besides And this happened when Rome was at her highest point of strength It was cryed up for a Triumph that Caligula brought and put in the Capitoll of Rome certain Cockle shels that he had gathered upon the Costs of Holland Augustus Caesar himself who was calld happy to a Proverb yet he receavd two overthrowes by the Germans calld Lolliana and Variana Clades Iulius Caesar conquerd the Gaules by the help of Germans and in the Pharsalian fields they performd the prime Service Then the Romans because they could not do much upon Germany by strength and valour they went another way to work they found means to raise and foment divisins among the Germans themselfs and did more that way then they could by Armes Which policy also Charles the fifth a German himself did put in practise to break the strength of the Lutherans But that I may return a little to the old times what shall I say of that German Legion which in Spain gave the denomination to the Kingdom of Legio now calld Leon. What shall I say of the Exploites of the Vandales who gave name to Andalusia Of the Longobards who denominated Lombardy in Italie and occupied it two hundred yeers What of the Goths who did lead a dance through all Europe All these were Birds of our Feathers And Charles the quint was usd to say that the prime Nobility of Christendom descended from the Gothique race and that ther was no one more entire body upon Earth then Germany if united But to go from lesse to great what a Mirroir of men was our Charlemagne who first translated the Roman Empire to Germany where it hath continued above eight ages By these rivulets you may gesse at the greatnesse of the River by these sparks you may conjecture what the flame is and by these Rayes you may know somthing of the Sun Indeed in Germany Caesar sits like the Sun himselfe in the Zodiac surrounded with seven Planets that is the Septemvirat of Electors with multitudes of other refulgent Stars And this Caesarean dignity is now so rooted in Germany that it is a Fundamentall Law Ne quis exterus non Germanus in Imperatorem eligatur That no Forrener that is no German be chosen Emperour And why should we seek for any abroad when there are so many Imperiall Families at home Now the Imperiall Majesty is without a fellow Caesar of any mortall is next to God and deserves Veneration all the world over his Dignity being supereminent and his power shold be transcendent Athalaricus the Goth could say so much that the Emperour is doubtlesse an earthly God and whosoever doth heave up his arm against him he is guilty of his own blood By Baldus words he is Summus superior Dominusque Orientis Occidentis Meridiei septentrionis He is the highest Superior and Lord of all the four Cardinall corners of the World He is the Supreme Judg from whom there is no appeal the prime Arbiter It is he who in sign of excellence wears a triple Crown on his head He is Creator of Kings the chief source of honor and Fountain whence all greatnesse flowes Nay the common and Capital Enemy of Christendom the Turk gives his Ambassadors more honor then to any other Potentate As among others ther is one pregnant example for when David Ungnadius was Ambassador for the Emperour in Constantinople and went to take his leave of the grand Turk and the Persian Ambassador being com to the Duana before him and taken the Chair before him he was going away without saluting the Sultan but the gran Visier the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or chief Minister of State perceaving that causd the Persian Ambassador though a Mahumetan to take a lower Seat Another time upon the Celebration of Mahomet the third's Circumcision which lasted forty daies and nights continually there being in Constantinople the Legats of the greatest Monarchs upon earth yet he who was Ambassador then in the Port for Rodulphus the second had alwaies the first place Now as the Emperour himselfe is the prime Potentat so the Princes and Nobles of Germany are the best descended of any other and wheras divers German Princes bore great sway abroad it is probable that they left there much of their Of-spring But in Germany there are no forren extractions Germany reducd and ruld other Countries but none ruld Germany but her own Children swarmes of Germans have gone abroad to Italy and other Provinces for Governors but no strangers have swayd in Germany T is tru that Captives of all Nations have been brought thither from Italy and other places and among those Captives ther might be haply som Princely Stemms As now in Westphalia among the Boors ther are som found who derive themselfs from the Caesarean and Consulary Families in Rome but in Rome her self there are very few of them left having bin ravisht and ransackt so often There are none left of the publicolae of the Iunij of the Fabij of the Valerij of the Manlij of the Cassij of the Cincinnati of the Menucij of the Papirij of the Bruti of the Fulvij of the Sempronij of the Tullij of the Hortensij of the Aurelij of the Tarquinij Hostilij Licinij Sempronij Caecilij Crassi and multitudes of other Illustrious Families of Rome they are all extinct onely the Lakes of Venice hath preservd som upon the inundation of the Goths Therefore sayeth Aeneas Sylvius Ita agamus ut nos potius Germani quam Itali nuncupemur c. Let us carry the businesse so that we may be calld Germans rather then Italians for ther the purest and certainst ancientst Nobility upon earth doth yet flourish And indeed most of the Nobles of Italy that now are of German extraction originally as the Lords of Colalta Della Scala di castel Barco della Rovere della Beccaria del caretto di monte feltro di porcia Fazzoni and Arogari Carrafi Bolchetti Rossi Landriani Gonraghi Gabrieli Palavicini Savorgnani Farnesi Bentivogli Soardi c. All which acknowledg