her Race which was in France she had much more for its Flower and Fruit which were in England She opposed nothing to these Rumors but the voice of her own Conscience which spake lowder then Calumny and justified her before God against the Impostures of Men. Nevertheless Calumny found so much Matter prepared to take Fire and blew so hotly and effectually upon this Matter as it grew into a great â—lame which was like to burn all England if France had known how to entertain it and make Advantage of this Occasion and Disorder The Accident befallen the Earl of Warwick and the new Authority of the Duke of Somerset served for a Pretence to Ambition and were the Specious and Superficial Causes of the War The Duke of York accompanied by the Earl of Salisbury and followed by all the Faction of the White Rose raised a powerful Army and ordered it to march directly to London The King took the Field on his part with the Party of the Red Rose and with all the Forces he could draw together The Battel was Fought at Northampton And God who is not pleased that just Right should always prevail and that Fortune should follow Vertue every where permitted the Royal Army to be Defeated and the King himself to be taken Prisoner by the Rebels The Duke of York grown insolent by his Victory brought him in Triumph to London and caused him to be shut up in the Tower Seeing himself secured on that side he put off his Mask of colourable Pretences wherewith he began the War And Represented to the Parliament the double Right his House and Fortune gave him to the Crown Force in like Occasions is a powerful Piece and Victory an Eloquent Advocate However the Parliament yielded not wholly to Force and Victory It respected the Vanquished Right and durst not Degrade Majesty though devested and loaden with Chains The Resolution of the Parliament was that during the Life of Henry the Duke should rest satisfied with the Title and Functions of Lieutenant General of the Kingdom and that the Crown should pass by Succession to his Son Edward Earl of Maâ—â—â—â— to the Exclusion of the House of Lancaster A greater Affliction could not befall the Queen she saw her Enemies upon the Throne the King her Husband in Prison and under the hands of an Executioner the Prince her Son publikely Degraded and Excluded from the Crown by a Solemn Decree All that could have Supported her in this Revolution was either fallen or tottering And except her Courage and Hopes which Fortune was not able to cast down there was nothing about her but Shipwrack'd pieces of a ruined Greatness But afflicted Vertue doth not waste her self in outcryes and tearing her hair She knows how to Discipline Affliction and animate Grief she knows how to set together broken pieces and contest with Ruins The Couragious Queen made this use of it And instead of exhausting her self by vain Complaints and Superfluous Tears Instead of Imputing her Mishap to the Planets or accusing Fortune she thought to overcome in Despite of the Planets and Fortune and began to Levy new Troops To supply the Defect of Money which she wanted the grace of her Speech and Countenance served in lieu of Pay to the Souldiers And this Honourable Payment left a sting in the most benummed Souls and infused Boldness into the most Fearful Not believing that she might handsomly commit to Lieutenants an Affair which concerned the Freedom of the King her Husband and the Destiny of her House she resolved to take part in the Danger and attempt in Person against Fortune She put her self then in the Head of her Army and marched directly to York where the Forces of the Enemy were Encamped England never saw an Army which had a more Beautiful Leader Noâ— did it ever see any one Fight with more Courage The Duke of York who Mustered above Ten thousand Men perswading himself that he might purchase a young Queen at a cheap Rate went to meet her against the advice of his Commanders and presently exposed the Business to a general Battel It cannot be express'd what the Queen effected by the Greatness and Courage of her Words by the fire of her Eyes by the boldness of her Looks and of her whole Person She infused Courage Ardour and Impetuosity into her People She seemed to give even Sense Activity and Address to their Weapons If Victory her self had Marched before them in the Equipage and Lightnings which our Imagination ascribe to her she could not have done more The Rebels received a total Overthrow The Duke of York taken with his Son the Earl of Rutland and the Earl of 〈◊〉 passed through the hands of the Executioner Their Heads were exposed upon the Walls of York on the point of three Spears To the end the Example might make a greater shew and be the more Famous and that Rebellion might be instructed afar off and with the more Terrour A Crown of Paper begitting the Dukes Head was the particular Mark and Punishment of his vain Pretensions This first Victory raised the Queens Heart without Impriding it And the new Greatness she added to it was a Solid and Modest Greatness a Greatness of Designs and Hopes and no puffed up and vain-glorious Greatness Not being able to think her self Victorious as long as the King her Husband remained a Prisoner she resolved to pass through all Dangers to break open his Prison or expire at the Gate This Resolution taken she steers her course towards London Meets the Earl of Warwick who led a gallant Army and augmented by the Defeat of the Earl of 〈◊〉 Couragiously Attaquâ—s and Routs him enters London Crowned with two Victories draws her Husband out of the Tower and replaceth him upon the Throne with the general Applause of the People Certainly if there be no Victories so pleasing as those which are blessed by the Unhappy and whereat Captives rejoyce even in their Prisons and â—â—ons surely it was with a sweet and pleasing Transport that this Victorious Princess broke her Husbands Chains drew him out of Prison and replaced the Crown upon his Head And whatever is said in order to the Glory of Ancient Triumphants though they entred Rome with more Pomp and Tumult yet certainly they did not enter with a more Pure or Lawful Joy then that of Margaret when she entred the Tower of London But the Joy of this World hath wings as well as Fortune And like her rides much way and lodges in few Places Scarce was Henry well acquainted with Liberty and his new Kingdom scarce was he replaced upon his Throne when he understood that all the Thorns of the White 〈◊〉 were not pluckt out And that Edward Earl of March Heir to the Ambition of his Father the Duke of York and Successor to his Enterprises advanced with a Powerful Army to finish what his Father had but rough-drawn He was not advised to expect him not to confide in the People of
