from the Isle of Ree or as soâ—… call it the I le of Rue for the bitter success wee had there for we had but a â—…t entertainment in that salâ—… Island Our first invasion was magnanimous brave wherat neer upon 200 French Gentlemen perished and divers Barons of quality My Lord Newport had ill luck to disorder our Cavalry with an unruly Horse he had His brother Sir Charls Rich was slain and divers more upon the retreat amongst others great Golonell Gray fell into Salt-pit and being ready to be drownd he cryed out Cens mill escus pour ma rançon a hundred thousand Crowns for my ransom the French-men hearing that preserv'd him though he was not worth a hundred thousand pence Another merry passage a Captain told me that when they were rifling the dead bodies of the French Gentlemen after the first invasion they found that many of them had their Mistresses favors tyed about their genitories The French do much glory to have repell'd us thus and they have reason for the truth is they comported themselves gallantly yet they confess our landing was a notable piece of courage and if our Retreat had been answerable to the Invasion we had lost no honor at all A great number of gallant Gentlemen fell on our side as Sir Iohn Heyden Sir Io. Burrowes Sir George Blundell Sir Alex. Brett with divers Veteran Commanders who came from the Netherlands to this service God send us better success the next time for ther is another Fleet preparing to be sent under the Command of the Lord Denbigh so I kiss your hands and am Lond. 24 of Sept 1627. Your humble Servitor J. H. VI. To the Right Honble the Lord Scroop Earl of Sunderland Lord President of the North. My Lord MY Lord Dâ—…nbigh is returned from attempting to relieve Rochell which is reduc'd to extreme exigent And now the Duke is preparing to go again with as great power as was yet rais'd notwithstanding that the Parliament hath flown higher at him than ever which makes the people here hardly wish any good success to the Expedition because he is Generall The Spaniard stands at a gaze all this while hoping that we may do the work otherwise I think he would find som way to relieve that Town for ther is nothing conduceth more to the uniting and strengthning of the French Monarchy than the reduction of Rochell The King hath been there long in person with his Cardinall and the stupendious works they have rais'd by Sea and Land are beyond belief as they say The Sea-works and booms were traced out by Marquis Spinola as he was passing that way for Spain from Flanders The Parliament is prorogued till Michaelmas term ther weâ—… five Subsidies granted the greatest gift that ever Subjects gave their King at once and it was in requitall that his Majesty pass'd the Petition of Right wherby the liberty of the free-born subject is so strongly and clearly vindicated So that ther is a fair correspondence like to be 'twixt his Majesty and the two Houses The Duke made a notable Speech at the Counsell Table in joy hereof amongst other passages one was that hereafter his Majestie would please to make the Parliament his Favorit and he to have the honor to remain still his servant No more now but that I continue Lond. 25. Sept. 1628. Your Lordships most dutifull Servant J. H. VII To the Right Honble the La Scroope Countess of Sunderland from Stamford Madam I Lay yesternight at the Post House at Stilton and this morning betimes the Post-master came to my beds head and told me the Duke of Buckingham was slain my faith was not then strong enough to believe it till an hour ago I met in the way with my Lord of Rutland your Brother riding Post towards London it pleas'd him to alight and shew me a Letter wherin ther was an exact relation of all the circumstances of this sad Tragaedy Upon Saturday last which was but next before yesterday being Bartholmew yeeve the Duke did rise up in a well disposed humor out of his bed and cutt a Caper or two and being ready and having been under the Barbers hands wher the Murtherer had thought to have don the deed for hee was leaning upon the Window all the while hee went to breakfast attended by a great Company of Commanders where Monsieur Soubize came unto him and whispered him in the ear that Rochell was relieved the Duke seem'd to slight the news which made som think that Soubize went away discontented After Breakfast the Duke going out Colonell Fryer stepped before him and stopping him upon som busines one Lieutenant Felton being behind made a thrust with a common tenpeny knife over Fryers arm at the Duke which lighted so fatally that hee slit his heart in two leaving the knife sticking in the body The Duke took out the knife and threw it away and laying his hand on his Sword and drawn it half out said the Villain hath killd me meaning as som think Colonell Fryer for ther had been som difference 'twixt them so reeling against a Chimney hee fell down dead The Dutchess being with child hearing the noise below cam in her night geers from her Bed Chamber which was in an upper room to a kind of Rayl and thence beheld him weltering in his own bloud Felton had lost his Hat in the croud wherin ther was a Paper sowed wherin he declared that the reason which mov'd him to this act was no grudg of his own though hee had been far behind for his pay and had bin put by his Captains place twice but in regard he thought the Duke an enemy to the State because he was branded in Parliament therfore what he did was for the public good of his Countrey Yet he got clearly down and so might have gon to his horse which was tied to a hedg hard by but he was so amazed that he missd his way and so struck into the pastry where though the cry went that som Frenchman had don 't he thinking the word was Felton he boldly confessed t was he that had don the deed and so he was in their hands Iack Stamford would have run at him but he was kept off by Mr. Nicholas so being carried up to a Tower Captain Minâ—…e toare off his spurrs and asking how he durst attempt such an act making him beleeve the Duke was not dead he answerd boldly that he knew he was dispatchd for â—…was not he but the hand of heaven that gave the stroak and though his whole body had bin coverd over with armour of proof he could not have avoyded it Captain Charles Price went Post presently to the King four miles off who being at prayers on his knees when it was told him yet he never stirrd nor was he disturbd a whit till all divine service was don This was the relation as far as my memory could bear in my Lord of Rutlands Letter who willd me to remember him
