Christ. Catholicae Ecclesiae Episcopus ss Then his Seal or Signet engraven within Sanctus Petrus †Sanctus Paulus and this Motto about Ad Dominum cùm tribularer clamavi Exaudivit Me. Then the subscription of 27 Cardinals on both sides of the Signet the Cardinal Bishops on the right-hand of the Signet and close to it then on their right-hand the Priests-Cardinals and on the left side of the Signet as it is accustomed in all Bulls and other Public Instruments the Deacon-Cardinals have their place and precedence King Henry's Book against Luther was presented to the Pope in full Consistory by Sir Iohn Clerk then Ambassador at Rome for the King with a long solemn Oration the Original of which Book is yet to be seen in the Vatican at Rome with this Inscription written with King Henries own hand Anglorum Rex Henricus Leoni XÌ„ mittit Hoc Opus Fidei testem Amicitiae Henry King of the English sends this Work to Leo the Tenth as a Witness both of Faith and Friendship And as the Kings of England themselfs have such super-eminent Titles so their First-born Sons have a Title not inferior to any Royal Heir apparent in Christendome which is Prince of Wales and this Title is many years more ancient then that of Dauphin in France Moreover whereas other Kings Sons come so naked to the world that they have not of their own wherewith to buy them Clouts or pay their Nurses but what they have from their Parents The First-born of the King of England ipsissimo instante the very same instant that he is born is Duke of Cornwal and is presuppos'd by the Law to have Livâ—…ry and Seisin then given him of the said Duchy with all the Lands Rents and Honors therunto annex'd T is tru that the conferring of the Title of Prince of Wales depends meerly upon the Kings Plesure which was done out of a Political consideration to keep the Kings first Sons still in awe and within the bounds of a greater Obedience Nor is there any Queen also lives in a greater State and Dignity or hath more Prerogatives and greater Joyntures then the Queen of England For though Aliens at first and still under Couvert Baron yet they may pourchase Lands by Fee-simple They may make Leases and Grants without the King They also must be petitiond unto first before any can implead them in point of right We will proceed now to the fourth Paragraph Touching the Martial Exploits and Achievments which the Kings of Great Britain have performed from time to time c. TO proceed in this Paragraph we must make Retrosvects a far off we will begin with Brennus that bold Britain who in the Government of Consuls took and sack'd Rome 364 yeers before Christ and did notable feats afterwards in Greece and Asia insomuch that the Welch in honour of that Heroe their Country-man call a King from his Name Brenin to this day Cataracus overthrew a mighty Army of the Romanes and Boadicia slew 70 thousand of them in one Battel as their own stories declare King Arthur is rank'd among the Nine Worthies for he discomfited the Saxons in twelve several Battails and erected the first Order of Knighthood There was one English King and three Kings Sons went to the Wars of the Holy Land What Exploits did Richard coeur de Lion perform there so much to the envy of the King of France who therfore returnd before him He conquerd the Iland of Cyprus where Marrying Berengaria he transferrd the Kingdome to Guy Lusignan who had right to the Crown of Ierusalem which in exchange he resignd to King Richard But the French are they whom the English did so often rout subdue and subjugat with the Grey-goose Wing wherwith they did so often penetrat the very heart of France in so many glorious Victories that can be hardly paralleld take all circumstances We will instance in some of the most famous and begin with that of Cressy the first great Battel The Battail of Crâ—…ssy in France That Heroyk King Edward the third having been provoked by divers Affronts that Philip of Valois the French King had offeâ—…'d him goes over in person to France with an Army of 80000 men at Arms and 10000 Archers as Froissard hath it He takes with him his Son the Prince of Wales and Duke of Guyenne being but 15 years of Age calld afterwards the Black Prince to train him up in feats of Arms. Landing in Normandy he carries all the Country before him as far as Poissy within ten miles of Paris and after divers Skirmiges a Battail was appointed King Edward had incamp'd neer a Village calld Cressy where he divided his Army to three Battalions the first was led by the Prince of Wales the second by the Earls of Arundel and Northampton in the third was the King himself The Battail thus orderd being mounted upon a White Hobby he rides from Rank to Rank encouraging evry man to the performance of his duty and to have a regard to the Honor of his King and Country The French Kings Army was at least twice the number consisting of above 60000 Combatants with all the flower of the French Chivalry whereof the chief were the Duke of Alanson the Kings Brother the King of Bohemia the Duke of Lorrain the Earl of Flanders and Savoy with other great Princes The Vangard was led by the Kings Brother the Reer by the Earl of Savoy the main Battail by the King himself The French King was so fierce in assurance of Victory that he wold scarce admit of any counsel The old King of Boheme advis'd that the Army shold receive some refreshment before and that the Infantry of Genowais whereof ther were 15000 Crossbows shold make the first Front and the Cavalry to follow which being agreed on the Duke of Alanson did stomack that the Genowais shold have the honor of the first Rank so in a kind of fury he caus'd them to change place which bred such a discontent that they were more incensd against their Leader then against the Enemy but in the interim ther fell such a showre of Rain that wetted their Bowstrings which they had not the wit to cover all the while as the English did that for the limmerness therof when they came to action they grew useless At the ceasing of the showre the Sun did shine full in the face of the French therby dazzling their eyes but on the back of the English King Edward being got into a Windmil all the while whence as from a Sentinel he might explore and behold the face of the Enemy and discovering the disturbance that was made because the Genowais were put to change their place instantly gave order to charge that part which made the discontented Genoway to recoyl Alenson perceiving this rides on in a rage crying out Sa sa on on let 's make way ore the Bellies of these Genowais for they do but hinder us So riding through them he came
employd that he be well versd in the Speech therof for it is a sad thing when one is sent Ambassador to see fashions and learn the Language of a Country Lastly ther 's nothing more concerns the Office and Duty of an Ambassador as it was touchd before then to be true to his Instructions Brunus tells us that Qui extra Mandatum agit aliud agit Who acts beyond his Commission acts another thing Yet it cannot be denied but many things in point of circumstance are left to the discretion of a Plenipotentiary Ambassador therfore as I take it ther was by the twelve Tables in Rome a latitude of power left to Legats Quae bonum Patriae eminenter tangunt etiamsi non Mandentur agunto What eminently concerns the publik good though not commanded let them be done The eighth Paragraph Touching the Laws of England relating to Ambassadors in point of Reception Audience Treatments and Rewards as also what prudence hath bin usd for composing of Contestations betwixt them in point of Precedence c. HAving spoken hitherto generally of the concernments of Ambassadors and the privileges of Legation We will now make some inspections in particular into the Constitutions and Common Laws of England which may be calld Civil and very complying in this point The Law of England as the great Father of it my Lord Coke says That Honor Legati honor mittentis est The honor of an Ambassador is the honor of him who sent him That Legati aut Proregis dedecus redundat in Regem The affront offerd an Ambassador redounds to his King By the Common Law of England t is High Treson to kill an Ambassador as among others ther are Examples in the persons of Iohn Kerby and Iohn Algore the one a London-Mercer the other a Grocer who were both arraignd convicted and condemned for killing Iohn Imperial who was Ambassador from Genoa for a Patent he had got of the King for the sole importing of all Commodities from the Levant parts I. Hill was also condemned of High Treson for killing of A. de Walton who was Ambassador c. Then the high civilities that were shewd by King Iames to the Marquiss of Inojosa and Don Carlos Coloma the Spanish Ambassadors notwithstanding their high misdemenures for calumniating the last Duke of Buckingham and through him the Prince of Wales his sole Son and Heir apparent to the Crown as it is mentiond in the next preceding Paragraph And as the Law of England is so respectful of Ambassadors so for her own she useth to furnish them with as political Commissions and Instructions and as exactly couchd as any other Kings Ambassadors whatsoever I will produce only two Examples the one ancient the other modern the first is of Ambassadors sent to the Council of Basile which runs thus Ad Concilium Basiliense sub Eugenio Papa destinati sunt per Regem Ambasciatores Oratores Episcopus Robertus London Philippus Exoniensis Iohannes Roffensiis Iohannes Bajocens Edwardus Comes Moriton Abbas Glastoneensis B. M. Eboracensis Prior Norwici Henricus Bromflet miles Dominus Vesciae Thomas Browne Legum Doctor Decanus Sarum Iohannes Coleville Miles alii Dante 's damus iis Ipsorum majori parti potestatem Mandatum tam generale quà m speciale nomine nostro pro nobis in eodem Concilio interessendi tractandi communicandi concludendi tam de iis quae Reformationem Ecclesiae Universalis tam in Capite in Membris quà m in iis quae