surprize Antwerp where he receivd an illfavord repuls yet nevertheless the united Provinces for so they termd themselfs ever after fearing to distast their next great neighbor France made a second proffer of their protection and Soverainty to that King who having too many irons in the fire at his own home the Ligue growing stronger and stronger he answerd them that his shirt was nearer to him than his dublet Then had they recours to Queen Elizabeth who partly for her own securitie partly for interest in Religion reacht them a supporting hand and so sent them men money and a Governor the Earl of Leicester who not symbolizing with their humor was quickly revokd yet without any outward dislike on the Queens side for she left her Forces still with them but upon their expence She lent them afterwards some considerable sums of moneys and she receivd Flushing and the Brill for caution Ever since the English have bin the best sinews of their war and Achievers of the greatest exploits amongst them Having thus made sure work with the English they made young Count Maurice their Governor who for five and twenty years together held rack with the Spaniard and during those traverses of war was very fortunat an overture of Peace was then propounded which the States would not hearken unto singly with the King of Spain unlesse the Provinces that yet remaind under him would engage themselfs for performance of what was Articled besides they would not treat either of Peace or Truce unless they were declar'd free States all which was granted so by the intervention of the English and French Ambassadors a Truce was concluded for 12 years These wars did so drain and discommodat the King of Spain by reason of his distance every Soldier that he sent either from Spain or Italy costing him nere upon a hundred crowns before he could be rendred in Flanders that notwithstanding his mines of Mexico and Peru it plung'd him so deeply in debt that having taken up moneys in all the chief banks of Christendom he was forcd to publish a Diploâ—…a wherein he dispens'd with himself as the Holland Story hath it from payment alleging that he had employed those moneys for the public Peace of Christendom this broak many great Banquers and they say his credit was not current in Sevill or Lisbon his own Towns and which was worse while he stood wrastling thus with his own Subjects the Turke took his opportunity to get from him Tunis and the Goletta the Tropheys of Charles the fift his Father So eager he was in this quarrell that he imployd the utmost of his strength and industry to reduce this people to his will in regard he had an intent to make these Provinces his main Randevous and Magazin of men of war which his neighbors perceiving and that he had a kind of aym to be Western Monarch being led not so much for love as reasons of State they stuck close to the revolted Provinces and this was the bone that Secretary Walsingham told Queen Elizabeth he would cast the King of Spain that should last him 20 years and perhaps make his teeth shake in his head But to return to my first discours whence this digression hath snatchd me The Netherlands who had bin formerly knit and concentred under one Soverain Prince were thus dismembred And as they subsist now They are a State and a Province The Province having ten of the 17. at least is far greater more populous better soyld and more stor'd with Gentry The State is the richer and stronger the one proceeding from their vast Navigation and Commerce the other from the qualitie of their Countrey being defensible by Rivers and Sluces by meanes wherof they can suddenly overwhelm all the whole Countrey witnes that stupendious siege of Leyden and Haerlam for most of their Towns the marks being taken away are inaccessible by reason of shelfs of sands Touching the transaction of these Provinces which the King of Spaine made as a dowry to the Archduke Albertus upon marriage with the Infanta who therupon left his red Hat and Toledo Miter the chiefest spirituall Dignity in Christendom for revenue after the Papacy it was fringd with such cautelous restraints that he was sure to keep the better end of the staff still to himself for he was to have the tutele and ward of his children that they were to marry with one of the Austrian Family recommended by Spain and in default of issue and in case Albertus should survive the Infanta he should be but Governor only Add hereunto that King Philip reserv'd still to himself all the Cittadells and Castles with the order of the golden Fleece wherof he is Master as he is Duke of Burgundy The Archduke for the time hath a very princely command all Coyns bear his stâ—…mp all Placarts or Edicts are publishd in his name he hath the election of all civill Officers and Magistrats he nominats also Bishops and Abbars for the Pope hath only ' the Confirmation of them here nor can he adjourn any out of the Countrey to answer any thing neither are his Bulls of any strength without the Princes placet which makes him have alwayes som Commissioners to execute his Authority The people here grow hotter and hotter in the Roman Cause by reason of the mixture with Spaniards and Italians as also by the example of the Archduke and the Infanta who are devout in an intense degree Ther are two supreme Counsells the Privy Counsell and that of the State this treats of confederations and intelligence with forren Princes of Peace and War of entertaining or of dismissing Colonells and Captains of Fortifications and they have the surintendency of the highest affairs that concern the Prince and the policy of the Provinces The privat hath the granting of all Patents and Requests the publishing of all Edicts and Proclamations the prising of Coin the looking to the confines and extent of the Provinces and the enacting of all new Ordinances Of these two Counsells ther is never a Spaniard but in the actuall Counsell of War their voices are predominant Ther is also a Court of Finances or Exchequer whence all they that have the fingring of the Kings money must draw a discharge Touching matters of Justice their Law is mixt between Civill and common with some clauses of Canonicall The high Court of Parliament is at Maline whither all Civill Causes may be brought by appeal from other Towns except som that have municipall Privileges and are soverain in their owne jurisdictions as Mons in Henalt and a few more The prime Province for dignity is Brabant which amongst many other privileges it enjoyeth hath this for one not to appear upon any summons out of its owne precinct which is one of the reasons why the Prince makes his residence there but the prime for extent and fame is Flanders the chiefest Earldom in Christendom which is three dayes journey in length Ghent its Metropolis is reputed the
Sophisters were the first Lawyers that ever were I shall be upon incertain removes hence untill I come to Roüeâ—… in France and there I mean to cast Anchor a good while I shall expect your Letters there with impatience I pray present my Service to Sir Iames Altham and to my good Lady your Mother with the rest to whom it is due in Bishopsgate Street and elsewhere So I am Yours in the best degree of Friendship J. H. Hague 30. of May 1619. X. To Sir James Crofts from the Hague SIR THe same observance that a Father may challenge of his child the like you may claim of me in regard of the extraordinary care you have bin pleas'd to have alwayes since I had the happines to know you of the cours of my Fortunes I am now newly come to the Hague the Court of the six and almost seven confederated Provinces the Counsell of State with the Prince of Orange makes his firm Residence here unlesse he be upon a march and in motion for some design abroad This Prince Maurice was cast in a mould suitable to the temper of this people he is slow and full of warines and not without a mixture of fear I do not mean a pusillanimous but politic fear he is the most constant in the quotidian cours and carriage of his life of any that J have ever heard or read of for whosoever knows the customs of the Prince of Orange may tell what he is a doing here evry hour of the day though he be in Constantinople In the morning he awaketh about six in Sommer and seven in Winter the first thing he doth he sends one of his Grooms or Pages to see how the wind sits and he wears or leaves off his Wascot accordingly then he is about an hour dressing himself and about a quarter of an hour in his Closet then comes in the Secretary and if he hath any privat or public Letters to write or any other dispatches to make he doth it before he stirs from his Chamber then comes he abroad and goes to his Stables if it be no Sermon day to see some of his Gentlemen or Pages of whose breeding he is very carefull ride the great Horse He is very accessible to any that hath busines with him and sheweth a winning kind of familiarity for he will shake hands with the meanest Boor of the Countrey and he seldom hears any Commander or Gentleman with his Hat on He dines punctually about twelve and his Table is free for all comers but none under the degree of a Captain useth to sit down at it after dinner he stayes in the Room a good while and then any one may accost him and tell his tale then he reâ—…res to his Chamber where he answers all Petitions that were delivered him in the Morning and towards the Evening if he goes not to Counsell which is seldome he goes either to make some visits or to take the Air abroad and according to this constant method he passeth his life Ther are great stirs like to arise twixt the Bohemians and their elected King the Emperour and they are com already to that height that they consult of deposing him and to chuse some Protestant Prince to be their King som talk of the Duke of Saxony others of the Palsgrave J beleeve the States here would rather be for the latter in regard of conformity of Religion the other being a Lutheran I could not find in Amsterdum a large Ortelius in French to send you but from 〈◊〉 I will not fail to serve you So wishing you all happines and health and that the Sun may make many progresses more through the Zodiac before those comely Gray hairs of yours go to the Grave I rest Iune the 3. 1619. Your very humble Servant J. H. XI To Captain Francis Bacon at the Glassehouse in Broad-street SIR MY last to you was from Amsterdam since which time I have travers'd the prime parts of the united Provinces and â—… am now in Zealand being newly come to this Town of Middlâ—… borough which is much crest-faln since the Staple of English Cloâ—… was removed hence aâ—… is Flishing also her next Neighbor since thâ—… departure of the English Garrison A good intelligent Gentleman told me the manner how Flishing and the Bâ—…ill our two Cautionary Towns here were redeem'd which was thus The ninâ—… hundred and odd Souldiers at Flishing and the Rammakins haâ—… by being many weeks without their pay they borrow'd diverâ—… sums of Money of the States of this Town who finding no hopeâ—… of supply from England advice was sent to the States-Generall 〈◊〉 the Hague they consulting with Sir Ralph Winwood our Ambassador who was a favourable Instrument unto them in this busines as also in the match with the Palsgrave sent Instructions to the Lord Caroon to acquaint the Earl of Suffolk then Lord Treasurer herewith and in case they could find no satisfaction there to make his addresse to the King himself which Caroon did His Majestie being much incens'd that his Subjects and Souldiers should starve for want of their pay in a Forren Countrey sent for the Lord Treasurer who drawing his Majestie aside and telling how empty his Exchequer was His Majestie told the Ambassador that if his Masters the States would pay the money they ow'd him upon those Towns he would deliver them up The Ambassador returning the next day to know whether his Majestie persisted in the same Resolution in regard that at his former audience he perceived him to be a little transported His Majesty answered That he knew the States of Holland to be his good frends and confederats both in point of Religion and Policy therefore he apprehended not the least fear of any difference that should fall out between them in contemplation whereof if they desir'd to have their Towns again he would willingly surrender them Hereupon the States made up the sum presently which came in convenient time for it serv'd to defray the expencefull progresse he made to Scotland the Summer following When that Money was lent by Queen Elizabeth it was Articled that Interest should be payed upon Interest and besides that for evry Gentleman who should lose his life in the States Service they should make good five pounds to the Crown of England All this His Majestie remitted and onely took the principall and this was done in requitall of that Princely Entertainment and great Presents which my Lady Elizabeth had received in divers of their Towns as she pass'd to Heydelberg The Bearer hereof is Sigr Antoniâ—… Miotti who was Master of a Crystall-Glasse Furnace here a long time and as I have it by good intelligence he is one of the ablest and most knowing men for the guidance of a Glasse-Work in Christendom Therefore according to my Instructions I send him over and hope to â—…ave done Sir Robert good service thereby So with my kinde respects unto you and my most humble Service where you know â—…is due
of the Imperiall Counsellors were hurld out at the windows you heard also I doubt not how they offer'd the Crown to the Dâ—…ke of Saxony and he waving it they sent Ambassadors to the 〈◊〉 whom they thought might prove par negotio and to be able to go through-stitch with the work in regard of his powerfull alliance the King of great Britain being his Father in Law the King of Denmark the Prince of Oâ—…nge the Marq. of Brandenburg the Duke of Boâ—…illon his Uncles the States of Holland his Confederates the French King his friend and the Duke of Bavaria his near allye The Prince Palsgrave made some difficulty at first and most of his Counsellors opposed it others incited him to it and amongst other hortatives they told him That if he had the courage to venture upon a King of Englands sole Daughter he might very well venture upon a Soveraign Crown when it was tendered him Add hereunto that the States of Holland did mainly advance the worke and ther was good reason in policy for it for their twelve years Truce being then upon point of expiring with Spain and finding our King so wedded to Peace that nothing could divorce him from it they lighted upon this design to make him draw his Sword and engage hiâ—… against the House of Austria for the defence of his sole Daughter and his Gran-Children What his Majesty will do hereafter I will not presume to foretell but hitherto he hath given liâ—…tle countenance to the busines nay he utterly misliked it at first for wheras Doctor Hall gave the Prince Palsgrave the Title of King of Bohemia in his Pulpit Prayer he had a check for his pains for I heard his Majesty should say that ther is an implicit tie amongst Kings which obligeth them though ther be no other interest or particular engagement to stick unto and right one another upon insurrection of Subjects Therfore he had more reason to be against the Bohemians than to adhere to them in the deposition of their Soveraign Prince The King of Denmark sings the same note nor will he also allow him the appellation of King But the fearfull news I told you of at the beginning of this Letter is that ther are fresh tidings brought how the Prince Palsgrave had a well appointed Army of about 25000 horse and foot near Prague but the Duke of Bavaria came with scarce half the number and notwithstanding his long march gave them a sudden Battell and utterly routed them Insomnch that the new King of Bohemia hahaving not worn the Crown a whole twelvemonth was forced to flie with his Quâ—…n and children and after many difficulties they write that they are come to the Castle of Castrein the Duke of Brandenburghs Countrey his Uncle Tâ—…is news affects both Court and City here with much heavines I send you my humble thanks for the noble correspondence you pleased to hold with me abroad and I desire to know by the nexâ—… when you come to London that I may have the comfort of the sight of you after so long an absence Maâ—…ch the 1. 