their estate wherein is no correspondent proportion kept I thinke I should not doe amisse though I declared that which might seeme better to be concealed For as well our forreine neighbours doe imagine thrise more then there is and say that wee are so affected to our King that we will according to our callings imitate his liberalities and expences This therfore that I now speake tendeth only to make vs wiser and more readie to repayre our domesticall decayes as well to eschue other mens scoffes as to expell sundrie cares out of our mindes and relieue those wants that oppresse vs. Now although it bee so that all doe agree in the confession of this pouertie yet when wee come to shewe how it commeth there is a contrarie difference therein For one saith one thing and another another yea euery one seeketh to accuse the vyolence of the long warres which as Monsters doe deuoure all rather then them selues Thus doe wee see how readie each one is to seeke starting holes whereby to cléere himselfe of his fault in liewe that he ought with vpright iudgement to examine from whence such disorders doe proceede To excuse a mans selfe is a very common matter and such as euery one is willing to doe because the excuse seemeth somewhat to blot out the spottes that may blemish his good renowme But because to accuse bringeth shame it is neuer put in practise vntill it needes must whereof it falieth out that that matter lyeth long hid in ignoraunce which ought sooner to haue bene knowne The prouerbe falleth out many tymes true which sayth That the euill which we knowe well is as it were halfe healed Let vs therefore seeke the cause of our owne and that will be to vs a readie way and preparation to finde remedie Those that doe attribute it to the ruine and charges of warre doe say that there be yet liuing many honorable persons that haue seene in what wealth and prosperitie the French Nobilitie liued vntil the tyme of Henrie the second For so long as we had peace there was nothing to be seene among the Lords Gentrie but liberalitie magnificence visitations with other such honest expences y e witnesses of wealth And yet all this notwithstanding they sould no landes as well for feare of reproach as also because of the moderation vsed in such things Likewise whensoeuer there was any warre proclaymed it will hardly bee beléeued what goodly furniture euery one caried with him as appeared in the voyadge into Germanie But as nothing in this world is long permanent so in the warres that were renewed in the yeere 1552. betweene the Emperour Charles the fifth and King Phillip which lasted seuen yeeres it was driuen to great expences as well for the selfe honor as in respect of the loue it bare to so good a Prince as was King Henry Then ensued the vniuersall ciuill warres all ouer the Realme comparable to violent streames which so encreased the ruine thereof that now all that the Nobilitie is able to doe is to maintaine it selfe liuing miserably in it owne house And hereof is growne the pouertie thereof These be their reasons which also I will not vtterly reie◠For I will still confesse that these stormes haue bred part of our pouertie but that it is wholly procéeded thereof I doe not aduowe and I will hereafter shewe that it had other helpes of greater importance to set it forward So as their argument concludeth but in parte Now let vs examine what may haue bene the ruine in the first warres It was not great for the Nobilitie that then serued were neither euill paide neither destitute of honest rewards procéeding of the Kings liberalitie True it is that some perticulers being too forward did in parte vnfeather themselues as also that the frontier Nobilitie encurred some losses But the greatest number continued in good state In the ciuill warres there fell out more losses which neuerthelesse lighted not vpon vs. Besides that in our pettie peaces since concluded it had still meanes to repayre the breaches Withall that France is so fruitfull and well peopled that whatsoeuer the warre wasteth in one yéere is repayred againe in two Sith therefore such discommodities haue still bene accompanied with some remedies as also that they haue assayled but the least parte of the Nobilitie wee are not to accompt this mischiefe either so vniuersall or great But in my opinion the cause why all the blame is layd vpon the warres is first because the same is by nature hurtfull secondly that the vyolence that moueth it is horrible and terrefieth and thirdly because men are glad to haue a shroude to hide their euill husbandrie or els artificially to pleade pouertie as the couetous doe A man that hath had a long continuall agew being cured thereof will remember it a long tyme and feare the like disease and yet the corruption of the humours whereof it proceeded did growe by little and little through his intemperance of life whereof he tooke no heede The like doe wee in thinges breeding our pouertie For some there are that wee finde out by and by and they make vs to lament but others which are neither so common