Sophisters were the first Lawyers that ever were I shall be upon incertain removes hence untill I come to Roüeâ—… in France and there I mean to cast Anchor a good while I shall expect your Letters there with impatience I pray present my Service to Sir Iames Altham and to my good Lady your Mother with the rest to whom it is due in Bishopsgate Street and elsewhere So I am Yours in the best degree of Friendship J. H. Hague 30. of May 1619. X. To Sir James Crofts from the Hague SIR THe same observance that a Father may challenge of his child the like you may claim of me in regard of the extraordinary care you have bin pleas'd to have alwayes since I had the happines to know you of the cours of my Fortunes I am now newly come to the Hague the Court of the six and almost seven confederated Provinces the Counsell of State with the Prince of Orange makes his firm Residence here unlesse he be upon a march and in motion for some design abroad This Prince Maurice was cast in a mould suitable to the temper of this people he is slow and full of warines and not without a mixture of fear I do not mean a pusillanimous but politic fear he is the most constant in the quotidian cours and carriage of his life of any that J have ever heard or read of for whosoever knows the customs of the Prince of Orange may tell what he is a doing here evry hour of the day though he be in Constantinople In the morning he awaketh about six in Sommer and seven in Winter the first thing he doth he sends one of his Grooms or Pages to see how the wind sits and he wears or leaves off his Wascot accordingly then he is about an hour dressing himself and about a quarter of an hour in his Closet then comes in the Secretary and if he hath any privat or public Letters to write or any other dispatches to make he doth it before he stirs from his Chamber then comes he abroad and goes to his Stables if it be no Sermon day to see some of his Gentlemen or Pages of whose breeding he is very carefull ride the great Horse He is very accessible to any that hath busines with him and sheweth a winning kind of familiarity for he will shake hands with the meanest Boor of the Countrey and he seldom hears any Commander or Gentleman with his Hat on He dines punctually about twelve and his Table is free for all comers but none under the degree of a Captain useth to sit down at it after dinner he stayes in the Room a good while and then any one may accost him and tell his tale then he reâ—…res to his Chamber where he answers all Petitions that were delivered him in the Morning and towards the Evening if he goes not to Counsell which is seldome he goes either to make some visits or to take the Air abroad and according to this constant method he passeth his life Ther are great stirs like to arise twixt the Bohemians and their elected King the Emperour and they are com already to that height that they consult of deposing him and to chuse some Protestant Prince to be their King som talk of the Duke of Saxony others of the Palsgrave J beleeve the States here would rather be for the latter in regard of conformity of Religion the other being a Lutheran I could not find in Amsterdum a large Ortelius in French to send you but from 〈◊〉 I will not fail to serve you So wishing you all happines and health and that the Sun may make many progresses more through the Zodiac before those comely Gray hairs of yours go to the Grave I rest Iune the 3. 1619. Your very humble Servant J. H. XI To Captain Francis Bacon at the Glassehouse in Broad-street SIR MY last to you was from Amsterdam since which time I have travers'd the prime parts of the united Provinces and â—… am now in Zealand being newly come to this Town of Middlâ—… borough which is much crest-faln since the Staple of English Cloâ—… was removed hence aâ—… is Flishing also her next Neighbor since thâ—… departure of the English Garrison A good intelligent Gentleman told me the manner how Flishing and the Bâ—…ill our two Cautionary Towns here were redeem'd which was thus The ninâ—… hundred and odd Souldiers at Flishing and the Rammakins haâ—… by being many weeks without their pay they borrow'd diverâ—… sums of Money of the States of this Town who finding no hopeâ—… of supply from England advice was sent to the States-Generall 〈◊〉 the Hague they consulting with Sir Ralph Winwood our Ambassador who was a favourable Instrument unto them in this busines as also in the match with the Palsgrave sent Instructions to the Lord Caroon to acquaint the Earl of Suffolk then Lord Treasurer herewith and in case they could find no satisfaction there to make his addresse to the King himself which Caroon did His Majestie being much incens'd that his Subjects and Souldiers should starve for want of their pay in a Forren Countrey sent for the Lord Treasurer who drawing his Majestie aside and telling how empty his Exchequer was His Majestie told the Ambassador that if his Masters the States would pay the money they ow'd him upon those Towns he would deliver them up The Ambassador returning the next day to know whether his Majestie persisted in the same Resolution in regard that at his former audience he perceived him to be a little transported His Majesty answered That he knew the States of Holland to be his good frends and confederats both in point of Religion and Policy therefore he apprehended not the least fear of any difference that should fall out between them in contemplation whereof if they desir'd to have their Towns again he would willingly surrender them Hereupon the States made up the sum presently which came in convenient time for it serv'd to defray the expencefull progresse he made to Scotland the Summer following When that Money was lent by Queen Elizabeth it was Articled that Interest should be payed upon Interest and besides that for evry Gentleman who should lose his life in the States Service they should make good five pounds to the Crown of England All this His Majestie remitted and onely took the principall and this was done in requitall of that Princely Entertainment and great Presents which my Lady Elizabeth had received in divers of their Towns as she pass'd to Heydelberg The Bearer hereof is Sigr Antoniâ—… Miotti who was Master of a Crystall-Glasse Furnace here a long time and as I have it by good intelligence he is one of the ablest and most knowing men for the guidance of a Glasse-Work in Christendom Therefore according to my Instructions I send him over and hope to â—…ave done Sir Robert good service thereby So with my kinde respects unto you and my most humble Service where you know â—…is due
extoll Tyber beyond the Main both Towns behold R 〈…〉 men thou 'lt say Venice the Gods did mould Sanzâ—â—â—â—â—â— had given him by Saint Mark a hundred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evry one of these Verses which amounts to about 300 pounds It would be long before the 〈◊〉 of London would do the like Witneâ—… that â—…old reward or rather those cold drops of Wâ—… which were cast upon my Countreyman Sir Hugh Middletoâ—… for beinging Ware River through her Streets the most serviceable and 〈◊〉 sorâ—…est benefit that ever she received The parcell of Italian Books that you writ for you shall receive 〈◊〉 Master Leat if it please God to send the Ship to safe Port and I take it as a favour that you imploy me in any thing that mâ—…y â—…nduce to your contentment because I am your serious Servitor J. H. Ven 12. Aug. 1621. XXXVII To Cap. Thomas Porter from Venice My dear Captain AS I was going a Shipboard in Alicant a Letter of yours in Spanish came to hand I discovered two things in it first what a master you are of that Language then how mindfull you are of your frend for the first I dare not correspond with you yet for the second I shall never com short of you for I am as mindfull of you as possibly you can be of me and som hours my Puls doth not beat more often then my memory runs on you which is often enough in conscience for the Physitians hold that in evry well dispos'd body ther be above 4000 Pulsations evry hour and some Pulses have bin known to beat above 30000 times an hour in acute Feavours I understand you are bound with a gallant Fleet for the Mediterranean if you com to Alicant I pray commend me to Francisco Marco my Land-lord he is a merry drole and good company One night when I was ther he sent his Boy with a Borracho of Leather under his Cloak for Wine the Boy coming back about ten a clock and passing by the Guard one ask'd him whither he carried any Weapons about him for none must wear any Weapons there after ten at night No quoth the Boy being pleasant I have but a little Dagger the Watch came and search'd him and finding the Barracho full of good Wine drunk it all up saying Sirrah You know no man must carry any Weapons so late but because we know whose Servant you are ther 's the Scabbard of your Dagger again and so threw him the empty Borracho but another passage pleas'd me better of Don Beltran de Rosa who being to marry a rich Labradors a Yeomans daughter hard by which was much importun'd by her parents to the match because their Family should be thereby ennobled he being a Cavalier of Saint Iago the young Maid having understood that Don Beltran had bin in Naples and had that disease about him answered wittily En verdad pro adobar mi la sangre no quiero danar mi la carne Truely Sir To better my blood I will not hurt my flesh I doubt I shall not be in England before you set out to Sea if not I take my leave of you in this Paper and wish you a prosperous voyage and an honourable return It is the hearty Prayers of Ven 21. Aug. 1621. Your J. H. XXXVIII To Sir William Saint John Knight from Venice SIR HAving seen Antâ—…nors Tomb in Padoiia and the Amphitheater of Flaminius in Verona with other brave Towns in Lombardy I am now coâ—… to Rome and Rome they say is evry mans Countrey she is call'd Communis Patria for evry one that is within the compasse of the Latin Church finds himself here as it were at hom and in his Mothers house in regard of interest in Religion which is the cause that for one Native ther be five strangers that sojourn in this City and without any distinction or mark of strangenes they com to preferments and offices both in Church and State according to merrit which is more valued and sought after here then any where But whereas I expected to have found Rome elevated upon seven Hills I met her rather spreading upon a Flat having humbled her self since she was made a Christian and descended from those Hills to Campus Martius with Trasteren and the Suburbs of Saint Peter she hath yet in compasse about fourteen miles which is far short of that vast circuit she had in Claudius his time for Vopiscuâ—… writes she was then of fifty miles circumference and she had five hundred thousand free Citizens in a famous cense that was made which allowing but six to evry Family in Women Children and Servants came to three Millions of souls but she is now a Wildernes in comparison of that number The Pope is grown to be a great Temporall Prince of late yeers for the state of the Church extends above 300. miles in length and 200 miles in breadth it contains Ferrara Bologna Romagnia the Marquisat of Ancona umbria Sabina Perugia with a part of Toscany the Patrimony Rome her self and Latium In these ther are above fifty Bishopricks the Pope hath also the Dutchy of Spoleto and the exarchat of Ravenna he hath the Town of Beneventa in the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Venisse call'd Avignon in France he hath title also good enough to Naples it self but rather then offend his Champion the King of Spain he is contented with a white Mule and Purse of Pistols about the neck which he receives evry yeer for a heriot or homage or what you will call it he pretends also to be Lord Paramount of Sicily â—…rbin Parâ—…a and Masserâ—… of Norway Ireland and England since King Iohn did prostrat our Crown at Pandelfo his Legat's Feet The State of the Apostolie See here in Italy lieth twixt two Seas the Adriatiâ—… and the Tyrrhâ—… and it runs through the midst of Italy which makes the Pope powerfull to do good or harm and more capable then any other to be an Umpire or an Enemy His authority being mixt twixt Temporall and Spirituall disperseth it self into so many members that a young man may grow old here before he can well understand the form of Government The Consistory of Cardinals meet but once a week and once a week they solemnly wait all upon the Pope I am told ther are now in all Christendom but sixty eight Cardinals wherof ther are six Cardinall Bishops fifty one Cardinall Priests and eleven Cardinall Deacons The Cardinall Bishops attend and sit neer the Pope when he celebrats any Festivall The Cardinall Priests assist him at Masse and the Cardinall Deacons attire him A Cardinall is made by a short Breve or Writ from the Pope in these words Creamus te Socium Regibus superiorem ducibus fratrem â—…ostrum We creat thee a Companion to Kings Superior to Dukes and our Brother If a Cardinall Bishop should be questioned for any offence ther must be twenty four Witnesses produc'd against him The Bishop of Oâ—…ia hath most priviledg of any other
