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21.1. ¶ The hurt of sedition how greeuous it is to a common-wealth, set out by sir Iohn Cheeke knight, in the yeare 1549.The true subiect to the rebell.

¶ The hurt of sedition how greeuous it is to a common-wealth, set out by sir Iohn Cheeke knight, in the yeare 1549.

The true subiect to the rebell.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 _AMong so manie and notable benefits, wherewith God hath alreadie and plen|tifullie indued vs, there is nothing more beneficiall, than that we haue by his grace kept vs quiet from rebellion at this time. For we see such miseries hang ouer the whole state of the common-wealth, through the great misorder of your sedition, that it maketh vs much to reioise, that we haue béene neither partners of your doings, nor con|spirers of your counsels. For euen as the Lacede|monians for the auoiding of drunkennesse did cause their sons to behold their seruants when they were drunke,What the La|cedemonians did to make their sons de|test drunken|nesse. that by beholding their beastlinesse, they might auoid the like vice: euen so hath God like a mercifull father staied vs from your wickednesse, that by beholding the filth of your fault, we might iustlie for offense abhorre you like rebels, whome else by nature we loue like Englishmen. And so for our selues, we haue great cause to thanke God, by whose religion and holie word dailie taught vs, we learne not onelie to feare him trulie, but also to o|beie our king faithfullie, and to serue in our owne vocation like subiects honestlie. And as for you, we haue surelie iust cause to lament you as brethren, and yet iuster cause to rise against you as enimies, and most iust cause to ouerthrow you as rebels.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 3 For what hurt could be doone either to vs priuat|lie, or to the whole common-wealth generallie, that is now with mischiefe so brought in by you, that euen as we sée now the flame of your rage, so shall we necessarilie be consumed hereafter with the miserie of the same. Wherefore consider your selues with some light of vnderstanding, and marke this grée|uous and horrible fault, which ye haue thus vilelie committed, how heinous it must néeds appeare to you, if ye will reasonablie consider that which for my duties sake, and my whole countries cause, I will at this present declare vnto you. Ye which be bound by Gods word not to obeie for feare like men-plea|sers,Rebellion a verie grée|uous and hor|rible offense a|gainst God, the prince, and the state. but for conscience sake like christians, haue con|trarie to Gods holie will, whose offense is euerla|sting death, and contrarie to the godlie order of qui|etnesse, set out to vs in the kings maiesties lawes, the breach whereof is not vnknowne to you, taken in hand vncalled of God, vnsent by men, vnfit by reason, to cast awaie your bounden duties of obedi|ence, and to put on you against the magistrats, Gods office committed to the magistrats, for the re|formation of your pretensed iniuries. In the which dooing ye haue first faulted grieuouslie against God, next offended vnnaturallie our souereigne lord, thirdlie troubled miserablie the whole common-wealth, vndoone cruellie manie an honest man, and brought in an vtter miserie both to vs the kings sub|iects, and to your selues being false rebels. And yet ye pretend that partlie for Gods cause, and partlie for the common-wealths sake, ye doo arise, when as your selues cannot denie; but ye that seeke in word Gods cause, doo breake in déed Gods comman|dements; and ye that séeke the common-wealth, haue destroied the common-wealth: and so ye marre that ye would make, & breake that ye would amend, because ye neither seeke anie thing rightlie, nor would amend anie thing orderlie.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 He that faulteth, faulteth against Gods ordi|nance, who hath forbidden all faults, and therefore ought againe to be punished by Gods ordinance, who is the reformer of faults. For he saith, Leaue the pu|nishment to me, and I will reuenge them.The autho [...]i|tie of the [...]|gistrats [...] and peremp|torie. But the magistrate is the ordinance of God, appointed by him with the sword of punishment to looke streight|lie to all euill dooers. And therefore that that is doone by the magistrate, is doone by the ordinance of God, whome the scripture oftentimes dooth call God, be|cause he hath the execution of Gods office. How then doo you take in hand to reforme? Be ye kings? By what authoritie? Or by what occasion? Be ye the kings officers? By what commission? Be ye called of God? By what tokens declare ye that? Gods word teacheth vs, that no man should take in hand anie office, but he that is called of God like Aaron. What Moses I praie you called you? What Gods minister bad you rise?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Ye rise for religion. What religion taught you that? If ye were offered persecution for religion,Rebellion [...]n|lawfull in de|fense of true religion, E [...]go much more vnlawfull in maintenance of false reli|gion, &c. ye ought to flie: so Christ teacheth you, and yet you in|tend to fight. If ye would stand in the truth, ye ought to suffer like martyrs, and you would sleie like ty|rants. Thus for religion you kéepe no religion, and neither will follow the counsell of Christ, nor the con|stancie of martyrs. Why rise ye for religion? Haue ye anie thing contrarie to Gods booke? Yea, haue ye not all things agréeable to Gods word? But the new is different from the old, and therefore ye will haue the old. If ye measure the old by truth, ye haue the oldest; if ye measure the old by fansie, then it is hard: because mens fansies change, to giue that is old. Ye will haue the old still. Will ye haue anie ol|der than that as Christ left, & his apostles taught, & the first church after Christ did vse? Ye will haue that the chanons doo establish. Why that is a great deale yoonger than that ye haue, of later time, and newlier inuented. Yet that is it that ye desire. Why then ye desire not the oldest. And doo you preferre the bi|shops of Rome afore Christ, mens inuentions afore Gods law, the newer sort of worship before the ol|der? Ye séeke no religion, ye be deceiued, ye séeke traditions. They that teach you, blind you, that so instruct you, deceiue you. If ye séeke what the old doctors saie, yet looke what Christ the oldest of all saith. For he saith; Before Abraham was made I am. If ye seeke the truest way, he is the verie truth; if ye séeke the readiest waie, he is the verie waie; if ye séeke euerlasting life, he is the verie life. What religion would ye haue other now, than his religion?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 You would haue the bibles in againe.The necessa|rie benefit an [...] vse of the bi|ble, and con|trariwise. It is no maruell, your blind guides would leade you blind still. Why, be ye howlets and backs, that ye can|not looke on the light? Christ saith to euerie one, Search ye the scriptures, for they beare witnesse of Christ. You saie, Pull in the scriptures, for we will haue no knowledge of Christ. The apostles of Christ will vs to be so readie, that we maie be able to giue euerie man an account of our faith. Ye will vs not once to read the scriptures, for feare of knowing of our faith. Saint Paul praieth that euerie man may increase in knowledge: ye desire that our know|ledge might decaie againe. A true religion ye séeke belike, and worthie to be sought for. For without the sword indéed nothing can helpe it, neither Christ, nor truth, nor age can mainteine it. But why should ye not like that which Gods word establisheth, the primitiue church hath authorised, the greatest lear|ned men of this realme haue drawen, the whole con|sent of the parlement hath confirmed, the kings maiestie hath set foorth? Is it not trulie set out? Can ye deuise anie truer than Christes apostles vsed? Ye thinke it is not learnedlie doone. Dare ye commons take vpon you more learning, than the chosen bi|shops and clearks of this realme haue? Thinke ye follie in it? Ye were woont to iudge your parlement wisest, & now will ye suddenlie excell them in wis|dome? EEBO page image 1043 Or can ye thinke it lacketh authoritie, which the king, the parlement, the learned, the wise haue iustlie approoued? Learne, learne, to know this one point of religion, that God will be worshipped as he hath prescribed,A principall p [...]int of reli| [...]on for re| [...]ls speciallie [...] ca [...]ne. and not as we haue deuised; and that his will is wholie in his scriptures, which be full of Gods spirit, and profitable to teach the truth, to re|prooue lies, to amend faults, to bring one vp in righ|teousnesse, that he that is a Gods man may be per|fect & readie to all good works. What can be more re|quired to serue God withall? And thus much for re|ligion, rebels.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 The rebelles of Norffolke pretended the c [...]mmmon-we [...]lth the cause of their rising.The other rable of Norffolke rebelles, ye pre|tend a common-wealth. How amend ye it? By kil|ling of gentlemen, by spoiling of gentlemen, by im|prisoning of gentlemen? A maruellous tanned common-wealth. Whie should ye thus hate them? For their riches or for their rule? Rule they neuer tooke so much in hand as ye doo now. They neuer re|sisted the king, neuer withstood his councell, be faith|full at this daie when ye be faithlesse, not onelie, to the king, whose subiects ye be, but also to your lords whose tenants ye be. Is this your true duetie, in some of homage, in most of fealtie, in all of allegi|ance; to leaue your duties, go backe from your pro|mises, fall from your faith, and contrarie to law and truth to make vnlawfull assemblies, vngodlie com|panies, wicked and detestable campes, to disobeie your betters, and to obeie your tanners, to change your obedience from a king to a Ket, to submit your selues to traitors, and breake your faith to your true king and lords? They rule but by law, if otherwise, the law, the councell, the king taketh awaie their rule. Ye haue orderlie sought no redresse, but ye haue in time found it.whie all must not looke to beare like r [...]le. In countries some must rule, some must obeie, euerie man maie not beare like stroke: for euerie man is not like wise. And they that haue séene most, and be best able to beare it, and of iust dealing beside, be most fit to rule. It is an o|ther matter to vnderstand a mans owne gréefe, and to know the common-wealths sore; and therfore not they that know their owne case, as euerie man doth, but they that vnderstand the common-welths state, ought to haue in countries the preferment of ruling. If ye felt the paine that is ioined with gouernance, as ye see and like the honor, ye would not hurt o|thers to rule them, but rather take great paine to be ruled of them. If ye had rule of the kings maiestie committed vnto you, it were well doone ye had ruled the gentlemen: but now ye haue it not, and cannot beare their rule, it is to thinke the kings maiestie foo|lish and vniust, that hath giuen certeine rule to them. And séeing by the scripture,Magistrates [...] to be hono|red both in speech and maners. ye ought not to speake euill of anie magistrate of the people, why doo ye not onelie speake euill of them whome the kings maie|stie hath put in office, but also iudge euill of the king himselfe, and thus seditiouslie in field stand with your swords drawen against him?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 If riches offend you, because yée wish the like, then thinke that to be no common-wealth, but enuie to the common-wealth. Enuie it is to appaire an o|ther mans estate, without the amendment of your owne. And to haue no gentlemen, bicause ye be none your selues, is to bring downe an estate, and to mend none. Would ye haue all alike rich? That is the ouerthrow of labour, and vtter decay of worke in this realme.To haue all degrees alike, [...] no inequali|tie how incon| [...]enient. For who will labour more, if when he hath gotten more, the idle shall by lust without right take what him lust from him, vnder pretense of e|qualitie with him. This is the bringing in of idle|nesse, which destroieth the common-wealth; and not the amendment of labour. that mainteineth the common-wealth. If there should be such equalitie, then ye take awaie all hope from yours to come to anie better estate than you now leaue them. And as manie meane mens children doo come honestlie vp, and are great succour to all their stocke: so should none be hereafter holpen by you, but bicause ye seeke equalitie, whereby all can not be rich. Ye would that (belike) whereby euerie man should be poore; and thinke beside that riches and inheritance be Gods prouidence,Riches and inheritance from whom, to whom, and to what end giuen. and giuen to whome of his wisdome he thinketh good: to the honest for the increase of their godlinesse, to the wicked for the heaping vp of their damnation, to the simple for a recompense of other lackes, to the wise for the greater setting out of Gods goodnesse. Whie will your wisdome now stop Gods wisdome, and prouide by your lawes, that God shall not inrich them, whome he hath by prouidence appointed as him liketh? God hath made the poore, & hath made them to be poore that he might shew his might, and set them aloft when he listeth for such cause as to him seemeth, & plucke downe the rich to this state of pouertie by his power, as he disposeth to order them. Whie doo not we then being poore beare it wiselie, rather than by lust seeke riches vniustlie, and shew our selues content with Gods ordinance, which we must either willinglie obeie, and then we be wise, or else we must vnprofitablie striue withall, and then we be mad?

But what meane yee by this equalitie in the common-wealth? If one be wiser than an other,The vncon|scionable wi|shing of equa|litie how hurtfull. will ye banish him, because yée intend an equalitie of all things? If one be stronger than another, will yee slaie him, bicause ye séeke an equalitie of all things? If one be well fauourder than an other, will yée pu|nish him, because yée looke for an equalitie of all things? If one haue better vtterance than another, will ye pull out his toong to saue your equalitie? And if one be richer than an other, will ye spoile him to mainteine an equalitie? If one be elder than an o|ther, will ye kill him for this equalities sake? How iniurious are ye to God himselfe, who intendeth to bestow his gifts as he himselfe listeth: and ye seeke by wicked insurrections to make him giue them commonlie alike to all men as your vaine fansie li|keth? Whie would ye haue an equalitie in riches & in other gifts of God? There is no meane sought. Either by ambition ye séeke lordlinesse much vnfit for you; or by couetousnesse ye be vnsatiable, a thing likelie inough in ye; or else by follie ye be not con|tent with your estate, a fansie to be plucked out of you.