1619. Yourâ—… true Servitor J. H. V. To Dr. Fra Manâ—…ell at All Soules in Oxford I Am returned safe from my forain employment from my three years travell I did my best to make what advantage I could of the time though not so much as I should for I find that Peregrination wel us'd is a very profitable school it is a running Academy and nothing conduceth more to the building up and perfecting of a man Your honorable Uncle Sir Râ—…rt Mansell who is now in the Medâ—…erranean hath been very noble to me and I shall ever acknowledg a good part of my education from him He hath melted vast sums of money in the glass busines a busines indeed more proper for a Merchant than a Courtier I heard the King should say that he wondred Robin Mansell being a Sea-man wherby he hath got so much honour should fall from Water to tamper with Fire which are two contrary Elements My Father fears that this glass-employment will be too brittle a foundation for me to build a Fortune upon and Sir Robert being now at my comming back so far at Sea and his return uncertain my Father hath advised me to hearken after some other condition I attempted to goe Secretary to Sir Iohn Ayres to Constantinople but I came too late You have got your self a great deale of good repute by the voluntary resignation you made of the Principality of Iesus College to Sir Eubule Theloall in hope that he will be a considerable Benefactor to it I pray God he perform what he promiseth and that he be not over-partiall to North-wales men Now that I give you the first summon I pray you make me happy with your correspondence by Letters ther is no excuse or impediment at all left now for you are sure where to find me wheras I was a Landloper as the Dutch-man saith a wanderer and subject to incertain removes and short sojourns in divers places before So with apprecation of all happines to you here and hereafter I rest March 5. 1618. At your friendly dispose J. H. VI. To Sir Eubule Theloall Knight and Principall of Jesus Coll. in Oxford SIR I send you most due and humble thanks that notwithstanding I have played the Truant and been absent so long from Oxford you have been pleas'd lately to make choice of me to be Fellow of your new Foundation in Iesus College wherof I was once a Member As the quality of my Fortunes and cours of life run now I cannot make present use of this your great favour or promotion rather yet I do highly value it and humbly accept of it and intend by your permission to reserve and lay it by as a good warm garment against rough weather if any fall on me With this my expression of thankfulnes I do congratulate the great honour you have purchas'd both by your own beneficence and by your painfull endeavor besides to perfect that Nationall College which hereafter is like to be a Monument of your Fame as well as a Seminarie of Learning and will perpetuat your memory to all Posterity God Almighty prosper and perfect your undertakings and provide for you in Heaven those rewards which such publick works of Piety use to be crown'd withall it is the apprecation of Your truly devoted Servitor J. H. London idibus Mar. 1621. VII To my Father SIR according to the advice you sent me in your last while I sought after a new cours of employment a new employment hath lately sought after me My Lord Savage hath two young Gentlemen to his sonâ—…es and I am to goe travell with them Sit Iames Croftes who so much respects you was the main Agent in this busines and I am to goe shortly to Longmâ—…ford in Suffolk and â—…hence to Saint Osith in Essex to the Lord Darcy Queen Anne is lately dead of a Dropsie in Denmark house which is held to
to have com in a favorable conjuncture of time and my Lord Ambassador who is so highly esteemd here doth assure me of his best furtherance So praying I may prove as succesfull as I shall be faithfull in this great busines I rest Madrid 28 Decem. 1622. Yours to dispose of J. H. IX To Mr Arthur Hopton from Madrid SIR SInce I was made happy with your acquaintance I have receivd sundry strong evidences of your love and good wishes unto me which have tied me unto you in no common obligation of thanks I am in despair ever to cancell this bond nor would I do it but rather endear the engagement more and more The treaty of the match twixt our Prince and the Lady Infante is now strongly a foot she is a very comely Lady rather of a Flemish complexion than Spanish fair haird and carrieth a most pure mixture of red and white in her face she is full and big lipd which is held a beautie rather than a blemish or any excefle in the Austrian Family it being a thing incident to most of that race she goes now upon 16 and is of a talness agreable to those yeers The King is also of such a complexion and is under twentie he hath two brothers Don Carlos and Don Hernaâ—…do who though a youth of twelve yet is he Cardinall and Archbishop of Toledo which in regard it hath the Chancelorship of Castile annexed to it is the greatest spirituall dignity in Christendom after the Papacy for it is valued at 300000. Crowns per annum Don Carlos is of a differing complexion from all the rest for he is black haird and of a Spanish hue he hath neither Office Command Dignitie or Title but is an individuall companion to the King and what cloaths soever are provided for the King he hath the very same and as often from top to toe he is the better belov'd of the people for his complexion for one shall hear the Spaniard sigh and lament saying O when shall we have a King again of our own colour I pray commend me kindly to all at your house and send me word when the young gentlemen return from Italy So with my most affectionat respects to your self I rest Madrid 5. â—…an 1622. Your true friend to serve you J. H. X. To Captain Nic. Leat from Madrid SIR YOurs of the tenth of this present I receiv'd by Mr. Simon Digby with the inclosed to your son in Alicant which is safely sent Since my last unto you I had access to Olivares the Favorit that rules all I had also audience of the King to whom I deliver'd two memorialls since in his Majesties name of great Britain that a particular Iunta of some of the Counsell of State and War might be appointed to determin the business the last memoriall had so good success that the Referees are nominated wherof the chiefest is the Duke of Infantado Here it is not the stile to claw and complement with the King or Idolize him by Sacred Soverain and most Excellent Majesty but the Spaniard when he petitions to his King gives him no other Character but Sir and so relating his business at the end he doth ask and demand Justice of him When I have done with the Vice-roy here I shall hasten my dispatches for Sardinia since my last I went to liquidat the account more particularly and I find that of the 250000 Crowns ther are above forty thousand due unto you which might serve for a good Aldermans estate Your son in Alicant writes to me of another mischance that is befaln the ship Amitie about Mallorca wherof you were one of the proprietaries I am very sorry to hear of it and touching any dispatches that are to be had hence I shall endeavor to procure you them according to instructions Your cosen Richard Altham remembers his kind respects unto you and sends you many thanks for the pains you took in freeing us from that trouble which the scuffle with the Sergeants brought upon us So I rest Madrid 5 Ian. 1622. Yours ready to serve you J. H. XI To the Lord Vicount Colchester from Madrid Right honble THe grand busines of the match goes so fairly on that a speciall Iunta is appointed to treat of it the names wherof I send you here inclos'd they have proceeded so far that most of the Articles are agreed upon Mr. George Gage is lately come hither from Rome a polite and prudent gentleman who hath negotiated somthings in that Court for the advance of the busines with the Cardinalls Bandino Lodovisie la Susanna who are the main men there to whom the drawing of the dispensation is referr'd The late taking of Ormus by the Persian from the Crown of Portugall keeps a great noise here and the rather because the exploit was done by the assistance of the English ships that were then therabouts my Lord Digby went to Court and gave a round satisfaction in this point for it was no voluntary but a constrain'd act in the English who being in the Persians Port were suddenly embarqu'd for the service And the Persian herein did no more than what is usuall amongst Christian Princes themselves and which is oftner put in practice by the King of Spain and his Vice-roys than by any other viz. to make an embargue of any strangers ship that rides within his Ports upon all occasion It was fear'd this surprisall of Ormus which was the greatest Mart in all the Orient for all sorts of jewells would have bred ill bloud and prejudic'd the preceedings of the match but the Spaniard is a rationall man and will be satisfied with reason Count Olivares is the main man who sways all and 't is thought he is not so much affected to an alliance with England as his Predecessor the Duke of Lerma was who set it first a foot 'twixt Prince Henry and this Queen of France The Duke of Lerma was the greatest Privado the greatest Favorit that ever was in Spain since Don Alvaro de Luna he brought himself the Duke of Uzeda his son and the Duke of Câ—…a his grand-child to be all Grandes of Spain which is the greatest Title that a Spanish Subject is capable of they have a privilege to stand cover'd before the King and at their election ther 's no other Ceremony but only these three words by the King Cobrése por Grande cover your self for a Grande and that 's all The Cardinall Duke of Lerma lives at Valladolid he officiats and sings Mass and passeth his old age in Devotion and exercises of Piety It is a common and indeed a commendable custom amongst the Spaniard when he hath pass'd his gran climacteric and is grown decrepit to make a voluntary resignation of Offices be they never so great and profitable though I cannot say Lerâ—… did so and sequestring and weaning themselves as it were from all mundan negotiations and encombrances to retire to som place of devotion and spend the residue of
the Church here and so holy a conceit they have of all Ecclesiastics that the greatest Don in Spain will tremble to offer the mean'st of them any outrage or affront Count Gondamar hath also helpt to free som English that were in the Inquisition in Toledo and Sevill and I could allege many instances how ready and chearfull he is to assist any Englishman whatsoever notwithstanding the base affronts he hath often receivd of the London buys as he calls them At his last return hither I heard of a merry saying of his to the Queen who discoursing with him about the greatnesse of London and whether it was as populous as Madrid yes Madame and more populous when I came away though I beleeve ther 's scarce a man left there now but all women and children for all the mem both in Court and City were ready booted and spurd to go away And I am sorry to hear how other Nations do much tax the English of their incivility to public Ministers of State and what ballads and pasquils and fopperies and plays were made against Gondamar for doing his Masters busines My Lord of Bristoll coming from Germany to Brussells notwithstanding that at his arrivall thither the news was fresh that he had reliev'd Frankindale as he past yet was he not a whit the less welcom but valued the more both by the Archdutchess her self and Spinoâ—… with all the rest as also that they knew well that the said Earl had bin the sole adviser of keeping Sir Robert Mansell abroad with that Fleet upon the coast of Spain till the Palsgrave should be restord I pray Sir when you go to London wall and Tower hill be pleas'd to remember my humble service where you know it is due So I am Madrid Aug. 15. 1623. Your most faithfull Servitor J. H. V. To the right honble the Lord Vicount Colchester My very good Lord I Receiv'd the letter and commands your Lopp pleas'd to send me by Mr Walsingham Gresley and touching the Constitutions and Orders of the Contratation House of the West Indies in Sevill I cannot procure it for love or money upon any terms though I have done all possible diligence therin And som tell me it is dangerous and no less then Treason in him that gives the copy of them to any in regard 't is counted the greatest Mystery of all the Spanish government That difficulty which hapned in the busines of the match of giving caution to the Pope is now overcome for wheras our King answer'd that he could give no other caution than his Royall word and his sons exemplified under the great Seal of England and confirm'd by his Counsell of State it being impossible to have it done by Parliament in regard of the aversnes the common people have to the alliance And wheras this gave no satisfaction to Rome the King of Spain now offers himself for caution for putting in execution what is stipulated in behalf of the Roman Catholics throughout his Majestie of great Britain's Dominions but he desires to consult his ghostly fathers to know whether he may do iâ—… without wronging his conscience hereupon there hath bin a Iâ—…ta form'd of Bishops and Iesuits who have bin already a good while about it and the Bishop of Segovia who is as it were Lord Threasurer having written a Treatise lately against the match was outed of his Office banisht the Court and confin'd to his Diocess The Duke of Buckingham hath bin ill dispos'd a good while and lies sick at Court where the Prince hath no public exercise of devotion but only bedchamber prayers and some thinâ—… that his lodging in the Kings house is like to prove a disadvantagâ—… to the main business for wheras most sorts of people here hardly hold us to be Christians if the Prince had had a Palace of his own and bin permitted to have us'd a room for an open Chappell to exercise the Liturgy of the Church of England it would have brought them to have a better opinion of us And to this end ther were som of our best Church plate and vestments brought hither but never us'd The slow place of this Iunta troubles us a little and to the Divines ther are som Civilians admitted lately and the quaere is this whether the King of Spain may bind himself by oath in the behalf of the King of England to perform such and such Articles that are agreed on in favour of the Roman Catholics by vertue of this match whether the King may doe this salva conscientia Ther was a great show lately here of baiting of bulls with men for the entertainment of the Prince it is the chiefest of all Spanish sports commonly ther are men killd at it therfore ther are Priests appointed to be there ready to confess them It hath hapned oftentimes that a Bull hath taken up two men upon his horns with their guts dangling about them the horsemen run with lances and swords the foot with goads As I am told the Pope hath sent divers Bulls against this sport of bulling yet it will not be left the Nation hath taken such an habituall delight in it Ther was an ill favord accident like to have hapned lately at the Kings house in that part wher my Lord of Carlile and my Lord Denbigh were lodg'd for my Lord Denbigh late at night taking a pipe of Tobacco in a Balcone which hung over the Kings garden he blew down the ashes which falling upon som parchd combustible matter began to flame and spread but Master Davis my Lord of Carliles Barber leapt down a great height and quencht it So with continuance of my most humble service I rest ever ready Madrid Aug. 16. 1623. At your Lopps commands J. H. XXI To Sir James Crofts from Madrid SIR THe Court of Spain affords now little news for ther is a Remora sticks to the busines of the match till the Iunta of Divines give up their opinion But from Turky ther came a Letter this week wherin ther is the strangest and most tragicall news that in my small reading no Sory can parallell or shew with more pregnancie the instability and tottering estate of human greatnes and the sandy foundation wheron the vast Ottoman Empire is reard upon For Sultan Osman the grand Turk a man according to the humor of that Nation warlike and fleshd in bloud and a violent hater of Christians was in the flower of his yeers in the heat and height of his courage knockt in the head by one of his own slaves and one of the meanest of them with a battle axe and the murtherer never after proceeded against or questioned The ground of this Tragedy was the late ill success he had against the Pole wherin he lost about 100000. horse for want of forrage and 80000. men for want of fighting which he imputed to the cowardize of his Ianizaries who rather than bear the brunt of the battell were more willing to return home to their
