some malevolent spirits reported afterwards that the next after his resignments was the first day of his repentance But now I will speak something of the heroik Valour and Fortitude of our Nation whereby Europe hath stood unshaken so many ages And truely to dilate this my words must needs com short of the matter and herein it was the disadvantage of Germany to be destitute of Writers for our Progenitors were more for the Pike then the Pen bipennem non pennam tractabant And it was enough for other Nations to extoll their own feats not ours so that it may be sayed of the Children of this Noble Continent Vixere Fortes ante Agamemnona Multi sed omnes illachrymabiles Urgentur ignotique longa Nocte Carent quia Vate sacro The memory of Dido had rotted with her body in her Grave had not Maro preservd it so had Ulisses without Homer Mecaenas had it not bin for Horace Lucilius without Seneca and divers other Heros whose names were made indelible and immortal by the quil Therefore as Bodin sayeth one of the greatest motives that inducd the Scythians and Goths to burn Libraries was because the fame of other Nations as well as their own reproaches might perish Yet those fragments of stones which are found up and down in our Archives shew well what heroique Spirits this Clime hath bredd and what Martiall men in comparison of whose Preliations and Fights those of the Greeks were but Combats twixt Froggs and Mice I will not go so far as Tuisco Mannus Ingavo Istaevon Hermion Marsus Gambrivius Suevus and Vandalus But I will come neerer our times it is enough we are Germans ergo All men and manfull according to the etymon of the word Tacitus sayeth it was an infamous Crime among us to leave our Colours behind in the field or to com thence alive the Prince being killd For it was held a kind of Religion to protect and defend his Person as also to assign the glory of all exploits to him So terrible we were to our Neighbours the Gaules that the very name of a German was a Scarecrow unto them for Gallia lay alwaies open to us though they never took foot of ground in Germany How did Andirestus trounce them making them flye to Iulius Caesar and implore ayd so pittifully or at least his intercession to make peace twixt them and the Teutoniques Hereupon Iulius Caesar employing some Ambassadours to Ariovistus then in Suabland that he would appoint an indifferent place for a Parley He answerd that if Caesar had any businesse with him he might com to him accordingly at he wold do if he had any businesse with Caesar Hereupon a War was denouncd but certain Travellers and Merchants telling the Gaules what huge mighty men both for stature and spirit the Germans were and how habituated to Armes being abroad in the fields without houses such apprehensions of fear and terror did seize upon that Army of Gaules which Caesar had levied against Ariovistus that they durst advance no further but retire such was the high valour of the Suevians at that time which made Caesar himself break out into this confession Suevis ne Deos quidem immortales pares esse posse reliquum quidem in Terris esse neminem quem non superare possint Galli vero paulatim assuefacti superari multisque victi praelijs ne se quidem ipsi cum Germanis virtute comparabant The immortall Gods are not like the Swablanders there are none upon earth but they are able to overcom them but the Gaules being accustomed to be beaten and discomfited in many Encounters did not hold themselfs by their own confession equall to the Germans When Iccius and Ambrogius came Ambassadors to Caesar among other things they told him that the Belgians were the valiantst of all the Gaules who were descended of the Germans who had crossd the Rhine to settle themselfs there for more commodiousnesse by the expulsion of the Gaules which Countrey was calld for distinction sake Ciâ—…-Rhenana Germania which is now calld the Netherlands or Belgium the Inhabitants wherof have Dutch for their naturall language therfore they were usd to call Germany Magnam patriam their Great Countrey Now as Cities use by degrees to grow greater and have outwalls and Suburbs and as great Rivers do not tie themselfs to one direct even Channell but oftentimes inound and gain ground so Kingdoms have their fate It is not therfore the Rhin the Danube and Vistula that confines Germany though they run like great veines of bloud through her body but beyond them she hath Belgium the Swisserland the Grisons and Alpes Styria Carniola Carinthia Austria a great part of Sarmatia Denmark Swethland Norway Finmark with other most potent and patent Regions who glory in the name and language of Germans Moreover touching the Gaules the Germans may be termd their Fathers as well as their Conquerors for Ammianus Marcellinus sayeth In Galliam vacuam populos quosdam ab insulis extremis tractibus trans-Rhenanis crebritate bellorum alluvione fervidi maris sedibus expulsos Som peeple from the outward Islands and Territories beyond the Rhin by the fury of Warr and the encroachments of the tumbling Sea were driven to Gallia and whence can this be but from Germany Nor was a great part of Gallia alone but Great Britany also was Colonizd by Germans wittnesse the words of Caesar who sayeth Germanos si non patres tamen Britannorum Avos esse The Germans if they were not the Fathers yet they were Grandfathers to the Britains And as the hither parts of Gallia so the southerly parts also towards the Pyreneys and Spain were Colonizd by Germans I mean Languedoc and this is plain argumento ducto ab Etymologia the word Languedoc being derivd from Langue de Goth though som would foolishly draw it from Langue d' ovg or Languedoc But let us go neerer to work and with more certainty I pray whence hath France her last and present appellation but from the Franconians in Germany Hear what a famous Author writes Francos Francos nostros sequamur Gentem omnium quotquot magna illa vasta Germania tulit generosissimam acerrimos libertatis propugnatores Let us follow the French the French one of the most generous peeple that huge Germany ever bore and the greatest propugnators of their liberties And this revolution or transmigration happend upon the decay of the Roman Empire in the time of Valerianus and Gallienus the one being taken Captif by the Persian the other eclipsing the Empire with Luxury and sloth so Pharamond the German rushd into France then Gallia and his Successor establishd there a Monarchy which hath continued in three races of Kings above these twelve hundred yeers T is tru the whole Countrey was not all reducd at once by the Franks but by degrees and being once settled nothing could resist their valour but they still got more ground Whence that Proverb hath its rise from Valentinianus Augustus
Earth to Mount Adrian Nor doth this huge Mote give security alone to the Inhabitants but it brings them many other inestimable benefits it animates by vertue of the salt-waters the heat of the contiguous Earth it nourisheth the air with pregnant vapours to make wholsom showres for the irrigation and refreshment of the Earth it takes in and lets out many brave Rivers for navigation which are replenished with all store of Fish Among other kind the benefit that is made of Herrings is beyond belief which swimme in huge shoales like Mountains about the Iland Towards the Summer Solstice they seek the Coasts of Scotland then towards Autumne they retire to the English and it is incredible what huge quantities are taken twixt Scarborough and the Thames mouth from the month of August to September then they move more Southward to the British Sea and find matter for fishing till Christmas then having as it were fetch'd a compasse about Britain they seek the Western Sea and the Irish Coast where they keep till Iune and then set forward for Britain again when they are grown fat and numerous by multiplication Thus Britany like a Microcosm of her selfe is seated in the midst of a turbulent and working Sea yet she within is still quiet serene and safe And now I will take a survay of this Noble Iland as one would doe of some stately Castle and to do that exactly one must not onely view the Trenches and outworks which are about but pry into the recesses and roomes within and observe what fashion of men they are that keep it therefore I will make a progresse into the Center and bowells of Britain Touching the people who inhabit Her they are the wellfavourdest and best complexion'd people of any upon the surface of the Earth they have excellent Intellectuals sucking Capacities and spacious Understandings they add unto and perfect any invention that is brought them And truly wee Germans should be very ingrateful unlesse we should acknowledge to have receiv'd great benefit by them for in point of Religion and literature they have been Doctors and Parents unto us They brought Christ and the Standard of the Crosse first amongst us they dispell'd the black clouds of Faganism and ignorance from amongst us and let in the sweet raies of piety and knowledge to enlighten us This unlesse wee brand our selfs with the ugly mark of ingratitude we must ingeniously confesse Now it is observ'd that the Britans were alwaies by a special instinct very much addicted