THE MANSION of Magnanimitie WHEREIN IS SHEWED THE most high and honorable acts of sundrie English Kings Princes Dukes Earles Lords Knights and Gentlemen from time to time performed in defence of their Princes and Countrie set forth as an encouragement to all faithfull subiects by their example resolutely to addresse themselues against all forreine enemies Published by RICHARD CROMPTON an Apprentice of the common Law 1599. Whereunto is also adioyned a collection of diuerse Lawes and Statutes meete to be knowne of all men with a briefe Table shewing what munition ought to be kept by all sorts of her Maiesties subiects for the defence of her Highnesse Realmes and Dominions LONDON Printed for VVilliam Ponsonby 1599. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE ROBERT EARLE OF ESSEX AND EWE EARLE MARshall of England Viscount Hereford Lord Ferrers of Charâ—ley Bourchier and Louaine Knight of the most noble order of the Garter Maister of her Maiesties Horse and Ordenance Chauncellor of the Vniuersity of Cambridge and one of her Highnesse most honorable Priuy Counsell RICHARD CRVMPTON desireth eternall felicitie THere is no kingdome Right honorable so strongly seated or with Castles so fortified or that so aboundeth in wealth which without valiant men trained vp in martiall discipline can be defended from the force of the enemy for the stronger or richer the countrey is the more are the snares and sleights prepared by the enemy to compasse and conquer the same for which cause and for that also occasions of warre are often offered vpon the sodaine it is necessary that some number of men should be trained vp continually in martiall actions as in other countries is vsed and so much the rather where long peace hath bene had which often taketh away the feare of warre causeth men to liue too securely and without regard of forreyne danger whereby they are vnskilfull in warres affaires and that such trained men may be alwaies ready and able to informe and leade others vnexperieÌ„ced in that seruice for it is not the number of men that alwayes obtayneth the victory in battell but such as are couragious and well exercised in martiall skill as Erasmus sayth well Erasmus Non refert quà m numerosum militem ducas in praelium sed quà m fortem quà m exercitatum Homer in these few verses following Homer setteth forth the whole military discipline which resteth in the valour of the souldiers and their obedience to their Captaines and Leaders Graeci fidentes animis audacibus ibant Ductorum quamuis premerent formidine vocem VVhere he sayth that they trusting in their couragious minds went against their enemies there he commendeth and extolleth their valours in armes and where he sayth they feared the commandement of their Captaines there he highly praiseth their great discretion and modesty VVhat bred such fame to the ATHENIANS who being but ten thousand ouerthrew great numbers of the PERSIANS in one battell in that time when they most florished in their conquests and did rule ouer many nations but valour and skill in the souldiers and obseruation of orders in battell By order all things are preserued and maintayned and without order all things come to ruine and confusion as the Scripture sayth Vbi nullus ordo ibi est confusio And as these things are requisite in the souldiers so is experience valour and skill also in the Captaine for if the blind leade the blind both fall into the ditch as the Gospell witnesseth therefore such Captaines are alwayes highly to be honoured imbraced aduanced and rewarded according to their places callings and deserts as the defenders in the time of warre of the Prince and state of the kingdome and common-wealth that they may be incouraged in that seruice and such as lightly esteeme these men or preferre them which liue idlely and daintily afore them are enemies to the Common-wealth as Osorius writeth and to be taken as the destroyers thereof in that they doe as much as in them lyeth to lay open their Countrey to the force of the enemie And because the matter of this Treatise concerneth the defence of our Prince and Countrey against the enemie which seruice appertaineth most properly to men of honour who ought to hold nothing more deere to them then the safety of the same of which they be the chiefe props stayes defenders and mayntainers vnder her Maiestie I haue thought it conuenient to dedicate this little Treatise to a man of such state and vnto your honour chiefly to the ende you may therein see the notable actes of Chiualrie performed in that seruice that thereby you may be incouraged to followe their steppes and increase the fame honour and renowme which you haue attayned in your late valiant seruice at CALES in SPAINE and else where Humbly beseeching your honor to accept this my small labour as a token of my desire to coÌ„mend your Honourable name to posteritie At your Honors commaund RICHARD CROMPTON AN ORATION TO BE MADE BY THE GENERAL TO THE WHOLE ARMIE AFORE THE BATTEL ALthough Warres are by all good meanes to be eschued for the auoiding of the great effusion of bloud that thereby often doth ensue yet when intollerable wrongs and iniuries are offered either by a forreine Prince or his subiects no recompence is made for the same The cause of the war must be published that it may appeare to arise vpon iust occasions which much doth encourage the souldier to fight warre must be taken in hand and Bodinus saith Bella non nisi propulsandae iniuriae ac pacis causa suscipienda sunt that is Warres are to be entred into to withstand iniuries and to procure peace The causes which haue drawne vs at this present into the field against these our enemies are knowne to many of you namely how these our enemies most violently and in warlike maner with Ensignes displayed in the time of peace without anie proclamation of Warre first made according to the lawes of Armes haue entred into our territories and countrey burned some of our Churches defaced the auncient monuments of our elders put multitudes of her Maiesties people to the sword yea women and children wasted their dwellings with fire despoiled them of their goods and rauished most shamefully their wiues daughters kinswomen euen afore their faces to be short there is no cruelty or tyrannie whatsoeuer which might be deuised but they haue afflicted her Highnesse subiects therewith without all pitie or mercie For which due recompence hath bene diuerse times by her Malesties Embassadours required and yet none is made Therefore either we must with sword and fire be reuenged of these most extreme dealings or otherwise they will be encouraged to attempt the like yea they will account vs men of no courage but cowards and base hearted a name which to our nation hath bene alwayes most odious in that it hath bin accounted valorous in armes in all countries as one writeth Anglia Bistonio gens semper inclita Marte Euerie man is borne
est When the Prince doth ordain punishment to any he is sad also where any is punished he taketh it as it were don to himself She is a most milde Prince not fearefull to behold or to be spoken vnto Ouid metamor li. 2. f 30. Nullae in fronte minae nec formidabile lumen But with most benign and gracious countenances receiueth and answereth the petitions supplications of her subiects she is of that honorable and princely disposition in all things that euen the greatest Princes do honor her And in that hir Ma. 4 cause of incoragemēt hath fortified the borders of this realme in places dāgerous for inuasion with such castels and strong holds with a mighty nauy of warlike ships Fortification of the realme and furnished her kingdome with such abundāce of armor all other things necessary for the wars and defence of her cuntry people as the like hath not bin seen in any Princes dayes before her time If we will consider the miserable conditions of such Nations as liue vnder Princes where the pleasure of the Prince standeth for law Miserable cōditions of other people and where the king saith Sic volo sic Iubeo stat pro ratione voluntas So I will Iuuenal so I command my will shall stand for reason And compare the same with our happy state we haue iust cause to thinke our selues much bound to God for our Princes not only make good and wholsome lawes Good lawes but are wel pleased also to be ordered by them in the day of their Coronation take a solemne Oath vpon the holy booke of God to indeuor themselues Othe that the same lawes shall be obserued and executed to all indifferently Osor fo 105. And therein is the difference saith Osorius betwixt a kind and a Tyrant Non mediocre discrimen est inter regematque tyrannum quòd Rex legibus s◠deuinctum profitetur Tyrannus vero in interitu legum omnem dignitatem suam collocandam existimet Among many other what an Honorable law was made in the 9. yeere of king Henry the third 9. Hen. 3. A most honorable Law as followeth No frée man shal be takē or imprisoned or be desseised of his freehold liberties or frée customes or be outlawed or exiled or anie waies destroyed nor we shall not passe vppon him nor deale with him but by lawfull iudgement of his peeres or by the Lawes of the land we shall sell to no man wee shall deny nor deferre no man 42. li. Ass either of iustice right or equitie By which statute a Commission granted out of the Chancerie to take I. N. and seize his goodes and chattels was iudged void for that it was done without iudgement or sute of the partie or other due processe How happie be we in respect of the Russes amongst whom there is a lawe Russes if any man die without issue male though he haue many daughters yet the Prince seizeth all his goods to his own vse except perhaps of his goods he giueth some part amongest the daughters to bestowe them in marriage And likewise if a man that is vnfit in his owne person for the warres hath such wealth that thereby many warriours might be maintained or that if any of the Courtiers hauing knowledge thereof doe present his name to the Emperour the vnhappie man by and by is sent for and in that instant depriued of all his riches which with great paines and trauaile all his life time he hath gotten togither except perchāce some small porcion thereof be left to maintaine himselfe his wife children and familie withall and then the Emperour bestoweth these goodes amongst his Courtiers according to their deserts Booke of Nauigation fol. 788. 