Selected quad for the lemma: king_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
king_n earl_n henry_n sir_n 22,904 5 6.1717 4 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A44749 Proedria vasilikē a discourse concerning the precedency of kings : wherin the reasons and arguments of the three greatest monarks of Christendom, who claim a several right therunto, are faithfully collected, and renderd : wherby occasion is taken to make Great Britain better understood then [sic] some forren authors (either out of ignorance or interest) have represented her in order to this particular : whereunto is also adjoyned a distinct Treatise of ambassadors &c. Howell, James, 1594?-1666. 1664 (1664) Wing H3109; ESTC R21017 187,327 240

There are 16 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

Christ. Catholicae Ecclesiae Episcopus ss Then his Seal or Signet engraven within Sanctus Petrus † Sanctus Paulus and this Motto about Ad Dominum cùm tribularer clamavi Exaudivit Me. Then the subscription of 27 Cardinals on both sides of the Signet the Cardinal Bishops on the right-hand of the Signet and close to it then on their right-hand the Priests-Cardinals and on the left side of the Signet as it is accustomed in all Bulls and other Public Instruments the Deacon-Cardinals have their place and precedence King Henry's Book against Luther was presented to the Pope in full Consistory by Sir Iohn Clerk then Ambassador at Rome for the King with a long solemn Oration the Original of which Book is yet to be seen in the Vatican at Rome with this Inscription written with King Henries own hand Anglorum Rex Henricus Leoni X̄ mittit Hoc Opus Fidei testem Amicitiae Henry King of the English sends this Work to Leo the Tenth as a Witness both of Faith and Friendship And as the Kings of England themselfs have such super-eminent Titles so their First-born Sons have a Title not inferior to any Royal Heir apparent in Christendome which is Prince of Wales and this Title is many years more ancient then that of Dauphin in France Moreover whereas other Kings Sons come so naked to the world that they have not of their own wherewith to buy them Clouts or pay their Nurses but what they have from their Parents The First-born of the King of England ipsissimo instante the very same instant that he is born is Duke of Cornwal and is presuppos'd by the Law to have Liv●…ry and Seisin then given him of the said Duchy with all the Lands Rents and Honors therunto annex'd T is tru that the conferring of the Title of Prince of Wales depends meerly upon the Kings Plesure which was done out of a Political consideration to keep the Kings first Sons still in awe and within the bounds of a greater Obedience Nor is there any Queen also lives in a greater State and Dignity or hath more Prerogatives and greater Joyntures then the Queen of England For though Aliens at first and still under Couvert Baron yet they may pourchase Lands by Fee-simple They may make Leases and Grants without the King They also must be petitiond unto first before any can implead them in point of right We will proceed now to the fourth Paragraph Touching the Martial Exploits and Achievments which the Kings of Great Britain have performed from time to time c. TO proceed in this Paragraph we must make Retrosvects a far off we will begin with Brennus that bold Britain who in the Government of Consuls took and sack'd Rome 364 yeers before Christ and did notable feats afterwards in Greece and Asia insomuch that the Welch in honour of that Heroe their Country-man call a King from his Name Brenin to this day Cataracus overthrew a mighty Army of the Romanes and Boadicia slew 70 thousand of them in one Battel as their own stories declare King Arthur is rank'd among the Nine Worthies for he discomfited the Saxons in twelve several Battails and erected the first Order of Knighthood There was one English King and three Kings Sons went to the Wars of the Holy Land What Exploits did Richard coeur de Lion perform there so much to the envy of the King of France who therfore returnd before him He conquerd the Iland of Cyprus where Marrying Berengaria he transferrd the Kingdome to Guy Lusignan who had right to the Crown of Ierusalem which in exchange he resignd to King Richard But the French are they whom the English did so often rout subdue and subjugat with the Grey-goose Wing wherwith they did so often penetrat the very heart of France in so many glorious Victories that can be hardly paralleld take all circumstances We will instance in some of the most famous and begin with that of Cressy the first great Battel The Battail of Cr●…ssy in France That Heroyk King Edward the third having been provoked by divers Affronts that Philip of Valois the French King had offe●…'d him goes over in person to France with an Army of 80000 men at Arms and 10000 Archers as Froissard hath it He takes with him his Son the Prince of Wales and Duke of Guyenne being but 15 years of Age calld afterwards the Black Prince to train him up in feats of Arms. Landing in Normandy he carries all the Country before him as far as Poissy within ten miles of Paris and after divers Skirmiges a Battail was appointed King Edward had incamp'd neer a Village calld Cressy where he divided his Army to three Battalions the first was led by the Prince of Wales the second by the Earls of Arundel and Northampton in the third was the King himself The Battail thus orderd being mounted upon a White Hobby he rides from Rank to Rank encouraging evry man to the performance of his duty and to have a regard to the Honor of his King and Country The French Kings Army was at least twice the number consisting of above 60000 Combatants with all the flower of the French Chivalry whereof the chief were the Duke of Alanson the Kings Brother the King of Bohemia the Duke of Lorrain the Earl of Flanders and Savoy with other great Princes The Vangard was led by the Kings Brother the Reer by the Earl of Savoy the main Battail by the King himself The French King was so fierce in assurance of Victory that he wold scarce admit of any counsel The old King of Boheme advis'd that the Army shold receive some refreshment before and that the Infantry of Genowais whereof ther were 15000 Crossbows shold make the first Front and the Cavalry to follow which being agreed on the Duke of Alanson did stomack that the Genowais shold have the honor of the first Rank so in a kind of fury he caus'd them to change place which bred such a discontent that they were more incensd against their Leader then against the Enemy but in the interim ther fell such a showre of Rain that wetted their Bowstrings which they had not the wit to cover all the while as the English did that for the limmerness therof when they came to action they grew useless At the ceasing of the showre the Sun did shine full in the face of the French therby dazzling their eyes but on the back of the English King Edward being got into a Windmil all the while whence as from a Sentinel he might explore and behold the face of the Enemy and discovering the disturbance that was made because the Genowais were put to change their place instantly gave order to charge that part which made the discontented Genoway to recoyl Alenson perceiving this rides on in a rage crying out Sa sa on on let 's make way ore the Bellies of these Genowais for they do but hinder us So riding through them he came
then the Son Count Gondamar being invited another time to Dine with the Reader at Grayes Inne at which time the Palsgrave was newly come to Prague among other Healths ther was one begun to the King of Bohemia He pledgd it very merrily and thankd the Reader with the rest of the Company for it was the first time that ever he pledgd the Emperours Health in England Having another time dispatchd an Express to Spain and the weather having continued dark and clowdy in London for many days the Post having receavd the Packet and taken his leave Count Gondamar commanded and told him I forgot one thing I prethee when thou art come to Spain commend me to the Sun for I have not seen him here a great while and I am sure thou wilt meet with him there King Iames having granted leave to Count Gondamar to raise Volonteers to Flanders for the service of the King of Spain under my Lord Vaux and soldiers coming but slowly to the sound of the Drum Gondamar coming a little afterwards to Court the King askd him what number of soldiers he had levied He answerd Truly Sir I can have but few soldiers but thousands that wold be Captains though they were but common soldiers before I will conclude with Count Gondamar in this very witty passage when he was to take his leave of England in his last Embassy the King sent to my Lord Mayor of London to invite him to Dinner which he did with much solemnity having bid the chiefest Lords of the Court to bear him company At first the Lord Mayor after other Complements told him My Lord Ambassador your Excellency me thinks begins to grow very gray Yes Sir said he but my Lord Mayor we have a Proverb in Spain Canos y Cuernos no Uienen Porannos Gray Hairs and Horns come not by yeers Being sate at Table the Lord Mayor began divers Healths at last Gondamar calls for a good Glass-full of Canary and said You are the greatest Magistrat in the world for you give place to none but to your own King as I hear and you live also as plentifully But now that you have made so much of me that having pledgd so many Healths you put me in a Jovial humor I crave leave of these Noble Lords and you to begin a Health or two and the first shall be to the King of Spains Mistress so the Health was drunk round Then he took another Glass of Canary and began a Health to the King of Spains Wife which also passd round among the Lords and Aldermen Then standing up He thankd them all with many Complements and said I will now discover who these two Ladies are The King of Spains Mistress is the East-Indies and his Wife the West-Indies Ther 's none so fond of a Mistress but that if a Frend hath a favor of her he will connive at it as you my Lord Mayor and these worthy Aldermen whom I have in my eye use to have of the East-Indies But my Masters Wife is the West-Indies which he desires to have soly to himself according to the Law of Nations Therfore I pray you my Lord Mayor and these Noble Aldermen do not offer to meddle with the King my Masters Wife We will now proceed to a few others An Ambassador Extraordinary being sent by an Italian Prince to the Emperour that he wold confer the Title of Serenity upon his Master as he had done lately upon divers other Princes But being to depart Re infectâ and taking his leave of the Emperour that morning and the weather being foul and very tempestuous he askd what was the reason he wold begin his Journey upon such stormy weather He answerd Ilne faut pas craindre la Tempeste puis que votre Majesté à remply le monde de tant de Serenité One ought not to fear Tempests since your Majesty hath filld the world with such Serenity Don Pedro Andrea being sent Ambassador to a Prince whom he had offended so far that he threatned to have his head cut off He answerd Sir my dead head will do you more mischief then now that t is living Francisco Marco being sent from Genoa to Galeazzo Duke of Milan but being delayed audience and St. Iohn Baptists day being come who was Protector of Milan he presented the Duke with a Golden Vessel full of Basilique Being askd the reason he sent word that the Genouois have the property of the Herb Basilique which if one handle gently it will yeeld a sweet smell but if it be rubbd and trod upon it it will engender Serpents And this witty passage conducd much towards the ending of the differences which were then a foot The Samnits being pressd hard by the Romans they sent Ambassadors to capitulat who said Noble Romans you are grown too strong for us therfore if you propose moderat terms we will observe them eternally if otherwise we will observe them no longer then till we have opportunity to break them That Ambassador wanted no wit who being in a Pagan Country and standing in the way where the great Idol whom all were to worship which passd by he let fall his Ring and as he bowd to take it up t was thought he adord the Idol The Ambassadors of Portugal and Poland being at Sigismund the Emperours Court and ther being always competition between them for Precedence of Session they met casually at a place where the Portugais having come before he was got into the upper Chair The Pole rising up and making a step forward in a posture as if he wold speak with him and the Portugais coming towards him he whippd behind him into the upper Chair and so kept it We will conclude this Paragraph with the two Ambassadors of Perugia sent to Rome wherof the one was witty but the other not so wise Being admitted to the Pope who was then very sick a bed one of made them a long tedious Speech wherof the Pope had shewn signes of distast Therupon the second said Most Holy Father our Commission implies that if your Beatitude will not suddenly dispatch us with satisfaction my Collegue shold recommence his Speech and pronounce it again more lesurely The Pope was so taken with this that he gave order they shold be presently dispatchd The tenth and last Paragraph Of the extraordinary Prudence and Reservedness the Stoutness and Gallantry of divers English Ambassadors c. WE will begin with that Grandee of his time Cardinal Wolsey who went over to France upon an Extraordinary Embassy and he had to attend him though not in joynt commission Cutbert Tunstal Bishop of London the Lord Sands late Chamberlain to the King the Earl of Derby Sir Thomas Moore Sir Henry Guilford with other Knights and Gentlemen of great rank to the number of a thousand two hundred horse for after a short transfretation from Dover he had so many in his train when he went out of Calice The French King Francis 1. in