30 Ian. 1633. Your much obliged Servitor J. H. XII To the Lord Vicount Wentworth Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lord Precedent of York c. My Lord I Was glad to apprehend the opportunity of this Packet to convey my humble service to your Lordship Ther are old doings in France and t is no new thing for the French to be always a doing they have such a stirring genius The Queen Mother hath made an escape to Brussells and Monsieur to Lorain wher they say he courts very earnestly the Dukes sister a young Lady under twenty they say a Contract is pass'd already but the French Cardinall opposeth it for they say that Lorain Milk seldom breeds good bloud in France Not only the King but the whole Gallican Church hath protestâ—… against it in a solemn Synod for the Heir apparant of the Crown of France cannot marry without the Royall consent This aggravats a grudg the French King hath to the Duke for siding with the Imperialists and for things reflecting upon the Dutchy of Bar for which he is hommogeable to the Crown of France as he is to the Emperor for Lorain A hard task it is to serve two Masters and an unhappy situation it is to lie 'twixt two puissant Monarchs as the Dukes of Savoy and Lorain do So I kiss your Lordships hands and rest My Lord Your most humble and ready Servitor J. H. VVestmin 1 of April 1633. XIII To my most Noble Lady the Lady Cornwallis Madam IN conformity to your commands which sway with me as much as an Act of Parlement I have sent your Ladiship this small Hymn for Christmas day now neer approaching if your Ladiship please to put an Air to it I have my reward 1. Hail holy Tâ—…de VVherin a Bride A Virgin which is more Brought forth a Son The like was don Ne're in the world before 2. Hail spotless Maid Who thee upbraid To have been born in sin Do little waigh What in thee lay Before thou didst Lie-in 3. Three months thy Womb Was made the Dome Of Him whom Earth nor Air Nor the vast mould Of Heaven can hould 'Cause he 's Ubiquitair 4. O would â—…e daign To rest and raign I' th centre of my heart And make it still His domicill And residence in part 5. But in so foul a Cell Can he abide to dwell Yes when he please to move His Herbenger to sweep the Room And with rich Odors it perfume Of Faith of Hope of Love So I humbly kiss your hands and thank your Ladiship that you would command in any thing that may conduce to your contentment Westmin 3 Feb. 1633. Your Lapp s most humble Servitor J. H. XIV 〈◊〉 the Lord Clifford at Knasburgh My Lord I Receiv'd your Lordships of the last of Iune and I return mâ—… most humble thanks for the choice Nagg you pleas'd to send me which came in very good plight Your Lordship desires me to lay down what in my Travells abroad I observ'd of the present condition of the Iews once an Elect peeple but now grown contemptible and strangely squander'd up and down the World Though such a Discours exactly fram'd might make up a Volume yet I will twist up what I know in this point upon as narrow a Bottom as may be shut up within the compass of this Letter The first Christian Countrey that expell'd the Iews was England France followed our example next then Spain and afterwards Portugall nor were they exterminated these Countreys for their Religion but for Villanies and cheatings for clipping Coins poisning of Waters and counterfeiting of Seals Those Countreys they are permitted to live now most in amongst Christians are Germany Holland Bohemia and Italy but not in those parts where the King of Spain hath to do In the Levant and Turkey they swarm most for the gran Vizier and all other great Boshawes have commonly som Iew for their Counsellor or Spie who inform them of the state of Christian Princes possess them of a hatred of the Religion and so incense them to a war against them They are accounted the subtill'st and most subdolous peeple upon Earth the reason why they are thus degenerated from their primitive simplicity and innocence is their often â—…ptivities their desperat fortunes the necessity and hatred to which they have been habituated for nothing depraves ingenuous spirits and corrupts cleer wits more than want and indigence By their profession they are for the most part Broakers and Lombardeers yet by that base and servile way of Frippery trade they grow rich whersoever they nest themselves and this with their multiplication of Children they hold to be an argument that an extraordinary providence attends them still Me thinks that so cleer accomplishments of the Prophecies of our Saviour touching that peeple should work upon them for their conversion as the destruction of their City and Temple that they should becom despicable and the tail of all Nations that they should be Vagabonds and have no firm habitation Touching the first they know it came punctually to pass and so have the other two for they are the most hatefull race of men upon earth insomuch that in Turkie where they are most valued if a Musulman com to any of their houses leave his shoos at the door the Iew dare not com in all the while till the Turk hath don what he would with his Wife For the last 't is wonderfull to see in what considerable numbers they are dispers'd up and down the World yet they can never reduce themselves to such a coalition and unity as may make a Republic Principality or Kingdom They hold that the Iewes of Italy Germany and the Levant are of Benjamins Tribe ten of the Tribes at the destruction of Ieroboams Kingdom were led Captives beyond Euphrates whence they never return'd nor do they know what became of them ever after yet they beleeve they never became Apostats and Gentiles But the Tribe of Iuda whence they expect their Messias of whom one shall hear them discours with so much confidence and self-pleasing conceit they say is setled in Portugall wher they give out to have thousands of their race whom they dispense withall to make a semblance of Christianitie even to Church degrees This makes them breed up their children in the Lusitanian Language which makes the Spaniard have an odd saying that El Portuguez se criò del pedo de un Iudia A Portugues was engendred of a Iews Fart as the Mahuâ—…ans have a passage in their Alcaroâ—… That a Cat was made of a Lions breath As they are the most contemtiblest peeple and have a kind of fulsom sent no better then a stink that distinguisheth them from others so are they the most timorous peeple on earth and so utterly incapable of Arms for they are made neither Souldiers nor Slaves And this their Pusillanimity and cowardise as well as their cunning and craft may be imputed to their various thraldo us contempt and poverty which
extoll Tyber beyond the Main both Towns behold R 〈…〉 men thou 'lt say Venice the Gods did mould Sanzâ—â—â—â—â—â— had given him by Saint Mark a hundred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evry one of these Verses which amounts to about 300 pounds It would be long before the 〈◊〉 of London would do the like Witneâ—… that â—…old reward or rather those cold drops of Wâ—… which were cast upon my Countreyman Sir Hugh Middletoâ—… for beinging Ware River through her Streets the most serviceable and 〈◊〉 sorâ—…est benefit that ever she received The parcell of Italian Books that you writ for you shall receive 〈◊〉 Master Leat if it please God to send the Ship to safe Port and I take it as a favour that you imploy me in any thing that mâ—…y â—…nduce to your contentment because I am your serious Servitor J. H. Ven 12. Aug. 1621. XXXVII To Cap. Thomas Porter from Venice My dear Captain AS I was going a Shipboard in Alicant a Letter of yours in Spanish came to hand I discovered two things in it first what a master you are of that Language then how mindfull you are of your frend for the first I dare not correspond with you yet for the second I shall never com short of you for I am as mindfull of you as possibly you can be of me and som hours my Puls doth not beat more often then my memory runs on you which is often enough in conscience for the Physitians hold that in evry well dispos'd body ther be above 4000 Pulsations evry hour and some Pulses have bin known to beat above 30000 times an hour in acute Feavours I understand you are bound with a gallant Fleet for the Mediterranean if you com to Alicant I pray commend me to Francisco Marco my Land-lord he is a merry drole and good company One night when I was ther he sent his Boy with a Borracho of Leather under his Cloak for Wine the Boy coming back about ten a clock and passing by the Guard one ask'd him whither he carried any Weapons about him for none must wear any Weapons there after ten at night No quoth the Boy being pleasant I have but a little Dagger the Watch came and search'd him and finding the Barracho full of good Wine drunk it all up saying Sirrah You know no man must carry any Weapons so late but because we know whose Servant you are ther 's the Scabbard of your Dagger again and so threw him the empty Borracho but another passage pleas'd me better of Don Beltran de Rosa who being to marry a rich Labradors a Yeomans daughter hard by which was much importun'd by her parents to the match because their Family should be thereby ennobled he being a Cavalier of Saint Iago the young Maid having understood that Don Beltran had bin in Naples and had that disease about him answered wittily En verdad pro adobar mi la sangre no quiero danar mi la carne Truely Sir To better my blood I will not hurt my flesh I doubt I shall not be in England before you set out to Sea if not I take my leave of you in this Paper and wish you a prosperous voyage and an honourable return It is the hearty Prayers of Ven 21. Aug. 1621. Your J. H. XXXVIII To Sir William Saint John Knight from Venice SIR HAving seen Antâ—…nors Tomb in Padoiia and the Amphitheater of Flaminius in Verona with other brave Towns in Lombardy I am now coâ—… to Rome and Rome they say is evry mans Countrey she is call'd Communis Patria for evry one that is within the compasse of the Latin Church finds himself here as it were at hom and in his Mothers house in regard of interest in Religion which is the cause that for one Native ther be five strangers that sojourn in this City and without any distinction or mark of strangenes they com to preferments and offices both in Church and State according to merrit which is more valued and sought after here then any where But whereas I expected to have found Rome elevated upon seven Hills I met her rather spreading upon a Flat having humbled her self since she was made a Christian and descended from those Hills to Campus Martius with Trasteren and the Suburbs of Saint Peter she hath yet in compasse about fourteen miles which is far short of that vast circuit she had in Claudius his time for Vopiscuâ—… writes she was then of fifty miles circumference and she had five hundred thousand free Citizens in a famous cense that was made which allowing but six to evry Family in Women Children and Servants came to three Millions of souls but she is now a Wildernes in comparison of that number The Pope is grown to be a great Temporall Prince of late yeers for the state of the Church extends above 300. miles in length and 200 miles in breadth it contains Ferrara Bologna Romagnia the Marquisat of Ancona umbria Sabina Perugia with a part of Toscany the Patrimony Rome her self and Latium In these ther are above fifty Bishopricks the Pope hath also the Dutchy of Spoleto and the exarchat of Ravenna he hath the Town of Beneventa in the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Venisse call'd Avignon in France he hath title also good enough to Naples it self but rather then offend his Champion the King of Spain he is contented with a white Mule and Purse of Pistols about the neck which he receives evry yeer for a heriot or homage or what you will call it he pretends also to be Lord Paramount of Sicily â—…rbin Parâ—…a and Masserâ—… of Norway Ireland and England since King Iohn did prostrat our Crown at Pandelfo his Legat's Feet The State of the Apostolie See here in Italy lieth twixt two Seas the Adriatiâ—… and the Tyrrhâ—… and it runs through the midst of Italy which makes the Pope powerfull to do good or harm and more capable then any other to be an Umpire or an Enemy His authority being mixt twixt Temporall and Spirituall disperseth it self into so many members that a young man may grow old here before he can well understand the form of Government The Consistory of Cardinals meet but once a week and once a week they solemnly wait all upon the Pope I am told ther are now in all Christendom but sixty eight Cardinals wherof ther are six Cardinall Bishops fifty one Cardinall Priests and eleven Cardinall Deacons The Cardinall Bishops attend and sit neer the Pope when he celebrats any Festivall The Cardinall Priests assist him at Masse and the Cardinall Deacons attire him A Cardinall is made by a short Breve or Writ from the Pope in these words Creamus te Socium Regibus superiorem ducibus fratrem â—…ostrum We creat thee a Companion to Kings Superior to Dukes and our Brother If a Cardinall Bishop should be questioned for any offence ther must be twenty four Witnesses produc'd against him The Bishop of Oâ—…ia hath most priviledg of any other
greatest town of Europe whence arose the Proverb Les flamen tient un gan qui tiendrá Paris dedans But the beautifullest richest strongest and most privileg'd City is Antwerp in Brabant being the Marquisat of the holy Empire and drawing nere to the nature of a Hans Town for she payes the Prince no other Tax but the Impost Before the dissociation of the seventeen Provinces this Town was one of the greatest Marts of Europe and greatest bank this side the Alpes most Princes having their Factors here to take up or let out moneys and here our Gresham got all his wealth and built our Royall Exchange by modell of that here The Merchandise was brought hither from Germany France and Italy by Land and from England Spain and the Hans towns by Sea was estimated at above twenty Millions of Crowns every year but as no violent thing is long lasting and as t is fatall to all Kingdomes States Towns and Languages to have their period so this renown'd Mart hath suffer'd a shrewd eclipse yet no utter downfall the Exchange of the King of Spains money and some small land trafic keeping still life in her though nothing so full of vigor as it was Therfore there is no town under the Archduke where the States have more conceal'd friends than in Antwerp who would willingly make them her Masters in hope to recover her former commerce which after the last twelve years truce began to revive a little the States permitting to passe by Lillo's sconce which coÌ„mands the river of Skeld and lyeth in the teeth of the Town som small cross-saild ships to passe hither There is no place hath been more passive than this and more often pillag'd amongst other times she was once plunder'd most miserably by the Spaniards under the conduct of a Priest immediatly upon Don Iohn of Austria's death she had then her Stat-house burn'd which had cost a few years before above twenty thousand Crowns the building and the spoils that were carried away thence amounted to forty Tuns of gold Thus she was reduc'd not only to poverty but a kind of captivity being commanded by a Citadell which she preferr'd before a Garrison this made the Merchant retire and seek a more free Randevous som in Zeland som in Holland specially in Amsterdam which rose upon the fall of this Town as Lisbon did from Venice upon the discovery of the Cape of good Hope though Venice be not nere so much crestfall'n I will now steer my discours to the united Provinces as they term themselves which are six in number viz. Holland Zeland Frisland Overyssell Gronninghen and Utrecht three parts of Gilderland and some Frontire Towns and places of contribution in Brabant and Flanders In all these ther is no innovation at all introduc'd notwithstanding this great change in point of Government except that the College of States represents the Duke or Earl in times pass'd which College consists of the chiefest Gentry of the Countrey surintendants of Towns and the principall Magistrates Every Province and great Town choose yearly certain Deputies to whom