carriage in his Negotiations to whom he smilingly gave this for an infallible Aphorisâ—… That to be in safety himself and serviceable to his Countrey he should alwayes and upon all occasions speak the truth it seems a State-Paradox for sayes Sir Henry Wotton you shall never be believed and by this means your truth will secure your self if you shall ever â—…e called to any account and 't will also put your Adversaries who will still hunt counter to a loss in all their disquisitions and undertakings Many more of this nature might be observed but they must be laid aside for I shall here make a little â—…op and invite the Reader to look back 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall say 〈◊〉 little of Sir Alberâ—… 〈◊〉 and Mr. William Bedel whom I formerly mentioned I have tâ—…ld you that are â—…y Reader that 〈◊〉 Sir Hâ—…y Woâ—…s 〈◊〉 going Ambassador into Italy his Cousin Sir Albert Mortoâ—… went his Secretary and am next to tell you that Sir Albertus died Secretary of State to our late King but cannot am not able to express the sorrow that possest Sir Henry Wâ—…tton at his first hearing the news that Sir Albertus was by death lost to him and this world and yet the Reader may partly guess by these following expressions The first in a Letter to his Nicholas Pey of which this that followeth is a part And My dear Nick When I had been here almost a fortnight in the midst of my great contentâ—…nt I received notice of Sir Albertus Morton 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of this World who was dearer to me then mine own being in it what a wound it is to my heart you that know him and know me will easily believeâ—… but â—…our Creators Will must be done and unrepiniâ—…gly râ—…ived by his own Creatures who is the Lord of all Nature and of all Fortune when he taketh to himself now one and then â—…ther till that expected day wherein it shall please him to dissolve the whole and wrap up even the Heaven it self 〈◊〉 Scrâ—…le of Parchment This is the last Philosophy that we must study upon Earth let us therefore that yet remain here as our dayes and friends waste reinforce our love to each other which of all vertues both spiritual and moral hath the highest priviledge because death it self cannot end it And my good Nick c. This is a part of his sorrow thus exprest to his Nick Pâ—…y the other part is in this following Elogy of which the Reader may safely conclude 't was toâ—… hearty to be dissembled Tears wept at the Grave of Sir Albertus Morton by Henry Wotton SIlence in truth would speak my sorrow best For deepest wounds can least their feelings tell Yet let me borrow from mine own unrest A time to bid him whom I lov'd farewell Oh my unhappy lines you that before Have serv'd my youth to vent some wanton cries And now congeal'd with grief can scarce implore Strength to accent Here my Albetus lies This is that Sable Stone this is the Cave And womb of Earth that doth his Corps embrace While others sing his praise let me ingrave Thâ—…se blâ—…ding numbers to adorn the place Here will I paint the Characters of Woe Here will I pay my Tribute to the Dead And here my faithful Tears in showres shall flow To humanize the Flints on which I tread Whâ—…re though I mourn my matchless loss alone And none between my weakness judge and me Yet even these pensive Walls allow my moan Whose dâ—…leful Ecchoes to my plaints agree But is he gone and live I rhyming here As if some Muse would listen to my lay When all dis-tun'd sit waiting for their dear And bathe the Banks where he was wont to play 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 lâ—…ss Bliss with happy Souls Discharg'd from Natures and from Fortunes Trust Whil'st on thâ—… fluid Globe my Hour glass rowls And runs the â—…est of my remaining dust H. W. This concerning his Sir Albertus Morton And for what I shall say concerning Mr. William Bedel I must prepare the Reader by telling him That when King Iames sent Sir Henry Wotton Ambassador to the State of Veniâ—… he sent also an Ambassador to the King of France and another to the King of Spain with the Ambassador of France went Ioseph Hall late Bishop of Norwich whose many and useful Works speak his great Merit with the Ambassador of Spain went Ia. Wadsworth and with Sir Henry Wotton went William Bodâ—…l These three Chaplains to these three Ambassadours were all bred in one University all of one Colledge all Benefic'd in one Diocess and all most dear and intire Friends But in Spain Mr. Wadsworth met vvith temptations or reasons such as were so powerful as to perswade him who of the three was formerly observ'd to be the most averse to that Religion that calls it self Catholick to disclaim himself a Member of the Church of England and declare himself for the Church of Rome discharging himself of his attendance on the Ambassador and betaking himself to a Monasterial life in which he lived very regularly and so died When Dr. Hall the late Bishop of Norwich came into England he wrote to Mr. Wadsworth 't is the first Epistle in his Printed Decads to perswade his return or to shew the reason of his Apostasie the Letter seemed to have in it many sweet expressions of love and yet there was in it some expression that was so unpleasant to Mr. Wadsworth that he chose rather to acquaint his old Friend Mr. Bedel with his motives by which means there past betwixt Mr. Bedil and Mr. Wadsworth divers Letters which be extant in Print and did well deserve it for in them there seems to be a controversie not of Religion only but who should answer each other with most love and meekness which I mention the rather because it too seldom falls out to be so in a Book-War There is yet a little more to be said of Mr. Bedel for the greatest part of which the Reader is referred to this following Letter of Sir Henry Wottons writ to our late King Charles the first May it please Your most Gracious Majesty HAving been informed that certain persons have by the good wishes of the Archbishop of Armagh been directed hither with a most humble Petition unto Your Majesty that You will be pleased to make Mr. William Bedel now resident upon a small Benefice in Suffolk Governor of Your Colledge at Dublin for the good of that Society and my self being required to render unto Your Majesty some testimony of the said William Bedel who was long my Chaplain at Venice in the time of my first employment there I am bound in all Conscience and Truth so far as Your Majesty will vouchsafe to accept my poor judgement to affirm of him That I think hardly a fitter man for that Charge could have been propounded unto Your Majesty in Your whole Kingdom for singular Erudition and Piety Conformity to the Rites of the Church and
