I Should not bee that which God hath made me to be, your Majesties most obedyent and most faythfull Subject, if I were not a thousand times more jealous and zealous for the preservation of your Maiesties, and your royall Childrens welfare and honnor then of myne owne life; But sith Grace hath made me soe fortunat, and Nature soe happie, as alsoe composed me of a temper, that I had rather die for speaking the truth, then liue eyther to Conceale or Desemble it to your Maiestie; Therfore in the behalfe of the forsaken Prince Palatyne, your Sonne in Lawe, of his sorowfull Princesse your onlie Daughter, and their mournfull posteritie, for the losse of their neglected Patrimonie the Pallatinat, wherin my Conscience (guyded by the truthe) informes my soule that your Maiesties honnor extreamlie suffers. Giue mee leaue, O giue me leaue my Most Gratious King (in all humilitie and Dutie) to send these ensewing motiues and reasons, to your Maiesties serious pervsal & consideratiō, therby to incyte and stirre up your Royall resolutions, for the refetching and reconquering therof, wheron at present the eyes of the whole Christian worlde are constantlie fixed. And thou great God of Heaven, whoe (at thie pleasure and in thie providence) swayest the harts and hands, the affections and actions of all the Kinges of the Earth thie Vicegerents; So blesse my Soveraign and all his sences in the reading therof, that his Majesties Iudgement prevayle ore his passion, his Courage out-braue his feare; that naked Truth may take place of [Page] disguised Imposture, and royall Iustice triumph ore hoodwincked and treacherous Vsurpation.

Although it be true, that the Prince Palatyne your Son in Law, committed a first errour of Estate, in assuming and taking on him the Crowne of Bohemia; will your Majestie therfore commit a second in permitting him to lose his Pallatinat: or because hee wanted no Ambition but Iudgment to attempt that; must your Ma^tie. therfore want affection, zeale, and equitie to him, to the Princess your Daughter and their royall Issue, to tollerate & suffer this. You likewise sawe and suffered the Emperour to chastice him from Bohemia; and therin you shewed an act of Iustice, which celebrates your fame to all Europe; but if your Majestie permit him for euer to ruyne him, and absolutelie to Depriue him of his and his Childrens Patrimonie, that wilbe a Dishonorable testimonie of too great disrepect, and want of affection in your Majestie as being their Father, and of too much feare & pusilanimitie as beeing a Great and Potent King; and this will not onlie blemish but eclipse it to all the world. Doe I speake of Dishonnor, O then I beseech your Majestie to consider, how long Honor is purchasing, how soone lost, and that having sacrificed all the actions of our life to preserue it, wee neede but one Errour to ruyne it; and as the meanest Gentelman is bound to this rule, soe the greatest Princes and Monarckes of the world, haue (consequentlie) the greatest shares and interrests in the prevention therof. For the true Matchiavillians and Emperickes of Estate, who tearme honnor but smoke, are deceived and ignorant of Honnor; Sith to defyne it [Page] aright, it is the purest golde of a Kinges crowne, and the richest Diamond to embelish and adorne it; yea, it is a great part of that which makes a King a King, because it giues him just reason to Commaund his subjects, & they as just cause to obey him; and which is more, the retaining therof pure, and the preserving therof immaculate, makes him to bee both feared and beloved of all his neighbour Princes, whoe otherwise will haue just cause to neglect & Contemne him, because he first contemned and neglected it. Soe were your Ma^tie. onlie a spectator, and not an Actor, or had you noe Interest in the Pallatynat, you should then receiue noe Dishonnor not to attempt, or seeke the restitution therof. But sith (for the good of your Disinherited Children) you haue as deepe Interest in that famous Province, as you haue in the Royall blood which streames in their hartes and veynes, will it not be an honnor for your Majestie to restore it to them, sith it was lost with shame, and a shame if you restore not them to it with honnor: And in regard the Emperour and Duke of Bavaria haue conquered it from them by Vsurpation, will it not bee an action as full of Compassion as glorie, for the King of Great Brittayne to reconquer it from them with Iustice. And although peradventure, the current of other mens affections and passions, transport your Majestie from the true way of truth, in beleeuing that the Dishonnor of this losse, falls onlie on the Count Pallatyne, & no way reflects on your Royall and Sacred person, yet the best of your subjects beleeue, though the woorst are soe treacherous to affirme the contrarie, that the Honnor of your three Crownes [Page] and Kingdoms, doe infinitly suffer in the loss of this one famous Province, because it is the Inheritance of the Prince your Sonne in Lawe, the Dowrie of his Princesse your Daughter, and the Patrimonie of those Royall plants their Children; In which consideration, is not the losse therof as worthie of your Compassion, as the reconquering is of your Courage. For if your Majestie whoe is a potent and mightie Monarcke, permit this Illustrious (though poore) Prince your Sonne in Law to bee deprived of his Pallatynate, and Electorate (and consequentlie ruyned in his reputation for euer) you haue farre more reason to rest confident then incredulous; that the Austrian Princes excepted of the one side, and those Princes to whome you are allyed by blood or affinitie of the other, as you will assuredly make him the pittie, soe you will likewise infalliblie make your selfe the laughture of all the rest of the Princes of Christendom.

