not so denie warre as to neglect our owne welfare And one saith no lesse pithily then prettily Bellum bello susceptum bellum est Warres well vndertaken are good and lawfull for as we must be cautelous not vpon euery light occasion to vndertake it so wee must not be cowards vpon iust cause to refuse it for both of them are the extreames of fortitude as well a rash attempt as a base refusall From hence Demosthenes that King of Orators in a inuectiue Oration against King Philip for his insatiable ambitious desire of gonernement as he already had besieged the Olinthians vpon the conquest of whom he had a free passage into Athens which to preuent Demosthenes exhorts them not onely to aide the Olinthians but also to raise an Army to send into Macedonia that so being wounded at home hee might haue the lesse liberty to hurt abroad alleaging that aide to their Neighbours is very requisite since as their safety was founded vpon their good successe for whosoeuer withdraweth his helping hand when as his neighbours house is on fire may want assistance to quench his owne according to that old and vsuall verse I am mea res agitur paries cum proximus audet It is my case so when the next walles burned either for the subuersion of any tyrant which doth wrongfully vsurpe more by might then right any others dominions in so much that in former times it was held a thing conuenient in former times that if any Prince did tyrannically abuse any of his Subiects either with cruelty murther rape rauine or such like oppressions wherein he might offer his subiects opprobrious iniurie the which in regard they cannot redresse themselues for what subiect dares lift vp his hand against Gods Annointed or to stand vp in Armes against his Soueraigne it was requisite that the next adioyning Prince who was a borderer vpon the confines of his Dominions should assume armes against him to chastise correct and reforme so great enormities to the end that the name of a King might not seeme odious and be hatefull vnto the people as was Nero Heligabulus Dionysius and too many others of that barbarous disposition and horrid crueltie From whence he purchased vnto himselfe such an immortall name and neuer dying memory as they did diefie him for vilefying such monsters and exercising his prowesse vpon such tyrants But for the better satisfaction of those whose precise consciences will not allow any Warres or dissentions to keepe any harmonicall consent either with goodnesse or godlinesse giue but an attentiue and patient eare vnto the words of Hieronymus Osorius as they be recorded and written in his Booke entituled True Christian Nobility Neither hath this allowance of Wartes onely approbation from him but is receiued as a lawfull practise by the common consent of the most or at least the best part of Doctors Diuine Plato extolleth this art of Armes and commandeth that children should be instructed in it so soone as they came to ability of bodie or any aptitude to discharge the Offices of Souldiers and it was Cyrus his opinion that it was as necessary as agriculture or husbrandy neither is it denyed by Augustine and Bernards those two famous Fathers The Romanes also who were of matchlesse worth in marshall affaires being no lesse to be admited for their carriage abroade then for their counsell at home appointed for their chiefe Commanders two Consuls the one to determine City affaires the other to be occupied in marshall discipline being assured that they could neuer haue peace within their walles except they had wartes abroade to omit the iudgement of Hipodam us Milesius a man so expert in all learning who thought it conuenient for that City or Countrey which coueted quietnesse and sought for safetie to diuide their people into three parts the one of which were to be appointed to be Artificers the other for Husbandry and the third sort set apart to bee imployed in martiall exercises Indeede peace is a precious pearle and is chiefly to be desired but oftentimes Warres must be performed that peace may be maintained euen like a shippe which being in her quiet Harbour is constrained to loose Anchor and to seeke for safety in the vaste and raging Sea if a man cannot attaine his right without violence hee may lawfully take vp Armes and get it by force for some men are like a nettle the more kindly they vse them the worse they will sting them the fairer they intreate them the fouler they intertaine them Salomon likewise prescribeth a time for peace and a time for Warre a day of mirth and a day of mourning and therefore to vse time when oceasion serueth is a maine pont of principall wisedome and to assume Armes vpon due premeditation not incensiderately to enter into conslict and skirmish for that faucurs of sauage beastlinesse and not of sage humanitie but when time permitteth and necessitie requireth then on with your Armour fight manfully preferring an happie and honourable death before a disgracefull and miserable death There is a double kinde of Iniustice the one in offering the other in suffering Iniustice the one is actiuely the other passiuely vniust wittingly to offend against a neighbour is a sinne against our brother and wilfully to beare an iniury is an offence against ones selfe and therefore I will not be a foe to my Neighbour in wronging of him neither will I bee an enemy to my selfe in permitting him to offend me when I am of ability to defend my selfe But me thinkes I heare some obiect against the former resolution saying that Truth it selfe hath prohibited the rendring of euill for euill to any man and hath inioyned that if one hath receiued a blow of one eare hee ought to turne the other It is true that he hath said I beleeue that vengeance is the Lords and hee will repay it yet notwithstanding a Christian doth not goe about to reuenge it as it is an iniury done to himselfe but as an offence committed against God who hath forbidden all iniustice and commanded to giue vnto Caesar that which belongeth vnto Caesar and I trust that no man will be so foolishly opinionated that when he is oppressed by any Tyrant should willingly surrender into his hands his possessions his Crowne and Signiory or that it should not be a legall honest course and not dissentane either from reason or religion for a Prince to defend and maintaine his right or that it should not bee lawfull for him to warre vpon him either for it in the defence of true Religion or the maintenance of their freedome and liberty as the Athenians against King Philip. And howsoeuer in this our Pilgrimage fortitudes estimation is in the wayne yet in ancient times prowesse was of such price and valour of so great accompt as no glory was counted so great no renowne so honourable as that which hath beene wonne in the field by the force of martiall prowesse and to make men more greedy
destruction then in the time of the warres which the Romanes had with her for whilest they had enemies in Affticke they knew not what vices meant at Rome Yet is it not my drift to preferre Warres before Peace but to intimate that as Peace is the great blessing of God so Warres vndertaken vpon due consideration doe nothing offend him and although in the time of peace there is plentie of vice yet notwithstanding it is not absolutely to be condemned so though in the Warres there be many outrages committed yet it is not wholly therefore to be neglected the Sunne shining vpon some pleasant Garden makes the flowres haue a more fragrant and delightfull smell but displaying his most radiant beames vpon a dunghill maketh the stinke greater and the sent more noy some The sicke mans stomacke turneth all his meate into bad humors Peace may be prosperous and Warre lawfull yet both of them may be abused Moreouer if I should speake of the particular commodities that seuerall countries haue reaped by warres I could be infinite and to the intent I may not range farre abrode for example let thy consideration make but a step into our neighbouring nations and let vs looke into the Low Countries these you shall see the Prince of Orange that treasury of all vertue and goodnesse though with meane forces withstanding a mighty nation that his libertie might not be infringed of his country iniured neither hath he maintained his owne case only valiantly but hath afforded his neighbouring friends aide and assistance Let Spaine speake how often she hath receiued a repulse and a non visitauit from him how often in vaine shee hath attempted his ouerthrow but be like a well built fort hath valiantly withstood all their assaults and though he hath happily beene moued yet could not be remoued by their attempts whereby as all men sufficiently vnderstand hee is now growne potent and powerfull rich and renowned whereas on the contrary if Asse-like he would haue borne the king of Spaines heauy burthen submitted to the yoke of his obedience he had lost his libertie nouer attained the honor with which his name is now crowned for he remaineth as a mirrour and terrour to all nations for as his Excellency did iustly and with due consideration vndertake so hee hath nobly and with true valour maintained his quarrell against the King of Spaine Surely an act well beseeming so worthy and noble a Prince who as hee should not be like a raw wound ouer-apprehensiue of iniuries