to Religion And as in the Discipline of the Druyds whose founders they are held to be they antecell'd all others for Caesar records that the Gaules went over to be instructed by the British Druyds so when the name of Christ was known among them with flagrant desires and fervent affections they embrac'd that beliefe with a wonderful ready devotion and as the glorious Sun when he culminates and appears in the East doth as it were in a moment illustrate the whole Hemisphear so the beames of Christianity displayed themselves with marvellous celerity all the Hand over But this had very good helps to advance this work for in the infancy of the Church as Baronius doth assert Ioseph of Arimathea a Noble Decurion arrived there and Claudia Rufina Wife to Aulus Pudens the Roman of whom the Poet Martial nay Saint Paul himself makes honorable mention Simon Zelotes having made a hot progresse through Barbary died in Britain Nay some say that Saint Paul being freed from Nero's shackles encreas'd the propagation of grace there Hereupon the Britains having had the advantage of such great lights applyed themselves to erect Oratories and Churches for the publique exercise of devotion wherein they grew so zealous that Lucius a British King left his Crown with all earthly pomp and made a spontaneous pilgrimage to Rome in the time of Eleutherius the year 150. after the Incarnation and spent the rest of his life in holy Meditations and practices of piety Now what a glory it is for Britain to have had the first Christian King that ever was Nay the first Christian Emperor Constantine the Great And to speak truth no Region produc'd more constant professors of Christianity then Britain did and more fincere Propagators thereof which will appear if we look into the Catologe of Saints Martyrs and Confessors In so much that in lieu of that malitious character which Porphyrie gives of her who hated her for being such a zealous Christian by calling her feracem tyrannorum provinciam a Country fruitful for Tyrants she may more deservedly be call'd Regio sanctorum faecundissima a Region most abounding with Saints Nor were the Britans such Zelots only at home but they cross'd the Seas to disperse the beams of Christian Knowledge abroad and their paines prov'd very successful herein Germany was beholden to Winfridus and Willebrod that she was converted France was beholden to Alcuin for establishing the Academy of Paris though Paschasius a cavilling Author denies it Touching us Germans among other testimonies of gratitude to Britain let this of an excellent Almain Poet serve for one Haec tamen Arctois laus est eterna Britannis Quod post Pannonicis vastatum incursibus Orbem Illa bonas Artes Graiae munera linguae Stellarumque vias magni sidera caeli Observans iterum turbatis intulit oris Quin se Relligio multùm debere Britannis Servata latè circum dispersa fatetur Quis nomen Winfride tuum quis munera nesâ—…cit Te Duce Germanis pietas se vera Fidesque Infinuans caepit ritus abolere prophanos Quid non Alcuino facunda Lutetia debet Instaurare bonas ibi qui faeliciter Artes Barbariemque procul solus dispellere caepit To these British Champions of Christianity we may add Bede who hath the Epithet by the consent of the universall Christian Church of Venerable given him I will bring upon the stage next Io. Dunscotus who was so supereminent in Divinity and the spiny art of Logique that he was call'd by the whole commonwealth of learning Subtilis Doctor and he was a man of such large esteem that he founded a sect who are call'd Scotistae to this day he also was call'd lima veritatis the file of truth He was so great a man that as many Cities contended for the Nativity of Homer so did many Kingdoms strive for him Ireland Scotland England and France yet what a strange destiny befell this famous Doctor for being surpriz'd by an apoplexy and given for dead he was buried alive for it was found that he breath'd his last in the Grave After him I may instance in Iohn Wicklif a great Artist and Theolog next to him I rank William Ockam patrem Nominalium who establishd a sect calld the Nominalls but both these were strong enemies to Rome as appeers yet by their penns There was another great Doctor calld Doctor Resolutus by the Italians for his acute way of disputation and he was Io Baconthorp
his hunting venery and pleasure But the judgements of Heaven fell visibly upon his Children for Richard his second Son died of a Pestilential air in the same Forest. William Rufus another Son of his succeeding him in the Kingdome was kill'd there also by the glance of an arrow from Sir Walter Terrell Henry also his Granchild Sonne to Robert his first begotten breath'd his last there like Absolon hanging at a bow while he was a hunting 'T is true that Barkshire hath one goodly structure which is Winsor Castle but most of the Country about is inhabited by savage beasts who may be said to live better then the people thereabouts For Surrey you should have remembred what a perfidious act Godwin Earl of Kent perform'd at Guilford who betraying to Harald the Dane a young Prince that was sent from Normandy to receive the Crown of England was delivered to Harald the Dane Sussex is infamous for the murther of King Sigebert by a Swineheard And the Province of Kent will never wash away the foul stain she received for the sacrilegious murther of Thomas Becket a Saintlike man which assassinate was perpetrated in the very Church near the high Altar for which crying and flagitious deed they say that the race of the murtherers have ever have since a white tuffe of hair in their heads and the wind blowing in their faces whersoever they go For Glocestershire her inhabitants there are worthy of reproach that by idlenesse and ignorance they would suffer the Vineyards there to decay utterly and in lieu of Wine be content with windy Sider In Oxfordshire was that lustful Labarynth made at Woodstock where Henry the second kept Rosamond his Concubine whom the revengful Queen poysoned Now touching the City of London the Metropolis of Great Britain she may be well call'd a Monster for she being the head bears no proportion with the rest of the body but is farre too bigge for it and might serve a Kingdom thrice as bigge but what Saint Hierom spoake of Constantinople Eam nuditate omnium civitatum constructam fuisse that she was made up of the nakednesse and ruine of other Cities so may London be said to grow rich out of the poverty of other Towns She is like the Spleen in the natural body by whose swelling the rest of the members pine away And herein let me observe the poor policy of the fatheaded English who suffer this one Town to be pamperd up while other places though situated in as convenient places for Navigation are ready to starve for want of trade 'T is true that Queen Elizabeth King Iames and King Charles his Son did put forth Proclamations for restraint of building in London and that all the gentry should retire to their Country dwellings in the Vacation time and at Christmas but these Proclamations were like a fire put under a green wood which did flash a little but suffer'd presently to go again so those Royal Proclamations were put in hot execution for a while yet they quickly grew cold again But indeed such is the crossgrain'd and contumacious perverse nature of the Londoners specially the schismatical part that they suspect or repine at any new command that comes from authority For whereas there was a secure and comely durable way of structure inordred them that every one should build for the future with stone or brick and not with lath and wood and that they should build regularly for the beauty prospect and evennesse of the streets as also that the Houses might not be subject to firing Yet this obstinate selfwitted people do stand still in their own light and fall againe to build with lath and lime notwithstanding that they know well enough the great advantages that would redound to the City by the other mode of Edifice In so much that in England ther 's not near that Elegance of building generally as in other Cities nor are their streetes so streight and lightsome by reason the Houses paunch out and are not so uniform as else where I could condescend to the praises you give of Essex Suffolk were it not that in the one at Saint Edmunds Berry there have happened so many popular tumults twixt the Monks and Citizens And were it not for a sordid tenure that lands are held by them of Hemingstone where Baldwin call'd le Petteur held lands from the Crown by sarieanty pro quibus debuit Die Natali Domini singulis annis coram Domino Rege Angliae unum saltum unum suflatum unum bumbulum for which lands he was to pay one leap one puff and one crack of the taile before the King upon Christmas day every yeare under paine of forfeiting his Tenure O brave Knight service O Noble homage O brave devotion upon the birth day of Christ. Touching the Norfolk men they are naturally wranglers and Cavillers The Fenny situation of Cambridge is such that I cannot wonder sufficiently how that place should be chosen out to be made a seat for the Muses Huntingtonshire Countrymen have such a rustiquenesse that hardly admits any civility Northhampton and