My Lord I Have deliverd Mr. Secretary Coke an account of the whole legation as your Lordship inordred me which contain'd neer upon twenty sheets I attended him also with the Note of your extraordinaries wherin I find him somthing difficult and dilatory yet The Governor of the Eastland Company Mr. Alderman Clethero will attend your Lordship at your return to Court to acknowledge your favor unto them I have delivered him a Copy of the transactions of things that concern'd their Company at Rhensberg The news we heard at Sea of the King of Swedens death is confirm'd more and more and by the computation I have been a little curious to make I find that he was kill'd the same day your Lordship set out of Hamburgh But ther is other news com since of the death of the Prince Palatin who as they write being return'd from visiting the Duke De deux Ponts to Mentz was struck there with the Contagion yet by speciall ways of cure the malignity was expelld and great hopes of recovery when the news came of the death of the King of Sweden which made such impressions in him that he dyed few dayes after having overcom all difficulties by concluding with the Swede and the Governor of Frankindall and being ready to enter into a repossession of his Countrey A sad destiny The Swedes bear up still being somented and supported by the French who will not suffer them to leave Germany yet A Gentleman that came lately from Italy told me that ther is no great joy in Rome for the death of the King of Sweden The Spaniards up and down will not stick to call this Pope Lutherano and that he had intelligence with the Swede T is true that he hath not been so forward to assist the Emperor in this quarrell and that in open Consistory when ther was such a contrasto 'twixt the Cardinalls for a supply from Saint Peter he declard That he was well satisfied that this war in Germany was no war of Religion which made him dismiss the Imperiall Ambassadors with this short answer That the Emperor had drawn these mischiefs upon himself for at that time when he saw the Swedes upon the Frontires of Germany if he had imployed those men and moneys which he consum'd to trouble the peace of Italy in making war against the Duke of Mantova against them he had not had now so potent an enemy So I take my leave for this time being Westm. 3 Iune 1632. Your Lordships most humble and obedient Servitor J. H. IX To Mr. E. D. SIR I Thank you a thousand times for the Noble entertainment you gave me at Berry and the pains you took in shewing me the Antiquities of that place In requitall I can tell you of a strange thing I saw lately here and I beleeve 't is true As I pass'd by St. Dunstans in Fleet street the last Saturday I stepp'd into a Lapidary or Stone-cutters shop to treat with the Master for a stone to be put upon my Fathers Tomb and casting my eyes up and down I might spie a huge Marble with a large Inscription upon 't which was thus to my best remembrance Here lies John Oxenham a goodly young man in whose Chamber as he was strugling with the pangs of death a Bird with a white brest was seen fluttering about his Bed and so vanish'd Here lies also Mary Oxenham the sister of the said John who died the next day and the same Apparition was seen in the Room Then another Sister is spoke of Then Here lies hard by James Oxenham the son of the said John who died a child in his Cradle a little after and such a Bird was seen fluttering about his head a little before he expir'd which vanish'd afterwards At the bottom of the Stone ther is Here lies Elizabeth Oxenham the Mother of the said John who died sixteen years since when such a Bird with a white brest was seen about hex Bed before her death To all these ther be divers Witnesses both Squires and Ladies whose names are engraven upon the Stone This Stone is to be sent to a Town hard by Exeter wher this happen'd Were you here I could raise a choice Discours with you hereupon So hoping to see you the next Term to requite som of your favors I rest Westmin 3 Iuly 1632. Your true frend to serve you J. H. X. To W. B. Esq. SIR THe upbraiding of a courtesie is as bad in the Giver as ingratitude in the Receiver though which you think I am loath to believe be faulty in the first I shall never offend in the second while VVestmin 24. Octob. 1632. J. Howell XI To Sir Arthur Ingram at York SIR OUr greatest news here now is that we have a new Attorney Generall which is news indeed considering the humor of the man how hee hath been always ready to entertain any cause wherby he might clash with the Prerogative but now as Judg Richardson told him his head is full of Proclamations and Divices how to bring money into the Exchequer Hee hath lately found out amongst the old Records of the Tower som precedents for raising a tax cald Ship-money in all the Port Towns when the Kingdom is in danger Whether we are in danger or no at present 't were presumption in me to judg that belongs to his Majesty and his Privy Counsell who have their choice Instruments abroad for Intelligence yet one with half an eye may see wee cannot be secure while such huge Fleets of men of War both Spanish French Dutch and Dunkâ—…rkers som of them laden with Ammunition Men Arms and Armies do daily â—…ail on our Seas and confront the Kings Chambers while we have only three or four Ships abroad to guard our Coasts and Kingdom and to preserve the fairest Flower of the Crown the Dominion of the Narrow-Seas which I hear the French Cardinall begins to question and the Hollander lately would not vail to one of his Majesties ships that brought over the Duke of Lenox and my Lord Weston from Bullen and indeed we are jeer'd abroad that we send no more ships to guard our Seas Touching my Lord Ambassador Weston he had a brave journey of it though it câ—…st dear for 't is thought 't will stand his Majesty in 25000 pounds which makes som Criticks of the times to censure the Lord Tresurer That now the King wanting money so much hee should send his son abroad to spend him such a sum only for delivering of Presents and Complements but I believe they are deceiv'd for ther were matters of State also in the Ambassie The Lord Weston passing by Paris intercepted and open'd a Packet of my Lord of Hollands wherin ther were some Letters of Her Majesties this my Lord of Holland takes in that scorn that he defied him since his comming and demanded the combat of him for which he is confin'd to his House at Kensinton So with my humble service to my Noble Lady I rest Westmin
that envy her self must pronounce that return of his for the â—…quitting of his fiduciary pledges to be a most noble act and waâ—…ing that of King Alphonso's Moor I may more properly compare it to the act of that famous Roman Commander Regulus as I take 〈◊〉 who to keep his promise and faith return'd to his enemies â—…her he had been prisoner though he knew he went to an ineviâ—…able death But well did that faithles cunning Knight who betrayâ—…d Sir Walter Rawleigh in his intended escape being com ashore fall to that contemptible end as to dye a poor distracted Beggar in the 〈◊〉 of Lyndey having for a bag of money falsified his Faith confirm'd by the tye of the holy Sacrament as you write as also before the yeer came about to be found clipping the same coin in the Kings own house at White-hall which he had receiv'd as a reward for his perfidiousnes for which being condemned to be hang'd hee was driven to sell himself to his shirt to purchase his pardon of two Knights And now Sir let that glorious and gallant Cavalier Sir Walter Rawleigh who lived long enough for his own honor though not for his Countrey as it was said of a Roman Consull rest quietly in his grave and his vertues live in his posterity as I find they do strongly and very eminently in you I have heard his enemies confess that he was one of the weightiest and wisest men that this Island ever bred Mr. Nath. Carpenter a learned and judicious Author was not in the wrong when he gave this discreet Character of him who hath not known or read of that Prodigy of wit and fortune Sir Walter Rawleigh a man infortunat in nothing els but in the greaâ—… of his wit and advancement whose eminent worth was such both in domestic Policy forren Expeditions and Discoveries in Arts and Literature both practic and contemplative that it might seem at once to conqâ—… boâ—… example and imitation Now Sir hoping to be rectified in your judgment touching my opinion of that illustrious Knight your father give me leave to kiss your hands very affectionatly for the respectfull mention you please to make of my brother once your neighbor he suffers good soul as well as I though in a differing manner I also much value that favourable censure you give of those rambling Letters of mine which indeed are nought els than a Legend of the cumbersom lifâ—… and various fortunes of a Cadet but wheras you please to say that the world of learned men is much beholden to me for them and that son of them are freighted with many excellent and qaaint passages delivered in a masculine and solid stile adorn'd with much eloquence aâ—… stuck with the choicest flowers pick'd from the Muses garden wheras you also please to write that you admire my great Travells my strenâ—…ous endeavours at all times and in all places to accumulate knowledg â—…y active laying hold upon all occasions and on every handle that migâ—… with reputation advantage either my wit or fortune These high gallant strains of expressions I confess transcend my merit and are a garment too gawdy for me to put on yet I will lay it up among by best Reliques wherof I have divers sent me of thâ—… kind And wheras in publishing these Epistles at this time you please to say That I have don like Hezekiah when he shewedhis Treasures to the Babylonians that I have discovered my riches to theevâ—… who will bind me fast aud share my goods To this I answer that iâ—… those innocent Letters for I know none of them but is such fall among such theevs they will have no great prize to carry away it will be but pettylarceny I am already God wot bound fast enough having been a long time coopt up between these Walls bereâ—…t of all my means of subsistence and employment nor do I know wherfore I am heer unless it be for my sins For I bear as upright â—… heart to my King and Countrey I am as conformable and well affected to the government of this land specially to the high Court of Parliament as any one whatsoever that breaths air under this Meridian I will except none And for my Religion I defie any creature 'twixt heaven and earth that will say I am not a true English Protestant I have from time to time employ'd divers of my best frends to get my liberty at leastwise leave to go abroad upon Bail for I do not expect as you please also to beleeve in your Letter to be delivered hence as Saint Peter was by miracle but nothing will yet prevail To conclude I do acknowledg in the highest way of recognition the free and noble proffer you please to make me of your endeavors to pull me out of this dolefull Sepulcher wherin you say I am entomb'd alive I am no less oblig'd to you for the opinion I find you have of my weak abilities which you please to wish heartily may be no longer eclypsed I am not in despair but a day will shine that may afford me opportunity to improve this good opinion of yours which I value at a very high rate and let the world know how much I am Fleet 5 May 1645. Sir Your reall and ready Servitor J. H. LXIIII. To Mr. T. V. at Brussells My dear Tom VVHo would have thought poor England had been brought to this pass could it ever have entred into the imagination of man that the Scheme and whole frame of so ancient and well-molded a government should bee so suddenly struck off the hinges quite put out of joynt and tumbled into such a horrid Confusion who would have held it possible that to fly from Babylon we should fall into such a Babel that to avoid superstition some peeple should bee brought to belch out such horrid prophanenes as to call the Temples of God the Tabernacles of Sathan The Lords Supper a Two-penny Ordinary to make the Communion Table a Manger and the Font a Trough to water their Horses in to term the white decent Robe of the Presbyter the Whores Smock the Pipes through which nothing came but Anthems and holy Hymns the Devills Bag-pipes the Liturgy of the Church though extracted most of it out of the Sacred Text call'd by som another kind of Alchoran by others raw Porredge by som a peece forg'd in Hell Who would have thought to have seen in England the Churches shut and the Shops open upon Christmas day Could any soul have imagined that this Isle would have produc'd such Monsters as to rejoyce at the Turks good successes against Christians and wish hee were in the midst of Rome Who would have dream't ten yeers since when Arch-bishop Lawd did ride in state through London streets accompanying my Lord of London to bee sworn Lord high Tresurer of England that the Mitre should have now com to such a scorn to such a Nationall kind of hatred as to put the whole Island in a combustion which
Epistolae Ho-Elianae FAMILIAR LETTERS Domestic and Forren Divided into sundry SECTIONS Partly Historicall Politicall Philosophicall Vpon Emergent Occasions By Iames Howell Esq One of the Clerks of His late Maties most honble Privy Councell The second Edition enlarged with divers supplements and the Dates annexed which were wanting in the first With an Addition of a third volume of new Letters Ut clavis portam sic pandit Epistola pectus London Printed by W. H. for Humphrey Moseley and are to be sold at his Shop at the Princes Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard 1650. These ensuing Letters contain for their principal subject a faithfull relation of the privatest passages that happen'd at Court a good part of King Jame's reign and that of His late Majesty As also of such forren affairs which had reference to these Kingdoms Viz. Of THe Wars of Germany and the transactions of the Treaties about restoring the Palanat with the House of Austria and Sweden The Treaty and traverses of the Match with Spain The Treaty of the Match with France An exact survey of the Netherlands Another of Spain Italy France and of most Countreys in Europe with their chief Cities and Governments Of the Hans Towns and the famous quarrell twixt Queen Elizabeth and them Divers Letters of the extent of Christianity and of other Religions upon Earth Divers Letters of the languages up and down the Earth Accounts of sundry Embassies from England to other States Som pieces of Poetry wherwith the Prose goes interlarded Divers new opinions in Philosophy descanted upon Passages of former Parlements and of this present c. Among these Letters ther goes along a Legend of the Authors life and of his severall employments with an account of his Forren Travells and Negotiations wherin he had occasion to make his address to these Personages and Persons underwritten Letters to Noblemen TO His late Majesty To the Duke of Buckingham To the Erl of Cumberland To the Erl of Dorset To the Erl of Rutland To the Erl of Leicester To the Erl of Sunderland To the Erl of Bristol To the Erl Rivers To the Erl of Strafford To the Erl of Carberry To the L. Vicount Conway Secr. To the L. Vic. Savage To the L. Herbert of Cherberry To the L. Cottington To the L. Mohun To the L. Digby To the Lady Marchioness of Winchester To the La. Scroope To the Countess of Sunderland To the La. Cornwallis To the La. Digby To Bishop V sher Lord Primat of Ireland To B. Field To B. Duppa To the B. of London To B. Howell To Knights Doctors Esquires Gentlemen and Merchants TO Sir Robert Mansell To Sir Iames Crofts To Sir Iohn North To Sir Edward Spencer To Sir Kenelme Digby So Sir Peter Wichts To Sir Sackvill Trever To Sir Sackvill Crow To Sir Arthur Ingram To Sir Thomas Lake To Sir Eubule Theloall To Sir Alex. Ratcliff To Sir Edward Savage To Sir Iohn Smith To Sir Will Saint-Geon To Sir Thomas Savage To Sir Fran. Cottington To Sir Robert Napier To Sir Philip Manwayring To Sir Bevis Theloall To Doctor Mansell To Dr. Howell To Dr. Prichard To Dr. Wicham To Dr. I. Day To Mr. Alderman Clethero To Mr. Alder. Moulson To the Town of Richmond To Mr. R. Altham To Mr. D. Calawall To Cap. Fran. Bacon To Mr. Ben. Iohnson To Mr. End and Cap. Tho. Porter To Mr. Simon Digby To Mr. Walsingham Gresley To Mr. Thomas Gwyn To Mr. Iohn Wroth To Mr. William Blois To Mr Robert Baron To Mr. Thomas More To Mr. Iohn Savage To Mr. Hugh Penry To Mr. Christoph. 