themselfs to have had their first extraction from Germany The Pole in magnifying their Sigismunds the Dane in extolling their Christians the Sweds in glorying of their Gustavus Adolphus do all this while commend Germany whence they first descended Let England also boast of their Nobility Gentry and in so doing they praise Germany and Normandy Let Spain vaunt of their King and who knowes not but he is a German two wayes by the Gothique and Austrian Family with the best Stemms of Spain besides where he is accounted but an upstart Noble-man that is not derivd de la sangre de les Godos of Gothic Blood Let France stand as high a tiptoe as she will to vaunt of her twelve hundred yeers Monarks and she will confesse her three race of Kings Merovengians Carlovingians and Capevingians whence Lewis the fourteenth now regnant is descended came all primarily of the German race But let us com to Germany her self
side then the Peasan in the Countrey which makes the Hollander oftentimes bring thither French Salt back again and gain by it One shall see somtimes the poor Roturier or yeoman to go from the market with his pockets cram'd with salt to avoid paying the gabel and women steal it home in their purses Now touching such an affluence of all things in France besides which you insist upon my Noble Cosen it may be so but then surely ther is the worst kind of government there upon earth and the most unproportionablest divident made of that plenty for I dare avouch France doth abound with beggars more then any Countrey under the Sun One cannot ride upon the high way but he shall have swarmes of little mendicants sing before his horse head as also when he remounts the next day The poor Vigneron and Husbandman go in their wooden shooes and canvas breeches to Church upon Sundayes and if their wifes have a buckram petticot she is brave Therfore wheras you say that France is the freest and frankest Countrey in the World and that she draws her etymology thence she may be so to strangers and passengers but for the Natives I beleeve they are the arrand'st slaves upon earth they are of a meer asinin condition not only in relation to the King who so grinds their faces with taxes but they are villains also to their Lords I will produce one example for all The Lord of Chasteauroux or red Castle in Berry had a Tenant that by his industry became Bourgesse of Paris Le seigneur vendica son serf qui s'estoiâ—… retiré et obtint la provision the Lord in open Court demands his slave which the Court could not deny and so pass'd sentence accordingly You say noble Cosen that France is adorn'd with all vertues truly I do not see how vertue can cohabit where such furies do tyrannize I am sure that Scaliger speaks of som parts of France quae ab omni humanitaâ—…e et literis vasta est ubi librorum et bonorum hominum maxima solitudo est Som parts which are void of all humanity and literature where ther is a kind of solitude and wildernesse both of books and good men Touching the magnanimity and prwoesse of the French 't is tru they did achieve som brave things while the German bloud continued fresh in them and untainted Cicero saith that Caius Marius by his divine vertu and valour influentes in Italiam Gallorum Copias repressit that he repress'd those swarmes of French who rush'd into Italie but Caesar who was a better Historian then Cicero saith they were Cimbri and Teutones both which are High Dutch as also those which Brennus brought to sack Rome and afterwards took Delphos from the Greeks Touching the French courage we know the trite proverb that the French are at the first onset more then men and afterwards les then women Indeed Florus sayeth Habent eorum corpora quiddam simile cum suis nivibus quae mox vt caluêrs pugnâ statim in sudorem eunt et levi motu quasi sole laxantur The French bodies bear some analogy with their snowes for as soon as they are heated in fight they vapour into sweat and they are as it were thaw'd by the Sun at the least motion But your Highnesse seems to extol mightily the power of the French King indeed 't is an old saying that Gallum in suo sterquilinio plurimum posse The cock Gallus can do much upon his own dunghill But this power is not so superlatif if we descend into the truth of things for touching the demeanes of the Crown the King cannot alienat one acre therof without the consent of the three Estates as ther is a pregnant example herof in the Assembly of Blois where Bodin lost the favour of Henry the third about this debate For the French King is by the law but an Usufructuary of the Crown possession nor could any of them be sold for the redemption of King Iohn in England though it was then propos'd nor of King Francis in Spain though this was the greatest necessity that could be We well know how often the Parlement of Paris hath clash'd with the King and rejected his Edicts Nor is the single testimony of the King valid enough in France to take away any ones life ther was a notable example herof in Henry the seconds raign who when he had commanded an Italian servant to be clap'd in prison and had solemnly sworn that he had found him in a most foul offence yet the Kings affidavit could not prevail with the Judges but they releas'd the prisoner But now the integrity and stoutnesse of those brave ancient Legislators and Judges in times past is much diminish'd because Kings do use to lend their eares to Parasits Sycophants and Buffons rather then to Helvidius Priscus Monsieur Lavacre or such Sages Ther is a tale of Bajazet the first that he had an Ethiop born in India about him and having upon a march one day his tent pitch'd nere a high tree he call'd the Ethiop and sayed Dre Areb if thou lov'st me go up to the top of that tree the Indian scambled up presently so the Emperour sent presently for som to hew