Leicestershire are so bald that you can hardly see a tree as you passe through them The people of Lincolnshire are infested with the affrightments of Crowlands Daemonical spirits Notinghamshire doth delude the labour of the husbandman with the Sandinesse of their soyl God deliver us from the Devills Posteriors at the Peak in Darbishire Warwik is choaked up with wood there as well as in Lincolnshire The Ordure of the Sow and Cow Doth make them fire and Sope enough I should like Worcester but for cold flatulent Perry Stafford relates many odde fables of her Lake and the River of Trent In Shropshire the sweating sicknesse took its first rise which dispers'd it self not onely all England over but cross'd the Seas found out and infested English bodies in other Regions Chester complaines for want of corn to make her bread In Herefordshire there are walking Mountains for in the year 1571. about 6. of the clock in the evening there was a hill with a Rock underneath did rise up as if she were awaken out of a long sleep and changing her old bed did remove herself to a higher place carrying with her trees and folds of sheep she left a gap behinde of forty foot broad and eighty ells long the whole peece of earth was above twenty Acres and the motion lasted above a natural day that the sayd Moantain was in travell Radnor with her crags would frighten one for the rest of Wales though the inhabitants be courteous and antient yet the country swels with such a conglobation of Mountains that strangers would be hardly invited to visit her which Mountaines in some places are so high and yet so near one to another that Shepheards may talk one to another from the tops of them and not be able to meet one another in a whole day by traversing from one Mountain to the other through the valley and precipices
molested Ferdinand the 1. by his Caraffical Canons but to little purpose For as Serpents do naturally retain a poyson still in them though they do not alwaies vent it so the Roman seaven headed Beast doth still keep within him that malignant humor towards the Emperor which may chance be his own destruction at last as we read of Iohn Baptista Bishop of Concordia who at a Ducal feast in Venice kept in his gutts that Wind which should have found vent backward so long that he died of it Now touching the Right that his Holinesse hath to Rome by the donation of Constantine it is the same that Venice hath to the Dominion of the Adriatique Gulph they are both of them no other then Titles of Straw yet that of Rome doth produce the Pope much grain And as that vainglorious Citty was first founded by Fugitives and Robbers and afterwards patched up an Empire of varia magna latrocinia of divers great Theeveries for Kingdoms are little better which shee got by oppression tyranny and rapine so the same genius remaines still in Rome for she may be sayed to be a Harpye still and to robbe all the Christian World that 's subject to her by her mercenary Pardons Buls and Indulgences She seldome takes the Lamb without his Fleece Lord how is she degenerated from her self when she was a Primitive Christian in those times there were golden Priests and wooden Chalâ—…ces but now clean contrary as Boniface the Martyr cryed out In time of old The Chalices were wood the Priests were gold But now a man may swear by Haly rood The Chalices are gold the Priests are wood Indeed the Italians are generally covetous and it is to foment their pleasures whereof they are the greatest embracers of any people About the precincts of Padoa there were two brothers that in a cleer shine night were walking in the fields and one of them casting his eyes up to the Firmament wished that he had as many fat Oxen as there were Starres in the Heavens The other presently wished that he had a Field as large as the Firmament the other replying what he would doe with it he answered To feed your Oxen. But the judgement of Heaven is observable herein for as they multiplied discourse about these prophane wishes they fell a quarrelling and so slew one another in the place And now I pray what Nation is more vindicative than the Italian How many have been murther'd for casting but a few glances upon another mans wife out of a window What various inventions have they of poysoning sometimes by the smoak of a candle sometimes by the suavity of a flower sometimes by a poyson'd glove or handkerchief sometimes by small crossebowes with poyson'd needles instead of arrowes What an inhumane horrid revenge did a Millanez take of an old friend of his to whom having been reconciled after some quarrell he bore still a black rancor in his breast against him and having surpris'd him in a convenient place he put a dagger to his throat vowing that if hee would not doe one thing hee was a dead man which was to abjure God Almighty the infortunate man did it thrice and the third time as he was pronouncing the words he stabb'd him to the heart and so dispatcht him glorying afterwards of the fulnesse of his revenge for hee had destroyed his body and soul And now that I am in Milan me-thinkes I see that glorious Empresse Barbarossa's wife riding through the streets upon a Mule with her face towards the posteriors of her and holding the tayle in her hand for a bridle O most unmanly and base unparallell'd peece of barbarism but the Emperour was soundly quit with them for besides those whom he put to death for this affront he caus'd the chiefest of the Town to lick out figges being stuck in a Mules Fundament whence proceeded that proverbiall Jeere which continues to this day in Italy Ecco la fico Lo here the figge For when they would mock any they use to put the thumb betwixt the two forefingers and pronounce those words And to draw to a period I pray hear what that noble French personage Alexander de Pontaymery a man of a candid and clear judgement speakes of this wanton Countrey of Italy Nous allons saith he en Italie auec une despense incroyable achepter la seule ombre de la civitité nous en rapportons la masse entiere de vices ceux de Milan nous apprenment la tromperie le Venetien nous rend Hypocrites le Romain nous plonge en un Ocean d' Atheisme d' impieté le Neapolitain nous change en satyre où plustost nous fait un esgoust un cloaque de touâ—… lascivité mollesse paillardisse le Florentin nous enseigne l'artifice et l'operation de poyson We traverse the Alpes and trot into Italy with incredible expense to take up certain shadows of Civility but we bring back the whole masse of Vice the Milanez teacheth us how to be Iuglers the Bolognois to be Lyars the Venetian to be Hypocrites the Napolitan transformeth us to Satyres in lascivity and lust the Roman plungeth us in an ocean of Atheism the Florentine teacheth us the artifice of Poysoning Therefore under the favour of this noble Prince that spoak before me and of this most celebrous and sage Assembly I hold Italy in statu quo nunc to be most incapable to recover her former Principality but fitter rather to be the Queene of Pleasures than the Empress of Europe THE ORATION OF The L NICHOLAS BAWNICKHAUSEN OF BALMEROD By way of Apologie or as a Temperament to the preceding ORATIONS Most Ample Illustrious and High-born Princes THere is no quality more naturally inherent and so hereditary to humane braines as variety and difference of opinions which I think never appear'd more evidently then in this most learned and renowned Assembly but I beleeve that those discrepancies of Judgments which have happen'd have proceeded not from any hatred or Malignant humour but from the innocent and free conceptions of the mind let malice and partiality seek lodging among the vulgar and not harbour in such noble breasts as yours 'T is tru ther hath been much acrimony and bitternes shew'd in detecting the Vices of som peeple but on the other side ther hath bin as much candor and sweetnes in displaying their vertues In performance of both Eloquence mounted up to her very height But touching the Vices you have spoken of we must have a due and serious regard of the frailties of humane condition and it is a high point of injustice to charge a whole Nation with the misdemeanours of a few so that Apology which the amorous Poet made in behalf of maydes may be applyed to Nations Parcite paucarum diffundere crimen in omnes Spectetur meritis Natio quaeque suis. We are all the Sons of Adam and sprung from his loynes Omnes mali sumus and it comes oftentimes to passe that
