two of the fairest flowers in the English Crown in lieu wherof it may be sayd ther is set in an ear of barly with a Chimney Wallflower ther is froth and fume given in exchange which doth so much sully the luster of it for as I intimated before the state and plenty of the Court was accounted the greatest glory of the Crown of England as Forren Authors of most Nations do acknowledg in their public Writings Now wheras some do affirm that the yeerly benefit of the Excise doth make a full compensation for the Court of Wards and tenures in Capite out of which ther was also computed fifty thousand pounds yeerly towards the Diet at Court It is too well known that the said Excise doth not make the King any Equivalent satisfaction for his Tenures alone if well managd much less for his Pourvoyances Preemptions and Carriages For ther was an exact account made by his Majesties special command of the last yeers expence that ther were Seventy three thousand six hundred and seven pounds fourteen shillings and seven pence spent more in the Court-diet and provision of the Stables then were in the time of Pourvoyance besides the extraordinary charge of Carriages for his Removes and Navy Royal. Now in expending those provisions that were servd into the Court by way of Pourvoyance and Composition ther was the greatest care and Oeconomical good husbandry usd that possibly could be for when ther were more Beefs and Muttons with other provisions servd in then the Court wanted The faithful Officers of the Green-cloth caused them to be Sould and with the moneys arising thence they were commonly usd to buy Napery and other Houshold-things for the service of the Kings House as also in paying the arrears of som of his Servants wages with the surplusages But now that we dance after the French Fiddle so fast as we always did so for the back and now begin to follow him also in things relating to the Belly by Board-wages c. I wish the time may not come that we do not follow him too farr As that one cannot put a grain of Salt in his pot unless he buy it of the King wherby in making Salt his own Commodity the French King raiseth by the meer Gabel which ariseth thence above 20 millions of Livres evry yeer which is two millions Sterling which sum is twice more then the King of Great Britain hath from all Incoms whatsoever as Crown-lands Customes and Imposts Excise and Chimney-money with other perquisits and casualities And as the French thus cannot put a grain of Salt in his pot so the Spaniard cannot put a corn of Peper into his Olla unless he hath it from the King Nor can he buy a pair of Cards or Dice to pass away the time withal unless he hath them of the King Nay he cannot buy half a sheet of Paper to write either Bond or Bill Acquittance or Receit or other legal Instrument but he must buy all of the King Which adds millions to his yeerly Revenues yet the peeple of Spain are cryed up for a free peeple But touching the Imposition of Excise which is given the King for his Royal Tenures and House-keeping I well remember the time that Excise was held such an abominable word that my Lord Carleton but only for naming it once in the Parlement-House yet to no ill meaning at all was violently cryed to the Bar and though a person of that eminence as being then a Privie Counsellor and principal Secretary of State he hardly escapd being committed to the Tower The Excise was then calld the Dutch Devil because it came first from Holland with other fine words as plunder storming c. which were all made free Denizons of England by that so longd-for Long Parlement And observable it is that the first imposing and use of Excise in England was to enable Rebels to make War against their King and Country Having thus briefly run over the Sumptuary part of the English Court we will now proceed to the Servants and Officers to the Attendance and State thereof which comes not behind any other Court whatsoever And this might be the ground of that ancient Proverb in England and nowhere els There is no Fishing to the Sea nor Service to the Kings The Court is the randevous of Vertu of Cadets and persons well qualified It is the Scale by which they rise the King being the fountain of Honour as well as of Bounty But before we come to speak of the Officers at Court and of their Diet and Bouche which by a pitiful corruption is vulgarly calld budg wheras it is bouche a mouth therfore it is a French phrase Il a bouche à la Cour He hath a mouth at Court viz. he hath a Diet I say before we come to speak of the Dishes and Diet at Court let the Reader take this small Advertisement in the way that evry Dish at Court was computed to cost the King viis modis at the years end 100 l. a dish But now since the Preemption and Pourvoyance is taken away evry dish doth stand in four times as much at least The Kings Court or Houshold The Lord Great Chamberlain and Earl Marshal are rather Officers of State and as it were extraneous in relation to the Houshold so in a manner are the four Officers of the Crown who use to have Houses abroad viz. The Lord Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal of England The Lord high Tresurer The Lord Privie Seal The Lord high Admiral But the properst Domestick Officers are as follow viz. The Lord Steward of the Houshold who hath allowed him evry day besides his Fee 32 dishes The Tresurer of the Houshold 32 dishes and besides his table he hath a Fee of 123 l. 14 s. 4 d. The Controuler besides thirty two dishes a day hath a Fee of 167 l. 17 s. 4 d. The Cofferer besides his Table hath 100 l. The principal Secretary of State hath besides his Table 100 l. The Secretary for the Latin Toung Fee 40 l. The Secretary for the French Toung Fee 66 l. 13 s. 4 d. The Clerks of the Signet Fee every one 40 l. Four Clerks of the Privie Council Fee evry one 50 l. Clerk of the Council in the Star-chamber Fee 26 l. 13 s. 4 d. Two Clerks of the Parlement Fee The first 40 l. Two Clerks of the Parlement Fee The second 10 l. Clerk of the Market Fee 20 l. Post-master Fee 20 l. Thirty standing Posts appointed by the Post-master evry one Fee 18 l. 5 s. Two Carriers To one 24 l. 3 s. 4 d. Two Carriers To the other 12 l. Officers above Stayrs Lord Chamberlain of the Houshold besides his Table of thirty two dishes a day hath a Fee 100 l. The Groom of the Stole who is always a Gentleman of the Bed-chamber hath evry day 32 dishes Vice-chamberlain Fee 100 Marks Knight-Marshal Fee 100 Marks The Gentlemen of the Privie Chamber whose
going out Among Artificers and Men of Trade the Civilians say that each one is to precede according to the Dignity of the Stuff wheron they work Moreover when Publik Instruments are made that Kingdom in whose Right t is made hath the Precedence so somtimes Scotland is namd before England c. General Precedences do differ according to the Genius of some Nations as among the Turks to go on the left hand is more honorable sedendo incedendo in sitting and going then on the right and the reson is good because he may seaze upon his Companions Sword at plesure In Spain the Pages and Laquays go before and the Lords follow And in some cases t is so in France as in going over a Bridg a Plank or a River the Man goes before the Master according to the old Proverb En Pont en Planche en Riviere Valet devant Maitre derriere Concerning Ambassadors ther is a way that they shall never clash which is to make them Parallels viz. that the Ambassadors of those Kings who stand in competition for Precedence do never meet unless it be in visiting one another And the Mathematician tells us That Parallelae etiamsi ducantur in infinitum nunquam concurrent Parallels although they be drawn in infinitum they will never meet and if Ambassadors never meet they will never jussle or jarr J. H. THE Civilians Antiquaries and Historians BOTH Latin English British Italians Spanish and French That were Consulted and Cited in the Compilement of this WORK GOldastus Cassanaeus Besoldus Valdesius Francisco Vasquez Volaterranus Bodin Boterus Albericus Gentilis Lansius Augustin Caranato Thesaurus Politicus Ant. Corsetus Camillo Borrello Boccolini Sleidon Dr. Gaspar Bragaccia Paschalius Don Ant. de Zuniga Mariana Garibai Fredericus de Marselaer Carolus de Grassaliis Du Haillan Comines Pierre Matthieu The Bishop of Rhodes Du Serres Versâ—…egan Il Conte Losco The Lord Coke Bishop Usher Sir Thomas More Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Robert Cotton Sir Henry Spelman Sir Richard Baker Sir Iohn Finet Sir Iohn Price Iudg Doddridge Humphry Lloyd Iudg Ienkins Mr. Campden Mr. Selden Mr. Fabian Philipps Barclays Argenis Matthew Paris Polydore Virgile Sir Henry Wotten Sir Isaak Wake Mr. Minshew Besides these Authors many Ancient Records and Manuscripts have bin consulted and the perusing of old Parchment-Records is a hard and harsh Work it may be said to