But if we being wearie of pouertie would séeke to inrich our selues,The precept of S. Peter teaching the right waie to riches and honor. we should go a farre other waie to worke than this, and so should we rightlie come to our desire. Dooth not S. Peter teath vs afore God a right waie to honour, to riches, to all necessarie and profitable things for vs? He saith, Humble your selues that God might exalt you, and cast all your care on him, for he careth for you. He teacheth the waie to all good things at Gods hand, is to be hum|ble, and you exalt your selues. Ye séeke things after such a sort, as if the seruant should anger his master, when he seeketh to haue a good turne of him. Ye would haue riches (I thinke) at Gods hand who gi|ueth all riches, and yet ye take the waie cleane con|trarie to riches. Know ye not that he that exalteth himselfe, God will throw him downe? How can ye get it then by thus setting out your selues? Ye shuld submit ye by humilitie one to another, and ye set vp your selues by arrogancie aboue the magistrates. See herein how much ye offend God. Remember ye not that if ye come nigh to God, he will come nigh vnto you? If then ye go from God, he will go from you. Dooth not the psalme saie, He is holie with the holie, and with the wicked man he is fro|ward? Euen as he is ordered of men, he will order EEBO page image 1044 them againe. If ye would follow his will, and obeie his commandements, ye should eat the fruits of the earth, saith the prophet; if not, the sword shall deuour you. Ye might haue eaten the fruits of this seaso|nable yéere, if ye had not by disobedience rebelled against God. Now not onelie ye can not eat that which your selues did first sowe by labour, and now destroie by sedition; but also if the kings maiesties sword came not against you, as iust policie requi|reth, yet the iust vengeance of God would light a|mong you, as his word promiseth, and your cruell wickednesse deserueth.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 For whatsoeuer the causes be that haue mooued your wild affections herin, as they be vniust causes, & increase your faults much,The act of re|bellion aggra|uated, & proo|ued most wic|ked and hor|rible. the thing it selfe, the ri|sing I meane, must néeds be wicked and horrible be|fore God, and the vsurping of authoritie, and taking in hand of rule, which is the sitting in Gods seat of iustice, and a proud climing vp into Gods high throne, must néeds be not onelie cursed newlie by him, but also hath beene often punished afore of him. And that which is doone to Gods officer, God accoun|teth it doone to him. For they despise not the mini|ster, as he saith himselfe, but they despise him: and that presumption of chalenging Gods seat, dooth shew you to haue bin Lucifers, and sheweth vs that God will punish you like Lucifers. Wherfore right|lie looke,An exhorta|tion to rebels. as ye dulie haue deserued, either for great vengeance for your abhominable transgression, or else earnestlie repent, with vnfeined minds, your wicked dooings; and either with example of death be content to dehort other, or else by faithfulnesse of obe|dience declare how great a seruice it is to God, to obeie your magistrats faithfullie, and to serue in sub|iection trulie.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Well, if ye had not thus grieuouslie offended God, whome ye ought to worship, what can ye reaso|nablie thinke it, to be no fault against the king, whom ye ought to reuerence?Disobedience to the prince is a most ab|hominable sinne, and that we are bound by dutie to o|beie. Ye be bound by Gods word to obeie your king, and is it no breach of dutie to withstand your king? If the seruant be bound to obeie his maister in the familie, is not the subiect bound to serue the king in his realme? The child is bound to the priuat father, and be we not all bound to the common-wealths father? If we ought to be subiect to the king for Gods cause, ought we not then I praie you to be faithfullie subiect to the king? If we ought dutifullie to shew all obedience to heathen kings, shall we not willinglie and trulie be subiect to christian kings? If one ought to submit himselfe by humilitie to another, ought we not all by dutie to be subiect to our king? If the members of our natu|rall bodie all follow the head, shall not the members of the politicall bodie all obeie the king? If good ma|ners be content to giue place the lower to the high|er, shall not religion teach vs alwaie to giue place to the highest? If true subiects will die gladlie in the kings seruice, should not all subiects thinke it dutie to obeie the king with iust seruice. But you haue not onelie disobeied like ill subiects, but also taken stout|lie rule vpon you like wicked magistrates.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Ye haue béene called to obedience by counsell of priuat men, by the aduise of the kings maiesties councell, by the kings maiesties frée pardon. But what counsell taketh place, where sturdinesse is law and churlish answers be counted wisdome?A notable and rhetoricall clause, and to the purpose. Who can persuade where treason is aboue reason, and might ruleth right, and it is had for lawfull whatsoeuer is lustfull, and commotioners are better than com|missioners, and common wo is named common-wealth? Haue ye not broken his lawes, disobeied his councell, rebelled against him? And what is the common-wealth worth, when the law which is indif|ferent for all men, shall be wilfullie and spitefullie broken of head-strong men, that séeke against laws to order lawes; that those may take place, not what consent of wise men hath appointed, but what the lust of rebels hath determined?The rebels fullie fraught with most [...]| [...]anous quali|ties, &c. What vnthriftinesse is in ill seruants, wickednes in vnnaturall children, sturdinesse in vnrulie subiects, crueltie in fierce eni|mies, wildnes in beastlie minds, pride in disdainfull harts; that floweth now in you, which haue fled from housed conspiracies, to incamped robberies, and are better contented to suffer famine, cold, trauell, to glut your lusts, than to liue in quietnesse to saue the common-wealth, and thinke more libertie in wilful|nesse, than wisedome in dutifulnesse, and so run head|long not to the mischiefe of other, but to the destruc|tion of your selues, and vndoo by follie that ye intend by mischiefe, neither séeing how to remedie that ye iudge faultie, nor willing to saue your selues from miserie: which stifneckednesse cannot doo, but hone|stie of obedience must frame.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 If authoritie would serue vnder a king,The kings councell of greatest au|thoritie and why; yet are they disobei|ed: note. the coun|cell haue greatest authoritie; if wisedome and graui|tie might take place, they be of most experience; if knowledge of the common-wealth could helpe, they must by dailie conference of matters vnderstand it best: yet neither the authoritie that the kings maie|stie hath giuen them, nor the grauitie which you know to be in them, nor the knowledge which with great trauell they haue gotten, can mooue you either to kéepe you in the dutie ye ought to doo, or to auoid the great disorder wherin ye be. For where disobedience is thought stoutnesse, and sullennes is counted man|hood, and stomaching is courage, and prating is iud|ged wisedome, and the eluishest is most méet to rule; how can other iust authoritie be obeied, or sad coun|sell be followed, or good knowledge of matters be heard, or commandements of counsellors be consi|dered? And how is the king obeied, whose wisest be withstanded, the disobedientest obeied, the high in au|thoritie not weied, the vnskilfullest made chiefe cap|teins, to the noblest most hurt intended, the brag|gingest braller to be most safe? And euen as the vi|ler parts of the bodie would contend in knowledge & gouernement with the fiue wits: so doo the lower parts of the common-wealth enterprise as high a matter, to striue against their dutie of obedience to the councell.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 But what talke I of disobedience so quietlie?The action of rebellion pro|ued by reason to be most hei|nous, intolle|rable, and di|uelish. Haue not such mad rages run in your heads, that forsa|king and bursting the quietnesse of the common peace, ye haue heinouslie and traitorouslie incamped your selues in field, and there like a bile in a bodie, naie like a sinke in a towne, haue gathered togither all the nastie vagabonds and idle loiterers to beare armour against him, whome all godlie and good sub|iects will liue and die withall. If it be a fault when two fight togither, and the kings peace broken, and punishment to be sought therefore; can it be but an outragious and a detestable mischiefe, when so manie rebels in number, malicious in mind, mischiefous in enterprise, fight not among themselues, but a|gainst all the kings true and obedient subiects; and séeke to prooue whether rebellion may beat downe honestie, and wickednesse may ouercome truth or no? If it be treason to speake heinouslie of the kings maiestie, who is not hurt thereby, and the infamie re|turneth to the speaker againe; what kind of outra|gious & horrible treason is it, to assemble in campe an armie against him, and so not onelie intend an o|uerthrow to him, and also to his common-wealth; but also to cast him into an infamie, through all out|ward and strange nations, and persuade them that he is hated of his people, whome he can not rule; and that they be no better than vilans, which will not with good orders be ruled?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 EEBO page image 1045 No death cru| [...] enough for [...] and t [...]itors.What death can be deuised cruell enough for those rebels, who with trouble seeke death, and can not quench the thirst of their rebellion, but with the bloud of true subiects; and hate the kings mercifull par|don, when they miserablie haue transgressed, and in such an outrage of mischiefe will not by stubbornesse acknowledge themselues to haue faulted, but intend to broile the common-wealth with the flame of their treason, and as much as lieth in them not one|to annoie themselues, but to destroie all others? He that is miscontented with things that happen,A desperat m [...]lecontents behauiour. and bicause he cannot beare the miserie of them, renteth his heare, and teareth his skin, & mangleth his face, which easeth not his sorrow, but increaseth his mise|rie; maie he not be iustlie called mad and fantasti|call, and woorthie whose wisedome should be suspec|ted? And what shall we saie of them, who being in the common-wealth, feeling a sore greeuous vnto them, and easie to haue béene amended, sought not the remedie, but haue increased the gréefe, and like frantike beasts raging against their head, doo teare and deface as much as lieth in them his whole autho|ritie in gouernement, and violentlie take to them|selues that rule vpon them, which he by policie hath granted vnto other?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 And who weieng well the heauinesse of the fault, maie not iustlie saie and hold them to be worse here|in than any kind of brute beasts?Rebels and traitors worse than brute [...]. For we sée that the sheepe will obeie the shepheard, and the neat be ru|led by the neatheard, and the horsse will know his keeper, and the dog will be in aw of his maister, and euerie one of them féed there, and of that, as his kée|per and ruler dooth appoint him, & goeth from thence, and that, as he is forbidden by his ruler. And yet we haue not heard of, that anie heard or companie of these haue risen against their heardman or gouer|nour, but be alwaies contented not onelie to obeie them, but also to suffer them to take profit of them. And we sée furthermore, that all heards, & all sorts, be more egre in fiercenesse against all kind of stran|gers, than they be against their owne rulers, & will easilier offend him who hath not hurt them, than touch their ruler who séeketh profit on them.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 But ye that ought to be gouerned by your ma|gistrates, as the heards by the heardman, and ought to be like shéepe to your king,The applica|tion of the for|mer compari|sons implieng obedience. who ought to be like a shéepeheard vnto you, euen in the time when your profit was sought, and better redresse was intended, than your vpstirs and vnquietnesse could obteine, haue beyond the crueltie of all beasts fowlie risen a|gainst your ruler, and shewed your selues woorthie to be ordered like beasts, who in kind of obedience will fall from the state of men. A dog stoopeth when he is beaten of his maister, not for lacke of stomach, but for naturall obedience: you being not striken of your head but fauoured, not kept downe but succou|red and remedied by law, haue violentlie against law not onelie barked like beasts, but also bitten like helhounds. What? Is the mischiefe of sedition either not knowne vnto you, or not feared? Haue not examples aforetimes both told the end of rebels, and the wickednesse of rebellion it selfe? But as for old examples, let them passe for a while, as things well to be considered. But at this present one thing more to be weied.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 3 Looke vpon your selues, after ye haue wickedlie stept into this horrible kind of treason, doo ye not sée how manie bottomlesse whirlepooles of mischiefe yee be gul [...]t withall,The presump|t [...]ous & arro| [...]nt vsurped [...] of the re| [...]ls noted to [...] imp [...]ach| [...]nt of [...]. and what lothsome kinds of rebel|lion ye be faine to wade through? Ye haue sent out in the kings name, against the kings will, precepts of all kinds, & without commandement comman|ded his subiects, and vnrul [...]lie haue ruled where yée listed to command, thinking your owne fansies the kings commandements, and rebels lusts in things to be right gouernement of things, not looking what should follow by reason, but what your selues follow by affection. And is it not a dangerous and a cruell kind of treason, to giue out precepts to the kings people? There can be no iust execution of lawes, re|formation of faults, giuing out of commandements, but from the king. For in the king onelie is the right herof, & the authoritie of him deriued by his appoint|ment to his ministers. Ye hauing no authoritie of the king, but taking it of your selues, what thinke ye your selues to be? Ministers ye be none, except ye be the diuels ministers, for he is the author of sedition.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 The kings maiestie intendeth to mainteine peace, and to oppresse warre; ye stirre vp vprores of people, hurliburlies of vagabonds, routs of robbers. Is this anie part of the kings ministerie? If a vaga|bond would doo what he lust, and call himselfe your seruant, and execute such offices of trust,The rebels outragious and intollera|ble demeanor descried. whether yée would or no, as yee haue committed vnto another mans credit, what would euerie one of you saie or doo herein? Would ye suffer it? Ye wander out of houses, ye make euerie daie new matters as it pleaseth you, ye take in hand the execution of those things, God by his word forbidding the same; which God hath put the magistrates in trust withall. What can ye saie to this? Is it sufferable thinke ye? If ye told a priuat message in another mans name, can it be but a false lie I praie you? And to tell a feined message to the common-wealth, and that from the king, can it be honest thinke ye? To command is more than to speake: what is it then to command so traitorous a lie? This then which is in word a deceit|full lie, and in déed a traitorous fact,Their disobe|dience noto|rious. noisome to the common-wealth, vnhonourable to the king, mischie|fous in you, how can ye otherwise iudge of it, but to be an vnheard of and notable disobedience to the king: and therefore by notable example to be puni|shed, and not with gentlenesse of pardon to be for|giuen? Ye haue robbed euerie honest house, and spoi|led them vniustlie, and pitiouslie wronged poore men being no offendors, to their vtter vndooing, and yet ye thinke ye haue not broken the kings lawes. The kings maiesties law and his commandement is, that euerie man should safelie kéepe his owne,The rebels offend against the law of iu|stice & equitie. and vse it reasonablie to an honest gaine of his liuing: ye violentlie take and carie awaie from men with|out cause, all things whereby they should mainteine, not onelie themselues, but also their familie, & leaue them so naked, that they shall féele the smart of your curssed enterprise, longer than your owne vnnatu|rall & vngodlie stomachs would well vouchsafe. By iustice ye should neither hurt nor wrong man, and your pretensed cause of this monstruous sturre is to increase mens wealth. And yet how manie, and saie truth, haue ye decaied and vndoone, by spoiling and taking awaie their goods? How should honest men liue quietlie in the common-wealth at anie time, if their goods, either gotten by their owne labor, or left to them by their friends, shall vnlawfullie and vnor|derlie, to the féeding of a sort of rebels,The former matter vehe|mentlie vrged. be spoiled and wasted and vtterlie scattered abrode? The thing that ye take is not your right, it is an other mans owne. The maner of taking against his will is vnlawfull, & against the order of euerie good common-wealth. The cause why ye take it is mischiefous and horrible, to fat your sedition. Ye that take it be wicked trai|tors, and common enimies of all good order.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 If he that desireth an other mans goods or cat|tell, doo fault: what dooth he (thinke you) whose desire taking followeth, and is led to and fro by lust, as his wicked fansie void of reason dooth guide him? Hée that vseth not his owne well and charitablie, hath much to answer for: and shall they be thought not EEBO page image 1046 vniust, who not onelie take awaie other mens, but also misuse and wast the same vngodlie? They that take things priuilie awaie, and steale secretlie and couertlie other mens goods, be by law iudged wor|thie death: and shall they that without shame spoile things openlie, and be not affeard by impudencie to professe their spoile, be thought either honest creaturs to God, or faithfull subiects to their king, or naturall men to their countrie?The rebels are still char|ged with their rapines, and violentlie inferred wrongs. If nothing had mooued you but the example of mischeefe, and the foule practise of other mooued by the same, ye should yet haue abstei|ned from so licentious and vilanous a shew of rob|berie, considering how manie honester there be, that being loth their wickednesse should be blazed abrode, yet be found out by prouidence, and hanged for de|sert. What shall we then thinke or saie of you? Shall we call you pickers, or hid theeues; naie more than théeues, daie théeues, heard stealers, shire spoi|lers, and vtter destroiers of all kinds of families, both among the poore and also among the rich. Let vs yet further see. Be there no mo things wherein ye haue broken the kings laws, and so vilelie disobeie? him, flat contrarie to your bounden dutie and alle|giance?

