arms ther were above 3000 slain 10000 taken Prisoners whereof ther were 260 Officers 15000 Arms and 30 Peeces of Ordinance and neer upon 200 of their Colours were brought to hang in Westminster-Hall for Trophies Out of what hath been said this Inference may be made That in all those Traverses and Encounters of War that England had with Scotland which were neer upon an hundred since the Conquest take small and great together the English did always foyl the Scot except in Ed. 2. time as shall be said hereafter In some Battails we may find how they carried away more Captives then they were common soldiers themselfs driving them as it were like sheep before them And observable it is that the greatest Battails were fought in Scotland it self after that the English had been tir'd and dispirited by long marches over uncouth and strange places being ignorant both of the Advenues and Advantages of them Tru it is that in Ed. 2. Raign they won two or three Victories wherof that at Bannocks-Battail was the greatest where Gilbert de Clare Earl of Glocester and about 40 Barons with 700 Knights and English Gentlemen were killd In Hen. 8. Raign they got also a small Victory when Sir Ralph Evers was slain In the time of the Long Fatal Parlement they did likewise many Insolencies and rush'd far into England but those Invasions may be rather termd Invitations by some spurious and unworthy-degenerated English-men who had contrivd their coming in long before whose memories will stink in the Nostrils of all Posterity But the English have taken four of their Kings Captives killd two other in the field carried away their Crown with the chiefest Ensignes of Royalty c. Nor were such high Exploits performed by the Kings of England on Land only but by Sea they have been as glorious Historians say how King Edgar had a Navy of three thousand six hundred ships and bottoms of all sorts which he divided to three Fleets that usd to coast about and scowre the Seas as far as Norway evry year and he in person would go often Admiral himself and be all the Summer abroad Philip the French King not long before the Battail of Cressy to hinder Edward the thirds return into France got a mighty Navy in Equippage of 200 sayl of ships besides Gallies in the Haven of Sluce wherof King Edward being advertised prepared such another Fleet and encounters the French with such resolution and success having the Wind and the Sun for him that he utterly defeated the whole Navy slew about thirty thousand men and so returned with mighty triumphs and the admiration of all Europe Philip the second of Spain having as he conceavd endured divers Affronâ—…s and Injuries from Queen Elizabeth conceald his Discontents a long time until he had provided the Invincible Armada as it was calld wherewith he hoped to have swallowed all England It was three years preparing it consisted of above 150 sayl wherof most of them were Galeons they were mannd by 8000 Mariners they carried 20000 Listed soldiers besides Volunteers they had 1600 Brass Cannons 1000 of Iron and 120000 Granado's with other Fireworks of all sorts This Prodigious Fleet stood the King of Spain in 10 Millions first and last from the time that she set sayl out of Lisbonne as t is found in their Annals she lookd like a Forest at Sea as she steerd along Q Elizabeth had first news hereof from Hen. 4. of France But then how did that Masculine Queen
prolifical when they are past fifty years And for the Men it wold be Registred for a Miracle in Spain or France to finde ten men of a thousand years one with another as were found in Hereford about 60 years since within two miles compass of the town who were so vigorous strong and spriteful that they danced the Morice-dance in the Market-place for many hours with a Maid-Mariam of a hundred and three and a Tabourer of a hundred and five years old From the Fertility and Generousness of the Earth may proceed also the extraordinary Courage and Hardiness of the Peeple which hath been so well known and felt in other Countries beyond the Seas as the Examples in the former Paragraph do prove at so many signal and difficult famous Battails where the English Army was never half so numerous in any they got no not somtimes the third or fourth part in number to the Enemy and such an esteem they had in France that as their own stories relate when the Duke of Britany or Armorica was to encounter the French Army in a Battail he thought it a Policy to clothe a whole Brigade of his Soldiers after the English mode to make them appeer the more formidable to the French Nor doth that Primitive innate Courage languish a whit or decline in them as some think the World doth as we find it hath done in other Nations as the Iew and Greek with others but it continueth still at the same height as it appeerd in the year Eighty eight by Sea as was said before and in several Exploits in the Low-Country Wars as Newport the Retreat before Gaunt c. by Land Likewise by fresher Examples in the late Civil Wars twixt King and Parlement and since wherin the Power Strength and Wealth of England was never more discovered For the late usurper having such a Command over the Peeples purse and never wanting money made Spain and France strive who shold be his Confederat as also the Hollander the Swed and others I say in those times the ancient stoutness of the English appeerd in many Traverses of War as at Dunbar in Scotland and by Sea against the Hollander who were beaten and batterd into a Peace What a hazardous peece of service was performed when we invaded Barbary at Tunis but especially that desperat Exploit Blague did at the Canaries The French King confest that the Brigade of English before Dunkirk commanded by a little bold Britain though not the fifth part of the Army did contribut most to the late taking of that strong Praedatory Town And the King of Portugal acknowledgd that in this years great Defeat 1663. he gave Don Iohn of Austria neer Ebora that Brigade of English who servd there though not much considerable in number did perform the toughest part of the service and first shewd them the way of using the Rests of the Musquet to knock down the Enemy which made the French-men cry out Faisons comme les Anglois Let 's do as the English The Sixth Paragraph Touching the Ancient and Long-lind Extraction Decendency and Bloud-Royal of the Kings of Great Britain c. THe Races of Kings may be said to be like great Rivers that stream out into divers large Channels and Arms which become great Rivers of themselfs afterward Or like huge Trees which use to stretch their Branches beyond the Ocean where being inoculated and graffd they make divers other Royal Trees to sprout out of them in Forren Soyls Ther were divers Royal Ingraftings of this kind that Great Britain had with the chiefest Potentats and some of them Imperial The first was before the English took footing here between the Emperour Constantius and Helene a Britain born and Mother to Constantine the Great the first Christian Emperour for this Iland was held in such high esteem by the Roman Emperours when they had almost all the world besides that divers of them kept their Courts here among whom Severus and Constantius died at York which City may deservedly vaunt of two things viz. that two Roman Emperours were buried and a third born in her viz. Constantin the Great After the Saxons came this Iland also continued in such a repute that Ethelwolph Son to King Egbert Anno 830. married the Lady Iudith calld the Fair for her extraordinary Bewty and Daughter to the Emperour Charles le Chauue Granchilde to Charlemain The Emperour Otho the Great married the Sister of King Athelstan whose friendship was so much sought by all his Neighbouring Kings that they wooed for it by rich Presents which made the King of France send him the sword of Constantin the Great in the Hilt wherof ther was one of the Nails that fastned Christ to the Cross He sent him also the Spear of Charlemain The King of Norway sent him a curious Ship with a Gilt Stem Purple Sayls and the Deck garnishd all with Gold The Emperour Otho his Brother-in-law sent him a Vessel of precious stones artificially made wherein were Landskips with Vines Corn and Reapers so much to the Life that they seemd to move and act c. Ther have been eight Nuptial Conjunctions twixt Great Britain and France besides the Scots alliance with that Country The first was about the yeer 900. twixt Charles the first of France and the Lady Ogine Daughter to Edward Son to King Alfred that admired Saxon King who is so famous in story for divers signal things for He cleerd the whole Kingdome of the Danes who had so much infested and harassd it He Founded the University of Oxford Anno 895. He was the first who divided England into Shires Hundreds and Weapontakes He divided the Natural Day also into three parts eight hours for Recreation and matters concerning his Health as sleep c. eight hours for Meditation and exercise of Piety and eight hours in Council and the publick Affairs of his Kingdome He Founded also Shaftsbury-Abby Winchester-Church and Eldinsey-Monastery The second Marriage with France was twixt Hen. 3. of England and the Lady Margaret Daughter to Lewis the seventh of France The third was between Edward the first that great Hero of his time and the Lady Margaret Daughter to Philip the Hardy of France The fourth twixt Edward the second and the Lady Isabel eldest Daughter to Philip le Bell King of France Mother to Edward the third of England who by right of her claimd and carried afterwards the Crown of France The fifth was twixt King Richard the second and the Lady Elizabeth Daughter to Charles the sixth of France but she was but his second Wife for his first was the Lady Anne Daughter to the Emperour Charles the Fourth The sixth was between Henry the fifth of England and the Lady Katharine another Daughter to Charles the sixth of France The seventh was twixt Lewis the twelfth of France and the Lady Mary second Daughter to King Henry the seventh of England The eighth and last Inoculation twixt the Rose and the Flower