so he should be vnlike dead flesh not too senslesse of wrongs done vnto the one shewes folly the other feaâ—e Neither would it ill befeeme any Potentate to treade in the steps of so excellent a Prince and not so much to respect peace as to neglect a iust occasion of warre for doth it stand with reason or religion that a Prince hauing sufficient power to make resistance to an open enemy should expose his open brest to his threatning sword nay when he sees he hath already cut off some of his lims to trust him with his whole body Hath he any great good meaning to the tree that hackes and hewes downe the branches doth he beare any good affection to the father that striueth to iniure the child or doth not he that oppresseth the child expresse his hatred to the father can one which loathes the effect loue the cause will not hee which cannot tollerate the heate labour to quench the fire yes surely and it was formerly lawfull for Kings to seeke to depose a Tyrant though he had no interest in those which were iniured Then how much more forcible a motiue hath hee if his posteritie bee abused and he be wounded in his owne bowels Surely his sword ought not to rest in his sheath when he hath such iust cause to draw it but his angry canons to thunder in the eares of his enemies and tell them they haue iniured him And is not this the cause of our Soueraigne if euer Prince had iust cause of warre it is he for they haue exiled out of his inheritance the Palsgraue a Prince so hopefull they haue layd wast his countrey which was the Paradise of the world a land so fruitfull they doe vniustly vsurpe his Diadem they haue falsely promised the restoring of it when as the pulses of their promises did not beat according to the motion of their hearts Certes it did not beseeme Princely pietie in them to offer neither doth it consent with kingly courage in him to suffer that me thinkes this voyce of the Souldier is but as an echo to the voyce of heauen which sayes the cause is iust and counselleth all Christan Protestant Princes ioyntly to assume armes to driue this Boare out of the Vineyard and to re-seate this royall Prince in his Throne and dignitie Heare oh you braue English Spirits which once were admired I had almost sayd adored for your valour when you had imployment how can you any longer desist from the pursuit of honour in so iust a cause doe you not long to fight for the safetie of a limme nay the halfe part of your Soueraigne But why should I vse these needlesse perswasions or spurre a free horse I dare say you are easily intreated nay hardly perswaded from it and you are as restlesse being staued from the combat as the Stone violently detained from the Center Neuer was Beare robbed of her whelpes more angrie of reuenge then you of this enterprise it may be indeed there bee some Spanish English as they terme them who are neither true to God their King or countrey which haue not the least drop of loyall blood lodged in their hearts that would be somewhat vnwilling to act a part in this matter perhaps likewise there be others who be guilty of so little valour that they had rather liue like drones in this hiue of our commonwealth and be loitring lubbers at home then any waies to offer there seruice for their Soueraignes welfare or spend a dram nay a drop of blood in the defence of the truth who are very well content to enioy the warmth they haue vnder the wings of their Soueraigne but will not do any seruice in the requital of this benefit being not much vnlike to vngratefull curs which will fawne vpon their master so long as he feeds them but when hee hath any futther imployments for them they bid him adue and hasten to their kennels So these men or rather beasts indeeed that are borne bred fostered sed in their countrey and yet can suffer an indignitie done to their Prince and when their countrey standeth in need of their aid or assistance to slip their coller come to combat in the defence of it as willingly as Bears to the stake that argueth an vngratefull mind free from all vertue as well as vallour and indeed are no more worthy to enioy the commodities and benefits of their countrey then a Swine deserues a pearle But as Plutarque
losses that doe but vsurp the name names of souldiers will therefore so absolutely condemne all souldiers thinking there can be no good because some are ill But what profession may there be wherein wicked men will not seeke to cloke and couer themselues Be there not that enter euen into the Ministery of the holy sacraments prowd prelates blinde guides and lazie lubbers some that during the space of twentie yeeres haue receiued the fruits of benefices that haue not three times visited their slocke but commits them to Sir Iohn lacke latine and his fellow poore ignorant Chaplaines such as they hire best cheape while they themselues liue in pleasure pompe and pride not like S. Peter nor S. John that had not one peny to giue to the poore lame man that sat begging at the temple gate and yet they would be called their successors These be they of whom the Prophet Ezechiel so exclaimeth saying They serue for nothing but to serue themselues and in steed of feeding their flocke they take the fleece draw the milke kill the fattest eate the flesh breake the bones they are dumbe dogges that know nothing they dare not barke but are very curious to haue horsekeepers for their Palfries Falkconers for their Hawkes Cookes for their Panches but the poore sheepe perish through their default I know likewise that there be a number of a learned Pastors godly ministers diligent Preachers and faithfull followers they which God defend should beare the abuses of the others Then if the holy temple of God cannot be cleansed from such Ministers of mischiefes they be something too nice that would haue souldiers to be all Saints and much more to blame that would make them all diuels because some doe amisse And here withall I must thinke them to be very partiall that with such blunts termes will intitle Souldiers in the time of Warre and in the time of peace can so cleanly cloake the very same Actors with names and titles of credite and estimation For in the time of Warres he that is found to be bloudily minded killing without compassion all that lightteth in his wrath they terme him by the name of a Tyrant and a murtherer where in the time of peace they sometime shadow him vnder the title of my Lord Iudge but many times by the name of Master lustice of Peace and Quorum In the time of Warre whom they terme a seditious mutiner a peruerter of good Lawes a maintainer of vngodly quarrels In the time of Peace they call him Master Sergiant of the Quoife a wise Councellor in the Law or an honest viligent Atturney In the time of Warre whom they terme a thiefe a robber a spoiler In the time of peace they call him an honest trading Merchant In the time of Warrie whom they call a violator of Women a rauisher and deflowrer In the time of peace they call him a friendly and louing gentleman yea and some foolish soother that will speake they know not what will say he is a right Courtier and a Courtlike gentleman In the time of Warre he that can tell a filed tale and that can creepe into mens bosomes to serue his owne turne they call him a Parasite a flatterer and a dissembler In the time of peace they call him an excellent learned man and a verie good Preacher Such partialitie I say is amongst them that no faults are espied but such as be committed amongst Souldiers Neither doe I here goe about to excuse all Souldiers as though there were none ill but those that be are commonly found in these new leuied bands not a mongst old souldiers as hereafter I wil shew But here peraduenture some will thinke that although many of them may be excused from a number of vices wherewith they haue beene charged yet that they of force must be all murtherers may not be denied for they goe into the Field as well weaponed to kill as armed to defend This obiection I haue many times heard but those people are in too scrupulous an opinion considering how many examples wee may finde in the holy Bible where God hath not beene offended with those that haue killed their enemies but that is sometimes lawfull in the presence of God to shake off the yoke of bondage by the death of Tirants as Judith by Holofernes and many other like But as iustice without temperance is reputed iniurie so magnanimitie without mercie is accounted Tiranny and as it cannot be counted a noble victorie which bringeth not with it some clemencie so to vse pittie out of time and season is as great folly as to vse mercy in any conflict till victorie attained And sometimes policie excludeth pittie as the Greeks who after the destruction of Troy slew Astinax the son of Hector to the end that there might remaine no occasion of quarrell fearing if he had liued he would haue sought some reuenge Indeed they may say souldiers are most mercilesse but there are sundry most miserable First in the time of warres they spare not in their countries behalfe to forsake their wife children father mother brother sister to leaue their friends and onely betake them against their enemies contented to yeeld themselues to continuall watch ward fasting hunger thirst cold heate trauell toyle ouer hils woods deserts wading through riuers