down the tree the poor Ethiop begging his life all the while and that his Counsellors wold intercede for him but nothing prevailing the Ethiop pull'd down his breeches and with his Excrements and Urine did so beray the hewers that they gave over work and in the interim the Ethiop gets down telling the Turks Counsellors Wold all such Privy Counsellors as you were so beray'd whose oouncel cannot do as much as my Excrements The French Kings use to have many such weak Councellors Touching the unlimited power the French Kings have to make pecuniary Levies and lay taxes I pray hear what Philip Comines sayeth one of Lewis the xi chiefest Councellors of State and whom he employ'd in the most intricat and arduous ocasions Nemo omnium est Principum qui jus habeat vel teruncium vnum exigendi a suis praeter constitutum annuum censum nisi populus assentiatur sunt quidem principes quibus hoc frequens est in Sermone vt dicant habere se privilegia vt quantum velint exigant a populo Galliarum vero Rex omnium minimè causam habet vt istud de se jactet nec enim vel ipsi vel cui vis alii licet Ther is no Prince that hath right to raise the least farthing of his subjects besides his settled revenues without the peeples consent 'T is tru ther are som Kings who have it frequently in their mouthes that they have such praerogatives to impose what they please but the King of France hath the least cause to vaunt thus of himself The Exorbitancies of the French Kings this way hath bin the ground of all the warrs that were wag'd pour le Bien public for the common good which have harass'd France so often Charles the
one of the deepest clerks of his time What a rare man and of heavenly speculations was Io de sacro bosco the Author of the sphaere which remaines yet engraven upon his tomb in Paris some ages after these the world of learned men did much esteem Reginald Poole Iohn Colet William Lillie Linacre Pace Cardinall Fisher Bishop of Rochester Sir Thomas More Latimer Tindall Baleus Tunstall men inferior to none as well for sanctimony of life as for rare erudition and knowledg Toby Matthew Archbishop of York another Chrysostom Thomas Stapleton Nic. Wotton Iewell Cheek Humphreys Grindall Whitgift Plowden Ascham Cooke Smyth Whitaker Perkins Mountagu those great speculative Lords Baeon and Herbert Andrews Usher that rare Primat Selden who knows as much as both the Scaligers Camden the English Strabo Owen another Martiall with divers excellent Dramatique Poets and it is a great wrong to the Common-wealth of learning that their works are not made intelligible in a larger toung then that Insulary Dialect Add hereunto that for Physicians and Lawyers both Civill and Common there are as profound spirits there as any on earth And as for learning so for prowess and magnanimity the Inhabitants of Great Britain have been and are still very celebrous And though there hath been alwayes an innated kind of enmity twixt the French and the English yet they have extorted prayses out of their enemies mouths witnes Comines Froissard and Bodin who write so much in honor of the English Nor do they herein complement or flatter a whit What a bold Britain was Brennus who liv'd long before the English took footing there what notable feates did he perform in Italy Greece and Asia so that the old Britains or Welsh in honor of that Heroe call a King after his name to this day viz. Brennin and there is a Castle in Wales of his name to this day How manfully did the ancient Britains tugg with the Romans who receav'd fowler defeats there then in any other Region which one of their Poets seemes to confesse when he saith Invictos Romano Marte Britannos The Silures who are a peeple but of a few small shires in Wales viz. Monmouth Brecknock and others being animated by the courage of their King Cataracus and provok'd by the menaces of the Emperour Claudius who threatned to extinguish the very names of them met his army in open field and cutting off an auxiliary Regiment which was going to recreut the Emperour under Marius Valens they utterly routed him In so much that Ostorius the propraetor of Britanny for the Romans resenting this dishonor died out of a sense of grief Charles the Great had to doe with them in three battailes wherein there was such a slaughter of his men that he cryed Si vel semel tantùm cum illis adhuc depugnandum foret ne unum quidem militem sibi superfuturum If he were to encounter the Britains but once more he should not have a soldier left him a saying proceeding from such a man as Charlemain that tends much to the reputation of the Britains But the Gaules are they whom the Britains galld having in so many victories left their arrowes in their thighs in their breasts and some sticking in their hearts which makes Bodin complain Gallos ab Anglis in ipsa Gallia clades accepisse ac pene Imperium amisisse That the French receaved many overthrowes in France herself by the English and had almost lost their Kingdom whereupon the Poet sings wittily Anglorum semper virtutem Gallia sensit Ad Galli cantum non fugit iste Leo. For how often have the French Kings with their Nobles been routed defeated and discomfited by the English Gray-goose-wing how often hath it pierc'd the very center of the Kingdom what notable rich returnes have the English made from France And what pittifull looks must France have when Edward the fourth got such a glorious victory at Cressy where above thirty thousand perish'd among whom the King of Bohemia was found among the dead bodies ten Princes eighty Barons twelve hundred Gentlemen and the flower of the French fell that day and King Philip of Valois did hardly escape himself to a small town which being ask'd at the gate who he was qui va la answer'd la Fortune de France the Fortune of France This made France weare black a