This new-year scarce would serve me so farewell Cal. Apr. 1629. Your son and servitor J. H. XXVIII To the right honble the Earl of Bristol at Sherburn Castle My Lord I Attended my Lord Cottington before he went on his journey towards Spain and put him in mind of the old busines against the Vice-roy of Sardinia to see whether any good can be don and to learn whether the Conde or his son be Solvent He is to land at 〈◊〉 one of the Kings ships attends him and som Merchant men take the advantage of this Convoy The news that keeps greatest noise now is that the Emperour hath made a favourable peace with the Dane for Tilly had cross'd the Elve and entred deep into Holstein land and in all probability might have carried all before him yet that King had honorable termes given him and a peace is concluded though without the privity of England But I beleeve the King of Denmarc far'd the better because he is Granchild to Charles the Emperours sister Now it seems another spirit is like to fall upon the Emperour for they write that Gustavus King of Swâ—…thland is struck into Germany and hath taken Meclenburgh the ground of his quarrell as I hear is that the Emperour would not acknowledg much less give audience to his Ambassadors he also gives out to com for the assistance of his Allies the Dukes of Pomerland and Meclenburgh nor do I hear that he speaks any thing yet of the Pr. Palsgraves business Don Carlos Coloma is expected here from Flanders about the samâ—… time that my Lord Cottington shall be arriv'd at the Court of Spain God send us an Honourable peace for as the Spaniard saies Nunâ—…avi tan mala paz que no fuesse mejor que la mejor guerra London 20 May. 1629 Your Lordships most humble and ready Servant J. H. XXX To my Cosen I. P. at Mr. Conradus Cousin A Letter of yours was lately deliverd me I made a shift to read the superscription but within I wonderd what language it might be in which 't was written at first I thought 't was Hebrew or som of her Dialects and so went from the liver to the heart from the right hand to the left to read it but could maâ—…e nothing of it then I thought it might be the Chineses language and went to read the words perpendicular and the lines were so crooked and distorted that no coherence could be made Greekâ—… â—… perceiv'd it was not nor Latin or English So I gave it for meere gibbrish and your characters to be rather Hieroglyphicks then Letters The best is you keep your lines at a good distance like those in Chancery-bills who as a Clerk said were made so wide of purpose because the Clients should have room enough to walk between them without justling one another yet this widenes had bin excusable if your lines had bin streight but they were full of odd kind of Undulations and windings If you can write no otherwise one may read your thoughts as soon as your characters It is som excuse for you that you are but a young beginner I pray let it appear in your next what a proficient you are otherwise som blame may light on me that placed you there Let me receive no more Gibbrish or Hieroglyphicks from you but legible letters that I may acquaint your friends accordingly of your good proceedings So I rest Westminst 20 Sept. 1629. Your very loving Cosen J. H. XXXI To the Lo. Viscount Wentworth Lo. President of York My Lord MY last was of the first current since which I receiv'd one from your Lordship and your comands therin which I shall ever entertain with a great deal of cheerfulnes The greatest news from abroad is that the French King with his Cardinal are com again on this side the Hills having don his business in Italy and Savoy and reserv'd still Pignerol in his hands which will serve him as a key to enter Italy at pleasure Upon the highest Mountain 'mongst the Alps he left this ostentous inscription upon a great Marble piller A la memoire eternelle de Lovis treiziesme Roy de France de Navarre Tres-Auguste tres-victorieux tres-heureux Conquerant tres-juste Lequel apres avoir vaincu toutes les Nations de l'Europe Il à encore triumphé les elements Du ciel de la terre Ayant passé deux fois ces-monts au mois de Mars avec son Armee Victorieuse pour remmettre les Princes d'Italie en leurs estats Defendre protegerses Alliez To the eternall memory of Lewis the thirteenth King of France and Navarr most gracious most victorious most happy most just a Conquerer who having orecom all Nations of Europ he hath also triumph'd over the Elements of Heaven and Earth having twise pass'd ore these hills in the month of March with his victorious Army to restore the Princes of Italy to their estates and to defend and protect his Allies So I take my leave for the present and rest Westmin 5 Aug. 1629. Your Lopp most humble and ready Servitor J. H. XXXII To Sir Keneime Digby Knight SIR GIve me leave to congratulat your happy return from the Levant and the great honour you have acquir'd by your gallant comportment in Algier in reescating so many English slaves by bearing up so bravely against the Venetian Fleet in the bay of Scanderoon and making the Pantaloni to know themselves and you better I do not remember to have read or heard that those huge Galleasses of Saint Mark were beaten afore I give you the joy also that you have born up against the Venetian Ambassadour here and vindicated your self of those foule scandalls he had cast upon you in your absence Wheras you desire me to joyne with my Lord Cottington and others to make an Affidavit touching Bartholomew Spinola whither he be Vezino de Madrid viz. free Denison of Spaine I am ready to serve you herein or to do any other office that may right you and tend to the making of your prize good Yet I am very sorry that our Aleppo Merchants suffer'd so much I shall be shortly in London and I will make the greater speed because I may serve you So I humbly kiss my noble Ladies hand and rest Westmin 25 Novemb. 1629. Your thrice-assured Servitor J. H. XXXIII To the Right honble Sir Peter Wicths Ambr. at Constantple. SIR MAster Simon Digby delivered me one from your Lordship of the first of Iune and I was extremely glad to have it for I had receav'd nothing from your Lordship a twelvemonth before Mr. Controuler Sir Tho. Edmonds is lately return'd from France having renew'd the peace which was made up to his hands before by the Venetian Ambassadors who had much labour'd in it and had concluded all things beyond the Alps when the King of France was at Susa to relieve Casal The Monsieur that was to fetch him from Saint Denis to Paris put a kind of jeering complement upon him
blossoming as it were in every Line I mean those sweet expressions of Love and Wit which in every period were intermingled with so much Art that they seem'd to contend for mastery which was the strongest I must confesse that you put me to hard shifto to correspond with you in such exquisit strains and raptures of Love which were so lively that I must needs judg them to proceed from the motions from the Diastole and Systole of a Heart truly affected certainly your heart did dictat every syllable you writ and guided your hand all along Sir give me leave to tell you that not a dram nor a doze not a scruple of this pretious love of yours is lost but it is safely tresur'd up in my Brest and answer'd in like proportion to the full mine to you is as cordiall it is passionat and perfect as love can be I thank you for the desire you have to know how it fares with me abroad I thank God I am perfectly well and well contented with this wandring cours of life a while I never enjoyed my health better but I was like to endanger it two nights ago for being in som joviall company abroad and coming late to our lodging we were suddenly surprized by a crue of Filous of night Rogues who drew upon us and as we had exchang'd some blowâ—… it pleas'd God the Chevatieur de Guet an Officer who goeâ—… up and down the Streets all night a horseback to prevent disorders pass'd by and so rescued us but Iack White was hurt and I had two thrusts in my Clock Ther 's never a night passeth but some robbing or murther is committed in this Town so that it is not safe to go late any where specially about the Pont-Neuf the New Bridg though Henry the Great himself â—…ies Centinell ther in Arms upon a huge Florentine horse and sits bare to every one that passeth an improper posture me thinks