Possession of the New World for the Kings of Spain Octob. 11. 1492. Afterwards he discovered and took Possession of Hispaniola and with much Treasure and Content returned to Spain and was preferred by the King for this good Service first to be Admiral of the Indies and in conclusion to the Title of the Duke De la Vega in the Island of Jamaica The next year he was furnished with 18 Ships for further Discovery in this second Voyage he discovered the Islands of Cuba and Jamaica and built the Town of Isabella after called Domingo in Hispaniola from whence for some severities used against the mutinous Spaniards he was sent Prisoner to Castile but very honourably entertained and cleared from all Crimes imputed to him In 1497. he began his Third Voyage in which he discovered the Countries of Paria and Cumana on the firm Land with the Islands of Cubagna and Margarita and many other Islands Capes and Provinces In 1500 he began his fourth and last Voyage in the course whereof coming to Hispaniola he was unworthily denied entrance into the City of Domingo after which scowring the Sea-Coasts he returned back to Cuba and Jamaica and from thence to Spain where six years after he died and was buried Honourably at Sevil where to this day an Epitaph remaineth on his Tomb far short of his merit which is to this purpose Christophorus genuit quem Genoa clara Columbus c. I Christopher Columbus whom the Land Of Genoa first brought forth first took in hand I know not by what Deity incited To scour the western Seas and was delighted To seek for Countreys never known before Crown'd with success I first descry'd the shore Of the New World then destin'd to sustain The future yoak of Philip Lord of Spain And yet I greater matters left behind For men of more means and a braver mind Columbus dying left two Sons behind him of which the youngest called Ferdinand died unmarried the the eldest named Diego succeeded his Father in the Admiralty of the Indies and the Dukedom of Vega and married the Duke of Alva's Daughter but having no issue by her he spent the greatest part of his Estate in Founding a famous Library in Sevil which he furnished with Twelve thousand Volumes and endowed with a liberal Revenue to maintain the same But though his Family be extinct yet his Fame shall live renowned to all Posterities as the first Discoverer of this New World and consequently the greatest and most Fortunate Advancer of the Spanish Monarchy though in his life-time so envied and maligned by most of the Spaniards that Bobadilla being sent into those parts for redress of Greivances loaded him with Irons and returned him Prisoner into Spain Nor did they only endeavour to deprive him of the honour of this Discovery after his Death by pretending that he had seen the Charts and Descriptions of some unknown Spaniard but in his Life-time they would often say That it was a matter of no such difficulty to have found these Countreys and that if he had not done it then some body else would have done it for him But he confuted their peevishness by this modest Artifice desiring some of them who had insolently enough contended with him about this Discovery to make an Egg stand firmly upon one of its ends which when after many Trials they could not do he gently bruising one end of it made it stand upright letting them see thereby without any further reprehension how easie it is to do that thing which we see another do before us Heylin's Cosmography Lib. 4. II. Columbus having thus led the way was seconded by Americus Vespusuis an adventurous Florentine employed therein by Emanuel King of Portugal in 1501 on a design to find out a nearer way to the Molucca's than by the Cape of Good Hope who though he passed no further than the Cape without having so much as a sight of the great River De la Plata which washeth the South parts of that Countrey yet from him to the Great Injury and neglect of the first Discoverer the Continent or Main Land of this Countrey hath the name of America by which it is still known and commonly called To him succeeded John Cabot a Venetian in the behalf of King Henry the seventh of England who discovered all the North-East Coasts thereof from the Cape of Florida in the South to New-foundland in the North causing the American Royale's or little Kings to turn Homagers to the King and Crown of England After whom there followed divers private Adventurers and Undertakers out of all parts of Europe bordering on the Ocean Ferdinando Magellanus was the first that compassed the whole World and found the South Passage called Fretum Magellanicum or the Magellan Streights to this day Heylin's Cosmog Lib. 4. III. But the most famous of all the Spaniards as I suppose saith P. Jovius for the Discovery of New Lands and People was Ferdinando Cortesius or Corter to whom the Spaniards stand indebted for the Kingdom of Mexico He was born in Medeline a Town of Estremadura in Spain 1485 and in the 19 year of his Age employed himself in the Trade and business of America for the improvement of his Fortune In 1511 he went as Clerk to the Treasurer for the Isle of Cuba where he so well husbanded his Affairs by carrying over Kine Sheep and Mares and bringing Gold for them in Exchange that in short time he very much improved his stock and now resolving to venture all his Credit both in Friends and Money he furnished himself with eleven Ships and with 550 Men set sail from Spain and arrived at the Island of Santa Cruce and sailing up the River Tabasco sacked the Town of Pontoncon the Inhabitants refusing to sell him Victuals After this by the help of his Horse and Ordinance he discomfited forty Thousand of the naked Indians who were gathered together to revenge themselves for the plundering their Town he then received the King thereof in Vassallage to the Crown of Spain Being told that Westward he should meet with some Mines of Gold he turned his Course for the Haven of St. John de Vlloa where landing he was entertained by the Governor of Montezuma King of Mexico who understanding of his coming and that he was a Servant of so Great an Emperor as Charles the fifth he sent him many rich Presents both of Gold and Silver Cortez inflamed at the sight thereof resolved to go unto the place where such Treasures were and took Possession of the Countrey in the Name of Charles the fifth King of Spain and Emperor of Germany and building there the Town De la Crux he left 150 of his men therein and attended with only 400 Foot 15 Horsemen and 6 pieces of Ordinance he pursued his Enterprize and having cunningly gained to his assistance those of Zempoallan Tlascala who were ill affected to Montezuma he marched on toward Mexico plundring in his way the Town of Chololla
