peace with vs perpetually neither as lawfull enemies but admitted a truce or an intermission of warr for a tyme alwaies exceptyng Lorne and Lundie and with a caution to saue their title and right Our awne Recordes and registers approue this howbeit let no man iudge that myne entent is herin to pleade the cause of Englande for that I neither can doo ne professe to doo but onely to geue light to suche as liste to seke that the matter is not so cleare on our side as oure writers would haue it seme and therfore I would that men should weigh the querell indifferently and without affeccioÌ„ and not to leane more on the one side then on the other For the title which I alledge is neither deuised vpon phantasie worne out with age introduced by conquest ne enforced with feâ—â—re or compulsion but grounded vpon truth dooen within memory wrought by consente and agreyng to all iustice equitie lawe pacte and promise not doen in priuate but openly and not by a â—ew but by a multitude vpon a greate deliberacion and that in parliameÌ„t whiche title enduceth no feruitude but fredome libertie concord and quietnesse and serueth aswell for Scotlande as Englande makyng equalitie without supertoritie AT the parliament holden at Edinbrough immediatly after the death of our last kyng wher al the lordes thother states and orders of our realme wer assembled sauing the Erle of Arguyle that appered there by his proctor sir Ihou CaÌ„mell The mariage betwene our Princes and the kynges maiestie of EnglaÌ„d kyng Edward the VI. then beyng prince was fully concluded by aucthoritie of the same Parliament al thassentes of the said states and Orders concurryng therunto The whiche for more faithe testimony of the thyng was also confirmed by writing vnder the greate seale of Scotlande Maie there be any thyng of greater aucthoritie force or euidence any title more righteous then this graunted not by our auncestors but by our selfes and to a prince now liuyng not in tyme oute of mynde but now these so fewe yers freshely paste not rashely or sodainly but by greate and deliberate aduisemeÌ„t and the same not of a fewe but of all the states of the realme asseÌ„bled not at al aduentures but soleÌ„pnely in parameÌ„t a thing no doubt instilled from the almightie and the same our moste merciful god into the mindes of the workers thereof to haue set an end to al the discord of bothe realmes by that vnion and knot of mariage And what madnes or deuill O moste dere couÌ„treimeÌ„ hath so moued or rather distracte our myndes eftsones to take weapoÌ„ in hand and the same against oure promises fidelities honoures and othes hauyng on oure side no good grounde honestie reason ne any iuste respecte but onely of the prouocacion of the deuil the pope and his rable of religious men as thei would seme to be specially those whom we cal our auncient frendes where their are in deede our auncient enemies the Frenchemen And when we shall haue well coÌ„sidered this attonement with Englande compared the same with the league of FrauÌ„ce and well weighed thententes endes of bothe we shall perceiue the the one calleth vs to an euerlasting peace quietnes and the other hath and will kepe vs if wee forsake it not in tyme in coÌ„tinual miserie and warres And that maie we easily iudge in repeting from the beginnyng the causes of the one and of the other The Frenchmen fearyng more and more the power of Englande whiche had so many tymes dooen theim so notable displeasures as not onely to haue wonne of them sundry battailes wherof for briefnes sake I reporte me to the stories but also for that the Englishemen haue as ye knowe these many yeres kepte foote and possession of ground in Fraunce did besides and emoÌ„g many other thynges deuise this one as a chief staye for theim to make vs of their faccion against Englande thinkyng therby at all tymes when either for iust causes Englande should haue to do with theim or thei with Englande wee should set on the backes of the English men or otherwise anoye theim either to force theÌ„ to withdrawe their armie out of Fraunce or els bee constreined for resisteÌ„ce or inuasions to diuide their power and so to be the weaker eueÌ„ as it hath come to passe that the Englishemen haue so been forced to doo when neuerthelesse it hath redounded to no lesse discomfiture of our nacion then of the Frenchemen their principall enemies An euident proife and triall whereof partely because thynges of farther tyme and memorie hauyng been so many and so ofteÌ„ nede not therin in to be narowly sought for and partly because this example beyng freashest in mynd maie if it please God worke moste best effect did right well appere in the first voyage of Kyng Henry the VIII a Prince of mooste worthy famous memorie against Fraunce when we inuaded England to haue hyndered his enterprise and doen there some displeasure if wee had might supposyng to haue founde at home but shepherdes priestes and women At one time we lost the feld and our kyng beyng otherwise a noble Prince and a valeaunte Knight besides an infinite nuÌ„bre of our countreimen few