417. as appeareth in the booke of Nauigation But no such vse lawe nor custome is amongst vs. For if a man haue no sonnes then his daughters or some other of his line possesse his landes and his Executor his goodes as pleaseth the owner to limit And when our Prince would haue ayde of her subiects towards the maintenance of her warres or for other necessarie respects she taketh not her subiects lands or goodes from them neither can so doe by her Highnesse lawes except they be first thereby condemned and so forfait them for some offence but vseth to call a Parliament and by the assent of all her Nobles and Commons hath Subsidies and other aydes of her subiects towards the defraying of som of these charges and the subsidie or ayde thus granted if it be of lande for the most part amounteth not to the thirtieth part of the yeerely rent of the same and if it be of goods reacheth not oftentimes to the fiftieth part thereof Againe whereas in France Tributes for meat drink in other countries Flanders and other Countries the people pay certain tribute to their princes for some sort of meat and drinke and for their dwellinges We are not charged with any such impositions Neither is such torment vsed heer in execution of offenders Torments in execution as breaking of their legs armes and backe and so laide on a whéele of a cart pitched on a pole and there to lie till hee be dead which is common in other Realmes by the Ciuill lawes but is executed here by hāging onely till he be dead except it be in case of high treason Therfore I say we are in these respects most happy in regarde of other Nations ¶ How much we are bound to God that doth assist her maiesty with such graue wise and most honourable Counsellers and also diuers and sundry perswasions in respect of the premisses and other things why we should all resolutely fight in the defiance of the enimy And of the miseries of warre where the enimy preuaileth Chap. 3. AS a further cause of this incouragment Fift cause of incoragemēt how much are we bound to God in that it hath pleased him alwaies to assist her Ma. with such honorable counsellers men of such grauity Wise Counsellers truth faithfulnesse and wisdome of such deep skil consideration policie forecast and experience as to speak it plainly simply no Prince vnder the sun is furnished with the like or at least with a better by whose great wisdome trauel and indeuour this common peace and quietnesse hath bin so long preserued and mantained If any thing hath bin intended to the perill of her maiesties person or danger of the state that hath been by them quickly espied deeply looked into and with greate wisdome pollicie in time preuented and auoided to their great honors immortall fame so as in the choise of them her maiesty hath most graciously wisely considered of the saying of Osorius Osor sol 292. Necesse est vt Regis consiliarij sint maximo ingenio praediti bonis artibus exculti longo rerum vsu per ti in historijs diligentissimè versati What men must be
be published in his or their custody contayning such matters as aboue are mentioned against the present order and gouernement of the Church of England or the lawfull ministers thereof or against the rites and ceremonies vsed in the Church and allowed by the lawes of this Realme that they and euery of them should presently after with conuenient speede bring in and deliuer vp the same vnto the Ordinary of the Diocesse or of the place where they inhabite to the intent they might be vtterly defaced by the sayd Ordinary or otherwise vsed by them And that from thenceforth no person or persons whatsoeuer should be so hardy as to write contriue print or cause to be published or distributed or to keepe any of the same or any other bookes libels or writings of the like nature and qualitie contrarie to the true meaning and intent of her Maiesties sayd proclamation and likewise that none after should giue any instruction direction fauour or assistance to the contriuing writing printing publishing or dispersing of the same or such like bookes libels or writings whatsoeuer as they tendered her Maiesties good fauour and would auoyd her Highnesse displeasure and as they would answere for the contrarie at their vttermost perils and vpon such further paines and penalties as by the law any way might be inflicted vppon the offenders in any of these behalfes as persons maintaining such seditious actions which her Maiestie affirmeth by that proclamation she mindeth to haue seuerely executed And if any person had knowledge of the anthors writers printers or disperers thereof that they should within one moneth after the publication of the sayd proclamation discouer the same to the Ordinary of the place where he had such knowledge or to any of her Maiesties priuie Councell as by the same proclamation plainly appeareth After that Martin Marprelate and his fellowes were restrained of setting foorth their seditious bookes they and such like vsed to assemble themselues in conuenticles where they had exercises as they termed them of religion contrary to the law whereupon a Statute was very necessarily made in the fiue and thirteth yeare of her Maiesties raigne to the effect following 35. El. cap. 1. If any aboue sixteene yeares of age shall obstinately refuse to come to some vsuall place of Common prayer to heare diuine Seruice established by the Queenes Maiesties lawes by the space of one moneth without lawfull cause or shall by printing writing or expresse words aduisedly and purposely practise or go about to moue or perswade any within her Maiesties dominions to denie withstand and impugne her Highnesse authority in causes ecclesiasticall vnited to the Crowne or to that end or purpose shall aduisedly and maliciously moue or perswade any whatsoeuer to forbeare or abstaine from comming to Church to heare diuine Seruice and receiue the communion according to her lawes or to come to or be present at any vnlawfull assemblies conuenticles or meetings vnder colour or pretence of any exercise of religion contrary to the Statutes of this Realme as afore is sayd euery person thereof conuicted shall be imprisoned without bayle or maynprise vntill they shall confirme themselues to come to Church and heare diuine Seruice according to her Highnesse lawes and make such open submission and declaration of their conformity as is there set downe If the offender aforesayd being thereof conuicted shall not within three moneths conforme himselfe in comming to Church and making submission and confession being required by the Bishop of the Diocesse or a Iustice of peace of the Shyre where the person shall be or be the Minister of the Parish the offender there so warned or required by a Iustice of peace where the offender shall be shall abiure the Realme by his oath afore the Iustice of peace at the quarter Sessions or Assises as was vsed by the Common law in case of fellony If he refuse to abiure or shall not go or returne without her Maiesties licence it is fellony and he shal loose his cleargie If any offender aforesayd afore they should abiure come to Church on some Sunday or Holy day and then and there heare diuine Seruice and make open submission and declaration of his conformitie to the lawes he should be discharged of all penalties and punishments appointed by this Satute And also if any after such submission refuse or forbeare to come to Church or come to such conuenticles as aforesayd he shall loose the benefit of this Act and be and stand in such case as though no such submission had bene had ne made Likewise if any keepe in his house or otherwise relieue any that shall obstinately refuse to come to Church and shall forbeare to come to Church by a moneth together euery person so doing after notice to him giuen by the Ordinary Iustice of Assise Iustice of peace Curate of the parish or Church-warden shall forfeit ten pounds for euery moneth that he doth retaine or relieue any such person The Satute extendeth not to mens wiues children father mother wards sisters not hauing houses of Popish recusants or feeme couerts shall not be compelled to abiure The persons that shall abiure or refuse to abiure vt suprà shall forfeit their goods and chattels and all his lands during his life This act was made to continue to the end of the next session of Parliament and now is continued in the Parliament holden in the fortieth yeare of her Maiesties Raigne THE FORME OF submission I A. B. do humbly confesse and acknowledge The submission that I haue grieuously offended God in contemning her Maiesties godly and lawfull gouernment and authority by absenting my selfe from Church and from hearing diuine Seruice contrary to the godly Lawes and Statutes of this Realme and in vsing and frequenting disordered and vnlawfull conuenticles and assemblies vnder pretence and colour of exercise of Religion and I am hartily sory for the same and do acknowledge and testifie in my conscience that no other person hath or ought to haue any power or authority ouer her Maiestie and I doe promise and protest without any dissimulation or any colour or meanes of any dispensation that from hencefoorth I will from time to time obey and performe her Maiesties Lawes and Statutes in repayring to the Church and hearing diuine Seruice and will euer hereafter do mine vttermost indeuor to maintaine and defend the same ¶ Of diuerse and sundry victories obtayned in former time by the English nation both by sea and land against their forreyne enemies to the great encouragement of the posterity to maintaine the honor gotten by their progenitors CHAP. 11. ANd now as in the last part of this encouragement The last cause of incouragement what notable victories hath our nation obtayned against the French and Scots aswell in their owne territories and countries as when they haue inuaded this Realme and how most gaciously Almightie God hath alwayes assisted vs in our rightfull causes against our enemies when they haue greatly