Fidei Orthodoxae fulcimentum Regumque ac Principum Pacificationem concernere poterint Nec non de super Pace perpetua guerrarumque abstinentia inter Nos Carolum adversarium nostrum de Francia ac etiam tractandi communicandi appunctandi consentiendi insuper si opus fuerit aissentiendi iis quae juxta deliberationem dicti Concilii initi statui ordinari contigerit Promittentes promittimus bona fide nos ratum gratum firmum perpetuò habiturum totum quicquid per dictos Ambasciatores Oratores Procuratores nostros aut Majorum partem Eorundem actum factum ceu gestum fuerit in praemissis singulis praemissorum Et Hoc idem cùm de super iis certiorati fuerimus ad Nos Christianum Principem attinet executioni debitae curabimus demandaâ—…i In cujus rei testimonium has Literas nostras fiâ—…ri fecimus Patentes Datum sub sigillo nostro Magno in Palatio nostro West monasteriensi x die Julii c. We delegat to the Council of Basil under Pope Eugenius for Ambassadors and Orators Bishop Robert of London Philip of Exceter c. Giving and do herby give them and the major part of them power and command as well general as special in our name and for us to be present to treat communicat and conclude things as well concerning the Reformation of the universal Church as the Pacification of Kings and Princes and likewise of and concerning a perpetual peace and abstinence from VVar betwixt Us and Charles of France our Adversary and also to treat communicat appoint and to consent besides and if need be to dissent from such things that shall happen to be appointed and ordained according to the deliberation of the said Council Promising and we do promise in good Faith to hold for ratified acceptable and firm to perpetuity whatsoever shall be acted or done by our said Ambassadors Orators or Proctors or the greatest part of them in relation to the Premises and any part therof whensoever we shall be certified and as becomes a Christian Prince we shall have a care that all be put in due execution In testimony wherof we have causd these our Letters to be Patents Given under our Great Seal in our Palace at Westminster x Iulii c. Ther repaird to this Council also Henry Beaufort Son of Iohn of Gaunt Bishop of Winchester and Cardinal of St. Eusebius having had license to transport 20000 l. in Gold and Silver which was a mighty sum in those daies which money as the story hath it though mute yet they were moving Ambassadors The second example shall be of Robert Sydney now Earl of Leicester in an extraordinary Embassy to the King of Denmark and other Princes of Germany whose Instructions were these following CHARLES R. Instructions for our right trusty and right well-beloved Cosen Robert Earl of Leicester Vicount Lisle and Baron of Sulney our Ambassador to our dear Uncle Christian 4. King of Denmark c. VVe have preferrd you before others to this honorable Employment because we have observd your constant application to vertuous and noble courses and wold have it known to all that we esteem Titles not of those that bury them in obscurity and Vice but of such that improve their worth for publik service in VVar or Peace wherby tru Nobility raiseth it self above the common sort VVe send you to a great King whom we love and honor not only for his
after they desird new audience which was suspended to be given them and in the interim the King sent Sir Edward Conway his principal Secretary of State and Sir Francis Cottington Secretary to the Prince both Lords afterwards to signifie unto the said Ambassadors that he desird nothing more then a continuance of frendship twixt the two Crowns therfore if they had any thing to say they shold communicat it to the said Secretaries as persons of trust which he employd expresly for that purpose and if they made any difficulty of this also then they might choose among his Council of State those whom they likd best and he wold command that they shold presently repair unto them and if this also shold seem inconvenient they might send him what they had to say in a Letter by whom they thought fittest and he wold receave it with his own hands But they gave no answer to all this therupon the said Secretaries told them according to their Instructions which they had receavd from his Majesty That they being the Authors of an Information so dangerous and seditious had made themselfs incapable to treat further with the King their Master and were it not for the respect he bore to the Catholik King his dear and beloved Brother their Master and that they were in quality of Ambassadors to such a Majesty he wold and could by the Law of Nations and the right of his own Royal Justice proceed against them with such severity as their offence deservd but for the reasons before said he wold leave the reparation to the Justice of their own King of whom he wold demand and require it Herupon Sir Walter Ashton Ambassador then in Spain for the Crown of England had audience of that King wherin he said That the King of Great Britain his Master had commanded him to demand refaction and satisfaction of his Majesty against the Marquiss of Inojosa and Don Carlos Coloma for scandalizing the Duke of Buckingham with other of his best subjects and through his sides aiming at the Prince himself for it is unlikely the Duke wold have cast himself upon such a designe without the communication of it to him and to know his plesure so he remonstrated the whole circumstance of the business c. And in conclusion he said That he humbly beseechd his Majesty to observe and weigh well the care and tenderness wherwith the King his Master had proceeded towards his Majesties Ambassadors not obliging them to any precipitat resolutions but giving them time and opening a way how they might have cleerd themselfs c. It was expected that the said Ambassadors at their return to Spain wold have bin punishd or at least checkd but matters growing daily worse and worse twixt England and Spain the said Ambassadors were rather rewarded then reprehended at their return Inojosa being made afterwards Governor of Milan and Coloma receavd addition of command and honors in Flanders But the high civilities of England at that time towards the said Ambassadors was much cryed up abroad that notwithstanding so pernicious a machination to demolish Buckingham and to discompose the whole English Court yet they were permitted to depart peaceably and Sir Lewis Leukner was commanded to conduct them to the Sea-side for prevention of any outrage upon their persons We have dwelt the longer upon this business in regard ther are extraordinary traverses of State in it being a Plot of an unusual reach of policy which will be found more amply related in the addition the Author made to Finets Ambassador but in regard it is so pertinent to this Paragraph he thought it fit to insert the substance of it here We will now resume things touching the Office of an Ambassador It is very necessary he shold have his Credential Letters exact and plain His Commission plenary and fortified with as much authority as he can The Spanish Ministers when the Prince of Wales was there objected against the Duke of Buchingham that his Commission for he came also in quality of Ambassador was not so compleat and authentik as that of the Earl of Bristols for he had his Commission under the Broad Seal of England wheras the Duke had his by the King only The Civilians make a question Si à Legato Mandata poscantur is adigi possit ad ea exhibenda Their opinion is That besides his Credential or Fiduciary Letters and his General Commission he is not bound to shew any more Touching his privat Instructions Paschalius saith Mala eum agitat res qui in Legati Secreta irreligiose irrumpit It is questiond further Whether it may stand with the Office and Honor of an Ambassador to receave Gifts and Presents from the Prince he is sent unto which the Civilians call Lautia a word peculiar only to Ambassadors some are for the Negative which the Hollanders do follow for their Ambassadors use to receave none not so much as a Bottle of Wine But most are for the Affirmatif But the Venetians who are reputed to have the best Rules touching Ambassadors though they allow it yet their Ambassadors are bound to exhibit their Presents to the Senat and t is thought much of St. Marks tresure consists of it They are also bound in a large Oration to give an account besides that of their Embassy what they observd most remarkable in the Government State and Quality of the Country of which Oration they bring also a Manuscript which is put up in their Archives Iohn Earl of Bristol at his departure from Madrid notwithstanding that the weather had grown foul twixt us and Spain receavd a Cupboard of huge massie Plate valued at 20000 Crowns of this King of Spain who also gave him a Diamond Ring off his Finger rated at 1500 l. sterling and the reason was because he had found him so wise faithful and industrious a servant to his King The Civilians make likewise a doubt whether it may not interrupt the Office of an Ambassador to have his Wife and Children along with him but they who hold the contrary are rather exploded then approved For to leave his Wife is for one to leave half himself behind him besides Conjugal society is counted the prime of comforts moreover it saves trouble of Writing and charges for Letters and Packets which come to no small sum at the yeers end c. We will conclude this Paragraph with two special things which the Civilians require further for the performance of the Office of an Ambassador viz. That he be reservd and secret in an intense degree he must not be Plenus Rimarum full of chinks and herin the Italian and Spaniard are eminently imitable for all the Drugs in Egypt cannot draw away a secret from them wheras a small Purge or Vomit will make others cast it up Furthermore that an Ambassador may facilitat the discharge of his Office the better it is requisit that he have a previous knowledg of the Court and Country wherunto he is