Almagro that after they had wasted this rich Countrey of Peru and divided the Spoil among them yet they destroyed one another for Pizarro envying Almagro for being Governour of Cusco and not himself sent his Brother Ferdinand to Challenge him who was so fortunate as to take Almagro Prisoner and delivered him bound to Francis his Brother who cused him to be strangled privately in Prison and afterward publickly beheaded Ferdinand was after sent to Spain with a great Mass of Gold to clear himself of the death of Almagro yet could not so well justifie himself but that all his Treasure was seized and himself secretly made away in Prison Soon after this the kindred and Friends of Almagro whose Estate Pizarro had seized consulted with Don Diego Almagro his Son to revenge the death of his Father Twelve of them undertook the Business who coming into Francis Pizarro's house at Lima he being then Marquess and Governour of Peru they suddenbroke into it and immediately killed a Captain who guarded the entrance of the Hall and Martin of Alcantara so that he fell dead at his brother the Marquess his Feet who though he saw his men thus slain before his eyes and himself left alone in the midst of his Enemies yet he still made a stout defence till all falling upon him at once he was stabbed into the Throat and died Lastly Gonsal had his head cut off by the Emperours Command and thus finished they their wretched dayes answerable to their cruel Deserts Thus have we seen the deplorable Ends of Two of the most mighty and glorious Monarchs of this New World and peradventure of all our Western parts who were Kings over so many Kingdoms And these are the cursed Fruits of Covetousness and Ambition for which so many goodly Cities were ruined and destroyed so many Nations made desolate such infinite Millions of harmless innocent People of all Conditions Sexes and Ages wofully Massacred and Murdered and the richest fairest and best part of the World turned to a Field of Bloud And though we have the Vanity to call those Nations Barbarous who are not so wickedly knowing as our selves yet the ingenious discourse and Replies of these naked Americans shew that their Honesty Truth and Integrity have been the chief occasions of exposing them to the Slavery and Barbarity of these wicked Treacherous and Idolatrous Spanish Christians of which it may not be amiss to give the following Instance Certain Spaniards coasting along the Sea in search of Mines happened to Land in a very Fruitful Pleasant and well peopled Countrey who declaring to the Inhabitants That they were quiet and well meaning People coming from far Countreys being sent from the King of Castile the greatest King on the Habitable Earth unto whom the Pope representing God on Earth had given the Kingdoms and Dominions of all the Indies and that if they would become Tributary to him they should be kindly used and courteously dealt withal They likewise desired them to give them some Victuals to eat and some Gold wherewith to make certain Physical Experiments They also declared to them That they ought to believe in one God and to embrace the Catholick Religion adding withall some Threats thereunto The Indians having patiently heard them one of them returned this Ingenious answer That possibly they might be quiet and well meaning People though their Countenances shewed them to be otherwise And as for their King since he seemed to beg he appeared to be poor and needy And for the Pope who had made that distribution he seemed to be a man who loved mischief and dissention in going about to give that to a third man which was none of his own and so to make it questionable and raise quarrels among the ancient Possessors thereof As for Victuals they should have part of their store and for Gold they had but little and that it was a thing they very little valued as being utterly unprofitable for the service of their lives whereas all their care was to pass their time happily and pleasantly and therefore what quantity soever they should find of it except what was employed in the service of their Gods they should freely take it As touching one only God the discourse of him had very well pleased them but they were resolved by no means to change their Religion in which they had so long time lived so happily neither indeed did they use to take advice or Counsel but from their Freinds and Acquaintance As concerning their high words it was a sign of great want of Judgment to threaten those whose nature condition strength and power was utterly unknown to them And that therefore they should with all speed hasten out of their Countrey and Dominions since they were used to take in good part the kindnesses and discourses of Strangers but if they did not suddenly depart they would deal with them as they had done with some others shewing them the Heads of divers Persons lately executed sticking upon Stakes about their City Montaign's Essays Lib. 3. V. John Cabot succeeded Columbus in this Countrey who on the behalf of King Henry the seventh of England discovered all the North-East Coasts of America from the Cape of Florida in the South to New-found-land in the North causing the American Royolets or petty Kings to turn Homagers and swear Allegiance to the King and Crown of England In 1496 Sebastian Cabot his Son rigged up two Ships at the charge of the same King Henry who intended to go to the Land of Cathay and from thence to turn towards India to this purpose he aimed at a passage by the Northwest but after certain dayes he found the Land ran toward the North He followed the Continent to the 56 Degree under our Pole and there finding the Coast to turn toward the East and the Sea covered with Ice he turned back again Sailing down by the Coast of that Land towards the Equinoctial which he called Batalaos from the number of Fishes found in that Sea like Tunnies which the Inhabitants call Bacalaos Afterward he Sailed along the Coasts to 38 Degrees and Provisions failing he returned into England and was made Grand Pilot of England by King Edward the sixth with the allowance of a large Pension of 166 pound 13 shillings four pence a year Hackluits Voyages Vol. 3. VI. Sir Francis Drake was born nigh South Tavestock in Devonshire and brought up in Kent being the Son of a Minister who fled into Kent for fear of the six Bloudy Articles in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth and bound his Son to the Master of a small Bark which Traded into France and Zealand his Master dying unmarried bequeathed his Bark to him which he sold and put himself into farther Employment at first with Sir John Hawkins and afterward upon his own Account In the year 1577 Dec. 13. He with a Fleet of five Ships and Barks and 174 Men Gentlemen and Saylors began that Famous Navigation of his wherein he