Heraclitus bewaiâ—…ing and Democritus laughing at the world Mâ—… humbly beseeching the said Lord Archbishop his Gracâ—… and the Lord Bishop of London of both whose favours have tasted in my life time to intercede with our most grâ—… cious Soveraign after my death in the bowels of Jesâ—… Christ That out of compassionate memory of my loâ—… Services wherein I more studied the publick Honouâ—… then mine own Utility some Order may be taken out 〈◊〉 my Arrears due in the Exchequer for such satisfaction 〈◊〉 my Creditors as those whom I have Ordained Supervisâ—… of this my last Will and Testament shall present unto thâ—… Lordships without their farther trouble Hoping likâ—… wise in his Majesties most indubitable Goodness that will keep me from all prejudice which I may otherâ—… suffer by any defect of formality in the Demand of my sâ—… Arrears To for a poor addition to his Cabiâ—… I leave as Emblems of his attractive Vertues and Oâ—… ging Nobleness my great Loadstone and a piece Amber of both kinds naturally united and only differiâ—… in degree of Concoction which is thought somewhat raâ—… Item A piece of Christal Sexangular as they grâ—… all grasping divers several things within it which bought among the Rhaetian Alps in the very place where grew recommending most humbly unto his Lordship 〈◊〉 reputation of my poor Name in the point of my debts 〈◊〉 have done to the forenamed Spiritual Lords and am heartily sorry that I have no better token of my humble thankefulness to his honoured Person It ' I leave to Sir Francis Windebank one of his Majesties principal Secretaries of State whom I found my great friend in â—…oint of Necessity the four Seasons of old Bassano to â—…ang near the Eye in his Parlour being in little form which I bought at Venice where I first entred into his most worthy Acquaintance To the abovenamed Dr. Bargrave Dean of Canterbury I leave all my Italian Books not disposed in this Will I leave to him likewise my Viol de Gamba which hath been twice with me in Italy in which Countrey I first contracted with him an unremovable Affection To my other Supervisor Mr. Nicholas Pey I leave â—…y Chest or Cabinet of Instruments and Engines of all kinds of uses in the lower-box whereof are some sit to be bequeathed to none but so entire an honest man as he is I leave him â—…ikewise forty pound for his pains in te solicitation of my Arrears and am sorry that my ragged Estate can reach no further to one â—…hat hath taken such care for me in â—…he same kind during all my forâ—…eign Imployments To the Liâ—…rary at Eaton Colledge I leave all my Manuscripts not â—…efore disposed and to each of the Fellows a plain Ring of Gold enamel'd black all save the verge with this Motto within Amor unit omnia This is my last VVill and Testament save what â—…all be added by a Schedule thereunto annexed Written 〈◊〉 the first of October in the present year of our Redemption 1637. And subscribed by my self with the Testimony of these Witnesses HENRY VVOTTON Nich. Oudert Geo. Lash ANd now because the mind of man is best satisfied by the knowledge of Events I think 〈◊〉 to declare that every one that was named in his VVill did gladly receive their Legacies by which and his most just and passionate desires for the payment of his debts they joyned in assisting the Overseers of his VVill and by their joynt endeavours to the King then whom none was more willing conscionable satisfaction was given for his just debts The next thing wherewith I shall acquaint the Reader is That he went usually once a year iâ—… not oftner to the beloved Bocton-hall where he would say he found a cure for all cares by the chearfull company which he called the living furniture 〈◊〉 that place and a restoration of his strength by 〈◊〉 Connaturalness of that which he called his genial air He yearly went also to Oxford But the Summer before his death he changed that for a journey to Winchester-Colledge to which School he 〈◊〉 first removed from Bocton And as he returnâ—… from Winchester towards Eaton Colledge said 〈◊〉 a friend his Companion in that Journey Hâ—… usefull was that advice of a Holy Monk who perswâ—… his friend to perform his Customary devotions in 〈◊〉 constant place because in that place we usually meet with those very thoughts which possessed â—…s aâ—… our last being there And I find it thus far experimentally true that at my now being in that School and seeing that very place where I sate when I was a Boy occasioned me to remember those very thoughts of my youth which then possessed me sweet thoughts indeed that promised my growing years numerous pleasures without mixtures of cares and those to be enjoyed when time which I therefore thought slow pac'd had changed my youth into manhood But age and experience have taught me that those were but empty hopes For I have alwayes found it true as my Saviour did foretell Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof Nevertheless I saw there a succession of Boyes using the same recreations and questionless possessed with the same thoughts that then possessed me Thus one generation succeeds another both in their lives recreations hopes fears and deaths After his return from Winchester to Eaton vvhich vvas about five Moneths before his death he became much more retir'd and contemplative in vvhich time he vvas often visited by Mr. John Hales learned Mr. John Hales then a Fellow of that Colledge to vvhom upon an occasion he spake to this purpose I have in my passage to my grave met with most of those Joys of which a discoursive soul is capable and being entertain'd with more inferior pleasures then the sons of men are usually made partakers of nevertheless in this voyage I have not alwayes floated on the calm Sea of Content but have often met with cross winds and storms and with many troubles of mind and temptations to evil And yet though I have been and am a man compass'd about with humane frailties Almighty God hath by his grace prevented me from making shipwrack of faith and a good Conscience the thought of which is now the joy of my heart and I most humbly praise him for it And I humbly acknowledge that it was not my self but he that hath kept me to this great age and let him take the glory of his great mercy And my dear Friend I now see that I draw near my harbour of death that harbour that will secure me from all the future storms and waves of this restless world and I praise God I am willing to leave it and expect a better that world vvherein dwelleth Righteousness These and the like expressions vvere then utter'd by him at the beginning of a Feavourish distemper at vvhich time he vvas also troubled vvith an Asthma or short spitting but after less then twenty fits by the help of familiar Physick and a spare
