A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROSPERITIE STRENGTH AND WISE GOVERNMENT of the vnited Prouinces of the Netherlands SIGNIFIED BY THE BATAVIAN VIRGIN in her seat of vnitie WHEREIN IS RELATED THE WHOLE state of those countries at this present time BY WISDOME PEACE BY PEACE PLENTY AT LONDON Imprinted by FELIX KYNGSTON for Edward Marchant 1615. A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROSPERITY STRENGTH AND WISE GOuernment of the vnited Prouinces of the Netherlands See how by wisedome Hollands house doth flourish And trust not Leopards craft that warre doth nourish A Friend to his natiue Countrey GOd saue you Batauian gentlewoman I am very glad to see you thus triumphantly set in your throne of freedome it seemes the world goes better with you now then it did in times past The Batauian gentlewoman In deede my good friend it is true that it is otherwise with me now then it was heretofore for now God bethanked I am in my first and pristinate state Friend Is it better with you now gentlewoman then it was and are you as you said in your former ancient state and how vnderstand you that I pray you tell me Batauia My good friend marke the particulars as I shall set them downe plainely vnto you and you shall easily vnderstand it I was long since in former time a free State but after that I fell into great slauerie and bondage and now at this present I am restored againe to my former liberty and free state For when my first founders came hither into this free countrey which as that time belonged not vnto any man in perticular but onely vnto those that first tooke possession thereof and inhabited the same according to the Law of nature in this free place they built me this house which was called the Batauian gouernment and at this time the Holland Common-wealth wherin I placed my seat or Throne called freedome or liberty Friend Had you at the first no soueraigne Gouernour that had the chiefe command ouer your house and houshold Batauia The gouernment of my house was committed vnto two States chosen and appointed out of mine owne people and inhabitants that is the noblest and honourablest men amongst them and the best and greatest Citizens and inhabitants of the same These were the principall Commanders of my house and houshold who for the better gouernment thereof made certaine customes and lawes for the strengthening of peace therein and had a great care ouer the same for the preseruation of the Common-wealth And in processe of time there was a principall person as a King chosen out of those two States who as the chiefest officer or high Steward had the principall command ouer it and the common-wealth Friend Then your forefathers in time past were gouerned after a princely manner by a chiefe Commander Batauia Yea Kings by name as Veromerus who was called the first Batauian King who notwithstanding was but the chiefe man amongst the principall persons of the Land and had the first command and chiefe authoritie thereof So were all the rest that succeeded him Kings ouer my Batauian Land but had more authority to giue their counsell and aduice for the gouernment thereof then power to command and rule ouer it For the other Rulers and States that were chosen out of the Nobilitie and Commons had as much power or superintendance ouer the King as the King had ouer them who with him together ruled the Land But the King had an vpper command or highest power permitted him but not by authority or power of or in himselfe onely in regard and respect of his princely name he was obeyed and his authority allowed with great reuerence and respect and yet he himselfe neuerthelesse subiect to the Lawes of the Land as is ordinary in electiue not hereditarie Kings Friend Hereby I perceiue that your house called the Batauian Gouernment from the very first originall thereof was a free Common-wealth and your commonaltie free people Batauia We were neuer subiect vnto any forraine Nations but onely to our elected Gouernour and States together with the lawfull and probable Lawes made for the good gouernment thereof whereunto euery man willingly submitted himselfe In this state we continued long time before the Romane Monarchie and were vnited vnto the same and by her liued in peace although the Romans had the sole command and gouernment of the greatest part of the world and yet they were content to account of my forefathers as their vnited friends acknowledging my house to be a free State and calling my houshold seruants the Batauian commonaltie and when they had any warres and were aided by vs therein they called vs their fellowes and companions as Iulius Caesar did and which is more esteemed vs as their brethren friends and vnited neighbours in regard of the great aide and strength they found at our hands to helpe them in their need against their enemies Friend Then the Romans had no imperiall command ouer the Batauian Countrey when they were Monarches of the world Batauia No. For my forefathers of Baetauia according to their ancient Lawes were still gouerned by their owne people which continued aboue an hundred yeeres during the Romane Monarchie vntill