de Luce was that of Charles the first of England with the Lady Henrietta Maria of Bourbon youngest Daughter to Henry the great of France In which Matches England hath had six Daughters of France and France two of England By the fourth Match twixt Ed. 2. and Isabel eldest Daughter to Philip le Bell Edward the third of England being her eldest son was Heir to the Crown of France and demanding his Right therunto he was answered La Couronne de France n'est pas lièe à la quenouille That the Crown of France was not tied to a Distaff wherunto he replyed That he would then tie it to his Sword and he was as good as his word But Henry the fifth some fourscore years after tied it faster for he reducd Charles the sixth to such terms that after his death he shold immediately possess the Crown and Kingdome of France and that in the interim the Dauphin his son afterwards Charles the seventh shold be disinherited That in the interim King Henry shold be Regent of France in regard the present King was sometimes crazd in his Intellectuals That he shold take to Wife the Lady Isabel Daughter to the said Charles All which Capitulations not onely the King but the chiefest Peers and Nobility of France did consent unto and ratifie by solemn Oath obliging themselfs further to uphold and assist Henry of England with his lawful Heirs and Successors against Charles the Dauphin whom his Father had legally disinherited Hereupon Henry the fifth dying in France a Death much too soon and immature for so brave a man his son Hen. 6. was proclaimd King of England and France in Paris In which publick Proclamation t is very observable how England had the precedence and therupon the chiefest of the Officers of the Crown and Nobles swore Fealty and Alleageance unto him divers of which Nobles grew afterwards Apostats and joynd with the Dauphin Against Edward the thirds Right the Salique Law was alledgd which they wold force and pin upon a Text of Scripture Lilia neque nent c. The Lilies neither spin c. But though King Edward had cut the Labels of that Law with a victorious sword yet it was not quite cancelld Nor indeed could it be possibly done for it was but a kind of Chymera a meer imaginary Law and one of the Authentiqust French Historians Du Haillan hath no better opinion of it They who are the greatest Champions of that Law acknowledg that it was at first a particular Topical Law made at Salem a place upon the Rhine but they have stretchd it since to all France As if the Law of Gavelkind which is peculiar to Kent and other distinct places shold be made to extend it self and be in force all England over But some ther are that will not allow any Essence at all to the Salique Law no not to be a Local restraining Law to the foresaid place neer the Rhine Therfore the same answer may be fit to be given un to the Assertors of It as was given by the Venetians to the Pope when ther happening a clash between them touching the Sea about Ancona which they alledgd belongd to the Venetian Gulf wherof they had the Dominion And the Pope demanding what warrant they had for it t was answered by a kinde of Sarcasine If your Holines please to produce the Instrument wherby the Emperour Constantine the Great passd over the City of Rome to your predecessors upon the back of that Grant your Holines will find Saint Marks Charter to the Souverainty of the Adriatique Gulph whence an Intimation was made that neither of the Charters had ever any being which may be justly applied to the Salique Law And besides that du Haillan though a French-man in the first Volume of his History confutes that Law It is confirmd also that ther never was any such Law in France by the testimony of the Duke of Burgundy who when Philippe le long was created King he openly cryed out against his Creation alledging that the Kingdom of France belonged then to Iane daughter unto Hutin King of France formerly but to stop his mouth Philip was forcd to make a Gift unto him of the Dukedom of Burgundy in dower with his eldest daughter But touching the Title of Henry the Fifth which was confirmed by Solemne Agreement and Sacramental Oaths the French found out another Evasion For it was avouchd That the Kingdom of France goeth not by Descent or Inheritance but by Succession which is grounded not upon a Law but upon Custom by vertu wherof the next of the Bloud Royal be He of the furthest degree that may be to the kindred succeedeth not as lawful Heir but as a Successor by Custom not newly invented but of long continuance even from the time of Pharamond But this new-devised Objection is refuted also by the foresaid Du Haillan one of the prime French Historiographers and a French-man born who reckons up a long Catalog of French Kings which did not succeed one another but were chosen one after another Another Objection was also suggested that Charles the sixth who made the foresaid Contract with Henry of England was no better then a Lunatique though he had somtimes Lucida Intervalla Wherunto it is answerd that at the time when that Agreement passd He had a lucid interval and was in his right wits and memory Besides the chiefest Nobility of the Realm were parties in ir and did not only consent but obligd themselfs by Oath to the performance of it Ther was a third Objection which kept a higher noise viz. That the King of France cannot alienate the Demeanes Rights Titles and Interests of the Crown without the consent and suffrage of the Assembly of Three Estates which was not had then because a great part of the Peers Nobles and others were then absent Whereunto t is answerd That in claims which go by plurality of voices it is not always necessary that all shold be present if the greater and better part of them be there specially if after Citation the rest absent themselfs For although the point that concerneth All shold be approvd by All yet as Civilians hold when some or all may approve or disallow the things which concern Them and They will not be present to shew their consent or dislike their Absence shall not prejudice the stipulation of the Contract And in this great business twixt two Kings those who were away were Traytors to Charles the sixth for they were in arms against him by taking part with the Dauphin who was in Rebellion against his Father at that time Therfore their absence could not in any respect prejudice the validity of so solemn a Contract wherupon depended Peace or War The fourth Objection carried more of pusillanimity with it then strength of proof viz. That when the foresaid Contract was made the English had almost over-run all France and that the King was coopd up in a corner of the country Therfore
whatsoever He did being done by fear duresse and compulsion was of no better force then a Covenant extorted by violence or made in prison by a private man which when he is at liberty he is not bound by Law to perform if it tend to his damage To this t is answerd That the case is far different twixt Souverain Princes and privat men for between the one ther fall out but Processes and Suits in law if they disagree or not perform what is a greed upon But between Princes bloud and Wars fire and Sword death and destruction somtimes of whole Countries and millions of human soules do Ensue Therfore when a King by the propitiousness of Heven and his own prowess by the hazard of his life loss of his peeple with infinit pains and expence of Tresure hath gaind a Victory by the justness of his Cause and Divine decree or reduâ—…d his Enemy to a streight All the Civilians concur in one unanimous opinion that he may make the best advantage he can of his good successes and reduce his Enemy to what terms he please And the Articles which shall then be capitulated consented and sworn unto are to be exactly performd otherwise there wold be no end of any War Now rhe French Chroniclers themselfs acknowledg that Henry the 5. might at that conjuncture of time and fortune have destroyed the whole Realm of France and taken the King prisoner or driven him quite out But he was so far from doing so that he sufferd him to enjoy the Kingdom while he livd and by taking his daughter to wife made her Issue therby capable not only of the French but also of the English Crown with all the Dominions thereunto annexed Whence some Authors observ that the English have bin usd in all Treaties and Stipulations to be over-reasonable merciful plain and downright But the French crafty double minded inhumane high and subdolous upon all advantages Insomuch that t is a question which was sharper the English blade or the French brain I will conclude this digressive discours with another argument of the French viz. That Charles the sixth could not legally disinherit his eldest son being Heiâ—… apparent to the Crown of France To this may be answerd that neither Charles the sixth was rightful King nor consequently his son heir apparent for since Edward the third of England all the French Kings were but Usurpers they were Kings de facto not de jure Moreover ther are many Examples how the eldest sons of the Kings of France have bin disinherited We read that Robert made his second son Henry King of France by disinheriting Robert his eldest who for compensation was made Duke of Burgundy Lewis le Gros with the consent of all the Peers and Estats of France made also Lewis his second son King and gave Robert his eldest the Earldom of Dreux Dagobert made Clouis his second son King of France by putting by Sigisbert his eldest son I have bin somwhat long in discours of this great Transaction twixt England and France because the chief aim of this Work being at Precedence the discerning Reader may regulat his judgment accordingly We will now go on to conclude this Paragraph the main scope wherof being Antiquity and continuance of Royal Bloud The Genealogical Tree of the Kings of this Iland as all other Countries hath had various Stems the first were Britains now calld Welsh who may contend for Antiquity and may be said to be coetaneous with the Iland it self yea before it was an Iland for ther want not some who hold that it was at first a continent or a peninsula tied to Gallia by an Isthmos or neck of land stretching from Dover to Bullen for the Rocks on both coasts being of a colour and shape look as if they were slented one out of the other Before the Romans took footing here which was neer upon 200 yeers before they could do it peaceably the Britains did still so bear up against them wheras Gallia or France was fully conquerd in less then 10 yeers I say before the Roman Eagle fixd his talons here ther had bin 65 Kings of the British Bloud But then that Race being interrupted by the Romans for above 400 yeers the Iland being freed of Them some of the old British Bloud came to be Kings again among whom some were very famous as 〈◊〉 and Arthur his son the chief Christian Worthy who was the first Founder of Warlike honour conferrd upon his Knights of the Round Table And this Race of the old British Kings lasted till the raign of Cadwallader Anno 689 yet ther were Welsh Princes that swayd still as among other Howel Dha the Great Legislator and stood stoutly for their Liberty until the raign of Edw. 1. in whose raign Leolâ—… the last Prince of the British Bloud being slain in battel his head was brought to King Edward who commanded it to be crownd with Iâ—…ie confessing that he had met with more valour in the Welsh then the Scots for he had fierce Wars with both But Cadwallader being dead the British Race was interrupted again till Owea Tewdors time who descended from Cadwallader as shall be shewd by a Gâ—…rman peeple inhabiting the lower Circuit of Saxony and so calld Saxons by the Welsh and Irish to this day They had a 〈◊〉 a long time but Egbert by conquest reduâ—…d them to a Monarchy and he was the first who calld himself King of England Then that English Race alâ—…o of Kings had two short Interruptions one by the Danes wherof ther raigned here three Kings but all their raigns extended not to â—…5 yeers Then by William of Normandy and that Interruption â—…asted about 40 yeers till Henry the first married the lady Matilda daughter to Malcolme King of Scotland by the Lady Margaret sister to Edgar Athelâ—…g wherby the English Bloud Royal was restord Then by a marvellous providence the British Royal Bloud after about 800 yeers Interruption was restoâ—…d by Owen Tewdor who married the Queen Dowager Katherine and so was Granfather to Hen. 7. which Tewdor by an exact 〈◊〉 that was made by the British Bards and confirmed by the English Heralds came lineally from the foresaid King Cadwallader and Leolin so ther were three Kings viz. Hen. 7. Hen. 8. Edw. 6. with two Queens viz. Mary and Elizabeth all Tewdors Then came in the Royal Race of Scotland by the Lady Margaret Tewdor eldest daughter to Hen. 7. and first branch of the two Roses Now by a due computation made of the premises it will be found that take British or English the source and series of the Bloud Royal of England is above a thousand yeers since And if from Cadwallader you go to the British Kings before the Romans interrupted the Royal succession therof it will be neer upon 3000 yeers which no kingdom â—…ls can say Moreover the Bloud Royal of Scotland some hundreds of yeers before was incorporated in the British for the mother of the first