Nature which injoynes mankind in generall to endeare themselves one to another by reciprocall Offices of benevolence and love of Charity and Compassion of comfort and mutual Commerce Such a dotage as this seem'd to have sez'd upon Lycurgus and Plato in point of Opinion The furr'd Muscovit and frozen Russe is possess'd also with it to this day But oh immortall Gods what Infatuation or Frenzy rather transports this people so far from the dictates of reason What a transcendent presumption is it in them to invade as it were the Capitoll of Heaven and violate the Decrees of the divine Providence For we well know that God Almighty himselfe by the mouth of his Chancellour Moses hath commanded Peregrinos non minui ac Cives benignè habendos esse That strangers should be as gently intreated as the Natives themselves Moreover there is a Sanction published by our Saviour love thy Neighbour as thy selfe Nay Nature her selfe doth dictate unto us that man hath the least share in his own Nativity but he is born to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a communicable Creature born to benefit others Therefore that Custome and Constitution of China is dissonant to the Law of the Creator the dictates of nature and disagreeable to humane reason Now whom shal we give credit unto the eternall word of God or the Policy of these men For if as the Canon goes de Imperatoris judicio disputare sacrilegij instar est If to dispute of the judgment of the Emperour be a kind of Sacriledge what Trespasse what Piacle what a flagitious Crime are they guilty of who doubt of the verity of divine Oracles It is the Imperiall Decree of Gratianus Valentinianus and Theodosius confirm'd by all their Successors Qui Divinae legis sanctitatem aut nesciendo â—…mittunt aut negligendo violant offendunt sacrilegium committunt Whosoever doth by ignorance omit or by negligence infringe or offend the Sanctity of the divine Law commits Sacriledge Therefore I may say that the Chineses are Sacrilegious that the Muscovits are likewise so with all their Adherents who unlesse they would go about to overthrow the Rights of the Rationall Creature unlesse they would extinguish all the sparkles of Charity would not put in practise so absurd a Law For it stops the Channels and choakes up the Cisternes of all Hospitality of all kind of Humanity it utterly subverts all increase of knowledge all mutuall Offices of love all Trade and Commerce all improvement of Wealth and plenty all intercourse of Kindnesse and Civility among the Children of Adam For in my judgment this whole Globe of the Earth is no other then the Native Country of all kind of men It is but one common City Domicile and Habitation Therefore that Saying of Socrates was a true Philosophicall one when being askt what Country-man he was he answer'd I am a Cosmopolite I am a Citizen or free Denizon of the World For what an Indignity is it to Captivate the mind of man which Heaven can scarce hold to one territory or clod of Earth What an injustice is it that the Volatils of the Aire should have such liberty to flye and the Fish of the Sea to swim where they please without controulement or interruption and that man who by divine Charter is Lord of all Elementary Creatures should be confin'd within the compasse of one poor tract of ground Therefore as those high Ethereall and heavenly bodies above delight in motion so among men all generous and noble Spirits should take pleasure in Peregrination they should make truce with their domestick Affaires ask their Parents blessing embrace their Kindred bid their Friends farewell and shake hands a while with their own Country to take a view of the World abroad to observe the Customes and Carriage of other people to pry into their Lawes and Government to their Policy and waies of preservation to attain unto the knowledge of their Language to convert every good thing they see into wholesome juice and blood and for the future benefit of their own Country to learn how to converse with all people For the French have no improper saying Un honneste homme est un homme mesle an honest or wise man is a mixt man that is one who hath something in him in point of knowledge of all Nations Truely that I may discover unto you the most Intrinsick thoughts of my Soule I am of Opinion that it is a kind of degenerous thing for any gentile Spirit to sit still at home as it were lurking in the Chimny corner be so indulgent of himselfe as never to see the World abroad Nay a noble mind should resolve with himselfe to undergo any injury of the Elements any roughnesse of waies any difficulty of passage to be acquainted with forreigne Nations he should presently get his Bills of exchange or Letters of credit settle his Servants call for his Boots and Spurs put his Sword by his side and mount a Horseback being invited thereunto by so many noble examples specially by yours most Illustrious Princes who have made such exuberant fruits of your Peregrinations whereof all Germany your deare Country is like to make such a mighty benefit For I know there is none of you here but as the Prince of Poets speakes of Ulisses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 You have seen the manners of millions of men with so many magnificent Cities Castles Fortifications and Palaces Touching my selfe though I do not travell in body as I have done yet in a contemplative way and upon the wings of Fancy I daily passe through and measure with my thoughts all those most flourishing Kingdomes of Europe I once perlustrated with my eyes I travel still in my imagination and nothing is so delightfull unto me as the Ideas of those various Objects I have seen abroad I confesse there are some and they are too many who abuse this excellent benefit of forreigne Travell if they have but once saluted France they return altogether Frenchified If they have eaten their bread a while tother side the Alpes they come back altogether Italianated if they have cross'd the Pyrenies they return altogether Spanioliz'd They force themselves by affected and fanstastick postures and gestures to imitate forreigne Fashions by their Garb their Cloathes their Speech they would shew themselves Travellers in a kind of Histrionicall Mimick way like Actors or Comedians upon a Stage whose part is to represent others They seem to slight and some of them to scorn the Manners the Custome and Behaviour of their own Country Such a Caprichious Traveller or Stage Player Sir Thomas More that Golden English Knight hath accurately set forth in his own Colours in that witty facetious Epigram which I beleive is not unknown to any of this Illustrious Auditory Amicus sodalis est Lalus mihi c. In the person of Lalus this renowned Chancellor displayes a phantastick Travellor or Landloper rather who having breathed a while the ayre of France returned all
was at his highest pitch of power when it was beleevd that the Pope might dispense with the Writings of the Apostles and Sanctions of Generall Councells And this seasonable Champion made such a progresse that not only whole Townes Citties and Provinces fell from the Roman Church but Common-wealths and whole Kingdoms abandond Her and among other Pasquills this Epigram was compos'd Roma Orbem domuit Romam sibi Papa subegit Viribus Illa suis frauâ—…ibus iste tuis Quanto isto major Lutherus major Illa Illum Illamque uno qui domuit Calamo I nunâ—… Alcidem memorato Graecia mendax Lutheri ad Calamum ferrea clava nihil Rome orecame the World the Pope orecame Rome Shee by strength He by cunning but Luther is greater then either for with his Pen he subdued both Let lying Greece bragg no more of her Hercules the Quill did more atchievments then the Club The one knockd down the Nemaean Lyon and the other ill-favouredly knock'd Leo the tenth In this large field of matter if I should hunt for arguments to set forth the glory of Germany I shold find innumerable let the testimony of Bodin himself who was known to be no freind to Germany serve for one when he saith Nullum illustrius est exemplum There is not on earth so illustrious an example as that of the Germans who but diffring little from the wildnesse of Beasts who wandring as it were in Marshes and Moores and being averse to all kinde of civility and literature are becom now such great proficients in both that in humanity they bee said to surpasse the Asians in Philosophy the Graecians in military Discipline the Romans in geometry the Egyptians in Astronomy the Chaldaeans in Arithmetic the Phenicians in Religion the Hebrews and in variety of Manufactures all other Nations whatsoever Here what Paulus Iovius saith a man not very well affected otherwise to us litterae non latinae modo not onely the Latine but the Greek and Hebrew letters have by a fatal comigration pas'd over to Germany who now being not content with their old way of military Discipline whereby they took away from Rome her Martiall Glory invents new ones every day besides she may be said to have bereft languishing Greece and drowsie wanton Italy not onely of the Ornaments of Peace but also of Arts and literature which makes Machiavill rebuke his Country-men in regard they made use of Germans to survay their Land It is acknowledg'd by all people that Regiomontanus might be compared to Tâ—…ales Eudoxus Calippus or Ptolomâ—…y himselfe Nor could the Pope correct the yeer and bring it from the old Intercalation for reducing of the Paschall Ceremonies to set courses of the Moon without him being sent for to Rome of purpose for that end It is incredible since the Councell of Constance how Schooles and Academies have multiplied in Germany Witnesse Vienna Prague Frankford Heydelberg Erford Basil Triers Witeburg Gripswald Mentz Râ—…stoch Regiomontana Dillingham Lovain Helmstad Leyden Franiker Tubingen with divers other Universities nor is there any German Gentleman be he never of so mean extraction but he hath his Education in one of these otherwise it will be cast in his teeth as an opprobry The Emperour Lotharius a Saxon