But how can the Prince Pallatyne hope of soe great, and soe just a felicitie that your Majestie will restore him to his Pallatynat, sith you mought haue donne it with farre facilitie and lesse charge, when Heidelberg the head, and Manheym and Frankendale, the two eyes of that Province couragiously held out, and were yet in lyfe and vigour; and that 5000. of your subjects then added to these Valiant bands, which were alreadie there vnder the Conduct of Noble Vere, and Braue Boroughes, &c. would not onlie haue prevented the ambitious Designes, but also ruyned the covetous resolutions of the Emperour, and Duke of Bavaria in the vsurping therof; which now 15000. can difficultlie effect. How can hee hope for it, [Page] when (under the cloake of consignation & sequestration) hee sees with feare that your Majestie hath given away Frankendale to its Deprivation; How can hee hope of this courtesie from your Sword, when your Majestie, and your Ambassadours, your tongue and your penne haue actually consented to dishonnor him, by dispoyling him of his Honnors: For as the Emperour justlie razed out his Title of King of Bohemia, soe your Majestie derogated from the affection of a Father, to ommit and exclude those of Count Pallatyne and Elector, in all your Treaties, and negotiations with the Emperour, the King of Spayne, the Archdutchesse, and the rest of the Princes Electors of Germanie, vnlesse your Majestie were desirous, that the sayd Count Pallatyne your Sonne in Lawe, should be by his enemies degraded of his Honnors and Dignities before his tyme, which untimely omission & connivency of your Majestie, hath in undervalewing him, extreamly undervalewed your selfe, and made the pride of the Emperour, and his Duke of Bavaria, flye a pitch both beyond themselues and beyond Ambition. How can he hope for it, sith your Majestie now permits that the Dukes of Brunswicke, and Lunebourg, Count Mansfield, the Lantgraue Maurice, with other Noblemen their adhaerents and partisans, whoe haue wedded his quarrell, should now bee abandoned by your Treatie, and held unworthie to bee affected and protected by your Ma^ties. royall favour and assistance; that they whoe haue soe valiantlie and constantlie defended his cause, (and in it the generall good and peace of Germanie) should now [Page] by your Treatie of Suspension of Armes, be enforced to let fall their swordes out of their handes, and with them their lyues, That they whoe (partlie out of affection to him, and partlie out of your Majesties owne procurement and solicitation to themselues) haue prodigally spent their wealth and blood for his sake and seruice; should now by him and your Majestie, bee abandoned as a prey, and sacrificed as Victymes to the implacable revenge of the Emperour and Duke of Bavaria; an Act soe odious and dishonnorable in the sight of God and man, as neyther your Maiestie, nor the Prince Pallatyne your Sonne in Lawe, can heare it proposed without extreame ingratitude, nor consent therto without infinite shame and eternall Dishonnor, both to your persons and memories. How can he hope for it, when he understands that manie of your Courtiers (with lesse judgement then passion, and more Enuie then truth and Charitie) doe without controlement, tearme the Princes of Germany Traytors for hauing assisted him, and yet what haue they not hazarded for his affection, and attempted for his service. How can hee hope for it, when your Maiestie permitted the Emperour, and Duke of Bavaria, to violate in hostile manner the Royall protection, wherin you tooke and receyued that which remayned of the Pallatynat, and when you had commaunded your sayd Sonne in Lawe to Disarme, and hee and all his Armie to desist and retyre, that then contrarie to your royall promise to him, as alsoe to your owne expectation, you should permit his Enemies to conclude and finish their Conquest of his Countrye; Which in effect was to [Page] ruyne him whome you promised to assist, A scarre and sicatrice, which will infallibly remayne apparant and notorious upon the face of your Majesties raigne, except the remedie and resolution of your Sword redeeme and deface it. How can hee hope for it, when as the common compassion of those whoe are least Compassionate, are I wish I could as soone remedie as Pittie your deiected Estate; and that this of your Majestie towards him, comes farre too short the rules of vulgar Charitie, much more the bonds and tyes of Naturall and Royall affection, sith your Majestie is so farre from remedying his wronges, as you wil not pittie them, and which is worse, you can▪ but will neyther pittie, nor remedie them. How can hee hope for it, when you haue permitted that all his fortunes bee onlie reduced to hope, and his feare to Dispayre. How can hee hope for it, when (sith it is an injurie as Publius Mimus reporteth, To laugh at other mens Calamities and misfortunes) that so manie of your Subjects, and which is woorse, of your Courtiers, lycentiouslie insult and triumph at his overthrowes, and scoffe at his afflictions, without considering that hee is the Husband of our Princesse, and our Kinges onlie Daughter, and his Children our Royall plantes, of the Stocke and Blood royall of Great Brittayne, and without receiving any punishment, or checke from your Majestie, for the base enormitie of this their foule ingratitude, and incivill Disrespect and Contempt, whome you may easilie discerne, distinguish, and finde out from your faythfull and loyall hearted Subiects, sith there is as great Difference betwixt the [Page] last and the first, as there is betweene true Protestants, and insolent and dangerous Papists. And to conclude and shut up this poynt, How can hee hope for it, when you will not honnour or affect his Princesse your Daughter, and their famous and flourishing Posteritie so much, as in these theyr immerited miseries, to receyue and harbour them into the Sanctuarie of your Kingdom, It beeing the last courtesie and consolation, which Nature tells mee theyr Princelie byrth deserues, & your royall Blood owes them.

And yet againe, this neglected and dejected Prince your Sonne in Lawe, hath contrariwise much reason to hope, that your Majesties Royall woord and promise ingaged for the restoring of his Pallatynat, (added to the consideration of your owne Honnor, which inviolablie tyes you therto) will in the end incyte and stirre you upp to Drawe your sword, for the effecting and performance therof; For the wordes of Kinges should bee sacred, and their promises inviolable, the Lawes of Nature and Nations, tying them to the obligation of the first, those of Grace and Heaven obliging them to the performance of the last. And if your Majestie be pleased to forget, yet the representiue Bodie of England, the Lords, Knightes, and Burgesses of your Highe Court of Parliament, must and will remember, that your Majestie protested unto them solemnlie; That (eyther by Treatie or by the Sword) you would cause the Pallatynat to bee restored, though to the hazard of your owne Kingdoms; Or if your memorie (which in all other actions is exquisit and excellent) should forget your promise in that [Page] poynt; yet the Iudgements and understandings of your Malesties subiects are more then assured and confident, that your Royall penne affirmed it to your Printer, and hee to vs in your Declaration, wherof looke how manie thousand Bookes there are extant, soe many witnesses (without exception) there will remayne against your Ma^tie. that you onlie made that promise and protestation purposlie to breake it; For till they see the contrarie, the most loyall and faythfull of them will never beleeue it, sith your Majestie may performe it but will not, and sith at your pleasure you haue the meanes, both to humble the pride, and to scourge the power of the Emperour, and to make the Duke of Bavaria repent with blood and teares, for his insatiable Ambition and Vsurpation, in vsurping and bereaving the Pallatynate from your Children.

