after hee left me on my vvay from Bruxelles to Nâ—mur and his returne to Bruxelles though he had neither Comission nor any letter of Credence for I did pocesse them therefore his said secret journey into Spaine prouued most ridiculous and his appearance to that Court vvas taken by the Conde-Duca as an argument of vveaknesse in those that had sent him that had no letters of credit It vvas from that instant that I became an Eye-sore to the English Spanish faction vvich vvas maintayned by the Lord Cotâ—inghton some of them caused a most malicious and horride asperssion to be cast on me supposing by theire letters to the Lord of Carlile his Majesties extraordinary Ambassador in Itallie in the yeare 1628. that I vvas sent that vvay about on a pretence to go to Spaine only to kill him by the vvay of which horrid asperssion the said Lord of Carlille vvas pleased to giue me notice and on my just â—essent declared in his Maiesties presence that hee neuer had any cause to credit that foulle report yet did the Authors thereoff continue their malice against mee by theire ill Offices during my Bleuen yeares Residency in his Majesties service in the Court of Bruxels returning copies to the Spanish ministers off all the of most Important advertissements vvhich I did sent to the King and State And as those malicious persons seemed to ayme to haue me and myne distroyed in that Residency they endeauoured no lesse than the distruction of his Maiesties seruice his Interest honnor that of the Nation and the interest of the best and most assured Friends and Allies of the State of England This they did on diuers notable occasions First vvhen by their maintayning the Spanish scarce any of his Maiesties subiects could get Iustice in the Admirallitie Courts of Brabant and Flandres vvhen diuers of his Maiesties subiets might haue been timly releast their perssons and goods freed from distruction diuers of them suffered therein by the insolency of their aduersse parties fauoured by the Spanish faction in England Secondly They crost many faire occasions concerning the Palatinat by returning to some of the ill disposed Spanish ministers of state such secret aduertissements as I had sent into England and vvhich I had in confidency from the Emperors Resident the Duâ—k of Neevvâ—â—â—g the Prince Elector of Treueâ— and the Resident of Collen The said English Spanish affected aduertissed the Marquis d'Aytonâ— that the Infanta Isabella Arch-Duchesse had honnored mee vvith a secret declaration that shee vvould put Franckendall into the Queene of Bohemias hands This they returned by one Iohn Taylier an English Papist vvho formerly had been by the English Spanish faction imployed into Germanie by vvhich auertissements the Infants for her good vvill tovvards the Queene of BOHEMIA vvas braught into question and that businesse vtterly distroyed vvhich then I did manifest to Old Sir Iohn Coke then Secretary of State and that I had vvitnesses hovv the said Iohn Tayler confest his faute for hauing conferred vvith the said Marquis dAytonâ— Contrary to his Instruâ—â—ions receaued from the King and the Secretary of State vvich he confest a month after his arriuall att Bruxels that he had kept sir Iohn Cokes letter to mee in his pocket untill the said busines of Franckendall vvas distroyed he said that the Cottintoniens had forbid him to go a long vvith me to the Spanish ministers Thirdly They returned to the Court of Bruxels the Copie of a great dispatch vvherein I manifested to the King and to the Secretary of State all vvhat the Catholike States both Spirituall and Temporall had resolued in their trance that those Prouinces vvere in hazard to be conquered By vvhich cetuâ—ne of Advertissement vvas vvrought the distruction of the famillies of the Duke of Ascot Prince of Espinoy Barbanson Duke or 〈◊〉 and oâ— Count Egmond One Iean de Viualde that had been Secretary to van-Malle for the Space of 1â— years in England beheaded on the Marquet place at Bruxels on the returne of such aduertissements as I had sent unto the State His sentence in Dutch bearing the vvords Vitz For hauing giuen aduertissments to a publike ministers of a Neigbour Prince All vvhich being become publix the COTTINTONIENS ceassed not to countenance instances done for my recall from that Residency vvhich the Marquis de Veladâ— and Don Alonzo de Câ—â—denas did vigourously persue though his Maiestie did most graciously reject their motions and vvith matkes of extraordinary exteeme of my fidelity for he answ wared it vvas not his custome to disgrace those that dit serue him vvill Like ill VVillers as the COTTINTONIENS did likvvelse countenance many complaints against mee made by factionaâ—ls about Queene Mother The Duke d'Elboeuf and others vvho vvould passe into England against his Majesties vvill vvhen the vvords of my Instuctions signed by the Lord Dorchester then Secretary of State dit beare that my 〈◊〉 vvas in the Scaâ—lâ—e if any one of those dit passe to trouble the English Seas As it seemed to be indeed vvhich vvay it vvent since the factionaris about Queene Mother had those in the English Court as