to a King on horseback not longsince one of the Secretaries of 〈◊〉 wherof ther are here always four having bin invited to the Suburbs of Saint Germains to supper left order with one of his Laquays to bring him his horse about nine it so happen'd that a mischance befell the horse which lam'd him as he went a watring to the Seine insomuch that the Secretary was put to beat the hoof himself and Foot it home but as he was passing the Pont-Neuf with his Laquay carrying a Torch before him he might ore hear a noise of clashing of Swords and Fighting and looking under the Torch â—…d perceiving they were but two he bad his Laquay go on they had not made many paces but two armed men with their Pistols cock'd and swords drawn made puffing towards them whereof one had a paper in his hand which he said he had casually took up in the streets and the difference between them was about that Paper therefore they desir'd the Secretary to read it with a great deal of complement the Secretary took out his spectacles and fell a reading of the said Paper whereof the substance was That it should be known to all men that whosoever did passe over that Bridge after nine a Clock at night in Winter and ten in Summer was to leave his Cloak behind him and in case of no Cloak his Hat The Secretary starting at this one of the Camerades told him That he thought that Paper concern'd him so they unmantled him of a new Plush Cloak and my Secretary was content to go home quietly and en Cuerpo This makes me think often of the excellent Nocturnall Government of our City of London wher one may passe and repasse securely all hours of the night if he give good words to the Watch. Ther is a gentle calm of Peace now throughout all France and the King intends to make a progresse to all the Frontier Towns of the Kingdom to see how they are fortified The Favourit Luines strengthneth himself more and more in his minionship but he is much murmured at in regard the accesse of Suiters to him is so difficult which made a Lord of this Land say That three of the hardest things in the world were To quadrat a Circlâ—… to find out the Philosophers Stone and to speak with the Duke of Luines I have sent you by Vacandary the Post the French Bever and Tweeses you writ for Bever-hats are grown dearer of late because the Iesuits have got the Monopoly of them from the King Farewell dear child of Vertue and Minion of the Museâ—… and continue to love Paris 1. of May. 1620. Your J. H. XVIII To Sir James Crofts from Paris SIR I Am to set forward this week for Spain and if I can find no commodity of embarcation at Saint Malos I must be forc'd to journey it all the way by Land and clammer up the huge Pyreneyhills but I could not bid Paris adieu till I had conveyed my true and constant respects to you by this Letter I was yesterday to wait upon Sir Herbert Croft at Saint Germains where I met with a French Gentleman who amongst other curiosities which he pleased to shew me up and down Paris brought me to that place where the late King was slain and to that wher the Marquis of Ancre was shot and so made me a punctuall relation of all the circumstances of those two acts which in regard they were rare and I beleeve two of the notablest Accidents that ever happen'd in France I thought it worth the labour to make you partaker of som part of his discours France as all Christendom besides for ther was then a truce twixt Spain and the Hollander was in a profound Peace and had continued so twenty yeers together when Henry the fourth fell upon some great Martiall design the bottome whereof is not known to this day and being rich for he had heap'd up in the Bastile a mount of Gold that was as high as a Lance he levied a huge Army of 40000 men whence came the Song The King of France with fourty thousand men and upon a sudden he put this Army in perfect equippage and some say he invited our Prince Henry to come unto him to be a sharer in his exploits But going one afternoon to the Bastile to see his Tresure and Ammunition his Coach stopp'd suddenly by reason of some Colliers and other Carts that were in that narrow street whereupon one Ravillac a lay Jesuit who had a whole twelve month watch'd an opportunity to do the act put his foot boldly upon one of the wheels of the Coach and with a long Knife stretch'd himself over their shoulders who were in the Boot of the Coach and reach'd the King at the end and stab'd him right in the left side to the heart and pulling out the fatall Steel he doubled his thrust the King with a ruthfull voice cryed out Ie suis blesse I am hurr and suddenly the bloud issued at his mouth The Regicide villain was apprehended and
that Tragedie and he pleas'd to relate unto me the particulars of it which was thus When Henry the fourth was slain the Queen Dowager took the Reins of the Government into her hands during the young Kings Minority and amongst others whom she advanc'd Signor Conchino a Florentin and her Foster-Brother was one Her countenance came to shine so strongly upon him that he became her onely confident and favourit insomuch that she made him Marquis of Ancre one of the twelve Marshals of France Governour of Normandy and conferr'd divers other Honours and Offices of trust upon him and who but he The Princes of France could not endure this domineering of a stranger therefore they leagu'd together to suppresse him by Arms The Queen Regent having intelligence hereof surpriz'd the Prince of Conde and clap'd him up in the Bastile the Duke of Main fled hereupon to Peronne in Pycardie and other great men put themselves in an Armed posture to stand upon their guard The young King being told that the Marquis of Ancre was the ground of this discontentment commanded Monsieur de Vitry Captain of his Guard to Arrest him and in case of resistance to kill him This busines was carried very closely till the next morning that the said Marquis was coming to the Louvre with a ruffling train of Gallants after him and passing over the Draw-Bridge at the Court-Gate Vitry stood there with the Kings Guard about him and as the Marquis entred he told him that he had a Commission from the King to apprehend him therefore he demanded his Sword the Marquis hereupon put his hand upon his Sword some thought to yeeld it up others to make opposition in the mean time Vitry discharg'd a Pistoll at him and so dispatch'd him The King being above in his Gallery ask'd what noise that was below one smilingly answer'd nothing Sir but that the Marshall of Ancre is slain who slew him The Captain of your Guard why Because he would have drawn his Sword at Your Majesties Royall Commission then the King replied Vitry hath done well and I will maintain the act Presently the Queen Mother had all her Guard taken from her except six men and sixteen Women and so she was banish'd Paris and commanded to retire to Blois Ancre's Body was buried that night in a Church hard by the Court but the next morning when the Laquays and Pages who are more unhappy here then the Apprentises in London broke up his Grave tore his Coffin to peeces rip'd the Winding-Sheet and tied his Body to an Asses Tail and so dragg'd him up and down the Gutters of Paris which are none of the sweetest they then slic'd off his Ears and nail'd them upon the Gates of the City they cut off his Genitories and they say he was hung like an Asse and sent them for a present to the Duke of Main the rest of his Body they carried to