MY Maiſters, ſuch is your birth that nere enough you approach vnto the affayres of Eſtate whereby to attribute the right or wrong where it apperteyneth, and therefore wee ſhall neede no long ſpeech to open your eyes. You haue euen in full peace perceiued the originall of the broyles of the League contrary to the quiet of this Realm: you know my patience, notwithſtanding they tooke me for their contrary and made me the ſubiect and pretence of their weapons. You haue ſeene the Leaguers pronounced Rebelles by the King, and for ſuch proſecuted in all Courts of Parliaments: your ſelues haue you ſene commaunded, armed and fighting againſt them by the Kings expreſſe will vnder the authoritie of the Princes of his bloud with the Peeres and principall Officers of his Crowne. I doubt not therfore but vnto you it ſeemeth ſtraunge to beholde, as in a moment, this alteration: to ſee your ſelues armed againſt the bloud of France: commanded by ſtraungers whom you fought againſt as perturbers, and which is worſe, againſt thoſe who three daies before were for the ſeruice of the King and Realme ſent for, and commaunded as you, ranged vnder the ſame auncients and of like will as your ſelues: But withall you can iudge that the firſt precepts proceeded of the Kings proper motion, and thoſe that haue followed, of the violēce of the perturbers. For what haue theſe of the League ſince done, euen betweene both, whereby to loſe the qualitie of Rebelles guiltie of Treazon, perturbers of the peace, which by ſo many decrees haue to them bene attributed? either what offence haue thoſe of the Religiō committed, by liuing vnder the benefite of the Edicts, whome his Maieſtie indifferently ſummoned to his ſeruice, who alſo equally oppoſed them ſelues againſt the common flame, that now they ſhould at the appetite of the ſayd perturbers bee expelled the Realme and on euery ſide purſued to the death? If it be for matter of Religion, was there not expreſſe Edicts therfore? Were not the ſame newly reiterated? Can that which is permitted by the lawes of the Realme be accompted an offence? May it be proſecuted with any paine? If it be (as in troth it is) for contrarying the purpoſes of the League, are not your ſelues acceſſaries to that offence? bee not you ſubiect to the ſame payne? doe you then ſeeke your owne ouerthrowe? For what offence are they burdened with except that they are and wil be no other but Frenchmen? Now I come to my ſelfe, whether you will iudge of me by my ſelf, or by compariſon with thoſe of the League: well I knowe that you can not lay the fault vpon me: yea, I knowe that euen in your conſciences you doe attribute it to my enemies: They meddle with talke of my Religion, you that know the preeminence of the bloud of France, that can well ſay that you owe no duetie but to the ſame, ſhall it bee ſayde that I muſt giue accoumpt to the ſtraunger? Is it not enough for mee to ſatiſfie the King and all Fraunce? Hath any one complained that I haue violently entreated him for his Religion? What more could I doe either with reaſon or Chriſtianlike, thē to craue a good Counſaile? They are alſo offended with the gouernment of the eſtate, and haue endeuoured to prouide for the ſucceſſion thereof: They haue procured the Pope to decide the ſame at Roome: you therefore that hould the chiefe roume in this Realme, if neceſſitie had ſo required, could you be ſo careleſſe as to ſuffer ſtraungers to preuent you in that office? Haue you no regarde to your poſteritie? Could you ouerſleepe this duetie? For in all theſe broyles what haue appeared but Lorrain? But in troth either to reforme or trāſforme the eſtate according to their deſires they needed not your helpe: to paſſe ouer the Eſtate into a forraine hand was a worke fit for ſtraungers onely to enterprize: to expell France out of France, the proceſſe could not be determined in Frāce, ſhe was to much ſuſpected in ſuch a cauſe and therefore it muſt be decided in Italie. They haue directly oppoſed them ſelues againſt mee: I haue offered the combat: I haue ſtooped beneath my ſelfe: I haue not diſdained to fight with them: I haue done it (God is my witneſſe) for the preſeruing of the people from deſtruction, and the ſparing of your bloud: Of yours, I ſay, which is principally ſhed in theſe miſeries. If they had any thing to ſay againſt mee, had not this bene moſt honorable for them? If in heart they ſought the wealth and benefite of this Eſtate, did not I ſet them in a fayre way? There haue bene ſuch found as haue hazarded their liues for the ſafegarde of their Countrey, what iudgemēt then may you giue of thoſe who for ſauing themſelues out of daunger can be cōtent to ſee the ouerthrow of a whole eſtate?