born when he found the Schooles in a squalid kind of condition cover'd over with Barbarism from the time of Charlemain a German born he causâ—…d the dust to be swept off and restor'd them to their former lustre with restauration of publique Lectures and Chaires for all Sciences which did so augment the nomber of knowing men that in one University alone there were 4435. that had the Magisteriall Laurell given them within the compasse of a few yeers Besides these Academies there be divers Monasteries that have Schooles to train up youth as amongst the rest I will instance in the Abbacy of Fuldo where 600. Gentlemens Sons in Sturmius his time were bred and 30. Doctors reading to them in one yeer What do I speak of Noble men there are soverain Princes which daily becom graduats in one Academy or other Iohn Duke of Megalopolis would not return to the Government of his Country till he had studied 20. yeers in Paris Harman Prince of Hassia took the degrees of Mastership in Prague and was congratulated by the Emperour himselfe and the chiefest Nobles of the Kingdome of Bohâ—…miah Richwinces Duke of Lorain did the like Albert Count of 〈◊〉 took the degree of Doctor of the civill Law with others â—…ut the examples of the Duke of Geldres is admirable Aâ—…nold and William were Brothers whereof the one was learned the other illiterat The one was in favour with the Pope and all other Princes the other was neglected for his ignorance which disgrace least it might be transmitted to his Posterity William his Brother sent his Sons to be educated in Paris whence they return'd not till they were both Masters of Art Albert the 6th Duke of Bavaria the Founder of Ingolstad University did dignifie Learning with so much honor that he himselfe took the degree of Batchillor of Arts and publiquely woare the formalities of the order up and down the Streets But what shall we say Charlemagne our Compatriot whereof Sigebert a French Author writes that Charlemagne was not onely excellently vers'd in his own maternall Toung but in other â—…orreigne Languages He put old barbarous Verses which spoak of the Acts of Kings in a more refined stile he also caus'd the Grammar to be rendred in the vulgar Toung He commanded Teutonique or German names to be impos'd upon the months of the yeer as also all the winds which he divided to twelv being afore but fower He us'd to be present at School-exercises encouragâ—…d the Commons to learning and threatned a degradation to Noble men that were illiterat What shall I say of Otho the second who being overcom in Greece and left alone escaped because he spoak Greek so well Frederique the second was excellently vers'd in sundry Languages and caus'd Aristotles works to be translated out of Greek and Arabique into the common Toung Charles the fourth fed the Imperiall Eagle in the Muses Garden and made a firm League twixt Mercury and Mars Charles the fifth had Thuâ—…idides alwaies with him as his Companion in the field He much favourâ—…d Doctor Seldius who after he had voluntarily resign'd the Empire to his Brother and the rest of his Domimon to his Son was his individuall Companion and attending him to Flushing where he was to embark for Spain and the Emperour discoursing with him very late at night he at last toll'd a little Bell to call up some of his Servants who were all asleep whereupon he lighted down the Doctor himselfe saying now Seldius forget not this that Caesar Charles the first who was used to be guarded with whole Armies hath not now a Servant to wayt on him and he who thou hast attended so many yeers doth now serve thee and light thee down How many most
Spain expand themselfs further The Sun doth perpetually shine upon som part of the Phillippean Monarchy for if it sets in one clime it then riseth in another He hath dominion on both the Hemisphers and none of all the four Monarchies could say so much nor any Potentat now living but himself Therfore he may well joyn the Sphear of the world to his armes and better share Empires with Iove then Augustus Caesar could his Scepter points at the four Cardinal corners of the world East West North and South for of those 360. degrees in the Aequinoctiall Portugall alone is said to occupie 200. Iupiter in coelis in Terra regnat Iberus Most Illustrious Auditors you have hitherto heard the magnitude of the Spanish Monarchy but that which tends most to the glory of Spain is her policy and prudence in governing so many distinct Regions so many squandred Kingdoms so many millions of people of differing humours customes and constitutions To be able to Rule so many Nations is more then to raign over them the one is imputed to the outward strength of bodies the other to the Sagacity of the brain but for Spain her self ther is that sweet harmony twixt the Prince and peeple the one in obeying the other in bearing rule that it is admirable and here the Spanish King hath the advantage of all other Imperando parendo He is neither King of Asses as the French is nor the King of Devills as the English is nor the King of Kings as the Emperour glories to be but the King of Spain is Rex Hominum the King of Men he may also be termed the King of Princes according to the Character which Claudian gives Spain that she was Principibus faecunda piis There also as he signs Fruges aeraâ—…ia Miles Vndique conveniunt totoque ex orbe leguntur Haec generat qui cuncta regunt Therfore let Candy the Cradle of Iove let Thebes the Mother of Hercules and Delos the nurse of two Gods yeeld to Spain It was she who brought forth Trajan to the world who was as good as Augustus was happie she gave Hadrian the Emperour she gave Theodosius the first and the first of Emperours for Morality and Vertue who rays'd and rear'd up again the Roman Monarchy when she was tottering Ferdinand the first who was an Infant of Spain a Prince who for liberty and justice for mansuetude and munificence for assiduity and vigilance for piety and peace was inferiour to none of his progenitors and to this day they keep in Spain the Cradle and Rattles he us'd when he was a child in Complutum where he was born which Town enjoyes to this day some speciall immunities for his Nativity there But Spain gave all these Princes to other Nations how many hath she affoorded her self she gave Ferdinand of Aragon a Prince of incomparable piety and prowesse who first lay'd the foundation of the Spanish Monarchy by matching with Donam Isabella Queen of Castile a heavenly Princesse she gave Philip the second call'd the prudent and so he was to a proverb how cautious was he in administration of Justice how circumspect in distribution of Offices how judicious in rewarding of Men c. how wary in conferring of honors for he was us'd to say that honors conferred upon an unworthy man was like sound Meat cast into a corrupt Stomack What a great example of Parsimony was he yet Magnificent to a miracle witnes the eighth wonder of the world the Escuriall which stupendous fabrick he not only saw all finished before his death though the building continued many yeers but he enjoy'd it himself twelve yeers and carried his own bones to be buried in the Pantheon he had built there He was so choyce in the election of his Servants that he had no Barber for his Ambassador nor Taylor for his Herald nor Physition for his Chancellor as we read of Lewis the XI of France nor a Faukner to his chief Favorit as the last French King had But that which was signall in this wise K. was that he never attempted any great busines but he wold first refer it to the Councel of Conscience And before the Acquisition of Portugall he shewed a notable example hereof For King Sebastian being slain in a rash War against the Moores and Henry dying a little after ther were many Candidates and pretenders for the Lusitanian Crown first Philip himself then Philibert Duke of Savoy after him Farnessius Duke of Parma then Iohn Duke of Bragansa and lastly Katherine de Medici King Philip though t was in vain to compasse this businesâ—… by Legations therfore he did it with his Legions yet he paus'd long upon the busines referring it to the debate of the learnedst Theologues and Civill Doctors where it was eventilated and canvas'd to and fro with all the wit and arguments the brain of man could affoord pro con At last the title and right being adjudg'd for him and having fairly demanded it in a peaceable way and being put off he raiseth an Army answerable to the greatnes of the work and yet being advanc'd to the borders he made a halt and summons again both Divines and Civillians to deliver their knowledg and consciences herin conjuring them by God and the sacred Faith to do it with integrity and freedom Herupon they all unanimously concur'd in the confirmation of their former judgment as Ripsius doth testifie After this great transaction he sends the Duke of Alva with an army to take possession of his right wherin he was so prosperous that he invaded survay'd and subjugated the whole Kingdom of Portugall in a very short time utterly defeating Don Antonio whom though King Philip might have surpriz'd a good while before lurking in a Monastery yet he would not do it Besides he caus'd the Duke of Bragansa's Son being Captif among the Moores to be redeem'd at his own charge and when he could have detained him yet he suffer'd him to go where he would Now having debell'd and absolutely reduc'd the Kingdom of Portugall among many others who were his Opposers the Doctors of Conimbria were most busy yet he sent them not only a generall pardon but encreased the exhibitions of the University This mighty King was also a great Lover of his Countrey preferring the publick incolumity therof before his own bloud his only Son Charls who being a youngman of a restles ambitious spirit and being weary of the compliance he ow'd his Father was us'd to carry Pistolls ready cock'd about him in the day and put them under his pillow in the night He confest to his ghostly Father that he had a purpose to kill a Man and being denied absolution from him he desir'd that he would give him unconsecrated bread before the Congregation to avoid publick offence King Philip being told of this confin'd his Son and put him over to the Councell of the Inquisition The Councell deliver'd their opinion and humbly thought that since his Majesty