the first Valour and Fortune may be said to contend which shold entitle him Henry the Great They both strivd for mastery in Him and which shold overcome He was Conqueror in four signal Battails In thirty five hot Skirmiges In above a hundred personal Encounters with the siege of about three hundred several places wherin He provd always Victorious which makes his memory to continue still fresh in France and makes new impressions from Fathers to Sons to render it eternal Ther is scarce any considerable Town but hath his Statue in Brass or Marble and Pictures innumerable insomuch that one said Una Henrici Oblivio erit occasus Humani generis The Oblivion of Henry alone will be the end of Mankind But for a tru Character of him I will insert here that which is engraven on the Cheval de bronze the Brasen Horse on the Pont-Neuf in sight of the Louvre his most Royal Castle in Paris which character runs thus Ie suis Henry grand Honneur de la Terre Astre de Paix Foudre de la Guerre L'Amour de Bons la Crainte de Pervers Dont les Vertus meritoient l'Univers Henry I am the Glory of Mankind The Star of Peace and Thunderbolt of War The spur of Vertu scourge of Vice A Mind That merited to sway more Scepters far Touching his Son and immediat Successor Lewis the Thirteenth he also did mighty things He began to bear Arms and wear Buff almost when he was no higher then a Sword at which height they say the Kings of France are out of their Minority but before he came out of His he repressd two ill-favourd Commotions in Poitou and Britany He continued Conqueror all his life-time nor did He know what it was to be beaten He bangd all his Neighbours round about him He clammerd twice with his Armies ore the Alps and came back again having done the business he went for He climd likewise with his Troops up the Pyreney Hills and establishd a Viceroy in the Kingdome of Catalonia He crossd ore the Meuse and made many deep Hacks in the Ragged Staff His Horses foorded ore the Rhine and helpd to cuff the Eagle ilfavouredly in the German Air. And lastly He foyld the English at the I le of Rhe. These were Exploits abroad At home also within his Kingdome He did marvailous things by suppressing so many Civil Insurrections and lastly by debelling the Hugonots which his five immediat Predecessors could not effect though they attempted it many ways Then which Action nothing could conduce more to the security and improvement of the power of the French Crown and the tranquillity of the Country The tenth and last Argument Ab Exemplo Authoritate Historicâ from Examples and Historical Authority THe Arguments which went before may be said to be Embroderies and Florishes of Reason yet those Florishes were wrought upon good Substantial stuff but this last Argument hath more of solidness legality and weight in it for it consists of Examples and Historical Authentik Proofs of Antiquity which the Logitian tells us is one of the strongest way of Argumentation We will not make such over-curious Retrospects as to look on the times before Charlemain though ther be divers examples that ever since the time of Clouis who was the first Christian King of France which was above 300 years before which prove that the Kings of France had Prerogatives of Session and Precedence both of Place and Person next to the Emperour But since Charlemain had the title of Christianissimus given him ther be divers cleer and convincing proofs how after the Empire was devolvd from Charlemains Race to the houses of Saxony Suevia and Austria nay since Austria came to the highest cumble of greatness and multitude of new Dominions the Kings of France have still had the Antecedence both in General Councils in assisting the holy Offices of the Church and in attending the Popes Person Now t is known that the Court of Rome with the Rules and practice therof is fittest to determine this Question of Precedence Mausonius and others have it upon good record how Anno 1564. Pope Pius the fourth passd a solemn Decree That the Kings of France ought to have the Precedence of any other King Nor indeed in former Ages did any King contend with him herabouts but the King of England The Spaniard did but of late years stand for it it is but since the Raign of Charles the fifth And as the Kings of France before claimd it as succeeding Charlemain so the Kings of Spain wold challenge it as succeeding Charles the Fifth Yet in the famous Treaty at Vervins 1598. after long Concertations and canvassing of the point Pro Con the Spanish Ambassadors made a Cession of Precedence to the French And Baldus the great Civilian as Purpuratus relates affirmeth categorically Nemo praesumat Honorem super vexilla Invictissimi Franciae Regis It is tru that some Writers rank Kings thus The King of Hierusalem the King of France the King of Sicily and the King of England which four are the only Anointed Kings And for this they shew an old Manuscript of the Church of Rome calld Provincialis Saint Gregory writes to Childebert Quanto caeteroâ—… homines Regia Dignitas antecellit tanto caeterarum gentium Regna Regni vestri culmen excellit As far as Royal Dignity excels all other men so far doth the glory of your Kingdome excel others Hâ—…norius the third says Reges Gallorum opposuerum se tanquam marus inexpugnabilis pro populo Christiano The Kings of France opposd themselfs as an inexpugnable Wall for the Christian People Gregory the ninth saith Regnum Galliae est quasi Phaâ—…etra quam Christus sibi circa femur accinxit ex qua sagittas electaâ—… extrâ—…hens 〈◊〉 â—…t sibi gentes Regna subjiciat in arcum brachii potentis emâ—… France is a Quiver which Christ tied to his thigh whence he draws Arrows for the subduing of Nations and Kingdomes c. Now touching the point of Precedence the notablest Contests that France hath had have been with Spain in the Council of Trent which lasted so many long years by intermissions the relations wherof lie scatterd up and down in divers Histories but we shall endeavour to give here a distinct and uninterrupted Narration thereof but first we will speak of a signal Contest in Venice The famous Contest twixt the most Christian and Catholique Kings in Venice as also in the Council of Trent IT is well known how that before the rearing up of that huge Colosse of the House of Austria which was Anno 1516. when Ferdinand of Aragon died Charles rendred himself very potent both in Italy as well as in Spain But he encreasd more strength after the death of Maximilian being chosen Emperour in his place at which time he was mounted to the highest pitch of sublimity and power I say t is well known how till that time the Kings of France were acknowledged the
first after the person of the Emperour who hath still preference given him before all secular Princes whatsoever Now the Question was never Sur le tapis was never controverted about Priority twixt France and Spain till the house of Austria started up to that enormous greatness And although before Charles the fifth ther were Six Emperours of that House and that the quality of Emperour gives precedence to any who legally possesseth the title be he of what Family soever yet that Prerogative is not given to any of their posterity being not calld to the Empire In regard in Electif States the Election adhering only to the person of the Elected gives the Eminence only to his person excluding all other yea his own Sons unless they be formally elected although in Successif hereditary patrimonial Estates t is otherwise Insomuch that the house of Austria hath no more right to the Empire then the house of Saxe Luxemburg or Brandenburg with other Families who were Caesars before them Another House which much strengthend that of Austria was that of Burgundy which yet was feudetary to France as also the Counties of Flanders and Artois though the rest of the seventeen Provinces which came to Spain by this alliance with Burgundy are Fiefs of the Empire The other Houses who did aggrandize Charles the fifth were Castile and Aragon Castile came to be a Kingdome but after the yeer 1000. And the Kings of England took always precedence of them Arragon was but a small State feodary to the Church of Rome until the Kingdome of Naples which is also a Fief of the Church was annexd unto it Hereunto as Fortune wold have it were added the West-Indies discoverd first by an Italian and offerd to the King of England Then by alliance with Portugal the East-Indies came also to the Crown of Castile This increase of Countries raisd the Spirits of the Spaniard to claim Precedence of France and England two of the most ancient Christian Kings And to go more methodically to work we will divide the State of the house of Austria to three times First to that which preceded the year 1519. when Charles was establishd in the Empire The second during his Raign until he retird to a Claustral Life Anno 1555 The third to his Progeny since Touching the first t is certain that notwithstanding the promotion of this Family to the Empire yet it continued still homageable to the Empire For Philip the Father of Charles the Emperour rendred solemn homage to the Chancellor du Rochefort and Charles after him for the Counties of Flanders and Artois Anno 1507. so that the said Charles being born in Gant was born a Vassal to the King of France That in the Interview of Lewis the twelfth and Ferdinand of Aragon Anno 1507. at Savona although King Lewis usd great civilities to Ferdinand coming to visit him upon his own Territories and so gave him Precedence yet the world knows that it was but by way of Complement But before Charles mounted the Empire this Dispute of Precedence never entred into the Spirit of Spain In the year 1519. Charles was created Emperour which Anno 1555. he resignd to his Brother Ferdinand and at the same time he made a voluntary and absolut Cession of all the rest of his Dominions to his Son Philip the second except the Archduchy of Austria and the dependences therof in Germany Philip though he succeeded in the Empire to which the Precedence only belongs yet he endevourd to keep it still under pretext that he succeeded the Emperour his Father in all his large her hereditary Dominions who always took place in all Assemblies Enterviews and Tretises specially in the great Council of Trent though it was confusedly because two qualities were in him of Emperour and King which could not be distinguished or separated But in the yeer 1555. when