And because the affayres of the World (resembling the ebbing and flowing of the Sea) are still subiect to revolution & change, and onlie constant in unconstancie, as alsoe that (Euripides sayth) good is never seperated from Evill, and that it is impossible for us to avoyde misfortunes or adverse accidents, because Plutarque tells us, that Prosperitie is still transitorie, never Permanent. Soe I beseech your Majestie to confider, that if uppon any unexpected Accident, you should breake, and haue Warres eyther with France, Spayne, or the Netherlands, what a braue assistance of German Reistres, you should still haue at your Commaund from the Count Pallatyne your Sonne in Lawe, of his Subiects and Friends, if hee had agayne the Commaund of his Countrye, and alsoe [Page] how necessarie those troupes of Cavalrie would bee for your Maiesties service; eyther to make or divert, to beginne or end a warre. Wherof if Henrie the IIII. of France (of immortall same and memorie) were still living, hee could giue your Maiestie a true president and instance therof in himselfe, when his affayres were soe weake and desperate, as hee was inforced to haue recourse to their assistance, the which Lewes his Sonne now raigning, hath verie unkindlie denyed, to acknowledge and requite to the Count Pallatyne your Sonne in Lawe, now in the extremitie of this his affayres and afflictions. And to ascend from earthlie regards to heavenlie Considerations; If all these former Motiues cannot prevayle with your Maiestie, to purchase and effect his desire, yet lastly hee hopes that you will drawe your Sword to performe it, for that Religions sake which is immediatly derived from God, or for Gods sake, from whome (as from the blessed and sacred Fountayne of all Happiness) all true Religion hath its true byrth, lyfe, and propagation; and farre the sooner hee hopes, that your Maiestie will attempt it with Courage, and prosecute it with resolution; Sith God hath made your Maiestie the Defender of the Faith, and hee and all the Churches of his Pallatynat did, and then agayne will professe the same Fayth which you Defend, wheras now they are infected with the dregges of Idolatrous Poperie, and poluted and defyled with the mystes and fogges of prophane Superstition.

But Illustrious Prince Pallatyne; because it is a disputable question, whether thy Courage or Misfortune [Page] bee greater; therfore I grieue with sorowe and lament with Griefe to see all these fayre hopes of thine, soe untimelie wythered and reduced to nothing, and thou hast nowe tryed to thie preiudice, and seene to thyne owne Woefull and fatall experience, That hope which is built uppon other mens promisses, and maintayned by forraigne power, proves most commonly ruynous.

And will not your Maiestie then bee sencible, of this fruitlesse and fatall hopes of the Prince your Sonne in Lawe, which were whollie grounded uppon the sand of your promises, as yours are uppon the snowe of the Emperours and the King of Spaynes. For to represent you Truth in her naked coullers, (& not in an adulterated attyre and tincture) and soe to poynt at that poynt of the Compasse, from whence the contrarie wyndes haue blowne your Maiestie all these severall tempests of dishonnor, and your Sonne in Lawe these stormes of adversitie; hath it not beene your too much connivencie in relying uppon the deceiptfull flatteries of the Emperour, and your too excessiue confidence in trusting to the temporising promises of the King of Spayne which hath occasioned it; For by their Ambassadours and Letters, haue they not depaynted you the restitution of the Pallatynat soe easie, as in assurance therof, you became passionatly resolute that you had farre lesse reason to doubt then to beleeue it. And yet to the whole world aswell as to your owne Subiects it administreth more cause of admiration then beliefe, to thincke that your Majestie who is the wisest, & learnedest, yea one of the most potent Kinges of the world, should [Page] thus bee contented with Drosse for Golde, with shame for Honnor, and fedde with verball promisses in steed of reall performances; For your Majestie knowes (and your Subjects are not ignorant) that Carlile, Bristoll, Belfast, and Weston, have spent infinite much, and yet gotten just nothing from the Emperour, by theyr severall legations; as also that that which they spent abroad, and your Majestie at home, in Entertaynments, Feasts, and Guifts, on the Emperours, the King of Spaynes, and the Archdutchesse Ambassadours, would undoubtedlie have reconquered the Pallatynat, and what is this, but their malicious and pernicious policie to drayne your Majesties purse drie, and to exhaust your Exchequer; therby purposlie to clippe the winges of your Courage, power, and resolution, from flying to the restoration of the Pallatynat; Neyther shall your Majestie have just cause to accept against mee, for heere joyning the King of Spayne with the Emperour in the Detention therof; sith their swordes and forees aequallie Conquered it, or if not the King of Spayne (as the vulgar beleeue) for the Emperour, yet undoubtedlie the Emperour and Duke of Bavaria (as the cleerest sighted knowe) for the King of Spayn; because uppon the vvhole the Emperour is more the King of Spaynes servant and creature, then the Duke of Bavaria is the Emperours, and therfore that it is rather more to bee feared then doubted, that as hee first tooke Aix and Weesell for the Emperour, and ever since keepes them for himselfe; that right soe hee intends to deale with the Pallatynat; and if your Majestie vvould but turne your back to Spayne, and your eyes to the [Page] Pallatynat, you will then confirme my oppinion, wheras (with a fearfull jelousie) I apprehend, that turning your backe to the Pallatynat, and your eyes to Spayne, you maye peradventure passionatlie oppose and contradict it; For as the diseases and iniquitie of our tymes, and the Vanitie of our Natures are such, as manie tymes wee see Ambition gives a Lawe to Nature, and the strongest sword proves most commonlie the best right and tenure. Soe notwithstanding that the Emperour bee puffed upp with joy and pride for this his good success, yet the King of Sayne thinckes that the Pallatynat is but a debt dewe to his Vertue, and a tribute to his Ambition and Greatnesse.