in the I le of Britain Just according to the ancient Greek Poet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Many Lords are not good let there be but One. Now from that time to this the King of Britain had and hath as Souveraign and incontroulable a sway as any 'T is true that he admits others sometimes to share with him in Counsel but not in Power by a kind of Influence he gives Light and Command to others but he himself receives none from any In the Neighbouring Monarchies it cannot be said so and particularly in France and Spain where it may be said ther is Regnum in regno ther is another Power à Legatus de latere that in a Court of Plea sways ore the Ecclesiastiques who make a considerable part of the Peeple Touching the latter the King of Spain is Feodary either to the Pope the Emperour or to France for all the Countries he hath The Kingdomes of Navarre and Granada were made Feodary to the Pope under Iulius the second Aragon to Innocent the third as also Sardinia in formula fiduciae Sicilia is relevant from the Church as also both the Indies and the Canary Ilands For the Kingdome of Naples and Calabria he sends a Mule with a Purse-full of Gold as a Heriot to Rome evry year for fear of an Excommunication the next day at the receit whereof the Pope says Sufficiat pro hac vice He holds the Dukedome of Milan from the Empire and most of the Provinces in the Netherlands from France whereof he is a double Peer as he is Duke of Burgundy and Earl of Flanders Now 't is questionable among the Civilians whether a Feodary or Homager may be call'd an Absolut Prince specially when Appeals may be made from him to another Court as the Spanish Clergy may from the King to Rome in divers cases The Kings of ENGLAND are free from Subordinations of that kind as the Fundamental Laws of the Land and all the ancient Learned Judges do evidence 'T is a Principle in the English Laws which is confirm'd by Baldus and other great Forren Jurists That Rex neminem habet in Dominiis suis nec Superiorem nec Parem The King in his own Dominions hath neither Superior nor Equal He may be said to be both Caesar and Pompey There is another Omnes sub Illo Ille sub nullo All under Him He under none Another yet Satis habet Rex ad poenam quod Deum expectet Ultorem 'T is enough for the King that God is to be his Judge which is expressed in this Distic Subditus in Regem peccat Legemque Fidemque At Rex in Solum Rex quia nempe Deum Ther are divers others that are conducing hereunto As The King must not be put to do any thing per aspertè but of his free plesure The King never dies but the Heir apparent is King Inchoative as soon as the former dies and the Coronation is but a meer Ceremony not Essential for divers Kings as Hen. 5. and others had Alleageance sworn unto them before they were Crowned There are more Maximes yet That the King can do no wrong but his Ministers may through whose mouths he pronounceth sentence Moreover Nullum tempus occurrit Regi Ther 's no Immemorial or Prescription against the King It is High Treson not only to contrive but to imagine ill against the King By the Kings Prerogative Life it self may be leased c. But that Traverse twixt King Iohn and the Legat Pandolpho when they say he transferred the Crown to the Pope is much insisted upon wherunto t is thus answered That ther are four great things whereof the Records cannot be found The first is that wherin the Emperour Constantine gave Rome to the Pope The second is that wherin Venice hath the Dominion of the Adriatic or Illyrian Gulph The third is the Salique Law The fourth is that Instrument wherby King Iohn pass'd over his Crown and made the Pope Lord Paramount of England Sir Thomas More who was so far devoted to Rome that he is canoniz'd for one of her Martyrs denieth absolutly that King Iohn either did or could make England Feudetary to the Pope because without the consent of his Barons an Act so much prejudicial to his Royal Successors was not valid and that the Peter-pence which they hold to be a Tribut relating to the foresaid Act was but a meer Alms which was given by King Ina 500 years before Moreover put case ther had been such an Act yet it stands upon good record that Innocentius the third did give a Release in these words Per Praeceptum Domini Papae 7 Iulii Homagium relaxatur omninò The Rome-scot also was but Regis larga benignitas the Kings bountiful kindness Adde hereunto that when the Pontificial Power was here at the highest pitch no Legat de latere was allowed but the Archbishop of Canterbury his Subject who by his Dignity is perpetual Legat de latere He is Legatus natus as he of Toledo is in Spain and the Primat of Armagh in Ireland and in point of Precedence at the Council of Clermont anno 1096. a Prerogative was given him for ever to sit at all general Councils at the Popes right foot Pope Urban at that time declaring in these terms Includamus hunâ—… in Orbe nostro tanquam alterius Orbis Pontificem Maximum Let us include him in our world as Pope of another world 'T is true ther have been other Legats de latere upon extraordinary occasions admitted but it was with the Kings leave and with this Proviso That he hath no Authority to hold Plea in the Realm prejudicial to the Laws thereof or derogatory to the King Thus it appears that no Extern power hath any thing to do in Great Britain and as the Pope so the Peeple neither whether consider'd Diffusively Collectively Representatively or Vertually partake any thing of the Souverain Power ther is no power either Co-ordinat Co-equal Corrival or Collateral with it The Kings of England have had always by the known Laws of the Land a pure underived Power not depending upon Pope or Peeple or any other Prince whatsoever They are Kings by the Grace of God which implies no earthly Dependency It stands upon good record how King Ina in the Preamble to his Laws for he was a great Legislator begins I Ina by the Grace of God King c. and this was above a thousand years ago about two hundred years before Charlemain in whose time that stile of Dei Gratia came first in use in the Empire And as on Land the King of Great Britain hath such a Latitude and Independence of Supreme Power so by Sea he hath the like which is such that without disparagement much less any injustice to any I may avouch no other Prince hath the like The greatest claim of Sea-Dominion that France makes is to the Coasts of Armorica or little Britany and a few Leagues in the Mediterranean The Spanish Laws are for the
up to the English Battail where the young Prince was The fight grew hot and doubtful insomuch that the Commanders sent to the King to come up with more power The King asking the Messengers Whether his Son was hurt or slain and being answerd No he replies Then tell them who sent you that so long as my Son is alive they send no more to me for my Will is that he have the honor of the day So the Fight on both sides growing very furious the French King having his Horse kill'd under him withdrew which being known by the English it added so to their courage that they soon after won the Field This was the first considerable Battail the English had of the French which was so sanguinary that ther were none made Prisoners but all put to the Sword and the number of the slain French surmounted the whole Army of the English for the number of the slain were about 30000. the chief whereof was Alenson the Kings Brother the Dukes of Bourbon and Lorain the Earl of Flanders the Dauphin de Viennois Son to Imbert who after gave Dauphine to the King of France provided his First Son shold still be calld the Dauphin which hath continued ever since This signal Victory was seconded the same yeer about six weeks after with another the Queen of England got against the Scots then confederat with the French where David the Scots King was taken Prisoner but this is reserv'd for another place because for a more methodical order we will hasten to the second great Victory in France the Battail of Poitiers The Battail of Poitiers The Black Prince being taperd up now to a good growth was sent by advice of Parlement to Gascony whence the Truce being expird he oreran and ravagd all the Country as far as Tourayne Iohn the French King raiseth a potent Army more numerous then that at Cressy and going to find out the Prince of Wales found him about Poitiers having not much above 10000 effect if men in his Army wheras the French had six times as many whereupon being advisd to make for Bourdeaux he was prevented by the French Army on all sides so a Battail being intended two Cardinals came from the Pope to mediat a Peace but the French King wold hearken to none unless that he wold as a Vanquish'd Man send him four Hostages and give up himself and his Army to discretion The Prince answerd That he was willing to restore what places he had taken of His in good War but without prejudice to his Honor wherof he was accountable to the King his Father c. Iohn not hearkning to this but being resolvd to fight the Prince also resolvd to part with his Life upon as high a rate as he could being reducd to this streight therfore he providently makes use of the Position of ground and finding that the main Army of the French consisted in Horse he entrenchd among the Vineyards where when the French Cavalry entred being wrapd and encomberd among the Vines the English Archers did so ply and gall them that being therby disorderd and put to rout the whole Army was soon totally defeated But it seems this Battail was not so fierce as that of Cressy where no quarter was given for in this Prisoners were made among whom was King Iohn himself whom the Prince brought to England and as the French Historians themselfs confess he was so civil to him all the while that he knew not whether he was a Free King or a Captif Besides Lords ther were slain 2000 of the French Nobless as Froissard hath it in this Battail and