to write you an historical discourse I wil touch them lightly for that I speak of them obiter and by digression and I hold it sufficient to refute the Objections that may be made in this Cause not by Law but by the Histories of France For albeit Iohn Bodine a Frenchman and notably well seen and read in Histories discoursing in his Book de Methodo Historie at large what Rules are to be observed in judging a right of an Historographer and what credit may be given to an History setteth it down in an opinion not controlable That in matters touching France or England you ought not to credit a French or English History but rather a stranger writing thereof with more indifferency and less partiality yet as in Causes which cannot be well decided or perfectly known but by Domestical witnesses their Testimony is to be preferred before all others So in matters of State which cannot be so well known unto Forrainers as unto men born and bred within the same State better credit ought to be given unto these then unto them You shall therefore hear this first Objection refuted by their own Writers and especially by Du Haillan who in my opinion is the best Historographer that writeth of France who refuteth this Objection by reckoning up a bed-roll of Kings who did not succeed one another but were chosen one after another Pharamond saith he in his third Book was the first chosen King of France After whom Daniel surnamed Childerick was chosen Pipin likewise was chosen and after him Charles and Charlâ—main his Sons And the Frenchmen despising the Youth of Charles King Lewis his Son who was betwixt nine and ten years of age chose Odâ—n Son to Robert the Saxon for their King And afterwards being discontented with his Government they deprived him of his Kingdom and set up Charles in his place who governing them somewhat looslly was likewise deposed and cast into Prison and in his place Baâ—ul King of Burgundy was instituted and created King of France and there remaineth even at this day a certain form of Election which is made at the consecrating and crowning of the King at Beihins where the Peer of France in the name of the Clergy Nobility and People chuse the King that is present Here you see an Election begun in Pharamond continued in others and observed at this day and yet as many as have been Kings since Capet's time have succeeded to their Kingdoms and claimed the same by Inheritance rather then by custom and you shall see when we come to another of their Objections that neither this Election nor this Custom in succession hath been alwayes duly kept and observed The second Objection against this agreement is That although Contracts do bind Princes as well as Subjects yet such Contracts as are made by men not being sufficient and able to celebrate Contracts as men distracted of their wits Lunatiques and others not being in perfect sense and memory do not bind the Contrahents but are held in Law as matters of no weight force or validity and therefore Charles the Sixth who concluded his Peace with the above-mentioned conditions being both before and after the celebration of the same notoriously reputed and known to be a Lunatique this Contract did neither bind him nor his Successors To this it is easily answered That Contracts made by men disabled by Law to enter into any such compositions are of force by two wayes The one if they with due and requisite solemnities be done by such as by Law are deputed to have the Government of their goods and persons during the time of their weakness and imbecillity The other if they themselves having dilucida intervalla being as Lunatiques many times are in perfect sense and memory to celebrate any manner of Contract the same is of full force and strength and therefore Charles the sixth being as their own Histories report at the time when this Agreement was made in his right wits and memory This contract wanted not the force and vertue which Law requireth especially since the chief Nobility of the Realm were then not only present but consenting thereunto and sworn to the performance thereof The third Objection is That the Kings of France cannot alienate the Demeans Rights Titles and Interests of the Crown without the privity and consent of the three Estates which consent could not possibly be had at this Agreement because a great part of the Peers Nobles and others were then absent and bore Armes with the young Prince Charles or at the leastwâ—se followed him against the King his Father To this I briefly answer That in matters which go by plurality of voices it is not alwayes necessary that all be present but that the greater or better part of them that will and do vouchsafe their presence thereat yield their consents thereunto especially when the others who are absent have been cited and warned to be present and they either willingly or contemptuously will not appear For albeit the thing that concerneth all men must be approved of all men yet when some or all may approve or disallow the things which concerneth them and they will not be present to shew their consent or dislike their absence shall not prejudice the Contract that is celebrated and there is no wrong offered unto them by proceeding in their absence quia volenti non fit injuria In this case therefore those that were away being either voluntarily absent or trayterously minded to their King which appeared in that they followed his Son against him and animated and assisted him in his disobedience and rebellion against his Father could not in any respect prejudice the force and validity of this contract for if they were absent of purpose then there was no injury done unto them and if they were Traytors as undoubtedly they are who either bear Armes against their Prince or assist his Enemies with their counsels then they had lost the right of their consent and voice And so consequently the Contract which was celebrated by the more and better part or by all the Nobility and of the three Estates that were present and true and Loyal Subjects unto their King notwithstanding the others voluntary malicious absence was by Law warrantable especially being confirmed and fortified by the Oath of the King and his Council and Nobility The fourth Objection against this Agreement is That when it was concluded the King of England had almost Conquered all France was there with his power and strength about him and shut up the French King as it were in Prison and utterly disabled him to make any resistance against his invincible Army and conquering Forces And therefore whatsoever he did being done by fear and compulsion was of no better force then a Contract extorted by violence or made in Prison by a private man which when he is set at liberty he is not bound by Law to perform except he list To this
faithful friends and Counsellors went far beyond all the Princes that lived either before or after him neither by his vertue nor valour nor by his fortune and good hap nor by his friends and Counsellors could escape the fatal poison that ended his days before he attained unto those years which be the forerunners of Age So as in others so in this Point her Majesty far exceedeth Caesar Pompey and Alexander the three greatest Princes that ever lived For their death was so soon performed as purposed Her life hath been often sought but God be thanked therefore not shortned they escaped not the malicious Treasons of one or two she hath been preserved from the wicked treacheries of very many they could not prevent the Conspiracies of their friends she hath withstood the open and secret attempts of their enemies Briefly they dyed before they became old she hath attained unto sixty years of her Age and the rare fortune which she hath hitherto had to escape so many and marvelous dangers putteth me and all her loving Subjects in good hope that it will please the Almighty to add many more years of bliss and haappiness to her days neither do I think only that she shall live beyond the ordinary and usual years and age of other Princes but I am fully perswaded that her Grace is preserved and reserved to great fortune to some marvelous purpose her qualities exceeding other Princes conditions her fortune being more then ordinary and her dangers escaped not prudently but providently not by humane policy but by divine prevention give me good occasion to presume that he that disposeth of Kings and all Kings Actions