And that your Majestie maye the more perfectlie and apparantlie consider them destinctlie or joyntlie, and soe looke from theyr tongues to theyr hartes, from theyr wordes to theyr actions, and from the barke of theyr Friendshippe to the tree of theyr Intents; Swartsenbourgh from the Emperour, brought onlie Complements but noe deeds not hoapes of restitution of the Pallatynat; Bosquet from the Archdutchess, (under the cloake of trust and consignation) carried away Frankendale, the last hostage and pledge of that Province; and last of all Mexia (with his statelie Embassye) pretended from the sayd Princess, but intended from the King of Spayne, came to Comply with your Majestie, to make fayre weather of all sydes, to keepe everie byrd in his neast and your Majestie Sword still rusting in his scabberd; yea if the hartes of Inijoca, Mendoza, and Columba, (whome I reverence and honnor for the honnor of theyr places.) [Page] were as visible and transparent as Iulius Drusus wished his house; Then (notwithstanding all theyr veluett wordes and silken protestations and vowes) your Maiestie should see without perspective or spectacles, that the most retyred Article, and secret mysterie of theyr Kinges Commission to them is; To give theyr Infanta to our Illustrious and famous Prince Charles, but infalliblie with this proviso and reservation, still to keepe the Pallatynat for the behoofe and use of the King theyr Master; And what else doe all these severall Ambassadours in England, and whervnto tend all theyr severall legations, but onlie to conceale the Ill which is, and to pretend the Good which is not, in the designes and resolutions of the King theyr Master; For in all theyr Treaties and Negotiations with your Maiestie and your mynisters, what doe they else but purposlie play theyr prizes, in practising theyr chiefest invention, Arte, and skill, to procrastinate the restitution of the Pallatynat, making everie daye produce newe Difficulties and Evasions, till in the end they have made the Cure woorse then the Disease, and which (without the helpe and assistance of your Maiesties sword) will verie shortlie prove incurable, and meerlie Physique after death; For the Emperour, the king of Spayne, and the Archdutchesse, doe onlie feed your Maiestie with the emptie ayre of hoapes, and with the bitter sweet sugar of manie flattering and false promises, that they will restore the Pallatynat to the Prince your Sonne in Lawe, whiles they in the meane tyme (with as much treacherie as silence) doe heerbye onlie gayne tyme (in working and procuring theyr owne [Page] ends) to repayre and renewe the fortifications of that Countrie, till in the end they (like Molewarps) have therein taken firme footing, and made those Cities and Castles which were easie to subdue, become difficult, and the difficult impregnable; For the King of Spayne playes the Practicke with your Majestie, whiles you professe the Theorie to him; you give him contemplation for action, hee returnes you action for contemplation; for whiles you are entertayning and flattering your thoughts with hoape, hee and his Factor the Duke of Bavaria, hath crowned his hoapes and front with the Lawrels of the Pallatynat, that daintie peece and rich and bewtifull Prouince of Europe; neyther is it your Maiestie alone, but the French King likewise, who hath given too confident an eare to the Syreen tunes, and charmes of Spayne; for whiles their practises and machynations threw him to a pernitious & sacrilidgious Warre against his owne Protestant subjects, then Spayn recovered the Valtolyne, and deflowred the Fortes and passages of the Grisons, and whiles he (by his Gondomar) lull'd your Maiestie asleepe with the melodie of the Match, then hee finished the Conquest of the Pallatynat. Onlie your Majesties dishonnor heerin is farre greater then that of the French King; because his remisnesse permitted but his Confederates to bee ruyned, but your Maiestie, your Confederate your Sonne in Lawe, your onlie Daughter his wife, and their Royall posteritie. Thus as the Cyclope Polephemus devoured his passengers one after another, soe doth the King of Spayne ea [...]e upp whole Countries and Provinces. And wherto tends all [Page] this formidable Ambition, power, and greatnesse of his, but onlie to fill the sailes of his glorie; Whiles your Ma^tie. and other Potentates and Princes of Christendom most inconsideratlie (I may say shamefullie) ride at Anchor in the Portes of false securitie, and therfore of true danger; and wherunto tends all this, but in the end to aspire to the whole Empire of the West, as your Majestie heard though would not beleeue, from your last Assemblie of Parliament, which our sinnes, and your Enemies, caused you to make and intitle but a Convention.

All Europe can beare witnesse of your Majesties two yeares pious, interceeding, and Christian endeavours and resolution, to have the Palatynat restored by Treatie, and although the Emperour hath superficially promised and the King of Spayne artificiallie vowed it; yet still your Majestie sees contrarie effects, and still they fortifie the Pallatynat, not for, but against the Prince your Son in Lawe, as if they had given a Definitive sentence and periode to theyr resolutions, and made it an Orthodox Article of their Fayth, still to keepe and never to restore it to him, or his posteritie; yea, the Emperour is soe glutted with his victories, and the Duke of Bavaria soe sursetted with his good fortunes (in both which the King of Spayne insults with joye, and triumph with exhileration) that they are now soe farre from thincking of restitution, as they disdayne it; Alexander the Great, (whose generositie was yet farre greater then his fame) shewed such testimonies of his moderation and Magnanimitie, as hee gave those whome he subdued and [Page] conquered, more cause to reioyce then repyne at his Victories, yea hee shewed infinit Vertue and Charitie in his power, (and these twoe cannot bee better shewen then in giving lymitts to power.) But it seemes the Emperour is continuallie soe inflamed with choller, and transported with revenge towards the Count Pallatyne, your Sonne in Lawe, as hee is whollie unmindfull eyther of Charitie or Vertue, hee mought have added glorie to his Victories and Raigne, if his Ambition finding prosperous successe, could have beene content with measure and moderation soe uecessarie in all Christians, and soe requisit and relucent in Princes; But what or whie speak I of Charitie or Moderation in the Emperor, when all the world can testifie with mee, that his quarrell is soe implacable, and his malice and revenge soe inexorable to the Prince Pallatyne your Sonne in Lawe, and the Princes and Nobles of Germanie his adhaerents, as hee hath given them all just cause to flye to such remedies as dispayre gives to necessitie, therby to seeke to preserue their lyues with their honnors, and their honnors with their lyues. And as hoape mought but feare cannot bee capable in them to declyne their vallour and courage; soe had they not then reason to banish hoape, when they apparantlie sawe they could hoape for nothing but for Dispayre in the mercylesse mercie of the Emperour. Hee leaves them still proscripts, although it had beene farre more Noble for him (whoe holdes the first, and noblest Rancke of Christendom) rather to have made them taste the fruytes of his mercie, then to feele the effects of his Indignation; and is still so erreconcilable [Page] and vindictiue, as if hee hath vowed to adopt, and make revenge a Vertue, and resolved and sworne, that it shall bee the last thing which shall die with him.