Roles of her Marriage should be overspred with Thorns She had made choice of Ferdinand Prince of Aragon and King of Sicily before Alphâ—â—sâ— King of Pâ—â—tugal and Charles Duke of â—uievâ—â— brother to Lewis the Eleventh And this Choice wherein Inclination was fortified by Interest had been generally approved by all the high Degrees of this Kingdom The King her Brother who ought to be the first in purchasing Honours to his Crown and House singly opposed this general Approbation and blasted the publick joy by the sharpness of a private Grudge He spred snares of all sorts upon the ways of his Sisters Innocence He used a great deal of Art to dissolve the knot of her Marriage He endeavoured to break it by violence But this Tye not being to be broken or looâ—ened and his snares being too visible and too grosly laid to catch the prey which he pursued he turned his forces and anger upon the Places which belonged to the Patrimony of Isabella And if his malice had been more prosperous and better conducted if Defenders of the Right of Innocence had not risen up he would have turned her naked out of the Kingdom But God who delights in defeating the Designs of Iniquity and tyes up at his pleasure the hands of Usurpers did not permit that Injustice though Powerfull and assisted by Authority should prevail against disarmed Right and forsaken Innocence He was pleased to make use of Henry to exercise Isabella as Nature makes use of Wind to fasten young Palms as Artists imploy Fire and Iron to purifie Gold and to give a kinde of Soveraignty with the Image of the Prince And after that the Vertue of Isabella made Warlike and Fortified Instructed and Beautified by this exercise had received the last form of Heroick Vertue he sent death which snatched the Crown from the spiteful and usurping Brother and placed it upon the head of the Sister ordained to the glory of Spain and to the discovery of the new World It cannot be said with what Designs she ascended the Throne with what Dextenty and Force with what Purity of Intention and Capacity of Minde she set her hand to the Helm Policy was never more able nor more found or better Designed Reason of State was never more extended or powerful the Graces were never more vigorous nor efficacious then in this Princess She was the Domestick Oracle of Ferdinand and the visible Intelligence of his Councel The Wise and Speculative of his Kingdom received from Her their purest Lights They deliberated of nothing but in her presence and by the clarity of her Minde And ordinarily the uncertainty and doubts of Consultation were not cleared but by her Councels which dis-intangled confused opinions which Fortified the Timerous and Irresolute which gave the being and consistency to Affairs She held likewise the Place of the first Cause and principal Agent in the conduct of this great Engine And the History of Spain acknowledgeth that Ferdinand I say that able and wise Ferdinand did act nothing but by the direction and as subaltern to Isabella Her first care was to rally the parts of the State which the past troubles had dis-joynted Having rallyed them she used much Art to link them together And her Art was so efficacious and successful as she set them all in their former places and rendred to every one their first Settlement and Natural Functions Scarce had she restored Health and Repose to this great Body but she was necessitated to put her self in Arms to defend it Alphonsâ— King of Portugal invited by Disgusted and Factious People invaded Castile with great Forces and greater Pretences Certainly the fire must needs be great which was stirred by Domesticks and inkindled by Strangers Isabella hastened to the noise and smoke and did not return till she had quench'd it with the blood of those who had prepared either the Bait or Matter of it Her Crown being setled she applied her thoughts to the Expedients how to inlarge it and to adde new Howers and Titles thereunto And because there are no Conquests more Just more Illustrious nor more Heroick then those which inlarge the bounds of the Church and Religion and give new Subjects and Kingdoms to Iesus Christ She undertook the destruction of the Empire of the Mooâ—s who for so many Ages had been the Dishonour Scandal and Yoke of Spain It is true that this Enterprise was her Master piece She performed therein all that an exact and expert Commander could have done with all his Wit and Understanding She was alwaies present in the Field she assisted at the taking of principal Places And after many years of Toyl and Agitation she caused that great Colâ—â—â—us to â—all which so many Ages and hands had raised and returned with 〈◊〉 added to her Crown and the Title of Catholique which she â—cquired to her self and the Kings her Successors Not content to raign in a known World and to overcome by the sun of Europe she desired to vanquish and raign in another World and under other Planets For this end she contributed with her Courage and Treasure to the resolution and designs of Columba She sent her Fortune with him in quest of a concealed Heaven and of an unknown Nature And if Europe at present be enriched with Gold and precious Stones out of new Countries if the new found Lands be enlightened by the Faith and Religion of Europe both Europe and the new Discovered lands ought to serve as an Ornament and Lustre to the Magnanimity of Couragious Isabella This Understanding and Magnanimity were accompanied with an exact and severe an incorruptible and Disinterelled Justice Whereupon I call to minde that being sollicited to pardon a Criminal of quality who offered a very considerable summ for the maintainance of some Troops which marched against the Moors She made these Solliciters fully understand that she was not raised to the Throne to make Traffick of Favours and Pardons and to set Impunity and Crimes to sale And to the end there might not seem to be any thing of Interest in her Integrity or that she aimed at the Confiscation of the Criminals Estate she gave it all entire to his Children and would not suffer their Succession to be in the least measure diminished by it So far was she from grating upon Crimes and Penalties so far was she from laying up in her Coffers the price of blood and the revenue of tears that this good Princess took no greater pleasure then in giving with liberall hands then in making men rich and happy She measured the felicities of her Kingdome by the extent of her good deeds She counted her Revenues by the gratifications which issued forth of her Exchequer and her chief stock her most dear and precious Treasure consisted in the hearts and affections of her people Never were any liberalities more natural nor less restraind more obliging or better disposed then hers Never did Magnificence act more gallantly nor after a more Heroick manner then