Ye haue not onelie spoiled the kings true subiects of their goods, but also ye haue imprisoned their bo|dies, which should be at libertie vnder the king, and restreined them of their seruice, which by dutie they owe the king,Libertie desi|red aboue all things. and appaired both strength and health, wherewith they liue and serue the king. Is there a|nie honest thing more desired than libertie? Ye haue shamefullie spoiled them thereof. Is there anie thing more dutifull than to serue their lord and mai|ster? But as that was desired of the one part, so was it hindered and stopped on your part. For nei|ther can the king be serued, nor families kept, nor the common-wealth looked vnto, where fréedome of libertie is stopped, and diligence of seruice is hinde|red; and the helpe of strength and health abated. Mens bodies ought to be frée from all mens bon|dage and crueltie, and onelie in this realme be sub|iect in publike punishment to our publike gouer|nour, and neither be touched of Fit epithets and terms for head and taile of this rebel|lion. headlesse capteins, nor holden of brainlesse rebels. For the gouerne|ment of so pretious a thing ought to belong vnto the most noble ruler, and not iustlie to be in euerie mans power, which is iustlie euerie liuing mans treasure. For what goods be so deare to euerie man, as his owne bodie is, which is the true vessell of the mind, to be measurablie kept of euerie man for all exercises & seruices of the mind? If ye may not of your owne authoritie meddle with mens goods, much lesse you may of your owne authoritie take order with mens bodies.

For what be goods in comparison of health, liber|tie, and strength, which be all setled and fastened in the bodie?The offense of excluding the kings sub|iects from the benefit of li|bertie aggra|uated. They that strike other, doo greatlie offend, and be iustlie punishable: and shall they that cruel|lie and wrongfullie torment mens bodies with irons and imprisonments, be thought not of others but of themselues honest, and plaine, and true dea|ling men? What shall we say by them, who in a pri|uat businesse will let a man to go his iourneie in the kings high waie? Doo they not (thinke ye) plaine wrong? Then in a common cause not onelie to hin|der them, but also to deale cruellie with them, and shut them from dooing their seruice to the king, and their dutie to the common-wealth, is it not both dis|obedience, crueltie, and mischiefe thinke ye? What an hinderance is it, to haue a good garment hurt, anie iewell appaired, or anie estéemed thing to be de|caied? And séeing no earthlie thing a man hath is more pretious than his body, to cause it to be cruellie tormented with irons, feebled with cold, weakened with ordering: can it be thought anie other thing but wrong to the sufferer, crueltie in the dooer, & great disobedience and transgression to the king?A pithie con|clusion in [...]er|red vpon the premisses, i [...] forme of sen|tence defini|tiue. How then be ye able to defend it? But séeing ye so vnpi|tifullie vexe men, cast them in prison, lade them with irons, pine them with famine, contrarie to the rule of nature, contrarie to the kings maiesties lawes, contrarie to God holie ordinances, hauing no mat|ter but pretensed and fained gloses, ye be not onelie disobedient to the king like rebels, but withstanding the law of nature like beasts, and so worthie to die like dogs, except the kings maiestie, without re|spect of your deseruing, doo mercifullie grant you of his goodnesse that which you cannot escape by iu|stice.

Yet ye being not content with this, as small things enterprise great matters, and as though ye could not satisfie your selues, if ye should leaue anie mischiefe vndoone, haue sought bloud with crueltie, and haue slaine of the kings true subiects manie,The rebels charged with the murder and bloudshed of the kings liege people. thinking their murder to be your defense, when as ye haue increased the fault of your vile rebellion, with the horror of bloudshed, and so haue burdened mischiefe with mischiefe, whilest it come to an im|portable weight of mischiefe. What could we doo more, in the horriblest kind of faults, vnto the grea|test transgressours and offendors of God and men, than to looke strictlie on them by death, and so to rid them out of the common-wealth by seuere pu|nishment, whome ye thought vnworthie to liue a|mong men for their dooings? And those who haue not offended the king, but defended his realme, and by obedience of seruice sought to punish the disobedi|ent, and for safegard of euerie man put themselues vnder dutie of law, those haue ye miserablie and cru|ellie slaine, and bathed you in their bloud, whose doo|ings ye should haue followed, & not to haue appaired the common-wealth, both by destruction of good men, and also by increase of rebels.A licentious common-wealth cannot indure. And how can that common-wealth by anie meanes indure, wher|in euerie man without authoritie, may vnpuni|shed slea whome he list, and that in such case as those who be slaine shew themselues most noble of cou|rage, and most readie to serue the king and the com|mon-wealth, and those as doo slea be most vilanous and traitorous rebels that anie common-wealth did euer susteine?

For a citie and a prouince be not the faire hou|ses, and the strong walles,Wherein and whereof con|sisteth a citie, prouince, or politike bodie. nor the defense of anie engine, but the liuing bodies of men, being able in number and strength to mainteine themselues by good order of iustice, & to serue for all necessarie & behouable vses in the common-wealth. And when as mans bodie being a part of the whole common-wealth, is wrongfullie touched anie way, and speci|allie by death, then suffereth the common-wealth great iniurie, and that alwaies so much the more, how honester and nobler he is, who is iniuriouslie murdered.Lord Shef|felds slaugh|ter laid to the rebels char [...] How was the lord Sheffeld handled a|mong you, a noble gentleman, and of good seruice, both fit for counsell in peace, and for conduct in war, considering either the grauitie of his wisedome, or the authoritie of his person, or his seruice to the com|mon-wealth, or the hope that all men had in him, or the néed that England had of such, or among manie notablie good, his singular excellencie, or the fauor that all men bare toward him, being loued of euerie man, and hated of no man?

Considered ye who should by dutie be the kings subiects, either how ye should not haue offended the K. or after offense haue required the kings pardon, or not to haue refused his goodnesse offered, or at length, to haue yéelded to his mercie, or not to haue slaine those who came for his seruice, or to haue spared those EEBO page image 1047 who in danger offered ransome. But all these things forgotten by rage of rebellion, because one madnesse cannot be without infinit vices, ye slew him cruel|lie, who offered himselfe manfullie, nor would not so much as spare him for ransome,L [...]d Shef| [...]s wofull [...] this [...] p [...]thilie [...]. who was worthie for noblenesse to haue had honour, & hewed him bare whome ye could not hurt armed, and by slauerie slue nobilitie, in deed miserablie, in fashion cruellie, in cause diuelishlie. Oh with what cruell spite was violentlie sundred so noble a bodie from so godlie a mind? Whose death must rather be reuenged than lamented, whose death was no lacke to himselfe, but to his countrie, whose death might euerie way béene better borne, than at a rebels hand. Uiolence is in all things hurtfull, but in life horrible. What should I speake of others in the same case,The knitting [...] mans bodie [...] mind G [...]ds worke, [...] whome the dissolving [...]reof belon|ged. diuerse and notable, whose death for manhood and seruice can want no woorthie praise, so long as these vglie sturrers of rebellion can be had in mind. God hath himselfe ioined mans bodie and his soule togither, not to be departed asunder, afore he euer disseuer them himselfe, or cause them to be disseuered by his minister.

And shall rebels and heedlesse camps, being armed against God, and in field against their king, thinke it no fault to shed bloud of true subiects, hauing nei|ther office of God, nor appointment of ministers, nor cause of rebellion? He that stealeth anie part of a mans substance, is woorthie to lose his life. What shall we thinke then of them, who spoile men of their liues, for the maintenance whereof, not onelie substance & riches be sought for, but also all common-welths be deuised? Now then, your owne conscien|ces should be made your iudges, & none other set to giue sentence against ye. Séeing ye haue beene such bloudshedders, so heinous manquellers, so horrible murderers, could ye doo anie other than plainlie con|fesse your foule and wicked rebellion to be gréeuous against God, [...]ereby he [...]ooeth the rebels consci| [...]ces see [...]ed [...] as it were [...] an hot [...]. and traitorous to the king, and hurt|full to the common-wealth? So manie gréeuous faults meeting togither in one sinke, might not one|lie haue discouraged, but also driuen to desperation, anie other honest or indifferent mind.

But what féele they, whose hearts so déepe mischéefe had hardened, and by vehemencie of affection be made vnshamefast, and stop all discourse of reason, to let at large the full scope of their vnmeasurable madnesse? Priuat mens goods séeme little to your vnsatiable desires, yée haue waxed gréedie now vpon cities,The rebels [...]tousnesse [...] ambition [...]satiable. and haue attempted mightie spoiles, to glut vp (and yée could) your wasting hunger. Oh how much haue they néed of, that will neuer be conten|ted, and what riches can suffice anie that will at|tempt high enterprises aboue their estate? Ye could not mainteine your camps with your priuat goods, with your neighbours portion, but yée must also at|tempt cities, bicause ye sought great spoiles with o|ther mens losses, and had forgotten how yee liued at home honestlie with your owne, and thought them worthie death that would disquiet yée in your house, and plucke awaie that which yée by right of law thought to be your owne.A briefe ca| [...]lation of [...] rebels [...] atempts [...] purposes. Héerein in sée what yée would haue doone, spoiled the kings maiesties subiects, weakened the kings strength, ouerthrowne his townes, taken awaie his munition, drawne his sub|iects to like rebellion, yea and as it is among forren enimies in sacking of cities, no doubt thereof, yee would haue fallen to slaughter of men, rauishing of wiues, deflouring of maidens, chopping of children, fiering of houses, beating downe of stréets, ouer|throwing of altogither.

For what measure haue men in the increase of madnesse, when they can not at the beginning staie themselues from falling into it. And if the besetting but of one house to rob it,An argument from the lesse to the greater. be iustlie deemed worthie death: what shall we thinke of them that besiege whole cities for desire of spoile? We liue vnder a king to serue him at all times when he shall néed our strength: and shall ye then not onlie withdraw your selues, which ought as much to be obedient as we be, but also violentlie plucke other awaie too, fro the du|tie vnto the which by Gods commandement all sub|iects be strictlie bound, and by all lawes eueri [...] nation is naturallie led?The vse and necessarie ser|uice of towns, & what it is to ouerthrow them. The townes be not onelie the ornament of the realme, but also the seat of mer|chants, the place of handicrafts, that men scattered in villages, and néeding diuerse things, maie in little roome know where to find the lacke. To ouerthrow them then, is nothing else but to wast your owne commodities, so that when ye would buie a necessa|rie thing for monie, ye could not tell where to find the same.