〈◊〉 To Mr. R. Brown To Mr. William Martin To Cap. Nicholas Leat To Mr. R. Brownrigg To Mr. Iohn Batty To Mr. Will. Saint-Geon To Mr. Iames Howard To Mr. Ed. Noy To Mr. William Austin To Mr. Rowland Gwyn To Mr. Will. Vaughan To Mr. Arthur Hopâ—…on To Mr. Thomas Iones To Mr. I. Price To Captain Ol. Saint-Geon With divers others To His Majesty SIR THese Letters address'd most of them to Your best degrees of Subjects do as so many lines drawn from the Circumference to the Centre all meet in Your Majesty who as the Law stiles You the Fountain of honour and grace so You should be the Centre of our happines If Your Majesty vouchsafe them a Gracious Aspect they may all prove Letters of credit if not credentiall Letters which Soverain Princes use only to Authorize They venture to go abroad into the vast Ocean of the World as Letters of Mart to try their Fortunes and Your Majesty being the greatest Lord of Sea under Heaven is fittest to protect them and then they will not fear any human power Moreover as this Royall Protection secures them from all danger so it will infinitely conduce to the prosperity of their voyage and bring them to safe Port with rich returns Nor would these Letters be so familiar as to presume upon so high a Patronage were not many of them Records of Your Own Royall Actions And 't is well known that Letters can tresure up and transmit matters of State to posterity with as much Faith and be as authentic Registers and safe repoâ—…itories of Truth as any Story whatsoever This brings them to ly all prostrat at Your Feet with their Author who is Sir Your Majesties most Loyall Subject and Servant HOWELL To the knowing READER OF Familiar Letters LOve is the life of Frendship Letters are The life of Love the Load-stones that by rare Attraction make souls meet and melt and mix As when by fire exalted gold we fix They are those wing'd Pestillions that can fly From the Anartic to the Artic sky The Heralds and swift Harbengers that move From East to West on Embassies of Love They can the Tropics cut and cross the Line And swim from Ganges to the Rhone or Rhine From Thames to Tagus thâ—…nce to Tyber run And terminat their journy with the Sun They can the Cabinets of Kings unscrue And hardest intriâ—…acies of State unclue They can the the Tartar tell what the Mogor Or the great Turk doth on the Asian shore The Knez of them may know what Prester John Doth with his Camells in the torrid Zone Which made the Indian Inca think they wer Spirits who in white sheets the Aâ—…r did tear The luckie Goose sav'd Joves beleagred Hill Once by her noyse but oftner by her Quill It twice prevented Rome was not o re-run By the tough Vandal and the rough hewn Hun. Letters can Plots though moâ—…lded under ground Disclose and their fell complices confound Witnes that fiery Pile which would have blown Up to the Clouds Prince Peeple Peers and Town Tribunalls Church and Chappell and had dride The Thames though swelling in her highest pridâ—… And parboyl'd the poor Fish which from her Sandâ—… Had been toss'd up to the adjoyning Lands Lawyers as Vultures had soar'd up and down Prelats like Magpiâ—…s in the Ayr had flown Had not the Eagles Letter brought to light That Subterranean horrid
of the Imperiall Counsellors were hurld out at the windows you heard also I doubt not how they offer'd the Crown to the Dâ—…ke of Saxony and he waving it they sent Ambassadors to the 〈◊〉 whom they thought might prove par negotio and to be able to go through-stitch with the work in regard of his powerfull alliance the King of great Britain being his Father in Law the King of Denmark the Prince of Oâ—…nge the Marq. of Brandenburg the Duke of Boâ—…illon his Uncles the States of Holland his Confederates the French King his friend and the Duke of Bavaria his near allye The Prince Palsgrave made some difficulty at first and most of his Counsellors opposed it others incited him to it and amongst other hortatives they told him That if he had the courage to venture upon a King of Englands sole Daughter he might very well venture upon a Soveraign Crown when it was tendered him Add hereunto that the States of Holland did mainly advance the worke and ther was good reason in policy for it for their twelve years Truce being then upon point of expiring with Spain and finding our King so wedded to Peace that nothing could divorce him from it they lighted upon this design to make him draw his Sword and engage hiâ—… against the House of Austria for the defence of his sole Daughter and his Gran-Children What his Majesty will do hereafter I will not presume to foretell but hitherto he hath given liâ—…tle countenance to the busines nay he utterly misliked it at first for wheras Doctor Hall gave the Prince Palsgrave the Title of King of Bohemia in his Pulpit Prayer he had a check for his pains for I heard his Majesty should say that ther is an implicit tie amongst Kings which obligeth them though ther be no other interest or particular engagement to stick unto and right one another upon insurrection of Subjects Therfore he had more reason to be against the Bohemians than to adhere to them in the deposition of their Soveraign Prince The King of Denmark sings the same note nor will he also allow him the appellation of King But the fearfull news I told you of at the beginning of this Letter is that ther are fresh tidings brought how the Prince Palsgrave had a well appointed Army of about 25000 horse and foot near Prague but the Duke of Bavaria came with scarce half the number and notwithstanding his long march gave them a sudden Battell and utterly routed them Insomnch that the new King of Bohemia hahaving not worn the Crown a whole twelvemonth was forced to flie with his Quâ—…n and children and after many difficulties they write that they are come to the Castle of Castrein the Duke of Brandenburghs Countrey his Uncle Tâ—…is news affects both Court and City here with much heavines I send you my humble thanks for the noble correspondence you pleased to hold with me abroad and I desire to know by the nexâ—… when you come to London that I may have the comfort of the sight of you after so long an absence Maâ—…ch the 1. 1619. Yourâ—… true Servitor J. H. V. To Dr. Fra Manâ—…ell at All Soules in Oxford I Am returned safe from my forain employment from my three years travell I did my best to make what advantage I could of the time though not so much as I should for I find that Peregrination wel us'd is a very profitable school it is a running Academy and nothing conduceth more to the building up and perfecting of a man Your honorable Uncle Sir Râ—…rt Mansell who is now in the Medâ—…erranean hath been very noble to me and I shall ever acknowledg a good part of my education from him He hath melted vast sums of money in the glass busines a busines indeed more proper for a Merchant than a Courtier I heard the King should say that he wondred Robin Mansell being a Sea-man wherby he hath got so much honour should fall from Water to tamper with Fire which are two contrary Elements My Father fears that this glass-employment will be too brittle a foundation for me to build a Fortune upon and Sir Robert being now at my comming back so far at Sea and his return uncertain my Father hath advised me to hearken after some other condition I attempted to goe Secretary to Sir Iohn Ayres to Constantinople but I came too late You have got your self a great deale of good repute by the voluntary resignation you made of the Principality of Iesus College to Sir Eubule Theloall in hope that he will be a considerable Benefactor to it I pray God he perform what he promiseth and that he be not over-partiall to North-wales men Now that I give you the first summon I pray you make me happy with your correspondence by Letters ther is no excuse or impediment at all left now for you are sure where to find me wheras I was a Landloper as the Dutch-man saith a wanderer and subject to incertain removes and short sojourns in divers places before So with apprecation of all happines to you here and hereafter I rest March 5. 1618. At your friendly dispose J. H. VI. To Sir Eubule Theloall Knight and Principall of Jesus Coll. in Oxford SIR I send you most due and humble thanks that notwithstanding I have played the Truant and been absent so long from Oxford you have been pleas'd lately to make choice of me to be Fellow of your new Foundation in Iesus College wherof I was once a Member As the quality of my Fortunes and cours of life run now I cannot make present use of this your great favour or promotion rather yet I do highly value it and humbly accept of it and intend by your permission to reserve and lay it by as a good warm garment against rough weather if any fall on me With this my expression of thankfulnes I do congratulate the great honour you have purchas'd both by your own beneficence and by your painfull endeavor besides to perfect that Nationall College which hereafter is like to be a Monument of your Fame as well as a Seminarie of Learning and will perpetuat your memory to all Posterity God Almighty prosper and perfect your undertakings and provide for you in Heaven those rewards which such publick works of Piety use to be crown'd withall it is the apprecation of Your truly devoted Servitor J. H. London idibus Mar. 1621. VII To my Father SIR according to the advice you sent me in your last while I sought after a new cours of employment a new employment hath lately sought after me My Lord Savage hath two young Gentlemen to his sonâ—…es and I am to goe travell with them Sit Iames Croftes who so much respects you was the main Agent in this busines and I am to goe shortly to Longmâ—…ford in Suffolk and â—…hence to Saint Osith in Essex to the Lord Darcy Queen Anne is lately dead of a Dropsie in Denmark house which is held to
surprize Antwerp where he receivd an illfavord repuls yet nevertheless the united Provinces for so they termd themselfs ever after fearing to distast their next great neighbor France made a second proffer of their protection and Soverainty to that King who having too many irons in the fire at his own home the Ligue growing stronger and stronger he answerd them that his shirt was nearer to him than his dublet Then had they recours to Queen Elizabeth who partly for her own securitie partly for interest in Religion reacht them a supporting hand and so sent them men money and a Governor the Earl of Leicester who not symbolizing with their humor was quickly revokd yet without any outward dislike on the Queens side for she left her Forces still with them but upon their expence She lent them afterwards some considerable sums of moneys and she receivd Flushing and the Brill for caution Ever since the English have bin the best sinews of their war and Achievers of the greatest exploits amongst them Having thus made sure work with the English they made young Count Maurice their Governor who for five and twenty years together held rack with the Spaniard and during those traverses of war was very fortunat an overture of Peace was then propounded which the States would not hearken unto singly with the King of Spain unlesse the Provinces that yet remaind under him would engage themselfs for performance of what was Articled besides they would not treat either of Peace or Truce unless they were declar'd free States all which was granted so by the intervention of the English and French Ambassadors a Truce was concluded for 12 years These wars did so drain and discommodat the King of Spain by reason of his distance every Soldier that he sent either from Spain or Italy costing him nere upon a hundred crowns before he could be rendred in Flanders that notwithstanding his mines of Mexico and Peru it plung'd him so deeply in debt that having taken up moneys in all the chief banks of Christendom he was forcd to publish a Diploâ—…a wherein he dispens'd with himself as the Holland Story hath it from payment alleging that he had employed those moneys for the public Peace of Christendom this broak many great Banquers and they say his credit was not current in Sevill or Lisbon his own Towns and which was worse while he stood wrastling thus with his own Subjects the Turke took his opportunity to get from him Tunis and the Goletta the Tropheys of Charles the fift his Father So eager he was in this quarrell that he imployd the utmost of his strength and industry to reduce this people to his will in regard he had an intent to make these Provinces his main Randevous and Magazin of men of war which his neighbors perceiving and that he had a kind of aym to be Western Monarch being led not so much for love as reasons of State they stuck close to the revolted Provinces and this was the bone that Secretary Walsingham told Queen Elizabeth he would cast the King of Spain that should last him 20 years and perhaps make his teeth shake in his head But to return to my first discours whence this digression hath snatchd me The Netherlands who had bin formerly knit and concentred under one Soverain Prince were thus dismembred And as they subsist now They are a State and a Province The Province having ten of the 17. at least is far greater more populous better soyld and more stor'd with Gentry The State is the richer and stronger the one proceeding from their vast Navigation and Commerce the other from the qualitie of their Countrey being defensible by Rivers and Sluces by meanes wherof they can suddenly overwhelm all the whole Countrey witnes that stupendious siege of Leyden and Haerlam for most of their Towns the marks being taken away are inaccessible by reason of shelfs of sands Touching the transaction of these Provinces which the King of Spaine made as a dowry to the Archduke Albertus upon marriage with the Infanta who therupon left his red Hat and Toledo Miter the chiefest spirituall Dignity in Christendom for revenue after the Papacy it was fringd with such cautelous restraints that he was sure to keep the better end of the staff still to himself for he was to have the tutele and ward of his children that they were to marry with one of the Austrian Family recommended by Spain and in default of issue and in case Albertus should survive the Infanta he should be but Governor only Add hereunto that King Philip reserv'd still to himself all the Cittadells and Castles with the order of the golden Fleece wherof he is Master as he is Duke of Burgundy The Archduke for the time hath a very princely command all Coyns bear his stâ—…mp all Placarts or Edicts are publishd in his name he hath the election of all civill Officers and Magistrats he nominats also Bishops and Abbars for the Pope hath only ' the Confirmation of them here nor can he adjourn any out of the Countrey to answer any thing neither are his Bulls of any strength without the Princes placet which makes him have alwayes som Commissioners to execute his Authority The people here grow hotter and hotter in the Roman Cause by reason of the mixture with Spaniards and Italians as also by the example of the Archduke and the Infanta who are devout in an intense degree Ther are two supreme Counsells the Privy Counsell and that of the State this treats of confederations and intelligence with forren Princes of Peace and War of entertaining or of dismissing Colonells and Captains of Fortifications and they have the surintendency of the highest affairs that concern the Prince and the policy of the Provinces The privat hath the granting of all Patents and Requests the publishing of all Edicts and Proclamations the prising of Coin the looking to the confines and extent of the Provinces and the enacting of all new Ordinances Of these two Counsells ther is never a Spaniard but in the actuall Counsell of War their voices are predominant Ther is also a Court of Finances or Exchequer whence all they that have the fingring of the Kings money must draw a discharge Touching matters of Justice their Law is mixt between Civill and common with some clauses of Canonicall The high Court of Parliament is at Maline whither all Civill Causes may be brought by appeal from other Towns except som that have municipall Privileges and are soverain in their owne jurisdictions as Mons in Henalt and a few more The prime Province for dignity is Brabant which amongst many other privileges it enjoyeth hath this for one not to appear upon any summons out of its owne precinct which is one of the reasons why the Prince makes his residence there but the prime for extent and fame is Flanders the chiefest Earldom in Christendom which is three dayes journey in length Ghent its Metropolis is reputed the