Lyon Key taking with her only two Women and her Child she was no sooner out of doors but the Herald followed whereupon she stepped into the Charterhouse Gate so that he could not see her the Herald finding some things she had lost fell to ransacking them and in the mean time she hasted away knowing the place only by name where she should take boat Her Servants also divided themselves and only one of them knew the way thither Thus she attired in a mean habit and they that were with her took their way into Finsbury Fields where by the special Providence of Heaven near Moregate she and all her Company met and went together to Lyon-Key a Barge was there ready for her but the morning was so extream misty that the Steersman would not venture out without great intreaty Soon after the Council were informed of her departure whereupon some came presently to her house to inquire out the manner of her escape and to take an Inventory of her Goods and Orders were issued to apprehend her so that the noise of her Flight was at Leigh in Essex before her Arrival When she came thither the old Gentleman her Servant carried her privately to a Merchants house near Leigh naming her Mistriss White where she stayed till she had made some new Provision for her Child in the room of that left behind her at Barbican When the time came she was to take Shipping she hardly escaped Discovery and being ' twice carried into the Seas almost within sight of Zealand by contrary Winds was driven back to the place whence she came And at her last return the searchers suspecting she might be in that Ship examined her Servant that came to buy Victuals who told them such an innocent Story of a Merchants Wife which was on Shipboard that they searcht no further and so at last the safely arrived in Brabant where she met with her Husband who apparelling her and her Women like Dutch Froes they travelled to Santon and had leave from the Magistrates to live privately there but it being reported they were greater Personages than they pretended the Bishop and Magistrates resolved to seize and examine them both of their Condition and Religion but Mr. Berty having secret notice thereof took his Dutchess his Child and the two Women and about three Afternoon in February walked out as if to take the Air intending that Night to get to Wesel and the better to conceal his design they went on Foot and left the rest of their Family at Santon They had not gone above an English Mile but there fell a mighty Rain which dissolved the Frost and Ice and so made the wayes deep and slippery which proved extream tedious to these new Lacquies and no Waggon to be gotten so that Mr. Berty was forced to carry the Child and the Dutchess his Cloak and Rapier the Women being sent before At last near seven a Clock in the dark Evening they came to Wesel seeking after such a tedious Journey to repose and refresh their wearied Limbs in an Inn but they all refused to entertain them though they offered a considerable sum for the same judging them to be ill People In the mean time the poor Babe cried bitterly the Dutchess wept as fast the Weather was extream Cold and the Heavens rained as fast as the Clouds could pour Mr. Berty destitute of all Worldly Succour and relief for him and his in this deplorable Condition resolved to carry the Dutchess with her Infant into the Porch of the great Church and so to buy some Coals Food and Straw for their Repose that night or at least till he could procure some better Lodging Mr. Berty could speak little Dutch and could meet with none who understood either English French Italian or Latin till going toward the Church he heard two Boys speaking in Latin who stepping to them promised them two Stivers if they would bring him to a Walloons house and so it pleased God he happened into a house where Mounsieur Rivers a Minister was at Supper he had formerly been in England and received some Courtesies from this good Dutchess Mounsieur Rivers going to the door and seeing Mr. Berty his Dutchess and Infant in that lamentable Case with Rain Mire and Dirt and in Apparel so unlike what he had seen them in England was so overwhelmed with sorrow and tears that for some time he could neither speak to them nor they to him At last they saluted each other and he brought them to his house into which God knows they entred joyfully Mr. Berty changing his Clothes with the good Man of the House the Dutchess with his Wife and their Infant with the Child of the House Here they continued some time and then hired a House where they discovered themselves freely and lived in good fashion but whilst they past the time here with some content in hope of resting after their Tedious Travels Sir John Mason Queen Mary's Ambassador in the Netherlands gave them private notice of a design for seizing and carrying them back to England managed by the L. Paget For the D. of Brunswick being to pass by that City with ten Companies of Souldiers to assist the Emperour against the French it was contrived that he should suddenly apprehend them and carry them away from Wesel Upon this Information Mr. Berty with his Dutchess Child presently fly into the Palatinate and found Protection in Wincheim but the money which they brought out of England being almost spent they began to faint under their heavy burden being almost out of heart and hope in this their distressed condition at which time it pleased God to provide wonderfully for them by the following means One John a Lasco being driven out of England at Queen Maries coming to the Crown after many troubles and adventures returned into Poland his Native Countrey where he found great favour with that King and understanding the Condition of Mr. Berty and his Dutchess whom he had known in England he gave an account thereof to the King of Poland and the Palatine of Vilna who presently wrote to them to come thither with great offers of kindness They returned Letters full of Thanks to the King and Palatine and sent with them all the remainder of the Jewels which they had brought from England and having received Letters of Conduct for their Security in April 1557 the Dutchess with her Husband and Family began their Journey toward Poland By the way they met with many dangers One was occasioned by a Captain of the Lantgraves who quarrelled with Mr. Berty about a Spaniel of his and with his Horsemen set upon them by the way thrusting their Boar-spears through the sides of the Waggon where the Children and Women were yet it pleased God none of them were hurt Mr. Berty had only four Horsemen with him and in the quarrel the Captains Horse was slain under him upon which a Rumor was presently spread about the Countrey that