in the I le of Britain Just according to the ancient Greek Poet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Many Lords are not good let there be but One. Now from that time to this the King of Britain had and hath as Souveraign and incontroulable a sway as any 'T is true that he admits others sometimes to share with him in Counsel but not in Power by a kind of Influence he gives Light and Command to others but he himself receives none from any In the Neighbouring Monarchies it cannot be said so and particularly in France and Spain where it may be said ther is Regnum in regno ther is another Power à Legatus de latere that in a Court of Plea sways ore the Ecclesiastiques who make a considerable part of the Peeple Touching the latter the King of Spain is Feodary either to the Pope the Emperour or to France for all the Countries he hath The Kingdomes of Navarre and Granada were made Feodary to the Pope under Iulius the second Aragon to Innocent the third as also Sardinia in formula fiduciae Sicilia is relevant from the Church as also both the Indies and the Canary Ilands For the Kingdome of Naples and Calabria he sends a Mule with a Purse-full of Gold as a Heriot to Rome evry year for fear of an Excommunication the next day at the receit whereof the Pope says Sufficiat pro hac vice He holds the Dukedome of Milan from the Empire and most of the Provinces in the Netherlands from France whereof he is a double Peer as he is Duke of Burgundy and Earl of Flanders Now 't is questionable among the Civilians whether a Feodary or Homager may be call'd an Absolut Prince specially when Appeals may be made from him to another Court as the Spanish Clergy may from the King to Rome in divers cases The Kings of ENGLAND are free from Subordinations of that kind as the Fundamental Laws of the Land and all the ancient Learned Judges do evidence 'T is a Principle in the English Laws which is confirm'd by Baldus and other great Forren Jurists That Rex neminem habet in Dominiis suis nec Superiorem nec Parem The King in his own Dominions hath neither Superior nor Equal He may be said to be both Caesar and Pompey There is another Omnes sub Illo Ille sub nullo All under Him He under none Another yet Satis habet Rex ad poenam quod Deum expectet Ultorem 'T is enough for the King that God is to be his Judge which is expressed in this Distic Subditus in Regem peccat Legemque Fidemque At Rex in Solum Rex quia nempe Deum Ther are divers others that are conducing hereunto As The King must not be put to do any thing per aspertè but of his free plesure The King never dies but the Heir apparent is King Inchoative as soon as the former dies and the Coronation is but a meer Ceremony not Essential for divers Kings as Hen. 5. and others had Alleageance sworn unto them before they were Crowned There are more Maximes yet That the King can do no wrong but his Ministers may through whose mouths he pronounceth sentence Moreover Nullum tempus occurrit Regi Ther 's no Immemorial or Prescription against the King It is High Treson not only to contrive but to imagine ill against the King By the Kings Prerogative Life it self may be leased c. But that Traverse twixt King Iohn and the Legat Pandolpho when they say he transferred the Crown to the Pope is much insisted upon wherunto t is thus answered That ther are four great things whereof the Records cannot be found The first is that wherin the Emperour Constantine gave Rome to the Pope The second is that wherin Venice hath the Dominion of the Adriatic or Illyrian Gulph The third is the Salique Law The fourth is that Instrument wherby King Iohn pass'd over his Crown and made the Pope Lord Paramount of England Sir Thomas More who was so far devoted to Rome that he is canoniz'd for one of her Martyrs denieth absolutly that King Iohn either did or could make England Feudetary to the Pope because without the consent of his Barons an Act so much prejudicial to his Royal Successors was not valid and that the Peter-pence which they hold to be a Tribut relating to the foresaid Act was but a meer Alms which was given by King Ina 500 years before Moreover put case ther had been such an Act yet it stands upon good record that Innocentius the third did give a Release in these words Per Praeceptum Domini Papae 7 Iulii Homagium relaxatur omninò The Rome-scot also was but Regis larga benignitas the Kings bountiful kindness Adde hereunto that when the Pontificial Power was here at the highest pitch no Legat de latere was allowed but the Archbishop of Canterbury his Subject who by his Dignity is perpetual Legat de latere He is Legatus natus as he of Toledo is in Spain and the Primat of Armagh in Ireland and in point of Precedence at the Council of Clermont anno 1096. a Prerogative was given him for ever to sit at all general Councils at the Popes right foot Pope Urban at that time declaring in these terms Includamus hun●… in Orbe nostro tanquam alterius Orbis Pontificem Maximum Let us include him in our world as Pope of another world 'T is true ther have been other Legats de latere upon extraordinary occasions admitted but it was with the Kings leave and with this Proviso That he hath no Authority to hold Plea in the Realm prejudicial to the Laws thereof or derogatory to the King Thus it appears that no Extern power hath any thing to do in Great Britain and as the Pope so the Peeple neither whether consider'd Diffusively Collectively Representatively or Vertually partake any thing of the Souverain Power ther is no power either Co-ordinat Co-equal Corrival or Collateral with it The Kings of England have had always by the known Laws of the Land a pure underived Power not depending upon Pope or Peeple or any other Prince whatsoever They are Kings by the Grace of God which implies no earthly Dependency It stands upon good record how King Ina in the Preamble to his Laws for he was a great Legislator begins I Ina by the Grace of God King c. and this was above a thousand years ago about two hundred years before Charlemain in whose time that stile of Dei Gratia came first in use in the Empire And as on Land the King of Great Britain hath such a Latitude and Independence of Supreme Power so by Sea he hath the like which is such that without disparagement much less any injustice to any I may avouch no other Prince hath the like The greatest claim of Sea-Dominion that France makes is to the Coasts of Armorica or little Britany and a few Leagues in the Mediterranean The Spanish Laws are for the
of Peace As I was writing this me thought I had whisperd in my ear that the French King hath one kind of Power that transcends any of the King of Great Britains which is that he may impose what Taxes he please upon the peeple by his Edicts alone T is tru he can and he may thank the English for that power for when they had coopd him up in a corner of France in Berry the Victorious English being Masters of the rest That Power which before was in the Assembly of the three Estates of laying Impositions was invested in the King himself pro tempore during the Wars because the three Estates could not assemble But this Power makes him a King of Slaves rather then of Free Subjects and if they may be calld Subjects they are Subjects of an Asinin condition which cannot have any tru manly courage in them or a competency of wealth to bear it up which is the cause that though France be a rich and self-sufficient Country yet some think ther are more Beggers in Her then in all Christendome besides Now it is a Principle in the Civil Law That Dominum habere nobiliorem confert ad dignitatem Vassalorum nobiliorum habere populum confert ad nobilitatem Principis To have the nobler Lord conduceth to the dignity of the Vassal and to have the nobler Peeple conduceth to the dignity of the Prince By this Axiome the King of Great Britain is the more Noble because he is Lord of a free-born wealthy peeple and not of Slaves and Beggers Yet it cannot be denied but that it is one of the greatest advantages of power and repute for a King to be Rich provided he come not to be so by grinding the faces of his Subjects The Republik of Venice and the Seat of Genoa carry that high esteem in the world because the one hath the Tresury of Saint Mark and the other the Bank of St. George The Duke of Florence is stild the Grand Duke more then other Dukes who have larger Territories because he hath always a rich Tresury Therfore I will draw towards a conclusion of this Paragraph with this most humble Intimation to the great Council of England now Prorogued that at their Re-access they wold please to consider that wheras the fame of being Rich and to have the Coffers of his Crown well ballasted conduceth so much to the Repute of a King and so by Reflexions upon the whole Nation As also to make Him redoubtable both abroad and at home And wheras the contrary fame exposeth him to contempt Insultings and Pasquils as some frisking French Wits have bin lately too busie and bold that way and likewise our Neighbour Hans who daily offers us such insolencies which makes me think of an Italian Proverb which though homely yet it comes home to this purpose Cavagliero ò Principe senza quatrini è come un muro senza croce da tutti scompisciato A Cavalier or Prince without money is like a Wall without a Cross for evry one to draw upon Therfore I am bold to reiterat the foresaid humble Intimation I will not presume to say Advice though it may be well calld so to the Honorable House of Commons when They reassemble That in their great Wisedoms they wold have a sense of the present condition in this particular of their King so miraculously restord unto Us by a pure Act of the Omnipotent And that wheras the Two Neighbouring Kings have of late yeers enhancd their Revenues and Incomes far higher then they were formerly They wold be pleasd to think it not only agreeable to the Rules of tru Policie but most necessary for the Honor and safety of the whole Nation to make the Monarck of Great Britain to correspond and bear up in a hansome proportion this way with either of Them as He doth in all other things besides A Corollary to what hath bin said in this first Section IN the preceding Paragraphs it appeers by luculent and cleer proofs how the King of Great Britain Had to his Predecessor the first Christian King that ever was upon earth He had to his Predecessor the first Christian Emperour and Empress He had to his Predecessor the first Christian Worthy and the first Erector of Military Knighthood He had to his Predecessors some of the most victorious Kings that ever were His Predecessors were the first who freed themselfs from the Roman Yoke both in Temporals at first and in Spirituals afterwards It hath appeerd how He is Sovrain of the Noblest Order of Knighthood that any King hath It hath appeerd that his Ambassadors had the Precedence given Them in divers General Councils It hath appeerd how the King of Great Britain hath as Free-born and valiant Subjects as any other It hath appeerd that He hath the most plentiful and hospitable Court of any other King That He hath as independent Authority as any other King It hath appeerd that He hath the stoutest Men of War The Noblest Haven The Inaccessiblest Coasts with the greatest Command and Power at Sea of any other Which makes the English Merchants to be so highly respected abroad above other Nations having more Privileges at the entrance of the Baltik in the Sound as also in Hamborough and Holland where they have Houses like Palaces provided for them gratis and free from Excise In Ligorne in Constantinople and the gran Mosco they are more esteemd then any other Merchants And t is well known how his Subjects the Scots have the privilege of Preemption in the Vintage at Bourdeaux with divers other Immunities in France above other Nations Wherfore if any King may be calld 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 t is the King of Great Britain to whom that famous Verse of the Father of Poets may be applyed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Scepter is given Thee to be Honord by all To these particulars we will subjoyn the Reasons that Sir Henry Nevill with the rest of the English Ambassadors sent by Queen Elizabeth in a joynt Legantine Commission to Bullen in France to negotiat with Don Balthasar de Zuniga and others sent Ambassadors from Philip the second of Spain and the Archduke Albertus I say we will insert here the Reasons which the English Ambassadors gave then for prerogative and right of Antecedence in the contest that happend then with those of Spain by a Remonstrance which they sent the said Ambassadors in these words as t is extracted out of the Record it self Illustres Magnifici Domini Perlegimus scriptum quod Illustres Magnificae personae vestrae ad nos heri miserunt Illa capita quae substitutionis potestatem sigilli vigorem attingunt statuimus non ulteriùs prosequi confidentes de sinceritate serenissimi Domini Archiducis acquiescentes integritate Illustrium Magnificarum vestrarum personarum quae nobis pollicentur bonam fidem in hoc quod agitur negotio summo cum candore humanitate conjunctum Clausulam vero