as at Cressy more French slain then the whole English Army was in number We will now to Agencourt Agencourt Battail Henry the Fifth that Man of men and mirror of Princes being come to the Crown he did cast his Eyes presently towards France for claiming of his Title In order wherunto he alterd in his Arms the bearing of Semy de Luces and quarters the three full Flower de Luces as the King of France himself did bear them He sends the Duke of Exceter with the Archbishop of Dublin and sundry other Noblemen in a magnificent Ambassy attended by 500 Horse to Paris to demand the Crown but receiving no satisfactory answer but rather a kind of jeer the Dauphin sending him a Sack full of Racket-court-Balls to pass away his time He replyed That for evry one of those Balls he had so many fiery Bullets to shoot at the proudest Turrets in France as he shold shortly find And he was as good as his word for he presently got over and encountring the French Army at Agencourt he gave it an utter overthrow and took more prisoners then his own Army had Soldiers which was upon a Sunday-morning about Ten of the Clock whereof having sent notice to England before and that extraordinary Masses shold be sung then in all Churches he stood upon the defensive part till that hour but then making a Speech of encouragement to his Army and among other strains telling how all England was praying for them at that time he carried away a compleat Victory he himself leading the main Battail with the Duke of Glocester his Brother c. But besides the foresaid Piety ther was Policy also usd for the King to prevent the fury of the French Cavalry appointed divers Stakes studded with Iron at both ends of six foot long to be pitch'd behind the Archers and ordred that Pioners shold attend to remove them as they shold be directed which invention conduc'd much to the success of the Action The King himself charg'd the Duke of Alenson and beat him off his Horse who therupon was slain so ther was a compleat and glorious Victory obtain'd We come now to the Battail of Spurs so calld because the French-men trusted more to their Spurs in fleeing away then to their Swords and Lances It was before Terwin in Hen. 8. Raign when Maximilian the Emperour servd under his Banner and receavd pay Ther came 8000 French Horse to relieve the place and a hot Dispute happend but they were all routed and put shamefully to flight so the Town was taken by the English Ther were a world of other Warlike Encounters and Skirmiges twixt the English and French whereof the stories are full and t is observd that the English at most were but half in number to the French in all Engagements insomuch that by pure prowess and point of the Sword they possessd two parts in three of that great Kingdome We read that when the English were at the height of their power in France the Pope came then to keep his Court at Avignon and ther was a common saying among the Peeple which since is grown to be a kind of Proverb Ores le Pape est devenu Francois Iesus Christ est devenu Anglois The Pope is turnd French-man and Jesus Christ is become an English-man which was spoken in regard we had such prodigious
King of the Stuarts was a British Lady And as ther is a Register of 139 British and English Kings so there is an exact Catalog of 110 Scots Kings wheras all the three Races of the French Kings make but 64 Kings in all Nor did any of those three Royal Races continue much above 300 yeers in a Bloud but were quite extinguishd both Merovingiens Carlevingiens and Capevingiens The House of Valois extinguished in the late Queen Margaret first wife to Hen. 4. And this present King is but the Third of the House of Bourbon Spain cannot say so much for the furthest Line that Her Kings can draw is not much above 500 yeers ago from the Counts of Castile nor was ther ever any King of Castile till the yeer 1017. And touching the House of Austria it became Royal but about 300 yeers since To conclude this Paragraph his present Majestie of Great Britain in point of Royal Extraction and Linage is the Greatest born Prince that any Age can produce For wheras his Granfather and Father were allied only if you regard Forren Consanguinity to the House of Holstein and that of Lorain Charles the second of England bears in his Veins not only That Bloud but also the Blouds of all the Great Princes of Christendom being neerly linkd to the Houses of France and Bourbon To the House of Austria and consequently to the Emperour and Spain by the Maternal side as also to the Dukes of Savoy and Florence Moreover He is neerly allied to the King of Denmark and to all the prime Princes of Germany as the Saxe Brandenburg Bavaria the Palsgrave c. The seventh Paragraph Touching the Hospitality and plentiful Kingly Court with number of Officers and Stately Attendants of the King of Great Britain T Is ordinary for Latin Authors old and new to break out into the praises of Great Britain and their Elogiums are many but le ts hear what a great Greek Poet speaks of Her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No Ile did ever dare With Britain yet compare Among other Encomiums of England she is much cried up for her wonderful fecundity and fulness of all things relating to the nourishment of mankinde all things that Earth Water or Air can afford which with the Divine benediction must be imputed to the temper of the Clime And besides ther be gentle breezes that are conveyd from the circumfluent Seas which refresh all kinde of animals both Brute and Rational The clouds there may be truly said to drop fatness dissolving into silver wholsom showers to soften and fertilize her Glebes In December and Ianuary there is commonly Frost enough to knit and corroborate the joynts of the earth In February ther is usually Snow enough to fill the Dikes and like a gentle white rugg to cover her plowd fields and keep the bed of the earth warm from the inclemency of the circumambient cold air It is observd that ther is not such a multitude of Volatils any where And touching her Seas ther are not any wher so great variety of Fish swimming in such huge shoals like mountains and taking their turns and seasons about the Iland once every yeer Her fresh rivers are also full of them Her Forests and Woods have not such ravenous beasts as other Countries use to have yet ther are store of savage beasts for Recreation as the Stagg the Hind the Hart the Hare the Otter the Fox and Badger c. The bowels of the earth are no where so pregnant of Metals Stone and Fuel c. The Sun which scorcheth other Countries may be said but to warm the English soyl with his gentle rays The Air is nothing so foggie and dull as in many other Regions but cleerd and attenuated ever and anon with refreshing blasts Nor is the body of the earth so subject to shaking Agues and Earth quakes to trepidation and quakings as other places are which are full of sulphurous bituminous concavities Touching store and superfluity of Corn with all sorts of Grain Britain in the times of the Romans was calld as Tacitus says the Barn and Granary of the Western world Take all these particulars together the Poet doth not much complement with England when he breaks thus into a Character of her Anglia Terra ferax Tibi pax secura quietem Multiplicem luxum merx Opulenta dedit Tu nimio nec stricta gelu nec sydere fervens Clementi Coelo temperiéque places Cùm pareret Natura parens variásq favore Divideret dotes omnibus una locis Sepofuit potiora Tibi Matremque professa Insula sis foelix plenaque pacis ait Quicquid amat luxus quicquid desiderat usus Ex Te proveniet vel aliunde Tibi This is the cause of that infinit Commerce she hath to all parts of the habitable earth as far as the Antipodes and the incredible benefit which other Nations make of her Commodities Insomuch that Guicciardine an Author well to pass relates that after the Articles of the Intercursus magnus were made with Flanders or the Netherlands the Annual Trade amounted unto above twelve Millions Sterling whereof the one half was in Woollen Manufactures wherby the 17 Provinces did wonderfully improve in Negotiation and Wealth Insomuch that the ground of the Order of the Golden Fleece established by the Duke of Burgundy related to the English Wool which proved so infinitely beneficial unto them From this marvelous exuberance and superfluity of substantial Staple-commodities proceed the luxe the plenty and profuseness of the Inhabitants for ther is no wher such frequent Invitations and Feasts in Town and Country which made one say That among others England hath an Inchanting kind of quality to make Forreners forget their own Countries when they have once tasted of the sweetness therof The Franklins Yeomen or Freeholders live like Gentlemen The Gentlemen and Esquires live like Noble-men The Noble-men like Princes The Lord Maior and Sheriffs of London have Tables most days of the week fit to entertain Kings Now touching the Royal Court which may be calld the Epitome of the whole Country Ther is no King whatsoever lives in that height of magnificence and plenty Ther was communibus annis servd in kind in provisions for his Majesties house by way of composition 3790 quarters of Wheat 1493 Oxen fat and lean 7000 Muttons 1231 Veals 310 Porks 410 Sturks 26 Boars 320 Flitches of Bacon 6820 Lambs 40 Barrels of Butter 145 dozen of Geese Capons cours 252 dozen Hens 470 dozen Pullets cours 750 dozen Chickins cours 1470 dozen Wax 3100 weight sweet Butter 46640 pounds Charcoals 1250 loads Talwood Billets Faggots 3950 loads Herrings 60 barrels Wine-cask from the Vintners 600 Tun c. Beer 1700 Tun c. This was for the first cours Now for the second cours innumerable sorts of Fowl and Fish according to the season which was exactly observd This made Bodin the great Critique to confess that considering all things ther was not a more magnificent and