of the Englishe part wantyng kyng Henry at the very self same time wonne the battaill in Fraunce at the iorney of the spurres and besides that woÌ„ne also by plain conquest Turwayn and Turney Now when wee shall haue bothe coÌ„sidered our league with the Frenchemen and all the successes that haue chaunced to vs syns the conclusion of the same we caÌ„not recken how to aduauÌ„t vs of any one thyng wee haue woÌ„ne but of infinite losses misfortunes slaughters spoyles and vtter ruyne come thereby to vs and our countrey vniuersal The honor and profite if any be coÌ„meth onely to the Frenchemen whiche serue theimselfes of vs for their money for thinordinate gain wherof we do alwaies hazard our honoures lifes and countrey and haue lost our frendes naye rather beeyng a membre of the selfe body with Englande haue suffered our self to be diuorced torne froÌ„ the same and haue so far passed our awne reason that we haue in that behalf atteÌ„pted to do hurte to a part of our awnselfes if Gods goodnes towardes Englande had not so prouided that our power could not bee hable to aunswer to our misaduised willes And so farre did we estraunge our selfes that wee could finde in our hartes to become seruile and to bee as coÌ„mon hirelynges to a forrein nacioÌ„ For what other thing do we but serue theim for their money to our awne vtter destruccions to the spillyng of our awne bloud to the burnyng of oure tounes and to the waste and spoyle of our whole natiue countrey And at this do the Frenchmen laugh thei take pleasure sittyng at home in securitie excepte peraduenture thei sende a few of their cast souldiors of whoÌ„ thei make lesse accoumptes or estimacion then of so many shepe or hogges Howbeit
neither came in by conquest ne reigned ouer any people but occupied a wast part of the land not beynge inhabited as in the thirde Chapiter of his Chronicle appereth But how standeth that with reason that Britayne beyng inhabited by the space of vi C. yeres afore their comyng suche a countrey shoulde lie desert and especially vpon the sea costes Whiche liyng open to other landes and sonest sene by theim that saile muste of likelyhode haue inhabiters before the inner parte of the countrey I saie no more but Mendacem oportet esse memorem He that should tell a lye had nede to haue good memory least his matter appere like a Meremaide beginnyng with a woman and ending with a Fishe as when the ende of the tale is repugnauÌ„t to the beginnyng and the middes agreable to neither of bothe And doubteles it is no smal masterie to hide a lie for apparrell hym neuer so faire his ragges will appeare packe him neuer so close the buÌ„dell will breake write hym or speake hym and his aucthor is bewraied as a Ratte is by squekyng And though he bee allowed for a ceason yet at the ende tyme will trie hym whereof ensueth greate preiudice to the author For though he saâ—e afterwardes true none will beleue hym IF I shoulde here entre into declaracion of the righte title wherby the kynges of England claime to be superior lordes of Scotland I should of some be noted rather a confouÌ„der of our liberties and fredomes then a conseruator which name I had late But for somuche as the same is so exactelie set furthe in an Englishe boke put in Printe in the yere of oure Lorde .1542 at the beginninge of these warres called A DECLARATION conteynyng the iust causes and consideracions of this presente warre with the Scottes wherin alsoo appereth the true and right title that the kynges most royall maiestie hath to the souerayntie of Scotlande as nothynge can be sayde more in so fewe woordes I will referre all indifferent readers to the same booke thinkinge it nedelesse to speÌ„de any more time in a matter so well proued Neuerthelesse I will somewhat touche a point or two to geue occasion to all suche my contreymeÌ„ as minde the honor and quiet of Scotlande to conferre my saiynges with our histories and to iudge the matter without affeccion Whereof settinge a parte the order deuised by Brutus at the first concerning the diuision of Brytayne betwene his sonnes with the Superioritie supposed in the eldest and subiectioÌ„ of the other two pretermitting also the conquest of the whoole Islande by Romaines and the title deriued frome the greate Constantine letting passe also the sundry homages and recognicions of subieccion made to Arthur and other kynges of the Britaynes and after him to Osbright and the Saxon Kynges successiuely whiche be at large expressed in the Englishe and Briton histories and affirmed also by Marianus our countryman whose aurthoritie is not light if all these were of no credite as they must nedes be of great howe soeuer we esteme them yet in my iudgemeÌ„t our awn writers wherin they labor most to impugne the cause of England do moste aduaunce it and therfore in thys parte I will grounde me vpon them They agre al vpon .xviii. homages knowledges of subieccion and allegiauÌ„ce made by the kynges of Scotland successiuely vnto the kinges of Englande and many of them within late memorie Which homages though some of them either