Henry Wotton whose Life I novv intend to vvrite vvas born in the Year of our Redemption 1568. in Bocton-hall commonly called Bocton or Bougton place or Palace in the Parish of Bocton Malherb in the fruitful Country of Kent Bocton-hall being an ancient and goodly Structure beautifying and being beautified by the Parish Church of Bocton Malherb adjoyning unto it and both seated vvithin a fair Park of the Wottons on the Brovv of such a Hill as gives the advantage of a large Prospect and of equal pleasure to all Beholders But this House and Church are not remarkable for any thing so much as for that the memorable Family of the Wottons have so long inhabited the one and novv lie buried in the other as appears by their many Monuments in that Church the Wottons being a Family that hath brought forth divers Persons eminent for Wisdom and Valour vvhose Heroick Acts and Noble Employments both in England and in Foreign parts have adorned themselves and this Nation which they have served abroad faithfully in the discharge of their great trust and prudently in their Negotiations with several Princes and also served at home with much Honour and Justice in their wise managing a great part of the Publick Affairs thereof in the various times both of War and Peace But lest I should be thought by any that may incline either to deny or doubt this Truth not to have observed moderation in the commendation of this Family and also for that I believe the merits and memory of such Persons ought to be thankfully recorded I shall offer to the consideration of every Reader out of the testimony of their Pedegree and our Chronicles a part and but a part of that just Commendation which might be from thence enlarged and shall then leave the indifferent Reader to judge whether my error be an excess or defect of Commendations Sir Robert Wotton of Bocton Malherb Knight vvas born about the Year of Christ 1460 he living in the Reign of King Edward the Fourth vvas by him trusted to be Lieutenant of Guisnes to be Knight Porter and Comptroller of Callais where he died and lies honourably buried Sir Edward Wotton of Bocton Malherb Knight Son and Heir of the said Sir Robert was born in the Year of Christ 1489 in the Reign of King Henry the Seventh he was made Treasurer of Callais and of the Privy Councel to King Henry the Eight who offered him to be Lord Chancellor of England but saith Hollinshed out of a virtuous modesty he refused it Thomas Wotton of Bocton Malherb Esquire Son and Heir of the said Sir Edward and the Father of our Sir Henry that occasions this Relation was born in the Year of Christ 1521 he was a Gentleman excellently educated and studious in all the Liberal Arts in the knowledge whereof he attained unto a great perfection who though he had besides those abilities a very Noble and plentiful Estate and the ancient Interest of his Predecessors many invitations from Queen Elizabeth to change his Country Recreations and Retirement for a Courtoffering him a Knight-hood she vvas then vvith him at his Boctonhall and that to be but as an earnest of some more honourable and more profitable employment under Her yet he humbly refused both being a man of great modesty of a most plain and single heart of an ancient freedom and integrity of mind A commendation which Sir Henry Wotton took occasion often to remember with great gladness and thankfully to boast himself the Son of such a Father From whom indeed he derived that noble ingenuity that was always practised by himself and which he ever both commended and cherished in others This Thomas was also remarkable for Hospitality a great Lover and much beloved of his Country to which may justly be added that he was a Cherisher of Learning as appears by that excellent Antiquary Mr. William Lambert in his Perambulation of Kent This Thomas had four Sons Sir Edward Sir James Sir John and Sir Henry Sir Edward was Knighted by Queen Elizabeth and made Comptroller of Her Majesties Houshold He was saith Cambden a man remarkable for many and great Employments in the State during Her Reign and sent several times Ambassador into Foreign Nations After Her death he was by King James made Comptroller of his Houshold and called to be of His Privy Councel and by him advanced to be Lord Wotton Baron of Merley in Kent and made Lord Lieutenant of that County Sir James the second Son may be numbred among the Martial Men of his Age who was in the 38 of Queen Elizabeths Reign with Robert Earl of Sussex Count Lodowick of Nassaw Don Christophoro Son of Antonio King of Portugal and divers other Gentlemen of Nobleness and Valour Knighted in the Field near Cadiz in Spain after they had gotten great Honour and Riches besides a notable retaliation of Injuries by taking that Town Sir John being a Gentleman excellently accomplished both by Learning and Travel was Knighted by Queen Elizabeth and by