meditating upon a retirement he resignd the Empire to his Brother and all his Kingdomes to his Son Philip perceaving that his Son could not take precedence of the King of France because he was not Emperour He made use of another artifice for conserving this pre-eminence for his Son as well as for his Brother Before his retirement he revokd Don Francisco de Vargas his Ambassador in Venice who had always taken precedence of the French Ambassador without scruple Now after his resignation of the Empire he sends again the said Vargas to Venice as his and also his Sons Ambassador joyntly though indeed he was but Ambassador only to the King of Spain But he thought to over-reach the Venetian because he employd still the same man qualified in apparance as formerly Vargas demanded of the Senat the same precedence as formerly which the Bishop of Lodeve Ambassador at the same time to Hen. 2. of France opposd remonstrating to the Senat that Charles was no more considerable to the world being a reclusd person And if the Ambassador of Ferdinand to whom he had transferrd the Empire were present he wold yeild place unto Him but he wold not come after the Ambassador of King Philip. The Senat apprehending some ill issue from this Dispute orderd that neither of the Ambassadors shold be present at the Feast of St. Mark and so the business remaind at a stand by the irresolution of the Senat and the simplicity of the French Ambassador who at last was contented to give way to the Ordinance of the Republique in favor of Vargas But Anno 1558. Francis de Novailles Bishop of Acs succeeding him of Lodeve renewd the Dispute and the Ambassador of Ferdinand arriving about the same time Novailles demanded of the Senat to be maintaind in his Rights and to have the first place next the Imperial Ambassadors and so took it couragiously before Vargas who observing the cunning of the Emperour Charles who died in this conjuncture of time was discoverd and that he passd for no more then for the Ambassador of King Philip Vargas began to speak high of the Grandeur of his Master and to display the large Dominions and States he lorded over far more in numbee then those of the French King alledging that these Customs of Honor and Antecedences ought to be alterd according to the times That his Master was the greatest King of the world That he was able to assist the Republique with Arms Men and Mony more then the King of the French c. But the Bishop of Acs though much heat intervend obtaind of the Senat a Deerâ—…e wherby the precedence was adjudgd him before the Spanish Ambassador who loudly complaining therof the Senat made answer That the Republik did not trouble her self to examine the greatness of their Majesties but she found within her Registers that in all Acts both publik and privat in all Ceremonies Visits and Audiences the Ambassadors of France preceded those of Spain wherin she wold acquiesce This answer offended King Philip who therupon revokd his Ambassador But Michael Surianus Ambassador for the Republick in
name of the King of France was omitted ran thus The Cardinal said aloud Caroli quinti Imperatoris serenissimorum Regum qui hoc universale Concilium promoverunt protexerunt Memoria in Benedictione sit Let the memory of the Emperour Charles the fifth and of the most serene Kings who have promoted this universal Council be always Blessed Then Serenissimo Imperatori Ferdinando semper Augusto Orthodoxo Pacifico omnibus Regibus Reipublicis principibus nostris multi anni Many years to the most serene Emperour Ferdinand ever August Orthodoxal and Peaceful and to all our Kings Commonwealths and Princes Then the Fathers answerd Pium Christianum Imperatorem Domine conserva Imperator Caelestis Terrenos Reges Rectae Fidei conservatores custodi O Lord conserve the Pious and Christian Emperour O Coelestial Emperour defend Earthly Kings Conservers of the Right Faith The first Acclamation was for the Dead wherin the Cardinal forgot to express the name of Francis the 1. and Hen. 2. who had contributed their care and zeal for the good of the Council The second was for living Princes wherin he also omitted the name of Charles 9. for which the said Cardinal was blamd at the King of France his Council He excusd himself that it was for the fear he had to put division between the two Kings and withal that Charles of France being yet a minor he was like to be troubled about matters of Religion in regard of the Hugonots and might have need of King Philip therfore it was no wisdom to exasperat Him Thus have you a kinde of Epitome of the great Council of Trent specially of the celebrous Contests Intrigues Competitions and Artifices twixt France and Spain in point of Prerogative of Place and Priority of Session The next Contest was at the Congress of Ambassadors in Vervins 1598. touchd at before where the French Ambassadors receivd an Accommodation by the moderation of the Cardinal of Medici The manner of this Accommodation was thus The Cardinal Legat being under a Cloth of State at the end of the Table where the Treaty was to be held had upon his Right-hand the Nuntio and next Him the Spanish Ambassadors upon his Left-hand the Legat had the French Ambassadors and in that posture they proceeded to negotiat and Treat without any exception or animosities wherby the Business producd peaceful and blessed effects wherof all Christendome did reap very wholsome fruit After this ther happend a tough competition upon the same account of Precedence in the Court of Rome and when the Spaniard could not prevail there He went to the Emperours Court Maximilian the second his neer Kinsman wher his Ambassadors had the Prerogative of Place before the Ambassadors of Charles the ninth King of France wherupon Gaspar Coligni protested loudly against this apparent injury and that it was a sufficient cause to denounce War But Mendosa the Spanish Ambassador being much pressd hereabouts and reducd to a narrow streight found out at last this witty evasion saying Se nolle quidem anteire tamen cogi non posse ut Francorum Legatos sequeretur If He did not go before yet He could not be forcd to follow the French Ambassador Besoldus with others who are great Advocats for the Spanish Precedence beat their Brains to find out arguments to that effect amongst which the greatest is the multitude of Dominions that have accrued to the Spaniard whence they deduce this Principle Ex facto sumitur Ius Right is to be taken out of the Fact and the Fact being changd the Right also changeth Therfore the Fact and circumstances of things being changd on the Spaniards side and respect had to his encrease of Territories and present condition it may well alter the former custome of giving precedence to France Then he takes the Cudgels against England in behalf of Spain notwithstanding that he acknowledgeth out of Meteranus that the English are the most ancient Christians and that Germany his own Country owes her Religion first to Them That the Kings of England are descended of the Noblest Families of any which makes him instance in King Cunobelinus whose Coyn is to be seen to this day who raignd in Great Britain about our Saviours Nativity He alledgeth further how the King of England is feodary or subordinat to no earthly Power but is Gods immediat Vicar in his own Dominions yet he concludes simply and irrationally in these words Verùm Angli nimis antiquis argumentis pugnant praesenti Majestati Hispaniae aequiparandi minimè esse videntur The English fight with too ancient arguments and seem not to be compard to the present Majesty of Spain He speaks also as simply and indeed not without some absurdity when after those uncontroulable arguments he saith Sed porro absonum est quod Anglus Hispano Sessionis litem movet It is a senseless thing that the English shold move any debate with the Spaniard for privilege of Session And another great Champion for the Precedence of Spain viz. Diego Valdez discourseth as weakly for notwithstanding that he acknowledgeth Lucius to be a Christian King of England in the time of Pope Eleutherius which was many hundred years before ther was any in Spain that he confesseth that Summa Ratio est quae ducitur à Religione yet he wold not have England compare with Spain in point of Precedence wherby he discovers not only a great deal of injustice and partiality but also a gross Ignorance in Antiquity by calling Lucius King of England wheras this Country had not that Name till the Saxons came in which was above three hundred years after For till then t was calld Britannia by all Forreners and Loegria or Lloygher by the native Inhabitants which name continues among the Welch to this day Nor is this His Error alone but of many other great Antiquaries and some of our own Authors who having no due regard to the computation of time do very frequently call this Country England many hundred of years before the word was created Thus have we producd and faithfully alledgd the principal Arguments that France hath for a Precedence We will conclude with two late Passages which happend in this kind One was in the Hague twixt Monsieur de Thou and Don Estevan de Gamarra the Spanish Ambassador whose Coaches meeting casually in a place where ther were two Rails ther happend a scustle for Precedence but a band of Soldiers came and kept them quiet till notice was sent to the Council of State who sitting three or four hours about it at last they gave command that the Rails shold be cut down and so the way being left open the scustle ended The second was in London twixt Monsieur l' Estrade and the Baron de Batteville both of them Ambassadors at the English Court the latter for the King of Spain the other for France A new Danish Ambassador was to make his Entry through London and His Majesty of