The Law presupposeth that he sits not only at the Kings Bench but in other Courts of Judicature for the Writs go Teste meipso And because the Law sayth that the King must govern in Mercie and Justice the sole power of Pardoning is in Him Moreover the power of Coinage is only in the King with the enhancing or decrying the price of money He is the sole Gran Master of the Mint wheras in France others partake with the King in this high Prerogative Nor doth any Kings Face shine in purer Metal for it shines onely in pure Gold and Silver and that of the finest Standard Mixture and Allay of any in Europe wheras I have seen and felt the face of the French King in Copper and Brass with other mixt mongrel stuff As also of the King of Spain's though he terms himself the Monark of Gold and Silver Mines yet the common currant Coyn twixt Merchant and Mechanick is Copper wherin the Hollander by his cunning hath done him a world of mischief from time to time by counterfaiting that Copper Coyn and â—…oysting it in by divers artifices as in a ship laden with Lead and Tin ther wold be somtimes divers Sows of Lead hollowed and crammd with quartils as also in hollowed Masts with other inventions Insomuch that one time when all the Vellon or Copper Coin was calld in and a scrutiny made how much had bin coynd ther were many millions more found to be brought in and counterfaited then had bin stampd in the Kings Mint By the Common Law of the Land the King of Great Britain hath three Royal Ensignes which cannot belong to any other He hath the Crown the Scepter and the Polemical Sword as I have mentiond in another Treatise and is proper to touch here By the first He reigns by the second he makes Laws by the third viz. the Sword He protects them Concerning the Crown or Royal Diadem the Laws of England assert that it descends upon his head by a right Hereditary line though through dâ—…vers ancient Royal Races wherof some were Conquerors The Crown is His as much as any mans Cap 's his own And ther is no Crown stuck with fairer Flowers I mean Royal Prerogatives wherof divers were spoken of before Concerning the Scepter it may be calld an Individual Copartner or a Royal Appendix to the Crown It doth capacitate the King to Enact Laws for before his Assent all the Results and Determinations of Parlement are but Bills they may be said to be but abortive things and meer Embryos nay they have no life at all in them till the King by his breath infuseth vigour and animation into them and the ancient Custom was for the King to touch them with the Scepter then they are Laws and have a virtue in them to impose an universal obligation upon all sorts of peeple Now it is an undeniable Principle of the Law of England That nothing can be generally binding without the Kings Royal Assent nor doth the Law take notice of any thing without it This makes Them to be calld afterwards the Kings Laws and the Judges are said to deliver the Kings Iudgments nay he himself is always Lord Chief Justice of England which Title is not assumable by any Subject Now before an English Law is made ther is mature and mighty long deliberation goes before for first the business is agitated and canvasd many days in the House of Commons which represents all the peeple of England till it comes to the ripeness of a Bill The Bill being drawn is read thrice in the House and having passd the brunt of all Exception t is engrossd and transmitted to the Lords and there also t is read thrice and debated with much deliberation Then by concurrence of both Houses t is presented to the King who consults with his Learned Counsel whether ther be any thing therin derogatory to his Prerogatives if not He gives his Royal Assent and then t is created a Law and generally binding Touching the power of the Sword it is more proper to treat of it in the next Paragraph Moreover the Lex Terrae the Common Law of England makes the King the Fountain of Honour nay without any disparagement or offence be it spoken He can confer Honor upon other Kings and Souverain Princes as he is Souverain of the Order of Saint George wherof ther have bin eight Emperors five Kings of the French four of Spain seven of Portugal two of the Scots four of Denmark three of Naples one of Poland and another of Sweden two Dukes of Urbine one of Millain one of Ferrara one of Savoy one of Calabria one of Holland one of Gueldres four Princes of Orenge seven Counts Palatin of the Rhin two Dukes of Brunswick two of Holstain one of Brandenburgh and one Duke of Wittenberg with divers other Forren Princes Now among all Orders purely Military ther is not any now remaining in the Christian world either more ancient or honorable then the Noble Order of Saint George wherof the Garter is a Symbole therfore are they calld Equites periscelidis Knights of the most Noble Order of the Garter which Order was first instituted by that Victorious King Edward the third who was offerd to be Emperour Anno 1350. which was threescore yeers wanting one before the Institution of the French Order of S. Michael by Lewis the eleventh and 229 yeers before the Order of St. Esprit by Henry the third and full fourscore yeers before the erection of the Order of the Golden Fleece by Philip Duke of Burgundy It is also 209 more ancient then the Order of the Knights of the Elephant which was devisd by the Kings of Denmark and much more then that of Amaranta excogitated by Sweden c. Now observable it is that among all these Orders l'ordre del toison d'or the Order of the Golden Fleece related to the English Wools which were transported to Flanders by our Merchants wherby all the Provinces adjoyning did so infinitly enrich themselfs And this Order of the Golden Fleece as it is one of the highest Esteem so it hath most affinity with our Order of St. George in point of Regulation as also that ther are so few of it For our Order is accounted far the Nobler because it hath constantly kept it self to the same number of Knights viz. 26. since the primitive Institution wheras the French Orders have multiplied so fast in number of Knights that one said the Order of the French Knighthoods are now become Collers for every Ass to wear about his neck And as this high Order of St. George hath the precedence of all other now worn by any King in point of Antiquity so the ground and designe of it was very Noble For when the first Idea of erecting a new Order of Knighthood entred into the head of the foresaid Heroick King Edward the third his thoughts reflected upon King Arthur who indeed was the first founder of Knighthood not only
kinred Nemo debet his puniri pro uno delicto No man is to be punishd twice for one offence Nemo potest plus juris in alium conferre quà m Ipse habet No man can transfer a greater power to any other then he hath himself Nemo tenetur prodere seipsum No man is bound to betray himself Omnia quae movent ad mortem sunt Deo danda All things which cause death are forfeit to God Qui non habet in aere luat in corpore Where the purse cannot let the body suffer Qui peccat ebrius luat sobrius Who offends when he is drunk let him be punishd when he is sober Qui sentit commodum sentire debet onus Who receive the benefit ought to feel the burden Quod semel meum est ampliùs meum non est That which was mine is none of mine Stat praesumptio donec probetur in contrarium A presumption stands till the contrary be provd Ubi non est principal is ibi non potest esse accessarius Where ther 's no principal ther can be no Accessary Unumquodque dissolvitur eo ligamine quo ligatur Evry thing is untyed as it is bound Par in parem non habet Imperium Equals cannot command one another Nemo dat quod non habet No man can give that which he hath not And this doth hold also in Heraldry therfore the Knighthoods with other Honors that Cromwel was so free to confer are void in Law because he was never Knight himself By these few Principles with multitudes more it appeers that the Common Law hath much affinity with the Civil wherof ther are as learned Professors in England as any where els Whence it may be inferrd that the King of Great Britain is supplied with more helps for the administration of Justice then any Nation in the world besides For in regard that England is an Iland having such a great Trade at Sea and so great dealing with divers other Nations Having also besides Land-matters both Temporal Ecclesiastical and Maritime which are not so proper for the Common Law He allows of the Civil Law answerable to the quality of the Case which hath bin practised in England beyond the memory of man or the reach of any Record And though ther happen oft some Emulations and high Contests betwixt these two Professions yet such hath bin the prudence of the Souvrain Prince to keep them both in as equal a Balance as could be and not to suffer the one to insult or encroach upon the other but to have the same freedom of study and practice to the universal good of Forreners as well as of his own Subjects And so much concerning the National Law and Prudential Constitutions of England The Tenth and last Paragraph Touching the greatness of Power of Military Might and Puissance by Land and Sea as well Defensive as Offensive c. of the King of Great Britain THe Duke of Rohan in his Book calld Les Interests des Princes The Interests of Princes saith that England is like a great Animal that cannot die unless he kill himself He acknowledgeth Her also to be Latroiseâ—…e Puissance the third Power of Christendom But by the Arguments that shall be producd in this Paragraph I believe it will appeer to any discerning and unbiassd Reader that England taking her Kingdoms annexd along with her strength at Sea as well as shore will be inferior to none Ther was a Comparison made long since That Gallia Hispania sunt quasi lances in Europae libra Anglia est lingula sive libripendens That France and Spain were as the Scales of the great Balance of Europe and that England was the Toung or Beam of the Balance which keeps it in aequilibrio in