You profeſſe your ſelues to be men of honor, what wrong then doe they to their honors who will not accept of ſo good a way? or what iniurie doe you to your owne in accompanying them againſt me? You that would make a conſcience in aſſiſting a fauorite againſt one of your neighbours. Thincke not my Maiſters that I feare them, I know what ſtrength may doe againſt me: ſooner ſhall they bee wearie of aſſaulting me then I of defending my ſelfe: many a yere haue I borne their brunt whē they were much ſtronger and my ſelfe farre weaker then now. You haue experience and iudgement, the paſſed may reſolue you of that that is to come. Truely I bewaile your bloud ſhed and ſpilled in vaine which ought to be ſpared for the preſeruation of France: I doe lamēt that that ſhould be employed againſt me which ye ſhould keepe for me being that which God hath made me in this Realme, for the ioyning vnder the authoritie and good ſucceſſe of the King, France to France, where now it ſerueth to driue it out of France: I doe alſo moane it that it ſhall neither be payed or mourned for almoſt of any: for the King, being forced in his will doth not holde himſelfe ſerued of thoſe that force him, on the other ſide thoſe that doe force him wil neuer con you thanke for this ſeruice, as knowing that it is the Kings name and not theirs that you doe ſerue. My maiſters, GOD graunt you well to conſider hereof. The French Princes are chiefe of the Nobilitie I loue you all, I feele my ſelfe waſt and weaken in your bloud, a ſtraunger can haue no feeling thereof. The ſtraunger beareth no intereſt in this loſſe. I might complaine of ſome, I had rather bewaile them, and am readie to embrace you al: My greateſt griefe is that thoſe whom in minde I doe diſtinguiſh, whom alſo I knowe to haue bene circūuented, I cannot make any difference of in the hazard of armes: But God knoweth my hart: Their bloud be vpon the authors of theſe miſeries. For my part, my Maiſters, I doe and inceſſantly will beſeech him that it may pleaſe him to open the way whereby his name may be ſerued & honored, the King obeyed, the State quieted, and all orders and degrees of this Realme reduced to their priſtinate dignitie, proſperitie and eminentie Amen.

MY Maiſters, I neede not many words to open vnto you the equitie of my cauſe. Call to mind that when theſe broyles began wee liued in peace and daylie went forward better and better. Remember alſo that notwithſtanding the ſame tended directly againſt mee, yet for eight moneths ſpace I ſtirred not, my patience paſſed all bounds: neither forget that I ſawe thoſe armies that had bene meeteſt for me, ioyned to my enemies and comming againſt me before I was reſolued to defend my ſelfe. And I ſweare vnto you my Maiſters, that the horror of a ciuill warre and the ſenſible apprehenſion of the miſerie and calamities that it bringeth foorth euen benumbed mee and tooke away my ſences to my owne domage, had I not perceiued that my ouer long patience redounded to the daunger and deſtruction of this Realme by giuing the perturbers leiſure violently to haue fulfilled their pleaſures. In caſe Religion was the matter, I ſubmitted my ſelf to a Counſaile: if complaints concerning the eſtate, to an aſſembly of the Eſtates: yea, I wiſhed to drawe vpon my owne perſon the whole perrill of France for ſauing it out of miſerie, voluntarily yeelding my ſelfe equall with thoſe whom nature hath made my inferiours, wheras they of their owne intereſt haue made a common calamitie, and of their priuate quarelles a publicke confuſion. I might complaine that my iuſt offers were not accepted: But to you I do complaine, and yet for you, not for my ſelfe: I lament theſe extremities whereby the extreme iniurie to me done hath brought me to that paſſe that I may not defend my ſelfe without the detriment of the innocent people. I bewaile my owne condition, that for the warranting of my life you muſt feele harme and paine, you, for whoſe relief and wealth I was readie to