two of the fairest flowers in the English Crown in lieu wherof it may be sayd ther is set in an ear of barly with a Chimney Wallflower ther is froth and fume given in exchange which doth so much sully the luster of it for as I intimated before the state and plenty of the Court was accounted the greatest glory of the Crown of England as Forren Authors of most Nations do acknowledg in their public Writings Now wheras some do affirm that the yeerly benefit of the Excise doth make a full compensation for the Court of Wards and tenures in Capite out of which ther was also computed fifty thousand pounds yeerly towards the Diet at Court It is too well known that the said Excise doth not make the King any Equivalent satisfaction for his Tenures alone if well managd much less for his Pourvoyances Preemptions and Carriages For ther was an exact account made by his Majesties special command of the last yeers expence that ther were Seventy three thousand six hundred and seven pounds fourteen shillings and seven pence spent more in the Court-diet and provision of the Stables then were in the time of Pourvoyance besides the extraordinary charge of Carriages for his Removes and Navy Royal. Now in expending those provisions that were servd into the Court by way of Pourvoyance and Composition ther was the greatest care and Oeconomical good husbandry usd that possibly could be for when ther were more Beefs and Muttons with other provisions servd in then the Court wanted The faithful Officers of the Green-cloth caused them to be Sould and with the moneys arising thence they were commonly usd to buy Napery and other Houshold-things for the service of the Kings House as also in paying the arrears of som of his Servants wages with the surplusages But now that we dance after the French Fiddle so fast as we always did so for the back and now begin to follow him also in things relating to the Belly by Board-wages c. I wish the time may not come that we do not follow him too farr As that one cannot put a grain of Salt in his pot unless he buy it of the King wherby in making Salt his own Commodity the French King raiseth by the meer Gabel which ariseth thence above 20 millions of Livres evry yeer which is two millions Sterling which sum is twice more then the King of Great Britain hath from all Incoms whatsoever as Crown-lands Customes and Imposts Excise and Chimney-money with other perquisits and casualities And as the French thus cannot put a grain of Salt in his pot so the Spaniard cannot put a corn of Peper into his Olla unless he hath it from the King Nor can he buy a pair of Cards or Dice to pass away the time withal unless he hath them of the King Nay he cannot buy half a sheet of Paper to write either Bond or Bill Acquittance or Receit or other legal Instrument but he must buy all of the King Which adds millions to his yeerly Revenues yet the peeple of Spain are cryed up for a free peeple But touching the Imposition of Excise which is given the King for his Royal Tenures and House-keeping I well remember the time that Excise was held such an abominable word that my Lord Carleton but only for naming it once in the Parlement-House yet to no ill meaning at all was violently cryed to the Bar and though a person of that eminence as being then a Privie Counsellor and principal Secretary of State he hardly escapd being committed to the Tower The Excise was then calld the Dutch Devil because it came first from Holland with other fine words as plunder storming c. which were all made free Denizons of England by that so longd-for Long Parlement And observable it is that the first imposing and use of Excise in England was to enable Rebels to make War against their King and Country Having thus briefly run over the Sumptuary part of the English Court we will now proceed to the Servants and Officers to the Attendance and State thereof which comes not behind any other Court whatsoever And this might be the ground of that ancient Proverb in England and nowhere els There is no Fishing to the Sea nor Service to the Kings The Court is the randevous of Vertu of Cadets and persons well qualified It is the Scale by which they rise the King being the fountain of Honour as well as of Bounty But before we come to speak of the Officers at Court and of their Diet and Bouche which by a pitiful corruption is vulgarly calld budg wheras it is bouche a mouth therfore it is a French phrase Il a bouche à la Cour He hath a mouth at Court viz. he hath a Diet I say before we come to speak of the Dishes and Diet at Court let the Reader take this small Advertisement in the way that evry Dish at Court was computed to cost the King viis modis at the years end 100 l. a dish But now since the Preemption and Pourvoyance is taken away evry dish doth stand in four times as much at least The Kings Court or Houshold The Lord Great Chamberlain and Earl Marshal are rather Officers of State and as it were extraneous in relation to the Houshold so in a manner are