appeer in a fitting equippage all which consumes time as also what high ceremonies are to be usd in so solemn an action Philip Comines who always dismisseth his Readers wiser then they came gives special Cautions for this Affirming that the congress of Souverain Princes in regard of the various circumstances that attend it is a meer folly it is exposd to emulation jelousies and envy as also to delays and retarding of things by needless solemnities He makes an instance in the personal Encounter which the Kings of England and France had where it is observable that he puts England before France adding further that Lewis the eleventh though a politik wise King was much afraid before-hand that some word might slip from him which might give offence or some advantage to the King of England or his Ministers Herunto he adds an infortunat Journey that the King of Portugal made to the said King Lewis for assistance against the Castilians which perhaps he might have procurd by a discreet Ambassador which makes him give a caution touching this point Bien tard â—…n Prince se doit mettre soubs la main d'un autre ni aller cercher son secours en personne A Prince shold hardly put himself under the hands of another or go seek aid of him in person Paulus Emilius also describing the personal meeting that was between King Richard of England and Philip Augustus of France who also in the relation puts him of England before France saith that their often Conversation and Colloquies did much retard and disadvantage the great business of an Expedition to the Holy Land We will adde herunto the memorable example twixt Matthias King of Hungary and Uladislaus King of Bohemia who after a long War were to meet for concluding a peace in Olmutts in Moravia where Matthias meerly out of state made Uladislaus stay for him 15 days Moreover Matthias came with a green Garland about his temples in policy that he might not uncover his head Uladislaus therupon causd his Cap to be so girded and knotted about that it could not be taken off Sic Ars dâ—…luditur arte But ther is a Modern Example far more pregnant then any of these of Charles the first King of England whose Journey to the Court of Spain though the designe was Princely and Noble in it self for it was to endear himself the more to the Lady Infanta yet it provd very disadvantagious for it distracted and retarded the whole business both of Match and restitution of the Palatinat when by the negotiation of Ambassadors it had bin brought to such a passe of perfection that it had taken effect had not the Prince come thither which gave occasion for the two great Favorits Buckingham and Olivares to clash one with another which broke the neck of so great a Business that had bin a moulding above ten yeers which had it bin left to the sole management of Ambassadors had in all probability bin consummated Thus we see how absolutly requisit and necessary how advantagious and essential Ambassadors are to a Kingdom or Common-wealth which made the Roman Orator say Sentio Legatorum munus tum Hominum Praesidio munitum esse tum etiam Divino Iure circumvallatum I â—…old the function of Ambassadors to be fencd by mens power and fortified by Divine right We will conclude with a Cannon of the Civilians Legatorum munus perquam utile est ac perquam necessarium The Office of Ambassadors is most 〈◊〉 and most necessary which makes the Spaniards call it Santo Officio y Ministerio de los Angeles The holy Office and Ministry oâ—… Angells The third Paragraph Of the Antiquity the first Rise and Pedigree of Ambassadors as also of their Dignity high Honor and Pre-eminence and who are capable to qualifie and employ Ambassadors FRom the Necessity of Ambassadors we will proceed to their Antiquity and surely they must needs be very ancient if they are so necessary Some draw their antiquity from Belus the Father of Ninus but Iosephus makes them more ancient and refers their Original to God Himself who was pleasd to create the Angels for this Ministry Therfore Embassy in Greek is calld 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as being derivd by imitation from the Hierarchy of Angels who are made the Ambassadors of the great King of Heven upon extraordinary occasions either for revelation of the successe of Kingdoms as the Archangel Gabriel was to Daniel Or for the declaring of some rare and signal thing as He was sent also to the Blessed Virgin of the Conception of our Saviour c. Now ther is no Order or Government in this lower World as well Ecclesiastical as Secular but it is had from the Pattern of the higher in regard that God Almighty created the Elementary World and appointed the Government therof to conform with the Architype and chief Pattern or Ideal Form of the same conceavd at first in the Divine mind and prescribd to the Hevenly Kingdome Herunto alludes the Fiction of the ancient Pagans For Aristides tels us that in the first Age of the World wheras Mankind was infected by Brute Animals wherof some were far stronger others swifter others were Venemous which made Mankind become often a prey to Birds to Beasts and Serpents Prometheus being sollicitous and studious for the safety of the humane Creture became Ambassador or Orator to Iupiter for declaring the misery of Mankinde Herupon Iupiter resolvd to send his son Mercury to teach Man Rhetorik that is to speak well and movingly but with this restriction that he shold not communicat this Art to all but to the excellentst the wisest and valiantst sort of men By means herof they came down from the mountains and forth out of Caves and places of fastness and by means of that Art of Rhetorik or Eloquence they united themselfs to civil Societies and coalitions Hence it may be inferrd that Mercury the God of Eloquence was the first Ambassador and he is painted with wings on his heels to denote expedition Besides he carrieth a white Wand calld Caduceus in his hand encircled with two Dragons greeting one another which signifieth that his Office is to make Peace Alliances and Legues as also to de nounce VVar which is intimated by the immanity of the Dragon Having thus displayed the Antiquity we come now to the Honor of Ambassadors and questionless they must needs be very honorable being so ancient Royalty may be said without prophaness to be a Ray of Divinity and Honor is a Ray of Royalty The first is derivd immediatly from Heven the other from Earthly Kings who are calld the Fountains of Honor. Now the reflections of this second Ray falls no where so directly as upon Ambassadors who represent and personat Souverain Princes which makes their Houses Sanctuaries and their Persons so sacred inviolable and excellent and they have this high honor given them not only for their own sakes and their Masters but as they are Instruments of
other Minister of State or Man of Business But this Discours doth appropriat it self soly to the subject we undertake viz. to the Function Office and Incumbency of an Ambassador A necessary Aviso to the Reader WHeras the four following Sections which may be calld so many Decades in regard evry one consists of Ten several Discourses which makes forty in all I say wheras they are full of Quotations Authorities Texts Testimonies and Examples both Modern and Ancient And wheras the Author was not so precise as to point at the particular Pages Paragraphs or Chapters where they are found and wherwith other Books have their Margens so cloggd The Reader is humbly desird to take this Advertisement That it belongs to School-men and Professors of the Laws who use to deal with matters of Meum Tuum or of Life and Death to be so punctual But under favor free Historians are not tied to such a strictness Wherfore they may modestly expect that with an Ingenuous Candor the Readers wold carry with them a Generous Confidence which they may do here without scruple of Conscience or incurring any danger to wrong their Faith J. H. Several Books worth buying to be sold by Samuel Speed at the Rainbow neer the Inner Temple-gate in Fleetstreet GUillims Heraldry Folio Atter sol on Philemon Folio Ammianus Marcellinus Folio Porta's Natural Magick Folio Pharamond a Romance Folio Shepards Actions on Deeds Folio Palmerin of England 4. Artificial Changeling 4. Bacons History of England 4. Dr. Griffiths Bethel 4. Purchas of Bees 4. White on the Sabbath 4. Genealogies in 4. in 8. in 12. Mountagues Essays 4. Perkins Catechism 8. Judge Ramsey of Coffee 8. Ramsey of Poysons 8. Paracelsâ—… of Metals 8. Ainsworths Communion of Saints 8. Sadlers Art of Physick 8. Burgersdicius Logick 8. The Life of Henry the fourth 8. Latine Bibles 12. Andrews Catechistical Doctrine 12. Drexelius Christian Zodiack 12. Wollebius in Latine 12. in English 12. These to be sold by Christopher Eccleston under St. Dunstans Church in Fleetstreet CRooks Report Fol. Wingates Reports Fol. Latches Reports Fol. Queens Closet 12. Wits Recreations 8. Athanasius Life 8. Life of St. Cuthbert 8. Littleton on the Church-Catechism 8. Wars of the Jews 8. Cases of Conscience about things indifferent Grand Case of the present Ministry Review of the Grand Case Sales Epigrammatum being the choicest Dysticks of Martials Epigrams of chief Latine Poets that have been these last two hundred yeers Shakespears Plays Touching the PRECEDENCE OF Soverain Princes COncerning the Pope and the Emperour ther never was any question or controversie of their Precedencies and consequently of their Representatives in all Transactions and Signatures at all Oecumenical Councils with other Public Meetings being allowed to the One by those who are devoted to him by way of Filiation as he is held The Vicaâ—… of Christ The Successor of the Prince of the Apostles The Holy Father who hath the command of the Spiritual Sword which strikes deep having Dominion over the Noblest part of Man which is the Soul Insomuch that some have magnified Him so far and fallen to such an excess of speech as to say That He antecels all Temporal Princes as much as the Soul excels the Body Nor do they onely allow him Priority of place but out of high Ideas of Holiness both Emperour and Kings esteem it a great honour to hold the Bason and Towel when he washeth his hands nay to hold his Stirrop and Bridle yea to kiss his Feet according to the Poet who gives this Character of Him Ense potens Gemino Cujus vestigia adorat Caesar aurato vestiti murice Reges He who commands the Two-edg'd Sword whose Feet Caesar and crowned Kings with Kisses greet Insomuch that when at the great Ceremony of his Consecration by the Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia the Papal Mitre is put on his head the chief Deacon says aloud Accipe Tiaram tribus ornatum coronis scias Te esse Patrem Regum Rectorem orbis c. Receive the Mitre adorned with three Crowns and know that thou art the Father of Kings and Rector of the world c. From hence is derived the Precedence that all other Church-men have as at the Election of the Emperour the three Ecclesiastical Electors viz. the Archbishops of Mentz Colen and Triers take place of the King of Bohemia and all the rest Moreover out of a special Veneration of the Church when the Tremendous Oath is read and administred unto them to be just in their choice the Archbishops put their hands onely upon their Breasts whereas all the Secular Electors hold their hands upon the Book all the while Adde hereunto that the Cardinals being Princes of the Church deduce such a Pre-eminence from the Pope that they take Precedence of all Ambassadours whose Masters are devoted to the Roman See Moreover among the Peers of France the Six Spiritual without any scruple take Precedence of the rest as also our Bishops do in England in the Parliament-house of all the Lay Peers Furthermore the Pope hath still such a sway and influence upon the Emperour that he cannot be stil'd Augustus or receive the Golden Crown until he be confirmed by the Consistory at Rome Of the Emperour WE come now to wait on the Emperour who retains still the Title of Caesar and Semper Augustus He also is stil'd Numen Divus and his Edicts are call'd Sancita Divalia God-like Decrees For many Descents the Empire continued in the Race of Iulius Caesar until Domitius Nero's time then the Name of Caesar grew to be Accidental and given by way of Adoption to the Heir apparent of the Empire whereas before he was call'd Princeps Iuventutis and when the Western Empire came to be reviv'd in Charlemain the next to succeed was term'd King of Italy but now he is created King of the Romanes which Institution was made by Charles the Fifth Iulius Caesar was the first who rais'd Rome to an Empire though it cost him dear for the Foundation thereof was cimented with his own blood being assassinated in the Senat by his nearest Confidents in compassing that great work whereby 't is observable what an extraordinary kinde of Fate did betide that City for as the first Foundation thereof was sprinkled with Blood when Romulus caus'd his Brother Rhemus to be put to death when the first Walls thereof were erecting so the Roman Empire was afterwards first raised by Caesar's Blood And the Spiritual Empire she enjoys since may also be said to have been raised by the Blood of Christian Martyrs among whom above thirty of the first Bishops of Rome were of the number Now if one should compare the present Roman Empire with the Old when it was at the highest flourish the Parallel would bear no more proportion then a Wren who yet is call'd in Latine Regulus a little King doth hold with an Eagle for the Roman Monarchy when she was at the greatest pitch of Sublimity and Altitude of