elegance and shining with all kind of pulchritude I believe there is not any of this Princely Assembly but would passionatly desire to see that rare renowned City But most excellent President I have taken in hand to describe unto you not such a narrow thing as one City or one Countrey either but a little world of it self wherein many Kingdoms are conjoind in one and under one Monarch which little world doth swell with affluence of all things desirable those blessings which are found single in other parts of Europe are found conjunctly here yet this is no other portion of the earth then an Iland but such an Iland that before I have done with you you will acknowledg that this Iland may stand in competition for preheminence with any of those noble Regions that you have displayed hitherto in most learned and eloquent Orations And this is Great Britain the Queen of Iles the minion of Neptun the darling of Ceres Incomparable Britain for so the Greek Poet will tell you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No Ile did ever dare With Britain yet compare Which I le being disjoin'd from many other potent Neighbours and rich Countreys but by a small distance lies very commodious to receive into her bosome by way of Navigation and Negotiation the wealth of all the world and to make others happy with Hers she lies very apposit to comfort and relieve those that come neer her coasts if they be in any danger by distresse of weather or want of any thing that is needfull for vessell or men The aire is there so temperat that a well disposed body may passe there without either stoves in Winter or shades in Sommer There be gentle breezes that blow from the circumjacent Sea which refresh all kind of animalls both brute and rationall the clowds there drop fatnes dissolving into silver wholsom showers to soften and fertilize her glebes she useth to have in December and Ianuary frost enough to knit the joints of the earth and so corroborat them in February she hath snow enough to fill her dikes and like a coverlet to keep her plowd fields warm And whereas the seas of Spain and Italy are barren of fish Hers have them by whole shoales and in such variety that it is incredible Her Forests and woods have no birds or beasts of rapine and noxious animalls but harmeles though wild creatures as the Stagg the Hind and the Hart which serve for pleasure and hospitality The bowells of her soyl and hills are pregnant with mineralls or fuell The Sun which scorcheth Spain and Naples doth gently warm Britain with his rayes The air is nothing so thick and dull as in other climes but attenuated and cleerd with refreshing and gentle blasts ever and anone nor is her earth subject to agues to quaking and trepidation as other places are but alwayes firme and sure For store and superfluity of corn in the Romans time she was call'd the barn and granary of the western part of the Empire in so much that Zosimus reports that they us'd to lade eight hundred vessells with British corn for many yeers to supply their army upon the frontiers of Germany These ensueing verses of a Forrener do hint a little upon the happines of this Countrey Anglia Terra ferax tibi pax secura quietem Multiplicem luxum merx opulenta dedit Tu nimio nec stricta gelu nec sydere fervens Clementi coelo temperieque places Cùm pareret natura parens variasque favore Divideret dotes omnibus una locis Seposuit potioratibi matremque professa Insulasis foelix plenaque pacis ait Quicquid amat luxus quicquid desiderat usus Ex te provemet vel aliunde tibi Eumenius in the famous panegyric he made to Constantin melts thus into her praises O fortunata omnibus beatior terris Britannia quae Constantinum Caesarem prima vidisti Merito te omnibus coeli ac soli dotibus natura donavit in qua nec hyemis est nimius rigor nec aestatis ardor in qua segetum tanta faecunditas ut muneribus utriusque sufficiat Cereris Liberi In qua nemora sine immanibus bestijs terra sine serpentibus noxijs contrà pecorum mitium innumerabilis multitudo lacte distenta onusta velleribus certè quidem quod propter vitam diligitur longissimae dies nullae sine aliqua luce noctes dum illa littorum extrema planities non attollit umbras noctisque metam coeli syderum transit aspectus ut sol ipse qui nobis videtur occidere ibi appareat solummodò praeterire O most fortunat Britain saith Eumenius more bless'd then any other Country which didst first see Constantin Nature hath deservedly endowed thee with all gifts both of heaven and earth In thee neither the excessive cold of winter or ardent heat of sommer doth offend the inhabitant thou swellest with such a faecundity of all kind of corn that thou mayst be called the Favorit of Ceres and Bacchus Thy groves are without savage rapacious beasts and thy heaths without poysonous serpents thy fields are covered with innumerable multitudes of mild creatures labouring with exuberance of milk and laden with rich fleeces For delightfullnesse or life thy daies are very long and no night but hath some glimpses of light The glorious Sun which sets and goes down in other Countries seemes onely but to passe by the Coasts That salt ditch which girds Britain about renders her invincible I meane the circumambient sea which opens and shuts and embosoms himself into her at divers commodious creeks This Sea is so high and turgid oftentimes that some Authors record it riseth 80. Fadoms at a spring-tide in divers places He sometimes salutes and covers the inviting soyle then he departs but to come again He doth cast up sometimes and leaves upon the shore huge fishes of strange shapes as the Lyric sings belluosus qui remoris Obstrepit Oceanus Britannis Rejoyce therefore O Britain and triumph that Dame Nature hath cast such a mote about thee which no Engine of Man can choake no reach of wit or labour can dry up Let the Flemish secure Ostend with new dikes Anwerp with a strong Cittadel let Milan glory for her inexpugnable Castle let the Venetians bragg of their Palma The Hungarians of Iavarin and Comorra The Turkes theirs of Goleta Savoy hers of Monmelian The French theirs of Baion where none must enter but the King himself or the blood Royal Let the Spaniard bragge of his Havana the Pole of Smolenksco The Austrian of Vienna The Bavarian of Ingolstad The Dane of Croneburg Let Brandeburg bragge of Castreni Silesia of Breslaw the Franconians of Norimberg the Swed of Stockholm and let other Kings and Countries glory never so much of their strong holds Motes and Fortifications but to compare them to that Dike which is cast about great Britain were to compare a purl or small rivulet of water to the Archipelago or a small tuft of
and a hundred and twenty thousand granados of all sorts The Fleet stood the King in every day thirty thousand Duckets insomuch that Bernardin Mendoza the Spanish Ambassadour in France being in a private conference one day with King Henry the fourth assured him that viis modis that Fleet had stood his Master in above tenne Millions first and last from the time that she set sayl from Lisbon This Fleet look'd like a huge Forrest at Sea as she made her way Good Lord how notably did that Masculine Queen bestirre her self in viewing her Armies in visiting her Men of Warre and Ships Royall in having her Castles and Ports well fortified in riding about and in the head of the Army her self in discharging the Office of a true Pallas wearing a Hat and Feather in lieu of a Helmet Henry the fourth of France sent her seasonable notice hereof so that most of the Roman Catholiques up and down were commanded to retire to the I le of Ely a fenney place and others were secured in Bishops houses till this horrid cloud which did threaten the destruction of England should be overblown But this prodigious Fleet being come to the British seas how did the little English vessels pelt those huge Gigantick Galeons of Spain whereof those few which were left for all the rest perisht were forc'd to fetch a compass almost as far as Norway in 62. degrees and so got to Spain to bring the sad tidings what became of the rest There were Triumphs for this not onely in England but all the United