folowing their phantaseis or fearing to offende our kynges alledge to haue been done somewhiles for Cumberland somewhiles for the Erledome of HuÌ„tingdon Yet the time coÌ„sidered they declare that such actes were doone by oure kynges afore any of the sayde Erledomes were in their possessioÌ„ wherby they must be vnderstande absolutely done for the realme of Scotlande and in that pointe I referre you vnto the readinge of Marianus And of latter dayes synce that those Erledomes were taken from vs by EnglishmeÌ„ emong other kynge Iames the first did homage to kyng HeÌ„ry the fourthe of Englande The woordes and fourme of whose homage who so liste to peruse shall well perceiue the same to haue been made neither for any of those Erledomes neither yet for any other holde but merely for the crowne of Scotlande whiche aswel he as other knowledged to hold of the king of Englande as superior lorde The recordes remaine the seales subscriptions be so many so auncient and so faire as cannot lightelie be counterfaicte But some peradueÌ„ture will say that many of those homages were done by force and compulsion I aunswere thoughe it might be that some of theim were soo done yet all could not be For our Cronicles specifie that those .xviii. kiÌ„ges were in Englande which no maÌ„ can iudge to haue come all thither by force and all those dyd homage there and those homages well nere all appere to haue been made for the croune of Scotlande if we beleue the recordes of Englande And if any saye that they be counterfeited I thinke it soner said then proued And touching the compulsion and force I saye thoughe some of our kynges might be coÌ„ pelled by feare yet howe coulde all be or coulde an whole Parliament be compelled Is it not manifest that when question arose vpon the title of the croune of Scotlande betwene Balliol Brus and Hastynges was it not decided by Edward the fyrst king of Englande as competent iudge in that case But here it is sayde agayn that he was iudge in that case not of righte but by consente of the parties Then loke well to the woordes of the compromisse which nameth him superior lord of Scotland And this was done in Parliamente by consente of the thre estates which of likelyhoode could not be all compelled In which cause I am partely ashamed of the impudeÌ„t vanitie of our writers whiche raile without reason agaynst the iudgemeÌ„t of Edward in that plea as corrupte false This I saie that if the Iudgement were to be geuen agayne neither Mynos Lycurgus nor Salo mon whose iudgementes in histories be so celebrate dyd euer geue a more true a more perfect or a more rightfull sentence either by the ciuile lawes or by the practise and custome of Scotlande or any other reasonable lawe and take the case euen as they propone it But then we haue an other euasion which is to alledge prescripcion because those homages haue not been done within memorie To that I aunswere that thoughe prescripcion serued in that case as it doth not yet the warres made from tyme to tyme counteruaile a possession thereof In whiche pointe lette vs be well aduised what we saye leaste by fleynge the smoke we fall into the fyre For once admittinge hym superiour kynge no prescripcion wil serue agaynst hym The texte is common and no more common then allowed almoste in all lawes Nullum tempus occurrit Regi Time cannot preiudice a Kyng MOREOVER I note this that the Kynges of Englande would neuer make
An EXHORTATION TO THE SCOTTS to conforme themselves to the honourable expedient and godly union betwene the two realmes of Englande and Scotland dedicated to Edward duke of Somerset by James Harryson LONDON PRINTED by Rich. Grafton 1547. ¶ TO the right high and mightie prince Edward Duke of Somerset Etle of Hertford Viscount Beauchamp lorde Seymour Gouernor of the persone of the Kynges Maiestie of Englande and Protector of all his Realmes Dominions and Subiectes his lieuetenaunt generall of all his armies bothe by lande and by sea Tresore◠and Erle Marshall of Englande Gouernor of the Isles of Gernsey and Gersey and knight of the moste noble ordre of the Garter Iames Harryson Scottisheman wisheth healthe honor and felicitie CAllyng to mynde as I do oft moste excellent Prince the ciuill discencion and mortal enemitie betwene the twoo Realmes of Englande and Scotlande it bryngeth me in muche marueill how betwene so nere neighbors dwellyng with in one land compassed within one sea alied in bloude and knitte in Christes faithe suche vnnaturall discorde should so long continue Vnnaturall I maie wel call it or rather a Ciuill warre where brethren kynsmen or countreymen be diuided and seke the bloud of eche other a thyng detestable before God horrible to the worlde and pernicious to the parties and no lesse straunge in the iyes of reasonable men then if the lymmes and membres of mannes body should fall out within them selfes as the hand to hurte the foote or the fote the hande If any vtilitie or gain should growe thereby it were the lesse maruail but when there doth nothyng ensue but suche fruite as warre bryngeth furthe whiche is fackyng