lengthneth her days and hath dedicated her years to some notable accident For what he hath intended man cannot prevent what he purposeth humane wit cannot change or alter his resolutions are in Heaven ours on earth his eternal ours changeable his immutable ours subject to alteration We purpose he disposeth we intend he changeth we desire he ruleth yea so ruleth that he directeth our thoughts leadeth our counsels inclineth our dispositions to his will and pleasure he knows our necessities before we ask our infirmities when we conceal them our desires albeit we keep them most close and secret He giveth us what is expedient for us granteth us more then we dare desire provideth better for us then we can deserve and to be short is so resolute to do us good that all our wits capacities and policies are not able to prevent the meanest of his determinations so the same tend to our benefit For although his mercy exceeding our merits and his clemency yeilding to our contrition do sometimes divert the evil that we have deserved and mitigate the punishments which are due to our many offences yet if our humility be not dissembled or his pleasure fully bent to work us any good whatsoever so good is he that our good cannot be attended nor his intention changed An Example or two will prove this to be manifest and therefore I will afford you these Examples Astiages dreamed that his Daughter Mandana made so much water at one time as filled his whole City and was likely to drown his whole Country with which dream being greatly terrified he propoundeth the same to be expounded by his best Interpreters of Dreams They report that of the said Daughter should come such an Issue as should drive him from his Kingly Seat He taketh counsel what to do to prevent this intention of the Almighty It is resolved that the best means is to marry his Daughter to a mean man The counsel is followed and she married not to a Median worthy of such a Wife and Princess as she was but unto a mean Persian by name called Cambises born of indifferent good Parentage but not likely to carry such a mind as to deprive his Father in Law of his Kingdom The same year that his Daughter was married he dreamed again That out of her Privities sprang such a Vine as overspread all Asia This Dream he likewise communicated with the Soothsayers They delivered That out of the Womb of Mandana should proceed such a Child as should be Lord of all Asia and so desirous thereof that he should hardly and very unwillingly attend his Grand-Fathers death According to the Prophesie the Child is born his Nativity cast and the disposition of his body and other outward signs foretel that the Prognostication made before his birth was likely to prove true The Grand-father minding to prevent a future mischief giveth him unto one of his faithful Counsellors commanding him to put him to death The Counsellor moved with pitty commendeth the child to the custody of his Shepherd yet charging him to murther the Infant The Shepherds Wife having a child of her own dead the very self same day not finding in her heart to consent to the death of so pretty and Princely a Child beseeched her Husband to expose her own dead Child instead of Cyrus for so Astiages his Grand-father was called The Shepherd followed his Wives counsel and yeilded his consent that she should bring up Cyrus as her own He groweth to years and within a few years is chosen King by other children of all sorts poor and rich Noble and ignoble and being elected King commanded as a King and inflicteth punishments upon his far betters for disobeying his Authority They disdaining to be commanded much less to be punished as they were by their far inferiour complain to their Parents and they to Astiages of the injury offered by poor Cyrus The Shepherd is injoyned to bring forth Cyrus he maketh appearance at the day appointed carryeth himself not Shepherd like but Princelike before the King And being demanded by the King how he durst presume to command his betters to be chastised answered boldly and with a spirit far exceeding his years and not becoming his supposed Estate That since it had pleased the rest of the youth to chuse him for their King and to subject themselves in general unto him it was not lawful for any particular were he never so good to disobey him And in case any one did so far forget himself as to contemn his Authority that then it was as lawful for him as for King Astiages to punish his or their disobedience At which Answer the King being astonied looking upon the audacity of the Child considering his wisdom calling to mind the exposing of Cyrus and conferring his Daughters childs Age and his years together suspected him to be Cyrus Sent presently for Harpagus for so was the Counsellors name unto whom he had given him to be destroyed compelleth him to tell the truth The Shepherd is likewise sent for who declareth the means and manner how Cyrus was saved The King highly offended with Harpagus and fully resolved to depress Cyrus dissembleth his anger with the one and taketh present order for the base education of the other Cyrus is sent from Media into Persia and Astiages not
his friends Bodin in his Book De Republica reporteth that Charls the Ninth King of France his Brother gave away in the year 1572. Two millons and seven hundred thousand Francks and the next year two millions and forty four thousand Francks and in the last year of his reign One million five hundred and two thousand Francks besides certain years Pentions which amounted unto One hundred thousaud Francks But grant that he gave much more then he did Is it not lawful for a Prince to reward his Servants Is it not in his liberty to cast his especial favour upon whom it pleaseth him And is there any thing that sheweth a Kings greatness procureth him faithful Friends and eternizeth his Name more then his bounty and liberality I know that Nero was reprehended because that in Fifteen years he gave away above Fifty five millions I confess that Caligula is blamed for that he spent in one year Sixty seven millions And I acknowledge that Dion reporteth it for no praise and commendation unto Claudius that he wasted in three years five Miriades of Miriades and Seventh usand seven hundred and eight drams or as some report One thousand seven hundred and eight miriades I allow no such prodigality and yet I think it not lawful for Subjects to rebel against their Princes if they be over-prodigal I know that there be other ways to be used to restrain their excessive liberality I read that the Parliament House in the tenth year of Richard the Second of England considering that through the covetousness of the Officers by them displaced the Kings Treasure had been imbezelled and lewdly spent chose Thirteen Lords to have the oversight under the King of the whole Government of the Realm And I finde that divers Subjects have revolted from their obedience to their Princes because they having wasted their Revenues they over-charged them with Subsidies and Impositions But I see that their rebellion wrought their own confusion Now from the late Kings Prodigality briefly in a few words to his other vices he is noted to have been somewhat more given to Venery then it became a married Prince but I find not that his wantonness was outragious and sure I am that he never had so many Concubines as Solomon nor caused any man to be killed that he might enjoy his Wife as David did to Urias nor made away with his own Wife to have another as it is said the Spanish King did And yet Solomon was the wisest Prince that ever lived and no King ever pleased God more then David did And the Leaguers held King Philip to be the mirror of the Kings in our age Neither did the late King of France delight so greatly in the company of wanton women but that he could and would have used the same with much more moderation then he did had not the Queen-Mother the Duke of Guise and others who ruled all things under him nourished that humour in him to the end that he following of his delights they might the more freely govern the whole Kingdom at their own will and pleasure a policy borrowed of Cardinal Wolsey This Wolsey being Henry the Eighth his Chaplain and brought into credit and favour by the Bishop of Winchester made his House a Paradise of all kind of pleasure and oftentimes invited the King thither and so fed him with vain delights that his