Provinces over where a Medal was coyn'd bearing this Inscription on the one side Classis Hispanica The Spanish Fleet on the other side Venit â—…vit fuit She came she went she was But had the Duke of Parma come out of Flanders with his Land Army then it might have prov'd a black day to England and herein Holland did a peece of Knight-service to England for she kept him from comming forth with a squadron of Men of Warre How gallantly did the English take Cales the Key of Spain and brought home such rich plunder How did they infest the Indies and what a masse of Treasure did Drake that English Dragon bring home thence he made his Sailes of Silk and his Anchors of Silver Most noble Princes you have heard something though not the tyth that might be said of the early Piety and Devotion of the exquisite Knowledge and Learning of the Manhood and Prowesse of Great Britain but these praises that I give her is but a bucket of water cast into her Seas Now touching both King and people it is observ'd that there is such a reciprocation of love betwixt them that it is wonderfull the one swayes the other submits obeyes and contributes to the necessities and preservation of the honour and majesty of the King for which he receives protection and security Touching the Regall Authority and absolute Power and Prerogatives of the Kings of Great Britain it is as high and supreame as any Monarchs upon Earth They acknowledge no Superior but God himself they are not feudetary or homageable to any they admit no forraign jurisdiction within the bounds of their Kingdomes and herein they have the advantage of the Kings of France and Spaine yea of the Emperour himself who is in a kind of vassalage to the Pope and may be said to divide authority with him in their own Dominions No they have long time shaken off that servitude and manumitted the Crown from those immense sums which were erogated and ported from England to pay for First fruits for Indulgences for Appeales Palls and Dispensations and such merchandises of Rome How many hundred of years did England pay Tribute though it went under the name of Peter-pence to Rome think you no less than near upon a thousand from the reign of King Inas the Saxon to Henry the eighth From the Power of the Kings of Great Britain let us goe to their Justice let us descend from the Throne to the Tribunall Now such is the Divinitie of the Kings of Great Britain that they cannot doe any Injustice it is a Canon of their Common Law that the King can doe no wrong if any be done it is the Kings Minister the Judge Magistrate or Officer doth doe it and so is punishable accordingly such a high regard the English have of the honour of their King and such a speciall care the Kings of England have us'd to take for punishing of Injustice and corruption such a care as King Edgar had to free the Iland from Wolves and corrupt Officers are no better than Wolves which he did by a Tribute that he impos'd upon a Welsh Prince for his ranson which was to bring him in three hundred skinnes of Wolves every year this produced â—…o good effects that the whole race of Wolves was extirpated in a short time so that it is as rare a thing to see a Wolf now in England as a Horse in Venice Touching the care that the Kings of England us'd to have to enrich their subjects hath been us'd to be very great and to improve the common stock Edward the third that Gallorum malleus the hammer of the French he quell'd them so was the first who introduced the art of making of Cloth into England whereby the Exchequer with the publique and private wealth of the Kingdome did receive a mighty increment for Wooll is the Golden Fleece of England and the prime Staple-commodity which is the cause that by an old custome the Judges Masters of the Rolls and Secretaries of State in Parliament time doe use to sit upon Woolsacks in the House that commodum lanarum ovium non negligendum esse Parliamentum moneatur that they put the Parliament in mind that the commodity of Wool and Sheep be not neglected The Swede the Dane the Pole the German the Russe the Turk and indeed all Nations doe highly esteem the English cloth The time was that Antwerp her self did buy and vend two hundred thousand English cloths yearly as Camden hath it And great and antient are the priviledges that the English have in Belgium for since the year 1338 which is above three hundred yeares agoe when Lewis Malan Earl of Flanders gave them very ample immunities in the Town of Bruges since which time it is incredible how all kind of commerce and merchantile affaire did flourish among the Flemins for which they were first obliged to the English for the English Wooll hath been a Golden Fleece also to the Flemins as well as the English themselves because it was one of the principal causes of enlarging their Trade whereunto the Duke of Burgundy related when he established the order of the Golden Fleece Guicciardin makes a computation that the Traffique and Intercourse betwixt England and Flanders amounted to twelve millions yearly where of five was for woollen manufactures What an Heroique incomparable Princesse was Queen Elizabeth who wore the English Crown and
was one law enacted in Canutus time Omnis homo abstineat a Venerijs meis super poenam vitae Upon pain of life let every man refrain from my deer and my hunting places The Swainmote Courts have harsh punishments and amercements and for the poor Husbandman ther 's no remedy for him against the Kings dear though they lye all night in his corn and spoile it Sarisburiensis a reverend and authentic Author comprehends all this in a few words when he speaks of the exorbitancies of England in this kind Quod magis mirere ait pedicas parare avibus laqueos texere allicere nodis aut fistula aut quibuscunque insidijs supplantare ex edicto saepe fit genus criminis vel proscriptione bonorum mulctatur vel membrorum punitur salutisque dispendio Volucres coeli pisces maris communes esse audieras sed hae Fisci sunt quas venatica exigit ubicunque volant manum contine abstine ne tu in poenam laesae majestatis venantibus caedas in praedam Anovalibus suis arcentur Agricolae dum ferae habeant vagandi libertatem illis ut pascua augeantur praedia subtrahantur Agricolis sationalia insitiva Colonis cùm pascua armentarijs gregarijs tum alvearia a floralibus excludunt ipsis quoque apibus vix naturali libertate uti permissum est But that which is more to be wondred at saith Sarisburiensis is that to lay netts to prepare trapps to allure birds by a whissle or to supplant them by any kind of wile becomes oftentimes a kind of crime by the Edicts of England and is punish'd either by amercement or some corporall punishment whereas in other climes the birds of the Air and the fish of the Sea are common but not in England they belong to the Fisk or some particular person you must hold your hand and refraine for fear of comitting treason The Yeoman is hunted away from his new plowd fields while wild beasts have liberty to wander in them at pleasure nay sometimes cattle are kept from pasture and the Bees are scarce permitted to use their naturall liberty of sucking flowers But the English tyranny doth not terminat onely in the King but it difuseth it selfe further among the Nobles In so much that as Camden relates there were in King Stephens raigne as many tyrants in England as there were Castellans or Governors of Castles Stephani Regis temporibus tot erant in Anglia tyranni quot Castellorum Domini Who arrogated to themselves regall rights and prerogatives as coyning of money marshall law and the like For now there is no Kingdom on earth Naples excepted where there have been more frequent insurrections then in England for as the Kings have been noted to be Tyrants so the subjects are branded for devills In the Civill warrs that happen'd in Comines time there were above fourescore that were slain by the fortune of war and otherwise of the blood Royall besides the Kings themselves that perish'd Whereupon when the Queen of Scots heard of the fatall sentence that was pronounc'd against her with an intrepid and undaunted heart she said as an Author of credit hath it Angli in suos Reges subinde caedibus saevierunt ut neutiquam novum sit si etiam in me ex eorum sanguine natam itidem saevierint If the English have been often so cruell in the slaughter of their own Kings it is no new thing then that they have grown so cruell to me that am descended of their blood What a horrid and destructive conjuration was that subterranean plot of the Gunpowder Treason so bloody a designe no age can parallell It was like the wish of Caligula who wish'd the peeple of Rome had had but one neck that he might cut it off at one blow He had it onely in wish but these had a reall attempt to blow up not onely the blood Royall but all the Nobility and chief Gentry of the Kingdom And Guido Faux who was to set fire to the powder did shew so little sign of feare and repentance that he boldly said It was none but the great Devill of Hell who had discovered the plot and hindred him from the execution of it that God Almighty had no hand in the discovery and prevention of that meritorious work Which if it had taken effect one of the Conspirators sayd it would have