the 11. time was al one with this of the Guises in these late troubles namely for that the warres only maintayned them in their greatnesse and forced the King to stand in need of them whereas the peace might be much preiudiciall to them and bring them to their accounts for many matters ill carried in their charges Hereupon the Count set on his King to enbarke himselfe in a warre against so great an enemy as the Duke of Burgogne and these euen forced their Master to war vpon his owne Subiects against so good a cause as true Religion And as he desired nothing lesse then that the Duke should condescend to his Maiestie and so make a peace so did these only wish that they of the Religion might still stand stiffe in their profession Likely also it is that at the first they did not so much as dreame of obtayning the Crowne as hauing foure Princes of the house of Valois al yong besides the house of Burbon standing in their way But when these one after another died and the times grew so fauourable through their popular carriage the onely signe of an ambitious mind as that all the eyes of France were bent vpoÌ„ them then they raysed their thoughts as high as the highest place and the rather because the Religion of the next Prince of the bloud who should bee serued before them was so contrary to the general liking of the French State Their only cause they said was Religion but true it is that Haillan saith that Religion is only the cloke and pretext selon les esprits des païs ou selon les menees et practiques des grands qui donnent cette opinion aux peuples According to the humors of the country or the driftes and practises of the Grandies who possesse the people with that opinion And in another place Diuisions sont comme fatales à la France et entre les causes qui l' ont trouble toutes les fois qu'il à este la diuision de grands a este la premiere et la principale et tousiours couuerte du nom du bien publique et de la Religion Diuisions haue beene as it were fatall to France and of all the causes of her trouble at any time the diuision among the Grandies hath euer beene the first and principall and alwayes cloaked with the name of the publike good and Religion The onely patterne and Mirrour whome the last Duke of Guise folowed in these his dangerous deseignes for the obtaining of the Crowne was Pepin who to depose his Master and to preferre himselfe found no way more compendious then to professe himselfe the Protectour of the Church and Rooter out of heresies For which good seruice the Romish Church inuested him with the Crowne of France and hee gaue them many Territories in Italy both large caruers of that which was not their owne But the vsurpation was most vniust as also the attempt it selfe howsoeuer they shadow it with the colour of Religion For Nulla iusta causa videri potest contra Remp. arma capiendi No cause of taking armes against the State can seeme truely iust It is a pitifull spectacle to see a happie State brought to ruine by the diuision of her great ones but when it is wrought by such of the Nobilitie as are newly infranchised and ennobled with all preferments who were but lately strangers it is much more lamentable and also insupportable The three great States of England Spaine and France can instance herein and giue you examples of Piers Gauestone Aluaro de Luna and this house of Lorraine These are they of whom all the late writers complaine Les François esloient lois speaking of former times vrays François n'auoyent point succéle laict de Lorraine qui donne les humeurs de toutes les sortes de Trahisons The French were then true French they had not yet sucked the milke of Lorrayne which breedes humors fit for all sorts of treasons And as it is sayd of Lalain a gallant Gentleman in Commines his time Estoit d'une race dont pens'en est trouue qui n'ayent esté vaillans quasi touts morts en seruant leurs Seigneurs en la guerre He was of a race whereof few can be found that haue not bene valiant and almost all of them slaine in the warres in their Princes seruice So may we say of these that it hath bin a valiant race and most of them haue dyed in the warres but with this difference that it hath still beene against the good of their Countrey howsoeuer they couered their treasons with the vaile of bien publique publique good as one saith of the Duke of Guyenne and Bretagne Mais en fin le bien publique estoit conuerti en bien particulier But in the end the publique good was turned to priuate profit The chiefest supporter of these Guisards and that still gaue oyle to the fire of this rebellion was the King of Spaine who the comparison of the State of France with the game of Primero saith that he stood by and looked on following that Machiauellian maxime or lesson which he had learned of the other Philippe of Macedon to suffer them to ruyne one another as did