of advancement had like to be strangled almost in the very Cradle by throwing himself into the Portugal Voyage vvithout the Queens consent or so much as her knowledge vvhereby he left his friends and dependants near six moneths in desperate suspense vvhat vvould become of him And to speak truth not vvithout good reason For first they might vvell consider That he vvas himself not vvell plumed in favour for such a flight Besides That now he vvanted a Lord of Leicester at home for he vvas dead the year before to smooth his absence and to quench the practises at Court But above all it lay open to every mans discourse that though the bare offence to his Soveraign and Mistriss vvas too great an adventure yet much more vvhen she might as in this case have fairly discharged her displeasure upon her Laws Notwithstanding a noble report coming home before him at his return all vvas clear and this excursion vvas esteemed but a Sally of youth Nay he grew every day more and more in her gracious conceit vvhether such intermissions as these do sometimes foment affection or that having committed a fault he became the more obsequious and plyant to redeem it Or that she yet had not received into her Royal brest any shadows of his popularity There vvas another time long after vvhen Sir Fulke Grevill late Lord Brook a man in appearance intrinsecal vvith him or at the least admitted to his Melancholly hours either belike espying some vveariness in the Queen or perhaps vvith little change of the vvord though more in the danger some vvariness towards him and vvorking upon the present matter as he vvas dexterous and close had almost super-induced into favour the Earl of Southampton vvhich yet being timely discovered my Lord of Essex chose to evaporate his thoughts in a Sonnet being his common vvay to be sung before the Queen as it vvas by one Hales in vvhose voice she took some pleasure vvhereof the complot me thinks had as much of the Hermit as of the poet And if thou should'st by her be now forsaken She made thy Heart too strong for to be shaken As if he had been casting one eye back at the least to his former retiredness But all this likewise quickly vanished and there vvas a good vvhile after fair vveather over-head Yet still I know not how like a gathering of Clouds till towards his latter time vvhen his humours grew Tart as being now in the Lees of favour it brake forth into certain sudden recesses sometimes from the Court to Wansteed otherwhiles unto Greenwich often to his own Chamber Doors shut Visits forbidden and vvhich vvas vvorse divers Contestations between even vvith the Queen her self all preambles of ruine vvherewith though now and then he did vvring out of her Majesty some petty contentments as a man vvould press sowr Grapes yet in the mean time vvas forgotten the Counsel of a Wise and then a Prophetical Friend vvho told him that such courses as those vvere like hot Waters vvhich help at a pang but if they be too often used vvill spoil the stomack On the Dukes part vve have no such abrupt strayns and precipees as these but a fair fluent and uniform course under both Kings And surely as there vvas in his natural Constitution a marvellous equality vvhereof I shall speak more afterwards so there vvas an image of it in his Fortune running if I may borrow an ancient comparison as smoothly as a numerous Verse till it met vvith certain Rubs in Parliament vvhereof I am induced by the very Subject vvhich I handle to say somewhat so far as shall concern the difference between their times When my Lord of Essex stood in favour the Parliaments vvere calm Nay I find it a true observation that there vvas no Impeachment of any Nobleman by the Commons from the Reign of King Henry the sixth until the eighteenth of King James nor any intervenient precedent of that Nature not that something or other could be vvanting to be said vvhile men are men For not to go higher vve are taught easily so much by the very Ballads and Libels of the Leicestrian time But about the aforesaid Year many young ones being chosen into the House of Commons more then had been usual in great Councels vvho though of the vveakest vvings yet are the highest Flyers there arose a certain unfortunate and unfruitful Spirit in some places not sowing but picking at every stone in the Field rather then tending to the general Harvest And thus far the consideration of the Nature of the Time hath transported me and the occasion of the Subject Now on the other side I must vvith the like liberty observe two vveighty and vvatchful Solicitudes as I may call them vvhich kept the Earl in extreme and continual Caution like a Bow still bent vvhereof the Dukes thoughts vvere absolutely free First he vvas to vvrastle vvith a Queens declining or rather vvith her very setting Age as vve may term it vvhich besides other respects is commonly even of it self the more umbratious and apprehensive as for the most part all Horizons are charged vvith certain Vapours towards their Evening The other vvas a matter of more Circumstance standing thus viz. All Princes especially those vvhom God hath not blessed vvith natural issue are by vvisdome of State somewhat shye of their Successors and to speak vvith doe Reverence there may be reasonably supposed in Queens Regnant a little proportion of tenderness that vvay more then in Kings Now there vvere in Court two names of Power and almost of Faction the Essexian and the Cecilian vvith their adherents both vvell enough enjoying the present and yet both looking to the future and therefore both holding correspondency vvith some of the principal in Scotland and had received advertisements and instructions either from them or immediately from the King as indubiate Heir of this Imperial Crown But lest they might detect one another this vvas Mysteriously carried by several instruments and conducts and on the Essexian side in truth vvith infinite hazard for Sir Robert Cecil vvho as Secretary of State did dispose the publick Addresses had prompter and safer conveyance vvhereupon I cannot but relate a memorable passage on either part as the story following shall declare The Earl of Essex had accommodated Master Anthony Bacon in partition of his House and had assigned him a noble entertainment This vvas a Gentleman of impotent feet but a nimble head and through his hand ran all the intelligences vvith Scotland vvho being of a provident nature contrary to his Brother the Lord Viscount St. Albons and vvell knowing the advantage of a dangerous Secret vvould many times cunningly let fall some vvords as if he could much amend his Fortunes under the Cecilians to vvhom he vvas near of alliance and in bloud also and vvho had made as he was not unwilling should be believed some great proffers to win him away which once or twice he pressed so far and with