Majesty during the greatest time of his younger years committed the Government of the whole Kingdom into his hands It is written of Lewis King of Bohemia that if he had had a good Governor in his youth who would not onely have had a care of his health but also have given him good instructions he would undoubtedly have made a notable Prince for he had a very good Wit and a natural disposition to Vertue and Goodness But the Marquess of Brandenburg who by his Father was left to be the Teacher and Informer of his Youth and Manners being a very good Prince but more delighting in Banquets Dancings and other such Sports and Pastimes then in serious and grave studies befitting a Prince brought the King up in those Vanities wherein he took such pleasure and delight that he cared not how little he medled with matters of State Good Education is a great Jewel for all men but especially for Princes because that such doctrine and disposition as Children and Young-men receive in their youth such they retain in their elder years And the Prince is not so much to blame who is given unto vanities in his riper years as they are to be reprehended who trained him up in vain Delights in the days of his indiscretion The blame therefore of Henry the Third his wantonness must light upon them who were the Authors of his folly and abused those good Gifts and Graces which the Almighty had bestowed upon him which were Valour Wisdom Eloquence and the use of divers Languages Qualities not so common as commendable in a Prince His Valour is proved by the siege of Rechel where as it is written by Historiographers of good credit it was impossible for a Prince for such was he at that time to shew himself more truly valiant then he did and the commendation which Sir Henry Cobham a discreet and wise Gentleman and of great Judgement and Experience when he was Ambassador for her Majesty in France gave him upon occasion of talk at his Table coming from such and so able a man as was may serve for a sufficient proof of the rest of his good qualities For I well remember that the said Sir Henry talking with his Nephew Mr. Maximilian Cobham who was then lately come out of England into France of the late King said that he had been imploied as Ambassador for her Majesty unto the Emperor the King of Spain and divers other Princes but among them all he never heard any forein Prince that delivered his mind more eloquently readily and wisely then the said King and that as often as he had Audience of him he would sometimes speak in French and sometimes in Italian and although he Answered him fully to every point whereof they conferred before he departed from him yet like a wise and discreet Prince he would always require him not to take it for his full and resolute Answer untill he had talked with his Council and at their next meeting his later Answer seldom or never varied from the former a manifest Argument of his great Wisdom who was able to answer an Ambassador upon the sudden and that not at one Conference onely bnt upon as many and as great occasions as he the said Sir Henry had to confer with his Majesty in the space of three or four years so well and so wisely that his greatest and gravest Councellors could not upon deliberation amend his sudden and extemporal Answers This commendation given him by Sir Henry Cobham is confirmed by the Siegneur Darrennes one of the Ambassadors sent from the Prince of Condey
which they bear unto him might hinder his designs and purposes he sent an express Messenger unto the Pope to declare unto him the true sense and meaning of their Oath and to intreat his Holiness to make such an Interpretation thereof as might serve his turn the effect of which Interpretation was That since the promise which the French-men made unto their King was conditional and reciprocal and that their King was likewise sworn unto them they being his Subjects were not bound any longer to their Oath since he being their King had broken his because he was neither religious valiant just or in any respect answerable to those conditions which were inserted and included in his promise to them In hope of performance of which conditions they had sworn unto him all manner of duty service succour faith and obedience This was Pipin's policy to supplant Childerick and to set the Crown of France upon his own head Now let me compare the Duke of Guise his practices with these mens devices his wit with their wisdom and his aspiring mind with their ambition Sejan and Caesar were lowly and humble when they saw occasion and what was the Duke of Guise when he went bate-headed unto Porters and Crochelers Caesar drave Pompey out of Italy and Sejan Tiberius out of Rome into an Island and what did the Duke of Guise when he forced the late French King not to leave but to fly from Paris Caesar suppresseth Pompey and Crassus and Sejan indeavoured to destroy Drusus and Nero and what did the Duke of Guise when he caused the Admiral of France to be massacred and the Duke of Espernon to be banished the Court Sejan and Caesar spared no money to win men to their service and devotion What did the Duke of Guise when he spent all his own Patrimony and his Wives Inheritance and the King of Spains yearly Pension and infinite Pistolets to purchase himself Friends and Favourers Casar and Sejan subverted their enemies by their own friends And what did the Duke of Guise when he sowed sedition betwixt the King and his brother Caesar and Sejan used the Marriage of Livia Drusus his Wife of his own Daughter and of Pycos Sister for the furtherance of their purpose And what did the Duke of Guise when he caused the Massacre of Paris to be performed at the Marriage of the present King of France with the late Kings Sister Caesar and Sejan could be proud when occasion was offered And what was the Duke of Guise when he equalled his power and strength with the Kings Caesar could brook no equal And what could the Duke of Guise when he contended with the Kings Brother for Superiority and Precedency Sejan set variance betwixt Drusus and Nero to the end the one should take occasion to destroy the other And what did the Duke of Guise when he perswaded the French King to send his only Brother into Flanders where he devised divers means to endanger his life Caesar assumed by cunning and pollicy all the Power and Authority unto himself which was sometimes equally divided betwixt him Pompey and Crassus And what did the Duke of Guise when he suffered no man to be in credit at the Court but himself Sejan offered the Empire unto Drusus not for favour which he bore him but to incense and incourage him to seek the ruine of Nero And what did the Duke of Guise when he profered the Kingdom in the late Kings days unto the King of Navar now King of France but seek means to breed such a distrust and jealousie betwixt the King and him that the one might let no occasion slip that might procure the destruction or overthrow of the other Caesar observed diligently the natures and dispositions of such men as were in special credit with the common people and to purchase their favour furthered their purposes when they tended not to his own hinderance And what did the Duke of Guise when he fawned upon those whom the King loved and labored to prefer his Secretaries to higher places to the end that both they and their Successors might be always willing and ready to pleasure him Pipin shewed himself wise in using the Kings weakness and his own credit for a Ladder to climb to the Kingdom And the Duke of Guise came not much behind him in wisdom when he weakned the late Kings forces and strengthned himself and his complices with intention to set the Crown of France upon his own Head Hugh Capet pretended right to the Crown because he was in some sort alley'd to Lewes the fifth by his Mothers side And the Duke of Guise fortified his Right by pretending Alliance unto the Duke of Larrain whom Hugh Capet deprived of the Crown Pipin hired men to comâ—end himself and dispraise Childerick And the Duke of Guise wanted not his writers and his flatterers who in Books and common Table-talk did daily set forth his praise and took hold of every small occasion to enveigh bitterly against the King Pipin again used Religion and Zeal for a means to win the Popes favour and to procure him to make a friendly Interpretation of the French Subjects Oath to their King And the Duke of Guise with