be like the peeling of old Walnuts ANALYSIS Totius Operis TOuching the Matter and Method in framing this Work it is by dividing it into four Compartments viz. into four Sections The first three treat of the Precedence of Kings The fourth of Ambassadors Evry one of the Sections is subdivided into ten heads or Paragraphs containing still new matter The first Section consists of the Resons of the King of Great Britain c. First That He had to his Predecessors as ancient Kings as France and Spain and as famous among others Mulmutius Dunwallo who raignd here many hundred yeers before the Romans came in and he was so great a Legislator that his Laws are calld Leges Mulmuntinae and stand upon record to this day Moreover his Majesty now Regnant is the hundred thirty ninth King of Britain and the hundred and ninth of Scotland wheras neither Spain or France can shew a Catalog of half the number 2. The King of Great Britain had to his Predecessor the first Christian King that ever was upon earth viz. King Lucius according to the concurrent Opinion of all Antiquaries for St. Peters Church in Cornhil was built by him as a Record yet extant shews and this was many hundred yeers before France or Spain had any Christian King which made England to be entitled in all dispatches from Rome Primogenita Ecclesiae the first-born Daughter of the Church Now it is a Canon among the Civilians Summa Ratio quae ducitur à Religione and Grotius hath also a Principle Qui primò Christianismum professi sunt Praecedant c. 3. The King of Great Britain hath a Merum immixum Imperium he hath as absolut Possession and Authority and more Independent then France or Spain take Spiritual and Temporal together 4. The King of Great Britain for Eminence of Royal Dignity for State and Titles hath as fair Flowers He hath as rich Jewels in his Crowns as any other He hath as Noble Arms the Cross and the Lyon who is King of Animals 5. The King of Great Britain had to his Predecessor the first Christian Emperour Constantin and the first Christian Worthy Arthur the first Founder of Martial Knighthood whom ther is Truth enough to make Famous without that which is thought Fabulous 6. The King of Great Britains Predecessors were the first who freed themselfs from the Roman yoke long before France or Spain and this is one of the greatest Arguments that those Kings do produce for a Precedence one of another 7. The Kings of Great Britain had Precedence adjudgd Them both of France and Spain in General Councils as also by the Decrees of Popes as it will appeer in the following Discours 8. The King of Great Britain is Souverain of as Noble an Order of Knighthood as any in Christendome wherof eight Emperours and well neer eight times as many Kings have bin and is more ancient then the Royal Orders of France or Spain 9. The King of Great Britain hath had as Martial and Magnanimous Progenitors as any of the other two who performd great Acts both far and neer and touching Exploits in the Holy Land the Kings of Spain had little share in them 10. The King of Great Britain hath as free-born and strong sturdy Peeple of four several Nations to make Soldiers of as either France or Spain He hath the best Mariners the stoutest Men of War the Noblest Haven for so Milford is accounted by all Geographers He hath the Inaccessiblest Coasts with the greatest Command and Power at Sea both Defensive and Offensive of any King whatsoever The second Section Consists of Reasons and Arguments why France doth pretend and challenge Priority of Place which Reasons under favor may be appliable also to the King of Great Britain and the world knows why But for to make the King of Great Britain come after the King of France is to make him come behind himself which is no less then an absurdity The third Section Consists of the Reasons and Arguments which Spain alledgeth for Precedence at least of an Equality with the two forementiond Kings extracted with as much fidelity as carefulness out of her own Authors as Don Diego de Valdez D. Francisco Vasquez with others The fourth Section Consists of a Discours of Ambassadors T is tru ther are some who have written of this subject already yet not any under this Meridian But those Forreners who have discoursd therof do amuse the Reader with such general Notions that the Breeding and Qualities which they require as also the Monitions Precepts and Instructions which they prescribe may fit any
at Mahomet the thirds Circumcision which lasted 40 days there being then in Constantinople the Ambassadors of the greatest Monarchs upon Earth yet the Ambassador of Rodulphus the Emperour had the Precedence of them all All this is but Collateral to the main Designe of the intended Discourse which aims chiefly at Kings whereunto we now hasten but we will first give a few Hints or Prolegomenas of the Original of Kingly Government Of Royalty or Kingly Government THere is a Saying in France Pape par voix Empereur par Force Roy par Nature Pope by Choice Emperour by Might King by Nature viz. Successive and Hereditary Kings who ought to have the Precedence of Elective Whence may be inferred That Kingly Government is most agreeable to Nature Now 't is a tru and elegant Principle That Naturam sequi est Deo obsequi To follow Nature is to obey God Concerning the Character or Title of King it is of a more ancient date then that of Emperour For they who grope at Government before the Floud speak of Kings in Chaldee and Egypt Rome began with Kings and it may be said that it was more the Peeples Wantonness then Tarquin's which put them down Afterwards the Name of Emperour was given to that person who was Commander in chief of the Army or Praetorian Bands and Legionary Soldiers it was not a Title of that Sublimity and Transcendence as it proved afterward Among the Greek Authors the Names of Monarchs Kings and Emperours are taken promiscuously But all Writers that pretend to Policy acknowledge that Kingly Government of all other as it is the most ancient and may be said to begin with Adam so it hath most conformity with that of Heaven whence the best patterns for all Humane Actions are to be fetch'd and 't is no presumption to do it Moreover of all kinde of Ruling Powers Royalty is the prime for in it as the Civilians say there is formalis completa gubernandi ratio the most formal and compleat Essence of Government Royalty also hath the easiest the fewest and certainst Principles if any certain can be found for there is no Knowledge so subject to confusion and incertitudes as the Art for Man to govern Men It could never yet be brought to a Science which consists of general and tru Apodictical Demonstrations The Reason may be the various Inclinations Caprichio's and Humours of Peeple proceeding from the diversity of Climes and Coelestial Influences as also from that World of Contingencies which attend Human Negotiations likewise from the diffring Positions of Earth for those Laws and kinds of Government which may be proper for the Continent will not fit an Insulary Peeple nor those Laws of a Maritime Country can sute with meer Inland or Mediterranean Territories Therefore that Gran Senior of all Knowledge the Stagirite whereas he useth to be constant to himself while he gives Maximes for other Sciences when in his Politiques he comes to Human Government and beats his Brain how to prescribe certain Rules conducing thereunto He is not found onely at a loss and wavering to himself but he wraps his Scholars here and there in Clouds of Ambiguities Nor can we blame him and others to rove up and down in that manner upon this subject it being beyond the compass of Human Brain to enact such Laws may fit all times prevent all accidents and quadrat with the Genius of all Nations Some Peeple are so fiery-mouth'd that they must be rid with a Bit Curb and Martingale but a snafâ—…le and gentle hand will serve to manage others Now 't is observ'd that they who inhabit hard and barren Countries are more easily govern'd then those who live in fat and luxurious Soyls where being pamper'd with Plenty and Wealth they are apt to grow wanton and kick at or overthrow their Riders Yet it may be said that there is one certain and Universal Rule for Government and to keep a Peeple in a constant and exact Obedience and that Rule is For the Soveraign Prince to have always a standing and visible actual Power in motion as well to conserve as to curb a Peeple in case of any Commotion And 't is consentaneous to good Reason that the Subject shold contribut for this general Protection according to the saying Defend me and spend me that so evry one may rest under his own Roofs and sit at his own Fires in quietness and safety In sum All Statists concur in this That there is an Awe due to a King as well as Affection He must be a Dread Soverain as well as a Gracious and that Govermentâ—…s best