such time as their friendship turned into deceit and extreame oppression seeking to rob and spoyle mee and my Land with pretence to turne my freedome into slauery and bondage contemning our vnity and wholly forgetting the forepassed friendship and aide by vs formerly shewed and done vnto them For which cause my forefathers tooke armes in hand and began a lawfull warre for the defence and safegard of mine honour and freedome whereby the name of the Romans in short time was wholy driuen away cleane rooted out wherein personally they neuer had any absolute authority nor gouernment For the which my Batauian people were so much honoured and esteemed of that as then they were called and held to be the authors of the freedome and liberty of our neighbours and other Princes who likewise were vnder the subiection of the Romans but I obtained my freedome againe and after that continued long in my free state and was gouerned by my two states of the Land vntill the sauage Normans came and inuaded vs. Friend Was it then at that time that you began to be gouerned by Earles Batauia I but not as Soueraigne Gouernours but onely chosen as chiefe Commanders to serue in stead of Iudges wee subiecting our selues willingly vnder their command esteeming and holding them worthie to be our Protectors and to haue the superintendance ouer our Batauian gouernment but had no power by authority to alter the Lawes and customes nor to raise tolles nor impositions without the consent and good will of the two States but were bound by oath to defend and maintaine the Lawes and priuiledges of the Land and to subiect themselues thereunto Friend Whereby it appeareth that neuer any Prince nor Earle had Soueraignty or chiefe power alone ouer you and your house Batauia No for in the time of
the Earles there haue been some of them that by their bad gouernment and life became oppressors of the Lawes and customes of the Land and for that cause their authority was misliked and they put out of their command As it happened to the Ladie Iacobe Countesse of Holland from whom because of her disorders and wilfulnesse in her gouernment against the priuiledges of the Land The command ouer my house was taken away and transported vnto Philip Duke of Burgundie which Batauian gouernment in processe of time and by marriages was changed and fell into the house of Austria and after that to Charles the first Emperour of Rome who with the good will and voices of all the States of my house made ouer the Batauian Principality vnto his sonne Philip certifying him of my priuiledges and the nature of my subiects addicted vnto rest and freedome with an earnest charge and warning giuen him to haue a great regard and respect of the Batauian Common-wealth and to gouerne them with a mild and fatherly affection for that he esteemed the same to be the best branch of his Crowne which hee with Princely words and oathes promised to performe but the contract being made and he hauing the authority in his hands wee straight found a great alteration in our Batauian house for that he being a Spaniard both by birth and conditions a great Prince and very powerfull and had the Soueraigne command ouer many Kingdomes and Principalities did not respect our Batauian liberty nor once esteemed our priuiledges but contrary to his promise brake his Princely oath Friend By this meanes your free State was turned into a bondage Batauia That is true by this meanes my troubles began For in stead of naturall borne Princes to protect my house I got strange outlandish wasters and destroyers thereof who therein made a fearfull stur with most strange and great exactions cruelties and tyrannies ouer our liues and goods to the end he might procure the breaking of the ancient authority of my priuiledges the weakening of my lawes and the abolishing of my liberty But I seeing the beginning of my ouerthrow the weake condition of my house and the subuersion of my people was compelled to seeke meanes for the preseruation of my maidenly liberty against those that sought to spoyle and bereaue me thereof but finding my selfe in a manner very weak by reason that diuers of my principall houshold seruants fled from me and that I was almost cleane spoyled of my houshold stuffe yea and my seat very neere taken from vnder me which I had so long held and enioyed from my ancestors for that the feet thereof were almost drawne and broken each from the other whereby in a manner I sat so wagling that I could not deuise how I should sit faster by reason of my weake estate But taking courage I made meanes vnto my neighbours for aide but where I expected security and support ere I was aware I had like to haue been cleane spoyled for by the aide that was sent me my house Court and Throne was rather in worse case then it was before Whereupon my principall officers were by necessity compelled to seeke to marrie mee vnto some one that by his aide they might haue meanes to helpe me and themselues But not long before I had had a good example set before mine eyes of another maide one of my neighbours who by her welwillers was perswaded to Handt-werpe that is to betroth her selfe