greatest town of Europe whence arose the Proverb Les flamen tient un gan qui tiendrá Paris dedans But the beautifullest richest strongest and most privileg'd City is Antwerp in Brabant being the Marquisat of the holy Empire and drawing nere to the nature of a Hans Town for she payes the Prince no other Tax but the Impost Before the dissociation of the seventeen Provinces this Town was one of the greatest Marts of Europe and greatest bank this side the Alpes most Princes having their Factors here to take up or let out moneys and here our Gresham got all his wealth and built our Royall Exchange by modell of that here The Merchandise was brought hither from Germany France and Italy by Land and from England Spain and the Hans towns by Sea was estimated at above twenty Millions of Crowns every year but as no violent thing is long lasting and as t is fatall to all Kingdomes States Towns and Languages to have their period so this renown'd Mart hath suffer'd a shrewd eclipse yet no utter downfall the Exchange of the King of Spains money and some small land trafic keeping still life in her though nothing so full of vigor as it was Therfore there is no town under the Archduke where the States have more conceal'd friends than in Antwerp who would willingly make them her Masters in hope to recover her former commerce which after the last twelve years truce began to revive a little the States permitting to passe by Lillo's sconce which coÌ„mands the river of Skeld and lyeth in the teeth of the Town som small cross-saild ships to passe hither There is no place hath been more passive than this and more often pillag'd amongst other times she was once plunder'd most miserably by the Spaniards under the conduct of a Priest immediatly upon Don Iohn of Austria's death she had then her Stat-house burn'd which had cost a few years before above twenty thousand Crowns the building and the spoils that were carried away thence amounted to forty Tuns of gold Thus she was reduc'd not only to poverty but a kind of captivity being commanded by a Citadell which she preferr'd before a Garrison this made the Merchant retire and seek a more free Randevous som in Zeland som in Holland specially in Amsterdam which rose upon the fall of this Town as Lisbon did from Venice upon the discovery of the Cape of good Hope though Venice be not nere so much crestfall'n I will now steer my discours to the united Provinces as they term themselves which are six in number viz. Holland Zeland Frisland Overyssell Gronninghen and Utrecht three parts of Gilderland and some Frontire Towns and places of contribution in Brabant and Flanders In all these ther is no innovation at all introduc'd notwithstanding this great change in point of Government except that the College of States represents the Duke or Earl in times pass'd which College consists of the chiefest Gentry of the Countrey surintendants of Towns and the principall Magistrates Every Province and great Town choose yearly certain Deputies to whom they give plenary power to deliberat with the other States of all affairs touching the public welfare of the whole Province and what they vote stands for Law These being assembled consult of all matters of State Justice and War the Advocat who is prime in the Assembly propounds the busines and after collects the suffrages first of the Provinces then of the Towns which being put in form he delivers in pregnant and moving speeches and in case ther be a dissonance and reluctancy of opinions he labors to accord and reconcile them concluding alwayes with the major voyces Touching the administration of Justice the President who is monthly chang'd with the great Counsell have the supreme judicature from whose Decrees ther 's no appeal but a revision and then som of the choycest Lawyers amongst them are appointed For their Opidan Government they have variety of Officers a Scout Bourgmasters a Balue and 〈◊〉 The Scout is chosen by the States who with the Balues have the judging of all criminall matters in last resort without appeal they have also the determining of Civill Causes but those are appealable to the Hague Touching their chiefest Governor or Generall rather now having made proof of the Spaniard German French and English and agreeing with none of them they lighted at last upon a man of their own mould Prince Maurice now their Generall in whom concurr'd divers parts suitable to such a charge having been train'd up in the wars by his Father who with three of his Uncles and divers of his kindred sacrific'd their lives in the States quarrell he hath thriven well since he came to the Government hee clear'd Friesland Overyssell and Groninghen in lesse than 18 months He hath now continued their Governor and Generall by sea and land above 33 years he hath the election of Magistrats the pardning of Malefactors and divers other Prerogatives yet they are short of the reach of Soverainty and of the authority of the ancient Counts of Holland Though I cannot say 't is a mercenary employment yet he hath a limited allowance nor hath he any implicit command when he goes to the field for either the Counsell of War marcheth with him or els he receives daily directions from them moreover the States themselves reserve the power of nominating all Commanders in the Army which being of sundry Nations deprive him of those advantages he might have to make himself absolut Martiall-Discipline is no where so regular as amongst the States no wher are ther lesser insolencies committed upon the Burger noâ—… robberies upon the Countrey Boors nor are the Officers permitted to insult ore the common soldier When the Army marcheth not one dares take so much as an apple off a tree or a root out of the earth in their passage and the reason is they are punctually paid their pay els I believe they would be insolent enough and were not the pay so certain I think few or none would serve them They speak of sixty thousand they have in perpetuall pay by Land and Sea at home and in the Indies The King of France was us'd to maintain a Regiment but since Henry the Greats death the paiment hath been neglected The means they have to maintain these Forces to pay their Governor to discharge all other expence as the preservation of their Diâ—…es which comes to a vast expence yearly is the ancient revenue of the Counts of Holland the impropriaâ—… Church living Imposts upon all Merchandise which is greater upon exported than imported goods Excise upon all commodities as well for necessity as pleasure taxes upon every Acre of ground which is such that the whole Countrey returns into their hands every three years Add hereunto the Art they use in their bank by the rise and fall of money the fishing upon our Coasts whither they send every Autumâ—… above 700 Hulks or Busses which in the voiages they
and ecclesiastiâ—… for the maid of Orleans which is performd every year very solemnly her Statue stands upon the bridg and her cloths are proserv'd to this day which a young man wore in the Procession which makes me think that her story though it sound like a romance is very true And I read it thus in two or three Chronicles when the Englâ—…sh had made such firm invasions in France that their Armies had marchd into the heart of the Countrey besiegd Orleans and driven Charles the seventh to Bourges in Berry which made him to be calld for the time King of Berry there came to his Armie a Shepheardesse one Anne de Arque who with a confident look and language told the King that she was design'd by heaven to beat the English and drive them out of France Therefore she desired a command in the Army which by her extraordinary confidence and importunity she obtain'd and putting on mans apparell she prov'd so prosperous that the siege was raisd from before Orleans and the English were pursued to Paris and forced to quit that and driven to Normandy she usd to go on with marvellous courage and resolution and her word was hara ha But in Normandy she was taken prisoner and the English had a fair revenge upon her for by an arrest of the Parliament of Rouen she was burnt for a Witch Ther is a great busines now a foot in Paris calld the Polette which if it take effect will tend to correct at least wise to cover a great error in the French Government The custom is that all the chief places of Justice throughout all the eight Courts of Parliament in France besides a great number of other offices are set to sale by the King and they return to him unless the buyer liveth fourty dayes after his resignation to another It is now propounded that these casuall offices shall be absolutly hereditary provided that every officer pay a yearly revenue unto the King according to the valuation and perquisits of the oâ—…ice this busines is now in hot â—…gitation buâ—… the issue is yet doubtfull The last you sent I receivd by Vacandary in Paris so highly honoring your excellent parts and meâ—…it I rest now that I understand French indifferently well no more your she Servant but Orleans 3 Martii 1622. Your most faithfull Servitor J. H. XXIV To Sir James Crofts Knight SIR VVEre I to fraight a Letter with Complements this Countrey would furnish me with variety but of news a small store at this present and for Complement it is dangerous to use aâ—…y to you who have such a piercing judgment to discern semblanâ—…es from realities The Queen Mother is com at last to Paris where she hath not been since Anâ—…e's death The King is also return'd post from Boâ—…deaux having travers'd most part of his Kingdom he setled peace every where he pas'd and quash'd divers insurrections and by his obedience to his mother and his lenity towards all her partisans aâ—… pont de Câ—… where above 400 were slain and notwithstanding that he was victorious yet he gave a generall pardon he hath gain'd much upon the affections of his people His Counsell of State wenâ—… ambulatory always with him and as they say here never did men manage things with more wisdom Ther is a war questionless a fermenting against the Protestants the Duke of Espernon in a kind of Rodomontado way desired leave of the King to block up Rochell and in six weeks he would undertake to deliver her to his hands but I beleeve he reckons without his Host. I was told a merry passage of this little Gascon Duke who is now the oldest soldier of France Having come lately to Paris he treated with a Pander to procure him a â—…urtesan and if she was a Damoisell a Gentlewoman he would give so much and if a Citizen he would give so much The Pandeâ—… did his Office but brought him a Citizen clad in Damoisells apparell so she and her Maquerell were paid accordingly the neâ—… day after som of his familiars having understood hereof began to be pleasant with the Duke and to jeer him that he being a visâ—…il Routier an old tried soldier should suffer himself to be so coâ—…end as to pay for a Citizen after the rate of a Gentlewoman the little Duke grew half wild hereupon and commenc'd an action of fraud against the Pander but what became of it I cannot tell you but all Paris rung of it I hope to return now very shortly to England where amongst the â—…est of my noble friends I shall much rejoyce to see and serve you whom I honour with no vulgar affection so I am Your true Servitor J. H. Orleans 5 Martii 1622. XXV To my Cosen Mr. Will. Martin at Brussells from Paris Dear Cosen I Find you are very punctuall in your performances and a precise observer of the promise you made here to correspond with Mr. Altham and me by Letters I thank you for the variety of German news you imparted unto me which was so neatly couch'd and curiously knit together that your Letter â—…ight serve for a pattern to the best Intelligencer I am sorry the affairs of the Prince Palsgrave go so untowardly the wheel of War may turn and that Spoke which is now up may down again For French Occurrences ther is a War certainly intended against them of the Religion here and ther are visible preparations a loot already Amongst others that shrink in the shoulders at it the Kings servants are not very wel pleas'd with it in regard besides Scots and Swissers ther are divers of the Kings Servants that are Protestants If a man go to 〈◊〉 ' di sâ—…ato to reason of State the French King hath somthing to justifie this dessein for the Protestants being so numerous and having neer upon fifty presidiary wall'd Towns in their hands for caution they have power to disturb France when they please and being abetted by a forren Prince to give the King Law and you know as well as I how they have been made use of to kindle a fire in France Therfore rather than they should be utterly supprest I believe the Spaniard himself would reach them his ragged staff to defend them I send you here inclos'd another from Master Altham who respects you dearly and we remembred you lately at la pomme du pin in the best liquor of the French Grape I shall be shortly for London where I shall not rejoyce a little to meet you that English air may confirm what forren begun I mean our friendship and affections and in Me that I may return you in English the Latin Verses you sent me As soon a little little Ant Shall bib the Ocean dry A Snail shall creep about the world Ere these affections dye So my dear Cosen may Vertue be your guide and Fortune your Companion Paris 18 Martii 1622. Yours while Jam. Howell Familiar Letters SECTION III. I. To my Father SIR I Am