of tounes subuersion of holdes murder of men rauishinēt of women slaughter of olde folke and infantes burnyng of houses and corne with hunger and pestilence twoo buddes of thesame tre and finally the vtter ruyne of the whole kyngdom I wonder that eemōgest so many pollitique rulers as be and haue been in both realmes the nuschief so long spied the remedy hath not yet bee sought Who is so blynd that doth not see it or who so harde harted that doth not pitie it I omitte here to speake of the greate afflicciōs and miserie whiche Scotlande hath susteined by warres in tymes passed a matter ouer lōg to be rehersed and yet to great to be forgotten But to come to later tyme what hath been doen within these sixe yeres sithe the warres wer reuined how the coūtrey hath been ouer runne spoyled and heried by Englishemen on the one side and by our awne warremen or rather robbers on the other side to speke nothyng of the plague of God it would greue any harte to thinke If this miserie fell onely vpō the mouers and mainteiners of suche mischief it were lesse to be lamented but thei sitte safe at home and kepe holy daie when the feldes lie ful of their bodies whose deathes thei moste cruelly and vuchristiāly haue procured If Edēbrough Lieth Louthian Mers or Tiuidale had tongues to speake their loude complainte would perse the deafe eares But what nedeth spethe when their iyes maie se plain enough what their deuillish hartes haue deuised This miserie is muche to be sorowed and more to be sorowed then their wickednes to be detesied whiche haue kyndled the fire and still late on brandes to feede thesame In whom if either respect of Religion whiche thei professe or zeale of Iustice whereunto thei are sworne either feare of God or loue to their countrey did any thyng woorke thei would refuse no trauaill nor torment of body nor mynde no nor death if it wer offered for the sauegarde of theim whose distruccion thei haue wrought And these bee onely twoo sortes the one is of suche as either for feare of their Hypocrisy to bee reueled or euill gotten possessions to be transiated would haue no peace nor cōcord the other bee suche as for a lawelesse libertie and doyng wrōg vnpunished would pull out their heddes from all lawe and obedience Such and none other be aduersaries to our cause If these if sortes I saie should fele but half the miserie whiche the poore people be driuen to suffre thei would not be halfe so hastie to ryng alarmes These be thei whiche professyng knowledge abuse the ignoraunce of the nobilitie and commonaltie to the destrucciō of bothe hauyng peace in their mouthes and all rancor and vengeaunce in their hartes pretendyng religion perswade rebellion preachyng obedience procure al disobedience semyng to forsake all thyng possesse all thyng callyng themselfes spirituall are in deede moste carnall and reputed heddes of the Churche bee the onely shame and slaunder of the Churche If these people would as earnesty trauail for the concord of bothe realmes as thei indeuour with toothe and naill to the contrary these mischeues aforesaied should either not haue happened or els at the least not so long haue continued by whose lure so long as the nobles and cōmons of Scotlande be led I am in dispaire of any amitie or frendship betwene these two realmes GOD bryng their falsehed once to light and turne their iniquitie vpon their awne heddes BVT to my purpose seyng the mischief so greate the aucthors so many the mainteinaunce so strōg and so few that seke amendement in declaraciō of mine earnest zeale and vnfained affeccion towardes my coūtrey I in default of other put my self in prease And though least able yet moste willyng and desirous of the honor and quiet of bothe realmes whiche cause seing it correspondeth to vertue godlinesse me thought it conuenient to seke for the same a patrone vertuous and Godly whereby your grace entered my remembraunce whose procedynges hetherto haue made manifest to the worlde what an ardent zeale ye beare to thaduauncement of all veritie truth So that all men conceiue certain hope that by your high wisedom pollicie and other Princely vertues the stormes of this tempestious worlde shall shortely come to a calme And seyng God hath not onely called you to the height of this estate but so prospered your grace in all affaires bothe of war and peace as your actes bee comparable to theirs whiche beare moste fame your grace cānot merite more towardes GOD or the worlde then to put your helpyng hande to the furtheraunce of this cause Hereby shall you declare an incōparable seruice to the kynges Maiestie of England whiche beyng young of yeres is yet ripe in vertue to gouerne any kyngdom whose excellent giftes of nature and inclinacion to all Godlinesse considered the world is in opiniō that he shal bee nothyng inferior to the greate honor and glorie of his father whose praises I ouer passe fyndyng my selfe vnable to expresse them in any degree But sith your grace as a person moste electe is called to the gouernan̄ce and tuiciō of his persone and proteccion of his realmes and dominions all mennes expectacion is that hauyng so apte a moulde to worke vpō you shall so frame his you the with verteous
