16.3. Thomas Fitzgirald his rebellious oration.

Thomas Fitzgirald his rebellious oration.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 _HOwsoeuer iniuriouslie we be hand|led, and forced to defend our selues in armes, when neither our seruice nor our good meaning towards our prince his EEBO page image 90 crowne aua [...]leth: yet saie not héereafter, but in this open hostilitie which héere we professe and proclame, we haue shewed our selues no villaines nor churles, but warriours and gentlemen. This sword of estate is yours, and not mine; I receiued it with an oth, and haue vsed it to your benefit. I should staine mine ho|nour, if I turned the same to your annoiance. Now haue I need of mine owne sword, which I dare trust. As for the common sword, it flattereth me with a painted scabberd, but hath indéed a pestilent edge, al|readie bathed in the Giraldines bloud, and now is newlie whetted in hope of a further destruction. Therefore saue your selues from vs, as from open enimies, I am none of Henrie his deputie, I am his fo, I haue more mind to conquer than to gouerne, to meet him in the field than to serue him in office. If all the hearts of England and Ireland, that haue cause thereto, would ioine in this quarrell (as I hope they will) then should he soone abie (as I trust he shall) for his crueltie and tyrannie, for which the age to come may lawfullie score him vp among the an|cient tyrants of most abhominable and hatefull memorie.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Hauing added to this shamefull oration manie other slanderous and foule tearmes, which for diuerse respects I spare to pen, he would haue surrendered the sword to the lord chancellor, who (as I said before) being armed for the lord Thomas his comming, and also being loath that his slacknesse should séeme dis|loiall in refusing the sword, or his frowardnesse ouer cruell in snatching it vpon the first proffer, tooke the lord Thomas by the wrist of the hand, and requested him for the loue of God, the teares trilling downe his chéekes, to giue him for two or thrée words the hearing, which granted, the reuerend father spake as insueth.

16.4. The chancellor his oration.

The chancellor his oration.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 _MY lord, although hatred be common|lie the handmaiden of truth, bicause we sée him that plainelie expresseth his mind, to be for the more part of most men dis|liked: yet notwithstanding I am so well assured of your lordship his good inclination towards me, and your lordship so certeine of mine entire affection to|wards you, as I am imboldned, notwithstanding this companie of armed men, fréelie and frankelie to vtter that, which by me declared, and by your lord|ship followed, will turne (God willing) to the auaile of you, your friends, alies, and this countrie. I doubt not (my lord) but you know, that it is wisedome for anie man to looke before he leape, and to sowne the water before his ship hull thereon, & namelie where the matter is of weight, there it behooueth to follow sound, sage, and mature aduise. Wherefore (my lord) sith it is no maigame for a subiect to leuie an armie against his prince: it lieth your lordship in hand to breath longer on the matter, as well by forecasting the hurt whereby you may fall, as by reuoluing the hope wherwith you are fed. What should mooue your lordship to this sudden attempt, I know not. If it be the death of your father, it is as yet but secretlie muttered, not manifestlie published. And if I should grant you, that your zeale in reuenging your father his execution were in some respect to be commen|ded: yet reason would you should suspend the re|uenge vntill the certeintie were knowne. And were it, that the report were true, yet it standeth with the dutie and allegiance of a good subiect (from whom I The subiects dutie to|wards his [...]ing. hope in God you meane not to disseuer your selfe) not to spurne and kicke against his prince, but con|trariwise, if his souereigne be mightie, to feare him: if he be profitable to his subiects, to honour him: if he command, to obeie him: if he be kind, to leue him: if he be vicious, to pitie him: if he be a tyrant, to beare with him: considering that in such case it is better with patience to bow, than with stubburn|nesse to breake. For sacred is the name of a king, and odious is the name of a rebellion: the one from The name of a king sacred. heauen deriued, and by God shielded; the other in hell forged, and by the diuell executed. And therefore Rebellion from whense it springeth. who so will obserue the course of histories, or weigh the iustice of God in punishing malefactors, shall ea|silie sée, that albeit the sunne shineth for a time on them that are in rebellion: yet such swéet begin|nings are at length clasped vp with sharpe & sowre ends.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Now that it appeareth, that you ought not to beare armour against your king, it resteth to dis|cusse whether you be able (though you were willing) to annoie your king. For if among meane and pri|uat foes it be reckoned for folie, in a secret grudge to professe open hatred, and where he is not able to hinder, there to shew a willing mind to hurt: much more ought your lordship in so generall a quarell as this, that concerneth the king, that toucheth the no|bilitie, that apperteineth to the whole commonwelth, to foresée the king his power on the one side, & your force on the other, and then to iudge if you be able to cocke with him, and to put him beside the cushion; and not whilest you striue to sit in the saddle, to lose to your owne vndoing both the horsse and the saddle.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 King Henrie is knowne to be in these our daies so puissant a prince, and so victorious a worthie, that he is able to conquer forren dominions: and thinke you that he cannot defend his owne? He tameth kings, and iudge you that he may not rule his owne subiects? Suppose you conquer the land, doo you imagine that he will not recouer it? Therefore (my lord) flatter not your selfe ouermuch, repose not so great affiance either in your troope of horssemen, or in your band of footmen, or in the multitude of your partakers. What face soeuer they put now on the matter, or what successe soeuer for a season they haue, bicause it is easie for an armie to vanquish them that doo not resist: yet hereafter when the king shall send his power into this countrie, you shall see your adherents like slipper changelings plucke in their hornes, and such as were content to beare you vp by the chin as long as you could swim, when they espie you sinke, they will by little and little shrinke from you, and percase will ducke you ouer head and eares. As long as the gale puffeth full in your sailes, doubt not but diuerse will anerre vnto you and féed on you as crowes on carion: but if anie storme hap|pen to bluster, then will they be sure to leaue you post alone sticking in the mire or sands, hauing least helpe when you haue most néed. And what will then insue of this. The branches will be pardoned, the root apprehended, your honour distained, your house at|teinted, your armes reuersed, your manours razed, your doings examined; at which time God knoweth what an hartburning it will be, when that with no colour may be denied, which without shame cannot be confessed. My lord, I powre not out oracles as a soothsaier, for I am neither a prophet, nor the sonne of a prophet. But it may be, that I am some frantike Cassandra being partener of hir spirit in fortelling Cassandras prophesie. the truth, and partaker of hir misfortune in that I am not (when I tell the truth) beléeued of your lord|ship, whom God defend from being Priamus.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Weigh therefore (my lord) the nobilitie of your ancestors, remember your father his late exhorta|tion, forget not your dutie vnto your prince, con|sider the estate of this poore countrie, with what heaps of cursses you shall be loden, when your soul|di [...]rs EEBO page image 91 shall ris [...]e the poore subiects, & so far indamage the whole relme, as they are not yet borne that shall hereafter féele the smart of this vprore. You haue not gone so far but you may turne home, the king is mercifull, your offense as yet not ouer heinous, cleaue to his clemencie, abandon this headlong fol|lie. Which I craue in most humble wise of your lord|ship, for the loue of God, for the dutie you owe your prince, for the affection you beare the countrie, and for the respect you haue to your owne safetie, whom God defend from all traitorous & wicked attempts.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Hauing ended his oration, which he set foorth with such a lamentable action, as his chéekes were all be|blubbered with teares, the horssemen, namelie such as vnderstood not English, began to diuine what the lord chancellor ment with all this long circumstance; some of them reporting that he was preaching a ser|mon, others said that he stood making of some heroi|call poetrie in the praise of the lord Thomas. And thus as euerie idiot shot his foolish bolt at the wise councellor his discourse, who in effect did nought else but drop pretious stones before hogs, one Bard de Bard de Nelan. Nelan, an Irish rithmour, and a rotten shéepe able to infect an whole flocke, was chatting of Irish ver|ses, as though his toong had run on pattens, in com|mendation of the lord Thomas, inuesting him with the title of Silken Thomas, bicause his horssemens Silken Thomas. iacks were gorgeouslie imbrodered with silke: and in the end he told him that he lingred there ouer|long. Whereat the lord Thomas being quickned, did cast his eie towards the lord chancellor, & said thus.