nor agreeable with vs wee let easely slippe as if wee were insensible and will not knowe them And I dare affirme that if the ruines of warres and martiall charges that so wee complaine of haue brought vs fower ounces of pouertie our foolish and superfluous continuall expences which wee doe not greatly repent vs of haue procured vs twelue In this proposition we are to consider that the French Gentleman doth excéede in any thing whereto he is affected and will spare for nothing Then that most of them spend not in one thing only but in fower or fiue so diuers are their minds and that is the cause that drieth vp the liueliest springs of ritches Now one of the principall thinges wherein they ouerflowe is apparell wherein they haue neither rule nor measure yea custome hath wonne so much that a man dare not almost appeare in any good companie vnlesse he be guilt like a Challice for thereby many perswade themselues to bée the more honored The Courtiers were they that brought in these inuentions who in the meane tyme doe sharpe pennance for their labours in that there is no yéere but such large expences doe sende at the least one dosen of them into the Litter who for the pleasure of seeing themselues a fewe daies couered with silke and siluer must many moneths after beare the griefe of finding themselues houselesse or so haled by Usurers as they could not be worse in y e gallies Two other things there be besides the ritches of apparell which greatly encrease charges The one that men will haue diuersitie the other that from two yéeres to two yéeres the fashions doe chaunge and must be renued who so doth not frame himselfe hereto is laughed to scorne To be briefe either the hand
regiments For if the Colonell bee a man of small experience he maketh but bad choyse of Capteynes and they of Souldiers Then as well the one as the other guyding them selues rather after their owne phancies then after any good militarie order it is not to bee meruailed though such bad beginnings haue worse ends The like may also happen to this warfare for if the Colonell louing the Court will not remaine with his companies and the Capteynes do for the most part keepe home likewise that as well the one as the other to the ende to furnish themselues doe make their prouision of halfe their Souldiers pay all will bee corrupted In a matter of such importance we ought to be very diligent and the more that abuses doe multiplie the more seuerely are they to be looked vnto The fower regiments afore mentioned would I wish to bee put in garrison in the frontiers of Picardy Champagne and others of protection there to serue as well for the custodie of some places of importance as Metz and Calais as also to bee Schooles where young Gentlemen growne from Pages and other youth might goe to learne the arte of warre but the chiefe ende indeede is to haue alwaies a storehonse of old souldiers readie prouided for euery neede For so soone as warre were proclaymed and the King shall haue cōmaunded to encrease the companies to their full number amounting to two hundred a peece we should within some sixe or seuen weekes be able to bring forth into the fielde two thousand Corcelets sixe thousand Harquebuts which ioyned with a parte of the men of armes would beare a good brunt vntill the comming of the rest of our power Now if euer it is necessary to reforme our footmen sith the ciuill warres haue so corrupted them y t either they cannot or will not almost obey onely breeding terror where they march and scath where they continue In these daies when a yong man commeth newly into a regiment of Footmen I presume that he learneth some feates of warre also to be the more couragious but it is to bee feared least in the same Schoole he get as great imperfections which darken all the good that he had learned as I haue shewed els where Where cōtrariwise these fower regiments would be as it were great springs from whence would flowe none but fayre and cleere water which shedding it selfe all ouer the Realme would clarifie those that are troubled For discipline being established and obserued such as followe the same shewing themselues euery where gentle to their equalles obedient to their superiours courteous to the commōs and stout against the proud especially against their enemies should cause all men much more to admire them therefore then for their bigge lookes besides the fame of so braue an institution being spred abroad all noble harts will detest the accustomed corruptions and withall desire to submit themselues to the same Had I not heretofore seene the like effects proceede of the like cause I would not speake so boldly as I doe I remember that in the beginning of King Henry the seconds raigne when certeyne Capteynes and Souldiers that had lyen two yéeres in garrison in the townes of Piedmont returned into France they were greatly esteemed because they shewed them selues so ciuill and courteous nothing iniurious and speaking so orderly of the exercise of armes which caused many young men to runne thether in hope