men were so diuided in thēselfs that to resist an vniuersal peril scarsely twoo or three countreys at the most would agre together so fighting in partes at last the whole was ouercome And by this meane was Britayne fyrste subdued made tributarie to the Romayns vnder whome it cōtinued in fourme of a prouīce vntill the tyme of great Constantine the Emperour by whome it was restored to libertie yet was it not so broughte in subieccion al this tyme but that there were for the most part kinges in Britayne as our stories testifie and likewise the Romayne wherein we reade of Aruiragus whome Iu uenal writing to Nero signifieth to be a Kyng by these woordes Detaemone Britāno excidet Aruiragus that is to saye Aruiragus shall fall frome the stem of Britayne And after hym of Lucius the first christē King whō Elu therius bishop of Rome in one of his epistles calleth kyng of Britaynes and so of Coelus with diuers other Wherefore admitting the state of Britayn to haue been suche at the beginning as the English story affirmeth which we must admitt because the contrarye appeareth not though there happened som interrupciō of the Monarchie by the Romayns or otherwyse yet when the people atteyned their libertie and were gouerned by Kynges of their awne we muste presume that thei obeied them their lawes the people to hold their landes in like course as was ordeyned at the first wherof it muste folowe that if Scottes were in Britayn at those daies they knowledged the kynges of Britayn for their superiors according to the stories In which point I will not muche stycke consideringe the name of Scottes was not then knowen as I said afore And though our writers dreame diuerse thynges to the contrary we cannot admitte their bare allegaciōs in disprofe of so many stories of so graue writers in whō as there is lesse suspicion of parcialitie so was there more certaintie of knoweledge then in the other whiche were vnborne after theim by a great numbre of yeres But admit no suche ordre to haue been prescribed in gouernemēt of the kyngdome as the Englishe storie alledgeth and though there had been yet the interrupcion to be sufficient cause to breake the same and admit the Scottes to haue been then in Britayne as thei were not Let vs se whether we cannot vnite these people by another waie It is certain that after the Romayns had reduced the South and West partes of Britayn into a prouince as mē desirous to enlarge their empire neuer content with part till thei had the whole thei inuaded the Northe partes of Britayne and ceased not till thei came to the Orcades and so in fine brought the whole islande in subieccion their stories herein bee playne AND no lesse plain is it that Constancius thēperor who died at Yorke maried Helene called saincte Helene doughter heire to Coyll kyng of the Britayns of whom he begatte the greate Constantyne afterwardes Emperor not onely of Britayn but also of the whole worlde in whose persone bothe titles aswel that whiche the Romaynes had by conquest as also that which his mother Helene had as heire of Britayn wer vnited knit together and he without al doubt or controuersy was very Emperor of al Britayn wherby the island after long seruitude was at last as it wer by Gods prouidence restored to his former libertie honor themperor beyng begotten in Britayn sōne of her that was heire of Britayne borne in Britayne and create Emperor in Britayne Now if Scottes wer then in Britayn as our writers alledge then wer thei subiectes to Constantine because the stories be euident that he had al Britayn in possession wherunto whether he came by Helene his mother or by Cōstācius his father forceth not much for it suffiseth for our purpose to proue that al Britayn was vnder one Emperor and beeyng vnder one Emperor then was Scotlande and Englande but one Empire In contirmaciō wherof besides the testimony of old histories there be two notable thynges yet obserued in Englande by all the kynges successiuely euen sithe the saied Constantine The one is that thei weare a close crowne Emperiall in token that the lande is an empire free in it self subiett to no superior but GOD. The other is that in al their warres thei beare a banner with a red Crosse for their ensigne in memory of that Crosse whiche appered to themperor Constantine gooyng to battaill when this voyce was heard Constantine in hoc signo vinces that is to saie with this ensigne thou shalt preuaile These twoo monumentes of honor religion in Britayn wer receiued frō that noble emperor EVTROPIVS witnesseth that Britayne rested in libertie duryng the life of Constantyne who left behind hym .iii. sonnes successors of his Empire Constancius Constans and Constātyne to whom beeyng youngest there fell for his porciō Britain Spayne Fraunce and the Orcades This Constantyne was after slayne in Italye by whose beathe the Empire of Britayne came to his brother Constācius whiche reigned twenty yeres in whose bloud it remained .xxiiij. yeres