Her look'd upon with more then ordinary favour and with intentions of preferment but Death in his younger years put a period to his growing hopes Of Sir Henry my following discourse shall give an account The descent of these fore-named Wottons were all in a direct Line and most of them and their actions in the memory of those with whom we have conversed But if I had looked so far back as to Sir Nicholas Wotton who lived in the Reign of King Richard the Second or before him upon divers others of great note in their several Ages I might by some be thought tedious and yet others may more justly think me negligent if I omit to mention Nicholas Wotton the fourth Son of Sir Robert whom I first named This Nicholas Wotton was Doctor of Law and sometime Dean both of York and Canterbury a man vvhom God did not only bless vvith a long life but vvith great abilities of mind and an inclination to imploy them in the service of his Countrey as is testified by his severall Imployments having been sent nine times Ambassador unto forraign Princes and by his being a Privy Councellor to King Henry the eighth to Edward the sixth to Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth vvho also after he had been during the Wars between England Scotland and France three several times and not unsuccessfully imployed in Committies for setling of peace betwixt this and those Kingdomes died saith learned Cambden full of Commendations for Wisdome and Piety He vvas also by the Will of King Henry the eighth made one of his Executors and chief Secretary of State to his Son that plous Prince Edward the sixth Concerning which Nicholas Wotton I shall say but this little more That he refused being offered it by Queen Elizabeth to be Arch bishop of Canterbury and that he died not rich though he lived in that time of the dissolution of Abbeys More might be added but by this it may appear
the adâ—…ancing of their own and if more ingenuous no farâ—…er just then to forbear detraction at the best rather â—…sposed to give praise upon their own accord then to make â—…ayment upon demand or challenge The testimony of sufficiency is better entertained then the report of Excellency THe nature of some places necessarily requires 〈◊〉 competently endowed but where there is choice none think the appointment to be a duty of Justice bound respect the best desert nay the best conceive it a work free bounty which men of mean qualities are likely to â—…knowledge and the worldly make it a business of proâ—… unto which the most deserving are least apt to subscribâ—… But besides these unlucky influences from above this 〈◊〉 success may be occasioned either by the too great confideâ—… of those who hope to rise or the jealous distrust of sâ—… are already raised whilest they too much presuming 〈◊〉 their own desert neglect all auxiliary strength these sâ—…pecting some diminution to their own stop the passage anothers worth that being most certain Alterius viâ—…tuti invidet qui diffidit suae He that appears often in the same place gets liâ—… ground in the way to credit FAmiliar and frequent use which makes things first ungrateful by continuance pleasing or toleâ—…ble takes away the lustre from more excellent objeâ—… and reduceth them from the height of admiration uâ—… low degrees of neglect dislike and contempt 〈◊〉 were not strange if it wrought only among the Vulâ—… whose opin on like their stomacks is overcome witâ—…â—…tiety or men of something a higher stage the edge 〈◊〉 whose sight is abated and dulled by long gazing but 〈◊〉 same entertainment is given by the Judicious and Learnâ—… either because they observe some defects which at 〈◊〉 sight are less visible or the Actors in this kind betray weakness in their latter attempts usually straining so high at first that they are not able to reach again in the rest or by this often obtrusion not required discover a good conceit of their own Graces and men so well affected to themselves are generally so happy as to have little cause to complain of Corrivals The Active man riseth not so well by his strength as the expert by his stirrop THey that climb towards preferment or greatness by their own vertue get up with much ado and very slowly whereas such as are raised by other means usually ascend lightly and appear more happy in their sudden advancements sometimes by the only strength of those who stand above exercising their power in their dependants commonly by subordinate helps and assistance which young men happily obtain from the commendations of friends old men often compass by the credit of their wealth who have a great advantage in that they are best able to purchase and likely soonest to leave the room Few men thrive by one onely Art fewer by many AMongst Tradesmen of meaner sort they are not poorest whose Shop windows open over a red Lettice and the wealthiest Merchants imploy Scriveners