was the first Firebrand who kindled that lamentable and long War wherein the Netherlanders traded above fifty years in bloud For intending To increase the number of Bishops To establish the Decrees of the Council of Trent and to destroy the Power of the Council of State composed of the Natives of the Land by making it appealable to the Council of Spain and by adding to the former Oath of Allegiance many particulars for settling the Bloudy Spanish Inquisition and curbing their Consciences in matters of Religion These harsh unreasonable and Illegal Invasions upon their Civil and Religious Rights and Liberties were the first occasions of those dreadful Broyls and Devastations which after happened To appease which Ambassadors were dispatched to Spain from the Netherlands whereof the two first came to violent Deaths the one being beheaded and the other poysoned but the two last Count Egmond and Horn were still fed with false hopes till Philip the second had prepared an Army under the Conduct of the D. of Alva to compose the difference by Arms For as soon as he came to the Government he established the Bloet-Rad as the Hollanders termed it or Council of Bloud made up most of Spaniards Count Egmond and Horn were apprehended and afterward Beheaded Citadels were erected and the Oath of Allegiance with the Political Government of the Countrey in divers things altered This powered Oil on the Fire formerly kindled and put all in Combustion The Prince of Orange retires thereupon his eldest Son was surprized and sent as Hostage into Spain and above 5000 Families leave the Countrey Many Towns revolted which were afterward reduced to obedience which made the Duke of Alva say That the Netherlands belonged to the King of Spain not only by Descent but Conquest After this he attempted to impose the Tenth Penny for maintenance of the Garrisons in the Citadels he had erected at Grave Vtretcht and Antwerp where he caused his Statue made of Canon Brass to be erected trampling the Belgians under his Feet but all the Towns withstood this Imposition so that at last matters succeeding ill with him and having had his dear Friend Pacecio hanged at the Gates of Flushing after he had likewise traced out the Platform of a Citadel in that Town he was recalled back to Spain Don Lewes de Requiseus succeeded him who came short of his Predecessors Exploits and dying suddenly in the Feild the Government was invested for the time in the Council of State The Spanish Souldiers being without a Head gathered together to the number of 1600 and committed such Outrages up and down that they were Proclaimed Enemies to the State hereupon the Pacification at Gaunt was Transacted one Article whereof was That all Forreign Souldiers should quit the Countrey This was ratified by the King and observed by Don John of Austria who succeeded in the Government yet Don John retained the Lands-Knights still as some thought for Invading England He kept the Spaniards also hovering about the Frontiers for all occasions Certain Letters were intercepted which made a Discovery of some Projects and caused the War to bleed afresh Don John was hereupon proclaimed an Enemy to the State and the Arch-Duke Matthias was sent for who being a Man of small Performance and improper for the Times was dismist but upon Honourable Terms Don John soon after dyes some said of the Pox then comes in the Duke of Parma a man as of a different Nation being an Italian so of a differing Temper and more Moderate Spirit and of greater performance than all the rest reducing several Cities and great Towns to the Spanish Obedience He had threescore Thousand Men in Pay the choicest which Spain and Italy could afford At this time the French and English Ambassadors interceding for a Peace had a short answer of King Philip the second who said That he needed not the help of any to reconcile himself to his own Subjects and reduce them to Conformity but what difference there was he would refer to his Cosen the Emperor Hereupon the business was Treated at Colen where the Spaniard stood as high a Tiptoe as ever and notwithstanding the vast expence of Bloud and Treasure he had been at for so many years and that matters began to exasperate yet more which would prolong the War for ever he would abate nothing in point of Ecclesiastic Government but would impose the bloudy Spanish Inquisition upon their Souls and Turkish Slavery upon their Bodies and Estates Hereupon the States perceiving that King Philip could not be wrought either by the solicitations of other Princes or their own supplications so often repeated That they might enjoy the Freedom of Religion with other Civil Rights Freedoms and Infranchisements to which he was obliged by Oath being provoked likewise by that Ban or Proclamation which was published against the Prince of Orange That whosoever killed him should have 5000 Crowns They at last absolutely renounced and abjured the King of Spain for their Soveraign They broke his Seals changed the Oath of Allegiance and fled into France for Succour They set up the Duke of Anjou recommended to them by Queen Elizabeth to whom he was a Suitor for their Prince who attempted to render himself Absolute and so thought to surprize Antwerp but received there an ill-favoured repulse Yet nevertheless the Vnited Provinces for so they termed themselves ever after fearing to distast their next great Neighbour France made a second Offer to that King To desire his Protection and Soveraignty But he had too many Irons in the Fire at home the Vnholy League growing daily stronger against him he therefore answered them That his Shirt was nearer to him than his Doublet Then had they recourse to Queen Elizabeth who partly for her own Security and partly for Interest in Religion reacht them a supporting hand and sent them Men Money and the Earl of Leicester for their Governour who not agreeing with their Humor was soon recalled without any outward dislike on the Queens side for she left her Forces still with them but upon their Expence She lent them afterward some Considerable Sums of Money and received the Towns of Brill and Flushing for her Security and ever after the English were the best Sinews of their War and the Atcheivers of the greatest exploits among them Having thus made sure of the English they held the Spaniard tack many years and during those Traverses of War were very Fortunate against him At last a Treaty of Peace was propounded which the States or seven Provinces would not agree to singly with the King of Spain unless the Provinces that yet remained under him would engage themselves to the performance of the Articles besides they would not Treat either of Peace or Truce unless they were declared Free-States and Treated by the Title of The High and Mighty States of the Vnited Provinces all which was granted and so a Truce was Concluded which ended in a Peace that has continued without any