Munition serueth the king not onelie for the de|fense of his owne,The vse and seruice of munition. but also for the inuasion of his enimie. And if ye will then so strictlie deale with him, that ye will not let him so much as defend his owne, ye offer him double iniurie; both that ye let him from dooing anie notable fact abrode, and also that ye suffer not him quietlie to inioie his owne at home.Wherein ap|péereth the faithfull ser|uice of cities. But herein hath notablie appéered what ci|ties haue faithfully serued and suffred extreme dan|ger, not onelie of goods, but also of famine & death, rather than to suffer the kings enimies to enter: and what white liuered cities haue not onlie not withstood them, but also with shame fauored them, and with mischiefe aided them. And I would I might praise herein all cities alike! which I would doo,A good sub|iects wi [...]h, and the reason thereof. if all were like worthie. For then I might shew more faith in subiects than strength in rebelles; and testifie to men to come, what a generall faith euerie citie bare to the kings maiestie, whose age although it were not fit to rule, yet his subiects hearts were willing to obeie, thinking not onelie of the hope, which all men con|ceiue hereafter to be in him, but also of the iust kind of gouernment, which in his minoritie his councell dooth vse among them. And here,Excester com|mended for loue & loiail seruice to the king & estate. how much and how worthilie maie Excester be commended, which being in the middest of rebels, vnuittelled, vnfurni|shed, vnprepared for so long a siege, did noblie hold out the continuall and dangerous assault of the re|bell? For they susteined the violence of the rebell, not onlie they had plentie enough of vittels, but also ele|uen or twelue daies after the extreme famine came on them, and liuing without bread, were in courage so manfull, & in dutie so constant, that they thought it yet much better to die the extreme death of hun|ger, shewing truth to their king, and loue to their countrie, than to giue anie place to the rebell, and fa|uor him with aid, although they might haue doone it with their lesse danger. Whose example if Norwich had followed,Norwich vp|braided with the example of Excester. & had not rather giuen place to traitor Ket, than to kéepe their dutie; and had not sought more safegard than honestie, and priuat hope more than common quietnesse: they had ended their re|bellion sooner, and escaped themselues better, and sa|ued the losse of the worthie lord Shefféeld, in whome was more true seruice for his life, than in them for their goods.Some citi|zens of Nor|wich excusa|ble of this re|bellion, but most charge|able therwith in a high de|grée of disloi|altie. And although this can not be spoken a|gainst a certeine honest sort that were amongst them, whose praise was the greater, bicause they were so few: yet the greater number was such that they not onelie obeied the rebell for feare, but also fo|lowed him for loue, and did so traitorouslie order the kings band vnder my lord marquesse, that they suf|fered more damage out of their houses by the towns men, than they did abrode by the rebelles. Whose fault as the kings maiestie maie pardon, so I would either the example might be forgotten, that no citie EEBO page image 1048 might hereafter follow the like, or the déed be so ab|horred,Excester no|ble and true. that others hereafter would auoid the like shame, & learne to be noble by Excester, whose truth dooth not onelie deserue great praises, but also great reward.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Who then that would willinglie defend ye, can say anie thing for ye, which haue so diuerslie faulted, so traitorouslie offended, not onlie against priuat men seuerallie, but also generallie against whole townes, and that after such a sort, as outward enimies full of deadlie feud could not more cruellie inuade them?A collection or beadroll of certeine out|rages doone by the rebels. And thus the kings maiestie dishonored, his councell disobeied, the goods of the poore spoiled, the houses of the wealthie sacked, honest mens bodies imprisoned, worthie mens personages slaine, cities besieged and threatned, and all kind of things disordered, can ye without teares and repentance heare spoken of, which without honestie and godlinesse ye practised, and not find in your hearts now to returne to dutie, which by witchcraft of sedition were drowned in dis|order? Haue ye not in disorder first gréeuouslie of|fended God, next traitorouslie risen against your king, and so neither worthie euerlasting life, as long as ye so remaine, nor yet ciuill life being in such a breach of common quietnesse? If euerie one of these cannot by themselues plucke you backe from this your lewd and outragious enterprises,Persuasions to obedience and loialtie. yet let them altogither stir ye; or at least be a fearfull example to others, to beware by your vnmeasurable follie, how they doo so far prouoke God, or offend man: and find by your mistemper to be themselues better ordered, and learne still to obeie, bicause they would not re|pent, and so to liue with honestie, that they would neither willinglie offend Gods law, nor disobeie mans.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 But and ye were so much bleared, that you did thinke impossible things, and your reason gaue ye against all reason, that ye neither displeased God herein, nor offended the king, yet be ye so blind, that ye vnderstand not your owne case, nor your neigh|bors miserie, nor the ruine of the whole common-wealth, which dooth euidentlie follow your so foule and detestable sedition? Doo ye not sée how for the maintenance of these vngodlie rablements,The hurts & mischiefes that befall ci|ties, &c by mainteining rebelles. not on|lie cities and villages, but also shires and countries be vtterlie destroied? Is not their corne wasted, their cattell fetcht awaie, their houses rifled, their goods spoiled, and all to féed your vprising without reason, and to mainteine this tumult of rebellion inuented of the diuell, continued by you, and to be o|uerthrowen by the power of Gods mightie hand? And whie should not so hurtfull wasting and harri|eng of countries be iustlie punished with great seue|ritie,Rebellion is worthilie to be punished, séeing robbing of houses, and taking of purses, doo by law deserue the extremitie of death? How manie suffer iniurie when one hundred of a shire is spoiled? And what iniurie thinke ye is doone; when not onelie whole shires be destroied, but also euerie quarter of the realme touched? Haue ye not brought vpon vs all pouertie, weaknesse, and hatred within the realme, & discourage, shame, and damage with|out the realme? If ye miserablie intended not one|lie to vndoo other,A further view of the in|conuenien|ces bred by rebellion. but also to destroie your selues, and to ouerthrow the whole realme, could ye haue taken a readier waie to your owne ruine than this is?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 And first if ye be anie thing reasonable, lift vp your reason, and weigh by wisdome, if not all things, yet your owne cases, and learne in the beginning of matters to foresee the end, and iudge aduisedlie yer ye enter into anie thing hastilie. See ye not this yeare the losse of haruest?The losse of haruest. Barns be poore mens storehouses. And thinke ye can grow to wealth that yéere when ye lose your thrift and pro|fit? Barns be poore mens storehouses, wherein lieth a great part of euerie mans owne liuing, his wiues and childrens liuing, wherwith men mainteine their families, paie their rents: and therefore be alwaies thought most rich when they haue best crops. And now when there is neither plentie of haie, nor suffici|ent of straw, nor corne inough, and that through the great disorder of your lewd rebellion, can ye thinke ye doo well, when ye vndoo your selues, and iudge it a common-welth when the commons is destroied, and séeke your hap by vnhappinesse, and esteeme your owne losse to be your owne forwardnes, and by this iudgement shew your selues, how little ye vnder|stand other mens matters, when ye can scarselie con|sider the weightiest of your owne? Hath not the haie this yeare, as it rose from the ground,Haie rotting on the groũd. so rotted to the ground againe: and where it was woont by mens seasonable labor to be taken in due time, and then serue for the maintenance of horsse and cattell wher|with we liue, now by your disordered mischéefe hath béene by mens idlenesse and vndutifulnesse let alone vntouched, and so neither serueth the poore to make monie of, nor anie cattell to liue with. The corne was sowne with labour,Losse of corne for lacke of reaping. and the ground tilled for it with labour, and looked to be brought home againe with labour: and for lacke of honest laborers it is lost on the ground; the owners being loiterers, and sée|king other mens, haue lost their owne, and hoping for mounteins, lacked their present thrift, neither ob|teining that they sought, nor séeking that they ought.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 And how shall men liue when the maintenance of their prouision is lacking?The losse of one yeares haruest verie hurtfull. For labouring and their old store is wasted by wildnesse of sedition, and so neither spare the old nor saue the new. How can men be fed then or beasts liue, when as such wastfull negligence is miserablie vsed? And mispending the time of their profit, in shamefull disorder of inobedi|ence, they care not greatlie what becommeth of their owne, bicause they intend to liue by other mens? Haie is gone, corne is wasted, straw is spoiled; what reckoning of haruest can ye make, either for the aid of others, or for the reléefe of your selues? And thus haue ye brought in one kind of miserie, which if yée saw before, as ye be like to feele after, although ye had hated the common-welth, yet for loue of your selues ye would haue auoided the great enormitie thereof, into the which ye wilfullie now haue cast your selues.

An other no lesse is, that such plentie of vittels as was abundantlie in euerie quarter for the reléefe of vs all, is now wastfullie and vnthriftfullie spent,Wastfull spẽ|ding of vit|tels by the re|bels inconue|nient to the whole state in mainteining you vnlawfull rebels, and so with disorder all is consumed, which with good husbandrie might long haue indured. For, so much as would haue serued a whole yeare at home with dili|gence and skilfull héed of husbandrie, that is wilfullie wasted in a moneth in the campe, through the rauen|ing spoile of vilanie. For what is vnordered plentie, but a wastfull spoile, whereof the inconuenience is so great, as ye be worthie to féele, and bringeth in more hardnes of liuing, greater dearth of all things, & occasioneth manie causes of diseases?A necessitie of inhansing the price of things. The price of things must needs increase much, when the number of things waxeth lesse, and by scarsitie be inhansed, & compelleth men to abate their liberalitie in house, both to their owne, and also to strangers. And where the rich wanteth, what can the poore find, who in a common scarsitie liueth most scarselie, and feeleth quickliest the sharpnesse of staruing, when euerie man for lacke is hungerbitten. Which if ye had well remembred before, as ye now maie after perceiue, ye would not I thinke so stiffe-neckedlie haue resi|sted and indangered your selues in the storme of fa|mine, whereof ye most likelie must haue the greatest part, which most stubbornlie resisted, to your owne EEBO page image 1049 shame and confusion.

After a great dearth com|meth a great death, a reason why.Experience teacheth vs, that after a great dearth commeth a great death; for that when men in great want of meat eat much ill meat, they fill their bo|dies with ill humors, and cast them from their state of health, into a subiection of sickenesse: bicause the good bloud in the bodie is not able to kéepe his tem|per, for the multitude of the ill humors that corrup|teth the same. And so grow great & deadlie plagues, and destroie great numbers of all sorts, sparing no kind that they light on, neither respecting the poore with mercie, nor the rich with fauour. Can ye there|forethinke herein,A briefe re|hearsall or summarie of mischiefes is|suing from re|bellion. when ye see decaie of vittels, the rich pinch, the poore famish, the following of diseases, the greatnesse of death, the mourning of widowes, the pitifulnesse of the fatherlesse, and all this miserie to come thorough your vnnaturall misbehauiour, that ye haue not dangerouslie hurt the commons of your countrie with a dolefull and vncurable wound? These things being once felt in the common-wealth, as they must néeds be, euerie man séeth by and by what followeth: euen a great diminishment of the strength of the realme, when the due number that the realme dooth mainteine is made lesse, and thereby we be made rather a preie for our enimies, than a safetie for our selues.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 And how can there be but a great decaie o [...] people at the length,A great decaie of people. when some be ouerthrowne in warre, some suffer for punishment, some pine for famine, some die with the campes diet, some be consumed with sickenesse? For although ye thinke your selues able to match with a few vnprepared gentlemen, and put them from their houses, that ye might gaine the spoile: doo ye iudge the refore your selues strong inough,Rebels can not preuaile against the princes power. not onelie to withstand a kings power, but also to ouerthrow it? Is it possible that ye should haue so mad a frensie in your head, that ye should thinke the number ye sée so strong, that all ye sée not should not be able to preuaile to the contrarie? With what reason could ye thinke, that if ye bode the hot brunt of battell, but ye must néeds feele the smart, speciallie the kings power comming against you: which if ye feare not, belike ye know not the force thereof? And so much the greater number is lost in the realme, that both the ouercommer and the o|uercommed be parties, although vnlike, of one realme: and what losse is not onelie of either side, but of both, that dooth plainlie redound to the whole.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Then where so great and so horrible a fault is com|mitted,A necessarie consequent that rebels are seuerelie to be punished, and that such punishment is good and ne|cessarie. as woorse can not be mentioned of from the beginning, and bringeth in withall such penurie, such weakenes, such disorder in the common-wealth, as no mischiefe besides could doo the like: can anie man thinke with iust reason, that all shall escape vn|punished that shall escape the sword, and not manie for terrour and examples sake should be looked vnto, who haue beene either great dooers in such a disorde|red vilanie, or great counsellors to such an out|growne mischiefe; séeing the onelie remedie of re|dressing wilfull faults is a iust and seuere punish|ment of such, whose naughtie déeds good men ought to abhorre for duties sake, and ill men maie dread for like punishments sake, and a frée licence to doo mis|chiefe vnpunished is so dangerous, that the suffe|rance of one is the occasion of the fall of a great number,Against [...] for| [...]aring and [...] a withall [...]. and womanish pitie to one is a deceitfull crueltie to the whole, intising them to their owne de|struction by sufferance, which would haue auoided the danger by fore punishment.

And in such a barrennesse of vittels, as must néeds come after so rauening a spoile, it must néeds be, that some (though few) shall be so nipt with egernesse of famine, that they shall not recouer againe them|selues out of so fretting a danger. So in a generall weakenesse, where all shall be féebled, some must needs die, and so diminish the number, and abate such strength as the realme defended it selfe withall be|fore. Which occasion of neuer so few, comming of so great a cause, if ye should make iust amends for, not of recompense which ye could not,Rebels pu|nishable with manie deaths. but of punish|went which ye ought; how manie, how diuerse and how cruell deaths ought euerie one of ye often suf|fer? How manie came to the camps from long la|bour to sudden ease, and from meane fare to stroieng of vittels: and so fell in a maner vnwares to such a contrarie change, that nature hir selfe abiding ne|uer great and sudden changes, can not beare it with|out some grounds entered of diseases to come, which vncircumspect men shall sooner féele than thinke of, and then will scarselie iudge the cause, when they shall be vexed with the effect?