where many sometimes lose their liues by the way lying in the field in raine wind frost and snow aduenturing against the enemy the lacke of limmes the losse of life making their bodies a fence and bulwarke against the shot of the canon But the warres being once finished and that there is no need of them how be they rewarded how be they cherished what account is there made of them what other thing gaine they then slander misreport false impositions hatred and despight How small is the number that bee in England of sufficient men such I meane as be able in deed in the time of seruice to stand their countrie in stead to any purpose and yet how many of this small number haue euer beene brought to credit or beene any thing preferred for the seruice they haue done And O England would to God so many presidents of others mishaps might make thee take heed call thy selfe to remembrance consider thy enemies be not so secret but they be as malicious and haue staide all this whyle neither for want of quarrell neither for want of will if they themselues were once at quiet nor flatter not thy selfe because thou hast enioyed a peaceable time that it shall still indure but remember the longer it hath beene calme the sooner the storme is looked for and the greater the rage when it falleth If thou doest well looke into thy selfe and ponder thine owne case thou shalt sinde that if any sodaine alarum should happen thy greatest want shal be onely of those men that now thou holdest in so small estimation and doest esteeme of so litle accompt If thou thinkest thy great numbers of vntrayned men are
sufficient to defend thee doe but remember what happened to Antwerp where they wanted neither men nor any other prouision for the warres But they wanted souldiours to direct them and men of vnderstanding to encourage them For the want of knowledge breedeth the want of courage as Salomon sayth A wyse man is euer strong Prou. 14. yea a man of vnderstanding increaseth with strength for with wisedome must warre be taken in hand and where there are many that can giue counsell there is the victorie c. And Xerxes who with a great armie was put to the worst but with 300 Lacedemonians confessed that he forced not so much for the multitude as for their knowledge and experience I could here rehearse many other examples of like effect but I leaue them till other occasion will conclude with what care and prouision sundrie noble Princes haue prouided for their souldiouts not onely in the time of warre when they haue had need of them but aswell in the time of peace for their seruice already done that they should not want according to the minde of Alexander Seuerus who sayth The souldiour is worthy his keeping in the time of peace that hath honestly serued his countrie in the time of warre although for age he can not trauell yet his counsell may non be spared And Iesus the sonne of Sirach sayth There bee two things that greeue my heart and in the third is a displeasure come vpon me when an expert man of warre suffreth scarcenes and pouertie when men of vnderstanding and wisedome are not set by and when one departes from righteousnesse to siune c. Octauian Augustus honored souldiours with this law Whatsoeuer thou be that shalt serue with vs in warres ten yeeres space so that thou shalt be forty yeeres old whether thou hast serued on foot or on horse-back hereafter be thou free from warres be thou Heros an old souldier let no man forbid thee the citie the streete the temple nor his house let no man lay any blame to thy charge put any burden vpon thee or aske thee any money if thou shalt offend in any thing looke to be chastised by Caesar and by no man else In all dishonefty that men shall commit I will that thou be the Iudge and discloser whether they be priuate or officers that which thou shalt say and affirme for trueth no man shall reproue for false I will that all wayes and places be open for thee thou shalt haue authority to eate and drinke at princes tables thou shalt yeerely haue wages of the common treasurie to finde thee and thy houshold let her be preferred before other women whom thou shalt take to be thy lawfull wife and he that thou shalt call infamous let him be wicked and infamous thou being Heros shalt haue authority to beare armes badges names and ornaments which be decent for a king doe what thou list in euery place and country where thou commest if any do thee wrong let his head be cut off c. Charles the great when he had translated the name of the Empire to the Gormanes after the Saxons and Lombards were vanquished gaue this honor to his souldiers saying You shall be called Heroes the companions of Kings and Iudges of offences liue ye hereafter voide of labour counsell Kings in the publike authority reproue dishonest things fauour women help Orphanes let not Princes lack your counsell and aske of them meate drinke and money if any shall deny it let him be unrenowmed infamous if any doe you iniury let him know he hath offended the Emperors Maiesty but ye shall foresee that ye distaine not so great an honour and so great a priuiledge gotten by the great labour of warre with drunkennesse rayling or any other vice to the end that that which we haue giuen you for glory redound not to punishment which we will for euer reserue to be giuen you by vs and our successors Emperors of Rome as often as you shall transgresse And Polycrates of Samos appointed liuing for the wiues and children of the dead souldiers streightly commaunding that no man should offend them or do them any wrong Solon made this law that those children whose fathers had spent their liues in fighting in the defence of the common wealth should be brought vp at the charges of the common treasure But what doe I stand reciting of strange histories forepassed so many yeeres sithence Why do I not remember the Frenchmen and Spaniards amongst whom at this instant men of seruice be not a little honoured and had in estimation And goe to the drunken countries of Denmarke and Swethen and those other partes of the East and how be souldiers cherished men of seruice prouided for Here might be many other things said in the behalfe of souldiers the which I omit and leauing them to the benefit of better fortune will come to speake of the abuse of the time THE SECOND PART SHEWING THE time when warres ought to be put in execution HOwsoeuer I know some will condemne my discourse as friuolous and fruitelesse Fot howsoeuer in other nations there hath bene a greater effusion of the blood of men then of Beasts yet we haue securely slept vpon our Couches of ease and furfeited of ease and plentie yet though it be the part of a foole at the sea to wish for a storme when the weather is calme so I know likewise in the time of calme to prouide for a storme is the point of a wise mariner for who considereth not to whatdisposition Kings and Princes be commonly inclined vnto in these latter dayes which is to haue greater felicitie with Tyranny to offend others then with iustice and equitie to keepe their owne it ought therefore with great diligence to be prouided for that like as in the time of warre circumspect care of peace may not be omitted so in the time of peace such things may be foreseene appertayning to the warre that the want of warlike prouisions be not preiudiciall to the maintenance of this sweet and quiet peace And the very occasion that vrgeth me to wryte is to wish that in England we were expert warriers though not warre louers and that we had many that were wise rather then willing souldiers But where peace is so immediatly desired that in preferring thereof they forget all Martiall exercises which is the very preseruer maintainer of peace according to the minde of Valerius Maximus who sayth That the custodie of blessed peace consisteth in the knowledge of warre it can not be chosen therefore but those people be euer neerest their owne harme that will so carelesly spend the time of peace as though they should neuer more haue occasion to enter into warre And generally it is seene where pleasure is preferred so excessiuely and the people follow it so inordinately that they lie and wallow in it so carelesly they commonly end with it most miserably For how many Cities how many Countries which