temper'd where a few Drams of Fear are blended with the Peeples Love But now to our main Work Touching The Precedence of Kings And particularly of the great TRIUMVIRS OR The Three most Potent KINGS in Europe IN discussing this high Point we will first look Westward For there is a Story tells us That once when there were divers who stood in competition for the Kingdome of Persia it was agreed between them that the next morning they shold all meet in a great Plain and he who did first see the Sun rising and that his Horse did neigh shold be the King Being met on Horse-back at break of day as the rest stood gazing towards the East Darius one of the Competitors look'd always towards the West and at last finding a glance of the Solar Beams his Horse neighed whereat he suddenly turned back and so claim'd the Kingdome So to finde the truth of what is here sought after we will first look Westward towards Great Britain whose King may compare with any other whatsoever for these Reasons First for Antiquity of Predecessors and particularly of Christian Kings Secondly for an Independent absolute and unhomageable Possession and Authority both Spiritual and Temporal Thirdly for Eminence of Royal Dignity State and Titles Fourthly for Martial Exploits and Atchievments abroad Fifthly for a stout and strong sturdy freeborn Peeple with a plentiful Masculine Country and generality of Wealth Sixthly for a Royal long-lind Extraction and Blood Seventhly for Hospitality and a plentiful Kingly Court with number of Officers and stately Attendance Eighthly for diversity of Nations and diffring Maternal Languages As also that no Kings Face shines upon his Coyn in purer Metal Ninthly for Prudential Laws and Constitutions Tenthly for Greatness of Power by Sea and Land Defensive and Offensive With other Prerogatives I say that the King of Great Britain may hereby not onely claim an Equality with the other two but stand fair for a Precedence Now for proof of all the fore-pointed Particulars we will put evry one by it self and treat thereof in several Paragraphs and first Of the Antiquity of the King and particularly of the Christian Kings in Great Britain whereby we take A Jove Principium IT is observed by most Annalists who write of Countries and Nations that the Britains who were the Aborigenes the Primitive Inhabitants and may be said to be
community and free use of the Sea challenging no Dominion at all Ther are divers States in Italy that claim a particular command and propriety in some Seas as the Duke of Tuscany challengeth a Dominion of the Tyrrhene Sea the State of Genoa of the Ligustique Venice claims a right to the Adriatic as symbolically to a Husband for she marries him upon Ascention-day evry yeer the Duke going in procession with great solemnity in the Buantoro to that purpose and throwing a Ring into the water and She hath power to do in that part of the Sea which she calls her Gulph as much as she can do in Venice it self in point of laying Impositions and Gabels and to cause what Mercantile ships she please to unlade their Cargazons at the City of Venice it self God and Nature hath much favoured the King of Denmark with the command of a Neck of Sea I mean the Sound for it is the strongest Sinew of his Crown by the Tolls he receaves of those who pass and repass into the Baltik He commands also at large the Norwegian or Hyperborean Sea But among all if we observe his Title the King of Portugal hath a greater Maritime command then all these which Title runs thus Dom Manuel por Graca de Deos Rey c. Senhor de Guinee da Conquista Navigacaon Comercio d' Etiopia Arabia Persia da India à Todos c. Don Emanuel by the Grace of God King c. Lord of Guiney and of the Conquest Navigation and Commerce of Ethiopia Arabia Persia c. These are the Princes who have most command of Sea but they command only the Strands and Ports or Maritime Tract They cannot be said to command the Sea it self as the King of Great Britain doth for he commands no less then four Seas which are circumfluent about his Territories and the Law says The Sea is of the Ligeance of the King as any other thing He is Protector as well as Lord of them He takes both the Dominion and Defence of them also he scowres and secures them from Pyrats and Praedatory Rovers He makes all ships whether Merchants or Men of War Forreners or Subjects to dash their Colours and strike their Topsayls not onely to his Castles but to any of his ships Royal as they pass and repass Which mark of Dominion the Republic of Venice hath not though she also hath her Gallies always in cours to scowre and secure the Gulph from Cursaries and Robbers which is one of the chief Regalia's St. Mark hath though the Sea she thus commands be scarce 30 Leagues in extent for it is but fourscore Italian Miles Nor doth the King of Great Britains Dominion terminat in his own Seas but as most Civilians hold it extends as far as the shoares of his Transmarin Neighbours and as far North as the Artic Circle which Grotius did once acknowledg and publish to the world though another Caprichio came into his head afterwards in the Panegyrike he sent King Iames at his Inauguration when he says Rerum Natura Creatrix Divisit populos metas ipsa notavit Sic juga Pyrenae sic olim Rhenus Aspes Imperii mensura fuit Te flumine nullo Detinuit nulla nimbosi verticis arce Sedtotum complexa Parens hic terminus ipsa Substitit atque uno voluit sub limite claudi Te sibi seposuit supremo in gurgite Nereus Finis hic est qui fine caret Quae meta Britannis Littora sunt aliis Regnique accessio tanti est Quod ventis velisque patet We will put a period to this Paragraph with a Request to the Reader That having well weighed the Power of the King of Great Britain and joyn'd that of the Sea with the Land as also the Reasons of the preceding Paragraph with this to judge whether it be fit that He shold go or come in the Arriere to any King whatsoever We will now to the third Paragraph Touching the Eminence and Royal Dignity the State Grandeur and Titles of the King of Great Britain Corsetus a known and well-accounted Author divides Kings into Illustres and Super-Illustres He gives the King of England the second place among the Super-Illustres and one of the Reasons are that he is an Anointed King whereas the King of Spain and others are not unless the King of Spain may claim it as he entitles himself King of Ierusalem and Sicily for besides the Kings of England and France they two are onely capable of being Anointed The King of England hath a Gift also to cure the Strumatical Disease call'd therefore in England The Kings Evil ab effectu sanationis whereas in French 't is call'd Les Ecrouelles and Los Lamperones in Spanish c. Some have written that the King of England hath a Vertu to cure this Disease as he is King of France but that 's a vulgar Error for King Edward the Confessor was us'd to heal that way which was 300 years before Platina makes the King of England Filium Adoptivum Ecclesiae the Emperour Filium Primogenitum and the French King Filium natu minorem One the Adopted Son the other the First-born the third the Cadet or younger Son Volaterranus is related by Philippus Honorius in a well-known Work of his call'd Praxis Politicae prudentiae anno 1610. that Iulius 2. gave the Precedence to the English Ambassador before him of Spain Hen. 2. was King of Ierusalem and Edward 3. was made Perpetuus Vicarius Imperâ—…i which is no mean Title The Spanish Ambassador never questioned the Precedence of the English Ambassador till in the Council of Basile and touching the Contest twixt them in the Council of Constance ther was at Lovain Anno 1517. a Book entituled Nobilissima disputatio super dignitate magnitudine Regnorum Britannici Gallici habita ab utriusque Oratoribus in Concilio Constantiensi where you see he puts Britains King before the French in the very Frontispice and the chiefest Reasons asserted therein are found in this Discours Hen. 6. employed Thomas Polden Bishop of Chichester with others in quality of Ambassadors to the Council held at Siena to claim his session otherwise he would protest and poursue the Protestation In the Raign of Hen. 6. ther was a Public Instrument put forth by Ericus King of Sweden and Denmark wherein he puts England before France which Instrument â—…uns thus Caveant omninò Mercatores alii quicunque homines subditi Reg. Angliae Franciae ne de caetero sub poena amissionis vitae Bonorum visitare praesumant Terras Islandiae Finmarchiae Halghalandiae seu alias quascunque Terras prohibitas aut Portus illegales in Regnis Daniae Sueciae Norwegiae An authentic Copy of this Instrument was brought by the Danish Ambassador to Breme 1562. and shew'd to the English Delegates there at that time from Queen Elizabeth about the great business of the Hans Towns In the Capitulations of Peace twixt Hen. 7.