good wishes of the Archbishop of Armagh been directed hither with a most humble Petition unto Your Majesty that You will be pleased to make Mr. William Bedel now Resident upon a small Benefice in Suffolk Governour of Your Colledge at Dublin for the good of that Society And my self being required to render unto Your Majesty some testimony of the said William Bedel who was long my Chaplain at Venice in the time of my first Imployment I am bound in all Conscience and Truth as far as Your Majesty will Vouchsafe to accept my poor judgement to affirm of him that I think hardly a fitter Man for that Charge could have been propounded unto Your Majesty in Your whole Kingdome for singular Erudition and Piety Conformity to the Rites of Your Church and zeal to advance the Cause of God wherein his travels abroad were not obscure in the time of the Excommunication of the Venetians For it may please Your Majesty to know that this is the Man whom Padre Paulo took I may say into his very soul with whom hee did communicate the inwardest thoughts of his heart from whom he prosessed to have received more knowledge in all Divinity both Scholastical and Positive then from any thaâ—… he had ever practised in his dayes of which all the passages were well known unto the King Your Father of most blessed Memory And so with Your Majesties good Favour I will end this needless office For the general fame both of his Learning â—…nd Life and Christian Temper and those religious Labours which Himself hath dedicated unto Your Majesty do better describe him Your Majesties most humble and faithfull Vassal H. Wotton To the DUKE My most noble Lord WHen like that impotent man in the Gospel I had lain long by the Pools side while many were healed and none would throw me in it pleased your Lordship first of all to pity my infirmities and to put me into some hope of subsisting hereafter Therefore I most humbly and justly acknowledge all my ability and reputation from your favour You have given me in couragement you have valued my poor endeavours with the King you have redeemed me from ridiculousness who had served so long without any mark of favour By which Arguments being already and ever bound to be yours till either life or honesty shall leave me I am the bolder to beseech your Lordship to perfect your own work and to draw his Majesty to some setling of those things that depend between Sir Julius Casar and me in that reasonable form which I humbly present unto your Lordship by this my Nephew likewise your obliged Servant being my self by a late indisposition confined to my Chamber but in all estates such as I am Your Lordships H. WOTTON SIR I Send you by this Bearer to keep you in mirth a piping Shepherd done by Cavalier Bassaw and so well as may merit some place in your Chamber which I hear is the Center of good Musick to which out of my pieces at home I have commanded James to add a Messara playing upon a Timbril done by Allessandro Padovano a rising Titian as we esteemed him Good Sir let us know some true passages of the plight of the Court I have laid about for some constant intelligence from forraign parts being strangely relapsed into that humour in my old age Shall I tell you why In good faith for no other use that I mean to make of news but only that when God shall call me to a better I may know in what state I leave this World Your affectionate Friend to serve you H. WOTTON To M r. Nicolas Arnauld SIR THis young Gentleman my very near Kinsman having gotten enough of Venetiâ—… Italian to seek better and being for that end directed by me to Siena I will take the boldness to commend him to your disposing there assuring myself that you have gained much friendship and power wheresoever you are by that impression which you have left in us here And so with those thanks which were long since due for your kind remembrance of me by a Letter from Florence I commit you to Gods dear blessings and love and lever rest From Venice Your very affectionate poor Friend to serve you H. WOTTON To the Lord Treasurer Weston My most honoured good Lord I Most humbly present though by some infirmities a little too late a strange New-years Gift unto your Lordship which I will presume to term the cheapest of all that you have received and yet of the richest materials In short it is only an Image of your Self drawn by memory from such discourse as I have taken up here and there of your Lordship among the most intelligent and unmalignant men which to pourtrait before you I thought no servile office but ingenuous and real and I could wish that it had come at the Day that so your Lordship might have begun the New Year somewhat like Plato's definition of Felicity with the contemplation of your own Idea They say That in your forraign Employments under King James your Lordship won the Opinion of a very able and searching Judgement having been the first discoverer of the Intentions against the Palatinate which were then in brewing and masked with much Art And that Sir Edward Conway got the start of you both in Title and Employment at home because the late Duke of Buckingham wanted then for his own Ends a Martial Secretary They say That under our present Soveraign you were chosen to the highest charge at the lowest of the State when some instrument was requisite of undubitable integrity and provident moderation which Attributes I have heard none deny you They discourse thus of your Actions since that though great Exhaustions cannot be cured with sudden Remedies no more in a Kingdom then in a Natural Body yet your Lordship hath well allayd those blustering clamors wherewith at your beginnings your House was in a manner dayly besieged They note that there have been many changes but that none hath brought to the Place a judgement so cultivated and illuminated with various Erudition as your Lordship since the Lord Burghley under Queen Elizabeth whom they make your Parallel in the ornament of Knowledge They observe in your Lordship divers remarkable combinations of Vertues and Abilities rarely sociable In the Character of your Aspect a mixture of Authority and Modesty In the Faculties of your Mind quick Apprehension and Solidity together In the style of your Port and Train as much Dignity and as great Dependency as was ever in any of your Place and with little noise or outward fume That your Table is very abundant free and noble without Luxury That you are by nature no Flatterer and yet of greatest power in Court That you love Magnificence and Frugality both together That you entertain your Guests and Visiters with noble courtesie but void of complement Lastly that you maintain a due regard to your Person and Place and yet are an Enemy to frothy
