his Master King Joram and slew him with his own hands and beheaded seventy of his Brethren Pekah a Captain conspir'd against King Pekaliah kill'd him and made himself King Prophane Story will furnish more examples of this kind than are necessary to be rehearsed The Emperour Mauritius was forc'd to see his Wife The Empire and Childrens heads struck off and then receive the same measure himself by his General Phocas who usurped the Empire How Pepin and Hugh Capet both France 〈…〉 Majors of the Palace and Generals of the forces used two Kings of France by disburdening their heads of their two Crowns and clapping them upon their own are stories well enough known to any who hath read the French History The Caliphs of Egypt and Babylon had their Estates and Dignities and some of them their lives taken from them by their Soldans who were their Captain Generals In our own time Ferdinand the Second Emperour of Germany Wallenstein was like to pay dear for making Wallenstein Generalissimo of all his armies for by that power that haughty Captain General went fair to have rooted out that branch of the House of Austria in Germany which hath chain'd the Roman Eagle in that family for some ages and to have made himself King of Bohemia to boot On the other hand a subject would be very wary and cautious to undergo a Subjects would be wary to undertake this great charge charge so burdensome and dangerous as that of the Supreme command of all armies belonging to either Prince or free State for though he hath not been wanting to his Duty yet if in the managing of his charge he have miscarried by chance or misfortune he may make account to pay dearly for it unless he have to do with both a just and a merciful Master And if he be so fortunate to do those exploits which extend the Dominions and add to the honour and benefit As very dangerous of the Prince and State whom he serves he hath done but his Duty and can crave no reward but ex beneplacito nor needs he expect any except from a Gracious Prince nay it is well if he come off without some dishonour or disgrace put upon him if not worse some Princes not loving to look on men who have done them extraordinary services because they may pretend to these extraordinary rewards which they intend not to bestow upon them In bad Some free States unjust to their Generals Requitals free Republicks have shown themselves most unjust to many of their best deserving Captains as Sparta to Agis and Cleomenes Athens to Themistocles Miltiades Cimon Phocion and Pericles Rome to Coriolanus Camillu◠and both the Scipio's Nor have some Princes forborn to stain their honours by being injurious to Captains who have done them the most signal services How basely dealt Tiberius with Germanicus How cruelly did Nero use Corbulo And with what inhumanity did Justinian use the famous Bellisarius who was the supporter Some Monarchs also of his Empire How ungratefully did Ferdinand of Arragon requite Gonsalvo di Corduba the great Captain to whose Valour Conduct and Indefatigable labours he ow'd the Kingdom of Naples So true is that observation of Philip of Comines the greatest services are often requited with the greatest ingratitude Boccalini in one of his Raguagli hath a shrewd hint at this He tells us Boccalini that on a time the news at Parnassus were that Doria was appointed with his Fleet to fall upon Hariaden Barbarossa at a place where he could hardly either fight or get away having made Shipwrack of some of his Fleet Doria sent privately to Barbarossa advertis'd him of his danger and advis'd him to get him out of his way One of Dorias's Captains who was his Kinsman not knowing of this came to him and desir'd him not to lose so fair an opportunity to ruine the Arch-Pyrate Doria perceiving his simplicity drew him aside and told him he was not well seen in the Affairs of the World for said he my fortune is so strictly joyn'd with that of Hariaden that if he be totally routed I perish because I shall be altogether useless for I would have you know said he and learn it of me since you are but a young Captain that Princes use Military men as they do broad Hats and thick hoods which in wet weather they wear to save them from the Rain but cast them away so soon as the Sun shines But if great Captains who have done Princes or States great service be rewarded Presumption of Captains or at least be not ill used they should be aware of another rock and that is presumption upon which they run when they think the glory of those Actions they have done intitles them to a liberty to do what they will For they should remember that good services are but Duties which they owe and which are not to be rewarded but according to the pleasure of the Prince but Crimes are punishable by the Laws of the Land where they live and upon Ruins many of them this shelf many brave Captains have split themselves and suffered Shipwrack So did Pausanias the Famous Spartan King and Alcibiades the Valiant Athenian and so did the Roman Manlius who saved the Capitol from the Gauls so did Biron Duke Paire and Marshal of France under Henry the Great Sir William Stanley under Henry the Seventh of England and the Earl of Essex under Queen Elizabeth The like did the great Captain Wallenstein Duke of Friedland whom I mention'd a little before who stained all his fair actions and eminent services with the black and infamous Crime of Treason Instances against one of those Emperors whom he had served so well and who had given him so great a trust This was likewise Joabs inexcusable fault who presuming on the greatness of his Office rather than that of his services was many times too saucy with his Prince And though Abner deserved a worse death than that he got yet he deserved it not from Joab Davids servant and no doubt it was intolerable presumption in Joab to revenge his Brothers Death on a man with whom his Master had but just now entred into League And though perhaps the same Joab had enough of reason of State on his side for killing Absolom yet it was his duty to have used him as the King bad him for Princes love to be served in their own way and obedience should be the Glory of Subjects This presumption of his moved David to leave him a bloody legacy on his Death bed which Solomon did not scruple by any pretence of devotion to cause to be executed even at the Horns of the Altar where he had taken Sanctuary Nor can Generals excuse their Revolts Treasons or Rebellions by any Affronts or Injuries they can pretend to have received from their Princes And of this Narses was guilty though wronged by the Emperor Justine so was the Duke of
every one what the eternal hath ordain'd for them Nor did Polybius know what was reveal'd to Nebuchadnezzar in that dream which Daniel interpreted to him that the Persians Daniel Ch. 2. should subdue the Assyrians the Grecians should ruine the Persians and the Romans should put a period to the Macedonian Monarchy There was no stop to be made to the current of the Victories of the Romans whom the Almighty had pre-ordain'd to become Masters of the World That there is such an All-ruling Providence was not unknown to the wiser Heathens though they being in a mist did not see with so clear eyes as we who are illuminated by the brighter rays of Gods own word and for all that I think few Divines can express in fewer words the omnipotency and unbounded power of the most high than a Pagan Poet did when he wrote Sic ait immensa est finemque potentia coeli Ovid's Met. Non habet quicquid superi voluere peractum est Heav'ns power hath no limits hence we see All done infallibly what Gods decree If Polybius had liv'd in our days he might have seen the hand of Heaven distributing Victory to speak with reverence and submission to the Almighties pleasure more partially than he either heard it was awarded in the Hannibalian or saw it given in the third Punick War of the first whereof he writes when he falls upon this discourse with us He might have seen men of one Nation arm'd alike following one and the same method of War and for any thing I know of equal Courage both parties inflam'd the one with Loyal zeal the other with rebellious rage acting their parts very highly on the bloody stage of War he might have seen I say the best of Soveraign Kings King Charles