Subject who resembleth a Mediator of Love Concerning the word Legat Resoldus tells us in brief that He is one who is sent to deliver the Commands of another but none of these can be calld properly Definitions according to the Rules of Logik but Descriptions They are calld sometimes Orators from Oracion or the fluency of the Toung which is the chiefest tool of an Ambassador They are calld also Nuncii because they come to declare and tell Now Nuncii and Legats are of late Ages they whom the Popa sends whose Ministers of this kind have a mixt employment twixt Spiritual and Secular Legats are of three sorts ther is Legatus Natus Legatus Missus and Legatus à Latere The first hath a perpetual successif Legantine Power as the Archbishop of Canterbury in England is endowed with that Prerogative as a Dignity annexd to the Archbishoprik above 1000 years since therfore ther can no other Legats come to England without the Kings special consent wherupon one of the Articles against Cardinal Wolsey was That he exercised a Legantine Power in England without the Kings privity Then ther is Legatus Missus and he signifieth as much as an ordinary Nuncio Then ther is Legatus à Latere or Apostolical Nuncio who is desumd out of the number of Cardinals only and they are sometimes G●…vernors of Provinces or calld Pro-consuls and they are calld Legati de Latere because they are neerest the side and the greatest Confidents of the Pope We may read in Iustine that Ambassadors by some are calld Lenones Bawds but taken in a chast sense because by smooth and alluring Language they move the affections of the Prince to whom they are sent The Greeks call their Ambassadors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they ought to be of yeers and well salted in the world Ther are also Deputies and Commissaries who have the same Office as Ambassadors but the Civilians make this difference betwixt them that Ambassadors are sent to Equals Deputies to Superiors and Commissaries to Inferiors Ther is also a publik Minister of State calld Agent and he is sent when ther is a suspition that the Ambassador will not be honord as he shold be Therfore the French Kings of late yeers have no Ambassadors in the Emperors Court but Agents because of the Competition for Precedence twixt him and Spain Agents are likewise employd sometimes to save charges or that the Business may be done without noise Ahd of late yeers ther is a new Minister of State invented which is a Resident who is superiour to an Agent and inferiour to an Ambassador Both Agent and Resident have the Security though not the Session and state or such a latitude of power as Ambassadors have Now Agents may dispatch Businesses of as great consequence as Ambassadors though they do it more secretly and with lesse stir Therfore Hottoman saith That the Queen of England and the Princes of Germany had des Agens Secrets in Venice because that in regard of diversity of Religion the Senat wold not seem to make too strict a frendship with them and for these secret Employments Merchants have bin thought to be the fittest Instruments because under the cloak of Trading they may also hide Affairs of State Ther are also Heralds which are a sort of Ambassadors and they are very ancient They are calld Caduceatores whose Office is to denounce War for such was the open honesty of our Ancestors that they would not commence a War until they had sent notice of it in a convenient time beforehand and these had also the security of Ambassadors for the time but they were strictly tied to the very same words that were dictated unto them Their persons also are to be as free from any outrage as Ambassadors are which made the Earl of Essex check his soldiers in Keinton-field when the late King sent Sir William le Neve King of Arms the next morning after the Battail was sought who wold have outragd Him Ther are also other Ministers of State that draw neer to the nature of Ambassadors which are calld Consuls wherof some have Royal Commission though the nature of their Office be to protect and assist the Merchant being practisd in the Custome and Language of the Country in their Law-suits and ther is as much esteem had of these as of Agents Of these England hath more then any and they are allowd very noble allowance as he of Aleppo hath 4000 Dollars yeerly and they of Smyrna and Mosco little less but if ther be an Ambassador in that Dominion where they serve they are subordinat to his commands in divers things We will conclude this Paragraph with this distinction of Ambassadors That some are extraordinary or pro tempore employd upon some particular great Affairs or Condolements or Congratulations or for Overtures of Marriage c. and they use to go with greater lustre and magnificence and may return without sending for leave unless ther be a restraining clause in their Commission The other are Ordinary or Lidger Ambassadors commanded to reside in the place until they receave Letters of Revocation and as their time of return is indefinit so their business is incertain arising out of emergent occasions and commonly the protection and affairs of the Merchants is their greatest care But Albericus Gentilis with all the great Civilians alledge that these kinde of Ambassadors were not known but of late yeers and Paschalius calls them no better then Emissaries Explorators or Spyes which made Hen. 7. of England as he saith admit of none The second Paragraph Of the absolut and indispensable necessity of Ambassadors and that Mankind cannot subsist without them IF it were not for Ambassadors Wars wold be endless and Enmities everlasting Ther wold be no knowledg no frendship among Princes nor commerce among Nations Brunus says That among all Functions all Offices and Employments of a Commonwealth ther is none more necessary more difficult more honorable and that requires greater discretion sagacity and caution then that of an Ambassador but as it is accompanied with honor and profit so it is with danger and hazard Ambassadors are the emissititious Eyes of a Prince they are his ears and hands they are his very understanding and reason they are his breath and voice in contemplation wherof the Poet sings that an Ambassador is Vox Regum lingua salutis Foederis Orator pacis via Terminus irae Semen Amicitiae Belli fuga litibus hostis It is observd in all stories and confirmd by multitude of examples that the Interview and encounter of Kings hath bin rather a disadvantage then an advance to any great business specially in treating of Capitulations of Peace Therfore in the Politiks t is a Principle that in Colloquies for Pacification Princes shold not appeer in person but be represented by their Ambassadors and Commissaries A Journey to be performd by Kings requires much trouble and charges much ado ther is in fitting their train that they may
ipsa tamen ubi veritas Fictio adidem collimant veritas praevalet Fictioni In the present Prince ther is real Majesty in an Ambassador only a representative In the Prince ther is the truth of the thing in an Ambassador the effigies or shadow Now as the shadow yeelds to the light so an Ambassador must yeeld to a Prince For although a Fiction operats as much as the truth of the thing yet where Truth and Fiction aim at one thing Truth is Prevalent Nay the Electors jointly hold themselfs to be more then the Emperour he being their production and made by their Suffrages and election and the Rule of Heraldry is Honor est in Dante But all this is by the by Now so high and transcendent is the privilege of an Ambassador and his Person so sacred that whosoever doth perpetrat any thing against his safety he is guilty of High Treson of Laesae Majestatis that is of prostituted Faith Publik Authority and of a breach of the Law of Nations Qui violarit Legatum Lege Iulia de vi publica tenetur VVho violats an Ambassador by the Iulian Law he is guilty of publik violence and by the Pontifical Law t is no less then a Piacle therfore he is interdicted from the benefit of holy things We will produce some Examples what revenges have followd for the violation of Ambassadors The King of the Ammonits did deride and ill entreat the Ambassadors of King David and to make them more contumelious their Beards were half shaven and their garments torn to their tails but what ensued the Ammonits afterward were overcome in Battail and Rabba their chief City being taken it was sacrificed with other Cities also to free plunder and the fury of the soldiers so the affronts done to the Ambassadors were vindicated The Romans usd for a Piaculary Revenge to send those who had violated an Ambassador to the King whose person he represented as a victime that he might inflict upon them what punishment he pleased for the a●…rocity of the Fact So Minutius and Manlius were sent to Carthage by a solemn Decree of the Senat because they had wrongd her Ambassadors at Rome And so respectful were the Romans of the sacred Persons of Ambassadors that if any free Citizen of Rome did offer the least violence though by words only he was degraded of being a free Citizen ever after Nay the very name of Ambassador is so sacred that ther is a rare example that though some did counterfait it yet they wold lay no violent hands upon them For Scipio Africanus having taken a ship laden with many illustrious Carthaginians they said that they were Ambassadors sent to him yet though it was found they were none he dismissd them peaceably That as Valerius hath it Romani Imperatoris potiùs decepta fides quàm frustra implorata videretur Ambassadors also have a privilege that what children they get abroad be it under what Climat it will during their Legation they are free-born Denizens of that Country whence they come and need no Naturalization and the reason which Hotoman gives is that they cannot be said to be absent thence all the while being still doing the business of their own Country though they live as Exiles for the time for the common good Besides if they chance to die there their goods are not subject to droit d' Aubaine that is they do not fall by Escheatage to the King as other strangers goods do in some Countries When they are revokd home they are advanced to the best Offices and not only as a jeering French-man said to pluck Capons as Sir Henry Vane Sir Peter Wichts and Sir Thomas Edmonds were who were made Officers of the Green-cloth in the Kings Houshold Lastly after their deaths ther were statues erected to perpetuat their memories The fifth Paragraph Of the Breeding and Education of the Parts and Perfections both Acquird and Natural which are requird in an Ambassador AS in a General or Commander in chief of an Army ther is requird Valour Magnanimity and Courage so in an Ambassador ther is Wisdome Discretion and Prudence requird The one is for Performance and Action the other is for Counsel and Negotiation Ther is also Elocution requisit in both in the one to enforce the justice of the Quarrel and to infuse courage into the soldiers by his Hortatives in lieu wherof Sermons are made use of in latter Ages in the other to move the affections of the Prince he is sent unto Therfore Mercury was appointed to be Ambassador of the Gods in regard of his Eloquence And this strain of well-speaking in an Ambassador must be natural as well as by art for the Italian tells us Una oncia di Natura vale una libra di Dottrina An ounce of Nature is worth a pound of Learning Touching matter of Literature ther are two principal Qualities requird in him viz. to be a good Historian and a good Linguist being the first t is presumd he is stord with Examples Precedents and Observations of the Carriage of other Ambassadors Of what encounters and difficulties they found in their Negotiations and what successes they had By being a good Linguist he hath extraordinary advantage to facilitat his affairs to converse with other Ambassadors upon the place to get intelligence and gain the knowledge and frendship of the prime men and Ministers of that Prince to whom he is employd and to get his favor also But it is a caution which the Civilians give That an Ambassador shold not speak but in a Language which he well understands for fear of slips and placing a word amiss Now t is a great truth specially in an Ambassador that Meglio è sducciolare co ' piedi che con la lingua T is better to slip with the foot then with the toung Now the toung being by the institution of Nature in udo posita put in a moist place is very subject to slip That worthy Knight Frederik Marselaer in his Book calld the Legat and the Civilians point at divers qualities that shold be in an Ambassador 1. He shold be an Indigena born in that Country whence he comes that all his hopes of preferment may be there and certainly a Stranger or Alien though made free Denizen cannot be so proper for a true-born Childe must needs negotiat with more affection for the honor and safety for the benefit and interest of his own native Country and Mother 2. He must be a Gentleman born or Noble for all Gentlemen are accounted Noble in other Countries He must be no Agaso or Caprimulgus and then he will gain more respect from the Prince and Peeple to whom he is employd for since he must take Precedence of Princes Dukes Marquisses and Earls c. they will not think it much to give him priority of place being well born 3. He must be a comely and graceful Person being to represent the person of his Prince for the peeple