Wit her Graces and Magnificence Her Picture requires far better Colours and more Artificial Touches It must be drawn after another manner then that of 〈◊〉 and Cleopatra Other Incense must be burnt and other Crowns placed before a Martyr then upon the Altar of an Idol Besides all these Titles are equivocal Terms and properly signifie neither Vertue nor Vice Magnanimous Persons are not always Nobly born And a great Courage is not ever of a great House Cedars and Palms grow in Vallies Broom and Fern-Brakes are found upon Mountains Beauty is rarely Innocent And Graces are Flowers which may have an ill odour and grow in a bad Soyl. Concerning the Elevation and Lights of the Minde they are common both to Vertuous and Wicked Persons And oftentimes we see Comets which have more Fire and are more elevated then great Planets In like manner Magnificence is a Vertue which may prove unfaithful and Heretical which may be Imprudent and condemned with the Foolish Virgins And we know that the Piramides of Egypt and other like Wonders have been erected by debauchâ—d Women Let us then lay aside equivocal Titles and ambiguous Elogies We have Proper and Formal ones Let us not say that Mary Stewart was descended from a continued Line of Kings But let us say that she had a more generous Heart a more Royal Soul and Soveraign Reason then all the Crowned Kings from whom she derives her Extraction Let us not esteem her for Beauty which is common to the Rose and the Poppy to Chaste and Lascivious Women but for a Vertuous and Disciplined Beauty of good Odour and Example Let us neither praise her Graces nor her Wâ—t but let us commend the Reservedness and Modesty of her Graces Let us praise the Discretion Sweetness and Moderation of her Minde And let us not speak of her Liberalities or say that they were judicious and well Ordered that they were choice and disposed with Method Let us say that she understood the Art and Secret of a Benefit that she knew how to give with Heart and Spirit with her Countenance and Looks And that after Fortune had taken all from her she continued to be magnificent in Desire and Affection and to make great Presents with slight things The French Muses who lived in her time failed not to praise this part of her Vertues which had been beneficial to them and done honour to Learning And truly they would have shewed themselves very ungratefull if they had not praised Her It was no fault of this good Princess that they were not all Rich and at their Ease that they were not all Apparelled in Cloth of Gold and lodged in the Lourre She Treated them familiarly and as her Companions she recreated her self with them in Prose and Verse and the Sport never ended without some Present which closed up the Cadence and Periods and rendred the Stanâ—a's harmonious Concerning Courage which was her Predominant Vertue and gave her a place in this Gallery it appeared in France Scotland and England In France she resisted Prosperity and vanquished Excess and Pleasures which some have conceived much harder to overcome then Grief and Afflictions She preserved her self from the Corruptions of the Court and from the unwholsom blasts which are ingendred by ease and which attend a plentifull â—ortune She conserved her Innocence in Greatness And what is little less then new Created Planets she shewed much Modesty under a great Crown and upon the highest Throne of the World a most eminent Devotion and a Consummated Piety But because Vertue happy and at ease is in a continual Violence and that violent things cannot last but by Miracle God who made choice of this Princess and would have her all entitâ— withdrew her out of Prosperity which in length of time might have corrupted her and delivered her up to Adversity which Treated her as a Carver Treats Marble And depriving her sometimes of one thing and sometimes of another compleated the â—igure of the Heroick Woman which was yet but rough-drawn in her Being returned into Scotland a Widow to Francis the Second and to his Fortune And her Youth joyned with the Supplications of her People and Reason of State having obliged her once more to Marry that which ought to have been her Support proved the cause of her Ruine Heresie imaged at the Zeal she bore to the Conservation of the Catholique Faith cast Fire into the Royal House to make it pass more easily from thence into the Church Calumny Ambition and Jealousie prepared the Fuel for this Fire and inkindled the Matter But the good Queen having quenched it by her Prudence and Address Heresie which sought to Reign by some one of its Faction blew up the King her Husband by a Mine Besides some endeavoured to blemish her with being the Contriver of this Fire and Mine And they slandered her very Mourning and made her guilty of her second Widowhood This Calumny proved a harsh Tryal to her Yet it was but an Essay and as it were an Advance of the Disorders and Mischiefs which ensued And no Tragedy appears so Confused as the life of this good Princess All her days were marked with some Revolt and Conspiracy They were Celebâ—â—ous by some Combat or Flight There was nothing wanting to her but a Crown of Martyrdom and God gave it her in England after a Conflict of nineteen years rendred in several Prisons and determined at last upon a Scaâ—â—old which was more Glorious to her then the Thrones she had lost MORAL REFLECTION THis Picture moves Compassion and is of great Example There is much to Deplore yet more to Imitate And for the Instruction of eminent Fortunes and the Consolation of mean Ones Greatness is there Innocent and Unhappy Mary Stewart conserved her Innocence under two Crowns And in the Vastness of two Kingdoms which she lost one after the other she was much longer a Christian and with more Constancy then a Queen On the one side this teacheth elevated Persons that there is no Condition estranged from God nor any Fortune rejected by him provided it be just That the Unction which makes Kings and Queens doth not efface that which Forms Saints and Holy Women That Palaces and stately Mansions are not out of the Road of Heaven That though Piety Modesty and Patience reside not usually at Court yet they are no strangers there And that Vertue is more Perswasive and Exemplar upon a Throne then in the Tub of the Cynick Likewise on the other side they should learn from the Afflictions of this great Queen to make less Account of Diadems which are torn in pieces of Scepters which are broken and of Thrones which tumble down if never so little touch'd by Fortune then of the Grace of God which was a Purple Robe that remained to this devested Queen an Unction which is not obscured in her Prison nor effaced with her Blood A Crown which cannot be taken off with the Head She was not only an Innocent