they give plenary power to deliberat with the other States of all affairs touching the public welfare of the whole Province and what they vote stands for Law These being assembled consult of all matters of State Justice and War the Advocat who is prime in the Assembly propounds the busines and after collects the suffrages first of the Provinces then of the Towns which being put in form he delivers in pregnant and moving speeches and in case ther be a dissonance and reluctancy of opinions he labors to accord and reconcile them concluding alwayes with the major voyces Touching the administration of Justice the President who is monthly chang'd with the great Counsell have the supreme judicature from whose Decrees ther 's no appeal but a revision and then som of the choycest Lawyers amongst them are appointed For their Opidan Government they have variety of Officers a Scout Bourgmasters a Balue and 〈◊〉 The Scout is chosen by the States who with the Balues have the judging of all criminall matters in last resort without appeal they have also the determining of Civill Causes but those are appealable to the Hague Touching their chiefest Governor or Generall rather now having made proof of the Spaniard German French and English and agreeing with none of them they lighted at last upon a man of their own mould Prince Maurice now their Generall in whom concurr'd divers parts suitable to such a charge having been train'd up in the wars by his Father who with three of his Uncles and divers of his kindred sacrific'd their lives in the States quarrell he hath thriven well since he came to the Government hee clear'd Friesland Overyssell and Groninghen in lesse than 18 months He hath now continued their Governor and Generall by sea and land above 33 years he hath the election of Magistrats the pardning of Malefactors and divers other Prerogatives yet they are short of the reach of Soverainty and of the authority of the ancient Counts of Holland Though I cannot say 't is a mercenary employment yet he hath a limited allowance nor hath he any implicit command when he goes to the field for either the Counsell of War marcheth with him or els he receives daily directions from them moreover the States themselves reserve the power of nominating all Commanders in the Army which being of sundry Nations deprive him of those advantages he might have to make himself absolut Martiall-Discipline is no where so regular as amongst the States no wher are ther lesser insolencies committed upon the Burger noâ—… robberies upon the Countrey Boors nor are the Officers permitted to insult ore the common soldier When the Army marcheth not one dares take so much as an apple off a tree or a root out of the earth in their passage and the reason is they are punctually paid their pay els I believe they would be insolent enough and were not the pay so certain I think few or none would serve them They speak of sixty thousand they have in perpetuall pay by Land and Sea at home and in the Indies The King of France was us'd to maintain a Regiment but since Henry the Greats death the paiment hath been neglected The means they have to maintain these Forces to pay their Governor to discharge all other expence as the preservation of their Diâ—…es which comes to a vast expence yearly is the ancient revenue of the Counts of Holland the impropriaâ—… Church living Imposts upon all Merchandise which is greater upon exported than imported goods Excise upon all commodities as well for necessity as pleasure taxes upon every Acre of ground which is such that the whole Countrey returns into their hands every three years Add hereunto the Art they use in their bank by the rise and fall of money the fishing upon our Coasts whither they send every Autumâ—… above 700 Hulks or Busses which in the voiages they
put by the gallanter man of the two I was told of a witty saying of his when the Duke of Lerma had the vogue in this Court for going one morning to speak with the Duke and having danc'd attendance a long time hee peep'd through a slit in the hanging and spied Don Rodrigo Calderon a great man who was lately beheaded here for poisning the late Queen Dowager delivering the Duke a Paper upon his knees wherat the Marquis smil'd and said Voto a tal aquâ—…l hombre sube mas a las rodillas que yo no hago a los pics I swear that man climbs higher upon his knees than I can upon my feet Indeed I have read it to be a true Court rule that descendendo ascendendum est in Aula descending is the way to ascend at Court Ther is a kind of humility and compliance that is far from any servile baseness or fordid flattery and may be term'd discretion rather than adulation I intend God willing to go for Sardinia this Spring I hope to have better luck than Master Walsingham Gresley had who some few years since in his passage thither upon the same business that I have in agitation met with some Turksmen of war and so was carried slave to Algier So with my true respects to you I rest Madrid 12 Mar. 1622. Your faithfull Servant J. H. XIV To Sir Francis Cottington Secretary to his Highnesse the Prince of Wales at Saint James SIR I Believe it will not be unpleasing unto you to hear of the procedure and successe of that business wherin your self hath been so long vers'd in I mean the great sute against the quondam Vice-roy of Sardinia the Conde del Real Count Gondamars comming was a great advantage unto me who hath don me many favors besides a confirmation of the two sentences of view and review and of the execution against the Vice-roy I have procur'd a Royall cedule which I caus'd to be printed and wherof I send you here inclos'd a Coppy by which Cedule I have power to arrest his very person and my Lawyers tell me ther was never such a cedule granted before I have also by vertue of it priority of all other his Creditors He hath made an imperfect overture of a composition and shewd me som triviall old fashion'd jewells but nothing equivalent to the debt And now that I speak of jewells the late surprisall of Ormus by the assistance of our ships sinks deep in their stomacks here and we were afraid it would have spoild all proceedings but my Lord Digby now Earl of Bristoll for Count Gondamar brought him ore his Patent hath calmd all things at his last audience Ther were luminaries of joy lately here for the victory that Don Gonzalez de Cordova got over Count Mansfelt in the Netherlands with that Army which the Duke of Bouillon had levied for him but some say they have not much reason to rejoyce for though the Infantery suffer'd yet Mansfelt got clear with all his horse by a notable retreat and they say here it was the greatest peece of service and Art he ever did it being a Maxim that ther is nothing so difficult in the Art of War as an honourable retreat Besides the report of his comming to Breda caus'd Marquis Spinola to raise the siege before Berghen to burn his tents and to pack away suddenly for which he is much censur'd here Captain Leat and others have written to me of the favourable report you pleas'd to make of my endeavors here for which I return you humble thanks and though you have left behind you multitude of servants in this Court yet if occasion were offerd none should be more forward to go on your errand then Madrid 15 Mar. 1622. Your humble and faithfull Servitor J. H. XV. To the honble Sir Tho Savage Knight and Baronet honble SIR THe great busines of the match was tending to a period the Articles reflecting both upon Church and State being capitulated and interchangeably accorded on both sides and ther wanted nothing to consummate all things when to the wonderment of the world the Prince and the Marquis of Buckingham arriv'd at this Court a friday last upon the close of the evening they lighted at my Lord of Bristols house and the Marquis Mr Thomas Smith came in first with a Portmantle under his arm then Mr Iohn Smith the Prince was sent for who staid a while the to'ther side of the street in the dark my Lord of Bristoll in a kind of astonishment brought him up to his bed chamber where he presently calld for pen and ink and dispacht a Post that night to England to acquaint his Majesty how in lesse then sixteen daies he was come safely to the Court of Spain that Post went lightly laden for he carried but three letters the next day came Sir Francis Cotington and Mr Porter and darke rumors ran in every corner how som great man was com from England and som would not stick to say amongst the vulgar it was the King but towards the evening on saturday the marquis went in a close coach to Court where he had privat audience of this King who sent Olivares to accompany him back to the Prince where he kneeld and kisd his hands and hugd his thighs and deliverd how unmeasurably glad his Catholic Majesty was of his coming with other high complements which Mr Porter did interpret About ten a clock that night the King himself came in a close coach with intent to visit the Prince who hearing of it met him halfway and after salutations and divers embraces which past in the first interview they parred late I forgot to tell you that Count Gondamar being sworn Counseller of State that morning having bin before but one of the Counsell of War he came in great hast to visit the Prince saying he had strange news to tell him which was that an Englishman was sworn privy Counseller of Spain meaning himself who he said was an Englishman in his heart On Sunday following the King in the afternoon came abroad to take the air with the Queen his two brothers and the Infanta who were all in one coach but the Infanta sat in the boot with a blew riband about her arm of purpose that the Prince might distinguish her ther were above twenty coaches besides of Grandes Noble men and Ladies that attended them And now iâ—… was publicly known amongst the vulgar that it was the Prince of Wales who was com and the confluence of people before my Lord of Bristolls house was so great and greedy to see the Prince that to clear the way Sir Lewis Divâ—…s went out and took coach and all the crowd of people went after him so the Prince himself a little after took coach wherin there were the Earl of Bristoll Sir Walter Ashton and Count Gondamar and so went to the Prado a place hard by of purpose to take the air where they stayed till the King past by as soon as
in every corner for this Asiatic voyage and what ill consquences might ensue from it therfore it might well stand with his great wisdom to stay it but if it held he desir'd him to leave a charge with the Chimacham his Deputy that the English Nation in the Port should be free from outrages wherunto the Grand Visier answer'd Trouble not your self about that for I will not remove so far from Constantinople but I wil leave one of my legs behind to serve you which prov'd too true for he was murther'd afterwards and one of his legs was hung up in the Hippodrome This fresh Tragedy makes me to give over wondring at any thing that ever I heard or read to shew the lubricity of mundan greatnes as also the fury of the vulgar which like an impetuous Torrent gathereth strength by degrees as it meets with divers Dams and being come to the hight cannot stop it self for when this rage of the soldiers began first there was no design at all to violat or hurt the Emperor but to take from him his ill Counsellors but being once a foot it grew by insensible degrees to the utmost of outrages The bringing out of Mustapha from the Dungeon where he was prisoner to be Emperor of the Musulmans puts me in mind of what I read in Mr. Camden of our late Queen Elizabeth how she was brought from the Scaffold to the English Throne They who profess to be Criticks in policy here hope that this murthering of Osman may in time breed good bloud and prove advantageous to Christendom for though this be the first Emperor of the Turks that was dispatcht so he is not like to be the last now that the soldiers have this precedent others think that if that design in Asia had taken it had been very probable the Constantinopolitans had hoisd up another King and so the Empire had been dismembred and by this division had lost strength as the Roman Empire did when it was broken into East and West Excuse me that this my Letter is become such a Monster I mean that it hath past the sise and ordinary proportion of a Letter for the matter it treats of is monstrous besides it is a rule that Historicall Letters have more liberty to be long than others In my next you shall hear how matters pass here in the mean time and always I rest Madrid Aug. 17. 1623. Your Lordships most devoted Servitor J. H. XXII To the Right honble Sir Tho. Savage Knight and Baronet honble SIR THe procedure of things in relation to the grand busines the match was at kind of a stand when the long winded Iunta deliver'd their opinions and fell at last upon this result that his Catholic Majesty for the satisfaction of St. Peter might oblige himself in the behalf of England for the performance of those capitulations which reflected upon the Roman Catholics in that Kingdom and in case of non-performance then to right himself by war since that the matrimoniall Articles were solemnly sworne unto by the King of Spain and his Highness the two Favorits our two Ambassadors the Duke of Infantado and other Counsellors of State being present hereupon the eighth of the next September is appointed to be the day of Desposorios the day of affiance or the betrothing day ther was much gladnes exprest here and luminaries of joy were in every great street throughout the City but there is an unlucky accident hath interven'd for the King gave the Prince a solemn visit since and told him Pope Gregory was dead who was so great a friend to the match but in regard the busines was not yet com to perfection he could not proceed further in it till the former Dispensation were ratified by the new Pope Vrban which to procure he would make it his own task and that all possible expedition should be us'd in 't and therfore desir'd his patience in the interim The Prince answer'd and prest the necessity of his speedy return with divers reasons he said ther was a generall kind of murmuring in England for his so long abseuce that the King his Father was old and sickly that the Fleet of shipe were already he thought at Sea to fetch him the winter drew on and withall that the Articles of the match were sign'd in England with this proviso that if he be not com back by such a month they should be of no validity The King replyed that since his Highness was resolv'd upon so suddain a departure he would please to leave a Proxy behind to â—…ish the marriage and he would take it for a favor if he would depute Him to personat him and ten days after the ratification shal come from Rome the busines should be don and afterwards he might send for his wife when he pleas'd The Prince rejoyn'd that amongst those multitudes of royall favors which he had receiv'd from his Majesty this transcended all the rest therfore hee would most willingly leave a Proxy for his Majesty and another for Don Carlos to this effect so they parted for that time without the least ombrage of discontent nor do I hear of any engendred since The last month 't is true the Iunta of Divines dwelt so long upon the busines that ther were whisperings that the Prince intended to go away disguis'd as he came and the question being ask'd by a person of quality ther was a brave answer made that iâ—… love brought him thither it is not fear shall drive him away There are preparations already a foot for his return and the two Prexies are drawn and left in my Lord of Bristolls hands Notwithstanding this ill favord stop yet we are here all confident the busines will take effect In which hopes I rest Madrid 18 Aug. 1623. Your most humble and ready Servitor J. H. XXIII To Captain Nich Leat at his house in London SIR THis Letter comes to you by Mr. Richard Altham of whose sudden departure hence I am very sorry it being the late death of his brother Sir Iames Altham I have been at a stand in the busines a gond while for his Highness comming hither was no advantage to me in the earth He hath done the Spaniards divers courtesies but he hath been very sparing in doing the English any It may be perhaps because it may be a diminution of honor to be beholden to any forraign Prince to do his own Subjects favors but my busines requires no favor all I desire is justice which I have not obtain'd yet in reality The Prince is preparing for his jorney I shall to 〈◊〉 again closely when he is gone and make a shaft or a bolt of it The Popes death hath retarded the proceedings of the match but we are so far from despairing of it that one may have wagers thirty to one it will take effect still He that deals with this Nation must have a great deal of phlegme and if this grand busines of State the match suffer such
