slave whom he had bought in Spain the slave being told of the Constitutions of France came and told his Master Sir I have serv'd you hitherto in quality of a slave but I am now a Freeeman yet I am content to serve you still but as a free attendant according to the custome of this noble Countrey The like thing happen'd at the siege of Mets where a servant had play'd the fugitive and ran away with his Master Don Luis de Avila's horse who was Master of the horse to the Emperour Don Luis sent to the Duke of Guyse a Trompetor for his man and his horse The Duke understanding that the horse was sold caus'd the money to be sent the Spaniard but for the servant he sent him word That his servant had enter'd into the inner parts of France where the Law is that if any of a servile condition puts his foot once he instantly recovers his liberty which custom being so consonant to reason and agreeable to Christianity he could not nor would not violat Touching the magnanimity and valour of the French ther are infinit Examples all the World over Alexander the great hearing of their valour sent to know of them what they fear'd most They answer'd Ne coelum rueret Least the heaven should fall 'T is tru Gallia became a Province to the Romanes but presently after the death of Iulius Caesar she was declared free And Rome call'd the Gaules in their publique writings by the appellation of frends 'T is well known what footing the Gaules took in Italy for the best part of Lombardy was call'd Gallia Cisalpina We read in Caesar that the time was cum Germanos Galli virtute superarent that the Gaules were superior to the Germans in valour that they had conquer'd much of the Countrey about the Hercynian Forest Are not the Britains of the Gaulic or Wallic race are not divers Provinces in Spain and Portingal descended from Them Afterward in revolution of time the German Franconians and Gaules being neighbours came by coalition to be one Nation and they have continued so above these 12 Ages The Kings of Sicily descend from Tanered the Norman so do the Kings of England from William the Conqueror and the Plantagenets The Kings of Cyprus Syria and Greece com from Guy of Lusignan nay Constantinople was held awhile by Gallic Emperours What glorious Expeditions have bin made to the Holy Land by 5. French Kings in person Me thinks I see Godefroy of Bâ—…llion having sold his Duchy to that purpose marching with a huge Army through Germany Hungary and Greece and so passing to Asia and Syria to encounter the Forces of Soliman the Ottoman Emperour and Chalypha the Soldan of Egipt with other Barbarian Kings whom he put all to flight making himself Master of Nice of Antioch and Hieresulam her self with the holy Sepulcher of Christ Me thinks I see him when he was to be crown'd King of Hierusalem throwing away a Crown of gold and taking one of thorns in imitation of his Saviour Me thinks I see all the tributary Princes therabouts bringing offrings unto him and he clad in the habit of a common Gregarian Soldier wherat they being astonished som of them as the Archbishop of Tyre said How is it that so great a King so admirable a Conqueror who coming from the West hath shaken all the Eastern World shold go so plain and homely But to step back a little look upon Brennus ransacking Rome with an Army of Gaules look upon Charles Martel who was call'd Conservator of the Christian World which was then upon point of ruine and to fall under the yoke of Infidels and Saracens Look upon Pepin who chas'd the Longâ—…bards out of Italy upon Bertrand who depriv'd Peter King of Castile of his Kingdom for his tyranny I could instance in a great nomber who have their names engraven and their Ensigns hung up in the Temple of immortality Moreover for Cavalleers and horsemen it is granted by all Nations that the French are the prime It is recorded in good how in the African Warr 30. French repuls'd 2000. Moors But to come neerer home In the siege of Mets where the fifth himself commanded in chief What resolute Sallies did the French make out of the Town causing the Emperour at last to trusse up his bagg and baggage and go away by torchlight Inso much that the Town of Mets being then kept by a French Garrison put the last bounds to the Conquests of that Great Captain as a Poet could tell him Si metam nescis Urls est quae Meta vocatur Now to go from the Sword to the Crosier What brave Prelats and Champions against haeresie hath France bred St. Hilary the queller of the Arrian heresie St. Hierom Pontius Paulinus Bishop of Nola Rusticus Phaebadius Prosper â—…cditius Avitus Mamertus Archbishop of Vienna Sidonius Apollinaris Lupus Germanus Salvianus Remigius Archbishop of Rheims with multitudes more all of them most pioâ—…s and learned Prelats whose Monuments