¶ An Epistle or exhortacion, to vnitie & peace, sent frō the Lorde Protector, & others the kynges moste honorable counsaill of England To the Nobilitie, Gentlemen, and Commons, and al others the inhabitauntes of the Realme of Scotlande.
CONSIDEryng with our selfes the presēt state of thynges, & weiyng more depelye the maner and termes, wherein [Page] we and you do stāde: It maketh vs to merueile what euil & fatal chaūce doth so disseuer your hartes, and maketh theim so blinde and vnmindfull of your profite and to still conciliate and heape to your self mooste extreme mischiefes: the whiche, we (whō you will nedes haue your enemies) go aboute to take awaie frō you and perpetually to ease you therof. And although by all reasone and ordre of necessitie, it should bee rather more conuenient for you to seke and require, moderate agrementes of vs (whō god hath hetherto, accordyng vnto our moste iuste, true, and Godly meanynges and intētes, prospered and set forwarde, with youre affliccion and miserie) then that we, beyng superiours in the feld [Page] Masters of a great part of your realme, should seke vpon you: Yet to thintent that our charitable mynde and brotherly loue, should not cease by all meanes possible, to prouoke and cal you to youre awne commoditie and profite, euen as the father to the sonne, or thelder brother would do to the yōger brother: And as the louyng Phisicion, would do to the mistrustfull and ignoraūt pacient, we are cōtent to call and crye vpon you, to looke on your state, to auoyde the greate calamitie your Countrey is in: To haue vs rather brothers, then enemies, rather Countreymenne, then Conquerours. And if your Gouernor or Capitaines, shall reteigne and kepe from you this oure exhortacion, as heretofore [Page] thei haue doen: our Proclamaciō tendyng to the like effecte, for their awne priuate wealth & cō moditie, not regardyng though you bee still in miserie, so they haue profite and gouernaunce ouer you, & shall still abuse you, with feyned and forged tales: Yet this shalbee a witnesse afore God, and all Christian people, betwixte you and vs, that wee professyng the Gospell of Christ accordyng to the doctrine thereof, doo not cease to call and prouoke you, from theffusiō of your awne blood, from the destrucciō of the realme of Scotland, from perpetuall enemitie and hatred, from the finall eradicacion of your nacion, and from seruitude to foreyne nacions: to libertie, to amitie, to equalitie with vs, to [Page] that, whiche your writers hath alwayes wisshed, mighte once come to passe. VVHO that hathred thistories of tyme paste, and doth marke and note the greate battailes, fought betwixte Englande and Scotland, thincursions, roades, and spoyles, whiche hath been doen on bothe the parties: The realme of Scotlande fiue tymes wonne by one kyng of Englande: The Scottishe kynges, some taken prisoners, some slain in battaill, some for very sorowe and discomforte vpon losse, diyng and departing the world: and shall perceiue again, that of all nacions in the worlde, that nacion onely beside England, speaketh thesame language: and as you and wee bee annexed and ioyned in one Islande, [Page] so no people so like in maner, forme, language, and all condicions as we are: Shal not he thynke it a thyng verie vnmete, vnnaturall, and vnchristiā that there should be betwixte vs so mortall warre, who in respect of al other nacions, be, & should bee, like as twoo brethren of one Islande of greate Britayn? And though he were a straungier to bothe, what would he thynke more mete, then if it wer possible one kyngdome be made in rule, whiche is one in language, and not to be diuided in rulers, whiche is all one in Countrey. And for somuche as twoo successions cānot concurre and fal into one, by no maner of other meanes, then by mariage, whereby one bloude, one lignage and parentage, [Page] is made of twoo, and an indefecible right geuen of bothe to one, without the destruccion and abolishing of either: If god should graunt that whatsoeuer you would wish, should be doen what could you wish, other then that, whiche now, not by fortune hath chaunced, but by his infinite mercie and moste inscrutable prouidence, as carefull for