long time But in another battail she had as ill luck wherein her King Iohn and David King of Scots where taken prisoners and attended the prince of Wales to England yet such was the modesty of that prince though conquerour that he waited upon King Iohn bareheaded at table this was such a passage as happen'd in King Edgars raign who had foure Kings to row him upon the river Dee hard by Westchester viz. Kennad Kind of the Scots Malcolm King of Cumberland Maconus King of Man and another Welsh King The English reduc'd France to such a poverty at that time that she was forc'd to coin leather money In divers other battailes in the raignes of Charles the fift sixt and seventh and Lewis the elevenths time the English did often foyl the French untill the war pour le bien public begun by the Duke of Burgundy Such a large livery and seifin the English had taken in France that for three hundred and fifty years they were masters of Aquitain and Normandy Nay Henry the sixt of England was crowned King of France in Paris And so formidable were the English in France that the Duke of Britany when he was to encounter the French army in the field thought it a policy to cloth a whole Regiment of his soldiers after the English mode to make them more terrible to the French What shall I say of that notable Virago Queen Elizabeth who did such exploits again Spain by taking the united provinces of the Low Countreys under her protection How did she ply the Spaniard and bayt him by Sea and Land how did she in a manner make him a Bankrupt by making him lose his credit in all the banks of Europe And all that while Spain could do England no harme at all touching the strength of which Kingdom you may please to hear what a judicious Italian speaks of it Il Regno d'Ingliterra non há bisogno d'altri per la propria difesa anzi non solo é difficile mà si può dir impossible se non é divisione nel Regno che per via de force possa esser conquistato The Kingdom of England stands in no need of any other for her own defense so that it is not only difficult but a thing impossible unlesse there be some intestin division to make a conquest of that Countrey Philip offer'd very fairly for her in the year eighty eight when he thought to have swallowed her with his Invincible Fleet which was a preparing three yeers she consisted of above 150. saile 8000. Mariners 20000. foot besides voluntiers she carried 1600. Canons of brasse 1000. of iron
contented only that the Vassall kisse their hands or hem of their Garment Nor doth the Pope return reverence to any other potentate by rising up bowing his head or uncovering his head to any onely to the Emperor after he hath kiss'd his feet he is afterwards admitted to kisse his hand and then he riseth a little and giveth him a mutuall kisse of Charity with an Embracement There is a cloud of examples how diver Emperors and Kings came to Rome to do their filial duty to the Holy Father and to have their Coronations confirm'd by him Iustinian did so to Constantine Pipin to Stephen the second Charles the Great to Leo the 3. Lodovicus pins of France to Sergius the 2. the Emperor Henry the forth to Paschall the 2. Frederic the first to Adrian the 4. But that was a notable Signal reverence which Lewis of France and Henry the second of England did to Alexander the 3. Who came both together and jointly attended the Pope a good way to his lodging he being on horsback and they both a foot Now it is one of the high Tenets of the Catholiques That the Pope is the only Free independent Prince upon Earth not accountable to any for his actions but unto Christ himself whose Vicegerent he is He cannot onely command but make Kings at least confirm them The King of Spain did not hold himself perfectly established King of the West-Indies till the Holy Father pleas'd to allow of it and confirm him Now touching the Title of Emperor there is a notable letter upon record which Adrian the 4. writ to the three Ecclesiastic Electors of Germany Romanum Imperium a Graecis translatum est ad Alemannos ut Rex Teutonicorum non ante quam ab Apostolica manu coronaretur Imperator vocaretur ante consecrationem Rex post Imperator Unde igitur habet Imperium nisi a nobis ex electione principum suorum habet nomen Regis ex consecratione nostra habet nomen Imperatoris Augusti Caesaris Ergo per nos imperat c. Imperator quod habet totum a nobis habet Ecce in potestate nostra est ut demâ—…s illud cui volumus propterea constituti a deo super gentes Regna ut destruamus evellamus ut aedificemus plantemus The Roman Empire saith Adrian the 4. was transferr'd from Greece to Germany therefore the King of the Teutons cannot be call'd Emperor till he be apostolically Crown'd before his consecration he is but King and Emperor afterward Whence therefore hath he the Empire but from us by the Election of his Princes he hath the name of King but he hath the Title of Emperor of Augustus and Caesar by our consecration Therefore he is Imperial by us c. that which he hath of Emperor he hath wholly from us behold it is in our power to give the Title to whom we please therefore are we constituted by God himself over Nations and Kings that we may destroy and pluck up build and plant c. Nor doth the Papall power extend to give Titles to Emperors but to make Kings It is upon record how Pope Leo made Pipin King of Italy Sergius made Stephen King of Hungary Pope Iohn made Wenceslaus King of Poland Alphonso King of Portugal was made by Eugenius the 3d. Edgar was made King of Scotland by Urban the 2d. Iohn de Brenna was made King of Ierusalem by Innocent the third Pope Pius the 5. gave Cosmo de Medici the Title of Gran-Duke of Tâ—…scany notwithstanding the opposition of Maximilian the 2d. and Philip the 2d. of Spain I saw in the Archives of Rome the names of those Kings who are