the Lantgraves Captain was slain by the Walloons which much enraged the Common people against them The Dutchess understanding their danger perswaded her husband to leave them and by the swiftness of his horse to recover some Town for his Security which Mr. Berty attempting to do was eagerly pursued by the Countrymen and the Captains Brother who thought he had been slain indeed And in the pursuit they came so near him that he had certainly been murthered but that as God would have it spying a Ladder standing against a Window he leapt off his Horse and ran up the Ladder whereby he got into a Garret on the top of the house where he defended himself for some time with his Sword and dagger till the Magistrates came and perswaded him to submit to the Law Mr. Berty knowing himself to be clear and the Captain alive yielded himself upon condition to be protected from the rude multitude and delivering up his weapons was committed to Custody till the Case should be heard Mr. Berty then writ to the Lantgrave and the Earl of Erbagh declaring his Case to them and the next morning the Earl came to Town where the Dutchess was now arrived in the Waggon The Earl having before heard of the Dutchess came to see her shewing much civility and respect toward her which the Townsmen observing and finding the Captain was alive they began to shrink away and make Friends to Mr. Berty and the Dutchess not to represent their Actions at the worst And thus through Divine Providence escaping this great danger also they proceeded in their Journey and at last arrived safely in Poland where they were entertained by the King with all humanity and kindness The King likewise settling them safely and Honourably in the Earldom of Crozan where they had as absolute a Power in Government as the King himself so that it proved to them a quiet Haven after so many Troubles in a Tempestuous Sea and there they lived with much Honour and Comfort till the Death of bloudy Q. Mary and then returned together with the Protestant Religion into their native Countrey in the Reign of Q. Elizabeth of Glorious Memory Clarks Martyr 521. IX A. B. Spotswood gives a very notable Relation of the Adventures and Dangers of Mr. John Craig as followeth In the year 1600. Mr. John Craig who had been Minister to King James in Scotland but through Age was compelled to quit the charge departed this Life whilst he lived he was had in great esteem a great Divine and an excellent Preacher of a grave behaviour sincere and inclining to no Faction and which increased his Reputation he lived honestly without Ostentation or desire of outward Glory Many tossings and troubles he indured in his life-time For in his younger years having passed his course in Philosophy in the University of St. Andrews he went from thence into England and waited on the Lord Dacres Children as a Tutor for two years But Wars then happening between England and Scotland he returned home and became a Fryer of the Dominican Order He had not lived long among them when upon suspicion of Heresie he was put into Prison after his Release he went back to England hoping by means of the L. Dacres to have got a place in Cambridge but his expectation being frustrated he went into France and from thence to Rome There he won such favour with Cardinal Pool that by his recommendation he was received among the Dominicans of Bononia and by them was first appointed to instruct the Novices of the Cloyster Afterwards when they perceived his diligence and dexterity in businesse he was employed in their Affairs throughout Italy and was sent in Commission to Chios an Island in the Ionick Sea to redress things that were amiss among those of their Order Herein he discharged himself so well that at his return he was made Rector of the School and thereby had access to the Libraries especially to that of the Inquisition where meeting with Calvins Institutions he was taken with a great liking thereof and one day discoursing with a Reverend Old Man of the Monastery he was by him confirmed in the opinion he had entertained but withall was warned by no means to discover himself or to make his mind known because the times were dangerous But he neglecting the Counsel of the old Man and disclosing his Opinions too freely was accused of Heresie and being sent to Rome after Examination he was Imprisoned for Nine Moneths at the end whereof being brought before the Judge of the Inquisition and making a clear Confession of his Faith he was condemned to be burnt the next day being the 29 of August It happened that the same night Pope Paul 4 died upon the noise of whose death the People came in a Tumult to the place where his Statue in Marble was erected and pulling it down did for the space of three dayes drag it through the Streets and in the end threw it into the River of Tiber During this Tumult all the Prisons were broke open and the Prisoners set free and among others Mr. Craig had his Liberty And as he endeavoured to escape as not thinking it safe to continue in the City two things happened to him not unworthy relating First in the Suburbs as he passed along he met a sort of Outlawed People whom they call Banditi One of the Company taking him aside demanded if he had ever been at Bononia He answered That he had been sometime there Do you not remember said he that walking on a time in the Feilds with some young Noblemen there came a poor maimed Souldier to you intreating some releis Mr. Craig said He did not well remember it But I do said he and I am the man to whom you then shewed kindness be not afraid of us for you shall incur no danger and so conveying him through the Suburbs and directing him the securest way he gave him so much money as might bear his Charges to Bononia for he intended to go thither thinking to find entertainment among his acquaintance there but at his coming to them they looked strangely upon him whereupon being afraid to be betrayed by them he got secretly away intending his Course for Millain By the way another Accident befell him which he afterwards often related to many Persons of Quality as a singular Testimony of Gods Providence and care over him and thus it was when he had travelled some days going out of the High-ways for fear of Discovery he came into a wild and desart Forrest and being sorely tired he lay down among some Bushes on the side of a little Brook to refresh himself lying there Pensive and full of thoughts not knowing where he was nor having money to bear his Charges a Dog with a Purse in his Teeth came fawning upon him and laid it down before him He being struck with fear rose up and judging it to proceed from God's favourable Providence toward him he followed his way till