a shew of suppressing the Protestants of France drew divers Popes to join with him in alliance and to draw other Princes with the same line into the same League and left not until the Pope had Excommunicated the late King Hugh Capit disabled Childerick as a man not sufficient to Rule and therefore caused him to be shut up in a Monastery And the Duke of Guise was so bold as to bring forrain power into France and to tell the King that he had procured their help to suppress the Protestants because his Majesty had neither men nor money enough wherewith to overthrow them and common fame greatly wrongeth him if he intended not in time to have shut the King up in some religious house and to have put a Friers Weed upon him Briefly Pipin Iulius Caesar and Hugh Capet attained their desires by their cunning practises and their subtile devises And the Duke of Guise by his slights and Stratagems had not failed of his purpose if the King had not by doing him suddenly to death prevented his intended Usurpation By this that hath been said you may plainly perceive that the Frenchmen rebelled against their Soveraigns long before this time And that they are in a manifest Error who commend their Loyalty so much as in their Writings to call them The most Loyal Loving and Dutiful Subjects of Europe For to omit other Rebellions of the children against their own Fathers in France whereof their Histories are full and plentiful It cannot be denyed that both Pipin and Hugh Capet were Usurpers and that as many as favoured and furthered them against the lawful Heirs of the Crown were notable and traitorous Rebels and in no respect inferiour to those who in these days combine themselves against the
of his life in a house of Religion And that the Peers of France not regarding the young years of Charls the son of Lewis their King deprived him of his right and made Eude Earl of Paris king of France You may think it as lawful for Charls the 6. to deprive his Son Charles of his Inheritance for the horrible murther committed as it hath been said on the person of the Duke of Burgundy a Prince of the blood royall a Peer of France and a Counsellour unto the King his Father and for the great manifest and undutiful disobedience which he shewed unto his Father as it was for the States of the same Realm to deprive Theodorick for his Insufficiency Lewis for his Pusillanimity and Charles for his youth So you see the last Objection refuted by their own Examples And as you see the cause why it is said that the Kings of France cannot dis-inherit their children so I will let you understand the reason why they have invented a new shift or device thereby to deprive those of their due who made claim to such debts as the Kings of France owed them There was a time and so it is still when a King of France dyed greatly indebted to the Switzers which debt they challenging of his immediate Successor and Heir who dyed in their debt It was answered that although true it was that Contracts do bind the Contrahents and their heirs as well private men a Princes yet the Kings of France not succeeding as Heirs but as Successors by custom are not within the meaning and sense of that Law which speaketh of Contracts and their Contrahents and their Heirs only By which cavil the poor Switzers were deceived of their due debt as we English-men have been debarred of our Claims Titles and Rights sometimes by the Law Salique which was as I have said no Law of France and sometimes by such exceptions devices and subtleties as I have lately specified The fourth point whereat they wonder is why the Kings of England having good right unto the Crown of France and better success when they demanded their Right by Fire and Sword do not still prosecute their demand and did quickly lose whatsoever they or their Predecessors got in many years This point consisteth of two several points the one why we forbear to challenge our right the other by what occasion we lost all that some of our Kings had conquered especially Henry the fifth who subdued the greatest part of France and although he dyed very young yet he left his Son Henry the Sixth being an Infant of few years so mighty at home so be-friended abroad so accompanied with good Souldiers so well assisted with good Counsellours so followed by cunning and expert captains and so directed by wise and discreet Generals that when he was but ten years of Age he was crowned at Paris King of France by the Dukes of Bedford and Burgundy and in the presence of the chief Peers and Nobility of France This first point is easily answered because ever since the first time we laid claim to the Crown of France those Princes of ours who were Martial men and inclined to Wars demanded their Right by open Wars as both ours and their Chronicles do testifie But it pleased God sometimes to send us as he doth unto other Kingdomes such Princes as were rather given to pleasure and unto peace rather then unto Wars and Martial exploits in whose time the Frenchmen were wise enough to take advantage of their quiet and peaceable natures and when our Kings and Subjects following as Subjects commonly do the humours and qualities of their Princes gave themselves unto pleasures and pastimes the French followed the Wars and either by open Invasions or by subtile devices recoverd part of their losses Besides it hath sometimes fortuned that when we had valiant Princes and such as hath both good will and sufficient power to recover their Right our Realm hath either been divided within it self and by domestical dissention hindred to prosecute Forraign Wars Or that our Kings coming by their kingdoms by force of Armes have had more mind and occasion to stable and assure the same unto themselves and their Heirs then to make Wars abroad Again during the contentions betwixt the houses of Lancaster and of York sometimes the one part and sometimes the other sought favour and friendship and alliance of the Kings of France and they who prevailed in their attempts and purposes by their aid furtherance and sufferance thought it an especial point of wit and policy to seek and continue their Amity yea and sometimes to buy the same with very hard conditions lest that having them for their Enemies they should either invade their Realms or assist their Competitors who most commonly fled unto them for help relief and succour For as many of our Kings as have been driven out of their Royal Seats and Dignities by their domestical Adversaries have been either entertained or restored to their Crowns by the Kings of France and Scotland the Dukes of Burgundy or the Princes of Henault as were Edward the fourth Henry the second the sixth and the seventh Besides some of the kings of France as namely Lewis the twelfth and Francis the first doubting that our Kings would annoy them at home whilest they were busied in Forraign Wars corrupted our Kings Council with bribes and with yearly rewards and pensions made them so bound and beholding unto them that they did not only bewray their Masters secrets but also diverted their purposes and if at any time they were purposed to molest France or to joyn with the Enemies of France they changed the Kings minds and perswaded them not only not to hinder but also to help and further the French Kings in all their Enterprises and against all their Enemies And they were not only contented to â—ee our cheif Counsellors as Francis the first â—id Cardinal Wolsey who bare such sway with Henry the eighth changed his determination so often made him friend and enemy to whom he would and favoured the Emperour Charles the fifth and sometimes the French king his common Adversary in such manner that it was commonly said that Cardinal Wolsey ruled the French King the King of England and the Emperour but also they purchased our Kings favour and furtherance with yearly Fees and Pensions For it is written that Lewis the eleventh to retain and entertain the King of England for his friend payed him yearly in London 50000 Crowns and bestowed yearly 16000 other Crowns upon his chief Counsellors the Lord Chancellor and the Master of the Rolls and when our King had any occasion to send any Embassadour unto him he received them so honourably entertained them so friendly rewarded them so liberally and dispatched them with so fair words although their Embassage was never so unpleasant and displeasing unto him that they departed alwayes very well contented And albeit that some