of the like instructions Yea my selfe haue seene the Earle of Charny one of the most vertuous and honestest Lords of this land weare the Corcelet and goe to warde as duely as one of the meanest Souldiers euen in the tyme of peace Now may some good husband obiect that this multiplicitie of Capteynes and Companies will much augment expences which though they be ordinarie doe neuerthelesse growe grieuous in the ende also that it were better to mainteyne but tenne compleat To whom I will aunswer that my entent is not to forme one full regiment for alwaies as affayres growe on it shall bee but one regiment but I looke to lay the foundation of many which being good all that shall be built thereon will take the like goodnesse that is to say Valour As also it would followe thereof that we should haue thrise so many men which is one of the drifts that I tend vnto For as hath bene aforesayd these fower bodies should maintaine eight thousand Souldiers all which being incorporated therein might be tearmed olde They should moreouer be shops out of the which we might fetch Capteynes for our footmen for in three or fower yeeres exercise euen in the tyme of peace a man of any capacitie might grow worthie to commaund through often conference of the 〈◊〉 of warre and practising the offices of those that deale therein 〈◊〉 also by continuall viewe of some image thereof before his eyes As for the charge I confesse it would amount vnto about fower thousand crownes at the most by moneth But withall we should mainteyne a hundred or sixe score men of commaundement whereof many might in tyme doe such seruice as could not bée recompenced What braue Colonels haue the Infantery bred within these fiue and twentie yeeres of whom I will name but a fewe as Charry Gohas Causseins Sarlabous Pilles Mounans and the valiant Montbrun It is to bee thought that this good order will raise vs vp more such Wee shall doe our maister no hurt in giuing him counsaile to spend a handful of money to reape againe so good interest for it The Colonels of these regiments being well and without fauour chosen must also wee subiect to dwell fower or fiue moneths of the yeere among them neither may the Capteynes haue leaue to bee absent aboue three or fower moneths at the most For when the officers be away discipline is neglected and obedience lost Likewise were it requisite the assignations of payment were certaine to the ende the Souldier bee not corrupted in being driuen to seeke his liuing abroade Thus would 15000. crownes by moneth suffice which is such a somme as our Kings sometyme doe giue to some one man in one day Likewise where our Souldiers will now a daies weare no Corcelets the same might by this meanes be brought againe into vse and estimation which is more easie to bee done then men weene for but then the Capteynes must begin who haue reiected the vse of the Pike for they must bee enioyned to take it againe together with the Millan Corcelet If they will they may also haue the Sword and Target of proofe against assaults and skirmishes In the Companies one quarter should bee Corcelets and that should neuer faile and the rest Harquebuts And notwithstanding this were not a fit proportion which requireth to consist of as many of the one as of the other yet must we come as neere it as wee may Also the better to bring our Souldiers into tast with the sayd Corcelets they should haue those that
of the trueth that he rather noteth the faults of that side where vnto himselfe leaned then of the others and commendeth in those against whome he bare arms anything that he findeth worthie cōmendation as earnestly as the desarts of those on whose side he fought in such maner that our age may thinke it self happie that in the middest of her most furious passions and partialities she could recouer this platforme of obseruations of the historie therby exempted from the vniuersal contagion of hatred fauor As also it is to be hoped that this exāple may wakē sūdry others who seeing how agreeable a voyce the same that is ruled by reason is in respect of taunts and inuectiues full of bitternes which as the small belles of the Choribantes are good for nothing but to trouble the most settled braynes will endeuour in their writings to set forth that which God may haue giuen them for the instruction of the posteritie rather then the vehemencie of disordinate affections whereof our age reapeth but too much reproach and hurt I will strayne my selfe no farther in the perticuler setting downe of the fruits that may be reaped in this booke as well for common commoditie as priuate benefite for they doe sufficiently appeare of themselues Howbeit in as much as it may so fall out that the author considering what small accompt hee made of his writings in liew of reioycing in the commendations that hereby shall redound vnto him may finde fault that I haue thus published them of mine owne head and withall that I haue therevnto set his name which hee chose rather to make famous by armes as thinking it according to the auncient error of