vnto him that sought to bring her to Val-loos that is to the destruction of her and all her people This made me I say to goe to my crosse neighbour who also was esteemed a maide to get some aide of her to helpe to fasten my Seate and thereby to hold a fit place to sit in for without that they pretended to haue broken downe my Batauian house and to haue made a bridge therof at their pleasure to haue gone ouer to my neighbours thereby to obtaine the like dominion and power ouer them and their meaning also was vpon the old foundations and ruines of my Batauian house to erect and build vp a new Spanish regiment and to take my seate from me and to turne it cleane ouer as if I had had no voyce nor command therein which made some of my fugitiue friends and welwillers to looke backe and to stirre vp my neighbours who as then vpheld and maintained me in my right against those that thought to haue thrust mee cleane out of it and by my ouerthrow to haue ouer-runne my neighbors which was done by the commandement of that Spanish Earle who as a fatherly protector was placed ouer me according to his oath and promise to defend my maidenlike honour but he sought by strange ruffians to violate mine honour to ruinate my house and Court which notwithstanding was one of his fairest palaces and also my houshold seruants esteeming all as nothing and which is more sought to make my people slaues without once respecting my Batauian state which is a Democraticke gouernment By this meanes I say hath hee by his vnspeakeable tyrannicall gouernment and vnlawfull vsurparion lost the rule and pretended right by my old customes and ancient priuiledges that he had by the aide and helpe of my neighbours and friends that stood in doubt of further mischiefe to come aided by the power of the principall and chiefe Iudge of Iudges who after 40. yeeres troubles hath redcuced and placed me in my former seate of ancient freedome Friend Gentlewoman you haue now shewed me the state of your old freedome and withal of your troubles forepassed whereof you say you are now freed From hence forth therefore shew your maidenlike wisedome by calling to remembrance things past wisely to consider of things present well to foresee that which is to come and which concerneth you neere Therefore let not your forepassed blowes by a deceitfull bright sunne-shining time so soone be forgotten For that many times after faire weather commeth a storme you doe well to sit at your doore to see whether it be cleere weather abroad for in truth for these 40. yeeres together you haue endured many and too many stormie winds mightie raines hailes thunders lightnings and fierie flames Batauia Erasmus saith very well and truly that industrious labour makes a man rich So haue I by Gods helpe and industrious labour with defensiue warre ouercome and withstood the great force and power of my tyrannous enemie and such as haue by him been ouercome and forced to flee their countrey and to liue like strangers in other countreyes I haue with their wiues children and goods receiued into my house and giuen them lodging therein Whereby I got both thankes and furtherance which to him was a weakening and enfeebling and to me a strengthening and fortification which happened most hereabouts But he fearing further mischiefe perceiuing my fortunate proceedings was forced to seeke to me who at the first he contemned and esteemed of no account
yea in a manner thought verily to bee his owne to make peace with him and to acknowledge me to be a free State without once pretending to haue any right of gouernment ouer mee and so I once againe got my long contentions and almost cleane lost freedome into my hands By the acknowledging and agreement of my enemies themselues who iudged it to bee my lawfull right which in truth happened and came to passe by an accusation of his owne conscience and a compulsiue necessitie possessed with a desperate hope of neuer to ouercome me These were the speciall things that moued him thereunto and not because hee desired peace nor for any good will that hee bare vnto the welfare of my house and houshold seruants Neuerthelesse I haue recouered mine ancient freedome and hope to continue in this my maidenlike state by his aide and powerfull helpe that hath seene my misery and hath euidently in the sight of all the world holpen and freed mee from the Spanish yoake Friend God be praised thanked and glorified therefore and to him must you pray and in him firmely trust But it is commonly said that where there is no care there is no feare for while that you are now free and in good estate you must bee carefull for your selfe and your houshold and that in twofold manner First to looke well about you that you be not deceiued nor ouer-runne by those from whom you haue been deliuered and haue freed your selfe from their bondage because they haue done that they did vpon meere necessity and not for any loue they bare to you Secondly that you must bee prouident to prouide for that which is needfull and necessarie for you in time of need that in time of want you run not to borrow corne of your neighbours to feed your geese withall