shew them to be so to this day And so well devoted were the French alwayes to the Church of God that they thought nothing too dear and precious to endow her withall witnesse those mighty revenues the Gallican Church possesseth For in the late Raign of Charles the 9. ther was a cense brought in of the demains of the Church and they amounted to 12 millions and 300. thousand Franks in annual rent besides voluntary oblations Now touching Learning and Eloquence Lucius Plotius a Gaul was the first began to read Latin Lectures at Rome and Cicero being then a boy and finding such a great confluence of Auditors to flock ev'ry day to hear him he griev'd that he could not do the like as Suetonius hath left it upon record Marcus Antonius Gnipho a Gaul did then florish also at Rome a man of singular Elocution and a prodigious Memory he delivered praecepts in Greek and Latin and among others Cicero himself when he was Praetor us'd to be his Auditor Marseilles was very renowned for great learned men having bin so many ages a Greek Colony so was Lions also a special seat of the Muses as it is now for Marchants of all Nations of whom the Kings of France have borrow'd Millions of money to supply their sudden necessities Valence was also famous for Philosophers and Poets witnesse Athenaeus as also Vienne where Latin was so vulgar according to that signal Epigram of Martial Fertur habere meos si vera est fama 〈◊〉 Inter delicias pulchra Vienna suas Me legit omnis ibi Senior Iuvenisque puerque Et coram tetrico cast a puella viro Hoc ego maluerim quà m si mea carmina cantent Qui nilum ex ipso protinus ore bibunt Quà m Meus Hispano si me Tagus impleat auro Pascat et Hybla meas pascat Hymettos apes c. And questionlesse no Countrey florish'd with Learning more then France in those daies witnesse St. Hierom when he writ Sola Gallia monstra
Emperours And when Zenobia was Empresse ther were reckon'd 30. at one time In our Germany how many Interregnums have we had by this way of Election How many yeers did she appeer as a Monster without a head after the death of Frederic the second What a world of confusion and exorbitances of fraud and depraedations did she fall into What a base plot had Charles the fourth as also Vuenceslaus who would have prostituted the Empire for money They did so deplume the Eagle that she became contemptible to all other Creatures These were they whom Maximilian the first call'd the stepfathers or rather the two pests of the Empire The same Maximilian also in the Councel of Constance protested that he had rais'd 100. tonnes of gold out of his own patrimonial demeanes to support the sacred Roman Empire and all that while he had not receiv'd from the States of the Empire 40000. florins Now because my discourse hath transported me so far I cannot but extremely groan and deplore the state of the Empire and to what a pitiful low ebb 't is fallen unto For wheras in the time of Frederic the first and the strength of the Empire was then much attenuated the annual revenues came to 60000. tonnes of gold which amounts to about 6. millions sterling the exility of the rents of Caesar which he gets by the Empire are scarce able as Schneiderin a famous Civil Lawyer doth assert to maintain the domestic expences of the Imperial Court nor those neither unlesse Caesar did contribut much therunto out of his own patrimonial inheritances which made Cardinal Granvil to affirm aloud in the time of Charles the 5. ex Imperio ne tantillum Emolumenti habere Caesarem that Caesar had no Emolument at all from the Empire and we know no King in Christendom was reduc'd to that tenuity But France is not subject to those Comitial diseases or Diets of the Empire being secure by the succession and prerogatives of her Kings who have a transcendent and absolut authority not derived at all from their subjects wherby Caesar himself may be sayed to be inferior in point of power though not in precedence to Caesar himself though as Bartolus averrs Haeretici sunt pronunciandi quicunque Imperatorem Germanicum universi terrarum Orbis Dominum esse negant They are to be pronounc'd Heretiques who deny the Rom. German Emperour to be Lord Paramount of all the Univers And he grounds this right upon the answer of the Emperour Antoninus to Eudaemon of Nicodemia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ego quidem Mundi Dominus lex autem maris I am Lord of the World and the Law of the Sea He urgeth also another argument from the words of the holy Evangelist when he sayeth Ther issued forth a Decree from Augustus that the whole world shold be taxed But France acknowledgeth no such superiority for when L. Madrutius was employed by Ferdinand the Emperour to Francis the second for the restitution of Toul and Verdun with other feathers