It is little maruell that idlenesse and meat of an other mans charge will soone feed vp & fat like men:Idlenesse and meat of other mens charge. but it is great maruell if idlenesse and other mens meat doo not abate the same by sickenesse againe, and speciallie comming from the one, and going to the other: contrarie in those who violentlie séeke to turne in a moment the whole realme to the contra|rie. For while their mind changeth from obedience to vnrulinesse, and turneth it selfe from honestie to wildnesse, and their bodies go from labour to idle|nesse, from small fare to spoile of vittels, and from beds in the night to cabins, and from swéet houses to stinking camps, it must néeds be by changing of af|fections which alter the bodie, and by vsing of rest that filleth the bodie, and by glutting of meats which weakeneth the bodie, & with cold in the nights which accraseth the bodie, and with corrupt aire which in|fecteth the bodie, that there follow some grieuous tem|pest not onelie of contagious sickenesse, but also of present death to the bodie.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 The greatest plucke of all is,The force of pestilence fol|lowing fa|mine. that vehemencie of plague, which naturallie followeth the dint of hung|er, which when it entereth once among men, what darts of pangs, what throwes of paines, what showts of death dooth it cast out? How manie fall, not asto|nied with the sickenesse, but fretted with the paine? How beateth it downe not onelie small townes, but also great countries?The plague & pestilence oc|casioned by re|bellion. This when ye sée light first on your beasts which lacke fodder, and after fall on men whose bodies gape for it, and sée the scarse|nesse of men to be by this your foule enterprise, and not onelie other men touched with plagues, but also your owne house stoong with death, and the plague also raised of your rising, to fire your selues: can ye thinke you to be anie other but mankillers of other, and murtherers of your selues, and the principals of the ouerthrow of so great a number, as shall either by sword or punishment, famine, or some plague or pestilence be consumed and wasted out of the com|mon-wealth?

And seeing he that decaieth the number of cotta|ges or plowes in a towne,Rebels eni|mies & mur|therers of their coun|trie. seemeth to be an enimie to the common-wealth: shall we not count him, not onelie an enimie, but also a murtherer of his coun|trie, who by harebrained vnrulinesse causeth vt|ter ruine and pestilent destruction of so manie thou|sand men? Grant this follie then and ouersight to be such as woorthilie ye maie count it, and I shall go further in declaring of other great inconueni|ences, which your dangerous and furious misbe|hauiour hath hurtfullie brought in; séeing diuerse ho|nest and true dealing men, whose liuing is by their owne prouision, hath come so before hand by time,Further mis|chiefes of vn|charitablenes issuing from rebellion that they haue béene able well to liue honestlie in their houses, & paie beside the rents of their farmes trulie, and now haue by your crueltie and abhorred insurrections lost their goods, their cattell, their har|uest, EEBO page image 1050 which they had gotten before, and wherwith they intended to liue hereafter, & now be brought to this extremitie, that they be neither able to liue, as they were woont at home before; nor to paie their accu|stomeable rent at their due time. Whereby they be brought into trouble and vnquietnesse, not onlie mu|sing what they haue lost by you, but also cursing you by whome they haue lost it, and also in danger of loo|sing their holds at their lords hands, except by pitie they shew more mercie, than the right of the law will grant by iustice.

The fruits of honest mens trauels long in gathering, quickelie spoi|led by rebel|lion.And what a griefe is it to an honest man, to labor, trulie in youth, and to gaine painefullie by labour, wherewith to liue honestlie in age, and to haue this, gotten in long time, to be suddenlie caught awaie by the violence of sedition, which name he ought to abhorre by it selfe, although no miserie of losse fol|lowed to him thereby. But what greater griefe ought seditious rebels to haue themselues, who if they be not striken with punishment, yet ought to pine in conscience, and melt awaie with the griefe of their owne faults, when they sée innocents and men of true seruice hindered and burdened with the hurt of their rebellion, & who in a good common-wealth should for honesties sake prosper, they by these rebels onlie meanes be cast so behind the hand, as they can not recouer easilie againe by their owne truth, that which they haue lost by those traitors mis|chiefe? And if vniust men ought not so to be handled at anie mans hands,An argument from equitie & vpright dea|ling euen with the vn|iust. but onelie stand to the order of a law: how much more should true and faithfull sub|iects, who deserue praise, féele no vnquietnesse, nor be vexed with sedition, who be obedientlie in subiec|tion, but rather séeke iust amends at false rebels hands, and by law obteine that they lost by disorder, and so constreine you to the vttermost, to paie the re|compense of wrongfull losses, bicause ye were the authors of these wrongfull spoiles.

Then would ye soone perceiue the common-wealths hurt, not when other felt it who deserued it not, but when you smarted who caused it, and stood not & looked vpon other mens losses which ye might pitie, but tormented with your owne which ye would lament. Now I am past this mischiefe, which ye will not hereafter denie, when ye shall praise other mens foresight, rather than your wicked dooings, in be wailing the end of your furie, in whose beginning ye now reioise.Multitudes of vagabonds and roges procured by rebellions. What saie ye to the number of vaga|bonds and loitering beggers, which after the ouer|throw of your campe, and scattering of this seditious number, will swarme in euerie corner of the realme and not onelie lie loitering vnder hedges, but also stand sturdilie in cities, and beg boldlie at euerie doore, leauing labour which they like not, and follow|ing idlenesse which they should not? For euerie man is easilie and naturallie brought from labour to ease, from the better to the woorse, from diligence to sloth|fulnesse: and after warres it is commonlie séene, that a great number of those which went out honest, returne home againe like roisters, and as though they were burnt to the wars bottome, they haue all their life after an vnsauorie smacke thereof, & smell still toward daiesleepers, pursepickers, highwaie-robbers, quarrelmakers, yea and bloudsheders too.

Doo we not sée commonlie in the end of warres more robbing,To what shifts soldiers fall after dis|camping and ceassing from warres. more begging, more murdering than before, and those to stand in the high waie to aske their almes, whome ye be affraid to saie naie vnto honestlie, least they take it awaie from you violent|lie, and haue more cause to suspect their strength, than pitie their need? Is it not then dailie heard, how men be not onelie pursued, but vtterlie spoiled, & few maie ride safe by the kings highwaie, except they ride strong, not so much for feare of their goods, which men estéeme lesse, but also for danger of their life, which euerie man loueth.Against loite|ring lubbers that can not awaie with labour. Worke is vndoone at home and loiterers linger in stréets, lurke in alehouses, range in highwaies, valiant beggers plaie in towns and yet complaine of néed, whose staffe if it be once hot in their hand, or sluggishnesse bred in their bo|some, they will neuer be allured to labour againe, contenting themselues better with idle beggerie, than with honest and profitable labour. And what more noisome beasts be there in a common wealth? Drones in hiues sucke out the honie, a small mat|ter, but yet to be looked on by good husbands. Cater|pillers destroie the fruit, an hurtfull thing, and well shifted for by a diligent ouerséer. Diuerse vermine destroie corne, kill pulleme, engines and snares be made for them.

But what is a loiterer? A sucker of honie,A loiterer described. a spoiler of corne, a stroier of fruit, a waster of monie, a spoi|ler of vittels, a sucker of bloud, a breaker of orders, a seeker of breakes, a queller of life, a basiliske of the commonwealth, which by companie and sight dooth poison the whole countrie, and staineth honest minds with the infection of his veneme, and so draweth the commonwealth to death and destruction. Such is the fruits of your labour and trauell for your pretensed commonwealth, which iustice would no man should taste of but your selues, that yée might trulie iudge of your owne mischéefe, and fraie other by example from presuming the like.The sight of manie flies in a yeare a na|turall progno|stication of a plague like to follow. When we sée a great num|ber of flies in a yeare, we naturallie iudge it like to be a great plague, and hauing so great a swarming of loitering vagabonds, readie to beg and brall at euerie mans doore, which declare a greater infection, can we not looke for a greeuouser and perillouser danger than the plague is? Who can therefore other|wise déeme, but this one deadlie hurt, wherewith the commonwelth of our nation is wounded, beside all other is so pestilent, that there can be no more hurt|full thing in a well gouerned estate, nor more throwne into all kind of vice and vnrulinesse: and therefore this your sedition is not onelie most odi|ous, but also most horrible, that hath spotted the whole countrie with such a staine of idlenesse.

There can be none end of faults, if a man rehearse all faults that doo necessarilie follow this vnrulie sturdinesse. For not onelie vagabonds wandering and scattering themselues for mischeefe, shall run in a mans eies, but also disorder of euerie degrée shall enter into a mans mind,Disorder in euerie degrée caused by re|bellion. and shall behold hereby the commonwealth miserablie defaced by you, who should as much as other haue kept your selues in or|der in it. Neither be the magistrats dulie obeied, nor the lawes iustlie feared,Magistrats disobeied, and neglect of dutie in gene|rall by rebel|lion. nor degrées of men conside|red, nor maisters well serued, nor parents truelie re|uerenced, nor lords remembred of their tenants, nor yet either naturall or ciuill law much regarded. And it is plainlie vnpossible that that countrie shall well stand in gouernement, and the people growe to wealth,Obseruing of order in euerie state suppor|teth a com|monwealth, & contrariwise the hurt of disorder. where order in euerie state is not fitlie obser|ued: and that bodie cannot be without much gréefe of inflammation, where anie lest part is out of ioint, or not duelie set in his owne naturall place.