Vassalls to the Pope and they are rank'd in this order and Bodins Cataloge agrees with it Reges Neapolis Siciliae Arragoniae Sardiniae Hierolosymorum Angliae Hiberniae Hungariae all these are or should be at least feudetary and hommageable to the Bishop of Rome Nor can the Holy Father entitle Emperors and make Kings and Gran-Dukes but he can as he alledgeth depose them if they degenerate to Tyrants or Heretiques he can absolve their subjects from all ties of allegeance As among other examples Innocent the 3. did to Iohn King of England and Sixtus quintus did to Queen Elizabeth Innocent the 1. did not onely thrust Arcadius out of his Throne but out of the society of Christians Anastasius the Emperor was excommunicated by Anastasius the 2. Pope Constantine anathematiz'd the Emperor Philippicus Gregory the third delivered over to Satan Pope Leo Isaurus and took from him all Italy Gregory the 7. excommunicated the Emperor Henry the 3. and Boleslaus King of Poland The Emperor Lewis the 4. was barr'd to come to Church by Benedict the 12. Otho by Innocent the 3. Frederic the 2. by Innocent the 4. and Peter King of Castile was quite thrust out both of his Throne and the holy Church by Vrban the 5. who made Henry the bastard capable to succeed him by a bull of legitimation and indeed that Peter was a hatefull Tyrant having murtherd many of his own Subjects and his Queen or the house of Bourbon with his own hands There is another high prerogative which the Roman Bishop claimes which is to summon Generall Councells which Montanus who was president of the Councell of Trent from the Pope did avouch in open assembly upon a design of removing the Councell to Bolonia where he among other things did positively assert and pronounce Caesarem nempe non Dominum aâ—…t Magistrum esse sed Ecclesiae filium esse se verò Collegas qui adsint Romane sedis Legatos esse penes quos ordinandi transferendi concilii jus erat Caesar was not Lord nor Master but Sonne of the Holy Church But he and his Colleagues there present were Legats of the Roman See whose right it was to ordain and transferre General Councells Moreover the Bishop of Rome hath a great stroake in preserving the Universal peace of Christendom and keeping Earthly Potentates from clashing one with another In so much that the Pope may be compar'd to that Isthmos of land which runns twixt the Ionian and Aegaean Seas keeping their waters from jusling one with another Nor is the Bishop of Rome thus powerfull only by his spirituall Authority by vertue whereof besides Patriarkâ—… Archbishops and a world of Bishops he hath 70. Cardinalls who are accounted equal to Princes and who as they are all of his making so are they at his devotion which number of 70. was limited by a solomn diploma or Bull of Sixtus Quintus and the election to be alwaies in December so many daies before Christmas which is a general Jubile of rejoycing for the Nativity of our Saviour And as these Cardinals are Princes Companions so have they revenues accordingly from the Common aerarium or Treasury of the Church which is an unknown thing and inexhaustible For as long as men have soules within them and believe there is a Heaven or Hell the
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Have the Frank or the Frenchman for thy friend not for thy Neighbour And the name of Frank or French grew so renownd that Iustinian the Emperour calld himselfe Francicum whereat Theudebert King of France took exception because he was neither born there nor gott one foot of the Countrey And now the fame of the Franks like a bright flame of fire flew higher and higher and at last it grew so high that in Charlemaynes time all Gallia and all Germany that extended from the Rhin to Illyrium was calld France nay the name of Freink or Frence came to be of such a huge extent and latitude that all Christians among the Turks and up and down Asia of what Nation soever they were were calld Freinks yea the Christian Affricans in Ethiopia calld the Habissines calld all the Europaeans Alfrangues and the Countrey Frankia Herby most noble Princes by our fortitude and constancy we became twise the Fathers of Gallia and so we may be sayed to be also twise the Fathers of the Britains For the Saxons which som wold derive from the Saci a renowned peeple in Asia but wrongfully being as Zosimus sayeth for their magnitude of spirit strength of body and patience in labour grown famous and feard by the Romans as Marcellinus hath it The Saxons I say were sent for by the Britons to help them against the incursions of the Picts and Scots where being arrivd after many vicissitudes they settled there a Monarchy so that by som it was calld Transmarina Saxonia nor have the ancient Britons Irish and Scotts any other name for an English man to this day but Sasson Nor was the English Language any thing else at first but a meer dialect of the German so that all their Townes terminant in Dutch either in Ham thorp wich burg berg sted heim stadt c. Now I pray were not the ancient Kings of Spain before the House of Austria all Germans with the principallst Families of Spain who to this day take it a glory to be descended of the Goths Now it is observd that whersoever the German and Goth took footing they never forsook the place but multiplied there exceedingly nor is there any Nation so fruitfull and prolificall as the Germans witnesse these examples though somthing prodigious Margaret Florence the fourth Count of Hollands Daughter and Wife to the Earl of Henneberg being about two and forty yeers old about nine a clock in the morning was brought to Bed of an Almanack of Children Viz. three hundred sixty five as many as there be dayes in the yeer whom Guido the Suffragan Bishop of Utrecht christned all alive being brought all to Church in a great Bason and