which he had pluck'd from the Eagle Franciscus Olivarius the Chancelor answer'd that they deserv'd capital punishment who wold advise the King to such a surrendry or held that the most Christian King and first son of the Church was any wayes inferior to Caesar Herupon we know that the doctrine of the Imperial Lawes are prohibited in Paris by this Edict and Caveat Ne quis publicè profiteretur Romanas leges in Academia Parisiensi neve quem Scholasticos ejus disciplinâ ad gradus auderet provehere That none shold make profession of the Roman Lawes in the University of Paris or dare to advance the Students therof to any degree of dignity Herupon Hospitalius Charles the ninth's Chancelor in presence of the King himself and the assembly of the three Estates procur'd it to be enacted that the Kings of France the very same moment that they entred into the 14th yeer of their age shold be pronounc'd capable to raign and to be out of his minority and so govern inchoativè Now for the Imperial Lawes their reason and equity may be haply made use of in other Dominions but not their authority and sanction No more could the Romans in times past be sayed to be any way under the Greeks because they borrowed and made use of som Lawes of theirs No more can the Turks be sayed to be any way subject to the Romans because they have the Iustinian Code translated into their vulgar language and that their Cadies make use of them to rectifie somtimes natural reason Furthermore the supereminent royalties of the Kings of France appeer manifestly in that they have the sole power to indict war or establish peace to make leagues and confederacies to enact Lawes to creat Magistrates of the gown and the sword to give pardon for lives to stamp money to give letters of denization to impose taxes and make pecuniary levies at pleasure Now the Kingdom of France is like a most fertile and florishing medow wheron infinit flocks of sheep do feed and bear golden fleeces which may be shorn when the shepherd pleaseth yet I will except here the province of Languedoc wher the King cannot exact any subsidiary contributions without the expresse consentment of the three Estates of that Countrey For administration of Civil Justice France comes short of no other Region whose charge it is to preserve the Kings prerogatives as well as the priviledg of the subject To which end ther be 8. Courts of Parlement whose names are known to any that have travel'd France Among these that of Paris is the most praedominant in regard the Parlament of Peers is alwayes there residing which high Court useth to verifie not confirm all the Kings Edicts to make them the more plausible and for form sake only Now as France is the beauty of Europe so that Parlement is the eye of France and the Parlement of Peers is the apple of that eye Nor do ther want examples how other Forren Kings and Princes have refer'd themselves to this Court of Parlement as a high consistory of reason and Justice as being Astrea's noblest tribunal The Emperour Frederick the second refer'd the controversies 'twixt him and Pope Innocent the fourth touching the Kingdom of Naples to the decision of this Court So the Count of Namur in a difference 'twixt Charles of Valois and him touching the County of Namur put himself upon the verdict of this Court and he therby carried his businesse Philip Prince of Tarentum overcame the Duke of Burgundy in this Court touching som expences made in recovering the Greek Empire The Dukes of Lorain have in divers things refer'd themselves to the judgment of this Court They of Cambray who are a free peeple have bin willing to be tryed by it The confederacy also 'twixt the Kingdom of Castile and Portugal were confirm'd by this Court Nor is ther any admitted to this Soverain Court but persons either priviledg'd by their birth or men of exquisit knowledg
Spain expand themselfs further The Sun doth perpetually shine upon som part of the Phillippean Monarchy for if it sets in one clime it then riseth in another He hath dominion on both the Hemisphers and none of all the four Monarchies could say so much nor any Potentat now living but himself Therfore he may well joyn the Sphear of the world to his armes and better share Empires with Iove then Augustus Caesar could his Scepter points at the four Cardinal corners of the world East West North and South for of those 360. degrees in the Aequinoctiall Portugall alone is said to occupie 200. Iupiter in coelis in Terra regnat Iberus Most Illustrious Auditors you have hitherto heard the magnitude of the Spanish Monarchy but that which tends most to the glory of Spain is her policy and prudence in governing so many distinct Regions so many squandred Kingdoms so many millions of people of differing humours customes