the French Nobilitie no honor that men should know how farre he honoreth or esteemeth of learning either els vpon some perticuler hatred against this booke as still putting him in minde of his captiuitie I doe presume Sir most humbly to beseech your Maiestie to aduowe my doings and to bee my warrant in this that I haue preferred the publique commoditie before the perticuler desire of the Lorde of la Noüe who although hee bee but a bad valewer of his owne workes is neuerthelesse so affectionate a seruant vnto you that he can no way mislike any thing that hee shall finde to like you as also to the ende that France receiuing this booke as it were at your hands and adioyning the authors desart to your aucthoritie may loue and credite it the better True it is that the ouer vehement mindes shall not finde these discourses to their appetities For so farre are they from fauouring their passions that in deede their only scope tendeth to the abolishing of the same But all those that doe in pietie behold this poore state fallen from her ancient felicitie all those that mourne because France which was wont to be the terror of the whole world is now become a reproach to the same all those that are wearie of bathing their swords in the blood of their brethren parents and friends To be briefe all good Frenchmen that bee good seruaunts to the King and his Crowne will take great delight when they shall see their good entents aduanced forwarde with such holy and wise aduices as they shall finde in this booke For the author hereof hath not after the maner of some both auncient and late Philosophers wasted his time in forging an Idea of Vtopian perfections but hath onely studied so to accommodate himselfe to our tast and disposition and propounded his counsailes with so euident a facilitie and profite that if wee profite not thereby whether in publique or priuate wee can blame none but our owne stubbornesse and negligence For in my opinion that man shall bee ouer farre out of taste of all good reading that shall not in these discourses perceiue a spirite free from all passions and partialities dedicated wholy to the honor of God the seruice of his King and the peace of his Countrie This is it that hath embouldened me to offer them vnto you Sir thinking that as well in consideration of their argument as in respect of the great bonds wherein the author standeth your most bounden they doe by right apperteyne vnto you Not daring therefore to passe the strict prohibition whereby my insufficiencie forbiddeth mee to offer any thing of my owne I do most humbly desire your Maiestie to receiue them as some acknowledgemēt of my vowed seruice And I beseech God Sir after so many deaths wherewith you haue bene beset euen from your infancie from which he hath preserued you to graunt vnto you a long most happie life in perfect peace and assured tranquilitie to the glory of his most blessed name the honour of your Maiestie and the contentaiton of all good French men your faithfull and affectionate seruants From Lausanna this first daie of Aprill 1587. Your most humble obedient and faithfull seruant De Fresnes ¶ The Argument and somme of euery seuerall discourse herein conteyned 1 THat the realme of France doth by little and little runne into decay and is neere to a great ouerthrowe vnlesse God of his goodnesse vphould it Also that as yet there be some remedies to raise it vp againe in case they may bee with speede accepted Pag. 1. 2 That by Concord small things doe encrease and by discord great things doe decay pag. 28. 3 Of the inconstancie whereby many doe vse to hate condemne and detest their neighbours because of their contrarieties in religion pag. 45. 4 What meanes and proceedings are most fit to vse in the redresse of an estate pag. 53 5 That instruction or good bringing vp are necessarie for all young gentlemen pag. 71 6 That the reading of the bookes of Amadis de Gaule and such like is no lesse hurtfull to youth then the workes of Machiauell to age pag. 51 7 That our ouer small consideration of the good things that wee haue and our ouer eager couetousnesse of the good things which we haue not doe multiplie our miseries pag. 85 8 That the pouertie of the French Nobilitie proceedeth not so much of the warres which haue continued these fiue and thirtie yeeres as of their owne ouersight in the mispending of their goods pag. 101 9 That the Frenchmens great affection to forraine warres is at this time more hurtfull then profitable pag. 115 10 Of three false opinions that misleade sundrie of the Nobilitie pag. 128 11 Whether there bee any meanes so to reforme the musters of France as to reape any seruice of the same pag. 145 12 Of the multiplying of priuate quarels with the abuses therein committed which greatly want reformation pag. 157 13 That his Maiestie ought in time of peace to enterteyne at the least foure regiments of footmen reduced into the number of 2500. men as well for the preseruation of martiall discipline as to bee alwaies assured of a great bodie of olde Souldiers pag. 169 14 Of the French Legionaries pag. 176 15 That the ancient