Neyther cann your Majestie justlie conceyue, that this inveterate malice of the Emperour, and boundlesse Ambition of the King of Spayne, is onlie bent and intended against the Prince Pallatyne, your Sonne in Lawe; but likewise (by vertue and reason of the same rule of Vsurpation) against your royall selfe. Sith wee cannot cutt a finger, but wee wound the Arme, nor cutt offe an arme, but wee indanger the whole Bodie; And what doth this Imperious swallowing downe of the Pallatynat by the Emperour, the perfidious usurping of the Cantons, of the Grisons, and the eager threatning the totall subversion of the Netherlands, by the King of Spayne, else portend and implye, but onlie to cut off the letts, and obstacles, that with the more facilitie they maye after make theyr approaches to assayle your own Kingdoms & Domynions; which treacherous designes and resolutions of theirs, if your Majestie will not now beleeue, and accordingly seeke and endeauour to prevent; It is to bee feared, yea I saye agayn, it is to bee feared, that wee yonr Subjects shall feele them hereafter, when wee shall have just cause left us to lament, but neyther meanes, power, nor tyme, to remedie and prevent it. For thincke what your Majestie will, and saye what you please, yet your best subjects, and not the woorst Witts and Statesmen of your Kingdoms knowe, that when the Emperour and King of Spayne, beate Princelie Fredericke the Sonne, that at that verie instant [Page] and act, they undoubtedlie threatned Royall Iames the Father; and that (in the loss of the Pallatynat) your Majestie uppon the whole, is dangerouslie wounded and strucke at through his syde, aswell in the honnor of your Sacred person, as in the wellfare and safetie of your Estates and Kingdoms.

Give not cause O Great King, that the malice of the Prince your Sonne in Lawes Enemyes prevayle aboue your pittie and affection, nor theyr Vsurpation aboue your Iustice, and although some Spanish Englishmen, and English Spanyards, playe the Mercurie with you, to bring the Argus eyes of your judgment and power asleepe, seeming to have new Mynerva's inclosed in theyr braines, therbye to inchant your sences and to cast your affection and Vnderstanding into a Lethargie; yet it will bee a just and honnorable resolution for your Majestie, that in regard the Emperour will affoord noe favour to the Count Pallatyne your Sonne, that therfore (according the sence and letter of the same rule) hee deserves to have none given or shewen him by your Majestie his Father in Lawe; and as your Royall hart is the Temple of Equitie and Iustice, soe can there anie thing bee more just and equitable, then to make the Vsurper restore; yet it is as necessarie as just, for your Maiestie to cause this restoration of the Pallatynat; sith to speake to the Emperour, or King of Spayne, of the restitution therof, is but to speake to the wynde, And it is to deceiue your Majesties deepe knowledge, and to betraye your solide judgment, to thincke that ever it will bee restored, except by your Sword. Noe, noe, it must bee your Sword, not [Page] your Tongue, not your Treaties, not your Letters, not your Ambassadours which must refetch it, if ever your Majestie desire and intend to haue it refetched, For all other meanes are fledd, and have now abandoned and forsaken you, and this of Warre is onlie left you to effect it, which will not fayle, nor cannot deceive you in the performance therof; For otherwise like Ptolomais in (Suydas) you maye pleade your selfe to death in expectation and hoape therof by Treaties, before you see it restored. And that the policie of the Emperour, the King of Spayne, and Duke of Bavaria, maye in all respects equalize theyr Ambition and Malice, in the resolute and constant Detention of the Pallatynat; maye it please your Majestie agayn and agayne to cast the eyes of your Consideration, to see how closlie they have dealt with the Pope, to fulminate and thunder out from his Vatican some false and irreligious Aphorismes, therbye the better to over-vayle and the more authentically to couller out, the monstrous Deformitie of this theyr Vsurpation therin; Wherof, of his 29. I will at this present content my selfe to select & propose unto your Majestie the three last.

1.

27. That it is not now in the power, eyther of the Emperour, or the King of Spayne, to replace Frederick and his Heyres in the Pallatynat and Electorat.

2.

28. That it is an uniust request of the Kinges of England, and Denmarke, and of the Electors of Saxonie, and Brandenbourg, to seeke to revoke the Popes Confirmation [Page] of the Duke of Bavaria in the Pallatynat and Electorat.

3.

29. That the Pope cannot revoke the Confirmation of the Pallatynat and Electorat to the Duke of Bavaria, without preiudice to the authoritie of the Sacred Catholique Church.

Thus the Pope, or rather thus the King of Spayne and the Emperour, whoe have caused the Pope, falslie and maliciouslie to pronounce a sentence and Decree in their owne favour, agaynst the Lawfull right of the Count Pallatyne, you Sonne in Lawe, and his Heyres; wherbye your Maiestie maye palpablie see, and plainlie observe, the letts and difficulties, yea the impossibilitie which your Majestie maye expect, for the restoring of the Pallatynat. And although I justlie confesse my selfe (for Power, Learning, and Iudgment) to bee the verie meanest of all your Majesties subjects; yet because I more triumph in my Fidelitie to you my sacred Souveraigne, and in my zeale to all your Royall Posteritie, then the Emperour doth in his Imperiall Crowne, the King of Spayne in his Indyes, or the Duke of Bavaria in his newe Conquest and usurpation of the Pallatynat; I therfore most humblie beseech your Majestie to pervse and consider these three Aphorismes, which I returne to the Pope in answere of his.

1.

That it is nowe in the Iustice of the Emperour, and in the power of the King of Spaine, to replace the Count Pallatyne Frederick (and his Heyres) in his Pallatynat and Electorat.

[Page]2.

That it is a Iust, Charitable, & Honnorable resolution of the Kinges of England, and Denmarke, as alsoe of the Electors of Saxonie, and Brandenbourg, eyther with theyr pennes or swordes, to seeke to annihilate and frustrate the Pope his Confirmation of the Pallatynat and Electorat to the Duke of Bavaria, in favour of Fredericke and his Heyres, and that theyr Connivencie now therin towards the Pope, will infalliblie prove Crueltie to themselues, and theyr owne heyres for ever heerafter.

3.