and without staining his hands with her Blood Although I have said that Women will not ascend in Troops to this high degree yet some there are who have arrived to this Pitch and gone thither more innocently and couragiously then Monima she whom I shall immediately produce will finde few equals She cannot be placed in too great a light nor upon too fair a Stage She cannot have too noble Spectators and History will never give her so many applauses and Crowns as she deserves EXAMPLE The Brave Hungarian THe Wound which Hungary received at the taking of Seget was great and dangerous And if God had not reached out his hand and upheld that Kingdom it was ready to perish by this wound The siege was famous by the presence of Solymon the second who began this last Expedition with five hundred thousand men and left the finishing of it to his Reputation and Fortune dying a few dayes before the taking of the place and almost in the sight of Victory It was not the Earl of Serins fault who defended the Town that Solymons Fortune and Reputation died not there with his Person and that Victory did not abandon him in this Action and remain to the Christians The Ladies of Seget did what service they could with their Jewels and Pearls which were converted into Money for the pay of the Garrison they served also there with their persons And by a Zeal much bolder then that of the Carthaginians who gave their hair to make Ropes for Engins of War they employed their Arms to the repairing of the Walls and exposed their Heads to the defence of the breaches and Gates At the last assault given by the Turks the Earl of Serin perceiving that the hour of perishing was at hand resolved to dye most magnificently and in Pomp and to give Lustre and Reputation to his Death He â—ought in an Imbroidered Sute and with a string of Diamonds tyed about his Hat having the keyes of the Town fastned to his Scarse and a hundred Crowns in his Pocket for that Souldier who should send him to Triumph in Heaven The History renders this testimony of his Death that it was a Triumphant and Victorious Death But though it was victorious yet it did not equal the Death of a Ladie of Siget who surpasseth all that is left us of the Memory of Heroick time She was a Woman of quality and one of the fairest but she was none of those languishing Beauties and without Vigour of those Beauties which resemble the stars of the North which have no activity and shine faintly and without heat She was vigorous and bold yet vigorous with sweetnesse and bold with a good Grace and Comlinesse Her Husband who loved her passionately and even to the degree of Jealousie scared nothing but her taking in the taking of Siget The Image of captivated and inchained Hungary nay of flaming and bloody Hungary was to his apprehension a lesse dreadful apparition then the Image of his Captive Wife To rid himself of this Fantome which followed him every where and to secure the Honour and Freedom of his Wife of whom he was more Jealous then of the Honour of Christianity and the Liberty of Europe He resolved to take her out of the World before the Victorious Turk should enter the City which was no longer able to resist and had too good hearts left to yield themselves This so Tragick and soul a resolution was no sooner fixed in his Minde but the slains thereof appeared even in his Eyes and upon his Face His Wife who was discreet and quick-sighted observed them and was touched therewith she pardoned his Jealousie in consideration of his Love And though she was fully prepared for death yet she did not desire a death which might make him a Criminal whom she loved more then her own life She took him aside and made him understand that his bad intention could not be hidden from her She was so dexterous as to draw the confession of it from his own mouth and upon his Confession she strongly and efficatiously represented to him the infamie which would remain to him from so Barbarous an Act and the Scandal which he would give to his Age and leave unto posterity I confesse said she that I owe you all my blood And behold me ready to give it without reserving one drop But have patience till some other come to shed it Do not fullie your hands with it stain neither your memory nor your soul therewith Do not inkindle an eternal fire by it For my part I apprehend far more Life then Death and all the Scimiters of the Turks cause in me far less fear then their most gentle and pretious Chain were it more sweet and pretious then the Diadem of the Sultanesse But permit me to die gloriously and with Reputation Do not dishonour the Repose which you seek Disparage not your good affection My Honour is not so desperate that it cannot be preserved but by a Crime You think to justifie your self by laying the blame upon Love You are much mistaken if you take it for a murderer Do not put the Dagger into its hands Do not solicit it to commit a murder and if you cannot restore it the goods you have received from it leave it at least its Reputation and do not envie its Innocencie An honourable Death is not so hard a thing to find in a Town taken by force There enter enough of them by Gates and Breaches Let us fallie forth together with Swords in our hands to chuse an illustrious and renowned end Let it be by fire or sword let it be short or lasting it imports not It will be sweet to me provided I dye a rival to your Valour and not a Victime to your Jealousie Having said this she caused her self to be compleatly armed and went out with a Sword in her hand and a Buckler upon her arm her Husband followed her armed with the like weapons and encouraged by her words and Example which gave him a second Heart and a new Spirit They went on boldly where fire noise and danger were greatest And as soon as they came to the place where they were to fight between the flaming Fire and the victorious Army They shewed by the wonders which they did that there is no valour like the valour of despairing Love and of Graces armed in defence of their Honour After a long and rude fight they were at last rather overpressed then overcome by a barbarous multitude irritated by their own losses and their resistance And feeling their strength stealing away with their Blood they gave each other their last imbraces and fell upon a heap of dead bodies which had been slain by their Hands They could not die more sweetly then in the fruition of their mutual Fidelity They could not have a more magnificent Tomb then their Arms and Victories Their souls which imbraced each other as well as their Bodies could not be severed by Death