your Conversation being then with you at Redgrave in Suffolk both your delightful Mansion and Philosophical retreat where you are best because there you are most your self though every where well imparted to your Friends I was then surprized with an advertisement from Court of the death of Sir Albertus Morton my dear Nephew in the â—…ruality as I may term it of his employments and fortunes under the best King and Master of the World And how no great time after as adversities are seldom solitary there succeeded in the same place the departure of my no less dear Niece your long and I dare say your still beloved Consort for love and life are not conterminable as well appeareth by your many tender expressions of that disjuncture and by that Monument of your own excellent invention which you have raised to her memory This Sir ever freshly bleeding in me and withâ—…ll revolving often in my retired thoughts how I â—…ve long since over-lived my loving Parents all â—…ine Uncles Brothers and Sisters besides many â—…f mine especial Friends and Companions of my â—…outh who have melted away before me and that I am now my self arrived near those years which 〈◊〉 in the suburbs of Oblivion being the sole Masâ—…line Branch of my good Fathers House in the County of Kent So as that poor Name and Repuâ—…tion which my Ancestors have heretofore sustainâ—…d by Gods permission must expire and vanish in â—…y unworthiness I say Sir again and again debating often these Circumstances vvith my self and truly not vvithout the common vveaknesses and passions of humanity from vvhich I am of all men least exempted an extream desire did lately assail me to entertain between my other Private Studies some such discourse as might vvork upon mine own mind and at least abstract a while if not elevate my cogitations above all earthly objects Whereupon towards the end of this last Lent a time of contracted thoughts I fell to think of that Theme vvhich I have novv entituled The loss of Friends and final Resignation of our selves Intending though it be the highest and uttermost point of Christian Philosophy to familiarize it between us as much as I can and to address it in form of a Letter to your self For vvith vvhom can I treat of this matter more properly being both of us almost precisely of equal age and by the love vvhich you are pleased to bear me all Joy in the Fruition and all Grief in the Privation of Friends common between us Now Sir c. My dearly and worthily ever honoured Nephew THis is that Saturnine time of the year which most molesteth such splenetick bodies as mine is by the revolution of melancholick blood which throweth up fastidious fumes into the head whereof I have had of late my share Howsoever this trusty Fellow of our Town being hired by one about some business to Cambridge as he is often hither and thither and acquainting me commonly with his motions I have gladly stretched his present journey as far as the Redgrave hoping by him to have an absolute account of your well being which Nicolas my Servant left in a fair disposition Let me therefore by this opportunity entertain you with some of our newest things but briefly for I dare not trust my brains too much First for the affairs of Scotland Est bene non potuit dicere dixit Erit The wisest Physitians of State are of opinion that the Crisis is good and I hope your Sir Iacob Ashley and my Sir Thomas Morton will have a fine employment upon the borders Honour by the choice of their persons money by their journal pay little pains and no danger Our Court mourneth this whole Festival with sad frugality for the untimely death of the young Duke of Savoy our Queens Nephew hastened they say by the Cardinal his Uncle who would first have illegitimated him and that not taking effect by the supportment of Spain he fell to other Roman Arts so as the said Cardinal to decline this black report is gone a wandring and as it is thought will visit bare-foot the Holy Land In the mean time methinks I see him with a crew of Banditi and Bravi in his company and his own Conscience a continual Hangman about him The Queen Mother stirreth little between Majesty and Age She hath published a short Manifesto touching the reasons of her recess from Bruxels wherein is one very notable conceit That she had long born silently the affronts done her by the Prince Cardinals Counsellors and under-Officers upon no other reason then the very shame to have received them Of himself she speaketh with good respect but I know not how the Character of Humility which she giveth him will be digested for perchance he had rather have been painted like a Lion then a Lamb. Our Queens Delivery approacheth in a good hour be it spoken There is newly sworn her Servant a lovely Daughter of Sir Richard Harisons our Neighbour in Barkshire to answer Madamoiselle Darci on her Mothers side The Count Palatine since his late defeat is gotten in disguised habit to Hamborough and as they say hath been there visited by the King of Denmark amidst that cold Assembly of Ambassadors But in his passage between the said Town and Bremen was like to have been taken by an ambush of Free-booters who no doubt would have made sale of him Certain it is that his Brother Prince Rupert sought very nobly before he yielded whereof such notice was taken even by the Count of Hatfield himself that he hath ever since been kept by him in a strong place rounded day and night with a guard of naked Swords yet in the Tablets of one that had leave to visit him the Prince made a shift to comfort the Queen his Mother with a line or two to this sence That whatsoever became of himself he would never change his Religion nor his Party We hear my Lord Craven hath made his composition under 20000. l. As for Ferents I believe his own head must ransome him or his heels The Popes Treaty at Colen goes Il passe del Gambaro rather backward then forward And all deliberatives of State seem to depend much upon the event of Brisach which I use to call the German Helena long woed but for ought I hear yet an Imperial Virgin These are our foreign Rapsodies I will end in somewhat nearer us You receive herewith the Copy of my last or second Letter to Mr. Cary Raleigh and his answer thereunto Believe it Sir whatsoever conceit his actions shall breed that he is a Gentleman of dextrous abilities well appearing in the management of a business so tender and delicate as that which now runneth between us which for my part I resolve to press no further For to depose my mind as plainly as I may safely in your breast I never could observe my great good effect to ensue upon violent disswasions in businesses of this nature but rather an obduration then an abversion Howsoever