and constitutions To be able to Rule so many Nations is more then to raign over them the one is imputed to the outward strength of bodies the other to the Sagacity of the brain but for Spain her self ther is that sweet harmony twixt the Prince and peeple the one in obeying the other in bearing rule that it is admirable and here the Spanish King hath the advantage of all other Imperando parendo He is neither King of Asses as the French is nor the King of Devills as the English is nor the King of Kings as the Emperour glories to be but the King of Spain is Rex Hominum the King of Men he may also be termed the King of Princes according to the Character which Claudian gives Spain that she was Principibus faecunda piis There also as he signs Fruges aeraâ—…ia Miles Vndique conveniunt totoque ex orbe leguntur Haec generat qui cuncta regunt Therfore let Candy the Cradle of Iove let Thebes the Mother of Hercules and Delos the nurse of two Gods yeeld to Spain It was she who brought forth Trajan to the world who was as good as Augustus was happie she gave Hadrian the Emperour she gave Theodosius the first and the first of Emperours for Morality and Vertue who rays'd and rear'd up again the Roman Monarchy when she was tottering Ferdinand the first who was an Infant of Spain a Prince who for liberty and justice for mansuetude and munificence for assiduity and vigilance for piety and peace was inferiour to none of his progenitors and to this day they keep in Spain the Cradle and Rattles he us'd when he was a child in Complutum where he was born which Town enjoyes to this day some speciall immunities for his Nativity there But Spain gave all these Princes to other Nations how many hath she affoorded her self she gave Ferdinand of Aragon a Prince of incomparable piety and prowesse who first lay'd the foundation of the Spanish Monarchy by matching with Donam Isabella Queen of Castile a heavenly Princesse she gave Philip the second call'd the prudent and so he was to a proverb how cautious was he in administration of Justice how circumspect in distribution of Offices how judicious in rewarding of Men c. how wary in conferring of honors for he was us'd to say that honors conferred upon an unworthy man was like sound Meat cast into a corrupt Stomack What a great example of Parsimony was he yet Magnificent to a miracle witnes the eighth wonder of the world the Escuriall which stupendous fabrick he not only saw all finished before his death though the building continued many yeers but he enjoy'd it himself twelve yeers and carried his own bones to be buried in the Pantheon he had built there He was so choyce in the election of his Servants that he had no Barber for his Ambassador nor Taylor for his Herald nor Physition for his Chancellor as we read of Lewis the XI of France nor a Faukner to his chief Favorit as the last French King had But that which was signall in this wise K. was that he never attempted any great busines but he wold first refer it to the Councel of Conscience And before the Acquisition of Portugall he shewed a notable example hereof For King Sebastian being slain in a rash War against the Moores and Henry dying a little after ther were many Candidates and pretenders for the Lusitanian Crown first Philip himself then Philibert Duke of Savoy after him Farnessius Duke of Parma then Iohn Duke of Bragansa and lastly Katherine de Medici King Philip though t was in vain to compasse this businesâ—… by Legations therfore he did it with his Legions yet he paus'd long upon the busines referring it to the debate of the learnedst Theologues and Civill Doctors where it was eventilated and canvas'd to and fro with all the wit and arguments the brain of man could affoord pro con At last the title and right being adjudg'd for him and having fairly demanded it in a peaceable way and being put off he raiseth an Army answerable to the greatnes of the work and yet being advanc'd to the borders he made a halt and summons again both Divines and Civillians to deliver their knowledg and consciences herin conjuring them by God and the sacred Faith to do it with integrity and freedom Herupon they all unanimously concur'd in the confirmation of their former judgment as Ripsius doth testifie After this great transaction he sends the Duke of Alva with an army to take possession of his right wherin he was so prosperous that he invaded survay'd and subjugated the whole Kingdom of Portugall in a very short time utterly defeating Don Antonio whom though King Philip might have surpriz'd a good while before lurking in a Monastery yet he would not do it Besides he caus'd the Duke of Bragansa's Son being Captif among the Moores to be redeem'd at his own charge and when he could have detained him yet he suffer'd him to