the Cities of Greece and then himselfe to take the aduantage and winne all for it is no question if Guise had wonne the game but this would haue had the rest He had this aduantage also while they were together by the eares to be in quiet himselfe for so saith the principle in the Mathematickes Ce qui faict mouuoir altruy est necessairement tousiours en repos That which giues motion to other things must needes it selfe be in rest The third cause I impute especially of the later troubles to the timorous nature and pusillanimity of Henry the 3. Ce qui donne volunté et moyens aux hommes de grands Esprits de conspirer contre leurs princes et d' attenter à l' vsurpation de la coronne est l'imbecillite et la neaâ—tise d'iceux Princes That which giues both will and meanes to men of great Spirits to conspire against their Princes attempt the vsurping of their Crowns is the weakenesse and worthlessenesse of the Princes themselues For in his time the Crowne of France was like the daughter and heire of Burgogne and the poore King like the crafty Duke made euery wooer and suter that she had beleeue that he should speede the King for feare lest by these corriuals hee should be brought lower the Duke in hope by intertaining them all to haue their aydes to raise himselfe higher Marry neither of them would gladly while they liued that this faire daughter should be married It is a dangerous thing in a State when the King dare not punish the ambitious desseignes of his Subiect Voyla le mal-heur d'vn siecle miserable iniuste de cognoistre l' iniustice ne
ready to giue the enemy he should haue great care of his own person for that the Sacrifices had foreshewd some danger Sparte dit il ne depend pas d' vn homme seul Sparta depends not vpon one man alone This Plutarch reproued in Pelopidas And Homer in his descriptions makes alwayes Achilles Aiax and the best and chiefest Commaunders best armed Stetit sub Aiacis clipeo septemplice tectus The shield of Aiax seuen-fold Did shrowd him safe and make him bold And the lawes of Greece punished that Souldier that threw away his buckler But I will end this discourse with the answere of Timotheus to Chares a Generall talking of his many woundes of the body and hackes in his shield and I quoth he quite contrary am ashamed of this that when I besieged Samos I came so neere the walles that an arrowe from the Towne lighted hard by me For that Ie m' estois trop aduance en ieune homme hazarde plus temerairement qu'il ne conuenoit à Chef d'vne si grosse armée I went too farre like a forward yong fellow and hazzarded my selfe more rashly then became the Generall of so great an Army For the chiefe Commaunder is the moity of the whole force When one told Antigonus that the enemy had more shipping then he at the I le of Andros Et moy dit-â—l ponz combien de vaisseux conte tu I pray you for how many ships count you me If then one Generall be in stead of many ships at sea and many troopes at land it behoueth he be carefull to keepe those forces well that is him selfe if he will doe his Countrey good seruice You must note therefore that there is no man so great by birth or Noble whom it well becommeth not to be as valiant and forward as the best euen though hee were a King and indeed the greater hee is the more his honour is engaged to be valiant prouided alwayes that hee bee not the chiefe Commaunder of the Army As the King of Boheme dyed in the field on the French Kings side fighting against the English in France with more honour then the French King Francis the first at Pauie in Italy where by his too great forwardnesse hee was taken Prisoner Therefore it is that one saith Vn bon saye General doit mourir de vieilesse A good and discreet Generall should dye of age But to returne to the King Hee is naturally very affable and familiar and more we strangers thinke then fits the Maiesty of a great King of France But it is the fashion of this Countrey of France as Bodin sayth though he seeme much to misse-like it and preferreth the fashion of England Suedon and Poland where the Princes haue more Maiesty and reuerence among their subiects For as Plutarch sayth C'est bien difficile de maintenir vne seuere grauité pour garder sa reputation en se laissanâ— familierement hauter à tout le monde T is a hard matter for a man to keepe a seuere grauity for the vpholding of his reputation if he familiarize himselfe with euery body Wherevpon he there sheweth how retyredly Pericles liued from the common view of the vulgar sort So we likewise reade of the Kings of Borny Aethiope Tartary the grand Signor himselfe and the great Duke of Moscouy that they seldome come abroad in publike to be seene of the people We may therefore say of the Frenches liberty as Artabanus Lieutenant General to Xerxes said to Themistocles Quant à vouâ— autres Grecs on dit que vous estimez la liberte