tell â—im mâ—st part of his secrets and to be short she being seconded by the Gentleman and others whom he and the pity they had of the poor estate of the Country had made willing and ready to joyn with her in such petitions and motions as she had made unto the Dolphin setled such an opinion of wisdom and holiness in him that he presently took her for a guide sent from heaven to direct him in all his doings and by her perswasions left his Love and followed this maiden to the wars who being always accompanied with good Captains and counselled by them what directions she should give to the Dolphin to the end she might win credit with him at the first sped very well in many things which she attempted and especially in raising our siege at Orleans where I have seen her picture in brass mounted upon a very large brazen horse and there is yearly as I have said before a solemn Feast and procession kept in remembrance of her that she drave the Englishmen from thence The Dolphin being thus animated by her and encouraged by the good success which followed her for a while proceeded so manfully that he never left until he had recovered all the Kingdom of France So he by her sped not ill but she for him had no good end for being in the end taken by the Englishmen and arraigned at Roan upon divers articles of witchcraft was found guilty and there burnt for a witch A strange metamorphosis and not so strange as ridiculoâ—s But if you consider how many things Scipo perswaded a few Roman Souldiers to do which were almost impossible to be done by a few only by telling them that he had often and secret conference with a Goddess who counselled him to put those things in execution and promised him good success in those enterprises you may easily think that his policy might work the effect which it wrought It is written of Mahomet the God of the Turks that he grew to the credit and reputation of a God by as mean a device as this for he carryed a shew of holiness was better learned then their Teachers were had the gift of Eloquence secretly had insinuated himself into the favour of the people and to perswade them that he had secret conference with God and that whatsoever he Preached unto them was put into his mouth by the Holy Ghost he had used a tame Dove to come and stand upon â—is shoulder ever when he Preached unto them and to join his Beak and Head unto his Ear as though it did whisper something into his Ear Whereby he won such credit that not only his Laws were thought to proceed from the inspiration of the Holy Ghost but he ever sithence hath been honoured for a God It is written again of Kemitius King of Scotland that when he had oftentimes endeavoured by divers ways to induce his Nobility to think well of his intended Wars against the Picts and could not by any manner of perswasions prevail with them he invented a policy never used or heard of before he called his Council and Nobility together to consult of matters of weight and held them in consultation until night then he provided a great and costly Supper which of set purpose he caused to continue until the night was very far spent insomuch that they being overcharged with meat and drink fell all asleep then he commanded that into every one of their Chambers there should go a man apparelled in a long Gown made of fish skins with the scales still remaining upon them who carryed in one hand a staff of rotten wood because that it as the scales of the fish do in the dark maketh a kinde of glittering able to astonish those who never saw the like and in the other hand a great Oxes horn out of which the man speaking should give a sound and voice far differing from the voice of a man These men so apparel'd entring into the Counsellors chambers spake in a great and grave voice and said That they were Messengers sent thither from Heaven to tell the Scottish Nobility that they ought to hearken to the advice and Counsel that Kemitius their King gave them and to aid and assist him to recover his Kingdom out of the hands and possession of the Picts When they had thus said every one of them as he was taught hid his staff under his Gown and gathering the fishes scales together in such manner that it seemed unto the beholders that as the glittering so they suddenly vanished away In the morning the Nobility met together and every one of them telleth the King what he had seen and heard that night he wondred thereat as though he had not known thereof telleth them he had the like vision but thought not good to acquaint them therewith lest that they glorying too much in the special favour which God shewed unto them should by revealing the same before it was time unto over many greatly offend his heavenly Majesty but that he meant to shew unto them what he had heard and seen when the Wars were happily undertaken and ended The Nobility confirmed in the opinion of the Miracle by the Kings report yeilded presently unto his Counsel and with all possible speed made great preparation for the Wars against the Picts But now from these by-tales again to my purpose which I might dilate and beautify with examples confirming every one of these 24. Causes to be sufficient to lose a Kingdom but your own reason and experience is able to assure you thereof and therefore I will proceed no further in this Point Saving that I have thought good to clear one thing which perhaps may seem doubtful unto you for I think it wil seem strange unto you why I call him by the name of Dolphin whom the French Chronicles call Charls the seventh you know that our Kings eldest Son during the life of his Father ever sithence that Wales was first conquered by England was called the Prince of Wales And so the eldest Sons of the Kings of France have bin called Dolphins of France since that Imbert and Humbert dyed without Heir and gave Dolphiny unto Philip deValois King of France with condition that the eldest Son of the Kings should be called Dolphins which name was given unto Charls the seventh during his Fathers life when he was dutiful and retained after that he grew to disobedience and rebellion yea continued by our Writers and Chroniclers after his decease for me thought it not convenient to call him King of France because our King was then entituled by that name but we vouchsafed him still the name of Dolphin even as the Spaniards having deprived the present and rightful King of Portugal of his Kingdom calling him still by the name of Don Antonio as he was called before the Kingdom fell unto him by descent and the Leaguers call the now King of France not by the name of
or nothing always desirous to embrace many things although he holdeth not safe any thing But of Princes I had rather deliver unto you other mens judgments then mine own opinion You have heard what the Spanish Kingdoms are and by that which hath been said you may easily conjecture that his principal force and strength cometh from Spain and Italy Countries as far different in conditions and qualities as they are distant in place and scituation Of the force of these two Countries you shall therefore hear what a learned Writer and what I who am not worthy to write hath set down for his resolute opinion I have told you long since that Guicciardine termeth the Footmen of Italy Infamia della militia And now to the same purpose because it falleth out very fit for my purpose I may not forbear to tell you that the same Authour in his ninth Book of the same History useth of the Infantry of Italy these words following All Princes that can be served with High Dutchmen Spaniards or Swizzers refuse the service of Italian Footmen because they are neither acquainted with the Customs and Orders of other Nations nor accustomed to continue long in the field The same Writer considering that some kingdoms naturally are better able to defend themselves then offend their enemies delivereth for his opinion that the Spanish King is far better able to defend his Kingdom from any Invasion to be made by the King of France then to offend or annoy the said King By which two judgments I may boldly conjecture and prove my conjecture by Nicholaus Machiavelli who hath written a whole Chapter upon this Argument that not only the Spanish King but also any other Prince whatsoever being driven when he hath occasion to offend or invade an enemy to use forrain power and mercenary Souldiers is not