That the Decrees of the Church and Consistorie of Rome, are revokable, as having noe affinitie and resemblance with those of the Meades & Persians, and that the Pope and his Colledge of Cardynalls, can when they please revoke theyr Confirmation of the Pallatynat and Electorat to the Duke of Bavaria, and restore it to the true owner therof Fredericke Count Pallatyne, and his heyres, without anie newe or farther prejudice to the authoritie of theyr Catholique Church; Sith if it were for the obtayning of their owne ends, or the propagation of theyr Romish Religion, as it is for our Protestant; not onlie everie age but almost everie Popes raigne, abounds with presydents of the same nature; which those are infinitlie blynde whoe see not, and extreamlie partiall, ignorant, or malicious whoe will not acknowledge.

And because (in my shallowe concceipt and capacitie) it is pittie that these three Aphorismes of the Pope, should returne without Interest; I therfore adjoyne and send his Holliness these other three to my three formes, [Page] which in all Humilitie and Dutie I likewise prostrate to your Maiesties pervsall & consideration.

1.

That the Princes Electors of Germanie maye make an Emperour, but that the Pope cannot make an Elector, nor consequentlie unmake one, beeing made, because it meerlie and properlie belongs to a Civill power, and not to an Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction.

2.

That the transaction and Donation of the Pallatynat and Electorat, made by the Pope from the Count Pallatyne your Sonne in Lawe, to the Duke of Bavaria, doth both subvert the fundamentall Lawes and Dignitie of the Empire, and alsoe oppose and assault the prerogatives and safetie of Germanie, and of all other Kinges, Princes and Free Estates of Christendome.

3.

That the Connivencie of the Emperour, and Princes Electors, in tollerating the Popes sayd transaction and Donation of the Pallatynat, as aforesayd, openeth a Doore to the unjust intrusion of Rome, over the Libertie, Souveraigntie, and indepencie of Germanie, which hencefoorth will never bee in the power, eyther of the Emperour, or of the Princes Electors agayne to make fast and shutt, if now they doe not.

Having thus given six Aphorismes to the Pope for his three, I now agayne in all humilitie and Dutie embolden my selfe, to recommend to your Maiesties Gracious pervsall and consideration, three tymes three others, [Page] which I direct and send joyntlie to the Emperour, and King of Spayne, or rather agaynst them to your Maiestie, and the whole world, therby to unmaske theyr Ambition and Vsurpation, in the unjust detention of the Pallatynat, from the Illustrious Prince your Sonne in Lawe.

1.

That the Emperour invaded the Pallatynat by the Counsell and Instigation, and Conquered it by the Armes and Threasure of the King of Spaynes, and without it hee could never have Conquered it; And it is cleere and notorious to all the world, that as the Emperour cannot subsist without the assistance of Spayne, that therfore in his Detayning of the Pallatynat; that the King of Spayne, is more your Sonne in Lawes, and your Maiesties enemie, then the Emperour: for take away the cause and the effect followes, as take away fuell and the flame and fire will bee soone extinguished.

2.

That those whoe knowe the Court of Rome, doe apparantlie knowe and Confesse, that without the close interceeding, and secret solicitation of the King of Spaynes Ambassadours and Ministers, to that effect in that Court; that neyther the Emperour nor Pope, had dared eyther to have taken the Pallatynat and Electorat, from the Count Pallatyne your Sonne in Lawe; to whome by all the Lawes of Heaven and Earth it appertayneth, nor to have given them to the Duke of Bavaria, whoe hath no other right nor clayme therto, but [Page] onlie that which his excessive Ambition, and insatiable desire of Vsurpation suggests and gives him.

3.

That it is in the power of the King of Spayne, to make the Emperour and the Duke of Bavaria restore the Pallatynat and Electorat to the Count Pallatyne your Sonne in Lawe, and therfore that if they restore it not, that then your Maiestie may iustlie and trulie conclude, it lyes not in his will.

4.

That it is as easie for the Prince Pallatyne your Sonne in Lawe, to bee restored to his Pallatynat and Electorat by the helpe of your Maiesties sword, as impossible for the Emperour and Duke of Bavaria to keepe it without the assistance of the King of Spayne.

5.

That as long as the Pallatynat and Electorat is detayned and possessed by the Emperour and Duke of Bavaria, soe long (to common sence, and unprejudicate judgments) it is as cleere as the Sunne, that their Lawe in the Detention therof, is whollie and solie derived, from the will and resolution of Spayne, which is theyr Cynosura, wherbye they steere all theyr actions, and theyr Delphos, from whence they fetch all theyr Oracles and Instructions.

6.

That it is a Castillian policie, to make the Archdutchesse, [Page] a Negotiatrixe in and for all Treaties depending betwixt your Majestie and the Emperour for the Pallatynat and Electorat, and that shee beeing a verie olde and sicklie Princesse, having as it were her Lyfe on her Lippes, and her feete on the brincke of her Grave, That when shee Dyes the sayd King, will then cause all her promisses, Contracts, and assurances to dye with her, and to bee lykewise buried in her Grave, which are or which may bee anie way displeasing, or opposite to his ambitious Designes and resolutions.

7.

That if the King of Spayne take not the reall and actuall possession of the Pallatynat, during the lyfe of the Duke of Bavaria; that hee will infalliblie doe it immediatlie uppon his Death; And in the interim, the Cardes are soe cunninglie shuffled betweene them, that uppon the Whole, Bavaria is but Spaynes Depositor, and the King of Spayne, Bavaria's Patrone and protector.

8.

That the restoring of the Pallatynat, which your Majestie makes a matter of Estate, the quenchlesse revenge of the Emperour, and the boundless Ambition of Spayne, have caused the Pope to make it meerlie a matter of Religion.

9.

That your Maiestie shall in the end finde, that Spayne, to have the fuller pretext, and fayrer couller for his [Page] Ambition, in causing this injust Detention & Vsurpation of the Pallatynat; will for his last shift and imposture, clappe the whole fault therof on the Pope, by affirming hee nowe sees that it whollie derogates from the Honnor and Office of Christs Vicar, and consequentlie from the Lawes and Constitutions of the holie Catholique Church; for Clement IX. to annihilate and revoke the Donation of the Pallatynat and Electorat, to the Duke of Bavaria, which his Predecessor Gregorie XV. gave him, and that hee beeing the Catholique King, hee dares not transgresse the Commaunds, nor disobey the will and Decrees of the Pope, whoe is the head of the Catholique Church, the Successour of Sainct Peeter, and Christs Vicar on Earth.