after they desird new audience which was suspended to be given them and in the interim the King sent Sir Edward Conway his principal Secretary of State and Sir Francis Cottington Secretary to the Prince both Lords afterwards to signifie unto the said Ambassadors that he desird nothing more then a continuance of frendship twixt the two Crowns therfore if they had any thing to say they shold communicat it to the said Secretaries as persons of trust which he employd expresly for that purpose and if they made any difficulty of this also then they might choose among his Council of State those whom they likd best and he wold command that they shold presently repair unto them and if this also shold seem inconvenient they might send him what they had to say in a Letter by whom they thought fittest and he wold receave it with his own hands But they gave no answer to all this therupon the said Secretaries told them according to their Instructions which they had receavd from his Majesty That they being the Authors of an Information so dangerous and seditious had made themselfs incapable to treat further with the King their Master and were it not for the respect he bore to the Catholik King his dear and beloved Brother their Master and that they were in quality of Ambassadors to such a Majesty he wold and could by the Law of Nations and the right of his own Royal Justice proceed against them with such severity as their offence deservd but for the reasons before said he wold leave the reparation to the Justice of their own King of whom he wold demand and require it Herupon Sir Walter Ashton Ambassador then in Spain for the Crown of England had audience of that King wherin he said That the King of Great Britain his Master had commanded him to demand refaction and satisfaction of his Majesty against the Marquiss of Inojosa and Don Carlos Coloma for scandalizing the Duke of Buckingham with other of his best subjects and through his sides aiming at the Prince himself for it is unlikely the Duke wold have cast himself upon such a designe without the communication of it to him and to know his plesure so he remonstrated the whole circumstance of the business c. And in conclusion he said That he humbly beseechd his Majesty to observe and weigh well the care and tenderness wherwith the King his Master had proceeded towards his Majesties Ambassadors not obliging them to any precipitat resolutions but giving them time and opening a way how they might have cleerd themselfs c. It was expected that the said Ambassadors at their return to Spain wold have bin punishd or at least checkd but matters growing daily worse and worse twixt England and Spain the said Ambassadors were rather rewarded then reprehended at their return Inojosa being made afterwards Governor of Milan and Coloma receavd addition of command and honors in Flanders But the high civilities of England at that time towards the said Ambassadors was much cryed up abroad that notwithstanding so pernicious a machination to demolish Buckingham and to discompose the whole English Court yet they were permitted to depart peaceably and Sir Lewis Leukner was commanded to conduct them to the Sea-side for prevention of any outrage upon their persons We have dwelt the longer upon this business in regard ther are extraordinary traverses of State in it being a Plot of an unusual reach of policy which will be found more amply related in the addition the Author made to Finets Ambassador but in regard it is so pertinent to this Paragraph he thought it fit to insert the substance of it here We will now resume things touching the Office of an Ambassador It is very necessary he shold have his Credential Letters exact and plain His Commission plenary and fortified with as much authority as he can The Spanish Ministers when the Prince of Wales was there objected against the Duke of Buchingham that his Commission for he came also in quality of Ambassador was not so compleat and authentik as that of the Earl of Bristols for he had his Commission under the Broad Seal of England wheras the Duke had his by the King only The Civilians make a question Si à Legato Mandata poscantur is adigi possit ad ea exhibenda Their opinion is That besides his Credential or Fiduciary Letters and his General Commission he is not bound to shew any more Touching his privat Instructions Paschalius saith Mala eum agitat res qui in Legati Secreta irreligiose irrumpit It is questiond further Whether it may stand with the Office and Honor of an Ambassador to receave Gifts and Presents from the Prince he is sent unto which the Civilians call Lautia a word peculiar only to Ambassadors some are for the Negative which the Hollanders do follow for their Ambassadors use to receave none not so much as a Bottle of Wine But most are for the Affirmatif But the Venetians who are reputed to have the best Rules touching Ambassadors though they allow it yet their Ambassadors are bound to exhibit their Presents to the Senat and t is thought much of St. Marks tresure consists of it They are also bound in a large Oration to give an account besides that of their Embassy what they observd most remarkable in the Government State and Quality of the Country of which Oration they bring also a Manuscript which is put up in their Archives Iohn Earl of Bristol at his departure from Madrid notwithstanding that the weather had grown foul twixt us and Spain receavd a Cupboard of huge massie Plate valued at 20000 Crowns of this King of Spain who also gave him a Diamond Ring off his Finger rated at 1500 l. sterling and the reason was because he had found him so wise faithful and industrious a servant to his King The Civilians make likewise a doubt whether it may not interrupt the Office of an Ambassador to have his Wife and Children along with him but they who hold the contrary are rather exploded then approved For to leave his Wife is for one to leave half himself behind him besides Conjugal society is counted the prime of comforts moreover it saves trouble of Writing and charges for Letters and Packets which come to no small sum at the yeers end c. We will conclude this Paragraph with two special things which the Civilians require further for the performance of the Office of an Ambassador viz. That he be reservd and secret in an intense degree he must not be Plenus Rimarum full of chinks and herin the Italian and Spaniard are eminently imitable for all the Drugs in Egypt cannot draw away a secret from them wheras a small Purge or Vomit will make others cast it up Furthermore that an Ambassador may facilitat the discharge of his Office the better it is requisit that he have a previous knowledg of the Court and Country wherunto he is
sides what Law shall please himself which may reasonably be feared if no cours be timely taken for preservation of their rights by treaty or otherwise On the other side you may lay before him the power yet remaining in the puissant house of Austria with the dependance of Bavaria and other German Princes and how both sides are supported by forren assistants those with the money and countenance of Spain these with the actual arms of France besides the diversions of the Low Countries and Italy so as in all probability the War is like to last long and the balance may be swayd as other Princes put to their hands And the King of Swede having lately moved both the Princes and States of his alliance and others to joyn league for the liberty of Germany and for peace and inviting us to joyn therin and the Emperour also discovering on his side an inclination to treaty and to peace you must entreat for our better information our Uncles sound advice and how he stands affected and whether he be engaged in any such treaty with whom and how far and whether our conjunction with the rest will be desired To which we may by him be perswaded to apply our selves so as by the treaty the full restitution of our Brother and Sister to their Patrimonial Dignities and Estates being the only interest of our engagement may be effectually provided for If upon these intimations the King shall reveal unto you any overtures of a treaty already in hand and that therin our conjunction will be desired you shall with speed give us account of the particulars and of the grounds therof with all the circumstances of persons times and places that therupon we may send you such further powers and instructions for your proceedings with our Uncle and other Princes as with the advice of our Council we shall think meet Besides this main business other occasions may be apprehended there by you for the advantage of our service for i●… by conference with Avery you shall understand of any impediment or obstruction of the trade of our Merchants residing in Hamborough caused by any difference betwixt that King and the Town or by his pretence of commanding the River of Elve you shall do Offices in our name betwixt our Uncle and the Town to remove offences and to settle good agreement upon honorable terms for the King and so as an Innovation may not be made which may prejudice the intended treaty or which may restrain our Merchants from that freedome of trade there which they have enjoyed so many yeers And wheras by occasion of the War betwixt Poland and Sweden new Impositions are raised in the Pellow and elsewhere with other restraints of trade which in the end will force our Merchants and the Low Country-men also to seek the Commodities of Eastland in America to the great detriment of the Kings Customes at Elsenore you shall in this regard advise with our Uncle how the ancient freedom in like manner may be restored in that trade For Island you shall signifie to our Uncle that in conformity to his late Letters we have prohibited our subjects that Fish in those Seas or fetch Hawks from those parts either to export or import any Merchandise to hinder his Farmers not doubting of his gracious reciprocal favor to our said subjects in their lawful proceedings Concerning our Coller of Rubies which hath formerly bin engagd to raise moneys you shall inform your self by Avery how the case now stands and shall proceed as upon further advice therof we shall direct You shall keep good correspondence with our Ambassadors and Agents in all parts as occasion shall be offered but especially with Sir Henry Vane who is employed with the King of Sweden and with Sir Robert Anstruther at the Emperours Court. IOHN COKE By these two Presidents of Commission and Instructions we may see how exact and curious the English Court is in this point how quaintly such Publik Dispatches are couchd not so plain and flat with such superfluity of speech as I have seen the Instructions of other Princes stuffd withal We will to the Reception Attendance Treatments Gifts Lautia composing of Differences with other high civilities usd towards Forren Ambassadors in the English Court. Touching the first Ther are no Ambassadors whatsoever receavd more splendidly and with greater state both by water and land then in England For first he is brought in Royal Barges a good way upon a Noble Navigable River through a Forest of main Masts on both sides and landed at the stairs of a huge Tower in sight of a stupendious Bridg such as I may well say the world hath not the like Then is he conducted in the Kings Coach with a great number besides through the centre of the City of London to a house expresly provided for him if he comes extraordinary where he is magnificently treated for divers days upon the Kings charge Now the Rule of the Court is That the Ambassador of a King is to be brought in by an Earl at least an Ambassador from Dukes and Republiks to be brought in by a Baron T is a Rule also that no Ambassadors be allowd this honor at privat Audiences but only at the first and last publik or when any are invited to Dine with the King Moreover that no Ambassador except a Kings is to be met with the Kings Coach further off then the Tower-wharf And wheras the Coaches of other Ambassadors residing upon the place were usd to go to accompany the new-landed Ambassador from Tower-wharf which gave occasion of clashing for Precede●…ce of Coaches as happened the last yeer twixt the Spanish Ambassador the Baron of Batteville and Monsieur Lestrade the French which flew so high that it went to effusion of blood and killing as it is mentiond before in the last Paragraph of the first Section more particularly Ther is an Act of State passd that all Forren Ambassadors shall forbear for the future from that complement of sending their Coaches to that purpose Well the new Ambassador being so housd is visited by persons of Quality as also by other Ambassadors Now it is a Maxime among Ambassadors That the first come is to visit the last come Touching Presents ther 's no Court goes beyond that of England It was a Rule that the French and Spanish Ordinaries were to have 4000 Ounces of Gilt Plate at their departure The Venetian Ambassador 2000 The Archdukes 1600 c. But by the Examples of other Courts ther was a retrenchment herof and it began first with Monsieur Buisseaux in King Iames his Raign who had but 2000 Ounces sent Him the Venetian 1600 and the Archdukes 1000 c. Touching divers sorts of Clashes Contestations Differences and Punctilios betwixt Ambassadors ther have bin as prudent and preventing courses taken in the English Court from time to time as in any other as will appeer in the printed Observations of that worthy Knight Sir Iohn Finets to