being half Boyes and half Girls the Males were calld Iohns and the Females Elizabeths but they all expird with their Mother in one day which was Anno 1276. Another Margaret Wife to a Count of Holsten some thirty yeers after brought forth so many But these were unusuall abortive weak Issues Germany needs and daylie produceth stronger broods I pray observe that nere Tubinga ther is a Castle calld Entringh Castle which for the serenity of the ayr the sweetnesse of soyl and amaenity of walks is a place most delectable there livd within these few yeers in this Castle five Gentlemen with their Wifes in a rare harmony of affection who got a hundred Children who livd to be all Men and Women Consider the Countesse of Dalburg who saw her numerous Issue to the third degree of whom this Distic was made Mater ait natae dic natae filia natam Ut moneat natae plangere filiolam Rise up Daughter and go to thy Daughter for thy Daughters Daughter hath a Daughter The story is notable of Babo Count of Abeneberg who of Wifes had two and thirty Sonns and eight Daughters whom he gave the choicest education unto that could be this Count being invited one day to Hunt with the Emperour Hen the second took oportunity to bring his Troup of Sonns well horsd and in gallant Equippage and making a present of them to the Emperour he took them all with much grace and contentment to his service and married them very nobly insomuch that many Illustrious Families sprung from their loynes And the Emperour was bound to do this according to Law for whosoever in Germany getts seven Sonns together the Emperour is to maintain them all and though the German Continent be very vast yet is it full of people so that as Boterus hath it ther was a cense of ten Millions of soules who breathd ther at one time but he corrected himself afterward and averrs Veggo che quella amplissima provincia passa 19. millioni d'anime senza comprendervi I Regni di Danemarca di Boemia I find that that huge Province besides Denmark and Bohemia hath nineteen millions of soules within it Therfor though an Army of two hundred thousand Soldiers shold be carried out of Germany ther would be no misse at all of them What shall we say of the Normans in France who establishd a Monarchy both in England and Sicilie by their meer prowesse and having subjugated that fertile Province in France calld Normandy ever since they did so infest the rest of that spacious Kingdom that it was a part of their Letany a Furore Normanorum libera nos Domine From the Norman Fury the Lord deliver us At last Charles the simple was forcd to give Rollo their Duke his Daughter Gista to wife with that whole Province and when at that Ceremony Rollo was advisd by his Nobles to kisse the Kings foot answerd no by God which is the cause that the Normans are calld By-gods to this day Roger Hoveden speaks thus of the Normans Audax Francia Normannorum Militiam experta est ferox Anglia captiva succubuit dives Apulia sortit aestoruit Heirosolyma famosa insignis Antiochia se utraque suppoluit Bold France felt the Norman Disciplin fierce England yeelded her selfe as Captive rich Apulia receavd them and flourishd holy Ierusalem and famous Antioch subjected themselfs both unto him What a man of men was Tancred who going as a Martiall Adventurer abroad with many goodly young Princes his Sons did perform many exploits in Italy chasd the Saracens out of Sicilie and did sundry brave feats in the Holy-land And to this day the Sicilians acknowledg that it was by his valour they enjoy their own Country that they live free and became all Christians again Tacitus himself though no great Friend to our Nation confesseth that the Germans cut the Romans more work to do then either the Samnites the Carthaginians the Spaniards or French and Parthians For what can the Orient as he sayeth bragg of but that they conquerd and killd our Generall Crassus and Pacorus But the Germans did not onely rout five Roman Armies in the Consulship of Carbo Cassius Scaurus Aurelius Servilius Cepo and Manlius but they took away Varus with three Legions
of learning who were marvellously famous for wisdom and knowledge This Iland doth partake with Creet now Candie in one property which is that she produceth no Venemous creature as Toads Vipers Snakes Spiders and the like and if any be brought thither they die It is wonderfull what huge confluences of birds do flutter about the shores of this Iland as also of Scotland which offuscate the broad face of Heaven sometimes and likewise such huge shoales of Fish A thousand things more might be spoken of these Ilands which are fitter for a Volume then a Panegyrical Oration I will end with the end of the World and that is the I le of Shetland which most of your great Geographers take to be that ultima Thule that terminates the Earth which lyeth under 63. degrees and the most Northern point of Scotland And now most Noble Princes since the most generous I le of Great Britain and her handmaid Ilands which indeed are without number doth as it were overflow with abundance of all commodities that conduce to the welfare and felicity of mankind and is able to afford her neighbours enough besides as the Hollander confesseth when he saith that he lives partly upon the Idlenesse and superfluity of the English Since the antient Britaines were the first displayers of Christianity in most part of the Western World Since of late years they have been such Navigators that they have swom like Leviathans to both the Indies yea to the other Hemisphere of the Earth among the Antipodes since that in the Newfound World they have so many Colonies Plantations and Ilands yea a good part of the Continent of America annexed to the Crown of England And since that Her inhabitants for Comelines and courage for arts and armes as the Romans