These Aphorismes most sacred Souveraigne, are true, not feigned, and everie way worthie of your beleife and Consideration; For your Maiestie shall in the end finde, that the Emperour and the King of Spayne, will not understand the language of Restitution, because theyr Swordes and Pennes have ever practised and professe the Contrarie. Yea, you have small cause and lesse reason to apprehend or feare the Emperours power, whoe indeede is of verie small or noe power, without that of Spayne. And if Spayne will still Countenance and Commaund this his usurpation of the Pallatynat, then hee is your Sonne in Lawes Enemie, as much, or more▪ as the Emperour, and soe to bee esteemed and held of your Maiestie, and noe osherwise. And for the rest of the Germane Princes whoe syde with the [Page] Emperour; you have noe cause to stand eyther in neede or in feare of theyr Forces & power, for although the honnor of the Empire bee frequent in theyr tongues, yet theyr owne Interest and endes, are more deeplie rooted in theyr hartes, and take upp the first place in their resolutions.

Your Majestie hath a long tyme, yea too long tyme looked from the Prince Pallatyne your Sonne in Lawe, in suffering him thus to bee Dejected and deprived of his Pallatynat; yea, and the whole world spare not to speake and affirme this truthe; that you are more desirous of rest then of Honnor, in permitting and tollerating it; Hee is a Prince fuller of hoapes then of misfortunes, and his Vallor and Vertues, make him more Worthie to bee an Emperour, then to bee beaten by an Emperour. And all these crosses and losses of his; are but the assaults of Fortune, the exercyse of his patience, and the tryall of his generositie and Constancie. Your Majestie hath seene him ruyned, and yet it lyes in your power and pleasure to repayre those ruynes of his, and to make him as happie as now hee is miserable.

Looke uppon the Princesse, his wyfe, and your onlie Daughter, and you shall finde that all her Husbands misfortunes and losses, doe noe way blemish but rather Illustrate her vertues, as if her fortitude and resolution, were to Devyne to bee outbraved by anie earthlie Crosses and afflictions. For the remembrance of Reason & Honnor, of her Blood and her Vertues, comming to forme it self in her understanding, [Page] makes her to entertayne different accydents and afflictions with an aequall erected constancye, and although shee have onlie this Comfort and Consolation left her, that shee is not the cause of her Misfortune; yet those whoe fee her Bewtie, and knowe her Vertues, doe likewyse knowe, that shee whoe is one of the Greatest Ladyes of the world, should not bee reduced to this poynt of myserie and misfortune, to bee one of the Poorest and least of the world; Sir, God hath made her your Daughter, and our Princesse, and adorned her with soe manie Vertues, as shee rather deserves to bee Empresse of the whole world, then Ladye of a small Province; Shee inheriteth the Name and Vertues, the Majestie and generositie of our Immortall Queen Elizabeth, and is a Princesse of such excellent hoapes and exquisite perfections, that I cannot speak of her without prayse, nor prayse her without admiration, sith shee can bee immytated by none, nor parraleld by anie but by herselfe; And yet will your Majestie neglect her, and will you not drawe your Sworde in her just Quarrell, vvhose Fame and Vertues hath drawne most hartes to adore, all to admyre her.

Looke uppon those Princelie plantes theyr Children, and your Majestie shal finde, that theyr lookes and fronts doe alreadie in their Infancie, justly threaten to revenge their Father his losses and indignities; and sith they are Descended from your Royall Blood and loynes, will your Majestie suffer them to bee ruyned, as soone as borne, and that the Greatnesse of [Page] theyr Blood should onlie serve to make theyr afflictions and misfortunes the greater; Harmlesse and Innocent soules, what have they done to your Maiestie, that you should suffer them thus to bee Disinherited, or rather what should not Nature prompt you to doe for them, agayne to restore them to theyr Patrimonie and Inheritance; For if you will affect them you must pittie them, and you cannot sufficientlie pittie them, except you remedie and revenge theyr wronges, by repayring the ruynes of theyr decayed and Shipwracked fortunes, in that of theyr Fathers.

All the actions of Demetrius savoured of Royaltie, and none will soe much royalize your Raigne, and immortalize your Fame, as this of restoring your Children to their Patrimonie; your famous Predecessors and Progenitors of eyther Kingdom, were too generous sencible and Delicate to digest or packe upp the least affront or injurie whatsoever, though from the greatest Princes and Potentates of the world, much lesse soe great a one as is this of the Losse of your dearest Childrens Patrimonie, from soe weake a Prince as the Emperour, (whose power gives the lye to his forme, and comes farre too short of his Dignitie and reputation) wherin the Honnor of your Sacred person, and alsoe of all your Kingdomes and Estates, doe most extreamlie (O that I might not saye shamefullie) suffer, for they made it both theyr practise and glorie to strike those first, whoe made but the least shew or shaddowe, eyther to threaten them, or to withholde that from them which they ought to restore; Yea, they have past the Seas with [Page] royall Fleets and Armyes, aswell for Defending theyr Confederates, as for keeping and reconquering of a poore Cittie; And will not your Maiestie then take Armes, for the regayning and restoring of soe rich a Province as the Pallatynat, to the Prince your Sonne in Lawe, to the Princesse your Daughter, and to theyr Royall posteritie, which is one of the goodlyest Countries of Europe, and wherin there are soe manie strong Citties, and Castles.