the four Officers of the Crown who use to have Houses abroad viz. The Lord Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal of England The Lord high Tresurer The Lord Privie Seal The Lord high Admiral But the properst Domestick Officers are as follow viz. The Lord Steward of the Houshold who hath allowed him evry day besides his Fee 32 dishes The Tresurer of the Houshold 32 dishes and besides his table he hath a Fee of 123 l. 14 s. 4 d. The Controuler besides thirty two dishes a day hath a Fee of 167 l. 17 s. 4 d. The Cofferer besides his Table hath 100 l. The principal Secretary of State hath besides his Table 100 l. The Secretary for the Latin Toung Fee 40 l. The Secretary for the French Toung Fee 66 l. 13 s. 4 d. The Clerks of the Signet Fee every one 40 l. Four Clerks of the Privie Council Fee evry one 50 l. Clerk of the Council in the Star-chamber Fee 26 l. 13 s. 4 d. Two Clerks of the Parlement Fee The first 40 l. Two Clerks of the Parlement Fee The second 10 l. Clerk of the Market Fee 20 l. Post-master Fee 20 l. Thirty standing Posts appointed by the Post-master evry one Fee 18 l. 5 s. Two Carriers To one 24 l. 3 s. 4 d. Two Carriers To the other 12 l. Officers above Stayrs Lord Chamberlain of the Houshold besides his Table of thirty two dishes a day hath a Fee 100 l. The Groom of the Stole who is always a Gentleman of the Bed-chamber hath evry day 32 dishes Vice-chamberlain Fee 100 Marks Knight-Marshal Fee 100 Marks The Gentlemen of the Privie Chamber whose
be kept in safe custody and in a decent place according to the plesure and appointment of the most Reverend Archbishop that shall be then of this Church And we further declare the said Valparayso and the Caverns wherin those blessed Saints sufferd Martyrdom to be holy places which ought to be reverencd and honord and have prerogatives accordingly as the holy Canons do allow to such places And so we pronounce this our sentence and firm it with our Names sealing it also with our Seals Petrus de Castro Archiep. Granatensu Iohannes Episcopus Guadix S. Episcopus Gallipoli Alfonsus Abbas Besides these ther was after due process made a sentence passd also for seven more great Saints viz. St. Secundus Episcopus Abulensis where his body is had in great reverence to this day St. Indalecius Episcopus Urcetanus in the Kingdome of Aragon upon the confines of Navarre St. Cthesiphon Bishop of Almeria St. Hesichius St. Euphrasius Episcopus Illurgitanus of Iaen in Andaluzia who as Baronius affirms was Auditor and Disciple to St. Iames the Apostle and was ordained Bishop anno Christi 43. in the raign of Claudius Caesar. Besides these seven ther is Athanasius and Theodorus neer the body of the holy Apostle the one on the right the other on the left hand of the Apostle preserved with great vigilance to this day Now all these Martyrs and Patrons of Spain are mentioned by Cardinal Baronius and Galesinus in their Martyrologies as also by Vaseus Morales and Mariana c. Now that St. Paul was in Spain hear what Pope Gregory the seventh saith in his Epistle Gregorius Episcopus Servus servorum Dei Alfonso Sanctio Regibus Hispaniae Abbatibus Episcopis in ditione sua constitutis salutem Apostolicam Benedictionem Cum B. Apostolus Paulus Hispaniam se acti isse significet ac postea 7 Episcopos ab Urbe Roma ad instituendos Hispaniae populos à Petro Paulo Apostolis directos fuisse qui destructa Idololatria Christianitatem fundaverunt Religionem plantaverunt ordinem officium in Divinis cultibus agendis ostenderunt sanguine suo Ecclesias seminârunt vestra diligentia non ignoret quantam concordiam cum Romana Urbe Hispania in Religione ordine Divini Officii habuisset satis patet It appeers herby as by a world of testimonies besides what a sweet harmony and concordance ther hath bin always twixt Spain and Rome And how that the predication of Christian Faith with the institution therof begun by the Apostle St. Iames was increasd by Peter and Paul and confirmd by the seven forementioned Martyrs who were Auditors and Disciples of St. Iames besides many others whose names are found in the Book of Martyrologies In the second persecution under Domitian after the cruelties of Nero Eugenius Bishop of Toledo was Disciple of Dionysius Areopagita This Eugenius being a man excellent for wisdome and Doctrine made choice of the City of Toledo for his fear as being situated in the centre of the Kingdome that the Spirit of Christ might be diffusd thence as from the heart into the whole body of the Country The Body of which Eugenius was removd from France into the great Church of Toledo and carried upon the sholders of the most religious King Philip 2 part of the way Anno 1565. Moreover it stands upon good record according to Mariana how Pope Clement St. Peters immediat Successor sent Philip and Marcellus into Spain as Legats and with Letters and commission accordingly And it is agreed by all that they were the first Legats and they carried the first Letters that ever were sent