safely return'd now the second time from beyond the Seas but I have yet no employment God and good friends I hope will shortly provide one for me The Spanish Ambassador Count Gondamar doth strongly negotiat a Match 'twixt our Prince and the Infanta of Spain but at his first audience ther happen'd an ill favor'd accident I pray God it prove no ill augury for my Lord of Arundell being sent to accompany him to White Hall upon a Sunday in the afternoon as they were going over the Tarrasse it broke under them but onely one was hurt in the arm Gondamar said that he had not car'd to have dyed in so good company he saith ther is no other way to regain the Palatinate but by this match and to settle an eternall Peace in Christendom The Marquis of Buckingham continueth still in fulnes of grace and favor the Countess his Mothes sways also much at Court she brought Sir Henry Montague from delivering law on the K. Bench to look to his bags in the Exchequer for she made him Lord high Treasurer of England but he parted with his white staff before the years end though his puâ—… had bled deeply for it above 20000 l. which made a Lord of this Land to ask him at his return from Court whether he did not find that wood was extreme dear at New-market for there he receiv'd the white staff Ther is now a notable stirring man in the place my Lord Cranfield who from walking about the Exchange is com to sit chief Judge in the Chequer Chamber and to have one of the highest places at the Counsell Table He is maried to one of the Tribe of Fortune a kinswoman of the Marquis of Buckingham Thus ther is rising and falling at Court and aâ—… in our naturall pace one foot cannot be up till the other be down so is it in the affairs of the world commonly one man riseth at the fall of the other I have no more to write at this time but that with tender of my duy to you I desire a continuance of your blessing and prayers Lond. March 22. 1622. Your dutifull Son J. H. II. To the Honble M. John Savage now Earl Rivers at Florence SIR MY love is not so short but it can reach as far as Florence to find you out and further too if occasion requir'd nor are those affections I have to serve you so dull but they can clammer ore the Alps and Apennin to wait upon you as they have adventur'd to do now in this paper I am sorry I was not in London 〈◊〉 kiss your hands before you set to Sea and much more sorry that I had not the happines to meet you in Holland or Brabant for we went the very same road and lay in Dort and Antwerp in the same lodgings you had lain in a fortnight before I presume you have by this time tasted of the sweetnes of Travell and that you have wean'd your affections from England for a good while you must now think upon home as one said good men think upon heaven aiming still to go thither but not till they finish their cours and yours I understand will be three years in the mean time you must not suffer any melting tendernes of thoughts or longing desires to distract or interrupt you in that fair road you are in to vertue and to beautifie within that comly Edifice which nature hath built without you I know your reputation is precious to you as it should be to every noble mind you have expos'd it now to the hazard therfore you must be carefull it receive no taint at your return by not answering that expectation which your Prince and noble Parents have of you You are now under the chiefest clime of wisdom fair Italy the Darling of Nature the Nurse of Policy the Theater of Vertue But though Italy give milk to Vertue with one dug she often suffers Vice to suck at the other therfore you must take heed you mistake not the dug for ther is an ill favourd saying that Inglese Italionato è Diavolo incarnato An Englishman Italianat is a Devill incarnat I fear no such thing of you I have had such pregnant proofs of your ingenuity and noble inclinationâ—… to vertue and honor I know you have a mind to both but I must tell you that you will hardly get the good will of the latter unless the first speak a good word for you when you go to Rome you may haply see the ruines of two Temples one dedicated to Vertue the other to Honor and ther was no way to enter into the last but through the first Noble Sir I wish your good very seriously and if you please to call to memory and examin the circumstance of things and my carriage towards you since I had the happines to be known first to your Honorable Family I know you will conclude that I love and honor you in no vulgar way My Lord your Grandfather was complaining lately that he had not heard from you a good while By the next shipping to Ligorn amongst other things he intends to send you a whole Brawn in collers I pray be pleasd to remember my affectionat service to Mr. Tho. Savage and my kind respects to Mr. Bold for English news I know this packet coms fraighted to you therfore I forbear at this time to send any Farewell noble Heir of Honor and command always Lond. March 24. 1622. Your true Servitor J. H. III. To Sir James Crofts Knight at Saint Osith in Essex SIR I had yours upon tuesday last and wheras you are desirous to know the proceedings of the Parliament I am sorry I must write to you that matters begin to grow boysterous The King retir'd not long since to New market not very well pleasd and this week there went thither twelve from the House of Commons to whom Sir Richard Weston was the mouth the King not liking the Message they brought calld them his Ambassadors and in the large answer which he hath sent to the Speaker he saith that he must apply unto them a speech of Queen Elizabeths to an Ambassador of Poland Legatum expectavimus Heralaum accepimus We expected an Ambassador we have receivd a Herald he takes it not well that they should meddle with the match twixt his Son and the Infanta alleging an example of one of the Kings of France which would not marry his Son without the advice of his Parliament but afterwards that King grew so despicable abroad that no Forren State would treat with him about any thing without his Parliament Sundry other high passages ther were as a caveat he gave them not to touch the honor of the King of Spain with whom he was so far ingag'd in a matrimoniall treaty that he could not go back he gave them also a check for taking Cognisance of those things which had their motion in the ordinary Courts of Iustice and that Sir Edward Coke though these words were not
to have com in a favorable conjuncture of time and my Lord Ambassador who is so highly esteemd here doth assure me of his best furtherance So praying I may prove as succesfull as I shall be faithfull in this great busines I rest Madrid 28 Decem. 1622. Yours to dispose of J. H. IX To Mr Arthur Hopton from Madrid SIR SInce I was made happy with your acquaintance I have receivd sundry strong evidences of your love and good wishes unto me which have tied me unto you in no common obligation of thanks I am in despair ever to cancell this bond nor would I do it but rather endear the engagement more and more The treaty of the match twixt our Prince and the Lady Infante is now strongly a foot she is a very comely Lady rather of a Flemish complexion than Spanish fair haird and carrieth a most pure mixture of red and white in her face she is full and big lipd which is held a beautie rather than a blemish or any excefle in the Austrian Family it being a thing incident to most of that race she goes now upon 16 and is of a talness agreable to those yeers The King is also of such a complexion and is under twentie he hath two brothers Don Carlos and Don Hernaâ—…do who though a youth of twelve yet is he Cardinall and Archbishop of Toledo which in regard it hath the Chancelorship of Castile annexed to it is the greatest spirituall dignity in Christendom after the Papacy for it is valued at 300000. Crowns per annum Don Carlos is of a differing complexion from all the rest for he is black haird and of a Spanish hue he hath neither Office Command Dignitie or Title but is an individuall companion to the King and what cloaths soever are provided for the King he hath the very same and as often from top to toe he is the better belov'd of the people for his complexion for one shall hear the Spaniard sigh and lament saying O when shall we have a King again of our own colour I pray commend me kindly to all at your house and send me word when the young gentlemen return from Italy So with my most affectionat respects to your self I rest Madrid 5. â—…an 1622. Your true friend to serve you J. H. X. To Captain Nic. Leat from Madrid SIR YOurs of the tenth of this present I receiv'd by Mr. Simon Digby with the inclosed to your son in Alicant which is safely sent Since my last unto you I had access to Olivares the Favorit that rules all I had also audience of the King to whom I deliver'd two memorialls since in his Majesties name of great Britain that a particular Iunta of some of the Counsell of State and War might be appointed to determin the business the last memoriall had so good success that the Referees are nominated wherof the chiefest is the Duke of Infantado Here it is not the stile to claw and complement with the King or Idolize him by Sacred Soverain and most Excellent Majesty but the Spaniard when he petitions to his King gives him no other Character but Sir and so relating his business at the end he doth ask and demand Justice of him When I have done with the Vice-roy here I shall hasten my dispatches for Sardinia since my last I went to liquidat the account more particularly and I find that of the 250000 Crowns ther are above forty thousand due unto you which might serve for a good Aldermans estate Your son in Alicant writes to me of another mischance that is befaln the ship Amitie about Mallorca wherof you were one of the proprietaries I am very sorry to hear of it and touching any dispatches that are to be had hence I shall endeavor to procure you them according to instructions Your cosen Richard Altham remembers his kind respects unto you and sends you many thanks for the pains you took in freeing us from that trouble which the scuffle with the Sergeants brought upon us So I rest Madrid 5 Ian. 1622. Yours ready to serve you J. H. XI To the Lord Vicount Colchester from Madrid Right honble THe grand busines of the match goes so fairly on that a speciall Iunta is appointed to treat of it the names wherof I send you here inclos'd they have proceeded so far that most of the Articles are agreed upon Mr. George Gage is lately come hither from Rome a polite and prudent gentleman who hath negotiated somthings in that Court for the advance of the busines with the Cardinalls Bandino Lodovisie la Susanna who are the main men there to whom the drawing of the dispensation is referr'd The late taking of Ormus by the Persian from the Crown of Portugall keeps a great noise here and the rather because the exploit was done by the assistance of the English ships that were then therabouts my Lord Digby went to Court and gave a round satisfaction in this point for it was no voluntary but a constrain'd act in the English who being in the Persians Port were suddenly embarqu'd for the service And the Persian herein did no more than what is usuall amongst Christian Princes themselves and which is oftner put in practice by the King of Spain and his Vice-roys than by any other viz. to make an embargue of any strangers ship that rides within his Ports upon all occasion It was fear'd this surprisall of Ormus which was the greatest Mart in all the Orient for all sorts of jewells would have bred ill bloud and prejudic'd the preceedings of the match but the Spaniard is a rationall man and will be satisfied with reason Count Olivares is the main man who sways all and 't is thought he is not so much affected to an alliance with England as his Predecessor the Duke of Lerma was who set it first a foot 'twixt Prince Henry and this Queen of France The Duke of Lerma was the greatest Privado the greatest Favorit that ever was in Spain since Don Alvaro de Luna he brought himself the Duke of Uzeda his son and the Duke of Câ—…a his grand-child to be all Grandes of Spain which is the greatest Title that a Spanish Subject is capable of they have a privilege to stand cover'd before the King and at their election ther 's no other Ceremony but only these three words by the King Cobrése por Grande cover your self for a Grande and that 's all The Cardinall Duke of Lerma lives at Valladolid he officiats and sings Mass and passeth his old age in Devotion and exercises of Piety It is a common and indeed a commendable custom amongst the Spaniard when he hath pass'd his gran climacteric and is grown decrepit to make a voluntary resignation of Offices be they never so great and profitable though I cannot say Lerâ—… did so and sequestring and weaning themselves as it were from all mundan negotiations and encombrances to retire to som place of devotion and spend the residue of