vvell of the French 〈◊〉 of the Spanish faction and of others God knovvith vvllo did sturre an irreconciliable hattered against me for hindering so great a Princesse as Queene Mother to repaire in time vvhere shee might breath att rest the last of her dayes In fine it proved that to free Queene Mother from such aduertissements as I could and did giue from the place of my Residency 〈◊〉 factionaris about her ledd her avvay about into Holland vvhore my confractor Sir Vvilliam Bosvvell could not stop her though no ruine fell on him for her said passage into England vvhere 〈◊〉 selfe being returned I met a Sea of ill 〈…〉 of diuers factions vvho duting my Eleuen yeares Residency at Bruxels had taken occasion to except against my aduertissements vvhich spared none nor of Church nor State for vvhat vvas manifested to me and by mee found true on the place I did plainely set dovvn vvithout mincing any thing for feare of 〈◊〉 nor for allurements resolved to take things as God â—evould have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to make due exteeme of the vvise saying Nolite cansidere Principibus neque filiis hominum in quibus non est Salus His Majesty indeed vvas often graciously pleased to approve my endeaviours to expresse his satisfaction thereon and I may say vvithout vanity a truth as a marke of my gratitude that his Majesty vvas so gracious as to say in publike that of all those that did then attend His service abroad none vvas more diligent this vvas vvritten to me by my predecessor Sir Iohn Finet vvho attended the King at His dinner vvhen the vvords vvere uttered Nor could I thinke so meanly of my indeavours blessed by Gods assistaÌ„ce in the discovery of many things vvhich peradventure divers others vvould haue bin incapable off for vvant of Languages but that I might have bin thought vvorthy of a
Douer and during the time of my attendance in the office of Master of Ceremonies after I had consumed my selfe in his Maiesties seruice during my eleven yeares Residency in the Court of Bruxels greate part of my arreares being 〈◊〉 payed No vvouder that I tooke then hold on the occasion to passe into France vvhen I had obtained the letter of Credence as aforesaid vvhich being about the time that a question vvas moved on as intercepted letter sent from London to Oxford fathered on me though no man could proure the caracter to be myne not to haue his sent directly nor indirectly by me my said departure then did not as it seemes satisfy all those that heard of the said letter not some that haue bin pleased to vent glosses theron Though I had to pleade on that subiect first not guilty Secondly That I vvas charged vvith a letter of Credence to passe a Compliment vvith a King vvho vvas acere the Angonies of death as it proued since ere I landed att Callis he vvas deceassed Thirdly that I had a passe from the Parliament declaring my libertie to attend his Maiesties seruice and this vvithout limitation of place vvhen his Maiestie had full povver on me to command mee to go or to come That my dependency vvas Manifest and publike my attendance but a Coremoniall part vvithout any relation to the dicipline of vvarres Fourthly 〈◊〉 my going from London I vvas in no constraint nor vnder any guarde Fiftly it vvas ten the ClocK in the morning vvhen I did embarke my selfe in the ordinary packett boate att Douer vvhereof one Master VVhiâ— vvas master vvho had Knovvne me many yeares before I payed the duties vvhich the Officers there demanded of mee all men that vvere there did see my face vvhich vvas not disguised by falce heare nor peruix Master vvhit vvas at the starren of the Boate and I neuer vvent under deck to hidde my selfe Sixtly that iff the letter could haue been proved to bee mine yet could it not have argued mee to bee a dangerous man since I had no voyce in chapter vvith either parties that I vvas no instrument of the unhappy difference betvven the King and his People for vvhich I shall praise God vvhille I live and diâ—â—rs of my publick dispatchs vvhich I have made to the King and State during my Residency at Bruxels as my Iournals can manifest vvill prouve that I did faithfully relate hovv little the vvorld did reflect on His Majesties povver so long it vvas not seasoned by an Harmonious concordance of Parliaments VVhich vvas often cast in my teeth VVhen I did incist as my duty vvas and my Instructions did beare on the point of the restitution of the Palatinat VVhich endeauours besides the pursuance of His Majesties interests lost me vvith some of the Spanish Ministers as namely vvith the President Role vvho vvhen I did demand Iustice for His Majesties subjests and such possitiue ansvvers as I vvas commanded to put to him insolently questioned vvhetber the King had an Army of fifthy thousand man at his back VVhich he â—â—eered vvith disrespectfull VVords vvheron I made a just complaint to the Infant Cardinall vvho did blame the said President Rose for it No men vvill vvonder as I do conceiue that I did at last sue for my recall from that imploiment as I did vvhen I had so long vvithstood the violence and malice of the