Their first care after the conclusion of Peace was to choose a fit person to fill up the Throne which Autharus dying without Children left vacant It is apparent that the Customes of Nations the Interests of State and the Pretentions of particular persons would have 〈◊〉 return into Barâ—â—ta Her Vertue yet carryed it against Custome the Graces made sure for her and gained all the voyces on her side and by a general consent her hands already accustomed to govern well were judged the most proper to mannage happily the interests of the State and to divert with addresses the mischief which was feared from the ambition of parâ—â—â—â—lar persons The Crown was solemnly delivered up to her And from that time she began to Reign of her self and by the right of her Vertue which is the fairest right of Kings and the most illustrious claim which can enter into their 〈◊〉 Surely this cannot be paralleld in History And there would need a very perswasive vertue and of great authority to effect it They must be Graces of a high expectation and of a fair carriage which could gain with so much ease upon great Ambitious Men and a mercenary People and procure the unitement of them both in the choice of a Woman and a Stranger Being satisfied of her dexterity and capacity they invested her with absolute Power and Soveraignty without restriction They did not imitate those that binde their Princes upon their Thrones who tye their hands to the Scepter which they make them bear and take from them dispolute of the same Authority which they give them They only declare unto her that if after the having tryed the weight of Regality she should think fit to share it with a Husband they wished that she world seek no Forreign assistance but settle her affection upon some person of that Kingdom Confirmed by this proposition and by the advice of her Councel she cast her eyes upon 〈◊〉 Duke of Thâ—â—â—n and divided with him her Person and Regality This 〈◊〉 was a young Prince of a handsom aspect and of 〈◊〉 courage who was endued with all the Qualities fit to undertake and overcome And it was to be â—eared leâ—t Fortune which he might court should raise him to the Throne had not 〈◊〉 prevented her Not content to have made him a great King she undertook to make him a Catholick King and to withdraw him out of the slavery of the Arian Heresie This was evidently an enterprize of greater labour and of longer time then all those which are performed with iron and silver Engines with â—leets and Armed Nations Nevertheless she accomplished it by her cares and good offices with Prayers and â—ears Her Prayers drew upon 〈◊〉 the light of Heaven And every Tear proved a perswasive reason to him which all the Arian Doctors were never able to answer Her conquest reacheth farther then one individual soul though it were a Soveraign one and raised above others It was more ample and of greater advantage to the Church The chief Noblemen of the Kingdom and almost the whole People being converted by the Conversion of their new King submitted with him to the zeal and piety of their good Queen And this zeal was so 〈◊〉 is and of so great authority this piety was so efficacious and victorious that in a very short time all 〈◊〉 and the Provinces subject to it abjured Arianism and became Catholique by the industry of a Woman She effected much more and advanced the â—â—tivity of her zeal and the victories of her piety to a higher degree Adalulsus had increased his sins and dominions by the violated rights of the Church and by usurped Lands He had thrown Catholique Bishops out of their Seas and introduced into the sheepfold disguised Thieves publike impoisoners and Doctors of Error and Pestilence The vertuous Queen enjoyed no repose till the good Pastors were recalled till the Church was re-established in her Rights and Honors and till restitution was made her 〈◊〉 the â—ands which impetuous and bold Heresie had taken from her These actions did not proceed from an unprofitable and idle Vertue The most couragious and warlike ones did never act so vigorously and with so much success And all the Crowns gained by the valiant Women in this History were never worth so much as a flowre of Theodelind's Crown The great Saint Gregory who governed the Church at that time understood the weight and importance of her Services And being willing to reader her publike and lasting thanks for them he Dedicated his Dialogues to her by a Preface wherein she triumphs to this day and wherein there iâ— not a word which is not worth a Statue erected to her Vertue Some time after the Eâ—ark of Ravenna did over-run the Territories of Agilulsus and took in some Places which lay convenient for him and were ill guarded This â—â—on which was become more gentle yet had not suffered himself to be enchained quickly found again his Teeth and Claws and hastened to take revenge All things tended to a perilous and scandalous War and not only the Eâ—arkâ—at of Ravenna but even the Patrimony of Saint Peter was in danger if 〈◊〉 gained by Saint Gregory had not extinguished by her dexterity and Tears the fire which already began to be inkindled Thereby she preserved liberty to the Church and sacred things she freed the Church from her yoke she brake in pieces the Chaines prepared for the successor of the Apostles and chased away the Barbarians from before Rome Her whole life was thus powerfull And I know not whether there ever passed away one hour of it which was not beneficiall both to the Publike and particular persons The most Magnificent Churches were built by her and what is more to be prized then many erected Churches was that by her cares and good offices Lumbardy re-entred into the Church But we must not make a whole Book of one Example And I have sufficiently discoursed of it to encourage the Vertue of Women to give them a holy and profitable Emulation to withdraw them from idleness to make them understand that Christian Conquests Conversions of People Heroick Works and great Crowns belong as well to their Sex as ouâ—s PORCIE aâ—â—le des charbons ardens pour aller apres son Mary et par la hardiesse et 〈◊〉 de sa mort egale la reputation de Catâ—n et la gloire de Brutus 〈…〉 Porcia THE defeat of Brutus could not be concealed from Porcia The noise and mourning for it are great everywhere The Publik as well as Particulars regret it equally and in common and I believe that the very Statues in the Senate and Tribune have lamented a Citizen with whom in fine the Republike and Liberty of Rome even then expired This generous woman did not receive this loss with outcryes and fainting fits she did not violate her Cheeks and Hair she did not accuse Heaven nor reproach Fortune for it and one may say that the news of Brutus
