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.