Wherefore order must be kept in the common-wealth like health in the bodie, and all the drift of po|licie looketh to this end, how this temper may be safelie mainteined, without anie excesse of vnmea|surablenesse, either of the one side, or of the other. And easie inough it is to keepe the same, when it is once brought into the meane, and to hold it in the staie it is found in: but when it bursteth out once with a vehemencie, and hath gotten into an vnrulie dis|order, it spreadeth so fast, and ouerfleweth all honest mens resisting so violentlie, that it will be hard to recouer the breach of long time againe, except with EEBO page image 1051 great and wise counsell, which no doubt shall be in season vsed, there be woonderfull remedies sought therefore. And euen as a man falling, is easier hol|den vp by staie, [...] [...]rgument [...] [...]rom [...]. than when he is fallen downe he is able to rise againe: so is the commonwealth slipping, by the foresight of wisedome better kept from ruine; than when it is once fallen into anie kind of miserie, the same may be called againe to the old and former state. Doo we not euidentlie know, that a man may better kéepe his arme or his leg from breaking or falling out of ioint, afore hurt come to it; than after the hurt it may safelie and quietlie be healed, and re|stored to the former strength and health againe? And now through your seditious means, things that were afore quiet and in good order,A t [...]p [...]ie tur| [...] of all [...]ings by re|b [...]l [...]on. laws feared and obeied, subiects ruled and kept in dutie, be all now in a great disorder, and like (if it be not holpen) to grow to wild|nesse, and a beas [...]linesse; séeing that neither common dutie can be kept, which nature prescribeth, nor com|mon law can be regarded, which policie requireth. How can yée kéepe your owne if yée kéepe no order?The necessitie of order, and [...]erefore S. Paule said [...]; Let all things be [...] in order. Your wiues and children, how can they be defended from other mens violence, if yee will in other things breake all order? By what reason would yée be obei|ed of yours as seruants, if yée will not obeie the king as subiects? How would yée haue others deale or|derlie with you, if yée will vse disorder against all others? Seeing then there is such a confusion now of things, such a turmoile of men, such a disorder of fa|shions; who can looke to liue quietlie a great while, who can thinke but that yée haue miserablie tossed the commonwealth, and so vexed all men with disor|der, that the inconuenience hereof cannot onelie nip others, but also touch you?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 But now sée how that not onelie these vnlooked for mischeefes haue heauilie growne on yée, but also those commodities,R [...]b [...]ls are [...] the [...] [...] profit. which yée thought to haue holpen your selues and others by, be not onelie hindered, but also hurt thereby. The kings maiestie by the aduise, &c: intended a iust reformation of all such things as poore men could trulie shew themselues oppressed with, thinking equalitie of iustice to be the diademe of his kingdome,Equalitie of [...]tice. and the safegard of his commons. Which was not onelie intended by wisedome, but also set on with speed, and so entered into a due consi|dering of all states, that none should haue iust cause to grudge against the other, when as euerie thing rightfullie had, nothing could be but vnrightfullie grudged at. And this would haue béene doone, not onelie with your glad and willing assent: but also béene doone by this daie almost throughout the whole realme: so that quietlie it had béene obteined with|out inconuenience, and spéedilie without delaie. And whatsoeuer had béene doone by the kings maiesties authoritie, that would by right haue remained for e|uer, and so taken in law, that the contrarie partie neither could by iustice, neither would by boldnesse haue enterprised the breach thereof.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 But least wicked men should be wealthie, and they whose hearts be not truelie bent to obedience, [...]ebels h [...]rt themselues. should obteine at the kings hands that they deser|ued not in a commonwealth, yée haue maruellouslie and worthilie hurt your selues, and gréeuouslie pro|uided (except the kings goodnesse be more vnto you than your owne deserts can claime) that yée be not so much worthie as to be benefited in anie kind, as yée be worthie to lose that yée haue on euerie side. [...] Ye haue thought good to be your owne reformers belike, not onelie vnnaturallie mistrusting the kings iu|stice, but also cruellie and vnciuillie dealing with your owne neighbours. Wherein I would as yée haue hurt the whole realme, so yee had not enterprised a thing most dangerous to your selues, & most con|trarie to the thing yée intended. If yée had let things alone, thought good by your selues to be redressed, and dutifullie looked for the performance of that, the kings maiestie promising reformation, they should nor haue béene vndoone at this time, as in a great sort of honest places they be; nor whole countries, who for their quietnesse be most worthie to be looked on, should haue béene vnprouided for at this daie. But this commoditie hath happened by the waie,The benefit of rebellion in one respect. that it is euidentlie knowne by your mischeefe, and others dutie, who be most true to the king, and most worthie to be doone for, and who be most pernicious and trai|torous rebels. And it is not to be doubted, but they shall be considered with thanks, and find iust redresse without deserued miserie, & you punished like rebels, who might haue had both praise & profit like subiects.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 For that as yée haue valiantlie doone of your selues, thinke yée it will stand anie longer, than men feare your rage, which cannot indure long; and that yée shall not then bide the rigor of the law for your priuat iniuries, as yée vsed the furie of your braines in other mens oppressions? Will men suffer wrong at your hands, when law can redresse it, & the right of the commonwealth will mainteine it, and good order in countries will beare it?Reformation intended by rebels, like sores cured by ill surgions. Yée amend faults as ill surgions heale sores, which when they seeme to be whole aboue, they rankle at the bottome, and so be faine continuallie to be sore, or else be mended by new breaking of the skin. Your redresse séemeth to you perfect and good, yee haue pulled downe such things as yee would, yee thinke now all is well: yée consider no further, yee seeke not the bottome, yée see not the sore, that yée haue doone it by no law, yee haue redressed it by no order, what then? If it be no other|wise searched than by you, it will not tarie long so: either it will be after continuallie as it was afore your comming, or else it must be (when all is doone) a|mended by the king.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Thus haue yée both lacked in the time, and mist in the dooing, and yet besides that ye haue done, which is by your dooing to no purpose. Yée haue doone the things with such inconueniences, as hath béene both before rehearsed, and shall be after declared; that bet|ter it had béene for you, neuer to haue enioied the commoditie, if there be anie; than to suffer the greefs that will insue, which be verie manie. In euerie quarter some men (whom yee set by) will be lost,Gréefes insu|ing to the re|bels vpon this rebellion. which euerie one of you (if ye haue loue in ye) would rather haue lacked the profit of your inclosures, than cause such destruction of them, as is like by reason & iudge|ment necessarilie to follow. What commonwealth is it then, to doo such abhominable enterprises after so vile a sort, that yée hinder that good yée would doo, and bring in that hurt yee would not, and so find that yée séeke not, and follow that yée lose, and destroie your selues by follie; rather than yée would be orde|red by reason, and so haue not so much amended your old sores, as brought in new plagues, which yée your selues that deserue them will lament, and we which haue not deserued them may cursse you for?Reformation ought to be no priuat mans but the princes action For al|though the kings maiestie, &c: intended for your pro|fits a reformation in his commonwealth: yet his pleasure was not, nor no reason gaue it, that euerie subiect should busilie intermeddle with it of their owne head, but onelie those whome his councell thought most méet men for such an honest purpose.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 The kings maiestie, &c: hath godlie reformed an vncleane part of religion, and hath brought it to the true forme of the first church that followed Christ, thinking that to be truest, not what later mens [...]an|sies haue of themselues deuised, but what the apo|stles and their felowes bad at Christes h [...]nd receiued, and willeth the same to be knowne and set abroad to all his people. Shall euerie man now that listeth and fansieth the same, take in hand vncalled, to be a mi|nister, EEBO page image 1052 and to set foorth the same, hauing no authori|tie?What things in a well and iustlie doone matter ought well to be weighed. Naie, though the thing were verie godlie that were doone, yet the person must néeds doo ill that en|terpriseth it, bicause he dooth a good thing after an ill sort, and looketh but on a little part of dutie, conside|ring the thing, and leaueth a great part vnaduised, not considering the person: when as in a well and iustlie doone matter, not onelie these two things ought well to be weighed, but also good occasion of time, and reasonable cause of the dooing, ought also much to be set before euerie dooers eies. Now in this your déed, the manner is vngodlie, the thing vnsuf|ferable, the cause wicked, the person seditious, the time traitorous: and can ye possiblie by anie honest defense of reason, or anie good conscience religious|lie grounded, denie that this malicious and horrible fault, so wickedlie set on, is not onelie sinfull afore God, and traitorous to the king, but also deadlie and pestilent to the whole common-wealth of our coun|trie, and so not onelie ouerfloweth vs with the mi|serie, but also ouerwhelmeth you with the rage thereof?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Yet further see and ye be not wearie with the multitude of miseries,The yoke that rebels wilfullie bring vpon themselues. which ye haue maruellouslie mooued, what a yoke ye wilfullie doo bring on your selues, in stirring vp this detestable sedition, and so bring your selues into a further slauerie, if ye vse your selues into a further slauerie, if ye vse your selues often thus inobedientlie. When common or|der of the law can take no place in vnrulie and dis|obedient subiects, and all men will of wilfulnesse re|sist with rage, and thinke their owne violence to be the best iustice; then be wise magistrats compelled by necessitie to séeke an extreame remedie, where meane waies helpe not, and bring in the martiall law where none other law serueth. Then must ye be contented to bide punishment without processe, con|demnation without witnesse, suspicion is then ta|ken for iudgement, and displeasure may be iust cause of your execution, and so without fauor ye find strict|nesse, which without rule seeke violence. Ye thinke it a hard law and vnsufferable. It is so indéed, but yet good for a medicine.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Desperat re|medies for desperat di|seases.Desperate sicknesses in physicke must haue despe|rate remedies, for meane medicines will neuer helpe great griefes. So if ye cast your selues into such sharpe diseases, ye must néeds looke for sharpe medicines againe at your physicians hands.Rebels wor|thie to suffer extremitie of punishment. And worthie ye be to suffer the extremitie in a common-wealth, which seeke to doo the extremitie, and by rea|son must receiue the like ye offer, and so be conten|red to bide the end willinglie which set on the begin|ning wilfullie. For no greater shame can come to a common-welth,The greatest shame that can come to a com|mon-wealth. than that those subiects which should be obedient euen without a law, can not be conten|ted to be ordered by the law, and by no means kept within their dutie, which should euerie waie offend rather than in their dutie. It is a token that the sub|iects lacke reason, when they forsake law, and thinke either by their multitude to find pardon, which can|not iustlie stretch to all, or else by strength to beare the stroke, which cannot prosper against a king.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 They must néeds little consider themselues, who bring in this necessitie, rather to stand to the pleasure of a mans will, than to abide the reason of the law; and to be indangered more when an other man li|steth, than when himselfe offendeth. And this must necessarilie folow if your rebellion thus continue: and while ye séeke to throw downe the yoke, which ye fansie your selues burdened withall, ye bring your selues in a greater bondage, leauing safetie and fo|lowing danger, and putting your selues vnder the iustice of them whose fauour ye might easilie haue kept, if ye would willinglie and dutifullie haue ser|ued. Now the gentlemen be more in trust,Gentlemen more trustie bicause the commons be vnt [...]ustie. bicause the commons be vntrustie, and they get by seruice, which ye loose by stubbornnesse, and therefore must needs, if ye thus continue, haue more authoritie from the king: bicause ye would be in lesse subiection to the king, and that as ye will not doo of your selues, ye must be compelled to doo by others, and that ye re|fuse to doo willinglie, thinke ye must be drawne to doo the same constreinedlie. Which when it commeth to passe, as wisedome séeth in your faults that it must néeds, what gaine ye then, or what profit can a|rise to you by rising, which might haue found ease in sitting still? And what shall ye be at length the bet|ter for this turmoile, which beside diuerse other in|commodities rehearsed,Martiall la [...] a burden vn|sufferable. shall be thus clogged with the vnsufferable burden of the martiall law.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Yet there is one thing behind, which me thinketh your selues should not forget, séeing that ye haue gi|uen the cause, ye should dulie looke for the effect. Ye haue spoiled, imprisoned, and threatened gentlemen to death, and that with such hatred of mind, as may not well be borne. The cause therof I speake not on, which tried, will happilie be not so great: but sée the thing, set murther aside,Crueltie and extremitie shewed to the gentlemen by the rebels. it is the heinousest fault to a priuat man. What could more spitefullie haue béene doone against them, than ye haue vsed with crueltie? Can this doo anie other but breed in their stomachs great grudge of displeasure toward you, and ingen|der such an hatred, as the weaker and the sufferer must néeds beare the smart thereof.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 The kings best kind of gouernment is so to rule his subiects, as a father ordereth his children,The kings best kind of gouernment. and best life of obedient subiects is one to behaue himselfe to an other, as though they were brethren vnder the king their father. For loue is not the knot onelie of the common-wealth, whereby diuerse parts be per|fectlie ioined togither in one politike bodie, but also the strength and might of the same, gathering togi|ther into a small roome with order, which sca [...]tered would else bréed confusion and debate.The fruits of dissention. Dissention we sée in small houses, and thereby may take exam|ple to great common-wealths, how it not onelie de|caieth them from wealth, but also abateth them from strength. Thinke small examples to take place in great matters, and the like though not so great to follow in them both, and there by learne to iudge of great things vnknowne, by small things perceiued. When brethren agrée not in a house, goeth not the weakest to the walles; and with whome the father ta|keth part withall, is not he likest to preuaile? Is it not wisedome for the yoonger brother, after the good will of the parents, to seeke his eldest brothers fa|uour, who vnder them is most able to doo for him? To séeke them both with honestie is wisedome, to loose them both by sullennesse is madnesse.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Haue there not béene dailie benefits from the gen|tlemen to you, in some more, and in some lesse,The rebels had cause to beare with the gentlemen and to haue l [...]|ued them. but in none considered, which they haue more friendlie offered, than you haue gentlie requited? This must ye lose, when ye will not be thankefull, and learne to gaine new good will by desert, when ye forsake the old friendship vnprouoked. And ye must thinke that liuing in a common-wealth togither, one kind hath néed of an other: and yet a great sort of you more néed of one gentleman,All the parts of a common-wealth b [...] not of like wor|thinesse: [...] gentlemen more wor [...]hie than yeomen, &c. than one gentleman of a great sort of you. And though all be parts of one com|mon-wealth, yet all be not like worthie parts, but all being vnder obedience, some kind in more subie|ction one waie, and some kind in more seruice an o|ther waie. And séeing ye be lesse able by monie and liberalitie to deserue good will than others be, and your onelie kind of desert is to shew good will, which honest men doo well accept as much worth as mo|nie, haue ye not much hind [...]red & hurt your selues EEBO page image 1053 herein, losing that one kind of humanitie which ye haue onelie left, and turning it into crueltie, which ye ought most to abhor, not onelie bicause it is wic|ked of it selfe, but also most noisome to you.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 I can therefore for my part thinke no lesse herein, if ye follow your stiffenesse still, & must needs iudge that ye haue wilfullie brought on your selues such plagues, as the like could not haue fallen on you, but by your selues. Seeing then thus manie waies ye haue hurt the common-welth of this whole countrie within, [...] of [...] flow| [...]g from this [...]. by destruction of shires, losing of haruest, wasting of vittels, decaieng of manhood, vndooing of farmers, increasing of vagabonds, mainteining of disorders, hindring of redresses, bringing in of mar|tiall law, and breeding continuall hatred among di|uerse states: what thinke ye, I praie you? Iudge ye not that ye haue committed an odious and detesta|ble crime against the whole common-wealth, whose f [...]rtherance ye ought to haue tendered by dutie, and not to haue sought the hurt thereof with your owne damage?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Besides all these inward griefes, which euerie one seuerallie must néeds féele with miserie, there happeneth so manie outward mischances among strangers to vs with disdaine;Outward mischances insuing vpon rebellions to the shame of the land and [...] wherin they be raised. that if there were no|thing ill within the realme which we should féele, yet the shame which dooth touch vs from other countries, should not onelie mooue, but also compell you harti|lie to forethinke this your rebellious sedition. For what shall strangers thinke, when they shall heare of the great misorder which is in this realme with such confusion, that no order of law can kéepe you vnder, but must be faine to be beaten downe with a kings power?King con|temned. Shall they not first thinke the kings maie|stie, in whose mind God hath powred so much hope for a child, as we may looke for gifts in a man; either for his age to be little set by, or for lacke of qualities not to be regarded, or for default of loue to be resi|sted, and no notable grace of God in him considered, nor the worthinesse of his office looked vpon, nor na|turall obedience due to him remembred?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Shall they not next suppose, small estimation to be giuen to the rulers,Rulers little esteemed. to whom vnder the king we owe due obedience, that can not in iust and lawfull mat|ters be heard, nor men to haue that right iudgement of their wisedome, as their iustice in rule, and fore|sight in counsell requireth: but rather prefer their owne fansies before others experience, and déeme their owne reason to be common-wealth, and other mens wisedome to be but dreaming?Subiects dis|ordered. Shall they not trulie saie the subiects to be more vnfaithfull in dis|obedience, than other subiects worsse ordered be; and licence of libertie to make wild heads without order, and that they neither haue reason that vnderstand not the mischiefe of sedition, nor dutie which follow their beastlinesse, nor loue in them which so little re|member the common-wealth, nor naturall affection which will dailie séeke their owne destruction?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 The whole [...]untrie ill spoken of.Thus the whole countrie lacking the good opinion of other nations, is cast into great shame by your vnrulinesse, and the proceedings of the countrie, be they neuer so godlie, shall be ill spoken of, as vnfit to be brought into vse; and good things hereby that deserue praise, shall bide the rebuke of them that list to speake ill, and ill things vntouched shall be boldlier mainteined.Nothing [...] by disorder [...]anc [...]able. Nothing may with praise be redressed, where things be measured by changeable disorder, rather than by necessarie vse; and that is thought most politike, that men will be best conten|ted to doo, and not that which men should be brought vnto by dutie. And with what dutie or vertue in ye, can ye quench out of memorie this foule enterprise, or gather a good report againe to this realme, who haue so vilelie with reproch slandered the same, and diuerslie discredited it among others, and abated the good opinion which was had of the iust gouernement and ruled order vsed heretofore in this noble realme, which is now most grieuous, bicause it is now most without cause.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 If this outward opinion (without further incon|uenience) were all, yet it might well be borne,Further out|ward hurt be|sides voice in|gendere [...] of rebellions. and would with ease decaie as it grew: but it hath not onlie hurt vs with voice, but indangered vs in deed, and cast vs a great deale behind the hand, where else we might haue had a iollie foredeale. For that opor|tunitie of time which seldome chanceth, and is al|waies to bée taken, hath béene by your froward meanes lost this yeare, and so vainlie spent at home for bringing downe of you, which should else profita|blie haue béene otherwise bestowed, that it hath béene almost as great a losse to vs abrode, to lacke that we might haue obteined, as it was combrance at home, to go about the ouerthrow of you, whose se|dition is to be abhorred. And we might both conue|nientlie haue inuaded some,He meaneth the Scots & French with whome we haue had al|waies incom|berance. if they would not reaso|nablie haue growne to some kind of friendship, and also defended others which would beside promise for times sake vniustlie set vpon vs, and easilie haue made this stormie time a faire yeare vnto vs, if our men had beene so happie at home, as our likelihood a|brode was fortunat.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 But what is it (I praie you) either to let slip such an occasion by negligence, or to stop it by stubborn|nesse, which once past awaie, can be by no means re|couered; no not though with diligence ye go about to reinforce the same againe? If ye would with wicked|nes haue forsaken your faith to your naturall coun|trie,Note in a few words of force the dangerous qualitie of rebellion. and haue sought craftie means to haue vtterlie betraied it to our common enimies: could ye haue had anie other speedier waie than this is, both to make our strength weake, and their weakenesse strong? If ye would haue sought to haue spited your countrie, and to haue pleased your enimie, and fol|low their counsell for our hinderance: could ye haue had deuised of them anie thing more shamefull for vs, and ioifull to them? If they which lie like spials, and hearken after likelihoods of things to come, bi|cause they declare oportunitie of times to the eni|mie,A reason drawne from the lesse to the greater. are to be iudged common enimies of the coun|trie; what shall we reasonablie thinke of you, who doo not secretlie bewraie the counsels of other, but open|lie betraie the common-wealth with your owne déeds, and haue as much as lieth in you, sought the ouerthrow of it at home: which if ye had obteined at Gods hand, as he neuer alloweth so horrible an en|terprise, how could yée haue defended it from the o|uerthrow of others abrode?