Christ. Catholicae Ecclesiae Episcopus ss Then his Seal or Signet engraven within Sanctus Petrus †Sanctus Paulus and this Motto about Ad Dominum cùm tribularer clamavi Exaudivit Me. Then the subscription of 27 Cardinals on both sides of the Signet the Cardinal Bishops on the right-hand of the Signet and close to it then on their right-hand the Priests-Cardinals and on the left side of the Signet as it is accustomed in all Bulls and other Public Instruments the Deacon-Cardinals have their place and precedence King Henry's Book against Luther was presented to the Pope in full Consistory by Sir Iohn Clerk then Ambassador at Rome for the King with a long solemn Oration the Original of which Book is yet to be seen in the Vatican at Rome with this Inscription written with King Henries own hand Anglorum Rex Henricus Leoni XÌ„ mittit Hoc Opus Fidei testem Amicitiae Henry King of the English sends this Work to Leo the Tenth as a Witness both of Faith and Friendship And as the Kings of England themselfs have such super-eminent Titles so their First-born Sons have a Title not inferior to any Royal Heir apparent in Christendome which is Prince of Wales and this Title is many years more ancient then that of Dauphin in France Moreover whereas other Kings Sons come so naked to the world that they have not of their own wherewith to buy them Clouts or pay their Nurses but what they have from their Parents The First-born of the King of England ipsissimo instante the very same instant that he is born is Duke of Cornwal and is presuppos'd by the Law to have Livâ—…ry and Seisin then given him of the said Duchy with all the Lands Rents and Honors therunto annex'd T is tru that the conferring of the Title of Prince of Wales depends meerly upon the Kings Plesure which was done out of a Political consideration to keep the Kings first Sons still in awe and within the bounds of a greater Obedience Nor is there any Queen also lives in a greater State and Dignity or hath more Prerogatives and greater Joyntures then the Queen of England For though Aliens at first and still under Couvert Baron yet they may pourchase Lands by Fee-simple They may make Leases and Grants without the King They also must be petitiond unto first before any can implead them in point of right We will proceed now to the fourth Paragraph Touching the Martial Exploits and Achievments which the Kings of Great Britain have performed from time to time c. TO proceed in this Paragraph we must make Retrosvects a far off we will begin with Brennus that bold Britain who in the Government of Consuls took and sack'd Rome 364 yeers before Christ and did notable feats afterwards in Greece and Asia insomuch that the Welch in honour of that Heroe their Country-man call a King from his Name Brenin to this day Cataracus overthrew a mighty Army of the Romanes and Boadicia slew 70 thousand of them in one Battel as their own stories declare King Arthur is rank'd among the Nine Worthies for he discomfited the Saxons in twelve several Battails and erected the first Order of Knighthood There was one English King and three Kings Sons went to the Wars of the Holy Land What Exploits did Richard coeur de Lion perform there so much to the envy of the King of France who therfore returnd before him He conquerd the Iland of Cyprus where Marrying Berengaria he transferrd the Kingdome to Guy Lusignan who had right to the Crown of Ierusalem which in exchange he resignd to King Richard But the French are they whom the English did so often rout subdue and subjugat with the Grey-goose Wing wherwith they did so often penetrat the very heart of France in so many glorious Victories that can be hardly paralleld take all circumstances We will instance in some of the most famous and begin with that of Cressy the first great Battel The Battail of Crâ—…ssy in France That Heroyk King Edward the third having been provoked by divers Affronts that Philip of Valois the French King had offeâ—…'d him goes over in person to France with an Army of 80000 men at Arms and 10000 Archers as Froissard hath it He takes with him his Son the Prince of Wales and Duke of Guyenne being but 15 years of Age calld afterwards the Black Prince to train him up in feats of Arms. Landing in Normandy he carries all the Country before him as far as Poissy within ten miles of Paris and after divers Skirmiges a Battail was appointed King Edward had incamp'd neer a Village calld Cressy where he divided his Army to three Battalions the first was led by the Prince of Wales the second by the Earls of Arundel and Northampton in the third was the King himself The Battail thus orderd being mounted upon a White Hobby he rides from Rank to Rank encouraging evry man to the performance of his duty and to have a regard to the Honor of his King and Country The French Kings Army was at least twice the number consisting of above 60000 Combatants with all the flower of the French Chivalry whereof the chief were the Duke of Alanson the Kings Brother the King of Bohemia the Duke of Lorrain the Earl of Flanders and Savoy with other great Princes The Vangard was led by the Kings Brother the Reer by the Earl of Savoy the main Battail by the King himself The French King was so fierce in assurance of Victory that he wold scarce admit of any counsel The old King of Boheme advis'd that the Army shold receive some refreshment before and that the Infantry of Genowais whereof ther were 15000 Crossbows shold make the first Front and the Cavalry to follow which being agreed on the Duke of Alanson did stomack that the Genowais shold have the honor of the first Rank so in a kind of fury he caus'd them to change place which bred such a discontent that they were more incensd against their Leader then against the Enemy but in the interim ther fell such a showre of Rain that wetted their Bowstrings which they had not the wit to cover all the while as the English did that for the limmerness therof when they came to action they grew useless At the ceasing of the showre the Sun did shine full in the face of the French therby dazzling their eyes but on the back of the English King Edward being got into a Windmil all the while whence as from a Sentinel he might explore and behold the face of the Enemy and discovering the disturbance that was made because the Genowais were put to change their place instantly gave order to charge that part which made the discontented Genoway to recoyl Alenson perceiving this rides on in a rage crying out Sa sa on on let 's make way ore the Bellies of these Genowais for they do but hinder us So riding through them he came
and cleer Waters London may be said to have as good Blood running through her Veins as any other by those Aqueducts Conduits and conveyances of fresh Waters round about to serve for all Uses What an Herculean work was that of Sir Hugh Middletons to bring the River of Ware threescore miles by Compasses to run through her streets and refresh her houses as also to preserve them from firing for which ther are divers ingenious useful Engines besides Concerning Universality of Trade ther is no City upon the surface of the earth goes beyond Her For ther are no Seas that any of the two and thirty winds blow upon from the Artik to the Antartik Pole from the Orient to the setting Sun but London by her Navigations findes them out and makes rich returns by way of Barter or Emption Touching solid and useful Wares that she hath of her own what a substantial Commodity and of what high esteem all the world over is her Cloth her Kersies and divers kinds of Woollen Manufactures Adde herunto her Lead and Tin which she transmutes to Forren Gold and Silver For Healthful Corporal Recreations and harmless Pastimes London may go in the Van to any place that ever I saw Go and walk in her Fields you shall see some shooting at long Marks some at short some bowling upon cheerful pleasant Greens some upon Bares and Alleys some wrastling some throwing the Bar some the Stone some Jumping some Running some with their Dogs in Duck-ponds some at a Bear-baiting some at the Bull some Riding upon Naggs some in Coaches to take the fresh Air some at Stool-ball others at Kittle-pins with variety of other For a stately Cathedral Temple and general Dome of Devotion the time was and I hope will be yet within a few years that London did not yeild to any City in this particular Saint Pauls Church being esteemd by all Nations to be one of the eminentst visiblest Temples one of the most glorious piles of stones that ever was reard taking all the Dimensions together with the conspicuous site thereof being about the centre of the City and upon a rising Ground She hath also this singular property to be founded upon Faith by having a large Parish-Church of that name supporting her and directly under her Chancel Touching a rare huge Bridge and Navigable River London is not inferiour to any other City whatsoever Concerning the first what a rich Rent hath it to preserve it self yearly what a vast Magazin of Corn is ther always in the Bridge-house against a Dearth as well as in many other places What a number of Officers look to the reparations therof and are hansomly maintaind therby Touching the second viz. The River of Thames she hath not her peer if regard be had to the length and straightness of her cours running from West to East without so many