an even counterpoise that neither side shold be trabâ—…ccant This hath bin often verified specially in the Raign of Henry the eighth whose Motto was Cui adhaereo praeest He to whom I adhere prevails He wold somtimes make Francis the first to weigh down somtimes Charles the fifth And touching the former He acknowledgd King Henry under God to be the chiefest Deliverer of Him and his Children from his captivity in Spain And so likewise did Pope Clement when he was freed from the Castle of St. Angelo where Charles the Emperour had coopd him up Therfore was Henry of England calld Liberator Orbis by the whole Confistory at Rome as he was before Protector of the great Clementine League And indeed the Arbiter of all Christendom in his time Touching the Martial Might of the King of Great Britain we will first examine that of England which we must distinguish into Intrinsecal or Terrene And into Extrinsecal or Maritime Concerning the first ther are five Counties alone can put into the Field fourty thousand men all armd for so many are listed in the Muster-makers Book as Traind-Band-men viz. the County of York 12000 Kent 8000 Norfolk 〈◊〉 and Devonshire above 6000 apiece And the rest of the Counties whereof ther are fourty seven may have twice as many at least which come to a hundred and twenty thousand Soldiers eâ—…olld and ready upon all occasions either for general service or privat in the Counties where they are for assisting the Sheriff and other Officers in the execution of the Law in case of any resistance therfore are they calld Posse Comitatuâ—… The power of the County So that in time of peace England alone hath an hundred and twenty thousand Soldiers enrolld besides those in Ireland and Scotland And in time of War the late bloudy Rebellion bleeding yet in the purses and estates of many thousand poor Cavaliers hath sufficiently tryed the strength and wealth of England For ther was a computation made at one time of those that were in actual Arms for King and Parlement and they came to neer upon two hundred thousand fighting men under Commission wherof ther were about fifty thousand Horse and Dragoons And I do not remember to have read that in the time of the famous Ligue in France ther were so many take in strangers and all Hence we see that the King of Great Britain may be said to have a constant standing Army in time of peace of which he hath the sole disposing For the Sword is his as much as the Scepter and the Crown which are inalienable from his power and incommunicable to any other but by his Royal Commissions And indeed t is the Sword that makes all Kings powerful The Crown and the Scepter are but impotent and poor unweildy things they are but naked Indefensible badges without it Ther 's none so filly as to think ther 's meant hereby an ordinary single sword such as evry one carrieth by his side Or some Imaginary thing or Chymera of a sword No t is the publik Polemical Sword of the whole Nation It may be calld an Aggregative or compound Sword made up of all the Ammunition the Artillery Pikes Muskets Helmets Headpeeces with all kind of armes
blessed Saints may adde to the Nobleness of a Country the Churches of France are full of them Reperies in Francia as Cassanaeus relates omnes Christi Exuvias quippe praeputium Inconsutilem togam Spineum diadema Crucem Clavos Spongiam Lanciae cuspidem cum qua sepultus est sindonem You will find in France all the Exuvias or Spoiles of Christ his praeputium his seamless coat his Cross the Nayls the Sponge the point of the Spear and the Winding-sheet wherin he was buried Cassanaeus goes further and says that in Burgundy the body of Lazarus is buried as also Mary Magdalens ashes are kept in a noble Chest and likewise those of Martha Martialis and of the three Maries Adde herunto the most precious head of Iohn Baptist and the finger wherwith he pointed at the immaculat Lamb of God The eleven thousand Virgins are yet kept in France And likewise the reliques of St. Denis Martin Cosma Damianus Sebastian with other Christian Hero's are to be found in France As Claudius and Edmundus whose bodies bones and flesh are to be seen to this day and are frequently visited by Pilgrims Ther are also to be seen the three Twins St. Geneveva St. German St. Hilary with sundry others I must not omit the Body of St. Quintinus a great Martyr who hath a Town of his name to this day which formerly was calld Samarobrina from the River Samoria which Martyr after many persecutions and punishments under Dioclesian and Maximinianus was at last beheaded his body and head were thrown into the River Samoria where it lay many years until a Roman Matron calld Eusebia being warnd by an Angel came to search for the body which being found it immediatly cur'd her sore eyes and so she put the body and head under ground wheron since a mighty Sanctuary was erected bearing his name and calld St. Quintin 300 years after in the raign of King Dagobert his body was taken out of the earth and put in a gold Chest where it remains to this day and wherunto a great confluence of Pilgrims do frequently resort by reason of the great miracles that he hath wrought in point of health to many thousands all which particulars Cassanaeus relates Touching the Nobleness of the French Fabriques erected and consecrated for the worship and service of God Almighty as Basilicas Temples Churches Sanctuaries and other Domes of Devotion the whole earth hath not fairer or more magnificent as also Priories Abbeys Convents Monasteries c. What a glorious and indeed admired structure is the great Carthusian Monastery in Provence It may be calld a little Christian Commonwealth of it self and hath Revenues able to bear up the port of a Souvrain Prince Now ther is no Church upon the surface of the Terrestrial Globe that is comparable to the French in Revenues and Riches for the last computation which was made the Revenues of the Gallican Clergie amounted to above three hundred and twenty millions of Livres a stupendous sum And indeed They need have so much for besides such a world of Abbots Priors Monks Priests and other Ecclesiastical Dignitaries ther are in France 15 Archbishops and 150 Suffragan Bishops and such is the honor which is born there to the Mitre that they are all Privy-Counsellors by their Dignity and by the Laws of France though few do come to the said Council unless they have an intimation of the Kings plesure by particular Letter The fifth Argument A Nobilitate Subditorem from the Nobleness of Subjects IN the third Argument going before ther were some touches of the French Noblesse and Gentry how numerous they are and the many ways of Preferment the King hath for Cadets or younger Brothers wheras the elder use to have great Estates of their own For indeed some of them have mighty Fortunes by Patrimonial Inheritance The last Duke of Guyse kept a House like a Souvrain Prince he had above two hundred Gentlemen waited on him as menial servants and having Domestik dependency unto whom he gave such a liberal allowance and long Leases out of his estate that they might live like Gentlemen which made one tell the Duke that he had turnd all his Estate to Obligations meaning that he had obligd so many unto him by his munificence and bounty Yet ther are three sorts of Subjects that live but poorly in France which are the Roturier the Vigneron and the Peasan But they who dwell in Towns and have any Profession or Trade live well enough But the main wealth of the Country is among the Gentry or Noblesse who live plentifully and well Among divers others ther is one singular quality in the French Gentry that they are extraordinarily affected to their King and they are pleasd in nothing more then to have access and see him Ther is a world of examples how close they have stuck to him in the Wars when his person was in hazard and rescued him though danger and death were inevitable in the Action For Horsmanship and Chivalry they surpass all other and indeed ther is none that becomes a Horse so well and hath a more comely seat on his back then a French-man Adde herunto that the French Noblesse are naturally Valiant quick and hardy not onely in the Wars and publick Engagements but in privat Feuds ther being more Duels fought there then in all Christendome besides Nor is ther any Nation more covetous of Honor or more careful and tender to conserve it when they have it I will conclude this Argument in brief with the opinion of a famous Poet who sings thus of them Gallia fert acres animos Idonea bello Corpora non illis ausit componere sese Thracia quae Martem genuit non Parthia versis Quaebellatur equis fugiens licet inclyta Crasso Facta sit extincto signisque superba Latinis Quas Gentes olim non contrivere per omnem Invecti Europam quasi grando Aquilone vel Austro Importata gravi passim sonuere tumultu Scit Romanus adhuc quam Tarpeia videtis Arx attollentem caput Illo in monte superbum Pannones Emathii norunt scit Delphica Tellus Quam nisi terrificis subito convulsa ruinis Oppressisset eos non defendisset Apollo The sixth Argument A Plenitudine Potestatis Regiae from the Absolutness of Royal Power THer is no Monark among Christians that hath a more plenary and absolut power then the King of France take together all the Prerogatives that a King is capable of He only can make Peace or denounce War He only can convoke discontinue and dissolve Parlements I mean the Assembly of the Three Estates He only can pardon He only can naturalize and ennoble He only can put value upon Coin He only can press to the War Nay He hath power not only to do all this but he can make Laws and impose Taxes at pleasure All which he doth by his own Royal Edicts For as touching the formality that the said Edicts shold be confirmd by