protractions and puttings off you need not wonder that private negotiations as mine is should be subject to the same inconveniences Ther shall be no means left unattempted that my best industry can find out to put a period to it and when his Highnesse is gon I hope to find my Lord of Bristoll more at leasure to continue his favour and furtherance which hath been much already So I rest Madrid Aug. 19. 1623. Yours ready to servâ—… you J. H. XXIV To Sir James Crofts SIR THe Prince is now upon his jorney to the Sea side where my Lord of Rutland attends for him with a royall fleet Ther are many here shrink in their shoulders and are very sensible of his departure and the Lady Infanta resents it more than any she hath caus'd a Mass to be sung every day ever since for his good Voyage The Spaniards themselves confess ther was never Princes so bravely wooed The King and his two Brothers accompanied his Highnes to the Escurial some twenty miles off and would have brought him to the Sea side but that the Queen is big and hath not many days to go when the King and he parted there past wonderfull great endearments and embraces in divers postures between them a long time and in that place there is a Pillar to be erected as a Monument to Posterity Ther are some Grandes and Count Gondamar with a great train besides gone with him to the Marine to the Sea side which will be many days journey and must needs put the King of Spain to a mighty expence besides his seven months entertainment here we hear that when he past through Valladolid the Duke of Lerma was retired thence for the time by speciall command from the King left he might have discours with the Prince whom he extremely desir'd to see This sunk deep into the old Duke insomuch that he said that of all the acts of malice which Olivares had ever done him he resented this more than any He bears up yet very well under his Cardinalls habit which hatâ—… kept him from many a foul storm that might have faln upon him els from the temporall power The Duke of Uzeda his son finding himself to decline in favor at Court had retir'd to the Countrey and dyed soon after of discontentment During his sickness the Cardinall writ this short weighty Letter unto him Dizen me que Mareys de necio por mi mas temo mis anos qué mis Eâ—…igos Lerma I shall not need to English it to you who is so great a Master of the Language Since I began this Letter wee understand the Prince is safely embarqu'd but not without som danger of being cast away had not Sir Sackvill Trever taken him up I pray God send him a good voyage and us no ill news from England My most humble service at Tower-hill so I am Madrid Aug. 21. 1623. Your humble Servitor J. H. XXV To my Brother Doctor Howell My Brother SInce our Prince his departure hence the Lady Infanta studieth English apace and one Mr. Wadsworth and Father Boniface two Englishmen are appointed her teachers and have access to her every day We account her as it were our Princess now and as we give so she takes that Title Our Ambassadors my Lord of Bristoll and Sir Walter Astâ—…n will not stand now covered before her when they have audience because they hold her to be their Princess she is preparing divers suits of rich Cloaths for his Highness of persum'd Amber leather some embroder'd with Pearl some with Gold some with Silver her Family is a setling apace and most of her Ladies and Officers are known already we want nothing now but one dispatch more from Rome and then the marriage will be solemnizd and all things consummated yet there is one Mr. Clerk with the lame arm that came hither from the Sea side as soon as the Prince was gon hee is one of the Duke of Buckinghams creatures yet he lies at the Earl of Bristols house which we wonder at considering the darknes that hapned twixt the Duke and the Earl we fear that this Clerk hath brought somthing that may puzzle the busines Besides having occasion to make my address lately to the Venetian Ambassador who is interressed in som part of that great busines for which I am here he told me confidently it would be no match nor did he think it was ever intended But I want faith to believe him yet for I know Saint Mark is no friend to it nor France or any other Prince or State besides the King of Denmarck whose Grandmother was of the house of Austria being sister to Charles the Emperor Touching the busines of the Palatinate our Ambassadors were lately assur'd by Olivares and all the Counsellors here that in this Kings name that he would procure his Majestie of great Britain entire satisfaction herein and Olivares giving them the joy intreated them to assure their King upon their honor and upon their lives of the reality hereof for the Infanta her self said he hath stird in it and makes it now her own busines for it was a firm peace and amity which he confest could never be without the accommodation of things in Germany as much as an alliance which his Catholic Majesty aimd at But wee shall know shortly now what to trust to we shall walk no more in mists though som give out yet that our prince shall embrace a cloud for Iuno at last I pray present my service to Sir Iohn Franklin and Sir Iohn Smith with all at the Hill and Dale and when you send to Wales I pray convey the inclos'd to my Father So my dear brother I pray God bless us both and bring us again joyfully together Madrid Aug. 12. 1623. Your very loving Brother J. H. XXVI To my noble friend Sir John North Knight SIR I Receiv'd lately one of yours but it was of a very old date we have our eyes here now all fixd upon Rome greedily expecting the Ratification and lately a strong rumor ran it was com in so much Mr Clerk who was sent hither from the Prince being a shipboard and now lies sick at my Lord of Bristolls house of a Calenture hearing of it he desired to speak with him for he had somthing to deliver him from the Prince my Lord Ambassador being com to him Mr Clerk delivered a letter from the Prince the contents wherof were that wheras he had left certain Proxies in his hand to be deliverd to the King of Spain after the Ratification was com he desir'd and requir'd him not to do it till he should receive further order from England my Lord of Bristoll hereupon went to Sir Walter Aston who was in joynt Commission with him for concluding the match and shewing him the Letter what my Lord Aston said I know not but my Lord of Bristoll told him that they had a Commission Royall under the broad Seal of England to conclude the match he
alleg'd 't was his duty to officiat in that Church but the dignity of Cardinall and the quality of his Office being the Kings great Almner which makes him chief Curat of the Court gave him the prerogative I doubt not but your Lordship hath heard of the Capitulations but for better assurance I will run them over briefly The King of France oblig'd himself to procure the Dispensation the mariage should be celebrated in the same form as that of Queen Margaret and of the Dutchess of Bar her Dowrie should be 800000 Crowns six shillings a peece the one moitie to be paied the day of the Contract the other a twelvemonth after The Queen shall have a Chappell in all the Kings Roiall houses and any wher else where she shall recide within the Dominions of his Majestie of great Britain with free exercise of the Roman Religion for her self her Officers and all her Houshold for the celebration of the Mass the Predication of the Word Administration if the Sacraments and power to procure Indulgences from the Holy Father That to this end she shall be allow'd 28 Priests or Ecclesiasticks in her House and a Bishop in quality of Almoner who shall have jurisdiction over all the rest and that none of the Kings Officers shall have power over them unless in case of Treason therfore all her Ecclesiastics shall take the Oath of fidelitie to His Majestie of great Britain ther shall be a Cymitier or Church-yard clos'd about to burie those of her Family That in consideration of this mariage all English Catholics as well Ecclesiastics as Lay which shall be in any prison meerly for Religion since the last Edict shall be set at libertie This is the eighth Alliance we have had with France since the Conquest and as it is the best that could be made in Christendom so I hope it will prove the happiest So I kiss your hands being Your Lordships most humble Servitor J. H. Lond. Mar. 1 1625. XIII To the honble Sir Tho. Saâ—… SIR I Convers'd lately with a Gentleman that came from France who amongst other things discours'd much of the Favourit Richelieu who is like to be an active man and hath great designs The two first things he did was to make sure of England and the Hollander he thinks to have us safe enough by this mariage and Holland by a late League which was bought with a great sum of money for he hath furnish'd the States with a Million of Liures at two shillings a peece in present and six hundred thousand Liures every year of these two that are to com provided That the States repay these sums two years after they are in peace or truce The King press'd much for Liberty of Conscience to Roman Catholics amongst them and the Deputies promis'd to do all they could with the States Generall about it they Articled likewise for French to be associated with them in the trade to the Indies Monsieur is lately maried to Mary of Bourbon the Duke of Monpensiers Daughter he told her That he would be a better Husband than he had been a Suter to her for hee hung off a good while This mariage was made by the King and Monsieur hath for his apennage 100000 Liures annuall Rent from Chartres and Blois 100000 Liures Pension and 500000 to be charg'd yearly upon the generall receipts of Orleans in all about 70000 pounds Ther was much ado before this match could be brought about for ther were many opposers and ther be dark whispers that ther was a deep plot to confine the King to a Monastery and that Monsieur should govern and divers great ones have suffered for it and more are like to be discover'd So I take my leave for present and rest Lond. Mar. 10 1626. Your very humble and ready Servitor J. H. XIV To the Lady Jane Savage Marchioness of Winchester Excellent Lady I May say of your Grace as it was said once of a rare Italian Princess that you are the greatest Tyrant in the World because you make all those that see you your slaves much more them that know you I mean those that are acquainted with your inward disposition and with the faculties of your soul as well as the Phisnomy of your face for Vertue took as much pains to adorn the one as Nature did to perfect the other I have had the happines to know both when your Grace took pleasure to learn Spanish at which time when my betters far had offer'd their service in this kind I had the honor to be commanded by you often Hee that hath as much experience of you as I have had will confess that the handmaid of God Almighty was never so prodigall of her gifts to any or labour'd more to frame an exact modell of Femal perfection nor was dame Nature onely busied in this Work but all the Graces did consult and co-operat with her and they wasted so much of their Tresure to in rich this one peece that it may be a good reason why so many lame and defective fragments of Women-kind are daily thrust into the world I return you here inclos'd the Sonnet your Grace pleas'd to send me lately rendred into Spanish and fitted for the same Ayr it had in English both for cadence and number of feet With it I send my most humble thanks that your Grace would descend to command me in any thing that might conduce to your contentment and service for ther is nothing I desire with a greater Ambition and herein I have all the World my Rival than to be accounted Madame Your Grace's most humble and ready Servitor J. H. Lond. Mar. 15. 1626. X. To the Right honble the Lord Clifford My Lord I Pray be pleas'd to dispence with this slownes of mine in answering yours of the first of this present Touching the domestic occurrences the Gentleman who is Bearer hereof is more capable to give you account by discourse than I can in paper For forrain tidings your Lordship may understand that the Town of Breda hath bin a good while making her last will and testament but now ther is certain news com that she hath yeelded up the Ghost to Spinalo's hands after a tough siege of thirteen months and a circumvallation of neeâ—…r upon twenty miles compas My Lord of Southampton and his eldest son sickned at the siege and died at Berghen the adventrous Earl Henry of Oxford seeming to tax the Prince of Orange of slacknes to fight was set upon a desperat Work wher he melted his grease and so being carried to the Hague he died also I doubt not but you have heard of Graye Maurice's death which happen'd when the Town was pass'd cure which was his more than the States for he was Marquis of Breda and had neer upon thirty thousand dollars annual rent from her Therfore he seem'd in a kind of sympathy to sicken with his Town and died before her He had provided plentifully for all his Naturall children but
could not though much importun'd by Doctor Roseus and other Divines upon his death bed be induc'd to make them legitimat by marying the mother of them for the Law there is That if one hath got children of any Woman though unmaried to her yet if he mary her never so little before his death he makes her honest and them all legitimat but it seems the Prince postpos'd the love he bore to his woman and children to that which he bore to his brother Henry for had he made the children legitimat it had prejudic'd the brother in point of command and fortunes yet he hath provided very plentifully for them and the mother Grave Henry hath succeeded him in all things and is a gallant Gentleman of a French education and temper he charg'd him at his death to marry a young Lady the Count of Solms Daughter attending the Queen of Bohemia whom he had long courted which is thought will take speedy effect When the siege before Breda had grown hot Sir Edward Vere being one day attending Prince Maurice he pointed at a rising place call'd Terbay wher the enemy had built a Fort which might have bin prevented Sir Edward told him he fear'd that Fort would be the cause of the loss of the Town the Grave spatter'd and shook his head saying 't was the greatest error he had committed since he knew what belong'd to a Soldier as also in managing the plot for surprising of the Cittadell of Antwerp for he repented that he had not imployed English and French in lieu of the slow Dutch who aym'd to have the sole honour of it and were not so fit instruments for such a nimble peece of service As soon as Sir Charls Morgan gave up the Town Spinola caus'd a new Gate to be erected with this inscription in great Golden Characters Philippo quarto regnante Clara Eugenia Isabella Gubernante Ambrosio Spinola obsidente Quatuor Regibus contra conantibus Breda capta fuit Idibus c. T is thought Spinola now that he hath recover'd the honor he had lost before Berghen op Zoon three yeers since will not long stay in Flanders but retire No more now but that I am resolv'd to continue ever London Mar. 19. 