some clemency And therefore he cannot be called victorious in whom resteth intent of rigour and cruelty For Alexander Iulius Augustus Titus and Traianus won more renowne by the clemency they vsed to their enemies then by all the victories they obtained in strange regions To obtaine a victory is a thing naturall and humane but to giue pardon and life is the gift and blessing of God By which it comes to passe that men feare not so much the greatnesse of the immortall God for the punishments he doth as for the mercy he vseth Notwithstanding as I cannot denie but that great is the value and estimation which we Romane Princes make of a victory won by battell so also J assure thee we hold it more honourable to pardon such as doe offend vs then to chastice those that doe resist our power Therefore if thou flie from my presence as fearing the iustice which I haue executed vpon the Romanes thou oughtest to take security and courage euen in that which makes thee iealous and doubtfull for so much greater ought to be clemency by how much the offender is in fault And therefore as there is no offence which cannot be either forgiuen or fauoured so right worthily may that pardon be called honourable and famous which is giuen to an iniury malicious and manifest since all other common and light wrongs with greater reason we may say we dissemble them then that wee pardon them The thing that most drawes me to enter friendship with thee is for that in our first capitulations and truce thou performedst all things that were concluded for the peace and yet in the battell thou didst expresse the parts of a valiant Captaine the same giuing me cause to beleeue that as in warre I found thee a iust enemy so in the time of peace thou wouldest proue an assured friend Alexander neuer repented the pardon he gaue to Diomedes the tyrant nor Marcus Antonius the fauour he shewed to the great Orator Cicero Neither shall I haue cause I hope to forethinke the respite I giue to thy liife For the noble minde albeit he may haue occasion to be sorry for the vnthankefulnesse of his friend yet hath hee no licence to repent him of his good turnes done for him and therefore in the case of liberality or clemency by how much the person is vnworthy that receiueth the benefit by so much more hee is to be commended that bestoweth it for that onely may be said is giuen when he that giueth giueth without respect So that hee that giueth in hope of recompence deserueth not to be called liberall but to pretend vsurie Thou knowest well that in the time of the battell and when the incounter was most hot J offered thee nothing worthy of reproach euen so thou hast now to iudge that if in the fury of the warre thou foundest me faithfull and mercifull I haue now no reason to exercise rigour holding thee within the precinct of my house so that if thou saw mercy in me at that instant when thy hands were busie to spill my bloud thinke not that my clemency shall faile calling thee to the fellowship of my Table The prisoners of thy Camp can assure thee of my dealing amongst whom the hurt are cured at my charges and the dead are buried according to the place of souldiers wherein if I extend this care vpon such as sought to spoile me thinke there is farre greater plenty of grace to thee that commest to serue me And so leauing thee in the hands of thine owne counsell I wish thee those felicities which thy houourable heart desireth Lochere a mirrour meete to be perused by Kings and Princes wherein they may learne with what consideration they should first enter into Warres with what valiance and courage they should prosecute them and with what iustice temperance and mercie they should vse their enemies Captaines may likewise learne how to vse fortune either when she fauours either when she frownes But leauing a great number of necessary lessons worthy to be noted how is it possible in so few lines more amply to describe the glory of the Romones neither are their vertues here so liuely painted foorth in words as they themselues did nobly shew it in their deedes But all other examples of humanity amongst a great number vsed to their enemies this in my opinion deserueth not the least commendation that hauing taken Siphax King of Numantia who being kept prisoner in the house of Tiberius dyed of sicknesse before he was ransomed notwithstanding now when there was no manner of hope of requitall his funeralles were yet performed with such solemnity such pompe and such honour such large giftes were giuen and such liberality vsed being but a Romane prisoner as might haue wanted at Numantia where he was Lord and King ouer all I haue thus farre briefly and in this short maner shewed some part of the magnificence of the Romanes in their Martiall actions whereby may be perceiued how farre we be digressed and how cleane we be degenerate at this present from their honorable institutions For if we consider in these dayes the impiety that is found amongst Princes which for the most part are so led by the furie of ambition where they thinke they may oppresse that without any other respect of cause they are ready to accompanie themselues with a sorr of bloody captaines that should haue the leading of a company of as lewd vngratious souldiers and euen according to their quarrels and to the quality of their owne dispositions they prosecute their warres and performe all their enterprises the which for the most part are executed with such treason and trecherie as no Prince almost may be so surely garded but his life shal be finished with some deadly blow with a weapon with some sodaine shot of a pistoll or at the least practised with some secret poison nether is there any town that may be so surely walled so strōgly rāpered or so throughly fortified which shall not be betraied For in our warres we be now come to this passe that fraud and deceit is reputed for policy and treason and trechery are called grauity and wisedome and he is holden the noblest champion that by any of these meanes can best deceiue where in the opinion of all men which exactly do honor iustice it hath euer beene condemned and accompted most horrible And no doubt it can not be acceptable in the sight and iudgement of God who in the Scripture is called the God of trueth and verity but rather proceedeth from the deuill who is indeede the father of fraude and the forger of all deceite And these enormities haue euer beene especially practised amongst those that haue arreared warres rather to oppresse and rauish the goods of others then amongst such as haue but defended their owne right or entred into warres onely vpon causes of iustice and equity for that it hath bene euer holden a matter most inconuenient rather by subtilty
VOX MILITIS FORESHEWING WHAT PERILS ARE PROCVRED WHERE THE people of this or any other kingdome liue without regard of Marshall discipline especially when they stand and behold their friends in apparent danger and almost subuerted by there enemies vniust persecution and yet with hold their helping hand and assistance Diuided into two parts the first manifesting for 〈◊〉 causes Princes may enter into warre and how necessary and vsuall it is drawne from the actions of the Prince of Orange The second discourseth of warre souldiers and the time when it is conuenient collected out of the heroicall examples of Count MANSFIELD Where as in a mirrour meet to be perused by Kings Princes Nobles Knights Gentlemen and men of all degrees throughout the whole kingdome to behold with what consideration they should first enter into the warre with what courage they should prosecute them and how to deale with a common Enemy Dedicated to Count Mansfield and the honourable Councell of Warre Printed at London by B. A. for THOMAS ARCHER and are to bee sold at his shop in Popes head Alley ouer against the signe of the Horse-shoe 1625. ILLVSTRISSIMO HONORATISSIMO NOBILISSIMOQVE DOMINO ERNESTO Mansfieldiae Comiti Marchioni Castelli noui maximi exercitus Duci c. ILLVSTRISSIME Princeps vere non blande sic te appellem quitam virtutum quam rerum polles claritate acre militari tum Marte vt aiunt tum Mercurio longe superas quem natura non tanquam dura Nouerca quin potius Charamater non solum bello Strenuum at consilio sapientem constituit vt prius timorem posterius temeritatem abs te ferret ac certe vtrum mens an manus sit fortior dictu difficillimum videtur Neque quid miri dignitati tuae sit qua causa ductus hoc opus aut potius opusculum bellicosum tibi potissimum dedicarem quandoquidem tu dignissimus Miles pene dixissem militum Atlas merito habearis qui ficut alter Hercules vsurpantes ac in alienas possessiones ruentes Tyrannos pia mente potenti manu penitus euertere conaris Quis igitur melior de bello tractatus Patronus quam qui in bello tractat quis maior amicus erit libro cuius subiectum bellum quam ipse vir qui est subiectum belli Preterea sicut armis sic etiam artibus semper non parum beneuolentiae ostēdisti musarum seruis non solum amicus amictus victus sed etiam ipsa vita ab in eunte fuisti aetate deinde quam gratus plerisque Britaniae accessus tuus est ex corum oculis vultibus qui sunt indices animi facillime colligas inter quos ego mediocre non concipiens gaudium ac nihil habens quo aduentum tuum gratuler nisi hos ingenij mei laboris fructus quos honori tuo consecro parum dubitans immo confidenter sperans quod sicut ex amore more officio sunt supra Altare plusquam humanae bonitatis tuae impositi Sic erunt tanquam gratum sacrificium accepti sereno accipies aspicies fronte in quibus legitimum immo necessarium belli vsum militum varios iniquos tum equos mores similiter tempusad bellum gerendum opportunum militaris disciplinae exercitium cernas Quae si perleges parum pertimesco si modo sine Philautia dieam quin ex hoc officioso opere a me tibi oblato non minus vtilitatis quam voluptatis capies exoptans itaque dignitati tuae summam aut si quae summa sit superior foelicitatem in conscientia pacem in bello victoriam vtcunque internam externam aeternam valetudinem in omne aeuum maneo Tuarum virtutum obseruantissimus G. M. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE and noble fauourer of all Vertue and Learning OLIVER Viscount Grandison One of the Councell of Warre in Great BRITAINE RIGHT Honourable and truely Noble as well famous for all vertues in generall as valour in particular There is no worke can be so worthy but in this mimike and Spleensike age it is ready euery moment to be rackt vpon the racke of a harsh censure but most especially such as write any thing in the defence of those so much persecuted professions as the Scholler and the Souldier the which though none pittie them for their pouerty yet most men enuy for their worth the one because they can not attaine vnto it The other because they dare not bee of it it is not then to be hoped for But this my Treatise will meete with many calumnies and the voyce of the Souldier will haue many soggy misty vapour which breath proceeding from malicious mouths will seeke to preuent the passage of it the couetous Carle who makes his gold his gold cries out against it and cannot endure so much as the Eccho of it he sayes it is so chargeable and he had rather indanger his person then indammage his purse Another is so loath to leaue his Mistresse to find out honour that the very voyce seemes to him as thunder and he cannot suffer it another hath bathed himselfe so long in the sun-shine of peace as this storme goes to the heart of him in so much as these my labours are like to encounter with many aduersaries and this Treatise of Warre to haue a multitude of warriours against it it is forced therefore to seek to shelter it self vnder the wings of your protection whereby it may be preserued from the sury of all the foes and enuious darts of all the despisers of it The reason why I commend it to your Honours tuition and become an earnest and humble suter to your Honor for your patronage especially is in regard I hope you will somewhat respect it for the names sake you are chiefly elected of the King as the most experienc't soldiours of this Kingdome to be of his Counsell of warre and this is the voyce of a Souldiour which doth concord with your Counsell being as an Alarum to awake all men out of the slumber of Securitie to perswade them neuer so much to desire peace as to detest warre seeing it is an action not onely lawfull but necessary to assume armes either for the defence of our selues or the reliefe of others whose Dominions are vniustly detayned or tirannically vsurped Farre be it from me to be too saucie as to offer to aduise you that were a sinne of horrid presumption and as great a follie as for the feet to guide the head or the Asse to Counsell the Lyon but my intent is to instruct the ignorant to awake the secure to commend the valiant to condemne the cowardly to raise the reputation of Souldiers who are now looked vpon with a contemptfull eye whose soules are captiuated with want misery who fight faintly because they are not rewarded brauely to shew how in former times they which had behaued themselues valiantly were recompensed honorably whereas now a dayes the meede of their deserts for the most
of such gain and more thirsty of such atchieuements great meedes and rich rewards were conferred vpon such as had deserued worthily and behaued themselues brauely in the warres The noble Caleb who by a constant courage and couragious constancy of minde had reperswaded the children of Israel that had a determinate inclination to make a returne into the Land of Egypt to continue still in their courage their former manhood and vertue and therefore the Lord promised to be his rewarder who hauing a Daughter of incomparable matchlesse beauty whose name Achsat would espouse or giue her in marriage vpon none but hee that by his valour could take the City Cariath which in the end was taken by Othniel his brothers sonne And did not Dauid receiue great riches with the Daughter of King Saul for ouerthrowing Goliah who also promised a great reward to those which would worke the destruction of the lebusites The Carthaginians rewarded the Souldiers with so many rings as they had beene in battels The Scithians permitted none to drinke in a great cup of gold that was carried about except they had wrought the ouerthrow or brought an Enemy to destruction The Romanes the more to accend mens mindes and to set their breasts on fire with the desire of honour and to pricke them on to prowesse inuented stately triumphs whereby his name might mount on the wings of Fame which had deserued worthily but on the contrary such as had beene of cowardly carriage or had any affinitie with our carpet Knights were in a most shamefull manner disgraced The Macedonians did constitute a Law that whosoeuer had not got the conquest of some one in fight or battaile because hee had not striuen like a man for victory he should be hanged like a dogge in a halter The Women of Cimbria beyond the valour of their See slew all such that being so followed with feare forsooke the Field although they were of their neuer so neere alliance and were conioyned neuer so vnto them in the bond of consanguinitie The Women of Sparta would goe into the Field the battaile being ended to see in what places their Husbands had receiued their wounds the which if they found them to be before from whence they might coniecture hee had fought manfully they would with great solemnitie performe his but if behind they left him as being ashamed of such a coward and would not afoord his carcasse so much as buriall Tierias a certain woman of Lacedemonia hauing intelligence that her sonne had receiued a fatall wound in the warres and had shaken hands and taken his farewell of this world replied was it not necessary that my sonne going vnto the warres should be the death of others then wherefore should I lament if others haue beene the death of him surely with lesse sorrow and more solace I remember him supposing him no whit vnworthy of me or his predecessours in that he liued not in shame and idlenesse but died with honour let cowardly hearts lament such a losse as for my part I will intombe my sonne and neuer weepe vpon his vrne Another woman of Lacedemonia bereaued her sonne of his vitall breath to whom her wombe had giuen life because he had basely fied from the warres in whose reproch this epitaph was written Here doth the dastard knight Damation lie Who like a coward from the warres did slie And for that fact was by his mother slaine Because he her and Spartan blood did staine Solon that wise and worthy Phylosopher whom wee all admire but scarce imitate for his wisdome being demaunded of Crasus the King of who in his conceit was most fortunate replyed Tellus an Athenian from whose loines was sprung in a countrey flowing with milke and honey and abounding with all good commodities a great many of children both for the indowments of the minde and beautie of the body absolutely accomplisht who defended his countrey manfully liued with honour died with glory Here then you may perceiue the great estimation that valour was in former times when as it was so worthily reputed the exercisers of it so much encouraged and the neglecters of it so much contemned now what incommodity hath insued vpon them who haue placed there sole and whole selicity in peace that they haue not onely despised warre but haue vtterly refused to learne all Marshall discipline hereafter I will demonstrate vnto you But still me thinkes there remaines a ribble rabble of secming religious people whose queasie consciences strayne at a Gnat but swallow a Camell whose warie minds stumble at a straw but leap ouer a block which still doe oppose and make assault against our position in regard that murther spoyles and sundry other inconueniences are the effects of them but it is not inough to reproue an opinion as erronious except they proue it false neither doth this there meere assertion sufficient to infringe the verity of this position Suppose Warre to be the mother of Murther yet it is oftentimes such as is by God allowed nay more commaunded Did not Iosuah fearing the day would haue imposed too speedy and present a period to his slaughter commaund the Sunne to stay in Gideon and the Moone in the Aialon and the Lord did countenance his commaundement for there succecded an immediate Solstyne and the Moone continued not her course nay oftentimes the too much fauouring of ours and Gods enemies hath beene the onely meanes to roote vs out of Gods fauour For what was the originall of Sauls destruction but the not destroying of the Amalekites neither doe I produce these examples to proue warres alwayes necessary but sometimes lawfull and I can not choose but admire the foolish frensie of some fantastique Coxcombes who doe so much misconceiue of warres as they hold them directly displeasing to God because murther and diuers other misdemeanors are committed in them But by these arguments they kill themselues with their owne weapons and seeking to maintaine the prerogatiue of peace doe quite cuert it for by that argument it is the most to bee euited enormity that can be imagined for is it not the nurse of vices the roote of ruine the prop of pride to be short the mother of all mischiefe for in the time of peace wee fixe our fancie onely vpon vncertaine riches for the satisfying of which sacred hunger of gold what offence will wee not perpetrate what sinne will wee leaue vnacted who will not become an Vsurer or an Extortioner nay that which is something better a hangman or an Executioner a parasite nay a paracide to purchase them And when they haue attained them they are but the irratamenta malorum the ingines of iniquitie the instruments of vanitie the stirrers vp of strife and contention making the possessor of them proude presumptuous vain-glorious and like leauen sowring the whole lumpe This Augustine perceiuing writeth in a Booke of his entituled De Ciuitate Dei The City of Carthage was more hurtfull to the Citie of Rome after her