they are excerpted drawn and deprompted out of the eminentst Authors who have written in their behalf and that with such fidelity and truth as the Majesty of so high a subject doth require not omitting any Argument that had weight in it Touching the competition twixt other Souverain Princes as that twixt the King of Denmark and Him of Sweden who both entitle themselfs Kings of the Goths and Vandals as also that twixt the Portugues and the Pole Twixt the Republiks of Venice and Genoa who both pretend to be Teste Coronate to be Crowned Heads because thâ—… one had the Kingdome of Cyprus the other hath that of Corsica under her Dominion as likewise the old Competition twixt the Duke of Savoy and Him of Milan which is now drownd in the Spanish Titles Nor of the Princes of Germany I say that the Disputes of these Precedencies do not belong to this present Discourse Ther are also divers other Competitions twixt Cities as well as Souvrain Princes as twixt Milan and Ravenna in Italy twixt Strasburg and Norimburg in Germany twixt Toledo Burgos in Spain which Philip 2. did in some mesure reconcile For when in a Parlement which they call Las Cortes ther was a high feud twixt these two Cities whose Bourgesse shold speak first the King stood up and said Hable Burgos que por Toledo hablare yo Let Burgos speak for Toledo I will speak my self The like Competition is in England for Precedence twixt Oxford and Cambridge which hath bin often debated in Parlement though Oxford had always the better because she is namd first in all Acts of Parlement for Subsidies Nor indeed hath Cambridge reason to contend in this point if Antiquity take place and Antiquity is a good argument for Lucian will tell us that when ther was a Contest in Heven twixt Esculapius and Hercules for Precedence Esculapius carried it because he came first thither Therfore Cambridge need not be offended with the Poet when he sung Hysteron Proteron praepostera forma loquendi Exempli causa Cant'brigia Oxonium Ther 's also another Argument for Oxford drawn ab Etymologia which the Philosopher tells us is a good way of arguing viz. Ther was an Ox and a Ford then Came a Bridge But these two Noble Sisters as they are unparallelld by any other in their kind let them be equal among themselfs and listen unto the Poet Sisters why strive you for Antiquity The older still the likelier for to die Wold you wish your own ruine surely no Let Mouldring Age on meaner things take hold But may You florish still and nere grow old And let this be a Close to the Third Section The fourth last Section CONTAINING A DISCOURSE OF AMBASSADORS THer is a good Rule in the Schools Qui bene dividit bene docet Therfore we will make this Fourth Section to conform and quadrat with the other Three in point of Division It shall also be a Decade with the rest and as ther is Affinity of Matter betwixt them so ther shall be affinity of Method For it shall likewise consist of ten Parts or Paragraphs 1. The first shall be of the derivation and Etymologie of this word Ambassador with the Definition Division and Denomination of Ambassadors and Legats 2. The second shall be of the indispensable and absolut necessity of Ambassadors and that Mankind cannot subsist without Them 3. Of the Antiquity the first Rise and Pedigree of Ambassadors as also of their Dignity high Honor and Pre-eminence and who are capable to employ them 4. Of their Privileges Reception Security and the inviolable sacred esteem of their Persons 5. Of the Breeding and Education the Parts and Perfections both acquird and natural which are requird in an Ambassador 6. Of the Election and choice of an Ambassador that he should be Par Negotio adaequat to the Employment he goes about 7. Of the Office and Duty of an Ambassador in the execution of his Place and acquitting Himself of the great Fiduciary Trust reposd in Him 8. Of the Laws of England relating to Ambassadors how they use to be receavd and treated in the English Court and what Rewards they receave c. 9. Of the wise Comportment and witty Sayings of divers Ambassadors during the time of their Negotiation 10. Of the extraordinary Prudence and Reservedness the Stoutness and Generosity of divers English Ambassadors c. THer are many Authors who have made it their business to write of Ambassadors and of their Office Incumbency and Charge as also of their Qualities Breeding and sutable Parts They have moreover undertaken to prescribe them Rules Precepts and Cautions but those Precepts may fit any other Minister of State or Magistrat and so they amuse the Reader with Universals But this Discourse shall keep close to the Person of the Ambassador and to the Nature of his Function Office and Duty And so we will take the first Paragraph in hand 1 Paragraph Touching the derivation and Etymologie of this word Ambassador With the Definition Division and Denomination of Ambassadors and Legats NEither Don Antonio de Zuniga the Spaniard nor Doctor Gasparo Bragaccia the Italian with divers others who have written so largely of an Ambassador do let us know what the Word is either Ambassadeur Ambasciatore Embaxador or Ambascia Now we find them all to be of great Antiquity for they are derivd of an old Celtik or Gaulish word which Celtiks were before the Greeks or Latins a Peeple that dwelt where Paris in France now stands being calld so before the Romans or the Franconians came in Now Embassy or Ambascy comes of Ambachten which is to work and Ambacht was a servant in the old Gaulik or Celtik toung wherunto alludes Bachken usd yet in Wales for a servant wherby among divers other Arguments it is very probable that the ancient Gaules and Britains spake one Language originally From hence came Ambactus which Tacitus useth when he saith That Galli plurimos circumse Ambactos Clientesque habent So that Ambasciator derivd hence is come now to be a servant or Minister of honor for in some Translations we have Paulus Dei gratia Diaconus Ambasciator Insomuch that it may well extend to the holy Function of Priests For the Minister on the Desk may be said to be the Peeples Ambassador to God and in the Pulpit Gods Ambassador to the Peeple But the Italians wold have Ambasciatore to come from the old Hetruscan word Bascer which signifidth nunciare to report or declare Others have a conceit that it may come from the word Ambo because he is a Mediator twixt both Parties Now touching the Definition of an Ambassador or Legat Don Antonio de Zuniga defines him thus A Legat or Ambassador is a Conciliator of the Affairs of Princes A Man sent from far to treat of publik Concernments by particular Election not by strength and stratagems of War but by Eloquence and force of Wit Others define him to be a
ipsa tamen ubi veritas Fictio adidem collimant veritas praevalet Fictioni In the present Prince ther is real Majesty in an Ambassador only a representative In the Prince ther is the truth of the thing in an Ambassador the effigies or shadow Now as the shadow yeelds to the light so an Ambassador must yeeld to a Prince For although a Fiction operats as much as the truth of the thing yet where Truth and Fiction aim at one thing Truth is Prevalent Nay the Electors jointly hold themselfs to be more then the Emperour he being their production and made by their Suffrages and election and the Rule of Heraldry is Honor est in Dante But all this is by the by Now so high and transcendent is the privilege of an Ambassador and his Person so sacred that whosoever doth perpetrat any thing against his safety he is guilty of High Treson of Laesae Majestatis that is of prostituted Faith Publik Authority and of a breach of the Law of Nations Qui violarit Legatum Lege Iulia de vi publica tenetur VVho violats an Ambassador by the Iulian Law he is guilty of publik violence and by the Pontifical Law t is no less then a Piacle therfore he is interdicted from the benefit of holy things We will produce some Examples what revenges have followd for the violation of Ambassadors The King of the Ammonits did deride and ill entreat the Ambassadors of King David and to make them more contumelious their Beards were half shaven and their garments torn to their tails but what ensued the Ammonits afterward were overcome in Battail and Rabba their chief City being taken it was sacrificed with other Cities also to free plunder and the fury of the soldiers so the affronts done to the Ambassadors were vindicated The Romans usd for a Piaculary Revenge to send those who had violated an Ambassador to the King whose person he represented as a victime that he might inflict upon them what punishment he pleased for the aâ—…rocity of the Fact So Minutius and Manlius were sent to Carthage by a solemn Decree of the Senat because they had wrongd her Ambassadors at Rome And so respectful were the Romans of the sacred Persons of Ambassadors that if any free Citizen of Rome did offer the least violence though by words only he was degraded of being a free Citizen ever after Nay the very name of Ambassador is so sacred that ther is a rare example that though some did counterfait it yet they wold lay no violent hands upon them For Scipio Africanus having taken a ship laden with many illustrious Carthaginians they said that they were Ambassadors sent to him yet though it was found they were none he dismissd them peaceably That as Valerius hath it Romani Imperatoris potiùs decepta fides quà m frustra implorata videretur Ambassadors also have a privilege that what children they get abroad be it under what Climat it will during their Legation they are free-born Denizens of that Country whence they come and need no Naturalization and the reason which Hotoman gives is that they cannot be said to be absent thence all the while being still doing the business of their own Country though they live as Exiles for the time for the common good Besides if they chance to die there their goods are not subject to droit d' Aubaine that is they do not fall by Escheatage to the King as other strangers goods do in some Countries When they are revokd home they are advanced to the best Offices and not only as a jeering French-man