counsellers to a K. neque praesâ—ntia tantum sagaciter odorantes sed longe in posterum quid vtile futurum Reipub. si coniectura prouidentes neque solum ingenio disciplina atque prudentia valeant necesse est sed sint opus est singulari fide integritate quòd patriam amore atque pietate debita prosequantur That is It is conuenient that the Kings counsellers be men of great wisdome very well learned of long experience well exercised in histories not onely grauely considering of thinges present but also of things necessary for the good of the whole common wealth in time to come and it is necessarie that they be not onely prudent learned and wise but likewise of great integritie and faithfulnesse and to be such as haue a loue speciall care and affection to their Countrey Salomon saith Happy is that kingdome where they are many that can giue good counsell And Iesus the sonne of Syrach affirmeth Eccles 10. where they that are in authority are men of vnderstanding there the Citty doth prosper And again Salomon sheweth Prou. 11. where no counsel is there the people doe perish but where many are that can giue good counsell there is wealth Words of incouragement Who will not thinke himselfe happy that may dwell in such a strong pleasant frée and plentiful countrey as this is in a Countrey replenished with such infinit thousandes of valiant men defended with such strong holdes appointed with such warlike shippes and furnished with such aboundance of al other thinges néedeful for the wars and defence against the enimie where the Gospell is truly preached where so mercifull and gracious a Prince doth raign where such Honourable and holsome Lawes are ordayned and executed and where such graue and wise Counsellors doe gouerne Whoe will not fight in the quarrell and defence of these Who will not giue his life for the safeguard of his olde father aged mother and déere wife in defence of his landes and possessions his goodes and chattels his libertie and freedome against all such Forreners and strangers as woulde spoile waste and destroy the same Who will not defend his swéete tender Infantes and Children against such as seeke to slay them The verie bruite Beastes and Fowles will defende not onely themselues by naturall instinctions but that which is bred of their own bodies Wil not the Brache fight in defence of her whelpes The Poet describing her nature saith Haud secus atque canis Catulis qui dulcibus astat Allatratque virum ignotum pugnamque caepessit The Brache standing to her whelpes doth barke at the straÌ„ge man Tully and offereth him fight in defence of them And Tully writeth of the propertie of Beasts in defence of their yoong thus Bestiae pro suo partu ita pugnant vt vulnera accipiant Nullos impetus nullos casus reformident The Beasts will fight till they bewounded and feare no force nor violence in defence of their yoong Wil not the sillie Hen set vp her fethers and fiercely flie at the Kite or other thinge that commeth néere vnto her chickens Will not the Tygers fight in defence of their whelps Will not the Asse run thorough the hot fire for safeguard of her fole And will not euerie fowle and beast doe the like in their kinde Then howe much more ought man being the reasonable creature of God fight against such as would destroy their infantes and children Did king Priamus when the Gréekes entred the citie of Troy Vâ—… Eneid li. 2. and Pyrrhus the Grecian captaine killed Polytes his sonne before his face refraine his voice his anger or his hand Nay did not he say to Pyrrhus Thou wretch for this spite done to me the gods if any iustice dwell in Heauen or if they doe right regard yeeld thée thy due reward that afore my face my sonne hast slaine and therewith he cast his dart at Pyrrhus but in vaine for it hung in the bosse of his buckler because his strength for age failed him although hee did for natures sake thereby shew his willing mind to haue béen reuenged for so heauie and wofull a sight Did Eneas the valiant Troian knight at this time leaue his old father Anchises his louing wife Creusa or Ascanius his yoong son among the enemies when Troy was on fire and shifted only for himself No he rather did choose to aduenture the daunger of the enemy who then euerie where swarmed in that Citie and carried his father on his shoulders and led his son in his hand and appointed his wife to goe through certaine bi-waies in the Cittie to a place where he would méete her and so they all saue his wife who it is thoght fell into the enemies haÌ„ds escaped Wherby you may see that Naturae vis est maxima The force of nature is the greatest thing in operation that may be and may well be called vis maxima and the operation of nature cannot be taken away Naturam expellas furca tamen vsque recurrit Is there any that can indure to sée his Wife rauished his daughter deflowred or his kinswoman violently forced afore his face or that can behould his Father Mother Wife and Children Kinsfolkes his alies and deare friends to be smitten down with the hands of the enimie and with deadly wounds lie gasping for breath and make no resistance Miseries of warre Is there any that hath liued in place of honor or worship or that is of any honest sort degrée or calling that can like to be a subiect a bondman a slaue or pesant to any forren prince or state specialy to a Spaniard who of all other nations is the most bloudy insolent vicious and tyranous Is there any that can endure that strangers shall inioy his lands and possessions which he and his ancesters haue long had or his goods or other things which he with his great paines and trauell hath gathered together to mantaine him selfe his wife and children These are some of the miseries which happen where the enimy doth preuaile as for example When Wil. D. of Normandy conquered this land Holinsh 303. 297. did not he alter the whole state gouernment therof Acts Monu 166. Did not he contrary to his oath refuse King Edwards lawes and made new lawes at his owne wil and pleasure profitable for himselfe but most greiuous and hurtful to the English nation Fab. 6. part c. 222. 217. Did not he spoile sundry both of the nobilitie and others of the welthier sort of al their possessions liuings and gaue them to his Normans notwithstanding his faire promise made at his first comming that he would deale louingly with them Did not he lay grieuous taxes How cruelly Wil. Conqueror deâ—â— with the Englishmen impositions vpon our nation Did not he cause al the land in England to be measured laid vpon euery hide of land which as Holinshed saith conteined 100 akers vj.
s. which amounted to an inestimable sum Holinsh f. 11. Graft abridg An. 1085. when it came all together into his exchequer And did not he shortly after cause all mens goods and chattels to be valued and raised thereof also a maruelous great masse of mony to the great greife and impouerishment of our people who so sore lamented the miserable case wherein they were thrawled that they hated the Normans in their hartes with deadly mallice howbeit the more they spake and séemed to grudge against such sore touls tallages and cruell oppressions as were daily deuised to their vtter vndoings the more they were burdened after the manner of the bondage which the children of Israel sometime suffered in Egipt for on the other side the Normans perceiuing the hatred which the Englishmen did beare towardes them were sore offended in their mindes and therefore sought by all manner of waies how to kéepe them vnder In like sort did not Wil. Rufus ouerthrow diuers and sundry townes Holinsh 313. parishes villages and buildings for the space of thrée miles together to make thereof a Forrest which to this day is called the new Forrest for wilde beasts and deare whereby no small member of the poore lost their houses their lands and liuings for the maintenance of sauage beasts Nevv forrest Camden 188. of whose hard dealing in this case Doctor White Bishop of Winchester hath these verses written as Camden affirmeth fo 198. B. of Win. Templa adimit diuis fora ciuibus arua colonis Rufus instituit Beanlensi in rure forestam Rex ceruum insequitur Regem vindicta Tirellus Non bene praeuisum transfixit acumine ferri Did not he cause a greiuous paine to be ordained insomuch that who so euer did kill any of the same deare he should haue his eies put out Eies put out for hunting wherevpon many refusing to sustaine such an intollerable yoke of thrauldome as was dayly laid vpon them by the Normans choose rather to leaue both lands and goods and after the manner of outlawes got them to the woods with their wiues children and seruants meaning from thenceforth wholy to liue vppon the spoyle of the Countries adioyning and to take what so euer came first to hand wherevpon shortlie it came to passe that no man might in safetie trauel from his owne house or towne to his neighbours and euery quiet and honest mans house became as it were a hould or fortresse and was furnished for defence with Bowes Arrowes Billes Pollaxes Swordes Clubbes and Staues the dores kept locked and strongly boulted and namely in the night season for feare to be surprised as it had bin in time of war and amongst publique enimies Prayers were made also to almighty God by the maister of the house to saue and defend them as though they had bin in the middest of the seas in some stormy tempest by meanes of these hard dealing towards the English nation The people in the North parts of this Realme did rebell whome the Normans suppressed Hands cut off for rebelling and caused some of their hands to be cut of in token of their rebellious dealings and others by death to be punished and tooke so great a displeasure with the inhabitants of those parts that he wasted all the land betwixt Yorke