Compare 1577 edition: 1 For is your vnderstanding of things so small, that although ye sée your selues not vnfit to get the vpper hand of a few gentlemen, that ye be able to beat downe afore the kings power: ye and by chance ye were able to doo that, would ye iudge your selues by strength mightie enough, to resist the power of outward nations,Rebellion ma|keth passage to forren inua|sion, & [...]ea [...]e|neth our owne region. that for praise sake would inuade ye? Naie, thinke trulie with your selues, that if yee doo ouercome, ye be vnsure both by strength abrode, and displeasure of honest men at home, and by the punishment of God aboue. And now ye haue not yet gotten in déed, that your vaine hope looketh for by fansie: thinke how certeinlie ye haue wounded the common-wealth with a sore stroke, in procuring our enimies by our weakenesse to séeke victorie, and by our outward miserie to séeke outward glorie with in|ward dishonor. Which howsoeuer they get, thinke it to be long of you, who haue offered them victorie be|fore they began warre: bicause ye would declare to men hereafter (belike) how dangerous it is to make sturres at home, when they doo not onelie make our EEBO page image 1054 selues weake, but also our enimies strong.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Rebellion a [...]| [...]teth the papists, & each one beside that is offended at true religion.Beside th [...]se, there is another sort of men desi|rous of aduantage, and disdainefull of our wealth, whose greefe is most our greatest hap, and be offen|ded with religion, bicause they be drowned in super|stition, men zealed toward God, but not fit to iudge, meaning better without knowledge, than they iudge by their meaning, woorthier whose ignorance should be taken awaie, than their will should be fol|lowed; whome we should more rebuke for their stub|bornesse, than despise for their ignorance. These seeing superstition beaten downe, and religion set vp, Gods word taking place, traditions kept in their kind, dif|ference made betwéene Gods commandements and mans learning, the truth of things sought out accor|ding to Christes institution, examples taken of the primitiue churches vse, not at the bishop of Romes ordinance, and true worship taught, and wil-worship refused, doo by blindnesse rebuke that as by truth they should follow, and by affection follow that as by knowledge they should abhorre, thinking vsage to be truth, and scripture to be error, not weieng by the word, but misconstruing by custome.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Religion bea|reth the blame and is counted the cause of rebellion, but amisse.And now things be changed to the better, and re|ligion trulier appointed, they see matters go awrie, which hurteth the whole realme, and they reioise in this mischéefe as a thing worthilie happened, mista|king the cause, and slandering religion, as though there were no cause whie God might haue punished, if their vsed profession might still haue taken place. They sée not that where Gods glorie is truliest set foorth, there the diuell is most busie for his part, and laboureth to corrupt by lewdnesse, that as is gotten out by the truth, thinking that if it were not blemi|shed at the first, the residue of his falsehood should af|ter lesse preuaile. So he troubleth by biwaies, that he cannot plainlie withstand, and vseth subtiltie of so|phis [...]rie,The diuels sophistrie. where plaine reason saileth, and persuadeth simple men that to be a cause, which in deed can not be tried and taken for a cause. So he causeth religi|on which teacheth obedience, to be iudged the cause of sedition; & the doctrine of loue, the séed of dissention; mistaking the thing, but persuading mens minds, and abusing the plaine meaning of the honest to a wicked end of religions ouerthrow.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 The husbandman had not so soone throwne séed in his ground,Examples. but steppeth vp the enimie, and hee soweth cockle too, and maketh men doubt whether the good husband had doone well or no, and whether he had sowne there good séed or bad. The fansifull Iewes in Egypt would not beléeue Ieremie,The Iewes ascribe their miserie to a false cause. but thought their plague and their miserie to come by his means; and leauing of idolatrie to be the cause of penurie, wher|fore by wilfull aduise they intended to forsake the prophets councell, and thought to serue God most trulie by their rooted & accustomed idolatrie. When the christian men were persecuted in the primitiue church,The heathens fond opinion of gods fauou|ring their cru|eltie against christians. & dailie suffered martyrdome for Christs pro|fession, such faire season of weather was for thrée or foure yeares togither, that the heathen iudged there|vpon God to be delighted with their crueltie, and so were persuaded that with the bloud of the martyrs they pleased God highlie. Such fansies light now in papists, and irreligious mens heads, and ioine things by chance happening togither, and conclude the one to be the cause of the other, and then delight in true worshippers hurt, bicause they iudge cur|sedlie the good to be bad, and therefore reioise in the punishment of the godlie. For they being fleshlie, iudge by outward things, and perceiue not the in|ward, for that they lacke the spirit and so iudge amis, not vnderstanding God, what diuersitie he suffereth to blind still the wilfull, and how through all dangers he saueth his forechosen.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 And thus haue ye giuen a large occasion to stub|borne papists, both to iudge amisse,The [...] by [...] haue an [...] op [...]nion of Gods [...] truth. and also to reioise in this wicked chance, contented with our mischeefe, not liking our religion, and thinking God dooth pu|nish for this better change, and haue thereby an euill opinion of Gods holie truth, confirmed in them by no sure scripture, but by following of mischance, which they ought to thinke to come for the pride and stubbornnesse of the people, who dooth not accept Gods glorie in good part, nor giue no due praise to their Lord and maker. What should I saie more? Ye hurt euerie waie, the dangers be so great,The hurts is|suing from re|bellion out of count. and the perils so manie, which doo dailie follow your diue|lish enterprise, that the more I seeke in the mater, the more I continuallie see to saie. And what words can worthilie declare this miserable beastlines of yours, which haue intended to diuide the realme, and arme the one part for the killing of the other? For euen as concord is not onelie the health,Concord and discord with their [...] effects. but also the strength of the realme: so is sedition not onelie the weaknesse but also the apostume of the realme, which when it breaketh inwardlie, putteth the state in great dan|ger of recouerie, and corrupteth the whole common-wealth with the rotten furie that it hath béene long putrified withall. For it is not in sedition as in other faults, which being mischéefous of themselues, haue some notable hurt alwaies fast adioined to them: but in this one is there a whole hell of faults, not se|uerallie scattered, but clustered on a lumpe togither, and comming on so thicke, that it is vnpossible for a region armed with all kinds of wisedome, and strength thereto, to auoid the dangers that issue out thereof.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 When sedition once breaketh out, sée ye not the lawes ouerthrowne, the magistrates despised,The mischiefs springing frõ sedition. spoi|ling of houses, murthering of men, wasting of coun|tries, increase of disorder, diminishing of the realms strength, swarming of vagabonds, scarsitie of labo|rers, and all those mischiefes plentiouslie brought in, which God is woont to scourge seuerelie withall, warre, dearth, and pestilence? And séeing ye haue theft & murther, plague & famine, confusion and idle|nesse linked togither, can ye looke for anie more mis|chéefe in one shamefull enterprise, than ye euidentlie sée to grow herein? As for warre, although it be mi|serable, yet the one part getteth somewhat,Forren wa [...] farre better than sedition at home. and reioi|seth in the spoile, and so goeth lustier awaie: and ei|ther increaseth his countrie with riches, or inhan|seth himselfe with glorie: but in sedition both parts loose, the ouercommer cannot flie, the ouercommed cannot spoile; the more the winner winneth, the more he looseth; the more that escape, the more infa|mous men liue; all that is gained is scarselie saued; the winning is losse, the losse is destruction, both wast themselues, and the whole most wasted; the strengthening of themselues, the decaie of the coun|trie; the striuing for the victorie, is a preie to the eni|mie: and shortlie to saie, the hellish turmoile of sedi|tion so farre passeth the common miserie of warre, as to slaie himselfe is more heinous, than to be slaine of another.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 O noble peace, what wealth bringest thou in, how doo all things flourish in field and in towne,The praise and benefits of peace what for|wardnesse of religion, what increase of learning, what grauitie in counsell, what deuise of wit, what order of maners, what obedience of laws, what re|uerence of states, what safegard of houses, what qui|etnesse of life, what honor of countries, what friend|ship of minds, what honestie of pleasure hast thou alwaies mainteined, whose happinesse we knew not, while now we féele thy lacke, and shall learne by mi|serie to vnderstand plentie, and so to auoid mischiefe by the hurt that it bringeth, and learne to serue bet|ter, where rebellion is once knowen; and so to liue EEBO page image 1055 trulie, and kéepe the kings peace. What good state were ye in afore ye began, not pricked with pouer|tie,The rebels [...] the [...] meanes [...] but sturred with mischiefe, to séeke your destruc|tion, hauing wa [...]es to redresse all that was amisse? Magistrats most readie to tender all iustice, and pi|tifull in hearing the poore mens causes, which sought to amend matters more than you can deuise, and were readie to redresse them better than ye could imagine: and yet for a headinesse ye could not be contented; but in despite of God, who comman|deth obedience, and in contempt of the king, whose lawes doo seeke your wealth, and to ouerthrow the countrie, which na [...]urallie we should loue, ye would proudlie rise, and doo ye wot not what, and amend things by rebellion to your vtter vndooing.The state of a [...] or [...] in time of [...] and tumult. What state leaue ye vs in now, besieged with enimies, diuided at home, made poore with spoile and losse of our haruest, vnordered and cast downe with slaugh|ter and hatred, hindered from amendments by our owne diuelish hast, indangered with sickenesse by reason of misorder, laid open to mens pleasures for breaking of the lawes, and féebled to such faint|nesse that scarselie it will be couered.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 Reasons to withdraw the rebels from their enterpri|ses of rebel|lion, and to [...] them to [...].Wherefore for Gods sake haue pittie on your selues, consider how miserablie ye haue spoiled, de|stroied, and wasted vs all: and if for desperatnesse ye care not for your selues, yet remember your wiues, your children, your countrie, and forsake this rebellion. With humble submission acknowledge your faults, and tarie not the extremitie of the kings sword, leaue off with repentance, and turne to your duties, aske God forgiuenesse, submit ye to your king, be contented for a common-wealth one or two to die. And ye capteins for the residue sacri|fice your selues, ye shall so best atteine the kings gratious pardon, saue the assemblie, and helpe the common-wealth, & to declare your dooings to procéed of no stubbornesse; but all this mischiefe to grow out of ignorance, which séeing the miserie, would redresse the fault, & to recouer best the blot of your disorder, and staie the great miseries which be like to follow. Thus if ye doo not, thinke trulie with your selues, that God is angrie with you for your rebellion, the kings sword drawne to defend his countrie,A conclusion p [...]emptorie against irre| [...]u [...]able re|bels. the crie of the poore to God against ye, the readinesse of the honest in armor to vanquish ye, your death to be at hand, which ye cannot escape, hauing God against ye, as he promiseth in his word, the kings power to ouerthrow ye, gathered in the field, the common-welth to beate ye downe with stripes and with curs|ses, the shame of your mischiefe to blemish ye for euer.