And as the French (in Rome) give out agaynst the Duke of Savoy, that the delayes which the Pope made in the judgement of the Marquisat of Salusses were insupportable, that they had too long Disputed and pleaded for theyr owne, and that therfore it was high tyme (yea more then tyme) for them to decyde that quarrell with the Cannon, in the playnes of Piedmont; Soe hath your Majestie just cause to saye to the Emperor, the King of Spayn, and Duke of Bavaria, for the restoring of the Pallatynat; yea let your Courage but animate your Designes, and your Subiects will execute them; For, give them but the worde of Commaund to resetch it by Warre, and your Majestie will then see they will act wonders with theyr Swordes, not onlie answerable to your desires and expectation, but beyond the Emperours, the King of Spaynes, and the Duke of Bavaria's beleife, and your Nobilitie and Gentrie (out of theyr true zeale and innate affection, to the famous Princesse your Daughter, her Husband and Posteritie) will flye from Thames to Rhyne, as to a Fayre, or Wedding, and you shall have more Gentelmen in this [Page] action, then ever Germane Armie beheld, or Spanish confronted. And although money (which is the true cyment and synewes of Warre) seeme now scarce in your Kingdomes, and that your Bounties hath made your Exchequer, and Treasor emptie; yet if your Majestie will be pleased to secure but this one doubt and feare of your Subjects, that your Souldiers may eate, and not your Courtiers devoure the monyes which a Parliament will give and rayse you for this enterprise, you shall then assuredlie finde an Indyes in your England, and more huge sommes of mony cheerfully Contributed, then that action can anie way take upp or expend; you shall finde that one Herauld will doe more good then all your Ambassadors have performed. And as the Mathematici­ans hold, that the rightest and straightest Lyne is still the shortest; Soe your Majestie shall undoubtedlie finde, that the rightest and shortest way for you to recover the Pallatynat will bee by your Sword. When Scotland was not yet added by your Majestie to England, England (holding herselfe bound in poynt of Honnor) hath sent a blacke Prince into Spayne, a Drake and Essex, into Portugal, and an Essex, Willoughbie, Norrice, and Fourbisher into France, with statelie Fleets and Regiments, to restore Disinherited Kinges to theyr Kingdomes, whoe were yet but our Confederates, and will not your Majestie whoe hath so happilie Vnited and Wedded Scotland to England, and whoe is the powerfullest Monarch that ever swayed the Brittish Sceptre, attempt and performe the like for the Prince Pallatyne your Son in Lawe, and the Husband of your onlie Daughter our Princesse; our hands, harts, [Page] and swordes, beeing of as good, and of as excellent a temper as ever our Predecessors were, having as it were hands of Steele, and hartes of Diamonds, for the attemp­ting and finishing of this Honnorable Enterprise; If the King of Spayne will not abandon his Cousen the Empe­rour, should your Majestie abandon, or rather should you not assist and protect the Count Pallatyne your Son in Lawe, agaynst the Emperour. Or if there ensue hereon anie breach betwixt your Majestie & the King of Spayn; hath he not given you just cause to undertake that warre, which is soe Iust, Honnorable, and Charitable, as to the eyes and censures of the whole world, it beares its perswasion with it; And if your actions and resolutions be such, that you resolve rather to give Spayne cause to feare you, then to take anie to make your Majestie feare Spayne, your Maiestie shall then infalliblie fetch securitie out of danger, and drawe honnor out of shame; yea, if you wil couragiouslie resolve to cut this Gordion knot with Alexander, and to passe this Rubicon with Caesar, you shall then trulie and tryumphantlie participate of the ones Fame, and of the others Glorie; and this indeed will make your Maiestie live after Death, and reviue agayn in your fame, as the Phaenix doth out of her ashes. And noe sooner shall your Drummes beate, and your Coullers bee displayed uppon the banckes of Rhyne; but your Majesties sword shall put a newe face uppon Germanie, and make England (consequentlie) assume her olde one, which was ever woont to looke more Martiall, and lesse Effemynate, lesse contemptible to our Friends, and still more terrible to our Enemyes.

[Page] It is an action and resolution full of Religion, full of Equitie, and full of Glorie, whervnto the honnor of your Kingdoms, and your Royall person, and your Maiesties naturall affection towards your Princelie Children, doth both envite and conjure you to attempt and perfect it; It is a worke and labour infinitlie worthie of your Sword, your Sceptre, your Crowne; yea, it will bee one of the most precious Iewels and Diamonds, which your lyfe, can possiblie give to the adorning of your Raigne or your Death, to the embellishing of your Tombe or Chronicle; Is the recoverie of the Pallatynat a great action? Consider I beseech you, that you are a Great King & a Potent Monarche; doth it produce difficulties? what important enterprise ever was, or can there bee without them, or what cannot the hartes and swordes of Great Brittayne make easie, and as success comes some tymes short of our hoapes, soe manie tymes it goes beyond them; doth it threaten Danger? whie there is the more Glorie to surmount it, and beeing well and firmlie begunne it will bee alreadie halfe ended; Sith there is nothing more Couragious then a good Cause, nor more Victorious then the Truthe.

And although your Majestie delight and glorie to bee tearmed, A Prince of Peace; yet lett your Peace live and flourish in Honnor, and not wyther and dye in Contempt and shame. For God, whoe is the Protector of Princes, will rather releeve then ruyne them, and rather desire and authorise theyr restoration to, then theyr deprivation from theyr Countryes, and it will bee farre easier to beleeve then to represent, the joy which all [Page] the best and truest harted of your Subjects will conceyue, when they shall see your Majesties sword, as deeplie ingaged in the quarrell of the Pallatynat, as your Sceptre and Honnor is in the cause therof; Our famous Elizabeth did beate Spayne, and shall our Royall and Potent King IAMES feare it; Besides, we see our trustie Neighbors and Friends the Hollanders, relye uppon the poyntes of theyr Swordes for the preservation of theyr Estates and Lyues; and therin they infalliblie finde, the securitie of the one, and the safetie of the other, by Detecting and Detesting the Treacheries of Spayne, which is still more prevalent and powerfull in theyr calmes of Peace, then in theyr tempests of Warre, and it will bee noe small felicitie to your Majestie, to see (these valiant and constant Confederates) how couragiouslie they will second your Warlike attempts in this restoration, and how constantlie and resolutelie they will marrie theyr Forces to yours, and with theyr best powers, pushe foorth the Chariot of your triumphs agaynst the House of Austria.

Proceed Great King with this action soe full of Glorie and Honnor, and the God of Heaven and Earth make your Majestie still happie in your Peace, and victorious in your Warres; And because it is a difficult poynt to satisfie our selves and the tyme together; yet (notwithstanding) I hope that your Majestie will pardon this boldness and affection of myne; except it bee held a Crime to honnor my Kinges Daughter, and to desire the prosperitie and welfare of the Prince her Husband, and theyr Royall posteritie; which next unto that of [Page] your owne sacred Majestie, and then of the Illustrious Prince Charles your Sonne, I will neyther cease to doe with my best zeale, nor fayle to performe with my most religious wishes and prayers.