from Rome by any Nuncios which are to be found to this day in the Church of Compostella In the third persecution of Trajan Sanctus Mancius florishd in Spain who was one of the seventy two Disciples of our Saviour and servd him at administration of the Holy Sacrament and spread his vestment when he entred into Ierusalem upon Palm-Sunday who afterwards was made a glorious Martyr Vaceus relates an Epitaph which runs thus Belila Hispana seâ—…va Iesu Christi requievit in Domino Obiit aera 115. hoc est anno Dom 77. Belila a Spaniard servant of Jesus Christ did rest in the Lord she died in the yeer 77 after the passion Venerus writes that this Epitaph was found in Biscay Ther is another Epistle of Pope Clement written to the Bishops of Spain which is also conservd in Compostella-Church to this day And this was the state of the Spanish Church the first century of yeers after the Nativity of Christ wherin Iohn the Evangelist livd during which time thirteen Bishopricks are registred in Spain and a great number of the Faithful for in the City of Pampelona 40000 were converted and Biscay or Cantabria was most inhabited by Martyrs as Iraeneus relates an Author who was neer the time of the Apostles Furthermore ther was a most signal and notable rare thing happend in Spain for the same night that our blessed Saviour was born ther were three Suns appeerd visibly in the Spanish Region which by gentle degrees came to concentre into one Out of these premises it is apparent that the first Martyr-Apostle preachd in Spain That he erected there the first Church dedicated to the blessed Virgin That she appeerd there being conducted by Angels That the body of St. Iames lieth there inhumd wiâ—…h so much state And this was before ther was any predication of Christian Doctrine in France so that the first Faithful the first Apostle the first Church the first Apostolical Nuncio and first Epistle was sent by Pope Clement the first into Spain St. Paul did second what St. Iames had begun and all this is confirmd by St. Irenaeus one of the first among the Primitive Fathers Argum. 4. Proving That the King of Spain may challenge Precedence because he is the Catholik King which is a more ancient Title then Christianissimus ONe of the greatest Foundations wheron France doth build her right to a Precedence is that she wold perswade the world that her Kings are more Ancient both in the reception and profession of Christianity which assertion being well examind and discussd it will appeer that both generally and privatly ther were Catholik Kings in Spain before any in France and to proceed more methodically we will deduce the business from the beginning We know that the blessed Apostle St. Iames was put to death with the sword by Herod as appeers in the Epistle of Pope Leo touching his Martyrdome and the translation of his Body into Spain which Epistle he destinated for the Spaniards wherin He relates that when the Iews had hurld his whole body without the City to be devourd by Beasts and Birds his Disciples having notice therof in his life-time they recoverd the whole body head and all in the night-time and carried it to Ioppa for transportation of it to Spain where being careful for the embarcation therof they found a ship ready in the
after they desird new audience which was suspended to be given them and in the interim the King sent Sir Edward Conway his principal Secretary of State and Sir Francis Cottington Secretary to the Prince both Lords afterwards to signifie unto the said Ambassadors that he desird nothing more then a continuance of frendship twixt the two Crowns therfore if they had any thing to say they shold communicat it to the said Secretaries as persons of trust which he employd expresly for that purpose and if they made any difficulty of this also then they might choose among his Council of State those whom they likd best and he wold command that they shold presently repair unto them and if this also shold seem inconvenient they might send him what they had to say in a Letter by whom they thought fittest and he wold receave it with his own hands But they gave no answer to all this therupon the said Secretaries told them according to their Instructions which they had receavd from his Majesty That they being the Authors of an Information so dangerous and seditious had made themselfs incapable to treat further with the King their Master and were it not for the respect he bore to the Catholik King his dear and beloved Brother their Master and that they were in quality of Ambassadors to such a Majesty he wold and could by the Law of Nations and the right of his own Royal Justice proceed against them with such severity as their offence deservd but for the reasons before said he wold leave the reparation to the Justice of their own King of whom he wold demand and require it Herupon Sir Walter Ashton Ambassador then in Spain for the Crown of England had audience of that King wherin he said That the King of Great Britain