the First lose his Crown and Life and have his head chopp'd off with an Ax when the worst of Subjects and greatest of Rebels had his deck'd with Bays Or if Polybius had liv'd but one age longer than he did he might have seen the Roman Legions which he so much commends cutting one anothers Throats all Countrey-men all men of equal Courage and Conduct arm'd alike using one and the same Art and Discipline of War embruing their hands in one anothers blood and those who fought for the State and Liberty of their Countrey overthrown kill'd murther'd and massacred and their Enemies almost ador'd for their success in a bad cause and he might have either seen or heard of Pompeys Head ignominiously struck off and Caesars crown'd Caesar and Pompey with Laurels And if Polybius had been an eye-witness of the prodigious success Gustavus Adolphus the Great King of Sweden had in Germany in the year 1630. when he invaded the Roman Empire and how he took Cities Forts and Castles more Emperour Ferdinand the Second for their number and more considerable for their Strength Beauty and Riches in the space of six months and made a greater progress in his Conquests in less than two years time than Hannibal did in Italy the whole eighteen years he stay'd in it If I say he had seen this he had never attributed Victory to the goodness of Arms the cunning of the Art or exactness of the Discipline of War for he would have seen the Emperour Ferdinand the Seconds Generals wise And his Generals couragious experienced vigilant as well and as much as either the King himself or any of his great Captains Besides both Wallenstein Duke of Friedland and Count Tili had that which Polybius himself requires in a General that was they were fortunate Their great Victories over the Kings of Bohemia and Denmark Bethlem Gabor the Duke of Brunswick the Marquesses of Baden and Durlach and the famous Earl of Mansfield being yet fresh in memory And if Polybius had seen any disparity of Arms or Armour or of Horses either for their number or their goodness in this German War he had seen the Emperours Armies have the odds by much neither was the difference of the manner of their War or Ratio Belli so considerable as to cast the Scales so far as that Martial King did in so short a time Nor was Hannibals discent into Italy with few more than twenty thousand men more hazardous than the Kings landing in Germany with eight or ten thousand at most was justly thought to be What was it then would Polybius have said that carried Victory whose wings Ferdinands Generals and Armies thought they had clipp'd over to the Sweed what else but the hand of the Almighty who when that Emperour was very fair to have reduced Germany to an absolute Monarchy said to him and the whole house of Austria Non plus ultra Go no further Titus Livius had read without all question this comparison of Polybius Another comparison of Titus Livius whereof I have spoken enough and it may be hath taken from it a hint to start another question which is this If the great Alexander after his return from India and his subduing so many Nations in little more than ten years time had made a step over to Italy what the issue of the War between him Voided by himself and the Romans would have been And gives his Sentence that infallibly his Countrey men would have beaten that Great Conquerour Paola Paruta a Paruta not satisfied with Livius Noble Venetian and a Procurator of St. Mark refutes Livius his arguments and concludes that the Macedonian would have over-master'd the Romans But in steps a third an Author of no small reputation the renown'd Sir Walter Raleigh Nor Sir Walter Raleigh who will give the prize to neither Macedonian nor Roman but to his own English It will not be denied but the English Nation did admirable feats in France which was indeed the Stage on which Caesar acted his most martial exploits under Edward the Third King of England and his Son the Black Prince as also under Henry the Fifth while he liv'd and after his death under his Valiant Brothers But Paruta refutes Livius yet I have seen none that opposeth Sir Walter and I am sure I shall not because I am not so much beholding to the Grecians and Romans as to the English But those who are curious to read the reasons of all the three may find those of Livy in his ninth Book of his first Decad those of Paruta in the second Chapter of his Political Discourses and those of Raleigh in the first Chapter of the fifth Book of the first part of his History of the World But to return to Livy's question I shall tell my opinion and that is lawful Strong presumptions against Livius his opinion enough for me to do and it is this Since Hannibal as Polybius confesseth carried not much above twenty thousand men over the Alps of all that great Army that he brought out of Spain and with them durst invade the Roman Seignories in Italy it self when Rome was Mistress of Sicily and
when he came to have a petty army under his own peculiar Command all went well with him and as he was advanced to higher imployments fortune attended him more and more so that he was esteemed to be one of the most successful Generals Queen Christina of Sweden had but observe the change when he came to serve the late King of Sweden in his War against Pole this Koningsmark is pitifully taken at Sea by the Dantzickers and kept Prisoner till the Peace was made It hath indeed been observed of some that they have lost all the Battels that ever they fought as if some inexorable destiny had constantly Some never fortunate attended their persons how brave and accomplisht soever they were They say never Battel was won for Henry the Sixth of England when he was Henry the sixth of England personally present but several were when he was absent There was one of our Earls of Douglas who had the nick-name of Tinefield or Loose-battel a couragious person and well experienced in the managing of the Wars of those One of the Earls of Douglas times and though he wanted no qualification of a good Captain yet lost he all the Battels that ever he fought and this ill fortune attended him when he join'd with Piercy in his Rebellion against Henry the Fourth King of England for that Battel was lost wherein he thought he had kill'd three or four Kings and he himself was taken Prisoner The same rigid fate attended him over to France where fighting at Vernouville against the Duke of Bedford he lost both the Battel and his Life There is another extravagant opinion that it is good for a General to be once beaten that he may thereafter shun those errors which occasion'd his overthrow An odd opinion but the Escapes neglects and Mistakes in the time of Action are so many that if a General did not endeavour to prevent them till by every one of them he lost a Battel Conflict or Rencounter he should never win a Field in his life A great deal better it is saith Monluc for a Captain to be wise by the loss of other men than by his own and by the neglect of others who thereby have shipwrackt themselves to steer his course so that he split not upon that same rock Many there be who fancy the safety of an army to be wrapt up in the safety of him who commands it and therefore will not have him to hazard his perâ—on but a distinction must be allowed here for if the Prince or Monarch be in person at the Medley when he exposeth himself to danger he hazardeth more than his army for he hazards the State and Commonwealth yet many Princes have done it Cyrus the Great Alexander Caesar Henry the Fifth of England and Henry the Fourth of France Charles Gustavus the late King of Sweden all of them successfully and his Majesty now raigning magnanimously aâ— Worcâ—ster But indeed it should not be done by them but in extream necessity But when we speak of any other Generals except Soveraign Princes whatever â—ame they bear I say he who will not have them to hazard their persons robs theâ— Generals should hazard their persons of one of the most essential qualities of their Office and that is Courage If a great Captain be never so prudent never so knowing in the Military Art nâ—ver so vigilant never so industrious if he be not stout all the rest is worth nothing Nor do I mean for all that that he should he rash there is a difference between staring and stark mad He