Cottintoniens vvho by these great Intelligence vvith the most depraued Ministers the King of Spaine had some of vvhich the said King hath been constrained to shake of all the good and solid Orders sent to me by His Majesties Principall Secretaries of State vvere of no force and all good indeavours destroyed to the prejudice of His Majesties Seruice Honour and the reall good and greatnesse 〈◊〉 the State of England No vvonder also that I did sue for my said recall vvhen the Kings ennemies made use of Spirits of Dilâ—â—ion to attempt on the Soules and minds of the first of my family a persecution vvhich vvithout comparaison Iob neuer felt for his calamity did not follovv him from one Countrey to another As sirst it begun against me in Brabant It continued at my returne in England and follovved me into France as feemes to finish vvhere it begun vvith my Predecessors For no sooner had I gotten in France a Surintendance of an Office vvhich vvould haue proued vvorth to me many thousand pounds a yeare but vvas pursued by factionnaries vvho did boldly maintaine in Petitions presented by the Bishop du Puis to the Queen Regent that She vvas Ipso facto excommunicated for having conferred such an Office on an Heretique as they terme all that are not of the Church of Rome This vvas pursued by libels and mischieâ—â—â—â— contrivances in vvhich English Papists had part as especially those vvho impudently and most falcoly did sustaine me to be the man who crost all the King of great Brittains affaires abroad alledging 〈◊〉 other ground for their utterances but vvhat I had openly declared to the Lords in Parliament concerning the Lord Cottington and haâ— during my being at Paris one Sir Thomas Dishington had free accesse to me That the said Sir Thomas Dishingt on should have said that it vvas I vvho disuaded the Queen Regent from sending any Ambassadoâ—r into England that had not left a good esteeme there that the Queen Regent being graciously pleased to aske my opinion vvhat person seemed most fit for that Ambassage I said in ansvver to her most gracious commands that to me the Mareshall de Bassompieâ—â—e seemeed the fittest being a peaceable graue good and vvise noble man vvho hauing once reconciled the tvvo Nations might perhaps prouâ— a fit Minister for the reconciliation betvveen the King and his people That the said Sir Thomas Dishington had said that the Lord Lanthian had departed as ill satisfied from the French Court as any man euer could If I had not represented to the Queene Regent and to the Cardinall Mazarin the true condition of that Lord That I had likevvise procured a present of a golden chaine to the said Sir Thomas Dishington and presented him to the Cardinall Mazarin before his going for England vvhich vvas in the yeare one thousand six hundreth fourty foure VVeake Objections indeed and vveake grounds for Master VVilliam Crafts to proceede on for the utter destruction of my familly and to take hold on any other occasion to do me mischief as vvas intended vvith a report that I had since my being in France corespounded vvith some that are not in good intelligence vvith the French On vvhich point I vvas not bound to ansvver to any man liuing for as I am a free man borne in Zeeland It vvas free to me being not ingaged in any seruice to correspond vvith vvhom I vvould Yes cannot any man doubt of my Integrity and Maximeâ— considering the profession I haue made during many yeares my experience and the cruell persecutions vvhich I have suffered by those
better revvard better considered euen by the best friends of the State of England since diuers of my advertissements to His Majesties principall Secretaries of State did beare particulars vvhereby his best friends could be vvarned to looke to themselves vvhen foure hundred thousand Crounes vvere disposed for the betraying of Mastricht that engins vvere prepared against Beâ—gopzom That one Triboulet a Bourguinnon vvas dispatcâ—t from Brabanâ— to kill the French King Louis the XIII All I got for my paines vvas a check from old Secretary Coke to have named in my publike dispatch the Duke of Bullon though his name and the thing became aftervvards publique in the streets of Bruxels the check I 〈◊〉 vvas not old Sir Iohn Coke but came from the English Spanish faction vvho then constrained Sir Iohn Cokes pen to vvritte as they vvould have it On the second the man being discovered by the French King himselfe a Gentleman belonging to the Duke de Chevreule vvas â—ent to me vvith thankes nor did I looke for more since vvhat I could deserve vvas to put on that masters score vvho I had the honor to serve And vvho in conclusion vvas so gracious to mee as to confirme his satisfaction of my seruice in my letter of credence to the late French King by the vvords Vâ—z I Do RECOMMEND THIS GENTLEMAN 〈◊〉 MASTER OF MY CEREMONIES TO YOUR PARTICULAR PROTECTION FOR THAT HE HATH DONE MEE LONG AND FAITHFULL SERVICE This Letter of Credence I sued for vvhen I vvas persuaded that I could no longer breath vvhere the Cottintoniens had any credit since I did feele the continuance of their ill offices vvithout intermission