themselves confessed whose conquests in other places had no horizon Invictos Romano Marte Britannos I say that all circumstances and advantages Maturely considered Great Britain may well be a Candidate and conte nd for priority and the Dictatorship with other Provinces of Europe For my part according to the motto upon Saint George his Garter Hony soit quimaly pense let him be beraid who thinks any hurt by holding this opinion which neverthelesse I most humbly submit to this Princely Tribunall ANOTHER ORATION OF THE Lord WOLF ANGUS BARON of STUBENBERG For GREAT BRITAIN Most Illustrious President and Princes MY most dear Lord and Cosen the Baron of Eubeswald hath made an Elogium of the noble I le of Great Britain as copious and as full of Eloquence as the I le itself is full of all things that are requisite for humane accommodation but most humbly under favour in this survey there are some things pretermitted which are peculiar to Great Britain and worthy the taking notice of one is the generous strong-bodied and dauntless race of Dogs which that I le produceth whereof Claudian makes mention Magnaque taurorum fracturi colla Britanni Britain hath Dogs that will break the huge necks of Buls I do not mean by these Buls those fierce and truculent White-buls which are found in the woody Caledonian hils of Scotland who are so wild that they will not touch any thing that men have handled or blown upon for they cannot only repell but they contemn the assaults of any Dog It was the custom of the Romans to bring in huge Irod Cages the British Dogges to Rome which in their Amphitheatres were put to tugge with huge wild beasts therefore there was an Officer call'd Procurator Cynegiâ—… in Britannis Ventensis The Keeper of the Dog-house among the Britains which Cuiacius would have to be Gynaecii not Cynegii viz. a Work-house for Women not a Kennell for Dogges And Pancirollus is of the same opinion when he saith Gynaecia illa constituta fuisse texendiâ—… principis militumque vestibus navium velis stragulis linteis aliis ad instruendas mansiones necessariis That those Gynecia or Female Work-houses were appointed to weave Garments for the Prince and Souldiery as also Sailes for Ships Beds Tents and other necessaries for furnishing of houses But Wolfangus Lazius holds to the first opinion Procuratorem illum canes Imperatoribus in illa Venta curavisse That the said Procurator did keep and provide Dogges for the Emperour Strabo saith further that Britanni canes erant milites the English Dogs were Souldiers and the old Gaules made use of them so accordingly in their Wars They are also rare Animals for Hunting and herein it is wonderfull what Balaeus hath upon record that two hundred and seventy years before the Incarnation Dordanilla King of Scotland did commit to writing certain precepts for Hunting and to be observed by his subjects which are yet in force Great Britain hath also the most generous and sprightfull Cocks of any Country and 't is a great pleasure to be in one of their Pits at that sport where one shall behold a Cock fight out his eyes and yet retain still his naturall vigour to destroy the other and if these brute Animals Beasts and Birds be thus extraordinary couragious we may well think the rational creatures may hold analogy with them THE ORATION OF THE LORD DANIEL VON WENSIN AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN Most Excellent Lord President and Princes NOw that I am to speak of the Britains I will begin my Oration with that of Ausonius Nemo bonus Britto est No good man is a Britain which ever since grew to be a Proverb God forbid this should be verified of all but I believe I shal rectify the judgment of those noble princes who spoak before me that as I observ'd when I sojourn'd there neither the Countrey of Great Britain nor her Inhabitants are generally so good as they by their perswasive and powerfull Oratory would induce you to give credit unto For as the English sea is unfaithfull and from Beerfleet in Normandy almost to the midst of the chanell is full of rocks and illfavourd ragged places wherin prince VVilliam son to Henry the first and Heir apparant to England and Normandy was cast away by shipwrack together with his sister and a great many noble personages besides so the nature of the Britains may be said to be full of craggs and shelfs of sands that vertue cannot sayle safely among them without hazarding a wreck England is not such a paradis nor the Angli such Angeli though styld so by a Popes mouth which you make them to be most Illustrious Baron of Ewbeswald First for the Countrey it self it is not sufficiently inhabited notwithstanding there be some Colonies of Walloons Hollanders among them The earth doth witnes this which wants culture and the sea is a greater witnes that wants fishermen Touching the first it is a meere desert in some places having no kind of agriculture though she be capable of it And for the other the Hollanders make more benefit upon their coasts then they themselves and which is a very reproachfull thing they use to buy their own fish