should not hazard his person but where his presence is necessary as when he sees or understands that in time of Battel the enemy is prevailing against such a part of his army thither he should run for his presence may restore the fight as hath been seen a thousand times and it is In several occasions certain that in time of action hardiness is more necessary than prudence Neither is it enough for him in time of Battel to hazard himself but he must do it also in viewing those Forts and Towns which he is to besiege or the ground where he is either to fight or encamp yet he ought to be so well guarded that he may not be surpriz'd by any sudden eruption or the ambush of an enemy as the Roman Consuls Marcellus and Claudius were by one of Hannibals Nor must a Generals courage stop here for where he finds his advantages fears the weakening of his own or the strengthening of his enemies forces he should not only hazard but should dare the enemy to Battel and fight it boldly for occasion is so disdainful and nice that if you do not court her when she offers Fronte capillata est posâ—haâ— occasiâ— calva her self you will hardly ever find her in so good an humour again Let it not be said that a General may be couragious and yet not hazard himself He must shew his courage sometimes yea many times It is good for him to be cautious but he must be adventurous too and if he be not this he may happily preserve what he hath gain'd but cannot probably make any considerable new Conquests and it is upon such a subject that Monluc saith Vn Chef qui craint ne fera rien de bon a Chieftain who fears will never do good But I think I hear some say that a General should hazard his person least of all in Battel because if he fall the rout of the army immediately follows I Generals should hazard themselves â—â— Battel grant it hath sometimes fallen out so but that must not make a general rule for as the safety of an army consists not in the safety of the General so the loss of an army follows not necessarily the loss of a General Many brave Generals and Captains when their armies are irrecoverably routed in the field are forc'd to fly and so preserve themselves to better fortunes so on the other hand many armies have been sav'd and have gain'd the day after their Generals have either fled out of the field or been kill'd in it At a Battel fought with the Imperialists Loss of a General doth not lose an army in the year 1638 Paltsgrave Birkifeld fled with most of his General persons yet his army gain'd the Victory and in our own days the Generals of three armies join'd at that time all in one fled before the Battel was half fought yet the mishap was that the General who fought against them and bravely kept the field lost the honour of the day Titus Livius tells us that the two Decii Father and Son both Consuls in two several Battels which the Romans fought with their neighbours in Italy when they saw their own men began to fly consecrated and devoted themselves and their prevailing enemies to Mother Tellus and all the Infernal spirits with all the Hellish rites of that Heathen action describ'd at length by Livy
is a great deal better to strike at Lieutenants and Ensigns with Swords if necessity force their Superiours as sometimes it may to strike at them at all Fifthly I have heard some very Fifth Philosophically discourse and argue That if a Superiour Commander draws his Sword against his Inferiour the Inferiour is obliged to retire seven steps back but if the Superiour pursue beyond that limit the Inferiour may draw in his Defence But this Argument is near in kin to some of those that are used for resistance of the Lawful and Civil Authority and is an Usher of Rebellion It casts all Order Discipline and Command in a Chaos of Confusion At best it is but the contemplation of some Speculative brain for who can tell whether the Inferiour hath gone back those seven steps or not Who reckon'd them Witnesses will not agree in the measure It is true it is neither fit nor handsome that the Superiour should pursue his Inferiour if he pay him that respect as to retire from him but if that Superiour will pursue it is permitted and if I mistake not commanded that the Inferiour fly but not at all resist But this is too ticklish a theme for Military Discourses Though there may be other punishments yet I suppose I have spoke of most And now I shall desire all of my profession of what quality soever they be to proportionate their punishments to the crime and to take good heed as they will answer it one day to the great Judge they do not revenge their private quarrels and grudges under the cloak of publick Justice It is true Military persons may say That this warning of mine concerns them no more than it doth those who officiate both in Church and State and neither indeed doth it I come now to our Military Rewards which I may rank in three Classes Several kinds of Rewards those are Advancement in Military charges Titles of Honour and recompences or gratuities of Lands or Money The first and the third are in my opinion common to both Commanders and common Souldiers for a Musketeer advanc'd to a Corporals place and getting ten or twenty Shillings of Benevolence hath his preferment and his gratuity as well as that Commander who is advanc'd to be a Lieutenant General and gets a Donative of 20000 l. Sterling But Titles of Honour are only given to deserving Commission'd Officers and to none below them Among those Titles I reckon that to be one to be made a Gentleman and this is in opposition of what is commonly said That all Souldiers are Gentlemen I knew when the late Emperour Ferdinand the Third made Major General Sperreuter who had done great services in the Wars a Gentleman by Patent because he was none by birth and gave him a Coat of Arms. Most of all Titles of Honour as Dukes Marquesses Earls Barons and Knights have been given for services in the Wars notwithstanding which Princes neither can nor will be restricted to confer Honours on others of their Subjects who both have deserv'd or may deserve Honour as well as Sword-men But herein I will not offer to play the Herauld The time was never is not nor can in reason be Princes cannot reward all who have served them ever expected to be that Kings can gratifie all who have serv'd them Loyally The late Emperour in our own time conferr'd both Riches and Honour on many yet where one who had serv'd him was rewarded two hundred were not Queen Christina of Sweden was so profuse in bestowing both Honours and Lands on those who had done her service in the German War that she was thought to have made a prostitution of the first and to have disposed of the second even to the sensible diminution of the Revenues of the Crown and yet not one Officer of a hundred that had serv'd her tasted of her liberality His Majesty now reigning hath honour'd and enrich'd many but it is not possible for him to reward all yet those who have not got should not envy those on whom he hath conferr'd his Princely Favours and Rewards The ancient custome of praising and commending those who have done any particular kind of Military service continues yet for every General doth something like it but they have not that power over the Treasury that the Roman Consuls had in the Fields Our late Politicians can tell us That their Fore-fathers were so wise as not to entrust both the Sword and the Purse to one person and yet Souldiers were never better paid nor the Prince his service better done than when he who commanded the Arms commanded the Purse likewise But when a General cannot reward of himself he should not fail to acquaint his Master Generals should make Gentlemens services known with the names of the persons who have done him services with a specification what those were Marshal Monluc had done great things to Henry the Second when he was but Colonel under the Count of Brisac Marshal of France The Noble Earl did represent those services so handsomely to the French King that Monluc was made Gentleman of the Bed-chamber and Governour of Sainct Abbe in Savoy Upon this subject he hath these expressions in the Second Book of the first Tome of his Commentaries It is an unspeakable grief to a Monluc his sense of it Gentleman who hath liberally expos'd his life in