for security at home as much as Factors for their advantage abroad both finding not more warrantable gains by negotiating with the industrious then profitable returns by dealing with unthrifts The disposition of the time hath taught this wisdome to more ingenuous professions which are best entertained when they come accompanied with some other respects whence preciseness is become a good habit to plead in and Papistry a privy commendation to the practise of Physick contentious Zeal making most Clyents and sensual Superstition yielding the best Patients They who are intent by diverse means to make progress in their estate cannot succeed well as he that would run upon his hands and feet makes less speed then one who goes as nature taught him the untoward moving of some unskilful parts hindring the going forward of those which are better disposed It is good to profess betimes and practise at leasure THere is a saying That the best choice is of an old Physician and a young Lawyer The reason suppos'd because where errors are fatal ability of judgement and moderation are required but where advantages may be wrought upon diligence and quickness of wit are of more special use But if it be considered who are generally most esteemed it will appear that opinion of the multitude sets up the one and the favour of Authority upholds the other yet in truth a mans age and time are of necessary regard such of themselves succeeding best who in these or any other professions neither defer their resolution too long nor begin their practice too soon whereas ordinarily they who are immaturely adventurous by their iusufficiency hurt others they who are tedious in deliberation by some improvidence hinder themselves Felicity shews the ground where Industry builds a Fortune ARchimedes the great Engineer who in defending Syracusa against Marcellus shewed wonderful Experiments of his extraordinary skil was bold to say That he would remove the world out of his place if he had elsewhere to set his foot And truly I believe so far that otherwise he could not do it I am sure so much is evident in the Architecture of Fortunes in the raising of which the best Art or endeavour is able to do nothing if it have not where to lay the first stone for it is possible with the like Skil to raise a frame when we have matter but not to create something out of nothing the first being the ordinary effect of industry this only of Divine Power Indeed many from very mean beginnings have aspired to very eminent place and we usually ascribe it to their own worth which no doubt in some is great yet as in Religion we are bound to believe so in truth the best of them will confess that the first advantage was reached out meerly by a Divine hand which also no doubt did alwayes assist their after endeavours Some have the felicity to be born heirs to good Estates others to be made so beyond their hopes Marriage besides the good which oftentimes it confers directly collaterally sometimes helps to Offices sometimes to Benefices sometimes to Dignities Many rise by relation and dependance it being a happy step to some to have fallen on a fortunate Master to some on a foolish to some few on a good There are divers other means of which as of these I am not so fit to speak but truly considered they are all out of our own power which he that presumeth most cannot promise himself and he that expects least sometimes attains A CONCEIPT Of some OBSERVATIONS INTENDED Upon Things most Remarkeable in the Civil History of this Kingdom and likewise in the State of the Church From the NORMAN Invasion till the Twelfth Year of our vertuous SOVERAIGN CHARLES The FIRST Whom God have in his precious Custody Of WILLIAM the First WILLIAM the First was a Child of Fortune from his Cradle We do commonly and justly stile Him The Conqueror For he made a general Conquest of the whole Kingdome
and People either by Composition or Arms. And he suppressed in great part the former Customes and Laws and introduced new Behaviours and Habits which under shew of Civility were in effect but Rudiments of Subjection Lastly he was near the Imposing and as I may term it the Naturallizing here of his own Language At least he both made it and left it Currant in all Courts of Plea whereof is yet remaining no small Impression Besides his Atchievements by Force I note a great Secret of State silently wrapped in his high Tenures of Knight Service For those drawing as well Marriage as Wardship gave him both power and occasion to Conjugate at pleasure the Norman and the Saxon Houses which by degrees might prove a second Conquest of Affections harder then the first Rarely had been seen for such a Prize an evener Trial by Battel then that at Hastings Both Commanders well acquainted before with Adventures and Peril Both animated and edged with Victories In their Numbers through confused Report