warres hath made them famous in forreine countries and whose noblenes and vertues now in the time of peace do shine coequall with the best But here peraduenture some curious caueller will replie that these may be better called sage and wyse counsellers then bloodie or cruell Captaines and rather may bee termed sober and discreet lustices then rash and harbrayned souldiers and thus by denying them to be souldiers will thinke I am neuer the neerer my proofe But here if there were no other shift or that the matter were so needefull to bee reasoned on it were very easie to proue that the best and noblest souldiers bee euer found to be the wysest and meetest Counsellers and for that cause the Poets haue fayned Minerua to be armed signifying that Captaines and souldiers should bee as it is reported of Iugerth not onely wyse in counselling but couragious in conquering as politick in keeping as valiant in getting And Tullie in his first booke of Offices speaketh of a double commodity that these men do yeeld to their countrie Tull. de osâ—… lib. 1. who armed do make warres roabed do gouerne the coÌ„mon wealth What though there be some that in the tyme of seruice will intrude themselues and become souldiers of purpose rather to spoyle robbe and filch then to do any good seruice shall the honest Souldier therefore be condemned so euery profession how necessary so euer it seeme would be misliked and men of euery faculty would be despised As first for example the Merchants whose trade as Plinie sayth was inuented for the necessity of mans life transporting from one region to another that which lacketh in the one and aboundeth in the other yet there bee many that vnder this cloake and good pretence continually do practise to transport out of their owne natiue countries such commodities as may not well be spared whereby many times great scarcity and dearth doth happen wherein the people are pitiously oppressed In England once a yeare we finde the extremity either for want of corn leather hides tallow butter cheese bacon beefe beere and many other such like which by his Maiestie are prohibited but no restraint may serue against those theeues vnnaturall robbers and spoylers of theis owne countrie And yet these are commonly the greatest find-faults that will inuey against souldiers whose spoyles are much more tollerable because they spoyle but their enemies these rob and spoile their friends and make wracke of their owne countries by conueying away their commodities and by returning of incommodities vaine trifles which are not necessary for humane life but onely to maintaine women and children in pride pompe and vaineglory such things as do procure delights wannesse and delicacie the very vanities and vices of euery nation by these men are brought home And then what pâ—â—uâ—â—e what fraude what deceit by themselues their brokers and retailers is vsed to vtter them my wits be too weake nor I thinke there is no other that is able to expresse vnlesse it bee a Merchant himselfe that hath vsed the trade Furthermore vnder this trade and trafficke they haue conference with strange Princes and vtter vnto them the secrets of countries lend them mony and in the end will not sticke to betray their owne countrie and commonwealth There is another kinde of Merchants that decke their shops with other mens goods borrowing here of one and there of another and when they haue gotten into their hands some great masse or value then they become bankrupts and liue in a corner with other mens goods Thus you may see that although this trade or trafficke of merchandize is very beneficiall to euery state and common-wealth and that there haue beene many wise and notable men thet haue vsed it as Thalust Solon Hippocrates and others yet it is by some abused but shall wee therefore condemne the trade or other good and honest merchants that vse it not so for the exercise of it may not be forborne and the honest trading Merchant is to be had in reuerence and estimation In like manner amongst the Lawyers are there not found many that creepe in to the Innes of Court that seeke by law to ouer throw law such as be termed by the name of Peti foggers brethels that practise nothing but to breede dissentions strifes suits quarrels and debates betweene neighbour and neighbor brother and brother yea somtimes between the father and the sonne First they animate them to commence actions perswading them that their quarrels be iust and will very well stand with law but when they haue once gotten them in then they feed them with delayes procrastinating their suits from day to day from terme to terme yea from yeere to yeere in the end when the matter is like to fall out against them then they blame their clients that in the beginning they did not throughly instruct them These be people that of all other are most to be detested for in the time of peace these procure continuall warres and ciuill dissentions not amongst enemie but amongst friends not amongst forraine foes but amongst their naturall country men reioycing when any bral or brabble doth fall out amongst their neighbours And yet they would be accounted the authours of peace will not let to exclaime against the souldiour and condemne him because they doe thinke him to be like vnto themselues that is to be desirous of warres and troubles There is no Parliament or conuocation that is called but if there be any good motion had in question for the quietnesse or quicke dispatch of matters in controuersie but that lawyers be the only lets that it shall not come forth because that if it were not for delaies and shifts the one halfe nay not a quarter of them might be able to thriue by their occupation there are such a shamefull company Yea many times there are found great coriuptions euen amongst the Iudges themselues that for feare to offend a Prince or some Noble man will not sticke with Pilate to condemne Christ Sometime with Gold and Siluer or other gifts they be so corrupted that they regard more the presents that are giuen them then either iustice or equitie they are diligent in rich mens causes put the poore they deserre the complaint of the widow or fatherlesse cannot be heard amongst them But shall we therefore reproue the law which is the onely prop and stay to euery commonwealth without the which we could not liue in any good order otherwise then as brute beasts neither could those that be good and harmlesse enioy either goods or possessions from cruell Firants and oppressours neither were any one man assared of his life or liuing were there not law to punish murtherers and to maintaine right or shall the abuses of some condemne all honest and true dealing lawyers who in their profession of all men are worthy to be honored As there is no reason in the one so they be too much to blame that for the lewdnesse of some
sometime most of all florished onely by reason of their farre stretched Empire glory and renowme purchased by famous and noble actes are now beaten flat to the ground couered with mould and almost out of remembrance Where are now become the dominions of the Assyrians and Persians What is become of the glory of the rich citie Athens which had bene so often forewarned by that excellent Orator Demosthenes Or where is now the pomp and power of the Macedoniaâ—s Or what hath wasted the fame and renowme of the citie of Rome that it had not bene perpetnall What other thing then this inordinate delicacie ryot and idlenesse For when they ouer neglected the seates of warre layd aside their weapons sought more for their owne priuate aduancement then for the liberties of their Countrie then came their kingdomes to calamity began headlong to fall to the ground and then in the stead of frugality sprung vp outragious ryot in stead of hardinesse and courage in the warres exceeding tendernesse and nicenesse both of body and minde and thus when the knowlege of Souldierfare was extinguished then vnsatiable desire of riches made entrie amongst them and nothing so much practised as to haue experience in buying and selling that in the ende the Emperiall Crowne was bought and sold for money amongst them and the Romane Empyre which so mightily had florished was now made subiect to common thraldome But for that there are some that are nothing moued with reading of histories monuments or the examples of auncient wryters vnlesse they haue knowne the like in their age or seene with their eyes or as it were touched with their singer I will therefore put such in remembrance of the state and condition of Holland Zeland Flanders Brabant and other partes of the low cuntries How many yeers continued they in peace quietnesse in drunkennesse in lechery in ryot in excesse in gluttony in wantonnesse I will not say in the like predicament that we now remaine in England the which to continue they were contented to submit themselues to any manner of thraldome