to be esteemed a strong and mighty Prince and that such is the state and condition of the king of Spain is manifestly proved by the places before alledged out of Guicciardine For if his Italians the principal forces of an Army always consisting of Footmen be not fit for that service and his Spaniards are better able to maintain his Realm at home then to molest his enemies abroad who can justly esteem him strong whose chiefest strength dependeth wholy upon these two Nations And now to leave the Italians as men in this respect not worthy to be had in any great reckoning and to proceed more largely in the discovery and declaration of the Spanish valour True it is that as I have said before continual use and daily experience in Martial affairs have made them of late years very famous It is also most certain and manifest that they are very patient and able to endure labour hunger and thirst light of body sparing in their diet and therefore satisfied and maintained with a little wary and politique and therefore cunning in using and inventing new Stratagems briefly so desireous of Wars that unless they have a forrain enemy they will easily fall to variance and civil discord at home But if you call to remembrance how they come to that fame which now they have attained if you consider that they are as Titus Livius testifieth of an unquiet and contentious disposition and always affecting change and alteration if you call to mind that as Paulus Iovius reporteth they have minds evermore thirsting for Rule and Government whereunto if they once attain they bend their whole force and thoughts unto the purchasing of further and higher Authority Lastly if you weigh and remember that as Piero Mexias a Spanish Historiographer saith they cannot endure to be governed by a stranger you must needs think that the before mentioned vertues may be either obscured or hindred by these later vices For let them meet with a Nation not so timerous as those with whom they had to deal of late let them follow their natural disposition and so fall at variance amongst themselves let them still cover and affect Authority and so when they should jointly help one another against their enemies proudly disdain to be ruled by their own leaders as they have done of late years Lastly let them contemn a stranger as they did the late Duke of Parma or not agree with strangers as they did in Flanders what fruit may be expected of their service or what profit can proceed of their valour It is imputed unto the Germans for a great fault that when they are ready to join with their enemies in battel they oftentimes refuse to strike a stroke before they have their due and monethly pays and for this one fault Princes make no great account of them and yet the Spaniards who are subject to this fault as well as they are commended for their loyalty and obedience in so much that some men write that they were never discontent for want of their pay But if you read either the Indian History or the Writers of their late Wars in Flanders you shall find that they have oftentimes revolted for lack of their pay yea they have banded against their Captains and their best Souldiers have resisted the commandment of their Generals This I could prove by many Examples but one notable Example shall suffice for those many At what time it was agreed betwixt the King of Spain and the States of the Low Countries that all Spaniards shall depart thence It was thought convenient and necessary by Don Iohn de Austria who was the General for the King in Flanders to appoint some principal and chief Captains to have the leading and conducting of them into Italy Whereupon Don Iohn gave express commandment unto the Kings Secretary Escovedo to assemble the Counsel of War in the Town of Antwerp and there to consult and deliberate what man was meetest for that purpose This Councel assembled made special choise of Don Alonso de Vargas who willingly accepted the charge but Iulian Romero a man of great worth and no small experience openly reâ—uâ—ed to be commanded by Don Alonso alledging for the only reason of his disobedience that it would be a great dishonour for him to go into Italy under such a Leader because that he being Master of the Camp Don Alonso had been his Souldier and De Vergas as boldly protested that since he had been thought worthy by the Counsel to govern he would not be governed nor guided by Iulian Romero The Councel acquainted Don Iohn with this contention he fearing to discontent either Romero or Vergas and doubting that if they should be discontented some great inconvenience might follow thereon commanded the Councel to chuse a third man which was the County of Mansfield Whereat Don Alonso so stormed that he complained of Don Iohn de Austria a Danderas displagad with Banners displayed as the same Don Iohn termeth it in his Letters to the king of Spain yea it seemed that he was so displeased therewith and so resolute to signifie his grief and discontentment unto the
unto his Majesty in the year 1575. to negotiate a general peace betwixt the King and his discontented Subjects as well Papists as Protestants This Ambassador in the preamble of his Speech to the King used these words We thank God that it hath pleased him so highly to favour us as to send us a King that both will and can hear himself the wants and complaints of his Subjects and order and redress the same according to his good pleasure and the laudable course of Justice For if our Writers have imployed their Labours in writing to blame and reprehend those Kings which hear not but by the Ears of others which see not but by the Eyes of others and speak not but by the Mouthes of others We have most great occasion to think our selves very happy and blessed unto whom God hath sent a King so gentle and so loving unto his Subjects as that he will hear all our causes and controversies himself and a King of so rare and excellent Wisdom as that he is able to decide and determine our Contentions This commendation given him by Seigneur Darennes far exceedeth Sir Henry Cobhams because he was the Ambassador of a Prince that was in League with the late King and the Siegneur Darennes of a Prince that not long before had born arms against this King And Sir Henry might speak for favour but the other spake as he thought because it appeareth by the rest of the speeches which he used in the same negotiation that he neither would or could dissemble And because this praise and commendation was given by an Enemy rather then by a friend it cannot but be void of all partiality assertion or flattery Thus you have heard the French Kings Vertues and his Imperfections the Leaguers folly and the Spanish Kings indiscretion Now it resteth to declare unto you his further error which although it be the last yet it is not the least and I fear me I shall have occasion to enlarge my self more of it then I did of the other three It is not unknown unto all or most part of the World that the King of Spain too much crediting the light and false reports of certain English Fugitives did once attempt and doth still intend to invade and subdue England This attempt and this intention although it seemeth to be grounded upon good reasons and to be allowed by the wisest Councellors yet I will shew that it was neither begun with wisdom nor is continued with any great discretion To shew this it shall be needful to examine all and every of the causes which moved him to undertake this attempt and purpose The causes are many and some of them are already sufficiently declared others rest first to be discovered and then then to be confuted It hath already been shewed that for succouring of France for aiding of Flanders for intercepting his money and for favouring and furthering of Don Antonio his resolution to recover the Kingdom of Portugal the Spanish King had no just occasion to be offended with the Queens Majesty It remaineth to prove that the Popes Excommunication That the false and sinister reports of the English Fugitives the death of the late Queen of Scots OF the sending away of his Ambassador with some small disgrace out of England giveth him no just occasion to trouble her Majesties quiet and peaceable Government All this being proved his indiscretion shall be made appear by three principal Reasons The first because he took no good course for the accomplishment of his enterprise The second Because that