I can collect no enormous disparity In their Persons equally valiant And for any Right or merit in the Cause no difference but this That either the One must keep a Kingdome ill gotten or the Other get it as ill What were the main Errors and what principally gave the Day so long after is hard to affirm Well we may conclude that on either side the Fight was constant and fierce and surely undeterminable without the death at least of one of the Chiefs For the English would not run away and the Normans could not After this Success His not Marching immediately to the Head-City when Terror would have swept the ground before him but Casting about for so the most have delivered more like a Progress then a pursuit as if one single Battel had given him leave to play with his Fortune may seem strange according to the Maximes of War at this Day But let all Discourse cease States have their Conversions and Periods as well as Natural Bodies and we were come to our Tropique In his farther Proceedings I note him sometimes most helped and another while most hindred by the Clergy then of mighty perswasion with the Temporal Lords and People which taught him afterwards a Lesson when he was fast in the Throne how to Rivet his own Greatness by Changing the Natives into Normans or other Aliens of his proper choice in the Highest Ecclesiastical Dignities Then was Stigand the Metropolitan in a Synod formally and fairly Deposed being too stiff for the times Which was indeed the wringing Point though other Objections made more noise He was Crowned on Christmas Day in the year of our Saviour 1066. At which Time he would fain have Compounded a Civil Title of I know not what Alliance or Adoption or rather Donation from Edward the Confessor As if Hereditary Kingdomes did pass like new-New-years gifts The truth is He vvas the Heir of his Sword Yet from those Pretences howsoever there sprang this good That he vvas thereby in a sort engaged to cast his Government into a middle or mixed nature as it vvere between a lawful Successor and an invader though generally as all new Empires do savour much of their beginnings it had more of the Violent then of the Legal One of the first Things in his Intent but in effect one of the last was the perfecting of that which we call the Winchester Book being a more particular inquisition then had been before of every Hide of Land within the precincts of his Conquest and how they were holden whenceforth we may account a full Re-settlement of Lordship and propriety through the Realm Quere for I find it obscure whether Possessions for the most part had not remained all the while before in a kind of Martial Disposure or perchance little better We have at this day more knowledge of whom he doubted then of whom he trusted which I believe were very few Certainly his Reign must needs be full of strong apprehensions and his nature was prone enough to entertain them as may well appear by the event in two Personages of all other the likeliest to sit fast about him namely Fitz Aubert alias Fitz Osbern for he is diversly termed and Odo one of his own brothers by the same womb These two had each of them contributed towards his Enterprize about forty ships a piece and were the first foundation of his Fortunes both in Strength and in Example But what became of them Marry after they had been dignified here with Earldomes the one of Hereford the other of Kent Fitz Osbern as some report was executed under him Or as the most was discarded into a Forraign Service for a pretty shadow of Exilement And Odo his Brother was a Prisoner even at the time of his own death So heavy with some high minds is an over-weight of Obligation Or otherwise great Deservers do perchance grow intolerable Presumers Or lastly Those that help to Raise stand ever in some hazard to be thought likewise the fittest to Depress I have been sometimes tempted to wonder how among these Jealousies of State and Court Edgar Atheling could subsist being then the Apparent and Indubitate Heir of the Saxon Line But he had tryed and found him a Prince of limber vertues So as though he might per adventure have some Place in his Caution yet he reckoned Him beneath his Fear He was contemporal with three Popes Victor and Alexander the second of that Name and Hildebrand alias Gregory the Seventh Victor took the first hold of him by Ratifying his Nuptial Contract within the Degrees forbidden which is none of the least Arts in the Roman Hierarchy for the Chaining of Princes and their Issue to a perpetual Dependance Alexander drave it somewhat further by lending his Banner to this Invasion As they have been alwayes frank of their Blessings to Countenance any Great action and then according as it should prosper to Tissue upon it some Pretence or other As here first of all came in a Challenge of Homage forsooth by Promise which though the Conqueror