Henry Wotton whose Life I novv intend to vvrite vvas born in the Year of our Redemption 1568. in Bocton-hall commonly called Bocton or Bougton place or Palace in the Parish of Bocton Malherb in the fruitful Country of Kent Bocton-hall being an ancient and goodly Structure beautifying and being beautified by the Parish Church of Bocton Malherb adjoyning unto it and both seated vvithin a fair Park of the Wottons on the Brovv of such a Hill as gives the advantage of a large Prospect and of equal pleasure to all Beholders But this House and Church are not remarkable for any thing so much as for that the memorable Family of the Wottons have so long inhabited the one and novv lie buried in the other as appears by their many Monuments in that Church the Wottons being a Family that hath brought forth divers Persons eminent for Wisdom and Valour vvhose Heroick Acts and Noble Employments both in England and in Foreign parts have adorned themselves and this Nation which they have served abroad faithfully in the discharge of their great trust and prudently in their Negotiations with several Princes and also served at home with much Honour and Justice in their wise managing a great part of the Publick Affairs thereof in the various times both of War and Peace But lest I should be thought by any that may incline either to deny or doubt this Truth not to have observed moderation in the commendation of this Family and also for that I believe the merits and memory of such Persons ought to be thankfully recorded I shall offer to the consideration of every Reader out of the testimony of their Pedegree and our Chronicles a part and but a part of that just Commendation which might be from thence enlarged and shall then leave the indifferent Reader to judge whether my error be an excess or defect of Commendations Sir Robert Wotton of Bocton Malherb Knight vvas born about the Year of Christ 1460 he living in the Reign of King Edward the Fourth vvas by him trusted to be Lieutenant of Guisnes to be Knight Porter and Comptroller of Callais where he died and lies honourably buried Sir Edward Wotton of Bocton Malherb Knight Son and Heir of the said Sir Robert was born in the Year of Christ 1489 in the Reign of King Henry the Seventh he was made Treasurer of Callais and of the Privy Councel to King Henry the Eight who offered him to be Lord Chancellor of England but saith Hollinshed out of a virtuous modesty he refused it Thomas Wotton of Bocton Malherb Esquire Son and Heir of the said Sir Edward and the Father of our Sir Henry that occasions this Relation was born in the Year of Christ 1521 he was a Gentleman excellently educated and studious in all the Liberal Arts in the knowledge whereof he attained unto a great perfection who though he had besides those abilities a very Noble and plentiful Estate and the ancient Interest of his Predecessors many invitations from Queen Elizabeth to change his Country Recreations and Retirement for a Courtoffering him a Knight-hood she vvas then vvith him at his Boctonhall and that to be but as an earnest of some more honourable and more profitable employment under Her yet he humbly refused both being a man of great modesty of a most plain and single heart of an ancient freedom and integrity of mind A commendation which Sir Henry Wotton took occasion often to remember with great gladness and thankfully to boast himself the Son of such a Father From whom indeed he derived that noble ingenuity that was always practised by himself and which he ever both commended and cherished in others This Thomas was also remarkable for Hospitality a great Lover and much beloved of his Country to which may justly be added that he was a Cherisher of Learning as appears by that excellent Antiquary Mr. William Lambert in his Perambulation of Kent This Thomas had four Sons Sir Edward Sir James Sir John and Sir Henry Sir Edward was Knighted by Queen Elizabeth and made Comptroller of Her Majesties Houshold He was saith Cambden a man remarkable for many and great Employments in the State during Her Reign and sent several times Ambassador into Foreign Nations After Her death he was by King James made Comptroller of his Houshold and called to be of His Privy Councel and by him advanced to be Lord Wotton Baron of Merley in Kent and made Lord Lieutenant of that County Sir James the second Son may be numbred among the Martial Men of his Age who was in the 38 of Queen Elizabeths Reign with Robert Earl of Sussex Count Lodowick of Nassaw Don Christophoro Son of Antonio King of Portugal and divers other Gentlemen of Nobleness and Valour Knighted in the Field near Cadiz in Spain after they had gotten great Honour and Riches besides a notable retaliation of Injuries by taking that Town Sir John being a Gentleman excellently accomplished both by Learning and Travel was Knighted by Queen Elizabeth and by Her look'd upon with more then ordinary favour and with intentions of preferment but Death in his younger years put a period to his growing hopes Of Sir Henry my following discourse shall give an account The descent of these fore-named Wottons were all in a direct Line and most of them and their actions in the memory of those with whom we have conversed But if I had looked so far back as to Sir Nicholas Wotton who lived in the Reign of King Richard the Second or before him upon divers others of great note in their several Ages I might by some be thought tedious and yet others may more justly think me negligent if I omit to mention Nicholas Wotton the fourth Son of Sir Robert whom I first named This Nicholas Wotton was Doctor of Law and sometime Dean both of York and Canterbury a man vvhom God did not only bless vvith a long life but vvith great abilities of mind and an inclination to imploy them in the service of his Countrey as is testified by his severall Imployments having been sent nine times Ambassador unto forraign Princes and by his being a Privy Councellor to King Henry the eighth to Edward the sixth to Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth vvho also after he had been during the Wars between England Scotland and France three several times and not unsuccessfully imployed in Committies for setling of peace betwixt this and those Kingdomes died saith learned Cambden full of Commendations for Wisdome and Piety He vvas also by the Will of King Henry the eighth made one of his Executors and chief Secretary of State to his Son that plous Prince Edward the sixth Concerning which Nicholas Wotton I shall say but this little more That he refused being offered it by Queen Elizabeth to be Arch bishop of Canterbury and that he died not rich though he lived in that time of the dissolution of Abbeys More might be added but by this it may appear