the New-Bridg and hung him his Heels upwards and Head downwards upon a new Gibbet that had bin set up a little before to punish them who should speak ill of the present Government and it was his chance to have the Maiden-head of it himself His Wife was hereupon apprehended imprisond and beheaded for a Witch som few dayes after upon a surmise that she had enchanted the Queen to dote so upon her Husband and they say the young Kings Picture was found in her Closet in Virgin-Wax with one Leg melted away a little after a processe was form'd against the Marquis her Husband and so he was condemn'd after death This was a right act of a French popular fury which like an angry torrent is irresistible nor can any Banks Boundaries or Dikeâ—… stop the impetuous rage of it How the young King will prosper after so high and an unexampled act of violence by beginning his Raign and embrâ—…ing the Walls of his own Court with blood in that manner ther are divers censures When I am settled in Spain you shall hear from me in the interim I pray let your Prayers accompany me in this long journey and when you write to Wales I pray acquaint our frends with my welfare So I pray God blesse us both and send us a happy enterview Paris 8. of September 1620. Your loving Brother J. H. XX. To my Cousin W. Vaughan Esq from Saint Malo Cousin I Am now in French Britany I went back from Paris to Roüen and so through all low Normandy to a little Port call'd Granville wher I embark'd for this Town of Saint Malo but I did purge so violently at Sea that it put me into a Burning Feavour for some few dayes wherof I thank God I am newly recovered and finding no opportunity of shipping here I must be forc'd to turn my intended Sea voyage to a long land journey Since I came to this Province I was curious to converse with some of the lower Bretons who speak no other Language but our Welsh for their radicall words are no other but 't is no wonder for they were a Colony of Welsh at first as the name of this Province doth imply as also the Latin name Armorica which though it passe for Latin yet it is but pure Welsh and signifies a Countrey bordring up the Sea as that arch Heretick was call'd Pelagius a Pelago his name being Morgan I was a little curious to peruse the Annals of this Province and during the time that it was a Kingdom ther wer four Kings of the name Hoell whereof one was call'd Hoell the Great This Town of Saint Malo hath one rarity in it for ther is here a perpetuall Garrison of English but they are of English Dogs which are let out in the night to guard the Ships and eat the Gardens up and down the Streets and so they are shut up again in the morning It will be now a good while before I shall have conveniency to send to you or receive from you howsoever let me retain still some little room in your memory and somtimes in your meditations while I carry you about me perpetually not onely in my head but in heart and make you travell all along with me thus from Town to Countrey from Hill to Dale from Sea to Land up and down the World and you must be contented to be Subâ—…ect to these incertain removes and perambulations untill it shall please God to fix me again England nor need you while you are thus my concomitant through new places evry day to fear any ill usage as long as I farewell St. Malo 25. of September 1620. Yours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 J. H. XXI To Sir John North Kt. from Rochell SIR 〈◊〉 Am newly com to Rochell nor am I sorry that I went somwhat out of my way to see this Town not to tell you true out of â—…ny extraordinary love I bear to the people for I do not find â—…em so gentle and debonnair to strangers nor so Hospitable aâ—…â—…e rest of France but I excuse them for it
greatest town of Europe whence arose the Proverb Les flamen tient un gan qui tiendrá Paris dedans But the beautifullest richest strongest and most privileg'd City is Antwerp in Brabant being the Marquisat of the holy Empire and drawing nere to the nature of a Hans Town for she payes the Prince no other Tax but the Impost Before the dissociation of the seventeen Provinces this Town was one of the greatest Marts of Europe and greatest bank this side the Alpes most Princes having their Factors here to take up or let out moneys and here our Gresham got all his wealth and built our Royall Exchange by modell of that here The Merchandise was brought hither from Germany France and Italy by Land and from England Spain and the Hans towns by Sea was estimated at above twenty Millions of Crowns every year but as no violent thing is long lasting and as t is fatall to all Kingdomes States Towns and Languages to have their period so this renown'd Mart hath suffer'd a shrewd eclipse yet no utter downfall the Exchange of the King of Spains money and some small land trafic keeping still life in her though nothing so full of vigor as it was Therfore there is no town under the Archduke where the States have more conceal'd friends than in Antwerp who would willingly make them her Masters in hope to recover her former commerce which after the last twelve years truce began to revive a little the States permitting to passe by Lillo's sconce which coÌ„mands the river of Skeld and lyeth in the teeth of the Town som small cross-saild ships to passe hither There is no place hath been more passive than this and more often pillag'd amongst other times she was once plunder'd most miserably by the Spaniards under the conduct of a Priest immediatly upon Don Iohn of Austria's death she had then her Stat-house burn'd which had cost a few years before above twenty thousand Crowns the building and the spoils that were carried away thence amounted to forty Tuns of gold Thus she was reduc'd not only to poverty but a kind of captivity being commanded by a Citadell which she preferr'd before a Garrison this made the Merchant retire and seek a more free Randevous som in Zeland som in Holland specially in Amsterdam which rose upon the fall of this Town as Lisbon did from Venice upon the discovery of the Cape of good Hope though Venice be not nere so much crestfall'n I will now steer my discours to the united Provinces as they term themselves which are six in number viz. Holland Zeland Frisland Overyssell Gronninghen and Utrecht three parts of Gilderland and some Frontire Towns and places of contribution in Brabant and Flanders In all these ther is no innovation at all introduc'd notwithstanding this great change in point of Government except that the College of States represents the Duke or Earl in times pass'd which College consists of the chiefest Gentry of the Countrey surintendants of Towns and the principall Magistrates Every Province and great Town choose yearly certain Deputies to whom they give plenary power to deliberat with the other States of all affairs touching the public welfare of the whole Province and what they vote stands for Law These being assembled consult of all matters of State Justice and War the Advocat who is prime in the Assembly propounds the busines and after collects the suffrages first of the Provinces then of the Towns which being put in form he delivers in pregnant and moving speeches and in case ther be a dissonance and reluctancy of opinions he labors to accord and reconcile them concluding alwayes with the major voyces Touching the administration of Justice the President who is monthly chang'd with the great Counsell have the