to live And by a Will which he made through the perswassions of Dudley Duke of Northumberland Jane Gray was declared his Heir It may be said without detraction that this Will was dictated by Ambition But it may also be said without flattery that it was made in savour of the Graces and Vertues to the advantage of the Sciences and Muses And the Crown of England could not be placed upon a more beautiful head or which could do it more Honour then that of the Lady Iane. She was born with those Attractives and Charmes which seat a kinde of Soveraignty upon the face of the most beautiful Persons and which give a Natural Unction to them and a Diadem without gold or precious stones Her minde was endued with far more soveraign Attractives and with Charms of far greater force then her face And these native and adorning Graces were accompanied with other acquired and profitable ones which much increased their value and gave them a second tincture of goodness and a new lustre She spake both Greek and Latine as if she had been of Athens and Rome she had an exact knowledge of the Liberal Sciences and perfectly understood both kinds of Philosophy But that which is more to be esteemed then all her Philosophy more thâ—n all these Sciences and Tongues is that during the Raign of Vice and Liberty in the time of Henry the Eighth and after the scandal of Anne of Bullen she was possessed with the Modesty and Vertue of these blessed dayes when England was called the Country of Angels Nevertheless we must speak the truth All these so rare and highly pâ—â—â—ed qualities were not considered in the Will which was made in favour of Iane. Edward died as weak as he had lived He abandoned his last Testament to the will of the Duke of Northumberland as he had done all the rest and the Duke abused him in his death as he had done in his youth This ambitious Minister of State not being content with having Raigned without a Crown by the toleration of his Master to whom he had left but a specious Regality and a coloured Dignity perceiving a gate open by which Iane who was married to the Lord Guilford his fourth son might bring the Crown into his House he undertook to take it from the Kings sister and to set it upon her Head either by Right or Force To this effect he besieges the minde of this poor Prince already spent with his sickness and disquiered at the presence of death He was made believe that he could not in Conscience call to the Succession either Mary the daughter of Katherine of Aragon or Elizabeth daughter of Anne of Bullen He alledgeth against the first that being cut off the Royal Family by the Divorce of her Mother she could not be restored to it without condemning the Memory of the deceased King and without giving Credit and Authority to the Roman Tyranny He opposed against the other that being stained with the Adulteries and the punishment of her Mother she would fully the Honour and Dignity of the Crown if she had but touchd it From thence he concludes that Iane Gray descended from Henry the seventh by Mary heretofore Queen of France being the last drop of Royal blood which was sound yet pure and without stain he could not make another Heir without casting Fire into the Royal Family The Declaration was made for these reasons in favour of lane The Councel of four and twenty approve it notwithstanding the opposition of the Archbishop of Canterbury And two dayes after the King rendring up his soul Iane is declared Queen of England Her Father the Duke of Suffolk and the Duke of Northumberland Father to her Husband went to acquaint her with this news and prepare her to receive chearfully so great a Fortune This Fortune was the first dangerous Temperess against which Iane had need of Inspirations and helps from Philosophy And here it will be confessed that one ought to be supported by Philosophy That one ought to have a heart extreamly good and a strong head peece not to fall into a Trance at such news Reason ought to be very clear and the understanding very pure to recive without amazement so sudden and surprising a vapour I might also apprehend that I should not be believed but rather accused of an Hyperbole if I said that Iane received one of the greatest Crowns of the World with the same Moderation as if she had received a Posie of Violets Regality is not a present to be taken with heaviness and a negligent hand It is a kinde of humane Deification It is the 〈◊〉 between God and Man And even the Philosophers and Sages I mean austere Philosophers and unbyassed Sages have in all times esteemed it so much that Pythagâ—ras and Zeno the Patriarks of Stoicks and the most zealous Preachers of Indolence and Aspirity seeing themselves not called to Soveraignty by Fortune and not knowing how to attain to it by a straight and lawful way were so bold as to use violence and aspire to it by Tyrannie However I will not descend from so high a proposition I intend to go yet higher and will rise to something which is more eminent and more Heroick Iane would have received at least civilly and with thanks a Posie of Violets She absolutely refused the Crown of England And this so gallant and generous a refusal proceeded from a more Stoical soul then that of Zeno from a more Philosophical heart then that of Pythagoras Not that she did not well understand the value of this Crown which she refused Nor was she affrighted with so resplendent a Fortune as she would have been terrified by a luminous Fantosme presented before her eyes But she knew also that there was Weight and Thornes in this Crown And this Fortune with all its Glory and all these Charms did not tempt her not appeared to her so lovely as Justice Tranquility or Philosophy Solicited by the Supplications and Reasons of her Kindred and Husband who press'd her to consent to her greatness and not to reject a Felicity which is rare and never presents it self twice to the same Gate She answered t hat the Laws of the Kingdom and Natural right standing for the Kings Sisters she would beware of burthening her Head and Conscience with a Yoke which did belong to them that she understood the Infamy of those who had permitted the violation of Right to gain a Crown But it were to mock God and deride Justice to scruple at the stealing of a shilling and not at the Usurpation of a Crown Besides went she on I am not so young nor so little read in the guiles of Fortune to suffer my self to be taken by them If she inrich any one it is but to make him the subject of her spoil If she raise others it is but to please her self with their ruins What she adored but yesterday is to day her pastime And if I now