Meanders as other Rivers have Her convenient distance from the Sea to prevent all Surprisals The Amoenity of the Soyle on both Banks The wholsomness of her water which makes the best Beer in the world being so much transported by other Nations and sold as dear as Wine The diversity of her Fish the fatness of her Mudd c. For number of Humane Souls in City and Suburbs London is nothing inferior to Paris whose last Cense as is said before came to about a Million But in the year 1636. command being sent to the Lord Mayor to make a scrutiny what number of strangers were in the City he took occasion therby to make a general Cense And ther were of Men Women and Children neer upon seven hundred thousand that livd within the Bars of his Jurisdiction And this being 27 years ago t is thought that London hath since more by the third part in all probable conjecture Now for Westminster the Strand Bedford Berry St. Martins-lane Long-acre Drury-lane St. Giles of the Field High Holborn with divers other thick-peepled places which are so contiguous and make one entire peece with London it self I say take all these Buildings together the forenamed number of Seven hundred thousand may well be thought to be double so many Touching the shape of London I find nothing to assimilat it unto more properly then to a Lawrel Leaf that is far more long then t is broad which may be a cause she doth not appeer so populous as Paris her passengers not encountring so often as they wold if she were of a round Figure Touching her length take all Buildings that are adjoyning one to another from the utmost point of Westminster to the utmost point beyond the Tower she may be well thought to be five Miles long about half so much in latitude and in Circuit about twelve Italian miles To conclude touching the Defensive and Offensive Power of the City of London in point of Arms of all sorts of Artillery Ammunition Arsenals and Docks on both sides the River Her Traind Citizens and expert Firelocks neither France or Spain hath her equal It is recorded that in King Stephens Raign the City of London raisd 60000 Foot and 20000 Horse how many more were she able to do now in case of necessity For to compare her in statu quo nunc to what she was then were to compare a Giant to a Dwarf in point of proportion and strength The Record hath it also that Anno 1293. London was able to put out a Fleet of 95 Ships to scowre and secure the Seas from Depredations and Pyrates c. which she was often usd to do Such an Imperial Chamber such such a potent and well appointed City hath the King of Great Britain always at his command And if some of the Roman Emperours about Fifteen hundred years ago in their Diplomata's or Edicts stild her Augusta which was always a name of Magnificence and State how much more may she deserve that name in the condition she now is arrivd unto Thus have we discoursd though in weak imperfect Expressions of the Power and Military Might of the King of Great Britain not including all this while his two Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland which being cast into the Balance may make his Power so much more Touching his Maritime Power t is spoken of in another Paragraph going before wherunto we will add that the King of Great Britain hath such a Haven that neither France or Spain or indeed any part of the world can parallel which is Milford Haven wherof the most famous ancient Authors not only Latin but Greek make most honourable mention calling it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the thousand foorded Haven One other passage we will adde which is but fresh that besides the reducing of the Hollander the very last year a few of the King of Great Britains Frigats did beat those desperat Pyrats of Barbary into a Peace wheras neither France or the Dutch could do it And this year those few English that are in Tanger did also force Guyland the great Morocco Rebel to Articles
appeer in a fitting equippage all which consumes time as also what high ceremonies are to be usd in so solemn an action Philip Comines who always dismisseth his Readers wiser then they came gives special Cautions for this Affirming that the congress of Souverain Princes in regard of the various circumstances that attend it is a meer folly it is exposd to emulation jelousies and envy as also to delays and retarding of things by needless solemnities He makes an instance in the personal Encounter which the Kings of England and France had where it is observable that he puts England before France adding further that Lewis the eleventh though a politik wise King was much afraid before-hand that some word might slip from him which might give offence or some advantage to the King of England or his Ministers Herunto he adds an infortunat Journey that the King of Portugal made to the said King Lewis for assistance against the Castilians which perhaps he might have procurd by a discreet Ambassador which makes him give a caution touching this point Bien tard â—…n Prince se doit mettre soubs la main d'un autre ni aller cercher son secours en personne A Prince shold hardly put himself under the hands of another or go seek aid of him in person Paulus Emilius also describing the personal meeting that was between King Richard of England and Philip Augustus of France who also in the relation puts him of England before France saith that their often Conversation and Colloquies did much retard and disadvantage the great business of an Expedition to the Holy Land We will adde herunto the memorable example twixt Matthias King of Hungary and Uladislaus King of Bohemia who after a long War were to meet for concluding a peace in Olmutts in Moravia where Matthias meerly out of state made Uladislaus stay for him 15 days Moreover Matthias came with a green Garland about his temples in policy that he might not uncover his head Uladislaus therupon causd his Cap to be so girded and knotted about that it could not be taken off Sic Ars dâ—…luditur arte But ther is a Modern Example far more pregnant then any of these of Charles the first King of England whose Journey to the Court of Spain though the designe was Princely and Noble in it self for it was to endear himself the more to the Lady Infanta yet it provd very disadvantagious for it distracted and retarded the whole business both of Match and restitution of the Palatinat when by the negotiation of Ambassadors it had bin brought to such a passe of perfection that it had taken effect had not the Prince come thither which gave occasion for the two great Favorits Buckingham and Olivares to clash one with another which broke the neck of so great a Business that had bin a moulding above ten yeers which had it bin left to the sole management of Ambassadors had in all probability bin consummated Thus we see how absolutly requisit and necessary how advantagious and essential Ambassadors are to a Kingdom or Common-wealth which made the Roman Orator say Sentio Legatorum munus tum Hominum Praesidio munitum esse tum etiam Divino Iure circumvallatum I â—…old the function of Ambassadors to be fencd by mens power and fortified by Divine right We will conclude with a Cannon of the Civilians Legatorum munus perquam utile est ac perquam necessarium The Office of Ambassadors is most 〈◊〉 and most necessary which makes the Spaniards call it Santo Officio y Ministerio de los Angeles The holy Office and Ministry oâ—… Angells The third Paragraph Of the Antiquity the first Rise and Pedigree of Ambassadors as also of their Dignity high Honor and Pre-eminence and who are capable to qualifie and employ Ambassadors FRom the Necessity of Ambassadors we will proceed to their Antiquity and surely they must needs be very ancient if they are so necessary Some draw their antiquity from Belus the Father of Ninus but Iosephus makes them more ancient and refers their Original to God Himself who was pleasd to create the Angels for this Ministry Therfore Embassy in Greek is calld 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as being derivd by imitation from the Hierarchy of Angels who are made the Ambassadors of the great King of Heven upon extraordinary occasions either for revelation of the successe of Kingdoms as the Archangel Gabriel was to Daniel Or for the declaring of some rare and signal thing as He was sent also to the Blessed Virgin of the Conception of our Saviour c. Now ther is no Order or Government in this lower World as well Ecclesiastical as Secular but it is had from the Pattern of the higher in regard that God Almighty created the Elementary World and appointed the Government therof to conform with the Architype and chief Pattern or Ideal Form of the same conceavd at first in the Divine mind and prescribd to the Hevenly Kingdome Herunto alludes the Fiction of the ancient Pagans For Aristides tels us that in the first Age of the World wheras Mankind was infected by Brute Animals wherof some were far stronger others swifter others were Venemous which made Mankind become often a prey to Birds to Beasts and Serpents Prometheus being sollicitous and studious for the safety of the humane Creture became Ambassador or Orator to Iupiter for declaring the misery of Mankinde Herupon Iupiter resolvd to send his son Mercury to teach Man Rhetorik that is to speak well and movingly but with this restriction that he shold not communicat this Art to all but to the excellentst the wisest and valiantst sort of men By means herof they came down from the mountains and forth out of Caves and places of fastness and by means of that Art of Rhetorik or Eloquence they united themselfs to civil Societies and coalitions Hence it may be inferrd that Mercury the God of Eloquence was the first Ambassador and he is painted with wings on his heels to denote expedition Besides he carrieth a white Wand calld Caduceus in his hand encircled with two Dragons greeting one another which signifieth that his Office is to make Peace Alliances and Legues as also to de nounce VVar which is intimated by the immanity of the Dragon Having thus displayed the Antiquity we come now to the Honor of Ambassadors and questionless they must needs be very honorable being so ancient Royalty may be said without prophaness to be a Ray of Divinity and Honor is a Ray of Royalty The first is derivd immediatly from Heven the other from Earthly Kings who are calld the Fountains of Honor. Now the reflections of this second Ray falls no where so directly as upon Ambassadors who represent and personat Souverain Princes which makes their Houses Sanctuaries and their Persons so sacred inviolable and excellent and they have this high honor given them not only for their own sakes and their Masters but as they are Instruments of