et l'egalite sur toutes autres choses mais quant à nous entre plusieurs autres belles constumes et ordonnances que nous â—uous celle-la nous semble la plus belle de reuerer et adorre nostre Roy comme limage de Dieu de nature qui mantient toutes choses en leur estre leur entier T is sayd that you Greeks aboue all things esteeme liberty equality but among many other our excellent customes ordinances wee iudge this to be the best to reuerence and adore our King as the Image of the God of nature that maintaynes all things in their being and perfection And we may wel inferre as Haillan doth Familiaritas parit contemptum and contemptus coniurationem le mesprise est la cause de coniurations contre le Prince Familiarity breeds contempt and contempt treason You saw here in Orleans when the Italian Commedians were to play before him how himselfe came whifling with a small wand to scowre the coast and make place for the rascall Players for indeed these were the worst company and such as in their owne Countrey are out of request you haue not seene in the Innes of Court a Hall better made a thing me thought most derogatory to the Maiesty of a King of France And lately at Paris as they tell vs when the Spanish Hostages were to be entertayned he did Vsher it in the great Chamber as he had done here before and espying the Chayre not to stand well vnder the State mended it handsomly himselfe and then set him downe to giue them audience It followeth I speake of his descent and Pedigree wherein you shall see hee is lineally descended of the house of Burbon from Robert Earle of Clermont yonger sonne to Lewes surnamed the Saint from whome for default of heires males in the house of Valois descending of Philip le hardi the elder brother hee is now rightly entituled to the Crowne of France The lineall descent of this house of Burbon whose word is Esperance Hope is this Saint Lewes had two sonnes namely Philip le Hardy King of France Robert Earle of Cleremont married to Beatrice daughter to Archibald of Burbon Lewes Count of Cleremont first Duke of Burbon married to Mary Countesse of Heynalt Iaques Duke of Burbon maried to Iane de S. Paul Iohn Duke of Burbon Count of March maried to Katherin Countesse of Vandosme Lewes of Burbon Count of Vendosme maried to Iane of Lauall Iohn of Burbon Count of Vendosme and Isabel his wife Francis of Bur. Count of Vendosme to Mary of Luxembroughe Countesse of S. Paul Charles of Burbon to Francis of Alencon Anthony of Burb. King of Nauarre Henry 4. K. of France Nauarre 3. base children Caesar D. de Vandosme Henryette a daughter Alexander Count de Foix. Katherine Princesse of Nauarre now presently to be married to the Prince of Lorraine Francis Du. of AnguieÌ„ Charles Card of Burbon Iohn Du. of Ang. Marguerite maried to the D. of Nener Lewes of Bur. Prince of Conde Henry P. of Conde Henry Prince of Conde heire apparent to the Crowne of France Francis P. of Conty Charles Count of Soissons NOw yee see from what Ancestors he is come yee must also obserue what issue is come of him In the vnfortunate and inhumane massacre at Paris wherein the olde
Admirall the greatest Souldier in France and many thousand of other of the Religion were murdered the same time was this King married to Marguerite de Valois daughter to Henry the second and sister to the last King With her these many yeres past he hath not liued neither hath by her any issue I haue heard the reason of their liuing apart is her incontinencie By Madame Monceau his Mistrisse whome of late he hath made Dutchesse of Beaufort hee hath three children liuing but by reason of their illegitimation and incapabilitie to succeede the apparency of Inheritance as yet bideth in the young Prince of Condie a towardly Gentleman of much hope and very well fauoured of the age of 11. yeeres whome ye saw at S. Maur. Concerning the Coronation of the Kings of France I read that in the first race they vsed no other solemnitie but onely to lift him vp vpon a shield and cary him about the Campe crying Viue le Roy God saue the King for thus du Haillan out of Gregory de Tours reporteth of the crowning of Cloâ—is the first that was christned Since in the yeere 1179. Philip Augustus ordained the Coronation to be alwayes at Rhemes in Champaigne for before that time they were crowned but not here as Lewes the Grosse at Orleans 1009. Pepin at Soissons and Charlemagne at S. Denis And since then also vpon occasion they change sometimes the place as ye see in this King for example who was crowned at Chartres The ornaments heretofore vsed at this solemnization are these A great crowne of gold wherewith he is crowned a lesse crowne which he beares that day at dinner made by Philip Augustus The Camisoles Sandales Tunicke Dalmaticke and Mantel of blue Satten made by Henry 2 who also garnished of new the olde Crownes the Scepter the