supreme judicature from whose Decrees ther 's no appeal but a revision and then som of the choycest Lawyers amongst them are appointed For their Opidan Government they have variety of Officers a Scout Bourgmasters a Balue and 〈◊〉 The Scout is chosen by the States who with the Balues have the judging of all criminall matters in last resort without appeal they have also the determining of Civill Causes but those are appealable to the Hague Touching their chiefest Governor or Generall rather now having made proof of the Spaniard German French and English and agreeing with none of them they lighted at last upon a man of their own mould Prince Maurice now their Generall in whom concurr'd divers parts suitable to such a charge having been train'd up in the wars by his Father who with three of his Uncles and divers of his kindred sacrific'd their lives in the States quarrell he hath thriven well since he came to the Government hee clear'd Friesland Overyssell and Groninghen in lesse than 18 months He hath now continued their Governor and Generall by sea and land above 33 years he hath the election of Magistrats the pardning of Malefactors and divers other Prerogatives yet they are short of the reach of Soverainty and of the authority of the ancient Counts of Holland Though I cannot say 't is a mercenary employment yet he hath a limited allowance nor hath he any implicit command when he goes to the field for either the Counsell of War marcheth with him or els he receives daily directions from them moreover the States themselves reserve the power of nominating all Commanders in the Army which being of sundry Nations deprive him of those advantages he might have to make himself absolut Martiall-Discipline is no where so regular as amongst the States no wher are ther lesser insolencies committed upon the Burger noâ—… robberies upon the Countrey Boors nor are the Officers permitted to insult ore the common soldier When the Army marcheth not one dares take so much as an apple off a tree or a root out of the earth in their passage and the reason is they are punctually paid their pay els I believe they would be insolent enough and were not the pay so certain I think few or none would serve them They speak of sixty thousand they have in perpetuall pay by Land and Sea at home and in the Indies The King of France was us'd to maintain a Regiment but since Henry the Greats death the paiment hath been neglected The means they have to maintain these Forces to pay their Governor to discharge all other expence as the preservation of their Diâ—…es which comes to a vast expence yearly is the ancient revenue of the Counts of Holland the impropriaâ—… Church living Imposts upon all Merchandise which is greater upon exported than imported goods Excise upon all commodities as well for necessity as pleasure taxes upon every Acre of ground which is such that the whole Countrey returns into their hands every three years Add hereunto the Art they use in their bank by the rise and fall of money the fishing upon our Coasts whither they send every Autumâ—… above 700 Hulks or Busses which in the voiages they
a good while the interest of a Friend in me but you have me now in a streighter tie for I am your brother by your sate mariage which hath turnd friendship into an alliance you have in your arms one of my dearest sisters who I hope nay I know will make a good wife I heartily congratulate this mariage and pray that a blessing may descend upon it from that place where all mariages are made which is from Heaven the Fountain of all felicitie to this prayer I think it no prophaness to add the saying of the Lyric Poet Horace in whom I know you delight much and I send it you as a kind of Epithalamium and wish it may be verified in you both Foelices ter amplius Quos irrupta tenet copula nec malis Divulsus querimoniis Suprema citius solvet amor die Thus English'd That Couple's more than trebly blest Which nuptiall bonds do so combine That no distast can them untwine Till the last day send both to rest So dear brother I much rejoyce for this alliance and wish you may encrease and multiply to your hearts content May the 20 1622. Your affectionat brother J. H. XVII To my brother Doctor Howell from Brussels SIR I Had yours in Latin at Roterdam whence I corresponded with you in the same Language I heard though not from you since I came from Brussells that our sister Anne is lately maried to Mr Hugh Penry I am heartily glad of it and wish the rest of our fisters were so well bestowd for I know Mr Penry to be a Gentleman of a great deal of solid worth and integrity and one that will prove a great Husband and a good Oâ—…conomist Here is news that Mansfelâ—… hath receiv'd a foyl lately in Germany and that the Duke of Brunswick alias Bishop of Halverstadt hath lost one of his arms This maks them vapor here extremely and the last week I heard of a play the Jesuits of Antwerp made in derogation or rather derision of the proceedings of the Prince Palsgrave where amongst divers other passages they feignd a Post to com puffing upon the stage and being askd what news he answerd how the Palsgrave was like to have shortly a huge formidable Army for the King of Denmark was to send him a hundred thousand the Hollanders a hundred thousand and the King of great Britaine a hundred thousand but being asked thousands of what he replied the first would send 100000. red Herings the second 100000. Cheeses and the last 100000. Ambassadors alluding to Sir Richard Weston and Sir Edward Conway my Lord Carlile Sir Arthur Chichester and lastly the Lord Digby who have bin all imploy'd in quality of Ambassadors in lesse than two years since the beginning of these German broils touching the last having bin with the Emperor and the Duke of Bavaria and carried himself with such high wisdom in his negotiations with the one and stoutnes with the other and having preserv'd Count Mansfielâ—…s troups from disbanding by pawning his own argentry and Jewells he pass'd this way where they say the Archduke did esteem him more than any Ambassador that ever was in this Court and the report is yet very fresh of his high abilities Wee are to remove hence in coach towards Paris the next week where we intend to winter or hard by when you have opportunity to write to Wales I pray present my duty to my Father and my love to the rest I pray remember me also to all at the Hill and the Dale specially to that most vertuous Gentleman Sir Iohn Franklin So my dear brother I pray God continue and improve his blessings to us both and bring us again together with comfort Iune 10. 