16.5. The replie of Silken Thomas.

The replie of Silken Thomas.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 _MY lord chancellor, I come not hi|ther to take aduise what I should doo, but to giue you to vnderstand what I mind to doo. It is easie for the sound to counsell the sicke: but if the sore had smarted you as much as it festereth me, you would be percase as impatient as I am. As you would wish me to honour my prince, so dutie wil|leth me to reuerence my father. Wherefore he that will with such tyrannte execute mine innocent pa|rent, and withall threaten my destruction, I may not, nor will not hold him for my king. And yet in truth he was neuer our king, but our lord, as his Henrie lord of Ireland. progenitors haue beene before him. But if it be my hap to miscarie, as you séeme to prognosticat, catch that catch may, I will take the market as it riseth, and will choose rather to die with valiantnesse and li|bertie, than to liue vnder king Henrie in bondage and villanie. And yet it may be, that as strong as he is, and as weake as I am, I shall be able like a fleshworme to itch the bodie of his kingdome, and force him to scratch déepelie before he be able to pike me out of my seame. Wherefore my lord, I thanke you for your good counsell, and were it not that I am too crabbed a note in descant to be now tuned, it might be that I would haue warbled swéeter har|monie than at this instant I meane to sing. ¶ With Thomas rendereth vp the sword. these words he rendered vp the sword, and flung a|waie like a bedlem, being garded with his brutish droue of brainesicke rebels.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 3 The councell sent secretlie vpon his departure to master maior and his brethren, to apprehend (if they conuenientlie might) Thomas Fitzgirald and his confederats. But the warning was so Skarborrow, the enimie so strong, the citie (by reason of the plage that ranged in towne and in countrie) so dispeopled, as their attempt therein would seeme but vaine and friuolous. Ouer this, the weaker part of the rebels would not pen vp themselues within the citie wals, but stood houering aloofe off toward Ostmantowne gréene, on the top of the hill where the gallowes stood (a fit centre for such a circle) till time they were ad|uertised of their capteine Thomas his returne. This open rebellion in this wise denounced; part of the councell, namelie Alen archbishop of Dublin & Fin|glasse Alen. Finglasse Iohn wal|ter. chiefe baron hied with bag and baggage to the castell of Dublin, whereof Iohn White was consta|ble, who after was dubbed knight by the king in England, for his worthie seruice doone in that vp|rore.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 Thomas & his crew, supposing that in ouerruning the whole land, they should find no blocke to stumble at sauing the earle of Ossorie, agreed to trie if by a|nie allurements he could be traind to their confede|racie. And forsomuch as the lord Iames Butler was linked with Thomas Fitzgirald in great amitie and friendship, it was thought best to giue him the onset, who if he were woon to swaie with them, they would not weigh two chips the force of his father the earle of Ossorie. Thomas foorthwith sent his messengers and letters to his cousine the lord Butler, couenan|ting to diuide with him halfe the kingdome, would he associat him in this enterprise. Wherevpon the lord Butler returned Thomas his brokers with this letter.