although his course had been good yet he neither was nor is able to subdue England And the third Because albeit he should chance to conquer our Realm yet he could not hold the same long The order whereunto I have tied my self requireth that I begin with the Popes Excommunication And for the better clearing of this point it were necessary to shew what Authority he hath to excommunicate But this is a matter that requireth a whole and large Volume and therefore I have thought good not to medle therewith but to refer you for your better instruction unto the large Apology which Marsilius Paturius wrote above 266 years ago in the defence of the Emperor Lewis of Baviera against the Pope that would not admit or allow him for Emperor There you shall see that the Pope although he were Christs lawfull and indubitate Vicar a point which never was nor will be proved yet he hath no more Authority then Christ himself had There you shall read that Christ came not into the world to Rule that he took not upon him to Command Princes but that both he himself obeyed and taught his Apostles to obey Princes There you shall understand that Saint Paul the Apostle Saint Peter and other of Christs Disciples obeyed the Civil Magistrate and submitted themselves unto Temporal Government There briefly you shall learn that not Clergy man ought to meddle with Temporal matters And that the Pope hath no more Authority to pardon sins or excommunicate any man then other Inferior Priests and Ministers have All this being true as in that Apology you shall finde it learnedly substantially and sufficiently proved not by humane Reasons which may be erroneous but by sacred Scriptures which cannot be controlled your own discretion may sufficiently warrant you that this Excommunication can be of no great force And yet because many of our Countrimen attribute too much unto the Popes Authority and cannot be perswaded but that he came unto the same directly and holdeth it immediately from Christ. I will shew you as briefly as I can how the Pope of Rome attained unto that great Authority which he now enjoyeth It appeareth by Du Haillan in the French Chronicle that in the time of Charles the Great the Popes of Rome had no power or authority in Rome it self they medled but onely with matters of Religion with Ecclesiastical Discipline and with points of Divinity It appeareth also by Platina Dr. Illescas and Robert Barnes three notable Writers of the Popes lives the first being an Italian the second a Spaniard and the third an Englishman that many years after Christs passion and after St. Peters death they were cruelly massacred and martyred by the Emperors of Rome It is also notorious and apparent by the testimony the same Writers and of many more that they were wont to be chosen approved and confirmed by the Roman Emperors insomuch that he was not held for a lawful Pope which had not the Emperors approbation Briefly you shall find in the Histories and Chronicles of France that three Popes being chosen at one time they came into France the Kings whereof were then also Emperors to excuse themselves and their election because it was made without the consent or privity of the Emperor and to stand to his opinion that then was Emperor which of the three should be Pope but now there is a great alteration and a marvellous change
quiet Government at home to confer the necessities of her Predecessors with the urgent occasions that her Grace hath had to use much ready money they shall finde that her Ancestors never had so just occasions of necessary expences as her Majesty had of late years yea almost for the whole time of her reign For albeit her Majesty hath not had continual open Wars as some of them had yet her charge hath been nothing inferior unto theirs For first Wars are now adays as I have said far more chargeable then they were wont to be Then her Grace hath had no other Princes to contribute towards her expences as her Predecessors had Next her Loans to foreign Princes as to the Kings of France of Navar of Scotland to the late Duke of Alencon and to the States of the Low Countries have been very great And lastly her charges both by land and Sea could not chuse but amount yearly to infinite sums considering how many times her Highness hath been constrained to send her Navy to the Seas and her Land Souldiers forth of the Realm Besides her Predecessors charges were for the most part voluntary being undertaken to conquer and not to defend their Realms to get other Princes Dominions and not to conserve their own to revenge forein injuries and not to repulse domestical invasions briefly their Wars were for their own profit and hers for her Subjects benefit considering therefore that whatsoever her Grace hath levied not granted unto her by her Parliament without any contradiction without any accusing her of Prodigalâ—ty wâ—thout any such exception taken against her demands as hath been taken against other her Predecessors without any suspition of hâ—r evil Government therefore without any consigning the managing and government of the same unto others then unto them who by her Majesties appointment have the custody thereof it is a manifest argument that her Subjects were always most willing to yeeld to all manner of contributions that her Highness in her Princely Wisdom and Discretion did take to be necessary for the defence of her Realm And if these malicious Accusers would look upon the governments upon the Exactions upon the extortions of such Princes in whose Realms they either live by Alms or wander up and down as Vagabonds their own consciences if at least they have any would condemn them of malice of untruth or of gross ignorance for the wisest amongst them may and are well able to make large volumes of such Subsidies Taxes Impositions and Grievances as are levied in France Italy Spain of which the hundreth parts are unknown much less practised in England and this must needs appear to be most true and manifest since it cannot be denied that in some Dukedoms of Italy the Circuit of which is not comparable unto one Shire of England the yearly Revenues of the Duke far exceed the Revenues and Rents of the Crown of England Moreover if it may please this Viperous generation of Fugitives to call to mind the Interest that Princes have in their Subjects Goods and the great power that is given unto kings in the Old Testament over the Lands and Possessions of as many as live under their Obedience and also to remember that Princes the longer they live the more absolute Imperious and self-conceited they are in the Execution of their Government and the more Experienced in their proof they must rather commend then condemn her Majesty whom neither continuance of time nor fulness of Authority nor presumption upon the good Wills of her people nor confidence upon the Equity of her Cause nor the consideration of her Subjects weal wholly depending upon her welfare nor briefly the remembrance of her gentle and sweet-Government hath ever imboldened to be over-chargable unto the Realm or over-burthensome unto her Subjects This grievous accusation is more truly then briefly refelled Now leaving the rest of these Fugitives suggestions unto another place wherein I shall have occasion to handle them more fitly I will end this point with condemning the King of Spain for being too light in crediting these Rebels in two principal points For first he ought to have considered that neither the vain Pamphlets disspersed by his lying Ambassador Mendoza nor the malicious book written by Cardinal Allen was able to alter remove or shake the natural and dutifull affections of our English Subjects they were too well acquainted with the Ambassadors old and inveterate malice with his hostile practices and his desperate intents They knew the Cardinal to be a Religious Fugitive to sell his tongue and the use thereof for money to be like unto Richard Shaw that was hired to preach at Pauls-Cross and there publickly to justifie the wrongfull usurpation of Richard the third to resemble the Duke of Buckingham who neither feared nor blushed to commend the same cause for just and most lawfull in the Guildhall London to imitate Iohn Petit a Preacher of France who for a far less bribe then a Cardinalship allowed approved and commended in Pulpit and in writing the most horrible murther committed by the Duke of Burgoigne on the person of the Duke