go where he would Now having debell'd and absolutely reduc'd the Kingdom of Portugall among many others who were his Opposers the Doctors of Conimbria were most busy yet he sent them not only a generall pardon but encreased the exhibitions of the University This mighty King was also a great Lover of his Countrey preferring the publick incolumity therof before his own bloud his only Son Charls who being a youngman of a restles ambitious spirit and being weary of the compliance he ow'd his Father was us'd to carry Pistolls ready cock'd about him in the day and put them under his pillow in the night He confest to his ghostly Father that he had a purpose to kill a Man and being denied absolution from him he desir'd that he would give him unconsecrated bread before the Congregation to avoid publick offence King Philip being told of this confin'd his Son and put him over to the Councell of the Inquisition The Councell deliver'd their opinion and humbly thought that since his Majesty
took Numantia For their fidelity the Spaniards have bin very signal in all ages which induc'd Iulius Caesar to have a gard of them and Augustus Caesar a band of Biscayners or Cantabrians But how far the vertu and valour of the Spaniards prevailed against the Romans let Paterculus be heard to speak Per ducentos annos in Hispanis multo mutuoque certatum est sanguine For the space of 200. yeers ther were so many and mutuall conflicts of bloud that many of the Roman Emperours and Armies being lost much reproch and sometimes great danger resulted to Rome How many of their Scipios were destroyed there how VIRIATUS for ten yeers together did shake them what a disgracefull truce Pompey made and Mancinus a more disgracefull In all Sertorius his time it was doubtfull whether Spain shold be tributary to Rome or Rome to Spain But why do I fly to Pagan instances when ther are so many Christian Examples at hand Sancho King of Castile I pray listen attentively to this stupendous story I say Sancho King of Castile took Tariffa from the Moors but he being anxious and doubtfull whether he shold keep it or no by reason of the vicinity of the enemy and the great expences that it wold put him to Alfonso Perez rise up and told the King that he wold undertake to secure keep the place Thereupon the Moore by the help of the King of Morocco came with a numerous Army before the Town and Alphonso's Son being taken prisoner at a sallie the Generall of the Moores desiring a parley upon the walls with Alfonso he shewed him his Son protesting unto him that he wold torture and slay his Son unlesse he wold yeeld up the place Alphonso being not a whit abash'd told him that if he had a hundred Sons he would prefer his honour and Countrey before all so the Moor having barbarously kill'd young Alphonso They of the Town made such a resolut sallie the next day that they utterly routed the Moores and took so many prisoners that he offered 100. Moors for a Victime for his son To this Alonso the Family of the illustrious Dukes of Medina Sidonia ow their rise The Spaniards are admirable for their military discipline being exactly obedient to their Comanders and lesse subject to mutiny then any peeple They are allwayes true to their trust witnes that Spanish Centinel who was found dead in the morning in a Tower upon the Cittadel of Antwerp with his Musket in his hand in a defensive posture and standing on his leggs all frozen Moreover ther is no people so mutually charitable and carefull of their nationall honor then the Spaniards For their modern exploits the name of Alvaro Sandeo is terrible to this day among the Moors for having invaded Barbary with 4000. Spaniards and beat before him above 16. miles 20000 Moores with but 800. of his own The memory of the 2000. Spaniards is irksome to the French to this day who routed and quite discomfited Gaston de Foix who had quintuple the nomber Gonzalo call'd the great Captain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is much spoken of amongst them to this day for having with such admirable fortitude taken away the Kingdom of Naples from Lewis the 12. and being return'd to Spain the King took off a Gold chain from off his own neck and hang'd it about his Antonio de Leiva was a stout and sedulous Commander so was the Count de Fuentes Don Pedro Encques who did not only defend but extend the boundaries of Belgium for the King his Master and in the midst of a double warr took such Towns that might be in the wish but not in the hope of the Flemish The Italians do yet tremble at the name of Don Fernand Alvarez Duke of Alva and his ghost who wold not take Rome when he could He who terrified France secur'd Hungary subdued Afrique and appeas'd both Germans high and low He who chastis'd Spain He who first