after that is to saie vntil the v. yere of the ii brethren Gracian and Valentinian Emperors what tyme by fauor of the people Maximus was creat emperor in Britain This Maximus as Hector Boctius alledgeth in the .vij. boke of his historie discēded of the bloud of greate Constantine reigned ouer the whole islāde of Britain and the Orcades seuētene yeres without interrupciō And being desirous of more empire with a greate numbre of Britaines entered into Fraunce stewe Gracian the Emperor at Lions and forced Valentinian the other brother to flee to Constantinople for ayde of the Emperoure ther. Neuertheles as al worldly thynges be mutable hys fortune was to be slayne in Italy leuynge behynd hym a sonne named Victor who was slayne in Fraunce whereby the state of Britayne drew euery daye into worse It were longe to reherse the mutacions of thinges happening in Britayn frō the tyme of great Constantine vnto Valentinian the Emperoure in whose dayes the Empire of Roome was inuaded with great multitudes of Barbarous nations And in his tyme did the Scottes beinge a nacyon come oute of Irelāde as Gildas writeth passe ouer into Britayne and finding the lāde destitute of men of warre whiche either were all slayne by tyrauntes or waisted by lōg warres in other countreys entred the Islond makinge league with the Pictes preuayled so at length that they obteyned all the North parte of Britayn in possession callyng the coūtrey Scotlande and themselfes Scottes And this was the thrid nacion that Inuaded this Island First cominge out of Scithia into Irelande and frome Irelande into the North partes of Britayne The Capitayn and leder of this people as Beede witnesseth was one Rewda albeit the late Scottishe Cronicles fet a muche further beginnyng whiche I wyll touch in his place But if we beleue Beede a man for hys liuing and learning reconed in the nūbre of sainctes and
to bring vs in belefe that we bee in some parte of estimaciō with theim thei make of our nacion certain chief presioentes in Fraunce the kyng hath of vs a certain numbre in his garde for the defence of his persone in whom howe litle he trusteth God knoweth and daily experiēce teacheth By this he maketh vs silly soules beleue that he hath vs in singuler trust when in deede it is but a golden and glisteryng bayte alluryng our simplicitie and credulitie to that Irō hoke that hath caught and killed afore now the moste part of our auncestors now of late no fewer of oure fathers of our childrē and of our kinsfolke while the Frenche lose not a mā but a fewe golden crounes And yet our presidētes for al the honor aucthoritie that thei be set in doo serue but as Cyphers in Algorisme to fill the place and in stede of Iupiters blocke sent to rule the Frogges whereupon thei treade and leape withoute feare daunger And our countreymen of the gard after many yeres worne in Fraunce haue this onely rewarde at length to bee called of all the worlde in mockery Iehan de Escoce Yet is there one thyng wherein wee repose a certain honor and yet in deede is the same one of the most dishonors that euer we receiued whiche was when at thentre of a league with Charles the greate Kyng of Fraunce wee receiued for an encrease of the Armes of our realme a trace of flour deluces not considering how shamefull and dishonorable it was to vs being so noble pleople to deface our aunciēt Armes and receiue the note and token of nobilitie and worthines of straungers On thother part how honorable a thyng this attonemēt with Englande were for vs the blynd man maie se For beeyng then as algates we must be vnder some one bothe vnder one kyng the more large and ample the Empire wer the more honorable and glorious the kyng of greater dominion gouernaunce power and fame and the subiectes more renoumed more happy and more quiet the realme more sure and formidable to the enemies and thei lesse eshuned and feared THVS beyng bothe our people and forces ioyned in one we should be the more puyssaunt to inuade more strōg to resist and defende And our power beeyng suche so great should be an occasion for I wil not now speake of all thynges to make vs fre sure frō outward inuasicēr wherof peace beyng first betwene vs and Englande should folowe peace with al others In sort as the laboryng man might safely tille his grounde and as safely gather in the profites and fruites therof the marchaunt might withoute feare goo abrode and bryng in forreine commodities into the realme the gouernours beeyng in tranquillitie and not hauyng their thought and cure diuided into many sundery partes should with lesse carefulnesse and anxietie of mynde see to the good ordre of the commō wealth whiche neuer so truely florisheth as in peace In fine all murders robberies spoyles slaughters and desolacions beyng the sequele and as it wer the children of warre yea and warr it self the Parente of the same should cease in whose places should succede peace wealthe quiet ordre and all other graces and good happes But if we be so blynd that we will not see and deafe that we will not harken to these holsome admonicions