lawes of nature accoâ—â—pted none for their neighbours but their kindred friendes or benefactors restrayning within that small number the thing that should be common to all But Iesus Christ corrected their false interpretation by the example of the Samaritaine that relieued the poore Iew whom he found wouÌ„ded by the way whom also a Priest and a Leuite had denied of all mercie thereby shewing that euery one is bound to doe good euen to the vnknowne also that he is our neighbour that vseth most humanitie toward vs. Besides that we are to note that in those daies there was greater enmitie betwéene the Iewes and Samaritaines then is in these daies betwéene the Christians and Turkes How then will they excuse themselues that with the only names of Catholick and Protestant are so sharpened one against another that they disaduowe each other to bee their neighbours Yet are there some so bitter as to affirme that they haue reason so to doe and if you aske them why they will aunswer that he that is vowed to Satan is woorthie all rigour and vnwoorthie any fauour Oh proude pecocke what worse canst thou say of a Caine or of same detestable Sorcerer Knowest thou not that it is written in the Epistle of Iude that when Michael the Archangell contended with the deuill about the bodie of Moses he durst not curse him but sayd The Lord reproue thee For although he applye this place to those that doe malitiously backbite their superiours yet may it also bee appropriated vnto thee that doest denounce eternall damnation against thy like Why is not thy implacable wrath satisfied when thou doest imagine his soule to bee destinate to eternall torments This should cause thee to pitie his bodie as wee doe the transgressor that is condemned to bee broken vppon the whéele Correct thy crueltie that thy selfe bee not condemned Hereby doe we see that the errors of the minde doe enforce the hatred of the hart But Iesus Christ doth giue vs a farre other lesson in that notable sermon that he made to the Iewes when he sayd vnto them You haue heard that it hath bene sayd Thou shalt loue thy neighbour and hate thy enemie But I say vnto you Doe good to those that hate you and pray for them that scaunder and persecute you that you may be the children of your father that is in heauen For if you loue those that loue you what reward is it Doe not the Publicanes euen so And if you salute your brethren only what singuler thing doe you Doe not the heathen the same Be ye therefore perfect euen as your father which is heauen is perfect I thinke if those men that are so hard harted did often reade these words their stomacks would come downe when they see the soueraigne maister commaund so holie things and that with such méekenesse Sith also himselfe speaking of the most of them that crucified him sayd Father forgiue them for they wot not what they doe Let vs at the least setting before vs this example say for them that doe vs no harme and to whom wee wish no good Father forgiue vs for wee wot not what we doe All these hatreds whereto diuers do seeke to lay some ground are to say the truth no other but Iewish dealings that is to say a subuertion of the lawe of common charitie through false destinctions agréeing with the lawe of our owne appetites I doubt not but some will bee sorie that we should endeuour to reduce them to such méekenesse therein peraduenture resembling a certeyne Abbot whose only felicitie consisted in molesting all the world with law matters whom a French king vtterly forbad that exercise but he aunswered that now he had not past fortie matters all which he would cease sith his maiestie so straightly commanded him neuerthelesse he besought him to leaue him one halfe dosen for his pastime and recreation And so would they that we should leaue them some vpoÌ„ whom to discharge a little of the aboundance of their choller Howbeit herein they deceiue themselues for God will not be coÌ„tent with halfe obedience but will haue it perfect and altogether from the hart But they will replye that these be euangelicall counsailes but no obligatorie precepts This is another starting hole digged out of the schoole of Sophistrie is of no valew Howbeit hereof it ensueth not that we must quite burie vp all hatred but wee ought so to guide it that it take no hold of things prohibited Such as abound in this passiion may find scope enough to walke in yea vntill they bee wearie First they may discharge their stomackes against the deuils who of all creatures are the worst neither neede they feare to exceede therein For we cannot too much deâ—est any thing that is so repugnant to God Next they may hate all and euery the sinnes which sprout forth in the world as grasse in the medowes because they bee the stinges of death The same may they doe to all impious doctrines for that God by them is forgotten and dishonored The wicked likewise generally considered may be somewhat abhorred as those that alter and polute publique societies although peeticulerly