satisfied for all the sins of his whole life had he liv'd a thousand yeers after And whereas my Noble Baron you travelled in your highstrain'd and smooth Oration through all the Shires of England and pointed at some things extraordinary in every one of them you shall find that they have as many blemishes as they have blessings When you extoll the Province of Cornwall so much you should also have made mention of their Pyrrhocoracas their Sea-theeves and Pirates which are so thick as choughes among them And whereas you magnifie Drake so much he was no better then a Corsary or a Skimmer of the Seas and an Archpyrate who notwithstanding there was an Ambassador here resident from Spain and a firm peace twixt the two Crownes yet was he permitted to steal and robb by land as well as by Sea among the subjects of the King of Spain Nor did he exercise cruelty on the Spaniards and Indians only but upon his own Countrymen as for example when he landed at Port San Iulian and finding a Gallowes there set up by Magellan he hang'd up by his own power a gentleman better then himself which was Mr. Iohn Doughty meerly out of envy because he might not partake of the honor of his Expeditions You praise Devonshire and the Town of Exeter especially about which there growes nothing but thin Oates and eares without grains in many places but you should have remembred that whereas Henry Duke of that City had married Edward the fourths Sister yet in tattered raggs and barefooted he was forc'd to begge his bread up and down in Flanders Whereas you speak also of Dorsetshire you should have call'd to mind the tyranny of King Henry the third against de Linde for killing one of his Dear which was made a Hart in White Forrest for which he was not onely amerc'd in a great sum of money but the Tenants of those Gentlemen that hunted with him were condemn'd to pay every year such a tax call'd White heart Silver every year to the Exchequer You passe also over Portland a poor naked Iland without Woods or any kind of Fuel but the ordure of beasts which they use for fyring For Somersetshire what huge tracts of wast grounds are found there up and down without Inhabitants which makes it so subject to theeves and Robbers Touching Hampshire what a large act of sacriledge did King William commit there by demolishing divers Churches and takeing away the Glebes from God and men the space of thirty miles and upwards making it a wild Forrest to plant and people the Country with bruite beasts useful only for
ground was he to traverse what thick endlesse woods what huge Rivers what fenns and loughs with other horrid uncouth places was he to meet withal The Turks expeditions to Persia the Spaniards to the Indies the expeditions which were made in former ages to the holy Land come short of this difficult march which Bartorius made But what did he doe by this tedious and venturous march when he had gone from Boristhenes to Cerinova from Staricia and Novogard as farre as the lake Lohod depopulating all before him and taking all the youth of the Country Captives he constrain'd the Sudari the Emperor of Mosco to refrain from all navigation in the Boristhenes and all the Ports of the Baltique Sea and confin'd him to the interior Russia that he should wander no further This Bartorius extended his arme from the Danube the Titisco the Dravo and the River Marossa to the furthest parts of the Northern World When the Turk besieg'd Plescovia there came an Ambassador from him into Bartorius his Army where they were put in battalion The Ambassador beholding the countenances of the men their postures and regular discipline with the splendor of their armes and richnesse thereof together with their horses and Canons he fel into a kind of astonishment breaking out into these passionate words Faceret Deus ut isti Principes would God were pleas'd that these Princes meaning his Master the Great Turk Amurath the 3d. and King Stephen Bartorius were conjoin'd in a league and they might subdue all the World I will conclude with a brave Character that Vanotius gave of Stephen Bartorius Bartorius erat In Templo plus quà m sacerdos In Republica plus quà m Rex In Tribunali plus quà m Senator In Iudicio plus quà m Iurisconsultus In exercitu plus quà m Imperator In acie plus quà m miles In adversis perferendis injuriisq condonandis plus quà m Vir In public a libertate tuenda plus quà m Civis In amicitia colenda plus quà m amicus In convictu plus quà m familiaris In Venatione ferisque domandis plus quà m Leo In tota reliqua vitâ plus quà m homo Bartorius was In the Temple more then a Priest In the Common-wealth more then a King In point of Judgement more then a Lawyer In the Army more then an Emperor In the field more then a souldier In suffring adversities and more then man In pardoning of injuries more then man In preserving the Publique liberty more then a Patriot In all Offices of friendship more then a friend In his conversation more then familiar In hunting and taming wild beasts more then a Lion In all the rest of his life more then a Philosopher All these things impartially consider'd and well ponder'd I do not see under correction of the judgement of this most sage Assembly but Hungary may stand in competition for preheminence with divers other Provinces of Europe THE ORATION OF THE Lord ERNEST SCHAFELISKI against HUNGARY Most Illustrious and Highborn Princes THE Noble Henricus Albertus Baron of Limburg hath detained your attentions a good while in setting forth the praises of Hungary and so to make her capable of the principality of Europe but therein he hath labour'd to put a Giants head upon a Pygimes shoulders or Hercules Buskins upon a Childs leggs For as by unanswerable arguments I shall endeavour to prove she hath no reason in the World to aim at such a Prerogative For the Kingdom of Hungary although it enjoy a fat and fertile soil and almost every where Productive yet by the fury of Mars and neighbourhood of the common Enemy her agriculture and Mines have extremely suffer'd for many Ages Besides her air is found unwholsom and disagreeable to all strangers for the grossnesse of it in some seasons and the tenuity of it in others Therefore they cannot continue in one place above a month without danger least the languor Hungaricus the Hungarian faintnesse seize upon them which is prevented by frequent remove of stations that disease of the Hungarian languor or lithernes having begun in the army at Comorra dispers'd it self to Iavarin and so the contagion did expand it selfe among the Germans Bohemians Belgians French and Italians where it extremely raged for a while And as at Buda then which besides Possonium there is scarce a City worthy the view of a stranger in all the Kingdom there be some sulphureous Waters of such an intense heat that will singe hoggs if they be thrown into them yet there are peculiar sorts of fish that are there generated with certain kinds of froggs but if you throw other Rivers fish or froggs into them they presently die and turn up their bellies So the air of Hungary agrees by decree of nature with the inhabitants themselves but it is averse pestilentiall and intollerable to other people What shall I say of those kinds of lice which are the ofspring of the Hungarian air which much infest all people for it is found there by experience that if one take a Napkin and wash it there in pond water and expos'd to drying in the Sun it will be presently full of Vermine Nay if one sweat never so little the moisture of his body will turn to lice by the pravity of the Hungarian air Adde hereunto that besides the Malignity of the air the waters are also there of an ill quality both Fountaines and Rivers all for the most part except the Danube whose streames are wholsom and potable The River Rabniza which mingleth with the Danube about Iavarin runns with such unwholsome waters that the fish and crabbs which are caught there do cast an ill sent yea after they are boyl'd But as Parents if they have a child either crump-shoulderd hopperhipp'd bleareyd or mark'd with any other deformity do make her a compensation for it in an extraordinary Dowry which is able to make a sow appear like Susanna So Nature and Fortune have made Hungary some amends for these her imperfections and furnished her with patches to put upon her Moles Now touching the Inhabitants of Hungary I pray be pleas'd to hear what Otto a grave Bishop of Frisinghen saith of them Hungari sunt facie tetri profundis oculis statura humiles moribus linguâ barbari feroces ut jure fortuna culpanda vel potius divina patientia sit admiranda quae ne dicam hominibus sed talibus hominum monstris tam delectabilem exposuit terram The Hungarians saith the Bishop and Bishops should not lie are commonly of a tetrique countenance hollow eyd low statur'd barbarous and fierce in their behaviour and speech That either Fortune may be justly blam'd or the Divine providence admir'd that such a delightfull Country should be expos'd to such men or rather Monsters of men The Hunns which are birds of a feather with the Hungarians if antient writers may be believ'd had their Originall from a sort of Demons For as not only tradition but the story goes Filimer King of the Goths