for a learned man wrote not in vaine when he said Happie is that Land which in time of peace thinketh vpon warre And another learned Philosopher teacheth vs that a man must not trust his reconciled enemy too much therefore now you sit quietly and freely in your house and possessions it standeth you vpon to furnish your house well with 4. most necessarie things wherein the whole and all the state thereof consisteth First you must haue true trustie and prouident houshold seruants such as seeke not their owne good but the profit of the common State and those that will not lightly by themselues take any thing in hand that may bee burthensome and hurtfull to the Common-wealth and the subiects thereof Secondly fit houshold stuffe such as is honest necessarie seruiceable and furtherly in a house to bee vsed for the seruice of the Common-wealth Thirdly good prouision of such things as in such a house as yours is are most necessarie and conuenient as Chests Ware-houses and sellers well furnished Fourthly and lastly you must specially bee prouided of that wherewith you may doe most and which by men is most desired for that thereby you may get whatsoeuer you will yea and almost as much as you will All this is needfull for you to doe whereof you are to haue a great care to bee prouided that against an assault or a hard and bad time you may helpe your selfe by your selfe Also it is conuenient for the female kind specially a free maide as you are not to haue too much conuersation with strange men specially with such as in times past sought to violate your chastitie yet I doubt not of your good behauiour in any wise because you haue already withstood many assaults and by meanes of your honest minde and courage haue hitherto ouercome all stormes whatsoeuer Batauia My good friend I am warned to bee watchfull but I hope God will preserue and defend both me and my houshold For the first I haue true and prouident houshold seruants in my Batauian dominion according to the ancient manner first an ouerseer of the house called father of the Countrey then my two States the noblest persons of the Land and the men of greatest account among the Commons who haue all the care and speciall charge of the state of my house both in peace and warre Secondly I haue conuenient and profitable houshold stuffe as good counsell and vpright dealing wherewith my Batauian house is furnished as with a heauenly and bright shining light thereby to behold things past to marke things present and to foresee things to come The other are as instruments in needfull and profitable things to serue the state of the Land each one according to his qualitie and condition when time shall require Thirdly God bee praised my house is well prouided and daily more and more shall be of that which shall serue for the Common-wealth and such as my housholding requireth First my Chests and Wardrops are well furnished with apparell of all sorts that is of good iron dublets steele gloues stiffe shining collars with the appurtenances all faire and well kept that when I haue need of them they are readie at hand my warehouses are well prouided of fireage which is made of black wood coales brimstone faltpeter therewith easily to set fire on my turfe which are round and as hard as iron and great heauie fiery arrowes wherewith to make a good fire against winter and hard frosts And for my sellars I haue yet a great many brasse vessels therein to welcome such as come to visit me honourably and in diuers cages I haue many old geese that when there is a faire I may set some of them before my friends to welcome them withall Now for that wherewith I can doe most which is money I haue my vnited Commons which are foure faithfull and trustie labourers that is Husbandmen Burgers of townes Saylors and Souldiers who at this time for a while are at their rest and liue quietly These are all fast bound together with the band of vnitie and are they that at all times wil make prouision for my Batauian house and Hollands garden whatsoeuer I shall want For my Husbandmen at this present are well prouided of corne and other necessaries and sell it as deare almost as they will or can which also is apparant by the decking of his wise and children with gold and siluer which they daily weare The townesmen also build great and high houses which within are richly furnished with excellent faire houshold stuffe and moueables as Tapistrie siluer and guilt plate and hee himselfe and his wife and children richly apparelled and smugd vp in silke and veluet laid on with gold and siluer lace making great bankets all which are signes of prosperity and are euery one industrious to maintaine themselues in good estate some by vsurie others by trade at home and some by merchandising euery man striuing not to bee the least amongst the rest The Sailor saileth farre and wide for strange merchandize and if a rouer sets vpon him at sea hee can play his part so well that he shall get nothing at his