you, he hath geuē vnto you. The whiche thyng, that you should also thinke to come of his disposicion, and not by blynd fortune how vnlikely hath it been, & how sodainly hath it turned, that the power of God might be shewed: Your last Kyng beyng a Prince of muche excellencie and young, (whō you know, after a promise broken contrary to his honour: [Page] And a misfortune by iust iudgement of GOD folowyng vpon it, GOD either by sorowe, or by some other wise at his inscrutable pleasure, did take away from you) had three children. Did not almightie GOD, as it were to shewe his will and pleasure to be, that the long cōtinued warre and ennemitie, of bothe the naciōs should be taken awaie, and knit in perpetuall loue and amitie, take the two men children of those babies, beyng distaunt the one frō the other, and in diuerse places, bothe as it were at one tyme, and within the space of xxiiii. houres, leauyng but one mayden child and Princesse?
When the moste wise and victorious Prince, late our Kyng and Master, kyng Hēry theight [Page] in other of his mariages not most fortunate, had by his most lawful and moste verteous wife Quene Iane, his other two wifes before that mariage departed this worlde, and neuer surmise nor question made of that mariage, fithe that tyme to this daie, nor so muche as all her life tyme, name or mocion, to, or of any other wife, one Prince of so high expectacion, of so greate giftes of God, the right and vndoubted heire of the Realme of England, and his maiestie onely of male issue, left behynd hym to succede the imperial Croune. If nothyng els had been dooen, what can any wise or any Christian manne, that thynketh the worlde to be gouerned by Gods prouidence, and not by fortune, [Page] thinke otherwise, but that it was Gods pleasure it should bee so, that these twoo realmes should ioyne in mariage, and by a godly Sacrament, make a Godly, perpetuall, and moste frendly vnitie and concord. wherby suche benefites, as of vnitie and concord commeth, may through his infinite grace, come vnto these realmes. Or if any man of you, or of any other nacion doubteth hereof, excepte that you loke for miracles to bee doen herein, and yet if ye marke all the possibilities of the natures of the twoo princes, the children alredy had, the doubtfull chaunce, least eche of theim should haue a sonne, or bothe doughters, or not of mete ages, with other circumstaūces both of the partie of this realme [Page] of Englande, and that of Scotland, whiche hath not chaunced in viii. C. yeres, it must nedes be reconed a greate meruaill and a miracle. But let it be no miracle seyng that God dooth not nowe speake in oracles as emōges the Iewes he did: And present prophesies now a daies, bee but either not certain, or els not plain, What more certaintie can bee had of Gods will in this case, then the before rehersed dooeth bryng? But if GOD hymself should speake, what could he speake more then he speaketh in these: cal you them prouidences or chaunces? If you bee still afflicted and punished, may he not saie: I of my infinite mercie and loue to your nacion, had prouided a right heire and a prince to [Page] the one, and a right heire & princes to the other, to bee ioyned in my holy lawes, and by the lawe of nature, and the world to haue made an vnitie, concorde, and peace, in the whole Isle of bothe the realmes, you refused it, you loued better dissencion then vnitie, discorde then agremente, warre then peace, hatered then Loue and Charitie. If you doo then therfore smart for it, whom can you blame, but youre awne eleccion? BVT because some of those, who maketh hereto impedimentes, who cannot but confesse, that there appereth Gods prouidence herein, and opportunitie and occasiō geuen, to vnite both the realmes: yet may hereafter saie, and heretofore hath saied, that the faulte herein is, [Page] that wee seke not equalitie, nor the mariage, but a conquest, wee would not be frēdes, but be lordes. Although our Proclamacions at the laste warres, dooeth enough declare the contrary, yet here wee proteste and declare to you, and all Christian people, to be the kynges Maiesties mynd, our Masters, by our aduise and counsaill, not to conquer, but to