1622. Your brother J. H. XVIII To Dr. The Prichard at Worcester House SIR FRiendship is that great chain of human societie and intercours of letters is one of the chiefest links of that chain you know this as well as I therfore I pray let our friendship let our love that national ty of British love that vertuous ty of Academiâ—… love be still strengthned as heretofore and receive daily more and more vigor I am now in Paris and ther is weekly opportunity to receive and send and if you please to send you shall be sure to receive for I make it a kind of Religion to be punctuall in this kind of payment I am heartily glad to hear that you are becom a domestic member to that most noble Family of the Worcesters and I hold it to be a very good foundation for future preferment I wish you may be as happy in them as I know they will be happy in you Fâ—…ance is now barren of news only there was a shrewd brush lately twixt the young King and his Mother who having the Duke of Espernon and others for her Champions met him in open field about pont de Ce but she went away with the worst such was the rare dutifulnes of the King that he forgave her upon his knees and pardon'd all her complices And now ther is an universall Peace in this Countrey which t is thought will not last long for ther is a war intended against them of the reformd Religion for this King though he be slow in speech yet is he active in spirit and loves motion I am here camrade to a gallant young Gentleman my old acquaintance who is full of excellent parts which he hath acquir'd by a choice breeding the Baron his Father gave him both in the University and the Inns of Court so that for the time I envy no mans happines So with my hearty commends and 〈◊〉 â—…ndear'd love unto you I rest 〈◊〉 3. Aug. â—…622 Yours whiles Jam. Howell XIX To the honble Sir Tho. Savage after Lord Savage at his House upon Tower-Hill honble SIR THose many undeserved favors for which I stand oblig'd to your self and my noble Lady since the time I had the happines to com first under your roof and the command you pleas'd to lay upon me at my departure thence call upon me at this time to give you account how matters passe in France That which for the present affords most plenty of news is Rochell which the King threatneth to block up this Spring with an army by sea under the comand of the D. of Nevers and by a land army under his own conduct both sides prepare he to assault the Rochellers to defend The King declares that he proceeds not against them for their Religion which he is still contented to tolerat but for holding an Assembly against his Declarations They answer that their Assembly is grounded upon his Majesties royal Warrant given at the dissolution of the last Assembly at Lodun wher he solemnly gave his word to permit them to re-assemble when they would six months asâ—…er if the breaches of their liberty and grievances which they then propounded wer not redressed and they say this being unperform'd it stands not with the sacred Person of a
knowledg it self and from the rotten kernells of that fatall Apple This besides the infirmities that attend the body hath brought in perversity of will depravation of mind and hath cast a kind of cloud upon our intellectualls that they cannot discern the true essence of things with that clearnes as the protoplast our first Parent could but we are involved in a mist and grope as it were ever since in the dark as if truth wer got into som dungeon or as the old wisard said into som deep pit which the shallow apprehension of men could not fathom Hence comes it that the earth is rent into so many religions and those religions torn into so many schismes and various forms of devotion as if the heavenly Majesty were delighted as much in diversities of worship as in diversities of works The first Religion that ever was reduced to exact rules and â—…iruall observances was that of the Hebrews the ancient peeple of God called afterwards Iudaisme the second Christianity the third Mahometisme which is the youngest of all religions Touching Paganisme and heathenish Idolatrie they scarce deserve the name of Religion but for the former three ther is this analogy between them that they all agree in the first person of the Trinity and all his attributes What kind of Religion ther was before the Floud it is in vain to make any researches ther having bin no monuments at all left besides that little we find in Moses and the Phaenician story but Seths pillars and those so defac'd that nothing was legible upon them though Iosephus saith that one was extant in his daies as also the oke under which Abraham feasted God Almighty which was 2000 yeers after The religion or Cabâ—…l of the Hebrews was transferred from the Patriarchs to Moses and from him to the Prophets It was honoured with the apearance and promulgations of God himself specially the better part 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I mean the decalogue containing the ten Commandements 〈◊〉 being most of them morall and agreeing with the common notions of man are in force all the world over The Jews at this day are divided to three Sects the first which is the greatest are call'd the Talmudists in regard that besides the Holy Scriptures they embrace the Talmud which is stuff'd with the traditions of their Rabbins and Caâ—…ams The second receive the Scripture alone The third the Pentateuch only viz. the five Books of Moses which are called Samaritanes Now touching what part of the earth is possessed by Jews I cannot find they have any at all peculiar to themselves but in regard of their murmurings their frequent Idolatries defections and that they crucified the Lord of life this once select Nation of God and the Inhabitants of the Land flowing with milk and hony is becom now a scorned squandered peeple all the earth over being ever since incapable of any coalition or reducement into one body politic There where they are most without mixture is Tiberias in Palestine which Amurath gave Mendez the Jew whither and to Ierusalem upon any conveniency they convey the bones of their dead friends from all places to be reinterred They are to be found in all Mercantile Towns and great Marts both in Africk Asia and Europe the dominions of England of the Spaniard and French excepted and as their persons so their profession is despicable being for the most part but Brokers every where Among other places they are allowed to be in Rome her self near St. Peters chair for they advance trade whersoever they com with the banks of mony and so are permitted as necessary evills but put case the whol Nation of the Jews now living were united into one collective body yet according to the best conjecture and exactest computation that I could hear made by the knowingst men they would not be able to peeple a countrey bigger then the seventeen Provinces Those that are dispersed now in Christendom and Turky are the remnants only of the Tribes of Iuda and Benjamin with som Levites which returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel The common opinion is that the other ten are utterly lost but they themselves fancy that they are in India a mighty nation environed with stony rivers which alwaies cease to run their course on their Sabbath from whence they expect their Messias who shall in the fulnes of time ore run the world with fire and sword and reestablish them in a temporall glorious state But this opinion swayes most among the Orientall Jews wheras they of the West attend the coming of their Messias from Portugall which language is more common among them then any other and thus much in brief of the Jews as much as I could digest and comprehend within the compas of this paper-sheet and let it serve for the accomplishment of the first part of your desire In my next I shall give you the best satisfaction I can concerning the extent of Christianity up and down the globe of the earth which I shall speedily send for now that I have undertaken such a task my pen shall not rest till I have finished it so I am Westmin 1 Aug. 1635. Your most affectionat ready Servant J. H. IX To Doctor B. SIR HAving in my last sent you somthing touching the state of Iudaisin up and down the world in this you shall receive what extent Christianity