ſhed my bloud, if my enemies had not coueted rather to redeeme themſelues from the combat, whereto I chalenged them, by a paricide againſt this Eſtate and by an uniuerſall combuſtion. But herein I take comfort, that your ſelues can conſider the nature of euilles to bee ſuch as cannot bee healed but by ſome euilles, the cauſe whereof you are not to attribute to the Surgeon whoſe purpoſe is to heale, but rather to him that made the wound, and ſo conſequently in this wound all the griefes enſuing: That in a ſhort ſpace God will graunt me the grace after ſo many labours to fee this Eſtate purged of thoſe that doe moleſt it, alſo to ſee you enioye ſo certaine and aſſured quiet as in ſmall time may cauſe vs to forget all paſſed trauailes. Iudge by the effects, I beſeech you, of the entents of men to make you reioyce in theſe troubles. Theſe men would put you in hope that they reforme the abuſes of the Treaſorie, that they would deminiſh taxes and ſubſidies, that they would reduce all thinges to the tyme of 〈…〉 already (if they might haue bene beleeued) would haue beene ſurnamed fathers of the people. What is come of it? Their warre hauing ſtrangely deuoured on euery ſide, haue bene determined by a peace wherein they haue had reſpect onely to their perticuler profite, without any mention of you: and which is worſe, their peace is as ſodenly couerted to a warre againſt thoſe that remained quiet, whereby the King is forced to double the Impoſtes, the people exhibited in pray to the man of warre, and France (without the helpe of God) boūd to bee murdered of her ſelfe. For what other is that Edict that is wreſted out, but a neceſſitie layd vpon the King to deſtroye his people, and with his owne hand to make away himſelf? At the leaſt if they mēt not to relieue the people, why were they not cōtent to abuze them? or what had they done that they muſt be ouerthrowne? They couer theſe miſchiefes with zeale to the Church: The heate of this zeale ought to haue appeared in charitie, & charitie in the vnion of both Religions. What charitie, which endeuourd onely to roote out? What heate of zeale, which hath fiered all the Countrey, and hath ſet a whole eſtate in combuſtion? In the meane tyme vnder pretence that the Clergie hath payed ſome portion aforehand for the encouraging the Soldiour to begin ye wars, ye ſee them on the way. The people muſt couer it with ſome two hundred thouſand Crownes or therabout, which ſhall binde them hereafter to millions: and to bee briefe, ſome of the Cleargie to the great griefe of the King, yea and of their owne members haue for their owne perticuler paſſions concluded vpon the bargaine and aduaunced the earneſt peny, then muſt the poore people fulfill and furniſh the reſt whatſoeuer it coſt him that cannot doe withall, who onely muſt beare the loſſe and can hope for no fruit, beare the whole burden, and endure all the calamitie that may come thereof. My Maiſters, this doe I repeate vnto you: I am a Chriſtian Prince borne: I haue ſought out and propounded the moſt Chriſtian meanes to make vp this Eſtate & reunite the Church. I am a Frenchman borne, I beare part of your calamities, I haue ſought all meanes to exempt you from ciuill miſeries, I will neuer ſpare my life to abridge you of them: I knowe that for the moſt part you are ſubiect to this violence, I cōfeſſe your willes to be thralled, I will not impute to you your actions, you are Frenchmen, I had rather impute vnto you your willes: I deſire of you all, who according to your vocatiōs are more ſubiect to beare the miſchief, then to doe it, only your vowes, wiſhes and praiers. Pray vnto God, my Maiſters, that by his iudgements he will diſtinguiſh thoſe that ſeeke the felicitie or miſhap of this eſtate, all publicke proſperitie or calamitie. For my part I take him to witneſſe that I deſire only ye welth of this Realme & of you al: I take him for my Iudge whether ambition or particuler paſſion hath vrged or any whit ſtirred vp my weapons.