among Christians but of any other Nation upon earth As also the first King who gave Royal Arms His Coat being Azure nine Crowns Or marshalld 3. 3. 2. and 1. Afterwards the Saxon Kings gave Arms And Edward the Confessors Coat was Azure a Cross patence between four Martelets Or. And as King Arthurs Round Table which is yet to be seen at Winchester had seats for twenty six Knights so it seems King Edward proportiond his number Now the occasion of it was That he having resolvd upon a War with France for attaining that Crown which was due unto him by his Mothers side He conceavd it advantageous to invite and engage to his party such as were of a Martial spirit And to that end erected a round Table at Windsore in imitation of King Arthur where they were entertaind with Tilts and Tournements magnificent Feasts and other Princely ways to unite and encourage them Philip de Valois who was in possession of the Crown of France went about to countermine him by erecting also the like Table in his Court and so drew many gallant and adventurous spirits that way and some out of England so that King Edward not finding this designe answerable to his mind he fell on another such as might prove more adherent and binding unto Him to which end he establishd this high Order of Chivalry consisting of twenty six persons of eminent note wherof He Himself and his Successors Kings of England were to be perpetual Souverains All of them were to be men of Heroick parts and such as shold be obligd by Oath and Honour to adhere unto Him upon all occasions which might be the probablest cause that he made the Garter for a Badg therof to be fastned about the left leg with a Buckle of Gold to be continually worn therfore are They stild Equites Periscelidis as was touchd before which hath its Etymologie from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Crura ambiens girding about the knee which alâ—…udes that those Knights shold be bound in one League and Confederation of love and affection severally one unto another and all of them in joynt service to the Souverain Some ther are who are of opinion that the Garter was given because that in a Battle where King Edward provd Victorious he had given the word Garter for a Signal Others in a derogatory way wold ground it upon the Countess of Salisburies Garter falling off from her in a dance and so taken up by the King But the Black Book in Winsore which deserves most faith in this point gives the first Reason for it Among other Laws that were enacted in the Chapter when this Order was first raysd one was That evry Knight by solemn Oath upon the Evangelists was sworn to defend the Honor and Quarrels the Rights and Lordship of the Souvrain c. Such a Sacramental Oath the Knights of the Bath also take which is To love their Sovrain above all earthly cretures and for his right and dignity to live and die c. Therfore I have often stood astonishd at the largeness of the consciences of some Knights of both these Orders who besides other astringing Oaths as those of Allegeance Supremacy c. could dispense with them All in the late Rebellion so far as not only not to adhere to their Sovrain Liege-Lord and King when his life was sought for by small and great Shots with other instruments of open hostility and slaughter but to appeer for to serve and stick unto the contrary party all the while Truly under favor I wold be-loth to exchange souls with them We will put a period to this Discours of the ancient Noble Order of St. George with a signal observation of Bodin's Decretum fuit in Collegio Equitum Periscelidis in Anglia ponere stemmata Regis Francorum ante caetera omnia post Principem Ordinis It was decreed in the College of the Knights of the Garter in England to put the Stems of the King of the French before all other except the Prince of the Order And the reason I conceive was that Philip the second whiles King of England was formerly put before But Bodin was herin deceavd for the Emperours Arms wherof ther have bin eight of the Order go before and have the precedence Out of the premises may be deducd this cleer Conclusion as a Meridian Truth that the Common Law of England in all things ayms at the Honour and glory the power and authority the Safeness and incolumity of the Sovrain Prince more then the Laws of any Country And wheras we had some touches before how the Common Law which is peculiar only to England hath the rationability of the Civil Law though not so digested to Method in regard it consists most of Custom Cases and presidents we will conclude this Paragraph with some principles wherin they both agree As Actori incumbit onus probandi The proof lies on the Accuser Nemo oportet esse sapientior legibus No man ought to think himself wiser then the Laws Ubi lex non distinguit ibi non est distinguendum We must not distinguish where the Law doth not Accessorium non ducit sed sequitur suum principale The Accessory doth not lead but follow the principal Volenti non fit injuria No wrong can be done to him who is willing Agentes Consentientes pari poena plectuntur Actor and consenter are to be punished alike Apices Iuris non sunt Iura The punctilios of the Law is no Law Nemo potest esse Iudex in propria causa No man can be Judge in his own cause Caveat Emptor Let the Buyer beware Contraria allegans non est audiendus Who alledgeth contraries is not to be heard Cujus est dare ejus est disponere The Giver may dispose of his gift as he pleaseth Quilibet in Arte sua est credendus Evry one is to be believed in his own Art Potestas derivativa non potest esse major primitiva A Commissioner cannot have greater power then He who gave him the Commission Dies Dominicus non est Iuridicus The Lords day is no day of Law Dormit aliquando Lex moritur nunquam The Law may sleep a while but never die Dilationes in Lege sunt odiosae Delays in Law are odious Facinus quot inquinat aequat All are principals in a crime Generale nihil certi implicat No certitude can be had out of generals Ignorantia non excusat Legem Ignorance of the Law doth not excuse the breach of it Lex non cogit ad impossibilia The Law doth not tie us to impossibilities Lex est summa Ratio The Law is the highest Reason Lex citius tolerat privatum damnum quà m publicum malum The Law tolerats a privat damage rather then a publick Mala Grammatica non vitiat Chartam False Latin doth not destroy a Deed Linea Recta semper praefertur transversali A right Descent is always preferrd before a Collateral in
kinred Nemo debet his puniri pro uno delicto No man is to be punishd twice for one offence Nemo potest plus juris in alium conferre quà m Ipse habet No man can transfer a greater power to any other then he hath himself Nemo tenetur prodere seipsum No man is bound to betray himself Omnia quae movent ad mortem sunt Deo danda All things which cause death are forfeit to God Qui non habet in aere luat in corpore Where the purse cannot let the body suffer Qui peccat ebrius luat sobrius Who offends when he is drunk let him be punishd when he is sober Qui sentit commodum sentire debet onus Who receive the benefit ought to feel the burden Quod semel meum est ampliùs meum non est That which was mine is none of mine Stat praesumptio donec probetur in contrarium A presumption stands till the contrary be provd Ubi non est principal is ibi non potest esse accessarius Where ther 's no principal ther can be no Accessary Unumquodque dissolvitur eo ligamine quo ligatur Evry thing is untyed as it is bound Par in parem non habet Imperium Equals cannot command one another Nemo dat quod non habet No man can give that which he hath not And this doth hold also in Heraldry therfore the Knighthoods with other Honors that Cromwel was so free to confer are void in Law because he was never Knight himself By these few Principles with multitudes more it appeers that the Common Law hath much affinity with the Civil wherof ther are as learned Professors in England as any where els Whence it may be inferrd that the King of Great Britain is supplied with more helps for the administration of Justice then any Nation in the world besides For in regard that England is an Iland having such a great Trade at Sea and so great dealing with divers other Nations Having also besides Land-matters both Temporal Ecclesiastical and Maritime which are not so proper for the Common Law He allows of the Civil Law answerable to the quality of the Case which hath bin practised in England beyond the memory of man or the reach of any Record And though ther happen oft some Emulations and high Contests betwixt these two Professions yet such hath bin the prudence of the Souvrain Prince to keep them both in as equal a Balance as could be and not to suffer the one to insult or encroach upon the other but to have the same freedom of study and practice to the universal good of Forreners as well as of his own Subjects And so much concerning the National Law and Prudential Constitutions of England The Tenth and last Paragraph Touching the greatness of Power of Military Might and Puissance by Land and Sea as well Defensive as Offensive c. of the King of Great Britain THe Duke of Rohan in his Book calld Les Interests des Princes The Interests of Princes saith that England is like a great Animal that cannot die unless he kill himself He acknowledgeth Her also to be Latroiseâ—…e Puissance the third Power of Christendom But by the Arguments that shall be producd in this Paragraph I believe it will appeer to any discerning and unbiassd Reader that England taking her Kingdoms annexd along with her strength at Sea as well as shore will be inferior to none Ther was a Comparison made long since That Gallia Hispania sunt quasi lances in Europae libra Anglia est lingula sive libripendens That France and Spain were as the Scales of the great Balance of Europe and that England was the Toung or Beam of the Balance which keeps it in aequilibrio in an even counterpoise that neither side shold be trabâ—…ccant This hath bin often verified specially in the Raign of Henry the eighth whose Motto was Cui adhaereo praeest He to whom I adhere prevails He wold somtimes make Francis the first to weigh down somtimes Charles the fifth And touching the former He acknowledgd King Henry under God to be the chiefest Deliverer of Him and his Children from his captivity in Spain And so likewise did Pope Clement when he was freed from the Castle of St. Angelo where Charles the Emperour