and to euery kinde of slauery to receiue the Spaniards into their cities and townes which were naturally seated so strong that no forreine Prince could forceably haue made entrie into them How the Spaniards gouerned them with what rigour they ruled them and how tyrannously they raigned ouer them is so well knowne as I will not spend the time to relate in the end to disburden themselues from that which before they had yeelded vnto by necessity they were inforced to goe to Mars his schoole and to practise the art of warre which had euer bin most loathsome vnto them not without great ruine and wrack of many noble cities and townes and with no lesse spoyle and hauock of infinite goods and riches For like as the desire to haue dominion ouer many kingdomes and to haue Soueraingty ouer farre stretched Empires is a common infirmity amongst Kings Princes so there is nothing may sooner prouoke them to giue attempt then where they see such forgetfulnesse amongst the people that sloath and idlenesse beareth the whole sway among them As Plutarch in his Apothegmaes maketh report of a famous captain to whom a certain reader of the Athemans made his complaint that the men of armes in his camp reproched them of Athens to whom the captaine made answer that as the thing that is well kept is hardly lost and that nothing prouokes the theefe sooner then negligence So if the Athenians had tyed care and circumspection to their wordes and deedes they had neuer falne into the hands of the Lacedemonians And Cambyses the father of Cyrus King of Persia being asked by what meanes Cities might best be kept in safety aunswered If they that kept the same Cities doe thinke they can neuer be warie inough of their enemies the which in the Massilians was charily performed who kept both ward and watch in their Cities in the time of peace as if they had beene continually vexed and troubled with warre and to that purpose instituted sundry good ordinances vpon the holy dayes to see their Souldiours standing vpon the walles and exercising themselues in the feates of armes And that notable Captaine Epaminondas whyle the Citizens of Thebes gaue themselues to feasting banqueting and bellie cheere ranne hastily to arme him selfe and marched towards the citie walles to the ende the rest might be the safelier drunke and aswell to signifie that the safety of their Citie should at no time be forgotten And although King Solomon who in the holy Scriptures is called Rex pacificas and was promised by the mouth of God a peaceable raigne and was still busied and turmoyled with the building of the holy Temple yet notwithstanding he was not forgetfull to furnish his garrisons with innumerable men of warre horses and chariots To be short there is neither hath bene any well gouerned Common-wealth but the lawes of Armes be as carefully prouided for as any other citie causes but where delicacy once preuayleth and getteth the vpper hand there adew Martiall mindes and farewell magnanimitie where slouthfulnesse hath once made entrie for the noblenesse that is to be looked for in a princely and hautie courage though it be chiefly wrought by the force of the minde so the body must be exercised and brought in such plight as it may be made able to follow paine and trauell Were not the old souldiours of Hanniball in lying but one winter in Capua spending the time in wantonnesse amongst the delicate Dames so effeminated and infeebled both in body and minde that they neuer did any thing afterward that was worthy of report And Xerxes being offended with the Babylonians because they trayterously had shrunke from him when he had againe brought them vnder he forbad them to beare any more weapons further commaunded them that they should sing to the Lute and other Instruments learne to keepe harlots and haunt Tauernes which policy he of purpose prepared to weaken their courages whereby he might the better keep them vnder awe The knowledge of warre therefore and the exercise of armes are especially to be sought neither can I tell whether any thing be more noble by the which so great dominions and noble Empires haue bene purchased Kingdomes enlarged Princes preserued iustice maintained good lawes protected and the common wealth defended Great is the glory in the knowledge of warre therefore neither hath the citie of Athens atchieued so great renowme and glory although it merited to bee called the mother of all artes and sciences as Rome hath done onely by magnanimity and force of Martiall might which brought such reputation to their Common wealth that farre and strange regions sought their aliance and friendship and thought themselues assured against their enemies if they had confederation with them that in the ende they grew to such admiration that for their lenitie and surmounting curtesie they were of all men beloued and for their valiant
magnanimitie they were of all men feared Neither was this magnificence vpholden by doing wrong and iniury for they neuer attempted warres but for things in claime or in defence of league friends Tull. officiis lib. 1. Then as Cicero sayth The Senate might rather haue bene termed the protection hauen and refuge of kings people and nations more truely then the Empire of the world Neither were they found rash to enter into warres headily although they had occasion as did appeare at the citie of Sagunto where the people of Carthage brake the league and defied peace yet the Senate sent thither Ambassadour Fabius Maximus with two tables the one contalning peace the other warres putting the election to their owne choice as it is liked themselues to choose although the Romanes themselues could best defend their cause But did the Romanes game this glory by enuring themselues to liue in delicate idlenesse in dicing in carding in dancing in whoring in banquetting in reuelling and in roysting no but ordained most sharpand bitter punishments to expell them and with disgrace to dant those that were the practisers and followers of them Where contrarily to prouoke and pricke forward Martiall mindes and manly wights to the studie of chiualry and Martiall affaires they ordained glorious triumphs liberal rewards and honourable titles which was the very cause that the citie grew to be so great and large in Empire for where valiance and prowesse was so honourably rewarded not onely Noble men but also inferiour persons were so inflamed with desire of renowne that no danger was left vndealt withall nor no perill left vnproued where there was glory to be gained or the saftie of their countrie might be preserued The two Decit by race and birth were no gentlemen borne yet by their valiance and fortitude they aspired to the highest type of dignitie in their commonwealth and in their countries defence consecrated themselues as valiant and vowed vessells to glory and immortalitie Neither was Lucius Martius borne but of a meane parentage yet for his puissance shewed in Sâ—aine he receiued of his countrie great honour and principalitie By these meanes the libertie of their countries were most strongly defended and the indifferencie of their lawes were chiefly maintained where well doing is so liberally rewarded For what greater dishonor may there be in a commonwealth then where worthy acts high attempts receiue but cold reward Or what reward may that country thinke to much to bestow on him that hath not spared his own life to fight in the defence There be sundry examples in the holy Scripture tending to the same effect for when the children of Israel were pursued by Pharoh and thâ—â— they began to stagger in the promises of God the tribe of Inda did manifestly shew forth farre greater courage and valiance then the rest who lingred not nor drew backe but with a maruellous constancie by the example of Moses aduentured first the sea by whose stout stomaches the rest were incouraged to follow For which fact the people of Juda were euer afterwards more honoured then the rest and such had the principalitie amongst the twelue tribes as were descended of the tribe of Iuda In like manner Solomon made the Hethites the Amorites the Pheresites the Heuites and the Iebusites to become tributaries and to labour in the building but of the children of Israel he made men of warre captaines great Lords and rulers And Socrates in a certaine fable vseth these words All you that liue in one cittie are brethren being streightly linked and vnited together but when God created you he gaue not euery one a like propertie for they that were most meete to rule he tempered with gold and those that in defence of their countrie would valiantly assist Kings and Princes he mingled them with siluer and to such as should apply themselues to tillage and other meane occupations he bestowed brasse and iron now it falleth out generally that they ingender children like to themselues but sometimes it happeneth a golden father to haue a siluer sonne He willeth therefore that they should take in no one thing more speciall regard then diligently to search with what mettall their childrens mindes bee tempered with so that if there bee found any brasse or iron in their childrens senses they should assigne them such a trade conuenient and agreeing with their grosse and rude nature but if they finde in them any gold or siluer they