when without the feare of God and without regard of the commō weale we shall rush still hedlong into the fury of warre lette vs recken with our selfes whose cause is moste iniust and wrongfull what is to bee loked for towardes vs at the conquerors handes seing that we haue refused so honorable so equall and so easie yea and frendly cōdicions of peace specially being called not into subiecciō or seruitude but into one societie and feloweship with Englishemen and that by so honorable a meane as the mariage of our Princes with the kinges maiestie of Englande a Prince of so greate towardnes honor and expectaciō bothe for that he is descēded of such parētes and also for that those vertues bee all ready in hym as the like were perchaunce in no one prince afore So as we may surely hope and promise to our selfes more at his maiesties hand then peraduenture were lawfull to looke for of a mortall man Then what should wee feare at the handes of such a Prince hauing maried our natural quene but all grace clemencie and benignitie aswell for her graces sake whō he shall haue maried as also for those vertues which be to his Maiestie naturall and propre Moreouer what other thyng is to be loked for at the hādes of the succession of thē both which shall take aswell parte of her grace as of his Maiestie then al gentle and louing treatment and prerogatyue seyng frō the same we shal no more be strāgers vnto that nacion but asnye and as dere as the self Englishmen And so muche the rather when those hatefull termes of Scottes Englishemen shal be abolisshed and blotted oute for euer and that we shal al agre in the onely title and name of Britons as verely we ought to do and the selfe realme beeyng eftsones reduced into the fourme of one sole Monarchie shal bee called Britayn Then the which forme there is none other better nor no commō weale so well gouerned as the same is that is ruled by one kyng The experience wherof we haue seen euen from the beginning of the worlde cōtinually to our time For who so shall well consider the states of all commone weales that haue been gouerned by mo then one shal perceiue that the same hath been the cause of their finall ruine exterminion For gouernaunce maye in no wyse suffer an equal companyon ne any more be diuided into the rule of twoo sundrie administers then one bodye maye beare two heades or the worlde endure to haue twoo sunnes to geue lighte at once And that same appereth in all other creatures emonge whom there is any societie or body politique wherby it may easily be gathered to be the primatiue decre and the due ordre of nature Whiche like as in many other thynges so doth it specially appere in the swarme of Bees for thei beyng ledde with the onely and mere instinct of nature will neither bee without one Kyng and gouernor ne yet admit any mo Kynges then one at once And by the same nature bee wee taught to repute and reckē that body to be mōstreous that hath twoo heddes and no lesse is the realme that hath twoo kynges Then if in all thinges we shuld as nigh as might be approche to the likenesse of heauen aswell in our lifes and actes as in all our fashions wee should not allowe the regiment of many for that the heauenly thynges haue but one gouernor whiche thyng Homere though he were but an Heathē poete semeth to expresse in these verses To haue mani gouernors is not good But let there bee one ruler of Kynges and one Kyng
SVRELY the aunswer of Cerbane Lydyane wherof Serinus maketh mencion in his commeÌ„taries was of no small grauitie importaunce For when Craesus would haue ioyned his brother with hym in the kyngdome the sonne saied he is aucthor of all good thynges in the yearth but if there should bee twoo sonnes it wer perill least their two heates should burne vp al the arth Euen so as one kyng is necessarie so mo then one is hurtfull The experience wherof to sette examples no farther of was wel felt in Englande so long as the seuen Kynges reigned as maie well appere to theim that reade the story Herefore dare I boldly saie if these twoo realmes wer brought vnder one Empire and gouernaunce wee should see an ende of al strief and warre whiche will neuer come otherwise to passe And then should wee haue this common weale of ours beyng now out of all ordre and in moste miserable state condicioÌ„ to bee moste happie and mooste florishing The whiche thyng to attein it lieth onely in you O moste dere countreymen yours is the faulte you must make the amendes And other condicions of recompense then your selfes haue agreed vnto wil vndoubtedly none bee allowed For what other condicions should EnglaÌ„de receiue of vs hauing had so often experience of oure breaches of peace of truce and of our promises which yet vnto this daie we haue neuer truely kept towardes theÌ„ as thei maye in no reason truste vs but in suche sorte as they maie be assured to fynde vs constaunt firme and stedfaste in oure promisse Wherfore if there remayn with you O dere countreymen any remorce or pitie of our torne and woful couÌ„trey or of your selfes staye betymes while you haue tyme