haue an amitie, not to wynne by force, but to conciliate by loue, not to spoyle and kil, but to saue and kepe, not to disseuer and diuorce, but to ioyne in mariage from high to low, bothe the realmes, to make of one Isle one realme, in loue, amitie, concorde, peace, and Charitie. Whiche if you refuse, and driue vs to conquere, who is giltie of the blood [Page] shed? Who is the occasion of the warre? Who maketh the battailes, the brennyng of houses, and the deuastacion whiche shall folowe? CAN it be denied, but that we haue the great seale of Scotlande, graunted by the Parliament of Scotlande, for the mariage whiche should bee made, with assuraunces and pledges, vntil the performaūce? And this in the tyme that the late kyng of moste famous memorie, our souereigne Lorde kyng Henry the eight did reigne, and in the tyme of thesame your Gouernor, who now is the erle of Arreigne, who then beyng a chief dooer and laborer therein, for the high & inestimable benefite of that realme. So sone as he was by the late Cardinall of S. Andrews and others, [Page] with certain vain feares & hopes, and gredines of dignitie peruerted, reuolted frō his first agrement, and put al the realme to the losse of suche holdes and fortresses, as be now taken from you: and to the losse of a foughten feld, for the which we are sory, if otherwise peace could haue been cōcluded, for his awne priuate lucre, & rechelesnes of that noble Realme. And what ende canne you loke of this maner of procedynges, but suche successe as heretofore hath been experimēted and assaied: we offre loue, we offer equalitie & amitie, we ouercome in war, and offer peace, wee wynne holdes, and offre no conquest, we gette in your lande and offre Englande: What can be more offered and more profered, [Page] then entercourse of merchaū dises, enterchaunge of mariages the abholishyng of all suche our lawes, as prohibiteth thesame, or might bee impediment to the mutuall amitie. We haue offerd not onely to leaue thaucthoritie, name, title, right, or chalenge of conquerours: but to receiue that whiche is the shame of mē ouercomed, to leaue the name of the nacion, and the glory of any victorie if any wee haue had, or should haue of you, and to take the indifferent old name of Britaynes again, because nothyng should be left, of our part vnoffered, nothyng of your part vnrefused, whereby you might bee inexcusable: And all the worlde might testifie, all other meanes not beyng able to do any thyng, [Page] after many other waies and remedies attēpted: Battaill of vs to be takē, as an extreme refuge, to atteigne righte and reason, emonges Christian men. IF any man maie rightfully make battaill, for his espouse and wife: the daughter of Scotland, was by the greate seale of Scotland, promised to the sonne and heire of Englande. If it bee lawfull by Gods Lawe, to fighte in a good querell, and for to make peace: This is to make an ende of all warres, to conclude an eternall and perpetuall peace, whiche to confirme, wee shall fighte, and you to breake, is it not easie to decerne who hath the better parte? GOD and the sworde, hath all ready, and shall hereafter, if there bee no remedie [Page] trie it. Who so willeth the mariage to goo forwarde, who myndeth the peace and tranquilitie of bothe the Realmes, who willeth no conquest to bee had, but amitie and loue to bee established betwixte vs, wee refuse no manne: let hym bryng his name and his pledge, of good seruice in this querell, he shal not onely be receiued to ye amitie, but shal haue sufficient defence agaynste the aduersaries: VVE neither do nor intend, to put any man from his takkes or offices, onlesse he will needes resist, & so cōpell vs thereunto. what face hath this of cōquest? We intend not to disherit your Quene, but to make her heires, inheritors also to England. What greater honor can you seke vnto your Quene, then [Page] the mariage offred? What more meter mariage then this, with the kynges highnes of Englād? What more sure defence, in the noneage of your Quene, for the Realme of Scotlande, then to haue England patron and garrison? We seke not to take from you youre lawes nor customes: But we seke to redresse your oppressions, whiche of