and Durham so that for the space of 90. miles there was left in manner no habitation for the people by reason whereof it laie waste and deserte by the space of nine or tenne yeares so that no greater misery in the earth could happen then that into the which our nation was now falne Likewise did not he take from the Towns and Citties from the Bishops and Abbies all their ancient priuiledges and frée Customes to the end they should not onely be cut short and made weaker but also that they might redéeme the same of him for such somes of money as it pleased him to appointe to obtaine their quietnesse and made protestation that as he came to the gouernance of this Realme by plaine conquest so he would and did seize into his hands the most parte of euerie mans possessions causing them to redéeme the same at his handes againe and yet retained a parte in the most parte of them so that they that shoulde afterwardes inioy them shoulde acknowledge themselues to hold them of him in yéelding a yearely rent to him and his successors for euer In like manner when the Spaniards by violence possesthe sed Crowne of Portingall Booke of the estate of Fugitiues did not the king of Spaine vse the authoritie of a Conqueror and the tyrannicall cruelty of an vsurper altring their Lawes confounding their priuiledges ouerturning the whole estate of their gouernment strangling some of their Nobilitie and other of them beheading imprisoning and banishing some other of them with many other horrible and pittifull actions These are also other miseries which followe where the enemy doth get the vpper hand and shall we looke for any other dealing if they should ouercome vs ¶ That we shal preuaile against our enimies by faithful praiers to God wherof diuers examples are here set down out of the Bible also diuers other good perswasions to withstād the enimy and how that euery man is bound so to do whereby great fame is attained and left to posterities Chap. 4. IF we wil consider how valiantly our forefathers haue alwaies resisted forren forces prepared against our countrey 6. cause of incorragemēt and what great renowne and same they haue gotten for their valour in Armes which is spread amongest all Christian Nations of whom it is written Anglia Bistonio semper gens inclita marte England a Nation euer famous in battell Bysto is a coūtrey of valiāt people in warres in thrace Camd. fol. 7. Of whome Iohn Wheathamsted sometime the Abbot of S. Albons in his Granario writeth Sufficiat igitur Britannis pro nobilitatis suae orgine quod sint fortes potentes in praelijs quodque vndique debellent aduersarios nullumque penitus patiantur iugum seruitutis It is sufficient for the Britaine 's of whom we are descended for the beginning of their Nobility that they are strong mightie in battell and that they doe euery where beate downe their enimies and cannot suffer by any meanes the yoke of any bondage If we will remember that no Nation sithence the Conquest of this lande which is about 529. yeares past coulde yet ouercome vs praised be God therfore notwithstanding sundry attempts made to that end if we will call to mind the notable ouerthrowes which king Richard the first gaue the Infidels with a few Englishmen Foxe 245. Hol. 1191. and made the king of Cypres to doe him homage for his kingdome and besides him diuers other valiant kings and people haue we brought into subiection and made them stoope to the Crown of England as by our Chronicles is euident we haue nowe then great cause to be mightily incouraged in
among Christian Princes and to moue their subiects to oppose against them surely his owne conscience shall testifie against him which will be as strong as a thousand witnesses as Persius very well sayth Poena autem vehemens ac multo seuerior illis Satyr 3. Quas Ceditius grauis inuenit Rodamanthus Nocte diéque suum gestare in pectore testem And againe Conscientia mille testes onus Aetna grauius Can he find by the word of God No subiect can rebell for any cause Rom. 13. that it is lawfull for the subiect to rebell against his Prince for any cause whatsoeuer Saint Paul sayth Let euery soule submit himselfe to the higher powers there is no power but of God all powers that are be ordayned of God and whosoeuer resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God and procureth to himselfe damnation When Pilate sayd to Christ Iohn 18. Knowest thou not that I haue power to loose thee also to crucifie thee he sayd thou shouldest haue no power at all ouer me were it not giuen thee from aboue our Sauior Christ was called afore the high Priests to answere to his doctrine did he oppose himselfe any way against them no he knew they had their authority from God and therefore he shewed all obedience to them in respect of their place and patiently suffered death though vniustly according to their wicked law and iudgements When Malcus with other of the high Priests seruants came by their commandement to take Christ Iohn 18. Peter drew out his sword cut off Malcus eare Christ said vnto him Put vp thy sword into thy sheath Math. 25. for all that strike with the sword shall perish therewith thinkest thou that I cannot speake to my Father and he shall giue me more then twenty legions of Angels but how should then the Scripture bee performed The famous clarke Erasmus in his Paraphrase vppon this place of Scripture Paraphrase speaketh these words vnto Peter as it were in the persō of Christ Put vp thy sword into thy sheath matters of the Gospell are not in such manner to be defended if thou wilt succeed me as my vicar thou must fight with no other sword then of Gods word which cutteth away sinne and saueth the man And the auncient father Tertullian in his Apologia cap. 37 sayth In our profession more meeter it is to be slaine then to slay So did all the Martyrs of God by whom the Church of Christ increased Saint Augustine saith Not resistendo sed perferendo Not by resisting but by suffering If the Prince should set foorth a law touching the worshiping of God or matter of conscience against the word of God and lymit a paine to the breakers thereof Acts. 4. though the subiect be not bound in conscience to obserue that law for in such cases a man must rather obey God then man yet he may not rebell nor oppose himselfe violently against his Prince but he must rather referre his cause to God and submit himselfe to the punishmēts of the law Peter 2. as Saint Peter saith Submit your selfe to euery ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the king as to the chiefe or to them that be sent of him then it followeth he may not rebell whatsoeuer the ordinance be The Iewes had a law that whosoeuer should say he was the Sonne of God should die Christ that was the soonne of God in déede Looke Iohn 19. verse 7. and so declared himselfe to the people to be yet he did submit himselfe to the paine of the law thoughit be vngodly ¶ The manner how to suppresse rebels with a perswasion to all subiects to the due of obedience of their Prince the great inconueniences that arise of ciuill warres How hatefull the name of a traytour is to the posteritie and what plagues haue fallen not onely vppon traytors but also vppon such as haue bene murmurers against their Princes Gouernors CHAP. 8. WHen the Princes of Germany determined to take armes against the emperor for the defence of their religion Bodinus 211 they asked Luther if it were lawfull so to do who answered expresly that it was not Sleildan 4. and would not perswade them thereunto saying that no cause could be iust for the subiect to beare armes against his Prince countrey And because it is conuenient that rebellious and disordered people should be dealt withall with conuenient speed Bodinus lib. 4. fol. 487. let vs heare what Bodinus writeth concerning the maner how Si tamen seditio priùs coorta fuerit quà m prospiceretur sapientissimos ac summa virtute praestantes viros qui populi motus orationis lenitate ac prudētia regere possunt adhibere oportebit nam qui vi◠adhibent perinde faciunt vt ij qui torrentem praecipiti casu de rupibus altissimis labentem sistere se posse confidunt How rebels must be suppressed If seditious persons and rebels be assembled together afore it be foreseene the wisest men and such as for their great vertue excell can moue the people with their gentle and wise perswasions are most meetest to be vsed for such as at the first vse force do as they which thinke to stay a great water falling headlong from the high rocks If wild beasts cannot be tamed with strokes but by gentle and skilfull vsing of them who can thinke with sharpe and rough words to tame such as of all beasts are most fierce The Senate of Rome did very often reprehend such as vsed force to appease the furie of the people and rather cōmended Menenius Agrippa which not with bitternesse but rather with gentlenesse and cunning vsed to reduce the people to their obedience and dutie which aboue all other bred to him immortall praise and glorie to the common wealth And to that effect the Poet Virgill writeth thus Ac veluti magno in populo cum sepè coorta est Seditio Aeneid lib. 1. saeuitque animis ignobile vulgus Iamque faces saxa volant furor arma ministrat Tum pietate grauem ac meritis si fortè virum quem Conspexêre silent arrectisque auribus astant Ille regit dictis animos pectora mulcet Whē sedition is raised amongst the common people in their rage firebrands and stones flie for furie doth minister weapons then if they see by chaunce anie graue man to be reuerenced for his vertee and good deserts they are silent and hearken to him diligently and he asswageth with his mildnesse and wise speeches their minds and rages Pericles So did Pericles the Athenian Peter Loredan the Venetian and others whereby it appeareth that vertue and wisdome doth sometime mors preuaile in these cases then either lawes armes or the commandement of rulers And to restraine such rebellious people and reduce them to due obedience the feare and reuerence of Religion hath bene in times past of great force Lib.