the rule of charitie afore mentioned be to be obserued toward them But if any hauing mallice to sell would seeke any more familier or ordinarie subiect to employe himselfe vpon I would say vnto him Friend open the closets of thy soule and of thy hart peraduenture if thou seekest well thou mayst finde matter enough whereon to exercise thy selfe as ambition intemperance pride crueltie vniustice ingratitude lying deceipt with other vices whereof thy selfe wilt be abashed There stay thy selfe for hatred is the meanes to tame those monsters whom thou makest as thou knewest not of and which doe diffame thee So knowe that thy hatred shall be fruitfull and sweete wherein powring it foorth vpon thy neighbours it breedeth thee hurt and trouble Like as those that be well taught hating mens imperfections can neuerthelesse loue them euen so is it meete that wee should in like for behaue ourselues toward our like and not vtterly withdrawe our loue from their persons although wee condemne their errors and wickednesse for many tymes they doe through grace chaunge and from their vnpure waies come to those that bee pure This charitie whereof I speake is nothing repugnant to ciuill Iustice neither doth it abolish the indignation that wee are to beare vnto the contemners of God for if it were contrary to pietie and publique order then were it not humaine but inhumaine Also the proportion betwéene the same and deuine charitie is good for the one sayth Thou shalt loue God with all thy hart and the other Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe Concerning conuersation whereof some make such scrupulositie alleadging for their excuse This man is an hereticke or that man is an Idolater me thinkes they doe ouer rashly denye it to those that haue an
corruption in stead of temperance Other Gentlemen there be who séeing disorders euery where had rather kéep their children at home and there to spare for no stipends vnto sufficient maisters than to send them forth This is a good way for those that be very rich who also haue opportunitie to giue them companions of their owne age with whom they profite better than being alone But so cannot the poore that haue inough to do to cloth and feede theirs whom also necessitie as is aforesaid forceth to make them pages where they may as wel to haue them fashioned as to ease their owne charges It is sufficiently knowen that there be many valiant Gentlemen of 7. or 800. Frankes rent that haue foure or fiue children apeece ready growen sitting about their hearths what can they do with them but intreat their friends that are better able than themselues to giue them their finding and instruction which is the most commodious way for them that they can choose whereof doth insue a great bond both of the Father and the child to him that sheweth thē this curtesie as also a great loue of him toward them in that he findeth himselfe to be thought worthie the gouernment of others The Lords that inhabite each prouince of this Realme doe owe that liberall honestie to their poore neighbours for if they be vertuous can they anie where better sow so good séede than in their neighbors lands it may so light as it shall yéeld fruit ten folde Some such haue ben a mans page as afterward hath saued the life of him y t brought him vp And although some frée heart can neuer be wearie of imploying it selfe in such actions as purchase so sure bondes yet must it proceede according as abilie may affoord so to auoide such inconueniences as we haue sometime séene in the houses of sundry those Princes Lords that haue entertained euery page y t haue ben offered them Wherof the nūber was so excessiue that it extinguished all care not onely of instructing but also of clothing them so as somtime you might finde some of thē all tattred playing at scales with the stable boies These are briefly the most ordinarie formes of proceeding in the instruction of yong gentlemen heretofore practised wherin are declared the errours therein committed the commodities discommodities thereof arising and the remedies that may be vsed Now must we draw forth some publike discipline for the afore named whereby they may be instructed in good manners honest exercises with most commoditie least perill greatest fruit The auncient lawgiuers that haue prescribed lawes to all sorts of common wealths do will that children be taught in publike places touching withall euery thing that is necessarie for them to learne whereby to become vertuous and good citizens Aristotle in his Politiks treateth therof at large as also doth Plutarke in his small works They say that man consisting both of bodie and soule must also be instructed exercised in that which belongeth to thē both For that neglected the soule stūbleth in ignorance which is the mother of many vices and by idlenesse diseases increase and the body waxeth delicate and tender Among the auncient nations in old time none were so curious in the well nurturing of their youth as the Lacedemonians so long as they obserued their customes they had infinite