he came to a little Village where he met with some who were travelling to Vienna in Austria whereupon changing his former intentions he went in their Company to that City Whilst he continued there professing himself one of the Dominican Order he was brought to preach before Maximilian 2. Emperor of Germany who likeing the Man and his manner of Preaching would have retained him if by Letters from Pope Paul 3. he had not been required to send him back to Rome as one that was condemned for Heresie The Emperor being unwilling to deliver him and on the other hand not willing to quarrel with the Pope sent him privately away with Letters of safe Conduct and so travelling through Germany he came into England where being informed of the Reformation begun in his own Countrey he went into Scotland and offered his Service to the Church but the long disuse of his Native Language having lived abroad 24 years made him unuseful at the first only now and then he preached a Sermon in Latin to the Learned in Magdalens Chappel in Edenburgh â—nd in the year 1567. having recovered the use of â—he language he was appointed Minister of Holy-rood House Next year he was removed to Edenburgh and was joyned as Colleague with Mr. Knox for Nine years space Then by Order of the General Assembly he was removed to Montress where he continued two years and upon the Death of Adam Heriot was removed from thence to Aberdeen having the inspection of the Churches of Mar and Buchan committed to his care In 1579 he was called to be K. James his Minister and served in that charge till born down with the weight of years he was forced to retire himself After which time forbearing all Publick exercises he lived privately at home comforting himself with the remembrance of the Mercies of God that he had experienced in his life past and this year Decemb. 12. without any pain he died peaceably at Edenburg in the 88 year of his Age. A. B. Spotswood History of Scotland pag. 461. X. The Great King Henry the Fourth of France saith Mr. Howell was as remarkable an Example of the Lubricity and unstableness of Mundane Affairs and of the Sandy Foundation whereon the highest Pomp and purposes of men are grounded as almost any Age can Parallel For this Illustrious Prince having a most potent and irresistible Army composed of Forty Thousand Combatants all choice men led by Old Commanders and the most expert Europe could afford in a perfect Equipage having also a Mount of Gold as high as a Lance estimated at sixteen Millions to maintain this Army having assured his Confederates abroad setled all things at home caused his Queen to be Crowned with the highest Magnificence imaginable and appointed her Regent in his absence behold this mighty King amongst these Triumphs of his Queens being to go next day â—o his Army when his Spirits were at the highest elevation and his heart swelling with assurances rather than hopes of Success and Glory going one Afternoon to his Armory he was stopped in a small streâ—t by so contemptible a thing as a Colliers Carâ— and there from amongst the Arms of his Nobles he was thrust out of the World by the meanest of his own Vassals the Villain Ravilliac who with a Prodigious Confidence put his Foot upon the Coach-wheel reached him over the Shoulders of one of his greatest Lords and stabbed him to the very heart and with a monstrous undauntedness of Resolution making good his first stab with a second dispatched him suddenly from off the Earth as if a Mouse had strangled an Elephant Sic parvis pereunt ingentia rebus And thus the smallest things Can stop the Breath of Kings Let us now see the deserved punishment of this Notorious bloudy Wretch This Francis Ravillac was born in Angoulesme by Profession a Lawyer who after the committing of that Horrid Fact being siezed and put upon the Rack May 25. the 27 he had Sentence of Death passed on him and was executed accordingly in the manner following He was brought out of Prison in his Shirt with a Torch of two pound weight lighted in one hand and the Knife wherewith he Murdered the King chained to the other he was then set upright in a Dung-cart wherein he was carried to the Greve or place of Execution where a strong Scaffold was built At his coming upon the Scaffold he crossed himself a sign that he died a Papist then he was bound to an Engine of wood made like St. Andrew's Cross which done his hand with the Knife chained to it was put into a Furnace then flaming with Fire and Brimstone wherein it was in a most Terrible manner consumed at which he cast forth horrible cryes like one tormented in Hell yet would he not confess any thing After which the Executioner having made Pincers Red hot in the same Furnace they did pinch his Paps the brawns of his Arms and Thighs the Calves of his Legs with other fleshy parts of his Body pulling out Collops of Flesh and burning them before his Face then they poured into those wounds scalding Oyl Rosin Pitch and Brimstone melted together after which they set a hard Roundel of Clay upon his Navel having a hole in the middle into which they poured melted Lead at which he again roared out most horribly yet confessed nothing But to make the last act of his Tragedy equal in Torments to the rest they caused four strong Horses to be brought to tear his body in pieces where being ready to suffer his last Torment he was again questioned but would not reveal any thing and so died without calling upon God or speaking one word concerning Heaven His Flesh and Joints were so strongly knit together that those four Horses could not in a long time dismember him but one of them fainting a Gentleman who was present mounted upon a mighty strong Horse alighted and tied him to one of the Wretches Limbs yet for all this they were constrained to cut the flesh under his Armes and Thighs with a sharp Razor whereby his body was the easier torn in pieces which done the Fury of the People was so great that they pulled his dismembred Carcass out of the Executioners hands which they dragged up and down the dirt and cutting off the fllesh with their Knives the Bones which remained were brought to the place of Execution and there burnt the Ashes were cast in the Wind being judged unworthy of Earths Burial By the same Sentence all his Goods were forfeit to the King It was also ordained that the House where he had been born should be beaten down a recompence being given the owner thereof and never any house to be built again on that ground That within fifteen dayes after the Publication of the Sentence by sound of Trumpet in the Town of Angoulesme his Father and Mother should depart the Realm never to return again if they did to be hanged up presently His Brethren Sisters