Sword the Spurres All which were ordinarily kept in the Church of S. Denis whence in these late ciuill warres they were taken by the League and money made of them La Ligue vn monstreinsatiable vn gouffre qui deuoure tout vn feu qui consume tout vn torrent qui ruine tout a vollé brise cesse fondu tous ces ornements royaux The League a Monster that eates all a Gulfe that deuoures all a fire that consumes all a Torrent that ruines all hath stollen bruzed broken melted all these Royall ornaments The King of France present hath made newe ornaments for the Coronation which you saw at S. Denis The Princes and Peeres of France haue these Offices in that solemnitie The Archbishop of Rhemes doth annoint him King The Bishop of Laon beares the Ampulle The Bishop of Beauuais beares the Mantell Royall The Bishop of Noyon the Girdell The Bishop of Chaalons the Ring The Duke of Burgondie the Crowne The Duke of Guyenne the first Banner The Duke of Normandie the second The Count of Tholouse the Spurres The Count of Champaigne the Banner Royall or Standard The Count of Flanders the Sword royall Thus crowned hee holdeth the Sword in his hand and turning himselfe foure times East West North and South protesteth to defend the Church and maintaine Iustice against all persons of the world For which hee hath the Title of Most Christian King and first Sonne of the Church and is in right to haue precedence next the Emperour before all Princes Christian though the Spanish Embassadour of late hath thrust for the place and somtimes had it as namely at the Councel of Trent which wrong afterward the Pope and Colledge of Cardinals confessed and disauowed the fact The Spaniard also once since at the Emperours Court tooke the place and in Polonia likewise they lately striued where it was ordeined as our law is at the Ordinaries in London that hee which came first should sit first The Turke when hee writes to him this Title Le plus grand et le Maieur des plus grands Princes Chrestiens The greatest and chiefest of the greatest Christian Princes And whereas Haillan but with no great ground out of Histories would needes infâ—rre that all other Christian Princes hold of the Empire he alleageth for a singular preeminence and prerogatiue that this King holdeth nothing either of the Empire or Church of Rome but that he is next and immediatly vnder God supreme both ouer the Ciuill and Ecclesiasticke bodie of France because saith he he can impose taxes and payments vpon the Church without asking the Pope leaue he cannot onely present but also conferre benefices he hath in right the Election of the Pope as Charlemagne had though Lewes Debonnaire his sonne renounced againe this authoritie for Vn l'oy ne peut quitter son drâ—ict A King cannot giue away his right But Charles the Great had not this power as he was King of France but as he was Emperour I thinke therefore he doth the Empire wrong to whom doubtlesse this right still belongeth to bestow it vpon France For when the Empire was translated out of France into Germanie which was in the yeere 880. then were also all rightes and priuiledges thereto belonging of necessity to leaue this Countrey together with the Empire to which they are inseparably annexed As for the Pope ouer whom the French writers will needes giue their King a priuiledge of Election he desires them for ought I can learne to haue an oare in their boat rather Concerning the Armes of France they haue diuers times as it appeares by historie beene altered For the first Armes were three Toades After that changed to three Cressants then to three Crownes and lastly in the time when France embraced the Christian faith there were sent them from heauen say their fabulous writers Les fleurs ae lys d'or enchamp d' azure The floures de Luce Or in a field Azure With these armes of France the King nowe present quartereth his Armes of Nauarre which whether it be a wheele or a chaine with a Carbuncle in the midst as some say or what els I knowe not I cannot yet bee satisfied of any Frenchman that I haue asked I should now by course speake of the French Court wherein hauing yet spent no time I haue little to say I make no question but at our returne into these parts you will sufficiently instruct your selfe therein as with the diuers offices the number of the Noblesse that ordinarily follow it and their seuerall humours and fashions which is a thing very fit for you to obserue I can onely remember you of that which your selfe haue read in the booke of the late troubles which you may well call an Historicall declamation or declamatory history where it is said Iamais la Cour de nos Roys qui estoit autres-fois le seminaire des vertus de la Noblesse Françoise ne regorgea en plus de desordres des luxes d' exces que sous le regne du Henry 3 Neuer did the Court of our Kings which was heretofore the seede-plot of