had coopd him up Therfore was Henry of England calld Liberator Orbis by the whole Confistory at Rome as he was before Protector of the great Clementine League And indeed the Arbiter of all Christendom in his time Touching the Martial Might of the King of Great Britain we will first examine that of England which we must distinguish into Intrinsecal or Terrene And into Extrinsecal or Maritime Concerning the first ther are five Counties alone can put into the Field fourty thousand men all armd for so many are listed in the Muster-makers Book as Traind-Band-men viz. the County of York 12000 Kent 8000 Norfolk 〈◊〉 and Devonshire above 6000 apiece And the rest of the Counties whereof ther are fourty seven may have twice as many at least which come to a hundred and twenty thousand Soldiers eâ—…olld and ready upon all occasions either for general service or privat in the Counties where they are for assisting the Sheriff and other Officers in the execution of the Law in case of any resistance therfore are they calld Posse Comitatuâ—… The power of the County So that in time of peace England alone hath an hundred and twenty thousand Soldiers enrolld besides those in Ireland and Scotland And in time of War the late bloudy Rebellion bleeding yet in the purses and estates of many thousand poor Cavaliers hath sufficiently tryed the strength and wealth of England For ther was a computation made at one time of those that were in actual Arms for King and Parlement and they came to neer upon two hundred thousand fighting men under Commission wherof ther were about fifty thousand Horse and Dragoons And I do not remember to have read that in the time of the famous Ligue in France ther were so many take in strangers and all Hence we see that the King of Great Britain may be said to have a constant standing Army in time of peace of which he hath the sole disposing For the Sword is his as much as the Scepter and the Crown which are inalienable from his power and incommunicable to any other but by his Royal Commissions And indeed t is the Sword that makes all Kings powerful The Crown and the Scepter are but impotent and poor unweildy things they are but naked Indefensible badges without it Ther 's none so filly as to think ther 's meant hereby an ordinary single sword such as evry one carrieth by his side Or some Imaginary thing or Chymera of a sword No t is the publik Polemical Sword of the whole Nation It may be calld an Aggregative or compound Sword made up of all the Ammunition the Artillery Pikes Muskets Helmets Headpeeces with all kind of armes
Barrels and t is worth the observation what a world of variety of Wines grow up and down for one can scarce go twenty miles but ther is still a differing sort of Grape In some places in Burgundy and Champagne ther are Wine-vessels as big as some houses in height not inferior to those vast Vessels of Heidelberg Tubinga and Groninghen as the ingenious Lansius hath it Touching Hemp and Flax the third Staple Commodity of France what mighty rich Procedes come thereof For though it be a despicable Vegetal in sight and unsavory in the handling yet it is of such virtue that it can remove Rome to Hercules Pillars Egypt to Italy the East and West Indies into England a Vegetal that can controul Eolus and overmaster Neptune himself I mean the impetuous Whirlwinds of the one and the tumbling Waves of the other Now where doth this most useful Commodity grow more plentiful then in France Nor doth she hereby furnish her Neighbors far and neer only with Sayls for their ships but with shirts for their backs sheets for their beds and napery for their tables Touching the last great Staple Commodity of France which is Salt t is so savoury in the Kings Coffers that he draws twenty Millions of Livres evry year from the Gabel of it besides that incredible proportion which is spent in France it self what Millions of Mesures are laden out for other Countries Spain also hath this Commodity to a superfluity but her Salt is more corroding and acrimonious then the French Therfore when the Emperour Charles the fifth as Lansius relates had put out a Placart prohibiting that no French Salt shold be brought into the Netherlands the Country was like to mutiny for that tart Proclamation because the Spanish Salt which was permitted only to be imported was not so sweet and vigorous as the French specially as that of Rochel wherwith if Flesh be salted and a Ship victualld with it to the furthest part of the East-Indies it will eat as sweet at the return of the Ship as it did at first as t is found by the frequent experience of our Navigators Concerning the Air and Clime of France it is the most cheerful and temperat of any other under the Canopy of Heven which makes the inhabitants therof so spritful and debonnaire T is rare to find a French-Woman melancholy which was the ground of the Proverb To make a compleat Wife let her be English to the Neck From the Navil to the Knee Dutch From the Knee downward Spanish But from the Neck to the Navil French which relates to the Heart and to the merry disposition therof Nor are the French-women spriteful and merry most of any but they are also wise and judicious for Cassanaeus relates in his Catalogo Gloriae Mundi that in the famous old League which was struck twixt Hannibal and the Gaules it was capitulated that if any Gaule was wrongd by a Carthaginian a Carthaginian Magistrat shold be his Judge but if any Carthaginian shold be wrong'd by a Gaule Gallic Women shold be Judges therof I will conclude this Argument with the quaint Verses of Baptista Mantuanus an Italian Ignea Mens Gallis Lactea corpora nomen A candore datum populis Muliebra tingit Ora color Tyrius Paphium meditata colorem Ex geminis fecit Natura coloribus unum Laeti alacres lusu choreis carmine gaudent In Venerem proni proni in Convivia proni Ante Dapes adsacra Deum servire jâ—…gumque Ferre negant fugiunt figmenta hypocrisin Ore Liberi ingenuus mos est Tetricosque perosi c. The third Argument A Nobilitate Regiminis from the Nobleness of Goverment THe form of Goverment in the Kingdome of France is partly Civil partly Polemical It is a mixt Goverment between Peace and War composd of Military Discipline as well as of Civil Justice in regard that France having so many open Frontires and powerful Neighbours by Land they cannot as other Countries joyn Peace and Security together Touching their Martial Goverment t is very exact ther are divers Regiments of Horse and Foot in perpetual pay being inrolld and always ready for any occasion of Service Moreover in all the Provinces and places of strength ther are Governors and Garisons dispersd up and down which is very advantagious for the preferment of the Gentry Now the Governors are so cautiously disposd of by the King that not any of them hath means to betray or deliver up a Province into the Enemies hands the commands therof being so divided For though the Governor commands the Country in general and commonly the chief Town yet ther is a Lieutenant that holds also by Patent immediatly from the King and not from the Governor and betwixt these two ther are some emulations and umbrages ever and anon Then most part of their Towns Castles and Fortresses have particular Governors not subordinat to the Governor of the Province but deriving their power expresly from the King so that in many places the Town hath one Governor and the Castle another Indeed the Country of Provence only was usd to have a Privilege that Her Governor held it without a Lieutenant The Noblesse or Gentry in France are the sole body which participat in some fort with the Prerogatives of the Crown for from it they receave Privileges above other men and a kind of limited Regality upon their Tenants besides real Supplies to their Estates by divers Employments Pensions and exemption from Tallies upon their own Demeans and Lands as long as they manure them by their own servants but what Lands they let out to Tenants is presently Talliable which causeth proportionable abatements in the Rent and in compensation for this They onely owe the King the service of the Ban and Arriereban which is to serve him or his General three months within the Land at their own cost Now as in time of War the Noblesse undergo most part of the danger so is their power then more peremptory above the rest of their fellow-subjects wheras in time of Peace the King is ready to countenance inferiour persons against them and is contented to see them wast one another by contention in Law or otherwise for fear they grow too rich Because it is a principle of State in France That as the Noblesse use to do him the best service so They only misapplyed can do him most harm Now the ancient French Gentry was much diminished in the Croisades or Wars of the Holy Land because that to enable them for the service divers of them did hipotheque or morgage their Fiefs and Lands to the Church which are not redeemd to this day Insomuch that it is thought by sundry Computations which have bin made that the Gallican Church possesseth the third part of the fattest Fiefs in France Now upon the foresaid diminution the French Gentry have been repaird and made up since from time to time of Advocats Financiers and Merchants wherof a
first though t was not concocted to good blood until Osius did it What great favours and indulgence did the poor persecuted Christians receave from â—…rajan from Elius Hadrianus from Antoninus Pius from Theodosius all Spanish Emperours in the time of the ten Persecutions How strongly did Spain tug with the Arrian Heresie till she was quite put upon her back and at last converted The Albigenses in France who had such nefarious and indeed nefandous Principles As that it was lawful to destroy Churches To pull down Crosses To have Wives in common That the Humane Soul was of Gods making but the Body of the Devils c. I say that these ugly Heretiks were principally converted by St. Dominik and by Didacus Episcopus Oximensis both of them being Spaniards and sent by Pope Innocent 3. expresly for that service in the raign of Lewis 7. of France wherin also Blanche Queen of Spain took much pains with great success How much did Charles the fifth labour to quell Luther and to crush the Cocatrice in the shell which causd this Distik to be made in those times of him and Henry the Eighth of England Carolus Henricus Christi Defensor Uterque Henricus Fidei Carolus Ecclesiae Charles and Henry both Defendors of Christ Charles of his Church Henry of his Faith And Spain is so zelous a Christian that t is not only sufficient for her to abstain from Heresie but from the very suspition therof which made her to erect and raise up that wall of brass against it I mean the Tribunal of the Inquisition By which sacred Office the Vineyard of the Lord in the Spanish Dominions is kept free from brambles and thorns with all noisome weeds T is preservd and hedgd therby from all wild ravenous Beasts that so much annoy her in other Kingdomes and set fire on her skirts so often which Spain by the most prudent and pious establishment of this holy Office is so happily made free Moreover ther have bin no Kings so eminently liberal and munificent to the holy House of God together with their Governors and Ministers as the Kings of Spain