several actions when both himself and his services are conceal'd from the Prince upon whom all the Lives Honours and Fortunes of his Servants do depend there is no theft says he nor robbery comparable to that which is made of a mans Honour And yet many Generals make no Conscience to commit that theft and that Robbery Thus far Monluc And since he dyed Experience hath hath confirm'd the truth of his Observation Generals loving too well to take both the praise and benefit of all that is done well to themselves and with a great deal of dexterity they lay the miscarriage of all their own actions at other mens doors The Suedish Felt-Marshals Banier and Torstenson in our own time were none of those Generals for they rewarded Officers and Souldiers themselves as well as they could and when they could not help them they generously recommended them to the Administrators of Sweden in the Queens minority with a grateful remembrance of their services Knighthood in former times was a peculiar and honourable reward of Knighthood Military men and that which is conferr'd in the Field in time of action is assuredly the most honourable But Soveraign Princes have thought it fit either when they were infested with War or other grievous calamities or after some glorious Victory to unite and tye some of their Great Captains and Chieftains in a fraternity and to confer on them with splendid and magnificent Ceremonies a peculiar Order of Knighthood thereby to enflame both them and others to Vertuous and Valorous actions The oldest and most Several orders of it Honourable
the worst of it This story you may read in Livy's twenty fifth Book Though this practice succeeded well sometimes yet was it unfortunately attempted by the Consul Aemilius at the Battel of Cannae for after Asdrubal had routed him and his Horse on the Right Wing he made his Horse-men alight and fight on foot among the Legionaries as Livy tells us in that twenty fifth Book And it would seem that Hannibal that great Captain did not approve this custome for the same Author says when it was told him what the Roman Consul had done he should have smil'd and said He might as well have deliver'd them to me bound hand and foot I know not if in our Modern Militia this could be advantageously practis'd being the Arms of our Horse and Foot differ very much whereas those of the Romans were almost all one I have indeed seen at the assaults of Towns Horse-men commanded to alight and storm with the Foot And this hath reason for it in regard that with their Pistols Carabines and Swords they were as able for that service as the Infantry Yet Machiavelli who will needs Machiavelli reform the Modern Militia and cast it in his own Mould gives us an instance that it was practis'd in the Field a very little before his own time and long after that Gun-powder had mightily alter'd the face of War In the second Book of his Art of War The Count of Carmignola General for the Duke of Milan had six thousand Men of Arms and but a few Foot with these he fought a Battel against the Switzers arm'd with long and strong Pikes and is by them worsted and forced to quit the Field The Earl finding what advantage a Pike had against Horse presented them once more Battel but coming near he order'd his Cuirassiers to alight in imitation belike of Julius Caesar fighting against the same Nation and fighting on foot then saith he the Switzers â—â—â—es not being able to pierce the Corslets of the men of Arms they were totally routed by Carmignola Was it not well that the strong Pikes of the Switzers push'd by their robust Arms and Bodies did not overthrow the Earls Cuirassiers though the points of them could not pierce their Armour Philip de Comines tells us that at the confus'd Battel of Montleberry between Lewis the Eleventh King of France and Charles the Warlike Duke of Burgundy The said Charles commanded many of his Gentlemen who were Men at Arms to alight from their Horses and joyn in fight with his Archers of Foot Which action says the Author was honourable and encourag'd others and this custome says the same Philip the Burgundians had learn'd from the English when both of them being Confederates waged War together against France for the space of thirty two years without any truce The custome which the Romans had to mix Foot with Horse begun at the Horse and Foot mix'd together Siege of Capua was so frequent afterward that I need not give many instances of it Caesar seldome fail'd to do it When Vercingentorix had rais'd all Gaule about his ears he sent for German Horse and Foot who were accustom'd to fight one in company of the other as he tells us in the seventh Book of his Gallick War In Thessaly finding himself far inferiour in Horse to Pompey he constantly mixed some of his Antesignani who were Legionaries and heavy practis'd by Caesar armed and of the youngest sort and so more able to march and run with his Horse who became so expert in that manner of fight that as himself witnesseth in his third Book of the Civil War two hundred of his Horse joyn'd with the like number of these Foot were not afraid to buckle with thousands of his Enemies Cavalry And it was with that manner of fight that he made that honourable retreat of his from Dirrachium in spite of Pompey's whole Army that pursu'd him And it was with the assistance of six Cohorts of his Triarian Foot that his Horse beat his Competitors Cavalry at Pharsalia and got him the Victory as himself both confess'd and foretold At Vzita in Africk when he offer'd to fight against Scipio Pompey's Father-in-law he drew up all his Cavalry on his Left Wing and with them mixed all his light armed Foot who it seems were Auxiliaries The German Horse-men And by the ancient Germans used every one of them to chuse a Foot-man whom they knew to be stout strong and swift These Foot-men either skirmish'd before the Horse as the Romans did at Capua or fought in company with them or stood at a distance behind them that the Horse might retire to them and if both were forc'd to quit the Field then the Foot-men laid hold on the Manes of the Horses and with that help run as fast as the Horse gallopp'd till both came to their main Body of all which Caesar informs us in the first Book of the Gallick War And this manner of fight was practis'd by Ariovistus King of Germany and by Vercingentorix We find in History that when the Romans were to give Battel assisted by Roman Cavalry how marshall'd their Allies for most part their Cavalry was marshall'd on the Right Wing of their Army and the Allies on the Left So at Cannae Paulus Aemilius stood on the Right Wing with the Roman Horse and the Consul Varro on the Left with the Horse of the Allies Once Scipio at Zama gave the Right Wing to Masanissa King of the Numidians and appointed Lelius to command the Left Wing compos'd of Roman Horse But when they fought without Allies then their Horse were drawn up on both Wings and sometimes as I have said interlin'd with Foot but scarce or rather never did I read in any ancient History that they were marshall'd by Troops among the Legionary Foot whereof I shall tell you more hereafter when I come to speak of Vegetius his Legion And how the same Vegetius contradicts Polybius in the matter of the Roman Horse-mens Guards shall be spoke of in my Discourse of Guards and Rounds CHAP. VIII Of their Trumpeters Horn-winders and of the Classicum SInce we have now spoke of both Foot and Horse it is fit we know to what Martial Instrument or Sound both should hearken I find Tubicines these were Trumpeters Cornicines these were Horn-winders and Buccinatores who I think used the Horns of Cows and Oxen and the Classicuâ— All these were common to both Horse and Foot neither had the one any title to pretend to either of these more than the other had nor were any of them peculiar to the one more than to the other though now the Horse Troops appropriate the Trumpet to themselves as the Foot do the Drum The Trumpet is an ancient Instrument of War at first and I believe for Trumpeters many ages made of Brass hence the Poet Aere ciere Virâ—s though the luxury of after-ages made their composition of Silver We find they were common to