a place of surety here Wherunto he answerd That he held himself to be in a place of surety whersoever he had his sword by him Luynes little resenting the affront he had receavd from Sir Edward Herbert got Cadenet his Brother Duke of Chaune with a ruffling Train of Field-Officers neer upon a hundred wherof ther was not one as Cadenet told King Iames but had killd his man I say this Man came Ambassador Extraordinary to England a little after who mis-reporting the Traverses twixt Herbert and Luynes prevailed so far that Sir Edward Herbert was presently revokd to answer the Charge that shold be laid against him In the mean time the Earl of Carlile was employd Ambassador Extraordinary to France for accommodating Le Mal Entendu which might arise betwixt the two Crowns Carlile was commanded to inform himself of the truth of the business aforementiond and he could meet with no relation but what Luynes had made himself wherin more affronting and haughty expressions were laid to Sir Edward Herberts charge then had truly passed For though the first provocation came from Luynes yet the Ambassador kept himself within the bounds both of his Instructions and Honor. But as my Lord of Carlile was ready to send this mis-information to England the Gentleman formerly spoken of who stood behind the Hangings came to the Earl of Carlile and said That he owd so much duty to Truth and Honor that he could do no less then vindicat Cavalier Herbert from all indiscretion and unworthiness and therupon related the true circumstance of the business which was as it was before told The Earl of Carlile being thus rectified in knowledg of the truth gave account to King Iames accordingly who cleerd Sir Edward Herbert and resolvd to renvoy him Ambassador to France wherof he having notice He kneeld to the King before the Duke of Buckingham and desird that since the business was publik in both Kingdoms he might in a publik way demand reparation of Monsieur Luynes for which purpose he beseechd his Majesty that a Trumpeter if not a Herald might be sent on his part to Monsieur Luynes to tell him That he had made a false relation of the passages before mentiond and that Sir Edward Herbert wold demand reason of him with sword in hand on that point The King answerd that he wold take it into consideration but Luynes a little after died and Sir Edward Herbert was sent Ambassador to France again Iohn the late Earl of Bristol being Ambassador in Spain had many clashes with the Alguazils and the Alcalde himself together with divers Officers to preserve the Privileges of his House in point of Sanctuary which was done with much courage and discretion But ther was one signal passage among divers other One Scoppius had publishd an infamous base Book against King Iames and being in Flanders where Sir Iohn Benet was sent for among other things to demand Justice of the Archduke upon him he had fled to Madrid and the Earl being in despair to get him punishd there where the Iesuits are so powerful he employd a good resolut Gentleman Mr. George Digby his Kinsman to give the said Scoppius a Bala●…re or slash ore the face which he did to some purpose for t is athwart ore his face and his mouth that had offended which he carried as a mark of Revenge to his Grave The said Earl being also employd Ambassador to the Emperour in the heighth of the Wars for the Palatinat and returning neer Heydelberg or therabouts where Count Mansfelts Army was upon which the greatest strength of the Palsgrave depended which Army being ready to disband for want of Pay the Earl of Bristol pawnd his whole Cupboard of Plate to find mony for the said Army els all had bin lost at that time Such an extraordinary Noble Act and beyond Commission the Earl of Leicester did propose also to do when he was Ambassador to the King of Denmark For wheras that King made a delay to pay the Portion which was due unto the Lady Elizabeth out of the Estate of Queen Sophia her Granmother which amounted to about 150000 l. and which the said Earl had power to receave and the reason of the King of Denmarks delay being because ther were some accounts to be liquidated twixt his Nephew the King of Great Britain and Him The said Earl provided he might receave the said Portion due to the Lady Elizabeth to comfort her now in her great extremities offerd to engage besides his Honor all the Estate he had in England which his Majesty must partly know that this shold no way prejudice the accounts that were twixt Him and the King of Great Britain This motion of the Ambassadors was highly extolld by the King and all the Danish Court for the Nobleness of it The said Earl being afterwards Ambassador for many yeers in France he wold never give Precedence to Cardinal Richelieu and touching Hugo Grotius who as he was Ambassador for Sweden wold have made his Coaches drive before his he was put back avec un pied de nez with a Nose a footlong as is mentiond more at large in the last Paragraph of Great Britain which went before Liberorum Cerebri Sextus Post Quadraginta FINIS The Bookseller to the Reader THe Reason why ther is no Table or Index added herunto is That evry Page in this Work is so full of signal Remarks that were they couchd in an Index it wold make a Volume as big as the Book and so make the Postern Gate to bear no proportion with the Building CHR. ECCLESTON
up to the English Battail where the young Prince was The fight grew hot and doubtful insomuch that the Commanders sent to the King to come up with more power The King asking the Messengers Whether his Son was hurt or slain and being answerd No he replies Then tell them who sent you that so long as my Son is alive they send no more to me for my Will is that he have the honor of the day So the Fight on both sides growing very furious the French King having his Horse kill'd under him withdrew which being known by the English it added so to their courage that they soon after won the Field This was the first considerable Battail the English had of the French which was so sanguinary that ther were none made Prisoners but all put to the Sword and the number of the slain French surmounted the whole Army of the English for the number of the slain were about 30000. the chief whereof was Alenson the Kings Brother the Dukes of Bourbon and Lorain the Earl of Flanders the Dauphin de Viennois Son to Imbert who after gave Dauphine to the King of France provided his First Son shold still be calld the Dauphin which hath continued ever since This signal Victory was seconded the same yeer about six weeks after with another the Queen of England got against the Scots then confederat with the French where David the Scots King was taken Prisoner but this is reserv'd for another place because for a more methodical order we will hasten to the second great Victory in France the Battail of Poitiers The Battail of Poitiers The Black Prince being taperd up now to a good growth was sent by advice of Parlement to Gascony whence the Truce being expird he oreran and ravagd all the Country as far as Tourayne Iohn the French King raiseth a potent Army more numerous then that at Cressy and going to find out the Prince of Wales found him about Poitiers having not much above 10000 effect if men in his Army wheras the French had six times as many whereupon being advisd to make for Bourdeaux he was prevented by the French Army on all sides so a Battail being intended two Cardinals came from the Pope to mediat a Peace but the French King wold hearken to none unless that he wold as a Vanquish'd Man send him four Hostages and give up himself and his Army to discretion The Prince answerd That he was willing to restore what places he had taken of His in good War but without prejudice to his Honor wherof he was accountable to the King his Father c. Iohn not hearkning to this but being resolvd to fight the Prince also resolvd to part with his Life upon as high a rate as he could being reducd to this streight therfore he providently makes use of the Position of ground and finding that the main Army of the French consisted in Horse he entrenchd among the Vineyards where when the French Cavalry entred being wrapd and encomberd among the Vines the English Archers did so ply and gall them that being therby disorderd and put to rout the whole Army was soon totally defeated But it seems this Battail was not so fierce as that of Cressy where no quarter was given for in this Prisoners were made among whom was King Iohn himself whom the Prince brought to England and as the French Historians themselfs confess he was so civil to him all the while that he knew not whether he was a Free King or a Captif Besides Lords ther were slain 2000 of the French Nobless as Froissard hath it in this Battail and as at Cressy more French slain then the whole English Army was in number We will now to Agencourt Agencourt Battail Henry the Fifth that Man of men and mirror of Princes being come to the Crown he did cast his Eyes presently towards France for claiming of his Title In order wherunto he alterd in his Arms the bearing of Semy de Luces and quarters the three full Flower de Luces as the King of France himself did bear them He sends the Duke of Exceter with the Archbishop of Dublin and sundry other Noblemen in a magnificent Ambassy attended by 500 Horse to Paris to demand the Crown but receiving no satisfactory answer but rather a kind of jeer the Dauphin sending him a Sack full of Racket-court-Balls to pass away his time He replyed That for evry one of those Balls he had so many fiery Bullets to shoot at the proudest Turrets in France as he shold shortly find And he was as good as his word for he presently got over and encountring the French Army at Agencourt he gave it an utter overthrow and took more prisoners then his own Army had Soldiers which was upon a Sunday-morning about Ten of the Clock whereof having sent notice to England before and that extraordinary Masses shold be sung then in all Churches he stood upon the defensive part till that hour but then making a Speech of encouragement to his Army and among other strains telling how all England was praying for them at that time he carried away a compleat Victory he himself leading the main Battail with the Duke of Glocester his Brother c. But besides the foresaid Piety ther was Policy also usd for the King to prevent the fury of the French Cavalry appointed divers Stakes studded with Iron at both ends of six foot long to be pitch'd behind the Archers and ordred that Pioners shold attend to remove them as they shold be directed which invention conduc'd much to the success of the Action The King himself charg'd the Duke of Alenson and beat him off his Horse who therupon was slain so ther was a compleat and glorious Victory obtain'd We come now to the Battail of Spurs so calld because the French-men trusted more to their Spurs in fleeing away then to their Swords and Lances It was before Terwin in Hen. 8. Raign when Maximilian the Emperour servd under his Banner and receavd pay Ther came 8000 French Horse to relieve the place and a hot Dispute happend but they were all routed and put shamefully to flight so the Town was taken by the English Ther were a world of other Warlike Encounters and Skirmiges twixt the English and French whereof the stories are full and t is observd that the English at most were but half in number to the French in all Engagements insomuch that by pure prowess and point of the Sword they possessd two parts in three of that great Kingdome We read that when the English were at the height of their power in France the Pope came then to keep his Court at Avignon and ther was a common saying among the Peeple which since is grown to be a kind of Proverb Ores le Pape est devenu Francois Iesus Christ est devenu Anglois The Pope is turnd French-man and Jesus Christ is become an English-man which was spoken in regard we had such prodigious