4. fol. 480 for as Bodinus writeth whē ciuill warres were raised amongst the Florentines and great slaughter and bloudshed happened amongst them in the Citie and no force of man could restraine the same Frauncis Soderinus the Bishop hauing on his pontificall ornaments and a companie of Priests attending on him and the Crosse borne before him entred into the middest of the Citizens thus assembled whereupon they forthwith for the feare they had of religion did put off their armour so did Iudas Bishop of the Hebrues High Priest when Alexander the great came to the citie of Ierusalem with a great host being apparelled in his holy vestiments met him which sight and the brightnesse whereof being feared Alexander did reuerence the Bishop did not spoile the countrie nor holy Citie but with great benefites did inlarge the same By like meanes Vrbane the Pope is said to haue turned and remoued away the siege of Attila from the citie of Aquila 5. Ioseph in anti as Iosephus writeth but when none of these will serue then the extermitie of armes must be vsed And because good perswasions and mild spéeches are thought so conuenient to be vsed to appease such vprores I haue thought good to set downe this simple exhortation which followeth After that Almightie God had destroyed the world for the finne of man Exhortation to rebels sauing Noah and his family who were preserued in the Arke by Gods prouidence and that nations and people did againe increase and multiply vpon the face of the earth knowing in his euerlasting wisedome how necessarie good and wholsome lawes should be for the gouernment and direction of his people he gaue the lawes of the tenne commandements in the mount Sinay wherein is contained first our dutie to almighty God and next to our neighbour then he also ordained Kings Princes and Gouernors to rule and order their subiects and to punish the offenders thereof by these lawes and gaue them power to make lawes as Salomon saith Prou. 8. By me kings raigne through me Princes make good lawes And lastly he gaue straight commandemēt to the subiects touching their obedience to their Soueraigne Lords and rulers Rom. 13. as Saint Paule saith Let euerie soule submit himselfe to the higher Powers there is no power but of God all powers that be are ordained of God whosoeuer therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist procure to themselues damnation for rulers are not fearefull to them that do well but to them that do euill Wilt thou be without feare of the power do well then and so thou shalt be praised of him for he is the minister of God ordained for thy wealth But if thou do euill then feare for he beareth not the sword in vaine for he is the minister of God to take vengeance of them that do euill Wherfore we must obey not onely for feare of vengeance but for conscience sake also for that cause we pay tribute for they are Gods ministers seruing for that purpose Now what euill counsel hath moued you thus to enter into armes against your naturall Prince and Liege Ladie whom Almightie God hath ordained to supply his place and to raigne ouer you Who hath be witched you thus to abuse the great loue and fauour of so gracious a Quéene which she hath borne alwayes and doth dayly shew to her good subiects to oppose against her that is studious to set forth the Gospell that is and hath bene so carefull to maintaine such common peace amongst vs these fortie yeares and more Though this be touched afore yet it is not vnmeet to be vsed here to these men as the like hath not bin séene nor heard of neither is to be found in anie record or Chronicle of this realme sithence the conquest therof which is aboue 528 yeares for the like time of gouernment that is desirous to raigne with mercie with loue with pitie and tender compassion and not by tyrannie nor by effusion of bloud neither alwayes by inflicting the extremitie of her lawes vpon such as most iustly haue deserued the execution of the same that is mercifull to offenders bountifull to well deseruers of her Maiestie and their conntrey that to her great charge hath fortified this realme with strong Castles and a Nauie of warlike shippes and all other things necessarie for the warres in great aboundance for the defence of her kingdome and people that hath not laid vpon vs any taxes or tallages but the like thereof hath bene before her time and greater also that hath made good lawes and taken a solemne oath in the day of her coronation to endeuour her selfe that the same shall be holden kept and executed vnto all her subiects indifferently without respect of persons and is also well pleased to be ordered by the same her selfe If you consider the horrible murthers of great persons the pitifull slaughter of man woman and child by fire and sword the lamentable rauishments of maids wiues and widowes the ransacking and spoiling of Cities and townes with many other miseries and calamities which haue hapned continued in other countreys not farre hence these many yeares by occasion of ciuill warres and dissention you shall find that we haue cause to thinke our selues most bound of all nations to the goodnesse of God in that he hath not suffered vs to be afflicted and visited with the like all which haue bene preuēted by the great wisedome and prouidence of her Maiestie her graue Councell These besides other infinite great kindnesse and benefites her highnesse hath daily most graciously bestowed vpon vs that more nor greater no Prince can extend to her people and shall we now be vnthankfull for the same shall we yéeld vnkindnesse for kindnesse shall we recompence her daily care studie to do vs good by seeking danger to her person and perill to her state which may ensue by your forcible and violēt opposing against her There is nothing worse bestowed then that is done to the vngratefull and forgetfull man as Erasmus writeth Nihil peius confertur quà m quod hemini ingrato atque non scienti A man that receiueth a good turne if there be any good nature in him will alwayes be thankful and so much the more when he is not able to deserue or requite the least part thereof king Dauid that receiued many good things at the hands of God shewed not himselfe vnthankfull but breaking out as it were on a suddaine sayd vnto himselfe Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi calicem salutaris accipiam nomen Domini inuocabo Psal 116. 107. What shall I yeeld vnto God for all that he hath done vnto me I will take the cup of thankesgiuing and call vpon the name of the Lord. It is all that Almighty God doth looke for at our hands that we should be thankfull vnto him for all his mercies louing kindnesse that
stung to death with strange kinds of fiery serpents sometime the earth hath opened and swallowed thē vp quicke the Captains and bands of such murmurers with their wiues children families Then if such strange and horrible plagues haue hapned to such subiects as did but only murmure and speake euil against their heads what shall become of such subiects as conspire arme themselues assemble great numbers of men in armes encourage and leade thē against their Prince countrie spoyling robbing slaying as manie of their good subiects as do withstand them and against whom they may preuaile We are forbidden by the holy Scripture Eccle. 10. so much as to think euill to the Prince for the birds of the aire shall betray thee with their wings shal bewray they voyce If we may not think euil much lesse may we do anie thing that shal or may tend to her danger as rebellions do alwayes imply peril to her person state Sam 24. King Saule was a wicked Prince sought the life of Dauid the seruant of God diuerse wayes yet Dauid wold not hurt him no when he might haue slaine him in his caue but said The Lord keepe me that I lay not my hands vpon the Lords annointed 2. Tim. 2. S. Paule saith I exhort that aboue all things prayers supplications and intercessions and giuing of thanks be made of all men for kings and all that are in authoritie that we may liue a quiet life with all godlinesse for that is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Sauiour So did the people of God Apol. cap. 30. which liued vnder Pagans and tyrants as Tertullian witnesseth If the Princes be good they are a great blessing of God bestowed on the people if they be vngodly tyrants then they are appointed for their punishment yet must they pray for them whatsoeuer they be for when S. Paule taught to pray for rulers then Caligula Clodius and Nero who were no Christians but Pagans and most cruel tyrants were gouernors rulers of the people When Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon after he had slain their kings nobles wiues children the people of God wasted their country spoyled their cities yea and Ierusalem it selfe the holy temple and caried the residue with him captiue to Babylon Baruc. 1. 