1626. Your Lordships most humble Servitor J. H. XVI To Mr R. Sc. at York SIR I Sent you one of the third Current but t was not answer'd I sent another of the thirteenth like a second Arrow to find out the first but I know not what 's become of either I send this to find out the other two and if this fail ther shall go no more out of my Quiver If you forget me I have cause to complain and more if you remenber me to forget may proceed from the frailty of memory not to answer me when you minde me is pure neglect and no less than a piacle So I rest Yours easily to be recover'd J. H. Ira furor brevis est brevis est mea littera cogor Ira correptus corripuisse stylum London 19 of Iuly the first of the Dogdaies 1626. XVII To Dr. Field Lord Bishop of Landaff My Lord I Send you my humble thanks for those worthy Hospitable favours you were pleas'd to give me at your lodgings in Westminster I had yours of the fifth of this present by the hands of Mr. Ionathan Field The news which fills every corner of the Town at this time is the sorry and unsuccessfull return that Wimbledons Fleet hath made from Spain It was a Fleet that deserv'd to have had a better destiny considering the strength of it and the huge charge the Crown was at for besides a squadron of sixteen Hollanders wherof Count William one of Prince Maurice's naturall Sons was Admirall ther were above fourscore of ours the greatest joynt navall power of Ships without Gallies that ever spred sail upon Salt-Water which makes the World abroad to stand astonish'd how so huge a Fleet could be so suddenly made ready The sinking of the long Robin with 170 souls in her in the Bay of Biscay erc she had gon half the voyage was no good augury And the Critics of the time say ther were many other things that promis'd no good fortune to this Fleet besides they would point at divers errors committed in the conduct of the main design first the odd choice that was made of the Admirall who was a meer Land-man which made the Sea men much slight him it belonging properly to Sir Robert Mansell Vice-Admirall of England to have gon in case the High-Admirall went not then they speak of the incertainty of the enterprize and that no place was pitch'd upon to be invaded till they came to the height of the South Cape and to sight of shore where the Lord Wimbledon first cal'd a Counsell of War wherin som would be for Malaga others for Saint Mary-Port others for Gibraltar but most for Cales and while they were thus consulting the Countrey had an alarum given them Add hereunto the blazing abroad of this expedition ere the Fleet went out of the Downs for Mercurius Gallobelgicus had it in print that it was for the Streights mouth Now 't is a rule that great designs of State should be mysteries till they com to the very act of performance and then they should turn to exploits Moreover when the locall attempt was resolv'd on ther wer seven ships by the advice of one Captain Love suffer'd to go up the River which might have bin easily taken and being rich 't is thought they would have defrayed well neer the charge of our Fleet which ships did much infest us afterwards with their Ordnance when we had taken the Forr of Puntall Moreover the disorderly carriage and excess of our Land-men wherof ther were 10000 when they were put a shore who broke into the Fryers Caves and other Cellers of Sweet-Wines wher many hundreds of them being surprizd and found dead-drunk the Spaniards came and toar off their Ears and Noses and pluck'd out their Eies And I was told of one merry fellow escaping that kill'd an Asse for a Buck Lastly it is laid to the Admiralls charge that my Lord de la Wares Ship being infected he should give order that the sick men should be scatter'd in o divers ships which dispers'd the contagion exceedingly so that som thousands died before the Fleet return'd which was don in a confus'd manner without any observance of Sea Orders Yet I do not hear of any that will be punish'd for these miscarriages which will make the dishonour fall more fouly upon the State but the most infortunate passage of all was that though we did nothing by Land that was considerable yet if we had stayd but a day or two longer and spent time at sea the whole Fleet of Galeons and Nova Hispania had faln into our mouths which came presently in close along the Coasts of Barbary and in all likelihood we might have had the opportunity to have taken the richest prize that
ever was taken on salt-water Add hereunto that while we were thus Masters of those Seas a Fleet of fifty sail of Brasil men got safe into Lisbon with four of the richest Caraâ—…ks that ever came from the East-Indies I hear my Lord of Saint Davids is to be remov'd to Bath and Wells and it were worth your Lordships comming up to endeavor the succeeding of him So I humbly rest Lond. 20 Novem. 1626. Your Lordships most ready Servitor J. H. XVIII To my Lord Duke of Buckinghams Grace at New-Market MAy it please your Grace to peruse and pardon these few Advertisements which I would not dare to present had I not hopes that the goodnes which is concomitant with your greatnes would make them veniall My Lord a Parliament is at hand the last was boisterous God grant that this may prove more calm A rumor runs that ther are Clouds already ingendred which will break out into a storm in the lower Regionâ—… and most of the drops are like to fall upon your Grace This though it be but vulgar Astrology is not altogether to bee contemn'd though I believe that His Majesties countenance reflecting so strongly upon your Grace with the brightnes of your own innocency may be able to dispell and scatter them to nothing My Lord you are a great Prince and all eyes are upon your actions this makes you more subject to envy which like the Sun beams beats alwayes upon rising grounds I know your Grace hath many sage and solid heads about you yet I trust it â—… will prove no offence if out of the late relation I have to your Grace by the recommendation of such Noble personages I put in also my Mite My Lord under favor it were not amiss if your Grace would be pleased to part with som of those places you hold which have least relation to the Court and it would take away the mutterings that run of multiplicity of Offices and in my shallow apprehension your Grace might stand more firm without an Anchor The Office of High Admirall in these times of action requires one whole man to execute it your Grace hath another Sea of businesses to wade through and the voluntary resigning of this Office would fill all men yea even your enemies with admiration and affection and make you more a Prince than detract from your greatnes If any ill successes happen at Sea as that of the Lord Wimbledons lately or if ther be any murmur for pay your Grace will be free from all imputations besides it will afford your Grace more leasure to look into your own affairs which lie confus'd and unsetled Lastly which is not the least thing this act will be so plausible that it may much advantage His Majesty in point of Subsidy Secondly it were expedient under correction that your Grace would be pleas'd to allot som set hours for audience and access of Suters and it would be less cumber to your Self and your Servants and give more content to the World which often mutters for difficulty of access Lastly it were not amiss that your Grace would settle a standing Mansion-house and Family that Suters may know whither to repair constantly and that your Servants evry one in his place might know what belongs to his place and attend accordingly for though confusion in a great Family carry a kind of state with it yet order and regularity gains a greater opinion of vertue and wisdom I know your Grace doth not nor needs not affect popularity It is true that the peoples love is the strongest Cittadell of a Soveraign Prince but to a great subject it hath often prov'd fatall for he who pulleth off his Hat to the People giveth his Head to the Prince and it is remarkable what was said of a late infortunat Earl who a little before Queen Elizabeths death had drawn the Ax upon his own Neck That he was grown so popular that he was too dangerous for the times and the times for him My Lord now that your Grace is threatned to be heav'd at it should behove evry one that oweth you duty and good will to reach out his hand som way or other to serve you Amonst these I am one that presumes to doe it in this poor impertinent Paper for which I implore pardon because I am Lond. 13 Febr. 1626. My Lord Your Grace's most humble and faithfull Servant J. H. XIX To Sir J. S. Knight SIR THer is a saying which carrieth no little weight with it that Parvus amor loquitur ingens stapet Small love speaks while great love stands astonish'd with silence The one keeps a tatling while the other is struck dumb with amazement like deep Rivers which to the eye of the beholder seem to stand still while small shallow Rivulets keep a noise or like empty Casks that make an obstreperous hollow sound which they would not do were they replenish'd and full of Substance T is the condition of my love to you which is so great and of that profoundnes that it hath been silent all this while being stupified with the contemplation of those high Favours and sundry sorts of Civilities wherwith I may say you have overwhelm'd me This deep Foard of my affection and gratitude to you I intend to cut out hereafter into small currents I mean into Letters that the cours of it may be heard though it make but a small bubling noise as also that the clearnes of it may appear more visible I desire my Service be presented to my noble Lady whose fair hands I humbly kiss and if shee want any thing that London can afford she need but command her and Lond. 11. of Febr 1626. Your most faithfull and ready Servitor J. H. XX. To the Right honble the Earl R. My Lord ACcording to promise and that portion of obedience I ow to your commands I send your Lordship these few Avisos som wherof I doubt not but you have received before and that by â—…bler pens than mine yet your Lordship may happily find herein somthing which was omitted by others or the former news made clearer by circumstance I hear Count Mansfelt is in Paris having now receiv'd three routings in Germany 't is thought the French King will peece him up again with new recruits I was told that as he was seeing the two Queens one day at Dinner the Queen-Mother said they say Count Mansfelt is here amongst this Croud I do not believe it quoth the young Queen For whensoever he seeth a Spaniard he runs away Matters go untowardly on our side in Germanie but the King of Denmark will be shortly in the field in person and Bethlem Gabor hath been long expected to do somthing but som think he will prove but a Bugbear Sir Charls Morgan is to go to Germanie with 6â—…00 Anxiliaries to joyn with the Danish Army The Parliament is adjourn'd to Oxford by reason of the sicknes which increaseth exceedingly and before the King went out of Town ther dyed
1500 that very week and two out of White-Hall it self Ther is high clashing again 'twixt my Lord Duke and the Earl of Bristoll they recriminat one another of divers things the Earl accuseth him amongst other matters of certain Letters from Rome of putting His Majesty upon that hazardous jorney of Spain and of som miscarriages at his being in that Court Ther be Articles also against the Lord Conway which I send your Lordship here inclosed I am for Oxford the next week and thence for Wales to fetch my good old Fathers blessing at my return if it shall please God to reprieve me in these dangerous times of Contagion I shall continue my wonted service to your Lordship if it may be done with safety So I rest Lond. 15 of Mar. 1626. Your Lordships most humble Servitor J. H. XXI To the honble the Lord Viscount C. My Lord SIr Iohn North delivered me one lately from your Lordship and I send my humble thanks for the Venison you intend me I acquainted your Lordship as opportunity serv'd with the nimble pace the French Match went on by the successfull negotiation of the Earls of Carlile and Holland who outwent the Monsieurs themselves in Courtship how in less than nine Moons this great busines was propos'd pursued and perfected wheras the Sun had leasure enough to finish his annuall progres from one end of the Zodiac to the other so many years before that of Spain could com to any shape of perfection This may serve to shew the difference 'twixt the two Nations the Leaden-heeld pace of the one and the Quick-silver'd motions of the other It shews also how the French is more generous in his proceedings and not so full of scruples reservations and jealousies as the Spaniard but deales more frankly and with a greater confidence and gallantry The Lord Duke of Buckingham is now in Paris accompanied with the Earl of Montgomerie and hee went in a very splendid equipage The Venetian and Hollander with other States that are no friends to Spain did som good offices to advance this Alliance and the new Pope propounded much towards it But Richelieu the new Favorit of France was the Cardinall instrument in it This Pope Urban grows very active not onely in things present but ripping up of old matters for which ther is a select Committee appointed to examin accounts and errors pass'd not only in the time of his immediat Predecessor but others And one told me of a merry Pasquill lately in Rome that wheras ther are two great Statues one of Peter the other of Paul opposit one to the other upon a Bridge one had clapt a pair of Spurs upon Saint Peters Heels and Saint Paul asking him whither hee was bound he answered I apprehend som danger to staie now in Rome because of this new Commission for I fear they will question me for denying my Master Truly brother Peter I shall not staie long after you for I have as much cause to doubt that they will question me for persecuting the Christians before I was converted So I take my leave and rest London 3 May. 1626. Your Lordships most humble Servitor J. H. XXII To my Brother Master Hugh Penry SIR I Thank you for your late Letter and the severall good tydings you sent me from Wales In requitall I can send you gallant news for we have now a most Noble new Queen of England who in true beuty is beyond the Long-Woo'd Infanta for she was of a fading Flaxen-Hair Big Lipp'd and somwhat heavy Ey'd but this Daughter of France this youngest Branch of Bourbon being but in her cradle when the great Henry her Father was put out of the World is of a more lovely and lasting complexion a dark brown shee hath eyes that sparkle like Stars and for her Physiognomy she may be said to be a mirror of perfection She had a rough passage in her transfretation to Dover Castle and in Canterbury the King Bedded first with her ther were a goodly train of choice Ladies attended her coming upon the Bowling-green on Barram-Down upon the way who divided themselves into two rows and they appear'd like so many Constellations but me thought that the Countrey Ladies out-shin'd the Courtiers She brought over with her two hundred thousand Crowns in Gold and Silver as halt her portion and the other Moitie is to be payed at the yeers end Her first suit of servants by Article are to be French and as they die English are to succeed shee is also allowed twenty eight Ecclesiastics of any Order except Iesuits a Bishop for her Almoner and to have privat exercise of her Religion for her and her servants I pray convey the inclosed to my Father by the next conveniency and present my dear love to my Sister I hope to see you at Dyvinnock about Michaâ—…mas for I intend to wait upon my Father and will take my Mother in the way I mean Oxford in the interim I rest London 16 May 1626. Your most affectionat Brother J H. XXIII To my Unkle Sir Sackvill Trever from Oxford SIR â—… Am sorry I must write unto you the sad tydings of the dissolution of the Parliament here which was don suddenly Sir Iohn Eâ—…liot was in the heat of a high speech against the Duke of Buchingâ—…m when the Usher of the Black-Rod knock'd at the door and signified the Kings pleasure which strook a kind of consternation in all the House My Lord Keeper Williams hath parted with the Broad-Seal because as som say he went about to cut down the Scale by which he rose for som it seems did ill offices 'twixt the Duke and him Sir Thomas Coventry hath it now I pray God he be tender of the Kings conscience wherof he is Keeper rather than of the Seal I am bound to morrow upon a journey towards the Mountains to see som Friends in Wales and to bring back my Fathers blessing for better assurance of Lodging wher I pass in regard of the Plague I have a Post Warrant as far as Saint Davids which is far enough you 'l say for the King hath no ground further on this Island If the sicknes rage in such extremity at London the Term will be held at Reding All your friends here are well but many look blank because of this sudden rupture of the Parliament God Almighty turn all to the best and stay the fury of this contagion and preserve us from â—…urther judgements so I rest Oxford 6 Aug. 1626. Your most affectionate Nephew J. H. XXIV To my Father from London SIR I Was now the fourth time at a dead stand in the cours of my fortunes for though I was recommended to the Duke and receiv'd many Noble respects from him yet I was told by som who are neerest him that som body hath don me ill offices by whispering in his ear that I was two much Digbified and so they told me positively that I must never expect any imployment about him of any