ever eagerly disavowed Yet I know not how by the cunning Incroachments of Hildebrand that famous Intruder who succeeded He did abase and avale the Soveraignty into more Servitude towards that See as our Authors charge his Time then had been since the name of a State or a Church among us Now for the Constitution and Character of his Person and Mind He was not of any delicate Contexture His Limbs rather sturdy then dainty Sublime and almost Tumorous in His Looks and Gestures yea even in His Oaths for they say He used to swear By the Resurrection of the Son of God By nature far from Profusion and yet a greater Sparer then a Saver For though he had such means to accumulate yet His Forts Castles and Towers which he built and his Garrisons which he maintained and his Feastings wherein he was only Sumptuous could not but soak His Exchequer Besides the multiplicity of
part of another mans Story All which notwithstanding for I omit things intervenient there is conveyed to Mr. Villiers an intimation of the Kings pleasure to wait and to be sworn his servant And shortly after his Cup-bearer at large And the Summer following he was admitted in Ordinary After which time Favours came thick upon him liker main Showers then sprinkling Drops or Dews for the next St. Georges-day he was Knighted and made Gentleman of the Kings Bed Chamber and the very same day had an annual Pension given him for his better support of one thousand pounds out of the Court of Wards At New-years-tide following the King chose him Master of the Horse After this he was installed of the most Noble Order And in the next August he created him Baron of Whaddon and Viscount Villiers In January of the same year he was advanced Earl of Buckingham and sworn here of his Majesties Privy-Counsel as if a Favourite vvere not so before The March ensuing he attended the King into Scotland and vvas likewise sworn a Counsellor in that Kingdome vvhere as I have been instructed by unpassionate men he did carry himself vvith singular sweetness and temper vvhich I held very credible for it behoved him being new in favour and succeeding one of their own to study a moderate style among those generous Spirits About New-years-tide after his return from thence for those beginnings of years vvere very propitious unto him as if Kings did chuse remarkable dayes to inaugurate their Favours that they may appear acts as vvell of the Times as of the Will he vvas Created Marquess of Buckingham and made Lord Admiral of England Chief Justice in Eyre of all the Parks and Forrests on the South-side of Trent Master of the Kings-Bench Office none of the unprofitable pieces Head-Steward of Westminster and Constable of Windsor-Castle Here I must breath a vvhile to satisfie some that perhaps might otherwise vvonder at such an Accumulation of Benefits like a kind of Embroidering or listing of one Favour upon another Certainly the hearts of great Princes if they be considered as it vvere in abstract vvithout the necessity of States and Circumstances of time being besides their natural extent moreover once opened and dilated vvith affection can take no full and proportionate pleasure in the exercise of any narrow Bounty And albeit at first they give only upon choice and love of the person yet vvithin a vvhile themselves likewise begin to love their givings and to foment their deeds no less then Parents do their Children But let us go on For these Offices and Dignities already rehearsed and these of the like nature vvhich I shall after set down in their place vvere as I am ready to say but the facings or fringes of his Greatness in comparison of that trust vvhich his most Gracious Master did cast upon him in the one and twentieth year of his Reign vvhen he made him the chief Concomitant of his Heir apparent and only Son our dear Soveraign now being in a journey of much Adventure and vvhich to shew the strength of his privacy had been before not communicated vvith any other of his Majesties most reserved Counsellors at home being carried vvith great closeness liker a business of Love then State as it vvas in the first intendment Now because the vvhole Kingdome stood in a zealous trepidation of the absence of such a Prince I have been the more desirous to research vvith some diligence the several passages of the said Journey and the particular Accidents of any moment in their vvay They began their motion in the year 1623 on Tuesday the 18th of February from the Marquess his house of late purchase at Newhall in Essex setting out vvith disguised Beards and vvith borrowed Names of Thomas and Iohn Smith And then attended vvith none but Sir Richard Greham Master of the Horse to the Marquess and of inward trust about him When they passed the River against Gravesend for lack of silver they vvere fain to give the Ferry-man a piece of two and twenty shillings vvhich struck the