11. yet Baruc the Prophet of God exhorted the people being in captiuity saying Pray you to God for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon and of Balthaser his son that their dayes may be as the dayes of heauen vpon the earth that God also may giue vs strength lightē our eyes that we may liue vnder the defence of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon vnder the protectiō of Balthaser his sonne that we may long do them seruice and find fauor in their sight If they then prayed for tyrants and vngodly kings how much more ought we to pray to God for the life preseruation and prosperons estate of so gracious a Quéene soueraigne Gouernour as we haue What shall I say of you shal I call you subiects that assemble your selues in this forcible maner and breake the common peace of the realme and in stéed of quietnesse ioy and felicitie which do follow of blessed peace and due obedience do bring all trouble sorrow disquietnesse of mind and bodie and all mischiefes and calamities and turne all good order vpside downe bring all good lawes in contempt and tread them vnder foot oppresse all vertue and honestie and all vertuous and honest persons and set all vice and wickednesse and all vitious and euill men at libertie to worke their vngodly willes and vngracious purposes which were before bridled with wholsome lawes and do weaken ouerthrow and consume the strength of the realme aswell by wasting and spending the treasure thereof as by slaying the good subiects of the same and make our countrie readie as it were to be a pray and spoyle to all outward enemies and to bring vs our wiues children and posterities to perpetuall captiuitie slauerie and bondage that strangers may possesse our lands goods liuings to our vtter vndoing destruction Though God do often prosper iust lawfull enemies which be no subiects against forraine enemies and though a small number vpon wars begun vpon iust causes hath many times prospered against huge nūbers of their aduersaries that haue offered them wrong and iniurie yet neuer did rebel prosper against their Prince Note how noble or great soeuer their Captaine or number of people haue bene and whether their pretence of rebelling haue bene for reformatiō of religion or for any other cause whatsoeuer yet they haue bin alwayes ouerthrowne by the iust iudgemēt of God and so Sir Thomas Wyat vpō his arraignmēt for the sayd rebellion of Kent Hol. 1. ma. affirmed openly lamenting heartily his brutish and beastly fall as he rightly tearmed it into the horrible offence of the law requiring all the audience there present to remember his spéeches and to be taught by his infelicitie and most wretched case as in the Chronicle doth appeare If you be grieued with any thing which is to be reformed exhibit your supplication to her Maiesties Lieutenant here present and make your humble submission confessing your great offences and crauing together on your knees her most gracious pardon with faithfull promise that by Gods grace you will not enter into the like horrible offence hereafter against her highnesse and her lawes and so ye may the rather obtaine the same which her sayd Lieutenant hath authority vnder her great seale of England to graunt to such of you as shall do as is afore remembred herein you shall do as was vsed in king Edward the sixt his time Holinsh by some which then opposed themselues against the sayd king as you do now against her Maiestie who vppon their like submission had their pardon and by order from the king also present redresse of their griefes If ought be to be remedied it belongeth not to the subiect to performe it for if the Prince should make a law neuer so hard against the subiect impose a great punishment to the breakers thereof yet the subiect may not presume to attempt to remedy the same but must submit himselfe to the punishment of the law as Saint Perer saith Peter submit your selues to euery ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the king as to the head or to the rulers as to them sent of him for the punishment of euil doers but for the cherishing of such as do well for so is the will of God If you will not take this course but stand to the vttermost assure your selues that you shall be consumed with the sword and such as escape that death shall suffer the execution due by law to traitors in such terrible manner as is aboue remembred To conclude if neither the feare of God your dutie to your
reconciliation by any speech preaching teaching writing or any other open deede or if any person or persons within this Realme or any the Queenes Maiesties dominions after the sayd first day of Iuly shall willingly receiue or take any such absolution or reconciliation or else if any person or persons haue obtayned or gotten sithens the last day of Iuly in the first yeare of the Queenes Maiesties Raigne or after the sayd first day of Iuly shall obtaine or get from the sayd Bishop of Rome or any his successors or Sea of Rome any manner of Bul writing or instrument written or printed containing any thing matter or cause whatsoeuer or shall publish or by any wayes or meanes put in vre any such Bul writing or instrument that theÌ„ all euery such act acts offeÌ„ce and offeÌ„ces shall be deemed adiudged by the authority of this Act to be high treason the offender offenders therein their procurers abbetters and counsellers to the committing the sayd offence and offences shall be deemed high treason to the Queene and the Realme and being thereof lawfully indicted and attaynted shall forfeit as in cases of high treason and their ayders counsellers or abbetters after the committing of the sayd offences and acts to the intent to set foorth vphold or allow the doing or execution of the sayd vsurped power iurisdiction or authority touching or concerning the premises or any part therof shall incurre the paine of the Satute of Praemunire made in the sixteenth yeare of king Richard the second 16. R. 2. cap. Prouided alwayes nd be it further enacted by the authority aforesayd that if any person or persons to whom any such absolution reconciliation Bull writing or instrument shall after the sayd first day of Iuly be offered moued or perswaded to be vsed put in vre Conceale or executed shall conceale the same offer motion or perswade and not disclose and signifie the same by writing or otherwise within sixe weekes next following to some of the Queenes Maiesties Priuie Councell established in the North parts or in the Marches of Wales for the time being shall incurre the paine and forfeiture of misprision of treason Treason B. 19. 6. El. 6. which is to forfeit the profit of his lands during his life all his goods and chattels and to haue perpetuall imprisonment And the paine of the sayd Satute of the Praemunire is to forfeit all his lands that he hath in fee-simple Forfeit B. 101 24. H. 8. to the Crowne for euer and all lands that he holdeth in tayle or for life during his life and all his leases for yeares and other his goods and chattels for euer and shall haue perpetuall imprisonment Protection and be out of the Queenes protection And it hath bene taken that any man might kill such a one before the making of the Statute of 5. F. n. b. 232. Coron B. 193. El. cap. 1. but now he may not Although it may be doubted for that we are deuided for religion if any inuasion should be attempted in this Realme Inuasion that some desirous of alteration thereof would ioyne with them yet it is to be hoped that there are thousands and thousands of true and faithfull subiects German fo 122. Forfâ—it B. 102 Triall F. 54. 5. R. 2. 2. H. 5. cap. 7. which will spend their lands liues and goods as they ought before the enemy should preuaile And one reason moueth me thus to thinke for that the Quéenes Maiestie doth not punish them by death nor losse of goods and lands as was vsed in Queene Maries time for religion but imposeth vppon some of them a certaine summe of mony to be payd monethly for not comming to Church besides great numbers of others which perhaps would like well of the change of religion as well as the rest and yet are neither charged with like payment nor otherwise any way dealt withall And another chiefe reason moueth me thus to thinke for that they which shall shew themselues traytors false and vntrue to their owne Prince and countrey A forreyn Prince that conquereth trusteth not him that is conquered in adhering to strangers besides that they shal ouerthrow themselues and their houses and vtterly vndoe their wiues children for that they shall forfeit al they haue may in all reason assure theÌ„selues the no forreyn Prince will thinke that such persons wil be true to him for he that will not regard his countrey where he was bread and borne his father mother wife children kinsfolkes nor allies his lands liuings and possessions his liberty and freedome how can a stranger that commeth to conquer and bring all these into his subiection seruitude and bondage be perswaded that he will loue obey or carry any loyalty or faithfulnesse towards him as is aforesayd How such haue bene dealt withall by them with whom they haue ioyned against their Prince and countrey how faire soeuer they haue promised appeareth in part afore and more ensueth Of the conspiracies and trecheries of certaine Nobles and others against their Prince and country and what haue bin the rewards of such traitors by them who made vse of their treasons and how dangerous the controuersie in religion is to a common wealth CHAP. 10. WHen William Duke of Normandie attempted to inuade this land Holinsh 298. WilliaÌ„ Duke of NormaÌ„dy there were certaine Noblemen of England which were aiding assisting to him in this action to whom he made many faire and large promises vntill he had wonne the Crowne and then he forgot and nothing regarded them and they which thought themselues sure to be made for euer by bringing in this stranger into this realme did sée themselues vnderfoot and to be dispised mocked on all sides Ibid. 197. Againe when the variance was in England betwixt king Iohn and some of his Barons and that the king did put them often to the worst they did write to the king of Fraunce Philip Ibid. 600. Lewes the FreÌ„ch kings sonne came into EnglaÌ„d when ciuill waires were there praying aide of him and requiring him to send Lewes his sonne with men of warre into England to assist theÌ„ against their king promising that they would accept him for their king and do him homage whereupon the French king sent his sonne Lewes with a great company into England to whom the Barons did homage and the said Lewes tooke an oath also to maintaine and performe the old lawes customs of the realme and to restore to euerie man his rightfull heritage and lands requiring the Barons to continue faithfull vnto him and he vsed them so curteously and gaue them so many faire words and made them such large promises that they beléeued him assuredly but they remembred not that Lewes looked for a kingdome And what will not manie do if they may thereby be sure or in hope to get a Crowne as one writeth Ad quid non adagis regnandi dira cupido