hath which is the second Religion in succession of time and truth A Religion that makes not sense so much subject to reason as reason succumbent to Faith Ther is no Religion so harsh and difficult to flesh and bloud in regard of divers mysterious positions it consists of as the Incarnation Resurrection the â—…nity c. which as one sayd are bones to Philosophy but milk to Faith Ther is no Religion so purely spirituall and abstracted from common naturall idea's and sensuall happines as the Christian No Religion that excites man more to the love and practise of vertue and hatred of vice or that prescribes greater rewards for the one and punishments for the other A Religion that in a most miraculous manner did expand her self and propagat by simplicity humblenes and by a meer passive way of fortitude growing up like the palm tree under the heavy weight of persecution for never any Religion had more powerfull opposition by various kinds of punishments oppressions and tortures which may be said to haue deckd her with rubies in her very cradle In so much that it is granted by her very enemies that the Christian in point of passive valour hath exceeded all other nations upon earth And t is a thing of wonderment how at her very first growth she flew over the heads of so many interjacent vast Regions into this remote Isle so soon that her rays should shine upon the Crown of a British King first of any I mean King Lucius the true Proto Christian King in the daies of Eleutherius at which time she receiv'd her propagation but for her plantation she had it long
that the Egyptian had a Religion and Kings eighteen thousand yeers since yet for matter of Philosophy and Science he had it from the Chaldean He from the Gymnotophists and Brachmans of India which Countrey as she is the next neighbor to the rising Sun in reference to this side of the Hemisphear so the beams of learning did first enlighten her Egypt was the Nurse of that famous Hermes Trismagistus who having no other scale but that of naturall reason mounted very high towards heaven for he hath many very divine sayings wherof I think it not impertinent to insert here a few first he saith that all humane sins are veniall with the Gods impiety excepted 2. That gâ—…odnes belongs to the Gods piety to men revenge and wickednes to the devills 3. That the Word is lucens Dei silius the bright Son of God c. From Egypt Theoricall knowledg came down the Nile and landed at som of the Greek Islands wher 'twixt the 33 34 and the 35 Century of yeers after the Creation there flourished all those renowned Philosophers that sway now in our Schools Plato flew highest in divine notions for som call him another Moses speaking athenian In one of his Letters to a friend of his he writes thus When I seriously salute thee I begin my Letter with one God when otherwise with many his Schollar Aristotle commended himself at his death to the Being of Beings and Socrates may be said to be a Martyr for the first Person of the Trinity these great Secretaries of Nature by studying the vast Volume of the World came by main strength of reason to the knowledg of one Deity or primus motor and of his attributes they found by undenyable consequences that he was infinite eternall ubiquitary omnipotent and not capable of a definition which made the Philosopher being commanded by his King to define God to ask the respite of a day to meditat theron then two then four at last he ingeniously confessed that the more he thought to dive into this mystery the more he was ingulph'd in the speculation of it for the quiddity and essence of the incomprehensible Creator cannot imprint any formall conception upon the finite intellect of the Creature to this I might refer the Altar which Saint Paul found among the Greeks with this Inscription 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To the unknown God From the Greek Isles Philosophy came to Italy thence to this Western world among the Druydes whereof those of this Isle were most celebrous for wee read that the Gauls now the French came to Britanny in great numbers to be instructed by them The Romans wer mighty great Zelots in their Idolatry and their best Authors affirm that they extended their Monarchy so far and neer by a particular reverence they had of their Gods which the Spaniard seems now to imitate though those Gods of theirs wer made of men and of good fellows at first besides in the course of their conquest they adopted any strange Gods to the society of theirs and brought them solemnly to Rome and the reason as one saith was that they believed the more Gods they had the safer they were a few being not sufficient to conserve and protect so great an Empire The Roman Gentiles had their Altars and Sacrifices their Archflamins and vestall Nuns And it seems the same genius reigns still in them for in the Primitive Church that which the Pagans misliked most in Christianity was that it had not the face and form of a religion in regard it had no Oblations Altars Images which may be a good reason why the Sacrifices of the Mass and other Ceremonies wer first instituted to allure the Gentiles to Christianity But to return a little further to our former subject in the condition that man-kind stands now if the Globe of the earth wer divided to thirty parts t is thought that Idolaters with horror I speak it having as I said before the one half of Asia and Afric both for the inland Country and Maritim Coasts with four parts of five in America inhabit twenty parts of those Regions that are already found out upon earth besides in the opinion of the knowingst and most inquisitive Mathematitions ther is towards the southern clime as much land yet undiscovered as may equal in dimension the late new world in regard as they hold ther must be of necessity such a portion of earth to balance the Centre on all sides and t is more than probable that the Inhabitants there must be Pagans Of all kind of Idolaters those are the horridest who adore the Devill whom they call Tantara who appears often unto them specially in a Haraucane though he be not visible to others In som places they worship both God and the Devill the one that he may do them good the other that they may do them no hurt the first they call tantum the other squantum 'T were presumption beyond that of Lucifers or Adam's for man to censure the justice of the Creator in this particular why hee makes daily such innumerable vessells of dishonor It is a wiser and safer course far to sit down in an humble admiration and cry out on the profound inscrutable judgments of God! his ways are past finding out and so to acknowlege with the divine Philosopher Quod oculus vespertilionis ad solem idem est omnis intellectus humanus ad Deum what the Eye of a Bat is to the Sun the same is all human understanding to God-wards Now to draw to a Conclusion touching the respective largnes of Christianity and Mahometisme upon the earth I find the first to exceed taking the new world with the old considering the spacious Plantations of the Spaniard in America the Colonies the English have there in Virginia New-England and Charibbi Islands with those of the French in Canada and of the Hollander in East India nor do I find that ther is any region purely Mahometan without intermixtures as Christianity hath many which makes me to be of a differing opinion to that Gentleman who held that Christianity added little to the generall religion of man-kind Now touching the latitude of Christian faith in reference to the differing Professors therof as in my former I shewd that the Eastern Churches were more spacious than the Latin or Roman excepting the two Indies so they who have fallen off from her in the Western parts are not so far inferior to her in Europe as som would make one beleeve which will appear if we cast them in counterbalance Among Roman Catholicks ther is the Emperor and in him the King of Hungary the three Kings of Spain France and Poland all Italy the Dukes of Savoy Bavaria and Lorain the three spirituall Electors with som few more Touching them who have renounc'd all obedience to Rome ther are the three Kings of great Britain Denmark and Swethland the Duke of Saxon Holstein and Wittemberg the Marquis of Brandenburg and Baden the Landgrave of