That it vvas most knavvishly susteined to the King that I had deâ—â—â—ved to be heinged by my legs for having to the Lords in Parliament vvhen I vvas charged by them of my Consience declared the names of those that did bettray the Kings affaires in forraine parts though God knovveth I said no more then I could prove and did but ansvver to the Question for I never tutcht the string of others and vvhose rest It vvas not my designe since to trouble though my Iournals did beare vvhose Pensionnaries they vvere reputed to be vvhat Popish Priests vvere theirs That it vvas likevvise most knavishly represented to the King vvhen the Prince Elector Palatin to the hearing of Colonell Linzey vvas pleased at Yorckere the Standart vvas let up to request for my Licence that I might be dismist of my Office to shift for my selfe in some other part of the vvorld That I had been untrue to my first master the Duke of Buckingham and this on a most bace ridiculous and false pretence VVhich no doubt vvas forstalled by a person vvho in the Duke of Bukinghams time vvould once put me ill vvith the said Duke and even at the same instant that he intreated me to get him preferred to a more neere attendance to his person it vvas one Master Iohn Asbornham since one of the grooms of the Bedchambre it vvas for him I spake the Lady Duchesse at his earnest sute required me to do it I did it in her presence that she vvas a bed vvith the Duke vvho mistooke my speech and distickt it for novv I â—ust declare the truth on vvhich I take God to vvitnes it vvas vvhen the Duke had told me in private that he vvould have me in that place Sir Sackville Crovv being then on point to be preferred to the place of Tresorier of the Navy This office in favour of Master Asbornham though to my one prejudice then proved so little advantagious to me as that it vvas supposed to the Duke of Buckingham that I had taken the Lady Porbecks part to save her from the Officiers that vvould have carried her to prison from a house in the Strand next to the Venetian Ordinary vvere then the Savoye Ambassador did lay and vvhere by accident I then vvas It being in those dayes that the misunderstanding betvven the Duke and me vvas fomented God of Heaven knovveth to vvhose Tribunall I do appeale on that subject and to ansvver for all vvhat is contained in these Lines that I had no to-respondence at all vvith the Lady Porbeck nor bad seen her since the dayes that she lived in amity vvith the Duke and all the family of the Villiers Not had the Abot d'Escaille any premeditated dessigne vvith her nor to contribute to her escappe as vvas supposed on a vvanton 〈…〉 Loosnesse vvhich vvas acted on a suddayne vvithout any premeditation vvhen one of the Pages of the Ambassador vvas drest in a vvon as close Monsieur Bronâ—â— Sir Theodor Mayetnes brother in Lavv being then present and the said Page put in a Coach by the Abott d'Esrailles men vvho finding the house vvhere the Abott d'Escaillie their Master lay to bee abused by a number of men that brake in to gâ—â—â— ouer a pallâ— of his guarden into a next house vvhere the Lady Poâ—bech vvas said to Lodge proposed to the Abott being att dinner to ridde his house of annoyance for that his said men did conceaue that all the crevv vvould runne out of dores to stopp the Coach vvherein the Page vvas putt vvho vvas found to be a Page in effect as soone the Coach vvas overtaken the length of a street vvhich did not att all contribute to the escappe of the Lady Poâ—beck since the house vvherein she vvas remayned pocect vvith Sergeants and store of people All vvhich being examined and found true moâ—â—ed the Duke of Buckingham to reconcile himselfe vvith the Abott d'Escaille and to desire that the feast of reconcilliation should be att my house vvhere the Duke vvas pleased tvvo dayes after to beseech his Maiesties to come vvith the Quene to accept like entertainment because the manner thereof vvas pleasing The imposture therfore that I should haue been untrue to the Duke being Manifest could not butt vvith tvvo much Audacity and busnesse be represented to the Kings most Royal 〈◊〉 tvvelue yeares after that it vvas clereed and his Majestie had many proofes of my fidellity and constancy to his seruice for vvhich I haue many letters of his Royall hand to shue and vvherein as before said his Majesties hath ben most gratiously pleased to expresse his satisfaction I vvas thus contayned to sue for my remoue from the presence of a greate King in vvhose seruice and in that of the State I vvould haue thought my selfe happy to end my dayes yett my licence vvas refused to agreate Prince vvho in meere compassion inclined to speake in my favour vvhen all meanes of subsistance vvere taken from me that the Secretary of State then Lord Fackland had hindered some Bishops of paying such monnie to mee as had beene by Tallies struck on them a yeare before and for vvhich I had payed the fees in the Exchequer att vvestminster Being thus in an Instant deprived of all lively-hood and also frustrated of desboâ—â—ssments made both for the transpottation of Queene Mothers trayne from London to