the first who have made use of it neither will we hinder it to be a perpetual Law to ages to come being assuredly confident said they that if you had that power over us that we probably may shortly have over you you would not fail to put this Law in execution against us So you see that both Cyrus and the Athenians thought Prisoners of War might be put to death if the Victor pleased not only by the Law of War but by the Law of both Nations and Nature Before I go further I shall premise one thing at which perhaps many of my own Profession scruple which is that notwithstanding any quarter granted in the field in time of Battel or skirmish or at the assaults of Towns or Castles How a General may use his Prisoners of War Jurâ— Bâ—llâ— he who commands in chief over the Victorious army may put all or any of the Prisoners to death that he pleaseth without doing any wrong to the Law of War because they had no quarter promised them by him either by word or in writing which we ordinarily call Parol What quarter is given by any Officer who is inferior for the time or by any Soldier is but till the General or Commander in chief judg of the Prisoners and then he may do with them as he pleaseth But observe on the other hand that though Jure Belli he may do so yet when he puts Prisoners to death in cold blood he may be justly branded with inhumanity and cruelty unless those Prisoners have been Traytors Rebels Runaways or Fugitives or that Quarter had been promised contrary to the express command of the General any of these alters the case Such was that act of Saul King of Israel who gave quarter to Agag contrary to the express command of the Lord of Hosts who had ordained him to die Let us take a short view how this perpetual Law whereof Cyrus and the Athenian Embassadors spoke was executed in ancient times and I believe we shall see that all Prisoners of War were either ransom'd exchang'd put to death or made slaves The Jews differ'd a little from other Nations in the matter of Jewish slaves Slavery for Deut. 23. they had a Political Law which order'd a refuge to their Slaves Slaves certainly who came to that calamity by none of their own fault and that is mostly to be understood of Captives of War Cyrus found the Law he spoke of practised against himself by Tomiris Queen of Scythia who put him to death in cold blood if the Historian tell us truth How the Assyrian Monarchs used their Prisoners though prophane story were silent the Sacred Writ would inform us by it we know how Tiglath Pilâ—ser took away the Ten Tribes of Israel and Nebuchadnezzâ—r the other two to Babylon and how this last put most of the Chiefs and Princes of the people to Death after How the Israelites used their Prisoners they were Prisoners and caused the Children of King Zedâ—kiah to be cut in pieces before his face that after having seen so sad a spectaâ—le he might have his eyes put out that so thereafter as Sir Walter Raleigâ— observes well he might never see any thing to comfort him The Captains of Gods chosen people of Israel and Judah thought not that their hands were bound up by any quaâ—â—er that was given by their inferiour Commanders and Souldiers but pass'd very ordinarily a Sentence of Death upon most of their Prisoners of War Joshua hang'd most of those Kings whom he took in the Land of Canaan Adonibeâ—â—k had his Thumbs and great Toes cut off for so he had used seventy two Kings before Zebah and Zalmunnah Kings of Midian after they had quarter given them were killed in cold blood by Gidâ—on perhaps by no other inspiration than that of Revenge because they had killed his Brethren And by the way I observe that the Israelites in their Civil Wars among themselves gave very bad quarter As for example after the rest of the Tribes had killed in one Battel eighteen thousand Benjamites they put five thousand of them to the Sword in the chace who no doubt called for quartor The Text saith they gleaned them that is killed them one by one in the way and after that two thousand of them were put to death at Gidoâ— who I make no question yielded themselves Prisoners How many thousand Ephraâ—â—â—tes were put to death by the Gileadites when they bâ—wrayed what they were by the wrong pronunciation of Sâ—bbâ—teth David King of Israels David very severe to his Prisoners not only â—â—aughtered those Ammonites whom he had taken Prisoners in the War but tortured them and put them to cruel deaâ—â—s Whether he did this â—or â—â—y other reason than to be revenged for the disgrace done to his Embassadours by Hâ—nan King of the A 〈…〉 it es I shall not offer to determine But â—ertainly the Prophet â—lisha gave a contrary advice to Jehorâ—â—â— King of Israel Elisha adviseth to give fair quarter who asking the man of God what he should do with those Syrians who were miraculously brought into Samâ—ria in these words Shall I smiâ—e them my Father shall I smiâ—e them Was answered Wiâ—â— thou smiâ—e those whom thou hast takâ—â— with thy Bow and thy Spear nay see Brâ—ad and Water before them and send thâ—â— back to their Master I confess this was very fair quarter but it was not to be imitated in all its points The obstinate keeping out of Towns Forts and Castles when there was An occasion of bad quarter neither hope nor probability of succours hath been often the reason why the Besieged after they have rendered have been â—â—tchered to death that is after they had yielded to the discretion of the Conquerour who having granted no Articles or Conditions may put them all to death without any stâ—â—â— of perfidy He may do it Jure bâ—lli but he may be taxed with severity if not cruelty for it yet generous Princes have practised it Titus a merciful Prince cast the Jews who were his Prisoners both men and women by hundreds to be torn and devoured by Wild Beâ—sts The Great Alexander caused some thousands of the Tirians to be Scourged and Crucified after they wore Prisoners because in defence of their City they had so long put a stop to the course of his Victories But I think he cannot be vindicated from extream inhumanity Inhumanity of Alexander used to the Noble Governour of Gaza who kept out that place couragiously against him till the never-failing Fortune of that daring Prince put the woful Governour into his hands whose Fâ—â—t he caused to be bored and through the holes he put Cords and tying these to Horse-tails in that manner caused him to be dragg'd about the City in imitation perhaps of what Homer saith Achilles of whom Alexander derived his Pâ—dâ—gree did to the dead body of the Valiant Hector The Veneti a people in Gâ—â—le were overcome by Câ—sar
then that Captain-General commissionates Lieutenant-Generals to command petty Armies under him but when he joins his forces the Command of the Lieutenant-General seems to cease because he is but the Deputy of him that sent him and a Representative is no more a Representative when he whom he represented is present The Roman Consuls had their Lieutenant Generals who were called Legates who commanded Armies apart Roman Legates when the Consuls thought fit but had no command when the Consul was present Nor doth Caesar give those Legates even in the Consuls absence an absolute power for speaking of one of his own Legates in the French War I believe it was Labienus he commends him for not hazarding a Battel with the Gauls though he seem'd to have the advantage because saith he a Legate hath not that power which he hath who is Imperator or Commander in chief One of the Dukes of Aumale commanded an Army in France against the Protestants with the Title of Lieutenant-General but so soon as he join'd forces with Henry Duke of Anjou who was Captain-General for his Brother Charles the Ninth the Duke resign'd both his Title and Office But notwithstanding all this Lieutenant-Generals continue both in their Title and Office in their Generals presence and I have known Felt-marshals have Lieutenant-Generals under them who have commanded both the Horse and Foot of their Armies even when the Felt-marshals were present as the Earl of Bramford who was Lieutenant-General to Felt-marshal Barrier and King who was Lieutenant-General to Felt-marshal Leslie I think the great Dukes of Muscovia have a very commendable custom to chuse any of their Colonels who they fancy are qualified for it to be Generals or Lieutenant-Generals of a competent number of forces fit for the expedition