they lost one another how they might be retreevd and meet again Fire said wher you see smoak ther you shall find me Water said wher you see marsh and morish low grounds there you shall find me but Fame said take heed how you lose me for if you do you will run a great hazard never to meet me again ther 's no retreeving of me It imports you also to conform your self to your Commanders and so you may more confidently demand obedience when you com to command your self as I doubt not but you may do in a short time The Hoghen Moghen are very exact in their polemicall government their pay is sure though small 4. s. a week being too little a hire as one sayd to kill men At your return I hope you will give a better account of your doings than he who being ask'd what exploits he had don in the Low Countrys answerd that he had cut off a Spaniards leggs reply being made that that was no great matter it had bin somthing if he had cut off his head O said he you must consider his head was off before excuse me that I take my leave of you so pleasantly but I know you will take any thing in good part from him who is so much Westmin 3. Aug. 1634. Your truly affectionat Cosen J. H. XV. To Cap. B. Much endear'd Sir THer is a true saying that the spectator oft times sees more than the gamester I find that you have a very hazardous game in hand therfore give it up and do not vie a farthing upon 't Though you be already imbarqued yet ther is time enough to strike sail and make again to the port otherwise t is no hard matter to be a Prophet what will becom of you ther be so many ill favoured quicksands and rocks in the way as I have it from a good hand that one may easily take a prospect of your shipwrack if you go on therfore desist as you regard your own safety and the seasonable advice of your Westminst 1 May 1635. J. H. XVI To Mr. Thomas W. at his chamber in the Temple SIR YOu have much streightned that knot of love which hath bin long tied between us by those choice manuscripts you sent me lately amongst which I find divers rare pieces but that which afforded me most entertainment in those miscellanies was Doctor Henry Kings Poems wherin I find not onely heat and strength but also an exact concinnity and evennes of fancy they are a choice race of brothers it seems the same Genius diffuseth it self also a among the sisters It was my hap to be lately where Mistress A. K. was and having a paper of verses in her hand I got it from her they were an Epitaph and an Anagram of her own composure and writing which took me so far that the next morning before I was up my rambling fancy fell upon these lines For the admitting of Mistris Anne King to be the tenth Muse. Ladies of Helicon do not repine I adde one more unto your number nine To make it even I among you bring No meaner than the daughter of a King Fair Basil-Ana quickly passe your voice I know Apollo will approve the choice And gladly her install for I could name Som of less merit Goddesses became 〈◊〉 Anna King F. C. soares higher and higher every day in pursuance of his platonic love but T. Man is out with his you know whom he is fallen to that aversness to her that he swâ—…ares he had rather see a Basilisk than her This shews that the sweetest wines may turn to the tartest vinegar no more till wee meet Westmin 3 Feb. 1637. Yours inviolably J. H. XVII To the Lord C. My Lord THer are two sayings which are father'd upon Secretary Walsingham and Secretary Cecil a pair of the best weighd Statesmen this Island hathbred one was used to say at the Councell Table My Lords stay a little and we shall make an end the sooner the other would oft-times speak of himself It shall never be said of me that I will dâ—…fer till to morrow what I can do to day At first view these sayings seem'd to clash with one another and to be diametrically opposite but being rightly understood they may be very well reconcil'd Touching the first 'T is true that hast and choler are enemies to all great actions for as it is a principle in Chimistry that omnis festinatio est a Diabolo all hast comes from Hell so in the consultations contrivings and conduct of any busines of State all rashnes and precipitation comes from an ill spirit Ther cannot be a better pattern for a grave and considerat way of deliberation than the ancient course of our High Court of Parliament who when a Law is to be made which concerns the welfare of so many thousands of men after a mature debate and long discussion of the point beforehand cause the bill to be read solemnly three times in the House ere it be transmitted to the Lords and there also 't is so many times canvas'd and then presented to the Prince That which must stand for law must be long stood upon because it imposeth an universall obedience and is like to be everlasting according to the Ciceronian maxime Deliberandum est diu quod statâ—…endum est semel such a kind of cunctation advisednes and procrastination is allowable also in all Councells of State and War for the day following may be able commonly to be a master to the day passed such a world of contingencies human actions are subject unto yet under favour I beleeve this first saying to meant of matters while they are in agitation and upon the anvill but when they have receiv'd form and are fully resolv'd upon I beleeve then nothing is so advantagious as speed And at this I am of opinion the second saying aimes at for when the weights that use to hang to all great businesses are taken away 't is good then to put wings unto them and to take the ball before the bound for Expedition is the life of action otherwise Time may shew his bald occiput and shake his posteriors at them in deâ—…ision Among other Nations the Spaniard is observ'd to have much phlegme and to be most dilatory in his proceedings yet they who have pryed narrowly into the sequell and success of his actions do find that this gravity reservednes and tergiversations of his have turn'd rather to his prejudice than advantage take one time with another The two last matrimoniall treaties we had with him continued long the first 'twixt Ferdinand and Henry the seventh for Catherine of Aragon seven yeers That 'twixt King Iames and the now Philip the fourth for Mary of Austria lasted eleven yeers and seven and eleven's eighteen the first took effect for Prince Arthur the latter miscarried for Prince Charles and the Spaniard may thank himself and his own slow pace for it for had he mended his pace to perfect
the work I beleeve his Monarchy had not received so many ill favour'd shocks since The late revolt of Portugall was foreseen and might have bin prevented if the Spaniard had not bin too slow in his purpose to have sent the duke of Braganza out of the way upon som employment as was projected Now will I reconcile the former savings of those two renowned Secretaries with the gallant comparison of Charles the Emperor and he was of a more temperat mould than a Spaniard being a Flemin born he was us'd to say that while any great busines of State was yet in consultation we should observe the motion of Saturn which is plumbeous long and heavy but when it is once absolutely resolved upon then we should observe the motion of Mercury the nimblest of all the planets ubi desinit Saturnus ibi inâ—…ipiat Mercurius Wherunto I will adde that we should imitate the Mulberry who of all trees casts out her buds latest for she doth it not till all the cold weather be passed and then she is sure they cannot be nipped but then she shoots them all out in one night so though she be one way the slowest she is another way the nimblest of 〈◊〉 Thus have I obeyed your Lordships command in expounding the sense of these two sayings according to my mean apprehension but this exposition relates only to publick affairs and politicalâ—… negotiations wherin your Lordship is so excellently versed 〈◊〉 shall most willingly conform to any other injunctions of yoâ—… Lordships and esteem them alwaies as favours while I am Westmin 5 Sept. 1633. J. H. XVIII To Sir I. Browne Kt. SIR ONE would think that the utter falling off of Catalonia and Portugall in so short a compass of time should much lessen the Spaniard the peeple of both these Kingdoms being from subjects becom enemies against him and in actuall hostility without doubt it hath done so yet not so much as the world imagines T is true in point of Regall power and divers brave subordinat commands for his servants he is a great deal lessened therby but though he be less powerfull he is not a penny pooâ—…er therby for ther comes not a farthing less every yeer into his Exchequer in regard that those countries wer rather a charge than benefit unto him all their Revenue being drunk up in pensions and payments of Officers and Garisons For if the King of Spain had lost all except the West Indies and all Spain except Castile her self it would little diminish his treasury Touching Catalonia and Portugall specially the latter 't is true they were mighty members of the Castilian Monarchy but I beleeve they wil sooner want Castile than Castile them because she fill'd them with treasure Now that Barcelona and Lisbon hath shaken hands with Sevill I do not think that either of them hath the tith of that treasure they had before in regard the one was the scale wherby the King of Spain sent his mony to Italy the other because all her East Indian commodities were barter'd commonly in Andalâ—…zia and elsewhere for Bullion Catalonia is fed with money from France but for Portugall she hath little or none therfore I do not see how she could support a war long to any purpose if Castile were quiet unless souldiers would be contented to take cloves and pepper-corns for Patacoonâ—… and Pistolls You know Money is the sinew and soul of War This makes me think on that blunt answer which Captain Talbot return'd Hen. the 8 from Calais who having received speciall command from the King to erect a new fort at the water gate and to see the townwell fortified sent him word that he could neither fortifie nor fiâ—…ifie without money Ther is no newes at all stirring here now and I am of the Ialians mind that said Nulla nuova buona nuova no news good news But it were great news to see you heer whence you have bin an Alien so long to Holborn 3 Iune 1640. Your most affectionat frend J. H. XIX To Captain C. Price Cosen YOu have put me upon such an od intriâ—…t peece of busines that I think ther was never 〈◊〉 â—…ike of it I am more puzled and entangled with it than oft times use tâ—… be with my Bandstrings when I go hastily to bed and wanâ—…â—…u a fair femall hand as you have to unty them I must imputâ—… 〈◊〉 this to the peevish humor of the peeple I deal withall I find it true now that one of the greatest tortures that can be in the negotiation of the world is to have to doe with perverse irrationall half-witted men and to be worded to death with nonsence besides as much brain as they have is as full of scruples as a Burr is of prickles which is a quality incident to all those that have their heads lightly ballasted for they are like buys in a barrd Port waving perpetually up and down The Father is scrupulous of the Son the Son of the Sisters and all three of me to whose award they referr'd the busines three severall times It is as hard a task to reconcile the Fanâ—…s of St. Sepulchers steeple which never look all four upon one point of the Heavens as to reduce them to any conformity of reason I never remember to have met with Father and Children or Children among themselves of a more differing genius and contrariety of humors insomuch that ther cannot be a more pregnant instance to prove that human souls com not ex traduce and by seminall production from the parents For my part I intend to spend my breath no longer upon them but to wash my hands quite of the busines and so I would wish you to do unles you love to walk in a labyrinth of Bryers so expecting with impatience your return to London I rest Westmin 27 Apr. 1632. Your most faithfull Servitor J. H. XX. To my Cosen Mr. I. P. at Lincolns Inn. Cosen THe last week you sent me word that you wer so crampd with Busines that you could not put Pen to Paper if you write not this week I shall fear you are not only crampd but cripled at least I shall think you are crampd in your affection rather than your fingers and that you have forgot how once it was my good fortune to preserve you from drowning when the cramp took you in St. Iohns Pool at Oxford The Cramp as I take it is a sudden Convulsion of the Nerves For my part the ligaments and sinews of my love to you have been so strong that they wer never yet subject to such spasmaticall shrinkings and Convulsions Now letters are the very Nerves and Arteries of friendship nay they are the vitall spâ—…rits and elixar of love which in case of distance and long absence would be in hazard to languish and quite moulder away without them Amongst the Italians and Spaniards 't is held one of the greatest solecismes that can be in good manners not to answer a Letter with like
to pass all the degrees and effects of fire as distillation sublimation mortification calcination solution descension dealbation rubification and fixation for I have bin fastned to the walls of this prison any time these fifty five moneths I have bin heer long enough if I wer matter capable therof to be made the Philosophers stone to be converted from water to powder which is the whole Magistery I have been besides so long upon the anvill that me thinks I am grown malleable and hammer proof I am so habituated to hardship But indeed you that are made of a choicer mold are fitter to be turned into the Elixer than I who have so much dross and corruption in me that it will require more paines and much more expence to be purg'd and defecated God send us both patience to bear the brunt of this fiery tryall and grace to turn these decoctions into aquam vitae to make soveraign treacle of this viper The Trojan Prince was forced to pass over Phlegeton and pay Charon his freight before he could get into the Elyzian fields you know the morall that we must pass through hell to heaven and why not as well through a prison to Paradise such may the Towre prove to you and the Fleet to me who am From the prison of the Fleet 23 Feb. 1645. Your humble and hearty Servitor J. H. XLIV To the right honble the Lord R. My Lord SUre ther is som angry planet hath lowred long upon the Catholic King and though one of his titles to Pagan Princes be that he wears the sun for his helmet because it never sets upon all his dominions in regard som part of them he on the to'ther side of the Hemisphere among the Antipodes yet me thinks that neither that great star or any of the rest are now propitious unto him they cast it seems more benign influxes upon the flower de luâ—… which thrives wonderfully but how long these favourable aspects will last I will not presume to judge This among divers others of late hath bin a fatall yeer to the said King for Westward he hath lost Dunkirk Dunkirk which was the terror of this part of the world the scourge of the occidentall seas whose name was grown to be a bugbear for so many yeers hath now changed her master and thrown away the ragged staffe doubtles a great exploit it was to take this town But whether this be advantagious to Holland as I am sure it is not to England time will shew It is more than probable that it may make him careless at sea and in the building and arming of his ships having no enemy now near him besides I believe it cannot much benefit Hans to have the French 〈◊〉 contiguous to him the old saying was Ayezle Francois pour ton 〈◊〉 non pas pour ton Voison Have the Frenchman for thy frend not 〈◊〉 â—…hy neighbour Touching England I believe these distractions of ours have biâ—… one of the greatest advantages that could befall France and they happened in the most favourable conjuncture of time that mighâ—… be els I beleeve he would never have as much as attempted Dunkirk for England in true reason of State had reason to prevent nothing more in regard no one place could have added more to the navall power of France this will make his sâ—…iles swell bigger and I â—…car make him claim in time as much regality in these