Crown and Alliance but also for neerness in Blood Your Message in the first part is a Ceremony sutable to the affections and obligations of Princes to express the sense they have of the mortality of their Frends which Office is best performd by a person of noble rank capable of the impression wrought in noble hearts But the substance of your Ambassage is for the publik Peace and the interest of our Brother the Palsgrave and our dear Sister depending therupon To advance this great work you must with convenient speed fit your self for your journey and pass the Seas in a ship appointed to transport you to the Sound or the River of Elve as by the way you shall learn where our Uncle the King doth now reside When you are landed you shall forthwith give notice of your coming that your Reception may be with honor due to our Ambassador of your rank Then after your coming to Court you shall in our name demand Audience and then attend the Kings plesure for your access but you shall not visit any other until you have had the honor of his presence to whom you are employd At your first audience you shall deliver our Letter of Credence to our Uncle and then with a significant expression of our entire and cordial affection proceeding from the obligations of frendship you shall tell him what great sorrow we have conceavd together with him for the death of our dear Granmother the late Queen his Mother whose memory you must adorn with her stile and due Praises enlargd as the information of her Life and Death and your own Judgment will best direct This Office being performd with the King without any mention of other business at that time you shall address your self to the Prince if he be present or otherwise by special audience and deliver with our Letter of Credence our like condoleance with expression of our hearty affection as to a Kinsman whose prosperity and inward frendship we very much desire Our Letters to our Aunts the Kings Sisters you shall deliver afterwards with signification of our condoleance and of our love to either of them and if more of our Cosens be there you shall pass like Offices with them all Whilst you attend this Ceremony you are to inform your self by Avery who hath the charge of our affairs at Hamborough and is also chosen Commissioner for our sister what is done concerning that Portion of our Granmothers personal Estate which is due unto Us as by our Uncles own Letters now to be deliverd unto you may appeer Which Portion we have given entirely to our said Sister with order to her Commissioners to sollicit for the same at the appointed time and in case you find performance to our Sisters satisfaction according to our former Letters sent on her behalf you shall take notice of it and give our Uncle hearty thanks for his just favor and expedition But if you find refusal or delay for the discounting of such debt as upon former Treties and by his last Letters our Uncle doth demand you shall assure him that before the receit of those Letters which mention the compensation of such Debts We had conveyd by Deed of Gift to our Sister all our interest in the Goods and given warrant to her Commissioners to attend the division and we hope our good Uncle in his Royal justice and favor to our Sister his Neece and her many distressed children will not add affliction to affliction but rather give them help by his forwardness in this our gift which we can no more revoke If this prevail not you shall modestly demand what those Debts are wherof he expecteth compensation and therin to clear all misunderstanding you are thus to distinguish The Debts to which our Uncle pretendeth are of two kinds all contracted by our Father of blessed memory and not by us First our Father after that our Uncle had undertaken the German War sent Sir Robert Anstruther with an advance of forty six thousand pounds present moneys and promised to pay thirty thousand pounds monthly so our Uncle wold maintain one thousand horse and four thousand foot for restoring our Brother and Sister to all their Patrimonial Dignities and Estates If then our Uncle shall declare that this is the debt he pretendeth to defalque out of the divided Goods you shall with due respects and as it were unwillingly call unto his mind what manner of performance was found on his part and how little those designes have bin advanced for which our Father expressed his Royal affection by so large an offer which caused us at our coming to the Crown to send the Duke of Buckingham and Earl of Holland to meet our Uncles Ambassadors at the Hague to qualifie those indigested assumptions made de bene esse for the present without debate of Articles indifferent for both parts And then as our Uncle well knoweth we setled the accompt upon a new foot and therfore ought no more to be called back to those exorbitant demands which notwithstanding upon due calculation of all our disbursements in money and in charges of our Auxiliary aids and diversions we have so much exceeded That laying a side all exception for not performing conditions we have just cause to claim retribution or at least acknowledgment of well-deserved thanks and not to be now strained for compensation of those Debts Of our â—…ast expences ther hath bin a List transmitted to Avery from Sir Henry Vane wherof you may make use by a Copy to be now delivered unto you to acquit Us of those debts But ther is another debt for money borrowed by our Father which we do acknowledg both principal and interest and for liquidation therof have given former directions to our Ambassador Sir Henry Vane who is to meet the Kings Ministers at the Hague in his return out of Germany and to consider of a cours for our Uncles satisfaction according to his expectation and our desire Upon this meeting if otherwise you cannot you must discharge your self and having setled the division of the Portion and put off the accompts in this manner you shall afterwards proceed as you find time and opportunity to your more weighty negotiation concerning the common cause representing to that King our Uncle the present state of Christendome specially of Germany the seat of the War that upon a mature consideration therof both he and we may best advise how to govern our Proceedings as well for our safety as for our interests with others and chiefly for the obtaining of a sure peace which is to be desired for the common good To this purpose you shall move him to cast his eyes upon that progress the King of Sweden his Neighbour hath already made by his sword almost through the Empire beyond all mens expectation and to foresee in his great wisdome what the consequence will be if by victorious Arms he shall obtain power to give the Princes and States on both