poor fellow into such a melting tenderness that so good Gentlemen should be going for so he suspected about some quarrel beyond Sea as he could not forbear to acquaint the Officers of the Town vvith vvhat had befallen him vvho sent presently Post for their stay at Rochester through vvhich they vvere passed before any intelligence could arrive On the brow of the Hill beyond that City they vvere somewhat perplexed by espying the French Embassador vvith the Kings Coach and other attending him vvhich made them baulk the beaten Road and teach Posthackneys to leap Hedges At Canterbury vvhither some voice as it should seem vvas run on before the Mayor of the Town came himself to seize on them as they vvere taking fresh Horses in a blunt manner alledging first a Warrant to stop them from the Councel next from Sir Lewis Lewkver Master of the Ceremonies and lastly from Sir Henry Manwaring then Lieutenant of Dover-Castle At all vvhich confused fiction the Marquess had no leasure to laugh but thought best to dismask his Beard and so told him that he vvas going covertly vvith such slight company to take a secret view being Admiral of the forwardness of his Majesties Fleet vvhich vvas then in preparation on the Narrow Seas This vvith much ado did somewhat handsomely heal the disguisement On the vvay afterwards the Baggage Post-Boy vvho had been at Court got I know not how a glimmering vvho they vvere but his mouth vvas easily shut To Dover through bad Horses and those pretty impediments they came not before six at night vvhere they found Sir Francis Cottington then Secretary to the Prince now Baron of Hanworth and Mr. Endymion Porter vvho had been sent before to provide a Vessel for their Transportation The foresaid Knight vvas conjoyn'd for the nearness of his place on the Princes affairs and for his long Residence in the Court of Spain vvhere he had gotten singular credit even vvith that cautious Nation by the temper of his Carriage Mr. Porter vvas taken in not only as a Bed-chamber servant of Confidence to his Highness but likewise as a necessary and useful Instrument for his natural skil in the Spanish Tongue And these five vvere at the first the vvhole Parada of this Journey The next morning for the night vvas tempestuous on the 19th of the foresaid Moneth taking ship at Dover about six of the Clock they landed the same day at Bullâ—…yn in France near two hours after Noon reaching Monstruell that night like men of dispatch and Paris the second day after being Friday the one and twentieth But some three Posts before they had met vvith two German Gentlemen that came newly from England vvhere they had seen at New-market the Prince and the Marquess taking Coach together vvith the King and retaining such a strong impression of them both that they now bewrayed some knowledge of their persons but vvere out-faced by
praises and Elogies according to the contrary motions of popular waves And now to summe up the fruit of the Journey discourses ran thus among the clearest Observers It was said that the Prince himself without any imaginable stain of his Religion had by the sight of Forraign Courts and observations of the different Natures of people and Rules of Government much excited and awaked his spirits and corroborated his judgement And as for the Marquess there was note taken of two great additions which he had gained First he was returned with encrease of Title having there been made Duke by Patent sent him which was the highest degree whereof an English Subject could be capable But the other was far greater though closer for by so long and so private and so various consociation with a Prince of such excellent nature he had now gotten as it were two lives in his own Fortune and Greatness whereas otherwise the estate of a Favourite is at the best but a Tenant at will and rarely transmitted But concerning the Spanish Commission which in publick conceit was the main scope of the Journey that was left in great suspence and after some time utterly laid aside which threw the Duke amongst free Wits whereof we have a rank Soil under divers Censures The most part were apt to believe that he had brought down some deep distaste from Spain which exasperated his Councels Neither was there wanting some other that thought him not altogether void of a little Ambition to shew his power either to knit or dissolve Howsoever the whole Scene of affairs was changed from Spain to France there now lay the prospective Which alteration being generally liked and all alterations of State being ever attributed to the powerfullest under Princes as the manner is where the eminency of one obscureth the rest the Duke became suddenly and strangely Gracious among the multitude and was even in Parliament highly exalted so as he did seem for a time to have overcome that natural Incompatibility which in the experience of all Ages