diuerse, you do sustein. IN the realme of England, diuerse lawes and customes be, accordyng to the auncient vsage of the parties thereof. And likewise in Fraunce, Normādy, and Gascoigne, hath sundery kynd of ordres: Hath al the realmes and dominions whiche the Emperor now hath, one and one sorte of lawes? These vain feares and phantasies, of expulsion [Page] of youre nacion, of chaungyng the lawes, of makyng a cō quest, bee driuen into your heddes, of those who in deede, had rather you were all conquered, spoyled, & slain, then thei would lose any poynte of their will, of their desire of rule, of their existimacion, whiche thei knowe in quietnes would bee sene what it wer, as it were in a calme water. Now in this tumulte of discord whē the realme is tossed vp and doune, with waues and sourges of battaill, famyne, & other mischief, whiche the warr bringeth, thei thynke thei cānot be espied. But looke on thē, you that haue wit and prudence, and consider the state of your Quene and realme: YOV wil not kepe her sole and vnmaried, the whiche were [Page] to you greate dishonour. If you mary her within the realme, that cānot extynguish the title which we haue to the Croune of Scotlande: and what dissenciō, enuie, grudge, and malice, that shall brede emonges you, it is easy to perceiue. You will mary her out of the Realme: our title remayneth, you be subiectes to a forein Prince of other Countrey, another language: and vs ye haue youre enemies, euen at your elbowe, your succours farre of frō you. And be we not in ye bowels now of the realme? Haue we not a greate parte thereof either in subiecciō, or in amitie and loue? Who shall come into your Realme, but he shalbee mette with, and fought with, if nede be, euen of youre awne nacion, who bee [Page] faithefull & true to the realme of England, in ye way of this moste Godly vniō by mariage. And if any forein power, Prince or potētate, whosoeuer be your aider, to norishe still discord, sende you an armie also: how shall thei oppresse you, fill your houses, wast your groundes, spende and consume your vitaill, holde you in subieccion, and regarde you as slaues, which without thē could not liue, take your Quene to bestowe as thei list, and leaue your realme, especially if their Kyng or ruler (as perchaunce he maye be) in other warres, be otherwise occupied, to be a pray to vs & a true conquest. Then it shalbe to late to saie, we will haue a mariage and no conquest, wee wishe peace and amitie, we are wery of [Page] battaill and miserie. The stubborne ouercomed must suffre the victours pleasure, and pertinacitie will make the victory more insolent, whereof you your selfe haue geuen the cause. If thei sēd money and Capitaines, but no souldiors: First if thei be Capitaines, who ruleth & who dooth obeye, who shall haue the honor of the enterprise, if it bee well achieued? But whether it bee well achieued or no, whiche numbre is that, that shalbee slain, whose bloodde shalbe shed? Their money peraduenture shalbe consumed, and their commaundementes obeyed: But whose bodies shall smarte for it? Whose lādes shalbee wasted? Whose houses burned? What realme made desolate? Remembre what it is to [Page] haue a forein power within you a strong power of your enemies vpō you, you as it were the cāpe and plain, betwixt them to fight on, and to be troden vpon, bothe of the victor and the ouercomed. And imagine you se before your iyes, your wifes and daughters in daungier of the wantonnesse and insolēcie of the souldiours, the proude lookes of the Capitaines and souldiours, whō you cal to helpe you, the contēpt you shall bryng your nacion in: And then take hede lest in deede that follow, whiche you feare, that is that you shalbe by them conquered, that you shalbe by them put from your holdes, lādes, tackes, and offices: that youre lawes by them shalbe altered: That your naciō shalbe by them destroyed. [Page] Cōsider in this realme: Did not the Britaynes call in the Saxons for helpe, and by theim wer put out? Where bee the Pictes, once a great nacion betwixt you and vs? Howe did the nacion of Fraunce put out the Galles out of all Fraunce? Howe gotte the Turke first all Grecia, and now a late Hūgarie, but beyng