put by the gallanter man of the two I was told of a witty saying of his when the Duke of Lerma had the vogue in this Court for going one morning to speak with the Duke and having danc'd attendance a long time hee peep'd through a slit in the hanging and spied Don Rodrigo Calderon a great man who was lately beheaded here for poisning the late Queen Dowager delivering the Duke a Paper upon his knees wherat the Marquis smil'd and said Voto a tal aquâ—…l hombre sube mas a las rodillas que yo no hago a los pics I swear that man climbs higher upon his knees than I can upon my feet Indeed I have read it to be a true Court rule that descendendo ascendendum est in Aula descending is the way to ascend at Court Ther is a kind of humility and compliance that is far from any servile baseness or fordid flattery and may be term'd discretion rather than adulation I intend God willing to go for Sardinia this Spring I hope to have better luck than Master Walsingham Gresley had who some few years since in his passage thither upon the same business that I have in agitation met with some Turksmen of war and so was carried slave to Algier So with my true respects to you I rest Madrid 12 Mar. 1622. Your faithfull Servant J. H. XIV To Sir Francis Cottington Secretary to his Highnesse the Prince of Wales at Saint James SIR I Believe it will not be unpleasing unto you to hear of the procedure and successe of that business wherin your self hath been so long vers'd in I mean the great sute against the quondam Vice-roy of Sardinia the Conde del Real Count Gondamars comming was a great advantage unto me who hath don me many favors besides a confirmation of the two sentences of view and review and of the execution against the Vice-roy I have procur'd a Royall cedule which I caus'd to be printed and wherof I send you here inclos'd a Coppy by which Cedule I have power to arrest his very person and my Lawyers tell me ther was never such a cedule granted before I have also by vertue of it priority of all other his Creditors He hath made an imperfect overture of a composition and shewd me som triviall old fashion'd jewells but nothing equivalent to the debt And now that I speak of jewells the late surprisall of Ormus by the assistance of our ships sinks deep in their stomacks here and we were afraid it would have spoild all proceedings but my Lord Digby now Earl of Bristoll for Count Gondamar brought him ore his Patent hath calmd all things at his last audience Ther were luminaries of joy lately here for the victory that Don Gonzalez de Cordova got over Count Mansfelt in the Netherlands with that Army which the Duke of Bouillon had levied for him but some say they have not much reason to rejoyce for though the Infantery suffer'd yet Mansfelt got clear with all his horse by a notable retreat and they say here it was the greatest peece of service and Art he ever did it being a Maxim that ther is nothing so difficult in the Art of War as an honourable retreat Besides the report of his comming to Breda caus'd Marquis Spinola to raise the siege before Berghen to burn his tents and to pack away suddenly for which he is much censur'd here Captain Leat and others have written to me of the favourable report you pleas'd to make of my endeavors here for which I return you humble thanks and though you have left behind you multitude of servants in this Court yet if occasion were offerd none should be more forward to go on your errand then Madrid 15 Mar. 1622. Your humble and faithfull Servitor J. H. XV. To the honble Sir Tho Savage Knight and Baronet honble SIR THe great busines of the match was tending to a period the Articles reflecting both upon Church and State being capitulated and interchangeably accorded on both sides and ther wanted nothing to consummate all things when to the wonderment of the world the Prince and the Marquis of Buckingham arriv'd at this Court a friday last upon the close of the evening they lighted at my Lord of Bristols house and the Marquis Mr Thomas Smith came in first with a Portmantle under his arm then Mr Iohn Smith the Prince was sent for who staid a while the to'ther side of the street in the dark my Lord of Bristoll in a kind of astonishment brought him up to his bed chamber where he presently calld for pen and ink and dispacht a Post that night to England to acquaint his Majesty how in lesse then sixteen daies he was come safely to the Court of Spain that Post went lightly laden for he carried but three letters the next day came Sir Francis Cotington and Mr Porter and darke rumors ran in every corner how som great man was com from England and som would not stick to say amongst the vulgar it was the King but towards the evening on saturday the marquis went in a close coach to Court where he had privat audience of this King who sent Olivares to accompany him back to the Prince where he kneeld and kisd his hands and hugd his thighs and deliverd how unmeasurably glad his Catholic Majesty was of his coming with other high complements which Mr Porter did interpret About ten a clock that night the King himself came in a close coach with intent to visit the Prince who hearing of it met him halfway and after salutations and divers embraces which past in the first interview they parred late I forgot to tell you that Count Gondamar being sworn Counseller of State that morning having bin before but one of the Counsell of War he came in great hast to visit the Prince saying he had strange news to tell him which was that an Englishman was sworn privy Counseller of Spain meaning himself who he said was an Englishman in his heart On Sunday following the King in the afternoon came abroad to take the air with the Queen his two brothers and the Infanta who were all in one coach but the Infanta sat in the boot with a blew riband about her arm of purpose that the Prince might distinguish her ther were above twenty coaches besides of Grandes Noble men and Ladies that attended them And now iâ—… was publicly known amongst the vulgar that it was the Prince of Wales who was com and the confluence of people before my Lord of Bristolls house was so great and greedy to see the Prince that to clear the way Sir Lewis Divâ—…s went out and took coach and all the crowd of people went after him so the Prince himself a little after took coach wherin there were the Earl of Bristoll Sir Walter Ashton and Count Gondamar and so went to the Prado a place hard by of purpose to take the air where they stayed till the King past by as soon as
the Infanta saw the Prince her colour rose very high which we hold to be an impression of love and affection for the face is often times a true Index of the heart Upon Monday morning after the King sent som of his prime Nobles and other Gentlemen to attend the Prince in qualitie of Officers as oâ—…e to be his Mayordom his Steward another to be Master of the Horse and so to inferior Officers so that ther is a compleat Court now at my Lord of Bristolls house but upon Sunday next the Prince is to remove to the Kings Palace where ther is one of the chief quarters of the house providing for him By the next opportunity you shall hear more In the interim I take my leave and rest March 27. 1623. Your most humble and ready Servitor J. H. XVI To Sir Eubule Theloall Knight at Grayes-Inne SIR I Know the eyes of all England are earnestly fixd now upon Spain her best jewell being here but his journey was like to be spoild in France for if he had stayd but a little longer at Bayon the last Town of that Kingdom hitherwards he had bin discoverd for Monsieur Gramond the Governor had notice of him not long after he had taken Post. The people here do mightily magnifie the gallantry of the journey and cry out that he deserv'd to have the Infanta thrown into his arms the first night he came He hath bin entertaind with all the magnificence that possibly could be devis'd On Sunday last in the morning betimes he went to Saint Hieroms Monastery whence the Kings of Spain use to be fetchd the day they are crownd and thither the King came in person with his two Brothers his eight Counsells and the flower of the Nobility He rid upon the Kings right hand through the heart of the Town under a great Canopy and was brought so into his lodgings to the Kings Palace and the King himself accompanied him to his very bedchamber It was a very glorious sight to behold for the custom of the Spaniard is though he go plain in his ordinary habit yet upon som Festivall or cause of triumph ther 's none goes beyond him in gaudiness We daily hope for the Popes Breve or Dispensation to perfect the busines though ther be dark whispers abroad that it is com already but that upon this inexpected coming of the Prince it was sent back to Rome and som new clauses thrust in for their further advantage Till this dispatch comes matters are at a kind of stand yet his Highnes makes account to be back in England about the latter end of May. God Almighty turn all to the best and to what shall be most conducible to his glory So with my due respects unto you I rest Aprill 1 1623. Your much obliged Servitor J. H. XVII To Captain Leat SIR HAving brought up the Law to the highest point against the Vice-roy of Sardinia and that in an extraordinary manner as may appear unto you by that Printed cedule I sent you in my last and finding an apparent disability in him to satisfie the debt I thought upon a new design and fram'd a memoriall to the King and wrought good strong means to have it seconded that in regaâ—… that predatory act of seizing upon the ship Vinyard in Sardiâ—… with all her goods was done by his Majesties Vice-roy his soverain Minister of State one that immediatly represented his own Royall Person and that the said Vice-roy was insolvent I desir'd his Majesty would be pleas'd to grant a Warrant for the releef of both parties to lade so many thousand Sterills oâ—… measures of corn out of Sardinia and Sicily custom-free I had gonfâ—… in the business when Sir Francis Cottington sent for me and requir'd me in the Prince his name to proceed no further hereiâ—… till he was departed so his Highness presence here hath turâ—… rather to my disadvantage than otherwise Amongst other Grandezas which the King of Spain conferr'd upon our Prince one was the releasment of Prisoners and that all Petitions of grace should com to him for the first month but he hath been wonderfull sparing in receiving any specially from any English Irish or Scot. Your son Nicolas is com hither from Alicant about the ship Amity and I shall be ready to second him in getting satisfaction so I rest Madrid Iune 3. 1623. Yours ready to serve you J. H. XVIII To Captain Tho. Porter Noble Captain MY last unto you was in Spanish in answer to one of yours in the same language and amongst that confluence of English gallants which upon the occasion of his Highness being here are com to this Court I fed my self with hopes a long while to have seen you but I find now that those hopes were impd with false feathers I know your heart is here and your best affections therfore I wonder what keeps back your person but I conceive the reason to be that you intend to com like your self to com Commander in chief of one of the Castles of the Crown one of the ships Royall If you com so to this shore side I hope you wil havetime to come to the Court I have at any time a good lodging for you and my Landlady is none of the meanest and her husband hath many good parts I heard her setting him forth one day and giving this Character of him Mi marido ei buen musico buen esgrimidor buen eserivano excellente Arithmetico salvo que no multiplica My husband is a good Musitian a good Fencer a good Horse-man a good Pen-man and an excellent Arithmetician only he cannot multiply For outward usage there is all industry us'd to give the Prince and his servants all possible contentment and som of the Kings own servants wait upon them at Table in the Palace where I am sorry to hear som of them jeer at the Spanish fare and use other slighting speeches and demeanor Ther are many excellent Poems made here since the Princes arrivall which are too long to couch in a Letter yet I will venture to send you this one stanza of Lope de Vegas Carlos Estuardo Soy Que siendo Amor mi guia Al cielo d'España voy Por ver mi Estrella Maria. There are Comedians once a week com to the Palace where under a great Canopy the Queen and the Infanta sit in the middle our Prince and Don Carles on the Queens right hand the King and the little Cardinall on the Infanta's left hand I have seen the Prince have his eyes immovably fixed upon the Infanta half an hour together in a thoughtfull speculative posture which sure would needs be tedious unless affection did sweeten it it was no handsom comparison of Olivares that he watcht her as a cat doth â—… mouse Not long since the Prince understanding that the Infanta was us'd to go som mornings to the Casa de campo a summer house the King hath tother side the river to gather May dew he
the Church here and so holy a conceit they have of all Ecclesiastics that the greatest Don in Spain will tremble to offer the mean'st of them any outrage or affront Count Gondamar hath also helpt to free som English that were in the Inquisition in Toledo and Sevill and I could allege many instances how ready and chearfull he is to assist any Englishman whatsoever notwithstanding the base affronts he hath often receivd of the London buys as he calls them At his last return hither I heard of a merry saying of his to the Queen who discoursing with him about the greatnesse of London and whether it was as populous as Madrid yes Madame and more populous when I came away though I beleeve ther 's scarce a man left there now but all women and children for all the mem both in Court and City were ready booted and spurd to go away And I am sorry to hear how other Nations do much tax the English of their incivility to public Ministers of State and what ballads and pasquils and fopperies and plays were made against Gondamar for doing his Masters busines My Lord of Bristoll coming from Germany to Brussells notwithstanding that at his arrivall thither the news was fresh that he had reliev'd Frankindale as he past yet was he not a whit the less welcom but valued the more both by the Archdutchess her self and Spinoâ—… with all the rest as also that they knew well that the said Earl had bin the sole adviser of keeping Sir Robert Mansell abroad with that Fleet upon the coast of Spain till the Palsgrave should be restord I pray Sir when you go to London wall and Tower hill be pleas'd to remember my humble service where you know it is due So I am Madrid Aug. 15. 