of their Princes are no better what I pray is the Gran Duke of Florence what are the Clarissimi of Venice what are the Senators of Genoa but all Marchants yet every broker and pedler is there termed by Vostra Signoria which is your Lordship The meanest Prince in Italy must be called Serenissimo a title used to be given only to the Archdukes of Austria they scorn to be call'd Excellentissimi or Illustrissimi Nay the Duke of Savoy return'd the Senats letters to Venice because mention being made in them of the Dukes children they termed them Excellentissimi not Serenissimi But learning and the sciences you say doe florish in Italy more then any where Indeed I confesse literature is a rare vertu it enables one for any profession and no profession unlesse it be mechanique can be without it The Emperour Sigismund did make high esteem of it in so much that he preferrâ—…d a Doctor before a Knight and his reason was that he could make twenty Knights in a day but not one Doctor You all know the famous apophthegm of Alphonso King of Aragon Rex illiteratus est Asinus coronatus an illiterat King is an Asse with a crown on his head The Genoa Lady was of another opinion who saied penna non facit Nobilem sed penis 'T is true we are beholden to Italy for learning and she to Greece But as poore Greece is now so degenerated in this point that she who call'd all the world Barbarians yea the Italians among others is now become Barbary Herself in point of literature and scientificall knowledge In Honorius time there dwelt but a few Marchants of honey in Athens And I wish the same fate may not befall Italy for her nefandous crimes which are rife there but touching learning I pray heare what Muretus speaks In media Italia in medio Latio in media Magna Graecia vix centisimum quemque invenias qui Latinè aut Graecè loqui sciat In the midst of Italy in the midst of Latium in the midâ—…t of Magna Graecia you shall not find the hundreth man that can understand Greek or Latin or any kind of letters And I pray how doth Italy use to encourage and reward learned men Look upon Philelphus the leaâ—…nedst man of his time yet they were forc'd to sell his books to bury him in Bolonia And who would have thought that Aeneas Sylvius or Pope Pins the second who was beholden to the Muses for all his fortunes and promotion I say who would have thought that being congratulated by sundry peeces of Poetry when he came to be Pope in lieu of reward he put them off with this distic Pro numeris numeros a me sperate Poetae Carminaque est animus reddere non emere O Poets expect numbers for numbers I use to return not buy verses But it seems that Homers fate of inevitable poverty is devolv'd by way of inheritance to all poets Paul the second next successor to Aeneas had a mischievous designe to demolish all learning in so much that he esteemed students and philosophers no other then Heretiques or Conjurers And now that I have fallen among the Popes I beleeve you have heard of the common saying amongst them Nos accipimus pecuniam mittimus asinos in Germaniam We receive money and send Asses to Germany There were two Popes I know not who was the wiser who was the simpler of the two viz. Iohn the eighth or Calixtus the third The first sold the Crown of France to Charles the bald for a vast summe of money depriving the right heirs The other put Edmund of England and Vincent of Spain into the catalogue of Saints whereupon when Cardinall Bessarion heard of it Novi hi sancti de veteribus mihi dubium movent These new saints puts me in some doubt of the old Alexander the sixt scrap'd up so much treasure by the nundination and sale of Indulgences that Caesar Borgia his son loosing a hundred thousand crownes one night at dice sayed Germanorum tantum haec peccata sunt These are onely the sinns of Germany Iulius the third intending to advance Montanus to a Cardinalship and the consistory disswading his holines from it because he was of very meane birth and no parts answered no lesse modestly then wittily Then what thinke you I pray of me whom you have constituted Prince of the Christian Commonwealth Leo the tenth had a purpose to creat Raphael Urbinus a meer painter to be a Cardinall if he had liv'd to it But touching the strange humors and extravagancies of some Popes I put you over to Platina who was secretary to so many of them But to revert a little touching the older sect of Italians Authors there is more vice then vertu to be found in most of them witnes those triumvirs of wanton love Catullus Tibullus and Propertius Ovid might be called a pander to Venus in some of his works what spurcidicall and obscene things doe we read in Martiall and Iuvenall what a foolish humor was that in Persius to study obscurity so much And in Virgil whom we cry up so highly what was he but a meere Ape to Homer Theocritus and other Greek Poets I have seene Homer's picture in a posture of vomiting and all the Latin poets about him licking up what he had spewd but Virgil lapp'd up more then all the rest Now Cicero whom we magnifie above all if we well observe him we shall find that he sate often upon two stooles Petrus Bembus was such a slave to Cicero and so sworn to his words that he infected Longolius with the same humor who would use no other Latin words but what he found in Cicero Therefore the Senat of Venice is alwayes call'd by him Patres Conscripti Dukes and Dukedoms Reges Regna The sophy of Persia and Gran Turk Reges Armeniae Thracum Faith is call'd by him persuasion Excommunication Interdiction of fire and water Nunns are call'd Vestalls The Pope Pontifex Maximus The Emperour Caesar c. In so much that he holds any word barbarous that is not found in Cicero But touching learning and eloquence we well know that Greece hath been the true source of both whence the Romans have fill'd their cisterns Nay for the Latin toung herself we know she is two thirds Greek all her scientificall words and tearms of art are deriv'd from the Greek In so much that it is impossible for any to be a perfect Latinist unlesse he understand the Greek also I will go a little back to Bembo again who as you have heard was so fantasticall that he would use no words but pure Ciceronian but this fancy drew him to a pure prophanes for it brought him to contemne the Epistles of S. Paul and in a kind of slighting way to call them Epistolaccias disswading his friends from reading them least they should corrupt their eloquence What shall I say of Sanazarius that in three books he writ of Jesus Christ he hath not