called in for to aide and helpe? And did not the Gothes by like meanes get all Italie? And the Lombardes one part thereof, now called Lombardy? What loke you for more? Nedy souldiours and hauyng the weapons in their handes, & knowing that you cannot liue without them, what wil thei not cōmaunde you to do? What wil thei not encroche vpon you? What will thei not thynke thei [Page] maie dooe? And what will thei thinke that you dare doo? This forein helpe is your confusion, that succour is your detriment, the victory so had, is your seruitude, what is then to be thought of losse taken with theim? The straūgers and forein souldiours shall oppresse you within, oure power & strength without: And of youre awne nacion, so many as loueth quietnes, Godlines, and the wealth of your realme, shall helpe also to scourge and afflicte you. Is it not better to compose & acquiete al this calamitie and trouble by mariage? To ende al sorowes and battailes, by suche and so honorable a peace? How hath the Emperour Spayne and Burgondy, not by title of mariage? Howe holdeth [Page] the Frēche king Briteigne, now lately adnexed to that Croune, not by title of mariage? Howe hath al the greate princes of the worlde happely, and with quiete made of two kyngdomes one, of diuerse lordshippes one? of nacions alwaies at warre with thē self, or els in doubtful peace, one well gouerned Kyngdome, rule and dominion, but by that most Godly, moste quiete, moste amicable composicion of mariage? Two meanes ther is of makyng one rule, whereto title is pretended, and perfite agremēt betwixt twoo nacions: Either by force & superioritie whiche is conquest, or by equalitie and loue, whiche is parentage and marryng: ye hate the one, that is conquest, and by refusyng the other, you [Page] enforce it vpon you: you wil not haue peace, you will not haue aliaunce, you will not haue concorde: and conquest commeth vpon you whether you will or no: And yet if all thynges were considered, wee feare it will appere, that it were better for you to bee conquered of vs, then succoured of straungiers, lesse losse to your gooddes, lesse hurte to youre lande, lesse dishonor to your realme: This nacion which is one in tongue, one in Countrey and birthe, hauyng so litle diuersitie to occupie ye whole, thē other powers to come into you, neither like in language, ne yet like in behauior, who should rule ouer you, and take you to be but their slaues. But we eftesones and finally declare, and protest vnto [Page] you, that although for the better furtheraunce of this godly purpose, of vniting the realmes, and for the sure defēce of theim, whiche fauoreth the mariage, we are compelled for the tyme, to kepe holdes, to make fortificaciōs in youre Realme: Yet the Kynges Maiesties mynde, and determinate pleasure, with oure aduise and counsaill, to bee as before is declared, where fauour maie be shewed, not to vse rigoure, if by condicions you will receiue this amitie offered, not to followe cō quest, we desire loue, vnitie, concord, peace and equalitie: let neither your Gouernour, nor your Kirkmen, nor those who so often hath falsefied their faithe & promise, and by treacherie and falshed, be accustomed to prolōg the [Page] tyme, fede you further with faire wordes, and bryng you into the snare, from whence thei cannoe deliuer you. Thei wil peraduenture prouide for themselues, with pencions in some other Realme, and sett souldiours straungiers in youre holdes, to kepe you in subieccion, vnder pretense to defende them against vs. But who prouideth pēcions for you? How are you defended, when thei bee fled awaie? Who cōquereth you whē the straunge souldiours or Capitaines hath your holdes? When your land is wasted, and the realme destroyed, & the more part kept frō you? Who will set by the mariage of the Quene, to buye a title with the war of Englande, to mary the name, another mightie Kyng holdyng the [Page] lande? If we twoo beyng made one by amitie, bee moste hable to defende vs against all nacions: and hauyng the sea for wall, the mutuall loue for garrison, and God for defence, should make so noble and wel agreyng Monarchie, that neither in peace wee maie bee ashamed, nor in warre affraied, of