MY Maiſters, gladly doe I write vnto you as accoumpting you the mirror or abſtract of this Realme, and yet not to enforme you of the equitie of my cauſe which I knowe is ſufficiently knowne vnto you: but contrariwiſe to take you to witneſſe: euen you who through the multitude of your good eyes are able to behold and penetrate déepeſt into al that haue paſſed in this Eſtate. Ye wot what iudgement the King hath giuen of the authors of theſe miſeries, what in your eares he hath declared and pronounced them to be: He required your aſſiſtance againſt them as againſt publicke enemies, and that at ſuch time as his will was perfect and free, before violence had wonne any thing at his hands. Whatſoeuer alteration hath ſince fallen out I know you will impute, not to his wil, but vnto force. And in deede I am not ignorant that ſone after being required to furniſh the expenſes of this warre you could well aunſwer that theſe troubles were neuer begon by your aduice, and that they that had begon them were to beare ye charges, and not you: which was ſuch an aunſwer as you neuer make in matter concerning the ſeruice of the King or wealth of the Realme. For in ſuch reſpect neuer were ſubiects more liberall then you? But vndoubtedly when you perceiue that your money goeth not to the reparations, as aforetime you haue bene perſwaded, but to the deſtructiō of the Realm: when you clerely ſee that they requeſt not your Iewelles to ſupply the raunſome of King Frances or his children, or of a King Iohn, but rather to extinguiſh the bloud and poſteritie of France, and to reduce your King to bondage and priſon. I know very well that the King hath liked of you therfore, and all good Frenchmen are therein bound vnto you, and eſpecially my ſelfe in reſpect of ye degree wherein God hath ordeyned me in this Realme and for being (ſith it hath ſo pleaſed him) of the houſhold children. Iudge what neede you had of this warre: you knowe that this Eſtate daylie waxed capable more and more of peace. If any thing were to be altered in matter of Religiō, there needed no more (without any innouation) but the ſummons of a good Counſaile: If in the gouernment of the Eſtate, the King would not haue refuſed the ouerture of an aſſembly of the Eſtates. And for preuenting theſe miſchiefes, you knowe that by expreſſe declaration I haue ſubmitted my ſelfe euen by a cōbat to determine whatſoeuer theſe perturbers could perticulerly pretend againſt me. Thoſe therefore that refuſe ſuch good meanes are authors of the warre, and of an vnneceſſarie and therefore an vniuſt warre. I who haue deſired the ſame and voluntarily therto ſubmitted my ſelfe doe finde my ſelfe diſcharged of whatſoeuer calamities may enſue, for from lawfull meanes they haue taken pleaſure to driue me into extreme extremities, wherby the armes that I haue taken in hand are naturall and neceſſarie and ſo moſt iuſt. To bee briefe, compare my obedience with their rebellion, my patience with their raſh haſtineſſe, my modeſt dealings with their immodeſt paſſions, and with all this, waye with your ſelues what they are in this Realme and what I am, ſo will you conclude that they do me ſo extreme iniurie yt there is no Gentleman in this Realme but would enforce himſelf, and to whome it were not lawfull to haue reuenge. I ſpeake this in trueth and doe conceiue the conſequences hereof, I ſee the innocent muſt beare it, but ſtill haue in your mindes that my enemies are thoſe that haue bene declared enemies to the King & the Realme, that they haue troubled the quiet peace, called in ſtraungers, procured the rooting out of the houſhold ſeruaunts, borrowed the enemies and employed their meanes, not to my deſtruction onely, but to the confuſion of the whole Eſtate. Then wil you, my Maiſters, impute to their offences all ſuch inconueniences as a iuſt defence may bring in: you will con them ſmall thanckes for the enſuing calamities, like as you confeſſe thē authors and cauſers of the firſt: for my ſelfe I ſhall be ſorie for my owne miſhap that I ſhall not be able to put away the vniuerſall miſchiefe without ſome miſchiefes. At the leaſt I ſhall reioyce in my owne integritie who would haue redemed them euen with my life, which euermore I ſhall accoumpt wel beſtowed in the preſeruation of this Eſtate and of you all. Now, my Maiſters, to conclude, I will ſay vnto you, that of you I doe and ſtill will attende whatſoeuer maye and ought to be looked for of true Frenchmen, and of the rule and example of the French nation, and of me likewiſe expect whatſoeuer may or ought of a French and Chriſtian Prince be expected concerning the vnion of the Church, the King my Soueraignes ſeruice, the welth of the Realme, the reliefe of the people, and the contentation of all good men. I beſeech God, my Maiſters, to take pitie and compaſſion of this Realme, and to graunt vnto vs all god counſaile to his glorie and our benefite.