hath been noted between the Vulgar and the Soveraign Favour But this was no more then a meer bubble or blast and like an Ephemeral fit of applause as estsoon will appear in the sequel and train of his life I had almost forgotten that after his return from Spain he was made Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports which is as it were a second Admiralty and Steward likewise of the Mannour of Hampton-Court Dignities and Offices still growing of trust or profit And the King now giving not only out of a beneficent disposition but a very habitual and confirmed custome One year six moneths two dayes after the joyful reception of the Prince his Son from Spain King James of immortal memory among all the lovers and admirers of Divine and Humane Sapience accomplished at Theobalds his own dayes on Earth Under whom the Duke had run a long Course of calm and smooth prosperity I mean long for the ordinary life of favour and the more notable because it had been without any visible Eclipse or Wave in himself amidst divers variations in others The most important and pressing care of a new and Vigorous King was his Marriage for mediate establishment of the Royal Line Wherein the Duke having had an especial hand he was sent to conduce hither the most Lovely and Vertuous Princess Henrietta Maria youngest Daughter to the Great Henry of Bourbon of whom his Majesty as hath been said had an ambulatory view in his Travels like a stolen taste of something that provoketh appetite He was accompanied with none of our Peers but the Earl of Mountgomery now Lord Chamberlain a Noble Gentleman of trusty free and open nature and truly no unsuitable Associate for that he himself likewise at the beginning of King James had run his Circle in the wheeling vicissitude of Favour And here I must crave leave in such of high quality or other of particular note as shall fall under my pen whereof this is the first not to let them pass without their due Character being part of my professed ingenuity Now this Ambassy though it had a private shew being charged with more formality then matter for all the essential Conditions were before concluded could howsoever want no Ornaments or bravery to adorn it Among which I am near thinking it worthy of a little remembrance that the Duke one solemn day Gorgeously clad in a suit all over-spread with Diamonds and having lost one of them of good value perchance as he might be dancing after his manner with lofty motion it was strangely recovered again the next morning in a Court full of Pages Such a diligent attendant was Fortune every where both abroad and at home After this fair discharge all Civil Honours having showred on him before there now fell out great occasions to draw forth his spirits into action a breach first with Spain and not longafter with France it self notwithstanding so streight an affinity so lately treated with the one and actually accomplished with the other As if indeed according to that pleasant Maxime of State Kingdoms were never married This must of necessity involve the Duke in business enough to have over-set a lesser Vessel being the next Commander under the Crown of Ports and Ships But he was noted willingly to embrace those Overtures of publick employment For at the Parliament at Oxford his Youth and want of Experience in Maritime service had somewhat been shrewdly touched even before the sluces and flood-gates of popular liberty were yet set open So as to wipe out that objection he did now mainly attend his charge by his Majesties untroubled and serene Commands even in a tempestuous time Now the men fell a rubbing of Armour which a great while had layn oyled The Magazines of Munition are viewed The Officers of Remains called to account frequent Councels of War as many private conferences with expert Sea-men a Fleet in preparation for some attempt upon Spain The Duke himself personally imployed to the States General and with him joyned in full Commission the Earl of Holland a Peer both of singular grace and solidity and of all sweet and serviceable virtue for publick use These two Nobles after a dangerous passage from Harwich wherein three of their Ships were foundred arrived the fifth day at the Hague in Holland Here they were to enter a treaty both with the States themselves and with the Ministers of divers allied and confederate Princes about a common diversion for the recovery of the Palatinate where the King 's only Sisters Dowry had been ravished by the German Eagle mixed with Spanish Feathers A Princess resplendent in darkness and whose virtues were born within the chance but without the power of Fortune Here it were injurious to over-slip a Noble act in the Duke during this Imployment which I must for my part celebrate above all his Expences There was a Collection of certain rare Manuscripts exquisitely written in Arabick and sought