said to pluck Capons as Sir Henry Vane Sir Peter Wichts and Sir Thomas Edmonds were who were made Officers of the Green-cloth in the Kings Houshold Lastly after their deaths ther were statues erected to perpetuat their memories The fifth Paragraph Of the Breeding and Education of the Parts and Perfections both Acquird and Natural which are requird in an Ambassador AS in a General or Commander in chief of an Army ther is requird Valour Magnanimity and Courage so in an Ambassador ther is Wisdome Discretion and Prudence requird The one is for Performance and Action the other is for Counsel and Negotiation Ther is also Elocution requisit in both in the one to enforce the justice of the Quarrel and to infuse courage into the soldiers by his Hortatives in lieu wherof Sermons are made use of in latter Ages in the other to move the affections of the Prince he is sent unto Therfore Mercury was appointed to be Ambassador of the Gods in regard of his Eloquence And this strain of well-speaking in an Ambassador must be natural as well as by art for the Italian tells us Una oncia di Natura vale una libra di Dottrina An ounce of Nature is worth a pound of Learning Touching matter of Literature ther are two principal Qualities requird in him viz. to be a good Historian and a good Linguist being the first t is presumd he is stord with Examples Precedents and Observations of the Carriage of other Ambassadors Of what encounters and difficulties they found in their Negotiations and what successes they had By being a good Linguist he hath extraordinary advantage to facilitat his affairs to converse with other Ambassadors upon the place to get intelligence and gain the knowledge and frendship of the prime men and Ministers of that Prince to whom he is employd and to get his favor also But it is a caution which the Civilians give That an Ambassador shold not speak but in a Language which he well understands for fear of slips and placing a word amiss Now t is a great truth specially in an Ambassador that Meglio è sducciolare co ' piedi che con la lingua T is better to slip with the foot then with the toung Now the toung being by the institution of Nature in udo posita put in a moist place is very subject to slip That worthy Knight Frederik Marselaer in his Book calld the Legat and the Civilians point at divers qualities that shold be in an Ambassador 1. He shold be an Indigena born in that Country whence he comes that all his hopes of preferment may be there and certainly a Stranger or Alien though made free Denizen cannot be so proper for a true-born Childe must needs negotiat with more affection for the honor and safety for the benefit and interest of his own native Country and Mother 2. He must be a Gentleman born or Noble for all Gentlemen are accounted Noble in other Countries He must be no Agaso or Caprimulgus and then he will gain more respect from the Prince and Peeple to whom he is employd for since he must take Precedence of Princes Dukes Marquisses and Earls c. they will not think it much to give him priority of place being well born 3. He must be a comely and graceful Person being to represent the person of his Prince for the peeple
Husband Maids and Unmarried Women took up some their Brothers some their Kinred and so all marchd out so Caesar pardond all I will conclude with a late example of Madame Sardaus who went so often privatly twixt Bruxels and the Hague until the peace was concluded twixt Spain and Holland after fourscore yeers Wars by Sea and Land Therfore she was calld La Maquarelle de la Paix which was no disgrace to her The seventh Paragraph Touching the Office Function and Duty of an Ambassador in the execution of his Place and acquitting himself of the great Fiduciary Trust reposd in Him c. THe Civilians who are best versd in the Laws of Embassies say Legatio est mysteriosum quid that it is a mysterious thing It is full of secrecie and darkness as it is of Faith and Trust. The Lord high Chancellor of England who is Keeper of the Kings Conscience as well as of the Great Seal hath a great trust reposd in him for to mitigat the rigor of the Laws by way of Equity The Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench he of the Common Pleas and the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer have great trusts reposd in them but all these deal twixt Subject and Subject and sometimes twixt King and Subject But Ambassadors have a higher trust for they deal twixt Kings and Kings twixt Countries and Countries therfore as the burden is heavier so the honor is the greater ther is no secrecie belongs to the other Offices but reservedness and secrecie is the soul of Embassy which made one say If his Cap knew his privat Instructions he wold hurle it into the fire and burn it And as ther is honor in this high employment so ther is much honor attends it which made one say That that Ambassador who loseth one hair of his Masters honor forfeits his head at his return One of the principal Duties of an Ambassador is to stick close to his Instructions and the Mandats of his Master and therin an Ambassador Lidger doth not run so much hazard as an Extraordinary who hath many things commonly left to discretion by way of implicit trust Besoldus defines the Office of an Ambassador thus Ut Mandatum fideliter cum dexteritate exequatur acceptum responsum diligentissime notatum referat Mittenti That with faithfulness and dexterity he execut the Command and report to him who sent him the Answer most diligently noted Ther is a shorter definition Officium Legati est ut Mandata Legationis diligenter conficiat ex Fâ—…de That he perform carefully the Command of the Embassy and with Faith He derives all his Power from his Instructions for without them ther is no Mission or Embassy Ther is an Example of the Athenians that having employd Ambassadors with divers Iustructions wherof one was that they shold take such a way as they went they going another way though they had performd all the rest of the Instructions yet they were put to death at their return for infringing this one Ther are divers instances how Ambassadors exceeding their Commissions and falling into follies have bin punishd upon the place Hector Boetius relates that Olaus and Evetus killd the Scots Ambassadors Teaca Queen of Sclavonia killd a Roman Ambassador as Polybius mentions The Athenians causd Darius Ambassadors to be thrown into a Well Dandolo the Venetian Ambassador had his eyes pluckd out by the King of Sicily But let us descend to latter Ages Francis the first of France sent Fregosa and Rinion Ambassadors to the Turk Charles 5. soldiers discoverd surprizd and flew them in Italy The fact was justified by the Emperour because they were both his subjects the one being a Milanois the other of Genoa and servd his Enemy for ther were Wars then twixt Charles and Francis Edward the second of England employd a French Gentleman Ambassador to France who had bin executed for a Traytor for serving the Enemy had not the Queen interceded Anno 1302. the Pope sent an Ambassador to France where he practisd some Treson and being arraigned convicted and condemned to die the Popes Frends procurd that he shold be banishd only The Venetian drew out of the French Ambassadors House some who bad discoverd their secrets to the Turk where resistance being made Cannons were sent for from the Arsenal and so they were taken out by force and the French King not offended The Ambassadors in these latter examples by their own indiscretion and misdemenures drew these violences upon themselfs We will concude this point with a latter example in England 1624. at which time ther were two Spanish Ambassadors residing in London who were the Marquiss of Inojosa and Don Carlos Coloma and the Prince of Wales being newly returnd from Madrid Re infectâ without the Infanta matters began to gather ill bloud twixt England and Spain in regard that the Treties both of Match and Palatinat were dissolvd by Act of Parlement which was done by means of the Duke of Buckingham The said Ambassadors finding that they contrivd a way how to supplant and destroy the Duke Herupon falling into consideration that King Iames was grown old and that the least thing might make impressions of distrust and jealousies in him therfore in a privat audience they did intimat unto him that ther was a very dangerous designe against his Royal Authority traced by the Duke of Buckingham and his Complices which was that at the beginning of that Parlement the said Duke with certain Lords and others consulted of the argument means which were to be taken for the breaking and dissolving of the Treties both of the Spanish Match and for the restitution of the Palatinat and if his Majesty wold not conform therunto their consultations passd so far that he shold have a house of plesure where he might retire himself to his sports in regard that the Prince had now yeers sufficient and parts answerable for the Government of the Kingdome The King for the present dismissd them with thanks But the next day he made earnest instances that as they had discoverd a Conspiracie they wold also detect the Conspirators this being the only means wherby their own honor might be preservd in proving the truth of things To this they replyed That they had reveald enough already in order to the care and zeal they had to his Royal Person and Dignity Therupon the King commanded that the Duke of Buckingham shold be put to his Oath with others who were most suspectful which they all took for cleering their integrity This being done the King returnd to make new instances to the said Ambassadors that they wold not prefer the discovery of the names of the Conspirators to the security of his Person as also to the truth and honor of themselfs and to the hazard of an opinion to be held the Authors and Betrayers of a Plot of so much malice sedition and danger but they wold discover no more Yet a few days