between Princes and Neighbouring Estates by Constitutions of the Empire may faithfully be continued it is provided That the two Armies here near encamped with all possible speed remove out of the places where they were pitched without any detriment to either Party and that they lodge not together in one place Secondly it is concluded That if perchance any Elector Prince Confederate State of either Party or indeed either of them in gross should require upon necessity a Passage by virtue of Ordinances of the Empire for the Defence and Security of them and their Subjects having first peaceably given sufficient Caution neither of them ought to deny it Provided the same requisition be seasonably made not upon rash and precipitate Advice when the Army be upon the Frontiers or indeed within the Territories of them with complaint or discommodity of the Subject Thirdly Forasmuch as We Maximilian Duke of Bavaria and other Electors Princes Catholick Estates and Alliants have excluded from this present Treaty the Kingdom of Bohemia with the Incorporated Provinces and other States Hereditary of the House of Austria and comprehended within the Treaty only the Electorals and Countries belonging to Electors Princes and States Confederates of either Party under which also is contained the Electoral Palatinate with all Inheritances thereunto belonging scituate within the Empire They ought not to be expended further seeing at this present we persist not in these differences that having nothing common with the rest but we will keep good Correspondence with them without any suspition Which likewise We Ioachim Ernest Marquess of Brandenburg do agree to the Resolution of the Electors Princes and States Catholick touching the Kingdom of Bohemia and the United Provinces with other Inheritances appertaining to the House of Austria for Us our Alliants Electors Princes and States and We will no less on our side that the said Kingdom of Bohemia with the United Provinces and Countries Hereditary to the House of Austria be not comprised in this Treaty understanding as well this Declaration to be for the Electoralities Principalities and Estates scituate and being within the Empire Fourthly Whereas during this Treaty divers times mention hath been made of the Griefs of the Empire not yet decided the decision of the same is remitted to some more convenient time seeing this was too short and the Grievances touched not only those of either Party but in general all both Catholick and Evangelical States of the whole Empire concerning which for this present there is no sufficient Power or Authority to determine And seeing both of either Party pretend losses and damages done and received by either side and particularly at the Village of Sandthaim and thereabouts it shall be shortly treated of reasonable restitution for the same All vvhich things vve Maximilian Duke of Bavaria and vve Ioachim Ernest Marquess of Brandenburg as vvell for us as for the above-named our Confederates Electors Princes and States do promise to maintain and keep inviolably In vvitness of vvhich vve have set to our Hands and Seals the 3. July 23. June An. 1620. Locus O Sigilli Maximilian Locus O Sigilli Ioachim Ernest. A Dispatch by Ralph from Venice 1621. SIR I Choose at the present to vvrite thick and small for the closer conveyance of that vvhich followeth first to your faithfull hands and by them immediately unto our Soveraign Lord the King The deputed Cardinals of the Congregation or Committee in Rome touching his Majesties Matrimonial Treaty vvith Spain having resolved negatively even after six Assemblies the Cardinal Ludovisio and the Spanish Ambassador vvent joyntly to the Pope to pray him that by no means the negative resolution might be divulged as yet but suppressed for a time because some turns vvere to be done by the concealment thereof Hereupon the Venâ—…tian Ambassador by name Reniero Zen the most diving man that ever the Republick hath held in that Court and of much confidence vvith the Pope upon old acquaintance observing that the foresaid Congregation had voted and that their censures vvere concealed comes to the Cardinal Ludovisio the Popes Nephew before-named and extracts from him the vvhole matter vvith the means and reason of the suppression This I have received from a credible and I vvould say from an infallible fountain if it did not become my simplicity in a point so much concerning the eternal dishonour of a great King to leave alwayes some possibility of mis-information Yet thus much more I must adde not out of intelligence but from sober discourse that although the present Pope hath been hitherto esteemed more French then any of his Predecessors a great vvhile yet is not the King of Spain such a Bankrupt in Rome but that he might easily have procured an assent in the fore-named Congregation or at least a resolution sooner then after five or six meetings of the deputed Cardinals unless delays had been studied Be it how it vvill as to his Majesty doth belong the Soveraignty of judgement so to his poor honest Creatures abroad the liberty of relation and a frank discharge of our zeal and duties To vvhich I vvill subscribe my unworthy Name Venice Feb. 15 25. 1621. A Dispatch about the King of Bohemia's Affairs at Venice 1622. Right Honourable I Have formerly acquainted his Majesty through your hands how my self being then in Padoua under Physick of late my familiar evil I vvas recalled to Venice by the arrival here of Seignor Filippo Calandrini expresly sent to sollicit some contribution from this Republick to the support of Count Mansfelt's Army vvherein my joynt endeavour vvas required by Letters from the Elector himself as then at the Hague And likewise I vvas thereunto the better enabled by very carefull instruction from Sir Dudley Carlton under cypher of the vvhole business how it stood Neither did I need any new immediate Command from his Majesty to serve in the Cause of his own descendents especially after your Letters of the 19th of January by Order vvhereof I had before in his Royal Name made a general exploration here of their good vvill towards us and now by the present imployment of the foresaid Calandrini as also upon Letters from the Elector to this Duke vvhereof the delivery and pursuit vvas recommended to me I found apt occasion to descend à Thesi ad Hypothesin vvhich vvith vvhat discretion it hath been handled I dare not say but sure I am vvith as much zeal and fervour as the capacity of my heart could hold vvhereof the accompt is now due as followeth Two full Audiences I had upon this Subject at mine own demand and a third at their calling as long as both the former In my first to make it appear more serious then an ordinary duty I told them I vvould do that vvhich I had never done before For vvhereas vve commonly leave the reference of our Propositions to a Secretary of the State vvho stands alwayes by the Ambassador and is the transporter both of our Arguments and of