saved and had not been discharged which his Master brought to him to teach him the use of it which for fear of his Masters displeasure and their inhumanity he endeavoured to do but they still professing their Ignorance he was forced to shoot it off But the Negroes who expected some delightful thing being frustrated and at the sudden noise and flash of fire which they very much dread fled from him greatly affrighted yet soon after hearing no more of that noise they came up to him again commanding him to do the like He told them he had not Powder which was the cause of the noise but this would not satisfie these Barbarians and therefore thinking it wilfulness they would have murthered him had not his Master rescued him After this in discourse with his Master he told him That naturally the people were civil and simply honest but if provoked full of revenge and that this their barbarous dealing was occasioned by some unhandsome action of carrying a Native away from thence without their leave about a year before they resolving if any came on shore they should never go off alive About 7 weeks after Wats had been in the Country his Master presented him to his King named Efnme King of the Buckamores who immediately gave him to his Daughter called Onijah when the King went abroad he attended him as his Page throughout the whole Circuit of his Dominions which was not above 12 Miles yet he boasted extreamly of his Power and Strength glorying exceedingly that he had a White Man to attend him whom he imployed to carry his Bow and Arrows In several places far from the Seaside the people would run away from him for fear others would fall down and seem to worship him using those Actions as they do to their Gods Their progress was never so long but they could return home at night but never without a handsome load of a cup of the Creature for he seldom or never went abroad and came home sober Their drink is of the best Palm Wine and another sort of strong Liquor called Penrore Wats knew quickly how to humour this profound Prince and if any of the Natives abused him upon his complaint he had Redress as once by striving with a Negro his Arm was broke which by Providence more than skill was set again After some Months the King of Calamanch whose name was Esn mancha hearing of this beautiful White Courted his Neighbour Prince to sell him to him at length they struck a bargain and Wats was sold for a Cow and a Goat This King was a very sober and moderate person free from the treacheries and mischiefs that the other was subject to He would often discourse Wats and ask him of his King and Country whether his Kingdoms and Dominions were as big as his which were not above 25 Miles in length and 15 in breadth Wats told him as much as his understanding and years made him capable of keeping still within the bounds of modesty and yet relating as much as possible to the Honour and Dignity of his Soveraign First informing him of the greatness of one of his Kingdomes the several Shires and Counties it contained with the number of its Cities Towns and Castles the strength of each the infinite Inhabitants and valour of his Subjects One of these Kingdoms was enough sufficiently to amaze this Petty Governour that he had no need to mention any more of His Majesties Glory and Dignity It put him into such a profound Consternation that he resolved to find out some way to shew his respects to this Mighty Prince and told John Wats that if he could find but a Passage he would let him go to England to tell his Maiesty of the great favour and respect he had for him Which did not a little rejoyce our Englishman withal the King told him He would send him a present which should be two Cabareets or Goats which they value very highly the King himself having not above 16 or 18 of them Wats tells the King that the King of England had many Thousands of his Subjects who were under the degree of Gentlemen that had a Thousand Sheep apeice the Flesh whereof they valued at a very much higher rate than Goats Though our Englishman lived very handsomely with this King yet his desires and hopes were for his Native Countrey and at length he obtained a Promise from his King That the first English Ship which came into the Road should have liberty to release or purchase him This very much rejoyced his heart and now he thought every day a year till he could hear of or see some English Ship arrive and oft did he walk to the Sea side to receive some comfort which at length was observed by Jaga a Wizard and the chiefest in 3 or 4 Kingdoms thereabout They are persons that the Natives give very much credit to and on any difficult occasion run to them for satisfaction And though they have vast numbers of them in every place yet this Jaga was the most renowned amongst them One day he comes to Wats and asked him very civilly why he so often frequented that place who told him It was to see if he could discover any English Ship to come in there But Wats being unacquainted with his great fame asked him when he did believe there would one come in Not that he was willing to give credit to any of their Divinations but supposing hereby to please him and answer his expectation Jaga immediately told him That 15 days after an English Ship should come into that Road He then askt him whether that Ship should carry him away To which he answered very doubtfully but told him He should be offered to the Master of the Ship and if they did not agree so that he were brought to shore again he should not be sold but would dye for grief These 15 days seemed very tedious to Wats who cast many a look on the Sea with an aking heart The 14th day he went to the highest Hill thereabout but could discover no Ship the next morning he went again 2 or 3 times but saw none About 2 or 3 hours after some Moors came running and told the King there was a Canoe coming for so they called our Ships At which our Englishman rejoyced heartily in hope of release yet durst not shew it for fear of Punishment or Death for though he lived better now than with his first Master yet his service was far worse than the slaves in Turkey and their Diet worse than Dogs meat he had therefore cause enough of inward joy The Ship came immediately in and Wats goes presently to Jaga to know if it were an English Ship who assured him it was It happened to be the St. Malo's Merchant Captain Royden Commander who hastned to dispatch his business took in his Negroes and was ready to sail and our Englishman heard not a word what should become of him the King never offering