after the death of Don Sebastian told King Philip that it was fitting he shold see the rites of buriall to be perform'd in Lisbon for King Sebastian Then Henry being dead in lesse then 50. dayes space he enter'd survay'd and subjugated all Portugall And it was said se regnum Lusitanieum eo modo quo regnum caelorum acquiritur cepisse c. That he had taken the Kingdom of Portugall in the same manner as the Kingdom of Heaven is got that is by eating bread and drinking water and abstaining from other mens goods And this was sayd because his Souldiers liv'd upon their allowance only having no benefit of booty in any Towns as they passed such a regular and strict Order was observed in his Army We Germans do yet contemplat with admiration the exploit that a band of Spanish Soldiers did perform in the Saxon warr when stripping themselfs naked they leap'd into the Elve with their Swords in their mouths and swimming to the other side did fight for new cloathes and did notable feats afterwards Don Christopher Mandragon did do things in the low Countreys beyond belief I could produce here a long scrowle of other late notable Spanish Commanders therfore all things well ponder'd it may be justly said Hispania Rerum potitur in Europa The Spaniards are the men of Europe and their King the considerablest Monark for he hath not only all Spain united under him and reduc'd to one Empire but he hath taken footing both in Germany and France by the House of Burgandy He possesseth above half Italy by having the Duchie of Milan with the Kingdomes of Naples and Calabria the first is the heart of Lombardy and the second the very marrow of Italy Then hath he Sicily Sardinia the Baleares and all the Ilands in the Mediterranean He hath Piombino in Toscany Port Hercules Telamon Orbitello Porto Longone all which bind the Italians to their good behaviour towards him Genoa is as it were under his protection like a Partridge under a Faulcons wings who can seize upon the prey when he lift That Citty being his scale for conveyance of his tresure is grown infinitely rich by his money and tied to him by an indissoluble knot Nay Rome her self by making som of the Cardinalls his Pensioneries is much at his devotion The Spaniard hath don more then Alexander the Great for he hath not only got much of the old world but conquered a new one for which the Greek sighed so much And if we beleeve the Civill Lawyers he hath don this justly for 't is the sentence of the Almighty Quicquid calcaverit pes tuus Wheresoever thou shalt tread with thy foot shall be thine the Heavens is the Lords but he hath given the Earth among the Sonns of Men. Moreover Reason dictats unto us that men who live like brute Animalls or wild Beasts shold be reduc'd to civility and to the knowledg of the true God Besides it is the Law of Nations Quae bona nullius sunt ea fieri Occupantium Those goods
erudition and integrity When Henry the second King of France by the eager importunity of a great Princesse had recommended one of the long Robe to this Court and being rejected he spoke merrily je pensois que parmy tant de chevaux d'espagne vn asne pourroit bien passer I thought that among so many Spanish ginets one Asse might have well pass'd Now for the Oppidan Government of Paris ther is such special circumspection had that never any is intrusted with the chiefest office in the Citty call'd the Provost of the Marchants unlesse he be a man of eminent parts probity and prudence and generally esteemed so so that it is us'd as a common saying to their Children if they commit any absurd or base thing Tu ne seras point prevost des Marchands Thou shalt never be Provost of the Marchants And among others the providence and prudence of Lewis the twelfth was notable who had alwayes by him a catalogue of the discreetest and best qualified Cittizens upon whom he us'd to confer offices of Magistracy accordingly And the time was when the Kings of France us'd to sit upon the tribunal themselves to determine causes Charles the eight devoted two daies every week to that purpose and St. Lewis three Nor are there any Kings so obvious and accessible as those of France For as the Sun when he is up in the Orient displayes his beames upon all alike upon the Prince as well as the peasan upon the shrub as well as the Cedar so the Kings of France behold all their Subjects with like humanity and grace They are benigne and affable to all both in speech countenance and gesture and seldom are any of them revengeful As ther is a memorable passage of Lewis the twelfth who while he was Duke of Orleans fell in some disgrace with Charles the eight herupon divers great men and others seeing him clowded in the Kings favour did him sundry ill offices Charles being dead and he succeeding in the throne