to do well Recken that though ye haue offended it is better betymes to refourme the thyng whiche by reason of sinistre and euill counsaill hath been euill doen then to stande obstinately in your most wicked and deuelish enterprise beyng vtterly coÌ„trary to your faithefull promise to your honors also to righte and duety that if your awn particular respectes doo not moue you yet haue mercy vpon youre commune countrey youre mangled countrey youre countrey weepinge to you with bloody teares which your selfes do expresse and wring out of her and enforce her to shed And surely in this part I would wyshe asmuch eloqueÌ„ce as I haue good will to set out this woofull tragedy in her perfect colours but seynge the same doeth not serue to my wyshe I muste vtter such matter as the dolor of my hart and natural pitte may minister vnto my penne which if it could as liuely depaynt the greatnes of this euill as myne harte doth Imagine and conceiue the same the multitude of teares shoulde set mens iyes from readyng and extremitie of affeccioÌ„s disturbe their myndes from conceinyng Imagine you I praye you if Britayne coulde speake mighte she not well saye thus Hath not the almighty prouideÌ„ce seuered me from the reste of the worlde with a large sea to make me one I slande hath not natures ordinauÌ„ce furnisshed me with asmany thinges necessary as any one ground bringeth furth hath not mans pollicie at the beginninge subdued me to one gouernoure And hath not the grace of Christ illumined me ouer all with one faith and finally the workes of all these foure teÌ„ded to make me one Why theÌ„ wil you diuide me in two What foly yea or rather what contempt of God is this that ye still teare me pull me ryue me in peces were their euer children so vnnaturall if they were not of the vipers nature to rend their mothers wombe yea were there euer beastes so saluage or cruel to deuour the dam If bit des beastes and all thinges naturall haue this reason not to destroy their kynde how chaunceth it then that you veyng men endewed with reason bredde in one lande ioyned in one faithe should thus vnkindly vnnaturally and vnchristenly bathe youre swoordes in eche others blode May not the example of other landes teache you to beware of diuision to hate all discorde to abhorre intestine warre May not the ruine of the Grekes the falle of the Romaynes and the subuersion of soo many countreis common weales and states in the worlde suffyce for pour ensample yea may not the present sighte of my ruyne and decay teache you to take heede If the counsailes of wyse men experience of other countreys nor the pytie of me your mother your nutryce and your bringer vp do not moue you Yet at the least haue and vse some mercye towardes your selfes Haue you not shedd enough of your awne blodde what folye or rather what fury is this thus to ruynate your selfes and to deuoure one an other to the discomforte of me and pleasure of your enemyes If ye woulde set before your eyes the exceding quantitie of blodd that hath been shed betwene you my ingrate moste vnnatural children you would iudge it sufficiente more then enoughe not onely to conquere Europe but eueÌ„ the whole world And to what vtilitie hathe all thys been spent surely to none other then to the mischief destruccion of eche other emonge youre selfes Oh incomparable losse for so litle game I was neuer yet inuaded by forreine enemyes but some of my chyldren were the chief ayders and onely causers therof nor no mischiefe procured agaiÌ„st me at this day but by their coÌ„sent and couÌ„sail Oh I an vnhappy mother of suche children how longe shall these furies leade you how loÌ„ge will you that my wyde fyeldes lye wasted that my townes be desert and vnpeopled that my fayre houses and castels be spoiled and burnt my people famished I caÌ„not accuse Romaynes Pictes ne yet Normais but myne awne rebellious discordaÌ„t and graceles children O hateful discord no where doest thou begyn but all goeth to wrecke ere thou makest an end O priuy poyson O familiar foo O dissembling traitor O couerte pestilence what coulde Caesar haue preuailed agaynst me if Mandru batius a Britayne had not bene diuided froÌ„ Cassibolan my king Wil this fire neuer be queÌ„ched this malice neuer cease nor your furye neuer ende If it be geuen you of naturâ— if you sucke it with your motheâ—s mylke if it growe in you with yeares to hungre strife watre here this my couÌ„sail Afore you make warre at home seke your enemies abrode Pursue their lifes shedde their bloode be wroken upon theÌ„ kyl them ouercome them when thei be all killed ouercome and subdned then turne the swoordes point agaiÌ„st eche other but not afore and then shall you neuer soo doo for you neuer yet to this daie haue wanted enemies But to returne to you again my countremeÌ„ whom for the natural loue I beare to you I cannot leaue to blame for your folyes or rather madnes exhorte you to this moste honorable moste godly and profitable attonemeÌ„t with Englande who wynkynge at our transgressions bearynge with our peruerse waiwardenes pardoning our to much