they are to be imployed in and so soon as that piece of service is A good custom done the Colonel lays down his Commission and returns to his former Charge without the least thought or imagination that he is disparag'd thereby the frequent practice of this custom banishing such thoughts out of all mens heads Neither would such a practice be fancyed to be a degrading of men from former honours in other places of the world if they were but a little habituated to it The French gives now the Title of Lieutenant-Generals very frequently I suppose they are independent one of another and are the Kings Lieutenant-Generals which is very proper and obey none but such as he commands to give Orders to them A General of the Cavalry commands it under him who is Commander in General of the Cavalry chief of the Army whatever title he bear whether General Felt-marshal Lieutenant Felt-marshal or Lieutenant-General He is to see the Troops and Regiments of Horse kept at that strength that they are appointed to be of and if by Battel long marches great fatigue or other accidents of War the numbers of men be diminisht Horses lost or made unserviceable it is his duty when they come to Quarter to see the Troops made strong the Horses put in good case and the Riders well cloth'd and arm'd In Musters he is obliged to see that no Colonel or Ritmaster wrong the Muster-masters by His Duties making a show of borrow'd men Horses or Arms whereby the Prince may be cheated in his Purse or disappointed in his service He is to take care that the Cavalry be paid and provided with Proviant and Fodderage and good Quarter He should also be a person who understands something of the Foot-service in regard that when the greatest part of the Horse is sent in any Expedition ordinarily some Foot are sent with them and then it is the General of the Cavalries office to command both But it is a pity that all General persons should not make it their study and their work to understand both the Foot and Horse-service for I have seen considerable parties of Foot more harass'd and spoil'd in a-short time under the command of an Officer of Horse than if they had been routed by an enemy so little discretion some have to know the difference between a man and a Horse It seems in the Low-Country service the General of the Horse commanded next the General and in his absence over the Army even when they had Felt-marshals but that custom is not now in other places where Felt-marshals and Lieutenant-Felt-marshals command the Generals of the Horse and it would seem that the Estates of the Vnited Provinces have now voided the difference otherwise since they qualified the two Commanders in chief of their Armies with the Titles of Felt-marshals Prince Maurice and Wurz A Lieutenant-General of the Horse being in his Generals absence to do the Lieutenant General of the Cavalry same duties he should have the same qualifications If the Cavalry be marshal'd in one Body the General is to stand on the right hand of it and the Lieutenant-General on the left But if the Horse be drawn up in two wings the General commands the right and the Lieutenant-General commands the left wing A Major-General of the Cavalry is to receive the word and all other Orders Major General of the Horse from the Commander in chief of the Army he is to impart them to the General and the Lieutenant-General of the Cavalry and after he hath received their commands he is to give all to the Regiment Quarter-masters of Horse which they carry to the several Regiments All complaints and differences between Officers and Horsemen or among themselves are first brought to him which he should endeavour to compose in an amicable way but if he cannot Major-General of Horse he is to proceed according to the Articles and Constitutions of War He hath the inspection of all the Guards of Horse and orders them and keeps lists of Convoys and Parties that the several Officers and Troopers may have their turns in which a Major-General should show himself very impartial for very few or none there be who will not think themselves wrong'd in their reputation His Duties if others be prefer'd to them where either danger may probably be look'd for or profit expected unless it can be made clear to them that it is not their turn to go on that party or with that Convoy It is the Major-General who marshals the Cavalry in Battel having first advised about the manner with the General of the Horse or in his absence with the Lieutenant-General If he be an understanding active stirring and vigilant person a General and Lieutenant-General may be laid aside as in many Armies over Christendom they are though not in all This Officer the English qualifie with the Title of Commissary General of the Horse The Duties of a Lieutenant-General and Major-General of the Foot are the General Officers of the Foot same which I have told you belongs to those of the Horse mutatis mutandis Generals of the Foot are but rare Banier was under Gustavus Adolphus and Lind
If the other side of the Gallery be made up with strong boards it will be sufficient These Galleries may be more or fewer according to the number of the Bastions of the besieged place or the strength and number of the Besiegers Army Prince Maurice of Nassaw had seven of them at Juliers when he besieg'd it about sixty years ago Galleries being made over the Moat the Besiegers either make a breach with To make a Brechâ— their Ordnance or they Mine before they come to the Assault or they do both If a breach or Briche be resolv'd on it is the most expensive way for as I told you in my Discourse of Artillery some require to make a breche eighteen pieces of Ordnance eight whole Cannons six Culverines and four Demi-Culverines and for these some Gunners require three Batteries one for the Cannon to shoot in a direct line and two for the Culverines to shoot crosswise or obliquely to cut away those parts of the Wall which the Cannon hath shaken I shall not trouble you with a discourse of Batteries which are those platforms of Boards on which the Pieces stand how even and plain they should be made that they should be higher behind than before according to the greatness of the Piece is to be planted on them both to hinder her to recoil too far and bring her the more easily forward to her Loop hole nor of the length of a platform to fit a piece for her carriage and recoil nor of the several sorts of Batteries as those of Earth of Timber and of Woollen Sacks nor of sunk Batteries nor of the Appareill which is nothing but the ascent to the Battery for the more easie bringing up the Cannon to it All these things and many more concerning Batteries belonging properly to the Gunners Art and but accidentally to this Discourse I shall only tell you that when a Breche is to be made Gunners differ about the distance that should be between Distance of Batteries from the place to be battered the Battery and the Wall to be batter'd Some are of opinion that one hundred and fifty paces are far enough and that no Battery should be made further from the mark and those say likewise that the nearest Battery should be four hundred foot from the mark Others say two hundred foot makes a convenient distance and a third sort it may be with greatest reason aver that a Battery at the Counterscarp where only the breadth of the Moat is between the Battery and the Wall hath the greatest force and the Ordnance prove most efficacious But the nearer the Battery be the greater care should be taken that their Parapets be so strongly and well contriv'd that neither the Ordnance may be in danger of dismounting nor the Gunners and Matrosses in hazzard of their lives but neither these nor many things else can be secur'd by the wit of man These old Stone Towers that stand on Walls fortified a l'antique ought to be batter'd down at least their Parapets for I have seen more hurt done from those to Approaches than from either Curtain or Bulwark of any Modern Fortification I have said that to make a breach some require three Batteries one for the Three several Batteries to make a breach 8 Cannon the second for the 6 Culverines and the third for the 4 Demi-Culverines The first to play on direct angles which terribly shakes the Wall the second to play traversly and cross