in her hands it was never more universal nor extended to more uses nor to a larger compass Her Profusions did not slide away in unprofitable transitory Pomps They were not like Torrents which are onely for shew and last but a dayâ— They resembled Rivers which are fertile and durable they afforded staâ—e and solid riches and brought happiness to Nations and plenty to Ages And to say nothing of those which remained in Spain where they are still looked upon with astonishment The great Bible of 〈◊〉 which hath been so long the most ample and rich spectacle of learned men the most profitable and stately Ornament of our Libraries is no less the work of Isabella then of Cardinal Ximenes her Councellor This Eminent Princess first advanced this great enterprize and furnished of her own stock to those preparations which were requisite long before the Work was begunne But as there hath never been so bold an Undertaker who hath not had more bold Successors then himself and besides as the same Time which ruins on the one side the works of art doth perfect them on the other so the Bible of 〈◊〉 having raigned near upon threescore year and held the first 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 was deposed of its place by the Royal Bible which 〈◊〉 the second caused to be printed at Antwerp And very newly the Royall happened to be degraded by that which Monsieur Le lay after the labour of thirty years hath published with the generall Applause of all the learned It is true also that this enterprize was not the undertaking of a particular Person and of a mean Fortune It was of a Monarch nay of a sumptuous Monarch and addicted to Noble expences It was of a Soveraign and Magnificent Fortune And if this great Body of seven Languages remains 〈◊〉 to be shewn all intire to Posterity I know not whether the most credulous Posterity will ever believe that a single private Person of this Kingdom assisted onely by his Revenue and Generosity hath affected more then a King of Spain with all his Mountains of Silver and Springs of Gold with all his Mines and Indies But great Souls not great Estates are the things which perform great Actions It was requisite that the Regency of Anne of Austria should have 〈◊〉 advantage above the Raign of Isabella and Philip her Predecessor It was necessary that a moderate Fortune should give Emulation and Instruction to all the great Fortunes of Europe and that Princes and then Ministers should learn from a Private Person to be Christianly Magnificent with the Benediction of God and Men. Isabella was not onely Wise and Couragious Magnanimous Just and Magnificent But her Publick and Active Vertues were accompanied with other Domestick and Peaceable Ones which were not the less vigorous for making the less noise and had not the less merit in being less Regarded I set down her Devotion in this Last which had been remarkable in a Religious Woman her modestie and Civility which savoured nothing of the height of her quality her Patience which might have made a Heroess in a private Fortune Her Court was a School of Piety Purity and Modesty for the Maids of Honour which were Educated near her Person She was an Academy of Spirit and Honour for Cavaliers And from this Academy came that famous Gonzales of 〈◊〉 to whom Spain so liberal in Titles and Elogies gave the name of Great Captain as a reward for driving the Fortune of France out of the Kingdom of Naples Besides her Vertue was not one of those Stage Vertues which act not handsomly but before the World and in the eyes of men It was not one of those Mercenary and Interessed Vertues which serve not but upon good Terms and for great Wages and Pawn It was likewise sincere and acted as soveraignly and with as much order in Private as in the eyes of the Publick It was likewise steddy as well during a storm as in a calm and had not a different Countenance and Heart in Affliction then in Prosperity It hath been known by the report of her Attendants that in all her Child beds the pain of Delivery which is the Natural Torture of their Sex did never force a word of Complaint from her mouth Marvellous was the Moderation which made her suffer with the death of her Son the death of her Name and the Extirpation of her Race And certainly since there is no Tree which doth not bend and complain when a Branch is torn off from it by a Tempest though it be a wilde Tree though the Branch which is taken off be half rotten How much courage were necessary for a Mother not to be cast down by the blow which deprived her of such a Son which tore from her so noble a shoot and of so great hope A shoot which was to have extended it self to new Worlds and a new Nature She was so far from being dejected by this Accident that it â—earce gâ—ve her the least disquiet The gallant Woman prevailed in her minde above the good Mother And the news of this deplorable death being brought her in the Eve of her Daughter Isabella's Marriage with 〈◊〉 King of Portugal she knew so well how to seal up her heart She so handsomly fitted her Countenance to an Action for which so great Preparations were made that not a sigh escaped out of her Heart not a Tear fell from her Eyes which might cloud the Serenity of the Feast Her Constancy appeared no less by bearing with the publick Extravagancies of the Princess 〈◊〉 her Daughter who was sick of the Love of her Husband Philip. His truly was a Lawful Love and had received the Benediction of the Church Not only Bastard Loves are those which appear Monstrous but even Lawfull Ones which are Enormous and Irregular have scarce a better Aspect And the Fires which the Church hath blessed if they be not entertained with Moderation may no less offend the head and dazle with their smoak then the other The Love of Iaâ—â— was one of these Lawful disordered Loves It was one of these honest fires which heat too much and daâ—â— with their smoak And surely she must needs have been much dazled when she resolved to Imbark her self in the most bitter Season of the year and to expose her life her great belly and the hope of so many Kingdoms to the Winter and the Ocean that she might meet with her Husband who was 〈◊〉 into Handerâ— But Fonsâ—â—a Bishop of Burgos and 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 Governour of 〈◊〉 having hindred her Imbarking neither Intreaties nor Reasons could prevail to bring her back to her Lodging She remained whole days and nights without Food or Sleep exposed to the Air and all the injuries thereof And assuredly she would have died on the ground if the Quâ—een her Mother had not brought her in all haste a Licence to commit her self to the penâ— of the Sea Nevertheless she escaped the Sea and Tempesluous Season But Jealousie escaped