any worldely or forrein power: why should not you bee as desirous of the same, and haue as muche cause to reioyse at it as we? If this honour of so noble a monarchie, do not moue you to take and accepte amitie, let the grief and the daungier of the before named losses, feare you to attempt that thyng whiche shall displease God, encrease warre, daungier youre Realme, destroy your landes, vndo your [Page] children, waste your groundes, desolatey oure Countreis, and bryng all Scotlāde either to famyne and miserie, or to subiecciō and seruitude of another naciō. Wee require but your promised Quene, your offred agrement of vntiie, the ioynyng of bothe the nacitons: whiche God of his infinite clemencie and tendre loue that he hath declared, to beare to bothe the naciōs, hath offered vnto vs bothe, and in maner called vs bothe vnto it: VVHOSE callyng & prouocacion, we haue and will followe, to the beste of oure powers, and in his name, and with his ayde, admonicion, exhortacion, requestes, and Embassaides, not beyng hable to do it, and to finde stablenes in promises: We shal not willyng, but [Page] constreined, pursue the battaill chastice the wicked and malicious, by the angrie Angelles of GOD, the Fire and Sworde. Wherefore, wee require & exhort all you, who hath loue to youre Countrey, pitie of that realme, a true hart to your quene & Maistresse, regarde of youre honors and promises, made by ye greate Seale of Scotlande: And who fauoreth the peace, loue, vnitie, and concord, and that most profitable mariage, to entre and to come to vs, and declaryng your true and godly hartes therunto, to ayde vs in this moste Godly purpose & enterprise: be witnesse of our doynges, we refuse no mā temporall ne spirituall, lorde ne larde, gentilman, ne other, who will ayde this our purpose, and [Page] minishe the occasion of slaughter and destruccion, to whom we shall kepe the promisses heretofore declared, and further see reward & recompence made accordyng to deserte. And for a more sure profe, and playner token of the good mynd & wil whiche we beare vnto you: that whiche neuer yet before was graunted to Scotlande, in any league, truce or peace, betwixt Englande and Scotlande, because you shall haue profe of the beginnyng, of loue and amitie of bothe the realmes: the kynges highnes, consideryng the multitude of them, whiche is come to his maiesties deuocion, and of theim that bee well willers and ayders, of this Godly enterprise, hath by oure aduise and counsail graunted, & [Page] by these presentes doeth graunt, that from hencefurthe, all maner of merchaūtes, and other Scottishmen, who will entre their names, with one of the lieuetenaū tes or wardens of the Marchies or any other of the Kynges maiesties officers hauyng aucthoritie, and there professe to take parte with vs, in this before named godly purpose, to his awne cōmoditie, and to serue all suche as be of thesame agrement: may lawfully, and without any trouble and vexacion, entre into any Porte, Creeke, or Hauen of Englande, and vse their trafique of merchaundise, either by lande or sea, bye and sell, bryng in the cō moditie of Scotlande, and take and cary furth the commodities of England, as liberally and as [Page] frely, & with thesame, & no other custome or paimentes therefore, then Englishmen, & the Kynges subiectes doth at these presentes myndyng further vpon the successe hereof, to gratifie so ye furtherers of this moste Godly enterprise and vnion, that all the world may be witnes of ye great zeale and loue, whiche his highnes dooeth beare, towardes you and your naciō. And all this the Kynges highnes by our aduise and counsaill, hath willed to bee declared vnto you, and geuen in commaundement to vs, and all his Lieuetenauntes, Wardens, Rulers, and other hed officers, ministers & subiectes, to see executed and doen, according to the true purporte, effecte and meanyng therof. Fare you well.
At Londō the v. of Februarij in the seconde yere of the reigne of the moste noble Prince and our souereigne Lorde, Edward the .VI. by the grace of God of Englande, Fraunce & Ireland, kyng, defender of the faith, and in yearthe vnder Christ the supreme hedde of the Churche of Englande and Irelande.