hands and many times lookes himselfe for such a prize so that it oft falleth out that he can saile with a by-legger better thē he doth when he saileth before the winde But the Souldier likes not of this sleepie calme weather hee rather desires to bee rustling in the field to shew himselfe a gallant But the other three are very rich and haue great meanes to helpe me I could not know it so well but that they by their superfluitie makes it manifest to all men for which cause I and my houshold are bound to haue a great care for them and the Common wealth for that they without me and I without them would bee a meanes to ouerthrow both me and my house and also the commonaltie and euery one of them in their perticular states would come to nothing For if the band of vnitie should breake or by contention become loose it would bee their destruction and my ouerthrow out of my Throne Friend I would faine see the pales of your gardens and the manner of building about your house or else of you heare the discourse of the whole situation thereof while you are now in a free state Batauia My Holland garden is bordered about with a willow hedge or hurdle called Fidelity at the entry whereof there is a stile ouer the which my watchfull many eyed Lion with his two forefeet stands looking there to hold sharpe watch Then within before the stile and beninde the Lion standeth a high Orange tree with a young sprig or branch at the foot thereof both comming out of an old root of a tree that hath been cut downe round about this tree there is a root planted called Gods blessing In the middle of the garden there standeth an old high strong Piramides called Priuiledge closed about with a medicinable graft called Gods grace This garden is made of and filled vp with good Holland earth out of the which the Spanish vnfruitfull power is wholly rooted vp and therefore in and round about it there groweth Good will Good courage Heart hearbe Care seede Ladie marke also Golden flowers Siluer hearbes Lance hearbes Knights spurres Horse-mens herbe Gun hearbe and much Honour and Commendation Friend Is not your garden somtimes weeded and cleansed of weeds and hurtfull plants Batauia Yea sor we were wont in times past to bee much troubled with great quantities of weedes as with Force hearbe Death hearbe Catching roote Feare hearbe Pine apples Blood herbe Fier hearbe Blacke hearbe and Bitter gall nuts But necessitie and my houshold seruants appointed two officers to looke vnto it which were Reason and Power each of them as their turnes came to weede it for if it were not for these weeders sometimes there would some weeds grow vp in a nights space before the Sun riseth as Romish thistle False lilies Fox hearbe Strife flowers and After-hurt For not many yeers since there grew a filthie hearb in my garden called the Diuels Nay-thrid and a hearbe called Diuels-beet which stanke all ouer the garden being of such a nature that whosoeuer eate it it made him enuious and contentious for it is of the kind of the seed of the apple whereof Eua and Adam ate in Paradise which then presently caused great contention betweene God and them and so it did now also for whosoeuer did eate thereof thought that they were as wise as God and knew all things and for that cause thinking themselues to be wise in their own conceits they fell at strife with their neighbours but reason weeded out as much thereof as hee could and in stead thereof planted a root called Part strife which in time will grow to be a great hearbe but the diuels Nay-thrid ran almost cleane through the whole garden and hath made the Orange tree for certaine yeers to stand stil at a bay and not to blossome which maketh many heere amongst vs to long for some of his fruit if it were to be had but the earth of my garden is so rich and fruitful that if once a hot Spanish sun-shine should fall theron after the which a Batauian stroke-raine vseth to follow we should presently see the blossomes and fruit of the Orange tree shew forth thēselues Neuertheles we haue Oranges for a pleasant sawce and a good sauour daily in my kitchin and also for a refreshing we haue the faire Orange lilie and the Roselike thistle flower which is placed properly in seuerall beds in my garden Friend Now I haue heard the manner of the situation of your garden let me I pray you heare from you what kind of building you haue in your house Batauia The foundation of my house is named Vnity the principals thereof are made of great straight timber lined and daubed with good vnited Netherlandish stones the Hall thereof called the Batauian gouernment is beautified with eight faire cleere windowes and in the middle of them all standeth one specially as a principall shield beautifying the same The roofe of the house is couered ouer with faire shining shels which couer is called Hardinesse The entrie or gate thereof is named Victory the posts and top of it are couered ouer with greene hearbes in the middle whereof my seate standeth called Freedome made of firme ground wood and aboue all the rest the signe of my house is Emanuel Now my friend you haue heard and vnderstood the manner and forme of my house and garden wherein at this present I haue and hold my free habitation which of almost a desperate lost inheritance I haue made free againe more by honest meanes and