mutuall repereussions I know you that breath upon the Continent have cleerer ecchoes there witnes that in the Twilleries specially that at Charenton Bridge which quavers and renders the voice ten times when 't is open weather and it were a virtuous curiosity to try it For news the world is heer turn'd upside down and it hath bin long a going so you know a good while since we have had leather Caps and Bever shoos but now the Arms are com to be leggs for Bishops Laun-sleeves are worn for Boot-hose tops the wast is com to the knee for the Points that wer used to be about the middle are now dangling there Boots and Shoos are so long snouted that one can hardly kneel in Gods House where all Genuflexion and Postures of devotion and decency are quite out of use The Devill may walk freely up and down the streets of London now for ther is not a Cross to fright him any where and it seems he was never so busie in any Countrey upon earth for ther have been more witches Arraign'd and Executed heer lately than ever were in this Island since the Creation I have no more to communicate unto you at this time and this is too much unless it were better God Almighty send us patience you in your Banishment me in my Captivity and give us Heaven for our last Countrey wher Desires turn to Fruition Doubts to Certitudes and dark Thoughts to cleer Contemplations Truly my dear Don Antonio as the times are I take little contentment to live among the Elements and wer it my Makers pleasure I could willingly had I quit scores with the World make my last account with Nature and return this small skinfull of Bones to my common Mother If I chance to do so before you I love you so entirely well that my Spirit shall visit you to bring you som tidings from the other World and if you preceed mee I shall expect the like from you which you may do without affrighting mee for I know your Spirit will be a bonus Genius So desiringo know what 's becom of my Manuscript I kiss your hands and rest most passionately Your faithfull Servitor J. H. The Fleet 20 Febr. 1646. III. To Master W. B. SIR I Had yours of the last week and by reason of som sudden encombrances I could not correspond with you by that Carrier As for your desire to know the Pedigree and first rise of those we call Presbyterians I find that your motion hath as much of Piety as Curiosity in it but I must tell you 't is a subject fitter for a Treatise than a Letter yet I will endeavor to satisfie you in som part Touching the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is as ancient as Christianity it self and every Church-man compleated in holy Orders was called Presbyter as being the chiefest name of the Function and so 't is us'd in all Churches both Eastern and Occidentall to this day Wee by contraction call him Priest so that all Bishops and Arch-Bishops are Priests though not vice versa These holy Titles of Bishop and Priest are now grown odious among such poor Sâ—…iolists who scarce know the Hoties of things because they savor of Antiquity Though their Minister that officiats in their Church be the same thing as Priest and their superintendent the same thing as Bishop but because they are lovers of novelties they change old Greek words for new Latine one 's The first broacher of the Presbyterian Religion and made it differ from that of Rome and Luther was Calvin who being once banished Geneva was revok'd at which time he no less petulantly than prophanely applyed to himself that Text of the Holy Prophet which was meant of Christ The Stone which the Builders refused is made the head stone of the corner c. Thus Geneva Lake swallowed up the Episcopall See and Church Lands wer made secular which was the white they levell'd at This Geneva Bird flew thence to France and hatch'd the Huguenoâ—…s which make about the tenth part of that peâ—…ple it took wing also to Bohemia and Germany high and low as the Palatinate the land of Hesse and the Conâ—…ederat Provinceâ—… of the States of Holland whence it took flight to Scotland and England It took first footing in Scotland when King Iames was a child in his Cradle but when he came to understand himself and was manumitted from Buchanan he grew cold in it and being com to England hee utterly disclaim'd it terming it in a public Speech of his to the Parliament a Sect rather than a Religion To this Sect may bee imputed all the scissures that have happen'd in Christianity with most of the Wars that have laceâ—…ated poor Europe ever since and it may be câ—…ll'd the source of the civill distractions that now afflict this poor Island Thus have I endeavoured to fulfâ—…l your desires in part I shall enlarge my self further when I shall be made happy with your conversation heâ—…r till when and always I rest Yours most affectionatly to love and serve you J. H. From the Fleet this 29 of Novem. 1647. IV. To Sir J. S. Knight at Rouer SIR OF all the blessings that ever dropt down from Heaven upon Man that of his Redemption may be call'd the Blessing-paramount And of all those comforts and exercises of devotion which attend that blessing the Eucharist or holy Sacrament may claim the prime place but as ther is Devotion so ther is Danger in 't and that in the highest degree 't is rank poison to som though a most soveraign cordiall to others ad modum recipientis as the Schoolmen say whether they take panem Dominum as the Roman Catholic or panem Domini as the Reformed Churches The Bee and the Spider suck honey and poison out of one Flower This Sir you have divinely express'd in the Poem you pleas'd to send me upon this subject and wheras you seem to wooe my Muse to such a task somthing you may see she hath don in pure obedience only to your commands Vpon the Holy Sacrament 1. Hail Holy Sacrament The Worlds great Wonderment Mysterious Banquet much more rare Than Manna or the Angels fare Each crumm though Sinners on Thee feed Doth Cleopatra's Perl exceed Oh how my soul doth hunger thirst and pine After these Cates so precious so divine 2. Shee need not bring her stool As sone unbidden fool The Master of this heavenly Feast Invites and woos her for his Guest Though deaf and lame forlorn and blind Yet welcom heer shee 's sure to find So that she bring a Vestment for the day And her old tatterd rags throw quite away 3. This is Bethsaida's Pool That can both clense and cool Poor leprous and dâ—…seased souls An Angel heer keeps and coâ—…trouls Descending gently from the Heavens above To stir the Waters may He also move My mind and rockie heart so strike and rend That tears may thence gush out with them to blend This Morning