should bestow on them honourable roomes and that they should be trained vp in the knowledge of Martiall affaires The Romanes ordained for that purpose a long spacious sield which they called Campus Martius wherein the youth of the citie was exercised in Martiall feates and to enure their bodies both for their owne health and also that they might be made the more profitable members for their common wealth in the time of warres The Lacedemonians vsed their children to goe barefooted exercising them in running in leaping and in casting the dart in which exercises they were continually practised from whence Diogenes on a time returning and going to Athens was asked from whence he came and whither he would I come said he from amongst men and am going among women I wonder if Diogenes were now liuing and going into England whither he would say he were going if he were demanded where we be wholly nusled in wantonnesse and onely nourished in daintinesse both in minde manners and diet where we be altogether made strangers to Martiall actions and vtterly alienated from Lawes and deedes of Armes where no consideration is had of Martiall mindes where prouision for defence is neuer called in question Here peraduenture some will say vnto me Good sir if you would but put on your spectacles and looke into the Tower of London you might see that neither Ordnance shot powder pike caliuer armour nor any other furnitures conuenient for the Warres were any whit lacking from thence if it pleased you but to sayle downe in Grauesend Barge you haue but fiue miles to Rochester where you might likewise take the view of so worthy a Fleete of royall ships as no Prince in Europe may make comparison with the like Call you not these prouisions of defence where no munitions fit for the warres are any whit wanting Very true indeede which doth argue the speciall care his Maiesty hath euer had not onely in making of such prouision but also at sundry times he hath likewise instituted diuers good ordinances for the training of men the which hath beene still discontinued by his subiects such as will pine at the spending of one pound of powder towards the practising of those that should fight for their safety Wherefore I neede vse no other answere then King Philip vsed to that noble Captaine Antipater which was this What searest thou man any Captaine of Athens Their Gallies and their Peeres are but trifles and toyes vnto me For what account is to be made of those fellowes that giue themselues
heroicke sprite With his Countries foes in field to fight For this your Worthies had their Temples crownd And were of all this Vniuerse renownd In that they labourd for their Countries good And all her forraigne Foes with force withstood Were bee such now here in a chimney corner One fellow quakes and shakes like Thomas Horner When once he heares the rumors of the Warres He is a man of peace and loues not iarres Yet want and pouerty doth haunt him so He knowes not where to flie nor what to doe Another fellow seemeth to applaude Bellonas comming and her person laude But if to follow her one should him trye Like Thraso then heed in infidiis lie As some in office other men doe presse Vnto the warres when they loue nothing lesse And a third sort perhaps the warres doe curse Because they doe suppose they le charge his purse Another that can scarce endure a scratch Made with his Mistresse pin when he doth catch Her by some part forbidden if be heares That Mars within this Hemysphere appeares A palsie takes him he sayes hee s vndone He feares he shall be killed with a gun And he another fault in them doth see He feares his lodging too too hard will be But vp base minde and learne to soare a loft Honour lies not vpon a bed that 's soft Nor worthy knowledge to the warre make hast And strine to get aname that ere may last Now least thou shouldst be dull and loath to stirre Peruse this worke of mine here as a spurre To pricke thee forward where as thou maist reade The worth of warres and how they all exceede Where thou mayst vnderstand a Souldier true His labours meede that honour is his due And that like Atlas on his shoulders hee Vpreares the Common-Wealth from dangers free The tyme when we these our armes vp should take The which obseru'd the warres doth prosperous make And fourthly this to thee doth shew the way By which doth Marshall discipline decay Then let these flowres which I with payne collected Not bee with scornefull Eye of thee reiected The Toyle was mine the Pleasure thine the Paine Mine owne doe thou but daygne to reape the Gaine I like the Bee the Hony home haue brought Vouchsafe thee but to tast that I haue sought Which if thou doest't will so encourage then Thou shalt reape riper fruites from this my pen. FINIS VOX MILITIS FORESHEWING WHAT PERILLES ARE PROCVRED WHERE THE PEOPLE OF THIS OR any other kingdome liue without regard of Marshall Discipline especially when they stand and behold their Neighbours and Friends in apparent daunger almost destroyed by their enemies vniust persecution and not to assist them IT is free from all doubt or suspicion that multitudes may coniecture me to haue suffered more then sufficient trauaile in this enterp I se To wit This description of Warres Martiall affaires primarily in regard that they haue euer had the estimation of plagues and punishments and to the Palats of some persons apprehension are so distastfull that it is the most pernicious superlatiue and malignant of all mischiefes being aswell accompted an affliction to the harmelesse as to the hurtfull to the innocent as to the iniurious for by it wholesome lawes and salutiferous Precepts are violated Humanity defaced Iustice peruerted and suppressed Pious places are prophaned Horryd murthers committed vndefiled Virgins desloured chast modest Matrons defiled spacious Kingdomes subuerted great Cities subdued and ruinated As Numace admired for the valour Corinth famous for the magnificence Thebes vnparalleld for the statelinesse of the building and edifices delicate Tyre accomplisht Athens holy Ierusalem Contentious Carthage Antwerp and in this our moderne and miserable age Prague the Palatinate and Breda now languishing in the like misery the which with diuers of her companyons by the meanes of warres haue bin sacked and spoyled robbed and ruinated oftentimes layd wast and desolate and therefore it is but meerely a punishment inslicted by God vpon some place for some notable sinne and heauy affliction being vsed of him as a corasiue to eate out the dead flesh of security the onely meanes to humble vs for our owne sinnes and to reduce vs from the following of our owne corruptions to the fauouring of Christian religion A Secondary cause which induceth me to suspect that this my work is likely to be rackt with many a rash censure is this viz. That as it is obuious in it selfe so it is odious in respect of the instruments which are vsed in it as the professors and followers of it are in such meane respect and estimation as they are rather deemed sit for Ruffians Roy sters and people of a vile abiect condition rather then an exercise for honest holy men of conscionable conuersation who neyther beare any zeale to Gods glory nor any affection to theyr brothers good in so much as it is Cornelius Agrippas assertion that if you desire to see a true Tyrant a Prophaner or a Murtherer a Robber a Rauisher a Desiourer if you would haue all these seuerall conditions in one singular person and if you desire to include all this matter in one word it is comprehended in this one name Souldier But to the end we may addresse our Treatie to our intended Subiect viz. WARR because I know many be so scrupulous and tender consciences as they deeme them absolutely vnlawfull I held it not fruitelesse and of no small import and consequence to produce some proofe aswell out of Scripture as other wryters to shew the lawfullnesse and good approbation of Military proceedings euen by God himselfe I could here produce whole cloudes of Testymonies out of Scripture for the confirmation of the trneth of this position to proue that warres haue beene acceptable before the Maiesty of God and sometimes of more preuailence then peace as it appeareth more cleerely then the Meridian light in the second Chapter of the Booke of the Iudges where the children of Israel were reproued for concluding a peace with the Cananites neither hath onely approbation by the Scriptures but is also receiued as a lawfull proceeding by diuers other famous Authours and that it is not onely conuenient but necessary for Princes to make a breach of amity that they might better make a confirmation of inuiolable friendship that their loue might be like a limme which being broken and well set becomes more strong and stable and it is a Warre most worthily initiated whereby the security and safety of the States effected and on the contrary that peace is not well permitted but most pernicious which is the mother and causer of the peoples perill and the Countries hazard And that true mirror of eloquence Cicero telles vs Ad hunc finem bella suscipimus vt cum pace sine iniuria viuimus To this end wee vndertake warres that we may enioy peace without iniury and in another place of the same Booke writing to the same purpose We must in matters of aduice