true and lawfull right then by forcible craftinesse although my ill willers behind my backe report and say that I decke my selfe with strange feathers when as they notwithstanding lurke and hide themselues vnder my wings neuerthelesse I haue striuen as much for their freedomes as I haue done for mine owne naturall and good peoples liberty Friend Gentletwoman Doe you perceiue that which I see there which is a strange show it seemeth to bee a twin or a body of two kindes whereof the one halfe before seemeth to laugh friendly vpon you with a sweet womanlike face and the other halfe behinde is armed with a cruell souldiers looke and hath a monstrous great beast by him wherein I take no pleasure Batauia This partie hath been heere some few yeeres since and brought that beast with him into our Batauian house but what shall I doe seeing he lookes so smilingly vpon me whether it be in outward shew or in action I will not as yet quarrell with him and mistrust him before he leaues laughing and then I will see and also aske him what hee meaneth to doe that he commeth here into my garden with such a hinder part and so faire and pleasant a forepart Friend Doe you not thinke that he can soone turne that laughing countenance behind him from you and place the bitter looke before It was wont to be the Italian manner and the Spanish custome see you
freedome would make them forget the paines they take for the furtherance of the Common-wealth but the Husbandmen Sea-faring men and Citizens altogether with one consent to bring their purpose the better to effect wish that the Souldier also were awake with them For a common but then seems a common ease but an assured common rest quietnes is better although your men apply themselues to the time For which cause willing labourers that are tied together in the bands of vnity deserue some furtherance and for that you are all their naturall mother it learnes euery one both great and small together and apart to shew their good wils and duties vnto you in that respect Batauia That is true for my State is costly to beare all the charges that are necessarily to be laid out specially now I am set againe in my free Seate therefore I would if I could bring it so to passe that no man should haue any cause to finde fault thereby to make all man free in our garden Friend Then it is requisite and very needfull to haue a good regard that the Leopard makes no double holes for the Lion that you need not stand in doubt at what hole to watch for him and also to looke well to that double face and to haue an eye to the troupe of men that stands yonder for it seemeth that they are at a stand and would bee gone away but me thinkes rather that they encrease and seeme to come neerer and in the meane time this forepart giueth you a faire smiling countenance and the hinder part is for their furtherance and therefore a farre off they assemble speedily and hold together Batauia Therfore we will commend the watch to our chiefe watchman Emanuel and commit the charge of our house to him and altogether from henceforth will be vigilant and looke well to the craftie fetches of the Leopard for if I were sure that hee would leeringly come too neere mee and that his face would turne about I would presently let my Lion loose to flie vpon the Leopard and wake my Souldier to beard that marshall face who thinketh that he that slumbreth is fast asleepe but the noise would soone awake him Distrust and watch th' enemie to withstand Concord and faithfulnesse in Towne and Land Are weapons sure and strong But before all these things vpon him call And chiefly trust in him that can doe all By 's power and right thy wrong I. BAtauian Virgin faire That sits in freedomes chaire Victoriously and well Looke to thy enemy That on thee casts his eye Beware of Libard fell II. Where false loue cannot win To hate thee they begin For when loue waxeth cold Then hatred for good will Makes them seeke thee to kill Trust not the Libard bold III. Sowre sawce distasts sweet meate Craft th'upper hand doth get Reuonge breakes peaces lawes The thing that 's not straight wonne May chance in time be done Keepe out the Libards clawes IV. He that first bragd of thee That thou his owne should be But nothing thereby got After long warre seemes meeke And maketh shew to seeke Thy loue Beleeue him not V. Though he said thou shouldst haue Thy liberty and gaue Consent to 't in his need He seekes to spoyle thee now If that he could tell how Of Libards wiles take heed VI. Thy true loue holdes him backe Thy trustie friends doe make Him feare and therefore hee Tintrap thee if he may Doth lurke Wherefore I say Of him still warie be VII Fight in thy friends defence If he will not goe thence In time sith he doth so Torment them for thy sake Reuenge their wrong and make Him out the field to goe VIII Faire Hollands Princely Dame Maintaine thy ancient fame Be not at his command Although t' is his intent Doe nought thou maist repent Gainst Libard boldly stand Printed somewhere in the Batauian Land My name if you desire to vnderstand It is as men me commonly doe call The Pleasant Rich and Famous Hollands Hall FINIS