Queens and numerous Wives Some few Courtiers who among so many Traytors remained faithful to him attended with a doleful silence upon the Emperour and Empress who could neither speak a word nor shed a tear sorrow had taken such entire possession of their hearts Zunchin was a young Prince endowed with all the qualities that might render him amiable to his People His Royal Spouse the Empress loved him with so tender an affection that to testifie the sincerity of her Passion to him she resolved to dye either with or before him The Prince being very pensive and sollicitous how to prevent greater disgraces went together with those who accompanied him towards a little Grove at the entrance of which he stopped and then the Empress guessing at his design approached to him and giving him her last embraces she parted from that person which was the dearest to her of all things upon Earth with all the grief and sorrow that Humane Nature is capable of and then she entred all alone into the Grove and with a Cord hanged her self upon one of the Trees A dreadful spectacle which might make even those who were more sensless than the Trees lament so direful a death of so great an Empress Presently after the Emperour went and placed himself near his Wife whom he saw hanging upon a Tree having finished her Life by a death as violent as that which he had inflicted upon his Daughter Then poor Prince he asked a little Wine of one of the Lords which attended him not that he was a lover of Wine but on the contrary was the most sober and moderate in his pleasures of all the Princes which ever governed the Empire And was so chast toward women that he never frequented his Seraglio which made his Subjects call him the Chast Prince It was not therefore for the love of Wine but a little to revive and refresh his Spirits And doubtless he had need of great courage to put in Execution what he designed When the Wine was presented to him he sipped a little of it and then biting with violence one of his Fingers and squeezing out his blood he writ therewith these following words The Mandorins or Eunuchs are all Villains they have perfidiously betrayed their Prince they all deserve to be hanged and it will be a laudable Act of Justice to execute this Sentence upon them It is fit they should all suffer death that thereby they might instruct those who succeed them to serve their Prince more Loyally As for the People they are not Criminal and deserve not to be punished and therefore to use them ill will be injustice I have lost my Kingdoms which I recieved in inheritance from my Ancestors In me is finished the Royal Line which so many Kings my Progenitors continued down to me with all the Grandeur and Fame suitable to their Majestick Dignity I will therefore for ever close my eyes that I may not see this Empire descended to me thus ruined and ruled by a Tyrant I will go and deprive my self of that Life for which I can never suffer my self to be indebted to the basest and vilest of my Subjects I have not the confidence to appear before them who being born Subjects are become my Enemies and Traytors It is fit the Prince should dye since his whole State is now expiring And how can I endure to live having seen the loss and destruction of that which was dearer to me than Life The Prince after he had thus writ what his just grief dictated to him he untied his Hair and covering his face presently with his own hands he hanged himself upon a Tree near to that on which the Empress remained strangled This was the Tragical Catastrophe of this unfortunate Monarch The Emperour of China remained thus hanging on a Tree the Prince who was the Idol of his people at the very name of whom Millions of men trembled The Soveraign of above an 100 Millions of Subjects the Monarch of a Kingdom as spacious as all Europe He who counted his Souldiers by Millions and his Taxes and Tributes by hundreds of Millions Finally the Potent Emperour of the great Empire of China is hanged upon a tree and his Royal Consort the Empress upon another near him What a weighty load did the trunks of these trees support But of what weight had it need be to make the great men upon earth duly weigh what all their terrible and ambitious Grandeur is which in so few moments passes from the height of the felicities of this Life to an Abyss of misery This unhappy Monarch finished his Reign at the Age of 32 years He dyed very soon but it was his misfortune he dyed no sooner For whatever King or Emperour he be who reckons his years which have been exposed to such direful Tragedies cannot be said to have lived such a number of years but to have undergone a far greater number of miseries and calamities The Report of the Emperours death being soon spread over the City those Loyal Subjects who had hitherto resisted abandoned their resolution So that Ly presently became Master both of the City and Court taking up his quarters in the Imperial Pallace where he saw himself possessed of all the prodigious treasures of that vast State and was soon after Crowned in the Court at Pequin and Proclaimed Soveraign Emperour of China yet he enjoyed his trayterous usurpation a very short time for the Tartars reckoning all Obligations of the former League of peace made void by the death of Zunchin and all the Royal Family Soon after invaded the Empire of China and made an absolute conquest thereof forcing the Tyrant Ly to fly and hide himself in the Northern parts of the Kingdom who has not since been heard of Neither did the treacherous Eunuchs escape vengeance for they were in a little while most of them destroyed and cut off by the Tartars History of China c. FINIS Advertisements There are lately published by R. Burton four very useful pleasant and necessary books which are all sold by N. Crouch at the Bell next Kemp's Coffee-house in Exchange Ally over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil I. ADmirable Curiosities Rarities and Wonders in England Scotland and Ireland or an account of many remarkable persons and places and likewise of the battels sieges prodigious Earthquakes tempests inundations thunders lightnings fires murders and other considerable occurrences and accidents for many hundred years past and among others The Preaching of K. Hen. 3. to the Monks at Winchester The Quo Warranto sent over Eng. by K. Edw. 1. The manner of the horrid murther of K. Edw. 2. The conspiracy at Oxford and Shrewsbury against K. Hen. 4. discovered by the D. of York and the Articles charged against the K. The battle of Bosworth and the miserable death of Crook-backt Richard The beheading of the L. 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