meum apponerem consuetum Testes qui fuerunt praesentes ad ista unà mecum sunt Dom. frater Martinus Lupi Magister Militiae Domus de Alcantara Ordinis Cistern Rogerus Dom. de la Wara Gomeicus dicti Dom. Regis Magister Paulus Gabrielis Civis Ispalensis Iohannes Guttern Decanus Ecclesiae Segobien Magister Robertus Fregand Notarius Cancellarius Domini Principis Aquitaniae Walliae supradicti Then the Great Seal of Castile and Leon was affixd By vertue of this Charter legally made to King Edward and the Prince his Son and to their Heirs and Successors Kings and Princes of England for ever it is therby granted that whensoever it shold please them to be in person in the Wars with any King of Castile against the King of Granada or any other Enemy of the Christian Faith They shold have the First place in the Vangard above all other Princes of Christendom and although neither of them were present yet ther shold be always provided by the Kings of Castile and their Successors a Standard of the Arms of England to be born in the same place This Instrument was made after that the Black Prince had done the Work and restord Don Pedro to his Kingdom therfore he passd it as a Monument of eternal Gratitude unto him But before the Prince uudertook the business ther was also a Bond from the King to pay so much money for defraying the Princes Army and in consideration also of this undertaking it was legally agreed that the Prince shold have the Castle of Vermeo de la Quet Bilbo Biscay and the Castle of Ordials A tenir perpetuellement à li ses Heirs Successeurs pour doner là où luy plerrà to be held perpetually by Him and his Heirs and Successors and to give to whom he pleasd All which was ratified under the Great Seal of Castile and confirmd by Oath upon the holy Sacrament in the great Church of Burgos The Original of which Instrument remains yet in Thes. Regio apud Westm. We will pass over the Exploits done in Armorica or Little Britany and cross over to a tougher Peeple the Scot who though Conterranean and our neer Neighbours yet they did always confederat with the French against England and England still boar up single and victoriously against both of them For when Scotland was at the highest pitch of power when she had active and boysterous Kings to her Generals and the French for her Coadjutors and Auxiliaries as also the Danes in Ages past yet the English carried away many fair Victories with divers of their Kings Prisoners As will appear by a short Survay we shall take of such Battails and Warlike Encounters which intervend from time to time twixt the two Nations We will begin with that famous Battail twixt King Athelstan and them when they had a great Army of Danes joynd with them and being twice in number more then the English yet King Athelstan obtaind a signal Victory both by Prowess and Policy for the two Armies being ready to joyn the English made semblance to flee away leaving their Bagage behind which as the Scot and Dane were a sharing the English did suddenly wheele about by the advantage of a Woody Hill and finding them in disarray and laden with Booty they rushd upon them with such a Resolution that above 40 thousand of them and as Buchanan their chief Chronologer hath it the flower of their Nobility perishd there at that time The first Fire-ball of War which was thrown twixt both the Nations since the Norman Invasion was in William Rufus his Raign when the Scot having made divers Incursions into the English Borders Moubray Earl of Northumberland was sent against them who incountring their King Malcolm with his eldest Son in the Field they were both slain and the whole Army overthrown In King Stephens days Thurston then Archbishop of York was sent with an Army against the Scot who meeting the King himself in the head of his Forces utterly routed him with the death of above 10000 of his Men. Henry the second employd only the Knights of Yorkshire as Humphry-vile Scuttvil and Vescy to make head against the Scot which they did with such Valour and Success that they took the King in the Field and as a Trophy of their good Service and Victory they presented him Prisoner to the King at Northampton whence he carried him along to attend him in his French VVars William the Scots King attended Richard the Lion-hearted at his second Coronation when he returned from the Holy Land and carried the Sword before him bare-headed Edward the first calld in story and as his Tomb in Westminster tells us Scotorum Malleus the Hammer of the Scots summond King Baliol to Newcastle to swear Fealty unto him but fleeing afterwards to the French King at his return King Edward summons him again to Berwick where he re-submitted himself with all his Nobles in open Parlement which King Edward held there and for Caution brought Baliol along with him leaving the Earl of Surrey Warden of Scotland Then started up a notable Blade one Wallis who notwithstanding that King Baliol was Prisoner in England gatherd such a strength that causd King Edward to go again in person and at Fonkirk Battail killd outright 200 of their Nobles and Gentry with about forty thousand Common soldiers Then he summons a Parlement at Edinburgh where all the Scots Nobles swore Fealty to him and then he carried away thence their Great Charter calld the Ragman-Roll the Black-Cross and the Stone wherein they believe the Fate of Scotland is fixd Then ther was a third Provocation offer'd for le Bruce was crownd King of Scotland wherupon the Earl of Pembrook was sent against him who utterly defeated him at Iohnston yet all was not quiet but King Edward was forcd to make a fourth expedition thither in person when he constraind le Bruce to flee away to Norway where he blew on his Nayls while King Edward liv'd But Bruce being come back and Usurping during Edward the seconds time who we read was so infirm and infortunat a King his Father Edward the third restord Baliol by force of Arms and made him swear Fealty to England again But some yeers after King Edward being deeply engagd in the French Wars David the next Scots King rush'd into England with about sixty thousand men being confederat with the French King to divert the War there But Queen Philippa with the Archbishop of York and the Lords and Knights of the North encounterd this huge Army and utterly defeated it one Copland taking the Scots King Prisoner whom he he reservd for a present to give King Edward when he came from France and to keep company with Iohn the French King who also was taken Prisoner by the Black Prince And there were but six weeks difference of time twixt both Victories In Richard the seconds Raign the French King sent his High Admiral with a thousand
choice men at Arms in a Fleet of 60 Sayl of Ships with Arms for 12000 men more into Scotland Therupon an English Army being raisd it struck into Scotland like a Whirlwind and piercing the very heart of the Country advancd as far as Dundee and returnd Victorious Henry the Fifth took Iames the first Prisoner and carried him over to attend him in his French VVars In Hen. 8. time the Scots King although his Brother-in-Law taking his advantage when he was in France battring the Walls of Bullen with the flower of the English Nobility raisd the greatest Army that Scotland could make for invading England therupon King Harry sent a Commission to the Earl of Surrey to raise Forces accordingly The two Armies met at Flodden-field where the Scots King and the Archbishop of Saint Andrews his Brother were slain with twelve Earls 14 Barons and 12000 more Not long after Solmosse Battail was fought where eight Scots Earls were taken Prisoners with 200 Gentlemen and others insomuch that as the story saith ther was never an English soldier but had his couple of Scots Prisoners Four and thirty yeers after the same day both of the month and the week as the Historians observe Musselborough-Battail was fought which because it was the last and one of the most signal and sanguinary great Battails from the Conquest that was fought twixt the English and the Scots I will here particularize but with as much brevity as may be The Duke of Somerset was General of the English the Earl of Warwik his Lieutenant the Lord-Admiral Clinton had 60 ships of War which were to hold cours with the Land-forces the whole Army consisted but of about 13000 Foot 1200 men at Arms 2500 Light-horse 16 Peeces of Ordinance evry Peece having a Gard of Pioners who came to about 1400. From Berwick they entred Scotland and marchd as far as Musselburgh far within the Country they seizd upon three small Castles as they passd and with infinit pains overcame the Natural and Artificial Difficulties of the Ways They understood that the Scots Army far exceeded them in number and ther came Recreuts dayly unto it For the Fire-cross was carried about by the Heralds through all parts which is two Firebrands upon the point of a Spear that all above sixteen and under sixty yeers shold repair to the General Rendevous insomuch that the Scots Historians themselfs do mention that ther were above thirty thousand in the whole Army which was twice the number of the English The Battail was fought with much resolution and cagerness on both sides yet notwithstanding that the Scot was at his own home and that the English were tir'd by a long difficult march they obtaind an absolute Conquest ther were slain of the Scots about 14000 out-right upon the place wherof ther were 3000 Kirk-men as Fryars and Monks Huntley with other great Lords were taken Prisoners 30 Peeces of Ordinance were taken and shippd for England with 30000 Iacks as the Record says and the English plunderd the Country five days march further and did what they wold We will conclude with the late Battail at Dunbar still fresh in memory where ther were not much more then 8000 English and the Scot had them at a great advantage yet the English making a Vertu of Necessity utterly overcame an Army of about 24000 Scots an Army that had been long a moulding and consisted of many of their Nobility and Gentry they lost both Bag and Bagage Artillery and Arms ther were above 3000 slain 10000 taken Prisoners whereof ther were 260 Officers 15000 Arms and 30 Peeces of Ordinance and neer upon 200 of their Colours were brought to hang in Westminster-Hall for Trophies Out of what hath been said this Inference may be made That in all those Traverses and Encounters of War that England had with Scotland which were neer upon an hundred since the Conquest take small and great together the English did always foyl the Scot except in Ed. 2. time as shall be said hereafter In some Battails we may find how they carried away more Captives then they were common soldiers themselfs driving them as it were like sheep before them And observable it is that the greatest Battails were fought in Scotland it self after that the English had been tir'd and dispirited by long marches over uncouth and strange places being ignorant both of the Advenues and Advantages of them Tru it is that in Ed. 2. Raign they won two or three Victories wherof that at Bannocks-Battail was the greatest where Gilbert de Clare Earl of Glocester and about 40 Barons with 700 Knights and English Gentlemen were killd In Hen. 8. Raign they got also a small Victory when Sir Ralph Evers was slain In the time of the Long Fatal Parlement they did likewise many Insolencies and rush'd far into England but those Invasions may be rather termd Invitations by some spurious and unworthy-degenerated English-men who had contrivd their coming in long before whose memories will stink in the Nostrils of all Posterity But the English have taken four of their Kings Captives killd two other in the field carried away their Crown with the chiefest Ensignes of Royalty c. Nor were such high Exploits performed by the Kings of England on Land only but by Sea they have been as glorious Historians say how King Edgar had a Navy of three thousand six hundred ships and bottoms of all sorts which he divided to three Fleets that usd to coast about and scowre the Seas as far as Norway evry year and he in person would go often Admiral himself and be all the Summer abroad Philip the French King not long before the Battail of Cressy to hinder Edward the thirds return into France got a mighty Navy in Equippage of 200 sayl of ships besides Gallies in the Haven of Sluce wherof King Edward being advertised prepared such another Fleet and encounters the French with such resolution and success having the Wind and the Sun for him that he utterly defeated the whole Navy slew about thirty thousand men and so returned with mighty triumphs and the admiration of all Europe Philip the second of Spain having as he conceavd endured divers Affron●…s and Injuries from Queen Elizabeth conceald his Discontents a long time until he had provided the Invincible Armada as it was calld wherewith he hoped to have swallowed all England It was three years preparing it consisted of above 150 sayl wherof most of them were Galeons they were mannd by 8000 Mariners they carried 20000 Listed soldiers besides Volunteers they had 1600 Brass Cannons 1000 of Iron and 120000 Granado's with other Fireworks of all sorts This Prodigious Fleet stood the King of Spain in 10 Millions first and last from the time that she set sayl out of Lisbonne as t is found in their Annals she lookd like a Forest at Sea as she steerd along Q Elizabeth had first news hereof from Hen. 4. of France But then how did that Masculine Queen