a Courtier to get som boon of him told him of such and such who had bin no frends of his in his predecessors time and so wish'd his Majestie to question and punish them The King answered Tu vero aliud a me pete meritis tuis gratia erit Nam Rex Galliae non exequitur injurias Ducis Aurelianensis Propose som other thing unto me and I will prefer thee for the King of France is not to revenge the injuries of the Duke of Orleans And as the Kings of France are remarkable for their freedom mildnesse and mansuetude to their subjects so is the affection of the French alwayes in an intense degree towards their King Nor was ther ever a more pregnant example hereof then at the death of Henry the fourth the report wher of struck such an Earthquake into the hearts of many thousands that som Ladies miscarried in childbirth before their time others died suddenly upon the newes Every one up and down the streets both men women and children damn'd the Assassin to a thousand hells both his soul and body Every one scruing up his witt how to devise som exquisit lasting torment for Ravillac Now if all matters were weigh'd in an impartial balance of justice who can deny but the most Christian King of France is preferrable before all other Earthly Potentates For although the Emperour by an old custom be the Prime of Princes yet the King of France appeers in more glorious Robes then He He hath a far more numerous guard then He The King of France is the first Son of the holy Church and well they may deserve it for their sanctity and munificence to the Temple of God and so many Voyages they made abroad to redeem the Sepulcher of Christ and the Countrey which he did blesse with his feet from the slavery of Infidels Now as Homer and Virgil are call'd The Poets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Excellency As the Pope is call'd the Bishop so is the King of France The King 'T is he that by a special benediction from Heaven doth cure the Struma or the Kings Evil and to that end His Court is frequently strew'd with sick patients of all Nations and with Spaniards as much as any other who clammer over the Pyreneans Hills and make a kind of pilgrimage unto him and he doth it with that modesty that he alwayes entitles the cure upon God according to his speech in performance of the Act Le Roy te touche Dieu te guerisse The King toucheth thee God heal thee Therfore were it but for this vertue alone and for his title the most Christian King with his antiquity being the elder Son of the Church the Spaniard hath no reason to dispute precedency with him which made Mendoza in the Councel of Trent to say somewhat modestly Se nolle quideâ—… anteire tamen cogi non posse ut Francorum Legatos sequeretur He wold not go before yet he could not be compell'd to follow the French Ambassadors I shold enter into a field that had no horizon if I shold attempt here to conine morat the heroique achievments and trophy's of the French Kings Merovee quell'd Attila's pride in the Catalonian fields Childebert Almaricuâ—… the Gothic tyrant being slain subdued a great part of Spain Clotaâ—…ius tam'd the dauntlesse Saxons Pipin protected the Roman Church against Astulphus the Longobard and erected the Exarchatship of Ravenna Charles the Great above all re-establish'd the Roman Empire freed Italy from their Invaders and made the Kings of Galicia and Scotland his tributaries Lodovicus Pius 40 daies before he died fed upon nothing but the holy host Lewis the gros chac'd Henry the fifth into Germany and gave Sanctuary to four Popes Paschal the second Calixtus the second Honorius the second and Innocent the second when Italy was too hot for them Philip Augustus threw his Crown upon the ground before his Nobles and invited any one to take it up St. Lewis ravish'd the very Barbarians with the admiration of his piety Charles the fifth did wrest again from the English what they had taken in France Charles the eight kept Italy under subjection almost five moneths Lewis the twelfth kept all Lombardy for the time Francis the first the new Apollo of the Muses overthrew the Helvetians in a memorable fight Henry the fourth was inferior to none of these for Vertu and Fortune did contend which shold entitle him Henry the Great They both striv'd for mastery in him and which shold overcom wheras indeed he may be sayed to have subdued both He was Conquerour in fower pitch'd battailes in 35. hot skirmiges and above 100. personal encounters with the siege of 300. several places wherin he prov'd alwaies Victorious His memory is still fresh in France and taketh impression successively from father to child to make it eternal Ther is scarce any considerable Town but hath his statue in brasse or marble and pictures innumerable Insomuch as one sayed Una