1623. Your most faithfull Servitor J. H. V. To the right honble the Lord Vicount Colchester My very good Lord I Receiv'd the letter and commands your Lopp pleas'd to send me by Mr Walsingham Gresley and touching the Constitutions and Orders of the Contratation House of the West Indies in Sevill I cannot procure it for love or money upon any terms though I have done all possible diligence therin And som tell me it is dangerous and no less then Treason in him that gives the copy of them to any in regard 't is counted the greatest Mystery of all the Spanish government That difficulty which hapned in the busines of the match of giving caution to the Pope is now overcome for wheras our King answer'd that he could give no other caution than his Royall word and his sons exemplified under the great Seal of England and confirm'd by his Counsell of State it being impossible to have it done by Parliament in regard of the aversnes the common people have to the alliance And wheras this gave no satisfaction to Rome the King of Spain now offers himself for caution for putting in execution what is stipulated in behalf of the Roman Catholics throughout his Majestie of great Britain's Dominions but he desires to consult his ghostly fathers to know whether he may do iâ—… without wronging his conscience hereupon there hath bin a Iâ—…ta form'd of Bishops and Iesuits who have bin already a good while about it and the Bishop of Segovia who is as it were Lord Threasurer having written a Treatise lately against the match was outed of his Office banisht the Court and confin'd to his Diocess The Duke of Buckingham hath bin ill dispos'd a good while and lies sick at Court where the Prince hath no public exercise of devotion but only bedchamber prayers and some thinâ—… that his lodging in the Kings house is like to prove a disadvantagâ—… to the main business for wheras most sorts of people here hardly hold us to be Christians if the Prince had had a Palace of his own and bin permitted to have us'd a room for an open Chappell to exercise the Liturgy of the Church of England it would have brought them to have a better opinion of us And to this end ther were som of our best Church plate and vestments brought hither but never us'd The slow place of this Iunta troubles us a little and to the Divines ther are som Civilians admitted lately and the quaere is this whether the King of Spain may bind himself by oath in the behalf of the King of England to perform such and such Articles that are agreed on in favour of the Roman Catholics by vertue of this match whether the King may doe this salva conscientia Ther was a great show lately here of baiting of bulls with men for the entertainment of the Prince it is the chiefest of all Spanish sports commonly ther are men killd at it therfore ther are Priests appointed to be there ready to confess them It hath hapned oftentimes that a Bull hath taken up two men upon his horns with their guts dangling about them the horsemen run with lances and swords the foot with goads As I am told the Pope hath sent divers Bulls against this sport of bulling yet it will not be left the Nation hath taken such an habituall delight in it Ther was an ill favord accident like to have hapned lately at the Kings house in that part wher my Lord of Carlile and my Lord Denbigh were lodg'd for my Lord Denbigh late at night taking a pipe of Tobacco in a Balcone which hung over the Kings garden he blew down the ashes which falling upon som parchd combustible matter began to flame and spread but Master Davis my Lord of Carliles Barber leapt down a great height and quencht it So with continuance of my most humble service I rest ever ready Madrid Aug. 16. 1623. At your Lopps commands J. H. XXI To Sir James Crofts from Madrid SIR THe Court of Spain affords now little news for ther is a Remora sticks to the busines of the match till the Iunta of Divines give up their opinion But from Turky ther came a Letter this week wherin ther is the strangest and most tragicall news that in my small reading no Sory can parallell or shew with more pregnancie the instability and tottering estate of human greatnes and the sandy foundation wheron the vast Ottoman Empire is reard upon For Sultan Osman the grand Turk a man according to the humor of that Nation warlike and fleshd in bloud and a violent hater of Christians was in the flower of his yeers in the heat and height of his courage knockt in the head by one of his own slaves and one of the meanest of them with a battle axe and the murtherer never after proceeded against or questioned The ground of this Tragedy was the late ill success he had against the Pole wherin he lost about 100000. horse for want of forrage and 80000. men for want of fighting which he imputed to the cowardize of his Ianizaries who rather than bear the brunt of the battell were more willing to return home to their
in every corner for this Asiatic voyage and what ill consquences might ensue from it therfore it might well stand with his great wisdom to stay it but if it held he desir'd him to leave a charge with the Chimacham his Deputy that the English Nation in the Port should be free from outrages wherunto the Grand Visier answer'd Trouble not your self about that for I will not remove so far from Constantinople but I wil leave one of my legs behind to serve you which prov'd too true for he was murther'd afterwards and one of his legs was hung up in the Hippodrome This fresh Tragedy makes me to give over wondring at any thing that ever I heard or read to shew the lubricity of mundan greatnes as also the fury of the vulgar which like an impetuous Torrent gathereth strength by degrees as it meets with divers Dams and being come to the hight cannot stop it self for when this rage of the soldiers began first there was no design at all to violat or hurt the Emperor but to take from him his ill Counsellors but being once a foot it grew by insensible degrees to the utmost of outrages The bringing out of Mustapha from the Dungeon where he was prisoner to be Emperor of the Musulmans puts me in mind of what I read in Mr. Camden of our late Queen Elizabeth how she was brought from the Scaffold to the English Throne They who profess to be Criticks in policy here hope that this murthering of Osman may in time breed good bloud and prove advantageous to Christendom for though this be the first Emperor of the Turks that was dispatcht so he is not like to be the last now that the soldiers have this precedent others think that if that design in Asia had taken it had been very probable the Constantinopolitans had hoisd up another King and so the Empire had been dismembred and by this division had lost strength as the Roman Empire did when it was broken into East and West Excuse me that this my Letter is become such a Monster I mean that it hath past the sise and ordinary proportion of a Letter for the matter it treats of is monstrous besides it is a rule that Historicall Letters have more liberty to be long than others In my next you shall hear how matters pass here in the mean time and always I rest Madrid Aug. 17. 1623. Your Lordships most devoted Servitor J. H. XXII To the Right honble Sir Tho. Savage Knight and Baronet honble SIR THe procedure of things in relation to the grand busines the match was at kind of a stand when the long winded Iunta deliver'd their opinions and fell at last upon this result that his Catholic Majesty for the satisfaction of St. Peter might oblige himself in the behalf of England for the performance of those capitulations which reflected upon the Roman Catholics in that Kingdom and in case of non-performance then to right himself by war since that the matrimoniall Articles were solemnly sworne unto by the King of Spain and his Highness the two Favorits our two Ambassadors the Duke of Infantado and other Counsellors of State being present hereupon the eighth of the next September is appointed to be the day of Desposorios the day of affiance or the betrothing day ther was much gladnes exprest here and luminaries of joy were in every great street throughout the City but there is an unlucky accident hath interven'd for the King gave the Prince a solemn visit since and told him Pope Gregory was dead who was so great a friend to the match but in regard the busines was not yet com to perfection he could not proceed further in it till the former Dispensation were ratified by the new Pope Vrban which to procure he would make it his own task and that all possible expedition should be us'd in 't and therfore desir'd his patience in the interim The Prince answer'd and prest the necessity of his speedy return with divers reasons he said ther was a generall kind of murmuring in England for his so long abseuce that the King his Father was old and sickly that the Fleet of shipe were already he thought at Sea to fetch him the winter drew on and withall that the Articles of the match were sign'd in England with this proviso that if he be not com back by such a month they should be of no validity The King replyed that since his Highness was resolv'd upon so suddain a departure he would please to leave a Proxy behind to â—…ish the marriage and he would take it for a favor if he would depute Him to personat him and ten days after the ratification shal come from Rome the busines should be don and afterwards he might send for his wife when he pleas'd The Prince rejoyn'd that amongst those multitudes of royall favors which he had receiv'd from his Majesty this transcended all the rest therfore hee would most willingly leave a Proxy for his Majesty and another for Don Carlos to this effect so they parted for that time without the least ombrage of discontent nor do I hear of any engendred since The last month 't is true the Iunta of Divines dwelt so long upon the busines that ther were whisperings that the Prince intended to go away disguis'd as he came and the question being ask'd by a person of quality ther was a brave answer made that iâ—… love brought him thither it is not fear shall drive him away There are preparations already a foot for his return and the two Prexies are drawn and left in my Lord of Bristolls hands Notwithstanding this ill favord stop yet we are here all confident the busines will take effect In which hopes I rest Madrid 18 Aug. 1623. Your most humble and ready Servitor J. H. XXIII To Captain Nich Leat at his house in London SIR THis Letter comes to you by Mr. Richard Altham of whose sudden departure hence I am very sorry it being the late death of his brother Sir Iames Altham I have been at a stand in the busines a gond while for his Highness comming hither was no advantage to me in the earth He hath done the Spaniards divers courtesies but he hath been very sparing in doing the English any It may be perhaps because it may be a diminution of honor to be beholden to any forraign Prince to do his own Subjects favors but my busines requires no favor all I desire is justice which I have not obtain'd yet in reality The Prince is preparing for his jorney I shall to 〈◊〉 again closely when he is gone and make a shaft or a bolt of it The Popes death hath retarded the proceedings of the match but we are so far from despairing of it that one may have wagers thirty to one it will take effect still He that deals with this Nation must have a great deal of phlegme and if this grand busines of State the match suffer such
to send you this We were but five horsemen in all our seven daies journey from Madrid hither and the charge Mr. Wiches had is valued at four hundred thousand Crowns but 't is such safe travelling in Spain that one may carry Gold in the Palm of his hand the government is so good When we had gain'd Biscay ground we pass'd one day through a Forrest and lighting off our Mules to take a little repast under a tree wee tooke down our Alforjas and som bottles of wine and you know 't is ordinary here to ride with ones victualls about him but as we were eating we spied two huge Woolfs who star'd upon us a while but had the good manners to go a way It put me in minde of a pleasant tale I heard Sir Thomas Fairâ—…ax relate of a Soldier in Ireland who having got his Passeport to go for England as he pass'd through a Wood with his Knapsac upon his back being weary he sate down under a Tree wher he opened his Knapsack and fell to som Victualls he had but upon a sudden he was surpriz'd with two or three Woolfs who comming towards him he threw them scraps of Bread and Cheese till all was don then the Woolfs making a neerer approach unto him he knew not what shift to make but by taking a pair of Bag-Pipes which he had and as soon as he began to play upon them the Wolves ran all away as if they had bin scar'd out of their wiâ—…s wherupon the Soldier said A pox take you all if I had known you had lov'd music so well you should have had it before dinner If ther be a lodging void at the three Halbards-Heads I pray be pleas'd to cause it to be reserv'd for me So I rest Bilbo Sept. 6. 1624. Your humble Servitor J. H. Familiar Letters SECTION IV. I. To my Father from London SIR I Am newly returnd from Spain I came over in Convoy of the Prince his jewells for which one of the Ships Royall with the Catch were sent under the Command of Captain Love We landed at Plimouth whence I came by Post to Theobalds in less then two nights and a day to bring his Majesty news of their safe arrivall The Prince had newly got a fall off a Horse and kept his Chamber the jewells were valued at above a hundred thousand pounds som of them a little before the Prince his departure had bin presented to the Infanta but she waving to receive them yet with a civill complement they were left in the hands of one of the Secretaries of State for her use upon the wedding day and it was no unworthy thing in the Spaniard to deliver them back notwithstanding that the Treaties both of Match and Palatinat had bin dissolv'd a pretty while before by Act of Parliament that a war was threatned and Ambassadors revok'd Ther were jewells also amongst them to be presented to the King and Queen of Spain to most of the Ladies of Honour and the Grandees Ther was a great Table Diamond for Olivares of eighteen Carrats Weight but the richest of all was to the Infanta her self which was a Chain of great Orient Perl to the number of 276. weighing nine Ounces The Spaniards notwithstanding they are the Masters of the Staple of jewells stood astonish'd at the beuty of these and confess'd themselves to be put down Touching the employment upon which I went to Spain I had my charges born all the while and that was all had it taken effect I had made a good busines of it but 't is no wonder nor can it be I hope any disrepute unto me that I could not bring to pass what three Ambassadors could not do before me I am now casting about for another Fortun and som hopes I have of employment about the Duke of Buckingham he sways more than ever for wheras he was before a Favorit to the King hee is now a Favorit to Parliament People and City for breaking the match with Spain Touching his own interest he had reason to do it for the Spaniards love him not but whether the public interest of the State will suffer in it or no I dare not determine for my part I hold the Spanish Match to be better than their Powder and their Wares better than their Wars and I shall be ever of that mind That no Countrey is able to do England less hurt and more good than Spain considering the large Trafic and Treasure that is to be got thereby I shall continue to give you account of my courses when opportunity serves and to dispose of matters so that I may attend you this Summer in the Countrey So desiring still your Blessing and Prayers I rest London Decemb 10 1624. Your dutifull Son J. H. II. To R. Brown Esq. Dear Sir THer is no seed so fruitfull as that of Love I do not mean that gross carnall Love which propagats the World but that which preserves it to wit Seeds of Friendship which hath little commerce with the Body but is a thing Divine anâ—… Spirituall Ther cannot be a more pregnant proof hereof then those Seeds of Love which I have long since cast into your Brest which have thriven so well and in that exuberance that they have been more fruitfull unto mee then that field in Sicily call'd Le trecente caricheâ—… The field of three hundred Loads so call'd because it returns the Sower three hundred for one yearly So plentifull hath your love been unto me but amongst other sweet fruits it hath born those precious Letters which you have sent me from time to time both at home and abroad are not of the least value I did always hugg and highly esteem them and you in them for they yeelded me both profit and pleasure That Seed which you have also sown in me hath â—…ructified somthing but it hath not been able to make you such rich returns nor afford so plentifull a Crop yet I dare sayâ—… this Crop how thin soever was pure and free from Tares from Cockle or Darnell from flattery or fashood and what it shall produce hereafter shall be so nor shall any injury of the Heavens as Tempests or Thunder and Lightning I mean no cross or affliction whatsoever be able to blast and smutt it or hinder it to grow up and fructifie still This is the third time God Almighty hath been pleas'd to bring me back to the sweet bosom of my dear Countrey from beyond the Seas I have been already comforted with the sight of many of my choice friends but I miss you extremely therfore I pray make haste for London streets which you and I have trod together so often will prove tedious to me els Amongst other things Black-Friers will entertain you with a Play Spick and span new and the Cock-pit with another nor I beleeve after so long absence will it be an unpleasing object for you to see London Ian. 20 1624. Your J. H. III. To the Lord Vicount