we think that Right to appertain still to the Crown of England notwithstanding that the Territories and Dominions of the Kingdome of Spain be propagated and amplified which in the right estimation of things prevails not or ought to prevail twixt Christian Princes touching this question For then other Kings and Princes would assume a right of Precedence above others to whom now they grant it ever and anon if their Dominions increase Moreover touching this present controversie about Precedence ther is another thing which doth not unworthily offer it self to be examined by your Judgements which is That one of Us which the most serene Queen our Mistress hath chosen her Ambassador to conclude this Treaty of Peace is one who daily resides in that quality in the Court of the most Christian King which Dignity with all Prerogatives he retains as long as he sojourns in France But the first of you although he be Ambassador to the Catholick King with the most serene Archduke and being out of the Dominions therof he puts off that quality and dignity We think also that our Ambassador in whom this Dignity is multiplyed and shines more ought by right to be preferred before any that is appointed by a single and bare title onely for this great Treaty Therfore if you please let this Question be pretermitted with deep silence and let this Prerogative remain and dwell in the most serene Queen our Mistress to whom it justly belongs and appertains so we shall more cheerfully apyly our selfs to the business for which we are come All this we desire may be candidly and frendly accepted according to the prudence and moderation of your illustrious and magnificent Lordships as proceeding from the Observances and Religion of our Office not with any dessein to consume time or raise contentions Bullen 26 Maii 1600. Henry Nevil Iohn Harbert c. The Spanish Ambassadors made an answer herunto which we reserve for the third Section wherin the Arguments of Spain for Precedence are set down wherof one of the strongest he urgeth is the Multiplication and encrease of Dominions which according to Besoldus and Cassaneus with other great Civilian Jurists is no Argument at all in regard it doth not hold among ordinary Nobility As for example He of Arundel is first Earl in England He of Angus in Scotland And He of Kildare in Ireland by the Laws of Heraldry and Hereditary Right Put case that some other of their fellow Earls in either Kingdome shold grow richer and have more Mannors Possessions and Lordships yet they will not offer to take place or precedence so the Argument may hold A minori ad majus For if it be so among Noble-men much more shold this Rule have validity among Souvrain Princes I will go on with a passage that happend in Paris a little above twenty years since Hugo Grotius residing at Paris in quality of Ambassador for the Crown of Sweden attempted to make his Coaches go before those of the Earl of Leicester pretending a right of Precedence because the King of Sweden whom he represented was King of the ancient Goths and Vandals c. which was under favor but a feeble Argument For ther were Kings of Great Britain thousands of years before the Goths or Vandals were scarce known to the Christian world nor do any stories make mention of them until a little after the declinings of the Roman Empire about the year 350 from the Incarnation nor came they to be Christians till a long time after And it is the Position of Grotius himself in his Book de Iure Belli Inter Reges qu●… primo Christianismum professi sunt praecedunt Who first professd Christianity ought to precede Moreover the King of Denmark entitles himself King of the Goths and Vandals as well But my Lord of Leicester carried himself so like himself that our Swedish Ambassador was put behind with a Disgrace somewhat answerable to his Presumption and to the explosion of the Spectators Now Let the prudent and unpassionat Reader weigh with leasure the foregoing Particulars and reserve his Judgement till he hath run through the Reasons and Arguments of the other two Kings in order to a Precedency T is time now to cross over to France and produce the Arguments of that King faithfully extracted out of the most receavd and celebrated Authors who assert his Right to sit next the Emperour upon all occasions As Cassanaeus Ferhaut Besoldus Carolus de Grasseliis Hierome Bignon Pierre Matthieu c. And let this be a close to the First Section The second Section Consisting of the Reasons wherby the French King pretends and claims Priority of Place and Proximity of Session next the Emperour at all Solemn Meetings and in all publik Transactions of State c. Which Reasons In regard they lie confusd and scatterd in other Authors we will reduce to Ten Heads or Arguments wherof the first shall be drawn 1. A Nobilitate Regni from the Nobleness of the Kingdome 2. The second A Nobilitate Regionis from the Nobleness of the Country 3. The third A Noblitate Regiminis from the Nobleness of the Government 4. The fourth A Religione Nobilitate Ecclesiae from Religion and the Nobleness of the Church 5. The fifth A Nobilitate Gentis multitudine Subditorum from the Nobleness of the Nation and multitude of Subjects 6. The sixth A plenitudine Regiae Potestatis from the absolutness of Regal Authority 7. The seventh A Potentia ipsius Regni from the Power of the Kingdome it self 8. The eighth Ab opulentia ipsius Regni from the Riches thereof 9. The ninth A Fortitudine Rebus in Bello gestis from Valour and Exploits done in the War 10. The tenth and last Argument shall be drawn ab Exemplo Antiquitate from Examples and Antiquities Of the first Argument A Nobilitate Regni from the Nobleness of the Kingdome THer is a speech drawing neer to the nature of a Proverb Great Britain for an Iland France for a Kingdome Milan for a Duchy and Flanders for a County or Earldome are preferrable before all other They are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their kind this shews the supereminence of the Kingdome of France Ther is also a signal saying of the Emperour Maximilian the first who being in some Critical Discourses with his Lords about the Dominions of Europe broke out into this high Encomium of France That if it could stand with the Order of Nature and the Plesure of the Almighty that any mortal Man were capable to be a God of the Elementary world and that I were He I would so make my last Will and Testament in the disposing of my Estate That my eldest Son shold be God after me but my second shold be King of France This saying or excess of speech must be interpreted with a sane sense for the Emperour meant nothing els hereby but to intimate his opinion touching that potent and noble Kingdom which Kingdom hath continued an Heredetary
employd that he be well versd in the Speech therof for it is a sad thing when one is sent Ambassador to see fashions and learn the Language of a Country Lastly ther 's nothing more concerns the Office and Duty of an Ambassador as it was touchd before then to be true to his Instructions Brunus tells us that Qui extra Mandatum agit aliud agit Who acts beyond his Commission acts another thing Yet it cannot be denied but many things in point of circumstance are left to the discretion of a Plenipotentiary Ambassador therfore as I take it ther was by the twelve Tables in Rome a latitude of power left to Legats Quae bonum Patriae eminenter tangunt etiamsi non Mandentur agunto What eminently concerns the publik good though not commanded let them be done The eighth Paragraph Touching the Laws of England relating to Ambassadors in point of Reception Audience Treatments and Rewards as also what prudence hath bin usd for composing of Contestations betwixt them in point of Precedence c. HAving spoken hitherto generally of the concernments of Ambassadors and the privileges of Legation We will now make some inspections in particular into the Constitutions and Common Laws of England which may be calld Civil and very complying in this point The Law of England as the great Father of it my Lord Coke says That Honor Legati honor mittentis est The honor of an Ambassador is the honor of him who sent him That Legati aut Proregis dedecus redundat in Regem The affront offerd an Ambassador redounds to his King By the Common Law of England t is High Treson to kill an Ambassador as among others ther are Examples in the persons of Iohn Kerby and Iohn Algore the one a London-Mercer the other a Grocer who were both arraignd convicted and condemned for killing Iohn Imperial who was Ambassador from Genoa for a Patent he had got of the King for the sole importing of all Commodities from the Levant parts I. Hill was also condemned of High Treson for killing of A. de Walton who was Ambassador c. Then the high civilities that were shewd by King Iames to the Marquiss of Inojosa and Don Carlos Coloma the Spanish Ambassadors notwithstanding their high misdemenures for calumniating the last Duke of Buckingham and through him the Prince of Wales his sole Son and Heir apparent to the Crown as it is mentiond in the next preceding Paragraph And as the Law of England is so respectful of Ambassadors so for her own she useth to furnish them with as political Commissions and Instructions and as exactly couchd as any other Kings Ambassadors whatsoever I will produce only two Examples the one ancient the other modern the first is of Ambassadors sent to the Council of Basile which runs thus Ad Concilium Basiliense sub Eugenio Papa destinati sunt per Regem Ambasciatores Oratores Episcopus Robertus London Philippus Exoniensis Iohannes Roffensiis Iohannes Bajocens Edwardus Comes Moriton Abbas Glastoneensis B. M. Eboracensis Prior Norwici Henricus Bromflet miles Dominus Vesciae Thomas Browne Legum Doctor Decanus Sarum Iohannes Coleville Miles alii Dante 's damus iis Ipsorum majori parti potestatem Mandatum tam generale quàm speciale nomine nostro pro nobis in eodem Concilio interessendi tractandi communicandi concludendi tam de iis quae Reformationem Ecclesiae Universalis tam in Capite in Membris quàm in iis quae Fidei Orthodoxae fulcimentum Regumque ac Principum Pacificationem concernere poterint Nec non de super Pace perpetua guerrarumque abstinentia inter Nos Carolum adversarium nostrum de Francia ac etiam tractandi communicandi appunctandi consentiendi insuper si opus fuerit aissentiendi iis quae juxta deliberationem dicti Concilii initi statui ordinari contigerit Promittentes promittimus bona fide nos ratum gratum firmum perpetuò habiturum totum quicquid per dictos Ambasciatores Oratores Procuratores nostros aut Majorum partem Eorundem actum factum ceu gestum fuerit in praemissis singulis praemissorum Et Hoc idem cùm de super iis certiorati fuerimus ad Nos Christianum Principem attinet executioni debitae curabimus demanda●…i In cujus rei testimonium has Literas nostras fi●…ri fecimus Patentes Datum sub sigillo nostro Magno in Palatio nostro West monasteriensi x die Julii c. We delegat to the Council of Basil under Pope Eugenius for Ambassadors and Orators Bishop Robert of London Philip of Exceter c. Giving and do herby give them and the major part of them power and command as well general as special in our name and for us to be present to treat communicat and conclude things as well concerning the Reformation of the universal Church as the Pacification of Kings and Princes and likewise of and concerning a perpetual peace and abstinence from VVar betwixt Us and Charles of France our Adversary and also to treat communicat appoint and to consent besides and if need be to dissent from such things that shall happen to be appointed and ordained according to the deliberation of the said Council Promising and we do promise in good Faith to hold for ratified acceptable and firm to perpetuity whatsoever shall be acted or done by our said Ambassadors Orators or Proctors or the greatest part of them in relation to the Premises and any part therof whensoever we shall be certified and as becomes a Christian Prince we shall have a care that all be put in due execution In testimony wherof we have causd these our Letters to be Patents Given under our Great Seal in our Palace at Westminster x Iulii c. Ther repaird to this Council also Henry Beaufort Son of Iohn of Gaunt Bishop of Winchester and Cardinal of St. Eusebius having had license to transport 20000 l. in Gold and Silver which was a mighty sum in those daies which money as the story hath it though mute yet they were moving Ambassadors The second example shall be of Robert Sydney now Earl of Leicester in an extraordinary Embassy to the King of Denmark and other Princes of Germany whose Instructions were these following CHARLES R. Instructions for our right trusty and right well-beloved Cosen Robert Earl of Leicester Vicount Lisle and Baron of Sulney our Ambassador to our dear Uncle Christian 4. King of Denmark c. VVe have preferrd you before others to this honorable Employment because we have observd your constant application to vertuous and noble courses and wold have it known to all that we esteem Titles not of those that bury them in obscurity and Vice but of such that improve their worth for publik service in VVar or Peace wherby tru Nobility raiseth it self above the common sort VVe send you to a great King whom we love and honor not only for his