¶Thus far this necessarie treatise touching rebel|lion, penned by sir Iohn Chéeke, a gentleman e|uerie waie in complet sort satisfieng the report blazed abroad of him. For if there were no more testimonies extant in the world, but this onelie trea|tise discoursing Kets rebellion; it were enough to warrant no lesse true, than in common speech and writing is left witnessed of him. And suerlie it ap|peareth, that as in this gentleman there was an ex|traordinarie heape of laudable gifts; [...] [...]l. ex [...] so was there al|so in him the right vse of them all. Wherby he grew in such fauor with king Henrie the eight, that partlie for his absolute knowledge in toongs, speciallie the Gréeke and Latine, and also for his integritie of life and religion; he was chosen schoolemaister to yoong prince Edward, to traine him vp in the right vn|derstanding, both of forren languages, & the purenes of Gods seruice. Insomuch that by his industrie such effects followed (God aboue prospering his actions) that the yoong prince, when he came to the kingdome was mindfull of him, and among other (I will not saie gratuities, where cause of desert maketh chal|lenge of some recompense) tokens of beneuolence, aduanced him to the dignitie of knighthood; as here|after in due place maie appeare. Of this woorthie man, whose praise though neuer so excessiue (if meet for a man) is equiualent vnto his merits, Iohn Le|land, vpon presenting vnto him a booke, taketh oc|casion to write this epigram, comprising in summe no lesse than is here vnder in English remembred:

Si vis Thespiadum choro probari,

Fac vt consilio libelle nostroAd libellion, vt Ioanni Checo Gran [...]ano place| [...]e studea [...].

Facundo studeas placere Checo,

Quem Pandioniae colunt Athenae,

Et quem Roma colit diserta multùm,

Quem rex maximus omnium supremúsque

Henricus reputans virum probatum,

Spectatúmque satis, reconditaeque

Censorem solidum eruditionis,

Eduardum bene filium suúmque

Haeredem puerum, illi ad alta natum,

Sic concredidit, vtriusque linguae

Flores vt legeret venustiores,

Exercens facili manum labore,

Et Christi imbiberet suaue nectar.

Foelicem arbitror hunc diem fuisse,

Tanto discipulo dedit magistrum

Qui talem, &c.]

Compare 1577 edition: 1 During the time of these commotions and sturs here within the realme,The French king purposed to surprise Gernes [...]ie and Ierseie, but is repelled. to the great danger of the state; the French king hauing knowledge thereof, ment not to omit the oportunitie offered, to recouer out of the Englishmens hands those fortresses which they held at Bullongne and in Bullongnois. Where|vpon he gaue summons to the gentlemen and men of armes, and others of his realme, to put them|selues in order with all their furniture, that they might be readie to attend him in his armie in Bul|longnois by a daie appointed. And about the same time, that is to saie, in the beginning of August; the French king purposing to surprise the Iles of Gernes [...]ie and Ierseie, appointed certeine gallies and ships of warre to passe thither; but being recei|ued by the king of Englands nauie that laie there, and other of the Iland, Iohn Fox. they were beaten backe and repelled, with the losse of a thousand men (as some write) and so were constreined to retire without at|chiuing their enterprise.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 3 4 Credible word was brought out of France to the lord protector,The French king is asha|med that anie report should passe of his e|uill successe. that into one towne in one vessell were brought at the least thrée score gentlemen to be buried, & also an inhibition giuen out by the French king, not to speake of the euill successe of that iour|nie. In the meane time, the French king being come downe vnto Abuile, departed from thence the sixtéenth of August, and comming vnto Rue, lodged there that night, and the next daie came to Monstreull, where he found the conestable and monsieur Daumalle. The next daie being the eigh|téenth of August, he came to his armie lodged foure leagues on this side Monstreull at a village called Neufcastell, neere to the forrest of Ardelo, vpon the waie that leadeth to Bullongne. The same daie were certeine pioners sent to Pont de Bricque to repare the bridge there,The French king perseue|reth in his former pur|pose, and mar|tiall action. and to make the waies easie for the artillerie to passe. The next daie the said king with his armie passed by Bullongne berg, and cam|ped that night on a little hill betwixt that forrest and the forrest of Suren.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 In this place he caused trenches to be cast about a plot of ground, after the maner of a fortresse, with|in the which he left certeine bands of men of warre to be a safegard vnto such as should passe to and fro with vittels to furnish his campe. He staied not there past a daie & a halfe, but remoued to Ardenton, EEBO page image 1056 a mile or little more beyond Marguisen; from thence he came with his armie, and lodged on a hill, some|what more than a mile & a halfe from Hambleteuue. The French king hauing viewed the forts, caused fiue and twentie péeces of artillerie to be planted a|gainst that fort, which was built in a place called the Almaine campe, but the Frenchmen named it Le fort de Selaque,

Charles Sturton, and George Wil|loughbie.

Les chroniques de Aquitaine. The fort cal|led Almaine campe woo [...]e.

distant from Hambleteuue about a quarter of a mile. The artillerie had not gone off lit|tle more than the space of two houres, but that Charls Sturton capteine of that péece, and George Willoughbie a gentleman associat with him, came foorth to parlee with the Conestable, offering to yéeld the fort into his hands, vpon condition they might depart with bag and baggage. But as they were thus in hand to make their composition, the Frenchmen thrust forward to the rampiers, and en|tered in plumps into the fortresse, slue fourescore persons, & tooke the rest prisoners. There might be in all within that péece two hundred and thirtie per|sons, men and women. This happened the foure and twentith of August, being Bartholomew daie.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 3 This doone, the king caused part of the artillerie to be planted against the castell of Hambleteuue, situated at the one end of the towne néere to the sea side. Towards night monsieur de Uandosme gaue an approch to the said castell, and they within by commandement of the lord Greie retired to the maine fort to helpe to furnish the same,The lord Greie. wanting numbers sufficient to defend it. The next daie be|ing the fiue and twentith of August,The castell of Hambleteuue lost. the king caused approches to be made vnto the great fort, and the morrow after the batterie began most furiouslie. The same daie after dinner, the king summoned them within to yéeld; but the lord Iohn Greie being generall (although he saw how weake the péece was of it selfe, & the lacke of sufficient numbers of men to resist such a puissant force, as the French king had there with him) would not yet hearken vnto anie talke, nor suffer the herald to come néere; for that he should not perceiue the weakenesse of the péece: and so he was commanded to get him thence with spéed, or else they would cause him to be packing smallie to his ease. The French king sore offended herewith, that his herald was so vncourteouslie vsed,Hambleteuue summoned. caused the batterie to be reinforced with great diligence, which dismounting their ordinance within, and bea|ting downe their rampiers, made such breaches, that my lord Iohn and the capteins within perceiued they were not able by anie meanes to defend the place anie longer. Herevpon they offered to ren|der the fort to the king vpon composition: which in the end fell out to be thus,Hambleteuue rendered to the French king. that the souldiers should depart with their liues saued, and that their generall (for honor sake) should haue one horsse to ride on in his corslet, without sword or dagger, and likewise two other capteins with him: but as for the o|ther souldiers, with the women and chidren, should depart on foot in their shirts, leauing all their goods and substance behind them. After it was agreed that the fort should be thus surrendered, there entered monsieur de Chatillon that was after admerall of France, and monsieur de Desse, latelie returned out of Scotland. The French souldiers entring by stealth into the fort by the breaches, committed foule disorders, not onelie in ransacking the houses, but also in spoiling the souldiers by force, intreating them in most rigorous maner.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 The French writers confesse, that it was pitie to sée the poore men and women so miserablie handled and abused as they were by the outragious soldiors that thus entred the fort,The French writers re|port of their owne coun|triemens cru|eltie and sa|uagenesse. and sacked all that they could laie hands vpon. Monsieur de Desse saued a great number of women and yoong maidens from the cruell hands of their aduersaries, causing them to passe foorth by the breach, and presented them to the king, who appointed that they should be conueied in safetie, with all that they had about them, till they had gotten out of danger. Monsieur de Chatillon, by the kings commandement, caused all the rest within the fort to come forth, who passing thrée and thrée in a range came before the king, who stood there to behold them, with the whole armie placed so in order on ei|ther side the waie as they should come, that they might passe betwixt their ranks, as it were through a lane.The number that came foorth of Ham|bleteune. They that came foorth in this sort might be (as the French writers record) about seuen or eight hundred in all of men and women, wherof there were manie hurt and maimed; some with halfe a shirt on to couer them, and diuerse starke naked. The lord Iohn Greie being mounted on a curtaile, passing by the French king, and saluting him, was courteouslie of him embraced.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 3 The morrow after was the fort of Blacknesse or Blaconnesse rendered to the French king, with like conditions as they of Hambleteuue had rendered theirs. This was on the tuesdaie the seuen and twen|tith of August. The nine and twentith of August sir Nicholas Arnault conueieng all the artillerie, mu|nition, vittels, and goods out of Bullongne berg, caused fire to be set on that fort, and retired with all his soldiors and other people vnto Bullongne. Wher|vpon shortlie after the Frenchmen seized vpon the said place of Bullongne berg, & kept it. The French king leauing monsieur de Chatillon within Ham|bleteuue with the old bands of the French footmen,Causes that compelled the French king to breake vp his campe. returned towards Bullongne, & approching within a mile and a halfe of the Old man, meant to build there a fort on the sea side: but what through such sharpe skirmishes as the Englishmen continuallie were redie to make with his men, and what through the abundance of raine which fell in that season, he was constreined to breake vp his campe, and lea|uing strong garrisons both of horssemen and foot|men in all those places, which he had in that season woone out of the Englishmens hands, he returned himselfe with the princes of his bloud into France.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 In this meane time whilest the French king was thus occupied, to vse the oportunitie of time in reco|uering of those fortresses in Bullongnois out of the Englishmens hands, the kings maiestie and his councell were busie still in quieting his rebellious subiects here in England: and finallie for meane of a full pacification, and to set all things in good frame and quiet rest, the king published his graces most generall and frée pardon to all rebelles,The kings generall par|don. so that they would foorthwith (vpon publication of the same par|don) returne euerie man to his house and countrie; which they gladlie did: and so these seditious and most dangerous troubles were brought to end and paci|fied.

¶ Also in this busie time Marie Steward queene of Scots was conueied by sea out of Scotland into France, Abr. Fl. ex [...] [...]r|rundam c [...]|ctan [...]is. and there on the ninetéenth daie of Aprill 1549, was married in our ladie church in Pa|ris (with great triumph and solemnitie) to Francis the Dolphin, eldest sonne vnto king Henrie the se|cond of that name French king. This conueieng of the yoong quéene is reported by one to haue béene priuilie wrought, at such time as the councell of En|gland were in some expectation and hope to obteine hir. Neuerthelesse the subtill aduise of the French, and the trecherous forwardnesse of the Scots, vtter|lie disappointed the honest and honorable purpose of the English. Now when the yoong quéene and hir traine, with the gard of hir person (be they whome you will) were vnder saile, the English nauie was abroade, and lieng in wait to haue intercepted hir EEBO page image 1057 course, meant not onlie to skirmi [...]h, but also to reco|uer the yong queene from the French in spite of their hearts, had not the king of England and the most of his councell flatlie forbidden them to attempt anie warlike incounter, for certeine iust and weightie causes to them knowne. But the Scots smarted for this their vaine lightnesse, as in former times for like practices of their vile lewdnesse, as C.O. saith:

Sic leuiora leui pluma promissa Scotorum

Infamem reddunt gentem, dant sanguine p [...]nas

Perfidiae quandó suae velut antè dederunt.

[...] 1043.In this troublesome yéere also Edmund Bonner bishop of London preached a sermon at Paules crosse, for the which he was accus [...] vnto the councell by William Latimer parson of saint Laurence Pountneie, and Iohn Hooper sometime a white moonke, and so conuented before the archbishop of Canturburie, and other commissioners at Lambeth, on the twentith daie of that same moneth, and sent to the Marshalsea. On the first of October he was depriued of his bishoprike, for disobeieng the kings order in religion.]

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Now after that these hurlie burlies were through|lie quieted,The councell withdraw themselues [...] priuat conferences about the lord protectors displacing. manie of the lords of the realme, as well councellors as other, misliking the gouernment of the protector, began to withdraw themselues from the court, and resorting to London, fell to secret con|sultation for redresse of things, but namelie for the displacing of the lord protector. And suddenlie vpon what occasion manie maruelled, but few knew. E|uerie lord and councellor went through the citie weaponed, and had their seruants likewise weapo|ned, attending vpon them in new liueries, to the great woondering of manie. And at the last a great assemblie of the said councellors was made at the earle of Warwiks lodging, which was then at Elie place in Holborne, whither all the confederats in this matter came priuilie armed; and finallie concluded to possesse the towre of London, which by the policie of sir William Paulet lord treasuror of England was peaceablie obteined, & who by order of the said confederats immediatlie remooued sir Iohn Mar|kam then lieutenant of the towre, and placed in that roome sir Leonard Chamberleine. And after that the said councell was broken vp at Elie place, the earle of Warwike remooued foorthwith into the citie of London, and laie in the house of one Iohn Yorke a citizen of London, who was then chéefe maister of the mint, kept at Suffolke place in Southworke. The lord protector hearing of the maner of the as|semblie of this councell, and of the taking of the towre, which séemed to him verie strange and doubt|full,The protector remooueth in hast with the king to Wind|sore. did presentlie the said night remooue frõ Hamp|ton court, taking the king with him, vnto the castell of Windsore, and there began to fortifie the same, and withall wrote a letter to that noble gentleman the lord Russell lord priuie seale remaining as yet in the west countrie, aduertising him of these troubles as followeth.