have bin in all Ages insomuch that a computation hath bin made that well neer the third part of Spain are spiritual Revenues and the third part of the Churches have bin founded by Kings The Archbishop of Toledo is the greatest Ecclesiastical Dignity in Christendome next the Papacy for it hath above 300000 Crowns annual Revenues which countervails three of the best Archbishopriks in France Nor have the Catholik Kings thought it any derogation to make their Sons Archbishops of that place and Chancellors of Castile Furthermore ther hath bin a late calculation made That of those five or six hundred Millions of Tresure that hath bin transported to Spain from Mexico and Peru since the discovery of the West-Indies the Church hath the tenth part insomuch that in some petty Rural Churches one shall see huge massie Candlesticks of Silver with large Chalices Pixes Crosses and Crucifixes some of them of massie Gold and inlaid with precious 〈◊〉 Nor is this Tresure lost that is given the Church For the Clergie of Spain have bin always ready to serve and assist their King in all his exigents and necessities insomuch that it is a saying in Spain That los tesoros de la yglesia son como 〈◊〉 contra â—…na tormenta The tresures of the Church are as anchors against a storm Adde herunto that no Kings of Spain have felt the fulminations of the Vatican viz. the sentence of Excommunication as other Kings have done But they have always obeyd with much exactness the Doctrine of the holy Church resigning their Intellectuals and the whole inward man to the determinations therof as also to defend them against all Opposers wheras divers French Kings have had clashes and frequent contestations with the holy Father What high feuds had Philippe le Bel with Pope Boniface 8 for he passd an Edict of Interdiction that none of his Ecclesiastiks shold have commerce with Rome He obeyd not the Pontificial censures but toar his Letters detaind his Legats and convoqud a Provincial Council in Paris against his order wherin ther were Accusations of Simony and Schism obtruded against him But all this while the Kings of Castilâ—… and Aragon adherd to his Holiness as being the Head and Common Father of the Catholik Church Lewis the eleventh of France against the Ecclesiastical Liberties did institut the Pragmatical Sanction enforcing the Pope to assent therunto wherby all the Canoâ—…cal Laws and Discipline fell in France as Mausonius observes Charles 8. enterd Rome against the Popes will and did as good as war with him as with an enemy but the Catholik King Ferdinand 5. adherd to him to very good purpose Touching Lewis 12. what a bitter enemy he was to the Apostolik seat what troubles he excited against Iulius 2. which gave the first countenance and rise to those Heresies that have pullulated in the Church and so miserably torn the very Bowels of her ever since Philip 2. of France repudiating his lawful Wife married another not only without the consent of Celestin the holy Father but against the opinion of his own Ecclesiastiks whom he handled with so much rigor and tyranny Philip the first of France did no less bandy against the Decrees of the Church in divers things and did likewise cast off his Legitimat Wife and forcd another Lewis 6. of France did so persecut the holy Church that he drew Anathemas and spiritual Execrations upon him Lewis 7. of France had such contentions with Pope Innocent 〈◊〉 that he remaind under the heavy sentence of Excommunication three full yeers Charles le Bel was so highly disobedient to Pope Iohn 23. that he interdicted to pay him his Tenths and other Ecclesiastik Rights Francis 1. and Hen. 2. of France to their eternal reproach calld in the Turk to their assistance against the Christian Emperour Of all which particulars ther are Authentik Historians who make mention and leave it upon record to all Posterity But the French speak very loud how Charles the fifth raisd such a fierce war against Clement 7. that he besiegd Rome and made the Pope prisoner T is confessd but it was upon a pure temporal score yet he resented it so much that it drew repentance from him nor did he grieve a whit that his General the Duke of Bourbon was killd as he was scaling the walls of Rome because he had exceeded his commission Nor when the news came to Spain of the success of the Emperours Army was any joy of triumph shewd at all but rather a dark sadness and all the signes of sorrow which possessd him to his dying day And for a compensation to the Holy Father he establishd his Nephew in the State of Florence Thus have we collected the Reasons and Arguments of these three great Monarks in order to a Precedence of Place and Superiority Concerning the Reasons of the two latter
whom I refer the Reader We will conclude this Paragraph with some further inspections into the Laws of England concerning Ambassadors In the 13 of Queen Elizabeth it was gravely debated in the Bishop of Rosse his case who was Ambassador here for Scotland An Legatus qui Rebellionem contra Principem ad quem Legatus concitat Legati privilegi is gaudeat an ut hostis poenis subjaceat Whether an Ambassador who raiseth Rebellion against the Prince to whom he is sent is to enjoy the privileges of an Ambassador or whether he is to lie under a punishment as an Enemy It was resolved by all the Judges of the Land that he had lost the privileges of an Ambassador and was punishable by the Law of the Land Herupon Mendoza the Spanish Amdassador was commanded away because he fomented a Rebellion c. Moreover as my Lord Coke hath it and therin he agreeth with the Civilians If an Ambassador committeth a delect contra Ius Gentium as Treason Felony Adultery c. he loseth the privilege of an Ambassador and may be punished in England as any privat Alien and not to be remanded but upon courtesie But committing any thing against the privat Municipal Law and Customes of England which is not Malum in se Iure gentium He is not punishable The breaking of Truces and Safe-conducts was once High Treason by the Laws of England but that was mitigated 2 Hen. 5. Furthermore my Lord Coke holds in his fourth Institut That if one be namd but Agent in his Credentials from a King yet he is an Ambassador The ninth Paragraph Concerning the wise Compliances and Witty facetious Sayings and Carriage of divers Ambassadors during the time of their Negotiation c. AS it is a principal quality in an Ambassador to be serious abstruse and reservd in the discharge of his Function so it is a mighty advantage for him to be Witty as well as Wise to be facetious and play the Drol sometimes for the Italian says Non è saggio chi non sà esser pazzo He is not wise who knows not how to play the Fool sometimes Apt pleasant and sudden Reparties discover a great deal of wit An Ambassador being sent to the King of Morocco whose Law we know is not to eat Swines Flesh be brought him Letters wherin all his Titles were not given him The King said Sus has Literas peperit A Sow begat these Letters The Ambassador suddenly answerd Ne iis Vescaris It was done that you shold not eat them The Town of Agrigentum as Herodotus reports having sent Gellias a very hard-favord man Ambassador to Centuripe a low dirty Town in Sicily and being jeerd and stard upon at his audience he answerd Ne Miremini Centuripini ut Urbes sunt ita Cives mei Legatos mittunt pulchros ad pulchras deformes ad deformes Do not wonder O you of Centuripe at me for my Masters of Agrigentum send their Ambassadors as the Cities are Faiâ—… to Faiâ—… Foul to Foul. Don Pedro de Toledo being employd Ambassador to Henry the 4. of France ther were many traverses between them at one privat audience and Don Pedro magnifying much the power of the Spanish Monarchy King Henry said That it was much like the Statue of Nebuchadnezzar composd of divers peeces but having Feet of clay Don Pedro then replying somewhat high the King rejoynd that if he were provokd he wold carry flames even to the Escurial and if that he once mounted he wold be soon in Madrid Don Pedro answerd Indeed King Francis was there meaning Francis the first who was taken at the Battail of Pavia and remaind Prisoner in Madrid divers yeers The King going on further to tax the King of Spain for usurping divers Countries of his and namely the Kingdome of Navarre which he might live to recover Don Pedro answerd That the Iustice wherby the King his Master held Navarre wold help him to defend it The King replyd Your reason is good till I be in Pampelona Don Pedro therupon rising hastily and going towards the door The King askd whither went he so hastily He answerd To provide entertainment for your Majesty at Pampelona A French Ambassador Monsieur de Tilliers as I take it residing here and being invited one day to Dine with King Iames the King being well disposd began a Health to him saying The King of France drinks the French Kings Health The Ambassador answerd as pleasantly Le Roy mon Maitre est bon Lieutenant Il tient bien la France de Luy The King my Master is a good Lieutenant he holds France well from him But of any that I have heard or read of Don Diego de Acunia Count of Gondamar had an extraordinary faculty this way and besides he had well studied the Genius of King Iames in whose Raign he resided here how he was pleasd with sudden plesant Reparties therfore he did Seria jocose he did dispatch serious things in a merry way When Sir Walter Rawleigh was gone with a Fleet to Guiana and when news was broght that he had taken San Toma plunderd the place and killd the Governor which was as some say beyond the bounds of his Commission wherin he was restraind from doing any Acts of hostility upon the firm Land Gondamar came early one morning to the King desiring to speak but only one word to his Majesty being admitted he cryed out Pyratas Pyratas Pyratas intimating that Sir Walter Rawleigh was turnd Pyrat but that word was so fatal that it took off Sir Walters head though upon an old score Another time having discoursd of many things with the King in a privat audience in French the King askd him whether he understood Latin or no Yes Sir said Gondomar I understand it and speak it Discoursing afterwards in Latin of divers things in a free and facetions way it happend that Gondamar spoke false Latin once or twice the King smiling said How comes it to pass that you being an Ambassador to so great a King who shold be exact in all things how comes it that you break Priscians head so often Gondamar replyed Sir I speak Latin like a King and your Majesty speaks Latin like an Ambassador Count Gondamar having bin outragd by the Rabble in London who threw Tobacco-pipes into his Litter and did him other affronts coming after to have a privat audience and the King taking notice of it he said La Harina de Ingalatierra es muy delgada y fina pero el afrecho es muy grossero Sir the Flowre of England meaning the Gentry is very fine but the Bran is very coorse meaning the common peeple Another time being to dispatch a Courrier to Spain and the old Countess of Buckingham being then in extraordinary high favor that most Suters made their address unto her he writ in a Postscript to Count Olivares That ther were never greater hopes then now that England wold turn Roman Catholik for the Mother was more worshippd