whom I refer the Reader We will conclude this Paragraph with some further inspections into the Laws of England concerning Ambassadors In the 13 of Queen Elizabeth it was gravely debated in the Bishop of Rosse his case who was Ambassador here for Scotland An Legatus qui Rebellionem contra Principem ad quem Legatus concitat Legati privilegi is gaudeat an ut hostis poenis subjaceat Whether an Ambassador who raiseth Rebellion against the Prince to whom he is sent is to enjoy the privileges of an Ambassador or whether he is to lie under a punishment as an Enemy It was resolved by all the Judges of the Land that he had lost the privileges of an Ambassador and was punishable by the Law of the Land Herupon Mendoza the Spanish Amdassador was commanded away because he fomented a Rebellion c. Moreover as my Lord Coke hath it and therin he agreeth with the Civilians If an Ambassador committeth a delect contra Ius Gentium as Treason Felony Adultery c. he loseth the privilege of an Ambassador and may be punished in England as any privat Alien and not to be remanded but upon courtesie But committing any thing against the privat Municipal Law and Customes of England which is not Malum in se Iure gentium He is not punishable The breaking of Truces and Safe-conducts was once High Treason by the Laws of England but that was mitigated 2 Hen. 5. Furthermore my Lord Coke holds in his fourth Institut That if one be namd but Agent in his Credentials from a King yet he is an Ambassador The ninth Paragraph Concerning the wise Compliances and Witty facetious Sayings and Carriage of divers Ambassadors during the time of their Negotiation c. AS it is a principal quality in an Ambassador to be serious abstruse and reservd in the discharge of his Function so it is a mighty advantage for him to be Witty as well as Wise to be facetious and play the Drol sometimes for the Italian says Non è saggio chi non sà esser pazzo He is not wise who knows not how to play the Fool sometimes Apt pleasant and sudden Reparties discover a great deal of wit An Ambassador being sent to the King of Morocco whose Law we know is not to eat Swines Flesh be brought him Letters wherin all his Titles were not given him The King said Sus has Literas peperit A Sow begat these Letters The Ambassador suddenly answerd Ne iis Vescaris It was done that you shold not eat them The Town of Agrigentum as Herodotus reports having sent Gellias a very hard-favord man Ambassador to Centuripe a low dirty Town in Sicily and being jeerd and stard upon at his audience he answerd Ne Miremini Centuripini ut Urbes sunt ita Cives mei Legatos mittunt pulchros ad pulchras deformes ad deformes Do not wonder O you of Centuripe at me for my Masters of Agrigentum send their Ambassadors as the Cities are Fai●… to Fai●… Foul to Foul. Don Pedro de Toledo being employd Ambassador to Henry the 4. of France ther were many traverses between them at one privat audience and Don Pedro magnifying much the power of the Spanish Monarchy King Henry said That it was much like the Statue of Nebuchadnezzar composd of divers peeces but having Feet of clay Don Pedro then replying somewhat high the King rejoynd that if he were provokd he wold carry flames even to the Escurial and if that he once mounted he wold be soon in Madrid Don Pedro answerd Indeed King Francis was there meaning Francis the first who was taken at the Battail of Pavia and remaind Prisoner in Madrid divers yeers The King going on further to tax the King of Spain for usurping divers Countries of his and namely the Kingdome of Navarre which he might live to recover Don Pedro answerd That the Iustice wherby the King his Master held Navarre wold help him to defend it The King replyd Your reason is good till I be in Pampelona Don Pedro therupon rising hastily and going towards the door The King askd whither went he so hastily He answerd To provide entertainment for your Majesty at Pampelona A French Ambassador Monsieur de Tilliers as I take it residing here and being invited one day to Dine with King Iames the King being well disposd began a Health to him saying The King of France drinks the French Kings Health The Ambassador answerd as pleasantly Le Roy mon Maitre est bon Lieutenant Il tient bien la France de Luy The King my Master is a good Lieutenant he holds France well from him But of any that I have heard or read of Don Diego de Acunia Count of Gondamar had an extraordinary faculty this way and besides he had well studied the Genius of King Iames in whose Raign he resided here how he was pleasd with sudden plesant Reparties therfore he did Seria jocose he did dispatch serious things in a merry way When Sir Walter Rawleigh was gone with a Fleet to Guiana and when news was broght that he had taken San Toma plunderd the place and killd the Governor which was as some say beyond the bounds of his Commission wherin he was restraind from doing any Acts of hostility upon the firm Land Gondamar came early one morning to the King desiring to speak but only one word to his Majesty being admitted he cryed out Pyratas Pyratas Pyratas intimating that Sir Walter Rawleigh was turnd Pyrat but that word was so fatal that it took off Sir Walters head though upon an old score Another time having discoursd of many things with the King in a privat audience in French the King askd him whether he understood Latin or no Yes Sir said Gondomar I understand it and speak it Discoursing afterwards in Latin of divers things in a free and facetions way it happend that Gondamar spoke false Latin once or twice the King smiling said How comes it to pass that you being an Ambassador to so great a King who shold be exact in all things how comes it that you break Priscians head so often Gondamar replyed Sir I speak Latin like a King and your Majesty speaks Latin like an Ambassador Count Gondamar having bin outragd by the Rabble in London who threw Tobacco-pipes into his Litter and did him other affronts coming after to have a privat audience and the King taking notice of it he said La Harina de Ingalatierra es muy delgada y fina pero el afrecho es muy grossero Sir the Flowre of England meaning the Gentry is very fine but the Bran is very coorse meaning the common peeple Another time being to dispatch a Courrier to Spain and the old Countess of Buckingham being then in extraordinary high favor that most Suters made their address unto her he writ in a Postscript to Count Olivares That ther were never greater hopes then now that England wold turn Roman Catholik for the Mother was more worshippd
person with his Mother and most of the chief Peers came to meet Him as far as Amyens above two days distant from Paris He carried with him 140000l sterling a prodigious sum in those days though Silver was but 20d an Ounce He transported that vast sum with him to assist the French King and other Confederats in a War against Charles 5. Emperour Ther is no History can parallel this Embassy it was performd with such a glorious Equippage Besides the Ambassador had such a Plenipotentiary and transcendent Cummission that he gave the Law both to France and the Popedome and he comported himself with such dexterity and high wisdome that all the Princes of Christendome who had their eyes fixt upon him admired him This second example shall be of another strain of Gallantry by Sir Ierome Bowes who was employd Ambassador to the Emperor of Russia who was cryed up for a Tyrant Sir Ierome at his first audience having some affronts offerd to be put upon him that he shold put off his Hat els it shold be naild to his head he was not a whit daunted but kept it on still saying he had no such commission from the Queen his Mistress Therupon the Emperour slighting the Queen in comparison of the Emperour of Germany who was the only Prince Paramount Sir Ierome replyed That his great Mistresses Father had the Emperour his Majesty speaks of to serve him in the Wars and receavd pay of him Wherupon with a kind of astonishment at his courage he parted peaceably But afterwards being advancd in his Journey as far as Archangel and being embarkd ther came some of the Emperours Officers with Presents of rich Furs for the Queen and some for himself and being come to the side of the ship with them He wold not suffer them to board but drawing out his Sword said My Mistress the Queen of England hath no need of your Catskins nor I neither therfore you may carry them back Ambassadors being sent to Bourbourgh to treat of a Truce betwixt the King of Spain and the Hollanders Doctor Dale was sent for an assistant and coming to kiss the Queens hands she told him That understanding he was a Learned Man and a good Civilian she made choice of him for that employment and she wold allow him 20s a day He humbly thankd her Majesty and said he wold spend nineteen of them evry day for her Majesties honor therupon the Queen asking him what he wold do with the other odd shilling he replyed I will keep that for my Wife Kate so the Queen encreasd his allowance Being assembled to treat ther was a Debate in what Language they shold treat the Spanish Ambassador thinking to put a jeer upon our Ambassadors said Let us treat in French for your Queen is Queen of France No said Doctor Dale then let us treat in Hebrew for your Master the King of Spain calls himself King of Ierusalem Sir Edward Herbert late Earl of Cherberry being Ambassador in France it happend that he had a clash with the great Favorit and Constable Luynes which was thus Sir Edward had receavd privat Instructions from England to mediat a Peace for Them of the Religion and in case of refusal to use certain Menaces Hereupon He coming to the Army which was then before St. Iean d'Angely where the King was in person and he finding that the approches to the Town were almost finishd He hastned his address to the King for an audience The King referrd him to Luynes desiring that what he had to say might be imparted unto Him Wherupon he went accordingly to Luynes Lodgings and deliverd his Message but so that he reservd the latter part which was Menaces until he heard how the business was relishd Luynes had hid behind the Hangings a Gentleman of the Religion who was upon point of turning Roman that being an Ear-witness of what had passd between the English Ambassador and Luynes he might relate unto Them of the Religion what little hopes they were to expect from the intercession of the King of England The Ambassador and Luynes having mingled some Speeches the language of Luynes was very haughty saying What hath your Master to do with our Affairs why doth he meddle with our Actions Sir Edward replyed It is not you to whom the King my Master doth owe an account of his Actions and for Me t is enough that I obey Him In the mean time I must maintain that the King my Master hath more reason to do what he pleaseth to do then you have to ask why he doth it Nevertheless if you desire me in a gentle fashion I shall acquaint you further Wherupon Luynes bowing a little said Very well The Ambassador answerd That it was not on this occasion only that the King of Great Britain had desired the peace and prosperity of France but upon all other occasions whensoever any troubles were raisd in that Country And this he said was his first reason The second was That when a Peace was setled there his Majesty of France might be better disposd to assist the Palatin in the affairs of Germany Luynes said We will none of your advices The Ambassador replyed That He took that for an answer and was sorry only that the affection and good will of the King his Master was not sufficiently understood and that since t was rejected in that manner He could do no less then say that the King his Master knew well enough what He had to do Luynes answerd We are not afraid of you The Ambassador smiling a little replyed If you had said you had not loved us I shold have beleevd you and made you another answer in the mean time all that I will tell you more is this That we know very well what we have to do Luynes herupon rising a little from his Chair with a fashion and countenance much discomposd said By God if you were not Monsieur the Ambassador I know very well how I wold use you The Ambassador r●…sing also from his Chair said That as he was his Majestie of Great Britain's Ambassador so he was also a Gentleman and that his Sword wheron he laid his hand shold do him reason if he had taken any offence After which Luynes replying nothing the Ambassador went on his way towards the door and Luynes seeming to accompany him the Ambassador told him That after such Language ther was no occasion to use such ceremony and so departed expecting to hear further from him But no message being brought him from Luynes he did in poursuance of his Instructions demand audience of the King at Coignac St. Iean d'Angely being now renderd up who granting it he did in the same terms and upon the same motives mediat a Peace for Them of the Religion and receavd a far more gentle answer from the King The Marshal of St. Geran coming to Sir Edward Herbart told him in a frendly manner You have offended the Constable and you are not in