after they desird new audience which was suspended to be given them and in the interim the King sent Sir Edward Conway his principal Secretary of State and Sir Francis Cottington Secretary to the Prince both Lords afterwards to signifie unto the said Ambassadors that he desird nothing more then a continuance of frendship twixt the two Crowns therfore if they had any thing to say they shold communicat it to the said Secretaries as persons of trust which he employd expresly for that purpose and if they made any difficulty of this also then they might choose among his Council of State those whom they likd best and he wold command that they shold presently repair unto them and if this also shold seem inconvenient they might send him what they had to say in a Letter by whom they thought fittest and he wold receave it with his own hands But they gave no answer to all this therupon the said Secretaries told them according to their Instructions which they had receavd from his Majesty That they being the Authors of an Information so dangerous and seditious had made themselfs incapable to treat further with the King their Master and were it not for the respect he bore to the Catholik King his dear and beloved Brother their Master and that they were in quality of Ambassadors to such a Majesty he wold and could by the Law of Nations and the right of his own Royal Justice proceed against them with such severity as their offence deservd but for the reasons before said he wold leave the reparation to the Justice of their own King of whom he wold demand and require it Herupon Sir Walter Ashton Ambassador then in Spain for the Crown of England had audience of that King wherin he said That the King of Great Britain his Master had commanded him to demand refaction and satisfaction of his Majesty against the Marquiss of Inojosa and Don Carlos Coloma for scandalizing the Duke of Buckingham with other of his best subjects and through his sides aiming at the Prince himself for it is unlikely the Duke wold have cast himself upon such a designe without the communication of it to him and to know his plesure so he remonstrated the whole circumstance of the business c. And in conclusion he said That he humbly beseechd his Majesty to observe and weigh well the care and tenderness wherwith the King his Master had proceeded towards his Majesties Ambassadors not obliging them to any precipitat resolutions but giving them time and opening a way how they might have cleerd themselfs c. It was expected that the said Ambassadors at their return to Spain wold have bin punishd or at least checkd but matters growing daily worse and worse twixt England and Spain the said Ambassadors were rather rewarded then reprehended at their return Inojosa being made afterwards Governor of Milan and Coloma receavd addition of command and honors in Flanders But the high civilities of England at that time towards the said Ambassadors was much cryed up abroad that notwithstanding so pernicious a machination to demolish Buckingham and to discompose the whole English Court yet they were permitted to depart peaceably and Sir Lewis Leukner was commanded to conduct them to the Sea-side for prevention of any outrage upon their persons We have dwelt the longer upon this business in regard ther are extraordinary traverses of State in it being a Plot of an unusual reach of policy which will be found more amply related in the addition the Author made to Finets Ambassador but in regard it is so pertinent to this Paragraph he thought it fit to insert the substance of it here We will now resume things touching the Office of an Ambassador It is very necessary he shold have his Credential Letters exact and plain His Commission plenary and fortified with as much authority as he can The Spanish Ministers when the Prince of Wales was there objected against the Duke of Buchingham that his Commission for he came also in quality of Ambassador was not so compleat and authentik as that of the Earl of Bristols for he had his Commission under the Broad Seal of England wheras the Duke had his by the King only The Civilians make a question Si à Legato Mandata poscantur is adigi possit ad ea exhibenda Their opinion is That besides his Credential or Fiduciary Letters and his General Commission he is not bound to shew any more Touching his privat Instructions Paschalius saith Mala eum agitat res qui in Legati Secreta irreligiose irrumpit It is questiond further Whether it may stand with the Office and Honor of an Ambassador to receave Gifts and Presents from the Prince he is sent unto which the Civilians call Lautia a word peculiar only to Ambassadors some are for the Negative which the Hollanders do follow for their Ambassadors use to receave none not so much as a Bottle of Wine But most are for the Affirmatif But the Venetians who are reputed to have the best Rules touching Ambassadors though they allow it yet their Ambassadors are bound to exhibit their Presents to the Senat and t is thought much of St. Marks tresure consists of it They are also bound in a large Oration to give an account besides that of their Embassy what they observd most remarkable in the Government State and Quality of the Country of which Oration they bring also a Manuscript which is put up in their Archives Iohn Earl of Bristol at his departure from Madrid notwithstanding that the weather had grown foul twixt us and Spain receavd a Cupboard of huge massie Plate valued at 20000 Crowns of this King of Spain who also gave him a Diamond Ring off his Finger rated at 1500 l. sterling and the reason was because he had found him so wise faithful and industrious a servant to his King The Civilians make likewise a doubt whether it may not interrupt the Office of an Ambassador to have his Wife and Children along with him but they who hold the contrary are rather exploded then approved For to leave his Wife is for one to leave half himself behind him besides Conjugal society is counted the prime of comforts moreover it saves trouble of Writing and charges for Letters and Packets which come to no small sum at the yeers end c. We will conclude this Paragraph with two special things which the Civilians require further for the performance of the Office of an Ambassador viz. That he be reservd and secret in an intense degree he must not be Plenus Rimarum full of chinks and herin the Italian and Spaniard are eminently imitable for all the Drugs in Egypt cannot draw away a secret from them wheras a small Purge or Vomit will make others cast it up Furthermore that an Ambassador may facilitat the discharge of his Office the better it is requisit that he have a previous knowledg of the Court and Country wherunto he is
sides what Law shall please himself which may reasonably be feared if no cours be timely taken for preservation of their rights by treaty or otherwise On the other side you may lay before him the power yet remaining in the puissant house of Austria with the dependance of Bavaria and other German Princes and how both sides are supported by forren assistants those with the money and countenance of Spain these with the actual arms of France besides the diversions of the Low Countries and Italy so as in all probability the War is like to last long and the balance may be swayd as other Princes put to their hands And the King of Swede having lately moved both the Princes and States of his alliance and others to joyn league for the liberty of Germany and for peace and inviting us to joyn therin and the Emperour also discovering on his side an inclination to treaty and to peace you must entreat for our better information our Uncles sound advice and how he stands affected and whether he be engaged in any such treaty with whom and how far and whether our conjunction with the rest will be desired To which we may by him be perswaded to apply our selves so as by the treaty the full restitution of our Brother and Sister to their Patrimonial Dignities and Estates being the only interest of our engagement may be effectually provided for If upon these intimations the King shall reveal unto you any overtures of a treaty already in hand and that therin our conjunction will be desired you shall with speed give us account of the particulars and of the grounds therof with all the circumstances of persons times and places that therupon we may send you such further powers and instructions for your proceedings with our Uncle and other Princes as with the advice of our Council we shall think meet Besides this main business other occasions may be apprehended there by you for the advantage of our service for iâ—… by conference with Avery you shall understand of any impediment or obstruction of the trade of our Merchants residing in Hamborough caused by any difference betwixt that King and the Town or by his pretence of commanding the River of Elve you shall do Offices in our name betwixt our Uncle and the Town to remove offences and to settle good agreement upon honorable terms for the King and so as an Innovation may not be made which may prejudice the intended treaty or which may restrain our Merchants from that freedome of trade there which they have enjoyed so many yeers And wheras by occasion of the War betwixt Poland and Sweden new Impositions are raised in the Pellow and elsewhere with other restraints of trade which in the end will force our Merchants and the Low Country-men also to seek the Commodities of Eastland in America to the great detriment of the Kings Customes at Elsenore you shall in this regard advise with our Uncle how the ancient freedom in like manner may be restored in that trade For Island you shall signifie to our Uncle that in conformity to his late Letters we have prohibited our subjects that Fish in those Seas or fetch Hawks from those parts either to export or import any Merchandise to hinder his Farmers not doubting of his gracious reciprocal favor to our said subjects in their lawful proceedings Concerning our Coller of Rubies which hath formerly bin engagd to raise moneys you shall inform your self by Avery how the case now stands and shall proceed as upon further advice therof we shall direct You shall keep good correspondence with our Ambassadors and Agents in all parts as occasion shall be offered but especially with Sir Henry Vane who is employed with the King of Sweden and with Sir Robert Anstruther at the Emperours Court. IOHN COKE By these two Presidents of Commission and Instructions we may see how exact and curious the English Court is in this point how quaintly such Publik Dispatches are couchd not so plain