our affections to the Senate The Tribunal vvhere vve speak being not diffinitive vvhich is no small disadvantage I now promised to ease his memory my self vvith an extract of vvhat I had said vvhich vvas accordingly sent him the next morning containing two principal heads 1. The merit of the Cause 2. The community of the Interest Both as clear as the Sun For touching the first the question now vvas only de recuperatione proprii violently invaded In the course of vvhich action it did appear by pregnant inferences lately published together vvith those intercepted Letters vvhich Frier Hiacintho an out-cast from this Town did carry in his Wallet that the Duke of Bavaria had practised the Electorate of Rhine before the true Elector vvas called to the Crown of Bohemia vvhich I thought the fitter to be touched for that I knew the Duke had newly received a Copy of the said divulged Letters from his Agent at the Hague and it vvas a point of great impression Now their Interest vvas as plain as the Case it self For if such violences shadowed vvith Imperial Authorities should likewise be countenanced and comforted vvith success vvhat could hinder vvithin a vvhile the same Torrent to overflow Italy and especially this Dominion circondato da affetti poco sicuri d'ogni intorno as I told them I might vvell say even vvith modesty These premisses being laid I inferred that his Majesty upon a Cause so just and a common Interest so clear vvas most confident in the vvisdome of this grave Senate that having spent vvith palpable benefit in their last Motions of fresh memory qualche bona summa indeed about two millions of Duckats to maintain a diversion so near at hand as il Piede delli Monti they vvould find it more reasonable to foment the like further off all diversions and revulsions both Politick and Natural being so much the more effectual by how much the more remote Lastly that though his Majesty in exchange of that open frank and voluntary Declaration which he made of himself heretofore in time of their Troubles might now expect the like again from them ex aequo and that no Prince living knevv better what the declared Authority of a Dominion so eminent vvould import to the sum of the business Yet not to press his Friend too far his Majesty vvould be contented vvith a silent Contribution without noise under any form that should best please them and in such proportion as should be conformable to their Love whereby they should oblige his Royal Person and Progeny not to be wanting unto them in any of their own just Occurrents This was the substance of my first Audience and of my Memorial sent to the Secretary At my second after I had pressed the same Inducements more effectually and informed them that the Elector was now gone in Person to add vigor to his Subjects so as their help could never come in a better season I fell to tell the Duke that though it could not become my simplicity to prescribe any form to so wise a Prince yet I would â—…rave leave to insinuate thus much that they might under the Name of the States with whom their Confederacy was already known pass their good will towards his Majesty and his Son-in-law without any further imaginable noise by adding what they should please moreover to that Contribution whereunto they are tied by League of 50000 Florins or 5000 l. sterling per mensem for which surcrew whatsoever it should be the States would be answerable to the Elector Nay farther I told him albeit now by long service and by the very conscience of my zeal towards them I might presume to merit some part of their confidence yet I would therein dispence even with mine own ambition and undertake as much likewise for Signior Calandrini leaving it free unto them to exercise their friendship through the hands of Signior Surriano their own Minister at the Hague without acquainting us here with their determination for the more silent carriage thereof yet withal I was not tender to re-intimate unto them that both the King my Master did merit a Noble and open Proceeding and on the other side this Republick was by Gods blessing so powerful as they should not need to smother their Resolutions in so just a Cause In conclusion I told him that I did languish for the Senates answer for well I knew that they are much guided like the wisdom of a Merchant by accidents which makes them so prone to defer still hearkening how things fall or rise and accordingly shaping their Counsels Between these Audiences Signior Calandrini did likewise twice interceed in name of the States whose perswasion as their Instrument he spent apart from mine though otherwise our agreement was well enough known On Wednesday last some five or six days after my second Audience I was called to college and the Senates Answer read unto me very loud and treatably as the Duke willed the Secretary whereof yet I required a second reading for Copies are not usually granted which I must note for another disadvantage of moment in negotiating with this State because they may appeal from our Memories In this Answer were repeated with some new beautifying the three points wherein they did pretend to have prevented his Majesties former imploration of their concurrence when he wrote his own Letters in behalf of his Son-in-law The three points were these 1. Their Contribution to the States by which they maintain in those Provinces 4000 men 2. Their Entertainment and Pensioning of the Count Mansfelt with intent to fix him where he is who else might have been drawn away by other offers 3. Their Promise to joyn with the French King and Savoy in the Rhetian business All which three they call Points of Common Interest with his Majesty and of Common Benefit to the Elector by way of Diversion and two of them Actual Ingagements of this Republick Now to these in the foresaid Answer they added a fourth for a little stronger excuse at the present namely a fresh and sharp Insurrection amongst the Grisons where the Patriots of the Dieci dritture seemed to have overmatched the Party of the Arch-duke Leopoldo with such considerable success that the Canâ—…on of Surick who are nearest the truth are likewise in some motion to help them so as this State expecteth also to be called to that Feast and well inclined thereunto This was all the new garnishment that I could observe in their Answer Towards the end whereof I was much surprized with their telling me in plain terms that his Majesty was well satisfied with those former Demonstrations of their good will in the Common Cause represented unto him by their Ambassador Laâ—…do as he had written hither To which Point though the last of theirs I replied first That indeed his Majesty whose excellent heart doth believe always the best of his Friends had no reason to mislike their former Answer And so far I had co-operated with their