narrow seaâ—… as England her self In Italy the Spaniard hath also had ill successes at Piombino and Porto longone Besides they write that he hath lost I l prete il medico the Priest and the Physician to wit the Pope and the Duke of Florence the House of Medici who appear rather for the French than for him Ad to all these disasters that he hath lost within the revolution of the same yeer the Prince of Spain his unic Son in the very flower of his age being but seventeen yeers old These with the falling off of Catalonia and Portugall with the death of his Queen not above forty are heavy losses to the Catholick King and must needs much enfeeble the great bulk of his Monarchy falling out in so short a compas of time one upon the neck of another and we are not to enter into the secret Counsells of God Almighty for a reason I have read 't was the sensuality of the flesh that drave the Kings out of Rome the French out of Sicily and brought the Moores into Spain where they kept firm footing above seven hundred yeers I could tell you how not long before her death the late Queen of Spain took off one of her chapines and clowted Olivares about the noddle with it because he had accompanied the King to a Lady of pleasure telling him that he should know she was Sister to a King of France as well as wife to a King of Spain For my part France and Spain is all one to me in point of affection I am one of those indifferent men that would have the scales of power in Europe kept even I am also a Philerenus a lover of peace and I could wish the French were more inclinable to it now that the common enemy hath invaded the territories of Saint Marâ—… Nor can I but admire that at the same time the French should assaile Italy at one side when the Turke was doing it on the other But had that great navall power of Christians which wer this summer upon the coasts of Toscany gon against the Mahometan Fleet which was the same time setting upon Candie they might in all likelihood have achieved a glorious exploit and driven the Turke into the Hellespont Nor is poor Christendom torn thus in peeces by the German Spaniard French and Sweds but our three Kingdoms have also most pittifully scratch'd her face wasted her spirits and let out som of her illustrious bloud by our late horrid distractions Wherby it may be infer'd that the Musti and the Pope seem to thrive in their devotion one way a chief part of the prayers of the one being that discord should still continue 'twixt Christian Princes of the other that division should still increase between the Protestants This poor Island is a wofull example thâ—…of I hear the peace 'twixt Spain and Holland is absolutely concluded by the plenipotentiary Ministers at Munster who have beat their heads so many yeers about it but they write that the French and Swed do mainly endeavour and set all the wheels of policy a going to puzzle and prevent it If it take effect as I do not see how the Hollander in common honesty can evade it I hope it will conduce much to an universall peace which God grant for Waâ—… is a fire struck in the Devills tinder box No more now but that I am My Lord Your most humble Servitor J. H. Fleet 1 Decem. 1643. XLV To Mr. E. O. Counsellour at Grayes Inne SIR THe sad tidings of my dear frend Doctor Prichards death sunk
the first fell a eating of bread as hard as he could drive at last breaking out of a brown study he eryed out conclusum est contra Manichaeos The other fell a gazing upon the Queen and the King asking him how he lik'd her he answered on Sir if an earthly Queen be so beautifull what shall we think of the Queen of Heaven The later was the better Courtier of the two Hence we may infer that your meer bookmen your deep Clerks whom we call the only learned men are not alwaies the civillest or the best morall men nor is too great a number of them convenient for any state leading a soft sedentary life specially those who feed their own fancies only upon the publike â—…ocke Therfore it wer to be wishd that ther raignd not among the peeple of this land such a generall itching after book-learning and I beleeve so many â—…rce Schools do rather hurt than good Nor did the Art of Printing much avail the Christian Common wealth â—…t may be said to be well near as fatall as gunpowder which came up in the same age For under correction to this may be partâ—…y ascribd that spirituall pride that variety of Dogmatists which 〈◊〉 among us Add heerunto that the excessive number of those which convers only with Books and whose profession consists in them is such that one cannot live for another according to the dignity of the calling A Physitian cannot live for the Physitians a Lawyer civill and common cannot live for Lawyers nor a Divine for Divines Morcover the multitudes that profess these three best vocations specially the last make them of far less esteem Ther is an odd opinion among us that he who is a contemplative man a man who wedds himself to his study and swallowes many books must needs be a prosound Scholler and a great learned man though in reality he be such a dolt that he hath neither a retentive faculty to keep what he hath read nor wit to make any usefull application of it in common discours what he drawes in lieth upon dead lees and never grows â—…it to be broachd Besides he may want judgement in the choice of his Authors and knows not how to turn his hand either in weighing or winnowing the soundest opinions Ther are divers who are cryed up for great Clerks who want discretion Others though they wade deep into the causes and knowledg of things yet they are subject to scrue up their wits and soar so high that they lose themselves in their own speculations for thinking to transcend the ordinary pitch of reason they com to involve the common principles of Philosophy in a mist instead of illustrating things they render them more obscure instead of a plainer and shorter way to the palace of knowledg they lead us through bryery odd uncouth paths and â—…o fall into the fallacy call'd notum per ignotius Som have the â—…ap to be tearmed learned men though they have gatherd up but the scraps of knowledg heer and there though they be but smatterers and meer sciolists scarce knowing the Hoties of things yet like empty casks if they can make a sound and have a gift to vent with confidence what they have suckd in they are accounted great Schollers Amongst all book-learned men except the Divine to whom all learned men should be laquays The Philosopher who hath waded through all the Mathematiques who hath div'd into the secrets of the elementary world and converseth also with celestiall bodies may be term'd a learned man The criticall Historian and Antiquary may be call'd also a learned man who hath convers'd with our fore fathers and observ'd the carriage and contingencies of matters pass'd whence he drawes instances and cautions for the benefit of the Times he lives in The Civiliaâ—… may be call'd likewise a learned man if the revolving of huge volums may entitle one so but touching the Authors of the Common Law which is peculiar only to this Meridian they may be all carried in a wheelbarrow as my Countreyman Doctor Gwin told Judge Finch The Physitian must needs be a learned man for he knows himself inward and outward being well vers'd in Autology in that lesson Nosce Teipsum and as Adrian the sixt said he is very necessary to a populous Countrey for were it not for the Physitian men would live so long and grow so thick that one could not live for the other and he makes the earth cover all his faults But what Doctor Guyn said of the common law-books and Pope Adrian of the Physitian was spoken I conceive in meriment for my part I honour those two worthy professions in a high degree Lastly a polygot or good linguist may be also term'd a usefull learned man specially it vers'd in School languages My Lord I know none of this age more capable to sit in the Chair and censure what is true learning and what not then your self therfore in speaking of this subject to your Lordship I fear to have committed the same error as Phormio did in discoursing of War before Hanniball No more now but that I am My Lord Your most humble and obedient Servant J. H. To Doctor J. D. IX SIR I Have many sorts of Civilities to thank you for but among the rest I thank you a thousand times twice told for that delightfull fit of Society and conference of Notes we had lately in this little Fleet-Cabin of mine upon divers Problems and upon som which are exploded and that by those who seem to sway most in the common-wealth of Learning for Paradoxes meerly by an implicit faith without diving at all into the reasons of the Assertors And wheras you promised a further expression of your self by way of a Discoursive Letter what you thought of Copernicus opinion touching the movement of the earth which hath so stirr'd all our modern wits And wherof Sir I. Browne pleased to oblige himself to do the like touching the Philosophers stone the powder of Projection and potable gold provided that I would do the same concerning a peepled Countrey and a species of moving creatures in the concave of the Moon which I willingly undertook upon those conditions To acquit my self of this obligation and to draw on your performances the sooner I have adventured to send you this following Discourse such as it is touching the â—…nary World I believe 't is a Principle which no man will offer to controvert that as Antiquity cannot priviledg an Error so Novelty cannot prejudice Truth Now Truth hath her degrees of growing and expanding her self as all other things have and as Time begets her so hee doth the obstetritious office of a Midwise to bring her sorth Many truths are but Embryos or Problemes nay som of them seem to bee meer Paradoxes at first The opinion that ther were Antipodes was exploded when it was first broach'd it was held absurd and ridiculous and the thing it self to be as impossible as it was for men to go upon
of the King of England with other Kings 102 A Letter of respects to a Lady 104 A caution not to neglect the Latine for any vulgar Language 105 Of Praises to God and how they are the best Oblations 106 A facetious Tale of Henry the Fourth of France 107 America only free from Mahometisme 18 The Alchoran brought in by the Alfange 19 Arabic the sole Language of the Alchoran 17 Of the black Bean in Mahomets heart 3 Of vanity of beauties 2 The Mendicant Friers make a kind of amends for the excesses of the Cardinalls and Bishops 6 Of borrowing and buying of Books 34 Canary the best of Wine 74 Christianity more subject to variety of opinions than any other Religion and the cause therof 12 Advice from attempting a busines 27 Reputation like a Venice glass 26 A Fable of Fire Water and Fame 26 Advice to a young Soldier 26 A facetious Tale of a Soldier 27 Two famous sayings of Secretary Walsingham and Cecill 29 Of delay in busines 29 Of dispatch 29 The Mulberry an Embleme of Wisdom 30 The famous saying of Charles the fift 30 Of matches 'twixt England and Spain 30 Of the falling off of Catalonia and Portugall from the King of Spain and a judgment upon it 31 The vertu of money 31 A famous saying of Cap. Talbot 31 Of a hard intricat busines 32 Of the vertu of Letters 33 A Letter of reprehension for careles writing 34 Som amorous Stanza's 35 A Letter of gratitude 36 An Apology for Women 37 Of good and bad Women 37 Of free courtesies 38 A courtesie may be marr'd in the Mode 38 An Apology for silence 39 A Tale of a Nâ—…apolitan Confessor 39 A new Island discover'd hard by the Terreras 39 Of the Hill Vesuvius 39 Som rarities of Venice 40 Of the Genoways 40 Of our Indian Mariners 40 Grunnius Sophista's last VVill. 42 The Authors last Testament 43 Of Melancholy 44 A facetious tale of a Porter 45 A modest reply of a Letter of praise 46 A Letter of Patience 47 Of Chymistry 47 Of the Diseases of the time 47 A Letter of Recommendation 48 Of superfluâ—…us Servants 48 An advice to Travell 49 Of reading of Books 40 Of partiality of News 50 The History of Conanus and the 11000 Virgins mistaken 51 Of Prisoners 52 The Authors Epitaph 52 Advice to a Cambridg Scholar 53 A Letter of comfort 54 The effects of imprisonment 55 Of Chymistry 55 Of Dunkirk 56 A Letter of State 56 A Tale of the late Queen of Spain 57 The Turks Prayer 58 Of Nature Fate and Time 58 A Consolatory Letter 58 A modest reply to a Letter Encomiastic 59 A Letter of reprehension for not writing 60 Of Q. Eliz. pro con 61 How the Spaniards charge her 61 Of futilous Writers 62 Of speeding Letters 63 A Letter of Meditation 64 The advantage of Marriage 66 A Letter of Complement to a Lady 66 A Hymn to the Blessed Trinity 67 St. Austins wish in a Hymn 69 Of fearing and loving of God 68 A large Discourse of all sorts of Beverages that are us'd on earth 70 Of all sorts of Wines 71 The Riddle of the Vineyard man 70 Of German and Greek Drinkers 70 Of Sir Walter Rawleigh 95 Of the pittifull condition of England 99 A congratulatory Letter from Travell 105 Of Prayer and Praise 106 Of the Excise 107 A Tale of Monsieur de la Chatre 107 The power of Letters 109 Som Spanish Epitaphs 110 Of French Lawyers 113 A Letter Congratulatory for mariage 110 A Lettee Consolatory to a sick body 113 Stanzas of Mortality 114 Of the Passion Week 115 A Caution for imparting secrets 117 A Letter of Intelligence 118 Of Autology 120 A Letter of Consolation 121 A large Poem 122 Self-travell one of the ways that lead us to Heaven 122 Ut clavis portam sic pandit Epistola pectus Clauditur Haec cerâ clauditur Illa serâ As Keys do open chests So Letters open brests AN Index to the last Parcell of EPISTLES OF the use of Passions 1 Passions like Muscovia VVives expect to bee check'd 1 The conquest of ones self the greatest point of valour 1 Of the wars of Venice 2 The fearfull commotions of Naples 2 The horrid commotions in Ethiopia 2 Strange Revolutions in China 2 The monstrous Insurrections in Moscovia 2 A Prophecie of Holland 3 A Letter of correspondence 3 Letters compared to Ecchoes 4 Of Heaven 4 Endearments of love 4 Of the Presbyter and his first rise 5 Of Calvin his prophane appplications 5 Of Geneva 5 King Iames calld Presbytery a Sect. 6 Redemption the blessing paramount 6 The Eucharist the prime act of devotion 6 A Hymn upon the Holy Sacrament 7 A Rapture 8 The happiest condition of life 9 Opinion the great Lady that rules the world 9 Conceit the chiefest thing that makes one happy 9 Of the strange monster in Scotland 9 The incertain state of a Merchant Adventurer 9 A Mariner scarce to be ranked among the living 9 A rich City like a fatt Cheese subject to Maggots 10 Congratulations to a marryed couple 10 Of Tobacco and the virtu of it 11 A strange cure wrought upon my Lord Scroop by a Pipe of Tobacco 11 The way to know how much smoak ther is in a pound of Tobacco 22 Of Doctor Thorius Paetologie 12 The differing Modes of taking Tobacco 12 A Distic of Tobacco 12 Of Learning in generall 13 Handi-crafts men may well be term'd learned men 13 A wholsom peece of policy of the Chineses 13 A Tale of Bishop Grosthead 14 A meer Scholar a useless thing 14 A facetious Tale of Thomas Aquinas and Bonadventure 14 A Speech of Alexander Hales 14 The generall itching after Book-learning hurtfull to England 15 Gunpowder and Printing about a time and both hurtfull 15 The true learned men 16 A jeer upon the common Lawyer 16 Of the Physician 16 Pope Adrian's speech 16 Of the lunary world 17 Antiquity cannot priviledg an error 17 Novelty cannot prejudice truth 17 Of the Antipodes 17 The method how God powres down his blessings 18 The following day wiser than the formost 18 The Cadet older than his elder brother 18 Of experience 18 The prime Philosophers held ther was a world in the Moon 19 A notable comparison 19 VVhat kind of creatures are thought to be in the body of the Sun 19 Of Galileo's glasse 20 The Turks opinion of the Sun 20 The earth the basest of creatures 21 Of Trismegistus 21 The prerogatives of man 21 A letter of complement to a Lady 22 Of frendship 22 Of Fortunes wheel 23 The power of God 23 What use France hath made of Scotland 24 An Italian saying appliable to England 24 The old plot of the Jesuit now don in England 24 A letter of congratulation from forren travell 25 What a traveller must carry home with him besides language 25 'T is probable the Spaniard will be to hard for the French 25 A Letter complaining of the hard condition of England