his Master had commanded him to demand refaction and satisfaction of his Majesty against the Marquiss of Inojosa and Don Carlos Coloma for scandalizing the Duke of Buckingham with other of his best subjects and through his sides aiming at the Prince himself for it is unlikely the Duke wold have cast himself upon such a designe without the communication of it to him and to know his plesure so he remonstrated the whole circumstance of the business c. And in conclusion he said That he humbly beseechd his Majesty to observe and weigh well the care and tenderness wherwith the King his Master had proceeded towards his Majesties Ambassadors not obliging them to any precipitat resolutions but giving them time and opening a way how they might have cleerd themselfs c. It was expected that the said Ambassadors at their return to Spain wold have bin punishd or at least checkd but matters growing daily worse and worse twixt England and Spain the said Ambassadors were rather rewarded then reprehended at their return Inojosa being made afterwards Governor of Milan and Coloma receavd addition of command and honors in Flanders But the high civilities of England at that time towards the said Ambassadors was much cryed up abroad that notwithstanding so pernicious a machination to demolish Buckingham and to discompose the whole English Court yet they were permitted to depart peaceably and Sir Lewis Leukner was commanded to conduct them to the Sea-side for prevention of any outrage upon their persons We have dwelt the longer upon this business in regard ther are extraordinary traverses of State in it being a Plot of an unusual reach of policy which will be found more amply related in the addition the Author made to Finets Ambassador but in regard it is so pertinent to this Paragraph he thought it fit to insert the substance of it here We will now resume things touching the Office of an Ambassador It is very necessary he shold have his Credential Letters exact and plain His Commission plenary and fortified with as much authority as he can The Spanish Ministers when the Prince of Wales was there objected against the Duke of Buchingham that his Commission for he came also in quality of Ambassador was not so compleat and authentik as that of the Earl of Bristols for he had his Commission under the Broad Seal of England wheras the Duke had his by the King only The Civilians make a question Si à Legato Mandata poscantur is adigi possit ad ea exhibenda Their opinion is That besides his Credential or Fiduciary Letters and his General Commission he is not bound to shew any more Touching his privat Instructions Paschalius saith Mala eum agitat res qui in Legati Secreta irreligiose irrumpit It is questiond further Whether it may stand with the Office and Honor of an Ambassador to receave Gifts and Presents from the Prince he is sent unto which the Civilians call Lautia a word peculiar only to Ambassadors some are for the Negative which the Hollanders do follow for their Ambassadors use to receave none not so much as a Bottle of Wine But most are for the Affirmatif But the Venetians who are reputed to have the best Rules touching Ambassadors though they allow it yet their Ambassadors are bound to exhibit their Presents to the Senat and t is thought much of St. Marks tresure consists of it They are also bound in a large Oration to give an account besides that of their Embassy what they observd most remarkable in the Government State and Quality of the Country of which Oration they bring also a Manuscript which is put up in their Archives Iohn Earl of Bristol at his departure from Madrid notwithstanding that the weather had grown foul twixt us and Spain receavd a Cupboard of huge massie Plate valued at 20000 Crowns of this King of Spain who also gave him a Diamond Ring off his Finger rated at 1500 l. sterling and the reason was because he had found him so wise faithful and industrious a servant to his King The Civilians make likewise a doubt whether it may not interrupt the Office of an Ambassador to have his Wife and Children along with him but they who hold the contrary are rather exploded then approved For to leave his Wife is for one to leave half himself behind him besides Conjugal society is counted the prime of comforts moreover it saves trouble of Writing and charges for Letters and Packets which come to no small sum at the yeers end c. We will conclude this Paragraph with two special things which the Civilians require further for the performance of the Office of an Ambassador viz. That he be reservd and secret in an intense degree he must not be Plenus Rimarum full of chinks and herin the Italian and Spaniard are eminently imitable for all the Drugs in Egypt cannot draw away a secret from them wheras a small Purge or Vomit will make others cast it up Furthermore that an Ambassador may facilitat the discharge of his Office the better it is requisit that he have a previous knowledg of the Court and Country wherunto he is