helpe of the said persons being commanded to serue in warres or otherwise to find men on horses or on foot within this realme or without nor for the gift reward aid or helpe reserued or couenanted to be paid or giuen to anie person appointed to serue in warres or to find horse or man to serue by reason of anie grant couenant reseruation custome or tenure any thing in the said act to the contrarie notwithstanding as by that Act and Prouiso more plainly appeareth Yet by the said Act of 4 and 5 of Philip and Marie it is enacted that no person or persons shall or may by colour of the Prouiso mentioned in the sayd Act of 2 and 3 of Edward the sixt Imployed in seruice exact or demaund or leauie any summe or summes of money horse armour or any other thing other then shal be imployed forthwith in the present seruice of those warres for which it is leauied the which summe or summes of money horse armour or other thing Money rendred backe or asmuch thereof as shall not be left spent or consumed in the said seruice shall be rendred and restored to such person or persons as paid or deliuered the same vpon the penalties and forfeitures contained in the said Act. And by a braunch in the statute of 4 and 5 of Philip and Marie cap. 2. it is ordained Sale of harnesse horse or weapon that if any souldier shall make sale of his horse harnesse and weapons or any of them contrarie to the forme of the statute made in the second and third yeare of Edward the sixt that then not only the said souldier shall incurre the penalties of the statute but also that the said sale made by such souldiers Sale void against the setter forth by anie person knowing him to be a souldier shall be void against him that sold or set forth the said horse harnesse and weapon or any of them to or for the furniture of such souldier to serue with the same Also touching Sea-markes Sea-marks for that they are necessary for the safetie of her Maiesties Nauie and others to be conueyed into the Ports and hauens it is ordained by a statute made in the eight yeare of the Quéenes Maiesties raigne that now is 8. Eliz. that the Maisters wardens and assistants of the Trinitie house at Detford Scrond shall at all times at their costs make erect and set vp such Beacons markes and signes of the sea in such places of the sea shores and lands neare the sea coasts or fore-lands of the sea onely for seamarks Beacons Markes as to them shall séeme most méet néedfull and conuenient wherby the danger may be auoyded and escaped and ships come into their ports without perill And that all the said Beacons marks signes at the sea coasts shall be continued Renued renewed and maintained from time to time And it is further ordained by that statute Steeples Trees that no stéeples trées or other things now standing as Beacons or marks for the sea whereof to the owner or occupier of the place where the same doth grow or stand before the first day of March next comming Notice notice shall be giuen by the Quéenes Maiestie vnder her signet shall be at anie time after taken downe felled or otherwise cut downe vpon paine of an hundred pound Forf 100 li. and if the offender be not worth so much then to be déemed outlawed ipso facto to all intents and purposes And lastly Outlawed Statute of Armour for that there is a notable law set downe touching how euerie man must furnish himselfe with harnesse and armour for the warres I haue thought good to set downe this Table whereby you may shortly see the effect of the statute concerning the same made in the fourth and fift yeares of Philip and Mary And thus with my most humble prayers to the Lord of Hosts for the preseruation of the Quéenes Maiesties person and this noble Realme and to giue vs grace to be true and faithfull subiects to her Highnesse and her Crowne and to discouer all traiterous and false hearted Subiects to the same in time I end this simple Treatise the 20 day of Ianuarie 1599 in the one fortieth yere of the most peaceable raigne of our most gratious Qnéene whom Almightie God for his great mercie graunt long to liue and raigne ouer vs. Amen Armour Euerie person teÌ„porall shall keepe c. which hath estate of inheritance or freehold in lands c. Horses or geldings demilaÌ„â—es with armour for them whereof the one halfe shall be horses at the least with furnitue Light Horses with thâ—r furniture of harnesse weapon oâ—stets furnished Almain riuets plate coates BrigaÌ„dines or Cor slets furnished Pilies Long bowes Sheafes of arrowes Steele caps or Sculs Blacke Bils or halbards Harquebuses Morians or Salets 1000 lib. 6 10 40 40 40 30 30 30 20 20 20 1000 marks 6 30 30 30 20 20 20 10 10 10 400 lib. 2. 4 20 20 20 15 15 15  6 6 200. lib. 1. 2 10 10 10 8 8 8  3 3 100. lib. 2 3 3 3 3 3 3  2 2 100 marks 1 2 2 2 2 2 2  1 1 40 lib  2 2 2 1 1 1  2 2 20 lib.  1  1 1 1 1  1 1 10 lib.  1 1  1 1 1  1 1 5 lib.   1  1 1 2 1 1  Goods 1000 markes 1 or 18 corslets furnished 1 2 2 2 4 4 4  3 3  400 lib. 1 or 9 Corslets  1 2 2 2 2  1   200 lib.  1 2 1 2 2 2  1 1  100 lib.  1 1 1 2 2 2     40 lib.   2  1 1 1 1    20 lib.   1  2 2 2 1    10 lib.     1 1 1 1   Penalties forfeited for not hauing in three moneths to the Queene an informer c. 10 lib. the horse 3 lib. the furniture 3 lib. the demilance 10 lib. the gelding 3 lib. the furnit 40. shillings 20 shillings  10 shillings 10 shillings 10 shillings 10 shillings 101 shillings 10 shillings THE AVTHOVR TO his Booke Farewell to learned skill thy selfe submit Of this to write I thinke thou art not fit For TVLLIES eloquence a thing more meet How to perswade with words both mild sweet Yet maist thou serue I hope without disgrace Till better come then thou must giue place
Spaine by ciuill warres when it was deuided into many kingdomes The Mores did ouercome it on the one side the French and the Englishmen deuoured it on the other side And Hungarie which had valiantly resisted the Turke almost two hundreth yeares together Hungarie was at the length subdued by them by the diuisions that happened amongst themselues What a great slaughter was there of the Nobilitie of Fraunce Fountaine at the battell of Fountaine neare to Anserre by the ciuill warres that were betwixt Lithargus Lewes and Charles the Bald What ciuill warres and bloudsheds did ensue of the diuision betwixt the houses of Yorke and Lancaster here with vs in EnglaÌ„d The houses of Yorke Lancaster which being beguÌ„ in king Henrie the fourth his dayes continued till Henrie the seueÌ„th who maried the eldest daughter and heire of Edward the fourth by which the said two houses were vnited together and so all ciuill wars then ceased These sactions continued diuerse yeares in which time there died in sundrie battels and skirmishes Camden 474. as Philippus Comineus saith aboue foure score of the bloud royall with the floure of the Nobilitie of England besides a great number of the Lords Knights Esquires and Gentlemen and infinite thousands of the common people And to passe ouer manie examples of like sort Fraunce in what pitifull state doth Fraunce now stand which hath bene one of the most flourishing realmes of Europe by ciuill warres and dissention which hath afflicted that kingdome aboue thirtie yeares wherof hath ensued not only the slaughter of manie noble persons but also infinite thousands of other subiects and in the end the shamefull murther of their owne naturall liege Lord and King Murther of their Prince These miseries may be examples to vs to beware of such like sedition and diuision and happie are they that can beware by others dangers as the wise Cato saith Foelix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum Sedition is perillous Cato although it shew to haue neuer so good a countenance of honest cause and it were better for the authour of such sedition to suffer anie losse or iniurie then to be the cause of so great an euill Bodynus lib. 4. fol. 168. Vt morbi ac vulnera ipsaeque animae egritudines ac perturbationes tum corporibus tum mentibus noxiae sunt ita quoque bella ciuilia rebus publicis ac ciuitatibus pestifera sunt ac perniciosa As diseases wounds and the griefes and troubles of the mind both to the bodie and mind are hurtfull so likewise ciuill warres to the common wealth are pestiferous and daungerous For ciuill warres bring forth and nourish want of reuerence towards God contemneth authoritie lawes and gouernment without which Nec domus vlla nec ciuitas nec gens nec rerum natura nec ipse mundus stare potest No house no nation no citie nor the nature of things nor the world it selfe can stand The fruits of sedition Sedition causeth change of lawes contempt of iustice base estimation of sciences it procureth horrible reuenge forgetfulnesse of pareÌ„tage consanguinitie and friendship it causeth extortions violence robberies wastings of countries sacking of townes burning of buildings coÌ„fiscations vanishments sauage murthers alterations and ouerthrow of pollicies with other infinite and intollerable miseries pitifull to behold sorowfull to expresse and lamentable to thinke of Non Virgil. mihi silinguae centum sunt oraque centum Ferrea vox omnes scelerum comprendere formas Possem If I an hundred tongues and mouthes had for to tell And voyce as yron hard expresse I could not well The perils to a state and kingdome that may fall By ciuill warre which makes to strangers bond thrall SeditioÌ„ armeth the father against the son brother against brother kinsman against