to cut out what the Cannon hath shaken and the third to beat down the Parapets or render them useless By this means it is conceived that in less than twelve hours time a sufficient breach may be made which the Defendants must not be permitted to repair for an Assault should immediately follow Nor will I in this place trouble my Reader with the different opinions of Gunners yea of Captains whether it be more conducible for gaining the Fort to make a breach in a Bulwark or a Curtain Some say as I Whether to batter a Curtain or a Bulwark told you formerly the faces of a Bulwark near the Capital having least defence are with least danger attack'd and assaulted and therefore should be first batter'd others think that Bastions having most terreplein for we must suppose them full of Earth render Breaches for a long time ineffectual because having so much Earth so near at hand they may quickly be repaired and other Retrenchments may be made successively behind one two or more breaches whereas there is a far greater difficulty to do so in a Curtain where there is no more earth or terreplein than the thickness of the Rampart and to that that the danger of assaulting a Curtain comes from two Flanks of the two nearest Bastions they say they may be made useless before the Assault both by the direct and traverse Cannon adding of Demi-Culverines Quarter Cannons and Field-pieces But having overcome the difficulties of the Moat it is many times thought fit to lodge at the foot of either Bulwark or Curtain and there to undermine What use the Ancients made of Mines I have shewn you in its Mines proper place nor are Mines other things now than they were in the days of yore except that they differ in their contrivances for of old the principal end of Mining was to underdrop the Wall with Timber till the underminer was order'd to fire that Timber and therefore the Mine might be greater and wider than now when Gun-powder is to be put into it Norton in his practice of Artillery says that Pietro di Navarra was the first who made use of Pietro di Navarra Gun-powder in Mines and made Furns or Ovens or as we call them Powder Chambers If this be true as I know nothing to the contrary it seems strange to me that the composition of Powder being found out by the German Monk about the year of our Lord 1301. it should not have been used in Mines two hundred and thirty years after its invention for it is not yet one hundred and thirty years since Pietro di Navarra dyed He was a very ingenious man and a subtile and vigilant Captain for his great and good services Charles the Fifth gave him great rewards and made him an Earl But Pietro having deserted him twice and gone over to the French King he was taken at the Siege of Naples and kept Prisoner in the Castel del Ovo which by his dexterity himself had formerly taken from the French for that same Charles and old crazy and sickly as he was his Head by order from the Emperour was appointed to be taken off but the morning before his execution it was prevented either by himself or his favourable Guardian Hickard and he was found dead in his Bed as Giovio relates the story To demolish a Wall by a Mine is to be preferr'd to a Battery for two reasons first it is of far less expence secondly Batteries being soon perceiv'd may be
got it and then made an accord got Articles fair enough and gave over the Town The several works that are without the Ditch of a Royal Fortification must The several kinds of Out-works be taken notice of so much that it will be necessary for a Besieger to make himself master of them before he make his approaches to that side of the Fortress on which any of these outer works are Engineers ordinarily make five kinds of them these are Half-Moons Ravelines Horn-works Crown-works and Tenailles some add a sixth kind Traverses The manner to take them is the same I have already describ'd only I add that it will be sitting if possible to take away the Water out of those Moats that are not dry for the ground of Water-Ditches often proves muddy yet the mud is sooner made passable with Fascines than water is It is true if the Ditch be any thing deep after the Water is away you must have Ladders to descend at the Counterscarp but these may help you to ascend the Scarp or the Fausse Bray if the Fort have one The taking away Water from a Ditch is very ordinary and practicable To draw Water from a Ditch by any Engineer if there be a descending ground from any part of the Moat But notwithstanding all hath been said he who leads an Army if he find none of these works without the Counterscarp to retard him and the place it self either is not well fortified or scarce of Men and Munition or those within are timorous or do not well agree among themselves or that by his Intelligence he hath learned that the Governour is either not experienced not vigilant or is a man of little Authority or Courage after his first summons by the answer whereof he may guess at the Governours resolution he may to save his Master much expence and himself and his Army much time and labour To storm without Approaches so soon as he arrives make Batteries and after a furious Cannonading fill up the Moat as well as he can especially if it be a dry one clap Ladders to the Wall and his Souldiers being well refresh'd and encourag'd hazzard a storm with probability enough of success But on the other part if the place be well mann'd though the Fortification be none of the best and commanded by an Inconsiderate assaults seldome successful active and experienced Governour who hath good Officers under him and wants for neither Meat Artillery Arms or Munition it is but high presumption or rather madness to give an Assault without these previous Approaches Breaches and Zaps whereof I have spoke The late King of Sweden a very martial Prince blemished his reputation in Military affairs by his inconsiderate storming Copenhagen in which was the Danish King with all his Family many of the Nobless of Denmark a good Souldiery three thousand Students well arm'd and some thousands of Burgesses who were to fight manfully for all that could be dear to men on Earth The event of this Assault was correspondent to the attempt for Charles Gustavus was beat off with a great loss of Charles Gustavus both his Army and Honour Nor was his Unkle Gustavus Adolphus excusable though he was the Mars of his time for storming the Imperial General Wallenstein's Gustavus Adelphus Camp at Nuremburg strongly fortified on a Hill and who with his own and the Bavarian Forces had as many men within his Leaguer as the King had without yet was the Assault obstinately continued almost a whole day and as resolutely was the Camp defended by the Imperialists insomuch that the Hill seemed to be nothing but fire and smoke The conclusion was the King was beaten off and forc'd to leave some thousands of dead men on the place and fill all the Lazaretto's of Nuremburg with those who were hurt and wounded This action of his proceeded from the great confidence he had in his fortune and former successes but here she turn'd her back and frown'd upon him nor did she ever smile on him afterward for about three months after that he lost his life at the Battel of Lutsen There is a Book of Military matters dedicated by an Italian Earl to the late French King this Kings Father it is call'd Il Guerriero prudente politica del Conde Galeazzo Gualdo priorato After he hath discoursed of the attacks of Forts he concludes thus Il lavoro delle quali Batterie Traverse Gallerie Approci alâ—re simili attioni essendâ— opere insegnate Diligentissima mente da molti buoni Autori sparmiâ—ro il tedio che potesse ricevere il Lettore da queste mie imperfette fatiche The labour or travel of these Batteries Traverses Galleries Approaches and such other Actions being works which have been most diligently taught by many good Authors I shall be sparing to give my Reader the trouble he may receive from these imperfect fatigues of mine These words I desire my Reader to look upon as my language or at least as my sense by which I excuse my self from running out more copiously on those particulars CHAP. XXV Of the Defence of fortified places against all the ways of expugnation Of all things necessary for Forts of Governours of their