the Sixt King of England and by this Marriage the Truce was continued between two Neighbors the greatest Enemies in the whole World the most jealous of each other The poor Princess did not long enjoy the Repose she give to the Publike and it hapned to her as to Victims which bear the Sorrows of the People for whom they are Sacrificed The Nuptials were Celebrated at Nancy with great Preparations of Carâ—ousels and Tournaments according to the Mode of the 〈◊〉 of that time who were only acquainted with Valiant and Manly Delights with Pastimes which equalled Battels and produced 〈◊〉 Victories Wherein surely to speak this by the way they were more Cavaliers and Men at Arms then those of our days who know no other 〈◊〉 then Racing nor other Tournaments then Dancing who have â—ffeminated Magnificence and taken away from Sports and Divertiâ—ements all that they had of Noble and Military Margaret being passed into England found not there the same Sweetness and Tranquility she had left in France Not that she was one of those ill lodgâ—d Persons who have always either Rain or Smoak in their Houses And Her Marriage was none of those Tyrannical Yoaks and Torturing Chains which a certain Person wished to his Enemy instead of a Gibbet and â—alter She enjoyed at Home a most pure Calm and without Confusion and her Marriage felt nothing Heavy or Incommodious The King her Husband had all the Qualities of a good Man and a good Prince But being born under a very Contagious Constellation and of a very Malâ—volent Influence the Queen his Wife failed not to he involved therein and to have her share of the Poison and bad Fortune She patiently received all that fell upon her Besides she joyned Grace with Patience And being induâ—d with a pleasing Humour and a Gallant Spirit she made Answer to such as lamented her Condition That having taken upon her Marriage Day the Rose of England she ought to bear it intire and with all it s I horns Moreover King Henry had a great inclination to Repose and no Aversion to Pleasure The Mildness and Indifferency of his Spirit did not Correspond with the Functions of Regality which required Courage and Resolution Noise and Stirs made him wâ—y his Head and when things were in his own choice he contented himself to have Ease and Repose for his part and left to his Favourites and Ministers of State the Authority with the Trouble and Affairs with the Tumult This Soft and Slothful Life afflicted the Queen who had a High and Active Spirit Noble and Manly Thoughts and a Head as Capable to fill a Crown as any Prince of Her Time Not that she did not affect the Repose of her Husband and wished him his Hearts Content But her Love being Magnanimous and of the Complection of her Heart she would have rather liked in him a Glorious Activeness and accompanied with Dignity then this stupid Repose and these mis-becoming Eases which Dishonoured him Truly this Prince though otherwise good was not beloved by his Subjects And his Reputation bore the brunt of all the Faults of his Favourites and Ministers of State The Revolt of the Grandees the Seditions of the People the Mutinâ—es of the Mayor of London who was then a Popular Soveraign and a King of the third Estate and generally all the Disorders of his Kingdom were cloaked with this Pretence All these Commotions grieved the Queen But they did not affright her She hastned still with the first to the most wavering Places and where Power and Authority might stop any Disorder Her principal Effort was upon the Kings Spirit She continually represented to him and with Pressing and Efficacious Terms that the Repose of Kings consisted not in the softness of their Bed but in the stability of their Thrones That the Throne could not be secure if Esteem and Authority do not Support it And that Esteem which ariseth from Action and Authority which grows from Courage are lost by Sloth and Softness that Affairs are truly very ponderous but that this Weight procures the Stability of Affairs And that there could be nothing more Fickle and Tottering then a King who discharges himself of all that lies heavy upon him That it were to Act a very bad part to play the Titulâ—r King and to Reign by Agents and Deputies That Authority Substituted and out of its Place is weak and without vigour And the Scepter which hath Force and begets respect in the Hand of a Prince is easily broken in the hands of a Subject and Resembles a Scepter in a Play These and other like Remonstrances accompanied with the Eloquence of Beauty and the Perswasion of Love Fortified the Kings Spirit and made him take a firm Resolution to Reign for the Future without a Substitute and to Act of himself He Resumed that Authority which he had conâ—erred on his Uncle Hâ—â—pâ—â—y Duke of Glocester And he called back all Affairs to his own Conduct And thereby it appeared how Imployments Protect those whom they burthen And how Authority Supports and Settles those whom it Loads The poor Duke of Glocester was no sooner put out of Office and Authority but his Enemies which before did not so much as shake him did now overthrow him And within a short time after his â—all he was strangled in Prison by a Sudden and Illegâ—l â—â—â—cution The Faction of the White Rose which could not endure the Odour of the â—lower de â—uâ—e and beheld with regret a French Woman so absolute in England â—ailed not to charge her with the Contrivance of this Death Andâ—while after the Danger of Richard Earl of Warwick who was Assaulted neer London by the Kings Guards and thrust into the Tâ—ames gave Occasion and Authority to this Calumny The â—arl of Salisbury his Father and Richard Duke of York Head of the White Rose made thereupon several Manifests by Word of Mouth and Published in the Country and Cities that this piece was devised by the Queen who had undertaken to cut off the Arms of England and to deprive it with its best â—lood both of Strength and Spirit to the end she might deliver it up to France That she began not her Work amiss And that if the end of the Enterprise should Correspond with the beginning if the Great Ones did not look better to themselves then the Duke of Glocester and the Earl of Warwick had done in a short time not one drop of good Blood not one single Noble part would be left in the Body of the State The good Queen was very far from entring into these Tragical Thoughts And though she truly wished Authority and Power to the King her Husband yet she did not wish him such an Authority as might be hated and lamented not sâ—ch a Power as might cause Desolation and Ruines Besides less was it in her Thoughts to procure the Destruction of that â—ree upon which she her self was Grafted And if she bore much Affection to the Stem of