of Orleans And lastly to follow his example who without all example was not ashamed to write a large volumn against the late king of France and therein to deduce many reasons many causes for and by which he maintained that the said King might be lawfully deposed and another set up and established in his place Secondly he might have considered that those Fugitives are for the most part peevish and discontented Schollers fitter to mannage a Pen then a Lance to dispute of Philosophy then to discourse of War to be partial in their own conceits then to be prodigal in their assurance briefly to be ready to say more then they know especially when they are either assured or in good hope by saying much to obtain much he might have remembred that Iohannes Viennensis sent into Scotland by Charles the sixth of France although he was a man of great experience a Captain of long continuance aud one that by his long abode in Scotland knew England and her Forces far better then our Fugitives do deceived his King at his return out of Scotland in reporting unto him the strength of our Nation he had fought with many of our Armies had seen 60000 Footmen 8000 and Horsmen of ours in the Field was of opinion that our Country was easie to be conquered within the Realm howsoever it prevailed and conquered abroad And lastly he both knew and signified unto the king that the Duke of Lancaster was absent in Portugal with the Flower and chief Youth of England These reason moved the French king to determine to invade England presently to carry an huge Army to Sluce in Flanders to assemble all the Nobility and Peers of his Realm for that voyage and to proâ—â—se unto himself an assured victory against England But what event had this Journey What effect followed of this perswasion The
going to any other Judge convent the Emperour himself before the Pope if he will not maintain his bargain or contract and if the Emperour may be immediately convented by his own subjects before the Pope with much more reason may the Spanish King be called in this case to Rome to answer the contempt of his oath as well because he is inferiour to the Emperour by many degrees as for that the peers of his Realm and the whole Nobility of Aragon are of better consideration and more regard then any private subject I finde that the Laws and common consent of all Doctors allow subjects when their princes will not do them right and justice there principal remedies against such Princes The first That subjects may compel their Prince by his Superiour if he have a Superiour to whom he oweth homage and duty to try the equity of his cause before that Superiour The second That a Subject may convent his adversary before the common Ordinary of the Diocess if his Lord and Prince chance to be negligent in the administration of Justice The third That the Prince denying to do justice to his subjects may lawfully be deprived of his power and royal authority over them The first and second perhaps will not seem fit to be practised against the Spanish King for that although he be a subject unto the Pope for many of his Kingdoms yet he will hardly acknowledge that subjection The third is more proper and therein the question may be whether subjects can lawfully expel their Prince out of his Country and from his Crown and Dignity if he do oppress them too much Some men hold hardly for the affirmative and St. Thomas holdeth an opinion that they may lawfully kill such a Prince and that it were a work somwhat meritorious And this opinion is condemned by others and the Councel of Constance determined the contrary against Saint Thomas and yet all agree in this That subjects need not obey such a prince In this contrariety I think salvo meliori judicio that the best course is to admonish such a prince of his duty and to pray him to reform and reform all that is amiss But who shall admonish him His best subjects and other princes and if after such admonition he shall still remain incorrigible then may his actions his cruelties his tyrannies be made known unto the world and after this Declaration duly justified and truly certified to all Christian princes it may be lawful to implore and employ their help and assistance for the speedy suppressing such a manifest and incorrigible oppressor and tyrant But the Emperour is too weak and the Pope will not be willing to joyn against the Spanish King The Emperour will be strong enough if other princes may be entreated to joyn with him in this honourable action and the means to perswade him and entreat them hath been declared already It resteth therefore to shew that the pope may be brought to enter into this action it may be doubted that the pope will be hardly induced to displease and offend so mighty a prince and so faithful a friend as the Spaniard You have heard that Leo the tenth and Clement the seventh crossed his father who was alwaies mightier then he and when they saw him to grow to strength they sought means to weaken him by joyning in league against him with divers French Kings But to leave his late predecessor and to come to himself Was there not a pope who in the flower of the Spanish King's youth when he had not one foot in the grave as he hath now did openly oppose himself against him Did he not imprison his Ambassador Garcilase de la Vega when he was sent unto him about matters of great weight and of greater benefit to all Christendom Did he not cast Iohn Antonio his postmaster at Rome into prison Did he not command that there should be no more any such officer in Rome which had continued there for a number of years together How many times did he stay his Ambassadour sent out of Spain to other princes took away their packets opened their letters and read them Did he not oftentimes when he meant to deceive the Spaniard send him Ambassadours to entertain him with vain hopes and when they were half way towards Spain revoke them and command them to go with the said Letters and the same conditions unto other princes Did he not in the Decree against Asconio Caciaco declare his Catholique Majesty to be an open and professed enemy unto the See of Rome What could he do more then all this unto the Turk the common enemy of Christendom What have the later popes done more then all this against the late French King William for the Spaniards sake they made their professed enemy And why may not this pope be induced with the report of all that hath been already said to as much as all this against the Spaniard now that he declineth that he is going to the grave or against his son that shall be coming into the world and may be of more terror unto Italy and the rest of Christendom then his grandfather or his Father because he is heir to as many Kingdoms as they were and is likely to succeed his father when he shall be very young and youthfull I have said enough to make the Spaniard hateful and odious to all the world but I may not end without adding somwhat more to all that I have said The seditious Author inveigheth most bitterly against the French King for his two murthers but I have shewed that the Spaniard hath committed many more then two and I must add to these murthers the unlawful execution of Diego de Meneses somtimes Vice-roy of the Indies and the Governour of Guscabs of Henry Perera Captain of the same Town of Emanuel Seradas of the Count de Terras Vedras of Peter Alpeene and Sforza Ursino whom he caused to be poysoned The same Author aggravateth as I have said the French Kings murther because he killed an Ecclesiastical person and I promised to shew you that the Spaniard hath killed many more then one witness Fryer Iohn who because he stood for the liberty of his Country was hanged in the Isles of Madera witness Fryer Hector Pinto who was poysoned by the Souldiers of Castile witness Iames de Moronake who was beaten to death with Souldiers although he was brother to the Earl of Myra witness many others who were either thrown into the Seas or hanged or poysoned The same Author burthened the late French King to be an author of heretiques because he did not utterly subvert the protestants in his Realm but I have cleared him of that accusation at large and yet forgot to tell you that he did more against the protestants in his Realm then the Spaniard did in his Dominions and he had done much more then he did had the Spaniard not favoured the protestants against him and had he not known that