alleg'd 't was his duty to officiat in that Church but the dignity of Cardinall and the quality of his Office being the Kings great Almner which makes him chief Curat of the Court gave him the prerogative I doubt not but your Lordship hath heard of the Capitulations but for better assurance I will run them over briefly The King of France oblig'd himself to procure the Dispensation the mariage should be celebrated in the same form as that of Queen Margaret and of the Dutchess of Bar her Dowrie should be 800000 Crowns six shillings a peece the one moitie to be paied the day of the Contract the other a twelvemonth after The Queen shall have a Chappell in all the Kings Roiall houses and any wher else where she shall recide within the Dominions of his Majestie of great Britain with free exercise of the Roman Religion for her self her Officers and all her Houshold for the celebration of the Mass the Predication of the Word Administration if the Sacraments and power to procure Indulgences from the Holy Father That to this end she shall be allow'd 28 Priests or Ecclesiasticks in her House and a Bishop in quality of Almoner who shall have jurisdiction over all the rest and that none of the Kings Officers shall have power over them unless in case of Treason therfore all her Ecclesiastics shall take the Oath of fidelitie to His Majestie of great Britain ther shall be a Cymitier or Church-yard clos'd about to burie those of her Family That in consideration of this mariage all English Catholics as well Ecclesiastics as Lay which shall be in any prison meerly for Religion since the last Edict shall be set at libertie This is the eighth Alliance we have had with France since the Conquest and as it is the best that could be made in Christendom so I hope it will prove the happiest So I kiss your hands being Your Lordships most humble Servitor J. H. Lond. Mar. 1 1625. XIII To the honble Sir Tho. Saâ—… SIR I Convers'd lately with a Gentleman that came from France who amongst other things discours'd much of the Favourit Richelieu who is like to be an active man and hath great designs The two first things he did was to make sure of England and the Hollander he thinks to have us safe enough by this mariage and Holland by a late League which was bought with a great sum of money for he hath furnish'd the States with a Million of Liures at two shillings a peece in present and six hundred thousand Liures every year of these two that are to com provided That the States repay these sums two years after they are in peace or truce The King press'd much for Liberty of Conscience to Roman Catholics amongst them and the Deputies promis'd to do all they could with the States Generall about it they Articled likewise for French to be associated with them in the trade to the Indies Monsieur is lately maried to Mary of Bourbon the Duke of Monpensiers Daughter he told her That he would be a better Husband than he had been a Suter to her for hee hung off a good while This mariage was made by the King and Monsieur hath for his apennage 100000 Liures annuall Rent from Chartres and Blois 100000 Liures Pension and 500000 to be charg'd yearly upon the generall receipts of Orleans in all about 70000 pounds Ther was much ado before this match could be brought about for ther were many opposers and ther be dark whispers that ther was a deep plot to confine the King to a Monastery and that Monsieur should govern and divers great ones have suffered for it and more are like to be discover'd So I take my leave for present and rest Lond. Mar. 10 1626. Your very humble and ready Servitor J. H. XIV To the Lady Jane Savage Marchioness of Winchester Excellent Lady I May say of your Grace as it was said once of a rare Italian Princess that you are the greatest Tyrant in the World because you make all those that see you your slaves much more them that know you I mean those that are acquainted with your inward disposition and with the faculties of your soul as well as the Phisnomy of your face for Vertue took as much pains to adorn the one as Nature did to perfect the other I have had the happines to know both when your Grace took pleasure to learn Spanish at which time when my betters far had offer'd their service in this kind I had the honor to be commanded by you often Hee that hath as much experience of you as I have had will confess that the handmaid of God Almighty was never so prodigall of her gifts to any or labour'd more to frame an exact modell of Femal perfection nor was dame Nature onely busied in this Work but all the Graces did consult and co-operat with her and they wasted so much of their Tresure to in rich this one peece that it may be a good reason why so many lame and defective fragments of Women-kind are daily thrust into the world I return you here inclos'd the Sonnet your Grace pleas'd to send me lately rendred into Spanish and fitted for the same Ayr it had in English both for cadence and number of feet With it I send my most humble thanks that your Grace would descend to command me in any thing that might conduce to your contentment and service for ther is nothing I desire with a greater Ambition and herein I have all the World my Rival than to be accounted Madame Your Grace's most humble and ready Servitor J. H. Lond. Mar. 15. 1626. X. To the Right honble the Lord Clifford My Lord I Pray be pleas'd to dispence with this slownes of mine in answering yours of the first of this present Touching the domestic occurrences the Gentleman who is Bearer hereof is more capable to give you account by discourse than I can in paper For forrain tidings your Lordship may understand that the Town of Breda hath bin a good while making her last will and testament but now ther is certain news com that she hath yeelded up the Ghost to Spinalo's hands after a tough siege of thirteen months and a circumvallation of neeâ—…r upon twenty miles compas My Lord of Southampton and his eldest son sickned at the siege and died at Berghen the adventrous Earl Henry of Oxford seeming to tax the Prince of Orange of slacknes to fight was set upon a desperat Work wher he melted his grease and so being carried to the Hague he died also I doubt not but you have heard of Graye Maurice's death which happen'd when the Town was pass'd cure which was his more than the States for he was Marquis of Breda and had neer upon thirty thousand dollars annual rent from her Therfore he seem'd in a kind of sympathy to sicken with his Town and died before her He had provided plentifully for all his Naturall children but
30 Ian. 1633. Your much obliged Servitor J. H. XII To the Lord Vicount Wentworth Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lord Precedent of York c. My Lord I Was glad to apprehend the opportunity of this Packet to convey my humble service to your Lordship Ther are old doings in France and t is no new thing for the French to be always a doing they have such a stirring genius The Queen Mother hath made an escape to Brussells and Monsieur to Lorain wher they say he courts very earnestly the Dukes sister a young Lady under twenty they say a Contract is pass'd already but the French Cardinall opposeth it for they say that Lorain Milk seldom breeds good bloud in France Not only the King but the whole Gallican Church hath protestâ—… against it in a solemn Synod for the Heir apparant of the Crown of France cannot marry without the Royall consent This aggravats a grudg the French King hath to the Duke for siding with the Imperialists and for things reflecting upon the Dutchy of Bar for which he is hommogeable to the Crown of France as he is to the Emperor for Lorain A hard task it is to serve two Masters and an unhappy situation it is to lie 'twixt two puissant Monarchs as the Dukes of Savoy and Lorain do So I kiss your Lordships hands and rest My Lord Your most humble and ready Servitor J. H. VVestmin 1 of April 1633. XIII To my most Noble Lady the Lady Cornwallis Madam IN conformity to your commands which sway with me as much as an Act of Parlement I have sent your Ladiship this small Hymn for Christmas day now neer approaching if your Ladiship please to put an Air to it I have my reward 1. Hail holy Tâ—…de VVherin a Bride A Virgin which is more Brought forth a Son The like was don Ne're in the world before 2. Hail spotless Maid Who thee upbraid To have been born in sin Do little waigh What in thee lay Before thou didst Lie-in 3. Three months thy Womb Was made the Dome Of Him whom Earth nor Air Nor the vast mould Of Heaven can hould 'Cause he 's Ubiquitair 4. O would â—…e daign To rest and raign I' th centre of my heart And make it still His domicill And residence in part 5. But in so foul a Cell Can he abide to dwell Yes when he please to move His Herbenger to sweep the Room And with rich Odors it perfume Of Faith of Hope of Love So I humbly kiss your hands and thank your Ladiship that you would command in any thing that may conduce to your contentment Westmin 3 Feb. 1633. Your Lapp s most humble Servitor J. H. XIV 〈◊〉 the Lord Clifford at Knasburgh My Lord I Receiv'd your Lordships of the last of Iune and I return mâ—… most humble thanks for the choice Nagg you pleas'd to send me which came in very good plight Your Lordship desires me to lay down what in my Travells abroad I observ'd of the present condition of the Iews once an Elect peeple but now grown contemptible and strangely squander'd up and down the World Though such a Discours exactly fram'd might make up a Volume yet I will twist up what I know in this point upon as narrow a Bottom as may be shut up within the compass of this Letter The first Christian Countrey that expell'd the Iews was England France followed our example next then Spain and afterwards Portugall nor were they exterminated these Countreys for their Religion but for Villanies and cheatings for clipping Coins poisning of Waters and counterfeiting of Seals Those Countreys they are permitted to live now most in amongst Christians are Germany Holland Bohemia and Italy but not in those parts where the King of Spain hath to do In the Levant and Turkey they swarm most for the gran Vizier and all other great Boshawes have commonly som Iew for their Counsellor or Spie who inform them of the state of Christian Princes possess them of a hatred of the Religion and so incense them to a war against them They are accounted the subtill'st and most subdolous peeple upon Earth the reason why they are thus degenerated from their primitive simplicity and innocence is their often â—…ptivities their desperat fortunes the necessity and hatred to which they have been habituated for nothing depraves ingenuous spirits and corrupts cleer wits more than want and indigence By their profession they are for the most part Broakers and Lombardeers yet by that base and servile way of Frippery trade they grow rich whersoever they nest themselves and this with their multiplication of Children they hold to be an argument that an extraordinary providence attends them still Me thinks that so cleer accomplishments of the Prophecies of our Saviour touching that peeple should work upon them for their conversion as the destruction of their City and Temple that they should becom despicable and the tail of all Nations that they should be Vagabonds and have no firm habitation Touching the first they know it came punctually to pass and so have the other two for they are the most hatefull race of men upon earth insomuch that in Turkie where they are most valued if a Musulman com to any of their houses leave his shoos at the door the Iew dare not com in all the while till the Turk hath don what he would with his Wife For the last 't is wonderfull to see in what considerable numbers they are dispers'd up and down the World yet they can never reduce themselves to such a coalition and unity as may make a Republic Principality or Kingdom They hold that the Iewes of Italy Germany and the Levant are of Benjamins Tribe ten of the Tribes at the destruction of Ieroboams Kingdom were led Captives beyond Euphrates whence they never return'd nor do they know what became of them ever after yet they beleeve they never became Apostats and Gentiles But the Tribe of Iuda whence they expect their Messias of whom one shall hear them discours with so much confidence and self-pleasing conceit they say is setled in Portugall wher they give out to have thousands of their race whom they dispense withall to make a semblance of Christianitie even to Church degrees This makes them breed up their children in the Lusitanian Language which makes the Spaniard have an odd saying that El Portuguez se criò del pedo de un Iudia A Portugues was engendred of a Iews Fart as the Mahuâ—…ans have a passage in their Alcaroâ—… That a Cat was made of a Lions breath As they are the most contemtiblest peeple and have a kind of fulsom sent no better then a stink that distinguisheth them from others so are they the most timorous peeple on earth and so utterly incapable of Arms for they are made neither Souldiers nor Slaves And this their Pusillanimity and cowardise as well as their cunning and craft may be imputed to their various thraldo us contempt and poverty which