vertuous persons yea their women children became famous The like affection ought to be among the kings that raigne in these daies especially toward their nobilitie frō whence do proceed their Princes mightie Captains gouernors and chiefe officers Embassadors and inferior Captains whose seruice they vse in defence of their crowns For in case they desire to reape worthie seruice of all these whē they be men they must first haue some care of thē when they be children because y e Prince being y e cōmon father of his subiects ought to procure that they be good Whereof I do conclude that to the end to see good fruit proceed of the well nurturing of the Gentrie the parents diligence only doth not suffice but that it is also requisite that publike orders do concur therewith to the end that the one mixed with the other a more prosperous issue maye insue In olde time our kings founded many goodly colleges to the end al their subiects indifferētly might be instructed as wel in diuine as humane learning As also we may say that in olde time Princes houses were schooles wherein yong gentlemen were trained vp in ciuilitie good maners when like wise the ordinances of the men of war did in parte serue to instruct them in martial feats But now inasmuch as in those places they find not so exquisite nurture as might be wished for it were expedient to proceed to y e remedy propoūded y t is y t it might please his maiesty in sūdry parts of y e realm to establish certain places dedicated to such instructiōs which besides the ordinary fruit might also yeld this cōmodity y t parēts should not be driuē w t so great expenses and vncertain successe to send their children so far away as hauing euē at their gates as it were most excellēt schooles of al good exercises for there is neuer a yere but there go 3. or 400. yong Gentlemen out of France y e most of good houses into forein countries to sée learne which proceedeth of valiāt minds with extreme desire of knowledge But euery thing wel waied y e said viages do breed more incōueniēce than profit For they cary y e coine out of y e realme return fraught with vices besides that of all y t go the one halfe do neuer returne but are taken away either by sicknesse or other casualties It wer inough in my opiniō to sēd their childrē at y e age of 15. yeres to places so ordained because thē they begin to grow méet for y e exercises of y e bodie y t require strēgth that in the meane time vntil they come to that age their fathers cause them to be taught either in their own houses or at the vniuersities These places whereof I meane to speak might be named Academies wherof I wold in euery head city of this realm appoint one were it not y t we are not yet disposed to do too much good at once therfore to begin withal I would wish that 4. might be erected in the 4. quarters of the realm which would most conueniently be at Paris Bourdeaux Lyons Angiers whether al y e other prouinces might haue recourse Or it were not amisse to establish thē in 4. of the kings houses wherto the king doth but seldome repaire namely at Fontain beleau The castle of Moulins Plessis of Tours at the castle of Congnac for y e lodgings are large worthy roial works In thē might be taught many kinds of exercises as wel for the bodie as the mind For the body to learne to backe a horse to
dishonor him neither neede we elsewhere seeke the cause of the Turkish prosperitie then in our owne sinnes the continuance whereof doe thereto minister sustenance and strength where contrariwise our amendment would bée an occasion that the Lord should pull it downe I would wish all such as are familier with Princes often to put them in minde that lawfull Monarchies which ought to be supported with Pietie and Iustice cannot bee preserued by any meanes repugnant to these vertues so to resolue them the more not to seeke any profite in actions vtterly seperate from honestie I knowe there may be some that will say that France is now so weake and brought so low that it were not meete it should for sake those leagues which seeme to retaine her enemies in any feare who would peraduenture be easely enduced to set vpon her so soone as the proppe which is to them a terror shall be taken away First the Germaines would redemaund the imperiall townes Then the Spanyard who hath sundrie both olde and new quarels would alleadge some one or other and it is to bee doubted but such mightie enémies would deale hardly with her Indeede this requireth consideration But the Germaines will aunswer That their nation is not so hot to entangle the Empire in so great a warre which they would not wish to bee mightier then it is least it should gripe them as did the Emperour Charles the Duke of Saxony and the Lantgraue Neither would they aduance the ruine of France which they knowe to bee a good counterpaize for the inner side of Christendome and a strong shield for the outer side The Spaniards do say that the long peace betweene their King France together with his affayres in the Low countries doe sufficiently declare