and flat with such superfluity of speech as I have seen the Instructions of other Princes stuffd withal We will to the Reception Attendance Treatments Gifts Lautia composing of Differences with other high civilities usd towards Forren Ambassadors in the English Court. Touching the first Ther are no Ambassadors whatsoever receavd more splendidly and with greater state both by water and land then in England For first he is brought in Royal Barges a good way upon a Noble Navigable River through a Forest of main Masts on both sides and landed at the stairs of a huge Tower in sight of a stupendious Bridg such as I may well say the world hath not the like Then is he conducted in the Kings Coach with a great number besides through the centre of the City of London to a house expresly provided for him if he comes extraordinary where he is magnificently treated for divers days upon the Kings charge Now the Rule of the Court is That the Ambassador of a King is to be brought in by an Earl at least an Ambassador from Dukes and Republiks to be brought in by a Baron T is a Rule also that no Ambassadors be allowd this honor at privat Audiences but only at the first and last publik or when any are invited to Dine with the King Moreover that no Ambassador except a Kings is to be met with the Kings Coach further off then the Tower-wharf And wheras the Coaches of other Ambassadors residing upon the place were usd to go to accompany the new-landed Ambassador from Tower-wharf which gave occasion of clashing for Precedeâ—…ce of Coaches as happened the last yeer twixt the Spanish Ambassador the Baron of Batteville and Monsieur Lestrade the French which flew so high that it went to effusion of blood and killing as it is mentiond before in the last Paragraph of the first Section more particularly Ther is an Act of State passd that all Forren Ambassadors shall forbear for the future from that complement of sending their Coaches to that purpose Well the new Ambassador being so housd is visited by persons of Quality as also by other Ambassadors Now it is a Maxime among Ambassadors That the first come is to visit the last come Touching Presents ther 's no Court goes beyond that of England It was a Rule that the French and Spanish Ordinaries were to have 4000 Ounces of Gilt Plate at their departure The Venetian Ambassador 2000 The Archdukes 1600 c. But by the Examples of other Courts ther was a retrenchment herof and it began first with Monsieur Buisseaux in King Iames his Raign who had but 2000 Ounces sent Him the Venetian 1600 and the Archdukes 1000 c. Touching divers sorts of Clashes Contestations Differences and Punctilios betwixt Ambassadors ther have bin as prudent and preventing courses taken in the English Court from time to time as in any other as will appeer in the printed Observations of that worthy Knight Sir Iohn Finets to
in the I le of Britain Just according to the ancient Greek Poet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Many Lords are not good let there be but One. Now from that time to this the King of Britain had and hath as Souveraign and incontroulable a sway as any 'T is true that he admits others sometimes to share with him in Counsel but not in Power by a kind of Influence he gives Light and Command to others but he himself receives none from any In the Neighbouring Monarchies it cannot be said so and particularly in France and Spain where it may be said ther is Regnum in regno ther is another Power à Legatus de latere that in a Court of Plea sways ore the Ecclesiastiques who make a considerable part of the Peeple Touching the latter the King of Spain is Feodary either to the Pope the Emperour or to France for all the Countries he hath The Kingdomes of Navarre and Granada were made Feodary to the Pope under Iulius the second Aragon to Innocent the third as also Sardinia in formula fiduciae Sicilia is relevant from the Church as also both the Indies and the Canary Ilands For the Kingdome of Naples and Calabria he sends a Mule with a Purse-full of Gold as a Heriot to Rome evry year for fear of an Excommunication the next day at the receit whereof the Pope says Sufficiat pro hac vice He holds the Dukedome of Milan from the Empire and most of the Provinces in the Netherlands from France whereof he is a double Peer as he is Duke of Burgundy and Earl of Flanders Now 't is questionable among the Civilians whether a Feodary or Homager may be call'd an Absolut Prince specially when Appeals may be made from him to another Court as the Spanish Clergy may from the King to Rome in divers cases The Kings of ENGLAND are free from Subordinations of that kind as the Fundamental Laws of the Land and all the ancient Learned Judges do evidence 'T is a Principle in the English Laws which is confirm'd by Baldus and other great Forren Jurists That Rex neminem habet in Dominiis suis nec Superiorem nec Parem The King in his own Dominions hath neither Superior nor Equal He may be said to be both Caesar and Pompey There is another Omnes sub Illo Ille sub nullo All under Him He under none Another yet Satis habet Rex ad poenam quod Deum expectet Ultorem 'T is enough for the King that God is to be his Judge which is expressed in this Distic Subditus in Regem peccat Legemque Fidemque At Rex in Solum Rex quia nempe Deum Ther are divers others that are conducing hereunto As The King must not be put to do any thing per aspertè but of his free plesure The King never dies but the Heir apparent is King Inchoative as soon as the former dies and the Coronation is but a meer Ceremony not Essential for divers Kings as Hen. 5. and others had Alleageance sworn unto them before they were Crowned There are more Maximes yet That the King can do no wrong but his Ministers may through whose mouths he pronounceth sentence Moreover Nullum tempus occurrit Regi Ther 's no Immemorial or Prescription against the King It is High Treson not only to contrive but to imagine ill against the King By the Kings Prerogative Life it self may be leased c. But that Traverse twixt King Iohn and the Legat Pandolpho when they say he transferred the Crown to the Pope is much insisted upon wherunto t is thus answered That ther are four great things whereof the Records cannot be found The first is that wherin the Emperour Constantine gave Rome to the Pope The second is that wherin Venice hath the Dominion of the Adriatic or Illyrian Gulph The third is the Salique Law The fourth is that Instrument wherby King Iohn pass'd over his Crown and made the Pope Lord Paramount of England Sir Thomas More who was so far devoted to Rome that he is canoniz'd for one of her Martyrs denieth absolutly that King Iohn either did or could make England Feudetary to the Pope because without the consent of his Barons an Act so much prejudicial to his Royal Successors was not valid and that the Peter-pence which they hold to be a Tribut relating to the foresaid Act was but a meer Alms which was given by King Ina 500 years before Moreover put case ther had been such an Act yet it stands upon good record that Innocentius the third did give a Release in these words Per Praeceptum Domini Papae 7 Iulii Homagium relaxatur omninò The Rome-scot also was but Regis larga benignitas the Kings bountiful kindness Adde hereunto that when the Pontificial Power was here at the highest pitch no Legat de latere was allowed but the Archbishop of Canterbury his Subject who by his Dignity is perpetual Legat de latere He is Legatus natus as he of Toledo is in Spain and the Primat of Armagh in Ireland and in point of Precedence at the Council of Clermont anno 1096. a Prerogative was given him for ever to sit at all general Councils at the Popes right foot Pope Urban at that time declaring in these terms Includamus hunâ—… in Orbe nostro tanquam alterius Orbis Pontificem Maximum Let us include him in our world as Pope of another world 'T is true ther have been other Legats de latere upon extraordinary occasions admitted but it was with the Kings leave and with this Proviso That he hath no Authority to hold Plea in the Realm prejudicial to the Laws thereof or derogatory to the King Thus it appears that no Extern power hath any thing to do in Great Britain and as the Pope so the Peeple neither whether consider'd Diffusively Collectively Representatively or Vertually partake any thing of the Souverain Power ther is no power either Co-ordinat Co-equal Corrival or Collateral with it The Kings of England have had always by the known Laws of the Land a pure underived Power not depending upon Pope or Peeple or any other Prince whatsoever They are Kings by the Grace of God which implies no earthly Dependency It stands upon good record how King Ina in the Preamble to his Laws for he was a great Legislator begins I Ina by the Grace of God King c. and this was above a thousand years ago about two hundred years before Charlemain in whose time that stile of Dei Gratia came first in use in the Empire And as on Land the King of Great Britain hath such a Latitude and Independence of Supreme Power so by Sea he hath the like which is such that without disparagement much less any injustice to any I may avouch no other Prince hath the like The greatest claim of Sea-Dominion that France makes is to the Coasts of Armorica or little Britany and a few Leagues in the Mediterranean The Spanish Laws are for the