kinsman men of the same nation prouince and citie one against another Hereupon the fields which before were fruitful are left vntilled corne groweth where townes did stand there the ground with bloud of men is made ranke which before was barren that a man may say as Ouid writeth of Troy Iam seges est vbi Troia fuit resecandáque falce Luxuriat Phrigio sanguine pinguis humus What doth not the fire and furie of sedition ciuill wares bring with it as one writeth well Quid non discordia frangit Epist 1. Dissipat eneruat fera cum dominatur Erynnis What doth not discord breake waste and make weake when Erynnis which is fayned by the Poets to be the Lady of dissention and strife doth rule Erynni 1. And in the ende the bodies thus dismembred and the parts thereof infected with the same poyson of discord 2. Reg. cap. 24. destroy themselues Dauid the Prophet iudged war worse theÌ„ either famine or pestilence he did rather chuse a plague amongst his subiects then ciuill warres and tumults Pythagoras saith that three things are by all meanes to be remaued a disease from the body ignorance from the soule and sedition from the city Plato affirmeth that no euill is worse in a city then that which diuideth and of one maketh it twoÌ„ and that nothing is better then concord which tyeth and vniteth it together Concordia res paruae crescuâ—t discordia antem maximae dilabuntur By concord small things do increase but by discord great things come to confusion Let vs heare what the noble Orator Tully sayth Senten lib. 1. fol. 190. of the miseries which ensue by ciuill wars Omnia sunt misera in bellis ciuilibus sed miserius nihil quà m ipsa victoria quae etiamsi ad meliores venit tamen eos ipsos ferociores impotentiorésque reddit vt etiamsi natura tales non sunt necessitate tamen esse cogantur multa enim victori eorum arbitrio per quos vicit etiam inuito facienda sunt All things are miserable in ciuill warres but nothing is more miserable then the victory it selfe which although it happen to the best sort yet it maketh them cruell in so much that though they be not so by nature yet of necessity they are compelled so to be for many things by the ouercommer at the pleasure of such by whose ayd he doth ouercome euen against his will are to be done King Henrie the fift When king Henry the fift not hauing aboue fifteene thousand men gaue a great ouerthrow to the French king at Agincourt in Fraunce where he had assembled to the number of forty thousand of the flower of all his countrey had taken many prisoners of the french Hol. 1181. both Nobles and others the french as they are men of great courage and valour so they assembled themselues againe in battell array meaning to haue giuen a new battell to king Henry which king Henry perceiuing gaue speciall commaundement by proclamation that euery man should kill his prisoners whereupon many were presently slaine whereof of French king hauing intelligence dispersed his army and so departed
whereby you may see the miseries of warre that though they had yéelded and thought themselues sure of their liues paying their ransome according to the lawes of armes yet vppon such necessary occasion to kill them was a thing by all reason allowed for otherwise the king hauing lost diuerse valiant Captaines and souldiers in this battell and being also but a small number in comparison of the French kings army in a strong countrey where he could not supply his neede vpon the sudden it might haue bene much daungerous to haue againe ioyned with the enemy and kept his prisoners aliue as in our Chronicles largely appeareth ¶ Diuerse and sundry practises and deuices heretofore deuised and made with many of our owne nation both by the King of Spaine and the Pope to inuade our countrey and also what preparation hath bene made by her Maiestie to preuent the same CHAP. 7. NOw for as much as the continual plots practises of the Pope Practises of the Pope against vs. the vowed enemy to this Realme to the intent to sow discord and deuision within the same to make an easie way for the enemy to inuade our coūtrey haue bin strange I haue thought good to make mention here of some part of her Maiesties proclamation published in the 33 yeare of her most gracious raigne Proclamatiō 33. Eliz. by which it appeareth that the Pope hath practised with certaine principall seditious heads being vnnaturall subiects of her Maiesties kingdome but yet very base of birth together with great labour vpon his charge a multitude of dissolute yong men who haue partly for lacke of liuing partly for crimes committed become fugitiues rebels and traytors and for whom there are in Rome Spaine and other places certaine receptacles made to liue in and there to be instructed in schoole points of sedition and from thence to be secretly by stealth conueyed into her highnesse countries and dominions and with ample authority from the Pope to moue stirre vp and perswade as many of her highnesse subiects as they dare deale withall to renounce their allegeance due to her Maiestie and her Crowne vpon hope by forreyn inuasion to be inriched endowed with the possessions dignities of her other good subiects These sorts of traitors rebels and fugitiues do bind her highnesse subiects with whom they practise by oathes yea by Sacraments Renounce allegeance to forsweare their naturall allegeance to her Maiestie and yeeld obedience with all their powers to to a forreyn Prince and to assist forreyn forces and for the more forcible attraction of these vnnaturall people This is treason by 13. El. cap. 1. Buls being weake of vnderstanding to this they bend these seedemen of treason to bring certaine Bals from the Pope some of indulgences pretending to promise heauen to such as wil yeeld and some of cursings threatnings damnation and hell to such as shall not yéeld to their perswasion And it is certainely knowne It is high treason to practise with any forreyners to inuade this Realme 13. El. cap. 1. that these heads of these dennes and receptacles which are by the traytors called Seminaries and Colledges of Iesuits haue heretofore assured the king of Spaine who is lately deceased that though heretofore he had no good successe with his great forces against this Realme yet if now he would renew his war there should be found ready secretly within her highnesse dominions many thousands as they make their accompt for their purpose of able people that will be ready to assist such power as he shall set on land and by their vaunting they do tempt the sayd king hereunto who otherwise wold not peraduenture hope of any safe landing here considering what successe he had in the yeare of our Lord 1588 when he made so great preparation to conquer this land that one named Parsons and one Allen haue shewed to the sayd king of Spaine certaine schroles or beadrolles of names of men dwelling in sundry parts of her Maiesties countries as they haue imagined them but specially neare the sea coasts with assurance that these their seedmen named Seminaries Priestes and Iesuits are in sundry parts of this Realme secretly harbored which shall be ready to continue their reconciled people in their lewd constancy to serue their purposes both in their forces and with their trayterous enterprises when the Spanish power shall be ready to land Besides this vpon their impudent assertion to the Pope and king of Spaine though they knew a great part thereof to be false they had lately afore this proclamation aduertised into diuerse parts of this Realme by their secret messengers wherof some haue bene taken and confessed the same that the king vpon their informations and requests promised to employ all his forces that he could make by sea in the yeare of our Lord God 1592 to attempt once againe the inuasion of this Realme but because some of his wisest Counsellers doubted that he should not preuaile he altred his purpose besides many other leud practises treasonable cōspiracies by the sayd fugitiues But her Maiesty doubteth not but Almighty God the defender of all iust causes will as he alwayes hither to hath make all their deuices voyd and by the helpe of her faithfull subiects to increase her their forces and by execution of her lawes by other politicke ordinances to impeach the aforesayd seditious practises and treasons and doth exhort all the Ecclesiasticall State by their example of good life and by their diligent teaching to retaine the people stedfastly in the profession of the Gospell and in their duties to Almighty God and her Maiestie and also she hopeth to haue such sufficient forces in readinesse by sea as by Gods goodnesse and with the helpe of her good subiects shall be as great or greater then her highnesse hath had in any time heretofore to withstand all her enemies and that her subiects will consider of all things requisite to performe for horsemen armor footemen to be fully furnished as time shall require for seruice to defend their countrey And further her Maiestie doth most earnestly require and charge all manner of her subiects with their hands purses aduices yea all persons of euery estate with their prayers to God to moue him to assist this so naturall honourable and profitable a seruice being only for defence of their naturall countrey against straungers and such wilfull destroyers of their natiue countrey and monstrous traytors And moreouer to prouide speedy remedy against other fraudulent attempts of these Seminaries Iesuites and traitors without the which it appeareth these forces should not be continually vsed the same being wrought onely by falshood by hypocrisie and by vndermining of her good subiects vnder a false colour face of holinesse to make breaches in men womens consciences It is fellony to receiue aid or maintaine any lesuit c. 27. F. l. cap. 1. so to traine them to their