duties and qualifications THere be as many several ways and means to preserve and defend Towns Forts Castles and Cittadels as there be to take them But the most difficult part of all is to guard against Treachery it is a close and hidden Engine How to guard against Treachery against which open defences are seldome proof Nor do I know any better way than for a Governour still to imagine he may be betray'd and therefore to be constantly on his Guard to trust but few and yet seem to trust all He should have a wary eye without seeming to be jealous on all the Inhabitants of the place upon the Officers and Souldiers of his Garrison especially on such as are known to be of revengeful discontented or avaritious Inclinations and if he learn that there is any tampering between any one of them and an Enemy he should do well to proceed against them with just severity for that will prove to be poena ad paucos terror ad omnes If the Governour have any Intelligence at the Court of the Prince or State who are Enemies to his Master or with the Secretaries of their Generals it will be easie for him to learn what Traytors he hath in his Garrison and to proceed accordingly against them A good antidote also against the poison of Treachery is neither to trust the several Ports nor Posts of a Garrison'd place constantly to one Officer nor to one Company or Band of Souldiers whereof I spoke in my Discourse of Watches and Guards It hath been of bad consequence in all ages and will be ever a temptation to all base and treacherous Souls to hatch treasonable designs The doing it ruin'd the late gallant Duke of Guise and all his great actions
wrong hand for one Martio Colonna bought him from him who had taken him purposely to kill him and poor Amico was killed and by Martio's own hand a very unmartial act and all because Amico had fairly killed a Cousin of Marcio one Stephano Colonna nor had Lex Talionis place here neither The Italions then need not to expostulate with the Turks either for cruelty or inobservance of Quarter given to Prisoners But let us in the next place see how a a Spaniard behaved himself and he was a person of no mean qualility in keeping the Quarter that was given to Prisoners of War When Philip the Second King of Spain had taken Possession of the Kingdom of Portugal his Admiral the Marquess of Santa Crux at a Sea Battle near the Terceras defeated a French Fleet Here was taken Philip Strozzi a Florentine Santa Crux his inhumanity to French Prisoners who was sent as General of the forces ordain'd by Catherine de Medici Queen Mother of France to assist the Prior of Crato with Strozzi were three hundred more taken and had fair quarter promis'd them Strozzi was pitifully wounded and laid down before Santa Crux but neither the quarter promis'd him nor the sad condition of a brave Gentleman nor the consideration of the instability of humane affairs could move Santa Crux to pity him but gave a barbarous order to throw him immediately over-board Nor did his cruelty stop there for by a formal Sentence he beheaded fourscore Gentlemen of the Prisoners all the rest of three hundred that were above seventeen years of age he hang'd those that were under that age he condemn'd to the Galleys An unparallel'd act of Justice I have said before that quarter unless promis'd by Articles should not be given to Fugitives But here a question ariseth If an Officer or a common A question Souldier be taken and be not able to maintain himself in Prison and no care is had by his Superiours either to exchange ransome or maintain him if he be forc'd to take service under the Enemy and be re-taken whether he should be used as a Fugitive or not Here I suppose a distinction will be Answered necessary If he be the natural subject of the Prince or State that makes the War he may not serve their Enemy on any pretence and if he do it he is liable to punishment as a Traytor but if he serve him only as a mercenary it seems disputable for the Grecians and Romans punish'd such of their own as serv'd the Enemy with death but not their Auxiliaries unless they had run over from them to the Enemy but that is not the question for all Run-aways deserve death but these I speak of are not such Yet there was a valiant Knight Capuz Muden who had done Charles the Fifth great services but Severity was none of his Subjects he was taken by the French in Piedmont and having often and in vain sollicited for his exchange or ransome he took service under the French King and after that was taken by the Imperialists in Artois and notwithstanding all his defences had his Head cut off by the Emperours command When that Major General Kniphausen whom I mention'd in the last Chapter was Prisoner with Count Tili he wrote to the King of Sueden whose subject he was not and desir'd to know since he could neither maintain nor ransome himself if he might take imployment under the Emperour the King told all those who were with him That the Major General ask'd him the question Whether he might lawfully be a Knave or not Intimating thereby that he might not for all his Imprisonment break his Military Oath But for all that I have known thousands take service in that manner and never challeng'd for it when they have been re-taken Inexorable necessity dispensing oft with transgressions of that kind To make those Prisoners who have not taken Arms but live in amity with Injustice in making some Prisoners both parties only because they are suspected to favour one party more than the other hath little of the Law of Arms in it and less of that of Conscience Herein the famous Count of Mansfeld is inexcusable for putting Guards on the Earl of East-Friezeland when he had quarter'd his Army in his County So was the Suedish Felt-Marshal Banier for sending one of the Dukes of Saxon-Lauenburg and the Lord Arnheim Prisoners to Sueden Neither can the late King of Sueden be well excused for seizing on the persons of the Duke and Dutchess of Courland The securing of the Dutchess as well as her Husband the Duke minds me of a question Whether Women should be made Prisoners of War it is certain Whether Women should be Prisoners of War if taken in ancient and later times too they were taken and ransom'd or exchang'd or made slaves yet it would seem since Nature hath generally exempted that Sex from making War they cannot properly be made Prisoners of War The Mahometans notwithstanding make Slaves of them And I suppose in our late Wars they were not ordinarily made Prisoners rather because the custome of it is worn out than that it is abrogated by any Law It is not yet 130 years since some French Captains under Francis the First took some Spanish Ladies Prisoners at Perpignan and would have put them to ransome but that generous King gave a summ of money to those who had taken them and sent them home to their Husbands without ransome Now it is not like he would have bought them from his own Officers if he had not thought they had some right to them by the Law of War The great Cyrus did well in preserving the honour and chastity of the fair Panthea taken Prisoner in the War but Some instances of it he had done better to have sent her home to her Husband Abradates Alexander did well to use Darius his Mother Wife and Daughters honourably but he had done better to have sent them home to the Persian King either for or without ransome Selimus the First as barbarous and cruel a Tyrant as he was known to be shew'd more generosity in this point than both of them for the noise of the Turks Cannon having rather frighted the Persian Horses than chac'd the Sophi Isaâ—ael out of the Calderan Plains his Horse-men took a number of noble Persian Ladies Prisoners whom the Great Turk sent home to their Husbands without ransome and without any violence done to their persons or honours But Prisoners of War having got fair quarter promis'd them and honestly Slavery remitted by Christians kept What shall be done with them Assuredly they must be either enslaved exchang'd or ransom'd As to the first we are to know that after the great Constantine suffer'd the Christian Faith to be preach'd without interruption over most of the then known World men remitted much of the severity of the Law of War and Nâ—tions to Prisoners And Slavery which makes men differ but