that he intendeth not to molest her with warres For it is enough for him that she daily decayeth through her owne ciuill dissentions whereby now he no whit feareth her power which aforetime hath bene a terror vnto him So as it were rather to be beléeued that if the Princes her neighbours might see France for an vniuersall benefite to giue ouer their league with the Turkes they would like very well of so commendable a worke which they haue long desired Howbeit I referre my selfe to the matter as it is and to conclude doe say that our Kings in olde time shewed forth their affection to the rooting out of the enemies of Christendome for them selues trauailed personally together with the flower of their Subiects euen into Asia and Affricke to fight with them namely Lewes the yong Phillip August and S. Lewes as also Godfrey of Bolein with most of the Princes that accompanied him in his voyadge to Ierusalem were for the most part French men Likewise long before them what scourges were Charles Martell and Charlemaigne to the Sarazens who being the Lords of y e French nation obteyned mightie victories against that terrible people Wherevpon I conclude that vpon good occasion with condition and assurance sufficient vnto our King that none would attempt against his state I thinke we should not finde him to haue any whit degenerated from his auncesters zeale to wisedome and valour The 22. Discourse That the Christian Princes well vnited are able in fower yeres to expulse the Turkes out of Europe IT might better beséeme sundry excellent Captaines whome I take to bee yet liuing as the L. Iohn Dorie the Italian Lazarus Schuendy the Germaine or the Knight of Romegas the French man who haue bin employed in diuers warres against the Turkes to discourse of such meanes as may best serue to suppresse their power then mee who neuer sawe their streamers waue in the wind either by sea or by land neither looked vpon their frontiers Neuerthelesse sith yet they haue layd open no parte of their goodly conceipts in this argument howbeit I cannot thinke but they haue imparted some to their friends I haue thought good as well for mine owne content as also to instruct others who peraduenture haue not employed their cogitations vpon such an hautie exployt to speake somewhat thereof and that the rather because I suppose it to be most iust and necessarie to the vniuersall benefite of all Christendome Yet not that I would men should thinke I would at randon put forth any speeches depending onely vpon my owne imaginations for so might they conteyne small assurance But hauing read and ouer read the histories that entreate of their warres therwith noted what hath happened in our time I haue accompted such a ground to bee sufficient to beare vp whatsoeuer we list to build therevpon Here might I haue occasion to rehearse the originall and encrease of this tyrannous and vnpitifull Turkish Empire but sith I haue alreadie declared it in an other small treatise I will vse no repetition Such as are neighbours thereto doe bat too much feele the waight thereof neither ought they that bée farther of to bee ignorant that it is a horrible scourge of Gods vengeance which hauing many yeeres agoe ouerthrowne the florishing Easterne Empire and set deepe foote into the Westerne doth yet threaten the rest to bring it vnder the intollerable yoake therof The consideration of the greatnesse of this perrill which is so neere might bee sufficient to terrifie and waken especially those that are in chiefest dignitie to straine themselues to prouide for cōmon preseruation For the fire by little little taketh hold hath alreadie consumed the suburbes of Christendome namely Hungarie with all the great coastes of the Adriatick sea cōmonly called Sclauonia So as by sea wee haue these barbarous people at the mouthes of our hauens vpon the land in our gates Certaine it is that had it not bene for the famous victorie of Don Iohn of Austrich a most valiant and noble Prince together with the warre of Wallachie wherein died 50000. Turkes now their last with the Persian which hath cost them very deere we should haue felt their forces Al which losses notwithstanding yet do they hold the I le of Ciprus as a glorious monument of their tryumph hauing withall quite rased to the very foundations the proud forteresse of Goletta in Affrick Herein do we see y t as they haue lost men they are able for euery one get 4. where we haue lost land by our vsuall procéedings it is almost vnpossible to recouer it out of their hāds Thus do their losses breed their cōmoditie whereas ours doe leade vs to destruction Now to those that knowe them not they seeme to be on sleepe or letted for a great while whereas contrariwise they do but take breath prouide neither tendeth their delay to any other ende but to gather force wherby their first assaults may be the more furious One of the first solemne othes that all these tyrants of the house of Ottoman at their entrie into the Realme do make when they take their vsurped scepter importeth that they shall bee